Science, Space, & Robotics - Page 84

Energy storage company Energy Dome has launched its first ever "CO₂ Battery facilty" in Sardinia, Italy.

The carbon dioxide (CO₂) battery technology uses electric compressors to compress huge amounts of carbon dioxide gas inside a flexible dome into smaller and smaller volumes before the pressure is so great that it turns into a liquid. This process, in effect, "charges" the battery, while also generating some waste heat, which is captured by a thermal energy storage system.

The carbon dioxide can be safely stored for a long duration, awaiting use. When the battery is to be discharged, the stored heat is used to return the liquid carbon dioxide to a gaseous state, causing it to expand by almost 400 times. This expansion powers a set of turbines which returns energy to the grid, resulting in a round-trip efficiency of more than 75%, according to Energy Dome.

A study on the moon map titled "The 1:2,500,000-scale geologic map of the global moon" has been accepted for publication in the journal Science Bulletin.

Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and other institutions have created the largest and most detailed map of the lunar surface yet. One of the many previous geologic maps of the lunar surface stitches together six individual 1:5,000,000 scale maps to cover the Moon's surface. However, knowledge of the lunar surface has expanded significantly since its creation.

The researchers created a geologic map with a 1:2,500,000 scale, doubling the resolution. They achieved this by subdividing the Moon into 30 quadrangles which could be individually mapped with a consistent approach. Previously, many of the geologic maps of the Moon compiled by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) were created by different groups at different times and with different standards, which led to inconsistencies and confusion.

A study on the cancer treatment titled "Targeting LIPA independent of its lipase activity is a therapeutic strategy in solid tumors via induction of endoplasmic reticulum stress" has been published in the journal Nature Cancer.

Researchers from the University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas) have synthesized a new molecule capable of killing many cancers that are notoriously difficult to treat, including triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). The new molecule is called ERX-41, which is effective against breast cancer cells with and without estrogen receptors (ERs).

Patients with TNBC have fewer treatment options as the cancer cells have no estrogen, progesterone, and human epidermal growth factor 2 receptors. However, ERX-41 could kill these cells and effectively treat hard-to-treat pancreatic, ovarian, and brain cancers, notably glioblastoma, the most deadly of brain cancers.

A study on the Earth's oscillation titled "Seismological observation of Earth's oscillating inner core" has been published in the journal Science Advances.

Researchers from the University of Southern California (USC) have found evidence of the Earth's inner core oscillating instead of consistently rotating faster than the planet's surface does, as was previously thought. Seismic data from 1969 to 1974 indicates that the direction of the inner core's movement changed during that time. The scientists believe the inner core movement explains the changes in day length seen in the last several decades.

The researchers confirmed that inner core rotates faster than the planet's surface, known as super-rotation. Previously thought to super-rotate about 1 degree per year, they found the rate was closer to 0.1 degrees per year using data from the Large Aperture Seismic Array (LASA).

The new robotic lunar rover has a humanoid upper body and four wheeled legs, resembling a centaur from Greek mythology, a creature with a human upper body and the lower body of a horse.

The lunar rover is called the R1 robot and was developed by GITAI, a space robotics startup, in partnership with Japan's space agency, JAXA. The R1 has two arms with articulating claws for hands, cameras on its head that resemble eyes, and each of its four wheels can rotate independently with complete 360-degree freedom.

During a test at a JAXA facility, the R1 traversed uneven terrain peppered with rocks, designed to simulate a lunar environment. The rover also showed off various locomotion maneuvers, and a later test showed an operator controlling the robot with a virtual reality (VR) headset and handheld controls.

Researchers have reported the discovery of the largest meat-eating dinosaur to ever roam Europe called the "White Rock spinosaurid".

A new study published in the journal PeerJ Life & Environment details the discovery of fossils from the dinosaur that is expected to have lived approximately 125 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period. The fossils that were found include a back, hip, and tail bones with some additional limb fragments. The fossils were found along Compton Bay, located on the southwest coast of the Isle of Wight.

According to the researchers, the White Rock spinosaurid is, at the very least, "one of the biggest - and possibly the biggest - known land predator ever to stalk Europe," said Chris Barker, a University of Southampton doctoral student in paleontology and the lead author of the new paper. Notably, paleontologists estimate that the dinosaur was about 32 feet long but could have possibly been even bigger. For reference, the Tyrannosaurus rex was close to 42 feet long.

NASA has taken to its Hubble Space Telescope Twitter account to tease upcoming research that will be conducted by the James Webb Space Telescope.

NASA explains in the above post that its Hubble Space Telescope snapped a photograph of the galaxy ESO 137-001, which resides in the constellation Triangulum Australe and in the cluster Abell 3627. NASA explains that ESO 137-001 is slowly plunging into a galaxy cluster that is causing it to be stripped of hot gas, which creates a galactic tail that stretches some 260,000 light years.

