Science, Space, Health & Robotics News - Page 1

NASA has taken to its official International Space Station X account to confirm it accidentally played panicking audio that made it appear International Space Station (ISS) astronauts were in an emergency.

The space agency admitted in the above post that at 5:28 pm CDT, it accidentally broadcasted audio from an on-ground training simulation on the NASA live stream, and the audio depicted a crew member experiencing effects related to decompression sickness. For those that don't know, decompression sickness happens when dissolved gases form bubbles inside the body's tissue and is commonly known by SCUBA divers.

As for astronauts, particularly the ones aboard the ISS, this emergency could have happened when an astronaut was transferring through an airlock decompression with a suit that wasn't properly sealed. However, all astronauts aboard the ISS are completely fine, and the audio that was heard on the NASA broadcast occurred while they were asleep.

Boeing has recently being going through a bit of trouble with its airline fleet after a fuselage panel blew off a 737 Max shortly after takeoff in early January. The event sparked a series of negative revelations about Boeing's manufacturing and quality control.

It appears the company's airline isn't the only aspect of its business experiencing issues, as Boeing's Starliner capsule, which delivered two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station, was found to be leaking helium. NASA is currently evaluating the situation and whether the capsule can be used as a transportation method back to Earth. NASA took to its blog and confirmed five helium leaks had been identified and that after the capsule docked with the ISS, any loss from the helium tanks was prevented.

Notably, the number of helium leaks increased from three to five, with two being identified after the capsule launched on June 5. Furthermore, one leak was identified before the launch, but both NASA and Boeing decided to carry out the launch before the problem was fixed. For those who don't know, helium is used by the spacecraft's thrusters to fire.

Last week amongst all of the Computex 2024 news Starship conducted the fourth test flight for the world's largest and most powerful rocket, Starship.

The company blasted Starship off from its launch facilities on June 6, with the main objectives of the test flight being flying Starship further than any test previously, and demonstrating capabilities to return and reuse Starship and its Super Heavy booster. SpaceX achieved the desired reusability demonstration by calmly splashing down Super Heavy in the Gulf of Mexico. More specifically, SpaceX was attempting to simulate a "virtual tower" with the splashdown of Super Heavy, as the next step will be landing the megalithic booster on land.

Additionally, SpaceX just wanted the Starship vehicle to survive reentry into Earth's dense atmosphere, which, during its descent, gets extremely hot from generated friction. SpaceX achieved more than it set out to do as a minimum, as Starship also splashdowned within a designated target area. Now, Elon Musk is already talking about Flight 5, and during a live stream on X, the SpaceX CEO said that Starship will be taking to the skies once again in "about a month".

The astronauts who were part of the first all-civilian space mission to orbit have been studied by scientists, and across three studies, it was found that they've become younger.

SpaceX was behind the Inspiration4 mission that was conducted in 2021, where four civilian astronauts were transported to orbit via a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule. The team of four only spent a few days in space and, upon return, committed their bodies to science, intending to understand how the environment in space affects human physiology. Now, three studies have been conducted, and it was found that astronauts got genetically younger during their stay in space, but the effects were only shortlived.

Scientists looked at the astronauts' DNA and found aging markers called telomeres, which are caps that protect chromosomes known to shorten with age after being exposed to certain environmental factors and stress. However, during the time spent in space, the astronauts' telomeres elongated, indicating the aging of DNA decreased. Researchers believe the telomeres getting longer is a response to the higher radiation environment in space.

Apple has recently held its WWDC event, where it unveiled what will be included in the highly anticipated iOS 18 update, and its contents have really bothered Elon Musk.

iOS 18 includes Apple's official jump into the artificial intelligence-powered race with what it's calling Apple Intelligence. The company showcased a slew of new AI-powered features without actually saying the word "AI" and also announced that ChatGPT will be integrated into iOS 18 for image generation and writing assistance. Apple made it clear users can opt out of Siri requests being sent to ChatGPT, and users are free to turn off any Intelligence features.

