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“Solar Clock” Can Predict Dangerous Solar Flares Years in Advance

Lead Image: Solar flares – like this one captured by a NASA satellite orbiting the Sun – eject huge amounts of radiation. Credit: NASA Important solar cycle landmarks that are influenced by variations in the sun’s magnetic field might predict changes in weather patterns and risks to telecommunications. We have been attempting to define the solar cycle using sunspots ever since humanity was able to notice them for the first time around 400 years ago. Solar activity, including sunspots and solar flares, ebbs and flows about every 11 years, changing Earth’s weather patterns and sometimes posing a hazard to communications.…

“Diamond Rain” on Giant Icy Planets May Be More Common Than Thought

Lead Image: Studying a material that even more closely resembles the composition of ice giants, researchers found that oxygen boosts the formation of diamond rain. The team also found evidence that, in combination with the diamonds, a recently discovered phase of water, often described as “hot, black ice” could form. Credit: Greg Stewart/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory SLAC scientists found that oxygen boosts this exotic precipitation, revealing a new path to make nanodiamonds here on Earth. According to new research, “diamond rain,” a long-hypothesized exotic type of precipitation on ice giant planets, could be more common than previously thought. In a…

Antipsychotic Drug Opens New Pathway To Beat Chronic Pain

Lead Image: Mouse sensory neurons are shown in magenta. BH4, the molecule driving chronic pain, is shown in green. Hence, the neurons “in pain” are seen in green/white. Credit: ©Cronin/IMBA Fresh hope for pain management from newly identified link between chronic pain and lung cancer in mice. Although it is uncomfortable, pain is an important alarm system that alerts us to tissue damage and prompts us to withdraw from harmful situations. Although pain is expected to subside as injuries heal, many patients experience persistent pain long after recovery. Now, a new study points to possible new treatments for chronic pain…

Scientists Have Created Microrobots That Can Automatically Brush and Floss Your Teeth

Lead Image: Arranged in bristle-like structures, a robotic microswarm of iron oxide nanoparticles developed by a team from the University of Pennsylvania effectively cleaned plaque from teeth. The nanoparticles have both magnetic and catalytic properties; catalyzed hydrogen peroxide produced free radicals that eliminated tooth decay-causing pathogens as well. Credit: Minjun Oh/Penn Dental Medicine Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania demonstrated in a proof-of-concept study that a hands-free device could successfully automate the treatment and removal of dental plaque and bacteria that cause tooth decay. In the future, a shape-shifting robotic microswarm may serve as a toothbrush, rinse, and dental floss…

Artemis I Path to the Pad: The Most Powerful Rocket NASA Has Ever Built

NASA’s Space Launch System rocket will launch with Orion atop it from Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s modernized spaceport at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: NASA Have you ever wondered what it takes to assemble the most powerful rocket NASA has ever built? Watch documentary footage of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket’s transformation into the over-300-foot-tall launch vehicle that will return humanity to the Moon. Starting with manufacturing and ending with stacking operations inside NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building, this is only the beginning of SLS’s path to the launch pad. Video Transcript: NASA is preparing…