360 Close encounters! Pentagon is creating an official office to investigate unidentified aerial phenomena after a June report couldn't explain 143 of 144 UFO incidents dating back to 2004

noreply@blogger.com (Vladimir G. Korsakov©) — Fri, 26 Nov 2021 07:00:00 +0000

The Pentagon is creating a group to study unidentified aerial phenomena
The Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group will be part of the office of Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence & Security
In September, DailyMail.com reported the government may create a permanent office to study UAPs
In June, the Pentagon reported offered no explanation for 143 of the 144 UFO incidents dating back to 2004

In the wake of the woefully insufficient Pentagon report from June in which the U.S. government admitted it could not explain the vast majority of unidentified aerial phenomena, the Department of Defense is increasing its effort, creating an official group to study these events.

The announcement, made late Tuesday, will see the establishment of the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group (AOIMSG), succeeding the U.S. Navy's Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force; it will be part of the office of Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence & Security.

The AOIMSG will work across the Department of Defense and the entire U.S. government 'to detect, identify and attribute objects of interests in Special Use Airspace, and to assess and mitigate any associated threats to safety of flight and national security,' according to a press release issued by the DoD.

The move to formally establish the office was made the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence & Security Ronald S. Moultrie, who was directed by Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines.

In May, a video was released that appeared to show a UFO buzz a US stealth ship near San Diego before diving under the water back in July 2019

The Pentagon is creating a group to study unidentified aerial phenomena. The Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group will be part of the office of Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence & Security

'Incursions by any airborne object into our SUA pose safety of flight and operations security concerns, and may pose national security challenges,' the release added.

'DOD takes reports of incursions – by any airborne object, identified or unidentified – very seriously, and investigates each one.'

The DoD said more guidance on who will be the director of the AOIMSG and other details about the office will be issued in the 'coming weeks.'

Nick Pope, a former employee and UFO investigator for Britain's Ministry of Defense, said he welcomes the move as it should make for better coordination between the interested parties.

'It further destigmatizes the issue by acknowledging the national security implications,' Pope said in an email to DailyMail.com.

Pope however, questioned the timing of the announcement: 'Putting this out just before Thanksgiving is also an indicator that the Pentagon is frustrated with the issue and doesn't want a wider public conversation on any of this.'

In September, DailyMail.com reported that the U.S. government was looking into creating a permanent office to study 'unidentified aerial phenomenon' (UAPs).

The move to formally establish the office was made the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence & Security Ronald S. Moultrie, who was directed by Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks (pictured) and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines

Earlier this month, Haines made surprising comments that appeared not to rule out the presence of an intelligent civilization not of this Earth.

'There's always the question of "is there something else that we simply do not understand, that might come extraterrestrially?"' Haines said, when asked about the Pentagon report, according to The Hill.

As part of the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act from the House of Representatives, there was a provision to create a permanent office under the Secretary of Defense to investigate reports of unidentified aerial phenomena, according to NextGov, which first reported the news.

The 5-page section of the 1,362 page report, which was included by Rep. Ruben Gallego, seeks to take on what the Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon Task Force did with its report and make it permanent.

Included in the duties of the proposed office would be to:

'Developing procedures to synchronize and standardize the collection, reporting, and analysis of incidents regarding unidentified aerial phenomena across the Department of Defense.
Developing processes and procedures to ensure that such incidents from each military department are reported and incorporated in a centralized repository.
Establishing procedures to require the timely and consistent reporting of such incidents.
Evaluating links between unidentified aerial phenomena and adversarial foreign governments, other foreign governments, or nonstate actors.
Evaluating the threat that such incidents present to the United States.
Coordinating with other departments and agencies of the Federal Government, as appropriate.
Coordinating with allies and partners of the United States, as appropriate, to better assess the nature and extent of unidentified aerial phenomena.'

The section also proposes that a new UAP office deliver a report to Congress once a year for the next five years and even provide 'an update on any efforts underway on the ability to capture or exploit discovered unidentified aerial phenomena.'

The legislation was passed in late September night by a 316-113 vote.

The Senate Armed Services Committee's version of the act, however, does not include a permanent office for the investigation of UAPs.

In June, the Pentagon released its report on the subject of UAPs, however it offered no explanation for 143 of the 144 observations dating back to 2004.

On June 25, the long-awaited report from the Pentagon on the subject of 'unidentified aerial phenomenon' (UAPs) offered no explanation for 143 of the 144 observations dating back to 2004

In July, NASA Administrator and former astronaut Bill Nelson said it's likely that humans will get some kind of indication that intelligent life outside of our own exists in the universe.

'If you have a universe that is 13.5 billion years - it is so big - is there another chance for another sun and another planet that has an atmosphere like ours?' Nelson said at the time.

'I would say yes, so I think we're gonna get some indication that there is intelligent life out there.'

He added that NASA has been 'involved for years' looking for life, referring to NASA's Astrobiology program.

'We're looking for life on Mars, on the other planets, in the cosmos, trying to determine other suns that have planets with a habitable atmosphere,' Nelson pointed out.

In June, former President Barack Obama said that if another civilization exists in space other than our own, it could upend most facets of life.

'And so I would hope that the knowledge that there were aliens out there would solidify people’s sense that what we have in common is a little more important,' Obama said in response to a hypothetical question that humanity has become aware of intelligent life beyond this planet, but is unable to get in touch with them.

'But no doubt there would be immediate arguments about like, well, we need to spend a lot more money on weapons systems to defend ourselves,' the 44th President continued.

'New religions would pop up. And who knows what kind of arguments we get into. We’re good at manufacturing arguments for each other.'

More than two-fifths of Americans said in August that they believed that UFOs are alien space craft, up from 33 percent in 2019.

A similar survey, published in July, said two-thirds of all Americans believe extraterrestrial life exists, but almost 90 percent believe they are not a threat.

One of the videos was captured off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, in 2015 (pictured)

The other video shows the notorious 2004 'Tic Tac' incident (pictured) that was recorded over the Pacific Ocean

The declassified June 25 report, which came from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, added that it lacks sufficient data to determine the nature of mysterious flying objects.

'In 18 incidents, described in 21 reports, observers reported unusual UAP movement patterns or flight characteristics,' the report reads.

'Some UAP appeared to remain stationary in winds aloft, move against the wind, maneuver abruptly, or move at considerable speed, without discernable means of propulsion. In a small number of cases, military aircraft systems processed radio frequency (RF) energy associated with UAP sightings.

'The UAPTF holds a small amount of data that appear to show UAP demonstrating acceleration or a degree of signature management. Additional rigorous analysis are necessary by multiple teams or groups of technical experts to determine the nature and validity of these data.

'We are conducting further analysis to determine if breakthrough technologies were demonstrated.'

The term UFO has been more recently replaced by unidentified aerial phenomenon, especially in light of the U.S. Pentagon declassifying three videos in April 2020.

Only one of 144 reports of UFOs - or Unidentified Aerial Phenomena as the government calls them - can be explained while the others can barely be classified

The government report says there are 144 reported UFOs - or UAPs - between 2004 and 2021.

These reports include a spherical flying object buzzing over Navy warships and disappearing into the Pacific ocean, a tic-tac shaped flying object mimicking Super Hornet pilots' maneuvers and pyramid-shaped flying objects.

The only one that can be explained with 'high confidence' is a deflated balloon.

Because the reported UAPs showed unusual flight characteristics and displayed a range of appearances and behaviors, the report groups the UAPs into five categories.

1. Airborne clutter - These objects include birds, balloons, recreational unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) or airborne debris like plastic bags that muddle a scene and affect an operator's ability to identify true targets, such as enemy aircraft.

2. Natural atmospheric phenomena - Natural atmospheric phenomena includes ice crystals, moisture and thermal fluctuations that may register on some infrared and radar systems.

3. USG or U.S. industry developmental programs - Some UAP observations could be attributable to developments and classified programs by U.S. entities. The report states, 'We were unable to confirm, however, that these systems accounted for any of the UAP reports we collected.'

4. Foreign adversary systems - Some UAP may be technologies deployed by China, Russia, another nation, or a non-governmental entity but the report says the US is unaware that any nation has technology that's been reported.

5. A catchall 'other' bin - Most of the UAP described in the dataset probably remain unidentified due to limited data or challenges to collection processing or analysis and may require additional scientific knowledge and advances to categorize them. 'The UAPTF intends to focus additional analysis on the small number of cases where a UAP appeared to display unusual flight characteristics or signature management,' according to the report.

NASA’s SOFIA Confirms Planetary System Similar to Ours

noreply@blogger.com (Vladimir G. Korsakov©) — Thu, 18 May 2017 21:06:00 +0000

Last week, NASA announced that its flying observatory, SOFIA (short for Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) completed a study of a nearby planetary system that is very much like our solar system, centered on the star Epsilon Eridani, also known as Eps Eri.

SOFIA is the world’s largest airborne observatory and flies at altitudes between 39,000 and 45,000 feet, above more than 99% of the water vapor in the atmosphere, making it possible to obtain astronomical data that are impossible to access from telescopes on the ground.

Eps Eri is 10.5 light-years away, and is one of the closest stars to Earth that is of a similar type as Earth’s sun. It’s a little smaller and a little dimmer, but is comparable in terms of temperature, luminosity and mass.

Interestingly, Eps Eri is one of two stars (the other was Tau Ceti) that were examined by Frank Drake in 1960 as his first radio astronomy observation, using the Tatel Telescope in West Virginia. Eps Eri and Tau Ceti were selected because of their proximity to Earth’s solar system, because of their similarities to Earth’s sun and because they are single stars thought likelier to be able to host a potentially habitable planet in a stable orbit.

Although Frank Drake did not observe a signal from Eps Eri during that first SETI observation, it continues to be the subject of various types of observations, including from SOFIA, focusing on Eps Eri ‘s circumstellar debris disk.

Debris disks are comprised of rocky or icy material orbiting a star that can be left behind after a planet has been formed. In Earth’s solar system, we have two debris disks: the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and the Kuiper Belt which is located beyond Neptune and includes Pluto, now reclassified as being part of the debris remaining after planetary formation.

In 1983, astronomer Fred Gillett found evidence for a Kuiper Belt-like debris disk around Eps Eri using data from the Infrared Astronomy Satellite, IRAS. In 2009, SETI Institute scientist Dana Backman, who worked with Gillett on analyzing the IRAS data and now manages SOFIA mission Outreach for the Institute, discovered a debris disk similar to the asteroid belt around Eps Eri using the NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope. In fact, the Spitzer data indicated two asteroid belts around Eps Eri, one in approximately the same position as in Earth’s solar system, and a second between the first belt and the comet ring, at about where Uranus’s orbit would be in our system.

