Science, Space, & Robotics - Page 93

A new study has confirmed that on some asteroids, the seeds of life are present, which means life could have been brought to Earth and not developed on the planet.

The quest to find the origin of life has been one scientists and researchers have been progressing in for many years, and now a newly published study hopes to fill a gap in that research. The new paper published in the peer-reviewed Nature Communications journal explains that all living things have DNA and RNA, and DNA and RNA are made up of five information components named nucleobases.

A team of researchers that consisted of scientists from Japan and the US studied three carbonaceous meteorites that fell to the surface of Earth in Australia, the US, and Canada. The researchers were able to discover two new nucleobases in the meteorites, cytosine, and thymine. Previously researchers were only able to discover three out of the five components, meaning this research has put the last puzzle piece in place.

A "fictosexual" man in Japan married a hologram of the pop singer of his dreams four years ago now, but he's no longer happy with her... as he can't communicate with his wife.

Japanese newspaper The Mainichi talked with Akihiko Kondo, who said he had reached a technical roadblock with Hatsune Miku after the company that made, and provides the AI and hologram to communicate with her was no longer providing him with the service.

Kondo said: "It's not that people can't live in society because they're engrossed in a two-dimensional world, but rather, there are cases where people become captivated as they search for a place for themselves in video games and anime, because reality is too painful for them. I was one of those people".

The West Japan Rail Company (or JR West) unveiled its Gundam-style heavy equipment robot for carrying out repairs.

The robot takes on the appearance of a humanoid upper body mounted on the end of a hydraulic crane arm, which rides around on the rail system atop a specially braced rail car. The rail car can deploy stabilizing legs when it arrives at its destination along the line, allowing the robot to manipulate heavy equipment around the rail system instead of workers "to improve productivity and safety."

The robot is controlled by a human pilot wearing a virtual reality (VR) headset. Motion tracking allows the pilot to turn their head and have the robot turn its head accordingly while streaming what it sees to the pilot. The pilot also controls the robot's arms and hands with a pair of handles, and if an external force moves the robot's arms, that motion will feed back into the pilot's grips.

Researchers from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) will be presenting new information about the Milky Way in about two weeks.

The presentation will feature results from the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) project that brought the world the first-ever image of a black hole in 2019. The EHT has since been studying Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), the galactic center of the Milky Way galaxy, and an astronomical radio source, an object in space that emits strong radio waves.

Sgr A* is believed to be a supermassive black hole, and confirmation of such could comprise part of the upcoming presentation. A press conference from the project's findings will be hosted on May 12th, 2022, at 15:00 CEST (13:00 UTC), which will be live-streamed on the ESO's YouTube channel. Following that, a live Q&A event will be hosted on the same channel for the public to query a panel of EHT experts.

A new project status update from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reveals SpaceX's Starship will have to wait a while longer to get off the ground.

SpaceX's Starship and Super Heavy Launch Vehicle Program has been awaiting the finalization of the FAA's Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) in order to conduct its first orbital test flight. The draft of the PEA was first published for review on September 17th, 2021, and after multiple delays will now be finalized no sooner than May 31st, 2022.

To conduct Starship and Super Heavy launch operations, SpaceX had to apply for and obtain permits and licenses from the FAA to operate such a vehicle. In order to grant such permits and licenses, the FAA has to conduct a review of "public safety issues," "national security or foreign policy concerns," "insurance requirements for the launch operator," and "potential environmental impact."

SpaceX has taken to its Twitter account to share new footage of the Dragon capsule firing its thrusters towards the International Space Station (ISS).

The video displays numerous of the Crew Dragon spacecraft's Draco thrusters, as mentioned by SpaceX in the posts caption. The Crew Dragon capsule carried four astronauts to the ISS as part of NASA and SpaceX's Crew-4 mission that launched on Wednesday, April 27 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The Dragon capsule also transported cargo to the ISS and one piece of cargo was a genetic seed bank containing DNA samples from various species and humans. The Crew-4 mission marks SpaceX's sixth time it has taken a crewed mission into orbit and the fourth crewed mission to the ISS. Notably, the Dragon capsule is capable of autonomously navigating itself to dock with the ISS, meaning the astronauts onboard can sit back and enjoy the truly incredible ride.

On the morning of April 27, a small flaming meteor dashed across the sky with about thirty eyewitnesses, but many felt its boom.

NASA has taken to its blog to detail the event, and the space agency explains that the fireball was a meteor estimated to be about a foot in diameter entering Earth's atmosphere over southern Mississippi. The meteor was first spotted about 54 miles above the Mississippi River near the town of Alcorn, and according to NASA, the 90-pound space rock was traveling 55,000 miles per hour throughout the atmosphere, disintegrating and fragmenting as it pushed deeper.

As the meteor heated up from friction and fragmented, NASA estimates it generated the same amount of energy as 3 tons of TNT (trinitrotoluene), "which created shock waves that propagated to the ground, producing the booms and vibrations felt by people in the area," writes NASA. Notably, as the fireball heated up, it shone bright, and at its peak, it was ten times brighter than the full moon. Eventually, the fireball fully disintegrated about 34 miles above a swampy area close to Minorca in Louisiana.

