Space Junk Crashed Into the Far Side of the Moon at 5,800 MPH

By EVAN GOUGH, UNIVERSE TODAY MARCH 8, 2022

Artist’s animation of a rocket booster crashing into the moon.

Observers have been tracking a chunk of space junk, waiting for it to strike the Moon. It should’ve hit the far side of the Moon, and hopefully, orbiters will have images of the impact site, though that might take a while.

The origins of the junk are in dispute. Some say it’s a spent booster from a Chinese rocket. Others say it’s from a SpaceX rocket. So far, nobody is claiming it.

Bill Gray was the first one to spot the object. Gray writes the Project Pluto software that tracks Near-Earth Objects (NEOs.) Initially, Gray said the object was the second stage from NASA’s DISCOVR spacecraft launched in 2015. That was a SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage. Then he retracted that after talking with JPL. Now Gray says that it’s a Chang’e 5-T1 rocket booster from 2014. China denies it, which isn’t surprising.

But whatever it is, Gray said on his website, “If this were a rock, I’d be 100% certain. (And I am 100% certain it will hit close to the above point at that time.) But space junk can be a little tricky.”

Bill Gray from Project Pluto calculated that the space junk would hit at or near the green x in this image. Hertzsprung crater is an enormous impact crater on the lunar far side, and it’s about 570 km (350 miles) in diameter. Credit: Bill Gray/Project Pluto

The hunk of junk has been traveling through space for seven years and impacted the Moon at about 9300 kph (5800 mph.) It should’ve struck the Moon on March 4th, and it should’ve left a crater about 20 meters (65 feet) in diameter. No observers, human or technological, were in a position to watch the impact.

But NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) will try to find it. That could take weeks or even months, though.

“NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter will use its cameras to attempt to identify the impact site and determine any potential changes to the lunar environment resulting from this object’s impact,” an agency spokesman told The Wall Street Journal. “The search for the impact crater will be challenging and might take weeks to months.”

NASA’s LRO carries a suite of scientific instruments, including a camera system called the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC). LROC captures high-resolution images of the lunar surface. It’s spotted equipment left behind by the Apollo missions, so it should be able to find the impact site and what’s left of the space junk. (Moon junk?)

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter captured images of the Apollo 15 landing site, including some of the debris left behind. Hopefully, it’ll have no problem finding the space junk impact site from March 2022. PSE is the Passive Seismometer Experiment. LRRR is the Lunar Ranging Retroreflector. They were both parts of the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP.) Credit: NASA/ASU/LRO

This is more than just a tale of a wayward piece of space debris with unacknowledged origins; there’s some science involved.

There’s a lot that scientists don’t know about impact craters. Impact craters are everywhere, and they’ve been imaged and studied in depth. But this is a chance to see a newly-formed crater. And in this case, we know the mass of the impactor, and we know its velocity. Scientists can also tell the object’s orientation at the time of impact from the crater shape and the ejecta. The impact will also reveal data about the impact site itself.

Paul Hayne is Assistant Professor of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He’s the author and co-author of many papers on the Moon and other planetary science topics. He wrote an article at “The Conversation” about the impact called “A rocket crashes into the Moon – the accidental experiment will shed light on the physics of impacts in space.”

“Without knowing the specifics of what created a crater, there is only so much scientists can learn by studying one,” Hayne writes. “As a planetary scientist who studies the Moon, I view this unplanned impact as an exciting opportunity.”

Usually, when a human-made object strikes a Solar System body, it’s by design. So this impact is like an unplanned experiment. What can researchers learn?

When we look at planets like Mercury and Earth’s Moon, we see surfaces that have been battered by impacts for billions of years. There’s a lot scientists still don’t know about the impact process and the physics behind it. “A deeper understanding of impact physics will go a long way in helping researchers interpret the barren landscape of the Moon and also the effects impacts have on Earth and other planets,” Hayne writes.

This is an image of the Hertzsprung crater from Lunar Orbiter 5. Credit: NASA/Lunar and Planetary Institute

We don’t know whose rocket stage it is, but we know the approximate size and mass. It’s about 12 meters (40 ft) long and weighs about 4,500 kg (10,000 lbs.) When the object strikes the Moon, a shockwave will travel the object’s length, and the back end will be destroyed, sending metal debris in all directions. We know this because of NASA’s Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) mission.

NASA launched LCROSS at the same time as the LRO. Its mission was to determine the nature of the hydrogen that India’s Chandrayaan-1 probed sensed at the Moon’s polar regions. LCROSS successfully detected water, but it did something else important, too. It collected and relayed data from the spent Centaur upper stage as it crashed into the Moon on October 9th, 2009.

Scientists also performed impact experiments at the NASA Ames Vertical Gun Range designed to recreate the impact and study it further. They were able to explore the impact plume and the ejecta and to determine how much volatiles can be released by such an impact. The combined effort shed light on how impacts could’ve delivered liquid water and other materials.

“By studying the composition of the dust plume lofted into the sunlight, scientists were able to find signs of a few hundred pounds of water ice that had been liberated from the Moon’s surface by the impact. This was a crucial piece of evidence to support the idea that for billions of years, comets have been delivering water and organic compounds to the Moon when they crash on its surface,” Haynes writes.

Steady impacts over billions of years have shaped the Moon’s surface, creating a layer of loose, pulverized rock that covers most airless worlds. This process is widespread but not well-understood. “However, the overall physics of this process is poorly understood despite how common it is,” Hayne writes.

Unfortunately, the LCROSS crater is hidden in perpetual shadows and has resisted further study.

LCROSS crashed into the Cabeus crater, only 100 km (62 miles) from the lunar south pole. At that location, the impact crater is in almost perpetual shadow. Image Credit: USGS

But this time, it’s different. Though this impact is unintentional, it’s another opportunity to learn more about the Moon, impacts, and the transportation of water and other materials around the Solar System. We just have to wait for the LRO to get in a position where its powerful cameras can get to work.

Scientists will then have access to before and after images of the impact site, and they’ll be able to identify changes in the surface, which can extend for hundreds of meters.

This impact and its lessons are essential when we look to the future. There are a bunch of missions to the Moon planned by multiple agencies, even private companies. The more we learn now, the better prepared these missions will be.

