Science, Space, Health & Robotics News - Page 3

NASA has selected researchers at the University of Colorado to construct a tiny sidekick for the James Webb Space Telescope.

The space agency selected the mission called the Monitoring Activity from Nearby sTars with uv Imaging and Spectroscopy (MANTIS), valued at $8.5 million. With NASA's $8.5 million in funding, researchers are able to construct a "CubeSat", a miniature satellite, which will be designed to observe space in ultraviolet light and, more importantly, extreme ultraviolet. Additionally, the CubeSat will be designed to be a companion to the powerful Webb telescope that was launched on December 25, 2021.

The MANTIS cubesat will observe huge bursts of energy from volatile stars that are only within a few dozen light-years of Earth. The data gathered by MANTIS will be added to Webb's own observations of the event. This same strategy will be applied to Webb's main mission of identifying worlds that are potentially habitable. MANTIS will not only be observing ultraviolet light, but extreme ultraviolet light, which has in the past proven difficult for researchers.

A newly published study has indicated that even academics across the United States have experienced what the US government categorizes as Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon (UAP).

The new study has been published in the journal Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, and details a survey that was handed out to faculty members across 144 US universities, asking all participants if they or anyone close to them has "ever observed anything of unknown origin" that fits the US government description of a UAP/UFO. These objects are described in the survey as "airborne objects not immediately identifiable".

According to the results of the survey, 18.9% of participants said they had seen something that fits the UAP description. However, there are some limitations of the survey that need to be pointed out. Out of the 40,000 academics that were sent the email containing the survey, only 1,500 replied. Leading researchers to think that the survey results could be skewed by people that already interested in the topic.

A recently published study has unveiled seven hominin footprints along South Africa's Cap south coast, with one of the footprints now being the oldest ever recorded.

(A) stratigraphy showing ichnosite location; (B) 3D photogrammetry model of hominin track

The findings were published in an article in Ichnos, the international journal of trace fossils, and details the footprints that were left by our distant human ancestors. According to the study, these findings conclude that the Cape South coast was a region that featured an abundance of homo sapiens, with many of our distant relatives exploring far and even to other continents. Notably, these seven footprints are part of what is called the South African cluster, which is nine total footprints in the region.

How are these footprints still around? Unlike some sites that require excavation, the sites mentioned in the study are fully exposed on the surface and are embedded in aeolianites, which are ancient cemented dunes. Despite being able to be identified as homo sapien footprints, they're exposed to the natural elements leading them to be vulnerable to erosion and thus, preservation and, by extension, scientific interpretation.

A group of astronomers has confirmed the existence of four warm exoplanets that are estimated to be between the Earth and Neptune in size.

The team used NASA and European Space Agency (ESA) telescopes to identify the four planets, which the ESA explains on its website, are "unlike any planet in our Solar System and provide a 'missing link' between Earth-like and Neptune-like planets that is not yet understood." The ESA refers to these planets are "Mini-Neptunes," which astronomers are yet to know much about. However, what is known about Mini-Neptune's is they are smaller, cooler, and more difficult to find than hot Jupiter-like exoplanets.

For example, hot Jupiter-like planets have surface temperatures of more than 1,832 degrees Fahrenheit, and orbit their host stars within days, sometimes within a matter of hours. Mini-Neptune planets have a much cooler surface temperature of approximately 572 degrees Fahrenheit and orbit their host stars within a matter of days. Despite what is known about their orbiting patterns compared to other exoplanets, there is very little known about the composition of Mini-Neptune's.

NASA plans on putting new boots on the lunar surface as part of the space agency's Artemis 3 mission, and according to new research, the team that lands on the Moon should look out for evidence of ancient microbial life.

NASA's Artemis 3 mission potential landing locations

NASA is aiming to put the Artemis 3 mission down somewhere in the Artemis Polar Exploration Zone, and each of these potential regions, which totals 13 candidates, are approximately 9.3 by 9.3 miles. The specific landing zone within those regions is approximately a 328-foot radius. According to new research, locations on the south pole contain super cold craters that live in a permanent shadow. These craters have a chance of containing microbial life that could have potentially survived the harsh conditions of the lunar south pole.

Prabal Saxena, a planetary researcher at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, spoke to Space.com and said, "One of the most striking things our team has found is that, given recent research on the ranges in which certain microbial life can survive, there may be potentially habitable niches for such life in relatively protected areas on some airless bodies".

