Futurist Isaac Arthur joins the cast of TMRO to talk about humanities future amongst the stars as well as living in a simulation, faster than light communication and galactic intelligence.
Updates on launches and space news:
Launches:
Falcon 9 Launches SES-12 Long March 3A Launches Fengyun -2H Soyuz Launches new Space Station Crew
Space News:
Curiosity Confirms Complex Organics on Mars Northrop Grumman completes Orbital ATK acquisition Pluto Has Sand Dunes, But They’re Made of Methane
TMRO is viewer supported:
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Lisa, Jade and Athena discuss the past and future of prosthetic enhancements to the human body. How advanced have they become? Should we be upgrading ourselves past normal human limits? Leave your comments below and continue the conversation!
News:
Bubble curtains saving the world!? New link between fat, energy and diabetes Living longer lives with bacteria in our gut?! Green tea could prevent strokes and heart attacks
A message from Jack Colpas co-director of the RFTS Competition:
Reach for the Stars ~ National Rocket Competition
Through a NASA grant the Florida Space Grant Consortium sponsored 100 kids in the Reach for the Stars ~ National Rocket Competition. Building and launching a solid-fuel powered rocket is a fantastic way to turn kids on to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) subjects.
Five national winners will be determined by local competitions. They will celebrate at Space Camp / US Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama – under an October Sky.
NASA and the Florida Space Grant Consortium are Helping Kids Reach for the Stars
Everyone agrees – we need to get more kids interested in STEM careers. To do that we need to get them excited about STEM subjects. Building and launching a solid-fuel powered rocket is a fantastic way to turn kids on to the STEM subjects. Nothing lends itself to Science, Technology, Engineering and Math like rocketry. After all – this is Rocket Science!
To meet that need the Florida Space Grant Consortium, under the direction of Dr. Jaydeep Mukherjee, arranged for a NASA grant that funded 100 students from across Florida. Each of the students, from four different schools, received a rocket kit to buid and launch, supplies for two launches, an achievement certificate and registration in the national competition. The schools received a Launch Set and certificate of involvement.
“To keep the playing field even – we are hoping to get similar grants in the other 49 states. This is, after all, a national competition.” says RFTS co-director Jack Colpas.
The Florida schools helped by the grant were identified by the economic need of its students. Thus giving the opportunity to kids who might not have had the chance to compete. The Imagine School, West Melbourne, STEAM Director, Brendan Williams / Bagdad Elementary School, Santa Rosa – Science Teacher, Tammy Dillard / Shaw Elementary, Tampa – SPARK teacher, Angela Williams / King Middle School, Milton – Science Teacher, Cathy Thompson; have a majority of their students on Free or Reduced Lunch Programs.
The teachers involved in the grant, rave about the opportunities it provides for their students.
Brendan Williams, “….most of my students could not afford to use Estes rockets. This grant will give them a chance to take their rocketry design and love of STEM to the next level. Giving these students opportunities like this opens their eyes to the possibilities for their lives that might then open doors for them as they grow up.”
Tammy Dillard, “I would like to be able to offer them more exposure to things that they would not normally have. Being able to construct a rocket and actually fly it! Without this grant, they would never have the chance. This opportunity will enable them to try and try again something wonderful. What they discover through this experience will be monumental.”
Cathy Thompson, “I am very excited to help the team compete with the rockets. These kids are very interested in flight and science. Most do not get these opportunities outside of school.”
Angela Williams, “This activity would expose them to STEM activities at a level they have never seen. I’m certain it would spark their interest to continue in other STEM activities and subjects in the future. I would also like to encourage the girls to be involved in this science building activity.”
An indication of the grant’s success can be seen in competitor Jordyn Presley from Bagdad Elementary School. She did so well that she won the local event at her school – and was one of the top five entries nationwide. As a national winner she will travel to Space Camp in October to celebrate with the other national winners.
