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Ultraviolet rays fuel late-stage planet formation

January 11, 2023 Published by

New research suggests that chemistry in late-stage planet development is fueled by ultraviolet rays, rather than cosmic rays or X-rays.

The chemistry of planet formation has fascinated researchers for decades because the chemical reservoir in protoplanetary discs—the dust and gas from which planets form—directly affects planet composition and potential for life.

The new finding provides a chemical signature that helps researchers trace exoplanets back to their cosmic nurseries in the planet-forming disks.

Jenny Calahan, a doctoral student in astronomy at the University of Michigan and first author of the paper in Nature Astronomy, says the discovery was part happy accident, part building on previous work.

“It has been shown that there are bright, complex organic molecules present in the coldest and densest parts of planet-forming disks,” Calahan says. “This bright emission has been puzzling because we expect these molecules to be frozen out at these temperatures, not in the gas where we can observe them.”

These molecules are emitting from regions that are minus-400 degrees Fahrenheit, and at these temperatures they’re thought to be frozen onto tiny solids that astronomers label as dust grains, or for the later millimeter-to-centimeter-sized solids as pebbles. These molecules should add to an icy coating on the grains, so they cannot be observed in the gas.

The planet-forming disk has three main components, a pebble-rich dusty midplane, a gas atmosphere, and a small dust population coupled to the gas. As the planet-forming disk evolves over time, the changing environment affects the chemistry within. To account for the observed brightness, Calahan adjusted her model to decrease the mass of the small dust population—which typically blocks UV photons—to allow more UV photons to penetrate deep into these coldest regions of the disc. This reproduced the observed brightness.

“If we have a carbon-rich environment paired with a UV-rich environment due to the evolution of the small solids in planet forming regions, we can produce complex organics in the gas and reproduce these observations,” she says.

This represents the evolution of small dust over time.

About 20 years ago, researchers realized that the chemistry of the gaseous disk is governed by chemistry operating on shorter timescales and powered by sources such as cosmic rays and X-rays, says principal investigator Edwin Bergin, professor and chair of astronomy.

“Our new work suggests that what really matters is the ultraviolet radiation field generated by the star accreting matter from the disk,” he says. “The initial steps in making planets, forming larger and larger solids, shifts the chemistry from cosmic rays and X-ray-driven early, to UV-driven during the phase where giant planets are thought to be born.

“Jenny’s work tells us for terrestrial worlds, if you wonder how they get things like water, the key part of the evolution is the early phases before this shift occurs. That is when the volatile molecules that comprise life—carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen—are implanted in solids that make Earth-like worlds. These planets are not born in this phase but rather the composition of solids becomes fixed. The later stages of this model tells us how to determine the composition of material that makes giant planets.”

Source: University of Michigan

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Turkish court convicts the president of the country's medical association of terror charge

January 11, 2023 Published by

A court convicted the president of the Turkish Medical Association on Wednesday of disseminating “terror organization propaganda” following a trial that human rights groups had denounced as an attempt to silence government critics.

The court in Istanbul sentenced Dr. Sebnem Korur Fincanci to nearly three years in prison but also ruled to release her from pre-trial detention while she appeals the verdict.

Fincanci, 63, was arrested in October and charged with engaging in propaganda on behalf of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. The arrest followed a media interview in which she called for an independent investigation into allegations that the Turkish military used chemical weapons against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq.

Fincanci is the latest activist to be convicted under Turkey’s broad anti-terrorism laws. A forensic expert, she has spent much of her career documenting torture and ill-treatment, and has served as president of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey.

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During her trial, Fincanci rejected accusations that she engaged in propaganda during the interview, arguing that she gave a professional opinion.

Speaking to reporters outside prison following her release, Fincanci further justified her comments.

“Of course, as physicians we will prioritize human health,” she said. “We will be against wars and we will do our best to prevent all kinds of weapons, to prevent their use, to eliminate them.”

Turkish Medical Association President Dr. Sebnem Korur Fincanci talks to journalists in Istanbul, Turkey, on Jan. 11, 2023. A court convicted Fincanci of disseminating "terror organization propaganda," and she was sentenced to three years in prison.

Turkish Medical Association President Dr. Sebnem Korur Fincanci talks to journalists in Istanbul, Turkey, on Jan. 11, 2023. A court convicted Fincanci of disseminating “terror organization propaganda,” and she was sentenced to three years in prison.
(AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

The charges stemmed from an interview she gave to the pro-Kurdish Medya Haber TV outlet and commented on a video purporting to show the use of chemical weapons. She suggested that a toxic gas may have been released but also called for an “effective investigation.”

