#Cosmic rays

[wayti-blog]

"New research suggests that these ultra-high energy rays derive their energy from magnetic turbulence."

"Ultra-high energy cosmic rays, which emerge in extreme astrophysical environments—like the roiling environments near black holes and neutron stars—have far more energy than the energetic particles that emerge from our sun. In fact, the particles that make up these streams of energy have around 10 million times the energy of particles accelerated in the most extreme particle environment on earth, the human-made Large Hadron Collider.

Where does all that energy come from? For many years, scientists believed it came from shocks that occur in extreme astrophysical environments—when, for example, a star explodes before forming a black hole, causing a huge explosion that kicks up particles.

That theory was plausible, but, according to new research published this week in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, the observations are better explained by a different mechanism. The source of the cosmic rays’ energy, the researchers found, is more likely magnetic turbulence. The paper’s authors found that magnetic fields in these environments tangle and turn, rapidly accelerating particles and sharply increasing their energy up to an abrupt cutoff.

“These findings help solve enduring questions that are of great interest to both astrophysicists and particle physicists about how these cosmic rays get their energy,” said Luca Comisso, associate research scientist in the Columbia Astrophysics Lab, and one of the paper’s authors.

The paper complements recent research published by Comisso and collaborators on the sun’s energetic particles, which they also found emerge from magnetic fields in the sun’s corona. In that paper, Comisso and his colleagues discovered ways to better predict where those energetic particles would emerge."

continue reading

[jasposeyblog]

My acquisition of Human Torch sketch cover by Dan Neidlinger

[disneyparksattractionstournament]

Disney Parks Animatronic Tournament: Bracket B/Tier 2 Round 2

Phantom: Phantom Manor - Disneyland Paris

Sonny Eclipse: Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe - Magic Kingdom Disney World

Propaganda:

"This guy HATES his mother in law and has an army of ghosts to sing songs with him. he could have and should have sweeped the tumblr sexyman poll.""Best meal and a show you can get at magic kingdom""He’s a classic. You get to eat and watch him do his little show. Only of the only animatronics outside of a ride so you can admire him for as long as you like. He’s a funky space music man."

[marionetteangie]

Sometimes all I want is my headphones, personal space, and a thousand dollars to spend on stuff I really don’t need. :)

On an unrelated note I sang Bright Little Star from Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe, originally sung by Sonny Eclipse

Backing track is by TJ the DJ on YouTube 🥰

[mysticalblizzardcolor]

[nerds-yearbook]

The U-Foes (Vector, Iron Clad, Vapor, and X-Ray) were created in The Incredible Hulk 254#, cover date December 1980. They were created by Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema. The U-Foes attempted to recreate the trip that created the Fantastic Four. Unaware of the experiment, Bruce Banner aborted their mission, seeing they were heading into a massive cosmic wave. They were exposed to enough cosmic rays to gain powers, but they became unstable during a battle with the Hulk. ("Waiting for the U-Foes", The Incredible Hulk 254#, Marvel Comic Event)

[learnwithmearticles]

Moon Missions

What’s going on with the moon?

The United States recently had a solar eclipse on April 8th, 2024, and some might be surprised to learn that the moon is, in fact, affected by solar radiation. The charged particles emitted by the sun, called the solar wind, reach the moon with no interruption from its atmosphere, as it has none. It also has no global magnetic field, another layer of protection that Earth does have, in comparison.

The moon does, however, have small areas of magnetic fields. We can see this because these areas remain lighter in photos whereas chemical reactions from radiation darken the unprotected areas.

Fortunately, most of these charged particles cannot pass through the hulls of space stations, so astronauts are safe in orbit. Cosmic rays, made of stronger and faster-moving particles, are more dangerous. Even on Earth, under the atmosphere and magnetosphere, cosmic radiation reaches humans, though not enough to be considered damaging to our health.

A lander and rover launched in 2018 delivered the first measurements of radiation levels on the moon 4. Based on those data, astronauts on the moon can be exposed to up to 150 times higher radiation levels than on Earth.

Radiation is a leading reason for the pause in lunar landing missions. It raises risks of cataracts, heart diseases, radiation illness, cancer, and other ailments. Longer missions, of course, would heavily exacerbate these radiation doses.

Other Health Concerns

Cosmic rays contain High-Energy (HZE) ions. In different exposure such as from nuclear accidents or irradiation therapy, HZE ions have been found to cause dysregulation in the mitochondria and damage to DNA. Because of this, prolonged exposure is linked to health effects often associated with aging, such as hippocampus synapse loss and metabolic disruption caused by damage to mitochondrial DNA.

