Watch SpaceX Rocket Break Sound Barrier Twice and Land in This Amazing Video

https://www.space.com/spacex-falcon-9-rocket-breaks-sound-barrier-crs-18-video.html

Maybe you’ve gotten a bit blasé about rocket landings. SpaceX has pulled off more than 40 of them during orbital launches, after all, and Blue Origin has done it 10 times on test flights of its New Shepard suborbital vehicle.

But returning from space, barreling through Earth’s thick atmosphere and ultimately settling gently onto a tiny landing pad is still a jaw-dropping achievement, as a newly released video makes very clear.

The video shows the first stage of SpaceX’s two-stage Falcon 9 rocket coming home after launching the company’s robotic Dragon capsule on a cargo run to the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday (July 25). 

We see the dramatic downward journey, which generated two separate sonic booms, from four different angles — including a rocket’s-eye view, courtesy of a camera aboard the booster.

The first stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket returns to Earth for a pinpoint landing on July 25, 2019, shortly after launching the company's Dragon cargo capsule toward the International Space Station.

The first stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket returns to Earth for a pinpoint landing on July 25, 2019, shortly after launching the company’s Dragon cargo capsule toward the International Space Station.

(Image credit: Elon Musk via Twitter)

“Falcon rocket reentry from space with double sonic booms,” SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk said Sunday (July 28) via Twitter, where he posted the video.

This was the second landing for this particular Falcon 9 first stage; it participated in another ISS cargo launch in May. And Thursday’s liftoff was the record-setting third for this particular Dragon, which also visited the orbiting lab in April 2015 and December 2017. 

Such reuse is a big part of Musk’s vision. The billionaire entrepreneur wants to cut the cost of spaceflight dramatically, making Mars colonization and other ambitious exploration feats economically feasible. Blue Origin, which is run by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, is working toward the same broad goal.

Dragon arrived at the ISS on its latest run Saturday (July 27), delivering more than 5,000 lbs. (2,270 kilograms) of supplies and equipment. About half of that mass is science gear, which will enable ISS crewmembers to perform dozens of additional experiments over the coming weeks and months, NASA officials said.

The capsule will stay attached to the ISS for about a month, then come back to Earth for a soft splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

Mike Wall’s book about the search for alien life, “Out There” (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), is out now. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook

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July 30, 2019 at 06:14AM

The iconic Joshua Tree is in trouble

https://www.popsci.com/joshua-tree-is-in-trouble/

Desert sky at Joshua Tree National Park.

Desert sky at Joshua Tree National Park. (Pixabay/)

Botanist Lynn Sweet regularly treks through California’s Joshua Tree National Park, nearly 800,000 acres that lie at the intersection of the Mojave and Colorado deserts. She likes to photograph the gnarly, spikey-limbed trees, which look—as some have observed—like a picture from a Dr. Seuss children’s book.

Much as many of the park’s million or more yearly tourists do, she marvels at their strange beauty. “They have an amazing shape,” she says. She said they don’t bloom every year, but when they do it’s very special. “This year, the plants flowered earlier than most people had ever seen. Some plants started flowering in November, and then the number of trees in flower increased until springtime, when nearly every tree was in flower. It was incredible,” she says.

The trees, legend has it, were named after the Biblical figure Joshua by 19th century Mormons who thought their upwardly outstretched limbs resembled arms raised in prayer. The trees have been around since the Pleistocene, which began more than two million years ago and concluded at the end of the last ice age. Woolly mammoths, mastodons, giant cave bears and saber-toothed tigers roamed among them. The animals are long gone, but these iconic trees still exist.

But scientists like Sweet fear they might not be here much longer if climate change continues unabated. For many Joshua trees, this century could be their last. They’ve managed to tolerate the assaults of prehistoric times, only to fall prey to industrial advances that are now heating up the planet.

Joshua tree flowers in Red Rock Canyon, Nevada.

Joshua tree flowers in Red Rock Canyon, Nevada. (Chelise Simmons/BLM Nevada/)

“Whereas shifts in the past may have been major—such as during the Pleistocene—the current shifts are very rapid,” Sweet says. The temperatures are rising so fast, that Joshua trees are little able to migrate to cooler areas. Additionally, she says the species, “now has barriers, such as roads and development to move across."

Sweet, a plant ecologist at the University of California Riverside’s Center for Conservation Biology, partnering with the Earthwatch Institute, enlisted volunteers to help collect data on about 4,000 trees in the park to determine whether climate change already has had an impact. She mapped out where Joshua trees live in the park to determine which conditions they do best in, and then compared that with projections of what Joshua Tree National Park will like look later this century.

