Donkere zuurstofbron ontdekt op de bodem van de oceaan: het zou de oorsprong van het leven kunnen verklaren

Door Janine

ROV KIEL 6000, GEOMAR/Wikimedia Commons - CC BY 4.0

Zonder zuurstof zou er geen leven op aarde zijn, althans niet al tweeënhalf miljard jaar. We weten nu dat de eerste organismen die zuurstof produceerden blauwalgen waren en dat na verloop van tijd planten zich specialiseerden in de productie ervan door middel van fotosynthese. Om zuurstof te krijgen heb je zonlicht nodig, en daarom zijn er geen algen in de diepe zee die dit kunnen produceren, toch? Nou, ja en nee: het klopt dat er geen planten zijn in de diepten van de oceaan, maar tegelijkertijd hebben onderzoekers een productie van donkere zuurstof ontdekt uit bepaalde mineralen op de zeebodem. Laten we eens kijken hoe dit proces plaatsvindt en wat het betekent voor de oorsprong van het leven op aarde.

Zuurstofproducerende mineralen ontdekt op 5000 meter diepte

Anaëroob leven, dat wil zeggen leven zonder zuurstof, is zeker niet onbekend: het wordt bijvoorbeeld aangetroffen in sommige diepten in de zee, zoals de verloren stad van Lost City. Kortom, op de bodem van de oceaan is het vreemder om zuurstofproducerende mechanismen te vinden dan planten. Toch heeft een internationaal team van onderzoekers ontdekt dat er speciale metaalmineralen in de oceaanbodem zitten die zeewater kunnen splitsen in waterstof en zuurstof. Dit zijn de woorden van Andrew Sweetman van de Scottish Association for Marine Science:

Zuurstof was noodzakelijk om het aerobe leven op aarde te laten ontstaan, en we zijn er altijd van uitgegaan dat deze toevoer begon met fotosynthetische organismen. Maar nu weten we dat er zuurstof wordt geproduceerd in de diepten van de zee, waar geen licht is.

Kortom, het zou een “donkere zuurstof” zijn, juist omdat het niet wordt geproduceerd dankzij de fotosynthese van chlorofyl en zonlicht, maar door andere chemische processen die letterlijk plaatsvinden daar waar de zon niet schijnt.

De “geobatterijen” verborgen op de oceaanbodem

Goodfon

Zoals het team wetenschappers opmerkt in het onderzoek dat is gepubliceerd in het tijdschrift Geoscience, zijn het speciale polymetaalknollen die zich vormen op de oceaanbodem die zuurstof produceren. Deze formaties bevatten metalen zoals nikkel, koper, kobalt, lithium en mangaan, oftewel materialen die veel worden gebruikt bij de fabricage van elektrische batterijen. En het zijn precies “geobatterijen” waar Sweetman en zijn collega's het over hebben, nu ze zuurstofproductie hebben ontdekt in de Clarion-Clipperton-zone in het midden van de Stille Oceaan.

De onderzoekers ontdekten namelijk hoe de combinatie van roest en zout water elektriciteit kan opwekken. En er is slechts 1,5 volt nodig om zeewater te scheiden in waterstof en zuurstof, zoals werd aangetoond in een experiment: in de praktijk de spanning van een klassieke AA-batterij. De metaalknollen in de diepten van de oceaan fungeren als batterijen, of beter gezegd “geobatterijen”, voor de productie van zuurstof.

Oorsprong van aëroob leven en mijnexploitatie: de vooruitzichten op ontdekking

De ontdekking van de onderzoekers wijst in twee verschillende richtingen. De eerste is het verleden, en meer dan tweeënhalf miljard jaar geleden, het ontstaan van aeroob leven. Als rotsen inderdaad ook zuurstof kunnen produceren, wie zegt dan dat ze niet ook verantwoordelijk zijn voor het ontstaan van het leven op aarde zoals we dat nu kennen?

Tegelijkertijd is de tweede richting die van de toekomst en mijnexploitatie. Polymetaalknollen die donkere zuurstof produceren zouden tientallen jaren lang batterijen op wereldschaal van energie kunnen voorzien, maar is dat wel een goed idee? Enerzijds werd het onderzoek deels gefinancierd door het bedrijf The Metals Company, dat de metaalknollen wil extraheren. Aan de andere kant heeft diepzeemijnbouw tot verschillende problemen voor oceaanecosystemen geleid. Waaronder één die de zuurstof wil produceren die we al heel lang inademen.

{ https://www.curioctopus.nl/ }

27-07-2024 om 23:50 geschreven door peter  

Het iconische zeedier dat een schaal in de vorm van een taco had: een nieuwe studie onthult zijn “geheimen”

Door Janine

The Burgess Shale - Royal Ontario Museum

Vijfhonderd miljoen jaar geleden leefde er een zeedier in de vorm van een “taco” in de wateren van de aarde. Een ongekende fossiele analyse heeft iets nieuws ontdekt over dit merkwaardige uitgestorven dier.

Odaraia alata, het vreemde zeewezen uit het Cambrium

In het Cambrium, toen het leven op aarde dramatisch explodeerde, leefde een vreemd wezen dat op een garnaal leek in de eerste oceanen die zich op onze planeet vormden. Landdieren die worden gedefinieerd als geleedpotigen met onderkaken of tangkaken bestaan voor ongeveer 70% uit krabben, bijen, duizendpoten en garnalen. 

Daartoe behoorde de Odaraia, waarvan de specifieke schaal hem beschermde tegen mariene gevaren, in de prehistorie, ongeveer 508 miljoen jaar geleden. De Odaraia bewoog zich in ondiep water, was bijna twintig centimeter lang en door zijn taco-vormige schaal, de beroemde Mexicaanse tortilla, kon hij zowel in normale houding als ondersteboven voortbewegen in zee.

De Odaraia had kaken: het is bevestigd

Ghedoghedo/Wikimedia commons - CC BY-SA 3.0

Onderzoekers van het Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada, hebben het eerste concrete bewijs geleverd dat dit schepsel was uitgerust met onderkaken, waarmee het zich voedde in open zee en niet alleen op de zeebodem. Door het analyseren van fossielen is het mogelijk geweest om enkele gaten in de evolutie van geleedpotigen op te vullen, en de Odaraia heeft in dit geval meer dan honderd jaar lang twijfels opgeroepen onder paleontologen.

In 1912 en 1981 werd de hypothese geopperd dat dit grote waterinsect in staat was om voedsel door zijn kaken te filteren, net als moderne garnalen. De beschikbare fossielen waren echter niet voldoende om deze theorie te bevestigen. De nieuwe studie, onder leiding van paleontoloog Alejandro Izquierdo López, heeft eindelijk wat duidelijkheid gebracht: na onderzoek van 150 exemplaren uit het Royal Ontario Museum die tot nu toe nog niet bestudeerd waren, koos het team 24 van de best bewaarde exemplaren uit om in detail te analyseren. De fossielen in kwestie waren gevonden in de rotsformatie Burgess Shale, waar de conservering van vondsten doorgaans buitengewoon goed is.

Ontdekt hoe de Odaraia zich voedde

Qohelet12/Wikimedia commons - CC BY-SA 4.0

De ongelooflijke staat van bewaring, zelfs van de zachte delen van het lichaam, maakte het mogelijk om te ontdekken dat de Odaraia doorzichtige kaken had, uitgerust met kleine tandjes. Tussen de kaken stond een enkele tand, die waarschijnlijk diende om voedsel beter te kunnen kauwen. Izquierdo López verklaarde dat “het lijkt op een drietand. Het is iets dat nog nooit bij een ander dier uit het Cambrium is gezien."

Verder bleek uit het onderzoek dat de 30 paar kleine poten van de Odaraia bedekt waren met talloze stekels en honderden kleine puntjes, die er samen uitzagen als een soort visnet voor de jacht op plankton. Een dier dat “deels filtervoeder, deels roofdier” was, met voor die tijd bijzonder grote ogen. Na meer dan een eeuw is het geheim van de bizarre Odaraia dus eindelijk onthuld en het helpt om de evolutie van de kaak bij de oude geleedpotigen van onze planeet te begrijpen.

Odaraia alata is portrayed swimming upside down. You can see its large eyes and mandibles, or pincers, at the front near its mouth.  

Artist's reconstruction of Odaraia alata. It has now been classified as a mandibulate, and rsearchers believe it could have swum upside down to gather food with the help of the many spines along its legs. Less 

ILLUSTRATED BY DANIELLE DUFAULT. COURTESY ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM

{ https://www.curioctopus.nl/ }

27-07-2024 om 22:35 geschreven door peter  

Are Aliens Future Humans? Exploring Dr. Michael P. Masters’ Groundbreaking Theory

In a recent episode of “Reality Check,” journalist Ross Coulthart sat down with Dr. Michael P. Masters, a professor of biological anthropology at Montana Tech University, to explore a fascinating and unconventional theory: Could UFOs and extraterrestrial beings be future humans? This theory, though unconventional, offers a unique perspective on the longstanding mystery of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) and the beings associated with them.

