Orphx performing at the LIVELab space at McMaster University (Photo: LIVElab)

Have you ever wondered what makes us dance? A team of scientists from LIVElab at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, dove into what musical elements signal to our brains that it’s time to get our groove on. They found that low-frequency tones, otherwise known as bass, could be the key.

“I'm trained as a drummer, and most of my research career has been focused on the rhythmic aspects of music and how they make us move,” says Daniel Cameron, neuroscientist and lead researcher. “Music is a biological curiosity—it doesn't reproduce us, it doesn't feed us, and it doesn't shelter us, so why do humans like it and why do they like to move to it?”

The McMaster LIVELab is not your typical lab; it’s a live performance space equipped with state-of-the-art 3D motion capture technology, a sound system that can replicate the experience of a concert, and enhanced speakers that can produce ultra-low frequencies that are undetectable to the human ear. (If you’ve ever been close to the stage at a concert and felt the bass shaking in your chest, it’s a similar concept.)

During the study, volunteers wore motion-sensing headsets to track their dancing as the EDM duo Orphx performed a 45-minute set. Throughout the concert, researchers operated the undetectable bass-producing speakers, turning them on every 2.5 minutes and then turning them off. The research team found that when the low frequencies were played, participants danced about 12% more—even though they couldn’t hear it.

So, why did this happen? Cameron explains our vestibular and tactile systems are behind it. The body’s vestibular system, aka our inner-ear structures that keep us balanced and tell us our body’s position in space, “is sensitive to low-frequency stimulation, especially if it's loud,” the neuroscientist explains.

Cameron adds that our tactile system, or sense of touch, is also sensitive to bass and its vibrations. “[The bass is] feeding into our motor system in the brain, the movement control system in our brain. So it's adding a little bit of gain. It's giving a little more energy [to the body]…from that stimulation through those systems.” As their study states, our anatomy can detect low frequencies, even if we can’t hear it, and “increase ratings of groove (the pleasurable urge to move to music), and modulate musical rhythm perception.”

Researchers state that while their findings show a direct correlation between bass and movement, they don’t necessarily mean they would be the same in real-world, complex situations, like live concerts. Nonetheless, musicians were keen on participating in the study, “because of their interest in this idea that bass can change how the music is experienced in a way that impacts movement,” Cameron says. “The study had high ecological validity, as this was a real musical and dance experience for people at a real live show.”

So, next time you’re grabbing tickets for a concert, look for seats close to the speakers to ensure a night full of dancing.

A team of scientists from LIVELab at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada dove into what musical elements signal to our brains it's time to get our groove on—the answer, it seems, is bass.

Photo: itsh01/Depositphotos

The McMaster LIVELab is a live performance space equipped with 3D motion capture technology, a special sound system, and enhanced speakers that produce undetectable bass.

 

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Volunteers wore motion-sensing headsets to track their dancing as the EDM duo Orphyx performed a 45-minute set. Throughout the concert, researchers operated the undetectable bass-producing speakers, turning them on every 2.5 minutes and then turning them off.

Photo: Sandy Kawadkar

The research team found that when the low frequencies were played, participants danced about 12% more, even though they couldn’t hear it.

Photo: Aleksandr Popov

Daniel Cameron, a neuroscientist and the study’s lead researcher, explains that our body’s vestibular and tactile systems are the reasons why.

 

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A post shared by LIVELab (@live.lab)

The body’s vestibular system, our inner-ear structures that keep us balanced and tell us our body’s position in space, “is sensitive to low-frequency stimulation, especially if it's loud,” he states.

Photo: prettyvectors/Depositphotos

Cameron adds that our tactile system, or sense of touch, is also sensitive to bass and its vibrations.

Photo: Karori Production

So when these low frequencies are introduced to the environment, even if we can’t hear them, our anatomy controls our bodies’ rhythm perception and signals an urge to move.

Photo: Antoine J.

Researchers state that while their findings show a direct correlation between bass and movement, they don’t necessarily mean they would be the same in real-world, complex situations, like live concerts.

