cos-planetary

LIGO Detects Most Massive Binary Black Hole to Date

admin — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 18:35:41 +0000

LIGO Detects Most Massive Binary Black Hole to Date admin Wed, 07/16/2025 - 14:35

The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO)’s LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) collaboration has detected an extremely unusual binary black hole merger — a phenomenon that occurs when two black holes are pulled into each other's orbit and combine. Announced yesterday in a California Institute of Technology press release, the binary black hole merger, GW231123, is the largest ever detected with gravitational waves.

Before merging, both black holes were spinning exceptionally fast, and their masses fell into a range that should be very rare — or impossible.

“Most models don't predict black holes this big can be made by supernovas, and our data indicates that they were spinning at a rate close to the limit of what’s theoretically possible,” says Margaret Millhouse, a research scientist in the School of Physics who played a key role in the research. “Where could they have come from? It raises interesting questions.”

A binary black hole merger absorbs characteristics from both of the contributors, she adds. “As a result, this is not only the most massive binary black hole ever seen but also the fastest-spinning binary black hole confidently detected with gravitational waves.”

“GW231123 is a record-breaking event,” says School of Physics Professor Laura Cadonati, who has been a member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration since 2002. “LIGO has been observing the cosmos for 10 years now. This discovery underscores that there is still so much that this instrument can help us learn.”

A Cosmic View

The findings challenge current theories on how smaller black holes form, says School of Physics Assistant Professor and LIGO collaborator Surabhi Sachdev. Smaller black holes are the result of supernovae: dying and collapsing stars. During that collapse, explosions can tear apart or eject part of the star’s mass — limiting the size of the black hole that forms.

“Black holes from supernovae can weigh up to about 60 times the mass of our Sun,” she says. “The black holes in this merger were likely the mass of hundreds of suns.”

Because of its size, GW231123 also allowed the team to study the merger in unprecedented detail. “LIGO has observed scores of black hole mergers,” says Cadonati. “Of these, GW231123 has provided us with the clearest view of the ‘grand finale’ of a merger thus far. This adds a new clue to solve the puzzle that are black holes, including their origins and properties.”

“While we saw that our expectations matched the data, the extreme nature of this event pushed our models to their limits,” Millhouse adds. “A massive, highly spinning system like this will be of interest to researchers who study how binary black holes form.”

Decoding a Split-Second Signal

Millhouse and School of Physics Postdoctoral Fellow Prathamesh Joshi used Einstein’s equations for general relativity to confirm LIGO’s detections.

To find black holes, LIGO measures distortions in spacetime — ripples that are created when two black holes collide. These patterns in gravitational waves can be used to find the signature signal of black hole collisions.

“In this case, the signal lasted for just one-tenth of a second, but it was very clear,” says Joshi. "Previously, we designed a special study to detect these interesting signals, which accounted for all the unusual properties of such massive systems — and it paid off!”

“To ensure it wasn’t noise, the Georgia Tech team first reconstructed the signal in a model-agnostic way,” Millhouse adds. “We then compared those reconstructions to a model that uses Einstein's equations of general relativity, and both reconstructions looked very similar, which helped confirm that this highly unusual phenomenon was a genuine detection.”

Sachdev says that seeing the signal at both LIGO Observatories — placed in Hanford, Washington and Livingston, Louisiana — was also critical. “These short signals are very hard to detect, and this signal is so unlike any of the other binary black holes that we've seen before,” she says. “Without both detectors, we would have missed it.”

A Decade of Discovery

While the team has yet to determine how the original black holes formed, one theory is that they may have resulted from mergers themselves. “This could have been a chain of mergers,” Sachdev explains. “This tells us that they could have existed in a very dense environment like a nuclear star cluster or an active galactic nucleus.” Their spins provide another clue as spinning is a characteristic usually seen in black holes resulting from a merge.

The team adds that GW231123 could provide clues on how larger black holes are formed — including the mysterious supermassive black holes at the center of galaxies.

“Gravitational wave science is almost a decade old, and we're still making fundamental discoveries,” says Millhouse. “It’s exciting that LIGO is continuing to detect new phenomena, and this is at the edge of what we've seen thus far. There's still so much we can learn.”

The team expects to update their catalogue of black holes in August 2025, which will provide another window into how this exceptionally heavy black hole might fit into the universe, and what we can continue to learn from it.

Funding: The LIGO Laboratory is supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation and operated jointly by Caltech and MIT.

Summary sentence

Before merging, both black holes were spinning exceptionally fast, and their masses fell into a range that should be very rare — or impossible.

Summary

Before merging, both black holes were spinning exceptionally fast, and their masses fell into a range that should be very rare — or impossible. The result of the merge, GW231123, is the largest binary black hole merger ever detected with gravitational waves.

Dateline

Tue, 07/15/2025 - 12:00

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Wed, 07/16/2025 - 14:35

At the Intersection of Climate and AI, Machine Learning is Revolutionizing Climate Science

admin — Fri, 24 Jan 2025 15:47:51 +0000

At the Intersection of Climate and AI, Machine Learning is Revolutionizing Climate Science admin Fri, 01/24/2025 - 10:47

Exponential growth in big data and computing power is transforming climate science, where machine learning is playing a critical role in mapping the physics of our changing climate.

“What is happening within the field is revolutionary,” says School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Associate Chair and Professor Annalisa Bracco, adding that because many climate-related processes — from ocean currents to melting glaciers and weather patterns — can be described with physical equations, these advancements have the potential to help us understand and predict climate in critically important ways.

Bracco is the lead author of a new review paper providing a comprehensive look at the intersection of AI and climate physics.

The result of an international collaboration between Georgia Tech’s Bracco, Julien Brajard (Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center), Henk A. Dijkstra (Utrecht University), Pedram Hassanzadeh (University of Chicago), Christian Lessig (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts), and Claire Monteleoni (University of Colorado Boulder), the paper, ‘Machine learning for the physics of climate,’ was recently published in Nature Reviews Physics.

