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Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
What time is it on the moon? US House space committee wants a standard lunar clock
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. We are one step closer to getting a lunar time zone this week, as a bill passed out of the US House Science, Space and Technology committee directs the administrator of NASA to develop a way to coordinate and measure time on the moon. The bill is titled The Celestial Time Standardization Act (or HR 2313), and was passed out of committee by a voice vote on Tuesday (April 29). It now goes to the full House for a future floor vote. If it passes the House (and then the U.S. Senate), it would go to President Trump's desk, where it would be signed into law. The bill will "require the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to develop celestial time standardization to support future operations and infrastructure on and around the Moon and other celestial bodies other than Earth, and for other purposes." Specifically, the bill directs "The Administrator of NASA, in consultation with the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, shall carry out the following: (1) Enable the development of celestial time standardization, including by leading the study and definition of a coordinated lunar time. (2) Develop a strategy to implement a coordinated lunar time that would support future operations and infrastructure on and around the Moon." The bill further requires that NASA work with relevant public, private and academic institutions, international partners, and international standard-setting bodies to develop the new time system, with a few key requirements as guidance. First, the new Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC) needs to be translatable into Coordinated Universal Time (UTC); it needs to be accurate enough for precision space navigation and communication; it needs to function uninterrupted during periods of loss of contact with Earth; and finally, the new time system needs to be scalable so that similar time systems can be established for other celestial bodies beyond the moon, especially Mars. The issue of a dedicated time zone on the moon hasn't been given much attention in the past, as NASA and other agencies have previously used "mission elapsed time" and other timekeeping means to coordinate navigation and communication in cislunar space. However, as NASA and other space agencies have set their sights on new moon missions and establishing a permanent lunar presence, a common timekeeping system may be a good idea. One major reason scientists can't simply use Earth time on the moon has to do with Albert Einstein's general relativity theory, which shows that gravity, mass and the passage of time are inextricably linked. All of our Earth clocks are therefore effectively set to Earth's gravity, while clocks on the moon would need to be set according to the much lower mass and gravity of the moon. Time on the moon passes about 58.7 microseconds faster than on Earth, and when you're dealing with the kind of precision required for distant communication and navigation between the lunar surface and our planet, that difference (only about 58.7 millionths of a second) can cause real world problems. With NASA facing some hefty proposed cuts to its funding this year and beyond, the unanimous voice vote to pass HR 2313 out of committee is encouraging for the future of NASA's Artemis mission, which aims to return humans to the moon in the next few years and ultimately establish a permanent base of the lunar surface. LTC would be necessary for any permanent operations on the lunar surface and in orbit around the moon. This bipartisan support for Artemis was further demonstrated during the nomination hearing for Jared Isaacman, President Trump's pick to lead NASA, where both Republican and Democratic senators pressed Isaacman on his commitment to the program amid fears that he would prioritize Mars over returning to the moon. Related Stories: — Experts alarmed as White House proposes 'largest single-year cut to NASA in American history' — Watch Intuitive Machines land private Athena probe at the lunar south pole — Reshaping our return to the moon: Trump's 2026 budget gives Artemis a major facelift "We will prioritize sending American astronauts to Mars and along the way we will inevitably have the capabilities to return to the moon," Isaacman told the committee, adding later in his testimony that "We don't have to make a binary decision of moon versus Mars, or moon has to come first versus Mars." Isaacman's nomination also passed out of the Senate committee this week, with both Committee Chairman Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Ranking Member Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) supporting his nomination on the condition that Isaacman continue to pursue Artemis' program objectives. "Mr. Isaacman seems to be committed to the current plan for both lander redundancies, Space Launch Systems, and returning to the Moon as fast as possible," Cantwell said.
