Capturing a single photon of light: Harnessing quantum's 'noise problem'

MAY 7, 2021, by Raytheon BBN Technologies

https://phys.org/news/2021-05-capturing-photon-harnessing-quantum-noise.html

This illustration depicts a newly developed component, known as a Josephson junction that can detect a single photon of light. The research, led by Raytheon Intelligence & Space, has potential applications for sensors, communications and quantum computers. 

Credit: Raytheon BBN Technologies

Scientists at Raytheon BBN Technologies have developed a new way to detect a single photon, or particle of light—a development with big applications for sensors, communications and exponentially more powerful quantum computer processors.

The team has published its work, which centers on the use of a component called a Josephson junction, in the academic journal Science. The discovery builds on the same team's previous research into a microwave radiation detector 100,000 times more sensitive than existing systems.

"A Josephson junction in quantum computing is analogous to a transistor for modern electronics, so they are super important," said Kin Chung Fong, a quantum information processing scientist at Raytheon BBN Technologies and a research associate at Harvard University. "Our new device enables this basic unit in quantum computing to communicate through as little as one photon. It will improve the speed in the communication and can make quantum networking and sensing possible."

Researchers and labs around the world have started building larger quantum computers, seeking to unlock the promise of faster processing.

"In theory quantum computers can take over where traditional computers would run out of processing power," said Brad Tousley, president of Raytheon BBN Technologies. "Quantum computers are particularly good at solving critical optimization problems. One example would be for a computer-aided design of a large system like an aircraft. Quantum computing allows for more finite analysis of something like a wing shape than ever before. Fundamental everyday processing optimization is the first problem we'd like to tackle with quantum computing."

The technical limitation has been the background noise that causes qubits to lose memory, creating errors in the processing. While other researchers see the noise as problem, Fong and his team see opportunity.

Their method works a little like a highway, where superconducting charges play the role of cars. In principle, they can move very fast without bumping into each other. Background noise is like a broken-down car in the center lane—it breaks the flow of traffic.

"The interruption could destroy the data in quantum computing applications," Fong said. "However, we can utilize this same phenomenon to detect a single photon, allowing the traffic to continue to speed along."

The discovery is part of a research effort at Raytheon BBN Technologies, a subsidiary of Raytheon Intelligence & Space. Raytheon BBN has been providing advanced technology research and development for more than 70 years, often serving as a crucial link between the military and researchers at universities. As an example, it was one of the first nodes in the ARPANET, the precursor of the internet funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA. Scientists at Raytheon BBN work in broad-reaching portfolios, while quantum engineering and computing continues to show promise for next-generation capabilities.

"This discovery is going to open up quantum processors to be connected like never before," Tousley said. "The next step is characterizing performance and scaling up to more than one device in parallel or linking multiple devices."

The Raytheon BBN team believe they have the systems engineering expertise to take this basic research to more practical applications.

"We've filled a technological void with the first Josephson junction to detect a single photon," said Fong. "It's an enabling technology for networking, communication and computation. We are really just scratching the surface."

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SPACE - S0 - 20210508 - Solar Flare, Big Eruption, Preview the End of the World

SPACE - S0 - 20210508 - Solar Flare, Big Eruption, Preview the End of the World

Good Morning, 0bservers!

   

    

DAY-UM, SUN!

Let's start today with the elephant in the X-Ray Flux Charts. A rather nasty mid-Class M flare around 1900 UTC. The video loop at 193Å is as impressive as it is terrifying. You can really see the flash at 301Å and 131Å. The "good" news? The ENLIL spiral shows it popping its cork mostly AWAY from Earth, well behind our orbit. 

  

 WHEW! 

  

Still, it's only at the Eastern lim right now. It's still incoming. So, snug up your Tinfoil Fez and hope like hell it blew out all it's gonna blow out (note: this also protects you from plummeting Chinese space station modules). The Magnetogram is definitely showing a really large sunspot group, but it's still close to the lim so that image isn't as clear as you'd like.

 

Now, the more boring news. Like, for instance, solar winds. For most of the day they were in the 290-310 KPS range until around 2100 when it leapt all the way up to 330 KPS. Yeah yeah, sarcasm is fun, but I'm still in shock from that flare. Anyway, we're still at the low end on the winds, which dropped to 300 KPS around 0900 UTC and went up to 340 KPS an hour later. Particle Density stayed mostly steady, and Temperature was steady until the time but it did start going up in the wee hours (yes, that is a scientific term). The Phi Angle did shift a bit around the time of the flare, and has remained a bit verschimmelt since then but not wildly so. KP-Index readings stayed low, mostly KP-1s with a few KP-0s. All nominal with the Magnetometer, Proton Flux and Electron Flux charts.

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Physicists describe new type of aurora

MAY 6, 2021, by University of Iowa

https://phys.org/news/2021-05-physicists-aurora.html

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

For millennia, humans in the high latitudes have been enthralled by auroras—the northern and southern lights. Yet even after all that time, it appears the ethereal, dancing ribbons of light above Earth still hold some secrets.

In a new study, physicists led by the University of Iowa report a new feature to Earth's atmospheric light show. Examining video taken nearly two decades ago, the researchers describe multiple instances where a section of the diffuse aurora—the faint, background-like glow accompanying the more vivid light commonly associated with auroras—goes dark, as if scrubbed by a giant blotter. Then, after a short period of time, the blacked-out section suddenly reappears.

The researchers say the behavior, which they call "diffuse auroral erasers," has never been mentioned in the scientific literature. The findings appear in the Journal of Geophysical Research Space Physics.

Auroras occur when charged particles flowing from the sun—called the solar wind—interact with Earth's protective magnetic bubble. Some of those particles escape and fall toward our planet, and the energy released during their collisions with gases in Earth's atmosphere generate the light associated with auroras.

"The biggest thing about these erasers that we didn't know before but know now is that they exist," says Allison Jaynes, assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Iowa and study co-author. "It raises the question: Are these a common phenomenon that has been overlooked, or are they rare?

"Knowing they exist means there is a process that is creating them," Jaynes continues, "and it may be a process that we haven't started to look at yet because we never knew they were happening until now."

  

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SPACE - S0 - 20210507 - Great Solar Change, Magnetic Universe, Big Sunspots

SPACE - S0 - 20210507 - Great Solar Change, Magnetic Universe, Big Sunspots

Good Morning, 0bservers!

   

    

Solar winds were pretty steady most of yesterday, staying in the 310-340 KPS range, but they did dip below 300 KPS a couple of times after midnight UTC. Particle Density also stayed mostly steady, but it did go lower around midnight UTC before returning to its previous level. Temperature readings remain in the low 4000°K-4200°K range, but with some jumps above 5000°K in the evening and (again) around midnight UTC. Phi Angle readings were generally steady, but there were some wide differences between the Bt and Bz readings several times yesterday. KP-Index readings were mainly calm, predominated by KP-1s with a single KP-2 to make things interesting. The Magnetometer remains nominal, as do the Proton Flux and Electron Flux charts. X-Ray Flux background radiation levels remain elevated in the high-Class A range, and we had a few spikes into Class B, one of them reaching the upper quarter. The polar coronal hole system in the South has extended Northward quite a bit and is now passing the midpoint. The sunspot group in the South is also active, and it appears to be building a coronal hole directly above itself. As to the Eastern lim, where we had that pair of minor CMEs yesterday (not directed at Earth) it is REALLY getting bright and you can see a lot of activity near the chromosphere. Expect this one to be a bit nasty when it turns to.

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Scientists model Saturn's interior

MAY 5, 2021, by Johns Hopkins University

https://phys.org/news/2021-05-scientists-saturn-interior.html

Saturn's interior with stably stratified Helium Insoluble Layer. 

Credit: Yi Zheng (HEMI/MICA Extreme Arts Program)

New Johns Hopkins University simulations offer an intriguing look into Saturn's interior, suggesting that a thick layer of helium rain influences the planet's magnetic field.

The models, published this week in AGU Advances, also indicate that Saturn's interior may feature higher temperatures at the equatorial region, with lower temperatures at the high latitudes at the top of the helium rain layer.

It is notoriously difficult to study the interior structures of large gaseous planets, and the findings advance the effort to map Saturn's hidden regions.

"By studying how Saturn formed and how it evolved over time, we can learn a lot about the formation of other planets similar to Saturn within our own solar system, as well as beyond it," said co-author Sabine Stanley, a Johns Hopkins planetary physicist.

Saturn stands out among the planets in our solar system because its magnetic field appears to be almost perfectly symmetrical around the rotation axis. Detailed measurements of the magnetic field gleaned from the last orbits of NASA's Cassini mission provide an opportunity to better understand the planet's deep interior, where the magnetic field is generated, said lead author Chi Yan, a Johns Hopkins Ph.D. candidate.

The magnetic field of Saturn seen at the surface.

 Credit: Ankit Barik/Johns Hopkins University

By feeding data gathered by the Cassini mission into powerful computer simulations similar to those used to study weather and climate, Yan and Stanley explored what ingredients are necessary to produce the dynamo—the electromagnetic conversion mechanism—that could account for Saturn's magnetic field.

"One thing we discovered was how sensitive the model was to very specific things like temperature," said Stanley, who is also a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at Johns Hopkins in the Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences and the Space Exploration Sector of the Applied Physics Lab. "And that means we have a really interesting probe of Saturn's deep interior as far as 20,000 kilometers down. It's a kind of X-ray vision."

Strikingly, Yan and Stanley's simulations suggest that a slight degree of non-axisymmetry could actually exist near Saturn's north and south poles.

"Even though the observations we have from Saturn look perfectly symmetrical, in our computer simulations we can fully interrogate the field," said Stanley.

Direct observation at the poles would be necessary to confirm it, but the finding could have implications for understanding another problem that has vexed scientists for decades: how to measure the rate at which Saturn rotates, or, in other words, the length of a day on the planet.

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SPACE - S0 - 20210506 - Sun Erupting Again, Impossible Nova, Climate Forcing

SPACE - S0 - 20210506 - Sun Erupting Again, Impossible Nova, Climate Forcing

Good Morning, 0bservers!

   

    
Solar winds continued their downward trend yesterday from an early morning high of around 460 KPS to the 300-320 KPS range around 1800 UTC. It did bump back up to 350 KPS but has stayed steady since then around 310-330 KPS. Particle Density was steady until 1900 UTC when it rose a bit and stayed at that level throughout the period. Temperature, however, have had a lot of fluctuations starting at 1000 UTC from 4000°K to almost 5300°K and back again, with few periods of steady readings. Phi Angle readings were pretty messed up a few times yesterday, but they seem to have stabilized after 0200 UTC. KP-Index readings are quite low and steady, primarily KP-1s with a few KP-0s thrown in. The Magnetometer is showing nominal sine wave patterns for the past two days with no major highs or lows, save for one major "dip" in the readings near midnight UTC (which may have been an anomaly). Speaking of nominal, how 'bout those Proton Flux and Electron Flux readings, 'eh? Dull as dishwater, and that's a good thing! X-Ray Flux readings are a bit more interesting, though, with several minor spikes and surges showing up starting around 2100 UTC, three of them in the very low Class B flare range, and one around 0800 UTC up to the middle of Class B. We've got two minor coronal holes passing the midpoint today, one near the South pole and one near the North. The new bright spot in the Southern mid-latitudes has a smaller companion just crossing the lim about a day or so behind. The larger of the two continues to show magnetic complexity (Beta) but it's at a latitude where we could have problems with if it decides to pop its cork. I did see a blow-off of the Eastern lim, luckily it's not directed toward Earth. However, it is incoming so we might see more instability from that region in the coming days. 

* * *

Another new video from Suspicious0bservers, "Climate Science Destroyed In 8 Minutes".
  

  
Enjoy!

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GDLS-Canada Unveils Troop Cargo Vehicle for the Canadian Army

03.05.2021

http://www.canadiandefencereview.com/news?news/3150

General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada held a virtual ceremony that celebrated the “roll-out” of the Armoured Combat Support Vehicle (ACSV) program’s first vehicle variant -- a Troop Cargo Vehicle (TCV) manufactured for the Canadian Army.

“We are honoured to have Defence Minister Sajjan with us today, virtually, as we showcase the first of eight ACSV variants, the Troop Cargo Vehicle,” said Jason Monahan, Vice President and General Manager of General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada. “Light Armoured Vehicles have protected Canada’s soldiers on missions abroad for over 40 years, and it is a privilege to continue this tradition with the roll-out of this first ACSV variant.”

In September 2019, the Government of Canada awarded General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada a contract to design and produce 360 Armoured Combat Support Vehicles for the Canadian Army. Since then, General Dynamics’ ACSV team has been working to meet tight design and production deadlines, against a backdrop of challenges that comes with manufacturing safely in a global pandemic.

Armoured Combat Support Vehicles are an extension of the existing Light Armoured Vehicle (LAV) 6.0 family of vehicles in service with the Canadian Army. 

The Canadian-designed and Canadian-manufactured LAV 6.0 ACSV variants have a common baseline chassis with the Canadian Army’s in-service LAV 6.0 fleet and reflect the protection and mobility needed to successfully conduct operations in a high-threat environment.

 The ACSV contract provides for eight additional variants of the LAV 6.0 family of vehicles, including ambulances, command posts, maintenance and recovery vehicles, fitters and troop-carrying vehicles. Having a fleet of LAVs of a common baseline configuration reduces training and long-term maintenance costs.

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NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Discovers Natural Radio Emission in Venus’ Atmosphere

May 3, 2021

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2021/Parker-Discovers-Natural-Radio-Emission-in-Venus-Atmosphere

During its third Venus flyby on July 11, 2020, Parker Solar Probe's WISPR imager captured this view of Venus' nightside from 7,693 miles away.

Credits: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Naval Research Laboratory/Guillermo Stenborg and Brendan Gallagher

During a brief swing by Venus, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe detected a natural radio signal that revealed the spacecraft had flown through the planet’s upper atmosphere. This was the first direct measurement of the Venusian atmosphere in nearly 30 years — and it looks quite different from Venus past. A study published today confirms that Venus’ upper atmosphere undergoes puzzling changes over a solar cycle, the Sun’s 11-year activity cycle. This marks the latest clue to untangling how and why Venus and Earth are so different.

Born of similar processes, Earth and Venus are twins: both rocky, and of similar size and structure. But their paths diverged from birth. Venus lacks a magnetic field, and its surface broils at temperatures hot enough to melt lead. At most, spacecraft have only ever survived a couple hours there. Studying Venus, inhospitable as it is, helps scientists understand how these twins have evolved, and what makes Earth-like planets habitable or not.

On July 11, 2020, Parker Solar Probe swung by Venus in its third flyby. Each flyby is designed to leverage the planet’s gravity to fly the spacecraft closer and closer to the Sun. The mission — managed by Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland — made its closest flyby of Venus yet, passing just 517 miles (833 km) above the surface.

“I was just so excited to have new data from Venus,” said Glyn Collison of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, the lead scientist on the study, published today in Geophysical Research Letters. A Venus expert, Collinson has pored over all the Venus data available — from past missions like NASA’s Pioneer Venus Orbiter and ESA’s (the European Space Agency) Venus Express — several times.

One of Parker Solar Probe’s instruments is FIELDS, named for the electric and magnetic fields it measures in the Sun’s atmosphere. For just seven minutes — when Parker Solar Probe was closest to Venus — FIELDS detected a natural, low-frequency radio signal. The thin frown in the data caught Collinson’s attention. The shape and strength of the signal seemed familiar, but he could not place it. “Then the next day, I woke up,” he said. “And I thought, ‘Oh my god, I know what this is!’”

Collinson recognized the signal from his previous work with NASA’s Galileo orbiter, which explored Jupiter and its moons before the mission ended in 2003. A similar frown appeared whenever the spacecraft passed through the ionospheres of Jupiter’s moons.

Like Earth, Venus sports an electrically charged layer of gas at the upper edge of its atmosphere, called the ionosphere. This sea of charged gases, or plasma, naturally emits radio waves that can be detected by instruments like FIELDS. When Collinson and his team identified that signal, they realized Parker Solar Probe had skimmed Venus’ upper atmosphere — a pleasant surprise, though one they might have expected based on previous data, he said.

The researchers used this radio emission to calculate the density of the ionosphere that Parker Solar Probe flew through. Researchers last obtained direct measurements of Venus’ ionosphere from Pioneer Venus Orbiter in 1992. Then, the Sun was near solar maximum, the stormy peak of the solar cycle.

In the years that followed, data from ground-based telescopes suggested big changes were taking place as the Sun settled into its calm phase, solar minimum. While the bulk of the atmosphere remained the same, the ionosphere — which is at the top, where gases can escape to space — was much thinner during solar minimum.

https://youtu.be/z5vK6-wuoOE

The data sonification in the video translates data from Parker Solar Probe’s FIELDS instrument into sound. FIELDS detected a natural, low-frequency radio emission as it moved through Venus’ atmosphere that helped scientists calculate the density of the planet’s electrically charged upper atmosphere, called the ionosphere.

Credits: NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio/Mark SubbaRao/Glyn Collinson

Without direct measurements, it was impossible to confirm.

The observations from Parker Solar Probe’s recent flyby, which occurred six months after the latest solar minimum, verify the puzzle in Venus’ ionosphere. Indeed, Venus’ ionosphere is much thinner compared to previous measurements taken during solar maximum.

“When multiple missions are confirming the same result, one after the other, that gives you a lot of confidence that the thinning is real,” said Robin Ramstad, a study co-author and post-doctoral researcher at the Laboratory of Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Understanding why Venus’ ionosphere thins near solar minimum is one part of unraveling how Venus responds to the Sun — which will help researchers determine how Venus, once so similar to Earth, became the world of scorching, toxic air it is today. For example, Venus’ ionosphere is prone to leaking, meaning the escape of energized gases into space. Gathering data on this and other changes in the ionosphere is key to understanding how Venus’ atmosphere has evolved over time.

This study was some 30 years in the making. It took a mission to Venus, and decades later, a state-of-the-art mission to the Sun. “The goal of flying by Venus is to slow down the spacecraft so that Parker Solar Probe can dive closer to the Sun,” said Nour E. Raouafi, Parker Solar Probe project scientist at the Applied Physics Laboratory. “But we would not miss the opportunity to gather science data and provide unique insights into a mysterious planet such as Venus.”

Collinson likened the research to hitchhiking. Venus scientists were eager to piggyback off Parker Solar Probe’s flyby for new data and views of Earth’s twin planet. “To see Venus now, it’s all about these little glimpses,” he said.

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SPACE - S0 - 20210504 - Earth Skeleton, Scary Solar Forecast, Venus Change

SPACE - S0 - 20210504 - Earth Skeleton, Scary Solar Forecast, Venus Change

May The Fourth Be With You, 0bservers!

   

    

Solar wind speeds continued their rise yesterday, but it was not a severe one. Looks like it topped out just over 500 KPS around 1700 UTC, went down slightly until midnight, UTC, then peaked again at the same level. Since then it's been going back down, with a current speed of 400 KPS. Plasma Density spent the day going back down after its minor surge in the early morning hours, but around 2000 UTC it started a slow rise, not coming close to its original levels. Temperatures also reduced from yesterday's high, going back to a nominal 4900°K-5000°K range. Still seeing a lot of Phi Angle movement, but not wildly so. KP-Index readings remain calm, in the KP-1/KP-2 range, so we were able to avoid those minor geomagnetic levels that were predicted yesterday. The Magnetometer is again shallowing, so we should see it returning to normal sine wave structure in 48 hours or so, if the normal pattern holds. Proton Flux and Electron Flux levels are blissfully boring. However, we did see odd surge (not spike) in the X-Ray Flux around 1900 UTC that lasted about 3 hours, but it didn't quite make the Class B range and calmed back down to the lower end of Class A. That is, until 0900 UTC when we had a sharp spike up into the lower Class B range. There appears to be a new (small) coronal hole system developing in the South at around 50°-55°, and it's building close to the midpoint, so hopefully if it grows more it'll already be out of range before it becomes problematic. That new sunspot group in the South is now more visible on the Magnetogram and the video loops, and there is definitely magnetic separation, but at worst it only appears to be Beta complexity. We'll monitor this one as it moves closer toward the center.

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Top Aces Awarded Contract for Advanced Airborne Training by the German Armed Forces

29.04.2021

http://www.canadiandefencereview.com/news?news/3147

Top Aces has been awarded the fast speed adversary air training services contract by the German Armed Forces (“Bundeswehr”) effective January 1st, 2022. Operating out of the Wittmundhafen Air Base, Top Aces has been providing advanced airborne training to the Bundeswehr for the past 6 years and plans to invest over $100M CAD in furtherance of the new contract.

“As Germany’s trusted partner, we’re delighted to continue training its combat forces well into the future,” said Rolf Brandt, Senior Program Manager – German Operations at Top Aces. “In support of the growing program, we plan to increase our staffing levels in Germany, adding more than 20 highly skilled employment opportunities to the local economy.”

With a continuous focus on innovation, Top Aces is introducing advanced new capabilities that will raise the bar for the adversary air industry. 

Beginning in 2017, Top Aces has made significant investments in R&D to develop a proprietary Advanced Aggressor Mission System (AAMS) that allows for the use of state-of-the-art Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar and Infrared Search-and-Track (IRST) systems on a variety of aircraft types including Top Aces’ A-4N Skyhawk and F-16 Fighting Falcon. 

The AAMS is a revolutionary new technology that allows its aircraft to simulate the most advanced capabilities of modern-day opponents in air-to-air combat. Flight testing and certification of the AAMS on Top Aces’ A-4N Skyhawk have been completed, enabling the Company to begin delivering AAMS missions to Germany and to demonstrate this capability to potential customers in North America and Europe.

Top Aces plans to export its technology and expand its footprint in the UK and throughout Europe to foster growth in the region. “With both commercial and military airworthiness certifications on our international fleets of aircraft – meeting the most rigorous standards for ex-military aircraft in the world – Top Aces is uniquely positioned to serve the adversary air market worldwide,” said Didier Toussaint, Top Aces’ Chief Operating Officer. “We look forward to continue offering best-in-class service to the next generation of combat leaders across the globe.”

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SPACE - S0 - 20210503 - Climate Update, Cool Stuff in Space, Lightning

SPACE - S0 - 20210503 - Climate Update, Cool Stuff in Space, Lightning

Good Morning, 0bservers!

   

    

Looks like we caught a piece of that coronal hole stream from late last week, but there really wasn't much to it. Solar wind speeds stayed mostly in the 320-370 KPS range through most of yesterday, but around 0900 UTC we did see a rise above 400 KPS with a spike to 360 KPS. Particle Density was up and down a lot yesterday (mostly up) with no change in the wind, but around 0300 UTC it rose and then fell 90 minutes later, and that's when we got the boost in speed. Temperatures also took a move up with the wind speed, nearly 5700°K. Despite the rise in Particle Density, the KP-Index remains calm, with KP-1s and KP-2s. However, don't be surprised if we catch a quick (yet minor) geomagnetic storm today. Shouldn't really be a health risk, though. The Magnetometer is still getting up in the higher ranges a bit, but overall the pattern is nominal. Also nominal are the Proton Flux and Electron Flux. X-Ray Flux readings do show a spike in the chart just a short time ago (around 0700 UTC) but only to the top of Class A, while the background radiation remains in the middle of that range as it did all of yesterday. Not seeing any new coronal hole development on the video loops, but we do have some incoming bright spots on the Eastern lim, with the Southern one more predominant. That one is barely visible on the Magnetogram, but it does show very minor/small spots and minimal complexity.

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Defense News: IAF receives additional stealth fighters

 IAF receives additional stealth fighters

Another three F-35 "Adir" stealth fighters were added to the Israeli Air Force. There are currently 27 Adirs in two squadrons at the Nevatim base 

By Dan Arkin, Israel Defense,  04/26/2021

https://www.israeldefense.co.il/en/node/49537

Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit

Three F-35 "Adir" stealth fighters landed recently at the Nevatim base in southern Israel and joined the 116th Squadron, named "the Lions of the South", the IAF's second squadron of Adirs. The IAF now has 27 F-35s. The planes flew to Israel from Lockheed Martin facilities in the U.S.    

As of the beginning of April, 625 F-35s in nine countries had flown 380,000 cumulative flight hours. They operate from 27 bases, with more than 1,300 pilots and more than 10,000 maintainers. Ten operators have already declared the stealth fighters to be operational, and six operators have carried out combat operations with them. The price of an F-35 is currently $77.9 million.        

Foreign sources have reported several times that the IAF's "Adir" fighters have already carried out combat sorties in the skies over Syria and Lebanon. 

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SPACE - S0 - 20210501 - Ice Cycle, Recurring Nova, Solar Wind Incoming

SPACE - S0 - 20210501 - Ice Cycle, Recurring Nova, Solar Wind Incoming

Good Morning, 0bservers!

   

"Mayday? Why, that's the Russian New Year! We can have a parade, and serve hot hors d'oeuvres..." -- Johnny, Airplane!

   

C'mon, SOMEbody had to say it... ;) 

   

    

Solar wind speed stayed relatively calm yesterday, with an upward surge from 300 KPS up to 360 KPS around 1500 UTC, before dropping back down a couple hours later. It's stayed pretty much in the 300-320 KPS range since then. The surge looks to be triggered by another polarity collision, which shifted the Phi Angle for a while, but that too seemed to stabilize from 180° to 90° after that point. Particle Density and Temperature also reacted to this, but not severely; that said, Particle Density is a bit elevated when compared to the time before the shift. KP-Index readings remain pretty steady and in the green, with KP-2s and KP-1s across the timeline. Yesterday's Magnetometer really reached for the heights, getting very close to 140 nT, but the lower end didn't dive too low. Proton Flux? As nominal as you can get without a prescription. However, the Electron Flux finally breached the Alert Threshold around the time of the polarity collision, but it looks to have dipped back down well below previous levels. The X-Ray Flux chart was a pleasant surprise, though - no real spikes or surges at all. Furthermore, the background radiation levels have moved lower into the middle of Class A range. That monster of a sunspot group in the Southern hemisphere has finally crossed the Western lim without any further ado (or adieu, come to think of it) and the solar surface is a lot less busy than just a few days ago. We do have one coronal hole in the South crossing the midpoint, and a very small bright spot up north inbound toward the center. However, that bright spot isn't really showing up on the Magnetogram, with no solid magnetic signature to speak of. Still, we'll keep an eye on it just to be sure.

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Probing deep space with Interstellar

APRIL 26, 2021, by European Geosciences Union

https://phys.org/news/2021-04-probing-deep-space-interstellar.html

Scientists hope the proposed Interstellar Probe will teach us more about our home in the galaxy as well as how other stars in the galaxy interact with their interstellar neighbourhoods. 

Credit: Johns Hopkins APL

When the four-decades-old Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft entered interstellar space in 2012 and 2018, respectively, scientists celebrated. These plucky spacecraft had already traveled 120 times the distance from the Earth to the sun to reach the boundary of the heliosphere, the bubble encompassing our solar system that's affected by the solar wind. The Voyagers discovered the edge of the bubble but left scientists with many questions about how our Sun interacts with the local interstellar medium. The twin Voyagers' instruments provide limited data, leaving critical gaps in our understanding of this region.

NASA and its partners are now planning for the next spacecraft, currently called the Interstellar Probe, to travel much deeper into interstellar space, 1,000 astronomical units (AU) from the sun, with the hope of learning more about how our home heliosphere formed and how it evolves.

"The Interstellar Probe will go to the unknown local interstellar space, where humanity has never reached before," says Elena Provornikova, the Interstellar Probe heliophysics lead from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab (APL) in Maryland. "For the first time, we will take a picture of our vast heliosphere from the outside to see what our solar system home looks like."

Provornikova and her colleagues will discuss the heliophysics science opportunities for the mission at the European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly 2021.

The APL-led team, which involves some 500 scientists, engineers, and enthusiasts—both formal and informal—from around the world, has been studying what types of investigations the mission should plan for. "There are truly outstanding science opportunities that span heliophysics, planetary science, and astrophysics," Provornikova says.

Scientists plan for the Interstellar Probe to reach 1,000 AU -- 1 AU is the distance from the sun to Earth -- into the interstellar medium. That's about 10 times as far as the Voyager spacecraft have gone. 

Credit: Johns Hopkins APL

Some mysteries the team hopes to solve with the mission include: how the sun's plasma interacts with interstellar gas to create our heliosphere; what lies beyond our heliosphere; and what our heliosphere even looks like. The mission plans to take "images" of our heliosphere using energetic neutral atoms, and perhaps even "observe extragalactic background light from the early times of our galaxy formation—something that can't be seen from Earth," Provornikova says. Scientists also hope to learn more about how our sun interacts with the local galaxy, which might then offer clues as to how other stars in the galaxy interact with their interstellar neighborhoods, she says.

The heliosphere is also important because it shields our solar system from high-energy galactic cosmic rays. The sun is traveling around in our galaxy, going through different regions in interstellar space, Provornikova says. The sun is currently in what is called the Local Interstellar Cloud, but recent research suggests the sun may be moving toward the edge of the cloud, after which it would enter the next region of interstellar space—which we know nothing about. Such a change may make our heliosphere grow bigger or smaller or change the amount of galactic cosmic rays that get in and contribute to the background radiation level at Earth, she says.

This is the final year of a four-year "pragmatic concept study," in which the team has been investigating what science could be accomplished with this mission. At the end of the year, the team will deliver a report to NASA that outlines potential science, example instrument payloads, and example spacecraft and trajectory designs for the mission. "Our approach is to lay out the menu of what can be done in such a space mission," Provornikova says.

The mission could launch in the early 2030s and would take about 15 years to reach the heliosphere boundary—a pace that's quick compared to the Voyagers, which took 35 years to get there. The current mission design is planned to last 50 years or more.

Provornikova will present the latest on the Interstellar Probe heliophysics plan on Monday, 26 April at 14:00 CEST.

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Bioweapons and super soldiers: How the UK is joining the genomic technology arms race

APRIL 30, 2021, by Yusef Paolo Rabiah, The Conversation

https://phys.org/news/2021-04-bioweapons-super-soldiers-uk-genomic.html

Gene editing could create super soldiers. 

Credit: Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock

The UK government recently announced an £800 million, taxpayer-funded Advanced Research and Invention Agency (Aria). The brainchild of the British prime minister's former chief adviser, Dominic Cummings and modeled on the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Darpa, the organization will focus partly on genomic research.

Genome technology is becoming an increasingly important part of military research.So given that the UK boasts some of the best genomic research centers in the world, how will its new agency affect the wider genome technology warfare race?

In 2019, Darpa announced that it wishes to explore genetically editing soldiers. It has also invested over US$65 million (£45 million) to improve the safety and accuracy of genome-editing technologies. These include the famous Nobel prize-winning Crispr-Cas molecular scissor—a tool that can edit DNA by cutting and pasting sections of it.

But the ease of accessibility and low cost of Crispr-based technologies has caused concern around potential military genetic modification and weaponisation of viruses or bacteria. These include smallpox or tuberculosis, and could be extremely destructive.

The US is not alone in its military pursuit of genome technology. Russia and China have either stated or been accused of using genomic technology to enhance military capabilities.

The super soldier

Universal Soldier and Captain America are just a few Hollywood movies that have explored the concept of the super soldier. Despite its sci-fi nature, several countries are looking to explore the potential of such prospects. Darpa intends to explore genetically editing soldiers to turn them into "antibody factories", making them resistant to chemical or biological attacks.

In December 2020, the then US director of national intelligence, John Ratcliffe, said there was evidence that the Chinese military was conducting human experimentation in an attempt to biologically boost soldiers. This followed a report by the Jamestown policy thinktank that highlighted reports suggesting that Crispr would form a keystone technology in China to "boost troops' combat effectiveness." No further details were given, however.

The new genetic editing tool Crispr is changing the military game. 

Credit: Catalin Rusnac/Shutterstock

Not all countries are prepared to use gene editing or even genomic technology to enhance soldiers, however. The French military ethics committee has recently approved research on soldier "augmentation," such implants that could "improve cerebral capacity." However, the committee warned that certain red lines could not be crossed, including genome editing or eugenics. In the more candid words of the French minister of the armed forces, Florence Parly, this amounted to "A yes to Ironman, but a no to Spiderman" (Ironman gets his superpowers from a suit whereas Spiderman is bitten by a radioactive spider).

In Russia, the military is looking to implement genetic passports for its personnel, allowing it to assess genetic predispositions and biomarkers, for example, for stress tolerance. This could help place soldiers in suitable military lines, such as navy, air force and so forth. The genetic project also aims to understand how soldiers respond to stressful situations both physically and mentally.

The UK position

There are signs that the UK will be bolder and less accountable in its genetic defense research than many other countries. For example, Aria won't be subject to freedom of information requests, in contrasts with Darpa.

The UK has also been at the forefront in enabling controversial, pioneering non-military genome technology, such as three-parent babies. And there has been no shortage of government reports that have stressed the importance of genome technology in the domain of defense and security.

In 2015, a UK national defense review highlighted the influence that advances in genetic engineering can have for "security and prosperity." In the recent 2021 Security, Defense, Development and Foreign Policy review the UK government once again stressed its significance for "defense and national security."

The proposed lack of accountability of Aria, combined with the government's general mission for genome technology to be expanded into security and defense applications, will create a hotpot of debate and discussion. In recent years, British scientists have received Darpa funding for controversial genomic research, such as genetic extinction of invasive species such as mosquitoes or rodents. Despite its promise, this could have disastrous potential to damage food security and threaten the wider ecosystems of nations.

Genome technology deployment needs to be managed in a universally, ethically and scientifically robust manner. If it isn't, the potential for a new arms race for advances in this research will only lead to more radical and potentially dangerous solutions. There are many unanswered questions about how Aria will help genome research within the military sphere. The pathway the UK chooses will have lasting consequences on how we perceive genome tech in the public space.

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