I really don’t know how to introduce this article. Neutrinos are elementary particles and are electrically neutral. They are produced by numerous cosmological events. Trees‚ well‚ we all know what they are and in a recent paper‚ scientists believed it may be possible to use entire forests as neutrino detectors! I was a bit sceptical when I read the paper but its an interesting concept and certainly trees have been used as broadband antennae so perhaps‚ well its a fascinating concept. Neutrinos have often been referred to as the ‘ghost particle’ due to their inability to interact with anything else. Despite this‚ they are one of the most common particles in the Universe with trillions passing through our bodies every single second! Unfortunately‚ their inability to interact with anything means that detecting them is rather challenging.  The ultrahigh energy neutrinos rely upon huge volumes of water‚ air or ice to pick up any interactions. The larger the volume‚ the greater the chance of detection. In these detectors‚ they look for the decay of tau leptons (an elementary particle similar to the electron with negative electric charge) which are the result of a tau neutrino interaction.  With any new detection array it is tricky to transition from the small proof of concept to full scale due to the sheer size required. The neutrino detector for example‚ known as Super-Kamiokande is a cylindrical tank containing 50‚220 metric tons of pure water‚ 1‚000 metre underground. Building something like this is a massive undertaking and in many cases‚ finding the location is problematic.  The Super-Kamiokande experiment is located at the Kamioka Observatory‚ 1‚000 m below ground in a mine near the Japanese city of Kamioka. Credit: Kamioka Observatory/ICRR/University of Tokyo Some decaying tau decays via radio emissions require antennae for their detection. The array needs to be composed of thousands of manufactured antennae that have a clear line of sight to the horizon and must be distanced from civilisation to minimise potential interference. The practicality of manufacturing such an installation and the likely limited accessibility to the potential sites means there are difficult challenges to overcome.  The paper recently published by S. Prohira from the University of Kansas discusses the potential for using forests as antennae. Trees have been used as far back as the Vietnam war which ended in 1975. Troops found themselves in the jungle and in need of a communication system without being able to lug around bulky equipment. Tree antennae were born.  The ingenious forest antenna model has a number of advantages chiefly that the trees are sturdy and already established‚ saving effort and money on installation. Forests are also often found to contain a fairly uniform distribution of trees in locations that are usually already fairly barren granting clear views to the horizon.  More testing is required but sensitively implemented‚ forest antennae systems could help preserve forests indeed may even help reforestation in areas where forests have been lost. Their implementation is a fairly simple task but must be completed with care to protect the trees. I confess‚ I started out cynical to this story but having researched it‚ think it’s a fascinating concept and one to watch over the months and years ahead. Source : The Forest as a Neutrino Detector The post Could Forests Become Ultrahigh Energy Neutrino Detectors?  appeared first on Universe Today.

Well I consider that a success; the first aircraft on another world surpassed all expectations. Ingenuity‚ the helicopter that has been buzzing around on Mars has finally reached the end of its life after a total of 72 flights on the red planet. In a wonderful piece of computer imagery‚ Simeon Schmauß took a number of images of Ingeniuty from Perseverance and stiched them together into a mosaic and upscaled to provide a human eye view.  The groundbreaking voyage of the Ingenuity helicopter commenced on February 18‚ 2021‚ upon its arrival on Mars. This journey was facilitated as part of the Mars 2020 mission‚ alongside the Perseverance rover. Ingenuity was developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory‚ with collaborative efforts from AeroVironment Inc.‚ Qualcomm‚ SolAero‚ and Lockheed Space. Its primary objective was straightforward: to showcase the technological capabilities required for flight operations on an extraterrestrial terrain. Once configured for flight‚ it stood at a height of 0.49 meters with a rotor span of 1.2 meters. While this may appear substantial in comparison to drones on Earth‚ such dimensions were imperative for achieving flight on Mars. The thinner atmosphere necessitated larger rotors to generate the required lift. These rotors were designed to rotate at a speed of 2‚400 revolutions per minute‚ with two separate drives enabling the clockwise and counterclockwise rotation of blade sets. Positioned atop the rotors was a solar panel for battery charging‚ alongside a wireless communication system and essential navigation sensors and cameras. The first flight took place on 19th April and sadly the 72nd flight on the 18th January was to be its last. An emergency landing led to damage to one of the rotor blades rendering Ingeniuty grounded‚ permanently.  NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover acquired this image using its Left Mastcam-Z camera. Mastcam-Z is a pair of cameras located high on the rover’s mast. This image was acquired on Feb. 4‚ 2024 (Sol 1052) at the local mean solar time of 13:05:37. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU One of the core principles of NASA is that the images and data they capture are all public domain and released for anyone to look at and work with. Taking six images from the right MastCam-Z of Perseverance‚ GeoVisual Design student Simeon Schmauß recreated the vista that a human visitor to Mars would have been greeted with. The image was even colour corrected to match our eyes and revealed Ingenuity’s final resting place among the rippling sands of Neretvav Vallis on Mars.  The full resolution image really is incredible‚ testimony not only to the quality of the imaging platform on Perseverance but also to the processing skills of Schmauß. I found myself exploring the view for some time and even found myself transported to Mars (virtually of course) walking among the dunes on the Martian surface and coming across the plucky helicopter as it sat silently. Farewall Ingenuity‚ thank you for all the science and stunning images‚ you were an incredible helicoper and our first on another world.  Source : Simeon Schmauß ‘X’ feed  The post Perseverance Gives Us One Last Look at the Damaged Ingenuity Helicopter appeared first on Universe Today.