Indian Express
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Operation Sindoor: India accuses Pakistan of using civilian aircraft as shields against India's air response
India on Friday accused Pakistan of using civilian aircraft as shields as it allowed civil aircraft to operate close to the international border on Wednesday (May 7) night even as it launched a failed drone and missile attack at a number of military targets in northern and western India. 'Pakistan's irresponsible behaviour again came to fore. Pakistan did not close its civil airspace, despite it launching a failed unprovoked drone and missile attack on 7th May at 8:30 hours in the evening. Pakistan is using civil airliners as a shield, knowing fully well that its attack on India would elicit a swift air defence response. This is not safe for the unsuspecting civil airliners, including the international flights which were flying near it between India and Pakistan,' Wing Commander Vyomika Singh said at a press briefing on the prevailing situation vis-à-vis Pakistan. 'Indian Air Force demonstrated considerable restraint in its response, thus ensuring safety of international civil carriers,' Singh added. Quoting flight path data from flight tracking service Flightradar24, Singh gave the example of Saudi Arabian budget airline Flynas flight XY883 from Dammam to Lahore, which departed Dammam at around 5:50 pm UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) on May 7, and landed at the Lahore airport at around 9:10 pm UTC. Indian Standard Time is five-and-a-half hours behind UTC, which means that the flight landed at the Lahore airport at around 2:40 am on May 8. Lahore, while being a major airport in Pakistan, is also close to that country's international border with India. While New Delhi has suspended commercial flight operations at around 25 airports close to the border with Pakistan in order to keep civilian air traffic away from potential harm, Pakistan has not officially suspended civil flights at its airports close to the border. These airports, however, are seeing a number of delays and cancellations, per flight tracking data. Notably, after India struck nine locations in Pakistan as part of 'Operation Sindoor', Islamabad had accused New Delhi of endangering commercial airliners and the lives of passengers on board the flights that were in Pakistani airspace at the time. Pakistan had claimed that there were 57 international flights in its airspace when India hit Pakistan with precision strikes in the wee hours on Wednesday. According to Flightradar24 data reviewed by The Indian Express, there were at least four civilian aircraft in the airspace around the Lahore airport when the Flynas flight was around 20 minutes away from landing there on the night between May 7 and 8. On Thursday night (May 8-9), however, Pakistan's air corridors close to the border with India did not see civil flight movements when Islamabad launched a large-scale drone and missile attack against a number of targets in north and west India, the data shows. Flights were operating in the Pakistani airspace on Thursday night as well, but they were largely limited to the western section bordering Iran. Most international airlines are avoiding overflying the Pakistani airspace amid soaring tensions between India and Pakistan. Most of the commercial flight activity in the Pakistani airspace is limited to domestic flights or some international flights to and from Pakistani airports. Sukalp Sharma is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express and writes on a host of subjects and sectors, notably energy and aviation. He has over 13 years of experience in journalism with a body of work spanning areas like politics, development, equity markets, corporates, trade, and economic policy. He considers himself an above-average photographer, which goes well with his love for travel. ... Read More
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
US scientists debut atomic clock that stays true for 100 million years straight
Marvel's Time Variance Authority (TVA) would probably call dibs on this atomic clock if they could! The NIST-F4 atomic clock, recently unveiled by the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colorado, is one of the most accurate timekeeping devices ever built on Earth. This clock is so precise that if it had started ticking during the age of the dinosaurs, it would still be accurate today to within a single second. This month, NIST scientists officially submitted it to the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) for certification as a 'primary frequency standard,' a title reserved for the most elite atomic clocks on the planet. Only around ten countries operate such clocks — now the U.S. is back in that top tier. Unlike regular clocks, atomic clocks like NIST-F4 keep time using the natural vibrations of atoms — in this case, cesium atoms. Inside the clock, thousands of these atoms are cooled to near absolute zero using lasers and then tossed upward in a fountain-like motion. As they rise and fall, they pass through microwave radiation tuned to a frequency that makes the atoms shift their energy state — a transition that defines the "tick" of the clock. That tick happens precisely 9,192,631,770 times per second, and counting those ticks is how the clock defines the official second. "Fountain clocks are supposed to be very boring," said Greg Hoth, a physicist on the NIST team. In this case, boring means reliable, and that's exactly what global systems depend on. Time isn't just about watches and alarms — it powers everything from GPS to stock market trades to data centers. 'Time signals are used literally billions of times each day for everything from setting clocks and watches to ensuring the accurate time stamping of hundreds of billions of dollars of electronic financial transactions,' said Liz Donley, who leads NIST's Time and Frequency Division. NIST-F4 helps steer the official U.S. time scale, known as UTC(NIST), and contributes to the global timekeeping standard, Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Its ultra-precise data helps ensure systems worldwide stay synchronized down to the microsecond. NIST-F4 didn't happen overnight. It evolved from NIST-F1, the agency's first fountain clock built in the late 1990s. After a move in 2016 disrupted F1's performance, NIST scientists decided to rebuild the heart of the clock — the microwave cavity — from scratch. They spent years refining every part, from magnetic coils to optical systems, achieving tolerances as fine as one-fifth the width of a human hair. "Evaluating a fountain clock... is a slow process because we have to be very conservative,' said physicist Vladislav Gerginov. NIST has already submitted NIST-F4's data to the BIPM for formal certification. Meanwhile, it runs alongside NIST-F3 to ensure that at least one fountain clock is operating at all times. 'The success of NIST-F4 has renewed NIST's global leadership in primary frequency standards,' Donley said. And until optical clocks eventually redefine the second, cesium-based fountains like this one will keep global time ticking perfectly.
