Astrophysicists anxiously await the upcoming launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, slated for December 18. Things can go wrong.
This spectacular giant will be the most powerful space telescope ever built, opening new windows to nascent galaxies and stars from billions of years ago, as well as to planets circling other stars in our cosmic neighborhood.
It will help us refine our own story a story of our origins and how similar and different we are to the rest of the universe.
The history of science could be written as a history of instrumentation. From particle accelerators and microscopes to fMRIs and telescopes, as instruments become more powerful, they act as reality amplifiers: they magnify our view of the very small and the very large, allowing us a glimpse of what is invisible to the human eye.
It is hard to imagine that, up to 1609, all we knew about the skies depended on what we can see with the naked eye. When Galileo Galilei had the insight to aim his telescope at the night sky, he saw what no human had seen before: a new sky, full of surprises and possibility. This new sky would reveal a new world order: out with the Aristotelian view of an Earth-centered cosmos, a frozen sky where celestial objects were perfect and unchangeable, and in with a marvelously imperfect heaven a moon full of craters and mountains, Jupiter with four orbiting moons (now we know there are about 79 and counting), a Saturn with "ears" (that is, the rings that his telescope could not yet resolve), and a Milky Way made of a countless number of stars. New instruments hold the promise of a worldview transformation: as we look deep into nature, our vision of reality and us in it changes.
It is then no surprise that the astrophysics community is nervously awaiting the launch of a new marvel of instrumentation, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Even if often called the successor of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), the JWST is a different kind of machine. The HST is, perhaps, the most successful instrument in astronomical history. Beyond its optical capability that reveals to us parts of the universe we could in principle see with our limited human vision (that is, the colors of the visible spectrum), it has additional infrared and ultraviolet instruments that have revolutionized the way we understand the cosmic history and the stunning wealth of galaxies spread throughout space. But the Hubble was launched in 1990, and it is time for a new instrument to step up and expand upon its groundwork, deepening our understanding of the universe near and far.
Two big missions for James Webb Space Telescope
The JWST is designed to capture mostly infrared light, which is of a longer wavelength than what our eyes can see. The focus on infrared comes from the two main missions for the telescope.
The first is to look into the very young universe by observing very far away objects, nascent galaxies and stars born about 13 billion years ago, which was only a few hundred million years after the Big Bang. (In cosmology, the science of our cosmic history, hundreds of millions of years is not a long time.) Contrary to Hubble, which had a near-Earth orbit, the JWST will be stationed far away, at 1.5 million kilometers from Earth at a spot known as a Lagrange point, where the gravitational attractions of sun and Earth cancel out a peaceful cosmic parking spot.
After taking off inside an Ariane 5 rocket from the European Space Agency, the JWST will continue for another twenty-nine days until it gets to its final destination. The good thing about the Lagrange point is its remoteness and thus distance from interfering infrared sources near Earth. To make the shielding even more effective, the telescope comes with five layered sheets of Kapton foil, a sort of space umbrella to stop radiation interference. At the size of a tennis court, the shields are programmed to open during the telescope's migration to its final position. The bad thing about being stationed so far away from Earth is that if something goes wrong, we cannot go there to fix it, as we had to with the Hubble Space Telescope. Anxiety rises.
The "eyes" of the telescope are made of 18 hexagonal, gold-coated, beryllium mirrors, making up a giant honeycomb the size of a large house. The mirrors will capture and focus light from distant sources that will then be sent off to the telescope's four different instruments. The mirrors must also unfurl in space, another nerve-wracking step before astrophysicists can start to gather data.
The second big mission is to aim its sights on exoplanets, planets orbiting stars in our galactic neighborhood, for signs of life. A little over 20 years ago, astronomers detected the first alien worlds outside our solar system. Since then, the list has grown steadily to over four thousand confirmed exoplanets today. The essential question, of course, is whether some of these worlds may harbor life. We may not be able to travel across interstellar distances to see for ourselves, but our machines can scrutinize these worlds by detecting the chemical composition of their atmospheres in the hope of finding the telltale signs of life: mainly oxygen, water, carbon dioxide, and methane. Thus, JWST aims to map out other worlds that may resemble our own, addressing the age-old question of whether we are alone in the universe.
An early Christmas present
The current launch date is December 18, a week before Christmas. As with any space launch of a complex instrument, there are many things that could go wrong, although extensive testing has built up confidence that all will go smoothly. Regardless, we only will succeed in stretching the boundaries of knowledge by taking risks. The launch will be a gripping moment for humanity. What will a new window opening to the sky reveal about our story?
