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Scientists genetically modify a human embryo for the first time – New York Post

Posted: July 27, 2017 at 9:41 am

For the first time ever, American scientists have successfully edited the DNA of a human embryo in the attempt to correct genes that cause inherited diseases, a report says.

Researchers from Oregon Health and Science University in Portland managed to modify numerous one-cell embryos using a controversial technique called CRISPR, according to MIT Technology Review.

Sources told the school magazine that the team, led by US-based biologist Shoukhrat Mitalipov, was able to safely inject gene-editing chemicals into human eggs near the moment of fertilization.

While the embryos were not allowed to be developed for more than a few days, the researchers ultimately proved that they could be efficiently edited in the attempt to correct genetic disorders.

Up until now, China was the only known country to carry out the practice. But they only managed to make their desired DNA changes on a small number of cells, creating an effect known as mosaicism.

Experts describe this as a condition in which cells within the same person have a different genetic code or makeup.

Mitalipovs team, however, was able to prevent this from happening.

They significantly reduced mosaicism, explained one researcher, who chose to remain anonymous.

The milestone means scientists in the US are officially one step closer to engineering the first genetically modified human beings on earth.

It is proof of principle that it can work, the researcher said. I dont think its the start of clinical trials yet, but it does take it further than anyone has before.

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Scientists are building DNA from scratch to redesign life – New York Post

Posted: at 9:41 am

NEW YORK At Jef Boekes lab, you can whiff an odor that seems out of place, as if they were baking bread here.

But he and his colleagues are cooking up something else altogether: yeast that works with chunks of man-made DNA.

Scientists have long been able to make specific changes in the DNA code. Now, theyre taking the more radical step of starting over and building redesigned life forms from scratch. Boeke, a researcher at New York University, directs an international team of 11 labs on four continents working to rewrite the yeast genome, following a detailed plan they published in March.

Their work is part of a bold and controversial pursuit aimed at creating custom-made DNA codes to be inserted into living cells to change how they function or even provide a treatment for diseases. It could also someday help give scientists the profound and unsettling ability to create entirely new organisms.

The genome is the entire genetic code of a living thing. Learning how to make one from scratch, Boeke said, means you really can construct something thats completely new.

The research may reveal basic, hidden rules that govern the structure and functioning of genomes. But it also opens the door to life with new and useful characteristics, like microbes or mammal cells that are better than current ones at pumping out medications in pharmaceutical factories, or new vaccines. The right modifications might make yeast efficiently produce new biofuels, Boeke says.

Some scientists look further into the future and see things like trees that purify water supplies and plants that detect explosives at airports and shopping malls.

Also on the horizon is redesigning human DNA. Thats not to make genetically altered people, scientists stress. Instead, the synthetic DNA would be put into cells, to make them better at pumping out pharmaceutical proteins, for example, or perhaps to engineer stem cells as a safer source of lab-grown tissue and organs for transplanting into patients.

Some have found the idea of remaking human DNA disconcerting and scientists plan to get guidance from ethicists and the public before they try it.

Still, redesigning DNA is alarming to some. Laurie Zoloth of Northwestern University, a bioethicist whos been following the effort, is concerned about making organisms with properties we cannot fully know. And the work would disturb people who believe creating life from scratch would give humans unwarranted power, she said.

It is not only a science project, Zoloth said in an email. It is an ethical and moral and theological proposal of significant proportions.

Rewritten DNA has already been put to work in viruses and bacteria. Australian scientists recently announced that theyd built the genome of the Zika virus in a lab, for example, to better understand it and get clues for new treatments.

At Harvard University, Jeffrey Way and Pamela Silver are working toward developing a harmless strain of salmonella to use as a vaccine against food poisoning from salmonella and E. coli, as well as the diarrhea-causing disease called shigella.

A key goal is to prevent the strain from turning harmful as a result of picking up DNA from other bacteria. That requires changing its genome in 30,000 places.

The only practical way to do that, Way says, is to synthesize it from scratch.

The cutting edge for redesigning a genome, though, is yeast. Its genome is bigger and more complex than the viral and bacterial codes altered so far. But its well-understood and yeast will readily swap man-made DNA for its own.

Still, rewriting the yeast genome is a huge job.