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Turkish officials strongly denied allegations that the country used chemical weapons, insisting its military doesn’t have such weapons in its inventory. The PKK has led an armed insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984. The group is considered a terrorist organization in Turkey, Europe and the United States.

Her comments caused a backlash with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accusing her of slandering Turkey’s armed forces and of insulting her country “by speaking the language of the terrorist organization.”

He vowed to introduce measures to clear the Turkish Medical Association and other professional organizations of “supporters of the terrorist organization.” In October, the justice minister said they were working on new regulations.

Devlet Bahceli, the leader of a nationalist party that is allied with Erdogan’s ruling party, went further and demanded that she be stripped of her Turkish citizenship and the association shut down.

The association, which has around 110,000 members across Turkey, had drawn the ire of government officials for questioning government data and criticizing some measures imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In her final trial statements, Fincanci said the association was the actual target of the investigation, according to the Dokuz8haber website, which monitored the trial. She said freedom of expression and science were being undermined.

A European Union delegation observed the trial on Wednesday, along with rights groups and supporters, in a packed courtroom.

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The advocacy group Physicians for Human Rights criticized the court’s verdict.

“Charging physicians who represent the health interests of all Turkish residents with ‘terrorism’ is ludicrous and shameful,” Dr. Michele Heisler, the group’s medical director, said in a statement. “Instead of saluting Dr. Korur Fincancı’s courageous and visionary work, the Turkish authorities have attempted to intimidate, punish, and criminalize her and other physicians’ work. The harassment must cease.”

The Istanbul court sentenced her to two years, eight months and 15 days in prison. She is expected to appeal the verdict.

Other leading civil society figures and dozens of journalists are imprisoned in Turkey. Terror propaganda laws have also been used to crackdown on pro-Kurdish politicians and activists.

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Tap water isn't safe to use in neti pots and other home medical devices. Here's what to do instead

January 11, 2023 Published by



CNN
 — 

Tap water is not sterile, and using it in home medical devices can result in serious and even deadly infections. But in a study published Wednesday in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, one-third of respondents to a survey incorrectly answered that tap water does not contain bacteria or other living organisms.

In the August 2021 survey, more than half of 1,004 survey participants incorrectly said that tap water can be used for nasal rinsing, 50% believed is appropriate for rinsing contact lenses and 42% trusted it is safe for use in respiratory devices such as humidifiers or CPAP – continuous positive airway pressure – machines, which are used to treat sleep apnea.

Shanna Miko, an author of the study and Epidemic Intelligence Service officer at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says these findings highlight misconceptions about the safe use of nonsterile tap water for medical devices at home.

“While tap water is generally safe to drink, it is not OK for other uses,” Miko said.

Although US tap water is treated to meet safe drinking standards, it may contain low levels of microorganisms.

These microbes are generally harmless when ingested during drinking and cooking because they are killed by stomach acid. However, when irrigating the nose or eyes, they may cause serious and even deadly infections.

“With the aging infrastructure, our aging pipes, there are some new waterborne challenges that have emerged, and those are basically these pathogens or these germs that can live in these protective areas that like to stick to pipes called biofilm pathogens,” Miko said.

Pathogens found in tap water systems – including Pseudomonas aeruginosa, nontuberculous mycobacteria, Legionella, Acanthamoeba and Naegleria fowleri – can invade the lungs, brain, eyes or skin.

Several cases of brain-eating amoeba have been reported from neti pots, devices used to flush nasal passages. There have also been multi-state outbreaks of Acanthamoeba from improper contact lens rinsing, which can cause blindness and other permanent eye damage.

“They might not be the most frequent things to be occurring each year,” Miko said, “but to the people that do acquire the infections, it has a significant impact.”

Most healthy people exposed to these microbes will not get sick. However, certain groups of people may be at a higher risk of serious infection. These include older people, infants younger than 6 months, and those with weakened immune systems or other chronic health issues such as cancer, HIV or lung disease.

“We want them to know that even though they’re at higher risk for infections of these waterborne associated pathogens, there are simple steps that they can take to reduce their risks,” Miko said.

The CDC recommends individuals using at-home medical devices like CPAP machines, humidifiers and neti pots only use water free from microbes such as distilled or sterile water, which can be bought in stores. Boiled and cooled water may also be used.