In the first few days of this month, NASA outlines what skywatchers can expect out of the month of April, and to close out the last few days of April, skywatchers can expect a planetary conjunction.

As explained in NASA's blog post from April 1, Jupiter and Venus will be meeting in a planetary conjunction on the morning of April 30. Skywatchers will see what appears to be the two planets colliding into each other due to the glare. As the conjunction reaches its pinnacle, both the planets will merge into one blur of light that will produce a "spectacular glow", according to NASA.

Notably, the space agency explains that the "merger" is actually an illusion as Venus and Jupiter are many millions of miles apart. This illusion is caused by an alignment of Jupiter, Venus, and Earth and only happens when the alignment is absolute. NASA also states that this magnificent celestial event will continue into the morning of May 1, but the positions of Jupiter and Venus will be reversed.

Next month there is an upcoming astronomical event where the moon will appear completely full in the night sky.

According to reports from space.com, the next full moon is scheduled to happen on Monday, May 16 at 12:14 am and will also feature the first total lunar eclipse of 2022. As the next full moon will occur in May, it's also called the Flower Moon, with April's full moon being called the Pink Moon and June's the Strawberry Moon. Notably, the May full moon will feature a total lunar eclipse that occurs when the shadow of Earth is cast directly onto the surface of the moon.

A lunar eclipse only occurs when the Sun, Earth, and the moon are exactly or very closely aligned with Earth's position in-between the Sun and the moon. Furthermore, a lunar eclipse only occurs on the night of a full moon; hence it's featuring with May's upcoming Flower Moon. So, why does the moon go blood red during a lunar eclipse? The moon turns a red hue due to Earth blocking all of the sunlight.

A new study has linked overexposure to Wi-Fi radiation and cell phone use to the development of Alzheimer's disease.

The new study has been published in the journal Current Alzheimer Research, and according to a recently released press release, its generally agreed that Alzheimer's is caused by a large buildup of calcium in the brain. The study states that electronically generated electromagnetic fields (EMFs) may be contributing to the buildup of that calcium. These EMFs are emitted from devices such as mobile phones.

"EMFs act via peak electric and time varying magnetic forces at a nanosecond time scale. Any of these may produce the ultimate nightmare - extremely early onset Alzheimer's Disease," said Martin Pall of Washington State University, who authored the study. Furthermore, the study states that young individuals that are exposed to "cell phone or Wi-Fi radiation" for many hours per day are at risk of developing "digital dementia".

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has launched on April 27 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, taking four astronauts and new cargo to the International Space Station (ISS).

The Falcon 9 recently lifted off, transporting NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Robert Hines, Jessica Watkins, and European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti. The astronauts will remain aboard the floating laboratory for six months, where they will conduct experiments and progress through their science mission. Along with the astronauts was cargo that included a biobank that contained DNA samples from 500 different species and 2,000 different humans.

The collection of DNA samples comes from space and genomics company LifeShip, which also plans on eventually sending DNA to the surface of the moon. The capsule that contains the samples is designed to shield the DNA from radiation to avoid any degradation. In an email statement, LifeShip wrote, "It's humanity's first off-world genetic seed bank!", and described the DNA container as a "genetic time capsule". Below is why LifeShip believes its necessary to send DNA off-planet.

NASA's database that logs near-Earth objects has listed an asteroid that could be up to 2,560 feet in diameter.

The asteroid is dubbed 2008 AG33 and is estimated to be anywhere between 1,150 and 2,560 feet in diameter. NASA's database indicates that the large asteroid that may be twice the size of the Empire State Building will safely pass Earth at a distance of about 2 million miles on April 28. Furthermore, the space rock will zoom past our planet at a ridiculous speed of 23,264 miles per hour.

Notably, the moon is approximately 240,000 miles away from Earth, which really puts into perspective how far away 2008 AG33's close approach is from Earth. However, two million miles is a very short distance when discussing celestial objects, as some stars and planets are located millions of light-years away. 2008 AG33 will pass Earth every seven years as it proceeds through its orbit around the sun.

China's National Health Commission (NHC) confirmed the first known instance of the H3N8 strain of avian flu in a human patient.

A four-year-old boy from the Henan province was hospitalized earlier in April with a fever and other symptoms and has since tested positive for the H3N8 strain. H3N8 first emerged in the North American waterfowl in 2002 and has been known to infect horses, dogs, and seals.

According to the NHC, the case is a "one-off cross-species transmission, and the risk of large-scale transmission is low." However, it has issued warnings to the public to stay away from sick or dead birds and seek immediate treatment for fevers or respiratory symptoms.

Private space company Launcher demonstrated its E-2 rocket engine's capabilities on April 21st, 2022.

