The shrinking Moon is still cracking—and scientists just found where it might quake next. Researchers have created the first worldwide map and detailed study of small mare ridges (SMRs), subtle geological features that signal tectonic activity on the Moon. The findings, published in The Planetary Science Journal, come from scientists at the National Air and Space Museum’s Center for Earth and Planetary Studies and their collaborators.

For the first time, scientists show that these ridges are relatively young and spread widely across the lunar maria, the broad, dark plains visible from Earth. By determining how SMRs form, the team has also identified new potential sources of moonquakes that could influence where future lunar missions choose to land.

How the Moon’s Tectonics Dif...

A new CRISPR-powered light sensor can detect the faintest molecular signs of cancer in a drop of blood. A new light-based sensor can spot incredibly tiny amounts of cancer biomarkers in blood, raising the possibility of earlier and simpler cancer detection. The technology merges DNAnanotechnology, CRISPR, and quantumdots to generate a clear signal from just a few molecules. In lung cancer tests, it worked even in real patient serum samples. Researchers hope it could eventually power portable blood tests for cancer and other diseases.

Scientists have designed a powerful light based sensor...

A team of 48 astronomers from 14 countries, led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has discovered a population of dusty, star-forming galaxies at the far edges of the universe that formed only a billion years after the Big Bang, believed to have occurred 13.7 billion years ago. The galaxies may represent a snapshot in the galactic life cycle, linking recently discovered ultradistant bright galaxies formed 13.3 billion years ago with early “quiescent” (dead) galaxies that stopped forming stars about two billion years after the Big Bang.

Challenging what we know about cosmos
The new discovery challenges current models of the universe, making the f...

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have discovered how certain pathogenic bacteria in gut and breast tissue can promote breast cancer development and progression by hijacking a key metabolic enzyme known as spermine oxidase (SMOX). In a study led by Dipali Sharma, Ph.D...