Technology

2023-09-15 04:00:05

A centuries-old technique, stereoscopic photography, has allowed researchers to discover previously unknown animal figures on the walls of a cave in Spain. This method, which dates back to the beginning of the 19th century, offers a new perspective on rock art.
After taking into account the contours of the cave wall, the researchers used the technique to reveal a depiction of a horse. The two images at the bottom are processed with the DStretch software.
Credit: Images prepared by R. Asiain & P. ​​Saura; Antiquity Publications, Ltd.

Rock art is a well-known art form in Europe, dating back at least 40,000 years. 3D recording methods are gaining popularity among archaeologists. However, these 3D images are often studied on computer screens in 2D, which does not do justice to the artists’ original vision.

A recent study published August 17 in the journal Antiquity modifies this approach. Raquel Asiain, an archaeologist and photographer at the Complutense University of Madrid, and colleagues used stereoscopic photography to capture the art of La Pasiega cave in north-central Spain.

The photos show two previously unrecognized images in the cave. The bottom reveals these images following processing with DStretch.
Credit: Images prepared by R. Asiain & P. ​​Saura; Antiquity Publications, Ltd.

The technique uses pairs of high-resolution photographs taken 63.5 millimeters apart, the average distance between an adult’s pupils. These pairs force the brain to perceive a 3D image. More than 700 depictions of animals and symbols adorn the walls of La Pasiega, first discovered in 1911. Through this study, three previously hidden animals were discovered: two horses and an aurochs (The aurochs (or auroch ) is an extinct bovid, ancestor of current breeds of cattle…), an extinct species of bovine.

April Nowell, an archaeologist at the University of Victoria in Canada, points out that this technique allows the general public to get closer to the original artistic experience, although elements such as the sound of water are still missing (L’eau is a chemical compound ubiquitous on Earth, essential for all…) which drips.

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#Ancient #photography #technique #reveals #unknown #prehistoric #drawings

2023-09-14 04:00:15

In a first-of-its-kind experiment, NASA’s Perseverance rover managed to produce enough oxygen on Mars to keep an astronaut alive for three hours. This technological feat opens up new perspectives for the colonization of the red planet (Red Planet is an American film directed by Antony Hoffman,…).
A selfie taken by NASA’s Perseverance rover on Mars.
Credit: NASA

Arriving on Mars in February 2021, the rover used its MOXIE (Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment) device to convert carbon dioxide into oxygen (Oxygen is a chemical element from the chalcogen family,… ). Over the course of two years, this microwave-sized device generated 122 grams of oxygen.

Trudy Kortes, director of technology demonstrations at NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) in Washington, highlighted the importance of this technology. It would allow future astronauts to “live on site” using local resources.

Carbon dioxide is abundant on Mars, making up 95% of its tenuous atmosphere. MOXIE carried out 16 experiments to extract oxygen from CO2. The oxygen atoms were then analyzed for purity before being safely stored in a capsule.

Pamela Melroy, NASA’s deputy administrator, said this performance demonstrates the feasibility of extracting oxygen from the Martian atmosphere. The latter might be used both for respiration and the production of fuel for rockets.

However, many health challenges remain, including extreme weather conditions and low atmospheric pressure on Mars. For now, rovers like Perseverance offer our best view of the planet. Sun or another star of…) red (The color red has different definitions, depending on the color system we use…). Part of NASA’s $2.7 billion Mars 2020 mission, Perseverance is searching for signs of ancient life. on Mars.

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#NASA #succeeded #producing #oxygen #Mars #human #alive

2023-09-14 06:00:05

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) might detect signs of human civilization on Earth if it observed us from another star system in the Milky Way, according to a new study. This discovery opens the way to the possibility that JWST might also spot extraterrestrial civilizations.
Different types of technosignatures.
Image Wikimedia Commons

Launched at the end of 2021, the JWST mainly examined the far reaches of the Universe to understand its formation. One of its secondary missions is to analyze the atmospheres of nearby exoplanets to look for biosignatures and technosignatures, gases produced by life. (Life is the name given:) biological and advanced civilizations.

To evaluate the JWST’s abilities to detect signs of intelligent life, researchers simulated its observation of the Earth (Earth is the third planet in the Solar System in order of distance…). They degraded the quality of terrestrial atmospheric data to match what the telescope (from the Greek telescope) meaning “far” and skopein meaning…) would see for dozens of light years. The results, although not yet peer-reviewed, show that JWST might likely detect signs of non-intelligent and intelligent life on our planet (A planet is a celestial body orbiting the Sun or another star in…).

The study suggests that JWST might detect signs of life on exoplanets up to 50 light years from Earth. According to the EDEN project, around 4,000 exoplanets might be found at this distance. However, the detection of life on other planets is not guaranteed.

This graph shows the raw atmospheric data used in the new study. Specific biosignatures and technosignatures are highlighted in different colors.
Credit: Lustig-Yaeger, et al

The researchers point out that interpreting biosignatures and technosignatures can be difficult without contextual knowledge. JWST has already made some interesting discoveries, such as detecting water on exoplanet GJ 1214b and huge geysers on the moon ( The Moon is the only natural satellite of the Earth and the fifth largest satellite of…) Enceladus of Saturn.
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#James #Webb #detect #life #technology #Earth #dozens #light #years