Light pollution is likely the least of our worries once megaconstellations ー systems of thousands of communication satellites ー are constructed. Megaconstellations will be placed within the Low Earth Orbit, where other satellites and space junk reside. Experts are concerned that these megaconstellation satellites, after colliding with untracked debris, might contribute to more debris in the night sky, potentially setting off a chain reaction similar to that of a Neal Stephenson novel.
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Science
‘Ghostly’ neutrinos provide new path to study protons
In groundbreaking research, an international collaboration of scientists from the University of Rochester have used a beam of neutrinos to measure the size and shape of the protons that make up the nuclei of atoms. This feat, once thought impossible, provides scientists with a new way of looking at the small components of an atom’s nucleus and opens up a wealth of new information about the structure of an atom’s nucleus and the dynamics of the forces that affect neutrino interactions. The researchers solved the challenge of harnessing neutrinos in large numbers by using a neutrino detector containing a target of both hydrogen and carbon atoms, and over nine years of data collection at Fermilab’s accelerator. Read full article here
Merv
March 25, 2023
