The smallest ever flying object, the largest orbiting telescope and gravitational waves
September 30
This week we will examine the big and the small. Firstly we look at the smallest ever flying structure created by man. We then look at the largest telescope ever built to be sent into space. It will allow us to look back towards the beginning of time. However light could not escape the dense plasma fog that filled the early universe. Therefore to discover what the earliest parts of the universe was composed of we need to examine cosmological gravitational waves. We are not currently able to do this however we are developing the instruments to be able to detect cosmological gravitational waves. Finally we see what it looks like when a giant rock hits Jupiter.
The smallest ever flying structure
Northwestern University engineers have developed a flying microchip that is about the size of a grain of sand. There are no engines instead the chip catches flight on the wind. In a similar way to the maple tree’s propeller seed, it spins like a helicopter through the air.
These micro fliers can be packed with tiny sensors, power sources, antennas and memory to store data. The microchip will fall slowly and in a controlled manner whilst interacting with the wind. They can be used to monitor air quality and airborne particulates, wirelessly sending data back to a nearby smart phone. As the sensors are so small and cheap they can be spread over a large area to form a wireless network. Once the micro flier has landed it will dissolve in water, leaving no trace of its’ existence.
James Webb Space Telescope
In December this year the James Webb Space Telescope will finally be launched. 10 years late and US$9Billion over its’ US$1billion budget this new space telescope will show humanity things that we have never seen before.
In 1990 the Hubble Space Telescope was launched and it provided us with access to space in a way that is just not possible within the atmosphere of earth. We learnt about the age of the universe, stars exploding, black holes and that the universe is actually expanding at an accelerating rate. This discovery lead us to develop the theory of dark energy.
The new telescope is not only larger than Hubble, the size of a tennis court v the size of a small bus it also has a far larger curved mirror to collect reflected light. Put simply, the more light that you can collect the more faint and far away things you can see.
Hubble allowed us to see galaxies as they were billions of years ago, Webb will allow us to see even further back in time, potentially to near the beginning of the universe. Hubble allows us to see light dating to about 400 million years after the big bang, Webb should improve that to 250 million years post the big bang. This will allow us to see the formation of the first stars. Prior to 250 million years after the big bang the universe was a dense form of primordial gas. There is no light from this time that can reach us. This period is known as the Cosmic Dark Ages.
Webb is primarily an infrared telescope. Hubble collected visible light, ultraviolet and a little infrared. Infrared light is wavelengths of light too long for our eyes to see. However infrared light is often very old light (due to redshifting, when a light source is moving away from the viewer it gets stretched out into longer wavelengths). Because space is constantly expanding the things furtherest away from us are moving further away.
Hubble was launched to an orbit 340 miles above earth. Webb will orbit almost 1 million miles away from earth. If it breaks, we won’t be able to fix it. When Hubble’s mirrors had a problem shortly after launch a space shuttle was able to visit and fix it. We won’t be able to fix Webb. The reason for the telescope being so far away is that it needs to be kept cold. The earth is warm and glows in infrared light. If Webb was too close, it would only see the earth’s glow.
Listening to the Big Bang
As we discussed above the dense gas plasma that filled the early universe stops us from seeing the big bang. However there are several projects underway that are trying to “listen” to the big bang using gravitational waves. Gravitational waves are ripples in the very fabric of spacetime.
In 2016 we detected gravitational waves for the first time. Using the Laser Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory (LIGO) twin detectors detected the tiny vibrations from passing gravitational waves. This wave was formed by the merging of two black holes. This type of gravitational wave is called an astrophysical gravitational wave. These detectors focus on low frequency waves and therefore are huge and expensive. The length of each arm of LIGO are 4 kilometers long.
There are new projects that are now trying to detect cosmological gravitational waves. Astrophysical gravitational waves reach us from a precise point in the sky whereas cosmological gravitational waves reach us from all possible directions. This makes them much harder to detect.
The wavelength of the gravitational wave will be proportional to the “size” of the universe at the time of production of the wave. The earlier that it was produced, the smaller the wavelength and the higher the frequency. The era immediately after the initial inflation of the Universe is where these new projects are aiming to record. This may allow us to see evidence of some of the most fascinating theories of nature, for example string theory.
High Frequency detectors will be much smaller and cheaper. At the higher frequencies there are no astrophysical background signals interfering with what we want to measure. With our current technology we can detect minute variations in the high frequency range however the sensitivity of the equipment needs to improve to detect gravitational waves from the early universe.
It took 50 years and more than 20 attempts to detect astrophysical gravitational waves. Hopefully with the increased pace of technological development detecting the higher frequency waves from the early universe won’t take as long.
Jupiter was just smashed by a huge space rock
Amateur Brazilian space observer, Jose Luis Pereira captured the bright flash caused when a giant rock smashed into the Jovian atmosphere.
Jupiter orbits close to the Asteroid Belt and given its’ massive gravity it is regularly bombarded with objects. It is however rare for us to capture an image of the event.
Boeing to build Drones in Australia
In January 2020 we looked at the military drones that Boeing was developing in conjunction with the Australian Air Force. These autonomous jet fighters can operate independently or as part of a swarm. Boeing have just announced that they will manufacture the drones at a purpose built facility next to Wellcamp Airport just outside Toowoomba in Queensland. Named ‘The Loyal Wingman” there is significant interest in the drones from a range of countries.
Paying it Forward
If you have a start-up or know of a start-up that has a product ready for market please let me know. I would be happy to have a look and feature the startup in this newsletter. Also if any startups need introductions please get in touch and I will help where I can.
If you have any questions or comments please email me via my website craigcarlyon.com or comment below.
I would also appreciate it if you could forward this newsletter to anyone that you think might be interested.
Till next week.
As well as drone planes, the future of submarines may be drones as well. The major problem is communication underwater. (and without booming deafening whales). A semi autonomous nuclear submarine will be a worry though. Perhaps will have to send 2 officers (say Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman like Crimson tide to decide what to do)