Science, Space, & Robotics - Page 80

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) has delivered its verdict on the case of West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency.

The decision restricts the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions to curb climate change and help the nation reach climate targets. The final ruling was 6-3, determining that the EPA does not have the authority to push broad limits across the country without receiving approval directly from the U.S. Congress.

West Virginia led nineteen states and various power companies against the EPA to prevent it from capping carbon dioxide emissions and fining those out of line. The EPA originally issued its Clean Power Plan in 2015, setting emissions targets for states that included limiting carbon emissions in 2022 while targeting a 32 percent reduction by 2030.

On January 15, 2022, an underwater volcano erupted, that caused a violent explosion that shook the island of Tonga.

The underwater volcano named the Hunga Tonga is a submarine volcano that is located approximately 40 miles north of Tonga's capital, Nuku'alofa. Upon eruption, the massive underwater volcano immediately created a four-foot-tall tsunami that devastated the Tongan islands, wiping out most houses and structures. The Tongan government declared the event an "unprecedented disaster".

The explosion from the volcano was so large that it was detected in space by a NASA satellite. The above video was captured by the GOES West Earth-observing satellite that is operated by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and it showcases a large cloud of smoke suddenly erupting. The large plume of smoke reached 36 miles in altitude, and the power of the explosion was estimated to be ten megatons of TNT exploding, or more than 500 times as powerful as the nuclear bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima.

A study predicting upcoming solar activity titled "Overlapping Magnetic Activity Cycles and the Sunspot Number: Forecasting Sunspot Cycle 25 Amplitude" was published in the journal Solar Physics.

Astronomers have observed daily changes in the Sun's surface for centuries and began to record phenomena like sunspots in 1749. By the mid-19th century, astronomers realized they followed a cyclic behavior and that the Sun operated on a roughly 11-year solar cycle. Twenty-four cycles have been completed since records began, and the twenty-fifth is currently underway.

The cycles themselves vary from one to the next. Cycle 25 was forecasted by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to involve mild solar activity; however, the Sun has been much more active than expected. Now, cycle 25 looks like it could be one of the strongest cycles observed. Another team of researchers, however, made predictions in 2020 that are much closer to the current reality.

A study on the chip titled "Electrical control of surface acoustic waves" has been published in the journal Nature Electronics.

Researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have created a chip that can use sound waves to carry data instead of electromagnetic (EM) waves. Though acoustic waves are slower than EM waves for a given frequency, they are still applicable in classical or quantum computing and communications technology, as short acoustic waves can keep interference relatively low.

The team created a custom electro-acoustic modulator on a chip that can electronically control the phase, amplitude, and frequency of sound waves propagating through waveguides on the chip. In the future, the researchers hope to develop large-scale acoustic-wave circuits, and to integrate the technology into quantum systems.

A study on space travel and the atmosphere titled "The Climate and Ozone Impacts of Black Carbon Emissions From Global Rocket Launches" has been published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

Researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) suggest that the ever-growing rate of rocket launches may damage the ozone layer and change atmospheric circulation patterns. The NOAA says a "10-fold increase in hydrocarbon fueled launches," which includes kerosene-burning rocket engines that emit black carbon (soot) as exhaust into the stratosphere.

The stratosphere contains the ozone layer, which shields life on Earth from ultraviolet radiation, mitigating skin cancer, weakened immune systems, and disruptions to ecosystems and agriculture that would otherwise arise. Rockets are the only source of pollution above the troposphere, the lowest level of Earth's atmosphere, followed by the stratosphere, which could see 0.5 - 2° Celsius (~1-4° Fahrenheit) increases due to increased pollution from rocket exhaust, and atmospheric circulation slowing by up to 3.5%.

A video shared by Jordanian state media shows security camera footage of the devastating incident.

A crane on the docks in the Aqaba port in south Jordan was loading tanks containing chlorine gas onto a cargo ship on Monday, June 27th, 2022, picking them up from trucks queuing up with additional tanks to be loaded. The container dropped from the crane as it was being loaded onto the ship, causing yellow chlorine gas to explode in massive plumes, covering the ship and the docks.

