Samuel Roan

Researchers have discovered more than 100 novel minor planets beyond the last planet of our solar system. The so-called TNOs or trans-Neptunian objects are nothing but minor planets present in the far corners of our solar system. The research released in the Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, details on a new method for discovering identical types of objects. Even more, it could assist future studies for the theoretical discoveries like Planet Nine and other unfound planets. Professors Masao Sako and Gary Bernstein and a graduate student from Pedro Bernardinelli have directed the research.

The team has used data from the DES (Dark Energy Survey), which has recently accomplished six years of data gathering. The DES aims to recognize the nature of dark energy by gathering high-resolution images of the southern sky. But the survey did not intend to discover TNOs, as its depth of coverage and depth made it precisely adept at identifying novel objects further than Neptune. But astronomers have found 139 new minor planets or say the small entities are revolving around the sun. The study highlights the minor planets are neither comets nor asteroids which reside in the frigid, dark depths beyond Neptune’s orbit. The new add-ons contribute around 5% to the existing number of trans-Neptunian Objects.

The scientists began with 7 billion dots spotted in DES. After that, they divided to 22 million transients after exclusion of objects like galaxies that seemed in coarsely the same spot on multiple nights. Later they picked 400 TNO objects from those millions of objects. It took months of screening and observation for the team to verify 316 of the minor planets. As per the team, these classified objects rest between 30-90 AU from the sun. Above all, the newly-developed techniques by the scientists could assist future TNO searches, including those possibly carried out by the Vera C. Rubin Telescope. Bernardinelli, the study’s leading author, said one could easily apply their array of the programs to any other colossal dataset.

Scientists from the University of Massachusetts Amherst have developed a new device, which can generate electricity from the moisture present in the air. This device is called ‘Air-gen’. It uses natural protein to produce electricity from thin air. Experts have said that the new technology will be beneficial for the future of renewable energy, climate change and the field of medicine. Microbiologist Derek Lovley and electrical engineer Jun Yao have developed this air-powered generator. It has been made out of electrically conductive protein nanowires.

These nanowires have been produced by the microbe Geobacter. The Air-gen joins the electrodes to the protein nanowires to produce electricity from the water vapor naturally present in the atmosphere. According to the makers, this device can generate clean energy round the clock. Experts have claimed that the new technology is pollution-free, renewable, and cost-effective. They have said that this device can produce electricity in places with low humidity like the Sahara desert. It has advantages over other forms of renewable energy such as solar and wind, as it does not need sunlight or wind to function. This technology works indoors as well.

Scientists have told that Air-gen needs 10 microns thick protein wires to function. The bottom of the film sets on the electrodes and the smaller electrodes, which wraps the nanowires film sits on the top. The film soaks the moisture from the atmosphere. A combination of electrical conductivity and chemistry of the protein wires creates a condition, which generates the electricity between the two electrodes. As per the experts, the current generation of the device is sufficient to supply power to small electronics. Researchers are working to bring this invention on a commercial scale in the future.

Experts have informed that they are planning to come up with a small Air-gen ‘patch’, which can power electronic wearables like, fitness monitors, which might replace the requirement of traditional batteries in the future. They have planned to develop an Air-gen device, which can be used in cellphones as well. If scientists succeed in making such a device, users would not need periodic charging for their mobile phones. Jun Yao Has informed us that they are focusing on making large-scale systems, which can be used as wall painting to power households. Experts have claimed that this is just the beginning of a new epoch of Protein-based electronic gadgets.

SpaceX recently launched 60 satellites into the orbit to build a broadband internet business around the globe. The satellites appeared in the sky in the form of a string of lights in the night from east to west. These lights were reported from Foxton in Manawatu in Auckland to Waitakere Ranges. This lets the people speculating that they were unidentified flying objects (UFOs). However, it was later turned out to be the satellites launched by the company of Elon Musk. The launch was fourth in the series of Starlink satellites. Starlink project would be a constellation of thousands of small satellites launched by SpaceX to build a broadband internet business. These satellites will work with ground transceivers to provide broadband services.

In this bid, the company has launched 240 satellites so far. However, the initial constellation is expected to have 12,000 satellites and the number would eventually go up to 42,000. But SpaceX’s plans to launch such a large number of satellites have raised some serious concerns from sky gazers and astronomers. They claim that such a large number of satellites will ruin the night sky. The numbers of stars that are visible in the night sky are 9000, far less than proposed SpaceX’s satellites. These satellites become brighter than stars when they reflect sunlight. Moreover, they create trails during their rapid movement and create interference with the work of astronomers. Otago Museum director Ian Griffin termed it a ‘night sky emergency’ in a tweet.

SpaceX is not the only company to blame for it as OneWeb, Amazon, and others are also planning to launch satellites to provide broadband net services across the globe. Recently, OneWeb and SpaceX met with astronomers to talk about the impact their plans could have. The meeting, held at the Royal Astronomical Society, was described as ‘positive’. The absence of an agreed framework on the satellite industry is making things a bit more problematic. There are so many defunct spacecrafts in the space and it has been advised to pull them within 25 years to avoid collisions.

