In December 2024, five CubeSats deployed into Earth’s orbit from the International Space Station. Among them was LignoSat, a wooden satellite from JAXA (Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency) that investigates the use of wood in space. Findings could offer a more sustainable alternative to conventional satellites. A previous experiment aboard station exposed three species of wood […]
Complete virtual histology of the modern spruce (a)–(c) and the ancient spruce (d)–(f) obtained by MRI. Credit: Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics (2024). DOI: 10.1039/D4CP02697G In a recent study, rare wooden structures from the Roman Empire were investigated in a wide range of ways using NMR methods. These methods, widely known for their use in hospital […]
The ocean is an unforgiving environment for any shipwreck, but sunken wooden vessels are particularly susceptible to saltwater’s corrosive effects and high bacterial content. The dangers of deterioration don’t end when the archeological remains are recovered, either: preservation methods such as freeze- or replacement-drying can make artifacts more brittle, warp their overall shape, and take […]
Hello Nature readers, would you like to get this Briefing in your inbox free every day? Sign up here. Inside the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider’s STAR detector, which can track the thousands of particles produced when ions collide.Credit: Science History Images/Alamy A new imaging method takes snapshots of atomic nuclei smashing together in high-energy collisions […]
Mass timber also offers a different aesthetic that can make a building feel special. “People get sick and tired of steel and concrete,” says Ted Kesik, a building scientist at the University of Toronto’s Mass Timber Institute, which promotes mass timber research and development. With its warm, soothing appearance and natural variations, timber can be […]