Contestants – ages 10 to 18 – compete at an event held at their own location. It is fun, affordable (no travel expense or hassle) & easy to run (step-by-step video covers rocket construction and launch). After two launches and parachute landings, the closest average distance to a target wins the local event. Local winner’s results are sent to the national headquarters to determine the five national winners.
The five national winners in the Reach for the Stars ~ National Rocket Competition will be invited to celebrate in grand fashion at Space Camp / US Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama under an ‘October Sky’. There they will be presented a Space Shuttle Challenger commemorative medal with certificate signed by Astronaut Jon McBride. Captain McBride piloted the Challenger on her early missions.
With their families, the winners they will continue their celebration. – experiencing Astronaut training simulators, seeing amazing space memorabilia, visiting Shuttle Park and standing under the massive Saturn V rocket. They get to launch their rockets from Homer Hickam Field – named after NASA engineer and author of the memoir, Rocket Boys aka October Sky.
Competition co-director, Kathy Colpas says,
“We promise the national winners – memories to last a lifetime and bragging rights for generations to come. Launching their rockets from a historical location and receiving a medal presented by an Astronaut allows us to fulfill our promise.”
The Competition honors the memory of Christa McAuliffe, 1st Teacher-in-Space. Everyone involved in the Competition receives a certificate that bears Christa’s likeness and her quote, “Push yourself as far as you can. Reach for the stars!” The background of the certificates is the artwork of Astronaut & Moonwalker, Alan Bean.
Ten Astronauts recommend the RFTS Competition. Several have presented medals to the national winners. Two, US Senator Bill Nelson and Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana, encourage the kids in video clips prepared specially for the competitors.
Competitions are already being held across the country. Local competitions can be held anytime throughout the year. Your kids can’t win it – if they’re not in it!
Here is a NASA video overview plus an article about Thursday’s announcement that the Curiosity rover detected organic molecules in Martian rock:
Since arriving at Mars in 2012, NASA’s Curiosity rover has drilled into rocks in search of organics – molecules containing carbon. Organics are the building blocks of all life on Earth, though they can also come from non-living sources. The surface of Mars readily destroys these molecules, making them difficult to detect. Now, Curiosity has discovered ancient organics that have been preserved in rocks for billions of years. This finding helps scientists better understand the habitability of early Mars, and it paves the way for future missions to the Red Planet.
NASA’s Curiosity rover has found new evidence preserved in rocks on Mars that suggests the planet could have supported ancient life, as well as new evidence in the Martian atmosphere that relates to the search for current life on the Red Planet. While not necessarily evidence of life itself, these findings are a good sign for future missions exploring the planet’s surface and subsurface.
The new findings – “tough” organic molecules in three-billion-year-old sedimentary rocks near the surface, as well as seasonal variations in the levels of methane in the atmosphere – appear in the June 8 edition of the journal Science.
This low-angle self-portrait of NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover shows the vehicle at the site from which it reached down to drill into a rock target called “Buckskin” on lower Mount Sharp. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS. More info on this image
Organic molecules contain carbon and hydrogen, and also may include oxygen, nitrogen and other elements. While commonly associated with life, organic molecules also can be created by non-biological processes and are not necessarily indicators of life.
“With these new findings, Mars is telling us to stay the course and keep searching for evidence of life,” … “I’m confident that our ongoing and planned missions will unlock even more breathtaking discoveries on the Red Planet.”
[ said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, in Washington.]
“Curiosity has not determined the source of the organic molecules,” … “Whether it holds a record of ancient life, was food for life, or has existed in the absence of life, organic matter in Martian materials holds chemical clues to planetary conditions and processes.”
said Jen Eigenbrode of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, who is lead author of one of the two new Science papers.
Although the surface of Mars is inhospitable today, there is clear evidence that in the distant past, the Martian climate allowed liquid water – an essential ingredient for life as we know it – to pool at the surface. Data from Curiosity reveal that billions of years ago, a water lake inside Gale Crater held all the ingredients necessary for life, including chemical building blocks and energy sources.