As for Bill Gray, the man who first spotted the rocket debris, he maintains that it’s a Chinese booster. Gray pointed out that there are some quirks in the object’s path. On his website, he says, “I’d have expected the perigee to be near the earth’s surface. The perigee seemed quite high.” He attributed that to fuel that remained in the booster after separation. “However, rocket hardware often does strange things in its early days in space, with leftover fuel leaking out and pushing it around. That causes changes in the orbit so that when you try to figure out where the junk came from, you get a wrong (or at least altered) answer.”

Haynes doesn’t seem as concerned with the object’s origins as Gray is, and he sees it as inadvertent, though welcome, science. “Regardless of this wayward rocket’s identity, this rare impact event will provide new insights that may prove critical to the success of future missions to the Moon and beyond,” Haynes writes.

When it comes to the object itself, we may never know who sent it into space. But that doesn’t matter. The party responsible might not want to admit it’s their rocket, but they’re the unwitting funders of a serendipitous science experiment that might’ve cost millions to perform on purpose.

Originally published on Universe Today.

EMPLOYEE OWNED PETRO COMPANY
Varcoe: Confident in oilsands growth, Waterous Energy Fund closes two deals

'There is growth in the future of the oilsands,' Adam Waterous said in an interview

Author of the article: Chris Varcoe • Calgary Herald
Publishing date:Mar 15, 2022 • 

Adam Waterous, CEO of Waterous Energy Fund. 

PHOTO BY POSTMEDIA FILE


Some onlookers still discount the oilsands as a high-cost, high-carbon source of energy facing a no-growth future, even with the return of higher oil prices — but don’t tell Adam Waterous that.

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“I am not buying it,” Waterous said in an interview Monday.

“What I am buying is that it’s the most economic (oil), it is reducing its carbon intensity the fastest, and it has the world’s leading social and governance (standards).”

Through a series of moves in the past five years, Waterous Energy Fund has grown Strathcona Resources Ltd. into one of the largest private equity-backed petroleum producers in North America.

Strathcona, owned by Waterous Energy Fund and Strathcona employees, is now pumping out about 110,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per day, with a sizeable chunk coming from the oilsands.

On Monday, Waterous Energy Fund announced it has closed the amalgamation of Strathcona with Caltex Resources and completed the previously announced acquisition of the Tucker thermal oilsands asset from Cenovus Energy — and has plans for the future.

“There is growth in the future of the oilsands,” Waterous said.

“Its underlying economics remain compelling on a global basis … Sometimes there is this narrative, ‘Oh well, this is high-cost oil and that can’t compete.’ That is not our analysis.”

Waterous, who founded the fund in 2017, also believes the carbon intensity of the oilsands will continue to fall — and at a faster rate than U.S. shale oil, given Alberta’s geology and the ability to capture carbon emissions and store them underground.

Finally, he said the amount of oil in the hands of free-market companies — not state-owned enterprises — will shrink in the coming decade, meaning the oilsands will gain greater importance as a stable source of supply.

These trends will propel Canadian oil production from four million barrels per day to about five million by 2030, he projected.

The expansion by Strathcona comes as the oil and gas industry has shifted into a period of higher prices, rising geopolitical tensions with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and renewed concerns over energy security. Questions about future demand also continue to percolate as the energy transition accelerates.

On Monday, prices for benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell $6.32 to close at US$103.01 a barrel, having surged above $128 a barrel last week.

With the U.S. banning Russian oil imports last week, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm has called on the American petroleum sector to boost output.

Canada is the largest supplier of foreign oil to the United States. Even with high global prices and concerns about the security of energy supply, there is still a perception in some circles about the future of the oilsands to increase output.

“I think non-Canadians would say oilsands are high cost, high carbon and this is going to be the first (barrel) to go,” said Mark Oberstoetter, a director at energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie, noting the Canadian sector did see production curtailment during low prices but also showed resiliency coming back.

“The flip side of the story is no matter what jurisdiction we’re in, we are looking for barrels to replace Russian supply.”

The U.S. imported about 670,000 barrels of oil and other petroleum products per day from Russia last year.

It’s telling that as the U.S. is reportedly eyeing more barrels coming from countries such as Venezuela to fill the gap of Russian oil, the Biden administration hasn’t said much about turning north for more oil.

“I don’t think the views have changed that much, at least from the U.S. perspective, because Biden cancelled Keystone XL’s permit on Day 1 of getting into office,” said analyst Phil Skolnick of Eight Capital in New York.

Skolnick believes attitudes could shift if oilsands operators continue to make progress reducing emissions per barrel, or if major producers proceed with a large carbon capture and storage project as they move to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

From an investment point of view, Skolnick thinks more pipeline capacity will also be required before oilsands companies give the green light to major new developments.

Miles of unused pipe, prepared for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, sit in a lot on October 14, 2014 outside Gascoyne, North Dakota. 

PHOTO BY ANDREW BURTON /Getty Images

Experts and oilsands operators say smaller projects and expansions will deliver future production increases in Canada in the coming years, not massive multi-year projects.

From Strathcona’s perspective, there is growth on the horizon.

In mid-December, it bought the Tucker thermal oilsands asset from Cenovus Energy for $800 million. Tucker produces about 19,000 barrels per day (bpd), while Caltex pumps out about 13,000 bpd of heavy oil in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

In 2019, Strathcona acquired Pengrowth Energy Corp., bought Osum Oil Sands Corp. in 2020, and snapped up assets in the Montney formation last July.

Rafi Tahmazian, a senior portfolio manager at Canoe Financial, said Strathcona has developed the necessary scale to drive costs down and, during a period of inflation, keep a handle on expenses.

It was also willing to buy assets when others were exiting the sector, understanding the world still needs fossil fuels and the oilsands provide a long-life resource base, he said.

“Strathcona has stepped into where there’s a gap, to be a consolidator of smaller and mid-sized assets,” added Oberstoetter.

Strathcona now has about 450 employees. Oilsands production makes up about 50,000 bpd of its output, with another 25,000 bpd coming from heavy oil operations, said company CEO Rob Morgan.

