A cubesat in peril
One of the ten cubesats (miniature cubic satellites) launched into space at the same time as the Artemis 1 lunar mission, on November 16, has just experienced problems. The little satellite LunaH-Map, which must detect water on the Moon, could not start its engine. NASA revealed this week this problem, which it hopes to fix. Otherwise, LunaH-Map could be redirected to asteroids for analysis. Four other Artemis 1 cubesats are also having issues, possibly related to multiple launch delays.
Quiz
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Montreal Clock Tower
What change in the measurement of time will occur in 2035?
The leap second will disappear. In mid-November, the General Conference on Weights and Measures decided that this second, which must be added from time to time to Universal Time (UTC) because the Earth’s rotational speed is slowed by complex interactions with the Moon and the Sun, is too complicated to manage by computer and geolocation equipment. It must indeed be added randomly – exactly 27 times since 1972. A new correction procedure, which would only require one adjustment per century, will be decided by the Conference by 2026.
The number
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Fish and seafood, here in the table Fish shop by Bartolomeo Passerotti (1529–1592), contain vitamin B12.
10 to 13%
This is the proportion of Quebec seniors who have a vitamin B12 deficiency, according to a new study from the University of Sherbrooke. The community health researchers, who published their findings in early November in the Journal of Nutrition, add that the current federal recommendations to take 2.4 micrograms of vitamin B12 per day as a supplement are insufficient for the elderly. They should be twice as high, because its absorption varies according to the level of calcium in the body. However, many elderly people do not consume a lot of dairy products. Vitamin B12, the deficiency of which can cause energy and immune problems, is present in meat, fish and seafood, eggs and dairy products.
Perfluorinated in creams
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Cosmetics and personal care products sold in Canada contain perfluorides.
Cosmetics and personal care products sold in Canada contain perfluorines which are not described among the ingredients, according to a new study from the University of Montreal. In the magazine Environmental Science & Technology in mid-November, researchers described the perfluorinated substances present in around forty common cosmetic products. In one case, the perfluorinated content is 10 to 100 times higher than the Canadian standards. Perfluorinated products are resistant to heat and water which are not very biodegradable; at very high levels, they have been associated with an increased risk of certain cancers, and at lower levels, with immune problems.
A three-ton turtle
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE AUTONOMOUS UNIVERSITY OF BARCELONA
Illustration of prehistoric turtle Leviathanochelys aenigmatica
A fossil of a sea turtle weighing 3500 kg and 5 m long has been unearthed in Catalonia. Researchers from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, who described Leviathanochelys aenigmatica in mid-November in the Scientific Reports, excavated its fossil between 2016 and 2021. They estimate that the beast lived between 72 and 84 million years ago. The previous weight record for a prehistoric turtle — it weighed a ton — was held by Stupendemys geographicusfossils of which have been discovered in South America.