Tag Archives: science

The European Space Agency will follow a skyscraper-sized asteroid as it flies past Earth

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At about 1,230 feet across, the Apophis asteroid is slightly smaller than the Empire State Building. On April 13, 2029, that skyscraper-sized space rock will approach Earth, and the European Space Agency plans (ESA) to shadow it. The ESA has announced the Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety (Ramses), a planetary defense mission. The plan is to have a spacecraft reach Apophis in early 2029 and follow it during the flyby — though this would require quick action for an April 2028 launch.

Scientists discovered Apophis in 2004, and it wasn't until 2021 that NASA confirmed it shouldn't smash into Earth for at least 100 years, despite the upcoming close encounter. Instead, it will come within 20,000 miles of Earth — less than one-tenth the Moon's proximity. According to the ESA, objects of this size only get as close as Apophis will about every 5,000 to 10,000 years, providing a rare opportunity to study an asteroid and how to avoid one colliding with Earth without needing to travel deep into space. 

"Ramses will demonstrate that humankind can deploy a reconnaissance mission to rendezvous with an incoming asteroid in just a few years. This type of mission is a cornerstone of humankind's response to a hazardous asteroid," Richard Moissl, head of ESA's Planetary Defence Office, said in a statement. "A reconnaissance mission would be launched first to analyse the incoming asteroid's orbit and structure. The results would be used to determine how best to redirect the asteroid or to rule out non-impacts before an expensive deflector mission is developed." The ESA will decide whether to proceed with the mission in late 2025, but preparatory work will begin imminently.

NASA, in turn, will follow the aftermath of Apophis' flyby. The space agency is using the spacecraft from last year's Osiris-Rex mission, which collected samples from the Bennu asteroid, for a new mission, Osiris-Apex. The spacecraft should reach Apophis about one month after the asteroid reaches its closest distance to Earth. The Osiris-Apex mission is meant to study any physical changes that Apophis undergoes due to Earth's gravitational pull, such as quakes or landslides. The hope is to get a look at what exists beneath its surface. Individuals in parts of Europe, Africa and Asia should also be able to see Apophis with the naked eye. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-european-space-agency-will-follow-a-skyscraper-sized-asteroid-as-it-flies-past-earth-130030777.html?src=rss

OpenAI is reportedly working on more advanced AI models capable of reasoning and ‘deep research’

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A new report from Reuters claims OpenAI is developing technology to bring advanced reasoning capabilities to its AI models under a secret project code-named “Strawberry.” Among the project’s goals is to enable the company’s AI models to autonomously scour the internet in order to “plan ahead” for more complex tasks, according to an internal document seen by Reuters. The project previously went by the name of Q* (pronounced “Q star”), demos of which showed earlier this year that it could answer “tricky science and math questions,” Reuters reports, citing unnamed sources who witnessed the demonstrations.

At this stage, much remains unknown about Strawberry — including how far along in development it is, and whether it’s the same system with “human-like reasoning” skills that OpenAI reportedly demonstrated at an employee all-hands meeting earlier this week, per Bloomberg. But the ability for the company’s AI to conduct “deep research,” as is said to be the aim of Strawberry, would mark a huge leap forward from what’s available today.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/openai-is-reportedly-working-on-more-advanced-ai-models-capable-of-reasoning-and-deep-research-202419228.html?src=rss

James Webb telescope marks second anniversary with an image of the Penguin and the Egg galaxies

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NASA and its partners, the European and Canadian space agencies, are celebrating the second year since the James Webb Telescope started sending back photos of the universe by releasing an image of the Penguin and the Egg galaxies. These are interacting galaxies collectively known as Arp 142 located 326 million light-years from Earth, captured by the James Webb in interactive light. 

The galaxies first interacted between 25 and 75 million years ago, causing new star formation. Based on previous research, 100 to 200 stars have formed per year in the Penguin — yes, that is the galaxy at the center of the image that looks like a bird's head — whereas the Milky Way only produces between six and seven new stars per year. In this image taken by the James Webb, the interaction between the two galaxies is marked by a faintly glowing upside-down U. Take note that while the Penguin appears bigger than the Egg galaxy at its left, they have approximately the same mass. If either galaxy were smaller, they would've already merged. 

