Here are today’s most important updates from the realm of Science and Space.
Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla will jointly conduct five science experiments with NASA aboard the International Space Station (ISS), marking a significant milestone in the growing collaboration between India’s space agency ISRO and NASA. The announcement comes as the Axiom crew completes its ISS training and prepares for launch. The key experiments developed collaboratively by NASA and ISRO, designed to leverage the unique microgravity environment of space to advance knowledge in fields ranging from biology and materials science to Earth observation. The astronaut will also take part in two live events and interact with students from India.
A new study has revealed the most and the least satisfying jobs in the world. The researchers found that the jobs that seem to give the most fulfilment include clergy, various medical professions and writing. Jobs that appear to make people least satisfied include working in kitchens, transport, storage and manufacturing, and being a survey interviewer or sales worker. In terms of overall satisfaction, being a medical professional, psychologist, special-needs teacher, a sheet-metal worker or a ship engineer rated highly. However, being a security guard, survey interviewer, waiter, sales worker, mail carrier, carpenter, or chemical engineer ranked low on the list. Researchers said that various factors contributed to satisfaction, but higher income didn't correlate strongly with it, nor did the prestige of a job.
For years, scientists have spied strange streaks running down Martian cliffsides and crater walls. Some have interpreted those streaks as liquid flows, suggesting the possibility of currently habitable environments on the Red Planet. But a new study, which used machine learning to create and analyze a massive dataset of slope streak features, points to a different explanation: dry process related to wind and dust activity. Scientists first saw the odd streaks in images returned from NASA's Viking mission in the 1970s. The sinewy features are generally darker in hue than the surrounding terrain and extend for hundreds of meters down sloped terrain.
A colossal hole, spanning over 1 million kilometres wide, has opened up in the Sun's atmosphere, unleashing a powerful stream of solar wind toward Earth and prompting space weather forecasters to issue geomagnetic storm alerts for the coming days. The dramatic solar event unfolded as a magnetic filament erupted from the Sun’s northern hemisphere, hurling a coronal mass ejection (CME) into space. According to NOAA forecasters, this CME could deliver a glancing blow to Earth’s magnetic field on May 23, potentially intensifying the already heightened risk of a G1-class geomagnetic storm. Coronal holes are regions where the Sun’s magnetic field opens up, allowing solar winds”streams of charged particles to escape at speeds that can exceed 700 kilometers per second. The Sun is currently in a period of heightened activity, known as solar maximum, characterised by frequent flares, sunspots, and eruptions.