The tanks contained liquid chlorine, created by pressurizing and cooling chlorine. However, the tank rupturing upon impact with the ship allowed the poisonous gas to rapidly form and spread, causing dock personnel to flee on foot. The gas, used during World War I for chemical warfare, causes pain, difficulty breathing, and fluid in the lungs. In households, chlorine is useful in creating bleach and sanitizing things like water.

Animator Hashem Al-Ghaili has shown off a concept for the nuclear-powered sky hotel on YouTuber.

A video rendering shows off the vessel, called the Sky Cruise, which is described as a "futuristic hotel above the clouds. Animated by Al-Ghaili, the video features designs by Tony Holmsten of an aircraft capable of hosting 5,000 guests while remaining in the air for over a year continuously, with small aircraft able to ferry passengers and supplies to it by landing on its decks.

The Sky Cruise would be powered by 20 electric engines "providing clean, nuclear energy," resulting in no carbon footprint, and would be piloted by artificial intelligence (AI) that could manage turbulent weather to provide a smooth flying experience. The vessel would embody the same role as a luxury cruise ship, offering a holiday destination packed with bars, restaurants, swimming pools, cinemas, viewing decks, and even a wedding venue.

A study on cocaine titled "Muscarinic Acetylcholine M2 Receptors Regulate Lateral Habenula Neuron Activity and Control Cocaine Seeking Behavior" has been published in The Journal of Neuroscience.

Researchers from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), discovered that blocking particular acetylcholine receptors in the brains of rats made it more difficult for them to resist seeking cocaine. In the experiment, rats were trained to recognize when cocaine was available based on a light being turned on or off and to self-administer cocaine by pressing a lever, resulting in the injection of the drug.

The researchers blocked the receptors in the lateral habenula (LHb), a brain area responsible for balancing reward processing and inhibition. The LHb is particularly interesting because it interfaces with various brain regions associated with reasoning, reward systems, and higher-order thought processes - factors associated with substance abuse disorders.

A study on influenza vaccination and Alzheimer's disease titled "Risk of Alzheimer's Disease Following Influenza Vaccination: A Claims-Based Cohort Study Using Propensity Score Matching" has been published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.

Researchers from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth Houston) have found that people administered at least one dose of influenza vaccine are 40% less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease over the next four years compared to non-vaccinated peers. Their study involved a "large nationwide sample of U.S. adults aged 65 and older," with and without prior flu vaccination.

The sample includes 935,887 patients that received the flu vaccination and another 935,887 who did not. At the scheduled four-year follow-up appointments, 5.1% of vaccinated patients had developed Alzheimer's disease, compared to non-vaccinated patients developing Alzheimer's disease with a prevalence of 8.5%. However, decreased risk of dementia has been associated with other adulthood vaccinations, including for tetanus, polio, herpes, and others, in addition to influenza.

A study on the experiment titled "Rapid Radiolytic Degradation of Amino Acids in the Martian Shallow Subsurface: Implications for the Search for Extinct Life" has been published in the journal Astrobiology.

A recent NASA laboratory experiment indicates that potential signs of ancient life on Mars are more likely found about 6.6 feet (~2 meters) below the Martian surface. Researchers determined that ionizing radiation from space could quickly destroy small molecules like amino acids, erasing signs of life from the surface. Though amino acids can be created by non-biological chemistry or by life, their discovery on Mars would be strong evidence for terrestrial life.

Ionizing radiation comes from the Sun and other stars in the form of cosmic rays comprising high-energy particles, usually protons or helium ions, generated by events like solar flares or novae. These rays can destroy organic molecules yards (meters) deep into even rocks on Mars, unlike on Earth, where the thick atmosphere and magnetic field surrounding the planet protect the surface from the majority of cosmic rays.