Its like a chain with 12 million chemical links, known by the letters, A, C, G and T. Thats less than one-hundredth the size of the human genome, which has 3.2 billion links. But its still such a big job that Boekes lab and scientists in the United States, Australia, China, Singapore and the United Kingdom are splitting up the work. By the time the new yeast genome is completed, researchers will have added, deleted or altered about a million DNA letters.

Boeke compares a genome to a book with many chapters and researchers are coming out with a new edition, with chapters that allow the book to do something it couldnt do before.

To redesign a particular stretch of yeast DNA, scientists begin with its sequence of code letters natures own recipe. They load that sequence into a computer, then tell the computer to make specific kinds of changes. For example, one change might let them rearrange the order of genes, which might reveal strategies to make yeast grow better, says NYU researcher Leslie Mitchell.

Once the changes are made, the new sequence used as a blueprint. It is sent to a company that builds chunks of DNA containing the new sequence. Then these short chunks are joined together in the lab to build ever longer strands.

The project has so far reported building about one-third of the yeast genome. Boeke hopes the rest of the construction will be done by the end of the year. But he says it will take longer to test the new DNA and fix problems and to finally combine the various chunks into a complete synthetic genome.

Last year, Boeke and others announced a separate effort, what is now called Genome Project-write or GP-write. It is chiefly focused on cutting the cost of building and testing large genomes, including human ones, by more than 1,000-fold within 10 years. The project is still seeking funding.

In the meantime, leaders of GP-write have started discussions of ethical, legal and social issues. And they realize the idea of making a human genome is a sensitive one.

The notion that we could actually write a human genome is simultaneously thrilling to some and not so thrilling to others, Boeke said. So we recognize this is going to take a lot of discussion.

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A Team of Scientists Just Made Food From Electricity and it Could … – Futurism

Posted: at 9:40 am

In BriefA Finnish research team has taken a step towards the future offood by developing a method for producing food from electricity. Ifscaling it up proves to be successful, it could be a tool in thefight against world hunger and climate change. The Electric Bioreactor Farm

Finnish researchers have created a batch of single-cell protein that is nutritious enough to servefor dinner using a system powered by renewable energy. The entire process requires only electricity, water, carbon dioxide, and microbes. The synthetic food was created as part of the Food From Electricity project, which is a collaboration between Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT) and the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.

After exposing the raw materials to electrolysis in a bioreactor, the process forms a powder that consists of more than 50 percent protein and 25 percent carbohydrates the texture can also be changed by altering the microbes used in the production.

The next stage, according to Juha-Pekka Pitknen, principal scientist at VTT, is to optimize the system because, currently, a bioreactor the size of a coffee cup takes around two weeks to produce one gram of the protein. Pitknen said in a LUT press release,We are currently focusing on developing the technology: reactor concepts, technology, improving efficiency, and controlling the process.

He predicted that it would take about a decade before a more efficient incarnation of the system would be widely available Maybe 10years is a realistic timeframe for reaching commercial capacity, in terms of the necessary legislation and process technology.

The potential impact of food produced using electricity and otherwidely available raw materials is enormous. Currently, there are two main ways that it could be used.

First, as a means of feeding starving people and providing a source of food in areas that are not suited to agricultural production. Pitknen said that, in the future, the technology can be transported to, for instance, deserts and other areas facing famine, providing a source of cheap and nutritious food to those who need it most.

The machine also works independently of environmental factors, meaning that it could feed people consistently Jero Ahola, a Professor at LUT, said in the press release that it does not require a location with the conditions for agriculture, such as the right temperature, humidity or a certain soil type.

Second, as a means of decreasing global emissions by reducing the demand for food livestock and the crops necessary to feed them. Currently, the meat industry accounts for between 14 and 18 percent of global emissionsof greenhouse gases, as well as taking up swarths of land that could be applied for other ends.

The food from electricity project could decrease the amount of unsustainable farming needed to fill our bellies as it provides us with a smaller, cheaper, and renewable method of getting our nutrients. Other solutions to this problem include lab-grown meat or turning to insect farming, whichproduces less waste and requires less energy.

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Physicists Take One Large Step Towards Proving Quantum Entanglement – Futurism

Posted: at 9:40 am

In BriefPhysicists offer the best evidence to date that quantumentanglement exists, and the quantum world is free of theconstraints of local realism. This may mean we are closer toquantum cryptography, quantum computing, and interstellarcommunication. New Loophole-Free Bell Test

One of the most interesting (and confusing) phenomena in quantum physics is quantum entanglement. We observe this quantum effect when we see entangled particles affect each other regardless of distance. For example, when we measure the state of one particle at a distance from another and the measurement of the state of the first instantly influences the state of the other, we have quantum entanglement.

