Science

the-greening-of-planes,-trains,-and-automobiles

The greening of planes, trains, and automobiles

Cars, Science / /

Getting greener —

We need new fuels as society moves away from coal, natural gas and oil.

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The greening of planes, trains, and automobiles

As the world races to decarbonize everything from the electricity grid to industry, it faces particular problems with transportation—which alone is responsible for about a quarter of our planet’s energy-related greenhouse gas emissions. The fuels for transport need to be not just green, cheap, and powerful, but also lightweight and safe enough to be carried around.

Fossil fuels—mainly gasoline and diesel—have been extraordinarily effective at powering a diverse range of mobile machines. Since the Industrial Revolution, humanity has perfected the art of dredging these up, refining them, distributing them and combusting them in engines, creating a vast and hard-to-budge industry. Now we have to step away from fossil fuels, and the world is finding no one-size-fits-all replacement.

Each type of transportation has its own peculiarities—which is one reason we have different formulations of hydrocarbons today, from gasoline to diesel, bunker fuel to jet fuel. Cars need a convenient, lightweight power source; container ships need enough oomph to last months; planes absolutely need to be reliable and to work at subzero temperatures. As the fossil fuels are phased out, the transport fuel landscape is “getting more diverse,” says Timothy Lipman, co-director of the Transportation Sustainability Research Center at the University of California, Berkeley.

Every energy solution has its pros and cons. Batteries are efficient but struggle with their weight. Hydrogen—the lightest element in the universe—packs a huge energy punch, but it’s expensive to make in a “green” way and, as a gas, it takes up a lot of space. Liquid fuels that carry hydrogen can be easier to transport or drop into an existing engine, but ammonia is toxic, biofuels are in short supply, and synthetic hydrocarbons are hard to produce.

The scale of this energy transition is massive, and the amount of renewable energy the world will require to make the needed electricity and alternative fuels is “a little bit mind-blowing,” says mechanical engineer Keith Wipke, manager of the fuel cell and hydrogen technologies program at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado. Everything, from the electrical grid to buildings and industry, is also thirsty for renewable power: It’s estimated that overall, the global demand for electricity could more than double by 2050. Fortunately, analyses suggest that renewables are up to the task. “We need our foot on the accelerator pedal of renewables 100 percent, as fast as we can, and it will all get used,” says Wipke.

Each mode of transport has its specific fuel needs. Much is still to be settled, but here are some likely possibilities.

Enlarge / Each mode of transport has its specific fuel needs. Much is still to be settled, but here are some likely possibilities.

In order to stay below 1.5° of planetary warming and limit some of the worst effects of climate change, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recommends that the world hit net-zero emissions by 2050—meaning that whatever greenhouse gases we still put into the air we take out in other ways, such as through forests or carbon capture. Groups including the International Energy Agency (IEA)—a Paris-based intergovernmental organization that analyzes the global energy sector—have laid out pathways that can get the world to net zero.

The IEA’s pathway describes a massive, hard-to-enact shift across the entire world, including all kinds of transport. Their goal: to replace fossil fuels (which release long-captured carbon into the air, where it wreaks havoc on the climate) with something more sustainable, like green hydrogen or biofuels (which either don’t produce greenhouse gases at all or recycle the ones that are already in the air).

Although some transportation sectors are still in flux, we can now get a pretty good glimpse of what will likely be powering the ships, planes, trains, and automobiles of tomorrow. Here’s a peek into that future.

The greening of planes, trains, and automobiles Read More »

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Rocket Report: Firefly delivers for NASA; Polaris Dawn launching this month

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No holds barred —

The all-private Polaris Dawn spacewalk mission is set for launch no earlier than July 31.

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Four kerosene-fueled Reaver engines power Firefly's Alpha rocket off the pad at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.

Enlarge / Four kerosene-fueled Reaver engines power Firefly’s Alpha rocket off the pad at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.

Welcome to Edition 7.01 of the Rocket Report! We’re compiling this week’s report a day later than usual due to the Independence Day holiday. Ars is beginning its seventh year publishing this weekly roundup of rocket news, and there’s a lot of it this week despite the holiday here in the United States. Worldwide, there were 122 launches that flew into Earth orbit or beyond in the first half of 2024, up from 91 in the same period last year.

As always, we welcome reader submissions, and if you don’t want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.

Firefly launches its fifth Alpha flight. Firefly Aerospace placed eight CubeSats into orbit on a mission funded by NASA on the first flight of the company’s Alpha rocket since an upper stage malfunction more than half a year ago, Space News reports. The two-stage Alpha rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California late Wednesday, two days after an issue with ground equipment aborted liftoff just before engine ignition. The eight CubeSats come from NASA centers and universities for a range of educational, research, and technology demonstration missions. This was the fifth flight of Firefly’s Alpha rocket, capable of placing about a metric ton of payload into low-Earth orbit.

Anomaly resolution … This was the fifth flight of an Alpha rocket since 2021 and the fourth Alpha flight to achieve orbit. But the last Alpha launch in December failed to place its Lockheed Martin payload into the proper orbit due to a problem during the relighting of its second-stage engine. On this week’s launch, Alpha deployed its NASA-sponsored payloads after a single burn of the second stage, then completed a successful restart of the engine for a plane change maneuver. Engineers traced the problem on the last Alpha flight to a software error. (submitted by Ken the Bin)

Two companies added to DoD’s launch pool. Blue Origin and Stoke Space Technologies — neither of which has yet reached orbit — have been approved by the US Space Force to compete for future launches of small payloads, Breaking Defense reports. Blue Origin and Stoke Space join a roster of launch companies eligible to compete for launch task orders the Space Force puts up for bid through the Orbital Services Program-4 (OSP-4) contract. Under this contract, Space Systems Command buys launch services for payloads 400 pounds (180 kilograms) or greater, enabling launch from 12 to 24 months of the award of a task order. The OSP-4 contract has an “emphasis on small orbital launch capabilities and launch solutions for Tactically Responsive Space mission needs,” said Lt. Col. Steve Hendershot, chief of Space Systems Command’s small launch and targets division.

