Science, Space, & Robotics - Page 127

After being forced to reschedule, NASA has confirmed the James Webb Space Telescope launch will now take place on December 24th, Christmas Eve.

Previously slated for December 18th, the launch was postponed due to a few issues. Initially, a clamp jolted the telescope during launch preparations, resulting in a four-day setback. A faulty communication link on the European Ariane rocket the telescope is flying aboard followed up this issue, which required another two days to fix.

After completing a final round of tests, officials from NASA and the ESA have officially signed off on Friday, December 24th, as the launch date. Lift-off is scheduled for 7:20 a.m. EST (12:20 p.m. UTC). If the launch is successful, we will all have to wait another month before the mission can be deemed successful, as the telescope takes on its final form to begin operation.

Following a decline in usage over the previous two years, a new report shows coal consumption is set to bounce back big time.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) reports an expected jump in coal-derived electricity generation by nine percent compared to last year. The IEA stresses the threat posed to a 2050 net-zero global carbon emissions target.

A killer tornado that ripped through several US states has been photographed by NASA satellites, drawing a stark image of the destruction it caused.

On December 10, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee felt the intense power of a tornado that has now killed at least 70 people. The storm cell was tracked across the US, and reports indicate that it traveled for more than 250 miles, leaving behind a wake of destruction that has now been captured from space.

According to the National Weather Service (NWS), more than 100 warnings were issued the night of the tornado, a record number for any day in December. The image captured by NASA's Aqua satellite using the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) showcases the tornado damage in Mayfield, Kentucky. Additionally, the NWS reported wind speed during the tornado was between 158 - 206 miles per hour.

NASA has taken to its YouTube channel to add a new video to its collection of "We Asked a NASA Scientist" series.

In this week's episode Mars Geologist Eva Scheller answers, "is there water on Mars?", and says that in short, "yes", but it really comes down to how water is defined. Scheller goes on to explain that water has one oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms and that the water on Mars isn't like the water on Earth and comes in the form of ice. This is a mixture of CO2 and water, and it's found at Mars' poles and on the surface.

Additionally, Scheller says that water can also be trapped within rocks and that a variety of different missions by NASA have measured the contents. The last form of water that has yet to be found on Mars is liquid water, but there are theories that it could be present. Researchers suspect that dark streaks called "Recurring Slope Lineae" spotted in some hillsides could be caused by liquid water, but there are other explanations on the table as well. So, is there water on Mars? Yes, but not like on Earth.

An investigative filmmaker has appeared in an interview to discuss how the US government is reportedly hiding information on unidentified flying objects (UFO) from the public.

Jeremy Corbell appeared on "Fox News Primetime" following a showcase of the recent UFO sightings video obtained and released by TMZ. Corbell states that UFO sightings have increased from both the public and the military and that no one can confirm if the flying objects are extraterrestrial, but there is a universal concern for objects of unknown origin flying in restricted US airspace. Corbell added that at the moment, the US government doesn't know the intent of the objects, and that is of serious concern.

The investigative filmmaker says that the US military has confirmed that there has been an increase in UFO sightings, and as legislation is being pushed through, that is aimed at bringing more transparency to the topic. Corbell goes on to say that analysis of the data that has already been acquired suggests that some of the UFOs are trans-medium, meaning that they can travel in air, sea, and space. If you are watching the video of the interview for yourself, check out this link here.

A new species of millipede, Eumillipes persephone, was discovered in the Eastern Goldfields in Western Australia, and a new study has been published in Scientific Reports about it.

The millipede was found sixty meters underground by Paul Marek and colleagues, sporting a total of 1,306 legs. The name of the newly discovered species, Eumillipes persephone, derives from the Greek word eu- (true), the Latin words mille (thousand) and pes (foot), while 'Persephone' references the Greek goddess of the underworld.

Four E. persephone millipedes were found, each with bodies up to 0.95mm wide, 95.7mm long, and consisting of up to 330 segments. The previous record-holder for the animal with the most legs is likely a distant relative, named Illacme plenipes. This millipede had been found with up to 750 legs.