In addition to using distilled, sterile or previously boiled water, individuals can decrease their exposure to microbes by regularly cleaning and disinfecting at-home medical devices.

For populations at higher risk, Miko recommends flushing plumbing systems regularly and applying special filters on faucets or showers. She notes that most pitcher, refrigerator and sink water filters are not designed to remove germs from water.

“This data isn’t meant to scare anybody. We have one of the best public water drinking systems in the world,” Miko said.

She encourages people to follow guidance on safe water practices for at-home medical devices which can be found on the CDC website.

“If we can just do something as simple as boiling water or using sterile distilled water to reduce the risk, that’s something we’d like to share with people,” Miko said.

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Golden Globes: Spielberg wins big; 'Elvis' Austin Butler shouts out Brad Pitt and Jennifer Coolidge bleeped

January 11, 2023 Published by

Steven Spielberg took home the best motion picture – drama award for “The Fabelmans,” and also earned the best director trophy at the 80th annual Golden Globes Tuesday night.

Austin Butler praised Brad Pitt, Denzel Washington and Elvis Presley as he picked up his first Golden Globe award for best actor in a drama.

Standing in awe on stage after winning for his starring role in Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 biopic “Elvis,” he said, “I’m in this room full of my heroes. Brad, I love you.”

He also thanked director Quentin Tarantino, saying, “Quentin, I printed out the Pulp Fiction script when I was 12.”

Pitt, who skipped out on the red carpet, was nominated for best supporting actor in “Babylon.”

He lost out on the award to “Everything Everywhere All at Once” actor Ke Huy Quan,” who was the first actor of Asian descent in 40 years to win in the category.

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Austin Butler, left, thanked his heroes while accepting his first Golden Globe award.

Austin Butler, left, thanked his heroes while accepting his first Golden Globe award.
(Getty Images)

Comedian Jerrod Carmichael talked Hollywood Foreign Press Association controversies during his opening monologue.

“I’m here ’cause I’m Black,” Carmichael said. “I won’t say they were a racist organization, but they didn’t have a single Black member until George Floyd died, so do with that information what you will.”

“Like, one minute, you’re making mint tea at home; the next, you’re invited to be the Black face of an embattled White organization. Life really comes at you fast,” he joked.

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He laughed, “I’m unfireable.”

Eddie Murphy made light of another controversy from last year’s awards season as he accepted the Cecil B. DeMille award.

“There is a definitive blueprint that you can follow to achieve success, prosperity, longevity and peace of mind,” he told the “up-and-coming dreamers” in the audience. “Just do these three things – Pay your taxes, mind your business, and keep Will Smith’s wife’s name out your f—ing mouth.”

Murphy was referring to the now infamous moment Smith slapped Chris Rock after the comedian made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head.

Eddie Murphy brought out his best Will Smith joke at the Golden Globes.

Eddie Murphy brought out his best Will Smith joke at the Golden Globes.
(Rich Polk)

Jerrod Carmichael hosted Golden Globes Tuesday at Beverly Hills Hilton.

Jerrod Carmichael hosted Golden Globes Tuesday at Beverly Hills Hilton.
(Rich Polk)

Jennifer Coolidge joked she was at the Golden Globes to present an Oscar.

Jennifer Coolidge joked she was at the Golden Globes to present an Oscar.
(Rich Polk)

Angela Bassett shows off her Golden Globe Award for "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever."

Angela Bassett shows off her Golden Globe Award for “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”
(Frazer Harrison)

Angela Bassett won a Golden Globe for “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” marking the first major award for a Marvel film actor.

Jennifer Coolidge remembered getting a call about being asked to present at the Golden Globes and initially saying yes, but then having a “complete anxiety attack” and rescinding her offer.

She then thought about having to walk from “behind the curtain without breaking my skull.”

One of the Globes producers said, “Jennifer, then why don’t you just wear a pair of Crocs?”

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Standing on stage wearing a stunning black lace gown, she remembered, “Are you kidding me? With my Dolce & Gabbana dress? All of those Italians would lose their minds,” Coolidge said.

The “White Lotus” star joked, “And the Oscar goes to,” before announcing the winner.

Tyler James Williams from “Abbott Elementary” won the Golden Globe for supporting actor – TV series. He thanked the cast and crew of the show, created by Quinta Brunson. Eddie Murphy was pictured giving a standing ovation to the first-time Golden Globe winner.

