Tag Archives: contact

Why Are Aliens (Likely) Too Lazy to Initiate First Contact?

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NASA researchers have suggested a surprisingly practical explanation for one of astronomy’s long-standing questions: why we haven’t received any signals from other alien civilizations.

In a study published on the preprint server arXiv, although not yet peer-reviewed, Dr. Robin Corbett, a professor at the University of Maryland and affiliated with NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, posits that the answer might be quite “mundane.”

Corbett’s hypothesis offers a unique, albeit somewhat letdown, explanation for the Fermi paradox: despite the universe’s immense potential for hosting numerous habitable planets, there is no conclusive evidence of intelligent extraterrestrial life.

Instead of assuming that advanced civilizations are either hidden from us, incomprehensible beings, or simply extinct, Corbett theorizes that alien societies might plateau at a moderate technological level and gradually lose interest in exploration.

In his theory termed “radical everydayness,” Corbett states, “the most ordinary explanation is most likely to be accurate if it is physically achievable.”

In this “less frightening” reality, there may indeed be many technological civilizations scattered throughout the Milky Way, but none will aspire to develop the galaxy-spanning capabilities often depicted in science fiction.

This implies no Dyson spheres, no global laser beacons, and no fleets of probes traversing the expanses of space.

Even if interstellar travel were feasible, Corbett notes, “the potential benefits must surpass the costs and risks involved.”

Over time, any civilization might come to realize that “there wasn’t much new to uncover in each interaction” with other civilizations, leading to a loss of motivation for further exploration. This could be seen as the galactic equivalent of scientific burnout.

Next-generation telescopes, like the successor to the Super Large Array in New Mexico, depicted here, are expected to detect signs of extraterrestrial life. However, such findings may not trigger significant technological advancements.

Corbett compares this phenomenon to a form of cosmic habituation, where “an organism’s response to repeated stimulation diminishes.” If most civilizations hit their technological ceilings, they may determine that sending probes and beacons across the galaxy is futile, not worth the effort, and even hazardous.

In this context, humanity’s own radio exploration would likely intercept only faint “leak” signals rather than intentional communications.

“Historically speaking, detection may not be too far off,” Corbett concluded.

“While this could have substantial implications in numerous ways, it might not lead to a significant boost in technology and could be somewhat disappointing.”

In other words, the galaxy might be teeming with life, but it may not be particularly engaging for us.

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Source: www.sciencefocus.com

Are Contact Lens Batteries the Future of Energy Storage?

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Faraday 2 battery developed by Superdielectrics

Superdielectrics

The innovative battery storage solution, utilizing SuperCapacitor Technology, may “jump” traditional lithium-ion batteries, transforming the landscape for renewable energy storage and use, according to its creator.

On July 8th, British firm SuperDielectrics unveiled its new prototype storage system, dubbed the Faraday 2, at an event in central London. Incorporating a polymer designed for contact lenses, this system boasts a lower energy density than lithium-ion batteries but claims numerous advantages, such as quicker charging, enhanced safety, reduced costs, and a recyclable framework.

“The current energy storage market at home is reminiscent of the computer market around 1980,” said SuperDielectrics’ Marcus Scott while addressing journalists and investors. “Access to clean, reliable, and affordable electricity isn’t a future goal; it’s now a practical reality, and we believe we are creating the technology to support it.”

Energy storage is pivotal for the global transition to green energy, crucial for providing stable electricity despite the intermittent nature of wind and solar power. While lithium-ion batteries dominate the storage technology market, they present challenges, including high costs, limited resources, complex recycling processes, and safety risks like overheating explosions.

With its aqueous battery design grounded in supercapacitor technology, SuperDielectrics aims to address these challenges. Supercapacitors store energy on material surfaces, facilitating extremely rapid charge and discharge cycles, albeit with lower energy density.

The company’s design employs a zinc electrolyte, separated from the carbon electrode by a polymer membrane. SuperDielectrics asserts that this membrane technology is cost-effective, utilizing abundant raw materials, thus unlocking a new generation of supercapacitors with significant energy storage capabilities.

During the event, the company’s CEO Jim Heathcote mentioned that the technology could outperform lithium-ion systems in renewable energy storage.

The Faraday 2 builds on the earlier Faraday 1 prototype launched last year, claiming to double the energy density. The Faraday 2 operates at 1-40 Wh/kg, allowing for faster charging times, which will harness fleeting spikes in renewable energy production, as noted by Heathcote.

