Science, Space, & Robotics - Page 26

The holiday season is here, and just in time for Christmas, instruments used to observe the vastness of the cosmos have honed in on a certain astronomical in celebration for the time of year.

The specific astronomical object is officially called NGC 2264, which is also known as the Christmas Tree Cluster. This cluster contains a group of stars that astronomers estimate to be anywhere between one and five million years old, which is considered to be extremely young for a star. Notably, the sizes of these stars within the Christmas Tree Cluster vary drastically, with some stars being much larger than our Sun and others being far smaller.

The above image was captured using NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory, along with optical data from the Nation Science Foundation's WIYN 0.9-meter telescope. The image showcases gas in the color green, which NASA writes "corresponds" to the "pine needles of the tree," while infrared data from the Two Micron Sky Survey shows foreground and background stars in white.

NASA's iconic Hubble Space Telescope has snapped a new picture of a distant astronomical object that's giving off "forbidden" light.

The object is officially called MCG-01-24-014, and it's a spiral galaxy that's located 275 million light years from Earth within the constellation Hydra. The European Space Agency (ESA) explains on its website that MCG-01-24-014 has what scientists call an AGN, or an active galactic nucleus, leading to MCG-01-24-014's specific classification of a Type-2 Seyfert galaxy, which is known to emit a "so-called 'forbidden' emission". So, why is it forbidden?

Firstly, Type-1 and 2 Seyfert galaxies are differentiated by their spectra, or the observable light that is emitted from a galaxy in different wavelengths.

A group of researchers have identified and detailed a new type of rock that contains manmade plastic, with the new paper explaining this type of rock was discovered in several different countries, indicating a global issue.

The new study was published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology and details the discovery of rocks that contain artificial plastic polymers. These rocks were discovered along shorelines and inland across 11 different countries that are spread around the globe.

Co-author of the study, Deyi Hou, an associate professor of environment at Tsinghua University in China, spoke to Newsweek and said that the recent study was the "first to report the discovery of plastistones in the inland region and the first to report the chemical bonding between plastic and rock." So, how do they form? Plastistones form through a variety of different processes, some are from campfires on the beach that contained molten plastic that is then fused to sand granules, shells, wood debris, etc.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has confirmed it has successfully received a transmission from deep space that contains a 4K video of a cat.

The space agency took to its website to announce that its Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) experiment that was conducted on December 11 was a success, marking a milestone achievement in deep space communications and a step forward in how humans relay information around the galaxy. The experiment consisted of streaming ultra-high-definition (4K) video from 19 million miles away.

The video was 15 seconds long and transmitted using a "cutting-edge" instrument called a "flight laser transceiver," which is integrated into NASA's Psyche spacecraft, currently located 20+ million miles away. The video was then fired at Earth from the Psyche spacecraft, taking 101 seconds to reach the planet. The 4K video of a cat was transmitted at the maximum bit rate of 267 megabits per second (Mbps).

NASA has published a new video on its Orion spacecraft account that relives the moment the Moon-bound spacecraft re-entered Earth's atmosphere.

The event took place last year on December 12 when NASA's Artemis 1 mission reached its final stages, as the Orion spacecraft that was sent on a 25.5-day journey around the Moon finally made it back to Earth. The small spacecraft was essentially a first test run of the Orion capsule, which will be the mode of transportation for astronauts walking on the Moon in NASA's Artemis 3 mission.

The goal of Artemis 1 was to simply test out all of Orion's instruments, re-entry back to Earth, and general reconnaissance data collecting that will be used to reduce the likelihood of failure in future Artemis missions. The video showcases the Orion capsule smashing into Earth's thick atmosphere at 6.8 miles a second, or more than 32 times the speed of sound. The small capsule essentially skipped across Earth's atmosphere while flaming up and creating a plasma wake behind it.

The world's most powerful space telescope has captured an incredible image of an unusual object that humanity is familiar with but doesn't know much about.

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has honed its extremely sensitive infrared instruments on one of the farthest planets from the Sun, Uranus, and while we have known about its existence for quite some time, there are still considerable gaps in astronomers' knowledge about the planet. NASA has taken to its website to explain that Webb's coverage of the planet has showcased a dynamic world with rings, moons, storms, and atmospheric features such as a seasonal polar cap.

Notably, Voyager 2 captured images of Uranus as it was on its way to interstellar space in the 1980s. Those images showed a solid blue ball, which is likely what many people picture in their heads (possibly with a single ring) when the planet is brought up in conversation. However, that is hardly the case as Webb reveals the dim inner and outer rings and, most importantly, the elusive Zeta ring, which is the extremely faint and diffuse ring located closest to the planet.

It has been two and a half months since NASA successfully retrieved samples from asteroid Bennu, and since then, the space agency has been attempting to conduct analysis, but there are a few things getting in its way.

NASA and almost everyone involved never thought having too many samples of asteroid Bennu would be a problem, but it has. The retrieval mission was a roaring success, and NASA hasn't even accessed the heart of the retrieval canister that is within OSIRIS-REx. The space agency is currently making a new screwdriver that will be used to remove the remaining screws and enable full access to the samples.

