Lifeboat Foundation

When red giant stars run out of helium fuel and expel their outer layers to become hot, compact white dwarf stars that are roughly the size of Earth, planetary nebulae are created. As the carbon-enriched shed material is gradually blasted into the interstellar medium, it produces magnificent patterns.

The majority of planetary nebulae are circular, but others, like the well-known “Butterfly Nebula,” have an hourglass or wing-like appearance. These structures are thought to be the consequence of the material expanding into two lobes or “wings” due to the gravitational attraction of a second star circling the parent star of the nebula. The wings develop over time without altering their initial form, much like an expanding balloon.

Key Takeaways:

Within this system, two young stars engage in an intimate celestial waltz, while a third star pirouettes around the pair. Enveloping all three stars is a fragmented disk of dust and gas, a cosmic canvas where future planets may take shape. This disk, unlike the one that gave rise to our solar system’s planets, comprises three loops, each with its unique contortions — a middle ring distinctly warped, and an inner ring playfully askew in relation to its companions.

On Wednesday, February 21st, at 01:40 p.m. PST (04:40 p.m. EST), an interesting package returned to Earth from space.

This was the capsule from the W-1 mission, an orbital platform manufactured by California-based Varda Space Industries, which landed at the Utah Test and Training Range (UTTR). Even more interesting was the payload, which consisted of antiviral drugs grown in the microgravity environment of Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

The mission is part of the company’s goal to develop the infrastructure to make LEO more accessible to commercial industries.

A privately built spacecraft on the moon has beamed back new photos from the lunar surface, showing the vehicle’s much-celebrated descent and the moments immediately after touchdown when it tipped over on its side.

The Odysseus lander, built by Houston-based Intuitive Machines, landed on the moon on Feb. 22, making history as the first commercial craft to reach the lunar surface and the first U.S. spacecraft on the moon in more than 50 years.

The following day, Intuitive Machines said Odysseus had pitched over when it touched down near a crater called Malapert A, close to the moon’s south pole. Company officials said the 14-foot-tall lander was operational but that some of the spacecraft’s antennas were pointing at the ground, limiting its ability to communicate with flight controllers back on Earth.

While Artificial Intelligence (AI) focuses on simulating and surpassing human intelligence, Artificial Life (A-Life) takes a different approach. Instead of replicating cognitive abilities, A-Life seeks to understand and model fundamental biological processes through software, hardware, and even… wetware.

Forget Turing tests and chess games. A-Life scientists don’t care if their creations are “smart” in the traditional sense. Instead, they’re fascinated by the underlying rules that govern life itself. Think of it as rewinding the movie of evolution, watching it unfold again in a digital petri dish.

And other low pressure rail & maglev systems offer the possibility of ultra-fast and ultra-cheap transport on and off of Earth. Watch my exclusive video Topopolis: The Eternal River: https://nebula.tv/videos/isaacarthur–… Nebula using my link for 40% off an annual subscription: https://go.nebula.tv/isaacarthur Visit our Website: http://www.isaacarthur.net Join Nebula: https://go.nebula.tv/isaacarthur Support us on Patreon: / isaacarthur Support us on Subscribestar: https://www.subscribestar.com/isaac-a… Facebook Group: / 1,583,992,725,237,264 Reddit: / isaacarthur Twitter: / isaac_a_arthur on Twitter and RT our future content. SFIA Discord Server: / discord Credits: Vacuum Trains Episode 435a; February 25, 2024 Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur Editors: Konstantin Sokerin Merv Johnson II Graphics: Allen DeMoura Apogii.uk Ian “LITE” Long Jarred Eagley Justin Dixon Katie Byrne Ken York Phil Swan Real Courte Sergio Botero Udo Schroeter Music Courtesy of: Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator

Time’s inexorable march might well wait for no one, but a new experiment by researchers at the Technical University of Darmstadt in Germany and Roskilde University in Denmark shows how in some materials it might occasionally shuffle.

An investigation into the way substances like glass age has uncovered the first physical evidence of a material-based measure of time being reversible.

For the most part the laws of physics care little about time’s arrow. Flip an equation describing the movement of an object and you can easily calculate where it started. We describe such laws as time reversible.

So called Dyson megaphere.

Continue reading “Birch Planets: Galaxy-Sized Worlds” »

A look at creating artificial planets, ones vastly bigger than Earth, or potentially even an entire solar system.

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Continue reading “Mega Earths” »