Elon Musk has finally reached a milestone number of Twitter followers, and that number has arrived on Musk's birthday.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has reached 100 million Twitter followers on June 28, 2022, the day of his 51st birthday. A massive uptick in followers occurred when Musk entered into a deal to purchase Twitter, the world's second largest social media platform, for $54.20 a share, or $44 billion. However, the deal is somewhat thrown up in the air as Musk has said the acquisition won't go ahead until Twitter can prove that less than 5% of its userbase are bot/spam accounts.

Earlier this month Twitter executives said that they would comply with Musk's request to provide him with userdata, and said that Musk will receive the full "firehose" of Twitter data that consists of a staggering 500 million tweets posted each day. Since Musk announced the deal to purchase Twitter the company's stock has dropped considerably, with its current price sitting at approximately $38 a share.

SpaceX is moving forward with its preparations for Starship's first orbital test flight, following the environmental report recently conducted by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The FAA recently evaluated the environmental impact of SpaceX conducting orbital launches of its Starship launch vehicle in its Texas test site, and according to the regulators' recently released report, Elon Musk's vehicle and launch site were found to have "Finding Of No Significant Impact (FONSI)". However, the FAA did give SpaceX many requests to prevent any future environmental impact and also put a cap on the number of launches SpaceX can conduct per year - five orbital launches and five suborbital launches.

With that review by the FAA now out of the way, Elon Musk and SpaceX can move forward with getting everything in order to perform Starship's first orbital test flight, which, when achieved, will be a monumental milestone for the company and another big step on the road to getting a consistent human presence on the Mars and the moon. On June 23 SpaceX was spotted rolling out Super Heavy Booster 7 to the orbital launch site, and according to reports from NASASpaceFlight, the booster sported 33 Raptor 2 engines.

Astronomers identified Comet C/2017 K2 back in 2017, and now the extremely old comet is making its way into our inner solar system.

Researchers believe that Comet C/2017, or Comet K2, originally came from the Oort Cloud, and when it was originally found, it was approximately 1.5 billion miles away from the Sun between Saturn and Uranus. When Comet K2 was first discovered, astronomers believed it was 99 miles wide, but follow-up observations from the Hubble Space Telescope brought that number down to the agreed 11-mile-wide diameter.

It should be noted that while the diameter estimate was originally incorrect, the size of Comet K2 is still very large - being as wide as two Mount Everest's stacked on top of each other. Spaceweather.com writes that most comet nuclei are approximately 0.62 - 1.86 miles in diameter. Comet K2 harbors its own mysteries as most of the larger comets do, with researchers being perplexed at how the comet remains "active", which is a term researchers use to label comets that are producing a glow and the iconic tail.

NASA's InSight Mars Lander first landed on Mars on November 26th, 2018, and took its first selfie ten days later.

Its final selfie was taken on April 24, 2022, and comprises multiple images taken by its Instrument Deployment Camera and stitched together. All of the dust now covering InSight and its solar panels has dramatically reduced its power output. Therefore, it was scheduled to gradually shut down its remaining instruments until running out of power around December.

The seismometer, Insight's last operational science instrument, was to be automatically shut down by the end of June to conserve power. However, the team has decided to allow the lander to continue using the seismometer until either the end of August or early September so that it can continue to gather scientific data for longer. Unfortunately, while remaining active to detect more marsquakes, InSight's batteries will discharge more quickly, and the spacecraft will ultimately completely lose power sooner.

A study on the evolution of monkeypox titled "Phylogenomic characterization and signs of microevolution in the 2022 multi-country outbreak of monkeypox virus" has been published in the journal Nature Medicine.

Researchers from Portugal have completed a genetic study of 15 samples of the monkeypox virus, which has surfaced in over fifty countries so far, despite normally being relegated to Africa. Monkeypox comes from the same genus as smallpox and comes in two main varieties of monkeypox; the West African and Congo Basin forms.

Prior research has shown monkeypox ends up mutating once or twice yearly. However, new samples from 15 patients have revealed the virus is currently mutating about 6 to 12 times more frequently than expected. The accelerated mutation rate may suggest that the virus is now infecting people via a new pathway, compared to the traditional transmission methods through open wounds, bodily fluids, or airborne droplets.