A software hiccup has frozen NASA’s Curiosity rover in the Martian land. Before a few months in August, the rover celebrated its seventh Anniversary there. Besides this, it has made various notable discoveries over there. The news arrived this week through a mission update. In the statement, the team functioning the rover noted the rover had lost its direction during its last set of operations. Dawn Sumner, the Curiosity team member, said something went wrong with Curiosity’s data regarding altitude; thus, it could not make the required safety assessment. He added the rover records its body attitude in memory. Apart from this, it even stores the direction of each joint, which instrument at the end of its arm is pointing downward, and its distance from the ground.

Besides this, Curiosity records particulars of the local site, as well as the location of its robotic arm. The entire set of information assists rover in determining its precise location on Mars and how to move around safely. Sumner noted the rover has become immobile, and it would freeze on-site until the recovery of its knowledge of orientation. Curiosity has remained in contact with the team on Earth. Sumner said the engineers had developed a scheme to notify Curiosity regarding its attitude. Apart from this, through the effort, they aim to confirm what happened precisely.

Currently, the billion-dollar rover has some years before its nuclear power system lowers enough to end operations considerably. Thus, NASA anticipates the probe can offer some more hints regarding the planet before the launch of its Mars 2020 mission. The current year is going to be a crucial one regarding Mars exploration. Above all, NASA is preparing to launch the Mars 2020 rover on July 17. The rove will then join the currently-ill rover on the Red Planet. According to NASA, the Mars 2020 rover would touch Martian land in February 2021. There it would discover strangely high methane levels on Mars. Well, in 2019, Curiosity rover has also made a groundbreaking discovery. It has detected oxygen that performs in a way that long way researchers cannot describe.

A new study has revealed that global climate change will have long-term effects on the freezing of rivers worldwide. It said annual river ice cover will decline in many parts of the world gradually. This will be due to the gradual heating of the Earth’s surface. The new study was conducted by the University of North Carolina. Researchers noted the annual river ice cover will be reduced by at least six days for every one degree Celsius increase in the temperature. The findings were published in the journal Nature. It said the decline in river ice cover will have both environmental and economic consequences.

As a part of cycles of nature, more than half of rivers present on Earth freeze over every year. This process is vital in balancing the natural cycles in the Earth’s climate. Also, it supports important transportation for industries and communities situated at high latitudes. Besides, it is helpful in regulating the amount of greenhouse gasses released from rivers into Earth’s atmosphere. Researchers said they studied more than 400,000 satellite images taken over a period of three decades. They measured which rivers freeze seasonally across the world. They observed about 56 percent of all large rivers freeze every year. Researchers said they observed a widespread decline in the process. The decline in river ice coverage was not limited to a particular region. Rivers worldwide experienced declines in monthly ice coverage.

The study said the greatest declines were spotted in the Tibetan Plateau, Alaska, and eastern Europe. Researchers said the noticed a change in the pattern of rivers freezing. They compared images clicked between 2008 and 2018 with those taken between 1984 and 1994. Researchers said they found a monthly global decline of 0.3 to 4.3 percent. For the future, the team said the Northern Hemisphere could see a 9 to 15 percent decline in summer and 12 to 68 percent in spring. They said the declining pattern in the freezing of rivers be attributed to global warming and pressed for immediate measures to check this.

Dave Willard, Field Museum scientist, took body size measurements of 70,716 migratory birds specimens. There are more than a thousand birds that die after crashing into building windows during their migrations in Chicago. A study found that though the wingspans of birds were increasing, their body sizes on an average were getting smaller gradually over the period. Wingpans increased possibly to enable longer duration travel of birds compared to their smaller body size. According to the researchers, climate warming is the root cause of a gradual reduction in the sizes of birds in North America.

Bergmann’s rule says that individuals within the same species become larger in colder regions and smaller in warmer regions. This phenomenon may be the reason for a gradual reduction in body sizes in warmer climatic conditions. The study included most of the songbirds like thrushes, warblers, sparrows with almost 52 species over the four decades. The birds breed in North America colder regions and spend winters in south Chicago. Body size reduced in all the 52 species with a reduction in bone length by 2.4% and body mass by 2.6%. These results suggest that change in climatic condition seems to change both the shape and body size of these species.

Dave Willard, who is collection manager emeritus at the Field Museum in Chicago, said that everyone agrees to change in climatic conditions, and this reduction in body sizes is just a supporting example of how the natural world is getting affected. This study proves to be an alarming situation for North American birds. US and Canada had lost about 2.9 billion birds. And there has been a 29% reduction in the avian population since 1970, according to the study published in September 2019. This study is a takeaway that the changing world of humans had led to environmental change at an unexpected scale and rate, and now this is likely to widen.