Daily Archives: December 9, 2019

Tutorial: What are the differences between force, torque, pressure and vacuum? – DesignNews

Posted: December 9, 2019 at 8:46 pm

Most second-year university engineering students can easily explain the differences between force, torque and pressure. The reason for their confident answers is that engineering schools typically require a term of study in both static and dynamic forces by a students sophomore year. However, from that point on, further studies in these areas are usually confined to aerospace, civil and mechanical engineering disciplines. Few electronic engineers need or will take advanced force mechanic courses.

But modern advances in material properties and device miniaturization as in micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) and sensors mean that force, torque and pressure are relevant across all of the major disciplines. A quick technical review will help remind everyone of these basic concepts.

Force

Simply put, a force is a push or a pull upon an object. A force can cause an object with mass to change its velocity, i.e., to accelerate. Since a force has both magnitude and direction, it is a vector quantity.

A unit of force in the International Systems (or SI) of units is a newton. One newton is defined as the unit of force which would give to a mass of one kilogram an acceleration of 1 meter per second, per second. In terms of an equation, force equals mass times acceleration (F = ma).

Actually, Newtons Second Law of Motion defines force as the change in momentum over time, not mass through an acceleration. But the momentum equation is reduced to F=ma for basic engineering calculations.

Sometimes the word load is used instead of force. Civil and mechanical engineers tend to make calculations based on the load in which a system (e.g., a bridge) is resisting the force of gravity from both the weight of the bridge as well as the vehicles driving over it.

Newtons Laws have been called the basis for space flight. According to NASA, understanding how space travel is possible requires an understanding of the concept of mass, force, and acceleration as described in Newtons Three Laws of Motion. Consider a space rocket in which the pressure created by the controlled explosion inside the rocket's engines results in a tremendous force known as thrust. The gas from the explosion escapes through the engines nozzles which propels the rocket in the opposite direction (Law #3), thus following F=MA (Law #2) which lifts the rocket into space. Assuming the rocket travels beyond Earths atmosphere, it will continue to move into space even after the propellant gas is gone (Law #1).

Newtons Three Laws of Motion

1.

Every object in a state of uniform motion will remain in that state of motion unless an external force acts on it.

2.

Force equals mass times acceleration [F = ma]

3.

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Torque

The first university course in static forces is usually followed by a course in dynamic forces in which the idea of rational force or torque is introduced. Torque is the tendency of a force to rotate or twist an object about an axis, fulcrum, or pivot. It is the rotational equivalent of linear force.

Formally, torque (or the moment of force) is the product of the magnitude of the force and the perpendicular distance of the line of action of force from the axis of rotation. The SI unit for torque is the newton metre (Nm).

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Deriving the equation for torque is often done from a purely force perspective. But it can also be accomplished by looking at the amount of work required to rotate an object. This was the approach the Richard Feynman used in one of his lectures on rotation in two-dimensions.

We shall get to the theory of torques quantitatively by studying theworkdone in turning an object, for one very nice way of defining a force is to say how much work it does when it acts through a given displacement, explained Feynman.

Feynman was able to show that, just as force times distance is work, torque times angle equals work. This point is highlighted in several avionic and aeronautical examples from NASAs Glenn Research Center where NASA designs and develops technologies for aeronautics and space exploration. Force, torque and pressure concepts continue to exert their influences far beyond the earths atmosphere. Concern the release of a large satellite like the Cygnus Cargo Craft from the International Space Station (ISS). The satellite is connected to a large robotic arm that removes it from the ISS prior to release into space. The robotic arm acts just like a huge moment of force in space subject to forces, torques and pressure acting in space.

Pressure

Pressure is the force per unit area applied in a direction perpendicular to the surface of an object. Many of us are familiar with gauge pressure from measuring tire pressures. Gage pressure is the pressure relative to the local atmospheric or ambient pressure. This is in contrast to absolute pressure or the actual value of the pressure at any point. This will make more sense shortly.

Pressure is the amount of force acting per unit area. The SI unit for pressure is the pascal (Pa), equal to one newton per square meter (N/m2). Pressure is also measured in non-SI units such as bar and psi.

In his lecture on the The Kinetic Theory of Gases, Feynman introduced the concept of pressure by thinking about the force needed for a piston plunger to contain a certain volume of gas inside a box. The amount of force needed to keep a plunger or lid of area A would be a measure of the force per unit area of pressure. In other words, pressure is equal to the force that must be applied on a piston, divided by the area of the piston (P = F/A).

Applications for pressure technologies exist both on and off the planet. In space, however, pressure is so low that it may almost be considered as non-existent. Thats why engineers often talk about vacuum rather than pressure in space applications. A vacuum is any pressure less than the local atmospheric pressure. It is defined as the difference between the local atmospheric pressure and the point of a measurement.

While space has a very low pressure, it is not a perfect vacuum. It is an approximation, a place where the gaseous pressure is much, MUCH less than the Earths atmospheric pressure.

The extremely low pressure in the vacuum of space is why humans need space suits to provide a pressurized environment. A space suit provides air pressure to keep the fluids in our body in a liquid state, i.e., to prevent our bodily fluids from boiling due to low pressure (via PV = nRT). Like a tire, a space suit is essentially an inflated balloon that is restricted by some rubberized fabric.

Homework question: Why didnt the wheels on the Space Shuttle bust while in space, i.e., in the presence of a vacuum? Look for the answer in the comments section.

