Science, Space, Health & Robotics News - Page 15

All the latest Science, Space, Health & Robotics news with plenty of coverage on space launches, discoveries, rockets & plenty more - Page 15.

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Scientists create computer from human brain tissue and it can hear voices

Jak Connor | Dec 13, 2023 6:32 AM CST

A team of researchers has published a new paper in the journal Nature Electronics that details the creation of a "biocomputer" that consists of lab-grown human brain tissue and electronic circuits.

Scientists create computer from human brain tissue and it can hear voices

The scientists behind the study explained they took a bunch of bundled human cells called "organoids" and changed them into neurons, which were then attached to a circuit board. Together, these ingredients created what the researchers call "Brainoware," a so-called bridge between AI and organoids. The question the researchers asked themselves was, "Can we leverage the biological neural network within the brain organoid for computing?"

The researchers hooked up Brainoware to a plate made up of thousands of electrodes. The scientists then sent data in the form of electric pulses to the organoid, and then "decoded" the response through a machine-learning algorithm. According to the study, the team was able to get the organoid to recognize the voices of different people speaking after being fed the data from 240 voice recordings.

Continue reading: Scientists create computer from human brain tissue and it can hear voices (full post)

134-year-old photographic film from 1889 developed revealing two mysterious figures

Jak Connor | Dec 13, 2023 6:03 AM CST

Miss Evelyn Mackenzie is part of what is only an epic piece of film history, as the photographic film she snapped back in 1889 has finally been developed 134 years later.

134-year-old photographic film from 1889 developed revealing two mysterious figures

The film that was recently developed was a Kodak nitrate-based celluloid roll film and was originally shot on a No.1 Kodak camera owned by Miss Evelyn Mackenzie. As the name suggests, the No.1 Kodak camera was the very first camera the company produced and was the first camera to successfully use negative film.

As for what it was capable of, reports indicate it was able to take up to 100 photos, and for buyers to get those photos, they would need to send the camera back to Kodak, where the images were developed, then printed and mailed back to the photographer along with their camera + fresh film. Notably, the camera was only able to take "brilliant instantaneous pictures" in "clear sunlight".

Continue reading: 134-year-old photographic film from 1889 developed revealing two mysterious figures (full post)

Scientists discover mysterious object 10x longer than the Milky Way in deep space

Jak Connor | Dec 13, 2023 5:46 AM CST

By complete coincidence, astronomers have discovered and mapped the first-ever stellar stream, an elongated thread of gravitationally linked stars that have been likely torn away from their original galaxies, only to be left in intergalactic space (the space between galaxies).

Scientists discover mysterious object 10x longer than the Milky Way in deep space

Previously, astronomers have mapped these stellar streams within galaxies but never outside of galaxies. According to the study published on November 30 in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, the researchers identified and mapped the first intergalactic stellar stream called the Giant Coma Stream (GCS).

The paper states the GCS passes through the Coma Cluster, also called Abell 1656, which is a group of more than 1,000 galaxies located approximately 321 million light years from our planet. The team that discovered the GCS isn't quite sure how it has grown so large, with speculation pointing toward the original target for their observations - dark matter. The team suggests that it's possible the currently invisible dark matter may have caused GCS to form into its current shape.

Continue reading: Scientists discover mysterious object 10x longer than the Milky Way in deep space (full post)

Scientists discover Sun eruptions may cause train accidents during peak travel times

Jak Connor | Dec 13, 2023 5:15 AM CST

New research has found that Sun eruptions that result in solar storms may cause train accidents during peak travel times.

Scientists discover Sun eruptions may cause train accidents during peak travel times

The new study published in the journal Space Weather by researchers from Lancaster University in England found that solar storms caused by Sun eruptions have a chance of interfering with electrical signaling stations, which may result in the railroad indicators switching from red (stop) to green (go). For those that don't know, the Sun ejects charged particles in the form of large, fast-moving waves.

This wave of charged particles slams into Earth's magnetic field, sending charged particles toward the planet's poles. The interaction between the solar particles and the molecules in Earth's atmosphere produces what are known as auroras. Additionally, depending on the severity of the CME, or solar flare, the solar storm can be so powerful it knocks out radio communications and electrical equipment.

Continue reading: Scientists discover Sun eruptions may cause train accidents during peak travel times (full post)

NASA's iconic spacecraft launched in 1977 can't phone home anymore

Jak Connor | Dec 13, 2023 3:29 AM CST

Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 are the two longest-operating spacecraft in history, and now NASA has announced that the first of the duo is unable to send data back to Earth.

NASA's iconic spacecraft launched in 1977 can't phone home anymore

The space agency took to its website to briefly explain the issues it's facing with Voyager 1 communications. Firstly, NASA states that Voyager 1's flight data system, which is responsible for collecting onboard engineering information about the spacecraft's scientific instruments, has experienced a glitch that has severed communications with Voyager 1's telecommunications unit (TMU).

This overall problem is causing Voyager 1 to send back its data packages in a way that appears "stuck," as it's "transmitting a repeating pattern of ones and zeros." Notably, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 are currently in interstellar space, the region of space between stars. Both spacecrafts are approximately 15 billion miles from Earth, and due to their distance, a transmission takes 22.5 hours to reach the spacecraft. One back-and-forth communication with Voyager 1 is typically 45 hours.

