Science, Space, & Robotics - Page 212

I don't know what would scare me more, seeing a hurricane off in the distance -- or a stealth bomber flying over it and dropping a nuclear bomb inside of it. Yeah, that's what President Trump wants to do.

Axios reports from sources who have heard the president's private remarks and been briefed on a National Security Council memorandum that recorded those comments "that in a meeting between President Trump and top national security and homeland security officials over threats with hurricanes, Trump said: "I got it. I got it. Why don't we nuke them?"

Trump continued: "They start forming off the coast of Africa, as they're moving across the Atlantic, we drop a bomb inside the eye of the hurricane and it disrupts it. Why can't we do that?"

NASA is in the middle of investigating its first space crime, with American astronaut Anne McClain accessing her partners bank account... from the International Space Station. This could be the first ever crime committed in the silence of space.

McClain is now back on solid ground back here on Earth, where according to her lawyer who spoke with The New York Times, she was only accessing her partners bank account to make sure their family's finances were OK. She wanted to make sure there was enough money to pay for the usual bills, and to care for their son.

Her lawyer added: "She strenuously denies that she did anything improper" and added that she was "totally cooperating".

Astronomers are constantly searching for life elsewhere in the universe and everyday we move closer to answering that big question - are we alone out here?

Scientists have presented new work at the Keynote Lecture at the Goldschmidt Geochemistry Congress in Barcelona, claiming that they have located several exoplanets that have the required conditions to harbor life. So does an exoplanet need to harbor life? Firstly, scientists and astronomers are looking for planets that come under the 'habitable zone', which means the planet must have a potential for liquid water oceans and possibly breathable oxygen.

Dr. Stephanie Olson (University of Chicago) presented this new information and says that "NASA's search for life in the Universe is focused on so-called 'habitable zone' planets, which are worlds that have the potential for liquid water oceans. But not all oceans are equally hospitable-and some oceans will be better places to live than others due to their global circulation patterns."

Two NASA astronauts have taken a leap outside the International Space Station and begun a walk to install a brand new loading bay for future visiting space crafts.

The walk lasted for 6 hours and 32 minutes and astronauts Nick Hague and Andrew Morgan worked together to install the International Docking Adapter-3 (IDA-3) to the space facing side of the station. This successful installation will serve as a literal parking spot for future NASA, SpaceX and Boeing spacecrafts.

This marked the first time Morgan has ventured out into the infinite abyss via a spacewalk, and according to Mike Barratt, spacecraft communicator in Mission Control, "Welcome to the club, you did a brilliant job." The ISS crew aboard is currently doing experiments and stem cell differentiation in a zero gravity environment. With this hopeful new found knowledge, NASA, SpaceX and Boeing believe this information will be able to assist the human-race level push to land on Mars.

Astronomers have located three Earth-sized planets which are orbiting a neighboring star that is about 12 light-years away.

The scientists estimate that all three of the discovered planets are to be at least 1.4 to 1.8 times the mass of Earth, and that they orbit their star every three to 13 days. To give a digestable example of how short this is, in our solar system, Mercury has the shortest orbit of our Sun at just 88 days. The most interesting part of this three planet discovery is the planet that has been titled as 'planet d', scientists are most interested in this planet because it falls within the star's habitable zone with the possible chance of water existing on the surface.

Ignasi Ribas, a co-author on the new paper and a researcher at the Institute of Space Sciences in Barcelona, Spain said "We are now one step closer [to] getting a census of rocky planets in the solar neighborhood". It is extremely difficult to determine if 'planet d' harbors the requirements for life to exist, as scientists need to account for the past of the star its orbiting. It could be possible that the star has ejected large amount of radiation at 'planet d', essentially ruining any possible chance of the planet having a habitable atmosphere.

A team of researchers have made a break-through discovery in quantum internet networking, announcing they have developed the first quantum internet protocol.

To understand the achievement that has been made here you must first understand current internet protocols. In classical computing and everyday use of the internet, a collection of software layers which are reffered to as a network stack enables devices to communicate with eachother, an example of this is HTTP. Professor Stephanie Wehner from the research team QuTech describes this by saying "All of us use classical link layer protocols in everyday life. One example is Wi-Fi, which allows an unreliable radio signal-suffering from interruptions and interference-to be used to transmit data reliably between compatible devices."

Quantum networking uses the same premise as traditional computing, but is still very different. Due to the differences between classical computing and quantum, the team developed a new "quantum network stack" that is the "world's first link-layer protocol". Since a quantum network uses quantum bits, or qubits to transfer information, a new network protocol had to be developed due to quantum bits not retaining data reliably. This newly developed protocol overcomes those hurdles that quantum level software development was encountering.

While wide-spread pollution free energy might sound like pipe dream when thinking about how many facets of the world economy uses fossil fuels, we might not actually be that far away from it.

A Canadian group of engineers recently published a new paper detailing a method humans could extract hydrogen from oil sands and fields. This new method could enable a large-scale adoption that would ultimately cause a domino effect into energy market, making it extremely cheap to capture hydrogen instead of expensive. The researchers inject oxygen into the oil fields which then raises the temperature and liberates the hydrogen, filters are then used to separate the hydrogen from the other gases that are present.

