In an article for New Scientist, Lisa Grossman writes that Prof. Paulo Lozano is developing a miniature propulsion system for steering CubeSats, a type of tiny satellite, around in space. “We want to offer space access to people who don’t currently have space access,” explains Lozano.
Jordan Graham writes for The Boston Herald about a system created by Prof. Brian Williams that allows unpiloted underwater vehicles to make decisions without human intervention. Williams explains that the system was developed so that an underwater robot would not need low-level commands, “you just give it your goals.”
Brooks Hays of UPI writes that Prof. Brian Williams has developed a new system that allows autonomous underwater vehicles to operate independently. Robots using the new system “are able to navigate underwater expanses and execute research tasks on their own. Researchers simply dictate high-level goals, and the submersible calculates the most efficient path forward."
MIT researchers have developed a new system that gives underwater robots more decision-making capabilities, reports Kelsey Atherton for Popular Science. Atherton explains that developing machines that can operate without human control could “usher in a whole new age of discovery.”
Jon Christian of The Boston Globe reports that MIT startup Accion Systems has developed a thruster technology that will allow satellites to adjust their orbits. “Eventually, we hope to be able to scale up the performance to address the really large, school bus-size satellites,” explains Accion co-founder and MIT alumna Natalya Brikner.
Prof. Kerri Cahoy speaks with John Hopton of redOrbit about miniature satellites or CubeSats. Cahoy explains that CubeSats are becoming increasingly popular because “they can be tucked into rockets and taken into space pretty cheaply, and we’ve been miniaturizing our electronics and our mechanical devices for spacecrafts so we can actually do something with these mini satellites.”
Boer Deng writes for Nature about NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) probe, which uses microwave measurements to plot moisture levels in the Earth’s soil. “With SMAP, we are trying quite a different model,” says Prof. Dara Entekhabi, who is leading the SMAP science team.
Henry Hanks of CNN writes that MIT researchers have found that a protective field around Earth blocks high-energy electrons. “The phenomenon challenges existing theories that these electrons drift into the upper atmosphere and are destroyed by air molecules,” writes Hanks.
Researchers at the MIT Haystack Observatory have discovered that a phenomenon called “plasmaspheric hiss” prevents radiation from reaching Earth, reports Flora Graham for New Scientist. Graham explains that the plasmaspheric hiss is comprised of “very low-frequency electromagnetic waves,” which act like a radiation barrier.
Researchers from MIT have detected the brightest pulsar ever recorded, reports Brook Hays of UPI. “Despite its small dimensions and modest mass, the pulsating dead star is burning with the energy of 10 million suns,” writes Hays.
A team of MIT researchers has developed an algorithm that will help NASA crews clean up debris in space, reports Nick Stockton for Wired. The research will allow crews to clear pieces of satellites spinning so wildly that they would typically be dangerous to collect.
Tom Ashbrook of NPR’s On Point interviews Professor Kerri Cahoy as a part of a segment on the aging U.S. weather satellite fleet. Cahoy suggests that the U.S. could shift to a more widely distributed network of smaller, cheaper versions of the currently used satellites.