Kimbrough and Pesquet successfully removed the array from its position in the flight support equipment and maneuvered it into position on the mast canister at the 2B power channel. Before the new array can be deployed and begin providing power to the orbiting laboratory, spacewalkers will need to install the electrical cables and drive the final two bolts to enable the solar array to unfurl its fully deployed position. Pesquet and Kimbrough are scheduled for another spacewalk coming up on Sunday, June 20 to continue the installation of new solar arrays....

The maneuver is in preparation for a tactic, to be tried over several weeks, called “pinning.” “We’re going to try pressing the side of the scoop against the mole, pinning it to the wall of its hole,” said InSight Deputy Principal Investigator Sue Smrekar of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. “This might increase friction enough to keep it moving forward when mole hammering resumes.” Whether the extra pressure on the mole will compensate for the unique soil remains unknown....

The Systems Integration Review ensured segments, components, and subsystems, scientific instrumentation, electrical and communication systems, and navigation systems are on schedule to be integrated into the system. It confirmed that facilities, support personnel, and plans and procedures are on schedule to support integration. The four-day meeting took place from July 27-30. On July 31, the standing review board briefed the team on the results. Due to Covid-19, the review occurred virtually....

For two more years, NASA’s Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) will continue its hunt for asteroids and comets – including objects that could pose a hazard to Earth. This mission extension means NASA’s prolific near-Earth object (NEO) hunting space telescope will continue operations until June 2023. “At NASA, we’re always looking up, surveying the sky daily to find potential hazards and exploring asteroids to help unlock the secrets of the formation of our solar system,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson....

Scientists have tracked the rising concentration of heat-trapping carbon dioxide for decades using ground-based sensors in a few places. A high-resolution visualization of the new combined data product – generated by the Global Modeling and Assimilation Office at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, using data from the agency’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) satellite build and operated by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California – provides an entirely different perspective....

“I’m proud of the NASA and SpaceX teams’ focus and dedication to keeping Crew-6 safe,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “Human spaceflight is an inherently risky endeavor and, as always, we will fly when we are ready.” SpaceX has removed propellant from the Falcon 9 rocket and the astronauts have exited the Dragon spacecraft for astronaut crew quarters. Both the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft are in a safe configuration....

Why neuron-like implants could offer a better way to treat Alzheimer’s disease or post-traumatic stress disorder, control prosthetics, or even enhance cognitive abilities. Recently, Charles M. Lieber saw a live brain surgery for the first time. He, along with Jung Min Lee, a postdoctoral scholar in his lab, and Shaun Patel, a faculty member at the Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, watched up close as neurosurgeons prepped to remove a piece of their patient’s brain tissue, hoping to prevent future epileptic seizures....

The telescope’s array of highly sensitive instruments was trained on the atmosphere of WASP-39 b, a “hot Saturn” located around 700 light-years away. A hot Saturn is an exoplanet that is about as massive as Saturn and orbits closely to a star such that it has high surface-atmosphere temperatures. Although Webb and other space telescopes, including Hubble and Spitzer, have previously revealed isolated ingredients of this broiling planet’s atmosphere, the new readings provide a full menu of atoms, molecules, and even signs of active chemistry and clouds....

The newly-found corbomycin and the lesser-known complestatin have a never-before-seen way to kill bacteria, which is achieved by blocking the function of the bacterial cell wall. The discovery comes from a family of antibiotics called glycopeptides that are produced by soil bacteria. The researchers also demonstrated in mice that these new antibiotics can block infections caused by the drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus which is a group of bacteria that can cause many serious infections....

Research creates process that advances the field of carbon utilization. In an effort to develop sustainable solutions to humanity’s energy needs, many scientists are studying carbon capture and utilization — the practice of using excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere or from point sources, instead of fossil fuels, to synthesize chemicals used to make everyday products, from plastics to fuels to pharmaceuticals. Feng Jiao, an associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the University of Delaware, is a leader in the field of carbon capture and utilization....

