When the moon had air

The moon today is a desolate, airless place, but 4 billion years ago intense volcanic eruptions caused giant gas clouds to shroud the satellite with a thin atmosphere that would have been visible from Earth, new research reveals. NASA scientists analyzed samples of volcanic glasses collected by Apollo 15 and 17 astronauts, and calculated what they meant about the moon’s geologically active period. They found that lunar eruptions once carried enough carbon monoxide, oxygen, hydrogen, sulfur, and other volatile gases to create a temporary atmosphere, which grew faster than it could dissipate into space for about 70 million years. “This work dramatically changes our view of the moon from an airless rocky body to one that used to be surrounded by an atmosphere more prevalent than that surrounding Mars today,” the study’s author, David Kring, tells Phys.org. The researchers noted the volcanic material, rich in chemical elements and compounds with relatively low boiling points, could be valuable sources of water and fuel for crews inhabiting a lunar outpost or embarking on future deep-space missions.

of Alabama at Birmingham found that a high-potassium diet makes arteries more flexible, and thus could reduce the risk for atherosclerosis, or “hardening of the arteries.” For the study, the researchers fed mice with a genetic susceptibility to heart disease a diet with low, normal, or high levels of potassium. The mice on the low-potassium diet had more severe narrowing and hardening of the arteries than those with adequate potassium intake. High-potassium diets had the opposite effect, suggesting that potassium-rich foods—which also include potatoes, spinach, carrots, and artichokes—could also help prevent heart disease in people.