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Archive for the ‘space’ category: Page 332

Nov 27, 2021

Physicists Outlined a Simple New Way to Create Antimatter

Posted by in categories: physics, space

A group of researchers has outlined a surprisingly simple method for recreating the conditions near a neutron star, a breakthrough that could lead to new unimagined scientific discoveries revolving around the mysterious role of antimatter, a report from New Atlas explains.

The team of physicists designed a device, detailed in a paper in the journal Communications Physics, that fires two lasers at each other. The result is that the energy from the two lasers is simultaneously converted into matter, in the form of electrons, as well as antimatter, in the form of positrons.

Nov 27, 2021

SmartFarm harvests air moisture for autonomous, self-sustaining urban farming

Posted by in categories: food, robotics/AI, space, sustainability

Advanced hydrogel used in SmartFarm was also tested for space-based agriculture.

Nov 26, 2021

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Completes a Record-Setting Swing by the Sun

Posted by in categories: government, space

Blazing along at space-record speeds that would get it from Earth to the Moon in under an hour, NASA

Established in 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an independent agency of the United States Federal Government that succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). It is responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. It’s vision is “To discover and expand knowledge for the benefit of humanity.”

Nov 26, 2021

Thanksgiving in space means a cosmic ‘turkey trot’ for astronauts (video)

Posted by in categories: food, space

Astronauts on the International Space Station plan a “turkey trot” and some special food in honor of U.S. Thanksgiving on Thursday (Nov. 25).

Five astronauts of the seven-person Expedition 66 crew gathered to film a YouTube video released Monday (Nov. 22) by NASA’s Johnson Space Center about how they will celebrate the holiday while in orbit.

Nov 26, 2021

Virgin Galactic announces winner of free trip to suborbital space

Posted by in categories: energy, health, space

Keisha S., a health and energy coach from the Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda, just won a free trip to suborbital space with Virgin Galactic.

Nov 26, 2021

“Incident” that Occurred During Loading Pushes the Webb Launch Date to Dec. 22nd

Posted by in category: space

At Europe’s Spaceport near Kourou in French Guiana, technicians are busy getting the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) ready for launch. The observatory arrived at the facility on Oct. 12th and was placed inside the upper stage of the Ariane 5 rocket that will carry it to space on Nov. 11th. The upper stage was then hoisted high above the core stage and boosters so that a team of engineers could integrate them.

Unfortunately, an “incident” occurred shortly after when the engineers attempted to attach the upper stage to the launch vehicle adapter (LVA) to the launch vehicle. According to a NASA Blogs post, the incident involved the sudden release of a clamp band (which secures the JWST to the LVA), which sent vibrations throughout the observatory. According to NASA, this incident could push the JWST’s launch date (slated for Dec. 18th) to Dec. 22nd.

A NASA-led anomaly review board was immediately convened to investigate the unexpected development and recommend how to proceed. The board recommended that additional testing be instituted to “determine with certainty” that the incident did not damage any components. NASA also indicated that it and its mission partners would provide an update when the testing is completed, which is expected to be by the end of this week.

Nov 26, 2021

Are Viruses Alive? — with Carl Zimmer

Posted by in categories: evolution, space

Are viruses alive or are they lifeless packages of protein and nucleic acid?
Watch the Q&A: https://youtu.be/-LUQTjdHYNo.
Carl’s book “Life’s Edge: The Search for What It Means to Be Alive” is available now — https://geni.us/zimmer.

Countless scientists around the world study life, and yet they can’t really agree on what it is. Join New York Times columnist Carl Zimmer as he explores the boundaries of life, encountering viruses and other strange residents of the borderlands.

Continue reading “Are Viruses Alive? — with Carl Zimmer” »

Nov 26, 2021

New hypothesis argues the universe simulates itself into existence

Posted by in categories: physics, space

A physics paper proposes neither you nor the world around you are real.

Nov 25, 2021

Scientists Say There May Be “Humans” All Over the Universe

Posted by in categories: evolution, space

Imagine, if you will, that future humans manage to travel to other worlds and find… more humans.

According to one University of Cambridge astrobiologist, that scenario may be more likely than you’d think.

In a new interview with the BBC’s Science Focus magazine, an evolutionary palaeobiologist at the institution’s Department of Earth Sciences named Simon Conway Morris declared that researchers can “say with reasonable confidence” that human-like evolution has occurred in other locations around the universe.

Nov 25, 2021

“Ghost particles” detected in the Large Hadron Collider for first time

Posted by in categories: particle physics, space

Physicists have detected “ghost particles” in the Large Hadron Collider for the first time. An experiment called FASER picked up telltale signals of neutrinos being produced in particle collisions, which can help scientists better understand key physics.

Neutrinos are elementary particles that are electrically neutral, extremely light and rarely interact with particles of matter. That makes them tricky to detect, even though they’re very common – in fact, there are billions of neutrinos streaming through your body right now. Because of this, they’re often described as ghost particles.

Neutrinos are produced in stars, supernovae, quasars. radioactive decay and from cosmic rays interacting with atoms in the Earth’s atmosphere. It’s long been thought that particle accelerators like the LHC should be making them too, but without the right instruments they would just zip away undetected.