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Astronomers want to halt Starlink
News Space
Astronomers want to halt Starlink Legal action may be pursued to stop thousands of satellites clogging up the sky A GROUP of astronomers has called for legal action to stop the launch of vast numbers of satellites designed to beam high-speed internet around the world, until their impact on the night sky can be assessed. US firm SpaceX has already launched 240 satellites as part of its planned Starlink constellation of up to 42,000 satellites. Others, such as the UK company OneWeb, plan to launch hundreds of their own. There are currently 1500 active satellites orbiting Earth. Starlink satellites have created bright streaks in some telescope images, affecting astronomical observations. Some worry that the thousands of bright points of light could alter the sky for the public and astronomers forever. “The ideal thing would be to stop the deployment of these kind of satellites until the problem is very well studied. We have to understand what the impact is on the sky,” says Michele Maris at the Astronomical Observatory of Trieste in Italy, part of the group calling for legal action. To halt mega constellations,
SPACEX/FLICKR
Jonathan O’Callaghan
SpaceX launched more Starlink satellites on 29 January
the group says that a case could be brought to the International Court of Justice to argue that the night sky is a shared human right under the World Heritage Convention. “The harm here is damage to our cultural heritage, the night sky, and monetary damages due to the loss of radio and other types of astronomy,” the scientists write (arxiv.org/abs/2001.10952). Alternatively, the group says
a case could be filed against the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the US for licensing Starlink, which the astronomers say may have been in breach of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). “It would be desirable to adopt contingent and limiting resolutions to be ratified as shared international rules,” the astronomers write. They also suggest that, in the meantime, all mega constellations should be put on hold. An associated petition to temporarily halt further launches
has more than 1400 signatures. Chris Johnson, a space law adviser at the Colorado-based pressure group the Secure World Foundation, says that the chances of legal action being successful are slim, but there is an argument that could be made. “It’s time for the larger space community to think what means more: ground-based astronomy and traditional views of the night sky or cheaper internet from space,” he says. The FCC said in a statement it “strongly reject[ed]” any claims it has violated NEPA and its approval of Starlink was “entirely lawful”. SpaceX has attempted to ease concerns by testing a Starlink satellite coated in a darker material so that it won’t reflect as much light. However, launches are ongoing, with SpaceX set to send up 1500 Starlink satellites in 2020. “If it is not possible to leave a better planet for future generations, we can at least try not to make it worse,” says group member Stefano Gallozzi at the Astronomical Observatory of Rome in Italy. ❚
Robotics
3D-printed robots can sweat to cool themselves down ROBOTS are becoming more human-like every day, and now they can sweat. Thomas Wallin at Cornell University in New York and his colleagues have created soft robotic grippers that are capable of sweating to cool down. The grippers can achieve a cooling capacity of 107 watts per kilogram, making them more efficient sweaters than mammals. 14 | New Scientist | 8 February 2020
By comparison, humans and horses have a maximum cooling capacity of about 35 watts per kilogram. Each gripper consists of three finger-like parts that bend simultaneously to grasp small objects. The 3D-printed grippers are made from hydrogels, polymer materials that can store large amounts of water. Each finger has an underlayer with an internal channel to let fluid flow and is capped with a surface layer containing micropores. At cold temperatures, the pores close. At temperatures higher than 30°C, the surface layer expands,
dilating the pores and enabling pressurised fluid from the underlayer to sweat out. The material responds spontaneously to temperature changes without the need for external sensors (Science Robotics, doi.org/dkvd). “Sweating takes advantage of evaporative water loss to rapidly dissipate heat,” says Wallin. Unlike convection or radiation, sweating lowers the temperature of a body
“When the local temperature rose, the pores would simply open and close on their own”
below that of its environment. “When the local temperature rose above the transition [temperature], the pores would simply open and close on their own,” he says. When blown by wind from a fan, the sweating robots cooled at a rate of 39.1°C per minute, about six times as fast as similar devices that are unable to sweat. However, there is currently no means to replenish the robot’s fluid stores after sweating. This means “the robots would have to also be able to drink”, says team member Robert Shepherd, also at Cornell. ❚ Donna Lu