Notably, when observed in visible light, the galaxy looks like a "jellyfish" with large blue ribbons of young stars forming the legs of the aquatic animal. Furthermore, NASA explains that once Webb is fully calibrated and operational, the next-generation space telescope will be pointed at ESO 137-001 to study this strange galaxy and how stars are forming in the galactic tail. To read more on this galaxy from NASA, check out this link here.

Researchers have created artificial "living" skin constructed out of human cells that is capable of healing itself.

A team of researchers has moved the scientific needle forward with the development of artificial living skin that is designed to give robots the look and touch of living creatures. As explained in the above/below video and in the researcher's paper penned in the journal Cell, the scientists from the University of Tokyo designed skin that molded itself to a robotic finger as it's very difficult to cut and glue skin onto the device manually.

The team explains that they dipped the robotic finger into a solution that consists of collagen and dermal fibroblast, which are cells that create proteins that basically form the structure and connectivity of human skin. The team then added epidermal cells, which are the main cells found on the outer layer of skin, and as explained by ScienceAlert, without these cells, the skin wouldn't repel water.

NASA has announced that it will be launching a new study that will investigate UFO sightings and how scientists can develop a deeper understanding of the phenomenon.

On Thursday, NASA announced that it will be recruiting several high-ranking scientists to lead the project, which will analyze already obtained data of the mysterious events and, hopefully, provide the agency with a deeper understanding of the phenomena. Notably, the agency intends that the project will inform NASA on how to gather data on UFOs in the future.

NASA now joins the list of US government bodies that have taken on the responsibility of demystifying the UFO topic. Congress recently shined a light on UFOs by hosting a public hearing last month where the Pentagon announced it has encountered nearly 400 UFOs. Additionally, NASA has stated that its newly announced project will also focus on mitigating UFOs, citing a part of the mission is to develop new safety measures for aircrafts.

The United Nations' World Health Organization (WHO) has warned of the risk of monkeypox becoming established in new countries.

The monkeypox virus is endemic to Africa, meaning it can resurface often. However, since about May 17th of this year, cases of the rare virus have begun appearing across Europe, and outbreaks have occurred in the U.S., Australia, Canada, and other countries. The total number of cases has surpassed a thousand, though no deaths have been reported so far as a result.

Read more: Multiple outbreaks of rare monkeypox virus detected across Europe

A new report from the Washington Post has revealed that Twitter's board will go along with the demands made by Elon Musk to investigate the platform's true number of bot accounts.

The new report from WAPO has revealed that the board will give Musk the full "firehose" of data that consists of more than 500 million tweets posted each day, according to an individual close to the matter who discussed it with WAPO under the condition of remaining anonymous. The spotlight on Twitter's userbase and its percentage of fake accounts came under fire when Musk announced that the deal to purchase the platform for $44 billion was on hold until Twitter could prove that less than 5% of total users on Twitter are bots.

The individual who spoke to WAPO said that the "firehose" of data is already being accessed by approximately 24 different companies, who pay for access to the pool so they can see a real-time record of tweets, what devices those tweets came from, and information about the account that wrote the tweet. If Musk gets access to Twitter's data stream and is able to prove the platform has more spam accounts than what Twitter has previously stated, it may be enough grounds for Musk to renegotiate the agreed-upon price.

A study on the microplastics discovered titled "First evidence of microplastics in Antarctic snow" has been published in the journal The Cryosphere.

Researchers from the University of Canterbury have uncovered microplastics in fresh snow in Antarctica that was collected in late 2019. Research on microplastics has shown their negative impact on the health of environments due to limiting the growth and reproduction of organisms, and their general biological functions, including those in humans.

The research turned up an average of 29 microplastic particles per liter of melted snow, a higher concentration than has been reported in local sea ice and the surrounding seas. Thirteen different types of plastics were found, but most commonly was polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic, used in making plastic bottles and clothing items.

A brand new telescope in the Indian Himalayas has been commissioned at the Devasthal Observatory campus of Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES).

The telescope is known as the International Liquid-Mirror Telescope (ILMT) and is "the first liquid-mirror telescope designed exclusively for astronomical observations." It joins another four-meter class telescope at the observatory, the Devasthal Optical Telescope (DOT), which are both the largest aperture telescopes in the country.

The telescope was built by Indian, Belgian, and Canadian astronomers and employs a 4-meter (13.1 feet) diameter rotating mirror made up of liquid mercury. Mercury is a reflective liquid, which the astronomers laid in a thin film and curved into a parabolic shape, allowing it to focus light. The mercury is protected from the wind by a thin transparent film of mylar.

NASA has taken to its blog to announce that its James Webb Space Telescope has been struck by a micrometeorite.

The space agency recently published a report that states Webb was struck by a micrometeorite between May 23 and May 25. The micrometeorite struck Webb's primary mirror, and NASA has said that the telescope is still performing at a level that is beyond its intended mission requirements despite there being a "detectable effect in data". Notably, NASA writes that micrometeorite impacts are an "unavoidable aspect of operating any spacecraft" and that Webb engineers anticipated that impacts such as these would be common.

