Bennett Wales & The Relief Releases New Politically Charged Protest Single 'Hey Otto' - Song Grieves Torture and Death of Otto Warmbier by Brutal North Korean Regime [Video Included]

Bennett Wales & The Relief - "Hey Otto" (screengrab)

Bennett Wales & The Relief (BW&TR) announced the release of the first of 10 singles slated for this year. "Hey Otto" is a visceral rock-and-roll lament for the detainment, torture and death of Otto Warmbier, amidst a widely publicized 2016 North Korean media spectacle and cover up. Echoing the best efforts of time-honored protest troubadours like Dylan or Marley, the new single harbingers the release of BW&TR's sophomore collection, "Album II." 

"Otto's story is one that we just had to tell," said BW&TR. "Like most of the country at the time, we were stunned by his treatment at the hands of the vicious, dictatorial regime in North Korea – all for the relatively tiny crime of a simple poster vandalism. He was brutalized by North Korean officials, then sent home in a vegetative coma from which he later died. And to make matters worse for his family, the POTUS sided with the official North Korean cover story. It's the kind of gut-wrenching tale you just can't make up, and exactly the sort of story that needs to be told right now about what's still going on in the world."

"Hey Otto" is one of the featured singles from BW&TR's much anticipated new record title: "Album II." Other songs on the upcoming album include "I Got Bills" and "Wolfstep." The first talks about trying to keep one's head above water in a world that is continually growing more expensive; while "Wolfstep" is a melodic musical howl marking the need to remain steadfastly and aggressively dedicated to one's goals.

The Video:

• BW&TR is currently planning an intensive 2020 tour in Virginia and the greater East Coast, with specific date announcements forthcoming. For news on the upcoming tour, album, new singles and other info, follow Bennett Wales & The Relief on social media and Spotify: Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Spotify.

About Bennett Wales & The Release:

BW&TR is the unique rock-and-roll creation of a group of five musicians who came together after gaining prominence playing in and around the Tidewater region of Virginia. BW&TR features the musical talents of Mike Fischetti (bass), Caleb Little (keys), Brock Bittner (guitar), Drew Orton (drums) and Bennett Wales (vocals/guitar). Their debut album, "Flood Without Water," personifies their heart-thumping, kick-down-the-door musical approach.

Bennett Wales & The Relief

SOURCE: Bennett Wales & The Relief

On the 81st Anniversary of the Most-Watched Movie of All Time, 1500 Students in 24 School Districts Produced The Wizard of Oz, as an Animated Movie

To celebrate the 81st anniversary of The Wizard of Oz 523 students at the Wilder School District in Idaho collaborated with Wonder Media to produce an animated adaptation of the most popular movie of all time. It's called the The WonderGrove Wizard of Oz and it's the first feature length animated movie made by kids.

To celebrate the 81st anniversary of The Wizard of Oz, the nation's top EdTech studio, Wonder Media has collaborated with school districts nationwide to produce an animated adaptation of the most popular movie of all time. It's calledThe WonderGrove Wizard of Oz.

The script was divided into 27 sequences and sent out to the 172 school districts nationwide that use the Story Maker animation production tool in their classrooms. Twenty-four school districts in 10 states came on board to work collaboratively on this feature length film.

Story Maker is a project-based teaching tool that was co-created by Terry Thoren, the former CEO of Klasky Csupo, Inc the company that produced The Simpsons, Rugrats and The Wild Thornberrys. 

To celebrate the 81st anniversary of The Wizard of Oz Wonder Media collaborated with 24 school districts in 10 states to produce an animated adaptation of the most popular movie of all time. It's called the The WonderGrove Wizard of Oz and it's the first feature length animated movie made by kids.

• Story Maker was created based on research about "Phenomenon Based Learning." Students are more engaged in the learning of a phenomenon when it comes from the real world and is relevant to their daily lives. 

The participating students wrote scripts, drew storyboards, cast their fellow students into the character roles, acted each role, recorded the voices, sang and recorded the songs, and used their own drawings to create beautiful backgrounds. What began as a dream, culminated with a national premiere at the famed Grauman's Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard. 

"Animation is the most popular form of entertainment in the world. Educators are discovering that students who have a difficult time applying themselves to formal teaching methods are blossoming with the use of Story Maker," said CEO of Wonder Media, Terry Thoren. "Students are learning authentic life skills like communication, collaboration, compromise, critical thinking and team building. It is a joy to watch classrooms come alive with enthusiasm."

Local premieres of each school's interpretation of Oz will take place in 24 cities throughout the nation including: Dallas, Texas; Chicago, Illinois; Long Island, New York; Lancaster, California; Boise, Idaho; Columbus, Mississippi; Wilson County, Tennessee and Ballard, Iowa.

SOURCE: Wonder Media

Deepfakes: Informed Digital Citizens Are The Best Defence Against Online Manipulation

Facebook announced Jan. 6 it will remove videos edited to mislead in ways that ‘aren’t apparent to an average person,’ and are the product of artificial intelligence or machine learning. Here, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies at a hearing at the U.S. House Financial Services Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Oct. 23, 2019. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) 

 More than a decade ago, Internet analyst and new media scholar Clay Shirky said: “The only real way to end spam is to shut down e-mail communication.” Will shutting down the Internet be the only way to end deepfake propaganda in 2020? 

Today, anyone can create their own fake news and also break it. Online propaganda is more misleading and manipulative than ever.

Deepfakes, a specific form of disinformation that uses machine-learning algorithms to create audio and video of real people saying and doing things they never said or did, are moving quickly toward being indistinguishable from reality.

Detecting disinformation powered by unethical uses of digital media, big data and artificial intelligence, and their spread through social media, is of the utmost urgency.

Countries must educate and equip their citizens. Educators also face real challenges in helping youth develop eagle eyes for deepfakes. If young people lack confidence in finding and evaluating reliable public information, their motivation for participating in or relying on our democratic structures will be increasingly at risk.

