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Mar 1, 2020

NASA issues a Venus rover design challenge

Posted by in categories: innovation, space

Artist’s concept of the AREE Venus rover. The rover would be wind-powered and able to last on Venus’ hellish surface much longer than previous landers. Image via NASA/ JPL-Caltech.

There’ve been missions to Venus over the past decades, but Venus is a tough place to visit, with temperatures on its surface hot enough to melt lead. The last probe that landed on Venus’ hellish surface was part of the Vega 2 mission in 1985; it transmitted data from Venus’ surface for 57 minutes. Now NASA wants to visit Venus’ surface again, not with just another lander … but with a rover.

On February 21, 2020, NASA announced a public challenge to help design a future Venus rover called Automaton Rover for Extreme Environments (AREE). The challenge – Exploring Hell: Avoiding Obstacles on a Clockwork Rover – is specifically to develop an obstacle-avoidance sensor for the rover. The concept is being funded by a grant from the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts program.

Mar 1, 2020

How Fast Does It Take Lung Cancer to Start, Grow, and Metastasize?

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

How long does it take lung cancer to develop, grow, and spread? Learn about the growth rate, doubling time, and how it can affect treatment.

Mar 1, 2020

SpaceX to Launch NASA’s Psyche Mission to Metal Asteroid

Posted by in categories: asteroid/comet impacts, existential risks, space travel

NASA has contracted SpaceX to carry out the launch for its upcoming Psyche mission to a strange metal asteroid in our solar system. The launch will use one of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rockets, for a cost of $117 million.

“The Psyche mission will journey to a unique metal-rich asteroid, also named Psyche, which orbits the Sun between Mars and Jupiter,” NASA explained in a statement. “The asteroid is considered unique, as it appears to largely be made of the exposed nickel-iron core of an early planet — one of the building blocks of our solar system.” Astronomers believe that studying this unusual asteroid could help us to understand how planets develop, including planets like Earth.

“Deep within rocky, terrestrial planets, including Earth, scientists infer the presence of metallic cores, but these lie unreachably far below the planet’s rocky mantles and crusts,” NASA said. “Because we cannot see or measure Earth’s core directly, the mission to Psyche offers a unique window into the violent history of collisions and accretion that created terrestrial planets.”

Mar 1, 2020

AI can help find more places to store captured CO2 underground

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, sustainability

The tech maps underground structures using ‘hidden’ earthquake vibrations.

Mar 1, 2020

SpaceX’s founder tells US Air Force the era of fighter jets is ending

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, military

Elon Musk also shared some thoughts on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

Mar 1, 2020

The theory of longevity of Aubrey de Gray — how in the coming years we will defeat aging

Posted by in category: life extension

Yet another talk from Aubrey.

Mar 1, 2020

These tiny living robots could help science eavesdrop on cellular gossip

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, science

An entirely new being is swimming into the annals of science—a living robot designed by artificial intelligence.

Mar 1, 2020

Boeing Defense, Space and Security offers $30,000 bonuses for satellite engineers

Posted by in categories: satellites, security

Boeing is offering signing bonuses up to $30,000 for experienced satellite engineers and procurement specialists, saying Friday needs the staff “to help build assets for the U.S. Air Force and its allies.”

The company posted a notice about its hiring on LinkedIn, listing more than open 75 jobs for what Boeing said were its “rapidly growing” satellite program efforts.

“We have an urgent need for Security Cleared Satellite Engineers to help build assets for the U.S. Air Force and its Allies. We’re offering a potential $30k sign-on bonus,” the posting said.

Mar 1, 2020

Iran Vice President Is One of 7 Officials to Contract Coronavirus

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, government

Masoumeh Ebtekar, President Hassan Rouhani’s deputy for women’s affairs and the highest-ranking woman in the government, was at least the seventh Iranian official to test positive.

Mar 1, 2020

Scientists have successfully cured diabetes in mice for the first time

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Scientists at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis revealed on February 24 that they had successfully converted human stem cells into insulin-producing cells and demonstrated in mice infused with the converted cells that they can act as a rapid cure to diabetes.

The research transformed other types of cells into beta pancreatic cells which produce the insulin hormone needed by the body to break up blood sugar.

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