technical updates

A surprising discovery is overturning a long-held assumption about how the brain’s movement center works. Researchers found that two key cerebellar cell types—thought to be tightly linked—often don’t behave in predictable ways, even though one directly influences the other. The finding suggests scientists may have been relying on the wrong signals when studying disorders such as dystonia, ataxia, and tremor. from Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/ElBO278

It doesn't get more America than giant rockets and missions to the moon. That's why NASA painted two giant "America 250" logos on the rocket that launched the Artemis 2 astronauts around the moon earlier this year. The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket lifted off on April 1, carrying the Orion spacecraft to orbit with NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, as well as the Canadian Space Agency's Jeremy Hansen. Their 10-day mission around the moon and back to Earth began with the roaring ignition of SLS's four RS-25 engines and two massive solid rocket boosters (SRBs). Together, they produce 8.8 million pounds (4 million kilograms) of force at liftoff, and lofted the 5.75-million-pounds (2.61 million kg) SLS spaceward on what could be the brightest candle lit for America all year. Each SRB is integrated into a sectioned stack that stands 177 ...

Hot Jupiters are some of the most extreme planets in the universe, blazing gas giants like Jupiter or Saturn that exist so close to their stars that they complete orbits in a matter of days. Now, new research may rewrite the definition of these planets that make the solar system look a little bit mundane. The extrasolar planet, or exoplanet , at the heart of this rethink is CoRoT-2 b, a world with 3.5 times the mass of Jupiter and 1.5 times the size of our solar system's largest planet, located around 696 light-years away. It orbits its star in just 41 hours or so. What is so strange about CoRoT-2 b? Most hot Jupiters are tidally locked, meaning they have one side that permanently faces their stars, a "dayside," and a "nightside" that faces out into space in perpetuity. However, a new investigation of CoRoT-2 b seems to show that this hot Jupiter isn't tidally lock...