SciByte

the first results from the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, known by its acronym AMS,

show evidence of new physics phenomena that could be the strange and unknown dark matter or could be energy that originates from pulsars

expects a more definitive answer in a matter of months

Unraveling the mystery of dark matter could help scientists better understand the composition of our universe and, more particularly, what holds galaxies together

The 7-ton detector with a 3-foot magnet ring at its core was sent into space in 2011

The device is transmitting its data to CERN, where it is being analyzed

For 80 years scientists have theorized the existence of dark matter but have never actually observed it directly

They have looked for it in accelerators that smash particles together at high speed

deep underground with special detectors

no luck

there's a third way: looking in space for the results of rare dark matter collisions

If particles of dark matter crash and annihilate each other, they should leave a footprint of positrons—the anti-matter version of electrons—at high energy levels

found some. But they could also be signs of pulsars

What's key is the curve of the plot of those positrons. If the curve is one shape, it points to dark matter. If it's another, it points to pulsars

they should know the curve—and the suspect—soon

since its installation on 19 May 2011 it has measured over 30 billion cosmic rays at energies up to trillions of electron volts

Its permanent magnet and array of precision particle detectors collect and identify charged cosmic rays passing through AMS from the far reaches of space

Over its long duration mission on the ISS, AMS will record signals from 16 billion cosmic rays every year and transmit them to Earth for analysis by the AMS Collaboration.

In the initial 18 month period of space operations, from 19 May 2011 to 10 December 2012, AMS analyzed 25 billion primary cosmic ray events

Of these,

6.8 million, were unambiguously identified as electrons and their antimatter counterpart, positrons.

Positrons are clearly distinguished from this background through the robust rejection power of AMS of more than one in one million

Currently, the total number of positrons identified by AMS, in excess of 400,000, is the largest number of energetic antimatter particles directly measured and analyzed from space

The exact shape of the spectrum, as shown in Figure 2, extended to higher energies, will ultimately determine whether this spectrum originates from the collision of dark matter particles or from pulsars in the galaxy

by measuring the ratio between positrons and electrons and by studying the behavior of any excess across the energy spectrum, a better understanding of the origin of dark matter and other physics phenomena can be obtained

The oxidizer pressure was low in three tanks. And the propulsion system is required to orient the craft for two way communication and to propel the Dragon to the orbiting lab complex

The problem was a very tiny change to the check valves that serve the oxidizer tanks

Three of the check valves were actually different from the prior check valves that had flown – in a very tiny way. Because of the tiny change they got stuck

able to write some new software in real time and upload that to Dragon to build pressure upstream of the check valves and then released that pressure- to give it a kind of a kick

that got the valves unstuck and then they worked well

difficulty communicating with the spacecraft because it was in free drift in orbit

worked closely with the Air Force to get higher intensity, more powerful dishes to communicate with the spacecraft and upload the software

there had been a small design change to the check valves by the supplier

supplier had made mistakes that we didn’t catch

You would need a magnifying glass to see the difference

SpaceX had run the new check valves through a series of low pressurization systems tests and they worked well and didn’t get stuck. But SpaceX had failed to run the functional tests at higher pressures

SpaceX will revert to the old check valves and run tests to make sure this failure doesn’t happen again

An animation of seven images from the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show a “flapping” of the parachute that allowed the Curiosity rover to descend safely through Mars atmosphere images

right after being awakened from the early stages of sleep, the researchers asked the subjects to describe the dream they were having

used functional MRI to monitor brain activity of the participants and polysomnography to record the physical changes that occur during sleep

compared evidence of brain activity when participants were awake and looking at real images to the brain activity they saw when participants were dreaming

the study shows it may be possible to use brain activity patterns to understand something about what a person is dreaming about

current approach requires the data of image viewing and sleep within the same [person

methods being developed for aligning brain patterns across people

there are practical applications to the research

evidence suggesting that the pattern of spontaneous brain activity is relevant to health issues

researchers chose to awaken the subjects in light sleep rather than in deeper "rapid eye movement" (REM) sleep solely to make the research easier to do

it takes at least an hour to reach first REM stage, it would be difficult to get sleep and dream data from multiple participants

why it is so hard to remember a dream minutes after waking up

thinks it is because particular neurotransmitters or brain regions involved in memory are not active during sleep

During sleep and dreaming, part of the brain—the higher visual cortex—is working as if seeing images

one expert said the results are intriguing, he was cautious

previous disappointments relating brain activity to complex visual experience

like to see this replicated

After gathering at least 200 such reports from the three men, the researchers used a lexical database to group the dreamed objects in coarse categories, such as street, furniture and girl

On average, the computer could pick which of two objects had appeared in a dream 70 percent of the time

Computer algorithms sorted through

patterns of brain activity, linking particular patterns with objects

The study bolsters the notion that the vivid imagery of dreams, no matter how fantastic, is as real as waking life,

from the brain’s perspective

could potentially provide energy for life if it has found its way into the moon’s subsurface ocean.