Einstein was disturbed by this, and didnt like the idea that quantum entanglement might violate the speed of light if the particles were somehow sending each other information faster than light could travel. Therefore, he developed the idea of local realism, which assumes a pre-existing value for any possible measurement of a particle an objective value a particle must have. This theory is based on the idea of locality, the principle that there is a minimum amount of time it takes for distant objects to influence each other, and realism, the idea that objects exist whether or not they are measured.

In the 1960s, Physicist John Bell developed a famous test to determine whether particles really do influence each other in the way quantum entanglement suggests. In the Bell test, a pair of entangled particles are sent in different directions toward different locations. A device measures the state of each particle in each location, and the settings of each device are set at random; this way its impossible for device one to know the setting of device two at the time of measurement, and vice versa.

If quantum entanglement is real, then local realism shouldnt work, and the Bell inequality test should be violated. If scientists do observe violations of the Bell inequality test, it means that quantum mechanics violates locality, realism, or both making local realism incorrect. In recent research, physicists have reported some of the best evidence to date that quantum entanglement exists, and the quantum world is free of the constraints of local realism. Researchers performed a Bell inequality test that was,essentially,loophole-free, and demonstrated that two atoms one-quarter of a mile apart shared correlations probably caused by quantum entanglement. According to local realism, this should be impossible.

Although the test in this research was essentially loophole-free, all loopholes are not completely closed. One of the last possible loopholes that remain for most Bell tests has to do with how particle states are measured. It is critical that hidden variables are not somehow allowing particles to synchronize their properties by influencing the choice of measurement. This is called the freedom of choice or free-will loophole. In this research, the team used a high-speed quantum random number generator to eliminate this loophole, but the minuscule possibility of communication between random number generators or with other experimental elements technically remains possible.

Other research has used humans to randomly choose numbers, relying upon the randomness of unique human minds. The physicists in this study felt that an extraterrestrial random number generator is the only way to truly close the loophole since such massive distances would prevent covert communication. There are several such extraterrestrial random number generators under development in physics labs now, intended for this purpose.

Closing the loopholes matters, because scientists hope to use quantum entanglement to safely encode messages. The demands of quantum cryptography would mandate further refinement of the measurement process. Ultimately, the hope is that quantum entanglement will allow us to transmit quantum information over long distances almost instantaneously, making quantum computing and interstellar communication possible.

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Neuroreality: The New Reality is Coming. And It’s a Brain Computer Interface. – Futurism

Posted: at 9:40 am

The Virtual World

With the release of theOculus Riftin March 2016, the age of virtual reality (VR) truly began. VR techhad been generating buzz since the 1990s, but the Rift was the firsthigh-end VR system toreach the consumermarket, andearly reviews confirmed that it delivered the kind of experience users had been hoping for.

Virtual reality was finally real.

Research into VR exploded in this new era, and experts soon started to find innovative ways to make virtual experiences more immersivemore real. To date, VR technologies have moved beyond just sight and sound. Weve developed technologies that let userstouch virtual objects, feel changes in wind and temperature, and even taste foodin VR.

However, despite all this progress, no one would mistake a virtual environment for the real world. The technology simply isnt advanced enough, and as long as we rely solely on traditional headsets and other wearables, it never will be.

Before we cancreate a world that is truly indistinguishable fromthe real one, we will need to leave the age of virtual reality behind and enter a new era the era of neuroreality.

Neuroreality refers to a reality that is drivenby technologies that interface directly with the human brain. While traditional VR depends on a user physically reacting to external stimuli (for example, swinging a controller to wield a virtual sword on a screen)a neuroreality systeminterfaces directly with the users biology through abrain-computer interface (BCI).

Notably, this technology isnt some far-flung sci-fi vision. Its very real.

To rehash the basics: BCIs are a means of connecting our brains to machines, and they can be either invasive (requiring an implant of some sort) or non-invasive (relying on electrodes or other external tech to detect and direct brain signals). Experts have predicted that advances in BCIs will lead to a new era in human evolution, as these devices have the potential to revolutionizehow wetreat diseases,learn,communicatein short, they are set to utterly transform how we see and interact with the world around us.

