Artist’s concept of a PitRanger surveying a lunar pit.

Image via William Whittaker/ USRA/ Carnegie Mellon University.

Curious about the pristine and peculiar science environments that might lie below the surface of the moon? Meet PitRanger, a tiny rover currently being designed to explore deep pits below the moon’s surface.

PitRanger is currently on track to become the key instrument in a short-term moon mission aimed at capturing high-definition 3D images of lunar pits. These deep, steep-walled holes are thought to have been shaped billions of years ago by a once-geologically-active moon. Funded by the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Program (NIAC), the mini-robot will weigh 33 pounds (15 kg) and be solar-powered. The decision to use solar power, in particular, poses challenges, alongside advantages, on a world whose day and night last about two earthly weeks.

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Although no launch dates have been proposed yet, the mission is envisioned for launch in either 2021 or 2022. The prototype is being built by robotics research scientist William Whittaker and his team at Carnegie Mellon University. The prototype has already undergone and passed testing by performing at a sinkhole here on Earth.

Whittaker provided an update on his work during a virtual NIAC meeting held in September 2020, noting that significant progress has been made in PitRanger’s development.

Whenever it’s launched, PitRanger will be a brief mission in contrast to previous moon rover missions, because of the length of lunar day and night. A lunar day lasts about 14 Earth days, and because solar-powered PitRanger depends on the sun for energy, the equally long lunar night becomes an opportunity for impending robot death. Whittaker emphasized this by saying:

It only has 12 days, not 12 years, to complete its mission.

PitRanger is also different from previous moon exploration missions because of its autonomy. The PitRanger robot rover is designed with the strategic decision-making and imaging capabilities required to navigate risky ledges around a pit. Autonomy for quick missions like this one is becoming a necessary technology, these scientists say, since supervision and guidance from controllers on the ground won’t be available to small, solar-powered rovers like PitRanger.

The small lunar rover will roll at a top speed of 1 inch (2.5 cm) per second, and will be outfitted with a telephoto lens and panoramic unit in conjunction with a single solar panel. These features will work together using a panel-tilt mechanism to aim the camera at the pit, taking images at various angles that reach the pit’s far wall and floor. PitRanger will be accompanied by a lander. The rover will be programmed with the software smarts to prune and process images that’ll later be transferred to the lander for modeling. The little robot will do this repeatedly, wheeling back to the pit multiple times to acquire thousands of images and measurements. Once that work is done, the end result will be a photogrammetric model of the captured pit, providing an up-close and detailed look at what’s inside, as well as hard numbers on the pit’s shape, size, and other relevant features. These measurements should provide insights into how geologic forces play out on a world like the moon where, for example, the pull of gravity is only 1/6 as strong as here on Earth. Spacecraft cameras in lunar orbit are unable to make these sorts of measurements, or match this level of detail. Whittaker said:

The scenario is to rove to a pit with a micro-rover, peer into the pit, acquire images of walls, floors, caverns, and then generate pit models … Pit walls offer the only observable pristine geology on the moon. They are unique opportunities to observe volcanology, morphology and much more.

PitRanger may need to make multiple maneuvers to profile a lunar pit, as this illustration depicts.

Image via USRA/ Carnegie Mellon.

It’s still unclear whether PitRanger will visit a single moon pit or if there will be multiple pits on its agenda. More likely it will visit more than one. There is also no discussion circulating on which pits are currently being targeted. The moon’s surface is battered by these holes, with more than 200 documented by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft. Pits range in size from roughly 15 feet (5 m) across to more than half a mile (1 km) in diameter. NASA says that most pits were found either in large craters with impact melt ponds – areas of lava that formed from the heat of the impact and later solidified – or in the lunar maria – dark areas on the moon that are extensive solidified lava flows hundreds of miles across. Exploring these pits would reveal valuable details about the voids in which they formed.

Moon pits, caves, and lava tubes – formed by flowing magma and covered in tiny crystals – are like windows to the moon’s history both within and below its surface. New technology intended for subsurface lunar exploration has been imagined by engineers in recent years, especially since NASA’s plans to return humans to the moon are just over the horizon. Whittaker said that if accessible, these geologic features could be havens from radiation, extreme temperatures, dust storms, and micrometeorite hazards of the moon’s surface. With this considered, peering into moon pits may not only prove monumental in understanding our natural satellite’s history, but also in creating a safe habitat on the lunar surface, which could be a jumping-off point for human missions to Mars.

These images from NASA’s LRO spacecraft show all of the known mare pits and highland pits. Each image is 728 feet (200 m) wide.

Image via NASA/ Goddard Space Flight Center/ Arizona State.

• Bottom line: Researchers are building a prototype of a 33-pound (15 kg) lunar mini-robot – called PitRanger – set to be the key instrument in a future mission aimed at capturing high-definition images of moon pits.
• Source: Micro-rover exploration of lunar pits deployable by commercial lander
• Via Space.com
• Via NASA

{ https://earthsky.org/ }

07-01-2021 om 23:40 geschreven door peter  

This is a simulated view of asteroid 2001 FO32 on approach to Earth’s vicinity on January 6, 2021. The lines are orbits of planets in our solar system; see Earth’s orbit (3rd planet from the sun)? The asteroid is still far away, but it’ll be closest on March 21, the day after the March equinox, sweeping within about 5 lunar distances, moving at about 21 miles (34.4 km) per second. See orbit simulation. 

Image via SpaceReference.org.

The biggest known asteroid to pass in 2021 will sweep by on March 21. Asteroid 2001 FO32 is estimated to be about .6 miles (1 km) in diameter, not quite as long as the Golden Gate Bridge, but comparable in length. Although there’s no risk of impact, the space rock is of interest also because it’s one of the fastest space rocks known to fly by Earth. It’s traveling at about 76,980 miles per hour (123,887 km/h) or 21 miles (34.4 km) per second, relative to Earth. In contrast, Earth travels around the sun at about 18 miles (30 km) per second. Since 2001 FO32 is good-sized and occasionally passes near Earth, it’s been classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid. Its orbit is well known, and it poses no risk of impact.

On March 21, 2021, FO32’s closest approach to Earth will occur at 16:03 UTC; translate UTC to your time. At its closest, it’ll be about 5 lunar distances away, or about 1.3 million miles (2,016,351 km). SpaceReference.org reported:

Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2001 FO32 is probably between 0.767 to 1.714 kilometers (.5 miles to 1 mi) in diameter, making it larger than ~97% of asteroids but small compared to large asteroids.

A fascinating aspect of asteroids is that observers using backyard telescopes can spot them as apparently slow-moving “stars.” It typically takes at least 5 to 10 minutes for backyard telescope users to detect a space rock’s motion in front of its starfield. But asteroid 2001 FO32 will be sweeping past Earth at such a fast pace that, when it’s closest, observers using 8″ or larger telescopes might be able to detect its motion – its drift in front of the stars – in real time.

We note that the space rock will be too faint to see wth the unaided eye. It’ll be visible to observers using 8″ or larger diameter telescopes. You must aim your telescope at the correct position in the sky, at the right time. The charts in this post provide details. You might also check Stellarium online or TheSkyLive for more details on observing.

