Searching for a Second Home

by Nikko Albano

Innovations in Thermal Control

by Mary Angelie M. Alagao

From the appliances and gadgets we use at home to the rockets we send to outer space, electronics is the key in making these things work. Advancement in technology translates to an increase in know-how and understanding which leads to further development of sub-branches including electronics. But what is the consequence of its continuous upgrade? More power consumed. As more power is used up, our electronic devices get hotter. And as they get hotter, there is a great possibility of reaching past its limits, to a point where overheating occurs. What happens next? Damage. 

Of course, this isn’t what we would want to happen. We want to use electronics that would be able to last for years, especially if it is to be used in space flights and satellites. Here are two new technologies which are designed to help solve the issue of thermal control in electronics. 

Satellites used for communications, global positioning systems and civil defense purposes have heat pipes that regulate temperature and keep the overall system working. A heat pipe efficiently transfers heat from a hot location to a cold one without the use of a mechanical pump. This is sealed in a tube in which air is removed. When the liquid in the heat pipe comes in contact with a hot surface, vapour is produced due to its absorption of heat from that surface. This vapour condenses once it touches a cold surface. A process called capillary action occurs when the individual liquid molecules interact and attract to the surface of the container, thus, causing the liquid to be drawn back to the hot surface. And the cycle continues.

Heat pipes are thought to solve thermal control issues in electronics placed in microgravity since natural convection does not occur in space.

Scientists introduced the Constrained Vapor Bubble (CVB), which uses a cuvette pipe filled with pentane. This pipe is a rectangular-shaped glass tube made of quartz. With this design, temperature along the CVB can be measured with great accuracy. It is also possible to measure the size and shape of its meniscus since the tube is transparent. This experiment was launched at the International Space Station. The CVB also contains a Light Microscopy Module or LMM, an automated optical microscope controlled from Earth, allows scientists to record changes taking place inside the CVB. 

Aside from CVB, another technology promises an easier and more efficient heat removal in space, this is called the Electrohydrodynamic (EHD)-based thermal control. This technology, like the heat pipe, does not use a mechanical pump. It uses electricity to move the coolants toward tiny ducts inside a thermal cold plate; the heat waste is then pumped into a radiator and is dispersed far-from circuits that are heat-sensitive. The EHD consumes roughly half a watt, which means the electronics is safe from overheating.

Both technologies are lightweight, making them both suitable for space-manned missions. If both these technologies successfully live up to its promise, more advanced electronics can be made, more successful space missions can be achieved, and more questions about our universe could be answered.

IBM's Brain Chip

by Jerome Sabidong

Technology is one of the main factors that help us attain what we know in astronomy today. Rovers and probes are sent to space to gather information and send this information back to Earth so that we could make use of them. Telescopes help us physically see how far away objects look like. Technology continues to amaze us until today. What if these new technologies learn about the environment of other planets and filter useful data for us? What if telescopes recognize new objects that are not yet catalogued and notify us about it? What if “human brains” were sent to outer space without the need for food, yet still are able to function properly? Yes, they are possible in the future.

As we speak, the International Business Machines (IBM) has developed a microprocessor, called SyNAPSE, capable of mimicking how the human brain works. It learns by linking connections in its information channels called synapses (you see it right, spelled just like the microprocessor’s name), just like how the brain works.

What are synapses? Synapses connect neurons to other cells in our bodies, which enable us to interact with the environment around us. They respond to stimuli that our senses perceive which are later processed by the brain. After processing, the neurons make new connections in the brain which enable the brain to “remember” what it would respond. Scientifically speaking, this process is called learning. The stronger and more connections the brain has, the bigger learning an organism has. 

Synapses and Neurons, from Google

 The SyNAPSE works this way too, but it cannot solder and de-solder its wires repeatedly. That would be a design and implementation catastrophe both on the software and hardware side of its creation. Instead it “turns the volume up or down” of the signals where it wants to focus more. This is like selective learning, where you block the information on unimportant ideas or just pay less attention to it. SyNAPSE makes it possible for future developers and researchers to understand human behaviour and even replicate feelings in machines, which may end the idea of “heartless machines.” 

