tag:theconversation.com,2011:/institutions/georgia-institute-of-technology-1310/articlesGeorgia Institute of Technology2024-02-29T13:39:18Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2169672024-02-29T13:39:18Z2024-02-29T13:39:18ZBias hiding in plain sight: Decades of analyses suggest US media skews anti-Palestinian<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572260/original/file-20240130-29-5jyhe6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=26%2C17%2C2941%2C1922&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Palestinian families seeking refuge in makeshift tents in vacant areas in Rafah, Gaza Strip. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/palestinian-families-seeking-refuge-from-israeli-attacks-on-news-photo/1965323426?adppopup=true">Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>News organizations are often <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/01/09/newspapers-israel-palestine-bias-new-york-times/">accused of lacking impartiality</a> <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/the-bbc-is-under-fire-for-its-coverage-of-the-israel-hamas-war-rightly-so/">when covering the Israeli-Palestinian</a> conflict. In November 2023, over <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/media/2023/11/09/open-letter-journalists-israel-gaza/">750 journalists</a> signed an open letter alleging bias in U.S. newsrooms against Palestinians in the reporting of the ongoing fighting in the Gaza strip. </p>
<p>More recently, two articles in respected U.S. newspapers highlight the debate over bias.</p>
<p>A Feb. 2, 2024, op-ed in The Wall Street Journal described a Michigan city, where many Arab immigrants live, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/welcome-to-dearborn-americas-jihad-capital-pro-hamas-michigan-counterterrorism-a99dba38">as a center of antisemitic terrorism sympathizers</a>. On the same day, another op-ed in The New York Times depicted the U.S. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/01/30/opinion/thepoint#friedman-middle-east-animals">as a lion engaged in combat</a> with Iran – characterized as a “parasitoid wasp” – and Hamas – portrayed as a “trap-door spider,” executing rapid, predatory maneuvers. The pieces were attacked by critics as <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/detroit/news/dearborn-community-says-wsj-article-is-a-distraction/">being Islamaphobic</a> and falling <a href="https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/thomas-friedman-animal-kingdom-nyt-rcna137283">back on racist tropes</a>. </p>
<p>Broadcast media is similarly being scrutinized for bias. According to the Guardian, CNN has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2024/feb/04/cnn-staff-pro-israel-bias">faced scrutiny for its alleged pro-Israel bias</a>, with claims that Israeli official statements receive expedited clearance and trustful on-air portrayal. Conversely, statements from Palestinians, including those not affiliated with Hamas, are frequently delayed or remain unreported. A notable instance cited by the Guardian involved former Israeli intelligence official Rami Igra asserting on CNN that the entire Palestinian population of Gaza could be considered combatants, a statement allowed to go unchallenged. </p>
<p>From the other side, Jonathan Greenbatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, has accused U.S. media of a bias that <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/politics-news/anti-defamation-league-director-msnbc-coverage-israel-1235612659/">dehumanizes Israelis while sanitizing Hamas</a>. During an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” in October 2023, he raised concerns over the networks framing of Hamas, asking, “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BXsC-7WSqI">Who’s writing the scipts</a>?” </p>
<p>The issue of bias isn’t confined to the U.S. In the U.K.,the state-funded BBC has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/oct/16/bbc-gets-1500-complaints-over-israel-hamas-coverage-split-50-50-on-each-side">received complaints on its Gaza coverage</a> from both sides as well.</p>
<p>With accusation of bias being levied by both sides in the conflict, what does academic research say about newsroom prejudice?</p>
<p>Support for the assertion of anti-Israeli bias in media occasionally emerges in research. A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13537121.2016.1244381">2016 study</a> uncovered anti-Israeli bias in German and British newspapers, although results for U.S. publications were mixed. However, when scholars look at media coverage data as a whole, rather than pick and choose, they demonstrate that leading U.S. outlets tend to be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1081180X03256999%22%22">more sympathetic toward the Israeli perspective</a> than that of Palestinians.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://iac.gatech.edu/people/person/natalie-khazaal">scholar of media bias and the Arab world</a>, in my own research, I have found that anti-Palestinian bias in the U.S. and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2011.571818">other countries’ media</a> is often subtle, albeit in plain view.</p>
<h2>Measuring bias</h2>
<p>Typically, scholars examine this form of media bias using both <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amc.2023.128219">quantitative</a> and qualitative measures of the <a href="https://libguides.lehman.edu/c.php?g=733610&p=5241445">framing, selection and portrayal of news</a>. Content analyses of <a href="https://www.rochester.edu/newscenter/study-of-headlines-shows-media-bias-growing-563502/">news articles, headlines and images</a> are common methodologies, seeking patterns that may favor one perspective over the other.</p>
<p>Additionally, scholars examine the <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/3512176">sources cited and the prominence given to different voices</a>. Historical context, the overall tone and language, how often the media talks about suffering on one side compared with the other – all are indicators used to analyze media bias. </p>
<h2>Historical bias in language and reporting</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.cambridge.org/us/universitypress/subjects/politics-international-relations/comparative-politics/media-and-political-conflict-news-middle-east?format=PB">Several</a> <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Reporting-the-Israeli-Arab-Conflict-How-Hegemony-Works/Liebes/p/book/9781138864580">studies</a> scrutinizing U.S. media coverage during the first Palestinian uprising, or intifada, spanning from 1987 to 1993, consistently revealed pronounced biases. </p>
<p>The analyses indicated a propensity to emphasize Israeli deaths despite higher Palestinian casualties. The media’s reliance on Israeli sources shaped the narrative, omitting crucial context such as the illegality of Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian lands under peace agreements. Overlooking this fact obscured the <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/41858380">correlation between increasing settlements and a rise in Palestinian attacks</a>, thus compromising a comprehensive understanding.</p>
<p>Throughout the second intifada from 2000 to 2005, the prevalence of bias in media coverage persisted. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://fair.org/home/the-illusion-of-balance/?fbclid=IwAR02QPzY5_l3cg7NwKcZTKyr4ISHxt1PrWJiiWoumHT1nqlb1nAFlcU88rc">study conducted by the independent media watchdog FAIR</a> highlighted a notable instance concerning NPR’s reporting during the initial six months of 2001. While NPR initially presented similar figures of Israeli and Palestinian deaths — 62 versus 51 — FAIR’s comprehensive analysis revealed a stark disparity. When considering the total six-month death toll of 77 versus 148, NPR reported on eight out of 10 Israeli deaths but only three out of 10 Palestinian deaths, creating a skewed impression of balance. </p>
<p>NPR’s ombudsman, Jeffrey Dvorkin, <a href="https://fair.org/home/the-illusion-of-balance/?fbclid=IwAR02QPzY5_l3cg7NwKcZTKyr4ISHxt1PrWJiiWoumHT1nqlb1nAFlcU88rc">responded</a> to this assessment saying that numerical equivalence doesn’t always equate to journalistic fairness. </p>
<h2>Selective coverage</h2>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572259/original/file-20240130-29-wp5qc8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Protestors hold a banner which reads 'In Gaza, the State of Israel also kills journalists,' while displaying names and photographs of those killed on the ground.," src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572259/original/file-20240130-29-wp5qc8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572259/original/file-20240130-29-wp5qc8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572259/original/file-20240130-29-wp5qc8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572259/original/file-20240130-29-wp5qc8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572259/original/file-20240130-29-wp5qc8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572259/original/file-20240130-29-wp5qc8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572259/original/file-20240130-29-wp5qc8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A large number of journalists have been killed in Palestinian territories.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/protestors-holding-a-banner-which-reads-as-in-gaza-the-news-photo/1775804380?adppopup=true">Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Selective coverage has the potential to align with Israeli claims of self-defense, as scholars <a href="https://libcat.colorado.edu/Author/Home?author=Friel%2C+Howard%2C+1955-">Howard Friel</a> and <a href="https://politics.princeton.edu/people/richard-falk">Richard Falk</a> highlighted in their 2007 analysis of the <a href="https://www.versobooks.com/products/1998-israel-palestine-on-record">New York Times’ coverage of the second intifada</a>. The framing of attacks in Palestinian territories appeared to reflect a narrative that supported Israel’s stance.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://regener-online.de/journalcco/2003_2/pdf_2003_2/ross_engl.pdf">portrayal of Palestinian suffering</a>, encompassing deaths, home destruction and daily humiliation, tends to be downplayed both in the language used in coverage and by its reduced frequency compared with Israeli experiences. Media law scholar <a href="https://english.wsu.edu/susan-ross/">Susan Dente Ross</a> underscored in her 2003 study how the U.S. media often labeled Palestinians as aggressors rather than victims, thereby <a href="https://regener-online.de/journalcco/2003_2/pdf_2003_2/ross_engl.pdf">normalizing their losses and suffering</a>. </p>
<p>Echoing this perspective, media studies scholar <a href="https://scholar.google.ae/citations?user=iRAw1rUAAAAJ&hl=en">Mohamad Elmasry</a> argued in 2009 that the U.S. media rationalizes Israeli violence as a <a href="https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Death-in-the-Middle-East%3A-An-Analysis-of-How-the-in-Elmasry/686de091177e68331f80427b604c0ce030c32ce6">reluctantly understandable aspect of war</a>, framing Israel’s actions as “<a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/israel-palestine-war-west-press-context-sacrosanct-palestinians">retaliatory and legitimate</a>” while depicting Palestinian violence as “<a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/israel-palestine-war-west-press-context-sacrosanct-palestinians">barbaric and senseless</a>.”</p>
<p>The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511816659">displacement</a> of around 750,000 <a href="https://theconversation.com/gaza-bombing-adds-to-the-generations-of-palestinians-displaced-from-their-homes-216142">Palestinians in 1948</a> remains a top Palestinian concern, because it turned about 80% of Palestinians into <a href="https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/palestinian-refugees-dispossession">stateless refugees</a>.</p>
<p>“Rarely, however, is the history of how these people became refugees incorporated into the reporting,” and neither is the body of international law and consensus on their rights, states journalism scholar <a href="https://www.qatar.northwestern.edu/directory/profiles/dunsky-marda.html">Marda Dunsky</a>, who conducted the analysis. An analysis of 30 <a href="https://cup.columbia.edu/book/pens-and-swords/9780231133487">major U.S. print and broadcast outlets</a> over four years – from 2000 to 2004 – found that the coverage lacked this important context during the second intifada. </p>
<p>The issue of sources is also contentious. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/073953290602700407">Three in every four major U.S. outlets</a> consistently favor Israeli sources over Palestinian and accord Israeli officials more positive media coverage, according to a 2006 study by scholars <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kuang-Kuo-Chang">Kuang-Kuo Chang</a> and <a href="https://comartsci.msu.edu/our-people/geri-alumit-zeldes">Geri Alumit Zeldes</a>. For the most part, U.S. outlets avoid quoting Palestinian officials, the study noted. </p>
<h2>AI confirms anti-Palestinian bias</h2>
<p>Recently, experts have started to study big data on the media portrayals of the conflict with the help of artificial intelligence. For example, in 2023, MIT’s <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=QnYHj40AAAAJ&hl=en">Holly Jackson</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/17506352231178148">conducted a study</a> of 33,000 news articles from 1987-1993 and 2000-2005 – that cover the two intifadas – with the help of state-of-the-art AI technology that provides large-scale historical data.</p>
<p>Jackson confirmed that there was anti-Palestinian bias that persisted during the first and second intifadas. The discernible bias was manifested in the level of objectivity and the tone of language employed by outlets such as The New York Times. The bias was further underscored by the manner in which media outlets attributed sentiments of violence to either side involved in the conflict.</p>
<p>For instance, an article highlighted that “They [Jews] threw rocks at hotels housing Arabs, who hurled objects from their windows in return.” Notably, the article employs the more neutral verb “throw” to portray Israeli violence and the less neutral verb “hurl” to describe Palestinian violence. Journalists sometimes use synonyms; however, the cumulative effect of repeatedly using more negative synonyms for Palestinians and more positive ones for Israelis implies the existence of bias, Jackson noted.</p>
<p>Jackson’s findings revealed a significant disparity, with more than 90% of articles focusing on Israelis compared with less than 50% covering Palestinians. Additionally, the articles used negative language and the passive voice to refer to Palestinians twice as often as Israelis. For example, she reveals that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/17506352231178148">the passive construction “killed” is used</a> in “Palestinian killed as clashes erupt with troops” to avoid specifying the perpetrators of the violence, contrasting with the active “slay” in “Palestinians slay 2 Israeli hikers,” used to emphasize the perpetrators.</p>
<p>The anti-Palestinian sentiment increased from the first intifada to the second, the same study showed. As an illustration, <a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781627798556/thehundredyearswaronpalestine">Palestinian deaths surged from 1,422 to 4,916</a>, a stark increase of three and a half times. They were also four and a half times greater than the 1,100 Israeli casualties. Yet, their reporting failed to correspond proportionately to the heightened occurrences.</p>
<p>How the media reports on events can greatly influence <a href="https://catalog.lib.uchicago.edu/vufind/Record/8530692">public perceptions</a> of what is really going on. Reporting can prime audiences to see a Palestinian fighter in a mask as either an icon of <a href="https://www.plutobooks.com/9781783710751/more-bad-news-from-israel/">terrorism or a hero</a> resisting occupation, depending on how the news is presented.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216967/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Natalie Khazaal does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>How the media talks about suffering on one side compared with the other can often reveal bias in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict coverage, writes a scholar of media bias and the Arab world.Natalie Khazaal, Associate Professor of Arabic and Arab Culture, Georgia Institute of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2208282024-02-14T13:24:42Z2024-02-14T13:24:42ZWe designed wormlike, limbless robots that navigate obstacle courses − they could be used for search and rescue one day<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571646/original/file-20240126-17-1c52dw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=55%2C0%2C4024%2C1578&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Limbless robots may not need lots of complex algorithms when they have mechanical intelligence. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tianyu Wang</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Scientists have been trying to build <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snakebot">snakelike, limbless robots</a> for decades. These robots could come in handy in <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/searching-survivors-mexico-earthquake-snake-robots">search-and-rescue</a> situations, where they could navigate collapsed buildings to find and assist survivors. </p>
<p>With slender, flexible bodies, limbless robots could readily move through confined and cluttered spaces such as debris fields, where walking or wheeled robots and human rescuers tend to fail.</p>
<p>However, even the most advanced limbless robots have not come close to moving with the agility and versatility of worms and snakes in difficult terrain. Even the tiny nematode worm <em><a href="http://www.wormbook.org/">Caenorhabditis elegans</a></em>, which has a relatively simple nervous systems, can navigate through difficult physical environments. </p>
<p>As part of a team of <a href="https://www.lulab.gatech.edu/">engineers</a>, <a href="https://crablab.gatech.edu/">roboticists and physicists</a>, we wanted to explore this discrepancy in performance. But instead of looking to neuroscience for an answer, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomechanics">we turned to biomechanics</a>. </p>
<p>We set out to build a robot model that drove its body using a mechanism similar to how worms and snakes power their movement. </p>
<h2>Undulators and mechanical intelligence</h2>
<p>Over thousands of years, organisms have evolved <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/nervous-system">intricate nervous systems</a> that allow them to sense their physical surroundings, process this information and execute precise body movements to navigate around obstacles. </p>
<p>In robotics, engineers design algorithms that take in information from sensors on the robot’s body – a type of robotic nervous system – and use that information to decide how to move. These algorithms and systems are usually complex. </p>
<p>Our team wanted to figure out a way to simplify these systems by highlighting mechanically controlled approaches to dealing with obstacles that don’t require sensors or computation. To do that, we turned to examples from biology.</p>
<p>Animals don’t rely solely on their neurons – brain cells and <a href="https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/23123-peripheral-nervous-system-pns">peripheral nerves</a> – to control movement. They also use the physical properties of their body – for example, the elasticity of their muscles – to help them react to their environment spontaneously, before their neurons even have a chance to respond.</p>
<p>While computational systems are governed by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computational_logic">the laws of mathematics</a>, mechanical systems are governed by physics. To achieve the same task, scientists can either design an algorithm or carefully design a physical system. </p>
<p>For example, limbless robots and animals move through the world by bending sections of their body left and right, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undulatory_locomotion">a type of movement called undulation</a>. If they collide with an obstacle, they have to turn away and go around it by bending more to one side than the other.</p>
<p>Scientists could achieve this with a robot by attaching sensors to its head or body. They could then design an algorithm that tells the robot to turn away or wind around the obstacle when it “feels” a large enough force on its head or body. </p>
<p>Alternatively, scientists could carefully select the robot’s materials and the arrangement and strength of its motors so that collisions would spontaneously produce a body shape that led to a turn. This robot would have what scientists call “mechanical intelligence.”</p>
<p>If scientists like us can understand how organisms’ bodies respond mechanically to contact with objects in their environment, we can design better robots that can deal with obstacles without having to program complex algorithms. </p>
<p>If you compare a diverse set of undulating organisms with the increasingly large zoo of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snakebot">robotic “snakes</a>,” one difference between the robots and biological undulators stands out. Nearly all undulatory robots bend their bodies using a series of connected segments with motors at each joint. But that’s not how living organisms bend.</p>
<p>In contrast, all limbless organisms, from large snakes to the lowly, microscopic nematode, achieve bends not from a single rotational joint-motor system but instead through <a href="http://www.wormbook.org/chapters/www_bodywallmuscle/bodywallmuscle.html">two bands of muscles</a> on either side of the body. To an engineer, this design seems counterintuitive. Why control something with two muscles or motors when one could do the job? </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575078/original/file-20240212-26-it6ean.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A diagram showing a gray worm with a window showing the inside of the worm's body, which has two bands of muscle on the left and right side, cuticle on the top and nerve cord on the bottom, top and sides." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575078/original/file-20240212-26-it6ean.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575078/original/file-20240212-26-it6ean.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575078/original/file-20240212-26-it6ean.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575078/original/file-20240212-26-it6ean.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575078/original/file-20240212-26-it6ean.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575078/original/file-20240212-26-it6ean.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575078/original/file-20240212-26-it6ean.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nematodes have two bands of muscle on the sides of their bodies that control motion.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ralf J. Sommer and WormAtlas</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To get to the bottom of this question, our team built a new robot called MILLR, for mechanically intelligent limbless robot, inspired by the two bands of muscle on snakes and worms. MILLR has two independently controlled cables that pull each joint left and right, bilaterally.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575079/original/file-20240212-20-gtf8t7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A diagram showing the design of MILLR, with servo motors on each body segment, and cables and pulleys connecting them." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575079/original/file-20240212-20-gtf8t7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575079/original/file-20240212-20-gtf8t7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=275&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575079/original/file-20240212-20-gtf8t7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=275&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575079/original/file-20240212-20-gtf8t7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=275&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575079/original/file-20240212-20-gtf8t7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=345&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575079/original/file-20240212-20-gtf8t7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=345&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575079/original/file-20240212-20-gtf8t7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=345&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">MILLR’s design, inspired by nematode <em>C. elegans</em>.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tianyu Wang</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.adi2243">We found</a> this method allows the robot to spontaneously move around obstacles without having to sense its surroundings and actively change its body posture to comply to the environment.</p>
<h2>Building a mechanically intelligent robot</h2>
<p>Rather than mimicking the detailed muscular anatomy of a particular organism, MILLR applies forces to either side of the body by spooling and unspooling a cable. </p>
<p>This way, it mirrors the muscle activation methods that snakes and nematodes use, where the left and right sides take turns activating. This activation mode pulls the body toward one side or another by tightening on one side, while the other side relaxes and is pulled along passively. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575081/original/file-20240212-26-bro51v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="On the left, a photo showing a worm weaving between pegs. On the right, a photo showing a worm-like robot weaving between pegs." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575081/original/file-20240212-26-bro51v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575081/original/file-20240212-26-bro51v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=122&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575081/original/file-20240212-26-bro51v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=122&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575081/original/file-20240212-26-bro51v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=122&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575081/original/file-20240212-26-bro51v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=153&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575081/original/file-20240212-26-bro51v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=153&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575081/original/file-20240212-26-bro51v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=153&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">MILLR’s design allows it to move through obstacles the same way worms do.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tianyu Wang and Christopher Pierce</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>By changing the amount of slack in the cables, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.adi2243">we can achieve</a> varying degrees of body stiffness. When the robot collides with an obstacle, depending on the cable tension, it selectively maintains its shape or bends under the force of the obstacle. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.adi2243">We found that</a> if the robot was actively bending to one side and it experienced a force in the same direction, the body complied to the force and bent further. If, alternatively, the robot experienced a force that opposed the bend, it would remain rigid and push itself off the obstacle. </p>
<p>Because of the pattern of the tension along the body, head-on collisions that would normally cause the robot to stop moving or jam itself instead naturally led to a redirection around the obstacle. The robot could push itself forward consistently. </p>
<h2>Testing MILLR</h2>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/21F7IOF9BMs?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>To investigate the benefits of mechanical intelligence, we built tiny obstacle courses and sent nematode worms through them to see how well they performed. We sent MILLR through a similar course and compared the results.</p>
<p>MILLR moved through its course <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.adi2243">about as effectively as the real worms</a>. We noticed that the worms made the same type of body movements when they collided with obstacles as MILLR did.</p>
<p>The principles of mechanical intelligence could extend beyond the realm of nematodes. Future research could look at designing robots based on a host of other types of organisms for applications ranging from search and rescue to <a href="https://youtu.be/e0D9IVo-E9M?si=d8jGaC5GDLaMbEeS">exploring other planets</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220828/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This work was supported by the National Science Foundation Physics of Living Systems Student Research Network, NSF-Simons Southeast Center for Mathematics and Biology, Army Research Office Grant, and the Dunn Family Professorship.</span></em></p>Robots often have a hard time navigating through debris, but robots designed based on worms and snakes could move around obstacles faster, thanks to an idea called mechanical intelligence.Tianyu Wang, Ph.D. Student in Robotics, Georgia Institute of TechnologyChristopher Pierce, Postdoctoral Scholar in Physics, Georgia Institute of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2200312024-02-07T13:12:18Z2024-02-07T13:12:18ZPower outages leave poor communities in the dark longer: Evidence from 15M outages raises questions about recovery times<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573708/original/file-20240206-24-a4nh4l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C7%2C5168%2C3437&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Low-income communities often have a longer wait for electricity to come back after outages.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/457a5faae7c84a23947a3e781c5ce4a3">AP Photo/Gerald Herbert</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Electricity is essential to just about everyone – rich and poor, old and young. Yet, when severe storms strike, socioeconomically disadvantaged communities often wait longest to recover.</p>