Unless you are lost to the power of wonder, a mission like this must capture your imagination. We all want this spectacular mission to succeed, astrophysicists and non-astrophysicists alike. We care about worlds so far away from us because the story this machine will tell is a mirror of our own. As we witness stars and galaxies being born, we learn about our galaxy and how our solar system emerged a little under five billion years ago. We learn about the myriad ways that gravity and chemistry conspired to bake matter into worlds, each different, some potentially thriving with life like our own. And with each discovery, we dive a little deeper into the mystery of who we are and of what makes us both alike and different from what is out there in the universe.
Imagine you've just sat down to watch your favorite TV show. You decide to snuggle in with your legs crisscrossed because you find it more comfortable that way.
When the episode ends, you try to stand up and suddenly your right foot isn't working. At first you just can't move it, then it feels like it has pins and needles all over it. For a minute or two it feels uncomfortable and weird, but soon enough you are able to stand up and walk around normally.
What just happened?
I'm an exercise physiologist – a scientist who studies what happens to our bodies when we move and exercise. The goal of much of my research has been to understand how the brain talks to and controls the different parts of our bodies. When your foot falls asleep, there is something wrong with the communication between your brain and the muscles in that area.
Every time you decide to move your body, whether it's standing up, walking around or playing sports, your brain sends signals to your muscles to make sure they move correctly. When the brain is unable to talk with a muscle or groups of muscles, some weird things can happen – including that part of your body getting that weird falling-asleep sensation.
An animation explains how the nervous system works.
It usually starts with a sense of numbness or tingling in that area. This sensation, which people often also call “pins and needles," is technically known as paresthesia.
Some people mistakenly think a lack of blood flow causes this feeling. They imagine the “asleep" feeling happens when your blood, which carries nutrients all over your body, is unable to get to your foot. But that's not right.
When your foot falls asleep, it's actually because the nerves that connect the brain to the foot are getting squished thanks to the position you're sitting in. Remember, it's these nerves that carry messages back and forth to let your brain and your foot communicate with each other. If the nerves have been compressed for a little while, you won't have much feeling in your foot because it can't get its normal messages through to your brain about how it feels or if it's moving.
Once you start to move around again, the pressure on the nerves is released. They “wake up" and you'll start to notice a “pins and needles" feeling. Don't worry, that feeling will only last for a few minutes and then everything will feel normal again.
Now comes the important question: Is this dangerous? Most of the time, when your foot, or any other body part, falls asleep, it is temporary and nothing to worry about. In fact, since it lasts for only a minute or two, you may not even remember it happened by the end of the day.
Even though it's not causing any permanent damage, you might still want to avoid the uncomfortable feeling that comes when your foot falls asleep. Here are a couple of tips that may help:
Switch your position often.
Don't cross your legs for very long.
When you are sitting for a long time, try standing up every so often.
You probably can't 100% prevent your foot from ever falling asleep. So don't worry when it happens every once in a while. It'll go away pretty quickly – and maybe it can remind you of all the important brain messages your nerves are usually transmitting without your even noticing.
Daoism is the philosophy that there is a right way to live life, and it involves finding and following the "Dao", or path, to our life and also the universe.
Yin-Yang is the symbol that represents difference yet unity in life. It is not a conflict or struggle but shows that nothing in life is solely either this or that.
When things in life feel wrong, or if you get that gut feeling that you are on the wrong path, Daoism offers advice about how to get things straight.
No person is one thing. The kindest person you know has a tiny recess of cruelty in them. The happiest person you have ever met will have their depressive moments. The gentlest person you can think of can be filled with rage by one particular thing. There is no purity of any kind; life is a messy cocktail of things.
This is the truth behind one of the most famous symbols (and tattoos) in the world: the Yin and Yang.
Well en-Dao-ed wisdom
For such a well known idea, the Yin and Yang only appears in one line of the central Daoist book, Daodejing. And yet, it is essential to Daoism and is, in many ways, interchangeable with the Dao itself.
Lao Tzu is the semi-mythical founder of Daoism (or Taoism the sound is halfway between a T and a D to the non-Chinese ear). His name means "Old Master,'' and it is unclear if he was a single historical person or a title given to a collection of sages and their works. But what matters is Lao Tzu's influence, not least for the 20 million Daoists worldwide.
The Dao translates as "The Way" and is often compared to the flow of a river. Like a river, the Dao moves and directs all things, and we are like boats floating along its path. To be happy is to let the Dao carry us on. To row against the current is hard, and Daoism is the simple call to "go with the flow" of the universe.
