mission

The exomars mission already accumulates 20 years of calvary and bad luck

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Mars seems to have a special online to the European space agency and, more specifically, to the exomars mission and his Rover Rosalind Franklin. What promised to be a pioneer mission for Europe in the search for past life on the red planet has become a true technological and geopolitical calvary, a saga of misfortunes that leads to ask if the rover will not simply be cursed. From NASA to Russia. The exomars odyssey It started two decades agoin 2005, with the aim of launching a rover to Mars in 2011. Initially conceived in collaboration with NASA, the mission suffered a first capital setback in 2012, when the US agency, due to the cost overruns in projects such as the James Webb space telescope, decided to retire. Nor was the European prominence of the mission funny. This first jug of cold water forced ESA to look for a new partner to desperate. The Russian Space Agency Roscosmos. Russia would provide the proton rockets for the two phases of the mission and a crucial element: the Kazachok descent module that would be in charge of the Martian landing of the rover. A second setback. The first phase of the mission, launched in 2016included the Trace Gas Orbiter probe, which operates successfully in the Martian orbit. Also the Schiaparelli landing module, designed to test “mooring” technologies. Schiaparelli crashed into the surface because he misunderstood the accelerometer readings: he mistakenly assumed that he had landed and fired the roof and parachute early. On Earth, the launch of the Rover, scheduled for 2018, was postponed to 2020 for problems with The parachutes and delays in the delivery of components. Then, the Covid-19 pandemia He added more delays, pushing the launch window at 2022. And then, war. The Rover was baptized ‘Rosalind Franklin’ in honor of the British crystallographer whose x -ray diffraction images were fundamental to reveal the double helix structure of the DNA. When everything seemed (finally) on track, with the rover ready for a few months of takeoff, the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 He dynamited collaboration. ESA, in an inevitable decision, suspended cooperation with Roscosmos, leaving Rosalind Franklin orphan of a pitcher and, above all, of landing platform. A devastating blow. Light at the end of the tunnel. Baptized ‘Rosalind Franklin’ in honor of the British crystallographer whose X -ray diffraction images were fundamental to reveal the double propeller structure of the DNA, the rover did not raise head. But that decided not to throw in the towel. Member States pledged new financing in the mission and ESA chose to develop a European landing platform. Thales Alenia Space was selected as the main contractor in April 2024 with a contract of 522 million euros, but it is Airbus Defense and Space the one that will be in charge of design and construction of the landing module, which, ironically, keep a great resemblance With Russian Kazachok. And now what. When light was finally seen at the end of the tunnel, The budget proposed by the White House For NASA it seems to leave out the contribution of the US agency in the European Rover. According to Eric Berger, from Ars Technica, in addition to the Mars Sample Mission Return of Return of the Red Planet, in which Europe also participated, The contribution of NASA was disappearing in the European Rover Rosalind Franklin. It was a modest, but crucial contribution to the mission: Plutonium -based RHU heater. For now, the launch date of the Misión Exomars and the Rover Rosalind Franklin remains scheduled by the end of 2028, with A landing in the Martian plain Oxia Planum planned for 2030. A long trajectory to avoid the season of global dust storms on Mars. Rover Rosalind Franklin will carry its drill capable of drilling up to two meters under the surface, where possible biofirms would be protected from radiation. Image | DSIT, that In Xataka | Exomars, this is the most ambitious Mars mission in Europe

Finding quick and reliable tests for Alzheimer’s is a key mission for science. And we have a new candidate