<p>That isn’t just a perception.</p>
<p>We analyzed <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad295">data from over 15 million consumers</a> in 588 U.S. counties who lost power when hurricanes made landfall between January 2017 and October 2020. The results show that poorer communities did indeed wait longer for the lights to go back on.</p>
<p>A 1-decile drop in socioeconomic status in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s <a href="https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/placeandhealth/svi/index.html">social vulnerability index</a> was associated with a 6.1% longer outage on average. This corresponds to waiting an extra 170 minutes on average for power to be restored, and sometimes much longer. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two maps of the southeastern U.S. show a correlation between outages and social vulnerability." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573707/original/file-20240206-24-n9l871.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573707/original/file-20240206-24-n9l871.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=784&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573707/original/file-20240206-24-n9l871.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=784&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573707/original/file-20240206-24-n9l871.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=784&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573707/original/file-20240206-24-n9l871.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=985&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573707/original/file-20240206-24-n9l871.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=985&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573707/original/file-20240206-24-n9l871.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=985&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The top map shows the total duration of power outages over eight storms by county. The lower map is a comparison with socioeconomic status taken into account, showing that counties with lower average socioeconomic status have longer outages than expected.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article/2/10/pgad295/7286530">Ganz et al, 2023, PNAS Nexus</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Implications for policy and utilities</h2>
<p>One likely reason for this disparity is written into utilities’ <a href="https://www.publicpower.org/system/files/documents/Restoration_Best_Practices_Guidebook_2018.pdf">standard storm recovery policies</a>. Often, these polices prioritize critical infrastructure first when restoring power after an outage, then large commercial and industrial customers. They next seek to recover as many households as they can as quickly as possible.</p>
<p>While this approach may seem procedurally fair, these recovery routines appear to have an unintended effect of often making vulnerable communities wait longer for electricity to be restored. One <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0218883">reason may be</a> that these communities are farther from critical infrastructure, or they may be predominantly in older neighborhoods where power infrastructure requires more significant repairs.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A store in Austin, Texas, is closed during a widespread power outage amid a winter cold snap in 2021." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573641/original/file-20240206-23-lotgsh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573641/original/file-20240206-23-lotgsh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573641/original/file-20240206-23-lotgsh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573641/original/file-20240206-23-lotgsh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573641/original/file-20240206-23-lotgsh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573641/original/file-20240206-23-lotgsh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573641/original/file-20240206-23-lotgsh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Commercial areas are often higher on the priority list for faster power recovery in an outage. This store was still closed for several days during Texas’ widespread outages in 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/sign-states-that-a-fiesta-mart-is-closed-because-of-a-power-news-photo/1231222415?adppopup=true">Montinique Monroe/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The upshot is that households that are <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/hurricanes-hit-the-poor-the-hardest/">already at greater risk</a> from severe weather – whether due to being in flood-prone areas or in vulnerable buildings – and those who are least likely to have insurance or other resources to help them recover are also likely to face the longest storm-caused power outages. Long outages can mean refrigerated food goes bad, no running water and delays in repairing damage, including delays in running fans to dry out water damage and avoid mold.</p>
<p>Our study spanned 108 service regions, including investor-owned utilities, cooperatives and public utilities. The differential impact on poorer communities did not line up with any particular storm, region or individual utility. We also found no correlation with race, ethnicity or housing type. Only average socioeconomic level stood out.</p>
<h2>How to make power recovery less biased</h2>
<p>There are ways to improve power recovery times for everyone, beyond the necessary work of improving the stability of power distribution.</p>
<p>Policymakers and utilities can start by reexamining power restoration practices and power infrastructure maintenance, such as replacing aging utility poles and trimming trees, with disadvantaged communities in mind.</p>
<p>Power providers already have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2021.07.006">granular data on power usage</a> and <a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=9913670">grid performance in their service regions</a>. They can begin experimenting with alternative recovery routines that consider the vulnerability of their customers in ways that do not substantially affect average recovery duration.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two men look at cell phones in the dark on a porch." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573650/original/file-20240206-19-b8ktkh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573650/original/file-20240206-19-b8ktkh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573650/original/file-20240206-19-b8ktkh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573650/original/file-20240206-19-b8ktkh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573650/original/file-20240206-19-b8ktkh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573650/original/file-20240206-19-b8ktkh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573650/original/file-20240206-19-b8ktkh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People in some Fort Myers, Fla., neighborhoods still lacked water and electricity more than a week after Hurricane Ian in 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/sign-states-that-a-fiesta-mart-is-closed-because-of-a-power-news-photo/1231222415?adppopup=true">Montinique Monroe/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For socioeconomically <a href="https://atlas.eia.gov/pages/04021248819144108b36cbf27327d11c">vulnerable regions</a> that are likely to experience long outages because of their locations and possibly the aging energy infrastructure, utilities and policymakers can proactively ensure that households are well prepared to evacuate or have access to backup sources of power.</p>
<p>For example, the U.S. Department of Energy announced in October 2023 that it would invest in <a href="https://www.energy.gov/gdo/articles/keeping-lights-our-neighborhoods-during-power-outages">developing dozens of resilience hubs and microgrids</a> to help supply local power to key buildings within communities when the wider grid goes down. Louisiana plans several of these hubs, using solar and large-scale batteries, in or near disadvantaged communities.</p>
<p>Policymakers and utilities can also invest in broader energy infrastructure and renewable energy in these vulnerable communities. The U.S. Department of Energy’s <a href="https://www.energy.gov/justice/justice40-initiative">Justice40 program</a> directs that 40% of the benefit from certain federal energy, transportation and housing investments benefit disadvantaged communities. That may help residents who need public help the most.</p>
<p>Severe weather events are <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-is-intensifying-the-water-cycle-bringing-more-powerful-storms-and-flooding-heres-what-the-science-shows-187951">becoming more common</a> as <a href="https://theconversation.com/2023s-billion-dollar-disasters-list-shattered-the-us-record-with-28-big-weather-and-climate-disasters-amid-earths-hottest-year-on-record-220634">global temperatures rise</a>. That increases the need for better planning and approaches that don’t leave low-income residents in the dark.</p>
<p><em>Chenghao Duan, a Ph.D. student at Georgia Tech, also contributed to this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220031/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Researchers tracked power outages after 8 major storms to see how wealth corresponded to recovery time.Chuanyi Ji, Associate Professor of Engineering, Georgia Institute of TechnologyScott C. Ganz, Associate Teaching Professor of Business and Economics, Georgetown UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2218202024-01-23T18:02:15Z2024-01-23T18:02:15ZJapón es el quinto país que llega a la Luna, y su tecnología se prestará para futuras misiones espaciales<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570940/original/file-20240119-27-p6esw0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=249%2C0%2C4597%2C3248&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Datos de la misión SLIM proyectados en el Campus Sagamihara de JAXA durante el aterrizaje de la nave. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/JapanMoonLanding/03b3de9eaaba4dda9bfbe0236b3b28db/photo?Query=slim&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=3883&currentItemNo=1">AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Japón aterrizó su nave <a href="https://global.jaxa.jp/projects/sas/slim/">Smart Lander for Investigating the Moon</a>, o SLIM, en la superficie de la Luna el 20 de enero de 2024. A pesar de un problema eléctrico con el módulo de aterrizaje, el acontecimiento tiene importancia tanto política como técnica. Se trata del primer alunizaje de Japón, lo que le convierte en el quinto país del mundo que logra posarse en la Luna. Es un logro significativo que consolida su posición como líder en tecnología espacial. </p>
<p>Aunque la nave <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvXLt3ET9mE">aterrizó con éxito en la superficie lunar</a> y desplegó sus <em>rovers</em>, las células solares del SLIM no funcionaban correctamente, lo que significa que la nave probablemente <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/12/science/japan-slim-moon-landing.html">sólo podría estar operativa durante unas horas</a>. </p>
<p>Soy un <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=aESo-coAAAAJ&hl=en">especialista en asuntos internacionales</a> que estudia el espacio. Al igual que la NASA y otras agencias espaciales, la <a href="https://global.jaxa.jp/">Agencia Japonesa de Exploración Aeroespacial, o JAXA</a>, quiere hacer avanzar la investigación y la tecnología usando nuevas técnicas y recopilando datos científicos. El aterrizaje también forma parte de algo más grande: un <a href="https://theconversation.com/returning-to-the-moon-can-benefit-commercial-military-and-political-sectors-a-space-policy-expert-explains-209300">creciente interés mundial por la actividad lunar</a>. </p>
<h2>Tecnología de precisión</h2>
<p>El logro japonés no es sólo simbólico: Japón está poniendo en práctica una serie de nuevas tecnologías con el módulo de aterrizaje. De hecho, el nombre de la nave hace referencia a la nueva tecnología de aterrizaje de precisión de la nave espacial. </p>
<p>Esta tecnología podría servir para futuros alunizajes, ya que permite a las naves espaciales aterrizar en zonas relativamente pequeñas en medio de terrenos rocosos o irregulares, en lugar de tener que encontrar grandes claros. </p>
<p>Esta capacidad será especialmente importante en el futuro, cuando los países se centren en <a href="https://theconversation.com/scientists-suspect-theres-ice-hiding-on-the-moon-and-a-host-of-missions-from-the-us-and-beyond-are-searching-for-it-216060">áreas de interés</a> muy específicas en <a href="https://theconversation.com/chandrayaan-3s-measurements-of-sulfur-open-the-doors-for-lunar-science-and-exploration-212950">el polo sur lunar</a>. </p>
<p>El módulo de aterrizaje también transportaba dos pequeños vehículos exploradores, cada uno de los cuales dotado con una nueva tecnología para desplazarse por la Luna. </p>
<p>El <a href="https://www.planetary.org/space-missions/slim-japans-precision-lunar-lander">Vehículo de Excursión Lunar 1</a> incluye una cámara, así como equipo científico, y utiliza un mecanismo de salto para maniobrar en la Luna. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570455/original/file-20240120-25-vl1x3l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Ilustración artística del módulo de aterrizaje SLIM de Japón, que parece una caja metálica con conos y luces en un extremo, intentando su aterrizaje lunar" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570455/original/file-20240120-25-vl1x3l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570455/original/file-20240120-25-vl1x3l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570455/original/file-20240120-25-vl1x3l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570455/original/file-20240120-25-vl1x3l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570455/original/file-20240120-25-vl1x3l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570455/original/file-20240120-25-vl1x3l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570455/original/file-20240120-25-vl1x3l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Una ilustración del módulo de aterrizaje SLIM tocando tierra.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">JAXA/ISAS</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>El <a href="https://global.jaxa.jp/activity/pr/jaxas/no088/03.html">Vehículo de Excursión Lunar 2</a>, desarrollado en colaboración entre el gobierno, la industria y el mundo académico, es una esfera tan pequeña que cabe en la palma de la mano. Una vez en la superficie, sus dos mitades se separan ligeramente, lo que le permite rodar.</p>
<p>SLIM está diseñado para aterrizar en una zona de 100 metros (328 pies), mientras que los anteriores módulos de aterrizaje lunar se posaban en áreas que abarcaban varios kilómetros. Utiliza un <a href="https://global.jaxa.jp/countdown/slim/SLIM-mediakit-EN_2310.pdf">sistema de navegación basado en la visión</a> que toma imágenes de la superficie lunar. Su sistema comparó rápidamente estas imágenes con patrones de cráteres en mapas lunares desarrollados por JAXA con datos de misiones anteriores. </p>
<p>A medida que los países identifiquen las zonas con más probabilidades de albergar recursos útiles, como <a href="https://theconversation.com/scientists-suspect-theres-ice-hiding-on-the-moon-and-a-host-of-missions-from-the-us-and-beyond-are-searching-for-it-216060">agua en forma de hielo</a>, la tecnología de aterrizaje de precisión permitirá a las agencias evitar los peligros cercanos y llegar a estas zonas sin incidentes.</p>
<h2>Las relaciones internacionales en la Tierra</h2>
<p>Hay un elemento geopolítico en estas actividades. China, India y Japón, los tres países que han logrado aterrizar en la Luna desde el año 2000, compiten a escala regional en diversos ámbitos, incluido el espacial. Además de las consideraciones regionales, estos logros ayudan a establecer a las naciones como líderes a escala mundial, capaces de algo que pocos países han hecho nunca. </p>
<p>El lanzamiento japonés se produce sólo seis meses después <a href="https://theconversation.com/indias-chandrayaan-3-landed-on-the-south-pole-of-the-moon-a-space-policy-expert-explains-what-this-means-for-india-and-the-global-race-to-the-moon-212171">del alunizaje de la India</a> y apenas unas semanas después de <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/18/science/moon-lander-peregrine-nasa.html">un intento fallido</a> de una empresa estadounidense, Astrobotic. </p>
<p>Tanto Rusia como la empresa privada iSpace fracasaron en sus intentos de alunizaje en 2023. El éxito de Japón –incluso con problemas con los paneles solares que acortaron los plazos de la misión– demuestra que la JAXA es un actor importante en esta empresa mundial. </p>
<p>Estados Unidos sigue siendo un claro líder en la exploración espacial y lunar. La NASA tiene <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/general/does-anything-orbit-the-moon-we-asked-a-nasa-technologist/">múltiples naves espaciales orbitando la Luna</a> en estos momentos, y ya ha lanzado con éxito el <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/space-launch-system/">cohete SLS</a>, capaz de llevar seres humanos de vuelta a la Luna. </p>
<p>La agencia espacial estadounidense está desarrollando sistemas muy grandes y complejos, como la <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission/gateway/">estación espacial Gateway</a>, prevista para orbitar cerca de la Luna, y la infraestructura para las <a href="https://theconversation.com/meet-the-next-four-people-headed-to-the-moon-how-the-diverse-crew-of-artemis-ii-shows-nasas-plan-for-the-future-of-space-exploration-203214">misiones humanas Artemis a la Luna</a>. No es raro que estos colosales proyectos sufran retrasos. </p>
<p>Últimamente, la NASA también ha confiado muchos proyectos de menor envergadura a entidades comerciales, como el programa <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/commercial-lunar-payload-services/">Commercial Lunar Payload Services</a>, que respaldó el intento de la compañía Astrobotic. Se trata de un nuevo enfoque que entraña cierto riesgo, pero que brinda la oportunidad de innovar comercialmente y hacer crecer la <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/growing-the-lunar-economy/">economía lunar</a>, al tiempo que permite a la NASA centrarse en los aspectos grandes y complejos de la misión.</p>
<p>En cuanto a la Luna, JAXA se ha asociado con Estados Unidos y se ha hecho cargo de un componente muy importante de las misiones Artemis: el desarrollo de un <a href="https://www.toyota-europe.com/news/2023/lunar-cruiser">vehículo lunar presurizado</a>. Se trata de una tecnología nueva y sofisticada que será fundamental para las misiones humanas en la Luna en los próximos años.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221820/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mariel Borowitz recibe financiación de la Administración Nacional de Aeronáutica y del Espacio y del Departamento de Defensa de Estados Unidos.</span></em></p>Japón es uno de los muchos países que no participaron en la carrera espacial de los años 50 y 60 y que ahora miran hacia la Luna. Ya es el quinto país que ha aterrizado en su superficie.Mariel Borowitz, Associate Professor of International Affairs, Georgia Institute of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2215702024-01-21T14:03:29Z2024-01-21T14:03:29ZJapan is now the 5th country to land on the Moon – the technology used will lend itself to future lunar missions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570427/original/file-20240119-27-p6esw0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=249%2C0%2C4597%2C3248&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Data from the SLIM mission projected at JAXA's Sagamihara Campus during the craft's landing. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/JapanMoonLanding/03b3de9eaaba4dda9bfbe0236b3b28db/photo?Query=slim&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=3883&currentItemNo=1">AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Japan landed its <a href="https://global.jaxa.jp/projects/sas/slim/">Smart Lander for Investigating the Moon</a>, or SLIM, craft on the surface of the Moon on Jan. 20, 2024. Despite a power issue with the lander, the event holds both political and technical importance. It’s Japan’s first lunar landing – making it only the fifth country in the world to successfully land on the Moon. This is a significant achievement and solidifies Japan’s position as a leader in space technology. </p>
<p>While the craft <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvXLt3ET9mE">landed successfully on the lunar surface</a> and deployed its rovers, SLIM’s solar cells were not functioning properly – meaning that the craft could likely <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/12/science/japan-slim-moon-landing.html">only operate for a few hours</a>. </p>
<p>I’m a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=aESo-coAAAAJ&hl=en">scholar of international affairs</a> who studies space. Like NASA and other space agencies, the <a href="https://global.jaxa.jp/">Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA</a>, wants to advance research and technology by demonstrating new techniques and collecting scientific data. The landing is also a part of something bigger – a <a href="https://theconversation.com/returning-to-the-moon-can-benefit-commercial-military-and-political-sectors-a-space-policy-expert-explains-209300">growing global interest in lunar activity</a>. </p>
<h2>Precision technology</h2>
<p>Japan’s achievement isn’t only symbolic – Japan is demonstrating a number of new technologies with the lander. The name, Smart Lander for Investigating the Moon, refers to the spacecraft’s <a href="https://global.jaxa.jp/countdown/slim/SLIM-mediakit-EN_2310.pdf">new precision-landing technology</a>. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UEZO4jj7v0I?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">SLIM’s landing technology allowed it to detect and avoid potential obstacles.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This technology could assist future landings by allowing spacecraft to land in relatively small areas amid rocky or uneven terrain, rather than having to find large clearings. This ability will be particularly important in the future as countries focus on very specific <a href="https://theconversation.com/scientists-suspect-theres-ice-hiding-on-the-moon-and-a-host-of-missions-from-the-us-and-beyond-are-searching-for-it-216060">areas of interest</a> at <a href="https://theconversation.com/chandrayaan-3s-measurements-of-sulfur-open-the-doors-for-lunar-science-and-exploration-212950">the lunar south pole</a>. </p>
<p>The lander also carried two small rovers, each of which will demonstrate a new technology for moving on the Moon. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.planetary.org/space-missions/slim-japans-precision-lunar-lander">Lunar Excursion Vehicle 1</a> includes a camera, as well as scientific equipment, and uses a hopping mechanism to maneuver on the Moon. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570455/original/file-20240120-25-vl1x3l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Artist's illustration of Japan's SLIM lander, which looks like a metal box with cones and lights on one end, attempting its lunar touchdown" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570455/original/file-20240120-25-vl1x3l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570455/original/file-20240120-25-vl1x3l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570455/original/file-20240120-25-vl1x3l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570455/original/file-20240120-25-vl1x3l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570455/original/file-20240120-25-vl1x3l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570455/original/file-20240120-25-vl1x3l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570455/original/file-20240120-25-vl1x3l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An illustration of the SLIM lander touching down.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">JAXA/ISAS</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://global.jaxa.jp/activity/pr/jaxas/no088/03.html">Lunar Excursion Vehicle 2</a>, developed in a partnership among government, industry, and academia, is a sphere small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. Once on the surface, its two halves separate slightly, allowing it to roll around.</p>
<p>SLIM is designed to land <a href="https://global.jaxa.jp/countdown/slim/SLIM-mediakit-EN_2310.pdf">within a 328-foot (100-meter) zone</a>, far smaller than previous lunar landers which have had landing zones spanning multiple kilometers. </p>
<p>SLIM used a <a href="https://global.jaxa.jp/countdown/slim/SLIM-mediakit-EN_2310.pdf">vision-based navigation system</a> that took images of the lunar surface. Its system rapidly compared these images to crater patterns on lunar maps that JAXA developed with data from previous missions. </p>
<p>As countries identify areas that are most likely to hold useful resources, such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/scientists-suspect-theres-ice-hiding-on-the-moon-and-a-host-of-missions-from-the-us-and-beyond-are-searching-for-it-216060">water in the form of ice</a>, precision landing technology will allow agencies to avoid nearby hazards and reach these areas without incident.</p>
<h2>International relations back on Earth</h2>
<p>There is a geopolitical element to these activities. China, India and Japan – the three nations that have successfully landed on the Moon since 2000 – engage in regional competition across a number of areas, including space. In addition to regional considerations, these accomplishments help to establish nations as leaders on a global scale – capable of something that few nations have ever done. </p>
<p>Japan’s launch comes only six months after <a href="https://theconversation.com/indias-chandrayaan-3-landed-on-the-south-pole-of-the-moon-a-space-policy-expert-explains-what-this-means-for-india-and-the-global-race-to-the-moon-212171">India’s Moon landing</a> and just weeks after <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/18/science/moon-lander-peregrine-nasa.html">a failed attempt</a> by a U.S. company, Astrobotic. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/russias-moon-mission-falters-after-problem-entering-pre-landing-orbit-2023-08-20/">Both Russia</a> and <a href="https://ispace-inc.com/news-en/?p=4655">the private company iSpace</a> made unsuccessful landing attempts in 2023. Japan’s success in landing on the Moon – even with solar panel issues shortening the timeline for the mission – demonstrates that JAXA is a major player in this global endeavor. </p>
<p>Despite recent setbacks, such as <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-shares-progress-toward-early-artemis-moon-missions-with-crew/">NASA announcing delays</a> to its next Artemis mission, the U.S. is still a clear leader in space and lunar exploration. NASA has <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/general/does-anything-orbit-the-moon-we-asked-a-nasa-technologist/">multiple spacecraft orbiting the Moon</a> right now, and it’s already successfully launched the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/space-launch-system/">SLS rocket</a>, which is capable of taking humans back to the Moon. </p>
<p>NASA is developing very large and complex systems internally – like the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission/gateway/">Gateway space station</a>, planned to orbit near the Moon, and the infrastructure for the <a href="https://theconversation.com/meet-the-next-four-people-headed-to-the-moon-how-the-diverse-crew-of-artemis-ii-shows-nasas-plan-for-the-future-of-space-exploration-203214">Artemis human Moon missions</a>. It’s not uncommon for these large and complex efforts to experience some delays. </p>
<p>NASA has also turned many smaller-scale efforts over to commercial entities lately – like in the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/commercial-lunar-payload-services/">Commercial Lunar Payload Services program</a> that supported Astrobotic’s attempt. This is a new approach that involves some risk, but provides the opportunity for commercial innovation and growth of the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/growing-the-lunar-economy/">lunar economy</a> while giving NASA the ability to focus on big, complex aspects of the mission.</p>
<p>With regard to the Moon, JAXA has partnered with the U.S. and taken on a very important component of the Artemis missions – the development of a <a href="https://www.toyota-europe.com/news/2023/lunar-cruiser">pressurized lunar rover</a>. This is a new and complex technology that will be critical to human missions on the Moon in coming years.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221570/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mariel Borowitz receives funding from the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the U.S. Department of Defense. </span></em></p>Japan is one of several countries that weren’t part of the space race of the 1950s and 1960s looking toward the Moon. They’ve now become the 5th country to have landed on its surface.Mariel Borowitz, Associate Professor of International Affairs, Georgia Institute of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2168742024-01-10T13:28:57Z2024-01-10T13:28:57ZEarth isn’t the only planet with seasons, but they can look wildly different on other worlds<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561980/original/file-20231127-27-h9xkjy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C6%2C2055%2C1445&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Nearby planets can affect how one planet 'wobbles' on its spin axis, which contributes to seasons. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/illustration/orbits-of-planets-in-the-solar-system-royalty-free-illustration/1148112202?phrase=planets+orbit&adppopup=true">Mark Garlick/Science Photo Library via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Spring, summer, fall and winter – the seasons on Earth change every few months, around the same time every year. It’s easy to take this cycle for granted here on Earth, but not every planet has a regular change in seasons. So why does Earth have regular seasons when other planets don’t? </p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=vxyrNXoAAAAJ&hl=en">I’m an astrophysicist</a> who studies the movement of planets and the causes of seasons. Throughout my research, I’ve found that Earth’s regular pattern of seasons is unique. The <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-earths-tilt-creates-short-cold-january-days-173403">rotational axis that Earth spins on</a>, along the North and South poles, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axial_tilt">isn’t quite aligned</a> with the vertical axis perpendicular to Earth’s orbit around the Sun. </p>