Long-duration space flights have also been linked to cardiovascular disorders. For astronauts on the Apollo missions, heart attack was “the second leading cause of death” 8. For additional space flights outside of Earth’s magnetosphere, astronauts also had a higher mortality rate due to cardiovascular diseases.

In a previous article, we discussed the relationship between circadian rhythms and health. These rhythms are another thing that space travel can impact, causing sleep and mental health disturbances in astronauts 9.

While various studies are investigating the conditions of these health risks, a current NASA mission is specifically investigating radiation protection.

Long-term Mission

NASA plans on eventually returning to human-manned missions to the moon.

First, they have to address the issues discussed above.

In November of 2022, Artemis I launched with two manikins bearing radiation detectors. From this mission, NASA was able to confirm the success of the intended trajectory, launch of ground systems, and the Orion spacecraft. The radiation results from this mission are still being analyzed.

The Artemis missions are intended to explore more of the moon than ever before, and lay groundwork for eventual missions to Mars.

Artemis II will not launch any earlier than September of 2025. It is planned to last ten days, consist of a 4-person crew, and be a lunar flyby to ensure the proper functioning of the spacecraft’s systems.

It has seemed for years that lunar exploration has halted. Manned missions have indeed been paused, for good reasons. Ensuring the safety of astronauts is a priority, and they face serious health risks even when missions go as expected. But NASA intends to continue exploring space, the moon, and Mars. The current Artemis missions are discovering improved, new ways to ensure the safety of astronauts while making scientific progress.

Additional Resources

1. https://science.nasa.gov/moon/solar-wind/

2. https://phys.org/news/2012-01-solar-flares-astronauts.html

3. https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1211/1211.3962.pdf

4. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11214-020-00725-3

5.https://www.nasa.gov/missions/artemis/orion/orion-passengers-on-artemis-i-to-test-radiation-vest-for-deep-space-missions/

6.https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-space-radiation-threatens-lunar-exploration-180981415/

7.https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/analysis-confirms-successful-artemis-i-moon-mission-reviews-continue-2/

8.https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2020.00955/full

9. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9818606/

[towerofthe4winds]

Sonny Eclipse is the reason why Cosmic Ray’s is worth eating at.

[dophineh]

California Northern Lights from the May 10-11th Solar Storm. (Mammoth Lakes, Latitude 37.7˚~)

[uchicagoscrc]

The papers of physicist James Cronin are now available for research.

Dr. James Cronin was a professor at the University of Chicago who broke new ground in particle physics and the study of cosmic rays. He co-discovered the CP violation, which is the detection of asymmetry between matter and anti-matter, and co-won the Noble Prize in Physics for this discovery in 1980. He also studied the origin of cosmic rays, and directed the construction of the Pierre Auger Observatory in Argentina. Having begun his career during the golden age of physics and having studied under Enrico Fermi, Cronin loved how easy it was to come up with new questions, perform new experiments, and come away with further information about particle physics and cosmic rays.

[jasposeyblog]

My acquisition of Human Torch by @drew-moss

[disneyparksattractionstournament]

Disney Parks Animatronic Tournament: Bracket B/Tier 2 Round 5

Statler and Waldorf: Muppet*Vision 3D - Hollywood Studios Disney World, Disney California Adventure (formerly)

Propaganda:

"Waldorf: “Do we have time to go to the bathroom before the next show?” Statler: “We can’t, you old fool. We’re bolted to the seats!” These animatronics are the next best thing to having the real puppets sitting there in the balcony doing what they do best--heckling the Muppets."

Sonny Eclipse: Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe - Magic Kingdom Disney World

Propaganda:

"This guy HATES his mother in law and has an army of ghosts to sing songs with him. he could have and should have sweeped the tumblr sexyman poll.""Best meal and a show you can get at magic kingdom""He’s a classic. You get to eat and watch him do his little show. Only of the only animatronics outside of a ride so you can admire him for as long as you like. He’s a funky space music man."

[kingoftieland]

DC & Marvel’s crossover universe made Hulk the WEAKEST Avenger! 😧

[wikipediagrams]

[learnwithmearticles]

Cosmic Rays

Science time! This week: cosmic rays.

Cosmic rays are not a strong concern for people on Earth, but they are constantly moving throughout the universe at nearly the speed of light.

