Important Innovations

  CEO Elon Musk's Roadster Approaches Mars                                                                           Source:  SpaceX and Tesla "Starman" Behind the Wheel, Inside a Rocket SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk's red, $100,000 Tesla Roadster had made its closest approach to Mars.  The Roadster driver "Starman", which is a mannequin in a spacesuit, are part of a payload inside the second stage of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. Colonizing Mars One of entrepreneur Elon Musk's major goals is to colonize Mars and make all of us an interplanetary civilization. SpaceX says the Falcon Heavy rocket vehicle with the Roadster inside made their first close approach to Mars and was within 5 million miles of the planet.   Harvard Astronomer Tracking Harvard astronomer Jonathan Dowell is tracking the journey.  He says the SpaceX spacecraft is in an elliptical orbit around the Sun.  The vehicle is 37 million miles from Earth and has travelled 1.3 billion miles sin

Surprise:  It's Not the Center of the Sun Source: Stock image of Solar System International Astronomers Nail It An international team of astronomers have narrowed down the center of the Earth's Solar System to within 328 feet. It is not dead center in the Sun as had been commonly thought. Instead, it's located just outside the surface of the Sun.  The astronomers pinpointed the surprising location by monitoring the emissions of pulsars. Join Prime Video Channels Free Trial   Pulsar Monitoring This finding was not an easy task.  There are a lot of gravitational forces influencing the calculation.  The team used specially designed software to monitor pulsars.  Pulsars are highly magnetized dead stars that emit electromagnetic radiation.  Through the North American Observatory for Gravitations Waves, they were able to observe regular pulses from the pulsars and gravitational waves.  Using that data, they were able to locate the center of the Solar System.  Books

First Since 1650 Source:  NASA Start of a New Ice Age? NASA scientists say that the Sun is in a much less active phase, meaning far less solar flares, energy and sunspots.  The phase is called a Grand Solar Minimum, which hasn't occurred since 1650 to 1715.  It triggered a Little Ice Age in the Northern Hemisphere with lower temperatures. The question is are we headed toward another Ice Age? Climate Change NASA scientists say we are not on the brink of a new Ice Age.  And the new scientific basis of their conclusion is interesting.  They say the warming of the Earth from fossil fuels and their greenhouse gas emissions is six times greater than even decades long cooling from the Grand Solar Minimum.  In fact, NASA adds:  "Even if the Grand Solar Minimum were to last a century, global temperatures would continue to warm."  A shocking measure of the impact of global warming. Search for Life in Space The Sun is very dynamic and goes through 11 year cycl

UK Scientists Discover Two Merging Stars Shaped Like a Snowman Source:  Warwick University, UK Unique Shape and Unique Atmosphere Composition Nothing like this new star has ever been discovered in space before.  Warwick University scientists have spotted a huge, snowman-shaped star. It's a new star just born by the merger of two "white dwarf" stars.  They've named the star WDJ0551+4135.  The star's atmosphere is unique and unusually rich in carbon.  Everything about this star has the potential of leading to new scientific discoveries about the universe and the birth and death of stars. Bigger Than the Sun The new Snowman star is more massive than the Sun.  Another unusual aspect of the birth of this star is that the merger of the two "white Dwarf" stars didn't result in an explosion and powerful supernova.  The Warwick University scientists say what is particularly exciting for their research is that the stars merged rather than exploded,