“What we like about the acquisitions we’ve done is they come with established infrastructure so … there are some small investments we can make and basically boost output,” Morgan said.

“We have abut 10,000 barrels per day we might grow across into 2023, and perhaps another 10,000 a day of those similar opportunities we’d grow beyond that.”


Chris Varcoe is a Calgary Herald columnist.
cvarcoe@postmedia.com

As the ocean industrial revolution gains pace the need for protection is urgent

With the growth of the ‘blue economy’, the UN must act decisively to protect our shared seas – or industry will decide their fate for us

The New England seamount chain in the north Atlantic Ocean is home to forests of deep-sea corals, such as this spiral coral, and is a migratory route for endangered right whales. 

Photograph: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research/AP

Seascape: the state of our oceans is supported by

Douglas J McCauley
Tue 15 Mar 2022 

The ocean is often seen as the last wild frontier: a vast and empty blue wilderness where waves, whales and albatrosses rule. This is no longer true. Unnoticed by many, a new industrial revolution is unfolding in our seas.

The last several decades have seen exponential growth in new marine industries. This includes expansion of offshore oil and gas, but also exponential growth of offshore renewables, such as wind and tidal energy.

Aquaculture, or farming underwater, is one of the world’s fastest growing food sectors. Fishing occurs across more than half of our ocean. More than 1m km of undersea data cables crisscross the high seas. And our ocean highways carry about 1,600% more cargo on ships than they did in the 1980s.

New industries are also lining up to join this booming ocean economy: companies are jockeying to start ocean mining in the Pacific; new experimental fisheries are targeting deep ocean life previously thought impossible to catch; and geoengineering ventures are looking to operate in the ocean.

The onset of this marine industrial revolution puts into context the urgency of a new UN treaty being finalised this week that will dictate the future of the single biggest piece of our ocean and our planet: the high seas.

Encompassing all waters 200 nautical miles beyond nations’ shorelines, the high seas cover two-thirds of the ocean. Uniquely, this vast expanse belongs to us all.

Unfortunately, sharing hasn’t worked out well. Fishery resources are monopolised by a few wealthy actors. Approximately 97% of the trackable industrial fishing on the high seas is controlled by wealthy nations, with 86% of this fishing attributable to just five countries. Some of our most lucrative and nutritionally important high seas fish populations are in decline.


UN ocean treaty is ‘once in a lifetime’ chance to protect the high seas

Biodiversity on the high seas is ecologically important, diverse, unique – but also fragile and increasingly threatened by the explosion in marine industry. Many great whale species have been driven to the brink of extinction by lethal interactions with the fishing and shipping industries as well as the legacy of whaling. Even ocean snails have been declared endangered due to the risks posed by deep-sea mining.

One high seas region in the Pacific deserving of protection hosts an ancient undersea mountain chain whose peaks rise up from the deep where they are adorned with crowns of golden corals, some more than 4,000 years old, and flanked by schools of jewel-like endemic fish species found nowhere else on Earth. This same area is threatened by bottom trawling and ocean mining.

The UN treaty being negotiated in New York provides hope for creating new tools to more intelligently plan out this explosive growth in the “blue economy” and reverse at least some of these negative trends. One historic element of the treaty would be the opportunity to set up high seas marine protected areas.

Nations from around the world have already joined scientists to back a commitment to protect 30% of our ocean by 2030. Unfortunately, we are terribly behind. At best, 8% of the world’s oceans are protected. To get to 30%, and to make such a system ecologically representative, we will need to establish high seas protected areas.
Inaction means industry will decide the fate of the high seas

The treaty is also an opportunity to promote climate resilience. Networks of high seas protected areas could serve as stepping stones for climate stressed species attempting to escape ocean warming.

Today, a mosaic of more than 20 organisations hold different slivers of responsibility for our increasingly busy high seas. A lot slips through the cracks. In our rapidly and haphazardly developing oceans, it is as if we created departments of sanitation, roadworks and water but never quite got around to electing a mayor to bring it all together.

As the marine industrial revolution advances and our ocean grow busier, solutions for high seas management slip further away. Inaction means industry will decide the fate of the high seas for the world, instead of the other way around.

The ocean provides about half of the world’s oxygen, nutrition for billions or people and trillions of dollars in jobs and revenue – it is our fate, as much as anything else, that is being decided by this treaty.

Douglas J McCauley is a professor of ocean science at the University of California Santa Barbara and the director of the Benioff Ocean Initiative

GREEN CAPITALI$M

New Hydropower Scheme For Electric Trucks: Look Ma, No Dams!

Fleets of electric trucks could be deployed in low impact hydropower systems that deploy existing roads instead of new, habitat-destroying infrastructure.

Fleets of electric trucks could be deployed in low impact hydropower systems that deploy existing roads instead of new infrastructure (image by IIASA via the journal Energy, creative commons license).


CLEAN POWER
By Tina Casey
CLEANTECHNICA
Published 2 days ago

So, this is different. A team of researchers has calculated that the equivalent of 4% of global energy consumption could be generated by low-impact hydropower systems that consist of driving electric trucks down mountains. That’s right, driving trucks down mountains.

At this writing, Russia seems intent on murdering as many people in Ukraine as it can. Millions are fleeing and in need of assistance. To help refugees from that conflict and others, contact the International Rescue Committee or other reliable aid organizations.

Electric Trucks For Low Impact Hydropower

The idea of deploying a fleet of electric trucks for hydropower might sound a bit like pie in the sky, but it does share similarities with other gravity-based systems and it was meticulously researched by a team at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis.

The team was intrigued by the potential for transforming electric trucks into mobile hydropower systems. The idea would be to leverage existing roads as a new hydropower resource, instead of building new dams and destroying entire ecosystems.

Think of the pumped storage hydropower area and you’re on the right track. Pumped storage hydropower is a large-scale energy storage technology that involves pumping water to an upper reservoir, then letting it flow downhill to a generating station when needed.

After passing through the turbines, the water can be pumped back uphill. This recycling system had limited use in the era of fossil energy. Under a renewable energy scenario, though, pumped storage provides the means to store wind and solar energy in bulk.

