NASA’s Mission 2026: Set up lunar time zone that could prove ‘foundational’ for future exploration

ScientiFix, our weekly feature, offers you a summary of the top global science stories of the week, with links to their sources.

A view of Copernicus crater on the Moon | Representational image | NASA

New Delhi: The White House Tuesday issued a historic directive to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) — create a new time zone for the Moon called, Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC), by 2026. The move can have a significant impact when trying to synchronise space operations.

Due to the Moon’s weaker gravitational pull, time progresses slightly faster when compared to Earth, resulting in a difference of 58.7 microseconds each day. 

In the face of new lunar missions planned in the coming decades, including India’s mission to send humans to the Moon, the new Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC) would be “foundational,” said the US government’s memo. 

The new time zone would not only help in collaboration between different countries interested in lunar missions but also enable better interaction between Earth-bound and space-bound actors during cislunar activity. 

Along with NASA, the United States Departments of Commerce, Defence, State, and Transportation will also help devise the new standardised time zone. Read more. 

Cell extrusion & asthma

Scientists from King’s College London have unveiled a potential game-changer in the battle against asthma. 

Their latest peer-reviewed study, featured in the Science journal on 4 April, reveals that gadolinium, a chemical compound, prevents cell extrusion in the lungs, which is the main feature of an asthma attack. 

Traditionally viewed as an inflammatory condition, asthma treatments have historically focused on soothing inflammation and easing symptoms. 

Yet, this innovative research suggests that these approaches merely address the aftermath of an asthma attack, not the cause. 

By targeting cell extrusion — the process where epithelial cells perish during an attack — this study paves the way for a revolutionary approach to asthma treatment, one that could prevent most of the damage done by an asthma attack when it occurs. Read more.

Bacteria that grows plastic-free leather

Imperial College London’s latest foray into sustainable fashion is turning heads with its creation of self-tinting, plant-based leather. Detailed in a Nature Biotechnology article on 2 April, this innovative material is not only plastic-free but also capable of colouring itself. 

Vegan leather, as it is commonly known, is grown using plant-based sources. The researchers have genetically engineered bacterial cellulose to grow leather as well as produce the black-pigmented substance eumelanin. 

Researchers have found that bacterial cellulose doesn’t need harmful chemicals for production and will break down naturally without polluting the environment. 

For the first time, scientists have engineered bacteria that can do two things at once — grow eco-friendly textiles and create their own colour. This is a big step forward from previous methods that only used microbes for one task or the other.

This self-dyeing leather was grown in the shape of a shoe and a wallet prototype to show how environmentally sustainable the production was. Additionally, researchers also showed that the bacteria can be genetically modified to dye itself into other colours as well. 

This study contributes towards the future of green, environment-friendly textiles. Read more.

Can ‘smart’ robots have herd mentality?   

At the University of Texas in Austin, a team of researchers has embarked on an intriguing project — programming a fleet of diminutive robots to mimic the collective intelligence often observed in animal groups. 

Just as fish and cattle benefit from collective actions, these ‘smart’ robots are being designed to work together, pooling their artificial intelligence to perform tasks more efficiently than they ever could alone.

The Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering’s latest peer-reviewed study, published in the Science Advances journal on 3 April, details how these robots are learning to interact socially and respond to their environment in unison, much like a school of fish. 

This research could prove very helpful in robotics and also help in improving targeted drug delivery forces in medicine. Read more.

(Edited by Richa Mishra)