Now, with this in our hands in the near future, imagine what advancements would it give to the research community, especially in the field of astronomy? We could launch “conscious” machines to outer space, where we worry less about maneuvering its way to its destination, smart probes that easily recognize the edge of a cliff and respond immediately without waiting for a command sent by operators on Earth. Maybe a smarter jet engine which could repair broken satellites and put it back to work. The possibilities are limitless when we have successfully engineered the brain and share it to non-living objects to help us on our queries about the mystifying questions beyond our world and solar system.

Visualization of the microprocessor, from BBC News

 

Because the creation process of this chip is still ongoing, the creators are still having a problem on how the chip could handle its own. Greater computing power means more heat on the device, which could mean melting of the wires of the chip resulting to the chip’s destruction. Also, recognition would also be a great challenge because sense of sight is crucial in the part of observation. Although these upcoming problems present hindrances to the successful reverse engineering of the brain, the engineers are still doing their best to overcome the chip’s shortcomings for the betterment of the future of research.

Catching Up with Space Bulletin

by Jodevic Philipp Perez

Astronomy has always been a part of our daily lives, yet it goes unnoticed. The surprising part is that not much people are up to date with recent astronomical information, rather, most people confuse some news from late 20th century. Which is weird, because there have been a lot of new discoveries found these past few months.

Let us start with a bit of old to new find, the Magnetar. Magnetar is a type of neutron star, which like a normal one, pulsates quickly and emits x-rays and gamma rays. However, it has a strong magnetic field that could disrupt orbits and the likes, especially when having a starquake. That news is old news. The new, conversely, is that as of April this year, 21 are now known throughout the universe, while 5 are awaiting confirmation, including SGR-1806-20, found on the far side of the Milky Way galaxy, at the constellation Sagittarius.

Another recent intelligence is the final mission of Space Shuttle Program, Atlantis’ operation. Last July 2011, this has been confirmed by NASA, the purpose of such duty is to test the new robotics and tools for the following space actions, specifically, refuelling missions. As Space shuttle Commander Chris Ferguson stated,” We’re not ending the journey today... we’re completing a chapter of a journey that will never end,” which means that we are not stopping anytime now at going to space, we are just doing it differently.

There are some new speculations too about ages, explicitly, about the oldest galaxy so far. It is estimated that the galaxy is from 13.1 billion years ago, or in layman’s term, a four-year old next to our current adult universe. However, they still are not very sure of it, because it is just a smudge from the Hubble Telescope, describing the light as “high red-shift blob”. The basis for the study is standing at “pretty good”, quoted from Prof. Richard Ellis, from California Institute of Technology. With this discovery, we can speculate many more questions in the universe’s age and galaxies’ creation.

Now let’s jump to a Sci-fi turning to Sci-fact. In the movie “Star Wars”, there was a planet having double sunset and sunrise. NASA’s Kepler mission proved this circumbinary planet (planet orbiting two stars) in a location 200 light years away from us. The planet, known as Kepler 16-b, unlike in the film, is cold, gaseous and cannot be thought to harbour life. This research sparked a new possibility of diverse and wide range of new planetary systems, that which may possibly produce life. “Given that most stars in our galaxy are part of a binary system, this means the opportunities for life are much broader than if planets form only around single stars”, stated by Kepler principal investigator William Borucki. The investigation was founded in what was presumed to be a regular eclipse on a binary star system, but the brightness further dipped even though there was an occultation happening, that lead to a guess of a third body. Also, when there was an irregularity in the dimming of the stars, while the stars are at different positions, it seems that the third body orbits both of these stars as the stars themselves rotate one another.

Additional up to date news, just last September 12 a daredevil comet headed straight to the Sun. It happened just hours after a solar storm sent a massive cloud of charged particles streaking into space. A comet of first magnitude brightness, that disappeared on the 14th. The comet itself did not survive long enough to be studied thoroughly, though they did suspected it to be part of the Kreutz family of comets, coming from one large comet that broke into smaller ones.