Regenerative Braking Gets Its Hydropower Moment

So, how do electric trucks come into the picture? That’s a good question! The IIASA proposal is intended as a way to tap into the untapped energy potential of small streams in mountainous regions, where technology barriers to new hydropower dams are considerable.

No upper reservoir is needed. If electric trucks do all the heavy lifting, they can collect water from multiple streams on the same mountain before ferrying it downhill. The research team explains:

“Electric Truck Hydropower would use the existing road infrastructure to transport water down the mountain in containers, applying the regenerative brakes of the electric truck to turn the potential energy of the water into electricity and charge the truck’s battery. The generated energy could then be sold to the grid or used by the truck itself to transport other goods.”

For those of you new to the topic, regenerative braking recaptures energy that would otherwise go to waste. Regenerative braking is used to recharge the small battery in conventional vehicles, but it really shines when used in tandem with hybrid or all-electric vehicle battery packs.

The Seeds Of An Idea For Electric Trucks

If you’re wondering how the research team came up with this idea, that’s another good question. You can get all the details from the journal Energy, under the title, “Electric Truck Hydropower, a flexible solution to hydropower in mountainous regions,” in which they note that comparable systems are already in use.

“A similar case to ETH happens in the mining industry in Poland, where the extracted minerals are transported down a mountain with electric trucks, and each truck can generate up to 200 kWh per day,” they explain.

The hydropower version of that operation would involve electric trucks with swappable batteries.

“The electric truck enters the discharge site with a container full of water, leaves it to be emptied, collects an empty container, and drives up the mountain. The charged battery is replaced by a discharged battery,” the team explains, cautioning that the replacement battery needs to have enough charge to get the truck back up the mountain.

The team also notes that in the hydropower version, disruption to aquatic systems can — and should — be minimized by regulating the extraction of water from steams and the discharge of water from the containers.

Electric Trucks: Who’s Gonna Pay For All This?

As for the expense of buying a new fleet of electric trucks, the researchers calculate that their Electric Truck Hydropower system is far less expensive than conventional hydropower, at a levelized cost of only $30–100 per megawatt hour compared to the $50–200 range typical of conventional hydropower.

They also point out that the electric truck fleet could be put to use on other duties when needed.

As large mobile energy storage devices, the fully charged electric trucks could also deploy their bi-directional charging capability to serve as emergency generators at various locations.

Hmmm…What About Retrofit Kits For Electric Trucks?

The idea of electric trucks subbing in for hydropower dams also begins to appear more do-able when you consider that EV battery technology is constantly improving and costs are coming down.

Another angle to consider is the potential for retrofitting an existing fleet of diesel trucks with electric drive. Activity in the retrofit area has been kicking up a storm in recent years, and costs have been coming down in that area as well.

One development to watch on that score is the California firm Romeo Power. The company has been suffering through a rough patch since going public on a SPAC in December of 2020, but last week it announced a mashup with the electric powertrain firm Wrightspeed, founded by Tesla co-founder Ian Wright, which makes it of interest to Tesla fans.

The two companies are eyeballing a market of a million or so trucks and buses that are candidates for retrofits. The idea is to hook Romeo Power’s battery packs with Wrightspeed’s “Powertrain in a Crate” kits.

As applied to the IIASA electric truck hydropower plan, a retrofit would need to maximize regenerative braking and accommodate battery-swapping, which could limit the playing field. However, the battery swapping field has also been heating up.

Critics have argued that battery swapping is out of date now that fast-charging and long range batteries are commonplace, but the electric truck hydropower plan suggests that niche markets for swapping can be created.

Meanwhile, when talk of pumped storage hydropower comes up, the topic naturally turns to long duration energy storage in general, meaning systems that can provide electricity for multiple days and not just a few hours.

In common with the electric truck proposal, some of the new systems under development in the bulk energy storage field leverage renewable energy and gravity to replace the massive infrastructure required of pumped storage hydropower systems, so stay tuned for more on that.

Follow me on Twitter @TinaMCasey.

Image credit: Electric trucks for low impact hydropower by IIASA via the journal Energy under Creative Commons license.

SUSTAINABLE CAPITALI$M

Driscoll’s and Plenty Commit to Build Their First Commercial Strawberry Indoor Vertical Farm


The Global Market Leader in Premium Berries and Innovative Indoor Vertical Farming Company Collaborate to Drive Category Growth in Top Berry Loving Cities in the Northeast

March 15, 2022 

WATSONVILLE & SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--One year after announcing their joint research and development work to grow strawberries indoors, Driscoll’s, the leading consumer brand in fresh premium berries, and Plenty Unlimited Inc. are expanding their relationship to build a new indoor vertical farm dedicated exclusively to strawberries. After exceeding the goals set forward for the initial stages of the partnership, the two companies are accelerating efforts to grow Driscoll’s proprietary, best-in-class flavorful berries using Plenty’s unique vertical growing platform. This new farm, to serve consumers in the Northeastern United States, will provide fresh, consistent, high-flavor strawberries closer to berry-loving consumers who live in highly dense urban regions. This strategy will provide the fastest category growth to a mature market that has demonstrated appreciation for a high-flavor product offering.

“Over the last year Plenty has demonstrated its technological leadership in indoor vertical farming by growing our proprietary strawberries to meet the rigorous flavor and quality required of a Driscoll’s berry”

“The Northeast is the largest berry consumption region in the US, with a dense population of berry-loving consumers,” said Arama Kukutai, CEO at Plenty. “Our partnership with Driscoll’s, coupled with Plenty’s optimized technology platform, ensures we can consistently grow premium berries closer to where these consumers live, providing fresh, consistent quality. We’ve successfully leveraged the expertise of the world’s largest strawberry breeding program within Plenty’s own controlled growing environment, maximizing the flavor of each berry and optimizing for both texture and size. We’re excited to bring our first indoor vertical farm dedicated to strawberries to life with the undisputed leader in the space.”

Driscoll’s 100 years of farming heritage and focus on delivering Only the Finest Berries™ has proven an ideal partner for Plenty's industry-leading, sustainable, indoor farming technology. Together, the two companies are able to grow consistent, high-quality berries closer to where the consumer lives.

