Science, Space, & Robotics - Page 107

The Sixth Assessment Report comes from the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The report titled Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability was released on February 28th, 2022, and it is the second installment of the latest climate assessment by the IPCC. The previous installment focused on the recent climate science, whereas this installment examines the impacts climate change has on people and ecosystems. A third installment is due to follow, which will evaluate options for dealing with climate change and greenhouse-gas emissions in the future.

The report estimates that between 3.3 billion and 3.6 billion people live in places or situations that are "highly vulnerable to climate change." It suggests that additional finance and planning could improve communities' adaptability but that humanity will soon hit "hard limits" to its ability to adapt if rising temperatures continue.

NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei will return home after almost a year-long spaceflight.

Vande Hei came aboard the International Space Station (ISS) on April 9th, 2021, and is scheduled to return to Earth on March 30th. That would mark 355 consecutive days spent in space, breaking the record currently held by NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, who flew aboard the station for 340 days.

Vande Hei is scheduled to return to Earth from the ISS aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, an awkward predicament given the recent strong sanctions imposed on Russia, particularly its space program. NASA says civil space co-operation will continue between the U.S. and Russia, though the head of Roscosmos hasn't been as optimistic.

A study on the Earth's core titled "Superionic iron alloys and their seismic velocities in Earth's inner core" has been published in the journal Nature.

Scientists have thought of Earth's core to consist of a dense ball of solid iron alloy surrounded by a molten outer core. Computer simulations run as part of a new study suggest the inner core may instead exist in a "superionic state," where hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon molecules continuously swirl throughout a giant lattice of iron atoms.

As it is impossible to reach the planet's core with a probe, the researchers turned to simulation to understand the composition of the core. They used data from seismic waves, which pass through the Earth's core and reveal clues about it, with a program that replicates the high temperatures and pressures present at the core along with different elemental compositions. The simulation indicates the Earth's core is likely a superionic alloy, a framework of iron atoms, which other elements can freely move about in and around, driven by convection currents.

The Mars Curiosity rover found the flower on February 25th, 2022, or Sol 3397 of the Mars Science Laboratory Mission, at 10:59:54 UTC.

The rover team confirmed that the flower-like object seen in the photo is a mineral formation formed from minerals precipitating from water. These kinds of structures are known as diagenetic crystal clusters, which Curiosity has spotted in the past. This latest example has been named the "Blackthorn Salt."

The image is a composite image made from two to eight images taken by the Curiosity rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), located on the turret at the end of the rover's robotic arm. The rover sometimes performs a focus merge on images like this one, where images of a subject that has been photographed at different focus positions are merged to bring all of its features into focus.

Russian troops invading Ukraine have reportedly destroyed the world's largest aircraft called the Antonov AN-225.

According to Ukrainian authorities, the world's largest aircraft, which was nicknamed "Mriya," or "dream" in Ukrainian, has unfortunately been destroyed while it was getting repairs done in a hanger at Hostomel airport that's located in the northwest of Ukraine's capital Kyiv. Russian invading forces reportedly attacked the area and destroyed the hanger along with the Antonov AN-225.

The aircraft features six engines, has a wingspan of 289 feet, and was originally constructed by transport Soviet space shuttles. The aircraft has been in operation since 1988 and also held the record for the largest and heaviest aircraft ever built, but furthermore, it also held the record for the heaviest single-item payload at 418,830 pounds and the heaviest payload ever lifted at 559,580 lbs. The Antonov company took to Twitter to announce that it couldn't verify the condition of the aircraft until it was "inspected by experts".

The head of Russia's space agency recently suggested that Russia could let the International Space Station plummet down to Earth.

Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Roscosmos, Russia's space agency, recently stated that the sanctions on Russia recently implemented by the United States over Russia's invasion into Ukraine were blocking cooperation between the two nations. Rogozin tweeted that "If you block cooperation with us, then who is going to save the ISS from an uncontrolled descent from orbit and then falling onto the territory of the United States or Europe?"

NASA issued a statement following the remarks from the head of Russia's space program, saying "The new export control measures will continue to allow U.S.-Russia civil space operations. No changes are planned to the agency's support for ongoing in-orbit and ground-station operations."

A team of researchers has found a new crater that seems to now be the largest impact crater on Earth that formed within the last 100,000 years.

The newly discovered crater is located in Northeast China and looking at the above image, a crescent-shaped geological structure can be seen that researchers have called the Yilan crater. A description of the crater has been published in the journal Meteoritics and Planetary Science and states that the geological structure was confirmed to be an impact crater caused by an asteroid between 46,000 to 53,000 years ago.