US Air Force veteran and now whistleblower, David Grusch has sounded the alarm on secret US government programs that have encountered non-human intelligence and exotic alien spacecrafts.

Veteran and now whistleblower, David Grusch

David Grusch made these startling claims during an explosive one-hour interview with News Max, where he said that he's been briefed by people that are currently and were formerly working in these secret programs. These programs have specifically been hidden from Congress and the public, as they contain information that confirms the existence of extraterrestrial lifeforms that in some cases have harmed, or murdered human life, according to Grusch.

More specifically, Grusch said that videos that were leaked in 2017 showcased evidence of spacecrafts that were not of this world. In 2020 when the videos were officially released by the Pentagon, officials decided to form the Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs), which was designed to focus on reports of UFOs. Grusch was part of of this team and said during the interview that the 2017 and 2020 videos are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what the else the US government has in storage.

Ross Coulthart, the journalist that conducted the interview with Pentagon UFO whistleblower David Grusch, has said the former intelligence official is currently suffering from harassment.

Coulthart interviewed Grusch as part of News Nation's exclusive one-hour special into all of the claims Grusch has come forward with. For those who aren't familiar with Grusch's story, he's a decorated former combat officer in Afghanistan, a veteran of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), and has many current and retired intelligence officials vouch for his credentials, such as the Christopher Mellon, a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, who also worked with Congress on UAP reports,.

Grusch has claimed the US military has covered up secret programs that involve the capture of alien spacecrafts that contained non-human intelligence. Grusch also claims he was briefed on events where non-human intelligence harmed and even murdered humans. The former intelligence official revealed a lot during the one-hour interview, and now according to Coulthart, who appeared on the podcast Need To Know, Grusch is in a much safer position now that his story is public.

Chinese astronauts have announced they've successfully grown stem cells in space, according to a report from the South China Morning Post.

The publication has reported that Chinese astronauts took pluripotent stem cells, which are cells that can become any human cell, aboard the Tiangong space station, and for many months, researchers aboard the station cultured them inside the Wentian laboratory. According to lead scientists Lei Xiaohua of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the team has achieved "the first goal of our experiment, which is to produce human blood stem cells in space".

The lead scientist told the Hong Kong-based newspaper that while the stem cells were in orbit, they were in "good condition," and the team managed to collect many pictures and data that were "in line with our expectations". These experiments of sending stem cells to space aren't unusual, as the University of San Diego Sanford Stem Cell Institute sent stem cells in November to the International Space Station (ISS) in an effort to learn more about how human cells can grow in microgravity.

Former intelligence official David Grusch has sounded the alarm on what he describes as secret US military programs that involve officials recovering a crash-landed alien spacecraft that contained non-human intelligent lifeforms.

Grusch has appeared in a few interviews where he outlined his claims to the best of his ability, saying that there are secret government programs being hidden from Congress. Additionally, Grusch claims he has provided proof of these secret government programs that involved US military recovering a non-human spacecraft and encountering non-human intelligence. This proof was sent to both the Inspector General and Congress.

One of the most shocking claims made by Grusch was during a News Nation exclusive interview where he responded to being asked if human beings have been harmed or killed by a non-human intelligence. Grusch says, "While I can't get into the specifics because that would reveal certain US classified operations. I was briefed by a few individuals on the program that there were malevolent events like that."

NASA's Center for Near Earth Objects (CNEOS) has confirmed a space rock that's between 1,214 and 2,727 feet in diameter will approach Earth today.

Asteroid Launch simulation

The asteroid, which was originally identified in 1994 by the Spacewatch group working at Kitt Peak Observatory in Arizona, is now on its way to making its closest approach to Earth, coming within 1.8 million miles of our planet, or approximately eight times the distance between Earth and the moon. According to NASA projections, the asteroid named 1994 XD will be at its closest point to Earth on June 12, 9 pm EDT.

Despite this asteroid's size, the goliath space rock is moving at extreme speeds, with recent measurements indicating a speed of 48,032 mph. Combining the asteroid's speed with an average diameter measurement of 1,500 feet, we can predict how much damage such an object would create if it were to collide with the surface of Earth. Using the Asteroid Launcher simulation website, plugging in the 1,500 diameter, speed of 48,000 mph, an impact angle of 45 degrees, and Central Park, New York, it's estimated that 222,286 people would be vaporized and carve a 1,390 ft deep crater.