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Categories: Engineering: Robotics Research, Space: Astronomy
Published New algorithm ensnares its first 'potentially hazardous' asteroid


An asteroid discovery algorithm -- designed to uncover near-Earth asteroids for the Vera C. Rubin Observatory's upcoming 10-year survey of the night sky -- has identified its first 'potentially hazardous' asteroid, a term for space rocks in Earth's vicinity that scientists like to keep an eye on. The roughly 600-foot-long asteroid, designated 2022 SF289, was discovered during a test drive of the algorithm with the ATLAS survey in Hawaii. Finding 2022 SF289, which poses no risk to Earth for the foreseeable future, confirms that the next-generation algorithm, known as HelioLinc3D, can identify near-Earth asteroids with fewer and more dispersed observations than required by today's methods.
Published 3D display could soon bring touch to the digital world


Engineers have designed a new, shape-shifting display that can fit on a card table and allows users to draw 3D designs and more.
Published Astronomers shed new light on formation of mysterious fast radio bursts


International team reports on a radio pulsar phase of a Galactic magnetar that emitted a fast radio burst in 2020; observations suggest unique origins for 'bursts' and 'pulses,' which adds to FRB formation theory.
Published Reinforcement learning allows underwater robots to locate and track objects underwater


A team has shown that reinforcement learning -i.e., a neural network that learns the best action to perform at each moment based on a series of rewards- allows autonomous vehicles and underwater robots to locate and carefully track marine objects and animals.
Published This 3D printed gripper doesn't need electronics to function


This soft robotic gripper is not only 3D printed in one print, it also doesn't need any electronics to work.
Published James Webb Space Telescope sees Jupiter moons in a new light


Last year, JWST made spectral observations of Ganymede and infrared observations of Io. Absorption lines of hydrogen peroxide at Ganymede's poles indicate radiolysis of water ice by charged particles funneled by the moon's magnetic field. Io had two major eruptions, one associated with a forbidden emission line of sulfur monoxide. The latter supports a theory that SO is produced at volcanic vents in a thin atmosphere that allows forbidden emission before collisions destroy the excited state.
Published Researchers develop low-cost sensor to enhance robots' sense of touch


Researchers have developed an L3 F-TOUCH sensor to enhance tactile capabilities in robots, allowing it to 'feel' objects and adjust its grip accordingly.
Published Hubble sees evaporating planet getting the hiccups


A young planet whirling around a petulant red dwarf star is changing in unpredictable ways orbit-by-orbit. It is so close to its parent star that it experiences a consistent, torrential blast of energy, which evaporates its hydrogen atmosphere -- causing it to puff off the planet.
Published Using cosmic weather to study which worlds could support life


As the next generation of giant, high-powered observatories begin to come online, a new study suggests that their instruments may offer scientists an unparalleled opportunity to discern what weather may be like on far-away exoplanets.
Published A simpler method for learning to control a robot


A new machine-learning technique can efficiently learn to control a robot, leading to better performance with fewer data.
Published New planetary formation findings


Astronomers have discovered new evidence of how planets as massive as Jupiter can form.
Published Astronomers reveal new features of galactic black holes


An international team of scientists, including astrophysicists, report on a dedicated observational campaign on the Galactic microquasar dubbed GRS 1915+105. The team revealed features of a microquasar system that have never before been seen. Using the massive Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) in China, astronomers discovered a quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) signal in the radio band for the first time from any microquasar systems.
Published Robotic hand rotates objects using touch, not vision


Inspired by the effortless way humans handle objects without seeing them, engineers have developed a new approach that enables a robotic hand to rotate objects solely through touch, without relying on vision.
Published Dark energy camera captures galaxies in lopsided tug of war, a prelude to merger


The spiral galaxy NGC 1532, also known as Haley's Coronet, is caught in a lopsided tug of war with its smaller neighbor, the dwarf galaxy NGC 1531.
Published New image reveals secrets of planet birth


Astronomers have gained new clues about how planets as massive as Jupiter could form. Researchers have detected large dusty clumps, close to a young star, that could collapse to create giant planets.
Published Webb detects water vapor in rocky planet-forming zone


Water is essential for life as we know it. However, scientists debate how it reached the Earth and whether the same processes could seed rocky exoplanets orbiting distant stars. New insights may come from the planetary system PDS 70, located 370 light-years away. The star hosts both an inner disk and outer disk of gas and dust, separated by a 5 billion-mile-wide (8 billion kilometer) gap, and within that gap are two known gas-giant planets.
Published Robot preachers get less respect, fewer donations


As artificial intelligence expands across more professions, robot preachers and AI programs offer new means of sharing religious beliefs, but they may undermine credibility and reduce donations for religious groups that rely on them.
Published In new space race, scientists propose geoarchaeology can aid in preserving space heritage


The material record that currently exists on the moon is rapidly becoming at risk of being destroyed if proper attention isn't paid during the new space era, scientists say. They propose a new scientific subfield: planetary geoarchaeology, the study of how cultural and natural processes on Earth's moon, on Mars and across the solar system may be altering, preserving or destroying the material record of space exploration.
Published Galaxy J1135 reveals its water map


Researchers look at water in galaxies, its distribution and in particular its changes of state from ice to vapor, as important markers indicating areas of increased energy, in which black holes and stars are formed. A new study has now revealed the distribution of water within the J1135 galaxy, which is 12 billion light years away and formed when the Universe was a 'teenager', 1.8 billion years after the Big Bang . This water map, with unprecedented resolution, is the first ever to be obtained for such a remote galaxy. The map can help scientists to understand the physical processes taking place within J1135 and shed light on the dynamics, still partially unclear, surrounding the formation of stars, black holes and galaxies themselves.
Published Allowing robots to explore on their own


Scientists have developed a suite of robotic systems and planners enabling robots to explore more quickly, probe the darkest corners of unknown environments, and create more accurate and detailed maps. The systems allow robots to do all this autonomously, finding their way and creating a map without human intervention.