Sydney, Australia (SPX) Sep 01, 2024
Researchers from The Australian National University (ANU) have identified a doughnut-shaped structure deep within Earth's liquid core, offering new insights into the mechanisms behind our planet's magnetic field. The newly discovered structure, located thousands of kilometers beneath the Earth's surface, is confined to low latitudes and aligns parallel to the equator. Despite its significa

San Francisco (AFP) Aug 29, 2024
A bill aimed at regulating powerful artificial intelligence models passed California's legislature on Wednesday, despite outcry that it could kill the technology it seeks to control. "SB 1047 - our AI safety bill - just passed off the Assembly floor. I'm proud of the diverse coalition behind this bill - a coalition that deeply believes in both innovation and safety," said Democratic stat

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Vega joined the family of launch vehicles at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana in 2012. At 30-m tall the rocket weighs 137 tonnes on the launch pad and reaches orbit with three solid-propellant powered stages before the fourth liquid-propellant stage takes over. By rocket standards Vega is lightweight and powerful, the first three stages burn through their fuel and bringing Vega and its satellites to space in just six minutes.

Specialising in launches of small satellites to orbits flying over Earth’s poles, Vega has an impressive roster of missions that it has sent to space. Flagship ESA missions

ESA is part of the Big Science Business Forum 2024 event on 1–4 October in Trieste, Italy. This is where industry and Europe’s leading science organisations, research infrastructures and their collaborators will meet to inform, network and discuss business opportunities in a market valued at nearly €10 billion annually.

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During its recent flyby of Earth, ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) travelled through the zones of charged particles that surround our planet. These two zones are known as the Van Allen radiation belts. The inner belt is mostly full of energetic protons, and the outer belt is mostly full of energetic electrons. The region between the two belts is mostly empty. 

The high levels of radiation in the Van Allen belts makes them very dangerous for electronics and humans, but they pale in comparison to Jupiter's own radiation belts. At Jupiter, extremely energetic electrons can get through even the thickest of shielding, so they could damage Juice's scientific instruments over time. 

Juice carries a radiation monitor called RADEM to continuously measure the spacecraft's exposure