Detection Of A Four-Carbon Sugar In Interstellar Space

July 20, 2026 by Maya Posch 5 Comments

Although life tends to find a way, something first has to kickstart said lifeforms. Exactly how the first biological cells formed on Earth – and potentially on other worlds – remains an enduring mystery. Some theories point to the early Earth’s surface conditions as a viable laboratory for the self-assembly of the first viable membranes, RNA, DNA and associated molecular machinery, while seeding of the Earth’s primitive atmosphere by sugars and other precursors from asteroids and kin is required in other theories.

Recently [Izaskun Jiménez-Serra] et al. added to this debate with the reported detection of four-carbon sugars in the form of erythrulose in the interstellar medium. Using the 40 meter radio telescope at Yebes and the 30 meter radio telescope at Granada the signatures of this sugar was detected in a molecular cloud near the center of the Milky Way.

These sugars likely form on these interstellar dust grains from more basic two-carbon aldehydes and alcohols, with them providing conceivably a source of energy for early metabolic processes of developing lifeforms. This specific type of sugar is highly prevalent in Earth’s fruits, and thus its prevalence in interstellar space is at the very least an interesting coincidence, if not another puzzle piece in the overarching question of abiogenesis.

Earth-like LHS 1140b May Feature The First Atmosphere Found On Exoplanet

July 20, 2026 by Maya Posch 14 Comments

Finding another planet outside of our solar system that can comfortably be called ‘Earth-like’ is one of those discoveries that — if confirmed — would be a major event. The complication here is that with every exoplanet that we discover through observations, determining the type of planet is hard enough, never mind figuring out whether it has an atmosphere, much less what’s in that atmosphere. This makes a recent report on LHS 1140 b rather exciting, as it strongly suggests that this super-Earth may have something close to an Earth-like atmosphere.

In the paper by [Collin Cherubim] and others in Science, the findings of helium occasionally escaping from its atmosphere have led to considerable excitement, as this time-variable atmospheric escape of helium suggests a helium-rich upper atmosphere that’s further depleted in hydrogen.

It should be noted, of course, that these assumptions are based on observations from roughly 49 light-years away, so there’s always some room for later adjustments. Even if confirmed, the star that LHS 1140b orbits is a red dwarf, with a nearly 25-day orbital period and light levels less than half of what Earth receives from the Sun. This would make the surface of LHS 1140b with its proposed oceans rather dim, even if it’s conceivably at temperatures well within the comfort range of us Earth-based mammals.

At 49 light-years distance, it’s also not close enough that — barring an FTL drive — we could do direct observations or visitations, but if these results hold, it’d be on the short list along with a number of other plausibly habitable exoplanets to check out once we build that first warp drive-powered starship.

Seven Ways To Install Magnets Into Your 3D Prints

July 19, 2026 by Maya Posch 12 Comments

Magnets are awesome, so it’s no wonder we love to add them to our 3D prints. Doing so in a way that will actually last is harder, with thermal creep being one reason a simple friction fit will loosen over time, and using super glue to hold a magnet in place can be messy. In a recent video, [Slant 3D] covers seven ways to install magnets in 3D prints without resorting to glue, along with the advantages and disadvantages of each.

With friction, the argument is that you can still use them, but you’d want to use something like cylindrical magnets rather than flat magnets to increase the friction with the thermoplastic. Using an arbor press rather than human primate hand power is also beneficial.

Rather than installing magnets halfway through a print with all the logistics that entails, you can use side slots to install said magnet into, which is much easier, but as with all embedded magnets, you get that plastic barrier between the magnet and its target.

Other methods involve using a bit of extra material that you need to push the magnet past, using something like an arbor press, so the magnets should never just fall out. A wildcard here: spherical magnets, which can be locked in using a similar method, while automatically orienting themselves to an opposing magnet.

The final tip is to never use two magnets in a magnetic lock. Instead, use a cheaper ball bearing or a similar plain metal part on one side instead. Magnets tend to be much more brittle than whatever stainless steel ball bearing or washer you can use on the other side.

Of course, people will always try to install magnets during an FDM print, but before they try to do that anyway, they really should learn about the fascinating ways in which magnets can ruin print beds, destroy nozzles, and otherwise make a total mess of a print. Magnets seem magical. Maybe they are.

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Automated Pressure Advance Using A Bed-Leveling Sensor

July 19, 2026 by Maya Posch 8 Comments

One of the most crucial aspects of FDM 3D printing is ensuring sufficient material is extruded. Determining the right flow rate can be done manually, but some printers these days automatically perform this adjustment, which is very convenient. [Stefan] of CNC Kitchen investigates how to add similar functionality using existing bed-leveling sensors.

