Drugs could be delivered by microscopic, shape-shifting robots you swallow in the future, scientists believe.

Researchers have created the tiny gadgets, which are around 5 mm in length and can navigate the narrow channels of the human body.

The tiny robots, developed by Swiss researchers, even change shape and speed as they travel through bendy blood vessels and thick bodily fluids.  The engineers at ETH Zurich and École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) have released stunning footage showing the robots in action.

The robots, which are yet to be named, are made up of a gel that responds to heat, with added magnetic nanoparticles.  This allows them to be controlled by an electromagnetic field, the authors wrote in the journal Science Advances.

Using 'origami design principles', the researchers, led by Dr Bradley Nelson, folded the gel into 3D shapes.  To make the robots move effectively, inspiration was drawn from bacteria, which get from place-to-place via a propeller-like tail known as a flagellum.  This was mimicked to create an 'oar-like' extension from the nano-robot, to allow it to swim through the body.

Microorganisms also change shape to 'navigate complex environments and occupy a variety of ecological niches', the authors wrote.

Dr Nelson said: 'Nature has evolved a multitude of microorganisms that change shape as their environmental conditions change.  This basic principle inspired our microrobot design.'

When tested in a sucrose solution 'with a similar viscosity to blood', the robots 'moved much faster compared to other prototypes', the authors wrote.  They also changed shape to squeeze through glass tubes with lots of bendy passages, before reverting back to their original size.  The robots must be highly flexible if they are to travel through narrow blood vessels and dense fluids at high speeds.

'Our robots have a special composition and structure that allow them to adapt to the characteristics of the fluid they are moving through.  For instance, if they encounter a change in viscosity or osmotic concentration, they modify their shape to maintain their speed and maneuverability without losing control of the direction of motion,' said Professor Selman Sakar, one of the researchers.

Changes to the robot's shape can be 'programmed' in advance to maximise the robot's effectiveness without the use of bulky sensors or machinery.  They can then be controlled by an electromagnetic field or left to navigate their own way through the body by following fluid flow.  Either way, they automatically mould into the most efficient shape.

The researchers are working on improving how the robots swim through different fluids in the human body.  If studies are successful, they believe the gadgets will be relatively cheap to produce.

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

A peacock’s multi-colored tail feathers are its most distinctive feature.  But, according to new research, they may also help to keep them hidden from predators in the wild.  While it might seem that these feathers would attract the attention of other animals, experts say their native threats, including big cats, lack the color receptors needed to distinguish a peacock’s tail from its surroundings.

Researchers argue the point in a new paper published pre-print to bio-Rxiv.  According to the team, a peacock’s feathers may not stand out quite as much to animals in the wild, such as tigers or stray dogs, as they would to the human eye.

The researchers write: ‘Feathers perceived by humans to be vividly colorful are often presumed to be equally conspicuous to other mammals, and thus to present an enhanced predation risk.  However, many mammals that prey on adult birds have dichromatic visual systems with only two types of color-sensitive visual receptors (one sensitive to ultraviolet light), rather than the three characteristic of humans and four of most birds.’

As a result, the researchers argue, a male peacock’s tail feathers may allow them to show off for a potential mate without catching the eye of predators.

In the study, the team investigated how peacocks’ tail feathers would appear to predators and to other birds of their kind.  Using multispectral imaging and reflectance spectroscopy, they compared the appearance of color, brightness, and texture contrast in relation to green background vegetation.  And, they found these features would look very different to mammals and other peacocks.

The researchers write: ‘When viewed by tetrachromatic birds against a background of green vegetation, most of the feathers studied had color and brightness contrasts similar to values previously found for ripe fruit.  By contrast, when viewed by dichromat mammalian predators, the color and brightness contrasts of these feathers were only weakly detectable and often did not reach detection thresholds for typical viewing distances.’

The findings suggest peacocks’ most recognizable feathers may be more than just a mating display, but also a means of camouflage.  But, not everyone is convinced.

Marion Petrie of Newcastle University told New Scientist: ‘At the end of the day, it’s a great big bird.  It shouts, it rustles its feathers, there’s a lot of movement when it’s courting another bird.  It’s not skulking around in the bushes trying to hide away from predators.’