One caveat for northern observers. The asteroid is placed relatively low in the southern sky. As asteroid 2001 FO32 passes by Earth, observers using telescopes might try to spot it as it glides through the southern constellations of Scorpius and Sagittarius. For observers in the southern U.S., the asteroid will be low in the sky, above the southern horizon (about 20 degrees or lower), just before dawn on March 21, 2021. Observers at lower latitudes and in the southern hemisphere will be better placed to take a look through a telescope.

After it passes by Earth in March 2021, the next encounter of this asteroid with our planet occurs in 31 years, on March 22, 2052. However, the 2021 approach will be its closest to Earth for the next 200 years for which its orbit has been calculated.

Asteroid 2001 FO32 was discovered on March 23, 2001, by the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR), near Socorro, New Mexico.

The space rock’s orbit carries it around the sun every 810 days (2.22 years). It comes as close to the sun as 0.30 astronomical units (1 AU = 1 Earth-sun distance). It travels as far from the sun as 3.11 AU. Its orbit is highly elliptical (as opposed to being closer to circular).

Location of asteroid 2001 FO32 on March 20, 2021, at 3:45 am ET, as seen from southern U.S. The space rock will be too faint to see wth the unaided eye, but visible to observers using 8″ or larger diameter telescopes. 

Illustration by Eddie Irizarry using Stellarium.

Location of asteroid 2001 FO32 on March 20, 2021, at 3:45 am ET. Observers using a computerized or “Go To” telescope can point their instrument at one of these reference stars a few minutes before, and wait for the asteroid, which will appear as a slowly moving “star.”

Illustration by Eddie Irizarry using Stellarium.

Location of Asteroid 2001 FO32 on March 21, 2021, at 4:45 am ET, just hours before its closest approach to Earth, so the asteroid’s motion will be easiest to detect in real time through a telescope.

Illustration – set for southern U.S. – by Eddie Irizarry using Stellarium.

Location of the space rock on March 21, 2021n at 4:45 am ET, just hours before its closest approach to Earth. Have a computerized or Go To telescope? Point your optics to one of these reference stars a few minutes ahead, and wait for Asteroid 2001 FO32. This illustration shows the location of the space rock on March 21, 2021 on 4:45 am ET, just hours before its closest approach to Earth, so the asteroid’s motion will be very easy to detect in real time through the telescope.

Illustration by Eddie Irizarry using Stellarium.

Another angle on the orbit of asteroid 2001 FO32. The space rock completes an orbit around the sun every 810 days (2.22 years). 

Image via NASA/ JPL.

• Bottom line: Asteroid 2001 FO32 is the biggest known asteroid to sweep past Earth in the year 2021. It will fly by at such a fast pace that, when it’s closest, observers using telescopes might be able to detect its motion – its drift in front of the stars – in real time.

{ https://earthsky.org/ }

07-01-2021 om 23:29 geschreven door peter  

The ancient temples of the Mayan city of Tikal rise above the forest in Guatemala.

Image via jjmusgrove/ Flickr.

Scientists have uncovered evidence of an advanced water treatment system, built more than 2,000 years ago, in the ancient Mayan city of Tikal in the tropical forests of Guatemala. The Mayans used the mineral zeolite in the treatment system to filter out harmful microorganisms and toxic chemicals. This system represents the oldest known example of a water treatment system in the Western Hemisphere. The new research was published in the peer-reviewed journal Scientific Reports on October 22, 2020.

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At its peak, the ancient Mayan city of Tikal is believed to have been the home to at least 60,000 people, and scientists have discovered the remains of more than 3,000 structures located around the city. The city was located in the area that is now Guatemala in Central America.

Location of the ancient city of Tikal.

Image via Britannica.

Scientists collected sediment cores from three drinking water reservoirs in Tikal that were used to store water from approximately 2,200 to 1,100 years ago. Mineral analyses revealed the presence of zeolite at one particular site known as the Corriental reservoir. Zeolite is an aluminosilicate mineral that has many pores and is an excellent material for trapping drinking water contaminants like harmful microorganisms and toxic metals. Because of its unique properties, zeolite is often used in modern water purification systems.

Zeolite.

Image via U.S. Geological Survey and Mineral Information Institute/ Wikimedia Commons.

The zeolite found in Tikal was likely collected from distant mineral deposits located about 19 miles (30 km) northeast of the drinking water reservoir and was transported back to the city, according to the scientists from the University of Cincinnati who performed the analyses. It is possible that the Mayans became of aware of the excellent water quality in the area containing the zeolite deposits and this led to the inspiration for its use in Tikal.

The main source of drinking water in Tikal was precipitation and runoff, and drinking water was likely scarce in times of droughts. The drinking water reservoirs thus played a crucial role in supplying the residents with potable water throughout the year. However, water can become foul when it is stored for long periods of time, and so the Mayans used the zeolite treatment technology to help purify the water.

This system represents the oldest known example of a water treatment system in the Western Hemisphere. Around such times, other known civilizations in the Americas mainly relied on natural springs for their drinking water, and this was water was often transported to inhabited areas through a system of aqueducts. While advanced water filtration systems have been discovered within the ancient cities of Greece, Egypt, and South Asia, the system at Tikal represents the first of its kind in the New World.

Kenneth Barnett Tankersley, lead author of the new paper and associate professor of anthropology at the University of Cincinnati, commented on the findings in a statement. He said:

The ancient Maya lived in a tropical environment and had to be innovators. This is a remarkable innovation. A lot of people look at Native Americans in the Western Hemisphere as not having the same engineering or technological muscle of places like Greece, Rome, India or China. But when it comes to water management, the Maya were millennia ahead.

• Bottom line: Scientists have uncovered evidence of an advanced water treatment system in the ancient Mayan city of Tikal, in which zeolite was used to purify the drinking water. This system represents the first of its kind to be discovered in the Americas.
• Source: Zeolite water purification at Tikal, an ancient Maya city in Guatemala
• Via Smithsonian Magazine
• Via EurekAlert

RELATED VIDEOS, selected and posted by peter2011

{ https://earthsky.org/ }

07-01-2021 om 23:09 geschreven door peter  

A new study from Northwestern University shows that solar flares – space weather – might not always be as dangerous for life on exoplanets as typically thought. In fact, it might even help astronomers discover alien life on distant worlds.

Artist’s concept of a distant red dwarf star and accompanying exoplanet. Red dwarfs are common in our galaxy. They produce volatile, deadly flares – and accompanying space weather – that can erode the atmospheres of any nearby planets and severely endanger any existing life. But … maybe not always, according to a new study.

Image via NASA/ ESA/ D. Player (STScI).

A few days ago, we reported new findings about how space weather spawned by Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to our sun, might inhibit life on Proxima’s planets. Volatile red dwarf stars like Proxima are prone to powerful space weather, that is, bursts of radiation caused by flares on these stars. There are lots of red dwarf stars in our galaxy. So it’s been with some wistfulness that astronomers in recent years have reported that red dwarf space weather might decrease our chances of finding exoplanet life. But science marches on, and now a new study provides some hope for those searching for life beyond Earth. The study suggests that space weather might not always be fatal to life. Hostile space weather might even help astronomers detect life on exoplanets around red dwarfs stars.

• The researchers published the new peer-reviewed findings in Nature Astronomy on December 21, 2020.

It is known that intense solar flares from red dwarfs or other active stars can erode or even strip the atmospheres from planets that orbit too close. In the case of red dwarfs, these stars are cooler and smaller than the sun, which means such planets are often in the habitable zone, where temperatures are suitable for liquid water on their surfaces. But, they orbit very close to their stars, so they are pummelled by intense radiation. So how could it be that this space weather is not always as bad for life as it is assumed to be?

