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Technology

Google AI Tool Creates Music from Written Descriptions

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This week, Google researchers published a paper describing results from an artificial intelligence (AI) tool built to create music.

The tool, called MusicLM, is not the first AI music tool to launch. But the examples Google provides demonstrate musical creative ability based on a limited set of descriptive words.

AI shows how complex computer systems have been trained to behave in human-like ways.

Tools like ChatGPT can quickly produce, or generate, written documents that compare well with the work by humans. ChatGPT and similar systems require powerful computers to operate complex machine-learning models. The San Francisco-based company OpenAI launched ChatGPT late last year.

Developers train such systems on huge amounts of data to learn methods for recreating different forms of content. For example, computer-generated content could include written material, design elements, art or music.

ChatGPT has recently received a lot of attention for its ability to generate complex writings and other content from just a simple description in natural language.

Google’s MusicLM

Google engineers explain the MusicLM system this way:

First, a user comes up with a word or words that describe the kind of music they want the tool to create.

For example, a user could enter this short phrase into the system: “a continuous calming violin backed by a soft guitar sound.” The descriptions entered can include different music styles, instruments or other existing sounds.

Several different music examples produced by MusicLM were published online. Some of the generated music came from just one- or two-word descriptions, such as “jazz,” “rock” or “techno.” The system created other examples from more detailed descriptions containing whole sentences.

In one example, Google researchers include these instructions to MusicLM: “The main soundtrack of an arcade game. It is fast-paced and upbeat, with a catchy electric guitar riff. The music is repetitive and easy to remember, but with unexpected sounds…”

In the resulting recording, the music seems to keep very close to the description. The team said that the more detailed the description is, the better the system can attempt to produce it.

The MusicLM model operates similarly to the machine-learning systems used by ChatGPT. Such tools can produce human-like results because they are trained on huge amounts of data. Many different materials are fed into the systems to permit them to learn complex skills to create realistic works.

In addition to generating new music from written descriptions, the team said the system can also create examples based on a person’s own singing, humming, whistling or playing an instrument.

The researchers said the tool “produces high-quality music…over several minutes, while being faithful to the text conditioning signal.”

At this time, the Google team has not released the MusicLM models for public use. This differs from ChatGPT, which was made available online for users to experiment with in November.

However, Google announced it was releasing a “high-quality dataset” of more than 5,500 music-writing pairs prepared by professional musicians called MusicCaps. The researchers took that step to assist in the development of other AI music generators.

The MusicLM researchers said they believe they have designed a new tool to help anyone quickly and easily create high-quality music selections. However, the team said it also recognizes some risks linked to the machine learning process.

One of the biggest issues the researchers identified was “biases present in the training data.” A bias might be including too much of one side and not enough of the other. The researchers said this raises a question “about appropriateness for music generation for cultures underrepresented in the training data.”

The team said it plans to continue to study any system results that could be considered cultural appropriation. The goal would be to limit biases through more development and testing.

In addition, the researchers said they plan to keep improving the system to include lyrics generation, text conditioning and better voice and music quality.

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from Google.

Quiz – Google AI Tool Creates Music from Written Descriptions

Start the Quiz to find out

____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

artificial intelligence – n. the development of computer systems that have the ability to perform work that normally requires human intelligence

style –n. a particular form or design, usually used in comparing forms of art or handiwork

instruction –n. a description of how to do something

arcade – n. an area containing many electronic and other coin-operated games

upbeat – adj. full of hope and happiness

repetitive – adj. saying or doing something over and over again

hum – v. to make a musical sound without opening your mouth

whistle – v. to make a high sound by forcing air through a small hole in the mouth

faithful – adj. staying firm about an idea or belief

appropriate – adj. the level to which something is right for a situation

cultural appropriation – n. when members of a culture in a society, often the main culture, use a practice of another, often minority, culture, without fully understanding the meaning or importance of the practice.

______________________________________________________________

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Technology

Google AI Tool Creates Music from Written Descriptions

Leave a comment

This week, Google researchers published a paper describing results from an artificial intelligence (AI) tool built to create music.

The tool, called MusicLM, is not the first AI music tool to launch. But the examples Google provides demonstrate musical creative ability based on a limited set of descriptive words.

AI shows how complex computer systems have been trained to behave in human-like ways.

