Thursday, October 17, 2024

Scientists Begin Search For Radio Signals From ‘Solar System 2.0'

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Headlines:

• **Space Exploration**: NASA's Parker Solar Probe Discovers Massive Wave of Energy at the Sun's Edge (NASA)

• **Climate and Environment**: Global Carbon Emissions Reach Record High, Threatening Climate Goals (BBC)

• **Medical Breakthroughs**: First Human Trials of CRISPR Gene Editing Therapy for Blindness Show Positive Results (The New York Times)

• **Technology**: Apple Announces Advanced AI-Powered Tech to Revolutionize Healthcare (Apple Newsroom)

• **Business and Economy**: Global Economic Growth Expected to Slow Down Amid Trade Tensions (The Wall Street Journal)

• **International Relations**: US and China Agree on Trade Deal... Averting New Tariffs (Financial Times)

• **Science and Research**: Scientists Identify New Species of Ancient Human in the Philippines (Science Magazine) Please let me know if you need more!

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Scientists have just completed an extensive search for signs of alien technology in the TRAPPIST-1 star system, the so-called "solar system 2.0" just 41 light-years distant in the Milky Way.

They found no evidence from within the star system, which is known to have seven planets orbiting a red dwarf star. That makes TRAPPIST-1 the star system most similar to the solar system.

Although the search for technosignatures at TRAPPIST-1 was fruitless, the research proved a new way to search for such signals in the future. "This research shows we are getting closer to detecting radio signals similar to the ones we send into space," said Nick Tusay, a graduate student research fellow at Penn State University, which conducted the ground-breaking project with the SETI Institute, in a press release .

Lithuanian Star Survey Could Offer Shortcut To Finding Exo-Earths

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The old adage that we are stardust is literally true. But is there a link between a star's given chemical composition and the types of planets it may form?

For almost a decade now, a dedicated team of Lithuanian astronomers has been trying to answer this conundrum using a state-of-the-art spectrograph at a telescope some 70 km outside Vilnius.

The Vilnius University astronomers have been taking spectra (measurements of wavelengths of light) from thousands of solar type stars on every clear night since 2016. A prime goal is to take the chemical fingerprints of these bright F, G, and K spectral type stars to determine whether there are possible links between the chemical makeup of these stars and the planets that they may harbor.

We find overabundances of some stellar chemical elements and those planet-hosting stars, Vilnius University astrophysicist Gražina Tautvaišienė, the survey's lead and head of the Moletai Astronomical Observatory, told me in her office. If we can do this successfully, the goal will be to find a shortcut to detecting rocky planets, Tautvaišienė, who has just been elected as Vice President of the International Astronomical Union, says.

The team has already garnered the spectra of some 1500 bright solar type stars using the high-resolution Vilnius University Echelle Spectrograph. About the size of a compact car, VUES sits alone in a climate-controlled room on a floor below the main dome of the Moletai Observatory's 1.65-meter optical telescope.

Wednesday, October 16, 2024

How To Get The UFO Ending

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ABC7 New York - NY News, Local News, Breaking News, Weather

Police are investigating after an 18-year-old was shot in the head in Brooklyn on a basketball court on Wednesday.

Looking for ideas on how to dress your little one up this Halloween? Shop our picks for costumes they'll love.

Mike Marza speaks to CaringKind CEO Eleonora C. Tornatore-Mikesh about the 36th Annual CaringKind New York City Walk for Alzheimer's.

The golden doodle puppies are helping to bring joy to the district's nearly 12,000 students and 1,700 staffers spread across 24 buildings.

Do you have an issue with a company that you haven't been able to resolve? If so, 7 On Your Side wants to help you!

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Konami's new Silent Hill 2 Remake brings back one of the most iconic and funny secrets from the original game: the UFO Ending. This joke ending requires a bit of work to unlock, but it's a fun nod to fans of the franchise.

The UFO Ending is one of the two joke endings that you can get in the Silent Hill 2 Remake . Just like the original game, this bizarre conclusion is unlocked through some very specific actions you carry out during a New Game Plus run.

If you're a longtime fan of the franchise, you'll know it's a tradition for the Silent Hill games to feature a fever dream-like UFO ending in each one.

You need to finish the game at least once. The UFO Ending can only be unlocked in a New Game Plus file, so make sure you've wrapped up a full run before attempting this Easter egg.

