Science

The European Space Agency (ESA) is preparing to launch a unique satellite in 2027, designed specifically to study how satellites break apart upon reentry into Earth’s atmosphere. This mission, named DRACO (Destructive Reentry Assessment Container Object), will be an important step in ESA’s effort to develop technology that limits the creation of space debris. ESA has awarded the contract to Deimos, a European technology company, to build this spacecraft, which will provide invaluable data as it breaks apart during its reentry. This data will help scientists better understand satellite disintegration and its environmental impact.

Understanding Satellite Breakup

The goal of the DRACO mission is to collect data on how satellites disintegrate during reentry. By studying this, researchers aim to design future satellites that will fully burn up during reentry, reducing the risk of debris reaching the Earth’s surface. The mission will also examine how spacecraft reentry affects the atmosphere, including how different materials interact with it and what byproducts are produced.

Innovative DRACO Design

At 200 kilograms, DRACO will be about the size of a washing machine. Its design will allow it to break apart like a normal satellite, but a specially engineered capsule will survive reentry. This capsule, measuring 40 centimetres, will carry four cameras and 200 sensors to record crucial data during the breakup. After reentry, it will deploy a parachute and transmit the collected information before being lost at sea.

Advancing Zero Debris Technology

According to Holger Krag, ESA’s Head of Space Safety, the DRACO mission will play a key role in developing future satellite technology. The data it collects will be used to build more demisable satellites by 2030, aligning with ESA’s Zero Debris charter, which aims to stop the creation of space debris within this decade.

Tim Flohrer, head of ESA’s space debris office, also emphasised the mission’s importance in helping to advance zero-debris technologies, particularly as the number of satellite launches continues to increase worldwide.

In May 2024, a remarkable geomagnetic storm, also known as solar storm, impacted Earth, resulting in vibrant auroras that captivated observers worldwide. These stunning natural displays occur when eruptions of solar plasma, known as coronal mass ejections, collide with Earth’s magnetic field. While these events are a visual delight, they also raise significant questions about the impact of solar radiation on humans travelling beyond Earth’s atmosphere.

Exploring Radiation Risks in Space

During this geomagnetic event, NASA’s BioSentinel spacecraft took the opportunity to gather crucial data on solar radiation. This research is vital as NASA  gears up for future missions to the Moon and Mars. As noted by Sergio Santa Maria, who leads the BioSentinel project at NASA’s Ames Research Center, the timing coincided with a solar maximum, which allowed for an in-depth examination of the radiation environment in space.

BioSentinel’s Unique Mission

BioSentinel, a compact satellite roughly the size of a cereal box, is situated over 30 million miles from Earth in a solar orbit. Unlike life on Earth, which is shielded by the planet’s magnetic field, BioSentinel had to endure the full effects of the solar storm. Initial data suggest that although the storm was considerable, it was only associated with a moderate increase in solar radiation, indicating that the immediate threats to life may not be as severe as previously anticipated.

Adaptation of Scientific Goals

Originally intended to study yeast in space, BioSentinel has shifted its focus to understanding the broader implications of deep space conditions. The spacecraft’s biosensor instruments continue to provide valuable insights into the radiation environment in space. Santa Maria pointed out that despite the completion of the biological aspect of the mission, BioSentinel still holds significant scientific relevance, demonstrating its capability for future long-duration missions.

Conclusion: The Importance of Ongoing Research

The spectacular auroras that light up the night sky serve as a reminder of the unseen forces governing our solar system. As NASA and its collaborators seek to deepen their understanding of space environments, the data collected by missions like BioSentinel is essential. This research not only enhances our knowledge of solar radiation but also informs the safety and success of future human explorations beyond Earth.

The northern sea robin (Prionotus carolinus) is an intriguing marine species known for its remarkable adaptations. Unlike most fish, this species employs its six leg-like appendages to navigate the ocean floor. This ability allows it not only to move but also to explore the sea bed in search of food. While this capability was long known in the scientific community, another strange use case of its leg was recently discovered.

