Nearly 70 years after the launch of the first satellite‚ we still have more questions than answers about space. But a team of Berkeley researchers is on a mission to change this with a proposal to build a fleet of low-cost‚ autonomous spacecraft‚ each weighing only 10 grams and propelled by nothing more than the pressure of solar radiation. These miniaturized solar sails could potentially visit thousands of near-Earth asteroids and comets‚ capturing high-resolution images and collecting samples.

A collaborative research effort by Professor Hirohide Saito in the Department of Life Science Frontiers‚ CiRA‚ Kyoto University‚ and Professor Michiaki Hamada of Waseda University has developed the world's first deep generative model for RNA design. Their paper is published in the journal Nature Methods.

One way that cells communicate with one another is through the secretion and uptake of extracellular vesicles (EVs). EVs convey a multitude of cargoes‚ including proteins‚ lipids and nucleic acids. Their uptake affects the function of recipient cells by influencing signaling processes and gene expression.

Bacteria have an immune system that protects them against viruses known as bacteriophages. A research team from the Universities of Tübingen and Würzburg has now shown how this immune system enhances the effect of specific antibiotics against the cholera pathogen Vibrio cholerae.

Bacteria of the genus Shigella‚ closely related to the well-known Escherichia coli‚ are the second most common cause of fatal bacterial diarrheal diseases‚ with over 200‚000 victims worldwide every year. There are repeated outbreaks of strains that are resistant to common antibiotics.

Researchers from the School of Biomedical Engineering &; Imaging Sciences have published a new study exploring the use of positron emission particle tracking (PEPT) in a living subject for the first time.

For the first time at the moon‚ a laser beam was transmitted and reflected between an orbiting NASA spacecraft and an Oreo-sized device on ISRO's (Indian Space Research Organization) Vikram lander on the lunar surface. The successful experiment opens the door to a new style of precisely locating targets on the moon's surface.

With the support of electrical transport and magnetic measurement systems of Steady High Magnetic Field Facility (SHMFF)‚ a research team from Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS)‚ Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)‚ discovered a new superconducting material called (InSe2)xNbSe2‚ which possesses a unique lattice structure. The superconducting transition temperature of this material reaches 11.6 K‚ making it the transition metal sulfide superconductor with the highest transition temperature under ambient pressure.

Japan's space agency said early Saturday that its spacecraft is on the moon‚ but is still "checking its status." More details will be given at a news conference‚ officials said.

Even if global warming were to stop completely‚ the volume of ice in the European Alps would fall by 34% by 2050. If the trend observed over the last 20 years continues at the same rate‚ however‚ almost half the volume of ice will be lost as has been demonstrated by scientists from the University of Lausanne (UNIL‚ Switzerland) in a new international study.