Lifeboat Foundation

Using neural networks, Flatiron Institute research fellow Yin Li and his colleagues simulated vast, complex universes in a fraction of the time it takes with conventional methods.

Using a bit of machine learning magic, astrophysicists can now simulate vast, complex universes in a thousandth of the time it takes with conventional methods. The new approach will help usher in a new era in high-resolution cosmological simulations, its creators report in a study published online on May 4, 2021, in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“At the moment, constraints on computation time usually mean we cannot simulate the universe at both high resolution and large volume,” says study lead author Yin Li, an astrophysicist at the Flatiron Institute in New York City. “With our new technique, it’s possible to have both efficiently. In the future, these AI-based methods will become the norm for certain applications.”

15 years of radar measurements provide new information on planet’s spin, internal structure.

Venus is an enigma. It’s the planet next door and yet reveals little about itself. An opaque blanket of clouds smothers a harsh landscape pelted by acid rain and baked at temperatures that can liquify lead.

Now, new observations from the safety of Earth are lifting the veil on some of Venus’ most basic properties. By repeatedly bouncing radar off the planet’s surface over the last 15 years, a UCLA-led team has pinned down the precise length of a day on Venus, the tilt of its axis and the size of its core. The findings are published in the journal Nature Astronomy.

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🔊 🔴 New sounds from Mars: NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover caught the beats coming from our Ingenuity # MarsHelicopter! This marks the first time a spacecraft on another planet has recorded the sounds of a separate spacecraft.

🎧 🚁 Turn the volume up: go.nasa.gov/3h9RygT

Have you seen those plant trees instead of go to space memes recently? Well, aside from believing we can do both, I wanted to remind people what great things we use everyday due to the technological developments that the space race has spawned. Not least, the monitoring of illegal deforestation, but right through to better baby food, cleaner water and incredible digital cameras!! But that is not all, so here is my Top 10 technologies, that we have the space industry to thank for…

For the first time, a spacecraft on another planet has recorded the sounds of a separate spacecraft. NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover used one of its two microphones to listen as the Ingenuity helicopter flew for the fourth time on April 30, 2021. A new video combines footage of the solar-powered helicopter taken by Perseverance’s Mastcam-Z imager with audio from a microphone belonging to the rover’s SuperCam laser instrument.

The laser zaps rocks from a distance, studying their vapor with a spectrometer to reveal their chemical composition. The instrument’s microphone records the sounds of those laser strikes, which provide information on the physical properties of the targets, such as their relative hardness. The microphone can also record ambient noise, like the Martian wind.

Continue reading “Perseverance Mars rover captures video, audio of fourth Ingenuity flight” »

Astronomers spent decades looking for objects from outside our own solar system. Then two arrived at once. When should we expect the next one? And what can they teach us?

For millennia, humans in the high latitudes have been enthralled by auroras—the northern and southern lights. Yet even after all that time, it appears the ethereal, dancing ribbons of light above Earth still hold some secrets.

In a new study, physicists led by the University of Iowa report a new feature to Earth’s atmospheric light show. Examining video taken nearly two decades ago, the researchers describe multiple instances where a section of the diffuse aurora —the faint, background-like glow accompanying the more vivid light commonly associated with auroras—goes dark, as if scrubbed by a giant blotter. Then, after a short period of time, the blacked-out section suddenly reappears.

Continue reading “Physicists describe new type of aurora” »

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On May 6, 2021 NASA published 4K UHD image from Ingenuity Mars Helicopter’s onboard camera and video footage during flight at Airfield B. Successful 4th flight on Mars for 133 meters distance by Ingenuity happened on April 30. New Ingenuity’s location called Airfield B. Previous location is Wright Brothers Field. The helicopter climbing to an altitude of 16 feet (5 meters) before flying south approximately 436 feet (133 meters) and then back, for an 872-foot (266-meter) round trip. In total, we were in the air for 117 seconds. NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter’s fourth flight path is superimposed here atop terrain imaged by the HiRISE camera aboard the agency’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter took 4K color image during its fourth flight. “Airfield B,” its new landing site, can be seen below. The helicopter will seek to set down there on its fifth flight attempt to 10 meters altitude on May 7th.

Credit: nasa.gov, NASA/JPL-Caltech, NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU

Continue reading “Ingenuity Mars Helicopter’s onboard camera footage in 4K at Airfield B (5th flight landing site)” »

@AlexGatopoulos looks at how hypersonic missiles are emerging as a key tool in the race to dominate the next frontier — outer space.

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Continue reading “Hypersonic weapons and the new space race | Project Force” »