Science News Roundup: Winds delay Blue Origin's space launch with Shatner; Chinese lunar samples suggest moon cooled down later than thought and more
"Due to forecasted winds on Tuesday, October 12, Blue Origin's mission operations team has made the decision to delay the launch of NS-18 and is now targeting Wednesday, October 13," the company said in a statement. Chinese lunar samples suggest moon cooled down later than thought Remnants of solidified lava brought back by a Chinese mission were 1 billion years younger than material acquired by other missions decades ago, according to an article in the journal Science, suggesting the moon cooled down later than thought.
Following is a summary of current science news briefs.
Hearth site in Utah desert reveals human tobacco use 12,300 years ago
Scientists have unearthed evidence of a milestone in human culture - the earliest-known use of tobacco - in the remnants of a hearth built by early inhabitants of North America's interior about 12,300 years ago in Utah's Great Salt Lake Desert. Researchers discovered four charred seeds of a wild tobacco plant within the hearth contents, along with stone tools and duck bones left over from meals. Until now, the earliest documented use of tobacco came in the form of nicotine residue found inside a smoking pipe from Alabama dating to 3,300 years ago.
Energy from bogs: Estonian scientists use peat to make batteries
Peat, plentiful in bogs in northern Europe, could be used to make sodium-ion batteries cheaply for use in electric vehicles, scientists at an Estonian university say. Sodium-ion batteries, which do not contain relatively costly lithium, cobalt or nickel, are one of the new technologies that battery makers are looking at as they seek alternatives to the dominant lithium-ion model.
In a rocky Israeli crater, scientists simulate life on Mars
From the door of the expedition base, a few small steps to the left an autonomous rover passes by. A few giant leaps to the right is an array of solar panels. The landscape is rocky, hilly, tinged with red. Purposefully it resembles Mars. Here, in the Ramon Crater in the desert of southern Israel, a team of six - five men and one woman - have begun simulating what it will be like to live for about a month on the red planet.
Risk of dangerous blood clots linked to moderate COVID-19; high-dose blood thinner can prevent clots
The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19. They include research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and that have yet to be certified by peer review. Dangerous blood clots can occur in moderate COVID-19
Winds delay Blue Origin's space launch with Shatner
Jeff Bezos' space company Blue Origin said on Sunday it had pushed this week's launch target of its New Shepard vehicle to Wednesday, delaying "Star Trek" actor William Shatner's sojourn to the edge of space by a day. "Due to forecasted winds on Tuesday, October 12, Blue Origin's mission operations team has made the decision to delay the launch of NS-18 and is now targeting Wednesday, October 13," the company said in a statement.
Chinese lunar samples suggest moon cooled down later than thought
Remnants of solidified lava brought back by a Chinese mission were 1 billion years younger than material acquired by other missions decades ago, according to an article in the journal Science, suggesting the moon cooled down later than thought. Samples brought back from U.S. and Soviet missions were more than 2.9 billion years old. The samples acquired on China's Chang'e-5 mission late last year - around 1.96 billion years old - suggests volcanic activity persisted longer than previously expected.
(With inputs from agencies.)
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