Science
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The world’s largest telescope is one step closer to completion
The world's largest telescope is one step closer to completion. This month, the team working on the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) completed the second of seven primary mirror segments, a process that began in January 2012.
'Away Mission' is a free-roaming 'Star Trek' VR experience
When Starfleet calls, Trekkies will answer, and Starfleet's latest call to action involves the world's first free-roam Star Trek experience. Later this year Sandbox VR will launch the first Holodeck VR experience, where fans can enter the world of Star Trek to complete a mission involving problem-solving, combat and -- of course -- phasers.
NASA will help SpaceX and Blue Origin develop future mission technology
NASA is helping 13 companies develop technologies that could benefit its future missions. Jim Reuter, the associate administrator of NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate, explained that the agency has identified the key areas it needs for future missions, including its planned crewed flights to the moon and Mars. "[T]hese public-private partnerships will accelerate their development so we can implement them faster," he added. Those key areas are as follows: Advanced Communications, Navigation and Avionics; Advanced Materials; Entry, Descent and Landing; In-Space Manufacturing and Assembly; Power; Propulsion; and Other Exploration Technologies.
Watch the Mars 2020 rover do a biceps curl with an 88-pound turret
Over the past months, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory installed the Mars 2020 rover's wheels, legs, arm and other components in preparation for the series of tests it has to go through before it heads to the red planet. One of those tests entails using its 7-foot-long arm to maneuver an 88-pound turret from a deployed to a stowed configuration in a move that's not unlike how you'd do biceps curls with a dumbbell. The Mars 2020 team conducted that test on July 19th, marking the first time they were able to watch the arm and the turret move in unison -- something the rover must be able to do on Mars.
The Morning After: Google's Pixel sales doubled thanks to the 3a
Hey, good morning! You look fabulous. This morning, we've got an update on SpaceX's latest rocket launches and the details on Apple's billion-dollar acquisition. Also, we're looking for your impressions on Google's Nest Hub, and it seems hoverboarding across the English Channel is probably a bad idea.
SpaceX's Starhopper test vehicle successfully makes its first bounce
After completing zero of two launch attempts on Wednesday, SpaceX went two for two on Thursday. Its Dragon spacecraft is making a third trip to the ISS, while its Starhopper test vehicle took a tiny untethered jump from its test pad in Texas (the picture above is from Wednesday's fiery test that was aborted just as it began). Elon Musk tweeted jokingly afterward that "Water towers *can* fly haha!!," then, more seriously, confirmed that a 200m test is scheduled to occur "in a week or two." There's no close up video footage of the attempt available yet, but the South Padre Isle live stream captured the event from a short distance away. To see the smoke and flame, check the stream at about 10:43 PM and let it play from there. This stubby test mule is testing out the Raptor engines before SpaceX flies its first "Starship" spacecraft. In practice, it's similar to the Grasshopper tests we saw years ago before Falcon 9 boosters that could launch and then land themselves became a regular occurrence. Update: If you wanted a close up look then here's one that's about as close you can get. Musk tweeted out video from the "engine cam" taken during the test.
SpaceX's Starhopper test aborted seconds after starting
On the evening of July 24th, SpaceX was supposed to conduct the Starhopper's -- its Starship prototype vehicle made for very short flights or "hops"-- biggest and first untethered test. The company even announced a livestream of the event, which is another step towards its goal of building a massive launch vehicle that can take humans to the moon and Mars. Unfortunately, SpaceX had to abort the test flight only 3 seconds after the vehicle's Raptor engine fired at 80 percent capacity at its Boca Chica test facility in South Texas.
Scientists discover ‘Terminator’ tsunamis on the Sun's surface
Our Sun is quite literally a hotbed of activity. Scientists are learning more about our star's solar cycle, in which its magnetic field flips and its north and south poles swap approximately every 11 years. Little is known about what causes this dramatic shift, although it does seem to be related to sunspot activity. A new set of research papers has laid out more about why solar cycles end and how the cycles can trigger a tsunami of hot plasma to cascade through the Sun's interior.
The Morning After: Samsung rescheduled the Galaxy Fold launch
Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.Welcome to Thursday! Samsung's Galaxy Fold will attempt launch again this September, Facebook's billion-dollar FTC fine is kind of meaningless and would you like a look at Windows' redesigned Start menu? It's already out there.
Two dead, dancing stars challenge astronomers' expectations
Stars still have plenty of surprises despite (or perhaps, because of) advances in astronomy. Researchers using Caltech's Zwicky Transient Facility have discovered a binary white dwarf system 8,000 light-years away, ZTF J1539+5027, where the two dead stars orbit each other every seven minutes. That's the second-fastest pair of white dwarfs seen to date, and the fastest such "eclipsing" system (where one passes between its partner and Earth). This isn't the first time they've seen one white dwarf 'eat' the other, but it's rare to catch this cannibalization in the act.