A recent preprint investigates how chickpeas have been successfully grown in lunar regolith simulants (LRS)‚ marking the first time such a guideline has been established not only for chickpeas‚ but also for growing food for long-term human space missions. This study was conducted by researchers from Texas A&;M University and Brown University and holds the potential to develop more efficient methods in growing foods using extraterrestrial resources‚ specifically with NASA’s Artemis program slated to return humans to the lunar surface in the next few years. From Dust To Seed: A Lunar Chickpea Story https://t.co/qhCSMxheTe #astrobiology #spaceag #spacebiology #agriculture #Artemis pic.twitter.com/q7oR9hfDx6— Astrobiology (@astrobiology) January 24‚ 2024 “The Moon doesn’t have soil like Earth does‚” said Jessica Atkin‚ who is a M.S. student in Soil Science at Texas A&;M University and lead author of the study. “On Earth‚ the soil has organic material filled with nutrients and microorganisms‚ which support plant growth. Those are missing on the moon. This adds to other challenges‚ such as reduced gravity‚ radiation‚ and toxic elements.” For the study‚ the researchers compared the relationship between Vermicompost (VC) and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) with the goal of creating a productive LRS structure for successfully growing chickpeas (Cicer arietinum). AMF is often used to aid in plant growth hormone production while VC contains worm manure that is used to enhance seed growth. The team analyzed various combinations of 25%‚ 50%‚ 75%‚ and 100% LRS‚ with each being mixed with corresponding measurements of VC and AMF. While the experiments were scheduled to run for 120 days‚ the researchers discovered 100% seed growth by day 16‚ and continued to grow throughout week 6‚ 9‚ and 11‚ as well. Image of chickpea plants while growing in a 75% mixture of lunar regolith simulant. (Texas A&;M AgriLife photo by Jessica Atkin) The study notes‚ “We report the first instance of growing chickpea (Cicer arietinum) in lunar regolith simulants. We used soil regeneration techniques common on Earth with LRS for the first time‚ using both AMF and VC. We also achieved the first documented chickpea yield in an LRS mixture. Our results show that regeneration methods used on Earth soils can help condition lunar regoliths. Despite promising results‚ all plants in LRS showed signs of chlorophyll deficiency.” Chlorophyll has the vital responsibility for absorbing light‚ most often sunlight‚ for the plant to use for photosynthesis. While the team did note chlorophyll deficiencies‚ they also noted‚ “By week seven‚ a visible improvement in chlorophyll levels suggests successful AMF colonization in the inoculated group” with the inoculation occurring due to the incorporated AMF. Image of the chickpea plants after five weeks displaying a diversity of chlorophyll. (Texas A&;M AgriLife photo by Jessica Atkins) As noted‚ this study comes as NASA is planning on sending humans back to the Moon with its Artemis program in the next few years. Successfully growing plants using lunar regolith is also known as in situ resource utilization (ISRU)‚ which could significantly reduce the need for constant resupply of food or soil from Earth. While not directly mentioned in the study or by the researchers‚ this study mirrors NASA’s Lunar Surface Innovative Initiative whose goal is to develop technologies on the Moon that could be used for future crewed missions to Mars. “The novelty about using vermiculture is that it can all be done in space‚ whether in a space station or on the moon‚ reducing the need for resupply missions‚” said Atkin. This novelty not only includes the International Space Station (ISS) and upcoming Artemis missions but could also include commercial space stations such as the planned Axiom Station‚ which is due to send its first module to the ISS sometime in 2026. To exemplify the progress that’s been made towards growing plants in LRS‚ this study comes after researchers at the University of Florida successfully grew the plant‚ Arabidopsis thaliana‚ in lunar regolith while discovering the plants did not achieve desired parameters‚ which this most recent study has achieved. 2022 video discussing the University of Florida lunar regolith plant research What new discoveries will researchers make about growing plants in lunar regolith‚ in materials from other worlds‚ in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell‚ and this is why we science! As always‚ keep doing science &; keep looking up! The post Chickpeas Grown in Lunar Regolith Are Stressed but Reach Maturity appeared first on Universe Today.

"This could completely shake up our understanding."

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