Photo: Aditya Chinchure

Nonetheless, musicians were keen on participating in the study, because learning how bass affects concertgoers’ movements is important to keep the interest of a crowd.

Photo: Marcela Laskoski

So, next time you’re grabbing tickets for a concert, look for seats close to the speakers to ensure a night full of dancing.

Photo: AllaSerebrina/Depositphotos

h/t: [NPR]

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READ: Want To Turn up the Dance Floor? Science Says Turn up the Bass

Photo: Anetlanda/Depositphotos

Throughout the years, researchers have discovered new ways in which nature is good for you and your mental health. For example, did you know that spending time in nature reduces your stress? Now, a study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders found that, compared to urban settings, a walk in nature lowered negative emotional affect in people with major depressive disorder (MDD).

“While walking in nature has been shown to improve affect in adults from the community to a greater extent than walking in urban settings, it is unknown whether such benefits apply to individuals suffering from depression,” write the authors of the study. The team behind was set on working with individuals with mental health concerns, since most of the research done on the effects of nature don't feature people with a diagnosis or don't pay attention to the hours and days after the time spent outdoors. To do so, they set to find if a single 60-min walk had any repercussions in their mood.

The study had 37 participants, ages between 18 and 65, with more female than male representation, who were patients at a psychiatric outpatient clinic for persons with difficult-to-manage MDD. They were randomly assigned an urban walk on a busy street, or a stroll at a park away from the noise of the city. Both were to take place on a morning with good weather conditions. Participants were asked to avoid talking to each other for those 60 minutes.

The researchers collected data six different times before and after the walk—an hour before, during the walk, immediately after, and three, 24, and 48 hours after the stroll. While they didn't find any differences in positive affect, there was a decrease in negative affect, which stuck for two full days after the walk. The participants with the urban route also experience a decrease in negative affect, although it wasn't as strong as the nature group.

“There is a growing recognition that walking in nature could make us happier,” said Marie-Claude Geoffroy, study author and member of the Canada Research Chair in Youth Suicide Prevention to PsyPost. “A simple walk in nature, whether in the forest or in an urban park, is effective in relieving negative thoughts and feelings.”

A study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders found that, compared to urban settings, a walk in nature lowered negative emotional affect in people with major depressive disorder (MDD).

Photo: AlexBrylov/Depositphotos

“A simple walk in nature, whether in the forest or in an urban park, is effective in relieving negative thoughts and feelings,” said Marie-Claude Geoffroy, study author.

Photo: ArturVerkhovetskiy/Depositphotos

h/t: [PsyPost]

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READ: Study Says Walking in Nature Can Reduce Negative Feelings Among Those With Depression

A slice of the El Ali meteorite, now housed in the University of Alberta's Meteorite Collection, contains two minerals never before seen on Earth. (Photo: University of Alberta)

Space is full of rocks. This “celestial debris” known as meteoroids hurtles through space, occasionally entering Earth's atmosphere where the materials begin to burn up. These “shooting stars” are meteors. Most are obliterated before they come close to the surface of Earth, but a few survive the fall. These rocks which hit Earth are known as meteorites, and they are a scientist's dream. Meteorites provide hints to the chemical composition of the universe. Excitingly, a meteorite which fell to Earth and landed in Somalia in 2020 has been revealed to contain two new minerals not found on our planet.

The meteorite in question is the ninth largest ever discovered at a whopping 15 tonne (16.5 U.S. ton). It was found near El Ali, a town in the Hiiraan region of Somalia. A 2.5-ounce piece of the space rock was taken as a scientific sample and sent to the University of Alberta. There it was analyzed by Chris Herd, a professor in the Department of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences and curator of the University of Alberta’s Meteorite Collection. Herd began to decipher the meteorites composition. “Whenever you find a new mineral, it means that the actual geological conditions, the chemistry of the rock, was different than what’s been found before,” he says. “That’s what makes this exciting: In this particular meteorite you have two officially described minerals that are new to science.”

