HELP NAME 20 NEWLY DISCOVERED MOONS OF SATURN!

You can name the new moons discovered around Saturn. Carnegie's Scott Sheppard has just announced the discovery of 20 new moons orbiting Saturn, bringing its total to 82 and moving it ahead of Jupiter, which has 79. All hail the new king of moons!

Here is the link to enter the contest

Nasa Just released a Free 3D Moon kit for CG artists

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has orbited the moon recording topographical data for 10 years. Nasa has interpreted and combined the LRO's raw data and images to construct an accurate 3D rendering of the moon. Now they are offering it for free.

Get it here.

Black hole gravity distorts view

Nasa has simulated a visualization of a black hole. This new visualization of a black hole illustrates how its gravity distorts our view, warping its surroundings as if seen in a carnival mirror. The visualization simulates the appearance of a black hole where in falling matter has collected into a thin, hot structure called an accretion disk. The black hole’s extreme gravity skews light emitted by different regions of the disk, producing the misshapen appearance.

Bright knots constantly form and dissipate in the disk as magnetic fields wind and twist through the churning gas. Nearest the black hole, the gas orbits at close to the speed of light, while the outer portions spin a bit more slowly. This difference stretches and shears the bright knots, producing light and dark lanes in the disk.

Viewed from the side, the disk looks brighter on the left than it does on the right. Glowing gas on the left side of the disk moves toward us so fast that the effects of Einstein’s relativity give it a boost in brightness; the opposite happens on the right side, where gas moving away us becomes slightly dimmer. This asymmetry disappears when we see the disk exactly face on because, from that perspective, none of the material is moving along our line of sight.

Closest to the black hole, the gravitational light-bending becomes so excessive that we can see the underside of the disk as a bright ring of light seemingly outlining the black hole. This so-called “photon ring” is composed of multiple rings, which grow progressively fainter and thinner, from light that has circled the black hole two, three, or even more times before escaping to reach our eyes. Because the black hole modeled in this visualization is spherical, the photon ring looks nearly circular and identical from any viewing angle. Inside the photon ring is the black hole’s shadow, an area roughly twice the size of the event horizon — its point of no return.

"Simulations and movies like these really help us visualize what Einstein meant when he said that gravity warps the fabric of space and time,” explains Jeremy Schnittman, who generated these gorgeous images using custom software at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “Until very recently, these visualizations were limited to our imagination and computer programs. I never thought that it would be possible to see a real black hole." Yet on April 10, the Event Horizon Telescope team released the first-ever image of a black hole’s shadow using radio observations of the heart of the galaxy M87.

Astronomers Capture First Image of a Black Hole

An international collaboration presents paradigm-shifting observations of the gargantuan black hole at the heart of distant galaxy Messier 87

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) — a planet-scale array of eight ground-based radio telescopes forged through international collaboration — was designed to capture images of a black hole. Today, in coordinated press conferences across the globe, EHT researchers reveal that they have succeeded, unveiling the first direct visual evidence of a supermassive black hole and its shadow.

Lunar spacesuit prototypes are almost ready.

NASA is developing the Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit, or xEMU, as a spacesuit for astronauts on the moon as part of the Artemis program. 

After years of design and testing it is finally ready for space. Nasa recently announced that the xEMU prototype passed it's preliminary design review and will be tested in 2023.

NASA is developing a shape shifting robot for exploration

It only makes sense to create a space exploration robot that can tackle any type of terrain such as water, air or ground. That's exactly what we did when we designed G.R.I.F.O.N. 1 (Geological Research Instrument for Foraging and Observation in Nature) for the Quantum Enigma Comic Book and short film. Ours has two additional robots attached to it that can separate and float on water like an amphibious vehicle and it's also equipped with an aerial flying drone for reconnaissance. Ours is roughly a functional remote controlled prop, but Nasa is going all in.

The revolutionary concept called Shapeshifter is part drone, part boat, part all-terrain vehicle, and part submarine.

