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Wind-powered robot could enable long-term exploration of hostile environments

Researchers at Cranfield University have created WANDER-bot, a low-cost, 3D-printed robot that is powered by wind energy. Designed to spend long durations in hostile, windy environments such as certain deserts, polar regions or even other planets, WANDER-bot doesn’t need a battery to power movement, enabling longer operations without having to pause and recharge.

Movement accounts for around 20% of battery use in most robots, so running on natural energy makes WANDER-bot an efficient solution for long-term exploration or mapping of unknown terrains. As a result, any electronic elements added to future versions for data collection or transmission purposes could have their own smaller, lighter power source. Using natural energy also counters the issue of performance degradation over time in traditional power sources, such as solar cells and radioisotope thermoelectric generators.

Designed by Dr. Saurabh Upadhyay and Sam Kurian, Research Associate in Space Engineering, the robot uses parts that are entirely 3D printed, with the design deliberately simple to allow for quick repair and replacement. This means that, in theory, you could print and construct WANDER-bot anywhere and make replacement parts in situ as needed, removing the need for time-consuming and costly resupply missions.

Researchers uncover gut-liver serotonin pathway that limits nanoparticle and viral delivery

A new study has for the first time elucidated the gut-liver immune regulatory axis jointly maintained by intestinal commensal bacteria and the intestinal endocrine system, and uncovered the fundamental mechanism underlying the body’s nonspecific clearance of drug delivery carriers. It provides a universal solution to the core problem plaguing the delivery field for decades, significantly improves the delivery efficiency and therapeutic effect of tumor-targeted therapy, mRNA therapy, gene editing and other treatments, and blazes a new trail for the clinical translation of biomedical delivery technologies.

The research team led by Professors Wang Yucai, Zhu Shu and Jiang Wei from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) published their research paper titled “Commensal-driven serotonin production modulates in vivo delivery of synthetic and viral vectors” in Science on March 19.

What Happens When A Black Hole Dies and the End of the Universe

An exploration of the question of what happens when a back hole evaporates and ultimately what that means for the end of the universe, and what that end might be like.

My Patreon Page:

/ johnmichaelgodier.

My Event Horizon Channel:

/ eventhorizonshow.

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Cullin–RING receptors in rare disease biology

The researchers present the first integrative catalogue of 267 cullin–RING substrate receptors, of which 93 are linked to germline disorders.

The most frequent substrate receptor (SR)-related diseases are neurodevelopmental, neuromuscular, and congenital organ/skeletal syndromes.

Disease associations are shaped by substrate context rather than tissue enriched expression.

Pathogenicity arises through altered degron recognition, disrupted complex assembly, dosage imbalance, or ubiquitin–proteasome system-independent functions.

Distinct variants in the same SR can yield divergent phenotypes, reflecting dosage sensitivity and developmental context.

Patient alleles inform diagnosis and therapeutic strategies, positioning SRs as central nodes connecting proteostasis, rare-disease genetics, and targeted protein degradation. sciencenewshighlights ScienceMission https://sciencemission.com/Cullin%E2%80%93RING-receptors

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A Minority of Desert Cyanobacteria and Algae Is Responsible for the Bulk of CO2 Fixation

Cyanobacteria and algae are the major photosynthetic organisms in deserts because they survive desiccation, high solar radiation and extreme temperature fluctuations better than other plants. Under favourable conditions, desert cyanobacteria and algae evidently photosynthesise. However, our understanding of whether each group modulates this metabolic process in response to preceding harsh conditions remains limited. To find out the effect of aridity on the photosynthetic activity of desert cyanobacteria and algae, we compared their cellular biovolume-specific carbon dioxide (CO2) fixation in the hyper-arid and arid regions of a typical hot desert—the central Negev Desert. We found that the biovolume-specific CO2 fixation of both cyanobacteria and algae was highly variable rather than being constant.

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