<p>That slight tilt has big implications for everything from seasons to glacier cycles. The magnitude of that tilt can even determine whether a planet is habitable to life. </p>
<h2>Seasons on Earth</h2>
<p>When a planet has perfect alignment between the axis it orbits on and the rotational axis, the amount of sunlight it receives is fixed as it orbits around the Sun – assuming its orbital shape is a circle. Since seasons come from variations in how much sunlight reaches the planet’s surface, a planet that’s perfectly aligned wouldn’t have seasons. But Earth isn’t perfectly aligned on its axis.</p>
<p>This small misalignment, called an obliquity, is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axial_tilt">around 23 degrees</a> from vertical for Earth. So, the Northern Hemisphere experiences more intense sunlight during the summer, when the Sun is positioned more directly above the Northern Hemisphere.</p>
<p>Then, as the Earth continues to orbit around the Sun, the amount of sunlight the Northern Hemisphere receives gradually decreases as the Northern Hemisphere tilts away from the Sun. This causes winter. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566402/original/file-20231218-21-biar6k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A diagram showing the Earth as a blue circle on the left and on the right, with a blue arrow tilted a few degrees towards the right cutting through it, and a green arrow tilted up cutting through it. The angle between the two arrows is red, labeled 'obliquity.' In the middle is a drawing of the Sun." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566402/original/file-20231218-21-biar6k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566402/original/file-20231218-21-biar6k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566402/original/file-20231218-21-biar6k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566402/original/file-20231218-21-biar6k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566402/original/file-20231218-21-biar6k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566402/original/file-20231218-21-biar6k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566402/original/file-20231218-21-biar6k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The obliquity marks the difference between the Earth’s spin axis (blue) and the vertical from orbit (green). The Northern Hemisphere experiences summer when the tilt lines it up directly with light from the Sun.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gongjie Li</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The planets spinning on their axes and orbiting around the Sun look kind of like spinning tops – they spin around and wobble because of gravitational pull from the Sun. As a top spins, you might notice that it doesn’t just stay perfectly upright and stationary. Instead, it may start to tilt or wobble slightly. This tilt is what astrophysicists call <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/precession-of-the-equinoxes">spin precession</a>.</p>
<p>Because of these wobbles, Earth’s obliquity isn’t perfectly fixed. These small variations in tilt can have <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1746691">big effects on the Earth’s climate</a> when combined with small changes to Earth’s orbit shape. </p>
<p>The wobbling tilt and any natural variations to the shape of Earth’s orbit can change the amount and distribution of sunlight reaching Earth. These small changes contribute to the planet’s larger temperature shifts over thousands to hundreds of thousands of years. This can, in turn, <a href="https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2948/milankovitch-orbital-cycles-and-their-role-in-earths-climate/">drive ice ages and periods of warmth</a>.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DD_8Jm5pTLk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Earth’s seasons result from a variety of factors, including orbit and axial tilt.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Translating obliquity into seasons</h2>
<p>So how do obliquity variations affect the seasons on a planet? Low obliquity, meaning the rotational spin axis is aligned with the planet’s orientation as it orbits around the Sun, <a href="https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2948/milankovitch-orbital-cycles-and-their-role-in-earths-climate/">leads to</a> stronger sunlight on the equator and low sunlight near the pole, like on Earth. </p>
<p>On the other hand, a high obliquity – meaning the planet’s rotational spin axis points toward or away from the Sun – <a href="https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2948/milankovitch-orbital-cycles-and-their-role-in-earths-climate/">leads to</a> extremely hot or cold poles. At the same time, the equator gets cold, as the Sun does not shine above the equator all year round. This leads to drastically varying seasons at high latitudes and low temperatures at the equator. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566405/original/file-20231218-19-pudn6j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A planet with a reversed zonation is represented by a blue circle next to a drawing of a sun, with a green oval representing the planet's orbit around the sun. A blue arrow pointing towards the sun represents the planet's spin axis, and a green arrow point up represents the planet's orbit direction." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566405/original/file-20231218-19-pudn6j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566405/original/file-20231218-19-pudn6j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566405/original/file-20231218-19-pudn6j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566405/original/file-20231218-19-pudn6j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566405/original/file-20231218-19-pudn6j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566405/original/file-20231218-19-pudn6j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566405/original/file-20231218-19-pudn6j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">When a planet’s spin axis is tilted far from the vertical axis, it has a high obliquity. That means the equator barely gets any sunlight and the North Pole faces right at the Sun.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gongjie Li</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When a planet has an obliquity of more than 54 degrees, that planet’s equator grows icy and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/0012-8252(93)90004-Q">the pole becomes warm</a>. This is called <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/0012-8252(93)90004-Q">a reversed zonation</a>, and it’s the opposite of what Earth has. </p>
<p>Basically, if an obliquity has large and unpredictable variations, the seasonal variations on the planet become wild and hard to predict. A dramatic, large obliquity variation can turn the whole planet into a snowball, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab3179">where it’s all covered by ice</a>. </p>
<h2>Spin orbit resonances</h2>
<p>Most planets are not the only planets in their solar systems. Their planetary siblings can disturb each other’s orbit, which can lead to variations in the shape of their orbits and their orbital tilt. </p>
<p>So, planets in orbit look kind of like tops spinning on the roof of a car that’s bumping down the road, where the car represents the orbital plane. When the rate – or frequency, as scientists call it – at which the tops are precessing, or spinning, matches the frequency at which the car is bumping up and down, something called a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/361615a0">spin-orbit resonance</a> occurs.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561691/original/file-20231126-23-xe830c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A diagram showing a planet, shown as a blue circle with an arrow through it representing a tilted, spinning axis, orbiting around the Sun, with another planet's orbit overlapping with it, causing the orbit to tilt up and down." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561691/original/file-20231126-23-xe830c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561691/original/file-20231126-23-xe830c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561691/original/file-20231126-23-xe830c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561691/original/file-20231126-23-xe830c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561691/original/file-20231126-23-xe830c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561691/original/file-20231126-23-xe830c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561691/original/file-20231126-23-xe830c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The orbits of planets close by and the precession motion of a planet on its axis can affect seasonal patterns.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gongjie Li</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Spin-orbit resonances can cause these obliquity variations, which is when a planet wobbles on its axis. Think about pushing a kid on a swing. When you push at just the right time – or at the resonant frequency – they’ll swing higher and higher.</p>
<p>Mars wobbles more on its axis than Earth does, even though the two are tilted about the same amount, and that actually has to do with the Moon orbiting around Earth. Earth and Mars have a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/361608a0">similar spin precession frequency</a>, which matches the orbital oscillation – the ingredients for a spin-orbit resonance. </p>
<p>But Earth has a massive Moon, which pulls on Earth’s spin axis and drives it to precess faster. This slightly faster precession prevents it from experiencing spin orbit resonances. So, the Moon stabilizes Earth’s obliquity, and Earth doesn’t wobble on its axis as much as Mars does. </p>
<h2>Exoplanet seasons</h2>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/are-there-any-planets-outside-of-our-solar-system-164062">Thousands of exoplanets</a>, or planets outside our solar system, have been discovered over the past few decades. My research group wanted to understand how habitable these planets are, and whether these exoplanets also have wild obliquities, or whether they have moons to stabilize them like Earth does. </p>
<p>To investigate this, my group has led the first investigation on <a href="https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/aabfd1">the spin-axis variations of exoplanets</a>. </p>
<p>We investigated <a href="https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/aabfd1">Kepler-186f</a>, which is the first discovered Earth-sized planet in a habitable zone. <a href="https://theconversation.com/an-earth-sized-planet-found-in-the-habitable-zone-of-a-nearby-star-129290">The habitable zone</a> is an area around a star where liquid water can exist on the surface of the planet and life may be able to emerge and thrive.</p>
<p>Unlike Earth, Kepler-186f is located far from the other planets in its solar system. As a result, these other planets have only a weak effect on its orbit and movement. So, Kepler-186f generally <a href="https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/aabfd1">has a fixed obliquity</a>, similar to Earth. Even without a large moon, it doesn’t have wildly changing or unpredictable seasons like Mars.</p>
<p>Looking forward, more research into exoplanets will help scientists understand what seasons look like throughout the vast diversity of planets in the universe.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216874/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gongjie Li receives funding from NASA.</span></em></p>You might hate winter, but at least you know what to expect every year. Other planets have wobbly axes that lead to wild, unpredictable seasons.Gongjie Li, Assistant Professor of Physics, Georgia Institute of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2200352023-12-20T13:16:02Z2023-12-20T13:16:02ZChatGPT and its AI chatbot cousins ruled 2023: 4 essential reads that puncture the hype<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566735/original/file-20231219-23-ok6pkd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C7885%2C5252&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">ChatGPT captivated the public imagination.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/this-picture-taken-on-january-23-2023-in-toulouse-news-photo/1246494152">Lionel Bonaventure via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Within four months of ChatGPT’s launch on Nov. 30, 2022, <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/05/24/a-majority-of-americans-have-heard-of-chatgpt-but-few-have-tried-it-themselves/">most Americans had heard of the AI chatbot</a>. Hype about – and fear of – the technology was at a fever pitch for much of 2023. </p>
<p>OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Bard, Anthropic’s Claude and Microsoft’s Copilot are among the chatbots powered by large language models to provide uncannily humanlike conversations. The experience of interacting with one of these chatbots, combined with Silicon Valley spin, can leave the impression that these technical marvels are conscious entities.</p>
<p>But the reality is considerably less magical or glamorous. The Conversation published several articles in 2023 that dispel several key misperceptions about this latest generation of AI chatbots: that they know something about the world, can make decisions, are a replacement for search engines and operate independent of humans.</p>
<h2>1. Bodiless know-nothings</h2>
<p>Large-language-model-based chatbots seem to know a lot. You can ask them questions, and they more often than not answer correctly. Despite the occasional comically incorrect answer, the chatbots can interact with you in a similar manner as people – who share your experiences of being a living, breathing human being – do.</p>
<p>But these chatbots are sophisticated statistical machines that are extremely good at predicting the best sequence of words to respond with. Their “knowledge” of the world is actually human knowledge as reflected through the massive amount of human-generated text the chatbots’ underlying models are trained on.</p>
<p>Arizona State psychology researcher <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=qycCCZMAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate">Arthur Glenberg</a> and University of California, San Diego cognitive scientist <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=mhU_tUgAAAAJ&hl=en">Cameron Robert Jones</a> explain how people’s knowledge of the world <a href="https://theconversation.com/it-takes-a-body-to-understand-the-world-why-chatgpt-and-other-language-ais-dont-know-what-theyre-saying-201280">depends as much on their bodies as their brains</a>. “People’s understanding of a term like ‘paper sandwich wrapper,’ for example, includes the wrapper’s appearance, its feel, its weight and, consequently, how we can use it: for wrapping a sandwich,” they explained. </p>
<p>This knowledge means people also intuitively know other ways of making use of a sandwich wrapper, such as an improvised means of covering your head in the rain. Not so with AI chatbots. “People understand how to make use of stuff in ways that are not captured in language-use statistics,” they wrote.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/it-takes-a-body-to-understand-the-world-why-chatgpt-and-other-language-ais-dont-know-what-theyre-saying-201280">It takes a body to understand the world – why ChatGPT and other language AIs don't know what they're saying</a>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">AI researchers Emily Bender and Casey Fiesler discuss some of ChatGPT’s limitations, including problems of bias.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>2. Lack of judgment</h2>
<p>ChatGPT and its cousins can also give the impression of having cognitive abilities – like understanding the concept of negation or making rational decisions – thanks to all the human language they’ve ingested. This impression has led cognitive scientists to test these AI chatbots to assess how they compare to humans in various ways.</p>
<p>University of Southern California AI researcher <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=fetkEu4AAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate">Mayank Kejriwal</a> tested the large language models’ understanding of expected gain, a measure of how well someone understands the stakes in a betting scenario. They found that the <a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-bet-with-chatgpt-study-shows-language-ais-often-make-irrational-decisions-202936">models bet randomly</a>. </p>
<p>“This is the case even when we give it a trick question like: If you toss a coin and it comes up heads, you win a diamond; if it comes up tails, you lose a car. Which would you take? The correct answer is heads, but the AI models chose tails about half the time,” he wrote.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-bet-with-chatgpt-study-shows-language-ais-often-make-irrational-decisions-202936">Don't bet with ChatGPT – study shows language AIs often make irrational decisions</a>
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<h2>3. Summaries, not results</h2>
<p>While it might not be surprising that AI chatbots aren’t as humanlike as they can seem, they’re not necessarily digital superstars either. For instance, ChatGPT and the like are increasingly used in place of search engines to answer queries. The results are mixed.</p>
<p>University of Washington information scientist <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=H4dLAw0AAAAJ&hl=en">Chirag Shah</a> explains that large language models perform well as information summarizers: combining key information from multiple search engine results in a single block of text. But <a href="https://theconversation.com/ai-information-retrieval-a-search-engine-researcher-explains-the-promise-and-peril-of-letting-chatgpt-and-its-cousins-search-the-web-for-you-200875">this is a double-edged sword</a>. This is useful for getting the gist of a topic – assuming no “hallucinations” – but it leaves the searcher without any idea of the sources of the information and robs them of the serendipity of coming across unexpected information.</p>
<p>“The problem is that even when these systems are wrong only 10% of the time, you don’t know which 10%,” Shah wrote. “That’s because these systems lack transparency – they don’t reveal what data they are trained on, what sources they have used to come up with answers or how those responses are generated.” </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ai-information-retrieval-a-search-engine-researcher-explains-the-promise-and-peril-of-letting-chatgpt-and-its-cousins-search-the-web-for-you-200875">AI information retrieval: A search engine researcher explains the promise and peril of letting ChatGPT and its cousins search the web for you</a>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">A look at the humans shaping AI chatbots behind the curtain.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>4. Not 100% artificial</h2>
<p>Perhaps the most pernicious misperception about AI chatbots is that because they are built on artificial intelligence technology, they are highly automated. While you might be aware that large language models are trained on text produced by humans, you might not be aware of the thousands of workers – and millions of users – continuously honing the models, teaching them to weed out harmful responses and other unwanted behavior.</p>
<p>Georgia Tech sociologist <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=TP027oEAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate">John P. Nelson</a> pulled back the curtain of the big tech companies to show that they <a href="https://theconversation.com/chatgpt-and-other-language-ais-are-nothing-without-humans-a-sociologist-explains-how-countless-hidden-people-make-the-magic-211658">use workers, typically in the Global South, and feedback from users</a> to train the models which responses are good and which are bad.</p>
<p>“There are many, many human workers hidden behind the screen, and they will always be needed if the model is to continue improving or to expand its content coverage,” he wrote. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/chatgpt-and-other-language-ais-are-nothing-without-humans-a-sociologist-explains-how-countless-hidden-people-make-the-magic-211658">ChatGPT and other language AIs are nothing without humans – a sociologist explains how countless hidden people make the magic</a>
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<p><em>This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversation’s archives.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220035/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Common misperceptions about AI chatbots are that they know something about the world, can make decisions, are a replacement for search engines and operate independent of humans.Eric Smalley, Science + Technology EditorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2168082023-12-12T13:22:22Z2023-12-12T13:22:22ZScientists and space agencies are shooting for the Moon – 5 essential reads on modern lunar missions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556958/original/file-20231031-19-egoy20.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=72%2C21%2C4734%2C3293&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Moon, shot from Pakistan during a lunar eclipse. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/PakistanLunarEclipse/78b42ec6aa9f40218389cd06b938b1ff/photo?Query=moon&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=41215&currentItemNo=5">AP Photo/Fareed Khan</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The year 2023 proved a big one for lunar science. <a href="https://theconversation.com/indias-chandrayaan-3-landed-on-the-south-pole-of-the-moon-a-space-policy-expert-explains-what-this-means-for-india-and-the-global-race-to-the-moon-212171">India’s Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft landed</a> near the south pole of the Moon, a huge accomplishment for a country relatively new to the space scene, especially after its <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/chandrayaan-2/">Chandrayaan-2 craft crashed</a> in 2019. </p>
<p>At the same time, NASA’s been gearing up for a host of Moon-related missions, including its <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis/">Artemis program</a>. In 2023, the agency gained nine signatories to the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-accords/">Artemis Accords</a>, an international agreement for peaceful space exploration, for a total of 32 countries that have signed so far. </p>
<p>As Georgia Tech’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/returning-to-the-moon-can-benefit-commercial-military-and-political-sectors-a-space-policy-expert-explains-209300">Mariel Borowitz explains</a>, the U.S. now has widespread bipartisan political support for spacefaring – for the first time since the 1970s – and returning missions to the Moon is the first natural target. </p>
<p>Here are five stories that The Conversation U.S. has published over the past year about lunar exploration, including why people want to go back to the Moon, what Chandrayaan-3 found during its initial foray across the lunar surface and the ever-growing problem of lunar space junk. </p>
<h2>1. Why shoot for the Moon?</h2>
<p>Missions to the Moon <a href="https://theconversation.com/returning-to-the-moon-can-benefit-commercial-military-and-political-sectors-a-space-policy-expert-explains-209300">hold potential benefits</a> for a variety of sectors, including commercial, military and geopolitical. </p>
<p>“Ever since humans last left the Moon in 1972, many have dreamed about the days when people would return. But for decades, these efforts have hit political roadblocks,” <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=aESo-coAAAAJ&hl=en">wrote Borowitz</a>. “This time, the United States’ plans to return to the Moon are likely to succeed – it has the cross-sector support and the strategic importance to ensure continuity, even during politically challenging times.”</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">NASA is planning to return to the Moon with Artemis missions. This video describes where on the Moon it may land and how it will decide.</span></figcaption>
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<p>While some of these <a href="https://theconversation.com/back-to-the-moon-a-space-lawyer-and-planetary-scientist-on-what-it-will-take-to-share-the-benefits-of-new-lunar-exploration-podcast-202415">potential uses</a> are incredibly far off – from <a href="https://theconversation.com/mining-the-moon-110744">mining the Moon for resources</a> to sending out <a href="https://www.airandspaceforces.com/raymond-foresees-cislunar-space-as-key-terrain-guardians-going-to-space/">military satellites</a> to orbit around the Moon – missions to the Moon in the near term will help inform scientists and stakeholders of future possibilities. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/returning-to-the-moon-can-benefit-commercial-military-and-political-sectors-a-space-policy-expert-explains-209300">Returning to the Moon can benefit commercial, military and political sectors – a space policy expert explains</a>
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<h2>2. Searching for sulfur</h2>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/indias-chandrayaan-3-landed-on-the-south-pole-of-the-moon-a-space-policy-expert-explains-what-this-means-for-india-and-the-global-race-to-the-moon-212171">India’s Chandrayaan-3 lander touched down</a> on the Moon’s surface, just a few miles away from the lunar south pole, in late August 2023. </p>
<p><a href="https://robotsguide.com/robots/pragyan">Its rover, called Pragyan</a>, took measurements of the lunar surface and found the <a href="https://www.lpi.usra.edu/publications/books/lunar_sourcebook/pdf/Chapter07.pdf">soil near the south pole</a> contains <a href="https://www.isro.gov.in/LIBSResults.html">a surprise – sulfur</a>. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">India’s lunar rover Pragyan rolls out of the lander and onto the surface.</span></figcaption>
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<p>As <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=wKuEBj0AAAAJ&hl=en">Jeffrey Gillis-Davis</a>, a <a href="https://theconversation.com/chandrayaan-3s-measurements-of-sulfur-open-the-doors-for-lunar-science-and-exploration-212950">physicist at Washington University in St. Louis, wrote</a>, future Moon missions or a <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2021/nasa-s-artemis-base-camp-on-the-moon-will-need-light-water-elevation">future Moon base</a> could use lunar sulfur as an ingredient in everything from <a href="https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19980001900/downloads/19980001900.pdf">fuel and fertilizer to concrete</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/chandrayaan-3s-measurements-of-sulfur-open-the-doors-for-lunar-science-and-exploration-212950">Chandrayaan-3's measurements of sulfur open the doors for lunar science and exploration</a>
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<h2>3. Water in ice</h2>
<p>But <a href="https://theconversation.com/scientists-suspect-theres-ice-hiding-on-the-moon-and-a-host-of-missions-from-the-us-and-beyond-are-searching-for-it-216060">sulfur’s not the only resource</a> the lunar south pole could have to offer. For several years, scientists have predicted that the lunar south pole <a href="https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/ice/ice_moon.html">might have water</a> in the form of ice. And Chandrayaan-3’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/chandrayaan-3s-measurements-of-sulfur-open-the-doors-for-lunar-science-and-exploration-212950">sulfur discovery</a> gives scientists more insight into how and how recently ice might have formed on the surface.</p>
<p>Comets or <a href="https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/ac649c">volcanic activity</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemer.2021.125858">could have brought water</a> to the Moon years ago. If volcanic activity is the culprit for water’s appearance, scientists would also expect to see sulfur in higher levels, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=kgXwvksAAAAJ&hl=en">wrote Paul Hayne</a>, an assistant professor of astrophysical and planetary sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder.</p>
<p>A host of future missions to the Moon, including <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/viper/in-depth/">NASA’s VIPER mission</a> planned for 2024, will continue to investigate where ice could be hiding on the Moon. </p>
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<p>
<em>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/scientists-suspect-theres-ice-hiding-on-the-moon-and-a-host-of-missions-from-the-us-and-beyond-are-searching-for-it-216060">Scientists suspect there's ice hiding on the Moon, and a host of missions from the US and beyond are searching for it</a>
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<h2>4. Moon debris</h2>
<p>With all the Moon missions, <a href="https://www.jhuapl.edu/NewsStory/221205-apl-cislunar-traffic-management">both current and upcoming</a>, some experts have raised concerns about the <a href="https://theconversation.com/if-a-satellite-falls-on-your-house-space-law-protects-you-but-there-are-no-legal-penalties-for-leaving-junk-in-orbit-160757">increased space junk</a> in the “<a href="https://www.afrl.af.mil/Portals/90/Documents/RV/A%20Primer%20on%20Cislunar%20Space_Dist%20A_PA2021-1271.pdf?ver=vs6e0sE4PuJ51QC-15DEfg%3D%3D">cislunar space</a>” – or the space between Earth and the Moon and around the Moon. </p>
