Involving Silkworms, Feathered Dinosaurs, Brain Chips and Space Tensions

Explore fascinating science stories: Cubans use Asian silkworms for artisan projects, a Chinese fossil reveals skin evolution in feathered dinosaurs, the US FDA clears Neuralink's brain chip for a second patient, and US assesses Russia's potential space weapon launch.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Cubans put Asian silkworms to work for artisans in experimental project

Cuban biochemist Dayron Martin, dressed in a white lab coat and jeans, looks over a table swarming with silkworms with the admiration of a proud father. Hundreds of the cream-colored caterpillars squiggle across a bed of dark green mulberry leaves - the worm's preferred food - freshly plucked from bushes just outside his laboratory.

Chinese fossil reveals evolution of skin in feathered dinosaurs

A new fossil of the Cretaceous Period dinosaur Psittacosaurus, a dog-sized herbivore with a parrot-like beak, that was donated to a Chinese university came with a surprise - one revealed only after scientists viewed it under ultraviolet light. It retained large patches of beautifully preserved skin, down to its cellular structure, providing new insight into skin evolution in feathered dinosaurs. The fossil points to "zoned development" in the skin of these dinosaurs, researchers said, with Psittacosaurus and probably other feathered dinosaurs possessing scaly, reptile-like skin on body regions without feathers, with soft, bird-like skin on areas with feathers.

US FDA clears Neuralink's brain chip implant in second patient, WSJ reports

The U.S. health regulator has allowed billionaire Elon Musk's Neuralink to implant its brain chip in a second person after it proposed to fix a problem that occurred in its first patient, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. Earlier this month, Neuralink said tiny wires implanted in the brain of its first patient had pulled out of position. Reuters reported last week, citing sources, the company knew from animal testing that the wires might retract.

US assesses Russia launched space weapon in path of American satellite

Russia last week launched a satellite that U.S. intelligence officials believe to be a weapon capable of inspecting and attacking other satellites, the U.S. Space Command said on Tuesday as the Russian spacecraft trails a U.S. spy satellite in orbit. Russia's Soyuz rocket blasted off from its Plesetsk launch site some 500 miles (800 km) north of Moscow on May 16, deploying in low-Earth orbit at least nine satellites including COSMOS 2576, a type of Russian military "inspector" spacecraft U.S. officials have long condemned as exhibiting reckless space behavior.