Panda Poop | Clots ‘n Bots | Space Cat

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Panda Poop

Giant pandas communicate with their own “social media”, and it stinks. Researchers learned scent-marking trees means far more than “I pooped here”.

• Panda poop studied at China’s Wolong Nature Reserve

• 1 bear leaves 40-90…uh, samples per day

• Scent messages include breeding status, personality, and size

Communication preferences change during mating season to capitalize on the panda’s 1-3 day annual breeding window. Better understanding their lifestyle will help improve conservation efforts. And hopefully won’t become a human social media fad.

Wipe right

Clots ‘n Bots

Blood clots will soon be broken up by rice-sized corkscrews. Scientists developed guidable 3D-printed millibots to clear blood vessels.

• Steered using external magnet

• Corkscrew shape enables swimming against blood flow

• While also breaking up targeted clots

When cleared, millibot's symmetrical shape allows it to swim back to the insertion site without turning around. Given its high maneuverability, researchers are also reviewing the bots' drug delivery potential. No word on controllable rice grains though.

This is not a drill

Space Cat

NASA sent a cat through space to test communication limits. The 15-second video of Taters, an orange tabby, is our first deep space streaming content.

• Sent from the Psyche probe on its way to the asteroid belt

• Video traveled 19 million miles in 101 seconds

• 80x distance between Earth and the moon

Mission data overlays Tabby chasing a laser pointer to showcase the HD quality of, ironically, laser communications. This experiment's data will help NASA develop communication technology for future deep space missions. Pawsome!

Watch the video right meow

Unnatural Selection

Last week: “How would you pronounce "Casgevy"?”

Vertex/CRISPR agrees, though we may not make their next press release. At least we agree on how to pronounce “gif”…right?

st3v on site

Laser Show

NASA asked st3v to help test their next space laser video.

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