April 2023

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Big News
Space-X explosion. At 14:33 (UTC) on 20 April the SpaceX rocket Starship attempted its first ever flight. Just 4 minutes after taking off from Boca Chica, Texas, the largest and most powerful rocket ever constructed failed to separate from its booster and exploded. It has since been determined that multiple engines failed to ignite which caused the rocket to lose altitude and tumble. Once the rocket began to spin off course the team at SpaceX initiated self-destruction of both the rocket and the accompanying booster. Despite appearances, the mission was still considered to be a success. Unsurprisingly, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk remained upbeat and was excited at the prospect of future launches in the coming months. SpaceX engineers and other experts claim that the test flight was still a substantial leap forward; not least because it provides lessons for future launches. Hopes are that Starship will lay the foundation for a number of space missions, including NASA’s Artemis missions which could put astronauts on the surface of the Moon within the next few decades. In the long term it is also thought that low cost, high capacity rockets like Starship would one day allow us to travel and potentially inhabit Mars.

UK tests emergency alert system. While SpaceX was busy picking through ruble the UK initiated a test of its emergency alert system, the test was planned for 15:00 (BST) on Sunday 23 April. Similar systems exist in other countries, such as the US, Australia, France and Japan, and allow the government to provide emergency updates in life-threatening situations including flooding, wildfires and terrorist attacks. In theory, every mobile phone in the UK should have received the alert. In typical British fashion not everything went according to plan. Following the test there were reports that some people received the alert early, others late and in some cases not at all. In particular, it is thought that those who use the service provider Three did not receive the alert. The company has since issued a statement saying  it is "working with the government to understand why". Likewise, the government has said that it will take the feedback of this months test and determine how effective the system was. It’s clear there are still some bugs to fix, but one day if it works as designed the system could provide a rapid national warning system.

Littles News
Revealing the cause of grey hair. A team of scientists from New York University (NYU) have been investigating stem cell development and have identified a possible mechanism behind grey hair. New hair grows from hair follicles which contain melanocytes, cells which are responsible for producing hair pigment. Like all cells melanocytes decay regularly and need to be renewed. The recent study suggests that the stem cells responsible for renewing melanocytes slow down over time and lose their ability to move within hair follicles. These stem cells get “stuck” and aren’t able to mature into melanocytes, which means the pigment in your hair is not being replaced, causing it to fade and become grey. It might not be life changing or break as many headlines, but it certainly opens up some new possibilities for those who want to reverse or prevent the onset of grey hair.

What I’ve been enjoying
Hunger Games. Earlier this month the first Hunger Games movie popped up in my Netflix suggestions. Of course, I gave it a watch. In typical fashion Netflix pounced and the remaining films appeared in my recommendations for the rest of the week. Over the course of that week I slowly worked my way through all four films. I have to say - they’re better than I remember. Having been reminded how much I enjoy dystopian YA I also decided to dive back into the Hunger Games book trilogy. And, as much as I enjoyed the films, the books really are a step above. Teen drama aside they do a brilliant job world-building and, while Katniss Everdeen often comes across as the ultimate angsty-teen, the story makes for an exciting read. Later this year there is a prequel film coming out focused on President Snow, but I am putting money on it now - give it five years and like all the other YA stories we will see a TV remake of the Hunger Games.

P.S: If you want to read more content from me then check out my recent fiction work available now for free on Medium.