Herd's results classified the meteorite as an “Iron, IAB complex” example, of which 350 have been discovered. Despite other similar meteorites being studied, this small slice of rock contained two previously unknown minerals. Minerals are elements or compounds which form the building blocks of rocks. Think of quartz or feldspar, which are both common minerals. Yet the two new minerals discovered are not naturally occurring on our planet. It usually takes a while to confirm whether a mineral in a meteorite is in fact new; however, these were easy to match given the fact that scientists have artificially synthesized them before. A third mineral is also possibly a new type, but more investigation is needed to confirm this.

Andrew Locock, head of the University’s Electron Microprobe Laboratory, aided Herd in identifying the new minerals. The compounds have been named elaliite and elkinstantonite. The former is named in honor of the town nearby the meteorite crash site, and the latter is in honor of Lindy Elkins-Tanton, vice president of the ASU Interplanetary Initiative, professor at Arizona State University’s School of Earth, and Space Exploration, and principal investigator of NASA’s upcoming Psyche mission. “Lindy has done a lot of work on how the cores of planets form, how these iron nickel cores form, and the closest analogue we have are iron meteorites. So it made sense to name a mineral after her and recognize her contributions to science,” Herd explains.

The meteorite may contain even more secrets of space; however, studying it in the future could be logistically tricky. The large rock has already been transported to China in search of a private sale, and a future owner may not want to take further samples. However, investigations will continue into this small piece and other meteorite materials held by the university. Herd says, “Whenever there’s a new material that’s known, material scientists are interested too because of the potential uses in a wide range of things in society.”

A meteorite which fell to Earth and landed in Somalia in 2020 has been revealed to contain two new minerals not found on our planet.

The Hoba meteorite in Namibia, the largest intact meteorite known. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0)

Want to learn more about meteorites?

h/t: [Interesting Engineering]

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READ: Meteorite Contains Two New Minerals Not Found on Earth

Photo: Jian-Cheng Lai, Bao Research Group @ Stanford University

Waiting for a wound to heal can feel like forever. And as you wait, cuts and scrapes are vulnerable to infection, which can delay the healing process. However, soon there may be a solution that can help speed things up. Researchers at Stanford University debuted a “smart bandage” that not only helps treat wounds but also monitors their healing status.

Although it is the same size as your average bandage, this new piece of technology is actually composed of wireless circuitry that uses electrical stimulation to accelerate tissue closure and reduce the chances of infection. The entire electronic layer—which includes biosensors and a microcontroller unit (MCU)—is layered with hydrogel, which acts as a courier for the electrical stimulation to the injured tissue. In addition, all of the healing processes are monitored through the bandage and can be checked via a smartphone.

“In sealing the wound, the smart bandage protects as it heals,” says Yuanwen Jiang, the first co-author of the study and a post-doctoral scholar in the lab of Zhenan Bao, the K.K. Lee Professor in Chemical Engineering in the Stanford School of Engineering. “But it is not a passive tool. It is an active healing device that could transform the standard of care in the treatment of chronic wounds.”

Although the data looks promising, researchers still have to address how they will scale up the smart bandage to other larger sizes, reduce the cost of production, and take into consideration the possible negative effects the hydrogel will have on the skin, causing irritation in some. Even so, the hope is that the smart bandage will offer a new standard of care to those who are afflicted by recurring ailments.

Scientists at Stanford University have created a “smart bandage” that can help heal wounds faster and monitor their healing process.

Photo: Jian-Cheng Lai, Bao Research Group @ Stanford University

h/t: [DesignTAXI, EurekAlert!]

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READ: ‘Smart Bandage’ Designed To Help Heal Wounds Faster

The 4.6-billion-year-old meteorite. (Photo: Natural History Museum)

Water is a scientific enigma. How did Earth develop its oceans? Do other planets have water? Space exploration may help answer these questions, but others come crashing to Earth in strokes of celestial inspiration. The Whinchcombe meteorite—a meteor that made it through Earth's atmosphere to land in Gloucestershire, England in 2021—is already providing answers. It contains extra-terrestrial water and organic compounds that shed light on the origin of Earth’s oceans.

