Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog

Category: space

A New Way to View Shockwaves Could Boost Fusion Research

At the heart of our sun, fusion is unfolding. As hydrogen atoms merge to form helium, they emit energy, producing the heat and light that reach us here on Earth. Inspired by our nearby star, researchers want to create fusion closer to home. If they can crack the engineering challenges underlying the process, they would create an abundant new source of power to eclipse all others.

One of those challenges is understanding what happens at the smallest scales during fusion reactions so that researchers can better control the process. In one of the two main kinds of fusion, inertial confinement fusion (ICF), researchers bombard a fuel-filled capsule with lasers to create shockwaves and heat and compress the target, kicking off fusion. That means lots of complex interactions that scientists haven’t been able to get a good look at — until now.

A team of researchers used a new approach at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) to watch how a shockwave moved through water in extreme detail, making a never-before-seen movie of how the material compressed and how the electric and magnetic fields evolved. They were intrigued to discover that water provided a good analog for what happens when a laser strikes an ICF target. Scientists captured the process using both X-rays and an electron beam, a unique dual view known as “multi-messenger” imaging.

New Models Track Lava Flow on Earth and Other Planets

Scientists have used satellite data from the Mauna Loa eruption to improve lava flow modeling for both Earth and other planetary bodies. [ https://www.labroots.com/trending/earth-and-the-environment/…-planets-2](https://www.labroots.com/trending/earth-and-the-environment/…-planets-2)

Do lava flows behave the same on other planets as they do on Earth? This is what a recent study published in the Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research hopes to address as a team of scientists investigated new methods for predicting the lava flow behavior and how this could be applied to other planets. This study has the potential to help scientists and engineers develop novel scientific methods that can be applied both on Earth and beyond.

For the study, the researchers examined satellite data from the 2022 Mauna Loa eruption in Hawaii that lasted from November 27 to December 10. The motivation behind the study was to address a longstanding knowledge gap regarding the limitations of using individual satellite datasets for volcanic hazard response. To address this, the team analyzed satellite data from a combination of private companies and government agencies to gain insight into the entire time period of the eruption.

In the end, the researchers successfully identified an origin for the eruption along with gathering data and fresh insight on the lava flow behavior during the eruption and post-eruption activity. They note several times throughout the study that this new method could be used to study volcanic activity on Mars, Venus, and Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io, the last of which is the most volcanically active planetary body in the entire solar system that boasts hundreds of active volcanoes.

Raman Spectroscopy Could Reveal if Enceladus is Habitable

Raman spectroscopy can be used to identify minerals in Enceladus’s plumes to help determine if its subsurface ocean could support life. [ https://www.labroots.com/trending/space/30495/raman-spectros…abitable-2](https://www.labroots.com/trending/space/30495/raman-spectros…abitable-2)

Is Saturn’s ocean moon Enceladus habitable? This is what a recent study published in The Planetary Science Journal hopes to address as a team of scientists investigated the likelihood of Enceladus hosting the necessary ingredients for life as we know it. This study has the potential to help scientists develop new methods for finding life beyond Earth, even life as we don’t know it.

For the study, the researchers examined whether Raman spectroscopy, which is a common chemical analysis method in planetary science, could be used to analyze particles emitted from Enceladus’ plumes. These plumes, which originate from Enceladus’ south polar region, are responsible for discharging pieces of the moon’s interior ocean, including water vapor and other molecules. To accomplish this, the researchers used a vacuum chamber to simulate conditions on Enceladus and froze salt water at pH levels of 9 and 11. They then analyzed the salts using Raman spectroscopy to ascertain if it could identify particles within the water and determine which pH level they originated from.

In the end, the researchers discovered that the instrument could differentiate between the two pH levels while identifying sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and sodium carbonate (washing soda) in both pH levels while identifying only sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) in pH 11. The researchers note these findings demonstrate the potential for using a spacecraft-mounted Raman spectrometer for future missions to Enceladus and other icy worlds with the goal of identifying the necessary ingredients for life as we know it.

