Category: Other Worlds and Tech

Space Sunday: from the Sun to Charon, and the death of a planet

Posted on by Inara Pey
Astrophotographer Mia Stålnacke caught this aurora display over Kiruna, Sweden, in March 2015
Astrophotographer Mia Stålnacke caught this aurora display over Kiruna, Sweden, in March 2015

The Sun is the only star we can directly observe in detail. As such, it has been the subject of study for a long time, significantly so since the birth of the space age. As such, you’d think we know pretty much all there is to know about it; but the fact is that the Sun still has many mysteries – and surprises – of its own awaiting understanding and discovery.

One of these mysteries has been strange particle emissions rich in helium-3. These don’t form part of the more familiar coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which can have an elevated impact on Earth magnetosphere giving rising to more energetic aurorae, or with collimated X-ray flares. The cause of these helium-3 rich outbursts has until now been hard to trace because in order to be detected by the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) craft which is designed to study such energetic particles, they have to originate very close to the Sun’s limb, making any associated events hard to observe.

A look at the Sun’s right limb on January 26, 2010. Within the marked red square, a large-scale blast wave travels through the Sun’s atmosphere. These images were obtained with the help of NASA’s STERO A probe and show the Sun’s atmosphere in extreme ultraviolet light.
A look at the Sun’s right limb on January 26, 2010. Within the marked red square, a large-scale blast wave travels through the Sun’s atmosphere. These images were obtained with the help of NASA’s STEREO A probe and show the Sun’s atmosphere in extreme ultraviolet light.

However, on October 13th, two teams of scientists working independently of one another, but using the same data and images gathered from NASA’s STEREO solar observation vehicle and the Earth-orbiting ACE platform, announced they had pin-pointed the cause of the outbursts. They are the result of huge explosions occurring in the Sun’s atmosphere, which in turn create gigantic atmospheric shock waves in the Sun’s atmosphere which can extend over half a billion kilometres (300,000 miles) and advance at speeds of 300 km (190 mi) per second. It is believed the sheer speed of the shock waves from these explosions is sufficient to accelerate  the helium-3 (itself produced as a part of the overall fusion process in the Sun’s core), into a stream of particles thrown off into space.

While it has been confirmed the initial explosions are not related to CMEs or sunspots or other known solar phenomena, the precise reason for the explosions themselves has yet to be determined.

Charon Revealed

Images and data returned by the New Horizons space vehicle at the start of October have provided more details about Pluto’s companion, Charon, revealing it to be an even more fascinating world than had been anticipated.

Charon as revealed in the highest resolution images yet returned of that tiny world by New Hotizons (image: NASA/JPL / JHUAPL / SwRI)
Charon as revealed in the highest resolution images yet returned of that tiny world by New Horizons (image: NASA/JPL / JHUAPL / SwRI)

The images, captured in black and white by the probe’s LORRI camera, have been combined with images and data gathered by the RALPH suite of instruments to present a beautiful full-colour image of almost all of one face of Charon, as seen by New Horizons as it swept through its closest approach to both Charon and Pluto on July 14th, 2015.

Some 1,214 kilometres (753 miles) in diameter, Charon is about half the size of Pluto, and was only discovered in 1978.  Quite how it formed has been the subject of much debate. Prior to New Horizons’ visit, the most popular theory was that Charon coalesced from the debris of a collision between Pluto and another Kuiper belt object. However, New Horizons has so far failed to return any images of Pluto that hint at such a collision, and the make-up of the two worlds is less similar than might be expected were one the offshoot of the other. So the theory gaining ground now is that both bodies were already formed when they fell into orbit around one another.

A comparison of the Moons of Pluto as images by New Horizons, and their relative size
A comparison of the Moons of Pluto as images by New Horizons, and their relative size

The latest images of Charon reveal a striking world, every bit as varied as Pluto, and marked by a massive series of fractures across its midriff, suggesting a massive upheaval in Charon’s past which split open its crust. The southern hemisphere also has a more youthful appearance than the region north of the fracture, suggesting that widespread resurfacing took place following the event, and that cryovolcanism (ice volcanoes) may today be contributing to maintaining the relatively smooth appearance of Charon’s southern regions. So like Pluto, Charon may still be an active world.

