What if space held the key to producing alternative energy crops on Earth? That's what researchers are hoping to find in a new experiment on the International Space Station.

Mini- thrusters or miniature, electric propulsion systems are being developed, which could make it easier for the US Air Force's small satellites, including the latest CubeSats, to perform space manoeuvres and undertake formidable tasks like searching for planets beyond our solar system.

Researchers have successfully reconstructed 3D hand motions from brain signals recorded in a non-invasive way, according to a study in the 3 March issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. This finding uses a technique that may open new doors for portable brain-computer interface systems. Such a non-invasive system could potentially operate a robotic arm or motorised wheelchair — a huge advance for people with disabilities or paralysis.

Using data from a Nasa radar that flew aboard India's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, scientists have detected ice deposits near the Moon's north pole. Nasa's Mini-SAR instrument, a lightweight, synthetic aperture radar, found more than 40 small craters with water ice. The craters range in size from 2 to15 km in diameter. Although the total amount of ice depends on its thickness in each crater, it's estimated there could be at least 600 million metric tons of water ice.

A single cell in the human body is approximately 10 000 times more energy-efficient than any nanoscale digital transistor, the fundamental building block of electronic chips. In one second, a cell performs about 10 million energy-consuming chemical reactions, which altogether require about one picowatt (one millionth millionth of a watt) of power.

Even in today’s increasingly energy-conscious world, it’s rare for the subject of energy efficiency to be addressed in the early stages of designing a new building, whether it’s a single-family home or a large factory or office building. Typically, issues about lighting, heating and insulation are left until after initial decisions about the size, shape and orientation of the building have been made.

Scientists are reporting an advance toward scavenging energy from walking, breathing, and other natural body movements to power electronic devices like cellphones and heart pacemakers.

Imagine finding a living dinosaur in your backyard. Astronomers have found the astronomical equivalent of prehistoric life in our intergalactic back yard: a group of small, ancient galaxies that has waited 10 billion years to come together. These "late bloomers" are on their way to building a large elliptical galaxy.