“I truly, truly appreciate this, and I pray that this is a win for Gregory Eddie (his character on “Abbott”) and for his story and for stories like his … that we may understand that his story is just as important as all of the other stories that have to be told out here,” Williams said. 

Jeremy Allen White won best actor in a television series for his role in “Bear” and declared, “I love acting,” as he thanked the cast and crew for his award.

“Rihanna, I love you and I dressed up as you for Halloween. I had to take my moment,” Niecy Nash told the “Umbrella” singer from the stage before announcing Quinta Brunson as the winner for best actress in a television series.

Tyler James Williams won best supporting actor - television series for "Abbott Elementary."

Tyler James Williams won best supporting actor – television series for “Abbott Elementary.”
(Frederic J. Brown)

"Abbott Elementary" creator Quinta Brunson rocked a Christian Siriano gown for the ceremony where she won best television actress - Musical/Comedy Series.

“Abbott Elementary” creator Quinta Brunson rocked a Christian Siriano gown for the ceremony where she won best television actress – Musical/Comedy Series.
(Rich Polk)

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky cuddle up at the Golden Globe Awards.

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky cuddle up at the Golden Globe Awards.
(Christopher Polk)

Steven Spielberg accepts best director award for "The Fabelmans."

Steven Spielberg accepts best director award for “The Fabelmans.”
(Rich Polk)

The “Abbott Elementary” star thanked her husband, her “wonderful, wonderful, wonderful cast,” and laughed as her group chats full of family and friends kept her phone buzzing. 

“Abbott” later picked up the best TV series – musical or comedy Golden Globe award. Brunson thanked Henry Winkler, Bob Odenkirk and Seth Rogen for inspiring her. 

“We made this show because we love comedy, and we love TV,” Quinta said.

The star-studded event returned for the first time since 2021 after a controversy involving the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA).

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At the time, the HFPA came under fire after a Los Angeles Times investigation revealed ethical lapses and a stunning lack of diversity — there was not a single Black journalist in the 87-person group. Studios and PR firms threatened to boycott. Tom Cruise even returned his three Golden Globes, while other A-listers condemned the group on social media.

Later in the evening, Coolidge was back to win her first Globe for “The White Lotus.” She put the award down on the stage and said, “I don’t work out, you know. I can’t hold it that long.”

Coolidge praised “Lotus” creator Mike White for giving her “hope” in her career during her speech, which was heavily bleeped. “Even if this is the end, because you did kill me off … it doesn’t matter. You changed my life in a million different ways. My neighbors are speaking to me, things like that. I was never invited to one party on my hill and now everyone’s inviting me.”

White later took his own moment on stage to thank Coolidge while accepting the Golden Globe for best limited anthology series or TV movie. He joked he wanted to give his speech in Italian, but was too drunk. 

“I know you all passed on this show,” he said while looking into the audience and laughing. “Very gratifying moment.”

Michelle Yeoh won Golden Globe for best actress in "Everything Everywhere All at Once."

Michelle Yeoh won Golden Globe for best actress in “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”
(Rich Polk)

Sean Penn introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Golden Globes Tuesday.

Sean Penn introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Golden Globes Tuesday.
(Rich Polk)

Guillermo del Toro's "Pinocchio" won for best animated film. 

Guillermo del Toro’s “Pinocchio” won for best animated film. 
(Rich Polk)

Steven Spielberg won best director for “The Fabelmans,” and admitted he had been hiding the story “since he was 17 years old.”

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“Everything I’ve done up to this point has made me ready to finally be honest about the fact it’s not easy to be a kid, the fact that everyone sees me as a success story … but nobody really knows who we are until we’re courageous enough to tell everyone who we are, and I spent a lot of time trying to figure out when I could tell that story,” he said.

Carmichael returned from a commercial with a joke that shocked social media users.

“Alright you guys, we are back,” he said. “We are pressed for time. We are live from the hotel that killed Whitney Houston, the Beverly Hilton, so that is very exciting.”

Sean Penn raised awareness for Iranian protestors during a humanitarian speech before introducing Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy via video at the Globes.

“There are still battles and tears ahead, but now I can definitely tell you who are the best in the previous year, it was you. The free people of the free world. Those who united around the support of the free Ukrainian people in our common struggle for freedom,” Zelenskyy said. “There will be no third World War, it is not a trilogy. Ukraine will stop the Russian aggression on our land.”

“House of the Dragon” won best drama series, and “The Banshees of Inisherin” earned the best motion picture – musical or comedy award.

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Tracy Wright is an entertainment writer for Fox News Digital. Send story tips to [email protected].