Astronomers Find the Edge of the Milky Way’s Star-Forming Disc

Where exactly is the edge of the Milky Way? That question is harder to answer than one might expect. Since we’re inside of the galaxy itself, it’s obviously hard to judge the “edge” to begin with. But it gets even more complicated when defining what the edge even is — the galaxy simply gets less dense the farther away from the center it goes. A new paper by researchers originally at the University of Malta thinks they have an answer though. The “edge” can be defined as the star-forming region, and in their paper, published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, they very clearly show that “edge” to be between 11.28 and 12.15 kiloparsecs (or about 40,000 light years) from the center.

Even finding that edge was no easy task, though. The researchers had to analyze the ages of over 100,000 giant stars from the data of several different surveys, including APOGEE-DR17, LAMOST-DR3 and Gaia. In the data they found an interesting story about the evolution of the position of stars in the galaxy, and their age.

That relationship can be thought of as a U curve. In this case, the Y axis is age, and the X axis is the distance from the galaxy’s center. A picture (or graph in this case) is worth a thousand words, but in words that simply means that stars closer to the center of the galaxy are older, and get progressively younger out to a certain point, and then start getting older again. That “certain point”, according to the authors, is the end of the galaxy’s star-forming region, and hence, the “edge” of the galaxy.

Scientists create electronic devices that function reliably at extreme temperatures from 500 degrees Celcuis to absolute zero — advanced semiconductor material unlocks new possibilities in space tech and quantum computing

The technology has massive potential in space technology and quantum computing

Atomic Clocks: Exquisite Sensors for More Than Just Time

Atomic clocks use the quantum energy levels of atoms to tell time more accurately and precisely than any other kind of clock. (Learn more about how atomic clocks work.)

But atomic clocks can be used for more than timekeeping. They can serve as quantum sensors. Indeed, companies already use portable atomic clocks to detect oil deposits under the ocean. As these clocks become even more accurate and precise, their sensing capabilities become increasingly powerful.

To understand how atomic clocks work as sensors, we need to know a bit about Einstein’s theory of general relativity. Relativity tells us that time ticks more slowly in stronger gravity. Here on Earth, for example, a clock ticks slightly more slowly at sea level than it would on the top of a mountain, because gravity is stronger at sea level. For similar reasons, clocks in space speed up relative to those on Earth.

An interplanetary shortcut can speed up trips to Mars

Whether it’s robotic rovers heading to Mars or, one day, a crew of astronauts, a round-trip journey is an incredibly long one. But there may be a way to find a shortcut. A new study published in the journal Acta Astronautica suggests that hundreds of days could be shaved off a return trip to the Red Planet by using the early orbital data of asteroids. This could bring the total mission time down to as low as 153 days.

To identify optimal routes and calculate fuel needs, planners of interplanetary missions use precise planetary data. Sending missions to other worlds rarely involves early orbital data from asteroids.

When it comes to Mars missions, a key planning consideration is a phenomenon known as Mars opposition. This occurs roughly every 26 months when Earth passes directly between the sun and Mars. During this alignment, the two planets are on the same side of the sun, bringing Mars to its closest point to Earth.

Why stars spin down, or up, before they die

From birth to death, stars generally slow by 100 to 1,000 times their initial rotation rates; in other words, they “spin down.” The sun’s total angular momentum has declined as material is gradually blown off at the surface as solar wind. By observing this, astronomers have theorized the interaction between magnetic fields and plasma flow to be the most efficient way to spin down stars.

Why and how this happens has long interested astronomers, and recently an observational technique called asteroseismology, which measures a star’s natural oscillation frequencies, has made it possible to measure the internal rotation rates and magnetic fields of other stars in our galaxy.

From this huge population, a picture of how stellar rotation decreases with stellar age has emerged, one that suggests that current theory is insufficient to explain the dramatic decrease in rotation.

Better volcano eruption predictions on Earth—and Venus—thanks to Mauna Loa study

When Mauna Loa erupted in 2022, the largest lava flow headed on a path headed directly toward Daniel K. Inouye State Highway 200, also known as Saddle Road, a critical route that carries many residents from their homes on one side to their jobs on the other.

No one could accurately predict whether the lava would continue to flow and eventually block the highway, or stop short, sparing the road.

However, when the volcano next erupts scientists will be better able to monitor the eruption in real time and make more accurate predictions about where the lava will flow and when the volcano might erupt. These advances are thanks to the availability of satellite data from public and private sources as well as machine learning algorithms developed at Pitt with help from a colleague in Italy, as highlighted in a recent publication in the Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research.

/* */