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Drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy have unexpected effects on the brain, opening up potential new ways to treat depression, anxiety, addiction and Alzheimer’s

Satellites in orbit use rocket propulsion to maintain their altitude. These engines require fuel to power their chemical or ion engines but when the fuel runs out, the orbit slowly erodes with the satellite re-entering the atmosphere. A new type of electrical propulsion has been developed that has no need for onboard fuel. Instead it syphons air particles out of the atmosphere and accelerates them to provide thrust. Much like an ion engine but this time, the fuel source is air making it ideal for low Earth orbits. 

Tracing back the invention of the rocket takes us to ancient China around the 13th Century. Gunpowder propelled arrows were in use for military purposes and, known as ‘fire arrows’ were fired at enemy troops. In the 20th Century, rocket propulsion moved forward thanks to key players like Robert Goddard who has been hailed the father of modern rocketry. 

Dr. Robert Goddar with on his early rockets in Roswell

In 1926 Goddard invented the world’s first liquid fuelled rocket which led to a new breed of controllable rocket engines. The advent of the rocket engine in all its flavours has enabled human exploration of the Moon and a multitude of robotic explorers throughout the Solar System. 

The team based at the Surrey Space Centre hope that their new design will allow satellites to orbit at lower altitude and whilst they will experience more atmospheric drag, the plentiful supply of air will allow them to adjust. The concept can help with climate monitoring and modelling, satellite communication and Earth observations. 

At the low altitude orbits, the air is thin but the air powered electric propulsion can still harness the air as a propellant. The idea is very similar to ion engines that typically use Xenon gas as a fuel. Xenon ions are accelerated by a series of charged plates to high velocity and exit the engine producing small amounts of thrust. The new air propulsion works in a very similar way. The adjustments due to drag from friction imposted on the thin air will be constant but directly harvesting the fuel from the air outside means fuel will never run out.

A view of Earth’s atmosphere from space. Credit: NASA

Fundamental to the success of the engine is the air intake which collects gas molecules and directs them to the thruster. The molecules of air are then ionised by the thruster so that they can be manipulated by electrogmagnetic fields. Solar arrays and batteries will provide the power needed to ionise and accelerate the ionised air molecules at high velocities. As the air escapes from the thruster they produce thrust to drive the engine forwards. 

The team is made up of academics and engineers from Surrey Space Centre and Surrey’s Centre for Aerodynamics and Environmental Flow. The UK Space Agency have sponsored the team with £250k funding for a year. This will help them to progress the concept into full design, testing and orbital mechanics analyses. If successful in the coming years we may well see air powered satellites in orbit about the Earth. 

Source : New air-breathing spacecraft to provide better Earth observation and quicker communications

The post Next Generation Satellites Might Skim the Atmosphere, Using Air as a Propellant appeared first on Universe Today.

Researchers have successfully used a new robot system to improve treatment for debilitating eye disease.

Researchers have successfully used a new robot system to improve treatment for debilitating eye disease.

A team has developed printable, highly efficient light-emitting metasurfaces.

A team has developed printable, highly efficient light-emitting metasurfaces.

Flexible piezoelectric sensors are essential to monitor the motions of both humans and humanoid robots. However, existing designs are either are costly or have limited sensitivity. In a recent study, researchers tackled these issues by developing a novel piezoelectric composite material made from electrospun polyvinylidene fluoride nanofibers combined with dopamine. Sensors made from this material showed significant performance and stability improvements at a low cost, promising advancements in medicine, healthcare, and robotics.

Flexible piezoelectric sensors are essential to monitor the motions of both humans and humanoid robots. However, existing designs are either are costly or have limited sensitivity. In a recent study, researchers tackled these issues by developing a novel piezoelectric composite material made from electrospun polyvinylidene fluoride nanofibers combined with dopamine. Sensors made from this material showed significant performance and stability improvements at a low cost, promising advancements in medicine, healthcare, and robotics.

AI detects prostate cancer more often than radiologists. Additionally, AI triggers false alarms half as often. This was a large-scale study where an international team transparently evaluated and compared AI with radiologist assessments and clinical outcomes.

AI detects prostate cancer more often than radiologists. Additionally, AI triggers false alarms half as often. This was a large-scale study where an international team transparently evaluated and compared AI with radiologist assessments and clinical outcomes.

Scientists maximize the efficiency of hafnia-based ferroelectric memory devices.

Scientists maximize the efficiency of hafnia-based ferroelectric memory devices.

To understand the unique physical phenomena associated with the properties of magnetic hedgehogs and antihedgehogs, which behave as virtual magnetic monopoles and antimonopoles respectively, it is essential to study their intrinsic excitations. In a new study, researchers revealed the dynamical nature of collective excitation modes in hedgehog lattices in itinerant chiral magnets. Their findings serve as the foundation for studying the dynamics of emergent magnetic monopoles in magnets.

Scientists have developed an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered system to track tiny devices that monitor markers of disease in the gut. Devices using the novel system may help at-risk individuals monitor their gastrointestinal (GI) tract health at home, without the need for invasive tests in hospital settings.

