Science, Space, & Robotics - Page 179

Back in September 2016, NASA's $800 million OSIRIS-REx mission launched with the space probe arriving at the 1,650-foot-wide asteroid named Bennu in December 2018.

Once the OSIRIS-REx probe arrived at Bennu, it began a close-up study of the asteroid to determine the best possible location to spiral down and collect samples. In October 2020, the probe dove down to collect samples of the asteroid. The probe collected many samples such as dirt and gravel, so much, so the probe's sampling mechanism was unable to close correctly.

On May 10, the probe fired its main thrusters to begin its 1.4 billion-mile journey back to Earth, where its sample capsule will land in the Utah desert in September 2023. The journey from the asteroid to Earth will take probe two years, and throughout its journey, it will be traveling at a velocity of 595 mph. When the capsule is retrieved in 2023, it will be the biggest haul of space samples the US has received since Apollo moon rocks.

Space is littered with the remnants of attempts of human space exploration, whether the objects be spent rocket parts, small bolts, discontinued satellites, or just chips of paint.

Most of these objects pose a big risk to future space exploration for humans, as even the tiniest of space junk could be traveling at high speeds could obliterate a working satellite if the orbits crossed. Now, researchers are saying that Low Earth Orbit (LEO) is becoming overcrowded with space debris and that it should be a global priority to remove the junk.

Back in 1970, Donald Kessler, a retired NASA senior scientist for orbital debris research, predicted that as space rubbish increased, a collision would eventually happen that would cause more space rubbish, which would then start a domino effect that would lead to LEO being too dangerous for any space activities.

Coincidences can be viewed as very peculiar things, especially when the chances of one occurring are astronomically small.

When a coincidence occurs that has a very small chance to do so, some people are attracted to the idea that there is some kind of other power at play other than organic chance. An example of a coincidence like this is a "prediction" from Dr. Wernher von Braun, who wrote in his 1952 book Project Mars: A Technical Tale, that "a Martian government was created led by ten men, whose leader was elected by universal suffrage for five years under the name or title of Elon."

In the book, Dr. Wernher goes on to say that both sides of parliament will create laws that will be administered to the "Elon" and the cabinet. It seems that Dr. Wernher was referring to "Elon" being a form of position, rather than the name of the person. There is no direct connection between Wernher and Musk, and another thing to point out is that Musk wasn't even born at the time of the books writing, making it impossible for Wernher to be making a "prediction". Musk was born in 1971, the book was published in 1952.

There is no hard evidence of life being on any other planet other than Earth, but now researchers have found something that could be evidence of life.

According to a new paper published in the Advances in Microbiology, researchers have suggested that images captured of the surface of Mars show signs of fungal life existing. Researchers put forward the argument that patches of fungi that look like lichen, as well as spherical objects that resemble puffball fungi that is found on Earth. Additionally, the researchers show images of what they claim is bacteria growth occurring on the Opportunity rover.

Here's some of what the researchers wrote, "Fungi thrive in radiation intense environments. Sequential photos document that fungus-like Martian specimens emerge from the soil and increase in size, including those resembling puffballs (Basidiomycota). After obliteration of spherical specimens by the rover wheels, new sphericals-some with stalks-appeared atop the crests of old tracks."

Researchers have located what they now believe as the most recent evidence for volcanic activity on Mars.

NASA's InSight lander measured two earthquakes back in March. The lander was able to trace the quakes back to a region of Mars named the Cerberus Fossae, and now using images from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, researchers believe that the Cerberus Fossae is the most recent evidence of volcanic activity on Mars.

Estimations have put the age of this volcanic deposit anywhere between 45,000 and 200,000 years old. On a geological scale, the age of the deposit is quite young, whether it be 45,000 or 200,000 years old, as volcanic rock elsewhere on Mars formed between 3 and 4 billion years ago. Additionally, Mars saw some volcanic activity regularly until around 3 million years ago. David Horvath from the Planetary Science Institute explains, "if we were to compress Mars geologic history into a single day, this would have occurred in the very last second."

Hubble is officially celebrating Mother's Day, and for all the mothers out there, the space telescope has published an incredible image of a region of space.