Sensory Capabilities of Sea Robins

Recent studies have illuminated how these legs function as sensory organs. Researchers observed that the northern sea robin is capable of detecting buried prey through chemical cues released into the water. Using its shovel-like feet, the fish can unearth hidden food sources, demonstrating a unique blend of mobility and sensory detection.

Research Collaboration and Findings

A collaborative research effort involving developmental biologist David Kingsley from Stanford University and molecular biologist Nicholas Bellono from Harvard University examined the sea robin’s sensory adaptations. The study was published in the journal Current Biology. Their experiments placed the fish in environments with buried mussels and amino-acid capsules. The results confirmed the fish’s efficiency in locating and retrieving these hidden items, thanks to the specialized bumps on its legs, known as papillae, which house taste receptors.

Evolutionary Insights into Adaptation

The evolutionary background of the northern sea robin reveals an intriguing narrative. An evolutionary analysis of various sea robin species indicated that while the legs initially developed for locomotion, their sensory capabilities evolved later. The researchers identified the tbx3a gene as a key factor in the development of these legs, and using CRISPR technology, they demonstrated that altering this gene can impact both leg formation and sensory function.

Conclusion: Implications of the Research

The findings from this research not only enhance our understanding of the northern sea robin but also provide broader insights into how species adapt over time. By exploring the genetic and evolutionary pathways that led to such unique adaptations, scientists can better understand the complexities of marine life and the evolutionary processes that shape it.

A planetary system anchored by a white dwarf star, located approximately 4,000 light-years away, provides astronomers with insights into what could happen to our Sun and Earth in about 8 billion years. This scenario unfolds if the Earth survives the Sun’s transformation into a red giant, expected to occur in 5 to 6 billion years. During this phase, the Sun will expand, potentially engulfing Mercury, Venus, and possibly Earth before shrinking into a white dwarf.

The Potential for Earth’s Survival

One scenario for Earth’s survival involves its migration to an orbit similar to Mars or beyond, resulting in a radiation-battered yet frozen world orbiting a burnt-out star, as per a study published in the journal Nature Astronomy. The newly discovered system reveals a white dwarf with half the mass of the Sun and an Earth-sized planet in a wider orbit, showcasing what a surviving Earth might resemble.

Keming Zhang, a researcher from the University of California, San Diego, highlighted that there is no consensus on whether Earth could escape being swallowed by the red giant Sun. This system stands out because it also contains a massive companion, likely a brown dwarf, which is a stellar body that fails to ignite nuclear fusion.

The Discovery Process

The planetary system was identified through a microlensing event, where the gravitational influence of a body distorts the light from a more distant source. Observations of this event, dubbed KMT-2020-BLG-0414, were conducted using the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network. The investigation continued with the Keck telescopes in Hawaii, ultimately confirming the nature of the central star as a white dwarf based on the absence of light expected from a main sequence star.

Future Habitable Possibilities

While this discovery suggests that Earth could escape destruction, it raises questions about the potential for life to persist on our planet. Jessica Lu, an astronomer at UC Berkeley, noted that while Earth may avoid being engulfed, it might not remain habitable during the Sun’s red giant phase. The habitable zone will shift beyond Earth’s orbit, with Zhang suggesting that humanity might need to consider migrating to the moons of Jupiter or Saturn, which could become viable ocean worlds as the Sun expands.

Conclusion

This research illustrates the significance of microlensing in exploring planetary systems. The upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Telescope, set for launch in 2027, is expected to enhance our ability to discover and study exoplanets, potentially unveiling more unique configurations in the cosmos.

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has once again made a ground-breaking discovery— a distant galaxy that could hold the key to unlocking how the universe evolved in its earliest stages. Detected roughly one billion years after the Big Bang, this galaxy presents a fascinating glimpse into a period when stars and galaxies were just beginning to form. It is said that this dust cloud exists between fully formed galaxy where stars outweigh the gases, and whatever came before the Big Bang event.