“I chose climate change projections for end-of-century,” she explains. She looked at how much the climate will change if humans tackle the problem, and how much it will change if humans do nothing. “In the upper end, where we do nothing to address climate change, we may see almost no more habitat for the Joshua tree in the Park."

Lynn Sweet, center, measures a dead Joshua Tree with two volunteers.

Lynn Sweet, center, measures a dead Joshua Tree with two volunteers. (Ecosphere/)

Her calculations suggest that addressing climate change could save 19 percent of the trees after 2070. If nothing is done, however, the park likely only would keep a scant 0.02 percent. The study appears in the journal Ecosphere.

The work builds upon an earlier study in 2012, also by UC Riverside researchers, which found the trees would begin to vanish if temperatures rose 3 degrees Celsius. The newest study considered additional factors, such as soil moisture estimates and precipitation, among others.

The trees already have begun drifting to higher areas in the park, where they might escape the heat and have a better chance at producing younger plants, she says. In hot areas, however, tress reproduce less—and the study shows those that do are dying. Older trees, which can live as long as 300 years, can store large amounts of water, which helps them cope with drought. But younger trees lack this capacity, and are less likely to survive.

A Joshua tree.

A Joshua tree. (Pixabay/)

Prolonged droughts make things difficult for animals and plants that need water, prompting many species to relocate to areas that are more hospitable, often cooler, wetter and higher. “For the Joshua tree, on broad, flat areas, this is like outrunning a very wide flash flood,” Sweet says. “Over flat ground, great distances are involved to escape the threat of hotter, drier temperatures. Moving upslope to where it’s cooler is another way to escape the heat, but these areas may or may not be suitable to the root system or growth of the Joshua tree.”

The tree is also missing a key ally that previously helped it migrate to new areas. "The Joshua tree is pretty tough," she says. "It is built to survive and persist through droughts. In the past, the species as a whole was able to migrate distances using its likely primary disperser, the Shasta ground sloth. Since this species is [now] extinct, the tree can no longer migrate great distances. This is a problem with this new, more rapid shift in climate."

Also, the trees in the western Mojave differ from those further to the east in Utah and Nevada, facing special challenges, Sweet says. “Joshua trees have a particular pollinator and only this insect, a yucca moth, can pollinate them. The relationship is thus really special—there is benefit for both the insect and the moth in the relationship. The moth gets food for its larvae, and the Joshua tree is able to get pollen moved from tree to tree. No other insect can do this. Thus, though common, it’s really a fragile existence. If climate change affects the moth in a different way than the tree, we may be in trouble.”

Pink clouds over the Mjoave desert.

Pink clouds over the Mjoave desert. (Jessie Eastland/)

The study also found that wildfires pose an additional hazard, as invasive plants and shrubs—fueled by smog and car exhaust—serve as kindling for the blazes. The scientists said that the U.S. Park Service, also a partner in the work, has been trying to reduce the danger by eliminating many of the plants.

As a park visitor, Sweet continues to find the trees inspiring. “I really enjoy watching wildlife use the trees,” she says. “I’ve spent time watching Orioles move in and out of nests on the trees. I’ve seen spiny lizards darting up and down the trunks. It’s just such an important structure in the habitat. It’s not a shy tree. It’s the most noticeable component of the [park] and the Mojave.”

But as a scientist, she believes that only aggressive climate mitigation can save them. “Changes are already occurring on the landscape in terms of where the new trees are occurring, and this supports the predictions about future changes,” she says. “We know things may get worse. The degree to which this happens depends on human action.”

Marlene Cimons writes for Nexus Media, a syndicated newswire covering climate, energy, policy, art and culture.

via Popular Science – New Technology, Science News, The Future Now https://www.popsci.com

July 30, 2019 at 11:13AM

AMD Ryzen Holds Nearly 50% of Japanese Desktop CPU Market

https://www.legitreviews.com/amd-ryzen-holds-nearly-50-of-japanese-desktop-cpu-market_213448

Posted by

Shane McGlaun |

Tue, Jul 30, 2019 – 10:18 AM

AMD has been surging in popularity in the last few years since it debuted the first Ryzen parts. Intel is getting a run for its money in the CPU market that hasn’t been seen in many years. A new report indicates that AMD is doing very well in Japan with its Ryzen processors.

The numbers show that AMD holds nearly 50% of the desktop market in Japan. The data comes to from an aggregated report from PC Watch Japan and indicates significant growth for AMD. In January of 2018, AMD had 17.7% of the market compared to 46.7% in June 2019.