“One of our team’s goals was to help people think deeply on how climate science and AI intersect,” Bracco shares. “Machine learning is allowing us to study the physics of climate in a way that was previously impossible. Coupled with increasing amounts of data and observations, we can now investigate climate at scales and resolutions we’ve never been able to before.”

Connecting hidden dots

The team showed that ML is driving change in three key areas: accounting for missing observational data, creating more robust climate models, and enhancing predictions, especially in weather forecasting. However, the research also underscores the limits of AI — and how researchers can work to fill those gaps.

“Machine learning has been fantastic in allowing us to expand the time and the spatial scales for which we have measurements,” says Bracco, explaining that ML could help fill in missing data points — creating a more robust record for researchers to reference. However, like patching a hole in a shirt, this works best when the rest of the material is intact.

“Machine learning can extrapolate from past conditions when observations are abundant, but it can’t yet predict future trends or collect the data we need,” Bracco adds. “To keep advancing, we need scientists who can determine what data we need, collect that data, and solve problems.”

Modeling climate, predicting weather

Machine learning is often used when improving climate models that can simulate changing systems like our atmosphere, oceans, land, biochemistry, and ice. “These models are limited because of our computing power, and are run on a three-dimensional grid,” Bracco explains: below the grid resolution, researchers need to approximate complex physics with simpler equations that computers can solve quickly, a process called ‘parameterization’.

Machine learning is changing that, offering new ways to improve parameterizations, she says. “We can run a model at extremely high resolutions for a short time, so that we don’t need to parameterize as many physical processes — using machine learning to derive the equations that best approximate what is happening at small scales,” she explains. “Then we can use those equations in a coarser model that we can run for hundreds of years.”

While a full climate model based solely on machine learning may remain out of reach, the team found that ML is advancing our ability to accurately predict weather systems and some climate phenomena like El Niño.

Previously, weather prediction was based on knowing the starting conditions — like temperature, humidity, and barometric pressure — and running a model based on physics equations to predict what might happen next. Now, machine learning is giving researchers the opportunity to learn from the past. “We can use information on what has happened when there were similar starting conditions in previous situations to predict the future without solving the underlying governing equations,” Bracco says. “And all while using orders-of-magnitude less computing resources.”

The human connection

Bracco emphasizes that while AI and ML play a critical role in accelerating research, humans are at the core of progress. “I think the in-person collaboration that led to this paper is, in itself, a testament to the importance of human interaction,” she says, recalling that the research was the result of a workshop organized at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics — one of the team’s first in-person discussions after the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Machine learning is a fantastic tool — but it's not the solution to everything,” she adds. “There is also a real need for human researchers collecting high-quality data, and for interdisciplinary collaboration across fields. I see this as a big challenge, but a great opportunity for computer scientists and physicists, mathematicians, biologists, and chemists to work together.”

Funding: National Science Foundation, European Research Council, Office of Naval Research, US Department of Energy, European Space Agency, Choose France Chair in AI.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42254-024-00776-3

Summary sentence

A Georgia Tech-led review paper recently published in Nature Reviews Physics is exploring the ways machine learning is revolutionizing the field of climate physics — and the role human scientists might play.

Summary

A Georgia Tech-led review paper recently published in Nature Reviews Physics is exploring the ways machine learning is revolutionizing the field of climate physics — and the role human scientists might play.

Dateline

Wed, 01/22/2025 - 12:00

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Written by Selena Langner

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Fri, 01/24/2025 - 10:47

Georgia Tech's Sonification Lab Revolutionizes Eclipse Experience for Visually Impaired

admin — Fri, 05 Apr 2024 16:53:41 +0000

Georgia Tech's Sonification Lab Revolutionizes Eclipse Experience for Visually Impaired admin Fri, 04/05/2024 - 12:53

As the April 8 solar eclipse approaches, millions of people anticipate participating in the wonder of this celestial event. Yet, for those with visual impairments, traditional methods of observing such phenomena may present limitations. Fortunately, resources from the team of Tech’s School of Psychology professor, Bruce Walker, offer an inclusive approach, ensuring that everyone can engage with and appreciate the eclipse experience. Through detailed auditory descriptions and immersive virtual environments, the Sonification Lab facilitates accessibility to the wonders of the universe for all, regardless of visual ability.

“This is the absolute first technology of its kind to give blind and visually impaired users the complete information and spatial knowledge of a map, especially for an eclipse,” said Brandon Biggs, Ph.D. student in the Human Centered Computing (HCC) program in the School of Interactive Computing.

At the forefront of the Sonification Lab’s research efforts are the resources provided by the lab’s website. This comprehensive platform serves as a hub for eclipse enthusiasts, offering detailed maps, predictions, and scientific insights into the upcoming solar eclipse. These resources are integral to the Sonification Lab's work, enabling them to create fully accessible and accurate auditory representations of the eclipse experience, says Walker.

Crafting an Immersive Soundtrack

Through meticulous analysis and interpretation of the data, Walker's team crafts auditory representations of the eclipse that accurately depict its various phases and phenomena. Each element, from the gradual obscuration of the sun to the fleeting moments of totality, he adds, is translated into carefully composed melodies and rhythms. This soundtrack offers listeners a unique and immersive way to experience the celestial event.

“It’s almost like infotainment,” said Walker. “We want to give a complete experience of totality during the eclipse, with the immersive sound of what birds and other animal behaviors would be at that time.”

As the moon begins to move across the face of the sun, the soundtrack reflects this gradual obscuration through subtle shifts in melody and rhythm. The gradual dimming of light is mirrored by a gradual crescendo in the music, creating a sense of anticipation and tension.

During the brief moments of totality, when the moon completely blocks the sun, the soundtrack reaches a climax. This crescendo symbolizes the awe-inspiring beauty of totality, capturing the profound experience of witnessing the sun's corona against the backdrop of darkness.

