Category Archives: Hubble Telescope

Quasar tsunamis discovered by astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope erupt in the most energetic outflows of material ever seen. This outpouring of energy wrecks havoc with galaxies in which these enigmatic objects reside, altering the evolution of these families of stars.

Quasars are energetic cores of galaxies, composed of supermassive black holes fed by vast quantities of gas, stars, and planets. These bodies are capable of emitting a thousand times as much energy as the entire galaxies which host the bodies.

These quasar winds push material away from the center of the galaxy, accelerating gas and dust at speeds approaching a few percent of the speed of light. The pressure pushes aside material which could otherwise collapse to form newstars, making stellar formation more difficult, reducing the number of new stars formed. This new study shows this process is more widespread than previously believed, altering star formation throughout entiregalaxies.

These outflows are crucial for the understanding of galaxies formation. They are pushing hundreds of solar masses of material each year. The amount of mechanical energy that these outflows carry is up to several hundreds of times higher than the luminosity of the entire Milky Way galaxy, Nahum Arav of Virginia Tech stated.

As the outflow blasts into interstellar material, it heats the medium to millions of degrees, setting thegalaxyalight in X-rays. Energy pours out through the galaxy, producing a fireworks show for anyone capable of seeing it.

Youll get lots of radiation first in X-rays and gamma rays, and afterwards it will percolate to visible and infrared light. Youd get a huge light show, like Christmas trees all over the galaxy, Arav explained.

I saw the whole universe laid out before me, a vast shining machine of indescribable beauty and complexity. Its design was too intricate for me to understand, and I knew I could never begin to grasp more than the smallest idea of its purpose. But I sensed that every part of it, from quark to quasar, was unique and in some mysterious way significant. R. J. Anderson

This study could explain several mysteries in astronomy and cosmology, including why the size of galaxies is related to the mass of thesupermassive black holesat their centers. It may also explain why so few massive galaxies are seen throughout the Cosmos.

Both theoreticians and observers have known for decades that there is some physical process that shuts off star formation in massive galaxies, but the nature of that process has been a mystery. Putting the observed outflows into our simulations solves these outstanding problems in galactic evolution, saidJeremiah Ostriker, a cosmologist at Columbia and Princeton universities not involved with this current study. Below is a 3D animation video ofa quasar by the European Southern Observatory (ESO).

Outflows from quasars were studied by astronomers using the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) attached to theHubble Space Telescope, the only instrument capable of carrying out the needed observations in ultraviolet wavelengths.

A second outflow measured by researchers on this study increased its speed from 69 million kilometers (43 million miles) per hour to 74 million KPH (46 million MPH) over a period of three years. Models suggest that such outflows should have been common in the earlyUniverse. Researchers on this study believe this material will continue to accelerate for the foreseeable future.

Analysis of the data was published in the journalAstrophysical Journal Supplements.

This article was originally published onThe Cosmic Companionby James Maynard, an astronomy journalist, fan of coffee, sci-fi, movies, and creativity. Maynard has been writing about space since he was 10, but hes still not Carl Sagan. The Cosmic Companionsmailing list/podcast. You can read this original piecehere.

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Hubble telescope discovers Galaxy-ripping quasar tsunamis in space - The Next Web

NASA's iconic Hubble Space Telescope is about to celebrate 30 years in space, and Science Channel will mark the anniversary in style.

The network has produced a two-hour special called "Hubble: Thirty Years of Discovery," which will premiere next Sunday (April 19) at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

The documentary "will tell the remarkable story of how the Hubble telescope was created by the leading engineers and scientists of our time," Science Channel representatives wrote in a statement. "It will also include interviews with space's most notable names, including astronauts Michael Massimino, Kathryn Thornton, Story Musgrave, Steven Smith and John Grunsfeld."

Related: The most amazing Hubble Space Telescope discoveries

All of those NASA spaceflyers have first-hand experience with Hubble, which launched to Earth orbit aboard the space shuttle Discovery on April 24, 1990 with a flaw in its primary mirror. (The shuttle deployed Hubble a day later.)

Spacewalking astronauts fixed the mirror problem in December 1993 and repaired or upgraded the powerful scope on four subsequent servicing missions, in 1997, 1999, 2002 and 2009.

This hard work was a great investment, keeping Hubble going great guns far beyond its planned 15-year operational life.

The telescope has transformed astronomers' understanding of the cosmos in numerous ways during its long life (which isn't over yet). In the late 1990s, for example, Hubble observations showed that the universe's expansion is accelerating, a surprising find that led astrophysicists to postulate the existence of a mysterious repulsive force called dark energy.

And Hubble's contributions extend far beyond the scientific sphere: The telescope's spectacular photos give regular folks around the world frequent tastes of the wonder and beauty that pervade the cosmos.

"Hubble: Thirty Years of Discovery" will show you many of those amazing images and give you a much better idea of how they came to be created, Science Channel representatives said.

"This behind-the-scenes special will also give viewers an intimate look like never before at Hubbles incredible journey from its earliest conception in 1923, to its five iconic [servicing] missions spanning from 1993 to 2009," they wrote in the statement. "It will also spotlight the groundbreaking insights that Hubble has revealed about the planet as well as the broader solar system and beyond."

Mike Wall is the author of "Out There" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.

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'Hubble: Thirty Years of Discovery' to premiere on Science Channel April 19 (exclusive video) - Space.com

It came from beyond our solar system. But the sun wasnt content to let it leave in peace, or in one piece.

Comet 2I/Borisov, an Eiffel Tower-sized clod of dust and ice, plunged into our solar system last fall, exhaling vapor as it buzzed nearest to our sun around Christmas. This alien visitor must have formed around a distant and unknown star.

