Science, Space, & Robotics - Page 4

A team of international researchers has discovered that the vast majority of the asteroids that collide with Earth come from just three families of asteroids, which can all be traced back to a cataclysmic event approximately 40 million years ago.

A new paper that has been published in the scientific journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, along with two other papers recently published in Nature, outlines that 70% of all known meteorites, asteroids that make it to the surface of Earth, come from the following asteroid families: Karin, Koronos, and Massalia. These families were formed approximately at different times, such as Karin five million years ago, Koronos at seven million, and Massalia at forty million. Notably, Massalia was the source for 37% of all known meteorites.

These asteroid families formed in our solar system's main asteroid belt, which is located some 700 million miles from Earth. As for the meteorites discovered on Earth, cataclysmic events caused by collisions with other asteroids within the asteroid belt resulted in fragments of asteroids being scattered into the solar system. Researchers used simulations to rewind the clock on some of the discovered meteorites and found the source of their origin.

SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk celebrated the successful launch and catch of Starship, the world's largest and most powerful rocket, by sharing some extremely high-detail footage captured with an expensive camera lens.

The footage was captured by Andrew McCarthy, an astrophotographer who captures incredibly detailed images of astronomical objects from his backyard in Arizona. McCarthy posts the photos and videos to his Instagram account "cosmic_background," which has gained more than 1.6 million followers as of the time of reporting. As for Starship, McCarthy explained via X that he rented a $17,000 lens to capture SpaceX's milestone rocket launch and catch. The results simply speak for themselves.

McCarthy explains in captions within the video that each frame seen is hand-tracked and hand-stabilized. Additionally, the astrophotographer was able to track Starship all the way to orbit at 50 miles altitude, and capture the stage separation moment when Super Heavy disconnected from Starship to make its descent journey back down to Earth and eventual landing on the launch pad it took off from.

For the first time, a team of researchers successfully used lasers to generate sound waves on the surface of a microchip, opening the door for completely new microchip design considerations that abandon electricity.

In a new study published in the APL Photonics journal of the American Institute of Physics, a team of researchers details the process of generating sound waves on a microchip and the benefits of the new technology. According to the press release about the study, the team used a technique called stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS), which is created through a feedback loop between photons (light) and phonons (sound). More specifically, as light moves around the chip or an optical fiber it creates sound vibrations.

Notably, researchers initially believed these sound vibrations to be an obstacle, but after further consideration, it was realized they could be coupled with light waves, which enhances the vibration. Moreover, the team discovered this vibration could be used as a new way to transport and process information.

Amazon is investing big in nuclear energy as the company believes that growing energy demands caused by expanding data centers will be need to be met with small nuclear reactors.

It was only last week that Google announced it was pursuing nuclear power to support the growing demand for data centers, and now Amazon is following suit. The exponentially growing energy demand is undoubtedly caused by the increasingly sophisticated artificial intelligence data centers that require immense amounts of energy to operate. Amazon explains in the above video it has signed three agreements to support the development of small nuclear reactors called "Small Modular Reactors (SMRs)".

Amazon names Energy Northwest, which will develop four advanced SMRs that will be able to generate approximately 320 megawatts of capacity or enough to power 770,000 US homes. Additionally, Amazon has tapped X-energy, a company specializing in SMR reactors and fuel. X-energy's advanced SMR reactor design will be used in the Energy Northwest project. Additionally, Amazon has signed an agreement with Dominion Energy to implement an SMR project near Dominion's existing North Anna nuclear power station, which will have the goal of adding an additional 300 megawatts of power to the Virginia region.

Google has signed the world's first corporate agreement to purchase nuclear energy from multiple small modular reactors (SMR) to be developed by Kairos Power.

The company says that the initial phase of work will bring Kairos Power's first SMR online quickly and safely by 2030, followed by additional reactor deployments through 2035. Overall, this deal will enable up to 500MW of new 24/7 carbon-free power to US electricity grids, with Google adding that this will "help more communities benefit from clean and affordable nuclear power".

Google explains why the company is supporting new advanced nuclear energy: "This agreement is part of our efforts to develop and commercialize a broad portfolio of advanced clean electricity technologies to power our global data centers and offices. This approach will complement our use of variable renewables, like solar and wind, and help us reach our ambitious 24/7 carbon-free energy and net-zero goals".

NASA has taken to its blog to confirm the Sun has now reached the peak of its 11-year solar cycle, meaning we can expect a lot more activity out of our local star.

The space agency informed reporters on Tuesday, along with representatives from the Solar Cycle Prediction Panel and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), that the Sun has entered its solar maximum period, which can continue throughout next year. NASA explains that during the Sun's solar maximum, the Sun's magnetic activity is at its highest, which increases the number of sunspots that lead to solar eruptions that can and have impacted Earth.

