West End: Free public art gallery 'Art after Dark'
Nelly Ben Hayoun-Stépanian, eco-feminist artist and designer of experiences, said: "Piccadilly Un:Plugged invites you to break free from the everyday and step into the extraordinary and alien aesthetics - to gaze into the cosmos, and to understand that we are only a small part of a much larger ecosystem and solar system itself. "Powered by an electric team of incredible scientists and female, trans, and non-binary artists, this experience reimagines the future of nightlife - on Earth and beyond." "I'm beyond excited that everyone can now be part of it, engage their radical imagination and question what other futures could be like," she added.The exhibition, which runs from 6-8 March, was delivered by Heart of London Business Alliance and Westminster City Council.
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Daily Record
5 minutes ago
- Daily Record
Why today is predicted to be one of the shortest days ever recorded
If you're struggling to get through your To Do list today, August 5, you may have an excuse The summer months can make us feel like the days are dragging. Between lethargy, hot days, and balancing work and family commitments, our 24 hours might seem never-ending with bedtime seeming like it's simply never going to come. Other times, the days can fly by, leaving you wondering where those precious hours went. But what if we told you that today, Tuesday, August 5, is predicted to be one of the shortest days ever recorded? Incredibly, today will be approximately 1.34 milliseconds shorter than 24 hours, according to the International Earth Rotation and Reference System Service and the U.S. Naval Observatory, published by TimeandDate. Scientists attribute this phenomenon to changes in the Earth's core and atmospheric influences. Humans won't notice, but these variations can throw off computers, GPS signals, and other systems reliant on precise timekeeping. Since around 2020, scientists have observed a continuous pattern of increasingly shorter days. We can try to get our heads round this by understanding, first of all, that Earth takes 24 hours to complete a full rotation in a standard day, equal to exactly 86,400 seconds. Until 2020, the shortest day ever recorded by atomic clocks was 1.05 milliseconds short, meaning that Earth completed one daily rotation in 1.05 milliseconds less than the expected 86,400 seconds. "Since then, however, Earth has managed to shatter this old record every year by around half a millisecond," astrophysicist Graham Jones wrote for TimeAndDate. The shortest day recorded so far occurred July 5, 2024, when it came in 1.66 milliseconds short. The shortest day recorded this year was July 10, which came in 1.37 milliseconds short. So, why is this happening? Well, the Earth is spinning faster. After decades of slowing down, our planet's rotation has been speeding up in recent years but timekeepers can't explain why. This means that the rest of the planet must speed up to compensate. "The core is what changes how fast the Earth rotates in periods of 10 years to hundreds of years," Duncan Agnew, a geophysicist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, told Scientific American. "The core has been slowing down for the last 50 years, and as a result, the Earth has been speeding up." Humans are unlikely to notice such a small difference to their normal 24-hour day. But the event could spark trouble for scientists who track and operate atomic clocks. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. First introduced in the 1950s, atomic clocks replaced how scientists previously measured the length of a day by tracking the Earth's rotation and the position of the sun. The clocks can also measure in billionths of a second, or nanoseconds, which are synchronized globally to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). If the clocks are thrown off even a tiny amount, it could also throw off computers, servers, GPS signals, and other networks that rely on accurate times, David Gozzard at the University of Western Australia, told the Guardian. Scientists say in order to keep Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) aligned with Earth's rotation, we may need to implement a 'negative leap second,' likely around 2029. This would be the first time a second has been subtracted.