“Over the last year Plenty has demonstrated its technological leadership in indoor vertical farming by growing our proprietary strawberries to meet the rigorous flavor and quality required of a Driscoll’s berry,” said J. Miles Reiter, Driscoll’s Chairman and CEO. “We are excited to see the initial success of our collaboration and look forward to expanding our relationship with a new farm that will drive category growth to the Northeastern part of the US.”

Plenty utilizes Driscoll’s proprietary genetics and berry expertise alongside its own advanced, indoor farming technology and plant science expertise to grow Driscoll’s beloved berries. Leveraging the massive amounts of growing data generated by its platform, Plenty uses proprietary data analytics, machine learning and customized lighting to consistently deliver yields 150-350 times greater per acre than the field.

As part of the partnership, Driscoll’s strawberries were initially grown in Plenty’s Laramie, Wyoming farm, the largest indoor plant science research facility of its kind.

About Driscoll’s

Driscoll’s is the global market leader of fresh strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. With more than 100 years of farming heritage, Driscoll’s is a pioneer of berry flavor innovation and the trusted consumer brand of Only the Finest Berries™. With more than 900 independent growers around the world, Driscoll’s develops exclusive patented berry varieties using only natural breeding methods that focus on growing great tasting berries. A dedicated team of agronomists, breeders, sensory analysts, plant pathologists and entomologists help grow baby seedlings that are then grown on local family farms. Driscoll’s now serves consumers year-round across North America, Australia, Europe and China in over twenty-two countries.

About Plenty

Plenty is rewriting the rules of agriculture through its technology platform that can grow clean produce anywhere in the world, year round, with unprecedented yield and peak season quality. Plenty’s proprietary approach preserves the world’s natural resources, makes nutritious produce available to all communities and creates resilience in our food systems against weather, location, pests and climate. Plenty's headquarters are in South San Francisco, and the company operates the largest of its kind indoor plant science research facility in Laramie, Wyoming. Plenty is currently building the world's highest-output, vertical, indoor farm in Compton, California. For more information, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn, or visit www.plenty.ag.

ETHER OR...

What Is Dark Matter? The Answer to Universe's Greatest Mystery Could Be Axions

The saga of how an odd hypothetical particle became a star dark matter candidate.


Monisha Ravisetti
March 13, 2022 

Dark matter and dark energy make up more of the universe

 than observable matter and energy do.

Getty/Vadim Kalinin

Physics is permeated by conundrums, and in a sense, that's what keeps the field going. These mind-bending puzzles foster a race toward truth. But of all the dilemmas, I'd say two of them unquestionably fall under priority A.

First off, when scientists look up at the sky, they consistently see stars and galaxies traveling farther from our planet, and from each other, in every direction. The universe kind of looks like a bubble blowing up, which is how we've come to know it's expanding. But something doesn't make sense.

Space doesn't seem to have enough stuff floating around in it -- stars, particles, planets and all else -- for it to inflate so swiftly. In other words, the universe is expanding way faster than our physics says it can, and it's even picking up speed as you read this. Which brings us to problem two.

Per experts' best calculations, galaxies are spinning so incredibly quickly as everything zips around that we'd expect the spirals to behave like out-of-control merry-go-rounds flinging metal horses off the ride. There doesn't seem to be enough stuff in the universe to anchor them together. Yet the Milky Way isn't drifting apart.

So… what's going on?

A simulation of dark matter filaments across the universe. 

Zarija Lukic/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

As blanket terms, physicists call "missing" stuff pushing the cosmos outward dark energy, and pieces holding galaxies together -- presumably in a halo-like form -- dark matter. Neither interacts with light or matter we can see, so they're essentially invisible. Combined, dark matter and dark energy make up a whopping 95% of the universe.

Zeroing in on dark matter's portion, the authors of a recent review, published in the journal Science Advances, write that "it may well consist of one or more types of fundamental particle … although part or all of it might consist of macroscopic lumps of some invisible form of matter, such as black holes."

Black holes or not, dark matter is totally elusive. 

In an effort to decode its secrets, scientists have picked a handful of suspects out of the cosmic lineup, and one of the most wanted particles is an odd little speck called the axion.

The wide-eyed hypothesis of axions

You might've heard of the Standard Model, which is pretty much the holy grail, ever-strengthening handbook of particle physics. It outlines how every single particle in the universe works.

However, as the Science Advances review points out, some "particle physicists are restless and dissatisfied with the Standard Model because it has many theoretical shortcomings and leaves many pressing experimental questions unanswered." More specifically for us, it leads right into a paradox regarding a well-established scientific concept dubbed CPT invariance. Aha, the physics puzzles continue.
Galaxy and associated dark matter halo, illustration.

Mark Garlick/Science Photo Libra

Basically, CPT invariance states that the universe must be symmetrical when it comes to C (charge), P (parity) and T (time). For that reason, it's also called CPT symmetry. If everything had the opposite charge, was left-handed instead of right-handed and traveled through time backward instead of forward, it states the universe should remain just the same.

For a long while, CPT symmetry seemed unbreakable. Then 1956 came around.

Long story short, scientists found something that violates the P part of CPT symmetry. It's called the weak force, and it dictates things like neutrino collisions and element fusion in the sun. Everyone was shocked, confused and scared.

Nearly every foundational concept of physics relies on CPT symmetry.

About a decade later, researchers discovered the weak force violating C symmetry, too. Things were falling apart. Physicists could just hope and pray that even if P is violated… and CP is violated… maybe CPT still isn't. Maybe weak forces just need the trio to uphold CPT symmetry. Thankfully, this theory seems correct. For some unknown reason, the weak force follows total CPT symmetry despite C and CP blips. Phew.

But here's the issue. If weak forces violate CP symmetry, you'd expect strong forces to as well, right? Well, they don't, and physicists don't know why. This is called the strong CP problem -- and precisely where things get interesting.

Neutrons -- uncharged particles within atoms -- abide by the strong force. Plus, allowing for simplification, their neutral charge means they violate T symmetry. And "if we find something that violates T symmetry, then it must also violate CP symmetry in such a way that the combination CPT is not violated," the paper states. But... that's weird. Neutrons don't because of the strong CP problem.

And so the idea of the axion was born.

Neutrons are uncharged particles right in the center clump of atoms.

