Science, Space, & Robotics - Page 86

A study on the asteroid defense system titled "Apophis Planetary Defense Campaign" has been published in The Planetary Science Journal.

The results of an exercise conducted last year by the International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN) and NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO) have now been published in which researchers simulated an encounter with a potentially destructive asteroid. A large, known asteroid, known as Apophis, was removed from an existing monitoring database, and researchers tested the systems to ensure they could detect the "new" hazardous object, ensuring planetary readiness for such a calamity.

Apophis was rediscovered during the exercise, and its trajectory and chances of hitting Earth were continually recalculated to end up ruling out the possibility of impact. When Apophis was originally discovered in 2004, it was thought to have a significant chance of hitting Earth by 2029 at the earliest. However, it's now been assessed not to pose a collision threat for at least 100 years.

An algorithm designed to detect asteroids is spotting many space rocks that have gone unnoticed by astronomers.

NASA has previously stated that there are no Earth-destroying asteroids on track to collide with our planet for at least the next 100 years, and with that being said, the agency is still putting exponential amounts of effort into scanning for any potentially dangerous objects while also developing planetary defense capabilities such as the DART mission. Former NASA astronaut Dr. Lu is aiding the agency's efforts and has developed an algorithm that can identify asteroids in large swaths of data accumulated by astronomers.

The algorithm is named Tracklet-less Heliocentric Orbit Recovery, or THOR. The algorithm is designed to take a large dataset that contains many points of light, and with that dataset, THOR will identify, track, a predict orbits of the objects.

A paper on the new printing method titled "Direct sound printing" has been published in the journal Nature Communications.

Researchers from Concordia University have created a new platform technology called direct sound printing (DSP), which uses soundwaves to create three-dimensional objects, compared to the current photo (light)- or thermo (heat)-activated methods. Focused ultrasonic waves allow users to produce complex geometries that are not otherwise capable.

The soundwaves are used to create sonochemical reactions, which generate small cavities, or bubbles, inside a liquid polymer solution, in this case, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The bubbles only last picoseconds, but the temperature inside them reaches 15,000 Kelvin, and the pressure exceeds 1,000 bar, which is about 1,000 times the pressure of Earth's atmosphere at sea level. The minuscule duration of the reaction means the rest of the material is not affected.

A study on the new printing method titled "Lift Energy Storage Technology: A solution for decentralized urban energy storage" has been published in the journal Energy.

Researchers from the International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Vienna, Austria, have devised a new energy storage concept called the Lift Energy Storage Technology (LEST) to turn tall urban buildings into batteries. This concept would support renewable energy technologies and help decentralize energy availability.

The system stores energy by moving high-density loads such as wet sand containers in and out of elevators installed in tall buildings with regenerative braking. Energy would be expended to carry these loads to the top of the building, while bringing them back down would release that energy.

Elon Musk explained some of the specifications and capabilities of the next generation of Starlink satellites during a tour of Starbase with Tim Dodd from the Everyday Astronaut YouTube channel.

Musk revealed that SpaceX has already developed at least one working prototype Starlink Gen 2 satellite, which is currently at the Starbase facility in Texas, and discusses details in the above video from the 9:24 mark. He stressed that Starship needs to get to orbit and that it will be "the only thing that can carry the Starlink 2 satellites."

Musk explained that Starlink Gen 2 satellites are 7 meters long (23 feet), weigh about 1.25 tons (2756 pounds), and "are almost an order of magnitude more capable than Starlink 1" in terms of how much useful data they can handle. For comparison, Starlink 1 satellites only weigh about 260 kilograms, almost 21% as much as Starlink 2 will.

A team of researchers have penned a study recently published in the journal Nature that details the discovery of an ancient lost city within the Amazon rainforest.

The scientists behind the study used LiDAR technology, which stands for Light Detection and Ranging, and is a remote-sensing technology that uses a laser beam to get information about surrounding objects. The team used the LiDAR technology to scan a portion of the Amazon and found beneath the thick canopy the remains of a civilization. The researchers believe the small city was operated by the Casarabe Culture (500-1400 C.E.) and features causeways, urban centers, and platform and pyramid architecture.

Notably, the data showed that some of these causeways were raised and connected to scattered suburban-like settlements, which were separated by some kind of water distribution system that featured canals and reservoirs. Discoveries such as these pave the way for researchers to argue that the Amazon rainforest was at one stage heavily populated and urbanized, which is contrary to the recorded history of the region.

Instagram has taken to its blog to announce a rollout of AMBER Alerts, which are new notifications for users that will appear in the feed.

Emily Vacher, the Director of Trust and Safety at Instagram's parent company, Meta, explained in the blog post that the company will be launching AMBER Alerts on Instagram to help find missing children throughout users' local areas. Notably, Instagram writes that the feature was developed in partnership with several organizations such as the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) in the US, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children, the National Crime Agency in the UK, the Attorney General's Office in Mexico and more.