Scottish Sun
5 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
US unveils wild plan to build nuke reactor on the MOON by 2030 in direct challenge to Russia and China in new space race
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) THE US has unveiled plans to build a nuclear reactor on the moon as it seeks to get ahead of China and Russia in the new-age space race. The aim is to mark American territory on the lunar surface by creating a power hub that could supply energy for future missions. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 5 Artist's concept of new fission power system on the lunar surface Credit: NASA 5 An artist's impression of how the nuclear power station would look like on moon Credit: 5 A conceptual image of how China and Russia's space station may look Credit: Getty 5 Nasa chief Sean Duffy is set to announce plans to build the reactor by 2030. It comes just weeks after Russia inked a deal with China to build a nuclear power station on the moon as part of their shared lunar space base. 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China's military presence in the South China Sea signals how the country might behave on the lunar surface, Nelson claimed, which would breach the 1967 Outer Space Treaty. Race to the lunar south pole By Sayan Bose, Foreign News Reporter THE far side of the moon, dubbed the 'dark side', has now become the focal point of numerous space exploration programs. India, Russia, China and the US have all been engaged in space developments to study the far point of the moon. It is deemed to be not only a compelling place for future space explorations but also a suitable site for lunar outposts. Scientists believe it could be the most promising location for water-based ice, which will be key to future human habitation on the Moon. It is also one of the moon's most resource-dense areas. The permanently shadowed places on the Moon could contain ice and other minerals, which would be vital resources for future explorers. Scientists reckon there is an abundance of Helium-3 in so-called 'cold traps' littered across the south pole, which can help produce huge amounts of energy here on Earth. The mountain peaks near the pole - which are illuminated for longer periods - could be used to provide solar energy to an outpost. With an outpost on the Moon, scientists will be able to analyse water and other volatile samples dating to the formation of the Solar System. For China, the landing of the Chang'e-6 lunar probe is an important milestone that the country will leverage to expand its space presence on the far side of the moon. It will use the data collected by the space lander to allow Chinese astronauts to set foot on the moon by 2030. "We better watch out that they don't get to a place on the moon under the guise of scientific research," Nelson told Politico in a 2023 interview. "And it is not beyond the realm of possibility that they say, 'Keep out, we're here, this is our territory.'' 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Daily Mail
5 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
New NASA boss aims to land a nuclear reactor on the moon by 2030
New NASA Administrator Sean Duffy's (pictured) first project will be an attempt to take American energy dominance to the moon. Duffy - who also serves as Transportation Secretary and took the NASA job after Elon Musk's preferred candidate was rejected - is expected to announce an ambitious plans to build a nuclear reactor on the moon this week. The Daily Mail has reached out to NASA and the White House for comment. In 2022, NASA announced plans to put a nuclear reactor on the moon by 2030 as part of a vision to turn the lunar body into an orbiting power station but Duffy wants an expedited, more definite timeline. The goal is for United States to outpace China in 'winning the second space race,' a source told Politico. Earlier this year, it was revealed China may team up with Russia in an attempt to build their own lunar nuclear reactor. Sure enough, Duffy's directive claims that China or Russia or any American enemy could 'declare a keep-out zone which would significantly inhibit the United States' if they got to the moon first. Duffy's directive commands NASA to get someone to lead the effort in the next 60 days and solicit companies that can help launch ahead of China. A former Fox News and reality TV star, Duffy is also pushing an effort to replace the International Space Station. Duffy, a former Congressman from Wisconsin, oversees the $25 billion space agency. In 2022, the US space agency chose three design concept proposals for a fission power system that could be ready to launch by the end of the decade. It is unclear if Duffy is going from the same plans. The plan is for the 40-kilowatt class fission power system to last at least 10 years in the lunar environment, with the hope that it could one day support a permanent human presence on the moon, as well as support manned missions to Mars and beyond. If NASA is to build a base on the lunar surface, one of the major problems to solve will be how such a proposed settlement would be powered. Solar panels are great for powering rovers, but a human base would need a continuous and reliable source of power. NASA experts are looking into nuclear fission as the answer because the technology has been used extensively on Earth. Relatively small and lightweight compared to other power systems, fission systems are reliable and could enable continuous power regardless of location, available sunlight, and other natural environmental conditions, the US space agency said. If the demonstration of such a system on the moon was successful, it would pave the way for the fueling of longer duration journeys through space. It is hoped that the development of these fission surface power technologies will also help NASA advance nuclear propulsion systems that rely on reactors to generate power. These could then be used for deep space exploration missions. The goal will also be to beat China and Russia to the same mission. The East Asian country aims to become a major space power and land astronauts on the moon by 2030, and its planned Chang'e-8 mission for 2028 would lay the groundwork for constructing a permanent, manned lunar base. In a presentation in Shanghai, the 2028 mission's Chief Engineer Pei Zhaoyu showed that the lunar base's energy supply could also depend on large-scale solar arrays, and pipelines and cables for heating and electricity built on the moon's surface. Russia's space agency Roscosmos said last year it planned to build a nuclear reactor on the moon's surface with the China National Space Administration (CNSA) by 2035 to power the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS). The inclusion of the nuclear power unit in a Chinese space official's presentation at a conference for officials from the 17 countries and international organisations that make up the ILRS suggests Beijing supports the idea, although it has never formally announced it. 'An important question for the ILRS is power supply, and in this Russia has a natural advantage, when it comes to nuclear power plants, especially sending them into space, it leads the world, it is ahead of the United States,' Wu Weiren, chief designer of China's lunar exploration program, told Reuters on the sidelines of the conference. After little progress on talks over a space-based reactor in the past, 'I hope this time both countries can send a nuclear reactor to the moon,' Wu said.
