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Roman Space Telescope to search for other Earths by surveying space dust

With the James Webb Space Telescope continuing its commissioning phase, NASA is already looking ahead to its next major space observatory, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Currently scheduled to launch in 2027, Roman will observe the universe to answer crucial questions needed for the complete understanding of our universe, especially in the areas of dark energy, exoplanets, and infrared astrophysics. According to a new study published by a team of researchers from the University of Arizona, Roman will be able to use one of its onboard instruments to measure a specific kind of space dust littered around the habitable…

MIT Researchers Create a Tool for Predicting the Future

Researchers design a user-friendly interface that helps nonexperts make forecasts using data collected over time. Whether someone is trying to predict tomorrow’s weather, forecast future stock prices, identify missed opportunities for sales in retail, or estimate a patient’s risk of developing a disease, they will likely need to interpret time-series data, which are a collection of observations recorded over time. Making predictions using time-series data typically requires several data-processing steps and the use of complex machine-learning algorithms, which have such a steep learning curve they aren’t readily accessible to nonexperts. To make these powerful tools more user-friendly, MIT researchers developed…

Power of Grassroots Innovation: How a Nondescript Box Has Been Saving Lives During the COVID Pandemic

Lead Image: A do-it-yourself air purifier in use in a classroom. Credit: Douglas Hannah, CC BY-ND One afternoon, a dozen Arizona State University students gathered to spend the morning cutting cardboard, taping fans, and assembling filters in an effort to build 125 portable air purifiers for local schools. That same morning, staff members at a homeless shelter in Los Angeles were setting up 20 homemade purifiers of their own, while in Brookline, Massachusetts, another DIY air purifier was whirring quietly in the back of a daycare classroom as children played. The technology in all three cases – an unassuming duct…

“Missile Row” pads at Cape Canaveral returning to action

Cape Canaveral has always been at the heart of America’s space program since the very beginning. A hub for rocketry research and development in its early days, the Cape served as a test center not just for spaceflight and research but also for the US missile development programs. With so many projects, the landscape was littered with launch complexes, and along the eastern coastline, the iconic “missile row” of Atlas and Titan launch complexes dominated the skyline. Many of the Cape’s launch facilities have long since fallen silent, but with newcomers Firefly and Relativity preparing for their first launches from…

Stunning Subsurface Images of Yellowstone National Park Reveal “Mystery Sandwich” Plumbing System

The SkyTEM instrument being flown over Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park. Credit: Photo by Jeff Hungerford, Yellowstone National Park; supplied by Carol Finn of U.S. Geological Survey The geysers and fumaroles of Yellowstone National Park are among the most iconic and popular geological features on our planet. Each year, millions of visitors travel to the park to marvel at the towering eruptions of Old Faithful, the bubbling mud cauldrons of Artists Paint Pots, the crystal-clear water, and iridescent colors of Grand Prismatic Spring, and the stacked travertine terraces of Mammoth Hot Springs. Those who have visited the park may…