Chapter 2

[So you're not heading to Artemis] Artemis is the name of the permanent base on the back side of the Moon. Artemis was one of the most widely venerated of the Ancient Greek deities. Her symbols included the golden bow and arrow, the hunting dog, the stag, and the moon.

hydraulic accelerators
Hydraulic accelerators are similar to the aircraft catapults used for launching airplanes from aircraft carriers.

[the main rockets engage] This Plane Will Take You Anywhere In The World In 4 Hours, December 16, 2014 | by Justine Alford: The aircraft that British aerospace firm Reaction Engines is currently working on. Their new engine system will allow passengers to travel anywhere in the world in just four hours. Yes, you could get from New York to Hong Kong, or London to Sydney, in just four hours. Oh, and the engine will also allow crafts to fly in outer space, too. The new system that the firm is working on is called SABRE, which is a jet engine that also doubles as a rocket engine. http://www.iflscience.com/technology/plane-will-take-you-anywhere-world-4-hours

Astronauts experience high blood pressure during takeoff and re-entry. High g-forces make the heart work extra hard to circulate blood, especially to the brain, which can cause unconsciousness.

[Swiss cleaner spacecraft] Giant 'Pac-Man' Spacecraft Could Devour Space Litter, July 8, 2015 | by Morenike Adebayo: Swiss researchers at the E. coli Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Lausanne, Switzerland, may have the answer. These researchers have been developing ways to safely and efficiently monitor, collect and destroy satellites that aren't in use anymore and aren't heading back to Earth. http://www.iflscience.com/space/giant-pac-man-spacecraft-could-devour-all-space-litter

"Back To The Future" Spacecraft Turns Orbital Junk Into Fuel, December 7, 2015 | by Jonathan O'Callaghan: In this new solution to the problem, a spacecraft would turn debris into a plasma of positive ions and electrons by heating it to a high temperature, reports MIT Technology Review. To create this plasma, the spacecraft would sweep up debris in a net, focusing on debris smaller than 10 centimeters (4 inches) in size. A rotating cylinder then grinds the debris into a powder, which is heated, and the ions of which are passed through a powerful electric field, generating thrust. http://www.iflscience.com/space/back-future-spacecraft-turns-orbital-junk-fuel

[I thought they only buried people up here?] You Can Now Send Your Remains To The Moon, August 25, 2015 | by Caroline Reid: Elysium Space, which specializes in memorial spaceflights, will be setting up the first ever lunar memorial service. It will give anyone willing to pay almost $12,000 (£7,600) the opportunity to have a small portion of their remains sent to the Moon in a little box and left there, eternally watching over the Earth. The first 50 participants will receive a $2000 (£1,270) discount, so be quick if you want to secure a bargain price spot. http://www.iflscience.com/space/you-can-now-send-your-remains-moon

[that section of the moon was claimed] You Can Now Officially Own Resources Extracted From Asteroids, November 11, 2015 | by Jonathan O'Callaghan: The legalities of space mining have previously been somewhat of a minefield (sorry). Several companies have announced ambitions to bring chunks of asteroids back to Earth, selling their metals onto the market, but under the 1967 Outer Space Treaty it had seemed that they weren't allowed to actually own any resources they extracted. "Outer space is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means," the treaty famously states. But what does that really mean? Well, the ambiguity is now gone, in the U.S. at least. The Senate has just passed a bill stating that any company that can actually get to an asteroid is free to take and own whatever resources it can grab. This new legislation supersedes existing international law for U.S. companies - including the Outer Space Treaty. http://www.iflscience.com/space/you-are-now-free-mine-asteroids-your-hearts-content

[Moonscape] Moonscape is my own created name. Who Owns The Moon?, October 20, 2014 | by Saskia Vermeylen: Whether you're into mining, energy or tourism, there are lots of reasons to explore space. Some "pioneers" even believe humanity's survival depends on colonizing celestial bodies such as the moon and Mars, both becoming central hubs for our further journey into the cosmos. Lunar land peddlers have started doing deals already - a one-acre plot can be yours for just £16.75. http://www.iflscience.com/space/who-owns-moon

Gives Solar Flare year 2067 while they are between Earth and Mars

The sun is more active
Slumbering Sun should wake up this year https://ca.news.yahoo.com/slumbering-sun-wake-134357020.html

28 years per eruption
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2006/10mar_stormwarning/

