Science, Space, & Robotics - Page 21

A long-standing science fiction concept for space travel is to create artificial gravity aboard the spacecraft to create a more suitable environment for astronauts.

Artificial gravity in sci-fi movies and TV shows has multiple benefits for passengers aboard the spacecraft, such as feeling more at home aboard the spacecraft, leading to psychological improvements. There are also physical improvements, such as being able to move around the spacecraft more effectively. What isn't typically considered with artificial gravity, or the lack of gravity throughout space travel, is the impact zero gravity has on astronauts' bone density levels.

Astronauts returning from tours aboard the International Space Station (ISS) were found to have shocking decreases in bone density that can lead to health problems such as frail bones that can easily shatter, and if humans want to travel to distant locations within the solar system, artificial gravity is going to have to be implemented into the spacecraft so they don't arrive at the location with weak bones, or more importantly, return back to Earth with major health problems.

Researchers from the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Australia, have announced they have made a breakthrough in the quest to create solar powered eye implants.

Eye implants such as these are designed to assist people with sign impairments and, if they ever come to fruition, will be able to greatly improve the quality of life of people suffering from degenerative eye diseases. The team is concentrating its efforts on using neuroprosthetic technology on people with damaged photoreceptors, which are specialized cells within the retina that absorb light and convert it into electrical signals that are sent to the visual cortex. In short, it is the part of the eye that helps register images.

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and age-related macular degeneration (AMD), both of which degrade the part of the eye responsible for image registering. Researchers want to cure those diseases, and according to reports, solar photovoltaic panels will be able to generate enough electricity to power the sensor chips to restore vision to people suffering from these impairments. It works like this. Tiny solar cells are stacked on top of each other and then generate enough electricity to stimulate neurons that produce images.

The most anticipated day of the year for SpaceX is less than a week away, as the world's largest and most powerful rocket is expected to take to the skies once again.

SpaceX is currently in its end preparations for the third orbital test flight of none other than Starship, the world's largest and most powerful rocket. The Elon Musk-led company has recently completed a test of its water deluge system, a critical component of the overall launch as it's designed to completely smother heat and the force generated by Starship's launch. Notably, previous generations of the water deluge system resulted in multi-month delays in Starship's launch as the entire launch pad was destroyed.

However, the rebuilt water deluge system has been tested and seemingly crossed off the to-do list ahead of the third orbital test flight. Additionally, SpaceX has learned a bunch about how Starship flies during its first and second orbital test flight, both of which ended in a fiery explosion.

NASA has announced via its blog which camera company it will be working with to develop a bespoke camera designed for astronauts exploring the lunar surface.

The space agency took to its blog on its website on February 29 and announced that it will be working with Nikon to develop a handheld camera capable of operating at a high level in the harsh lunar environment.

The camera is expected to be taken to the lunar surface as part of NASA's scientific objectives with Artemis III, which includes a destination to the lunar South Pole region. According to the update, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, located in Huntsville, Alabama, recently created a prototype camera called the Handheld Universal Lunar Camera (HULC).

An asteroid that has been a somewhat point of contention for several years has received another analysis further putting to bed the concern of a potential collision with Earth.

That asteroid is 99942 Apophis, which was originally discovered on June 19, 2004 and only a few months after its discovery caused a brief period of concern as observations indicated with probability of up to 2.7% of a potential collision with Earth on April 13, 2029. However, follow-up observations ruled out this possibility, with the probability of a collision being so small that the 1,200-foot-wide asteroid wasn't worth worrying about.

What researchers didn't take into account at the time was the possibility of Apophis colliding with another asteroid, slightly, or greatly, changing its trajectory and therefore the probability of a collision with Earth. Astronomers took observations of the asteroid once again, implemented the chance of an asteroid collision mid-journey and published their findings in the Planetary Science Journal. The team found Apophis has no risk of collision with any known asteroids within the inner solar system.

Elon Musk's SpaceX has taken to its official X account to tease the scheduled date for the highly anticipated third orbital launch attempt for its Starship launch vehicle, the world's largest and most powerful rocket ever taken to the skies.

SpaceX took to its official X account on Wednesday to announce that Starship could be taking to the skies once again as soon as March 14. So, what is preventing the next Starship launch? The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has to sign off on the next Starship launch after conducting a thorough investigation of the last launch, any design changes made to the rocket as a result of the last launch, and any changes made to the Starbase facility located in southwest Texas.