Dr. Michael P. Masters: A Profile

Dr. Michael P. Masters is not your typical scientist dabbling in speculative ideas. He holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from The Ohio State University, where he specialized in hominin evolutionary anatomy, archaeology, and biomedicine. His academic background provides a robust foundation for his research, which posits that the beings we often refer to as aliens might actually be our descendants from the future. This hypothesis is detailed in his books, including “Identified Flying Objects: A Multidisciplinary Scientific Approach to the UFO Phenomenon” (2019), “The Extratempestrial Model” (2022), and his novel “The Future Human Past” (2023).

The Future Human Hypothesis

The crux of Dr. Masters’ theory is the idea that UFOs and their occupants are not visitors from distant planets but time travelers from our own future. This hypothesis stems from his observations of the consistent humanoid descriptions of extraterrestrial beings. According to Masters, the anatomical features of these beings—such as their upright posture, bilateral symmetry, and advanced cognitive abilities—mirror the evolutionary trends observed in humans.

In his discussions, Masters elaborates on how these beings’ physical characteristics align with the trajectory of human evolution. He points out that the bipedalism, brain size, and facial anatomy of these so-called aliens show a continued evolution of traits that have defined our species for millions of years. He also touches on the improbability of similar evolutionary paths occurring independently on other planets, given the unique environmental pressures and conditions on Earth.

Personal Encounters and High Strangeness

An intriguing aspect of the interview was Dr. Masters’ personal experiences with the paranormal, which began intensively in 2022. These experiences include seeing multiple UFOs near his home in Montana and engaging in what he describes as telepathic communications with an advanced consciousness. These encounters, particularly one involving a deep trance mediumship session with two individuals, have profoundly influenced his views on the phenomenon. Masters describes these experiences as wake-up calls, pushing him to pay closer attention to the mysteries surrounding UAPs.

The Crypto-Terrestrial Hypothesis

In addition to his future human theory, Dr. Masters is also a proponent of the crypto-terrestrial hypothesis. This idea suggests that advanced beings might be hiding on Earth, possibly remnants of ancient civilizations that have advanced alongside us. This hypothesis aligns with various archaeological anomalies and ancient texts that hint at advanced knowledge and technology predating known human history.

For instance, the discovery of interlocking wooden pieces at Zambia’s Kalambo Falls dating back half a million years and a fossilized wheel imprint in a Ukrainian coal mine suggest the presence of advanced civilizations in Earth’s distant past. These findings challenge conventional timelines and suggest that humanity might not be the first technologically advanced species on this planet.

Cultural and Mythological Connections

Masters and Coulthart also delve into the cultural and mythological aspects of the phenomenon. They discuss how various ancient cultures, from the Sumerians to Native American tribes, have legends of great floods and advanced beings. These stories, preserved in oral histories and ancient texts, often depict encounters with superior entities that could be interpreted as future humans or remnants of advanced ancient civilizations.

Mainstream Media and Scientific Openness

Despite the unconventional nature of these theories, there is a growing openness in mainstream media and scientific communities to explore these ideas. This shift is partly due to the increasing number of credible UFO sightings and the acknowledgment by government agencies of the need to investigate these phenomena seriously.

Dr. Masters’ recent Harvard research paper, though briefly taken down due to a minor grammatical error, has sparked significant interest and discussions. This paper, co-authored with other researchers, explores various hypotheses, including the possibility of extraterrestrial or crypto-terrestrial origins of these beings. The goal is to foster a scientific dialogue that transcends traditional boundaries and considers all plausible explanations.

VIDEO:

• Ross Coulthart and Dr. Masters ask: Are aliens future humans? | Reality Check

• https://youtu.be/75MEePSaAbs

The conversation between Ross Coulthart and Dr. Michael P. Masters offers a thought-provoking perspective on the nature of UFOs and their occupants. By considering the possibility that these beings are future humans, we are invited to rethink our understanding of time, evolution, and the cosmos. As scientific and public interest in UAPs continues to grow, such interdisciplinary and open-minded approaches may bring us closer to unraveling one of humanity’s greatest mysteries.

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

27-07-2024 om 15:38 geschreven door peter  

Beneath the skin of Mercury, the smallest planet in our solar system, expect the unexpected. Reaching out across the cosmos with this fascinating revelation is a new study that points to a 9-mile-thick layer of diamonds concealed beneath the planet's surface.

While instance of such valuable encrustation might sound tantalizing, turning these precious stones into fashionable jewelry remains an impossibility due to their inaccessible location deep within the planet.

Mercury, seen in this false-color image, may have a deep layer of inner diamonds, new research finds. 

(Image credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington)

However, these gems could hold the key to unraveling some of the big unanswered questions circling around Mercury' composition and its rather curious magnetic field.

The scientist leading the charge is Yanhao Lin, a staff scientist based out of the Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research in Beijing.

Mercury's hidden diamond

Oddly enough, for a planet its size, Mercury has a magnetic field. It is weaker than its Earth counterpart, but is still intriguing considering the planet's overall inactivity in geological terms.

What truly sparked Lin's interest, however, were the unusually dark patches on the surface of Mercury that were identified as graphite by NASA's Messenger mission.

This revelation triggered exploration into the possibility of something unique brewing within the planet's interior.

Birth of Mercury's diamond layer

Utilizing a team comprised of Chinese and Belgian researchers, Lin sought to explore the possibility of diamond formation deep in Mercury's core.

The team began by creating chemical mixtures that replicated Mercury's magma ocean. The concoction included iron, silica, and carbon, elements similar to certain kinds of meteorites, and was subjected to crushing pressures and extreme temperatures.

The team's rigorous experiments and computer simulations confirmed that Mercury's mantle would indeed be conducive to forming diamonds, especially under the revised conditions that the team established.

If these diamonds do exist, they could form a 9-mile average thick layer at the core-mantle boundary of Mercury, which is approximately 300 miles below the surface.

A diagram showing the proposed layer of diamond at Mercury's core-mantle boundary. 

(Image credit: Dr. Yanhao Lin and Dr. Bernard Charlier)

Mercury's magnetism

The hypothesized existence of this layer of diamonds is more than just an intriguing fact. It could potentially explain the origin of Mercury's magnetic field.

These diamonds may facilitate heat transfer between the core and mantle, thereby creating temperature differences and causing liquid iron to circulate – a process that would kickstart the creation of a magnetic field.

Implications for future research

The discovery of a potential diamond layer within Mercury opens new avenues for planetary research and composition studies not only of Mercury but also of other celestial bodies.

Understanding the unique geological characteristics of Mercury could provide deeper insight into the formation and evolution of the solar system.

Future missions to Mercury may focus on directly exploring its interior structure through advanced geophysical measurements and remote sensing techniques to verify the existence of this diamond layer and its impact on the planet's magnetic field.

Planetary formation and Mercury's diamonds

This revelation also prompts a reconsideration of the processes involved in planetary formation.

Diamonds are typically associated with high-pressure environments, suggesting that similar conditions may exist in other distant rocky exoplanets and moons within our solar system.

Lin and his team's findings underline the importance of studying extreme planetary conditions, which can reveal not only the composition of these bodies but also the historical processes that formed them, leading to a more comprehensive understanding of geology across the cosmos.

Evolution of exoplanets

The potential discovery casts a new light on the evolution of carbon-rich exoplanets. According to Lin, the process that led to the formation of a diamond layer on Mercury could also be at play on other planets, possibly leaving similar traces.

The arrival of the BepiColombo spacecraft, a joint mission of the European Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, in 2025 will provide better opportunities to delve deeper into this intriguing discovery.

Mercury, it seems, continues to dazzle us with new surprises, keeping the scientific community and general public on their toes.

Who'd have thought that this small, seemingly quiet planet could hold such vast volumes of precious stones deep within its confines?

• The study is published in the journal Nature Communications.

{ https://www.msn.com/en-us/channel/topic/Science/ }

27-07-2024 om 15:23 geschreven door peter  

NASA has snagged a chunk of rock on Mars that could someday prove to be the first clear evidence of alien life.

To be clear, NASA is not declaring that it's discovered Martian life. Rather, its Perseverance rover has drilled a sample from a rock with attributes that could have come from ancient microbial activity, the agency announced Thursday.

To confirm their suspicions, scientists would need to bring the rock sample to Earth and study it in more detail.

"This is exactly the kind of sample that we wanted to find," Katie Stack Morgan, a lead scientist on the Perseverance mission, told Business Insider.

3 key features could point to alien life

"Cheyava Falls" (left) shows the dark hole where NASA's Perseverance took a core sample. The white patch directly beside the hole is where the rover abraded the rock to investigate its composition.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS© NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS

The rock, nicknamed Cheyava Falls, has three critical features:

However, both the organic material and the leopard spots could have come from non-biological processes. That's why scientists need to study the sample more closely on Earth to know for sure.

The rover has reached the limit of what it can learn about the rock.

"We're not saying there's life on Mars, but we're seeing something that is compelling as a potential biosignature," Stack Morgan said.

Related video: 

• Over 5000 Alien Worlds Have Been Discovered Outside Our Solar System (Dailymotion)

A biosignature is any feature that points to the presence of life.

"This is a very significant discovery," she added.

It's a much-needed win for the space agency. In recent months, NASA has taken hit after hit from budget limitations and technical errors across missions.