[coronal mass ejection] Solar flares affect all layers of the solar atmosphere (photosphere, chromosphere, and corona), heating plasma to tens of millions of Kelvin and accelerating electrons, protons, and heavier ions to near the speed of light. They produce radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum at all wavelengths, from radio waves to gamma rays. Most flares occur in active regions around sunspots, where intense magnetic fields penetrate the photosphere to link the corona to the solar interior. Flares are powered by the sudden (timescales of minutes to tens of minutes) release of magnetic energy stored in the corona. If a solar flare is exceptionally powerful, it can cause a coronal mass ejection. A solar flare is a large explosion in the Sun's atmosphere that can release as much as 6 × 1025 joules of energy[1] (about a sixth of the total energy output of the Sun each second). The term is also used to refer to similar phenomena in other stars, where the term stellar flare applies

[since the Russians and Chinese] Russian Company Announces It Is Planning To Build A Lunar Base, January 4, 2015 | by Justine Alford: A private Russian company has announced that it already has the resources and capabilities to build its own manned lunar base, and wants to start making it happen. The company, Lin Industrial, estimates that establishing the base will cost less than $10 billion in total and take around 10 years to construct. The first phase will involve building a lunar outpost, which will be manned by two crew members, followed by a second-stage facility that will house four more crew. Lin Industrial has picked the Moon's South Pole as the location for the settlement. The chosen spot is a flat area near to Malapert Mountain which has the Earth in direct sight, providing good conditions for both communications and landing. "The Sun is shining for 89% of the day on the mount," http://www.iflscience.com/space/russian-company-announces-it-planning-build-lunar-base

China Wants To Build A Lunar Base On The Far Side Of The Moon, July 20, 2015 | by Jonathan O'Callaghan: China is planning to land a spacecraft on the far side of the Moon in 2018 or 2019, albeit with an unmanned lander and rover, by becoming the first nation to land on the far side of the moon - and they want it to be a stepping stone to eventually having a manned lunar base on the surface. http://www.iflscience.com/china-wants-land-moons-far-side-first-time-and-build-lunar-base

[exhausted the supply at the South Pole] Moon mining: The 21^st century gold rush. By: Stephanie Orford For Metro Published on Mon Mar 17 2014: Satellite imaging has shown that the top 10 centimeters (4 inches) of regolith (moon soil) at the South Pole of the moon appears to hold about 100 times the concentration of gold of the richest mines in the world. This is according to a recent paper co-authored by Dale Boucher, the CEO of Deltion Innovations based in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. http://www.metronews.ca/news/world/2014/03/17/mining-the-moon-the-21st-century-gold-rush.html

[Artemis Lunar Base] European Space Agency Plans To Build Moon Village By 2030, January 4, 2016 | by Alfredo Carpineti: However, the European Space Agency (ESA) wants to do more than just go back, and has presented its plan to construct a "Moon Village." The habitat would be 3D printed directly on the Moon using lunar soil and will be assembled by robots. The plan is to send a cylindrical structure to the Moon, and once landed a weight-bearing dome will inflate from this cylinder. The dome will be the central structure of the system. The Moon's soil will then be used to construct a protective shell around the dome, which will shield the astronauts from the dangerous background radiation. In 2013, the consortium demonstrated that it is possible to use lunar regolith to 3D-print a structure: Using simulated lunar soil (made from the basaltic rock of an Italian volcano) they built a 1.5 tonnes (1.65 tons) block. The Moon Village would be built around the lunar south pole, where there is near-perpetual sunlight on the horizon. Possible sites will be explored by a 2020 lander mission from ESA and the Russian space agency, Roscosmos. http://www.iflscience.com/space/esa-build-moon-village-2030

[It was built almost thirty years ago] ESA Reveals Its Plans To Build A "Moon Village" In 20 Years Time, March 25, 2016 | by Tom Hale: Almost 50 years since we first stepped foot on the Moon, humanity looks like it could be on the verge of its grandest space adventure yet, by setting up a "Moon village." Along with the help of the world's other spacefaring nations, the European Space Agency (ESA) has ambitious plans to start establishing a Moon village in the next 20 years. Part of this idea is to establish a base for scientific research, a bit like how the International Space Station currently functions. However, there's also talk of using the village for purposes such as mining and even as a tourist holiday destination. http://www.iflscience.com/space/esa-reveal-their-plans-build-moon-village-20-years-time

