NASA employs AI to better predict solar activity
In a press release, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said that, in conjunction with IBM among other partners, it has developed an AI model dubbed the Surya Heliophysics Foundational Model, which has been trained on nine years' worth of data from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory.
Surya is Sanskrit for "sun."
"We are advancing data-driven science by embedding NASA's deep scientific expertise into cutting-edge AI models," said NASA Chief Science Data Officer Kevin Murphy in the release. "By developing a foundation model trained on NASA's heliophysics data, we're making it easier to analyze the complexities of the sun's behavior with unprecedented speed and precision."
"This model empowers broader understanding of how solar activity impacts critical systems and technologies that we all rely on here on Earth," he added.
Using solar data, Surya can analyze solar flares and make predictions regarding how space weather might impact technology such as communication systems and satellites, as well as power grids.
Surya can also forecast how UV from the sun affects the Earth's upper atmosphere and determine solar wind speed.
"Our society is built on technologies that are highly susceptible to space weather," said NASA's Heliophysics Division Director Joseph Westlake in the release. "Just as we use meteorology to forecast Earth's weather, space weather forecasts predict the conditions and events in the space environment that can affect Earth and our technologies."
"We want to give Earth the longest lead time possible," said solar physicist Andrés Muñoz-Jaramillo Wednesday in a press release from IBM. "Our hope is that the model has learned all the critical processes behind our star's evolution through time so that we can extract actionable insights."
NASA also reports that while Surya is designed for Sun study, it can be adapted to engage several types of scientific explorations, including observing the Earth and conducting planetary science. Additionally, both the model and training datasets from Surya are available to try out online at Hugging Face, GitHub and in IBM's TerraTorch library for fine-tuning geospatial AI models.
A benchmark dataset called "SuryaBench" has also been open sourced to the public.
"We've been on this journey of pushing the limits of technology with NASA since 2023, delivering pioneering foundational AI models to gain an unprecedented understanding of our planet Earth," said Juan Bernabé-Moreno, the IBM director in charge of the scientific collaboration with NASA. "With Surya we have created the first foundation model to look the sun in the eye and forecast its moods."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
This Hypersonic Space Plane Will Fly From London to N.Y.C. in an Hour
After the NASA space shuttle was retired in 2011, it seemed like space planes might become relics. But they are on a comeback. U.S. companies Sierra Space Corp., Dawn Aerospace, and Radian Aerospace have all introduced their own versions of an aircraft that takes off like a plane, but soars like a rocket. Virgin Galactic soon plans to introduce the Delta version of its space plane. Among militaries, the U.S. Air Force operates a robotic orbital space plane called the X-37B, while China has a similar aircraft called Shelong. The European Space Agency (ESA) recently jumped into the burgeoning space-plane sector, announcing funding for a new research program called Invictus, which will develop a hypersonic space plane capable of Mach 5 (3,386 mph). The aircraft could fly from London to New York in an hour. If plans stay on track, it could be operational by 2031. More from Robb Report WatchTime New York Returns This Fall, With a Record 44 Luxury Brands Designer Judith Leiber's Former East Hampton Home Is Back on the Market for $7 Million This $6 Million Georgia Estate Has a Guesthouse That's a Historical Landmark U.K. consulting firm Frazer-Nash will lead the project, which will use technology developed by Reaction Engines Ltd., a private firm launched in 1989 that previously designed a space plane called Skylon. That, in turn, was based on a 1982 concept called the Horizontal Take-Off and Landing (HOTOL) space plane. Last year, Reaction Engines ran into financial difficulties and went out of business. Invictus plans to incorporate the 'pre-cooler' technology from Reaction's SABRE (Synergetic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine) for its new aircraft. Combining aspects of jet and rocket propulsion, the engine pulls oxygen out of the air at lower atmospheric levels to reduce the need to carry propellant, resulting in a much lighter, more efficient aircraft. In space, it will be fueled by liquid hydrogen. 'Aircraft that fly at hypersonic speeds—more than five times the speed of sound—face extremely high temperatures due to shock heating and the friction from the air,' a Frazer-Nash rep told 'Typical aircraft engines cannot operate in these conditions, as the air is too hot to handle.' The pre-cooler technology, which chills superheated air in a fraction of a second, has already been successfully tested on conventional jet engines. 'It allows these aircraft engines to travel at hypersonic speeds,' says the rep. If Invictus reaches its full potential, it could help unlock the next generation of space planes. 'We are laying the foundation for aircraft that take off like planes and reach orbit like rockets—revolutionizing both terrestrial and orbital transportation,' said Tomasso Ghidini, head of ESA's mechanical department in a statement. 'That will redefine how we move across the planet and reach beyond it.' The Invictus team is tasked with having a viable concept ready in 12 months and a working hypersonic jet by 2031. Best of Robb Report The 2024 Chevy C8 Corvette: Everything We Know About the Powerful Mid-Engine Beast The World's Best Superyacht Shipyards The ABCs of Chartering a Yacht Click here to read the full article.