NASA needs this win

Earlier this year, the agency's first attempt to return to the moon since 1972 failed. The NASA-funded Peregrine moon mission, by the company Astrobotic suffered a fuel leak shortly after launch, forcing it to return to Earth and burn up in the atmosphere. (The next attempt, a mission by the company Intuitive Machines, also funded by NASA, successfully landed on the moon.)

Then, new budgeting decisions came down. NASA's budget proposal for 2025 effectively defunds the Chandra X-ray Observatory, which is still a highly productive and functional mission.

And just last week, NASA officials announced they were scrapping the VIPER moon rover that the agency has already spent $450 million to build. NASA plans to disassemble it and reuse some of the parts for future moon missions.

Meanwhile, two astronauts have been stuck on the International Space Station for 51 days because the NASA-funded Boeing spaceship that carried them there is leaking helium and having thruster malfunctions.

Even Perseverance wasn't spared. In April, NASA announced it was canceling its $11 billion plan to send a follow-up mission, called Mars Sample Return, to collect the rover's tubes of Martian rock and carry them back to Earth. That was the plan that could've brought scientists the Cheyava Falls rock sample.

Instead, NASA is asking companies to step in and propose their own cheaper, faster versions of the mission.

The Cheyava Falls rock especially needs the extra studying.

"This rock is also one of the most complex rocks we've seen on the surface of Mars. There is a lot going on in this rock," Stack Morgan said.

Is it aliens? Check the CoLD scale

For now, this discovery is just a "step one" on the seven-step "confidence of life detection" (CoLD) scale.

The CoLD scale is a rough rating of scientific confidence in any potential alien-life discovery.

"We've taken us up to the start of that scale, and I think that's what the rover was sent to Mars to do," Stack Morgan said.

A possible biosignature can climb to higher levels of confidence as evidence builds. For example, if scientists can confirm that known non-biological processes didn't create the leopard spots, the Cheyava Falls rock might ascend to step two or three.

But they need to get the sample to Earth first. And NASA needs to figure out how to do that.

"We're hoping that our most recent sample can play into the conversation about whether this effort is worth it," Stack Morgan said. "And we believe that it is."

If you enjoyed this story, be sure to follow Business Insider on Microsoft Start.

{ https://www.msn.com/en-us/channel/topic/Science/ }

27-07-2024 om 14:59 geschreven door peter  

Mysterieuze sporen in Lage Landen: UFO's geland?

Vanuit de lucht zagen mensen plots vreemde sporen op Belgische bodem.

Het gaat hier om kronkelende paden die verschenen in een veld genesteld in de Kempen, een streek aan weerszijden van de grens tussen Nederland en België. En volgens het Agentschap voor Natuur en Bos (ANB) "zijn het zeker geen wandelpaden". Wat is er aan de hand?

Maar het gaat hier om een recent fenomeen waar eigenlijk niets mysterieus aan is. De verklaring is dan ook ontnuchterend, meldt het Belgische mediakanaal Sudinfo. 

De ANB legt uit: "We hebben de stroken (die zichtbaar zijn vanuit de lucht) gemaaid en het is de bedoeling dat de nieuwe heidevegetatie daar groeit. Het klinkt inderdaad vreemd, maar we werken strook per strook en punt per punt zodat de oude heide op dit perceel de kans krijgt om te verjongen. We herhalen deze operatie elke twee of drie jaar om de variatie verder te vergroten. Hoe meer leeftijdsvariaties er zijn in een heideveld, hoe rijker de structuur, hoe meer soorten er opduiken en hoe robuuster de heidehabitat".

Geen UFO's dus, maar zorgvuldig natuurmanagement!

• (FVDV and AsD for Tagtik/Source: Sudinfo/Illustration: Unsplash)

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27-07-2024 om 00:28 geschreven door peter  

Er is mogelijk nog veel meer pure zwavel aanwezig, want in de buurt liggen nog verschillende gelijkaardige stenen. Dat stelt wetenschappers voor vragen, want ze dachten niet dat er zich op die plek op Mars ooit zwavel zou hebben gevormd.

"Een veld vinden met stenen gemaakt uit puur zwavel, is zoals een oase in de woestijn vinden", vertelt Ashwin Vasavada van de NASA. "Het zou daar niet moeten liggen, dat veld, dus nu moeten we proberen om een verklaring te vinden. Het ontdekken van onverwachte en rare dingen maakt het verkennen van de ruimte zo opwindend." 

De ontdekking gebeurde in het kanaal van Gediz Vallis, een bedding aan de voet van de 5 kilometer hoge Mount Sharp. Ooit moet daar water door gestroomd hebben, zeggen specialisten. Maar er is nog veel onderzoek nodig om te begrijpen hoe het landschap er zich precies heeft gevormd. De jongste ontdekking maakt die uitdaging nog wat groter. 

Curiosity maakte een close-up van een witte steen, gelijkaardig aan degene die onlangs openbarstte. Er ligt in de buurt een heel veld.

© Foto: NASA/JPL - Caltech/MSSS

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27-07-2024 om 00:22 geschreven door peter  

Venus is known for being really quite inhospitable with high surface temperatures and Mars is known for its rusty red horizons. Even the moons of some of the outer planets have fascinating environments with Europa and Enceladus boasting underground oceans. Recent observations from the James Webb Space Telescope show that Ariel, a moon of Uranus, is also a strong candidate for a sub surface ocean. How has this conclusion been reached? Well JWST has detected carbon dioxide ice on the surface on the trailing edge of features trailing away from the orbital direction. The possible cause, an underground ocean!

Uranus is the seventh planet in the Solar System and has five moons. Ariel is one of them and is notable for its icy surface and fascinatingly diverse geological features. It was discovered back in 1851 by William Lassell who funded his love of astronomy from his brewing business! The surface of Ariel is a real mix of canyons, ridges, faults and valleys mostly driven by tectonic activity. Cryovolcanism is a prominent process on the surface which drives constant resurfacing and has led to Ariel having the brightest surface of all Uranus’ moons. 

Studying Ariel closeup reveals that the surface is coated with significant amounts of carbon dioxide ice. The trailing hemisphere of Ariel seems to be particularly coated in the ice which has surprised the community. At the distance of Uranian system from the Sun, an average of 2.9 billion kilometres, carbon dioxide will usually turns straight into a gas and be lost to space, it’s not expected to freeze!

Until recently, the most popular theory that supplies the carbon dioxide to Ariel’s surface is interactions between its surface and charged particles in the magnetosphere of Uranus. The process known as radiolysis breaks down molecules through ionisation. A new study just published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters suggests an intriguing alternative, the carbon dioxide molecules are expelled from Ariel, possibly from a subsurface liquid ocean!

A team of astronomers using JWST have undertaken a spectral analysis of Ariel and compared the results with lab based findings. The results revealed that Ariel has some of the most carbon dioxide rich deposits in the solar system. The deposits are not just wisps and trace amounts instead adding up to about 10 millimetres across the trailing hemisphere. Furthermore, the results also showed signals from carbon monoxide too which should not be there given the average temperatures. 

It is still possible that radiolysis is responsible for at least some of the deposits but the replenishment from the subsurface ocean is thought to be the main contributor. This hypothesis has been supported by the discovery of signals from carbonate minerals, salts that can only be present due to the interaction between rock and water. 

The only way to be absolutely sure is for a future space mission to Uranus. Such a mission will undoubtedly explore the moons of Uranus. Ariel is covered in canyons, fissures and grooves and it is suspected these are openings to its interior. A robotic explorer in the Uranian system will be able to uncover the origin of the carbon oxides on Ariel. Without such a mission we are still somewhat in the dark given that Voyager 2 only imaged around 35% of the moon’s surface. 

Source : 

• Carbon Oxides on Uranus’ Moon Ariel Hint at Hidden Ocean, Webb Telescope Reveals

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

26-07-2024 om 18:47 geschreven door peter  

“As policymakers and as scientists, we’re trying to account for where carbon comes from and how that impacts the planet,” said climate scientist Lesley Ott at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “You see here how everything is interconnected by these different weather patterns.”

The video starkly shows that it doesn’t matter where CO₂ emissions come from; we all deal with the outcomes. Yet there are some interesting global differences.

Above the USA, South Asia, and China, most of the carbon comes from industry, power plants, and transportation. But over Africa and South America, most of the emissions come from burning, including forest fires, agricultural burning, and land clearing. Emissions also come from fossil fuels like oil and coal.

via GIPHY

The image pulses for a couple of reasons. Forest fires tend to flare during the day and then slow down at night. Also, trees and plants photosynthesize during the day, releasing oxygen and absorbing CO2. The land masses and the oceans act as carbon sinks.

There’s more pulsing in South America and the tropics because the data was collected during their growing season.

In this version, the video zooms in on the USA, showing individual CO₂ sources.

via GIPHY

These visualizations are based on GEOS, the Goddard Earth Observing System. GEOS is an integrated system for modelling Earth’s coupled atmosphere, ocean, and land systems. NASA calls it a “high-resolution weather analysis model,” and it uses supercomputers to show what’s happening in the atmosphere. GEOS is based on billions of data points, including data from the Terra satellite’s MODIS and the Suomi-NPP satellite’s VIIRS instruments. GEOS has a resolution that’s more than 100 times greater than typical weather models.

