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Writer Fuel: Where Did the Moon’s Atmosphere Come From?

A photograph of the moon's surface. (Image credit: NASA)

It is easy to imagine the moon as an atmosphere-less hunk of rock orbiting Earth. However, while lacking breathable air, our planet’s loyal natural satellite companion does have a thin and wispy atmosphere. Scientists have long puzzled over the existence of this tenuous atmosphere or “exosphere” and have searched for the main process that sustains … Read more

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Writer Fuel: How Many Galaxies Are There?

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The Milky Way is just a speck in a universe filled with an untold number of galaxies. But if we had to take an educated guess, how many galaxies are in the universe? That sounds like a simple question, but it’s anything but. The first problem is that even with our most powerful telescopes, we … Read more

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Writer Fuel: Scientists Discover Microbes That Can Destroy “Forever” Chemicals

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Certain bacteria can degrade the strong bonds that give “forever chemicals” their long shelf life, and this hints at potential low-cost treatments that could cleanse water of concerning PFAS. PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are human-made compounds found in many products. They contain strong chemical bonds that do not easily break down, making them … Read more

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Writer Fuel: Jupiter Like You’ve Never Seen It Before

Jupiter - Juno - NASA

Vivid clouds swirl across Jupiter’s skies like colorful brushstrokes across a painting in a new photo from NASA’s Juno spacecraft. The image, taken during the spacecraft’s 61st close flyby of Jupiter on May 12, 2024, hones in on activity in the planet’s northern hemisphere. Juno was approximately 18,000 miles (29,000 kilometers) above Jupiter’s cloud tops … Read more

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Writer Fuel: Chinese Rover Finds Water Molecules on the Moon

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Scientists in China have discovered water molecules trapped in lunar rocks, upending past assumptions that the moon’s surface is dry. The rock samples, collected from the moon’s surface and brought back to Earth by China’s Chang’e 5 mission in 2020, contain crystals filled with “hydrated molecules,” according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Samples brought … Read more

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Writer Fuel: Strawberries Aren’t Fruit… Their “Seeds” Are

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Wild strawberries are deliciously sweet snacks, as long as you don’t mind their gritty little seeds. But why are these “seeds” on the outside, given that the seeds of many fruits — like apples, oranges, kiwis and mangos — are on the inside? It’s actually a trick question, said Aaron Liston, professor and herbarium director … Read more

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Writer Fuel: Will We Ever Reach Alpha Centauri?

Alpha Centauri - deposit photos

Our space-exploration ambitions have boldly taken humans to the moon, rovers to Mars and spacecraft to the outer reaches of the solar system. But could humans or spacecraft ever reach Alpha Centauri, the closest star system to our planet? Alpha Centauri is about 4.4 light-years (roughly 25 trillion miles, or 40 trillion kilometers) from Earth … Read more

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Writer Fuel: Sending “Touch” Over the Internet Could Soon Be Easy

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The next evolution of the internet could involve digitally transmitting the sense of touch, which may transform remote surgery and usher in a whole new era of online gaming. Researchers have developed a “Haptic Codecs for the Tactile Internet” (HCTI) standard that allows haptic information to be sent both ways across a network via data … Read more

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Writer Fuel: Could Lab-Grown Brains Achieve Consciousness?

man holding a glowing human brain - deposit photos

Brain organoids are 3D, lab-grown models designed to mimic the human brain. Scientists normally grow them from stem cells, coaxing them into forming a brain-like structure. In the past decade, they have become increasingly sophisticated and can now replicate multiple types of brain cells, which can communicate with one another. This has led some scientists … Read more

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Writer Fuel: Could Blocking One Protein Extend Human Life?

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By blocking the action of a single protein, scientists have extended the average life span of the mice in their experiment by around 25%. This recent finding has raised the question of whether such a treatment could ever work for people, and so far, there are some promising early hints that it might. In the … Read more