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Starlight (interstellar Probe)
Project Starlight is a research project of the University of California, Santa Barbara to develop a fleet of laser beam-propelled interstellar probes and sending them to a star neighboring the Solar System, potentially Alpha Centauri. The project aims to send organisms on board the probe. Overview Starlight aims to accelerate the spacecraft with powerful lasers, a method the project refers to as DEEP-IN (Directed Energy Propulsion for Interstellar Exploration), thus allowing them to reach stars near the Solar System in a matter of years, in contrast to traditional propulsion methods which would require thousands of years. Each spacecraft would be the size of a DVD disc and would be powered by plutonium. They would fly at one-fifth of the speed of light, and in the case of Alpha Centauri, they would arrive after traveling more than twenty years from Earth. History Starlight is a program of the Experimental Cosmology Group of University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), and has ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
University Of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the University of California 10-university system. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an independent teachers' college, UCSB joined the University of California system in 1944, and is the third-oldest undergraduate campus in the system, after UC Berkeley and UCLA. Located on a WWII-era Marine air station, UC Santa Barbara is organized into three undergraduate colleges ( College of Letters and Science, College of Engineering, College of Creative Studies) and two graduate schools ( Gevirtz Graduate School of Education and Bren School of Environmental Science & Management), offering more than 200 degrees and programs. The university has 10 national research centers, including the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics and the Center for Contro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Interstellar Probe
An interstellar probe is a space probe that has left—or is expected to leave—the Solar System and enter interstellar space, which is typically defined as the region beyond the heliopause. It also refers to probes capable of reaching other star systems. There are five interstellar probes, all launched by the American space agency NASA: ''Voyager 1'', ''Voyager 2'', ''Pioneer 10'', '' Pioneer 11'' and ''New Horizons''. As of 2019, ''Voyager 1'', ''Voyager 2'' and ''Pioneer 10'' are the only probes to have actually reached interstellar space. The other two are on interstellar trajectories. The termination shock is the point in the heliosphere where the solar wind slows down to subsonic speed. Even though the termination shock happens as close as 80–100 AU (astronomical units) the maximum extent of the region in which the Sun's gravitational field is dominant (the Hill sphere) is thought to be at around . This point is close to the nearest known star system, Alpha Centaur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alpha Centauri
Alpha Centauri ( Latinized from α Centauri and often abbreviated Alpha Cen or α Cen) is a triple star system in the constellation of Centaurus. It consists of 3 stars: Alpha Centauri A (officially Rigil Kentaurus), Alpha Centauri B (officially Toliman) and Alpha Centauri C (officially Proxima Centauri). Proxima Centauri is also the closest star to the Sun at 4.2465 light-years (1.3020 pc). Alpha Centauri A and B are Sun-like stars ( Class G and K, respectively), and together they form the binary star system Alpha Centauri AB. To the naked eye, the two main components appear to be a single star with an apparent magnitude of −0.27. It is the brightest star in the constellation and the third-brightest in the night sky, outshone only by Sirius and Canopus. Alpha Centauri A has 1.1 times the mass and 1.5 times the luminosity of the Sun, while Alpha Centauri B is smaller and cooler, at 0.9 times the Sun's mass and less than 0.5 times its luminosity. The p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Economist Group, with its core editorial offices in the United States, as well as across major cities in continental Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. In 2019, its average global print circulation was over 909,476; this, combined with its digital presence, runs to over 1.6 million. Across its social media platforms, it reaches an audience of 35 million, as of 2016. The newspaper has a prominent focus on data journalism and interpretive analysis over original reporting, to both criticism and acclaim. Founded in 1843, ''The Economist'' was first circulated by Scottish economist James Wilson to muster support for abolishing the British Corn Laws (1815–1846), a system of import tariffs. Over time, the newspaper's coverage expanded furthe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
DEEP-IN
DEEP-IN, also known as Directed Energy Propulsion for Interstellar Exploration, is a spaceflight propulsion concept that uses photonic laser propulsion with beamed power to propel a spacecraft in deep space. The concept was originally conceived by Professor Philip Lubin of the University of California Santa Barbara's Physics Department. Lubin is developing it under the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Program. DEEP-IN is notable as the first NASA-backed photonic laser propulsion concept. It is heavily derived from DE-STAR, a planetary defense satellite concept previously developed by Lubin, in which he proposes using directed energy from lasers to vaporize or knock off course destructive asteroids headed for Earth. The system is scalable and modular, so that gradually larger objects can be propelled into space at relativistic speeds (speeds that are a significant fraction of the speed of light) with increasingly powerful lasers. Currently, research models suggest that using this te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts
The NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) is a NASA program for development of far reaching, long term advanced concepts by "creating breakthroughs, radically better or entirely new aerospace concepts". The program operated under the name NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts from 1998 until 2007 (managed by the Universities Space Research Association on behalf of NASA), and was reestablished in 2011 under the name NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts and continues to the present. The NIAC program funds work on revolutionary aeronautics and space concepts that can dramatically impact how NASA develops and conducts its missions. History The ''NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts'' (NIAC) was a NASA-funded program that was operated by the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) for NASA from 1998 until its closure on 31 August 2007. NIAC was to serve as "an independent open forum, a high-level point of entry to NASA for an external community of innovators, and an externa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caenorhabditis Elegans
''Caenorhabditis elegans'' () is a free-living transparent nematode about 1 mm in length that lives in temperate soil environments. It is the type species of its genus. The name is a blend of the Greek ''caeno-'' (recent), ''rhabditis'' (rod-like) and Latin ''elegans'' (elegant). In 1900, Maupas initially named it ''Rhabditides elegans.'' Osche placed it in the subgenus ''Caenorhabditis'' in 1952, and in 1955, Dougherty raised ''Caenorhabditis'' to the status of genus. ''C. elegans'' is an unsegmented pseudocoelomate and lacks respiratory or circulatory systems. Most of these nematodes are hermaphrodites and a few are males. Males have specialised tails for mating that include spicules. In 1963, Sydney Brenner proposed research into ''C. elegans,'' primarily in the area of neuronal development. In 1974, he began research into the molecular and developmental biology of ''C. elegans'', which has since been extensively used as a model organism. It was the first multice ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nematode
The nematodes ( or grc-gre, Νηματώδη; la, Nematoda) or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda (also called Nemathelminthes), with plant- parasitic nematodes also known as eelworms. They are a diverse animal phylum inhabiting a broad range of environments. Less formally, they are categorized as Helminths, but are taxonomically classified along with arthropods, tardigrades and other moulting animals in the clade Ecdysozoa, and unlike flatworms, have tubular digestive systems with openings at both ends. Like tardigrades, they have a reduced number of Hox genes, but their sister phylum Nematomorpha has kept the ancestral protostome Hox genotype, which shows that the reduction has occurred within the nematode phylum. Nematode species can be difficult to distinguish from one another. Consequently, estimates of the number of nematode species described to date vary by author and may change rapidly over time. A 2013 survey of animal biodiversity published in the mega ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Model Organism
A model organism (often shortened to model) is a non-human species that is extensively studied to understand particular biological phenomena, with the expectation that discoveries made in the model organism will provide insight into the workings of other organisms. Model organisms are widely used to research human disease when human experimentation would be unfeasible or unethical. This strategy is made possible by the common descent of all living organisms, and the conservation of metabolic and developmental pathways and genetic material over the course of evolution. Studying model organisms can be informative, but care must be taken when generalizing from one organism to another. In researching human disease, model organisms allow for better understanding the disease process without the added risk of harming an actual human. The species chosen will usually meet a determined taxonomic equivalency to humans, so as to react to disease or its treatment in a way that resembl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tardigrade
Tardigrades (), known colloquially as water bears or moss piglets, are a phylum of eight-legged segmented micro-animals. They were first described by the German zoologist Johann August Ephraim Goeze in 1773, who called them Kleiner Wasserbär ("little water bear"). In 1777, the Italian biologist Lazzaro Spallanzani named them Tardigrada (), which means "slow steppers". They have been found in diverse regions of Earth's biospheremountaintops, the deep sea, tropical rainforests, and the Antarctic. Tardigrades are among the most resilient animals known, with individual species able to survive extreme conditions – such as exposure to extreme temperatures, extreme pressures (both high and low), air deprivation, radiation, dehydration, and starvation – that would quickly kill most other known forms of life. Tardigrades have survived exposure to outer space. There are about 1,300 known species in the phylum Tardigrada, a part of the superphylum Ecdysozoa consisting of anim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Micro-animals
Microfauna (Ancient Greek ''mikros'' "small" + New Latin ''fauna'' "animal") refers to microscopic animals and organisms that exhibit animal-like qualities. Microfauna are represented in the animal kingdom (e.g., nematodes, small arthropods) and the protist kingdom (i.e., protozoans). This is in contrast to microflora which, together with microfauna, make up the microzoa. Habitat Microfauna are present in every habitat on Earth. They fill essential roles as decomposers and food sources for lower trophic levels, and are necessary to drive processes within larger organisms. Role One particular example of the role of microfauna can be seen in soil, where they are important in the cycling of nutrients in ecosystems. Soil microfauna are capable of digesting just about any organic substance, and some inorganic substances. These organisms are often essential links in the food chain between primary producers and larger species. For example, zooplankton are widespread microscopic anima ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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