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It can be frustrating and tempting to pick at <keyword id="29502" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="acne" source="Orion">acne</keyword>, but scientists might have found a better way to fight it, using the very bacteria that causes it! This research is pretty clever, like using your enemy's weapons against them. Cutibacterium acnes is a common bacteria on our faces, known for causing pimples. It creates excess oil that clogs pores and leads to inflammation. However, it also helps protect our <keyword id="6371970" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="skin" source="Orion">skin</keyword>. Instead of destroying it, researchers changed its genes to make it fight pimples. They used a protein called <keyword id="20363449" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ngal" source="keywords">NGAL</keyword>, which tells oil-producing cells to chill and stop making so much oil. <keyword id="20363450" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sebum" source="keywords">Sebum</keyword>, the oily stuff that builds up and clogs pores, was the target. Inspired by a strong acne medication that also increases NGAL, the team wanted C. acnes to do the job internally, without the harsh side effects. The tricky part was modifying C. acnes' genes, as it's stubborn. But researchers persevered and found a way to sneak the NGAL-making instructions into its DNA, turning it into a tiny NGAL factory. It worked! In lab tests on human skin cells, the modified C. acnes cut oil production in half within two days. On mice, it produced NGAL deep within their hair follicles (where oil comes out) without causing any irritation. However, testing on humans is still needed. Our skin is different, and more studies are required to ensure this acne-fighting bacteria is safe and effective in real life. This research was published in Nature Biotechnology.

Scientists have genetically tweaked the facial acne-causing bacteria to help fight pimples instead!