Tools like ChatGPT can quickly produce, or generate, written documents that compare well with the work by humans. ChatGPT and similar systems require powerful computers to operate complex machine-learning models. The San Francisco-based company OpenAI launched ChatGPT late last year.

Developers train such systems on huge amounts of data to learn methods for recreating different forms of content. For example, computer-generated content could include written material, design elements, art or music.

ChatGPT has recently received a lot of attention for its ability to generate complex writings and other content from just a simple description in natural language.

Google’s MusicLM

Google engineers explain the MusicLM system this way:

First, a user comes up with a word or words that describe the kind of music they want the tool to create.

For example, a user could enter this short phrase into the system: “a continuous calming violin backed by a soft guitar sound.” The descriptions entered can include different music styles, instruments or other existing sounds.

Several different music examples produced by MusicLM were published online. Some of the generated music came from just one- or two-word descriptions, such as “jazz,” “rock” or “techno.” The system created other examples from more detailed descriptions containing whole sentences.

In one example, Google researchers include these instructions to MusicLM: “The main soundtrack of an arcade game. It is fast-paced and upbeat, with a catchy electric guitar riff. The music is repetitive and easy to remember, but with unexpected sounds…”

In the resulting recording, the music seems to keep very close to the description. The team said that the more detailed the description is, the better the system can attempt to produce it.

The MusicLM model operates similarly to the machine-learning systems used by ChatGPT. Such tools can produce human-like results because they are trained on huge amounts of data. Many different materials are fed into the systems to permit them to learn complex skills to create realistic works.

In addition to generating new music from written descriptions, the team said the system can also create examples based on a person’s own singing, humming, whistling or playing an instrument.

The researchers said the tool “produces high-quality music…over several minutes, while being faithful to the text conditioning signal.”

At this time, the Google team has not released the MusicLM models for public use. This differs from ChatGPT, which was made available online for users to experiment with in November.

However, Google announced it was releasing a “high-quality dataset” of more than 5,500 music-writing pairs prepared by professional musicians called MusicCaps. The researchers took that step to assist in the development of other AI music generators.

The MusicLM researchers said they believe they have designed a new tool to help anyone quickly and easily create high-quality music selections. However, the team said it also recognizes some risks linked to the machine learning process.

One of the biggest issues the researchers identified was “biases present in the training data.” A bias might be including too much of one side and not enough of the other. The researchers said this raises a question “about appropriateness for music generation for cultures underrepresented in the training data.”

The team said it plans to continue to study any system results that could be considered cultural appropriation. The goal would be to limit biases through more development and testing.

In addition, the researchers said they plan to keep improving the system to include lyrics generation, text conditioning and better voice and music quality.

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from Google.

Quiz – Google AI Tool Creates Music from Written Descriptions

Start the Quiz to find out

____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

artificial intelligence – n. the development of computer systems that have the ability to perform work that normally requires human intelligence

style –n. a particular form or design, usually used in comparing forms of art or handiwork

instruction –n. a description of how to do something

arcade – n. an area containing many electronic and other coin-operated games

upbeat – adj. full of hope and happiness

repetitive – adj. saying or doing something over and over again

hum – v. to make a musical sound without opening your mouth

whistle – v. to make a high sound by forcing air through a small hole in the mouth

faithful – adj. staying firm about an idea or belief

appropriate – adj. the level to which something is right for a situation

cultural appropriation – n. when members of a culture in a society, often the main culture, use a practice of another, often minority, culture, without fully understanding the meaning or importance of the practice.

______________________________________________________________

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Science

NASA’s Webb Telescope Confirms First Exoplanet

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NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has made its first confirmation of an exoplanet. An exoplanet is a planet that orbits a star outside our solar system.

The American space agency says the exoplanet is almost exactly the same size as Earth.

Researchers from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland examined new data collected by the Webb to make the confirmation.

Past observations made by another NASA telescope provided some evidence that the exoplanet existed. But the Webb’s confirmation made the discovery official.

The other space telescope is called the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS. TESS was launched in 2018 with the goal of discovering additional planets outside our solar system.

The exoplanet has been named LHS 475 b. The researchers said it is quite close to Earth for an exoplanet. It sits about 41 light-years away in the constellation Octans. A light-year is the distance light travels in one year.

