Space and Burden: dark energy on a 3D map and ancient wheat on Kulikovo Field

Russian surgeons have received a realistic breast phantom to practice complex operations, engineers have found a way to extend the life of satellites by a third using smart thermal insulation, and Russian archaeologists and biologists have begun reviving ancient wheat varieties in Kulikovo Field. Meanwhile, American astrophysicists have proposed searching for traces of life on Mars in the former continental shelf they discovered, and have also created the most detailed 3D map of the universe to help measure dark energy. The most interesting science and technology news of the week can be found in the Izvestia article.

Artificial breasts will help train surgeons

Medical scientists at the Advanced Engineering School of Sechenov University have created a tissue-equivalent copy of the breast. The artificial organ material reproduces the mechanical and acoustic properties of living tissues with high reliability. The development is designed to train oncological surgeons and allows them to perform a full range of manipulations.

Photo: Sechenov University

There are microscopic inclusions inside the simulator that mimic tumors. Using them, doctors can learn how to make targeted tissue sampling for analysis.

— Creating a realistic phantom allows you to repeatedly practice manual skills in safe conditions as close as possible to real ones. This is an invaluable experience without risk to the patient," said Maxim Saliba, Associate Professor of the Department of Faculty Surgery No. 1 at the First Moscow State Medical University.

At the same time, the elastic filler of the simulator is independently tightened after punctures. Thanks to this, the product retains its properties even after dozens of intensive exercises.

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Scientists will increase the life span of spacecraft by a third

Russian researchers have proposed a new computational model that predicts with high accuracy how heat moves inside the screen-vacuum thermal insulation (EVTI) of spacecraft. Scientists from the Moscow Aviation Institute and the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute named after N.E. Zhukovsky participated in the development.

Photo: MAI press service

— The calculations obtained give the temperature dependence on the number of layers, their reflectivity and gaps. When designing a product, an engineer can change these parameters, achieving uniform heat distribution or creating conditions to direct it to where it is colder," Maria Egorova, a graduate student at MAI, told Izvestia.

EVTI protects the equipment of satellites, orbital stations and other devices from extreme temperatures. According to calculations, controlling heat flows can prolong the active life of spacecraft by a third. The development will also help to reduce the mass of thermal insulation by 15-20%.

According to the developers, the model can be adapted to design landers on Venus, solar probes and instruments launched into the craters of active volcanoes.

Ancient wheat varieties will be revived in Kulikovo field

The Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the N.I. Vavilov All-Russian Institute of Plant Genetic Resources and the Kulikovo Field Museum-Reserve have begun reviving agricultural crops that were cultivated in Russia several centuries ago.

The Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Grain from excavations on the territory of the Granary, burned in a fire at the beginning of the XVIII century.

Photo: Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences,

The project started after the discovery of 2.5 tons of burnt grain collected from different territories and at different periods during the XVI-XVIII centuries at the excavations of the Granary in the Trinity–Sergius Lavra.

Scientists have found analogues of ancient crops in old—town varieties - traditional species that were bred before the beginning of industrial agriculture by methods of folk breeding. These plants will be planted on the territory of the museum-reserve.

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— Reconstruction of the Russian field is a very urgent task. Before, no one had thought about how our country had lived for centuries without mineral fertilizers. How people grew grain on poor, scarce soils. Today it is important to understand which varieties were growing then, how they were zoned and adapted to local conditions," said Asya Engovatova, Head of the Archaeological Heritage Conservation Department at the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

According to her, in the course of these studies, results can be obtained that will allow us to grow more useful crops with less use of chemical fertilizers.

Ancient shelf will point to traces of life on Mars

Researchers from the California Institute of Technology and the University of Texas at Austin (USA) have proposed a new method for searching for traces of an ancient ocean on Mars. Instead of the remnants of coastlines that could have been "erased" by erosion, scientists focused on the continental shelf, an analog of the earth's land, which gradually descends towards the ocean. The specialists used data from the Mars Global Surveyor, a station in Mars orbit.

Photo: A. Zaki

"In the study, we show that the most noticeable topographic feature of the ocean on Earth is a strip with a low slope and curvature, which includes coastal plains and a continental shelf with an elevation difference from -410 to -15 m. Applying the same analysis to the surface of Mars, we found a relatively flat area at an altitude of approximately -1800 to -3800 m, which may be a partially preserved Martian coastal shelf," the experts noted in a scientific publication.

The practical significance of the discovery is related to the planning of future missions to Mars, which are focused on finding traces of life, they noted. In particular, the shelf zone may become the main target for the European rover Rosalind Franklin, whose expedition will start in 2028.

According to the researchers, sedimentary rocks and organic molecules, markers of ancient life, are most likely to be preserved in the sediments of the ancient shelf. Studying these layers will allow us to answer whether the biosphere had time to originate on Mars before it lost its hydrosphere.

The largest map of the universe will help measure dark energy

Specialists from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (USA) have announced the creation of the largest 3D map of the universe. For five years, they used the DESI (Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument) instrument at the Kitt Peak Observatory in Arizona to scan the sky. As a result, it was possible to explore more than a third of the entire firmament, on which the researchers recorded over 47 million galaxies and quasars (bright galactic nuclei).

Photo: DESI Collaboration and DESI Member Institutions/DOE/KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/R. Proctor

For comparison, the authors of the project noted, all previous maps taken together covered about 5 million objects. The light from the most distant objects traveled to Earth for 11 billion years. The collected data array will make it possible to measure dark energy, which makes up about 70% of the contents of the universe and provokes its accelerating expansion.

DESI's preliminary results, released three years ago, have already hinted that dark energy may not be constant, as the standard model of the Universe suggests, but weakens over time. Confirmation of the hypothesis may lead to a revision of the fundamental model.