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Don’t Miss: Sturgeon Supermoon + Perseids Meteor Shower, Mercury, Saturn, Jupiter & Vega

Lead Image: A supermoon rises behind the Washington Monument, Sunday, June 23, 2013, in Washington. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls The next full moon is a marginal supermoon and is called the Sturgeon Moon. It’s also known as the Green Corn Moon, the Raksha Bandhan Festival Moon, Nikini Poya, the end of the Esala Perahera Festival, and the Tu B’Av Holiday Moon. The next full moon will be Thursday night, August 11, 2022, appearing opposite of the Sun in Earth-based longitude at 9:36 p.m. EDT (6:36 p.m. PDT). This will be on Friday morning for the time zones east of Cape Verde…

Unraveling the Mysteries of “Gigantic Jet” Lightning Bursts That Reach 50 Miles Into Space

Lead Image: The telescopes at Maunakea sit calmly at an altitude of around 4200 meters (13,800 feet) beneath a sky filled with extraordinary light. Gemini North’s nighttime Cloud Cams captured this extraordinary light phenomenon. The column of blue and red lights surrounded by a bright blaze of white light appears so otherworldly that it looks like it must be a special effect. This breathtaking image, however, is entirely real. Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/A. Smith New information about an elusive atmospheric phenomenon known as gigantic jets has been uncovered by a detailed 3D study of a massive electrical discharge that rose…

World’s Fastest 2-Qubit Gate: Breakthrough for the Realization of Ultrafast Quantum Computers

Figure 1. Conceptual diagram of the world’s fastest two-qubit gate. Two atoms captured in optical tweezers (red light) with a separation of a micrometer are manipulated by a ultrafast laser pulse (blue light) shone for only 10 picoseconds. Credit: Dr. Takafumi Tomita (IMS) A research team succeeded in executing the world’s fastest two-qubit gate (a fundamental arithmetic element essential for quantum computing) using a completely new method of manipulating, with an ultrafast laser, micrometer-spaced atoms cooled to absolute zero temperature. For the past two decades, all quantum computer hardware has been pursuing faster gates to escape the effects of…

Natel Energy: Making Hydropower Plants More Fish-Friendly and Sustainable

A fish-safe turbine designed by Natel Energy. Credit: Courtesy of Natel Energy Natel Energy, launched by sibling MIT alumni, is deploying hydropower systems with fish-safe turbines and other features that mimic natural river conditions. Growing up on a farm in Texas, siblings Gia Schneider ’99 and Abe Schneider ’02, SM ’03 always had plenty to do. However, every Saturday at 2 p.m., no matter what, the family would go down to a local creek to fish, build rock dams and rope swings, and enjoy nature. “It’s a motivator for the idea that hydropower can help improve the environment rather than…

EnVision Mission: Readying Spacecraft To Surf Venus’ Hot, Thick Atmosphere

EnVision aerobraking in Venus atmosphere. Credit: ESA/ Paris Observatory / VR2Planets / Damia Bouic EnVision, a project of the European Space Agency (ESA), is a mission to Venus that will perform optical, spectral and radar mapping of Earth’s sister planet. However, before getting down to work the van-sized spacecraft needs to ‘aerobrake’ – lowering its orbit with thousands of passages through the planet’s hot, thick atmosphere for up to two years. A unique ESA facility is currently testing candidate spacecraft materials to verify if they can safely withstand this challenging process of atmospheric surfing. “EnVision as currently conceived cannot take…