Science & TechnologyS


Sun

India's landmark Sun probe Aditya-L1 reaches final destination

India Aditya-L1 solar observatory
© ISROIndia's Aditya-L1 solar observatory
The spacecraft will undertake a comprehensive study "for the benefit of entire humanity," according to New Delhi

India's first solar observatory, Aditya-L1, has been successfully placed into orbit, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) announced on Saturday.

The mission, which was launched by the ISRO last September, is carrying seven different payloads to observe the light from the Sun and measure the plasma and magnetic fields.

The spacecraft reached Lagrange Point 1 (L1), a relatively stable location for the mission to make observations of the Sun for the next five years.

Blue Planet

Megalodon tooth found on unexplored seamount 10,000 feet below the ocean's surface

megalodon tooth
© Katherine KelleyThe tooth after researchers scraped off a ferromanganese layer it was encased in.
A remotely operated submarine was collecting samples on a previously unexplored deep sea mountain when it scooped up a rare megalodon tooth.

The gold-colored tooth, which is 2.7 inches (6.8 centimeters) long, was discovered more than 10,000 feet (3,090 meters) below the surface near the Johnston Atoll in the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, around 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) south of the Hawaiian Islands.

Researchers described the find in a study published Dec. 14 in the journal Historical Biology. The Ocean Exploration Trust, which led the 2022 expedition that found the tooth, has now released video detailing the events.

Jupiter

Juno probe reveals closest-ever view of Jupiter's volcanic moon Io

io jupiter moon
© NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS, Image processing by Ted StrykThis infrared image was derived from data collected by the Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) instrument aboard Juno. In this image, the brighter the color the higher the temperature recorded by JIRAM.
Images unveil ongoing volcanic activity in stunning detail

NASA explores outer space and the Solar System through crucial missions, closely monitoring the Jupiter mission's 56 flybys and close encounters with three moons.

Recently, the American space agency shared a captivating image of Jupiter's moon Io from the Juno spacecraft flyby, revealing volcanic activity and providing a detailed view of the surface. This exploration holds potential for unraveling Solar System mysteries, and experts share insights on the Juno spacecraft's recent encounter.

Comment: More from social media




Frog

Physics and chemistry could not give rise to biology

green leaves photosynthesis
© Olena Shmahalo/Quanta Magazine
The laws of nature provide stable conditions and physical boundaries within which biological outcomes are possible. Laws are, in effect, a chessboard. They provide a stable platform and non-negotiable boundaries. But they do not determine the movement of pieces or the outcome of the game.

Or do they? Rope Kojonen, a theologian at the University of Helsinki, argues for the compatibility of design and evolution. My colleagues Steve Dilley, Brian Miller, Casey Luskin, and I published a review of Kojonen's thoughtful book, The Compatibility of Evolution and Design, in the journal Religions. In a series at Evolution News, we have been expanding on our response to Dr. Kojonen. Here, I will shift gears to analyze his claims about the laws of nature and their role in the origin of biological complexity and diversity.

Water

How tomato plants adapt to drought conditions

research tomato drought conditions adaptation
© TJ Ushing/UC DavisAlex Cantó-Pastor, a postdoctoral scholar working with Siobhan Brady, used mutant tomato plants to understand suberin’s role in drought tolerance.
When water supplies are low, tomato roots produce suberin — the molecule that gives wine corks and waxy potato skins their water-repellant qualities — to control water flow

Plants have to be flexible to survive environmental changes, and the adaptive methods they deploy must often be as changeable as the shifts in climate and condition to which they adapt. To cope with drought, plant roots produce a water-repellent polymer called suberin that blocks water from flowing up towards the leaves, where it would quickly evaporate. Without suberin, the resulting water loss would be like leaving the tap running.

In some plants, suberin is produced by endodermal cells that line the vessels inside the roots. But in others, like tomatoes, suberin is produced in exodermal cells that sit just below the skin of the root.

Quenelle - Golden

China reveals next-gen multi-target electronic warfare weapon design

china
© rancho_runner/iStockIllustrative image to show a fighter jet with an electronic warfare pod.
Researchers at the Southeast University in Nanjiang China have revealed the design of their new generation electronic warfare (EW) weapon in a peer-reviewed journal. Unlike other EW weapons known so far, the Chinese-developed weapon can allegedly launch multiple beams of electromagnetic waves from a single antenna and target multiple objects simultaneously.

Electronic warfare is widely accepted as the next frontier of warfare which is seeing intense technological development. Failure to dominate the deployment of the technology is seen as a precursor to losing territorial ground. Advanced EW weapons are capable of suppressing weapons, and radars as well as adversarial ability to communicate, navigate and collect information in contested areas.