It slumbered as it crossed the frozen gulf of interstellar space. But now, suddenly, the sleeper is awake and kicking. To the simultaneous delight and frustration of the worlds astronomers, Borisov has sloughed off at least one fragment over the last few weeks.

The action began last month March 2020, of all times when the Hubble telescope spotted at least one chunk of the comet breaking off like a calving iceberg. That clump has since fizzed away into nothingness.

These fireworks offer astronomers a unique glimpse at the exposed guts of this interstellar object, just the second humanity has ever spotted. The first visitor from another star system, 2017s 1I/Oumuamua, behaved like an inert hunk of rock. This one has now cracked open its gooey center and we can see whats inside, said Michele Bannister, a planetary astronomer at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand.

Astronomers had hoped, even predicted, that Borisov might crack up this spring while heading back out of the solar system to once again sojourn among the stars. But the first signs it was stirring came in early March, right as the coronavirus pandemic ramped up. Thats when ground-based astronomers in Poland spotted the comet suddenly brighten, even though it shouldve been dimming as it got farther from the sun.

Several competing teams of scientists had already booked coveted slots to study the comet over the next few months with Hubble. Spurred by the news out of Poland, they rushed to move up their own observations, hoping to catch the comet acting up.

The clincher came on March 30, when a group led by David Jewitt at the University of California, Los Angeles, downloaded a fresh image taken by Hubble. Instead of just a circular blob that would show the comets nucleus, they saw an elongated shape, suggesting a smaller fragment of the nucleus had split off and was slowly drifting away from the main object. Its like a little lug nut dropped off your car, Dr. Jewitt said.

Another team, led by Bryce Bolin at Caltech, said theyve spotted an earlier clump breaking off in Hubble images, too, possibly corresponding to a piece that could have caused Borisovs sudden brightening in early March. Im hoping that this object is going to be producing more fragments, Dr. Bolin said, but not completely, catastrophically break up into a million pieces in a cloud of dust.

In any normal month, huge mountaintop telescopes in Chile and Hawaii would have already begun swiveling toward the comet, putting the interstellar visitor under the astronomy worlds equivalent of 24-hour surveillance. Those telescopes would let astronomers track Borisovs brightness from night to night and scan for chemical elements now spewing from its insides.

Of course, the last month wasnt normal. Most observatories are now shuttered to protect employees from the pandemic.

The classic phrase is that comets are like cats, Dr. Bannister said. They dont do what you expect. Or what you want.

Even with Hubble alone, watching a fragment split off and drift from Borisov should help astronomers understand the size of the comets original nucleus and how tightly it was bound together, and then compare those properties with bodies formed in our own solar system.

Other research will focus on why Borisov put on a show and why now. One possible explanation for the comets breakup is that after months of sunlight on the surface, buried pockets of volatile ice had warmed enough to suddenly explode.

Another hypothesis holds that gas sprayed off the comet like the wayward nozzle of a fire extinguisher, spinning Borisov in space. Once the comet was rotating fast enough, it centrifuged itself into more than one piece that could escape the original nucleus meager gravitational pull. Dr. Jewitt, seeking to prove this model, is hoping future observations will clock the speed of the spin.

Hubble images taken on April 3 show that the chunk Dr. Jewitt spotted seems to have already faded away, said Quanzhi Ye, an astronomer at the University of Maryland.

More fragments might fall off, Dr. Ye said. If I have to say anything, Id guess that its not done yet.

Borisovs timing has offered astronomers everything from consternation to a welcome distraction. Theres something comforting, in a way, that celestial events still continue to happen even as our lives on Earth have been upended, Dr. Bannister said.

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It Came From Outside Our Solar System and Now Its Breaking Up - The New York Times

Mike Massimino has experienced the greatest isolation a human being could ever know: the solitude of space, hundreds of miles above humanity. A NASA astronaut for 18 years, Massimino spent about a month total sheltering in placeor, more accurately, sheltering in spaceaboard two separate missions on the space shuttle, donning a suit and stepping out into the ether to repair the Hubble telescope, and taking in the greatest view a human could ever know.

But it was isolation, nonetheless. Like many of you, Im sheltering in place right now, says Massimino, who is currently back on Earth. Im inside my home, and its kind of like being inside of a spaceship again. We Earthlings may have the luxury of gravity and grocery stores and fresh air, but you might be feeling more like an astronaut right now than you know. So take it from Massimino: Youre more in control of your isolation than you know.

First of all, he advises, reach out to mission control, and be a mission control for someone else. In other words, let others know if you need help, and be available to help them as well. On one spacewalk to fix the Hubble Space Telescope, Massimino recalls, he ended up stripping a bolt on a science instrument while trying to remove a handle. I thought it was game over, he says. I felt like were never going to solve this. Ive created this horrible problem and were never going to find out if theres life anywhere else in the universe and everyone will blame me. But Massimino took his problem to mission control down on Earth, and they suggested a blunt solution: Just give the handle a good yank. And indeed, it snapped off. Problem solved.

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Reach out, be the person that people can call for help, Massimino says. Be their mission control. And dont forget that your mission control is there to help you as well. If astronauts can email their loved ones from space (fun fact: Massimino was the first to tweet from space), you can certainly call Grandma.

Also, like astronauts, you need exercise right nowbadly. Up in space, microgravity doesnt give the astronauts opportunities to work their muscles, so they use special treadmills and weight machines. If youre stuck in your house, you need exercise to keep your body and mind in order. And while youre out there, take in the scenery. (Six feet away from any other human, of course.) It cant compare to the view from orbit, but itll shake you out of the mundanity of looking at the same walls and furniture all day.

