discuss Science & Technology news & discussion

[CraigD]

Post and discuss interesting articles & videos about science and technology.

You don't need to be an expert - just interested in the wonders of modern science, technology, and the history of these fields.

Please keep it rational, and post articles from reputable sources.
Try not to editorialise headlines and keep the copy to just a paragraph with a link to the original source. When quoting excerpts from articles, I think the best method is to italicise the copy, and include a link to the source.

Have some fun with your comments and discussions... just keep the sources legitimate.

Other threads:
The Break Room has a number of other popular threads, so there is no need to post material here that is better suited to these other threads:

- Covid19-Coronavirus updates and news
- Conspiracy Thread Free For All
- The *religious* discussion thread

Please enjoy!

 

[CraigD]

Biologists Discover Ancient Microbial Ecosystems Beneath The Dinosaur-Killer Crater

A new study presents evidence that the Chicxulub crater was host to an enormous subterranean network of hydrothermal vents that could have provided a sanctuary for microbial life.

By extension, much earlier impact craters likely provided the same sanctuary. The study is titled 'Microbial Sulfur Isotope Fractionation in the Chicxulub Hydrothermal System'. The lead author is David Kring from the Lunar and Planetary Institute. It's published in the journal Astrobiology.

The idea that life could have arisen and persisted in the network under impact craters is called the impact origin of life hypothesis. David Kring is a leading scientific voice supporting that hypothesis.

While massive repeated impacts made Earth's surface uninhabitable during the Hadean eon, the same wasn't likely true of the region under the impact craters.

https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/ast.2020.2286

Very interesting read.

Here's a bit more info about the large Chicxulub impact crater that is 65 million years old on the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico.

https://www.lpi.usra.edu/science/kring/Chicxulub/discovery/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicxulub_crater

 

[koolishman]

Chromosomes Don't Look The Way You Think. We Now Have a 3D Image of The Real Thing

As millions of high-schoolers and undergraduates will attest, it's a tall, narrow X-shape - visualising what two joined chromatids look like after DNA replication takes place, but before cell division is complete, at which point they've separated to become their own individual chromosomes.

Unfortunately, there's a small problem with this ubiquitous symbol, scientists say, at least in terms of how accurate its depiction is.

"For 90 percent of the time, chromosomes don't exist like that," says physician-scientist Jun-Han Su, formerly of Harvard University.

In a study published this year, Su and his team devised a new way of imaging the 3D organisation of the chromatin in human cells, giving us a much more meticulous understanding of chromosome chemistry than the iconic X ever could.

Study reported in Cell.

 

[koolishman]

NASA Studies How COVID-19 Shutdowns Affect Emissions

Pandemic-related shutdowns have affected how people act, so scientists began monitoring how that’s affected the planet — specifically nitrogen dioxide emissions. How do COVID-19 pollution patterns play into NASA computer models? NASA’s GEOS atmospheric composition model shows us the answer.

 

[koolishman]

Hear Audio From NASA's Perseverance As It Travels Through Deep Space

A microphone aboard NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover has recorded the sounds of the spacecraft as it hurtles through interplanetary space. While another mic aboard the rover is intended specifically to listen for the laser zaps of the SuperCam instrument, this one is devoted to capturing some or all of the entry, descent, and landing (EDL) sequence – from the firing of the mortar that releases the parachute to the Mars landing engines kicking in to the rover wheels crunching down onto the surface.

https://soundcloud.com/nasa/perseverance-rover-sounds

 

[koolishman]

Human ageing process biologically reversed in world first

The ageing process has been biologically reversed for the first time by giving humans oxygen therapy in a pressurised chamber.

Scientists in Israel showed they could turn back the clock in two key areas of the body believed to be responsible for the frailty and ill-health that comes with growing older.

Now scientists at Tel Aviv University have shown that giving pure oxygen to older people while in a hyperbaric chamber increased the length of their telomeres by 20 per cent, a feat that has never been achieved before.

Scientists said the growth may mean that the telomeres of trial participants were now as long as they had been 25 years earlier.

The therapy also reduced senescent cells by up to 37 per cent, making way for new healthy cells to regrow. Animal studies have shown that removing senescent cells extends remaining life by more than one third.

The trial included 35 healthy independent adults aged 64 and older who did not undergo any lifestyle, diet or medication adjustments. Each patient was placed in a hyperbaric chamber for 90 minutes for five days a week over three months while breathing 100 per cent oxygen through a mask.

https://www.aging-us.com/article/103571

 

[Sutruk]

Scientists said the growth may mean that the telomeres of trial participants were now as long as they had been 25 years earlier.

Woohooo!! 6 months more of treatment and we have a Benjamin Button case there!
Would be nice to see those 25 years reflected on the body, not just on the telomeres length
But very interesting study. It's very clear that oxygen is a nice and essential element for a good life.
You just have to take 4-5 deep breaths and you will see the relaxing and positive effects of taking in more oxygen than usual.