Daoism is to find the harmony in life. This is to let the self mold to the world, like the way water fills a cup. It is to adapt, compromise, and take life as it comes, not as you want to force it. If your life is a forest, the Dao is the wide, paved, and easy path. This is not to say that there are not other paths (such as the "human way"), but why struggle through thorns and thickets when life could be happy and easy? Daodejing is a dense wonder of proverbs, advice, wisdom, and fables to guide the Daoist in finding this path.
Yin-Yang, then, is a guide to that path. It is a hint and a signpost about what the Dao looks like. In short, Yin-Yang is the idea that there is a duality to everything. But rather than this being some kind of oppositional or destructive conflict between two rivals, the Yin-Yang argues that there is a great harmony to be found in the contrast between things. The symbol does not feature a fully black side set against a fully white side. The white has a bit of black, and the black a bit of white. Contrast, yet harmony.
Yin is associated with darkness, femininity, mystery, passivity, the night sky, or the old. Yang is associated with lightness, energy, activity, clarity, the sun, or youth.
But neither Yin nor Yang are superior in any way. They are both utterly amoral, in that neither is "right" or "wrong." While the Yin is associated with the negative, this does not come attached with a value judgement but is better thought of as the negative terminal of a battery, perhaps. Right living comes not from being either one thing or another but in finding that balance the Dao not only to our life but to all existence. It is the feeling that we have found our right path.
And to do this, both Yin and Yang are essential. The symbol expresses the idea that balance and harmony are necessary for all things. In the martial arts, for instance, it is important that we be hard, strong, and fit (Yang), but these are nothing without being calm, focused, and adaptable (Yin). In a relationship, we can party and laugh (Yang), but we must also cry and share secrets (Yin).
The tightrope of life
Sometimes, things just feel wrong. It might be a relationship, a career, or even a new book or TV show. It is as if everything is a slog, where you have to put in an inordinate amount of effort just to keep moving. It can feel almost as if obstacles constantly pop up to block you.
It is precisely this feeling that Daoism takes on. This kind of struggle is a sure sign that you have fallen from The Way. Life ought not feel like this. It means something is wrong.
Daoism generally, and the Yin-Yang specifically, is about harmony and balance. Things go wrong when we tip the scales too far one way. Daoists are neither ascetics nor bibulous gluttons, as both involve straying from the middle way. The wisdom of the Yin-Yang is to see how a world without light would be hellish but so too would one of constant day. The symbol has proved so powerful because it is a constant reminder to us that life is all about finding that harmony out of opposition. When things feel wrong, we likely need to find our balance or center again.
This article was originally published on our sister site, Freethink.
When Sophia the robot debuted in 2016, she was one of a kind. She had a remarkably lifelike appearance and demeanor for a robot, and her ability to interact with people was unlike anything most had ever seen in a machine.
Since then, Sophia has spoken to audiences across the globe (in multiple languages), been interviewed on countless TV shows, and even earned a United Nations title (a first for a non-human).
Today, she's arguably the most famous robot in the world, but she's isn't going to be unique for much longer. Her maker, Hanson Robotics, has announced plans to begin mass-producing Sophia the robot this year so that she can help the world cope with the pandemic.
What Is a Social Robot?
Ask Sophia the Robot: What can AI teach humans? | Big Think
Robots are typically designed for one purpose some cook or clean, others perform brain surgery. Sophia is what's known as a social robot, meaning she was designed specifically to interact with humans.
Social robots have many potential applications, including some we're already seeing in the real world.
A social robot named Milo is helping children with autism recognize and express their emotions, and children with cancer are finding comfort interacting with a robotic duck (developed by Aflac).
Another social robot designed to look like an animal PARO the seal is providing companionship to seniors with dementia. The semi-humanoid social robot Pepper, meanwhile, is greeting and assisting customers at banks, offices, and restaurants.
Social robots like me can take care of the sick or elderly. SOPHIA THE ROBOT
While social robots were already happening pre-2020, the pandemic appears to be accelerating their adoption, as the world looks for ways to stay social in the era of social distancing.
Hyundai, for example, just announced plans to deploy a social robot in its South Korean showroom that will be able to assist customers in the place of human staff (it'll also detect which visitors aren't wearing masks and ask them to put one on).
Given the current climate, Hanson Robotics thinks now is the perfect time to make Sophia the robot available to the masses.
"The world of COVID-19 is going to need more and more automation to keep people safe," CEO David Hanson told Reuters.
"Social robots like me can take care of the sick or elderly," Sophia the robot added. "I can help communicate, give therapy, and provide social stimulation, even in difficult situations."
Hanson's plan is to begin mass-producing Sophia and three other robots in the first half of 2021 and then sell "thousands" of the bots before the end of the year.