Hubble says that the region of space is known as 30 Doradus. It's located 170,000 light-years from Earth and has been the birthplace of millions of young stars. Hubble goes on to say that 30 Doradus has "raised" these young stars and that it's one of the largest "visible star-forming site in a neighboring galaxy."

The image that Hubble has captured with its Wide Field Camera 3 and Advanced Camera for Surveys is roughly 650 light-years across. Hubble is able to look at individual stars, which allows astronomers to gather important information about the birth of the star and its evolution. 30 Doradus is described as a "star-forming factory", with any of the stars in the image being between 2 million to about 25 million years old. For more information on this story, check out this link here.

SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has recently appeared on Saturday Night Live to host the show, and throughout his hosting, Musk revealed that he has Asperger's.

Musk's appearance on Saturday Night Live was highly anticipated, as many people believed that he would use his airtime time to promote topics such as dogecoin or cryptocurrency in general. During his opening monologue, Musk revealed that he was "making history tonight", as he is the first person to host Saturday Night Live with Asperger's, "or at least the first to admit it".

To most people's surprise, Musk didn't use his time on Saturday Night Live to promote dogecoin or any other cryptocurrencies. He instead used to make fun of certain aspects of himself in a humbling yet surprisingly comedic way. The only mention of dogecoin throughout the show was when Musk's mother mentioned that she didn't want to receive dogecoin as a Mother's day gift, to which he said, "it sure is". While Musk was on Saturday Night Live, the price of dogecoin was tumbling down, and over a 24-hour period, it dropped by 22%.

Over the last week, many people were concerned about China's out-of-control rocket crashing back down to Earth and potentially hitting an inhabited location.

Reports are now indicating that the Long March 5B rocket has crashed back down to Earth, with most of the rocket burning up upon entry to the atmosphere. Chinese state media have reported that the rocket has landed in the Indian Ocean on Sunday. According to China Manned Space Engineering Office-, the rocket re-entered the atmosphere at 10:24 a.m. Beijing time (0224 GMT) with the coordinates 72.47 degrees east and latitude 2.65 degrees north.

The U.S. Space Command has confirmed the re-entry of Long March 5B, but has said that it cannot verify if any debris impacted land or water. On its website, the U.S. Space Command said, "The exact location of the impact and the span of debris, both of which are unknown at this time, will not be released by U.S. Space Command."

IBM has come out swinging announcing their new 2nm process technology, with the latest marketing-hype-driven 2nm node achievement by IBM being heralded as the "world's first 2nm process".

The company explains that its new 2nm chip technology will help "advance the state-of-the-art in the semiconductor industry, addressing this growing demand. It is projected to achieve 45 percent higher performance, or 75 percent lower energy use, than today's most advanced 7 nm node chips". Quite the marketing pitch there, IBM.

But how real is this 2nm technology, and how did IBM seemingly leap past industry-leader TSMC which is so ahead of the game that Samsung could take until 2030 to even catch up. Our friends at Wccftech break it down, saying that in comparison Intel's 7nm process would be about the same as TSMC's 5nm node -- with TSMC's 5nm node not even having a 50% improvement over 7nm.

A new study has explored the possibility of microbe life, such as black mold fungus, being able to survive on Mars.

A new study published in the journal Advances in Microbiology has suggested that recently taken images show a fungus-like specimen growing on Mars. The images show a white amorphous specimen that appeared to be able to change shape, grow, and move. The images were captured over three Earth days, and one of the photos revealed hundreds of mushroom-like specimens.

Interestingly, one of the specimens was crushed by the rover's wheels, but then later inspection revealed that new spherical specimens were beginning to "grow" back. Not only are these specimens "growing" on the Martian surface, photos show the presence of white fungus-like specimens in an open rover compartment. It should be noted that this study is showing evidence towards life being able to exist on Mars, and is by no means is confirming any extraterrestrial life has been found. More evidence is needed for a confirmation of that.

Considering how large and vast the universe is, some scientists say that is inevitable that humans will find life on other planets.

