Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog

Category: space

JWST pins down the origins of a planetary odd couple

Across the Milky Way galaxy, a planetary odd couple is circling a star some 190 light years from Earth. A normally “lonely” hot Jupiter is sharing space with a mini-Neptune, in a rare and unlikely pairing that’s had astronomers puzzled since the system’s discovery in 2020.

Now MIT scientists have caught a glimpse into the atmosphere of the mini-Neptune, which is circling inside the orbit of its Jupiter-sized companion, and discovered clues to explain the origins of this unusual planetary system.

In a study appearing in Astrophysical Journal Letters, the scientists report on new measurements of the mini-Neptune’s atmosphere, made using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). It is the first time astronomers have measured the composition of a mini-Neptune that resides inside the orbit of a hot Jupiter.

New stealthy Quasar Linux malware targets software developers

A previously undocumented Linux implant named Quasar Linux (QLNX) is targeting developers’ systems with a mix of rootkit, backdoor, and credential-stealing capabilities.

The malware kit is deployed in development and DevOps environments in npm, PyPI, GitHub, AWS, Docker, and Kubernetes. This could enable supply-chain attacks where the threat actor publishes malicious packages on code distribution platforms.

Researchers at cybersecurity company Trend Micro analyzed the QLNX implant and found that “it dynamically compiles rootkit shared objects and PAM backdoor modules on the target host using gcc [GNU Compiler Collection].”

Optically dark gamma-ray burst reveals an unusually wide jet

Using various telescopes, an international team of astronomers has performed multi-wavelength observations of a recently identified gamma-ray burst source designated GRB 250416C. Results of the observational campaign, published April 23 on the v pre-print server, could help us better understand the nature of GRB 250416C and gamma-ray bursts in general.

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the most powerful electromagnetic explosions in the universe, usually caused by the destruction of massive stars. In general, they are observed as bursts of highly energetic gamma rays lasting from less than a second to several minutes.

Synchrotron X-rays uncover hidden protein binding sites, enabling two new functions

Using bright X-rays from the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), researchers pioneered an innovative approach to designing proteins with targeted functions. Their method generated new insights that allowed the team to turn a single designed protein into two new proteins with completely different functions—one of which is the most active designed enzyme to date.

In the study, published in Nature Chemistry, the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), team for the first time combined X-ray studies of how small molecule fragments bind to designed proteins, known as crystallographic fragment screening, with a method used to design proteins, called directed evolution. This breakthrough approach could lead to simpler ways to improve enzymes and medications, among other uses.

“Our novel protein design strategy simultaneously explores the landscapes of chemical space and sequence space, which helps design functional proteins rapidly,” said Sagar Bhattacharya, postdoctoral researcher at UCSF and an author on the paper. “Instead of the typical 5–10 rounds or more of directed evolution, we achieved the 10-fold higher enzyme activity with just two rounds of directed evolution.”

Mathematical framework solves asteroid route planning exactly for first time

A new publication from Bielefeld University sets a benchmark in optimization research. Together with an international team, Professor Michael Römer from the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics has developed a mathematical framework that solves a complex problem from space logistics exactly for the first time: the optimal planning of a route to visit several asteroids under conditions that are as close to reality as possible. The study is published in the INFORMS Journal on Computing.

At the center of the research is the so-called Asteroid Routing Problem. It addresses the question: In what order should a spacecraft visit multiple asteroids if both travel time and fuel consumption are to be minimized? The challenge is that, unlike in classical routing problems, the travel time between destinations is constantly changing because all celestial bodies are in continuous motion.

The idea for the study originated in Bielefeld, sparked by a success in a competition organized by the European Space Agency (ESA). During a research stay in Bielefeld, lead author Isaac Rudich revisited the topic and, together with the team, developed a new solution approach.

A tiny world beyond Neptune has an atmosphere that shouldn’t exist

A team of professional and amateur Japanese astronomers have found evidence for a thin atmosphere around a small body in the outer solar system. The object is so small that it should not have a sustainable atmosphere, raising questions about when and how the atmosphere formed. Future observations to better characterize the atmosphere will help solve these mysteries.

/* */