Helium-3
Metro Paper, March 16, 2014: Moon mining: The 21^st century gold rush. Over billions of years, solar winds have embedded helium-3 into the top 10 centimeters (4 inches) of the moon's soil. Helium-3 could provide the first-ever fuel for nuclear-energy production that doesn't pose a risk of radiation.

nuclear fusion reactor
You Can Get Cautiously Excited About This Fusion Power "Breakthrough", August 11, 2015 | by Jonathan O'Callaghan: Now a team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) thinks we might finally have a reason to get excited, although we should still err on the side of cautious optimism. Using a new type of superconductor, they say they can reduce the size of a potential fusion reactor while drastically increasing its power output. "It changes the whole thing," Dennis Whyte, a professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering and director of MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center, said in a statement. Quite. http://www.iflscience.com/physics/lets-all-get-cautiously-excited-about-fusion-power-breakthrough

Germany Just Successfully Fired Up A Nuclear Fusion Reactor, December 11, 2015 | by Robin Andrews: Controlled nuclear fusion - a clean, near-perpetual source of energy - would revolutionize the world. In recent years, significant steps on the path to a fully operational, efficient fusion reactor have been made, and this week another milestone has been reached: German engineers from the Max Planck Institute have successfully fired up their nuclear fusion reactor, announcing that they have managed to suspend plasma for the first time. http://www.iflscience.com/technology/germany-just-successfully-fired-their-nuclear-fusion-reactor

[The Chinese do too] China Claims New Breakthrough In Nuclear Fusion, February 9, 2016 | by Alfredo Carpineti: The Chinese team from the Hefei Institute of Physical Science were able to produce hydrogen plasma at 50 million Kelvin (49.999 million degrees Celsius, 89.999 million degrees Fahrenheit) and held it for an incredible 102 seconds. If the success is confirmed, it will be the longest sustained fusion reaction. The Chinese lab performed the experiment in the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), a donut-shaped nuclear fusion reactor that was invented by Soviet scientists. The tokamak is the most common design for a nuclear fusion reactor, and EAST is one of the precursors of ITER, a full-scale nuclear fusion power plant currently being built in France. ITER is funded by an international collaboration of countries. For comparison, the Wendelstein 7-X (W7X) stellarator last week was able to heat a cloud of hydrogen plasma to a temperature of about 80 million Kelvin and the reaction lasted for about 0.25 seconds. The German team believes now that the proof-of-concept tests are completed, they will be able to produce continuous fusion for up to 30 minutes. http://www.iflscience.com/physics/china-claims-new-breakthrough-nuclear-fusion

[3-D printed] Planetary Resources 3D Print An Alien Material, January 12, 2016 | by Robin Andrews: Using a meteorite that landed in Campo Del Cielo, Argentina, a decorative object has been made out of it, essentially a 3D Planetary Resources logo. The partnership with 3D Systems has resulted in the first-ever direct metal print from asteroid-derived metals. Explaining the motivation behind the 3D printing to Engadget, Lewicki said: "Instead of manufacturing something in an Earth factory and putting it on a rocket and shipping it to space, what if we put a 3D printer into space and everything we printed with it we got from space? There are billions and billions of tons of this material in space." http://www.iflscience.com/technology/literally-out-world-3d-printing-demonstrated-planetary-resources

[Chinese base Chang'e Cūn] China Releases Hundreds Of HD Images From Its Lunar Rover And Lander, February 2, 2016 | by Jonathan O'Callaghan: On December 14, 2013, China's Yutu lunar lander and rover, also known as "Jade Rabbit," touched down on the surface of the Moon, the first landing on the Moon since the Soviet Union's Luna 24 in 1976. And now, China has released hundreds of high-resolution images from the successful mission, revealing stunning views of the lunar surface. http://www.iflscience.com/space/china-releases-hundreds-images-its-moon-mission

China Plans To Land The First Probe On The Far Side Of The Moon By 2018, January 15, 2016 | by Tom Hale: http://www.iflscience.com/space/china-aims-visit-far-side-moon-2018