At a recent press conference at the 2021 APS April Meeting, scientists have said that humans may find life on other planets in only a matter of years. According to the scientists, the construction of the James Webb Space Telescope could give scientists the instruments they need to find signs of life on other planets.

Caprice Phillips, a graduate student at The Ohio State University and author of the study, said, "What really surprised me about the results is that we may realistically find signs of life on other planets in the next 5 to 10 years". Caprice also stated, "My research suggests that for the first time, we have the scientific knowledge and technological capabilities to realistically begin to find the answers to these questions." For more information on this story, check out this link here.

A part of China's effort to build its own space station, the country recently launched its first module on the back of its Long March 5B rocket.

The launch was a success, but unfortunately, the Long March 5B rocket is now spinning out of control around Earth. The rocket is currently traveling at 16,000 mph, and officials are having a hard time tracking exactly where it will land. Long March 5B has been estimated to make entry back down to Earth anywhere between New York in the northern hemisphere and New Zealand in the southern hemisphere - a massive area for a potential crash landing.

According to the US space command, the rocket is expected to reenter Earth's atmosphere on May 8, but unfortunately, officials won't be able to pinpoint its crash landing location until a few hours before it hits land. The rocket weighs 21 tonnes, and while the majority of it will most likely burn up in Earth's atmosphere upon reentry, some pieces of the rocket won't, which could cause devastation if it hits a populated area.

The United States Army will now be able to spot enemies in the night much easier with its brand new night vision goggles that have been described as "technology stolen from aliens."

Last month a short video was posted to the US Army's Lancer Brigade Twitter account that showed what was described as "enhanced night vision goggle-binoculars". These night-vision goggles immediately reminded me of John McTiernan's 1987 movie "Predator", which saw a team of commandos being hunted by an extraterrestrial alien warrior in the Central American jungle.

Gizmodo reported that these new night vision goggles are called ENVG-B and are different from traditional night vision goggles that show a green background. ENVG-B can quickly adapt to lighting changes and show a white background as well as an outline of the target. These new night vision goggles allow the wearer to see through things such as dust clouds and any other potential obstructions that would otherwise be difficult for traditional night vision goggles.

The internet can birth some pretty interesting trends, but sometimes, the newest trend is something that you just shake your head at. Introducing the "high meat" trend.

The latest trend that has gained some traction online is people taking their diets to the extreme, and by extreme, I mean - eating meat that has sometimes been left to decomposed rotten meat that has sometimes been left for over a year. The trend has been dubbed eating "high meat", which is a reference to the reported feeling of euphoria you get once you bite into the rotten piece of flesh.

Now, eating uncooked meat has been around for quite some time, but usually, that uncut meat has gone through a fermentation process or has been dried. Eating fermented or dried meat is not the same as eating rotten meat. When meat begins to rot and decompose, it begins to grow harmful microbial life that can cause humans to be exposed to harmful bacteria such as staphylococcus aureus, or salmonella. There is also a high chance of developing food poisoning, which can result, in extreme cases, in hospitalization as well as days of pain, nausea, and vomiting.

Given enough time, humans will eventually live on Mars, but as you can probably imagine, a few things need to be worked out before we get there.

One of the biggest supporters of colonizing our neighboring red planet is SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who has been a leader in pushing the boundaries of human space exploration. Musk has recently taken to his Twitter page to reveal one of the most critical things that are needed for humans to live on Mars, and it may not be something you would have guessed.

According to Musk, "Public support for life on Mars is critical to making it happen". Transporting humans to Mars will undoubtedly be the biggest challenge the human race has faced to date. To make it happen, Musk believes there needs to be "public support for life on Mars", meaning that everyone needs to get behind the overwhelmingly large project. Maybe once humans have begun colonizing Mars, we could see DOGE coin become the backing of the financial system? Wouldn't that be the day....

The whole world is waiting on the edge of their seat to see what Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk will do and say when he hosts Saturday Night Live on the weekend. But what we do know, for a fact is that on May 8 when Musk hosts SNL it will be exactly 6942 days since SpaceX was founded. The fu...