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It all comes down to chemistry. In the new study, the researchers found that such flares play a significant role in the development of a planet’s atmosphere. Howard Chen, first author of the study, said in a statement:

We compared the atmospheric chemistry of planets experiencing frequent flares with planets experiencing no flares. The long-term atmospheric chemistry is very different.

The senior author of the study, Daniel Horton, added:

We’ve found that stellar flares might not preclude the existence of life. In some cases, flaring doesn’t erode all of the atmospheric ozone. Surface life might still have a fighting chance.

That’s good news for the possibility of life on at least some otherwise potentially habitable worlds orbiting red dwarf stars.

As Horton further explained:

We studied planets orbiting within the habitable zones of M and K dwarf stars, the most common stars in the universe. Habitable zones around these stars are narrower because the stars are smaller and less powerful than stars like our sun. On the flip side, M and K dwarf stars are thought to have more frequent flaring activity than our sun, and their tidally locked planets are unlikely to have magnetic fields helping deflect their stellar winds.

Daniel Horton at Northwestern University, senior author of the new paper. Image via Northwestern University.

The study found that it might be easier in some cases for life to survive around red dwarfs than previously thought, but it, and previous studies, also showed that hostile space weather might even make it easier to detect such life. How?

If there were gases in a planet’s atmosphere that were a sign of life – such as nitrogen dioxide, nitrous oxide or nitric acid – stellar flares could actually increase their abundance. If such gases were at a very low level and difficult to detect from Earth, flares could increase their amounts to levels that were detectable. It’s an intriguing and ironic possibility, that the same space weather that could extinguish life on a planet might also aid astronomers in detecting life. As Chen explained:

Space weather events are typically viewed as a detriment to habitability. But our study quantitatively showed that some space weather can actually help us detect signatures of important gases that might signify biological processes.

Chen and his colleagues had also incorporated stellar flare data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Satellite Survey (TESS) mission, launched in 2018, into their model simulations. This helps researchers better understand the overall effects of space weather on exoplanet atmospheres.

Red dwarf stars are more active than our sun, frequently releasing deadly flares that could erode the atmospheres of planets that orbit too close. The sun has flares, too, of course, but in the case of Earth, our planet’s magnetic field protects us from them. While they might cause problems with power or communications systems, including satellites, they don’t endanger life itself on Earth’s surface. As Allison Youngblood, an astronomer at the University of Colorado Boulder and co-author of the study, described it:

Our sun is more of a gentle giant. It’s older and not as active as younger and smaller stars. Earth also has a strong magnetic field, which deflects the sun’s damaging winds.

Artist’s concept of Kepler-186f, a potentially habitable exoplanet that orbits a red dwarf star 500 light-years from Earth. Unlike some other planets found around red dwarfs, it orbits a bit farther out, in the outer edge region of the star’s habitable zone, and may not be as affected by solar flares.

Image via NASA/ NASA Ames/ SETI Institute/ JPL-Caltech.

The findings illustrate just how complex the possibility of alien life can be, that it’s not always as straightforward as we might think. It’s not just whether or not a planet is in the habitable zone of a star, for example, but rather there are many factors to consider relating to conditions both on the planet itself as well as its host star. The search for extraterrestrial life requires input from a wide range of scientific disciplines. As Eric T. Wolf, a planetary scientist at the University of Colorado Boulder and a co-author of the study, summed it up:

This project was a result of fantastic collective team effort. Our work highlights the benefits of interdisciplinary efforts when investigating conditions on extrasolar planets.

• Bottom line: New research shows that solar flares – and their accompanying space weather – might not always be as dangerous for life on exoplanets as typically thought. Space weather in distant star systems might even help astronomers discover exoplanet life.
• Source: Persistence of flare-driven atmospheric chemistry on rocky habitable zone worlds
• Via Northwestern University

{ https://earthsky.org/ }

07-01-2021 om 22:45 geschreven door peter  

Mars is also a wobbly planet like Earth, and we don’t know why

Maybe this discovery can help us understand them both.

 by Alexandru Micu

Mars becomes the second planet after Earth that we know is wobbling around its axis. As to why — we’re yet unsure.

As the Red Planet spins during its day, it also wobbles and bobbles gently around its own axis, a new paper reports. Astronomers have no idea why this is happening, but the fact that Mars is the second planet we know of to do this (after Earth) could help us understand it better.

The Chandler wobble

This type of motion — a planet’s wobble around its own axis as it spins — is known as the Chandler wobble. Earth shows some 30 feet (9 meters) of amplitude in this wobble: its poles move in a circle with a 9-meter diameter around its axis, with a period of around 430 days.

Mars seems to be doing the same, albeit the diameter it spins on is way smaller: 4 inches (10 centimeters) off-center, with a period of around 200 days, according to Eos.org, the news blog of the American Geophysical Union (AGU).

The Chandler wobble is produced when a rotating body’s mass isn’t distributed evenly. Things like differences in density throughout its body or in its shape will lead to such a wobble. In Earth’s case, it is caused by its shape, which isn’t perfectly round. Although Earth’s is much more pronounced than that of Mars, it’s possible that the source of the wobble is the same for both planets.

Still, here’s where the mystery begins. Over time, we know that this wobble should fade out. It’s been calculated that for Earth, any Chandler wobbling should disappear within a century of it starting. However, we know that this isn’t the case — Earth has been wobbling for much longer than that.

Given that our planet is both geologically and biologically active, our running assumption so far is that shifts in atmospheric and ocean pressures (i.e. the movement of large bodies of water and gas) are constantly fueling this wobble, which is why it didn’t die out when our calculations said it would.

But Mars is neither geologically nor biologically active, as far as we know. It has no oceans and only a thin coating of an atmosphere. And yet it wobbles.

The movement was detected using 18 years’ worth of data collected by satellites around Mars: Mars Odyssey, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and, Mars Global Surveyor. Crunching the math leads to the same conclusion as it does on Earth: this wobble should end naturally, but so far, it hasn’t.

Our only guess so far is that, in Mars’ case, the Chandler wobble is fueled by atmospheric motions alone; this would fit with the much lower amplitude of motion compared to Earth’s own wobble. However, more data is needed before we can be certain.

However, we do know one thing for sure: if we’ve found two planets which wobble, we’re likely to see more in the future doing the same. Maybe we can understand what’s happening before we run into the third.

{ https://www.zmescience.com/ }

07-01-2021 om 22:03 geschreven door peter  

Earth is whipping around quicker than it has in a half-century

By Stephanie Pappas 

It could mean a "negative" leap second.

(Image: © Stocktrek Images via Getty Images)

Even time did not escape 2020 unscathed. 

The 28 fastest days on record (since 1960) all occurred in 2020, with Earth completing its revolutions around its axis milliseconds quicker than average. That's not particularly alarming — the planet's rotation varies slightly all the time, driven by variations in atmospheric pressure, winds, ocean currents and the movement of the core. But it is inconvenient for international timekeepers, who use ultra-accurate atomic clocks to meter out the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) by which everyone sets their clocks. When astronomical time, set by the time it takes the Earth to make one full rotation, deviates from UTC by more than 0.4 seconds, UTC gets an adjustment.

