Science, Space, & Robotics - Page 99

The World Health Organization (WHO) tightened its guidelines on air quality roughly six months ago, and has now released a new update on its Air Pollution Data Portal.

The WHO estimates that 99% of the global population is experiencing higher risks of heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cancer, and pneumonia, due to current air pollution levels. Drawing on data from over 6,000 municipalities, the WHO has found air quality is poorest in the eastern Mediterranean and Southeast Asia regions, with Africa following.

NASA has announced that it has broken two records on the surface of Mars with its newest Mars rover called Perseverance.

According to NASA JPL, the Perseverance rover has recently broken two records, the first record being the longest drive in a single solar day, and the second being the longest AutoNav drive. The space agency announced that Perseverance has broken the previous record of 748 feet set by the Opportunity rover in March 2005. Now, Perseverance holds the record by recently completing a drive of 803 feet.

NASA also announced that Perseverance has broken its own record for the longest AutoNav drive, which is the rover's self-driving function. As you can probably imagine, Perseverance's AutoNav function allows for the rover to drive across the Martian surface autonomously using 3D maps and advanced software that maps any potential obstacles around Perseverance. With autonomous driving, Perseverance can move 393 feet in an hour.

A video has surfaced online that shows a remote-controlled robot dog walking down a street in China, barking orders and making announcements.

The above video posted by Jay In Shanghai shows a robot dog walking down a street in Shanghai, China, and attached to the dog via some kind of strap is a megaphone that can be heard making announcements. Shanghai is currently facing one of its most severe waves of COVID-19 as Chinese health officials have reported record numbers of new cases following an outbreak of the Omicron variant.

The robot dog seen in the above video is barking out COVID-19-related announcements to residents, most likely informing them that they must stay within their homes at all times, with Reuters reporting that Chinese residents in the affected area aren't even allowed to leave their home to take their garbage out. Reports indicate that Shanghai has recorded less than 8,000 asymptomatic COVID-19 cases and 438 symptomatic cases as of April 3.

The scientist that was busted for creating what could be considered the first gene-editing human babies has recently been released from prison.

A story emerged in 2018 about a scientist that used a technology called CRISPR that is designed to identify a specific bit of DNA within a cell and alter it. Additionally, the CRISPR technology is capable of turning specific genes on and off, and due to this technology's incredible power, many scientific and ethical concerns have been raised, especially after Chinese scientist He Jiankui was found guilty of using CRISPR to edit the genes of IVF embryos that were planted into a woman's uterus that later birthed into twin girls.

The scientist altered the genes of the twin girls to be resistant to infection of HIV, which the father of the children had. He Jiankui lost his position at the Southern Universe of Science and Technology in China, and was convicted in December 2019, where he was imprisoned for around three years, according to TechnologyReview. The publication reports that He has been released from prison, according to people "familiar with the situation" and that when recently called, he said, "It's not convenient to talk right now".

NASA's database that tracks all of the detected space rocks that could pose a threat to Earth indicates that an asteroid with an estimated diameter of about a mile is due to approach Earth soon.

NASA's Center for Near-Earth Studies (CNEOS) database lists the asteroid called 7335 (1989 JA), and states that its estimated diameter based on past measurements is 1.8 kilometers or 1.1 miles. The asteroid was first observed in 1989 by Helin, E. F. at Palomar and was last observed on March 26, 2022. 1989 JA will be the largest asteroid to approach Earth in 2022, and NASA expects that it will safely fly past our planet at a distance of 2.5 million from Earth or 0.02690 astronomical units.

Before 1989 JA arrives near Earth, another large asteroid called 2008 AG33 will approach Earth on April 28, and that asteroid is estimated to be anywhere between 1,083 feet and 2,428 feet in diameter. 2008 AG33 will be traveling at around 23,200 miles per hour when it flies safely past Earth at a distance of around two million miles.

An asteroid that is estimated to be one of the largest space rocks to approach Earth throughout 2022 will be making its close approach to Earth this month.

The asteroid is called 418135 (2008 AG33), and according to data from NASA's Center for Near-Earth Studies (CNEOS), the space rock will be making its closest approach with Earth on April 28 at 2:46 AM UTC, where it will come within two million miles of Earth. While two million miles is certainly quite a distance, in astronomical terms, it's relatively small, with the moon being an average 238,000 miles away from Earth and Mars being 140 million miles from Earth.

