Living in space comes with risks. For astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS)‚ those risks occasionally make themselves intrusively apparent. Earlier this month‚ European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen snapped a photo of the Canadarm2‚ in which damage from a micrometeorite impact is clearly visible. “The hole was made in 2021‚ where a 1 mm object‚ traveling at over 25‚000 km/h relative to the Space Station hit the robotic arm. Fortunately‚ no critical components were damaged‚” said Mogensen on social media. The impact punched through the arm’s thermal blanket and impacted the boom. The robotic arm‚ which has been in service on the ISS for over twenty years‚ continues to function normally. But the ISS isn’t always so lucky. In October‚ the Nauka science module suffered damage from a similar micrometeorite impact‚ causing 72 litres of coolant to leak from the module’s radiator out into space. After determining that the leaking coolant might contaminate astronauts’ spacesuits‚ a spacewalk planned for October 12th was postponed. Mogensen‚ alongside NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara‚ was scheduled to recover science samples from the station exterior‚ where tests are ongoing to measure the ability of resilient microbial life to survive in space. In addition‚ the pair were expected to carry out a variety of exterior maintenance activities‚ including camera replacements and jumper cable installations. That spacewalk will now occur in January or February 2024. Canadarm with a micrometeorite impact: ESA/NASA-A.Mogensen. In its decades-long history‚ the ISS has so far avoided any serious damage to its pressurized modules. The station has the ability to maneuver itself out of harm’s way in the case of a close approach with a known piece of space debris. These evasive actions have occurred regularly throughout the ISS’s operations‚ occurring at a cadence of once or twice per year (and thrice in more recent years). The challenge is knowing when debris might be on a collision course. Ground-based orbital debris tracking programs currently monitor about 33‚000 pieces of known space debris. But smaller pieces of debris and micrometeorites cannot be tracked from Earth‚ so the station relies on shielding to protect itself. A multi-layered structure known as Whipple shielding disperses the force of impact over a wider area‚ preventing depressurization. There are also technology demonstration tests in the works for on-orbit debris trackers‚ which will be able to detect much smaller pieces of debris (as small as 3 cm). In the meantime‚ astronauts like Mogensen stay ready for the worst-case scenario. A carefully planned regimen of emergency procedures is one way that space agencies try to minimize the risks. “Most of the modules have shielding against smaller impacts‚ but it is not strong enough to withstand impacts against larger ones‚” says Mogensen. “This is why we repeatedly practice emergency scenarios‚ including depressurization.” Mogensen will stay in orbit until February 2024‚ when he will return to Earth with four of his crewmates on a SpaceX Dragon capsule. This is Mogensen’s second mission in space. “Pierced Canadarm2‚” ESA. The post Ouch. Canadarm2 Took a Direct Hit From a Micrometeorite appeared first on Universe Today.

Even though the guts of General Relativity are obtusely mathematical‚ and for decades was relegated to math departments rather than proper physics‚ you get to experience the technological gift of relativity every time you navigate to your favorite restaurant. GPS‚ the global positioning system‚ consists of a network of orbiting satellites constantly beaming out precise timing data. Your phone compares those signals to figure out where you are on the Earth. But there is a difference in spacetime between the surface of the Earth and the orbit of the satellites. Without taking general relativity into account‚ your navigation would simply be incorrect‚ and you’d be late for dinner. As revolutions go‚ general relativity is a big one. And as unifications go‚ it’s a warning. To make this union happen Einstein had to radically‚ permanently alter not just our conceptions of gravity as a force acting through space and time‚ but our conceptions of space and time itself. It took no less than a complete overhaul of our entire philosophical understanding of the relation between space and time to bridge the gap. And as Einstein would find in the ensuing decades‚ all the way to the time of his death‚ that bringing other forces like electromagnetism into the same unified fold would be all but impossible. Electromagnetism‚ and the other forces‚ cannot be conceptualized in the same way. Instead we have to use quantum probabilities to make predictions‚ and when we apply the same technique to gravity we just get infinities. This is Einstein’s waking nightmare. This is the demon haunting the equations. This is the wedge driven between the force of gravity and electromagnetism. This is the intractable  thorn that prevents us from reaching the nirvana of unification. And  just as in unifications past‚ from Newton and Maxwell and Einstein‚ to solve this‚ to crack this infernal puzzle‚ to move around or through or between the infinities‚ will require a complete revolution in our understanding of the very fabric of reality. Thankfully‚ we will not be alone in our quest. The dream of unifying the great powers of physics – the quantum and the gravitational – did not end with Einstein’s death‚ and since his passing hundreds of physicists have taken up the mantle‚ contributed to the cause in some way minor or significant‚ and passed on their learning to the next generation. That long-dreamt search is not yet over‚ but over the course of the past near-century a contender has risen to the top‚ a collection of remarkable ideas that one day hopes to solidify into a verified‚ complete theory of the physical universe: string theory. And string theory has created a surprising idea: that our universe is not as it seems. Dubbed the holographic principle‚ it states that our universe is not the familiar three dimensions of our existence‚ but really just an impossibly thin two-dimensional membrane. In this framework‚ all the information contents of the universe can be casted onto its surface‚ without losing a single bit‚ and once in place gravity itself disappears‚ replaced with much more familiar quantum forces. This is holography in action. The mapping from the universe to its boundary preserves all the necessary information. The primary goal of holography has been achieved. That itself is an astonishing and unexpected delight‚ that nature should allow such a mapping to take place in the first place. But then it goes one step further. The best way to solve quantum gravity‚ it seems‚ is to apply holography so that gravity itself disappears. No more tangled mess of mathematics‚ no more piling of infinities‚ no more convulsions of spacetime. Just a normal quantum theory that we have become quite adept at solving with normal quantum tools. To date this holographic idea is mere conjecture. But it does hold an enormous amount of promise. The post Holograms Might Save Physics appeared first on Universe Today.

