News of the week selected by Impactscool – Novembre 2nd

Water on the Moon: confirmation arrives

More and more data suggest that the arid Moon is actually not so poor in water. the latest confirmation, announced by NASA with a direct, shows that there is more water on our satellite than expected, and that this is not present , frozen, only on the bottom of some craters of the lunar south pole but also on the surface, specifically on the Clavius crater. The discovery was made thanks to the SOFIA telescope, a NASA astronomical observatory that flies aboard an airplane that has identified water molecules in areas directly affected by sunlight. However, we must not think of superficial pools of water (or just below): the water is trapped, a few molecules, inside glass “pearls” that were formed during meteoric impacts in the past, according to estimates in one meter cube of regolith, the material that covers the moon, there are about 340 grams of water.

How much do you have to edit a face to cheat facial recognition?

Facial recognition is everywhere. From Instagram filters, which detect a face and place the face of a kitten over it, to the population control and monitoring systems used in China. However, few know how it works, and what are the risks, opportunities and above all the critical issues related to this technology. To underline these aspects, a collaboration between YR Media and Standford led to the creation of the “Erase your Face” project in which we can interactively see how to challenge facial recognition and what it takes to be able to cheat the algorithm.

The map showing methane emissions in the world

Methane is a very dangerous greenhouse gas, even if its permanence in the atmosphere is much less than CO2, its ability to heat the environment is 84 times greater, for this reason it is important to be able to monitor its emissions, natural or of anthropogenic origin.
To help us in this sense GHGSat has created a map, called PULSE, which uses satellite data to show the concentrations of methane and therefore the areas where it is emitted in greater quantities.

An Israeli company wants to create synthetic steaks on the moon

While the cultivation of salads and other small leafy plants has proved feasible in space, opening the door to a vegetarian diet for men and women who will explore the Moon and Mars, on the other a diet of this type. it could turn out to be monotonous and lacking in some nutrients. However, it is not easy to bring farms into space, which is why Aleph Farm has announced the Aleph Zero Space Program which aims to bring a system to produce synthetic meat on a large scale for future space colonists. The company has already shown that it can create meat in conditions of microgravity, producing, in 2019, the first steak (albeit very small) created in the laboratory on board the International Space Station.