In summary, force, torque, pressure and vacuum are important physical concepts that thanks to advances in material sciences and MEMS devices cross all of the major disciplines. Further, these fundamental concepts continue to have relevance in applications like space systems among many others.

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Putin fears the US and NATO are militarizing space and Russia is right to worry, experts say – CNBC

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Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) First Deputy Head Alexander Ivanov, Russia's President Vladimir Putin, and Federal Agency for Special Construction head Alexander Volosov watch a rocket booster carrying satellites blast off from a launch pad at the Vostochny Cosmodrome.

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NATO, the U.S. and Russia have a new domain to compete and conflict over: space.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Wednesday that the U.S. saw space as as "theater of military operations" and that the development of the U.S. Space Force posed a threat to Russia.

"The U.S. military-political leadership openly considers space as a military theater and plans to conduct operations there," Putin said at a meeting with defense officials in Sochi, according to Russian news agency TASS.

"For preserving strategic supremacy in this field the United States is accelerating creation of its space forces, which are already in the process of operative preparations," Putin said, adding that the world's leading countries are fast-tracking the development of modern military space systems and dual purpose satellites and that Russia needed to do the same.

"The situation requires us to pay increased attention to strengthening the orbital group, as well as the rocket and space industry as a whole."

Russia opposed the militarization of space, Putin insisted, but said "at the same time the march of events requires greater attention to strengthening the orbital group and the space rocket and missile industry in general."

Putin's comments Wednesday reiterated those he made in late November to his security council, in which he said he was "seriously concerned" about NATO's "attempts to militarize outer space."

That comment came after NATO had declared space a fifth "operational domain" for the military alliance, alongside air, land, sea and cyber.

"Space is part of our daily life here on Earth. It can be used for peaceful purposes. But it can also be used aggressively," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at a meeting of foreign ministers on November 20.

"Satellites can be jammed, hacked or weaponized. Anti-satellite weapons could cripple communications and other services our societies rely on, such as air travel, weather forecast or banking," he said. "Space is also essential to the alliance's deterrence and defense," Stoltenberg added, referencing the organization's ability to navigate, to gather intelligence, and to detect missile launches.

"Making space an operational domain will help us ensure all aspects are taken into account to ensure the success of our missions," he said. "For instance, this can allow NATO planners to make a request for allies to provide capabilities and services, such as satellite communications and data imagery."

He said that around 2,000 satellites currently orbit the Earth with around half of them owned by NATO countries.

Stoltenberg insisted that "NATO has no intention to put weapons in space. We are a defensive alliance." He added the alliance's approach to space will remain fully in line with international law. The 1967 Outer Space Treaty is a global agreement considered a foundation stone of international space law.

The treaty was first signed by the U.K., U.S. and then-Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War to promote the peaceful exploration of space. It banned the placing of nuclear weapons in space and limited the use of the Moon and all other celestial bodies to peaceful purposes only. It also established that space shall be free for exploration and use by all nations, but that no nation may claim sovereignty on any part of it.

There are other space treaties covering, for example, the rescue of astronauts, the moon, the International Space Station (ISS) and liability for damage caused by space objects. Still, the use of space for defensive activities is likely to be litigious and provocative territory.

It's not the first time that space has been seen as a potential realm for defense though, especially during the Cold War. The "Strategic Defense Initiative" was a program first initiated in 1983 under President Ronald Reagan. The aim of the program was to develop an anti-ballistic missile system that was designed to shoot down nuclear missiles in space, with potential missile attacks from the Soviet Union specifically in mind.

Artist's concept of interceptor under development for the U.S. Army's HEDI (High Endoatmospheric Def. Interceptor), a key element of its 1983 Strategic Defense. Initiative (aka Star Wars)

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It was dubbed "Star Wars" because it envisaged that technologies like space-based x-ray lasers could be used as part of the defensive system. Funding shortages as well as the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 meant that the SDI was never built.

The idea of space dominance and defense has gained more traction in recent years, however, and in 2018, President Donald Trump floated the idea of developing another military branch, the "Space Force." He said the idea of a Space Force had started as a joke but he had then decided it was a "great idea."

"Space is a war-fighting domain, just like the land, air, and sea," Trump said. "We have the Air Force, we'll have the Space Force." In June 2018, he ordered the Pentagon to begin the creation of the new branch.

At the start of 2019, the U.S. unveiled an overhaul of its missile defense program in its "Missile Defense Review" in which it stated the need for a "comprehensive approach to missile defense against rogue state and regional missile threats." The review also recognized "space is a new war-fighting domain, with the Space Force leading the way" and said it would ensure "American dominance in space."

In a speech presenting more detail on the Missile Defense Review, Trump said the U.S. would "invest in a space-based missile defense layer. It's new technology. It's ultimately going to be a very, very big part of our defense and, obviously, of our offense," he said.

U.S. Air Force Space Command Gen. John "Jay" Raymond stands next to the flag of the newly established U.S. Space Command, the sixth national armed service, in the Rose Garden at the White House August 29, 2019 in Washington, DC. Citing potential threats from China and Russia and the nations reliance on satellites for defense operations, Trump said the U.S. needs to launch a 'space force.'

Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images News | Getty Images

"The system will be monitored, and we will terminate any missile launches from hostile powers, or even from powers that make a mistake. It won't happen. Regardless of the missile type or the geographic origins of the attack, we will ensure that enemy missiles find no sanctuary on Earth or in the skies above."

