'Ghosts' Hover Around Massive Telescope in New Images

An image captured in darkness of the James Webb Telescope in a clean room makes the people bustling around it look like ghostly apparitions

When the lights go out, the ghosts come out to play.

That's what it seems like in an eerie photograph taken of the James Webb Telescope in a specialized clean room, with the lights out. Because of the long exposure needed to take a picture in the dark, the clean-room scientists bustling around the telescope resemble wraiths in the photograph, Chris Gunn, the NASA photographer who took the image, said in a statement.

A long exposure means the camera's shutter is left open for a long period, giving ample time for the few light particles, or photons, in the dark to hit the sensor or photographic paper and create an image of the object. As a result, moving objects appear blurry, because the light particles reflecting from them come from different locations while the shutter is open, while stationary objects remain crisp, as in this picture.

The darkened photo was taken in the clean room after the telescope underwent acoustic and vibrational testing, according to the statement. It is easier to see contamination that occurs after testing in the darkness, so technicians look for it using ultraviolet light and bright flashlights during their inspection. The testing took place at Spacecraft Systems Development and Integration Facility (SSDIF) at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland

The James Webb Telescope, designed to be the successor to the prolific Hubble Space Telescope, is the largest and most powerful telescope ever built. It is set to launch from French Guiana in 2018, according to NASA. Unlike Hubble, which orbits Earth, the James Webb will circle the sun, around 1 million miles (1.5 million kilometers) away from Earth at the so-called second Lagrange point (L2). At this spot, the observatory can stay in line with Earth as it orbits the sun. A large sunshield will protect the telescope from solar light and heat.

Could Mysterious Cosmic Light Flashes Be Powering Alien Spacecraft?

Bizarre flashes of cosmic light may actually be generated by advanced alien civilizations, as a way to accelerate interstellar spacecraft  to tremendous speeds, a new study suggests.

Astronomers have catalogued just 20 or so of these brief, superbright flashes, which are known as fast radio bursts (FRBs), since the first one was detected in 2007. FRBs seem to be coming from galaxies billions of light-years away, but what's causing them remains a mystery.

"Fast radio bursts are exceedingly bright given their short duration and origin at great distances, and we haven't identified a possible natural source with any confidence," study co-author Avi Loeb, a theorist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said in a statement Thursday (March 9). "An artificial origin is worth contemplating and checking." 

One potential artificial origin, according to the new study, might be a gigantic radio transmitter built by intelligent aliens. So Loeb and lead author Manasvi Lingam, of Harvard University, investigated the feasibility of this possible explanation.

The duo calculated that a solar-powered transmitter could indeed beam FRB-like signals across the cosmos — but it would require a sunlight-collecting area twice the size of Earth to generate the necessary power.

And the huge amounts of energy involved wouldn't necessarily melt the structure, as long as it was water-cooled. So, Lingam and Loeb determined, such a gigantic transmitter is technologically feasible (though beyond humanity's current capabilities).

Why would aliens build such a structure? The most plausible explanation, according to the study team, is to blast interstellar spacecraft to incredible speeds. These craft would be equipped with light sails, which harness the momentum imparted by photons, much as regular ships' sails harness the wind. (Humanity has demonstrated light sails in space, and the technology is the backbone of Breakthrough Starshot, a project that aims to send tiny robotic probes to nearby star systems.) 

Indeed, a transmitter capable of generating FRB-like signals could drive an interstellar spacecraft weighing 1 million tons or so, Lingam and Loeb calculated.

"That's big enough to carry living passengers across interstellar or even intergalactic distances," Lingam said in the same statement.

Humanity would catch only fleeting glimpses of the "leakage" from these powerful beams (which would be trained on the spacecraft's sail at all times), because the light source would be moving constantly with respect to Earth, the researchers pointed out. 

The duo took things a bit further. Assuming that ET is responsible for most FRBs, and taking into account the estimated number of potentially habitable planets in the Milky Way (about 10 billion), Lingam and Loeb calculated an upper limit for the number of advanced alien civilizations in a galaxy like our own: 10,000.

Lingam and Loeb acknowledge the speculative nature of the study. They aren't claiming that FRBs are indeed caused byaliens; rather, they're saying that this hypothesis is worthy of consideration.

"Science isn't a matter of belief; it's a matter of evidence," Loeb said. "Deciding what’s likely ahead of time limits the possibilities. It's worth putting ideas out there and letting the data be the judge."

Mars Colonists Might Need to Radically Alter Their Bodies and Minds

In 2016, two astronauts finished nearly a year of work on the International Space Station. NASA's Scott Kelly and Russia's Mikhail Kornienko were studied closely for changes in their physical and psychological health.

NASA touts the mission as part of its "Journey to Mars", in which it hopes to send humans to the Red Planet by the 2030s. But a recent paper published in the journal Space Policy argues that there are so many aspects to a Martian colony that it is all but impossible to simulate the parameters on Earth.