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Eddie Murphy references the infamous Will Smith Oscars slap at the Golden Globes

January 11, 2023 Published by



CNN
 — 

Eddie Murphy didn’t pass up the opportunity to make a well-timed joke while accepting his career achievement Cecil B. DeMille award at Tuesday night’s Golden Globes.

During his speech, he mentioned that he’s been in “show business for 46 years and the movie business for 41 years, so this has been a long time in the making.”

After thanking his family, associates, producers and his agent, Murphy chose to end his speech with some sage advice for others dreaming of making it big in show business.

“I want to let you know there’s a definitive blueprint that you can follow to achieve success, prosperity and peace of mind. It’s very simple,” he said. “There’s three things: pay your taxes, mind your business and keep Will Smith’s wife’s name out your f***ing mouth!”

It was a reference, of course, to Will Smith’s infamous slapping of presenter Chris Rock at last year’s Academy Awards ceremony, after Rock made a joke about Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith.

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After Biden scandal, former CIA attorney worries about ‘over-criminalizing’ the mishandling of classified docs

January 11, 2023 Published by

A CNN segment on Tuesday discussed how “easy” it is to mishandle classified government documents. 

Former President Trump was embroiled in a scandal over the summer regarding government documents kept at his Mar-A-Lago estate in Florida. Now that President Biden appears to have mishandled classified documents as well, some parts of the media appear to be far less outraged over the issue. 

“You were also involved in the Hillary Clinton classified information issue,” CNN Newsroom host Alisyn Camerota said to former CIA lawyer Brian Greer. “How easy is this? How easy is it to walk out of some secure facility – the White House, with classified documents? How often does this happen?”

Greer suggested that such is a mistake is not only easy to make, but a daily occurrence. 

Former CIA lawyer Brian Greer spoke on CNN about how commonly government documents are mishandled. 

Former CIA lawyer Brian Greer spoke on CNN about how commonly government documents are mishandled. 

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“With a situation like this, doesn’t happen that often but more generally speaking, mishandling of classified information does happen quite a bit – every day within the federal government,” Greer said. 

“It’s the sad reality of the situation where people are not properly trained and proper procedures aren’t in place to catch this kind of thing. And look back now, we’ve had the last two presidential elections, the major party candidates of both parties now have all been at one time now under investigation for mishandling classified information,” he continued.

Host Victor Blackwell asked Greer to explain his statement that there is a “danger in over-criminalizing mishandling of classified information.”

U.S. President Joe Biden walks to speak to reporters as he and first lady Jill Biden leave the White House and walk to Marine One on the South Lawn on December 27, 2022 in Washington, DC.

U.S. President Joe Biden walks to speak to reporters as he and first lady Jill Biden leave the White House and walk to Marine One on the South Lawn on December 27, 2022 in Washington, DC.
(Anna Moneymaker)

BIDEN ‘SURPRISED’ TO LEARN OF CLASSIFIED DOCS AT PENN THINK TANK: ‘I DON’T KNOW’ WHAT’S IN THEM

Greer suggested that because “the criminal statutes that are out there that are old and quite vague, almost any mishandling case could potentially be shoehorned into a criminal investigation.”

Greer then circled back to his earlier point, “Because this type of mishandling happens all the time and now it’s become such a political football with all three last presidential candidates being investigated, I do worry about – while we need to take this all seriously and needs to be investigated, I do worry about over-criminalizing it.”

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was also accused of mishandling classified documents.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was also accused of mishandling classified documents.
(Abdulhamid Hosbas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images )

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He said that some cases for government employees should have them “disciplined or fired, but launching these full investigations that become political footballs is dangerous because it can disincentivize people from serving in the federal government.” 

He continued, “We do want to incentivize them to do the right thing, which is to report it when it happens and not do the wrong thing to conceal and obstruct, which is what Trump did.”

Alexander Hall is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to [email protected].

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Why go back to the moon?

January 11, 2023 Published by

In a new book, Joseph Silk explores what the moon can offer humans over the next half century.

As our nearest celestial neighbor, the moon has forever captured the awe of human beings. Some ancient cultures worshipped it as a deity or believed its eclipses to be omens. It was Galileo peering through an early telescope in 1609 who discovered the moon’s rocky surface, and NASA’s Apollo 11 mission in 1969 that sent the first humans to walk upon it.

