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The Impact of Biofilms on Spaceflight: Beneficial or Detrimental?

As humanity ventures into house, we aren’t alone in our journey. We’ll carry with us a large number of life types from Earth, together with micro organism. These microscopic organisms have a outstanding means to type biofilms, that are complicated constructions made up of micro organism and fungi. Biofilms are generally discovered on Earth and have additionally been noticed on house missions. The query arises: can biofilms be useful in house exploration, or do they pose potential dangers? A current paper revealed within the journal Biofilm sheds mild on the position of biofilms in house journey and the implications they might have on future missions.

The paper delves into 5 key areas the place biofilms might have an effect. The primary two sections give attention to moist and dry surfaces in house, whereas the third examines the potential results on human well being. The fourth part discusses the usage of biofilms in in-situ useful resource utilization, and the fifth part touches on the event of biosensors for monitoring biofilm well being. Every of those areas presents distinctive challenges and alternatives for house exploration.

Moist surfaces are breeding grounds for biofilms, very like uncleaned environments on Earth. House stations and spacecraft have moist areas reminiscent of water reclamation methods and gas tanks, which may grow to be contaminated by biofilms. These biofilms can pose mechanical and organic threats to the crew, doubtlessly resulting in infections or allergic reactions. Understanding how microgravity impacts the virulence of pathogens in biofilms is essential for guaranteeing the protection of astronauts.

Dry surfaces in house additionally harbor micro organism, deposited by human contact and respiratory. Whereas the unfold of micro organism could also be much less pronounced than on moist surfaces, it nonetheless presents a threat to crew members. Biofilms on dry surfaces can contribute to well being points if not correctly managed, highlighting the necessity for efficient monitoring and mitigation methods.

Regardless of the potential dangers, biofilms may additionally provide advantages in house exploration. Biofilm reactors could possibly be used to filter invaluable supplies like nitrogen from Mars’ environment, offering important assets for human missions. Creating biosensors to watch biofilm well being will probably be important for sustaining the performance of those methods in house.

Finally, coexisting with biofilms in house will probably be a necessity for future missions. Whether or not biofilms show to be allies or adversaries will depend upon our understanding of their habits in house environments. By advancing our data of biofilm dynamics in microgravity, we will mitigate potential dangers and maximize the advantages they provide for house exploration.

To be taught extra in regards to the position of biofilms in house exploration, you may consult with the unique analysis paper by Justiniano et al. For added insights into the fascinating world of biofilms, take a look at these articles from Universe In the present day: There’s a Surprising Amount of Life Deep Inside the Earth., Instead of Building Structures on Mars, we Could Grow Them With the Help of Bacteria, and Earth’s Toughest Bacteria Can Survive Unprotected in Space for at Least a Year.

Picture Credit score: NASA

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Valeria Márquez, TikTok Influencer, Shot Dead During Live Stream in Mexico

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A 23-year-old influencer was shot and killed on Tuesday at a magnificence salon in Jalisco, Mexico, whereas she was livestreaming on TikTok, based on the state prosecutor’s workplace.

The influencer, Valeria Márquez, was working on the salon in Zapopan, a part of the metropolitan space of Guadalajara, and streaming to a few of her 113,000 followers on TikTok, when two males pulled up outdoors on a bike, Denis Rodríguez, a spokesman for the Jalisco State Prosecutor’s Workplace, mentioned. One of many males entered the salon carrying a masks, in search of Ms. Márquez.

“He requested her immediately: ‘Are you Valeria?’” Mr. Rodríguez mentioned. She responded, “Sure.”

The person then pulled out a gun and shot her earlier than hopping on the bike and fleeing.

Ms. Márquez’s TikTok account appeared to have been taken down on Wednesday, however a video of the killing circulating on-line, which was confirmed by the prosecutor’s workplace, confirmed her sitting in a chair on the salon, holding a pink stuffed pig in her lap, earlier than wanting away from the digital camera. A second later she clutches at her chest and abdomen earlier than slumping over in her chair. One other girl’s face is then seen earlier than the video cuts out.

When investigators arrived later, “she was nonetheless sitting within the chair, the place she was shocked, with that doll, the little pig, proper there in her arms,” Mr. Rodríguez mentioned.