"Pull" Style Audio Map: This map outlines the precise path the solar eclipse will take across North America. It provides information about the regions that will experience totality, using the same path data from NASA. The map’s features offer both low lighting and an interactive icon to follow the route of the eclipse, making it engaging and web-accessibility compliant. By incorporating data from this map, the Sonification Lab ensures that their auditory representations align with the geographical features of the eclipse path.

"Push" Style Map: This map provides detailed information about the timing of the eclipse in various locations. According to Walker, the map highlights the moments of partial and total eclipse, allowing listeners to follow the progression of the event in real time. By integrating data from this map, the Sonification Lab synchronizes their auditory compositions with the chronological sequence of the eclipse.

Enhancing Accessibility Through VR Technology

In addition to facilitating this auditory experience, the Sonification Lab also explores virtual reality (VR) capabilities to enhance accessibility for those unable to witness the eclipse firsthand. By immersing users in a virtual environment, complete with visual and auditory components, VR technology enables individuals to experience the eclipse in a highly immersive and interactive manner.

Walker explains that, in the VR environment, users can explore detailed visual representations of the eclipse, including accurate depictions of the sun, moon, and Earth. These visual components provide additional context and enrichment to the auditory experience, allowing users to better understand the celestial mechanics at play.

To delve deeper into the wonders of the cosmos and experience the eclipse in a whole new way, individuals are encouraged to visit the website here.

Summary sentence

Through detailed auditory descriptions and immersive virtual environments, the Sonification Lab facilitates accessibility to the wonders of the universe for all, regardless of visual ability.

Summary

Dateline

Fri, 04/05/2024 - 12:00

sar30@gatech.edu

Contact

Siobhan Rodriguez

Institute Communications

Keywords

solar eclipse

totality

accessibility

total solar eclipse

April 8 solar eclipse

Bruce Walker; Sonification Lab; Music; solar eclipse; great american eclipse

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674025

Source updated

Fri, 04/05/2024 - 12:53

Physics Students’ Trip to Totality

admin — Thu, 04 Apr 2024 19:48:41 +0000

Physics Students’ Trip to Totality admin Thu, 04/04/2024 - 15:48

A total solar eclipse is a time of scientific discovery, confirming Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity in 1919, but the astronomical phenomenon can also be a time of personal discovery, just as it was for Dragomir Davidovic.

An associate professor in the School of Physics whose expertise lies outside of astronomy, Davidovic didn't initially understand the hype surrounding the 2017 eclipse. However, he was instantly captivated as the moon passed between the sun and the Earth to reveal the star's corona.

"When I saw my first eclipse, I was surprised by its power. Nature changed around us; the birds became quiet, and all of the animals near the farm were getting ready to go to sleep. It was eerie in a way, and it's a once-in-a-lifetime event that needs to be seen," he said.

Unlike 2017, Georgia will not be in the path of totality for the eclipse occurring on Monday, April 8, so Davidovic and Edwin Greco, associate chair for student success, are leading a trip for 55 School of Physics students, primarily graduate students, to experience totality at the Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge in Southwest Illinois following an overnight stay in Nashville, Tennessee.

While the eclipse can be viewed in an urban environment, such as Atlanta, where coverage will reach 85%, Davidovic wanted to give students the opportunity to feel the eclipse's full effect on nature as he experienced it seven years ago.

"A rural setting allows you to have this true connection with nature, and it evokes this feeling of almost being a prehistoric human," he said.

In addition to the reaction of animals, Jim Sowell, director of the Georgia Tech Observatory, explains that as the eclipse reaches its peak, temperatures will drop, and planets may become visible in the darkened sky. To view the eclipse, the group will be bringing safety glasses and a telescope with the appropriate lens for direct sunlight viewing.

The idea for the trip came from a spontaneous conversation between Davidovic and School Chair Feryal Özel in August, and initially, Davidovic wondered if enough students would share his enthusiasm for such an adventure.

"My biggest worry was that we wouldn't get enough students to sign up, but as it turned out, I was totally wrong," he said. "It goes to show there is a broad interest in this natural phenomenon. You don't have to be an astronomer; we have people signed up across many different fields,” he said.

Among those immediately interested in joining the excursion was Nadia Qutob, a graduating physics major with an emphasis in astrophysics and a member of the Georgia Tech Astronomy Club.

"Everyone in the world at some point in their lives looks up at the sky and wonders what is up there. Space has an incredible ability to unite us in our shared curiosity. It is deeply inspirational to me that so many people, especially young people, are excited about the eclipse. I hope it will lead to more interest in space research in the future," she said.

Student interest in the eclipse is evident, with another trip being led by the Astronomy Club, which will be heading to the Ozarks to witness the event.

Following Monday’s total solar eclipse, the continental U.S. will not see another of its kind until 2044. In the meantime, Davidovic's hobby has also influenced his academic work. He is now conducting research into the effects of merging black holes on quantum computers and continues to study additional astrophysical theories.

Subtitle

Sparked by a professor’s interest, 55 students from the School of Physics will travel to Illinois to enter the path of totality for the April 8 total solar eclipse.

Summary sentence

Sparked by a professor’s interest, 55 students from the School of Physics will travel to Illinois to enter the path of totality for the April 8 total solar eclipse.

Summary

Sparked by a professor’s interest, 55 students from the School of Physics will travel to Illinois to enter the path of totality for the April 8 total solar eclipse.

Dateline

Thu, 04/04/2024 - 12:00

Steven.gagliano@gatech.edu

Contact

Steven Gagliano - Institute Communications

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School of Physics

Georgia Tech Astronomy Club

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674009

Source updated

Thu, 04/04/2024 - 15:46

John Wise Joins Neil deGrasse Tyson at 2024 Asimov Debate

admin — Thu, 04 Apr 2024 14:49:41 +0000

John Wise Joins Neil deGrasse Tyson at 2024 Asimov Debate admin Thu, 04/04/2024 - 10:49

Has the James Webb Space Telescope changed astrophysics? That was the question posed by Neil deGrasse Tyson to a panel of leading experts, including Georgia Tech’s John Wise, at the 25th annual Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate.