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Ahead of Alzheimer’s. It is a simple but difficult objective to achieve since the symptoms of this disease tend to appear when the disorder is advanced and has already caused important damage to our brain. A difficult objective but what It can help us treat the disease With greater efficacy, managing to delay the appearance of some of its symptoms such as cognitive deterioration. Maybe one day helps us cure it. In the blood. A group of researchers has tested a new blood test aimed at the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease. The test is based on a biomarker present in the blood, P-TAU217, which shows changes long before the appearance of symptoms in people with the disease. The study showed precision when detecting the disease greater than 90%. These results also did not depend on the age or gender of the participants, either on the existence of comorbidities or whether the test was carried out by specialists or primary care personnel. This marker can be measured with simple and cheap tools and the process is automatic, which can facilitate detection in various circumstances, democratizing the diagnosis of the disease. “This is an important step to bring simple blood tests for Alzheimer’s disease to health systems around the world,” said the team responsible for the essay in a press release. P-TAU217. Detection methods based on the P-TAU217 compound They are not exactly new. These types of tools are already implemented in the United States and it is expected that they will soon reach the rest of the world, says the team itself. The new method seeks to offer a simpler alternative to the available tools. The new study analyzed the precision of this New Test in the conditions in which it would be used, not only in specialized clinics but also in primary care. In three countries. The essay was carried out from 1,767 participants with cognitive symptoms distributed in three countries: Spain, Italy and Sweden. The details of the study were published In an article In the magazine Nature Medicine. The New Test included two cut points. One of them served to interpret the negative results: from this threshold the test rules out the presence of the disease. The second of the cut points serves to find the positive ones: this threshold shows the presence of the disease. This leaves, between one cut and another, a “gray zone” in which the results are inconcuing, however the use of a test with a single threshold slightly reduced the accuracy of the diagnostic tool. Above 90%. The study showed that the test achieved an accuracy between 92% and 94% when used in its two cuts mode. However, this precision fell to levels between 83% and 87% when only a cutting point was used and applied to more advanced ages. “When the method was tested in patient sides, the precision was between 92% and 94%,” NOëlle Warmenhoven explainedfirst signer of the study. “This is promising since this method will probably become one of the most used in clinical practice around the world.” In Xataka | We have a new “theory of all” to understand Alzheimer’s. Your key is in small granules Image | Kaboomps.com

There are farms that have more than 80,000 captivity scorpions and a strange mission: milking them