Scientists have developed an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered system to track tiny devices that monitor markers of disease in the gut. Devices using the novel system may help at-risk individuals monitor their gastrointestinal (GI) tract health at home, without the need for invasive tests in hospital settings.

Researchers have demonstrated a new method that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) and computer simulations to train robotic exoskeletons to autonomously help users save energy while walking, running and climbing stairs.

Researchers have demonstrated a new method that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) and computer simulations to train robotic exoskeletons to autonomously help users save energy while walking, running and climbing stairs.

In the largest study yet of working-from-home professionals, economists reveal that employees who work from home two days a week are just as productive, likely to get promoted, and far less prone to quit.

The Democratic National Convention (DNC) will be held in Chicago from August 19-22, and fortunately I’ll be out of town then.  It may be even more violent than the infamous 1968 DNC, since this time we’ll have domestic protestors, including the vocal pro-Palestinian ones, along with sundry other protesters and, as CNN reports, there seem to be credible threats that outside terrorist groups may try to incite lone-wolf violence:

Federal and local authorities have been closely following the threat stream from both domestic and foreign extremist groups. A recent joint intelligence bulletin from the National Counterterrorism Center, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI warned that groups, including al Qaeda and ISIS, continue to generate propaganda urging followers to conduct “lone wolf” attacks on US soil using basic methods such as gunfire in crowded places or vehicles in ramming attacks. The bulletin cites an al Qaeda online propaganda article that highlighted the “increased division between the American people, between the right and the left, and between the Republicans and their supporters, and the Democrats and their supporters,” which could increase the impact of any attack.

“I think everyone has a sense that the threats are real. This is not an academic exercise that we’re running through. We are planning for real-world possibilities,” said Jeff Burnside, the Secret Service coordinator for the Democratic convention.

Oy! Or perhaps I shouldn’t say that, as it marks me for a Zionist, and a lot of the rancor seems to be directed at them (see tweets and article below).

The only certainty now is that there will be protests, and that the convention will nominate Joe Biden and Kamala Harris no matter what.

At any rate, two reporters for the Free Press have published a new article in which they embedded themselves among activists, and what they found wasn’t pretty.   In the FP’s daily newsletter, however, Bari Weiss adds that the protesters have a goal beyond supporting Palestine and Hamas:

Are we going to become a country in which journalists are regularly surrounded and threatened for doing their jobs? Are we going to become a place in which marauding bands of masked young people harass Jews visiting a memorial for the 364 Israelis murdered at a music festival? Because that happened yesterday too. Are we going to become a place where it is normal for people to get on the subway and declare: “Raise your hands if you’re a Zionist. This is your chance to get out.” Yes, also yesterday. Or where police and security guards are regularly assaulted in the course of doing their jobs? (See this from UCLA last night.)

My point here is that anyone trying to convince you that this is about a faraway war, or that the anger in our streets is mostly because Benjamin Netanyahu is the current Israeli prime minister—anyone who insists this is a Jewish issue—is deluding you and themselves. So are those who comfort themselves by insisting that this will pass by like some idiot wind. It will not.

This is about a choice we face. A choice about what kind of country we want to be—and what kind of country we are at risk of becoming. The only way to understand that is to listen to what these protesters say they want. And what they are shouting for—what they openly desire—is not peace, but terror.

I added some of Weiss’s introduction because recently we’ve discussed the notion that some protesters, unwittingly or not, are trying to dismantle “Western values”—the values of an Enlightenment-informed liberal democracy—in favor of authoritarianism. But I also added those three paragraphs because they link to the tweets I’ve put below.

Click below to read (or find the article archived here).

Excerpts from Reingold and Lake’s piece are indented:

In 1968, the Democratic Convention in Chicago was a bloodbath, with 600 arrests in one street battle that was broadcast all over the world. And the group that met here last Saturday, in the local headquarters of the Teamsters Union, wants to repeat history when Joe Biden is named the presidential nominee at the DNC this August. They oppose the president they call “Genocide Joe” for backing Israel in its war against Hamas.

“If we don’t get a permit, are we still going to march?” Iosbaker asked the crowd, who responded with a chorus of “Yeah!”

“Are we still gonna march within sight and sound? Are we gonna let Genocide Joe come here and not hear us and see us? No! From Chicago to Palestine, protesting is not a crime.”

Well, yes, protesting is sometimes a crime, as the “Marshal Training Guide” below admits. It’s a crime when it incites predictable and imminent violence, or when it violates the “time, place, and manner” restrictions that the city will impose on demonstrators (the venue for the DNC is the United Center, Chicago’s big indoor arena where the local hockey and basketball teams play).

Here’s the meeting that Reingold and Lake attended:

Over a single day, the “March on DNC 2024” conference gathered 75 organizations to discuss how they plan to disrupt the convention. Speakers told the crowd how to flood the streets without getting arrested, how to spot members of the Secret Service, and how to say “Death to America” in Farsi. At one point, when news of Iran’s attack on Israel spread throughout the room, the crowd erupted in cheers.