The live event was held on March 19 at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, and while the 800 available tickets sold out within 20 minutes, the discussion is now publicly available on YouTube.

Tyson is the the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium. He personally invited Wise, a professor in the School of Physics and director of the Center for Relativistic Astrophysics, who traveled to New York for the event alongside his wife, Emily Alicea-Muñoz, a fellow physicist and academic professional in the School of Physics.

The discussion centered on how the James Webb Space Telescope has indeed changed astrophysics, especially in relation to understanding the first billion years after the Big Bang when galaxies and black holes were rapidly forming — an area where Wise has significant expertise.

Journey to the stars

“My research group and I have been focusing on this topic for several years, so I was ecstatic to participate in the panel,” Wise says. The event was also an opportunity for the astrophysicist to reconnect with fellow experts — the panel also included Mike Boylan-Kolchin of University of Texas at Austin, Wendy Freedman of the University of Chicago, Priya Natarajan of Yale University, and Rachel Somerville of the Flatiron Institute. Wise had previously collaborated on research with several of the panelists, and Tyson is no stranger to Georgia Tech.

“Just after I received my Ph.D., my collaborators and I worked with the Hayden Planetarium at the American National History Museum to produce a planetarium show segment from my simulations of the first stars,” Wise recalls. The show segment, Journey to the Stars, premiered in 2009 and was narrated by Whoopie Goldberg. Georgia Tech also hosted Tyson in 2014 at the Ferst Center, where many members of the Center for Relativistic Astrophysics met with him.

In the spirit of Isaac Asimov’s legacy of science-oriented storytelling, this year’s debate also provided an opportunity for audience members to “eavesdrop” on robust scientific discussion – with Tyson acting as an interpreter and storyteller, explaining the technical language and helping panelists explain advanced topics.

“The conversation was fantastic,” says Wise. “Neil really brought out the best in us and our scientific endeavors in uncovering the mysteries of the early universe with the James Webb Space Telescope.”

About the Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate

The Hayden Planetarium notes that “the late Dr. Isaac Asimov, one of the most prolific and influential authors of our time, was a dear friend and supporter of the American Museum of Natural History. In his memory, the Hayden Planetarium is honored to host the annual Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate — generously endowed by relatives, friends, and admirers of Isaac Asimov and his work — bringing the finest minds in the world to the Museum each year to debate pressing questions on the frontier of scientific discovery. Proceeds from ticket sales of the Isaac Asimov Memorial Debates benefit the scientific and educational programs of the Hayden Planetarium.” Learn more and watch past debates here.

Summary sentence

Wise, a professor in the School of Physics and director of the Center for Relativistic Astrophysics, spoke to how the James Webb Space Telescope has impacted astrophysics and our understanding of the formation of black holes.

Summary

Dateline

Wed, 04/03/2024 - 12:00

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Written by Selena Langner

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673979

Source updated

Thu, 04/04/2024 - 10:49

Good Dog: LASSIE Spirit Learns to Walk on the Moon

admin — Thu, 04 Apr 2024 14:47:41 +0000

Good Dog: LASSIE Spirit Learns to Walk on the Moon admin Thu, 04/04/2024 - 10:47

This story by Landon Hall was first published in the USC Viterbi School of Engineering newsroom.

Georgia Tech alumna Feifei Qian (M.S. PHYS 2011, Ph.D. ECE 2015), an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and School of Advanced Computing, leads the NASA LASSIE project alongside co-investigator Frances Rivera-Hernández, an assistant professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Georgia Tech. Sharissa Thompson, a graduate student at Georgia Tech, is a student intern on the NASA Curiosity Rover project.

The Palmer Glacier on Oregon’s Mount Hood isn’t the Moon, but it’s a good place to practice.

Some 6,000 feet up the snow-capped mountain, located about 70 miles east of Portland, a multi-disciplinary team from the University of Southern California, Texas A&M University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Oregon State University, Temple University, the University of Pennsylvania, and NASA gathered to turn loose a four-legged robot named Spirit into the wild.

The team that included engineers, cognitive scientists, geoscientists and planetary scientists field-tested Spirit as part of the LASSIE Project: Legged Autonomous Surface Science in Analog Environments. Spirit covered a variety of challenging terrains, using his spindly metal legs to amble over, across and over around shifting dirt, slushy snow and boulders during five days of testing in summer 2023. Sometimes he expertly traversed the hillside, while at other moments he teetered and fell over. All part of the process to better understand the substrate properties and learn to better walk on these extreme terrains. The practice time Spirit logged produced data that will be used to train future robots for use on intergalactic surfaces, like Earth’s moon and perhaps planets in our solar system.

“A legged robot needs to be able to detect what is happening when it interacts with the ground underneath, and rapidly adjust its locomotion strategies accordingly,” says Feifei Qian, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and School of Advanced Computing, which is leading the project funded by NASA. “When the robot leg slips on ice or sinks into soft snow, it inspires us to look for new principles and strategies that can push the boundary of human knowledge and enable new technology. We learn and improve from the observed failures.”

Watch this 5-minute video produced for the team by documentary filmmaker Sean Grasso.

Spirit learns from every step.

“Similar to the way that when we walk on uneven surfaces as humans, we can sort of detect how the ground is shifting beneath our feet, a legged robot is capable of the exact same thing,” says Cristina Wilson, a cognitive scientist at Oregon State University.

The more machines the merrier

Qian’s group doesn’t intend to stop at just one robot, wandering the wilderness alone. She and her former colleagues at Penn, Cynthia Sung, Mark Yim, Daniel Koditschek, and Douglas Jerolmack, received a two-year $2 million grant from NASA they’re calling the TRUSSES Project: Temporarily, Robots Unite to Surmount Sandy Entrapments, Then Separate. They want to help the space agency put teams of robots on the Moon and have them work together on tasks. They would take the knowledge they came in with, and the data they collect on the mission, and communicate those details to each other.