Continue reading “Space Sunday: from the Sun to Charon, and the death of a planet” →

Magic Leap reveals a little more about their AR system

Posted on by Inara Pey
Romy Abovitz talks Magic Leap at WSJD Live (image courtesy of engagdet)
Romy Abovitz talks Magic Leap at WSJD Live (image courtesy of Engagdet)

Magic Leap, the augmented reality company established by enigmatic entrepreneur Rony Abovitz, and which gained over US $500 million from the likes of Google in 2014 (see my article from October 2014),  revealed a little more about its product during a WSJD Live interview recently.

As reported by Nicole Lee for Engadget, Abovitz and Chief Content Officer Rio Caraeff talked in general terms about the system which has caused no small amount of excitement among those who have actually seen it in action. People such as Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai, who sits on the Magic Leap board and was one of the driving forces behind Google’s lion’s share of the half-billion funding mentioned above, and who shares a place on the board with Qualcomm’s executive chairman, Paul Jacobs, another investor from that round of funding.

The technology has also wowed leading lights from the entertainment industry such as Weta Workshop’s co-founder Richard Taylor (one of the first to invest in Magic Leap), and Thomas Tull, CEO of Legendary Entertainment (aka Legendary Pictures). For those outside, however, Magic Leap has perhaps come over as a riddle bordering on smoke and mirrors.

Magic Lap's website splash screen (no pun intended)
The Magic Leap website splash screen (no pun intended)

Talking at the WSJD event, Abovitz indicated Magic Leap won’t be tied to a particular platform or OS, but will be entirely self-contained and with a dedicated OS. He also indicates that in difference to those dismissing AR on the grounds that “no-one likes to wear glasses for long”, the form factor for the unit will be something people won’t fight shy of wearing. He also states it will allow them to maintain a normal relationship with others when in use – a little dig, no doubt, at the first generation of cumbersome and isolating VR headsets about to hit the market.

Alongside of the interview, Magic Leap also released a new video which they state is filmed entirely through Magic Leap technology and with no special effects or compositing.

Quite how the system works, however, is still a mystery. No headsets are shown in any of the company’s promotional material, and much is made of the use of a “Dynamic Digitized Lightfield Signal” (which we can call “Digital Lightfield™”). In speaking at WSJD, Abovitz and  Caraeff both skirted specifics, with the former only saying, “We treat human biology as our centre point; everyone already has a head-mounted display. It’s your head!”

This suggests the company is perhaps pursuing direct retinal projection, possibly in some form of headset unit that is less intrusive than the kind of units suggestive in the patent filings the company has made in the past. And if this sounds like science-fiction, remember Abovitz made his money developing medical technology, and the company has apparently devoted considerable effort into researching the relationship between the photonic light field and the way the brain functions.

Patent filed for Magic Leap by , draws extensively on one of earlier patents for augmented reality headsets styled in both "regular glasses" and "wrap-around" form factors (US 20120162549 A1)
Patent WO 2014043196 A1, filed for Magic Leap by Chunyu Gao for augmented reality headsets styled in both “regular glasses” and “wrap-around” form factors, suggesting some form of headset will be a necessary part of the system – click for full size

So what is the purpose of all this? Caraeff indicated the ultimate am is for Magic Leap to provide broad-based platform for visual computing. “Anything that you can do on your smartphone, on your computer; you’ll be able to do on Magic Leap,” he said, then added, “Where the world is your screen.”

“We believe the future of computing should be natural,” Abovitz stated. “With Magic Leap, your brain doesn’t distinguish what’s real and what’s Magic Leap, because as far as your brain’s concerned, it is real.”

I admit to being far more persuaded that AR will generate a greater mass market presence than VR. Despite the negative memes about people not liking glasses and Google’s misplaced Glass product, AR would appear to be far more inclusive in its use than VR, and have the same potential reach into many of the markets being hailed as VR’s territory: business, medical, education, healthcare and entertainment.