Russia responded angrily to the comments, saying it was tantamount to the U.S. relaunching the Cold War-era "Star Wars" program. According to a statement from Russia's foreign ministry, reported by Reuters, Russia condemned the strategy as an act of confrontation and it urged Washington to reconsider its plans.

"The strategy, de facto, gives the green light to the prospect of basing missile strike capabilities in space," the statement said. "The implementation of these ideas will inevitably lead to the start of an arms race in space, which will have the most negative consequences for international security and stability," it said.

"We would like to call on the U.S. administration to think again and walk away from this irresponsible attempt to re-launch, on a new and more high-tech basis, the still-remembered Reagan-era 'Star Wars' program," it said, Reuters reported.

Experts say Russia is wary of the U.S., and NATO, opening up a new operational frontier in space as Russia would be easily out-competed by the combined NATO countries' technological expertise, advances and weaponry in space.

"I think when the Russians hear this, they primarily think of the 'Strategic Defense Initiative', they think of missile defense, and those are the kinds of things they can't compete in those areas as well and something they would be very keen to avoid (competing over). The question is, what is NATO actually going to do here?," Daragh McDowell, principal Russia analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, told CNBC Wednesday.

Russia was quick to criticize NATO's announcement of space as a new operational domain with Putin telling his security council that "we are also seriously concerned about the NATO infrastructure approaching our borders, as well as the attempts to militarize outer space."

Earlier this year, Putin had said Russia needs to heavily upgrade its space industry, telling his security council in April that "it is obvious that it is necessary to fundamentally modernize the rocket and space industry," according to news agency TASS. He also said that leading positions in space exploration were essential for solving national development tasks, ensuring the country's security and technological and economic competitiveness, TASS reported.

Christopher Granville, managing director of EMEA and Global Political Research at TS Lombard, told CNBC Wednesday that Russia had spent considerable time and effort, in the last few decades, developing technologies to defend against "any conceivable U.S. strategic defense or anti-missile defense capabilities."

"And if the U.S. were hypothetically to develop new capabilities in outer space, then Russia would have to come up with new responses in addition to the weapon system that Putin announced with some fanfare last year," he said, referencing Putin's revealing of new nuclear weapons in March 2018 that he said were "invincible."

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Emirati Astronaut Boom Breaks Out as Men and Women Apply for Next Mission – Asgardia Space News

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In September, UAE's first Astronaut, major Hazza Al Mansouri, spent a week on board the ISS, putting his country on the space scale forever, and getting important work done. To build on this foundation, the country gets ready for a second mission, having opened a registration for Emirati willing to go to space, on Friday. The first four hours saw more than a thousand applications,according to Salem Al Marri, Director of UAE Astronaut Program

Dubai Media Officereports that this call for aspiring astronauts, according to an official statement, 'marks new phase of theUAE'sspace exploration journey.'

Dubai's Ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum who with all enthusiasm joined the initiative, said in a tweet: 'We're looking for a new Emirati astronaut for the UAE's second space mission... to those among our sons and daughters who see in themselves the energy and determination, register through the Mohammed bin Rashed Space Center.'

The requirements for the applicants include fluent English and high literacy in native Arabic, and a university degree. Previous astronaut training is not required, and current occupation is unimportant.

Major Al Mansouri gave Emirati manned space flight a perfect start with just the right vibe that inspires people nationwide to become a part of what goes far beyond a mission or even a generation.

The high level of interest for the second mission among applicants means that theUAE that established its Space Agency only in 2014, is well on the way to realizing its space ambitions with strong support from its citizens.

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The new would-be Obama and other commentary – New York Post

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2020 watch: The New Would-Be Obama

Pete Buttigiegs elevator pitch to American voters is essentially Obama but Gay, snarks National Reviews Kyle Smith. The way Buttigieg speaks is his real appeal. He gets the juices sap? of idealism flowing through liberal veins. Why is he doing well? Well, its mainly an indicator of the comically obvious weaknesses of the partys three stumblin septuagenarian front-runners. Buttigiegs problem, however, is that no one has ever gone directly from being mayor of a large city to the presidency before, much less mayor of a small city. He also faces a singular problem in that its easier to pronounce his name than it is to cite anything hes done.

From the right: The Crisis for Career Diplomats

Very important people with very important advanced degrees from very important universities are mad at President Trump for pressing our allies to honor their NATO defense-spending commitments, scoffs American Greatness Julie Kelly. Worse, Trumps using the force of his personality rather than relying on many white papers and think-tank conferences and pricey parties at well-appointed embassies. For Foggy Bottom bureaucrats, Trumps shake-ups of diplomatic norms constitute horror stories not because of legitimate foreign-policy concerns, but because he poses a legitimate threat to their professional sinecures. While those elites predicted global chaos once it became clear Trump would weed them out, the president has been fixing international fiascos almost single-handedly. Fact is, as Harry Truman observed, foreign-service officers act only as servants of the government, not the other way around no matter how much they might not like that reality.

Space desk: Set Controls for the Heart of the Sun

For one little NASA spacecraft, the weather outside is frightful, reports The Atlantics Marina Koren. The Parker Solar Probe has completed three scorching passes around the sun, and it will get even closer before taking a fiery plunge into the surface in 2025. No probe has ever gotten that close before, and Parker is already surprising scientists back at home with its findings. One surprise: The solar wind is so strong that it can cause magnetic forces to completely flip around for a few minutes at a time, which can in turn speed up the particles flowing away from the sun. Reaching the sun is one of the toughest feats of robotic space exploration but thanks to Parker, were unlocking the deepest secrets of our star.