“They would sense how the ground conditions are,” Qian says, “and then exchange that information with one another, and collectively form a map of locomotion risk estimation. The team of robots can then use this traversal risk map to inform their planetary explorations: ‘There is an extremely soft sand patch that might be high-risk for wheeled rovers. Come over here, this might be a safer area.’ ”

The robots in mind for this kind of work would be more than just Spirit: There would be a wheeled rover (great for payload and long distances), a Hexapedal robot (intermediate payload but better mobility than the wheeled), and dog-like ones like the rugged version of Spirit (highest mobility, shorter distances). And here’s the coolest part of that research, the part that sounds like something the Transformers would do. Or at least a team of castaways on “Survivor”: If one got in a jam, made immovable by loose dirt or a rock or a ravine, his bot-mates would arrive and link together and form a bridge, or a pyramid, to hoist their pal to safety. And then back to work.

“When they plan for the strategy to pull the robot up, they’ll decide what force to exert and what position the robot should go to, while also compiling the terrain information,” Qian says. “That’s the key idea of how to use these capabilities: to both prevent and recover from locomotion failures in extreme terrain.”

Back to Mount Hood

Spirit gets around a variety of natural environments, to learn how to better move on challenging terrains. Qian has let him off his leash on Southern California beaches, and the multi-university team has field-tested him in the soft granules of White Sands National Park in New Mexico. But the video shot at Mount Hood shows just how otherworldly that landscape can be in these planetary-analogue environments. This provides Spirit with plenty of opportunities to learn on earth, before potentially exploring other planets.

“You look around us, it would be very hard to drive up this,” Ryan Ewing, a geologist from NASA Johnson Space Center, shares. “But as a legged being, as humans, we can step around it easily. A dog could walk around it easily. So this project is the proving ground that we can enable new science and new mobility on environments that are like other planets.”

In fact, a dog is indeed frisking about: Howard, Wilson’s German shepherd, wandered about, with the kind of agility Spirit could only dream of.

“We are going to observe how Howard moves in different types of snow and ice conditions,” Qian says. “What exactly, out of those combined motions, allows him to succeed on challenging terrain?”

The LASSIE Project calls for two more trips for Spirit: to Mount Hood this summer, and to White Sands next year. The TRUSSES team, from USC and Penn, also plans to visit White Sands next year with Spirit and the other, new, multi-tasking robots. Imagine WALL-E with friends.

—

The NASA PSTAR (Planetary Science and Technology Through Analog Research) number for this project is 80NSSC22K1313.

Subtitle

Researchers at Georgia Tech have teamed up with NASA and five peer institutions to teach dog-like robots to navigate craters of the Moon and other challenging planetary surfaces.

Summary sentence

Researchers at Georgia Tech have teamed up with NASA and five peer institutions to teach dog-like robots to navigate craters of the Moon and other challenging planetary surfaces.

Summary

Scientists at Georgia Tech have teamed up with the University of Southern California (USC), University of Pennsylvania, Texas A&M, Oregon State, Temple University, and NASA Johnson Space Center to teach dog-like robots to navigate craters of the Moon and other challenging planetary surfaces in research funded by NASA.

Dateline

Wed, 04/03/2024 - 12:00

jess@cos.gatech.edu

Contact

Jess Hunt-Ralston
Director of Communications
College of Sciences at Georgia Tech

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cos-research

NASA

Frances Rivera-Hernandez

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Science and Technology

Categories

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Environment

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Robotics

Mercury ID

673986

Source updated

Thu, 04/04/2024 - 10:45

Total Solar Eclipse Brings History Within Sight

admin — Tue, 02 Apr 2024 17:58:41 +0000

Total Solar Eclipse Brings History Within Sight admin Tue, 04/02/2024 - 13:58

On Monday, April 8, North America will experience the astronomical phenomenon known as a total solar eclipse when the moon passes between the sun and the Earth.

The path of totality will shadow portions of Mexico before it passes over 15 U.S. states and parts of Canada. While Atlanta does not fall directly in the path as it did in 2017, nearly 85% of the sun will be blocked, giving the Georgia Tech community a chance to participate in the historic event.

"Quite frankly, there's not much difference between 85% and 95%. You can still witness the eclipse, and seeing that the sun is a crescent is a sight you'll never forget," said Jim Sowell, a principal academic professional in the School of Physics and the director of the Georgia Tech Observatory.

Safety First

Although a portion of the sun will be blocked, looking directly into the sun remains harmful to the eye. Sowell offers several tips to protect yourself.

Safety glasses: Traditional sunglasses do not provide protection for extended solar viewings. Eclipse-safe glasses will be labeled 'ISO 12312-2,' indicating that they have been certified by the International Organization for Standardization. Because the eclipse will last for two hours, glasses can be shared throughout the event.

Pinhole camera: Using a cardboard box, such as a shoebox, Sowell recommends creating a homemade pinhole camera (See image at the bottom of the page), which projects the sun inside the box's walls.

Sowell noted that a colander, or the sun shining through tree leaves, can also be used to project the sun's image onto the ground.

Telescope: Telescopes are a great way to view the eclipse as long as an ISO 12312-2 filter is placed on the lens. A cellphone camera is not a replacement for a filtered lens, as the sun's rays can damage your device.

Where to Watch

Weather permitting, viewers will be able to see the eclipse in an urban or rural environment.

Sun seekers in the city should avoid tall buildings and other obstructions to allow for the best view. In Atlanta, the eclipse is expected to be visible starting at 1:45 p.m., with peak coverage at 3:04 p.m. It will end at 4:21 p.m.

Sowell says that a rural setting is ideal for witnessing the true power of an eclipse, especially within the path of totality.