For more tips from Massimino about how to make the most of isolation, including the importance of pursuing meaningful distractions (emphasis on meaningful), check out our video above.

WIRED is providing free access to stories about public health and how to protect yourself during the coronavirus pandemic. Sign up for our Coronavirus Update newsletter for the latest updates, and subscribe to support our journalism.

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Astronaut Mike Massimino on How to Make the Most of This Isolation - WIRED

NASAs Hubble space telescope has helped astronomers spot quasar tsunamis ripping across galaxies.

Described as the most energetic outflows ever witnessed in the universe, they emanate from quasars, distant bright objects in space that are similar to stars. The outflows tear across interstellar space like tsunamis, wreaking havoc on the galaxies in which the quasars live, said NASA, in a statement.

Quasars contain supermassive black holes fueled by infalling matter that can shine 1,000 times brighter than their host galaxies of hundreds of billions of stars, NASA explained. As the black hole devours matter, hot gas encircles it and emits intense radiation, creating the quasar. Winds, driven by blistering radiation pressure from the vicinity of the black hole, push material away from the galaxy's center. These outflows accelerate to breathtaking velocities that are a few percent of the speed of light.

NASAS HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE SPOTS 'GALACTIC TRAFFIC JAM'

Astronomers were able to study 13 quasar outflows, measuring the incredible speed of gas being accelerated by the quasar wind. This was achieved by looking at spectral "fingerprints" of light from the glowing gas.

An illustration of a distant galaxy with an active quasar at its center. (Credits: NASA, ESA and J. Olmsted [STScI]))

Aside from measuring the most energetic quasars ever observed, the team also discovered another outflow accelerating faster than any other, scientists said, in the statement. It increased from nearly 43 million miles per hour to roughly 46 million miles per hour in a three-year period. The scientists believe its acceleration will continue to increase over time.

Hubble continues to shed new light on space. The telescope, for example, recently spotted a galactic traffic jam more than 60 million light-years away.

77-YEAR-OLD AMATEUR ASTRONOMER HELPS MAKE STUNNING DISCOVERY

A light-year, which measures distance in space,equalsabout 6 trillion miles.

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A joint project of NASA and the European Space Agency, the Hubble telescope has captured a host of beautiful images since its launch in 1990.In 2012, NASAreleasedan image of a double nucleus in the Andromeda Galaxy that was captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. A Hubble imagereleasedin 2014 showed a double nucleus in spiral galaxy Messier 83.

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NASAs Hubble space telescope spots quasar tsunamis ripping across galaxies - Fox News

Antidotes to Fear of Death

Sometimes as an antidoteTo fear of death,I eat the stars.

Those nights, lying on my back,I suck them from the quenching darkTil they are all, all inside me,Pepper hot and sharp.

Sometimes, instead, I stir myselfInto a universe still young,Still warm as blood:

No outer space, just space,The light of all the not yet starsDrifting like a bright mist,And all of us, and everythingAlready thereBut unconstrained by form.

And sometime its enoughTo lie down here on earthBeside our long ancestral bones:

To walk across the cobble fieldsOf our discarded skulls,Each like a treasure, like a chrysalis,Thinking: whatever left these husksFlew off on bright wings.

In 1986, Rebecca Elson (1960-1999) was a young Canadian astronomer who had begun a post-doctoral research fellowship examining Hubble telescope data at Princeton. In the essay From Stones to Stars, which concludes her posthumously published and single poetry collection A Responsibility to Awe, Elson contrasted the discomforts of working in such a male-dominated environment with her pleasure in the openness and congeniality of Princetons poetry community. But she went on to add a significant qualification, that the discussions there were also a reminder that, although I loved the unlimited licence to invent, I also loved the sense of exploring not an inner, but an outer world, that was really there, in some objective sense. This weeks poem seems to accommodate this dilemma, by working on a borderline between inventive poetic figures and more objective description, while never fully letting go of the former.

The opening lines are simple and striking. The speaker doesnt merely lie on her back to look up at the night sky, as any non-astronomer might do, but, childlike, she eats the stars. She goes on to tell us how she eats them: she sucks them, and finds the taste pepper hot and sharp. This is purposefully visceral and immediate, and a summons to the child star-lover in herself, a tuning-in to the old excitement before academia took over.

She continues the nutrition metaphor with the word stir in the third stanza, but a change of approach is heralded as were invited to follow her into the early universe: No outer space, just space. And now poetic diction is reduced, the whole imaginative process more restrained. The biblical creation narrative is recalled, when the earth was without form, and void yet the description, especially that of the not yet stars, feels logical and objective.

The alternative to stargazing and imagining, proposed in the fifth stanza, is To lie down here on earth / Beside our long ancestral bones Because of the placing of the conjunction in the first line And sometimes its enough the activity is subtly emphasised. Its at least as important as looking up at the stars to be aware of the horizontal neighbourhood, that of our long ancestral bones. The pun on long is beautifully judged here.

Elson doesnt refute biological science. Dead matter is transformed, but kept interestingly visible in the reference to cobble fields / Of our discarded skulls. Its an imaginative truce with fact, followed by speculation, and recourse to the soul-as-butterfly myth. Inevitably, the bright wings connect us to the bright mist in stanza four, as if a new creation might transpire from death.

Antidotes to Fear of Death is undated, and may have been written before the poet was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, the disease from which she died at the age of 39. Its the kind of intense engagement with death that an imaginative young writer might make, regardless of personal circumstance. As an act of generosity, like so much of Elsons work, it includes readers by its imaginative accessibility and universal theme. Although antidote is a strong word, the poem has some power to challenge the individuals fear of extinction with a wider, less egocentric focus on space and time. It lies just outside religious consolation, and just outside scientific detachment. Imagination is all we have to suggest alternative universes, a quality required for survival, for poetry, and for the hypotheses of science.