2008 AG33 is estimated to be anywhere between 1,083 feet and 2,428 feet in diameter, and if the asteroid's higher estimate is more accurate, it would mean that 2008 AG33 is as wide as two Empire State Buildings stacked on top of each other. If its diameter is closer to 1,083 feet, it would mean it's the same size as the Eiffel Tower. NASA's database reveals that there is an even larger space rock on its way, with its diameter estimated to be 1.1 miles across.

US and Ukrainian officials have claimed that abandoned Chernobyl nuclear power plant has been re-taken by Ukraine.

Within the first days of Russia's invasion it took the Chernobyl nuclear power plant causing major concern across Europe for the safety of the plant and the busted nuclear reactor that caused one of the worst nuclear disasters ever. Since Russia's invasion officials have reported interruptions with monitoring the reactor and that radiation levels around the plant have dramatically spiked due to forest fires.

Now, reports are surfacing that Russia has pulled out of Chernobyl and that on April 2 at 11:00 the Ukrainian flag was raised over the defunct power plant. The retreat from Russia follows reports of numerous Russian troops suffering from radiation poisoning with Ukrainian officials saying that they inhaled radioactive dust and were unaware of the dangers of the area.

A study on the speeds of sound on Mars titled "In situ recording of Mars soundscape" has been published in the journal Nature.

The Perseverance rover on Mars has recorded over five hours of sound using its microphones after landing on Mars in February last year. Perseverance recorded sounds made by the flying Ingenuity helicopter that accompanies the rover and sounds from its laser that it uses to analyze the chemical composition of Martian rock samples.

The research team found that sound travels roughly 240 meters per second on Mars, compared to 340 meters per second on Earth. Mars is expected to have a slower speed of sound, as its atmosphere is about a hundred times thinner than Earth's, with carbon dioxide making up 95% of it compared to 0.04% carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere, which also results in sounds becoming roughly 20 decibels weaker.

The Ingenuity Mars helicopter that accompanies the Perseverance rover has been spotted by a satellite orbiting the Red Planet.

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spotted Ingenuity with its HiRISE camera, which can capture 28-gigabit images in only six seconds. Ingenuity's rotors only span four feet (1.2 meters), making the image an impressive capture. HiRISE is often used to track the status of assets on Mars.

Currently, the Perseverance rover is located on fractured bedrock, which makes up the Maaz Formation. The rover is traversing over the formation, which is likely of volcanic origin, to reach a deltaic deposit several kilometers to the north.

A study on the genome sequencing titled "Complete genomic and epigenetic maps of human centromeres" has been published in the journal Science.

In 2003 the human genome was claimed to have been fully sequenced by scientists, but until recently, roughly eight percent of the genome had yet to be completely sequenced. The remaining DNA to sequence was mostly repetitive and difficult to align with the rest of the genome. A new complete genome has now been assembled by the Telomere-to-Telomere (T2T) consortium, dubbed T2T-CHM13, and succeeds the previous reference genome known as GRCh38.

A new study on the moon titled "Downward Oxidant Transport Through Europa's Ice Shell by Density-Driven Brine Percolation" has been published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

Europa is one of Jupiter's many moons and has a frozen surface with an ocean hidden just beneath. A new study indicates this ocean may be warm, salt-filled, and capable of fostering life. The research indicates the potential for oxygen to be pulled down into the subsurface ocean from the surface, where organisms could use it to sustain life.

Europa already has more than enough water for one of the essential ingredients to fuel life as we know it, having more water on it than Earth has in all of its oceans. Various chemical nutrients are also available, and tidal flexing from Jupiter provides the energy necessary to heat the moon's interior and prevent the subsurface ocean from freezing.

An overly active sunspot erupted, causing two powerful coronal mass ejections to be launched towards Earth at high speeds.

Earlier in the week, officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) warned that astronomers observed at least 17 solar eruptions over two days from the single sunspot called AR2975. Following the eruptions came two coronal mass ejections that merged into a "cannibal coronal mass ejection" that collided with Earth's magnetic field during the night on March 30 through to April 1.

The collision of the charged particles from the sun into Earth's magnetic field at 1,881,263 mph produced a G3 geomagnetic storm that resulted in an increased chance of auroras such as the northern/southern lights appearing. It should be noted that this particular CME impact is harmless to humans on the surface due to Earth's protective atmosphere, but larger blasts can cause problems for satellites, low-frequency radio navigation, and electricity grids.

Earlier in the week, officials reported observing at least 17 solar eruptions over the span of two days. Following the solar eruptions came a "cannibal coronal mass ejection (CME)."

A CME is a wave of charged particles that are can be released from the Sun when a solar flare occurs. In the recent instance, two CMEs were released following the multitude of solar eruptions, and these CMEs were headed straight for Earth. Officials described the second CME to be "cannibal" as it overtook the first and combined into one large wave of charged particles.