Until now, these adjustments have consisted of adding a "leap second" to the year at the end of June or December, bringing astronomical time and atomic time back in line. These leap seconds were tacked on because the overall trend of Earth's rotation has been slowing since accurate satellite measurement began in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Since 1972, scientists have added leap seconds about every year-and-a-half, on average, according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The last addition came in 2016, when on New Year's Eve at 23 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds, an extra "leap second" was added. 

• Related: 5 of the most precise clocks ever made

However, according to Time and Date, the recent acceleration in Earth's spin has scientists talking for the first time about a negative leap second. Instead of adding a second, they might need to subtract one. That's because the average length of a day is 86,400 seconds, but an astronomical day in 2021 will clock in 0.05 milliseconds shorter, on average. Over the course of the year, that will add up to a 19 millisecond lag in atomic time. 

"It's quite possible that a negative leap second will be needed if the Earth's rotation rate increases further, but it's too early to say if this is likely to happen," physicist Peter Whibberley of the National Physics Laboratory in the U.K., told The Telegraph. "There are also international discussions taking place about the future of leap seconds, and it's also possible that the need for a negative leap second might push the decision towards ending leap seconds for good."

The year 2020 was already faster than usual, astronomically speaking (cue sighs of relief). According to Time and Date, Earth broke the previous record for shortest astronomical day, set in 2005, 28 times. That year's shortest day, July 5, saw Earth complete a rotation 1.0516 milliseconds faster than 86,400 seconds. The shortest day in 2020 was July 19, when the planet completed one spin 1.4602 milliseconds faster than 86,400 seconds. 

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According to the NIST, leap seconds have their pros and cons. They're useful for making sure that astronomical observations are synced with clock time, but they can be a hassle for some data-logging applications and telecommunications infrastructure. Some scientists at the International Telecommunication Union have suggested letting the gap between astronomical and atomic time widen until a "leap hour" is needed, which would minimize disruption to telecommunications. (Astronomers would have to make their own adjustments in the meantime.) 

The International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS) in Paris, France, is responsible for determining whether adding or subtracting a leap second is necessary. Currently, the IERS shows no new leap seconds scheduled to be added, according to the service's Earth Orientation Center.

• Originally published on Live Science.

{ https://www.space.com/ }

07-01-2021 om 21:46 geschreven door peter  

PREMIUM

Beeld ter illustratie. © AP

Dit waren de vijf wetenschappelijke hoogtepunten van 2020

Nu 2021 uit de startblokken is geschoten, is het moment aangebroken om de balans op te maken van het afgelopen jaar. Wat waren dé wetenschappelijke nieuwsfeiten van 2020? Wij stelden alvast onze lijst samen.

Martijn Peters 

De niet-aflatende speurtocht naar nieuwe kennis heeft ook dit jaar ervoor gezorgd dat er weer wat minder mysteries in ons universum zijn. Op zich niets verwonderlijk, ware het niet dat een pandemie tegelijkertijd de wereld in zijn greep hield. 2020 zal de geschiedenisboeken ingaan als het jaar waarin we kennismaakten met het nieuwe coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. En dat heeft ook zijn weerslag op de wetenschap gehad.

Het jaar van SARS-CoV-2

Voor velen was 2020 het jaar waarin het normale dagelijkse leven even op pauze werd gezet. Maar in de wetenschap kwam alles in een stroomversnelling terecht. Eind 2019 hoorden we voor het eerst iets over een nieuwe mysterieuze longziekte in het tot dan toe onbekende Wuhan. Eind 2020 krijgt de 96-jarige Jos Hermans als eerste een vaccin toegediend. Een ongeziene prestatie. In een jaar waarin politieke leiders hun grenzen sloten hebben wetenschappers hun grenzen - figuurlijk - aan diggelen geslagen, wat leidde tot een imposante wereldwijde samenwerking en drastische veranderingen in de manier waarop er aan wetenschap werd gedaan.

Slechts enkele dagen na de ontdekking van de uitbraak van dit nieuwe virus werd de genetische code al ontrafeld en met de wereld gedeeld. De ellenlange administratieve processen die gepaard gaan met de publicatie van onderzoeksresultaten in een wetenschappelijk tijdschrift werden gewoon aan de kant geschoven en alles werd meteen online geplaatst. De opgedane kennis was plots voor iedereen toegankelijk en die werkwijze werd ook aangehouden gedurende de hele coronacrisis. Wat volgde was een tsunami aan informatie. Nooit eerder probeerden zoveel experten samen eenzelfde vijand te verslaan. Concurrenten sloegen plots de handen in elkaar. De wetenschappelijke wereld kwam samen zoals nooit tevoren.

Enkele maanden gevuld met wetenschappelijke innovaties en het verleggen van grenzen gaven ons meerdere kandidaat-vaccins. Die werden niet alleen ontwikkeld met een snelheid die die van het licht leek te benaderen, maar ook aan een verbazingwekkend tempo onderworpen aan klinische testen. En dat alles zonder in te boeten aan kwaliteit. Het ultieme bewijs dat als er genoeg geld en hersenen - met de goedkeuring van regeringen, industrie, academie,... - tegen een probleem worden aangegooid, er héél veel mogelijk is. In dit geval leidde deze revolutionaire wereldwijde inspanning tot de snelste ontwikkeling van een vaccin ooit (een record dat tot 2020 toebehoorde aan het bof-vaccin dat in 4 jaar het daglicht zag). Dankzij die historische gebeurtenis krijgen we nu stilaan, spuitje per spuitje, ons leven terug.

CRISPR-Cas9 in de praktijk

Het mag dan misschien lijken alsof het gisteren was, maar de ontdekking van CRISPR-Cas9 vond ondertussen al bijna een decennium geleden plaats. Toch haalt deze revolutionaire techniek waarmee snel en goedkoop veranderingen aangebracht worden in het DNA van om het even welk organisme nog jaarlijks het nieuws, ook in 2020. Zo ging de Nobelprijs voor Scheikunde dit jaar naar de ontdekkers van de DNA-schaar, Emmanuelle Charpentier en Jennifer Doudna.

Maar daar bleef het niet bij. Er werd ook aangetoond dat de techniek kan ingezet worden om gewassen te verbeteren zonder dat er sprake is van genetisch gemodificeerde organismen. Hierdoor kan men planten voorzien van gunstige eigenschappen, zoals een verhoogde weerbaarheid tegen droogte en insecten of een verhoogde opbrengst, zonder al de vooroordelen. En CRISPR-Cas9 vindt ook steeds vaker zijn weg naar de ziekenhuizen. De resultaten van verschillende wetenschappelijke studies werden in 2020 bekendgemaakt waarin de techniek gebruikt werd tegen aandoeningen zoals kanker, sikkelcelziekte en een overerfbare vorm van blindheid.

Tot slot vond, niet geheel onverwacht tijdens deze pandemie, de techniek ook zijn weg terug naar zijn originele toepassing: het vernietigen van virussen. De inspiratie voor de DNA-schaar kwam namelijk van het eeuwenoude afweersysteem van bacteriën die het gebruikten om virussen onschadelijk te maken door in hun genetisch materiaal te knippen. Verschillende onderzoeksgroepen zijn nu op zoek naar het antwoord op de vraag of de revolutionaire techniek ook gebruikt kan worden om ons lichaam tegen virale indringers te beschermen.