A Responsibility to Awe was first published in 2001, and was reissued in 2018 as a Carcanet Classic. To read Elsons brave and gentle work during the current pandemic crisis is to take a fresh breath, and to see a little farther.

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Poem of the week: Antidotes to Fear of Death by Rebecca Elson - The Guardian

The Lighthouse. Photo: A24

So, like everyone else, you now find yourself confined to your home for the foreseeable future. Once youve taken care of necessities like securing a healthy food stock, its time to address the really important question: What kind of movies do you want to watch? Your first impulse might be to watch a bunch of films filled with pleasures you cant enjoy at the moment, like travel, eating in restaurants, or standing within four feet of someone whos not a member of your immediate family. Such movies might offer a pleasant diversion from our new semi-quarantined reality, but they might also just be reminders of happier times.

It could be better to lean into the moment and explore films that deal explicitly with confinement, isolation, and the difficulties of living with others in confined spaces in the midst of crises. And, when doing so, why not choose some that meet the new federal guidelines discouraging gatherings of ten or fewer people? To make it easier for you, weve selected ten great films featuring fewer than ten characters that might, in one way or another, reflect the new reality in which we live.

As many are now discovering, its not always easy living 24/7 in close quarters with anybody, even those you love. Imagine trying it with a bunch of strangers on a boat in the middle of the war. Thats the John Steinbeckcreated scenario at the heart of Alfred Hitchcocks wartime classic Lifeboat, which strands nine strangers (played by Tallulah Bankhead, Home Cronyn, William Bendix, and others) on a lifeboat as the war rages around them. The more we quarrel and criticize and misunderstand each other, the bigger the ocean gets, and the smaller the boat, one character states, but the film is anything but a simplistic plea for peace and cooperation. Not everyones who they claim to be and some characters learn they have to take ugly steps in order to survive. Few directors could move a camera like Hitchcock, but here he proves himself equally effective in a confined space, creating dread and paranoia with a handful of characters drifting through a sea ready to swallow them up if they cant work together to survive. Available to rent on Amazon Prime.

In some respects, the coronavirus crisis has accelerated preexisting trends. For many, telecommuting and interacting with others primarily through technology was already the norm. But just because somethings been normalized doesnt mean it cant distort or even redefine reality. With his 2014 directorial debut, Alex Garland explored the implications of artificial intelligence and the point at which our creations achieved a kind of personhood via the story of an eccentric tech genius named Nathan (Oscar Isaac) who challenges Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson), a programmer in his employ, to find any distinction between his latest creation, Ava (Alicia Vikander) and a human being. But thats only the start of Calebs problems as the experience reveals the full extent of his loneliness and the depth of his need to connect with someone, or maybe something. Using only four characters and an isolated location, Garland digs into the thorny philosophical issues raised by AI while also capturing the ways technology has reshaped the ways we view the world and ourselves, finding little of comfort along the way. Available to stream on Netflix.

Theater has a long tradition of plays featuring only a handful of actors, but that tradition doesnt always translate into great movies. Even a great cast can struggle to make material that worked on stage do the same on the big screen. Adapted from Anthony Shaffers hit 1970 play, Joseph L. Mankiewiczs Sleuth makes a virtue of its smallness, unfolding in the claustrophobic, knick-knack-filled confines of the stately manor occupied by Andrew Wyke (Laurence Olivier), a successful mystery writer with a less-than-successful marriage. Hes joined by his wifes lover Milo (Michael Caine) and the two embark on a battle of wits whose twists and turns are best left unspoiled. The film cleverly draws on the mechanics of classic mystery stories, but at its heart its a nasty character study, brilliantly played by two of the best British actors of their respective generations.

As of now, were all cooped up together for a yet-to-be-determined number of weeks and its not always going to be pretty. But, if were lucky, the experience will never be as ugly as Mike Nicholss adaptation of Edward Albees groundbreaking play in which the middle-aged couple of Martha (Elizabeth Taylor) and George (Richard Burton) play host to young marrieds Nick (George Segal) and Honey (Sandy Dennis). Over one long night, the liquor flows, old skeletons come to light, relationships turn tangled, and everyone emerges from a long-dark-late-night-drinking-session-of-the-soul a little wiser, but also bruised and disturbed in ways that suggest some wisdom can be too hard won. Maybe social distancing has its advantages. Available to rent on Amazon Prime.

Lars von Trier could easily have borrowed the title of the Bergman movie Scenes from a Marriage for this terrifying film, in which a never-named couple (Charlotte Gainsbourg, Willem Dafoe) grieving for their lost child retreat to a cabin in the woods. Attempting to force his wife of her deep depression, the husband subjects her to intense counseling sessions that quickly take a dark turn. Before long, the forest around them starts to mirror her troubled state and their retreat devolves into violence as even darker forces apparently start to take hold. Von Triers apocalyptic Melancholia looks positively upbeat by comparison but, as with that film, von Triers descent into absolute darkness can feelweirdly cathartic. Sometimes depicting a mutilated fox saying Chaos reigns in a spooky voice just feels like an honest expression of how scary the world can turn, and how deep the divide between two people can become. Available to stream on Amazon Prime.