The meteorite is a chunk of 4.6 billion-year-old space rock. It likely dislodged from an asteroid near Jupiter and traveled to Earth within the last million years. The crash landing on a Gloucestershire driveway was fiery, captured on camera by 16 cameras coordinated by the UK Fireball Alliance (UKFAll). Scientists were able to quickly recover and preserve the meteorite for study. Their findings have been published in Science Advances. The meteorite is, surprisingly, a rare CM carbonaceous chondrite. It contains approximately two percent carbon by weight and is the first of this type to fall in the UK.

Chemical analysis demonstrated the meteorite has a composition of 11% extra-terrestrial water. The hydrogen isotope ratio is similar to our Earth's water. There is no liquid in the rock, rather the water is bound in compounds formed near the origin of the solar system. The meteorite also contains extra-terrestrial amino acids. These prebiotic molecules are essential to life. These findings further reinforce the scientific belief that carbonaceous asteroids delivered some of the ingredients of life to Earth.

Dr. Luke Daly, of the Planetary Geoscience at the University of Glasgow and author of the paper, says in a statement, “One of the biggest questions asked of the scientific community is how did we get here? This analysis on the Winchcombe meteorite gives insight into how the Earth came to have water–the source of so much life. Researchers will continue to work on this specimen for years to come, unlocking more secrets into the origins of our solar system.”

Dr. Ashley King of the Natural History Museum and another author, adds, “The rapid retrieval and curation of Winchcombe make it one of the most pristine meteorites available for analysis, offering scientists a tantalizing glimpse back through time to the original composition of the solar system 4.6 billion-years-ago.”

The Winchcombe meteorite has revealed secrets to how the “starter” materials for Earth's oceans arrived on this planet.

A fragment of meteorite. (Photo: King et al./Science Advances)

While the celestial rock is 4.6 billion years old, it crashed into Earth in 2021 and was quickly recovered and preserved.

A fragment of the Winchcome meteorite. (Photo: Trustees of the Natural History Museum)

h/t: [Interesting Engineering]

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READ: 4.6 Billion-Year-Old Meteorite Is Shedding Light on Our Oceans’ Origins

Photo: Christin_Lola/Depositphotos

For many people, their pets are their world. The love they feel for their dog, cat, rabbit, lizard—any domesticated living creature they care for—is boundless. That's precisely why losing a pet is like losing a member of the family. However, this type of bereavement is rarely taken as seriously in professional and social settings. Though many people can sympathize with someone grieving the loss of another human, society generally lacks the same level of empathy for someone whose pet has passed away. In an effort to dissolve the stigma around a person grieving the death of a pet, a new review strongly encourages counselors to take different approaches with clients who are mourning their non-human companion.

The review—titled Overcoming the social stigma of losing a pet: Considerations for counseling professionals and co-authored by Dr. Michelle Kay Crossley (an assistant professor at Rhode Island College) and Colleen Rolland (president and pet loss grief specialist for Association for Pet Loss and Bereavement)—explores the importance of recognizing grief in patients and offering them a safe space to deal with it. The report explains: “While empathy may come more naturally when discussing human loss, there are other types of loss that are not acknowledged or given a similar amount of attention by society. Grief due to these socially unendorsed losses is referred to as disenfranchised grief and can include death by suicide, a lost pregnancy/miscarriage, and death from AIDS, in addition to the death of a pet.”

Dr. Crossley and Rolland explain how harmful the disregard of a pet owner's grief can be. As the paper states, “When relationships are not valued by society, individuals are more likely to experience disenfranchised grief after a loss that cannot be resolved and may become complicated grief.” In an effort to guide mental health consultants, the co-authors write: “It is important for counselors to recognize their own biases regarding the types of losses that are worth an empathetic response as individuals are better able to heal from a loss through social support and recognition.” They add, “A counselor can cause more pain to the client by not understanding or honoring the depth of the bond shared between the client and the pet. The distress that one can experience secondary to the loss of a companion animal can be intense, and it is critical to serving these clients in the same manner that we would have had they been grieving the loss of a human.”