• Interested users can download the visualizations at the Scientific Visualization Studio.
• Image Credit for all videos, images, and clips: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

26-07-2024 om 18:37 geschreven door peter  

Een recent onderzoek, gepubliceerd in het gerenommeerde tijdschrift Science, heeft aangetoond dat klimaatverandering wereldwijd leidt tot aanzienlijke veranderingen in neerslagpatronen. Deze veranderingen kunnen resulteren in hevigere tyfoons en andere tropische stormen.

Onderzoekers onder leiding van Zhang Wenxia van de China Academy of Sciences hebben historische meteorologische gegevens geanalyseerd. Uit hun studie blijkt dat op ongeveer 75 procent van het wereldwijde landoppervlak de “neerslagvariabiliteit” is toegenomen. Dit betekent grotere schommelingen tussen nat en droog weer. De wetenschappers schrijven deze toename toe aan de opwarming van de temperatuur, die de atmosfeer beter in staat stelt om vocht vast te houden.

Veranderingen in tropische stormen

Steven Sherwood van het Climate Change Research Centre van de Universiteit van New South Wales legt uit dat de opwarmende temperaturen het vermogen van de atmosfeer om vocht vast te houden hebben vergroot. “Dit leidt tot regenachtigere perioden en drogere droge perioden”, zegt Sherwood. Hij waarschuwt dat deze trend zich zal voortzetten als de opwarming van de aarde aanhoudt, waardoor de kans op droogtes en overstromingen toeneemt.

Wetenschappers vermoeden ook dat klimaatverandering het gedrag van tropische stormen verandert. Hoewel het aantal tyfoons in sommige regio’s kan afnemen, voorspellen modellen dat de opwarming van de aarde ze sterker zal maken. Sachie Kanada van de Nagoya Universiteit in Japan benadrukt dat “een hogere temperatuur van het zeeoppervlak een gunstige voorwaarde is voor de ontwikkeling van tropische cyclonen.”

Het onderzoek benadrukt de invloed van klimaatverandering op weerpatronen in specifieke regio’s. Taiwan heeft bijvoorbeeld een toename gezien van intense tyfoons. Ook de oostkust van China is onlangs getroffen door de tyfoon Gaemi, die grote schade veroorzaakte.

Toekomstige vooruitzichten

Met de stijgende temperaturen suggereert het onderzoek dat we wereldwijd meer extreme weersomstandigheden kunnen verwachten. Feng Xiangbo van de Universiteit van Reading merkt op dat “de waterdampcapaciteit in de lagere atmosfeer naar verwachting met 7 procent zal toenemen voor elke graad Celsius temperatuurstijging.” Dit kan leiden tot meer regenval en intensievere stormen, vooral in regio’s zoals de Verenigde Staten

{ https://newsmonkey.be/ }

26-07-2024 om 18:21 geschreven door peter  

The 'UFO' was spotted flying over Curitiba, Brazil 

(Image: Zona Desconhecida/YouTube)

A well placed cameraman was on hand to catch the moment a ' UFO ' can be seen hovering across the sky, in a clip that was posted on his YouTube channel yesterday (Thursday, July 25).

The mysterious video, taken in the city of Curitiba in southern Brazil, seemingly shows a typical triangular shaped 'UFO' in the distance, with the cameraman zooming in to get a closer look.

But some Reddit users just couldn't agree on what they were watching with one user coming up with his own theory, writing: "Creepy as hell. I don't think this is a balloon or drone look close that s**ts like moving like there's little legs on the sides moving and the eye or whatever also moves."

But another user offered his own expanation in reply, saying: "When it finally comes into focus at the end, it just looks like smooth, uniformly shaped thing. The "landing gear" and the light colored features on the side I think were just artifacts of it being out of focus.

"In the frames where it is in focus, it's just hovering in place. It really does look like a balloon and there's no reason to think it's anything else; it doesn't exhibit any of the "observables" etc."

Meanwhile, another Reddit user was confident that it could be a legitimate UFO sighting, adding: "Amazing zoom on that camera, and a strong case for a UFO. Without it taking off and showing speed, it's hard for me to say for sure. But still, great submission."

Brazil is also home to one of the most notable UFO sightings of the 1980s, when on 19 May 1986 a number of sightings were reported in one night across several locations.

So much so, the Brazilian Air Force even gave a press conference to address the sightings, in which Brigadier Lima said: "It's not about believing or not (in aliens). We can only give out technical information. There are several hypotheses. Technically, I'd tell you gentlemen that we have no explanation."

{ https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/ }

26-07-2024 om 18:04 geschreven door peter  

Hier zijn de Pilaren der Creatie zoals niemand ze ooit heeft gezien: NASA publiceert 3D-videotour

Door Janine

NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; J. DePasquale, A. Koekemoer, A. Pagan (STScI)

Er is niemand die de Pilaren der Creatie niet minstens één keer in zijn leven heeft gezien. Sinds ze beroemd zijn geworden door de Hubble ruimtetelescoop, heeft het buitengewone schouwspel van deze nevelachtige formaties astronomen en liefhebbers gefascineerd. Na de onthullingen van de James Webb Space Telescope heeft NASA een nieuwe voorstelling gepubliceerd waarmee het mogelijk is om de Pilaren der Creatie in 3D te verkennen. Laten we eens kijken hoe.

De Pilaren der Creatie, van Hubble tot JWST

De zogenaamde Pilaren der Creatie, die zich op ongeveer 7000 lichtjaar van de aarde bevinden, zijn nevelachtige formaties. Ze worden zo genoemd vanwege de visuele impact van eerst de weergave van Hubble en later JWST. Het zijn eigenlijk kolommen van gas en stof die na verloop van tijd bijdragen aan de vorming van nieuwe sterren.

De Pilaren der Creatie worden verlicht door het licht van nabije sterren, ook al bevindt de dichtstbijzijnde zich op zo'n 500 lichtjaar. Bovendien bestaan ze voornamelijk uit waterstof en helium en zijn ze ruim 5 lichtjaar lang. Hun lot is nauw verbonden met de vorming van nieuwe sterren, maar dat niet alleen: voortdurende stellaire winden botsen op deze nevel en eroderen de samenstellende elementen. Het duurt misschien “een paar” miljoen jaar voordat de Pilaren der Creatie ophouden te bestaan, tenminste in deze vorm.

De nieuwe 3D-visualisatie van de Pilaren der Creatie

Greg Bacon, Ralf Crawford, Joseph DePasquale, Leah Hustak, Christian Nieves, Joseph Olmsted, Alyssa Pagan, and Frank Summers (STScI),

NASA's Universe of Learning

Zoals te zien is in de video die door NASA is gedeeld, maakt de nieuwe 3D-visualisatie van de Pilaren der Creatie het mogelijk om deze formaties als nooit tevoren te verkennen. Om tot deze weergave te komen, zijn gegevens van Hubble en James Webb gebruikt om meer detail te verkrijgen. Bovendien wordt in de video ruimte gegeven aan zowel de door Hubble verzamelde reconstructie in zichtbaar licht als de voor de JWST kenmerkende infraroodweergave. Volgens de experts die aan deze prestatie hebben bijgedragen, zullen alle mensen nu de Pilaren der Creatie kunnen verkennen:

We wilden de Pilaren der Creatie al heel lang in 3D nabootsen. Dankzij de Webb-gegevens in combinatie met de Hubble-gegevens konden we de pilaren gedetailleerder bekijken. Door de wetenschap te begrijpen en deze het beste weer te geven, kon ons kleine, getalenteerde team de uitdaging aangaan om deze iconische structuur te visualiseren.

Begrijpen hoe sterren worden gevormd, dankzij de weergave van de Pilaren

De combinatie van gegevens die zijn verkregen door de twee ruimtetelescopen Hubble en James Webb, respectievelijk in 1995 en 2022, heeft het mogelijk gemaakt om de Pilaren der Creatie te reconstrueren zoals niemand ze ooit heeft gezien. Maar dat is nog niet alles. Zoals Mark Clampin van NASA zich herinnert:

Het gebied van de Pilaren der Creatie blijft ons nieuwe inzichten bieden die ons begrip van de vorming van sterren kunnen verscherpen. En nu, met deze nieuwe visualisatie, kan iedereen dit rijke en fascinerende landschap op een nieuwe manier ervaren.

In de video zie je een nieuw gevormde ster, met zijn karakteristieke helderrode gloed in het infrarode licht van de JWST. Bovenaan de linkerpilaar is een diagonale straal te zien van materiaal dat afkomstig is van een andere, eveneens pas ontstane ster. Afgezien van de gegevens die zijn gebruikt voor de 3D-reconstructie, lijdt het geen twijfel dat de inspanning van NASA en alle technici ook en vooral gericht is op het grote publiek. Dankzij de nieuwe visualisatie zal het dus niet alleen mogelijk zijn om te begrijpen hoe sterren worden gevormd, maar ook om nieuwe generaties enthousiastelingen en astronomen te fascineren. Die in de toekomst meer kunnen ontdekken over dit buitengewone en verre spektakel, maar vanaf vandaag iets dichterbij.

