Amazed reading the headline? Well obviously, as its not every day that we hear that a hacker is being honored for hacking a company’s system. A user named @7h3h4ckv157 on the X platform has shared today that he has hacked the NASA system for the second time and has also shared the security vulnerabilities directly with NASA. For this, the user has now been honored by NASA with an appreciation letter.

I Hacked @NASA (again) and reported some vulnerabilities to them. Just today, I received this appreciation letter from them after they patched the loopholes! pic.twitter.com/t4w92culxK

— 7h3h4ckv157 (@7h3h4ckv157) September 26, 2024

The letter was signed by Mark Witt, NASA’s Chief Information Officer it stated, “On behalf of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and NASA’s Vulnerability Disclosure Policy (VDP), we would like to recognize your efforts as an independent security researcher, both in identifying the vulnerability you submitted and for following NASA’s VDP policy and guidelines in responsibly reporting this to us.”

It also stated that the reporting of the vulnerabilities has facilitated the awareness of NASA of the unknown vulnerabilities in its security. As per the user, this appreciation letter was received by him after NASA successfully patched the loopholes.

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An astrophile needs to know that Earth will soon welcome a new moon for a short period. I didn’t make the story, it is true. Earth with the help of its gravity will pull an asteroid towards it and will set it free after two months. As per the finding by the scientists, an asteroid of about 10 meters in diameter, will be captured by the Earth’s gravity and will return to its path that is an orbit around the Sun in November. This finding is based on the trajectory, size, and speed of the asteroid.

This celestial phenomenon is said to be a “temporarily captured flyby” in which an asteroid enters Earth’s gravitational orbit but does not complete multiple orbits. This phenomenon was seen in 2006 also when an asteroid stayed in Earth’s orbit and remained there for nearly half a year before leaving. And another came in 2020. This phenomenon takes place regularly and Earth captures small asteroids from the Near Earth Object population. Those who have an interest in these things need to know that though it presents a great opportunity for scientists, it will be faint for the naked eye. You can use a telescope to witness this phenomenon and better understand gravitational interactions.

The post Earth’s Getting a New Moon—But It’s Just Passing Through! appeared first on The Tech Outlook.

The space is full of exotic wonders. Scientists, astronauts, and space agencies are on a journey of exploration every day to uncover the mysteries of the universe. Space agencies, through the help of their telescopes often bring to us exciting images of space. NASA’s James Webb and Hubble Space are two such telescopes that constantly provide mysterious images of various entities of the universe.

let’s have a look at some such pictures of protostars and nebula.

For the unversed, a star is a Protostar before becoming a full-fledged star. It becomes a star only when it can fuse hydrogen into helium. Until then it is known as a Protostar.

On the other hand, a nebula is a giant cloud of dust and gas in space. Often, nebulae form from the gas and dust that gets ejected out when a dying star explodes.

Moving on to the pictures, the first picture that we are featuring is an image of a fiery hourglass-shaped protostar, which is situated 460 light-years away from us. It resides in the Tauras constellation. NASA’s James Webb telescope captured this image.

Next is a picture of a young multi-star system, which is situated about 450 million light-years away. A new protostar named FS Tau B can be seen within the star system.

This next image shows a young stellar nursery amidst the Serpens Nebula, which is situated 1,300 light-years away. The nursery features newly forming stars which are about 1-2 million years old.

Coming to the next, this is an image of a massive star formation with a protostellar jet streaming towards us. The image was captured by the Hubble space telescope. The star formation is located in the constellation Aquila, which is about 7,200 light-years from Earth.

Lastly, this image shows the Orion Nebula which presents a wealth of diversity for astronomers. It features outflows, embedded protostars, brown dwarfs, free-floating planetary objects, and planet-forming disks around young stars.

The post NASA images of Protostars and Nebula shows us that the space is mysterious yet beautiful appeared first on The Tech Outlook.

In the year 2022, NASA’s DART mission intentionally clashed the DART spacecraft into asteroid Dimorphos, to test practical planetary defense.  The mission aimed to check if humankind can intentionally redirect the path of an asteroid if someday one comes headed toward Earth.

Now, the latest study has expressed views that the rocky debris caused as a result of the DART mission may result in the first human-made meteor shower. According to reports, as a result of the collision of the DART spacecraft into Dimorphos, about 2 million pounds of massive debris field was generated. This debris included rocks and dust.

The study mentioned was conducted by Cornell University. The study suggests that fragments generated from the collision hold the potential to reach Earth and Mars in a period of the next 10 to 30 years. According to Researcher Eloy Pena Asensio from Italy’s Polytechnic University, these particles are capable of producing visible meteors while penetrating the Martian atmosphere. It is also suggested that these meteor showers can last for about a century.

However, the studies suggest that these particles won’t pose any threat to the Earth’s surface. The particles can range from grain-sized to sizes as big as a smartphone. Mr Pena states that these particles will disintegrate in the atmosphere, resulting in a beautiful luminous streak in the sky.