The prosecutor’s workplace mentioned it didn’t have any suspects, but it surely was reviewing surveillance footage and brushing by way of her social media for clues as to whom the attackers is likely to be. The boys, who visited the store earlier within the day saying they have been making an attempt to ship a present for Ms. Márquez, almost definitely didn’t personally know her, as they needed to ask for her by identify, Mr. Rodríguez mentioned.

“They didn’t have a private relationship,” he mentioned. “He was merely her executioner.”

The prosecutor’s workplace mentioned that it was investigating the crime as a doable “femicide,” a kind of gender-based violence towards girls. Such assaults are sometimes unpunished in Mexico.

Ms. Márquez’s demise was the most recent reminder of the rise in violence towards girls within the nation.

The killing occurred days after Yesenia Lara Gutiérrez, a mayoral candidate within the state of Veracruz, was gunned down together with three others throughout a marketing campaign march on Sunday — an assault that was also captured on a livestream.

A recording of that stream, which was posted on Ms. Gutiérrez’s Fb web page and was nonetheless on-line as of Wednesday night, reveals her shaking the palms of residents and marching along with her supporters by way of the streets, earlier than a collection of gunshots ring out. Moments later, a few of her supporters will be heard screaming, whereas others run from the scene, earlier than the digital camera goes darkish.

Mexico has enacted a variety of native and federal legal guidelines lately to fight gender-based violence towards girls, however the nation nonetheless has one of many highest charges of femicide on this planet.

The violence is the product of a “machismo” tradition, ingrained sexism and establishments that resist acknowledging their very own duty for gender-based violence, mentioned Paulina García-Del Ethical, an affiliate professor of sociology on the College of Guelph.

“There’s nonetheless a way of entitlement amongst loads of males in Mexico — and elsewhere in Latin America and the world — they really feel entitled to girls’s our bodies,” Dr. García-Del Ethical mentioned. “It’s confirmed to be very resilient and resistant to vary.”

A study in 2023 from a bunch of lecturers in Mexico discovered that femicide has been rising within the nation for practically a decade, outpacing different violent crimes, with round 10 or 11 girls murdered each day.

In accordance with the United Nations, greater than 50,000 women have been murdered from 2001 to 2024, with lower than 5 % of the instances leading to convictions.

State actors typically fail to analyze, or once they do, they downplay the violence by specializing in gendered stereotypes, like what a feminine sufferer was carrying or the alternatives she could have made that led to her demise, Ms. García-Del Ethical mentioned. “Just about sufferer blaming,” she added.

After Ms. Márquez was shot, customers flooded her TikTok account with messages expressing shock and condolences. Some questioned whether or not the footage was actual. TikTok didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

It’s unclear whether or not the one that attacked Ms. Márquez knew that she was broadcasting dwell, however, Ms. García-Del Ethical mentioned, “Any form of public feminicide desires to ship a press release, whether or not it’s transmitted dwell or not: That males can kill girls with impunity.”

“Feminicidal violence in Mexico is so deep, and so broad, you aren’t essentially protected by advantage of being of wealthier socioeconomic standing, or being a politician or being even dwell,” she added. “It doesn’t matter.”

McKinnon de Kuyper contributed reporting.

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KISS’ Gene Simmons reveals moment “Rock and Roll All Nite” was born and reflects on being a “chameleon”

For greater than half a century, KISS’ Gene Simmons has been one of the crucial recognizable figures of rock and roll. Simmons rose to stardom because the “demonic” bassist and co-lead singer of the rock band shaped in New York Metropolis in 1973.

“All my life I have been a chameleon. All the things is a dressing up,” Simmons mentioned in an interview for “CBS Mornings” that aired on Wednesday.

However his devilish make-up and theatrical persona are a stark distinction to his very humble upbringing because the son of an immigrant single mom. Lengthy earlier than he grew to become a KISS icon, he was recognized merely as Chaim Witz, that means “life” in Hebrew.

The highway to KISS

KISS’ Gene Simmons displays on his childhood in an interview with “CBS Mornings.”

CBS Mornings

“You wish to be in a rock band?” Simmons recalled his mom asking. “That is not going to fly, babe.”

