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ravi_iitian
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News & Science Thread

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

 

"Certa bonum certamen"
127 REPLIES 127

Astronomers have detected radio waves from our own galaxy bouncing off the moon

 

“The signal was picked up by researchers from the Curtin University node of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) and the ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D). But even though that's cool enough, it's not the end goal.

 

“Their target is something much more elusive: they want to detect the extremely faint signal emanating from the hydrogen in the very earliest days of the Universe, in the time between the Big Bang and the Epoch of Reionisation (EoR), when the Universe's lights switched on.”

 

https://www.sciencealert.com/murchison-widefield-array-lunar-occultation-milky-way-galaxy-radio-wave...

 

"Certa bonum certamen"

NASA has photographed more of those strangely soothing rectangular icebergs

 

“NASA scientists have captured images of an iceberg in Antarctica that looks perfectly rectangular.

 

“The photos were taken as part of Operation IceBridge, an ongoing NASA mission to document changes in polar ice. During a flight over the northern Antarctic Peninsula on October 16, scientists captured images of the rectangular iceberg while gathering information on changes in the ice heights of various glaciers in the area.”

 

https://www.sciencealert.com/nasa-s-photos-of-perfectly-rectangle-antarctica-iceberg-operation-icebr...

 

"Certa bonum certamen"

The US is hastening its own decline in AI, says a top Chinese investor

 

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/612224/the-us-is-hastening-its-own-decline-in-ai-says-a-top-chine...

__________________________________________________
"No good deed goes unpunished." -- Clare Boothe Luce

Scientists have found the largest deep-sea nursery, with more than 1000 octopuses

 

“In the waters off the coast of California, marine scientists are finding a whole world of cephalopod wonders: in the latest instalment, it's a vast number of octopuses huddling over their eggs in the crevices of an extinct underwater volcano.”

 

https://www.sciencealert.com/octopus-nursery-davidson-seamount-california-1-000-octopuses-biggest-ev...

 

"Certa bonum certamen"

Experimental antibiotic gives new hope against superbugs in clinical trials

 

“An antibiotic with a whole new approach to conquering superbugs has shown promise in early clinical trials.

 

“Unlike other antibiotics currently on the market, the new drug, called cefiderocol, engages in a kind of biological subterfuge that overthrows Gram-negative bacteria from the inside out.”

 

https://www.sciencealert.com/trojan-horse-antibiotics-new-hope-resistant-superbugs-early-clinical-tr...

 

"Certa bonum certamen"

The truth about Americans trusting alternative cancer treatments is devastating

 

“Roughly 4 out of every 10 Americans believe that cancer can be cured through alternative remedies alone, according to a recent survey on views and opinions surrounding cancer and its treatment.”

 

https://www.sciencealert.com/results-of-the-2018-american-society-of-clinical-oncology-national-canc...

 

"Certa bonum certamen"

 A giant iceberg breaks off Antarctica

 

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2018/11/exclusive-first-pictures-of-iceberg-five-time...

__________________________________________________
"No good deed goes unpunished." -- Clare Boothe Luce

Astronomers found a black hole rotating so fast, it could be spinning space itself

 

“In fact, according to NASA this particular black hole is spinning very close to the limit set by Albert Einstein's theory of relativity, according to Rodrigo Nemmen, the lead author on the research paper. That means it is spinning close to the speed of light.

 

“Currently, scientists only have two ways of measuring black holes - either by their mass or by their spin rate. A spin rate can be anywhere between 0 and 1: this black hole was spinning at the rate of 0.9.

 

“Einstein's theory further implies that if a black hole is spinning that fast, then it is capable of making space itself rotate."

 

https://www.sciencealert.com/this-black-hole-could-be-rotating-space-itself-by-spinning-so-fast

 

"Certa bonum certamen"

Meh. With a mass of only ten suns, not much space will spin along with the hole, if any space is actually spinning along with the hole,  considering that a black hole of this size is considerably smaller than the Sun.  

 

Now if it had the mass of a billion suns, and spun at 90% of c, we would have had something of real interest.  


@Reinier B wrote:

Meh. With a mass of only ten suns, not much space will spin along with the hole, if any space is actually spinning along with the hole,  considering that a black hole of this size is considerably smaller than the Sun.  

 

Now if it had the mass of a billion suns, and spun at 90% of c, we would have had something of real interest.  