While researchers haven't fully dug around in the canister, they have conducted preliminary analysis on rocks caught outside of the canister. The largest so far has been a 3.5-centimeter rock. Scientists discovered that Bennu has an abundance of carbon and water. Additionally, the team found large quantities of magnesium, sodium, and phosphate within the skin of the chunks taken from Bennu.

NASA has taken to its website to confirm the Sun emitting a massive solar flare on December 12, 2023, and while it's not headed for Earth directly, it does have an Earth-directed component.

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which is constantly monitoring the Sun for events such as these, is operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center, which confirmed the Sun released a powerful X2.8-class solar flare - the strongest solar flare of this current cycle (Solar Cycle 25) and the most powerful eruption the Sun has produced since September 2017.

Additionally, NOAA wrote on its website an update about the solar flare, saying, "This is likely one of the largest solar radio events ever recorded," with radio communication interference being "felt from one end of the nation to the other. Furthermore, NOAA adds that it is currently evaluating possible Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) that could be associated with the solar flare and will provide updates after the analysis has been conducted.

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, the most powerful space telescope in the world, has been used to try and answer the following question - what are the smallest stars?

A team of researchers from Pennsylvania State University pointed Webb's Near-infrared Camera (NIRCam) at the heart of the star cluster IC 347, which resides in the star-birthing Perseus star-forming region. The recovered data revealed the discovery of a record-breaking free-floating brown dwarf star and two other "failed stars". Notably, the "failed star" nickname linked to brown dwarf stars can be attributed to brown dwarf stars never gaining enough mass to trigger nuclear fusion, the reaction at the core of a fully grown star.

The team used the NIRCam image to identify any potential targets for the smallest possible star and followed up with Webb's NIRSpec (Near-Infrared Spectrograph) micro shutter array. The results yielded three targets weighing three to eight Jupiter masses. These targets each had surface temperatures ranging from 830 to 1500 degrees Celsius. Notably, the record-breaking smallest of the three weighs approximately three to four times Jupiter.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is planning to fund the construction of a university in Austin, Texas, according to tax filings obtained by Bloomberg.

The upcoming educational institution has been gifted $100 million of seed money and, per the tax filing, will concentrate efforts on STEM programs in both primary and secondary school.

The organization behind the project is currently seeking accreditation from the Georgia-based Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, explaining that the new university will employ "experienced faculty" and include a traditional curriculum that is backed by learning experiences through "simulations, case studies, fabrication/design projects, and labs."

A team of researchers has announced they will be turning on the world's first supercomputer that's designed to emulate the neural network of a human brain.

The researchers from Western Sydney University Australia announced via a press release that the supercomputer called DeepSouth is capable of emulating a network of spiking neurons at 228 trillion synaptic operations per second, which puts its performance near that of the operational power of a human brain. The team believes that designing a supercomputer comparable to the scale and power of a human brain will lead to a greater understanding of how our brains compute.

Most researchers designing supercomputers build them around raw compute power, but since the team behind DeepSouth is attempting to replicate a brain's network of neurons, the design means it will be more efficient, less power-hungry, and likely cheaper. The researchers believe that creating a simulated brain supercomputer will have widespread implications if more is understood about how the brain functions.

The perfect photograph is certainly subjective, and to photographer Jack Lodge, it meant waiting four years to capture one of his favorite objects, the Sun.

The sun photographer had been chasing a specific shot of our host star for four whole years, with multiple attempts at making the shot being foiled by simple weather problems such as overcast skies. Lodge was set on capturing the Sun lining up perfectly with the Durdle Door, a natural limestone arch on the Jurassic Coast in Dorset, England. The perfect lineup happens to occur only once, two to three weeks each year.

Furthermore, reports indicate that the Sun only lines up behind the Durdle Door for less than five minutes each day (during the period when it's possible). This small window of opportunity meant Lodge had to wake up at 5:00 AM to arrive at the location in time to capture the moment. After waiting four years for the opportunity to arise, it happened, and the results are above.

A team of researchers has published a new paper in the journal Nature Electronics that details the creation of a "biocomputer" that consists of lab-grown human brain tissue and electronic circuits.

The scientists behind the study explained they took a bunch of bundled human cells called "organoids" and changed them into neurons, which were then attached to a circuit board. Together, these ingredients created what the researchers call "Brainoware," a so-called bridge between AI and organoids. The question the researchers asked themselves was, "Can we leverage the biological neural network within the brain organoid for computing?"

The researchers hooked up Brainoware to a plate made up of thousands of electrodes. The scientists then sent data in the form of electric pulses to the organoid, and then "decoded" the response through a machine-learning algorithm. According to the study, the team was able to get the organoid to recognize the voices of different people speaking after being fed the data from 240 voice recordings.

Miss Evelyn Mackenzie is part of what is only an epic piece of film history, as the photographic film she snapped back in 1889 has finally been developed 134 years later.