Earlier than transferring to New York at age 8, Simmons was born in Israel – a toddler of Jewish refugees from Hungary. His mom, Flora Klein, survived the Holocaust.

“After the horrific unimaginable life my mom went via the place she noticed her total household, our household, worn out in entrance of her face, each resolution I used to be going to make I considered my mom first,” Simmons mentioned.

Simmons vowed to be there for his mom each step of the way in which, reminding himself, “Do not break your mom’s coronary heart. Do not do it.”

He mentioned it was an statement his mom made that impressed him to be a musician. Whereas watching The Beatles carry out on “The Ed Sullivan Present” one night time, Simmons recalled his mom coming in and commenting in Hungarian.

“I will always remember this…she mentioned one thing like, in Hungarian, ‘They’re actually bizarre individuals.’ And at that time, I assumed they’re cool,” Simmons mentioned.

The start of “Rock and Roll All Nite”

After making some cash from singing background for different artists at New York Metropolis’s Electrical Girl Studios, Simmons and his pal Paul Stanley went on to kind the legendary band KISS of their early 20s.

Eddie Kramer, who labored with The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix, agreed to supply and engineer their first demo. However they struggled in obscurity till a problem from their label’s president led to one of the crucial well-known strains in rock historical past.

Whereas shopping for frozen scorching canines and a can of beans in San Francisco, Simmons remembers Stanley turning to him and buzzing among the lyrics to the tune that will later change into the enduring 1975 hit “Rock and Roll All Nite.”

“We have been in San Francisco, we went downstairs to purchase frozen hotdogs and a can of beans. And Paul mentioned, what do you consider this?”

“That is actually good. What do you bought? He goes, ‘That is all I’ve acquired,'” mentioned Simmons after Stanley sang the refrain. They finally put extra verses collectively.

“And that is how the tune was born,” he mentioned.

By 1977, following the discharge of their live performance album “Alive!”, they have been one of the crucial well-known bands in America. At the moment, KISS has extra gold albums than some other American band and has sold more than 100 million records worldwide.

Although KISS retired from performing as a band, Simmons, now 75, is presently on tour.

“You are operating a race in a way, the race of life and the end line is developing proper forward of you. What are you going to do? Decelerate, or are you going to hurry up?” Simmons mentioned.

Vladimir Duthiers

Vladimir Duthiers is a featured host of “CBS Mornings” and serves as anchor for CBS Information 24/7. The Peabody Award- and Emmy Award-winning journalist has lined a variety of breaking and have tales since becoming a member of CBS Information in 2014.

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A boat company wants to electrify the Port of Los Angeles

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An electrical boat firm with roots in Torrance is taking steps to deliver battery-powered workboats and charging infrastructure to the Port of Los Angeles, the place diesel-burning vessels emit tons of carbon dioxide.

Arc Boat Co., a Southern California startup that sells electrical boats for leisure use, mentioned it’ll open a analysis and improvement facility on the port in June.

The ability indicators a transfer towards electrification on the nation’s busiest port and marks Arc’s growth into the industrial sector.

Arc’s promise to ship an electrified fleet of workboats comes 5 years forward of a 2030 deadline set by the ports of Los Angeles and Lengthy Seaside to transition to zero-emission gear.

The dual ports, located on greater than 10,000 acres on San Pedro Bay, depend on heavy-duty cranes, tugboats and vehicles to maneuver cargo. Changing the roughly 2,000 tugboats within the U.S. with electrical alternate options might forestall greater than 1.6 million automobiles’ price of greenhouse gas emissions yearly, in line with Arc.

“Throughout the complete marine business, going electrical makes an unbelievable quantity of sense,” Arc co-founder and Chief Govt Mitch Lee mentioned in an interview. “These boats don’t have fumes, and you’ll lower your working prices considerably.”

Electrical boats require minimal upkeep and 0 gas, an interesting mixture for industrial operators who wish to lower your expenses and customers seeking to benefit from the water, Lee mentioned. Arc’s boats are additionally quieter and simpler to maneuver than conventional boats, he mentioned.

The electrification of autos on the water might quickly acquire momentum, mentioned Petros Ioannou, an engineering professor at USC who researches transportation expertise.