The availability of oxidants like peroxide on Earth was a critical part of the rise of complex, multicellular life

The highest concentration of peroxide found was on the side of Europa that always leads in its orbit around Jupiter,

roughly 20 times more diluted than the hydrogen peroxide mixture available at drug stores

The concentration

then drops off to nearly zero on the hemisphere of Europa that faces backward in its orbit.

Hydrogen peroxide was first detected on Europa by NASA’s Galileo mission, which explored the Jupiter system from 1995 to 2003

Galileo observations were of a limited region. The new Keck data show that peroxide is widespread across much of the surface of Europa, and the highest concentrations are reached in regions where Europa’s ice is nearly pure water with very little sulfur contamination

scientists think hydrogen peroxide is an important factor for the habitability of the global liquid water ocean under Europa’s icy crust

hydrogen peroxide decays to oxygen when mixed into liquid water

abundant compounds like peroxide could help to satisfy the chemical energy requirement needed for life within the ocean, if the peroxide is mixed into the ocean

The technique worked excellently in mice

ready to move on to trials in larger animals, then people

This innovative treatment produced none of the harmful side-effects of conventional chemo and radiation cancer therapies.

A particular form of boron will split when it captures a neutron and release lithium, helium and energy

the helium and lithium atoms penetrate the cancer cell and destroy it from the inside without harming the surrounding tissues.

The new solution is composed of three parts: a case with a microphone and battery; wireless, optical signal and energy transmission between the outer and middle ear; and an electro-acoustic transducer – the centerpiece and loudspeaker of the implant.

Researchers

are developing the electro-acoustic transducer, which will be round in shape and measure approximately 1.2 millimeters

To implant our system, all surgeons have to do is make a small incision at the side of the eardrum and then fold it forward. This can be done in outpatient surgery."

takes the form of a piezoelectric micro-actuator, is then placed directly at the connection between the middle and inner ear known as the "round window"

there it transmits acoustic signals to the inner ear in the form of amplified mechanical vibrations, thereby enhancing the hearing capacity of patients

it can output volumes of up to 120 decibels, which is roughly the noise a jackhammer makes.

This high performance is necessary for very good speech comprehension, particularly for high-pitched sounds, which people who are severely hard of hearing find especially difficult to pick up

currently testing a first working prototype in the laboratory. Results have been positive to date

The individual components of the hearing aid have all been developed. The next step is to optimize and assemble them

The implant must measure up to high requirements: the material must be encased so the body tolerates it and it has to remain stable over long periods

hearing aid implants should last at least ten years

optimized individual components should be ready by June of this year; testing of the overall system is planned for 2014

Europa recently hit the headlines after planetary scientists

uncovered the presence of magnesium sulfate salt — a.k.a. Epsom salt — on Europa’s surface

the presence of magnesium sulfate is suggestive of a cycling of Europa’s salty ocean with the surface.

Although this is good news, it’s also a reminder that potentially habitable moons don’t only orbit Jupiter

Enceladus

the Saturnian moon

is known to possess salty liquid water beneath its surface, plus an internal heat source, that generates Enceladus’ famous geysers

The results provided the most precise measurements ever made of isotopes of argon in the Martian atmosphere

found

the clearest and most robust signature of atmospheric loss on Mars

Isotopes are variants of the same element with different atomic weights

SAM found that the Martian atmosphere has about four times as much of a lighter stable isotope (argon-36) compared to a heavier one (argon-38)

This removes previous uncertainty about the ratio in the Martian atmosphere from 1976 measurements from NASA's Viking project and from small volumes of argon extracted from Martian meteorites

The ratio is much lower than the solar system's original ratio, as estimated from argon-isotope measurements of the sun and Jupiter

This points to a process at Mars that favored preferential loss of the lighter isotope over the heavier one

Curiosity measures several variables

with the Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS),

daily air temperature has climbed steadily since the measurements began eight months ago and is not strongly tied to the rover's location

humidity has differed significantly at different places along the rover's route

Trails of dust devils have not been seen inside Gale Crater

REMS sensors detected many whirlwind patterns during the first hundred Martian days of the mission, though not as many as detected in the same length of time by earlier missions

Curiosity will be drilling into another rock where the rover is now, but that target has not yet been selected. The science team will discuss this over the conjunction period

For the rest of April, Curiosity will carry out daily activities for which commands were sent in March, using DAN, REMS and the Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD).

ChemCam reveals a complex chemical composition of the dust that includes hydrogen, which could be in the form of hydroxyl groups or water molecules