The laws of physics stay the same no matter one’s perspective. Now this idea is allowing computers to detect features in curved and higher-dimensional space.
A team of researchers – including the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching – have gained astounding insights into the galactic centre: The astronomers have spotted gaseous clouds which are spinning around the assumed black hole at the heart of the Milky Way at a speed of around 30 percent of the speed of light. The gas is moving in a circular orbit outside the innermost stable path and can be identified through radiation bursts in the infrared range. This discovery was made possible by the Gravity Instrument, which combines the light of all four eight-metre mirrors of the Very Large Telescope at the European Southern Observatory (ESO). Thanks to this technology, which is called interferometry, Gravity generates the power of a virtual telescope with an effective diameter of 130 metres.
This unusually compact object sits right in the middle of the Milky Way and generates radio emissions: Astronomers call it Sagittarius A*. It is highly probable that this is a black hole with the mass of approx. four million suns. But this is by no means certain, and scientists are always devising new tests to support this thesis. Researchers have now used the Gravity Instrument to take a close look at the edges of the alleged black hole.
According to this theory, the electrons in the gas approaching the event horizon should speed up and therefore increase in brightness. The region of only a few light hours around the black hole is very chaotic, in a similar way to thunderstorms on Earth or radiation bursts on the Sun. Magnetic fields also play a part here, because the gas conducts electricity making it a plasma. The latter should ultimately show up as a flickering “hot spot” circling the black hole on the final stable path.
Recently published an article on Deep Learning.
Examining the visual acuity of children who are younger than three years old is important for the early discovery of abnormal visual development, potential ophthalmic diseases, and neurological disease.
If the visual abnormal development is not diagnosed in time, later development will be affected, but performing visual examination in children is challenging due to their lack of understanding of instructions. Evaluating the visual acuity of children remains difficult since many children are unable to effectively express their understanding, especially with respect to directions (i.e., up, down, left and right). In addition, it is difficult for children to concentrate for a long time during the vision examination. The Teller visual acuity (TVA) card can be used to evaluate the visual acuity of children, but not all the operations are recorded and can be reviewed.
Faced with mountains of image and audio data, researchers are turning to artificial intelligence to answer pressing ecological questions.
The sneaky, hungry invasives have been messing with reef ecosystems for decades—but Florida says, no more!
Astronomers have discovered a mysterious new class of objects at the heart of the Milky Way, unlike anything else found previously in our galaxy. The objects “look like gas but behave like stars,” according to senior researcher Andrea Ghez, as they start off small and compact but are stretched to a larger size when they approach the supermassive black hole in the center of the galaxy.
The researchers believe these objects could teach us about the evolution of stars and what happens to celestial bodies in environments of extreme gravity.
Continue reading “Astronomers Discover Stretchy Objects Unlike Anything Else in Our Galaxy” »
Thanks to the Contingency Operations program, the military is able to utilize the first GPS III satellite without the next-generation ground segment being built for it. The second GPS III satellite was launched in April, and a third launch is slated for later this year. (Airman 1st Class Dalton Williams/Air Force)
Since the explosion of student debt following the Great Recession, annual repayment rates, or the amount of existing balances lowered, have been just 3%, Moody’s said. Just 51% of borrowers who took out loans from 2010-12 have made any progress at all in paying down their debt.
“While in the past, higher enrollment and rising tuition were the main drivers of growing student loan balances, more recently, slow repayments have become the primary driver,” Jody Shenn, senior analyst at Moody’s, and others said in the report. “Over the next few years, the combination of slow repayments and elevated, if no longer growing, levels of new borrowing will likely fuel further increases in outstanding debt.”
There are multiple reasons why the debt levels are not going down.
SpaceX will sacrifice a Falcon 9 rocket Sunday in a fiery test a minute-and-a-half after liftoff from Florida’s Space Coast to prove the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft can safely push astronauts away from a failing launch vehicle, simulating a daring maneuver that would only be attempted on a piloted mission during an in-flight emergency.
The launch escape demonstration could be a spectacle for local residents, rocket fans and enthusiasts along the Space Coast, assuming clear skies and good visibility, according to SpaceX.
An AI assistant with empathy could be exactly what’s needed to provide emotional support for astronauts on deep-space missions to Mars.
NASA’s working with startups like Akin to develop human-like AI systems that could one day play a critical role in supporting astronauts in space.
