⁣⁣Solar storm will hit Earth Today (Aug. 3)

High-speed solar winds from a "hole" in the sun's atmosphere are set to hit Earth's magnetic field Today (Aug 3.), triggering a minor G-1 geomagnetic storm.

As a G1 geomagnetic storm, it has the potential to cause minor fluctuations in power grids and impact some satellite functions — including those for mobile devices and GPS systems. It will also bring the aurora as far south as Michigan and Maine in the US.

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Curiosity turns 10 today! This curious robot set out to answer a big question: Could Mars have supported ancient life? Scientists have determined the answer is yes, and they’ve been working to learn more about the planet’s past habitable environment.
Source: @NASAJPL

Six toaster-size satellites will work together to form the largest radio telescope ever launched. SunRISE, the Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment, is an upcoming NASA mission aimed at detecting bursts of radio waves from the Sun’s atmosphere.

http://go.nasa.gov/3A8FTb4
Source: @NASAJPL

45 years ago, Voyager 2 (shown in the background) launched at 10:29 a.m., carrying this Golden Record and flag on its quest into deep space.

Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to have visited Uranus and Neptune, and along with Voyager 1, is NASA's longest-lived mission!
Source: @NASAhistory

Is Civilization on the Brink of Collapse?

At its height, the Roman Empire was home to about 30 % of the world’s population, and in many ways the pinnacle of human advancement. Rome became the first city in history to reach one million inhabitants and was a center of technological, legal, and economic progress. An empire impossible to topple, stable and rich and powerful.

Until it wasn’t anymore. First slowly then suddenly, the most powerful civilization on earth collapsed. If this is how it has been over the ages, what about us today? Will we lose our industrial technology, and with that our greatest achievements, from one dollar pizza to smartphones or laser eye surgery? Will all this go away too?

Video (Kurzgesagt)
@EverythingScience

The sounds of a black hole

The misconception that there is no sound in space originates because most space is a ~vacuum, providing no way for sound waves to travel. A galaxy cluster has so much gas that we've picked up actual sound.

Here it's amplified, and mixed with other data, to hear a black hole!
Source: @NASAExoplanets

All systems go for Artemis 1 mission to Moon
Scheduled to launch at 12:33 UTC on the 29th of August.
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Prelaunch Checks

Read more about the mission here:
http://nasaspaceflight.com/news/artemis
Source: @NASA_Nerd

The launch of #Artemis I is no longer happening today as teams work through an issue with an engine bleed. Teams will continue to gather data, and we will keep you posted on the timing of the next launch attempt. https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/
Source: @NASA

📅 Next Attempt: September 2nd, 16:48 UTC*

*Subject to change

NASA’s Webb Takes Its First-Ever Direct Image of Distant World

For the first time, astronomers have used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to take a direct image of a planet outside our solar system. The exoplanet is a gas giant, meaning it has no rocky surface and could not be habitable.

The image, as seen through four different light filters, shows how Webb’s powerful infrared gaze can easily capture worlds beyond our solar system, pointing the way to future observations that will reveal more information than ever before about exoplanets.

“This is a transformative moment, not only for Webb but also for astronomy generally,” said Sasha Hinkley, associate professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom, who led these observations

The exoplanet in Webb’s image, called HIP 65426 b, is about six to 12 times the mass of Jupiter, and these observations could help narrow that down even further. It's 385 light years away.

Taking direct images of exoplanets is challenging because stars are so much brighter than planets. The HIP 65426 b planet is more than 10,000 times fainter than its host star in the near-infrared, and a few thousand times fainter in the mid-infrared.

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Stem cell biologists create new human cell type for research

Professor Vincent Pasque and his team at KU Leuven have managed to generate a new type of human cell in the lab using stem cells. The new cells closely resemble their natural counterparts in early human embryos.

As a result, researchers can now better study what happens just after an embryo implants in the womb.

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@EverythingScience