A study on fasting and nerves titled "The gut metabolite indole-3 propionate promotes nerve regeneration and repair" has been published in the journal Nature.

Researchers from the Imperial College London have observed an increased ability in mice to recover from nerve damage, owing to gut bacteria changes resulting from intermittent fasting. Gut bacteria produce more of a metabolite called 3-Indolepropionic acid (IPA) in response to fasting. This metabolite is required to regenerate axons, the nerve fiber part of a neuron (nerve cell).

The particular bacteria which produces IPA, Clostridium sporogenesis, is found in both human guts and that of mice, so the mechanism will hopefully apply in potential future human trials. In the study, half of the mice ate on alternating days, while the other half ate as they pleased. The mice had their sciatic nerves, which run from the spine down the leg, severed, and within 24 to 72 hours, the fasting group experienced ~50% greater regrowth in their axons.

The International Space Station (ISS) periodically requires boosts from external spacecraft to help it maintain its orbit.

The ISS weighs 444 tonnes and continues to expand, while orbiting at an altitude of about 250 miles (400 kilometers). However, atmospheric drag brings the space station closer to Earth by about one mile (1.6 kilometers) each month, and consequently, it needs to be lifted back up.

The task is currently Russia's responsibility, for which they use the thrusters on the Progress cargo spacecraft and the ISS' Zvezda module. However, Russia's future with the ISS is unclear, with the nation potentially withdrawing from the space station in 2024 despite NASA's commitment to keep it operational until 2030. Therefore, the remaining countries need a way to manage the space station responsibilities currently left to Russia.

A study on organic carbon on Mars titled "Organic carbon concentrations in 3.5-billion-year-old lacustrine mudstones of Mars" has been published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

NASA scientists have measured the total organic carbon present in Martian rocks for the first time with the help of data from the Curiosity rover. Organic carbon refers to the carbon found in organic compounds, which consist of carbon and hydrogen, and form the basis of all known forms of life. Organic carbon does arise on Mars as a result of non-living sources, however, such as volcanic activity or meteorites.

The Curiosity rover has found organic carbon and evidence of water existing long ago on Mars in the Gale crater, where it has been exploring and collecting samples. These conditions in the crater, as well as low acidity, and the presence of chemicals like oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur, show Mars could have supported life at some point.

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is closing in on its goal of calibrating all of its extremely sensitive and highly advanced instruments.

NASA has taken to its blog to update the public on the progress being made on the agency's next-generation space telescope. According to NASA, one of the four primary scientific instruments aboard the observatory is known as the Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph instrument (NIRISS), and the testing of the final "mode" on the instrument, the Single Object Slitless Spectroscopy (SOSS) capability, was recently completed - leading NASA engineers to give the thumbs up for science operations.

The space agency explains that the SOSS mode is a specifically designed prism that absorbs the light from the cosmos and splits it into three separate rainbows. The observatory will be able to capture more than 2,000 infrared colors from a single observation, which will allow researchers to lock onto planets and probe their atmosphere for certain molecules. Observing exoplanets and determining their atmospheres will be the main task of the SOSS mode, according to NASA.

A gold miner has made a shocking discovery in Yukon, Canada as a mummified baby woolly mammoth has been found in a record-breaking discovery.

The local government of the region where the fossil was found issued a press release that explains the discovery was made on June 21, 2022, when miners that were working in the Klondike gold fields within Tr'ondek Hwech' in Traditional Territory in Yukon, Canada, were removing permafrost. The fossil is described as being "near-complete", and according to Yukon's local government, the mammoth calf has been named Nun Cho ga, which translates to "big baby animal".

The newly discovered fossil has since been quickly examined, and according to the press release, it was a female mammoth that died during the ice age approximately 30,000 to 40,000 years ago. Notably, the press release states that Nun Cho ga is about the same age as "Lyuba", a 42,000-year-old baby woolly mammoth that was discovered in Siberia back in 2007. Furthermore, Nun Cho ga is now renowned as the best preserved mummified woolly mammoth found in North America.