Dit zijn nog maar de eerste stappen die wetenschappers zetten als het op de mogelijkheden van CRISPR-Cas9 aankomt. Allicht zullen we in de komende jaren er nog veel horen en zal de impact op onze levens ongetwijfeld groot zijn.

Artificiële intelligentie in de bres voor onze gezondheid

Tesla-oprichter Elon Musk mag dan beginnen huiveren als het over artificiële intelligentie (AI) gaat, de wetenschappers van Google’s Deepmind onderzoeksgroep hebben in 2020 meermaals bewezen dat AI zeker ook zijn nut heeft. In de afgelopen jaren lieten zij al zien dat het ingezet kan worden om een niertrauma maar liefst 48 uur vroeger te detecteren en voor een betere analyse van onze genetische samenstelling. Dit jaar werd die lijst nog wat uitgebreid. Een door hen ontwikkelde AI zorgde voor een verbetering in het opsporen van borstkanker bij mammografieën.

Maar hun grootste verwezenlijking was het oplossen van een raadsel waar biologen al een halve eeuw hun tanden op stuk bijten: het eiwit-vouwprobleem. Eiwitten hebben verschillende functies in ons lichaam. Het zijn bouwstoffen, ze spelen een rol bij onze afweer en ze maken verschillende processen mogelijk. Dit biologisch molecuul bestaat uit een ketting van bouwstenen, genaamd aminozuren, die zich vervolgens opvouwt tot een 3D structuur. Tot nu toe hadden wetenschappers er het raden naar hoe de volgorde van die bouwstenen de uiteindelijke opvouwing en 3D-structuur van een eiwit bepaalt. Maar dat was buiten het nieuwe AI-systeem, AlphaFold, van Deepmind gerekend. Het kan namelijk dit soort voorspellingen maken én dat in slechts enkele dagen tijd en met een lagere kostprijs dan vele andere technieken.

Deze doorbraak kan wetenschappers in de toekomst helpen om nieuwe medicijnen te ontwikkelen en ziektes beter te begrijpen. Maar niet enkel onze gezondheid heeft er voordeel bij. Synthetische eiwitten kunnen bijvoorbeeld ook gebruikt worden voor afvalverwerking (zo werd er dit jaar een eiwit gemaakt dat plastic kan afbreken), de productie van biobrandstof en in de landbouw. Voorlopig dus nog geen ‘Terminator’-toestanden, maar wel een dikke hoera voor de AI.

Ruimte-exploratie schakelt een versnelling hoger

Als het hier op aarde niet meer plezant is, dan misschien wel daarbuiten. Dat moet door de hoofden van heel wat onderzoekers gespookt hebben tijdens deze pandemie, want er werden namelijk weer veel opmerkelijke ontdekkingen buiten onze atmosfeer gedaan. Zo werd niet enkel het onderzoek naar zwarte gaten van Roger Penrose, Reinhard Genzel en Andrea Ghez beloond met de Nobelprijs voor Natuurkunde, maar ontdekte astronomen ook een zwart gat dat zo groot was (142 keer de massa van onze zon) dat het eigenlijk niet zou mogen bestaan.

En er werd nog meer ontdekt in ons universum. Na een speurtocht van meer dan 10 jaar kwamen onderzoekers eindelijk te weten wat de oorzaak was van korte snelle radiogolven uit verre sterrenstelsels. Tal van verdachten passeerden de revue, maar in 2020 zorgde het Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment voor het verlossende antwoord. Het bleek om een magnetar te gaan, een neutronenster met een zeer krachtig magnetisch veld. Het mysterie van wie het gedaan heeft is nu opgelost, maar hoe blijft wel nog een onopgeloste vraag. Het spelletje ruimte-‘Cluedo’ gaat dus gewoon door.

Astronomen troffen in 2020 ook water aan op de maan en merkten op dat Mars zoemt. En ze maakten met behulp van de Solar Orbiter missie de dichtste foto ooit bij de zon en verzamelde materiaal van een asteroïde. Daarnaast vond ook de eerste commerciële vlucht naar het internationaal ruimtestation plaats, met dank aan SpaceX. Tot slot werd er ook nog een ‘ruimte’-ontdekking gedaan hier op aarde. Tijdens de analyse van de Murchison-meteoriet bleek dat die stukjes sterrenstof met zich meedroeg die miljarden jaren oud zijn. We hebben dus iets op onze planeet gevonden dat ouder is dan ons zonnestelsel zelf.

De natuur blijft ons verbazen

Er kan natuurlijk geen lijst zijn zonder een aantal wapenfeiten waarin de fauna en flora van onze planeet zich van hun beste kant laat zien. Dat mag u letterlijk nemen in dit geval. 2020 bleek het jaar van de lichtgevende beestjes te zijn. De meest spraakmakende was de wombat, een dier bekend voor zijn hoge aaibaarheidsfactor en vierkante stoelgang. Plaats er één onder een UV-lamp en zijn vacht licht helder op. Ook zijn vogels intelligenter dan gedacht. Sommige, zoals kraaien, zijn zelfs misschien in staat tot bewuste gedachten.

Vaak wordt er gezegd dat we meer weten over het universum rondom ons dan over wat er zich in onze eigen oceanen afspeelt. Dat werd dit jaar nog eens bevestigd toen Australische wetenschappers een torenhoog koraal ontdekte, dat met 500 meter 5 keer groter is dan het Atomium. Het was al meer dan een eeuw geleden sinds er nog zo’n vrijstaand rif ontdekt werd.

Minder vrolijk nieuws kwam er van de klimaatwetenschappers. Zo documenteerden zij vele records in 2020, waaronder het warmste decennium ooit. Het afgelopen jaar kreeg ook de titel mee van ‘meest actieve orkaanseizoen’ van de Atlantische oceaan. Tot slot zijn ze er ook in geslaagd, met behulp van heel wat wetenschappelijke vooruitgang, om de voorspellingen met betrekking tot de opwarming van de aarde door broeikasgassen nauwkeuriger te maken. Zo’n 40 jaar geleden werd dit geschat op 1,5 tot 4,5 °C indien de hoeveelheid koolstofdioxide in onze atmosfeer verder toeneemt. Dat werd nu bijgesteld naar 2,6 tot 3,9 °C. Nog meer dan voldoende voor verschroeiende hittegolven en het verdwijnen van kuststeden.

BONUS: wetenschap wordt alsmaar populairder

Wetenschap wint aan populariteit. Mensen raken steeds meer geboeid door deze wondere wereld. Dat bleek ook uit Spotify’s meest beluisterde lijsten van 2020. Zo was de populairste podcast in België van het afgelopen jaar de ‘Nerdland’-podcast. Daarin geven een hele hoop enthousiastelingen onder leiding van Lieven Scheire elke maand een overzicht van het wetenschapsnieuws dat je zeker niet mag missen. Een aanrader voor 2021 als entertainende discussies over wetenschap iets voor jou zijn.

{ https://www.hln.be/ }

07-01-2021 om 21:12 geschreven door peter  

If you’re one of those who believes that Area 51 is hiding secret and possibly extraterrestrial  aircrafts, this story is for you. If you’re not, you may be after seeing and hearing what an experienced private pilot and aerial photographer with thousands of photos of the base found in a recent picture. Would you believe an unusually long triangular craft that may have been hastily pulled into an equally unusual hangar known as a scoot-and-hide shelter? One that caught the eye not just of the usual tabloids but also experienced Area 51 and military aircraft watchers?