See - Sada Elbalad
22-04-2025
- Politics
- See - Sada Elbalad
Egypt to Bring Daylight Saving Time for 2025 This Thursday
Rana Atef Egypt will start working with daylight saving time from the final Friday of April, April 25, to the final Thursday of October, 30. People will adjust their clocks from 00:00 to 1:00 am on Friday. Last year, the Egyptian Cabinet approved the return of daylight saving time after years of absence. The decision indicated that daylight saving time will be applied from the final Friday of April to the final Thursday of October. On its official Facebook page, the Cabinet said that the return of daylight saving time is due to the recent developments in the world, and the government's target to save energy. The system was implemented for the first time in the country in 1988. It was introduced as a power-saving measure. However, it was abolished in April 2011 and was revived in 2014 to ease the consumption after the problem of energy that stroke Egypt at that time. 2016 witnessed the abolishment of the system. Originally, Egypt is two hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). It will turn to three hours ahead by the application of daylight saving time. read more Gold prices rise, 21 Karat at EGP 3685 NATO's Role in Israeli-Palestinian Conflict US Expresses 'Strong Opposition' to New Turkish Military Operation in Syria Shoukry Meets Director-General of FAO Lavrov: confrontation bet. nuclear powers must be avoided News Iran Summons French Ambassador over Foreign Minister Remarks News Aboul Gheit Condemns Israeli Escalation in West Bank News Greek PM: Athens Plays Key Role in Improving Energy Security in Region News One Person Injured in Explosion at Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid News Egypt confirms denial of airspace access to US B-52 bombers News Ayat Khaddoura's Final Video Captures Bombardment of Beit Lahia Lifestyle Pistachio and Raspberry Cheesecake Domes Recipe News Australia Fines Telegram $600,000 Over Terrorism, Child Abuse Content Arts & Culture Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban's $4.7M LA Home Burglarized Videos & Features Bouchra Dahlab Crowned Miss Arab World 2025 .. Reem Ganzoury Wins Miss Arab Africa Title (VIDEO) Sports Neymar Announced for Brazil's Preliminary List for 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers News Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly Inaugurates Two Indian Companies Sports Former Al Zamalek Player Ibrahim Shika Passes away after Long Battle with Cancer Arts & Culture New Archaeological Discovery from 26th Dynasty Uncovered in Karnak Temple
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Tesla Shares Slide After Weak Deliveries, Tariff Pressure, and Musk's Government Role Under Scrutiny
Tesla (TSLA, Financials) traded lower Thursday morning after the company reported a drop in quarterly deliveries and amid heightened investor concerns over new tariffs and CEO Elon Musk's ongoing government role. Shares of the electric vehicle maker were priced at $271.29 at 9:49 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, down $11.47 or 4.06% from the previous close. The stock hit an intraday low of $263.58 and last traded at $272.39 as of 1:34 p.m. Coordinated Universal Time, marking a 3.67% drop. The company said it delivered 336,681 vehicles in the first quarter, a 13% year-over-year decline and the lowest since 2022. Tesla attributed the decrease to production line retooling across all four factories to accommodate the new Model Y. Analysts, however, cited other factors, including weakening demand and reputational concerns tied to Musk's political activity. Musk, who is serving as a special government employee at the Department of Government Efficiency, said his tenure will end by May 30, the statutory maximum of 130 days. Reports that he may leave the position early were dismissed by Musk as fake news. The stock briefly rebounded Wednesday following media reports that President Donald Trump had informed some cabinet members that Musk could depart his government post sooner than expected. Tesla shares have faced downward pressure in recent months, with investors expressing concern about Musk's divided attention between Tesla and government responsibilities. Several Wall Street analysts have cited damage to the brand and a lack of focus at the executive level. Further complicating sentiment was Trump's announcement of new tariffs of 34% on Chinese goods and 32% on imports from Taiwan. Analysts warned these measures could depress U.S. vehicle sales by up to 3 million units, potentially impacting Tesla and other automakers with international supply chains. Ross Gerber, a longtime Tesla investor, said the company may require new leadership, adding that Musk's actions have contributed to declining consumer trust and brand equity. Tesla shares have ranged from $138.80 to $488.54 over the past 52 weeks. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Sign in to access your portfolio
