Fish and Amphibians

According to a study by Javier Fernandez and his colleagues at Singapore University of Technology and Design, a simple manufacturing technology based on chitin could be used to build tools and shelters on Mars. Photo © Javier G. Fernandez A simple manufacturing technology based on chitin, one of the most ubiquitous organic polymers on Earth, could be used to build tools and shelters on Mars, according to a study by Javier Fernandez of Singapore University of Technology and Design, and colleagues. With plans to revisit the lunar surface and eventually send a crewed mission to Mars, future space exploration missions are likely to involve an extended stay. For such missions, or perhaps even settlements, survival requires meeting basic human needs. One material that could be used to meet those needs is chitin, which is produced and metabolized by organisms across most biological kingdoms. Chitin is a primary component of cell walls in fungi, the exoskeletons of arthropods, such as...

for quite a while now, scientists have been developing technologies that explore both the moon and mars. from 3D-printed mars habitats  to lunar toilets , news regarding space travel advancements have flooded our streams, having specialist trying to figure out if our species would be able to live and survive in another planet or on our own satellite. in what seems a strong step towards accomplishing this, javier fernandez, a scientist at singapore university of technology and design, has published a study stating that a simple manufacturing technology based on chitin, one of the most ubiquitous organic polymers on earth, could be used to build tools and shelters on mars. (main) image by phoenix han (above) image by péter szabó with plans to send astronauts again to the moon (NASA’s artemis program) and eventually send crewed missions to mars, the future of space exploration will include extended stays which means we have to build settlements to meet basic human needs. concr...

September 25, 2020 By Jane Johnston, Circle of Blue ALMA  — Murray Borrello, wearing khakis and a loose-fitting brown button-up, walked down a backroad during the summer of 2019 listening to the sounds of the woods. Water from the Pine River flowed slowly beneath him as he looked out over a bridge. “Oh, I hear a frog,” the Alma College geology and environmental studies professor said. “That’s a good sign.”  Borrello has been monitoring the Pine River for nearly two decades, so he is attuned to the marks of a healthy ecosystem. He and his team of students and community members test water samples from the 103-mile-long river and its tributaries for an array of pollution indicators: nitrogen and phosphorus, bacteria and dissolved oxygen. Since he began the project in 2003, Borrello said contamination in the watershed has only gotten worse.  The 103-mile-long Pine River runs through Gratiot County, a Michigan county that is home to more cows and pigs than peopl...

Farms housing thousands of animals are one of several sources contaminating the Pine River and dividing a mid-Michigan community. Murray Borrello, wearing khakis and a loose-fitting brown button-up, walked down a backroad during the summer of 2019 listening to the sounds of the woods. Water from the Pine River flowed slowly beneath him as he looked out over a bridge. “Oh, I hear a frog,” the Alma College geology and environmental studies professor said. “That’s a good sign.”  Borrello has been monitoring the Pine River for nearly two decades, so he is attuned to the marks of a healthy ecosystem. He and his team of students and community members test water samples from the 103-mile-long river and its tributaries for an array of pollution indicators: nitrogen and phosphorus, bacteria and dissolved oxygen. Since he began the project in 2003, Borrello said contamination in the watershed has only gotten worse.  To Borrello, the source of the problem seems obvious. “The r...

(CNN) — If we make it to Mars, we’re not going to be able to bring everything humankind needs to stay for an extended period of time — or to construct colonies on the red planet. In order to build shelters and manufacture tools, astronauts may only need to bring one key ingredient — with minerals in the lifeless Martian soil able to do the rest, a new study published Wednesday said. The key ingredient is chitin — a fibrous substance that is a component of cell walls in fungi, the exoskeletons of crustaceans and insects, and the scales of fish and amphibians. Chitin   could be combined with surface soil by early Martian settlers to manufacture a new material without special equipment and using little energy, researchers from the Singapore University of Technology and Design said. The chitin for use on Mars, the study said, could come from insects. Given their high protein content, insects could form part of the diet for a crewed mission. The authors said that the extraction of c...