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

Britain and other countries are treating the oceans ‘like a sewer’ as the amount of plastic in the world’s seas is expected to treble by 2025, MPs warn.

The Government was accused of an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ attitude to the seas and was urged to instead take the lead on plastic, pollution and ocean protection.  Plastic litter, untreated sewage, fertilisers and heavy metals, is pouring into the oceans, Parliament’s Environmental Audit Committee warned.

It said Britain can do a lot more to stop plastic ending up in the ocean via rivers sewers and drains.  Around 80 per cent of waste dumped in the sea worldwide comes from the land.  The UK needs to stop exporting waste to countries with poor recycling infrastructure - with the risk it ends up in the sea.  It must also improve recycling in the UK to stop rubbish ending up in the sea from rivers in this country.

The Daily Mail has led the way by campaigning for bans on plastic microbeads in cosmetics and for a levy on plastic bags to reduce plastic pollution.  This paper is also calling for a deposit return scheme to stop plastic bottles ending up being burnt or in landfill, or polluting the environment.

Target dates for the UK to improve its performance at recycling plastic need to be brought forward.  At present, the country has a target to produce zero avoidable plastic waste by 2042, and to introduce a bottle return scheme by 2023.  The panel urges that both dates should be brought forward.

The EAC also restated its calls for the introduction of a 25p ‘latte levy’ on disposable coffee cups, which contain plastic, and for all coffee cups to be recycled by 2023.

The Chancellor Philip Hammond ruled out a latte levy in the Autumn budget statement - although he said the Treasury would consult on taxing the manufacture and import of plastic packaging which contains less than 30 per cent recycled plastic.

In further comments the report said Britain also needs ‘clear milestones’ to reduce chemical pollution from land based sources such as fertiliser from farms.  A ‘Paris Agreement’ for the seas - a worldwide initiative to clean up the Oceans - similar to the world’s commitment in 2015 to reduce global warming - is vital, the report said.

The report said: ‘The Government must show leadership on plastic and make progress to ban those plastics that are difficult or impossible to recycle.’  Oceans are also threatened by climate change, with temperature rises of 2C above pre-industrial levels set to destroy almost all the world’s coral reefs and significantly harm fish stocks and other wildlife.

Overfishing and other exploitation of marine resources such as deep sea mining also threaten the seas.

The report noted that because of pollution, 86 per cent of English rivers did not reach good ecological status in 2016, lower than the EU average, and that UK bathing waters are seventh from the bottom in the EU.

Chair Mary Creagh MP said: ‘Our children deserve to experience the wonders of the ocean but climate change poses a triple whammy of threats from ocean warming, deoxygenation and acidification, which are decimating marine life.

‘We have to stop treating our seas as a sewer. Plastics, chemicals, and sewage are choking our oceans, polluting our water and harming every ocean species from plankton to polar bears.  The Government’s ‘out of sight, out of mind’ attitude on the seas must change.  We are calling on the Government to push for the creation of a legally-binding ‘Paris Agreement for the Sea’ to protect the world’s oceans.”

Including its overseas territories, the UK has jurisdiction more than 2.6 million square mile of ocean, and the Government should take a lead on protecting marine resources, the MPs said.

Will McCallum, of Greenpeace UK, said: ‘Our government has repeatedly stated its desire to lead the world in ocean protection, and this report outlines exactly how to do that.  Reducing how much plastic we use in the first place will be vital, as well as banning problem plastics and introducing a plastic bottle return scheme as soon as possible.’

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

Human beings have 17 different facial expressions that tell those around us we are feeling happy.

Experts have discovered that the human face is capable of contorting itself into more happy faces than any other emotion.  Only three facial guises successfully convey fear, four show surprise, and five display sadness and anger.

Researchers at the Ohio State University compiled a list of 821 words that expressed emotions and had these translated into a number of languages including Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Farsi and Russian.  These were entered into popular search engines across countries and the team collected approximately 7.2 million images of facial expressions online.

Using computer algorithms, the researchers established that human face is capable of configuring itself in 16,384 unique ways, combining different muscles in different ways.

Despite the plethora of facial arrangements that are possible with the human face, researchers found only 35 were transferable over different cultures.   This may be a testament to the variety of ways in which joy is felt by humans, such as in the form of cheer, delight and contentedness.