An even dozen … Blue Origin aims to launch its orbital-class New Glenn rocket for the first time as soon as late September, while Stoke Space aims to fly its Nova rocket on an orbital test flight next year. The addition of these two companies means there are 12 providers eligible to bid on OSP-4 task orders. The other companies are ABL Space Systems, Aevum, Astra, Firefly Aerospace, Northrop Grumman, Relativity Space, Rocket Lab, SpaceX, United Launch Alliance, and X-Bow. (submitted by Ken the Bin and brianrhurley)

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Italian startup test-fires small rocket. Italian rocket builder Sidereus Space Dynamics has completed the first integrated system test of its EOS rocket, European Spaceflight reports. This test occurred Sunday, culminating in a firing of the rocket’s kerosene/liquid oxygen MR-5 main engine for approximately 11 seconds. The EOS rocket is a novel design, utilizing a single-stage-to-orbit architecture, with the reusable booster returning to Earth from orbit for recovery under a parafoil. The rocket stands less than 14 feet (4.2 meters) tall and will be capable of delivering about 29 pounds (13 kilograms) of payload to low-Earth orbit.

A lean operation … After it completes integrated testing on the ground, the company will conduct the first low-altitude EOS test flights. Founded in 2019, Sidereus has raised 6.6 million euros ($7.1 million) to fund the development of the EOS rocket. While this is a fraction of the funding other European launch startups like Isar Aerospace, MaiaSpace, and Orbex have attracted, the Sidereus’s CEO, Mattia Barbarossa, has previously stated that the company intends to “reshape spaceflight in a fraction of the time and with limited resources.” (submitted by EllPeaTea and Ken the Bin)

Rocket Report: Firefly delivers for NASA; Polaris Dawn launching this month Read More »

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What we know about microdosing candy illnesses as death investigation underway

cases, diamond shruumz, health, microdosing, muscimol, mushrooms, psychedelics, Science, seizures, Toxicology / /
The Birthday Cake flavored bar.

Enlarge / The Birthday Cake flavored bar.

One person may have died from eating Diamond Shruumz microdosing candies, which were recalled last week amid a rash of severe illnesses involving seizures, intubation, and intensive care stays.

According to an update this week from the Food and Drug Administration, the cluster of cases continues to increase across the country. To date, 48 people across 24 states have fallen ill after eating the candies, which include chocolate bars, gummies, and candy cones that were sold online and in retail locations, such as smoke and vape shops. Of the 48 people sickened, 46 were ill enough to seek medical care, and 27 were admitted to a hospital.

For now, the death noted in the FDA’s latest update is only “potentially associated” with the candies and is still under investigation. No other information is yet available.

But in an interview with Ars, medical toxicologist Michael Moss was not surprised that the candies may have turned deadly. Moss, who is the medical director of the Utah Poison Control Center, cared for one of the first people reported to be sickened in the cluster.

An early case

The person was sickened in Nevada and transferred to a hospital in Utah, where Moss was a member of his care team. After the person came out of intensive care, Moss sat down with him and tried to piece together what happened. According to Moss, the person had bought a Birthday Cake-flavored chocolate bar at a local store. The bars are sold as “microdosing” candies, suggesting they contain psychedelic compounds, but the exact components and dosages aren’t listed.

Though the person told Moss he had some experience with psychedelics before, it was only with actual mushrooms. This was the first time he had eaten such a bar. And the bar’s packaging had only vague instructions of how much to eat at one time to achieve certain effects. For instance, eating nine or more squares of the bar was described with an image of an eye with lots of rainbow colors.

“What does that dose mean? And how many milligrams of what is that? Nobody knows,” Moss said. “So, he decided, ‘It’s a chocolate bar.’ So why wouldn’t you just eat the chocolate bar? Pretty reasonable thing to do.”

But, within minutes of eating the bar, the person felt nauseated and very dizzy and tired. He went to lie down and doesn’t remember much after that. Fortunately, a family member came home soon after and found him. The family member saw that he had vomited and was possibly aspirating or choking. By the time paramedics arrived, he was having a seizure. He had another in the emergency room. Doctors gave him anti-seizure medications and a breathing tube and put him on ventilation before transferring him to the hospital in Utah.

What we know about microdosing candy illnesses as death investigation underway Read More »

iter-fusion-reactor-to-see-further-delays,-with-operations-pushed-to-2034

ITER fusion reactor to see further delays, with operations pushed to 2034

delays, fusion, ITER, Physics, Science / /

Better late than never? —

Full fusion power won’t happen until nearly 2040 on new timeline.

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Image of a large metal vessel with a number of holes cut into it.

Enlarge / One of the components of the reactor during leak testing.

On Tuesday, the people managing the ITER experimental fusion reactor announced that a combination of delays and altered priorities meant that its first-of-its-kind hardware wouldn’t see plasma until 2036, with the full-energy deuterium-tritium fusion pushed back to 2039. The latter represents a four-year delay relative to the previous roadmap. While the former is also a delay, it’s due in part to changing priorities.

COVID and construction delays

ITER is an attempt to build a fusion reactor that’s capable of sustaining plasmas that allow it to operate well beyond the break-even point, where the energy released by fusion reactions significantly exceeds the energy required to create the conditions that enable those reactions. It’s meant to hit that milestone by scaling up a well-understood design called a tokamak.

