If the Moon has enough water, and if it’s reasonably convenient to access, future explorers might be able to use it as a resource. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

A new analysis of data from two lunar missions finds evidence that the Moon’s water is widely distributed across the surface and is not confined to a particular region or type of terrain. The water appears to be present day and night, though it’s not necessarily easily accessible. The findings could help researchers understand the origin of the Moon’s water and how easy it would be to use as a resource. If the Moon has enough water, and if it’s reasonably convenient to access, future explorers might be able to use it as drinking water or to convert it into hydrogen and oxygen for rocket fuel or oxygen to breathe.

“We f...

In this series of images, the magnetic rope, in blue, grows increasingly twisted and unstable. But it never erupts from the Sun’s surface: The model demonstrates the rope didn’t have enough energy to break through the magnetic cage, in yellow. Credit: Tahar Amari et al./Center for Theoretical Physics/École Polytechnique/NASA Goddard/Joy Ng

A dramatic magnetic power struggle at the Sun’s surface lies at the heart of solar eruptions, new research using NASA data shows. The work highlights the role of the Sun’s magnetic landscape, or topology, in the development of solar eruptions that can trigger space weather events around Earth.

The scientists, led by Tahar Amari, an astrophysicist at the Center for Theoretical Physics at the École Polytechnique in Palaiseau Cedex, France, considered sola...

Schematic illustration of the developed cancer targeting agent — 123B9 in this study. The compound (right panel) has a scorpion-like shape with two arms grabbing EphA2-expressing cancer cells, and a tail (brown) constituted by a cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agent (paclitaxel used in this work). The agent would recognize the surface of cancer cells rich in EphA2 (labeled in red in the left panel which shows cancer cells) and deliver the cytotoxic agent. Credit: Pellecchia lab, UC Riverside.

A research team at the University of California, Riverside has discovered a way for chemotherapy drug paclitaxel to target migrating, or circulating, cancer cells, which are responsible for the development of tumor metastases...

Transglutaminase 2 (TG2) is reversibly regulated by the protein cofactors thioredoxin and ERp57 via an allosteric disulfide redox switch.

New research identifies an enzyme that turns off transglutaminase 2, potentially paving the way for new treatments for celiac disease. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder that affects by some estimates nearly 1 in 100 people. Celiac disease symptoms are triggered by gluten, a protein found in wheat and related plants, but gluten doesn’t act alone to cause the digestive symptoms that patients suffer. Rather, gluten induces an overactive immune response when it’s modified by the enzyme transglutaminase 2, or TG2, in the small intestine. New research published in the Feb...