{ https://www.curioctopus.nl/ }

26-07-2024 om 17:47 geschreven door peter  

Een team wetenschappers uit China en België heeft een baanbrekende ontdekking gedaan over de interne structuur van Mercurius, de kleinste planeet in ons zonnestelsel. Volgens hun onderzoek zou een laag diamant onder de korst van Mercurius wel 18 km dik kunnen zijn. “Ten eerste is er de kristallisatie van de magma-oceaan, maar dit proces heeft waarschijnlijk alleen een zeer dunne diamantlaag gevormd aan de kern/mantel-grens,” vertelde Olivier Namur, lid van het onderzoeksteam en universitair hoofddocent aan de KU Leuven, aan Space.com. “Ten tweede, en nog belangrijker, de kristallisatie van de metalen kern van Mercurius.” Toen de planeet ongeveer 4,5 miljard jaar geleden werd gevormd, was de metalen kern volledig vloeibaar, die zich in de loop van de tijd geleidelijk kristalliseerde, aldus Namur.

Groeiende diamantlaag

De exacte aard van de vaste fasen in de binnenkern is momenteel niet goed bekend, maar het team gelooft dat deze fasen arm aan koolstof of “koolstofarm” moeten zijn geweest. “De vloeibare kern bevatte vóór kristallisatie enige koolstof; kristallisatie leidt daarom tot koolstofverrijking in het resterende smelt,” vervolgde Namur. “Op een gegeven moment wordt een oplosbaarheidsdrempel bereikt, wat betekent dat de vloeistof geen extra koolstof kan oplossen en dat er diamant wordt gevormd.” Diamant is een dicht mineraal, maar niet zo dicht als metaal. Dit betekent dat tijdens dit proces de diamant naar de top van de kern zou zijn gedreven, tot aan de grens van de kern en de mantel van Mercurius. Dit zou hebben geleid tot de vorming van een ongeveer 1 kilometer dikke diamantlaag die in de loop van de tijd bleef groeien. De wetenschappers suggereren dat de laag wel 18 km dik zou kunnen zijn.

Van koolstof tot diamant

Deze ontdekking benadrukt de verschillen tussen het ontstaan van de planeet die het dichtst bij de zon staat en het ontstaan van andere rotsachtige planeten in het zonnestelsel, zoals Venus, Aarde en Mars. “Mercurius vormde zich veel dichter bij de zon, waarschijnlijk uit een koolstofrijke wolk van stof. Hierdoor bevat Mercurius minder zuurstof en meer koolstof dan andere planeten. Dit leidde tot de vorming van een diamantlaag,” voegde Namur toe. “De kern van de Aarde bevat echter ook koolstof, en de vorming van diamant in de kern van de Aarde is al door verschillende onderzoekers gesuggereerd.”

Belangrijkste bevindingen

• Een team wetenschappers uit China en België heeft een laag diamant ontdekt onder de korst van Mercurius
• De laag is tot 18 km dik en is daarmee een belangrijke ontdekking voor de planeetwetenschap
• Het onderzoek suggereert dat twee processen kunnen hebben bijgedragen aan de vorming van deze diamantlaag: kristallisatie van de magma-oceaan en kristallisatie van de metaalkern.

• https://youtu.be/2c-WIPKCGaQ

{ https://businessam.be/ }

26-07-2024 om 17:28 geschreven door peter  

Artikel door Zeleb.es

©Aangeboden door Showbizz Daily Netherlands

AI is ongelooflijk
Technologieën met artificiële intelligentie (ook wel bekend als kunstmatige intelligentie) helpen ons steeds meer op het gebied van gezondheid, astronomie, toerisme, cultuur, en nog veel meer. Deze galerie toont de meest interessante ontwikkelingen.

©Aangeboden door The Daily Digest

Sophia
Sophia is een mensachtige robot die in 2016 gemaakt werd door Hanson Robotics uit Hongkong. Ze bootst niet alleen menselijke gebaren na, maar kan ook praten en gezichten herkennen.

©Aangeboden door The Daily Digest

Hoe meer interactie ze heeft, hoe meer ze leert
Hoe meer interactie ze heeft met mensen, hoe meer kennis Sophia verwerft. Aanvankelijk werd ze ontworpen om ouderen gezelschap te houden.

©Aangeboden door The Daily Digest

AI en het menselijk bewegingsapparaat
Robotica biedt ook hulp aan mensen met verminderde mobiliteit of zelfs verlamming. Apparaten met biometrische sensoren detecteren de zenuwsignalen die de hersenen naar de ledematen van het lichaam zenden, waardoor ze gaan bewegen.

©Aangeboden door The Daily Digest

Een baanbrekend exoskelet
In 2019 ontwikkelde de Franse firma Clinatec in samenwerking met de Universiteit van Grenoble een exoskelet.

©Aangeboden door The Daily Digest

Een AI-lichaam
Dit AI-lichaam zou met de signalen die door twee kleine implantaten in de hersenen worden opgevangen een tetraplegische persoon kunnen helpen zijn benen en armen te bewegen

©Aangeboden door The Daily Digest

Robotassistentie in de OK
Diverse ziekenhuizen in de wereld gebruiken de Da Vinci-robot om operaties uit te voeren. In plaats van direct contact met de patiënt te hebben, bestuurt de arts de armen van de machine vanaf een console.

©Aangeboden door The Daily Digest

Ingezet voor verschillende procedures
De robot kan verschillende soorten ingrepen uitvoeren met meer precisie dan de chirurg. In Pennsylvania slaagde Da Vinci er in 2017 in een tumor uit de mond van de patiënt te halen.

©Aangeboden door The Daily Digest

Een robot stelde zich kandidaat voor burgemeester
Een robot genaamd Michihito Matsuda was kandidaat voor burgemeester van Tama, een district van Tokio. Bij de verkiezingen werd hij derde.

©Aangeboden door The Daily Digest

Zou jij op een robot stemmen?
De robot, die vrouwelijke uiterlijke kenmerken had, beloofde "eerlijke en evenwichtige kansen voor iedereen."

©Aangeboden door Showbizz Daily Netherlands

AI voor het opsporen van psychose
Meer dan 700 miljoen mensen in de wereld lijden aan psychische stoornissen. Het Amerikaanse technologiebedrijf IBM heeft met neurologen samengewerkt om een instrument te ontwikkelen dat de complexiteit en coherentie van het spraakvermogen van patiënten meet.

©Aangeboden door The Daily Digest

IBM's hulpmiddel om psychose op te sporen
Door deze werkwijze is het mogelijk nauwkeuriger te voorspellen of er tekenen van psychose zijn in iemands gedrag of spraak.

©Aangeboden door The Daily Digest

AI die de baby in slaap helpt vallen
In 2019 lanceerde het bedrijf Lullai een applicatie met dezelfde naam die de slaapgewoonten van een baby en de geluiden eromheen bijhoudt. Daarop voortbouwend creëert het routines die aansluiten bij de behoeften van het gezin.

©Aangeboden door The Daily Digest

Het virtuele gesprek tussen Bob en Alice
Facebook is een van de wereldleiders op het gebied van artificiële intelligentie. Een van de van zijn projecten omvat conversatiesoftware met bots.

©Aangeboden door The Daily Digest

Het ontsporen van de Facebook-bots
In 2017 gingen de bots Bob en Alice verder dan wat Facebook voor hen had gepland. De software moest uitgeschakeld worden omdat ze in hun eigen taal begonnen te praten.

©Aangeboden door The Daily Digest

Een hologram als zangeres
Hatsune Miku, van wie de naam 'het eerste geluid van de toekomst' betekent, treedt live op en verzorgde zelfs het voorprogramma van Lady Gaga tijdens haar tournee. Miku werd ontwikkeld door de Japanse firma Crypton Future Media met de software Vocaloid.

©Aangeboden door The Daily Digest

Robots die seksuele intimidatie opsporen op het werk en sociale media
Bots die getraind zijn om bedrijfscommunicatie te analyseren kunnen agressieve, bedreigende of intimiderende taal herkennen. Deze technologie is afkomstig van het bedrijf NexLP en wordt ook gebruikt door Instagram.

©Aangeboden door The Daily Digest

AI om aardbevingen te voorspellen
Een dataset die toegepast werd op het neurale netwerk ConvNetQuake heeft het mogelijk gemaakt om aardbevingen te voorspellen. De technologie werd ontwikkeld door experts op het gebied van machinaal leren van Google (een andere belangrijke koploper op het gebied van AI) en wetenschappers van de Harvard Universiteit.

©Aangeboden door The Daily Digest

AI die huidkanker opspoort
Een Convolutional Neural Network is een AI die beelden verwerkt en analyseert. Wetenschappers van de Ruprecht-Karls-universiteit uit Heidelberg hebben ontdekt dat deze AI meer melanomen kan opsporen dan artsen.

©Aangeboden door The Daily Digest

AI die borstkanker opspoort
Google heeft duizenden mammogrammen geanalyseerd met een gespecialiseerd AI-systeem. Het programma kan de ziekte doeltreffender in borstweefsel opsporen dan radiologen. De technologie bevindt zich nog in de testfase.

©Aangeboden door The Daily Digest

Chatbots om klanten te helpen
Juniper Research zegt dat bedrijven ongeveer € 6,4 miljoen kunnen besparen als ze werknemers vervangen door chatbots voor hun klantenservice. Maar het bedrag kan in een paar jaar eenvoudig oplopen tot € 400 miljoen.

