Space travel can alter gene expression in white blood cells, weakening our immune system

Evidence is mounting that astronauts are more susceptible to infections while in space. For example, astronauts on board the International Space Station (ISS) commonly suffer from skin rashes, as well as respiratory and non-respiratory diseases. Astronauts are also known to shed more live virus particles; for example, the Epstein-Barr virus, varicella-zoster responsible for shingles, herpes-simplex-1 responsible for sores, and cytomegalovirus. These observations suggest that our immune system might be weakened by space travel. But what could cause such an immune deficit?

"Here we show that the expression of many genes related to immune functions rapidly decreases when astronauts reach space, while the opposite happens when they return to Earth after six months aboard the ISS..."

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The next big advance in cancer treatment could be a vaccine

After decades of limited success, scientists say research has reached a turning point.

These aren't traditional vaccines that prevent disease, but shots to shrink tumors and stop cancer from coming back. Targets for these experimental treatments include breast and lung cancer, with gains reported this year for deadly skin cancer melanoma and pancreatic cancer.

"We're getting something to work. Now we need to get it to work better," said Dr. James Gulley.

More than ever, scientists understand how cancer hides from the body's immune system. Cancer vaccines, like other immunotherapies, boost the immune system to find and kill cancer cells. And some new ones use mRNA, which was developed for cancer but first used for COVID-19 vaccines.

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Astronomers find first direct evidence of gravitational wave background

Scientists have heard the "chorus" of gravitational waves emanating throughout the universe for the very first time, and it's louder than they expected.

The new discovery was made by scientists using the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav).

To reach their findings, they closely observed stars called pulsars that essentially act as cosmic metronomes, allowing scientists to measure a great deal of space phenomena.

Crucially, the new findings constitute the first direct evidence for the gravitational wave background, which only existed in theories until now.

"This is just the beginning"

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ESA’s Euclid telescope is on the move!

The near $1 billion telescope is currently being transported along public roads towards the Cape and it’s ultimate destination at SLC-40.
Source: @_mgde_

Europe's space telescope to target universe's dark mysteries

After a month-long journey through space, Euclid will join its fellow space telescope James Webb at a stable hovering spot around 1.5 million kilometers (more than 930,000 miles) from Earth called the second Lagrangian Point.

From there, Euclid will chart the largest-ever map of the universe, encompassing up to two billion galaxies across more than a third of the sky.

By capturing light that has taken 10 billion years to reach Earth, the map will also offer a new view of the 13.8-billion-year-old universe's history.

Scientists hope to use this information to address what the Euclid project manager Giuseppe Racca calls a "cosmic embarrassment": that 95 percent of the universe remains unknown to humanity.

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Computer simulation provides 4,000 scenarios for a climate turnaround

Using an extensive computer simulation of the climate, the global economy and the global energy system, researchers at Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) have been analyzing different ways of mitigating climate change, together with colleagues from the US, China, Ireland, Finland and Sweden.

CO2 emissions from human activities account for about 42 billion tons per year. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has calculated that only another 300 to 600 billion tons can be added, from 2020 onward, or else the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5° Celsius will be virtually unattainable.

"It could be a close shave, because 70% of our scenarios predict that the world will exceed the 1.5°C mark in the next five years."

[Note: We have anomalies which have exceeded the mark this year but the averages haven't.]

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