This month we're going to diverge from our normal format because so many amazing things have happened in past thirty days, while other important historical events have had an anniversary. So, we'll have a Science section, an enhanced Foundation section and our Opinion piece.

For new subscribers or those who wish to catch up on past issues - head on over to my website cafarlow.com and check out our newsletter archive. All previous newsletters and all of our announcements are archived there.

This issue is our 30th newsletter! It's a time to celebrate here in the Den, we have Guinness chilling off. Since we began capturing science happenings - past and present - in 2022, we are amazed at how much has been discovered, learned, changed or updated, endured and survived. From the end of the SARS-Co-V2 pandemic to the first images from several earth-bound and space-based telescopes (Vera C.Rubin Observatory in Chile to the James Webb Space Telescope orbiting at LaGrange Point 2, 1.5 million kilometers from Earth). From the AI advances of protein synthesis and CRISPR to an attack on all things science and institutions of higher learning. It's been a bit like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.Thanks for riding along with us on our ongoing exploration journey.

There is a Chinese riddle: One is too many and a thousand is not enough. What is it? Answer: a scratch. Here in the northern hemisphere, those of us with seasonal allergies are really suffering. What with climate change allowing certain vegetation to exist in new expanded environments, longer growing seasons, and all the wildfire smoke filling the air with particulates - runny noses and itchy eyes are a daily scourge. Add mosquito bites and other sweaty skin irritations. It's a real struggle, oh my. But why does it feel so good to 'scratch that itch'? We all know scratching a mosquito bite offers a moment of relief. Why does this happen? Scratching one's skin initiates an immune response, increasing blood flow to the area and causing inflammation: result allergic contact dermatitis. University of Pittsburgh researchers have now found there are two separate set of nerves which are activated in the itch-scratch cycle. One sends a need for an itch response and the other responds to scratch-induced inflammation. The researchers now want to separate these two nerve responses. Their hypothesis: if the two nerve responses are separated can we treat one or the other in the itch-scratch cycle and break it. If so, they could treat one or the other for the chronic itching created from eczema and diabetes. (Itch Stops Here)

1400 years ago, a Chinese Consort to the Emperor was accused of witch craft, she was tortured to death. Her last words were: "May I come back as a cat in my next life and my accuser a mouse." This is the first reference to cats in Chinese historical records. Revered as prized exotic pets, cats were first introduced to Imperial China by Silk Road merchants, who brought them east from the Middle East home of their origin. (A Long Journey East)

Speaking of cats, have you ever watch a cat curl itself into a tiny space - a paper towel roll, a small box, a vase, or squeeze through a minute opening? (Google it and see all the images of liquid cats filling impossibly weird spaces) Péter Pongrácz, an ethologist at Eötvös Loránd University, determined it's not so much a physical attribute (the ability to reshape as if they are liquid) as it is a mental attribute - total body-size awareness.  Okay, cats are not liquid but their flexibility exhibits a fluidity of movement. Unlike dogs who will not move through a space more narrow than their chests, cats will keep trying to squeeze through regardless of size or shape. (Space and Mind)

Gotta give dogs an equal shout-out. You may have more in common with your dog than you thought. A recent study at Cambridge University in the UK has discovered some dogs have one of the same genetic mutations as humans - the tendency to overeat. The study found a single gene mutation in labradors causes a feeling of constant hunger, leading to overeating and obesity. This mutation is shared with human owners. The mutation interferes with a brain-signaling pathway that helps regulate our appetite. Discovering a way to block this pathway is the basis of the new study to find other obesity drugs to supplement the life-altering weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wygovy. (Treats!)

Some of the oldest rocks on the planet crop-out in Western Australia. Now, geoscientists have discovered evidence of what may be the oldest meteor-impact crater preserved in these same rocks. Over 100 kilometers wide, this crater puts the dinosaur-killing impact to shame. Geologists from Curtin University have dated the crater at 3.47 billion years old. Discovered near the town of Pilbara, the crater's central dome is still preserved. It is believed this impact crater occurred during the mass bombardment phase of the solar system's early development. The bombardment event is preserved in craters on our moon. Rocks in the Western Australia area contain 'shatter cones' (see image below) which are the primary evidence for this being an impact event. (Evidence First then Hypothesis)

What is a moon? Well, it was first thought a moon is: a celestial body which orbits a planet. Easy enough, we have one, a fairly big one too. Then, telescopes were invented and we saw 4 moons orbiting Jupiter and several around Saturn - the definition held true, so far so good. Telescopes got better and things got complicated for our definition of a moon. Currently, Jupiter has 95 moons. Wow thats a lot! But, our beautiful ringed-planet Saturn is the winner in the moon contest - as of last month, when 128 new moons were announced, Saturn now has 274 moons. Even tiny Pluto, orbiting out beyond Neptune, has a moon. So, now scientists are struggling to agree on the definition of a moon, Saturn has 274, but what about all the particles orbiting in her rings? Are those gazillion pieces of rock and ice also moons of Saturn? Probably not some say, others say yes, so scientists have agreed to disagree on the definition of a moon. Definition aside, next time you gaze up at our amazing satellite, be glad we have a moon. It gives us seasons and weather, it stabilizes the rate of our planet's revolution, and it produces the tides and may have been be responsible for life developing on Earth. (Is it made of green cheese?)