[Sergei Industrial Centre] Russia Announces Plans To Send Humans Back To The Moon, October 29, 2015 | by Jonathan O'Callaghan: "A manned flight to the Moon and lunar landing is planned for 2029," Vladimir Solntsev, head of Roscosmos Energia (RSC Energia), said in an announcement on Tuesday, reported Russia Today. Details for this mission are few and far between, though. Russia is apparently working on a new spacecraft for the endeavor, but the exact logistics of how it would all work are not known. A flight of this spacecraft is planned for 2021, followed by a flight to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2023 and an unmanned Moon mission in 2025. The ISS is due to be retired around 2024, and Russia has said previously that it may consider building a new space station, with or without NASA. A separate robotic mission, called Luna 25, is planned with ESA for 2024, which will touch down on the Moon's South Pole-Aitken crater on the far side. http://www.iflscience.com/space/russia-wants-send-humans-back-moon-2029

[the Moon's tidal faults] Earth's Gravitational Pull Cracks Open the Moon, By Charles Q. Choi | SPACE.com - Mon, 12 Oct, 2015: Just as the moon's gravitational pull causes seas and lakes to rise and fall as tides on Earth, the Earth exerts tidal forces on the moon. Scientists have known this for a while, but now they've found that Earth's pull actually opens up faults on the moon. https://ca.news.yahoo.com/earths-gravitational-pull-cracks-open-moon-195734025.html

[nanobots] The Dean of Invention: Segway Mastermind Probes Sci-Tech's Future, Scientific America, October 2010, Von Maltzahn and Bhatia are developing ways to use nanobots nearly 500 times smaller than Montréal Polytechnic's microbots that can find their way to cancerous tumours without needing to be guided from outside the body. Self-Propelled Micro-Motors Tested In A Living Animal For The First Time, January 20, 2015 | by Justine Alford: For the first time, tiny artificial motors have voyaged through the body of a living animal, successfully delivering a cargo of nanoparticles directly into the stomach wall. Although it will still be many years before we see microscopic machines scurrying around our own bodies and carrying out various medical tasks, the brains behind the current study see this as a significant step towards this ultimate goal. There has been a lot of interest in the development of micromachines for medicine in recent years as their wide range of potential uses has become apparent. Scientists envisage that one day, tiny synthetic robots could be used to deliver drugs to specific areas of the body to treat various medical conditions, repair damaged tissues such as blood vessels, or even manipulate individual cells. http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/self-propelled-micro-motors-tested-living-animal-first-time

[dormant viruses] Something Very Strange Happens To The Herpes Virus In Space, January 29, 2016 | by Katy Evans: It is already known that the reactivation of sleepy viruses inside the body increases during spaceflight. In a bid to both understand the risks posed to astronauts' health and discover new data relating to the mutation rates of persistent viruses like herpes under stressful environments, the space agency has awarded multiple grants, totaling around $80,000 (£55,656), to researchers at the University of Florida. The project is called the "Effect of Spaceflight on Herpesvirus Genome Stability and Diversity." "The fact that space flight is known to increase the frequency and duration of Herpesvirus reactivation sets up a biological environment for these reactivating and replicating viruses to mutate," NASA explains in the study objective. A perfect field lab then. http://www.iflscience.com/space/nasa-funds-study-effects-herpes-space

[United Nations Outer Space Treaty] Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies; New York, 19 December 1966; The Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, which is usually called the Outer Space Treaty, is one of the most significant law-making treaties concluded in the second half of the twentieth century. It was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 19 December 1966 (resolution 2222 (XXI)), opened for signature at London, Moscow and Washington on 27 January 1967, and entered into force on 10 October 1967. The Outer Space Treaty laid down the foundations of international regulation of space activities and thus established the framework of the present legal regime of outer space and celestial bodies. As of 1 January 2008, the Outer Space Treaty has received 99 ratifications and 25 signatures. http://legal.un.org/avl/ha/tos/tos.html

[Earthly bacteria] Bacteria Found To Thrive Better In Space Than On Earth, March 24, 2016 | by Ivy Shih: Some species of bacteria have made themselves right at home in space, with one species, Bacillus safensis, found to thrive more in the microgravity of the International Space Station than here on Earth. The study was a product of Project MECCURI, a citizen science project where members of the public and microbiologists collected environmental microbial samples and sent them to the ISS to see how they'd grow. Published this week in PeerJ, the findings not only raise discussion about the impact of microbe communities in human constructed environments in space, but also the how life could possibly be transported between planets during space travel. The remarkable resilience of bacteria in space has been demonstrated before, when microbes survived after being placed on the exterior of the space station. Interestingly, the vast majority of the 48 strains of bacteria sent were found to grow at a rate very close to that on Earth. But Bacillus safensis appeared to grow 60% better in space. B. safensis is no stranger to space travel either, having already hitchhiked on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity and Spirit in 2004. Bacteria are extremely durable and it is no surprise is that they can survive in space. http://www.iflscience.com/space/bacteria-found-thrive-better-space-earth