In fact, some companies arealreadyinnovating in the newly emerging field of neuroreality.

Founded by physicistDan Cook in 2013, EyeMyndsgoal is to create a VR system that allows the user to navigate a virtual world simply by thoughtno immersion-breaking controller required.

When youre in the virtual worldwhether youre playing a game or something elseyou dont want to have to keep thinking about what youre doing with your hands, Cook told Digital Trendsin November. Its much better to have pure brainwave control. It will be a much more satisfying experience and will allow for a much greater level of immersion. You can forget about your live human body, and just focus on whats going on in front of you.

Cook likens the experience to dreaming. In a dream, you can run around without moving your physical legs. That dreaming and imagining creates brain signals that we can read,he toldThe Guardian. With what we want to do, you wont need eyeballs to see, or ears to hear, or hands and feet. We can bypass all of that.

EyeMynds system is non-invasive, meaning it wouldnt require the user to undergo any sort of device implantation. Instead, they would wear a headset that includes EEG sensors to track their brainwaves.

Cooks isnt the only company exploring the use of brainwave-detecting external tech to make the VR experience feel more seamless.Boston-based startup Neurable, bioinformatics company EMOTIV, and social networking giant Facebook are all working on non-invasive devices that would allow users to navigate the virtual world through thought alone.

However, as Joy Lyons, chief technology officer of audio tech startupOSSIC, told Vice at the 2016 VRLA Summer Expo, the ideal hardwarefor creating a new reality isnt an external headset, no matter how advanced. Its a chip in the brain.

Earlier this year, serial entrepreneur Elon Musk founded Neuralink, a company with the goal of developing cutting-edge technologythat connects a persons brain to the digital world through an array of implanted electrodes. Shortly before Musks announcement, Braintree founder Bryan Johnson announced a similar venturethat he is investing $100 million to unlock the power of the human brain and make our neural code programmable. Johnsons company,Kernel, is working to create the worlds first neuroprosthesis

Musk himself has predicted that well eventually be able to create computer simulations that are indistinguishable from reality, and if these brain interfaces come to fruition, they could act as the platform through which we experience those simulations, allowing us to not only see a realisticworld but touch it and trulyfeel it.

In a detailed report announcing the launch of Neuralink, Tim Urban described the potential impact of this proposed tech on our understanding of reality. Instead of relying on external hardware like goggles, gloves, and headphones to trickour senses into believing that what we encounter in the virtual world is real, we could program realities that trigger the same parts of our brains that would be engaged if the experiences actually were real.

There would be no more need for screens of course because you could just make a virtual screen appear in your visual cortex. Or jump into a VR movie with all your senses, asserted Urban. Youll be able to actuallyexperiencealmost anything for free.

The same part of your brain that is stimulated when you taste pizzacould be triggered to engage when you bite into a slice in this new reality, and the same part that lets you smell the ocean air in reality could be simulated and provide that feeling while standing on the shore of a virtual Atlantic ocean.

The difference between the real world and the virtual one would be undetectable. For all intents and purposes, a difference would not exist.

Figuring out the tech to actually make this happen wont be easy, and overcoming the non-tech related obstacles will present an additional challenge (such as developing a comprehensive map of the human brain and all our neurons). Elective brain surgery is an extremely controversial subject, and past experiments havent yielded such promising results. Neuralink and like-minded companies will need toengage in years of research before their devices will be ready for human implantation, and even then, theyll have regulatory hurdles to overcome.

Still, BCI research is progressing rapidly, so while asystem of electrodes that can effectively project an entirely new world directly into our brains might seem like a sci-fi pipe dream, it really shouldnt. After all, just two decades ago, the virtual reality experience delivered today by the Rift felt woefully out of reach, and now, anyone with $600 can bring it home with them (and the price is dropping at a remarkable rate).

AsCooktoldThe Guardian, we arent as far as we may think from the day when navigating virtual worlds using just our thoughts is the norm:Ten years from now, this will seem obvious.

Disclosure: Bryan Johnson is an investor in Futurism; he does not hold a seat on our editorial board or have any editorial review privileges.

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Mark Zuckerberg Is A Bad Futurist – HuffPost

Posted: at 9:40 am

Elon Musks doomsday AI predictions arent irresponsible, but Mark Zuckerbergs techno-optimism is.