The post Study by Cornell University suggests that the collision of DART mission may give birth to the first human-made meteor shower appeared first on The Tech Outlook.

NASA has announced new details regarding its upcoming SpaceX Crew-9 mission, set to launch no earlier than 24 September 2024, following updates shared on social media platform X. The mission will send two crew members to the International Space Station (ISS), NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. Hague will command the mission, while Gorbunov will serve as mission specialist.

Originally, NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson were set to join the Crew-9 mission. However, they have now been reassigned to a future flight as part of NASA’s updated strategy. The decision aligns with NASA’s intention to return Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft uncrewed to Earth on 6 September 2024. This reshuffling will leave two unoccupied seats aboard Crew-9, which NASA plans to keep vacant until February 2025, when astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams—who launched aboard the Starliner in June—return to Earth with Hague and Gorbunov.

NASA’s chief astronaut, Joe Acaba, emphasized the importance of having an experienced NASA crew member command the flight, while also integrating a Roscosmos cosmonaut capable of operating critical systems aboard the ISS for continued safety.

However, NASA’s focus has been partially diverted due to mysterious sounds reported aboard the docked Boeing Starliner. Astronauts aboard the ISS, including Butch Wilmore, have detected strange, sonar-like noises coming from the Starliner. The eerie pinging sounds, recorded by Wilmore, have perplexed both the astronauts and Mission Control in Houston.

“There’s a strange noise coming through the speaker, and I didn’t know if you could connect into the Starliner and hear,” Wilmore told Mission Control, offering a recording of the distinct pulsing noise.

🚨BOEING’S STARLINER CREW REPORTS MYSTERIOUS “SONAR-LIKE NOISES” IN SPACECRAFT

Crews aboard the International Space Station are investigating mysterious "sonar-like noises" coming from Boeing's Starliner, reported by the crew to Mission Control.

The Starliner, which has faced… pic.twitter.com/mhJyzS5zxk

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) September 1, 2024

Mission Control described the sound as a “sonar ping,” and investigations are underway to determine its cause. The Starliner, which has faced multiple technical issues, will soon return to Earth autonomously without its crew, raising further questions about the unusual sounds. NASA and Boeing engineers are investigating whether the noises could hint at deeper issues or have a simpler explanation.

As NASA prepares for Crew-9’s launch and the Starliner’s return, these developments continue to draw attention to the complex dynamics of spaceflight, highlighting both advancements and challenges in human space exploration.

The post Mysterious Pings Heard Aboard Boeing’s Starliner Spacecraft appeared first on The Tech Outlook.

NASA took to the social media platform X and updated through a post that, their SpaceX Crew9 mission will launch two crew members to the International Space Station, no earlier than 24 September 2024. Along with it, NASA has also announced certain changes to the Crew-9. NASA also aims to return Starliner uncrewed.

Our @SpaceX #Crew9 mission will launch two crew members to the @Space_Station no earlier than Sept. 24, following our decision to return #Starliner uncrewed. Learn more about @AstroHague, Aleksandr Gorbunov, and the latest Crew-9 updates: https://t.co/6bsrRppNYJ pic.twitter.com/A7x2Krd9Mf

— NASA (@NASA) August 30, 2024

Nick Hague, a NASA astronaut and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, will fly to the International Space Station no earlier than 24 September 2024. They will fly on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission as commander and mission specialist respectively. It will be a two-crew member flight aboard a SpaceX dragon.

On the other hand, Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson, who were previously announced as crewmates, would now be reassigned to a future mission.

The new decisions have been formulated according to NASA’s decision to bring back the Boeing Crew Flight Test uncrewed. On the other hand, NASA aims on sending Crew-9 with two unoccupied seats, as they want NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to fly home with Hague and Gorbunov in February 2024. Both of them earlier launched aboard the Starliner spacecraft in June.

NASA chief astronaut Joe Acaba decided to fly to Hague. He had to find a common ground between flying a NASA crew member with previous spaceflight experience to command the flight. On the other hand, NASA was also supposed to maintain an integrated crew with a Roscosmos cosmonaut with capabilities of operating their critical systems for continued, safe station operations.

The post NASA Announces Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov to Join SpaceX Crew-9 Mission, Targeting 24 September 2024 appeared first on The Tech Outlook.

Last year on 23 August, history was created when the Chandrayaan 3 mission became successful and India became the fourth country to accomplish soft landing on the Moon and the first near the lunar south pole. Well, 23 August was then announced to be celebrated as National Space Day.

Now on the occasion of National Space Day this year, ISRO released some unseen images of Moon Landing from Chandrayaan 3 mission.

🚨 ISRO releases moon landing images from Chandrayaan 3 mission 🙌 pic.twitter.com/hPuFNOJFz3

— Indian Tech & Infra (@IndianTechGuide) August 24, 2024

The above video posted is a compilation of images that showcase various mission stages including Pragyan Rover’s first moments on the moon’s surface, Vikram lander’s approach to the lunar far side, and the crucial terminal descent and landing sequence. This phase was essential for positioning Chandrayaan 3 for its eventual landing on the moon’s south pole.

