AI: Software learns to create images from written descriptions by destroying data

A fresh approach to generating images based on text descriptions with AI, called a diffusion model, effectively un-destroys new images into existence Technology 18 January 2022 By Matthew Sparkes Images created from text descriptions by GLIDE, a new AI OpenAI Early last year, artificial intelligence company OpenAI unveiled software with the surprising ability to create … Read more

The best Hubble Space Telescope images of all time!

(Image credit: NASA, ESA, and J. Tan (Chalmers University of Technology); Processing; Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)) Prawn nebula The Hubble Space Telescope has captured a stunning view of the Prawn Nebula floating through deep space.  The Prawn Nebula, formally known as IC 4628, is an emission nebula located 6,000 light-years from Earth, in … Read more

Explosive underwater volcano eruption in Tonga spotted from space in satellite images

Satellites orbiting Earth captured a powerful undersea volcanic eruption from space on Thursday (Jan. 13). In the South Pacific kingdom of Tonga, which is made up of over 170 islands, the (mostly) underwater volcano on the island Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai erupted, sending plumes up to 12 miles (20 kilometers) into the air, the Tonga Geological … Read more

Laser scanner creates 3D colour images of surfaces or objects

Lidar uses lasers to create 3D images, but these can be hard to interpret because they are black and white. A new scanner adds cameras to make colour images that could be useful for infrastructure inspection or robot vision Technology 14 January 2022 By David Hambling A new portable scanner combines laser scanning technology with … Read more

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket spotted from space before and after epic 105-satellite launch (images)

SpaceX has some nice before-and-after photos to mark the 10th launch of one of its Falcon 9 rockets, thanks to a satisfied customer. A Falcon 9 successfully delivered 105 satellites to orbit Thursday (Jan. 13), including 44 “SuperDove” cubesats for Planet, a San Francisco-based company that operates the world’s biggest constellation of Earth-observing satellites. The … Read more

This Eerie Similarity With Earth Has Finally Solved The Mystery of Jupiter’s Cyclones

Earth and Jupiter don’t have a lot in common. One is relatively small, rocky, and habitable. The other is absolutely enormous, completely lacking in solidity, and raging with colossal storms. Yet, if you look at some satellite pictures of marine phytoplankton blooms here on Earth next to pictures of atmospheric turbulence at Jupiter’s poles, it … Read more

Satellite images show epic snowstorm that shut down part of Interstate 95

A band of snow blankets the United States northeast in a new satellite photo showing the huge storm stranding motorists on Interstate 95 in Virginia. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on NASA’s Terra satellite captured the storm, which dumped more than 14 inches (36 centimeters) of snow on parts of southern Virginia and southern Maryland. Motorists … Read more

Stunning, Otherworldly Images of Mars Captured by China’s Mars Orbiter

High above the red planet, China’s Mars orbiter Tianwen 1 has captured a series of incredible, alien images of our neighboring planet. The shots were captured by a small camera that was deployed by Tianwen 1. Released on New Year’s Day, they show Tianwen 1, looking lonely above the red planet, as well as Mars’ … Read more

We Just Got The First Haunting Photo From NASA’s Asteroid Deflecting Spacecraft

It might not look like much, but here is the first monumental image from the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART). Earlier this month, a circular door covering the aperture of its DRACO telescopic camera was opened, allowing the camera to take its first image.     Now, imagine what the camera’s last image will be like: … Read more

Feast Your Eyes on The Annual Family Portraits Hubble Took of Our Solar System Giants

Every year, Hubble takes a little time to turn its electronic eyes closer to home. Rather than staring into vast distances across space and time, it focuses on our very own Solar System; specifically, the heavyweight planets that lurk out past the asteroid belt – Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.   That’s not because they’re … Read more