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Categories: Engineering: Robotics Research, Space: The Solar System
Published Making better measurements of the composition of galaxies
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A study using data from telescopes on Earth and in the sky resolves a problem plaguing astronomers working in the infrared and could help make better observations of the composition of the universe with the James Webb Space Telescope and other instruments.
Published Versatile, high-speed, and efficient crystal actuation with photothermally resonated natural vibrations
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Mechanically responsive molecular crystals are extremely useful in soft robotics, which requires a versatile actuation technology. Crystals driven by the photothermal effect are particularly promising for achieving high-speed actuation. However, the response (bending) observed in these crystals is usually small. Now, scientists address this issue by inducing large resonated natural vibrations in anisole crystals with UV light illumination at the natural vibration frequency of the crystal.
Published Could this copycat black hole be a new type of star?
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source It looks like a black hole and bends light like a black hole, but it could actually be a new type of star. Though the mysterious object is a hypothetical mathematical construction, new simulations by Johns Hopkins researchers suggest there could be other celestial bodies in space hiding from even the best telescopes on Earth.
Published Metal-poor stars are more life-friendly
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A star's chemical composition strongly influences the ultraviolet radiation it emits into space and thus the conditions for the emergence of life in its neighborhood.
Published Team designs four-legged robotic system that can walk a balance beam
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have designed a system that makes an off-the-shelf quadruped robot nimble enough to walk a narrow balance beam -- a feat that is likely the first of its kind.
Published A neuromorphic visual sensor can recognize moving objects and predict their path
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The new smart sensor uses embedded information to detect motion in a single video frame.
Published Multi-compartment membranes for multicellular robots: Everybody needs some body
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source We typically think of robots as metal objects, filled with motors and circuits. But the field of molecular robotics is starting to change that. Like the formation of complex living organisms, molecular robots derive their form and functionality from assembled molecules stored in a single unit, i.e., a body. Yet manufacturing this body at the microscopic level is an engineering nightmare. Now, a team has created a simple workaround.
Published Playing hide and seek with planets
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An international team of astronomers announced the first exoplanet discovered through a combined approach of direct imaging and precision measurements of a star's motion on the sky. This new method promises to improve the efficiency of exoplanet searches, paving the way for the discovery of an Earth twin.
Published New exoplanet discovered
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Astronomers report the first exoplanet jointly discovered through direct imaging and precision astrometry, a new indirect method that identifies a planet by measuring the position of the star it orbits. Data from the Subaru Telescope in Hawai`i and space telescopes from the European Space Agency (ESA) were integral to the team's discovery.
Published Scientists create high-efficiency sustainable solar cells for IoT devices with AI-powered energy management
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have created environmentally-friendly, high-efficiency photovoltaic cells that harness ambient light to power internet of Things (IoT) devices.
Published M87 in 3D: New view of galaxy helps pin down mass of the black hole at its core
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source From Earth, giant elliptical galaxies resemble highly symmetric blobs, but what's their real 3D structure? Astronomers have assembled one of the first 3D views of a giant elliptical galaxy, M87, whose central supermassive black hole has already been imaged by the Event Horizon Telescope. M87 turns out to be triaxial, like a potato. The revised view provides a more precise measure of the mass of the central black hole: 5.37 billion solar masses.
Published Research in Japan shows the way toward tactile and proximity sensing in large soft robots
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source To make human-robot interactions safer and more fruitful, robots should be capable of sensing their environment. In a recent study, researchers developed a novel robotic link with tactile and proximity sensing capabilities. Additionally, they created a simulation and learning framework that can be employed to train the robotic link to sense its environment. Their findings will pave the way to a future where humans and robots can operate harmoniously in close proximity.
Published Toward a safer 'artificial muscle' material
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Whether wriggling your toes or lifting groceries, muscles in your body smoothly expand and contract. Some polymers can do the same thing -- acting like artificial muscles -- but only when stimulated by dangerously high voltages. Now, researchers report a series of thin, elastic films that respond to substantially lower electrical charges. The materials represent a step toward artificial muscles that could someday operate safely in medical devices.
Published How did Earth get its water?
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Our planet's water could have originated from interactions between the hydrogen-rich atmospheres and magma oceans of the planetary embryos that comprised Earth's formative years.
Published Humans need Earth-like ecosystem for deep-space living
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Can humans endure long-term living in deep space? The answer is a lukewarm maybe, according to a new theory describing the complexity of maintaining gravity and oxygen, obtaining water, developing agriculture and handling waste far from Earth.
Published It's all in the wrist: Energy-efficient robot hand learns how not to drop the ball
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have designed a low-cost, energy-efficient robotic hand that can grasp a range of objects -- and not drop them -- using just the movement of its wrist and the feeling in its 'skin'.
Published Lightning strike creates phosphorus material
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A lightning strike in New Port Richey, Florida, led to a chemical reaction creating a new material that is transitional between space minerals and minerals found on Earth. High-energy events, such as lightning, can cause unique chemical reactions. In this instance, the result is a new material -- one that is transitional between space minerals and minerals found on Earth.
Published Table tennis brain teaser: Playing against robots makes our brains work harder
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Brain scans taken during table tennis reveal differences in how we respond to human versus machine opponents.
Published NASA's Webb scores another ringed world with new image of Uranus
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Following in the footsteps of the Neptune image released in 2022, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has taken a stunning image of the solar system's other ice giant, the planet Uranus. The new image features dramatic rings as well as bright features in the planet's atmosphere. The Webb data demonstrates the observatory's unprecedented sensitivity for the faintest dusty rings, which have only ever been imaged by two other facilities: the Voyager 2 spacecraft as it flew past the planet in 1986, and the Keck Observatory with advanced adaptive optics.
Published How were amino acids, one of the key building blocks of life, formed before the origin of life on Earth?
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The amino acid abundances of two Ryugu particles were measured and compared with their rocky components. The results demonstrate the important role that water plays in the formation of amino acids on the giant precursors of asteroids like Ryugu. Our solar system formed from a molecular cloud, which was composed of gas and dust that was emitted into the interstellar medium (ISM), a vast space between stars. On collapse of the molecular cloud, the early sun was formed, with a large disk of gas and dust orbiting it. The dusty material collided to produce rocky material that would eventually grow in size to give large bodies called planetesimals.