News & Science Thread

[Ravindra B]

If humans are going to send tiny probes across the vast distances of space, the designs of their sails will need to strike a delicate balance of mass, strength, and reflectivity. Now engineers have invented a nanomaterial that might just do the trick, helping us push space probes closer to light speed. 

https://www.sciencealert.com/new-nanomaterial-silica-silicon-solar-sail-technology

[Ravindra B]

“If you look at the Moon through a telescope, you might see something curious on the surface. The bright, undulating patterns are called lunar swirls, and their origins have been an ongoing mystery - not least because they are associated with powerful, localised magnetic fields.”

https://www.sciencealert.com/lunar-swirls-moon-magnetic-anomalies-subsurface-lava-tubes

[Pat M]

So, it's not swiss cheese after all?

[Preston H]

Oh, now look what you did! That's so sad.

[Ravindra B]

"We have created another pseudo-disease."

https://www.sciencealert.com/the-largest-ever-clinical-study-on-vitamin-d-shows-we-re-wrong-about-it...

[Ravindra B]

https://www.sciencealert.com/mesmerizing-footage-captures-a-rare-superpod-of-dolphins-on-the-hunt-in...

[Ravindra B]

“As the robot moves with the water through a pipe, its ‘hands’ touch the pipe and feel the suction forces caused by leaks, Wu told Business Insider.”

https://www.sciencealert.com/mit-graduate-developed-leak-detecting-robot-to-save-drinking-water

[Ravindra B]

“We still don't really know how anaesthetic works.”

https://www.sciencealert.com/plants-respond-anaesthetics-weird-movement

[Bill H]

We really don't know how most chemicals used in medication work.

[Janean L]

I am also convinced that airplanes fly pretty much by magic. You cannot persuade me that anything that heavy can leave the ground for hours at a time. In fact, when I am in an airplane it is probably nothing outside of the power of my individual concentration that is keeping the entire group of crew and passengers aloft and safe between takeoff and landing.