Undermining democracy

It is now possible to generate a video of a person speaking and making ordinary expressions from just a few or even a single image of this person’s face. Face swap apps such as FaceApp and lip-sync apps such as Dubsmash are examples of accessible user-friendly basic deepfake tools that people can use without any programming or coding background.

While the use of this technology may enrapture or stun viewers for its expert depictions in entertainment and gaming industries, the sinister face of deepfakes is a serious threat to both people’s security and democracy.

Deepfakes’ potential to be used as a weapon is alarmingly increasing and many harms can be anticipated based on people’s ability to create explicit content without others’ consent.

It’s expected that people will use deepfakes to cyberbully, destroy reputations, blackmail, spread hate speech, incite violence, disrupt democratic processes, spread disinformation to targeted audiences and to commit cybercrime and frauds.

Danielle Citron, professor at Boston University School of Law, discusses how deepfakes undermine truth and threaten democracy.

Deepfake detection

Key players have ventured into finding a response to deepfake threats.

Facebook announced Jan. 6 it “will strengthen its policy toward misleading manipulated videos that have been identified as deepfakes.” The company says it will remove manipulated media that’s been “edited or synthesized — beyond adjustments for clarity or quality — in ways that aren’t apparent to an average person” and if the media is “the product of artificial intelligence or machine learning that merges, replaces or superimposes content onto a video, making it appear to be authentic.”

The news follows Facebook’s “deepfake challenge,” which aims to design new tools that detect manipulated media content. The challenge is supported by Microsoft, a consortium on artificial intelligence and a US$10-million fund.

In late October, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified at a U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee hearing in Washington about the company’s cryptocurrency plans, where Zuckerberg faced questions about what the company is doing to prevent deepfakes.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) of the U.S. Department of Defense is working on using specific types of algorithms to assess the integrity of digital visual media.

Some researchers discuss the use of convolutional neural networks — a set of algorithms that loosely replicates the human brain, designed to analyse visual imagery and recognize patterns — to detect the inconsistencies across the multiple frames in deepfakes. Others propose algorithms to detect completely generated faces.

Hani Farid, an expert in digital forensics and one of the leading authorities on detecting fake photos, and his student Shruti Agarwal at University of California, Berkeley are developing a software that uses the subtle characteristics of how a person speaks to distinguish this person from the fake version.

Farid is also collaborating very closely with deepfake pioneer Hao Li to confront the problem of “increasingly seamless off-the-shelf deception.”

YouTube nation

What if we wake up tomorrow to a deepfake of Greta Thunberg, Time magazine’s 2019 Person of the Year, accusing a specific organization to be the major catalyst of climate change? Would any youth be skeptical of the information?

We are living in a digital era when many people expect every answer to be found through a Google search, a YouTube or a Vimeo video or a TED talk. Nearly 100 per cent of Canadian youth between 15 to 24 years old use the internet on a daily basis. Most follow news and current affairs through social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

In 2017, 90 per cent of Canadians aged 18 to 24 were active YouTube users.

According to Statista, a company that provides market and consumer data, “as of May 2019, more than 500 hours of video were uploaded to YouTube every minute,” equating to “approximately 30,000 hours of newly uploaded content per hour.” The company reports that between 2014 and 2019 “the number of video content hours uploaded every 60 seconds grew by around 40 percent.”

Many of today’s 18- to 24-year-old social media users recognize the agendas and algorithms behind the posts that pop up on their walls. In my PhD thesis research, I explored how 42 participants in this age group understood refugees in a contexts where ideas about refugees were deeply influenced by social media propaganda, fake news and disinformation. I found that many craved to become influencers and disrupt public commentary and media-generated messages in ways that resonate with advocacy or activist campaigns today led by youth.

The deepfake phenomenon is a new critical challenge they, and all participants in our democracies, now face.

Education for resilience

In Canada, Journalists for Human Rights announced a new program, funded by Heritage Canada, to train journalists and to enhance “citizen preparedness against online manipulation and misinformation.”

Educators can play a key role in fostering youth agency to detect deepfakes and reduce their influence. One challenge is ensuring youth learn critical media literacy skills while they continue to explore valuable resources online and build their capacities and knowledge to participate in democratic structures.

Following steps I have identified in the “Get Ready to Act Against Social Media Propaganda” model — beginning with explaining stances on a controversial issue targeted through social media propaganda — educators can help youth discuss how they perceive and recognize deepfakes. They can explore the content’s origins, who it’s targeting, the reaction it’s trying to achieve and who’s behind it.

They can also discuss youth’s role and responsibility to respond and stand up to disinformation and potential digital strategies to pursue in this process. A well-equipped generation of digital citizens could be our best bet.>

About Today's Contributor:

Nadia Naffi, Assistant Professor, Educational Technology, Holds the Chair in Educational Leadership in the Sustainable Transformation of Pedagogical Practices in Digital Contexts, Université Laval

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

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SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) Reveals How Swan Nebula Hatched

Composite image of the Omega Nebula. SOFIA detected the blue areas (20 microns) near the center. The red areas near the edge represent cold dust detected by the Herschel Space Telescope (70 microns), while the white star field was detected by the Spitzer Space Telescope (3.6 microns). The space telescopes could not observe the blue and green regions in such detail because the detectors were saturated. SOFIA’s view reveals evidence that parts of the nebula formed separately to create the swan-like shape seen today. (Image credit: NASA/JPL/SOFIA)

Universities Space Research Association today announced that SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) revealed a new view of the Swan Nebula showing that parts of it formed separately to create the swan-like shape seen today. The results were presented at a press briefing at the American Astronomical Conference in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Though astronomers have been studying swan nebula for 250 years, the new SOFIA image reveals never-before-seen details of the Swan, or Omega Nebula. This is the most detailed infrared view of the nebula, revealing features that previous observations with space telescopes could not see including massive stars at their earliest stages of evolution. Scientists found nine areas where the nebula is collapsing and will one day form stars, called protostars, that had never been seen before. 