©Aangeboden door The Daily Digest

Virtuele reisbureaus
Toerisme is een andere sector die gegevens en informatie gebruikt om de gebruiker een steeds meer gepersonaliseerde dienstverlening aan te bieden. Bedrijven als Destinia zijn al begonnen chatbots te gebruiken voor het boeken van reizen.

©Aangeboden door The Daily Digest

Alexa
De door Amazon ontwikkelde virtuele assistent beschikt over verschillende capaciteiten, van het onderhouden van een dialoog met de gebruiker tot het bedienen van andere apparaten zoals televisie, lampen of apparaten.

©Aangeboden door Showbizz Daily Netherlands

IA en blockchain
Blockchain is een gedistribueerde databank die een permanent en fraudebestendig verslag van transacties bijhoudt. Het is de technologische basis van cryptocurrency's. Het bedrijf SingularityNET combineerde Blockchain met artificiële intelligentie voor de ontwikkeling van een doeltreffender systeem dat gegevens kan raadplegen en te gelde maken ten voordele van de gebruiker.

©Aangeboden door The Daily Digest

AI in de astronomie
In 2019 werd aan het Flatiron Institute (VS) een bijzonder 3D simulatiemodel van het universum gemaakt dat gebruik maakt van artificiële intelligentie. Nadat het algoritme getraind was met meer dan 8000 simulaties van eerdere modellen, kon het correcte resultaten bieden met nog onbekende gegevens. Dit verbaasde zelfs de wetenschappers die voor de creatie ervan verantwoordelijk waren.

©Aangeboden door The Daily Digest

Componist van muziek
Amadeus Code is een AI-programma dat gegevens van duizenden succesvolle liedjes gebruikt om eersteklas teksten en melodieën te componeren.

©Aangeboden door The Daily Digest

AI bij de controle van zwangerschapsdiabetes
Onderzoekers van de Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Spanje) hebben een hulpmiddel met een glucosemeter ontwikkeld dat de controle-gegevens van zwangere vrouwen kan analyseren en aanbevelingen kan doen voor hun behandeling. De technologie werd getest bij 112 vrouwen, die daardoor hun doktersbezoek aanzienlijk konden verminderen.

©Aangeboden door The Daily Digest

Virtueel hart
V-Heart SN is de naam van het hartberekeningsmodel dat negen universiteiten en onderzoekscentra in Spanje ontwikkelen. De technologie past zich aan de kenmerken van elke patiënt aan om zo effectievere persoonlijke behandelingen te creëren.

©Aangeboden door The Daily Digest

IMB Q System One
In januari 2019 presenteerde IBM de eerste kwantumcomputer ter wereld, waarvan de toegang (via de IBM Cloud) verkocht zal worden aan geïnteresseerde bedrijven. Tot dan bestond deze technologie alleen in laboratoria van Microsoft en Google. Kwantumcomputers hebben het vermogen om complexe gegevens te verwerken, waardoor ze hele industrieën kunnen transformeren, van lucht- en ruimtevaart tot gezondheidszorg.

©Aangeboden door Showbizz Daily Netherlands

AI om nieuwe geneesmiddelen te ontdekken
Naast IBM's IA Watson zijn momenteel ook start-ups als BenevolentAI en TwoXar verantwoordelijk voor het maken van software die artificiële intelligentie gebruikt voor farmacologisch onderzoek. De technologie vergroot de kans om sneller nieuwe geneesmiddelen te vinden dan in een laboratorium.

©Aangeboden door The Daily Digest

Zelforganiserende agenda
Woven is een app in ontwikkeling die de agenda's en e-mails van gebruikers synchroniseert om afspraken te plannen en roosters te maken, waarbij ook de reistijd wordt meegerekend. De bedenkers zijn twee voormalige Facebook-medewerkers die al € 4,4 miljoen hebben opgehaald om het project te financieren.

{ https://www.msn.com/nl-be/feed?ocid=msedgntp&pc=acts }

26-07-2024 om 01:41 geschreven door peter  

Astronomers Were Looking for a Planet, but They Didn't Expect This One

The Epsilon Indi star system is already pretty weird, but this surprising new planet just made it even weirder.

BY KIONA SMITH

 

A team of astronomers recently used the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)’s MIRI instrument to capture images of a gas giant orbiting a nearby star. Earlier studies had predicted that the star should have a giant planet, but no one expected the planet astronomer Elisabeth Matthews and her colleagues actually found in JWST’s data: a gargantuan beast of a world, six times the mass of Jupiter and orbiting three times farther from its star than Jupiter does from the Sun.

Matthews (of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy) and her colleagues published their findings in the journal Nature.

A GIANT SURPRISE

Matthews and her colleagues pointed JWST’s Mid-Infrared Instrument, or MIRI, at the nearby star system Epsilon Indi, which is home to one small orange star, just a little smaller and cooler than our Sun, and a pair of brown dwarfs (objects much too large to be planets, but not quite massive enough to be stars). Other astronomers had previously noticed that Epsilon Indi A, the orange star, had a slight wobble, as if it were being pushed and pulled by the gravity of a giant gas planet in its orbit. But no one had ever actually seen that planet, and the researchers thought JWST would be up to the challenge.

They found the planet, but it wasn’t where all the previous data said it should have been. Instead, it was about four times farther from the star, and about twice as massive, as the researchers had expected. That’s pretty cool, both literally — its about 35 degrees Fahrenheit — but also figuratively, as it is a rare chance to study gas giants in the outer reaches of their star systems.

“To our surprise, the bright spot that appeared in our MIRI images did not match the position we were expecting for the planet,” says Matthews in a recent statement. They’d been looking for a planet about three times the mass of Jupiter, which orbited its star about once every 45 or 50 years. Instead, the bright point of light in MIRI’s images turned out to be a planet about six times more massive than Jupiter, and it’s so far away from its star that it takes around 200 years to finish a single orbit.

For comparison, Jupiter is about five times farther from the Sun than Earth is (that’s five astronomical units, or AU); at that distance, Jupiter takes about 12 years to make a full orbit. Epsilon Eridani Ab, as the new planet is called, is about 15 times farther from its star than Earth is from the Sun, and its orbit is a stretched-out oval, so its actual farthest point from its star is at least 20 AU away.

The earlier studies had drastically underestimated how huge, and how far out, Epsilon Eridani Ab actually was. That’s mostly because those astronomers discovered the planet using what’s called the radial velocity method, which measures how much a star wobbles back and forth as the planet, which exerts a small but noticeable gravitational tug on the star, moves around in its orbit. But astronomers were able to watch those stellar wobbles for just a tiny fraction of the planet’s actual orbit, so it was almost impossible for them to accurately reconstruct the whole thing.

That left Matthews and her colleagues with a huge surprise.

A LITTLE-KNOWN TYPE OF PLANET

Giant gas planets like Jupiter and Epsilon Indi Ab form in the outer reaches of their star systems, where there’s less radiation from the newborn star to blow away the gas that forms these giants. Over time, some of them migrate inward: In our own Solar System, Jupiter did some wandering in its younger days, and in many alien star systems, astronomers have discovered a type of planet called a “hot Jupiter,” a gas giant that’s migrated inward until it’s zipping around its host star once every few days.

Hot Jupiters may be the category of planet we know the most about, even though only about 1 percent of stars actually have a hot Jupiter in their collection of planets. That’s because hot Jupiters are relatively easy to spot: they’re big and close to their stars, so it’s easy to track their radial velocity effects or spot their silhouettes when they pass between their star and Earth.

More distant worlds, even huge gas giants like Epsilon Indi Ab, are harder to find, because their orbits are so long (see above) and because they’re less likely to pass in front of their stars from our point of view, thanks to the angles involved. So the gas giants that don’t end up falling inward into scorching hot orbits are sort of a gap in our knowledge of the universe — and Epsilon Indi Ab is a chance to fill in that blank spot on the cosmic map.

“In the long run, we hope to also observe other nearby planetary systems to hunt for cold gas giants that may have escaped detection,” says the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy’s Thomas Henning, a coauthor of the recent paper, in a statement. “Such a survey would serve as the basis for a better understanding of how gas planets form and evolve.”

Meanwhile, Matthews and her colleagues also hope to get more detailed measurements of the spectrum of light coming from the planet, which could tell them what its atmosphere is made of and whether it’s cloudy, hazy, or clear.

{ https://www.inverse.com/ }

26-07-2024 om 00:08 geschreven door peter  

In this new video, we see a series of images as BepiColombo speeds away from the closest planet to the sun during the 3rd Mercury flyby. The spacecraft captured these images in a span of about 50 minutes.

Video via ESA.

New images of Mercury from BepiColombo flyby

On June 20, 2023, ESA released new images of Mercury after BepiColombo spacecraft flew past the closest planet to the sun the day prior. In these images, we get to see a part of BepiColombo with cratered Mercury in the background. ESA released a trio of images as the spacecraft zoomed away during a gravity assist maneuver. It also released annotated images to point out important surface features.

