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☆ Scientists report creation of first human synthetic model embryos
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Brenda Goodman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The research raises critical legal and ethical questions, and many countries, including the US, don’t have laws governing the creation or treatment of synthetic embryos. “Unlike human embryos arising from in vitro fertilization (IVF), where there is an established legal framework, there are currently no clear regulations governing stem cell derived models of human embryos. “I just wish to stress that they are not human embryos,” Zernicka-Goetz said. Right now, the synthetic model human embryos are confined to test tubes. “There is much work to be done to determine the similarities and differences between synthetic embryos and embryos that form from the union of an egg and a sperm.”

Persons: CNN —, ” James Briscoe, Francis Crick, Dr, Magdalena Zernicka, Goetz, Zernicka, ”, ” Zernicka, “, haven’t, Sanjay Gupta, ” Roger Sturmey Organizations: CNN, Francis, Francis Crick Institute, International Society for, CalTech, University of Cambridge, The Guardian, CNN Health, University of Manchester Locations: United States, United Kingdom, Boston, Israel

☆ NASA’s Psyche mission will launch to an unexplored metal world this fall
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The endeavor, known as the Psyche mission, was originally expected to lift off in 2022. But the launch window opened on August 1 and closed October 11 before the spacecraft’s flight software was ready. The analysis included ways to address issues with the mission as well as “JPL institutional issues” that caused the delay. This rendering shows how scientists think the Psyche asteroid appears up close. Rubin/NASA/JPL-CaltechThe Psyche asteroid is so metal-rich, some scientists believe it’s the exposed core of a planetesimal, or a planet in the making that separated into layers.

Persons: “, ”, Laurie Leshin, ” Leshin, Peter Rubin The, ’, Nicola Fox, Psyche, Rubin Organizations: CNN, NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, JPL, Engineers, Caltech, Arizona State Univ, Systems Locations: Pasadena , California, Florida, Arizona

☆ Fighting Disinformation as Einstein on Twitter - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-04 | by ( Benyamin Cohen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Long before the word “tweet” was associated with anything other than birds, Einstein’s career was nearly derailed by an early form of the disinformation now ubiquitous on social media. In 1920, skeptical scientists who deemed Einstein a crackpot, and his theory of relativity nonsense, joined forces. Like other prominent Jews, Einstein was targeted as an enemy of the state, and a bounty was rumored to have been placed on his head. Einstein received a welcome reception whenever he arrived on the shores of New York City. For the final two decades of his life, he was one of the most widely respected public figures in the world.

Persons: Einstein, ”, Matthew Stanley, Stanley, “, Carolyn Abraham, —, Walter Cronkite, influencers Organizations: Berlin Philharmonic Hall, New York University, Caltech, Facebook, Twitter Locations: Germany, Austrian, Europe, New York City, United States

☆ Fact Check-Sun is 93 million miles from Earth measured by parallax, not 3,000 miles
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The average distance between the Earth and Sun measured using trigonometry is 93 million miles, not 3,000 miles as claimed in a viral post online. “At that time, Venus is measured to be about 30 million miles away, using two methods that agree: radar and a perspective effect (parallax) where you view Venus from different locations on Earth. Multiple measurements taken over the centuries during the transit of Venus using this method yield an average distance of 93 million miles between Earth and the Sun (here). More on the calculation of the distance between the Earth and Sun using Venus’ transit and trigonometry (parallax) can be viewed (here). The Sun is, on average, 93 million miles from Earth and the distance is calculated using trigonometric parallax.

Persons: Jackie Villadsen, Villadsen, Venus, ” Villadsen, Read Organizations: NASA, Sun, European Space Agency, Astronomy, Bucknell University, Reuters, CalTech, University of Hawaii Locations: Harvard

☆ NASA's Webb Telescope spots a water plume twice the length of the US, spewing from a Saturn moon that could host alien life
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Grace Eliza Goodwin | Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

NASA's Webb Telescope revealed just how giant the water plumes shooting out of a Saturn moon are. The water gushes 6,000 miles, or about twice the length of the US, from the moon called Enceladus. NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSIBut the James Webb Space Telescope is the most powerful observatory ever launched into space. A water vapor plume jetting from the southern pole of Saturn’s moon Enceladus, as captured by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. "It was just so shocking to detect a water plume more than 20 times the size of the moon."