I haven't looked into this, but remember that the mass at rest of an object is not the whole story. There is way more energy in an object that has a strong momentum than the energy of its mass at rest. So I wouldn't be surprised if a spinning black hole had a strong friction effect on the space-time around it.

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"Where darkness shines like dazzling light"   —William Ashbless


@Rene K wrote:

@Reinier B wrote:

Meh. With a mass of only ten suns, not much space will spin along with the hole, if any space is actually spinning along with the hole,  considering that a black hole of this size is considerably smaller than the Sun.  

 

Now if it had the mass of a billion suns, and spun at 90% of c, we would have had something of real interest.  


I haven't looked into this, but remember that the mass at rest of an object is not the whole story. There is way more energy in an object that has a strong momentum than the energy of its mass at rest. So I wouldn't be surprised if a spinning black hole had a strong friction effect on the space-time around it.


 You are right of course, but it is extremely unlikely that something as light as ten solar masses (at rest) would have sufficient energy to drag large swathes of space around along with it, and especially at only 90% of c, where relativistic effects are not particularly powerful or pronounced.  

Satellite data has revealed relics of lost continents hiding under Antarctica

 

“Of all our planet's continents, we know the least about the icy landmass of Antarctica. Now, scientists have used satellite imagery to peer into Earth's tectonics, revealing the hidden structures of Antarctica as part of their work.”

 

https://www.sciencealert.com/satellite-data-revealed-lost-continent-hiding-under-antarctica

 

"Certa bonum certamen"

An incredibly fast 'dark matter hurricane' is blowing past Earth right now

 

“If astronomers' calculations are correct, the Solar System is right in the middle of a turbulent space event: a vast 'hurricane' of dark matter, blowing at an insane speed of 500 kilometres per second (310 mps).”

 

https://www.sciencealert.com/apparently-there-s-a-dark-matter-hurricane-blowing-past-earth-right-now

 

"Certa bonum certamen"

Furry moths have evolved impressive 'acoustic camouflage' on par with military technology

 

“The evolutionary arms race between predator and prey has given rise to many impressive defence mechanisms; as it turns out, the lowly moth is no exception.

 

“These unassuming creatures may not have the charming appearance of their butterfly cousins, but their furry facade conceals some tricks that would impress the most advanced military division.”

 

https://www.sciencealert.com/moths-acoustic-camouflage-is-like-a-form-of-evolved-stealth-bomber-tech...

 

"Certa bonum certamen"

We just got closer than ever to unlocking graphene's superconducting powers

 

“Scientists are now closer than ever to being able to use graphene as a superconductor – to conduct electricity with zero resistance – making it useful for developing energy efficient gadgets, improving medical research, upgrading power grids, and much more besides.”

 

https://www.sciencealert.com/we-re-another-step-closer-to-unlocking-graphene-s-superconducting-power

 

"Certa bonum certamen"


@Ravindra B wrote:

We might have just discovered the missing link between the brain and gut

 

“Scientists now believe that a surprising array of conditions, including appetite disorders, obesity, arthritis, and depression, may get their start in the gut. But it hasn't been clear how messages in this so-called ‘second brain’ spread from our stomachs to our cerebrum.”

 

https://www.sciencealert.com/we-might-have-just-discovered-the-missing-link-between-the-brain-and-gu...

 


 So it turns out Mom was right about this all along? 


@Renata S wrote:

@Ravindra B wrote:

We might have just discovered the missing link between the brain and gut

 

“Scientists now believe that a surprising array of conditions, including appetite disorders, obesity, arthritis, and depression, may get their start in the gut. But it hasn't been clear how messages in this so-called ‘second brain’ spread from our stomachs to our cerebrum.”

 

https://www.sciencealert.com/we-might-have-just-discovered-the-missing-link-between-the-brain-and-gu...

 


 So it turns out Mom was right about this all along? 


 Yes!

"Certa bonum certamen"

China's nuclear fusion machine just smashed temperature records by getting 6 times hotter than the Sun

 

“Scientists announced this week that the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) reactor in Hefei has finally achieved a temperature exceeding 100 million degrees Celsius, setting a new record in fusion technology and bringing us closer to a new age in energy.”

 

https://www.sciencealert.com/china-s-artificial-sun-has-officially-become-hot-enough-for-nuclear-fus...

