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Indian Express
3 hours ago
- Science
- Indian Express
From Orbiter Columbia to Discovery: Here are the top 5 biggest space shuttles
The Space Shuttle, as National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) describes, represented an 'entirely new generation of space vehicle,' the world's first reusable spacecraft, which were 'launched like a rocket, maneuvered in Earth's orbit like a spacecraft and landed like an airplane.' There are about three Space Shuttle orbiters currently in operation – Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour, which are all designed to fly at least 100 missions, NASA stated on its website. As India takes a step ahead in its space program, with Shubhanshu Shukla heading to the International Space Station (ISS) under the Axiom-4 mission this week, we take a look at the top five biggest space shuttles operated from all corners of the world: Orbiter Enterprise An early Space Shuttle Orbiter, the Enterprise, never flew in space but was 'used for approach and landing tests at the Dryden Flight Research Center and several launch pad studies in the late 1970s,' according to the website. Orbiter Columbia America's first reusable Space Shuttle, Columbia was launched for the first time with NASA astronauts John Young and Bob Crippen aboard on April 12, 1981. The space shuttle continued the heritage of intrepid exploration, becoming one of groundbreaking scientific research and notable 'firsts' in space flight, as per NASA. Commander John Young even called the flight 'something just short of a miracle.' It was delivered to NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Florida, in March 1979. One of its crowning moments remain the deployment of the gleaming Chandra X-ray Observatory in July 1999, which specialized in viewing deep space objects and finding the answers to astronomy's most fundamental questions. However, it had some limitations. The heaviest of NASA's orbiters, Columbia weighed too much and lacked the necessary equipment to assist with the assembly of the ISS. Moreover, Columbia and its crew were tragically lost during STS-107 in 2003 after a small portion of foam broke away from the external fuel tank and hit the orbiter's left wing, NASA noted. The consequential damage created a hole in the wing's leading edge, causing the vehicle to break apart during re-entry to Earth's atmosphere. Orbiter Challenger Next in line is the Orbiter Challenger, which was built to serve as a test vehicle for the Space Shuttle program. Being the second orbiter to join NASA's Space Shuttle fleet, OV-099 arrived at NASA's KSC in Florida in July 1982, bearing the name 'Challenger.' Launched on her maiden voyage on April 4, 1983, Challenger saw the deployment of the first satellite in the Tracking and Data Relay System constellation, besides other scientific experiments and satellite deployments. Challenger's service to America's space program ended in tragedy on January 28, 1986 when just 73 seconds into the mission STS 51-L, a booster failure caused an explosion that resulted in the loss of seven astronauts, as well as the vehicle, the official website of NASA noted. Orbiter Discovery Discovery (OV-103) was NASA's third space shuttle orbiter to join the fleet, arriving for the first time at the KSC in Florida in November 1983. Since its inaugural flight in 1984, Discovery has completed more than 30 successful missions, surpassing the number of flights made by any other orbiter in NASA's fleet. It has carried 'satellites aloft, ferried modules and crew to the International Space Station, and provided the setting for countless scientific experiments,' as the NASA states. This Orbiter clearly benefited from the lessons learned during the construction and testing of Enterprise, Columbia and Challenger, such that at rollout, its weight was about 6,870 pounds less than Columbia. Orbiter Atlantis Another Orbiter which learnt its lessons from Enterprise, Columbia and Challenger was the Atlantis (OV-104), whose construction was completed in about half the time in man-hours spent on Columbia. Nearly 3.5 tons lighter than Columbia, the orbiter arrived at NASA's KSC on April 9, 1985, NASA mentioned. Atlantis served as the on-orbit launch site for various noteworthy spacecraft, including planetary probes Magellan and Galileo, as well as pioneered the Shuttle-Mir missions, flying the first seven missions to dock with the Russian space station, NASA highlighted. It has also delivered several vital components to the ISS in the recent years. Orbiter Endeavour Authorized as a replacement for the Space Shuttle orbiter Challenger, Endeavour (OV-105) arrived at the KSC's Shuttle Landing Facility on May 7, 1991. One of the space shuttle's primary assignments was to capture INTELSAT VI, an orbiting, but non-functioning, communications satellite, and replace its rocket motor. After numerous attempts, the satellite was finally captured for repair. 'An unprecedented three-person spacewalk took place after the procedure was evaluated by the astronauts and ground team,' NASA states. The crew onboard also conducted medical tests assessing the human body's performance in microgravity. It was the first time when four spacewalks were conducted on a Space Shuttle mission, with one of them being the longest in space history, lasting more than eight hours. NASA underlines, 'OV-105 became the first Space Shuttle orbiter to use a drag chute during a landing — only one of many technical improvements made to Endeavour.'
