Europe's JUICE probe will use double gravity flyby to reach Jupiter, researchers reveal asteroid that killed dinosaurs formed outside of solar system, liquid metal technology revolutionizes transparent electronic circuit printing

Europe's JUICE probe will use double gravity flyby to reach Jupiter, researchers reveal asteroid that killed dinosaurs formed outside of solar system, liquid metal technology revolutionizes transparent electronic circuit printingHere are some of the top stories featured on prominent science websites on Friday, August 16th:Europe's JUICE probe will use double gravity flyby to reach JupiterThe European Space Agency's (ESA) Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) will swing past the Moon and Earth on its journey to deep space, as part of a daring and unprecedented double gravity assist maneuver. JUICE's eight-year journey will eventually take it to three of Jupiter's moons

Europe's JUICE probe will use double gravity flyby to reach Jupiter, researchers reveal asteroid that killed dinosaurs formed outside of solar system, liquid metal technology revolutionizes transparent electronic circuit printing

Here are some of the top stories featured on prominent science websites on Friday, August 16th:

Europe's JUICE probe will use double gravity flyby to reach Jupiter

The European Space Agency's (ESA) Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) will swing past the Moon and Earth on its journey to deep space, as part of a daring and unprecedented double gravity assist maneuver. JUICE's eight-year journey will eventually take it to three of Jupiter's moons. The spacecraft will use the gravity of Earth, the Moon, and Venus to minimize fuel consumption and reach Jupiter. On August 19th and 20th, JUICE will make a rapid series of flybys of the Moon and Earth, performing the first-ever double gravity assist maneuver.

First, JUICE will arrive at the Moon, using its gravity to slow down and change course. Then, it will fly past Earth a day later, further tweaking its speed and direction. Usually, when a spacecraft flies past Earth, the gravitational pull of the Moon is seen as a disturbance. But it can be harnessed to save fuel. The Moon gravity assist technique, coupled with the launch timing in April last year, will allow JUICE to save enough fuel to enable it to orbit Ganymede, Jupiters moon, at a distance of 200 km at the end of its mission in 2035.

The double gravity assist maneuver carries some risk, since each flyby amplifies any errors in the spacecrafts trajectory. However, performing such a maneuver close to Earth offers a good opportunity to test whether JUICEs scientific instruments are working as designed. JUICEs roundabout route is carefully designed. The Earth-Moon flyby will slow down JUICE and alter its course, setting it on a shortcut toward Venus. JUICE will pick up speed during a flyby of Venus, and two gravity assists from Earth in 2026 and 2029 will finally propel the probe toward Jupiter.

The Chicxulub impactor that killed the dinosaurs formed in the outer solar system

Geochemical evidence from the Chicxulub impact site in Mexico indicates that the object that struck Earth 66 million years ago, triggering the extinction of the dinosaurs, was an object that originally formed beyond Jupiters orbit, an event that has been attributed to the series of events that led to the birth of our solar system. The findings, published recently in the journal Science, suggest that the mass extinction was triggered by events that took place during the birth of the solar system.

Scientists have long suspected that the Chicxulub impactor came from the outer solar system, and the findings support this hypothesis. The Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event (K-Pg), also known as the K-T extinction, is one of the five major extinction events that have occurred in the past 540 million years, a period in which life was flourishing on Earth. The event led to the extinction of more than 60% of life on Earth, including all non-avian dinosaurs.

Since 1980, mounting evidence has pointed to a city-sized object striking Earth as the cause of the K-Pg extinction. Such an impact would have thrown vast quantities of sulfur, dust, and soot into the air, blocking out the sun and causing temperatures to plummet. In the 1990s, scientists found the impact site, a giant underground crater near Chicxulub in Mexicos Yucatn Peninsula.

To pinpoint the source of the impactor, a team of researchers at the University of Cologne in Germany collected rock samples from three locations in the Chicxulub impact crater and compared them to samples from eight other impact craters that occurred over the past 3.5 billion years. The team focused on isotopes of the metal ruthenium. The researchers said that ruthenium is extremely rare in Earths rocks, so samples collected from the impact site can provide a pure fingerprint of the impactor. Ruthenium has seven stable isotopes, and different celestial bodies have their own unique isotopic compositions. In particular, observations of ruthenium isotopes can help researchers distinguish between objects that formed outside of the solar system (beyond Jupiters orbit) and those that originated inside the solar system.