In this largely improvised 2002 film by Gus Van Sant, Matt Damon and Casey Affleck play two hikers named Gerry who slowly come to realize their wanderings have taken them so far off the trail they might never find their way back. Inspired by Hungarian filmmaker Bla Tarr, Van Sant uses long shots and stark landscapes to convey a sense of isolation and mounting fear as Gerry and Gerrys journey starts to take on an existential quality. With death at hand, their relationship begins to fray as they realize how much they depended on the comforts and dependability of civilization, both to survive and to define themselves. Van Sants refusal to cut away from their long desert trudges works both as stylistic bravado and an act of empathy, forcing viewers to consider the experience of human existence when its been stripped to its essence. Available to stream on Tubi.

Beyond the influence of Tarr, Gerrys use of blurring identity also owes a debt to Persona, Ingmar Bergmans quintessential study of bleeding identities. Liv Ullmann stars as Elisabet, a famous actress whos stopped speaking, either out of inability or desire. When shes sent to a remote cottage with her nurse Alma (Bibi Andersson), their relationship becomes by turns intimate and violent. As secrets from their pasts surface, the lines dividing their personalities start to blur, a process Bergman depicts via stunning compositions and aggressive editing as attuned to the French New Wave as his past work. Its a fascinating study of intersecting lives that works just as well as a kind of psychological horror movie. Pair it with this next film and youve got yourself a terrific, disturbing breakdowns-by-the-seaside double feature. Available to stream on Amazon Prime.

As many of us struggle to adjust to telecommuting, its probably best to remember that having to work side by side with the wrong co-worker can be hellish. For his follow-up to The Witch, Robert Eggers sends a young 19th-century lighthouse keeper (maybe) named Ephraim Winslow (Robert Pattinson) to an isolated New England island to work alongside the more experienced Thomas Wake (Willem Dafoe). Once there, Winslow learns the place has an odd history, starts to experience strange visions of tentacles and mermaids, and develops a complicated (to say the least) relationship with Wake. Shot in striking black-and-white and accompanied by a disorienting sound design, Eggers film builds in hallucinatory intensity until its not clear whats real, whats imagined, and how much blame for the ensuing weirdness and its dire consequences can attributed to the difficulty of spending too much time with one person. Available to stream on Amazon Prime.

On the other hand, Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock), the protagonist of Alfonso Cuarns 2013 film Gravity, seems to have a lovely working relationship with Lieutenant Matt Kowalski (George Clooney), her companion on a space shuttle expedition intended to repair the Hubble Telescope. But circumstances beyond their control cut that relationship short, forcing Stone to take extraordinary measures as she looks for a way to make her way back down to Earth. Shot in 3D and widely watched on IMAX at the time of its release, Cuarns film is a technical wonder. But it also plays well at home, in part because of Cuarns extraordinary command of visual storytelling and in part because of Bullocks gripping performance. Over the course of the film, we learn of the loss that made it easy for Stone to take to the stars and the lasting grief that now makes it easy to entertain the thought of just drifting away. But its ultimately a story of survival, and how the will to live can persist and prevail in even the most impossible circumstances. Available to stream on Amazon Prime.

In that respect, Gravity bears a strong resemblance to another 2013 film anchored by an exceptional bit of acting, J.C. Chandors nautical survival tale All Is Lost. Robert Redford stars as an unnamed man who awakens in the middle of the Indian Ocean to find his boat already pretty far along in the process of sinking. In a virtually wordless performance, Redford captures the characters deepening commitment to make it out alive and return to a life on shore one reflective scene suggests hes made a mess of before disembarking. Like Gravity, its an impressive technical accomplishment, but also one that would mean nothing without Redfords deft performance as a man who may not have understood just how much he wanted to live until staring death in the face. Available to stream on Hulu.

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10 Great Movies With Fewer Than 10 People in Them - Vulture

A galaxy cluster can be likened to a great city of galaxies, a galactic conurbation where each galaxy represents an individual, twinkling structure. Just as an archaeologist might seek evidence of the oldest cities on Earth, astronomers have long sought to discover the oldest galaxy clusters in the universe - each the cosmic equivalent of an ancient civilization like Jericho or Ur.

I have been fortunate to lead a team of astronomers in discovering just such an example of an old galaxy cluster. How old? The light from the galaxy cluster, named XLSSC 122 has taken 10.4 billion years to travel across the universe to us.

A youthful universeAstronomers believe that the universe itself is 13.7 billion years old, so a little maths tells us that we are observing XLSSC 122 when the universe was a mere 3.3 billion years old. Imagine our surprise then, when each new view of this galaxy cluster revealed a physical structure seemingly every bit as mature and developed as galaxy clusters in our present-day universe - a situation rather like looking at a photo from your youth in which you appear much older than you were.

XLSSC 122 is a remarkably precocious presence in a youthful universe, a clue perhaps that the universe - at least the densest parts of it - can form stars, accumulate into galaxies and eventually be drawn into galaxy clusters with surprising rapidity. Given that computer simulations of the assembly of galaxy clusters indicate more gradual growth, the discovery of XLSSC 122 suggests that our current ideas of how structure forms in the universe may be incomplete.

Discovering galaxy clustersWhen I first saw it, XLSSC 122 appeared as an unassuming collection of photons on an X-ray image of the sky taken by the European Space Agency's X-ray Multi-Mirror space observatory. Though viewed at great distance, we knew we were potentially observing a hot halo of gas - at 10 million Kelvin - confined within the gravitational field of a massive cluster of galaxies.

However, visible light images taken with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope revealed no galaxies associated with the X-ray source. This was an interesting clue that we may have discovered a distant galaxy cluster where the expansion of the universe had shifted the visible light emitted by the cluster galaxies into the infrared.