As far as improving technologies go, NASA is trying to keep up. As such, they have announced a new kind of deep space exploration system, a type that gives a safe, affordable and sustainable means for venturing our minds into the unique concept of space. As they unveiled the design for the developing Space Launch System (SLS), they swear of providing a new national capability for human exploration on Earth’s orbit. The SLS and its components are made to be durable and evolvable, to ensure further development. It is believed to reduce development costs while expected to improve existing capabilities. NASA administrator Charles Bolden said, “President Obama challenged us to be bold and to dream big, and that’s exactly what we are doing at NASA.” Basically, the SLS is a rocket produced to face the current crisis of recession, while maintaining a balance in sustainability, altogether with the purpose of maximizing efficiency at a lowered risk and cost.

Another from the fresh counter, let us tackle our galaxy, the Milky Way. We easily know that our galaxy is a spiral one, and now with new data, it can be hypothesized that the spirals are a product of collision of our galaxy with another. The galaxy we interact with, in a specified and predestined course, is the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy. In the report, it is said that the dark matter composing galaxies have a strong effect, as seen in the simulators. As the galaxies bump into each other, the force of impact sends the stars and other object streaming in a loop, and thus, forming our familiar curves. But, the Sagittarius galaxy is not safe from harm too, for our galaxy has stronger gravity. So when the Sagittarius galaxy collides with ours, it is ripped of its contents in 80-90% ratio.

Heating up an old gossip, we now move to the further connection of Mars and its supposed ancient water. Mars Rover Opportunity collected samples from the Endeavour Crater, in which said brought sedimentary rocks was older than anything studied by the rover. These provided new clues to the planet’s environment when there was still water lying on its surface. Further study on the composition of the samples shows enormous amount of minerals like bromine, phosphorus, chlorine and the likes, which are present and mobile in the presence of water. While these look insignificant, imagine if there was a lot of water on Mars, thus, the speculation of life is again revived. The ones handling the project says that they need more clay sample to see if there were less acid in them, showing of how much water was there in the first place.

In conclusion, we can see that many astronomical findings go beyond our regular radar. Sure, it may not affect us directly, nor change the way people think of our world. But it is still a nice change to read stuff like this rather than depressing news about worsening suicide rates.

7 Must-see Astronomy Sites

by Carlo Ray Selabao

We love internet surfing as much as we love astronomy. Out of many online astronomy websites, I handpicked seven of my favorite sites. My selection is based on the site’s visual appeal, user friendliness, presentation of information, and, of course, my taste.

Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD)

This site offers new beautiful astronomy related images each day, along with its explanation written by professional astronomers. Take a visit and make it a part of your daily routine.

Universe Today

This blog-like site features astronomy and space-related news. It presents astronomy updates in a way that everyone can easily appreciate. One must check the ‘Guide to Space’ Section which offers easy-to-understand concepts about anything in space. The ‘Carnival of Space’ section is where bloggers, chosen weekly, to host the carnival, showcase articles related to space. Bloggers out there, you might want to check this.

Earthsky

It features different articles about water, energy, health, food, biodiversity, earth, human world, and space. It has very interesting articles about astronomy essentials that will help you easily understand the night sky. It is also supported by thousands of scientists and scientific institutions. Along with its tag name, “A Clear Voice for Science” it is viewed million of times a day online and through broadcast.

Spacedex

This is a new site that serves as a guide for meteor showers. What’s great about this site is the easy navigation. It also shows a lot of details about the meteor shower including viewing conditions, locations and times. They have separated the locations to continents and narrowed it into countries.

Neave Planetarium

It is an online interactive and virtual sky map. It shows what you can see in the sky at a specific time and place. Easy to use, the planetarium is among the website’s fun flash-based games.

Micro Observatory

It gives one a chance to explore the universe with telescopes that you can control over the internet. One can take an image of the moon, planets, galaxy, and other celestial bodies by pointing and focusing the telescopes, adjusting the exposure times, filters, and other settings. It helps the user to become familiarized with the telescopes.

Astronomy Education at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln

It offers a lot of interactive, simulator-based online laboratories for introductory astronomy. The animations and simulations will help students and educators to easily understand hard-to-visualize concepts in astronomy. There are also astronomy questions and images. This site would be a great reference to teach astronomy to beginners.