Media beat: How US Papers Whitewash Corbyn

As long as Jeremy Corbyn remains its leader, James Kirchick predicts at Tablet, Britains Labour party will remain institutionally anti-Semitic. Even many Labour insiders admit this, so why cant Americas leading newspapers do the same? Polls show 94 percent of British Jews will vote for any party but Labour in the Dec. 12 election, yet multiple New York Times pieces pretend British Jews are torn over whether to back Labour. The Washington Post, meanwhile, declared that the party under investigation by Britains Equality and Human Rights Commission for anti-Jewish bias has been hit by claims of anti-Semitism because of strong statements on Palestinian rights. It seems the inability of highly educated, well-intentioned, decent people to recognize and acknowledge anti-Semitism that doesnt come dressed up in jackboots and a swastika is a transatlantic affliction.

Theologian: The High Cost of US Individualism

While the days news draws my attention to more elite concerns like impeachment, Chad Pecknold confesses at The Catholic Herald, I regularly witness drug addiction, poverty and familial collapse. The reason our cable- and Twitter-driven political theater misses these crises: Our politics have mostly centered on individual-rights claims or on the claims of commercial interests. In Washington, lobbyists look out for corporations, while liberals use state power to invent ever-new rights around ever-changing identities. Meanwhile, the family has been weakened over decades by myriad factors not just by court decisions about divorce, contraception, abortion and the neutering of marriage, but also by the demand for the two-income family. The predictable result: falling fertility rates and the failure of a generation to form strong bonds of marriage and family.

Compiled by The Post Editorial Board

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India government ready to spend 33 crore to fend off space debris – Business Insider India

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The Centre has proposed Rs 33.3 crore for ISRO's 'Project Netra' for securing Indian satellites from space debris and other dangers, according to documents related to supplementary demand for grants. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had moved a resolution for the grants for which the Lok Sabha granted approval last week.

In Sep, India launched the early warning system Netra (Network for Space Objects, Tracking, and Analysis) to secure its satellites and other assets in space at an estimated to cost Rs 400 crore.

Scientists say 50 years of human space exploration has led to the creation of junk around Earth's orbit, posing serious traffic risks to man-made satellites.

Former director of Satish Dhawan Space Centre M Y S Prasad said India is a responsible space power and monitoring capability is necessary for protection of space assets.

"The NETRA project would provide India with the same capability as the US and Russia to assess threats from space debris and other hazards," he told -Bhasha.

Every year, there are many incidents of objects colliding in space. As a result, small pieces of debris rotate at extremely fast speeds. Dead satellites and other debris present in space exist in the Earth's orbit for many years and these debris can damage any active satellite. DR HDA ABH

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The National Space Centre will pay tribute to David Bowie in an immersive live show – Far Out Magazine

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Next year, the National Space Centre will be celebrating one of the biggest pop culture icons ever, the Starman himself, David Bowie as part of a new immersive live show.

The show will fully utilise the unique fulldome format of the UKs largest planetarium, with a stunning immersive 360 degree show. The National Space Centre has confirmed that theyre working with DAVID LIVE to host the first live performance of the illustrious music of David Bowie in the Sir Patrick Moore Planetarium.

Not many artists are as deeply connected with space exploration as David Bowie. Not only does his back-catalogue include songs like Starman, Space Oddity and Life on Mars but Elon Musk once sent a car into space playing Bowies tunes.

The show will be called Bowie: Oddity to Mars and will celebrate a significant period of Bowies career between 1969 and 1972. It sees the ers that Bowie moved from his epic debut, Space Oddity to taking on the role of the alien-rock star himself, Ziggy Stardust.

The National Space centre will be working with DAVID LIVE, a British five-piece band that has performed honest and insightful musical tributes to David Bowie since 2005. As part of the celebration, the visitor attraction has partnered with De Montfort University Leicester (DMU), Loughborough College and Leicester College to create a never before seen exhibition of fashion, textiles, art and photography inspired by Bowie.

Paul McNicoll, Associate Professor for Student Experience at DMU, said: Were thrilled to team up with the National Space Centre for this exciting event, which will provide an invaluable platform for our Fashion and Textiles MA students. Inspired by the Apollo missions and the work of David Bowie, they will be showcasing innovative designs across fashion, textiles, intimates, footwear and accessories.

Malika Andress, Head of Marketing at the National Space Centre, added: Were really excited to be hosting the Bowie: Oddity to Mars event at the Centre. Following the success of our sold out Darkside of the Moon shows, in January and July 2019, we knew we had to follow it up with something equally spectacular and who better than Bowie with his fascination with space?! David Live is a fantastic tribute act and will really bring Bowies music to life in our planetarium.

Were also delighted to be working with some extremely talented students at DMU and Loughborough and Leicester colleges. Each student had been inspired by Bowie in very different ways, exploring his music, style and personas and were proud to help showcase their amazing work.

You can find tickets to next years event right here.