This latest release provides a fascinating view to all the Indians into the country’s most ambitious space endeavors. Chandrayaan 3’s success has not only inspired India’s future generation but also provided valuable data about the Moon’s composition and environment. ISRO is said to continue analyzing data and images from Chandrayaan 3 mission.

Stay tuned with The Tech Outlook for the latest updates.

The post ISRO Releases Unseen Images Of Moon Landing from Chandrayaan 3 Mission On National Space Day appeared first on The Tech Outlook.

Who doesn’t get annoyed when one is suffering from some form of cough? The irritation to pain to the sounds, we always have a tough time when we are coughing because of some sickness. However, have you ever thought that the sounds generated from our speech and breath can give medical specialists quite a lot of information about our health?

Bioacoustics sounds give out subtle clues, which medical professionals widely use to screen, diagnose, monitor, and manage various health conditions like Tuberculosis (TB) or even chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

This is the age of advancement through AI. Researchers at Google understand the potential that sound holds when it comes to giving out health signals. Today, when there are high-quality microphones connected to smartphones, accessibility to such sounds is easy for researchers. Thus, researchers at Google have been venturing into the possibility of AI gathering health information from sonic data.

Sounds our bodies make — like coughs — contain valuable health information. Learn how AI models built using HeAR, a bioacoustic foundation model trained on 100 million cough sounds, can help flag early signs of diseases like tuberculosis ↓ https://t.co/Mrqgspa0vm

— Google (@Google) August 22, 2024

This year, Google presented the Health Acoustic Representations (HeAR). For the unversed, HeAR is a bioacoustics foundation model, with the help of which researchers can create models capable of listening to human sounds and deciphering signs of disease.

HeAR has received training on 300 million samples of diverse and de-identified datasets. Among these, about 100 million cough sounds alone were used to specifically train the cough model.

HeAR has managed to achieve high performance with less training data. According to reports by Google, models trained with HeAR have managed to achieve high performance with less training data. On the other hand, it stands above other models on a wide spectrum of tasks and when it comes to generalizing across microphones.

Researchers can now access HeAR to develop custom bioacoustics models with less data, setup, and computation.

Swaasa®, a product by Salcit Technologies (Indian based respiratory healthcare company) analyses cough sounds and assesses lung health with the help of AI. In the latest developments, it is now exploring the capabilities of HeAR to expand the horizon of its bioacoustics AI models. At its onset, with the help of HeAR, Swaasa® is trying to enhance its early detection of TB based on cough sounds.

The post AI Models Powered by Google’s HeAR Technology Can Detect Early Signs of Diseases Like Tuberculosis Through Cough Sounds appeared first on The Tech Outlook.

Google has unveiled the third version of the “Alpha model” an artificial intelligence model capable of predicting the protein structure and interactions of all life’s molecules with unprecedented accuracy. This model comes with the increased accuracy for the interactions of proteins with other molecule types and for some of the important categories of interaction it has doubled prediction accuracy.

The AlphaFold 3 given the list of molecules can generate the joint 3D structure of it. It can also model chemical modifications to these molecules which control the healthy functioning of cells, that when disrupted can lead to disease. To perform such a complex task AlphaFold 3 after processing the input assembles its predictions using a diffusion network, similar to those found in AI image generators. It’s a crucial step to understand the structure of a particular drug and how it interacts with different molecules and accuracy is something that can’t be compromised in it.

Google does mention in its blog post not once but multiple times that this model achieves unprecedented accuracy in predicting drug-like interactions, including the binding of proteins with ligands and antibodies with their target proteins. Its sister company Isomorphic Labs is working on drug design for internal projects as well as with pharmaceutical partners. Scientists can access the majority of its capabilities, for free, through the newly launched AlphaFold Server.

The post Google DeepMind Reveals A New AI Model AlphaFold 3 Capable Of Accurately Predicting Protein Structure And Its Interaction With Molecules appeared first on The Tech Outlook.

The European Space Agency in collaboration with Samsung has released new watch faces for the Galaxy Watch devices. Dubbed as Galaxy Time, these eight smartwatch faces correspond to the eight planets showing the current time on each planet, exact position, and distance based on real-time data from ESA.

Mario Winter, Vice President of Marketing Samsung Electronics Germany, said “Together with ESA, one of the largest players in space travel, we have developed a watch face that offers Samsung Galaxy users a new and unique way to explore our Solar System.” They have ensured that the time of each planet is displayed with accuracy keeping the different day lengths of the different planets in mind.

This is quite an interesting move made by the company that is no less than a gateway to the cosmos for all astrophile. And even those who are less interested in it will find it intriguing to have a look at. It has already been made available to users in certain regions through the Play Store. You will find “Galaxy Time” on the Play Store.

The post Samsung Teamed Up With ESA To Introduce Galaxy Time Watch Faces That Displays Real Time Planetary Information appeared first on The Tech Outlook.