The Hindu
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
From rap career to politics, Zohran Mamdani is shaking up New York city politics
Zohran Mamdani is 33. He met his wife Rama Duwaji, a Syrian-born illustrator, on Hinge, a dating app. While grocery shopping, he listens to an hour-long auto-tuned version 'One Pound Fish' by a Bangladeshi man trying to sell fish in London's Queen's Market. His parents are filmmakers Mira Nair and Columbia professor Mahmood Mamdani. He went by 'Mr. Cardamom' when he had a rap career. Mamdani's campaign promises include freezing rent, making public transport free, and subdising grocery stores. He also has a chantable, two-syllable name. 'Zoh-ran' 'Zoh-ran' seems to have a nice ring to it. Facts. So many facts off the top of my head. On June 24, when he won the democratic primary against his opponent Andrew Cuomo Rohan Joshi, an Indian stand-up comic and content creator, suggested in an Instagram reel that we go out to hug our South Bombay friends who were enthusiastically celebrating his victory in the democratic primary — a portion of the New York Mayoral elections. The chronically-online Indian millennial and Gen Z audience suddenly seemed to know far more about Mamdani and voting in New York than facts about their own Members of Parliament. All this, and the guy isn't even mayor yet. What about him has captured the fancy of a young Indian voter base that rarely gets out to vote and cannot name the Member of Legislative Assembly representing their constituency? Is it his A) humble and relatable off-the-rack suit, tie and Casio demeanour B) several hundred Hindi references, appealing to the Indian diaspora C) work with communities including the Blacks, gays and the immigrant population? D) simple good looks and youth or E) ability to use public transport and walk long distances. (You are allowed to choose over one option). Politico says, 'Critics scoffed at the 33-year-old democratic socialist's pie-in-the-sky agenda. And then he trounced everyone.' I'd like to think that Mamdani has struck a chord with young voters globally because he knows how to work social media. His Instagram reels speak to a generation that seeks what he promises: affordable housing, free transport and decent use of taxpayer money. They also want to see their pestilent youth represented in the office. It's why Mamdani's campaign deliberately uses clear fonts and easy chants in colours the Gen Z loves. I now know how much food at a halal cart costs even though I have never set foot in America, let alone eaten at one. While he is now being hailed as Lenin's second coming in liberal circles that are finally coming into their polity, skeptics wonder if his policies will even work in today's age. It's the optimism that works in his favour though. Despite these several opinions, I wonder what I will do with as much information about Mamdani and his campaign. Considering I will never vote there, will I shut this information in the brainrot corner of my head, or will it inform how I envision politics transforming in my own country? Elections in India are not won because of social media but dramatically influenced by it. Only last year, during the Lok Sabha polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi could be seen rubbing shoulders with influencers. With only one year to go for the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly elections, one can see the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Bharatiya Janata Party's IT wings buzzing. Going by evidence from previous elections, it seems like politicians will only use social media to promote supercuts of their fan edits. It is unlikely that they will harness the tool to not just speak, but also connect and elicit a response from the audience. But 10 months is too soon to tell. For now, I have little choice. I will go to bed thinking of what it must be to eat Mamdani's promised eight dollar chicken on rice at the several halal carts outside Central Park, drinking iced coffee in the concrete jungle where dreams are made of, with a byline that someday ends at New York, New York. Level up Zaddy: You might think this is some interesting portmanteau that Gen Z came up with but it really is just what it sounds like, a sexy, charismatic daddy who is usually older. Now you know why Zohran is called Mamzaddy. Are you wondering about the what's happening on Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), Reddit and Discord? Pop it like it's hot, a fortnightly column from The Hindu, catches you up on everything pop culture. All you need to do, is tune in.
Washington Post
a day ago
- Science
- Washington Post
Finding viable sperm in infertile men can take days. AI did it in hours.