The film that was recently developed was a Kodak nitrate-based celluloid roll film and was originally shot on a No.1 Kodak camera owned by Miss Evelyn Mackenzie. As the name suggests, the No.1 Kodak camera was the very first camera the company produced and was the first camera to successfully use negative film.

As for what it was capable of, reports indicate it was able to take up to 100 photos, and for buyers to get those photos, they would need to send the camera back to Kodak, where the images were developed, then printed and mailed back to the photographer along with their camera + fresh film. Notably, the camera was only able to take "brilliant instantaneous pictures" in "clear sunlight".

By complete coincidence, astronomers have discovered and mapped the first-ever stellar stream, an elongated thread of gravitationally linked stars that have been likely torn away from their original galaxies, only to be left in intergalactic space (the space between galaxies).

Previously, astronomers have mapped these stellar streams within galaxies but never outside of galaxies. According to the study published on November 30 in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, the researchers identified and mapped the first intergalactic stellar stream called the Giant Coma Stream (GCS).

The paper states the GCS passes through the Coma Cluster, also called Abell 1656, which is a group of more than 1,000 galaxies located approximately 321 million light years from our planet. The team that discovered the GCS isn't quite sure how it has grown so large, with speculation pointing toward the original target for their observations - dark matter. The team suggests that it's possible the currently invisible dark matter may have caused GCS to form into its current shape.

New research has found that Sun eruptions that result in solar storms may cause train accidents during peak travel times.

The new study published in the journal Space Weather by researchers from Lancaster University in England found that solar storms caused by Sun eruptions have a chance of interfering with electrical signaling stations, which may result in the railroad indicators switching from red (stop) to green (go). For those that don't know, the Sun ejects charged particles in the form of large, fast-moving waves.

This wave of charged particles slams into Earth's magnetic field, sending charged particles toward the planet's poles. The interaction between the solar particles and the molecules in Earth's atmosphere produces what are known as auroras. Additionally, depending on the severity of the CME, or solar flare, the solar storm can be so powerful it knocks out radio communications and electrical equipment.

Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 are the two longest-operating spacecraft in history, and now NASA has announced that the first of the duo is unable to send data back to Earth.

The space agency took to its website to briefly explain the issues it's facing with Voyager 1 communications. Firstly, NASA states that Voyager 1's flight data system, which is responsible for collecting onboard engineering information about the spacecraft's scientific instruments, has experienced a glitch that has severed communications with Voyager 1's telecommunications unit (TMU).

This overall problem is causing Voyager 1 to send back its data packages in a way that appears "stuck," as it's "transmitting a repeating pattern of ones and zeros." Notably, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 are currently in interstellar space, the region of space between stars. Both spacecrafts are approximately 15 billion miles from Earth, and due to their distance, a transmission takes 22.5 hours to reach the spacecraft. One back-and-forth communication with Voyager 1 is typically 45 hours.

Tesla has finally unveiled the next generation of its highly anticipated Tesla Bot, an idea that was once laughable and now seemingly coming into reality.

When the Tesla Bot was first announced, it was clearly a prototype, and a lot of work had yet to be done on it for it to be really brought to life in the way that company CEO Elon Musk was describing. At the time, the Tesla Bot was barely able to walk around the crowd, but now that we have arrived at Optimus Gen 2, it seems those issues have been ironed out, and many significant improvements have been made across the entire design.

For those that don't know, successfully designing a viable humanoid robot that can carry out monotonous manual labor tasks has been an engineering problem for quite some time, but Tesla believed they could solve the issue with its battery technology and by implementing AI, specifically its AI used in its various self-driving vehicles. So, what is Optimus Gen 2?

UFO whistleblower David Grusch, a career intelligence official, claimed the US government was covering up secret UFO programs that involved capturing downed UFOs, back-engineering discovered technology, and even discovering biologics at sites of crashed UFOs.

Since the explosive interview aired with Grusch back in June on NewsNation, the former intelligence official has been attempting to get as much information about the program as possible to the public. Grusch is taking the by-the-book method, and in July, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer introduced legislation to declassify government records related to UFO sightings and programs.

However, some House Republicans voted against key portions of Schumer's UAP disclosure bill, citing transparency issues related to national security. The lawmakers pushing for this disclosure of information related to UFOs are now questioning the motives behind the lawmakers that are citing national security threats because if there is nothing to hide, which the Pentagon has absolutely denied, then there shouldn't be any problem with a disclosure.

NASA has shared an image snapped by the Hubble Space Telescope of an object that resides 157,000 light years away and is approximately 11.6 billion years old.

The Hubble Space Telescope has taken an awesome picture of the packed globular cluster known as NGC 2210, which is located within the Large Magellanic Cloud 157,000 light years away from Earth. The Large Magellanic Cloud is a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, which means it is gravitationally bound to our galaxy, and just like the Milky Way, it hosts millions of stars.

Globular clusters are tightly bound groups of stars that consist of thousands or even millions of stars, all gravitationally bound. As for NGC 2210, in 2017, researchers discerned through data analysis that this globular cluster is approximately 11.6 billion years old, making it only a couple billion years younger than the universe itself (13.8 billion years old).