Scientists are sounding the alarm, pointing out that future crewed missions to the Moon could compromise the preservation of ancient chemical records located in lunar ice. The main concern relates to methane released by landing systems, which could potentially spread across the satellite's surface.
The analysis was conducted by specialists in planetary protection and included computer modeling of how gases emitted by lunar craft might reach polar regions where icy deposits, significant for studying the origin of life, are stored. This study was published in November 2025 and takes into account plans for human return to the Moon, including NASA's Artemis program missions, which involve new landings and the future establishment of a permanent presence on the satellite.
The researchers' concerns are focused on so-called ice reservoirs located in craters near the lunar poles. These areas remain in permanent shadow and may contain materials delivered by asteroids and comets that impacted the Moon billions of years ago. According to scientists, these deposits could contain organic molecules preceding the emergence of life, known as prebiotic molecules. Studying such material could help understand how simple chemical compounds began to perform functions associated with living organisms on Earth.
Unlike Earth, which has undergone significant changes throughout its geological history, the Moon has remained virtually unchanged for billions of years. Therefore, its frozen deposits are considered potential natural archives of the period preceding the emergence of life.
The study modeled the dispersion of methane released by planned lunar landing modules intended to operate in the southern polar region. In this process, researchers took into account factors such as radiation and the influence of the solar wind, as well as the lack of a significant atmosphere on the Moon. The results showed that the gas can move rapidly across the lunar surface. In simulations, methane reached the north pole in less than two lunar days, and after about a week of lunar time, a significant portion of the material remained in the cold regions of the poles.
Francisca Paiva, a physicist from Instituto Superior Técnico in Portugal and the lead author of the study, explained that the gas behavior is due to particles following trajectories similar to sequential jumps across the lunar surface. She clarified: 'They essentially jump from one point to another.'
Specialists are concerned about the possibility of altering these environments, as the material preserved in the ice is limited and could lose its scientific value if it mixes with compounds brought by human activity.
Savio Sinibaldi, responsible for planetary protection at the European Space Agency and one of the study's authors, emphasized that space exploration must consider its own impacts. He stated in a working paper: 'We are trying to protect science and our investments in space.'
Despite the indicated risks, the authors note that preventive measures exist that can mitigate negative impacts. One alternative considered is choosing colder landing sites where methane movement would be less. The researchers insist that the expansion of human exploration must occur parallel to measures to preserve scientifically significant areas.
The lead author compared the importance of lunar protection to preserving valuable environments on Earth. She stated: 'We have laws regulating the pollution of terrestrial environments, such as Antarctica and national parks. I believe the Moon is an environment just as valuable as they are.'
A new fossil analysis indicates that the first living beings to exhibit laterality, such as Spriggina floundersi, were marine animals resembling leeches and did not possess hands.
Approximately 550 million years ago, during the Ediacaran period, a marine organism known as Spriggina floundersi, which was finger-sized, crawled on the ocean floor. A recent study of its fossils revealed that although it was an animal without upper limbs, it showed a strong inclination to move to the right, making it the oldest documented example of a right-handed animal.
Researchers from the United States examined a set of exceptionally well-preserved fossils located in the Nilpena Ediacara National Park, in South Australia. Many of these specimens were folded, and most showed a tendency to lean to the right side. The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports, by Nature, on July 9th.
Paleontologist Scott Evans, who led the research, explained that, unlike what is imagined when thinking about human dexterity (such as holding a pencil), this discovery points out that animals without hands or feet could develop their own form of laterality. The research suggests that the preference for one side of the body arose much earlier than previously thought, shortly after organisms began to exhibit bilateral symmetry.
Spriggina was one of the first animals to display this symmetry during the Ediacaran, a period between 635 and 538 million years ago, when microscopic beings evolved into larger multicellular organisms. This organism, measuring only a few centimeters, had an elongated and segmented body, with a larger front end that resembled a crescent moon-shaped helmet. The fossils from Nilpena Ediacara National Park, along with the Flinders Ranges region and South Australia, provide a detailed record of this moment.