"The Eps Eri system probably looks a lot like ours did when life first took root on Earth," said Backman at the time. "The main difference we know of so far is that it has an additional, third, ring of leftover planet construction material."

Other observations of Eps Eri had previously revealed a planet similar in size to Jupiter at a similar distance from its parent star. Backman’s Spitzer observations indicated that the innermost debris belt around Eps Eri is made of silicate material, like our asteroid belt, and is located just inward of the Jupiter-like planet’s orbit, also like our asteroid belt. Subsequently, an alternative theory was put forth, suggesting that the planetary debris around Eps Eri wasn’t configured in two belts, but rather in a broad sheet, which would not correlate with the positions of planets.

Now, new observations from SOFIA, which has a larger telescope diameter than Spitzer – 100 inches vs. 33.5 inches and thus, 3x better spatial resolution – confirmed that Eps Eri’s debris disk is concentrated into at least one narrow belt of debris, similar to our solar system’s asteroid belt. This confirms Dana’s hypothesis that in the Eps Eri system, as in our solar system, the formation of large planets results in adjacent debris belts.

Full details about NASA’s announcement can be found here.

To learn about the SETI Institute’s other activities with SOFIA through its Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors (AAA) program, click here.

http://www.seti.org/seti-institute/NASA-SOFIA-Confirms-Planetary-System-Similar-Ours

We May Have Found a Way to Cheat the Second Law of Thermodynamics

noreply@blogger.com (Vladimir G. Korsakov©) — Tue, 01 Nov 2016 09:02:00 +0000

Physicists created a new quantum theorem for entropy, and included is a possible exception.

The Second Law of Thermodynamics says that entropy in the universe must always increase. It's an immutable law of physics, and it's the reason you can't get free energy or perpetual motion machines. But a group of physicists may have found a way to break this law, at least in some specific circumstances.

The researchers, from Argonne National Laboratory, have developed a theoretical model where the Second Law is violated on a molecular level. Their results are published in the journal Science Direct.

The basic idea behind the discovery is the H-theorem, which says if you mix a hot thing and a cold thing, the mixture will end up somewhere in the middle. The H-theorem relies on a statistical interpretation of the way molecules move around. Because it's pretty much impossible to keep track of every single molecule, physicists just treat them as groups and use statistics to figure out how they'll behave.

The team from Argonne decided to look at the problem through the lens of quantum mechanics. They created a quantum H-theorem that is, at least theoretically, more accurate than the traditional theorem. Their new formula revealed that in some special cases, entropy might actually decrease, at least in the short term.

A few years before Boltzmann proposed his H-theorem, another physicist had an idea for a way to cheat the Second Law. James Clerk Maxwell proposed a hypothetical thought experiment: What if a small demon sat between the hot and cold things and controlled their mixing? The demon would only allow hot things to go one way and cold things to go another. Essentially, the demon could unmix the mixture.

It turns out that this doesn't actually violate the Second Law because the demon creates more entropy than it eliminates. Today, we use electricity to play this role, unmixing hot and cold things with our air conditioners and refrigerators. But the researchers' model suggests a quantum demon that could actually violate the Second Law.

This is all theoretical, of course. But if the theory pans out, quantum demons might someday power our air conditioners and refrigerators, saving you electricity and cheating the current laws of physics at the same time.

Source: Argonne National Laboratory via Futur

King Tut: DNA Results

noreply@blogger.com (Vladimir G. Korsakov©) — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 10:01:00 +0000

Airbus unveils its self flying 'Uber air' taxi: Vahana set to take to the skies by 2020 and can be summoned by smartphone

noreply@blogger.com (Vladimir G. Korsakov©) — Sat, 22 Oct 2016 20:44:00 +0000

Airbus is creating flying taxis called CityAirbus, and an autonomous helicopter under Project Vahana

Aerospace group says passengers will be able to summon self-piloting flying taxi on their smartphone

Prototype testing will begin in 2017 and Airbus hopes to have a model for sale on the market by 2020

It seat one person under a canopy that retracts like a motorcycle helmet visor and operates like a helicopter

Sitting in bumper to bumper traffic during rush hour could soon be a thing of the past.
Airbus is working on a fleet of air taxis with the hopes of relieving urban congestion and the firm has unveiled its first conceptual renderings.
Called Vahana, this sleek self-flying aircraft seats one passenger under a canopy that retracts similar to a motorcycle helmet visor and the vehicle is designed to operate like a helicopter.

Airbus has been working on a fleet of air taxis with the hopes of relieving urban congestion and the firm has unveiled its first conceptual renderings. Called Vahana, this sleek self-flying aircraft seats one passenger under a canopy that retracts similar to a motorcycle helmet visor and is summoned like an Uber

Project Vahana began earlier this year and is one of the first projects at A³, the advanced projects and partnerships outpost of Airbus Group in Silicon Valley.
‘At Vahana, we are passionate about personal flight. The aircraft we’re building doesn’t need a runway, is self-piloted, and can automatically detect and avoid obstacles and other aircraft,’ A³ chief executive Rodin Lyasoff wrote on the Vahana website.
‘Designed to carry a single passenger or cargo, we’re aiming to make it the first certified passenger aircraft without a pilot.’
The conceptual renders suggest that the air taxis will take off and land vertically, as there are helicopter-like struts, and tilting wings each with four electric motors, reports CNN Money.
And there is space for one passenger, who will sit under a canopy that retracts like a motorcycle helmet visor.
The team at Vahana aims to have a full-sized prototype in the air by the end of 2017 and a model for sale on the market by 2020.
Airbus noted last year that one of Vahana's first projects will be working with Uber to create a new business model for helicopter operators.
The French firm first announced plans for its flying taxis in August, which they said will be CityAirbus and passengers will be able summon these vehicles with their smartphone.
Airbus said that the biggest challenge in creating the CityAirbus taxi, will be making it fly autonomously.
The taxi will first be operated by a pilot, but will become self-driving once national regulations allow it.

MEET VAHANA
Project Vahana began earlier this year and is one of the first projects at A³, the advanced projects and partnerships outpost of Airbus Group in Silicon Valley.
The first conceptual renders have been revealed showing a sleek self-flying aircraft with room for one passenger who sits under a canopy that retracts similar to a motorcycle helmet visor.
Its also believed that the air taxis will take off and land vertically, as there are helicopter-like struts, and tilting wings each with four electric motors.
The team at Vahana aims to have a full-sized prototype in the air by the end of 2017 and a model on the market for sale by 2020.

'Many of the technologies needed, such as batteries, motors and avionics are most of the way there,' Rodin Lyasoff, the Airbus executive in charge of the project, said.
This is just starting to be introduced in cars, but no examples of it for aircraft currently exist.

Project Vahana began earlier this year and is one of the first projects at A³, the advanced projects and partnerships outpost of Airbus Group in Silicon Valley. There is space for one passenger, who will sit under a canopy that retracts like a motorcycle helmet visor

AIRBUS' PROJECT CITYAIRBUS: SELF-FLYING TAXIS THAT ARE SUMMONED LIKE UBERS
Airbus is designing a fleet of self-flying taxis called CityAirbus.
The taxis will first be operated by a pilot, but will fly themselves once national regulations allow it.
As well as flying taxis, Airbus is also creating an electric, autonomous helicopter in a project called Project Vahana.
The idea is that the helicopter can be used for both commercial and personal use.
In February, Airbus also announced a new project called 'Skyways' in which they are creating a parcel-delivery system above the University of Singapore campus.
Airbus hopes to conduct its first flight tests on the University of Singapore campus by 2017.

'That's one of the bigger challenges we aim to resolve as early as possible,' said Lyasoff.
The company thinks one way it could work would be for group vehicles, similar to car-sharing.
'We believe that global demand for this category of aircraft can support fleets of millions of vehicles worldwide,' Lyasoff said.
'In as little as ten years, we could have products on the market that revolutionise urban travel for millions of people.'

The conceptual renders suggest that the air taxis will take off and land vertically, as there are helicopter-like struts, and tilting wings each with four electric motors

The team at Vahana aims to have a full-sized prototype in the air by the end of 2017 and a model for sale on the market by 2020. Airbus noted last year that one of Vahana's first projects will be working with Uber to create a new business model for helicopter operators

Officially underway since February, the project’s team of internal and external developers and partners have agreed on a vehicle design and is beginning to build and test vehicle subsystems.

As well as flying taxis, Airbus is also creating an electric, autonomous helicopter in a plan called Project Vahana.

The idea is that the helicopter can be used for both commercial and personal use.

Airbus hopes to conduct its first flight tests on the University of Singapore campus by 2017.

Rodin Lyasoff, Airbus' lead engineer on Project Vahana, said: 'Many of the technologies needed, such as batteries, motors and avionics are most of the way there.'

Traffic during rush-hour can be a nightmare for commuters today, and with 60 per cent of the world's population expected to live in cities by 2030, the problem is only going to grow. The French firm first announced plans for its flying taxis in August, which they said will be CityAirbus and passengers will be able summon these vehicles with their smartphone

While it might currently seem like something out of a science fiction film, Airbus CEO, Tom Enders, said: 'It's not crazy to imagine that one day our big cities will have flying cars making their way along roads in the sky.

'In a not too distant future, we'll use our smartphones to book a fully automated flying taxi that will land outside our front door – without any pilot.'

In February, Airbus also announced a new project called 'Skyways' in which they are creating a drone parcel-delivery system above the University of Singapore campus.

The team hopes by demonstrating the safe operation of Skyways, this could help shape the regulatory framework for unmanned aircraft system operations, and potentially increase acceptance for passenger flight testing.

In February, Airbus also announced a new project called 'Skyways' in which they are creating a parcel-delivery system above the University of Singapore campus. As well as flying taxis, Airbus is also creating an electric, autonomous helicopter in a plan called Project Vahana. The idea is that the helicopter can be used for both commercial and personal use

Bangkok in Thailand is one of many cities which is notorious for huge traffic jams and delays getting from one place to another. However, by 2030, the population of Bangkok is set to hit 11.5 million which will further increase congestion. Airbus hopes to conduct its first flight tests on the University of Singapore campus by 2017

The idea of flying taxis brings to mind, The Jetsons, who live in a futuristic utopia in the year 2062, filled with elaborate robotic contraptions, aliens, holograms, and whimsical inventions like their flying car (pictured)

Disco balls could be the key to interstellar travel: Researchers say spherical mirrored craft travelling at a fifth the speed of light could visit nearby star systems to look for life.

noreply@blogger.com (Vladimir G. Korsakov©) — Thu, 13 Oct 2016 05:37:00 +0000

Most projects have focused on light 'sails' to travel the vast distances

Researchers say laserrs from Earth could power a spherical craft

Hope to visit Alpha Centauri a star system 25 trillion miles from Earth

Tiny nanocraft will fly on sails pushed by beams of light

Mission could reach Alpha Centauri within about 20 years of its launch

Disco balls could be the unlikely key to interstellar travel, researchers have found.