A new meta-analysis published in the American College of Clinical Pharmacology confirms MDMA's beneficial impact on patients with PTSD.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects roughly seven percent of people in the United States. Trauma-specific psychotherapy is the foundation of PTSD treatment, but this approach becomes ineffective over the long term for over half of the people afflicted.

The recent meta-analysis studies clinical trials conducted involving MDMA-assisted psychotherapy. Patients are administered a pharmaceutical-grade, carefully dosed amount of MDMA before undergoing a two to three-hour therapy session. Multiple therapy sessions without MDMA are also conducted before and after an assisted session.

New research has found that lightning activity decreased globally by a significant amount during the lockdowns of 2020 due to COVID-19.

Presented at the American Geophysical Union's (AGU) 2021 Fall Meeting in New Orleans, the research shows lightning activity decreased by eight percent during lockdowns resulting from the pandemic. Yakun Liu, a meteorological researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), attributes this to a decrease in air pollution during lockdowns.

Fewer pollutants being put into the atmosphere by daily life processes as they wind down during lockdowns means fewer chances for ice crystals to collect in storm clouds. Liu and other researchers believe the collisions of such crystals are one of the ways thunderheads generate the electrical charges that produce lightning.

The United Nations' World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has confirmed a new highest-ever temperature recorded in the Arctic region.

The temperature was recorded in the town of Verkhoyansk in Siberia in 2020, reaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius). The region's meteorological station measured this temperature at the peak of an extended heatwave during a summer where temperatures averaged up to 18 F (10 C) higher than usual. The UN WMO verified the record in a new report.

A new paper has shown that transitioning conferences online or into a semi-online environment can be a viable climate change mitigation strategy.

The new paper found professional conferences moved into a completely online setting reduced their carbon footprint by 94 percent. Shifting the conference to a hybrid model where no more than half of the conventioneers moved online reduced the footprint by 67 percent.

Time Magazine recently awarded SpaceX and Telsa CEO Elon Musk Person of the Year, and during the interview, Musk dropped a rough timeline for when he thinks SpaceX will land on Mars.

During the interview, Musk was asked a wide range of questions that touched on a variety of different topics, ranging from cryptocurrency to his pursuit of Mars. Musk outlined why he backs Dogecoin over Bitcoin, while recognizing the positives and negatives of both assets. The Time article states that Musk's dream is to create a 100-person rocket that is capable of transporting humans from Earth to Mars and back by refueling using resources from the Red Planet.

Musk was asked what he thinks the timeline on that becoming a reality might be. Musk replied after a long pause, "I'll be surprised if we're not landing on Mars within five years." Musk has been a long promoter of interplanetary life, and the next great step for human civilization is colonizing another world. While it certainly would be a monumental milestone for all of humanity, Musk also argues that there is utility in colonizing another world - as Earth may not be around forever.

Researchers have discovered a new massive source of greenhouse gases contributing to the warming of the planet.

A new study published in Nature Communications details the discovery of an abundant type of permafrost called Yedoma. This permafrost is rich in organic material, and in the Northern Hemisphere, it covers more than a million square kilometers of land. Researchers looked at the Kolyma and Lena rivers in Siberia and found permafrost is melting along the river banks that were releasing between 10 and 100 times the amount of nitrous oxide (N2O) that typical permafrost thaw would.

The researchers discovered that as the soil melted and thawed out, the population of the N2O-producing microbes in the soil increased, while simultaneously, the population of the N2O-consuming microbes decreased. This process causes more nitrous oxide to be expelled. The researchers write in the study that the examples of excessive greenhouse gases along the rivers aren't limited to Siberia. Suggesting that there are likely other similar places in the world contributing to global warming.

Multiple individuals have spotted more than ten Unidentified Flying Objects in the night sky over New Jersey.

*The video above video contains graphic language*

The individual that captured the above footage posted the video online, which was then picked up by the UFO Sightings Daily YouTube channel. According to iHeartRadio, the video was filmed in Paterson, New Jersey, on December 10, and it showcases multiple bright objects flying in the night sky. These objects are seen traveling at extremely high speeds across the night sky, while also performing turns and maneuvers.

