Kingdom Hearts contains a lot of secrets within its worlds. Hidden paths that lead to treasure‚ or direct shortcuts to shave time‚ and they require curiosity to find these spots and the willingness to interact with out-of-the-box thinking. This is a divisive design for plenty of fans. Players like myself love being more involved‚ while others get lost and confused.

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During the 1970s‚ inventor/environmentalist James Lovelock and evolutionary biologist Lynn Margulis proposed the Gaia Hypothesis. This theory posits that Earth is a single‚ self-regulating system where the atmosphere‚ hydrosphere‚ all life‚ and their inorganic surroundings work together to maintain the conditions for life on the planet. This theory was largely inspired by Lovelock’s work with NASA during the 1960s‚ where the skilled inventor designed instruments for modeling the climate of Mars and other planets in the Solar System. According to this theory‚ planets like Earth would slowly grow warmer and their oceans more acidic without a biosphere that regulates temperature and ensures climate stability. While the theory was readily accepted among environmentalists and climatologists‚ many in the scientific community have remained skeptical since it was proposed. Until now‚ it has been impossible to test this theory because it involves forces that work on a planetary scale. But in a recent paper‚ a team of Spanish scientists proposed an experimental system incorporating synthetic biology that could test the theory on a small scale. The team included researchers from the Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA)‚ the Universitat Pompeu Fabra’s Complex Systems Lab (UPE-CSL)‚ the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL)‚ and the Santa Fe Institute (SFI). Their paper‚ “A Synthetic Microbial Daisyworld: Planetary Regulation in the Test Tube‚” recently appeared in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface. As they describe‚ their proposed test consists of two engineered micro-organisms in a self-contained system to see if they can achieve a stable equilibrium. An image of Earth taken by the Galileo spacecraft in 1990. Credit: NASA/JPL In response to challenges‚ Lovelock and British marine and atmospheric scientist Andrew Watson (a postgrad student of Lovelock’s) created a computer model named Daisyworld in 1983. The model consisted of an imaginary planet orbiting a star whose radiant energy slowly increases or decreases (aka. stellar flux). In the first (biological) case‚ the planet has a simple biosphere consisting of two species of daisies with different colors (black and white) that cause them to absorb different amounts of solar radiation. The black or white daises increase based on how much solar energy the planet receives‚ and changes in their relative populations stabilize the planet’s climate over time despite fluctuations in energy from the star. In the second (non-biological) case‚ the planet’s temperature is directly related to the amount of energy it receives from the star. Previously‚ no means existed to test this model since it was planetary in scale. This proposed test was inspired by recent research in fermentation‚ which typically requires finely tuned external controls to ensure stable‚ regulated conditions. In this experimental setup‚ one strain senses if the environment is becoming too acidic and counteracts it‚ while the other strain senses if the environment is becoming too basic and acts to increase acidity. Ricard Solé‚ an ICREA research professor‚ head of the Complex Systems Lab‚ and an external professor at the SFI‚ was a co-author of the paper. As he explained in a recent SFI news release: “There’s been recent work in trying to see if you can engineer microorganisms for fermentation so that they can self-regulate. That was the key inspiration. Because these strains act on the environment‚ and the environment affects them‚ this creates a closed causal loop. The idea is to show that under very broad conditions‚ they will stabilize to a constant pH level‚ as predicted by the original theory.” Artist’s impression of an Earth-like exoplanet orbiting Gliese 667 C‚ part of a triple star system. Credit: ESO Solé and several of his students developed the experiment during a visit to SFI. It has the potential to answer long-standing questions regarding planet-wide regulatory systems. In short‚ it offers the first possible means for testing the Gaia Hypothesis and demonstrating the vital role life plays in regulating biospheres and maintaining habitable conditions. In addition to Earth’s climate‚ this research could have significant implications for measuring habitability and climate stability on other planets‚ particularly exoplanets. Further Reading: Santa Fe Institute‚ Journal of the Royal Society The post Can the Gaia Hypothesis Be Tested in the Lab? appeared first on Universe Today.

The China National Space Administration (CNSA) has put out a call for international and industry partners to contribute science payloads to its Chang’e-8 lunar lander‚ set for launch to the Moon in 2028. The mission‚ which will involve a lander‚ a rover‚ and a utility robot‚ will be China’s first attempt at in-situ resource utilization on the Moon‚ using lunar regolith to produce brick-like building materials. Just like NASA’s Artemis plans‚ the CNSA’s plans for the Moon are targeted at the Lunar south pole‚ which is expected to be rich in useable resources‚ especially water. The presence of these resources will be vital for long-term human activity on the lunar surface. Possible landing sites for Chang’e-8 include Leibnitz Beta‚ Amundsen crater‚ Cabeus crater‚ and the ridge connecting the Shackleton and de Gerlache craters‚ according to a presentation by Chang’e-8 chief deputy designer in October 2023. Chang’e-8 will be the last CNSA robotic mission to be launched before construction begins on the International Lunar Research Station‚ China’s crewed moonbase being planned in collaboration with Russia’s Roscosmos. That makes Chang’e-8’s attempt to create building materials out of regolith a vital proof-of-concept for their lunar aspirations. In order to make moon-bricks‚ the lander will carry an instrument that uses solar energy to melt lunar soil and turn it into useable parts at a speed of 40 cubic cm per hour. Alongside the regolith processing equipment‚ the lander will be equipped with an array of science instruments‚ including cameras‚ a seismometer to detect moonquakes‚ and an x-ray telescope. Part of the mission will focus on moon-based Earth observation‚ with several instruments designed to monitor Earth’s atmosphere and magnetosphere. The rover‚ meanwhile‚ will carry ground penetrating radar‚ cameras‚ a mineral analyzer‚ and tools for collecting and storing samples (leaving open the possibility of future missions to retrieve the samples). The utility robot is a key piece of the mission‚ but CNSA isn’t developing it in-house. Instead‚ the space agency is seeking proposals from partners interested in developing it as a piggyback payload to ride alongside the rest of Chang’e-8. According to the call for proposals‚ the 100kg‚ battery-powered robot will need to be able to “capture‚ carry and place items‚ shovel‚ and transfer lunar soil.” It will also need to be able to travel at 400m per hour. There is room for an additional 100kg of piggyback payloads besides the robot‚ for which full proposals are expected to be submitted later this year. While planning for Chang’e 8 is ongoing‚ the CNSA has two additional robotic moon missions in the works for the near future. The first‚ Chang’e-6‚ will launch this spring‚ and aims to return a regolith sample from the lunar far side (a never before accomplished feat). The next mission is planned for 2026‚ when Chang’e-7 will carry out a geological examination of the permanently shadowed craters scattered around the Moon’s south pole. The post China's Chang'e-8 Mission Will Try to Make Bricks on the Moon appeared first on Universe Today.

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