The commercialization of this new method is already taking place and, Grant Strem, CEO of Proton Technologies has given a statement regarding the discovery "This technique can draw up huge quantities of hydrogen while leaving the carbon in the ground. When working at production level, we anticipate we will be able to use the existing infrastructure and distribution chains to produce H2 for between 10 and 50 cents per kilo. This means it potentially costs a fraction of gasoline for equivalent output".

Elon Musk has announced that in six states residents will be able to rent solar panels from Tesla for an extremely low cost. Say goodbye to high-level electricity bills.

Musk announced via Twitter over the weekend that Tesla would be re-opening its solar arm for residents in select states. Residents will be able to choose from three different solar panel variabitities and will even have the option of renting setups from Tesla at extremely low costs.

Depending on your state, Tesla will rent solar panels to you for as low as just $50 a month ($65 a month in California), this would of course be for the lowest package they offer. It is also detailed on their website that those who sign up can cancel at anytime but a $1500 removal fee will be slid your way to restore the roof back to its previous state. The states that are currently ready for this are: California, Arizona, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New Mexico.

The Hubble Space telescope is nothing short of incredible, and today we have another breath taking image of two distant galaxies bound for a collision of beautiful cosmic doom.

The image was released by NASA on their Hubble Twitter account and it showcases an amazing display of two galaxies engaging in a cosmic level dance that will eventually result in their impending doom. Scientists have titled the collision UGC 2369, and we know that they will unfortunately collide due to the gravitational distortion of their shape and the bridge of gas that can be seen transferring from one to the other.

The galaxies are about 424 million light-years away, and according to the European Space Agency (ESA), "Interaction with others is a common event in the history of most galaxies. For larger galaxies like the Milky Way, the majority of these interactions involve significantly smaller so-called dwarf galaxies. But every few billion years, a more momentous event can occur." Take our galaxy for example, The Milky Way, at the moment we are currently on a 4 billion year collision course with our neighboring galaxy, Andromeda.

Remember when Elon Musk launched a car into space? Well, that Tesla Roadster and its driver 'Starman' have just completed their first lap around the Sun.

When checking out the 'Where is Roadster' website we can see that the cosmic driver has finally managed to complete his first orbit around the Sun. Starman took to the skies 557 days ago when SpaceX launched the Falcon Heavy rocket aimed for orbiting the Sun, and according to the travel data the car has clocked 762 million miles.

Since the car has traveled 762 million miles, it means that it has exceeded its original 36,000-mile warranty over 21,000 times. If you were hoping to spot the roadster from Earth, you unfortunately won't be able to since Earth is currently positioned on the opposite side of the Sun.

The future of treating depression might not be therapy and medication, but rather a headset that you strap on and stimulates your brain in the right ways. Medical technology company Flow out of Sweden is on the forefront of this new wave of technology.

Flow started back in 2016 with Daniel Mansson, CEO of Flow and a clinical psychologist, founded the company after writing his master's thesis on brain stimulation. Mansson also spent years skating between psychology and software, and thus Flow was born. A new hardware product is now being sold as a medication-free treatment to depression.

TechRadar spoke with Mansson, with some hands-on time with the Flow headset. They report that it "looks a bit like a miniature VR headset", sitting on your forehead wiht a band that goes over the top of your head to keep it still. There are two big suction pads that connect to your forehead, with Flow providing single-use cloth pads that sit between your skin and the suction pads.

Elon Musk must've tipped a few back over the weekend as the SpaceX founder and CEO teased the idea of nuking Mars again... but this time, he has t-shirts. Musk took to Twitter over the weekend with a simple tweet:

This isn't the first time Musk has talked about nuking the red planet, where four years ago he went on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert and talked about detonating nuclear bombs over the poles of Mars. Musk said this was one of the strategies of making Mars more livable. The interview with Stephen Colbert is below:

Better yet, the official Twitter account for DOOM tweets out that they want Musk to use their BFG 10000:

Researchers have managed to create a new endoscope design that is capable of self-calibrating and taking images of objects smaller than a single cell.

For those that don't know, endoscopes are tiny instruments that are used to view the internals of the body. Traditional endoscopes use camera and light to capture images, while researchers that have developed this new endoscope have achieved 3D image capturing without the use of any optical, electrical or mechanical components. This new endoscope measures in at just 200 microns across, which is approximately the size of a needle.

This new endoscope will have widespread medical application and since its tiny, and doesn't feature any bulky components, it's expected that it will be especially useful in optogenetics. Juergen W. Czarske, Director and C4-Professor at TU Dresden, Germany and lead author on the paper gave a statement regarding the endoscope, saying "The lensless fiber endoscope is approximately the size of a needle, allowing it to have minimally invasive access and high-contrast imaging as well as stimulation with a robust calibration against bending or twisting of the fiber."

While our eyes cannot see high-energy radiant called gamma rays, NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope certainly can and it has produced incredible images of the cosmic rays hitting the Moon.