NASA 360 takes a look at the NASA Innovative Advanced Concept (NIAC) known as Shapeshifter. Researched by a team of engineers at NASA JPL the Shapeshifter concept is a flying amphibious robot that could one day be used to explore the treacherous terrains of distant worlds.

Check out the video below.

China's Lunar Rover Found Gel Like Substance on the Dark Side of the Moon

Yes, you read that correctly. Because of all of the other crazy news around the world this week, this headline didn't really get much coverage. Here's an excerpt from the article by Andrew Jones from Live Science.

"China's Chang'e-4 lunar rover has discovered an unusually colored, 'gel-like' substance during its exploration activities on the far side of the moon."

You can read the entire article here:

What I find most interesting about this, is that their theory for the substance is melted glass from a meteorite strike. Now you tell me, does glass look like a gel like substance? Maybe when it's hot, but this surely is not. Sounds like an X-Files episode.

Our Galaxy's Black Hole Has Emitted a Mysterious Flare

The supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way, Sagittarius A*, is relatively quiet. It's not an active nucleus, spewing light and heat into the space around it, until now.

Astronomer Tuan Do and his team took observations of the galactic center using the WM Keck Observatory in Hawaii over four nights earlier this year. The strange flashes were captured in timelapse earlier this year, two hours condensed down to a few seconds.

Check out the video below.



What does it mean?

Send Your Name To Mars in 2020

In Celebration of the 50 year anniversary since humans walked on the moon, I am posting this so you can add your name to the Mars Rover Mission in 2020 and send your name to Mars.

Although it will be years before the first humans set foot on Mars, NASA is giving the public an opportunity to send their names — stenciled on chips — to the Red Planet with NASA's Mars 2020 rover, which represents the initial leg of humanity’s first round trip to another planet. The rover is scheduled to launch as early as July 2020, with the spacecraft expected to touch down on Mars in February 2021. Click below to add your name.

Get your ass to Mars!

NASA Climbing Robot Scales Cliffs and Looks for Life

Lemur is a test exploratory robot that can scale cliffs such as the ones on Mars and possibly the Moon. Check out the video below of some testing. Pay attention to those cool grasping feet.

Here is the official JPL/Nasa info on this bot:

Robots can land on the Moon and drive on Mars, but what about the places they can't reach? Designed by engineers as NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, a four-limbed robot named LEMUR (Limbed Excursion Mechanical Utility Robot) can scale rock walls, gripping with hundreds of tiny fishhooks in each of its 16 fingers and using artificial intelligence to find its way around obstacles. In its last field test in Death Valley, California, in early 2019, LEMUR chose a route up a cliff, scanning the rock for ancient fossils from the sea that once filled the area. 

The LEMUR project has since concluded, but it helped lead to a new generation of walking, climbing and crawling robots. In future missions to Mars or icy moons, robots with AI and climbing technology derived from LEMUR could discover similar signs of life. Those robots are being developed now, honing technology that may one day be part of future missions to distant worlds.

Signs of a mirror universe touching our own

Here is a very interesting article by Michael Brooks over at New Scientist titled "We've seen signs of a mirror-image universe that is touching our own." 

New experiments are revealing hints of a world and a reality that are complete reflections of ours. This mirrorverse may be able to solve the mystery of the universe's missing dark matter.

By Michael Brooks

AT FIRST glance, everything looks familiar. The clock ticks placidly on the wall, cars motor along outside your window, the story you are reading has the same eye-catching pictures. But something is wrong. The clocks are running backwards. Cars are driving on the wrong side of the road. The article you are reading is written back to front. Suddenly, it clicks. You are looking at your own reflection.

The uncanny world on the other side of the mirror may not seem real to you. But Leah Broussard thinks parallel universes where everything is flipped might be very real indeed. Along with her colleagues at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, she is on the hunt for a universe that is identical to our own, but flipped so that it contains mirror atoms, mirror molecules, mirror stars and planets, and even mirror life. If it exists, it would form a bubble of reality nestling within the fabric of space and time alongside our own familiar universe, with some particles capable of switching between the two.

