Engine on Chip, Oxygen on Mars, CRISPR Salad, Gold Nanoparticles to treat Cancer, Chandrayaan 3 - Speciale Focus #10
Space, Space, and more Space for the month :P
Engine on Chip - Mini space thruster that runs on water!
Developed by engineers at ESA and Imperial College, London, the Iridium Catalysed Electrolysis CubeSat Thruster (ICE-Cube Thruster) is a tiny chip designed for small satellites. It uses water as propellant and operates through electrolysis, eliminating the need for bulky propellant storage. An associated electrolyser generates hydrogen and oxygen by passing a 20-watt current through water to power the thruster. The thruster is incredibly small, with its combustion chamber and nozzle measuring less than 1mm in length, and it was assembled using microelectronics techniques. In testing, it achieved 1.25 milli newtons of thrust with a specific impulse of 185 seconds, demonstrating its feasibility. Further development will create a flight-ready 'Engineering Model' led by URA Thrusters in collaboration with Imperial College in the UK.
Perseverance makes Oxygen on Mars - How cool is that?!
The MIT-led Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) on Mars (onboard the Perseverance rover) has successfully been producing oxygen from the planet's carbon-dioxide-rich atmosphere since April 2021. In a recent study, it was reported that by the end of 2021, MOXIE had produced oxygen in various conditions, meeting its target of six grams of oxygen per hour in each experimental run. This rate is comparable to a modest tree on Earth. Scientists believe that a larger version of MOXIE could be sent to Mars before a human mission to produce oxygen at a much higher rate, enough to support astronauts and even fuel rockets for their return to Earth. MOXIE's achievements so far represent a promising step toward this goal.
Tasty salads. Only genetically modified using CRISPR!
Ahahaha. Salads are usually tasty. Just kidding. They’re not. But Pairwise aims to change this by making genetically edited fresh produce that just tastes better. They don’t add DNA bits from other species, instead only tweak the existing DNA sequence to achieve this. Check out more.
Using Gold nano particles to treat cancer - IISc
Scientists at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have developed hybrid nanoparticles made of gold and copper sulphide that have the potential to detect and kill cancer cells, particularly those in solid tumor masses. These nanoparticles can generate heat when exposed to light, which can kill cancer cells, and they can also produce singlet oxygen atoms that are toxic to cells. Additionally, they enable cancer cell detection using sound waves. This approach combines the benefits of copper sulphide nanoparticles for diagnosis and gold nanoparticles for targeted therapy, making it a promising strategy for cancer treatment and detection. Read more here.
Chandrayaan 3 - A New Frontier!
No surprises here. But we still couldn’t resist not posting the story. India made space history by becoming the first ever nation to successfully soft-land a spacecraft on the Lunar South Pole. The rover Pragyaan has been on a roll consistently sending data since the day it landed. Here are a few findings including the presence of Sulfur.
We’ll leave you with this for the month and come back soon with another set of wow reads specially curated for the curious you!
Until then, Team Speciale signing off!