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]

SpaceX launches classified US spy satellite, sticks rocket landing to cap record year

That's launch number 26 for SpaceX, its most ever in a year.

https://www.space.com/spacex-launches-nrol-108-spy-satellite-lands-rocket

 

[CraigD]

Gravitational Waves Probe Exotic Matter inside Neutron Stars

A new analysis of light and gravitational waves from colliding neutron stars helps reveal what’s inside these ultradense objects.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/...es-probe-exotic-matter-inside-neutron-stars1/

 

[CraigD]

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

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/arecibo-telescope-observatory-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."

China is opening the world's largest radio telescope up to international scientists

Following the collapse of the historic Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, China has opened the biggest radio telescope in the world up to international scientists.

In Pingtang, Guizhou province stands the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST), the largest radio telescope in the world, surpassing the Arecibo Observatory, which stood as the largest in the world for 53 years before the construction of FAST was completed in 2016.

https://www.livescience.com/china-fast-radio-telescope-open-international-scientists.html

 

[CraigD]

Quantum Experiment Reveals Particles Can Form Collectives Out of Almost Nothing

How many particles do you need before individual atoms start behaving collectively? According to new research, the number is incredibly low. As few as six atoms will start transitioning into a macroscopic system, under the right conditions.

https://www.sciencealert.com/quantu...hase-transition-can-begin-with-just-six-atoms

 

[CraigD]

What are the chances of life existing in the clouds of Venus?

Disagreements remain over spectral data, but the debate now considers pathways for life to survive the extreme conditions on Venus.

https://physicsworld.com/a/what-are-the-chances-of-life-existing-in-the-clouds-of-venus/

 

[koolishman]

https://www.express.co.uk/news/scie...aft-flyby-venus-close-approach-space-news-evg
Solar Orbiter: UK-built spacecraft prepares for close flyby of Venus days after Christmas

Solar Orbiter is racing towards the Planet of Love for the first of many scheduled flybys of Venus. The spacecraft only launched in February this year but is already more than 146 million miles (235 million km) from Earth. On Thursday, December 17, the European Space Agency (ESA) confirmed Solar Orbiter was closing in on Venus from a distance of 6.5 million miles (10.5 million km).

 

[koolishman]

Russian ISS cosmonauts struggle to find an air leak

Cosmonauts are considering sealing off the affected area, but worry this would impact the overall operation of the orbital station. Russia's space agency has said it can send more oxygen to the ISS, if necessary.

Cause of damage unknown
A 4.5-centimeter (1.7-inch) rip was already uncovered in October with the help of a floating tea bag, and sealed.

The astronauts, unaware of what caused the damage, then realized there was another leak from elsewhere in the same section of the 20-year-old spacecraft. However, they failed to find the fault during a spacewalk in November.

The astronauts are considering the possibility of sealing off the affected section and using oxygen reserves, but say this would impact the overall operation of the ISS.

 

[koolishman]

Photos from surface of Comet Ryugu.

From 2019.

Last October, the Hayabusa2 spacecraft dropped a toaster-sized lander onto the surface of the near-Earth asteroid Ryugu. The Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout (MASCOT) tumbled around a bit, but accomplished its objective with flying colors. It cruised the rocky landscape for 17 hours, measuring temperature and magnetism, and taking some flash-photography using LEDs. The robot was battery-powered, so after it had done its duty, the little guy powered down... forever.

 

[koolishman]

Early humans may have survived the harsh winters by hibernating

Bears do it. Bats do it. Even European hedgehogs do it. And now it turns out that early human beings may also have been at it. They hibernated, according to fossil experts.

Evidence from bones found at one of the world’s most important fossil sites suggests that our hominid predecessors may have dealt with extreme cold hundreds of thousands of years ago by sleeping through the winter.

The scientists argue that lesions and other signs of damage in fossilised bones of early humans are the same as those left in the bones of other animals that hibernate. These suggest that our predecessors coped with the ferocious winters at that time by slowing down their metabolisms and sleeping for months.

 

[Sutruk]

Early humans may have survived the harsh winters by hibernating

Bears do it. Bats do it. Even European hedgehogs do it. And now it turns out that early human beings may also have been at it. They hibernated, according to fossil experts.

Evidence from bones found at one of the world’s most important fossil sites suggests that our hominid predecessors may have dealt with extreme cold hundreds of thousands of years ago by sleeping through the winter.

The scientists argue that lesions and other signs of damage in fossilised bones of early humans are the same as those left in the bones of other animals that hibernate. These suggest that our predecessors coped with the ferocious winters at that time by slowing down their metabolisms and sleeping for months.

"These suggest that our predecessors coped with the ferocious winters at that time by slowing down their metabolisms and sleeping for months."

"The researchers admit the notion “may sound like science fiction” but point out that many mammals including primates such as bushbabies and lemurs do this. “This suggests that the genetic basis and physiology for such a hypometabolism could be preserved in many mammalian species including humans,” state Arsuaga and Bartsiokas."