NASA recently achieved a milestone with its Parker Solar probe as it's the first spacecraft to have ever entered the Sun's atmosphere.

NASA announced the news via its blog and social channels, stating that the Parker Solar probe has passed the boundary that marks the edge of the Sun's atmosphere, which is known as the Alfven critical surface. Before the probe passed this boundary, researchers didn't know its exact location, but after the solar probe entered the Sun's atmosphere, NASA can estimate that the boundary is anywhere between 4.3 to 8.6 million miles away from the surface of the Sun.

The Parker Solar probe is flying through the Sun's upper atmosphere, and during its fly-by, it's taking samples of particles and performing readings of the magnetic field throughout the unexplored region. Additionally, video footage of the approach showcases the probe flying past structures called coronal streamers, which were only viewed from afar until now.

NASA is gearing up for the launch of a new telescope that will be able to see further back in time than any other telescope before it.

James Webb Space Telescope.

NASA is currently running the final tests for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) that is scheduled to launch no earlier than December 24. The new telescope, poised to be the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, is the most complicated and advanced observatory ever built - truly a feat of engineering. The telescope will be capable of looking further back in time than any other telescope before it, giving researchers the opportunity to learn about the universe in its earliest stages.

NASA announced that it had to delay the launch of its next-generation space telescope that was scheduled for liftoff next week.

According to the announcement from the space agency, the James Webb Space Telescope was scheduled for launch on December 22 to no earlier than December 24. NASA wrote on its blog and social channels on December 14 that the James Webb Space Telescope team was currently working on a communication issue, which was only recently fixed according to NASA's associate administrator for science missions, Thomas Zurbuchen.

Many scientists worldwide and individuals who have worked on the James Webb Space Telescope are nervous about the upcoming launch. The telescope has faced countless delays throughout its long development and, as a result, has been quite exponentially expensive.

NASA recently announced that the Mars rover Perseverance has acquired a sample that has implications for understanding the entire planet.

NASA has taken to its blog to announce that on November 12, the Perseverance rover that's stationed in the Jezero Crater took a sample from a South Seitah rock that showed evidence of "Brac", or as NASA explains, "an unusual abundance of large olivine crystals engulfed in pyroxene crystals."

After further inspection, the findings were presented at a news briefing at the American Geophysical Union in New Orleans, where researchers stated that the bedrock the rover has been driving on since landing in the Jezero Crater likely formed from red-hot magma that interacted with water at some stage in the cooling process. Additionally, it was announced that the water that interacted with the rocks contain organic molecules.

Boeing announced on December 13th that it will be launching its Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) in May 2022, after initial setbacks.

Following the previous attempt to make Starliner flight-ready, Boeing and NASA have spent the last four months troubleshooting the cause of several stuck valves on the propulsion system that scrubbed the mission. OFT-2, the Starliner's second orbital test flight, is scheduled for sometime in May 2022, where Boeing will launch the craft to the ISS aboard an Atlas V rocket.

Apollo 17, NASA's final Moon landing mission of the Apollo program taking place in 1972, brought back samples from the lunar surface, which are still being studied today.

A new study has been conducted on a moon rock collected during Apollo 17, designated "troctolite 76535." The study was led by William Nelson, an Earth Sciences graduate from the University of Hawai'i (UH) at Manoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), using a specialized electron microprobe to perform the analysis of troctolite 76535.

The new approach allows researchers to computationally test billions of potential drug candidates' compatibility with target receptors.

Receptors cover the surface of every cell, which allows cells in our body to bind with an enormous variety of compounds, including pharmaceuticals and recreational drugs. Thirty percent of pharmaceutical drugs are designed to target G protein-coupled receptors, but these drugs often bind to other unintended receptors throughout the body, generating undesired side effects.

A drug needs to be designed to induce the intended chemical reaction in a cell while simultaneously not triggering unintended effects and not binding to other non-target receptors. All of these constraints make drug design rather tricky.