Science, Space, Health & Robotics News - Page 310

All the latest Science, Space, Health & Robotics news with plenty of coverage on space launches, discoveries, rockets & plenty more - Page 310.

Follow TweakTown on Google News

Russia and China to build a joint lunar base, new space race begins?

Jak Connor | Jun 17, 2021 4:04 AM CDT

NASA has big plans for getting humans back onto the moon, but they aren't the only ones as a very ambitious roadmap has been released by Russia and China.

Russia and China to build a joint lunar base, new space race begins?

The joint announcement from Russia and China occurred on June 16 at the Global Space Exploration (GLEX), where both nations announced they would be constructing a joint lunar space station called the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS). The announcement by Russia and China rival that of the US's announcement of the Artemis program, which aims to put humans back on the moon in the coming years and construct a lunar base.

So, what is the roadmap? The first phase of the ILRS will be a data-gathering phase that will entail numerous soft-landing lunar missions with China and Russia's respective landers between 2021 and 2025. The second phase has two parts, the first is the construction of infrastructure for communications, energy needs, and more. The second part of the second phase includes cargo missions to the surface of the moon, sample return missions, and joint operations. The second phase will happen between 2026 and 2035.

Continue reading: Russia and China to build a joint lunar base, new space race begins? (full post)

Experts: alien contact could result of the 'end life on Earth'

Anthony Garreffa | Jun 16, 2021 9:11 PM CDT

I'm sure we've been communicating with other forms of life and civilizations than most would like to admit, but according to physicist Mark Buchanan -- contacting aliens could result in the "end of life on Earth".

Experts: alien contact could result of the 'end life on Earth'

Buchanan wrote a panic-fueled piece in the Washington Post, frightened that if we made contact with another civilization that they'd just end our existence on the spot. He goes back and forth between seemingly wanting it (alien disclosure) to happen and tinfoil hat fear that makes even the biggest "conspiracy theorist" seem calm in comparison.

Buchanan feels like Bruce Wayne in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, where he was filled with pure hate and resentment for Superman. As he said: "if there's even a 1% chance that he (Superman) is our enemy, we have to take it with an absolute certainty".

Continue reading: Experts: alien contact could result of the 'end life on Earth' (full post)

China: there is no radiation leak at Taishan Nuclear Power Plant

Anthony Garreffa | Jun 16, 2021 8:45 PM CDT

The Chinese government has now chimed in on the situation going on outside of Hong Kong with a nuclear power plant suspected of leaking radiation -- you know, Chernobyl style -- but everything is OK says the CCP.

China: there is no radiation leak at Taishan Nuclear Power Plant

China's National Nuclear Safety Administration has said that regulators have reviewed, and approved limits on how much radioactive gas is allowed to accumulate in the water at the reactor. The statement from China's safety regulator explains: "At present, monitoring results of the radiation environment around the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant show that there is no abnormality in the radiation level around the nuclear power plant".

There are over 60,000 nuclear fuel rods inside of Reactor No.1 at the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant, which is located around 80 miles southwest of Hong Kong. This has obviously raised concerns not just for Hong Kong and China, but worldwide.

Continue reading: China: there is no radiation leak at Taishan Nuclear Power Plant (full post)

Starlink dishes enter 'thermal shutdown' once temps hit 122F

Anthony Garreffa | Jun 16, 2021 8:13 PM CDT

We've seen how SpaceX's Starlink satellite dish continues to work in super-cold ice-covered environments, but what about the heat? 122F+ and the satellite dish goes into thermal shutdown.

Starlink dishes enter 'thermal shutdown' once temps hit 122F

A post on Reddit is now providing some updates on the upper limits of what the Starlink satellite dish can handle thermally, where in hot environments the dish can hit 122F and it'll go into thermal shutdown. One of Starlink's customers in Arizona saw his satellite dish go into thermal shutdown when temperatures popped over 122F in Arizona recently.

Another user shared their experience about hot temperatures in Las Vegas, Nevada yesterday where they hit 111F -- but his Starlink internet service was fine. His terminal didn't shut down, and no service outages were reported -- this is a better result than SpaceX said last year.

Continue reading: Starlink dishes enter 'thermal shutdown' once temps hit 122F (full post)

Hong Kong's leader is 'highly concerned' over leaking nuclear plant

Anthony Garreffa | Jun 16, 2021 7:47 PM CDT

If you haven't heard about the nuclear plant having issues in China, well the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant is having a "performance issue" but it is operating under safety parameters.

Hong Kong's leader is 'highly concerned' over leaking nuclear plant

This is what the French joint operator -- Framatome -- said during a recent media conference, where Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said: "With regards to foreign media reports about a nuclear plant in Taishan, Guangzhou, the Hong Kong government is highly concerned".

The Taishan Nuclear Power Plant is jointly owned by China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group and French multinational electric utility Electricite de France, which is the main owned of Framotome, which also helps operate the nuclear plant.

Continue reading: Hong Kong's leader is 'highly concerned' over leaking nuclear plant (full post)

China breaks world record for 'artificial sun', unlimited energy soon?