Professor Aleix Martinez, cognitive scientist, at The Ohio State University, said:  'Happiness acts as a social glue and needs the complexity of different facial expressions; disgust is just that: disgust.'

Disgust is only revealed by our faces via one culturally transferable expression.

The latest study builds on Martinez's previous research that showed people can correctly identify facial emotions about 75 per cent of the time based solely on tiny differences in differences such as the colour of a person's nose, eyebrows, cheeks or chin.  So they were shocked to find that only 35 expressions could be understood across all of human kind.

The latest findings are published in the journal IEEE Transactions on Affective Computing.

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

 

  

A strange-looking disk of ice is creating a stir in a Maine city.  The naturally occurring disk formed over the weekend in Westbrook, Maine on the Presumpscot River, drawing curious onlookers to investigate the strange sight.

Resident Doug Bertlesman told the Portland Press Herald: 'It kind of looks like a crop circle.  It's pretty wild to look at.  It's certainly not every day that you can watch a spinning circle of ice in the river.'  Bertlesman estimated that the ice disk was about 100 yards in diameter, which would make it one of the largest on record - if not the biggest ever.

According to published reports, the largest ice disk recorded was a 160-foot diameter circle in Sweden's Pite River in 1987.

The ice disk in Westbrook has created a buzz among residents after pictures were posted on the city's official Facebook page.  Comments on the photos said that it looked like a 'frozen crop circle' and joked that it might be the work of 'space gremlins'.

Tina Radel, the city’s marketing and communications director, is also a licensed drone operator, and used the city's drone to shoot aerial footage of the phenomenon from the city's river walk.

Westbrook is a city of 17,500 just to the west of Portland.  City officials hope interest in the ice disk will drive business to local merchants.  'If you get out today to check it out, be sure to stop by one the many downtown eateries that are nearby,' the city wrote on Facebook.

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

Cotton seeds can be seen sprouting in a photo released by the China National Space Administration (CNSA).  The mission took a variety of seeds to the moon as part of its biosphere experiment and this marks the first time ever that biological material has been cultivated on the lunar surface.  Other biological matter on the Chang'e-4 mission includes cotton, oilseed rape, potato, Arabidopsis, yeast and fruit flies.  More plants are expected to sprout in the next 100 days, the Chinese space agency claims.   Developing the ability to grow plants in space is an important step towards successful long duration space flight to Mars and beyond.

The picture emerged after being released has come from Chongqing University and was published on the university's Weibo account.  It read: 'After experimenting under the moon's high vacuum, large temperature difference, strong radiation and harsh conditions, mankind has grown the first plant sprout, realising man's first moon-based biological growth experiment'.

Images sent back by the probe show the cotton sprout has grown well, but so far none of the other plants on-board have taken, the university said.

Fruit flies - also known as Drosophila - are a model organism widely used throughout science to understand how animals react in different environments.  Their short reproduction time is useful in allowing scientists to understand its genetic impact after several generations of reproduction.

Arabidopsis, a simple plant related to the mustard family, is the plant equivalent of Drosophila and also widely used by scientists.

The studies on these pioneering plants are being done in a specially designed biosphere on the Chang'e-4 lander and not on the mobile rover, Yutu-2.  It has greater temperature regulation and insulation which protects its experiments from the extreme temperatures on the moon.

A lack of atmosphere means the UV rays from the sun reach the surface of the moon unfiltered and unabated.  Temperatures fluctuate between highs of 127°C and frigid lows of -173°C.  The seeds and eggs are kept in a small cylindrical tin and are expected to grow inside the 0.8L container.

The 'lunar mini biosphere' is part of Beijing's biological studies in space as it plans to build a lunar base and eventually put people on the moon by 2036.

Researchers hope the potato and Arabidopsis seeds will grow to blossom on the moon in 100 days, with the process captured on camera and transmitted to Earth, according to a previous reports.

The three kg tin is made from a specially developed aluminium alloy.  It is 18 cm tall, with a diameter of 16 cm and a net volume of 0.8 litres.  As well as seeds, it contains water, a nutrient solution, air and equipment including a small camera and data transmission system.  Researchers from 28 Chinese Universities are behind the project, led by southwest China's Chongqing University.