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Space Center Houston marks record attendance and introduction of Galaxy Lights – InPark Magazine

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Dec 09, 2019 Joe Kleiman Museums, News, North America, World markets Comments Off on Space Center Houston marks record attendance and introduction of Galaxy Lights

Thenonprofit Space Center Houston, the Official Visitor Center of NASA Johnson Space Center and a Certified Autism Center, has welcomed more than 1.1 million visitors to date, marking its highest annual attendance since opening in 1992. This milestone comes with one month to go in the year and just as the center is offering a new holiday tradition,Space Center Houstons Galaxy Lights, presented by Reliant.

Space Center Houston has made significant strides in offering exceptional, authentic science and space exploration learning opportunities for everyone, said William T. Harris, president and CEO of Space Center Houston. We are dedicated to advancing innovation and creative thinking to engage visitors in how science, technology, engineering and mathematics are relevant to our everyday lives as well as exploring space.

The leading science and space exploration learning center is on pace to surpass last years attendance by 15 percent. This year it set record-breaking attendance nine out of 11 months including its best Spring Break, June, July and Labor Day weekend. Since 2012, the center has experienced an exponential 70 percent increase in growth from nearly 500,000 annual visitors.

Recognized as the No. 1 destination in Houston for international visitors according to Houston First, the center continues to draw people from around the world to explore the science and space exploration learning center and to participate in its leading educational programs.

Attendance rocketed this summer with the celebration of the 50thanniversary of Apollo 11. Space Center Houston drew visitors from 49 countries for its series of events with Apollo legends, astronauts and its first outdoor concert. On the anniversary of the Moon landing, the center experienced its best single day attendance ever with more than 13,000 people.

The center continues to offer new science learning opportunities for people of all ages. Space Center Houstons new interactive fall exhibit Playing with Light explores light through engaging experiments and the all-new holiday experience Galaxy Lights, presented by Reliant. Galaxy Lights is the most technologically advanced light display in Texas and is open nightly through Jan. 5. For more information about activities, hours of operation and tickets during this unique holiday adventure, visitspacecenter.org/galaxylights.

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Emirati students given chance to work on Emirates Mars Mission – The National

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Emirati students are getting a once in a lifetime chance to work with the Emirates Mars Mission.

The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre is now accepting applications for its elite research experience for undergraduates programme", or REU.

It runs for several months in the summer and successful students will gain critical experience in programming and data analysis under the supervision of the MBRSC team, along with the chance to work in the United States and France.

The handful of Emiratis selected who must be studying science or engineering will conduct research that could prove vital for the landmark mission that will see a probe named Amal, translated from Arabic as Hope, blast off in July next year and reach the surface of Mars by 2021.

It will be the first mission to Mars by any Arab or Muslim majority country and will fall in the same year the UAE celebrates its 50th birthday.

More than 100 Emirati engineers have been working on the project in partnership with universities in the US.

The students' participation in the Hope Probe's scientific mission, through the REU 2020, will help them acquire the necessary skills in analysing data on the Red Planet, said Hessa Al Matrooshi of the MBRSC.

It is hoped that some of those who participate in the programme will go on to forge careers in the UAE's rapidly expanding space sector. Hazza Al Mansoori became the first Emirati in space this year and a second astronaut programme was launched a few days ago.

Maj Al Mansooris achievement followed a series of successful satellite launches over the past few years that put the UAE in the worlds vanguard of space exploration.

Over the past years the [REU] programme has proven successful in preparing highly-qualified Emirati cadres to participate in the Hope Probe mission, said Omran Sharaf, project manager of the Hope probe.

This edition of REU will be very special as it goes in parallel with the launch of Hope to Mars."

The REU programme is now in its sixth year and so far, about 30 Emirati students have worked on projects such as how to support life in space, studying the atmosphere and the search for water.

The deadline for applications is January 1 and the programme is open to Emirati students in their first, second or final year with more than one semester left to graduate. Anyone interested can email reu@mbrsc.ae

Updated: December 10, 2019 04:09 AM

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The only way is up – matching aspirations with action in space – BFPG

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Space is in.

On the 20th November, NATO Foreign Ministers met in Brussels to prepare for last weeks NATO Summit in London. Much of the noise around the summit has been political in the UK, it was focussed on how Boris Johnson would nullify the threat an often tactless Donald Trump might pose to his election campaign, and on how Jeremy Corbyns Labour could use the NATO visit to their advantage. Further afield, much has been made of a brewing France vs Germany fall-out, after Chancellor Angela Merkel publicly (albeit not directly) rebuked French President Emmanuel Macron for his claims that NATO was suffering from brain-death.

It is perhaps unsurprising, then, that the discussion of concrete NATO policy has fallen by the way when it comes to the popular press in favour of debate surrounding the long-term viability of NATO. The NATO Summit in London on the 3rd and 4th was dominated by coverage of the splits in the NATO family, from Trump vs Trudeau to Macron vs the world. In a world in which the international liberal order is fracturing, there are major big picture questions which need answering.

But key policy changes need addressing as well and space is increasingly becoming an important aspect of foreign policy for NATO and its member states. Here in the UK, in particular, weve been dreaming big on post-Brexit space plans. The Conservatives have made a pledge to establish the UKs first Space Command in their manifesto, and several Ministers have made calls for the UK to embrace space as a new frontier in foreign policy. Spaceports have been proposed, and plans for new satellite systems drafted but the truth is that Britain must do even more to make our actions match our aspirations. According to Joshua Posaner, in Politico, the UKs cash commitment to projects under the European Space Agency lag way behind the big hitters posing a problem for UK Aerospace companies, and threatening to derail any grand space ambitions before theyve even got going.