The study also found evidence that the nebula was not all formed at the same time, but has undergone multiple eras of formation that are responsible for its present, swan-like appearance.

One of the brightest and most massive star-forming regions in our galaxy, the Omega or Swan nebula, came to resemble the shape resembling a swan's neck we see today only relatively recently. New observations reveal that its regions formed separately over multiple eras of star birth. The new image from the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, or SOFIA, is helping scientists chronicle the history and evolution of this well-studied nebula.

According to, Wanggi Lim, a Universities Space Research Association scientist at the SOFIA Science Center at NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley, "The present-day nebula holds the secrets that reveal its past, we just need to be able to uncover them. SOFIA lets us do this, so we can understand why the nebula looks the way it does today."

Uncovering the nebula's secrets is no simple task. It's located more than 5,000 light years away in the constellation Sagittarius. Its center is filled with more than 100 of the galaxy's most massive young stars. These stars may be many times the size of our Sun, but the youngest generations are forming deep in cocoons of dust and gas, where they are very difficult to see, even with space telescopes. Because the central region glows very brightly, the detectors on space telescopes were saturated at the wavelengths SOFIA studied, similar to an over-exposed photo.

SOFIA's infrared camera (called FORCAST, the Faint Object Infrared Camera for the SOFIA Telescope,) however, can pierce through these cocoons.

The new view reveals nine areas where the nebula's clouds are collapsing, creating the first step in the birth of stars, called protostars, that had not been seen before. Additionally, the team calculated the ages of the nebula's different regions. They found that portions of the swan-like shape were not all created at the same time, but took shape over multiple eras of star formation. The central region is the oldest, most evolved and likely formed first. Next, the northern area formed, while the southern region is the youngest, and was created most recently. Even though the northern area is older than the southern region, the radiation and stellar winds from previous generations of stars has disturbed the material there — preventing it from collapsing to form the next generation.

"This is the most detailed view of the nebula we have ever had," said Jim De Buizer, a Universities Space Research Association senior scientist at the SOFIA Science Center at NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley. "It's the first time we can see some of its youngest, massive stars, and start to truly understand how it evolved into the iconic nebula we see today."

Massive stars, like those in the Swan nebula, release so much energy that they can change the evolution of entire galaxies. But, less than one percent of all stars are this enormous, so astronomers know very little about them. Previous observations of this nebula with space telescopes studied different wavelengths of infrared light, which did not reveal the details SOFIA detected.

SOFIA's image shows gas in blue as it's heated by massive stars located near the center, and dust in green that is warmed both by existing massive stars and nearby newborn stars. The newly-detected protostars are located primarily in the southern areas. The red areas near the edge represent cold dust that was detected by the Herschel Space Telescope, while the white star field was detected by the Spitzer Space Telescope.

The Spitzer Space Telescope will be decommissioned on January 30, 2020, after operating for more than 16 years. SOFIA continues exploring the infrared universe, studying wavelengths of mid- and far-infrared light with high resolution that are not accessible to other telescopes and helping scientists understand star and planet formation, the role magnetic fields play in shaping our universe, and the chemical evolution of galaxies.

SOURCE: Universities Space Research Association

A Remarkable Year For Pointe-à-Callière In 2019 - The Montreal Museum of Archaelogy and History Continues To Draw Crowds [Videos Included]

Pointe-à-Callière, Montréal Archaeology and History Complex, drew 504,793 visitors over the past year, making 2019 the second busiest year in the Museum’s history. (CNW Group/Pointe-à-Callière, Montreal Museum of Archaelogy and History)

Pointe-à-Callière had an extremely successful year in 2019—renewing two of its permanent exhibitions and presenting three international-calibre temporary exhibitions. The incredibly wide range of subjects addressed in the exhibitions and cultural activities drew 504,793 visitors to the Museum over the past year, making 2019 the second busiest year in Pointe-à-Callière's history.

The Incas, Treasures of Peru exhibition at Pointe-à-Callière (CNW Group/Pointe-à-Callière, Montreal Museum of Archaelogy and History)

New technology in the spotlight

Last April, Pointe-à-Callière inaugurated the new multimedia show Generations MTL, projected onto a one-of-a-kind immersive installation. In addition to enjoying a very positive audience reaction, the show was recognized at the 2019 Muse Design Awards, an international competition that rewards professionals in the world of design and creativity. 

The Museum also created new versions of its virtual characters, taking advantage of the latest developments in voice recognition, artificial intelligence, and real-time 3D animation. 

"New technologies allow us to give our visitors a variety of experiences and, above all, to bring history and an exceptional archaeological site to life. We are seeing it more and more among our visitors, the efforts made to offer interactive and immersive museology are very highly appreciated," explains Francine Lelièvre, Executive Director of Pointe-à-Callière.

Privileged access to rarely shown objects

One of the standout moments for the Museum in 2019 was the presentation of Dinner is Served! The Story of French Cuisine, entirely created and produced by Pointe-à-Callière. 

This exhibition, one of the first to address the subject of the French gastronomic meal—recognized by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage—allowed for the presentation of exceptional objects that, in some cases, had never left France. In fact, the Museum's exhibition captured the attention of several French museums, and it is notably scheduled to travel to Sèvres, Cité de la céramique in 2020.

Pointe-à-Callière was also able to secure the loan of important and invaluable objects from the Musées royaux d'art et d'histoire in Brussels for the exhibition The Incas, Treasures of Peru, in an exclusive North American engagement until April 13 of this year. Some of the featured objects made of feathers and textiles are extremely old and so fragile that they will no longer be able to travel or to be displayed ever again. 

