Science, Space, & Robotics - Page 122

NASA and the European Space Agency are currently moving towards preparing the James Webb Space Telescope for operations.

While both space agencies work together to make sure the unfolding of the James Webb Space Telescope goes as smoothly as possible, some physicists are already getting excited about the science questions Webb will be able to solve once it's operational. Carnegie Mellon University, Associate Professor of Physics Matthew Walker, has expressed his excitement about Webb and the data that it will be able to acquire about the universe.

Walker says that "The top-level science goal is to learn about the nature of dark matter", which has never been directly observed. Due to it never being directly observed, many theories have come out attempting to explain its existence, some even saying that the form dark matter takes is in clumps called "halos" - this is the cold matter theory. Walker and his team are planning on using the data acquired by Webb to search the universe for evidence of dark matter.

NASA recently announced that the James Webb Space Telescope has almost reached its destination, but why is it traveling to that specific point in space?

The European Space Agency (ESA) that partnered with NASA for the construction of the James Webb Space Telescope announced via its Webb Telescope Twitter account that Webb has crossed the "1 million km mark", or 621,371 miles, and has "now completed 2/3 of the distance."

Webb is on its way to Lagrange Point 2, or L2, which is a specific point in space where the gravitational pull from the Sun, planets, and the motion of Webb orbiting combine to create an equilibrium. NASA and the ESA are sending Webb to L2 because once it's in location, it will require very little energy to maintain orbiting on that plane. Additionally, once Webb is in position, it will stay in line with Earth as our planet orbits the Sun.

A new study published in the journal Communications Earth and Environment models the climate's unsettling trajectory.

The researchers used historical emissions data and pledges to cut emissions by the world's top five emitters (China, the United States, the European Union, India, and Russia) at the COP26 climate summit to predict regional warming by 2030.

Their model predicts that 92 percent of the 165 countries studied will experience extremely hot annual temperatures every two years. They define these extremely hot years as what would have been a once-in-a-century hot year in the pre-industrial era.

A new article published in the Science journal explores how this defies the previous norm.

In 1974, the first lab-modified virus capable of replicating was produced. Since then, the scientific consensus has been that too many modifications to the virus' genome will make it too unstable to release into an uncontrolled environment safely.

Consequently, lab-modified viral vaccines have been made with their ability to spread from the host individual to others removed or significantly diminished. Successful vaccines include the polio vaccine for humans or rabies vaccines for wild animals.

SpaceX made its first orbital launch of 2022 with a new group of Starlink satellites.

The launch was dubbed the Starlink Group 4-5 mission and contained 49 Starlink v1.5 satellites, taking off from the Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A). The Falcon 9 launch vehicle carrying the Starlink payload was launched southeastward from the pad to a 210 x 339 km low-Earth orbit (LEO) with a 53.22-degree inclination.

Using the southeast launch corridor, which follows the coast of the Bahamas, breaks decades of the precedent set by launches that typically follow the northeast launch corridor along the eastern seaboard of the United States and Canada. This trajectory meant the rocket would perform a dogleg maneuver and was the reason for fewer Starlink satellites being launched in this batch than previous launches with the v1.5 satellites.

A new article examining the correlation was published in Geophysical Research Letters.

A correlation was found between the fraction of organic matter found buried in sediments across Earth with changes in the occurrence of nearby exploding stars, known as supernovae. The article, authored by senior researcher Dr. Henrik Svensmark of DTU Space, explains a potential cause for the observed correlation is the influence of supernovae on Earth's climate.

More supernovae result in cold climates with significant temperature differences between the poles and the equator, leading to strong winds and ocean mixing, which helps increase nutrient concentrations in biological systems, increasing their productivity and leaving more biological material in sediment with time. Fewer supernovae result in warmer climates with weaker winds and less ocean mixing, decreasing nutrient supplies, lower bioproductivity, and, therefore, less organic matter found in sediment.

A study regarding the monumental discovery was published in The Astrophysical Journal.

Astronomers used two Hawaiian telescopes, based at the University of Hawai'i Institute for Astronomy Pan-STARRS on Haleakala, Maui and the W. M. Keck Observatory on Maunakea, Hawai'i Island, to observe the last 130 days of a red supergiant's life.

The research team observed the star's collapse into a Type II supernova while conducting the Young Supernova Experiment (YSE) transient survey, the first observation of its kind. The Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS) detected the star in mid-2020, and a few months later, a supernova had taken its place, designated supernova 2020tlf, or SN 2020tlf.

NASA's famous Hubble Space Telescope has passed an incredible milestone that only further engraves its place in the space telescope hall of fame.