 

[koolishman]

Woohooo!! 6 months more of treatment and we have a Benjamin Button case there!
Would be nice to see those 25 years reflected on the body, not just on the telomeres length
But very interesting study. It's very clear that oxygen is a nice and essential element for a good life.
You just have to take 4-5 deep breaths and you will see the relaxing and positive effects of taking in more oxygen than usual.

In Israel, you can get this treatment.

60 Daily consecutive sessions / 5 days per week / 2 ATA / 100% Oxygen for 90 min with 5 minutes air brakes every 20 minutes / total session time 120min.

Throughout the treatment period rehab training will be provided to patients by the professional cognitive and physiological professionals.

https://aviv-clinics.com/aviv-medical-program/ In Florida and UAE too.

 

[CraigD]

You bunch of oxygen junkies!

 

[koolishman]

You bunch of oxygen junkies!

My understanding was that breathing pure oxygen, is corrosive to brain.

 

[CraigD]

Chromosomes Don't Look The Way You Think. We Now Have a 3D Image of The Real Thing

As millions of high-schoolers and undergraduates will attest, it's a tall, narrow X-shape - visualising what two joined chromatids look like after DNA replication takes place, but before cell division is complete, at which point they've separated to become their own individual chromosomes.

Unfortunately, there's a small problem with this ubiquitous symbol, scientists say, at least in terms of how accurate its depiction is.

"For 90 percent of the time, chromosomes don't exist like that," says physician-scientist Jun-Han Su, formerly of Harvard University.

In a study published this year, Su and his team devised a new way of imaging the 3D organisation of the chromatin in human cells, giving us a much more meticulous understanding of chromosome chemistry than the iconic X ever could.

Study reported in Cell.

This is quite amazing to see.

On a similar note, reality is very different to the theoretical models of atomic structure and subatomic particles that we are taught.

 

[CraigD]

My understanding was that breathing pure oxygen, is corrosive to brain.

That's interesting and makes a lot of sense because we never breath pure oxygen in a natural environment. I wonder if there are similar studies comparing mixtures with different amounts of nitrogen, argon etc?

By volume, dry air contains 78.09% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.04% carbon dioxide, and small amounts of other gases.

 

[CraigD]

Biologists Discover Ancient Microbial Ecosystems Beneath The Dinosaur-Killer Crater

A new study presents evidence that the Chicxulub crater was host to an enormous subterranean network of hydrothermal vents that could have provided a sanctuary for microbial life.

By extension, much earlier impact craters likely provided the same sanctuary. The study is titled 'Microbial Sulfur Isotope Fractionation in the Chicxulub Hydrothermal System'. The lead author is David Kring from the Lunar and Planetary Institute. It's published in the journal Astrobiology.

The idea that life could have arisen and persisted in the network under impact craters is called the impact origin of life hypothesis. David Kring is a leading scientific voice supporting that hypothesis.

While massive repeated impacts made Earth's surface uninhabitable during the Hadean eon, the same wasn't likely true of the region under the impact craters.

https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/ast.2020.2286

Have there been any studies into where some of these impactors originated from?

I would think that by now we have a reasonable grasp of the chemical and geological 'fingerprints' of a few local planets and moons, asteroid belt, Kuiper Belt, Oort Cloud objects, comets etc.

eg. at the end of the article:
But the cherry on top might be finding samples of Hadean Earth on the Moon itself.

 

[CraigD]

Research ship captures the moment a meteor breaks up over Tasmania's south coast

The livestream camera on board the CSIRO's research vessel Investigator operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but rarely does it pick up a remarkable event. The bright flash of light, which appeared green to the naked eye but was captured on video in black and white, descended from space and disintegrated before their eyes. Voyage manager John Hooper said capturing the moment was just "a stroke of luck".

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-11...aking-up-off-south-coast-of-tasmania/12900180

 

[CraigD]

Faster magnetic switch with lower energy consumption developed

A recent collaborative study between the UAB, Georgetown University, HZDR Dresden, CNM's Madrid and Barcelona, University of Grenoble, and ICN2, and published in the journal Nature Communications has shown that it is possible to switch magnetism ON and OFF in metals containing nitrogen... with voltage. One simple analogy would be that we are able to increase or completely remove the strength with which a magnet attracts to, for example, the door of a fridge, simply by connecting it to a battery and applying a certain voltage polarity.

https://phys.org/news/2020-11-faster-magnetic-energy-consumption.html

 

[Sutruk]

That's interesting and makes a lot of sense because we never breath pure oxygen in a natural environment. I wonder if there are similar studies comparing mixtures with different amounts of nitrogen, argon etc?

By volume, dry air contains 78.09% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.04% carbon dioxide, and small amounts of other gases.

Yes that makes sense. Our body and brain are not made to breathe100% oxygen all the time. In any case, at least we can agree that the cleanest is the air you breathe, the better!