By Lindsey Konkel and Environmental Health News - Scientific America | November 5, 2013: New research provides evidence that antibiotic resistance has spread beyond hospitals and farms to wildlife. Drug-resistant infections are a fast-growing threat to human health, due largely to overuse of antibiotics in human medicine and livestock production, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/flying-the-coop-antibiotic-resistance-spreads-to-birds-other-wildlife/

[a regiment of lactoferrin proteins] Protein Found In Breast Milk Could Fight Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria, January 25, 2016 | by Josh L Davis: The new research builds upon previous studies looking into how breast milk helps newborn babies to fight infection. The key to this is a particular protein called lactoferrin, which can effectively kill bacteria, fungi, and even viruses. It turns out that lactoferrin is able to kill the microorganisms on contact by punching holes in their protective cell membrane, something that the researchers were able to exploit. To do this, they manipulated the protein into a virus-like capsule, able to recognize and home in on specific bacteria, but leaving the surrounding human cells well alone. The challenge was not just to see the capsules, but to follow their attack on bacterial membranes. The result was striking: the capsules acted as projectiles perforating the membranes with bullet speed and efficiency. The researchers claim that the speed at which the protein is able to identify, attack, and destroy the pathogens means that it is very difficult for them to build up resistance. http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/scientists-re-engineer-breast-milk-protein-fight-resistant-bacteria

[sun spot activity peaks during this change] This is a fact. Called the Schwabe Cycle, named after the German astronomer Samuel Heinrich Schwabe

[microbeads of silver quantum dot]
"Superbugs" Destroyed Using Quantum Dot Nanoparticles, January 20, 2016 | by Robin Andrews: Quantum dots (QDs) are essentially small crystals of nanometer-size dimensions - they're about 20,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. They have distinctive electrical conduction properties that are determined by the incredibly small size and structure. When these QDs are hit with a specific frequency of radiation, their changeable structure, tailored by scientists, means that they can be finely tuned to emit a specific frequency of radiation; changing the wavelength of the light source can achieve the same effect. In this study, the researchers decided to try and use customized QDs against antibiotic-resistant bacteria, including E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus, in a laboratory setting. In the dark, the QDs remain inactive. When bombarded by visible light, they become energetically "excited." When placed among bacteria in a solution, something interesting happens. Bacteria rely on "redox" reactions, those involving the addition or removal of oxygen (reduction and oxidation, respectively). And when several QDs are "excited" nearby, they produce chemicals that are able to be reduced or oxidized by reactive compounds within the bacteria. This effectively interferes with their intercellular processes, disrupts their cell growth, and kills them. In a lab-grown culture, this method has been shown to kill 92 percent of a variety of drug-resistant bacterial cells, while leaving other cells alone. http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/superbugs-destroyed-using-quantum-dot-nanoparticles

[nanoparticles] Environmentally Friendly Silver Nanoparticles Could Fight Microbes, July 13, 2015 | by Caroline Reid: The nanoparticles were made biodegradable by adding a core composed of a biodegradable compound: lignin. Lignin is an organic material produced inside plant cells. It is very rigid and does not rot quickly, making it perfect for supporting structures in plants, such as cell walls. The design allows silver ions to still perform the desired antibacterial action, but with a set lifetime. As the bacteria are wiped out, the silver gets depleted from the nanoparticle and the leftover biocompatible core can degrade safely in the soil. Some active silver will still be left in the soil, however levels are significantly lower than when silver ions are used alone. There have been concerns in the past about depositing silver in the environment since silver atoms don't biodegrade and continue to act on the environment long after they're deposited. Hopefully, this nanoparticle can solve this environmental issue. http://www.iflscience.com/environment/environmentally-friendly-silver-nanoparticles-could-fight-microbes

[electrically activated] Silver Shines As Antibacterial For Medical Implants, March 25, 2015 | by Rohan Shirwaiker: Lower immunity of sick patients coupled with the escalating problem of antibiotic-resistant pathogens has driven increased rates of infection in hospital and surgical environments. I've been working on a technique that electrically activates silver to create an antimicrobial surface. We can use this technology to create touch-contact and work surfaces - for instance, door knobs, push plates, countertops - that would help control the transmission of infections, primarily in health care environments. And now we're experimenting with using silver in medical implants. http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/silver-shines-antibacterial-medical-implants