"After over 25 years of operation, Pointe-à-Callière has acquired great credibility among many lenders around the world, and the relationships we have established allow us to present exceptional pieces and objects to both Montrealers and visitors," states Francine Lelièvre.

The Museum also had the chance to extend by one year the presentation of the exhibition Into the Wonder Room, which gathers over 1,000 objects from the Musée des Confluences, some ten other institutions, and private collectors. 

This exhibition, which examines the unique world of cabinets of curiosities, was seen by over 200,000 people in 2019, including many children who are fascinated by the exotic and often unusual objects on display. This exhibition will continue until January 10, 2021 at Pointe-à-Callière.

The circus in the centre ring at the Museum in the summer of 2020

Starting on May 27, 2020, Pointe-à-Callière will present an all-new exhibition on the circus arts, with several activities for the whole family. The exhibition will trace the history of the circus, from early performances by travelling circus troupes in Europe and elsewhere to today's over-the-top international shows. 

The exhibition, imagined and created by Pointe-à-Callière, will show how the circus arts have rapidly taken root and grown in Québec and Montréal in recent decades. Through the presentation of over 350 objects, it will pay tribute to this art form that is further raising Montréal's profile on the international scene. 

Costumes, set pieces, works of art, accessories, scale models, iconic objects, training and stage equipment will be displayed alongside archives, photos, video footage, and projections. All of it will come together to recreate a world of fantasy, taking visitors on an unforgettable adventure that speaks to an extraordinary legacy.

SOURCE: Pointe-à-Callière, Montreal Museum of Archaelogy and History

Scientists Find Evidence that Venus has Active Volcanoes

A real-colour image taken by Mariner 10 processed from two filters; the surface is obscured by thick sulfuric acid clouds (image via Wikipedia)

New research led by Universities Space Research Association (USRA) and recently published in Science Advances shows that lava flows on Venus may be only a few years old, suggesting that Venus could be volcanically active today — making it the only planet in our solar system, other than Earth, with recent eruptions.

"If Venus is indeed active today, it would make a great place to visit to better understand the interiors of planets," says Dr. Justin Filiberto, the study's lead author and a USRA staff scientist at the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI). "For example, we could study how planets cool and why the Earth and Venus have active volcanism, but Mars does not. Future missions should be able to see these flows and changes in the surface and provide concrete evidence of its activity."

Radar imaging from NASA's Magellan spacecraft in the early 1990s revealed Venus, our neighboring planet, to be a world of volcanoes and extensive lava flows. In the 2000s, the European Space Agency's (ESA's) Venus Express orbiter shed new light on volcanism on Venus by measuring the amount of infrared light emitted from part of Venus' surface (during its nighttime). These new data allowed scientists to identify fresh versus altered lava flows on the surface of Venus. However, until recently, the ages of lava eruptions and volcanoes on Venus were not well known because the alteration rate of fresh lava was not well constrained.

This figure shows the volcanic peak Idunn Mons (at 46 degrees south latitude, 214.5 degrees east longitude) in the Imdr Regio area of Venus. The colored overlay shows the heat patterns derived from surface brightness data collected by the Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer (VIRTIS), aboard the European Space Agency's Venus Express spacecraft. (Image credit: NASA)

Dr. Filiberto and his colleagues recreated Venus' hot caustic atmosphere in the laboratory to investigate how the observed Venusian minerals react and change over time. Their experimental results showed that an abundant mineral in basalt — olivine — reacts rapidly with the atmosphere and within weeks becomes coated with the iron oxide minerals — magnetite and hematite. They further found that the Venus Express observations of this change in mineralogy would only take a few years to occur. Thus, the new results by Filiberto and coauthors suggest that these lava flows on Venus are very young, which would imply that Venus does indeed have active volcanoes. 

SOURCE: Universities Space Research Association

Related Videos:

Alien Life Is Out There, But Our Theories Are Probably Steering Us Away From It

  

Distant planet system in space with exoplanets during sunrise (sdecoret/Shutterstock)

If we discovered evidence of alien life, would we even realise it? Life on other planets could be so different from what we’re used to that we might not recognise any biological signatures that it produces.

Recent years have seen changes to our theories about what counts as a biosignature and which planets might be habitable, and further turnarounds are inevitable. But the best we can really do is interpret the data we have with our current best theory, not with some future idea we haven’t had yet.

This is a big issue for those involved in the search for extraterrestrial life. As Scott Gaudi of Nasa’s Advisory Council has said: “One thing I am quite sure of, now having spent more than 20 years in this field of exoplanets … expect the unexpected.”

But is it really possible to “expect the unexpected”? Plenty of breakthroughs happen by accident, from the discovery of penicillin to the discovery of the cosmic microwave background radiation left over from the Big Bang. These often reflect a degree of luck on behalf of the researchers involved. When it comes to alien life, is it enough for scientists to assume “we’ll know it when we see it”?

Many results seem to tell us that expecting the unexpected is extraordinarily difficult. “We often miss what we don’t expect to see,” according to cognitive psychologist Daniel Simons, famous for his work on inattentional blindness. His experiments have shown how people can miss a gorilla banging its chest in front of their eyes. Similar experiments also show how blind we are to non-standard playing cards such as a black four of hearts. In the former case, we miss the gorilla if our attention is sufficiently occupied. In the latter, we miss the anomaly because we have strong prior expectations.

Watching this video shows how you can miss something as unusual as a gorilla if your attention is diverted.

There are also plenty of relevant examples in the history of science. Philosophers describe this sort of phenomenon as “theory-ladenness of observation”. What we notice depends, quite heavily sometimes, on our theories, concepts, background beliefs and prior expectations. Even more commonly, what we take to be significant can be biased in this way.