Continue reading: NASA's iconic spacecraft launched in 1977 can't phone home anymore (full post)

Tesla officially unveils robot 'Optimus Gen 2' that looks and moves like a human

Jak Connor | Dec 13, 2023 3:01 AM CST

Tesla has finally unveiled the next generation of its highly anticipated Tesla Bot, an idea that was once laughable and now seemingly coming into reality.

Tesla officially unveils robot 'Optimus Gen 2' that looks and moves like a human

When the Tesla Bot was first announced, it was clearly a prototype, and a lot of work had yet to be done on it for it to be really brought to life in the way that company CEO Elon Musk was describing. At the time, the Tesla Bot was barely able to walk around the crowd, but now that we have arrived at Optimus Gen 2, it seems those issues have been ironed out, and many significant improvements have been made across the entire design.

For those that don't know, successfully designing a viable humanoid robot that can carry out monotonous manual labor tasks has been an engineering problem for quite some time, but Tesla believed they could solve the issue with its battery technology and by implementing AI, specifically its AI used in its various self-driving vehicles. So, what is Optimus Gen 2?

Continue reading: Tesla officially unveils robot 'Optimus Gen 2' that looks and moves like a human (full post)

UFO whistleblower David Grusch says when he will reveal 'first-hand' knowledge

Jak Connor | Dec 12, 2023 9:15 AM CST

UFO whistleblower David Grusch, a career intelligence official, claimed the US government was covering up secret UFO programs that involved capturing downed UFOs, back-engineering discovered technology, and even discovering biologics at sites of crashed UFOs.

UFO whistleblower David Grusch says when he will reveal 'first-hand' knowledge

Since the explosive interview aired with Grusch back in June on NewsNation, the former intelligence official has been attempting to get as much information about the program as possible to the public. Grusch is taking the by-the-book method, and in July, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer introduced legislation to declassify government records related to UFO sightings and programs.

However, some House Republicans voted against key portions of Schumer's UAP disclosure bill, citing transparency issues related to national security. The lawmakers pushing for this disclosure of information related to UFOs are now questioning the motives behind the lawmakers that are citing national security threats because if there is nothing to hide, which the Pentagon has absolutely denied, then there shouldn't be any problem with a disclosure.

Continue reading: UFO whistleblower David Grusch says when he will reveal 'first-hand' knowledge (full post)

NASA shares insane Hubble image of space object 11.6 billion years old

Jak Connor | Dec 12, 2023 2:44 AM CST

NASA has shared an image snapped by the Hubble Space Telescope of an object that resides 157,000 light years away and is approximately 11.6 billion years old.

NASA shares insane Hubble image of space object 11.6 billion years old

The Hubble Space Telescope has taken an awesome picture of the packed globular cluster known as NGC 2210, which is located within the Large Magellanic Cloud 157,000 light years away from Earth. The Large Magellanic Cloud is a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, which means it is gravitationally bound to our galaxy, and just like the Milky Way, it hosts millions of stars.

Globular clusters are tightly bound groups of stars that consist of thousands or even millions of stars, all gravitationally bound. As for NGC 2210, in 2017, researchers discerned through data analysis that this globular cluster is approximately 11.6 billion years old, making it only a couple billion years younger than the universe itself (13.8 billion years old).

Continue reading: NASA shares insane Hubble image of space object 11.6 billion years old (full post)

Powerful NASA space telescope photographs 'Cosmic Christmas Bauble'

Jak Connor | Dec 12, 2023 12:32 AM CST

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope snapped an image of a Cosmic Christmas Bauble located 10,000 light years away from Earth.

Powerful NASA space telescope photographs 'Cosmic Christmas Bauble'

The space agency has taken to its website to share the newly snapped image of the Cosmic Christmas Bauble, explaining that the astronomical object is more commonly referred to as Cassiopeia A (Cas A). NASA writes that Cas A is the remnants of a supernova explosion and is located in the constellation Cassiopeia.

This object is the brightest extrasolar radio source in the sky and has been well-documented across the wavelength spectrum. However, despite previous observations, researchers are still discovering secrets within the star's remains.

Continue reading: Powerful NASA space telescope photographs 'Cosmic Christmas Bauble' (full post)

Scientists made VR goggles for mice to savagely simulate predators swooping

Jak Connor | Dec 11, 2023 3:45 AM CST

A team of researchers at Northwestern University has developed tiny VR goggles for mice, which are designed to simulate overhead threats while mapping the brain activity of the rodent.

Scientists made VR goggles for mice to savagely simulate predators swooping

The researchers behind the project have put forward the goal of developing a virtual reality device that is capable of monitoring the brain activity of mice while they think they are under threat. The new virtual reality goggles are part of the quest to understand the brain activity of mice, both outward physical responses and inward responses through neural activity, to what is being displayed on the screen.

The results of the study were published in the journal Neuron on Friday and explain that, unlike conventional human-designed VR headsets where the entire device is worn, the team of researchers instead placed the Miniature Rodent Stereo Illumination VR (or iMRSIV) goggles right in front of the mouse while it was on a treadmill. The goggles take up the entire peripheral vision of the mouse and, according to the researchers, the mice involved in the study took to the method much more quickly than past attempts.

Continue reading: Scientists made VR goggles for mice to savagely simulate predators swooping (full post)