Its certainly true that the British government has pledged to raise its overall contribution to the European Space Agency a rise of 15% to an overall contribution of 440 million annually but that needs to raise in order to match the efforts of other countries with space ambitions. Spain, for example, raised its contribution by 25% to 850 million.

The UKs ambition is coming through strongly in certain areas. The government is dead set on opening a spaceport in the early stages of the coming decade, as a first step in realising its space ambitions but this ambition is being matched across Europe. Sweden, for example, has committed to starting rocket launches from Kiruna by 2022. Norway aims to beat that and has 2020 in its sights. Portugal matches the UKs space ambitions and aims to open a spaceport in the Azores. France, Germany and Italy all spend a substantial amount more than the UK does on space exploration specifically.

For British leaders to target space is encouraging. Space and space exploration will be a key aspect of foreign policy in the not-too-distant future, and Britain should aim to be amongst the countries writing the rulebook. Beyond that, though; space centres can become hubs of hi-tech innovation, and important focal points for scientific research and progress. The tech industry is already one of the key aspects of the UKs soft power approach and investing in space can be a key way to expand that, as well as a development on its own terms. Being seen to lead the way, or at least be not too far behind other big hitters, is essential in terms of establishing Brexit Britains commitment to progress in the world and as a key player in emerging arenas.

The key members of the next government whoever they may be will likely continue to make wild proclamations on the future of space and the new possibilities it presents to the UK. To make these dreams reality, the government needs to step up its game and that means matching our neighbours on action and funding.

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The only way is up - matching aspirations with action in space - BFPG

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Biggest scientific discoveries of the 2010s decade: photos – Business Insider

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In March 2010, anthropologists discovered a tiny, lone finger bone in the Denisova cave in Siberia. They determined it belonged to previously undiscovered species of human ancestor.

Genetic analysis revealed that Denisovans (named after the cave in which they were found) were an enigmatic offshoot of Neanderthals.

Thus far, fossilized Denisovan remains have only been found in Siberia and Tibet. The species disappeared about 50,000 years ago but passed some of their genetic makeup to Homo sapiens.Denisovan DNA can be found in the genes of modern humans across Asia and some Pacific islands;up to 5% of modern Papua New Guinea residents' DNA shows remnants of interbreedingwith Denisovans.

People in Tibet today also possess some Denisovan traits and these traits appear to help Sherpas weather high altitudes.

Just after anthropologists discovered Denisovans, geneticists finished sequencing the entire Neanderthal genome.

Scientists discovered that both Neanderthals and Denisovans interbred with modern humans extensively.

While 2010 was a watershed year for anthropology, 2011 was all about achievements in space. NASA sent a new rover to Mars named Curiosity.

Curiosity is the largest and most capable rover ever sent to Mars. It joined fellow rover Opportunity in searching the red planet for signs of water and clues about whether Mars was capable of supporting microbial lifeforms.

In November 2011, NASA announced that its planet-hunting Kepler space telescope had spotted its first potentially habitable planet, Kepler 22-b.

The Kepler mission was charged with finding and identifying Earth-like planets in our galaxy that existed within a star's "Goldilocks," or habitable, zone. Kepler 22-b is 600 light-years away.

Planets in habitable zones are capable of hosting liquid water, one of the requisites for being considered Earth-like.

Impressive achievements in space exploration continued into 2012. In November of that year, NASA's Voyager 1 probe left our solar system and crossed into interstellar space.

NASA launched Voyager 1 in 1977. After flying by Jupiter and Saturn, Voyager 1 crossed into interstellar space. It continues to collect data to this day.

In 2019, Voyager 1's successor, Voyager 2, also entered interstellar space. Both probes have been flying longer than any other spacecraft in history.

Voyager 2 has beamed back unprecedented data about previously unknown boundary layers at the far edge of our solar system an area known as the heliopause. The discovery of these boundary layers suggests there are stages in the transition from our solar bubble to interstellar space that scientists did not previously know about.

In May 2012, Elon Musk's aerospace company, SpaceX, made history by sending the first-ever commercial spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station (ISS).

SpaceX's groundbreaking spaceship was called Dragon.

Previously, only four governments the United States, Russia, Japan, and the European Space Agency had achieved this challenging technical feat.

Seven years later, SpaceX launched Dragon's successor, Crew Dragon, into orbit for the first time. Crew Dragon is designed to ferry astronauts to the ISS; its 2019 trip marked the first time that a commercial spaceship designed for humans had ever left Earth.

Other scientific disciplines made incredible headway in 2012, too. Physicists reported the detection of a new type of particle called the Higgs Boson.

The Higgs Boson is nicknamed the "God particle" because it gives mass to all other fundamental particles in the universe that have mass, like electrons and protons.

Scientists knew a particle akin to the Higgs Boson had to exist otherwise nothing in the universe would have mass, and we wouldn't exist but had failed to find evidence of such a particle until 2012.

The same year, the patent for utilizing CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology was approved.

Crispr-Cas9 technology enables researchers to edit parts of the genome by removing, adding, or altering sections of DNA. Since 2012, scientists have edited mosquito, mushroom, and lizard DNA, among others. In 2018, a Chinese scientist announced he had edited the genetic information of two human embryos.

In 2013, NASA astronomers observed plumes of water vapor being ejected from the frigid, icy surface of Jupiter's moon, Europa.