In addition to the galaxies prominently featured in the image, you'll also see more distant galaxies in the background. The space agencies said it's a "testament to the sensitivity and resolution of Webb's infrared cameras." NASA and its partners launched the James Webb Telescope in late 2021 after more than a decade of delays caused by spiraling costs and construction woes. The agencies released the first image it ever captured, the deepest image of the distant universe, in July 2022. Last year, they also commemorated its first anniversary with an image of a nearby stellar nursery. 

A smatter of galaxies against a black background.
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/james-webb-telescope-marks-second-anniversary-with-an-image-of-the-penguin-and-the-egg-galaxies-143052704.html?src=rss

A new spacesuit design can recycle astronauts’ urine into purified, drinkable water

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The life of an astronaut may sound like a glamorous career but it requires a lot of hard work and sacrifice. They have to spend weeks or even months at a time away from Earth, their loved ones and the warm embrace of gravity. They have to endure an endless stream of “Tang” jokes. Sometimes they even have to drink recycled wastewater.

We say “sometimes” because not every drop of astronaut urine is recycled into palatable water. The urine they expel into their spacesuits is simply flushed away or discarded when they return to the spacecraft. A new space suit designed by scientists at Weill Cornell Medicine and Cornell University inspired by Frank Herbert’s Dune novels could make spacewalks longer and less disgusting by recycling their expelled urine in a special filtration backpack. The research and design teams from both schools published a paper of their findings in the scientific journal Frontiers.

These suits are referred to as “stillsuits” in the Dune universe and can capture moisture to recycle it into drinkable water as soldiers trek and battle across the barren desert world of Arrakis. The real-life, proposed stillsuits do roughly the same thing. The new stillsuits have a “vacuum-based external catheter leading to a combined forward-reverse osmosis unit” that astronauts carry on their back, says the study’s lead author and research staff member Sofia Etlin in a press release.

stillsuit
Karen Morales

The suits were designed with future NASA space missions in mind including the Artemis II and Artemis III missions that will orbit the moon and touch down on its south pole in the next two years. NASA and Axiom Space have already approved a spacesuit design for its moon missions but it looks like this new filtration system could be added to them. The stillsuits can also be used for the manned Mars space mission in the early 2030s.

The stillsuits will not only quench the astronauts’ thirst during spacewalks but it will also make them more hygienic. The traditional NASA spacesuit design that’s been in circulation since the 1970s only comes with a superabsorbent polymer to catch astronauts’ urine. That means pretty much every astronaut who’s gone on a space or moon walk has peed in their space pants.

This outdated waste system has also led to hygiene and medical issues for astronauts like urinary tract infections (UTIs) and gastrointestinal problems. That’s why you’ve never seen Paul Atreides struggling with diverticulitis.

NASA hasn’t officially adopted Weill Cornell Medicine and Cornell University’s new spacesuit design for any of its upcoming space missions. We imagine that we’d urge NASA to fasttrack it if we had been on the International Space Station and ever had to endure a long spacewalk after drinking too much Tang.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-new-spacesuit-design-can-recycle-astronauts-urine-into-purified-drinkable-water-175235587.html?src=rss

ESA’s new heavy-lift rocket, Ariane 6, is poised to launch for the first time on Tuesday

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Ariane 6, the European Space Agency’s next-gen heavy-lift rocket, is expected to take its inaugural flight on July 9, ending a yearlong gap in Europe’s ability to access space on its own. The launch vehicle, made by ArianeGroup, replaces Ariane 5, which was retired last July following its 117th mission. The launch window opens at 2PM ET on Tuesday (8PM CEST).

Ariane 5 was in operation from 1996 to 2023 and was ESA’s main launch system. Ariane 6 was supposed to take over right away after its predecessor’s retirement, but years of delays in its development meant it ultimately wasn’t ready in time. As a result, ESA has had to rely on other launch providers, like SpaceX, to get science missions off the ground over the last year. If all goes smoothly with Ariane 6, Europe will be back in the game. “Ariane 6 marks a new era of autonomous, versatile European space travel,” ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher said in June, adding that it “will re-establish Europe’s independent access to space.”

