Today in History: February 28, the Waco Siege begins
In 1953, Francis H.C. Crick announced that he and fellow scientist James D. Watson had discovered the double-helix structure of DNA.
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In 1956, a commuter train barreling down the tracks at 50 miles per hour slammed into a stopped train from Portsmouth, N.H., near the Swampscott Station, killing 13 people and injuring more than 100 amid a nor'easter.
In 1975, 43 people were killed in London's Underground when a train failed to stop at Moorgate station, smashing into the end of a tunnel.
In 1983, the final episode of the television series 'M.A.S.H.' aired; nearly 106 million viewers saw the finale, which remains the most-watched episode of any US television series to date.
In 1986, Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme was assassinated while walking on a Stockholm street with his wife; his assailant was never captured and remains unidentified.
In 1993, a gun battle erupted at a religious compound near Waco, Texas, when Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agents tried to arrest Branch Davidian leader David Koresh on weapons charges; four agents and six Davidians were killed as a 51-day standoff began.
In 2013, Benedict XVI became the first pope in 600 years to resign, ending an eight-year pontificate. (Benedict was succeeded the following month by Pope Francis.)
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In 2014, delivering a blunt warning to Moscow, President Obama expressed deep concern over reported military activity inside Ukraine by Russia and warned 'there will be costs' for any intervention.
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Japanese lunar lander crashes while attempting touchdown on the Moon
A private lunar lander from Japan crashed while attempting a touchdown on Friday, the latest casualty in the commercial rush to the Moon. Tokyo-based company ispace declared the mission a failure several hours after communication was lost with the lander. Flight controllers scrambled to gain contact, but were met with only silence and said they were concluding the mission. Communications ceased less than two minutes before the spacecraft's scheduled landing on the Moon with a mini rover. Until then, the descent from lunar orbit seemed to be going well. Takeshi Hakamada, ispace chief executive officer and founder, apologised to everyone who contributed to the mission, the second lunar strikeout for the company. Two years ago, the company's first moonshot ended in a crash landing, giving rise to the name Resilience for its successor lander. Resilience carried a rover with a shovel to gather lunar dirt as well as a Swedish artist's toy-size red house for placement on the Moon's dusty surface. Company officials said it was too soon to know whether the same problem doomed both missions. 'This is the second time that we were not able to land. So we really have to take it very seriously,' Mr Hakamada told reporters. He stressed the company would press ahead with more lunar missions. A preliminary analysis indicates the laser system for measuring the altitude did not work as planned and the lander descended too fast, officials said. 'Based on these circumstances, it is currently assumed that the lander likely performed a hard landing on the lunar surface,' the company said in a written statement. Long the province of governments, the Moon became a target of private outfits in 2019, with more flops than successes along the way. Launched in January from Florida on a long, roundabout journey, Resilience entered lunar orbit last month. It shared a SpaceX ride with Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost, which reached the Moon faster and became the first private entity to successfully land there in March. Another US company, Intuitive Machines, arrived at the Moon a few days after Firefly. But the tall, spindly lander face-planted in a crater near the south pole and was declared dead within hours. Resilience was targeting the top of the Moon, a less treacherous place than the shadowy bottom. The ispace team chose a flat area with few boulders in Mare Frigoris or Sea of Cold, a long and narrow region full of craters and ancient lava flows that stretches across the near side's northern tier. Plans had called for the 7.5ft Resilience to beam back pictures within hours and for the lander to lower the piggybacking rover onto the lunar surface this weekend. Made of carbon fibre-reinforced plastic with four wheels, ispace's European-built rover — named Tenacious — sported a high-definition camera to scout out the area and a shovel to scoop up some lunar dirt for Nasa. The rover was going to stick close to the lander, going in circles at a speed of less than one inch per second.