A major complication with extrusion in FDM printers is that the flow rate has to fit the printing speed. However, you can’t just immediately speed up or reduce the flow rate, as the melting filament is flexible and thus acts like a spring, especially as the extruder is exerting significant force on the filament, which adds compression.

The moment you reduce or increase the speed of the nozzle, you can get over- or under-extrusion, but the delayed response by the extruded filament means that you have to adjust for this change in advance. Ergo, the name ‘pressure advance’, also known as the K-value. Obviously, this is a parameter that differs with each material, printer, and other factors, so a direct measurement is always the best.

In the Bambu Lab X1 FDM printer, a Lidar scanner was used to scan various test patterns to automatically determine the optimal setting. This was later moved to the purge section of the extruder in newer Bambu Lab printers. On other FDM printers, the only available sensor in that area is typically the pressure sensor for bed leveling. Could this sensor make a similar measurement?

This wasn’t just an idle thought, but was inspired by the Snapmaker U1, which runs open-source Klipper, with tantalizing glimpses of how it does pressure-advance sensing in its extruder. This extruder also only contains a load cell, as do some Prusa printers. These much more open printers thus provided a test bed for some experimentation.

With load cell data available, [Stefan] measured how various extrusion rates affect the load cell, which can then theoretically be correlated with the appropriate K-values for specific transitions. He created a calibration tool for a range of Prusa printers that works with stock firmware, though this is definitely still a work in progress. There are also a couple of similar open-source projects, such as this Auto PA Calibration project by [Mark].

Overall, K-value presets tend to work pretty well, but adding a pressure-advance calibration feature to existing FDM printers is definitely an interesting idea. There’s also the prospect of lateral sensing using this same bed-leveling sensor, which could allow the printer to sense much more than just the bed.

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Remembering The Zilog Z80 As It Turns Fifty Years Old

July 19, 2026 by Maya Posch 34 Comments

Perhaps the saddest thing about the Zilog Z80 is that this humble 8-bit microprocessor wasn’t allowed to live until its 50th birthday. This, fortunately, doesn’t prevent people like [David Oberhollenzer] from reminiscing on this influential processor and what it means to them personally.

First released in July of 1976, this humble 8-bit miracle would go on to power not just a range of home computers, but also be found in everything from industrial controllers to arcade systems. Despite this success, the new owner of Zilog — Littelfuse — decided to put an end to this winning streak in 2024 for the stand-alone processor and its peripherals.

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Write 2D And 3D Games In Modern MoonBASIC

July 18, 2026 by Maya Posch 9 Comments

One of the major strengths of the BASIC programming languages has always been their no-fuss setup and rich set of commands for operations that would take considerably more work in a bare-bones language like C. MoonBASIC continues this legacy with a BASIC variant optimized for both 2D and 3D game development.

Included in the package are Raylib, Box2D, and Jolt, whose functionality is exposed via over 4,200 commands in their respective namespaces. You can also download a whole IDE package based around VS Code, use it on the command line, or add it to an existing VS Code installation.

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How Octopuses Hacked Their Ribosome To Become Smart

July 17, 2026 by Maya Posch 7 Comments

A fascinating aspect in evolutionary biology is that of convergent evolution — whereby similar structures and functions evolve independently from each other. The highly advanced nervous system of octopuses is a good example here, displaying levels of intelligence and capabilities far beyond those of other cephalopods and matching that of primates, despite no evolutionary link here. Exactly how octopuses developed this rather unique capability remained a mystery, though recent research by [Rishav Mitra] points at the rather unique ribosomes in these animals.

Ribosomes are the molecular machinery at the core of each cell that enable the synthesis of proteins. Due to their highly crucial role, they tend to remain evolutionary unchanged, which makes the big change observed in the octopus (i.e. order Octopoda) in the form of this H88 rRNA break quite remarkable.

Common octopus (<i>Octopus vulgaris</i>). (Credit: Albert Kok, Wikimedia) — Common octopus (*Octopus vulgaris*). (Credit: Albert Kok, Wikimedia)

This H88 break increases the accuracy of translated proteins, something that is essential for complex nervous systems as it reduces cases of misfolded proteins (proteinopathy). Because of how well-preserved ribosomes are across species, the researchers were able to run a number of experiments including a similar rRNA break in E. coli that confirmed many of the assumptions about how these octopus ribosomes performed.

Since proteinopathy results in misfolded proteins that are either useless or harmful to the organism – as seen in various human diseases – this can especially harm long-lived cells like neurons. Unsurprisingly, we can see a similar change to ribosomes in other animal groups, including that of us primates. Although the reasons for octopuses to develop more complex nervous systems wasn’t due to social pressures but rather to cope with highly complex and dynamic environments, it would seem that both types of environmental pressures led to the same convergent path, with a little ribosomal help.