"We can not simulate the same physical and environmental conditions to reconstruct the Martian environment, I mean such traits like Martian microgravitation or radiation exposure," Konrad Szocik, a cognitive scientist at the University of Information Technology and Management in Rzeszow, Poland and lead author of the paper, said in an e-mail. "Consequently, we cannot predict physical and biological effects of humans living on Mars."

He argues that "an awareness of the one-way journey and all possible dangers" cannot be simulated on the ISS, or even in Antarctica, one of the most remote places on Earth and a frequently cited zone in space analog studies. Szocik argues that people in Antarctica are not reliant on artificial life support to the degree that astronauts are.

RELATED: Martian Meteorites Could Reveal Wetter Past on the Red Planet Than Thought

Szocik suggest individuals acclimatized to living in harsh conditions would be best suited for exploration of Mars. So that's not to say that the space station or Antarctica wouldn't be useful locations for training. But, he argues, it may be necessary to go a step further — modify people's bodies and minds ahead of journeying to Mars.

He suggests possibly electronically enhancing the human senses or prescribing medication that might help diminish emotional reactions in a moment a crisis. Of course, how exactly to do this still lies mostly in science fiction.

Szocik says he is greatly concerned with how a Martian colony would function. While most discussions of colonies focus on the technological or financial challenges of constructing and maintaining it, there has been less study of the social aspects of putting people within a Martian colony.

"A human being is a social animal and he lives in a group," he said. "Group problems affect many challenges and troubles, and we should consider now how we can prevent such typical human problems like conflicts, wars, cheating, etc."

Szocik is also concerned about reproduction on Mars, which not only needs a technological and medical support system, but a large enough colony to avoid the risk of inbreeding. He suggests a population of at least 500 adults on the surface. Not only that, but medical officials would should consider how to reduce the likely mortality rate from disease, possible technological failures, and radiation from the Martian environment, among other factors, he said.

Szocik's previously written about how religion would function on Mars and how the human psyche might be impacted. first foray into predicting human behavior on Mars.

Space Station to Host Coldest Spot in the Universe

Artist's illustration of an atom chip for use by NASA's Cold Atom Laboratory (CAL), which will use lasers to cool atoms to ultracold temperatures. CAL is scheduled to launch to the space station in August 2017.

The International Space Station (ISS) will soon host the coldest spot in the entire universe, if everything goes according to plan. 

This August, NASA plans to launch to the ISS an experiment that will freeze atoms to only 1 billionth of a degree above absolute zero — more than 100 million times colder than the far reaches of deep space, agency officials said.

The instrument suite, which is about the size of an ice chest, is called the Cold Atom Laboratory (CAL). It consists of lasers, a vacuum chamber and an electromagnetic "knife" that together will slow down gas particles until they are almost motionless. (Remember that temperature is just a measurement of how fast atoms and molecules are moving.)

If successful, CAL could help unlock some of the universe's deepest mysteries, project leaders said.

"Studying these hypercold atoms could reshape our understanding of matter and the fundamental nature of gravity," Robert Thompson, a CAL project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, said in a statement. "The experiments we'll do with the Cold Atom Lab will give us insight into gravity and dark energy — some of the most pervasive forces in the universe."

Attempts to create Bose-Einstein condensates on Earth have been only partially successful to date. Because everything on Earth is subject to the pull of gravity, atoms and molecules tend to move toward the ground. This means the effects can only be seen for fractions of a second. In space, where the ISS is in perpetual freefall, CAL could preserve these structures for 5 to 10 seconds, NASA officials said. (Future versions of CAL may be able to hold on for hundreds of seconds, if technology improves as expected, officials added.)

The researchers hope CAL observations will lead to the improvement of several technologies, such as quantum computers, atomic clocks for spacecraft navigation and sensors of various types — including some that could help detect dark energy. The current model of the universe suggests we can only see about 5 percent of what's out there. The remainder is split between dark matter (27 percent) and dark energy (68 percent).

"This means that even with all of our current technologies, we are still blind to 95 percent of the universe," JPL's Kamal Oudrhiri, CAL deputy project manager, said in the same statement. "Like a new lens in Galileo's first telescope, the ultra-sensitive cold atoms in the Cold Atom Lab have the potential to unlock many mysteries beyond the frontiers of known physics."

CAL, which was developed at JPL, is scheduled to fly to the ISS this August aboard SpaceX's robotic Dragon cargo capsule. Final testing is underway ahead of CAL's shipment to the launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida, NASA officials said.

Using GPS Devices May Switch Off Your Brain's GPS

If you've ever thought of your smartphone as your second brain, your analogy may not be far off. A new study shows that when we follow navigational instructions, such as those given by GPS devices, the parts of our actual brains that normally perform navigation remain quiet.

The findings show that "you delegate the task of navigation to your GPS, and you merely follow the directions, which is yet a demanding task, but perhaps not as demanding as actual route planning," said the study's first author, Amir-Homayoun Javadi, a neuroscientist at the University of Kent in the U.K.

This might mean that, over time, humans will get worse and worse at using their brains for pathfinding, Javadi told Live Science.

