Month: January 2025

Nikon 5×15 HG monocular review

NeRD

With the promise of its stablemates, the Nikon 5×15 HG Monocular has a lot to live up to. We were amazed by the quality of this little monocular’s images, which were clear and very sharp. The chassis is very solidly made and feels very comfortable. Although the unit isn’t waterproof, it’s so tiny that it can be stowed in a plastic bag and placed in a pocket, where it will be safe on beaches and long walks. With a magnification of 5x, the Nikon 5×15 HG is more for casual…

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Satellites watch ‘ghost island’ solidify in the Caspian Sea before disappearing (photos)

NeRD

We like to think of land as a fairly static thing, considering that’s where we spend the majority of our lives. And to think that the ground is ever-changing, well, that’s a bit unsettling. But the reality is land is always changing — perhaps nowhere more so than at the Kumani Bank mud volcano, also known as Chigil-Deniz, some 15 miles (25 km) off the coast of Azerbaijan in the Caspian Sea. The NASA Earth Observatory has released a series of images taken with the Operational Land Imager (OLI) and…

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Space Force to march in Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration, a 1st for the new military branch

NeRD

On Monday (Jan. 20), the U.S. Space Force will participate in a presidential inauguration for the first time. Representing the military branch will be 45 Guardians, the official name for U.S. Space Force personnel, who work in a wide range of careers across the country. The 45 Guardians, who are volunteers, recently arrived at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, a large military installation in Washington, D.C., where they’ve been practicing drills for Monday’s inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump. They’ve come together with the Space Force Honor Guard, which was founded 17 months…

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Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) Independent Assessment

NeRD

3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) AS16-116-18653 (23 April 1972) — Astronaut Charles M. Duke Jr., Apollo 16 lunar module pilot, stands at a big rock adjacent (south) to the huge “House Rock” (barely out of view at right edge). Note shadow at extreme right center where the two moon-exploring crew members of the mission sampled what they referred to as the “east-by-west split of House Rock” or the open space between this rock and “House Rock”. At their post-mission press conference, the crewmen expressed…

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NASA Scientists, Engineers Receive Presidential Early Career Awards 

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This image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope shows the dwarf galaxy NGC 4449. ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, A. Adamo (Stockholm University) and the FEAST JWST team President Biden has named 19 researchers who contribute to NASA’s mission as recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). These recipients are among nearly 400 federally funded researchers receiving the honor.   Established in 1996 by the National Science and Technology Council, the PECASE Award is the highest honor given by the U.S. government to scientists and engineers who…

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NASA Opens New Challenge to Support Climate-Minded Business Models

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Freelancer NASA’s Sustainable Business Model Challenge is looking for entrepreneurs, startups, and researchers to leverage the agency’s publicly available Earth system science data to develop commercial solutions for climate challenges. This opportunity, with a submission deadline of June 13, bridges the gap between vast climate data and actionable solutions by inviting solvers to transform data into sustainable business models that support climate resilience and decision-making. “Creative, outcome-driven entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of our country’s economy, and we’re excited to see the sustainable climate solutions they’re able to come up with…

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Major telescope makers hit by class action lawsuit over alleged price fixing

NeRD

Skywatchers who purchased telescopes from leading suppliers may be entitled to a payment from a $32 million class action settlement. The settlement is a result of a lengthy legal saga involving telescope manufacturers controlled by Chinese family firms Synta Technologies and Ningbo Sunny, which, according to allegations in available documents, actively conspired to monopolize and divide up the U.S. amateur telescope market to fix prices and push out competitors. The brands covered in the class action include the popular Celestron, Meade, Olivon and Sky-Watcher telescopes, which have for years been…

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NASA’s Planetary Defenders Head to the Sundance Film Festival

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Trailer for NASA’s upcoming documentary, “Planetary Defenders,” which will take audiences inside the high-stakes world of asteroid hunting and planetary defense. NASA is bringing the high-stakes world of planetary defense to the Sundance Film Festival, highlighting its upcoming documentary, “Planetary Defenders,” during a panel ahead of its spring 2025 premiere on the agency’s streaming service. “We’re thrilled that NASA is attending Sundance Film Festival for the first time – a festival renowned for its innovative spirit,” said Brittany Brown, director, NASA Office of Communications Digital and Technology Division, at the…

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FAA requiring investigation into SpaceX Starship’s Flight 7 explosion

NeRD

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is requiring an investigation into what went wrong during the seventh-ever test flight of SpaceX’s Starship megarocket yesterday (Jan. 16). The launch, from SpaceX‘s Starbase site in South Texas, went well at first. Starship got off the pad successfully, and its two stages — the Super Heavy booster and Ship spacecraft — separated on time. And the giant booster came back to Starbase, where it was caught by the launch tower’s “chopstick” arms. Ship was less successful, however. The flight plan called for the…

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Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial

NeRD

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial is seen in the foreground with the Washington Monument in the background, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, in Washington. The memorial covers four acres and includes the Stone of Hope, a granite statue of civil rights movement leader Martin Luther King Jr. carved by sculptor Lei Yixin.

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