Exoplanets are difficult for telescopes to identify. One reason is that bright light from the stars they orbit can hide them. The search process includes observing drops in the light level of stars. Such drops could be caused by a planet passing, or transiting, in front of a star.

Researchers said the Webb was able to confirm the existence of the exoplanet using the transiting observation method. They said the confirmation came quickly after just two transit events.

NASA has said the Webb telescope was developed to be able to provide a high level of detail in its observations. It is equipped with the latest technology to observe infrared waves. These waves are a kind of electromagnetic energy that cannot be seen with the human eye. NASA says the telescope’s instruments can find infrared waves through gas and dust to observe distant objects.

Jacob Lustig-Yaeger helped lead the research. He said in a statement that the telescope data made it easy to make a clear confirmation. “There is no question that the planet is there.”

The finding was recently presented at a conference of the American Astronomical Society in Seattle, Washington.

Another leader of the team, Kevin Stevenson, added that he found the confirmation “impressive” because the exoplanet is small and rocky, which makes identification more difficult.

Of all of NASA’s operating telescopes, only the Webb is equipped to collect information on the atmospheres of exoplanets. But in this case, the researchers said they do not have enough data to confirm what kind of atmosphere LHS 475 b has.

Scientists generally use computer models and telescope data to study the atmospheres of exoplanets. Another member of the research team, Erin May, said the Webb telescope can easily identify a series of different molecules. “But we can’t yet make any definitive conclusions about the planet’s atmosphere,” she added.

While the researchers said they cannot confirm what is present in the exoplanet’s atmosphere, they are very sure about what is not present. For example, LHS 475 b cannot have a thick atmosphere that is mostly methane, Lustig-Yaeger said.

The team even noted it is possible that the exoplanet has no atmosphere at all. Some of the available data suggests the exoplanet may have an atmosphere of pure carbon dioxide. But the researchers said they plan to gather more data in future observations to help them learn about atmospheric conditions.

NASA says it has so far confirmed more than 5,000 exoplanets. But Lustig-Yaeger noted that the Webb telescope is much better equipped to discover small, rocky exoplanets. He said this will likely lead to a lot more exoplanet confirmations.

And, Lustig-Yaeger added, “We have barely begun scratching the surface of what their atmospheres might be like.”

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from NASA.

Quiz – NASA’s Webb Telescope Confirms First Exoplanet

Start the Quiz to find out

___________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

impressive – adj. making a good or marked impression

definitive – adj. clear and not likely to change

conclusion – n. an opinion reached after considering all information about something

scratch the surface – idiom. to deal with only a small part of a subject or problem

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Health

Your Smell Could Attract Mosquitoes

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A new study finds that some people attract mosquitoes much more than others, and it probably involves the way they smell.

The researchers found that people who attract mosquitoes the most produce a lot of certain chemicals on their skin. These chemicals are connected to the scent that attracts the mosquitoes.

Leslie Vosshall is one of the authors of the study and a neurobiologist at Rockefeller University in New York. She said, “If you have high levels of this stuff on your skin, you’re going to be the one at the picnic getting all the bites.”

For many years, there have been a lot of ideas about who is likely to get bitten more. But those ideas have not been supported by strong evidence, Vosshall said.

For the study, researchers designed an experiment to have people’s scents compete against each other.

They asked 64 volunteers to wear stockings around their forearms to absorb, or take in, the scent from their skin. The stockings were put in separate traps at the end of a long tube. Then, dozens of mosquitoes were released.

The mosquitoes came to some traps much more than others. The scientists did the experiment several times, always changing which stockings were competing against each other. At the end, they discovered a huge difference between stockings. The most attractive stocking was around 100 times more attractive to the mosquitoes than the last-place finisher.

The experiment used a kind of mosquito that spreads diseases like yellow fever, Zika and dengue. Vosshall said she would expect similar results from other kinds of mosquitoes. But additional research needs to be done to know for sure.

FILE – An Aedes aegypti mosquito is seen through a microscope at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation laboratory in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on August 14, 2019. (Photo by MAURO PIMENTEL / AFP)

By testing the same people for over a year, the study showed that these big differences remain, said Matt DeGennaro, a neurogeneticist at Florida International University. He was not involved in the research.

“Mosquito magnets seem to remain mosquito magnets,” DeGennaro said.

The researchers found a common factor: Mosquito magnets had high levels of certain acids on their skin. People produce them in different amounts, Vosshall said. The healthy bacteria that live on the skin eat up these acids and produce part of the way our skin smells, she said.