"Birds may begin to recognize that it's getting darker and start to roost. Cattle may start to low, and you'll notice a temperature drop because of the cool air trapped in the shadow as it moves across the Earth. And if you're in totality, you might see some planets and some bright stars that come out due to the dark sky," said Sowell, who will be traveling to Dallas, Texas, for the eclipse.

Witnessing History

Total solar eclipses typically occur every one to three years, but Sowell noted that the continental U.S. will not see another until 2044. A professional astronomer for 40 years, Sowell is preparing to see his second total eclipse and hopes this event will inspire others to look at the sky (safely) with the same curiosity he does.

"I hope others view the eclipse and understand that there is astronomy that can be done with just the naked eye, and then there is so much more. If we can get people interested with just the sun and the moon, they'll realize they can go to the edge of the universe," he said.

He adds that, unlike other widely popular events, everyone taking part in the eclipse is a winner.

"Unless you're clouded out, this is better than the Super Bowl because half the people are upset about the result, whereas for this kind of eclipse, if you see it, you're excited and will remember it for the rest of your life."

Sowell also urges viewers to be patient if the weather isn't ideal.

"Just because it's cloudy in the morning or 10 minutes before the event, don't punt," he said. "You need to ride it out. And you might get lucky. Even if it's only during the second half that it clears up, it'll still be just as memorable."

Two groups of students will be traveling to experience totality, including 55 graduate and undergraduate students from the School of Physics, led by Associate Professor Dragomir Davidovic, and another trip led by the Georgia Tech Astronomy Club.

Subtitle

While outside of the path of totality, the Georgia Tech community can still take part in the historic April total solar eclipse.

Summary sentence

While outside of the path of totality, the Georgia Tech community can still take part in the historic April total solar eclipse.

Summary

While outside of the path of totality, the Georgia Tech community can still take part in the historic April total solar eclipse.

Dateline

Tue, 04/02/2024 - 12:00

Steven.gagliano@gatech.edu

Contact

Steven Gagliano - Institute Communications

Associated importer

Keywords

total solar eclipse

astronomy

Georgia Tech Observatory

cos-community

cos-planetary

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Campus and Community

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Physics and Physical Sciences

Mercury ID

673900

Source updated

Tue, 04/02/2024 - 13:58

SDG Week, Sustainability Showcase Highlight Georgia Tech’s Commitment to Advancing Sustainable Development

admin — Mon, 26 Feb 2024 02:44:41 +0000

SDG Week, Sustainability Showcase Highlight Georgia Tech’s Commitment to Advancing Sustainable Development admin Sun, 02/25/2024 - 21:44

Georgia Tech’s Sustainable Development Goals Action and Awareness Week 2024 and the Sustainability Showcase bring a variety of sustainable development-focused activities to campus the week of March 4 – 8. This annual week of engagement and learning helps showcase the various ways that Georgia Tech is advancing the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through teaching, research, operations, and partnerships.

The SDGs were adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. They address the world’s most monumental challenges, including poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, and peace and justice. The SDGs appear by name in the Institute’s strategic plan as long-term goals that should guide Georgia Tech’s teaching, research, and operations.

A key feature of this year’s program, the Sustainability Showcase, co-hosted by the Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems and the Office of Sustainability, includes a series of leadership panels and lightning-round talks throughout the week, including:

Conversations With Cabrera: “Higher Education and SDG17: Partnerships for the Goals."
Georgia Tech Climate Action Plan panel hosted by the Office of Sustainability.
Tech Talks Business with Scheller College of Business Dean Anuj Mehrotra featuring Laurel Hurd, president and chief executive officer, Interface Inc.
“The Role of Philanthropy in Climate Action and Sustainable Development,” hosted by Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts Dean Kaye Husbands Fealing.
“Connecting for Sustainability: Collaborative Paths to Environmental Justice,” featuring Community Partners, hosted by the Center for Sustainable Communities Research and Education.
Alumni Keynote: “Exploring Pathways to and Partnerships in Advancing Energy Equity” with Andrew White, CE 2019.
"Innovation, R&D, and Sustainability,” discussion hosted by EVPR Chaouki Abdallah.
A series of seven-minute lightning talks from faculty, staff, and students on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, March 6 – 8.

More than 20 additional events on the SDG Week calendar will be hosted by campus units and student organizations. These include arts-focused opportunities like the SDG mobile film festival on the evening of March 6, a “Teaching the SDGs” faculty workshop, and a variety of events for students to explore sustainability and international education opportunities.

View a full listing of the week’s events for details and registration (only required for some events).

SDG Action and Awareness Week is part of a larger global effort through the University Global Coalition (UGC), which Georgia Tech President Ángel Cabrera chairs and helped found. The UGC comprises higher education leaders from around the world who work to advance the SDGs through system change and global partnerships.

SDG Action and Awareness Week is an annual event occurring in early March. To collaborate next year, contact the Office of Sustainability at sustain@gatech.edu.

Summary sentence

The campus community is invited to participate in a week of events that increase awareness of and encourage actions that advance the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Summary

The campus community is invited to participate in a week of events that increase awareness of and encourage actions that advance the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Dateline

Sun, 02/25/2024 - 12:00

Contact

Drew Cutright

Director of Sustainability Engagement, Georgia Tech

Program Director, University Global Coalition

Keywords

cos-climate

cos-community

cos-planetary

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Campus and Community

Mercury ID

673152

Source updated

Sun, 02/25/2024 - 21:44

Study Reveals Wintertime Formation of Large Pollution Particles in China’s Skies

admin — Fri, 17 Nov 2023 14:12:41 +0000

Study Reveals Wintertime Formation of Large Pollution Particles in China’s Skies admin Fri, 11/17/2023 - 09:12

Previous studies have found that the particles that float in the haze over the skies of Beijing include sulfate, a major source of outdoor air pollution that damages lungs and aggravates existing asthmatic symptoms, according to the California Air Resources Board.