LightSail 2 is now surfing on sunlight
LightSail 2, the crowdfunded spacecraft designed to be powered by the sun's photons, has officially set sail. The Planetary Society announced today that LightSail 2 deployed its solar sail on Tuesday as it was flying south of the continental United States. So far, everything seems to be working as intended. Scientists reported on Twitter that the solar sail was angled within 30 degrees of its expected orientation, a sign that it is properly tracking the Sun.
Canada invests $85 million in internet satellites for rural areas
Telesat, the Canadian telecom and SpaceX internet competitor, wants to connect remote regions with its low-earth-orbit satellites. Now, it appears to have the backing of Her Majesty's Government. The company announced today that it is partnering with the Canadian government to expand high-speed internet access to rural areas. Over the next decade, the government will contribute $600 million in Canadian dollars towards the telecom's upcoming fleet of satellites. An additional $85 million of funding will be used to create 500 new jobs, invest in R&D and promote STEM education.
Watch SpaceX launch a twice-used Dragon capsule at 6:24PM ET (updated)
Want to know just how routine spaceflight has become? Just look at SpaceX's latest mission. The company is livestreaming the launch of its CRS-18 resupply mission for the ISS with an expected liftoff at 6:24PM Eastern, and every component from the mission is well-worn. The Falcon 9 launched a previous ISS supply mission in May, while the Dragon has visited the ISS twice -- once in April 2015 and again in December 2017. This is the first instance of SpaceX flying a Dragon capsule for the third time, the company said.
Microfluidic sensor could spot life-threatening sepsis in minutes
Sepsis (where your immune system starts a chain of inflammation reactions) is potentially deadly, especially if septic shock leads your organs to fail, but diagnosing that in a timely fashion is still difficult or requires an unwieldy device. Thankfully, MIT researchers might have a way to identify sepsis before it's too late. They've designed a small microfluidic sensor that could detect sepsis in roughly 25 minutes, or enough time for doctors to start treatment. It might not look like much, but it promises far more sensitive detection than before.
Astronomers believe the young Milky Way once swallowed a dwarf galaxy
Astronomers believe they've mapped an important sequence of events that shaped our galaxy 10 billion years ago. In a paper published in Nature Astronomy today, researchers from the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC) share their findings that a dwarf galaxy, Gaia-Enceladus, once collided and merged with the early Milky Way. Their discovery offers a new understanding of how the Milky Way formed.
A mind-controlled robot arm doesn’t have to mean brain implants
A robotic arm smoothly traces the movements of a cursor on a computer screen, controlled by the brain activity of a person sitting close by who stares straight ahead. The person wears a cap covered in electrodes. This "mind-controlled" robot limb is being manipulated by a brain-computer interface (BCI), which provides a direct link between the neural information of a brain that's wired to an electroencephalography (EEG) device and an external object.
India's historic Moon mission takes off after week-long delay
One week after a "technical snag" forced the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) to delay the launch of its Chandrayaan-2, the lunar mission launched today. It appears to be back on track, and if all goes well, it will be India's first soft landing on the Moon using its own technology. It will also be the first soft landing attempt ever at the Moon's South Pole.
After Math: How long is that in moon years?
It's been half an Earth century since humanity first made landfall on its nearest celestial neighbor, and there's plenty of reason to celebrate, but that doesn't mean the news of the world has frozen in place like the flag Apollo 11's crew left behind. A new laser telescope array is hunting for signs of extraterrestrial intelligences, Toyota's spending the next ten years building a Moon rover and this past June got more than a little toasty.
NASA's Orion crew capsule is ready for its uncrewed trip to the Moon
You knew the US wouldn't mark the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 without news about the country's next trip to the Moon. Both Lockheed Martin and NASA have confirmed completion of the Orion crew capsule that will play a key role in Artemis 1, the uncrewed mission that will fly past the Moon while verifying Orion, the Space Launch System and the associated support systems. Efforts are now focused on integrating the capsule with the service module and testing it ahead of launch processing in early 2020.
Neil Armstrong's Buzz Aldrin photo is unparalleled in art
Few would deny that Neil Armstrong's shot of fellow astronaut Buzz Aldrin is one of the most famous and compelling photos ever taken. What makes it so iconic? Of course, he had access to a place that only 11 other human beings have been, but there's more to it than that. The photo itself is well composed, full of incredible details and charged with the energy of the occasion. How Armstrong got it is a story of not just luck, but preparation and a great eye.