Asteroid Dust, A Wok-Antenna, and Energy from Water

NASA To Live-Stream Opening of Asteroid Sample

Scientists gather to open the space capsule containing material from the asteroid Bennu.

Image: NASA

NASA’s first-ever asteroid sample has arrived on Earth. It comes from the asteroid Bennu and was successfully dropped off by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft in an Earth flyby on September 24. NASA has recovered and shipped it to the  Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Researchers want to analyse the sample for chemical, mineral, and other physical information. The space capsule is also figuratively a “time capsule,” offering scientists a view back about 4.5 billion years to when the asteroid, Sun, and planets were forming.

The removal of the sample from the capsule will be broadcast live on October 11 at 11 AM Eastern time. Stay up to date at NASA here and here. Watch a recent NASA video about the sample recovery process here. 

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Do You Live Near the Sea? You Could Capture Energy from Saltwater Using This New Device

Image: Xiong et al, Nano Energy (2023)

Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have developed a nanofluid device that extracts electrical energy from saltwater-freshwater boundaries. It works because saltwater contains charged particles (ions) of sodium and chloride. Where saltwater and freshwater meet, the ions diffuse, creating a small current. Professor Jean-Pierre Leburton, the project head, thinks the idea has much promise. “Our design exceeded our expectations and surprised us in many ways,” he said. Read the press release here and the full paper here.

Astronomers Build Radio Antenna From Kitchen Wok

Image: Fung et al, arXiv:2309.15163

If you think pans are for frying, think again. A group of astronomers has found a way to construct a radio telescope from a wok and electronics equipment purchased online for about $150. In a recent arXiv preprint, they reported how they used this equipment for basic radio astronomy which woked, excuse me, worked even in noisy urban environments.

The team is now updating the equipment for more experiments. I hope the upgrade will involve muffin tins and fondue forks because I have a few too many of those. If you want to take a whack at repurposing your dishware, you can find the paper here.