 

[Sutruk]

My understanding was that breathing pure oxygen, is corrosive to brain.

Interesting and makes sense. But it seems that the telomeres like it! lol

 

[Sutruk]

Farming on Mars will be a lot harder than ‘The Martian’ made it seem

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/mars-farming-harder-martian-regolith-soil

Growing plants in Red Planet soil will require adding nutrients and removing toxic chemicals

"In the film The Martian, astronaut Mark Watney (played by Matt Damon) survives being stranded on the Red Planet by farming potatoes in Martian dirt fertilized with feces.

...new lab experiments suggest that growing food on the Red Planet will be a lot more complicated than simply planting crops with poop (SN: 9/22/15).

Researchers planted lettuce and the weed Arabidopsis thaliana in three kinds of fake Mars dirt. Two were made from materials mined in Hawaii or the Mojave Desert that look like dirt on Mars. To mimic the makeup of the Martian surface even more closely, the third was made from scratch using volcanic rock, clays, salts and other chemical ingredients that NASA’s Curiosity rover has seen on the Red Planet (SN: 1/31/19). While both lettuce and A. thaliana survived in the Marslike natural soils, neither could grow in the synthetic dirt, researchers report in the upcoming Jan. 15 Icarus."

 

[Sutruk]

Arecibo Observatory, an ‘icon of Puerto Rican science,’ will be demolished

https://www.sciencenews.org/article...servatory-icon-puerto-rico-science-demolished

"Arecibo’s days are done. After two support cables failed in recent months, the radio observatory’s 305-meter-wide dish is damaged beyond repair, the National Science Foundation announced on November 19. It will be decommissioned and dismantled.

The telescope, famous for appearances in movies like GoldenEye and Contact, consists of a wide dish to collect radio waves from space and focus them into detectors housed in a dome suspended above the dish. In August, one of the cables that holds up the dome slipped out of a socket and punched a hole in the dish."

 

[koolishman]

Interesting and makes sense. But it seems that the telomeres like it! lol

Immediately upon reading about this Israeli therapy, thought of that old article.

Still .

Long term effects?

 

[Sutruk]

Immediately upon reading about this Israeli therapy, thought of that old article.

Still .

Long term effects?

Maybe. Our body is made for the current proportions of oxygen in air... so I wouldn't be surprised if breathing 100% oxygen for too long would be not so good for the body...
I would be happy just to breath 100% clean air for the moment

 

[CraigD]

Scientists Look Closer Into The Blue Ring in Space; It Isn't A Blue Ring After All!

Astronomers have been attempting to discover the solution to a 16-year-old puzzle concerning a celestial entity and the surrounding blue light. Finally, after studying photographs taken for years with telescopes both on the ground and in orbit, scientists claim that they now know how blue light and amazing artifacts have been produced in distant space.

https://www.sciencetimes.com/articl...ng-in-space-it-isnt-a-blue-ring-after-all.htm

 

[CraigD]

Farming on Mars will be a lot harder than ‘The Martian’ made it seem

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/mars-farming-harder-martian-regolith-soil

Growing plants in Red Planet soil will require adding nutrients and removing toxic chemicals

"In the film The Martian, astronaut Mark Watney (played by Matt Damon) survives being stranded on the Red Planet by farming potatoes in Martian dirt fertilized with feces.

...new lab experiments suggest that growing food on the Red Planet will be a lot more complicated than simply planting crops with poop (SN: 9/22/15).

Researchers planted lettuce and the weed Arabidopsis thaliana in three kinds of fake Mars dirt. Two were made from materials mined in Hawaii or the Mojave Desert that look like dirt on Mars. To mimic the makeup of the Martian surface even more closely, the third was made from scratch using volcanic rock, clays, salts and other chemical ingredients that NASA’s Curiosity rover has seen on the Red Planet (SN: 1/31/19). While both lettuce and A. thaliana survived in the Marslike natural soils, neither could grow in the synthetic dirt, researchers report in the upcoming Jan. 15 Icarus."

While I'm not a geologist or chemist, I believe that the martian 'soil' is very different to various Earth soils. The examples chosen by the scientists in the article were only simulations of what they think martian soil is like.

It's hard enough growing certain species of plants in different soils on Earth.

 

[koolishman]

While I'm not a geologist or chemist, I believe that the martian 'soil' is very different to various Earth soils. The examples chosen by the scientists in the article were only simulations of what they think martian soil is like.

It's hard enough growing certain species of plants in different soils on Earth.

Well put.

 

[CraigD]

Well put.

'Botanist Mark Watney' said it better...

 

[CraigD]

What is Mars Made Of? | Composition of Planet Mars

Mars is the "Red Planet" for a very good reason: its surface is made of a thick layer of oxidized iron dust and rocks of the same color. Maybe another name for Mars could be "Rusty." But the ruddy surface does not tell the whole story of the composition of this world.

https://www.space.com/16895-what-is-mars-made-of.html