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Categories: Offbeat: Computers and Math, Space: The Solar System

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A new study provides insights on the geophysics behind asteroid formation and evolution.

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Building on a landmark algorithm, researchers propose a way to make a smaller and more noise-tolerant quantum factoring circuit for cryptography.

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Researchers studying meteor showers have found that not all comets crumble the same way when they approach the Sun. In a new study, they ascribe the differences to the conditions in the protoplanetary disk where comets formed 4.5 billion years ago.

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Researchers have demonstrated a technology capable of a suite of data storage and computing functions -- repeatedly storing, retrieving, computing, erasing or rewriting data -- that uses DNA rather than conventional electronics. Previous DNA data storage and computing technologies could complete some but not all of these tasks.

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Non-living hydrogels can play the video game Pong and improve their gameplay with more experience, researchers report. The researchers hooked hydrogels up to a virtual game environment and then applied a feedback loop between the hydrogel's paddle -- encoded by the distribution of charged particles within the hydrogel -- and the ball's position -- encoded by electrical stimulation. With practice, the hydrogel's accuracy improved by up to 10%, resulting in longer rallies. The researchers say that this demonstrates the ability of non-living materials to use 'memory' to update their understanding of the environment, though more research is needed before it could be said that hydrogels can 'learn.'

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Who are we? Why are we here? We are stardust, the result of chemistry occurring throughout vast clouds of interstellar gas and dust. To better understand how that chemistry could create prebiotic molecules, researchers investigated the role of low-energy electrons created as cosmic radiation traverses through ice particles. Their findings may also inform medical and environmental applications on our home planet.

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An insect species that evolved 130 million years ago is the inspiration for a new research study to improve navigation systems in drones, robots, and orbiting satellites.

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Researchers have succeeded in something that has been pursued since the 1970s: explaining the X-ray radiation from the black hole surroundings. The radiation originates from the combined effect of the chaotic movements of magnetic fields and turbulent plasma gas.

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A new adaptive 3D printing system can identify the positions of randomly distributed organisms and safely move them to specific locations for assembly.

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James Joyce's tome 'Finnegans Wake' famously breaks the rules of normal prose through its unusual, dreamlike stream of consciousness, and new work in chaos theory takes a closer look at how Joyce's challenging novel stands out mathematically. Researchers compared the distribution of punctuation marks in various experimental novels to determine the underlying order of 'Finnegans Wake' and by statistically analyzing the texts, researchers found the tome exhibits an unusual but statistically identifiable structure. The wide singularity spectrum was perfectly symmetrical, meaning sentence length variability follows an orderly curve.

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Our understanding of Venus' water history and the potential that it was once habitable in the past is being challenged by recent observations.

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The asteroid that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs 66 million years ago probably came from the outer solar system.

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A zinc-air microbattery could enable the deployment of cell-sized, autonomous robots for drug delivery within in the human body, as well as other applications such as locating leaks in gas pipelines.

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With 2D cameras and space robotics algorithms, astronautics engineers have created a navigation system able to manage multiple satellites using visual data only. They just tested it in space for the first time.

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Researchers have developed a smart fabric that can convert body heat and solar energy into electricity, potentially enabling continuous operation with no need for an external power source. Different sensors monitoring temperature, stress, and more can be integrated into the material.

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A new, air-powered computer sets off alarms when certain medical devices fail. The invention is a more reliable and lower-cost way to help prevent blood clots and strokes -- all without electronic sensors.

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Between July and November of 2022, NASA's Perseverance rover collected seven samples of sediment from an ancient alluvial fan in Jezero crater. While onboard analysis gave researchers some information about their origins, only detailed analysis on Earth can retrieve evidence of when water flowed on Mars and whether life arose there. Geophysicists had hoped to get these samples back by 2033, but NASA's sample return mission may be delayed beyond that date.

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Scientists report that rock samples from Mars' Jezero Crater contain minerals that are typically formed in water. While the presence of organic matter is inconclusive, the rocks could be scientists' best chance at finding remnants of ancient Martian life.

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Using data from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have confirmed hydroxyl molecules on the surface of the metallic asteroid Psyche. The presence of hydrated minerals suggests a complex history for Psyche, important context for the NASA spacecraft en route to this interesting asteroid orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter.

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Martian landers have been able capture measurements of wind speeds -- some gauging the cooling rate of heated materials when winds blow over them, others using cameras to image 'tell-tales' that blow in the wind -- but there's still room for improvement. Researchers now demonstrate a novel sonic anemometric system featuring a pair of narrow-band piezoelectric transducers to measure the travel time of sound pulses through Martian air. The study accounted for variables including transducer diffraction effects and wind direction.