【推荐2】Last Tuesday, a robotic ship called the Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS) took off from Plymouth, England. Its mission (使命) was to recreate the 1620 crossing of the Atlantic by the Mayflower, which brought the first European settlers to the USA. But unlike the original Mayflower, there are no people on the MAS. Everything about the ship is designed to run automatically. The ship is guided by an artificial intelligence (AI) system called "AI Captain".

The MAS is a project run by a group called ProMare along with the computer company, IBM. The ship's electric motor is powered by solar energy. The goal of the project is to test different kinds of technologies for collecting information about the sea. If these can be handled by machines, it could be a big advance in ocean research.

Because the MAS didn't have to carry humans, its designers were free to think about how to make the best ship for the job. In addition to cameras and radar to help the ship guide itself, the ship is carrying many different kinds of tools and sensors. It has special listening devices which can detect whales and dolphins. It even has a special "tongue" which can report back on the chemicals in the water.

Last Friday morning, scientists tracking the ship noticed that it was going about half as fast as it should have been going. The AI Captain was working well, but there seemed to be something slowing the motor down. Since the ship had only covered 10% of the way across the Atlantic, the team decided to bring it back to Plymouth so they could fix the problem and send it out again. They sent the MAS instructions to turn back.

When the MAS finally does put out to sea again, it is expected to take about three weeks to cross the Atlantic Ocean. The fastest speed for the MAS is about 10 mph (16 kph). That may seem slow, but it's about 5 times faster than the original Mayflower, which took 66 days to make the journey.

【推荐3】The age-old chore of dusting could soon be a thing of the past. Scientists are developing “self-cleaning” surfaces that make dust particles unable to stick to them. Researchers from the University of Texas at Austin say the particles instead stick to each other and simply roll off the surfaces with nothing more than the assistance of gravity.

The scientists altered the geometry (几何构造) of flat surfaces at a level invisible to human eyes. The team made a tightly-packed nanoscale (纳米级) network of pyramid-shaped structures on the surfaces which made it difficult for dust particles to stick to the material. Instead, the particles stick to each other before rolling off the material due to gravity.

The study, funded by a grant (拨款) from NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research program, tested the material by piling lunar dust on their engineered surfaces before turning them on their sides. The team found that just two percent of the surface remained dusty, compared with more than 35 percent of an unaltered smooth surface. The new surface could provide a passive solution to removing dust, as opposed to more active methods like using wipers and fluid to clear dust from a car windscreen.

“What we’ve demonstrated here is a surface that can clean itself,” says lead study author Chih-Hao Chang. “Particulates aren’t able to stick to the surface, so they come off using just the force of gravity.”

Study authors hope the material provides a solution to space dust, which can be extremely harmful in such a high-risk environment and is almost impossible to clean out. Space dust has previously caused great damage to NASA’s human spaceflight Apollo missions and has even caused rovers on Mars to malfunction and fail. “There’s not much you can do about lunar dust in space—it sticks to everything and there’s no real way to wipe it off,” says Samuel Lee, a lead author of the study. “Dust on solar panels of Mars rovers can cause them to fail.”

However, the researchers also believe the discovery could prove useful on Earth, preventing solar panels from collecting dust and losing efficiency. These surfaces may even protect our screens and windows from irritating dust.

【推荐3】A British scientist known for her work with the largest space telescope ever made has been honored with her own Barbie doll. Dr. Maggie Pocock has been immortalized (使不朽) as a one-of-a-kind plastic toy in her likeness in recognition of her achievements making space and science accessible to girls.

The 54-year-old,recently appointed chancellor (名誉校长) of the University of Leicester, is a former British Science Association president and the first black woman to win gold at the Physics News Awards.

Her doll, made by tov firm Mattel, wears an appropriately starry dress and comes with a telescope accessory -referencing her work with the James Webb Space Telescope. The telescope was a joint project between various space agencies and scientists, and launched into space in December 2021.

Dr. Pocock was gifted the Barbie to mark International Women’s Day and British Science Week.

“Since falling in love with the idea of space travel as a young girl, I have spent my career trying to show girls how fascinating space science can be,” she said. “I want to inspire the next generation of scientists, and especially girls, and let them know that STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) is for them.”

The Barbie, which is not going on sale, is one of seven custom dolls Mattel has created to celebrate women’ s achievements in the STEM subjects. The others include YouTube boss Susan Wojcicki and German marine researcher Dr. Antje Boetius.

Dr. Pocock hopes the Barbie dolls will help “smash prejudices”. “It’s such an honor to receive this doll that is celebrating my achievements. My daughter and I danced around the living room when we heard!” she said, “I hope my doll will remind girls that, when you reach for the stars, anything is possible.”