After decades of tantalizing hints about its existence, the first experiments aiming to go through the looking glass are about to get under way. Finding such a mirror universe would not only transform our view of reality, but could also answer questions about our own universe that have puzzled scientists for decades. “The implications would be astounding,” says Broussard.

Physicists have found new worlds before. In 1928, Paul Dirac realized that the equations of quantum mechanics allowed for the existence of particles …

Read more here:

Earth Organisms are living outside the International Space Station

Strange earth organisms have survived for almost 2 years outside the International Space Station against heat, cold, radiation and more. If life can survive here, surely it can survive on Mars or any other planet. Maybe you've read about this, maybe not, either way it's very interesting in terms of what it means for future space exploration. 

Full Article Here.

Vintage Japanese Movie Monsters

The original Godzilla was created in 1954 and with it's success came an enormous amount of copycats and successors. 

Here are just a few with a link at the bottom to a massive collection of truly weird and somewhat creative creatures.

Not only is this dude extremely creepy looking, but slightly constipated. 

MORE CREATURES...

Japan is making a Moon Rover that will be Manufactured by Toyota

The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has teamed up with Toyota to build a pressurized self-driving rover that will land on the lunar surface in 2029. The six-wheeled transporter will be able to carry two humans a distance of 10,000 kilometers using solar power and Toyota's fuel cell technology.

The rover is roughly the size of a motorhome and It will land on the moon before the human expedition arrives, using AI tech to travel independently to meet them. Check out the video below for more info.

New Rotating Space Station Proposed

The Gateway foundation is proposing a Von Braun Rotating Space Station. Here's a little back story if you don't know who they are. The Gateway Foundation was formed to build the first spaceport. To do that we must first build a few smaller structures. One of the most important projects is the Von Braun Rotating Space Station. This will likely be the first commercial space construction project in history.

Our plan includes developing a robust space construction industry, the first artificial gravity space station, and finally the Gateway.


These are important first steps to colonizing space and other worlds – The Gateway Foundation will connect people from all over the world so we can make this first step together.

The Von Braun Space Station

The Von Braun Station will be a rotating space station designed to produce varying levels of artificial gravity by increasing or decreasing the rate of rotation. The station will be designed from the start to accommodate both national space agencies conducting low gravity research and space tourists who want to experience life on a large space station with the comfort of low gravity and the feel of a nice hotel.

Check out the video below.

Godzilla: The Planet Eater

Godzilla: The Planet Eater which is the 3rd Animated Film Installment of the new Godzilla series, was just released on Netflix. 

We checked out the first one in the series Godzilla: Planet of Monsters, which has an amazing size comparison chart to other Godzilla Movies throughout history, and we also checked out the Second installment, Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle which was just as intense as the first one.

Watch the trailer below, then go check them out on Netflix. If you are a Godzilla fan, they are definitely worth the watch.

Welcome to the Triangulum Galaxy

Located just three million light years from earth, the Triangulum Galaxy is a vast spiral galaxy that can sometimes be seen with the naked eye. Fear not if you don't have a naked eye. Nasa's Hubble Telescope has photographed this galaxy that is zoomable here.  

The Triangulum galaxy (Messier 33) which is slightly smaller than the Milky Way, is thick with a stellar nursery. Check out the video below to see a zoom in from earth.

MORE...

We may not have flying cars yet but we are getting cars that walk

Welcome to 2019 the year when science fiction becomes reality. Oh, wait, it kinda already is. 

Who knew that the company that brought us the Hyundai Excel in 1986 for under $5000 new, would develop a concept car that has legs.

The Hyundai Elevate is a blend of car, robot, and Mars rover as a machine for first responders, off-roading and explorers. 

A normal car or 4 x 4 truck would get stuck at the edge of an accident site of collapsed buildings, cars and debris. The Elevate can climb over and walk to the area in need of assistance. 

Hyundai says that, with its CRADLE modular platform, the main body that sits on top of the walking wheels and drive train can be exchanged for different options, including an autonomous option directed by AI. They have a taxi concept that can climb stairs to an entrance of a building, allowing a disabled person to exit closer to their front door.

Check out the video below to see all of the possibilities.