Science News Roundup: Hearth site in Utah desert reveals human tobacco use 12,300 years ago; Blue Origin gets ready to send 'Star Trek' actor Shatner into space and more

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. Blue Origin gets ready to send 'Star Trek' actor Shatner into space Billionaire U.S. businessman Jeff Bezos's company Blue Origin is set for its second suborbital tourism flight on Wednesday, with actor William Shatner - who embodied the promise of space travel on the "Star Trek" TV series and films - among the four-person all-civilian crew poised to blast off in Texas.

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.

Blue Origin gets ready to send 'Star Trek' actor Shatner into space

Billionaire U.S. businessman Jeff Bezos's company Blue Origin is set for its second suborbital tourism flight on Wednesday, with actor William Shatner - who embodied the promise of space travel on the "Star Trek" TV series and films - among the four-person all-civilian crew poised to blast off in Texas. Shatner, at age 90, is due to become the oldest person ever in space. He and his crewmates are scheduled for a 9 a.m. (1000 EDT/1400 GMT) takeoff aboard the 60-foot-tall (18.3 meters-tall) fully autonomous New Shepard spacecraft at Blue Origin's launch site about 20 miles (32 km) outside the rural west Texas town of Van Horn.

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.

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

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 'Captain Kirk' aboard, Blue Origin to return to 'space, the final frontier'

Three months after billionaire U.S. businessman Jeff Bezos soared into space aboard a rocketship built by his Blue Origin company, the craft is set on Wednesday to take another all-civilian crew on a suborbital ride, this time with "Star Trek" actor William Shatner in the lead role. As one of four passengers selected for the flight, Shatner, at age 90, is poised to become the oldest person ever to venture into space.

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