The brightest take on this week’s science
We are still on a high after yesterday’s successful launch to the Moon!
“We are going for all humanity,” said mission specialist Jeremy Hansen.
Read more about the historic moment below…
Here’s what else we’re exploring this week:
💊 A surprising drug combo for weight loss
🤯 A mind-blowing astronomy fact
🔬 A hairy microscope mystery
Blast off! 🚀
LOOK UP
It’s Official: Humans Are Headed to The Moon!!
NASA's Artemis II moon rocket lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39-B Wednesday 1 April 2026. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
It wasn’t an April Fool’s joke. Yesterday, NASA launched its first crewed mission to the Moon since the historic Apollo missions.
The four-person crew is headed on a 10-day journey around the Moon and back.
If all goes to plan, they will probe further into space than ever before, breaking the 1970 Apollo 13 record.
The mission is called Artemis II, and it will set the groundwork for humans to land back on the surface of our neighboring satellite.
"We have a beautiful moonrise. We're headed right at it," the Artemis II crew said as the spacecraft entered Earth orbit.
Soon, they’ll see the far side of the Moon…
HEADLINES
This Week in Science
LOOK OUT
A Surprising Drug Combo For Weight Loss
(Halfpoint Images/Moment/Getty Images)
Older women on popular weight-loss drugs may benefit from an unexpectedly useful drug combo.
In a small retrospective study, women in their 50s taking tirzepatide after 15 months lost significantly more weight if they were also using menopausal hormone therapy.
This type of therapy comes in pill, patch, or topical form, and it is used to replace some of the body's lost hormones in later life, such as estrogen or progesterone.
The treatment can help alleviate symptoms of fatigue, hot flashes, night sweats, poor sleep, and low libido.
Now, it seems it might also help with weight loss…
ZOOM ZONE
Microscope Mystery: What Do You See?
(Gregory S. Paulson/Connect Images/Getty Images)
A) Human nose hairs
B) Crayfish claw
C) Bacterial flagella
D) Hookworms
Answer at the bottom.
LOOK IN
New Guidelines For Managing Cholesterol
(Artur Plawgo/Science Photo Library/Getty Images)
Leading US cardiologists are introducing new guidelines for managing high cholesterol.
These will update the 2018 recommendations of the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association.
The biggest changes involve detecting and treating high cholesterol at earlier ages.
Cholesterol is not all bad. It’s a fatty substance that helps form cell membranes and hormones.
The ‘bad’ kind, however, is called low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and it can block arteries, causing major risks to health.
As many as one in four adults in the US has elevated LDL cholesterol, but the good news is that many cases are preventable with the right changes.
WOW FACTOR
Science Fact of The Week
The Sun makes up 99.8 percent of the mass in our Solar System.
Earth is practically a pinprick of matter in comparison.
Once, our planet was considered the center of the Universe. How very wrong we were…
DOPAMINE HIT
Before You Go…
Stick to the science like a clam to a substrate.
(Gif by pbsdigitalstudios on Giphy)
Microscope answer: Crayfish claw
The claws of a crayfish are surprisingly hairy when you zoom in close. These are tiny sensory feelers, called setae, that help the ocean creatures sense their environment through their hard exteriors.
That’s all for today… see you next week!
- Carly