But the problem has been plagued by delays and cost overruns nearly from its start. At early stages, many of these stemmed from changes in designs necessitated by a better and improved understanding of plasmas held at extreme pressures and temperatures due to better modeling capabilities and a better understanding of the behavior of plasmas in smaller reactions.

The latest delays are due to more prosaic reasons. One of them is the product of the international nature of the collaboration, which sees individual components built by different partner organizations before assembly at the reactor site in France. The pandemic, unsurprisingly, severely disrupted the production of a lot of these components, and the project’s structure meant that alternate suppliers couldn’t be used (assuming alternate suppliers of one-of-a-kind hardware existed in the first place).

The second problem relates to the location of the reactor in France. The country’s nuclear safety regulator had concerns about the assembly of some of the components and halted construction on the reactor.

High energy from the start

During the re-evaluation of the schedule that these delays would necessitate, the organization that manages ITER re-assessed some of its priorities. The previous schedule would have seen getting plasma into the machine prioritized, seeing relatively low-energy hydrogen plasmas put into the machine before all of the final hardware was complete. This would necessitate an extended shutdown after initial experiments before the reactor could be used at progressively higher energies, using more potent deuterium and deuterium/tritium plasmas.

In the previous schedule, the low-energy, hydrogen-only plasmas would have started testing in 2025, a target date that the delays have made completely unrealistic. Instead, they’ll now happen in 2034. However, rather than being a set of brief demonstrations, these experiments will continue for over two years and reach much higher energies. So, while having plasma in the machine will be delayed by nearly a decade, the system’s magnets will reach power only three years later than expected under the previous plan.

Full power operations using a deuterium/tritium fuel mix will be set back by four years. Even if this new schedule is kept, however, that won’t be until 2039.

So, we’re looking at 15 years even if there are no further delays. But the potential for said delays likely went up, as the announcement indicates that ITER will be switching to a different material (from beryllium to tungsten) for the construction of the inner wall that faces the plasma. This will be more relevant since many other projects, including commercial fusion startups, are planning on using tungsten. But it may still add a new suite of technical and manufacturing delays.

The risk for ITER, however, is that all of these delays cause some of the nations that are supporting the project to back out. Or, if some of the commercial fusion startups that have launched would have it, create the risk that fusion will already be here by the time ITER is ready to run.

ITER fusion reactor to see further delays, with operations pushed to 2034 Read More »

here’s-why-spacex’s-competitors-are-crying-foul-over-starship-launch-plans

Here’s why SpaceX’s competitors are crying foul over Starship launch plans

blue origin, Commercial space, launch, Science, Space, spacex, starship, united launch alliance / /
SpaceX launches Falcon 9 rockets from Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center and from Pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The company plans to develop Starship launch infrastructure at Pad 39A and Pad 37. United Launch Alliance flies Vulcan and Atlas V rockets from Pad 41, and Blue Origin will base its New Glenn rocket at Pad 36.

Enlarge / SpaceX launches Falcon 9 rockets from Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and from Pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The company plans to develop Starship launch infrastructure at Pad 39A and Pad 37. United Launch Alliance flies Vulcan and Atlas V rockets from Pad 41, and Blue Origin will base its New Glenn rocket at Pad 36.

NASA (labels by Ars Technica)

United Launch Alliance and Blue Origin are worried about SpaceX’s plans to launch its enormous Starship rocket from Florida.

In documents submitted to the Federal Aviation Administration last month, ULA and Blue Origin raised concerns about the impact of Starship launch operations on their own activities on Florida’s Space Coast. Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ space company, urged the federal government to consider capping the number of Starship launches and landings, test-firings, and other operations, and limiting SpaceX’s activities to particular times.

Elon Musk, founder and CEO of SpaceX, called Blue Origin’s filing with the FAA “an obviously disingenuous response. Not cool of them to try (for the third time) to impede SpaceX’s progress by lawfare.” We’ll get to that in a moment.

The FAA and SpaceX are preparing an environmental impact statement for launches and landings of the Super Heavy booster and Starship rocket at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC), while the US Space Force is working with SpaceX on a similar environmental review for Starship flights from Space Launch Complex 37 at nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS).

These reviews likely won’t be complete until late 2025, at the earliest, and only then will SpaceX be cleared to launch Starship from Florida. SpaceX also must construct launch infrastructure at both sites, which could take a couple of years. This is already underway at Launch Complex 39A.

Big rocket with a big footprint

During the environmental review process, the FAA should weigh how regular flights of the reusable Starship—as many as 120 launches per year, according to TechCrunch—will affect other launch providers operating at Cape Canaveral, ULA and Blue Origin said. SpaceX’s final proposed launch cadence from each site will be part of draft environmental assessments released for public comment as soon as the end of this year.

SpaceX plans to launch Starlink satellites, customer payloads, and missions to support NASA’s Artemis lunar landings from the launch pads in Florida. Getting a launch pad up and running in Florida is one of several schedule hurdles facing SpaceX’s program to develop a human-rated lunar lander version of Starship, alongside demonstrating orbital refueling.

Starship-Super Heavy launches and landings “are expected to have a greater environmental impact than any other launch system currently operating at KSC or CCSFS,” Blue Origin wrote. In its current configuration, Starship is the most powerful rocket in history, and SpaceX is developing a larger version standing 492 feet (150 meters) tall with nearly 15 million pounds (6,700 metric tons) of propellant. This larger variant is the one that will fly from Cape Canaveral.