From this realization, we proceeded to obtain an image of our candidate cluster using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope. This image, taken with an infrared camera, revealed the telltale presence of faint red objects - distant galaxies; but exactly how distant remained a mystery.

Hubble Space Telescope brings ultimate clarityHaving compiled a strong case that XLSSC 122 was a distant galaxy cluster, perhaps the most distant, we were awarded observing time with the Hubble Space Telescope. Given that only one out of every 10 Hubble proposals is successful, this represented an achievement in itself.

Although the Hubble telescope is nearly 30 years old, it remains a pre-eminent astronomical facility. Our images of XLSSC 122 appeared sharp and clear compared to the fuzzy images obtained from ground-based observatories. Although I have been a professional astronomer for 20 years, seeing the Hubble images of our cluster represented a near-unique discovery moment. It was immediately clear from the galaxy colours and spectra that XLSSC 122 was supremely distant: it lay at a redshift of two, meaning that the light from XLSSC 122 had taken 10.4 billion years to reach Earth.

Simulating galaxiesHow does a cluster such as XLSSC 122 fit into our wider picture of how the universe is structured? Computer simulations allow astronomers to recreate the uneven distribution of matter in the early universe and then to follow the force of gravity as it draws the more dense regions into massive clusters while less dense regions become ever more sparse.

One can identify clusters in these simulations that have the same properties as XLSSC 122. As a simulation is similar to a movie of the universe, we can fast forward to the present. When we did this for XLSSC 122 we realized that it would become one of the most massive clusters in the universe - comparable to the great cluster in Coma, our closest collection of galaxies. The same simulations indicate that XLSSC 122 might only have existed as a cluster of galaxies for perhaps a billion years before the moment we observed it.

Herein lies the mystery. Our study of the starlight from the galaxies that make up XLSSC 122 tells us they are more than one billion years old, perhaps as much as three billion years old. Moreover, they all appeared to start forming stars at almost the same time. But as all of this happened long before these galaxies ever clumped together to form XLSSC 122, we are left with the question as to what caused them to start forming stars in such a synchronized manner in the early universe?

Fortunately, we have a pretty good idea of where to look next. NASA plans to launch the James Webb Space Telescope in March 2021, and we are already planning ahead to target XLSSC 122. The Webb telescope will collect approximately six times more light than Hubble and will analyze that light with a number of sensitive instruments. Our aim is to use high-resolution infrared spectroscopy to greatly improve our knowledge of the stellar ages of the galaxies that make up XLSSC 122 and pin down the early life story of this remarkable cluster of galaxies.

Research paper

Related LinksUniversity of VictoriaStellar Chemistry, The Universe And All Within It

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New clues in the search for the oldest galaxies in the universe - Space Daily

To the untrained eye, zebras in Kenya probably all look alike. But each animals black and white markings are like a fingerprint, distinct and invaluable for scientists who need to track the animals and information about them, including their births, deaths, health and migration patterns.

Traditionally, getting this kind of information has been an invasive and labor-intensive process. But breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (AI) and crowdsourcing of photos of individual animals are beginning to change the conservation game.

Portland, Oregon-based nonprofit Wild Me has developed AI to pick out identifying markers the stripes on a zebra, the spots on a giraffe, the contours of a flukewhales fin and catalog animals much faster than a human can. Photo surveys are increasingly used as the backbone for population estimates, and Wild Mes Wildbooks, which catalog various species, are giving conservation groups, governments and citizen scientists a faster way to monitor animals around the world.

We can use this information to track diseases and poaching threats, look at manifestations of diseases, said Michael Brown, a conservation science fellow at the Giraffe Conservation Foundation and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, who has been working with Wild Me for the past few years. It lets us piece together an understanding of how these threats to giraffes are spatially situated (and) how the giraffes are utilizing different landscapes over time.

Founder Jason Holmberg launched the first iteration of Wild Me in 2003 after swimming with whale sharks off the coast of Djibouti. He wanted to find a different way to track the animals other than invasive tagging, so he teamed up with a biologist and a NASA astronomer, adapting the algorithm for the Hubble telescope to match the sharks spot patterns.

For years, Holmbergs endeavors were a side project he didnt leave his full-time job in tech until recently. Wild Mes work gradually expanded, then it really kicked into gear with a 2018 grant from Microsofts AI for Earth. Today, Wild Me has a team of six full-time staffers, with plans to add more soon.

Wild Mes process of creating and training algorithms takes serious time. Thousands of photos of the species must be manually annotated so that the algorithm learns what a given animal is, what the distinguishing characteristics are and whats just background noise.

The model relies largely on photographs taken by scientists or everyday people who upload their photos to the corresponding Wildbook. It uses AI to find things in the picture and then hand it to algorithms or machine learning to suggest IDs which whale, which giraffe, etc., Holmberg said.

Christin Khan runs aerial surveys of North Atlantic right whales for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and had sought an AI-based solution for years. She said she watched Facebook implement facial recognition and wanted to use similar technology to help identify whales within the endangered species (there are only about 400 North Atlantic right whales left).

We needed a really simple, user-friendly web-based interface where a biologist who knows nothing about AI could upload a photograph and get a result back, she said. Eventually we realized the developers at Wild Me had already done a lot of what we needed, and it wouldnt require us to reinvent the wheel.

The Wildbook for whales, called Flukebook, encourages collaboration, which is particularly useful for whales that travel long distances because it can be difficult for one research group to effectively monitor one area.

The more people on the water, the more photos, the more its decentralized, (the better), said Shane Gero, who founded and runs the Dominica Sperm Whale Project. By doing the matching themselves, by contributing their own data, not only do they get to know the animals, but it creates a locally motivated community of people that can react when conservation actions come up.