Sulfates usually are produced by atmospheric oxidation in the summer, when ample sunlight facilitates the oxidation that turns sulfur dioxide into dangerous aerosol particles. How is it that China can produce such extreme pollution loaded with sulfates in the winter, when there’s not as much sunlight and atmospheric oxidation is slow?

Yuhang Wang, professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Georgia Tech, and his research team have conducted a study that may have the answer: All the chemical reactions needed to turn sulfur dioxide into sulfur trioxide, and then quickly into sulfate, primarily happen within the smoke plumes causing the pollution. That process not only creates sulfates in the winter in China, but it also happens faster and results in larger sulfate particles in the atmosphere.

“We call the source ‘in-source formation,’” Wang says. “Instead of having oxidants spread out in the atmosphere, slowly oxidizing sulfur dioxide into sulfur trioxide to produce sulfate, we have this concentrated production in the exhaust plumes that turns the sulfuric acid into large sulfate particles. And that's why we're seeing these large sulfate particles in China.”

The findings of in-source formation of larger wintertime sulfate particles in China could help scientists accurately assess the impacts of aerosols on radiative forcing — how climate change and global warming impact the Earth’s energy and heat balances — and on health, where larger aerosols means larger deposits into human lungs.

“Wintertime Formation of Large Sulfate Particles in China and Implications for Human Health,” is published in Environmental Science & Technology, an American Chemical Society publication. The co-authors include Qianru Zhang of Peking University and Mingming Zheng of Wuhan Polytechnic University, two of Wang’s former students who conducted the research while at Georgia Tech.

Explaining a historic smog

China still burns a lot of coal in power plants because its costs are lower compared to natural gas, Wang says. It also makes for an easy comparison between China’s hazy winters and a historic event that focused the United Kingdom’s attention on dangerous environmental hazards — the Great London Smog.

The event, depicted in the Netflix show “The Crown,” saw severe smog descend on London in December 1952. Unusually cold weather preceded the event, which brought the coal-produced haze down to ground level. UK officials later said the Great London Smog (also called the Great London Fog) was responsible for 4,000 deaths and 100,000 illnesses, although later studies estimated a higher death toll of 10,000 to 20,000.

“From the days of the London Fog to extreme winter pollution in China, it has been a challenge to explain how sulfate is produced in the winter,” Wang says.

Wang and his team decided to take on that challenge.

Aerosol size and heavy metal influence?

The higher sulfate levels in China, notably in January 2013, defy conventional explanations that relied on standard photochemical oxidation. It was thought that nitrogen dioxide or other mild oxidants found in alkaline or neutral particles in the atmosphere were the cause. But measurements revealed the resulting sulfate particles were highly acidic.

During Zheng’s time at Georgia Tech, “She was just looking for interesting things to do,” Wang says of the former student. “And I said, maybe this is what we should do — I wanted her to look at aerosol size distributions, how large the aerosols are.”

Zheng and Wang noticed that the size of the sulfate particles from China’s winter were much larger than those that resulted from photochemically-produced aerosols. Usually measuring 0.3 to 0.5 microns, the sulfate was closer to 1 micron in size. (A human hair is about 70 microns.) Aerosols distributed over a wider area would normally be smaller.

“The micron-sized aerosol observations imply that sulfate particles undergo substantial growth in a sulfur trioxide-rich environment,” Wang says. Larger particles increase the risks to human health.

“When aerosols are large, more is deposited in the front part of the respiratory system but less on the end part, such as alveoli,” he adds. “When accounting for the large size of particles, total aerosol deposition in the human respiratory system is estimated to increase by 10 to 30 percent.”

Something still needs to join the chemical mix, however, so the sulfur dioxide could turn into sulfur trioxide while enlarging the resulting sulfate particles. Wang says a potential pathway involves the catalytic oxidation of sulfur dioxide to sulfuric acid by “transition metals.”

High temperatures, acidity, and water content in the exhaust can greatly accelerate catalytic sulfur dioxide oxidation “compared to that in the ambient atmosphere. It is possible that similar heterogeneous processes occurring on the hot surface of a smokestack coated with transition metals could explain the significant portion of sulfur trioxide observed in coal-fired power plant exhaust,” Wang says.

“A significant amount of sulfur trioxide is produced, either during combustion or through metal-catalyzed oxidation at elevated temperatures.”

An opportunity for cleaner-burning coal power plants

The impact of in-source formation of sulfate suggests that taking measures to cool off and remove sulfur trioxide, sulfuric acid, and particulates from the emissions of coal-combustion facilities could be a way to cut down on pollution that can cause serious health problems.

“The development and implementation of such technology will benefit nations globally, particularly those heavily reliant on coal as a primary energy source,” Wang says.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.3c05645

Funding: This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (nos. 41821005 and 41977311). Yuhang Wang was supported by the National Science Foundation Atmospheric Chemistry Program. Qianru Zhang would also like to thank the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2022M720005) and China Scholarship Council for support. Mingming Zheng is also supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, Peking University (7100604309).

Subtitle

School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences researchers find dangerous sulfates are formed, and their particles get bigger, within the plumes of pollution belching from coal-fired power plants.

Summary sentence

School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences researchers find dangerous sulfates are formed, and their particles get bigger, within the plumes of pollution belching from coal-fired power plants.

Summary

School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences researchers find dangerous sulfates are formed, and their particles get bigger, within the plumes of pollution belching from coal-fired power plants.

Dateline

Thu, 11/16/2023 - 12:00

renay.san@cos.gatech.edu

Contact

Writer: Renay San Miguel
Communications Officer II/Science Writer
College of Sciences
404-894-5209

Editor: Jess Hunt-Ralston

Keywords

College of Sciences

School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

Yuhang Wang

aerosols

China air pollution

sulfates

cos-research

cos-planetary

cos-climate

go-researchnews

News room topics

Earth and Environment

Categories

Energy

Environment

Life Sciences and Biology

Research

Student and Faculty

Mercury ID

671132

Source updated

Fri, 11/17/2023 - 09:12

Physicists Focus on Neutrinos With New Telescope

admin — Fri, 17 Nov 2023 14:10:41 +0000

Physicists Focus on Neutrinos With New Telescope admin Fri, 11/17/2023 - 09:10

Georgia Tech scientists will soon have another way to search for neutrinos, those hard-to-detect, high-energy particles speeding through the cosmos that hold clues to massive particle accelerators in the universe — if researchers can find them.