“It’s a very, very large rocket, and getting bigger,” wrote Tory Bruno, ULA’s CEO, in a post on X. “That quantity of propellant requires an evacuation zone whenever fueled that includes other people’s facilities. A (weekly) launch has injurious sound levels all the way into town. The Cape isn’t meant for a monopoly.”

SpaceX's Starship rocket launches from Starbase during its second test flight in Boca Chica, Texas, on November 18, 2023.

Enlarge / SpaceX’s Starship rocket launches from Starbase during its second test flight in Boca Chica, Texas, on November 18, 2023.

At SpaceX’s privately owned Starbase launch site in South Texas, the evacuation zone is set at 1.5 miles (2.5 kilometers) when Starship and Super Heavy are filled with methane and liquid oxygen propellants. During an actual launch, the checkpoint is farther back at more than 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the pad.

“The total launch capacity of the Cape will go down if other providers are forced to evacuate their facilities whenever a vehicle is fueled,” Bruno wrote.

We don’t yet know the radius of the keep-out zones for Starship operations in Florida, but Blue Origin wrote that the impact of Starship activities in Florida “may be even greater than at Starbase,” presumably due to the larger rocket SpaceX plans to launch from Cape Canaveral. If this is the case, neighboring launch pads would need to be evacuated during Starship operations.

Purely based on the geography of Cape Canaveral, ULA seems to have the bigger worry. Its launch pad for the Vulcan and Atlas V rocket is located less than 2.2 miles (3.5 kilometers) from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A). SpaceX’s proposal for up to 44 launches from LC-39A “will result in significant airspace and ground closures, result in acoustic impacts felt at nearby operations, and potentially produce debris, particulates, and property damage,” ULA said.

ULA said these hazards could prevent it from fulfilling its contracts to launch critical national security satellites for the US military.

“As the largest rocket in existence, an accident would inflict serious or even catastrophic damage, while normal launch operations would have a cumulative impact on structures, launch vehicle hardware, and other critical launch support equipment,” ULA said.

Here’s why SpaceX’s competitors are crying foul over Starship launch plans Read More »

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SpaceX video teases potential Starship booster “catch” on next flight

chopsticks, Science, Space, spacex, starship / /

A strong grip —

A booster landing would be a calculated risk to SpaceX’s launch tower infrastructure.

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In early June, the rocket for SpaceX's fourth full-scale Starship test flight awaits liftoff from Starbase, the company's private launch base in South Texas.

Enlarge / In early June, the rocket for SpaceX’s fourth full-scale Starship test flight awaits liftoff from Starbase, the company’s private launch base in South Texas.

SpaceX

In a short video released Thursday, possibly to celebrate the US Fourth of July holiday with the biggest rocket’s red glare of them all, SpaceX provided new footage of the most recent test of its Starship launch vehicle.

This test, the fourth of the experimental rocket that NASA is counting on to land its astronauts on the Moon, and which one day may launch humans to Mars, took place on June 6. During the flight, the first stage of the rocket performed well during ascent and, after separating from the upper stage, made a controlled reentry into the Gulf of Mexico. The Starship upper stage appeared to make a nominal flight through space before making a controlled—if fiery—landing in the Indian Ocean.

The new video focuses mostly on the “Super Heavy” booster stage and its entry into the Gulf. There is new footage from a camera on top of the 71-meter-tall first stage as well as a nearby buoy at water level. The video from the buoy, in particular, shows the first stage making an upright landing into the ocean.

Starship fourth flight test.

Perhaps most intriguingly, at the end of the video, SpaceX teases an image of Starship’s large launch tower in South Texas at the Starbase facility. Prominently featured are the two “chopsticks,” large arms intended to catch the first stage booster as it slowly descends back toward its launch pad.

Then, in simulated footage, the video shows Starship’s first stage descending back toward the launch tower with the title “Flight 5.” And then it fades out.

To land, or not to land?

This supports the idea that SpaceX is working toward attempting a Starship booster catch on its next flight test, which likely will occur later this summer. Doubtless, the company still has both technical and regulatory work before this can happen.

In the days immediately following the fourth flight test, SpaceX founder Elon Musk said it was the company’s goal to make such a landing attempt on the next launch. However, during a talk last week with local residents in south Texas, Starbase General Manager Kathy Lueders said this attempt might not occur on Flight 5.

However, the new video released Thursday indicates that a catch attempt is still on the table as a possibility, and perhaps even a likelihood. Such a landing would be both stunning visually, as well as a calculated risk to SpaceX’s launch tower infrastructure, as the booster likely would be landing with a few spare tons of methane and liquid oxygen propellant in its tanks.

If SpaceX decides to press ahead with the attempt, it must still obtain a launch and reentry license from the Federal Aviation Administration, which is tasked with ensuring the safety of people and property on the ground. It seems probable that the next test flight will not occur before August.

Flight 5 tease.

Enlarge / Flight 5 tease.

SpaceX

Meanwhile, activities at the South Texas launch site may well be curtailed for a couple of days as Hurricane Beryl enters the Gulf of Mexico later on Friday and then tracks toward the Texas coast early next week. The center of Beryl is expected to pass near or north of the launch site late on Sunday night or Monday, bringing winds and surges.

However, because Beryl is not expected to be a major hurricane in terms of wind speed, these impacts should not prove catastrophic to SpaceX facilities. Heavy rainfall and inland flooding in the low-lying Starbase area is also a possibility on Monday and Tuesday before the storm pulls away.

SpaceX video teases potential Starship booster “catch” on next flight Read More »

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Swarm of dusty young stars found around our galaxy’s central black hole

astronomy, astrophysics, black holes, milky way, Science, Star formation / /

Hot young stars —

Stars shouldn’t form that close to the black hole, so these would need explaining.

