Explore beyond the Dream: The exact age of the Universe and exploring the capacity for motherhood in space

An unprecedented experiment on the study of female reproductive health is launching on the ISS: as part of the 75th expedition, Anna Kikina will continue the research started in 2022-2023 and focus on the condition of the endometrium. Scientists from NUST MISIS presented multifunctional medical patches of a new generation — they not only reduce blood loss, but also destroy drug-resistant bacteria. Russia is preparing to launch the first domestic gaming platform for the elderly. Astronomers have confirmed the generally accepted age of the universe — about 13.8 billion years, and archaeologists have revealed the harsh realities of antiquity: in France, in the Gallic settlement of Allon, discovered iron shackles 2.3 thousand years old.

Women's reproductive health will be studied on the ISS

One of the breakthrough studies on the International Space Station (ISS) may be an experiment to study women's reproductive health. This was announced by Roscosmos test cosmonaut Anna Kikina.

Anna Kikina

Photo: RIA Novosti/Yuri Kochetkov

"I have a super expectation — my participation in an experiment aimed at studying the female reproductive system. No one has ever done this in space flight. This is the first time people have received this data," she said.

The first stage of the research was carried out during her last expedition to the ISS from October 2022 to March 2023, Kikina explained. The follicles were studied at this stage. During the new flight, they plan to analyze the condition of the endometrium.

On July 14, the crew of the 75th expedition went to the ISS on the Soyuz MS-29 manned spacecraft. It was launched from site No. 31 of the Baikonur cosmodrome using a Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicle. The crew included Roscosmos cosmonauts Peter Dubrov and Anna Kikina, as well as NASA astronaut Anil Menon. The arrived astronauts will spend more than eight months in orbit. They will perform 38 experiments and go into space twice.

Into space for a premonition: Anna Kikina will check the safety of the ability to motherhood in orbit

What other experiments will the participants of the new expedition to the ISS conduct?

Innovative patches will stop blood flow and kill bacteria

NUST MISIS scientists have developed multifunctional medical patches of a new generation — they simultaneously quickly stop bleeding and protect the wound from a wide range of bacteria and fungi, including drug-resistant microorganisms. The development is based on a nanomaterial made of polymer fibers and zinc oxide nanoparticles: it does not irritate tissues and retains high biocompatibility with living cells.

Photo: NUST MISIS

During the tests, the material showed high effectiveness against a number of dangerous pathogens, including Staphylococcus aureus, enterococcus, E. coli, acinetobacteria and Candida auris fungus: the number of pathogens decreased by more than a million times. At the same time, the patch significantly reduces blood loss by more than six times, and reduces the duration of bleeding by about one and a half times.

— The development has become the next stage in the development of the technology that the NUST MISIS team has been researching for several years. In earlier projects, we used copper oxide nanoparticles and the antibiotic Baneocin. The new coating is based on zinc oxide nanoparticles and chlorhexidine, which made it possible to reduce the potential risks associated with the use of antibiotics, while maintaining a high bactericidal effect," said Kristina Kotyakova, researcher at the Inorganic Nanomaterials Research Center at the University, head of the Russian Science Foundation project.

Patches will be especially in demand in situations with an increased risk of infection: in the treatment of traumatic and burn injuries, in field and military medicine, as well as in the treatment of chronic wounds, in particular, ulcers with diabetic foot syndrome.

A gaming platform for the elderly will be created in Russia

Russia is developing the first domestic gaming platform for older people. The Academy of a Clear Mind project, supported by the Institute for Internet Development (IRI), will combine mini-games to train memory, attention and other cognitive functions. The development is carried out with the participation of specialists in the field of gerontology and with the support of the Ministry of Health.

Photo: KB Production

The first game mechanics are planned to be launched on the Odnoklassniki social network, and in the future the service will be able to track changes in user activity, which will potentially allow it to be used for long-term monitoring of cognitive state.

According to Vitaly Kozlov, the head of the Games for the Elderly project, the platform is being created as a tool for regular cognitive training, and not as a regular gaming resource.

— We strive to make a product that users will come back to every day. During the development, we studied the global experience of such projects, and in the future we plan to involve doctors, gerontologists and neuropsychologists to evaluate the effectiveness of game mechanics," he told Izvestia.

"We have to adapt the robot to the overall system of the station"

Roscosmos test cosmonaut Anna Kikina — about the upcoming flight to the ISS, experiments on and off the station, and an AI assistant

Astronomers have confirmed the age of the universe based on the stars of the Milky Way

Astronomers have estimated the minimum age of the universe using more than 155 thousand old stars of the Milky Way. The result is consistent with the standard cosmological model, according to which the universe is about 13.8 billion years old. Researchers led by Indranil Banik from the University of Portsmouth initially selected 247,103 subgiants, which are stars that have completed the main stage of their existence. After checking the chemical composition and comparing the two age determination methods, 155,600 objects were included in the final sample.

Photo: Global Look Press/Nicolas Economou/ZUMAPRESS.com

Scientists estimated the age of the oldest star at about 13.73 billion years. If we assume that the first long-lived stars formed about 200 million years after the Big Bang, the result corresponds to the accepted estimate of the age of the universe.

According to the authors, the data obtained complicate attempts to explain this discrepancy using new physics that has been in effect throughout almost the entire cosmic history. It is more likely that the reason arose at a relatively late stage of the expansion of the Universe or is related to a local effect, for example, the location of the Milky Way in a region of low density.

Archaeologists have found ancient traces of slavery in France

Archaeologists have discovered on the territory of the ancient settlement of Allon in the Loire Valley five iron devices that could have been used to hold slaves or captives about 2.3 thousand years ago.

Photo: Global Look Press/Nir Alon/ZUMAPRESS.com

These objects were found back in 2019 during a two-year excavation of a large Gallic settlement and a nearby religious complex. It existed in the II–I centuries BC and was located at the intersection of important trade routes. Such objects are extremely rarely preserved in the archaeological strata of pre-Roman Gaul.

"The discovery of shackles and weapons indicates a hierarchical social organization that included dominant and subordinate groups, such as captives or slaves," said Thierry Lejeune, a specialist in Celtic metalwork.

The findings support the hypothesis that Allon may have been involved in human trafficking. However, the shackles themselves do not yet allow us to accurately determine the scale of this activity or determine whether they were used to sell people, punish or force labor. A religious sanctuary, jewelry and hundreds of coins were also found on the territory of the settlement.