Most projects, including billionaire Yuri Milner's Breakthrough Starshot project with Stephen Hawking and Mark Zuckerberg, have focused on light 'sails' to travel the vast distances.

However, now researchers say a sphere could be far more effective.

Scroll down for video

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The interstellar disco ball, would have a probe hidden in the centre, according to the Harvard research. When a laser beam hit the thin, mirror-like surface, the light would bounce off and push the probe along.

HOW IT WOULD WORK

The 'spaceball' would look a lot like an interstellar disco ball, with the probe hidden in the center.

When a laser beam hit the thin, mirror-like surface, the light would bounce off and push the probe along.

The beam used would be weakest at its center and strongest at its outer edges.

That way, whenever the probe moved slightly off track, the increase in laser strength would stabilize its motion.

The ambitious plan would accelerate tiny probes through space at a fifth of the speed of light.

This would allow an interstellar probe to reach our closest neighbouring star system in just 20 years, sending back pictures of anything interesting once it arrived.

One technique is to push the spacecraft with high-powered lasers shot from Earth - and this would work best with a spherical craft.

'I looked at the proposed laser-propelled sails and found that none of them would be very stable,' Zachary Manchester at Harvard University, a member of the advisory committee behind the Breakthrough project, told New Scientist.

'But I found that a spherical sail would be, and it's very elegant.'

The 'spaceball' would look a lot like an interstellar disco ball, with the probe hidden in the centre.

When a laser beam hit the thin, mirror-like surface, the light would bounce off and push the probe along.

The beam used would be weakest at its centre and strongest at its outer edges.

That way, whenever the probe moved slightly off track, the increase in laser strength would stabilise its motion.

'The stability of a light sail riding on a laser beam is analyzed both analytically and numerically,' the researchers wrote in their paper, published on arXiv.

'Conical sails on Gaussian beams, which have been studied in the past, are shown to be unstable in general.

'A new architecture for a passively stable sail and beam configuration is proposed.

'The novel spherical shell sail design is capable of 'beam riding' without the need for active feedback control.'

The team also produced Full three-dimensional ray-tracing simulations are performed to verify our analytical results.

Stephen Hawking (left), Yuri Milner (center) and Mark Zuckerberg (right) have teamed up to launch a $100 million hunt for alien life. The project, dubbed 'Breakthrough Starshot', was announced in New York today

However, they admit there are still some hurdles.

'It'll cost lots of money and require a lot of research, but I think it will eventually be possible,' said Manchester.

Earlier this year it was revealed Stephen Hawking has teamed up with Russian billionaire Yuri Milner and Mark Zuckerberg to launch the most ambitious alien-hunting mission in history.

The $100m project, called Breakthrough Starshot, will rely on tiny so-called 'nanocraft' flying on sails pushed by beams of light through the universe.

They will travel to the Alpha Centauri star system 25 trillion miles (4.37 light years) away on a twenty year mission to look for alien life.

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The project, dubbed Breakthrough Starshot, will rely on tiny so-called 'nanocraft' flying on sails, similar to the one illustrated, pushed by beams of light. Each of these tiny craft will carry cameras and a built in GPS

WHAT IS ALPHA CENTURI?

The Alpha Centauri star system is 25 trillion miles (4.37 light years) away.

With today's fastest spacecraft, it would take about 30,000 years to get there.

Breakthrough Starshot aims to establish whether a gram-scale Nano craft, on a sail pushed by a light beam, can fly over a thousand times faster.

Astronomers estimate that there is a reasonable chance of an Earth-like planet existing in the 'habitable zones' of Alpha Centauri's three-star system.

'For the first time in human history, we can do more than look at the stars, we can reach them,' said Yuri Milner, founder of the Breakthrough Initiatives.

Each of these 'interstellar sailboats' is expected to carry cameras and a built in GPS to search deep space for habitable planets.

'55 years ago today, Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space.

'Today, we are preparing for the next great leap.'

'Earth is a wonderful place, but it might not last forever,' commented Stephen Hawking, 'Sooner or later, we must look to the stars.

'Breakthrough Starshot is a very exciting first step on that journey.

'With light beams, light sails and the lightest spacecraft ever built we can launch a mission to Alpha Centauri within a generation,' said Hawking.

The $100 million research and engineering program will seek proof of concept for using light beam to propel super lightweight nanocraft to 20 per cent of light speed.

A possible fly-by mission could reach Alpha Centauri within about 20 years of its launch, Milner said, and also revealed Mark Zuckerberg is joining the project's board.

These craft are designed to take images of planets and other scientific data in our nearest star system, Alpha Centauri, just over 20 years after their launch.

Astronomers estimate that there is a reasonable chance of an Earth-like planet existing in the 'habitable zones' of Alpha Centaur's three-star system.

The Alpha Centauri star system is 25 trillion miles (4.37 light years) away (right). With today's fastest spacecraft, it would take about 30,000 years to get there. Breakthrough Starshot aims to establish whether a gram-scale nanocraft, on a sail pushed by a light beam, can fly over a thousand times faster (left)

'Today we commit to this next great leap into this cosmos, because we are human and our nature is to fly.'

The program will be led by Pete Worden, the former director of Nasa Ames Research Center, and advised by a committee of world-class scientists and engineers.

'We take inspiration from Vostok, Voyager, Apollo and the other great missions,' said Worden.

'It's time to open the era of interstellar flight, but we need to keep our feet on the ground to achieve this.'

WHO IS YURI MILNER?

A onetime physics PhD student in Moscow who dropped out to move to the United States in 1990, Milner is one of a handful of technology tycoons devoting time and money to space exploration.

Yuri Milner was born into a Jewish family on 11 November 1961 in Moscow and studied theoretical physics at Moscow State University, graduating in 1985.

He began his business career selling illegal DOS computers in the Soviet Union. When the national government collapsed enrolled at Wharton School of Business to earn an MBA.

He then went on to work for the World Bank in Washington, D.C., as a Russian banking specialist tasked with the development of the private sector banking.

He rose up in the banking world, and from 1997 to 2000, Milner was Director General of the investment fund New Trinity Investments

But his real success came when he founded investment firms Digital Sky Technologies (DST) - now called Mail.ru Group - and DST Global.

DST Global has invested in a number of major technology firms including Facebook, Spotify, Twitter and Alibaba.

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An aerial view of Yuri Milner's mansion. Milner currently works as an investor and has earned his fortune from backing successful technology firms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. The Russian space enthusiast says he has replaced all the artwork in his $65 million mansion in San Francisco with 50 flat screen TVs.

In 2012, Milner established The Breakthrough Prize - a set of international awards recognize three fields of endeavour: Fundamental Physics, Life Sciences and Mathematics.

Laureates receive $3 million each in prize money, making the Breakthrough Prizes the largest scientific awards in the world.

Earlier this year, he teamed up with Stephen Hawking in the search for alien life as part of the 'Breakthrough Initiatives.'

The $100 million quest will see telescopes scour one million of the closest stars to Earth for faint signals thrown out into space by intelligent life beyond our own world.

As part of his long-term vision, Milner believes that the internet will develop into a 'global brain' that will work as a type of nervous system for Earth.

The Alpha Centauri star system is 25 trillion miles (4.37 light years) away.

With today's fastest spacecraft, it would take about 30,000 years to get there.

Breakthrough Starshot aims to establish whether a gram-scale Nano craft, on a sail pushed by a light beam, can fly over a thousand times faster.

It brings the Silicon Valley approach to space travel, capitalizing on exponential advances in certain areas of technology since the beginning of the 21st century.

Nanocrafts are gram-scale robotic spacecrafts comprising two main parts: A Starchip and Lightchip.

BREAKTHROUGH STARSHOT

The project involves deploying thousands of tiny spacecraft to travel to our nearest star system and send back pictures.

If successful, scientists could determine if Alpha Centauri, a star system about 25 trillion miles away, contains an Earth-like planet.

The catch: It could take years to develop the project, dubbed Breakthrough Starshot, and there is no guarantee it will work.

The small light-propelled vehicles will carry equipment like cameras and communication equipment.

Scientists hope the vehicles, known as Nano craft, will eventually fly at 20 per cent of the speed of light.

'The thing would look like the chip from your cell phone with this very thin gauzy light sail,' said Nasa's Pete Worden

'It would be something like 10, 12 feet across.'

He envisions sending a larger conventional spacecraft containing thousands of Nano craft into orbit, and then launching the Nano craft.

If they reach the star system and succeed in taking photographs, it would take about another four years to transmit them back.

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When in orbit, the tiny craft would unfold thin sails and then be propelled by powerful laser beams from Earth

'Starchip is about the size of a postage stamp, although a little bit thicker. It can be massed produced at the cost of an iPhone,' said Milner.

The light beamer is modular and scalable.

Once it is assembled and the technology matures, the cost of each launch is expected to fall to a few hundred thousand dollars.

The research and engineering phase is expected to last a number of years.

'The thing would look like the chip from your cell phone with this very thin gauzy light sail,' said Nasa's Pete Worden. 'It would be something like 10, 12 feet across'. Pictured on the left is Yuri Milner holding a prototype chip and on the right is an artist's impression of what the 'interstellar sailboat' would look like

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'Earth is a wonderful place, but it might not last forever,' commented Stephen Hawking, 'Sooner or later, we must look to the stars. 'Breakthrough Starshot is a very exciting first step on that journey'

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A still image taken from a video rendering shows phased arrays of lasers which could be used on Breakthrough Starshot, a $100 million research and engineering program aiming to demonstrate proof of concept for light-propelled spacecrafts

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'55 years ago today, Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space,' said Yuri Milner, who was named after the pioneering astronaut (shown on screen). 'Today, we are preparing for the next great leap'

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Breakthrough Starshot is likely to target Alpha Centauri, the closest star system to Earth, where an an Earth-like planet may exist within its 'habitable zone.' It could also help confirm the existence of Planet Nine (illustrated)

THE CHALLENGES

The idea has precedents with mixed results.