[silver] Silver Turns Bacteria Into Killer Zombies, May 4, 2015 | by Stephen Luntz: The reason for powdered silver's exceptional antimicrobial properties has been revealed, and it's probably inspiring film scripts right now. Bacteria that absorb the metal die, but then start killing their neighbors in a zombie-like massacre. Silver ions are known to damage both the external membrane and the internal components of bacteria. Previously healthy bacteria died en masse; when sufficient silver was applied, initially 99.999% of the bacteria were killed through this second-hand exposure. The authors argue that the result "strongly indicates that not only does silver persist within the dead cells, but that it is an available source for further biocidal activity on viable cells." Avnir and colleagues dubbed the process the "zombies effect." Avnir explains the process as the bacteria soaking up the silver, and then releasing it after death when living bacteria act as even more attractive sponges. One of silver's advantages as an antiseptic lies in its persistence, continuing to kill bacteria for a substantial period of time. This feature is put to use with the infusion of silver into medical products. http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/silver-turns-bacteria-killer-zombies

[lights in the room start to change color] Powering Nanotechnology With The World's Smallest Engine, May 29, 2016 | by Ventsislav Valev: In the minuscule world of nanotechnology, big steps are rare. But a recent development has the potential to massively improve our lives: an engine measuring 200 billionths of a metre, which could power tiny robots to fight diseases in living cells. Key to the development of the ANTs was the use of laser light. By choosing the right colour of light for the right size of nanoparticles (in this case green light for gold nanoparticles) it is possible to heat them up very quickly. In darkness, because they are so small, the nanoparticles cool down very quickly as well. The ANTs then can operate within a microsecond. In the same way that light can heat up water to power steam engines, we can use light to build a piston for engines at the nanoscale. http://www.iflscience.com/technology/powering-nanotechnology-world-s-smallest-engine

[the neuro-writer] Mind-Reading Computer Writes Words with Brain Waves, June 25, 2015 | by Caroline Reid: Imagine a world in which authors can write books in days, not months, using only the power of their minds. This hands-free future could be around the corner: scientists have created software that hooks up to your brainwaves and transcribes whatever you're thinking. Brain-to-Text is the software behind this futuristic, sci-fi-style concept. It has the potential to transform the lives of those who have lost the ability to communicate effectively. The study designed to test this new concept was published in "Frontiers of Neuroscience". As the individuals spoke the words, the computer had to learn to recognize the individual sounds they were making and match it to the corresponding brain wave. Eventually, the computer was able to pick up different brain patterns and match them to sounds. The results were encouraging. The Brain-to-Text software was consistently more accurate at classifying phonetics than a randomized model. External, brainwave-reading caps, which record electrical activity across the scalp, however, are not sensitive enough yet to pick up the sharp signals needed to identify individual letters without metal implants. The skull blurs this sensitive information. http://www.iflscience.com/brain/write-book-your-mind

[chimera cream treatments] I made up this idea based on a TV documentary discussing people who had two separate DNA in their bodies. A chimaera is a single organism (usually an animal) that is composed of two or more different populations of genetically distinct cells that originated from different zygotes involved in sexual reproduction. If the different cells have emerged from the same zygote, the organism is called a mosaic. Chimeras are formed from at least four parent cells (two fertilized eggs or early embryos fused together). Each population of cells keeps its own character and the resulting organism is a mixture of tissues. Chimeras are typically seen in animals; there are some reports of human chimerism. Man Fails Paternity Test Because Unborn Twin Is The Biological Father Of His Son, October 26, 2015 | by Justine Alford: After a child was born following assisted conception, testing revealed that his blood type did not match that of his parents. At first it was thought that sperm samples had been mixed up, but doctors discovered that part of the father's genome belonged to his unborn twin, which never made it past a few cells in the womb. This technically meant that the unborn brother of the father is the biological father to the baby boy. This man is, therefore, a bonafide human chimera: a fusion between two different people. http://www.iflscience.com/editors-blog/top-10-weirdest-science-stories-2015 Blonde Hair Mutation Identified, June 2, 2014 | by Stephen Luntz: A single letter of genetic code can determine hair color, while leaving other aspects of pigmentation unaffected. The finding sheds light on how blond hair evolved, and also on its future in a world where genetic populations are much less isolated. http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/blonde-hair-mutation-identified

