Dodging Vampires

Daily Upsider on June 25, 2024

Spending time outdoors is great, but with that comes the risk of mosquito bites. If you find yourself frequently bitten by mosquitoes, it could be due to your scent or the colors of your clothes, recent research suggests.

“If you think you are a mosquito magnet, it’s probably the case,” said Jeffrey Riffell, a biology professor at the University of Washington who studies mosquito sensory systems, in a video released on the university’s website earlier this month. “Some individuals are bitten way more than others.”

Riffell and his team have been researching how mosquitoes locate their food sources. While male mosquitoes drink nectar from flowers for sugar, female mosquitoes drink blood to aid in egg-laying. “Mosquitoes are remarkably good at trying to locate a person to drink their blood,” Riffell explained. “They are vampires, and they’re very good at what they’re doing. Their eyes, their vision, their nose, everything about them is geared towards finding us and biting us.”

The team discovered that female mosquitoes find humans by following a trail of scent cues, including the chemicals humans emit from their skin and sweat, and the carbon dioxide from exhaling. Mosquitoes are also attracted to certain colors—they prefer red and black, but tend to avoid white and green, Riffell noted. Mosquitoes can also remember and return to people they find attractive after biting them, forming a positive association. However, they can also learn to avoid you if you try to swat them. University of Washington biology PhD student Melissa Leon Norena mentioned that mosquitoes can detect three types of sugar sources, one of which is fruit. Researchers are working on creating a scent that mosquitoes find irresistible. If successful, this scent can be laced with a toxin to kill the insects.

I am not sure I would want to wear a toxic perfume on my body. But maybe on clothes or just near by would work as well. Anything to help keep the little vampires of is good in my opinion.

First Human to Spend 1,000 Days in Outer Space

Daily Upsider on June 19, 2024

Oleg Kononenko has become the first human to log 1,000 days in space over a 16-year career on the ISS.

This achievement comes during his fifth spaceflight and third term as ISS commander. In February, he surpassed the previous record of 878 days set by fellow Roscosmos cosmonaut Gennady Padalka.

Kononenko arrived at the ISS last September aboard the Soyuz MS-24 with cosmonaut Nikolai Chub and NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara. He is set to return in four months, at which point his long-term space exposure will make him an invaluable subject for human biology research.

As space missions grow longer with initiatives like the Artemis Accords and the International Lunar Research Station, understanding the effects of prolonged space travel on the human body is critical. Kononenko’s extended periods in low-Earth orbit will provide essential data for studying the impacts on eye health, bone density, blood flow, radiation exposure, and space motion sickness.

Emmanuel Urquieta, former chief medical officer at the Translational Research Institute for Space Health, emphasized the importance of this research, noting the need for comprehensive data from missions extending up to 900 days. This information is crucial for ensuring the health and safety of astronauts on future missions to Mars.

Born in Turkmenistan, Kononenko has completed over 18 hours of spacewalks, conducting experiments, repairs, and maintenance on the ISS. His distinguished career includes a rare nighttime re-entry in December 2015 and accolades such as the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal and the NASA Space Flight Medal.

Boeing Starliner First Launch Carrying NASA Astronauts

Daily Upsider on June 15, 2024

Boeing launched its first Starliner flight with astronauts last week, marking a critical final flight test of the long-delayed spacecraft.

The launch occurred at 10:52 a.m. ET from Cape Canaveral, Florida, with two NASA astronauts on board. The Starliner was carried by a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket, destined for the International Space Station (ISS).

Approximately 15 minutes after liftoff, the rocket successfully released the Starliner capsule into orbit, with the flight proceeding as expected, according to mission control.

Although Starliner is equipped with cameras to capture views inside and outside the cabin, NASA’s broadcast indicated that Boeing would not be able to relay video footage back to Earth until the spacecraft reaches the ISS.

Starliner is set to travel in space for about 25 hours before docking with the ISS at 12:15 p.m. on Thursday. The astronauts will spend about a week on the ISS, focusing on testing Starliner, before returning to Earth.

Boeing’s crew flight test aims to certify the Starliner system as capable of transporting NASA astronauts to and from the ISS.

Wednesday’s liftoff followed a series of previous launch attempts. On Saturday, a launch was aborted in the final minutes of the countdown due to an issue with one of the ground support computers. Earlier in May, another attempt was canceled due to a detected problem with the rocket itself.

United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin, replaced the rocket’s faulty valve after the May attempt and fixed a faulty part in the ground infrastructure computer after the Saturday attempt.

The Starliner capsule is designed to carry up to four NASA astronauts per flight, along with more than 200 pounds of research and cargo. The spacecraft lands using a parachute and airbag system and is reusable, with each capsule capable of flying up to 10 missions.

The Starliner capsule successfully docked with the International Space Station the next day, achieving a significant milestone for the company’s crew spacecraft in a crucial test flight.

Below is the video of the liftoff. The fun part starts around the 1 hour 10 minute mark.