Before the introduction of AI, Gero said it would take about a month to process a months worth of photos.

(Now), we have our numbers of individuals sighted and population estimates faster, so we can report (almost) in real time, he said.

That means his group is able to provide the government of Dominica with more up-to-date information and offer better advice on how to shape conservation efforts.

One of Wild Mes more recent innovations is an AI-driven feature that datamines YouTube videos of whale sharks and sea turtles, using user-generated videos (often taken by tourists) to get a better sense of the populations. This has been a great way to increase the amount of photos coming in and provide researchers with more data. But it also creates even more work for people on the ground, who have to manually check the AIs suggestions and accept the results.

Were flooding the whale shark community with more data than it can handle, said Holmberg.

So Wild Me is now building the capacity to automate the identification process and scaling the tech that combs social media for relevant videos.

The nonprofit recently received a two-year grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to develop the new algorithm that will make the animal IDs on its own.

Its focusing the initial work on zebras because it already has an incredibly rich dataset. Every two years since 2016, the Great Grvys Rally in Kenya has used hundreds of citizen scientists spread out over thousands of kilometers to photograph Grvys zebras over two days. Wild Mes AI analyzes the zebra markings on all the photos to come up with a total population, which the Kenyan government treats as the official census for Grvys zebras.

This type of work is a huge upgrade from the traditional capture-mark-recapture process, which is both invasive and time consuming, with studies done every five to 10 years.

You can only make very coarse-grained conservation decisions, Holmberg said. The point of going to a fully automated system is to shorten that cycle so we can take all of the data over the past week or two weeks and have a continuous prediction of population size. Its fine-grained, which helps researchers understand and lobby for better conservation activities.

For Khan, meanwhile, the existing technology is still in its early days. The algorithm for North Atlantic right whales became operational in November 2019, and she said theyre still working out the kinks and figuring out how best to use it. But, she said, she sees the incredible potential that it holds.

My dream is that we get to the point where the worlds oceans will be trolled by satellite photos and we can understand the worlds whale population, she said. Combining AI with satellite imagery and drones we have the potential to exponentially understand the worlds oceans thats just not possible with manned aircraft.

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How a Portland nonprofit is using artificial intelligence to help save whales, giraffes, zebras - Seattle Times

All weekLast chance to visit Kew's Orchids Festival

SHAPE THE WORLD: All this week, LSE hosts Shape The World, a festival of free events looking at how the social sciences can make the world a better place. Highlights throughout the week include Tottenham MP David Lammy on exploring his own heritage, a preview of the American presidential race, and a look at how factors such as economic growth are shaping London. LSE (Holborn), free, book ahead, 2-7 March

WOMEN'S DAY WALKS: Ahead of International Women's Day on Sunday, Katie Wignall from Look Up London runs a series of guided walks celebrating the history of London's women. Topics include Ladies of Marylebone, and Female Rebels at the Tate Modern. Everyone's welcome on the walks, regardless of gender. Various locations, 15, book ahead, 3-8 March

MADE IN ITALY: Cinema Made In Italy is an annual film festival celebrating Italian films, and this year, focus is firmly on female directors. Highlights include If Only, about three siblings sent to live with their unconventional, broke Italian father, and Stolen Days, about a father and son road trip back to Southern Italy. Cine Lumiere (South Kensington), various prices, book ahead, 4-9 March

TROY: It's the final week of the British Museum's blockbuster exhibition, Troy: Myth and Reality. It's a huge and fascinating show about the famous city, and worth setting aside a couple of hours to explore thoroughly.British Museum, 20, book ahead, until 8 March

JEWISH BOOK WEEK: The 68th Jewish Book Week has an impressive programme, covering everything from cookery to fashion to spies to politics to trees. Former Children's Laureate Michael Rosen, celebrated novelist Elif Shafak and historian Helen Fry are among the many participants across the 80+ events celebrating Jewish themes and writers. Kings Place (King's Cross), various prices, book ahead, until 8 March

ORCHIDS: It's your last chance to visit Kew's beautiful Orchids Festival and it's a great excuse to warm up in the tropical glasshouse. Wander through rainbow floral arches, ogle the volcano centrepiece floating on a pond, and look out for model orang utans, rhinos, and other wildlife from this year's chosen country, Indonesia. Kew Gardens, included in admission, book a time slot, until 8 March

UNREAL CITY: Explore a virtual metropolis using the latest tech on the market with Unreal City. This pioneering collaboration between dreamthinkspeak and Access All Areas blends live performance and VR to explore what happens to human connection in an increasingly digital world. Battersea Arts Centre (Battersea), 10-15, book ahead, until 28 March (sponsor)

BEYOND BORDERS: This one is right up the street of cartography fans. Hear author Travis Elborough, cartographer Mary Spence and writer Zoran Nikolic discussing and exploring maps showing some of the most unusual and peculiar corners of the globe. British Library, 13/6.50, book ahead, 7pm-8.30pm

HOUNSLOW AS ONE: Two primary school choirs, a huge brass band, a street band, a guitar orchestra and an Indian dance group all take to the stage to celebrate Hounslow's musical talent. Familiar tunes, and a newly commissioned piece are played by some of the 10,000 Hounslow Music Service pupils. Southbank Centre, 8-25, book ahead, 7pm

PRIMADONNA PRIZE: Attend the first ever Primadonna Prize ceremony, hosted by Sandi Toksvig and celebrating brilliant writing. Enjoy an evening of poetry and performances before the judges including author Joanne Harris and Irish novelist Neil Hegarty reveal the winner. Conway Hall (Holborn), 15/10, book ahead, 7.45pm

