This is the inaugural episode of my new podcast “Cosmic Controversy” which is available at the moment on Podbean. Many thanks to my first guest astrobiologist Lara Maldanis who talks about her and colleagues’ recent work in identifying ancient earth microfossils and how we can hope to identify microfossils on Mars.
Cosmic Controversy delves into current aerospace, astronomy, and astrobiology as well as long-standing issues in aerospace and aviation history…
Researchers from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, joined by a colleague from Argonne National Laboratory, U.S., have implemented an advanced quantum algorithm for measuring physical quantities using simple optical tools. Published in Scientific Reports, their study takes us a step closer to affordable linear optics-based sensors with high performance characteristics. Such tools are sought after in diverse research fields, from astronomy to biology.
Maximizing the sensitivity of measurement tools is crucial for any field of science and technology. Astronomers seek to detect remote cosmic phenomena, biologists need to discern exceedingly tiny organic structures, and engineers have to measure the positions and velocities of objects, to name a few examples.
Until recently, no measurement tool could ensure precision above the so-called shot noise limit, which has to do with the statistical features inherent in classical observations. Quantum technology has provided a way around this, boosting precision to the fundamental Heisenberg limit, stemming from the basic principles of quantum mechanics. The LIGO experiment, which detected gravitational waves for the first time in 2016, shows it is possible to achieve Heisenberg-limited sensitivity by combining complex optical interference schemes and quantum techniques.
Researchers discovered a star system with six planets which orbits in almost perfect rhythm…dubbed HD 158259 star is orbited by a super-Earth and five mini-Neptunes.
Best epic background music by MUSIC4VIDEO.
While scanning the skies, humanity has identified thousands of exoplanets orbiting distant stars. However, very few of them are at all similar to Earth. Now, the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Göttingen reports a newly discovered exoplanet could be a “mirror image” of our own.
We currently lack the technology to directly image exoplanets, so we can only infer their presence via two methods. Astronomers either look for small wobbles in a star’s rotation caused by the gravity of planets or drops in brightness from our perspective on Earth, which indicates a planet has transited the star. Kepler used the latter method to identify more than 2,600 exoplanets, and that number will probably continue to rise. Teams like the one from the Max Planck Institute are still combing through the luminance data gathered by Kepler to uncover new exoplanets. That’s how they found the very Earth-like candidate exoplanet KOI-456.04.
If it exists, KOI-456.04 orbits a sun-like star called Kepler-160 about 3,000 light-years away from Earth. Previous analysis of Kepler-160 revealed two large exoplanets — these gas giants are much easier to spot in the background noise, so many of the worlds we’ve discovered are very unlike Earth. One of those planets, Kepler-160c, showed small perturbations in its orbit that could indicate another planet, so the Max Planck Institute set out to find it.
As we celebrate the #SpaceStation20th anniversary, NASA astronaut Don Pettit explains how his perception of the Earth changed during his time aboard the space station.
Go NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. It’s your birthday. ✨
This Friday marks 30 years of stunning imagery and ground breaking discoveries for the one-of-a-kind orbiting telescope. Join us in observing #Hubble30 by sharing your favorite galactic image! https://go.nasa.gov/3aoSMxH
It took centuries, but we now know the size of the Universe, this will blow your mind! 😱
More space facts: https://amazingfact.co/category/spacefacts/
Join INTUITIVE Planetarium Director David as he tours the Earth, the Milky Way, and discusses what else resides far beyond using OpenSpace, an open-source tool available online for everyone!
Singapore has only 1% of its land available for agriculture, so it imports 90% of its food requirements. The government is looking to curb this dependence on outside food sources under a programme titled ‘30 by 30,’ which aims to allow Singapore to grow 30% of its produce by the year 2030. Local vertical farms like Sustenir are at the forefront of bringing about this change. VICE visits the sustainable start-up to understand the future of food.
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