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Finding a perfect sphere is actually pretty difficult

Two massive galaxies are bending light from the same distant quasar, creating a so-called Einstein zigzag lens that could help astronomers pin down how quickly the universe is expanding

Two massive galaxies are bending light from the same distant quasar, creating a so-called Einstein zigzag lens that could help astronomers pin down how quickly the universe is expanding

It has been 50 years since archaeologists discovered Lucy, perhaps the most famous ancient hominin ever found. But the scientists who have studied her say that this fossil gave us a misleading image of the nature of her species

It has been 50 years since archaeologists discovered Lucy, perhaps the most famous ancient hominin ever found. But the scientists who have studied her say that this fossil gave us a misleading image of the nature of her species

On the 50th anniversary of the “Arecibo message,” we present a reflection on humankind’s first attempt to send a transmission to intelligent life in the cosmos.

Dirk Schulze-Makuch is a scientist who thinks NASA's Viking landers could have inadvertently destroyed the life they were searching for. In this Q&A, we ask why.

A classic study found that people can fail to notice a gorilla when they are focusing on something else, but new experiments suggest this "inattentional blindness" might not tell the whole story

A classic study found that people can fail to notice a gorilla when they are focusing on something else, but new experiments suggest this "inattentional blindness" might not tell the whole story

Image: These two images acquired by Copernicus Sentinel-2 highlight how the mission can help distinguish between clouds and snow.

Helping Hand in Cassiopeia

Parallels between spaceflight and the aging process may extend to encompass frailty.
Figure Left: Venn diagram of differentially expressed frailty genes in rodent and human samples shows the common differentially expressed genes between the two species.
Figure Right: Schematic of the Inspiration4 experiments and samples.
This study relied on data from the OSDR, including 7 rodent spaceflight datasets, 2 human space analog datasets, astronaut data from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Inspiration4. Data on sarcopenia were mined from National Center for Biotechnology Information’s Gene Expression Omnibus.

Spaceflight accelerates the symptoms of aging in astronaut bodies by inducing genomic instability, mitochondrial dysfunction, and increased inflammation. This is the first study to comprehensively examine biomarkers and pathways associated with spaceflight and terrestrial aging, frailty, and sarcopenia.

Main Findings:

• Spaceflight induced notable changes in gene expression patterns related to frailty and muscle loss indicative of a frailty-like condition.

• Exposure to the space environment leads to changes related to inflammation, muscle wasting, and other age-related features observed in both mice and humans.

• Parallels between spaceflight and the aging process may extend to also encompass frailty.

Impact: This work reveals the need for a frailty index to monitor development of frailty-related astronaut health risks during spaceflight. The results provide insights into potential avenues for developing countermeasures to combat frailty-related health risks for both astronauts and aging populations on Earth.

This study was part of the 44-article Space Omics and Medical Atlas (SOMA) package published in Nature. It demonstrates the effectiveness of open science combined with robust data submission, standards, and curation. The study began within and was organized through the Analysis Working Groups (AWGs) of NASA’s Open Science Data Repository (OSDR).

SpaceX has rolled the Super Heavy first stage of its Starship megarocket out to the launch pad to prep for the vehicle's sixth test flight, which is scheduled for Monday (Nov. 18).

Federal health scientists voice concern over an anticipated takeover by medical skeptics in Trump’s second administration

In 1960, in preparation for the first SETI conference, Cornell astronomer Frank Drake formulated an equation to calculate the number of detectable extraterrestrial civilizations in our Milky Way. Rather than being a scientific principle, the equation was intended as a thought experiment that summarized the challenges SETI researchers faced. This became known as the Drake Equation, which remains foundational to the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) to this day. Since then, astronomers and astrophysicists have proposed many updates and revisions for the equation.

This is motivated by ongoing research into the origins of life on Earth and the preconditions that led to its emergence. In a recent study, astrophysicists led by Durham University produced a new model for the emergence of life that focuses on the acceleration of the Universe’s expansion (aka. the Hubble Constant) and the number of stars formed. Since stars are essential to the emergence of life as we knot it, this model could be used to estimate the probability of intelligent life in our Universe and beyond (i.e., in a multiverse scenario).

