The pick of the science news
A view from the Observatory
Keep-fit for astronauts, a basketball-playing robot and wearable sensors to improve your tennis finesse will feature in a sports-science themed open night at Blackrock Castle Observatory (pictured) in Cork tomorrow.
Starting from 6pm, the evening will also include this month’s Cork Science Café, at which marathon athlete and physical therapist Peter Maher will discuss gait analysis and race readiness. Admission free, see bco.ie for details.
The point of acuapuncture
A new study has highlighted a role for a particular biochemical in acupuncture – in mice at least.
The findings, published in Nature Neuroscience, hinge on a naturally occurring chemical in the body called “adenosine”, levels of which rose in the tissue fluid around where the needle was inserted. Blocking the actions of adenosine also seemed to negate the apparent pain-reducing effects of acupuncture, which, the authors say, are mediated by activating A1 adenosine receptors on ascending nerves.
6
The number of people who will live and work in a mocked-up ‘spacecraft’ in Moscow for 520 days, starting from today, in an experiment to analyse how people would fare on a round-trip to Mars.