“One of the large hangars south of the main complex appears to have open doors. It is hard to determine what, if anything is inside due to the distance from Zeifman’s plane.”

That’s the analysis from Mystery Wire, which first published the story and the pictures taken by Gabriel Zeifman on his Christmas Day flight around Area 51. Specifically, Zeifman spent a long time in the air, flying his plane past the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR), past Papoose Dry Lake, and past Groom Lake and Area 51. Most of the photos (Mystery Wire shows both individual and composites) are extremely high quality because of Zeifman’s equipment and experience. And, in case you’re wondering:

“Similar to two previous flights, Zeifman was not breaking any laws. He is a trained air traffic controller (ATC) and had permission to fly through this restricted government airspace.”

Unfortunately, the photo of the mysterious craft and hangar is of lesser quality due to distance – you didn’t expect the government to put their secret stuff where anyone could see it, did you? Many of the tabloids that subsequently reported on the photos linked them to the possibility that the U.S. government is under obligation to release UFO information within the next six months – that’s not guaranteed. And this isn’t necessarily an ET spacecraft. Fortunately, the good (and militarily experienced) folks at The Drive (Tyler Rogoway and Joseph Trevithick) did a detailed analysis of the photo. But first, they gave some background on the so-called scoot-and-hide hangar.

“The structure is not really just a hangar in the traditional sense. Scoot-and-hide shelters help conceal flying test articles from prying eyes, most notably from satellites above. This also provides a site closer to the runway where personnel can perform last-chance checks and troubleshooting, as well as arming any explosives, while the aircraft remains concealed.”

Based on that, whatever Zeifman photographed is being hidden from prying eyes. The Drive noted that it was unusual for this facility to leave its doors open, and Area 51 doesn’t normally do any test flights over the holidays. At that point, the authors did their best at detailing what it might be.

“To our eye, it looks like a very low-slung dagger-shaped object, similar to the low-observable endcaps and some test articles that have been placed atop radar cross-section (RCS) testing poles at RCS test facilities, although this one has a rise towards its rear, which one could speculate may be a cockpit. So, could this object be a similarly shaped stealthy or high-speed test article? It’s possible. If it is, it sits extremely low to the ground.”

How about an educated guess as to what it is?

“If we are to go down the rabbit hole in regards to the general shape that we think we are seeing here, at least based on the very limited photographic evidence provided, the closest thing we can find with regards to an actual known aircraft is the Martin Marietta X-24B lifting body.”

The Drive provides some excellent images of this long-and-pointy craft, which was designed in the 1950s and flew into the 1970s. Could the craft in the hangar be a hypersonic updated replacement for the X-24B? Who knows?

Kudos to Mystery Wire and The Drive, as well as Gabriel Zeifman, for giving us far more information that the government. Will it keep its promise to change in six months? We’ll wait and see.

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

07-01-2021 om 20:43 geschreven door peter  

Mystery 'triangle shape' is spotted in Area 51 hangar by pilot who took 1,000 photos during Christmas Day flypast of secretive military base in Nevada

• Gabe Zeifman, a private pilot and amateur photographer, spent Christmas Day flying his Cessna 150 plane over the Nevada Test and Training Range

• The hangar is just south of the main NTTR complex at Area 51 and the object looks large, although it is unclear

• It does appear to be the only hangar that is open. 

• Zeifman, a trainer air traffic controller (ATC) has flown over the area on three separate occasions 

By DAILYMAIL.COM REPORTER

A private pilot captured stunning visuals of the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR) and Area 51, showing a mysterious triangle shape inside an open hangar.

Gabe Zeifman, a private pilot and amateur photographer, spent Christmas Day flying his Cessna 150 plane over the area and snapping just over 1,000 photos. 

The hangar is just south of the main NTTR complex at Area 51 and the object looks large, although it is unclear.

It does appear to be the only hangar that is open.

The hangar is just south of the main Nevada Test and Training Range complex at Area 51 and the object looks large, although it is unclear

Gabe Zeifman, a private pilot and amateur photographer, spent Christmas day flying his Cessna 150 plane over the NTTR

Zeifman, a trainer air traffic controller (ATC, has flown over the area on three separate occasions, Mystery Wire reports.

In the videos of his flights, posted to YouTube, Zeifman can be heard getting clearance for his route over the restricted area.  

For this particular flight, Zeifman had higher quality photography gear that allowed him to capture better photos. 

For this particular flight, Zeifman had higher quality photography gear that allowed him to capture better photos

Area 51 is just one of the sensitive military facilities located within the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR), a vast military training area in Nevada's Mojave Desert

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Area 51 is just one of the sensitive military facilities located within the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR), a vast military training area in Nevada's Mojave Desert.

Details of everything that takes place at Area 51 are classified as top secret, and the intense secrecy around the facility has led to widespread conspiracy theories that it is used to store captured or crashed UFOs.

What is officially acknowledged is that Area 51 was founded by the CIA in 1955 as a testing facility for the secretive U-2 spy plane, and that it has likely been used ever since to test highly classified and experimental aircraft.

As for any national security implications of sharing the images, it is worth noting that Russia can and does fly directly over Area 51 with sophisticated reconnaissance planes under the Open Skies Treaty. 

A composite of several of the photos taken by Zeifman

What is officially acknowledged is that Area 51 was founded by the CIA in 1955 as a testing facility for the secretive U-2 spy plane 

In the videos of his flights, posted to YouTube, Zeifman can be heard getting clearance for his route over the restricted area

• www.mysterywire....

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

07-01-2021 om 20:40 geschreven door peter  

Laura Eisenhower: Amazing ET Disclosures, Starseed Mission & Val Thor!

ABOUT BOOK ~ This is the ultimate field guide to the 82 extraterrestrial species that populate the universe. ET enthusiast Craig Campobasso explores the origins, physical characteristics, technological and consciousness abilities, dimensional capacities, belief systems, and cosmic agendas of each of the species.

The species fall into two categories:

•  1. benevolent races, which function as the guardians of humanity, whose goals include helping people overcome duality, healing, and

protecting;

and

• 2. malevolent races, which are responsible for abductions, cloning, and ultimately domination.

This intergalactic expose will entertain all those interested in UFOs, aliens, ETs. Sci-fi and fantasy fans of the Marvel universe; Star Trek, Star Wars, and other popular TV shows like Ancient Aliens; Roswell, and Project Blue Book are prime targets for this book that delves deep into who the real extraterrestrials are and what they want with the people of Earth. CRAIG CAMPOBASSO BIOGRAPHY Multiple award-winning filmmaker and Emmy-nominated casting director Craig Campobasso was fifteen when he started in the entertainment business.

His young acting career was off to a great start; he landed his first national commercial for McDonald’s chicken sandwich, and spoke his first line of dialogue to Tuesday Weld in a MOW. After graduating high school at age seventeen, Craig went to work behind-the-scenes on such blockbuster film classics as Frank Herbert’s Dune directed by David Lynch; and two Arnold Schwarzenegger movies Conan The Destroyer and Total Recall. He began his casting career on Steven Spielberg’s Amazing Stories. He received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Casting for a Series on David E. Kelley’s Picket Fences. Craig’s casting career spans three decades. Craig’s mother Marie Donna King Campobasso told him from the time she was pregnant with him, that she knew he would become a writer.

