First moon rocks on Earth in half a century arrive in UK
The first samples of moon dust brought back to Earth for more than 50 years are in the UK - being studied by scientists in Milton Keynes.
"It really humbles me to think that I am one of the seven billion plus people on this planet who has a chance to work with these precious samples," said Professor Mahesh Anand.
The professor of planetary science and exploration at The Open University is just one of seven international scientists chosen by China to study the samples, and travelled to Beijing to pick them up.
They are the first moon rocks brought to Earth since the last Soviet Luna mission of 1976.
Knowing how rare the samples are, Prof Anand was reluctant to let them out of his sight on his journey back from China - so he carried them in his hand luggage.
"I couldn't risk losing them," he told Sky News, speaking from a train to Manchester where he was still carrying the samples to show graduating students.
"Today, when I'm carrying one of these samples with me, they are actually in triple-sealed containers. Of course, these are not coming into contact with any terrestrial atmosphere."
Prof Anand has spent his career studying moon samples brought back to Earth by the Apollo missions.
Those samples were collected from the six moon landing sites where astronauts walked.
0:44
These new samples, collected by China's Chang'e 5 mission in 2020, come from a completely different part of the moon.
"It turns out that from a chemical point of view, they are very, very different and they are telling us something very different about the moon's geological history," Prof Anand said.
3:07
He and his team hope to better understand the origins of the moon and the history of elements that are essential for life on Earth, like hydrogen, carbon and nitrogen.
That work is "absolutely crucial" for plans to get humans living on the moon, he said.
He added: "I have a huge obligation and huge responsibility, but I'm just so happy to be given a chance.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Trump's plan to ban US states from AI regulation will ‘hold us back', says Microsoft science chief
Microsoft's chief scientist has warned that Donald Trump's proposed ban on state-level guardrails on artificial intelligence will slow the development of the frontier technology rather than accelerate it. Dr Eric Horvitz, a former technology adviser to Joe Biden, said bans on regulation will 'hold us back' and 'could be at odds with making good progress on not just advancing the science, but in translating it into practice'. The Trump administration has proposed a 10-year ban on US states creating 'any law or regulation limiting, restricting, or otherwise regulating artificial intelligence models, artificial intelligence systems, or automated decision systems'. It is driven in part by White House fears China could otherwise win the race to human-level AI, but also pressure from tech investors, such as Andreessen Horowitz, an early investor in Facebook, which argues consumer uses should be regulated rather than research efforts. Its co-founder, the Trump donor Marc Andreessen, said earlier this month that the US was in a two horse race for AI supremacy with China. The US vice-president, JD Vance, recently said: 'If we take a pause, does [China] not take a pause? Then we find ourselves … enslaved to [China]-mediated AI.' Horvitz said he was already concerned about 'AI being leveraged for misinformation and inappropriate persuasion' and for its use 'for malevolent activities, for example, in the biology biological hazard space'. Horvitz's pro-regulation comments came despite reports that Microsoft is part of a Silicon Valley lobbying push with Google, Meta and Amazon, to support the ban on individual US states regulating AI for the next decade which is included in Trump's budget bill which is passing through Congress. Microsoft is part of a lobbying drive to urge the US Senate to enact a decade-long moratorium on individual states introducing their own efforts to legislate, the Financial Times reported last week. The ban has been written into Trump's 'big beautiful bill' that he wants passed by Independence Day on 4 July. Horvitz was speaking at a meeting of the the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence on Monday when he said: 'It's up to us as scientists to communicate to government agencies, especially those right now who might be making statements about no regulation, [that] this is going to hold us back. 'Guidance, regulation … reliability controls are part of advancing the field, making the field go faster in many ways.' Speaking at the same seminar, Stuart Russell, the professor of computer science at the University of California, Berkeley, said: 'Why would we deliberately allow the release of a technology which even its creators say has a 10% to 30% chance … of causing human extinction? We would never accept anything close to that level of risk for any other technology.' Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion The apparent contradiction between Microsoft's chief scientist and reports of the company's lobbying effort comes amid rising fears that unregulated AI development could pose catastrophic risks to humanity and is being driven by companies prioritising short-term profit. Microsoft has invested $14bn (£10bn) in OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, whose chief executive Sam Altman who this week predicted that: 'In five or 10 years we will have great human robots and they will just walk down the street doing stuff … I think that would be one of the moments that … will feel the strangest.' Predictions of when human-level artificial general intelligence (AGI) will be reached vary from a couple of years to decades. The Meta chief scientist, Yann LeCun, has said AGI could be decades away, while last week his boss, Mark Zuckerberg, announced a $15bn investment in a bid to achieve 'superintelligence'. Microsoft declined to comment.
BBC News
5 hours ago
- BBC News
African baobab tree blooms at Eden Project
A baobab tree from Africa has burst into flower at the Eden Project in flower may produce superfruit which are said to taste of a blend of melon and pineapple, according to the Eden is known as the Tree of Life as it can live for more than 3,000 years and provides food, shelter, clothing and medicine, the team seed for the 8m (26ft 3in) high tree was collected in Malawi in 1995 and thrives in dry, arid conditions. The Eden Project's chief executive Andy Jasper said: "It's incredible to see our African baobab flowering, especially here in the UK."We have five stunning baobabs in our Rainforest Biome, and this particular tree has been with us since the very beginning. "He added: "To witness it bloom as we approach our 25th birthday next year is something truly special to behold."The baobab flowers for a short time and horticulturalists at the eco charity will hand-pollinate the hope the plant will produce large velvety fruits which take between four and six months to mature, Mr Jasper said.
Times
10 hours ago
- Times
A robot surgeon? I'll put my money on that
T hank you for waiting, the robot will see you now. Nine in ten keyhole operations won't need a human surgeon in the room within the next decade, according to the NHS. One in five operations are already carried out by robots, guided remotely, to improve outcomes while cutting costs. Science fiction is becoming surgical fact because robotic-assisted surgery can mean smaller incisions, reduced scarring and quicker recovery. There's no need to take my word for it: Sir Jim Mackey, the chief executive of the NHS, said: 'We are using every tool to ensure patients get the best possible treatment. Expanding the use of new tech, such as robotic surgery, will play a huge part.' Wes Streeting, the health and social care secretary, added: 'I know how important this is. The NHS saved my life from kidney cancer with an operation led by a world-class surgeon being helped by a robot.'
