This Week in Science: Moon Wars, Space Trash, and Tooth-Brushing Robots

It’s time for “Nerd News,” covering the most important news for your brain.

Here’s a quick rundown of this week in science . . .

1.  The world’s largest particle collider revved back up after three years of upgrades, and fans of “Stranger Things” were worried it might open a portal to the “Upside Down“.  Instead, it found three new types of “quarks,” which are the smallest particles we know of.  (A new “pentaquark” and two “tetraquarks.”)

2.  In space news:  China promised NOT to take over the Moon and claim it as their own.  The head of NASA had expressed concerns.  (???)

3.  In other space news:  A new airlock system means the Space Station astronauts now have an easy way to just dump their trash straight into space.

4.  In bug news:  Cockroaches are evolving to dislike sugar.  That could be a problem because we use it in pesticides to mask the poison.

5.  And finally:  Researchers at Penn are working on tiny nanobots that could clean your teeth for you, so you’d never have to brush again.