Astrobee is a free-flying robotic system developed by NASA that is made up of three distinct cube-shaped robots. This system was originally designed to help astronauts who are working at the International Space Station (ISS) by automating some of their routine manual tasks.

While Astrobee could be highly valuable for astronauts, boosting the efficiency with which they complete day-to-day operations, its object manipulation capabilities are not yet optimal. Specifically, past experiments suggest that the robot struggles when handling deformable items, including cargo bags that resemble some of those that it might be tasked to pick up on the ISS.

Researchers at Stanford University, University of Cambridge and NASA Ames recently developed Pyastrobee, a simulation environment and co...

The United States on Friday approved the first blood test for Alzheimer’s, a move that could help patients begin treatment earlier with newly approved drugs that slow the progression of the devastating neurological disease.

The test, developed by Fujirebio Diagnostics, measures the ratio of two proteins in the blood. The ratio is correlated with amyloid plaques in the brain—a hallmark of Alzheimer’s that, until now, has been detected only through brain scans or spinal fluid analysis.

“Alzheimer’s disease impacts too many people—more than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined,” said Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary.

“Knowing that 10% of people aged 65 and older have Alzheimer’s, and that by 2050 that number i...

Twin spacecraft mission reveals there might be a ‘hot’ side of the moon

The moon’s nearside (that is, the side facing Earth) is dark-colored and dominated by ancient lava flows, whereas the farside is more rugged—and NASA researchers now suggest it’s due to a wonky lunar interior. Using data from twin spacecraft named Ebb and Flow, they found a 2–3% difference in the moon mantle’s ability to deform on each side. They say this data could be explained by the nearest hemisphere’s insides being up to 170°C hotter than the farside.

The detection of differences between the moon’s interior in the near and far hemispheres is reported in Nature this week.

The findings, based on gravitational field data from the NASA Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission, indica...

Shandong researchers suggest that edible and medicinal fungi contain bioactive components with therapeutic potential for central nervous system (CNS) diseases. Findings offer evidence for the potential of these fungi to serve as novel pharmaceuticals or functional foods in the treatment of CNS diseases.

Central nervous system (CNS) diseases involve complex pathophysiology, gradual symptom onset, and significant challenges in therapeutic evaluation...