Above we have some progression images of the Moon's gamma ray exposure, and according to Mario Nicola Mazziotta and Francesco Loparco from Italy's National Institute of Nuclear Physics in Bari, these images give us a better understanding of how fast-moving particles called cosmic rays interact with the Moon. The particles we are seeing are electrically charged and since the Moon has no magnetic field these charged particles make it to the surface.

When the particles hit the Moon's surface they produce a gamma-ray emission, while the Moon does absorb most of the particles some escape its clutches. Since NASA are planning on returning humans to the Moon by 2024, these findings of gamma exposure on the Moon emphasize the importance of NASA equipping our astronauts with gamma-protection suits so they aren't doused in these cosmic rays. For a more in-depth analysis, check out this article here.

One of NASA's top officials has spoken out about the progress engineers are having building the next rocket that will take some extremely lucky astronauts to the lunar surface.

According to NASA administrator, Jim Bridenstine who spoke to journalists on Thursday at the New Orleans space facility while standing in front of the Orion capsule said that the rocket is about 90% complete. Engineers are still currently working on the core stage of the rocket which is the most complex and tedious part of the building process.

The Orion rocket will be apart of the Artemis 1 moon mission and the first test flight has been scheduled for 2020. The test flight will take a crewless Orion capsule around the Moon twice, yes, its going to do a loop around the moon over the course of a 25.5 day period. After the initial tests of the Orion capsule, the rocket is planned to take the first women and the next man to the lunar surface.

Virgin Galactic has just unveiled the world's first specifically-designed commercial spaceport, announcing that it is now "operationally functional". All systems go for space travel with Virgin Galactic.

The company has been testing flights out in the desert in Mojave, California with its first successful launch jetting off in December 2019. But now, it is hyping up its spaceport facility that passengers will chillax in -- something Virgin Galactic calls the "Gateway to Space" -- before they are flung into space.

There are two floors of dedicated space for spaceflight operations, while another floor is designed for future spaceport customers. Virgin Galactic told the Sun: "We are working towards commercial operation in 2020".

We should be worried about being wiped out by a killer pathogen that is specifically designed to kill people of only a particular race, based on their DNA, warns scientists.

A new report from Cambridge University's Centre for the Study of Existential Risk says that world ogvernments have failed when it comes to preparing against threats like futuristic bioweapons powered by AI and genetic manipulation. Such weapons would have to power to target specific DNA, and kill certain races of people leaving other swaths of the population unharmed.

Imagine it being sprayed in the form of the tinfoil hat conspiracy of chemtrails, and wiping out certain portions of the population.

Planetary scientists have estimated that at some time in the extremely distant past that a planetary embryo collided with Jupiter's core, disrupting its development process.

A new report has been published in the Nature's International Journal of Science, this report shines a new light on the past events of Jupiter's formation. According to the paper, scientists are now giving educated guesses towards a planetary embryo once having a head-on collision with an early stage of Jupiter's core. The paper says that since the Juno mission (a space probe sent out to observe Jupiter) has returned recent data, the once assumptions of Jupiter's core structure and gravitational fields have changed.

The new data sent back from Juno also indicated that Jupiter's core composition had a change throughout its development, scientists estimate that this was caused by the colliding planetary embryo. Scientists ran a simulation with this new found data, the simulation consisted of this embryo planet colliding with Jupiter's core and mixing its heavy elements into Jupiter's inner envelope, resulting in a diluted core. The simulation findings were representative of Jupiter's core. The same scientists expect that Jupiter isn't unique in this regard, as they say that Saturn could have experienced similar events.

NASA will be allowing the private Dream Chase space plane to hitch a ride on their new Vulcan Centaur rocket to the International Space Station (ISS).

According to a new announcement out of the Sierra Nevada Corp, their space shuttle-like vessel that resembles much like a plane, is scheduled to launch with the new Vulcan Centaur rocket that's headed to the ISS. Dream Chaser will be transporting more than 12,000 lbs (5,400kg) of cargo to the space station over the course of six mission, the first of which will begin in late 2021.

ULA Chief Executive Tory Bruno told reporters that "I have been a fan and a supporter and a cheerleader of this amazing vehicle from the first moment I saw it. To be able to make Vulcan's commercial debut with this block of missions underneath the Dream Chaser is just truly exciting." The first test flight is scheduled to begin in 2021, and if the Vulcan Centaur rocket isn't ready to launch by then, Bruno has said that they can always fall back on the already prepared Atlas V. "We're on time with Vulcan, but if something should arise, we're going to make sure that you fly when you're ready."

NASA has said that they will discussing their agency's plans for how astronauts will be landing on the Moon by 2024 on August 16th.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine accompanied by U.S. Representatives Mo Brooks, Robert Aderholt, Scott DesJarlais and Brian Babin will be revealing the agency's plans for getting humans back on the Moon by 2024 through their Artemis program. The discussion will revolve around how NASA plans to safely land on the lunar surface, and questions and answers will be provided after the initial announcements.

NASA plan on getting the first women and the next man on the Moon in just five years time, this will be done through the Artemis program which is detailed here. Tune into the discussion on Friday, August 16th for more space information. If you didn't know, NASA just completed the final and most complex part of their Orion spacecraft, check that out here.