Phys.org reports that NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has officially passed the 1 billion second mark over the 31 years it has been operating. During that time, the famous telescope, named after astronomer Edwin Hubble, has been serviced by astronauts five times and is the only space telescope that is designed to be serviced by astronauts. The servicing missions include astronauts replacing core components that have malfunctioned over prolonged use.

For context of this "use", Hubble has made more than 1.5 million scientific observations over its operational time, and that number is still growing today. During its operation time, researchers have used Hubble to unlock deeper understandings of the universe and how it works, with its instruments leading to breakthroughs in astrophysics such as a more precise estimation of the expansion of the universe, black holes, and more.

Following yesterday's report confirming that a failed Russian rocket piece was hurdling uncontrollably back down to Earth, new reports state that the rocket piece has entered Earth's atmosphere.

The rocket part that has crashed back down to Earth is the upper stage of the Russian Angara A5 rocket tested on December 2021. The rocket was uncrewed and was also carrying a satellite. NBC reported that its engine malfunctioned shortly after the rocket was launched, causing it to remain stuck in low-Earth orbit before eventually falling back down to the surface.

On Wednesday, the four tons of material plummeted back down to Earth, entering Earth's atmosphere somewhere over the Pacific Ocean and landing in an unknown area. Jonathan McDowell, a Harvard astronomer, warned that four tons of material entering the atmosphere could pose a risk as not all of the material will burn up, some pieces may make it to the surface. However, McDowell noted that the majority of the planet is covered in ocean and that it's more likely that it would hit the sea than land, which it seems to have done.

NASA's next-generation space telescope dubbed the James Webb Space Telescope departed from Earth on Christmas Day, and the below video is probably the last time humanity will ever see the observatory ever again.

NASA has taken to its blog to explain why the James Webb Space Telescope isn't equipped with a series of cameras that can relay footage of the unfolding process back to headquarters for engineers and public viewing. The space agency explains that there are a plethora of problems that arise if Webb was equipped with cameras, the first being that the space telescope is very shiny, so any cameras directed at Webb's sun-facing side would be subject to extreme glare.

Cameras equipped to the side of the observatory that's in the shade would require a light source. NASA notes that infrared cameras could have solved the lighting problem, but would present "harnessing disadvantages". The space agency writes that engineers considered adding cameras and proceeded to draw up mock designs with cameras equipped, but ultimately decided that "that deployment surveillance cameras would not add significant information of value for engineering teams commanding the spacecraft from the ground."

Researchers from the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of Massachusetts Amherst were responsible for the breakthrough.

The two-millimeter wide, self-powered aqueous robots, dubbed 'liquibots,' can deliver chemicals while partially submerged in a solution. They can potentially be used for drug delivery in pharmaceutical applications or as part of an automated chemical synthesis framework.

Previous liquibots have been made but could only carry out an autonomous task once, only able to continue indefinitely with electricity. These new liquibots can harvest the energy they need to continue working from the chemicals in their environment.

KFC will collaborate with Beyond Meat to bring plant-based meat alternatives to its U.S. stores.

The addition will begin nationwide on Monday, January 10th, 2022, but won't hang around forever. Yum! Brands, KFC's parent company, previously worked with Beyond Meat to sell out a plant-based chicken product at a KFC restaurant in Atlanta in under five hours in August 2019.

Beyond Meat announced last year it would be working with Yum! Brands to bring exclusive plant-based meat substitutes to Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and KFC. Beyond Meat hopes to boost its stock value with the move after losing half its value in the last year, with its market value now at $3.9 billion. Meanwhile, Yum!'s shares have climbed 30% in value, taking the corporation's market value to $40.3 billion.

It's not the first instance of psychedelics being studied for potential medical applications.

N,N-Dimethyltryptamine, or DMT, is a hallucinogenic compound that has recently joined some other psychedelic compounds, including LSD, MDMA, ketamine, and psilocybin mushrooms, in a new wave of research into their use for potential therapies. The various compounds have shown promise for treatment of mental illnesses such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression, particularly in traditionally treatment-resistant varieties.

Small Pharma uses a similar approach to the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) organization, using DMT alongside regular therapy sessions to help treat serious depression. MAPS used MDMA-assisted psychotherapy to help patients with PTSD. The company completed phase-one clinical trials in September 2021, using patients without major depression to demonstrate the physical safety of the approach.

The researchers responsible for the experiment published a study in the Behavioural Brain Research journal.

The team of researchers from the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev built a fish-operated vehicle (FOV) to test if the goldfish were able to translate their navigational skills into a new environment, similar to how rats have done in previous research that involved them using little cars to get themselves to a destination.

They taught the goldfish to navigate a room by swimming inside its water tank, mounted above the FOV. A downward-facing camera, computer, and LIDAR system overhead tracked the fish and its orientation as it moved within the tank. The computer then used this to inform the movement of the FOV below.

