In this week’s edition of The Prototype, we look at the impact of further cuts to federal scientific agencies, the startups landing spacecraft on the Moon, re-engineering immune cells to fight cancer and more. You can sign up to get The Prototype in your inbox here.

The Washington Post via Getty Images

Yesterday, over 800 employees of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration were laid off. This includes scientists working at the National Weather Service as well as those who monitor natural disasters such as earthquakes. This comes on the heels of other science-related firings at the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Agriculture.

Meanwhile, Katherine Wu at The Atlantic reports that at the National Institutes of Health, grant funding is still mostly frozen despite multiple court orders that the agency resume it. Some funding–for clinical trials, for example–has resumed but other aspects of the process, such as meetings to approve grant awards, have been halted. The resulting disarray has spread throughout America’s research ecosystem as universities consider putting grad school admissions on hold and labs weigh whether they’ll have to lay off staff.

The widespread disruptions of normal government processes are now impacting research in Antarctica, too, reports Leah Feiger at Wired. The United States maintains three research stations on the continent, which are difficult to operate and maintain under normal circumstances. Now several program managers for Antarctic research have been fired, leaving nobody with the ability to coordinate logistics and manage infrastructure.

Other funding cuts may make it impossible for the U.S. to hold on to the physical stations themselves, which can be quickly buried under snow if not consistently maintained. America’s loss has been other countries’ gain, the report noted, with countries such as Germany and China recruiting away scientists concerned about their job security.

Stay tuned.

Multiple Spacecraft Will Land On The Moon This March

The Moon as seen from Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost spacecraft.

Firefly Aerospace

Last month, Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost spacecraft launched its mission to the Moon, spending a couple of weeks in Earth orbit conducting tests before leaving for our celestial neighbor. It entered lunar orbit on February 14. On board the spacecraft are six different scientific instruments for NASA, some of which are already operating and collecting data. It’s currently scheduled to land on the Moon at 3:45 a.m. Eastern time, so set your alarm clocks.

Intuitive Machines’ lunar lander, Athena, which launched earlier this week, will also be arriving at the Moon soon. It will enter lunar orbit on March 3 and is currently scheduled to land on the lunar surface on March 6. On board the lander is a piece of NASA equipment called Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment 1, which will drill into the Moon’s surface to look for ice.

Also on board Athena is Intuitive Machines’ Micro Nova Hopper, which will move across the Moon’s surface with propelled jumps, as well as startup Lunar Outpost’s MAPP rover, which will be the first rover to explore the Moon’s south pole. On board the MAPP rover is an even smaller rover, developed by MIT, called AstroAnt, which will move around on top of the MAPP rover taking temperature readings.

Athena also contains a miniature data center, weighing in at just a little over two pounds, developed by Lonestar Data Holdings. The purpose of this device is to learn more about how a data center might work on the Moon, so that larger data centers can be built there in keeping with NASA’s current plans to build a permanent human presence on the lunar surface.

DISCOVERY OF THE WEEK: NEW FUEL FOR CANCER-FIGHTING

Researchers at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center have re-engineered immune cells so that they can utilize fructose as a source of energy. Most systems in the body run on glucose, and immune cells are no exception. But cancer cells voraciously consume glucose, which weakens the half-starved immune cells trying to attack them. The new fructose eating cells showed higher levels of anti-cancer activity in mice. What’s more, when the mice were then put on a high-fructose diet, the immune cells killed tumors even more effectively. This research was published in the journal Cancer Cell.

FINAL FRONTIER: HOW THE RED PLANET GETS ITS NAME

Mars is likely red because of the presence of an iron compound called ferrihydrite in its soil, according to a new study, which challenges earlier research that had suggested another iron oxide called hematite is what gives Martian soil its distinctive color. These new findings will give scientists better insight into how the planet changed over its geological history.

FORBES CALLED IT: ONE STEP CLOSER TO LONGER LIVING DOGS

In 2022, we named Celine Halioua, founder and CEO of Loyal, to our 30 Under 30 list in the Science category. This week, her company announced a $22 million investment round to support development and commercialization of its drug LOY-002, a daily tablet for dogs 10 and older that aims to extend their lifespans. A clinical trial of the drug is currently ongoing, and it anticipates completing its remaining requirements for conditional FDA approval by the end of the year. I wrote about the science behind Loyal’s approach in 2023.

BLACK HISTORY IN SCIENCE AND TECH

In 1933, Ruth Ella Moore earned her PhD in microbiology, becoming the first Black American woman to earn a doctorate in the sciences. Her dissertation was focused on the bacteria that causes tuberculosis. She later became a professor at the Howard University Medical School, where in 1949 she became the first woman to chair a department. During her time at Howard she trained generations of scientists and doctors while pursuing her own research. Her work contributed to a greater understanding of blood types, how antibiotics interact with gut bacteria and the relationship between bacteria and dental cavities.

SCIENCE AND TECH TIDBITS

Researchers at MIT developed an elastic fiber that can work as a programmable computer. The fibers can be incorporated into clothing and networked, which could then be used to monitor health or assess athletic performance.

Brewing a cup of tea can filter harmful metals out of water, researchers at Northwestern university discovered, though materials make a difference: tea leaves steeping in nylon and cotton teabags did not have this effect.

Two new pieces of quantum computing hardware were unveiled this week: Amazon announced its first quantum computing chip, called Ocelot, which it says can reduce the cost of error correction (a key bottleneck in quantum computing) by 90%. Meanwhile, startup PsiQauntum announced a photonic chipset, Omega, which the company said could be the foundation for “utility-scale quantum computing.”

OpenAI has begun a limited rollout of GPT-4.5, its latest language model. The company said the new model shows improved contextual understanding and can better manage problem-solving and programming tasks while having fewer hallucinations.

PRO SCIENCE TIP: WARM UP YOUR BRAIN, TOO

Before a big workout or playing a game in your chosen sport, the benefits of physically warming up beforehand are well known. But new research published this week in the journal Brain Sciences found that incorporating some mental tasks into a warmup can improve performance better than just physical ones alone.

WHAT’S ENTERTAINING ME THIS WEEK

You know what simple thing can turn a pop song from good to great? The saxophone. I’ve been on a kick lately seeking out songs that feature Adolphe Sax’s magnificent invention. Some great ones you should listen to yourself: “Modern Girl” by the Bleachers, “All The Way From Memphis” by Mott The Hoople, “Body Was Made” by Ezra Furman and “The Edge of Glory” by Lady Gaga, which features one of the final recorded performances of the late, great Clarence Clemons.

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