It hasn't said which bots besides Sophia are headed for the assembly line, nor what any of the robots will cost but it's hard to imagine the most famous social robot in the world will be cheap, even if she's no longer one of a kind.
The 20th anniversary of 9/11 arrives with pessimism and a sense of defeat.
9/11 caused a national trauma that lasted for years.
We should remember this when analyzing the mistakes that America made in its war on terrorism during the subsequent 20 years.
As the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attack approached, I was disappointed to see how negative the media coverage is. The overall reportage is defeatist, focusing almost exclusively on how America made countless mistakes and accomplished little if anything perhaps even making global problems worse.
An article by Garrett Graff in The Atlantic was typical of the tone. Titled "After 9/11, the U.S. Got Almost Everything Wrong," it concluded the following, each conclusion shown as a subheadline: (1) "As a society, we succumbed to fear." (2) "We chose the wrong way to seek justice." (3) "At home, we reorganized the government the wrong way." (4) "Abroad, we squandered the world's goodwill." (5) "We picked the wrong enemies."
For the sake of argument, let's assume that everything in that article is exactly correct. While there are plenty of lessons to be learned from America's many foreign (mis)adventures pre- and post-9/11, we should also remember this: hindsight is 20/20, particularly when you have had 20 years to think about what happened.
So, let's rewind the tape two decades. I can tell you exactly where I was, what I was doing, and what I was thinking on September 11, 2001. Every one of us can.
*****
The phone rang sometime around 7:50 am Central Time. My father was on the other side. He told me that an airplane had crashed into the World Trade Center.
I was not interested. Surely, it was an accident. Besides, I was a sophomore in college and had far more important things to worry about: Tuesdays were my busy days. From 10 am to noon, I had a microbiology laboratory. Then from 1 pm to 5 pm, I had an organic chemistry lab. Groggily, I hung up the phone and went back to sleep.
About 15 minutes later, the phone rings again. It's my dad. "The second tower has been hit. You need to wake up. We're under attack." I got up this time. I went upstairs and turned on the TV. My mouth dropped in disbelief. I called a friend and told her to wake up, too.
Classes at my university were not canceled, so I got into my car and headed to school. I turned on the radio and listened as reporters described how the first tower of the World Trade Center had just collapsed. Since I had never been to New York City, I distinctly remember thinking, "At least one tower will be there if I ever get to visit." Then the other tower collapsed.
When I arrived at the microbiology lab, one of the professors had pulled a TV into the hallway so that we could listen to the latest news. The teaching assistant reminded us that, even though none of us felt like working, we still had assignments that needed to get done. All of us sat in silence as we worked. In the top right corner of my lab notebook, where I always wrote down the date, I added the following line: "WTC Disaster."
After lab, I headed to the student center for lunch. People were crowded around televisions. In the hallway, I recall one student saying, "This is what we get for electing George Bush" a rather odd sentiment given that, up until that point in his presidency, Bush was focused on education policy.
Naturally, students started discussing ideas about who might have done this. Iraq? Iran? Palestinians? Nobody knew. What we did believe is this: we are going to get attacked again. It was not a matter of if but when and where.
*****
My experience was not unique. Just about anyone who is old enough to remember 9/11 can recall the exact details of that day. How many other days are etched into your memory like that? Very few, if any. The point is this: we experienced a collective trauma that day. And the effects of that trauma lasted a very long time.
The truth is we were scared. The people in Bush's inner circle were scared as in they believed that the president might be assassinated with a missile while aboard Air Force One. This fact comes through very clearly in a new Apple TV+ documentary, called 9/11: Inside the President's War Room. Former national security advisor Condoleezza Rice also notes that nearly 3,000 people were murdered on their watch. Naturally, they felt a responsibility never to allow something like 9/11 to happen again.
So, that is why the U.S. reacted the way that it did. More than three years after 9/11, we were still worried about terrorism so much so, that Bush ran on a platform of beating it, and he won re-election. It was not until 2006 more than five years after the attack that Americans started to realize that things were not going according to plan, particularly in Iraq. As a result, the American people handed Congress to the Democrats, and in 2008, the presidency to Barack Obama.
But even then, the war on terrorism did not end. Obama made sure to hunt down Osama bin Laden, which successfully happened on May 2, 2011. (I remember exactly where I was when I heard that news, too.) After his death was reported, thousands of Americans were cheering in New York City and in front of the White House.
That is the emotional toll that 9/11 took on America. It is worth remembering that when we examine the past 20 years of foreign policy and war. Without a doubt, we made many terrible mistakes. But let's also have a bit of humility and empathy as we analyze those mistakes, remembering why we made them in the first place.
As Rice asks in the aforementioned documentary, "What would you have done?"
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