New Delhi: Sometime next week, the Earth will see a literal blast from the past in the form of a forgotten spacecraft. A 1972 Soviet-era spacecraft called Cosmos 482, which failed in its original mission to reach Venus, will come crashing down to the Earth between 7 and 13 May, according to NASA.
As the spacecraft was designed to survive Venus’ atmosphere, it is likely to also survive re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere and will crash onto the surface, NASA has said. However, it is too soon to determine exactly where it will land.
The interesting thing about Cosmos 482 is that it was named so in keeping with all Soviet era spacecraft that were in lower earth orbit. But its naming happened after it had already launched.
While initially it was meant to be a probe for Venus, it could never make it out of lower earth orbit because of a technical failure, meaning it was stuck there for the foreseeable future and so became just another of the Cosmos missions.
Parts of the spacecraft had also come apart and fell into a New Zealand farmer’s field in 1972. However, the Soviet Union had refused any ownership of the craft and had not retrieved the parts, some of which are still reported to be with the farmer.
Now, since the spacecraft’s orbit is decaying because of atmospheric drag and other gravitational anomalies, physicists predict it will soon make its way back to Earth, never having reached Venus.
First psychedelics test on patients with Parkinson’s
In a new study, scientists from University of California, San Francisco, used psychedelics on patients with a neurodegenerative disease like Parkinson’s for the first time.
The researchers wanted to see the effect of psychedelics or magic mushrooms on mood dysfunction in patients with Parkinson’s, because one of the compounds in mushrooms is psilocybin. They found the results as quite positive.
The compound has been known to work in reducing depression and anxiety, and some of the symptoms of mood changes in Parkinson’s are similar to that. Additionally, mood changes in Parkinson’s patients have previously been studied to not respond well to antidepressants, and scientists were looking for a solution.
The study, published in the peer-reviewed Nature journal last month, found that the participants, who took the psychedelic mushrooms showed significantly improved mood, even weeks after the drug was out of their system. They also did not show any harmful side-effects. Read more here.
Mix of restoration techniques better than just one to revive grasslands
A long-term ecological experiment running since 1989 shows how restoring a grassland needs a combined approach of a number of methods rather than just one.
There are several different conservation and restoration methods in ecology, like using less fertilisers, using diverse seed mixes, or using manure. However, through in-depth experiments using different combinations of all these methods and then measuring the results, UK-based scientists have realised that all are better than one.
Their study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications on 28 April and describes the experiment in a northern England meadow.
The reason these scientists suggest a diverse mix of methods for grassland restoration is that they realise the importance of grasslands not just for people, but also for nature and climate change.
The ecological field experiment that the scientists conducted for 36 years showed how to best improve soil health, plant yield, and increase carbon dioxide storage.
Body size & make-up of animals decides whether they become fossils or not
A study by researchers from University of Lausanne in Switzerland talks about what factors determine whether an animal can turn into a fossil or not. It reveals why some ancient animals fossilise while others disappear without a trace, and how it depends on the body size and chemical makeup of the animal.
The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications on 29 April.
In lab experiments, the scientists allowed various animals, such as shrimps, snails and starfish, to decompose under controlled conditions. They found that animals larger in size as well as those with more protein content quickly created environments with poor oxygen, which slows decay and promotes fossilisation.
In contrast, smaller and less protein-rich animals decomposed fast in oxygen-rich conditions. This helps explain how even animals buried side by side can meet different fates depending on their biology. Read more here.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)