麻豆传媒

If sitting cross-legged is unhealthy, why is it so comfortable? Part 2

Unravelling the confusion between sitting with legs crossed and cross-legged

Common frog (Rana temporaria) sheltering from rain under toadstool (Macrolepiota procera) the Netherlands

This week鈥檚 new questions

The truth about a truth study that was untruthful

Tom Gauld’s highlights of the physicists versus wizards summer games

Twisteddoodles: ‘What should we use to make science more fun?’

an explosion of colored particles on a dark background, composition on the theme of science, molecular physics, space and a festive background

How does a photon know to travel at the speed of light?

KMXN2B Beautiful fun happy smiling African American couple wearing white shirts laying in grass, faces of woman and man next to eachother in opposite

Why do humans show their teeth to signal friendship or mirth?

2D6CTBM Wedding candy bar with different colored bright cupcakes, macaroons, cakes, jelly and fruits.

This week鈥檚 new questions

AHF347_004_S1 The team behind the "umbrella-like" deployable heat shield design called ADEPT, or the Adaptable, Deployable, Entry and Placement Technology, is testing out a new material to deliver science payloads on future missions to Mars and beyond. Called Spiderweave, the new woven fabric will make it safer for larger vehicles to safely pass through the atmosphere of more distant locations. It can also be packed up at launch and stored in a compact space. When sending science to other worlds, saving space and enabling safer atmospheric entries are top priorities. ADEPT could help achieve both of these goals. Previous ADEPT heat shield iterations involved stitching together individual panels to comprise the heat shield. But engineers found that could often lead to points of increased stress and other discontinuities within the material. Spiderweave uses a new design architecture where materials are continuously woven into the heat shield?s fabric, avoiding these issues. This summer, Spiderweave was put to the test in the arc jet facilities at NASA?s Ames Research Center in California?s Silicon Valley, where the ADEPT team observed how the material held up when exposed to temperatures above 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Those extreme temperatures mimic the conditions a vehicle experiences when entering a planetary atmosphere. Building on the previous work of the ADEPT project, including a sounding rocket flight test in 2018, supported by NASA?s Flight Opportunities program, where the heat shield was deployed in space and safely returned to Earth, the Spiderweave material is making science possible on worlds both near and far. ADEPT is funded by the Game Changing Development program within NASA?s Space Technology Mission Directorate, with support from the Flight Opportunities program. The textile company Bally Ribbon Mills developed the Spiderweave Material as a part of NASA?s Small Business Innovation Research program.

Technology

NASA tests a new heat shield featuring Spiderweave

Young women preparing and canning fresh homemade strawberry jam, she pouring him into a jar

How to make delicious jam according to science

We all love home-made jam, but getting it right means grappling with the chemistry of pectin, says Sam Wong

Humans

Could we grow endangered plants on other planets? No

Tom Gauld: Do you ever feel like we’re being observed?

Twisteddoodles: When a TV show character does science…

Life

Spiralling school of jack fish image takes photography prize