A Galaxy Like No Other

One of the most intriguing aspects of this newly discovered galaxy is how its gas clouds outshine the stars. This rare phenomenon has caught the attention of astronomers, as it suggests conditions in the early universe might have been different than previously thought. Typically, stars shine brighter than surrounding gas, but in this case, the gas is so luminous that it dominates the galaxy’s light profile.

This odd trait might offer clues about how stars interacted with their environment during this period of cosmic history. The study detailing the discovery has been published in the October issue of Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Unusually Hot Stars

In addition to its bright gas clouds, the galaxy also hosts stars much hotter than those found in more modern galaxies. These stars, despite their extreme heat, contain heavier elements, unlike the very first stars in the universe, which were made mostly of hydrogen and helium. This discovery could provide crucial insights into how the universe transitioned from its first, simple stars to the more complex stellar systems we observe today.

Rewriting Cosmic History

With the advanced observational power of the James Webb Telescope, scientists can now look further back into the universe’s past than ever before. This galaxy represents just one of many discoveries expected to reshape our understanding of early cosmic evolution. As researchers continue to explore galaxies from this period, they hope to piece together how stars, galaxies, and other cosmic structures emerged from the chaos of the early universe.

NASA and South Korea’s newly established Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) have entered into an agreement to embark on a collaborative mission to explore one of the last uncharted regions of space: the sun-Earth Lagrange Point 4 (L4). This unexplored area lies in a stable position in space, where the gravitational forces of the sun and Earth balance each other, allowing spacecraft to remain in a fixed position relative to the two bodies.

A New Era of Space Cooperation

On September 19, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and KASA Administrator Youngbin Yoon signed a joint statement solidifying the growing cooperation between the two space agencies. The agreement highlights collaborative efforts in areas such as NASA’s Moon to Mars Architecture, space life sciences, lunar surface research, and space communications. It also includes the use of South Korea’s deep-space antenna, further strengthening this international partnership.

During the signing ceremony, NASA Administrator Nelson remarked, “We are proud to significantly grow our partnership with the Republic of Korea and its new space agency.” This joint mission builds on years of cooperation between the United States and South Korea, especially in space science and technology.

Exploring Lagrange Point 4

One of the central elements of this new collaboration is the mission to Lagrange Point 4, a unique area of space that has never been visited by spacecraft. While other Lagrange points, such as L1 and L2, are home to missions like the James Webb Space Telescope and the DSCOVR satellite, L4 has remained unexplored. Located 60 degrees in front of Earth’s orbit, it offers a gravitationally stable vantage point for observing the sun and solar winds.

South Korea plans to establish a solar wind observation station at L4, which could lead to significant advancements in our understanding of space radiation and the interactions between solar wind and Earth’s magnetosphere. The mission will also focus on data transmission, optical communications, and potential relay usage at this unique point in space.

While there is no confirmed launch date for the Lagrange Point 4 mission, it promises to open new avenues for research and deepen international cooperation in space exploration

It’s almost two years since ChatGPT burst onto the scene in late 2022. Since then, educators worldwide have been grappling with what generative artificial intelligence might mean for classrooms and learning.

ChatGPT has been met with both anxiety and a sense of optimism. While there has been a lot of discussion about what is happening in universities, there has been less attention given to schools.

We have been looking at trials of AI in schools in South Australia. Here’s what we found.

What has happened so far in Australia?

Most Australian states initially banned ChatGPT and other generative AI tools in government schools (many private schools have been using the technology).

In a different approach, the SA government began a trial of AI in schools in 2023 with its own tool, EdChat.

Other jurisdictions have since reconsidered their stance. For example, at the start of 2024, New South Wales began trialing its own AI tool.

In November 2023, the federal government also published a framework for generative AI in schools, which said AI has “great potential” to help teachers and students, and to reduce administrative workloads.

Last month, a federal parliamentary inquiry recommended generative AI in schools should be a “national priority,” finding the benefits of AI outweigh its significant risks and challenges.

What happened in South Australia?

EdChat is a generative AI tool owned by the SA Department for Education, which was designed with Microsoft. It can be used in classrooms and at home. According to the department, it has “extra safety features” to protect students’ privacy and stop them accessing inappropriate content.

