Science, Space, & Robotics - Page 180

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".

The rocket designed by Elon Musk's SpaceX that is poised to transport humans from Earth to Mars has completed its first test flight.

SpaceX on Wednesday has successfully launched its first test flight of its Mars-bound rocketship named Starship. The four previous tests of the large rocket have ended in aggressive explosions either before, during, or after the launch. Starship took to the skies and soared for more than 6 miles above the Gulf of Mexico before descending horizontally and then flipping vertically for the touchdown.

Launch commentator John Insprucker announced, "Starbase Flight Control has confirmed, as you can see on the live video, we are down. The Starship has landed!" Once Starship landed, a small fire at the base of the rocket persisted. This fire was quickly extinguished by the landing pad's water cannons. Elon Musk posted to his Twitter saying that the Starship flight and landing was "nominal". For more information on this story, check out this link here.

The US Space Command is currently tracking the out-of-control rocket that China recently launched.

The rocket is roughly 100 feet in length and weighs 21 tonnes. When the rocket falls back to Earth, it will be one of the biggest space debris ever to crash back down to Earth. The rocket is currently traveling at a ridiculous speed of 16,000 mph and is rotating around the Earth once every 90 minutes. Due to the multitude of variables, officials have had a hard time determining where the rocket will land.

According to the Aerospace Corp, the trajectory of the rocket indicates that it will land somewhere in the Pacific near the Equator after passing over eastern US cities. However, this isn't officially confirmed. Originally, the orbit of the rocket indicated it could land anywhere between New Zealand and New York. Additionally, the US defense department says that the rocket will likely land on Saturday this week, but the exact location "cannot be pinpointed until within hours of its re-entry".

Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers are seeking answers to what experts believe is an attack on US officials with a microwave weapon.

Marc Polymeropolous, a 26-year veteran of the CIA, traveled to Moscow in December 2017, and during one of the nights in Moscow, "I woke up in the middle of the night with an incredible case of vertigo, of tinnitus, which is ringing in the ears. I was falling over. I was nauseated." The CIA veteran was staying near the US embassy when he was attacked, and his specific case and symptoms have been described by now 40 US diplomats working in embassies in Havana and China.

Experts are now saying that these symptoms reported by diplomats are a result of directed radio-frequency energy in the form of a microwave. Polymeropolous said, "There's conventional wisdom that this is a portable weapon, a microwave weapon that we knew the Soviet Union and the Russians certainly developed and tested for a long time. And it's designed to incapacitate. I mean, it's pretty insidious because it also doesn't leave any kind of open scars or wounds."

Star Wars fans have been waiting a long time to get their hands-on a real-life lightsaber, and they soon will be able to, but expectations of what it will actually be like may need to be dialed back a bit.

In the above video that has been posted to the official Disney Parks YouTube Channel, we get a very quick 13-second glimpse at the new lightsaber. The Verge states that the lightsaber is "working", and that it's a part of the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser luxury hotel that will be opening at Walt Disney World Resort in 2022. Engadget reports that patents for the lightsaber indicate that it works by a motor that extends a blade of LED-illuminated plastic.

At the moment, it isn't confirmed if you will be able to purchase the lightsaber, but it certainly would be surprising if Disney doesn't sell it, because I'm sure there are many Star Wars fans out there that would love to own one. If the lightsaber is high-quality, the price of the weapon could be anywhere in the $200 range as the already existing Galaxy Edge is priced at $200. For more information on this story, check out this link here.

Everyone will soon have the opportunity to go for a quick trip up to space, and one of the companies that is providing the service is Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin.

Blue Origin is led by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, and according to a recent announcement on the companies Twitter page, the first tickets aboard the New Shepard rocket will be going live very soon. Blue Origin has said it will be revealing details on how you can purchase a seat on May 5, and if you expected it to very expensive, you assumed correctly.

Going to space is by no way a cheap process. When you factor in every cost, you can find the dollar value of each pound of weight. Blue Origin hasn't officially revealed any prices for a ticket aboard the New Shepard but has said that it will be competitive in the market. Virgin Galactic, another company that is yet to begin space tourism, has priced its tickets at $250,000. So, we can assume that Blue Origin will be anywhere in the $150,000 - $200,000 range, perhaps even lower.

In a recent livestream on YouTube by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, it was discussed how Ingenuity taking flight on Mars multiple times has paved the way for future space exploration.

According to Ingenuity pilot Johnny Lam, successful flights of Ingenuity have unlocked a completely new dimension of space exploration for the human race. Ingenuity's success is such a big deal because now space explorers can guide rovers through a safe and effective path that would have originally have had pilots guessing.

Lam said, "I think with the success of Ingenuity, we basically unlocked an aerial dimension to exploration. We can kind of reach some hard-to-reach areas, we can provide images, reconnaissance... the best path to traverse." Ingenuity will provide the teams back on Earth with vital data, and its next mission will be a one-way trip to a new possible landing site. Eventually, the helicopter will be tasked with flying next to the Perseverance rover to see how Ingenuity does working as a scout.

A new announcement from an MMA league has revealed that fights will be held in space under the newly announced "Galactic Combat" television show.

Space 11, an entertainment company, has announced through its producer Andrea Iervolino that MMA fights will be going off-world as a new reality television show will take 40 MMA fighters who are participating in an elimination tournament. The participants who win will have an opportunity to fight in zero gravity in a special space capsule that will be floating outside of Earth's atmosphere.

Fighters will train and compete here on Earth, and the eight successful winners will then take off from Earth to go to space to fight the final round in a capsule that is traveling around Earth every 90 minutes. John Lewis, a former UFC fighter, is linked to the project as Vice President and is currently a promoter for Galactic Combat. Pre-production for the TV show is scheduled to begin soon, with the launch date being sometime in 2023.