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Insect farms seem to come to stay. The European Union wants begin to be part of our diet And there are countries like Spain that are putting the batteries. An example is the Tebrio Plant in Salamancawhat will be the Greater Flour worm farm. But, in addition to producing food, we also raise other unusual animals, such as scorpions. In countries like Egypt, Mexico or China, scorpions have become a business. And not only do they raise them: they order them. Life poison. Scorpion is an animal that cool. There are more than 2,000 species, they are all over the world, except in Antarctica, and They have extraordinary characteristics. The sting and tweezers attract attention, but they have a very hard exoskeleton, they can regulate the amount of poison they inject at will, they have an excellent night vision, great control of metabolism and endure their breath almost a week. Come on, they have been here for 400 million years and are older than dinosaurs, so they have had to force everything that has been preceded. Now, much less than we can think are dangerous for humans. The poison is designed for the hunt for their prey and, of those 2,000 species, only between 25 and 50 would be in danger (and the bites of many of them would not be lethal). Farms. And it is precisely that poison that interests us as a species. The amount of poison that a few hundred copies have would be insufficient, so places are needed in which to house thousands of these arachnids. And when I talk about thousands … it’s thousands. Nigeria is one power in the breeding of scorpions, but also China, Thailand, Mexico or Egypt. In this country There are facilities With 80,000 copies. Eighty thousand scorpions, which is said soon. These farms require specific conditions for parenting, with areas adapted to the species in which they have specialized and a number of specimens that varies depending on the objective. Thus, farms can be used to have copies to release and help us control pests. They can be part of a laboratory of Antivenene Research Or, directly, a farm in which we milked them. Milking scorpions. Ordering animals has nothing strange, but we must recognize that ordering scorpions is something that comes out of the ordinary. What interests is his poison, and farmers like Metin Orenler give the key in ABS Science To do so: patience, pulse, courage and a game of tweezers with which to extract the poison. The problem is that each of its scorpions (Androctonus turiyensiswhere appropriate) only produces two milligrams of poison a day. It is very little and is the reason why these farms have tens of thousands of copies. In the case of Orenler, 20,000 scorpions. Liquid gold. After milking it, they freeze it into liquid nitrogen, they make it powder and this Turkish farm sells it to Europe to Medical researchbut there are other countries (especially in Asia) that are also very interested in this scorpion poison dust. And this is where the key is: the scorpion poison is the liquid More expensive of the world. How much? Orender states that ten million liter. It is necessary to milked a lot to reach those amounts, it is evident, but still … Why is it paid so much? Potential. For many reasons, really. We have already talked about the research, and in ABC, Volker Herzig, who is a professor at the University of Sunshine Coast, comments that peptides and proteins, very numerous in the scorpion venom, can be isolated and analyzed to create something beneficial for us. For example, for the biological control of insects and parasites in agriculture or veterinary, but also to treat human diseases. Herzig explains that they are powerful and very specific compounds and that, if they manage to combine properly, they can be almost miraculous. “Let’s say that a protein is hyperactive in a disease, so if you find a poison toxin – scorpion – that manages to block it, a measure can be created to combat it.” The researcher points out that they have found components with potential to treat epilepsy, irritable colon and even strokes. Dorothy Wai is a researcher at the Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Monash and also studies medical uses of the poison. And his research focuses on the treatment of autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, thanks to a protein called KV1.3 present in this substance. Following the venom trace. The problem is that Herzig also comments that, although he has received offers from farms to buy poison, he rarely buys because “you can never be sure of the origin.” That is, if he needs something very specific and contact him from India (something that has happened), he does not know if they really want to sell the poison because of how lucrative it is or because it is the concrete venom you need for your research. “I think that several more toxinologists have received similar offers,” he says, adding that what he has decided to make samples is … traveling through Europe and manually milking scorpions raised by individuals. He assures that there is “a great movement in Europe of people who raise spiders and scorpions as pets”, and what really awakens my curiosity, and also a itching in the back, is the phrase of “visits to someone and has 200 copies in the basement.” Cosmetics. Wait, how much money these researchers have? The answer is that it is not they who take the bulk of production, but the cosmetics industry, which adds scorpion or extracts to their products, as well as traditional medicine companies. Teams like Herzig’s no longer collect poison, because when they sequence DNA, they don’t need more, but to create traditional medicines not backed by scientific evidence or new cosmetics, you do need large quantities. On this, the researcher comments that he does not know what they put to these products and that it would be cautious, … Read more

China is getting closer to overcoming NASA in its Martian mission. And just invited other countries to join

