Science News Roundup: Astronaut Barbie doll jets off on zero gravity flight; Two Americans win Medicine Nobel Prize for sensory findings

Marking the Oct. 4-10 World Space Week, which this year celebrates women in space, toy maker Mattel Inc has teamed up with the European Space Agency (ESA) and Cristoforetti, who is currently in training for her next mission to the International Space Station next April. Two Americans win Medicine Nobel Prize for sensory findings American scientists David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian won the 2021 Nobel Prize for Medicine on Monday for discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch which the award-giving body said could pave the way for new pain-killers.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Astronaut Barbie doll jets off on zero gravity flight

A Barbie doll version of Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti has jetted off on a zero-gravity flight with the aim of inspiring young girls to consider a career in space and science, technology, maths, and engineering (STEM). Marking the Oct. 4-10 World Space Week, which this year celebrates women in space, toymaker Mattel Inc has teamed up with the European Space Agency (ESA) and Cristoforetti, who is currently in training for her next mission to the International Space Station next April.

Two Americans win Medicine Nobel Prize for sensory findings

American scientists David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian won the 2021 Nobel Prize for Medicine on Monday for discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch which the award-giving body said could pave the way for new painkillers. Their findings "have allowed us to understand how heat, cold and mechanical force can initiate the nerve impulses that allow us to perceive and adapt to the world around us," the Nobel Assembly at Sweden's Karolinska Institute said.

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