After 18 years of infertility a couple finally got pregnant thanks to artificial intelligence. The father had a rare condition that left him with almost no detectable sperm. Then fertility specialists found a novel path to pregnancy: a tiny camera capturing millions of images in a semen sample. AI scoured them for viable sperm in hours — a process that might have otherwise taken days. The result was a speedy extraction of the sperm that could at last fertilize an egg. Researchers at the Columbia University Fertility Center say this procedure, conducted in March, amounts to the first-known use of AI-enabled conception using this particular technology. While AI has long been used in other ways to assist couples who want a baby, including assessing embryo viability, Columbia's work shows how the technology can offer a chance at biological parenthood for those experiencing severe male infertility. Normally, in-vitro fertilization involves taking sperm from a semen sample and fertilizing an egg. But for men with azoospermia, which causes extremely low sperm counts, the sperm is difficult to find and can be damaged through existing methods of searching for viable cells. Zev Williams, director of Columbia's fertility program, said that identifying viable cells can take hours or days of searching under a microscope and often results in no usable sperm. 'Labs searched for two days and found nothing,' said Williams. 'We ran the same sample and found 44 sperm within an hour. That changes everything for a couple who thought they had no path forward.' The process starts with a semen sample loaded onto a small, single-use chip designed to move fluid through a controlled channel. As the sample flows, it is illuminated and imaged by a microscope linked to a high-speed camera. The system captures millions of individual frames. Artificial intelligence then analyzes these images in real time, scanning for the presence of sperm and then, within milliseconds, isolating that sperm. Once isolated, the sperm can be frozen for future use or used in IVF through intracytoplasmic sperm injection, a procedure in which a single sperm is injected directly into an egg. In many cases, only two or three sperm are found in the entire sample, making preservation important. Robert Brannigan, president-elect of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, said this technology seems promising for those with azoospermia, which affects 10 to 15 percent of infertile men. 'Even the discovery of a single viable sperm can be life-changing,' said Brannigan, a urologist at Northwestern University who was not involved with this treatment. 'I see it more as a tool,' said Brannigan. 'It enhances the work of laboratory technicians, especially in cases that are like searching for a needle in a haystack.' For men with azoospermia, other options for IVF are available but have traditionally been limited. Embryologists can spend hours manually scanning a semen sample in hopes of spotting a viable sperm cell. In other cases, surgeons perform procedures to search for sperm directly from the testicles. These surgeries can be painful, carry risks and are not always successful. Some lab techniques use stains, dyes or lasers to help identify cells, but these substances can be toxic to sperm and make them unusable for fertilization. 'This could help some men avoid surgery altogether,' said Allison K. Rodgers, a reproductive endocrinologist at the Fertility Centers of Illinois who was not involved with the recent AI case. 'I was pleasantly shocked by the findings. We assume that with our current lab techniques, if sperm are present, we'll find them, but in this [Columbia] case, embryologists searched for 48 hours and found nothing.' Rodgers said the system challenges assumptions about the limits of current laboratory methods. 'It's amazing and makes me realize that maybe what we thought was advanced still has a long way to go,' she said. 'I think AI is going to absolutely revolutionize IVF. The future of reproductive medicine is going to look a lot like this.' Brannigan said more testing is needed at other clinics to make sure the results hold up. He also said doctors should carefully track how well the procedure helps people get pregnant. 'At face value, this looks promising, but as with any new technology in medicine, especially in reproductive care, we need to follow the data and study it further,' Brannigan said. Gianpiero Palermo, a male infertility specialist at Weill Cornell Medicine and the physician who pioneered the method to inject a sperm directly into an egg, said he is not convinced the technology marks a significant breakthrough. 'You are attracting patients who have been told they have no sperm and offering what may turn out to be false hope,' Palermo said. Williams, the director of Columbia's fertility program, said the tool should not be used to give false hope, but it's an avenue to increase the chance of success. 'If sperm are present, this method can find them,' said Williams. 'Instead of relying on a microscope and declaring a sample empty, this approach gives us a way to counsel men realistically before undergoing a microTESE procedure. If sperm exist, there's now a good chance we can identify them.' Williams said the team plans to explore how the technology could be adapted to help patients with other forms of infertility, such as searching for the healthiest sperm in a sample, and trying to help assess egg and embryo health in cases of female infertility. 'This opens the door for people who had no chance,' Williams said. 'It is one of those moments in medicine where you realize you are seeing something that was always there but could never be found.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Mizzou Men's Basketball Unveils Historic 2025-'26 Schedule