For example, when scientists first found evidence of low amounts of ozone in the atmosphere above Antarctica, they initially dismissed it as bad data. With no prior theoretical reason to expect a hole, the scientists ruled it out in advance. Thankfully, they were minded to double check, and the discovery was made.

More than 200,000 stars captured in one small section of the sky by Nasa’s TESS mission. (Nasa)

Could a similar thing happen in the search for extraterrestrial life? Scientists studying planets in other solar systems (exoplanets) are overwhelmed by the abundance of possible observation targets competing for their attention. In the last 10 years scientists have identified more than 3,650 planets - more than one a day. And with missions such as NASA’s TESS exoplanet hunter this trend will continue.

Each and every new exoplanet is rich in physical and chemical complexity. It is all too easy to imagine a case where scientists do not double check a target that is flagged as “lacking significance”, but whose great significance would be recognised on closer analysis or with a non-standard theoretical approach.

The Müller-Lyer optical illusion. (Fibonacci/Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

However, we shouldn’t exaggerate the theory-ladenness of observation. In the Müller-Lyer illusion, a line ending in arrowheads pointing outwards appears shorter than an equally long line with arrowheads pointing inwards. Yet even when we know for sure that the two lines are the same length, our perception is unaffected and the illusion remains. Similarly, a sharp-eyed scientist might notice something in her data that her theory tells her she should not be seeing. And if just one scientist sees something important, pretty soon every scientist in the field will know about it.

History also shows that scientists are able to notice surprising phenomena, even biased scientists who have a pet theory that doesn’t fit the phenomena. The 19th-century physicist David Brewster incorrectly believed that light is made up of particles travelling in a straight line. But this didn’t affect his observations of numerous phenomena related to light, such as what’s known as birefringence in bodies under stress. Sometimes observation is definitely not theory-laden, at least not in a way that seriously affects scientific discovery.

We need to be open-minded

Certainly, scientists can’t proceed by just observing. Scientific observation needs to be directed somehow. But at the same time, if we are to “expect the unexpected”, we can’t allow theory to heavily influence what we observe, and what counts as significant. We need to remain open-minded, encouraging exploration of the phenomena in the style of Brewster and similar scholars of the past.

Studying the universe largely unshackled from theory is not only a legitimate scientific endeavour – it’s a crucial one. The tendency to describe exploratory science disparagingly as “fishing expeditions” is likely to harm scientific progress. Under-explored areas need exploring, and we can’t know in advance what we will find.

In the search for extraterrestrial life, scientists must be thoroughly open-minded. And this means a certain amount of encouragement for non-mainstream ideas and techniques. Examples from past science (including very recent ones) show that non-mainstream ideas can sometimes be strongly held back. Space agencies such as NASA must learn from such cases if they truly believe that, in the search for alien life, we should “expect the unexpected”.

About Today's Contributor:

Peter Vickers, Associate Professor in Philosophy of Science, Durham University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

NASA's Moon to Mars Plans, Artemis Lunar Program Gets Fast Tracked in 2019 [Video Included]

NASA spacesuit engineer Amy Ross and NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine introduce spacesuit engineer Kristine Davis, wearing a ground prototype of NASA’s new Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU), and Orion Crew Survival Systems Project Manager Dustin Gohmert, wearing the Orion Crew Survival System suit, Oct. 15, 2019 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. (Credit: NASA)

In 2019, NASA celebrated the 50th anniversary of the agency's Apollo 11 Moon landing, the most historic moment in space exploration, while also making significant progress toward putting the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024 under the Artemis program.

Through America's Moon to Mars exploration approach, Artemis gained bipartisan support this year among members of Congress, the U.S aerospace industry, as well as with international partners, including Canada, Australia, and Japan, and member states of the European Space Agency.

"2019 will be remembered as the year the Artemis program really became a reality with real spaceflight hardware built, U.S. commercial and international partnerships standing behind it, and hardworking teams across NASA and the world coming together like never before to quickly and sustainably explore the Moon and use what we learn there to enable humanity's next giant leap – sending astronauts to Mars," said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. "While the Artemis program came into sharp focus this year, NASA continued to show what leading in space exploration is all about, whether it was kicking off 2019 with New Horizons' historic Kuiper Belt object flyby, conducting the first all-woman spacewalk outside the International Space Station, or developing the first flying robotic explorer to study Saturn's moon Titan. And wait until you see what we do in 2020!"

The Office of the Chief Financial Officer received a successful clean audit in 2019 – the ninth consecutive clean financial audit opinion for the agency. And for the eighth year in a row, NASA retained its standing as the number one large agency in the Best Places to Work in Government rankings, published by the Partnership for Public Service.

"Throughout this year, as I have visited each of our centers, I have personally witnessed their unparalleled commitment to accomplishing our mission. The daily devotion of our employees makes them well deserving of this award," Bridenstine said. "I am honored to lead such a dedicated team. They are what makes NASA the Best Place to Work in Government."

Moon to Mars

This year, NASA officially named the new lunar exploration program Artemis, for the goddess of the Moon and twin sister of Apollo. Under Artemis, NASA will send new science instruments and technology demonstrations to study the Moon, accelerate plans to send astronauts to the Moon by 2024, and establish sustainable lunar exploration by 2028.

