Science, Space, Health & Robotics News - Page 1

NASA has taken to its blog to showcase a new image of one of the largest Jupiter moons called Io. The Juno spacecraft has imaged the moon in infrared.

NASA's Juno mission is a space exploration project that aims to study the planet Jupiter and its atmosphere in an attempt to learn more about its evolution. The spacecraft was launched in August 2011 and entered Jupiter's orbit in July 2016. Since then, it has been collecting data and sending it back to Earth for analysis, and recently the Juno spacecraft captured an infrared image of the innermost and third-largest of the four Galilean Moons, Io.

So far, the Juno mission has already yielded impressive results as it has made the discovery of water in Jupiter's atmosphere and evidence of auroras on the planet. The Juno mission is expected to continue until July 2021, when the spacecraft will be deliberately de-orbited and will burn up in Jupiter's atmosphere, but before that happens, researchers hope to learn more about our solar system's largest planet. NASA writes in its blog post that Io is the most volcanic place in the solar system, with the moon harboring hundreds of volcanoes.

The former FTX CEO and founder of the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency, Sam Bankman-Fried, was arrested a few days and slapped with charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The FTX founder, commonly called SBF, was arrested by Bahamian law enforcement at the request of the US government. Law enforcement has transferred SBF to Fox Hill correctional center in Nassau until February, according to reports that state a judge denied the FTX cryptocurrency exchange creator bail and ordered him to remain in law enforcement custody until he is extradited to the United States. Notably, SBF has been charged with multiple counts of charges of wire and securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, and money laundering.

Now, sources have spoken to Bloomberg and said that SBF isn't very happy with the prison conditions in the Bahamas, which Insider reports are notorious for its harsh conditions. According to these sources, SBF isn't meeting his dietary requirements, and his family members are reportedly calling the prison to request the former FTX CEO is given a vegan diet. Furthermore, SBF lawyers attempted to use the lack of vegan food as well as specific medication being given to SBF as a reason for him to be released on bail, which was priced at $250,000. The bail was denied.

NASA recently announced its Orion spacecraft made a safe splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on December 11 after being launched on a round-trip to the Moon on November 16.

The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket launched the Orion spacecraft onto its journey to the Moon on November 16, with the small but very fast spacecraft entering into lunar orbit on November 25 and finally departing lunar orbit on December 1 for its return journey back to Earth when it landed in the Pacific Ocean on December 11. NASA announced that Orion performed better than expected, achieving all of its primary mission goals and even completing bonus objectives given to it throughout its journey back to Earth.

Now, reports are coming out that Orion reached Naval Base San Diego on December 13 while aboard the USS Portland, a US Navy recovery ship that grabbed Orion shortly after it made splashdown. Orion will undergo full analysis from engineers interested in how the hardware on the inside and outside of the capsule held up throughout the long journey through space, around the Moon, and back through Earth's atmosphere. Notably, engineers will be checking the quality of Orion's heat shield, which is designed to protect the spacecraft from burning up while traveling through Earth's atmosphere.

The announcement was made on Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Energy, which took to its website to share the achievement that was conducted at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

The achievement is being described as a "major scientific breakthrough" that has been "decades in the making". The experiment was held on December 5 when scientists used 2.05 megajoules to create a fusion reaction that generated more energy than was used to create it, giving researchers the new categorization of a net positive reaction. This achievement is a crucial step toward creating a sustained fusion reaction that will be able to provide clean energy to the country, and perhaps the world.

For those that don't know, fusion reactions are the process by which atomic nuclei merge to form a heavier nucleus, releasing a large amount of energy in the process. This is the same process that powers the sun and other stars, and scientists have been trying to replicate it on Earth for many years.

The head of NASA, Bill Nelson, spoke with one of the heads of SpaceX over the weekend where he expressed concern about SpaceX's timelines being affected by Elon Musk's new interest in Twitter.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson met with SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell, who has been at the company since its inception in 2002 and has been an instrumental part in its growth and success. Shotwell is responsible for the day-to-day operations of SpaceX, and works closely with CEO Elon Musk to develop and implement long-term strategies.