What They Are

Cosmic rays are made up of particles. Most atoms start with a nucleus made up of protons and neutrons (subatomic particles), with an outer layer of negatively charged subatomic particles called electrons. Most atoms of cosmic rays have had their outer layers stripped and so are just nuclei.

As far as we know, they can come from the sun of our solar system, black holes, and exploding stars (supernovae). Scientists found this from studying particles and their energy levels, which can be used to find out the force and origin associated with the particles’ accelerations and velocities. Finding their exact origins is difficult because particles are pulled around by magnetic fields throughout the universe, but the origins listed above are the most likely due to their immense ‘strength’, able to send particles traveling at nearly the speed of light.

Many of the particles have the nuclei of hydrogen: one proton which has a positive charge. Cosmic rays have also been found to have helium, uranium, and other elements, though to a far rarer extent.

What They Do

These particles are considered high-energy, meaning they can cause a strong impact when they collide with something, such as cells of the body. Because of Earth’s magnetosphere and atmosphere, the majority of cosmic rays do not interact with life here.

Colliding with particles of the Earth’s atmosphere causes the particles from outer space to lose a lot of their energy, as well as turn into secondary particles, like neutrinos. Neutrinos are produced every time the nuclei of atoms collide or break apart. They are neutral in charge and completely harmless because they almost never interact with other particles.

(Neutrinos have no charge, so the energy associated with them comes only from the process that formed it. More energy in the reaction creates more energy in the neutrino).

Studying cosmic rays has helped us gain a lot of information about the universe.

Before the 1950s, studying cosmic rays was the only way to study particles smaller than atoms. From these studies, scientists discovered smaller particles like muons, pions, and kaons.

Blazars are another example. A blazar is a galaxy powered by a black hole. As matter goes into the black hole, large amounts of energy are emitted. We are able to discover blazars specifically because the energy ‘beam’ is in the direction of Earth, so the particles end up making their way here.

In addition to learning from cosmic rays, humans have faced limitations because of them. Cosmic rays are an ionizing radiation - they damage DNA and living tissue. Cosmic rays as they are in outer space, again, do not reach Earth to a harmful extent, but astronauts are exposed to them.

This exposure causes risks of cancer, cataracts, eye diseases, and bone marrow dysfunction. Recent studies, mostly on mice, have also associated cosmic ray exposure with mental states like anxiety and emotional reactivity, and impaired neurotransmission.

Scientists are still working on continuing manned missions in space, to the moon and, hopefully, Mars. The Artemis missions are working on being able to do so, but such missions have been halted for a long time since the Apollo missions.

Carbon-14 Dating

Another neat use of cosmic rays is in carbon-14 dating, to which they are essential.

Carbon dating is a type of absolute dating, meaning it provides exact years or periods of time for the creation and use of artifacts. It works on materials as old as about 60,000 years.

Carbon-14 dating relies on the decay of the carbon-14 isotope. The carbon-14 isotope is radioactive, has six protons, which makes it carbon, and 8 neutrons, while default carbon has six. It is one of the secondary particles caused by cosmic rays reacting to particles in Earth’s atmosphere; therefore, it could not exist without cosmic rays.

Carbon-14 exists in living organisms, and it starts to change when they die, gradually turning into other elements. Carbon-14 dating then measures how much carbon-14 remains in the organic material at the time of testing.

For example, carbon-14 dating was used to date the remains of Ötzi the Iceman, found frozen in the Alps. The hunter and his clothing, from carbon dating, were found to have died about 5,300 years ago.

Radiocarbon dating, like carbon-14 dating, is extremely valuable to archaeology and learning about the world around us. The existence of carbon-14, due to cosmic rays, has been essential to that learning.

Cosmic rays are an ever-present part of our world. They exist throughout the universe yet rarely directly affect us on Earth. While they have posed an issue on space travel, they have also provided invaluable information on the human past as well as the present universe.

Additional Resources

1. https://news.uchicago.edu/explainer/what-are-cosmic-rays#

2. https://news.wisc.edu/what-are-cosmic-rays-why-do-the-matter/

3. https://www.energy.gov/science/doe-explainsneutrinos#

4. https://news.wisc.edu/what-is-a-blazar/

5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10044754/

6. https://news.uchicago.edu/explainer/what-is-carbon-14-dating#

[houseboywife]

Getting hit by a cosmic ray and upwarping 4 meters up into my ceiling, dying instantly