Mark Zuckerberg criticized Elon Musk on Sunday for warning a group of governors that artificial intelligence poses a fundamental risk to the existence of human civilization. During a Facebook Live broadcast from his backyard, Zuckerberg said Musks cautioning was pretty irresponsible, and really negative.

But at a time when some of the brightest minds on the planet are saying that AI could pose a significant existential threat, isnt it more irresponsible to dismiss Musks warnings, in favor of keeping people blindly optimistic about technology? Zuckerbergs relentless techno-optimism is misguided at best, and dangerous at worst. Heres why:

1. A good futurist is capable of imagining and exploring all future scenarios, not just the positive ones.

Yes, AI may help save lives, but that doesnt mean it cant take lives, too. At this stage, we know so little about how AI will develop that both scenarios are equally plausible, and every possible scenario deserves careful consideration.

Zuckerberg argues that AI, like every new technology, can be used for good or for bad. But as Musk pointed out in his speech, the AI revolution is expected to be qualitatively different than other technological advancements. Once a superintelligent AI emerges, the option of steering AI to be good or bad (whatever that may mean) may no longer be in our control. And to assume that humans will stay in control, despite having a drastically inferior intelligence, is just arrogant.

2. Technology needs more nay-sayers like Musk.

We already live in a world that worships technology and believes almost anything could be improved if you slap an algorithm on it. Wouldnt society be better off if we had more thinkers like Musk that were willing to ponder the disaster storylines, instead of having blind faith in black-box technology?

Zuckerbergs optimism may be uplifting and on-brand and great for Facebook PR, but it doesnt help motivate people to prepare for and prevent the potential negative consequences of technology. Tackling tech challenges with a build-it-and-see-what-happens approach (a la Zuckerbergs former move fast and break things development mantra) just isnt suitable for AI. As Musk put it, By the time we are reactive in regulation, its too late. Weve already seen some of the negative effects of AI emerge, and this is likely only the beginning.

3. No ones saying we should halt progress on AI altogether; rather, experts like Musk believe we need to be thoughtful and think critically about how we move forward with it.

Elon Musk doesnt just have it out for AIthis is the same man who expects us to let AIs drive us around, after allhe just wants policymakers to start considering regulations for AI. Asking governors to entertain possible consequences of AI isnt irresponsible, in fact, its the only responsible thing to do.

He wants the industry to hit pause and think before building out the most significant technology of our species existence. Whats unreasonable about that?

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You Can Now Explore the International Space Station With Google Street View – Seeker

Posted: July 26, 2017 at 3:49 pm

Aspiring astronauts can now pretend to float on the International Space Station (ISS), thanks to Google. The company worked with astronauts on the orbiting complex to provide a Google Street View of the space station, from its science labs to its beautiful Earth-facing Cupola window.

Thomas Pesquet, a European Space Agency astronaut who helped collect the images earlier this year, said in a blog post that the experience of capturing the tour "describes the feeling of being in space" better than words or a picture can. But there were limitations to collecting the data. For one, astronauts float in space, so the imagery of the ISS couldn't be captured the same way as other Google Street View locations.

NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston and Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama worked with Google to create a "gravity-free method of collecting the imagery," Pesquet said in the blog post. These methods included using DSLR cameras and other equipment already available at the space station. An extended video provides an additional look at how the view came together. (Pesquet didn't specify the other equipment in the blog post.) [The International Space Station: Inside and Out (Infographic)]

"I collected still photos in space, that were sent down to Earth where they were stitched together to create panoramic 360 degree imagery of the ISS," Pesquet wrote.

"We did a lot of troubleshooting before collecting the final imagery that you see today in Street View," he added.

"The ISS has technical equipment on all surfaces, with lots of cables and a complicated layout with modules shooting off in all directions left, right, up, down," Pesquet wrote. "And it's a busy place, with six crew members [at the time] carrying out research and maintenance activities 12 hours a day. There are a lot of obstacles up there, and we had limited time to capture the imagery, so we had to be confident that our approach would work."

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How to see the International Space Station over Hull this week – Hull Daily Mail

Posted: at 3:49 pm

Stargazers will be in for a treat as they will be able to glimpse the International Space Station in the night sky.

