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NASA to launch Jupiter moon mission with a time capsule

NASA’s planned orbiter exploring Jupiter’s moon, Europa, will carry a metal plate representing messages from earth.

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Audio waveforms of 'water' said in 103 languages inscribed on a plate to be carried aboard Europa Clipper. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech

NASA’s Europa Clipper mission will see a satellite orbit Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons that planetary scientists strongly believe hides a sea of salt water underneath its surface. 

The mission has a planned launch date on October 10th later this year. The probe will tentatively arrive at Europa sometime in April 2030.

It will check for the underground ocean and even search for possible signs of life. 

Recently, NASA announced that Europa Clipper will be dispatched to Europa with a triangular metal plate, functioning as a time capsule.

“The plate combines the best humanity has to offer across the universe – science, technology, education, art, and math,” said Lori Glaze, who heads NASA’s Planetary Science Division.

There’s no objective science goal by carrying the time capsule, unless aliens find them (if they exist). However, it serves a symbolic purpose, beaconing humanity’s existence – and leaving a footprint in outer space.

Although it does capture the spirit of the Golden Record, dispatched with the Voyager missions in the 1970s – which carried sounds and images depicting diversity of life on earth. In fact, it’s a longstanding tradition for space exploration missions to carry a bit of humanity with it – as seen in payloads in the recent Odyssey mission and the Perseverance Martian rover. 

So what does it contain? 

Names from Earth

A silicon microchip has engravings of about 2.6 million names, spanning every nation. These names were submitted in an online campaign, Messages in a Bottle’

Each line of text is said to be smaller than one-thousandth the width of a human hair (or approximately 75 nanometers).

The symbolization here is to proudly showcase humanity’s shared outlook to space, across borders.

In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa

One face of the triangular metal plate to be dispatched aboard the Europa Clipper. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech

The plate aboard Europa Clipper will see a poem composed by the US Poet Laureate, Ada Limón, specifically for the mission, called, ‘In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa’.

It speaks to humanity’s ability to appreciate nature’s beauty – and see a twin in Europa too, which could bear vast seas of its own. 

Drake Equation

Along with Limón’s poem, was the eponymous Drake equation. 

In 1961, Frank Drake, an American astrophysicist working as part of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) collaboration produced an estimate for the possible number of extraterrestrial civilizations in the universe. 

Although the equation isn’t accurate, it was merely published by Drake with the hope it would pique scientific – and thus serious, human interest to investigate intelligent alien life. 

Sounds of Water

The other side of the triangular metal plate, with the audio frequency waveforms. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech

The other side of the metal plate has audio frequency waveforms pronouncing ‘water’ in over 103 languages. This includes the American Sign Language at the center of a graphic shaped like a water puddle pattern. 

“The message of connection through water, essential for all forms of life as we know it, perfectly illustrates Earth’s tie to this mysterious ocean world we are setting out to explore,” said Glaze.

Signals from space

There’s an artwork showing a waveform of radio wave signals.  

The significance of the radio waves is in its use as a communication tool – tentative to be used by aliens as well, and thus share our existence with each other. 

Architect of the Europa Clipper

Robert Greeley. Credit: Susan Selkirk / Wikimedia

Last, but not the least, there’s the smiling portrait of Robert Greeley, a planetary geologist known as a trailblazer in his field. 

His research involved studying Europa for more than a decade until his death in 2011. NASA appreciated his effort in helping lay the foundations for Europa Clipper. 

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How Scientists and Investigators Decode Air Crashes — The Black Box and Beyond

The final report may take months, but it will be critical in issuing safety directives or revising standard procedures.

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As rescue and recovery operations continue following the June 12, 2025, plane crash in Ahmedabad, aviation safety experts are now focusing on the technical investigation phase. With 241 lives lost, the search for the cause isn’t just about accountability—it’s about prevention.

The Black Box: Aviation’s Memory Keeper

1. What Is the Black Box?

Despite the name, the black box is actually orange — for visibility. It consists of two components:

  • Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR): Captures conversations and audio from the flight deck.
  • Flight Data Recorder (FDR): Logs dozens to hundreds of parameters — speed, altitude, engine status, control inputs.

These devices are housed in titanium or steel and can withstand:

  • Temperatures above 1,000°C
  • Underwater pressures up to 20,000 feet
  • Crashes with up to 3,600 G-force

They also emit underwater locator beacons for up to 30 days.

2. Forensic Engineering & Flight Reconstruction

Beyond black boxes, investigators use:

  • Radar data and air traffic control logs
  • Wreckage analysis for structural failure clues
  • Satellite-based tracking systems like ADS-B
  • Weather data for turbulence or wind shear insights

Forensic teams often reconstruct the flight path virtually or even physically using recovered debris to determine failure points.

3. Human Factors & AI in Modern Investigation

New tools like machine learning and human factors analysis are used to identify procedural errors or lapses in judgement.