Jak Connor | Jun 16, 2021 6:34 AM CDT

China is moving towards creating unlimited clean energy by designing and building an artificial Sun here on Earth.

China breaks world record for 'artificial sun', unlimited energy soon?

A team of researchers at the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) have said via Chinese state media that a new world record has been set for nuclear fusion temperature and how long that temperature was held. Reports indicate that the new world record, set by EAST, is 120 million degrees Celcius and was held for 101 seconds. For reference, the Sun is approximately 150 million degrees Celcius and will burn for billions of years.

So, why are researchers trying to create a Sun here on Earth? If researchers can manage to replicate a Sun here on Earth, they will be able to harness the energy that it produces and thus be able to provide cities with endless clean energy. Essentially, if researchers can provide enough pressure to the reaction to keep it going indefinitely, they would have considerably assisted the world's fossil fuel problem, which is a limited resource.

Continue reading: China breaks world record for 'artificial sun', unlimited energy soon? (full post)

Someone bid $28 million to sit next to Bezos in his 10 min rocket trip

Jak Connor | Jun 16, 2021 4:31 AM CDT

Someone has bid a whopping $28 million for a seat next to Jeff Bezos on the first Blue Origin space tourist flight.

Someone bid $28 million to sit next to Bezos in his 10 min rocket trip

Blue Origin is founded by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, and recently held an auction for a seat on the first commercial trip to space. The auction was held on June 12, and an undisclosed person bid $28 million for a seat on Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket that is scheduled to take its first flight on July 20.

The auction winner will be joining Jeff Bezos on the first flight, along with Bezos' brother, Mark Bezos. So, what will the trip entail? Blue Origin will be sending the New Shepard rocket to the altitude of 62 miles above average sea level where it will then release the capsule containing the tourists. For 10 minutes the tourists will experience weightlessness before the capsule begins to safely decent back down to Earth via a parachute.

Continue reading: Someone bid $28 million to sit next to Bezos in his 10 min rocket trip (full post)

China just dropped the coolest Mars selfie you'll ever see

Jak Connor | Jun 16, 2021 4:03 AM CDT

NASA has been the king of Mars images with its Perseverance rover being the main rover pulling most of the weight.

China just dropped the coolest Mars selfie you'll ever see

But now NASA might have a challenger on its hands, as the China National Space Administration has released new images from its recently touched down Mars rover named Zhurong. Since Zhurong touched down on the Red Planet, it has been exploring its surface, and along the way, it has been snapping some gorgeous images of the baron surface of Mars.

According to China's state media outlet Xinhua, a new collection of images has been released and within that collection is a very special image. The image is a selfie of the Zhurong rover positioned next to the lander, and what makes the image so special is that it was snapped with a wireless camera that was stationed on the surface of the planet at a distance. Xinhua states, "Zhurong also used a separable camera to take a selfie with the landing platform".

Continue reading: China just dropped the coolest Mars selfie you'll ever see (full post)

NASA's new planetary defence telescope will protect us with knowledge

Jak Connor | Jun 16, 2021 3:33 AM CDT

NASA is planning the construction of a new telescope that is designed to give Earth a new level of planetary defence.

NASA's new planetary defence telescope will protect us with knowledge

NASA has said the new telescope will be called the Near-Earth Object Surveyor, or NEO Surveyor for short. The NEO Surveyor is designed to monitor near-Earth objects such as asteroids, and will relay information back to NASA about objects' position, trajectory, etc. The NEO Surveyor will track objects that are within 30 million miles of Earth, and so far, researchers believe there are 25,000 near-Earth-objects within that vicinity.

Amy Mainzer of the University of Arizona said, "We think there are about 25,000 NEOs large enough to wipe out an area like Southern California. Once they get bigger than about 450 feet in diameter, they can cause severe regional damage. We want to find these, and as many smaller ones as possible." Near-Earth asteroids that are approaching Earth radiate heat signatures that the NEO Surveyor will be able to detect as it's equipped with heat-sensitive cameras. For more information on this story, check out this link here.

Continue reading: NASA's new planetary defence telescope will protect us with knowledge (full post)

Healthy 'space pups' have been born on the International Space Station

Jak Connor | Jun 16, 2021 2:32 AM CDT

The International Space Station (ISS) is a floating laboratory home to many experiments and a small group of astronauts.

Healthy 'space pups' have been born on the International Space Station

Now, the ISS has some new creatures aboard the floating lab, and they have been dubbed "space pups". The "space pups" are actually mice that were born from frozen sperm that was kept on the ISS for six weeks prior to the birth. Why were mice born on the ISS? Researchers are exploring the question if fertility in space is different from here on Earth. Gravity and radiation being the main factors that are being tested.

So far, researchers know that sperm behave differently in microgravity and that the radiation in space can be potentially harmful as well. The researchers took mice sperm, sealed it in vials, freeze-dried it, and sent it to the ISS. The mice sperm spent a considerable amount of time aboard the ISS and then was transported back to Earth, where it was then used to impregnate mice. The researchers on Earth found no abnormalities in the pups the mice on Earth gave birth to. The very same goes for the space pups that were birthed on the ISS.

Continue reading: Healthy 'space pups' have been born on the International Space Station (full post)