People in Hull will be able to see the incredible space station from this week, with bright passes by the station visible in the UK until August 9.

The best part is you wont even need any special equipment to see it overhead amongst the stars.

The ISS is the biggest space station and laboratory ever built, which means that at certain times it can even be visible with the naked eye.

Space enthusiasts will be able to easily spot the station as it orbits the Earth travelling at 175,00mph at an altitude of roughly 200 miles.

People should be able to see the station on numerous occasions this week.

These are brightest overhead passes by the station although passes will be fainter by August 9.

Passes will take place at the following dates and times:

There may also be other objects visible in the sky too while you are watching, like Perseid Meteors or satellites.

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The International Space Station will always start passing from a westerly direction so keep your eyes peeled for it gliding across the sky.

Sometimes a pass can last as long as five minutes, but it looks like a bright, fast-moving star so be careful not to mistake it for a passing aircraft.

It takes 90 minutes to orbit so you may be able to catch it passing more than once if you dont mind spending a couple of hours outside at night.

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After A Year In Space, The Air Hasn’t Gone Out Of NASA’s Inflated Module – NPR

Posted: at 3:49 pm

Flight engineer Kate Rubins checks out the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, which is attached to the International Space Station. NASA hide caption

Flight engineer Kate Rubins checks out the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, which is attached to the International Space Station.

A prototype of what could be the next generation of space stations is currently in orbit around the Earth.

The prototype is unusual. Instead of arriving in space fully assembled, it was folded up and then expanded to its full size once in orbit.

The module is called BEAM, the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, and it has been attached to the International Space Station since April last year.

Expandable modules allow NASA to pack a large volume into a smaller space for launch. They're not made of metal, but instead use tough materials like the Kevlar found in bulletproof vests.

The station crew used air pressure to unfold and expand the BEAM, but it's wrong to think about BEAM as expanding like a balloon that could go "pop" if something punctured it.

NASA's Jason Crusan says there is a better analogy: "It's much like the tire of your car."

Even with no air in it, a tire retains its tirelike shape.

When BEAM unfolded in orbit, it adopted its more natural shape, something resembling a stumpy watermelon. Even if it was to lose all its internal air, "it still has structure to it," says Crusan.

Of course NASA would prefer BEAM not lose all its air, so there are many layers of shielding to prevent things like meteorites or other space debris from poking a hole in BEAM.

"We do believe we've taken at least one hit," says Crusan. "Very small in nature, and actually we can't even visually see where it's at."

Crusan says there was no loss of pressure from the hit.

NASA isn't actually using BEAM for anything. It's there just to see how it behaves in space. But Crusan says the space station crew does go inside every once in a while to check sensors inside the module. He says crew members seem to like visiting BEAM.

Astronauts Peggy Whitson and Thomas Pesquet are photographed inside BEAM, which has an interior roughly the size of a medium school bus. NASA hide caption

Astronauts Peggy Whitson and Thomas Pesquet are photographed inside BEAM, which has an interior roughly the size of a medium school bus.

"We've actually had up to six crew members at a time inside of it. It's about 15 to 16 cubic meters inside," says Crusan. That translates to something like the interior space of a modest-sized school bus.

The original plan was to detach BEAM after two years and let it burn up as it re-enters Earth's atmosphere. But there has been a change.

"Because of its performance and it's doing extremely well, there's really no reason to throw it away," says Crusan.

Since storage is at a premium aboard the space station, NASA now plans to use BEAM as a kind of storage shed and to keep it in space as long as the station continues to operate.

The company that made BEAM, Bigelow Aerospace, has big plans for expandable modules, including a stand-alone space station called the B330. The B330 will be 20 times larger than BEAM. But company president Robert Bigelow remains cautious despite the good performance of BEAM.

"No, I worry too much," says Bigelow. The B330 is much, much more complex than BEAM.

"It has two propulsion systems," he says. "It has very large solar arrays, a full suite of environmental life-support systems."

These are all things that have to work flawlessly in order to keep a crew alive and happy in space.

"That's why I walk around perpetually with a frown. It's just because there's so much to think about and be concerned about," says Bigelow.

Despite his concerns, Bigelow says his new space stations may be in orbit before too long. His company plans to have two B330s ready for launch in 2020.