“The Martian surface is exposed to radiation from space. Both radiation and harsh chemicals break down organic matter,” said Eigenbrode. “Finding ancient organic molecules in the top five centimeters of rock that was deposited when Mars may have been habitable, bodes well for us to learn the story of organic molecules on Mars with future missions that will drill deeper.”
Seasonal Methane Releases
In the second paper, scientists describe the discovery of seasonal variations in methane in the Martian atmosphere over the course of nearly three Mars years, which is almost six Earth years. This variation was detected by Curiosity’s Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite.
Water-rock chemistry might have generated the methane, but scientists cannot rule out the possibility of biological origins. Methane previously had been detected in Mars’ atmosphere in large, unpredictable plumes. This new result shows that low levels of methane within Gale Crater repeatedly peak in warm, summer months and drop in the winter every year.
“This is the first time we’ve seen something repeatable in the methane story, so it offers us a handle in understanding it,” said Chris Webster of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, lead author of the second paper. “This is all possible because of Curiosity’s longevity. The long duration has allowed us to see the patterns in this seasonal ‘breathing.'”
Finding Organic Molecules
To identify organic material in the Martian soil, Curiosity drilled into sedimentary rocks known as mudstone from four areas in Gale Crater. This mudstone gradually formed billions of years ago from silt that accumulated at the bottom of the ancient lake. The rock samples were analyzed by SAM, which uses an oven to heat the samples (in excess of 900 degrees Fahrenheit, or 500 degrees Celsius) to release organic molecules from the powdered rock.
SAM measured small organic molecules that came off the mudstone sample – fragments of larger organic molecules that don’t vaporize easily. Some of these fragments contain sulfur, which could have helped preserve them in the same way sulfur is used to make car tires more durable, according to Eigenbrode.
The results also indicate organic carbon concentrations on the order of 10 parts per million or more. This is close to the amount observed in Martian meteorites and about 100 times greater than prior detections of organic carbon on Mars’ surface. Some of the molecules identified include thiophenes, benzene, toluene, and small carbon chains, such as propane or butene.
In 2013, SAM detected some organic molecules containing chlorine in rocks at the deepest point in the crater. This new discovery builds on the inventory of molecules detected in the ancient lake sediments on Mars and helps explains why they were preserved.
Finding methane in the atmosphere and ancient carbon preserved on the surface gives scientists confidence that NASA’s Mars 2020 rover and ESA’s (European Space Agency’s) ExoMars rover will find even more organics, both on the surface and in the shallow subsurface.
These results also inform scientists’ decisions as they work to find answers to questions concerning the possibility of life on Mars.
“Are there signs of life on Mars?” said Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, at NASA Headquarters. “We don’t know, but these results tell us we are on the right track.”
This work was funded by NASA’s Mars Exploration Program for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD) in Washington. Goddard provided the SAM instrument. JPL built the rover and manages the project for SMD.
Asteroid Day is a global awareness campaign where people from around the world come together to learn about asteroids, the impact hazard they may pose, and what we can do to protect our planet, families, communities, and future generations from future asteroid impacts. Asteroid Day is held each year on the anniversary of the largest impact in recent history, the 1908 Tunguska event in Siberia.
In this brief video, Neil deGrasse Tyson tells the story behind Asteroid Day.
All around the globe, regionally organised events are held on Asteroid Day. These events range from live concerts and community events, to lectures and other educational programmes, to raise public awareness of the need for increased detection and mapping of asteroids.
Check out the set of resources including infographics, class lesson plans, paper models, etc : Asteroid Day Resources.
The Asteroid Day Expert Panel is chaired by Physicist Dr. Mark Boslough (left) and consists of 16 world–class asteroid experts. They oversee the scientific information Asteroid Day is publicising to guarantee accuracy. They are always happy to answer any asteroid related questions you may have.
inspired Asteroid Day. It was directed by co-founder Grigorij Richters and the music was composed by Dr. Brian May. We are proud to present to you this alternate version of the film, by Discovery Science. As an event organiser you can have access to download both the full length film (88 minutes) or the 45 minute (Discovery Science) version. Event organizers must fill out this form to download the movie.