Our brain's inner GPS is one of the most prized wonders of the brain. The discovery of specialized nerve cells in the brains of mice that register where in the space the animals are has led to the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicinein 2014.

Those cells reside in a brain structure called the hippocampus. Numerous studies have shown we rely on the hippocampus for storing and recalling memories, planning future steps and generally finding our way in the world.

In the study, published today (March 21) in the journal Nature Communications, the researchers examined how the brain maps out the network of streets, plans for journeys and deals with unexpected detours.

Twenty-four participants navigated a simulation of the Soho area of central London while their brain activity was being monitored in a scanner.

In some trials, the participants had to find their way to a destination by indicating a left or right turn at every junction. In others, they simply had to push a button to follow the optimized path decided by the computer.The researchers analyzed the activity patterns in each participant's hippocampus, as well as the prefrontal cortex, which is involved in planning and decision-making.

They found that when the participants had to navigate by themselves, without the help of GPS, the activity of the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex closely matched the decisions they had to make. For example, when they entered a new street, the hippocampus activity indicated that the brain was tracking changes in the number of available paths that they could take from there. When forced to make a detour, people's prefrontal activity spiked, showing increased activity in line with the difficulty of planning a new route.

However, when the participants followed the computer's instructions to navigate through the area, they did not activate these brain areas as much, the researchers found. [6 Foods That Are Good For Your Brain

"Our results fit with models in which the hippocampus simulates journeys on future possible paths, while the prefrontal cortex helps us to plan which ones will get us to our destination," said Hugo Spiers, a researcher at University College London's Institute of Behavioural Neuroscience, who led the study. "When we have technology telling us which way to go, however, these parts of the brain simply don't respond to the street network. In that sense, our brain has switched off its interest in the streets around us."

The consequences of using tools instead of our brains are not necessarily all negative, however. By delegating a demanding mental task to a device, you may free up mental resources to serve other purposes.

"It can be a shift in skills," Javadi told Live Science.

In fact, children who grow up with smartphones may develop a different set of skills from the generations of people who first learned to navigate their surroundings naturally, or to memorize information instead of looking up everything online.

Insights from research suggest that for today’s children, "their whole brain, not only their hippocampus, develops differently," Javadi said. "The brain constantly changes to adapt to different environments, needs and opportunities. Now imagine these environments, needs and opportunities are totally different since birth."

These changes, however, do not mean that children will not activate their hippocampus for navigation anymore, Javadi said. They might have a GPS for the streets, but they still need to navigate the labyrinths of the internet.

Astronaut in Space Sees Mount Etna Volcano Eruption

One of the world's most active volcanoes lights up the night in a spectacular new astronaut photo.   

Tongues of red-hot lava slide down Sicily's Mount Etna in the image, which was captured from the International Space Station on Saturday (March 19) by European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Thomas Pesquet.

"The volcano is currently erupting and the molten lava is visible from space, at night! (the red lines on the left)," Pesquet wrote on Twitter Tuesday (March 21), where he posted the image.

ESA's Sentinel-2A satellite also photographed the Mount Etna eruption recently, capturing an outburst on March 16.

"The red-hot lava flowing from Mount Etna can be seen clearly in the image from Sentinel-2A," ESA officials wrote in an image description. "The surrounding snow has been processed in blue to distinguish from the clouds."

With a peak about 10,900 feet (3,320 meters) above sea level, Mount Etna is the tallest active volcano in Europe. It sits near the subduction boundary between the African and Eurasian tectonic plates. Written records of Etna's frequent eruptions go all the way back to 425 B.C.

Pesquet is a member of the space station's current Expedition 50 crew. He arrived at the orbiting lab in November and is scheduled to come back to Earth in early June, along with NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson and cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy. This is Pesquet's first space mission.

Toilet to Tap: Brewery Creates Beer from Recycled Wastewater

A Southern California brewery has put sustainability on tap with a new brew made exclusively from wastewater, according to news reports.

This month, Stone Brewing unveiled its "Full Circle Pale Ale," which was made using recycled water from San Diego's Pure Water project, reported Mashable.

This was all done in the name of sustainability, the brewery said, noting how the historic drought in California affected the state's water sources. San Diego's Pure Water project — which aims to provide 30 million gallons (110 million liters) of recycled water a day to the city by 2021 — offered the brewery an opportunity to use a new water source to brew beer, while also helping raise awareness for the project, Mashable reported.

The unconventional brew even tastes great, the Times of San Diego reported, with the city's mayor calling the beer "fantastic." In fact, Stone Brewing CEO Pat Tiernan said the purified, recycled water was purer than the brewery's usual water supply, CW6 San Diego reported.

"This particular water will just help us not require so much natural water to come in, and [will] give us a more reliable source. So for us to be able to re-use, that's part of our mantra, that's part of what we do," Tiernan told CW6.

Though the Full Circle Pale Ale was a one-time-only brew made specially for an event, the wastewater beer isn't Stone Brewing's first foray into sustainability. The brewery's headquarters has its own water-reclamation system, according to Mashable, and uses solar energy for 20 percent of the building's power.