Science and technology progress in Artemis includes:

• Two sets of Moon rocks, sealed since they were collected by Apollo astronauts and returned to Earth nearly 50 years ago, were opened for study.
• NASA announced it will send a new mobile robot, VIPER, to the lunar South Pole to scout and sample ice in the region.
• Twelve new lunar science and technology investigations were selected in February and July, 24 total, to fly on early Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) flights to the Moon.
• The agency awarded initial surface task orders for commercial Moon deliveries.
• New CLPS contracts were awarded to five companies to support the next generation of lunar landers that can land heavier payloads on the surface of the Moon. A total of 14 companies now are eligible to bid on these deliveries.
• NASA received a record-breaking 10,932,295 names to travel to Mars on the agency's upcoming Mars 2020 mission.
• Engineers attached the Mars Helicopter to the Mars 2020 rover. After the rover lands at the Jezero Crater, the helicopter will be deployed to conduct test flights.
• The international mission team for NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) lander continues to assess the lander's heat probe, while the lander's seismometer collects data on quakes.
• NASA selected 14 Tipping Point and 19 Announcement of Collaboration Opportunity proposals from U.S. companies that focus on technologies and capabilities needed for a sustainable presence on the Moon by 2028.
• The agency partnered with Advanced Space to develop and build a pathfinder CubeSat destined for the same lunar orbit planned for NASA's lunar Gateway.
• The Sample Analysis at Mars chemistry lab on NASA's Curiosity rover measured seasonal methane and oxygen spikes in Mar's atmosphere.
• Technology sensors and an in-situ resource utilization experiment were installed on the Mars 2020 entry vehicle and rover.

The Orion spacecraft being lifted onto the truck for transport to NASA's Plum Brook Station. (Credit: NASA)

NASA continues to advance development of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft, which will send astronauts to deep space.

• NASA demonstrated that Orion's launch abort system can pull astronauts to safety if an emergency occurs during launch, and assembled the spacecraft for the first Artemis mission, Artemis I. It was delivered to Ohio for final testing for the extreme environment of space before it's returned to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for launch preparation.
• On the SLS rocket for the first Artemis mission, engineers completed the segments for the boosters and assembled the core stage. The core stage next will ship to NASA's Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, for a Green Run test of the integrated propulsion system before joining Orion at Kennedy for stacking.
• Teams at Kennedy conducted a series of water flow tests of the sound suppression system at the launch pad and tested the flow of cryogenic fluids through the pad's infrastructure – the systems that will send liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to the rocket at the time of launch.
• The launch team at Kennedy held its first formal training simulation for Artemis I, and flight controllers at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston simulated part of Orion's uncrewed flight to the Moon.

Work also began on hardware for Artemis II, the first SLS/Orion test flight with astronauts aboard. NASA and Northrop Grumman technicians applied insulation to the final booster motor segment of SLS and completed casting of all 10 booster motor segments. The agency also issued a request for proposals from U.S. small satellite developers to fly their missions as secondary payloads on Artemis II.

Development of the key pieces of NASA's lunar architecture is underway:

• NASA awarded a contract for the first element of the Gateway, which will provide power, propulsion, and communications to the lunar outpost. The new Gateway Program is based out of Johnson.
• Negotiations are underway for the Gateway's habitation and logistics outpost (HALO) module, and awards are expected in the future for logistics supply services.
• NASA announced astronaut spacesuit designs for the Artemis III mission, which will include the return of astronauts to the Moon's surface. The agency is asking industry for input on production for Artemis IV missions and beyond.
• The agency also announced its Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, will manage its new Human Landing System Program and asked American companies to design, develop, and demonstrate a human lander.

NASA's InSight lander captured audio of the first likely quake on Mars on April 6.

The agency also bid farewell to a veteran Martian science rover on Feb. 13 and captured audio of the first likely quake on Mars. The Mars Opportunity Rover mission stopped communicating with Earth when a severe Mars-wide dust storm blanketed its location in June 2018. Designed to last just 90 Martian days and travel less than 3,300 feet (1,000 meters), Opportunity far surpassed all expectations, exceeding its life expectancy by 60 times, traveling more than 28 miles (45 kilometers), and returning more than 217,000 images.

Solar System and Beyond

It was a great year for astrobiology and the agency's search for life in the universe:

• Scientists synthesized a molecular DNA-like system in NASA-funded research – a feat that suggests there could be an alternative to DNA-based life as we know it.
• NASA selected Dragonfly, a rotocraft-lander that will survey locations on Saturn's moon Titan for prebiotic chemical processes common on Titan and Earth.

Other highlights this year include:

• On New Year's Day 2019, NASA's New Horizons mission flew by the most distant object ever visited by a spacecraft and became the first to directly explore an object that holds remnants from the birth of our solar system.
• NASA launched the Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) spacecraft and announced the first results from the agency's Parker Solar Probe mission.
• Significant progress was made on the agency's James Webb Space Telescope. The two halves of Webb were assembled into one observatory and the sunshield passed a critical test.
• After a navigation maneuver to keep NASA's Juno mission out of an eclipse that could have frozen the solar powered spacecraft, it discovered a new cyclone at Jupiter's south pole. The cyclone is the size of Texas, small by Jupiter standards.
• NASA's next Mars rover, Mars 2020, passed its first driving test as it rolled forward and backward and pirouetted in a clean room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, on Dec. 17. The next time the rover drives, it will be rolling over Martian soil.
• The Europa Clipper mission's next phase was confirmed with a decision in August to allow the mission to progress to completion of final design, followed by the construction and testing of the entire spacecraft and science payload.
• NASA's Chandra, Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NUSTAR), Fermi, Swift, and Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) telescopes contributed to the first direct imaging of a black hole. Chandra, which celebrated its 20th anniversary, separately spotted three black holes on a collision course.
• The agency's Hubble Space Telescope observed the first confirmed interstellar comet and found water vapor on a habitable-zone exoplanet for the first time.
• The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) completed its first year of science, capturing a panorama of the southern sky and finding 29 confirmed planets and more than 1,000 planet candidates. TESS also captured a rare astrophysical event – a black hole tearing apart a star.
• The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) detected the universe's first type of molecule, helium hydride.
• The Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx) mission was selected to help us understand how our universe evolved and to search our galaxy for the ingredients for life.
• NASA's Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) was cleared for the next development phase: finalizing the spacecraft's design.
• The Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security - Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-Rex) made the first-ever close-up observations of particle plumes erupting from an asteroid's surface, and the mission team announced the site on the asteroid Bennu where the mission will collect samples that will be returned to Earth in 2023.