The crater has a diameter of about 1.15 miles, and beneath the 328 feet of lake and swamp that shrouds the impact zone, is close to a 1,000-foot-thick slab of brecciated granite, which is mainly composed of unconsolidated granite fragments. The rocks beneath the surface display classic evidence of a meteorite impact, as researchers found "shocked quartz, melted granite, glass containing holes formed by gas bubbles, and tear-drop shaped glass fragments-all indications of a high-intensity impact event", according to NASA.

The United States recently implemented new sanctions on Russia after the nation began its invasion into Ukraine.

These sanctions were designed to "degrade their aerospace industry, including their space program," according to US President Joe Biden, and were interpreted by the head of Russia's space program Dmitry Rogozin as an effort to "destroy cooperation on the ISS", and even resulted in Rogozin subtly threatening to crash the ISS into the US.

Read more: NASA responds to Russia's threat of crashing the ISS into the US

A map created by a historian of science that focuses on the history of nuclear weapons can estimate how much damage a nuclear bomb would create if it was dropped on a city of your choice.

A historian of science at the Stevens Institute of Technology, Alex Wellerstein, created an interactive map that uses declassified nuclear weapons effects data to estimate the damage caused by a variety of different nuclear weapons on populations around the world.

The map was originally released in February 2012, but since the ever-growing concerns regarding Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the recent reminders from Russia's President Vladimir Putin of the nation being the leading nation when it comes to nuclear weaponry, the map is a stark reminder of the power of nuclear weapons.

A recently published assessment of Russia's nuclear stockpile has revealed updated estimates for the nation's nuclear capabilities.

The Wall Street Journal has recently published a report stating that Russia's President Vladimir Putin has ordered a selection of Russia's nuclear arsenal to be put on high alert, following the growing tensions between multiple countries after Russia's invasion into Ukraine. The nuclear weapon assessment has been published in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and was written by Hans M. Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project with the Federation of American Scientists, and Matt Korda, a senior research associate with the project.

According to the assessment, Russia's nuclear arsenal includes a stockpile of approximately 4,477 warheads, and of these, around 1,588 are strategic warheads that are currently deployed on a variety of missiles located in numerous heavy bomber bases. Additionally, the report states that approximately 977 strategic warheads, with a further 1,912 nonstrategic warheads, are currently held in reserves across Russia. The report also provides a table outlining the names of each of the offensive weapons, the total number of warheads, and more.

The leader of Russia's equivalent to NASA has taken to Twitter to remind NASA that Russia could let the International Space Station (ISS) crash into Earth.

Dmitry Rogozin recently took to Twitter to voice his opinion of the recent sanctions imposed on Russia by the US in response to the nation's invasion of Ukraine. Rogozin voiced his disdain for the newly implemented sanctions that US President Joe Biden said were designed to "degrade their aerospace industry, including their space program," as they put restraints on Russian high-tech exports.

Rogozin asked NASA on Twitter if it was attempting to "destroy cooperation on the ISS?", while also reminding the space agency that a docked Russian cargo spacecraft is used to keep the ISS at a safe altitude.

A study on the fossil fuel financing titled "If money talks, what is the banking industry saying about climate change?" has been published in the journal Climate Policy.

The top ten banks are the largest funders of fossil fuel organizations. Despite discussing climate change more in general, they haven't made any definitive action to reduce their impact on it. A total of $425.92 billion was spent in 2020 alone by banks such as JP Morgan Chase (U.S.), Barclays (U.K.), Toronto Dominion Bank (Canada), and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (Japan) on financing fossil fuels.

The study examines annual reports spanning 2015 to 2019 from the world's ten largest banks and found the majority of their climate change-related efforts center around green technologies for their institutions, with little regard for how financing their client's influences climate change. The biggest financier of fossil fuels is JP Morgan Chase with $64.93 billion, followed by Citigroup with $52.41 billion.

NASA has selected seventeen proposals for futuristic space technologies to receive funding.

The proposals are funded by the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program, which fosters the development of early-stage studies to evaluate technologies for future aeronautics and space missions. Seventeen researchers from nine states have been awarded a total of $5.1 million, with twelve new projects receiving Phase I awards and five projects receiving Phase II awards to continue work on their concepts.

NASA's press release contains links to each researcher's project, which covers a wide range of potential technologies. One such concept involves a body scanner which would result in a custom-made spacesuit within hours for an astronaut on Mars, which could be paired with another concept technology that seeks to extract breathable oxygen on Mars from carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Other concepts include a huge, rotating habitat that could provide artificial gravity and swarms of 3D-printed micro-robots for exploring ocean worlds like Enceladus, Europa, and Titan.

The increase has come following the Russian military's capture of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and Pripyat.