Furthermore, the new feature will be rolled out on June 1 in the US and will be fully available in 25 different countries in the coming weeks. The AMBER Alert that will be displayed in the Instagram feed will showcase images of the child, a description, the location of the child's abduction, and any other relevant information. Additionally, Instagram users will be able to share the AMBER Alert with friends and also contact authorities if they have any information.

NASA is currently preparing to explore the moon, and to do that, the space agency will need brand new spacesuits for its valiant astronauts.

The space agency has revealed the two companies that have been selected to construct next-generation spacesuits designed for spacewalks outside of the International Space Station (ISS) and exploring the surface of the moon. NASA has selected Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace, and have provided the companies with technical and safety standards that will need to be taken into account before any construction commences, as well as a requirement for the suits to be built around the new "xEMU" equipment (Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit).

Currently, NASA astronauts are using spacesuits that were designed approximately 45 years ago for the Space Shuttle program, and according to the agency, the new suits are expected to be ready sometime before 2025. Before being widely manufactured, the new spacesuits will first be tested by astronauts aboard the ISS and, if proven useful, will be what astronauts that explore the surface of the moon will be wearing in the years to come.

Many locals in the town of Broome, located in Western Australia, believed they were witnessing a meteor shower, but it turned out to be something else entirely.

ABC confirmed reports from many residents throughout the town that during the early hours of Monday morning, several loud sonic booms were heard/felt at around 12:30 am on Monday. Viewers that rushed outside saw space debris breaking up and streaking across the night. Some people believed what they were seeing was missiles or flares, but according to Harvard astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, who spoke to ABC, the light show that was seen by a few wasn't meteors, flares, or missiles, but a rocket.

The Harvard astrophysicist said that the rocket was a piece of a Chinese Long March 3 rocket that was launched in July last year. The rocket stage departed Earth's orbit and reentered the planet's atmosphere, where it eventually broke up and disintegrated in a fireball. "It [the rocket] launched a communications satellite called Tian Lian, which is actually a relay satellite that the Chinese astronauts on the Chinese space station use," said McDowell.

A new study published in the journal Neuroscience details a team of researchers accidentally creating violent hamsters.

The team of researchers writes in their study that they used CRISPR gene editing technology to remove a receptor, Avpr1as, for a naturally occurring hormone called vasopressin. The gene and the hormone are designed to regulate levels of teamwork and reduce social barriers. The team was able to determine that the two hamsters the test was performed on were without the gene receptor and the hormone by performing full scans on the subjects' brains.

The researchers expected that the removal of the gene/hormone would mean the hamsters wouldn't regulate their kindness towards each other and become extremely friendly, docile, and basically non-violent. Unfortunately, the polar opposite happened as both of the hamsters exhibited extreme communication with each other, became very territorial, and showed high levels of aggression toward hamsters of the same sex.

A study on the illusion titled "The Eye Pupil Adjusts to Illusorily Expanding Holes" has been published in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.

For 86% of people, looking at the central black hole in the above image causes it to appear to expand, as if you were moving into a darker environment. Researchers use illusions such as these in scientific settings to probe how the visual system works. The new "expanding hole" illusion tricks the brain into dilating our pupils to let in more light as if we are really moving into a darker environment and need to let more light into our eyes.

The researchers also tested different variations of the illusion on participants in their study. They found black to be the most effective color to cause the perception of an illusory expansion, with only 14% not experiencing it. Comparatively, the illusion didn't occur for 20% of participants when using any other color. How strongly participants perceived the illusion also correlated with how much their pupil diameter changed, and for colored variations, pupil constriction occurred instead of dilation.

NASA has recently debuted a new video of its helicopter making a record flight across the Red Planet's surface.

NASA has taken to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory YouTube channel to post a video of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter making its 25th flight. The flight occurred on April 8, 2022, and marked the longest and fastest flight Ingenuity has taken yet, covering an astonishing 2,310 feet at a max speed of 12 mph. Notably, the above video showcases sped-up footage of the 161.3-second flight, where the helicopter first reaches an altitude of 33 feet before beginning its flight.

Furthermore, NASA explains that once Ingenuity reaches its designated altitude, it turns southwest and begins to increase its speed. Checking NASA's flight logs on its website, we can see that Ingenuity has since taken many three more flights, all of which weren't as fast or as far as the flight that occurred on April 8. It should be noted that NASA only expected Ingenuity to fly a total of five times, as the helicopter was merely a technology demonstration.

The French inventor of the jetpack has unfortunately suffered from a horrible crash landing after falling 50 feet during a demonstration.

French inventor Franky Zapata was demonstrating a new jet-powered hoverboard when the demonstration took a turn for the worst as Zapata lost control of the device and began to climb in altitude while spinning uncontrollably. The crash occurred over a Lake Biscarosse, located on the west coast of France, and according to reports from BBC, Zapata is alive and recovering from the fall in hospital.

The event was captured by onlookers and was quickly posted to Twitter, where the video/s gained traction. Above, you can see Zapata flying what seems to be Zapata's company's "Flyboard Air", a device capable of reaching speeds of 87 mph, and, according to the company's website, "this machine can lose one engine and still fly. If it loses two engines, the pilot will perform a controlled landing."

