infrared

NASA Space Probe Unexpectedly Glimpses The Surface of Venus in Stunning New First

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New images recorded by NASA’s Parker Solar Probe have revealed the red-hot glow of Venus‘s surface radiating through its shroud of toxic clouds – a finding that could help us better understand the minerals making up this rocky and mysterious planet.   Using data from the Wide-field Imager for Parker Solar Probe (WISPR) instrument, scientists … Read more

Air pollution: Roadside emissions sensors help Hong Kong clean its air in world first

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Carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide pollution have fallen sharply in Hong Kong since it introduced a world-first scheme to detect and repair vehicles with the highest emissions Technology 2 February 2022 By Alice Klein A busy road in Hong Kong picturelibrary / Alamy Stock Photo Hong Kong has improved its air quality by using roadside … Read more

Infrared technology: Goggles hooked up to vibrating armband help people who are blind ‘see’

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An array of vibrating pads can convey a low-resolution image of a location to help people who are blind navigate Technology 21 January 2022 By Matthew Sparkes Infrared goggles used in the new navigational system Manuel Zahn Infrared goggles and an array of vibrating pads can give people who are blind an intuitive way to … Read more

NASA’s New Flagship Telescope Fully Deploys Sunshield in Critical Mission Milestone

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The James Webb Space Telescope fully deployed its tennis-court sized sunshield Tuesday, a critical milestone for the success of its mission to study every phase of cosmic history, NASA said.   “All five layers of the sunshield are fully tensioned,” said an announcer at the observatory’s control center in Baltimore, where team members cheered, a … Read more

5 Out-of-This-World Telescope Photos of Space to Get You Excited For The JWST Launch

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The forthcoming launch of the James Webb Space Telescope offers unprecedented new opportunities for astronomers. It’s also a timely opportunity to reflect on what previous generations of telescopes have shown us.   Astronomers rarely use their telescopes to simply take pictures. The pictures in astrophysics are usually generated by a process of scientific inference and … Read more

There’s a Cancer Treatment That Gives People ‘Night Vision’. Here’s How

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Among all the different types of cancer treatment, photodynamic therapy – where light is used to destroy malignant cells – might have one of the strangest side effects: Patients are often better able to see in the dark.   Last year, researchers finally figured out why this happens: Rhodopsin, a light-sensitive protein in the retinas in our eyes, interacts with … Read more

5 Things to Know About The James Webb Space Telescope Before It Launches

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The James Webb Space Telescope, the most powerful space observatory ever built, is finally set for launch in late December after decades of waiting. An engineering marvel, it will help answer fundamental questions about the Universe, peering back in time 13 billion years. Here are five things to know.   1. Giant gold mirror The telescope’s … Read more

Astronomers Spot a Ghostly ‘One-Winged Butterfly’ Blazing Through Space

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The beautiful birth of a star has produced an exquisitely ethereal structure in interstellar space. It’s called the Chamaeleon Infrared Nebula, located about 520 light-years away, and in a new image from the NSF NOIRLab’s International Gemini Observatory in Chile, it appears in the sky like a pale gossamer butterfly wing.   At its core, … Read more