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Category: space – Page 424

New type of bolometer detector for far-infrared telescopes

To study how stars and planets are born we have to look at star cradles hidden in cool clouds of dust. Far-infrared telescopes are able to pierce through those clouds. Conventionally, niobium nitride bolometers are used as the detectors, despite their low operating temperature of 4 Kelvin (−269° Celsius).

Now Yuner Gan (SRON/RUG), together with a team of scientists at SRON, TU Delft, Chalmers University and RUG, has developed a new type of bolometer, made of magnesium diboride, with an operating temperature of 20 Kelvin or above. This can significantly reduce the cost, complexity, weight and volume of the space instruments.

Conventional, superconducting niobium nitride (NbN) hot electron bolometers (HEBs) are so far the most sensitive heterodyne detectors for high-resolution spectroscopy at far-infrared frequencies. Heterodyne detectors take advantage of a local oscillator to convert a terahertz line into a gigahertz line.

Scientists observe high-speed star formation

Gas clouds in the Cygnus X Region, a region where stars form, are composed of a dense core of molecular hydrogen (H2) and an atomic shell. These ensembles of clouds interact with each other dynamically in order to quickly form new stars. That is the result of observations conducted by an international team led by scientists at the University of Cologne’s Institute of Astrophysics and at the University of Maryland.

Until now, it was unclear how this process precisely unfolds. The Cygnus X region is a vast luminous cloud of gas and dust approximately 5,000 light years from Earth. Using observations of spectral lines of ionized carbon (CII), the scientists showed that the clouds have formed there over several million years, which is a fast process by astronomical standards. The results of the study, “Ionized carbon as a tracer for the assembly of interstellar clouds,” will appear in the next issue of Nature Astronomy.

The observations were carried out in an international project led by Dr. Nicola Schneider at the University of Cologne and Prof Alexander Tielens at the University of Maryland as part of the FEEDBACK program on board the flying observatory SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy). The new findings modify previous perceptions that this specific process of star formation is quasi-static and quite slow. The dynamic formation process now observed would also explain the formation of particularly massive stars.

The Syntellect Hypothesis: The Most Probable Path to Our Future Transcendent Superintelligence

Could we imagine a world where our minds are fused together and interlinked with machine intelligence to such a degree that every facet of consciousness is infinitely augmented? How could we explore the landscapes of inner space, when human brains and synthetic intelligence blend together to generate new structures of consciousness? Is it possible to interpret the ongoing geopolitical events through the lens of the awakening Gaia perspective?

#SyntellectHypothesis #cybernetics #superintelligence #consciousness #emergence #futurism #AGI #GlobalMind #geopolitics

“When we look through the other end of the telescope, however, we can see a different pattern. We can make out what I call the One Mind — not a subdivision of consciousness, but the overarching, inclusive dimension to which all the mental components of all individual minds, past, present, and future belong. I capitalize the One Mind to distinguish it from the single, one mind that each individual appears to possess.” — Larry Dossey

Is humanity evolving into a hybrid cybernetic species, interconnected through the Global Mind? When might the Web become self-aware? What will it feel like to elevate our consciousness to a global level once our neocortices are fully connected to the Web?

THE SYNTELLECT HYPOTHESIS: A NEW EXTENSION TO THE GAIA THEORY

In their study of the biosphere, Lynn Margulis and James Lovelock found that Earth behaves like a living organism with characteristics such as dynamic equilibrium, stability, and self-regulation, or homeostasis. They named this entity Gaia, after the Greek goddess of the Earth, and hypothesized that all life forms interact with the environment to regulate the planet’s properties. Earth’s temperature, oxygen content, and ocean chemistry have remained conducive to life for millions of years due to the regulatory effects of biological processes. As life evolves, it impacts its surroundings, leading to either stabilizing or destabilizing feedback loops. The Gaia hypothesis suggests that stabilizing states enable further biological evolution to reconfigure interactions between life and the planet.

Caltech to Launch Space Solar Power Technology Demo into Orbit in January

In January 2023, the Caltech Space Solar Power Project (SSPP) is poised to launch into orbit a prototype, dubbed the Space Solar Power Demonstrator (SSPD), which will test several key components of an ambitious plan to harvest solar power in space and beam the energy back to Earth.

Space solar power provides a way to tap into the practically unlimited supply of solar energy in outer space, where the energy is constantly available without being subjected to the cycles of day and night, seasons, and cloud cover.

-I think someone may have posted it, but if not its a good read.

The launch represents the first in-situ test of the technology to harvest solar energy in space and transmit it to Earth.

Mars Society Announces Ongoing Partnership with Million on Mars

A message from Mars Society Executive Director James Burk:

I am pleased to announce our partnership with Million on Mars.

Million on Mars is a game where you can explore creating and growing your own settlement on Mars. It is set in the 2070s, and the Ad Astra Unlimited corporation led by fictional character “Lane Dusk” has solved transportation, but the challenge is now on you – the brave settler of Mars – will you go hard on Solar or perhaps Thorium Salt Reactors? Become an agricultural maven, or go hard on mining and smelting? Or perhaps go deep into the Aerospace profession and continue settling the solar system?

System provides cooling with no electricity

The new system is described today in a paper in the journal Science Advances, by MIT graduate student Arny Leroy, professor of mechanical engineering and department head Evelyn Wang, and seven others at MIT and at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.

Such a system could be used, for example, as a way to keep vegetables and fruit from spoiling, potentially doubling the time the produce could remain fresh, in remote places where reliable power for refrigeration is not available, Leroy explains.

2022 story:

https://news.mit.edu/2022/passive-cooling-off-grid-0920

Imagine a device that can sit outside under blazing sunlight on a clear day, and without using any power cool things down by more than 23 degrees Fahrenheit (13 degrees Celsius). It almost sounds like magic, but a new system designed by researchers at MIT and in Chile can do exactly that.

The device, which has no moving parts, works by a process called radiative cooling. It blocks incoming sunlight to keep from heating it up, and at the same time efficiently radiates infrared light — which is essentially heat — that passes straight out into the sky and into space, cooling the device significantly below the ambient air temperature.

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