Everyday Astronaut replied to Musk's tweet sharing the image that SNL uploaded of him at Studio 8H, saying that he "couldn't help but notice" that Elon Musk will be hosting 6942 days after founding SpaceX. He added that the "simulation is officially getting weirder" and he's right about both of those things.

Why does this matter? Elon Musk has made multiple references to 420 (the number used to refer to weed, or cannabis) and 69 well, because, for super obvious reasons. Back in December 2019, Tesla stock reached $420 and Elon Musk tweeted out:

SpaceX now has more than 1,300 Starlink satellites orbiting Earth, and on Tuesday, SpaceX revealed that more than 500,000 people have already placed their $99 deposit for the internet service.

Elon Musk has replied to a recent article post by Michael Sheetz, the space reporter for CNBC, who was writing about SpaceX already receiving more than 500,000 orders for the Starlink internet service. It's noted in the CNBC article that the deposits are fully refundable if the service isn't provided. Musk replied to the article on Twitter to discuss some of the limitations of the Starlink internet service, saying, "Only limitation is high density of users in urban areas".

Additionally, Musk also said that "Most likely, all of the initial 500k will receive service. More of a challenge when we get into the several million user range." At first, the Starlink satellite internet service will only be available to people in North America, but eventually, SpaceX plans to roll the service out to as many countries as it possibly can. At the moment, SpaceX has permission to launch up to 12,000 Starlink satellites, which shows just how much more work SpaceX has to bring this competitive internet service to life.

Most UFO sighting claims can be explained by something boring or obvious, and to onlookers of the Washington skies on Tuesday night, these "sightings" are no different.

News outlets have reported that many people took to social media to ask what they were seeing in the skies above western Washington late Tues night. Many residents began to record bright light in the sky, with some onlookers claiming that what they were witnessing was a Unidentified Flying Object (UFO). Unfortunately, as with most UFO sightings, there is a very simple explanation that certainly throws a wet blanket on the whole UFO theory.

SpaceX just launched its most recent Starlink satellite mission yesterday, and what Washington residents are actually looking at is tiny satellites all slowly spreading out to form a line. Once in position, SpaceX continues to spread them out so they can synchronize and link up with the larger Starlink grid. It's understandable that people who aren't aware of how Starlink works would think what they are seeing in the eyes is some extraterrestrial magic, but unfortunately, that isn't the case. It's just SpaceX working it's magic.

Stars have a very violent ending to their lives, they erupt in an explosion that is called a supernova, which is them basically collapsing on themselves.

Astronomers have a good idea of how and why stars go supernova at the end of their lifespans, especially for yellow stars. Most yellow stars have a protective layer of hydrogen that encases the extremely hot center which when looked upon would appear blue to our eyes. When a yellow star begins to go supernova all of the hydrogen layer that is encasing its insides is expelled outwards in a violent burst, but not if you are 2019yvr.

2019vyr didn't show any hydrogen around it in the years before it went supernova, which has puzzled scientists as this doesn't fit current scientific models. Charles Kilpatrick, lead author of the study said, "We haven't seen this scenario before. If a star explodes without hydrogen, it should be extremely blue - really, really hot. It's almost impossible for a star to be this cool without having hydrogen in its outer layer. We looked at every single stellar model that could explain a star like this, and every single model requires that the star had hydrogen, which, from its supernova, we know it did not. It stretches what's physically possible."

Researchers here on Earth are very excited to get their hands-on the new Mars specimens that are being collected by the Perseverance rover.

According to NASA's Director of Planetary Science, Lori Classe, the samples that are collected from Mars should "provide new insights for decades to come as we study them with sophisticated laboratory equipment that cannot be brought to Mars." While this optimism to bring back samples from Mars to Earth is shared by many scientists, a group of researchers are concerned about potentially contaminating Earth's biosphere.

A team of scientists at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICAMSR) has issued a warning against returning any model from Mars back to Earth. Instead, the team suggested that the samples should be taken to the Moon, where any pathogens can be identified without endangering Earth. Carl Sagan, a renowned and famous astronomer, wrote back in 1973, "Mars has a vast potential biological environment, and there are pathogens and organisms on Mars that can cause enormous biological damage if they are carried into the Earth's environment. "A Mars Plague".