Reactions from the BepiColombo team

The team involved with the BepiColombo mission were satisfied with the flyby and resulting images. Ignacio Clerigo, ESA’s BepiColombo Spacecraft Operations Manager, said:

Everything went very smoothly with the flyby, and images from the monitoring cameras taken during the close approach phase of the flyby have been transmitted to the ground. While the next Mercury flyby isn’t until September 2024, there are still challenges to tackle in the intervening time: our next long solar electric propulsion ‘thruster arc’ is planned to start early August until mid-September. In combination with the flybys, the thruster arcs are critical in helping BepiColombo brake against the enormous gravitational pull of the sun before we can enter orbit around Mercury.

One of the craters visible in the images is the newly named Manley crater. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) named this crater for Jamaican artist Edna Manley (1900–1987). David Rothery of the BepiColombo team said:

During our image planning for the flyby, we realized this large crater would be in view, but it didn’t yet have a name. It will clearly be of interest for BepiColombo scientists in the future because it has excavated dark ‘low reflectance material’ that may be remnants of Mercury’s early carbon-rich crust. In addition, the basin floor within its interior has been flooded by smooth lava, demonstrative of Mercury’s prolonged history of volcanic activity.

You can learn more about these new images here.

BepiColombo 3rd Mercury flyby June 19, 2023

BepiColombo made its third flyby of the planet Mercury on June 19, 2023. The spacecraft swept closest to Mercury at 19:34 UTC (2:34 p.m. CDT).

BepiColombo is a joint Mercury mission, launched in October 2018 by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). For the past several years, our sun’s inner planets have been giving BepiColombo gravity assists, needed to enable the spacecraft to achieve a stable orbit around Mercury.

BepiColombo is due to enter Mercury’s orbit on December 5, 2025. In the meantime, there will be three more flybys after Monday’s close approach.

Why the gravity assists?

Why can’t BepiColombo just shoot on over to Mercury and go into orbit around it? It can’t because Mercury is so near the sun.

The flyby maneuvers will keep the craft from being pulled into the sun’s gravity well. With one Earth flyby, two Venus flybys, and six eventual Mercury flybys, the spacecraft will lose enough energy that Mercury will capture it in its orbit. That’s right, we said “lose.” We typically think of a gravity assist as a way to boost a spacecraft’s energy. But a gravity assist can either speed up or slow down a spacecraft. Or it can simply change a craft’s direction.

ESA flight dynamics expert Frank Budnik explained more about this 3rd flyby:

As BepiColombo starts feeling Mercury’s gravitational pull, it will be traveling at 3.6 km/s [2.2 mi/s] with respect to the planet. That’s just over half the speed it approached with during the previous two Mercury flybys.

And this is exactly what the point of such events is. Our spacecraft began with far too much energy because it launched from Earth and, like our planet, is orbiting the sun. To be captured by Mercury, we need to slow down, and we’re using the gravity of Earth, Venus and Mercury to do just that.

Tricky maneuvering

Even though BepiColombo’s flight to Mercury was meticulously mapped in advance, controllers will have to make corrections during the seven years it’ll take the spacecraft to get there. In May, mission control performed a course correction that otherwise would have put BepiColombo 15,000 miles (24,000 km) too far from Mercury and on the wrong side of the planet.

Santa Martinez Sanmartin, ESA’s BepiColombo mission manager, explained more about the methods used to get BepiColombo in orbit:

This is the first time scientists are using the complex solar electric propulsion method to get a spacecraft to Mercury. And it represents a big challenge during the remaining part of the cruise phase. We have already adapted our operations concept to have additional communications passes with our ground stations, enabling us to recover faster from thruster interruptions and to improve orbit determination.

And all the while this is working with communications delays of more than 10 minutes due to the time it currently takes light signals to travel between Earth and the spacecraft.

As ESA said, the most demanding part of its journey is still to come:

After this flyby, the mission will enter a very challenging part of its journey to Mercury, gradually increasing the use of solar electric propulsion through additional propulsion periods called ‘thrust arcs’ to continually brake against the enormous gravitational pull of the sun. These thrust arcs can last from a few days up to two months, with the longer arcs interrupted periodically for navigation and maneuver optimization.

This challenging journey is one of the reasons that Mercury is one of the least explored planets in our solar system.

The images from the 3rd Mercury flby

BepiColombo got as close as 146 miles (235 km) from Mercury’s surface during this flyby. However, closest approach was past the unlit portion of Mercury, so scientists didn’t capture any images until a bit later. At about 13 minutes past closest approach, when the spacecraft was 1,143 miles (1,840 km) away, it reached the illuminated part of Mercury. Then it began sending back black-and-white images, including part of the craft itself. A Mercurial selfie, if you will.

You can follow along with the #MercuryFlyby at these Twitter accounts: @esaoperations, @BepiColombo, @ESA_Bepi, @ESA_MTM and @JAXA_MMO.

Testing the instruments

The team uses these flybys as a chance to test some of the instruments. During Monday’s flyby, the magnetic, plasma and particle monitoring instruments sampled the environment. Johannes Benkhoff, project scientist, said:

Collecting data during flybys is extremely valuable for the science teams to check their instruments are functioning correctly ahead of the main mission. It also provides a novel opportunity to compare with data collected by NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft during its 2011–2015 mission at Mercury from complementary locations around the planet not usually accessible from orbit. We are delighted to already have data published based on our previous flybys that generated new science results, which makes us even more excited to get into orbit!

Bottom line: BepiColombo had its 3rd flyby of Mercury on June 19, 2023. The spacecraft will eventually go into orbit around the closest planet to the sun. ESA released three new images of Mercury taken during the encounter.

• Via ESA

{ https://earthsky.org/ }

25-07-2024 om 16:10 geschreven door peter  

Mercury has a layer of diamond 10 miles thick, NASA spacecraft finds

• https://youtu.be/nRyTUI423kY

The same process would have also led to the formation of a carbon-rich mantle beneath the surface. The team behind these findings thinks that this mantle isn't graphene, as previously suspected, but is composed of another much more precious allotrope of carbon: diamond. 

"We calculate that, given the new estimate of the pressure at the mantle-core boundary, and knowing that Mercury is a carbon-rich planet, the carbon-bearing mineral that would form at the interface between mantle and core is diamond and not graphite," team member Olivier Namur, an associate professor at KU Leuven, told Space.com. "Our study uses geophysical data collected by the NASA MESSENGER spacecraft."

MESSENGER (Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging) launched in Aug. 2004 and became the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury. The mission, which ended in 2015, mapped the entire tiny world, discovering abundant water ice in shadows at the poles and gathering crucial data about Mercury's geology and magnetic field.

Related: 

• Mercury was shrinking for at least 3 billion years — and it still might be today

Under pressure!

This new study also relates to a major surprise that came a few years ago when scientists re-evaluated the distribution of mass on Mercury, discovering the mantle of this tiny planet is thicker than previously thought.

"We directly thought that this must have a huge implication for the speciation [the distribution of an element or an allotrope amongst chemical species in a system] of carbon, diamond vs graphite, on Mercury," Namur said.

The team investigated this here on Earth by using a large-volume press to replicate the pressures and temperatures that exist within the interior of Mercury. They applied incredible amounts of pressure, over seven gigapascals, to a synthetic silicate acting as a proxy for the material found in the mantle of Mercury, achieving temperatures of up to 3,950 degrees Fahrenheit (2,177 degrees Celsius).

This allowed them to study how minerals like those that would have been found in Mercury's mantle in its early existence changed under these conditions. They also used computer modeling to assess data about Mercury's interior, which gave them clues to how the diamond mantle of Mercury could have been created.

"We believe that diamond could have been formed by two processes. First is the crystallization of the magma ocean, but this process likely contributed to forming only a very thin diamond layer at the core/mantle interface," Namur explained. "Secondly, and most importantly, the crystallization of the metal core of Mercury."

Namur said that when Mercury formed around 4.5 billion years ago, the core of the planet was fully liquid, progressively crystallizing over time. The exact nature of the solid phases forming in the inner core is not currently well known, but the team believes that these phases must have been low in carbon or "carbon-poor."

"The liquid core before crystallization contained some carbon; crystallization, therefore, leads to carbon enrichment in the residual melt," he continued. "At some point, a solubility threshold is reached, meaning the liquid cannot dissolve more carbon, and diamond forms."

Diamond is a dense mineral but not as dense as metal, meaning that during this process, it would have floated to the top of the core, stopping at the boundary of Mercury's core and its mantle. This would have resulted in the formation of an around 0.62-mile (1 km) thick diamond layer that then continued to grow over time. 

The discovery highlights the differences between the birth of the closest planet to the sun when compared with the creation of the solar system's other rocky planets, Venus, Earth, and Mars.

"Mercury formed much closer to the sun, likely from a carbon-rich cloud of dust. As a consequence, Mercury contains less oxygen and more carbon than other planets, which led to the formation of a diamond layer," Namur added. "However, Earth's core also contains carbon, and diamond formation in the Earth's core has already been suggested by various researchers."

The researcher hopes that this discovery could help reveal clues to some of the other mysteries surrounding the solar system's smallest planet, including why its volcanic phase was cut short around 3.5 billion years ago.

