Medical, Scientific Breakthroughs Via The ISS

Since the International Space Station (ISS) first became habitable in 2000, researchers have been using it to study the impact of the near-zero-gravity environment, making new discoveries in the life sciences, biomedicine and materials science that are spurring development of ground-breaking high-tech spinoffs on Earth. In Europe, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics are using plasma—electrically charged gas—to develop tools that can zap drug-resistant bacteria and viruses that cause infections in hospitals, where the Multiple-Drug-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) bacteria kills 37,000 people each year and affects more than 150,000 patients, adding about €380 million ($488 million) in extra costs to EU healthcare systems ...