JURASSIC PARK: Could the premise behind Jurassic Park really happen? Hear from Dr Susie Maidment, curator of non-avian archosaurs at The Natural History Museum, about the science behind the film, and her research on the geological preservation of soft tissues. It's a Babble Talks event, which means it's aimed at parents and carers with babies under a year old. George IV (Chiswick), 10, book ahead, 11am-12pm

WOMEN AT WAR: Author Maaza Mengiste hosts a night of readings and conversation about the women soldiers written out of African and European history. Her new book, The Shadow King, explores what it means to be a woman at war, based in Ethiopia in 1935 with the impending invasion of the Italian army. British Library, 11/5.50, book ahead, 7.15pm-8.30pm

LOST BROTHERS: Folk duo The Lost Brothers perform a live show based on music from their five studio albums, and a sixth due to be released soon. Expect to hear some impressive vocal harmonies from the Irish pair. Southbank Centre, 15, book ahead, 7.45pm

TWILIGHT TOURS: There's a rare chance to visit the Royal Hospital Chelsea by twilight on a guided tour, led by one of the Chelsea Pensioners themselves. Visit the State Apartments and the Chapel, hearing the stories of former residents, and finish up with a drink at the Chelsea Pensioners Club. Royal Hospital Chelsea, 28, book ahead, 6pm/7pm

OUTER SPACE: NASA scientist and astronaut Kathryn Sullivan was the first American woman to walk in space. Hear her telling stories about her career, including her experiences of living in space, taking off in a space shuttle, and making repairs to complex scientific instruments. Conway Hall (Holborn), 30-42.50, book ahead, 6.45pm-8pm

MISBEHAVIOUR: Catch a preview screening of new film Misbehaviour, about a team of women who plan to disrupt the 1970 Miss World competition in London. The screening launches British Librarys new Unfinished Business: The Fight for Womens Rights events season, and is followed by Q+A with its director Philippa Lowthorpe and Sally Alexander, who was central to the real-life story the film depicts. Regent Street Cinema, 15, book ahead, 7.30pm-10.30pm

FOUND FOOTAGE FESTIVAL: Organisers of The Found Footage Festival have sorted through America's thrift stores and charity shops to dig out old VHS tapes. Watch the resulting footage, including the 1987 Miss Junior America Wisconsin pageant, and a fitness video called Jugglercise. Soho Theatre, from 12.50, book ahead, 5-7 March

SILENT DISCO: Celebrate Women's Day at a silent disco workshop. Release your inner diva by learning moves from the likes of Madonna, Beyonce and the Spice Girls, before you're free to pick your own channel and dance to music from either the 70s and 80s or 90s and noughties. Antidote London (Belsize Park), 7, book ahead, 7.15pm-9pm

BLOODY BRILLIANT WOMEN: Author and Channel 4 presenter Cathy Newman hosts a talk, document display and book signing about the women of the 20th century who are often overlooked. Hear bits of British history you didn't learn in school, including a spy princess and an aeronautical engineer. The National Archives (Kew), 20/16, book ahead, 7.30pm-9pm

WOMEN OF THE WORLD: Southbank Centre's annual Women of the World Festival begins today, with three days of events looking at the state of gender equality across the globe today. Highlights include appearances by feminist activist and journalist Caroline Criado Perez, and anti-racism educator Layla Saad. Southbank Centre, various prices, book ahead, 6-8 March

AMERICAN CULTURE: Based on current NT production The Visit, Professor of American Studies Martin Halliwell offers an introduction to American culture in the 1950s. He uses examples of 1950s theatre, literature, film and the visual arts to demonstrate the politics of the decade. National Theatre, 9/6, book ahead, 5.30pm

HUBBLE: If you missed astronaut Kathryn Sullivan on Wednesday, there's another chance to hear from her tonight. This time she focuses on the launch of the Hubble Telescope, recounting her experiences in launching and maintaining the powerful telescope which has greatly furthered our understanding of the universe. Royal Institution (Mayfair), 16/10/7, book ahead, 7pm-8.30pm

SCIENCE WEEKEND: Cutty Sark celebrates British Science Week with family-friendly events taking place on board all weekend. Learn how cargo was loaded onto the ship and have a go at building your own winch, or find out how gold leaf is applied to the gilded decorative elements. Cutty Sark (Greenwich), included in admission, book ahead, 7-8 March

PROTEST AND POWER: The Royal Parks celebrate Women's History Month with a guided walk through Hyde Park. Hear stories of women in the park throughout history, from pickpockets to queens, all of whom shaped the park into what it is today. Hyde Park, 10, book ahead, 10.30am-12pm

CLIMBING FESTIVAL: Celebrate all aspects of the climbing scene at London Climbing Festival. Meet fellow climbers, hear talks about the sport, watch demos, and stock up on all the gear you need at the stalls. HarroWall Climbing Centre (Harrow), 75, book ahead, 12pm-8.30pm

FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE: 2020 marks 200 years since the birth of The Lady With The Lamp, and The Florence Nightingale Museum is celebrating with a special programme of events. Exhibition Nightingale in 200 Objects, People and Places opens today, showcasing little-known aspects of her life, as well as objects including the famous lamp which gave her the nickname Florence Nightingale Museum, included in admission, book ahead, from 8 March

PAINT STREET ART: Wind down your weekend by attempting to create your own version of the above painting, Coming of Spring. No experience is necessary, and all materials and guidance are included and it takes place in a bar, so plenty of drinks are available to get your creative juices flowing. Horniman at Hays (London Bridge), 32.99, book ahead, 5.30pm-7.30pm

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Things To Do In London This Week: 2-8 March 2020 - Londonist