The E-2 is a "closed cycle 3D-printed, high-performance liquid rocket engine" that Launcher has developed for its Launcher Light launch vehicle, which has its inaugural launch scheduled for 2024. The Launcher Light will reach low-Earth orbit using only one E-2 engine while carrying a payload of 150 kilograms (330 pounds).

The successful test-fire of the engine was conducted at the NASA Stennis Space Center, producing ten metric tons of thrust (22,046 lbf, or pounds of force) and 100 bar (1,450 psi) of combustion pressure. The engine uses liquid oxygen (LOX) and kerosene fuel in a 2.62:1 ratio.

Four planets aligned with the moon in the night sky on April 23rd, and now two space stations have joined the club.

Both the International Space Station and China's Tianhe-1 station joined Jupiter, Venus, Mars, and Saturn, in the night sky only four days later, on April 27th in a photograph taken by Italian astrophysicist Gianluca Masi. Masi left his home in Rome at 4 a.m. to capture images of the aligned planets, with the moon visible and each of the space stations, which he knew would cross the same region of the sky within about fifteen minutes of each other.

The four-planet alignment will last until early July, and NASA says the best viewing time for observers is about an hour before sunrise. Sometime in June, Mercury will join the aforementioned planets in the night sky to create a relatively infrequent five-planet alignment. Uranus and Neptune will also be visible in the same portions of the sky around the same time, though they will require binoculars and telescopes to spot, respectively.

NASA's Ingenuity helicopter on Mars has returned to the scene of Perseverance's landing on the Red Planet just over a year ago.

The panoramic view shows the backshell of NASA's Perseverance rover to the left of the image center. The supersonic parachute used to carry the rover down to the planet's surface is visible on the far right. When Perseverance landed on February 18th, 2021, it jettisoned both the backshell and parachute at an altitude of 1.3 miles (2.1 kilometers).

The backshell and parachute impacted the surface at about 78 miles (126 kilometers) per hour. Images of the components were requested by engineers working on the Mars Sample Return program to help inform them of the components' performance throughout Perseverance's entry, descent, and landing.

On April 22, NASA took to its blog and social channels to showcase an image captured by its Juno spacecraft orbiting Jupiter.

The photograph was captured on February 25, 2022, and features a large oval-shaped shadow on the left-hand side. This shadow is being created by Jupiter's largest of four moons, Ganymede, that is passing between the sun and Jupiter. NASA explains that Ganymede orbits Jupiter at an approximate distance of 666,000 miles and that the Juno spacecraft orbits the large gas giant at a distance of 44,000 miles, which is about 15 times closer than Ganymede.

Furthermore, the space agency explains that Jupiter's four moons frequently pass between the planet and the sun, resulting in shadows such as these being cast. Over the course of seven days, Jupiter's largest moon will pass once, Europa will pass twice, and IO four times, according to NASA. The above image was captured with Juno's "JunoCam". For more information on this story, check out this link here.

Elon Musk only recently purchased Twitter earlier this week and is now already talking about the next big company he is planning on buying.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO has taken to his personal Twitter account to announce that the next company he will be buying is Coca-Cola, as he wants to "put the cocaine back in". Musk posted the tweet on April 28 and was asked by his followers if he could purchase Fox to create another season of Firefly that ended on 2003. Musk replied to the question by saying that it would be great if there was "Some sci-fi that actually features sci-fi", followed by calling Battlestar Galactica a "great show!".

From the tone of how the tweet is read, I think it's safe to assume that Musk doesn't actually intend to purchase Coca-Cola to put the cocaine back in the drink, as he has previously stated during interviews that he isn't a drug user and the entire idea being overall illegal/preposterous. The SpaceX and Tesla CEO just made a public joke, nothing more, nothing less.

Elon Musk has officially acquired Twitter in a deal that -- money aside -- has bluechecks losing their minds. But that could be temporary, as their minds can be calmed with a brain-computer interface (BCI) thanks to Neuralink.

Musk is going to do something with all of that data that is housed in Twitter's servers and algorithms, which could be fed into Neuralink... the perfect data set. Everything the world has typed into 140-character tweets since its inception, with an AI learning it all... and then the BCI (brain-computer interface) being inserted, quite literally, into your head.

If you thought the SpaceX and Tesla CEO was spending acquiring Twitter for $44 billion, and was just going to reinstate President Trump's account -- he's not coming back, he said so -- you'd be wrong. $44,000,000,000 is a lot of money, with so many 0s and 1s that could be used with Neuralink in the future.

A study on the vessels titled "Composition of trace residues from the contents of 11th-12th century sphero-conical vessels from Jerusalem" has published in the journal PLoS One.

The ancient ceramic vessels originated from Jerusalem sometime around the 11th and 12th centuries, and new analysis indicates they may have been used as a form of medieval hand grenade. Researchers found similar vessels often contained scented oils, medicines, and various materials, but the vessels they analyzed appear to have been used to hold flammable and potentially explosive material.

Similar vessels have been reported as being used during the time of the Crusades and were known for "producing loud noises and bright flashes of light." The material inside the vessels analyzed indicates it was a unique, locally produced explosive, not black powder.