Mizzou Men's Basketball Unveils Historic 2025-'26 Schedule originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Mizzou men's basketball released its non-conference schedule and Southeastern Conference opponents for the 2025-26 season on Wednesday, and for the first time in school history, 10 teams that made last season's NCAA Tournament will travel to Columbia to challenge the Tigers. Advertisement The Tigers open its season on the road for the second-straight season, this time heading to Washington D.C. to face Howard on Monday, Nov. 3. The date marks the earliest the Tigers have started their season in school history. Four days later, MU travels home to host Southeast Missouri State for the Tigers home opener on Friday, Nov. 7. SEMO marks the first of seven home games in a row for Mizzou. The Tigers notably host Minnesota on Wednesday, Nov. 12, a team MU narrowly defeated during its 2023-24 season where the Tigers went on to go winless in SEC play. Mizzou wraps up its homestretch against Cleveland State — the school where Mizzou head coach Dennis Gates coached for three seasons before joining the Tigers in 2022 — on Nov. 28, before going on the road for two projected Quad 1 games according to Bart Torvik's early projections as a proxy for NET rankings. First, MU heads to South Bend, Indianapolis, to face Notre Dame on Tuesday, Dec. 2, then the Tigers head to the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City to challenge Kansas in a neutral battle. The Missouri Tigers celebrate after defeating the Kansas Jayhawks at Mizzou Arena.© Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images Last season, MU knocked off top-ranked Kansas at Mizzou Arena to extend its winning streak to eight games. The streak reached a season-high 10 games before the Tigers dropped a close one 80-77 against Illinois in St. Louis. Advertisement Mizzou and Illinois will continue its bragging rights tradition with another St. Louis showdown. The two teams will face off on Monday, Dec. 22, at Enterprise Center. The SEC also released opponents and locations for the conference portion of the season. Mizzou plays three schools both home and away in Arkansas, Mississippi State and Oklahoma – all teams that advanced to March Madness one year ago. Mizzou is set to face 19 of its 31 opponents next season who reached the NCAA Tournament in 2025. The Tigers have only once hosted more than seven tournament teams at home in a single season — when nine visited Hearnes Center during the 1988-89 campaign. The Tigers notably host the reigning champion Florida Gators, along with Tennessee and Auburn — all of which made deep playoff runs last season. Advertisement On the road, the Tigers toughest opponents are expected to be Kentucky and Alabama. With a non-conference slate full of NCAA Tournament contenders and a challenging SEC schedule ahead, it's a prime opportunity to bounce back — and prove they belong among the nation's best. Related: Former Mizzou Standout Expected to Become Head Coach for Celtics NBA G League Team This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 18, 2025, where it first appeared.
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First Post
a day ago
- Health
- First Post
2,000 jobs cut, India projects jeopardised: Johns Hopkins reels from US funding halt
US President Donald Trump's cuts in the funding to the tune of $800 million to Johns Hopkins University have led to 2,200 people being laid off and several healthcare programmes in many countries, including in India, compromised. read more US President Donald Trump has not gone after Johns Hopkins University the way he has gone after Columbia, but the consequences are already visible. The Trump administration has so far cut $800 million from the $4.2 billion annual funds to Johns Hopkins and 2,200 jobs at the university has been axed and several public health programmes and research programmes have been hit, according to The New York Times. The unpublicised crackdown on Johns Hopkins is the latest in the Trump administration's campaign to use federal grants as a tool to bend the nation's public education system to its will and make university, their courses, and their graduates in the president's image. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD For more than a century, Johns Hopkins has been a pioneer in several fields, including in medicine and public health. In 1889-1999, Dr William Stewart Halsted of Johns Hopkins made the rubber glove that massively reduced infections during surgery and are integral to surgeries and medical practice today. The university also developed the world's rechargeable cardiac pacemaker, the first effective treatment for sickle cell anemia, and helped develop a spacecraft that smashed into an asteroid that was hailed as the 'humanity's first planetary defense test'. Trump's assault on Johns Hopkins' goes beyond US So far, Trump has cut $800 million of the $4.2 billion federal grant to Johns Hopkins. The Times reported that officials at the university are expecting more cuts. The newspaper listed the following programmes as being hit from budget cuts: International research: The Trump administration's cuts to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have affected programmes in more than 100 countries and led to losses of more than 2,200 jobs. More than 1,900 of those jobs were outside of the United States. Judd Walson, the Chair in International Health, told the newspaper that these programmes covered the prevention of cervical cancer in Madagascar, diagnosing tuberculosis (TB) in Uganda, and building health systems in Bangladesh. He warned that millions of people were at the risk of dying from cuts. Johns Hopkins also ran programmes related to TB, maternal and child health, and primary health management in India. These programmes are also expected to be affected from cuts. Domestic research: Around 90 research programmes have been cancelled. These programmes addressed autism in children, reduction of HIV's spread among transwomen, and improving Covid-19 vaccination among low-income groups. Other support: The Trump administration has also cut grants to support laboratories and administrative costs to the tune of $300 million. New taxes: The Trump administration might slap Johns Hopkins with a new increased 'endowment tax'. 'Perplexing & distressing': Johns Hopkins president on Trump's cuts Johns Hopkins President Ronald J Daniels has described Trump's cuts as 'perplexing and distressing'. Daniels said that what started as threats have now turned into a campaign of 'cancellations and terminations'. Daniels said, 'Over the past six weeks, we have experienced a fast and far-reaching cascade of executive orders and agency actions affecting higher education and federally sponsored research. What began as stop work orders or pauses in grant funding allocations has morphed into cancellations and terminations.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The university had little choice other than reducing the university's activities, according to Daniels.