The study was led by Daniele Sorini, a postdoctoral Research Associate at Durham University’s Institute for Computational Cosmology, and was funded by a European Research Council (ERC) grant. She was joined by John Peacock, a Professor of Cosmology at the Royal Observatory and the University of Edinburgh’s Institute for Astronomy, and Lucas Lombriser, from the Département de Physique Théorique, Université de Genève. The paper that details their findings was recently published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

The Drake Equation is a mathematical formula for the probability of finding life or advanced civilizations in the universe. Credit: University of Rochester

As noted, the Drake Equation was not intended as a tool for estimating the number of extraterrestrial intelligences (ETIs) but as a guide for how scientists should search for life in the Universe. The formula for the equation is:

N = R* x fp x ne x fl x fi x fc x L

Whereas N is the number of civilizations in our galaxy that we might able to communicate with, R* is the average rate of star formation in our galaxy, fp is the fraction of those stars that have planets, ne is the number of planets that can actually support life, fl is the number of planets that will develop life, fi is the number of planets that will develop intelligent life, fc is the number civilizations that would develop transmission technologies, and L is the length of time that these civilizations would have to transmit their signals into space.

In the same sense, the new research does not attempt to calculate the absolute number of intelligent species in the Universe. Instead, the team presents an analytical model for cosmic star formation history to measure the impact of cosmological parameters within the most widely accepted cosmological model. This is none other than the Lambda-Cold Dark Matter (LCDM) model, where Dark Matter and Dark Energy (Lambda) account for roughly 95% of the matter-energy density of the Universe. The remaining 5%, the “ordinary” matter we see every day, is what scientists refer to as baryonic matter (aka. “luminous matter”).

In their paper, the team calculated the fraction of ordinary matter that is converted into stars over the entire history of the Universe based on different Dark Energy densities. Stars are essential to life, creating heavier elements through nuclear fusion that allow for planet formation, biochemistry, and all life as we know it. Their model predicts that the most efficient density for star formation would be 27%, compared to 23% scientists have observed in our Universe. In short, their results suggest that our Universe is an outlier in the context of the multiverse.

Early Dark Energy could have caused early seeds of galaxies (depicted at left) to sprout many more bright galaxies (at right) than theory predicts. Credit: Josh Borrow/Thesan Team

These findings could have significant implications for cosmology and the ongoing debate about whether or not our Universe is “fine-tuned” for life. As Dr. Sorini explained in a Royal Astronomical Society press release:

“Understanding Dark Energy and the impact on our Universe is one of the biggest challenges in cosmology and fundamental physics. The parameters that govern our Universe, including the density of dark energy, could explain our own existence. Surprisingly, though, we found that even a significantly higher dark energy density would still be compatible with life, suggesting we may not live in the most likely of Universes.”

The new model could also provide insight into how differing densities of Dark Energy affect the formation of the Universe and the development of conditions that allow life to emerge. The influence of Dark Energy drives cosmic expansion, causing the large-scale structures of the Universe (galaxies and galaxy clusters) to move farther and farther apart. For life to develop, matter must be able to clump together to form stars and planets and remain stable for billions of years – since evolution is a long-term process lasting billions of years.

Another takeaway from this research is that star formation and the evolution of the large-scale structure of the Universe achieve a balance over time. This balance determines the optimal value of Dark Energy density needed for the emergence of life and the eventual development of intelligent life. Said Prof. Lombriser: “It will be exciting to employ the model to explore the emergence of life across different universes and see whether some fundamental questions we ask ourselves about our own Universe must be reinterpreted.”

The Drake Equation may need additional parameters, including a Lambda energy density (ld) and a multiverse (mv) parameter. Regardless, the search for life and the question of how it can arise endure, much like Frank Drake’s equation itself!

Further Reading: Royal Astronomical Society, MNRAS

The post New Study Examines Cosmic Expansion, Leading to a New Drake Equation appeared first on Universe Today.

