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Researchers report that they have invented new nanoscale sensors of force. They are luminescent nanocrystals that can change intensity and/or color when you push or pull on them. These 'all-optical' nanosensors are probed with light only and therefore allow for fully remote read-outs -- no wires or connections are needed.

Astronomers pinned down the origins of at least one fast radio burst, a brief and brilliant explosion of radio waves emitted by an extremely compact object. The team's novel technique might also reveal the sources of other FRBs.

Getting back to the Moon is the primary goal of NASA’s Artemis program, but what do we do once we get there? That is the challenge tackled by a group of students at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, who wrote a proposal for a lunar infrastructure module they call the Trans-lunar Hub for Exploration, ISRU, and Advancement – or THEIA, after the proposed object that crashed into the Earth that created the Moon as we know it today. Their submission was part of the NASA Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts – Academic Linkage project, where teams from various academic institutions submitted papers focusing on the theme of Sustained Lunar Evolution for 2024.

To be clear, THEIA is not meant to serve as the central hub of NASA’s lunar exploration activities. The responsibility would still go to the Artemis base the agency has been working on. It is meant to serve as a hub for four main things that the team believes every long-term lunar mission will need: power, communications, transportation, and In-situ resource utilization (ISRU). 

The project’s mission requirements include providing local positioning, communications, and power to an area surrounding the lunar south pole. Various organizations are developing several pieces of infrastructure to do so.

The UIUC team’s presentation at the NASA RASC-AL challenge.
Credit – NASA Vimeo website

First would be the delivery method to get there—like much of the overall Artemis project, THEIA would rely on delivery from a SpaceX Starship. The team calculated the initial launch requirements to get a basic setup up and running to be around 73 tons, well below the threshold of 100 tons the rocket is expected to be able to carry to the lunar surface.

That first set of equipment would include two other vital pieces of infrastructure – some LUNARSABER poles and robots to set them up. We previously did an entire article on the LUNARSABER project from Honeybee Robotics. Still, as a succinct overview, it is an extendable tower with solar panels along its sides to collect energy. Then, it uses a series of transmitters and receivers at its top to broadcast both power and communication signals. They can also bounce signals between two towers, creating a basic mesh network on the lunar surface.

A LUNARSABER is essential for supplying power and communications, but the UIUC team needs robotic help to deploy it. They suggest using several robotic rovers, including a multilimbed one designed on NASA’s Athlete prototype and a more traditional lunar rover based around the current Lunar Terrain Vehicle contract NASA has outstanding, with several companies still vying to provide the final design.

Fraser discusses how NASA plans to sign up the Moon’s infrastructure.

Other essential infrastructure pieces include ground antennas to transmit data and communications back to the Lunar Gateway and habitats that would allow both scientific experiments to operate and, eventually, crew to live. An essential additional part of THEIA’s design philosophy is that there should be space for experiments to operate inside a semi-controlled environment.

That would still be a long time from now, with original missions to launch THEIA not planned until 2035 and crewed missions to follow years later. However, THEIA was initially drawn up by a group of undergraduates, who presented a technical paper in response to the NASA RASC-AL proposal. It was one of many such proposals that resulted in groups from Virginia Polytechnic, the University of Maryland, and South Dakota University winning prizes. We’ll look at some of the other projects submitted by teams shortly, but congratulations to the UIUC team, who made it through the competition as a finalist, for the effort they put into theirs.

Learn More:
Bojinov et al – THEIA
UT – A Tower On The Moon Could Provide Astronauts With Light, Power, and Guidance
UT – NASA has Plans for More Cargo Deliveries to the Moon
UT – NASA Focuses in on Artemis III Landing Sites.

Lead Image:
THEIA Concept of Operations.
Credit – Bonjinov et al

The post A Long-Term Lunar Infrastructure Hub Named After the Object That Created the Moon appeared first on Universe Today.

