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  Boulder CO (SPX) Dec 26, 2016 As 2016 ends, I can't help but point out an interesting symmetry in where the mission has recently been and where we are going. Exactly two years ago we had just taken New Horizons out of cruise hibernation to begin preparations for the Pluto flyby. And exactly two years from now we will be on final approach to our next flyby, which will culminate with a very close approach to a small Kuiper Belt object (KBO) called 2014 MU69 - a billion miles farther out than Pluto - on Jan. 1, 2019. Just now, as 2016 ... read more |
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The blob can learn and teachIt isn't an animal, a plant, or a fungus. The slime mold (Physarum polycephalum) is a strange, creeping, bloblike organism made up of one giant cell. Though it has no brain, it can learn from ... more  
From outer space to inner eyeContact lenses, spectacles and eye implants are now being made more accurately thanks to research instruments flying on the International Space Station. With the competitive lens market offeri ... more  
Stretching time to improve extreme event predictionStretching time scales to explore extreme events in nature seemed impossible, yet this feat is now conceivable thanks to a team from the Institut FEMTO-ST (CNRS/UFC/UTBM/ENSMM), which used an innova ... more  
Mimicking biological movements with soft robotsDesigning a soft robot to move organically - to bend like a finger or twist like a wrist - has always been a process of trial and error. Now, researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of E ... more |
| Previous Issues | Dec 23 | Dec 22 | Dec 21 | Dec 20 |
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Meet a 'Spacecraft Dressmaker'Lien Pham sometimes thinks of herself as a "spacecraft dressmaker." She's been making thermal blankets at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, for 16 years. Just as clothing can b ... more  
PANIC Lander to Revolutionize Asteroid ResearchA US-German team of researchers has proposed to develop a micro-scale low-cost surface lander for the in situ characterization of an asteroid. The tiny spacecraft, called the Pico Autonomous Near-Ea ... more  
Small Troughs Growing on Mars May Become 'Spiders'Erosion-carved troughs that grow and branch during multiple Martian years may be infant versions of larger features known as Martian "spiders," which are radially patterned channels found only in th ... more 
Searching a sea of 'noise' to find exoplanets - using only data as a guideYale researchers have found a data-driven way to detect distant planets and refine the search for worlds similar to Earth. The new approach, outlined in a study published Dec. 20 in The Astron ... more  
Cassini offers a crash course in ring world orbital mechanicsIt may look as though Saturn's moon Mimas is crashing through the rings in this image taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, but Mimas is actually 28,000 miles (45,000 kilometers) away from the rings. ... more |
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 Microlensing Study Suggests Most Common Outer Planets Likely Neptune-mass 
Ceres Offers Insight Into Prospects For Life in Early Solar SystemCeres, the largest body in the main asteroid belt, is pocketed with cold, dark craters, several of which are layered in ice, raising the prospects that this frigid dwarf planet once had perhaps an o ... more 
Are planets like those in 'Star WarsIn the "Star Wars" universe, ice, ocean and desert planets burst from the darkness as your ship drops out of light speed. But these worlds might be more than just science fiction. Some of the ... more |
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In the decade to come Russia will face strong competition from China for the commercial launch of satellites for developing countries, according to Ivan Moiseev, director of the Institute of Space Policy."China is trying to expand its space launching services, developing new boosters for different segments of the market," Moiseev told RIA Novosti.
"It has constructed a new spacecraft launc ... more Vega And Gokturk-1A are present for next Arianespace lightweight mission Antares Rides Again Four Galileo satellites are "topped off" for Arianespace's milestone Ariane 5 launch from the Spaceport |
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Erosion-carved troughs that grow and branch during multiple Martian years may be infant versions of larger features known as Martian "spiders," which are radially patterned channels found only in the south polar region of Mars.
Researchers using NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) report the first detection of cumulative growth, from one Martian spring to another, of channels resultin ... more All eyes on Trump over Mars Opportunity performs several drives to ancient gully Full go-ahead for building ExoMars 2020 |
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The sonic boom created by an airplane comes from the craft's large, speeding body crashing into molecules in the air. But if you shrank the plane to the size of a molecule, would it still generate a shock wave?
Scientists such as University of Iowa physicist Jasper Halekas hope to answer that question by studying miniature shock waves on the moon. These sonic boomlets, physicists believe, ... more India Inc joins hands to bid for moon mission TeamIndus signs contract with ISRO for lunar mission Moonwalker Buzz Aldrin stable after South Pole health scare |
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As 2016 ends, I can't help but point out an interesting symmetry in where the mission has recently been and where we are going. Exactly two years ago we had just taken New Horizons out of cruise hibernation to begin preparations for the Pluto flyby. And exactly two years from now we will be on final approach to our next flyby, which will culminate with a very close approach to a small Kuiper Bel ... more Juno Captures Jupiter 'Pearl' Juno Mission Prepares for December 11 Jupiter Flyby Research Offers Clues About the Timing of Jupiter's Formation |
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An international team of scientists, including researchers from the University of Chicago, has made the rare discovery of a planetary system with a host star similar to Earth's sun. Especially intriguing is the star's unusual composition, which indicates it ingested some of its planets.