Citizen journalists practice DHS mantra 'See Something, Say Something' when illegal aliens spotted boarding first class flights.

Today's Morning Joe dropped a MOAB—Mother of All Bombshells. And yet it caused hardly a ripple on the set. NBC News correspondent Vaughn Hillyard blithely reported this: "If the Supreme Court were to affirm the Colorado Supreme Court's decision‚ and disqualify Donald Trump from the ballot in Colorado‚ that'll have a far-reaching impact‚ likely removing him from the ballot in all 50 states.  "And of course‚ the concern of the Republican Party is the potential nullification of Republican electorates' votes as they're selecting their presidential nominee."  Wait a second! The concern about nullifying the votes of millions of Americans would be limited to the Republican Party? It wouldn't bother Americans at large‚ and specifically‚ the liberal media and the Democrats? You know‚ the people who are supposedly so concerned about existential threats to democracy? Under the scenario Hillyard described‚ Donald Trump—the runaway leader of the Republican primary‚ and the man favored in most polls to win the general election and become President—would be entirely stripped of his ability to win the nomination and the presidency. And that doesn't bother the likes of the Morning Joe crowd? Apparently not‚ because there was no reaction to it from the panel. Rather‚ Lemire only mentioned that Dems are afraid that the Colorado ruling will make Trump stronger. Perhaps -- but not if he winds up being banned from the ballot in all 50 states! Maybe they weren't bothered because even the lefties at Vox expect the Supreme Court to reverse it on due-process grounds. Note: Hillyard is the same reporter we caught last month blatantly mischaracterizing a statement by Trump to cast it in the most dire light. Hillyard claimed that Trump had threatened to "institutionalize" senior DoJ officials‚ including special counsel Jack Smith. Joe Scarborough was only too happy to run with Hillyard's false take.  In fact‚ in the statement in question‚ Trump had posted that because Smith and the other officials suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome‚ they will "end up" in a mental institution. In other words‚ Trump‚ in wise-acre colloquial terms‚ was saying that he is driving the prosecutors crazy—not that he would use his powers to have them locked away! Here's the transcript. MSNBC Morning Joe 12/22/23 6:08 am ET JONATHAN LEMIRE: We want to turn now to get an update on a big story we've been tracking the last of couple days. And‚ Vaughn‚ you've been following the timing of former President Trump's legal team's expected appeal of the Colorado Supreme Court decision that removed the ex-president from the 2024 primary ballot. Vaughn‚ what's the latest? VAUGHN HILLYARD: Right. Timing is everything here. And you're looking at all of these primaries beginning. Iowa is going first on January 15th. New Hampshire‚ one week later on January 23rd. And if the Supreme Court were to affirm the Colorado Supreme Court's decision‚ and disqualify Donald Trump from the ballot in Colorado‚ that'll have a far-reaching impact‚ likely removing him from the ballot in all 50 states. And of course‚ the concern of the Republican party is the potential nullification of Republican electorates' votes as they're selecting their presidential nominee.  I am told that his team does‚ in fact‚ intend to file the appeal and take their chances‚ take this to the U.S. Supreme Court. We expect them not to file the appeal until after Christmas. So sometime most likely next week‚ but before January 4th‚ which is the requirement under the Colorado Supreme Court's ruling for them to appeal if‚ in fact‚ Donald Trump were to stay on the ballot as part of the stay an part of that initial order. LEMIRE: President Biden hasn't weighed in on the merits of the case‚ but we heard from him this week‚ Katty‚ saying that it was clear that Donald Trump inspired an insurrection. But there's been a lot of debate about the political fall-out here‚ with a lot of Democrats worrying this will only make Trump stronger. 

Netflix continues it’s woke programming geared towards children with the release of “CoComelon Lane‚” a spinoff of the beloved “CoComelon‚” which introduced a scene causing uproar among parents. The contentious segment features a young boy wearing a tutu and tiara‚ preparing for a photo session with his two gay dads in the episode “Just be… The post Parents Furious Over Netflix Show ‘CoComelon Lane’ Geared for Toddlers Has Boy Dance in Tutu for Gay Dads appeared first on The Federalist Papers.

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