FOX 35 has been sent a video of what appears to be two mysterious floating orbs of light flying across the sky.

William Fuentes is the man who sent in the video to FOX 35, and from the video, which is best watched at half-speed, we can see two orbs of light fly across the backyard into the night sky. At the moment, there isn't any official word about what these floating orbs are, but speculation from Fuentes suggests that they are UFOs (Unidentified Flying Objects).

A more rational suggestion for what the floating orbs are is that it's actually a strand of spider silk. Spider silk is reflective, which makes it appear as an orb of light. As for the flying aspect, it's possible that the wind blew the spiderweb off an object behind the camera towards the outside of the frame. It's also possible that it could just be small aliens piggybacking on each other. For more information on this story, check out this link here.

The animal kingdom is a strange and wonderful place, and sometimes it's really nice just to appreciate the uniqueness the world breeds.

The above caterpillar is the perfect example of the weird and wonderful things we can find in some places of the world. The above caterpillar has a large head and has features that resemble a typical cartoon skull. When startled, the 12 cm caterpillar will begin to arch its back to appear larger and then proceed to lunge at predators in hopes to scare them off with its face.

The internet was struggling to get its head around that this insect is actually real. Some people even compared it to Ridley Scott's science fiction movie "Alien", saying, "The aliens have finally landed... is that the spawn?". Once the caterpillar becomes a moth, it will look camouflage as dead brown leaves, see the below image. For more information on this story, check out this link here.

A new study that has been recently published has revealed that the Amazon rainforest may now be a player in climate change.

The new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change explored how much carbon dioxide the Brazilian Amazon rainforest produced and absorbed from 2010 through to 2019. According to the study, the Amazon has actually "flipped" from absorbing more carbon dioxide than it produces to producing more carbon dioxide than it absorbs.

Between 2010 and 2019, Amazon released 16.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide and only absorbed 13.9 billion tonnes. Jean-Pierre Wigneron, a scientist at France's National Institute for Agronomic Research and co-author of the study, said, "We half-expected it, but it is the first time that we have figures showing that the Brazilian Amazon has flipped and is now a net emitter." The same study also found that deforestation increased by fourfold in 2019 compared to the two previous years.

Back in 2018, astronomers watched an asteroid approaching Earth, and only a few hours later, they tracked the landing to Botswana.

The asteroid named 2018 LA began to break up as it entered Earth's atmosphere at 38,000 miles per hour. A group of researchers managed to find 23 fragments of the asteroid in Botswana's Central Kalahari Game Reserve, and according to the study from the group, the asteroid fragments actually came from the brightest and second-largest asteroid in our solar system named Vesta.

The team of researchers also found that the space rock had been traveling for nearly 23 million years after it somehow broke off Vesta. After analysis of the fragments, researchers determined based on the metal content that the asteroid is classed as a Howardite-Eucrite-Diogenite (HED) meteorite, which likely came from the asteroid belt located between Mars and Jupiter. Additionally, the authors noted that nearly one-third of all HED meteorites that are found on Earth came from Vesta nearly 23 million years ago. For more information on this story, check out this link here.

A new study has been published in the journal Cell, and it regards researchers being able to develop the first human-monkey embryo in just 20 days.

Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte led the research and hopes from his results that he can eventually transfer his knowledge generated with human and monkey embryo's into curing diseases. Belmonte took twenty-five reprogramed human cells and introduced them to 132 monkey embryo's. Over time, many of these monkey embryo's became non-viable, and by day 19, there was only three embryo's left. The results of Belmonte's work prove that human cells can communicate successfully with different species.

Time states, once Belmonte "identifies the signals and processes that human cells use to differentiate into different tissues and organs, he can recreate that environment in pig embryos, and ultimately regenerate human tissues such as skin grafts for burn patients and heart, lung or liver tissue to replace damaged and diseased cells." One of the problems Belmonte faces when doing work such as this is the ethical questions that come with combining human cells with another species, which could be viewed as essentially "playing god".

NASA has put out a video detailing what you can see if you happen to look out at the night sky at the right time during May.

According to NASA, onlookers of the night sky will be able to spot the three rocky planets in our solar system; Mars, Venus, and Mercury. If you wanted to make sure you saw these three rocky planets, you want to pencil in May 14 on your calendar, as that will be the best opportunity for you to see them. NASA goes on to say that if you want to see the most of the three planets, you will need to have a clear view of the western horizon. NASA recommends places such as the beach, lakes, or open plains.

Additionally, you also have the opportunity to spot a total lunar eclipse. On May 26, the moon will pass through Earth's shadow, which will cause it to darken significantly and turn into a red hue. The redness of the moon is caused by the sunlight filtering through Earth's atmosphere. Due to the moon commonly being appearing in a red color, onlookers often describe it as a "blood moon". On top of that, the blood moon that will happen on May 26 will also be a "supermoon", which is when the moon's orbit brings it closest to Earth.

An invasion of thousands of carnivorous worms is happening off the coast in South Carolina, but should you be worried?

According to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, no, you shouldn't be worried. In fact, the invasion of these worms is actually a good thing. The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources said to USA Today, "A massive swarm of marine worms may not be ideal visitors near the water, but it's a good sign for local fish and birds that want an all-you-can-eat buffet for local fish and birds."

So, why are the worms surfacing in these such great numbers? The clam worms are usually found on the bottom of the seafloor, but "undergo an incredible transformation under new and full moons in spring - their bodies morph into reproductive forms called 'epitokes' as they swarm in coastal waters." If a clam worm if provoked, it will begin snapping with its ant-like jaw. However, they don't try and eat humans. For more information on this story, check out this link here.