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In recent years, it has become increasingly clear that space weather disturbances can be triggered by transient upstream mesoscale structures (TUMS), independently of the occurrence of large-scale solar wind (SW) structures, such as interplanetary coronal mass ejections and stream interaction regions. Different types of magnetospheric pulsations, transient perturbations of the geomagnetic field and auroral structures are often observed during times when SW monitors indicate quiet conditions, and have been found to be associated to TUMS. In this mini-review we describe the space weather phenomena that have been associated with four of the largest-scale and the most energetic TUMS, namely hot flow anomalies, foreshock bubbles, travelling foreshocks and foreshock compressional boundaries. The space weather phenomena associated with TUMS tend to be more localized and less intense compared to geomagnetic storms. However, the quiet time space weather may occur more often since, especially during solar minima, quiet SW periods prevail over the perturbed times., Comment: 1 figure, 1 table

A key challenge in robotics is to create efficient methods for grasping objects with diverse shapes, sizes, poses, and properties. Grasping with hand-like end effectors often requires careful selection of hand orientation and finger placement. Here, we present a soft, fingerless gripper capable of efficiently generating multiple grasping modes. It is based on a soft, cylindrical accordion structure containing coupled, parallel fluidic channels. It is controlled via pressure supplied from a single fluidic port. Inflation opens the gripper orifice for enveloping an object, while deflation allows it to produce grasping forces. The interior is patterned with a gecko-like skin that increases friction, enabling the gripper to lift objects weighing up to 20 N. Our design ensures that fragile objects, such as eggs, can be safely handled, by virtue of a wall buckling mechanism. The gripper can integrate a lip that enables it to form a seal and, upon inflating, to generate suction for lifting objects with flat surfaces. The gripper may also be inflated to expand into an opening or orifice for grasping objects with handles or openings. We describe the design and fabrication of this device and present an analytical model of its behavior when operated from a single fluidic port. In experiments, we demonstrate its ability to grasp diverse objects, and show that its performance is well described by our model. Our findings show how a fingerless soft gripper can efficiently perform a variety of grasping operations. Such devices could improve the ability of robotic systems to meet applications in areas of great economic and societal importance., Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures

In this paper, with two-dimensional (2-D) hybrid simulations, we study the generation mechanism of filamentary structures downstream of a quasi-parallel shock. The results show that in the downstream both the amplitude of magnetic field and number density exhibit obvious filamentary structures, and the magnetic field and number density are anticorrelated. Detailed analysis find that these downstream compressive waves propagate almost perpendicular to the magnetic field, and the dominant wave number is around the inverse of ion kinetic scale. Their parallel and perpendicular components roughly satisfies(where and represent the parallel and in-plane perpendicular components of magnetic field, is the wave number in the perpendicular direction, and in the ion gyroradius), and their Alfven ratio also roughly agree with the analytical relation (where and indicate the Alfven ratio and plasma beta), while the corresponding cross helicity and compressibility show good agreement with previous theoretical calculations. All these properties are consistent with those of kinetic slow waves (KSWs). Therefore, we conclude that the filamentary structures in the downstream of a quasi-parallel shock are produced due to the excitation of KSWs., Comment: 29 pages, 10 figures

In this paper, two-dimensional (2-D) hybrid simulations are performed to investigate ion dynamics at a rippled quasi-parallel shock. The results show that the ripples around the shock front are inherent structures of a quasi-parallel shock, and the reformation of the shock is not synchronous along the surface of the shock front. By following the trajectories of the upstream ions, we find that these ions behave differently when they interact with the shock front at different positions along the shock surface. The upstream particles are easier to transmit through the upper part of a ripple, and the bulk velocity in the corresponding downstream is larger, where a high-speed jet is formed. In the lower part of the ripple, the upstream particles tend to be reflected by the shock. For the reflected ions by the shock, they may suffer multiple stage acceleration when moving along the shock surface, or trapped between the upstream waves and the shock front. At last, these ions may escape to the further upstream or enter the downstream, therefore, the superthermal ions can be found in both the upstream and downstream., Comment: 33 pages, 10 figures