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Category: space – Page 23

In this video we explore…ourselves. What can and can’t be conscious? And where did consciousness come from. A huge thanks to our Patreons who help make these videos possible. Sign-up here: https://bit.ly/4aiJZNF

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Continue reading “You’re Made of Rocks That Learned How to Think… But How?” | >

Is the universe infinite, Aristotle asked in 350 BCE, “or is this an impossibility? The decision … is … all-important to our search for the truth.” The Greek philosopher opined that “the heavens” (meaning the moon, planets, sun and other stars) travel around the Earth in circles, and that a “body which moves in a circle is not endless or infinite, but has its limit.” Moreover, he assumed that Earth sits at the center of the universe. In that case, the universe must be finite, Aristotle reasoned, for otherwise it could not have a center. With that, he’d apparently resolved an issue that had confounded both his predecessors and his contemporaries.

Circular as Aristotle’s logic was, his conclusion could still be correct. More than two millennia later, we still can’t be sure if the universe is finite or infinite. The universe could be boundless, continuing in all directions without end, or it could be sealed up in a compact shape such as a sphere or doughnut.

Of course, modern scientists have wondered about this issue as well. They’ve devised strategies to investigate the universe’s overall topology, using methods more rigorous than Aristotle’s. The first tests, conducted about two decades ago, linked a range of possible topologies to signals that might have been spotted in astronomical data. Efforts to find those signals have come up short, but hope may be on the horizon.

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s future, predicting a $10 trillion valuation driven by the launch of the Optimus robot and full self-driving technology, alongside ambitious plans for a Robo taxi service and significant production growth +# ## Key Insights.

S vertically integrated supply chains and in-house development of Optimus components make it difficult for competitors to replicate their success in robotics and AI. + Economic Impact.

S most valuable company, worth more than the next 5 largest companies combined, primarily due to autonomous vehicles and robots. + ⏰Autonomous Tesla vehicles are expected to increase car utility by 5x, operating 55 hours/week instead of the typical 10 hours, enabling 24/7 ride-hailing and delivery services.

Safety and Technology.

S Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology is reported to be 8 times safer per mile than human driving, with continuous improvements and updates. + s real-world AI for self-driving is so advanced that Musk jokes competitors would need a telescope to see them, highlighting Tesla Energy and Infrastructure.

S energy storage solutions are becoming increasingly important, potentially doubling the grid Future Outlook.

Continue reading “Tesla Robotaxi Launch in June: Elon Insanely Bullish” | >

On Thursday January 30th, astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore are doing a 6.5-hour spacewalk outside the International Space Station. Among other goals, they’ll be collecting surface samples from the station to analyze for the presence of microbes.

The ISS “surface swab” is part of the ISS External Microorganisms project. It was developed to understand how microorganisms are transported by crew members to space. It also seeks to understand what happens to those “mini-critters” in the space environment.

NASA will provide live coverage of the walk which will also conduct some other maintenance on the station along with the sampling activities.

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When astronomers detected the first long-predicted gravitational waves in 2015, it opened a whole new window into the Universe. Before that, astronomy depended on observations of light in all its wavelengths.

We also use light to communicate, mostly radio waves. Could we use gravitational waves to communicate?

The idea is intriguing, though beyond our capabilities right now. Still, there’s value in exploring the hypothetical, as the future has a way of arriving sooner than we sometimes think.

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Using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), astronomers from the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) and elsewhere have observed an ultra-diffuse galaxy known as FCC 224. Results of the observational campaign, published Jan. 18 on the arXiv pre-print server, provide important insights into the properties of this galaxy and its globular cluster system.

Globular clusters (GCs) are collections of tightly bound stars orbiting galaxies. Astronomers perceive them as natural laboratories enabling studies on the evolution of stars and galaxies. In particular, GCs could help researchers to better understand the formation history and evolution of early-type , as the origin of GCs seems to be closely linked to periods of intense star formation.

Located some 65 million light years away in the Fornax galaxy cluster, FCC 224 is a quiescent about 10 billion years old. It has a major axis effective radius of approximately 6,160 light years and its mass is estimated to be at a level of 200 million solar masses.

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Did Mars have lakes and rivers during a single period or over separate periods? This is what a recent study published in Nature Geoscience hopes to address as an international team of researchers investigated whether Mars experienced a single event of liquid water on its surface, or many events spread over millions of years. This study has the potential to help scientists better understand the early conditions on Mars and whether these conditions were suitable to support life as we know it.

“Early Mars is a lost world, but it can be reconstructed in great detail if we ask the right questions,” said Dr. Robin Wordsworth, who is a Gordon McKay Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering at Harvard University and a co-author on the study. “This study synthesizes atmospheric chemistry and climate for the first time, to make some striking new predictions – which are testable once we bring Mars rocks back to Earth.”

For the study, the researchers used a series of computer models to simulate how the atmosphere on Mars billions of years ago potentially reacted to surface water-rock interactions and climate changes over time. The goal was to ascertain whether Mars experienced a single event of liquid water on its surface, or a series of events spread over millions of years with periods of dryness in between them.

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“The presence of methane is critical to the existence of Titan’s atmosphere,” said Dr. Kelly Miller. “Scientists think an internal source must replenish the methane, or else the atmosphere has a geologically short lifetime.”

Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, is the only moon in the solar system with a dense atmosphere which is comprised of thick hazes of 95 percent nitrogen (N2) and 5 percent methane (NH4) that require radar instruments to see the moon’s surface. But what processes are responsible for keeping this thick atmosphere from escaping to space? This is what a recent study published in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta hopes to address as a team of researchers led by the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) investigated how processes occurring in Titan’s interior could be fueling Titan’s atmosphere, specifically the methane.

“The presence of methane is critical to the existence of Titan’s atmosphere,” said Dr. Kelly Miller, who is a SwRI research scientist and lead author of the study. “The methane is removed by reactions caused by sunlight and would disappear in about 30 million years after which the atmosphere would freeze onto the surface. Scientists think an internal source must replenish the methane, or else the atmosphere has a geologically short lifetime.”

For the study, the researchers conducted a series of laboratory experiments with organic matter obtained from the Murchison meteorite to simulate conditions on Titan that could help explain how its atmosphere is replenished from the interior. In the end, the researchers found that temperatures above 250 degrees Celsius (482 degrees Fahrenheit) result in the methane production that is enough to replenish Titan’s atmosphere, along with enough nitrogen production to replenish the atmosphere, as well.

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