Lockheed Martin has integrated Amazon's Alexa and Cisco's Webex into its new Callisto technology riding aboard the Artemis 1 moon mission.

Callisto is a new far-field technology demonstration, incorporating artificial intelligence with Alexa and video conferencing capabilities from a custom build of Webex. The technology has been created by Lockheed Martin, the prime contractor for NASA's Orion spacecraft, which will fly to the moon as part of the Artemis 1 mission.

Using NASA's Deep Space Network, Callisto will test Alexa's ability to run without an internet connection and the viability of Webex. Alexa will provide information about the spacecraft, such as telemetry data, orientation, water supply levels, battery voltage, and more. Alexa will also be able to control some onboard settings like temperature or the color of the lights.

Researchers have penned a new study that details the Southern Ocean that is located around Antarctica, putting previous studies into question.

The new study published in the journal Science found that the waters in the Southern Ocean are absorbing around 0.53 petagrams or 530 million metric tons of carbon than they were releasing each year. Additionally, the researchers found that there was a stronger summertime uptake of carbon and less wintertime outgassing.

Previously researchers weren't sure about the exact impacts of the Southern Ocean and how much the waters were absorbing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). The recently published study has now confirmed for researchers that the Southern Ocean is a substantial carbon sink and will assist in reducing overall CO2 levels caused by humans. If you are interested in reading a more in-depth explanation for this new research, check out this link here.

NASA has released a new phenomenal image taken by an astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

NASA's Earth Observatory published the photograph taken by an unnamed member of the Expedition 66 crew currently stationed on the floating laboratory. The crew of seven includes astronauts from NASA, the European Space Agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and Russia's State Space Corporation, Rocosmos. The image was snapped using a digital camera while the ISS was flying over the Pacific Ocean at the height of 262 miles.

Looking at the image, we can see a beautiful range of colors that LiveScience reports are representative of the first four layers of Earth's atmosphere: "the troposphere, between zero and 7.5 miles (12 km); the stratosphere, between 7.5 and 31 miles (50 km); the mesosphere, between 31 and 50 miles (80 km); and the thermosphere, between 50 and 440 miles (700 km)". If you are interested in reading more about this image or would like to learn more about Earth's atmosphere and how it influences the colors humans see, check out this link here.

A team of MIT researchers has designed a new rover that can use the electric field of a celestial body to levitate.

The researchers have designed a small disk-shaped craft that resembles what a typical "UFO" would look like. This craft is about the size of the palm of a human hand and weighs about as much as a chicken egg, but it's equipped with small thrusters that produce enough repulsive electrostatic force to cause the craft to levitate. Celestial bodies such as the moon and asteroids don't have air, which rules out any previously designed craft that requires air to function (planes, helicopters, etc.)

According to the researchers behind the new UFO-style craft, the design hinges on the discovery of the amount of electrostatic force that can be generated when charging the surface. The researchers equipped the craft with thrusters to give the surface the required amplification and found that their current design was able to levitate 2-lb on either the surface of the moon or an asteroid. An expansion of the initial concept into larger craft designs would yield similar results, meaning larger crafts would also levitate.

NASA has dropped another update for the development of the highly anticipated James Webb Space Telescope.

The space agency has taken to its blog to announce that the James Webb Space Telescope team has successfully deployed the observatory's secondary mirror support structure. NASA explains that when the observatory is operational, observed light will hit Webb's large honeycomb-shaped mirrors, reflect off, and then hit the secondary mirror that will reflect the light into the observatory's sensitive instruments.

NASA writes that the deployment process for the secondary mirror began at 9:52 am EST, and by 11:51 am, engineers were reporting that the support structure was successfully locked into place. Bill Ochs, Webb project manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, congratulated the achievement, saying, "Another banner day for JWST!". Ochs also marveled at the idea that humans have constructed a telescope that we are operating 600,000 miles away from Earth.

Comet Leonard was discovered at the beginning of 2021, and since then, it has been a honing point for astronomers looking to observe comets.

Astronomers were particularly interested in Leonard it's a comet that has traveled from the cold outer zone of the solar system. Researchers mapped the trajectory and orbit of the comet and found that it would be making a relatively close approach to Earth and the Sun. As Leonard made its way towards the inner solar system, it began doing something unexpected, it was dimming. Researchers were puzzled by this as a comet coming towards Earth should appear brighter as the distance between Earth and the comet is reducing.

Additionally, a comet traveling closer to the Sun should be warmed, meaning it would shed more of its material that would then be visible to observers. However, this wasn't the case. As Leonard approached Earth, it stopped brightening, but as it continued to make its way closer to the Sun, Leonard switched its stance again as it was blasted by solar wind from the Sun. Leonard stopped fading in brightness, and its tail changed into twisted ion streamers, as seen in the above image.