Astronomers want to halt Starlink Legal action may be pursued to stop thousands of satellites clogging up the sky A GROUP of astronomers has called for legal action to stop the launch of vast numbers of satellites designed to beam high-speed internet around the world, until their impact on the night sky can be assessed. US firm SpaceX has already launched 240 satellites as part of its planned Starlink constellation of up to 42,000 satellites. Others, such as the UK company OneWeb, plan to launch hundreds of their own. There are currently 1500 active satellites orbiting Earth. Starlink satellites have created bright streaks in some telescope images, affecting astronomical observations. Some worry that the thousands of bright points of light could alter the sky for the public and astronomers forever. “The ideal thing would be to stop the deployment of these kind of satellites until the problem is very well studied. We have to understand what the impact is on the sky,” says Michele Maris at the Astronomical Observatory of Trieste in Italy, part of the group calling for legal action. To halt mega constellations,
SPACEX/FLICKR
Jonathan O’Callaghan
SpaceX launched more Starlink satellites on 29 January
the group says that a case could be brought to the International Court of Justice to argue that the night sky is a shared human right under the World Heritage Convention. “The harm here is damage to our cultural heritage, the night sky, and monetary damages due to the loss of radio and other types of astronomy,” the scientists write (arxiv.org/abs/2001.10952). Alternatively, the group says
a case could be filed against the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the US for licensing Starlink, which the astronomers say may have been in breach of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). “It would be desirable to adopt contingent and limiting resolutions to be ratified as shared international rules,” the astronomers write. They also suggest that, in the meantime, all mega constellations should be put on hold. An associated petition to temporarily halt further launches
has more than 1400 signatures. Chris Johnson, a space law adviser at the Colorado-based pressure group the Secure World Foundation, says that the chances of legal action being successful are slim, but there is an argument that could be made. “It’s time for the larger space community to think what means more: ground-based astronomy and traditional views of the night sky or cheaper internet from space,” he says. The FCC said in a statement it “strongly reject[ed]” any claims it has violated NEPA and its approval of Starlink was “entirely lawful”. SpaceX has attempted to ease concerns by testing a Starlink satellite coated in a darker material so that it won’t reflect as much light. However, launches are ongoing, with SpaceX set to send up 1500 Starlink satellites in 2020. “If it is not possible to leave a better planet for future generations, we can at least try not to make it worse,” says group member Stefano Gallozzi at the Astronomical Observatory of Rome in Italy. ❚
Robotics
3D-printed robots can sweat to cool themselves down ROBOTS are becoming more human-like every day, and now they can sweat. Thomas Wallin at Cornell University in New York and his colleagues have created soft robotic grippers that are capable of sweating to cool down. The grippers can achieve a cooling capacity of 107 watts per kilogram, making them more efficient sweaters than mammals. 14 | New Scientist | 8 February 2020
By comparison, humans and horses have a maximum cooling capacity of about 35 watts per kilogram. Each gripper consists of three finger-like parts that bend simultaneously to grasp small objects. The 3D-printed grippers are made from hydrogels, polymer materials that can store large amounts of water. Each finger has an underlayer with an internal channel to let fluid flow and is capped with a surface layer containing micropores. At cold temperatures, the pores close. At temperatures higher than 30°C, the surface layer expands,
dilating the pores and enabling pressurised fluid from the underlayer to sweat out. The material responds spontaneously to temperature changes without the need for external sensors (Science Robotics, doi.org/dkvd). “Sweating takes advantage of evaporative water loss to rapidly dissipate heat,” says Wallin. Unlike convection or radiation, sweating lowers the temperature of a body
“When the local temperature rose, the pores would simply open and close on their own”
below that of its environment. “When the local temperature rose above the transition [temperature], the pores would simply open and close on their own,” he says. When blown by wind from a fan, the sweating robots cooled at a rate of 39.1°C per minute, about six times as fast as similar devices that are unable to sweat. However, there is currently no means to replenish the robot’s fluid stores after sweating. This means “the robots would have to also be able to drink”, says team member Robert Shepherd, also at Cornell. ❚ Donna Lu