Text written in Basque and translated automatically by Elia without any subsequent editing. SEE ORIGINAL

Space garbage collection network; breast and ovarian cancer and genetic mutations; metal foam for making boats; permafrost is melting

The Japanese space agency has proposed an imaginative solution to the problem of space debris. To carry out the cleaning, the Japanese propose to collect them through a kind of net. It would be made of thin cables and would have a length of several kilometers. Once collected, the trash would be dropped to the ground and, as it passed through the atmosphere, it would burn and disintegrate. The problem is not to be underestimated: over the course of 50 years we have left 300,000 objects of all kinds in uncontrolled orbit, and every year the number grows by 5%. Last year they had to change the route of the International Space Station to avoid accidents.

The biologist Elena Beristain of the University of the Basque Country has developed a study to clarify the association between certain genetic mutations and breast and ovarian cancer. Beristain has studied mutations in two genes known to be involved in the development of the two cancers mentioned. The result of the study has shown that mutations are not always pathological or cancerous, this occurs in only 10% of cases. Age influences the way: only one case of pathological mutation has been found among children under 40 years of age. over the age of 70, the risk increases. However, in older patients, pathological mutations do not always turn into cancer, only in 3 out of 10. This means that pathological mutations do not always lead to the development of cancer and that this gene often does not materialize.

German researchers have developed aluminium and titanium foam bars for the shipbuilding industry: this will allow new vessels to weigh up to 30% less. It is a powder that is placed between two steel sheets as a sandwich. It becomes a foam upon heating and adheres to the metal without adhesive. In addition, this foam is light and hard, and those who have developed it have thought that it is ideal for boats that sail among the ice. Light vessels will have the potential to carry more cargo, reduce fuel consumption and reduce CO2 emissions.

These carbon dioxide emissions will increase disproportionately in 20 years. According to a U.S. center that conducts research on ice and snow, the permafrost in the north of the Earth will then begin to melt and the carbon and methane stored in it will be released into the atmosphere. Permafrost is a land that is frozen all year round. there are 13 million square meters in Alaska, Canada, Siberia and northern Europe. Even if the use of fossil fuels declines, at least one-third of that surface – and more than half to the worst – will melt by 2200 years, releasing 190 gigatons of carbon. What does this mean? That the earth will warm up another 3 degrees.