June 2021
The coolest experiment on the ISS
... to around 200 nano-Kelvin by three key processes. First, a magneto-optical trap holds atoms in place, while radiation and pressure from lasers slows them down. Six lasers are focussed on the atoms, meaning whichever...
April 2025
Life in the Sun’s atmosphere - the looming threat of solar storms
A solar storm is a sudden and intense burst of radiation and energetic particles ejected from the Sun. If large enough and directed toward Earth, the resulting ‘...
February 2022
Extremophiles as a blueprint for universal life
... volume. By doing this, Dsup is able to protect DNA from damaging hydroxyl radicals which are produced when radiation interacts with water. Microphotograph of the Archea Thermococcus Gammatolerans. Directed panspermia – seeding the Universe with life...
September 2023
How microorganisms survive space travel
... the Expose-R experiment and the Biorisk experiment is the possibility of assessing the effect of short-wave ultraviolet radiation, which does not reach the Earth’s surface. This experiment involves scientists representing ESA as well as researchers...
September 2026
Pregnancy among the stars - the biology of birth beyond Earth
... is significantly bigger than its heart and research suggests that the foetal nervous system is particularly sensitive to radiation from the eighth to the fifteenth week of pregnancy. Animal experiments have already produced intriguing but incomplete...
November 2016
Moon or Mars - NASA’s next logical step?
... together as a team. Cultural and language differences did not create significant problems but the effects of cosmic radiation and weightlessness could obviously not be factored into such an experiment. NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson, Expedition...