Ariane 6 will launch from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. It’ll be streamed on ESA Web TV, with coverage expected to start 30 minutes before liftoff.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/esas-new-heavy-lift-rocket-ariane-6-is-poised-to-launch-for-the-first-time-on-tuesday-172813576.html?src=rss

Volunteers who lived in NASA’s Mars simulation for over a year will finally emerge today

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After 378 days inside a mock Mars habitat, the four volunteers for NASA’s yearlong simulation of a stay on the red planet are coming home. The crew — Kelly Haston, Anca Selariu, Ross Brockwell and Nathan Jones — is scheduled to exit the 3D-printed habitat in Houston this evening. You can watch the livestream of their return on NASA TV (below) starting at 5PM ET.

This marks the end of NASA’s first Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA) mission. There are plans already for two more one-year missions, one of which NASA recently accepted applications for. 

The Mission 1 crew entered the 1700-square-foot habitat at the Johnson Space Center on June 25 of last year and has spent the months since conducting simulated Marswalks, growing vegetables and performing other tasks designed to support life and work in that environment, like habitat maintenance. No exact dates for the second CHAPEA mission have been set yet, but it’s expected to begin in spring 2025.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/volunteers-who-lived-in-nasas-mars-simulation-for-over-a-year-will-finally-emerge-today-192522497.html?src=rss

Volunteers who lived in NASA’s Mars simulation for over a year will finally emerge today

Posted on by

After 378 days inside a mock Mars habitat, the four volunteers for NASA’s yearlong simulation of a stay on the red planet are coming home. The crew — Kelly Haston, Anca Selariu, Ross Brockwell and Nathan Jones — is scheduled to exit the 3D-printed habitat in Houston this evening. You can watch the livestream of their return on NASA TV (below) starting at 5PM ET.

This marks the end of NASA’s first Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA) mission. There are plans already for two more one-year missions, one of which NASA recently accepted applications for. 

The Mission 1 crew entered the 1700-square-foot habitat at the Johnson Space Center on June 25 of last year and has spent the months since conducting simulated Marswalks, growing vegetables and performing other tasks designed to support life and work in that environment, like habitat maintenance. No exact dates for the second CHAPEA mission have been set yet, but it’s expected to begin in spring 2025.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/volunteers-who-lived-in-nasas-mars-simulation-for-over-a-year-will-finally-emerge-today-192522497.html?src=rss

The Morning After: The US Treasury finalizes tax rules for crypto

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Welcome to the first day of July. Summer is here in earnest, but let me keep you, briefly, indoors with tales of finalized rules for crypto in the US, and how Lego is making bricks from stardust. 

A new rule finalized by the US Treasury Department will ensure that people that dipped their toes into crypto (and crypto trading) are paying the proper amount on their sales. The new rule will require cryptocurrency platforms like exchanges and payment processors to report their users' transactions to the IRS. Brokers will have to start reporting sales proceeds on digital assets in 2026 for all transactions accomplished in 2025, which means crypto traders are still on their own for now.

The rule will make easier for people to declare their earnings because their brokers will now have to provide them with a 1099 form. The form has a threshold of $10,000 to report on transactions involving stablecoin, which are cryptocurrencies that track fiat money like the US dollar.

— Mat Smith

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Officials insisted in a press conference Friday afternoon that astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are not “stranded” on the International Space Station. “We’re not in a rush to come home,” said Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Boeing’s Starliner has been docked with the ISS since June 6 for what was meant to be a 10-day flight test. However, during approach, the craft experienced problems with five of its thrusters, and a known helium leak appeared to worsen.

It was initially stated that Starliner could only stay docked at the ISS for a maximum of 45 days due to limitations with its batteries, but Stich said during the conference that these batteries are being recharged by the space station, so this can be extended.

Continue reading.

The US has a higher incarceration rate per 100,000 people in its population than any other NATO country. Hashem Al-Ghaili, a molecular biologist and science communicator, claims he’s got the solution. In an interview with Wired, he outlined how a virtual prison could work. Instead of locking prisoners up for long periods of time, prisoners would be subjected to artificial memories in a virtual environment. The system creates customized AI-generated content that’s converted to visual information and delivered to the prisoner’s brain as well as the parts of their DNA and RNA linked to memory formation to establish a long term memory pattern. There are a lot of wrinkles and road bumps, but the biggest may be that such technology just doesn’t exist.

Continue reading.