This discovery made Europa only the second known oceanic world in our solar system aside from Earth; NASA observed jets of water vapor spewing from Saturn's moon Enceladus in 2005.

The presence of liquid water and ice make these two moons ideal places to search for life in our corner of the galaxy.

Since 2013, water has also been discovered on the dwarf-planet Pluto, a moon of Neptune called Triton, and multiple other moons of Jupiter and Saturn.

That year, NASA's Curiosity rover uncovered evidence that the red planet not only once held liquid water, but may also have been habitable.

In September 2012, NASA announced its Curiosity rover had identified gravel made by an ancient river in Mars' Gale Crater.

Then in March 2013, scientists found chemical ingredients for life sulfur, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and carbon in powder that Curiosity had drilled from rock near the ancient streambed.

"A fundamental question for this mission is whether Mars could have supported a habitable environment," Michael Meyer, who worked as the lead scientist for NASA's Mars Exploration Program at the time, said in a press release about the finding. "From what we know now, the answer is yes."

In the following years, evidence has mounted that the planet was once home to a vast ocean.

Since then, evidence has continued to mount that Mars still hosts liquid water today in at least one underground lake.

After three years of studying Mars, Italian scientists determined in July 2018 that it's possible the red planet has a 20-kilometer-wide lake of liquid water at its polar ice cap today.

"If these researchers are right, this is the first time we've found evidence of a large water body on Mars," Cassie Stuurman, a geophysicist at the University of Texas,told the Associated Press.

Other parts of Mars are too cold for water to stay liquid unless it's deep underground.

In a March 2019 study, researchers suggested that seasonal flow patterns in Mars's crater walls could come from pressurized groundwater 750 meters below the surface, which travels upward through cracks in the ground.

In November, physicists discovered 28 strange particles called neutrinos buried deep under the Antarctic ice. These neutrinos, they concluded, had come from outside our solar system.

Researchers found the particles using the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, an array of sensors embedded in Antarctic ice. Neutrinos are nearly mass-less and unstoppable; they move at the speed of light and get discharged in the aftermath of exploding stars.

Scientists can use neutrinos to understand events happening in distant galaxies. In 2018, they found more of the particles in Antarctica, then traced them back to the source: a rapidly spinning black hole, millions of times the mass of the sun, that's gobbling up gas and dust.

Researchers also achieved a food industry milestone in 2013 when scientists successfully served the first-ever lab-grown hamburger.

The burger which took two years and $325,000 to make consists of 20,000 thin strips of cow muscle tissue that were grown in a Netherlands laboratory.

Since 2013, the lab-grown meat industry has grown in popularity and dropped in price. In 2015, one of the researchers responsible for the first lab-grown burger, said the per-pound cost had dropped to $37.

The European Space Agency got some time in the spotlight in 2014. In November, the agency's Rosetta space probe was able to land on a comet 372 million miles from Earth called 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

It took Rosetta 10 years to reach and orbit the comet, then launch a lander down to the surface.

Rosetta's lander, Philae, took the first-ever surface images of a comet.

In 2015, anthropologist Lee Berger announced that his team had discovered a new human ancestor species called Homo Naledi in South Africa.

Two spelunkers had accidentally stumbled across the Homo naledi fossils two years earlier, in a hidden cave 100 feet below the surface.

All told, the chamber contained 1,550 bones belonging to at least 15 individuals who all lived between 330,000 and 250,000 years ago.

2015 was also the year that scientists mapped the human epigenome for the first time.

The epigenome is made up of chemicals and proteins that can attach to DNA and modify its function turning our genes on and off.

An individual's lifestyle and environment factors like whether they smoke or what their diet looks like can prompt sometimes deadly changes in their epigenome that can cause cancer.

Mapping the epigenome may help scientists understand how tumors develop and cancer spreads.

Another NASA spacecraft, Cassini, achieved new heights that same year. In September, astronomers announced that they had confirmed a liquid ocean exists under the icy crust of Saturn's moon Enceladus.

NASA's Cassini spacecraft found that Enceladus emits plumes of water into space following the probe's arrival in 2004. But in 2015, scientists confirmed that the source of these plumes was a giant saltwater oceanhidden beneath the moon's icy crust.

In 2016, an artificial intelligence program from Google's DeepMind division named AlphaGo beat the world champion in four out of five matches of Go, a strategy game.

That wasn't the first time AI beat humans in a complex game.

In 2011, IBM's supercomputer, Watson, defeated two "Jeopardy!" champions including Ken Jennings in a three-day contest.

A year after AlphaGo's success, anAI named Libaratus beat four of the world's top professional players in 120,000 hands of no-limit, two-player poker. Then, in 2019, another DeepMind AI program named AlphaStar bested 99.8% of human players in the popular video game "Starcraft II."

Physicists rejoiced in 2016 when they detected two black holes colliding a billion light-years away.

The catastrophic collision created ripples in space-time, also known asgravitational waves. Einstein predicted the existence of these gravitational waves in 1915, but he thought they'd be too weak to ever pick up on Earth. New detection tools have proved otherwise.

This collision was the first event scientists observed using gravitational-wave detectors. Then in 2017, they observed two neutron stars merging. In August 2019, astrophysicists detected the billion-year-old aftermath of a collision between a black hole and a neutron star(the super-dense remnant of a dead star).

