beads

Location of Kaylu archeological site (a no 1), Jebel (a no 2), and Dam-Dam-Cheshme 1 and 2 (a no 3); view of the rockshelter (b1); location of the two burials (b2 and b3); Caspian Sea view from the site (c); human remains state of preservation (d and e); lithic industry from layer 7 of Kaylu (f) – point (1), lunates (2, 3), end-scraper (4), splinted pieces (5, 6), cores (7, 8). Credit: Open Archaeology (2023). DOI: 10.1515/opar-2022-0289…

Mankind has been in search of planets which could support life one day should the need ever arise to leave Earth. Although there are more planets in the Universe than you could ever imagine, most have one substance missing which makes our Blue Planet so unique – Water. It is the elixir of life behind every living being on planet Earth. Shockingly, China has now found found water on a source not far from Earth – the Moon. Although the presence of water on the Moon was already confirmed by NASA's lunar orbiters back in the…

Tiny glass Moon beads could be hiding a reservoir of water that astronauts can tap into when we send them back to the Moon. According to a new paper published in Nature Geoscience, tiny silicate glass beads discovered on the Moon’s surface are perfect for creating hidden troves of water on our lunar satellite. The paper is based on findings made by China’s Chang’e 5 rover, which landed on the Moon in December 2020. The rover then spent two weeks exploring the Moon, even digging up almost four pounds of…

China’s Chang’e 5 rover has found tiny glass beads containing water in an impact crater on the Moon. Samples collected from a 2020 mission found beads with water content as high as 2,000 parts per million (PPM). Given the prevalence of these glass spheres on the lunar surface, there may be enough to provide 71 trillion gallons of water. Some beads formed when asteroids collided with the Moon millions of years ago, while others came from ancient volcanoes. Scientists believe the water originated from a chemical reaction…

Researchers have rebuffed a wild idea to use tiny, hollow glass beads to halt sea ice loss, finding that a coating of microspheres would actually accelerate ice melt instead of slowing it.In 2018, a study proposed spraying layers of glass powder, in the form of hollow glass spheres about the thickness of a human hair, over Arctic sea ice to brighten its surface.This, the study authors said, would enhance the amount of sunlight reflected in a part of the world that is seeing some of the worst effects of climate change,…

Microscopic fragments of glass from the Moon have revealed a history of lunar impacts that lines up precisely with meteorite impacts here on Earth – including the giant asteroid impact 66 million years ago that killed most life on Earth and wiped out the dinosaurs.Using a range of techniques, a team of scientists precisely traced 135 tiny glass beads, ferried back to Earth for the Chinese National Space Agency's Chang'e-5 sample return mission, to the time of their formation.The results could shed new light on impact…

Two of 29 glass beads discovered at archaeological sites in Malawi. An analysis showed that all but one were made in Europe. Many of the beads, like the tiny one on the right, were less than 2 millimeters in diameter. Credit: Dan Renzetti Tiny glass beads discovered in mountain caves about 25 miles from the shores of Lake Malawi in eastern-central Africa provide evidence that European trade in the continent's hinterland was…

Earlier this year, scientists at Rice University demonstrated a highly promising approach to tackling ovarian and colorectal cancer that centered on "drug factory" beads that could be implanted alongside tumors to destroy them in less than a week. By combining this technology with other immunotherapy drugs, the scientists have now explored the potential for this technique to tackle another form of cancer, and achieved very similar results.The drug factory beads developed by the Rice University team are around the size of…

One of the ways scientists hope to lighten the burden of living with type 1 diabetes is through transplantations of cells that produce insulin, shoring up supplies of the vital hormone and safely regulating blood-sugar levels into the future. Rejection of these cells by the host's immune system is a serious stumbling block for this still-experimental therapy, but new bead-like materials offer new hope by neutralizing these attacks and negating the need for long-term immunosuppressant drugs that have severe side…