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Mars Return’s drama. Since I arrived in Mars in 2021, NASA’s Perseverance Rover has been depositing Roca nuclei and Marciano Regolito in hermetic tubes dispersed by the red planet for your future collection. Mars Sample Return is NASA’s mission and the European Space Agency to recover those samples (38 tubes in total) and bring them to Earth. Last year, with a forecast of delays in sample return up to 2039 and an estimated budget of between 7,700 and 11,000 million dollars, NASA de facto canceled Mars Sample Return to control the cost overheads. The agency listened to alternative proposals and, at the beginning of 2025, delayed the decision for a year to Choose between two options: An internal architecture of the NASA JPL laboratory or a commercial ship of the private industry. China has taken the lead. With Mars Sample Return in suspense, China has many ballots to Become the first country to bring Martian soil samples. The launch of the Chinese mission Tianwen-3 is scheduled for 2028after Tianwen-2 launches up to an asteroid near Earth this year as proof of previous technological concept. Tianwen-3 is a simpler mission that Mars Sample Return because it would collect the samples of the landing place, instead of the carefully selected rock nuclei in different places by the Rover Perseverance. However, it has the same objectives as the NASA mission: analyze samples on Earth in search of organic substances and “biosignuras”, signs of past life. Tianwen-3 opens to other countries. The China Space Agency (CNSA) also announced that its sampling recovery mission will be open to international cooperation. Scientists and space agencies around the world can propose until June 30 scientific experiments or instruments to include in the Chinese mission. Tianwen-3 will carry 15 kg of foreign instruments on the ship that will return to the Earth with the samples and 5 kg of additional foreign instruments in the orbiter that will remain in Martian orbit. It could be the case that the European Space Agency, which already participated in Mars Sample Return with the return ship, made a proposal and ended up advancing NASA in this way. Multimillionaires to the rescue. Meanwhile, in the United States, Spacex and Blue Origin have proposed NASA to take advantage of the same ships they have in development for Artemis lunar missions (Starship and Blue Moon) with the aim of recovering Mars samples. However, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos have already received numerous public contracts, and a third millionaire, Peter Beck, CEO of the Rocket Lab’s rocket company, It has a more concrete and simple proposal. A solution of 4,000 million dollars with simple technology to bring the samples in 2031, the same year as the Chinese nave Tianwen-3 would return to the earth. Rocket Lab architecture. Three launches in total for all ships of the mission. The orbiter Mars Telecommunications Orbiter would facilitate communication between Mars and Earth. The Lander Lander Lander lands would land on the surface of Mars to collect the samples with the same supersonic aerocies and parachutes that the Martian Rovers use. The Mars Ascent Vehicle, designed as a single rocket stage, would take off towards the Martian orbit with chemical propulsion Using Electron Rutherford engines from Rocket Lab. The Earth Return Orbiter ship would collect the samples in the Martian orbit to bring them back to the earth using similar engines. The three goals of the space race. Decide what NASA decides, China is determined to take advantage of the delays of Mars Sample Return to get the symbolic victory of bringing the first samples of Mars, as has already happened with the Chang’e-6 mission and the first samples of the hidden face of the moon. At the same time, there are two other goals in the space race. The United States announced to hype and saucer that would take the first woman to the moon with the Artemis III mission (planned by 2027), but its launch has been delayed and now the architecture of every Artemis program, as well as that of Mars Sampple Return, It is in question for the numerous cost overruns of the SLS rocket and Starship’s delays. China, meanwhile, plans to reach the moon in 2030. Then, both countries will try to take the first humans to Mars. Image | POT In Xataka | NASA had marked two major short -term objectives. China threatens to defeat her in both

In the Canary Islands accessing a home is an impossible mission. So an NGO is buying and renting for 300 euros per month