He fulfilled that prophecy when he was twenty-six, after he experienced a life-changing spiritual awakening. That’s when The Autobiography of an ExtraTerrrestrial Saga book series was born. His passion is to write stories that provoke the reader to think, to raise their consciousness, to expand their mind about Creation, while still entertaining in the Hollywood tradition. Craig directed, wrote and produced the short film Stranger at the Pentagon, which was adapted from the popular UFO book authored by the late Dr. Frank E. Stranges. After production, the short film collected accolades. In September 2014, it won Best Sci-Fi film at the Burbank International Film Festival, selling out all 275 seats—a first for the festival. In 2015, it won a Remi Award at the Worldfest Houston International Film Festival for Best Sci-Fi Short. 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗟𝗮𝘂𝗿𝗮 𝗘𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗵𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿: Laura Eisenhower is a Global Alchemist, Researcher and Medical and Intuitive Astrologist.. She is an internationally acclaimed speaker who has presented her work world wide.

Laura is the great-granddaughter of President Dwight David Eisenhower and she reveals Exopolitical information about his administration, that has been largely held in secrecy. She is considered by many to be one of North Americas leading researchers on: Health, Exopolitics, Alchemy, Metaphysics, and Galactic History. Laura works to free us from the 3-D holographic time-loop, False Archonic systems and Military Industrial Complex and exposes hidden agendas so we can take our power back.

Feeling a calling regarding her mission since she was a child, she has gained incredible insight through her wilderness adventures, psychic development and has been connecting major dots about how to guide us into higher Earth energies. She has a deep understanding of Gaia-Sophia and our Divine Blueprint and how they connect to the Venus transits, Earth grids, Global Alchemy, DNA & ET races. Her passion is to inspire unity consciousness and bring us back to the Zero point/Unified field, the totality of our divine powers.

{ https://beforeitsnews.com/ }

07-01-2021 om 18:47 geschreven door peter  

Beyond The Extraterrestrial Firewall

Steve Boucher has had experiences with non-terrestrial beings since he was a baby. The bulk of his experiences were buried in his subconscious mind for many years until he began to have brief flashes of conscious memory after reading Budd Hopkins’ book ‘Missing Time’. Steve then wrote to Budd Hopkins and informed him of the memories he was having. Budd then contacted Steve and invited him to come to New York and stay at his art studio in Manhattan for a week.

Steve accepted the invitation and during that week in 1984, he underwent 3 hypnosis sessions which revealed that he had experienced repeated visitations from short grey-skinned beings approximately 4 feet tall with large eyes and large heads.

RELATED VIDEOS, selected and posted by peter2011

{ https://beforeitsnews.com/ }

07-01-2021 om 18:44 geschreven door peter  

Two UFOs Enter Volcano Popocatépetl In 4 Minutes! Dec 20, 2020, UFO Sighting News.

Date of sighting: Dec 20, 2020
Location of sighting: Volcano Popocatepetl, Mexico

What you are looking at here is not one but two UFOs entering a volcano near Mexico City, Mexico. After the first UFO enters the mouth of the volcano, a second UFO is seen four minutes later coming from an opposite trajectory. Both entering the mouth of Popocatepetl. The odds of two meteors this big falling into the mouth of the volcano in four minutes from different directions...would be astronomical in size. You got a better chance of wining a pick six lottery than seeing such an event happen. So we know its not meteors. This is 100% proof that an alien base sits 6-8km below the volcano. A city thats over 10,000 years old. 

Scott C. Waring - Taiwan 

RELATED VIDEOS, selected and posted by peter2011

{ https://www.ufosightingsdaily.com/ }

07-01-2021 om 18:20 geschreven door peter  

Ex-military man shares experience with highly advanced ORB – SPECIES aka UFOs

Here’s one really interesting testimony from an ex-military man and his experience with UFOs.

{ https://www.latest-ufo-sightings.net/ }

07-01-2021 om 17:32 geschreven door peter  

Let’s check the best recent UFO videos from 2021!

Year has just started but people are already experiencing some great UFO sightings!

RELATED VIDEOS, selected and posted by peter2011

{ https://www.latest-ufo-sightings.net/ }

07-01-2021 om 17:28 geschreven door peter  

NASA's new space telescope set to unravel secrets of the Big Bang

It's called SPHEREx and it's one step closer to launch.

 Mark Serrels

The Big Bang theory is a cosmological model describing how our current, observable universe came to be. But there is still much to learn about the concept, particularly when it comes to what occurred in those early microseconds after the big bang itself. What happened in that split second when our universe appeared? NASA wants to find out.

To do so, the space agency has designed a space telescope that will be able to probe the universe for evidence of those earliest moments. 

Currently bearing the extremely cool moniker SPHEREx (short for "Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer") NASA has announced it's moving along nicely with its plan to build the telescope. 

Next steps: Begin work on a final design and start to build the thing, with a view to launching between 2024 and 2025.

The SPHEREx space telescope is expected to be the size of "subcompact car" and, according to a recent NASA release, will "map the entire sky four times, creating a massive database of stars, galaxies, nebulas (clouds of gas and dust in space), and many other celestial objects."

If all goes to plan, SPHEREx will be the very first NASA mission to create a "full-sky spectroscopy map in near-infrared," observing a total of 102 near-infrared colors.

"That's like going from black-and-white images to color" explained Allen Farrington, project manager of SPHEREx.

The first priority of SPHEREx is to search for evidence of something NASA says "might have happened less than a billionth of a billionth of a second after the big bang." 

By mapping billions of galaxies across the universe NASA hopes to find statistical patterns that can help explain what happened immediately after the big bang, when the universe rapidly expanded. The newly created map will also help search for water ice and frozen organic molecules around newly forming stars. 

SPHEREx is also hoping to discover more about galaxy formation and may be able to discover how some of the first galaxies created stars. 

You can find out more about the SPHEREx mission here.

RELATED VIDEOS, selected and posted by peter2011

{ https://www.cnet.com/ }

07-01-2021 om 16:33 geschreven door peter  

Astronomers agree: Universe is nearly 14 billion years old

by Linda B. Glaser, Cornell University

From an observatory high above Chile's Atacama Desert, astronomers have taken a new look at the oldest light in the universe.

Their observations, plus a bit of cosmic geometry, suggest that the universe is 13.77 billion years old—give or take 40 million years. A Cornell University researcher co-authored one of two papers about the findings, which add a fresh twist to an ongoing debate in the astrophysics community.

The new estimate, using data gathered at the National Science Foundation's Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT), matches the one provided by the standard model of the universe, as well as measurements of the same light made by the European Space Agency's Planck satellite, which measured remnants of the Big Bang from 2009 to '13.

The research was published in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics.

The lead author of "The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: A Measurement of the Cosmic Microwave Background Power Spectra at 98 and 150 GHz" is Steve Choi, NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellow at the Cornell Center for Astrophysics and Planetary Science, in the College of Arts and Sciences.

In 2019, a research team measuring the movements of galaxies calculated that the universe is hundreds of millions of years younger than the Planck team predicted. That discrepancy suggested a new model for the universe might be needed and sparked concerns that one of the sets of measurements might be incorrect.

"Now we've come up with an answer where Planck and ACT agree," said Simone Aiola, a researcher at the Flatiron Institute's Center for Computational Astrophysics and first author of one of two papers. "It speaks to the fact that these difficult measurements are reliable."

