Nasa's SOFIA finds water on sunlit surface of Moon

Nasa’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) – a telescope operating from an aircraft - has confirmed, for the first time, water on the sunlit surface of the Moon. This discovery indicates that water may be distributed across the lunar surface, and not limited to cold, shadowed places, Nasa revealed today.SOFIA, a joint project of Nasa and the German Aerospace Centre. has detected water molecules (H2O) in Clavius Crater, one of the largest craters visible from Earth, located in the Moon’s southern hemisphere, the US space agency said. While previous observations of the Moon’s surface had detected some form of hydrogen, Nasa said, they were unable to distinguish between water and its close chemical relative, hydroxyl (OH). Data from this location reveal water in concentrations of 100 to 412 parts per million – roughly equivalent to a 12-ounce bottle of water – trapped in a cubic meter of soil spread across the lunar surface. The results are published in the latest issue of Nature Astronomy.“We had indications that H2O – the familiar water we know – might be present on the sunlit side of the Moon,” said Paul Hertz, director of the Astrophysics Division in the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Now we know it is there. This discovery challenges our understanding of the lunar surface...

Read More........→October 30, 2020

80 per cent COVID-19 patients in Spanish study had vitamin D deficiency

OCT 28, 2020 LONDON: A study of over 200 COVID-19 cases in a hospital in Spain found that about 80 per cent patients had vitamin D deficiency, scientists said on Wednesday. However, the study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, did not find any relationship between vitamin D concentrations or vitamin deficiency and the severity of the disease. The researchers found 80 per cent of 216 COVID-19 patients at the Hospital Universitario Marques de Valdecilla had vitamin D deficiency, and men had lower vitamin D levels than women. COVID-19 patients with lower vitamin D levels also had raised serum levels of inflammatory markers such as ferritin and D-dimer. "Vitamin D treatment should be recommended in COVID-19 patients with low levels of vitamin D circulating in the blood since this approach might have beneficial effects in both the musculoskeletal and the immune system," said Jose L. Hernandez, of the University of Cantabria in Santander, Spain. "One approach is to identify and treat vitamin D deficiency, especially in high-risk individuals such as the elderly, patients with comorbidities, and nursing home residents, who are the main target population for the COVID-19," said Hernendez. Vitamin D controls blood calcium concentration and impacts the immune system, the researchers said. Vitamin D deficiency...

Read More........→October 30, 2020