Space Presents The Final Frontier For Energy

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Headlines:

• "Astronomers Discover Massive Galaxy Hidden Behind Veil of Gas and Dust": Scientists have uncovered a gigantic galaxy hiding behind a thick veil of gas and dust, providing new insights into the formation and evolution of the universe. (Source: NASA) • "Renewable Energy Breakthrough: New Solar Panels Convert Sunlight into Liquid Fuel": Researchers have developed a breakthrough technology that converts sunlight into liquid fuel, paving the way for a cleaner and more sustainable energy future. (Source: Science Magazine) • "Europe to Invest Billions in Renewable Energy Sources": The European Union has announced plans to invest billions of euros in renewable energy sources... aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve a carbon-neutral future. (Source: The New York Times) • "Revolutionary New Material Can Absorb Carbon Dioxide Faster Than Ever Before": Scientists have developed a new material that can absorb carbon dioxide faster and more efficiently than ever before, offering hope in the fight against climate change. (Source: BBC News) • "Elon Musk Unveils Ambitious Plan to Drum Up Electric Vehicle Adoption": Elon Musk has announced plans to ramp up electric vehicle production... aiming to make sustainable transportation accessible to the masses and accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy. (Source: Forbes) • "China to Invest Heavily in Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure": China has announced plans to invest heavily in electric vehicle charging infrastructure, "aiming to support the growth of the electric vehicle market and reduce dependence on fossil fuels." (Source: Reuters) • "New Study Reveals Surprising Benefits of a Plant-Based Diet for the Environment": A new study has found that a plant-based diet can have a significant impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating climate change, "making it a key component of a sustainable ---style." (Source: The Guardian)

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Astronomers Find Evidence Of An Exomoon Spewing A Volcanic Cloud

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Astronomers have identified thousands of planets orbiting distant stars using sophisticated observatories. But there's something they have yet to spot with any certainty: moons around those worlds.

Now a recent discovery around a Saturn-size planet 635 light-years from Earth offers one of the best potential clues that exomoons orbit exoplanets out there in the Milky Way. And this possible moon, as described by scientists, is putting on an explosive show, blasting volcanic matter and noxious gases that then drift off into its stellar neighborhood like a comet's serpentine tail.

The possible evidence of an erupting satellite was described last month in The Astrophysical Journal Letters . Astronomers have been observing a puffy planet named WASP-49 b for years, but the new paper argues that a sodium cloud whizzing around it does not come from the planet. It might be created by a hypervolcanic companion moon spewing 220,000 pounds of the material every second.

"I would say that the sodium signal is definitely intriguing, given the way it seems to dance around the planet, and that an exomoon is an exciting possibility," said Jessie Christiansen , the chief scientist of the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute, who was not involved in the study.

With an elliptical orbit around Jupiter, Io experiences gravitational tugs that vary between weak and strong. That kneads the moon, generating internal friction, heat and magma. The result is endless volcanic eruptions on Io, which jettison an array of material, including sodium, into space.

If an exomoon had a similar level of volcanism, it could exhibit that kind of sodium stream. "I make a lot of jokes about how volcanoes could be smoking guns," said Apurva Oza , a planetary astrophysicist at the California Institute of Technology and an author of the study.

In 2017, a sodium cloud was detected around WASP-49 b. The planet is mostly made of hydrogen and helium, so it couldn't be the source of the sodium. In a 2019 study , Dr. Oza and his colleagues wondered if the sodium's source might be the exhaust of an Io-like moon.

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Tuesday, October 15, 2024

Bezos' Blue Origin Rocket “Has A Chance”

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Headlines:

Up until now it is Elon Musk's SpaceX that has added snappy names to its floating landing vessels. Musk's fleet is named ⁘Just Read the Instructions', ⁘A Shortfall of Gravitas' and ⁘Of Course I Still Love You'. Now The Jeff Bezos-backed Blue Origin rocket business is getting into the act.

For example, Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket is playfully called ⁘So you're telling me there's a chance'.

Dave Limp, Blue Origin's CEO, explains that the company had what he called a "cool history" of naming key hardware. "We're calling New Glenn's first booster ⁘So You're Telling Me There's a Chance'. Why? No one has landed a reusable booster on the first try. Yet, we're going for it, and humbly submit having good confidence in landing it. But like I said a couple of weeks ago, if we don't, we'll learn and keep trying until we do."