The research could help find new ways to repel mosquitoes, said Jeff Riffell, a neurobiologist at the University of Washington who was not involved with the study. There may be ways to affect the skin bacteria and change the smell that attracts mosquitoes, he said.

However, he said that would be hard to do. Researchers also did the experiment with mosquitoes whose genes were changed to damage their sense of smell. But they still flew to the same mosquito magnets.

Vosshall said mosquitoes have ways to find us even if we change some conditions. “They have many backup plans to be able to find us and bite us,” she said.

I’m Andrew Smith.

Maddie Burakoff wrote this story for the Associated Press. Andrew Smith adapted it for VOA Learning English.

Quiz – Study: Your Smell Could Attract Mosquitoes


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_____________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

attract –v. to bring attention to something or make something come towards another thing

scent –n. an odor or smell

picnic –n. a meal eaten outdoors, often in a park or other natural setting

stockings –n. tight-fitting covering for legs, feet, or arms, usually made of nylon

dozen –n. a group of twelve items

factor –n. a thing or element that has an effect on a situation or event

repel –v. to force or move away something coming towards an object

backup –n. alternatives, other options

_______________________________________________________________________

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Science

NASA Makes Final Preparations to Crash Spacecraft into Asteroid

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The American space agency NASA is making final preparations to crash a spacecraft into an asteroid in the world’s first planetary defense test.

The mission is called the Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART. The DART spacecraft launched on its trip to the asteroid last November. On September 26, it will aim to strike the asteroid to see how the crash affects the space object’s path.

The test is designed to demonstrate a possible method for changing the direction of asteroids considered threats to Earth.

The mission’s target will be an asteroid called Dimorphos, which is part of a two-body asteroid system. Dimorphos is a small “moonlet” that orbits a larger asteroid named Didymos. Didymos is about 780 meters across, while Dimorphos is 160 meters.

This image shows light from the asteroid Didymos and its orbiting moonlet Dimorphos. It is a combination of 243 images taken by the Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for Optical navigation (DRACO) on July 27, 2022. (Image Credits: NASA JPL DART Navigation Team)

The asteroid system does not present any danger to Earth. But NASA says it is being targeted as a more effective way to test the crash method instead of striking a single asteroid flying through space.

The goal of the DART mission is to see how the spacecraft crash will re-direct the asteroid’s path and speed. The crash will happen about 11 million kilometers from Earth.

Currently, Dimorphos completes one orbit around Didymos every 11 hours and 55 minutes. The separation between the centers of the two asteroids is 1.18 kilometers. The DART spacecraft will aim to hit Dimorphos nearly head-on. When this happens, it will shorten the time it takes the small asteroid moonlet to orbit Didymos by several minutes, NASA explains.

Telescopes on Earth will measure the change in the orbital period.

NASA engineers have said they are hoping for a change of at least 73 seconds for the mission to be considered a success.

Members of the DART team carefully inspect the spacecraft before performing vibration tests in July 2021. (Image Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ed Whitman)

Earlier this month, NASA announced the DART spacecraft had gotten its first look at the asteroid system. A series of images were taken July 27 by an imaging instrument on the spacecraft. The images showed light given off by the Didymos system.

NASA said at the time the images were captured, the spacecraft was about 32 million kilometers away from the two asteroids. This made it difficult to see much of the Didymos system. But after the pictures were combined and examined, the team was able to improve the image quality and identify its location.

Elena Adams is the DART mission systems engineer at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland. She said, “This first set of images is being used as a test to prove our imaging techniques.” Adams added that the imaging instrument is what will guide the DART spacecraft to its asteroid target.

DART team members install and inspect the spacecraft’s DART’s only instrument – the Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for Optical navigation (DRACO) – onto the spacecraft in June 2021. (Image Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ed Whitman)

In the final hours before the crash, the spacecraft will need to see and process images of the asteroid system as it travels by itself to the target without human involvement, NASA said.

The DART operation will be captured in images taken by a CubeSat. CubeSats are small research spacecraft also known as nanosatellites.

DART team members from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland and the Italian Space Agency carefully position the LICIACube into place on the DART spacecraft. (Image Credits: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ed Whitman)

The 14-kilogram CubeSat that will capture the images is called LICIACube. It is a project of the Italian Space Agency. It was designed and built by the Italian space engineering company Argotec. LICIACube is set to be deployed from the spacecraft about 10 days before the crash.