Interesting, but it really sounds to me a bit strange... like he says, like science fiction.

 

[koolishman]

Scientists looking for aliens investigate radio beam 'from nearby star'

Astronomers behind the most extensive search yet for alien life are investigating an intriguing radio wave emission that appears to have come from the direction of Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to the sun.

The narrow beam of radio waves was picked up during 30 hours of observations by the Parkes telescope in Australia in April and May last year, the Guardian understands. Analysis of the beam has been under way for some time and scientists have yet to identify a terrestrial culprit such as ground-based equipment or a passing satellite.

The latest “signal” is likely to have a mundane explanation too, but the direction of the narrow beam, around 980MHz, and an apparent shift in its frequency said to be consistent with the movement of a planet have added to the tantalising nature of the finding. Scientists are now preparing a paper on the beam, named BLC1, for Breakthrough Listen, the project to search for evidence of life in space, the Guardian understands


Aliens should get quarantined for couple of months at least.

 

[Sutruk]

Jupiter and Saturn cheek-to-cheek in rare celestial dance

https://phys.org/news/2020-12-jupiter-saturn-merging-night-sky-1.html

"The solar system's two biggest planets, Jupiter and Saturn, came within planetary kissing range in Monday's evening sky, an intimacy that will not occur again until 2080.

This "great conjunction", as it is known to astronomers, occurred fortuitously on the winter solstice for those in the Northern Hemisphere and the beginning of summer in the global south.

The two planets were, in fact, more than 730 million kilometres (400 million miles) apart. But because of their alignment in relation to Earth, they appeared to be closer to each other than at any time in almost 400 years."

 

[koolishman]

Alligators can regrow severed tails, surprising scientists

American alligators are vulnerable as youngsters, prey to birds, raccoons, and other gators. A study found they can partially regenerate their tails, which are important for moving around.

Alligators are now the largest animals known to regrow limbs. The discovery could help scientists understand how this ability evolved and functions—and possibly benefit research into regeneration-based medicine in humans.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-77052-8

 

[CraigD]

NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Landing Animations

This reel depicts key events during entry, descent, and landing that will occur when NASA’s Perseverance rover lands on Mars February 18, 2021. In the span of about seven minutes, the spacecraft slows down from about 12,100 mph (19,500 kph) at the top of the Martian atmosphere to about 2 mph (3 kph) at touchdown in an area called Jezero Crater. Perseverance will seek signs of ancient microbial life on Mars, collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust), characterize the planet's geology and climate, and pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet.

 

[CraigD]

Tech trends in 2021: Fast planes and homeworking

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-54507044

 

[CraigD]

Octopuses Observed Punching Fish, Perhaps Out of Spite, Scientists Say

...this antisocial fish-punching phenomenon – which scientists term "active displacement" of fish – occurs in the midst of collaborative hunting efforts, in which octopuses and fish team up to chase and trap prey together.

https://www.sciencealert.com/octopuses-observed-punching-fish-perhaps-out-of-spite-scientists-say

 

[koolishman]

An updated way to calculate the likelihood of the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations

A small team of researchers from California Institute of Technology, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Santiago High School has developed an updated version of an old equation to calculate the likely existence of extraterrestrial civilizations. The team has uploaded their paper to the arXiv preprint server

The researchers with this new effort took all the new factors into account and added something else not considered in 1961—the likelihood of other extraterrestrial civilizations arising and then unintentionally killing themselves off. Humans and other animals have a way of destroying their environment. Rats introduced to an island will eat every last scrap of food, for example, and then all of them will starve to death. Humans pump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and confront a future in which the planet can no longer support life. The researchers suggest such evidence likely means that if extraterrestrial civilizations have arisen, most of them are probably gone by now due to their inability to prevent their own demise.


https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/2012/2012.07902.pdf

 

[Sutruk]

The researchers with this new effort took all the new factors into account and added something else not considered in 1961—the likelihood of other extraterrestrial civilizations arising and then unintentionally killing themselves off. Humans and other animals have a way of destroying their environment. Rats introduced to an island will eat every last scrap of food, for example, and then all of them will starve to death. Humans pump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and confront a future in which the planet can no longer support life. The researchers suggest such evidence likely means that if extraterrestrial civilizations have arisen, most of them are probably gone by now due to their inability to prevent their own demise.

What I have already said... especially intelligent life on the Universe, is like quick Fireworks... appearing and disappearing in very short periods of time, due to the destruction of their own environment.

If it's not intelligent life, then it can live for some millions of years, like what happened with Dinosaurs that lived during160 million years, and that's a lot compared to us. Until an asteroid falls or a giant volcano eruption destroys the environment and makes a reset on the life on that planet.

