Our Planet

How AI Plays a Significant Role in Discovering the Universe

Artificial intelligence (AI) has driven a lot of advancements in different fields of study. From medicine, engineering, finance, and even the way we do groceries have all changed for the better. More importantly, AI pushes humankind’s understanding of the places we never thought possible.

From protecting humanity to making sense out of seemingly random data, here are a few examples of artificial intelligence playing a significant role in our quest to understand the universe.

Mir Space Station was deorbited on March 23, 2001

On March 23, 2001, after 15 years and more than 86,000 total orbits, Russia’s Mir Space Station was deorbited at 9 a.m. Moscow time. The 134-ton space structure broke up over the southern Pacific Ocean. Some of its larger pieces blazed harmlessly into the sea, about 1,800 miles east of New Zealand.

Today’s (March 23) story of what happened this day in Science, Technology, Astronomy, and Space Exploration history.

Valeri Polyakov set the longest duration spaceflight record (437.7 days) on March 22, 1995

On March 22, 1995, Russian cosmonaut Valeri Vladimirovich Polyakov returned to Earth from space aboard Soyuz TM-20. During this flight (it was Polyakov’s second spaceflight), he completed just over 7,000 orbits of the Earth. On 9 January 1995, after 366 days in space, Polyakov formally broke the spaceflight duration record previously set by the Soviet cosmonauts Vladimir Titov and Musa Manarov six years earlier. The previous record was 365 days 22 hours 38 minutes.

Upon returning to Earth, Polyakov spent 437 days, 17 hours, and 58 minutes in space and set the longest duration spaceflight record that still stands.

Today’s (March 22) story of what happened this day in Science, Technology, Astronomy, and Space Exploration history.

ESA’s Planck spacecraft revealed the most detailed map of the Cosmic Microwave Background on March 21, 2013

On March 21, 2013, European Space Agency‘s (ESA) Planck spacecraft revealed the most detailed map ever created of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB, CMBR).

Today’s (March 21) story of what happened this day in Science, Technology, Astronomy, and Space Exploration history.

Cassini discovered Saturn’s moons Tethys and Dione on March 21, 1864

On March 21, 1864, the Italian mathematician, astronomer, and engineer Giovanni Domenico Cassini (8 June 1625 – 14 September 1712) discovered Saturn’s moons Tethys and Dione. Cassini used a refractor telescope with an aperture of 108 mm to make this observation.

Today’s (March 21) story of what happened this day in Science, Technology, Astronomy, and Space Exploration history.

Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity was published as an academic paper on March 20, 1916

On March 20, 1916, Albert Einstein sent a paper to Annalen der Physik, one of the oldest scientific journals on physics which has been published since 1799. The study was titled “Die Grundlage der Allgemeinen Relativitatstheorie”, translated as “The Foundation of the General Theory of Relativity.” It was the first comprehensive overview of the final version of Einstein’s theory of general relativity after several expositions in preliminary versions.

Today’s (March 20) story of what happened this day in Science, Technology, Astronomy, and Space Exploration history.

IBM.com and sun.com were registered on March 19, 1986

On March 19, 1986, IBM.com and sun.com domains were registered. These domains are the 11th and 12th oldest registered domains in history.

Today’s (March 19) story of what happened this day in Science, Technology, Astronomy, and Space Exploration history.

The first spacewalk was performed by Alexei Leonov on March 18, 1965

On March 18, 1965, Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov stepped out from his Voskhod 2 spacecraft into the void of space and performed the first spacewalk in the history of space exploration.

Today’s (March 18) story of what happened this day in Science, Technology, Astronomy, and Space Exploration history.

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) took its first aligned image of a star

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has taken its first aligned image of a star

March 16, 2022, was a huge milestone for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST): the alignment process of the telescope’s mirrors has finally been completed successfully and it produced the first unified, aligned, and bright image of a single star. NASA announces JWST’s optics are working as expected. The space telescope was reported to be “fully focused”.

Why Renewable Energy is a Geopolitical Issue

Humans around the world have long displayed a thirst for power, sometimes in a literal sense. Powering virtually every aspect of daily life, the origin of our electricity is thus one of the biggest talking points in modern times. Today, approximately 84% of the world’s energy needs come from oil, gas, and coal – aka fossil fuels.