🛰️ US says Russia’s ‘inspector’ satellite is tailing its spycraft, desalination breakthrough using solar energy, scientists create world’s 1st mini-brain with working blood-brain barrier

Russia’s latest satellite launch has caught the attention of US intelligence officials who believe the satellite could be a weapon designed to inspect and attack other satellites.

The US Space Command (USSPACECOM) issued a statement on Tuesday, May 21, revealing that the Russian spacecraft launched last week is now trailing a US spy satellite in orbit. This raises concerns about the satellite’s potential to threaten critical US space assets.

“We have observed nominal activity and assess it is likely a counterspace weapon presumably capable of attacking other satellites in low Earth orbit,” a USSPACECOM spokesperson said in a statement to Reuters. For more on this development, check out today’s Must-Read.

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MUST READ

🛰️ US says Russia’s ‘inspector’ satellite, space weapon, tailing its spycraft

Cosmos 2576 bears a striking resemblance to previous Russian satellites launched in 2019 and 2022. These earlier satellites, like Cosmos 2542 and Cosmos 2543, exhibited concerning behavior, including approaching sensitive US spy satellites.

In 2019, one such satellite released an object into space and closely followed a US intelligence satellite from the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), which oversees intelligence-gathering satellites.

As of now, Cosmos 2576 has not approached any US satellite. However, space analysts have observed that it is in the same orbital ring as USA 314, a bus-sized NRO satellite launched in April 2021.

☀️ Desalination breakthrough uses sun, not electricity, to clean seawater

Researchers at the Australian National University have developed a new approach for desalinating water that does not use electricity. The method uses solar energy and can be deployed in remote locations, even in low-income countries.

With freshwater shortages seen in multiple parts of the globe, countries are turning to seawater and desalinating it to meet their water demands.

The researchers use a phenomenon called thermodiffusion, a temperature gradient to move salt from the warmer to the colder side to bring about desalination. In this process, water remains in the liquid phase, and no energy is spent turning it into vapor and cooling it back.

🧠 Scientists create world’s 1st mini-brain with working blood-brain barrier

Organoid experts at Cincinnati Children’s, Mayo Clinic, and UC San Diego have brought about a significant discovery for disease research and drug development. They have created brain organoids with a functional blood-brain barrier, termed “BBB assembloids.”

The human blood-brain barrier (hBBB) is one that is highly specialized and helps in regulating passage across blood and central nervous system (CNS) division.

The study makes promises to ramp up treating a wide range of brain disorders like stroke, cerebral vascular disorders, brain cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington disease, Parkinson’s disease, and different sorts of neurodegenerative conditions.

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