It seems like it would be pretty cool to float around a space capsule, but six months of microgravity may aggravate strain by skewing astronauts' perception of the emotional state of their fellow travelers, according to a new study published in the journal Frontiers in Physiology.
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks/mar-20-when-greenland-was-green-bear-back-scratching-mars-voyage-emotional-toll-and-more-1.5955275/microgravity-on-a-trip-to-mars-might-leave-astronauts-emotionally-impaired-1.5955282
An open-access quantum computing testbed is ready for the public, reports SciTechDaily. Scientists from Indiana University were the first team to use Sandia National Laboratories’ Quantum Scientific Computing Open User Testbed, or QSCOUT. Scientists from around the world can use QSCOUT for research that might not be possible at their home institutions.
https://scitechdaily.com/free-open-access-quantum-computer-now-operational/amp/
The Tokyo Summer Olympics and Paralympics will not be open to spectators from outside Japan, CNET reported today. Those from other countries who bought tickets from the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee will be reimbursed, organizers said.
https://www.cnet.com/news/tokyo-summer-olympics-bars-overseas-spectators/
Scientists at Ohio State University have developed technology to "retrain" cells to help repair damaged brain tissue, reports Medical Xpress. "We can rewrite the genetic code of skin cells so that they can become blood vessel cells," says study leader Daniel Gallego-Perez. "When they're deployed into the brain, they're able to grow new, healthy vascular tissue to restore normal blood supply and aid in the repair of damaged brain tissue."
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-03-technology-retrains-cells-brain-tissue.html
NASA successfully completed a test on the Space Launch System (SLS), the most powerful rocket in existence, the BBC reports. Engines on the rocket's "core stage" were kept running for more than eight minutes, simulating the time it would take the SLS to go from the ground to space. NASA intends to use the SLS to send humans to the moon's surface for the first time since 1972.
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-56442020
IBM has developed an artificial intelligence-based system designed to engage in debates with humans, Tech Xplore reports. In their paper published in the journal Nature, IBM team members describe their system and how well it performed against human opponents. It listens to moderators and opponents and responds in a female voice. Having already impressed a human audience, you can expect to see Project Debater applying for the job of government lobbyist to push for loose...
Jupiter has long been known for the massive storm in its Great Red Spot, but astronomers claim that winds near the gas giant's poles make that storm look like a stiff breeze, CNET reports. The winds, found in the stratosphere under the bright auroras observed near the poles, have been measured at speeds of 1,450 kilometers per hour. That's roughly twice as fast as the speeds seen in the Great Red Spot and three times the power...
A U.S. teenager will spend three years in prison after pleading guilty to hacking high-profile Twitter accounts in a large-scale Bitcoin scam, the BBC reports. Graham Ivan Clark was 17 when he co-ordinated the scam, which hijacked the profiles of celebrities including Kim Kardashian West, Kanye West, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and Barack Obama. Clark will be banned from using computers without permission and supervision from law enforcement. BIG Media predicts that once he gets out of...
Dozens of newly discovered Dead Sea Scrolls fragments were found in a Judean Desert cave occupied by Jewish refugees 1,900 years ago, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced. The exploration team also recovered rare coins, a large basket estimated to be about 10,500 years old, and the skeleton of a mummified child dating back about 6,000 years, CNET reports.
https://www.cnet.com/news/new-dead-sea-scrolls-fragments-unveiled-for-first-time-in-60-years/
Researchers said today that lightning strikes billions of years ago may have freed up phosphorus required for the formation of biomolecules essential to life. A bolt of lightning can create glassy rocks called fulgurites by superheating and sometimes vaporizing surface rock, freeing phosphorus locked inside, Reuters reports.
https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/primordial-lightning-strikes-may-helped-160801153.html