<p>NASA doesn’t currently track the space junk left behind from its missions, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/space-junk-in-earth-orbit-and-on-the-moon-will-increase-with-future-missions-but-nobodys-in-charge-of-cleaning-it-up-212421">this lack of oversight</a> has many people worried. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508150/original/file-20230203-7549-e3xoli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A large, black telescope." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508150/original/file-20230203-7549-e3xoli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508150/original/file-20230203-7549-e3xoli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=794&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508150/original/file-20230203-7549-e3xoli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=794&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508150/original/file-20230203-7549-e3xoli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=794&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508150/original/file-20230203-7549-e3xoli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=997&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508150/original/file-20230203-7549-e3xoli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=997&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508150/original/file-20230203-7549-e3xoli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=997&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A team of students and professors at the University of Arizona built a telescope to track objects near the Moon.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Vishnu Reddy/University of Arizona</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One team at the University of Arizona has started <a href="https://news.arizona.edu/story/75m-effort-seeks-prevent-lunar-traffic-jams">building a catalog of debris</a> left in this space. Team members started off by identifying a few large objects, and as their methods got better, they <a href="https://theconversation.com/more-lunar-missions-means-more-space-junk-around-the-moon-two-scientists-are-building-a-catalog-to-track-the-trash-196645">were able to see objects</a> as small as a cereal box. The team hopes this work will one day improve the sustainability of future lunar missions. </p>
<p>“While there is still a long way to go, these efforts are designed to ultimately form the basis for a catalog that will help lead to safer, more sustainable use of cislunar orbital space as humanity begins its expansion off of the Earth,” <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=XCYhJqcAAAAJ&hl=en">writes Vishnu Reddy</a>, a professor of planetary science at the University of Arizona. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/more-lunar-missions-means-more-space-junk-around-the-moon-two-scientists-are-building-a-catalog-to-track-the-trash-196645">More lunar missions means more space junk around the Moon – two scientists are building a catalog to track the trash</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>5. Future flyers</h2>
<p>Early this year, <a href="https://spacenews.com/nasa-announces-crew-for-artemis-2-mission/">NASA announced</a> who will make up the crew of their <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/">Artemis II mission</a>. Set for late 2024, Artemis II will fly by the Moon and test the technology and equipment planned for use in future missions. It will also mark the <a href="https://theconversation.com/meet-the-next-four-people-headed-to-the-moon-how-the-diverse-crew-of-artemis-ii-shows-nasas-plan-for-the-future-of-space-exploration-203214">first time people are close to the lunar surface</a> in over 50 years. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519114/original/file-20230403-16-y1n19n.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Four astronauts in orange space suits with their helmets off." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519114/original/file-20230403-16-y1n19n.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519114/original/file-20230403-16-y1n19n.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519114/original/file-20230403-16-y1n19n.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519114/original/file-20230403-16-y1n19n.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519114/original/file-20230403-16-y1n19n.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519114/original/file-20230403-16-y1n19n.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519114/original/file-20230403-16-y1n19n.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Crew members of the Artemis II mission are NASA astronauts Christina Hammock Koch, Reid Wiseman and Victor Glover and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-names-astronauts-to-next-moon-mission-first-crew-under-artemis">NASA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Three of the four crew members <a href="https://theconversation.com/meet-the-next-four-people-headed-to-the-moon-how-the-diverse-crew-of-artemis-ii-shows-nasas-plan-for-the-future-of-space-exploration-203214">have spent time in space</a>, with the fourth having spent lots of time in spaceflight simulations. Each started their careers as a military pilot, just like all the astronauts of the Apollo missions. But this crew represents more racial and gender diversity than the astronauts of the Apollo era. </p>
<p>“Unlike the Apollo program of the 1960s and 1970s, with Artemis, NASA has placed a heavy emphasis on building a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/16/science/nasa-launch-artemis-1.html">politically sustainable lunar program</a> by fostering the participation of a diverse group of people and countries,” <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=PxIOz7cAAAAJ&hl=en">wrote Wendy Whitman Cobb</a>, a professor of strategy and security studies at Air University.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/meet-the-next-four-people-headed-to-the-moon-how-the-diverse-crew-of-artemis-ii-shows-nasas-plan-for-the-future-of-space-exploration-203214">Meet the next four people headed to the Moon – how the diverse crew of Artemis II shows NASA's plan for the future of space exploration</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversation’s archives.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216808/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Chandrayaan-3’s successful landing on the Moon made 2023 a big year for lunar exploration, and future years will come with even more discoveries.Mary Magnuson, Assistant Science EditorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2152222023-11-21T13:27:15Z2023-11-21T13:27:15ZClimate change is already forcing lizards, insects and other species to evolve – and most can’t keep up<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558259/original/file-20231108-29-upppm0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=2%2C2%2C1615%2C1069&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Temperature sensitivity makes western fence lizards vulnerable to climate change.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/blmoregon/47961427128">Greg Shine/BLM</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Climate change is threatening the survival of plants and animals around the globe as temperatures rise and habitats change.</p>
<p>Some species have been able to meet the challenge with rapid evolutionary adaptation and other changes in behavior or physiology. Dark-colored dragonflies are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2101458118">getting paler</a> in order to reduce the amount of heat they absorb from the sun. Mustard plants are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.1051">flowering earlier</a> to take advantage of earlier snowmelt. Lizards are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2020.0625">becoming more cold-tolerant</a> to handle the extreme variability of our new climate.</p>
<p>However, scientific studies show that climate change is occurring much faster than species are changing.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A tiny, royal blue fish with gold stripes looks into the camera. The downward slant of its mouth and shadow at the top of its eye give it an annoyed look." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558243/original/file-20231108-23-xs3oy9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C8%2C5599%2C3724&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558243/original/file-20231108-23-xs3oy9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558243/original/file-20231108-23-xs3oy9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558243/original/file-20231108-23-xs3oy9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558243/original/file-20231108-23-xs3oy9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558243/original/file-20231108-23-xs3oy9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558243/original/file-20231108-23-xs3oy9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Zebrafish have evolved to thrive in water a degree or so warmer than normal, but they struggle to survive at higher temperatures.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/brachydanio-rerio-royalty-free-image/154930602?adppopup=true">isoft/E+ Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What is evolutionary adaptation?</h2>
<p>The word “adaptation” is used in many ways by climate scientists, but it has a very specific meaning to biologists: It refers to genetic changes that are passed on from one generation to the next and improve a species’ ability to survive in its environment.</p>
<p>These genetic modifications make evolutionary adaptation different from “acclimation” or “acclimatization,” which involve advantages that are not passed on to offspring. For example, when people move to high-altitude cities, they <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2013-092840">start producing more red blood cells</a> as they acclimate to the low oxygen.</p>
<p>All over the world, plants and animals have adapted to many different warm and dry habitats, prompting scientists to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2018.0176">question</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1520-9">whether</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14881">species</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1406314111">might</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/evo.13862">also</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1063656">adapt</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0608379104">to</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.14072">our</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aba9287">rapidly</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abj7484">changing</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaf3343">climate</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2628">too</a>.</p>
<p>Thus far, the answer <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.852">seems to be no</a> for most species.</p>
<h2>Evolving, fast and slow</h2>
<p>A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-10924-4">recent study</a> of the populations of 19 bird and mammal species, including owls and deer, shows one potential barrier to adaptation. </p>
<p>In animals that take several years to reach breeding age, the climate has already shifted by the time their offspring are born. Genes that gave the parents an advantage – like hatching at exactly the right time or growing to the best size – are no longer as beneficial for the offspring.</p>
<p>Populations of these slow-maturing animals are adapting to climate change, but not enough during each generation to thrive in the changing conditions. In fact, the rate of evolution is so mismatched to the rate of global warming that the study’s authors estimate that nearly 70% of the local populations they studied are already vulnerable to climate-driven extinction over the coming decades.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A dragonfly with dark bands on its wings." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558246/original/file-20231108-27-yipcvj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558246/original/file-20231108-27-yipcvj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558246/original/file-20231108-27-yipcvj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558246/original/file-20231108-27-yipcvj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558246/original/file-20231108-27-yipcvj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558246/original/file-20231108-27-yipcvj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558246/original/file-20231108-27-yipcvj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Black bands on dragonflies heat up their bodies. Research shows some dragonflies have evolved smaller black bands as the climate warms.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michael P. Moore</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558248/original/file-20231108-27-nr1728.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A heat map clearly shows that the dark bands on the wings absorb more heat." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558248/original/file-20231108-27-nr1728.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558248/original/file-20231108-27-nr1728.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558248/original/file-20231108-27-nr1728.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558248/original/file-20231108-27-nr1728.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558248/original/file-20231108-27-nr1728.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558248/original/file-20231108-27-nr1728.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558248/original/file-20231108-27-nr1728.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In this heat map of the same dragonfly, white areas are the warmest and purple areas are cooler. The dark bands on the wings stand out.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michael P. Moore</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Small-bodied animals, such as many fish, insects and plankton, typically mature quickly. Yet, recent research on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2011419117">small fish</a> and a type of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2011.0542">fast-maturing plankton called a copepod</a> revealed another hurdle for rapid genetic adaptation to climate change.</p>
<p>Many species possess genes that permit them to live in environments that are 1 to 2 degrees Celsius (about 2 to 4 Fahrenheit) warmer than today, but new genetic mutations must arise to enable survival if climates reach 4 to 5 C (about 7 to 9 F) warmer, as is possible in some regions, particularly if greenhouse gas emissions continue at a high rate.</p>
<p>To test species’ resilience, scientists warmed populations of these fast-maturing species over many generations to observe their genetic changes. They found that both the copepods and the small fish were able to adapt to the first couple degrees of warming, but populations soon went extinct above that. This was because genetic mutations that increased their ability to live in hotter conditions occurred at a slower rate than the temperatures rose.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558242/original/file-20231108-29-dkylc9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A tiny nearly translucent oval creature with a tail and egg sacks trailing behind it." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558242/original/file-20231108-29-dkylc9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558242/original/file-20231108-29-dkylc9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558242/original/file-20231108-29-dkylc9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558242/original/file-20231108-29-dkylc9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558242/original/file-20231108-29-dkylc9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558242/original/file-20231108-29-dkylc9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558242/original/file-20231108-29-dkylc9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A live copepod with egg sacs at 10 times magnification. These ocean creatures produce new generations quickly, allowing for speedier evolution.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/copepod-micrograph-royalty-free-image/170025374?adppopup=true">NNehring/E+ Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Cold-blooded species, such as lizards, frogs and fish, are especially vulnerable to climate change because they have a limited capacity to regulate their own body temperatures. Their ability to evolve in response to climate change is expected to be critical for their survival.</p>
<p>However, rapid adaptation to climate change often comes <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02984069">at a cost</a>: Populations get smaller due to the deaths of individuals that cannot tolerate new, hotter temperatures. Therefore, even if species do evolve to survive with climate change, their smaller populations may still go extinct due to problems such as inbreeding, harmful new mutations or plain old bad luck, such as a disease epidemic.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1184695">In a now-classic study</a>, researchers studying lizards in Mexico discovered that the high death rates of just the heat-sensitive individuals – representing only a subset of the entire population – caused 12% of all lizard populations in Mexico to go extinct between 1975 and 2009. Even with some heat-tolerant adult lizards surviving in each population under the warmer conditions, the researchers estimated climate change would kill so many heat-sensitive adults within each population that 54% of all populations would go extinct by 2080.</p>
<h2>Evolutionary adaptation isn’t species’ only option</h2>
<p>Another way species adjust to rising temperatures is acclimation, sometimes called “phenotypic plasticity.” For example, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1157174">great tits in the U.K.</a> – small birds that are common in yards and forests – lay their eggs earlier in warmer years so that their nestlings hatch right as the winter weather ends, no matter when that happens.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A small bird with a yellow body and black head with white cheeks sits on a branch." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558258/original/file-20231108-21-3e6t6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558258/original/file-20231108-21-3e6t6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558258/original/file-20231108-21-3e6t6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558258/original/file-20231108-21-3e6t6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558258/original/file-20231108-21-3e6t6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558258/original/file-20231108-21-3e6t6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558258/original/file-20231108-21-3e6t6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A great tit – <em>Parus major</em>. In the U.K., these common birds have been laying their eggs earlier in warm years.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hedera_baltica/49433487712/in">Hedera.Baltica via Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-32953-2">recent analysis</a> of more than 100 beetle, grasshopper and other insect species all over the world found that acclimation may not help those species enough. The study’s authors found that the species they reviewed gained an average of only 0.1 C (about 0.2 F) greater heat tolerance when acclimating to 1 C (about 2 F) warmer air temperatures during their development. Thus, the rate of global warming seems to be outstripping species’ abilities to acclimate, too.</p>
<p>Plants and animals could also escape the impacts of global warming by migrating to cooler habitats. A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-1198-2">global analysis</a> of more than 12,000 different plants and animal species recently showed that many species are migrating toward the poles fast enough to keep pace with rising temperatures, and many <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13762">tropical species are moving upslope</a> to higher elevations as well.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, migration has its limits. Research shows that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1804224115">tropical birds that already live high in the mountains could be doomed</a> because there is no room for them to migrate any farther upward. Tropical species, therefore, may be on what the authors call an “escalator to extinction.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A yellow-and-black moth sits on a yellow flower in an alpine field with snow-covered mountains in the background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558253/original/file-20231108-21-ad3ofx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558253/original/file-20231108-21-ad3ofx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=789&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558253/original/file-20231108-21-ad3ofx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=789&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558253/original/file-20231108-21-ad3ofx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=789&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558253/original/file-20231108-21-ad3ofx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=992&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558253/original/file-20231108-21-ad3ofx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=992&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558253/original/file-20231108-21-ad3ofx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=992&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Police car moths living at high elevations have little room to migrate to escape increasing heat.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michael P. Moore</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>High-latitude and high-elevation habitats also present numerous challenges for species to overcome besides temperature. Our own research across 800 species of insects all over the Earth shows that butterflies, bees and other flying insects are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-023-01794-2">especially hindered from migrating to higher elevations</a> because there is not enough oxygen for them to survive. </p>
<h2>Many species lack obvious climate strategies</h2>
<p>Overall, evolutionary adaptation appears to help lessen the impacts of global warming, but the evidence thus far shows that it is insufficient to overcome current rates of climate change. Acclimation and migration provide faster solutions, but research shows that those may not be enough, either.</p>
<p>Of course, not all evolution is driven by warming temperatures. Plant and animal species appear to be also gradually adapting to other kinds of environments, including <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/evo.14191">human-created ones like cities</a>. But the fast pace of global warming makes it <a href="https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/chapter/8#fig-8-2">one of the major threats</a> that species must respond to immediately.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/chapter/8#fig-8-2">evidence indicates</a> that humanity cannot simply assume that plants and animals will be able to save themselves from climate change. To protect these species, humans will have to stop the activities that are fueling climate change.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215222/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>From dark dragonflies becoming paler to plants flowering earlier, some species are slowly evolving with the climate. Evolutionary biologists explain why few will evolve fast enough.Michael P. Moore, Assistant Professor of Biology, University of Colorado DenverJames T. Stroud, Assistant Professor of Ecology and Evolution, Georgia Institute of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2114782023-10-26T12:32:45Z2023-10-26T12:32:45ZI studied 1 million home sales in metro Atlanta and found that Black families are being squeezed out of homeownership by corporate investors<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554093/original/file-20231016-21-isn6c7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=40%2C32%2C5414%2C3026&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Corporate investors own nearly one-third of all single-family rental properties in Atlanta.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/atlanta-georgia-usa-downtown-skyline-aerial-royalty-free-image/1184733973">Kruck20/iStock via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the years since the Great Recession, when <a href="https://www.federalreservehistory.org/essays/great-recession-and-its-aftermath">housing prices dramatically fell</a>, Wall Street investors have been buying large numbers of single-family homes to use as rentals. As of 2022, big investment firms <a href="https://www.urban.org/research/publication/profile-institutional-investor-owned-single-family-rental-properties">owned nearly 600,000 such properties nationwide</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.huduser.gov/portal/periodicals/em/winter23/highlight1.html#title">Critics say</a> this practice drives up home prices and worsens the housing shortage, making it harder for families to afford to buy. Industry advocates <a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/congress-blog/3496390-providers-of-single-family-rental-homes-are-an-important-part-of-americas-housing-ecosystem/">dismiss such charges</a>, arguing that large investment firms own a tiny fraction of single-family rental housing across the U.S. – <a href="https://www.urban.org/research/publication/profile-institutional-investor-owned-single-family-rental-properties">less than 4%</a> of the total.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=cxLejGQAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">professor of public policy at Georgia Tech</a>, I wanted to understand how this trend was affecting my neighbors. So I analyzed <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0739456X231176072">more than 1 million property sales</a> in the Atlanta metropolitan area from 2007 to 2016. Since the study period included the <a href="https://www.federalreservehistory.org/essays/subprime-mortgage-crisis">mortgage crisis</a>, I excluded bulk sales, such as the packages of
foreclosed homes, that aren’t available to typical homebuyers. I examined only <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/armslength.asp">arm’s-length transactions</a> of single-family detached homes, where buyers and sellers act independently. </p>
<p>I found that global investment firms buying up local properties are indeed hurting Atlanta families – specifically, Black ones. </p>
<h2>Neighborhood transformations</h2>
<p>In the period I studied, homeownership declined across the Atlanta metro area by <a href="https://www.census.gov/housing/hvs/data/rates/tab6a_msa_05_2014_hmr.xlsx">more than 5 percentage points</a>, similar to a nationwide trend. For an average neighborhood, home purchasing by large corporate investors explained one-quarter of that decline. </p>
<p>But when I broke the analysis down by race, I found that Black families were hit much harder: Large investment firms buying up local properties explained fully three-quarters of the decline in African American homeownership. In contrast, non-Hispanic whites were largely unaffected. </p>
<p>It turns out that while Wall Street firms control just a sliver of the single-family rental market nationally, they can have much more influence at the local level. In the Atlanta metro area, these firms own nearly one-third of all single-family rental properties. They’re even more concentrated <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/interactive/2021/investors-rental-foreclosure">in predominantly Black neighborhoods</a>, where <a href="https://www.ajc.com/american-dream/investor-owned-houses-atlanta/">more than 10 houses in a row</a> can be owned by the same corporation.</p>
<p>In my study, I found that large investors tend to snap up housing in majority-nonwhite, lower-income suburban neighborhoods. This makes homebuying even more challenging for middle-class families of color, as they get <a href="https://www.huduser.gov/portal/periodicals/em/winter23/highlight1.html">pushed out of the bidding market</a> by global investors. </p>
<h2>Home is where the financial security is</h2>
<p>Homeownership has long been one of the main pathways for the American middle class to accumulate wealth. Despite this, the national homeownership rate declined <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/RHORUSQ156N">by 5.5 percentage points</a> between 2007 and 2016, reaching a five-decade low of 62.9%. Although homeownership has rebounded somewhat since 2016, it remains below pre-2008 levels. </p>
<p>And who owns these homes is starkly divided by race. Between 2015 and 2019, more than 70% of white families owned a home, compared with <a href="https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/nearly-every-state-people-color-are-less-likely-own-homes-compared-white-households">just 41% of Black families</a>, according to an analysis by Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. </p>
<p>To be sure, policies like <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/17/realestate/racism-home-deeds.html">racial covenants</a>, <a href="https://uncpress.org/book/9781469663883/race-for-profit/">discriminatory mortgage lending practices</a> <a href="https://www.epi.org/publication/the-color-of-law-a-forgotten-history-of-how-our-government-segregated-america/">and redlining</a> fueled low homeownership rates for Black Americans long before the Great Recession. But global investors’ growing control of single-family homes only widens existing racial gaps in homeownership and wealth.</p>
<h2>Directions for new research</h2>
<p>While my study focused on Atlanta, it’s not the only place where residents are <a href="https://www.huduser.gov/portal/periodicals/em/winter23/highlight1.html">competing with global investors</a> for housing. Investment firms’ single-family rental portfolios are largely <a href="https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/2023-08/A%20Profile%20of%20Institutional%20Investor%E2%80%93Owned%20Single-Family%20Rental%20Properties.pdf">concentrated in Sun Belt metro areas</a>, including Phoenix, Charlotte and Jacksonville. It wouldn’t be surprising to see similar conflicts playing out in those cities. </p>