“The principle cause for going electrical is absolutely the setting,” Ioannou mentioned. “The query is whether or not they’re able to remedy the technological and logistical issues” introduced by electrical boats, together with energy, vary and charging limitations.

Regardless of the challenges of constructing a battery able to propelling a ship, a number of corporations together with Navier and X Shore are producing and promoting electrical vessels. Arc’s enterprise presently revolves round leisure boats for water sports activities, beginning at $268,000.

In a partnership with Portland, Ore.-based shipyard Diversified Marine Inc., Arc plans to retrofit a 26-foot-long truckable tugboat with lithium-ion battery packs and a 600-horsepower drivetrain. The vessel would be the first zero-emission tug to help operations on the Port of Los Angeles, Arc mentioned.

Tugboats are a vital instrument on the ports of Los Angeles and Lengthy Seaside, the place they information bigger vessels and transfer gear equivalent to barges and cranes.

“Tugs run quick, repetitive missions requiring excessive torque, and begin and finish on the identical house base,” Arc mentioned in an announcement asserting its retrofitting project. “Not solely does that make them well-suited to going electrical, however doing so drastically reduces working bills.”

Teaming up with Diversified Marine permits Arc to launch its new workboat in collaboration with a number of entities that do enterprise on the port, Lee mentioned.

“Diversified already is aware of find out how to faucet into the port operations and get this vessel to work,” he mentioned. “We’re modernizing their tugboat and deploying it into the Port of L.A., and we’re in a position to present charging infrastructure as properly.”

A tugboat next to tires and equipment on land.

Switching from diesel-powered to electrical workboats can save industrial operators roughly 50% on upkeep and gas prices, Lee mentioned, including that Arc’s new analysis and improvement facility will present the groundwork to make the change doable.

The corporate didn’t disclose how a lot cash it was placing into the analysis facility and accompanying charging community, however mentioned it in all probability would require an funding of lower than $10 million.

The ability will sit inside a 35-acre analysis campus operated by the nonprofit AltaSea. It would help prototype improvement of electrical workboats, on-water testing and fleet deployment, Arc mentioned. The corporate builds its battery packs out of a separate facility in Los Angeles.

“Decarbonization at our ports is a crucial step to attaining actual, substantive local weather progress,” AltaSea mentioned in an announcement. “Arc Boat’s new R&D facility and charging infrastructure will assist make the Port of L.A. a worldwide mannequin for sustainable maritime operations.”

Launched in 2021 by former Boeing and SpaceX engineers, Arc has a mission to impress every thing on the water, Lee mentioned. Earlier than co-founding Arc with fellow Northwestern alum Ryan Cook dinner, Lee grew up within the Bay Space and continuously boated together with his household.

Arc has obtained greater than $100 million in funding funds from California-based enterprise capital companies together with Andreessen Horowitz and Decrease Carbon Capital, amongst others. The startup employs 170 folks, together with consultants with backgrounds at electrical automobile corporations Rivian and Tesla.

The corporate didn’t disclose its annual income, however mentioned demand for its boats is excessive. Two fashions can be found to be delivered nationwide, together with the Arc Sport, designed for wake browsing and water snowboarding; and the Arc One, a luxurious cruiser.

Arc is the one electrical boat firm to construct its personal battery packs in-house, Lee mentioned.

Though meeting is finished in Los Angeles, President Trump’s steep tariffs on U.S. commerce companions — together with a 145% tax on items imported from China — have nonetheless introduced a problem. The tariff on China has since been decreased to 30%.

“We’re positively impacted by tariffs and the electrical automobile market has heavy ties to Chinese supply chains,” Lee mentioned. “We’re additionally forward of the curve and much more vertically built-in than most corporations.”

With ambitions to construct electrical boats able to hauling cargo and touring lengthy distances, Arc might want to keep on the forefront of battery improvement, Ioannou from USC mentioned. Producing its batteries domestically might give Arc a bonus as tariffs disrupt world commerce.

“Whether or not this house will progress in a fast manner will very a lot rely upon the battery expertise and availability,” Ioannou mentioned.

“While you go from gasoline to electrical, there are specific advantages that you just get, however a number of complications too,” he mentioned.