Physics meets machine learning.
The Progress and Promise for Science in Indonesia Regional Special Feature focuses on biodiversity and climate change, highlighting research based on the unique geology and biology of a nation comprising more than 17,600 islands, containing about 10 percent of the world’s remaining tropical forests, and home to over 300,000 species of wildlife.
Discussion with Jeff Krehmer about his book Infinite Resources: How to sustainably develop the arctic, by supplying green hydrogen, fresh water and healthy food to the world, while mitigating the negative effects of anthropocentric climate change.
Links related to Infinite Resources:
The book Infinite Resources:
https://www.amazon.com/Infinite-Resou?tag=lifeboatfound-20…
Moon-shots program incubator:
https://foresightcac.com/earthtech205…
Engage Jeff Krehmer:
www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-krehmer/
Links:
Quora blog: https://spacefaringcivilization.quora…
Amazon Author page: http://amazon.com/author/ronfriedman.
My Website: https://ronsfriedman.wordpress.com/
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Lakes and seas of liquid methane exist on Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, due to the moon’s bone-chilling cold temperatures at-290 degrees Fahrenheit (−179 degrees Celsius), whereas it can only exist as a gas on Earth. But do these lakes and seas of liquid methane strewn across Titan’s surface remain static, or do they exhibit wave activity like the lakes and seas of liquid water on Earth? This is what a recent study published in Science Advances hopes to address as a team of researchers have investigated coastal shoreline erosion on Titan’s surface resulting from wave activity. This study holds the potential to help researchers better understand the formation and evolution of planetary surfaces throughout the solar system and how well they relate to Earth.
For the study, the researchers used a combination of shoreline analogs on Earth, orbital images obtained by NASA’s now-retired Cassini spacecraft, coastal evolution models, and several mathematical equations to ascertain the processes responsible for shoreline morphology across Titan’s surface. Through this, the researchers were able to construct coastal erosion models depicting how wave activity could be responsible for changes in shoreline morphology at numerous locations across Titan’s surface.
“We can say, based on our results, that if the coastlines of Titan’s seas have eroded, waves are the most likely culprit,” said Dr. Taylor Perron, who is a Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a co-author on the study. “If we could stand at the edge of one of Titan’s seas, we might see waves of liquid methane and ethane lapping on the shore and crashing on the coasts during storms. And they would be capable of eroding the material that the coast is made of.”
Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science discovered a new type of vortex formed by photon interactions, which could advance quantum computing.
Vortex Phenomena
Vortices are a widespread natural phenomenon, observable in the swirling formations of galaxies, tornadoes, and hurricanes, as well as in simpler settings like a stirring cup of tea or the water spiraling down a bathtub drain. Typically, vortices arise when a rapidly moving substance such as air or water meets a slower-moving area, creating a circular motion around a fixed axis. Essentially, vortices serve to reconcile the differences in flow speeds between adjoining regions.
A team from Nagoya University invented a heat-switch device for lunar rovers to withstand the Moon’s extreme temperatures. The technology optimizes thermal control, alternating between cooling and insulating, facilitating longer missions with less energy.
Astronauts navigating the moon’s terrain in a vehicle contend with not only the perils of zero gravity and potential crater falls, but also drastic temperature swings. The moon’s climate ranges from searing highs of 127°C (260°F) to bone-chilling lows of −173°C (−280°F).
Team from Nagoya University in Japan developed a heat-switch device designed to enhance the durability of lunar rovers. Their collaborative research with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency was featured in the journal Applied Thermal Engineering.
LAFAYETTE, Colo. - The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has selected RTX’s small satellite manufacturer and mission services provider Blue Canyon Technologies in Lafayette, Colo., to build two 12U CubeSat buses for NASA’s PolSIR mission.
The PolSIR mission will study ice clouds that form at high altitudes throughout tropical and sub-tropical regions. In addition to designing and manufacturing the bus platforms, Blue Canyon will also provide mission operations services.
The PolSIR instrument –Polarized Submillimeter Ice-cloud Radiometer– will observe the full diurnal cycle of high-altitude ice clouds to improve climate forecasts and provide climate models with important insights into how Earth’s atmosphere will change in the future.
Dr. Adomas Valantinas: “What we’re seeing may be a remnant of an ancient climate cycle on modern Mars, where you had precipitation and maybe even snowfall on these volcanoes in the past.”
How unique is the climate of Mars compared to Earth? This is what a recent study published in Nature Geoscience hopes to address as a team of international researchers investigated how frost could form on the summits of volcanoes that comprise the Tharsis volcanic province on Mars. This study holds the potential to help researchers better understand the present-day water cycle on the Red Planet and could have implications for harnessing some of it for future human exploration, as well.
For the study, the researchers used more than 30,000 images from the European Space Agency’s Trace Gas orbiter and the European Space Agency’s Mars Express orbiter to analyze morning frost on the summits of Olympus Mons (Mars’ tallest volcano and the tallest planetary mountain in the solar system), Arsia and Ascraeus Montes, and Ceraunius Tholus. Additionally, the researchers used climate model simulations to ascertain if water could condense and form at these summits, as well.
Around two million years ago, Earth was a very different place, with our early human ancestors living alongside saber-toothed tigers, mastodons, and enormous rodents. And, depending on where they were, they may have been cold: Earth had fallen into a deep freeze, with multiple ice ages coming and going until about 12,000 years ago.
Scientists theorize that ice ages occur for a number of reasons, including the planet’s tilt and rotation, shifting plate tectonics, volcanic eruptions, and carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. But what if drastic changes like these are not only a result of Earth’s environment, but also the sun’s location in the galaxy?
In a new paper published in Nature Astronomy, lead author and astrophysicist Merav Opher—an astronomy professor at Boston University and fellow at Harvard Radcliffe Institute— found evidence that some two million years ago, the solar system encountered an interstellar cloud so dense that it could have interfered with the sun’s solar wind. Opher and her co-authors believe this shows that the sun’s location in space might shape Earth’s history more than previously considered.