Imagine a time when water flowed freely on the surface of Mars. Waves crashed against rocky shorelines, winds howled fiercely, and rain poured down from the thick, cloudy skies. It sounds like a scene from our own planet billions of years ago, doesn’t it? Well, that’s because it was – except for one crucial difference: Mars’s size. Being about half the diameter of Earth, Mars faced challenges that ultimately led to its barren, desolate state today.
As the Martian core cooled rapidly, the planet lost its magnetic field, leaving it defenseless against the solar wind that stripped away its atmosphere. Without the protection needed to shield it from the sun’s harmful rays, Mars couldn’t retain its heat, causing its oceans to evaporate and its surface to absorb the remaining water. Only traces of frozen water exist at the poles now, with any hope of once supporting life long gone.
But is there a chance for life to flourish on Mars again? And what would it take to cultivate plants to sustain future astronauts on the red planet? The answers lie in the full story waiting to be explored.
– David W. Brown
This lab robot mixes chemicals
Picture this: lab scientists no longer spending hours on tedious, repetitive tasks like pipetting liquid samples or running countless analyses. What if they could simply instruct a robot to conduct experiments, analyze data, and produce reports all on its own?
Introducing Organa, a revolutionary robotic system developed by researchers at the University of Toronto. This benchtop marvel is designed to automate various chemistry lab duties through a clever mix of computer vision and a sophisticated language model. Scientists can now convey their instructions verbally, and Organa translates them into an experimental workflow. The possibilities are boundless – delve into the full story to learn more.