Science

Clearer picture: illustration of a HADAR image of a tree made by combining thermal physics, infrared imaging and machine learning. (Courtesy: Purdue University) A thermal imaging system that uses machine learning to disentangle the information contained in infrared images has been unveiled by researchers at Purdue University in the US. Dubbed HADAR, the system could

WASHINGTON — Poland has become the second European Space Agency member state to reach an agreement to fly an astronaut on a private mission to the International Space Station. Axiom Space said Aug. 9 it signed an agreement with Poland, in cooperation with ESA, to fly an astronaut from that nation on a future mission

WASHINGTON — Companies in the U.S. space industry are being increasingly targeted by foreign intelligence operations, U.S. intelligence agencies warn. “Foreign intelligence entities recognize the importance of the commercial space industry to the U.S. economy and national security, including the growing dependence of critical infrastructure on space-based assets,” said a bulletin published Aug. 18 by

Musical machine learning: researchers have used artificial intelligence to recreate a song from brain waves. (Courtesy: iStock/Just Super) In an amazing experiment done at the University of California, Berkeley, researchers have reconstructed music from listeners’ brain activity. Robert Knight and colleagues had 29 people listen to Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall, Part 1”

WASHINGTON — A Japanese company developing a constellation of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging satellites is the latest to turn to Rocket Lab after the bankruptcy of rival launch company Virgin Orbit. Rocket Lab announced Aug. 17 that it signed a contract with Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space (iQPS) for a dedicated launch of

WASHINGTON — The National Reconnaissance Office is soliciting proposals from commercial remote-sensing companies that use optical imaging satellites. In a Broad  Agency Announcement titled “Commercial Electro-Optical Capabilities,” the NRO is seeking new and emerging types of imaging that were not included in the Electro-Optical Commercial Layer contracts the agency awarded last year to Maxar Technologies,

WASHINGTON — As Astra shifts resources from launch vehicle development to spacecraft thruster production, the company is actively seeking strategic investors to provide longer-term support. As expected, Astra reported Aug. 14 revenue of $0.7 million in the second quarter and an adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) loss of $33.1 million. The

SAN FRANCISCO – The SmallSat Alliance celebrated the winners Aug. 15 of its first annual Collegiate Space Competition in Austin, Texas. First place went to a University of Texas team seeking to indirectly measure vegetation water content and predict nitrogen content. Data collected by the Soil moisture And Nitrogen Detection Satellite, known as SANDS, could

WASHINGTON — The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is kicking off a study to develop an “analytical framework” to guide development of integrated lunar infrastructure over the next decade. DARPA announced the 10-Year Lunar Architecture, or LunA-10, project Aug. 15, seeking ideas from both potential developers or lunar power, communications, navigation and other infrastructure as

WASHINGTON — Artificial intelligence startup Wallaroo Labs won a $1.5 million contract from the U.S. Space Force to continue the development of machine learning models for edge computers in orbit. The New York-based company, known as Wallaroo.ai, is partnered with New Mexico State University for the Small Business Technology Transfer Phase 2 contract, announced Aug.

WASHINGTON — SkyWatch, a satellite data distributor based in Ontario, Canada, announced a new imagery product that combines radar and optical images.   SkyWatch operates a platform called EarthCache that gives its customers access to commercial satellite data. The company said there is now a growing demand for integrated images that combine visually appealing pictures from

WASHINGTON — Momentus recently cut its workforce by 30% as the cash-strapped company seeks to reduce its costs while looking for “strategic options” to raise funding. In an Aug. 14 earnings call about its second quarter financial results, Eric Williams, chief financial officer of Momentus, said that the company reduced its headcount, including both full-time

TAMPA, Fla. — Terran Orbital expects to get $180 million this year from Rivada Space as it prepares to build 300 satellites for the venture, even as plans to fund the full $2.4 billion manufacturing contract remain under wraps. It would be the first significant revenues Terran Orbital has gained from Rivada under a contract

WASHINGTON — BAE Systems, a defense and security conglomerate based in the United Kingdom, announced Aug. 17 it intends to acquire Ball Aerospace for $5.5 billion. Ball Aerospace, based in Westminster, Colorado, is a manufacturer of spacecraft, components and other systems for military, civil and commercial space applications.  The acquisition would give BAE Systems “strong

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force intends to award Northrop Grumman a sole-source contract to develop two ground-based radar sites to track space objects.  These would be the second and third sites of the Space Force’s planned network of sensors known as the Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability (DARC). Northrop Grumman in February 2022 won

Maths not mystics Kit Yates’ new book offers a gold mine of anecdotes about how maths can help us to make choices about the future, including how psychics use ruses to appear to have the same power. (Courtesy: iStock/urbazon) Middle bias, randomness bias, linearity bias, normalcy bias – the list of cognitive glitches that can

Going with the flow: artist’s impression of the preferential flow of water molecules containing oxygen-17 into a human cell. (Courtesy: PNAS) The effect that nuclear spins have on certain biological processes has been observed for the first time by researchers in Israel. The team led by Yossi Paltiel at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem performed

AFM snapshot showing the formation and progression of local wrinkles induced by the transformation of the middle organic glass layer into a supercooled liquid. Courtesy: J Rodríguez-Viejo The first direct, real-time observations of an ultrastable glass as it “relaxes” into a supercooled liquid have enabled researchers to quantify a previously mysterious process known as the