Astronauts have previously cultivated plants on the International Space Station.  Rice and Arabidopsis were also grown on China's Tiangong-2 space lab.

Professor Christopher Conselice, a professor of astrophysics at the University of Nottingha, told MailOnline: 'China is doing experiments with seeds and worms to see how things form in space and there is relatively little information on this.  That's a new era of space exploration that we can learn about.  This was impossible before Chang'e-4.'

Speaking to Xinhua last year, the chief designer of the 'lunar mini biosphere' Xie Gengxin called the experiment 'significant'.  Xie said it could herald a breakthrough for them to understand how humans might be able to survive on an alien planet.

Zhang Yuanxun, a director from China's Deep-space Exploration Associated Research Centre, said the difficulties of the experiment were to control the temperatures and ensure energy supply for the 'lunar mini biosphere' in the 'complicated' environment on the moon.

To control the temperatures, scientists put insulating layers around the tin and built a mini air-conditioning system inside hoping it could provide a pleasant environment for the plants to grow.

To obtain energy, the tin will be powered by the solar panels on Chang'e-4 during the day and its internal batteries during the night.

Chang'e-4 is also equipped with instruments developed by scientists from Sweden, Germany and China to study the lunar environment, cosmic radiation and the interaction between solar wind and the moon's surface.

China has revealed it wants to be the first country to establish a base on the moon and says it will build it using 3D printing technology.

Officials from the Chinese space agency also said the country will return to the moon by the end of the year with the Chang'e-5 mission.   Three successive missions will further explore the barren surface and the viability of building houses there.

China is swiftly establishing a reputation as one of the forerunners in the renaissance of the space race with its continued investment in both Martian and lunar missions.  After Chang'e-5 returns lunar rocks from the surface the next mission, Chang'e-6 will be the first mission to explore the south pole of the moon.  Chang'e-7 will study the land surface, composition and space environment in a comprehensive mission, it was claimed, while Chang'e-8 will focus on technical surface analysis.  Mission number eight will likely lay the groundwork for a potential lunar base as it strives to verify the technology earmarked for the ambitious project.

China National Space Administration (CNSA) said they also have plans to go to Mars in 2020, a timeline that would likely make them the first to do so, beating out the US, Russia and the plethora of private firms looking to colonise space.

China successfully achieved a global first with its trip to the far side of the moon when it landed in the Von Kármán crater on January 4.  The mission's scientific undertakings are now well underway on board both Yutu-2 and Chang'e-4.

Yutu-2, the Jade Rabbit rover, went into 'nap' mode shortly after landing on the surface of the far side of the moon and woke up after five days.  Since then it has sent back stunning panoramic images of the grey and pockmarked moonscape as well as video and images of both the rover and the lander.  Yutu-2 is designed to study the geology of the rocks in the Von Karman crater in the South Pole-Aitken basin - the largest known impact basin in the solar system.  The crater is believed to be composed of various chemical compounds, including thorium, iron oxide, and titanium dioxide.   It is also hoped that by judging this deep scar on the surface of the moon the scientists could find clues to piece together the origin of the lunar mantle.

China's space agency hopes that by exploring the huge 8-mile deep divot on the surface of the moon, they may be able to shed some light on its history and geology by collecting rocks that have never been seen before.  Researchers hope the huge depth of the crater will allow them to study its mantle, the layer underneath the surface of the moon.

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

Researchers have found a set of genes they say are linked to our willingness to take risks.  While they say there is no specific 'risk gene, they believe the 124 genetic variants they discovered can make people more prone to risky behavior.

The study, published in the journal Nature Genetics, shows evidence of shared genetic influences across both an overall measure of risk tolerance and many specific risky behaviors.

Abraham Palmer, a co-author of the paper said at University of California San Diego School of Medicine: 'Being willing to take risks is essential to success in the modern world.  But we also know that taking too many risks, or not giving enough weight to the consequences of risky decisions, confers vulnerability to smoking, alcoholism and other forms of drug addiction.'

The researchers say that while no variant on its own affects a particular person's risk tolerance or penchant for making risky decisions — such as drinking, smoking, speeding — and non-genetic factors matter more for risk tolerance than genetic factors.  They say the finds open up new avenues for research into risk taking.  The team hopes to understand the fundamental molecular and cellular processes that shape human behavior, and learn how to prevent and treat drug abuse.