<p>Since my analysis stopped in 2016, I can’t be sure that Black Atlanta residents are still affected by Wall Street firms buying up housing. Many investment firms have recently been <a href="https://www.wsj.com/real-estate/americas-biggest-landlords-cant-find-houses-to-buy-either-ea893213">switching from a buy-to-rent</a> business model to a <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/building-and-renting-single-family-homes-is-top-performing-investment-11636453800">build-to-rent model</a>, which could complicate matters.</p>
<p>In the meantime, while <a href="https://www.banking.senate.gov/hearings/how-institutional-landlords-are-changing-the-housing-market">residents and policymakers have claimed</a> that large corporations don’t invest in local communities, researchers lack robust evidence this is the case. Academics should study whether properties owned by institutional landlords are more likely to be <a href="https://www.ajc.com/american-dream/investor-owned-houses-atlanta/">poorly maintained</a> or have <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/07/12/invitation-homes-corporate-landlord-permits/">code violations</a>, as anecdotal evidence suggests.</p>
<p>It’s also worth investigating whether big investment firms undermine local revenue collection by <a href="https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article277638663.html">serially filing property tax appeals</a>. </p>
<h2>An open-source tool for housing policy research</h2>
<p>It’s been hard for researchers to identify corporate-owned, single-family homes, since it requires proprietary real-estate data and labor-intensive number crunching. In a separate project, my colleagues and I have developed a <a href="https://repository.gatech.edu/entities/publication/472788f9-a5e6-4d9b-8238-422d20333bcb">simple, user-friendly methodology</a> that gets around such challenges with the use of open-source software and public tax parcel data. </p>
<p>Local governments and nonprofits can use our methodology to unveil all the corporate-owned residential properties in any neighborhood and link them to outcomes such as code violations. Using data-driven approaches like this is an important step toward developing policy solutions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211478/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brian Y. An does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Black would-be homeowners pay the price when big investors buy up the neighborhood.Brian Y. An, Director of Master of Science in Public Policy Program & Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2084342023-10-13T12:31:53Z2023-10-13T12:31:53ZThis engineering course has students use their brainwaves to create performing art<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Text saying: Uncommon Courses, from The Conversation" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/uncommon-courses-130908">Uncommon Courses</a> is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching.</em> </p>
<h2>Title of course:</h2>
<p>“Arts and Geometry”</p>
<h2>What prompted the idea for the course?</h2>
<p>After a serious injury in 2016, I started drawing and painting during my recovery as a form of self-taught art therapy. I found the experience transformative. During my recovery, I rediscovered Pablo Picasso’s artwork and the geometry of his cubism, which inspired my early paintings.</p>
<p>As making art became part of my life, a desire grew to share this transformative experience with my engineering students. I wanted them to learn how to see science and engineering from a broader perspective – as an artist.</p>
<p>This led to the idea for, and development of, a course on arts and geometry in collaboration with professional artists of the Atlanta community. The play “<a href="https://www.concordtheatricals.com/p/2865/picasso-at-the-lapin-agile">Picasso at the Lapin Agile</a>,” where comedian Steve Martin imagined a conversation in a Parisian cafe between Picasso and Albert Einstein, helped inspire the course. So did a book by history and philosophy of science professor Arthur Miller, “<a href="https://www.arthurimiller.com/books/einstein-picasso/">Einstein, Picasso: Space, Time and the Beauty That Causes Havoc</a>.” </p>
<h2>What does the course explore?</h2>
<p>The course introduces engineering students to the geometry of manifolds – that is, cylinders, spheres or hyperboloids, and more complex surfaces, like a crumpled piece of paper or a rippled kale leaf. It then looks at how these concepts influenced modern arts and sciences: Picasso’s cubism and Einstein’s relativity. Cubism combines many angles to create a new way of seeing things, whereas Einstein’s theory changes how we think about time, which isn’t separate from the space around us – they are intertwined. </p>
<p>The course is integrated with weekly art labs taught over the years by Atlanta professional artists <a href="https://www.createdbyemily.com">Emily Vickers</a>, <a href="https://www.rachelgrantstudio.com/">Rachel Grant</a>, <a href="https://research.gatech.edu/anna-doll">Anna Doll</a> and <a href="https://jerushiagraham.wixsite.com/jerushiagraham">Jerushia Graham</a>, and with the support of music technologist <a href="https://mikewinters.io/">Mike Winters</a>. The artists teach students the fundamentals of several art mediums: <a href="https://issuu.com/ceebuzz/docs/like_picasso_and_einstein_book_fina">pencil and charcoal drawing</a>, printmaking, <a href="https://issuu.com/ceebuzz/docs/forms_and_expression_book_2019_fedele_grant">oil painting</a> and sculptures. </p>
<p>We also teach students how to create performing art using their brainwaves. Brainwaves are produced when we are engaged in any activity. They can be measured by electroencephalography – or EEG – headsets.</p>
<p>Students learn to create auditory or dynamic visual representations of our mind activity when we think, reason, create, dance or relax doing nothing. For example, brainwaves produced by a dancer can be transformed into musical sounds, an auditory representation of the dancer’s movements. Similarly, the brainwaves of an artist making a painting, or those of a mathematician deriving an equation, can be transformed into music that mirrors the act of creating art or math.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZB7Gk1lVZFM?wmode=transparent&start=419" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Mind melody performance: The brainwaves of artist Rachel Grant making a painting, engineer Francesco Fedele developing equations and choreographer Bella Dorado dancing are transformed into musical sounds designed by student Dennis Frank.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The same brainwaves can power on or off a set of pumps that produce water jets in a tank, a system designed by professor <a href="https://lai-etal-lab.github.io/author/chris-ck-lai/">Chris Lai</a> and students Muhammad Mustafa and Alexander Zimmer. These jets interact among themselves to produce a disordered turbulent flow in the water tank. The shape and motion of vortexes generated by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFLOn6fzMKY&ab_channel=73gabbiano">turbulence</a> are a dynamic visualization of the human mind’s activity.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A student dances on stage while another paints in the background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540377/original/file-20230801-17-2r0ssq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540377/original/file-20230801-17-2r0ssq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540377/original/file-20230801-17-2r0ssq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540377/original/file-20230801-17-2r0ssq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540377/original/file-20230801-17-2r0ssq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540377/original/file-20230801-17-2r0ssq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540377/original/file-20230801-17-2r0ssq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Choreographer Bella Dorado dances to sounds produced by the brainwaves of student Tanisha Chanda while she paints a waterscape.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Francesco Fedele</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why is this course relevant now?</h2>
<p>Civil engineering can be explained and taught using the physics and mathematics of Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz, from the 17th century: the concepts of derivatives and force being proportional to acceleration.</p>
<p>In our fast-changing world, there are exciting discoveries happening in science and technology, like in the understanding of the universe, artificial intelligence and quantum computing.</p>
<p>To prepare for the challenges posed by these recent discoveries, engineering students should be familiar with special mathematical tools developed by 20th-century geniuses such as Elie Cartan and Einstein. Such tools empower students to gain insights such as uncovering hidden geometric structures of complex physical systems or of large amounts of data. Normally, engineering classes don’t teach these topics.</p>
<p>The course also involves the participation of Colombian university students interested in arts for <a href="https://www.100kstrongamericas.org/roboarts-initiative/">the RobotArts Initiative</a>. Such an international exchange seeks to increase the number of Latino engineering students with skills in the arts, engineering and robotics. Besides taking my course, the students from Colombia also take a course on robotics. </p>
<h2>What’s a critical lesson from the course?</h2>
<p>Students realize the <a href="https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2008.156497">mental health benefits</a> of practicing arts. They feel more self-confident and have more <a href="https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/329834">self-esteem</a> because they have created something.</p>
<p>Performing art live empowers students’ self-expression. By not relying on memorization, these performances stimulate spontaneous creativity, improvisation and free thinking.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Students dance on stage." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540378/original/file-20230801-20-t0wcs4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540378/original/file-20230801-20-t0wcs4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540378/original/file-20230801-20-t0wcs4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540378/original/file-20230801-20-t0wcs4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540378/original/file-20230801-20-t0wcs4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540378/original/file-20230801-20-t0wcs4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540378/original/file-20230801-20-t0wcs4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students Dennis Frank, Muhammad Mustafa and Alexander Zimmer performing brain art. In the background, software converts student performers’ brainwaves into music and water turbulence in a tank designed by professor Chris Lai.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Francesco Fedele</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What materials does the course feature?</h2>
<p>• “<a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/1112495919">Spacetime and Geometry: An Introduction to General Relativity,</a>” by Sean M. Carroll, Cambridge University Press, 2019 – a textbook that covers the foundations of the general relativity and mathematical formalism.</p>
<p>• “<a href="https://www.arthurimiller.com/books/einstein-picasso/">Einstein, Picasso: Space, Time, and the Beauty That Causes Havoc_</a> by Arthur J. Miller, Perseus Books Group, 2001 – a biography of Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso.</p>
<p>• EEG headsets to acquire brainwaves and <a href="https://supercollider.github.io/">SuperCollider</a> software to synthesize them into music. </p>
<h2>What will the course prepare students to do?</h2>
<p>The course will prepare students to think like an artist, using abstraction, imagination and fluid thinking. They will tackle with confidence the new engineering quests and challenges of the 21st century. The challenges encompass sustainable urban and ocean infrastructure design for extreme weather, global warming mitigation, clean water and energy, quantum computing, cybersecurity and <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-69978-9_4">ethical use of AI</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208434/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Francesco Fedele does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Art and science combine in this engineering course to let students turn their brainwaves into creative works.Francesco Fedele, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2136472023-09-20T15:04:57Z2023-09-20T15:04:57ZDepression recovery can be hard to measure − new research on deep brain stimulation shows how objective biomarkers could help make treatment more precise<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548890/original/file-20230918-23-pisigx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2190%2C1369&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Deep brain stimulation can alleviate treatment-resistant depression for some patients.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/brain-connection-royalty-free-image/1272275035">PM Images/Digital Vision via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It can be challenging to create a treatment plan for depression. This is especially true for patients who <a href="https://doi.org/10.2147%2FNDT.S198774">aren’t responding to conventional treatments</a> and are undergoing experimental therapies such as deep brain stimulation. For most medical conditions, doctors can directly measure the part of the body that is being treated, such as blood pressure for cardiovascular disease. These measurable changes serve as an objective biomarker of recovery that provides valuable information about how to care for these patients. </p>
<p>On the other hand, for depression and other psychiatric disorders, clinicians rely on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0203574">subjective and nonspecific surveys</a> that ask patients about their symptoms. When a patient tells their doctor they are experiencing negative emotions, is that because they are relapsing in their depression or because they had a bad day like everyone does sometimes? Are they anxious because their depression symptoms have lessened enough that they are experiencing new feelings, or do they have some other medical problem independent of their depression? Each reason may indicate a different course of action, such as altering a medication, addressing an issue in psychotherapy or increasing the intensity of <a href="https://theconversation.com/brain-stimulation-can-rewire-and-heal-damaged-neural-connections-but-it-isnt-clear-how-research-suggests-personalization-may-be-key-to-more-effective-therapies-182491">brain stimulation</a> treatment.</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=JHuo2D0AAAAJ&hl=en">We are</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=K0dED3QAAAAJ&hl=en">neuroengineers</a>. In our study, newly published in Nature, we identified <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06541-3">potential biomarkers</a> for deep brain stimulation that could one day help guide clinicians and patients when making treatment decisions for those using this approach to alleviate treatment-resistant depression.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hki3lR_Ysvo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Deep brain stimulation involves surgically implanting electrodes in the brain.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Biomarker for depression</h2>
<p>Clinical depression does not respond to available therapies in a significant number of patients. Researchers have been working to find alternative options for those with <a href="https://doi.org/10.2147%2FNDT.S198774">treatment-resistant depression</a>, and many decades of experiments have identified specific brain networks with abnormal electrical activity in those with depression.</p>
<p>This notion of depression as abnormal brain activity rather than a chemical imbalance led to the development of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2005.02.014">deep brain stimulation</a> as a depression treatment: a surgically implanted, pacemaker-like device that delivers electrical impulses to certain areas of the brain. Studies testing this technique have found that it can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/s2215-0366(17)30371-1">decrease depression severity</a> over time in most patients.</p>
<p>Our research team wanted to find specific changes in brain activity that could serve as a biomarker that objectively measures how well deep brain stimulation is helping patients with depression. So we <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06541-3">monitored the brain activity</a> of 10 patients receiving deep brain stimulation for severe treatment-resistant depression over six months.</p>
<p>At the end of six months, 90% of the patients responded to the therapy – defined by a reduction of symptoms by at least a half – and 70% were in remission, meaning they no longer met the criteria for clinical depression.</p>
<p>To identify a potential biomarker, we developed an algorithm that looked for patterns in brain activity changes as patients recovered. The algorithm was based on data from six out of the original 10 patients who had usable data from the experiment. We found that there are <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06541-3">coordinated changes in different frequencies</a> present in the electrical activity within the area of the brain being stimulated. Using these patterns, the algorithm was able to predict whether someone was in a stable recovery with 90% accuracy each week.</p>
<p>Interestingly, we observed some parts of this pattern <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-021-01669-0">moved in the</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fncom.2018.00043">opposite direction</a> later in stimulation therapy compared with the patterns at the start of therapy. This finding provides evidence that the long-term recovery is due to the brain adapting to the stimulation in a process <a href="https://theconversation.com/medication-can-help-you-make-the-most-of-therapy-a-psychologist-and-neuroscientist-explains-how-209200">called plasticity</a> rather than as a direct effect of the stimulation itself.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548887/original/file-20230918-23-pyx5bp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Person lying in bed, light speckled over their face." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548887/original/file-20230918-23-pyx5bp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548887/original/file-20230918-23-pyx5bp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548887/original/file-20230918-23-pyx5bp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548887/original/file-20230918-23-pyx5bp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548887/original/file-20230918-23-pyx5bp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548887/original/file-20230918-23-pyx5bp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548887/original/file-20230918-23-pyx5bp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Depression is a debilitating disease.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/depressed-woman-lying-on-the-bed-at-home-royalty-free-image/1433295949?adppopup=true">Guido Mieth/Moment via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We also saw other potential biomarkers worth investigating further. </p>
<p>For example, abnormalities in brain imaging taken before implanting the electrodes in specific parts of the brain correlated with how sick each patient was. This could provide clues about what’s causing depression in some people, or help develop imaging methods to determine who might be a good candidate for deep brain stimulation. </p>
<p>For another example, we found that the facial expressions of patients changed as their brains changed over the course of their treatment. While physicians often report this anecdotally, quantifying these changes may provide a way to develop objective markers of recovery that incorporate a patient’s behavior with their brain signals. </p>
<p>Because the results of our study are based on a small sample of patients, it’s important to further investigate how broadly they can be applied to other patients and newer deep brain stimulation devices.</p>
<h2>Improving decision-making for depression</h2>
<p>Clinical depression is a debilitating condition that causes significant personal and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s40273-021-01019-4">societal suffering</a>. It is one of the largest contributors to the <a href="https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/254610">overall disease burden</a> of many countries. Despite the many approved treatments available, <a href="https://doi.org/10.4088/jcp.20m13699">nearly 30% of the 8.9 million U.S. adults</a> taking medications for clinical depression continue to have symptoms.</p>
<p>Deep brain stimulation is one of the alternative therapies for treatment-resistant depression that researchers are investigating. Studies have shown that deep brain stimulation can offer effective and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2019.18121427">long-term relief</a> for some patients. </p>
<p>Although deep brain stimulation is an approved treatment for other conditions like <a href="https://www.ninds.nih.gov/about-ninds/impact/ninds-contributions-approved-therapies/deep-brain-stimulation-dbs-treatment-parkinsons-disease-and-other-movement-disorders">Parkinson’s disease</a>, it remains an experimental therapy for treatment-resistant depression. While the results from small experimental studies have been positive, they have not been successfully replicated in <a href="https://doi.org/10.4088/jcp.21m13973">large-scale, randomized clinical trials</a> necessary for approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.</p>
<p>Finding an objective biomarker that measures recovery in depression has the potential to improve treatment decisions. For example, one patient in our study had a relapse after several months of remission. Were a biomarker available at the time, the clinical team would have had warning that the patient was relapsing weeks before standard symptom surveys showed that anything was wrong. Such a tool could help clinicians intervene before a relapse becomes an emergency.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213647/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher Rozell serves on the scientific advisory board and owns shares in Motif Neurotech, Inc. and is a listed inventor on intellectual property related to this work. He receives funding from NIH, NSF and the James. S. McDonnell Foundation. Hs is affiliated with the Georgia Institute of Technology, serves on the board of directors at Neuromatch, Inc., and serves on the advisory council of the Institute of Neuroethics. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sankaraleengam Alagapan receives funding from the National Institute of Health. He is affiliated with the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is a listed inventor on intellectual property related to this work.</span></em></p>Deep brain stimulation can help some people with treatment-resistant depression feel better, but it can be unclear whether a bout of low mood is a relapse or a bad day.Christopher Rozell, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of TechnologySankaraleengam Alagapan, Research Scientist in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2126492023-09-06T17:39:29Z2023-09-06T17:39:29ZComment les machines succombent à la chaleur, des voitures aux ordinateurs<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546469/original/file-20230905-15-qibn1a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=47%2C23%2C7892%2C5273&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">La chaleur extrême peut affecter le fonctionnement des machines, et le fait que de nombreuses machines dégagent de la chaleur n’arrange pas les choses.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/fr/photos/lJ51y_WOVvw">Afif Ramdhasuma/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Les humains ne sont pas les seuls à devoir rester au frais, en cette fin d’été marquée par les <a href="https://www.francetvinfo.fr/meteo/canicule/direct-vague-de-chaleur-le-mercure-depassera-les-30-degres-sur-la-quasi-totalite-de-l-hexagone-cet-apres-midi-selon-meteo-france_6042092.html">records de chaleur</a>. De nombreuses machines, allant des téléphones portables aux voitures et avions, en passant par les serveurs et ordinateurs des <em>data center</em>, perdent ainsi en efficacité et se dégradent plus rapidement en cas de <a href="https://doi.org/10.1049/iet-est.2015.0050">chaleur extrême</a>. Les machines génèrent de plus leur propre chaleur, ce qui augmente encore la température ambiante autour d’elles.</p>
<p>Nous sommes <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=_C33NmEAAAAJ&hl=en">chercheurs en ingénierie</a> et <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=q0jrPekAAAAJ&hl=en">nous étudions</a> comment les dispositifs mécaniques, électriques et électroniques sont affectés par la chaleur, et s’il est possible de récupérer et de réutiliser cette chaleur efficacement.</p>
<p>Même sans pic de chaleur, aucune machine n’est parfaitement efficace. Toutes subissent des frictions internes en fonctionnement, qui dissipent de la chaleur. Or plus il fait chaud à l’extérieur, plus la température du dispositif sera élevée. </p>
<p>Ainsi, les <a href="https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201678">téléphones portables</a> et les autres appareils équipés de <a href="http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy13osti/58145.pdf">batteries lithium-ion</a> ne fonctionnent pas aussi bien au-delà de 35°C — ceci afin d’empêcher la surchauffe et le stress thermique pour les composants électroniques.</p>
<p>[<em>Plus de 85 000 lecteurs font confiance aux newsletters de The Conversation pour mieux comprendre les grands enjeux du monde</em>. <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?nl=france&region=fr">Abonnez-vous aujourd’hui</a>]</p>
<p>Des systèmes de refroidissement innovants, par exemple basés sur <a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/6188826">fluides à changement de phase</a> contribuent à maintenir les appareils à des températures raisonnables, mais dans la plupart des cas, la chaleur reste dissipée dans l’air. Le problème subsiste : plus l’air environnant est chaud, plus il est difficile de maintenir l’appareil suffisamment froid pour qu’il fonctionne efficacement. </p>
<p>En outre, plus les machines sont proches les unes des autres, plus la chaleur dissipée aux alentours est importante. </p>
<h2>Déformation des matériaux</h2>
<p>Les températures élevées dues aux conditions météorologiques ou à la chaleur dissipée par les machines elles-mêmes peuvent entraîner la déformation des matériaux utilisés. Un effet qui se comprend aisément au niveau moléculaire. </p>
<p>À <a href="https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/General_Chemistry/CLUE%3A_Chemistry_Life_the_Universe_and_Everything/05%3A_Systems_Thinking/5.1%3A_Temperature">l’échelle moléculaire</a>, la température se traduit par la vibration des molécules. Plus il fait chaud, plus les molécules qui composent l’air, le sol et les matériaux des machines vibrent et s’agitent.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sNvMfuOvHwg?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Lorsque le métal est chauffé, ses molécules vibrent plus rapidement, et elles s’éloignent les unes des autres : le métal se dilate.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>À mesure que la température augmente et que les molécules vibrent davantage, l’espace moyen entre elles s’accroît : c’est ainsi que la plupart des matériaux se dilatent en chauffant. C'est le cas sur les routes : le goudron se dilate, se rétracte, et <a href="https://www.heraldnet.com/news/heat-wave-melted-county-roads-buckled-sidewalks/">finit par fissurer</a>. Ce phénomène peut également se produire dans les matériaux qui constituent nos ordinateurs et nos véhicules. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Sol fissuré" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546473/original/file-20230905-15-3o4w2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546473/original/file-20230905-15-3o4w2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546473/original/file-20230905-15-3o4w2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546473/original/file-20230905-15-3o4w2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546473/original/file-20230905-15-3o4w2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546473/original/file-20230905-15-3o4w2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546473/original/file-20230905-15-3o4w2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Le bitume se fissure sous l’effet de la chaleur, car les températures élevées augmentent la distance entre les molécules, ce qui provoque la dilatation et la déformation du matériau.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/fr/photos/cnOMHANKNX8">Zoshua Colah/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Retards de voyage et risques pour la sécurité</h2>
<p>Les températures élevées peuvent également modifier les propriétés des huiles de moteur, voire des défaillances. Par exemple, si la température augmente de 17 °C lors d’une vague de chaleur, la viscosité d’une huile standard de moteur — son épaisseur — peut <a href="https://wiki.anton-paar.com/kr-en/engine-oil/">tripler</a>. </p>
<p>Or les fluides tels que les huiles de moteur deviennent plus fluides en chauffant : s’il fait trop chaud, l’huile risque de ne pas être assez épaisse pour lubrifier les pièces du moteur et les protéger efficacement contre l’usure.</p>
<p>À l’inverse, l’air contenu dans les pneus se dilate par temps chaud, et la pression des pneus augmente, ce qui peut <a href="https://www.athensreview.com/news/impact-of-excessive-heat-on-tires/article_31542372-3169-11ee-a135-3711984fefc6.html">accroître l’usure et le risque de dérapage</a>. </p>
<p>Les avions ne sont pas non plus conçus pour voler à des températures extrêmes. En effet, lorsqu’il fait chaud, l’air se dilate et occupe plus d’espace : il est moins dense. Cette <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/08/01/climate-change-extreme-heat-is-making-air-travel-worse/51ae039c-3077-11ee-85dd-5c3c97d6acda_story.html">densité de l’air réduite</a> diminue le poids que l’avion peut transporter en vol, ce qui peut entraîner d’importants <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/airline-news/2023/07/14/extreme-heat-airplane-flight-delay-cancellation/70415739007/">retards</a> ou des annulations.</p>
