News Feeds

Groundbreaking cerium oxide-based thermal switches achieve remarkable performance, transforming heat flow control with sustainable and efficient technology.

In 2020, the GBD was all about herd immunity via natural immunity. Today, its defenders censor that.

The post A Challenge For Dr. Edward Livingston: Defend the Great Barrington Declaration Without Censoring the Great Barrington Declaration first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.

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.

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