Co-author Murray Stein of UC San Diego School of Medicine said: 'Risk-taking is thought to play a role in many psychiatric disorders.  For example, patients with anxiety disorders may perceive increased risk in certain situations and therefore avoid them unnecessarily.  Understanding the genetic basis for risk tolerance is critical to understanding these disorders and developing better treatments.'

The team measured participants' overall risk tolerance based on self-reports.  They found that genetic variants associated with overall risk tolerance tend to also be associated with more risky behaviors, such as speeding, drinking, tobacco and cannabis consumption, and with riskier investments and sexual behaviors.  They also found shared genetic influences on overall risk tolerance and several personality traits and neuropsychiatric traits, including ADHD, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia.

The effects of each of the 124 genetic variants on an individual basis are all very small, but the researchers found their combined impact can be significant.

Senior author Jonathan Beauchamp, PhD, assistant professor of economics at the University of Toronto said: 'The most important variant explains only 0.02 percent of the variation in overall risk tolerance across individuals.  However, the variants' effects can be combined to account for greater variation in risk tolerance.'

The results also pinpointed the areas of the brain involved in risky behavior.

Beauchamp said: 'Our results point to the role of specific brain regions — notably the prefrontal cortex, basal ganglia and midbrain — that have previously been identified in neuroscientific studies on decision-making.  They conform with the expectation that variation in risk tolerance is influenced by thousands, if not millions, of genetic variants.'

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

      

Elon Musk has revealed images of his fully-assembled 120-foot tall Starship hopper test rocket.

   

The maverick billionaire entrepreneur unveiled his retro-styled spacecraft which has drawn comparisons to sci-fi films of yesteryear.  Twitter users pointed out the similarities of Musk's creation with the contraption Tintin used in the 1954 adventure 'Explorers on the Moon'.  Others said the sleek design and prominent fins closely resemble spaceships depicted in 1950s/60s films, Wallace and Gromit and even Toy Story.

SpaceX founder Musk shared the first real images of the prototype from its Texas launch site and reassured his followers it is 'not a rendering'.

'This is for suborbital VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) tests.  Orbital version is taller, has thicker skins (won't wrinkle) & a smoothly curving nose section,' Mr Musk explained.  This particular model will be used to test short launches and landings.

Earlier this month, the billionaire said SpaceX was aiming to carry out test flights within four weeks, but admitted it could be as long as eight weeks when unforeseen issues are factored in.

Responding to questions from space enthusiasts, Mr Musk said that the first orbital prototype should be ready by June.  The SpaceX founder also added that the real, finished version would '[obviously]  have windows, etc.'  This work is taking place at both SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, and the company's test site in South Texas, near the border city of Brownsville, where the first flights will take place.

After its unveiling on social media the tech tycoon's Starship drew immediate comparisons to fictional rockets.

One user, known as John Drury, pointed out the similarities to the Toy Story rocket which is hope to 'the claw' and, briefly, Buzz and Woody.  He tweeted: 'Lol wow.  Reminds me of the rocket ship in Toy Story'

One twitter user also said: 'I love SpaceX and their people are amazing but it does look like a Wallace and Gromit rocket but I'm sure it will be immense'

The latest images provide a clearer view of the two components previewed by Musk at the end of last month, showing engineers in cherry-pickers at work on the nose cone and another large piece of the system.   A large American flag can be seen plastered on the side of one of the huge metal cylinders.

The progress comes as SpaceX ramps up work on the test hopper ahead of planned flights later this year

Starship – previously known as BFR, Big Falcon Rocket, or the Big F***ing Rocket – is key to Musk's plans to send humans to Mars.  Musk tweeted out the first photo at the end of December, captioning it simply, 'Stainless Steel Starship.'

In a series of tweets that followed, however, the CEO elaborated on the plans for the test vehicle.

The first crewed Red Planet mission for the rocket and 100-passenger Starship could come as early as the mid-2020s if development and testing go well, Musk has said

Just in December 2018, the SpaceX boss doubled down on his earlier claims that he would likely be among the interplanetary travellers who make the trip to Mars, despite there being a 'good chance' that he'll die there.  Tickets on Elon Musk's spaceship to Mars will cost around $200,000 per person.