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The Pentagon has awarded a contract for development a Blended Wing Body aircraft prototype.</li><li>The design promises more fuel efficiency, larger payloads, and the ability to use shorter runways.</li></ul>The US Air Force has picked aviation startup firm JetZero to develop a full-size demonstrator aircraft with an unusual design that could transform how the service builds its tanker and cargo aircraft.The investment in the Blended Wing Body reflects the Air Force's interest in aircraft that can carry larger payloads farther while using less fuel and a wider range of facilities, which the service says it will need to win a war with China in the Pacific."We are in a race for a technological superiority with what we call a pacing challenge, a formidable opponent," Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, the service's top civilian official, said while announcing the contract on Wednesday, in <a href="https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/2845661/china-remains-pacing-challenge-for-us-pentagon-press-secretary-says/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a reference</a> to China."There's a real potential in this technology to help increase fuel efficiency significantly, and that's going to lead to improvements in not just the efficiency and capabilities of our force but also in our impact on the climate," Kendall said at an event hosted by the Air and Space Forces Association.<div type="image" title="Air Force Chaudhary Kendall JetZero O'Leary" height="1340" width="2508" msid="102878180" hostid="261" sizebytes="70038"></div>The design blends the wings and the fuselage, "decreasing aerodynamic drag by at least 30% and providing additional lift," the Air Force said in <a href="https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3494520/daf-selects-jetzero-to-develop-blended-wing-body-aircraft-prototype/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a release</a>. "This increased efficiency will enable extended range, more loiter time, and increased payload delivery efficiencies," which are "vital to mitigating logistics risks."While the design has been around for decades, it has not been widely adopted, but recent advances in design, materials, and manufacturing "have made large-scale production achievable," the Air Force said. The latest investment aims to further develop the design and assess its capabilities and how to incorporate it in future aircraft.Under the contract, the Pentagon will provide $235 million over the next four years, which will be coupled with private investment "to take the full-scale demonstration to fruition," Tom O'Leary, JetZero cofounder and CEO, said at the event, adding that the goal was a first flight by 2027.The Air Force is the US military's biggest user of jet fuel, and its tanker and cargo aircraft are responsible for <a href="https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3494520/daf-selects-jetzero-to-develop-blended-wing-body-aircraft-prototype/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">about 60%</a> of that consumption annually. The service <a href="https://www.airandspaceforces.com/air-force-goals-to-slash-emissions-new-climate-action-plan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">is interested</a> in the increased fuel efficiency offered by Blended Wing Body aircraft — JetZero <a href="https://www.jetzero.aero/why-jetzero" target="_blank" rel="noopener">says</a> its design "cuts fuel burn and emissions in half" — and Kendall and other officials touted that at the event.<div type="image" title="Air Force C-5M Super Galaxy refueling" height="1235" width="2000" msid="102878181" hostid="261" sizebytes="138558"></div>"When you take a look at the challenges we have going forward, we know that operational energy is going to be a critical factor," said Ravi Chaudhary, assistant secretary of the Air Force for energy, installations, and environment.Energy usage is "going to be the margin of victory in a near-peer competition, particularly in the Pacific. So we've got to be laser-focused on that — laser-focused on endurance, range, speed," added Chaudhary, whose office is overseeing the project.If the aircraft has 50% greater fuel efficiency, "you're talking about doubling the ranges or possibly doubling the payloads," said Tom Jones, president of aeronautics systems at Northrop Grumman, which is working with JetZero to build the demonstrator aircraft.Along with assessing fuel usage, a full-size demonstrator will allow the Air Force to evaluate a Blended Wing Body aircraft's ability to use shorter runways, a central element of the service's Agile Combat Employment, or ACE, concept, which entails <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/air-force-practicing-operating-fighter-jets-at-remote-pacific-bases-2021-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dispersing to smaller, less developed outposts</a> to avoid being targeted at major bases <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-air-force-needs-new-ways-to-defend-pacific-bases-2022-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">by China's long-range weapons</a>."The most vexing challenge" in the Indo-Pacific region "is the logistics, with the way this adversary can challenge us at distance," said Maj. Gen. Albert Miller, director of strategy, plans, requirements, and programs for Air Mobility Command, which oversees the service's tanker and cargo fleets.<div type="image" title="Air Force C-130 Guam" height="1301" width="2000" msid="102878182" hostid="261" sizebytes="108460"></div>"So having capabilities that the Blended Wing potentially brings you — of the ranges that you're going to have to fly, the efficiency that allows you to carry cargo rather than fuel, efficiency that allows you to carry fuel to offload to others — that's why this is critical to learn as much as we can learn from this technology, because ACE is completely dependent on the logistics," Miller said Wednesday.The aircraft could also be designed with folding wings, which "gives you a smaller spot factor, so you can fit more aircraft at potentially a remote location," Jones said.Earlier this year, the Air Force announced plans to pursue its future tankers and cargo planes — programs known as the Next Generation Air-Refueling System, or NGAS, and the Next-Generation Airlift System, or NGAL. Miller cautioned against "drawing linkages directly" between the Blended Wing contract and the NGAS and NGAL programs but did call the demonstrator "a prototype that we will learn from."The Air Force will soon begin an analysis of alternatives — an assessment of attributes like fuel usage, runway length needed, and electronic signature — for NGAS to inform what its future tankers will look like.That future tanker will have to be able "to operate in threat environments that we've never had tankers have to operate in before," Miller said, echoing officials who have said future wars will <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/air-force-cargo-tanker-planes-do-more-in-next-war-2021-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">require the service to do more with its mobility aircraft</a>.<div type="image" title="KC 46 Pegasus" height="712" width="949" msid="102878184" hostid="261" sizebytes="11462"></div>There is "no presumption" that the Blended Wing aircraft "is necessarily the answer for NGAS, but we think that it could be informative in this process," Miller said.Chaudhary said the service may draw "links" between the Blended Wing project and NGAS or NGAL, "but right now keeping everything on the table is going to be critical because what we want to focus on is the knowledge of this capability, so we're going to push hard with that and then we're going to look for those entry points as they emerge."JetZero has already unveiled a Blended Wing design that <a href="https://aviationweek.com/aerospace/emerging-technologies/jetzero-unveils-midmarket-airliner-air-force-tanker-bwb-plan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the company says</a> will provide a midmarket commercial airliner that's more efficient than the planes it seeks to replace. That aircraft is years away from entering service, but US officials touted the possibility that their investment could benefit the private sector."The commercial industry, including passenger airlines and air freight companies, stand to benefit from development of this technology" through increased cabin space and decreased fuel costs, the Air Force said in its release.Kathleen Hicks, the deputy secretary of defense, said Thursday that the contract is "an important milestone in the development of a potentially transformational technology" and that its success "would be good news for the Department, our warfighters, the US aerospace industry, and the American taxpayer."

The US Air Force is tinkering with an unusual design for its biggest planes as it prepares for a potential long-range war with China

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Scientists have genetically tweaked the facial acne-causing bacteria to help fight pimples instead!

Ankush Banerjee

The US Air Force is tinkering with an unusual design for its biggest planes as it prepares for a potential long-range war with China

Christopher Woody

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