Truth Paradox

Jupiter's Gravity Embraces NASA's Juno Spacecraft

1 JUNE 2016       SPACE       KASANDRA BRAWBAW

NASA's Juno spacecraft has entered the home stretch of its five-year journey to Jupiter.

On Friday (May 27), Juno crossed a gravitational boundary between Jpuiter and the sun, and the gas giant began pulling the spacecraft in ahead of a planned July 4 arrival, NASA officals said. 

"As of tomorrow [May 28], and for the rest of the mission, we project Jupiter;s gravity will dominate as the trajectory-perturbing effects by other celestial bodies are reduced to insignificant roles," Juno project manager Rick Nybakken, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said in a statement. 

Juno launched in August 2011.  Since then, three gravitationa forces have markedly influenced the spacecraft's trek -- those of the sun, the Earth and Jupiter.  At the beginning stages of Juno's trip, Earth was most influential; more recently, the sun has had the biggest impact on the spacecraft's trajectory, NASA officals said. 

... Unlike the nuclear-powered Galileo, Juno uses solar energy and is equipped with the largest solar arrays ever flown on an interplanetary spacecraft.  Each of Juno's three solar panels is 8.9 feet wise by 29 feet long (2.7 by 8.9 meters). Read More

Why Spotify's Discover Weelky Is So Addictive

30 MAY 2016       VOGUE       PATRICIA GARCIA

There used to be nothing appealing about the arrival of Monday mornings.  After a too-short weekend, all that awaited was an hour-long commute and a busy week of work.  But a few months ago, during said commute, I stumbled upon a playlist while listening to Spotify on my phone.  Well into my ride, I realized I hadn't once skipped a track, something that rarely happened when I decided to try new music.  While I had never heard any of the songs that were playing, strangely enough, the mix was exactly the kind of music I loved to listen to.

That was my first encounter with Discover Weekly, an algorithm-made playlist of 30 songs released every Monday morning on Spotify.  Ever since then, I've been hooked on it--and I found out I wasn't alone.  Since Discover Weekly launched last July, It has become one of the most successful features of the company.  Last week,Spotify shared that more than 40 million listeners had subscribed to the weekly-curated mixtapes.  And more than half of those listeners, like myself, were returning every week for more. Read More