NASA's Solar Probe Uncovers Origin of Violent Solar Winds
Video Credit: Wibbitz Top Stories - Duration: 01:30s - Published
NASA's Solar Probe Uncovers Origin of Violent Solar Winds
NASA's Solar Probe , Uncovers Origin of Violent , Solar Winds.
Gizmodo reports that NASA's Parker Solar Probe has
had several close encounters with the Sun, offering
scientists a closer look at what drives solar winds.
The team's findings were published
on June 6 in the journal 'Nature.'.
The car-sized spacecraft was designed
to reach a distance of about 4 million
miles from the surface of the Sun.
That's closer than any other
spacecraft has ever gone before.
Gizmodo reports that a recent interaction with the sun saw
the probe fly through jets of highly-energetic material,
which allowed scientists to trace the origins of solar wind.
As Parker got closer
to the Sun, they started seeing
a lot more structure in the wind, James Drake, Co-author and Professor at
the University of Maryland, via 'Gizmodo'.
You’d see high velocity wind with
lots and lots of bursts and then it
would sort of die down a little bit,
and then you’d see it getting stronger
again with many more bursts, James Drake, Co-author and Professor at
the University of Maryland, via 'Gizmodo'.
According to a new study, the solar wind
is produced by the process of magnetic
reconnection occurring on the Sun's surface.
This process involves oppositely directed
magnetic fields passing by one another,
breaking apart and then reconnecting.
The process throws charged particles
out from the surface of the Sun.
If you have two magnetic fields
pointing in opposite direction,
they annihilate each other...and that
releases magnetic energy which
produces energetic particles, James Drake, Co-author and Professor at
the University of Maryland, via 'Gizmodo'
Scientists Question Claim , That T. Rex Was as Smart, as Modern Monkeys.
'Gizmodo' reports that a team of researchers
recently investigated claims that the Tyrannosaurus rex
could have been as smart as monkeys.
Last year, a paper was published in the journal
'Comparative Neurology,' which claimed that theropods like
Tyrannosaurus rex had a “monkey-like” numbers of neurons.
According to that paper, this would have made
the Tyrannosaurus rex "not only giant but also
long-lived and endowed with flexible cognition.”.
The new paper specifically referenced the previous paper
and argues that theropods probably had “significantly
lower neuron counts than previously proposed.".
According to the team, neuron count
and brain size are “flawed” proxies for
measuring an ancient species’ intelligence.
We argue that it’s not good
practice to predict intelligence
in extinct species when neuron
counts reconstructed from
endocasts are all we have to go on, Kai Caspar, a biologist at Heinrich Heine University
Düsseldorf and the study’s lead author, via 'Gizmodo'.
The possibility that T. rex might
have been as intelligent as a baboon
is fascinating and terrifying,
with the potential to reinvent
our view of the past, Darren Naish, Paleozoologist at the University of
Southampton and co-author of the paper, via 'Gizmodo'.
The possibility that T. rex might
have been as intelligent as a baboon
is fascinating and terrifying,
with the potential to reinvent
our view of the past, Darren Naish, Paleozoologist at the University of
Southampton and co-author of the paper, via 'Gizmodo'.
But our study shows how
all the data we have is against
this idea. They were more
like smart giant crocodiles,
and that’s just as fascinating, Darren Naish, Paleozoologist at the University of
Southampton and co-author of the paper, via 'Gizmodo'.
'Gizmodo' reports that even if Tyrannosaurus rex
wasn't as intelligent as a modern monkey,
it was still a terrifying creature. .
The fearsome predator also has an outsized
presence in popular culture, leading theropods
to attract a high degree of interest.
Credit: Wibbitz Top Stories Duration: 01:31Published
Astronomers Say , Neutron Jet Emissions , Travel at Relativistic Speeds.
Gizmodo reports that new research suggests that
the dense remains of massive stars propel jets of gas and
dust at speeds of hundreds of millions of miles per hour.
Neutron stars are the stellar remains of
some of the densest objects in the universe. .
According to new research, neutron star jets
can travel up to 70,836 miles per hour,
just over one-third the speed of light. .
Relativistic effects like time dilation and length
contraction are believed to occur at speeds
exceeding just one-tenth the speed of light. .
James Miller Jones, , an astrophysicist at Curtin University in
Australia and co-author of the research, .
notes that neutron stars are, "so dense that they can pull material off
the surface of a nearby companion star.".
That gas spirals down onto the surface
of that neutron star where it gets very,
very hot and dense. Once enough of it
builds up nuclear fusion reactions
start to happen on the surface, James Miller Jones, astrophysicist at Curtin University
in Australia and co-author, via 'Gizmodo'.
Using the Australia Telescope Compact Array and the
International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory, researchers found that thermonuclear explosions on
distant stars kickstart these high-speed jet emissions. .
When these explosions occurred, they generated
high-speed jets and bright X-rays which made
it possible for researchers to measure speeds. .
The findings suggest that the staggering
speed of these emissions is close to escape
speed, or the needed velocity for material to
escape the neutron star's gravitational speed. .
