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Europe’s switch to LED lights is visible from space, scientists are concerned

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In an attempt to reduce energy consumption and make street lighting more environmentally friendly, Europe has been switching to LEDs in its street lights. However, it’s not necessarily a good choice, at least not in all aspects.

The switch to LEDs is already visible from space, as well as the light pollution they cause. Of course, it’s not only our photos and the view of the night sky that are being affected. As scientists warm, the increased use of LED lights will also mess with living creatures and their life cycles, including both animals and humans.

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NASA photos of Lake Mead’s extreme drought are a concerning illustration of climate change

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While my brain has been boiling at 39 degrees for weeks now, I can’t keep my mind of the climate change that’s happening right before our eyes. NASA recently released satellite images that illustrate this change perfectly.

The photos show the “bathtub ring” around Lake Mead taken in 2000, 2021 and 2022. Over the course of just two decades, you can see the rich lake turning into dry crevasses, reducing the America’s largest water reservoir to only 27% of its capacity!

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This amazing tiny satellite selfie video was shot using an off-the-shelf GoPro action camera

When we think of satellites, we often think of super high-tech state-of-the-art technology being sent up into space. We generally don’t think of them blasting up off-the-shelf electronics that many of us already have in our homes. Well, that’s exactly what the folks at NanoAvionics did when they attached a GoPro Hero 7 (Yes, not even a Hero 10!) to their MP42 microsatellite to capture selfies in space as it flew over the planet.

At 550km (~341 miles) above the earth’s surface, the GoPro attached to the MP42 capture photos of the satellite over the Coral sea and the Great Barrier Reef – the only living structure visible from space – along the north-east side of Australia. It also shot some excellent (and nowhere near long enough!) 4K video of the trip.

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Microsoft’s new tool turns blurry satellite images into high-quality “drone photos”

Last year, Microsoft announced Azure Space, a tool that brings together the possibilities of space with the power of the cloud. The company has now added a bunch of new capabilities to it, and some of the most interesting ones include “seeing” through clouds and turning blurry satellite images into high-quality photos that look like drone shots.

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Nikon to dump GPS in favour of GNSS according to new camera registration

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First spotted back in early March after registration in Russia, and then in Indonesia in July, the unreleased Nikon camera, “N2014” (which Nikon Rumors believes may be the upcoming Nikon Z9 flagship) now has some interesting new news. It looks like it’ll ditch the more traditional GPS system in favour of GNSS according to the latest registration.

The news comes via Nokishita and says that as well as featuring the standard WiFi and Bluetooth, the N2014 camera will also utilise the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), which should offer more accurate positioning data. If true, this would mark the first consumer camera to include GNSS support.

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Nikon turns to space, investing $91,000,000 in aerospace 3D printing manufacturer Morf3D

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I was wondering what Nikon was going to do to keep itself alive with an ever-shrinking camera market that seems to be slowly but surely turning its back on the 103-year-old company in favour of Sony and Canon. Well, it turns out they’re investing in space. To be more specific, they’ve invested as the major shareholder in US startup Morf3D.

Morf3D is an additive manufacturing company supplying the aerospace industry, supplying companies like Boeing, and according to Nikkei Asia, the deal sees Nikon investing 10 billion yen (~$91 million) in the company, becoming a majority stakeholder. This puts Nikon in the supply change for small satellites, a growing market in the aerospace industry.

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Canon lets you shoot photos from space with its new CE-SAT-1 microsatellite emulator

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While Canon might’ve suffered something of a setback with the destruction of its CE-SAT-1B satellite last year, it does still have the original CE-SAT-1 flying over the planet, with plans to launch more. In the meantime, though, they’ve launched a new website that allows you to shoot photos with the $9 million satellite, launched in 2017.

You don’t get free run of the planet, of course, but Canon’s new Redefine the Limits website allows you to look through a select number of views on different parts of the Earth to pan and zoom and shoot a photo – along with latitude, longitude and altitude data, with the Canon EOS 5D Mark III flying 500 kilometres above the surface.

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Canon’s CE-SAT-IB imaging satellite “destroyed” during rocket launch

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It seems that Canon’s CE-SAT-1B camera satellite was not meant to be. The BBC reports that Electron, the rocket launched by American company Rocket Lab, failed in its late ascent and that all satellite payloads are “assumed to have been destroyed” which includes Canon’s new imaging satellite

The CE-SAT-1B satellite was the one we told you about a couple of weeks ago that, for some reason, was loaded with a Canon 5D Mark III and a PowerShot S110. It was a small satellite, measuring only 50x50x70cm, but would offer a 1-metre ground resolution view of the earth’s surface from 600km above its surface.

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Canon is launching a satellite, but why are they sending it up with a 5D Mark III?

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Canon is launching a satellite. It’s the CE-SAT 1B (Canon Electric Satellite 1B). It’s an experimental Earth observing microsatellite developed and built by Canon Electronics. The satellite is quite small, measuring only 50x50x70cm and it’s based on the Hodoyoshi-1 satellite, launched in 2014.

Canon sent the original CE-SAT 1 into space in 2017, so the idea is nothing new, but this time we’re hearing about the cameras that are going to be included on the satellite. And strangely, it’s the Canon 5D Mark III and (even more strangely) the Canon PowerShot S110. It seems like an odd combination when Canon’s about to make a big splash with the EOS R5.

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NASA needs your help to track light pollution and all you need is your smartphone

Astronomers have been worried about the effect of satellites, as heir increasing number in the orbit is posing a problem for night skies observation. We can’t do anything to remove them – but we can now help monitor the problem. With its new project Satellite Streak Watcher, NASA asks everyone to help to track the population growth of satellites over time. And all you need is a smartphone camera.

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