Whether Magic Leap will actually pave the way in this regard as units start to roll off the company’s new production line in Florida at some point in the future, is open to debate. I do, however, admit to being more intrigued by the potential of AR systems like it and CastAR than I am with the first generation of VR headsets we’re about to see.

Additional material on the WSJD Live event via The Verge.

Space Sunday: of water, Apollo and space spies

Posted on by Inara Pey

CuriosityThe Curiosity rover team have released a further study showing that ancient Mars was capable of storing water in lakes over an extended period of time, and that this water was a principal component in the creation of “Mount Sharp”, the mound at the centre of Gale Crater, currently being investigated by the NASA rover.

This forms the latest in a series of reports on the subject of water on Mars and in Gale Crater to be published by the Curiosity science team, and comes almost a year after I wrote about studies released by the team which detailed how “Mount Sharp” – more formally known as Aeolis Mons – was most likely formed by sediments laid down  by successive wet period in Mars’ ancient past.

“Observations from the rover suggest that a series of long-lived streams and lakes existed at some point between about 3.8 to 3.3 billion years ago, delivering sediment that slowly built up the lower layers of Mount Sharp,” said Ashwin Vasavada, Mars Science Laboratory project scientist, discussing the new report.

In December 2014, NASA issued a report on how
In December 2014, NASA issued a report on how “Mount Sharp” was likely formed. On the left, the repeated depositing of alluvial and wind-blown matter (light brown) around a series of central lakes which formed in Gale Crater, where material was deposited by water and more heavily compressed due the weight of successive lakes (dark brown). On the right, once the water had fully receded / vanished from the crater, wind action took hold, eroding the original alluvial / windblown deposits around the “dry” perimeter of the crater more rapidly than the densely compacted mudstone layers of the successive lake beds, thus forming “Mount Sharp”

However, until Curiosity actually started studying “Mount Sharp” in detail,  the accuracy of the earlier studies couldn’t be completely verified. The latest results from the rover indicate that these wetter scenarios were correct for the lower portions of Mount Sharp, and that the filling of at least the bottom layers of the mountain occurred over a period of less than 500 million years, mostly as a result of material deposited by ancient rivers and lakes.

The new report also comes on top of confirmation that the recurring slope lineae (RSL) features seen on Mars from orbit are most likely the result of outflows of water which are occurring today. together they are reshaping some of the thinking around water on Mars – and what might have happened to it.

“What we thought we knew about water on Mars is constantly being put to the test,” said Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA’s Mars Exploration Programme. “It’s clear that the Mars of billions of years ago more closely resembled Earth than it does today. Our challenge is to figure out how this more clement Mars was even possible, and what happened to that wetter Mars.”

Strata at the base of
Curiosity has found plenty of evidence for water on the floor of Gale Crater, which likely took the form of one or more lakes during the wetter parts of Mars’ history, before becoming rivers and streams later. Strata at the foot of “mount Sharp” (shown above) strongly suggested water played a significant part in forming the mound, and the evidence for this being the case has continued to be revealed as the rover climbs the lower slopes

Currently, images of the flanks of the mound returned by the rover and from orbit suggest water-transported sedimentary deposition may have extended at least 150 to 200 metres (500 to 650 feet) above the crater floor, and possibly as high as 800 metres (approx 1/2 a mile). This both indicates that there was at least one standing body of water in the crater and further confirms that “Mount Sharp” was a direct result of sediments deposited by this water. Or at least, the lower slopes were; there is currently little evidence for the sedimentary strata extending about the 800 metre mark, however. This has led to speculation that wind-blown deposits are responsible for the upper reaches of the mound.

Taken together, the recent findings concerning Mars and its water suggest that the planet’s history is far more complex than had been thought. “We have tended to think of Mars as being simple,” John Grotzinger, the former project scientist for the Curiosity mission said of the latest findings.

“We once thought of the Earth as being simple too,” he continued. “But the more you look into it, questions come up because you’re beginning to fathom the real complexity of what we see on Mars. This is a good time to go back to re-evaluate all our assumptions. Something is missing somewhere.”