Image of a lego brick made with moondust
Lego

Lego has teamed up with the European Space Agency (ESA) to make Lego pieces from actual meteorite dust. They are on display at several Lego store locations until September 20, although it all isn’t just for giggles, or Lego kit upsell. It’s a proof of concept to show how astronauts could use moondust to build lunar structures.

Continue reading.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-the-us-treasury-finalizes-tax-rules-for-crypto-111534062.html?src=rss

NASA and Boeing say Starliner astronauts ‘are not stranded,’ but will be on the ISS for a few more weeks

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NASA and Boeing plan to spend the next few weeks conducting tests on the ground in order to better understand issues with the Starliner spacecraft’s thrusters before giving its crew the go-ahead to fly back to Earth. But, officials insisted in a press conference Friday afternoon, astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are not “stranded” on the International Space Station. “We’re not in a rush to come home,” said Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

Starliner has been docked with the ISS since June 6 for what was meant to be a 10-day flight test all in all. During its approach of the orbiting lab, however, the craft experienced problems with five of its thrusters, and a known helium leak appeared to worsen. NASA and Boeing have been working together to evaluate the issues ever since. On Friday, representatives for the two said they aren’t yet setting a date for the return flight, and will instead wait until the ground tests have been completed and all analyses run. The first thruster tests, which will be conducted at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, are expected to begin as soon as Tuesday.

It was initially stated that Starliner could only stay docked at the ISS for a maximum of 45 days due to limitations with its batteries, but Stich said during the conference that these batteries are being recharged by the space station, so this can be extended. “I want to make it very clear that Butch and Suni are not stranded in space,” Stich said. “Our plan is to continue to return them on Starliner and return them home at the right time.”

Starliner is performing well while docked, and the craft could still be used as a lifeboat to bring the astronauts home if necessary in the case of an emergency, the officials said. Mark Nappi, VP and program manager of Boeing’s Commercial Crew Program, reiterated Stich’s comments, saying, “We’re not stuck on the ISS, the crew is not in any danger, and there’s no increased risk when we decide to bring Suni and Butch back to Earth.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nasa-and-boeing-say-starliner-astronauts-are-not-stranded-but-will-be-on-the-iss-for-a-few-more-weeks-154407704.html?src=rss

Lego made bricks out of meteorite dust and they’re on display at select stores

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There are plenty of Lego sets that feature astronauts, but now there are Lego bricks made out of the stuff that astronauts find out there in the void. The Danish brickmaker has teamed up with the European Space Agency (ESA) to make Lego pieces from actual meteorite dust. Pretty cool, right? They are on display at several Lego store locations until September 20, including the big 5th Avenue branch in Manhattan.

This project isn’t just for giggles, though it is pretty fun. It’s a proof of concept to show how astronauts could use moondust to build lunar structures. Consider the sheer amount of energy and money required to haul up building materials from Earth to the Moon. It would be a game changer to, instead, build everything from pre-existing lunar materials.

There's a layer of rock and mineral deposits at the surface of the Moon, which is called lunar regolith. It’s long been thought that regolith of some kind would be required to build our first off-world colonies. It’s readily available and there are several prospective methods to transform it into building materials. After all, humans have been making structures out of dirt, soil and sand for thousands of years.

An image showing the making of a brick.
Lego

However, there isn’t too much lunar regolith here on Earth for folks to experiment with. ESA scientists made their own regolith by grinding up a really old meteorite. The dust from this meteorite was turned into a mixture that was used to 3D print the Lego pieces. Voila. Moon bricks. They click together just like regular Lego bricks, though they only come in one color (space gray obviously.)

A case filled with Lego bricks.
Lego

"Nobody has built a structure on the Moon, so it was great to have the flexibility to try out all kinds of designs and building techniques with our space bricks. It was both fun and useful in scientifically understanding the boundaries of these techniques,” said ESA Science Officer Aidan Cowley.

Humanity is actually getting closer than ever before to our first real lunar base. NASA has teamed up with the Italian Space Agency and the Thales Alenia Space Corporation to build the first permanent human outpost on the Moon, though it won’t happen until at least the 2030s. Recent designs for lunar habitats have ranged from something resembling a mobile home to full-fledged inflatable villages.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/lego-made-bricks-out-of-meteorite-dust-and-theyre-on-display-at-select-stores-161440194.html?src=rss