LICIACube is equipped with two separate cameras. They are designed to collect scientific data and inform the CubeSat’s self-guiding system. The cameras will continually capture the asteroid crash as well as the resulting effects of the operation.

DART team engineers lift and inspect the LICIACube CubeSat after it arrived at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland in August. The miniaturized satellite will deploy 10 days before DART’s asteroid strike. (Image Credits: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ed Whitman)

Elisabetta Dotto is a member of the LICIACube scientific team at the National Institute for Astrophysics in Rome. She said in a statement that she and other scientists are “eager” to receive and examine the images captured by the CubeSat. “It will be so exciting to study, for the first time, the nature and structure of such weird objects as binary [near-Earth asteroids].”

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from NASA and The Associated Press.

Quiz – NASA Makes Final Preparations to Crash Spacecraft into Asteroid


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____________________________________________________

Words in This Story

asteroid – n. a rocky object that goes around the sun like a planet

mission – n. a flight by an aircraft or spacecraft to perform a specific task

location – n. the place where something happens

technique – n. a method

eager – adj. wanting to do something very much

weird – adj. very unusual or strange

binary – adj. relating to two things

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Science

NASA Finds Evidence of Carbon Dioxide in Exoplanet Atmosphere

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The newly deployed James Webb Space Telescope has discovered the first clear evidence of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of a planet outside our solar system.

The American space agency NASA confirmed the evidence, which it said was discovered in the atmosphere of a planet orbiting a star about 700 light years from Earth. Planets that orbit a star outside our solar system are called exoplanets.

NASA said the exoplanet where the carbon dioxide was found, or detected, is a hot, gas planet. It was discovered in 2011 and is called WASP-39 b. The exoplanet – which has a mass about the same as Saturn’s – stays around 900 degrees Celsius. It remains hot because it orbits very close to its star.

The space agency said the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes have made observations of WASP-39 b in the past. Those observations suggested the presence of water vapor, sodium and potassium in the exoplanet’s atmosphere.

But now, the presence of carbon dioxide has also been confirmed in its atmosphere. NASA said the Webb telescope was able to make the discovery because of its unusual technical abilities.

Researchers recently described the discovery in a paper published online. A detailed study about the findings is to appear in an upcoming issue of the publication Nature.

NASA has described Webb as “the largest and most powerful space science telescope ever built.” It is a joint partnership between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency.

Webb is designed to gather more data and explore parts of space that have never been observed before. In July, NASA released the first images captured by the Webb telescope. The images demonstrated Webb’s ability to collect data on distant objects and observe highly detailed elements of galaxies and exoplanets.

NASA said a sensitive, infrared instrument made it possible for the orbiting observatory to confirm the presence of carbon dioxide in WASP-39 b’s atmosphere. The instrument is called a Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec).

NIRSpec is designed to capture radiation in near-infrared wavelengths. Using this instrument, astronomers are able to produce a detailed map of some of the chemicals found in a planet’s atmosphere, if conditions are right. This permits scientists to look for the presence of gasses and other substances.

Zafar Rustamkulov is a student at Johns Hopkins University and a member of the Webb’s Early Release Science team. He said in a statement that as soon as he saw the carbon dioxide data, he knew it was a major discovery. “It was a special moment, crossing an important threshold in exoplanet sciences.”

Natalie Batalha of the University of California at Santa Cruz helped lead the team. She said, “Detecting such a clear signal of carbon dioxide on WASP-39 b bodes well for the detection of atmospheres on smaller, terrestrial-sized planets.”

NASA said such discoveries are important because they help scientists better understand the makeup of a planet’s atmosphere. This can provide valuable information about how planets formed and developed over time.

“Carbon dioxide molecules are sensitive tracers of the story of planet formation,” said Mike Line of Arizona State University. He is another member of the research team. “By measuring this carbon dioxide…, we can determine how much solid versus how much gaseous material was used to form this gas giant planet.”

Line added that in coming years, the Webb telescope is expected to continue making similar discoveries. In doing so, scientists can gain “insight into the details of how planets form and the uniqueness of our own solar system.”

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from NASA, Agence France-Presse and the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy.