Gizmodo reports that the team's results will inform
future models of jet formation and could help reveal
some of the most extreme physics in the universe.
Credit: Wibbitz Top Stories Duration: 01:30Published
AT&T Confirms Data Breach , Affected 73 Million Customers.
73 million current and former
AT&T customers have had their sensitive
data compromised in a hack that some outlets
say dates back to 2021, Gizmodo reports.
The data, which includes social security numbers, email addresses, birthdates, phone numbers and AT&T account information, .
was located two weeks ago in a data
set released on the dark web.
It's not clear if it was AT&T's systems that were breached or if the information was stolen from one of the company's vendors.
Currently, AT&T does not have evidence
of unauthorized access to its systems
resulting in exfiltration of the data set, AT&T, via statement.
The company is communicating
proactively with those impacted and
will be offering credit monitoring at
our expense where applicable, AT&T, via statement.
As a precaution, AT&T has reset the
passcodes of its current customers. .
The company will be reaching out to customers whose information has been compromised. .
AT&T advises those who are worried about their accounts to monitor activity and credit reports.
Credit: Wibbitz Top Stories Duration: 01:30Published
Astronomers Witness , Merger of 2 Black Holes, From the 'Cosmic Dawn'.
'The Independent' reports that NASA's
Webb Space Telescope has made the most
distant detection of merging black holes. .
Two gigantic black holes and the galaxies that they stood
at the center of merged together just 740 million years
after the universe was formed in the Big Bang.
One of the black holes is a staggering 50 million
times larger than our Sun, and the other
is believed to be a similar gigantic size. .
Astronomers have long wondered how supermassive black holes are so big. .
Lead author Hannah Ubler of the University of Cambridge
says the findings suggest that mergers like this ancient
example show how black holes are able to grow so rapidly.
According to Ubler, the latest Webb
discovery also suggests that black holes
have been merging since the "cosmic dawn.".
Massive black holes
have been shaping
the evolution of galaxies
from the very beginning, Hannah Ubler, lead author from the University
of Cambridge, via 'The Independent'.
In 2021, NASA launched Webb, intended
to replace the Hubble Space Telescope.
Webb is the largest and most powerful
observatory ever launched into space. .
The joint U.S.-European project surveys
the universe from a vantage point located
about 1 million miles away from Earth.
Credit: Wibbitz Top Stories Duration: 01:31Published
Contractor Warns of , Potential Catastrophe if NASA , Goes Ahead With Scheduled Launch.
IEN reports that a NASA contractor has publicly
urged the space agency to reconsider an
upcoming launch, warning it could end in disaster.
The news comes after the initial launch
of Boeing's Starliner was scrapped as
the result of a leaky valve just last week. .
The news comes after the initial launch
of Boeing's Starliner was scrapped as
the result of a leaky valve just last week. .
NASA has plans to attempt
another launch later this week. .
ValveTech produces valves
and other components for both
aerospace and military applications.
ValveTech produces valves
and other components for both
aerospace and military applications.
The company issued a press release
warning that a second launch
attempt could end in catastrophe. .
The statement from ValveTech
President Erin Faville called for NASA
to re-double safety checks and protocols. .
The failed launch last week would have been
the first human space flight for Boeing but was
scrubbed after a faulty valve was discovered. .
The Associated Press reported that the fluttering oxygen
pressure-relief valve on United Launch Alliance’s Atlas
rocket may have exceeded its 200,000 lifetime cycles. .
The ValveTech statement questions how
NASA, Aerojet and Boeing could have... .
... "qualified this valve for the mission
without proper supporting data or
previous history or legacy information.".
According to ValveTech, this , "goes against aerospace-industry
qualification protocols established by NASA."
Credit: Wibbitz Top Stories Duration: 01:31Published
Boeing called off its first astronaut launch, ferrying two NASA test pilots to the International Space Station, because of a valve problem on its Starliner capsule. But if engineers find a solution quickly, another countdown could be expected in the next 24-hours.
Credit: euronews (in English) Duration: 00:37Published
NASA Reestablishes , Connection With Distant , Voyager 1 Space Probe.
The news comes after engineers at
the agency worked for months
attempting to fix the 46-year-old probe.
In December, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
said that the probe, now a staggering 15 billion miles
away from Earth, was transmitting gibberish code. .
On April 23, the JPL announced that
the team was once again receiving
usable data from the spacecraft.
Currently, the probe is only
transmitting data regarding the status
of the ship's engineering systems.
The next step is to enable
the spacecraft to begin
returning science data again, JPL statement, via 'The Guardian'.
'The Guardian' reports that Voyager 1 has been in
operation for nearly half a century after launching
in 1977 with the goal of studying Jupiter and Saturn.
In August of 2012, Voyager crossed into
interstellar space, becoming the first
human-made object to leave the solar system.
The probe is currently traveling at a staggering
36,800 miles per hour through space.
NASA plans to collect data from the two
Voyager spacecraft for a few more years,
but the space agency expects to lose
contact with the probes within the next decade
Credit: Wibbitz Top Stories Duration: 01:30Published