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Image with a black background, large purple streaks, and a handful of bright blue objects.

Enlarge / The Milky Way’s central black hole is in a very crowded neighborhood.

Supermassive black holes are ravenous. Clumps of dust and gas are prone to being disrupted by the turbulence and radiation when they are pulled too close. So why are some of them orbiting on the edge of the Milky Way’s own supermassive monster, Sgr A*? Maybe these mystery blobs are hiding something.

After analyzing observations of the dusty objects, an international team of researchers, led by astrophysicist Florian Peißker of the University of Cologne, have identified these clumps as potentially harboring young stellar objects (YSOs) shrouded by a haze of gas and dust. Even stranger is that these infant stars are younger than an unusually young and bright cluster of stars that are already known to orbit Sgr A*, known as the S-stars.

Finding both of these groups orbiting so close is unusual because stars that orbit supermassive black holes are expected to be dim and much more ancient. Peißker and his colleagues “discard the en vogue idea to classify [these] objects as coreless clouds in the high energetic radiation field of the supermassive black hole Sgr A*,” as they said in a study recently published in Astronomy & Astrophysics.

More than just space dust

To figure out what the objects near Sgr Amight be the, researchers needed to rule out things they weren’t. Embedded in envelopes of gas and dust, they maintain especially high temperatures, do not evaporate easily, and each orbits the supermassive black hole alone.

The researchers determined their chemical properties from the photons they emitted, and their mid- and near-infrared emissions were consistent with those of stars. They used one of them, object G2/DSO, as a case study to test their ideas about what the objects might be. The high brightness and especially strong emissions of this object make it the easiest to study. Its mass is also similar to the masses of known low-mass stars.

YSOs are low-mass stars that have outgrown the protostar phase but have not yet developed into main sequence stars, with cores that fuse hydrogen into helium. These objects like YSO candidates because they couldn’t possibly be clumps of gas and space dust. Gaseous clouds without any objects inside to hold them together via gravity could not survive so close to a supermassive black hole for long. Its intense heat causes the gas and dust to evaporate rather quickly, with heat-excited particles crashing into each other and flying off into space.

The team figured out that a cloud comparable in size to G2/DSO would evaporate in about seven years. A star orbiting at the same distance from the supermassive black hole would not be destroyed nearly as fast because of its much higher density and mass.

Another class of object that the dusty blobs could hypothetically be—but are not—is a compact planetary nebula or CPN. These nebulae are the expanding outer gas envelopes of small to medium stars in their final death throes. While CPNs have some features in common with stars, the strength of a supermassive black hole’s gravity would easily detach their gas envelopes and tear them apart.

It is also unlikely that the YSOs are binary stars, even though most stars form in binary systems. The scorching temperatures and turbulence of SGR Awould likely cause stars that were once part of binaries to migrate.

Seeing stars

Further observations determined that some of the dust-obscured objects are nascent stars, and while others are thought to be stars of some kind, but haven’t been definitively identified.

The properties that made G2/DSO an exceptional case study are also the reason it has been identified as a YSO. D2 is another high-luminosity object about as massive as a low-mass star, which is easy to observe in the near- and mid-infrared. D3 and D23 also have similar properties. These are the blobs near the black hole that the researchers think are most likely to be YSOs.

There are other candidates that need further analysis. These include additional objects that may or may not be YSOs, but still show stellar characteristics: D3.1 and D5, which are difficult to observe. The mid-infrared emissions of D9 are especially low when compared to the other candidates, but it is still thought to be some type of star, though possibly not a YSO. Objects X7 and X8 both exhibit bow shock—the shockwave that results from a star’s stellar wind pushing against other stellar winds. Whether either of these objects is actually a YSO remains unknown.

Where these dusty objects came from and how they formed is unknown for now. The researchers suggest that the objects formed together in molecular clouds that were falling toward the center of the galaxy. They also think that, no matter where they were born, they migrated towards Sgr A*, and any that were in binary systems were separated by the black hole’s immense gravity.

While it is unlikely that the YSOs and potential YSOs originated in the same cluster as the slightly older S-stars, they still might be related in some way. They might have experienced similar formation and migration journeys, and the younger stars might ultimately reach the same stage.

“Speculatively, the dusty sources will evolve into low-mass S stars,” Peißker’s team said in the same study.

Even black holes look better with a necklace of twinkling diamonds.

Astronomy and Astrophysics, 2024.  DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202449729

Swarm of dusty young stars found around our galaxy’s central black hole Read More »

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The dangers of sneezing—from ejected bowels to torn windpipes

health, Science, sneeze, sneezing, syndication / /

Autosomal Dominant Compelling Helioopthalmic Outburst (achoo) —

The benefits of a good sneeze can sometimes come with a greater risk of injury.

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Picture shows a woman about to sneeze holding a handkerchief in her hand.

If you were to envision the kind of accident that would cause a person’s bowels to explode out of their body, you might imagine some sort of gruesome stabbing or grisly car accident. You’d probably never imagine that something as commonplace and harmless as a sneeze would cause this kind of ghastly injury—but that’s exactly what happened to a Florida man earlier this month.

The man had recently had abdominal surgery and was suffering from wound dehiscence—where his surgical scar wasn’t healing properly. While eating breakfast, the man first sneezed, then began coughing. He noticed pain and a wet sensation on his lower abdomen—only to discover several loops of his bowel had burst through his unhealed wound.

The man was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery where his bowels were returned to his abdomen.