Two years ago, Cornell University's KickSat fizzled after the craft carrying 104 micro-satellites into space failed to release them.

The plan was to let the tiny satellites orbit and collect data for a few weeks.

Nasa's Peter Worden acknowledges challenges, including the Nano craft surviving impact on launch.

They would then endure 20 years of travel through the punishing environment of interstellar space, with obstacles such as dust collisions.

'The problems remaining to be solved - any one of them are showstoppers,' Worden said.

Governments likely would not take on the research due to its speculative nature, he said, yet the technology is promising enough to merit pursuing.

Following that, development of the ultimate mission to Alpha Centauri would require a budget comparable to the largest current scientific experiments.

However, the key elements of the proposed system design are based on technology either already available or likely to be attainable in the near future under reasonable assumptions.

The proposed light propulsion system is on a scale significantly exceeding any currently operational analog.

The very nature of the project calls for global co-operation and support.

Clearance for launches would be required from all the appropriate government and international organizations.

As the technology required for interstellar travel matures, a number of additional opportunities will emerge, including the following:

Astronomers estimate that there is a reasonable chance of an Earth-like planet existing in the 'habitable zones' of Alpha Centauri's three-star system.

A number of scientific instruments, ground-based and space-based, are being developed and enhanced, which will soon identify and characterize planets around nearby stars.

A separate Breakthrough Initiative will support some of these projects.

The Breakthrough Starshot initiative will establish a research grant program, and will make available other funding to support relevant scientific and engineering research and development.

The idea for a spacecraft to be equipped with a solar sail to use the solar wind for propulsion was described by the late astrophysicist Carl Sagan four decades ago.

It was theorised that solar sails could accelerate spacecraft far beyond the speeds of traditional fuels, to make interplanetary - and interstellar - travel more feasible.

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12: Scientist and investor Yuri Milner holds up a prototype of the 'Star Chip', a small robotic space craft that will enable intersteller travel as he poses with Professor Stephen Hawking and Professor Freeman Dyson

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The team envisions sending a larger conventional spacecraft containing thousands of nanocraft into orbit, and then launching the nanocraft

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'For the first time in human history, we can do more than look at the stars, we can reach them,' said Yuri Milner (left), founder of the Breakthrough Initiatives. 'Earth is a wonderful place, but it might not last forever,' added Stephen Hawking (right), 'Sooner or later, we must look to the stars'

A BRIEF HISTORY OF SOLAR SAILS

LightSail is not the first spacecraft to test this innovative form of propulsion.

Japan's Ikaros probe successfully 'sailed' on its way to Venus in 2010.

Ikaros measured 2,000 square ft (185 square meters) in size.

Nasa also tested solar sails with its NanoSail-D2 satellite in January 2011, with a sail expanding to 110sq ft (10 square metres).

The spacecraft burned up in Earth's atmosphere as planned in November 2011.

The most recent version of this technology has four triangular sails, made of mylar, that create a rectangular-shaped surface.

It can send a cubesat to an orbital altitude of 500 miles (800 km), before sails deploy creating a total surface area of 32 square meters.

The Planetary Society recently released a video showing a sail deployment test at Ecliptic Enterprises Corporation in Pasadena.

LightSail 1 was launched on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on 20 May from Cape Canaveral in Florida.

At its core is a tiny craft made up of three 'CubeSats', which are essentially tiny spacecraft that can be launched relatively cheaply.

In total, the core of the vehicle weighs 22lbs (10kg) and is just 11.8-inches (30cm) high and 3.9-inches (10cm) wide - about the size of a loaf of bread.

At the bottom of the spacecraft on each of its four sides, a huge solar sail has been 'folded up'.

This sail, measuring 345 square ft (32 square meters) in size, is made of an extremely reflective material called Mylar.

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The idea for a spacecraft to be equipped with a solar sail to use the solar wind for propulsion was described by the late astrophysicist Carl Sagan four decades ago. Although not confirmed, the project is likely to use technology that developed by The Planetaru Society's LightSail (pictured)

It is just 4.5 microns thick - about a quarter of the thickness of a bin bag.

If it is unfurled, photons from the sun will strike the sail and push it forwards, similar to how a sail on Earth catches the wind.

The push is extremely minimal - less than holding a sheet of paper in your hand - but it is theorized that, over time, this push could build up enough to reach high speeds.

The latest project is part of Milner's decade-long search for extraterrestrial intelligence , which he set up last year, under the banner Breakthrough Initiatives.

Milner, who is worth $2.9 billion, has collaborated with Hawking before.

In July 2015, the two revealed a $100 million plan, called 'Breakthrough Listen', to look for alien life.

Worden said today that in the near future, Breakthrough Listen, will observe all stars within 25 light years from Earth.

'In the last five years, we have discovered that planets in the habitable zone of stars are common,' Breakthrough Initiatives' the website states.

'Based on the numbers discovered so far, there are estimated to be billions more in our galaxy alone.

'And there are hundreds of billions of galaxies in the visible Universe.

'Yet we are still in the dark about life. Are we really alone? Or are there others out there?

'It's one of the biggest questions. And only science can answer it.'

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From left to right; Freeman Dyson, Professor, Princeton Institute for Advanced Study; Ann Druyan, CEO of Cosmos Studios; Avi Loeb, Professor of Science at Harvard University; Mae Jamison, Nasa Astronaut; and Peter Worden, Chairman, Breaktrough Prize Foundation

The first SPACE NATION is revealed: 'Asgardia' will defend the Earth against deadly attacks from asteroids - and now you can sign up to be a citizen

noreply@blogger.com (Vladimir G. Korsakov©) — Thu, 13 Oct 2016 05:11:00 +0000

Bizarre project plans to create a protective shield for humankind
The project will kick off with the launch of a satellite in August next year
Team hopes to start a framework for ownership and nationhood in space
Asgardia will allow the first 100,000 people to register to become citizens

It might seem like an idea taken straight out of science fiction, but a 'space nation' could soon become a reality.

At least, that is if plans developed by an international group of scientists, announced today, go ahead.

The team has announced it will kick-start the independent nation, which it has dubbed Asgardia, by launching a satellite next year.

It might seem like an idea taken straight out of science fiction, but a nation of people living in space could soon become a reality. This is if plans developed by an international group scientists, which have been announced today, go ahead. Artist's impression pictured

THE THREAT OF SPACE JUNK

There are estimated to be more than 20,000 traceable objects of man-made space junk, including old spacecraft, upper-stage rockets and final stage vehicles in near-Earth orbits.

Natural objects in space also pose a threat to life on the planet.

For example. the impact of the Chelyabinsk meteorite which crashed over a major Russian town in 2013, injuring 1,100 people and damaging 4,000 buildings.

People can sign up to become a citizen on the Asgardia project website, but only the first 100,000 will become citizens.

The project is creating a new framework for ownership and nationhood in space, by creating a completely new nation, according to the project leaders.

The team, led by Dr Igor Ashurbeyli, founder of the Aerospace International Research Center, unveiled the bizarre plans at a press conference today in Paris.

One of the early developments planned by the team will be the creation of a state-of-the-art protective shield for all humankind.

This will protect the world from cosmic threats, both man-made and natural, to life on earth.

This includes space debris, solar flares and asteroid collisions, the researchers say.

There are estimated to be more than 20,000 traceable objects of man-made space junk, including old spacecraft, upper-stage rockets and final stage vehicles in near-Earth orbits.

The launch of the first Asgardia satellite is planned for 2017, and the scientists hope the project will develop from there. When it is launched, the satellite will enter a low-earth orbit

The team is led by Dr Igor Ashurbeyli, pictured, founder of the Aerospace International Research Center

Natural objects in space also pose a threat to life on the planet.

For example. the impact of the Chelyabinsk meteorite which crashed over a major Russian town in 2013, injuring 1,100 people and damaging 4,000 buildings.

'The project's concept comprises three parts – philosophical, legal and scientific/technological,' said Dr Igor Ashurbeyli.

'Asgardia is a fully-fledged and independent nation, and a future member of the United Nations - with all the attributes this status entails.'

'The essence of Asgardia is Peace in Space, and the prevention of Earth's conflicts being transferred into space,' Dr Ashurbeyli said.

People can sign up to become a citizen on the Asgardia project website . Asgardia's website will allow the first 100,000 people to register to become citizens of the new space nation

The name comes from the city of the skies ruled by Odin from Valhalla in Norse mythology. Asgard is also the name of a fictional realm and its capital city within the Marvel Comics universe The Norse city of Asgard, from the film Thor is pictured.

The launch of the first Asgardia satellite is planned for 2017, and the scientists hope the project will develop from there.

When it is launched, the satellite will enter a low-earth orbit.

'As low-earth orbit becomes more accessible, what's often called the 'democratisation'of space, a pathway is opening up to new ideas and approaches from a rich diversity of participants,' said Professor David Alexander, Director of the Rice Space Institute at Rice University, Houston, Texas.

ASGARDIA: THE FIRST SPACE NATION

Asgardia is the first 'space nation'.

The name comes from the city of the skies ruled by Odin from Valhalla in Norse mythology.

It is described as 'a fully-fledged and independent nation, and a future member of the United Nations'.

The Asgardia Project Team is made up of experts from around the globe.

The project team is being led by Dr Igor Ashurbeyli, a Russian scientist and founder of the Aerospace International Research Center (AIRC) in Vienna.

Yesterday, he became chairman of UNESCO’s ‘Science of Space’ committee.

By creating a new space nation, the experts behind the project hope to be able to develop future space technology free from the restrictions of state control.

The first Asgardia satellite is planned to be launched in autumn 2017.

One of Asgardia's first projects will be the creation of a protective shield to protect humankind from space debris, including asteroids.

The project will involve members of the public by running competitions to help design the nation's flag and insignia.

Asgardia's website will allow the first 100,000 people to register to become citizens of the new space nation.

'The mission of Asgardia to create opportunities for broader access to space, enabling non-traditional space nations to realise their scientific aspirations is exciting.'

The researchers hope by creating this 'space nation', they will start a new framework for ownership and nationhood in space.

'An appropriate and unique global space legal regime is indispensable for governing outer space in order to ensure it is explored on a sustainable basis for exclusively peaceful purposes and to the benefit of all humanity, including future generations living on planet earth and in outer space,' said Professor Ram Jakhu, Director, Institute of Air and Space Law at McGill University, Montreal, Canada.

'The development of foundational principles of such a legal regime ought to take place at the same time as technological progress is being made.'