Ukrainian officials say the heavy fighting between Ukrainian and Russian troops in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone has led to increased radiation. The automated radiation-monitoring system in the area shows a 20-fold increase in gamma radiation above normal levels at multiple observation points. The cause has been attributed to radioactive dust thrown up by the movement of troops and heavy military equipment in the area.

The power plant is currently entombed in a concrete sarcophagus, surrounded by the New Safe Confinement structure shown in the picture above. Combat in the area has led to concerns that munitions may potentially damage these structures, threatening to release more radioactive material.

The images were captured by satellites from Planet, formerly known as Planet Labs.

The image above shows the Russian Navy in sailing in Mediterranean Sea towards Tartus, Syria at 7:57:57 UTC on February 24th, captured by a PlanetScope satellite. Planet Labs also provided a link to more information on the naval movements from NavalNews with the image.

Skysat also captured before and after shots from February 21st, 2022, and February 24th, 2022 of the Chuhuiv Air Base in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine, and the Mykolaiv Air Base in Mykolaiv Oblast, Ukraine. Black smoke can be seen rising from the Chuhuiv Air Base after attacks, while smoke clouds have moved over the Mykolaiv Air Base due to nearby attacks.

Roscosmos Director-General Dmitry Rogozin has spoken out on Twitter against the sanctions targeting its space program.

The thread originally posted by Rogozin has been translated by Rob Mitchell for Ars Technica senior space editor Eric Berger, who shared the above translation. The tweets come in response to an array of sanctions imposed upon Russia on February 24th in the wake of its invasion into Ukraine. This includes those by U.S. President Joe Biden targeting, among other things, the Russian space program.

NASA has stated the sanctions "will continue to allow U.S.-Russia civil space cooperation," but Rogozin believes it could mean the end of the countries' cooperation aboard the ISS. Rogozin suggests the possibility of the space station crashing into Earth in an uncontrolled manner without Russian help, owing to the guidance and navigation capabilities of the station the Russian segment is responsible for, as well as the Russian Progress spacecraft, which periodically boost the station back into higher orbits.

U.S. President Joe Biden announced the new sanctions on Russia on Thursday, February 24th.

The sanctions will seek to "degrade" Russia's space program in response to the Russian military's invasion of Ukraine. The sanctions will impact Russia's space program, military, maritime industry, financial institutions, and citizens close to the Russian president Vladimir Putin. Biden says they are "purposely designed" to maximize the long-term economic impact on the country.

NASA announced in a statement that the sanctions "will continue to allow U.S.-Russia civil space cooperation" and "no changes are planned to the agency's support for ongoing in orbit and ground station operations." A White House fact sheet on the sanctions doesn't explicitly refer to Russia's space program and instead mentions a ban on exports of "sensitive technology" to Russia's defense, aviation, and maritime sectors.

A study on the family tree titled "A unified genealogy of modern and ancient genomes" has been published in the journal Science.

Researchers from the University of Oxford's Big Data Institute have developed a method to combine genome sequences from many databases to create a genealogy network of almost 27 million ancestors. By developing algorithms to handle the massive amount of data, the team has taken a major step toward mapping the entire genealogy of the human race and how we are all related to one another.

The study integrates modern and ancient genome data from eight databases, including 3,609 individual genome sequences from 215 populations. The samples of ancient genomes range from thousands to over a hundred thousand years old. The algorithms predicted where common ancestors must be in the evolutionary patterns to explain the genetic variations present, resulting in the massive family tree.

The U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is concerned satellites may become a target for the Russian military.

Late last year Russia demonstrated its anti-satellite capabilities against one of its own satellites. Now, amidst the unfolding conflict in Ukraine, the head of the NRO warned commercial and government satellites are potential targets but did not mention any specific actions that might be taken against them, aside from citing GPS jamming as an example of a tactic Russia already employs.

The NRO operates the U.S. government-owned spy satellites, but other commercial satellite operators have captured imagery and intelligence related to the Russian military's movement in and around Ukraine. Operators such as Maxar, Planet, BlackSky, and others could be targeted, disrupting private and public assets.

A study on the problem titled "Death by Robots? Automation and Working-Age Mortality in the United States" has been published in the journal Demography.

Researchers from Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania have found evidence for a causal link between increased automation of U.S manufacturing and rising mortality in adults in the U.S. They found this to be largely driven by more "deaths of despair," such as suicides and drug overdoses, particularly for males and females aged between 45 and 54.

Previous research has shown an estimated loss of 420,000 to 750,000 jobs during the 1990s and 2000s due to the automation of U.S. manufacturing jobs. According to the researchers' study, each new robot per 1,000 workers leads to about eight additional deaths per 100,000 males aged 45 to 54 and almost four additional deaths per 100,000 females in the same age group. Automation was associated with increased mortality across multiple age and sex groups from numerous causes, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, and homicide.