<h2>Dégradation des batteries</h2>
<p>De façon générale, l’électronique des téléphones portables, ordinateurs personnels et autres centres de données se compose de nombreux matériaux qui réagissent différemment aux changements de température. Comme ils sont proches et dans des espaces restreints, s’ils se déforment différemment les uns des autres, cela peut entraîner une <a href="https://www.pcmag.com/news/asus-confirms-thermal-stress-is-killing-the-rog-ally-sd-card-reader">usure prématurée et une défaillance</a>.</p>
<p>Les batteries lithium-ion des voitures et des appareils électroniques se dégradent plus rapidement à des températures élevées, parce que celles-ci <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2013.05.040">augmentent la vitesse des réactions chimiques au sein des batteries</a>. Notamment, les réactions de corrosion qui consomment le lithium réduisent la capacité de stockage de la batterie. Des recherches récentes montrent que les véhicules électriques maintenus à 32 °C <a href="https://www.recurrentauto.com/research/what-a-c-does-to-your-range">peuvent perdre environ 20 % de leur autonomie</a>.</p>
<p>Les <a href="https://theconversation.com/la-realite-physique-du-monde-numerique-158884">data center</a>, des bâtiments remplis de serveurs stockant des données, doivent dissiper d’importantes quantités de chaleur afin de maintenir leurs composants au frais. Lorsqu’il fait très chaud, les ventilateurs travaillent plus dur pour que les puces ne surchauffent pas. Dans certains cas, des ventilateurs puissants ne suffisent plus à refroidir l’électronique. </p>
<p>Pour maintenir la fraîcheur dans les data centers, l’air sec qui arrive de l’extérieur est souvent envoyé à travers un matériau humide. L’eau s’évapore dans l’air et absorbe la chaleur, ce qui refroidit l’air. Cette technique, appelée « refroidissement évaporatif ou adiabatique », est généralement un <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01457632.2018.1436418">moyen économique et efficace</a> de maintenir l’électronique à une température raisonnable. </p>
<p>Mais le refroidissement par évaporation peut nécessiter une <a href="https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abfba1">quantité importante d’eau</a>. C’est un problème dans les régions où l’eau est rare, où cette eau pour le refroidissement s’ajoute à l’<a href="https://theconversation.com/la-chasse-au-gaspillage-dans-le-cloud-et-les-data-centers-196669">utilisation déjà intense des ressources intense</a> des centres de données. </p>
<h2>Les climatiseurs en difficulté</h2>
<p>Les climatiseurs peinent à fonctionner efficacement lorsqu’il fait très chaud à l’extérieur… au moment où l’on en a le plus besoin. </p>
<p>En effet, lorsqu’il fait chaud, les compresseurs des climatiseurs doivent travailler plus fort pour <a href="https://home.howstuffworks.com/ac.htm">envoyer la chaleur des bâtiments vers l’extérieur</a>, ce qui augmente de manière disproportionnée la consommation et la <a href="https://doi.org/10.1029/2021EF002434">demande globale d’électricité</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Façade avec de nombreux climatiseurs" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546478/original/file-20230905-15-hnkx92.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546478/original/file-20230905-15-hnkx92.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546478/original/file-20230905-15-hnkx92.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546478/original/file-20230905-15-hnkx92.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546478/original/file-20230905-15-hnkx92.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546478/original/file-20230905-15-hnkx92.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546478/original/file-20230905-15-hnkx92.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Les vagues de chaleur peuvent mettre à rude épreuve les climatiseurs qui tâchent de dissiper la chaleur.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/fr/photos/ePghIEczhnI">Alexandre Lecocq/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Au Texas, par exemple, chaque augmentation de 1 °C entraîne une hausse <a href="https://www.iea.org/commentaries/keeping-cool-in-a-hotter-world-is-using-more-energy-making-efficiency-more-important-than-ever">d’environ 4 % de la demande d’électricité</a>. </p>
<p>Les fortes chaleurs entraînent ainsi une augmentation stupéfiante de 50 % de la demande d’électricité l’été dans les pays les plus chauds, ce qui augmente la menace de pannes et de <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/07/11/texas-record-heat-ercot-power-grid/">pénuries d’électricité</a> — en plus d’augmenter les émissions de gaz à effet de serre.</p>
<h2>Comment prévenir les dommages causés par la chaleur</h2>
<p>Les vagues de chaleur et l'élévation des températures dans le monde entier posent d’importants problèmes à court et à long terme pour les populations comme pour les infrastructures. Heureusement, il y a des choses que l’on peut faire pour minimiser les dégâts.</p>
<p>Tout d’abord, il faut idéalement conserver les machines dans un espace frais, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16102">bien isolé</a> ou à l’abri de la lumière directe du soleil. </p>
<p>De plus, on peut utiliser pendant les heures creuses les appareils à forte consommation d’énergie ou de recharger votre véhicule électrique — lorsque la consommation d’électricité est moindre. Cela permet de limiter les problèmes d’approvisionnement d’électricité au niveau local.</p>
<h2>Réutiliser la chaleur</h2>
<p>Les scientifiques et les ingénieurs développent enfin des moyens d’utiliser et de recycler ces grandes quantités de chaleur dissipée par les machines. Par exemple, on peut utiliser la chaleur résiduelle des data center <a href="https://www.euronews.com/green/2023/03/16/from-heating-swimming-pools-to-vertical-farms-data-centres-are-proving-useful-but-is-it-en">pour chauffer de l’eau</a>.</p>
<p>La chaleur dissipée pourrait également alimenter des systèmes de climatisation, comme les <a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/amo/articles/absorption-chillers-chp-systems-doe-chp-technology-fact-sheet-series-fact-sheet">refroidisseurs à absorption</a>, qui utilisent l’énergie de la chaleur pour alimenter les refroidisseurs grâce à une série de processus chimiques et de transfert de chaleur.</p>
<p>Dans les deux cas, l’énergie nécessaire pour chauffer ou refroidir provient d’une chaleur qui est d’ordinaire perdue. La <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2011.07.047">chaleur résiduelle des centrales électriques pourrait en principe couvrir 27 % des besoins en climatisation des habitations</a>, ce qui réduirait la consommation globale d’énergie et les émissions de carbone.</p>
<p>Les chaleurs extrêmes affectent de nombreux aspects de la vie moderne, et les vagues de chaleur ne vont pas disparaître pas dans les années à venir. Cependant, il est possible de faire en sorte que la chaleur travaille pour nous.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/212649/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Les auteurs ne travaillent pas, ne conseillent pas, ne possèdent pas de parts, ne reçoivent pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'ont déclaré aucune autre affiliation que leur organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>Plus il fait chaud, plus les appareils mécaniques et électroniques ont du mal à garder la tête froide.Srinivas Garimella, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of TechnologyMatthew T. Hughes, Postdoctoral Associate, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2105912023-08-29T12:25:03Z2023-08-29T12:25:03ZMachines can’t always take the heat − two engineers explain the physics behind how heat waves threaten everything from cars to computers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544645/original/file-20230824-17-rzbu1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=85%2C54%2C5090%2C3391&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Extreme heat can affect how well machines function, and the fact that many machines give off their own heat doesn't help. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/MoroccoRenaultSandero/b86810360f694e719364ff6cfb327f27/photo?Query=manufacturing&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=317&currentItemNo=NaN&vs=true">AP Photo/Abdeljalil Bounhar</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Not only people need to stay cool, especially in a summer of <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/weather/2023/07/18/us-temperature-records-summer-heat-wave/70425231007/">record-breaking heat waves</a>. Many machines, including cellphones, data centers, cars and airplanes, become less efficient and degrade more quickly in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1049/iet-est.2015.0050">extreme heat</a>. Machines generate their own heat, too, which can make hot temperatures around them even hotter. </p>
<p>We are <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=_C33NmEAAAAJ&hl=en">engineering researchers</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=q0jrPekAAAAJ&hl=en">who study</a> how machines manage heat and ways to effectively recover and reuse heat that is otherwise wasted. There are several ways extreme heat affects machines.</p>
<p>No machine is perfectly efficient – all machines face some internal friction during operation. This friction causes machines to dissipate some heat, so the hotter it is outside, the hotter the machine will be. </p>
<p><a href="https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201678">Cellphones</a> and similar devices with <a href="http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy13osti/58145.pdf">lithium ion batteries</a> stop working as well when operating in climates above 95 degrees Farenheit (35 degrees Celsius) – this is to avoid overheating and increased stress on the electronics.</p>
<p>Cooling designs that use innovative <a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/6188826">phase-changing fluids</a> can help keep machines cool, but in most cases heat is still ultimately dissipated into the air. So, the hotter the air, the harder it is to keep a machine cool enough to function efficiently. </p>
<p>Plus, the closer together machines are, the more dissipated heat there will be in the surrounding area. </p>
<h2>Deforming materials</h2>
<p>Higher temperatures, either from the weather or the excess heat radiated from machinery, can cause materials in machinery to deform. To understand this, consider what temperature means at the molecular level. </p>
<p>At <a href="https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/General_Chemistry/CLUE%3A_Chemistry_Life_the_Universe_and_Everything/05%3A_Systems_Thinking/5.1%3A_Temperature">the molecular scale</a>, temperature is a measure of how much molecules are vibrating. So the hotter it is, the more the molecules that make up everything from the air to the ground to materials in machinery vibrate.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sNvMfuOvHwg?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">When metal is heated, the molecules in it vibrate faster and the space between them moves farther apart. This leads the metal to expand.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As the temperature increases and the molecules vibrate more, the average space between them grows, causing most materials to expand as they heat up. Roads are one place to see this – hot concrete expands, gets constricted and <a href="https://www.heraldnet.com/news/heat-wave-melted-county-roads-buckled-sidewalks/">eventually cracks</a>. This phenomenon can happen to machinery, too, and thermal stresses are just the beginning of the problem.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544793/original/file-20230825-17-s9qfkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A close-up of a street with several cracks running through the asphalt and a white paint stripe." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544793/original/file-20230825-17-s9qfkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544793/original/file-20230825-17-s9qfkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544793/original/file-20230825-17-s9qfkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544793/original/file-20230825-17-s9qfkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544793/original/file-20230825-17-s9qfkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544793/original/file-20230825-17-s9qfkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544793/original/file-20230825-17-s9qfkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Streets crack under heat because higher temperatures create more space between vibrating molecules, causing the material to expand and deform.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/cracked-asphalt-royalty-free-image/1266178787?phrase=broken+street+hot&adppopup=true">Priscila Zambotto/Moment via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Travel delays and safety risks</h2>
<p>High temperatures can also change the way oils in your car’s engine behave, leading to potential engine failures. For example, if a heat wave makes it 30 degrees F (16.7 degrees C) hotter than normal, the viscosity – or thickness – of typical car engine oils can change <a href="https://wiki.anton-paar.com/kr-en/engine-oil/">by a factor of three</a>. </p>
<p>Fluids like engine oils become thinner as they heat up, so if it gets too hot, the oil may not be thick enough to properly lubricate and protect engine parts from increased wear and tear.</p>
<p>Additionally, a hot day will cause the air inside your tires to expand and increases the tire pressure, which could <a href="https://www.athensreview.com/news/impact-of-excessive-heat-on-tires/article_31542372-3169-11ee-a135-3711984fefc6.html">increase wear and the risk of skidding</a>. </p>
<p>Airplanes are also not designed to take off at extreme temperatures. As it gets hotter outside, air starts to expand and takes up more space than before, making it thinner or less dense. This <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/08/01/climate-change-extreme-heat-is-making-air-travel-worse/51ae039c-3077-11ee-85dd-5c3c97d6acda_story.html">reduction in air density</a> decreases the amount of weight the plane can support during flight, which can cause significant <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/airline-news/2023/07/14/extreme-heat-airplane-flight-delay-cancellation/70415739007/">travel delays</a> or flight cancellations. </p>
<h2>Battery degradation</h2>
<p>In general, the electronics contained in devices like cellphones, personal computers and data centers consist of many kinds of materials that all respond differently to temperature changes. These materials are all located next to each other in tight spaces. So as the temperature increases, different kinds of materials deform differently, potentially leading to <a href="https://www.pcmag.com/news/asus-confirms-thermal-stress-is-killing-the-rog-ally-sd-card-reader">premature wear and failure</a>.</p>
<p>Lithium ion batteries in cars and general electronics degrade faster at higher operating temperatures. This is because higher temperatures <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2013.05.040">increase the rate of reactions</a> within the battery, including corrosion reactions that deplete the lithium in the battery. This process wears down its storage capacity. Recent research shows that electric vehicles <a href="https://www.recurrentauto.com/research/what-a-c-does-to-your-range">can lose about 20% of their range</a> when exposed to sustained 90-degree Farenheit weather.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/the-factories-of-the-past-are-turning-into-the-data-centers-of-the-future-70033">Data centers</a>, which are buildings full of servers that store data, dissipate significant amounts of heat to keep their components cool. On very hot days, fans must work harder to ensure chips do not overheat. In some cases, powerful fans are not enough to cool the electronics. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545073/original/file-20230828-94298-qbkjjs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A white room filled with large black data servers, which look like lockers." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545073/original/file-20230828-94298-qbkjjs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545073/original/file-20230828-94298-qbkjjs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545073/original/file-20230828-94298-qbkjjs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545073/original/file-20230828-94298-qbkjjs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545073/original/file-20230828-94298-qbkjjs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545073/original/file-20230828-94298-qbkjjs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545073/original/file-20230828-94298-qbkjjs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Data centers, which store large quantities of data, can overheat and require large-scale cooling − which adds to their environmental footprint.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/DataCenterEnergyEfficiency/1f66b88d245a4f64ac6048bb84627ef2/photo?Query=data%20center&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=185&currentItemNo=1&vs=true">AP Photo/Julie Carr Smyth</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To keep the centers cool, incoming dry air from the outside is often first sent through a moist pad. The water from the pad evaporates into the air and absorbs heat, which cools the air. This technique, called evaporative cooling, is usually an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01457632.2018.1436418">economical and effective way</a> to keep chips at a reasonable operating temperature. </p>
<p>However, evaporative cooling can require a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abfba1">significant amount of water</a>. This issue is problematic in regions where water is scarce. Water for cooling can add to the already <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-generative-ai-bad-for-the-environment-a-computer-scientist-explains-the-carbon-footprint-of-chatgpt-and-its-cousins-204096">intense resource footprint</a> associated with data centers. </p>
<h2>Struggling air conditioners</h2>
<p>Air conditioners struggle to perform effectively as it gets hotter outside – just when they’re needed the most. On hot days, air conditioner compressors have to work harder to <a href="https://home.howstuffworks.com/ac.htm">send the heat from homes</a> outside, which in turn disproportionally increases electricity consumption and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1029/2021EF002434">overall electricity demand</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543804/original/file-20230821-19-xxe1t5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=12%2C0%2C8527%2C4263&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An apartment building wall with closed windows, an AC unit in each." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543804/original/file-20230821-19-xxe1t5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=12%2C0%2C8527%2C4263&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543804/original/file-20230821-19-xxe1t5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543804/original/file-20230821-19-xxe1t5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543804/original/file-20230821-19-xxe1t5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543804/original/file-20230821-19-xxe1t5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543804/original/file-20230821-19-xxe1t5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543804/original/file-20230821-19-xxe1t5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Heat waves can stress air conditioners, which are already working hard to dissipate heat.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/SpainHeatwave/7d830b0761634881b61119751a1aa911/photo?Query=air%20conditioner&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=253&currentItemNo=28&vs=true">AP Photo/Paul White</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For example, in Texas, every increase of 1.8 degrees F (1 degree C) creates a rise of <a href="https://www.iea.org/commentaries/keeping-cool-in-a-hotter-world-is-using-more-energy-making-efficiency-more-important-than-ever">about 4% in electricity demand</a>. </p>
<p>Heat leads to a staggering 50% increase in electricity demand during the summer in hotter countries, posing serious threats of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/07/11/texas-record-heat-ercot-power-grid/">electricity shortages</a> or blackouts, coupled with higher greenhouse gas emissions.</p>
<h2>How to prevent heat damage</h2>
<p>Heat waves and warming temperatures around the globe pose significant short- and long-term problems for people and machines alike. Fortunately, there are things you can do to minimize the damage. </p>
<p>First, ensure that your machines are kept in an air-conditioned, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16102">well-insulated space</a> or out of direct sunlight. </p>
<p>Second, consider using high-energy devices like air conditioners or charging your electric vehicle during off-peak hours when fewer people are using electricity. This can help avoid local electricity shortages.</p>
<h2>Reusing heat</h2>
<p>Scientists and engineers are developing ways to use and recycle the vast amounts of heat dissipated from machines. One simple example is using the waste heat from data centers <a href="https://www.euronews.com/green/2023/03/16/from-heating-swimming-pools-to-vertical-farms-data-centres-are-proving-useful-but-is-it-en">to heat water</a>.</p>
<p>Waste heat could also drive other kinds of air-conditioning systems, such as <a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/amo/articles/absorption-chillers-chp-systems-doe-chp-technology-fact-sheet-series-fact-sheet">absorption chillers</a>, which can actually use heat as energy to support coolers through a series of chemical- and heat-transferring processes.</p>
<p>In either case, the energy needed to heat or cool something comes from heat that is otherwise wasted. In fact, waste heat from power plants could hypothetically support 27% of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2011.07.047">residential air-conditioning needs</a>, which would reduce overall energy consumption and carbon emissions.</p>
<p>Extreme heat can affect every aspect of modern life, and heat waves aren’t going away in the coming years. However, there are opportunities to harness extreme heat and make it work for us.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210591/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>People aren’t the only ones harmed by heat waves. The hotter it gets, the harder it is for machines to keep their cool.Srinivas Garimella, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of TechnologyMatthew T. Hughes, Postdoctoral Associate, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2123232023-08-28T12:03:50Z2023-08-28T12:03:50ZShutting off power to reduce wildfire risk on windy days isn’t a simple decision – an energy expert explains the trade-offs electric utilities face<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544861/original/file-20230826-13578-tazxbk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C13%2C2964%2C1944&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Power lines spark a large number of U.S. wildfires.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/CaliforniaWildfirePowerLines/9aba82d3b88e4d84909d4ff9abbd0fe2/photo">AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Maui County is <a href="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/b3/da/139f2c7445d6b3e512b528b56252/6932642409.pdf">suing Hawaiian Electric</a>, <a href="https://www.mauicounty.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=12759">claiming the utility was negligent</a> for not shutting off power as strong winds hit the island in the hours before the <a href="https://theconversation.com/mauis-deadly-wildfires-burn-through-lahaina-its-a-reminder-of-the-growing-risk-to-communities-that-once-seemed-safe-211317">city of Lahaina burned</a>. While the cause of the devastating Aug. 8, 2023, wildfire is still under investigation, forecasters had <a href="https://twitter.com/Maui_EMA/status/1688282225983598592">warned that powerful winds</a> were expected, and West Maui had exceptionally dry conditions that put it at high risk for wildfires.</em></p>
<p><em>In many cases, however, deciding to shut off power isn’t as simple is as it might sound. We asked <a href="https://ae.gatech.edu/directory/person/timothy-charles-lieuwen">Tim Lieuwen</a>, executive director of the <a href="https://research.gatech.edu/energy">Strategic Energy Institute</a> at Georgia Tech, about the risks and trade-offs utilities have to weigh in deciding how to respond during fire-risk conditions.</em></p>
<h2>Why are utilities so often suspected in fires?</h2>
<p>There are a lot of ways that utility lines, particularly high-voltage lines, can spark fires.</p>
<p>If tree branches are too close to the lines, electricity can arc between the line and the tree. Old equipment can set off sparks. If the weather gets really hot, power lines can sag and touch dry grass or trees. If there’s a lot of wind, that can push a power line into tree branches or damage equipment.</p>
<p>All of those can and have been fire-starters. </p>
<p>In California, a state audit found that electrical power caused <a href="https://www.auditor.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2021-117.pdf">10% of all wildfires</a> and was responsible for nearly 20% of all acres burned from 2016 to 2020. Those were also some of the most destructive fires in state history – including the <a href="https://www.fire.ca.gov/our-impact/remembering-the-camp-fire">2018 fire</a> that destroyed the town of Paradise. <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/06/16/879008760/pg-e-pleads-guilty-on-2018-california-camp-fire-our-equipment-started-that-fire">Pacific Gas & Electric pleaded guilty</a> to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter in that case and one felony count of unlawfully starting a fire.</p>
<h2>Do utilities have a responsibility for fire safety?</h2>
<p>That’s the question at the heart of litigation and debates.</p>
<p>Public utilities’ obligations can vary state to state. In general, regulated utilities have a duty to <a href="https://www.energy.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2019-06/Fact_Sheet_California_Energy_Governing_Institutions.pdf">provide safe, affordable</a>, <a href="https://www.hawaiianelectric.com/documents/products_and_services/customer_renewable_programs/20210503_customer_energy_resources_for_hawaii.pdf">reliable power</a> to their customers. That can mean making tough choices.</p>
<p>Let’s say it’s really windy, dry and hot – ideal conditions for spreading a wildfire. The utility <a href="https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/industries-and-topics/wildfires">can shut off power</a>, but that means people don’t have air conditioning in what may be extreme heat. People with health issues – who might need oxygen, for example – might not be able to run essential medical devices. </p>
<p>Electricity is critical infrastructure and a foundational bedrock to many other services. Cellphone service can be lost <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/california-wildfires/article/Why-cell-phones-failed-in-PG-E-outages-and-how-14806460.php">if transmission towers lack backup power</a>, so when power goes out in a disaster, people could lose access to crucial information. Water pumps used in wells and water treatment also need electricity. Many <a href="https://www.staradvertiser.com/2023/08/18/hawaii-news/maui-water-pumps-can-work-without-heco-power/">municipal water systems have backup generators</a> to keep water flowing, but small water systems might not.</p>
<p>Texas learned about <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2021.102106">cascading dependencies</a> during the <a href="https://theconversation.com/two-years-after-its-historic-deep-freeze-texas-is-increasingly-vulnerable-to-cold-snaps-and-there-are-more-solutions-than-just-building-power-plants-198494">deep freeze in February 2021</a>. When power systems failed, the pumps used to send gas and oil through pipelines went out. That meant power plants weren’t getting the gas they needed to operate.</p>
<p>Utilities have to balance the risk of keeping power on with the risks created by shutting power off.</p>
<h2>What can utilities do to manage fire risk?</h2>
<p>Utilities can make sure they’re careful about trimming trees, cutting grasses and removing other dry fuel that can ignite near power lines.</p>
<p>In really high-risk areas, <a href="https://www.pge.com/en_US/residential/customer-service/other-services/electric-undergrounding-program/electric-undergrounding-program.page">they can move their lines underground</a>. There’s <a href="https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/about-cpuc/divisions/safety-policy-division/risk-assessment-and-safety-analytics/electric-undergrounding-sb-884">an effort to do that in California</a>, but estimates show it would be <a href="https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/industries-and-topics/electrical-energy/infrastructure/electric-reliability/undergrounding-program-description">prohibitively expensive</a> to take all <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-023-01306-8">high-voltage lines underground</a>.</p>
<p>To give you a sense of the amount of line we’re talking about, in 2021, California utilities reported having <a href="https://www.auditor.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2021-117.pdf">nearly 40,000 miles</a> of bare power lines in areas at high risk of wildfires.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Powerlines along a rugged mountainside with a lake and forest in the background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544858/original/file-20230826-28-hbu0ud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544858/original/file-20230826-28-hbu0ud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544858/original/file-20230826-28-hbu0ud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544858/original/file-20230826-28-hbu0ud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544858/original/file-20230826-28-hbu0ud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544858/original/file-20230826-28-hbu0ud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544858/original/file-20230826-28-hbu0ud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">High-voltage power lines, like this one in North Cascades National Park in Washington state, often cross rugged terrain in areas in which it isn’t easy to bury a power line, or for firefighters to reach.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/diablo-lake-trail-north-cascades-national-park-royalty-free-image/1546932853">Philippe Gerber/Moment via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Utilities are constantly actively looking for fire risks, whether it’s replacing old transformers or upgrading lines that might be overloaded or clearing away foliage.</p>
