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Blue Ghost makes a soft landing on Moon: 5 facts about ‘Ghost Riders in the Sky’

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Blue Ghost makes a soft landing on Moon: 5 facts about ‘Ghost Riders in the Sky’


Mar 02, 2025 02:24 PM IST

As part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, Blue Ghost Mission 1 delivered 10 scientific and technological instruments to the Moon.

Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lander successfully touched down near Mons Latreille, a volcanic feature within Mare Crisium, a large basin in the Moon’s northeastern quadrant, on Sunday.

This undated image released by Firefly Aerospace shows Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander taking an Earth selfie. (AFP)

As part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, Blue Ghost Mission 1 delivered 10 scientific and technological instruments to the lunar surface.

With NASA’s backing and support from the Artemis program, private companies are taking on a bigger role in lunar exploration, aiming to develop a sustainable lunar market.

Firefly became the second private company to achieve a soft Moon landing, following Houston-based Intuitive Machines, whose Odysseus lander made an uneven but successful touchdown last year. Previously, only five nations—the Soviet Union, the U.S., China, India, and Japan—had accomplished soft lunar landings.

Mare Crisium, once an ancient asteroid impact site, formed around 3 billion years ago when volcanic eruptions filled the basin with basaltic lava. Firefly’s payloads gathered crucial data on the Moon’s regolith, geophysical properties, and interactions between solar wind and Earth’s magnetic field.

Also Read | NASA launches mission to test technology for long-term human stay on Moon

5 facts about ‘Ghost Riders in the Sky’

  1. Journey and landing: Launched on January 15, Blue Ghost spent around 45 days travelling to the Moon, conducting system health checks and initiating scientific operations. It successfully landed in Mare Crisium on Sunday and will operate its payloads for a full lunar day (14 Earth days).
  2. Eclipse and lunar sunset observations: On March 14, Firefly will capture high-definition images of a total eclipse, where Earth blocked sunlight from reaching the Moon. On March 16, Blue Ghost will record the lunar sunset, gathering data on how solar activity causes lunar dust to levitate, a phenomenon first observed by Apollo 17 astronaut Eugene Cernan.
  3. Scientific contributions: Blue Ghost’s payloads will contribute to lunar research through groundbreaking experiments, including testing regolith collection, Global Navigation Satellite System capabilities, radiation-resistant computing, and lunar dust mitigation. These studies aimed to support future lunar missions and provide insights into space weather’s effects on Earth.
  4. Design and stability: Standing 2 metres tall and 3.5 meters wide, Blue Ghost was engineered for stability with shock-absorbing feet, a low centre of mass, and a broad footprint. It incorporated flight-proven technologies from Firefly’s launch and orbital vehicles, ensuring cost efficiency and reliability.
  5. Final descent and landing: In its last hour of descent, Blue Ghost used vision-based terrain navigation and hazard avoidance to assess its position, identifying craters, slopes, and rocks before selecting a safe landing spot. Its Reaction Control System (RCS) thrusters fired as needed, ensuring a controlled and smooth landing.
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Motorola launches Moto Buds Loop powered by Bose audio and Swarovski ‘luxury’

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Motorola launches Moto Buds Loop powered by Bose audio and Swarovski ‘luxury’


The Moto Buds Loop are equipped with 12mm drivers, tuned by Bose technology, which the company claims gives users a clear and more balanced sound. The earbuds also support spatial audio for a more immersive listening experience. Additionally, the dual-microphone setup and AI-powered noise reduction on the earbuds ensure high-quality calls by minimising background noise, making these earbuds a practical option for both listening and communication.

Motorola has unveiled the Moto Buds Loop, its first wireless open-ear earbuds with Bose sound technology.(Motorola)

Motorola has designed the earbuds to easily switch between devices with its “Smart Connect” feature. This allows users to connect seamlessly to other Motorola and Lenovo devices via Bluetooth, which offers a quick and simple pairing process.

Also read: Sony WH-CH720N and WH-CH520 launched in new Pink colour: All details

In terms of battery life, the Moto Buds Loop offers up to eight hours of use on a single charge, while the included charging case provides an additional 37 hours of battery life, making it ideal for extended use without frequent charging, claims the company. Whether commuting, exercising, or on a long trip, the Moto Buds Loop promises to keep you powered for days.