However, Gareth Hinds from the UK National Physical Laboratory points out that the technology still lags behind lithium-ion batteries, which can achieve around 300 Wh/kg at the cell level. Andrew Abbott of the University of Leicester adds that the energy density now offered by SuperDielectrics is akin to that of lead-acid batteries commonly used in automobiles and backup power systems. “There are no immediate plans among leading manufacturers to transition,” he states.

Marcus Newborough, scientific advisor at SuperDielectrics, acknowledges that they are still “on a journey” to enhance the system’s energy density. “We are aware of our high theoretical energy density,” he mentioned, noting the company’s commitment to realizing this potential in the coming years, aiming for a commercial energy storage solution ready for launch by the end of 2027.

Despite the optimism, Hinds remains skeptical about the technology competing with lithium-ion batteries regarding energy density. “Clearly, it’s an early-stage development, and while they continue to push for higher energy density, achieving lithium-ion levels is a significant challenge due to strict limitations,” he comments.

Nonetheless, he suggests that there could be a market for larger storage solutions that provide lower energy density but at a much more affordable price than lithium-ion batteries and with a longer lifespan.

Sam Cooper from Imperial College, London, concurs: “If we can develop a system offering equal energy storage capacity to the Tesla Powerwall, regardless of size or weight, and at a cost of 95% less, that would represent a groundbreaking achievement.”

Source: www.newscientist.com

These Two Signals Are Our Closest Link to Alien Contact

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In 2019, the Australian radio telescope detected a fascinating signal emanating from the vicinity of Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to Earth.

This signal, designated as breakthrough listen candidate 1 (BLC1), exhibited all the characteristics of a “technosignature,” which may suggest the presence of intelligent life.

The signal comprised a single discernible narrowband wavelength and displayed a Doppler shift (indicating movement), was precisely localized in the sky, and persisted for several hours, capturing the attention of researchers.

These features imply that the signals are unlikely to be attributed to natural phenomena.

Nonetheless, some complications have surfaced regarding the extraterrestrial explanation. It was discovered that the signal was present in other observations of Proxima Centauri during the same timeframe, and notably, even when the telescope was not aimed at the star.

A subsequent observation the following year failed to detect the signal. An analysis of all the data collected by the Breakthrough Listening Project later identified similar signals from various other targets, including blank sky. This strongly indicates that the source of the signal was probably radio interference.

The BLC1 mirrors another narrowband radio signal detected in August 1977, famously referred to as “Wow!”

This potential “technosignature” lasted a full 72 seconds and could not be readily explained by natural occurrences.

However, the precise location of the signal in the sky was never identified, and follow-up searches of the area yielded no further signals.

There is ongoing debate regarding the origins of “Wow!”, but no clear evidence exists yet to confirm it as a product of extraterrestrial civilizations.

However, scientists are not solely focused on alien signals.

NASA describes Oumuamua as “the first confirmed object from another star to visit our solar system.” Its name means “the first messenger to arrive from afar” in Hawaiian – Illustration Credit: Science Photography Library

Discovered in 2017, ‘Oumuamua (depicted above) was identified as an elongated, reddish rocky object traveling through the solar system at extraordinary speed.

Its peculiar shape and trajectory led some astronomers to speculate that it might be a “solar sail” from a distant alien civilization.

However, this theory is considered improbable, as its unusual characteristics can also be explained without resorting to alien hypothesis.

Still, scientists have yet to intercept or discover anything that definitively indicates an exciting “alien” origin.

This article addresses the query posed by Lester to Daniel Howell: “Have we ever intercepted anything from an alien?”

Please email us to submit your questions at Question @sciencefocus.com or Message Facebook, Twitter or Instagram Page (please remember to include your name and location).

Check out our ultimate fun facts and more fascinating science pages.

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Source: www.sciencefocus.com

Enhanced Contact Lenses Enable Vision in Infrared Spectrum, Even in Darkness

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New contact lenses can provide infrared vision

Olga Yasternska/Alamy

Contact lenses enable users to perceive beyond the visible light spectrum, detecting infrared flickers even in darkness or with closed eyes.

The lenses incorporate engineered nanoparticles that absorb and convert infrared radiation, particularly within the near-infrared range of 800-1600 nanometers. This technology functions similarly to night vision equipment, allowing visibility in low-light conditions, but the contact lenses are significantly lighter and do not need any external power source.

