Galaxy

Sunday Sci 10/01/23

Welcome to NU Sci’s new weekly newsletter! Every Sunday, we’ll brief you on the biggest stories in science — from every discipline, from Northeastern and around the world.

Cosmic Courier: OSIRIS-REx’s Special Delivery


Photo by Muhammad Elarbi, Computer Science, 2022

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft successfully returned to Earth last Sunday carrying valuable regolith from the asteroid Bennu. The spacecraft launched seven years ago to study Bennu, retrieve a 60-gram sample, map its surface, and investigate its properties.

The mission offers insights into the early solar system, as well as the Yarkovsky effect, a phenomenon where an asteroid’s trajectory is altered over time due to uneven heating from the sun. OSIRIS-REx is part of a series of missions aimed at understanding the origin of Earth’s water, which NU Sci writer Brianna Soufa covered back in 2019. Earth’s unique abundance of organic molecules and liquid water raises questions about asteroid collisions as the source.

In the coming months, a team of over 200 scientists from 38 institutions will study the sample. Most will be preserved at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, with small amounts allocated to the Canadian Space Agency and the Japanese space agency, JAXA.

The OSIRIS-REx mission’s journey continues as it extends to approach Apophis, a 1,200-foot-wide asteroid that will come within about twelve times the Moon’s average distance from Earth in 2029.


In The Fields

Physics & Space Biology & Chemistry
From the stars to solid ground: NASA’s Frank Rubio completes record-setting 371-day space voyage A promising drug candidate for ALS prolongs lifespan in mice
NASA’s Webb Telescope confirms carbon source in Europa’s ocean, a boost for the search for life Psychedelics unlock learning windows in the brain
Fungi in space: Research aims to harness microorganisms beyond Earth Crab shells could help power next generation of rechargeable batteries.
Unveiling the gravity of antimatter: Insights from CERN’s ALPHA-g experiment Contact lenses shed microplastics — the health impact is unclear.
Environment Health
The hottest year sparks questions about the 1.5 degree Paris agreement limit. E-dispensaries: Online shopping tempts minors to buy marijuana.
The formation of the next supercontinent jeopardizes the future for mammals. Certain psychiatric illnesses in children linked to prior infections.
Groundwater depletion will cause major implications for Earth’s infrastructure. Emerging studies find that COVID-babies seem to have less diverse gut microbiomes.
Technology Local
Chatbots to autonomous AI: DeepMind cofounder’s vision for technology Northeastern graduate researchers overwhelming vote to unionize after eight-year effort
Next-Gen Raspberry Pi 5 delivers improved performance and functionality Northeastern professor Avijit Ghosh hacked into AI chatbots and found flaws and vulnerabilities.
Spotify expands podcast accessibility with auto-generated transcripts. Robotic “skin” that can expand and contract like human skin developed by Northeastern Professor Ravinder Dahiya.
Operation Zero raises the stakes with $20 million bounty for phone hacking tools. How do autistic children learn to speak? Northeastern professor Zhenghan Qi is finding out.

Tidbits

Hate needles? Painless microneedle patches might be the solution to ease your fears.

Dissolvable skin patches are just as effective as traditional vaccinations — but without the pain. Made up of a hundred microscopic cones, microneedles in drug-delivering patches allow a steady release of the vaccine components into the dermal layer within the skin. While more research is needed before patches become available to the public, they are a promising innovation that can benefit low-income countries since they do not need to be refrigerated or administered by a clinician.

Tummy trouble on flights: Stomach discomfort linked to air pressure differences.

Have you ever felt your stomach act up when you’re on a flight? You’re not alone: It’s completely normal. With the decrease in atmospheric pressure and temperature, gas in your digestive system expands, causing flatulence. Consuming more water during a flight can increase digestion and make you feel better.

Move over folks! Share your space with the lizards of Fenway Victory Gardens.

A Mediterranean species of lizards, Podarcis siculus, have made their way into the Fenway Victory Gardens. The forest green lizards were thought to have made their way to Boston from New York City. A postdoc at Harvard studied the critters and found they’re a fan of the park’s bugs — they host a diverse array of invertebrates in their stomachs. If you happen to be in the park during the winter, you might find them in the garden’s massive compost piles!


At NU Sci

Join us Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on campus in East Village 024 for all things science journalism and media. Here are our upcoming events:

  • Oct. 4: Speed friending social with NU Sci members
  • Oct. 11: NU Sci Issue 58 pitch meeting, with a guest talk from Northeastern professor and former WIRED writer Jeff Howe on Northeastern’s science communication programs
  • Oct. 18: Guest talk from philosopher and Northeastern instructor Sammy Hirshland on science communication and fake news

Interested in joining our operations? Head to nuscimag.com/join
Interested in writing for us? Head to nuscimag.com/pitch


Contributors
Sofia Odeh, Mechanical Engineering, 2026
Heidi Ho, Public Health & Journalism, 2027
Mikayla Tsai, Behavioral Neuroscience, 2026
Noah Haggerty, Applied Physics, 2024