Science, Space, & Robotics - Page 115

Israel signed the Artemis Accords on January 26th.

The document to seal the deal was signed by the Israel Space Agency Director General Uri Oron in Tel Aviv. According to NASA's website, the Artemis Accords "describe a shared vision for principles, grounded in the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, to create a safe and transparent environment which facilitates exploration, science, and commercial activities for all of humanity to enjoy."

More than a dozen countries have signed the Artemis Accords, including: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Poland, the Republic of Korea, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States. Notably, China and Russia have opposed the accords, suggesting it violates the United Nations' Moon Treaty.

A new study published in the journal Global Change Biology discusses the future of forests.

Researchers from the University of Arizona have combined tree-ring data from the U.S. Forest Service with inventory data on ponderosa pines in Arizona to model the drivers of future tree growth. They predict a 56 to 91 percent decline in individual tree growth, decreasing each tree's individual capacity to remove carbon from the atmosphere.

The Japanese startup, Astroscale, founded in 2013, operates the ELSA-d mission.

ELSA-d, short for "End-of-Life Services by Astroscale demonstration," launched in March 2021 to test technology that could clean up the more than 36,500 pieces of space debris larger than 10cm in diameter that are currently in orbit. The mission comprises two spacecraft, a 386-pound (175 kilograms) "servicer" and a 37-pound (17 kg) CubeSat "client" that docks to the former magnetically. In August 2021, the servicer released and caught the client repeatedly.

The next phase of the ELSA-d mission is to complete an autonomous capture demonstration. On January 25th, 2022, the servicer released the client and began autonomous navigation operations to keep the client within a safe distance but did not successfully recapture the client. According to a tweet by Astroscale on January 26th, "anomalous spacecraft conditions" mean they will not complete the capture attempt until the anomalies are resolved. Both spacecraft are still operational and safely separated, orbiting nearby one another.

The Mars Express satellite captured the images.

The Mars Express is a space mission launched in 2003 and operated by the European Space Agency (ESA). Now, it has observed the Jovis Tholus shield volcano on the Martian surface, spotting numerous craters peppering the volcano's caldera. Jovis Tholus peaks at 2,990 meters and spans about 58 kilometers. Slightly off to the east of Jovis Tholus, given away in the color-coded topography image below, is a less-developed volcano causing the surface to bulge somewhat.

A large impact crater is found to the north of the volcanoes, spanning 30 kilometers in width. The impactor, an asteroid or comet, likely struck water or ice-saturated ground, indicated by the fluidized nature of the ejected material around the crater and the fractured floor within the crater. What appears to be an outflow channel along the fault line to the northwest of the crater provides further evidence that this was a watery region in the past.

The new video was published by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI).

Mounted onboard MBARI's remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), MBARI has captured new 4K ultra-high-definition (UHD) resolution footage of deep-sea life thousands of meters below the ocean's surface. MBARI began evaluating opportunities to upgrade from high-definition to 4K camera systems on its ROVs in 2018 and have since developed the new MxD SeaCam in collaboration with DeepSea Power & Light.

MBARI's ROVs have logged over 5,800 dives, accumulating over 27,600 hours of video from the deep sea. MBARI's last significant upgrade to its video capabilities was its transition to 1080i resolution, or 1920 by 1080 pixels, over 20 years ago. Now, the researchers behind MBARI are excited about the new scientific value that will be elucidated with the upgrade to 4K, 3840 by 2160 pixels, a resolution four times greater than what they could achieve previously.

A new study uncovering the viruses has been published in the journal Nature.

The Serratus Project is an international collaboration that has re-analyzed 20 million gigabytes of publicly available RNA sequencing data, which has led them to uncover almost ten times as many RNA viruses compared to what was previously known. Among those, nine new species of coronaviruses were found.

Using a supercomputer with the power of 22,500 CPUs in collaboration with the Cloud Innovation Center (CIC), data from 5.7 million biological samples over 13 years was analyzed. Within this collection, 132,000 RNA viruses were found, where only 15,000 had been previously identified. Dr. Artem Babaian, who led the research, estimated a traditional supercomputer would have taken over a year and hundreds of thousands of dollars to complete the research. In contrast, Serratus only took 11 days and $24,000.

A new study published in AGU Advances highlights the discovery.

Scientists previously believed that any flowing water on the surface of Mars evaporated around 3 billion years ago. Now, with the data gathered from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) over the last fifteen years, scientists believe water was flowing as recently as between 2 and 2.5 billion years ago.

Using the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) instrument aboard the MRO allowed the researchers to find chloride salts mineral evidence of water left over after it would have evaporated. The Context Camera and High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera aboard the MRO allow the Mars terrain to be mapped, using the number of craters in an area to determine the age of a given surface. Analysis of the terrain allowed the team to date the salt deposits and tell when water was flowing in different areas.

Aboard the module is the Light Microscopy Module (LMM), and material from the InSPACE-4 and cell signaling in microgravity experiments.

The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on December 22nd, 2021, with a scheduled for undocking on January 22nd, 2021, followed by a splashdown on Earth the next day. The mission, CRS-24, was a resupply mission to the ISS and has brought back with it some scientific hardware and material from various experiments.

The Light Microscopy Module (LMM) is a powerful light imaging microscope launched to the ISS in 2009, which is now being retired, returning to Earth aboard the Dragon craft. It contributed to many experiments, which you can read about on NASA's website.