Sneezing is normally a protective mechanism that keeps potentially harmful things—such as dust, bacteria and viruses – out of our respiratory system. The process is controlled by the so-called “sneezing center” in the brain’s medulla (which governs autonomic functions, including breathing). It’s activated by the presence of irritants in the lining of the nose and airways, which send impulses to the center.

The response is a closing of your eyes, throat and mouth while your chest muscles contract—compressing your lungs and driving air out of your respiratory system. This forces whatever triggered the response “out” of your system at an impressive speed—up to 15.9m/s (35mph) in some cases.

But despite the benefits of a good sneeze, it can sometimes come with a greater risk of injury than many might realize.

For instance, violent sneezing can cause the lung to herniate through the intercostal muscles between the ribs—usually at a point of weakness. This is typically a result of morbid obesity, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes or smoking.

There are also cases of sneezing tearing the delicate tissues of the lungs. This happens when the higher pressure air deep in the lungs escapes into the space between the chest and the lung, causing this air to compress the lung on one or both sides of the chest.

The lungs aren’t the only thing that can tear. There are reports of people tearing the delicate lining of the brain from sneezing—leading to a subarachnoid haemorrhage (a type of stroke) which can be fatal if not diagnosed and treated promptly.

Even if you don’t tear this delicate lining, a sneeze can still affect the brain—with reports of people suffering weakness on one side of the body or visual disturbances following a sneeze.

Sneezing raises blood pressure which can cause other serious injuries to the blood vessels. There are cases of aortic dissection from sneezing, where the force of the sneeze tears the layers of the aorta (the major artery that carries oxygenated blood around the body) and causes blood to burst between the layers. If not treated, it has a 50 percent mortality rate within 48 hours of happening.

While it’s pretty common to injure your back while sneezing, this isn’t the only musculoskeletal injury that can happen. There are case reports of people fracturing the bones around their eye from sneezing. This type of fracture, called a blow-out fracture, is typically caused by blunt force trauma—often from a golf, tennis or baseball to the eye.

The small bones of the ear can fracture following a sneeze, which can cause hearing loss. Dental implants have been known to dislodge themselves into other parts of the face from a forceful sneeze.

The increased pressure caused by sneezing can cause fluid to escape from the body, particularly urine from the bladder. This is typically seen in people with weak pelvic floor muscles—usually caused by pregnancy, childbirth, obesity, menopause, and physical trauma or nerve damage.

Don’t hold it in

Given all the potential injuries a sneeze can cause, you might think it’s better to hold them in.

But even that isn’t safe to do. In 2023, a Scottish man held in a sneeze by closing his mouth and holding his nose. This resulted in him tearing his windpipe. By closing off his airways, this allowed the pressure generated by the sneeze to build up inside the respiratory system—which can sometimes be up to 20 times the pressure normally seen in the respiratory system. But this energy has to go somewhere, so is typically absorbed by the tissues.

Others have fractured bones of their face holding in sneezes, damaged their larynx (voice box), and torn the tissues in their chest that protect the lungs.

Thankfully, there is one injury that would be impossible for a sneeze to cause. Ever been told that if you sneeze with your eyes open, it’ll cause them to pop out? Thankfully, that’s just a tall tale. This is because your eyes are held in place by muscles and a nerve that anchors it in place. Not to mention that the airways in our respiratory system have no connection to your eyeballs or eye sockets.

Our body is well adapted to sneeze, so you probably don’t need to worry about suffering any injuries as many of these harms only happen in very rare circumstances. Though if you’re someone like Donna Griffiths (who has the longest recorded sneezing fit, lasting a nose-clearing 976 days) or Yi Yang (who has the loudest recorded sneeze at 176 decibels, the equivalent of a rocket taking flight), you may be at greater risk of harm.The Conversation

Adam Taylor, Professor and Director of the Clinical Anatomy Learning Centre, Lancaster University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The dangers of sneezing—from ejected bowels to torn windpipes Read More »

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Can’t stop your cat from scratching the furniture? Science has some tips

animal behavior, animals, Biology, cat behavior, Cats, Science, veterinary science / /
two adorable kittens (one tabby, one tuxedo) on a little scratching post base.

Enlarge / Ariel and Caliban learned as kittens that scratching posts were fair game for their natural claw-sharpening instincts.

Sean Carroll

Ah, cats. We love our furry feline overlords despite the occasional hairball and their propensity to scratch the furniture to sharpen their claws. The latter is perfectly natural kitty behavior, but overly aggressive scratching is usually perceived as a behavioral problem. Veterinarians frown on taking extreme measures like declawing or even euthanizing such “problematic” cats. But there are alternative science-backed strategies for reducing or redirecting the scratching behavior, according to the authors of a new paper published in the journal Frontiers in Veterinary Science.

This latest study builds on the group’s prior research investigating the effects of synthetic feline facial pheromones on undesirable scratching in cats, according to co-author Yasemin Salgirli Demirbas, a veterinary researcher at Ankara University in Turkey. “From the beginning, our research team agreed that it was essential to explore broader factors that might exacerbate this issue, such as those influencing stress and, consequently, scratching behavior in cats,” she told Ars. “What’s new in this study is our focus on the individual, environmental, and social dynamics affecting the level of scratching behavior. This perspective aims to enhance our understanding of how human and animal welfare are interconnected in different scenarios.”

The study investigated the behavior of 1,211 cats, with data collected via an online questionnaire completed by the cats’ caregivers. The first section collected information about the caregivers, while the second asked about the cats’ daily routines, social interactions, environments, behaviors, and temperaments. The third and final section gathered information about the frequency and intensity of undesirable scratching behavior in the cats based on a helpful “scratching index.”