A half-century has now passed since humans last made direct contact with the moon, with Apollo 17 in 1972. But a new era of exploration has begun with zeal, as a number of space agencies and commercial ventures worldwide launch ambitious lunar projects.

Look forward another half-century or so, says Silk, a Johns Hopkins University astrophysicist, and the moon could be teeming with activity: hotels and villages, lunar mining, ports into deeper space, and giant telescopes that could make the James Webb technology look amateur.

“We will build on the moon. We will colonize the moon. We will exploit the moon. We will do science on the moon,” Silk writes in his new book, Back to the Moon: The Next Giant Leap for Humankind (Princeton University Press, 2022). “Lunar science will open up new vistas on the most profound questions we have ever posed.”

As Back to the Moon hits shelves, there is tangible progress on this front. The Japanese company ispace intends to become the first private venture to make a cargo delivery to the moon, aboard a SpaceX rocket. At the same time, NASA is commencing the first test phase of its $93 billion Artemis program, which will send four astronauts to the moon in 2025 and establish a permanent base there, with the grand ambition to use the moon as a launchpad for the first-ever crewed mission to Mars.

A professor of physics and astronomy, Silk has penned previous books on the big bang, infinity, and other weighty cosmological topics. In Back to the Moon, he posits that the moon in fact offers our only pathway to surpassing the current limits of astronomy. “We’re running out of resources on Earth for it,” he says, “but the moon provides a site for achieving much more.”

The low gravity on the moon, for instance, could allow for easier manufacturing of megatelescopes 10 times larger than what’s possible on Earth, and the lack of lunar atmosphere can allow those telescopes to peer farther afield with exquisite precision, Silk says. These features will be crucial for studying far larger samples of Earth-like planets beyond our own solar system—and in turn for tackling one of humanity’s most probing mysteries: Are we alone in this universe?

In searching for exoplanets that could feasibly host life, astronomers know what to look for, as Silk writes: “the reflected glints of oceans, the green glows of forests, the presence of oxygen in the atmospheres, and even more advanced but subtle signs of intelligent life such as… industrial pollution of planetary atmospheres.” The megatelescopes, Silk says, could also help us understand the very origins of the cosmos, the dark ages before the first stars appeared.

A quarter of a million miles and three days from Earth, the moon can also serve as an improved launch site for deeper travels into space—in part because of the prohibitive payload required for rocket fuel to achieve interplanetary transport from Earth. On the moon, we’ll be able to produce that fuel directly from liquefying oxygen and hydrogen found in abundant lunar ice in the depths of permanently shadowed polar craters.

To pursue these endeavors, human settlement on the moon is necessary, Silk says. NASA already intends to build its Artemis base camp on the lunar south pole, where China, too, has plans for an international research station.

Silk also envisions denser habitats, villages or even cities, constructed within the vast lava tubes beneath the moon’s surface, protected from meteorites and other harms. But within the next 15 or 20 years, he says, moon resorts may be the first civilian projects we’ll see—”a very sophisticated tourism that opens up the moon to many more people than astronauts and engineers.” He can imagine lunar golfing and rover rides over lunar terrain. “At first, this will be accessible only to the very wealthy,” Silk says, likening it to the early days of airplane travel. “But just wait a decade or two.”

Silk acknowledges that humans are likely to carry their earthly failings onto the moon, and that intense international competition could erupt over commercial, military, and mining interests. An Outer Space Treaty, signed by the United Nations in 1967, does prohibit any nation from claiming sovereignty over any part of outer space, but Silk says we need something more detailed and enforceable. “We have to get our act together in the next decade to sort out how different countries can collaborate when they do… anything that involves territorial claims,” he says.

The most pressing argument Silk raises for our investment in the moon is chillingly existential: Ultimately, it may present humankind its best chance of longer-term survival. Silk points to extinction-level threats—global warming, pandemics, and wars, among them—that could force us to seek shelter elsewhere. The moon’s barren landscape and extreme temperatures make it not ideal for large or permanent populations, but it can serve as a steppingstone toward distant planets that humans could potentially colonize. It’s the stuff of sci-fi.

“Whether through cryogenic preservation of humans or genetic rebirth, the centurylong travel times to the nearest stars will not deter future generations of astronauts,” he writes, adding that the limitless potential of robotics and artificial intelligence will also open more doors than we can possibly imagine.

“There’s so much to learn,” Silk says. “Humanity has always been interested in discovering distant realms, in solving difficult questions that haven’t been answered. The moon offers us that vista.”

Source: Katie Pearce for Johns Hopkins University

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