Here are today’s most important updates from the realm of Science and Space.
A recent study by Drexel University's Dornsife School of Public Health highlighted significant health benefits of increasing urban tree cover, particularly in underserved communities. The research indicates that enhancing green spaces can reduce stress, improve mental health, and lower mortality rates. Living within 100 metres of at least 10 trees was associated with about a 50-gram increase in birth weight, according to the researchers. These findings underscore the importance of equitable urban greening initiatives as a cost-effective strategy to address health disparities and promote environmental justice.
In an effort to explore sustainable food sources for future space missions, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is set to conduct experiments on the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the upcoming Axiom Mission-4 (Ax-4). Scheduled for launch on May 29, 2025, this mission will see Indian astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla leading experiments focused on sprouting green gram (moong) and fenugreek (methi) seeds in microgravity conditions. These seeds, integral to Indian cuisine and known for their nutritional and medicinal properties, have been selected not only for their dietary significance but also for their potential to thrive in space environments.The experiment aims to understand how space affects seed germination, growth, and overall plant development.
(Credit: NASA)
The blazar BL Lacertae, a supermassive black hole surrounded by a bright disk and jets oriented toward Earth, provided scientists with a unique opportunity to answer a longstanding question: How are X-rays generated in extreme environments like this? NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) collaborated with radio and optical telescopes to show that interactions between fast-moving electrons and particles of light, called photons, must lead to this X-ray emission. If the X-rays in a black hole’s jets are highly polarized, that would mean that the X-rays are produced by protons gyrating in the magnetic field of the jet or protons interacting with jet’s photons. If the X-rays have a lower polarization degree, it would suggest that electron-photons interactions lead to X-ray production.
Young people will be exposed to a number of heatwaves that no one would have experienced in pre-industrial times. The researchers define this as a threshold of lifetime exposure to extreme weather that someone living in a world without climate change would have only a one in 10,000 chance of experiencing. If global temperatures were to rise by 3.5°C by the end of the century, over 90% of children born in 2020 would face unprecedented levels of heatwave exposure. By contrast, limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C, could protect around 49 million of them from this risk, reducing this figure by nearly half. Earlier this year, it was confirmed that each of the past ten years ranks among the ten hottest years recorded in nearly two centuries of observations.