Persons: NASA's, —, James Webb, Cassini, Webb, NASA’s James Webb, Geronimo Villanueva, " Villanueva, Leah Hustak, Saturn Organizations: Service, NASA, JPL, Caltech, SSI, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, ESA, CSA, Goddard Space Flight Locations: Los Angeles , California, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Angeles, San Francisco

☆ Some climate-tech startups want you to believe AI tools can save the planet — but it's not that simple
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-24 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

AMP Robotics is just one of more than 44,500 climate tech startups that have emerged since 2010. Last year investors poured $70.1 billion into climate tech, an 89% rise compared with 2021, according to HolonIQ Global Impact Intelligence. While AI tools like Horowitz's waste-sorting robots have been around for years, the advent of generative-AI tools like OpenAI's ChatGPT has reignited conversations around deploying AI to address societal issues. PersefoniBut researchers warn AI may do more harm than goodResearchers, activists, and climate tech execs agree that AI can't single-handedly cool the planet. AMP RoboticsEven AI climate tech executives see limits to their impactEven climate tech executives believe there are limitations to AI.

Persons: Matanya Horowitz, Horowitz, ChatGPT, Carling Spelhaug, Sasha Luccioni, Luccioni, David Rolnick, Banks, James Newsome, Newsome, Rolnick, Bill McKibben, McKibben, Helena Norberg, Hodge, Norberg, OpenAI's ChatGPT Organizations: AMP Robotics, Caltech, Global, Intelligence, Carling, UN, McGill University, Research, Tech, Greenpeace, AMP Locations: Colorado, Africa, South America

☆ Perseverance rover captures new images of ancient river evidence
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The Perseverance rover has captured new images that appear to reveal geologic evidence of a fast-flowing river that fed into Jezero Crater, the site of an ancient Martian lake. The bands of rocks in this image of "Skrinkle Haven" taken by the Perseverance rover may have been formed by a fast-flowing river. The rover also captured a mosaic of "Pinestand," where layers of sedimentary rock could have been formed by a deep, fast-flowing river. The Perseverance team is also analyzing other images taken by the rover. We struggle even with early Earth rocks to answer this question.

☆ Photos from NASA's Mars rover show the red planet's ancient rivers were much wilder than scientists first thought
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Grace Eliza Goodwin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

NASA's Mars rover found evidence to suggest deep, powerful rivers once raged on the red planet. The Perseverance rover took close-up images a specific region in Jezero Crater for the first time. The discovery may help scientists figure out what kind of ancient life existed on the planet. Scientists studying rock formations, features, and valleys on Mars, so far, have found evidence to suggest Mars was once covered by water. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSSAnother image from Perseverance further supports this idea of a powerful ancient river that once roared across Jezero Crater.

☆ How the Voyager probes keep going decades after launch
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Voyager 2’s priceless data is captured and returned to Earth through its five science instruments, while Voyager 1 still has four operational instruments after one failed earlier in the mission. Both Voyager probes rely on radioisotope thermoelectric generators. Over time, the Voyager team has commanded the probes to turn off instrument heaters and other nonessential systems. The Voyager proof test model, seen here in 1976, has a platform showcasing several of the science instruments. “Picture it as an ocean of space with waves and turbulence and activity going on, and the Voyager instruments can measure what’s happening,” Spilker said.

☆ A mysterious object has been spotted that is 10 million times brighter than the sun. Scientists can't work out why it hasn't exploded
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULX) are objects that shine ten million times brighter than the sun. NASA has been tracking so-called ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULX), impossible objects that can be 10 million times brighter than the sun, to understand how they work. A new study categorically confirms that M82 X-2, a ULX 12 million light-years away, is as bright as previous observation suggested it to be. But if it were not falling in, the matter shouldn't be radiating, which means the object shouldn't be that bright. (A neutron star is a superdense object left behind when a star has run out of energy and dies.)

☆ Astronomers Catch a Star Swallowing a Planet
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Joseph Pisani | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

An artist’s impression of a doomed planet skimming the surface of its star. Photo: K. Miller, R. Hurt/Caltech/IPACAstronomers have long theorized that stars swallow up planets whole. But they haven’t had evidence of it—until now. Researchers said in a new study that for the first time they caught a star in the act of gobbling up a planet in its orbit.