Engineers behind Webb constructed the next-generation space telescope to be capable of withstanding micrometeorite impacts. However, the micrometeorite that recently impacted Webb was larger than what was simulated on Earth, and over the course of Webb's life, it will undoubtedly continue to be hit with micrometeorites that will "gracefully degrade telescope performance," according to Lee Feinberg, Webb optical telescope element manager at NASA Goddard.

An artificial intelligence (AI) powered system has been developed that can reportedly clone pigs better than humans can.

A new report by the South China Morning Post has revealed that a new AI-powered system created by researchers from the University of Nankai's College of Artificial Intelligence has already created seven piglets via surrogate. The new system created the piglets without any human intervention, and according to the researchers behind the project who spoke to the publication, the system may pave the way forward to commercialized cloning.

Notably, most cloning processes consist of somatic cell nuclear transfer, which is a laboratory strategy that involves a scientist manually transferring cells and their nuclei, which can take hours. The manual process also involves a lot of injuries for the cells, which is AI-system dramatically reduces as it can "can calculate the strain within a cell and direct the robot to use minimal force to complete the cloning process," according to Liu Yaowei, who spoke to the publication.

The Colombian military have used a remotely operated vehicle to uncover the remains of a legendary San Jose galleon.

Military sent down the remotely operated vehicle four separate times, which went to a depth of approximately 3,100 feet located off the Caribbean coast. Each of the missions was performed with observations by the Colombian navy and yielded different results.

From the images taken by the vehicle, we can see a part of the bow and hull of the ship, which is covered in algae and shellfish. Authorities believe the San Jose galleon was owned by the Spanish crown and was sunk by the British navy in 1708.

Elon Musk has taken to his personal Twitter account to light up YouTube over the abundance of spam accounts on the platform.

Musk posted the above meme on June 8, has moved the spotlight from Twitter's number of fake accounts to YouTube, and while Twitter is still being investigated for the true number of fake accounts on its platform, now individuals are discussing YouTube's similar problem. Musk made fun of YouTube's policies for when someone swears on the platform and the seeming inaction Google/YouTube has taken at curbing the ever-growing problem of obvious scams that riddle the website.

In response to Musk's meme, Trung Phan, a Bloomberg opinion columnist, posted a meme that depicts Elon ignoring Twitter and "checking out" YouTube as a replacement. In response to this fantastic meme, Musk posted the suspicious eyes emoji. Notably, Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, replied to Musk's meme and wrote that he had seen thousands of fake advertisements on YouTube that claim he is giving away free money, and that he has been "screaming at [YouTube] for forever" to fix this problem.

NASA has taken to its blog to announce that the agency and SpaceX will both be standing down from this week's Falcon 9 launch.

The mission named CRS-25 was a planned cargo mission headed for the International Space Station (ISS), and according to NASA's blog post, a major issue was identified during the loading process of the Dragon spacecraft. NASA states that "elevated vapor readings of mono-methyl hydrazine (MMH) were measured in an isolated region of the Draco thruster propulsion system", which is the fuel used by the Dragon spacecraft to course-correct itself as it's approaching the ISS to dock.

CBS News reported that NASA informed astronauts aboard the ISS that CRS-25 would now launch no earlier than June 28 (it was previously scheduled to launch on June 12). Notably, the space agency writes that an investigation has been launched into the fuel leak, and once the exact source of the leak is identified, both NASA and SpaceX teams will announce a new launch date. If you are interested in reading more about this story, check out this link here.

A team of astronomers have uncovered some interesting facts about Jupiter that have led researchers to learn more about the origin of the largest planet in our solar system.

The team has penned a study that was published in the Astronomy & Astrophysics journal on June 8 that details observations made of Jupiter's gaseous envelope. The researchers found that Jupiter's gas isn't composed of one substance and that the inner part of the planet is made up of more metals than the outer part. Notably, the team found that Jupiter's inner metal parts consist of between 11 and 30 Earth masses, which is approximately 3-9% of the total mass of the planet.

Using data from NASA's Juno mission that arrived at our solar system's largest planet in 2016, the team studied the distribution of metals in Jupiter's atmosphere, which has provided some insight into how the planet originally formed over the course of millions of years. The team was led by Yamila Miguel, who said that previously researchers believed that Jupiter's envelope was similar to boiling water, where elements were completely mixed, but the new findings has found there is some gradient structure to its element distribution.

Germany disabled its space telescope aboard a Russian spacecraft earlier this year in protest of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The X-ray telescope managed by the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) in Germany is named eROSITA and flies aboard the Russian-German Spektrum-Rontgen-Gamma space observatory, or Spektr-RG for short. Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, reportedly plans to restart the eROSITA without German assistance after the MPE put it into safe mode in protest.

Russian astrophysicist Rashid Sunyaev has warned that attempts to restart the eROSITA without Germany's permission could cause the telescope to break down. eROSITA worked with the Russian ART-XC (short for Astronomical Roentgen Telescope X-ray Concentrator) X-ray telescope to complete a planned eight full-sky surveys after the space observatory was launched on July 13th, 2019.