Pupils who designed a badge sent to space meet NASA astronaut headed to the Moon - BBC

Pupils at a school on Anglesey were "very excited" when they met virtually with a NASA astronaut. Students at Ysgol Cemaes were able to put their questions to Frank Rubio on Wednesday, who is set to be part of the crew for the Artemis III mission. Rubio also spent more than a year aboard the International Space Station (ISS) after a fault with the spacecraft that was due to bring him and his fellow astronauts back to Earth. During the virtual session, pupils asked him about his experiences of living and working in space, as well as the challenges and excitement of space travel. Astronaut Frank Rubio was stranded on the ISS for 371 days [Getty Images]This is not the first time pupils at the primary school have had the chance to speak with astronauts. Earlier this year, they took part in a project to design a badge that was sent into space, later seeing it float in zero gravity aboard the ISS. The opportunity was made possible by former pupil Dr Melanie Coathup, a scientist who works closely with astronauts and has helped inspire the school's growing links with the space industry.

Primary school children have been left amazed after receiving a personal video message from British astronaut Tim Peake. Pupils at Thornbury Primary School in Plymouth, Devon, were sent the message after teacher Emily Trevarthen's father met Peake while working on a cruise ship over the summer. Trevarthen explained that her father and the astronaut got chatting and her father mentioned she was a teacher. "We didn't expect to get what we got really," she said. Peake told pupils: "I hear you've been studying all about space, a subject very close to my heart, something I love, so I'm very pleased that you enjoy it too. Stay curious. Keep looking up at the stars. "Trevarthen said that some children had previously assumed all astronauts were American, but learning about a British astronaut had helped them see that such ambitions were possible. The video was kept secret until World Space Week, when staff revealed it during a celebration assembly. Trevarthen said the children were "so excited" when they saw the video, with some initially wondered whether the message had been created using artificial intelligence before realising it was genuine. She said: "The children absolutely loved it.

Your pupils quickly dilate when you enter a dark room, letting in more light to help you see. Once you're in brighter conditions, they contract accordingly. This reflex is well-known, but pupil dilation can also happen for other, less obvious reasons. When we're surprised, for example, our pupils may dilate as if we're suddenly engulfed in darkness, part of a transient arousal response whose function and behavioral effects remain poorly understood. In a new study, researchers shed light on the link between surprise and pupil size, finding evidence that dilated pupils – and the broader arousal response they signify – may play a key role in helping us react to unexpected events. Following a surprise, the brain seems to shift into a "refresh" mode, with dilated pupils serving as one of the more outwardly visible signs, explains co-author Matt Nassar, an associate professor of neuroscience and of cognitive and psychological sciences at Brown University. "Pupil dilation signals a spike in arousal, and our findings support the idea that these rapid fluctuations in arousal are doing something useful in the brain," Nassar says.

Venture will harness clinical data and laboratory tissue models in quest for potential new therapies