The Pentagon office in charge of fielding UFO reports says that it has resolved 118 cases over the past year, with most of those anomalous objects turning out to be balloons. But it also says many other cases remain unresolved.

This year’s legally mandated report from the Department of Defense’s All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office, or AARO, also identifies areas of the world that seem to be hotspots for sightings of unidentified flying objects. Such objects have been re-branded as unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAPs.

Today’s report come just one day after a House subcommittee hearing about UAPs, during which witnesses — and some lawmakers — voiced concerns about potential alien visitations and undisclosed efforts to gather evidence. In contrast, the Pentagon’s report for the 2023-2024 time period states that, “to date, AARO has discovered no evidence of extraterrestrial beings, activity or technology.”

“AARO has successfully resolved hundreds of cases in its holdings to commonplace objects such as balloons, birds, drones, satellites and aircraft,” the office’s director, Jon Kosloski, said in a news release. “Only a very small percentage of reports to AARO are potentially anomalous, but these are the cases that require significant time, resources and a focused scientific inquiry by AARO and its partners.” 

In the past, U.S. military and intelligence officials have suggested that some UAP sightings may be attributable to intrusions by rival powers such as Russia or China. The Chinese spy balloon that was intercepted and destroyed by Air Force fighter jets last year after crossing over the U.S. serves as a prime example.

AARO’s latest report says that U.S. military aircrews provided two reports over the past year that identified flight safety concerns, and three reports described pilots being trailed or shadowed by anomalous objects. “To date, AARO has no indication or confirmation that these activities are attributable to foreign adversaries,” the report says, but the office is continuing to work with the U.S. intelligence community to investigate the cases.

“None of the reports AARO received during the reporting period indicated that observers suffered any adverse health effects,” the report says.

AARO’s reporting system was established to encourage members of the U.S. military to let the Pentagon know about UAP sightings and take the stigma out of the process. Based on the latest numbers, the strategy seems to be working. Between May 2023 and June 2024, AARO received 757 UAP reports, compared with 291 reports for the period between August 2022 and April 2023.

Here are more statistics from today’s report:

• Of the 757 reports received over the past year, 485 relate to incidents during the yearlong reporting period, and the remaining 272 reports relate to incidents occurring in the 2021-2022 time frame.
• In addition to the 118 resolved cases, another 174 cases have been queued up for closure, pending a final review and approval by AARO’s director. All those cases were attributed to prosaic objects.
• Seventy percent of the closed cases in 2023-2024 were attributed to balloons. Sixteen percent were attributed to drones, 8% to birds, 4% to satellites and 2% to birds.
• AARO determined that 21 cases merited further analysis, based on reported anomalous characteristics or behaviors. Those cases are being studied by AARO’s experts as well as the office’s partners in the intelligence community and the science and tech community. “AARO will provide immediate notification to Congress should AARO identify that any cases indicate or involve a breakthrough foreign adversarial aerospace capability,” the report says.
• The remaining 444 cases received over the past year lacked sufficient data for further analysis. They’ve been placed in an archive and will be revisited if additional data comes to light. AARO says it has 1,652 UAP reports in all.
• In addition to reports from the U.S. military, AARO is receiving reports of sightings by civil and commercial pilots via the Federal Aviation Administration. AARO says 392 of the 757 reports received over the past year came from the FAA.
• AARO says unidentified lights or orb-shaped objects were mentioned most frequently in the subset of UAP reports that included references to visual characteristics. Other reports mentioned cylinders, disks, triangles, squares or exotic objects such as a “green fireball” or “a jellyfish with flashing lights.”

AARO’s global map of UAP reporting hotspots highlights four broad areas: the southeastern U.S. and Gulf of Mexico; the West Coast and Pacific Northwest; the Middle East; and northeastern Asia in the vicinity of Japan and the Korean peninsula. This doesn’t mean the aliens favor those regions. Instead, AARO says the distribution favors a “continued geographic collection bias based on locations near U.S. military assets and sensors operating globally.”