Photo: vitalytitov/Depositphotos

The article also highlights the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on human-animal relationships. During this time, there was an increase in the adoption rates of cats and dogs. Additionally, since many individuals transitioned to working from home, people also relied more on their animal companions for comfort. As a result, many more people have bonded with their pets in the last few years. But, even in years prior to this uptick in animal adoption, the American Veterinary Medical Association recorded in 2018 that “57% of households owned a pet with 66% owning more than one companion animal. Of the individuals surveyed, approximately 80% consider their pets to be family members, 17% consider them to be a companion and only 3% consider them property.”

Ultimately, the article strongly urges counselors to consider pet bereavement with equal empathy to human losses, which are given greater acknowledgment by society, and provide safe spaces for clients to work through their grief. “Giving a voice to individuals grieving a disenfranchised loss is one way in which counselors can help clients through pet loss,” the co-authors advise. “It is also important to integrate pet loss work into counseling interventions and coping strategies that are already being used in the therapeutic space.”

A new review recommends that counselors take the loss of a pet more seriously for their clients.

Photo: anjajuli/Depositphotos

h/t: [IFL Science]

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READ: Counselors Are Urged To Take the Death of Their Clients’ Pets More Seriously

An image of the Pillars of Creation created by combining the James Webb Space Telescope NIRCam and MIRI image. (Photo: SCIENCE: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
IMAGE PROCESSING: Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Alyssa Pagan (STScI), Anton M. Koekemoer (STScI))

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (Webb) has revolutionized the science of astronomy in the year since its launch on Christmas Day 2021. From stunning hi-res images of Jupiter to detailed, sparkling shots of the Tarantula Nebula and the Cartwheel Galaxy, every image returned to Earth has pushed boundaries of beauty and knowledge. Webb's latest image of the Pillars of Creation—gas and dust pillars within the Eagle Nebula—combines Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) footage to spectacular effect.

The Pillars of Creation were first photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 in 1995. Webb released an updated image in October of 2022, but the latest shot combines near and mid-infrared light. The columns are made of cool gas and dust centered in a field of star creation.” When knots of gas and dust with sufficient mass form in the pillars, they begin to collapse under their own gravitational attraction, slowly heat up, and eventually form new stars,” says the Webb team. “Newly formed stars are especially apparent at the edges of the top two pillars – they are practically bursting onto the scene.”

The red spots visible on the tip of the second pillar indicate young, actively forming stars which send out supersonic jets that interact with the gas and dust. While the mid-infrared image captures the layers of dust that make up this formation, the near-infrared highlights these stars. Combined, the image is the best view yet of this celestial marvel.

Like the October Webb image, this new image will, according to the European Space Agency, “help researchers revamp their models of star formation by identifying far more precise star populations, along with the quantities of gas and dust in the region. Over time, they will begin to build a clearer understanding of how stars form and burst out of these dusty clouds over millions of years.”

The James Webb Space Telescope has released another image of the magnificent Pillars of Creation, combining Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) footage.

The Pillars of Creation as photographed in October 2022 by the JWST. (Photo: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; J. DePasquale, A. Koekemoer, A. Pagan (STScI))

The gorgeous image shows celestial dust and sparkling stars.

The Pillars as captured in 1995 by Hubble. (Photo: NASA, ESA, STScI, J. Hester and P. Scowen (Arizona State University))

h/t: [Peta Pixel]

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READ: James Webb Space Telescope Releases Stunning New Shot of the Pillars of Creation

Photo: MitaStockImages/Depositphotos

Around the world, governments and health organizations have come up with regulations and campaigns to deter the use of cigarettes, from graphic warnings on labels to the push for smoke-free areas. Now, New Zealand has adopted a stricter approach that aims to put an end to tobacco use for good. After they were announced last year, the parliament has passed a series of anti-smoking laws, including one that means anyone born in 2009 or later will never be able to buy cigarettes or any other tobacco products.

