Pour one out for the Voyager probes 🛰

Plus: A new technique can detect Alzheimer's disease with just one MRI scan Jun 22, 2022 [Blueprint]( All good things, my friends, all good things… The Voyager probes are nearing the end of their extraordinary missions, with their final retirement date set for sometime in or around 2030. And this will mark the end of a record-setting, well, voyage. The probes have journeyed farther than any object touched by human hands, and their record-breaking trek across the cosmos will likely not be matched in our lifetimes. Speaking of rockets, an intrepid “rocket man” put a jet engine on his skateboard, which will eventually end up totally OK, we’re sure. But in the meantime, we can check him out in a gnarly video of his incredible feat. Good morning, this is John, a contributor at IE. This is The Blueprint. Let’s get started. [Play]VIDEO OF THE DAY [This ingenious 'Rocket-man' put a jet engine on his skateboard]( [A man on a rocket-powered skateboard.]( He says it reached 50 mph. [Must Read]MUST READ [NASA's Voyager probes are shutting down after 45 years of service]( [Voyager probe (left), and Jupiter (right).]( Launched in 1977, [Voyager 1 and 2]( began the greatest journey of any human-made object in history by traversing the solar system and reaching interstellar space, visiting all of the outer planets along the way (other than Pluto). → NASA is beginning the process of powering down the probes’ systems. In their nearly 45 years of service, the probes have traveled farther than anything else ever made by human hands, and their record-setting distance is unlikely to be surpassed anytime soon. Shutting down an icon. The decision to power down progressively more of their systems will extend the probes’ life, with a soft deadline for cutoff at 2030. That's roughly 53 years of operation in space! → The probes are powered by small plutonium reactors that have supplied enough power through radioactive decay to keep humming along, but even plutonium isn’t limitless. “We've done 10 times the warranty on the darn things," Physicist Ralph McNutt, of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, said in [a Scientific American report](. Considering that this 2030 soft deadline is more than 13 times the original mission life of just four years, this is [quite an achievement]( even if it must eventually come to an end. [READ MORE [Arrow]]( [HEALTH]HEALTH [A new technique can detect Alzheimer's disease with just one MRI scan]( In medical diagnosis news, a new technique has been developed that can diagnose Alzheimer's disease in [a single scan](. A study on the new method has been fully described in Communications Medicine, a Nature Portfolio Journal. [READ MORE [Arrow]]( And Other Stories in Health - [Nutritional supplements]( could be a “waste of money” for healthy or non-pregnant people. - Deadly snake venom could [stop uncontrolled bleeding](. - A new, highly [effective light therapy]( can target and kill cancer cells. [SCIENCE]SCIENCE [China's space agency claims it will return Mars samples 2 years before NASA]( China's space agency aims to [complete its Mars sample return]( mission by 2031, two years before NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) complete their joint mission. Tianwen-1 Mars orbiter and rover mission chief designer Sun Zezhou outlined a new mission profile for China's Mars sample return during a June 20 presentation. And Other Stories in Science - A [major geomagnetic storm]( An "enormous" sunspot is set to burst. - Here are [40 facts about Earth]( to deepen your love of the planet. - Evidence shows that, yes, [Mars once supported life](. [MAIL & MUSINGS]MAIL & MUSINGS Voyager 1 and 2 have traveled so far that they're no longer in our solar system. But space probes are getting speedier every decade. How long until the Voyager probes' record-breaking distance gets beaten? [75 years.]( [Not for a century.]( [200 years.]( [It will never be broken (human extinction).]( YESTERDAY'S RESULTS Following the news that a breakthrough method may help type 2 diabetes patients lose weight while asleep, we asked whether science will find a definite treatment for diabetes soon. And, for nearly half of you, the answer lies in seriously reconsidering our lifestyle decisions. But nearly one-third are holding fast to the promise of modern medicine. Good show! 43% I think the solution is changing our lifestyles. 31% Yes, I have high hopes for modern medicine. 21% I hope we will. So many people are suffering from it. 5% We lack the freedom to live healthier lives. [QUOTE OF THE DAY]QUOTE OF THE DAY “The larger our great cities grow, the more irresistible becomes the attraction which they exert on the children of the country, who are fascinated by them, as the birds are fascinated by the lighthouse or the moths by the candle.” Havelock Ellis in “The Task of Social Hygiene” (1912) [THINGS WE LOVE]THINGS WE LOVE [image]( [Aquarobotman Underwater Scooter]( [image]( [Garmin Smartwatch]( [image]( [Energizer Lantern]( [image]( [Backyard Discovery Cedar Pergola]( [AND ANOTHER THING]AND ANOTHER THING - A [textile filter paves the way]( for eco-friendly carbon capture technology. - Artificial intelligence is [on the hunt for illegal nuclear material](. (TechXplore) - Hong Kong's [enormous floating restaurant]( is now 3,300 feet below the South China Sea. - We know blue light messes with our internal clocks, but [what can it do to our skin]( (ScienceAlert) - A major [hydrogen power upgrade]( is coming to the most fuel-efficient aircraft. - Life will find a way: could scientists [make Jurassic Park a reality]( (The Guardian) - A new ESA mission is launching to space [without a target](. Here's why. Prepared by John Loeffler, Brad Bergan and Mert Erdemir Enjoy Reading? Forward this email to a friend. Was this email forwarded to you? [Join Free!]( [About Us]( [Advertise]( [Contact Us]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Youtube]( [Linkedin]( [Instagram]( You are receiving this email because you have subscribed to our newsletter. Manage you e-mail preferences or unsubscribe [here](. © Copyright 2022 | The Blueprint is by Interesting Engineering, Inc. 201 Spear Street, Suite 1100 San Francisco, CA 94105 | All Rights Reserved [Interesting Engineering]