This week in science

New views of Venus and more: Understand the world through 9 images

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Originally Published: 
NASA Goddard

Researchers created a new tool for cancer drug trials the week of August 11–18, while NASA captured images of Venus and guided Ingenuity on an important scouting flight.

Here are the biggest science stories of the week, told in 9 stunning images.

9. Using tumors to fight cancer

Tel Aviv University
August 18

Scientists created the first active 3D-bioprinted glioblastoma tumor in a lab. Because it functions more like a tumor in the body than replicas grown in Petri dishes, it could be more reliable in clinical drug trials.

Tel Aviv University

8. Seeking shade

Arnaud Desbiez
August 18

Researchers found anteaters in deforested areas range over a larger part of their habitat. Forests provide relief from extreme heat, so animals that rely on them are forced to hunt more actively for tree cover as forests disappear.

Arnaud Desbiez
August 18

Scientists confirmed geothermal heat from tectonic trenches below the Thwaites Glacier is warming the ice. Melting from Thwaites Glacier contributes 4 percent to rising sea levels, so understanding its ice loss is crucial.

Alfred-Wegener-Institut / Thomas Ronge
August 17

Researchers using the Low-Frequency Array radio telescope captured the most detailed images yet of distant galaxies and their inner workings. They include Hercules A, which has a supermassive black hole at its center.

R. Timmerman, LOFAR & Hubble Space Telescope
August 17

Researchers pinpointed immune cells in cauliflower coral and starlet sea anemone for the first time. The finding helps explain how coral reefs protect themselves from infection.

Michael Connelly, Ph.D., Cnidarian Immunity Laboratory, University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science

4. Eye-opening research

Elke Gabriel
August 17

Scientists used human induced pluripotent stem cells to create a brain organoid that generated its own rudimentary eye structures, called optic cups. The development could help researchers understand human eye development.

Elke Gabriel

3. Scouting Séítah

NASA/JPL
August 16

NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter completed its twelfth flight on Mars. This time, it scouted the South Séítah region while constructing 3D images that could help Perseverance navigate the sandy terrain.

NASA/JPL

2. The dark side of Venus

ESA/NASA/NRL/SoloHI/Phillip Hess
August 12

ESA/NASA’s Solar Orbiter returned images from its August 9 flyby of Venus. The craft passed within 5,000 miles of Venus, and is scheduled to make six more flybys by 2030.

ESA/NASA/NRL/SoloHI/Phillip Hess
August 11

Researchers developed a new technique to analyze the magnetic field of meteorites from beyond the asteroid belt for clues about how they formed. They used the technique to examine the Tagish Lake meteorite, which was formed in the outer Solar System.

Yuki Kimura, et al., The Astrophysical Journal Letters, August 11, 2021

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