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Scientists use bacteria to repair bricks in space 🦠🌚
Did you know that soil bacterium S. pasteurii had building superpowers?
Feature of the month
Using bacteria to repair bricks on the moon 🦠🌚
With lunar expeditions becoming more than just flybys, having resources and materials that could withstand long-term space missions is proving to be crucial for space scientists and astronauts.
💡 Did you know that if you combined calcium, urea, and soil bacterium S. pasteurii with lunar soil and guar gum, you get space bricks?
This isn’t science fiction: Scientists have previously developed a bacteria-based technique to build space bricks from lunar and martian soil stimulants. Now, in a new study published in the journal Frontiers, researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have successfully developed a method to repair the same bricks damaged in harsh lunar environments—potentially extending the lifespan of man-made structures on the moon.
🔠Tech in Focus: An AI plant doctor for the city’s plant babies 🌱
Green spaces provide city dwellers with spaces for recreation, exercise, and social interaction. But as our concrete jungles grow, keeping these leafy havens thriving has become a real headache for city officials.
To address this, researchers in Japan have developed Plant Doctor—an AI-driven tool that can track plant health using video footage. 📹
Editorial highlights
 | GENERAL Residential architectural designs should incorporate elements such as exposure to natural light in bedrooms to improve alertness. |
 | HEALTH E. albertii is known to cause gastrointestinal diseases in humans, such as watery diarrhea, abdominal pain, vomiting and fever. |
 | ENVIRONMENT Scientists found evidence that cyanobacteria, often called blue-green algae, an important bacteria in the evolutionary process, flourished in green seas. |
 | SPONSORED FEATURE Researchers from the Singapore Institute of Technology co-designed a holistic mobile app with stroke survivors, caregivers, and clinicians that delivers information on stroke through games and educational content. |
 | SPONSORED FEATURE An evidence-based toolkit co-designed by researchers from Singapore Institute of Technology and people with vision impairment promises to enhance training in assistive technology. |
Meet the Asian Scientist 100 Community
Hiroko Miyahara →Musashino Art University | Japan 🇯🇵 | Aerospace & Astronomy Miyahara was awarded the 43rd Saruhashi Prize for her work in cosmic radiation. She and her team discovered long-term changes in the basic cycle of solar activity occurring in tandem with the sun’s internal circulation speed, by extracting temperature data from the growth rings of long-lived trees. |  |
Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute | Malaysia 🇲🇾 | Agricultural Sciences Khalid was awarded the 2023 Japan International Award for Young Agricultural Researchers for his work in developing nanofertilizers using flexible nanoparticle catalysis technology. |  |