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Category: space – Page 17

PACMAN AI framework for controlling fusion systems safely makes key decisions in milliseconds

Inside some fusion energy systems, particles hotter than the core of the sun can become unruly in a few thousandths of a second, far faster than any human operator can react. A new software framework developed by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) and Princeton University hands those split-second decisions to artificial intelligence (AI), while keeping the machine safe and humans firmly in charge of the goals.

Known as PACMAN (a novel abbreviation for Prediction And Control using MAchiNe learning), the AI framework was successfully tested on a real fusion system in five experiments. The framework’s design and first results are detailed in a new paper in the journal Nuclear Fusion.

Fusion could one day serve as a virtually unlimited source of electricity. Scientists are working on several ways to perfect the process here on Earth, including devices called tokamaks, which use powerful magnetic fields to hold a plasma: an electrically charged gas often called the fourth state of matter. Keeping the plasma hot, dense and stable requires constant adjustments to the tokamak, including its heating systems, magnets and gas injectors. The fusion reaction can be thwarted by small disturbances in the plasma, known as instabilities, that grow in milliseconds.

College of Letters & Science, University of WisconsinMadison

Researchers with the Wisconsin Center for Origins Research have discovered their first exoplanet, a 170-million-year-old planet more than 2.5 times larger than the Earth.

It’s nearly 170 million years old. It’s more than 2.5 times the size of Earth. And it’s the first exoplanet discovered and catalogued by researchers with the Wisconsin Center for Origins Research (WiCOR).

Max Kroft, a graduate student in the lab of Assistant Professor of Astronomy Thomas Beatty, is the lead author on a paper that characterizes GJ 523b, a dense exoplanet that’s classified as a “Mega-Earth” due to its massive size. The paper is currently under review and will be available through the open-access archive arXiv.

Hubble tracks new decagon encircling Saturn’s south pole

Recent observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have revealed a giant, evolving 10-sided atmospheric wave encircling Saturn’s south pole. This discovery marks the first time a large regular-sided jet pattern has been observed in the planet’s southern hemisphere. The feature appears remarkably similar to Saturn’s famous hexagon at its northern pole, but is also distinctly different, suggesting scientists may be witnessing a new atmospheric phenomenon develop on the iconic gas giant.

Introducing GPT-6 Astra: the most intelligent and aligned model in the world

GPT-6 Astra achieves state-of-the-art results on benchmarks for long-running computer-use tasks across professions and desktop apps, which means anything you can do on a computer, Astra can do for you, fast.

It’s also the best model for software engineering to date and our most aligned model yet, with improvements in honesty and reductions in deceptive behavior.

GPT-6 Astra is rolling out today for enterprises and customers in our Trusted Access Program, with broad availability in ChatGPT Work and Codex coming to Plus, Pro, Business and Enterprise plans, and API and AWS customers in the next few days.

To experience Astra at its best, use the ChatGPT desktop app.

Put That There\

In 1990, NASA recovered tomato seeds after nearly 6 years on LDEF; classroom tests found space seeds germinated at 73.8% versus 70.3% for Earth controls

If you were in a classroom in the early 1990s, there is a real chance you planted a piece of space history without even realizing it. NASA sent Rutgers tomato seeds into space for nearly six years and then gave them to 3.3 million students across the country, according to NASA’s Technical Reports Server. Years before people started talking about growing food on Mars, this quiet classroom project was already testing whether seeds could survive years of space radiation and still grow.

Why NASA left seeds in orbit for six years

The seeds were never meant to stay in space that long. The project, called the Space Exposed Experiment Developed for Students, or SEEDS, was a collaboration between NASA Headquarters, NASA’s Langley Research Center, and the George W. Park Seed Company. Rutgers tomato seeds were loaded onto the Long Duration Exposure Facility, a satellite designed to see how materials and biological samples perform over periods in orbit. The Challenger disaster in January 1986 changed the timeline, grounding the shuttle program for about 32 months until it returned to flight in September 1988. The satellite stayed in space far longer than expected. When it finally returned to Earth in January 1990, the tomato seeds had been in orbit for nearly six years. They had been exposed to radiation and solar wind the entire time.