SpaceX shared new details about the 387ft rocket in September, saying it hopes to begin unmanned launch tests of the spacecraft in late 2019.

In the future, Starship will be able to carry out lunar missions as well as long-distance flights to Mars and beyond.  The firm hopes to stage an uncrewed flight to Mars in 2022, then a manned flight in 2024.  In between those missions, SpaceX has planned for a private mission with a passenger on board in 2023.

'We would like to put large cargo on the surface of the moon by 2022.  And we have our eyes on the prize to send people to Mars in 2024,' SpaceX chief operating officer Gwynne Shotwell said recently.

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

   

 

China's lunar lander has beamed back stunning images from the far side of the moon.

Chang'e-4's 360° lens captured the Yutu-2 - or Jade Rabbit 2 - rover in front of the grey moonscape and reveals the potholed surface and barren expanse of land inside the mysterious Von Kármán crater at the lunar south pole.

Pictures posted on Chinese social media also reveal Chang'e-4, and its rover, Yutu-2, have taken images of each other.

This celestial photoshoot gives an astonishing look at the tandem of cutting-edge machinery that China is using to explore the previously unknown region.

    

Eternally immortalised tracks left from Yutu-2's maiden voyage away from Chang'e-4 on January 4 can also be seen snaking over the untouched surface.

Jade Rabbit 2 entered 'nap' mode after the initial landing in order to survive the blistering 200°C lunar daytime which lasts for 14 Earth days.  It was stirred from its forced slumber the day before as the brutal temperatures subside ahead of the transition to a 300-hour-long lunar night.

Footage has also emerged of a first-person look at the final approach of Chang'e-4 as it completed its pioneering landing on the tempestuous terrain of the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) Basin, the largest and deepest impact crater in the solar system.

A statement from the Chinese space agency, CNSA, said: 'Researchers have completed the preliminary analysis of the lunar surface topography around the landing site based on the image taken by the landing camera.  Chang'e-4, the Yutu-2 and the Queqiao relay satellite that beams data back to Earth are all 'in a stable condition, and all work was carried out as planned,'

A post from the Yutu-2 rover's social media account on Chinese microblogging website Weibo on January 11 at 11:22 Beijing time read: 'Would you like to take a 360-degree moon walk?  Here is a high-resolution panoramic photo of the moon taken by my fourth sister.  Just now, my fourth sister looked around and captured the environment around us with a ring-shaped topographic camera, which included me, can you see?'

China's communist party has since issued a statement praising the endeavour which marks the first time the secretive government has formally recognised the mission's success.   It was reported by China Central Television Station and read: 'The central committee of the Community Party of China, State Council and Central Military Commission send messages of congratulation to the successful completion of the Chang'e 4 moon-probing project.'

Another Weibo user, a Twitter-like microblogging site used in China, said: 'Your nap is so long.'

Another added: 'If you don't get up now, your turnip will be snatched by the aliens.'

Twitter is blocked by the Chinese government but microblogging site Weibo is popular in the country and the posts from Yutu-2 have been made there.

The social media account followed up the announcement with a flippant tweet explaining why the stars were not visible in the images of Yutu-2 from Chang'e-4.  It read: 'Good evening. These few days I have seen so many stars.  The moon is a place suitable for star-watching. No matter it's day or night, the sky is always pitch black. Without the interruption of an atmosphere, the stars are light spots that don't twinkle.  A day on the moon is more than 600 hours (about 27 earth days).  It takes a star half a day to travel from one side of the horizon to the other.  So I can look at one star continuously for more than 300 hours.  The picture taken by my fourth sister (Chang'e 4), because the light ratio is too high, some details have gone missing.  You cannot see the starry sky that I have seen.  I'll draw it for you.'

Yutu-2's Weibo post explained that during the machine did not actually turn off during the mid-day snooze.  It simply entered a standby mode.  In this form it was charged up via solar panels, added to its 'diary', sent monitoring footage and provided readers with stories about the moon.

The post finished: 'I didn't expect to take a break after working only for one day, but it's an important mission to protect oneself.  Master, remember to wake me up early when the work starts again.'

Zhang Yuhua, deputy chief commander of the mission, told Chinese state media: 'After that, the rover will go to its planned area and start a series of scientific exploration projects in the Von Kármán crater as planned by scientists.'