Despite SpaceX having yet to receive approval from the FAA, the company appears to be expecting the green light very soon since the date of March 14 has been publicly stated. Notably, the FAA completed its investigation into SpaceX's second orbital test flight and found the company had to complete 17 "corrective actions" before it would be issued another launch license.

A new type of magnet developed by researchers at the Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC) at MIT may get scientists one step closer to achieving sustainable nuclear fusion.

The creation of this new magnet has been detailed in several papers and, according to reports, will get researchers closer to unlocking the power of nuclear fusion or emulating the reaction that takes place on the Sun. If this is achieved, it would create a sustainable, limitless, clean energy source for all of humanity and remove the reliance on fossil fuels that damage the environment. While that all sounds like sunshine and rainbows, achieving nuclear fusion and maintaining the reaction long enough to harvest energy has proven extremely challenging.

Enter the new magnets. For an artificial Sun to be created, the nuclear fusion reaction needs to be held in place, and to do that, magnets are used. Unfortunately, researchers have only been able to maintain the reaction long enough to get a net energy gain or extract more energy than they are putting in to make the reaction occur. However, newly designed magnets made from rare-earth barium copper oxide (REBCO) may be the answer, as they come with many advantages compared to the magnets currently being used.

A team of scientists have penned a new study that details an interesting way to collect valuable minerals from electronic waste, and the method includes creating a sponge from dairy waste.

The sponge has been detailed in a research article published in Advanced Materials, where the team explains this method is capable of retrieving $50 worth of gold for every dollar spent on the recycling process of e-waste.

So, how was this sponge created? The researchers looked at the process of making cheese and, in particular, amyloid nanofibrils. First, the team denatures the dairy proteins by heating the whey in an acid bath, which forms the amyloid nanofibrils that are then used to create the sponge. The electronic components are then melted down in the acid, which then creates a solution that is rich in gold and copper.

Four former Twitter executives have filed a lawsuit against X owner Elon Musk, claiming they haven't received the appropriate severance package following their departure from the company.

The four former Twitter executives are former CEO Parag Agrawal, former CFO Ned Segal, former chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde, and former general counsel Sean Edgett, who were all fired following Musk's takeover of the company in late 2022. The Wall Street Journal has reported Musk says he fired the former C-Suite executives with cause, meaning he doesn't have to pay them any severance.

But the recent lawsuit states that Musk fast-tracked the acquisition of Twitter (now X) precisely to fire Agrawal and other C-Suite executives so there would be cause and so they couldn't cash their lucrative stock options, hence the now $128 million suit. This isn't the only lawsuit Musk has faced over severance packages as six former senior managers at Twitter are also suing the company over severance pay, while Agrawal, Segal, and Gadde filed for a $1 million lawsuit against X, claiming the company owed them for legal fees related to their separation at the company.

There is an increased chance of spotting auroras this year and early next year as the Sun reaches the peak of its 11-year solar cycle.

Phenomena commonly referred to as the Northern or Southern Lights are caused by activity on the Sun, specifically what researchers call Coronal Mass Ejections (CME). This event on the surface of the Sun is a massive ejection of plasma or charged particles that, when lined up with Earth and collide with our planet, charge the particles in the upper atmosphere, specifically oxygen and nitrogen, and create the incredible colors we see from the surface.

As the Sun approaches the peak of its 11-year solar cycle, the activity of our host star increases, and thus, the frequency of these CMEs. For skywatchers, this is also the peak time to get a camera out and head to an appropriate location to catch the light show. Residents across the United Kingdom were lucky enough to see the impact of the Sun on Sunday following AuroraWatchUK issuing a "red alert" at around 17:00 GMT for an increase in solar activity.

Your smartphone now has the ability to tell you exactly where the center of the Milky Way is, and the app that is free to download was made using OpenAI's ChatGPT.

The free app is called Galactic Compass and was developed by Matthew Webb. Galactic Compass was released on the App Store on February 15 and is specifically designed to inform users that download it where the center of our Milky Way galaxy is. The app, while being quite rudimentary, features a simple green arrow that points in the direction of the galactic center. All users need to do is open up the app, accept the location tracking, and then place their iPhone down on a flat surface. Once that is done, a large green arrow will appear and point in the direction of the galactic center.