Pluto’s Water

The blue haze of Pluto's atmosphere
The blue haze of Pluto’s atmosphere: released on October 8th, this true colour image taken after the New Horizons spacecraft had completed its closest approach to the dwarf planet shows Pluto’s night side ringed by the blue haze of its thin atmosphere, as illuminated by the distant Sun, far away on the other side of the little world

The latest images and data to be received on Earth from NASA’s New Horizons space vehicle reveal Pluto’s atmosphere to be a rich blue in colour, and confirm that water ice exists on theplanet.

“Who would have expected a blue sky in the Kuiper Belt? It’s gorgeous,” said Alan Stern, New Horizons principal investigator as the striking image shown above was released as part of the latest batch of pictures and data to be received from the space craft and undergo processing and initial analysis.

The blue colour indicates that the haze within Pluto’s atmosphere is made up of a lot very fine of particulate matter, which scatters blue light from the Sun more easily than other colours, due to blue having a shorter wavelength (which is also the reason the sky we see here on Earth also appears blue, because that wavelength is easily scattered by the tiny particles making up our atmosphere).

In Pluto’s case, it’s thought that the particles in the atmosphere are largely tholins, created by ultraviolet radiation from the Sun breaking down the methane and nitrogen in Pluto’s upper atmosphere, allowing their molecules to gradually recombine into the more complex tholins, which draft down through the atmosphere, undergoing further changes, before eventually reaching the surface of the planet, giving it a distinctive reddish colour.

Instruments forming the Ralph suite aboard New Horizons have identified regions of exposed water ice on Pluto which occur in regions which have corresponding deposits of tholins. Quite what the relationship is between the two is unclear. The water ice deposits are shown in blue on the inset image simply for convience, and not because that's how they appear on Pluto
Instruments forming the Ralph suite aboard New Horizons have identified regions of exposed water ice on Pluto which occur in regions which have corresponding deposits of tholins. Quite what the relationship is between the two is unclear. The water ice deposits are shown in blue on the inset image simply for convenience, and not because that’s how they appear on Pluto

The discovery of water ice on Pluto has taken scientists by surprise. Not so much because it is there, but because it appears to be somehow related to areas of heavy tholin deposits. Confirmation of the presence of water ice came from data returned by the Ralph instrument suite aboard New Horizons, but just how widespread it might be isn’t clear, as it seems that it might be masked elsewhere by other surface material.

Continue reading “Space Sunday: of water, Apollo and space spies” →

Space Sunday: of Martian water, avalanches and postcards

Posted on by Inara Pey
A false-colour image of Hale Crater on Mars showing recurring slope lineae (RSL) flowing downhill, which are inferred to have been caused by contemporary flowing water, hydrated salts detected within the dark-colours RSLs tending to confirm they hypothesis they were created by free-flowing water.
A false-colour image of Hale Crater on Mars showing recurring slope lineae (RSL) features flowing downhill. Hydrated salts detected within the dark-coloured RSLs tend to confirm the hypothesis they were, and are, created by free-flowing water.

On Monday, September 28th, NASA held a special press conference which, they had promised, would “solve” a “major” mystery about Mars.

As I noted in my Space Sunday update prior to the conference, the major speculation was that the US space agency would be discussing what are called recurring slope lineae (RSL) features on Mars.

RSLs have been the subject of intense debate and discussion since 2011, when an undergraduate called Lujendra Ojha published the first in a series of papers on their presence on Mars.  In essence, they are ridges and rills which appear on the slopes of hills and craters, notably in the equatorial regions of Mars. The significance here being that on Earth, identical features are always the result of free-flowing water.

Given that it is known that Mars once supported liquid water on its surface, the presence of these features wouldn’t be that exceptional were they part of the ancient landscape. However, as the “recurring” in the title suggests, the Martian RSLs appear to be active – recurring frequently, sometimes on the seasonal basis. renewing and growing, with new ones also being periodically created.

