What the scientists are saying…
Is your fire harming your brain?
An open fire is certainly cosy – but there is growing evidence that it is not a healthy way to heat a home. There have long been concerns about the amount of particulate matter released by fires; now researchers have found a link between open fires and poor cognitive function. A team from Lancaster University examined data on 7,000 over-50s in Ireland who’d disclosed their heating arrangements and undertaken tests to gauge cognitive decline for a study at Trinity College Dublin. They found that the participants with open fires achieved lower scores in the tests than those who heated their homes by other means – and that the link persisted even after other factors (including whether they lived in the countryside or in a town) had been taken into account. The team also monitored the air quality in homes with open fires, and found levels of particulate matter equivalent to those at busy roadsides. Peat-fuelled fires were the most polluting. “We know that exposure to indoor air pollution affects respiratory and cardiovascular health, but, before now, little was known about how it affects cognitive function in older adults,” said joint lead researcher Prof Barbara Maher.
Mystery waves puzzle solved
For years, astronomers have puzzled over the source of the brief, intense flashes of radio waves that are sometimes picked up by telescopes and radio dishes. The first fast radio burst (FRB) was detected in 2007, and since then dozens have been recorded. All have emanated from outside our galaxy, making them impossible to trace – and raising speculation that they might even be a form of alien communication. This year, however, an FRB has been picked up that came from within the
Milky Way, and scientists are pretty sure of its source. Detected by radio antennae in Canada in April, it originated from an area at the centre of our galaxy close to a magnetar – a type of neutron star (the ultra-dense corpse of a massive star that has collapsed and died) that is surrounded by intense magnetic fields. Little is known about magnetars (only 29 have been observed in the Milky Way), but this one was found to have emitted as much energy in radio waves in a millisecond as the Sun does in half a minute – making it almost certainly the source of the FRB. “When I looked at the data for the first time, I froze and was basically paralysed with excitement,” said Christopher Bochenek, of Caltech, in the US.
Mining oxygen on the Moon
A decade from now, astronauts are slated to return to the Moon, said The Guardian. And this time, rather than merely walking on Earth’s satellite, they will probably set about mining it. The next phase of space travel involves establishing a permanent base on the Moon, and exploiting natural resources will be key to it. Tests on lunar soil and rocks have shown that they are made up of about 45% oxygen, while the rest is largely iron, aluminium and silicon. When minerals are extracted from rocks on Earth, the oxygen released is an unwanted by-product. On the Moon, it would be invaluable – and key to the availability of breathable air and rocket propellant. Now Metalysis, a Sheffieldbased firm, has won a contract with the European Space Agency to develop a low-energy process for turning space dust into storable oxygen, while leaving behind metals that could be useful in construction. “Anything you take from Earth to the Moon is an added weight that you don’t want to carry, so if you can make these materials in situ, it saves you a lot of time, effort and money,” said Metalysis’s managing director, Ian Mellor.
Covid-19 and mental health
Being infected with Covid-19 makes people more vulnerable to mental health disorders, a study suggests. The Oxford University analysis of 70 million US health records revealed that 18% of the people who had the virus had been diagnosed with a disorder such as anxiety, depression or insomnia within three months of testing positive. This suggests Covid sufferers are almost twice as vulnerable to mental illness as those who catch flu, or fracture a bone. “It’s not at all implausible that Covid-19 might have some direct effect on your brain and your mental health,” said Prof Paul Harrison, who led the research. He added, however, that pandemic-induced stress could also be partly responsible.