In 2017, geologists announced they'd discovered a new continent, called Zealandia, hidden under the Pacific Ocean.

The lost land ofZealandiasits on the ocean floor between New Zealand and New Caledonia.

It wasn't always sunken researchers have found fossils that suggested novel kinds of plants and organisms once lived there. Some argue that Zealandia should be countedalongsideour (more visible) seven continents.

In 2019, scientists found that another ancient continent had slid under what is now southern Europe about 120 million years ago. The researchers named this continent Greater Adria. Its uppermost regions formed mountain ranges across Europe, like the Alps.

That year brought a new breakthrough in genetics, too: Scientists successfully created synthetic DNA.

All living creatures' DNA is made up of two types of amino acid pairs: A-T (adenine thymine) and G-C (guanine cytosine). This four-letter alphabet forms the basis for all genetic information in the natural world.

But scientists invented two new letters, an unnatural pair of X-Y bases, that they seamlessly integrated into the genetic alphabet of E. coli bacteria.

Floyd Romesburg, who led the research, previously told Business Insider that his invention could improve the way we treat diseases. For example, it could change the way proteins degrade inside the body, helping drugs stay in your system longer. Romesburg said his team will be investigating how the finding might help cancer treatments and drugs for autoimmune diseases.

It was also a breakthrough year for self-driving car technology.

In September 2017, Audi announced it had produced the world's first "Level 3" autonomous car meaning its self-driving mode requires no human feet, hands, or eyes. The A8 sedan can wholly, safely control itself in self-driving mode, only needing a human to take over in the event of bad weather or disappearing lane lines.

Tesla Autopilot drivers, for comparison, have to be ready to take over at any moment, so they're counseled to keep their eyes on the road at all times.

Just two months later, Waymo the autonomous vehicle division of Alphabet, Google's parent company revealed that it was testing self-driving minivans in the streets of Arizona without any humans at all behind the wheel. In 2018, Waymo launched the first fully autonomous taxi service in the US.

Astronomers also witnessed another interstellar collision in 2017. When two neutron stars collided, scientists were able to see how all the gold in the universe was created.

The two massive, exploded stars hit each other at one-third the speed of light and created gravitational waves. Scientific instruments on Earth picked up the waves from that crash, an event astronomers say only happens once every 100,000 years.

The crash happened 130 million light years away from Earth, researchers discovered. It caused the formation of $100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 worth of gold and produced huge stores of silver and platinum, too.

That year, researchers at a Hawaiian astronomical observatory also observed the first interstellar object ever seen in our solar system, named 'Oumuamua.

Scientists only had a few weeks to study the interstellar interloper before it got too far, and too dim, to see with Earth-based telescopes.

Guesses as to what the object is run the gamut from comet to asteroid to alien spaceship. One Harvard University astronomer, Avi Loeb, has speculated that 'Oumuamua was an extraterrestrial scout, but nearly all other experts who have studied 'Oumuamua say that hypothesis is extraordinarily unlikely.

2017 was also a bittersweet year for astronomers who had to say goodbye to NASA's Cassini spacecraft, which took a fatal dive into Saturn in October.

Cassini had been exploring Saturn and its moons for 13 years before the probe plunged to its death on September 15. Scientists planned the crash to ensure that Cassini wouldn't one day run out of fuel and hit one of Saturn's potentially habitable moons (thereby contaminating it with Earthly bacteria).

During its final dive, Cassini beamed back amazing photos of Saturn as we'd never seen the planet before. That last portion of the mission began with a flyby of the planet's moon, Titan. Then Cassini jetted through a 1,200-mile opening between Saturn and its rings of ice an unprecedented feat.

The spacecraft then angled down into the planet's clouds and burned up.

Toward the end of 2017, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a new gene therapy treatment for blind people.

The cure for a form of hereditary blindness called leber congenital amaurosis is the first gene therapy approved by the FDA for an inherited disease.

The treatment, called Luxturna, is a one-time virus dose that gets injected into a patient's retina. The corrected gene in the virus taps out the flawed, blindness-inducing gene in the eye, and produces a key vision-producing protein that patients with the disease normally can't make.

People start noticing a difference in their sight within a month. In clinical trials of the treatment, 13 out of 20 patients saw positive results. The treatment costs $425,000 per eye, or $850,000 total, however.

The following year, genetics news of a very different nature came out: Chinese geneticist He Jiankui announced he had successfully genetically modified human embryos.

Jiankui claimed to have edited genes in a pair of twins born in China in November. By using the DNA-editing technique called CRISPR, he said, the babies were born immune to HIV.

This type of genetic manipulation is banned in most parts of the world, since any genetic mutations that the babies may have would get passed on to their offspring, with potentially disastrous consequences.

In 2019, the MIT Technology Review released excerpts from Jiankui's research. The unpublished manuscripts revealed that in the process of trying to manipulate the babies' HIV resistance which some experts say was unsuccessful Jiankui may have introduced unintended mutations.

In 2018, NASA launched another rover to the red planet. InSight touched down on November 26.

NASA's InSight lander spent more than six months careening through space before it landed safely on Martian soil.

The robot is charged with exploring Mars' deep interior and helping scientists understand why Mars wound up a cold desert planet while Earth did not.

InSight has given scientists the unprecedented ability to detect and monitor Mars quakes seismic events deep inside the planet.

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Biggest scientific discoveries of the 2010s decade: photos - Business Insider

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