<p>Technology also helps identify risks. <a href="https://apnews.com/article/hawaii-wildfires-maui-electricity-power-utilities-c46a106db3c5019ac835ddcb01fde25f">Sensors can detect sparks</a> on a power line. Newer tools being tested aim to <a href="https://www.dallasnews.com/business/technology/2019/12/03/texas-am-professors-tech-aims-to-detect-potential-for-wildfires-before-they-happen/">detect variations in electrical current</a> that could indicate overloaded lines before sparks occur. On hot days, being better able to manage the distribution of power flow of electricity through power lines that are overloaded and potentially overheating could also help avoid problems along power lines.</p>
<p>Another solution is making architectural changes to the electricity grid, where rather than relying on large centralized power stations with high power, long distance transmission lines, power is produced closer to the consumer, ranging from community, to neighborhood, to one’s own home.</p>
<p>For example, <a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/solar/solar-rooftop-potential">rooftop solar</a> and <a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/solar/community-solar-basics">community solar projects</a> can help reduce the need to add more high-voltage transmissions lines to carry power long distances and through high-risk wildlands. The architecture of the grid is rapidly evolving as both rooftop and community solar appear.</p>
<h2>How do utilities balance the risks?</h2>
<p>It’s easy to oversimplify this. Every solution, every choice, has an impact. You can shut off power during windstorms and largely eliminate the fire risk from power infrastructure. But it also has real consequences for people’s businesses, livelihoods and potentially their health and safety.</p>
<p>As an engineer, I can advise on the risks and develop solutions to minimize those risk through better detection, better equipment and by minimizing the need for lots of electrical lines. However, how to balance those risks and, in particular, address the issue of when a utility should shut off the power, is ultimately a societal choice.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/212323/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tim C. Lieuwen serves on the Advisory Council of EPRI, as well as governing or advisory boards of Oak Ridge National Lab, Pacific Northwest National Lab, and National Renewable Energy Lab</span></em></p>Losing power also has real consequences for people’s businesses, livelihoods and potentially their health and safety.Tim C. Lieuwen, Executive Director of the Strategic Energy Institute, Georgia Institute of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2121712023-08-24T21:01:25Z2023-08-24T21:01:25ZIndia’s Chandrayaan-3 landed on the south pole of the Moon − a space policy expert explains what this means for India and the global race to the Moon<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544382/original/file-20230823-29-47eeoy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=51%2C0%2C8575%2C5742&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">India’s Chandrayaan-3 lander successfully touched down on the south pole of the Moon on Aug. 23, 2023, sparking celebrations across the country.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/IndiaMoonMission/70d39c1973d94c1183bba5b868e3b721/photo?Query=india%20moon%20landing&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=89&currentItemNo=1">AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em><a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-counts-down-crucial-moon-landing-2023-08-23/">India made history</a> as the first country to land near the south pole of the Moon with its Chandrayaan-3 lander on Aug. 23, 2023. This also makes it the first country to land on the Moon since China in 2020.</em> </p>
<p><em>India is one of several countries — including the U.S. with its <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis/">Artemis program</a> — endeavoring to land on the Moon. The south pole of the Moon is <a href="https://www.reuters.com/science/why-are-countries-racing-moons-heavily-cratered-south-pole-2023-08-23/">of particular interest</a>, as its surface, marked by craters, trenches and pockets of ancient ice, hasn’t been visited until now.</em> </p>
<p><em>The Conversation U.S. asked <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=aESo-coAAAAJ&hl=en">international affairs expert</a> Mariel Borowitz about this Moon landing’s implications for both science and the global community.</em></p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dim8elzo5vE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">People all across India watched the broadcast of the landing.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why are countries like India looking to go to the Moon?</h2>
<p>Countries are interested in <a href="https://theconversation.com/returning-to-the-moon-can-benefit-commercial-military-and-political-sectors-a-space-policy-expert-explains-209300">going to the Moon</a> because it can inspire people, test the limits of human technical capabilities and allow us to discover more about our solar system. </p>
<p>The Moon has a <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-moon-plays-an-important-role-in-indigenous-culture-and-helped-win-a-battle-over-sea-rights-119081">historical and cultural significance</a> that really seems to resonate with people – anyone in the world can look up at the night sky, see the Moon and understand how amazing it is that a spacecraft built by humans is roaming around the surface.</p>
<p>The Moon also presents a unique opportunity to engage in both <a href="https://theconversation.com/space-blocs-the-future-of-international-cooperation-in-space-is-splitting-along-lines-of-power-on-earth-180221">international cooperation and competition</a> in a peaceful, but highly visible, way. </p>
<p>The fact that <a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/fly-me-moon-worldwide-cislunar-and-lunar-missions">so many nations</a> – the United States, Russia, China, India, Israel – and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-helping-private-companies-build-business-moon-make-lunar-billions-2023-6#:%7E:text=The%20agency%20is%20tagging%20private,be%20game%2Dchanging%20for%20humanity.">even commercial entities</a> are interested in landing on the Moon means that there are many opportunities to forge new partnerships. </p>
<p>These partnerships can allow nations to do more in space by pooling resources, and they encourage more peaceful cooperation here on Earth by connecting individual researchers and organizations. </p>
<p>There are some people who also believe that exploration of the Moon can provide economic benefits. In the near term, this might include the emergence of startup companies working on space technology and contributing to these missions. India has seen a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/04/business/india-space-startups.html">surge in space startups</a> recently. </p>
<p>Eventually, the Moon may provide economic benefits based on the natural resources that can be found there, such as <a href="https://moon.nasa.gov/inside-and-out/composition/water-and-ices/">water</a>, <a href="https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Preparing_for_the_Future/Space_for_Earth/Energy/Helium-3_mining_on_the_lunar_surface">helium-3</a> and <a href="https://www.popsci.com/elements-mine-on-the-moon/">rare Earth elements</a>.</p>
<h2>Are we seeing new global interest in space?</h2>
<p>Over the last few decades, we’ve seen a significant increase in the number of nations involved in space activity. This is very apparent when it comes to satellites that collect imagery or data about the Earth, for example. <a href="https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Bringing_Space_Down_to_Earth.pdf">More than 60 nations</a> have been involved in these types of satellite missions. Now we’re seeing this trend expand to space exploration, and particularly the Moon.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544385/original/file-20230823-15-hhqpx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A group of cheering, smiling people hold signs depicting the Chandrayaan-3 lander." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544385/original/file-20230823-15-hhqpx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544385/original/file-20230823-15-hhqpx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544385/original/file-20230823-15-hhqpx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544385/original/file-20230823-15-hhqpx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544385/original/file-20230823-15-hhqpx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544385/original/file-20230823-15-hhqpx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544385/original/file-20230823-15-hhqpx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The successful landing prompted celebrations across the country, like this one in Mumbai.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/IndiaLunarMission/ac52e7da7b46474a91706ffa43f7c99a/photo?Query=india%20moon%20landing&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=89&currentItemNo=24">AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In some ways, the interest in the Moon is driven by similar goals as in the first space race in the 1960s – demonstrating technological capabilities and inspiring young people and the general public. However, this time it’s not just two superpowers competing in a race. Now we have many participants, and while there is <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-the-us-in-a-space-race-against-china-203473">still a competitive element</a>, there is also an opportunity for cooperation and forging new international partnerships to explore space. </p>
<p>Also, with all these new actors and the technical advances of the last 60 years, there is the potential to engage in <a href="https://www.space.com/rebooting-moon-nasa-artemis-sustainability">more sustainable exploration</a>. This could include building Moon bases, developing ways to use lunar resources and eventually engaging in economic activities on the Moon based on natural resources or tourism.</p>
<h2>How does India’s mission compare with Moon missions in other countries?</h2>
<p>India’s accomplishment is the first of its kind and very exciting, but it’s worth noting that it’s one of seven <a href="https://www.planetary.org/space-missions/every-moon-mission">missions currently operating</a> on and around the Moon.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544383/original/file-20230823-23-x224cr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Young people sitting on a rug in a classroom hold flags and signs reading " src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544383/original/file-20230823-23-x224cr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544383/original/file-20230823-23-x224cr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544383/original/file-20230823-23-x224cr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544383/original/file-20230823-23-x224cr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544383/original/file-20230823-23-x224cr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544383/original/file-20230823-23-x224cr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544383/original/file-20230823-23-x224cr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students in India prayed for the safe landing of Chandrayaan-3 on Wednesday.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/IndiaMoonMission/70d39c1973d94c1183bba5b868e3b721/photo?Query=india%20moon%20landing&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=89&currentItemNo=1">AP Photo/Ajit Solanki</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In addition to <a href="https://www.isro.gov.in/Chandrayaan3.html">India’s Chandrayaan-3 rover</a> near the south pole, there is also <a href="https://www.planetary.org/space-missions/kplo">South Korea’s Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter</a>, which is studying the Moon’s surface to identify future landing sites; the NASA-funded <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/small_spacecraft/capstone/">CAPSTONE spacecraft</a>, which was developed by a <a href="https://www.advancedspace.com/missions/capstone/">space startup company</a>; and NASA’s <a href="https://lunar.gsfc.nasa.gov/">Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter</a>. The CAPSTONE craft is studying the stability of a unique orbit around the Moon, and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is collecting data about the Moon and mapping sites for future missions.</p>
<p>Also, while <a href="https://www.isro.gov.in/Chandrayaan2_science.html">India’s Chandrayaan-2 rover</a> crashed, the accompanying orbiter is still operational. China’s <a href="https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=2018-103A">Chang’e-4</a> and <a href="https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=2020-087A">Chang’e-5</a> landers are still operating on the Moon as well. </p>
<p>Other nations and commercial entities are working to join in. <a href="https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=LUNA-25">Russia’s Luna-25 mission</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-02659-6">crashed into the Moon</a> three days before the Chandrayaan-3 landed, but the fact that Russia developed the rover and got so close is still a significant achievement. </p>
<p>The same could be said for the lunar lander built by the private Japanese space company <a href="https://ispace-inc.com/">ispace</a>. The lander <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/26/science/moon-crash-japan-ispace.html">crashed into the Moon</a> in April 2023.</p>
<h2>Why choose to explore the south pole of the Moon?</h2>
<p>The south pole of the Moon is the area where nations are <a href="https://www.reuters.com/science/why-are-countries-racing-moons-heavily-cratered-south-pole-2023-08-23/">focused for future exploration</a>. All of NASA’s <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-identifies-candidate-regions-for-landing-next-americans-on-moon/">13 candidate landing locations</a> for the Artemis program are located near the south pole. </p>
<p>This area offers the greatest potential to find <a href="https://moon.nasa.gov/inside-and-out/composition/water-and-ices/">water ice</a>, which could be used to support astronauts and to <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/05/19/1001857/how-moon-lunar-mining-water-ice-rocket-fuel/">make rocket fuel</a>. It also <a href="https://skyandtelescope.org/sky-and-telescope-magazine/peaks-of-eternal-light/">has peaks</a> that are in constant or near-constant sunlight, which creates excellent opportunities for generating power to support lunar activities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/212171/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mariel Borowitz receives funding from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). </span></em></p>India became the first country to land near the south pole of the Moon, a notoriously difficult achievement that also marks them as the fourth country to land on the Moon.Mariel Borowitz, Associate Professor of International Affairs, Georgia Institute of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2116582023-08-18T12:39:09Z2023-08-18T12:39:09ZChatGPT and other language AIs are nothing without humans – a sociologist explains how countless hidden people make the magic<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544088/original/file-20230822-21-76763r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C898%2C532&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Do you know who helped ChatGPT give you that clever answer?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.loc.gov/item/2016850637/">Eric Smalley, The Conversation US (composite derived from Library of Congress image)</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The media frenzy surrounding ChatGPT and other large language model artificial intelligence systems spans a range of themes, from the prosaic – <a href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2023/02/07/reinventing-search-with-a-new-ai-powered-microsoft-bing-and-edge-your-copilot-for-the-web/">large language models could replace conventional web search</a> – to the concerning – AI will eliminate many jobs – and the overwrought – AI poses an extinction-level threat to humanity. All of these themes have a common denominator: large language models herald artificial intelligence that will supersede humanity.</p>
<p>But large language models, for all their complexity, are actually really dumb. And despite the name “artificial intelligence,” they’re completely dependent on human knowledge and labor. They can’t reliably generate new knowledge, of course, but there’s more to it than that. </p>
<p>ChatGPT can’t learn, improve or even stay up to date without humans giving it new content and telling it how to interpret that content, not to mention programming the model and building, maintaining and powering its hardware. To understand why, you first have to understand how ChatGPT and similar models work, and the role humans play in making them work.</p>
<h2>How ChatGPT works</h2>
<p>Large language models like ChatGPT work, broadly, by <a href="https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2023/02/what-is-chatgpt-doing-and-why-does-it-work/">predicting what characters, words and sentences</a> should follow one another in sequence based on training data sets. In the case of ChatGPT, the training data set contains immense quantities of public text scraped from the internet. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">ChatGPT works by statistics, not by understanding words.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Imagine I trained a language model on the following set of sentences:</p>
<p>Bears are large, furry animals.
Bears have claws.
Bears are secretly robots.
Bears have noses.
Bears are secretly robots.
Bears sometimes eat fish.
Bears are secretly robots.</p>
<p>The model would be more inclined to tell me that bears are secretly robots than anything else, because that sequence of words appears most frequently in its training data set. This is obviously a problem for models trained on fallible and inconsistent data sets – which is all of them, even academic literature. </p>
<p>People write lots of different things about quantum physics, Joe Biden, healthy eating or the Jan. 6 insurrection, some more valid than others. How is the model supposed to know what to say about something, when people say lots of different things?</p>
<h2>The need for feedback</h2>
<p>This is where feedback comes in. If you use ChatGPT, you’ll notice that you have the option to rate responses as good or bad. If you rate them as bad, you’ll be asked to provide an example of what a good answer would contain. ChatGPT and other large language models learn what answers, what predicted sequences of text, are good and bad through feedback from users, the development team and contractors hired to label the output.</p>
<p>ChatGPT cannot compare, analyze or evaluate arguments or information on its own. It can only generate sequences of text similar to those that other people have used when comparing, analyzing or evaluating, preferring ones similar to those it has been told are good answers in the past.</p>
<p>Thus, when the model gives you a good answer, it’s drawing on a large amount of human labor that’s already gone into telling it what is and isn’t a good answer. There are many, many human workers hidden behind the screen, and they will always be needed if the model is to continue improving or to expand its content coverage. </p>
<p>A recent investigation published by journalists in Time magazine revealed that <a href="https://time.com/6247678/openai-chatgpt-kenya-workers/">hundreds of Kenyan workers spent thousands of hours</a> reading and labeling racist, sexist and disturbing writing, including graphic descriptions of sexual violence, from the darkest depths of the internet to teach ChatGPT not to copy such content. They were paid no more than US$2 an hour, and many understandably reported experiencing psychological distress due to this work.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Language AIs require humans to tell them what makes a good answer – and what makes toxic content.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What ChatGPT can’t do</h2>
<p>The importance of feedback can be seen directly in ChatGPT’s tendency to “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/3571730">hallucinate</a>”; that is, confidently provide inaccurate answers. ChatGPT can’t give good answers on a topic without training, even if good information about that topic is widely available on the internet. You can try this out yourself by asking ChatGPT about more and less obscure things. I’ve found it particularly effective to ask ChatGPT to summarize the plots of different fictional works because, it seems, the model has been more rigorously trained on nonfiction than fiction. </p>
<p>In my own testing, ChatGPT summarized the plot of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “<a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-lord-of-the-rings-jrr-tolkien?variant=39999349817378">The Lord of the Rings</a>,” a very famous novel, with only a few mistakes. But its summaries of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “<a href="https://www.eno.org/operas/the-pirates-of-penzance/">The Pirates of Penzance</a>” and of Ursula K. Le Guin’s “<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/538943/the-left-hand-of-darkness-by-ursula-k-le-guin/9780143111597">The Left Hand of Darkness</a>” – both slightly more niche but far from obscure – come close to playing <a href="https://www.madlibs.com/">Mad Libs</a> with the character and place names. It doesn’t matter how good these works’ respective Wikipedia pages are. The model needs feedback, not just content.</p>
<p>Because large language models don’t actually understand or evaluate information, they depend on humans to do it for them. They are parasitic on human knowledge and labor. When new sources are added into their training data sets, they need new training on whether and how to build sentences based on those sources. </p>
<p>They can’t evaluate whether news reports are accurate or not. They can’t assess arguments or weigh trade-offs. They can’t even read an encyclopedia page and only make statements consistent with it, or accurately summarize the plot of a movie. They rely on human beings to do all these things for them. </p>
<p>Then they paraphrase and remix what humans have said, and rely on yet more human beings to tell them whether they’ve paraphrased and remixed well. If the common wisdom on some topic changes – for example, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehaa586">whether salt</a> is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s13668-021-00383-z">bad for your heart</a> or <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ijc.32211">whether early breast cancer screenings are useful</a> – they will need to be extensively retrained to incorporate the new consensus.</p>
<h2>Many people behind the curtain</h2>
<p>In short, far from being the harbingers of totally independent AI, large language models illustrate the total dependence of many AI systems, not only on their designers and maintainers but on their users. So if ChatGPT gives you a good or useful answer about something, remember to thank the thousands or millions of hidden people who wrote the words it crunched and who taught it what were good and bad answers. </p>
<p>Far from being an autonomous superintelligence, ChatGPT is, like all technologies, nothing without us.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211658/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John P. Nelson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Language model AIs seem smart because of how they string words together, but in reality they can’t do anything without many people guiding them every step of the way.John P. Nelson, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Ethics and Societal Implications of Artificial Intelligence, Georgia Institute of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2054652023-08-17T12:34:06Z2023-08-17T12:34:06ZMobile robots get a leg up from a more-is-better communications principle<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542418/original/file-20230811-38693-1jf8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C2%2C799%2C529&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Getting a leg up from mobile robots comes down to getting a bunch of legs.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://research.gatech.edu/scurrying-centipedes-inspire-many-legged-robots-can-traverse-difficult-landscapes">Georgia Institute of Technology</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Adding legs to robots that have minimal awareness of the environment around them can help the robots operate more effectively in difficult terrain, my colleagues and I found.</p>
<p>We were inspired by mathematician and engineer Claude Shannon’s <a href="https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-claude-shannons-information-theory-invented-the-future-20201222/">communication theory</a> about how to transmit signals over distance. Instead of spending a huge amount of money to build the perfect wire, Shannon illustrated that it is good enough to use redundancy to reliably convey information over noisy communication channels. We wondered if we could do the same thing for transporting cargo via robots. That is, if we want to transport cargo over “noisy” terrain, say fallen trees and large rocks, in a reasonable amount of time, could we do it by just adding legs to the robot carrying the cargo and do so without sensors and cameras on the robot?</p>
<p>Most mobile robots use inertial sensors to gain an awareness of <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/designs6010017">how they are moving through space</a>. Our key idea is to forget about inertia and replace it with the simple function of repeatedly making steps. In doing so, our theoretical analysis confirms our hypothesis of reliable and predictable robot locomotion – and hence cargo transport – without additional sensing and control.</p>
<p>To verify our hypothesis, we built robots inspired by centipedes. We discovered that the more legs we added, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.ade4985">the better the robot could move across uneven surfaces</a> without any additional sensing or control technology. Specifically, we conducted a series of experiments where we built terrain to mimic an inconsistent natural environment. We evaluated the robot locomotion performance by gradually increasing the number of legs in increments of two, beginning with six legs and eventually reaching a total of 16 legs. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Navigating rough terrain can be as simple as taking it a step at a time, at least if you have a lot of legs.</span></figcaption>
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<p>As the number of legs increased, we observed that the robot exhibited enhanced agility in traversing the terrain, even in the absence of sensors. To further assess its capabilities, we conducted outdoor tests on real terrain to evaluate its performance in more realistic conditions, where it performed just as well. There is potential to use many-legged robots for agriculture, space exploration and search and rescue.</p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>Transporting things – food, fuel, building materials, medical supplies – is essential to modern societies, and effective goods exchange is the cornerstone of commercial activity. For centuries, transporting material on land has required building roads and tracks. However, roads and tracks are not available everywhere. Places such as hilly countryside have had limited access to cargo. Robots might be a way to transport payloads in these regions.</p>
<h2>What other research is being done in this field</h2>
<p>Other researchers have been developing <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0269888919000158">humanoid robots</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asej.2020.11.005">robot dogs</a>, which have become increasingly agile in recent years. These robots rely on accurate sensors to know where they are and what is in front of them, and then make decisions on how to navigate. </p>
<p>However, their strong dependence on environmental awareness <a href="https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2020.2975643">limits them in unpredictable environments</a>. For example, in search-and-rescue tasks, sensors can be damaged and environments can change.</p>
<h2>What’s next</h2>
<p>My colleagues and I have taken valuable insights from our research and applied them to the field of crop farming. We have founded a company that uses these robots to efficiently weed farmland. As we continue to advance this technology, we are focused on refining the robot’s design and functionality. </p>
<p>While we understand the functional aspects of the centipede robot framework, our ongoing efforts are aimed at determining the optimal number of legs required for motion without relying on external sensing. Our goal is to strike a balance between cost-effectiveness and retaining the benefits of the system. Currently, we have shown that 12 is the minimum number of legs for these robots to be effective, but we are still investigating the ideal number.</p>
<p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take on interesting academic work.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205465/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors has received funding from NSF-Simons Southeast Center for Mathematics and Biology (Simons Foundation SFARI 594594), Georgia Research Alliance (GRA.VL22.B12), Army Research Office (ARO) MURI program, Army Research Office Grant W911NF-11-1-0514 and a Dunn Family Professorship.
