Go 2.4 Billion Miles.

And you can't miss it.

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1. A $1.2-billion NASA spacecraft launched from Florida last Friday on a 2.24-billion-mile journey to a metal-rich asteroid that is unlike anything scientists have studied before. Its destination is a space rock called Psyche — the largest metallic object in the Solar System. Scientists think this asteroid could be the core of a planet that never finished forming. If so, then studying Psyche will be like getting a time traveller’s look at how the Solar System’s planets formed billions of years ago. (Source: nature.com)

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2. The genome of the SARS-CoV-2 virus encodes 29 proteins, one of which is an ion channel called E. This channel, which transports protons and calcium ions, induces infected cells to launch an inflammatory response that damages tissues and contributes to the symptoms of Covid-19. MIT chemists have now discovered the structure of the “open” state of this channel, which allows ions to flow through. This structure, combined with the “closed” state structure that was reported by the same lab in 2020, could help scientists figure out what triggers the channel to open and close. These structures could also guide researchers in developing antiviral drugs that block the channel and help prevent inflammation. (Source: news.mit.edu)

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3. An Oxford University researcher and her team showed that digital wearable devices can track the progression of Parkinson’s disease in an individual more effectively than human clinical observation can, according to a newly published paper. By tracking more than 100 metrics picked up by the devices, researchers were able to discern subtle changes in the movements of subjects with Parkinson’s, a neurodegenerative disease that afflicts 10 million people worldwide. The lead researcher emphasized that the latest findings were not a treatment for Parkinson’s. Rather, they are a means of helping scientists gauge whether novel drugs and other therapies for Parkinson’s are slowing the progression of the disease. The sensors — six per subject, worn on the chest, at the base of the spine and one on each wrist and foot — tracked 122 physiological metrics. (Sources: nature.com, nytimes.com)