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Building the 'Moonhouse': Q&A with artist Mikael Genberg
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A dream that Mikael Genberg has nurtured for more than a quarter century could come true today (June 5). The Swedish artist's "Moonhouse," a project he devised way back in 1999, is set to touch down on the moon this afternoon aboard Resilience, a lander operated by the Japanese company ispace. The artwork — a tiny replica of the red-and-white houses that dot the Swedish countryside — is mounted on the front bumper of Tenacious, a microrover built by ispace's European subsidiary. If Resilience touches down safely today and everything thereafter goes to plan as well, Tenacious will deploy from the lander and drop the Moonhouse onto the lunar dirt, giving the gray landscape a solitary spark of vibrant color. caught up with Genberg via email recently to discuss the Moonhouse, how he's feeling with the touchdown try just around the corner and what a successful landing would mean to him. The questions and answers are presented below in their entirety. How and when did you first get the idea to put a little Swedish house on the moon? Mikael Genberg: Working as an artist is, in many ways, about trying to describe the world, life, and human beings from different perspectives. All culture is essentially that: describing and re-describing what it means to be here. The house, as a symbol, holds in my mind a unique combination of survival and beauty. When I first imagined a typical Swedish house standing on the moon, I instantly felt the power of the image, but also its impossibility. I had no competence, no funding, no connections. Still, the thought didn't leave me. I started talking about it, first with close friends, then with others. Gradually, a sense of shared purpose, or something like that, began to form around the idea. Somehow, the concept managed to survive, and even grow, for 26 years, carried forward by its own poetry, craziness and hardship and by the incredible support of people who believed in it. That persistence of the idea itself is kind of an artwork. What does this piece mean to you? What do you hope it achieves, or how do you hope it affects people? Genberg: To me, the Moonhouse is both a shared achievement, something made possible by the efforts of many individuals, but also a profoundly personal thing. Being able to touch the moon with a small house that I painted in the kitchen of our red house from 1758 creates deeper emotions than I expected. It's like putting my finger on that distant white disc in the sky. An impossibility that comes to life. It's a small house in a vast, empty place, a symbol of belonging, curiosity, and vulnerability. I hope it invites people to reflect on our relationship to space, and to recognize the fragility and uniqueness of our own world, this Pale Blue Dot, packed with life, all related to each other. The Moonhouse doesn't claim anything except maybe to be art, but even that is of no real interest. It's a small red house standing on the moon. That's all. How do you feel now, being so close to the lunar landing? What emotions are running through you? Genberg: It's a strange mix of awe, anxiety, disbelief, and sheer, childish happiness. So many things have had to go right just to reach this point. There's excitement, of course, but also a deep sense of humility in understanding the challenges that still lie ahead. I'm trying not to get swept away by the emotions entirely, but instead to stay present in this moment. Whatever comes next. What would mission success — Tenacious deploying the Moonhouse onto the gray dirt — mean to you? What would it mean to humanity? Genberg: If it works, if the Moonhouse actually stands there on the lunar surface, I think it would be a moment of something extraordinary. Maybe more poetry than art. For me personally, it would be the culmination of imagination, persistence, and collaboration with so many wonderful people. As for what it might mean to humanity, that's really up to each person. I love that people have already responded in their own creative ways: sending us songs, children's drawings, poems. That, to me, is success, when an idea sparks new ideas in others. I hope the Moonhouse can become a small cultural marker. Something that says: we were here, and we brought not just our technology, but our dreams, our symbols of home. We come in peace. Related stories: — Japanese company ispace will attempt historic moon landing on June 5 — Little house on the (moon) prairie: Artist's 'Moonhouse' set to lift off on lunar lander — Japan's ispace unveils microrover for its 2nd moon mission What if Resilience fails during its landing attempt on June 5? Will you still regard the Moonhouse project as a success? Genberg: That's hard to say. In the moment, I'm sure I would feel deep disappointment. But with some distance, I believe I'll be able to see how the Moonhouse has already succeeded in many ways. It exists. It was built. It sparked thoughts, conversations and creativity across the world. Of course, I hope it lands safely. But I also accept that space missions are, by nature, super-risky. No matter what happens, the House will reach the moon. The only question is in what shape.
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Bayer subsidiary Vividion secures rights to Werner helicase inhibitor
Bayer subsidiary Vividion Therapeutics has secured exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialise VVD-214, the Werner helicase (WRN) covalent inhibitor, enhancing its oncology pipeline. Roche and Vividion discovered and developed VVD-214 through a global partnership and licence agreement. In 2020, the companies agreed to discover and develop small molecules for a range of therapeutic targets. The acquisition of VVD-214 rights by Vividion complements its portfolio of investigational therapeutics aimed at treating cancers and immune disorders. Preliminary data from a Phase I trial indicated that the therapy is well-tolerated and exhibits signs of activity. The trial is assessing VVD-214 as a single agent and in conjunction with pembrolizumab for those with various solid tumours showing microsatellite instability (MSI), such as endometrial, colorectal, gastric and ovarian cancers. WRN is a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) repair enzyme and a synthetic lethal target for cancers with MSI. VVD-214's mechanism aims to induce lethal DNA damage in these cancers while sparing healthy cells. This approach could offer a new treatment avenue for patients with limited options, particularly those who relapse or become refractory to immune checkpoint inhibitors. Vividion Therapeutics CEO Aleksandra Rizo stated: 'Bringing VVD-214, the only clinical-stage covalent inhibitor of WRN in development worldwide, into our portfolio marks an incredibly exciting moment for Vividion. 'We are eager to progress development of this compound, building on the encouraging clinical data we've seen to date, as part of our mission to transform treatment for patients with cancer and other serious diseases.' Vividion has Phase I trials for other potential oral cancer therapies, including a Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (KEAP1) activator, a RAS-phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase alpha (PI3Kα) inhibitor and a signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) inhibitor. The company is progressing the discovery of several drug programmes towards the clinic and has a pipeline of early discovery opportunities in immunology and oncology, utilising its chemoproteomics platform. "Bayer subsidiary Vividion secures rights to Werner helicase inhibitor" was originally created and published by Pharmaceutical Technology, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
