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Category: space – Page 441

The robotic explorer GLIMPSE, created at ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich, has made it into the final round of a competition for prospecting resources in space. The long-term goal is for the robot to explore the south polar region of the moon.

The south polar region of the moon is believed to contain many resources that would be useful for lunar base operations, such as metals, water in the form of ice, and oxygen stored in rocks. But to find them, an explorer robot that can withstand the extreme conditions of this part of the moon is needed. Numerous craters make moving around difficult, while the low angle of the sunlight and thick layers of dust impede the use of light-based measuring instruments. Strong fluctuations in temperature pose a further challenge.

The European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Space Resources Innovation Center ESRIC called on European and Canadian engineering teams to develop robots and tools capable of mapping and prospecting the shadowy south polar region of the moon, between the Shoemaker and the Faustini craters. To do this, the researchers had to adapt terrestrial exploration technologies for the harsh conditions on the moon.

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A team of astronomers led by University of Michigan’s Ian Roederer and including Carnegie’s Erika Holmbeck have identified the widest range of elements yet observed in a star beyond our own Sun. Their findings will be published in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series.

The researchers identified 65 elements in the star, which is called HD 222925. Of these, 42 are from the bottom of the periodic table. Their identification will help astronomers better understand rapid neutron capture process — one of the main methods by which the universe’s heavy elements were created.

“To the best of my knowledge, that’s a record for any object beyond our Solar System. And what makes this star so unique is that it has a very high relative proportion of the elements listed along the bottom two-thirds of the periodic table. We even detected gold,” explained Roederer, a former Carnegie postdoc. “These elements were made by the rapid neutron capture process. That’s really the thing we’re trying to study: the physics in understanding how, where and when those elements were made.”

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We believe Mars may once have had oceans and sky, but lost them from a lack of a magnetosphere. How does this happen, and how can we create a magnetosphere for Mars so we can terraform and live on it?

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Martian Magnetosphere paper by R.A. Bamford: https://arxiv.org/abs/2111.06887
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Credits:
Making a Magnetosphere for Mars.
Science & Futurism with Isaac Arthur.
Episode 342, May 12, 2022
Written, Produced & Narrated by Isaac Arthur.

Editors:
David McFarlane.

Cover Art:

Continue reading “Making a Magnetosphere for Mars” | >

Inara TabirAdmin.

As a trans woman this is a dream I yearn for.

J Bear BellOk. I can’t see it ever being a popular choice amongst traditionally gendered men, but for a trans woman this could be a huge and amazing gift.

It does present some interesting sociological and family dynamic challenges, though. Which parent should c… See more.

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Gemechu Taye shared a link.

Continue reading “Space Has Invisible Walls Created by Mysterious ‘Symmetrons,’ Scientists Propose” | >

In November 2018, NASA InSight landed in the Elysium Planitia region of Mars with the goal of studying the planet’s deep interior for the first time by using seismic signals to learn more about the properties of the planet’s crust, mantle, and core. Join us live at 11 a.m. PT (2 p.m. ET/1800 UTC) on May 17 as agency leadership and mission team members highlight the spacecraft’s science accomplishments, share details on its power situation, and discuss its future.

Speakers:
Lori Glaze, director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters.
Bruce Banerdt, InSight principal investigator, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Kathya Zamora Garcia, InSight deputy project manager, JPL

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

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“Scientists suspect that a ”fifth force” may be at work in space. This force, which they believe is mediated by a hypothetical particle called a symmetron is responsible for creating invisible walls in space.

The walls aren’t necessarily like the walls of a room. Instead, they are more like barriers. And, they could help explain an intriguing part of space that has left astronomers scratching their heads for quite a while.

BGR.

Scientists may have found an explanation for the invisible walls in space that hold galaxies in orbit around larger galaxies.

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