AMD has made significant gains in prebuilt PC and laptop markets as well. AMD holds 14.7% of the prebuilt PC and laptop market, a big gain from the 3.9% of the market it had in January 2018 reports TechRadar.

Intel still leads the market, but AMD is catching up quickly. If Intel doesn’t do something drastic with it’s CPUs and pricing, AMD may surpass it for market share. Competition is a very good thing for computer fans and gamers.

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July 30, 2019 at 10:26AM

Scientists create contact lenses that zoom on command

https://www.engadget.com/2019/07/30/scientists-create-contact-lenses-that-zoom-on-command/

Nosebleed seats may soon be a thing of the past. Scientists at the University of California San Diego have created a prototype contact lens that is controlled by the eye’s movements. Wearers can make the lenses zoom in or out by simply blinking twice. A paper detailing the team’s findings was published this month in Advanced Functional Materials.

The biomimetic lens are made of stretchy polymer films that respond to the electric signals generated by your eyes when they make a movement, such as blinking. Known as electrooculographic signals, humans are even capable of emitting the electric impulses when they’re sleeping. "Even if your eye cannot see anything, many people can still move their eyeball and generate this electro-oculographic signal," said lead researcher Shengqiang Cai to New Scientist.

But don’t throw away your reading glasses or binoculars quite yet — it’s still early days. Gizmodo reported that the prototype only functions in a special rig, and test subjects had a series of electrodes placed around their eyes. Scientists hope their invention can be used in prostheses, adjustable glasses and remotely operated robotics in the future.

Source: Advanced Functional Materials, The Independent, CNET

via Engadget http://www.engadget.com

July 29, 2019 at 11:24PM

GOG Galaxy 2.0 aims to put all your digital games in one place

https://www.engadget.com/2019/07/30/gog-galaxy-2-0-beta-hands-on/

Competition is supposed to be good, right? It means a bigger selection and better prices, so it’s great for consumers. But when the Epic Store launched last December, gamers were pissed. Because it meant their digital games collection was now fragmented between even more services. Gamers like having their collection all in one place, and for most that means sticking with Steam. That isn’t great for rival sites like GOG. While it was created as a place to buy classic titles, it’s evolved into a marketplace that sells a lot of indie games and even some AAA fare. It added some Steam-like features in its GOG Galaxy launcher, which incorporated things like play stats and leaderboards. But still, there was the fragmentation problem. Galaxy 2.0, now in closed beta, is designed to fix that problem by bringing everything back together.

GOG Galaxy 2.0

GOG Galaxy 2.0 is a simple, lightweight client that tracks what games you have and how much you play them. You can connect a number of games accounts to it besides your GOG library: Steam, Epic, Origin, Uplay and even Xbox Live and PlayStation Network. Galaxy presents them all on a single screen alphabetically, though you can filter that list by platform, genre or OS. You can also just click the "Mac" or "PC" button that appears at the top to just get the games you can play on your current system.

GOG Galaxy 2.0

When you select a game, you’ll see your play history, leaderboards and the overview of the game, but perhaps most importantly, you can launch or install the game using the button at the top. That is, if it’s compatible; it’s not a backdoor to your Xbox or PlayStation titles, directing you to go use your console instead. It also doesn’t completely replace Steam or the other clients. You’ll still need them on your system somewhere, but at least they don’t have to clutter up your desktop or taskbar. The only things that remind me they exist are the pop-ups that arise when I install a new title, or the little "access the Steam community" message that appears in the corner when I open a Steam game.

GOG Galaxy 2.0

In beta GOG Galaxy 2.0 is fairly dry right now; I’m the only one of my friends using it so my leaderboards aren’t populated and there’s no one to chat with. I connected my Steam, PSN and Xbox Live accounts to it, and it’s at least very nice to see everything lined up in one place; most people I know use spreadsheets to keep track of their collections.

GOG Galaxy 2.0

I’m disappointed to see it hasn’t integrated Humble Store yet, as that’s probably where I have the most digital games — it’s pretty easy to build up a huge library when you only have to pay $1 for a bundle. GOG seems to be hoping that its users will pick up the slack there — there’s an option for "manually added" integrations that directs you to a GitHub page which outlines integration requirements and even has platform IDs listed for things like Battle.net and Itch.io… I guess GOG is taking an "if you build it, they will come" stance here.

You can sign up for the closed beta but it might be a while before you get access. Honestly, that’s fine, as there’s so little on offer right now it’s easy to lose interest. Once this thing goes public with a full set of integrations and some more features, though, it might be time to bid those spreadsheets adieu.

via Engadget http://www.engadget.com

July 30, 2019 at 10:36AM