“Contact lenses grant military personnel a modest, hands-free nighttime capability, overcoming the challenges posed by cumbersome night vision [goggles or scopes]” stated Peter Rentzepis from Texas A&M University, who is involved in related research employing the same nanoparticles (sodium fluoride, ytterbium, erbium) for eyeglass lenses.

The innovative wearables developed by Yuqian Ma from the China University of Science and Technology and his team have not yet achieved detailed night vision. This limitation occurs because they can solely detect “high-intensity narrowband LED” light sources, as noted by Rentzepis, without capturing the ambient infrared light.

“While it’s an ambitious study, contact lenses alone cannot be employed for reading in infrared or navigating dark paths,” explained Mikhail Kats, who is not associated with the research, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

In human-mouse studies, the contact lenses transformed an otherwise invisible flash of infrared light into what Kats describes as “a significant, colorful chunk of visible light.” These representations serve a purpose; for instance, MA and his team encoded and transmitted alphabetic characters by altering the frequency, quantity, and color of various light flashes.

This research builds upon previous studies where scientists directly injected nanoparticles into the eyes of mice to facilitate infrared vision. Wearable contact lenses present a “safer and more practical approach to human applications,” observes Rentzepis. However, he cautions that they still pose potential health and safety concerns, such as risks of thermal exposure from the photoconversion process or the leakage of nanoparticles into ocular tissues.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Infrared Contact Lenses Enable Night Vision or Eyelid Closure

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Researchers have created prototype infrared contact lenses that enable users to see in the dark or even with their eyes closed.

The innovative prototype, developed by the University of Science and Technology in China, incorporates nanoparticles that transform infrared light into visible light.

Contact lenses infused with nanoparticles were provided to volunteers as part of the study recently published in the journal Cell. Participants successfully detected a flashing signal from infrared rays, which are normally invisible to the naked eye.

The transparent lenses permitted participants to perceive both visible and infrared light simultaneously.

“We discovered that when subjects close their eyes, near-infrared light penetrates the eyelids more efficiently than visible light, allowing us to capture this flickering information more effectively,” stated Tian Xue, the lead researcher from the University of Science and Technology in China.

These nanoparticles absorb near-infrared (NIR) light with wavelengths ranging from 800 to 1600 nanometers, which is beyond human visual perception. They then re-emit this light within the visible range of 400 to 700 nanometers.

Currently, near-infrared light is utilized in active night vision goggles, which illuminate the environment with infrared rays and convert that light into a visible format for users.

Active Night Vision Goggles illuminate the landscape with infrared rays and convert this into visible wavelengths – Credit: Getty Images/StockByte

However, if you’re hoping to see the world as “faithfully” portrayed in Predators, you may be disappointed—longer wavelengths are required for that effect.

At present, the contact lenses are sensitive enough to detect light emitted from infrared LEDs.

While the lenses initially struggled to capture fine details, the research team was able to enhance this capability by using an additional set of glasses.

Nanoparticles can be modified to emit light in various colors, improving the clarity and interpretation of infrared images. There may even be potential to alter visible light performance.

“By converting red visible light to green visible light, this technology could become invisible to those who are colorblind,” explains Xue.

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Source: www.sciencefocus.com

Genetic study uncovers ancient Easter Islander’s resilience and connections to pre-European contact in the Americas

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Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui, is one of the most isolated inhabited places in the world. Its archaeological record, including megalithic statues, has captured the imagination of many. Two major controversies have emerged from extensive study of the island. First, its history is presented as a cautionary tale of overexploitation of resources leading to a large-scale population decline – the “ecocide” theory. Second, the possibility of a voyage across the Pacific Ocean to the Americas before European contact is still debated. To answer these questions, a team of scientists from the Globe Institute and elsewhere sequenced and analyzed the genomes of 15 Rapa Nui people who lived between 1670 and 1950.

Rapa Nui people. Image courtesy of © Santiago Caruso.

Rapa Nui is one of the most isolated inhabited islands in the world.

It lies at the easternmost tip of the Polynesian Triangle in the Pacific Ocean, 3,700 km west of South America and over 1,900 km east of the nearest inhabited island.

Despite Rapa Nui's remote location, archaeological and genetic evidence indicates that Polynesians from the west had already arrived on the island around 1250 AD.

Over the next five centuries, Rapa Nui's inhabitants, the Rapanui, developed a culture characterized by iconic colossal stone statues (moai) and monumental stone platforms (ahu).

Due to Rapa Nui's isolation, Europeans did not reach the island until 1722 AD.