In the first phase of the trial, EdChat was used in eight SA government high schools for eight weeks. In the second phase, a further eight schools were included.

We have been evaluating the trial using survey data from about 90 teachers and 700 students. A journal article on this work is currently under review. In this article, we speak about our results from teachers.

‘It reduces time pressure’

Teachers told us they felt safer using EdChat than other tools such as ChatGPT, because student data is not being used to train generative AI models.

However, teachers still wanted to know more about how the student data is stored and who can access EdChat records.

Teachers also reported significant benefits of the tool. They said it helped save time developing lesson plans and learning materials—allowing for more time with students in the classroom.

One teacher told us how the tool had been adopted by the class. “We nicknamed it Eddy as a class and Eddy is now embedded as part of our class culture.”

Teachers also used EdChat to provide personalized learning activities to students and “reduce time pressure and brain power required to create [teaching examples] and plan fun activities.” EdChat also allowed students to get personalized feedback or support when teachers were not around.

‘We need to be careful’

Teachers noted issues with hallucinations (when the AI comes up with nonsense) and incorrect information. This means students need to have the skills to recognize this.

As one teacher told us: “I think we need to be careful since students can treat AI like how they treat anything on the internet, without any critical thinking and taking it at face value.”

They also said students need to learn to write better prompts and develop their critical thinking skills for working with AI.

They said content filters could also be challenging. While designed to keep students safe, they sometimes interfered with learning, especially for sensitive topics such as history, reproductive health or politics. For example, one history teacher said the “censorship was difficult to get around.”

Teachers also said it was more difficult to work out whether students’ work was plagiarized or not.

What happens now?

The SA government is looking at ways to expand the use of EdChat in schools.

Our research suggests we need to do more work in several areas.

The first is specific education for students around how to use AI critically and effectively.

We also need more research now about how AI is being used in different schools. There are no large-scale studies yet in Australia but there is growing evidence from other parts of the world, such as Estonia, the United States and United Kingdom, which show AI is significantly changing the way teachers are teaching. This includes spending more time on students’ critical thinking skills and using AI to generate ideas.

We also need to make sure all students can gain access to AI (not just those who can afford the technology) and that the AI itself it not biased against minorities.

Meanwhile, teachers need more support and professional development, and schools need help to plan and make changes. This includes a wider community awareness of the profound effects these new technologies are having and will have on the teaching profession and student learning.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The goal of sustainable chemistry has motivated chemists to use renewable energy in chemical reactions, minimizing hazardous waste, and maximizing atom economy. Nature provides a blueprint with photosynthesis, in which carbohydrates are produced from carbon dioxide and water under sunlight irradiation.

However, by relying on a complex system involving multiple enzymes and light-harvesting antennas, this process has intrinsically low solar energy conversion efficiency. Artificial photosynthetic systems have been a long-standing scientific pursuit and offer potential solutions to sustainable chemistry.

A team at the University of Chicago, led by Prof. Wenbin Lin, has been working on developing artificial photocatalytic systems using framework materials—a class of porous materials formed by periodic bonding of metal and organic building blocks.

By using cutting-edge techniques to characterize these materials, the researchers have gained a deep understanding of how such artificial systems function at the molecular level. This knowledge has allowed them to fine-tune the materials for various light-driven reactions.

In a minireview published in Carbon Future on September 13, 2024, the researchers summarized their recent accomplishments in artificial photosynthesis and photocatalysis to highlight key advances and future opportunities.

“Nature performs precision chemistry in organisms to make complex molecules, often by sacrificing efficiency,” said Prof. Wenbin Lin.

“We need to surpass nature to address the challenges we face today, and fortunately, with precise control over the structures and compositions of framework materials, we have developed artificial systems that significantly outperform their homogeneous analogs.”

The review illustrates how chemical modifications of framework materials can fine-tune their performances in photosynthesis-like reactions.

To accomplish these goals, the team identified essential components and verified their roles. Photosensitizers, like chlorophylls, absorb light energy. Catalysts, like enzymes, use this energy to drive chemical reactions. These photosensitizers and catalysts with carefully matched energy and electron transfer kinetics were incorporated into framework materials.