The team concluded that there are several factors that influence the scratching behavior of cats, including environmental factors, high levels of certain kinds of play, and increased nocturnal activity. But stress seems to be the leading driver. “Cats might scratch more as a way to relieve stress or mark their territory, especially if they feel threatened or insecure,” said Demirbas. And the top source of such stress, the study found, is the presence of small children in the home.

A corrugated fiberboard scratching pad can redirect your cat's unwanted scratching away from the furniture.

Enlarge / A corrugated fiberboard scratching pad can redirect your cat’s unwanted scratching away from the furniture.

Can’t stop your cat from scratching the furniture? Science has some tips Read More »

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Two of the German military’s new spy satellites appear to have failed in orbit

germany, SARah, Science, Space / /

The peril of pointing —

Did OHB really not test the satellite antennas on the ground?

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The SARah-1 mission is seen on the launch pad in June 2022.

Enlarge / The SARah-1 mission is seen on the launch pad in June 2022.

SpaceX

On the day before Christmas last year, a Falcon 9 rocket launched from California and put two spy satellites into low-Earth orbit for the armed forces of Germany, which are collectively called the Bundeswehr.

Initially, the mission appeared successful. The German satellite manufacturer, OHB, declared that the two satellites were “safely in orbit.” The addition of the two SARah satellites completed a next-generation constellation of three reconnaissance satellites, the company said.

However, six months later, the two satellites have yet to become operational. According to the German publication Der Spiegel, the antennas on the satellites cannot be unfolded. Engineers with OHB have tried to resolve the issue by resetting the flight software, performing maneuvers to vibrate or shake the antennas loose, and more to no avail.

As a result, last week, German lawmakers were informed that the two new satellites will probably not go into operation as planned.

Saving SARah

The three-satellite constellation known as SARah—the SAR is a reference to the synthetic aperture radar capability of the satellites—was ordered in 2013 at a cost of $800 million. The first of the three satellites, SARah 1, launched in June 2022 on a Falcon 9 rocket. This satellite was built by Airbus in southern Germany, and it has since gone into operation without any problems.

The two smaller satellites built by OHB, flying with passive synthetic aperture radar reflectors, were intended to complement the SARah 1 satellite, which carries an active phased-array radar antenna.

“The new SARah satellites ensure that the Bundeswehr has the capability for worldwide imaging reconnaissance independent of the time of day or the weather,” the German military said at the time of the SARah 1 satellite launch. “At the same time, they provide support in the early detection and management of crises.”

This new constellation was intended to replace an aging fleet of similar, though less capable, satellites known as  SAR-Lupe. This five-satellite constellation launched nearly two decades ago.

OHB said to be at fault

According to the Der Spiegel report, the Bundeswehr says the two SARah satellites built by OHB remain the property of the German company and would only be turned over to the military once they were operational. As a result, the military says OHB will be responsible for building two replacement satellites.

Shockingly, the German publication says that its sources indicated OHB did not fully test the functionality and deployment of the satellite antennas on the ground. This could not be confirmed.

This setback comes as OHB is attempting to complete a deal to go private—the investment firm KKR is planning to acquire the German space company. OHB officials said they initiated the effort to go private late last year because public markets had “structurally undervalued” the company.

OHB has its hands in many different space businesses in Europe. The small launch firm Rocket Factory Augsburg was spun out of OHB in 2018 and is working toward its debut launch later this year or in 2025. The company is also a supplier for the larger Ariane 6 rocket and one of several private companies that is part of a coalition bidding to build a Starlink-like satellite constellation for the European Union known as IRIS2.

Two of the German military’s new spy satellites appear to have failed in orbit Read More »

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High-altitude cave used by Tibetan Buddhists yields a Denisovan fossil

ancient proteins, Archeology, Denisovans, human evolution, Science / /

Eating in —

Cave deposits yield bones of sheep, yaks, carnivores, and birds that were butchered.

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Image of a sheer cliff face with a narrow path leading to a cave opening.

Enlarge / The Baishiya Karst Cave, where the recently analyzed samples were obtained.

Dongju Zhang’s group (Lanzhou University)

For well over a century, we had the opportunity to study Neanderthals—their bones, the items they left behind, their distribution across Eurasia. So, when we finally obtained the sequence of their genome and discovered that we share a genetic legacy with them, it was easy to place the discoveries into context. In contrast, we had no idea Denisovans existed when sequencing DNA from a small finger bone revealed that yet another relative of modern humans had roamed Asia in the recent past.

Since then, we’ve learned little more. The frequency of their DNA in modern human populations suggest that they were likely concentrated in East Asia. But we’ve only discovered fragments of bone and a few teeth since then, so we can’t even make very informed guesses as to what they might have looked like. On Wednesday, an international group of researchers described finds from a cave on the Tibetan Plateau that had been occupied by Denisovans, which tell us a bit more about these relatives: what they ate. And that appears to be anything they could get their hands on.

The Baishiya Karst Cave

The finds come from a site called the Baishiya Karst Cave, which is perched on a cliff on the northeast of the Tibetan Plateau. It’s located at a high altitude (over 3,000 meters or nearly 11,000 feet) but borders a high open plain, as you can see in the picture below.

Oddly, it came to the attention of the paleontology community because the cave was a pilgrimage site for Tibetan monks, one of whom discovered a portion of a lower jaw that eventually was given to a university. There, people struggled to understand exactly how it fit with human populations until eventually analysis of proteins preserved within it indicated it belonged to a Denisovan. Now called the Xiahe mandible, it remains the most substantial Denisovan fossil we’ve discovered to date.

The Ganjia Basin borders the cliffs that contain the Baishiya Karst Cave.