Two images studied by Ojha showing the flank of the same crater and showing what appear to be active RSLs.
Two images studied by Ojha showing the flank of the same crater. On the left, from 2007, a number of older RSLs, faded due to dust deposits, appear with a relatively new, dark RSL. By 2012 (on the right), that RSL feature has also faded, but a further new one has appeared

Given the overall similarities between RSLs seen on Mars and those seen on Earth, particularly in Antarctica, the common belief has been that liquid water is responsible for the features on Mars. If true, then it would indicate two things.

The first would be that Mars would appear to have a subsurface water table of some description – which would be consistent with the idea that as the planet lost its atmosphere, whatever water remained on the surface may have retreated underground. The second is that it would seem to indicate that Mars is still in some way geologically active, with some mechanism at work forcing this water to the surface and creating these sudden, if short-lived outflows.

The NASA conference coincided with the publication of another paper in Nature Geoscience by Ojha and his colleagues. both pointed directly to water being the cause of the Martian RSLs. In particular, they both report that spectral analysis of some of the more recent and broader RSL channels shows they are rich in hydrated salts, which strongly indicates the presence of water. These salts are consistent with the chemical signatures of magnesium perchlorate, magnesium chlorate and sodium perchlorate.

This is significant because the presence of perchlorate deposits in water can work to prevent that water freezing solid in the kind of summer daytime temperatures – around -23C (-10F) – often experienced in the regions where these RSLs are found. Thus, if held in suspension, they would create a watery brine capable for fluid motion, and which, if released in significant enough amounts, could give rise to the RSLs prior to the water itself sublimating rapidly into the tenuous Martian atmosphere, leaving the hydrated deposits behind.

Nepalese born
Nepalese born Lujendra Ojha is the student who started the investigations into RSLs and their possible relation to free-flowing liquid water on Mars (image: The Himalayan)

The conclusion is that it is indeed liquid water that is causing these RSLs on Mars, and that this water is in a liquid, rather than solid state, at least during certain periods, such that it can be forced to the surface.

However, all is still not entirely clear – something which tends to cast a shadow on the idea of a “mystery” having been “solved”. For one thing, if the RSL rills are below a certain width, they are entirely devoid of any hydrated deposits. This could mean that some other process is involved in their formation, which has yet to be determined. Further, the mechanism which is actually responsible for forcing the water to the surface a creating the outflow which result in these RSLs is still unknown.

Continue reading “Space Sunday: of Martian water, avalanches and postcards” →

High Fidelity: September update and things to come

Posted on by Inara Pey

HF-logoThe September newsletter from High Fidelity appeared at the end of that month, with Chris Collins highlighting some of the work that has been going on of late, providing an update on particle effects, procedural textures and – most interestingly – avatar kinematics and in-world object manipulation using an avatar’s hands and via suitable controllers.

Procedural textures allow for complex, algorithm based textures to be created using tools such as ShaderToy and used directly within High Fidelity. Brad Davis has created a video tutorial on procedural entities which Chris references in the newsletter, the write-up also follows a short video released on the High Fidelity  you Tube channel which briefly demonstrates procedural textures in HiFi.

However, it is the object manipulation that’s likely to get the most attention, together with avatar kinematics and attempts to imply a force when moving an object.

In terms of avatar kinematics, Chris notes:

In 2016, when the consumer versions of the HMD’s are released, you are also going to be using a hand controller. It is therefore important that we can make your avatar body simulate correct movement with the hand data that we receive back from the controllers.

The results are shown in the newsletter in the form of  some animated GIFs. In the first, Chris’ avatar is shown responding to a Hydra controller for hand movements and echoing his jaw movements. The second demonstrates object manipulation, with Chris’ avatar using its hand to pick up a block from an in-world game, echoing Chris’ motions using a hand-held controller.

Manipulating in-world objects in High Fidelity via an avatar's hands and a set of controllers (image: High Fidelity)
Manipulating in-world objects in High Fidelity via an avatar’s hands and a set of controllers (image: High Fidelity)

The animation in picking up the block may not be entire accurate at this point in time – the block seems to travel through the avatar’s thumb as the wrist is rotated – but that isn’t what matters. The level of manipulation is impressive, and it’ll be interesting to see if this might be matched with things like feedback through a haptic style device, so that users can really get a sense of manipulating objects.

