Scientists have come up with a potential solution to deal with dust on the moon which makes conducting research tricky. Dust erodes space suits, clogs machinery, interferes with scientific instruments and makes moving around on the surface difficult. But they reckon moon dust could be melted using a giant lens developed by the European Space Agency to create solid roads and landing areas. Using a fine-grained material called EAC-1A, developed as a substitute for lunar soil, scientists used a 50mm diameter laser beam to heat the dust to about 1,600C and melt it. Then they traced out bendy triangle shapes, which could be interlocked to create solid surfaces across large areas of lunar soil to be used as road. However it would take about 100 days to create a 10 x 10m landing spot so it is not a quick fix. To make matters worse, the lens needed for the laser to work would be difficult to transport from Earth and could also get dust in it which may reduce its functionality. “You might think: ‘Streets on the moon, who needs that?’” said Prof Jens Günster, of the Federal Institute of Materials Research and Testing in Berlin and co-author of a report on the possible solution. “But in fact it’s a kind of depressing demand [even] early on. It’s very loose material, there’s no atmosphere, gravity is weak, so the dust gets everywhere. It contaminates not only your equipment but other nations’. No one would be happy to be covered in dust from another rocket." Dust has blighted previous missions, such as the Surveyor 3 spacecraft (damaged by dust kicked up by the Apollo 12 landing), and overcoming this challenge is a priority for Nasa, which aims to establish a permanent lunar outpost. Transporting building materials to the moon would be too expensive, so there is a need for unconventional solutions. “You need to use what’s there and that’s simply loose dust,” said Günster. The findings are published in the journal Scientific Reports. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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Central Perk, the coffee shop and popular hangout spot in Friends has been on display at pop-ups but now a permanent location is set to be opened where the late Matthew Perry will be honoured. From this week, fans of the popular sitcom can visit the 2,600-square-foot coffee shop located on Newbury Street in Boston, which was one of the central places Rachel (Jennifer Aniston), Monica (Courteney Cox), Chandler, Ross (Matthew Perry), Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) and Joey (Matt LeBlanc) would frequent in the ten seasons that aired from 1994 to 2004. The original October opening date was pushed back due to the sudden and tragic death of Perry on October 28. To honour Perry and his well-loved character, Chandler Bing, the new shop will be handing out coffee sleeves with one of Chandler's iconic quotes, “Can I interest you in a sarcastic comment?” Following this, there will also be sleeves with quotes from other characters from the show after opening day. Celebrity chef, restaurateur and “Top Chef” judge Tom Colicchio is behind the curated menu for the coffeehouse, as per the store’s website. There are coffee blends available to purchase online, while the products in the coffee line after some memorable catchphrases from the show such as Pivot Blend, We Were on a Coffee Break, Oh.My.GAWD, and How You Doin’? Of course, it wouldn't be a nod to Central Perk without an oversized orange couch - and although the shop makes design references and includes memorabilia from the show, it isn't looking to identically match the original set. "It's not about creating a replica of it, it's really looking at what it would look like today,” Glen Coben, founder and principal designer of Glen & Co Architecture told PEOPLE. “It’s a modern interpretation of what a coffee shop or Central Perk would look like in 2024.” There is also a bright neon sign that says "The One With..." in reference to the episode names, which will no doubt be an Instagrammable photo op, as well as images around the place such as one of a gold chicken and duck, a reference to Chandler and Joey’s pets in the show. How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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