• New research of oldest light confirms age of the universe

RELATED VIDEOS, selected and posted by peter2011

{ https://phys.org/ }

07-01-2021 om 16:01 geschreven door peter  

White House proposes ‘Andromeda Strain’ protocols for space returns

Space germs.

 By Scott Powers

{ http://floridapolitics.com/ }

07-01-2021 om 01:11 geschreven door peter  

Researchers Uncovered a 5,000-Year-Old Crystal Dagger Buried in Spain

By Jessica Stewart 

Archeologists have discovered many tools left behind by prehistoric civilizations. Most of these are made of stone, but in Spain, researchers have found incredible weapons made of rock crystal. Dating back to at least 3000 BCE, these weapons include an incredible crystal dagger that would have taken enormous skill to carve.

The crystal weapons were discovered inside the Montelirio tholos.

Copyright: ipolca (ARTURO DEL PINO RUIZ)

The incredible find was discovered in the megalithic tomb of Montelirio tholos, which is located in southwestern Spain. This enormous site is made from large slate slabs and stretches over 143 feet. It was excavated between 2007 and 2010; five years later, researchers from the University of Granada, the University of Seville, and the Spanish Higher Research Council published their study of the crystal tools. In addition to the dagger, they found 25 arrowheads and cores for making the weapons.

According to the study, rock crystal is commonly found in late prehistoric Iberian sites but is rarely studied in depth. To understand what purpose these special weapons may have had, we must first look at the context in which they were found.

What was found in the Montelirio tholos?

A: Ontiveros arrowheads; B: Montelirio tholos arrowheads; C: Montelirio dagger blade; D: Montelirio tholos core; Montelirio knapping debris; F: Montelirio micro-blades; G: Montelirio tholos microblades.

Photograph: Miguel Angel Blanco de la Rubia.

The remains of at least 25 individuals were found within Montelirio tholos. Previous analysis has suggested that at least one male and several females died from ingesting poison. The remains of the women were seated in a circular fashion in a chamber next to the bones of whom may have been the chief.

The tombs also contained many grave goods, including “shrouds or clothes made of tens of thousands of perforated beads and decorated with amber beads,” as well as ivory objects and fragments of gold blades. The crystal arrowheads were found together in a cluster, which leads the researchers to believe that they may have been a ritual offering.

The crystal dagger blade.

© Morgado, A., et al.

And the dagger? It was found on its own in a separate chamber, “in association with an ivory hilt and sheath.” Measuring nearly 8.5 inches long, it's similar in shape to other daggers of the period. (Of course, the difference is that those daggers were made of flint and this one is formed from crystal.)

The Meaning of Crystal Weapons

Since there were no crystal mines nearby, the materials for these items would have been sourced from far afield. This contributes to the idea that they were intended for an elite few who would have been able to afford to gather such materials and have them shaped into weapons. It's also interesting to note that none of the weapons were ascribed to a single individual, but appear to have been for collective use.

“They probably represent funerary paraphernalia only accessible to the elite of this time period,” write the researchers. “On the other hand, rock crystal must have had a symbolic significance as a raw material invested with special meanings and connotations. The literature provides examples of societies in which rock crystal and quartz as raw materials symbolize vitality, magical powers, and a connection with ancestors.”

Though we can't be certain of their exact purpose, the discovery and study of these weapons continue to give a fascinating insight into the prehistoric cultures that roamed the Earth over 5,000 years ago.

h/t: [Daily Grail, Ancient Origins]

• All images via Miguel Angel Blanco de la Rubia.

Related Articles:

• 2,500-Year-Old Chinese Sword Still Looks and Cuts Like New
• 6 Incredible Facts About the Prehistoric Altamira Cave Paintings
• Legendary 1,000-Year-Old Katana Still Looks as Flawless as When It Was First Constructed
• Scientists Reconstruct Neolithic Girl ‘Lola’ From DNA Found on 5,700-Year-Old Chewing Gum

{ https://mymodernmet.com/ }

07-01-2021 om 00:40 geschreven door peter  

Liquid glass discovered as new state of matter

By Michael Irving

Or at least, that’s how it usually goes. In the new study, the researchers discovered a form of glass where the atoms exhibit a complex behavior that’s never been seen in bulk glass before. Essentially, the atoms can move but aren’t able to rotate.

The team made this discovery in a model system of colloidal suspensions. These mixtures are made up of large solid particles suspended in a fluid, making it easier for scientists to observe the physical behavior of atoms or molecules. Normally these particles are spheres, but for this experiment the team used elliptical ones so they could tell which direction they were pointing.

A diagram showing the positions and orientation of the team's elliptical particles in the liquid glass state

Research groups of Professor Andreas Zumbusch and Professor Matthias Fuchs

The researchers tested different concentrations of particles in the fluid, tracking how well they could move and rotate. Eventually they found that at higher concentrations, the particles blocked each other from rotating, but they could still move, forming a liquid glass state.

“At certain particle densities orientational motion froze whereas translational motion persisted, resulting in glassy states where the particles clustered to form local structures with similar orientation,” says Andreas Zumbusch, lead author of the study.

The team says that the observed behavior comes from two competing glass transitions interacting with each other. Liquid glass has been predicted for decades, and the new observation suggests that similar processes could be at work in other glass-forming systems.

“This is incredibly interesting from a theoretical vantage point,” says Matthias Fuchs, senior author of the study. “Our experiments provide the kind of evidence for the interplay between critical fluctuations and glassy arrest that the scientific community has been after for quite some time.”

• The research was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Source: 

• University of Konstanz

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07-01-2021 om 00:17 geschreven door peter  

Using measurements taken using the SOPHIE spectrograph and the TESS exoplanet-hunting space telescope, an international team of researchers led by astronomer Nathan Hara of the University of Geneva in Switzerland were able to precisely calculate the orbits of each planet.

They're all very tight. Starting closest to the star - the super-Earth, revealed by TESS to be around twice the mass of Earth - the orbits are 2.17, 3.4, 5.2, 7.9, 12, and 17.4 days.

These produce period ratios of 1.57, 1.51, 1.53, 1.51, and 1.44 between each pair of planets. That's not quite perfect resonance - but it's close enough to classify HD 158259 as an extraordinary system.

And this, the researchers believe, is a sign that the planets orbiting the star did not form where they are now.

"Several compact systems with several planets in, or close to, resonances are known, such as TRAPPIST-1 or Kepler-80," explained astronomer Stephane Udry of the University of Geneva.

"Such systems are believed to form far from the star before migrating towards it. In this scenario, the resonances play a crucial part."

That's because these resonances are thought to result when planetary embryos in the protoplanetary disc grow and migrate inwards, away from the outer edge of the disc. This produces a chain of orbital resonance throughout the system.

Then, once the remaining gas of the disc dissipates, this can destabilise the orbital resonances - and this could be what we're seeing with HD 158259. And those tiny differences in the orbital resonances could tell us more about how this destabilisation is occurring.

"The current departure of the period ratios from 3:2 contains a wealth of information," Hara said.

"With these values on the one hand, and tidal effect models on the other hand, we could constrain the internal structure of the planets in a future study. In summary, the current state of the system gives us a window on its formation."

• The research has been published in Astronomy & Astrophysics.
• A version of this article was first published in April 2020.

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06-01-2021 om 23:48 geschreven door peter