“The detection of a neutrino source or even a single neutrino at the highest energies is like finding a holy grail,” says Professor Nepomuk Otte, the principal investigator for the Trinity Demonstrator telescope that was recently built by his group and collaborators, and was designed to detect neutrinos after they get stopped within the Earth.

The National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded effort will eventually create “the world’s most sensitive ultra-high energy neutrino telescope.” The Trinity Demonstrator is the first step toward an array of 18 telescopes located at three sites, each on top of a high mountain.

Earlier in the year, Otte’s group flew a neutrino telescope tethered to a massive NASA-funded balloon — though a leak brought the telescope down earlier than planned. The effort was part of the EUSO-SPB2 collaboration, which wants to study cosmic-particle accelerators with detectors in space.

“This was the first time our group had built an instrument for a balloon mission,” Otte says. “And the big question was if it would work at the boundary to space at -40F and in a vacuum. Even though we only flew 37 hours (of a 50-hour mission), we could show that our instrument worked as expected. We even accomplished some key measurements, like making a measurement of the background light, which no one has done before.”

The search for neutrinos

Otte is the second Georgia Tech physicist to lead a search for neutrinos. Professor Ignacio Taboada is the spokesperson for IceCube, an NSF neutrino observatory located at the South Pole. IceCube uses thousands of sensors buried in the ice to detect neutrinos.

Meanwhile, Trinity telescopes will be especially sensitive to higher-energy neutrinos. “With Trinity, we can potentially open a new, entirely unexplored window in astronomy,” Otte says. “IceCube gives us a couple of good pointers on what to observe. That is also why we modified the building of the Trinity Demonstrator to point toward the only two high-energy neutrino sources” already identified by IceCube scientists.

‘Cherenkov lights’ illuminate ‘air showers’

The Trinity Demonstrator telescope is not your typical astronomy telescope. Instead of looking into the sky, it is looking at the horizon, waiting for a flash of light to happen that only lasts tens of billionths of a second.

That flash is at the end of a chain of events that happens when a high-energy neutrino enters the Earth under a shallow angle. Upon penetrating Earth and traveling along a straight line for a hundred miles, the neutrino eventually interacts inside the Earth, producing a tau particle, which is like a short-lived massive electron.

The tau continues to travel through the Earth, and when it bounces out of the ground, it decays into millions of electrons and positrons, which zip through the air. Because the electrons and positrons travel faster than the speed of light in the air, they emit Cherenkov light, the short flash of light the Trinity Demonstrator telescope detects. Using computer algorithms, the recorded Cherenkov flashes are analyzed to reconstruct the energy and arrival direction of the neutrino.

Otte and his team of Georgia Tech postdoctoral and graduate scholars developed and built the Trinity Demonstrator. Undergraduate students have also had significant responsibilities in designing its optics. “It is good for the students because they are involved in all aspects of the experiment. In big collaborations, you are an expert on one aspect only,” Otte says.

The largest collaboration Otte is currently involved with is the Cherenkov Telescope Array, which involves more than 2,000 researchers. That planned international project will involve 60 next-generation gamma-ray telescopes in Chile and on the Canary Island of La Palma.

Next year, Otte says he and his researchers will apply for funding to build a much bigger telescope, which will be the foundation for the NSF 18-telescope array. For now, the team is busy observing with the Trinity Demonstrator atop Frisco Peak in Utah.

“With a bit of luck, we will detect the first neutrino source at these energies,” Otte said.

Funding: National Science Foundation (NSF)

Subtitle

Physics Professor Nepomuk Otte and students have developed the Trinity Demonstrator to search for sources of high-energy neutrinos that contain clues to the early universe.

Summary sentence

Physics Professor Nepomuk Otte and students have developed the Trinity Demonstrator to search for sources of high-energy neutrinos that contain clues to the early universe.

Summary

Physics Professor Nepomuk Otte and students have developed the Trinity Demonstrator to search for sources of high-energy neutrinos that contain clues to the early universe.

Dateline

Thu, 11/16/2023 - 12:00

renay.san@cos.gatech.edu

Contact

Writer: Renay San Miguel
Communications Officer II/Science Writer
College of Sciences
404-894-5209

Editor: Jess Hunt-Ralston

Keywords

College of Sciences

School of Physics

Nepomuk Otte

neutrinos

Tau Neutrinos

Ignacio Taboada

IceCube Neutrino Observatory

cos-research

cos-planetary

go-researchnews

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Science and Technology

Categories

Physics and Physical Sciences

Research

Student and Faculty

Mercury ID

671105

Source updated

Fri, 11/17/2023 - 09:10

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LIGO Detects Most Massive Binary Black Hole to Date

A Cosmic View

Decoding a Split-Second Signal

A Decade of Discovery

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At the Intersection of Climate and AI, Machine Learning is Revolutionizing Climate Science

Connecting hidden dots

Modeling climate, predicting weather

The human connection

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Georgia Tech's Sonification Lab Revolutionizes Eclipse Experience for Visually Impaired

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Physics Students’ Trip to Totality

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John Wise Joins Neil deGrasse Tyson at 2024 Asimov Debate

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About the Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate

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Good Dog: LASSIE Spirit Learns to Walk on the Moon

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Total Solar Eclipse Brings History Within Sight

Safety First

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Witnessing History

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SDG Week, Sustainability Showcase Highlight Georgia Tech’s Commitment to Advancing Sustainable Development

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Study Reveals Wintertime Formation of Large Pollution Particles in China’s Skies

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Physicists Focus on Neutrinos With New Telescope

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