A sampling of recent articles, videos, and images from space-related science news items:<\/p>\n
** Experiments designed and built by students<\/strong> were among the 38 R&D payloads on the recent Blue Origin New Shepard flight to 106 km:<\/p>\n For example, the UCLA team of 11 students designed and built an experimental magnetic pump named Blue Dawn<\/a> that will work in zero-gravity:<\/p>\n \u201cThe goal was to see if we could design an efficient fluid pump without any moving parts to work in zero-gravity, which has never been done before,\u201d said Alexander Gonzalez, fourth-year physics major and undergrad science lead on the project. Such a low-maintenance pump would be ideal for moving various liquids on the International Space Station, and could reduce the risk of motorized pump failures for rovers and even future bases on the moon or Mars.<\/em><\/p>\n ** Living tissues embedded in 3D electronics chips were among the research projects <\/strong>on the recent SpaceX Dragon Cargo mission to the ISS. The company Emulate, Inc.<\/a> sent “organs-on-chips” to the ISS to study the Effects of Microgravity on Human Physiology<\/a> including<\/p>\n the effect of microgravity and other space-related stressors on the brain blood barrier. It uses fully automated tissue chip technology, a Brain-Chip, consisting of living neuronal and vascular endothelial cells in a micro-engineered environment. Results may provide insight into the relationship between inflammation and brain function and a better understanding of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer\u2019s and Parkinson\u2019s.<\/em><\/p>\n\n