Drones help calibrate radio telescope at Brookhaven Lab

Cosmologists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory are experimenting with a prototype radio telescope, called the Baryon Mapping Experiment (BMX). Built at the Lab in 2017, the prototype serves as a testbed for managing radio interference and developing calibration techniques. Lessons learned from the prototype could pave the way for Brookhaven to develop a much larger radio…

ESA’s Solar Orbiter made its 1st close approach to the sun today

Solar Orbiter swept as close as 50 million miles (77 million km) to our sun’s surface. Now scientists are at work testing the spacecraft’s 10 science instruments, including the 6 telescopes on-board. New images, to be released in mid-July, will be the closest of the sun ever captured. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/esa-solar-orbiter-1st-perihelion-june-15-2020…

What’s new on Coursera for Business – April 2020

By Adam Lewis, Skills Transformation Consultant As we continue to adapt to the new norm, here are 114 new courses and projects to pick out what’s important to you.  You can try out Yale’s latest insights on why your Facebook friend is wrong about the stats they’re sharing. Or find your purpose with Michigan’s course […]
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Tesla Wants To Clean Windshields With Laser Beams

Tesla “may be keen on replacing the humble windshield wiper with lasers,” reports CNET. In a patent application filed this past May and published with the United States Patent and Trademark Office on Nov. 21, Tesla describes a “pulsed laser cleaning” for “debris accumulated” on glass, specifically for automotive application. It also mentions this could be used for “photo-voltaic” applications. That’s…

Researchers to spend a year trapped in Arctic ice

In October 2019, the research icebreaker Polarstern will drop anchor at an ice floe in the northern Laptev Sea, to spend a year investigating Earth’s Arctic. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/arctic-science-expedition-2019-2020-polarstern…

Arecibo Observatory gets $12.3 million grant

Arecibo in Puerto Rico was completed in 1963. In recent years, it has weathered multiple hurricanes. The emergency supplemental funds – supported by the U.S. Congress – represent an investment in the future of this large, famous and much-loved radio dish. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/arecibo-observatory-12-3-million-grant-upgrade…

Imperial Research Teaching Fellow Helps Create “Alarm System” For Dengue Outbreaks

Dengue is the fastest-spreading mosquito-borne viral illness in the world, and has become a leading cause of morbidity in many tropical and subtropical regions – including outbreaks in recent years in Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and other Latin American countries. The direct impact of these outbreaks is exacerbated by the stress they place […]
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Precision calibration empowers largest solar telescope

An article published in the SPIE publication Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems (JATIS), “Polarization Modeling and Predictions for DKIST Part 5: Impacts of enhanced mirror and dichroic coatings on system polarization calibration,” marks a substantial advance in ensuring the accurate solar information measured and collected by the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST). Source: https://phys.org/news/2019-06-precision-calibration-empowers-largest-solar.html…

Android and iOS Devices Impacted By New Sensor Calibration Attack

A new device fingerprinting technique can track Android and iOS devices across the Internet by using factory-set sensor calibration details that any app or website can obtain without special permissions. From a report: This new technique — called a calibration fingerprinting attack, or SensorID — works by using calibration details from gyroscope and magnetometer sensors on iOS; and calibration details from…