“Incorporating the right photosensitizers and catalysts into framework materials can enhance their performances by more than an order of magnitude over simple mixtures of photosensitizers and catalysts in solutions,” Lin explained.

The team demonstrated significant improvements in a dozen types of photocatalytic reactions using these materials. The enhancement stems from a “pre-organization” effect, also found in natural systems, where photosensitizers and catalysts are arranged at specific positions to boost chemical reactions.

The framework materials are easily recovered from the reaction mixtures by centrifugation or filtration. The recovered materials are used in subsequent reactions without loss of catalytic activities. In one example, the framework material was used in eight cycles of one-pot synthesis of a cardiotonic agent without degradation of catalytic performance.

“We believe this breakthrough holds great potential for sustainable synthesis of pharmaceuticals and other value-added products, and these research efforts will contribute to a more sustainable future,” Lin said.

“The principles we’ve learned here can be applied to many other systems.” The team hopes their review will inspire other researchers to rationally design other catalytic materials at the molecular level.

The first author was Yingjie Fan (Ph.D. ’24, now a postdoctoral scholar at UC Berkeley).

This week, biologists tracked down a mysterious group of orcas near Chile; Hubble spotted a black hole jet that causes stars along its trajectory to erupt; and researchers explained mysterious craters that began appearing in Siberian permafrost in the 2010s. But you’re probably here for cheese, cosmology and octopuses, so here you go:

Eight arms to punch you

Octopuses tend to be solitary creatures, like Boo Radley, living and hunting alone before finally mating, developing a weird Alzheimer’s-like brain deterioration and then dying. But sometimes, they interact socially and even cooperatively in interspecies networks, hunting with groups of fish.

Researchers at the University of Konstanz conducted an underwater field observation in which they used three-dimensional, field-based tracking and collected 100 hours of footage of Octopus cyanea individuals in hunting collaboratives with groups of multiple fish species, finding hidden mechanisms of leadership and complex social dynamics.

Groups of fish scouting ahead comprised an extended sensory network for the octopus, which was better able to locate and identify prey. In all the instances they observed, the octopus was the de facto leader of the group, eating prey before the fish and meting out corporal punishment against insufficiently compliant fish subordinates.

Previous observation of similar octopus-fish hunting parties raised questions about group leadership and exploitation—were the fish exploiting the octopus to catch prey more easily? But the researchers found that across species of hunting parties, the octopus was the main interspecific regulator of the group, punching exploitative fish partners with a tentacle to displace them to the outer edge of the group.

Contrarian universe to physicists: Drop dead

If you’re a fan of things that defy predictions once they’re observed directly, the universe is really going to knock your socks off. For years, the standard model of physics has been predicting things like the rate of expansion of the universe, the age of the universe, and the likely birth date of the first stars and galaxies, and then, when engineers come up with more advanced equipment for making observations, the universe says, “haha, no.”

This week, a multi-institutional group of astronomers published a paper suggesting that maybe it’s time for some new physics to reconcile recent observations acquired from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument regarding neutrinos.

DESI is creating the deepest and most accurate map of the universe, providing baryonic acoustic oscillation measurements, which, in combination with measurements of the cosmic microwave background, allow physicists to calculate the absolute mass scale of the neutrino. Neutrinos, among the most abundant particles in the universe, are extraordinarily difficult to study, and by determining their mass scale, physicists can learn how matter clumped together throughout cosmic evolution.

However, while cosmologists expected to find inhibition of matter clustering, as predicted by the standard model, actual DESI observations have revealed enhanced clustering. “Explaining this enhancement may point toward some problem with the measurements, or it could require some new physics not included in the standard model of particle physics and cosmology,” says Joel Meyers, an associate professor of physics at Southern Methodist University.

Ancient cheese identified

Researchers in China extracted and analyzed DNA from cheese samples in ancient snack packs unearthed 20 years ago with the Tarim Basin mummies in Northwestern China.