Quiz – NASA Finds Evidence of Carbon Dioxide in Exoplanet Atmosphere

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Words in This Story

vapor – n. small drops of liquid that exist in the air

threshold – n. the level at which something starts to happen

bode well – n. to be a good sign for the future

terrestrial – adj. of or relating to Earth

trace – v. to follow something

insight – n. the ability to understand what something is really like

unique – adj. different from other things

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Science

NASA to Launch Two More Helicopters to Mars

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NASA is launching two more small helicopters to Mars as part of its effort to return Martian rocks and soil samples to Earth.

Under the plan announced in late July, NASA’s Perseverance rover will transport soil samples to a rocket. The rocket will then launch the collected material off the red planet in about 10 years.

The two helicopters being built will help NASA’s Perseverance rover, which is already on Mars. The helicopters will load samples onto the return rocket if NASA’s Perseverance rover breaks down.

Perseverance already has gathered 11 samples with more rock drilling planned. The most recent sample, a sedimentary rock, holds the greatest chance of containing possible evidence of ancient Martian life, said Arizona State University’s Meenakshi Wadhwa. Wadhwa is chief scientist for the retrieval effort.

There’s “a diversity of materials already in the bag, so to speak,” she said, adding that researchers are very excited about bringing the materials back to Earth.

The helicopters will be modeled after NASA’s successful Ingenuity. It has made 29 flights since arriving with Perseverance on Mars early last year. The helicopter weighs just 1.8 kilograms. The new versions will have wheels and arms.

NASA officials said Perseverance’s strong performance on Mars has led them to change their plan to launch a separate vehicle.

Jeff Gramling, director of NASA’s Mars sample return program, said the new path forward is simpler. Each helicopter will be designed to lift one sample tube at a time, making several trips back and forth.

“We have confidence that we can count on Perseverance to bring the samples back and we’ve added the helicopters as a backup means,” Gramling said.

NASA is working with the European Space Agency on the retrieval mission. If all goes as planned, as many as 30 samples would launch from Mars in 2031 and arrive back at Earth in 2033.

Scientists will then study the samples in laboratories. They will be looking for signs of microbial life that may have existed on Mars billions of years ago when water flowed on the planet.

I’m John Russell.

Marcia Dunn reported on this story for the Associated Press. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English.

_____________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

sample – n. a small amount of something that gives you information about the thing it was taken from

sedimentary – (adj. science) made from material that sinks to the bottom of a liquid : made from sediment

retrieval – n. the act or process of getting and bringing back something; the act or process of retrieving something

tube – n. a container that is shaped like a tube which is closed at one end and that is used especially in science experiments

confidence –n. a feeling or belief that something is true or that it is likely to happen

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Science

Scientists Discover New, Unusual Radio Signal from Faraway Galaxy

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Researchers say they have discovered a new, unusual radio signal from a distant galaxy.

The signal is known as a fast radio burst, or FRB. These signals are pulses of radio waves that scientists say can come from places within our own Milky Way galaxy or others.

The first FRB was discovered in 2007. Since then, hundreds of the signals have been observed by large telescopes in different parts of the world.

Astronomers are not sure what causes FRBs. But they have theorized the signals could be produced by neutron stars. A neutron star is thought to form after the gravitational collapse of a larger star that explodes at the end of its life.

The researchers reporting the latest FRB say it was unusual because the signal lasted much longer than others observed. Most FRBs last only a few milliseconds. But the new signal lasted up to three seconds – about 1,000 timer longer – the team explains in a statement.

The new FRB was first observed in December 2019 by a radio telescope called the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment, or CHIME. The telescope sits near the southwestern Canadian city of Kaleden. Several Canadian and American universities support the project.

Artist’s conception of a neutron star with an ultra-strong magnetic field, called a magnetar. (Bill Saxton, NRAO/AUI/NSF/Handout via REUTERS)

CHIME was designed to observe radio waves given off by hydrogen gas in distant galaxies. But the telescope’s operators say it is also good at picking up signals from FRBs.

The scientists say they think the signal came from a distant galaxy several billion light years from Earth. A light year is the distance light travels in one year, about nine trillion kilometers.

The researchers said the newly observed FRB was also unusual because it appeared to repeat a continuous pattern, “similar to a beating heart.” Most FRBs observed in the past generally lasted for a few milliseconds before disappearing.