“We want to make sure young people never start smoking so we will make it an offense to sell or supply smoked tobacco products to new cohorts of youth,” says Associate health minister Ayesha Verrall. “People aged 14 when the law comes into effect will never be able to legally purchase tobacco.”

Besides the annually rising smoking age—a law believed to be the first of its kind in the world—the legal amount of nicotine in tobacco products will be reduced dramatically, and the amount of retailers that can sell them will be cut by 90%, from 6,000 to 600. Cigarettes will no longer be sold in supermarkets and corner stores, and can now only be purchased at specialty tobacco stores.

These efforts strengthen New Zealand's mission to be smoke-free by 2025. According to government statistics, the smoking rate is at a historical low, given that only 8% of New Zealand adults smoke every day, down from 9.4% last year. The initiatives hope to lower that number to less than 5% in the next two years.

On top of that, these new rules hope to close the life expectancy gap between Māori and Pacific communities and non-Māori citizens, which is as high as 25% for women. The overall smoking rate of these groups is 19.9%, which has come down from 22.3% a year ago. The government has also increased funding for health services and campaigns, and launched quitting services designed with these communities in mind.

“This legislation accelerates progress towards a smokefree future,” says Verrall. “Thousands of people will live longer, healthier lives and the health system will be $5 billion better off from not needing to treat the illnesses caused by smoking, such as numerous types of cancer, heart attacks, strokes, amputations.” And since New Zealand boasts a universal healthcare system, these changes mean a huge victory for public health.

New Zealand has passed a series of strict anti-smoking laws, including one that means anyone born in 2009 or later will never be able to buy cigarettes or any other tobacco products.

Photo: vichie81/Depositphotos

Besides the annually rising smoke age, the legal amount of nicotine in tobacco products will be reduced dramatically, and the amount of retailers that can sell them will be cut by 90%.

Photo: Nomadsoul1/DepositPhotos

h/t: [BBC]

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Photo: NASA/James M. Blair

NASA's Artemis I mission has come to an end, putting mankind one step closer to a historic return to the Moon—and the eventual exploration of Mars. After a successful launch back in November, this crew-less mission had a duration of 25.5 days in which the Orion spaceship ran a series of in-orbit tests to help ensure its safety. On December 11, Artemis came home after the Orion capsule safely splashed down off the coast of Baja California, Mexico.

Before its recovery by the team aboard the USS Portland, NASA engineers have to perform additional tests before pulling it out of the water and powering it down. Once it's aboard, it will be taken to the U.S. Naval Base San Diego. From there, it will be returned to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where it originally took off from, for post-flight analysis.

The end of Artemis I couldn't have happened on a better day, as it marked the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 17 Moon landing, the most recent time humans have set foot on our satellite. “From Tranquility Base to Taurus-Littrow to the tranquil waters of the Pacific, the latest chapter of NASA's journey to the Moon comes to a close. Orion, back on Earth,” said Rob Navias, NASA Johnson Space Center's Public Affairs Office (PAO) mission commentator.

“I'm overwhelmed. This is an extraordinary day,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, during a live broadcast. “It's historic, because we are now going back into deep space with a new generation.” Although it's marked the final milestone of Artemis I, the splashdown is one of the most important and dangerous steps of any mission.

Photo: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA is aiming to put astronauts aboard the upcoming Artemis II mission in 2024, so it was key to make sure the astronauts could withstand the radiation from their time in space, and the dangerous re-entry—a complicated feat, given the ship travels at 32 times the speed of sound and has to endure heat up to 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit. To do so, the ship was helmed by a mannequin called Commander Moonikin Campos—named after an electrical engineer credited with helping the Apollo 13 astronauts return safely to Earth—along with two mannequin torsos called Helga and Zohar.