It is expected that after a few days activity the lander will once again engage 'nap mode' to prepare for the lunar night.  This period of time lasts for 14 days and can see temperatures plummet to a frigid -180°C.

The Yutu-2 - or Jade Rabbit 2 - rover drove off its lander's ramp and onto the exterior of the moon's far side at 10:22pm Beijing time (2:22 pm GMT) on January 3, about 12 hours after the Chinese spacecraft carrying it came to rest.

China's space agency later posted a photo online, revealing the lunar rover several yards away from the spacecraft.  The tracks it makes on the surface of the moon will be forever immortalised and will never be lost as there is no wind on the moon due to its lack of an atmosphere.

By 5pm Beijing time (9am GMT) the three 15-foot long antennaes on Chang'e-4 had also been fully unfurled to enable the low-frequency radio spectrometre to begin work.

Jade Rabbit 2 has six individually powered wheels so it can continue to operate even if one wheel fails.  It can climb a 20-degree hill or an obstacle up to eight 20cm tall and its maximum speed is said to be 200 metres per hour.

The pioneering rover is 1.5 metres long and about one metre wide and tall, with two foldable solar panels and six wheels.

Yutu-2 and its accompanying lander will carry out mineral, biological and radiation tests ahead of a future base that China hopes to build on the moon.  Results of these experiments could lead to new understandings of the challenges faced by settlers who may one day colonise our natural satellite.

'It's a small step for the rover, but one giant leap for the Chinese nation.  This giant leap is a decisive move for our exploration of space and the conquering of the universe,' Wu Weiren, the chief designer of the Lunar Exploration Project, told state broadcaster CCTV.

The rover is equipped with a variety of scientific instruments to help it analyse the surface of the moon, including a panoramic and infrared camera, ground-penetrating radar and a low-frequency radio spectrometer.

Professor Crawford added: 'While operational, it will rove around studying the composition of rocks, and the sub-surface using its ground-penetrating radar.  It will just be left on the Moon once it ceases to function, unless one day it is collected and brought back to a museum.'

The rover will use its panoramic camera to identify interesting locations and its Visible and Near-Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (VNIS) will help analyse minerals in the crater.

This includes what scientists call 'ejecta' - rocks that have churned up from deep to the surface from impacts meteors.

Its Lunar Penetrating Radar (LPR) instrument will take a look down into the depths of the moon with a maximum vertical distance of approximately 100 metres.

Experiments of seeds and plants that were taken to the moon from Earth on-board the Chang'e-4 probe will be done inside the lunar lander itself.

Unlike its predecessor, the Chang'e-3 mission, the latest addition to the moon's surface does not have a robotic arm.

The lander also has a low-frequency radio spectrometer (LFS) which will be part of a scientific experiment to study space without the constant radio interference from Earth.

Being on the far side of the moon shields the equipment from the noise and will allow Chang'e-4 to produce a low-radio wave emission map of the sky.

Dr Matthew Bothwell, an astronomer at the University of Cambridge, told MailOnline that this could be a crucial step in the future of space exploration and compared its importance to that of the first telescope.

'The far side of the moon is the only place in the reachable universe that we are able to do this kind of research.  Putting an object as large as the moon between the Earth's constant beaming of radio waves and the antennaes is a fantastic way of filtering out noise from Earth.  Very long wavelength radiowaves are impossible to study due to their universal beaming of radio waves 24/7 and the emissions from the universe is really faint in comparison.'

Dr Bothwell added that there is no way of knowing what this could reveal and the opportunities for discovery are enormous.

'It will provide a new window to look at the universe and we will likely find unexpected things,' he added.

Dr Bothwell also said that depending on the success of the data gathered by Chang'e-4, it could lead to a ground-based telescope being installed on the far side of the moon.

The far side can't be seen from Earth and is popularly called the 'dark side' because it is relatively unknown, not because it lacks sunlight.  As the landing is happening on the dark side of the moon it required its own satellite to be able to send information back.