By analyzing over one hundred specimens, scientists photographed the rock relief to observe the final posture of the animals and then created three-dimensional models to measure the deviation of each Spriggina's curvature relative to a straight line. The results indicated that these animals were more mobile than previously thought, capable of wriggling similarly to modern earthworms. More significantly, the data showed a clear preference for the right side when turning, almost twice as often as the left side. Since the fossils are mirrored images, this inclination confirms that the population preference was for the right side.
Additionally, the new findings may offer clues about how these animals perceived their environment. Scott Evans commented that, given that current animals with laterality (such as insects, octopuses, birds, and mammals) possess complex sensory systems, this suggests that Spriggina's nervous system was relatively sophisticated, comparable to that of currently known animals.
A recent study published in the journal PNAS demonstrated that geometric intuition and the ability to recognize abstract shapes are not exclusive to the human species, but rather a cognitive trait shared with other primates. Researchers found that both monkeys and humans use analogous mental processes to classify and process geometric figures.
To map how each group perceives spatial patterns, scientists examined the behavior of monkeys, preschool children, and adults in visual matching tests. The collected data indicated that the brains of non-human primates can integrate complex visual representations with abstract symbolic properties.
Previously, the theory of symbolic singularity maintained that only humans possessed the aptitude to encode geometric relationships through specific rules, such as identifying right angles, parallel sides, or symmetry. The assumption was that animals were limited to using superficial and continuous perceptual characteristics to differentiate figures in the environment.
To test this theoretical distinction, scientists applied visual matching tasks to participants, requiring them to identify geometric figures even when presented in different orientations. By analyzing the choices using statistical and computational models, the team noted that monkeys favored abstract structural concepts, rather than just simple perceptual details.
The crucial point of the experiment was observed when analyzing the animals' response to rotated figures. When exposed to objects rotated in space, monkeys showed a dependence on structural and symbolic cues even more pronounced than preschool children when viewing static images. The results suggest that geometric representation derives from the visual system's capacity to process rotational invariance, establishing a neurological basis for the development of geometric intuition in primates. This discovery refutes the notion of an exclusive evolutionary leap in the human mind, indicating that basic geometric concepts have shared biological origins and that spatial abstraction is a gradual process among species.
Nvidia formalized a deal worth over $500 billion, equivalent to about R$ 2.5 trillion, with SK Hynix, a South Korean company. The objective of this long-term partnership is to secure the supply of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and accelerate the development of artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.
This pact was signed on Friday, the 24th, during a technology event held in San Francisco. The initiative aims to protect the manufacturer against the global shortage of essential components for its Graphics Processing Units (GPUs). The contract stipulates the priority supply of advanced semiconductors and the joint development of new memory technologies for the next generation, in addition to the creation of large data centers.
The new computing facilities, scheduled to become operational in 2027, will be dedicated to providing cloud processing capacity for governments, corporations, and AI model developers. At the core of this project, SK Telecom, a subsidiary of the same business group, will build an AI data center with a projected energy capacity of 2 gigawatts. This structure will utilize Nvidia's Vera Rubin processor architecture combined with SK Hynix's HBM4 memories, requiring hundreds of thousands of GPUs to support heavy generative AI applications and autonomous systems.
The collaboration establishes a guarantee of stability for Nvidia, especially since HBM memory has become the main production bottleneck in the sector. Due to the need for extremely high data transfer speeds to power deep learning chips, these components face demand far exceeding current manufacturing capacity. Through the engineering collaboration outlined in the agreement, both companies plan to synchronize the memory development cycle with future Nvidia hardware releases.
In addition to the main contract, Nvidia confirmed an investment of $1 billion (R$ 5 billion) in Naver, a South Korean cloud company, aiming to expand computing complexes in the Asian country. This announcement was made in the presence of representatives from the South Korean government. This move occurs amid a broad restructuring of the semiconductor market to meet the growing demand for intensive computing. In response to this competition, Samsung Electronics also closed a $200 billion (R$ 1 trillion) deal with Broadcom to expand cooperation in chip and memory foundry services.
