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Submission + - How we sharpened the James Webb telescope's vision from a million kilometers awa (theconversation.com)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: Hubble started its life seeing out of focus – its mirror had been ground precisely, but incorrectly. By looking at known stars and comparing the ideal and measured images (exactly like what optometrists do), it was possible to figure out a “prescription” for this optical error and design a lens to compensate.

The correction required seven astronauts to fly up on the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1993 to install the new optics. Hubble orbits Earth just a few hundred kilometers above the surface, and can be reached by astronauts.

By contrast, Webb is roughly 1.5 million kilometers away – we can’t visit and service it, and need to be able to fix issues without changing any hardware.

This is where AMI comes in. This is the only Australian hardware on board, designed by astronomer Peter Tuthill.

It was put on Webb to diagnose and measure any blur in its images. Even nanometers of distortion in Webb’s 18 hexagonal primary mirrors and many internal surfaces will blur the images enough to hinder the study of planets or black holes, where sensitivity and resolution are key.

AMI filters the light with a carefully structured pattern of holes in a simple metal plate, to make it much easier to tell if there are any optical misalignments.

We wanted to use this mode to observe the birth places of planets, as well as material being sucked into black holes. But before any of this, AMI showed Webb wasn’t working entirely as hoped.

Submission + - Protein Powders and Shakes Contain High Levels of Lead (consumerreports.org)

Submitted by fjo3
fjo3 writes: For all the industry’s growth and rebranding, one thing hasn’t changed: Protein powders still carry troubling levels of toxic heavy metals, according to a new Consumer Reports investigation. Our latest tests of 23 protein powders and ready-to-drink shakes from popular brands found that heavy metal contamination has become even more common among protein products, raising concerns that the risks are growing right alongside the industry itself.

Submission + - Western Executives Shaken After Visiting China (futurism.com)

Submitted by mspohr
mspohr writes: Western automotive and green energy executives who visit China are returning humbled â" and even terrified.

As The Telegraph reports, the executives are warning that the countryâ(TM)s heavily automated manufacturing industry could quickly leave Western nations behind, especially when it comes to electric vehicles.
You get this sense of a change, where Chinaâ(TM)s competitiveness has gone from being about government subsidies and low wages to a tremendous number of highly skilled, educated engineers who are innovating like mad,â British energy supplier Octopus CEO Greg Jackson told the newspaper.

According to recent figures by the International Federation of Robotics, China has deployed orders of magnitude more industrial robots than Germany, the US, and the UK.

Submission + - Army details plans to put nuclear reactors on 9 bases (taskandpurpose.com) 1

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: Wright said that the U.S. is planning to work with commercial partners who are already developing modular and transportable nuclear reactors that can be flown in a C-17, sit on the back of a flatbed truck, and “not in the too far future,” can be forward deployed and supply multiple megawatts of power.

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