To facilitate communication between controllers on Earth and the Chang'e-4 mission, China launched a relay satellite named Queqiao on 20 May and is now stationed in operational orbit about 40,000 miles beyond the moon.  This will be the primary form of communication between Earth and the spacecraft.  The probe and explorer will use Queqiao to get their findings back to China.  Its descent was also aided by the relay satellite, the Queqiao, or Magpie Bridge.  This is positioned at a place in space called L2, a Langraine point.  A Lagrange point is a spot in space where the combined gravitational forces of two large bodies are equivalent to the centrifugal force of another body.  L2 is a million miles beyond Earth in the opposite direction to the sun and for an object to remain stationary there it depends on a fragile equilibrium between the gravitational pull of the moon, Earth and the Sun.

The far side of the moon - colloquially known as the dark side - actually gets as much light as the near side but always faces away from Earth.  This is because the moon is tidally locked to Earth, rotating at the same rate that it orbits our planet, so the far side - or the 'dark side' - is never visible from our planet.  This relatively unexplored region is mountainous and rugged, making a successful landing much harder to achieve.

Beijing is pouring billions into the military-run programme, with hopes of having a crewed space station by 2022, and of eventually sending humans to the moon.

The Chang'e-4 lunar probe mission - named after the moon goddess in Chinese mythology - launched in December 2018 from the southwestern Xichang launch centre.  It is the second Chinese probe to land on the moon, following the Yutu rover mission in 2013.  China announced that in honour of this success the rover on-board Chang'e-4 has been named Yutu 2.

Previous spacecraft have seen the far side of the moon, but none has landed on it.  The probe entered lunar orbit 'to prepare for the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the moon', the China National Space Administration said at the time.

The tasks of the Chang'e-4 include astronomical observation, surveying the moon's terrain, landform and mineral composition, and measuring the neutron radiation and neutral atoms to study the environment on the far side of the moon.  Researchers hope the seeds will grow to blossom on the Moon, with the process captured on camera and transmitted to Earth.

China aims to catch up with Russia and the United States to become a major space power by 2030.  It is planning to launch construction of its own manned space station next year and have its own lunar base by 2036.

Dr Bothwell said: 'The success of the landing and of this mission puts china in a very strong position among other nations.  The co-operation between the space agencies is great for science and is a case of humanity working together to understand more about the mysteries and issues of the universe.  Possibly the best thing that could happen is another space race similar to the competition between the US and Russia in the 60s and 70s.  With ESA, Roscosmos and NASA all taking significant steps and the private space race between SpaceX and other firms hotting up, it could bring about a renaissance in space exploration.’

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

Shellfish that can smother scallops and oysters have found their way to Britain – and are making themselves at home on our beaches.

The Asian date mussel can be distinguished from its native counterparts by the zig-zag markings on its shell.  First found in China, it has caused significant problems in other areas it has invaded.  It can form dense mats of up to 1,500 mussels per square metre – which can suffocate scallops and oysters and damage seagrass.  The mats form when hundreds of the mussels live side by side.  Each one creates a protective cocoon around itself from short, fine, hair-like threads which can tangle, linking the group together.

First described by William Benson in 1841, he gave them the Latin name Arcuatula senhousia – thought to be a reference to British naval officer Sir Humphrey Fleming Senhouse who died in Hong Kong during the Opium War.

Peter Barfield, a marine scientist at the University of Portsmouth, was the first to publish confirmation that the Asian date mussel has made British waters its home, writing in the Journal of Conchology.  He said there is 'clear evidence' that the mussels are living and feeding on the south coast.  It's listed on invasive species databases as 'one to watch out for', but whether it thrives here or causes problems for British native species depends on a wide range of factors,' he said. 'It would be prudent to keep an eye on it.'

The mussel has settled everywhere from Siberia to Singapore, and has also been found in The Netherlands.  The next few years will be critical to see if it spreads across the British coast.  It has been found living in soft sediment in UK waters, and is known to attach itself to hard surfaces such as other shells both beneath the sea and up to the high water mark.  Until this year, the previous closest known sighting of the mussel was in the Bay of Biscay in 2009.

Mr Barfield said: 'If that population had slowly made its way northwards, it's reasonable to assume it would have been spotted somewhere, by someone.  That no sightings have been recorded does suggest those found in British waters may have been transported here via, for example, shipping.'

Creatures known to prey upon the mussel include sea birds, fish, crustaceans and snails.

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk