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New NASA images capture birth of a star

The James Webb Space Telescope continues to stun with its images of the universe following the release of an image showing a “fiery hourglass” housing a newborn star. The image of the protostar (a young star that is still unstable and cocooned in a cloud of dust and gas) has offered scientists insight into what stars might look like “in their infancy”. With the star located in the dark cloud L1527 and only visible in infrared light, the image was captured using Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam). The protostar itself is hidden from view within the “neck” of the hourglass shape. "An edge-on proto-planetary disk is seen as a dark line across the middle of the neck," NASA said in <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/nasa-s-webb-catches-fiery-hourglass-as-new-star-forms/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a release</a>. "Light from the protostar leaks above and below this disk, illuminating cavities within the surrounding gas and dust." <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/11/star-birth1.jpg" alt="" /> The James Webb Space Telescope has captured a photo of a young star using its infrared camera. Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI. Image processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Alyssa Pagan (STScI), Anton M. Koekemoer (STScI) Blue and orange clouds forming above, below and around the protostar that form the hourglass represent empty spaces created as material shoots away from the protostar and collides with surrounding matter, with the colours being caused by layers of dust between the camera and the clouds. The thicker the dust, the more orange the clouds appear, since blue light is unable to escape and be perceived by our eyes. While it may appear small, the disk in the middle of the hourglass is about the size of our solar system. According to NASA, the protostar is relatively young at about 100,000 years old and considered a class 0 protostar, “the earliest stage of star formation”. ‘Protostars like these, which are still cocooned in a dark cloud of dust and gas, have a long way to go before they become full-fledged stars,” NASA said. "L1527 doesn't generate its own energy through nuclear fusion of hydrogen yet, an essential characteristic of stars. "Its shape, while mostly spherical, is also unstable, taking the form of a small, hot and puffy clump of gas, somewhere between 20 and 40 percent the mass of our Sun." <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Our universe is beautiful. <a href="https://twitter.com/NASAWebb?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NASAWebb</a> captured a stellar birth which is so poetically nestled in this hourglass shape. A truly stunning marker of time. <a href="https://t.co/8UflbFPdid">pic.twitter.com/8UflbFPdid</a> — Shannon Stirone 💀 (@shannonmstirone) <a href="https://twitter.com/shannonmstirone/status/1593026314310934528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 16, 2022</a></blockquote> The protostar will get closer to stable nuclear fusion (the requirement to be a star) as it gathers more mass and its core compresses. "The scene shown in this image reveals L1527 doing just that," NASA said. "The surrounding molecular cloud is made up of dense dust and gas being drawn to the centre, where the protostar resides. “As the material falls in, it spirals around the centre. "This creates a dense disk of material, known as an accretion disk, which feeds material to the protostar.” “Ultimately, this view of L1527 provides a window into what our Sun and solar system looked like in their infancy.” Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI. Image processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Alyssa Pagan (STScI), Anton M. Koekemoer (STScI)

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We steered a spacecraft into an asteroid

From seeing further into space than ever before to viewing our neighbouring planets in brand new detail, it’s safe to say more of us are talking about the skies above than in previous years. Now, NASA has made headlines for crashing a spacecraft into a distant asteroid in a historic first for humanity. After leaving Earth last November, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spaceship travelled at a speedy 23,500 kilometres per hour for ten months to reach its target, an asteroid moonlet called Dimorphos. Dimorphos is a relatively small asteroid with a diameter of 160 metres - about the same size as the Great Pyramid of Giza - that orbits Didymos, a larger asteroid boasting a diameter of 780 metres. DART, meanwhile, is approximately the size of a refrigerator - but size isn’t everything. <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/dart-collision0.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /> The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft is dwarfed by its target, Dimorphos, as well as Didymos, which Dimorphos orbits. Image: NASA / John Hopkins APL Located 11.2 million kilometres away from us, Dimorphus might not pose any risk to Earth, but it did serve as a suitable target for NASA to test whether a head-on collision from DART could cause the asteroid to change its orbit. This experiment, which uses a technique called kinetic impact to change the asteroid’s orbit, could determine whether it’s possible to prevent asteroids and other cosmic objects from colliding with Earth and avoid the devastating aftereffects of such a collision. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson explained that the experiment is part of the organisation’s overall planetary defence strategy. “At its core, DART represents an unprecedented success for planetary defence, but it is also a mission of unity with a real benefit for all humanity,” he said. “As NASA studies the cosmos and our home planet, we’re also working to protect that home, and this international collaboration turned science fiction into science fact, demonstrating one way to protect Earth.” Rebecca Allen, an astronomer at Swinburne University of Technology told the ABC that everything from the location of the impact, how fast DART travelled, and even its size are factors that could affect Dimorphos’ orbit. "This vending-sized machine spacecraft, will it have enough kinetic impact to drastically or really measurably change the orbit of this asteroid? That's what we're trying to learn,” she added. <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/dart-collision1.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /> Shots taken from DART’s onboard camera showed asteroids Dimorphos and Didymos (left), and an up-close look at Dimorphos before DART crashed (right). Images: NASA / John Hopkins APL What happens now? Though DART successfully collided with Dimorphus on Tuesday morning (SGT), we won’t know whether the collision actually resulted in a change in orbit. It will take anywhere from several days to weeks to determine whether it worked, and we can expect to learn more over the coming months. “Over the next two months we’re going to see more information from the investigation team on what what period change did we actually make,” Dr Elena Adams, a DART Mission Systems Engineer, said. “That’s our number two goal, number one was hit the asteroid, which we’ve done but now number two is really measure that period change and characterise how much we actually put out.” In a <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-s-dart-mission-hits-asteroid-in-first-ever-planetary-defense-test" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>, NASA said researchers are expecting the path Dimorphos takes around Didymos to shorten by just one percent, or about 10 minutes. But even this seemingly tiny change can have an impact over time, experts stress. "Just a small change in its speed is all we need to make a significant difference in the path an asteroid travels.” said Dr Thomas Zurbuchen, an associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA’s Washington headquarters. The next few months will also see NASA use telescopes positioned on Earth and in space to observe the outcome of the collision, including measuring changes to Dimorphos’ orbit. Images will also be taken by LICIACube (Light Italian Cubesat for Imaging Asteroids), which deployed from DART fifteen days before the impact, with the European Space Agency’s Hera project scheduled to conduct surveys of Dimorphos and Didymos - with a focus on the crater created by the collision - in 2026. The images will add to the collection of photos taken by DRACO (Didymos Reconnaissance Camera for Optical navigation), which was onboard DART when it crashed. As well as shots showing Didymos and Dimorphos, the images depict the rocky terrain of Dimorphos’ surface up close. <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/dart-collision2.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /> DART’s onboard camera, DRACO, captured the final moments before the spacecraft crashed into the surface of Dimorphos. Images: NASA / John Hopkins APL The last photo, taken about one second before impact, was being transmitted to Earth when the craft crashed, resulting in a partial picture. “DART’s success provides a significant addition to the essential toolbox we must have to protect Earth from a devastating impact by an asteroid,” said Lindley Johnson, NASA’s Planetary Defense Officer. “This demonstrates we are no longer powerless to prevent this type of natural disaster.” Image: NASA / John Hopkins APL

Entertainment

Spinetingling audio of a black hole goes viral, here’s why

Audio that allows us to “hear a black hole” has gone viral online since it was shared by NASA, with listeners describing it as “creepy” and “ethereally beautiful”. NASA first shared the audio taken from the black hole in the Perseus galaxy cluster in May, which it described as a remixed sonification of sound waves discovered in 2003, but a recent re-posting on Twitter has seen it gone viral. Here’s how it sounds: <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> The misconception that there is no sound in space originates because most space is a ~vacuum, providing no way for sound waves to travel. A galaxy cluster has so much gas that we've picked up actual sound. Here it's amplified, and mixed with other data, to hear a black hole! <a href="https://t.co/RobcZs7F9e">pic.twitter.com/RobcZs7F9e</a> — NASA Exoplanets (@NASAExoplanets) <a href="https://twitter.com/NASAExoplanets/status/1561442514078314496?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 21, 2022</a></blockquote> Nearly twenty years ago, researchers at the Chandra X-Ray Observatory “discovered that pressure waves sent out by the black hole caused ripples in the cluster’s hot gas that could be translated into a note”. But, said note was too low for humans to hear, being the equivalent of a B-flat 57 octaves below the middle C note on a piano, according to NASA. To create something we could actually hear, scientists used a process called sonification, which is where astronomical data is translated into sound. According to NASA, the creepy sound was created using sound waves extracted outwards from the centre of the Perseus cluster, with astronomers increasing the frequency by 57 and 58 octaves. A radar-like scan around the image was also used to help us hear sound waves emitted in different directions. “Another way to put this is that they are being heard 144 quadrillion and 288 quadrillion times higher than their original frequency,” NASA said. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> I was today years old when I found out that sound could travel into space. In fact, NASA released sound waves received from a black hole! Creepy 😲 Next, music please? 🎶<a href="https://t.co/myk0laXDV4">pic.twitter.com/myk0laXDV4</a> — Elie Habib (@elie_h) <a href="https://twitter.com/elie_h/status/1561773483092320256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 22, 2022</a></blockquote> James Miller-Jones, a Professor of Astrophysics at Curtin University, told the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-24/nasa-audio-black-hole-sounds-viral-hear-space/101360094" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ABC</a> that the frequencies of these sound waves are impacted by gases in the Perseus cluster. "Those sound waves are bumping into regions of dense gas, hotter gas, cooler gas, so they'll move in slightly different speeds in different directions," he explained. "That means they don't have a perfect circular shape. So as they scan around the cluster … it's capturing slightly different pitches." While this isn’t the first time the space agency has <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/entertainment/technology/hear-recordings-of-space-from-nasa-s-spacecraft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shared sounds from space</a>, these sounds of the Perseus cluster differ in that they also use sound waves. "This is the only one that I've seen that is really translating real sound waves into the sonification, and to me that's just a beautiful demonstration of what is going on. It's quite powerful," Professor Miller-Jones said. "It tells us a lot about the cluster, and how energy is transported through it." Kimberly Arcand, the principal investigator of the sonification project, described the sound as “a beautiful Hans Zimmer score with the moody level set at really high” when she first heard it in late 2021. “It was such a wonderful representation of what existed in my mind,” she told <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/08/23/nasa-black-hole-sound/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Washington Post</a>, adding that it was a “tipping point” for the project in that it “really sparked people’s imagination”. “The idea that there are these supermassive black holes sprinkled throughout the universe that are … belching out incredible songs is a very tantalising thing,” Arcand added. The decision to release the “re-sonification” of the sound waves nearly two decades later came as part of NASA’s efforts to share complex scientific discoveries in plain English with its millions of social media followers. Though some experts have cautioned that NASA’s clip isn’t exactly what you’d hear in space, others argue that it would be realistic to believe that it would be what we’d hear if we had ears that were sensitive enough. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> I'm not religious, but I'm starting to think that those souls sent to Hell actually end up in a black hole. Sound ON to be horrified <a href="https://t.co/75v74pkkhu">https://t.co/75v74pkkhu</a> — Paul Byrne (@ThePlanetaryGuy) <a href="https://twitter.com/ThePlanetaryGuy/status/1562065393581277185?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 23, 2022</a></blockquote> Even so, plenty of social media users have shared their thoughts on the sound, making comparisons to the Lord of the Rings and Silent Hill series or sharing it was an image of an intergalactic puppy overlaid. “I can confirm that the black hole noise Nasa released is the sound of hell,” one user <a href="https://twitter.com/SlimeRegis/status/1562005777488945152" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a>. “New genre just dropped: Cosmic Horror,” another <a href="https://twitter.com/cybxrart/status/1561690611983343616" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shared</a>. Image: @NASAExoplanets (Twitter)

Entertainment

The International Space Station to crash to Earth in 2030

The International Space Station is expected to stay in operation until the end of 2030, after which time it will be crashed into a remote part of the Pacific Ocean, <a href="https://7news.com.au/technology/space/nasa-to-retire-the-international-space-station-by-2031-by-crashing-it-into-the-pacific-ocean-c-5549714" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to newly published plans from NASA.Since its launch in 2000, the ISS has orbited 227 nautical miles (420.4 kilometres) above Earth, during which time more than 200 astronauts from 19 countries enjoyed stints aboard.After 2030, NASA said the ISS would be replaced by commercially operated space platforms as a venue for collaboration and scientific research.“The private sector is technically and financially capable of developing and operating commercial low-Earth orbit destinations, with NASA’s assistance,” Phil McAlister, director of commercial space at NASA, said in a <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-provides-updated-international-space-station-transition-plan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>.“We look forward to sharing our lessons learned and operations experience with the private sector to help them develop safe, reliable, and cost-effective destinations in space.“The report we have delivered to Congress describes, in detail, our comprehensive plan for ensuring a smooth transition to commercial destinations after retirement of the International Space Station in 2030.”In the International Space Station Transition Report produced by NASA, the organisation said the plan was for the ISS to fall to Earth and land in an area called the South Pacific Ocean Uninhabited Area - also known as Point Nemo.<img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/02/space-iss1.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" />The International Space Station has been the source of many scientific innovations and firsts, including the first chilli peppers to be grown in space (Pictured). Image: NASANamed after the submarine operator in Jules Verne’s novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Point Nemo is an area in the ocean that is the farthest from land.The area is approximately 4800 kilometres from the eastern coast of New Zealand and 3200 kilometres north of Antarctica.The ISS won’t be the first to make Point Nemo its final resting place, with estimates that more than 263 pieces of space debris have been sunk there by the US, Russia, Japan, and European countries since 1971.According to the report, the ISS is expected to deorbit in January 2031 and perform thrusting manoeuvres to ensure a “safe atmospheric entry”.Though an end date has been set, work will continue on the ISS until the very end, with NASA saying goals for the space lab include using it as an “analog for a Mars transit mission”.“The International Space Station is entering its third and most productive decade as a groundbreaking scientific platform in microgravity,” Robyn Gatens, the director of the ISS at NASA Headquarters, said in a statement.“This third decade is one of results, building on our successful global partnership to verify exploration and human research technologies to support deep space exploration, continue to return medical and environmental benefits to humanity, and lay the groundwork for a commercial future in low-Earth orbit.“We look forward to maximising these returns from the space station through 2030 while planning for transition to commercial space destinations that will follow.”During its time in orbit, the ISS has been home to many scientific firsts in space, including the first items to be 3D-printed, the first sequencing of DNA, and growing of lettuces, radishes and chillies.Image: NASA

Entertainment

How cameras in public spaces might change how we think

Facial recognition is <a href="https://theconversation.com/facial-recognition-is-spreading-faster-than-you-realise-132047">increasingly being used</a> in many countries around the world. In some cases <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/audio/2020/feb/04/the-rise-of-facial-recognition-technology-podcast">the take up has been dramatic</a>. As a result, people are being observed by cameras more than ever, whether in stores, on public transit, or at their workplaces. Using this technology may seem justified when it helps law enforcement track down criminals and make the lives of ordinary citizens safer. But how does the constant observation affect the citizens it is supposed to protect from criminals? It’s easy to imagine that pervasive camera observation will change people’s behaviour. Often, such changes are for the better. For example, research <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2017-46387-004">has shown</a> that when observed, people donate more to charity and wash their hands more frequently to prevent transmitting diseases. Given that these positive outcomes are in everyone’s best interest, it seems that people’s increased observation is positive for society as a whole – as long as privacy regulations are strictly followed. A magnifying effect <a href="https://www.academia.edu/33348873/Being_Observed_Magnifies_Action">My research</a>, however, points to a consequence of being observed that has so far been neglected in the public debate around increased observation. My co-authors and I found in several experiments that being observed changes not only what people do, but also how they think. Specifically, we found that when people know that they are observed, they see themselves through the eyes of the observer (or through the lens of a camera). By adopting the perspective of the observer in addition to their own perspective, people perceive themselves as if under a magnifying glass. As a result, people’s observed actions feel magnified. For example, we asked some volunteers to eat a portion of chips in front of a camera, whereas others ate the same food unobserved. The observed volunteers afterwards thought they had eaten larger portions because their behaviour felt to them as if under a magnifying glass. Such a finding might seem like harmless collateral of increased observation, given its other benefits. However, we also found more troubling thought patterns when people were observed. We asked volunteers to take a test, in which they inevitably gave some wrong answers. Those volunteers who were observed during the test thought they had given more wrong answers than unobserved volunteers, although in reality there was no difference between the groups of volunteers. So for the observed volunteers, their errors loomed larger in their minds. The same happened <a href="https://www.academia.edu/33348873/Being_Observed_Magnifies_Action">when we surveyed</a> badminton players after team tournaments. Those players whose teams lost, thought they were personally responsible for the loss to a larger extent when more spectators had observed them play. Again, any errors in their play loomed larger when a player had felt observed when playing for their unsuccessful team. In other words, being observed changed how people thought about their behaviour. We do not know yet what this magnifying glass effect means for people’s thoughts and feelings in the long run. Feeling that one’s errors and failures loom large might hurt one’s confidence and self-esteem. Similarly, small digressions might seem more serious under constant observation. Someone who enjoys leaving the house in their pyjamas to wolf down some junk food might think back with shame and disgust when observed during such forgivable behaviour. As camera observation becomes more and more prevalent, citizens who are concerned with privacy <a href="https://www.gov.uk/request-cctv-footage-of-yourself">are assured</a> that most camera recordings are never watched, or are erased after a short while. Yet, we are only beginning to understand some of the psychological consequences of increased observation. These effects on people’s thought and feelings might linger, even long after the camera tape has been erased.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/132537/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/janina-steinmetz-648854">Janina Steinmetz</a>, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, Cass Business School, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/city-university-of-london-1047">City, University of London</a> This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-cameras-in-public-spaces-might-change-how-we-think-132537">original article</a>.

Health

How the use of lasers and small satellites helps information get through space

Satellites are becoming increasingly important in our lives, as they help us meet a demand for more data, exchanged at higher speeds. This is why we are exploring new ways of improving satellite communication. Satellite technology is used to navigate, forecast the weather, monitor Earth from space, receive TV signals from space, and connect to remote places through tools such as satellite phones and <a href="https://www.nbnco.com.au/learn/network-technology/sky-muster-explained">NBN’s Sky Muster satellites</a>. All these communications use radio waves. These are electromagnetic waves that propagate through space and, to a certain degree, through obstacles such as walls. Each communication system uses a frequency band allocated for it, and each band makes up part of the <a href="https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/toolbox/emspectrum1.html">electromagnetic spectrum</a> – which is the name given to the range of all types of electromagnetic radiation. But the electromagnetic spectrum we are able to use with current technology is a finite resource, and is now completely occupied. This means old services have to make room for new ones, or higher frequency bands have to be used. While this poses technological challenges, one promising way forward is optical communication. Communication with lasers Instead of using radio waves to carry the information, we can use light from lasers as the carrier. While technically still part of the electromagnetic spectrum, optical frequencies are significantly higher, which means we can use them to transfer data at higher speeds. However, one disadvantage is that a laser cannot propagate through walls, and can even be blocked by clouds. While this is problematic on Earth, and for communication between satellites and Earth, it’s no problem for communication between satellites. On Earth, optical communication via fibre optic cables connects continents and provides enormous data exchanges. This is the technology that allows <a href="https://www.vox.com/2015/4/30/11562024/too-embarrassed-to-ask-what-is-the-cloud-and-how-does-it-work">the cloud</a> to exist, and online services to be provided. Optical communication between satellites doesn’t use fibre optic cables, but involves light propagating through space. This is called “free space optical communication”, and can be used to not only deliver data from satellites to the ground, but also to connect satellites in space. In other words, free space optical communication will provide the same massive connectivity in space we already have on Earth. Some systems such as the <a href="https://artes.esa.int/edrs-global">European Data Relay System</a> are already operational, and others like SpaceX’s <a href="https://www.space.com/see-spacex-starlink-satellites-in-night-sky.html">Starlink</a> continue to be developed. But there are still many challenges to overcome, and we’re limited by current technology. My colleagues and I are working on making optical, as well as radio-frequency, data links even faster and more secure. CubeSats So far, a lot of effort has gone into the research and development of radio-frequency technology. This is how we know data rates are at their highest physical limit and can’t be further increased. While a single radio-frequency link can provide data rates of 10Gbps with large antennas, an optical link can achieve rates 10 to 100 times higher, using antennas that are 10 to 100 times smaller. These small antennas are in fact optical lenses, and their compact size allows them to be integrated into small satellites called CubeSats. CubeSats are not larger than a shoebox or toaster, but can employ high speed data links to other satellites or the ground. They are currently used for a wide range of tasks including earth observation, communications and scientific experiments in space. And while they’re not able to provide all services from space, they play an important role in current and future satellite systems. Another advantage of optical communication is increased security. The light from a laser forms a narrow beam, which has to be pointed from a sender to a receiver. Since this beam is very narrow, the communication doesn’t interfere with other receivers and it’s very hard, if not impossible, to eavesdrop on the communication. This makes optical systems more secure than radio electromagnetic systems. Optical communication can also be used for <a href="https://qt.eu/understand/underlying-principles/quantum-key-distribution-qkd/">Quantum Key Distribution</a>. This technology allows the absolute secure exchange of encryption keys for safe communications. What can we expect from this? While it’s exciting to develop systems for space, and to launch satellites, the real benefit of satellite systems is felt on Earth. High speed communication provided by optical data links will improve connectivity for all of us. Notably, remote areas which currently have relatively slow connections will experience better access to remote health and remote learning. Better data links will also let us deliver images and videos from space with less delay and higher resolution. This will improve the way we manage our resources, including <a href="https://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/community-safety/flood/wofs">water</a>, agriculture and forestry. They will also <a href="https://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/earth-obs/case-studies/mapping-bushfires">provide vital real-time information in disaster scenarios such as bushfires</a>. The potential applications of optical communication technology are vast. Banding knowledge together Working in optical satellite communication is challenging, as it combines many different fields and research areas including telecommunication, photonics and manufacturing. Currently, our technology is far from achieving what is theoretically possible, and there’s great room for improvement. This is why there’s a strong focus on collaboration. In Australia, there are two major programs facilitating this - the Australian Space Agency run by the federal government, and the <a href="https://smartsatcrc.com/">SmartSat Cooperative Research Centre</a> (CRC), also supported by the federal government. Through the SmartSat CRC program, my colleagues and I will spend the next seven years tackling a range of applied research problems in this area.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/126344/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/gottfried-lechner-877898">Gottfried Lechner</a>, Associate Professor and Director of the Institute for Telecommunications Research, University of South Australia, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-south-australia-1180">University of South Australia</a> This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/were-using-lasers-and-toaster-sized-satellites-to-beam-information-faster-through-space-126344">original article</a>.

Entertainment

How to make the best of a small space

The smallest of changes can make the world of difference when decorating any confined spaces in your home. If you’ve recently downsized and discovered your smaller rooms have become a little too cluttered, fear not, there’s plenty you can do. Small changes can make the rooms in your house appear larger and could allow for a tone of new space. Consider these subtle differences you can make without breaking the bank. The difference furniture can make If you have a small study or room that you want to get the most out of, an important piece of furniture to consider is the couch. It will generally be the biggest item in the room therefore, once you get the right style and fit, you'll have a starting point for the rest of your lounge's design. Floor Planner is a wonderful tool to plan out and utilise the space in your room. It can give you a digital look of your room to make it easy to plan for the space. Mirror, mirror, on the wall Apartment Therapy suggests that using mirrors within a confined space can do wonders to a room's atmosphere and feng shui. You can group small mirrors together or have large one that hangs half way down the wall. A floor length mirror which will create the illusion that the room if taller than it is. This is particularly beneficial if you have short ceilings. Mirrors will also reflect light around the room, and light can be so valuable in eliminating dark corners. Word of warning, be careful what your mirror reflects. If it is a study with stacks of paperwork, it may make the room look cluttered and untidy. Simplicity in a small room is always best. Shelving in small spaces Shelving in small spaces can be tricky, but once you figure out the right shape and size, they can look elegant. One space that is often under-utilised is under the stairs. If there is a gap, try creating horizontal shelving across the bottom of the stairs. Utilise Spaces suggests the space can be used for storage or be a small library. Also placing hooks or shelves on the inside of cupboard doors can do wonders with limited space. Hang TVs on the wall According to Harvey Norman, hanging a flat screen TV on the wall will cost anywhere between $187 to $300, depending on the size of the TV. This will create a vast amount of space considering you won't need a TV cabinet. Whatever your challenge, there are always fresh ideas for changing your space before your space changes you. Written by Stewart Bunn. Republished with permission of <a href="https://www.wyza.com.au/articles/property/how-to-make-the-best-of-a-small-space.aspx">Wyza.com.au.</a>

Lifestyle

Space Oddity at 50: The novelty song that became a cultural touchstone

When the 22-year-old David Bowie penned Space Oddity, a song that would ultimately become a <a href="https://bowiesongs.wordpress.com/2009/11/11/space-oddity/">recognised</a> classic, he was a burgeoning pop artist without a record deal. A folk singer without a gig, a sometime mime, and a purveyor of <a href="https://youtu.be/NUiboPRPOzo">ice creams</a>. His first serious relationship, with the actress <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/01/david-bowie-girl-mousy-hair-muse">Hermione Farthingale</a>, was in free fall. It was December 1968, and Bowie’s manager Kenneth Pitt was collating a promotional film to pimp his client’s wares to London television and film producers. He requested Bowie pen a “special piece of new material” to contemporise the otherwise retrospective nature of the film. And then, on Christmas Eve, astronaut Bill Anders captured his iconic photograph of Earth from the Apollo 8 spacecraft while circumnavigating the Moon. The Earthrise image was still resonating in the public’s imagination when Bowie retreated to his room in Clareville Grove, London to write his space cabaret. Composing on a 12-string Hagstrom guitar with a little sonic weirdness from a Stylophone given to him by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Bolan">Marc Bolan</a>, he came up with Space Oddity. A blatant commercial object, a “pragmatic” turn by a fledgling artist, the song would become an anthem for space exploration for decades (and for TV news obituaries on the occasion of Bowie’s <a href="https://youtu.be/mH3-HV2WDdQ">death</a> in 2016). Space Oddity tells of an astronaut Major Tom, launched into space in a manner akin to the Apollo missions. Yet in this instance all does not go according to plan and he is left adrift in the abyss of space, “floating ‘round my tin can, far above the Moon.” At the time it was considered a “novelty song” to hang alongside other opportunists riding the vapor trails of the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/nasa-knows/what-was-the-saturn-v-58.html">Saturn V</a>. (<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/29/fashion/watches-omega-speedmaster-moonwatch-anniversary.html">Omega</a> watches, <a href="https://www.orlandosentinel.com/space/apollo-11-anniversary/os-ne-apollo-11-tang-20190704-ahrgsi5hmfdunfy4ldazrgvkr4-story.html">Tang</a>, <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/first-energy-bar">Space Food Sticks</a> etc). Bowie was acutely aware of the commercialisation of the space exploration story, of course. “You have really made the grade, and the papers want to know whose shirts you wear,” exalts ground control as Tom hurtles towards the heavens. Eschewing the typical pop song template, Bowie designed the piece as if it was a dramatic play. “I think I wanted to write a new kind of musical,” he <a href="https://slate.com/culture/2015/12/david-bowie-and-enda-walsh-musical-lazarus-reviewed.html">reflected</a> in 2002, “and that’s how I saw my future at the time.” The song – one of his earliest and perhaps most outrageous musical assemblages – is also indicative of the artist he would become, a restless creative magpie perched by the wireless, plucking phrases and vocal stylings from the inbound radio waves. The definitive version, recorded in late June 1969 at Trident Studios, was pressed and released as a single within three weeks – on July 11 – to leverage the hype of the impending Apollo moon landing. It also sealed a new recording deal with Mercury Records. Bowie was back. However, his long-time producing partner <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Visconti">Tony Visconti</a> refused to work on the song, citing it as a distasteful departure from the singer’s hippie folk leanings. Visconti’s unease led him to recommend <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gus_Dudgeon">Gus Dudgeon</a> (who would later work with Elton John) as producer. The song’s adventurous orchestration and unsettling harmonics owe much to Dudgeon’s ambition. Through resonance, tone and unexpected harmonic shifts Bowie and Dudgeon achieved a meta-pop song full of cultural and musical references. There are lyrical and tonal references to the Bee Gees’ <a href="https://youtu.be/S43YhQ_eGTw">New York Mining Disaster 1941</a> while an acoustic passage signposts <a href="https://youtu.be/gP3-TU6xPvc">Old Friends</a> by Simon & Garfunkel. Even the metallic chimes of the Stylophone recall the pulsating intro of the Beatles’ <a href="https://youtu.be/t1Jm5epJr10">I Am The Walrus</a>. This was music for space, both inside and out, an experimental sonic palette that would open up a whole <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/s/613762/space-music-drugs/">new genre</a> of musical art direction. Of course, Kubrick’s <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062622/">2001: A Space Odyssey</a> hangs heavily over proceedings. The two works are not only linked by name, but by their respective critiques of the cultural zeitgeist of “space fever”. A sense of melancholia and detachment permeates Bowie’s recording. Yet, Major Tom’s predicament – floating in a tin can far above the world – is perhaps not the perilous event we might suspect. He seems quite OK with it all. Even his observation that there is “nothing I can do” comes across as somewhat of a relief. We are never really sure whether the communication breakdown with ground control was accidental or by design. In Norman Mailer’s Apollo 11 chronicle <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/238970.Of_a_Fire_on_the_Moon">Of a Fire on the Moon</a>, he notes that the “obvious pleasure” of the astronaut, “was to be alone in the sky”. Rushing towards the stars Still, in a 1980 <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2017/10/06/555850186/how-ashes-to-ashes-put-the-first-act-of-david-bowies-career-to-rest">interview</a>, Bowie revealed Major Tom’s dilemma was a comment on what he saw at the time as the limits of American exceptionalism: Here we had the great blast of American technological know-how shoving this guy up into space, but once he gets there, he’s not quite sure why he’s there. And that’s where I left him. For such a challenging work, the press reaction in Britain to Space Oddity was largely positive, Tony Palmer, writing in the Observer, appreciated the song’s cynical air at a time when “we cling pathetically to every moonman’s dribbling joke, when we admire unquestioningly the so-called achievement of our helmeted heroes.” Music journalist Penny Valentine’s review for the ensuing album, which would feature Space Oddity as the lead track, observed that Bowie had captured “the rather frightening atmosphere we all live in as the backdrop to his songs.” Indeed, come July 1969, the promise of the sixties and the hippy trip of the free love movement were a few festivals and a bunch of ghoulish murders away from coming to an end. The sense of being adrift like Major Tom was not just a fantasy construction any more. The song’s television debut would be on July 20 when the BBC aired the track during the Apollo broadcast, albeit after the Lunar Module had safely touched down. A scenario that even surprised Bowie – “of course, I was overjoyed that they did”. Despite its contrived beginnings, Bowie designed a cultural touchstone for a historic moment of human engineering and blind courage. Even 50 years hence, he appears to us fully formed on Space Oddity as a moonstruck balladeer and completely in synch with the times. The immaculately dressed changeling who would go on to hit the glam rock jackpot with his alien stage persona <a href="https://youtu.be/3qrOvBuWJ-c">Ziggy Stardust</a>. A character who captured the abrasive temperament of the moment as he straddled the jet-trails of our collective rushing towards the stars. Written by Mitch Goodwin. Republished with permission of <a href="https://theconversation.com/space-oddity-at-50-the-novelty-song-that-became-a-cultural-touchstone-120071">The Conversation</a>.

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Top 5 ways to save space in a cruise cabin

1. Store your luggage under your bed Depending on your cruise line and the design of your room, this hack may or may not be a possibility. However, this tip can be helpful even if you put your luggage in a wardrobe compartment. Remember, using any dead space to hide away the unnecessary items while you’re holidaying are essential to maximise your space and get the most out of your cabin. 2. Rearrange furniture You may be worried you’re not allowed to do this but rest assured, if it is able to be lifted from its place then you should be fine to do a little room re-designing as long as there is no furniture blocking exit and entry doors. 3. Use a door shoe organiser You may not bring many pairs of shoes but it’s a necessary accessory for a cruise cabin as it opens space up that you might not have thought of. It can be used for more than just shoes and instead be a place to unpack toiletries, sunscreen, perfume and cologne, deodorant and much more. 4. Pack away your laundry Take a few minutes every night to pack away dirty laundry. If you’re not willing to spend a small fortune to wash your clothes on the cruise ship, then it’s a good option to bring plastic bags or even a separate bag for dirty beach towels, undergarments and wet swimmers. 5. Pack smarter not more It’s the most obvious hack to save room in your stateroom, but it is crucial. Although overpacking is a habit you may possess, it is important to reevaluate how many socks you actually need, or if those extra four pairs of shoes on top of your other two pairs are really necessary.

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Space Oddity at 50: The novelty song that became a cultural touchstone

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Property

Travel

Health

Lifestyle

Finance

Entertainment

Information

Keep up to date

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New NASA images capture birth of a star

We steered a spacecraft into an asteroid

Spinetingling audio of a black hole goes viral, here’s why

The International Space Station to crash to Earth in 2030

How cameras in public spaces might change how we think

How the use of lasers and small satellites helps information get through space

How to make the best of a small space

Space Oddity at 50: The novelty song that became a cultural touchstone

Top 5 ways to save space in a cruise cabin

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