Reports indicate that a device has been found at a Chinese space launch that is used to jam communication signals.

The Chinese newspaper named Beijing Daily has reported that researchers from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center located in the Gobi Desert, Inner Mongolia, have found a strange device that was causing "abnormal" interference with communications. Researchers at the launch site detected the communications interference and began looking for the device, which turned out to be a rather small frequency transmitter that only had a range of about 32 feet.

The size of the device and the proximity of the frequency it transmitted have caused researchers and authorities to speculate if the device was placed there intentionally in an attempt to sabotage China's upcoming launch where the space agency will send three astronauts to its newly constructed space station. However, authorities have yet to confirm if the device's placement was intentional or how it arrived where it was found. Furthermore, China's space agency has stated that it will go ahead with the launch.

A study on the new carbon capture method titled "Direct Air Capture of CO₂ Using a Liquid Amine-Solid Carbamic Acid Phase-Separation System Using Diamines Bearing an Aminocyclohexyl Group" has been published in the journal ACS Environmental Au.

Researchers from the Tokyo Metropolitan University have developed a new direct air capture (DAC) system for removing carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the atmosphere. The system passes atmospheric air with relatively low concentrations of CO₂ through an aqueous solution of isophorone diamine (IPDA), causing the carbon dioxide to react rapidly and create a solid product.

The solution can also be mildly heated to release the CO₂, allowing it to be collected and concentrated for storage or other applications. Heating the system to release the CO₂ enables it to be reused to capture more CO₂. The IPDA solution can capture 99% of the CO₂ in air and turn it into a solid carbamic acid precipitate.

A paper discussing potential alien civilizations titled "Estimating the prevalence of malicious extraterrestrial civilizations" has been uploaded to the pre-print server arXiv.

The paper is a thought experiment written by Alberto Caballero from the University of Vigo in Spain, who authored a recent paper on the origin of the famous Wow! signal, published in the International Journal of Astrobiology. The paper estimates that in our galaxy, the Milky Way, there are potentially about four "malicious extraterrestrial civilizations."

Caballero used data on how many external invasions have occurred over the last 50 years on Earth, meaning when one country invades another. Extrapolating this data to a galactic scale and pairing it with the estimation of as many as 15,785 civilizations that may inhabit the Milky Way allowed Caballero to determine that about 4.42 alien civilizations could be malevolent towards us. However, only 0.22 civilizations are capable of interstellar travel.

Iraq is one of the most climate-change-affected countries globally, suffering from extreme droughts for months and dropping water levels in the region.

The recently emerged settlement dates back to the Bronze Age and is a 3,400-year-old city once located along the Tigris River. Water levels of the Mosul reservoir have dropped enough to reveal the city, which is believed to have been an important settlement in the Mitanni Empire between approximately 1550 BC and 1350 BC.

Since December, water has been diverted from the Mosul reservoir to preserve crops suffering during the drought. Now, archaeologists are tasked with excavating and documenting as much of the city as possible before the water levels rise and submerge it once more.

The new discovery increases China's estimated total uranium reserve to two million tonnes, an amount close to that of Australia, one of the world's most uranium-rich countries.

The China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) found the industrial-grade uranium deposits at a depth of 3,000 meters (9843 feet), about six times deeper than most of the country's uranium mines. The majority of the country's uranium mines are typically small and have poorer ore quality, and the new mine makes a "major breakthrough" according to the CNNC.

Over 70 percent of China's uranium supply comes from other countries like Kazakhstan, Canada, and Australia, which China uses to expand its nuclear power supply rapidly. China builds about seven to eight new reactors each year, meaning its nuclear power supply is growing faster than any other country's.

The moon dust was collected by Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin from the moon in 1969.

Scientists at the time didn't know as much about the moon as we do now and were therefore concerned about the possibility of the astronauts bringing home some form of life that could threaten life on Earth. Thus, the crew, their spacecraft, and everything else that returned from the moon to Earth were quarantined for 21 days.

The Apollo 11 mission brought back 47.5 pounds (21.5 kilograms) of lunar rocks and dust to Earth. About ten percent of the matter was allocated for tests involving exposing animals to it to test how life on Earth might react to lunar material, including fish, mice, cockroaches, and more.

A study on the Super-Earth titled "A Super-Earth Orbiting Near the Inner Edge of the Habitable Zone around the M4.5-dwarf Ross 508" has been accepted for publication in the journal Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan.

Ross 508 is a faint red dwarf star located only 36.5 light-years from Earth. Astronomers have now found an exoplanet, named Ross 508 b, orbiting the star with a mass four times that of Earth's. The planet exists in the 'habitable zone' of its host star, where the temperature allows for the formation of liquid water on a planet's surface.

However, the habitable zone is not the only factor determining a planet's ability to support life as we know it. For instance, Mars falls within our Sun's habitable zone but cannot readily sustain life. Ross 508 b is likely to be terrestrial instead of a gas giant, given astronomer's understanding of planetary masses.