Daniele Michilli is a postdoctoral candidate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He helped lead the research for the university’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research. He says there are not many things in the universe that give off the kind of “periodic signals” the telescope observed.

This led the team to believe that the unusual FRB may have come from two kinds of neutron stars, a pulsar or a magnetar. A pulsar is a fast-spinning neutron star. A magnetar is a neutron star with a very strong magnetic field. “We think this new signal could be a magnetar or pulsar on steroids,” Michilli said.

Their conclusion about where the signal came from was based on data collected on pulsars and magnetars observed in our own galaxy. However, the team noted that the unusual FRB appears to be more than a million times brighter than those observed in the Milky Way. The scientists are not sure why the FRB would be so much brighter.

The astronomers said the new signal is the longest lasting and has the clearest periodic pattern than any FRBs observed before. They are hoping to capture additional observations of the signal. This could help them better understand where it came from and learn more about the general nature of neutron stars.

“This detection raises the question of what could cause this extreme signal that we’ve never seen before, and how we can use this signal to study the universe,” Michilli said. “Future telescopes promise to discover thousands of FRBs a month, and at that point we may find many more of these periodic signals.”

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from MIT News, Nature

Quiz – Scientists Discover New, Unusual Radio Signal from Faraway Galaxy


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Words in This Story

galaxy – n. a very large group of stars held together in the universe

pulse – n. a short increase in an amount of electricity, light or sound

pattern – n. a regular and repeated way in which something happens

conclusion – n. a reasoned judgment

steroid – n. a drug used for treating injuries and that some athletes use illegally to improve their performance in sports

detect – v. to discover or notice something

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Science

Scientists Send Stem Cells into Space in NASA-supported Experiment

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A new experiment aims to study ways to produce huge amounts of special cells that could be used to treat many diseases.

The special cells, known as stem cells, arrived on a supply ship recently at the International Space Station for testing in Earth’s orbit.

The cells are part of a project led by scientists at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. The researchers are trying to find new ways to make large amounts of stem cells that can produce nearly any other kind of cell in the human body.

Researcher Dhruv Sareen’s own stem cells are among those now orbiting the Earth. The goal is to test whether the stem cells will grow better in zero gravity.

“I don’t think I would be able to pay whatever it costs now” to take a private ride to space, Sareen said. “At least a part of me in cells can go up!”

The experiment is the latest research project that involves sending stem cells into space. Some projects aim to overcome the difficulty of mass producing the cells. Others explore how space travel impacts the cells in the body. And some help scientists better understand diseases such as cancer.

The only stem cell-based products approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) contain blood-forming stem cells from umbilical cord blood. These products are for patients with blood disorders such as kinds of lymphoma. There are no approved treatments using the kind of stem cells being sent to space, said Jeffrey Millman of Washington University in St. Louis.

But studies are underway involving stem cells that target health conditions such as macular degeneration, Parkinson’s disease and heart attack damage. Millman is involved in research that could lead to a new approach for treating Type 1 diabetes.

Promise and difficulties

Scientists see great possibilities for stem cells.

But stem cell research faces a problem. Earth’s gravity makes it difficult to grow the large numbers of cells that could be necessary for future treatments. Such treatments could require more than a billion cells per patient.

“With current technology right now, even if the FDA instantly approved any of these therapies, we don’t have” the ability to produce what’s needed, Millman said.

Millman said the problem is that, in large bioreactors, the cells need to be moved in a circular motion very quickly. This stress can cause most of the cells to die.

“In zero G, there’s no force on the cells, so they can just grow in a different way,” said Clive Svendsen of Cedars-Sinai’s Regenerative Medicine Institute.

The Cedars-Sinai team has sent up what are called induced pluripotent stem cells. Many scientists consider them the perfect starting materials for many treatments. They carry a patient’s own DNA, and their many uses make them similar to embryonic stem cells. But induced pluripotent stem cells are reprogrammed from adults’ skin or blood cells.

For their experiment, which is being financed by NASA, researchers sent into space a small container that holds bags filled with cells and all of the materials needed to keep them alive for four weeks. The cargo will also include neural stem cells that came from Svendsen. The scientists used stem cells derived from their own white blood cells because it was easy for them to approve their use.

The scientists will compare the cells in space with a similar group back on Earth. The research team will get the space experiment back in about five weeks, when it returns in the same SpaceX spaceship.