Despite these disclaimers, Musk took to his personal X account to deem Apple Intelligence's integration with OpenAI a "security risk," going as far as to say that user data will be sent to OpenAI, which isn't entirely the case. Apple says that for tasks that require more compute than what is available on-device, Apple will either use Private Cloud Compute, which is open to verify for privacy, or OpenAI, but will request additional confirmation by the user.

Officials at NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) confirmed on June 8 the Sun released a record-breaking solar flare that was the most intense flare released in the last seven years.

Researchers that conduct round-the-clock tracking of our local star confirmed the solar flare came from sunspot region AR3664, which was calculated to be an M9.7-class solar clare, the second strongest type on the solar flare classification scale. For those that don't know, solar flares are massive, intense bursts of electromagnetic radiation that are a result of the Sun's ever-chaging magnetic field contorting, twisting and snapping.

The blast can cause an impact on Earth, resulting in space launch's being postponed due to the charged particles hitting Earth's atmosphere and widespread radio communication blackouts. Additionally, a solar flare is typically followed by a cornal mass ejection (CME), a wave of charged particles released by the Sun that can cause geomagnetic storms.

Robot dogs carrying guns is real, and there are videos posted of these new war machines being tested for upcoming combat missions.

What a time to be alive - quadruped robotic dogs with rifles strapped to their backs is actually something that is a real life thing. The first reports of such a creation come from Agence France-Presse, who covered a video published by state-owned broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV), which showed Chinese military testing a weaponized robotic dog in various scenarios. The rifle-equipped robotic pooch was shown hopping, diving, leading teams on reconnaissance objectives, and repeatedly firing its rifle attached to its back.

The robotic gun-wielding dogs were created with Unitree's $2,800 Go2 models, which are capable of being active on their own from anywhere between two and four hours depending on the task. The CCTV video shows a Chinese military soldier explaining the new robodogs "can serve as a new member in our urban combat operations" and are capable of "replacing our members to conduct reconnaissance and identify [the] enemy and strike the target."

The world's first biprocessor has been created using human brain tissue, according to Swiss startup FinalSpark that recently published their results.

The company has claimed the bioprocessor is connected to an online platform that enables remote access to 16 human brain organoids. The startup says its neuroplatform is a first-of-its-link and can deliver access to biological neurons in vitro.

Notably, the company claims its new bioprocessor requires 1 million times less power than a traditional processor, and if the startup's claims are proven to be true, these bioprocessors could revolutionize heavy usage processing situations where power is a problem. An example of this would be training large language models, the underpinning technology powering AI.

SpaceX, in a significant move, has announced its fourth Starship launch scheduled for June 5, pending regulatory approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This launch marks another milestone in the company's ambitious space exploration journey.

Starship has been launched three times, and each of those launches had the main mission objective of reaching orbit. SpaceX managed to reach orbit on its last launch, along with the separation between the Super Heavy booster and Starship. With that goal out of the way, the Elon Musk-led company is switching its focus to arguably the most important part of Starship, getting it back on the ground safely and undamaged to enable reliable reusability.

Given the immersive size of Starship, 400-feet in total, it's not going to be easy to land the world's largest rocket. Before any land-based attempts are made, SpaceX will first gather its bearings over the ocean. Once it's happy there, it will move to rocket launch pads at its facilities.

The next installment in the DOOM franchise is purportedly called "DOOM: The Dark Ages," and it will be revealed at the Xbox Games Showcase on June 9, according to a new report from Insider Gaming.

The new report comes after previous rumors that ID Software was preparing to reveal its next DOOM project at the Xbox Games Showcase, but at the time of those reports the new DOOM project was under the codename Year Zero. Insider Gaming has now revealed the name for title, writing it has been in development for at least four years and will take players to a "medieval inspired doom world".

The exclusive report mentions the new title could be taking players back to a much younger Doomslayer, perhaps a prequel story about his earlier life before all the blood, dust and glory. Insider Gaming writes that it can independently verify the rumors that the next DOOM game will be unveiled at the upcoming Xbox Showcase.