We asked our writers to pick their favourite science fiction television series. Here are the results, from Battlestar Galactica to Futurama

Many dates stick in our minds as we reflect on five years of living with covid-19 - here are some of the most memorable ones

Covid-19 is responsible for the deaths of millions of people around the world, but researchers fear the next global outbreak could be even worse, making it vital that we start preparing for that unknown pathogen now

mRNA vaccines have been a long time coming, but were only approved after covid-19 emerged, marking the beginning of a new way of preventing – and treating – various conditions

Some people have been living with long covid for five years, but we are still just starting to learn about its exact causes and how best to treat the condition

Many emotive and inspiring photographs were taken when covid-19 turned our lives upside down – here are some of the best pictures from the past five years

Many of us experienced time differently in the pandemic. Learning why can help us, say Ruth Ogden and Patricia Kingori

Despite studying the SARS-CoV-2 virus for five years, scientists still have questions, from the extent to which it can survive and mutate in animals to the thorny argument over its origins

A little help from Lewis Carroll will enable you to impress friends and family by calculating which day of the week any date is, says Peter Rowlett

From M3gan 2 to 28 Years Later, this year is all about inventive sequels, series and remakes – plus some dazzling adaptations like Mikey 17, says Simon Ings

Science initially struggled to match the pace of the pandemic, leaving people unclear of the best ways to stay safe from the virus, but now we know so much more – which could be essential when the next pandemic hits

In the first two years of the covid-19 pandemic, numerous New Scientist covers were dedicated to the global emergency caused by the virus. Together, they tell a story of resilience and scientific achievement

Everyday household products are made almost entirely from newly extracted fossilised carbon. But 'defossilisation' is an exciting alternative, finds Graham Lawton

From Doctor Who and Severance to Apple Cider Vinegar, there are plenty of great sci-fi and science-inflected TV shows coming up this year, says Bethan Ackerley

It is tempting to lock memories of the height of covid-19 away but looking back is vital for preparing properly for the next pandemic

Christopher Hitchens, whom many of us admire despite occasional differences of opinion, died at only 62 on December 14, 2011.  Lawrence Krauss organized an event with four of Hitchens’s friends, all reminiscing about the Great Lion of Rhetoric. The panel was filmed in London on December 13, 2024—just 19 days ago—and I’ve put the video below.

The intro to the original audio on Krauss’s site Critical Mass:

A year ago, John Richards the head of the Atheist UK approached me about the idea of celebrating Christopher Hitchens with a Hitchmas event, near Christmas, and on or about the anniversary of Christopher’s death, on Dec 15, 2011. I realized that to do it right would require time and organization, and the proper panelists. I was thrilled that Christopher’s friends and mine, Stephen Fry, Richard Dawkins, and Douglas Murray agreed to be part of the event, and that the HowTo Academy, which organizes wonderful events in London, several of which I had done before, agreed to coordinate the logistics with The Origins Project Foundation. A year later, the sold-out event happened, and we decided in advance to record it appropriately, with 5 cameras, and to have Gus and Luke Holwerda, who directed and filmed The Unbelievers, and with whom I began The Origins Podcast, edit the final product.

The YouTube notes:

Join us for Hitchmas, a special event celebrating the life, legacy, and ideas of the legendary Christopher Hitchens. Recorded at the Royal Geographical Society in London, this thought-provoking evening features a stellar panel of friends and intellectuals: Lawrence Krauss, Richard Dawkins, Stephen Fry, and Douglas Murray. Together, they share personal reminiscences, engage in lively discussion, and tackle modern issues with the wit and courage that Christopher Hitchens epitomized.

The evening opens with tributes from each panelist, exploring Hitchens’ enduring impact as a writer, orator, and fearless defender of reason. From heartfelt anecdotes to reflections on his literary heroes like George Orwell and P.G. Wodehouse, the panel paints a vivid picture of Hitchens’ intellect, humor, and humanity. The conversation transitions into a dynamic roundtable addressing contemporary cultural and political challenges, including religion, free speech, and the rise of “woke fundamentalism.” Audience questions add another layer, sparking debates about morality, truth, and the timeless relevance of Hitchens’ insights.

This unique celebration of Hitch’s life blends humor, deep thought, and passion, culminating in a poignant reflection on friendship, courage, and the pursuit of truth. Whether you’re a longtime admirer of Christopher Hitchens or discovering his work for the first time, this event offers a powerful tribute to a remarkable man who continues to inspire millions.

Just click here to see the video, or click on the screenshot below (YouTube won’t let me directly embed the video).

Richard and Lawrence read their pieces, which are both lively, but Murray and Fry speak of Hitch extemporaneously, or at least without notes.  I won’t summarize the reminiscences as you need to hear them yourself.

