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Archive for the ‘space’ category: Page 329

Dec 5, 2021

This scarily smart technology just revealed 301 new planets

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, space

Machine learning could help humanity discover more than ever.


Looking to the future, astronomers are excited to see how machine learning will enhance surveys.

Dec 4, 2021

Development of a single-process platform for the manufacture of graphene quantum dots

Posted by in categories: chemistry, nanotechnology, particle physics, quantum physics, solar power, space, sustainability

Graphene consists of a planar structure, with carbon atoms connected in a hexagonal shape that resembles a beehive. When graphene is reduced to several nanometers (nm) in size, it becomes a graphene quantum dot that exhibits fluorescent and semiconductor properties. Graphene quantum dots can be used in various applications as a novel material, including display screens, solar cells, secondary batteries, bioimaging, lighting, photocatalysis, and sensors. Interest in graphene quantum dots is growing, because recent research has demonstrated that controlling the proportion of heteroatoms (such as nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorous) within the carbon structures of certain materials enhances their optical, electrical, and catalytic properties.

The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST, President Seok-Jin Yoon) reported that the research team led by Dr. Byung-Joon Moon and Dr. Sukang Bae of the Functional Composite Materials Research Center have developed a technique to precisely control the bonding structure of single heteroatoms in the graphene quantum dot, which is a zero-dimensional carbon nanomaterial, through simple chemical reaction control; and that they identified the relevant reaction mechanisms.

With the aim of controlling heteroatom incorporation within the graphene quantum dot, researchers have previously investigated using additives that introduce the heteroatom into the dot after the dot itself has already been synthesized. The dot then had to be purified further, so this method added several steps to the overall fabrication process. Another method that was studied involved the simultaneous use of multiple organic precursors (which are the main ingredients for dot synthesis), along with the additives that contain the heteroatom. However, these methods had significant disadvantages, including reduced crystallinity in the final product and lower overall reaction yield, since several additional purification steps had to be implemented. Furthermore, in order to obtain quantum dots with the chemical compositions desired by manufacturers, various reaction conditions, such as the proportion of additives, would have to be optimized.

Dec 4, 2021

China lunar rover to check out cube-shaped ‘mystery house’ object on far side of the moon

Posted by in categories: habitats, space

Yutu-2 snapped a fuzzy view of something interesting on the horizon.

Dec 4, 2021

“30 days of terror”: The James Webb telescope’s troubles are just getting started

Posted by in category: space

Turns out, the launch is the easy part.


It’s taken decades to prepare the James Webb telescope for it’s December launch. But that’s really just the end of the easy part of the space telescope.

Dec 4, 2021

Tiny Crystal of Energy Is a Promising Future Source of Power on the Moon

Posted by in categories: solar power, space, sustainability

This crystal of iron pyrite, just four hundredths of a millimeter in size, could function as the light absorbing layer of a tiny solar cell – potentially a promising future source of power on the Moon.

Working with Estonia’s Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech), ESA has studied the production of sandpaper-like rolls of such microcrystals as the basis of monograin-layer solar cells.

“We’re looking at these microcrystals in the context of future lunar settlement,” explains ESA advanced manufacturing engineer Advenit Makaya. “Future Moon bases will need to ‘live off the land’ in order to be sustainable, and the iron and sulfur needed to produce pyrite could be retrieved from the lunar surface.”

Dec 4, 2021

NASA funds three companies to develop commercial space stations

Posted by in category: space

The agency wants to ensure a smooth transition to commercial flight.


NASA granted over $400 million to three US commercial space companies. This move is a part of a bigger plan to enable low-Earth orbit for commercial stations while NASA slowly transitions LEO from the International Space Station.

Continue reading “NASA funds three companies to develop commercial space stations” »

Dec 4, 2021

NASA is about to launch a laser demo that could revolutionize space communication

Posted by in categories: futurism, space

NASA’s upcoming Laser Communications Relay Demonstration could revolutionize the way the agency communicates with future missions across the solar system.

These lasers could lead to more high-definition videos and photos from space than ever before, according to the agency.

Dec 3, 2021

Part of Earth’s Water Came from the Sun, New Study Suggests

Posted by in category: space

“The Earth was very water-rich compared to other rocky planets in the Solar System, with oceans covering more than 70% of its surface, and scientists had long puzzled over the exact source of it all,” said Professor Phil Bland, director of the Space Science and Technology Centre at Curtin University.

“An existing theory is that water was carried to Earth in the final stages of its formation on C-type asteroids, however previous testing of the isotopic ‘fingerprint’ of these asteroids found they, on average, didn’t match with the water found on Earth meaning there was at least one other unaccounted for source.”

“Our research suggests the solar wind created water on the surface of tiny dust grains and this isotopically lighter water likely provided the remainder of the Earth’s water.”

Dec 3, 2021

The First ‘Space Hotel’ Plans to Open in 2027

Posted by in category: space

How one aerospace company is preparing for the advent of tourism in outer space.

Dec 3, 2021

Facebook Exiting The Facial Recognition Game

Posted by in categories: information science, robotics/AI, space, surveillance

Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook is pulling the plug on its facial recognition program. The company is planning to delete more than one billion people’s individual facial recognition templates, and will no longer automatically recognize people’s faces in photos or videos as a result of this change, according to its own post. The use of facial recognition technology has a disparate impact on people of color, disenfranchising a group who already face inequality, and Facebook seems to be acknowledging this inherent harm. The Breakdown You Need to Know.

CultureBanx reported that Meta seems to always be embroiled in corporate drama and with intense scrutiny. When you add that to the growing concern from users and regulators that facial recognition space remains complicated, an exit makes sense. More than 600 million daily active users on Facebook had opted into the use of the face recognition technology.

Research shows commercial artificial intelligence systems tend to have higher error rates for women and black people. Some facial recognition systems would only confuse light-skin men 0.8% of the time and would have an error rate of 34.7% for dark-skin women. Just imagine surveillance being used with these flawed algorithms. A 2018 IDC report noted it expects worldwide spending on cognitive and AI systems to reach $77.6 billion in 2022.