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Portals to New Worlds: Martian Exploration Near the North Pole – News Deeply

Posted: at 3:49 pm

Researchers are using Devon Island in Canadas High Arctic as a stand-in for Mars to help better understand how astronauts could survive the red planets hostileenvironment.

Members of the Mars 160 expedition stand in front of the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station on Devon Island in Nunavut, Canada.

Perched on the edge of a 39-million-year-old crater is a white circular hut. It sticks out on the rocky, lichen-dotted landscape of Devon Island in Nunavut,Canada.

Known as the Hab, this 8m (26ft) diameter structure is home to six scientists and researchers who just moved in for a 12-week mission to simulate life onMars.

The Arctic has long been a frontier for exploration, and now its being used to open horizons on other planets. Last week, theMars 160 missionlaunched phase two of its program, sending an international team to theFlashline Mars Arctic Research Station. Initially, the mission was set for three months of immersive study, but poor weather conditions may cause the mission to be cut to half its original length. While at the station, the team will test equipment and undertake a suite of geological, microbiological and paleontological experiments to prepare future astronauts for exploration on the redplanet.

The mission is run by theMars Society, a space advocacy organization preparing for human exploration and settlement on the red planet. The first phase of the mission was conducted from a research base in the desert of southern Utah in the fall of 2016. The conditions of the barren, Mars-like landscape of the Arctic North will serve to test the conclusions of the desert-based research and see if the more costly Arctic simulations can provide equally valuablepayoffs.

The advantage of our simulations is theyre done in real Mars analogs where you can do real field science that you cant do in a building, said Shannon Rupert, principal investigator of the mission and director of the Mars Desert Research Station. Whats unique about this mission is its comparing one analog to another analog. A twin study like this has never been done where the same people do the same investigations in two separate Marsanalogs.

Mars 160 expedition members explore Devon Islands lichen-covered landscape in spacesuits. (Photo Courtesy the MarsSociety)

The Arctic also offers unusual landscapes similar to ones seen on Mars. One team member, Paul Knightly, is studying Arctic polygons honeycombed soil structures formed by the freeze and thaw of thepermafrost.

We know Mars has Arctic-like polygons in permafrost, Rupert said. So we know theres a process in the Arctic that were seeing on Mars, and we can conduct tests about it from ourstation.

The inhospitable conditions of the Arctic have long held interest to scientists studying life on other planets, and indeed the Hab isnt the first outpost on Devon Island theHaughton Mars Projectrun by the Mars Institute has been conducting studies from the crater annually for two decades. Other teams of astrobiologists have also tested experiments in Arctic lakes that could some day be used for looking for cellular life on water worlds like Europa, and geologists have scoured northern ice fields in search of meteorites that hold clues to how our solar systemformed.

Out in the crater, two team members wander the desolate landscape in white spacesuits, simulating the atmospheric conditions of Mars and simultaneously testing the suits design. However, unlike on the distant planet, the explorers of the alien Arctic landscape are required to have one member carry a shotgun, in case of curious polar bears. The Mars 160 team scouts the environment around the Hab, just as the first Martian explorers will investigate Mars. So far they have taken soil samples and studied collected biological specimens, such as lichen andinsects.

The six crew members come from four continents, and their expertise spans a range of disciplines from geology to biology to engineering. The diversity is intentional, as part of the mission goal is to better understand team dynamics in isolatedenvironments.

Not only do they come from different backgrounds and speak different languages, their perceptions of things based on their experiences are very different, Rupert said. Whenever we do go to Mars, were going to have to look at how you take the best people from diverse backgrounds and throw them into a mission and make them successful at that mission. This team has really proven that, regardless of where youre from and what your background is, its possible come together and pull as ateam.

Though the team keeps busy with lab work and writing, in their spare time they relax like any Earth-bound human reading books, baking, exercising on a stationary bike and watching movies (the team is currently working their way through season two of the television show The Expanse, a sci-fi show depicting future colonization of Mars). Power is supplied to the Hab by generators, and all food supplies were brought in on arrival. For the duration of the mission, the team works in isolation, connected to the rest of the planet only through emails sent over a satellitephone.

With initiatives like the Mars Society,Breakthrough StarshotandSpaceX, space colonization is no longer confined to the dreams of science-fiction authors, and it seems the Arctic will continue to play a role in providing a test bed for scientists andengineers.

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Portals to New Worlds: Martian Exploration Near the North Pole - News Deeply

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