The author and his colleagues have one or more pending patent applications related to the research covered in this article.
The author and his colleagues have established a start-up company, Ground Control Robotics, Inc., partially based on this work.</span></em></p>A study found that adding legs does more for you than having a good sense of the ground around you − if you’re a mobile robot.Baxi Chong, Postdoctoral Fellow, Complex Rheology And Biomechanics Lab, Georgia Institute of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2102182023-08-03T12:24:52Z2023-08-03T12:24:52ZMost Americans support NASA – but don’t think it should prioritize sending people to space<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539322/original/file-20230725-21-7pchup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=58%2C0%2C7802%2C3971&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Artemis I Launch in November 2022. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasahqphoto/52503151166/">NASA/Bill Ingalls</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Most Americans (69%) believe it is essential that the United States continue to be a world leader in space. But only a subsection of that group believes NASA should prioritize sending people to the Moon, according to <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2023/07/20/americans-views-of-space-u-s-role-nasa-priorities-and-impact-of-private-companies/">a new report</a> released by the Pew Research Center. The study surveyed over 10,000 U.S. adults on their attitudes toward NASA and their expectations for the space industry over the next few decades.</p>
<p>As scholars who study <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=aESo-coAAAAJ&hl=en">international relations in space</a> and the <a href="https://airandspace.si.edu/people/staff/teasel-muir-harmony">history of the space program</a>, we are interested in understanding how Americans view space activities, and how their perspectives might affect the future of both U.S. and global space developments.</p>
<h2>US dominance in space</h2>
<p>The United States’ most visible effort to maintain world leadership in space is arguably its <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis/">Artemis Program</a> to <a href="https://theconversation.com/returning-to-the-moon-can-benefit-commercial-military-and-political-sectors-a-space-policy-expert-explains-209300">land humans on the Moon</a> by late 2024. The U.S. has emphasized international cooperation, bringing in Europe, Japan and Canada as partners in the program.</p>
<p>With China and Russia <a href="https://www.space.com/china-russia-moon-base-ilrs">undertaking a parallel effort</a> to land people on the Moon, many see a competitive element to these plans as well.</p>
<p>One of the most striking features of the recent poll is how similar it looks to earlier public opinion polling, especially <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2018/06/06/majority-of-americans-believe-it-is-essential-that-the-u-s-remain-a-global-leader-in-space">one conducted in 2018</a>. The popularity of NASA has remained consistently high for decades, frequently with a favorability rating between 60% and 70%, far higher than many other federal agencies. But the specific priorities of the U.S. space program have often been at odds with public opinion. </p>
<p>While 65% of Americans said <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2023/07/20/americans-views-of-space-u-s-role-nasa-priorities-and-impact-of-private-companies/">in the new Pew survey</a> it was essential that NASA continue to be involved in space exploration, only 12% said that sending human astronauts to the Moon should be NASA’s top priority. Although somewhat at odds with the national space agenda, this valuation is not new. Even during the 1960s, when NASA undertook Project Apollo, Americans ranked solving problems on Earth – such as pollution, poverty and national beautification – <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.12473">above landing humans on the Moon</a>.</p>
<p>Most Americans for the majority of the 1960s responded in public opinion polls that the Apollo program <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0265-9646(03)00039-0">was not worth its high budget</a>. Over time, however, the <a href="https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/18801/chapter/3#29">Apollo program has grown in popularity</a>. </p>
<p>Between 1989 and 1995, polling revealed that the public thought the U.S. space program should <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0265-9646(03)00039-0">focus on robotic spacecraft</a> as opposed to crewed missions. This position began to change in the mid-1990s with docking of the space shuttle with the Russian space station and several blockbuster space-themed films. </p>
<p>Despite <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.12473">moderate public support</a>, human spaceflight consistently receives the majority share of <a href="https://www.planetary.org/space-policy/nasa-budget">U.S. civilian space funding</a>, suggesting that public opinion and the national space agenda stand apart. The most recent poll results underscore how <a href="https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/18801/chapter/2#2">a combination of rationales</a> – including advancing science, national stature, geopolitics, economic interests and national security – rather than public opinion alone have shaped national space priorities throughout time.</p>
<h2>Planetary defense</h2>
<p>Additionally, the recent poll explored people’s expectations for the space industry. It found 60% of people believed NASA’s top priority should be monitoring asteroids that could hit the Earth. NASA does have national responsibility for this job – referred to as planetary defense – but the office receives <a href="https://ww2.aip.org/fyi/2023/fy23-budget-outcomes-nasa">less than 1% of NASA’s budget</a>, or US$138 million out of $25.4 billion in 2023.</p>
<p>Even with its relatively modest budget, the office has made significant progress. This included the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/planetarydefense/dart/dart-news">Double Asteroid Redirect Test</a> – the world’s <a href="https://dart.jhuapl.edu/Mission/index.php">first planetary defense experiment</a>. <a href="https://theconversation.com/nasa-successfully-shifted-an-asteroids-orbit-dart-spacecraft-crashed-into-and-moved-dimorphos-192317">DART intentionally</a> <a href="https://apnews.com/article/nasa-dart-asteroid-updates-b6cfccd90a0450c3cce6048af61a1c01">crashed into an asteroid</a> in September 2022 to understand how the impact would change the asteroid’s orbit. The results of the test could help scientists understand how to deflect asteroids that threaten the Earth.</p>
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<h2>Private enterprise in space</h2>
<p>Private activity in space goes back to the 1960s, with the creation of commercial <a href="https://history.nasa.gov/satcomhistory.html">communication satellite companies</a> and growth of large <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/11/20981714/spacex-commercial-spaceflight-space-industry-decade-nasa-business">defense contractors</a>. However, many experts view the wave of companies that started in the 2000s as marking an important change.</p>
<p>While earlier companies often relied heavily on the government to set requirements and fund projects, these “<a href="https://www.nationalacademies.org/news/2022/03/new-space-ecosystem-should-be-leveraged-to-provide-transformative-science-advancements-says-new-report">new space</a>” companies set their own priorities and often see the government as only one of many customers.</p>
<p>These companies are bringing new capabilities to the market. For example, <a href="https://www.planet.com/">Planet</a> collects daily images of the Earth, <a href="https://www.umbra.com/">Umbra</a> uses radar to take pictures at night and through clouds, <a href="https://astroscale.com/">Astroscale</a> is demonstrating the ability to remove debris from space, and <a href="https://www.astrobotic.com/">Astrobotic</a> is developing a commercial Moon lander.</p>
<p>Many Americans view private activity in space positively, but a large portion have not yet formed an opinion. While 48% of Americans surveyed said private companies are doing a good job building rockets and spacecraft that are safe and reliable, another 39% were unsure. Similarly, 47% of Americans said private companies are making important contributions to space exploration, but another 40% were unsure. </p>
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<p>Companies like <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/spacex-commercial-flight-space-station-launch-private-citizens-saudis-axiom/">SpaceX</a>, <a href="https://www.space.com/blue-origin-ns-21-space-tourist-mission">Blue Origin</a> and <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/virgin-galactic-rocketplane-first-commercial-sub-orbital-flight-to-space/">Virgin Galactic</a> are <a href="https://theconversation.com/spacex-inspiration4-mission-sent-4-people-with-minimal-training-into-orbit-and-brought-space-tourism-closer-to-reality-167611">beginning to take tourists into space</a>. Doing so in a safe and sustainable way will be essential to the future perception of this industry. Priorities include carefully designing safety systems and procedures and carrying out careful analysis of any <a href="https://spacenews.com/blue-origin-continues-investigation-into-new-shepard-anomaly/">anomolies</a> that occur during flight.</p>
<p>Overall, Americans are optimistic about the future of space activity. The poll found 55% of Americans expect people will routinely travel to space as tourists within the next 50 years.</p>
<h2>Militarization of space</h2>
<p>A significant portion of Americans (44%) see a more militaristic future for space. They believe the U.S. will definitely or probably fight against other nations in space sometime in the next 50 years. Warfare could include the destruction or disabling of U.S. or other nations’ strategic satellites. </p>
<p>By some definitions, conflict in space has <a href="https://theconversation.com/war-in-ukraine-highlights-the-growing-strategic-importance-of-private-satellite-companies-especially-in-times-of-conflict-188425">already occurred</a>. At the outset of the Ukraine War, Russia carried out a <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/05/10/1051973/russia-hack-viasat-satellite-ukraine-invasion/">cyberattack against the ViaSat satellite network</a> used by the Ukrainian military. Russia also regularly <a href="https://www.space.com/russia-jamming-gps-signals-ukraine">jams GPS signals</a> in Ukraine. However, no nation has ever physically attacked another nation’s satellite in space.</p>
<p>There is <a href="https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2021-12/focus/small-step-toward-asat-ban">no ban on anti-satellite weapons</a>, but in December 2022, 155 nations <a href="https://spacenews.com/united-nations-general-assembly-approves-asat-test-ban-resolution/">passed a United Nations General Assembly resolution</a> calling for a halt to one type of anti-satellite testing. In addition, the United Nations’ <a href="https://meetings.unoda.org/open-ended-working-group-on-reducing-space-threats-2022">open-ended working group on reducing space threats</a> has been meeting since 2022 to help avoid conflict in space.</p>
<h2>Space debris</h2>
<p>Americans are also concerned about space debris – 69% think there will definitely or probably be a major problem with debris in space by 2073. Space debris can include defunct satellites, discarded rocket bodies, or pieces of satellites resulting from accidental collisions or anti-satellite tests.</p>
<p>There is reason for concern. The number of objects in space has grown rapidly, from just over 1,000 in 2013 to <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/satellite-database">6,718 satellites today</a>. Many countries have <a href="https://spacenews.com/satellite-operators-criticize-extreme-megaconstellation-filings/">announced plans for new large constellations</a> of satellites, with some experts predicting there could be <a href="https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-22-105166">60,000 satellites in orbit by 2030</a>.</p>
<p>Right now the United States maintains the most advanced <a href="https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/intelligence/2023-03-13/whats-there-where-it-and-whats-it-doing-us-space-surveillance">system for monitoring space objects</a>. It shares <a href="https://www.space-track.org/">information and collision warnings</a> with satellite operators all over the world, but there are no rules that require those operators to take action. As space traffic increases, this ad hoc system will need to change.</p>
<p>The United States is developing a new <a href="https://spacenews.com/commerce-department-outlines-plans-for-basic-space-traffic-management-service/">Traffic Coordination System for Space</a> that will improve data sharing and coordination with commercial and international partners. Countries have been working within the United Nations to develop and implement guidelines for the <a href="https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/topics/long-term-sustainability-of-outer-space-activities.html">long-term sustainability</a> of outer space activities. </p>
<p>Still, the U.S. will need to coordinate with countries around the world to ensure satellite technology doesn’t outpace safety and give organizations like NASA the ability to continue leading activities in space.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210218/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mariel Borowitz receives funding from the National Air and Space Administration (NASA), the Department of Defense (DoD), and the National Science Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Teasel Muir-Harmony does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A new survey catalogs Americans’ expectations about the future of space, from NASA to SpaceX. Two space policy experts describe how these results stack up against the current state of space affairs.Mariel Borowitz, Associate Professor of International Affairs, Georgia Institute of TechnologyTeasel Muir-Harmony, Curator of the Apollo Collection, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and Affiliate Adjunct, Georgetown UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2093002023-07-18T12:27:31Z2023-07-18T12:27:31ZReturning to the Moon can benefit commercial, military and political sectors – a space policy expert explains<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536343/original/file-20230707-15-g8cdkp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C1421%2C1012&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Moon marks new territory for commercial, military and geopolitical interests. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia02322-triptych-of-the-moon">NASA/JPL/Cassini Imaging Team/University of Arizona</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>NASA’s <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis/">Artemis program</a> aims to return humans to the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years, with the first human landing <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/artemis-iii">currently scheduled for 2025</a>. This goal is not just technically ambitious, but it’s also politically challenging. The Artemis program marks the first time since the Apollo program that an effort to send humans to the Moon has been <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/03/02/biden-space-artemis-moon-trump/">supported by two successive U.S. presidents</a>. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=aESo-coAAAAJ&hl=en">scholar of international affairs who studies space</a>, I’m interested in understanding what allowed the Artemis program to survive this political transition where others failed. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spacepol.2023.101548">My research suggests</a> that this program is not just <a href="https://theconversation.com/building-telescopes-on-the-moon-could-transform-astronomy-and-its-becoming-an-achievable-goal-203308">about advancing science</a> and technology or <a href="https://theconversation.com/meet-the-next-four-people-headed-to-the-moon-how-the-diverse-crew-of-artemis-ii-shows-nasas-plan-for-the-future-of-space-exploration-203214">inspiring the public</a>. It also offers practical benefits for the commercial sector and the military and an opportunity to reinforce U.S. global leadership. </p>
<h2>Commercial interest in the Moon</h2>
<p>Several companies around the world, including both startups and established aerospace firms, have begun working on missions to the Moon. Some, like Japan-based <a href="https://ispace-inc.com/">iSpace</a> and U.S.-based <a href="https://www.astrobotic.com/">Astrobotic</a>, are developing commercial lunar landers and have plans to eventually collect lunar resources, such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/back-to-the-moon-a-space-lawyer-and-planetary-scientist-on-what-it-will-take-to-share-the-benefits-of-new-lunar-exploration-podcast-202415">water</a> or <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-selects-companies-to-collect-lunar-resources-for-artemis-demonstrations">minerals</a>. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ocDzndmmE8I?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">NASA is planning to return to the Moon with Artemis missions. This video describes where on the Moon they may land, and how they’ll decide.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For now, efforts to return to the Moon are largely funded by government space agencies, like NASA or the <a href="https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Exploration/Astrobotic_team_to_study_delivery_of_lunar_resources_mission">European Space Agency</a>. However, many experts talk about the growth of a “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2017.10.005">cislunar economy</a>,” where companies make money through their activities in and around the Moon.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.ida.org/research-and-publications/publications/all/d/de/demand-drivers-of-the-lunar-and-cislunar-economy">Expert studies</a> suggest that it will be decades before many activities – like mining lunar resources or collecting solar energy on the Moon – will generate profits. But in the meantime, government space programs can leverage commercial innovation to cut costs, spur innovation and accelerate their programs. And some commercial activity, such as lunar tourism, <a href="https://www.ida.org/research-and-publications/publications/all/d/de/demand-drivers-of-the-lunar-and-cislunar-economy">may be profitable in the near future</a>. SpaceX has already sold one <a href="https://dearmoon.earth/">trip to the Moon</a>, tentatively scheduled for launch in 2024. </p>
<p>Companies entering the market early may have an advantage. Crowding is unlikely to be an issue in the near term – the Moon has a <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-big-is-the-moon-let-me-compare-118840">surface area</a> roughly equivalent to the entire Asian continent. Even at the poles, <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-identifies-candidate-regions-for-landing-next-americans-on-moon">multiple sites</a> offer access to both water ice and solar illumination. </p>
<p>However, the first companies on the Moon may set precedents for the extent of lunar mining allowed, as well as the safety and sustainability protocols that others coming later may follow. The United Nations has established a <a href="https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/copuos/lsc/space-resources/index.html">working group</a> to examine the legal issues related to using space resources, but it won’t finish its first set of proposed principles until 2027. In the meantime, commercial entities are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-01441-y">already attempting</a> to land on the Moon.</p>
<h2>Military interest in the Moon</h2>
<p>In 2020, the head of <a href="https://theconversation.com/space-force-sounds-like-a-joke-thanks-to-pop-culture-that-could-be-a-problem-for-an-important-military-branch-155265">the U.S. Space Force</a> referred to the Moon as “<a href="https://www.airandspaceforces.com/raymond-foresees-cislunar-space-as-key-terrain-guardians-going-to-space/">key terrain</a>,” and the Air Force Research Laboratory is funding an experimental satellite called <a href="https://breakingdefense.com/2022/11/oracles-vision-understanding-cislunar-satellite-images-poses-afrls-biggest-challenge/">Oracle</a>, scheduled for launch in 2026. Oracle will monitor the space between the Earth and the Moon. </p>
<p>The U.S. military has decades of experience in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spacepol.2021.101444">monitoring spacecraft orbiting the Earth</a>. It could use this expertise to <a href="https://breakingdefense.com/2022/11/critically-important-new-white-house-strategy-for-cislunar-research-echoes-space-force/">support safety and security</a> as commercial and civil governmental activity near the Moon increases. They could also provide the United States with better intelligence on the space activities of strategic competitors, like <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/news/chinese-spacecraft-makes-first-landing-moon-s-far-side-ncna954066">China</a>.</p>
<p>Some individuals in the space sector <a href="https://spaceforcejournal.org/3859-2/">go further</a> and suggest that the military should watch for weapons hidden in deep space or on the far side of the moon. However, the physics and economics of space suggest that these uses are costly, with <a href="https://www.uscc.gov/annual-report/2019-annual-report-congress">little practical benefit</a>.</p>
<p>While leveraging U.S. military expertise in space makes sense, there are reasons not to take developments in this area too far. Military advances like these – even if done in support of civil and commercial goals – may <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/03/12/space-force-moon-pentagon-00016818">raise suspicion</a> from other nations, potentially leading to increased military space activity on their part, and ultimately increasing tensions.</p>
<h2>Geopolitical concerns</h2>
<p>The Apollo program is famous for its role in the U.S. and the Soviet Union’s mid-20th century “space race.” The United States’ ability to land humans on the Moon was interpreted by many around the world as evidence of U.S. technological superiority and the <a href="https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/educational-resources/space-race">capabilities of a democratic and capitalist society</a>. Some have suggested that the United States is now in a <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/08/22/america-is-losing-the-second-space-race-to-china/">new space race</a>, this time with China. China <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/05/29/china-moon-space-astronauts-lunar/">recently accelerated</a> its plans to send humans to the Moon. </p>
<p>While <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-the-us-in-a-space-race-against-china-203473">not everyone agrees</a> that such a race is taking place, the use of this terminology by U.S. political leaders, including <a href="https://www.space.com/nasa-bill-nelson-china-space-race-moon">current NASA Administrator</a> Bill Nelson, and its ubiquity in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/jul/16/the-space-race-is-back-on-but-who-will-win">global</a> <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3162196/china-us-space-race-heats-chinese-firm-plans-over-40-launches">media</a> <a href="https://japantoday.com/category/world/a-new-space-race-china-adds-urgency-to-us-return-to-moon">coverage</a> suggest that many will view efforts to land humans on the Moon in this way. If China lands humans on the Moon before the United States, people around the world may see this as evidence of <a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/440751-returning-to-the-moon-to-gain-soft-political-power/">China’s role as a global leader</a> and the capabilities of its communist government. </p>
<p>The return to the Moon is not just about competition. It also offers nations opportunities to engage in international cooperation. <a href="https://csis-website-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/publication/220215_Johnson_FlyMe_Moon.pdf?VersionId=eBOSyAKB1ite5cort60IluuBQWvYyADa">More than 20 nations</a> have announced plans to undertake missions to the Moon. Just as the United States is leveraging commercial developments, the U.S. is working with international partners, as well. Europe, Japan and Canada have already joined the United States as partners on the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/gateway">Lunar Gateway</a>, a space station that will orbit the Moon, with the first modules expected to launch in 2025.</p>
<p>The United States is also seeking international support for the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis-accords/index.html">Artemis Accords</a>, a set of principles for responsible lunar exploration and development. As of July 2023, 27 nations had signed the accords. This includes not just close allies like the United Kingdom, Canada and Japan, but also less traditional partners, such as Rwanda, Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates. <a href="https://breakingdefense.com/2023/06/india-signs-artemis-accords-tightening-ties-with-us-in-space-race-with-china-sources/">India’s signing</a> of the accords in June 2023 was seen as a sign of strengthening ties between the U.S. and India.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537534/original/file-20230714-27-mvzy1s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A suited man stands at a NASA podium, with three panelists seated at a table next to him. In the background a green reads " src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537534/original/file-20230714-27-mvzy1s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537534/original/file-20230714-27-mvzy1s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537534/original/file-20230714-27-mvzy1s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537534/original/file-20230714-27-mvzy1s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537534/original/file-20230714-27-mvzy1s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537534/original/file-20230714-27-mvzy1s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537534/original/file-20230714-27-mvzy1s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Twenty-seven countries have signed on to the Artemis Accords, an international collaboration with the goal of encouraging responsible behavior on and around the Moon.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/1252567156/photo/in-this-handout-image-provided-by-nasa-nasa-administrator-bill-nelson-delivers-remarks-prior.jpg?s=612x612&w=0&k=20&c=xCp9Lb7jh7zWaj0oMRw9W08h9BjtLyQFl1SWXgceVRs=">Joel Kowsky/NASA via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It’s worth noting that China’s lunar program also emphasizes international engagement. In 2021, <a href="https://www.space.com/china-russia-moon-base-ilrs">China announced plans</a> to develop the International Lunar Research Station in partnership with Russia, and it has <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/in-china-us-space-race-beijing-uses-space-diplomacy/6284826.html">invited other nations to join</a>, as well. Sweden, France, Italy, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates are all participating in China’s upcoming <a href="https://spacenews.com/china-seeks-new-partners-for-lunar-and-deep-space-exploration/">lunar lander mission</a>. </p>
<p>Ever since humans last left the Moon in 1972, many have dreamed about the days when people would return. But for decades, these efforts have hit political roadblocks. This time, the United States’ plans to return to the Moon are likely to succeed – it has the cross-sector support and the strategic importance to ensure continuity, even during politically challenging times.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209300/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mariel Borowitz receives funding from the the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the U.S. National Science Foundation. </span></em></p>While a return to the Moon will allow the U.S. to collaborate with other nations interested in space, this endeavor is also complicated by geopolitical tensions.Mariel Borowitz, Associate Professor of International Affairs, Georgia Institute of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.