The researchers have documented their accomplishment in a paper recently published in the journal Science Advances. They predict that similar materials could one day help embody “soft robots” (those that don’t need gears or other hard components to move) to leap or lift. The material composite responds a bit like how grasshoppers jump by storing and releasing energy in their legs, said study co-author Timothy White. “In nature, a lot of adaptations like a grasshopper’s leg utilize stored energy, such as an elastic instability,” said White, Gallogly Professor of chemical and biological engineering at CU Boulder....

Computer-generated holography, they say, could be used in conjunction with a technique called optogenetics, which uses gene therapy to deliver light-sensitive proteins to damaged retinal nerve cells. In conditions such as Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) — a condition affecting about one in 4000 people in the United States — these light-sensing cells degenerate and lead to blindness. “The basic idea of optogenetics is to take a light-sensitive protein from another organism, typically from algae or bacteria, and insert it into a target cell, and that photosensitizes the cell,” Shoham explained....

Dr. Kailsah Singh, a former research fellow in the Liston lab, described their findings: “Our results show that MANF could prevent the beta cell damage by preventing the inflammation in islets, which is a hallmark of type 1 diabetes.” For over 35 years there have been failed attempts to prevent type 1 diabetes development. Previous approaches have sought to target the autoimmune nature of the disease, but Dr. Adrian Liston, senior Group Leader in the Immunology research program, wanted to investigate if there was more causing the deterioration in later stages than just the immune response....

One such characteristic is the dependence of the cells on de novo lipid synthesis, also known as the conversion of carbohydrates to fats, to meet their energy needs. New research led by scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), a founding member of Mass General Brigham, reveals that a drug that inhibits the enzyme stearoyl CoA Desaturase 1 (SCD) interferes with this process, and when administered to mice with glioblastoma, the drug delays tumor growth and increases glioblastoma cells’ sensitivity to anticancer therapies....

Computer models are critical tools for understanding the future of a changing planet, including melting ice, rising seas and shifting precipitation patterns. But typically, these mathematical representations — long chains of computer code giving rise to images of dynamic change — are accessible mainly to scientists. The new simulator, however, allows anyone with a computer to perform idealized experiments with sea level and learn about its complexities. Developed by scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, the interactive platform, called the Virtual Earth System Laboratory (VESL), provides the public with a taste of how NASA models important Earth processes....

New nasal spray treats Delta variant infection in mice, indicating broad spectrum results. Researchers have shown a new compound delivered in a nasal spray is highly effective in preventing and treating COVID-19 caused by the Delta variant in mice. The researchers, including at UBC, Université de Sherbrooke, and Cornell University, believe this is the first treatment of its kind proven to be effective against all COVID-19 variants of concern reported to date, including alpha, beta, gamma, and delta....

In a newly published study, biogeoscientists Jeffrey Dick and Everett Shock have determined that specific hydrothermal seafloor environments provide a unique habitat where certain organisms can thrive. In so doing, they have opened up new possibilities for life in the dark at the bottom of oceans on Earth, as well as throughout the solar system. Their results have been published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences. On land, when organisms get energy out of the food they eat, they do so through a process called cellular respiration, where there is an intake of oxygen and the release of carbon dioxide....

The combined effectiveness of three COVID-prevention strategies on college campuses — mask-wearing, social distancing, and routine testing — are as effective in preventing coronavirus infections as the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), according to a new study co-authored by a Case Western Reserve University researcher. The research, published in Annals of Internal Medicine, has immediate significance as college semesters are poised to start again — and as the distribution of approved vaccines lags behind goals....

Questions about whether other universes might exist as part of a larger Multiverse, and if they could harbor life, are burning issues in modern cosmology. Now new research led by Durham University, UK, and Australia’s University of Sydney, Western Sydney University, and the University of Western Australia, has shown that life could potentially be common throughout the Multiverse, if it exists. The key to this, the researchers say, is dark energy, a mysterious “force” that is accelerating the expansion of the Universe....

The research analyzed data from 176 restoration sites in tropical and sub-tropical Asia, where natural forests have been damaged. The team found that, on average, 18% of the planted saplings died within the first year and 44% died after five years. However, survival rates differed significantly among sites and species, with some sites seeing over 80% of the trees still alive after five years, while others saw a similar percentage die....