"It doesn't mean that the sun will 'eat' the Earth any time soon," said Jacob Bean, assistant professor ... moreMicrolensing Study Suggests Most Common Outer Planets Likely Neptune-mass Searching a sea of 'noise' to find exoplanets - using only data as a guide The blob can learn and teach |
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As engines are fired, software written and hardware welded to prepare for the first flight of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), engineers are already running tests in supersonic wind tunnels to develop the next, more powerful version of the world's most advanced launch vehicle capable of carrying humans to deep space destinations.
"Aeronautics leads the way in the design of a new rocket," ... more United Launch Alliance launches EchoStar XIX satellite Preparing to Plug Into NASA SLS Fuel Tank Ultra-Cold Storage - Liquid Hydrogen may be Fuel of the Future |
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China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp, the largest missile maker in the country, is taking aim at 20 percent or more of the small-satellite launch contracts in the world by 2020, company executives said.
"We estimate that from 2017 to 2020, we will send aloft at least 10 solid-fuel carrier rockets each year, to send about 50 small satellites into orbit," said Guo Yong, president of the ... more China-made satellites in high demand Space exploration plans unveiled China launches 4th data relay satellite |
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A US-German team of researchers has proposed to develop a micro-scale low-cost surface lander for the in situ characterization of an asteroid. The tiny spacecraft, called the Pico Autonomous Near-Earth Asteroid In Situ Characterizer (PANIC), could be a breakthrough for the scientific community, offering simple and cheap solutions for asteroid research.
The concept of the PANIC mission envi ... more Ceres Offers Insight Into Prospects For Life in Early Solar System The case of the missing diamonds Studies refute hypothesis on what caused abrupt climate change thousands of years ago |
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Northrop Grumman will help the U.S. Air Force to develop a directed energy laser system that will offer self-protection for the service's next-generation jets, the company announced Wednesday.
The work, under an Air Force Research Laboratory contract, will see Northrop Grumman develop and produce the beam control piece of an airborne laser weapon demonstration array that the laboratory ... more UK to start laser gun program Russia's Ray Guns: The Military Capability of Moscow's Secret Laser Weapons US Navy keeps electromagnetic cannon in its sights |
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Lockheed Martin has received a $1.4 billion foreign military sales contract for Patriot advanced capability production.
The contract supports the sale of 205 missile segment enhancements for the governments of South Korea, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, the United Arab Emirates and the United States. The agreement also includes associated ground support equipment for the missiles.
... more U.S. Air Force approves Lockheed Martin's SBIRS ground system Raytheon to provide Patriot missile capability for undisclosed country Saudis intercept missile fired from Yemen |
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It may look as though Saturn's moon Mimas is crashing through the rings in this image taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, but Mimas is actually 28,000 miles (45,000 kilometers) away from the rings. There is a strong connection between the icy moon and Saturn's rings, though. Gravity links them together and shapes the way they both move.
The gravitational pull of Mimas (246 miles or 396 kil ... more Saturn's bulging core implies moons younger than thought Cassini Makes First Ring-Grazing Plunge Cassini Beams Back First Images from New Orbit |
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Nanotechnology offers many chances to benefit the environment and health. It can be applied to save raw materials and energy, develop enhanced solar cells and more efficient rechargeable batteries and replace harmful substances with eco-compatible solutions.
"Nanotechnology is a seminal technology. The UMWELTnanoTECH project association has delivered excellent results. Even the smallest ac ... more Nanocubes simplify printing and imaging in color and infrared New aspect of atom mimicry for nanotechnology applications ANU demonstrates 'ghost imaging' with atoms |
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Professor Sudip Bhattacharyya of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai, India, and Professor Deepto Chakrabarty (MIT, USA), an adjunct visiting professor at the same institute, have shown that a population of neutron stars should spin around their axes much faster than the highest observed spin rate of any neutron star.
They pointed out that the observed lower spin rate ... more LISA Pathfinder's pioneering mission continues Magnetic mirror could shed new light on gravitational waves Verlindes new theory of gravity passes first test |
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Scientists studying high temperature superconductors-materials that carry electric current with no energy loss when cooled below a certain temperature-have been searching for ways to study in detail the electron interactions thought to drive this promising property. One big challenge is disentangling the many different types of interactions-for example, separating the effects of electrons intera ... more ALPHA observes light spectrum of antimatter for first time Number of known black holes expected to double in two years with new detection method New antimatter breakthrough to help illuminate mysteries of the Big Bang |
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Designing a soft robot to move organically - to bend like a finger or twist like a wrist - has always been a process of trial and error. Now, researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering have developed a method to automatically design soft actuators based on the desired movement.
"Rather ... more A hardware-based approach for real world collaborative multi-robots Driverless platoons Marriage and more with robots: science fiction or new reality? |
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  Ford Motor Co. is studying a system to use drones to help guide self-driving vehicles, including on off-road adventures, company officials said.
Drones launched from an autonomous vehicle would help guide it by mapping the surrounding area beyond what the car's sensors can detect. Vehicle passengers can control the drone using the car's infotainment or navigation system.
"At some point, ... more QinetiQ acquires Meggitt Target Systems General Atomics to perform Reaper, Predator support services Britain, France continue drone development project |
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