File image of Mars / News18. These Martian houses, according to a team of scientists, would be built from substances that are generally found in fish scales and certain fungi. The magic material is called Chitin. Trending Desk Last Updated: September 17, 2020, 1:52 PM IST FOLLOW US ON: Bricks and mortar may build sturdy homes on Earth, but Mars could have houses built from fish scales. Don’t start picturing a fisherman industriously plucking scales out of a fish to store as building materials. These houses, according to a Singaporean team of scientists, would be built from substances that are generally found in fish scales and certain fungi. The magic material is called Chitin. On Earth, this compound is one of the most widely used organic polymers. But on Mars, mixed with Martian soil, it can potentially become sturdy and stable enough to make building material and tools. The study was released on PLOS ONE with the title “Martian biolith: A bioinspired regolith com...

Scientists say buildings on Mars could be made from a substance found in fish scales and fungi called chitin. Chitin is one of the most ubiquitous organic polymers on Earth, and when mixed with Martian soil, it could make a sturdy enough material to build tools and shelters. The organic polymer could be sourced on Mars from the bio-conversion of organic waste by insects or fungi – which could be grown on farms.  In preliminary tests of the material, the experts have constructed a wrench and a mini model of a Martian habitat with the resilience of plastics.  Chitin could help NASA and private companies such as Elon Musk's SpaceX, which plan to establish human colonies on Mars in the next 20 years.   Researchers from Singapore University of Technology and Design used the chitin to construct a wrench and a model of a Martian habitat 'Bioinspired manufacturing and sustainable materials are not a substituting technology for synthetic polymers, ...

Sir David Attenborough has returned to television screens in the UK with a landmark new production. A dehydrated and injured koala receives treatment at the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital in Port Macquarie last November, after its rescue from a bushfire. Photo: AFP The tone of the programme, Extinction: The Facts , is very different from his usual work. For once Britain's favourite naturalist is not celebrating the incredible diversity of life on Earth but to issue everyone with a stark warning. "We are facing a crisis," he warns at the start, "and one that has consequences for us all." What follows is a shocking reckoning of the damage our species has wrought on the natural world . Scenes of destruction There are the stunning images of animals and plants you would expect from an Attenborough production, but also horrific scenes of destruction. In one sequence monkeys leap from trees into a river to escape a huge fire. In another a koala limps across ...

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Sir David Attenborough met some of the few remaining gorillas in the Virunga Mountains at the time some 40 years ago Sir David Attenborough returns to our screens this weekend with a landmark new production. The tone of the programme is very different from his usual work. For once Britain's favourite naturalist is not here to celebrate the incredible diversity of life on Earth but to issue us all with a stark warning. The one-hour film, Extinction: The Facts, will be broadcast on BBC One in the UK on Sunday 13 September at 20:00 BST. "We are facing a crisis", he warns at the start, "and one that has consequences for us all." What follows is a shocking reckoning of the damage our species has wrought on the natural world. Scenes of destruction There are the stunning images of animals and plants you would expect from an Attenborough production, but also horrific scenes of destruction. In one s...

The research area. Credit: Leiden University The changes that humans are making to the landscape are beneficial for mosquitoes that spread diseases such as Zika, chikungunya and dengue. This is what biologist Maarten Schrama and his colleagues write in the journal Nature Scientific Reports , saying, "If we know in which living environments mosquitoes thrive best, we can design our own living environment in such a way that the risk of outbreaks of mosquito-borne infectious diseases is minimal." Mosquitoes and humans Man is changing the landscape on earth at an unprecedented pace. Nature has to make way for agriculture and that goes hand in hand with an increase in pesticides, overgrazing and pollution. The research of Maarten Schrama and his colleagues now shows that these changes in the landscape are beneficial for mosquitoes that transmit infectious diseases such as dengue, chikungunya, the West Nile virus and Zika. "We have demonstrated this by comparing a...

By Pat Dray The Garden Spot Pat Dray You’ve probably heard a lot about invasive plants and insects lately, so let’s start with what they are. An invasive plant, animal or insect is a species that is not indigenous and grows quickly and vigorously due to the absence of natural predators. Why does that matter? The short answer is that invasives disrupt the ecosystem. Ecosystems are the interactions of all the living and non-living parts of a given area. They develop and change very slowly – for example, current ecosystems evolved over the past 18,000 years since the last ice age. Invasives disrupt and disturb the interaction of species that coexist in a particular ecosystem and can reduce the economic value of land and water. Preventing this disruption has been important enough that three presidential executive orders have been issued since 1977 and created a National Invasive Species Information Center that is part of the US Department of Agriculture. Invasive species typically ...