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Categories: Engineering: Robotics Research, Space: General
Published You don't need glue to hold these materials together -- just electricity



Is there a way to stick hard and soft materials together without any tape, glue or epoxy? A new study shows that applying a small voltage to certain objects forms chemical bonds that securely link the objects together. Reversing the direction of electron flow easily separates the two materials. This electro-adhesion effect could help create biohybrid robots, improve biomedical implants and enable new battery technologies.
Published Satellites for quantum communications



Through steady advances in the development of quantum computers and their ever-improving performance, it will be possible in the future to crack our current encryption processes. To address this challenge, researchers are developing encryption methods that will apply physical laws to prevent the interception of messages. To safeguard communications over long distances, the QUICK space mission will deploy satellites.
Published Study brings scientists a step closer to successfully growing plants in space



New, highly stretchable sensors can monitor and transmit plant growth information without human intervention. The polymer sensors are resilient to humidity and temperature, can stretch over 400% while remaining attached to a plant as it grows and send a wireless signal to a remote monitoring location, said a chemical and biomolecular engineering professor.
Published Scientists propose new theory that explains sand ripples on Mars and on Earth



Sand ripples are symmetrical. Yet wind -- which causes them -- is very much not. Furthermore, sand ripples can be found on Mars and on Earth. They would be even more fascinating if the same effect found on Mars could be found here on Earth as well. What if one unified theory could explain their formation on both planets?
Published Ultrablack coating could make next-gen telescopes even better



For telescopes operating in the vacuum of space, or optical equipment in extreme environments, existing coatings are often insufficient. Researchers have turned to atomic layer deposition and developed an ultrablack thin-film coating for aerospace-grade magnesium alloys. The team used alternating layers of aluminum-doped titanium carbide and silicon nitride and together the materials prevent nearly all light from reflecting off the coated surface. The coating absorbs 99.3% of light while being durable enough to survive in harsh conditions.
Published Robotic interface masters a soft touch



Researchers have developed a haptic device capable of reproducing the softness of various materials, from a marshmallow to a beating heart, overcoming a deceptively complex challenge that has previously eluded roboticists.
Published Giving particle detectors a boost



Researchers have tested the performance of a new device that boosts particle signals.
Published Peering into the tendrils of NGC 604 with NASA's Webb



The formation of stars and the chaotic environments they inhabit is one of the most well-studied, but also mystery-shrouded, areas of cosmic investigation. The intricacies of these processes are now being unveiled like never before by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope.
Published Nasa’s Webb, Hubble telescopes affirm universe’s expansion rate, puzzle persists



When you are trying to solve one of the biggest conundrums in cosmology, you should triple check your homework. The puzzle, called the 'Hubble Tension,' is that the current rate of the expansion of the universe is faster than what astronomers expect it to be, based on the universe's initial conditions and our present understanding of the universe's evolution.
Published Pushing the boundary on ultralow frequency gravitational waves



A team of physicists has developed a method to detect gravity waves with such low frequencies that they could unlock the secrets behind the early phases of mergers between supermassive black holes, the heaviest objects in the universe.
Published CSI in space: Analyzing bloodstain patterns in microgravity



As more people seek to go where no man has gone before, researchers are exploring how forensic science can be adapted to extraterrestrial environments. A new study highlights the behavior of blood in microgravity and the unique challenges of bloodstain pattern analysis aboard spacecraft.
Published Interstellar signal linked to aliens was actually just a truck



Sound waves thought to be from a 2014 meteor fireball north of Papua New Guinea were almost certainly vibrations from a truck rumbling along a nearby road, new research shows. The findings raise doubts that materials pulled last year from the ocean are alien materials from that meteor, as was widely reported.
Published Method rapidly verifies that a robot will avoid collisions



A new safety-check technique can prove with 100 percent accuracy that a planned robot motion will not result in a collision. The method can generate a proof in seconds and does so in a way that can be easily verified by a human.
Published Baby quasars: Growing supermassive black holes



The James Webb Space Telescope makes one of the most unexpected findings within its first year of service: A high number of faint little red dots in the distant Universe could change the way we understand the genesis of supermassive black holes.
Published Finding new physics in debris from colliding neutron stars



Neutron star mergers are a treasure trove for new physics signals, with implications for determining the true nature of dark matter, according to physicists.
Published Astronomers spot oldest 'dead' galaxy yet observed



A galaxy that suddenly stopped forming new stars more than 13 billion years ago has been observed by astronomers. Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have spotted a 'dead' galaxy when the universe was just 700 million years old, the oldest such galaxy ever observed.
Published Discovery tests theory on cooling of white dwarf stars



Open any astronomy textbook to the section on white dwarf stars and you'll likely learn that they are 'dead stars' that continuously cool down over time. Astronomers are challenging this theory after discovering a population of white dwarf stars that stopped cooling for more than eight billion years.
Published Space tourism? Cosmic radiation exposure



Space weather experts are urging regulators and space tourism innovators to work together to protect their passengers and crews from the risks of space weather radiation exposure.
Published Groundbreaking survey reveals secrets of planet birth around dozens of stars



A team of astronomers has shed new light on the fascinating and complex process of planet formation. The research brings together observations of more than 80 young stars that might have planets forming around them, providing astronomers with a wealth of data and unique insights into how planets arise in different regions of our galaxy.
Published What makes black holes grow and new stars form? Machine learning helps solve the mystery



It takes more than a galaxy merger to make a black hole grow and new stars form: machine learning shows cold gas is needed too to initiate rapid growth -- new research finds.