an hour ago
Secrecy of Space Force mission is 'out of necessity': Former astronaut
Former NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao discusses the upcoming mission, which will involve the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, an uncrewed, autonomous spacecraft.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Enterprises Are Struggling to Make Generative AI Work. That's Great News for IBM.
Key Points Around 95% of generative AI pilots fail to produce results, according to an MIT report. Lackluster integration is cited as the most common problem. IBM's consulting-heavy artificial intelligence (AI) strategy should benefit from this situation. 10 stocks we like better than International Business Machines › An incredible finding from MIT's NANDA initiative paints a stark picture of generative AI use in the enterprise. While some companies are succeeding in meaningfully growing revenue or reducing costs by leveraging generative AI, around 95% of artificial intelligence (AI) pilot programs fail to make a meaningful impact. This conclusion comes from interviews with leaders, surveys of employees, and analysis of public AI deployments. The biggest problem, according to MIT's research, was poor integration. Companies that succeeded in deploying generative AI stuck to narrow, well-defined problems. In contrast, companies that failed to properly integrate powerful AI models into their workflows ran into serious issues. Another wrinkle was that many AI deployments were focused on sales and marketing applications, whereas the highest returns on investments generally came from back-office automation. IBM's AI strategy is validated This apparent widespread failure to deploy generative AI productively provides validation for IBM's (NYSE: IBM) AI strategy. IBM has generated more than $7.5 billion in bookings related to generative AI, but around 80% of that business comes from the company's consulting arm. By pairing consulting services with software, IBM can deliver complete AI solutions, including integration services, that deliver results for its clients. The MIT study found that many enterprises in highly regulated sectors were attempting to build their own proprietary generative AI systems, but failure rates were higher compared to purchased solutions. Generative AI is a powerful technology, but it's far from foolproof and won't produce results if not implemented with care. During IBM's second-quarter earnings call, CEO Arvind Krishna said the company was seeing strong demand for AI agent solutions and its cost-effective Granite AI models. Krishna also noted that demand was accelerating for its consulting services related to deploying AI. Part of IBM's secret sauce is its network of partnerships with other technology companies. IBM can construct AI solutions for clients that involve third-party cloud platforms like Amazon Web Services and third-party software, opening the door to a lot more business than the company would win if it stuck with its own products and services. As of late 2023, some of IBM's partnerships were already bringing in billions of dollars of business annually. IBM's AI business is helping to offset weak demand for some discretionary projects. The company is seeing delayed decision-making for projects that aren't mission-critical and don't have clear returns on investment. In contrast, many of the AI projects IBM is working on with clients are aimed at reducing costs or boosting efficiency, which is appealing during periods of economic uncertainty. Time to buy this enterprise AI leader With enterprises struggling to successfully implement generative AI technology on their own, IBM is in a great position to grow its generative AI business. The company's consulting-focused strategy is winning more than $1 billion in new generative AI business each quarter, a number that could grow as more clients abandon home-grown AI efforts that aren't paying off. AI is one reason why IBM's revenue growth is accelerating. The company expects to generate constant-currency revenue growth of at least 5% this year despite an uncertain economic backdrop, and free cash flow is expected to grow to more than $13.5 billion. With a current market capitalization around $225 billion, IBM stock trades for less than 17 times free cash flow guidance. At that valuation, IBM stock seems like a great long-term buy. As enterprises grapple with complex AI integration, IBM is emerging as the partner of choice. Should you invest $1,000 in International Business Machines right now? Before you buy stock in International Business Machines, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and International Business Machines wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $654,781!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,076,588!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,055% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 183% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of August 18, 2025 Timothy Green has positions in International Business Machines. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon and International Business Machines. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Enterprises Are Struggling to Make Generative AI Work. That's Great News for IBM. was originally published by The Motley Fool Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
