CHINESE CRAFT MAKES HISTORIC LANDING ON MOON'S FAR SIDE

In a historic first, China landed a rover named Chang'e 4 on the far side of the Moon on 3 January 2019. No country has ever landed a space probe on the far side of the Moon, which is never visible from the Earth, we can see only one face of the Moon. this happens because the Moon takes just as long to rotate on it's axis as much it takes to complete one revolution around the Earth - a phenomenon called ''tidal locking''. Incidentally, though the  far side of the Moon is not visible, it does not mean that it is totally dark. It also experiences day-night cycle as the visible side. So the term ''dark side'' is a misnomer. Launched on 7 December 2018, from the Xi Chang Space Center in China, it took several weeks to reach lunar orbit. It landed over a special location called the ''Karma Crater'', a 186 km diameter feature in the South-pole-Aiken basin, full of scientific potential. Scientists say it is home to igneous rocks that may reveal clues about the Moon's internal structure and includes '' volcanic constructs, secondary craters made by ejects of earlier impacts, landslides and more''. Chang'e 4 uses a dedicated  relay, the Que-ciao orbiter perched in a halo orbit around the Lagrange point, 60,000 km beyond the Moon, where it remains constantly visible from the Earth and can be used for communication. It is a follow-on and virtual copy of the successful Chang'e 3 rover that landed on Mare Librium in December 2013.

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INHABITABLE MESSENGER RNA (mRNA) COULD TREAT LUNG DISEASE

Messenger RNA (mRNA) is a large family of molecules that convey genetic information from DNA to the ribosome, where they specify the amino acid sequence of the protein products of gene expression. It can induce cells to produce therapeutic proteins and holds great promise for treating a variety of diseases. Till now the biggest obstacle using mRNA for treating diseases is finding a safe and efficient way to deliver it to the target cells.   It can easily be broken down in the body so it needs to be transported within some kind of protective carrier. In the present study, the researchers wanted to create a inhabitable form of it which would allow the molecules to be delivered directly to the lungs. Many existing drugs for asthma

and other lung diseases are specially formulated so they can be inhaled via either an inhaler or a nebuliser. But delivering mRNA was a different proposition. There have been studies that have explored a material called polyethylenimine (PEI) for delivering inhabitable form of DNA to the lungs. Unlike mRNA, it can not be broken down easily. As a result, with repeated dosing that would likely be required for mRNA therapies, the polymer would cause side effects. To avoid it, the researchers turned to a positively charged polymer called hyper-branched poly which, unlike

PEI is biodegradable. The team created particles consisting of spheres, approximately 150 nano-meters in diameter, with a tangled mixture of the polymer and mRNA.     

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