AARO says it’s getting an increasing number of cases that can be traced to sightings of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites. “For example, a commercial pilot reported white flashing lights in the night sky,” the report says. “The pilot did not report an altitude or speed, and no data or imagery was recorded. AARO assessed that this sighting of flashing lights correlated with a Starlink satellite launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, the same evening about one hour prior to the sighting.”

One of the reports received via the FAA mentioned a possible flight safety issue. “In this instance, a commercial aircrew reported a near miss with a ‘cylindrical object’ while over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of New York,” the report says. “AARO continues its research into, and analysis of, this case.”

AARO received 18 reports from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that related to UAP incidents near U.S. nuclear infrastructure, weapons and launch sites. NRC officials attributed all those sightings to drones. One of the incidents, in August 2023, involved the recovery of a crashed drone in the vicinity of the D.C. Cook Nuclear Power Plant in Michigan — but AARO provided no further information about the drone.

What more can be done? In today’s report, AARO says its ability to resolve cases has been constrained due to “a lack of timely and actionable sensor data.”

“AARO continues to address this challenge by working with military and technical partners to optimize sensor requirements, information-sharing processes, and the content of UAP reporting,” the report says. “AARO is also expanding engagement with foreign partners to share information and collaborate on best practices for resolving UAP cases.”

The post Pentagon’s Latest UFO Report Identifies Hotspots for Sightings appeared first on Universe Today.

NASA's VortEx experiment launched sounding rockets that created clouds, which will help scientists better understand how energy flows between layers of the atmosphere.

El viceministro de Políticas para la Defensa del Ministerio de Defensa de Perú, César Medardo Torres Vega, el administrador de la NASA, Bill Nelson, y el director de la Comisión Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Aeroespacial del Perú (CONIDA), mayor general Roberto Melgar Sheen, se reúnen en Lima, Perú, el 14 de noviembre de 2024, donde EE. UU. y Perú firmaron un memorando de entendimiento acordando estudiar una potencial campaña de cohetes sonda.Crédito: Embajada de EE. UU. en Perú

Read this release in English here.

La NASA y la Comisión Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Aeroespacial del Perú (CONIDA) sentaron las bases para una posible campaña de varios años de duración para el lanzamiento de pequeños cohetes científicos desde Perú, conjuntamente con Estados Unidos.

Ambos países firmaron el jueves un memorando de entendimiento no vinculante que incluye capacitación en seguridad, un estudio de factibilidad conjunto para la posible campaña, y asistencia técnica para CONIDA en lanzamientos de cohetes sonda. Los cohetes sonda son pequeños cohetes de bajo costo que proporcionan acceso suborbital al espacio.

“Estamos entusiasmados de analizar la posibilidad de lanzar nuevamente cohetes sonda desde Perú”, dijo el administrador de la NASA, Bill Nelson, quien firmó en nombre de Estados Unidos. “Este acuerdo profundiza nuestra colaboración internacional con Perú y la investigación científica que llevamos a cabo debido a la ubicación del país en el ecuador magnético. Juntos iremos más lejos”.

El mayor general Roberto Melgar Sheen, jefe institucional de CONIDA, firmó en nombre de Perú. Brian Nichols, subsecretario de Asuntos del Hemisferio Occidental del Departamento de Estado de EE. UU., y Stephanie Syptak-Ramnath, embajadora de EE. UU. en Perú, también participaron, entre otros funcionarios peruanos. El evento tuvo lugar durante la semana del Foro de Cooperación Económica Asia-Pacífico que comenzó el 9 de noviembre en Lima.

Durante su visita a Perú, Nelson también discutió la importancia de las asociaciones y la colaboración internacionales en el espacio y celebró la firma de los Acuerdos Artemis por parte de Perú a principios de este año.

Estados Unidos y Perú tienen una larga historia de cooperación espacial. La NASA llevó a cabo campañas de cohetes sonda en la base de lanzamiento Punta Lobos de CONIDA en 1975 y 1983.

La NASA utiliza cohetes sonda para transportar instrumentos científicos al espacio en vuelos suborbitales para recopilar importantes datos científicos y poner a prueba prototipos de instrumentos. Con ellos se obtienen datos de incalculable valor que mejoran nuestra comprensión de la atmósfera y el clima de la Tierra, nuestro sistema solar y el universo, y se ponen a prueba equipamientos para viajes espaciales más profundos.