Getty/iLexx

Years ago, physicists Roberto Peccei and Helen Quinn suggested adding a new dimension to the Standard Model. It involved a field of ultralight particles -- axions -- that explained the strong CP problem, thereby relaxing the conditions for neutrons. Axions appeared to fix everything so well that the duo's idea became the "most popular solution to the strong CP problem," the paper states. It was a miracle.

To be clear, axions are still hypothetical, but think about what just happened. Physicists added a new particle to the Standard Model, which outlines specks of the entire universe. What might that mean for everything else?
The key to dark matter?

Per the Peccei-Quinn theory, axions would be "cold," or very slowly moving through space. And… the study researchers say "the existence of [dark matter] is inferred from its gravitational effects, and astrophysical observations suggest that it is 'cold.'"

The paper also states, "there are experimental upper limits on how strongly [the axion] interacts with the visible matter."

So, basically, axions that help explain the strong CP problem also seem to have theoretical properties that align with those of dark matter. Extremely well.

The European Council for Nuclear Research, better known as CERN, which runs the Large Hadron Collider and is leading the charge for antimatter studies, also underlines "one of the most suggestive properties of axions is that, in a natural way, they could be produced in huge numbers soon after the Big Bang. This population of axions would still be present today and could compose the dark matter of the universe."

One SLAC research area is reconstructing the formation of the universe. We're familiar with galaxies, but this simulation shows strands of dark matter that lace the cosmos. Galaxies form at the brighter nodes where the density is highest.

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

There you go. Axions are among the hottest topic in physics because they seem to explain so much. But once again, those sought-after bits are still hypothetical.
Will we ever find axions?

It's been 40 years since scientists began hunting for axions.

Most of these searches are "mainly exploiting the action field interaction with the electromagnetic fields," say the authors in that recent review published in Science Advances.

For instance, CERN developed the Axion Search Telescope, a machine built to find a hint of the particles produced in the sun's core. Inside our star, there are strong electric fields that could potentially interact with axions -- if they're really there, that is.

A NASA solar sounding rocket mission reveals a stunning view of super-hot magnetic threads in the sun's atmosphere.

University of Central Lancashire

But the quest has so far faced a few pretty big challenges. For one, "the particle mass is not theoretically predictable," the authors write -- that is, we have very little idea of what an axion might look like.

Right now, scientists are still searching for them while assuming a vastly wide range of masses. Recently, however, researchers offered evidence that the particle is likely between 40 and 180 microelectron volts. That's unthinkably small, at about 1 billionth the mass of an electron.

"In addition," the team writes, "the axion signal is expected to be very narrow ... and extremely feeble due to very weak couplings to Standard Model particles and fields." In essence, even if minuscule axions try their very best to signal their existence to us, we might miss them. Their cues could be so weak we'd barely notice.

Despite these hurdles, the axion search marches on. Most scientists argue that they must be out there somewhere but they seem too good to be true when it comes to fully explaining dark matter.

"Most experimental attempts assume that axions compose 100% of the dark matter halo," the study authors emphasize, suggesting that perhaps there's a way to "look into axion physics without relying on such an assumption."

Though they may be the star of the show, what if axions are just one chapter of dark matter history?

First published on March 10, 2022 

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A Cosmic Web Connecting the Universe Shapes Dark Matter in Galaxies, Study Finds

Galaxies located at cosmic web “nodes” assemble dark matter earlier, and are more enriched with heavy elements, compared with those that are further away.

By Becky Ferreira
15.3.22



GALAXIES IN THE COSMIC WEB. IMAGE: K. DOLAG, UNIVERSITÄTS-STERNWARTE MÜNCHEN, LUDWIG-MAXIMILIANS-UNIVERSITÄT MÜNCHEN, GERMANY

Our universe is connected by a cosmic web made of giant threads of dark matter and gas that stretch across millions of light years and intersect at “nodes” populated by dense clusters of galaxies. This vast network shapes the distribution and evolution of galaxies in fundamental ways that scientists are trying to unravel with ever-sharper observations and advanced simulations.

Now, a team led by Callum Donnan, a postgraduate student in astronomy at the University of Edinburgh, have identified a key correlation between the chemical makeup of galaxies and their location within the cosmic web. Using both real-life observations and computer simulations, the team found that “galaxies closer to nodes [display] higher chemical enrichment than those farther away,” a discovery that reveals some of the mysterious dynamics that link the universe, according to a study published on Monday in Nature Astronomy.

“It’s been postulated for a while that there is a link between how galaxies evolve and their position in the cosmic web,” said Donnan in an email. “Getting observational evidence however has been difficult due to the need for large, dense spectroscopic surveys covering much of the sky. Results from this have come recently but how the gas properties link to the cosmic web hadn’t been explored in much detail before.”

To home in on this question, Donnan and his colleagues examined galaxies within about a billion light years of the Milky Way observed by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey in New Mexico, which covers a huge area of the sky. The team studied the elemental makeup of gasses in the interstellar spaces within these real-life galaxies, a property that is known as gas-phase metallicity.

The results revealed that galaxies close to the nodes of the cosmic web were richer in “metals,” which in astronomy refers to any element heavier than helium. A weaker correlation was also observed with proximity to the web’s filaments, which are the threads that stretch across the universe and link nodes together. The team ran sophisticated cosmological simulations using the IllustrisTNG platform, which supported the observational findings.

Significantly, the approach revealed that a galaxy’s position in the cosmic web modulates its chemical content even when other factors, such as the density of a particular region in the universe, are taken into account.

“We suspected there would be a relationship as galaxies are not isolated systems and interact with their environment,” Donnan noted. “However, we were not sure exactly what to expect as there are numerous physical processes at play here. There has been some evidence in the past that galaxies in overdense regions of the universe are chemically enriched but nothing looking at the full scale of the cosmic web.”

Naturally, that raises the question of why galaxies located near nodes are enriched with more metals compared to those distributed along filaments or in empty “voids” within the cosmic web. Donnan’s team isolated two major drivers of this relationship: The absorption of gas from outside of galaxies and the evolution of stars and dark matter inside of them.