The mummies, and the cheese, were dated to around 3,300 to 3,600 years ago. Their analysis revealed cow and goat DNA. The microorganisms comprising a white substance confirmed that it was kefir cheese, containing Lactobacillus kefiranofaciens and Pichia kudriavzevii, both constituents of modern kefir grains—the researchers report that the microorganisms are most closely related to modern Tibetan kefir.

“Our observation suggests kefir culture has been maintained in Northwestern China’s Xinjiang region since the Bronze Age,” said Qiaomei Fu, a researcher with the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

© 2024 Science X Network

The actor Gillian Anderson has just released a book of sexual fantasies. Titled Want, it catalogs a diverse range of fantasies submitted anonymously by women from around the world.

It is not the first to do so. In 1973, American author Nancy Friday published My Secret Garden, a volume that provoked fierce debate at the time and is now considered to be an important milestone in the sex-positive movement. Each book gives a fascinating snapshot of women’s relationships with their own sexuality at a different moment in history.

Though attitudes, vocabulary and specific fantasy content have undoubtedly changed in the intervening half-century, there are striking similarities between the books. This is not only true of the subject matter—workplace flings and group sex are apparently timelessly appealing—but also of how people feel about their fantasies. Shame, in particular, continues to loom large in many women’s feelings about their own erotic imaginings.

Past research indicates that most adults (of all genders) experience sexual fantasies, suggesting many of us have grappled with the question of whether to tell a partner about ours. Over the past four years, we have been conducting research that explores this question: how do people decide whether to disclose their sexual fantasies—and what happens when they do?

An act of closeness

The women featured in both My Secret Garden and Want vary considerably in the degree to which they have chosen to share their fantasies with a partner. Some describe passionate relationships enhanced by the disclosure and enactment of erotic fantasies, while others intend to take their favorite fantasy to the grave.

We were interested in understanding the psychology of such radically different approaches. In a study published earlier this year in The Journal of Sex Research, we asked 287 people to reflect on a recent or prominent sexual fantasy. We found that over 69% of participants had previously disclosed their fantasy to a partner. Of those, more than 80% found this to be a positive experience.

Unsurprisingly, participants commonly cited sexual desire as their main reason for opening up. For example, many said they had shared their fantasy with a partner in the hope that they could act it out together. Others reported that they found talking about sexual fantasies arousing, or that discussing secret desires allowed them to learn more about their partner.

Several participants explained that they valued honesty and openness and that the level of trust and commitment in their relationship made them feel safe to share their fantasy with their partner.

Not all reasons for disclosing fantasies were positive, however. Some said they disclosed their fantasy in a last-ditch attempt to spice up an unsatisfying sex life.

The power of shame

Among the group who had chosen not to share their fantasy, many cited its content as the primary reason. Consistent with accounts in both My Secret Garden and Want, several of our participants were ashamed of their fantasy, or felt it to be too extreme or taboo to share with their partner.

Some—especially those whose partners had not responded well to similar conversations in the past—were worried they would receive a negative response that could cause problems for their relationship. We also heard from several people who explained that, put simply, their fantasies were private joys that they had no desire or intention to discuss with anyone.

In a series of follow-up studies yet to be published, we explored some of these ideas in more depth. One important finding is that relationship traits are a key predictor of whether a person will disclose their fantasy. For example, disclosure was more likely in relationships that already involved large amounts of sexual novelty and exploration.

We also confirmed that the content of a fantasy is critical to a person’s decision about whether to share it. Anything that is likely to be considered unacceptable by a partner or is otherwise potentially threatening to the relationship (such as a move away from monogamy), is unlikely to be disclosed. Indeed, even among participants who had previously shared a fantasy, we found over half also had at least one more that they were unwilling to divulge.

While our findings suggest that people who choose to tell their partner about their erotic daydreams usually get a good response, we also found that the process by which people reach that decision can be complicated. Some people have very good reasons for keeping their fantasy to themselves.

Hopefully, Want will help to reduce some of the shame associated with the very common experience of fantasizing about sex. But its similarities to a book published 50 years earlier suggest we may still have a long way to go.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.