In many modern investigations, AI helps:

  • Filter large datasets (e.g., over 1,000 flight parameters per second)
  • Detect patterns missed by the human eye
  • Predict similar risk scenarios in future flights

What Happens Next in the Ahmedabad Crash?

Authorities, in coordination with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), are likely:

  • Retrieving and analyzing the black box
  • Interviewing air traffic controllers
  • Reconstructing the aircraft’s final seconds using both data and simulation

The final report may take months, but it will be critical in issuing safety directives or revising standard procedures.

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Researchers Unveil Light-Speed AI Chip to Power Next-Gen Wireless and Edge Devices

This could transform the future of wireless communication and edge computing

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Credit: Sampson Wilcox, Research Laboratory of Electronics/MIT News

In a breakthrough that could transform the future of wireless communication and edge computing, engineers at MIT have developed a novel AI hardware accelerator capable of processing wireless signals at the speed of light. The new optical chip, built for signal classification, achieves nanosecond-level performance—up to 100 times faster than conventional digital processors—while consuming dramatically less energy.

With wireless spectrum under growing strain from billions of connected devices, from teleworking laptops to smart sensors, managing bandwidth has become a critical challenge. Artificial intelligence offers a path forward, but most existing AI models are too slow and power-hungry to operate in real time on wireless devices.

The MIT solution, known as MAFT-ONN (Multiplicative Analog Frequency Transform Optical Neural Network), could be a game-changer.

“There are many applications that would be enabled by edge devices that are capable of analyzing wireless signals,” said Prof. Dirk Englund, senior author of the study, in a media statement. “What we’ve presented in our paper could open up many possibilities for real-time and reliable AI inference. This work is the beginning of something that could be quite impactful.”

Published in Science Advances, the research describes how MAFT-ONN classifies signals in just 120 nanoseconds, using a compact optical chip that performs deep-learning tasks using light rather than electricity. Unlike traditional systems that convert signals to images before processing, the MIT design processes raw wireless data directly in the frequency domain—eliminating delays and reducing energy usage.

“We can fit 10,000 neurons onto a single device and compute the necessary multiplications in a single shot,” said Ronald Davis III, lead author and recent MIT PhD graduate.

The device achieved over 85% accuracy in a single shot, and with multiple measurements, it converges to above 99% accuracy, making it both fast and reliable.

Beyond wireless communications, the technology holds promise for edge AI in autonomous vehicles, smart medical devices, and future 6G networks, where real-time response is critical. By embedding ultra-fast AI directly into devices, this innovation could help cars react to hazards instantly or allow pacemakers to adapt to a patient’s heart rhythm in real-time.

Future work will focus on scaling the chip with multiplexing schemes and expanding its ability to handle more complex AI tasks, including transformer models and large language models (LLMs).

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Ahmedabad Plane Crash: The Science Behind Aircraft Take-Off -Understanding the Physics of Flight

Take-off is one of the most critical phases of flight, relying on the precise orchestration of aerodynamics, propulsion, and control systems. Here’s how it works:

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On June 12, 2025, a tragic aviation accident struck Ahmedabad, India when a regional passenger aircraft, Air India flight A1-171, crashed during take-off at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. According to preliminary reports, the incident resulted in over 200 confirmed casualties, including both passengers and crew members, and several others are critically injured. The aviation community and scientific world now turn their eyes not just toward the cause but also toward understanding the complex science behind what should have been a routine take-off.

How Do Aircraft Take Off?

Take-off is one of the most critical phases of flight, relying on the precise orchestration of aerodynamics, propulsion, and control systems. Here’s how it works:

1. Lift and Thrust

To leave the ground, an aircraft must generate lift, a force that counters gravity. This is achieved through the unique shape of the wing, called an airfoil, which creates a pressure difference — higher pressure under the wing and lower pressure above — according to Bernoulli’s Principle and Newton’s Third Law.

Simultaneously, engines provide thrust, propelling the aircraft forward. Most commercial jets use turbofan engines, which accelerate air through turbines to generate power.

2. Critical Speeds

Before takeoff, pilots calculate critical speeds:

  • V1 (Decision Speed): The last moment a takeoff can be safely aborted.
  • Vr (Rotation Speed): The speed at which the pilot begins to lift the nose.
  • V2 (Takeoff Safety Speed): The speed needed to climb safely even if one engine fails.

If anything disrupts this process — like bird strikes, engine failure, or runway obstructions — the results can be catastrophic.

Environmental and Mechanical Challenges

Factors like wind shear, runway surface condition, mechanical integrity, or pilot error can interfere with safe take-off. Investigators will be analyzing these very aspects in the Ahmedabad case.

The Bigger Picture

Take-off accounts for a small fraction of total flight time but is disproportionately associated with accidents — approximately 14% of all aviation accidents occur during take-off or initial climb.

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