I’m just glad all the doors were securely bolted on! 😬

Amazing Discoveries From Jupiter

Daily Upsider on June 14, 2024

The Largest Magnetic Sphere in the Solar System

Earth’s magnetic field originates from swirling molten iron in its core, generating a dynamo effect. On Jupiter, however, the magnetic field is powered by an intriguing form of matter known as metallic hydrogen.

Jupiter’s massive size creates immense pressures deep within its core, producing exotic matter found nowhere else in the solar system. Hydrogen, typically a gas and the lightest element on the periodic table, is compressed within the planet until its electrons detach from the atoms and move freely. This sea of mobile electrons forms the dynamo that generates Jupiter’s powerful magnetic field. Jupiter’s magnetic sphere is the largest object in the solar system, several times wider than the sun. This vast magnetosphere shields the planet from solar winds, deflecting particles as far as Saturn’s orbit.

While Jupiter is protected from solar winds, the Jovian system—comprising Jupiter and its moons—produces its own energetic particles. These particles are trapped and accelerated by the very magnetic field that shields the planet from external ionic bombardment.

The charged particles originate from Jupiter’s most volatile moon, Io, whose volcanic eruptions become electrified as the magnetic field strips electrons from its molecules. These stray electrons zip around Jupiter at near light speed, releasing radio waves. From a scientific perspective, these radio emissions are problematic because they drown out radar signals used to probe the planet’s interior from Earth. Additionally, the electron shield creates a radiation belt that bombards visiting spacecraft. To mitigate this hazard, scientists had to build the probe that collected these readings “like an armored tank,”, according to Heidi Becker, a NASA planetary scientist and one of the 2017 Juno missions co-investigative leads. All the spacecrafts sensitive electronics were housed inside an electron-shielding titanium vault weighing almost 400 pounds.

Despite the challenges, Jupiter’s powerful magnetosphere creates spectacular auroras when the electrons it directs collide with other atoms in the atmosphere, releasing bursts of light. Given that the magnetic field is large enough to envelop the moons, it also transports ejecta from Io to other locations. Scientists have detected contaminants as far away as Europa, another of Jupiter’s moons located hundreds of thousands of miles from Io.

Astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to capture stunning aurora in the planet’s atmosphere. NASA, ESA, and J. Nichols (University of Leicester)

Jupiter is Too Hot

Jupiter continues to radiate heat from its primordial days. This residual heat drives the intense storms that dominate Jupiter’s atmosphere.

The Voyager mission measured Jupiter’s heat output when it passed the gas giant in 1979. Scientists discovered that Jupiter emitted more heat than models had predicted, with some areas burning at nearly 800 degrees Fahrenheit above expectations.

Four decades later, scientists at the Keck Observatory resolved the mystery of Jupiter’s heat distribution. They mapped the planet’s temperatures, finding it coldest near the equator and hottest near the magnetic poles, where auroras flare most intensely. This revealed that auroras are an additional heat source. Plasma from Io’s volcanic eruption collides with Jupiter’s atmosphere to create spectacular auroras, and it interacts with Jupiter’s fast-moving winds, generating enough friction to raise global temperatures.

Also, did you know that Jupiter actually has a ring?

Jupiter’s ring consists of four faint subrings that float above the equator. Webb NIRCam composite image (two filters) of Jupiter system, unlabeled (top) and labeled (bottom) / NASA, ESA, CSA, Jupiter ERS Team; image processing by Ricardo Hueso (UPV/EHU) and Judy Schmidt CC By-SA 2.0

Astronomers Fight Back

Daily Upsider on June 5, 2024

Recently we did an article on the Stunning Photos from the $2 Billion Space Telescope. In it we mentioned that the space telescope, one NASA’s Great Observatories, may soon face an untimely end.

The Chandra X-Ray Observatory, an orbiting telescope launched in 1999 aboard Space Shuttle Columbia, is under financial threat in NASA’s latest budget proposal. Significant cuts to its funding could lead to layoffs for half of its staff by October and potentially end the mission prematurely around 2026. Astronomers fear that losing this vital telescope could set back high-energy cosmic studies by decades. In response, astronomers are grouping together in an effort to save the incredible telescope.

In an open letter, a group of astronomers asserted that Chandra “is capable of many more years of operation and scientific discovery” and that reducing the budget of this flagship X-ray mission would severely impact both U.S. high-energy astrophysics research and the broader astronomy community.

Samantha Wong, an astronomer at McGill University, emphasized the importance of maintaining such observatories: “It’s a huge monetary and environmental toll to put an observatory up in space, so I think it’s really important to value that and to not treat these instruments as disposable,”. Wong continued, “People outside of astronomy contribute to the cost of these instruments (both literally and in terms of environmental and satellite pollution), so it’s in everyone’s best interest that we use Chandra to the full extent it’s capable of.”

Launched in the 90s along with the Hubble Space Telescope, the Spitzer Space Telescope (decommissioned in 2020), and the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (which ended in 2000), Chandra was initially intended to operate for five years. However, its outstanding performance has made it a cornerstone of astronomy research for the past 25 years. Despite the natural degradation over time, Chandra continues to produce excellent scientific results. A recent NASA senior review deemed it “the most powerful X-ray facility in orbit,” with the potential to operate for another decade if the ground team can continue their work.