[I haven't seen a bald man] Why Do People Go Bald?, February 8, 2016 | by Tom Hale: There's no cure for baldness just quite yet. However, we could be edging towards that goal, as scientists have now pinpointed the cause of age-related (rather than male pattern) baldness, according to a new study published in the journal Science. Scientists from the Tokyo Medical and Dental University looked at mice when they turned 18 months old - roughly when they start to lose their hair. They found that these mice had both fewer and smaller hair follicles, suggesting that their original follicles had altered somehow. They then repeated the study on humans aged between 55 and 70 and found similar results, regardless of sex. Stem cells - "blank slate" cells that have to ability to change into virtually any other type of cell - are responsible for hair growth in the hair follicle. They found that DNA damage, which accumulates with age, caused the destruction of a collagen protein called COL17A1, a critical molecule for hair follicle stem cell maintenance. As more stem cells suffer from this lack of COL17A1, the hair follicles begin to shrink and turn into epidermal keratinocytes - that's the type of cell that makes up 90 percent of our outer layer of skin. They concluded that maintaining COL17A1 levels could help ease this aging of hair follicles and lessen age-related hair loss. http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/why-do-people-go-bald-old-age

[a woman's milk line] The milk lines are two lines, formed by thickenings of the epidermis (the mammary ridge) along the ventral surface of mammals of both sexes. They extend from the upper limbs (arms) to the lower limbs (legs) and are developed in the embryo. They give rise to the mammary glands and nipples but are otherwise usually not visible in the adult. Mammary glands begin developing during the embryonic stage. In many mammals, these glands first appear as elevated ridges along the milk lines, which then separate into individual buds located in regions lateral to the ventral midline. The location of these buds varies according to species; they are located in the thoracic region in primates, in the inguinal area in ungulates, and along the entire length of the trunk in rodents and pigs. In humans, milk lines appear in the seventh week of embryonic development. After initial development of the milk lines they go into remission. Nipples develop on the milk lines of mammals. Most humans have two nipples, but in some cases more than two will develop. These additional nipples usually grow along the milk line.

Journal Reports Case Study Of Woman With Giant Third Breast, November 5, 2015 | by Justine Alford: If I told you that up to 6% of the female population have an extra breast, you probably wouldn't believe me. Skepticism understood, but it's true: Between 2% to 6% of women have what is termed "polymastia," or an additional (accessory) breast. But that doesn't mean that potentially hundreds of millions of women are walking around like something out of Busted's "Year 3,000" video. They can range from tiny moles, lumps without nipples, to the rather disfiguring and uncomfortable. Of course, it's not just females who can be affected by this congenital (present from birth) condition - between 1% and 3% of males also have it, and about a third of all people with polymastia have more than one area of extra tissue growth. Not all ethnicities seem to be affected equally, though, with occurrence rates varying significantly between populations. In Caucasians, for example, only about 0.6% of individuals are afflicted, whereas it's found in roughly 5% of Japanese females. http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/woman-had-giant-third-boob-removed0

[from growing them in a petri dish] Researchers Grow A Breast In A Petri Dish, June 12, 2015 | by Caroline Reid: A research group has found a way of taking cultured human breast cells and using these to grow their own network of mammary glands, the same as those found inside the breast. The mammary glands are grown in a transparent gel in a petri dish from only a few cells, which makes this a resourceful way of creating tissue that can be used for tests in the laboratory. Scientists are hopeful that this will be a powerful experimental tool for breast cancer research. http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/mini-breasts-grown-petri-dishes

[tubular food pouches] Taking The Ouch Out Of Vaccines: The Future Of Needle-Free Vaccination, January 7, 2016 | by C Raina MacIntyre and Daniel Salmon and Elizabeth Kpozehouen: Developed by Mark Kendall at the University of Queensland, the nanopatch involves a 1cm square of silicone with 20,000 vaccine-coated microprojections on the surface which penetrate the skin and deliver the vaccine painlessly. The product is currently in the development phase, and is being tested with different vaccines. Edible vaccines are being developed, where the vaccine is delivered on an edible platform which could range from bacteria to plants. The latter includes transgenic crops, which overcome problems of vaccine storage within the cold chain, which constrain the use of traditional vaccines in low-resource settings. http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/taking-ouch-out-vaccines-future-needle-free-vaccination