The return and splashdown have proved to the engineers that both the spacecraft's 16.5-foot-wide Apollo-derived Avcoat heat shield and parachutes will deploy correctly and work smoothly during the upcoming manned missions. According to mission manager Mike Sarafin, putting the heat shield to test was the top priority of Artemis I. “There is no arc jet or aerothermal facility here on Earth capable of replicating hypersonic reentry with a heat shield of this size,” he said.

As for the next steps, an announcement for the crew of Artemis II is expected in early 2023. This mission will fly astronauts around the Moon, and is slated for a May 2024 take-off. Artemis III, the mission that hopes to put humanity back on the lunar surface, will launch in 2025, and its crew will include the first woman and first person of color to walk the Moon.

NASA's Artemis I mission has come to an end. On December 11, Artemis came home after the Orion capsule safely splashed down off the coast of Baja California, Mexico.

 

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Una publicación compartida por NASA Artemis (@nasaartemis)

One of the main goals of Artemis I was to make sure the heat shield and parachutes would deploy correctly and work smoothly during the upcoming manned missions.

 

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Una publicación compartida por NASA Artemis (@nasaartemis)

NASA is aiming to put astronauts aboard the upcoming Artemis II mission in 2024, so it was key to make sure the astronauts could withstand the radiation from their time in space, and the dangerous re-entry.

 

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Una publicación compartida por NASA (@nasa)

NASA Artemis Mission: Website | Instagram | Facebook
h/t: [Mashable]

All images via NASA.

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READ: NASA’s Artemis I Mission Ends Successfully With Splashdown of Orion Capsule

Photo: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

The Department of Energy is expected to announce today that researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California have made a “major scientific breakthrough.” On Sunday, the Financial Times teased that the announcement involved advancements made at the National Ignition Facility, or NIF. This facility, which opened in 2009, uses lasers to mimic the effects of nuclear explosions. Its main mission is to achieve self-sustaining nuclear fusion with high energy gains.

If what's been revealed is true, it looks like NIF is well on its way toward achieving this goal. According to anonymous government sources, the facility achieved ignition—which is when the amount generated is at least equal to the energy of the lasers used to start the reaction. A scientist familiar with the experiment also confirmed these results with The New York Times.

In this case, it appears that the nuclear reactor produced 120% of the energy used to start the experiment. While scientists are still confirming that number, a 20% energy jump would be an incredible breakthrough. As word spread throughout the scientific community, many experts were overjoyed by the news.

“Fusion ‘ignition' occurs when the power emitted by the fusion reactions exceeds the losses,” shared Dr. Robbie Scott of the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s (STFC) Central Laser Facility (CLF) Plasma Physics Group. “Experiments on the National Ignition Facility are a bit like striking a match, with this experiment the match kept burning. This is a momentous achievement after 50 years of research into Laser Fusion.”

Nuclear fusion powers our Sun and other stars. As the process doesn't produce nuclear waste or greenhouse gases, it's considered an incredible form of green energy. The hope is that one day, it could be another solution toward moving Earth away from energy sources that harm the planet.

While the news from NIF will most likely take us a step closer to making nuclear fusion a tangible source of clean energy, there is still a lot of work to be done before that can happen. Still, by proving that ignition is possible, these scientists have moved the ball forward in a big way.

“For many years fusion energy has been described as the holy grail of the world’s energy problems—a limitless and clean energy source that would address the ever-increasing demands free from carbon emissions,” said Professor Gianluca Gregori, of the University of Oxford Department of Physics. “While this is not yet an economically viable power plant (the costs of targets are still exorbitant, and the amount of energy released is yet smaller than wall plug electricity costs), the path for the future is much clearer.”

You can watch the livestream announcement at on December 13 at 10 a.m. EST on the U.S. Department of Energy website, or the embedded video below.

The Department of Energy is expected to announce a nuclear fusion breakthrough. Watch the livestream at 10 a.m. EST:

h/t: [The New York Times]

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READ: American Scientists Set to Announce Major Breakthrough with Nuclear Fusion