All posts tagged: samples

The Moon Astronauts Brought Along USB Stick-Sized Living Samples of Their Own Tissue

The Moon Astronauts Brought Along USB Stick-Sized Living Samples of Their Own Tissue

Published by José Betancourt

Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech Beyond their snazzy flight suits and mango peach smoothies, the crew of NASA’s Artemis II mission is packing something unusual: living mini-organs grown from their own bones. That bizarre cargo is traveling alongside astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen, whose 10-day journey will take them around the back side of the Moon and then home again, in the process traveling farther from the Earth than any previous humans. According to space publication Supercluster, the astronauts are carrying “completely functional” organ chips: organelles composed of bone marrow made from each astronauts’ cells. In a highly complicated space mission, the justification for taking these organ chips is actually pretty straightforward. In leaving the protection of the Earth’s atmosphere, the four travelers expose themselves to heaps of solar and cosmic radiation. That radiation environment will present a unique window into the kind of dangers future astronauts will face in the dark reaches of space, so researchers are …

When Soviet Youth Bootlegged Western Rock Music on Discarded X-Rays: Hear Original Audio Samples

When Soviet Youth Bootlegged Western Rock Music on Discarded X-Rays: Hear Original Audio Samples

Published by José Betancourt

A catchy trib­ute to mid-cen­tu­ry Sovi­et hip­sters popped up a few years back in a song called “Stilya­gi” by lo-fi L.A. hip­sters Puro Instinct. The lyrics tell of a charis­mat­ic dude who impress­es “all the girls in the neigh­bor­hood” with his “mag­ni­tiz­dat” and gui­tar. Wait, his what? His mag­ni­tiz­dat, man! Like samiz­dat, or under­ground press, mag­ni­tiz­dat—from the words for “tape recorder” and “publishing”—kept Sovi­et youth in the know with sur­rep­ti­tious record­ings of pop music. Stilya­gi (a post-war sub­cul­ture that copied its style from Hol­ly­wood movies and Amer­i­can jazz and rock and roll) made and dis­trib­uted con­tra­band music in the Sovi­et Union. But, as an NPR piece informs us, “before the avail­abil­i­ty of the tape recorder and dur­ing the 1950s, when vinyl was scarce, inge­nious Rus­sians began record­ing banned boot­leg jazz, boo­gie woo­gie and rock ‘n’ roll on exposed X‑ray film sal­vaged from hos­pi­tal waste bins and archives.” See one such X‑ray “record” above, and see here the fas­ci­nat­ing process dra­ma­tized in the first scene of a 2008 Russ­ian musi­cal titled, of course, Stilya­gi (trans­lat­ed into …

Samples From Distant Asteroid Contain All DNA and RNA Building Blocks

Samples From Distant Asteroid Contain All DNA and RNA Building Blocks

Published by José Betancourt

Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech In June 2019, a Japanese spacecraft called Hayabusa2 touched down on Ryugu, a 3,000-foot asteroid some 185 million miles from Earth. It then proceeded to fire a metal bullet at the surface, dislodging enough material to scoop up with a special “sampling horn” to take back home to our planet. Scientists have been poring over the extremely rare samples ever since to study the near-Earth asteroid with the hope of learning about how the building blocks of planets evolved over time — and just maybe how life on our planet first came to be. The latest findings, published in the journal Nature Astronomy by a team of researchers in Japan, tell a fascinating story: Ryugu appears to contain all the necessary ingredients to make the DNA and RNA underpinning life on Earth. The conclusion supports the theory that errant space rocks like Ryugu could have brought life to Earth billions of years ago. “Their detection in Ryugu strongly …

Broad claims about gender and behavior fall apart when studies include ethnically diverse samples

Broad claims about gender and behavior fall apart when studies include ethnically diverse samples

Published by José Betancourt

A recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences provides evidence that racial and ethnic differences in certain behaviors are just as large as the widely known differences between men and women. The research suggests that generalizations about human behavior are often flawed because they rely on samples composed largely of White individuals. As a result, broad assumptions about how gender influences competitiveness and risk tolerance do not hold true across all demographic groups. Scientists in the behavioral sciences frequently face criticism for relying on study participants who represent a very narrow slice of human experience. Historically, researchers have heavily recruited individuals who are Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and from democratic societies (known as WEIRD samples). Because these samples largely consist of university students in North America and Western Europe, they do not reflect the global population, leading to a major gap in the scientific understanding of how behavior varies within a single country. A significant body of behavioral economics literature examines how men and women differ in their willingness to …

Chang’e-6 moon samples reveal strong ground for lunar base

Chang’e-6 moon samples reveal strong ground for lunar base

Published by skeptic

Digital analysis of unprecedented lunar material suggests tougher regolith could shape plans for the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS). When China’s Chang’e-6 mission delivered material from the far side of the Moon to Earth in mid-2024, planetary scientists knew they were looking at something historic. For the first time, researchers could examine soil collected from the Moon’s permanently hidden hemisphere. Now, a team led by scientists at Beihang University has published the first detailed, non-destructive physical analysis of those samples, offering new insight into how the terrain could affect plans for a future lunar base. Their findings suggest that far-side lunar soil may be mechanically stronger and more interlocked than material previously studied from the near side – a difference that could influence engineering strategies for the proposed ILRS. A first look at far-side material from Chang’e-6 The samples returned by Chang’e-6 originated in the Moon’s South Pole–Aitken basin, a vast impact structure on the far side that differs geologically from the areas explored during NASA’s Apollo missions and China’s earlier Chang’e-5 mission. Because the …

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra Camera Samples: What’s New

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra Camera Samples: What’s New

Published by skeptic

The first camera samples of the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra have emerged, offering an early glimpse into its photographic capabilities. While the hardware appears to closely mirror its predecessor, the Galaxy S25 Ultra, Samsung has introduced subtle yet impactful refinements. These changes emphasize a focus on optimizing the user experience rather than pursuing dramatic overhauls, signaling a deliberate strategy to enhance existing strengths. Key Hardware Upgrades: Larger Apertures for Enhanced Light Capture The Galaxy S26 Ultra retains the same sensor configuration as the Galaxy S25 Ultra but incorporates a critical upgrade: larger apertures on both the main wide and periscope telephoto cameras. This enhancement allows the camera to capture more light, significantly improving image quality, particularly in low-light conditions. For users, this translates to brighter, sharper photos with better detail retention in challenging lighting environments. By addressing light capture limitations, Samsung has demonstrated a commitment to refining its hardware’s potential rather than chasing higher megapixel counts or introducing entirely new sensor technologies. This approach underscores a focus on practical improvements that directly benefit everyday photography. …

Hair samples reveal the benefits of lead regulation

Hair samples reveal the benefits of lead regulation

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. The evidence is clear—and in your hair. Americans were exposed to as much as 100 times more lead in their daily lives than they are today before the Environmental Protection Agency was established in 1970. In an effort to examine the dramatic reduction in toxic heavy metal exposure, researchers turned to human hair samples dating back a century. Their findings, published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, provide a startling and dramatic example of the lifesaving benefits of robust, comprehensive, and reliably enforced industrial regulations. Human history is full of lead poisoning. Paleobiological records indicate that the naturally occurring neurotoxin has affected Homo sapien’s evolutionary development for at least two million years. While no amount of lead exposure is healthy, even comparatively moderate levels of ingestion are directly linked to brain development issues, behavioral shifts, heart and organ damage, pregnancy complications, and immunosuppression problems. These hazards are also particularly dangerous for infants and children. Our …