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Recent analysis of scientific data from Cassini and earth-based observations gave evidence for a global ocean under a surrounding solid ice shell on Saturns moon Enceladus. Images of Enceladus South Pole showed several fissures in the ice shell with plumes constantly exhausting frozen water particles, building up the E-Ring, one of the outer rings of Saturn. In this southern region of Enceladus, the ice shell is considered to be as thin as 2 km, about an order of magnitude thinner than on the rest of the moon. Under the ice shell, there is a global ocean consisting of liquid water. Scientists are discussing different approaches the possibilities of taking samples of water, i.e. by melting through the ice using a melting probe. FH Aachen UAS developed a prototype of maneuverable melting probe which can navigate through the ice that has already been tested successfully in a terrestrial environment. This means no atmosphere and or ambient pressure, low ice temperatures of around 100 to 150 K (near the South Pole) and a very low gravity of 0.114 m/s$^2$ or 1100 {mu}g. Two of these influencing measures are about to be investigated at FH Aachen UAS in 2017, low ice temperature and low ambient pressure below the triple point of water. Low gravity cannot be easily simulated inside a large experiment chamber, though. Numerical simulations of the melting process at RWTH Aachen however are showing a gravity dependence of melting behavior. Considering this aspect, VIPER provides a link between large-scale experimental simulations at FH Aachen UAS and numerical simulations at RWTH Aachen. To analyze the melting process, about 90 seconds of experiment time in reduced gravity and low ambient pressure is provided by the REXUS rocket.
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Nitrogen dioxide (NO$_2$) on Earth today has biogenic and anthropogenic sources. During the COVID-19 pandemic, observations of global NO$_2$ emissions have shown significant decrease in urban areas. Drawing upon this example of NO$_2$ as an industrial byproduct, we use a one-dimensional photochemical model and synthetic spectral generator to assess the detectability of NO$_2$ as an atmospheric technosignature on exoplanets. We consider cases of an Earth-like planet around Sun-like, K-dwarf and M-dwarf stars. We find that NO$_2$ concentrations increase on planets around cooler stars due to less short-wavelength photons that can photolyze NO$_2$. In cloud-free results, present Earth-level NO$_2$ on an Earth-like planet around a Sun-like star at 10pc can be detected with SNR ~5 within ~400 hours with a 15 meter LUVOIR-like telescope when observed in the 0.2 - 0.7micron range where NO$_2$ has a strong absorption. However, clouds and aerosols can reduce the detectability and could mimic the NO$_2$ feature. Historically, global NO$_2$ levels were 3x higher, indicating the capability of detecting a 40-year old Earth-level civilization. Transit and direct imaging observations to detect infrared spectral signatures of NO$_2$ on habitable planets around M-dwarfs would need several 100s of hours of observation time, both due to weaker NO$_2$ absorption in this region, and also because of masking features by dominant H$_2$O and CO$_2$ bands in the infrared part of the spectrum. Non-detection at these levels could be used to place upper limits on the prevalence of NO$_2$ as a technosignature.
An update is given on the exoplanet research collaboration between Nielsen (a marketing research company), Brigham Young University, and NZ universities with the National University of Singapore, which has been expanded to include a community college in the US. Key achievements from the past year are outlined, including density estimates for HD 209458 and Kepler 1 from radial velocity and transit fits. A comparison between the WinFitter optimizer and other techniques is outlined, showing that WinFitter estimated statistical errors are essentially in line (bar a scaling proportion) with those estimated via Markov Chain Monte Carlo techniques.
Immersive virtual reality (VR) has enormous potential for education, but classroom resources are limited. Thus, it is important to identify whether and when VR provides sufficient advantages over other modes of learning to justify its deployment. In a between-subjects experiment, we compared three methods of teaching Moon phases (a hands-on activity, VR, and a desktop simulation) and measured student improvement on existing learning and attitudinal measures. While a substantial majority of students preferred the VR experience, we found no significant differences in learning between conditions. However, we found differences between conditions based on gender, which was highly correlated with experience with video games. These differences may indicate certain groups have an advantage in the VR setting.
Multiple-choice/multiple-response (MCMR) items (i.e., multiple-choice questions for which there may be more than one correct response) can be a valuable tool for assessment. Like traditional multiple-choice/single-response questions, they are easy to grade; but MCMR items may provide more information about student reasoning by probing multiple facets of reasoning in a single problem context. Because MCMR items are infrequently used, best practices for their implementation are not established. In this paper, we describe the administration of MCMR items on an online, research-based assessment. We discuss possible differences in performance on MCMR items that may result from differences in administration method (in-person vs. online). This work is presented as a potential first step toward establishing best-practices for the administration of MCMR items on online assessments.
The IceCube neutrino observatory uses $1,mathrm{km}^{3}$ of the natural Antarctic ice near the geographic South Pole as optical detection medium. When charged particles, such as particles produced in neutrino interactions, pass through the ice with relativistic speed, Cherenkov light is emitted. This is detected by IceCubes optical modules and from all these signals a particle signature is reconstructed. A new kind of signature can be detected using light emission from luminescence. This detection channel enables searches for exotic particles (states) which do not emit Cherenkov light and currently cannot be probed by neutrino detectors. Luminescence light is induced by highly ionizing particles passing through matter due to excitation of surrounding atoms. This process is highly dependent on the ice structure, impurities, pressure and temperature which demands an in-situ measurement of the detector medium. For the measurements at IceCube, a $1.7,mathrm{km}$ deep hole was used which {vertically} overlaps with the glacial ice layers found in the IceCube volume over a range of $350,mathrm{m}$. The experiment as well as the measurement results are presented. The impact {of the results, which enable new kind of} searches for new physics with neutrino telescopes, are discussed.
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