Design and Built Quality

The earbuds are designed for all-day wear and feature a lightweight and secure fit. Motorola also highlights the water-repellent design of the earbuds that ensures they are resistant to sweat, splashes, and general wear and tear. This makes them suitable for various activities, from daily use to outdoor adventures.

Also read: Sennheiser HD 505 Copper Edition headphones launched in India: Check features, price and more

The Moto Buds Loop also includes the CrystalTalk AI technology, which further enhances call clarity. When paired with compatible Motorola phones, users can activate Moto AI voice actions, such as requesting meeting summaries or controlling media playback through Smart Connect.

Wear Like Jewellery

Motorola is tapping into the luxury market with a special edition of the Moto Buds Loop, which features Swarovski crystals for an elegant touch. This premium version comes in the “Pantone French Oak” colour, while a more understated Trekking Green option is also available for those who prefer a simpler aesthetic.

Moto Buds Loop: Price and Availability

While the Moto Buds Loop shows promise in both audio quality and style, Motorola has not yet announced a specific price or release date. The company has only stated that the earbuds will be available “in the coming months.”

Also read: Samsung Galaxy S25 FE may not be as powerful as we expected it to be, this may be the reason

Moto Watch Fit: Key Features

Moto watch fit(Motorola )
Moto watch fit(Motorola )

In addition to the Moto Buds Loop open-ear earbuds, Motorola has also unveiled the Moto Watch Fit, a sleek smartwatch designed for Android users. The Moto Watch Fit features a 1.9-inch OLED display with a brightness of up to 1000 nits, which allows users to easily read in direct sunlight. The watch is built with a slim aluminium frame and is protected with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 for durability.

The Moto Watch Fit is packed with features like over 100 workout modes, built-in GPS, advanced heart rate monitoring, and sleep tracking, making it a solid fitness companion. With 16 days of battery life and IP68 and 5ATM water resistance, the watch is ready for a variety of activities. Users can also personalise their watch faces with custom wallpapers generated via Moto AI. Additionally, it has a long-lasting 16-day battery life and is compatible with 22mm watch bands, claims the company.



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Mysterious ‘zombie star’ speeds through the Milky Way at 177,000 km/h, capable of ripping human atoms; origin remains unknown | – The Times of India

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Mysterious ‘zombie star’ speeds through the Milky Way at 177,000 km/h, capable of ripping human atoms; origin remains unknown | – The Times of India


In a stunning cosmological find, astronomers saw an ultra-massive and magnetic stellar remnant speeding through our galaxy at record speed. Called a “zombie star,” the object—properly known as SGR 0501+4516—is moving through the Milky Way at over 110,000 miles per hour (177,000 km/h). Even more dramatic is the star’s fatal magnetic field capable of ripping human matter apart atom by atom.
But aside from its velocity and brutality, the origin of this star is confounding astronomers and could redefine existing theories of how such objects are formed.

A ‘zombie star’ SGR 0501+4516 moving through Milky Way

SGR 0501+4516 is a magnetar—a neutron star with an unusual and extreme magnetic field. Neutron stars in general are dense remnants of giant stars that exploded as supernovae. Though tiny, a little larger than a city, neutron stars contain more mass than our Sun and are among the densest objects known in the universe, except for black holes.
Magnetars, though, take it a step further. With magnetic fields as much as 100 trillion times more powerful than Earth’s, they are the most magnetic objects in the universe. Only about 30 of these objects have been found in our galaxy.
SGR 0501+4516 was discovered in 2008, about 15,000 light-years from Earth. But a new study published April 15 in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics has found something surprising: it’s not only strong—it’s also speeding through space at a surprisingly high speed.

