Lifeboat Foundation

Researchers have discovered significant amounts of water vapor in the disc around the young star HL Tauri, suggesting the presence of water where planets are forming. This breakthrough, enabled by the ALMA telescope in Chile, marks the first time astronomers have been able to quantify water vapor in a cool, stable disc conducive to planet formation. The findings could have profound implications for our understanding of how planets, particularly those capable of hosting life, are formed. (Artist’s concept.) Credit: SciTechDaily.com.

Researchers have found water vapor in the disc around a young star exactly where planets may be forming.

Continue reading “Unlocking the Cosmic Recipe for Planet Formation” »

Astronomers can use supercomputers to simulate the formation of galaxies from the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago to the present day. But there are a number of sources of error. An international research team, led by researchers in Lund, has spent a hundred million computer hours over eight years trying to correct these.

The last decade has seen major advances in computer simulations that can realistically calculate how galaxies form. These cosmological simulations are crucial to our understanding of where galaxies, stars, and planets come from. However, the predictions from such models are affected by limitations in the resolution of the simulations, as well as assumptions about a number of factors, such as how stars live and die and the evolution of the interstellar medium.

Collaborative Efforts Enhance Accuracy

“Opposites charges attract; like charges repel” is a fundamental principle of basic physics. However, a new study from Oxford University, recently published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, has demonstrated that similarly charged particles in solution can, in fact, attract each other over long distances.

Just as surprisingly, the team found that the effect is different for positively and negatively charged particles, depending on the solvent.

Besides overturning long-held beliefs, these results have immediate implications for a range of processes that involve interparticle and intermolecular interactions across various length-scales, including self-assembly, crystallization, and phase separation.

MIT ’s breakthrough in integrating 2D materials into devices paves the way for next-generation devices with unique optical and electronic properties.

Two-dimensional materials, which are only a few atoms thick, can exhibit some incredible properties, such as the ability to carry electric charge extremely efficiently, which could boost the performance of next-generation electronic devices.

But integrating 2D materials into devices and systems like computer chips is notoriously difficult. These ultrathin structures can be damaged by conventional fabrication techniques, which often rely on the use of chemicals, high temperatures, or destructive processes like etching.

Stimulating gamma brain waves may protect cancer patients from memory impairment and other cognitive effects of chemotherapy.

Patients undergoing chemotherapy often experience cognitive effects such as memory impairment and difficulty concentrating — a condition commonly known as “chemo brain.”

MIT…

Continue reading “A noninvasive treatment for ‘chemo brain’” »

SpaceX is gearing up for its third attempt to get its massive Starship spacecraft into orbit. In a recent update, the company hinted at a March 14 launch “pending regulatory approval.”

Meanwhile, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is already thinking many steps ahead, envisioning what’ll be like to travel on board the spacecraft all the way to Mars.

“Starship will have a small spin on the way to Mars,” Musk replied after Id Software founder John Carmack suggested SpaceX should try to spin its Dragon astronaut shuttle to test out spin gravity. “Even a tiny gravity vector is better than none.”

In fact, the Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron predicts 95% odds of “go for launch” weather conditions.

SpaceX announced the Starlink 6–43 launch is targeted for 7:05 p.m. EDT Sunday from Launch Complex 40, with backup opportunities available if needed until 11:03 p.m.

The Falcon 9 rocket will deploy another payload of 23 Starlink broadband satellites into low-Earth orbit, adding to SpaceX’s growing constellation.

An average US household is using around 29 kilowatt-hours of electricity while ChatGPT is using more than half a million, The New Yorker reported.

Isaac Asimov’s idea of harvesting solar power from space may not be a thing of fiction much longer as space agencies explore the concept.