Science Saturday 01/26

Welcome to Science Saturday. Let’s Begin:

Science Magazine: RIP Opportunity (Probably)

Massive dust storms in 2018 blocked out the sun over NASA’s Opportunity rover, limiting the rover’s solar cell output, and draining the batteries. It also likely coated the solar cells with dust, so that they have not produced power for the rover, even though the atmosphere is now clear. Scientists at NASA were hoping that the windy season might clear the panels off, but it now seems unlikely that this will happen. Opportunity has been on Mars for 15 years. The mission was meant to last for 90 days.

 

NPR: Non-GMO people don’t know what they’re talking about

People who most intensely oppose genetically modified food think they know a lot about food science, but actually know the least, according to a peer-reviewed paper published in January in the journal Nature Human Behaviour. This isn’t all that surprising to me, given that basically everything we eat is GMO, and most people just don’t know it. Consider the example below:

 

Science Magazine: A Tale of Two Auroras

Scientists and amateur enthusiasts alike have long been aware that the Northern and Southern Lights are not identical, despite the fact that they result from the same effect from the same solar winds. Now researchers have figured out why. It turns out that when solar wind approaches Earth from an east-west direction, it creates uneven pressure on Earth’s magnetotail and tilts it toward the side of the planet shrouded in darkness. That tilt causes the idiosyncrasies of shape and location of the northern and southern lights

ScienceDaily: Soft Robots

Researchers have made the first soft robot mimicking plant tendrils: it is able to curl and climb, using the same physical principles determining water transport in plants. In the future this tendril-like soft robot could inspire the development of wearable devices, such as soft braces, able to actively morph their shape.

 

ScienceDaily: Nor’Easters Aren’t Going Anywhere

A recent study by the National Center for Atmospheric Research, has concluded that although the U.S. will likely see less snowfall overall in the next century due to climate change, the Northeast will probably still be getting pounded by nor’easters for some time to come. If you’re like me and love snow and crazy weather patterns, this isn’t necessarily bad news, but I’m probably in the minority here.