Limp was talking to CNBC's Michael Sheetz, and referring to Blue Origin's powerful BE-4 rocket engine already successfully used on October 4th by the United Launch Alliance on its giant Vulcan Centaur rockets.

But much depends on successful integration of seven of these engines into the New Glenn reusable rocket and then a flawless debut flight for the vehicle which will eventually carry Amazon's Project Kuiper broadband satellites.

New Glenn had a successful first ground test back on September 23rd, and another on September 24th.

The timing of these pre-launch tests is crucial especially given the multitude of delays on the rocket. Development of the New Glenn rocket started before 2013 and was formally announced in 2016, with an inaugural flight planned for 2020. After numerous delays, as of September 2024, the first launch is expected to take place no earlier than November 2024, carrying a prototype Blue Ring spacecraft.

Then, and assuming all goes well, the heavy lift New Glenn rocket will start carrying numerous Kuiper satellites on each flight. Back in April 2022 Amazon ordered 27 New Glenn rockets to help with the Kuiper 3236 mission. Each flight is capable of lifting 45 metric tonnes of cargo to Low Earth orbit.

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NASA Wants To Send Humans To Mars In The 2030s ⁘ A Crewed Mission Could Unlock Some Of The...

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Headlines:

• "Japan's Hayabusa2 Spacecraft Makes Historic Landing on Dwarf Planet Ceres" (CNN)

• "Elon Musk's Starlink Satellite Internet Service Makes Global Debut" (The Verge)

• "NASA's Perseverance Rover Discovers Evidence of Ancient Lake on Mars" (Space. com)

• "China's Tianwen-1 Spacecraft Successfully Enters Mars Orbit" (Xinhua News)

• "SpaceX's Crew-1 Mission Returns to Earth with NASA Astronauts Aboard" (NASA)

• "European Space Agency's Rosalind Franklin Rover Set to Explore Mars in 2023" (The Guardian)

• "Scientists Discover Water on Moon's Surface, Raising Hope for Future Human Settlement" (BBC News)

• "Russia's Soyuz Spacecraft Makes Emergency Landing After Launch Failure" (TASS)

• "Private Space Station Company Set to Launch First Module to Orbit in 2024" (CNBC) These bullet points provide current news headlines from around the world, "focusing on space exploration," "technology.".. and scientific breakthroughs.

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NASA plans to send humans on a scientific round trip to Mars potentially as early as 2035. The trip will take about six to seven months each way and will cover up to 250 million miles (402 million kilometers) each way . The astronauts may spend as many as 500 days on the planet⁘s surface before returning to Earth .

NASA⁘s Artemis program plans to return humans to the Moon this decade to practice and prepare for a Mars mission as early as the 2030s. While NASA has several reasons for pursuing such an ambitious mission, the biggest is scientific exploration and discovery.

While Mars⁘ surface is totally devoid of liquid water today, scientists have spotted evidence of those past lakes, rivers and even an ocean coastline on its surface. Its north and south poles are covered in frozen water, with a thin veneer of frozen carbon dioxide. At the south pole during the summer, the carbon dioxide veneer disappears, leaving the frozen water exposed.

Scientists know quite a bit about the planet⁘s surface from sending robotic missions, but there are still many interesting geologic features to investigate more closely. These features could tell researchers more about the solar system⁘s formation.

Monday, October 14, 2024

SpaceX's Starship 'Chopstick Landing' Technique Just Made Every Kerbal Space Program Enthusiast Go...

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Kerbal Space Program is one of those games where, if you caught the bug, it never really left you. I still sometimes fall asleep at night envisioning new and creative ways to build rockets that fail miserably, despite not having touched the game for well over a year now.

Watching the latest SpaceX Starship booster return footage though, I felt that familiar itch return again (via BBC News ). Elon Musk's pet space project has achieved many remarkable feats in the past few years, but manoeuvring a Super Heavy rocket booster down to a launch pad under its own power, turning upright on its end, and then catching it with a pair of chopsticks in mid-air in a perfect display of tech ballet really strikes as a breakthrough moment for spaceflight.

What makes this even more impressive? It was the first proper attempt at this rocket booster capture method and one that SpaceX's engineers thought was something of a long shot. After all, the company has taken the tech industry approach of ⁘move fast, break stuff⁘ to something of an extreme in previous attempts to both launch and land its rocket boosters , and this new 'mid-air catch' method looked like its most ambitious version to date.