Magnetic field strength of the ‘zombie star’

The magnetic field strength of SGR 0501+4516 is unimaginable. If it were to fly by at half the distance to the Moon, its magnetism would wipe out all credit cards on the planet. Get within 600 miles, and its magnetic force would dissolve the human body on an atomic level. Fortunately, the magnetar is no threat to our solar system and will stay safely far away.
By employing data from the European Space Agency’s Gaia spacecraft as well as the Hubble Space Telescope, scientists tracked the magnetar’s recent history and discovered a great enigma. At first assumed to have been born of the local supernova remnant HB9, SGR 0501+4516 was travelling much too quickly—and in the opposite direction—to have been born out of that place.
Indeed, when researchers mapped its galactic trajectory over the course of millennia, they found it doesn’t seem to be associated with any supernova remnants or giant star clusters. That’s a fly in the ointment of the conventional view of magnetar formation.

Zombie star hints at rare cosmic transformation

This surprising path has brought astronomers to a new theory: SGR 0501+4516 could have developed without a supernova explosion whatsoever. Rather, it could have resulted from the direct collapse of a white dwarf—the dense core that remains after a medium-sized star exhausts its fuel.
Usually, a white dwarf would explode as a supernova if nuclear reactions are triggered within it. But in exceptional conditions, theorists have suggested, it could instead collapse directly into a neutron star without going through the explosive stage.
“We think that this magnetar might have been formed through this exotic pathway,” said Andrew Levan, study co-author and astronomer at Radboud University and the University of Warwick.

Zombie star theory could unlock cosmic mysteries

This uncommon formation mechanism may have wider cosmic implications. If white dwarf collapse can actually produce magnetars, it may shed light on the enigmatic fast radio bursts (FRBs)—brief, brilliant pulses of radio waves—from distant galaxies that are too old to contain star deaths.
The group stresses that additional observational information is required to verify this theory. But the research raises new questions regarding magnetar formation and their contribution toward creating some of the universe’s most powerful and fleeting phenomena. “Figuring out where magnetars are born is one of the greatest challenges of high-energy astrophysics,” said study co-author Nanda Rea, an astrophysicist at Spain’s Institute of Space Sciences in Barcelona. “It might help us understand some of the most violent events in the universe.”
Also Read | NASA astronaut Don Pettit to discuss his seven-month space mission on April 28 – live streaming, time and how you can participate





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Yahoo ready to buy Chrome browser if Google is forced to sell

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Yahoo ready to buy Chrome browser if Google is forced to sell


Apr 25, 2025 03:44 AM IST

The Justice Department and a group of US states have argued that Google should be forced to sell off its popular Chrome browser.

Internet company Yahoo Inc. — backed by owner Apollo Global Management Inc. — would bid for the Chrome web browser if a federal court orders Google to divest it as a remedy for maintaining an illegal monopoly, a senior executive said.

Google Chrome logo is seen near cyber code and words “spy” in this illustration picture taken June 18, 2020.(Reuters)

Brian Provost, the general manager for Yahoo Search, testified Thursday during Google’s trial in Washington that his company estimates the browser would have a sale price in the tens of billions of dollars.

Chrome is “arguably the most important strategic player on the web,” Provost said. “We would be able to pursue it with Apollo.”

Provost testified as part of a three-week hearing in the Justice Department’s case against Alphabet Inc.’s Google to determine how to remedy the company’s monopoly in internet search. Judge Amit Mehta ruled last year Google illegally monopolized the market and is contemplating a package of changes proposed by antitrust enforcers.

Also Read | OpenAI would buy Google’s Chrome browser, says ChatGPT chief Nick Turley

The Justice Department and a group of US states have argued that Google should be forced to sell off its popular Chrome browser.

Yahoo was the leading search engine in the early 2000s before losing that position to Google. The company has changed hands several times; Apollo purchased it in 2021 from Verizon Communications Inc.

Since the Apollo takeover, Yahoo has been seeking to “revitalize” its search engine, and started building its own browser that remains in development, Provost said. The company has also considered buying a browser and became interested in purchasing Chrome as soon as the Justice Department’s proposal became public, he said.

Yahoo would likely have competition. OpenAI also would be interested in buying Chrome browser, the head of ChatGPT said during the trial Tuesday.

“Yes, we would, as would many other parties,” Nick Turley, OpenAI’s ChatGPT chief, said in response to a question about whether the company would seek to buy Google’s browser.



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