How many times a day do YOU shout at your PC? Researchers say the average American suffers 40,000 bouts of 'tech rage' over their lifetime

noreply@blogger.com (Vladimir G. Korsakov©) — Wed, 12 Oct 2016 20:49:00 +0000

Americans will experience 40,800 technology malfunctions in a lifetime
A new study finds these issues can cause 'tech rage' and 'tech stress'
Many have reported physical alignments brought on by this stress
Experts say working out is the best way to combat the rage and stress

Weak Wi-Fi connections, a slow computer and an office printer that doesn't work properly are enough to make anyone's blood boil with 'tech rage'.

A new study reveals millions of Americans experience at least two types of technology malfunctions a day and 40,800 over their lifetime - and these breakdowns are having a huge effect on stress levels.

However, experts have found that working out, such as walking, is a simple solution to calm your nerves.

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A new study reveals that millions of Americans experience at least two types of technology malfunctions a day and 40,800 in their lifetime - and these breakdowns have been found to increase stress levels

'TECH RAGE' IN NUMBERS

A new study reveals that millions of Americans experience at least two types of technology malfunctions a day and will put up with at least 40,800 in their lifetime.

A team from 24 Hour fitness surveyed 2,000 Americans to understand just big of an effect technology malfunctions can have.

One in seven Americans have thrown their phone across the room in frustration after it failed to function properly.

Half of the 2,000 individuals in the study reported they have also yelled at a piece of technology and 16 percent have been reduced to tears.

Four in ten adults report stiff necks brought on by stress, one in four are plagued by achy joints and muscles and over a quarter suffer from stress-induced migraines.

The idea of 'tech rage' may sound like an imaginary emotion, but many people have experienced this phenomenon firsthand.

In April 2015, a man from Colorado Springs, Colorado carried his computer into an alley and shot it eight times with a handgun after a long battle with the uncooperative machine.

Authorities said Lucas Hinch, 37, was cited for discharging a fireman within city limits.

'Investigation revealed a resident was fed up with fighting his computer for the last several months,' said the statement, entitled 'Man Kills His Computer.'

Although Hinch's bout sounds a bit more extreme than most, a study conducted by 24 Hour Fitness reveals that 65 percent of US adults say the regularly are overcome with fury as a result of unreliable technology.

Other than faulty devices, slow downloads, pop-ups and logging in or password problems have also been found to trigger fits of rage.

A team from 24 Hour fitness surveyed 2,000 Americans to understand just big of an effect technology malfunctions can have – and many reported it's that devices have a mind of their own that increases stress levels.

Restarting by themselves or not charging properly were issues found to take a toll on people's wellbeing.

And one in seven Americans has even thrown their phone across the room in frustration after it failed to function properly.

Half of the 2,000 individuals in the study reported they have also yelled at a piece of technology and 16 percent have been reduced to tears.

A team from 24 Hour fitness surveyed 2,000 Americans to understand just big of an effect technology malfunctions can have. Many have reported physical alignments brought on by the stress of technology breakdowns

A fifth reported arguing with partners because of technology fail and a third have been sent into stress-filled frustrations if they experienced a disturbance while streaming a movie.

What appears to be even more alarming is that stress from technology breakdown is found to have a physical effect.

Four in ten adults report stiff necks brought on by stress, one in four are plagued by achy joints and muscles and over a quarter suffer from stress-induced migraines.

TOO MUCH TECHNOLOGY IS BAD FOR YOUR MEMORY

Scientists say that research is urgently needed into the long-term consequences of relying on gadgets rather than our brains.

Evan Risko, a professor of cognitive psychology at the University of Waterloo, warned: ‘If you are allowed to store some to-be-remembered information on a computer, chances are you won’t devote cognitive real estate to remembering it.

‘As a result, your ability to remember that information without the computer will likely be reduced.

‘There’s little doubt that these new technologies are affecting what we remember.’

Studies on sat-nav use have found that while they helped motorists on their journey, they affected memory.

The drivers remembered less about what they have seen along the way – and struggled to retrace the route when asked to drive it again without the aid of the sat-nav.

Another study found that museum-goers given digital cameras remembered objects they had photographed less well than other exhibits.

Other research suggests that the vast amounts of information available on Google may fool us into thinking we are smarter than we actually are.

However, many of these individuals felt the need to battle stress with gym workouts, yoga and getting extra rest – remedies experts say are among the best.

'Fitness goals are about more than exercise. At 24 Hour Fitness, we believe the time you spend in the gym helps make the life you lead outside the best it can be, and that includes helping you deal with the daily stress of technology breakdown,' said Mike Carney, vice president, marketing, 24 Hour Fitness.

The survey revealed that most vulnerable place for tech stress is in work environments.

More than half of those polled said tech stress often strikes when they are up against the clock on a deadline, or need things done fast.

The survey also reveals that 31 percent of people have found the secret weapon to beat the stress - working out. The most popular methods to reduce stress were found to be walking or listening to music

One in seven has missed an important work deadline because technology failed them.

The research also examined the link between stress levels and exercise/movement, and found that more than 70 percent of people feel their job doesn't allow them to move around enough during the day.

However, the survey also reveals that 31 percent of people have found the secret weapon to beat the stress - working out.

The most popular methods to reduce stress were found to be walking or listening to music.

And 57 percent feel a mental boost from working out, whereas found in ten experience emotional benefits.

The 'workout effect' as a solution to combat tech stress that lasts for over four hours, according to experts at 24 Hour fitness.

'Science has proven how important a healthy lifestyle is, not only for disease prevention, but also in dealing with the many stressors of daily life,' said Carney.

'When you practice theses skills, you become better prepared for enjoying daily life and managing annoying and more serious life stressors.'

Proxima b 'may well' harbour life: New study claims 'second Earth' just four light years away has oceans and a thin gassy atmosphere

noreply@blogger.com (Vladimir G. Korsakov©) — Thu, 06 Oct 2016 21:29:00 +0000

The planet, named Proxima b, orbits our closest star, Proxima Centauri
It is around 1.3 times the size of Earth
New study simulated water on the planet
Concluded it 'very well host liquid water on its surface, and therefore also some forms of life'
Hoped we could send a robotic explorer to the planet

A team including CNRS astrophysicists have calculated the size and surface properties of the planet dubbed Proxima b, and concluded it may be an 'ocean planet' similar to Earth.

Scientists announced Proxima b's discovery in August, and said it may be the first exoplanet—planet outside our Solar System—to one day be visited by robots from Earth.

The planet orbits within a 'temperate' zone from its host star Proxima Centauri, some four light years from us.

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An artist's impression of a view of the surface of the planet Proxima b orbiting the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Solar System. A team including CNRS astrophysicists have calculated the size and surface properties of the planet dubbed Proxima b, and concluded it may be an 'ocean planet' similar to Earth.

It is estimated to have a mass about 1.3 times that of Earth, and orbits about 7.5 million kilometres (4.6 million miles) from its star—about a tenth the distance of innermost planet Mercury from the Sun.

'Contrary to what one might expect, such proximity does not necessarily mean that Proxima b's surface is too hot' for water to exist in liquid form, said a CNRS statement.

Proxima Centauri is smaller and 1,000 times weaker than our Sun, which means Proxima b is at exactly the right distance for conditions to be potentially habitable.

'The planet may very well host liquid water on its surface, and therefore also some forms of life,' the statement said.

In a study to be published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, an international team led by researchers at the Marseille Astrophysics Laboratory (CNRS / Aix-Marseille Université) has determined its dimensions.

The size of exoplanets are generally calculated by measuring how much light they block out, from Earth's perspective, when they pass in front of their host star.

But no such transit of Proxima b has yet been observed, so the team had to rely on simulations to estimate the planet's composition and radius.

What Proxima b xould look like: From left to right: Proxima b with the smallest attainable radius (65% metallic core surrounded by a rocky mantle separated into two phases), Earth (ditto with 32.5% core) and b with the Proxima maximum authorized range (50% of rocky mantle surrounded by a layer of water in solid and liquid form).

They calculated the radius was between 0.94 and 1.4 times that of Earth, which is 6,371 kilometres on average.

Assuming a minimum radius of 5,990 km, the planet would be very dense, with a metallic core making up two-thirds of the entire planet's mass, surrounded by a rocky mantle.

If there is surface water, it would not contribute more than 0.05 percent to the planet's total mass, the team said—similar to Earth, where it is about 0.02 percent.

In the larger planet scenario, with a radius of 8,920 km, Proxima b's mass would be split 50-50 between a rocky centre and surrounding water.

WHAT MAKES PROXIMA B SO UNIQUE

Distance: This is the closest Earth-like planet we could ever find.

Orbiting our nearest star, the planet is only four light years away.

Missions to send spacecraft to the planet to examine for signs of life are already in planning, and could happen within decades.

Composition: The planet is rocky and a similar size to Earth.

Temperature: It lies in the 'habitable zone' of its star, which means there could be liquid water on its surface - a key ingredient for alien life.

The temperature on the surface of the planet could be between -90° and 30° Celsius (-130 and 86 Fahrenheit).

Atmosphere: If Proxima b has an atmosphere, the simple ingredients - water, carbon dioxide, and rock - that are needed for the formation of biochemical cycles that we call life, could all be present and interacting on the planet's surface.

'In this case, Proxima b would be covered by a single, liquid ocean 200 km deep,' said the CNRS.

'In both cases, a thin, gassy atmosphere could surround the planet, like on Earth, rendering Proxima b potentially habitable,' it concluded.

Earlier this year, a group of researchers, using the European Southern Observatory (ESO) telescopes, have named the exciting world Proxima b.

Thousands of exoplanets have been discovered before, but unlike the others, this planet is within our reach.

While four light years is a long way - more than 25 trillion miles - future generations of super-fast space craft could conceivably travel to the planet within the next few decades.

If there is surface water, it would not contribute more than 0.05 percent to the planet's total mass, the team said—similar to Earth, where it is about 0.02 percent.

A comparison of several exoplanets. Curves correspond to specific compositions used in the model of internal structure. The existing area of Proxima b is drawn in gray and takes into account the uncertainty of its mass and its different possible compositions.

Much further in the future the planet may even be colonised by space travellers from Earth.

One possible obstacle to life evolving and flourishing on the planet is the way it hugs its parent star.

Proxima b is only 4.6 million miles (7.5 million km) from the star, 5 per cent of the distance between the Earth and the sun, and takes just 11.2 days to complete one orbit. It is around 1.3 times as massive as Earth.