The four in memoriam pieces end at 35:16 and it’s on to discussion, with Lawrence asking each person to react to a statement by Hitchens. Fry waxes eloquent on the question we all have: “What would Hitchens would say about wokeness?” Douglas Murray, a defender of Israel, is asked to respond to some quotes from Hitchens attacking Zionism.

At 1 hour 4 minutes in, the panel answers questions submitted on social media.

In the end, this is one of the few discussion videos I’d recommend watching in toto. 

I met Hitchens only once, on November 6, 2009, at a meeting in Puebla, Mexico.  My bus was heading back to Mexico City, but when I saw him grabbing a ciggie outside the venue, complete with poppy and what I”m told is a pro-Kurd lapel pin, I leapt off the bus to introduce myself.  I never do stuff like that, but this was Hitchens!  He remembered me from something I’d written, but the bus was leaving and our discourse was very brief. Here’s a photo I took from the bus:

Dark energy is central to our modern understanding of cosmology. In the standard model, dark energy is what drives the expansion of the Universe. In general relativity, it’s described by a cosmological constant, making dark energy part of the structure of space and time. But as we’ve gathered more observational evidence, there are a few problems with our model. For one, the rate of cosmic expansion we observe depends on the observational method we use, known as the Hubble tension problem. For another, while we assume dark energy is uniform throughout the cosmos, there are some hints suggesting that might not be true. Now a new study argues we’ve got the whole thing wrong. Dark energy, the authors argue, doesn’t exist.

Let’s start with what we know. When we look out across the billions of light-years of cosmic space, we see that matter is clumped into galaxies, and those galaxies are groups into clusters so that the Universe has clumps of matter separated by great voids. On a small scale, this means that the distribution of matter is uneven. But as we go to larger scales, say a billion light-years or so, the average distribution of matter evens out. On a large scale, the cosmos is homogeneous and not biased in a particular direction. This means we can broadly describe the Universe as the same everywhere. This is known as the principle of homogeneity. By applying this principle to cosmic expansion, we can model the Universe by the Friedmann–Lemaître–Robertson–Walker (FLRW) metric, where dark energy is a cosmological constant.

Opponents of the standard model argue that the principle can’t be applied to cosmic expansion. Some even argue that the basic principles of general relativity can’t be applied on cosmic scales. In one such model, known as the Timescape model, it’s argued that dark energy would violate the principle of equivalence. Since the principle equates inertial energy and gravitational energy, there is no way to distinguish cosmic expansion as a real effect. Furthermore, since we know that gravitational fields affect the rate of time, the Timescape model argues that the Universe can’t be homogeneous in time. Basically, the model argues that within the gravitational well of a galactic cluster, clocks would run more slowly than they would within the vast empty cosmic voids. Over the billions of years of cosmic history, this difference would build up, creating a variance of time throughout the Universe. It is this time divergence that would give the appearance of cosmic expansion.

Comparison of the Timescape and standard cosmological models. Credit: Seifert, et al

In this latest study, the authors use the Pantheon+ dataset of Type Ia supernovae to see if it better fits the standard cosmological model or the Timescape model. The main difference between the two models is that cosmic expansion must be uniform in the standard model, while in the Timescape model, cosmic expansion can’t be uniform. What the team found was that while the Pantheon+ supports both models, the data is a slightly better fit to the Timescape model. In other words, the best fit of the data suggests that dark energy is an illusion, but the fit is not strong enough to disprove the standard model.

If future observations continue to support the Timescape model, it would revolutionize our understanding of the Universe. But there are reasons to be cautious. To begin with, the Timescape model is only one of many proposed alternatives to the standard model, which this study doesn’t address. The Timescape model also has some internal issues of its own that would need to be resolved to become the new cosmological model. But it is clear now that we can’t ignore the fact that the standard model may be wrong. We are entering an exciting period of astronomy where our knowledge of the Universe will increase significantly in the near future.

Reference: Seifert, Antonia, et al. “Supernovae evidence for foundational change to cosmological models.” Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters 537.1 (2025): L55-L60.

Reference: Wiltshire, David L. “Cosmic clocks, cosmic variance and cosmic averages.” New Journal of Physics 9.10 (2007): 377.

The post New Study of Supernovae Data Suggests That Dark Energy is an Illusion appeared first on Universe Today.