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In mid -October, just after thousands of people They went out to the street in Madrid to claim more affordable rentals and threatened with a ‘Tenant strike’the Housing Minister recognized that Spain is going through an “emergency situation” in residential matters. It is not easy Buy a house. Neither rent it. Especially where the markets are more tension for demand, case of Barcelona, Madrid or the Canary Islands, where The added pressure of mass tourism already forces some workers to Live in motorhomes. With that backdrop in the Canary Islands an experience has emerged that reveals to what extent the housing has become a first level challenge In Spain: an NGO has decided to provide houses for rent at affordable prices. An NGO that manages houses? Correct. The news He advanced a few days ago to be the palms. In full Rent climbing and with the house turned into one of the problems that most removes the dream of the Spaniards According to CIS pollsin the Canary Islands a non -profit organization (Provivienda) seeks to put it a little easier for families who want to rent a house. As? The SER chain Precise that through the acquisition of houses in the free market that then leases vulnerable tenants in exchange for a price much lower than the market, about 340 euros per month. The agreement has a series of conditions For example, beneficiaries commit themselves to rent seven years and contracts can extend for several decades. Click on the image to go to Tweet. “Pioneer at the state level”. Fernando Rodríguez, manager of Provivienda, He claimed that his initiative is “pioneer” at “state level” and defended his benefits. “Until now the promotion of public housing was in the hands of the administration and secondly of the promoters. Here we have opened a third way, the third sector as a provider of social public housing,” assures. In 2024 se They leased 40 houses Already ends of this year Rodríguez hopes to have a park of almost A hundred of houses to offer them in exchange for social income. This expects to alleviate one of the “structural problems” that, in its opinion, suffers from the Canarian market: the shortage of affordable rentals. Floors for 340 euros. “We have already started with the rent of the first homes and the average income is around 340 euros per month,” assures The head of Provivienda. Leased apartments are reinforced and ended up by people registered in the Registration of plaintiffs of Public Housing of the Canary Islands, which basically pay their rent and invoices. Community expenses, the Real Estate Tax (IBI), the garbage fee or insurance is assumed by the lessor. Regarding income prices and why this average of 340 euros per month has decided, Rodríguez Clarify That the rentals are limited to five euros the m2 and the houses are around 65 and 70 m2. Adding efforts (and investment). The NGO is not the only one that takes chest. In May 2023 the Canary Islands Government announced The investment of 6.2 million euros for the purchase of 76 homes that would be allocated to the “affordable rent for vulnerable families” by the hand of Provivienda. “An agreement has been signed with the Association for the Purchase of Housing in municipalities tension for the price of rents,” explained The office of Sebastián Franquis. The statement issued in 2023 by the Ministry, it helps to better understand the housing program and how the apartments that are then rented to vulnerable persons are acquired with the help of Provivienda. The 10.2 million that cost to get those 76 houses, for example, were paid to 60% with public funds and 40% with resources contributed by the organization itself. Families excluded from the market. The organization also selects the properties following several criteria. In the case of the 76 announced in 2023, for example, the houses They were distributed For Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Telde, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, San Cristóbal de la Laguna, Arona and Los Llanos de Aridane. “Financed homes may only be leased or assigned to persons whose annual income, including those of all people who constitute the coexistence unit, do not exceed three times the IPREM (20,844 euros per year) at the time of subscription of the corresponding contract of lease or assignment “, The island government added. The objective: that can benefit from the “Vulnerable Families who cannot access a free market house” program. What is Provivienda? In 2023 the Canarian Executive I presented it As a non -governmental organization constituted as a non -profit association dedicated to “promote housing and social housing programs”, especially for those who have more problems when accessing a floor. According to regional government calculations, by Enton, more than 25,000 homes for rent only in the Canary Islands. Last year the government He announced again A collaboration agreement with the Association to “consolidate” the ‘Vacía Housing’ program. The entity too Help immigrants to seek residence and has reached agreements with Other public bodies Out of the islands, like the Xunta de Galicia. The backdrop. As a backdrop is the difficult residential panorama that is lived in much of the country, including the archipelago, where already They have registered protests for the effects of Tourist. Idealista data show that the price of M2 for rent in Santa Cruz de Tenerife has been more expensive 13.5% in a year until touching the 14 euros. In Las Palmas that figure is exceeded after A 8.4% rise. Both far exceed € 5/m2 of the social program. This housekeeping housing has made access to the archipelago, a reality already verified by different organisms. He XIV Report The state of povertypresented last autumn in the Canarian Parliament, it reflects for example the percentage decrease in people residing in houses in their property in just a few years or how housing is already in a vulnerability factor. Images | Vidar Nordlii-Mathisen (UNSPLASH) In Xataka | If you have an empty house, pay twice the … Read more