Notably, at the center of the Milky Way galaxy is a supermassive black hole called Sagittarius A*. For those that don't know, Sagittarius A* is estimated to have a mass millions of times that of our Sun, with researchers purposing the supermassive blackhole was created through the combination of multiple smaller black holes all merging into one supermassive black hole. Furthermore, Sagittarius A* was photographed on May 12, 2022, by the Event Horizon Telescope. The image that was captured is shown above.

A theory by astrophysicist Frank Drake has been revisited by researchers who are now saying perhaps Drake didn't take his theory far enough.

Frank Drake's theory, called the "Drake equation," explored the possible reasons why Earth has been contacted or discovered any evidence of alien life. The equation takes many factors into account, such as the discovered number of star systems, planets orbiting those stars, the rate of star formation, and the percentage of planets that would have the necessary conditions for life to exist for a prolonged amount of time.

However, a new study published in the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society penned by Elio Quiroga Rodríguez, a professor at the Universidad del Atlántico Medio in Spain, took the Drake equation and said that two possibilities should be included. The first is alien civilizations on planets that are larger than Earth, which would require more thrust to leave the gravitational pull of the planet.

On Wednesday, Roscosmos, the Russian equivalent to NASA, announced that a module aboard the International Space Station (ISS), one of the last cooperative efforts between the United States and Russia, is suffering from an air leak.

NASA ISS Program Manager Joe Mantalbano backed up the claims from Roscosmos on the same day as Russia's announcement, as Mantalbano confirmed Russia's Zvezda life support module is suffering from an air leak. Montalbano spoke at a press briefing for the new Crew-8 mission and explained that NASA and Roscosmos were working together to remedy the issue while also stating the leak wasn't affecting crew safety or impacting the Crew-8 mission.

Notably, this air leak was first discovered in August 2020 and was temporarily patched up. However, another leak spot was discovered by Russian cosmonaut Pyotr Dybrov, which indicates how the ISS is nearing its end of life. More specifically, Russia announced in January 2022 that the air leak in Zvezda was going to be fixed, but it appears, judging from both space agencies' announcements, that the problem has re-emerged.

The first American lunar landing since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972 took place last week, and while the landing has been deemed a success, it wasn't without its problems.

The target landing for the lunar lander named Odysseus was the moon's south pole, and that was achieved on Thursday, February 22. However, due to problems with the lander's navigation system, Odysseus endured a rougher landing than was anticipated. The six-legged historic lander came down much faster than it was supposed to and, unfortunately, touched a section of lunar ground that was higher in elevation than its target zone.

Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus, the company behind the Odysseus lander, explained the "landing gear took the bulk of the load, and we broke one or two, possibly, landing gear" legs. According to the company CEO, the landing gear did exactly what it was designed to do: take the brunt of the landing impact so primary mission objectives could be achieved. Atlemus explained that once momentum came to a halt, the Odysseus lander sat upright for approximately two seconds and then proceeded to tip over, with one of the tanks or other pieces of equipment propping it off the ground.

A team of astronomers has detected more objects around two of the most interesting planets in the solar system.

The solar system is now home to some new lunar members, and they are orbiting Neptune and Uranus. According to an announcement from Carnegie Science, astronomers have discovered the first new moon of Uranus in 20 years, which researchers believe is the smallest orbiting the planet. Two new moons were also discovered orbiting Neptune, and according to the press release, one is one of the faintest moons to ever be detected by ground-based telescopes.

According to the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center, which announced the discovery of the trio of moons, the total count of moons now orbiting Uranus has increased to 28 and has been officially named S/2023 U1, which will later be changed to the name of a character from a Shakespeare play to fall in line with the other satellites orbiting Uranus. The Magellan Telescope was used to detect the new Uranian moon and also one of the new Neptune moons, with the other being discovered with the Subaru Telescope.

A group of international researchers discovered a 240-million-year-old fossil that strongly resembles a mythical creature from China.

The team of scientists discovered a new fossil of the Dinocephalosaurus orientalis, which is a 16-foot-long aquatic reptile that lived during the Triassic period and was home to modern-day China. The fossil dates back approximately 240 million years, and according to a recent press release from the National Museums of Scotland, the new fossil was discovered in the Guizhou Province of southern China.