The object manipulation element, together with attempts to imply a force when moving objects in-world which make up a core part of the video accompanying the newsletter (and which is embedded below). Again, this really is worth watching, as the results are both impressive, and illustrate some of the problems High Fidelity are trying to solve in order to give virtual spaces greater fidelity.

Coupling object manipulation with implied force opens up a range of opportunities for things like in-world games, physical activities, puzzles, and so on. There’s also potential for learning and teaching as well, so it’ll be interesting to see how this aspect of the work develops.

The newsletter also promises that we’ll be seeing some further VR demo videos from High Fidelity in October, so keep an eye out for those as well.

Microsoft acquires Havok, the Second Life physics engine

Posted on by Inara Pey
Haovk: acquired by Microsoft
Haovk: acquired by Microsoft

News has been spreading about Microsoft’s acquisition of the Havok physics engine from Intel for an undisclosed sum.

Ciaran Laval was perhaps the first SL blogger to report the news, which has been featured on the likes of the IGN website, Engadget, Venture Beat’s Gamesbeat, and other on-line tech news outlets.

For those unfamiliar with Havok, it is it the physics engine that drives a vast number of computer and console games. It allows these games to simulate effects such as gravity, friction, collisions between objects and other natural forces, without the need for them to be individually coded and accounted for on a per-game basis.

Within Second Life, Havok is used for the purposes of physics simulation, and Havok sub-libraries licensed by the Lab are also used in such aspects of the platform as pathfinding (remember that?) and the official mesh uploader.

As well as being used for in-world physics, Havok libraires are also used within the official viewer (and TPVs which have signed a sub-licence agreement) to handle aspects of pathfinding and mesh uploads (shown here)
As well as being used for in-world physics, Havok libraries are also used within the official viewer (and TPVs which have signed a sub-licence agreement) to handle aspects of pathfinding and mesh uploads (shown here)

Microsoft has been a Havok partner for a number of years, and as a part of the acquisition has promised to allow developers elsewhere to continue to use it, stating:

Havok is an amazing technology supplier in the games industry and the leading real-time physics creator. We saw an opportunity to acquire Havok to deliver great experiences for our fans. Throughout the company’s history, they’ve partnered with Activision, EA, Ubisoft, Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft and many others to create more than 600 games including Halo, Assassin’s Creed, Call of Duty, Destiny, Dark Souls and The Elder Scrolls.

Microsoft’s acquisition of Havok continues our tradition of empowering developers by providing them with the tools to unleash their creativity to the world.   We will continue to innovate for the benefit of development partners.

But, if a long-term partner with Havok, why take the step of purchasing it outright? Jeff Grubb, over at Gamesbeat takes a lead from a part of Microsoft’s announcement of the acquisition, to suggest the company are looking a the potential for cloud-based physics capabilities within multi-player games, as recently demonstrated in the upcoming Crackdown 3 sandbox-style third-person shooter title:

For that open-world crime game’s multiplayer mode, Microsoft is enabling players to go in and destroy skyscrapers and everything else in the world. That mode is only possible through the power of Azure, which means Crackdown 3 developers Sumo Digital and Cloudgine are building a cloud-based destruction engine that probably runs on Havok. Once that’s built, and now that Microsoft owns Havok, it could potentially license that destruction engine out to other developers.

In August, IGN had a demonstration of these capabilities within Crackdown 3, and the results are impressive:

It’s unlikely the Microsoft’s acquisition of Havok will have any immediate or medium-term inpact on Second Life. As it is, the platform currently uses the Havok  2011.2, and so far as has been indicated at various in-world meetings, there are no public plans to update the engine at the moment. Longer-term, it will be interesting to see if / how any new / additional capabilities brought to the engine might come to be deployed in Second Life and / or “Project Sansar” (assuming Havok might be the physics engine used with that platform, something that the Lab has not as yet revealed).