But because Proxima Centauri is a dim red dwarf star radiating much less heat than the sun, it still occupies the 'habitable zone' where temperatures are mild enough to permit liquid surface water.

The temperature on the surface of the planet could be between -90° and 30° Celsius (-130 and 86 Fahrenheit).

On the other hand, the planet is blasted by powerful ultraviolet rays and X-rays from the star. Any life that evolved on its surface would have to be hardened against the radiation.

But the prospect of finding life on Proxima b has excited scientists.

'Many exoplanets have been found and many more will be found, but searching for the closest potential Earth-analogue and succeeding has been the experience of a lifetime for all of us,' Dr Guillem Anglada-Escudé, lead author of the paper, said.

'Many people's stories and efforts have converged on this discovery. The result is also a tribute to all of them. The search for life on Proxima b comes next.'

Two separate papers were published , describing the habitability of Proxima b and its climate.

The papers find the existence of liquid water on the planet today 'cannot be ruled out'.

This means water may be present over the surface of the planet. But it would only be in the sunniest regions, either in an area in the hemisphere of the planet facing the star.

The way Proxima b rotates, strong radiation from its star and the formation history of the planet makes its climate quite different from that of the Earth.

It is unlikely that Proxima b has seasons. But if liquid water does exist on the planet, it could mean alien life might thrive there.

If this is the case, we could discover it within decades, experts have said.

Artist's impression of an Earth-like exoplanet. The still nameless planet is believed to be Earth-like and orbits at a distance to Proxima Centauri that could allow it to have liquid water on its surface - an important requirement for the emergence of life

PROXIMA CENTAURI

Just over four light-years from the solar system lies a red dwarf star.

Because it is the sun's closest neighbour, the star has been named Proxima Centauri.

This cool star in the constellation of Centaurus is too faint to be seen with the unaided eye and lies near to the much brighter pair of stars known as Alpha Centauri AB.

A team called Pale Red Dot is behind the discovery, which includes researchers from the University of Hertfordshire, Queen Mary University of London, the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía in Granada, Spain and the University of Göttingen in Germany, among others.

The researchers used the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS), an instrument on the European Southern Observatory's 3.6-metre La Silla telescope in Chile's Atacama Desert.

The telescope measured light from Proxima, the fingerprints that reveal what the star is made of.

Small shifts in the frequency of the starlight can be used to work out tiny movements of the star in response to an orbiting planet's gravitational pull.

OTHER 'SECOND EARTHS' THAT HAVE BEEN FOUND ACROSS THE UNIVERSE

Nasa's Kepler telescope has also been busy in the hunt for alien life, finding over 4,000 new planets outside our solar system over the past three years.

Earlier this month a team of astronomers has narrowed down this list to those with the most potential to have liquid water, or even life.

They pinpointed 20 out of the 4,000 that are most likely to be like our own, and are starting to look more closely at these candidates.

These 'second Earths' are much further away than Proxima b, so are harder to explore.

216 Kepler planets are located within the 'habitable zone' - an area around a star in which an orbiting planet's surface could hold liquid water.

Of those, they list 20 that are the best candidates to be habitable rocky planets like Earth.

The list includes Kepler-186 f, Kepler-62 f, Kepler-283 c and Kepler-296 f.

'The first hints of a possible planet were spotted back in 2013, but the detection was not convincing,' said Dr Anglada-Escudé.

'Since then we have worked hard to get further observations off the ground with help from ESO and others. The recent Pale Red Dot campaign has been about two years in the planning.'

The Pale Red Dot data, when combined with earlier observations made at ESO observatories and elsewhere, revealed the clear signal of an exciting result.

At times Proxima Centauri is approaching Earth at about 3 miles (5km) per hour and at times it is receding at the same speed.

This pattern of changing velocities repeats with a period of 11.2 days, meaning that is how long it takes to orbit its sun.

The orbit of the planet around Proxima Centauri (Proxima b) with the same region of the Solar System.

Careful analysis of the tiny light shifts showed the planet has a mass at least 1.3 times that of the Earth, orbiting about 4.3 million miles (7 million kilometres) from Proxima Centauri.

Some questions about whether life could exist are left unanswered, however.

'If Proxima b has an atmosphere and if there is water there, and these are big 'ifs', it is intriguing to think that the simple ingredients - water, carbon dioxide, and rock - that are needed for the formation of biochemical cycles that we call life, could all be present and interacting on the planet's surface,' said Dr Mikko Tuomi, from the Centre for Astrophysical Research at the University of Hertfordshire.

COULD WE TRAVEL TO THE PLANET?

The true test would be to go there. Using conventional space technology (either manned or unmanned) and some clever slingshot manoeuvres, it would take at least 15,000 years to reach Proxima Centauri.

But the ambitious Starshot Project aims to send tiny robots to this star system, propelled by powerful Earth-based lasers.

They are estimating that it would only take about 20 years to get there in this manner, travelling at a speed of approximately 60,000 km per second (or 135m miles per hour).

Those robots could relay back data about the system, and potentially even close-up pictures of Proxima b.

Source: Martin Archer, Space Plasma Physicist, Queen Mary University of London, writing for The Conversation.

'But we do not really know. We need to study this system a lot more over the coming decades in order to be able to start answering such questions.

'However, it is a great place to start looking for life outside the solar system and it is a very exciting discovery.'

'It certainly seems possible that we could find something out of this world within our lifetime,' said Martin Archer, Space Plasma Physicist, Queen Mary University of London, writing for The Conversation.

At least some additional information about the environmental conditions on Proxima Centauri b should come sooner rather than later, the researchers say.

Now that the planet has been detected, there is an opportunity for follow-up observations.

A possible detection of life, or at least of conditions suggestive of the presence of life, is likely to be decades off

But these observations provide opportunities to learn about a planet around the most common type of star in our galaxy – with lessons that are interesting in their own right, for astronomers seeking a systematic understanding of planet formation in our home galaxy.

Black holes may be 'back doors' to other parts of the universe, researchers claim

Researchers say there could be a wormhole at the center of black holes

Any matter passing through would be stretched to extremes to enter

It would be returned to normal size upon exiting in a different region

This goes against idea that matter sucked into black hole is lost forever

Deep inside of a black hole lies a region known as the gravitational singularity, where space-time curves toward infinity, and no matter passing through can survive – or so it’s been thought.In a new study, researchers suggest there may instead be a way out through a wormhole at the center of the black hole, which acts as a ‘back door.’By this theory, anything traveling through the black hole would be ‘spaghettified,’ or stretched to the extreme, but returned back to its normal size when it emerges in a different region of the universe.

In the new theory, anything traveling through the black hole would be ‘spaghettified,’ or stretched to the extreme, but returned back to its normal size when it emerges in a different region of the universe. An artist's impression of a wormhole is pictured
Physicists from the Institute of Corpuscular Physics in Valencia propose a new scenario that considers the singularity as an imperfection in the geometric structure of space-time.To test this idea, the researchers took uncommon approach, using geometric structures similar to those of a crystal of graphene layer, which better match the activity inside of a black hole.

For the study, published in the journal Classical and Quantum Gravity, the team focused on a type of black hole which is motionless and electrically-charged.
‘Black holes are a theoretical laboratory for trying out new ideas about gravity,’ says Gonzalo Olmo, a Ramón y Cajal researcher at the University of Valencia.
‘Just as crystals have imperfections in their microscopic structure, the central region of a black hole can be interpreted as an anomaly in space-time, which requires new geometric elements in order to be able to describe them more precisely.
‘We explored all possible options, taking inspiration from facts observed in nature.’
In a new study, researchers suggest there may instead be a way out through a wormhole at the centre of the black hole, which acts as a ¿back door.¿ An illustration of a black hole is pictured
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In a new study, researchers suggest there may instead be a way out through a wormhole at the centre of the black hole, which acts as a ‘back door.’ An illustration of a black hole is pictured
By analyzing the new geometries, the researchers found a center point with a small, spherical surface, representing a wormhole at the heart of a black hole.
‘Our theory naturally resolves several problems in the interpretation of electrically-charged black holes,’ Olmo explains.

WHAT IS SPAGHETTIFICATION?

If you stray too close to a black hole, then you will stretch out, just like spaghetti, due to a gravitation gradient across your body.
Imagine that you are headed feet first towards a black hole.
Since your feet are physically closer to the black hole, they will feel a stronger gravitation pull towards it than your head will.
You arms, by virtue of the fact that they're not at the centre of your body, will be attracted in a slightly different direction than your head is.
This will cause parts of the body toward the edges to be brought inwards.
The net result is not only an elongation of the body overall, but also a thinning out in the middle.
Hence, your body or any other object, such as Earth, will start to resemble spaghetti long before it hits the centre of the black hole.
‘In the first instance, we resolve the problem of the singularity, since there is a door at the centre of the black hole, the wormhole, through which space and time can continue.’
The equations revealed that a wormhole at the centre would be smaller than an atomic nucleus, but increases in size relative to the charge stored within the black hole.
Researchers say the matter inside the black hole would not be lost forever as it¿s previously been thought, and would instead be expelled into another area of the universe.

Researchers say the matter inside the black hole would not be lost forever as it’s previously been thought, and would instead be expelled into another area of the universe.
If any matter were passing through, it would be stretched to extreme measures, allowing it to enter the wormhole.
Then, it would be compacted as it comes out on the other side.
While it’s unlikely that a human would survive this process, the researchers say the matter inside the black hole would not be lost forever as it’s previously been thought, and would instead be expelled into another area of the universe.
And, the researchers say there would be no need for ‘exotic’ energy to generate the wormhole, as Einstein’s theory of gravity suggests.
‘In our theory,’ the researcher explained, ‘the wormhole appears out of ordinary matter and energy, such as an electric field.’

WHAT IS A WORMHOLE?

Space-time can be warped and distorted. It takes an enormous amount of matter or energy to create such distortions, but theoretically, distortions are possible.
In the case of the wormhole, a shortcut is made by warping the fabric of space-time. Imagine folding a piece of paper with two pencil marks drawn on it to represent two points in space-time.
The line between them shows the distance from one point to the other in normal space-time.
If the paper is now bent and folded over almost double - the equivalent to warping space-time - then poking the pencil through the paper provides a much shorter way of linking the two points, in the same way a wormhole would create a shortcut.

The problem with using wormholes to travel in space or time is that they are inherently unstable. When a particle enters a wormhole, it also creates fluctuations that cause the structure to collapse in on it.

