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Indigenous peoples patrolling the Peruvian Amazon equipped with smartphones and satellite data were able to drastically reduce illegal deforestation, according to the results of an experiment published Monday.

The study, which appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), showed that recognising indigenous people’s rights to their territory can be a powerful force against the climate crisis, the authors said.

The trial assessed the impact of indigenous forest community monitoring patrols in reducing deforestation when equipped with satellite-based alerts.  

It found a 52 percent drop in deforestation in 2018 and 21 percent reduction in 2019, in villages that were randomly assigned equipment and training compared to those that were not.

The reductions in forest loss were especially concentrated in communities facing the most immediate threats from illegal gold mining, logging, and the planting of illicit crops like coca plants used to make cocaine.

Though national governments have invested heavily in satellite-based monitoring, empowering indigenous peoples is a departure from the orthodox reliance on local law enforcement. 

What’s more, deforestation alerts rarely filter down to rainforest communities, which lack reliable access to the Internet – leaving villagers unaware of invaders clearing their land.

In local hands
The new study was led by Researchers from New York University and Johns Hopkins University in collaboration with Rainforest Foundation US (RFUS) and the Indigenous People’s Organization of the Eastern Amazon (ORPIO).

It was carried out in the indigenous Shipibo communities of Patria Nueva and Nueva Saposoa in the Peruvian Amazon, with photos supplied by Peru SAT-1, a satellite launched in 2016 that flies over the country 14 times daily.

Thirty-six villages were randomly assigned to the intervention, each identifying three representatives to conduct monthly patrols to verify reports of deforestation. They were paid $8 per patrol.

Thirty-seven villages were assigned as a control to maintain their existing forest management practices.

Once a month, couriers navigated the Amazon river and its tributaries to deliver USB drives containing satellite photos and GPS information to remote villages. 

The assigned monitors downloaded this information onto special such as when drug traffickers were involved.

“The whole point is to put the deforestation information into the hands of those most affected by its consequences and who can take action to stop it,” said Tom Bewick,  Peru country director for RFUS.

Over the course of the two-year study, the communities that carried out patrols using satellite data prevented the destruction of an estimated 456 hectares (1,127 acres) of rainforest, avoiding the release of more than 234,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions.

One-third of the Amazon rainforest falls within around 3,344 formally recognised indigenous territories.

“The findings make a strong case to increase investment to scale the model,” said Bewick. “It would be good for the future: not only for Peru, but for our planet.”

Preserving the Amazon’s five million square kilometers (two million square miles) of rainforest is seen as vital in the fight against global climate catastrophe.

Around 60 percent of the rainforest is located in Brazil, where rates of deforestation last year surged to a 12-year-high under President Jair Bolsonaro.


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Astronomers Discover 3I/ATLAS, Largest Interstellar Comet Yet Detected

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Astronomers Discover 3I/ATLAS, Largest Interstellar Comet Yet Detected

Astronomers have discovered the third interstellar comet to pass through our solar system. Named 3I/ATLAS (initially A11pl3Z), it was first spotted July 1 by the ATLAS telescope in Chile and confirmed the same day. Pre-discovery images show it in the sky as far back as mid-June. The object is racing toward the inner system at roughly 150,000 miles per hour on a near-straight trajectory, too fast for the Sun to capture. Estimates suggest its nucleus may be 10–20 km across. Now inside Jupiter’s orbit, 3I/ATLAS will swing closest to the Sun in October and should remain observable into late 2025.

Discovery and Classification

According to NASA, in early July the ATLAS survey telescope in Chile spotted a faint moving object first called A11pl3Z, and the IAU’s Minor Planet Center confirmed the next day that it was an interstellar visitor. The object was officially named 3I/ATLAS and noted as likely the largest interstellar body yet detected. At first it appeared to be an ordinary near-Earth asteroid, but precise orbit measurements showed it speeding at ~150,000 mph – far too fast for the Sun to capture. Astronomers estimate 3I/ATLAS spans roughly 10–20 km across. Signs of cometary activity – a faint coma and short tail – have emerged, earning it the additional comet designation C/2025 N1 (ATLAS).

Studying a Pristine Comet

3I/ATLAS was spotted well before its closest approach, giving astronomers time to prepare detailed observations. It will pass within about 1.4 AU of the Sun in late October. Importantly, researchers can study it while it is still a pristine frozen relic before solar heating alters it. As Pamela Gay notes, discovering the object on its inbound leg leaves “ample time” to analyze its trajectory. Astronomers are now racing to obtain spectra and images – as Chris Lintott warns, the comet will be “baked” by sunlight as it nears perihelion.