Is it Pepsi or Coke for you? Folks seem to have a preference. Well, in 1985, forty years ago that question went to space aboard the NASA Space Shuttle Challenger. But wait a minute, what happens to a liquid released in microgravity. Especially a sticky one? Little bubbles of liquid hang around inside the shuttle craft. Okay, so you can't just pop open a can containing pressurized liquid in space - therefore, the companies had to invent a dispensing valve which released a small amount of soda directly into the astronauts' mouth when a button was depressed. The astronauts stated both sodas tasted like the cola they were - Coke or Pepsi.But, they wouldn't choose which was best. Then, another problem arose - drinking a carbonated beverage in space leads to "wet-burps". Yes, its potentially as gross as it sounds. The carbon dioxide gas dissolved in the soda cannot escape the astronauts' stomach in microgravity - it remains there, only to be released with other stomach contents with a burp. (Sodas in Space)

Fifty years ago another amazing event happened in Earth's orbit. In 1975, during the height of the Cold War, the Apollo-Soyuz test project was launched on 17 July and the two space craft - US and Soviet - docked in high orbit above Earth. The Apollo program was disbanded after the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, in 1973 NASA needed another goal. The then USSR had lost global respect with their invasion of Czechoslovakia in the years before the joint mission was suggested. Each country had to find something to focus their populace on. Despite a lot of geopolitical challenges, as well as huge engineering hurdles, the docking was set to occur. Problems abounded: How do you join two space craft when one was built using English measures (inches and feet) and the other the metric system? One craft uses a pure oxygen environment and the other a nitrogen-oxygen mix, each at different pressures? The astronauts spoke different languages. And neither country wanted to give away any technical secrets. First: build a docking module which separated the two ships' environments. Two: learn each others' language. Three: travel to each others' training facilities. Result: an illustration of how world diplomacy, cooperation, and respect can be created if countries work together.

Another global space event occur more than fifty years ago. In July 1974 at the crescendo of the Cold War, when the world-economy was floundering under a Middle East oil embargo, and the US had essentially killed NASA, astronomers sent the first interstellar radio transmission out into the cosmos. The Arecibo Radio Telescope Observatory in Puerto Rico was used to send a message in binary code  out into space by tight-beam transmission. When decoded, the message contained where we are, who we are, and what we are made of. Was it heard? Can't answer the, yet. It's still moving onward - now more than 50 light years away from Earth (one light year is 9.5 trillion kilometers). Since 1974 much has changed, the observatory fell into disrepair and finally collapsed during Hurricane Maria. The message designer Frank Drake has died. It is all a poignant reminder of the fragility of human existence. The Arecibo Message is below - the binary code message on the left, the translation on the right.

Shatter cones, from the Sudbury Impact Crater, Ontario, Canada. The rock hammer provides scale. These striated feather-like structures can range from millimeters to tens of meter in size and are formed from the low-pressure shock waves traveling through rocks after an meteor impact. Credit: Science Direct

I spent a number of months at Los Alamos Labs from 1981 to 1982. This was during the Reagan Administration and the beginning of the Strategic Defense Initiative. Affectionately known as the Star Wars program, it was designed to provide protection for the US against nuclear missile attack using a system of defensive, space-based satellites and platforms; as well as, ground-based interceptor systems positioned in Alaska and California. Although Dr Edward Teller was the primary proponent of the offensive hydrogen bomb, he came to realize 'a good defense maybe the best offense'. Or so he said during a lecture at Los Alamos in 1982. That Star Wars system exists today in many parts and pieces. 

In recent months, we have heard about the 'Iron Dome' which is currently protecting Israel from incoming small, subsonic, non-nuclear missiles and drones with some modicum of success. Now, the current US administration has begun a new security initiative - Golden Dome. With an estimated cost of $175 billion, the project is slated to be constructed as a country-wide system to protect the US from incoming Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) and hypersonic missiles. These behemoths of nuclear arsenals are totally different from small surface to air missiles and drones. Physicists know it would be nearly impossible to stop an ICBM given: the physics of the missile's three-phase flight trajectory (boost, mid-course, and terminal) all of which have very different characteristics; their overall speed of flight (25,000 kph); their multiple warheads per missile; the strategic use of ICBM swarms: multiple missiles launched at the same time; and the limited flight time (plus or minus 25minutes based on launch location). It would be like trying to hit a bullet with a bullet. A nearly impossible task, physics-wise.

The number of satellites needed to cover the geographic US to protect from N Korea, Russia or China would be astronomical. And it would not protect against small, dirty bombs carried in a terrorist's backpack. The President tossing out a Golden Dome project is one thing, but physics and economics say it's not possible in the near term or for $175B (most estimates of costs are in excess of $2Trillion). It's seems like another ''bumper sticker' comment which lacks the study and science to back it up.ch Stops Here

May your summer days be bright - your winter days be easy - enjoy some BBQ with friends - celebrate each other.

Just a reminder for our readers - we always provide the reference to the information shared - it's usually in a link. Make sure you click on the link if you're interested in learning more about the subject.

AI is never used in the design, construction or editing of our newsletters.

We'll be back next month with another installment. Be well, be kind. CA