We could shoot lasers at the lunar soil to help us live on the Moon, scientists have proposed. By melting the lunar soil into a more solid, layered substance, we might be able to build paved roads and landing pads on the Moon’s surface, a new study suggests. Many space agencies including Nasa have plans to establish semi-permanent bases on the Moon, which would both allow us to better study it but also serve as a stop off on the way to Mars and elsewhere in the solar system. The Moon’s surface is a tough place t land and live, however. The dust of the soil tends to get kicked up by landers – and the low gravity means that it floats around after it is disturbed, potentially finding its way into equipment. As such, future Moon colonies may require robust roads and landing pads to allow for us to travel both to and around the Moon. But it is unlikely we would be able to transport materials to build them, given the cost of doing so, leading scientists to look at what is available there already. In the new study, scientists examined whether lunar soil could be turned into something more substantial by using lasers. And they had some success, finding that lunar dust can be melted down into a solid substance. They used a variety of different sized and types of lasers to see what they would produce. The best used a 45 millimetre diameter laser beam to make hollow triangular shapes that were about 250 millimetres in size. Those pieces could be locked together to create solid surfaces that could be placed across the Moon’s surface, they suggest, and then used as roads and landing pads. On the Moon, the same approach would require a lens of around 2.37 metres squared, which would have to be transported from Earth. That could then be used to concentrate sunlight, rather than using a laser, and so allow the material to be created with relatively small equipment. The plan is reported in a new journal article, ‘Laser melting manufacturing of large elements of lunar regolith simulant for paving on the Moon’, published in Scientific Reports. Read More Nasa opens up pieces of a distant asteroid transported back to Earth Earth hit by a huge solar storm that would devastate civilisation, trees show Incels using TikTok to spread ‘hateful beliefs’, research suggests

LOUISVILLE, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 22, 2023--

As mayor of Mexico City, a job she held until June, Claudia Sheinbaum rarely let her attention to

Global efforts to reach net-zero carbon emissions are failing in almost every way, with one exception: the boom

NEWTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 22, 2023--

US authorities on Monday charged cryptocurrency giant Binance with securities law violations that together amounted to what they called "an extensive web of deception" and...

By Richard Francis (Reuters) -Cisco Systems Inc said on Wednesday a large backlog of products due to supply chain constraints

By Anirban Sen NEW YORK Arm Holdings Ltd plans to launch its roadshow for investors after Labor Day,

Geoffrey Hinton, one of the so-called godfathers of artificial intelligence, urged governments on Wednesday to step in and make sure that machines do...

MGM Resorts International was hacked by the same group of attackers that breached Caesars Entertainment Inc. weeks earlier,

The new iPhone 15 Pro lineup offers a lot to get excited about: They're slimmer and thinner, the new cameras are professional-grade and the switch to USB-C charging will make your life easier. But one new feature easily stands out as the most fun: The Action Button.

Police in New York City are struggling to control a crowd of thousands of people who gathered in Manhattan’s Union Square for an Internet personality's videogame console giveaway that got out of hand