Enlarge / The Ganjia Basin borders the cliffs that contain the Baishiya Karst Cave.

Dongju Zhang’s group (Lanzhou University)

Since then, excavations at the site had turned up a large collection of animal bones, but none that had been identified as Denisovan. Sequencing of environmental DNA preserved in the cave, however, revealed that the Denisovans had occupied the cave regularly for at least 100,000 years, meaning they were surviving at altitude during both of the last two glacial cycles.

The new work focuses in on the bones, many of which are too fragmentary to be definitively assigned to a species. To do so, the researchers purified fragments of proteins from the bones, which contain large amounts of collagen. These fragments were then separated according to their mass, a technique called mass spectrometry, which works well even with the incredibly small volumes of proteins that survive over hundreds of thousands of years.

Mass spectrometry relies on the fact that there are only a limited number of combinations of amino acids—often only one—that will produce a protein fragment of a given mass. So, if the mass spectrometry finds a signal at that mass, you can compare the possible amino acid combinations that produce it to known collagen sequences to find matches. Some of these matches will end up being in places where collagens from different species have distinct sequences of amino acids, allowing you to determine what species the bone came from.

When used this way, the technique is termed zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry, or ZooMS. And, in the case of the work described in the new paper, it identified nearly 80 percent of the bone fragments that were tested.

High-altitude cave used by Tibetan Buddhists yields a Denisovan fossil Read More »

the-hunt-for-the-most-efficient-heat-pump-in-the-world

The hunt for the most efficient heat pump in the world

heat pumps, Science, syndication / /

beat the heat —

A new generation of engineers has realized they can push heat pumps to the limit.

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Thermal imaging of two heat pumps and fan units, showing red and orange areas with elevated temperatures.

Outside a 100-year-old house on the edge of the Peak District in northern England, a heat pump’s fan blades are swiftly spinning. They’re drawing outdoor air over coils of refrigerant, harvesting warmth from that air. All air-source heat pumps do this—and they can glean heat even on cold days. But this heat pump is special. It is one of the most efficient installations of its kind in the country.

“I’m number two on there,” fizzes owner Rob Ritchie, a retired chemistry teacher, referring to the system’s position on HeatPumpMonitor.org, a kind of online leaderboard for heat pumps around the UK and beyond. “I should say it isn’t important—but it is. It’s nice being there.”

At the time of writing, real-time data suggests that for every kilowatt-hour of electricity Ritchie’s heat pump consumes, it delivers 5.5 kilowatt-hours of heat—a coefficient of performance, or COP, of 5.5. Achieving a COP of 5 or above is “absolutely incredible,” says Emma-Louise Bennett, active transition support lead at Viessmann, the company that made Ritchie’s heat pump. In the UK, average heat pump COPs tend to be between 2 and 3.

For social-media-savvy plumbers and environmentally conscious home renovators who are increasingly sharing videos of their heating systems online, heat pumps are in vogue. In the race to decarbonize and curtail the devastating effects of climate change, switching home heating systems away from fossil-fuel-burning boilers and furnaces is essential. Heat pumps will be a key weapon in that fight, says the International Energy Agency. It estimates that, globally, heat pumps could reduce CO2 emissions by 500 million metric tons—equivalent to taking every car in Europe off the road.

A new generation of heating engineers has realized that they can push heat pumps to the limit. These installers are reaching astounding levels of efficiency by taking extra care to design low-temperature heating systems that warm rooms without using excess energy.

Heat pumps can offer multiple kilowatt-hours of heat per kilowatt-hour of electricity, thanks to physics. The refrigerant sealed inside the device evaporates readily when it is warmed even slightly, say by the outdoor air, and a compressor then pressurizes the warmed gas, which has the effect of heating it further. It only takes a little electricity to power this process, which can raise the refrigerant’s temperature by many degrees Celsius.

Since moving to his detached house near Sheffield about 10 years ago, Ritchie has installed loft insulation and solar panels, but the fabric of the building is not necessarily ideal for keeping the place toasty in an efficient way. The property has thin-cavity walls without much insulation in them, and Ritchie lives at 800 feet above sea level, meaning outdoor temperatures are generally relatively low. Thanks to his heat pump and solar panels, though, he estimates he’s now saving 2,700 pounds ($3,420) on his utility bills annually. It goes to show that heat pumps can work well in older properties in challenging locations, he says.

The system was designed by local installer Damon Blakemore, who also checks HeatPumpMonitor.org regularly to see how his work stands up against that of his competitors. Ritchie’s heat pump is not quite in pole position at present, but it is noteworthy, emphasizes Blakemore, because once a year’s worth of data has accumulated this September, it could be the first air-source device on the leaderboard to achieve a 365-day seasonal COP, or SCOP, of 5. This is an average that reveals how well a heat pump has performed over an entire year. Weather changes between summer and winter, which shift demand for heating, tend to affect overall system efficiency, among other factors.

Blakemore is one of the “SCOP-chasers,” as Bennett puts it, driven to maximize the efficiency of the systems he installs. There is a small but highly visible group of such people in the UK who follow each other on Facebook and X, drop in on each other’s podcasts, and jostle for high rankings on HeatPumpMonitor.org. Among the stakeholders in this race for efficiency is Heat Geek, an organization that has trained multiple high-performing installers—including Blakemore.

“It’s not really something we particularly anticipated,” says Glyn Hudson, cofounder of Open Energy Monitor (OEM), which runs HeatPumpMonitor.org, referring to the casual competition emerging in the heating industry. “But installers are proud of their work. They do enjoy showing off photos of their installations on social media. The pipework layout is very important to them.”

The hunt for the most efficient heat pump in the world Read More »