Determining its composition and activity is considered “a rare chance” to learn how planets form in other star systems. With new facilities like the Vera C. Rubin Observatory coming online, researchers expect more such visitors in the years ahead. 3I/ATLAS offers a rare chance to study material from another star system.

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NASA’s New Horizons Proves Deep-Space Navigation via Stellar Parallax



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NASA’s New Horizons Proves Deep-Space Navigation via Stellar Parallax

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NASA's New Horizons Proves Deep-Space Navigation via Stellar Parallax

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft carried out an unprecedented deep-space star navigation test while 438 million miles from Earth. Using its long-range camera in April 2020, it captured images of Proxima Centauri and Wolf 359, which appeared slightly shifted in the sky compared to Earth’s view – a striking demonstration of stellar parallax. It was the first-ever demonstration of deep-space stellar navigation. By comparing these images to Earth-based observations and a 3D star chart, scientists calculated New Horizons’ position to within about 4.1 million miles, only about 26 inches across the United States.

Stellar Parallax Test

According to the paper describing the results, accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal, New Horizons’ camera imaged Proxima Centauri (4.2 light-years away) and Wolf 359 (7.86 light-years) on April 23, 2020. From the spacecraft’s distant vantage point, the two stars appear in different positions than seen from Earth – the essence of stellar parallax. By comparing those images with Earth-based data and a three-dimensional map of nearby stars, the team worked out the probe’s location to within about 4.1 million miles.

As lead author Tod Lauer explained, “Taking simultaneous Earth/Spacecraft images we hoped would make the concept of stellar parallaxes instantly and vividly clear”. He added, “It’s one thing to know something, but another to say ‘Hey, look! This really works!’”.

New Horizons and Future Missions

New Horizons, the fifth spacecraft to leave Earth and reach interstellar space, flew past Pluto and its moon Charon in 2015, sending home the first close-up images of those distant icy worlds. Now on an extended mission, the probe is studying the heliosphere.

New Horizons’ principal investigator Alan Stern called the parallax test “a pioneering interstellar navigation demonstration” that shows a spacecraft can use onboard cameras “to find its way among the stars”, in a statement. He also noted it “could be highly useful for future deep space missions in the far reaches of the Solar System and in interstellar space”

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AI Designs Ocean Gliders Inspired by Sea Creatures to Boost Underwater Research Efficiency

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AI Designs Ocean Gliders Inspired by Sea Creatures to Boost Underwater Research Efficiency

Marine animals like fish and seals have long inspired ocean engineers due to their fluid, energy-efficient movements. Now, researchers are turning to these sea animals to create a new class of underwater gliders that requires very little energy, according to a team led by researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. They used artificial intelligence to design forms that slide through the water with less resistance, making long-term ocean exploration more efficient. These gliders, fabricated via 3D printing, promise better data collection on currents, salt levels, and climate impacts.

AI-Powered 3D Designs Create Energy-Efficient Underwater Gliders Inspired by Marine Life Forms

As per a study published on the arXiv preprint server, the team used machine learning to create and simulate numerous novel 3D glider shapes. By comparing traditional models—like submarines and sharks—with digitally altered versions, their algorithm learnt how different designs behaved at various “angles-of-attack.” A neural network then evaluated the lift-to-drag ratio of each shape, identifying those most likely to glide efficiently through water. These shapes were then fabricated using lightweight materials that minimised energy use.

In tests, two AI-generated prototypes—one shaped like a two-winged plane and the other like a four-finned flatfish—were built and tested both in wind tunnels and underwater. Key hardware was integrated with the gliders, including buoyancy control by a pump and a mass shifter to move the angle during displacements. The new gliders, with better shapes and lift-to-drag ratios, could travel farther on less power than traditional torpedo-shaped types.

The team added that what they are doing not only makes new types of designs possible but also reduces design times and cuts the cost since it doesn’t require physical prototyping. “This high degree of shape diversity hasn’t been investigated before,” Peter Yichen Chen, an MIT postdoc and co-lead author on the project, mentioned. He also noted that their AI pipeline allows testing forms that would be “very taxing” for humans to manually design.

The future plans are to produce slimmer and more manoeuvrable gliders and to improve the AI system with more configurable options. Intelligent bioinspired vehicles like these, the researchers say, will be essential in studying dynamic ocean environments that are changing quickly with the intensifying demands of industrial activity, ultimately offering more flexible and efficient ways for us to explore Earth’s last frontier.

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Hubble Observations Give Forgotten Globular Cluster Its Moment to Shine



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