Scientists Are Now Even More Confused By Potential "Alien Superstructure"

After observing Tabby's Star for four years, results only provoke more questions.

Within our own galaxy, some astronomers believe there may be a massive piece of alien technology, built to harvest energy from a distant star. The star, KIC 8462852, also known as Tabby's Star, exhibits strange behavior, flickering and dimming, that can't be explained by any known astronomical phenomena. A new, unpublished study posted to arXiv, reports the results of studying images of the star from the Kepler Telescope over the past four years. The paper shows shocking results: the star's luminosity varied, sometimes dipping by 20% over the course of the study period. Even more perplexingly, its total luminosity, or flux, diminished by 4% overall over that time.

"The part that really surprised me was just how rapid and non-linear [the dimming] was," study author Ben Montet of Caltech told Gizmodo. "We spent a long time trying to convince ourselves this wasn't real. We just weren't able to."

Tabby's Star was first observed in the 19th century, providing scientists plenty of data to reference in their search for answers. Another researcher, Bradley Schaefer of Louisiana State University, published a study earlier this year claiming that the light output of the star has decreased by 19% in 100 years. His claims were highly disputed. Now, this data seems to back up the assertion that the star is dimming at an astonishingly rapid rate, even if Schaefer's data is not totally accurate.

One of the explanations for this phenomena, and the one that has received the most press, is the idea that the star could be flickering and dimming due to an "alien superstructure" that extraterrestrial beings are building around their star as a way, perhaps, to collect energy (these hypothetical structure are known as Dyson spheres). Though there's been no proof of this hypothesis, it also can't be ruled out. The other theories, including that the star is blocked by the debris of a smashed planet, or what's known as "gravity darkening," would go towards explaining parts of the phenomenon, but no current theory could explain it entirely.

"The new paper states, and I agree, that we don't have any really good models for this sort of behavior," Jason Wright, the Penn State astronomer who first suggested the alien superstructure theory said. "That's exciting!"

Prehistoric puzzle no more: Illinois fossil a vertebrate

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — For decades, fossil hunters combing the soil near a creek in north-central Illinois have been rewarded with the preserved remnants of a prehistoric creature, its wide-set eyes on stalks and a long, arm-like appendage extending from below them with a pincer-like mouth.

There was no doubt that the Tully monster, Illinois' official state fossil, was "very, very bizarre," said Scott Lidgard, a paleontologist at Chicago's Field Museum. But no one could say exactly what the soft-bodied creature was.

That changed Wednesday with a paper published in the journal Nature: A group of researchers, Lidgard included, concluded the Tully monster had a precursor to a backbone, making it a vertebrate, or primitive fish.

The origin of vertebrates is still an open question, he said, and there aren't many good examples of preserved, soft-bodied fishes. It's also personally important for Lidgard, who's long been charged with the museum's collection of 1,800 Tully monster fossils, the largest in the world.

"I'm pretty excited because I've had to live with this guy, something I wish I knew what it was, for my 32 years here," he said. "And it's been a puzzle."

The fossilized remnants of the Tully monster have not been found outside Illinois, only in the Mazon Creek area, about 50 miles southwest of downtown Chicago. About 300 million years ago, the spot was a warm coastal marsh along a long-gone sea near the equator. This was before the dinosaurs; Tyrannosaurus rex didn't come about until roughly 67 million years ago.

The abundant plant life eventually became coal, and eons later, strip mining dug up piles of earth and shale — and fossilized prehistoric life. Paleontologists consider the area a treasure because of plant and animal life that was, for reasons not fully known, set in stone quickly enough before decay could set in.

An amateur paleontologist named Francis Tully unearthed the first Tully monster in 1958. Thousands of other examples have since been found by fossil hunters combing the area, much of it now set aside as Mazonia-Braidwood State Fish and Wildlife Area.

Mining faded in the 1970s, and, after decades of fossil hunting, the area does not yield quite as many specimens as it used to, said Colleen Schmidt, an office associate at the state fish and wildlife area.

But those who know where to look — "they do have their (secret) spots," Schmidt said — can still find plenty. They leave with oblong nodules of rock, some of which, when broken open, contain fossils; often it's plant life, like prehistoric ferns that are hard to imagine on Illinois' prairie.

The Tully monster fossils show a creature that swam the shallows of that ancient sea and ranged from a few inches long to roughly a foot. There are traces of other, more-familiar animals, Lidgard said, especially the odd mouth and its teeth, known as stylets, that share some characteristics with squids and lampreys. The eye stalks are similar to some snails.

But the team of researchers from the museum, Argonne National Laboratory, Yale University and elsewhere focused on some of the fossils' curious raised areas. Those areas were once believed to be remnants of the animal's guts, but that kind of soft tissue would have been pressed flat as it was fossilized, so these areas must have been something harder, more resilient, they thought.

"It has a cartilage skeletal system," Lidgard said the group concluded. "It runs along the midline. Beneath it is the nerve cord ... Sort of a precursor to a spine."

Even with the discovery, the Tully monster remains in many ways an enigma.

That strange mouth, extended away from its body, may have helped it as a predator, Lidgard said, or maybe it scavenged for food. The wide-set eyes may have given it a greater field of vision for hunting, but no one knows for sure.

And Mazon Creek continues to offer more mysteries.

"There's an animal called the H animal," named for its odd, H-shaped body, Lingard said. "We don't know what it is."

___

Online:

Nature: www.nature.com/index.html

Field Museum, www.fieldmuseum.org/

Mazonia-Braidwood State Fish and Wildlife Area: www.dnr.illinois.gov/Parks/Pages/Mazonia-Braidwood.aspx

ExoMars 2016 phones home on way to Mars

David Szondy March 14, 2016

ESA has confirmed that the ESA/Roscosmos ExoMars 2016 mission is alive and well and on its way to the Red Planet. The news comes courtesy of mission control in Darmstadt, which received telemetry signals from the spacecraft via the Malindi ground tracking station in Kenya at 21:29 GMT today, 12 hours after liftoff from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

According to ESA, the launch and orbit insertion maneuvers went off without a hitch as the three-stage Proton M rocket carrying the unmanned probe executed a series of four burns before releasing the craft at 20:13 GMT. Telemetry confirms that solar panels have deployed, the spacecraft is healthy, and is on its correct trajectory, which will see it arrive in Mars orbit in October.

Consisting of the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) mothership and the Schiaparelli entry, descent, and landing demonstrator module, the ExoMars 2016 mission is tasked with looking for evidence of life on Mars. Once on station, the TGO will look for traces of methane in the Martian atmosphere with an eye on learning more about the mechanism that produces it and to determine if this is geological, chemical, or biological. It will also send back images of the Martian surface and search for subsurface ice deposits.

Meanwhile, the Schiaparelli module's brief career will be to take readings of the atmosphere during its descent to the surface. Though it's not a lander, it will test landing radar, navigational cameras, and other instruments that will be used for the ExoMars 2018 lander mission. If it survives the descent, the probe will not be able to send back pictures from the surface, but it will continue to send back telemetry for as long as its batteries hold out.

Source: ESA

Carlo Ratti's mile-high park in the sky would be world's tallest building

If Carlo Ratti's newly-announced observation tower comes to fruition (and it's a big "if"), it will be as much a sight to behold as the views it provides. The proposed structure is a mile high, which would make it not only the tallest observation tower in the world, but also the world's tallest building by some distance.

Aptly named, The Mile would reach 1,609 m (5,279 ft) into the sky, or one mile exactly. To put that into perspective, the world's current tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, is just over half that height, at 830 m (2,723 ft). Even the Jeddah Tower, which is under construction and due to be completed in 2018, will only stretch to 1,000 m (3,281 ft), making it the world's first kilometer-high building.

Consequently, it is only reasonable to view The Mile with a degree of skepticism. Even if it's a legitimate proposal, so many things can derail projects of such cinematic ambition that they can easily end up on the cutting room floor. But a legitimate proposal is exactly what Carlo Ratti Associati assures Gizmag this is. "The Mile is a real project, with a client, although it is only in the first phase now," we are told.

Developed in partnership with German engineering firm Schlaich Bergermann und Partner and British digital design studio Atmos, The Mile will be a vertical park and publicly accessible observation deck. Visitors will ascend to the top in "sculptural capsules" that orbit the shaft of the tower. Once there, there will be a viewing deck, a "sky walkway" and a restaurant.

The capsules will be able to host meetings, dinners and concerts, and even, we are told, be home to pools. Visitors will be able to digitally interact with the surrounding views via augmented reality screens and experience the panorama in a variety of different ways.

At 20-m (66-ft) wide, the tower shaft will have a height-to-width aspect ratio of around 80:1, considerably larger than that of the British Airways i360 in Brighton, UK, which is currently recognized as the world's most slender tower. An engineering study is said to have been carried out to develop a means of achieving this, with the structure to be kept in compression and secured using a net of pre-stressed cables.

"The structural concept for The Mile is technically feasible because of its consequent and uncompromised lightweight approach," said associate and team leader at Schlaich Bergermann und Partner Boris Reyher. "The architectural form and the spatial equilibrium of forces become one and the same thing."

In addition, it is envisaged that the tower will be covered by plants and greenery from bottom to top, providing a habitat for animals. Carlo Ratti likens the planned result to taking New York's Central Park, standing it on its end, rolling it up and then twisting it.

The client for whom the project is being developed, a planned location and any construction dates remain undisclosed. More information will no doubt be forthcoming when the project is presented at the MIPIM property show on March 16, though, at which point we may get a better idea of its feasibility.

Source: Carlo Ratti Associati

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NASA wants to use a giant laser to get to Mars in 3 days

Despite how far we've come in space exploration, one thing still holding us back from interstellar travel is our slow spacecraft.

While we're able to propel particles to close to the speed of light in the lab, we're struggling to even accelerate spacecraft tobeyond 3 percent of that. With our current technology, it's estimated it'll take humans around five months to reach Mars.

But NASA scientist Philip Lubin is working on a system where lasers propel spacecraft with giant sails to the Red Planet in as little as three days.

Much like Bill Nye's much-hyped solar sail, this 'photonic propulsion' system relies on the momentum of photons - particles of light - to move forward. But instead of photons from the Sun's rays, Lubin's design would be given a push by giant Earth-based lasers.

It sounds pretty far-fetched, but in a video for NASA 360, Lubin explains that the technology is very much readily available, and that the system could easily be scaled up.

"There are recent advances that take this from science fiction to science reality," Lubin explains. "There is no known reason why we can not do this."

