That Hole on The ISS Is Now Sealed, According to a Video by a Russian Cosmonaut

A Russian cosmonaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) posted a video Monday showing that a hole found in the Russian part of the station earlier this month had been sealed. The video, featuring cosmonaut Sergei Prokopyev on Monday, showed the two-millimetre hole now covered with a black sealant and hidden behind a fabric flap.

Shortly after the leak was found, news outlets, reported that a crew member onboard the ISS had plugged the hole with his finger before covering it with a makeshift plug made from bin-bag seals, duct tape, and medical gauze. Prokopeva denied those rumours in the video, saying in Russian as he pointed to the sealed flap: "No one is plugging the hole with a finger as they write in the media," he added. 

You can see the sealed hole at 01:06 in the video here

📹:http://v.duta.us/-6U9MAAA

Earlier this month the Russian space agency's head, Dmitry Rogozin, also alluded that the hole might have been created deliberately to sabotage the Russians. Prokopeva also attempted to dispel those rumours, saying in Monday's video: "As you can see, everything is calm on board; we are living in peace and friendship as always."

The main suspect was a small meteorite, Russian officials said the following day. But the story took a sinister turn days later, on September 3, when Russia's space agency leader Rogozin suggested that there were "traces made [by] several attempts to drill a hole," as reported by Russia's state-run news agency TASS. He said: "There are traces of a drill sliding along the surface. We don't reject any theories."

A Newly-Discovered Fungus Could Eat Plastics In Weeks Instead Of Years

A fungus discovered on a rubbish heap in Pakistan could break down plastics in a matter of weeks instead of years. Aspergillus tubingensis was found to break down a type of plastic known as polyester polyurethane (PU) in just eight weeks. Plastics normally take decades or even hundreds of years to biodegrade making them extremely harmful to the surrounding environment.

Earlier this week a giant structure was sent into the Pacific Ocean to try and clean up some of the plastic waste that has been dumped into the sea. Even if it's collected however there's still no way of getting rid of it without using conventional rubbish dumps. This organism is just one of several recent discoveries highlighted in a new report by Kew Gardens on the importance of fungi.

Single gene mutation helped our ancestors become long-distance runners*

The loss of a single gene millions of years ago may have helped human ancestors make the change from a forest environment to life as hunter-gatherers on the African savannah, according to a new study. And this, in turn, may have contributed to modern humans' unmatched abilities as long-distance runners.

A mutation linked to the lack of a gene called CMAH lines up with the emergence of several key changes in early hominids' bodies, such as long legs and more powerful gluteal muscles, all of which helped to drive our species' physical endurance. In the new study, researchers from the University of California, San Diego examined mice who were engineered to lack this gene.

The loss of CMAH has previously been tied to modern humans' fertility rates and even cancer risk from red meat. And, it sets humans apart from our closest living ancestors, who have this gene. 'We discovered this first clear genetic difference between humans and our closest living evolutionary relatives, the chimpanzees, more than 20 years ago,' said senior author Ajit Varki, MD.