Comprender la atmósfera de la Tierra y cómo es influenciada por el Sol es crucial para proteger los recursos terrestres y espaciales de los que dependemos todos los días, desde la red eléctrica hasta los datos meteorológicos e incluso la navegación.

Para obtener más información sobre las asociaciones internacionales de la NASA (en inglés), visita:

https://www.nasa.gov/oiir

-fin-

Meira Bernstein / Elizabeth Shaw
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
meira.b.bernstein@nasa.gov / elizabeth.a.shaw@nasa.gov

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Details Last Updated Nov 14, 2024 EditorJessica TaveauLocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms

• Office of International and Interagency Relations (OIIR)
• Artemis Accords
• Sounding Rockets

3 min read

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)

Diana Oglesby’s love for NASA began long before she started working for the agency. A native of Decatur, Texas, Oglesby knew at the age of eight that she would make NASA her future destination. That dream became a reality when Oglesby joined the agency, first as an intern and later as a NASA full-time employee, marking the beginning of a career that would span over two decades.  

Oglesby currently serves as director of the Strategic Integration and Management Division within NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. The division plays a key role in ensuring the effectiveness and efficiency of space operations, providing essential business support such as programmatic integration, strategic planning, information technology and cybersecurity leadership, stakeholder outreach, and administrative services.  

Before her current role, Oglesby led the business management function for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. She had a front-row seat to history during NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission, which successfully launched astronauts to the International Space Station in the first commercially built and operated American rocket and spacecraft, marking a significant milestone in NASA’s space exploration efforts.  

“It was an honor of a lifetime,” she says, reflecting on her role in this historic achievement.

From left, Richard Jones, CCP (Commercial Crew Program) deputy program manager at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston; Steve Stich, program manager for CCP; Dana Hutcherson, CCP deputy program manager at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida; and Diana Oglesby, director, Strategic Integration and Management Division, Space Operations Mission Directorate, pose with the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission flag near the countdown clock at the NASA News Center at the Kennedy on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024.NASA/Cory S Huston

Oglesby’s ability to foster teamwork and genuine care for others has been a hallmark of her career, whether serving in NASA’s Commercial Crew Program or now guiding the Strategic Integration and Management Division. 

While reflecting on her new role as division director, Oglesby is most excited about the people. As someone who thrives on diverse activities and complex challenges, she looks forward to the strategic aspects of her role and the opportunity to lead a dynamic team helping to shape NASA’s future. 

The future is bright. We are actively building the future now with each choice as part of the agency's strategic planning and transition from current International Space Station operations to the new commercial low Earth orbit destinations.

Diana Oglesby

Director, Strategic Integration and Management Division, Space Operations Mission Directorate 

“The future is bright,” said Oglesby. “We are actively building the future now with each choice as part of the agency’s strategic planning and transition from current International Space Station operations to the new commercial low Earth orbit destinations.” 

While Oglesby is deeply committed to her work, she also believes in “work-life harmony” rather than a work-life balance, by giving her attention to the sphere of life she is currently in at that moment in time. She remains ever focused on harmonizing between her NASA duties and her life outside of work, including her three children. Oglesby enjoys spending time with her family, baking, crafting, and participating in her local church and various causes to support community needs.   

Known for her positive energy, passion, and innovation, Oglesby always seeks ways to improve systems and make a difference in whatever project she is tackling. Her attention to detail and problem-solving approach makes her an invaluable leader at NASA. 

NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate maintains a continuous human presence in space for the benefit of people on Earth. The programs within the directorate are the heart of NASA’s space exploration efforts, enabling Artemis, commercial space, science, and other agency missions through communication, launch services, research capabilities, and crew support. 

To learn more about NASA’s Space Operation Mission Directorate, visit: 

https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/space-operations

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Details Last Updated Nov 14, 2024 Related Terms

• Space Operations Mission Directorate
• Strategic Integration and Management Division

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