Art G.Shvecova (Design Graphics - Aesthetic-space_080718)

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Space-Grown Crystals May Lead to More Efficient Drug Development

The International Space Station is a perfect environment for creating protein crystal structures for research.

In microgravity, protein molecules form more orderly, high-quality crystals. Studying these structures helps scientists understand their function and contributes to development of more effective treatments for diseases.

Experiments often need more than one try to generate ideal crystals, though. Researchers may have to return samples to Earth for analysis and then try again on a later mission on the space station.

Scientists are testing new methods of growing crystals that allow crew members to observe imperfections, make real-time adjustments, and try growing them again right away. This dramatically reduces the time and cost of conducting experiments aboard the space station and opens up the orbiting lab to more users. More efficient use of time and resources can produce research results in less time and lead to development of better drugs sooner.

Learn more @ISS_Research!

Nature is amazing 🐬

Video by Jaimen Hudson

Animated Double Exposure by Said Dagdeviren

Those eyes…

natgeoVideo by @joelsartore | Palawan leopard cats can be found on Palawan Island in the Philippines. They are about the size of a domestic cat but slightly leaner with distinct black markings on their heads and webbed toes. They’re solitary and spend a lot of their time resting in trees when they aren’t hunting for small mammals, birds and amphibians. They are capable of hybridizing with domestic cats, producing the popular pet breed, bengal cats. Though it’s illegal to hunt leopard cats in many countries including the Philippines, they’re still sold in the pet trade and their parts are distributed for decoration and use traditional ‘medicine’. Leopard cats are wild animals are are absolutely not suitable as household pets.