The robot with which they want to explore the tunnels of Mars is a ball bug stuffed with dandelion drones

The human being has been sending rovers to Mars for 30 years. We know a lot about its surface, but there are still many unexplored regions. A good example is its tunnels. The red planet has the largest known network of tunnels in the solar system, but there has been no vehicle capable of entering them and exploring them from within. Therefore, a team of scientists from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology takes several years working on a most original solution: sending a ball bug robot, filled with dandelion drones, to the caves. It sounds very strange, but it makes sense. Biomimetics to enter the tunnels. Professor Mostafa Hassanalian, from New Mexico Tech, has been working on this project for several years, but recently the topic has returned to the networks after he gave statements to space. In them he tells them, in broad strokes, the objective of his research. This is based on biomimetics. That is, in the development of technologies inspired by nature. Specifically, it aims to develop two types of drones: one inspired by scale insects and another that works like dandelion plants. The mealybug, known colloquially as a ball bug, can enter small places and protect its own body by shrinking into a ball. In this case it protects its interior, because it has hidden a lot of tiny robots that spread through the air like dandelion seeds. The problem. Mars is full of tunnels of volcanic origin. Some have been found extending up to 1,200 kilometers, with lava tubes more than 250 meters in diameter. They are not exactly small tunnels. The rovers currently on Mars, such as Curiosity either Perseverancethey do not have the ability to enter these tunnels. Therefore, if there is something interesting, we will not be able to know it until humans travel to the red planet. If what is there is dangerous, it is better to see it before entering. Methods are needed to see inside those tunnels. The solution. Hassanalian’s team has come up with two types of robots. On the one hand, the one that imitates the cochineal is a sphere that can be inserted through a hole dug in the ceiling of the tunnels. Once inside these, the ball opens, like a cochineal that stops turning into a ball, and releases its contents: thousands of small, very light drones, which can travel kilometers away thanks to the wind. Limitations overcome. These types of devices would encounter several obstacles, for which Hassanalian has already thought of a solution. The first would be that we have no idea if there will be enough wind inside the tunnels. We know that Mars can be very windy, reaching 100 kilometers per hour. However, the tunnels could be guarded. Therefore, this scientist plans to incorporate a fan in the main robot to help propel the mini dandelion drones. In addition, the holes that would be made in the ceiling to introduce the robot would help propel the little seeds. On the other hand, sunlight cannot access the interior of the tunnels, so they could not be powered by solar energy. This is solved using piezoelectricity. That is to say, materials that generate electricity when subjected to mechanical pressure. Multitude of sensors. The drones will be loaded with humidity and temperature sensors that will allow the internal conditions of the tunnels to be analyzed. In addition, they would also help map the conduits and make a plan of the Martian tunnel network. All of this would be sent to researchers via radio signals. At the moment, these two types of robots have not been built or tested, but the idea is very promising. With enough funding to make it happen, we would have a very ingenious solution to look into those blind spots on the red planet. And all thanks to an animal and a plant from our own planet. Image | MagnificentDave Huth | Nex México Tech. In Xataka | Elon Musk says it will take 1,000 Starships and 20 years to build the first sustainable city on Mars

We have stuffed the Gibraltar monkeys with Doritos. His solution has been to eat dirt as if it were omeprazole

On the Rock of Gibraltar, one of the most classic scenes that can be found without a doubt is that of the Barbary macaqueswho seem to be the absolute kings of the entire terrain. Here it is quite likely to see tourists end up stealing a piece of sandwich, chips or a sweet that they have in their hands, especially when the rules are not followed that are marked. But this, which may have its funny point, the truth is that it generates quite a few alterations in the animals, to the point of needing to eat dirt. It has been studied. That a macaque takes a bag of Doritos from a tourist and begins to eat it, among many other types of junk food, is something that has focused the attention of science. And it has reached such a point that it has materialized in a study published in Scientific Reports where numerous continuous episodes of geophagy have been documented among these primates. This is nothing more than the usual consumption of red soil, which is known as terra rossa, and even, in some specific groups, a strange mixture of dirt and tar. Its consequences. What at first glance may seem like simple animal curiosity is actually a survival mechanism, as researchers have found a statistical correlation between the consumption of this junk food, loaded with sugars, salt and dairy, and the frequency with which they eat the earth. In fact, the data shows that this practice increases in summer, when there are a greater number of tourists in the area, and decreases drastically when the influx of people and, therefore, the availability of junk food in the area decreases. Why do they do it? Here we must take into account that the stomachs of these macaques are not prepared for the junk and processed food that humans consume. This is why the earth can act as a gastric cushioning system and can be compared in our minds to a stomach protector. After a heavy meal, macaques use clay to purge themselves, absorb toxins and relieve the digestive discomfort caused by our diet. In addition to providing them with certain minerals that junk food lacks, scientists point out that swallowing dirt helps them try to rebalance an intestinal microbiome that has been altered by the excess of salt and sugar. A cultural tradition. The most interesting finding of this research is that eating dirt is not a mere isolated instinct, but has become an anthropogenically induced tradition of primates. That is to say, we are dealing with a behavior of social transmission, since the macaques learn from each other that eating dirt relieves the belly pain after stealing an ice cream from a tourist. This, logically, is a cultural component of self-medication that has arisen purely and exclusively due to the alteration of their environment at the hands of human beings, demonstrating the great capacity for adaptation that they can have to any situation that comes upon them. Images | wirestock 8photo In Xataka | We have been believing for 50 years that the Strait of Gibraltar was “closed” with an apocalyptic cataract. Now we have nuances