Over the years, European visitors have had a devastating impact on Rapa Nui, killing locals and introducing deadly pathogens the islanders had never encountered before.

Moreover, a third of the population was kidnapped by Peruvian slave raiders in the 1860s, and only a small proportion were repatriated following international condemnation of slavery.

A smallpox epidemic subsequently decimated Rapanui's population, down to an estimated 110 people.

“It is well known that Rapa Nui's environment was affected by human activities such as deforestation, but it was unknown whether and how these changes led to a dramatic population decline,” said Dr Anna Saffo Malaspinas, a researcher at the University of Lausanne and the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics.

The Tahitian warrior's shelter from Giulio Ferrario's Le Costume Ancien et Moderne, Milan, 1816-1827.

The authors studied the genomes of 15 ancient inhabitants who lived on the island over the past 500 years.

They found no evidence of a genetic bottleneck corresponding to the 17th century collapse.

The analysis suggests that the island was originally inhabited by a small number of people, but its population grew steadily until Peruvian slave raids in the 1860s forced a third of the island's population to relocate.

Furthermore, the analysis showed that, like modern-day Rapa Nui people, the ancient islanders also carried Native American DNA.

This mixing probably occurred sometime between 1250 and 1430 AD.

Taken together with archaeological evidence and oral history, the find suggests that Polynesians may have been crossing the Pacific long before Europeans arrived on Rapa Nui and long before Columbus reached the Americas.

“Our genetic analysis shows that there was a steady population growth from the 13th century until contact with Europeans in the 18th century,” said Dr Barbara Souza da Mota, a researcher at the University of Lausanne.

“This stability is extremely important because it directly contradicts the idea of ​​a dramatic pre-contact population decline.”

“We investigated how Native American DNA is distributed in the genetic background of Rapa Nui Polynesians,” said Dr Victor Moreno Mayar, a researcher at the Globe Institute at the University of Copenhagen.

“This distribution is consistent with contact occurring between the 13th and 15th centuries.”

“Our study doesn't tell us where this contact occurred, but it may mean that the ancestors of the Rapanui reached the Americas before Christopher Columbus,” Dr Malaspinas said.

of Survey results Published in a journal Nature.

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JV Moreno Mayal others2024. Ancient Rapanui genome reveals resilience and pre-European contact with the Americas. Nature 633, 389-397;doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07881-4

Source: www.sci.news

Astronomers report that the moons orbiting asteroid Dinkinesh are in a contact binary configuration

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Dinkinesh is a small asteroid orbiting the Sun near the inner edge of the main asteroid belt. NASA’s Lucy spacecraft recently revealed that this asteroid, with an effective diameter of just 720 meters, is unexpectedly complex. The asteroid has a pronounced valley covered by an equatorial ridge and is currently orbited by a contact binary moon, named Seram, which consists of two nearly equal lobes with diameters of 210 meters and 230 meters. The moon orbits at a distance of 3.1 kilometers from Dinkinesh, has an orbital period of about 52.7 hours, and is tidally locked.

Stereo image pair (a-c) taken by the L’LORRI instrument aboard NASA’s Lucy spacecraft on November 1, 2023, shows asteroid Dinkinesh. Yellow and rose dots indicate valley and ridge features, respectively. These images have been sharpened and processed to enhance contrast. Image (d) shows a side-on view of Dinkinesh and its moon Ceram, taken a few minutes after closest approach. Image credit: NASA/GSFC/SwRI/Johns Hopkins APL/NOIRLab.

“We want to understand the strength of small bodies in the solar system because it’s important to understanding how planets like Earth got here,” said Dr. Hal Levison, a research scientist at Southwest Research Institute and Lucy principal investigator.

“Essentially, planets formed when a bunch of tiny objects orbiting the sun, like asteroids, collided with each other.”

“How objects behave when they collide – whether they break or stick together – has a lot to do with the object’s strength and internal structure.”

The researchers believe that how Dinkinesh responded to stress may reveal something about its inner workings.

As it rotated in sunlight for millions of years, tiny forces from thermal radiation radiating from the asteroid’s warm surface created tiny torques that caused Dinkinesh to spin gradually faster, and the accumulated centrifugal forces caused parts of the asteroid to become more elongated.

This event likely sent debris into close orbit, providing the raw material for the formation of the ridge and moons.

If Dinkinesh had been a weaker, more mobile mass of sand, its particles would have gradually migrated toward the equator and then blasted off into orbit as it rotated faster.