But let's step back for a second and investigate how the system works. Right now, when we launch spacecraft, the thrust comes from burning a chemical, such as rocket fuel. Not only does this fuel source weigh down spacecraft, it's also an incredibly inefficient system when compared to electromagnetic acceleration, which is the use of light or other electromagnetic radiation to accelerate objects.

"Electromagnetic acceleration is only limited by the speed of light while chemical systems are limited to the energy of chemical processes," writes Lubin in a paper on the technology.

But while electromagnetic acceleration in the lab is relatively straightforward, it requires a lot of complicated and expensive equipment - such as the ring of superconducting magnets that make up the Large Hadron Collider - and hasn't been easy to scale up to the size required for space travel.

One candidate propulsion system, known as the 'impossible' EM Drive, has received a whole lot of attention for allegedly achieving electromagnetic acceleration, but NASA scientists still haven't been able to figure out how it works, or prove that it wasn't an experimental anomaly.

Photonic propulsion, on the other hand, works in theory, regardless of the scale, making it a more viable candidate.

NASA 360

So how do photons work to propel something as big as a spacecraft? Despite not having any mass, particles of light have both energy and momentum, and when they reflect off an object, that momentum is transferred into a little push. With a large, reflective sail, it's possible to generate enough momentum to gradually accelerate a spacecraft.

While Lubin and his team haven't yet tried out their system, their calculations show that photonic propulsion could get a 100-kg robotic craft to Mars in just three days.

A larger craft, like the kind humans might travel in, would take around a month to get there - one-fifth of the time it would take the Space Launch System (SLS), the world's most powerful rocket currently being developed to take us to Mars.

Lubin also explains that in the 10 minutes it will take to get the SLS into orbit, photonic propulsion could propel a spacecraft to an unheard-of 30 percent the speed of light - and it would also use a similar amount of chemical energy (50 to 100 gigawatts) to do so.

NASA

But the real benefit of photonic propulsion comes over longer distances, where the spacecraft has more time to speed up, and could eventually take us outside our Solar System and to neighbouring stars.

To be clear, the system isn't designed to send humans across interstellar distances - first of all,robots are far better equipped for that mission, and secondly, we'd be far too heavy. Instead, Lubin proposes wafer-thin spacecraft that can get close to the speed of light.

But sending our own artificial intelligence to these distant solar systems - especially ones that potentially harbour habitable planets - would still be huge.

"The human factor of exploring the nearest stars and exoplanets would be a profound voyage for humanity, one whose non-scientific implications would be enormous," writes Lubin. "It is time to begin this inevitable journey beyond our home."

Lubin and his team last year received a proof-of-concept grant from NASA to show that photonic propulsion could be used for space travel, so we should start seeing some real-life results soon. Let's hope that the reality lives up to the hype, because we're pretty excited.

Find out more in the NASA 360 video:

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Ganymede, biggest moon in the solar system, has a saltwater ocean

NASA says new observations from the Hubble Space Telescope confirm the presence of a subsurface ocean on Jupiter's largest moon.

This artist's concept shows Ganymede in the shadow of Jupiter, with its aurorae glowing. NASA/ESA

NASA says new observations from the Hubble Space Telescope confirm the existence of a salty subsurface ocean on Ganymede, the largest moon in the solar system, which orbits our largest neighbor planet, Jupiter. The ocean is estimated to be about 60 miles thick -- 10 times deeper than the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the Pacific -- but is buried under a layer of mostly icy crust 95 miles thick. Ganymede joins other neighborhood moons like Europa, the asteroid belt dwarf planet Ceres, and Saturn's Enceladus and Titan that host strange icy or liquid layers, making them prime targets in the search for life beyond Earth. Scientists have hypothesized for decades that Ganymede might harbor an icy or even liquid ocean beneath its frigid surface. The key to confirming the presence of a saltwater ocean came from observing Ganymede's aurorae, which would look bright red to a human able to stand on the surface of the moon and gaze up through its thin oxygen atmosphere. But don't get too excited, it's much too thin to support life as we know it.

Auroral phenomena -- think the bright northern lights of the aurora borealis or the aurora australis down south -- are not fully understood, but are linked to magnetic fields interacting with the solar wind. Ganymede is the only moon in the solar system that generates its own magnetic field thanks to its liquid iron core, but it also lies within the magnetic field of massive Jupiter. As Jupiter's magnetic field changes, it affects the aurorae on Ganymede, causing them to "rock back and forth" according to Joachim Saur, a professor for geophysics at the University of Cologne, who presented the news on a NASA teleconference Thursday.
Saur explained that the rocking effect seemed to be dampened by something else. Rather than altering the aurorae six degrees, as models suggested that they should given the electromagnetic fields involved, they only changed by two degrees, leading scientists to conclude that the rocking is inhibited by a salty subsurface ocean. "This confirms the existence of an ocean and simultaneously rules out the absence of an ocean," he told reporters. The news comes on the heels of the finding earlier this week that Saturn's moon Enceladus may contain enough warm water to support life. Ganymede will also now be more competitive when it comes to garnering attention among the Jovian moons -- its sibling Europa and its presumed subsurface ocean has long excited space geeks, even working its way into the priority list for future NASA missions. Looks like NASA may now need to add another moon to its itinerary for that deep-space journey.

More giant craters spotted in Russia's far north

Moscow (AFP) - Russian scientists have now discovered seven giant craters in remote Siberia, a geologist told AFP on Thursday, adding that the mysterious phenomenon was believed to be linked to climate change.

The discovery of an enormous chasm in a far northern region known to locals as "the end of the world" in July last year prompted speculation it had been caused by a meteorite or even aliens.

A YouTube video of the hole went viral and a group of scientists was despatched to investigate.

"We have just learnt that in Yakutia, new information has emerged about a giant crater one kilometre (0.6 miles) in diameter," the deputy director of the Oil and Gas Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vasily Bogoyavlensky, told AFP.

He said this brought to seven the number of reported pits.

"Footage allows us to identify minimum seven craters, but in fact there are plenty more," he said.

All of the craters have been discovered in the remote energy-rich Yamalo-Nenetsky region in north-western Siberia.

Scientists say that rather than aliens or meteorites, the holes are caused by the melting of underground ice in the permafrost, which has possibly been sped up by rising temperatures due to global warming.

"The phenomenon is similar to the eruption of a volcano," said Bogoyavlensky.

As the ice melts, methane gas is released which builds up pressure until an explosion takes place, leading to the formation of a crater.

The scientists are still trying to estimate what danger, if any, is posed by the holes. Methane is extremely flammable and at least one of the craters is situated near an exploited gas deposit.

An expedition is planned to the latest crater discovered to determine if it was formed in the same manner.

It may be hard to identify other craters which may have formed into lakes over time, said Bogoyavlensky.

"When they appear the craters are empty, and little by little they fill up with water. In the space of two or three years they become lakes and it is difficult to study them."

He said some may have formed dozens or hundreds of years ago, but went unnoticed in such remote regions of the planet.

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Ancient Aliens

Ancient Aliens presents theories of ancient astronauts and proposes that historical texts, archaeology and legends contain evidence of past human-extraterrestrial contact.

Watch Trailer 1 Watch Trailer 2

Ancient Aliens Link Categories

	Season 1 (5 Episodes, 55 Links)
	Season 2 (10 Episodes, 111 Links)
	Season 3 (16 Episodes, 182 Links)
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	Season 6 (22 Episodes, 250 Links)
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360

Close encounters! Pentagon is creating an official office to investigate unidentified aerial phenomena after a June report couldn't explain 143 of 144 UFO incidents dating back to 2004

Only one of 144 reports of UFOs - or Unidentified Aerial Phenomena as the government calls them - can be explained while the others can barely be classified

NASA’s SOFIA Confirms Planetary System Similar to Ours

We May Have Found a Way to Cheat the Second Law of Thermodynamics

King Tut: DNA Results

Airbus unveils its self flying 'Uber air' taxi: Vahana set to take to the skies by 2020 and can be summoned by smartphone

Disco balls could be the key to interstellar travel: Researchers say spherical mirrored craft travelling at a fifth the speed of light could visit nearby star systems to look for life.

HOW IT WOULD WORK

WHAT IS ALPHA CENTURI?

WHO IS YURI MILNER?

BREAKTHROUGH STARSHOT

THE CHALLENGES

A BRIEF HISTORY OF SOLAR SAILS

The first SPACE NATION is revealed: 'Asgardia' will defend the Earth against deadly attacks from asteroids - and now you can sign up to be a citizen

THE THREAT OF SPACE JUNK

ASGARDIA: THE FIRST SPACE NATION

How many times a day do YOU shout at your PC? Researchers say the average American suffers 40,000 bouts of 'tech rage' over their lifetime

'TECH RAGE' IN NUMBERS

TOO MUCH TECHNOLOGY IS BAD FOR YOUR MEMORY

Proxima b 'may well' harbour life: New study claims 'second Earth' just four light years away has oceans and a thin gassy atmosphere

WHAT MAKES PROXIMA B SO UNIQUE

PROXIMA CENTAURI

OTHER 'SECOND EARTHS' THAT HAVE BEEN FOUND ACROSS THE UNIVERSE

COULD WE TRAVEL TO THE PLANET?

Black holes may be 'back doors' to other parts of the universe, researchers claim

Researchers say there could be a wormhole at the center of black holes Any matter passing through would be stretched to extremes to enter It would be returned to normal size upon exiting in a different region This goes against idea that matter sucked into black hole is lost forever

WHAT IS SPAGHETTIFICATION?

WHAT IS A WORMHOLE?

Scientists Are Now Even More Confused By Potential "Alien Superstructure"

Prehistoric puzzle no more: Illinois fossil a vertebrate

ExoMars 2016 phones home on way to Mars

Carlo Ratti's mile-high park in the sky would be world's tallest building

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NASA wants to use a giant laser to get to Mars in 3 days

What Would It Be Like to Live on Alien Planet Kepler-186f?

What Would It Be Like to Live on Alien Planet Kepler-186f?

Ganymede, biggest moon in the solar system, has a saltwater ocean

More giant craters spotted in Russia's far north

Super Earths: 10 Major Discoveries

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Ancient Aliens

Ancient Aliens

Discovery Science: Alien Planet Earths (2014)

The best proof of the existence of intelligent life in the universe that no one attempts to contact with us.

Greatest Mysteries of Science: Nikola Tesla

Researchers say there could be a wormhole at the center of black holes

Any matter passing through would be stretched to extremes to enter

It would be returned to normal size upon exiting in a different region

This goes against idea that matter sucked into black hole is lost forever