☆ Astronomers spot a sneak peek of Earth's death — a star swallowing a planet whole — for the first time
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Astronomers discovered a distant star swallowing a planet for the first time ever. Swallowing the planet whole produced a burst of energy that expelled the star's outer layers, causing it to expand and brighten rapidly. Except for a veneer of dust, the star pretty much looked the same as it had before, one year after devouring its planet. The distant planet that just got absorbed by its star was about the size of Jupiter, which is more than 1,300 Earths. (It later turned out, this pre-eruption dust was material from the planet skimming the atmosphere of the star as it orbited closer and closer.)

☆ With a gulp and burp, a bloated star swallows a Jupiter-sized planet
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

As the star grew, its surface reached the orbit of the doomed planet, with mayhem ensuing. Red giant stars can swell to a hundred times their original diameter, engulfing any planets in their way. This planet, perhaps a few times bigger than Jupiter, orbited its star in less than a day at a distance closer than Mercury, our innermost planet, orbits the sun. Even before it is engulfed whole, our data provides evidence that the planet tries to rip out the star's surface layers with its own gravity. But the star happens to be a thousand times more massive so the planet can't do much and eventually makes the plunge," De said.

☆ Astronomers observe star swallowing planet for first time
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Jack Guy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —In a world first, scientists have observed the moment that a dying star consumed a planet — a fate that eventually awaits Earth. Astronomers observed this as a white-hot flash, followed by a longer-lasting colder signal, which they later deduced was caused by the star engulfing a planet. “That infrared data made me fall off my chair,” De said, with the readings suggesting the star could have been merging with another star. However, further analysis using readings from NASA’s infrared space telescope, NEOWISE, revealed that the star was in fact consuming a planet. Our own planet will meet the same fate, but not for 5 billion years, researchers say.

☆ Voyager 2 has been in space for 45 years. NASA just found a way to keep it alive for another 3, despite it being 12 billion miles from Earth.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

NASA has hacked a backup source of power to keep Voyager 2 working. Today, the probes are traveling in interstellar space, 12 and 14 billion miles away from Earth. NASA/JPL-CaltechNASA hacked the ancient probe's power systemA space simulator replica of the Voyager probes is shown here pictured in 1976 NASA/JPL-CalTechThe probes are powered by generators that convert heat from decaying plutonium into electricity. One of Voyager 1's instruments previously malfunctioned, which means the probe has not been using up as much power as Voyager 2. The decision to switch off instruments for Voyager 1 will be made next year, according to the space agency.

☆ Sam Altman is building his utopia, whether you want it or not
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Melia Russell | Julia Black | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +41 min

Altman told Insider, "We debate our approach frequently and carefully." "I don't think anyone can lose your dad young and wish he didn't have more time with him," Altman told Insider. Altman told Insider that his thinking had evolved since those posts. (When asked about guns, Altman told Insider he'd been "happy to have one both times my home was broken into while I was there.") When asked about this, Altman told Insider in an email: "i can guess what that's about; these stories grow crazily inflated over the years of getting re-told!

☆ He's played chess with Peter Thiel, sparred with Elon Musk and once, supposedly, stopped a plane crash: Inside Sam Altman's world, where truth is stranger than fiction
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Melia Russell | Julia Black | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +41 min

But, "you do at some point need to start having contact with reality," he told Insider. The plan was still only a rough sketch, Blania told Insider, but that didn't seem to matter to his host. "He always wanted to understand everything at a very deep level," Thrun told Insider in an email. (When asked about guns, Altman told Insider he'd been "happy to have one both times my home was broken into while I was there.") When asked about this, Altman told Insider in an email: "i can guess what that's about; these stories grow crazily inflated over the years of getting re-told!

☆ Up-close photos of the Martian moon, Deimos, are forcing scientists to rethink how it formed in the first place
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Marcia Dunn | Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The United Arab Emirates' Amal spacecraft recently flew within 62 miles (100 kilometers) of Deimos. Deimos is a tiny Martian moon that was thought to be a captured asteroid from space. But new close-up photos from the Amal spacecraft suggest its origins are closer to home. The United Arab Emirates' Amal spacecraft flew within 62 miles (100 kilometers) of Deimos last month and the close-up shots were released Monday. Instead, they say the moon appears to be of Martian origin — perhaps from the bigger Martian moon or from Mars itself.