The experiment is designed to prepare the way for more NASA-supported research. If they are able to discover a way to make billions of cells in orbit, Svendsen said, the effects “could be huge.”

I’m John Russell.

Laura Ungar reported on this story for the Associated Press. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English.

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Words in This Story

stem cell – n. a simple cell in the body that is able to develop into any one of various kinds of cells (such as blood cells, skin cells, etc.)

umbilical cord – n. : a long, narrow tube that connects an unborn baby to the placenta of its mother

therapy – n. the treatment of physical or mental illnesses

bioreactor – n. a device in which living organisms create useful substances

stress – n. physical force or pressure

neural – adj. of, relating to, or involving a nerve or the nervous system

derive – v. to have something as a source : to come from something

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Science

5 Planets Align in the Sky in Rare Formation

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The five major planets in our solar system have lined up in a rare formation that sky watchers can see with their own eyes.

Astronomers say the formation is expected to remain in the sky through the rest of June. The planets involved are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. They are the brightest planets in the solar system.

Seeing two or three major planets close to each other can be a common sight. But the American Astronomical Society said in a statement that seeing all five together is rare. The last time such a planet formation happened was in December 2004.

The society said the best time to watch the five planets is shortly before the sun rises. They will be “stretching across the sky from low in the east to higher in the south,” the statement said.

Some astronomers are calling the event a “planet parade.”

A map published by the Astronomical Society’s Sky & Telescope magazine shows the planets appearing from left to right in this order – Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Mercury will appear at the lowest point on the horizon.

This graphic image shows the positions of the five major planets in our solar system. The planets are lining up in a rare formation that is expected to be visible in the sky through the rest of June. (Image Credit: Stellarium, with graphic additions by Bob King)

People in the Northern Hemisphere should look toward the east-southeast horizon, while those in the Southern Hemisphere should be looking toward the east-northeastern horizon.

The planets should be visible without special equipment such as a telescope. But binoculars will be helpful. Cloudy weather will also affect visibility, so astronomers suggest some planning for the best experience.

“If it’s cloudy on the dates of note, you still have all the mornings in between to take in the view of the five naked–eye planets adorning the southeastern horizon,” the society said. “Just make sure you set your alarm and wake up on time.”

Mercury is the most difficult to see because it is closer to the glow of the sun. But the other planets should be easy to see, even without the use of binoculars, for several more days.

On June 19th, the American Space Agency NASA tweeted about the beginning of the unusual planet lineup. “Look up starting tonight to see Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn spread out and appear to line up in the sky.” NASA noted that on June 23, sky watchers got a special treat, when the “crescent moon” joined the lineup.

A “crescent” describes the shape of the moon as it appears early in its first quarter or late in its last quarter. During this period, only a small edge of the moon is visible and is lit up by the sun.

As June ends, the planet parade will come to an end. Astronomers predict the next chance to see the five-planet formation will be March 2041.

NASA says June is also a good time for more serious sky watchers to observe one of the best-known “globular star clusters.” These “clusters,” or groups, are spherical collections of stars gathered closely together at their centers. They can include tens of thousands to millions of stars. They orbit the centers of many galaxies.

The one currently most observable is called M13, also known as the Hercules Cluster. But the space agency notes that binoculars or a telescope will be necessary to see it. “Find M13 in the constellation Hercules, which is high in the east in the first couple of hours after dark in June,” NASA advises.

This image, captured by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, shows the M13, or Hercules constellation, located 25,000 light-years from Earth. Image Credits: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team)

A constellation is a group of stars that forms a shape in the sky and has been given a name and has a story behind it.

The stars in M13 are thought to be around 12 billion years old. That is nearly as old as the universe itself, NASA notes.

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from the American Astronomical Society, Sky & Telescope and NASA.

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Quiz – 5 Planets Align in the Sky in Rare Formation


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Words in This Story

horizon – n. where the sky seems to touch the land or sea

visible – adj. able to be seen

binoculars – n. a pair of tubes with glass lenses at the ends that you look through to see things far away

the naked eye – n. if something can be seen with the naked eye, it can be seen without the help of special equipment

adorn – v. to add something decorative to a person or thing

glow – v. to produce a continuous light and sometimes heat

spherical – adj. something with a round shape, like a ball

galaxy – n. one of the independent groups of stars in the universe



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