"The researchers with this new effort took all the new factors into account and added something else not considered in 1961—the likelihood of other extraterrestrial civilizations arising and then unintentionally killing themselves off. Humans and other animals have a way of destroying their environment. Rats introduced to an island will eat every last scrap of food, for example, and then all of them will starve to death. Humans pump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and confront a future in which the planet can no longer support life. The researchers suggest such evidence likely means that if extraterrestrial civilizations have arisen, most of them are probably gone by now due to their inability to prevent their own demise."

 

[Sutruk]

Octopuses Observed Punching Fish, Perhaps Out of Spite, Scientists Say

...this antisocial fish-punching phenomenon – which scientists term "active displacement" of fish – occurs in the midst of collaborative hunting efforts, in which octopuses and fish team up to chase and trap prey together.

https://www.sciencealert.com/octopuses-observed-punching-fish-perhaps-out-of-spite-scientists-say

Maybe it's because I look Octopuses in a positive way... but I don't see them "punching" fish , and for sure I don't see them being "spiteful"
I just see them clearing the way... or ok, maybe "playing" sometimes and "pinching" the fish around
Or another idea... what if the Octopus just want to eat? Because they also eat fish.

 

[koolishman]

Great article!

In regards to the degruyter.com study link:
I was initially a bit shocked that they corroborated this study on a platypus specimen that is 111 years old, when I could find a live specimen in my local creek, but I suppose that this is actually good science.

In order to verify the results we obtained from the specimens housed at the FMNH, we examined a platypus specimen collected from a different locality and date that is housed in a different repository. We viewed a male platypus (UNSM 30375) collected in New South Wales, Australia, in 1909, curated at the University of Nebraska State Museum (UNSM), Lincoln, Nebraska, USA, under visible and UV light. The pelage of this specimen, which was uniformly brown under visible light, also biofluoresced green under UV light.

Edited

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/p/platypus/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platypus

More Mammals Are Hiding Their Secret Glow

First it was platypuses. Now we may be dealing with glowing Tasmanian devils, echidnas and wombats.

 

[CraigD]

The One Big Problem With All Alternatives To Dark Matter And Dark Energy



https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2020/12/22/the-one-big-problem-with-all-alternatives-to-dark-matter-and-dark-energy/?sh=224d65567f55

 

[CraigD]

Kennedy Space Center Expands as Launch Complex 48 Opens for Operations

After planning began in 2016 for a small, multi-user launch pad at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Launch Complex 48 is now ready to support small to medium lift launch vehicles.

The complex is the first new launch pad built at Kennedy since the 1960s when the much larger LC-39A and B pads, which have hosted the Apollo Saturn IB and V rockets, Space Shuttles, Ares I-X, Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavies, were constructed.

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2020/12/kennedy-expands-complex-48-opens/

 

[CraigD]

We Might Have The First Complete Observation of a 'Nanoflare' From Our Sun

Flickering just below the Sun's super-hot corona, the explosion Bahauddin stumbled upon may very well be the first complete glimpse of a solar 'nanoflare' - from its sudden bright beginning to its inevitable sizzling demise. And we could just as easily have missed it.

https://www.sciencealert.com/we-mig...plete-observation-of-a-nanoflare-from-our-sun

 

[CraigD]

I know this isn't exactly science or technology news, but worth a post because this movie villain inspired millions of young people to take an interest in the universe and science.

Dave Prowse, the actor who played Lord Darth Vader has passed and was laid to rest today.
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-55424181

Darth Vader has become one of the most iconic villains in popular culture, and has been listed among the greatest villains and fictional characters ever.[5][6] The American Film Institute listed him as the third greatest movie villain in cinema history on 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains, behind Hannibal Lecter and Norman Bates.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darth_Vader

 

[Sutruk]

The One Big Problem With All Alternatives To Dark Matter And Dark Energy



https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2020/12/22/the-one-big-problem-with-all-alternatives-to-dark-matter-and-dark-energy/?sh=224d65567f55

The author of that article thinks like me
If you look at the animated gift on the middle of that article, you will see the two galaxies models. The left one would be how it would rotate if it would follow the normal physics laws, and the right one, how galaxies actually move.
And at first sight, you can see, on the right galaxy, that there's something there, some dark matter that completely pushes all the stars in the outskirts of the galaxy to those speeds, like if there's some "liquid" or "dark matter" that pushes all those stars to those speeds in group.

"A galaxy that was governed by normal matter alone (L) would display much lower rotational speeds in the outskirts than towards the center, similar to how planets in the Solar System move. However, observations indicate that rotational speeds are largely independent of radius (R) from the galactic center, leading to the inference that a large amount of invisible, or dark, matter must be present."

On the last paragraph:

"As disconcerting as it is, dark matter and dark energy are the simplest explanation. A dark fluid idea itself necessitates multiple free parameters. The new relativistic MOND introduced earlier this year or the old tensor-vector-scalar gravity of Bekenstein not only adds at least as many parameters as dark matter and dark energy, but they still cannot explain galaxy clusters. The problem isn’t that dark matter and dark energy simply have to be right. It’s that all the other ideas are objectively worse."