That's compounded by the fact that, a mere 18 months ago, Starship's inaugural flight ended in, well, an explosion. Now here it is (or at least a part of it, anyway), gently boosting itself back down to Earth like physics is no big deal.

Just two minutes before landing, final checks were still being made to determine whether the attempt was possible, or whether it was better to bail out and dump the booster in the Gulf of Mexico.

Still, the call was made, and the audible cheers from the SpaceX team and observers are enough to send a genuine shiver down the spine as the booster first slows its descent, then manoeuvres itself gently into position, before being clamped into place.

As for the ship section (which eventually, Musk and his engineers hope will take a crew to the Moon, Mars, and potentially beyond ), that too made something of a successful ⁘landing⁘ in the Indian Ocean roughly 40 minutes later.

Turkish Discovery Officially Recognized As 'Asteroid'

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The project was led by Ayşe Arslan, a science teacher at Düzce BILSEM who has been engaged in space observation for five years, along with Ömer Selim Esen, a 14-year-old ninth grade student at Düzce Turgut Özal Anadolu High School. Their work was part of the "Asteroid Discovery Campaign," supported by the International Astronomical Search Collaboration (IASC).

Ayşe Arslan shared her excitement with Anadolu Agency (AA), noting that after their application to the Asteroid Discovery Campaign was accepted, they began their observations using data sets provided to them. They utilized specialized software to analyze the data and submitted their reports to the Minor Planet Center of the IASC.

Ömer Selim Esen expressed his pride in their discovery, recalling, "We discovered this asteroid three years ago. A long time has passed, but I still remember that moment vividly. It is very valuable to me." Driven by his curiosity about astronomy, Esen has been involved in various projects at BILSEM for seven years.

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The Latest Frontiers Of Space Exploration And History

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Recent discoveries suggest Christopher Columbus might have been a Sephardic Jew from Western Europe, according to DNA analysis conducted by Spanish researchers. This revelation sheds light on the enduring mystery surrounding Columbus's origins, a matter long contested by multiple nations.

The head of the Italian Space Agency, Teodoro Valente, emphasizes the critical role of private investment in space exploration. Ahead of the International Astronautical Congress in Milan, Valente argues against demonizing private companies, stating their entry is crucial for the space economy's exponential growth.

NASA is preparing to launch the Europa Clipper spacecraft to investigate the habitability of Jupiter's moon Europa, aiming to uncover secrets beneath its icy surface. Meanwhile, India is strategizing to capture commercial space markets by focusing on affordable satellite launches and space data analytics.

Sunday, October 13, 2024

New Breakthrough Helps Free Up Space For Robots To 'Think', Say Scientists

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Headlines:

Engineers have worked out how to give robots complex instructions without electricity for the first time which could free up more space in the robotic 'brain' for them to 'think'.

They say this world first opens up the possibility of a new generation of robots, whose bodies could operate independently of their built-in control centre, with this space potentially being used instead for more complex AI powered software.

The findings, published in Advanced Science could also enable the creation of robots able to operate in situations where electricity-powered devices cannot work, such as exploration in irradiated areas like Chernobyl which destroy circuits, and in electric sensitive environments like MRI rooms.

The researchers also hope that these robots could eventually be used in low-income countries which do not have reliable access to electricity.

"Software has advanced rapidly in recent years, but hardware has not kept up. By creating a hardware system independent from the software running it, we can offload a lot of the computational load onto the hardware, in the same way your brain doesn't need to tell your heart to beat."

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Lebanon Rocked By Wave Of Hand-held Radio Blasts As 'Solar Energy Systems Explode...

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Lebanon has been rocked by a second wave of blasts, this time linked to hand-held radios, as reports have emerged that solar energy systems have exploded in several areas as well.

Following the second wave of explosions, Israel's defence minister declared a "new phase" of the war as its army turned its attention to the northern front with Lebanon.

Multiple reports have come in from Lebanon saying hand-held radios used by Hezbollah have exploded across the country's south, and in the southern suburbs of the capital.

On the ground in Beirut - a 'city under siege': The sound of the bombings is terrifying and there is no end in sight

While Wednesday's explosions seemingly targeted Hezbollah members, it is not clear whether or not bystanders were caught in the blasts as well.

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