Read more: Powerful 'cannibal' Sun blast on its way to collide with Earth

A study on the cryovolcanoes titled "Large-scale cryovolcanic resurfacing on Pluto" has been published in the journal Nature Communications.

NASA's New Horizons mission has captured detailed images of the surface of Pluto, which new research has used to suggest two large mounds as being potentially active cryovolcanoes. The surface around these cryovolcanoes, or ice volcanoes, appears to have formed due to fairly recent activity.

The possibility of the active cryovolcanoes suggests liquid water could be flowing or have recently flowed under the dwarf planet's surface, and potentially more heat closer to Pluto's interior than previously thought. These conditions could allow for some form of life to exist on Pluto, hidden beneath the surface.

The moon sample will be auctioned by the Bonhams auction house on April 13th.

The sample contains lunar dust collected by Neil Armstrong on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. The item is expected to sell for as much as $1.2 million and was described by the auction house as "the only example of verified Apollo 11 Moon dust that can be legally sold."

Plans for SpaceX's Starlink satellites show that the constellation hopes to one day grow to 42,000 strong.

CEO of SpaceX, Elon Musk, has estimated on Twitter that within the next 18 months, over 4200 Starlink satellites will be operational. When disregarding defunct satellites still in orbit, this number will mean that Starlink satellites make up two-thirds of all operational satellites around Earth. This will also require more than a doubling of active Starlink satellites within the same period.

Before that tweet, Musk said that the progress of his SpaceX Falcon team was going well, which is responsible for the Falcon 9 rockets the Starlink satellites are launched aboard. Since the first Starlink launch in May 2019, over 2,000 Starlink satellites have been sent into orbit, with over 1,600 currently operational.

The area of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone dubbed the "Red Forest," only became known as such after the Chernobyl disaster.

In the "Red Forest," high levels of radiation absorbed by the pine trees in the area caused them to turn red. Since then, large swathes of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone have come under Russian control and have been sites of active combat since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. A Russian troop convoy has been spotted making its way through the area without protective gear.

The International Space Station (ISS) remains at an altitude of about 250 miles, and regularly astronauts aboard the station venture out for a spacewalk to conduct repairs/make improvements to the station.

During astronauts' spacewalks, they are often photographed or filmed, but not regularly does someone capture a spacewalk from the surface of Earth. German astrophotographer Sebastian Voltmer snapped a high-quality image of the ISS that shows NASA astronaut Raja Chari and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Matthias Maurer out on a spacewalk sometime last week.

According to Voltmer, the image was captured on March 23, 2022, using the C11 EdgeHD telescope. Furthermore, the astrophotographer said that throughout the spacewalk, the ISS started to appear in the bright morning sky over Germany. "I feel like I just made a once-in-a-lifetime image. It's probably the first ground-based picture showing two spacewalkers on the ISS at the same time," wrote Voltmer.

Officials recently warned that Earth is due to be impacted by a powerful solar storm on March 31 that will likely cause incredible auroras in certain locations around the planet.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) warned that active sunspot AR2975 erupted 17 solar flares over two days, resulting in two and possibly three coronal mass ejections (CME) to be hurled towards Earth. The massive wave ejected from the Sun is magnetized charged particles that are expected to hit Earth and trigger a moderate geomagnetic storm that NOAA has categorized as G3, which means it has little chance of causing any severe damage to infrastructure such as satellites.

The two CMEs heading for Earth have merged into what is called a "cannibal coronal mass ejection", which is when the second CME overtakes the first CME, combining together to form one large wave of charged particles. NOAA expects that the CME impact will trigger auroras that could be seen as far south as Pennsylvania, Iowa, and Oregon.

NASA and the European Space Agency's Hubble Space Telescope has broken a record for capturing the light from a star that existed within the first billion years of the universe.

Researchers have used the Hubble Space Telescope to identify what is now considered to be the furthest star that humans know of, breaking the previous record held by MACS J1149+2223 Lensed Star 1, which existed 4 billion years after the Big Bang. NASA has announced that the newly discovered star is called Earendel, which means "morning star," and is 12.9 billion light-years away from Earth.

The light from the morning star has taken 12.9 billion years to reach Earth which means that it existed when the universe was only 7% of its current age, or 900 million years after the Big Bang. Researchers estimate that Earendel is at least 50 times the mass of our Sun and millions of times as bright. Additionally, the newly discovered star isn't expected to have any metal and would mostly be composed of only hydrogen and helium.