Solar activity can affect critical infrastructure on Earth, such as communications systems, satellites, and power grids, which can all be disrupted during intense geomagnetic storms caused by solar blasts. On the positive side, increased solar activity means the frequency of auroras have increased. An example of the Sun's 11-year solar cycle paying off in the form of impressive auroras only occurred in May this year when Earth was hit with a barrage of coronal mass ejections (CMEs), or blasts of charged particles that created the strongest geomagnetic storm Earth has experienced in the last two decades.

Elon Musk has been accused of ripping off the popular blockbuster movie "I, Robot" starring Will Smith with his Tesla Optimus robot designs, which were recently showcased at a Tesla event.

Alex Proyas, the director of the cult-classic movie I, Robot, has taken to his personal X, formerly Twitter, account to share an image that directly compares scenes from the movie with mockups of Tesla designs. Proyas wrote, "Hey Elon, Can I have my designs back, please?" The only real product Tesla has made in the image or at least is planning on bringing to market in the immediate future is the humanoid robot the company calls Optimus.

It was only recently that Musk showcased the Optimus robot at the Robotaxi event, where they were seen serving drinks, dancing, answering questions, and playing games. While it may have appeared that these Optimus robots roaming around the event were fully autonomous, they were actually being remotely controlled by humans, which explains the almost uncanny response time when it came to speech. As for the similarities with I, Robot, Tesla hasn't officially said Optimus' design is inspired by I, Robot, but the company did name the event "We, Robot".

It isn't unusual for researchers to take something incredible in nature, such as a cat's eye or vision system, and attempt to create that in the laboratory.

Biologically inspired engineering happens all the time, and researchers from South Korea have become another example of it with a new artificial vision system inspired by Feline or cat eyes. For those that don't know, cats have a very impressive vision system that enables them to see very well in well-lit environments and also in complete darkness. Cats are able to do this through an eye adaptation that changes their pupil slit to vertical during the day, which helps to reduce glare, while at night, their pupils widen.

Additionally, at night a cat's eyes will develop a reflective layer called the tapetum lucidum, which boosts night vision performance and gives the eyes the reflective glow. The South Korean researchers penned a new study published in the journal Science Advances that details a new artificial vision system directly inspired by a cats vision system. The team created a slit-like aperture designed to filter unnecessary light and assist in focussing on key objects, while also creating a special reflective layer that is similar to the one found on a cats eye. The team says its artificial protective layer also boosts nighttime vision performance.

SpaceX achieved what previously only appeared to be possible in science-fiction movies with the launch and catch of the world's most powerful rocket, Starship.

Starship launched from Starbase on October 13, and after seven minutes of flight, the 233-foot-tall booster called Super Heavy descended back to the launch pad to be perfectly caught by the launch tower named Mechazilla. The tower's arms, or as SpaceX calls them, "chopsticks," act as support for Super Heavy as it slowly touched back down on the launch pad. The success of Flight 5 puts the company one step closer to achieving rapid reusability of Starship, which is a critical component in SpaceX's overarching quest to put humans on the surface of Mars.

To celebrate the monumental achievement of Super Heavy touching back down on the launch pad, SpaceX has released some video footage of the launch and catch that shows what both events would have looked like if you were positioned on the launch tower. It shouldn't be understated what an achievement this catch is, as Super Heavy is a 233-foot-tall rocket booster, which is the equivalent of a 20-story building, and at the time of catch, it weighs multiple tons. Perhaps an analogy that lines up with SpaceX's description of Mechazilla's arms is Mr. Miyagi from The Karate Kid catching a fly mid-air with his chopsticks.

SpaceX has achieved a milestone in its quest to put humans on the surface of the Red Planet, with the company etching itself into the history books once again with the first attempt and success of the Starship rocket on the Mechazilla launch tower.

SpaceX has been working toward this moment for many years, and with the fifth launch of the world's largest and most powerful rocket, Starship, the Elon Musk-led company has landed the approximately 250-foot-tall booster Super Heavy back on the launch pad at Starbase. The moment was witnessed by thousands of onlookers and quickly became a viral sensation as Mechazilla's arms, referred to by SpaceX as its "chopsticks," slotted and caught the massive booster for a smooth touchdown.

Why is this important? Flight 5 was the highest stake flight of Starship yet as failure would have resulted in a potentially destroyed Mechazilla tower, launch pad, and launch site - all of which would have further postponed the development of Starship. However, that didn't happen, and SpaceX landed it on the first go, meaning the company is one step closer to achieving rapid reusability with Starship.