Information Redundancy Neglect versus Overconfidence: A Social Learning Experiment

We study social learning in a continuous action space experiment. Subjects, acting in sequence, state their beliefs about the value of a good after observing their predecessors’ statements and a private signal. We compare the behavior in the laboratory with the Perfect Bayesian Equilibrium prediction and the predictions of bounded rationality models of decision-making: the redundancy of information neglect model and the overconfidence model. The results of our experiment are in line with the predictions of the overconfidence model and at odds with the others’. (JEL C91, D12, D82, D83)

Study of mouse behavior in different gravity environments

Many experiments have analyzed the effect of the space environment on various organisms. However, except for the group-rearing of mice in space, there has been little information on the behavior of organisms in response to gravity changes. In this study, we developed a simple Active Inactive Separation (AIS) method to extract activity and inactivity in videos obtained from the habitat cage unit of a space experiment. This method yields an activity ratio as a ratio of ‘activity’ within the whole. Adaptation to different gravitational conditions from 1g to hypergravity (HG) and from microgravity (MG) to artificial 1g (AG) was analyzed based on the amount of activity to calculate the activity ratio and the active interval. The result for the activity ratios for the ground control experiment using AIS were close to previous studies, so the effectiveness of this method was indicated. In the case of changes in gravity from 1g to HG, the ratio was low at the start of centrifugation, recovered sharply in the first week, and entered a stable period in another week. The trend in the AG and HG was the same; adapting to different gravity environments takes time.

The Payload Development and the Experiments for Studying Thermocapillary Convection in TG-2 Liquid Bridge

The development of space experiment payload for studying thermocapillary convection in the liquid bridge with large Pr number on TG-2 space laboratory as well as the experiments are presented in detail in this paper, and the objectives of the space experiments are confirmed. The functions of the payload are analyzed, and the technical and engineering specifications are determined. Detailed designs and experimental verifications are performed on the structure of liquid bridge columns, the method of bubble removing in the liquid, the bridge cleaning system, the accurate control of aspect ratio and volume ratio, and the high-sensitivity measurement of fluid temperature. Matching experiments on the ground according to space experiment properties are carried out, 5cSt silicone oil is selected as the fluid medium in space experiments. And the states of liquid bridge and temperature oscillation signals obtained from space experiments are presented at the end of this paper. Specific summarizations and discussions to the experiment project on fluid science in space are conducted in this paper, which will provide a useful reference for scientists participating space experimental research in the future.

Experimental development onboard the ISS Russian segment of the prototype system for quick localization of a puncture in the space station pressure shell

Improving safety of space station operations at the time when the near-Earth space is getting increasingly littered with space junk is one of the principal problems in space station design. Along with the measures to reduce the risk of the station pressure shell penetration resulting from a collision with a meteoroid or a piece of space debris that involve protection of the module pressure shells with shields, there is also a need for developing measures and equipment aimed at mitigating catastrophic consequences of the penetration. One of the key factors allowing successful recovery from an emergency situation caused by station depressurization in case of a puncture is the time needed to locate the puncture, which determines possible scenarios for crew actions during recovery operations and their result. The Immediate Puncture Localization System (IPLS) presented in this paper provides reliable and virtually immediate detection of the time and location of the penetration. The proposed concept for the IPLS architecture is based on the use of piezoelectric sensors of acoustic emissions distributed over the inner surface of the pressurized shell of the module that are connected to an electronic unit for processing signals from the sensors. The paper presents the results of studies of the scientific and engineering feasibility of the IPLS operating principles conducted at RSC Energia and TsNIIMash, as well as results of developmental tests on a prototype of such a system in the Service Module of the International Space Station (ISS) in the space experiment Otklik conducted under the Applied Research Program of the ISS Russian Segment. Key words: International space station, ISS Russian Segment, meteoroid, space debris, pressure shell, immediate puncture localization system, piezoelectric sensor, space experiment, high-velocity impact, penetration.