 

"Certa bonum certamen"

This incredible simulation of a black hole is getting us closer to what one might look like

 

“We'll never actually see a black hole, since they absorb all light. But over recent decades, astronomers and astrophysicists have been studying the space around Sgr A* intensely - and now a team of scientists has used that wealth of data to create a 3D, virtual-reality simulation of that space.”

 

https://www.sciencealert.com/this-incredible-simulation-of-a-black-hole-is-getting-us-closer-to-what...

 

"Certa bonum certamen"

Elon Musk says there's a '70 percent chance' he'll be moving to Mars

 

https://www.sciencealert.com/elon-musk-says-there-s-a-70-per-cent-chance-he-ll-personally-travel-to-...

 

"Certa bonum certamen"

Online chat with customer support has a creepy privacy risk you probably don't know about

 

“Why? Because on some live chat platforms – particularly commercial ones like these geared to customer service – support staff can actually see what you're writing as you type it, even before you hit the return or enter key, or click send.”

 

https://www.sciencealert.com/online-chat-with-customer-support-has-a-weird-privacy-risk-almost-nobod...

 

"Certa bonum certamen"

A scientist explains why the alleged CRISPR babies news is more shocking than you might realise

 

“Those who praise the Chinese research have given no mechanism, or rules and regulations, that would allow human gene editing for only beneficent purposes.

 

“As the old proverb says, ‘The road to hell is paved with good intentions.’”

 

https://www.sciencealert.com/this-scientist-explains-why-the-alleged-crispr-babies-news-is-probably-...

"Certa bonum certamen"

Scientists have found a surprising new source of blood cells in the human body

 

“It's long been thought that the only place adult humans make new blood cells is in bone marrow. But this discovery suggests our gut also contains hematopoieticpoietic tissue which can pump out a stream of red and white cells into our circulatory system.”

 

https://www.sciencealert.com/turns-out-that-bone-marrow-isn-t-the-only-place-in-our-body-we-make-blo...

 

"Certa bonum certamen"

Astronomers just revealed the most detailed record of a dying star humanity has ever seen

 

“Astronomers have been able to get their closest, most detailed look yet at the first stages of a dying star – a supernova known as SN 2018oh – using a combination of super-powerful telescopes out in space and based here on Earth.”

 

https://www.sciencealert.com/we-just-got-the-most-detailed-impression-of-a-dying-star-ever-recorded

 

"Certa bonum certamen"

This little-known sea is a grim preview of what global warming will do to oceans

 

“The Baltic Sea is a sort of experimental pressure cooker for marine life, a test for how species fare - and whether they can survive at all - in conditions the world's oceans may soon experience.”

 

https://www.sciencealert.com/insane-baltic-sea-warming-is-a-sign-of-things-to-come

 

"Certa bonum certamen"

How to tell if you're dating a psychopath, according to science

 

“It may sound like a scene straight out of a horror movie, but statistically you are not that unlikely to end up on a date with a psychopath. It is estimated that about 1 in 100 people are psychopaths – similar to the number of people who are teachers.”

 

https://www.sciencealert.com/here-s-some-scientific-ways-to-work-out-if-your-date-is-a-psychopath

 

"Certa bonum certamen"

NASA has recorded the first-ever sound of winds tearing across Mars

 

“The sound recorded with InSight's sensors on December 1 comes from vibrations caused by wind that NASA estimates was blowing at about 10 to 15 mph (16 to 24 km/h).”

 

https://www.sciencealert.com/nasa-just-heard-the-haunting-sound-of-dust-devils-tearing-across-mars

 

"Certa bonum certamen"

Physicists just smashed another record for high-temperature superconductivity

 

“Scientists in Germany say they have hit a new superconductivity milestone. According to their paper, they achieved resistance-free electrical current at the highest temperature yet: just 250 Kelvin, or -23 degrees Celsius (-9.4 degrees Fahrenheit).”

 

https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-have-broken-the-record-for-high-temperature-superconductivit...

 

"Certa bonum certamen"

Christmas Eve comes with a potentially deadly health risk, says study

 

“For some, Christmas can be a time of stress instead of peace and goodwill – and a new Swedish study shows that 10 pm on Christmas Eve is the annual peak time for heart attack risk, particularly for the elderly and those with existing conditions.”

 

https://www.sciencealert.com/you-d-better-watch-out-heart-attacks-hit-their-annual-peak-on-christmas...