Nelson is concerned about these strategies and the timelines matching up since Musk took over Twitter at the end of October, with the NASA Administrator asking Shotwell directly if Musk's Twitter involvement was going to affect SpaceX. Shotwell responded, "I assure you, it is not. You have nothing to worry about," according to a recount of the conversation from Nelson.

The US Air Force (USAF) has tested its first prototype hypersonic missile that it expects will reach operational status, according to a USAF statement released on December 12.

The new hypersonic missile called AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon, or ARRW (Arrow) for short, is developed by Lockheed Martin, and according to reports, its design is based on previous work by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Notably, previous test vehicles designed by DARPA have alleged a ridiculous maximum speed of 15,000 mph, or Mach 20. However, that is yet to be fully confirmed.

Reports indicate that the US Air Force originally had doubts about the AGM-183A as testing since April 2021 has seen several failed attempts to showcase its performance capabilities. The failed tests casted doubt on the entire program, but now that the hypersonic missile has been tested off the Southern California coast on December 9, hope in the program has been reignited. According to the US Air Force, the missile is designed to take out high-value time-sensitive targets across the battlefield, meaning it will likely be used to destroy ground assets that are fixed and unable to move very quickly.

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has made a groundbreaking discovery, identifying the oldest galaxy ever found, just 350 million years after the Big Bang.

NASA explain via its blog post that the galaxy is 13.4 billion years old, making it the earliest galaxy that has ever been observed. The discovery is a major breakthrough in our understanding of the early universe, as it provides crucial insight into the formation and evolution of galaxies. Previous observations of the early universe had only been able to detect galaxies that were several hundred million years older, so this discovery represents a significant advancement in our knowledge.

The James Webb Space Telescope is specifically designed to study the early universe and is expected to provide even more detailed observations of other ancient galaxies. This will allow scientists to better understand the processes that led to the formation of these galaxies and the role that they played in the early universe.

NASA's Orion spacecraft is a spacecraft designed for deep space exploration missions. It is intended to be a successor to the retired space shuttles, and is capable of carrying astronauts to destinations beyond low Earth orbit, such as the Moon and Mars.

The spacecraft developed by NASA, with contributions from the European Space Agency (ESA) and other international partners, safely splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on December 11, 2022, 50 years to the day of NASA's Apollo 17 moon landing, completing a successful and very fruitful mission to the Moon. This event marks a significant milestone for the Artemis program, and will provide the space agency with foundational knowledge that will be used in future Artemis missions.

The mission, known as Artemis I, launched the uncrewed Orion spacecraft on the back of a Space Launch System (SLS) on a journey around the Moon where conducted a series of scientific experiments, multiple system tests such as navigation, imaging capabilities, propulsion systems, and more. The spacecraft launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on November 16.

The Orion spacecraft is a spacecraft developed by NASA for deep space exploration. It is designed to be capable of carrying humans to destinations such as the Moon and Mars.

One of the key features of the Orion spacecraft is its advanced imaging and video capabilities. The spacecraft is equipped with 24 high-resolution cameras and other sensors that are capable of capturing detailed images and video footage of the Moon as well as other nearby celestial bodies. In addition to its imaging capabilities, the Orion spacecraft is also equipped with a powerful propulsion system that allows it to maneuver and position itself for optimal imaging and video capture.

One of the major objectives of the Orion spacecraft's missions to the Moon has been to gather detailed imagery and video of the lunar surface. This footage has been used for a number of purposes, including scientific research and analysis, as well as public outreach and education. The images and video captured by the Orion spacecraft will provide valuable insights into the geology and composition of the Moon, as well as its history and evolution.

A team of archaeologists uncovered what is now being called the world's oldest narrative scene in an 11,000 year-old-rock in southeastern Turkey.

The new study details the discovery, which took place at a Neolithic mound site about 35 miles east of the Euphrates River, and 20 miles (32 km) north of the Syrian border at an archaeological site called Sayburç. According to the study, the team of researchers found carving within benches built into the building, with the depictions of men and leopards measuring in at about 2.5 to 3 feet in height and about 12 feet long.

The team behind the discovery writes in the study that the rock-cut relief shows two leopards, a bull, and two men, with one of the men grabbing his phallus and the other holding a snake. The new study published in the journal Antiquity states that whoever carved the narrative into the wall exaggerated the most dangerous parts of the animals; the bull's horns as well as the claws and fangs of the leopard.