Researchers from the University of Stirling have published the new study in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology.

The researchers found that animals closer to the nuclear reactor in Chernobyl had more genetic mutations than those located further away. Analyzing freshwater crustaceans, Daphnia pulex, they found higher doses of radiation created greater genetic diversity in their populations.

A new study using artificial intelligence has revealed the potential for more meteorite discoveries.

Almost two-thirds of all meteorites on Earth are found in Antarctica, where their dark color allows them to stick out amidst the snowy, barren landscape. Over time, they can become buried by snow, burying them in ice sheets that can help preserve them on land, or may flow toward the ocean and dump them in the water.

Some meteorites become exposed in areas of blue ice if factors such as wind are optimal, and most meteorites recovered in Antarctica have been found in these areas. This new study uses artificial intelligence to analyze the surface of Antarctica uses optical, thermal, and radar data to determine likely zones in which to find meteorites.

The remains of the rocket are from a Falcon 9 that launched in February 2015.

The rocket launched to deliver a NASA satellite, the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR), into orbit. Instead of returning to Earth, the rocket's second stage had flown far enough away that it entered into a chaotic orbit. It is estimated that it will crash into the far side of the moon on March 4th, 2022.

A new study describing the link was published in the journal Genome Research.

The genes that could extend the lifespan of small organisms, such as fruit flies living ten percent longer, have now been found by the University College London (UCL) researchers to demonstrate a similar effect in humans. The genes are related to the creation of proteins in our cells and appear to be an example of antagonistic pleiotropy, where genes that help us in early life and through to child-bearing are selected for by evolution, despite ultimately shortening our lives.

The fetus was found inside the "Mysterious Lady" mummy from the Warsaw Mummy Project.

The fetus was discovered last year using a CT scanner, with the research team's findings being published in Journal of Archaeological Science, with a follow-up study now being published as well. The mummy was a member of the Theban community and was estimated to have died between 20 and 30 years of age while pregnant with a fetus between 26 and 30 weeks old. It is the only case ever found of an embalmed pregnant mummy.

The mummy was originally moved out of Egypt in 1826, but its true origins are unknown. The researchers found the mother did not die in childbirth. The fetus was remarkably well preserved but was not immediately found using X-rays during prior research, as its bones had mineralized. The mummification techniques used resulted in dropping blood pH levels, making the blood in the fetus more acidic, which led to the mineralization of the bones.

Canada has had a federal carbon tax since early 2019.

According to many politicians, economists, and activists, taxing corporations and consumers on their carbon emissions can effectively tackle climate change. Implementing these policies doesn't come without controversy, however, leading to revenue from the tax often being relayed to citizens in the form of income-tax credits or rebates.

Published in Nature Climate Change are the findings of a new survey of citizens of Canada, where these carbon-tax credits are issued. 17% of those surveyed across Ontario and Saskatchewan, and between 33 and 36 percent in B.C. and Quebec were unaware if they'd received any rebates. The rebates won't affect the perception of the carbon tax policies if it isn't apparent to the public they are receiving any benefits.

A new study published in the journal AVS Quantum Science describes the necessary conditions.

The research team created a tool to determine how big a quantum computer needs to be to solve two different problems: breaking the encryption of Bitcoin and simulating the molecule responsible for biological nitrogen fixation. Such a quantum computer would also need to be error-corrected, allowing for longer algorithms to be run at the cost of requiring more physical qubits.

A new report from the United Nations (UN) analyses the E-waste situation in Latin America.

The report found that across 13 Latin American countries, electronic waste rose by 49% between 2010 and 2019, roughly equivalent to the world average, but only 3% of it was collected and safely managed compared to the 17.4% global average. In 2019, 206 million citizens in the 13 countries generated 1.3 megatonnes of e-waste, with roughly 30% coming from plastic.

A new preprint (yet to be peer-reviewed) paper has been published on medRxiv regarding the discovery.

From exposure to a host of different viruses over humanity's evolution, transposons, DNA segments that can jump from one section of DNA to another, have incorporated viral DNA into our genome. These sections of viral DNA in our genome are collectively known as Human Endogenous Retrovirus (HERV) encoding sequences and comprise about 8% of the human genome.

That equates to about four times more DNA than the amount dedicated to protein-coding genes. Your body uses measures such as DNA methylation and RNA binding to suppress the harmful results from some of these sequences.

Neuralink is looking to hire a director for clinical trials.

With a job listing for the position of Clinical Trial Director, Neuralink, Elon Musk's startup company to develop brain-machine interfaces, seems to be moving closer toward testing its technology with humans. The listing is for Fremont, California, in the United States. Musk previously announced in 2019 Neuralink would soon be ready for human clinical trials, but this did not come to fruition.

The black hole is found deep within the Andromeda Galaxy, inside B023-G078.

The Milky Way's closest galactic neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy, also known as Messier 31 (M31), contains the massive star cluster designated B023-G078. It was long thought of as a globular star cluster, but researchers now suggest it is a stripped nucleus, the remains of an old galaxy. Stripped nuclei fell into larger galaxies which pulled their outer stars away, leaving the galactic nucleus with a black hole at its center to orbit the larger galaxy.

The "dig sites" of this archaeological study are found aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

The team orchestrating the archaeological study is SQuARE, or Sampling Quadrangle Assemblages Research Experiment. They have defined six locations within the ISS that will be photographed daily and documented over sixty days to observe the changes.