Galaxies feed on gasses that are strewn across space in the intergalactic medium, but those that are further from nodes consume much more of this outside material than those close to nodes. Since intergalactic gas is metal-poor, it dilutes the enriched gas of far-flung galaxies, lowering their overall gas-phase metallicities. Galaxies near nodes don’t consume as much of this metal-poor material, which helps to keep them chemically enriched with higher concentrations of heavier elements.

In addition, galaxies close to nodes seem to have matured earlier than those located at a distance. These galaxies had a head-start in birthing new stars and collecting dark matter, which is a mysterious substance that makes up most of the matter in the universe.

“We think that galaxies close to nodes had more active star formation in their past and other results show that galaxies close to nodes assembled their dark matter earlier,” Donnan said. “We suggest that this shows a link between the underlying assembly of the large dark matter structure in the universe, and the gas metallicity through increased early star formation.”

Teasing out these nuanced connections between the cosmic web and the evolution of galaxies is a difficult task, given the scale and complexities of these astronomical interactions. Donnan and his colleagues said their findings represent “​​an important first step towards that goal” in the study, but they also emphasize that new technologies will refine these mysteries in the future. In particular, the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), due for completion in the mid-2020s, will help to expose some of the hidden links between this epic cosmic structure and the galaxies within and around it.

“With the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) we will have spectra for an order of magnitude more galaxies and this will allow us to push this question forward and start to really disentangle the ways in which the cosmic web influences galaxy evolution,” Donnan said. “DESI will also allow us to see this effect further back in time and therefore we can see how the role of the cosmic web in galaxy evolution changes over time.”

“The big picture here is to try and generate a complete picture of galaxy evolution and we have shown that in order to do this, we need to consider the role of the cosmic web,” he concluded. “There is a lot of uncertainty particularly on the complex gas physics of galaxies and we have shown the cosmic web plays a role in this. Also, trying to connect how the large-scale structure of the universe grows, with how galaxies evolve, is important to understanding the evolution of the universe as a whole as it can help us better understand cosmology. This helps create a bridge between physics on the largest scales and on smaller, galactic scales.”

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FRANCE

Uh Oh, Regulators Just Halted Assembly of the World’s Largest Tokamak Reactor

Caroline Delbert 

POPMECH

Regulators have halted assembly of the huge ITER tokamak facility.

The objections include manufacturing issues, worker safety, and disaster plans.

ITER says it hopes to resume construction by April.

French officials with the nation’s nuclear regulatory body have ordered the ITER organization to stop construction of its humongous tokamak reactor while it addresses safety concerns over its assembly. Opponents of nuclear fusion research are citing this as a victory, but a lot is on the line for the billions of international dollars that are funding ITER.

The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER)—based in Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, France—is the result of decades of research around the world. Construction began on site in 2020, including the assembly of enormous parts that countries like the United States, India, and Korea have manufactured. To date, most of ITER’s assembly has included the outermost parts of the tokamak, like the container for the reactor and the large magnets that will contain the millions-of-degrees-hot hydrogen plasma inside.

The goal with ITER is not just to build a world-record sized reactor—it’s also meant to foster collaboration among the international community as various countries put their manufacturing chops to the test and learn new information for dozens of smaller global reactor projects in progress. ITER wants to demonstrate that productive nuclear fusion is possible and serve as inspiration. That’s one reason why an obstacle like halted assembly feels like an even bigger deal.

So what happened in France?“[O]n 25 January, France’s Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) sent a letter ordering a stoppage until ITER can address concerns about neutron radiation, slight distortions in the steel sections, and loads on the concrete slab holding up the reactor,” Science explains in a report.
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Anti-fusion activist and industry journalist Steven Krivit was first to break the news of the letter on his website New Energy Times. Krivit sent the letter to various science outlets—Popular Mechanics included—and said in a follow-up email that he and New Energy Times first reported on the broken equipment problem several months ago. Krivit says two big pieces needed for ITER were altered during manufacturing and must be repaired through a different welding plan, something that ITER has said can only be done on site in their facilities. This is something France’s Nuclear Safety Authority takes issue with.

© ITER Organization This is the first ITER central solenoid module to enter the assembly process in February 2022. As the yellow lifting tools and devices are progressively removed from the module on the left, the platform to the right is being equipped for the first assembly steps.

The risks at ITER are in the same category as any other nuclear power facility. If something is structurally wrong, that increases the possibility that radiation could leak out into the surroundings. While Krivit’s beat has mostly been what he says are the false claims made by fusion researchers—hiding the true energy cost of reactors, for example, and underplaying how far we still are from fusion ignition or energy-productive fusion—these are far simpler questions of safety itself. If the world’s biggest fusion reactor can’t be built safely, it shouldn’t be built, period.

The letter is in French, so is not appropriate to quote from here, but it details a long list of issues the French regulators have with what has happened at ITER so far. That includes the pieces that were manufactured out of their expected dimensions, which changes the dynamics when those pieces are welded. It also includes concerns that ITER’s safety plans don’t account for the idea of a severe earthquake. ITER must also show more clearly that workers will be safe from the neutron flux when the facility is up and running.

ITER boss Bernard Bigot tells Science he hopes ITER will satisfy ASN’s points and resume its welding plans by April.

UK

FOR AN INFINTELY SHORT TIME
Tokamak Energy achieves temperature threshold for commercial fusion

By David Szondy
March 12, 2022

The ST-40 spherical tokamak fusion reactor
Tokamak Energy

Oxford-based UK tech firm Tokamak Energy has reached a milestone in privately-funded fusion research after its ST-40 spherical tokamak reactor reached a temperature of 100 million °C (180 million °F), which it says is the threshold for commercial fusion energy.

For over 75 years, the promise of a practical fusion reactor has remained frustratingly out of reach, with the promise of one seemingly being just a couple of decades down the line for decades now. However, the implications of such a reactor technology and its ability to supply humanity with a practically unlimited supply of cheap, clean energy is such a game changer that scientists and engineers continue to pursue it.

The principle behind nuclear fusion is relatively simple. Just take hydrogen atoms and subject them to the kind of heat and pressures found inside the Sun long enough for them to fuse together to form heavier atoms and they release enormous amounts of energy in the process.

