Smash and stare
Japan鈥檚 Kaguya lunar orbiter was due to end its nearly two-year mission by smashing into the moon on 10 June. The impact site will be studied for how radiation and micrometeoroids affect newly exposed lunar soil. It will be like 鈥渨atching a wound heal鈥�, says Peter Schultz of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.
Does TB form spores?
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The bug that causes tuberculosis can lurk undetected in the lungs for decades, making TB hard to treat. Now a team at Uppsala University in Sweden has found that close relatives of the TB bug form tough, dormant spores like other types of bacteria such as anthrax (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, ). If TB also forms spores, the discovery may yield badly needed treatments.
Malaria-like parasite
A close relative of the parasite that causes malaria has been found in two pet chimpanzees in Gabon (PLoS Pathogens, ). Researchers warn that Plasmodium gaboni could spread to humans and cause illness because it鈥檚 more closely related to malaria-causing P. falciparum than other Plasmodium species found in non-human primates.
Shrinking star
The red giant Betelgeuse 鈥� which sat near the fictional home of Ford Prefect in The Hitchhiker鈥檚 Guide to the Galaxy 鈥� is shrinking. Its diameter has dropped by 15 per cent since 1993. The study was presented at a meeting of The American Astronomical Society on 9 June.
Oceans of trash
Plastics, mainly bags and bottles, account for 80 per cent of the garbage in the sea, reveals a major survey by the United Nations Environment Programme, which warns that marine litter is harming the oceans.