Real Madrid has an almost impossible mission in the Champions League

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Forced to win, even to win, and wait for results of up to five gamesthe current European champion, the real MadridVisit to Brest In search of an impossible carambola that allows him to end among the first eights the league phase of the new format of the Champions Leagueto avoid a qualifier prior to the round of 16. Three losses – before Lille, Milan and Liverpool – mark the first experience of Real Madrid in the new ‘Champions’. Victim of his irregular start of the course, the final reaction with the victory at the Atalanta Casa scared ghosts and The winch to Salzburg left a remote possibility of direct access to the eighths open. To do this, Carlo Ancelotti’s team should not just win, winning for more than three goals difference to Brest, You must also wait Barcelona’s victory against Atalanta, from Inter Milan against Monaco, a draw between Lille and Feyenoord, the defeat in his home in Aston Villa against Celtic and that Bayern Munich does not go to Slovan Bratislava. With the whole day at play at the same time, aware of the difficulty of avoiding the previous qualifier of the eighths, Real Madrid will go their game. Its objective is to extend the good dynamics initiated after the hard blow of the classic lost with a win in the final of the Spanish Super Cup. Four consecutive wins with 17 goals marked. Encounters in which Kylian Mbappé assumed the leadership that was expected to arrive. Five consecutive games marking. Eight targets that show the dimension of a footballer who marks the differences. At a time when, in addition, the sanctions moved vinícius junior. Absent in two days of LaLiga. It also goes down in France on the last group day of the Champions League for card accumulation. It will be the first confrontation of history between both clubs, an adequate scenario so that Alaba will be closed again the chapter of your long recovery process After a serious knee injury. After thirteen months away from the playing land needs rhythm and Ancelotti has been giving minutes announcing nearby ownership. In case it is substitute, Raúl Asencio will return to the center of the rear for Lucas Vázquez’s return to the right side. The main doubt to resolve ‘Carletto’ is in the center of the field if Aurélien Tchouaméni returns to the medocentro demarcation. There would be no room for everyone, and that Eduardo Camavinga is still missing about to reappear after a muscle injury. The sweet moment of Dani Ceballos would have a break. Above, Brahim appears as the main candidate to occupy the vinícius hole, with Rodrygo Goes returning to his preferred demarcation on the left. The Brest, meanwhile, wants to close its participation in the group stage of the Champions League with a good mouth taste that has brought this competition and exhausting its latest options to end among the best eight, although they know about the power of the power of the power of the Real Madrid. After winning three of the first four games in that competition, the Bretons lost in Barcelona and their series deviated a little, until they ended the defeat of last week against the Shaktar Donesk that took them in 13th place with thirteen points. Insured to be at least in the playful, Eric Roy’s face the duel after have chained three consecutive wins in your championshipwhat has straightened his Andean in that competition where they are eighth. The French coach, who knows well that his aura of the surprise team of the Champions League has been diluted, recovers to face those of Kylian Mbappé to the defense Soumaïla Coulibaly, absent since last November 6 due to injury. But with four casualties for the left side, which will force Roy to place in that position the Portuguese midfielder Mathias Pereira Lage, which can constitute a weak point. In attack, the trident led by Ludovic Ajorque, backed by Romain del Castillo and Abadallah Sima, will seek to create problems to the Madrid rear. The grass of the Guingamp stadium, where the Brest has to play its games because yours does not meet the UEFA rules, has supported the storm that Brittany has crossed in recent hours thanks to a good drainage system and its system of its system of heating. Probable Brest alignment Bizot; Lala, Chardonnet, Coulibaly, Pereira Lage; Camara, Fernandes, Magnetti; Del Castillo, Ajorque, Sima. Real Madrid probable alignment Lucas Vázquez, Alaba or Asencio, Rüdiger, Mendy; Tchouaméni, Fede Valverde, Bellingham; Brahim, Rodrygo and Mbappé. Referee: Eskas Eskas (nor) Stadium: Gingamp Roudouroou. Continue reading:– Lionel Messi and his curious photo with Henry Martín that causes laughter on social networks – Soccer matches today, live: time and TV of what you can see this Tuesday, January 28 in the United States– Cade Cowell does not finish fit in the new process– Ormeño is on China’s football radar (Tagstotranslate) Champions (T) Real Madrid

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