Notably, the remains of Dinocephalosaurus orientalis were first discovered in 2003 with the recovery of a skull, but now this new fossil has enabled researchers to quite literally piece together the rest of the strange creature. Dinocephalosaurus orientalis are long-necked creatures with 32 separate neck vertebrae and a skull and jaw designed to trap fish. Furthermore, the neck vertebrae gave Dinocephalosaurus orientalis a snake-like appearance, leading to the striking resemblance to the mythical Chinese dragon.

NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) involved NASA sending a vending machine-sized spacecraft to a binary asteroid system in an attempt to prove the space agency has the capability to redirect potentially dangerous asteroids.

The mission was deemed an overall success as NASA's high-speed spacecraft collided with the moonlet Dimorphos, which is orbiting a larger asteroid called Didymos. The collision took place on September 26, 2023, and the DART spacecraft reduced the Dimorphos' orbit around Didymos by 33 minutes, making its total time to complete one orbit around its parent 11 hours and 23 minutes. The success of the mission demonstrated that Earth has planetary defense capabilities to redirect dangerous asteroids years in advance if one is detected.

Now, the DART impact seems to have had a permanent change on the appearance of Dimorphos, as a team of researchers led by University of Bern scientist Sabina Raducan performed high-level computer simulations that determined that Dimorphos is a loose, rubble-pile asteroid. The impact of the DART spacecraft has caused what researchers call global deformation, which is the process of interior material becoming surface material. According to the team's calculations, between 0.5% and 1% of Dimorphos' mass was ejected after DART's impact, with 8% of its mass being redistributed throughout the asteroid.

NASA's Mars rover named Perseverance has snapped a new photograph of the Mars helicopter situated on the desolate Red Planet.

The helicopter named Ingenuity landed on Mars with Perseverance in February 2021, and during its active time, the 4-pound helicopter served as a reconnaissance drone for Perseverance as it was sent ahead of the rover to collect data on the upcoming terrain and any potential scientific prospects that warranted further inspection by the rover. Ingenuity flew 72 separate times while active on the Red Planet, and on January 18, it endured catastrophic damage through a hard landing.

Following the January 18 flight, NASA confirmed that a piece of at least one of Ingenuity's rotor blades had broken off - this was confirmed by a selfie image snapped by Ingenuity. This damage forced NASA to retire Ingenuity and nickname the location where it now sits Valinor Hills, a reference to J.R.R Tolkien's Valinor, a heaven-like place in Middle-Earth where elves and some hobbits return to following the destruction of the One Ring.

NASA's powerful radar system detected an asteroid zoom past Earth on February 2, and according to estimations, the asteroid named 2008 OS7 is approximately the size of a stadium.

The space rock was detected using the Goldston Solar System Radar, and according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), 2008 OS7 orbits the Sun every 2.6 years, coming extremely close to Venus at its closest point to the Sun and then eventually out past Mars' orbit when it's at its greatest distance from the Sun. NASA has categorized 2008 OS7 as "potentially hazardous" due to its size and proximity to Earth, but it's not considered a direct threat to our planet, as represented by its fly-by on February 2.

When 2008 OS7 passed by Earth, it was at a distance of 1.8 million miles, or about 7.5 times the distance between the Earth and the moon. While that may seem like an extreme distance when thinking about how far away things are on Earth, in space, that is considered to be quite close, hence the "potentially hazardous" categorization by NASA. The asteroid was first discovered in 2008, and researchers estimated it was anywhere between 650 and 1,650 feet wide.

Odysseus, the lunar lander that made history on February 22 when it touched down on the surface of the moon just 190 miles from the lunar south pole.

The landing of Odysseus marked the first time a privately built lander has ever touched down on the Moon, while also being the first US-built vehicle to do so since the Apollo 17 mission conducted in 1972. The company behind Odysseus is Houston-based Intuitive Machines, which took to its X account to share images captured by Odysseus during its descent to the lunar surface. The company posted three photos and according to Intuitive Machines they are the "closest observations of any spaceflight mission to the south pole region of the moon".

More specifically, these images were captured at just 100 feet above the lunar surface while Odysseus' main engine throttled down from a staggering 24,000 mph to almost zero. Unfortunately, the landing wasn't completely perfect as Intuitive Machines believes that Odysseus tipped over shortly after its touchdown, which is causing delays with sending/receiving data. Despite the lunar lander being tipped over its still able to carry out its scientific objectives as some of its solar panels are in the right position to gather energy, while none of NASA's instruments appear to damaged.