. . . The event attracted some unsavory characters. Four speakers have had their homes raided by the FBI for their alleged ties to terrorist groups, and one attendee, Jesse Nevel, was federally charged for “working on behalf of the Russian government.” One “anarchist” distributed his homemade magazine that included drawings of machetes and the essay “In Defense of Looting.”

You can see Olivia Reingold talking about the meeting in this interview, which has some video of the speakers.

The FP article has a photo of the machetes, which does worry me a tad, but it’s just one guy. What worries me more, as it worries the local politicians and Democrats, is that the city isn’t prepared for the protests, and you know how unruly and, worse, unlawful some pro-Palestinian protestors can get. Remember the encampments?

The prospect that the convention could devolve into the kind of anarchy actively being plotted at this conference has Chicago Democrats worried, several party insiders told The Free Press. Four politicians said they fear the city—and especially the administration of Mayor Brandon Johnson—aren’t prepared for the protests.

I’m pretty sure that’s true. On the local NBC News last night, a reporter said that the cops were going to take it easy on the demonstrators, and intervene only if there was violence, even if there was unlawful protesting. But I’m not sure whether the local cops are even trained to deal with violence, or how to avoid getting provoked into becoming violent. As I’ve reported, they simply refused to intervene in taking down the University of Chicago’s encampment, leaving the job to the campus cops (who, fortunately, did a good job, and nobody got hurt). But Mayor Brandon Johnson seems out of his depth.

A bit more on the conference:

Back at the conference, about a hundred activists are passing around a clipboard with a sign-up “to supervise and protect organized disruption that’s happening on the streets.” These “marshals,” as they are called by the activists, provide medical care, scurry up and down a procession to deliver information, and lure police into confrontations, said Sief Salameh, a member of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network. (On October 7, the network published a press release describing the terrorist attacks by Hamas as “self-defense operations.”)

Salameh says he aims to have one marshal for every five hundred protesters, who will help the crowd take over the street. A private link to a “Marshal Training Guide” was given to the group, offering techniques for blocking traffic during an “unpermitted march,” including forming a “line between cops and marchers” and bringing “vocal attention to violent, harassing cops (i.e., shout ‘shame, shame’ while pointing at cops).”

I’m glad that the “Marshal training guide” doesn’t encourage violence, but it does seem to promote “unpermitted marches”, like blocking traffic. Well, if that’s the worst that could happen, it’s not terrible. But I’m expecting more than simply blocking traffic: I’m expecting violence and property damage.  The article does give a photo of a group of protesters planning the August action, Of course they’re all wearing masks, and that’s not a sign of covid protection, but a sign of cowardice:

(from the FP) A group of activists at the “March on DNC 2024” conference pose for a photo while chanting “education is a right, not just for the rich and white.” (Photo by Olivia Reingold)

This doesn’t bode well, and you can bet that none of these activists will be barefaced in August.

Below are two tweets mentioned by Weiss in her introduction and one I found on Reingold’s Twitter site:

First, here’s reporter Reingold (a “Zionist,” no doubt) getting harassed and “kiffiyehed” at a protest in New York City. Surrounding opponents with kiffiyehs and flags also happened on our campus during the Encampment. It’s almost certainly illegal, as it’s restricting movement and threatening, but if there were cops there, they didn’t do squat,  Reingold has guts, and the protesters are unhinged, probably desperately looking to dispel their anger by harassing other people, including a reporter who wasn’t the least threatening. (She was there to interview the protesters.)

The Free Press reporter @Olivia_Reingold filed a police report after an anti-Israel mob swarmed her at a protest Monday in Union Square. While shouting “blood on your hands” and “genocide supporter,” they restricted her movement and blew air horns in her ears. One even grabbed… pic.twitter.com/991j0sMrmQ

— The Free Press (@TheFP) June 11, 2024

Another tweet by Reingold about how she was identified as a “Zionist”, marking herself as a target:

It was a man in a Hezbollah headscarf who pointed at me, shouting “she’s a Zionist! Zionist scum!” that got the entire rally to turn on me.

No one asked me what I stand for (a two state solution). They just took his word for it. https://t.co/cjAYxKchJE

— Olivia Reingold (@Olivia_Reingold) June 11, 2024

This one may cross the boundary into non-protected speech, as it seems to be a threat that could incite imminent violence. But no “Zionists” got out, and since “Zionists” has become the polite synonym for “Jew”, and this is in New York, you can bet that there were Jews on the car who didn’t raise their hand. Surely they feared getting beat up. One constitutional scholar I hard of said that this is not protected speech because a reasonable person would feel threatened and coerced by the words about Zionists, and that kind of speech is not protected by the First Amendment.

The mindless mob on a NYC subway car: “Raise your hands if you’re a Zionist. This is your chance to get out.”

That’s an explicit threat @NYPDnews @NYCMayor pic.twitter.com/zmDpsx2hYN

— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) June 11, 2024

I’m just glad I’ll be out of town.

Tiny diamonds and quantum sensors can be used to measure conditions inside cells or living organisms, potentially offering a way to detect diseases or study biology in minute detail