But the images suggest that, like rock, the Dinkinesh asteroid was stronger than a fluid and held together longer, until it eventually disintegrated under pressure and broke into larger pieces. Still, the force needed to break up a small asteroid like Dinkinesh is tiny compared to most rocks on Earth.

“This valley suggests a sudden collapse, more like an earthquake, where stress builds up gradually and then is suddenly released, rather than the slow process that creates sand dunes,” said Dr. Keith Noll, a research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and a Lucy scientist.

“These features show that Dinkinesh has some strength, and we can do a bit of historical reconstruction to see how this asteroid evolved,” Dr Levison said.

“During that collapse, the rocks broke apart and things separated, forming a disk of material, some of which rained down to the surface and formed the ridge.”

“We think that some of the material in the disk formed the moon Ceram, which is actually a structure where two celestial bodies are in contact with each other, known as a contact binary. The details of how this unusual moon formed remain a mystery.”

of Investigation result Published in the journal Nature.

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H.F. Levison others2024. Contact binary moon of asteroid (152830) Dinkinesh. Nature 629, 1015-1020; doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07378-0

Source: www.sci.news

Person confirmed to have avian influenza after contact with infected dairy cows.

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dairy cow

Shutterstock / Zhang Yuangeng

A person living in the United States contracted avian influenza from an infected dairy cow in Texas. This is the first case in which a subtype of the virus called H5N1 has been confirmed to be transmitted between humans and other mammals.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced the news today after confirming a positive test result over the weekend. The patient’s only symptom was eye inflammation, and he is taking antiviral medication and is recovering. They had come into contact with cattle believed to have been infected with a virus that has decimated the world’s bird populations.

Last week, cattle in five US states (Texas, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, and Idaho) tested positive for H5N1. It’s unclear how they got sick, but it now appears the virus may be spreading among the animals. According to the US Department of Agriculture.

Until now, it had only been confirmed that mammals could be infected with the virus from sick birds. “There have been several non-human outbreaks where there may have been mammal-to-mammal transmission,” says Richard Webby at St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Tennessee. For example, 17,000 elephant seal pups died in Argentina late last year due to avian influenza. In 2022, there was an outbreak among farmed mink in Spain. But in these situations, it is difficult to rule out other sources of the virus, such as contaminated food, he said.

Despite recent human infections, the CDC says the risk of contracting bird flu remains low for most people. People who have had close contact with other animals, including infected birds and livestock, are at greatest risk. Although pasteurized milk is safe, you should avoid consuming or handling raw dairy products.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

The Potential Harmful Effects of Spiral Scratches on Contact Lenses

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Contact lenses with a spiral design

Laurent Galinier

Lenses featuring a trippy spiral design could be an alternative to traditional multifocal lenses. It seems to produce clearer images than standard multifocal lenses, even in dimly lit areas.

The lens was created by the inventor Laurent Galinier.when bertrand simon He met Galinier through a scientific collaboration at the Institute of Optics Graduate School in France, and he immediately wanted to test lenses in the lab.

They are round lenses like traditional contact lenses, but the surface is carefully turned into a spiral using a lathe. This spiral shape changes the path that light rays take through the lens. That is, the lens does not have a single focal point, but several focal points, some closer to the lens and some farther from it.

It's unclear exactly how the spiral shape does this, but Simon said it appears to twist the light rays and create vortexes of light (like small tornadoes of light) that somehow influence each other. ing.

In the lab, Simon and his colleagues analyzed laser light passed through a spiral lens and simulated the process on a computer. In direct comparison with traditional multifocal lenses, the spiral lenses provided more clarity and detail when more light passed through them, and performed better in dim light conditions.

Therefore, spiral lenses may be suitable under various lighting conditions. For example, it could be useful for people who use multifocal lenses while driving at night, Simon said. He tried the spiral contact lenses himself and said that while the hard material was uncomfortable in contact with his eyes, it saved him the hassle of removing his glasses to look at his cell phone. With the spiral lens, I could see the screen clearly.

james wolfthorn According to researchers at Aston University in the UK, many people experience problems focusing on nearby objects, even if their distance vision is corrected. Innovations like spiral lenses are promising, but only clinical trials can prove how much of a difference new technology will actually make for people, he says.

Simon says it's possible to create a more compact camera by replacing part of the lens with a spiral lens version, but the team will first investigate the science behind spiral light. We would like to do further testing.

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Source: www.newscientist.com