Cosplayers Carnival, stuffed blades and a crowded city

“We had to come,” Pedro and María tell me, who hope patiently in the crowded bus on the way to the Comic-within the distant Palace of Congresses of Malaga, half an hour from the city center. Crowded with Wolverine, Leias, Narutos and Wednesday Addamswe squeeze among the Malaga who usually take that bus every day at the same time, but with much less carnival on board. The vehicle no longer admits more passengers and the driver has to stand up to shout to the row of (very obvious) attending the Comic-with that stay on land because there are nothing but behind comes another bus that goes directly to the Palacio de Congresos. The disappointment faces are inevitable, but Better that they get used tobecause comic-with is 5% aspiration, 5% expiration, and the remaining 90%, queue. To access the halls of acts, to enter the Congress Palace itself, to get food or drink water and, inside the exhibitors zone, to buy in stores. And not everyone is happy with the management of queues, which as we have often explained in reference to the attraction parks, It’s an art. In any case, good humor prevails among most attendees, crowned by extravagant headdresses, rubber prostheses, impossible wigs Or, why not, very economical costumes bought of urgency in Aliexpress. That is, above all, lto Comic-Con Fiesta: A parade of disguised people, in tones and styles that are the most sophisticated to the most homemade, and that give a colorful and unique environment to the event. “I come from Galicia with my partner, it was he who introduced me to this world, although it was already something that was inside me, I like to disguise myself since I am little,” Patricia tells us, perfectly dressed in Wonder Woman. “It was a very important event, always in the United States and here for the first time, and had to come,” he tells us, almost repeating the words of Pedro and María. Rubén has also come for free, but in an almost more extreme key, wrapped in a sophisticated (but completely homemade) characterization of Vegeta, ‘Dragon Ball’: “I have always been interested in the cosplay, but it is my first time.” And he has also attended the margin of societies or tribes: “When the tickets came out, and since I didn’t want to accompany any friend, I came alone” It is a very particular mixture of ingredients, which allows to see Batman taking a picture with the protagonist of ‘Silksong‘, While the improbable meeting is enlivened by the frantic concert, at the blow of the Sid of Comodore 64, of Narcisound interpreting the oriental melodies of ‘The Last Ninja’. That clash of generations and interests is what gives life to an event like this. To buy That and the merchandising. The merchandise, which would say yogurt of ‘Spaceballs’ (wink for fans that already exceed quarantine): in the area of ​​tenderetes and blast we find stuffed animals of cats out of the darkest memes of the Internet, stickers of the ”K-Pop Demon Hunters‘, authentic katanas but skipped at 45 euros and, of course, the inevitable funkos. It was these collectible dolls that starred in one of the first controversies of the edition: collector specimens that were only sold in the event disappeared quickly, when a few buyers hired with all the specimens available after tail hours. This stands area is the most busy edition, and where they are mixed as an exquisite post-capitalist temptation the darkest hobbies of visitors and the merchandising more unlikely. But not everything were creep purchases: visitors also crowded to get on the motorcycle of ‘Tron Ares’ (sequel to which an exclusive advance will be seen in the next few days), to take a photo in front of a Colossal Bowser de Lego or to search in the video game drawers, in the occasional second -hand store. They were not the most extravagant positions: a bank promoted manipulation with the photos made in their own stand… that was located next to the Artist Alley, the area of ​​refuge and compadre of the cartoonists, who commented with suspicion the lack of forecast of the organization by locating the bank of the bank just there, next to the guild that with more fear contemplates the advent of the generative IAS. It is also part of the nature of the comic-with: a bite of essences that, very often, take to kill. Because, obviously, not everything is kawaii pink. Complaints about the tails, as we said above, have been constant Among those who have. approached to the Palacio de Congresos: they are the minimum common denominator of each corner of the event, as some visitors have discovered with disgust (a quick walk through The social networks of the Comic-Con It allows to take the pulse to discontent). This was expressed by Azahara, which has a couple of hours ahead to access the Funkos store: “I usually go to the Barcelona manga hall, and although so many people are not there, it is also a multudinary event, and it is much better organized. You make queues, but they are fluid, orderly queues.” Pedro and Maria also agreed: “The issue of queues is worse than normal, really.” It might seem that l30,000 visitors a day calculating the organization may have partially overwhelm the eventwhich has also received abundant complaints about the prices and shortage of food, at a critical hour in which they were generated … more queues. On the back bus, with the sun at half-mast communicating that it is fine for today of hobbies and sponsorships, the fatigue marks the disheveled (and unmasked) faces of Spider-Man and Deadpool, both with signs on the face of a battle much more bloody than those we see in Marvel movies. They have made more queues than the human body is willing to tolerate in one day. Header | Xataka In Xataka | 27 jewels of the European comic that are worth discovering

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