A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket carrying a Cygnus resupply spacecraft is seen during sunrise on Pad-0A April 16, 2019, at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Northrop Grumman’s 12th contracted cargo resupply mission with NASA to the International Space Station launched around 8,200 pounds of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the orbital laboratory and its crew (Credits: NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Humans in Space

NASA astronauts Anne McClain, Nick Hague, Christina Koch, Andrew Morgan, and Jessica Meir of the 2013 astronaut class all participated in their first spaceflight missions to the International Space Station. Each also conducted their first spacewalks, including the first all-woman spacewalk with Meir and Koch.

The space station is facilitating a strong commercial market in low-Earth orbit for research, technology development, and crew and cargo transportation, and remains the sole space-based proving ground and stepping stone for the Artemis program. In 2019:

• SpaceX's Crew Dragon returned to Earth after a five-day demonstration mission to the space station for NASA's Commercial Crew Program. SpaceX now is preparing for an in-flight abort test in advance of its first flight with astronauts.
• NASA and Boeing are collecting data and lessons learned from the uncrewed flight test of Boeing's CST-100 Starliner, which launched and landed successfully, but was unable to dock with the space station. Boeing successfully completed a key safety milestone in November with a test of its abort system.
• NASA astronauts assigned to the first Commercial Crew Program flights trained extensively in preparation for their flight tests on Crew Dragon and Starliner.
• Koch and Morgan are participating in extended missions to provide further opportunities to observe the effects of long-duration space travel. On Dec. 28, Koch will set a record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman.
• Results from NASA's landmark Twins Study were published, revealing the resilience of the human body in space.
• NASA announced a five-point plan to open the space station to U.S. industry to accelerate a thriving commercial economy in low-Earth orbit.
• Five commercial cargo missions delivered more than 32,000 pounds of science investigations, tools, and critical supplies to the space station and returned more than 10,800 pounds of investigations and equipment to researchers on Earth.
• Commercial resupply missions enabled the crew to support more than 100 new U.S. science investigations to advance human space exploration and conduct research for the U.S. National Laboratory to benefit life on Earth.
• Research conducted on station included experiments to better understand: human adaptations to spaceflight; how fluid shifts affect an astronaut's blood flow and regolith behaves in microgravity; black holes and quantum mechanics; and how best to grow and harvest vegetables in space and measure atmospheric carbon dioxide.
• Also tested on the space station was a free-flying robot system, a new air quality monitoring system, a vest designed to protect astronauts from radiation, a new medical research technology called tissue chips, and a virtual reality camera.
• NASA astronauts participated in 10 spacewalks to install a new docking port for commercial crew spacecraft, upgrade the station's power system, and repair an instrument that is searching for dark matter, anti-matter, and dark energy.

SpaceX launched its 19th cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station at 12:29 p.m. EST Dec. 5, 2019, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. (Credit: NASA TV)

Flight

NASA's aeronautics team reached several major milestones in its efforts to enable commercial supersonic air travel over land.

• NASA tested the eXternal Vision System, a forward-facing camera and display system that lets the pilot see the airspace in front of him or her, for the X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST).
• NASA deployed CarpetDiem along a 30-mile-stretch of the Mojave Desert in California to test a specially-configured microphone array that will be used when the X-59 makes a series of acoustic validation flights in 2021.
• The X-59 project team completed its critical design review and the aircraft was cleared in December for final assembly and systems integration.

NASA's research into electric-powered flight with the X-57 Maxwell made headlines throughout the year.

• NASA devised a custom-designed skin around the aircraft's motor electronics to cool them without changing the aircraft's shape or design.
• NASA and General Electric announced a $12 million partnership to further explore electrified aircraft propulsion and received the X-57's Mod II aircraft, paving the way for NASA engineers to put the aircraft through ground, taxi and flight tests.

Another major aeronautics focus was NASA's ongoing work in Urban Air Mobility – a safe and efficient system for passenger and cargo air transportation.

• NASA selected two organizations to host the final phase of its four-year series of technical demonstrations involving small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), or drones, in Reno, Nevada, and Corpus Christi, Texas.
• NASA and Uber partnered on computer modeling and simulation of airspace management for small aircraft in crowded city environments. NASA also launched its solicitation for companies to participate in the Urban Air Mobility Grand Challenge.

Continuing other avenues of research in aviation technology, the agency:

• signed contracts with three industry partners to demonstrate the use of systems for the safe operation of drones in the national airspace;
• successfully tested an advanced photographic technology that captured the first-ever images of the interaction of shockwaves from two supersonic aircraft in flight;
• demonstrated a new aircraft wing using advanced carbon fiber composites that can flex in flight to maximize aerodynamic efficiency;
• brought onboard its newest world-class research facility, the NASA Electric Aircraft Testbed (NEAT), in Sandusky, Ohio, which provides a reconfigurable research platform capable of accommodating power systems for large passenger airplanes with megawatts of power;
• demonstrated air traffic management tools that manage the movement of aircraft from an airport gate to a spot in the sky after takeoff; and,
• installed onto a flying testbed small fins made from shape memory alloys to help control airflow during flight.

Space Technology

As NASA embarked on the next era of exploration in 2019, the agency continued to advance technologies needed for a sustainable human presence on the Moon and future human missions to Mars.

