In this monthly rundown from OPB, we feature the most interesting, wondrous and hopeful science coming out of the Pacific Northwest, from Jes Burns, creator of 鈥�.鈥� And remember: Science builds on the science that came before. No one study tells the whole story.
Moon dust spray
Moon dust is some unpleasant stuff. It鈥檚 comprised of silicate, which on Earth, and it鈥檚 real sticky because of static cling. The dust has wreaked havoc for astronauts in the past 鈥� . With NASA targeting the for 2025, scientists are looking for ways to get rid of the dust.
Researchers at have found a way to remove more than 98% of the dust on coated mini-astronaut dolls tested in a vacuum in the lab.
They used a liquid nitrogen spray (so cold!), which essentially boiled when it hit the warmer surface of the proxy space suits. caused the dust to lift off the material surface and float away on the nitrogen 鈥渟team.鈥�
In addition to being more effective at dust removal than the brushes and vacuums used by the early moon explorers, the researchers say the liquid nitrogen also does far less damage to the suit material.
Read the study in the journal Acta Astronautica .
Oh, sugar forks!
Single-use plastic , and it鈥檚 actually pretty difficult to get around using it completely. , we really haven鈥檛 found an alternative that鈥檚 caught on.
But at have developed a new material they think could help solve our single-use woes. The material is made of a sugar called 鈥� the everywhere 鈥� with additives of (from plants), sawdust or wood flour. The additives boosted the strength of the normally-brittle isomalt.
The result is a substance that鈥檚 harder than plastic, lightweight, and quickly dissolvable in water. The researchers then experimented with a food-grade coating that would keep the material from dissolving when wet. To recycle, just crack the coating.
The bonus is that the material can be dissolved and reformed into new items without loss of strength. And for those errant forks that end up on the ground: the authors say the dissolved material could actually be beneficial to soil.
Read more in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering .
Building better batteries
To get to 100% renewable energy 鈥� with energy sources like solar and wind that aren鈥檛 making electricity around the clock 鈥� we鈥檙e going to have to be able to to use when nature isn鈥檛 making enough. The best batteries available at this point are lithium-ion batteries, but they鈥檙e spendy, and some of the .
The quest for the thing in batteries is ongoing, and researchers at are focusing on zinc. Zinc batteries have the potential to be , but it鈥檚 been difficult to create a version that recharges efficiently.
The OSU researchers have developed a new electrolyte (the liquid or paste-like solution in batteries) that allows the battery to charge and recharge with virtually no loss of energy. The electrolyte also solves some of the common safety issues related to zinc batteries.
The scientists say the breakthrough represents a critical step forward in getting zinc-based batteries on the market.
Read the article in the Journal Nature Sustainability
Yellow fever cure?
Yellow fever is a pretty nasty disease in the tropics of Africa and South America. As the name suggests, sufferers can start to appear yellow with jaundice. but no cure if someone gets infected. And the impact of the disease is with climate change.
But a team including researchers at are testing a new treatment that is showing great promise. They鈥檙e using a medical technology called , lab-made proteins that help your immune system ward off infection (and probably best known for their role as a COVID treatment).
In animal tests, hamsters and monkeys infected with yellow fever showed no signs of infection after receiving the treatment. Two different strains of monoclonal antibodies were tested with similar success.
Mabloc, , will use these results to inform a future clinical trial on humans.
Read the paper in the journal Science Translational Medicine .
Untangling the ocean
Over the past few years, have been found tangled in commercial fishing gear off the West Coast. Scientists believe the actual number of entanglements is much higher. have to , but whales are still getting caught up.
Now researchers at and the are looking to science in hopes of reducing the chances of entanglement. The scientists overlaid 10 years of population data for humpback and other whales off the Oregon coast with Dungeness crab fishery logbook data. They then looked at when and where the two groups were most likely to cross paths.
Climate conditions (like marine heat waves and upwelling season) seemed to drive the most risk of conflict as whales looked for food closer to shore.
ODFW says it will use the new analysis to (possibly) tweak commercial crabbing rules to reduce the chances of that much larger 鈥� and decidedly unwanted 鈥� catch.
Read the paper from the journal Biological Conservation .
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