Comment: It's perhaps no coincidence that China is releasing this information so publicly, and putting it up for scrutiny, at this rather turbulent time on our planet; and this is just the technology that they're choosing to make public:


Sun

A sweater made from new aerogel fiber tests warmer than one made from down

twisting
© SCIENCE 2023Bending and twisting of encapsulated aerogel textile
A team of chemical engineers and materials scientists at Zhejiang University in China has developed a new type of aeroge l fiber that has proven to be warmer than down when woven into a sweater. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group describes the inspiration for their fibers, how they were made and how well they worked when tested in a cold environment. Zhizhi Sheng and Xuetong Zhang, with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, have published a Perspective piece in the same journal issue outlining the work done by the team on this new effort.

Aerogels are types of gels where the liquid is replaced by air. They were invented in the 1930s and have been used for a variety of applications, including NASA space vehicles. Because of their positive thermal properties, materials scientists have been trying to make fibers using them that could be used to create warm textiles. Thus far, such attempts have mostly failed, however, due to a lack of moisture permeability and strength. In this new study, the research team in China has found a way to overcome both problems.

Saturn

Saturn's seasonal spectacle: Hubble's ultra-sharp vision unveils ring spoke phenomenon

photo of Saturn was taken by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope on October 22, 2023
© NASA, ESA, STScI, Amy Simon (NASA-GSFC)This photo of Saturn was taken by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope on October 22, 2023, when the ringed planet was approximately 850 million miles from Earth. Hubble’s ultra-sharp vision reveals a phenomenon called ring spokes.
Saturn’s spokes are transient features that rotate along with the rings. Their ghostly appearance only persists for two or three rotations around Saturn. During active periods, freshly-formed spokes continuously add to the pattern.
Levitated Dust Takes a Carousel Ride Around the Giant Ringworld

Though Saturn's unusual-looking "cup handle" features were first noted by Galileo in 1610, it would be another 45 years before they were described by Christiaan Huygens as a disk surrounding Saturn. Subsequently, ground-based telescopes could only distinguish four unique concentric rings, labeled A, B, C, and D. Not until the 1980s did NASA's two Voyager probes fly by Saturn to photograph thousands of concentric ringlets. An even bigger surprise to Voyager scientists were dark, radial spoke-like patterns in the ring plane that came and went as they revolved around Saturn.

Over the past three decades, the Hubble Space Telescope has picked up where the Voyagers have left off. Hubble's ultra-sharp vision is the next best thing to being there. Hubble follows the ring spoke "merry-go-round" every year. It's believed the dark spokes are dust particles electrostatically levitated above the ring plane. They seem to change in abundance with Saturn's seven-year-long seasons. And, this may be linked to changes in Saturn's magnetic field, as it is battered by the solar wind.

Comment: See also:


Telescope

After 2 years in space, the James Webb telescope has broken cosmology. Can it be fixed?

illustration
© AlamyAn artist's illustration of the James Webb Space Telescope.
For decades, measurements of the universe's expansion have suggested a disparity known as the Hubble tension, which threatens to break cosmology as we know it. Now, on the eve of its second anniversary, a new finding by the James Webb Space Telescope has only entrenched the mystery.

Something is awry in our expanding cosmos.

Nearly a century ago, the astronomer Edwin Hubble discovered the balloon-like inflation of the universe and the accelerating rush of all galaxies away from each other. Following that expansion backward in time led to our current best understanding of how everything began — the Big Bang.

But over the past decade, an alarming hole has been growing in this picture: Depending on where astronomers look, the rate of the universe's expansion (a value called the Hubble constant) varies significantly.

Now, on the second anniversary of its launch, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has cemented the discrepancy with stunningly precise new observations that threaten to upend the standard model of cosmology.

The new physics needed to modify or even replace the 40-year-old theory is now a topic of fierce debate.

Brain

Power of illusion can help with learning new movements

visual-motor illusion
© Scientific Reports (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-47435-8(a) The Visual-motor illusion group observed a video of their counterclockwise ball rotation task. (b) The action observation group watched the same video as the visual-motor illusion group.
Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University showed that visual aids that create the illusion of movement, like a screen placed in front of one's hand showing the hand move, can improve motor performance and the early stages of motor learning. Compared to observing third-person motions, functional near-infrared spectroscopy data also showed greater changes in brain activity in regions associated with motor learning.

Findings like this might inform new treatment strategies for hemiplegic stroke patients. The study is published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Visual-motor illusion (VMI) is the curious illusion of watching your body move even while it is still. Imagine having a tablet screen placed in front of your hand. Your hand is hidden behind the tablet, and your hand is not moving. Now, imagine the screen playing a video of your hand moving; your eyes are telling you that your hand is moving, but it is not moving at all.