• Two NASA technology demonstrations were launched to improve how spacecraft travel and navigate. The Green Propellant Infusion Mission is successfully demonstrating a low-toxin propellant and NASA's Deep Space Atomic Clock is close to determining how well the clock keeps time, down to the nanosecond.
• A biology experiment on the space station is testing a method of using microorganisms to produce nutrients usually found in vegetables.
• Google, in partnership with NASA and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, achieved quantum supremacy by demonstrating the ability to compute in seconds what would take the largest and most advanced supercomputers thousands of years.
• NASA demonstrated the first coordinated maneuver between two CubeSats in low-Earth orbit, and two CubeSats teamed up for a laser communications pointing experiment.
• NASA awarded a contract to Made In Space to 3D print and assemble spacecraft parts in low-Earth orbit.
• NASA helped test a commercial terrain-relative navigation system for precise lunar landings and dozens of other technologies aboard suborbital rockets, spacecraft, planes and balloons.
• The 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge wrapped up after 30 hours of 3D printing prototype planetary habitats. College students practiced drilling for water on the Moon and Mars using simulated soil and ice stations.
• NASA established two new space technology research institutes to study smart habitats. NASA-funded university faculty and graduate students researched technologies for robot explorers, spacecraft temperature control and more.
• Two NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts aimed at exploring lunar craters and mining asteroids received another round of NASA funding
• The agency licensed to commercial companies NASA technologies and software that can be used to create products and solutions to benefit people everywhere.
• NASA awarded nearly $180 million, in May, June and November, to hundreds of U.S. small businesses to advance capabilities in aeronautics and space.

Earth

NASA continued to use its perspective of Earth from space to improve lives and revolutionize our understanding of how our planet is changing.

• After powerful Hurricane Dorian hit the Bahamas in September, NASA assisted emergency response organizations by creating detailed damage assessment and flood maps based on satellite data.
• The largest migration of small sea creatures on the planet was studied globally for the first time using the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) satellite.
• A study showed that the increasing dryness of the atmosphere above the Amazon rainforest is primarily the result of human activities and is increasing the demand for water and leaving ecosystems vulnerable to fires and drought.
• A new NASA laser instrument on the space station began collecting data to create detailed 3D maps of Earth's forests and topography.

STEM Engagement

NASA provided more than $32 million in financial support to more than 8,000 students participating in internships and fellowships through its: Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP); Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR); Space Grant Project; and Next Gen STEM. Nearly 40% of the opportunities were filled by women, and 30% went to racial or ethnic minorities.

Participating in NASA's Micro-g Neutral Buoyancy Experiment Design Team (Micro-g NExT) program, Team CERO, from Lone Star College-CyFair in Cypress, Texas, became the first team to have their tool sent to the International Space Station, where it was used during a spacewalk on Nov. 22 to repair the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer.

This picture, taken July 12, 2011, shows the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) experiment on the International Space Station. AMS is a state-of-the-art particle physics detector designed to search for antimatter and dark matter. (Credit: NASA/Ron Garan)

NASA also engaged students, educators and the public in STEM through a series of public events including:

• Future of Space, a live television event for college students to learn more about NASA's newest mission, Artemis and hear from NASA's leadership
• Forward to the Moon, a 30-minute show to accompany the Apollo 50th live broadcast to engage the public in STEM activities
• Space and STEM: Where do you fit in?, a show for college students participating at 2019 International Astronautical Congress

Public Engagement

NASA is dedicated to engaging the public in the excitement, accomplishments and opportunities available only through the nation's space program. The agency hosted and participated in events across the country marking the 50th anniversary of the first Apollo Moon landing in July 1969, including two events in Washington: a concert on July 20 at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts co-hosted by former Myth Busters host Adam Savage, and a three-day festival on the National Mall that featured exhibits and talks and had more than 50,000 attendees.

Other public events included:

• NASA Day of Remembrance, attended by Vice President Mike Pence
• Earth Day celebration at Union Station in Washington
• The agency's Independent Verification and Validation Facility in Fairmont, West Virginia, was renamed in honor of West Virginia native and NASA "human computer" Katherine Johnson.
• Hidden Figures Way dedication at NASA Headquarters in Washington
• Events leading up to the premier of the movie Ad Astra, including a conversation between astronauts on the International Space Station and actor Brad Pitt
• Star Wars actors Kelly Marie Tran and Naomi Ackie visited Johnson Space Center, where they met with astronauts and learned about training to live and work in space. Tran also narrated a new video detailing how we'll go to the Moon with the Artemis program.
• Ariana Grande, Blake Griffin, and Karol G also visited Johnson to learn more about human space flight.
• The cast of Lost in Space toured NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
• Interactions on social media with celebrities such as Barbara Streisand, Billie Jean King, Priyanka Chopra, Ava DuVernay, Misha Collins, David Bowie, Alicia Keys, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Tony Hawke, Tig Notaro, and others.

NASA had a significant exhibit presence at two high-profile annual space policy conferences: Space Symposium, which brought together space industry leaders and entrepreneurs from around the globe to discuss the current and future state of space exploration; and the International Astronautical Congress, hosted this year by NASA and during which more than 6,660 people visited the agency's exhibit.

NASA now has more than 219.7 million social media followers – up from 187 million in 2018. In addition to increasing engagement on various platforms, the agency hosted 10 NASA Social events, bringing together nearly 500 followers for unique, in-person experiences of exploration and discovery. The agency's social media activity was honored in April with two Webby Awards and two People's Voice awards.

The agency's website received its 11th People's Voice Award in the Government & Civil Innovation category. The busiest day for the website was April 10, when NASA shared a black hole image from the National Science Foundation, which had 1.7 million visits. The second-busiest day, with 1.6 million visits, was May 21, when NASA invited to the public to send their names to Mars on the Mars 2020 rover.

The agency launched two new mediums to communicate with the public. In March, NASA debuted a weekly email newsletter that already has more than 1.1 million subscribers. In September, NASA TV launched a new video series called #AskNASA, in which agency experts answer questions from the public about its incredible mission.

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences recognized NASA's engagement efforts in September with two Emmy Awards for its coverage of the landing on Mars of NASA's InSight mission and the agency's first test of a spacecraft that will help bring crewed launches to the International Space Station back to U.S. soil.

The Video:

SOURCE: NASA

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