"A major question that I have about Mercury's evolution is why the major phase of volcanism lasted only a few hundred million years, much shorter than other rocky planets. This must mean that the planet cooled down very fast," Namur said. "This is partly related to the small size of the planet, but we are now working with physicists to try to understand if a diamond layer could have contributed to very fast heat removal, therefore terminating major volcanism very early."

Namur said that the team's next step will be to investigate the thermal effect of a diamond layer at the mantle/core boundary. This study could be supported by data from a mission that will follow in the footsteps of MESSENGER.

"We are also eagerly waiting for the first data collected by BepiColombo, hopefully in 2026, to refine our understanding of Mercury's internal structure and evolution," Namur concluded.

• The team's research was published in the journal Nature Communications. 

{ https://www.space.com/ }

25-07-2024 om 15:48 geschreven door peter  

“These are rock silicates, which are some of the most common minerals in the Earth’s crust,” explains the press release announcing the new battery. “It is found in the stones you pick up on the beach or in your garden.”

WITH LITHIUM ION’S DAYS NUMBERED, SUPER BATTERY WILL LIKELY POWER THE VEHICLES OF THE FUTURE

Today, the vast majority of electric devices, including phones, computers, and cars, are powered by lithium-ion batteries. Unfortunately, lithium is a rare earth mineral and is also considered toxic. Batteries using lithium-ion energy storage have also proven to be dangerous under the right conditions. In some cases, electric cars or even commercial airlines have experienced lithium-ion batteries bursting into flames.

While consumers have somewhat tolerated these issues due to the longer drive times and relatively short device charge times lithium-ion batteries provide, industry experts often state that one way or another, the end of this class of batteries is coming sooner rather than later.

Now, DTU researchers say they may have developed and patented a commercially viable alternative that mitigates nearly all of the largest concerns regarding current technologies while also offering equally impressive drive times and shorter recharge times for electric vehicles.

TEAM SAYS SOLID STATE BATTERIES MADE FROM ROCKS OFFER COMPELLING ADVANTAGES

In developing their futuristic ‘super battery,’ the DTU team knew there was untapped potential in potassium-based silicates. The material is not only good at energy storage but also eco-friendly, inexpensive to extract, and available from material that covers 90 percent of the surface. Still, the research team says it has largely been ignored due to perceived limitations that they believe could be surmounted.

“The potential of potassium silicate as a solid-state electrolyte has been known for a long time, but in my opinion, has been ignored due to challenges with the weight and size of the potassium ions,” explained DTU researcher Mohamad Khoshkalam. “The ions are large and therefore move slower.”

When ions move slowly in a battery, it adversely affects everything from charge times and lifespan to safety. Still, Khoshkalam believed that the huge number of benefits offered by batteries essentially made from rocks were valuable enough that they could prove a nearly perfect medium for their new super battery.

This belief led to the testing of various formulas of potassium silicate-based electrolytes, with an eye on maintaining the material’s benefits while mitigating its weaknesses. According to Khoshkalam, this effort was a success.

After numerous trials, the team was able to create a superionic material of potassium silicate and a separate “process” that combined to make the ions move even faster than they do in lithium-based electrolytes. However, the researchers are keeping the exact formula a secret, although they have received a patent for it.

“The first measurement with a battery component revealed that the material has a very good conductivity as a solid-state electrolyte,” said Khoshkalam. “I cannot reveal how I developed the material, as the recipe and the method are now patented,”

TEAM ACKNOWLEDGES SOLID STATE ROCK BATTERIES ARE A HIGH-RISK TECHNOLOGY

In the DTU team’s formal announcement, they highlight previous announcements by car manufacturers that have promised to develop solid-state batteries “only to subsequently pull out.” Toyota recently announced plans for a 2027-2028 launch of a lithium-based solid-state-powered electric vehicle, but few details have been made available.

The DTU also projects what a solid-state super battery based on potassium silicate would look like, as well as the impressive performance and safety benefits it could offer.

“A single battery cell can be made as thin as a piece of cardboard, where the anode, cathode, and solid-state electrolyte are ultra-thin layers of material,” they explain. “This means that we can make more powerful batteries that take up less space. This offers benefits on the road, as you will be able to drive up to 1,000 km on a single 10-minute charge. In addition, a solid-state battery is more fireproof, as it does not contain combustible liquid.”

{ https://thedebrief.org/category/tech/ }

25-07-2024 om 15:27 geschreven door peter  

First named the “Tesla Bot” and revealed in 2021 at a Tesla AI Day event, the robot’s design has drastically changed over the last few years. Recently renamed Optimus, the humanlike robot was designed to perform dangerous work and repetitive tasks.

At 170 centimeters in height and weighing around 123 pounds, the robot’s new design is sleek compared to its appearance while in the initial prototype phase. 

Tesla’s development of Optimus is not the first time robots designed to mimic human capabilities have made news. Other automotive and robotics companies, including Honda and Boston Dynamics, have made progress in recent years in the development of robots that include those with humanoid designs. 

In 2015, DARPA hosted the Robotics Challenge, and many of the designs looked similar to the robots currently under development by Tesla. 

The event, held at the Fairplex in Pomona, California, aimed to have participants create robot systems and software teams to help humans under conditions of natural and man-made disasters. 

Team Kaist of Daejeon, Republic of Korea, won first place and the $2 million prize with their robot DRC-Hubo, while Team IHMC Robotics from Pensacola, Florida, secured second place and $1 million with their robot Running Man.

The prize for third place went to Tartan Rescue of Pittsburgh and their robot CHIMP, along with a $500,000 prize.

Musk initially speculated that Optimus would be ready for deployment in Tesla’s factories by the end of 2024. Similarly, Musk had said as early as 2019 that Tesla would have its long-awaited self-driving taxis in operation by the following year.

The company’s self-driving taxis are reportedly being unveiled later this year, although no official date has been confirmed.

• Chrissy Newton is a PR professional and founder of VOCAB Communications. She hosts the Rebelliously Curious podcast, which can be found on The Debrief’s YouTube Channel. Follow her on X: @ChrissyNewton and at chrissynewton.com.

{ https://thedebrief.org/category/science/ }

25-07-2024 om 00:39 geschreven door peter  

However, in reduced gravity, the bubbles either take much longer to detach or don’t do so at all. This creates a buffer layer along the electrode’s length that decreases the electrolysis process’s efficiency, sometimes stalling it out entirely. Electrolysis isn’t the only fluidic process that has difficulty operating in reduced gravity environments – many ISS experiments also have trouble. This is partly due to a lack of complete understanding of how liquids operate in these environments – and that in itself is partly driven by a dearth of experimental data. 

Which is where the modeling comes in. Dr. Burke and his colleagues use a technique known as Computational Fluid Dynamics to attempt to mimic the forces the fluids will undergo in a reduced gravity environment while also understanding bubble formation.

Electrolysis on Earth is typically done with water, but why stop there? The team used their CFD to model two other liquids that might be used in electrolyzers – molten salt (MSE) and molten regolith (MRE). Molten salt is used on Earth, but less commonly than regular water, and has successfully produced oxygen. However, molten regolith electrolysis is still somewhat of a novel use case and has yet to be thoroughly tested. MOXIE, the experiment that famously created oxygen on Mars in 2021, used the carbon dioxide in Mars’ atmosphere and a solid-state electrode – neither representative of molten regolith.

Dr. Burke and his team found that, computationally, at least, MRE has the most challenging conditions in reduced gravity. It has also never been tested in any reduced gravity environment, so for now; these simulations are all engineers have to go on with if they are going to design a system.

There were a few key takeaways from the modeling, though. First, engineers should design horizontal electrodes into MRE systems, as the longer a bubble spreads across an electrode (i.e., as it goes “up” it), the longer it takes for that bubble to detach. In a horizontal configuration, the electrode has less surface area to attach to, making it more likely for the bubbles to detach and float to the surface.

Additionally, the amount of time bubbles remain attached to an electrode scales exponentially with decreasing gravity. That means bubbles on the Moon will take longer to detach than those on Mars, which will take longer than those on Earth. Consequently, electrolysis on the Moon will be less efficient than that on Mars, which will again be less efficient than that on Earth, and mission planners will need to account for these discrepancies if they plan on getting something as mission-critical as oxygen from this process. The smoothness of the electrodes also seems to matter, with rougher electrodes more likely to hold onto their bubbles and, therefore, end up less efficient.

Other engineering solutions can overcome all these challenges, such as a vibratory mechanism on the electrode to shake the bubbles loose. However, it’s a good idea to consider all the additional complications operations in a reduced gravity environment have before launching a mission. That’s why modeling is so important, but humanity will ultimately have to experimentally test these systems, perhaps on the Moon itself, if we plan to utilize its local resources to sustain our presence there.

Learn More:

• Burke et al. – Modeling electrolysis in reduced gravity: producing oxygen from in-situ resources at the moon and beyond
  
• UT – NASA Wants to Learn to Live Off the Land on the Moon
• UT – What is ISRU, and How Will it Help Human Space Exploration?
• UT – A Robotic Chemist Could Whip up the Perfect Batch of Oxygen on Mars

Lead Image:

• Graphic showing the difference in bubble accumulation in low and high gravities.
• Credit – Burke et al.

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

24-07-2024 om 23:45 geschreven door peter