 

"Certa bonum certamen"

Scientists are creating a laser so powerful it could get a probe to Mars in days

 

“An initiative called Breakthrough Starshot wants to explore another star system using ultra-powerful laser beams and wafer-thin spaceships.”

 

https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-are-creating-a-laser-that-could-propel-a-probe-to-another-st...

 

"Certa bonum certamen"

Doctoral student just published a paper describing how time travel would be possible

 

“Now, one of my doctoral students has just published a paper in the journal Classical and Quantum Gravity that describes how to build a time machine using a very simple construction.”

 

https://www.sciencealert.com/time-travel-is-possible-but-only-if-you-have-an-object-with-infinite-ma...

 

"Certa bonum certamen"

Indonesia's 'Child of Krakatau' is waking up, and may have caused the deadly tsunami

 

“The volcano's eruption was one of the most catastrophic disasters of modern times. It began in May 1883 and lasted nine months, killing more than 36,000 people.

 

“Most of Krakatau was destroyed in the cataclysm, but another island - Anak Krakatau, or "child of Krakatau" - began forming in 1927 and has erupted several times.”

 

https://www.sciencealert.com/the-volcano-that-caused-devastation-in-indonesia-is-the-child-of-the-in...

 

"Certa bonum certamen"

Mind-Bending Study Suggests Time Did Actually Exist Before The Big Bang

 

“According to a straightforward interpretation of general relativity, the Big Bang wasn't the start of 'everything'.

 

“Taking Einstein's famous equations at face value and making as few assumptions as possible, a team of researchers has rewound the clock on our Universe to find it wouldn't lead to a stopping point at all, but would take us through a different kind of beginning into a flipped space.”

 

https://www.sciencealert.com/mind-bending-study-suggests-time-did-actually-exist-before-the-big-bang

 

"Certa bonum certamen"

This video on the scale of black holes will crush your poor, human brain forever

 

“One of these black holes have a mass of 20 billion Suns. We won't even try to put that into perspective for you, because it really hurts to think about it too much.”

 

https://www.sciencealert.com/this-video-on-the-scale-of-black-holes-will-crush-your-poor-human-brain...

 

"Certa bonum certamen"

A new study just solved one of the greatest mysteries of DNA replication

 

“Now, by applying cutting edge technology, researchers have uncovered crucial details showing how DNA times its own replication.”

 

https://www.sciencealert.com/new-study-solves-the-decades-old-mystery-on-how-dna-manages-its-own-rep...

 

"Certa bonum certamen"

Galaxy coming our way could wake a black hole and send the Milky Way flying into space

 

“There's an enemy in our midst. Quietly circling around our galaxy, it could send our Solar System hurtling out of the Milky Way and into the obscurity of interstellar space.”

 

https://www.sciencealert.com/an-incoming-galaxy-could-boot-our-solar-system-out-of-the-milky-way

 

"Certa bonum certamen"

Ancient druid healing 'treatment' shows potential for killing today's superbugs

 

“Faced with the rising threat of drug resistant pathogens, researchers are all but giving up hope that new treatments can be easily cooked up in the lab.

 

“One recent discovery gives us hope that novel antibiotics are easier to find than we think, perhaps in plain sight right under our very feet. And it's possible their curative properties could have already been recognised centuries in the past.”

 

https://www.sciencealert.com/an-ancient-druidic-medical-treatment-could-contain-a-secret-to-killing-...

 

"Certa bonum certamen"

Mind-melting study says our universe is an expanding bubble in another dimension

 

“Physicists have come up with a bold new idea to explain the enduring mystery of our expanding Universe – we might actually be living in a 'bubble' between other five-dimensional spaces.”

 

https://www.sciencealert.com/existing-string-theory-can-t-explain-why-space-expands-but-this-new-ide...

 

"Certa bonum certamen"

Simple animations by a NASA scientist 'prove' the speed of light is torturously slow

 

“In a perfectly empty vacuum, a particle of light, which is called a photon, can travel 186,282 miles per second (299,792 kilometers per second), or about 670.6 million mph (1.079 billion kilometers per hour).

 

“This is incredibly fast. However, light speed can be frustratingly slow if you're trying to communicate with or reach other planets, especially any worlds beyond our solar system.”

 

https://www.sciencealert.com/simple-animations-by-a-nasa-scientist-prove-the-speed-of-light-is-tortu...

 

"Certa bonum certamen"

The speed of light is not about light.

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"Where darkness shines like dazzling light"   —William Ashbless
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