☆ NASA detects first seismic waves within Mars' core
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

During these events, InSight detected for the first time seismic waves traveling through the Martian core. “More than a hundred years later, we’re applying our knowledge of seismic waves to Mars. With InSight, we’re finally discovering what’s at the center of Mars and what makes Mars so similar yet distinct from Earth.”The NASA InSight Mars lander studied the interior of Mars for four years. Planetary core offers clues on evolutionEarth has a liquid outer core and a solid inner core, but the Martian core appears to be made entirely from liquid. “We’ve made the very first observations of seismic waves travelling through the core of Mars.

☆ China could start building a moon base with lunar-soil bricks in 5 years, amid NASA fears of a moon territory dispute
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Marianne Guenot | Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

China could be ready to start building its lunar base within five years, scientists said. China has made major strides in space exploration, recently launching its own crewed space station. "We will be using real moon soil to make the first brick right there on the moon," he added, per SCMP. These could be used to make habitats on the moon using traditional Chinese building techniques, he said. The agency wants to build its own station orbiting the moon, as well as an Artemis lunar base.

☆ A D.E. Shaw internship could land a dream gig at the secretive hedge fund. Here's what it takes.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Michelle Abrego | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Shaw's recruiting head, took us inside the firm's process for finding talent. Shaw Group is one of the highest-grossing, and most secretive, hedge funds on Wall Street, with $60 billion under management. Launched by former Columbia University computer-science professor David Shaw above a small left-wing bookshop in lower Manhattan in 1988, D.E. The interview process includes an initial video interview, a case study or coding test (depending on the internship), a second round of video interviews, and a reference check. At any point in the process, candidates might even be steered toward an internship other than the one they applied to that could better align with the candidate's skills and interests.

☆ Top 10 colleges to attend if you want to make a lot of money—Harvard and Yale didn't make the list
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Kamaron Mcnair | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Former Caltech attendees earn a median income of $112,166 a decade after starting school, making them the highest earners among the nearly 900 colleges ranked. California Institute of Technology Median income 10 years after attendance: $112,166Median debt among graduates: $17,747 2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Median income 10 years after attendance: $111,222Median debt among graduates: $13,418 3. Stevens Institute of Technology Median income 10 years after attendance: $98,159Median debt among graduates: $27,000 8. Princeton University Median income 10 years after attendance: $95,689Median debt among graduates: $10,450 It shouldn't be too surprising to see several technical colleges make the list.

☆ A summer internship at D.E. Shaw can pay up to $20,000 a month. Here's what it takes to land a coveted spot.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Michelle Abrego | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

☆ Peace, love, and Hitler: How Lex Fridman's podcast became a safe space for the anti-woke tech elite
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Julia Black | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +26 min

Seemingly overnight, episodes of Fridman's podcast began racking up millions of views. YouTube/Lex FridmanIn his podcast, Fridman asks world-renowned scientists, historians, artists, and engineers a series of wide-eyed questions ("Who is God? But recently, "The Lex Fridman Podcast" has become a haven for a growing — and powerful — sector looking to dismantle years of "wokeness" and cancel culture. Twitter"The Lex Fridman Podcast" offered a rare opportunity to listen to four-hour conversations with luminaries of tech and science. Bhaskar Sunkara, the founder and publisher of the socialist magazine Jacobin who appeared on Fridman's podcast in December, praised Fridman's interviewing style.

☆ Adam Driver asked NASA how it plans to save Earth from world-ending asteroids
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Don't worry about such a large asteroid — an extinction-level space rock — approaching Earth anytime soon, NASA astronomer Kelly Fast was quick to clarify. NASA is studying and tracking down near-Earth asteroidsFast added that NASA's approach to any asteroid would depend on the asteroid's size and composition. Another NASA mission, called Osiris-Rex, landed on the surface of an asteroid in 2020 and scooped up its rocky space dust. Even though Driver and Fast didn't discuss that mission, the actor seemed impressed with NASA's efforts. "Thank you for your work in keeping the planet safe from world-ending asteroids plummeting into our planet," Driver said.

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