The study found that the ruthenium isotopes in the Chicxulub impactor closely matched those from carbonaceous asteroids from the outer solar system, but not those from silicate asteroids from within the solar system. The ruthenium isotopes also lend support to another hypothesis that the Chicxulub impactor was a comet, rather than an asteroid.

Liquid metal revolutionizes transparent electronic circuit printing

Scientists have developed a breakthrough technology that enables the printing of metal oxide films at room temperature, leading to the creation of transparent, highly conductive circuits that can withstand extreme temperatures. Researchers at North Carolina State University in the US and Pohang University of Science and Technology in South Korea demonstrated a technique for printing metal oxide films at room temperature, using it to create transparent, highly conductive circuits that are both robust and able to function at high temperatures.

Metal oxides are an important class of materials present in virtually every electronic device. Most metal oxides are electrically insulating (like glass), but some are both conductive and transparent, which is crucial for touchscreens on smartphones or computer displays. The researchers said that, in principle, metal oxide films should be easy to make. After all, they form naturally on the surface of almost every metal object in our houses, such as soda cans, stainless steel pots, and forks. However, despite their ubiquity, their utility is limited because they cannot be peeled off the metal surface from which they form.

To achieve the technology, the researchers developed a new way to separate metal oxide films from a liquid metal meniscus. A meniscus is the curved surface of a liquid that extends beyond the edge of a tube that contains the liquid. It is curved because surface tension prevents the liquid from completely overflowing. In the case of liquid metals, the meniscuss surface is covered by a thin skin of metal oxide that forms wherever the liquid metal comes into contact with air.

The researchers demonstrated the technique with several liquid metals and metal alloys, each of which altered the composition of the metal oxide film. They were also able to layer the film by using the printer multiple times. Surprisingly, not only are these printed films transparent, but they also exhibit metallic properties and extremely high electrical conductivity.

New method dramatically increases the speed and efficiency of COF membrane production

A research team at New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) has developed a new method for synthesizing and fine-tuning a novel type of membrane using microwave technology, making it easier to effectively purify various pollutants from water. The technology synthesizes the membrane in just minutes, making it one of the fastest methods of producing covalent organic framework (COF) membranes.

These membranes act as filters in devices designed to clean contaminated water from specific pollutants, allowing them to be reused in a range of applications efficient wastewater treatment is paramount as the world faces increasing water scarcity. The novel dual-faced membrane is characterized by its unique superhydrophilic and nearly hydrophobic surfaces, enabling effective removal of pollutants such as oil and dyes from water. This dual functionality not only enhances the filtration process but also endows the membrane with strong antibacterial properties, crucial for its long-term use and effectiveness.

The findings, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, represent a significant breakthrough in synthesizing high-quality, crystalline, free-standing COF membranes. Our method not only simplifies the production process but also enhances the separation capabilities of the membrane, providing a promising solution for global water purification challenges, the researchers said.

Smart soft robotic clothing: Effectively regulates temperature without energy consumption

With the increasing severity of global warming, people are increasingly exposed to extreme heat. For those working indoors or outdoors in high-temperature environments, maintaining a comfortable body temperature is particularly important. Led by Dr. Shou Da-Hua, a Young Scholar of Advanced Textile Technology at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, a research team has developed a thermal insulation and breathable smart soft robotic garment that can automatically adapt to changing ambient temperatures, helping to ensure worker safety in high-temperature environments. Their findings were published in AdvancedScience, an international interdisciplinary journal.

Thermal protective clothing is essential for protecting individuals in extreme high-temperature environments. However, conventional thermal protective clothing suffers from the limitation of static thermal resistance, which can lead to overheating and discomfort at normal temperatures, while its thermal insulation performance may be insufficient in extreme fire and other high-temperature environments. To address this challenge, Shou Da-Hua and his team developed smart soft robotic clothing that can automatically regulate temperature and thermal insulation in hot environments, providing superior personal protection and comfort over a range of temperatures.

Inspired by biomimetics in nature, such as the adaptive thermal regulation mechanism of pigeons, which is mainly based on structural changes, the team developed the protective clothing using soft robotics textiles for dynamic self-adaptive thermal management. Soft actuators are designed as a body mesh exoskeleton that encapsulates a non-toxic, non-flammable, low-boiling-point liquid, cleverly embedded in the clothing. This unique soft robotic textile is made of thermoplastic polyurethane, which is soft, flexible, and durable. Notably, it is lighter than shape-memory alloys and exhibits excellent flexibility and thermal sensitivity.