[you will be losing about five pounds] Huffpost Healthy Living; May 23, 2015; Human Microbiome Project: 10,000 Species Of Microbes In and On Our Bodies; Our bodies are thought to be home to about 10 bacterial cells for every human cell, but they're so small that together microbes make up about 1 percent to 3 percent of someone's body mass, explained Dr. Eric Green, director of NIH's National Human Genome Research Institute. That means a 200-pound person could harbor as much as 6 pounds of bacteria. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/13/human-microbiome-project-100-trillion-bacteria_n_1594430.html

[ten thousand different microbe species] Huffpost Healthy Living; May 23, 2015; Human Microbiome Project: 10,000 Species Of Microbes In and On Our Bodies; Scientists have mapped just which critters normally live in or on us and where, calculating that healthy people can share their bodies with more than 10,000 species of microbes. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/13/human-microbiome-project-100-trillion-bacteria_n_1594430.html Almost 150 Of Our Genes May Have Come From Microbes http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/almost-150-our-genes-may-have-come-microbes

[we'll reintroduce] New Drug Delivery System Could Replace Injections, October 1, 2014 | by Lisa Winter: Due to the nature of the human body, certain medications need to be administered in a certain way. Some biologic drugs, like insulin, antibodies, and vaccines, are not effective when taken orally and must be delivered via injection. However, this could be about to change. A new drug delivery system has been tested in pigs that delivers medication directly to gastrointestinal tissues via an oral capsule using microneedles. The research was led by Giovanni Traverso and Carl Schoellhammer, both of MIT, and the paper was published in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences. http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/new-drug-delivery-system-could-replace-injections

[only those that are beneficial] Designer Microbes Might Be Coming To A Gut Near You, July 12, 2015 | by Caroline Reid: The bacteria living inside your body outnumber your own cells 10 to 1. With such an abundant population of microbial guests in our bodies, why not start ordering them to do some housework? Biologists from MIT have successfully taken bacteria found in the human gut and genetically modified them to have useful properties, such as monitoring intestinal health and alerting us when there's something wrong. http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/designer-microbes-might-be-coming-gut-near-you

[good-bye to bad breath] Good Bacteria for Bad Breath, Curing halitosis requires the right balance of oral microbes, Scientific American, May 2013, Page 30 | by Deborah Franklin: Bad bacterial compounds found on the tongue cause bad breath. By cultivating the correct bacteria, you can eliminate most of them. http://www.nature.com/scientificamerican/journal/v308/n5/full/scientificamerican0513-30.html

[adopt your new bio-signature] Study Finds People Can Be Identified By The Bacteria They Breathe Out, September 22, 2015 | by Josh L Davis: Everywhere we go, we leave little traces in the form of the bacteria we carry and the skin and hair we shed. In some cases, it's even possible to follow these bacterial breadcrumbs back to the person who left them. But that's not the only way we leave our microbial mark. We also emit what is called a "microbial cloud," and researchers have found that it is also unique enough to be able to identify individual people. "We expected that we would be able to detect the human microbiome in the air around a person," explained James Meadow, who led the study published in PeerJ, "but we were surprised to find that we could identify most of the occupants just by sampling their microbial cloud." They found that participants of the experiment could be identified within four hours by analyzing the particulates suspended in the air, and looking at the unique combination of bacteria present. http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/study-finds-people-can-be-identified-their-microbial-cloud

[the holographic paint] There are no holographic paints for tattoo artists. The term "Holographic Paint" is used to describe ultra-fine grain holographic emulsions that are used in printing holograms on items like money and credit cards; Beetle's Skin Hides Natural Light Nanotechnology, May 17, 2015 | by Caroline Reid: Solar cells, fiber-optic cables, paints and cosmetics-they're all pretty good, but scientists know a way to make them even better: use biophotonic crystals Biophotonic crystals could be used to direct photons through fiber-optic cables, or even to create beautiful colors in paint. http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/beetles-skin-hides-natural-light-nanotechnology

[viral infection history] New Method Could Reveal Your Entire Viral Infection History With A Single Drop Of Blood: By analyzing just a single drop of blood, scientists could reveal every virus you've ever been infected with. This new method, developed by researchers from Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), is called 'Virscan'. http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/your-entire-viral-infection-history-revealed-single-drop-blood