Physicists are teaming up with computer scientists in a NASA-funded study to help predict solar flares and radiation that can disable spacecraft and potentially kill astronauts. NASA has awarded a $550,000 grant to the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne to begin the three-year machine learning project next month. Computer algorithms will analyze data and imagery from the sun and solar system radiation. Other schools awarded funding are Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, N.Y.; Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind.; Auburn University, Auburn, Ala.; the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; the University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa, and the University of California-Los Angeles. Sources: Breitbart, UPI