Unfortunately, this is a classic example of something like a violin, which is easy to play in theory, but incredibly hard to do in practice. Put simply, getting the three main factors (heat, pressure, and time) to balance out in order to produce fusion isn't that hard. In fact, during the 1964 New York World's Fair, an exhibit was staged where the public could watch a bench-top fusion reactor operate in real time for a fraction of a second. The hard part since then has been to come up with a reactor that can produce practical amounts of energy in a steady supply and in amounts greater than has to be put in to start the reaction.


Cutaway view of a spherical tokamak reactor
Tokamak Energy

One of the most promising of these is the tokamak reactor, which was first developed in the Soviet Union in the 1950s. The basic design is a hollow ring surrounded by coils that set up a magnetic field inside. The ring contains a vacuum in which hydrogen atoms are introduced. The magnetic field constrains and pinches the atoms as they heat to millions of degrees, stripping them of their electrons and turning them into a plasma as they spin around the ring. When conditions are right, fusion occurs.

Most of the tokamak reactors built in the past 70 years have been government-funded research reactors that have concentrated on learning more about the behavior of hydrogen plasmas and the problems that building a practical reactor will encounter. This means that these tokamaks tend to be extremely large and expensive and channel such enormous amounts of energy that if it's accidentally released the entire machine jumps like an ocean liner taking to the air.


Diagram of the fusion reactor's magnetic field
Tokamak Energy

On the other end of the scale are privately-funded reactors like Tokamak Energy's ST40 spherical tokamak. While government reactors have already reached the 100-million °C mark, doing so with a much smaller commercial reactor at a cost of only £50 million (US$70 million) and having this confirmed by outside observers is quite an achievement.

According to the company, the purpose of ST40 is to concentrate on the commercial applications of fusion energy. Specifically, making the reactors economically viable. For this reason, the ST40 is a spherical tokamak.

Where conventional tokamaks have large torus chambers, the spherical reactor is much more compact and replaces the all-encircling magnets with ones that meet in the center of the chamber in the form of a post. This gives the reactor an oblate shape, something like an apple. This allows the magnets to sit closer to the plasma stream, so the magnets are smaller and use less power, yet generate more intense fields.

In addition, the ST40 uses High Temperature Superconducting (HTS) magnets made from rare-earth Barium Copper Oxide (REBCO) and formed into narrow tapes that are less than 0.1 mm thick. These "high temperature" magnets operate at between between -250 and -200 °C (-418 and -328 °F) or roughly the temperature of liquid nitrogen. This makes it much cheaper to keep the reactor magnets cool than ones that rely on liquid helium.

Close up showing the reactor field coils
Tokamak Energy

This setup makes for a smaller, simpler reactor where the plasma remains much more stable under conditions that support the fusion reaction. However, the reactor has less overall pressure than conventional tokamaks and the central pillar is vulnerable to decay from the plasma and needs to be replaced regularly.

The company is now at work on a more advanced reactor, the ST-HTS, which will be commissioned in a few years and will hopefully provide information for designing the first true commercial plant in the 2030s.

"We are proud to have achieved this breakthrough which puts us one step closer to providing the world with a new, secure and carbon-free energy source," said Chris Kelsall, CEO of Tokamak Energy. "When combined with HTS magnets, spherical tokamaks represent the optimal route to achieving clean and low-cost commercial fusion energy. Our next device will combine these two world leading technologies for the first time and is central to our mission to deliver low-cost energy with compact fusion modules."

The video below discusses the new record plasma temperature.

ONE IS LUCIFER ONE IS BABALON
The Difference Between a 'Morning Star' and 'Evening Star' (Because It's Not What You Think)"

Everything you think you know about the “Morning Star” and the “Evening Star” is wrong.

By Stephen Johnson

If you’ve ever heard anyone mention the morning star(s) and the evening star(s) and didn’t know what they meant, here’s what’s really going on up there in the heavens. First off, the names are misleading. “Morning star” and “evening star” both originally referred to the same celestial object, and it’s not a star at all. It’s Venus, the third brightest object in the sky, behind the sun and the moon.

Venus always appears close to the sun, but because of its orbit, it sometimes appears to be leading the sun and sometimes following it. When Venus is trailing the sun, it appears in the sky moments after the sun goes down. This is when it is called an “evening star.” When it’s “leading” the sun, it appears to rise near dawn, just before the sun comes up. That’s when it’s called a “morning star.”
Ancient astrologers made a huge mistake

Egyptian, Mayan, Greek, and other cultures’ star-gazers understandably believed Venus was two separate stars. They thought the same thing about Mercury, which also appears relatively close to the sun. Around the 5th century BC, Pythagoras delineated the objects as two separate planets, but it wasn’t until 1543 when Copernicus straightened everything out by discovering that Earth is a planet, too, and all the planets revolve around the sun.

On “wandering stars” and whether they are “morning” or “evening” stars

Because Venus isn’t the only planet we can see in the sky without a telescope, we now refer to “morning stars,” which are Venus, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and sometimes Uranus (if it’s very dark, and you have good eyesight). These used to be called “wandering stars.”

Determining whether Venus and Mercury (aka the “inferior planets”) are considered morning or evening stars is usually easy; it’s determined by how they appear relative to the sun. But with the other, “superior,” planets, it get a little trickier, and can involve morning stars becoming visible just after sunset and vice-versa. Here’s how space.com describes it:

In order to differentiate between what qualifies for the branding as a “morning star” versus an “evening star,” we would say that during the time frame from when a planet is moving from its conjunction with the sun to just a day prior to its opposition (when it is directly opposite to the sun in the sky) it is considered a “morning star.” At opposition, the superior planet in question would be rising when the sun sets and sets as the sun rises. From then on it is branded as an “evening star,” rising or already in the sky as daytime ends.

Did you miss the Venus Transit? Too bad for you.

Occasionally, Venus appears to pass in front of the sun and blocks out some sunlight, like a wee eclipse. On average, this transit happens every 80 years, but more accurately, it’s a “pair of pairs” pattern that repeats every 243 years. So if you caught the Venusian Transit on June 8, 2004, you could get a repeat showing in June 2012. If you missed it, you’ll have to wait until 2117. Sorry.