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!

 

[Future Sensors]

This is the fastest random-number generator ever built

Laser generates quantum randomness at a rate of 250 trillion bits per second, and could lead to devices small enough to fit on a single chip.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00562-6

 

[Cannuck]

Sir David Attenborough's new doc: 'Humans are intruders'

Sir David Attenborough has urged people to remember their impact on the natural world, ahead of his new documentary on the impacts of lockdown on nature.

He spoke to the BBC's David Shukman about his hopes for the project, the upcoming global climate summit and his young fan base.

I believe 'intruder' is misleading, but Sir David defends his choice of words by saying, "that even those with the best intentions are intruders". It is somewhat of a betrayal to his life work and achievements IMHO. We are not trespassers, but rather a part of the natural world. Agreed en masse we have proven to be an invasive species (ie. as zebra mussels and lamprey eels have); humanity has tipped the scale beyond limits of natural sustainability through technological development and exploitation, and so, I understand how he may view it that way. But to say "Humans are invaders" is a confrontational perspective, and it is pessimistic to think that it will always be that way. Such a view does not allows for harmony to exist. Our collective impact on the environment is intrusive, nevertheless, we can still re-learn ways to adapt, evolve, nurture and maintain what is left of the natural world and embrace our responsibility to do so.

 

[Cal2]

Yes I understand what Sir David Attenborough means. But who says that humans cannot live in forests? In fact we lived in forests during thousands of years...
Humans are damaging Earth's ecosystems and world climate? Yes, definitely.
Humans are damaging forests to the limit? Definitely.
Humans are polluting Earth's climate to the limit? Definitely.
But I just don't agree with the term "intruder". I guess it's just a question of semantics.

Maybe "virus" a more accurate term?

"I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You're a plague and we are the cure."

Agent Smith, The Matrix

 

[Sutruk]

Maybe "virus" a more accurate term?

"I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You're a plague and we are the cure."

Agent Smith, The Matrix

Well... the definition is there... although I hope that human species finally will manage to do not kill our own environment... I have hope in our species.
But yes, that movie frame by agent Smith also came to my mind... the behaviour can be similar in some ways to what viruses do... but we have something that should make the difference, and that's our "intelligence". So I hope that in near future we will manage to save our planet climate and environment, while making incredible advances in science and medicine.
Very good movie by the way... in many ways!

 

[Cannuck]

Maybe "virus" a more accurate term

Well... the definition is there... although I hope that human species finally will manage to do not kill our own environment... I have hope in our species.

One doesn't need to be a scientist or doctor to know what happens when a virus invades the body. Perhaps the term invader is more appropo. Nor does one need to be a scientist or a doctor to understand Earth's self-defense mechanisms at work. Can there be any denial that Climate Change is primarily a result of human activity and overpopulation? Yet many that do, also claim that Covid-19 is man-made. The path we are currently on does not compete fairly with other species, nor does it bode well for future generations.

 

[Sutruk]

One doesn't need to be a scientist or doctor to know what happens when a virus invades the body.

Some viruses don't kill the invaded body ... they just infect and spread ... like "flu" or "common cold."
"Silly" viruses kill the body when they invade, but they don't have a long run, like "Ebola".
"Clever" but lethal viruses at the same time... like the "one" of this pandemic... only kill a low percentage of infected bodies, but leave most of them alive.... because its main objective is to infect as many bodies as possible, and in doing this, also killing a large number of them (but a low number compared to the total of the infected bodies)

Nor does one need to be a scientist or a doctor to understand Earth's self-defense mechanisms at work.

In fact, the Earth itself is like a living organism, which will definitely react against the attacks it suffers. It has many ways of doing it, one of them is an Ice Age, doing a reset of everything.
Another way is to change the climate to finally make it quite difficult for any form of life to survive due to extreme weather conditions.

 

[Cal2]

but we have something that should make the difference, and that's our "intelligence".

Think!: Before It's Too Late

"The world is full of problems and conflicts. So why can we not solve them? According to Edward de Bono, world thinking cannot solve world problems because world thinking is itself the problem."

https://www.amazon.com/Think-Before-Its-Too-Late-ebook/dp/B0031RDUTW


On viruses, I haven't followed this up, but

Does a sea of viruses inside our body help keep us healthy?

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/11/does-sea-viruses-inside-our-body-help-keep-us-healthy

 

[Cannuck]

Think!: Before It's Too Late

"The world is full of problems and conflicts. So why can we not solve them? According to Edward de Bono, world thinking cannot solve world problems because world thinking is itself the problem."

https://www.amazon.com/Think-Before-Its-Too-Late-ebook/dp/B0031RDUTW

Interesting...there's an audio clip on that link, de Bono makes some very good points.

On viruses, I haven't followed this up, but

Does a sea of viruses inside our body help keep us healthy?

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/11/does-sea-viruses-inside-our-body-help-keep-us-healthy

No doubt the micro-biome (esp gut) has a huge influence on our health, vitality and immunity. Emotional roller coasters are often initiated by a lack of microbial activity that produces serotonin, dopamine, and other essential chemicals governing our mood, which may lead to or is a result of chemicals or substance abuse. Eat organic, farm fresh or wild...the more natural and closer to the source the better.

 

[CraigD]

NASA picks SpaceX to land next Americans on Moon

NASA has selected SpaceX to continue development of the first commercial human lander that will safely carry the next two American astronauts to the lunar surface. At least one of those astronauts will make history as the first woman on the Moon. Another goal of the Artemis Program includes landing the first person of color on the lunar surface.

Flying between lunar orbit and the surface of the Moon, SpaceX's Starship will carry crew and all of the supplies, equipment, and science payloads needed for extensive surface exploration.

Building off the safety and reliability of Dragon and Falcon, Starship will feature proven avionics, guidance and navigation systems, autonomous rendezvous, docking and precision landing capabilities, as well as thermal protection, and a spacious cabin with familiar displays and interfaces utilized on Dragon.

https://www.artemisprogram.com/


More:

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/...-picks-spacex-to-land-next-americans-on-moon/

https://www.spacex.com/updates/starship-moon-announcement/index.html

 

[koolishman]

Microplastics Are Now Spiralling Around The Globe in The Air We Breathe

Our plastic pollution problem has become so bad that microplastics are now embedded in the regular cycles of the atmosphere, circulating around the planet like oxygen or water, according to a new study.

Plastic particles sent up into the air from ocean spray and road surfaces travel across continents and reaching the most remote spots on Earth, according to a mix of sampling and modeling done by researchers.

Much of this plastic appears to have been circulating through our ecosystems for a long time – highlighting just how much of a massive clean up operation we've got on our hands if we're to reverse the plastic tide.

"We found a lot of legacy plastic pollution everywhere we looked," says geological scientist Janice Brahney from Utah State University. "It travels in the atmosphere and it deposits all over the world."

"This plastic is not new from this year. It's from what we've already dumped into the environment over several decades."

Between December 2017 and January 2019, researchers collected 313 samples of airborne microplastics from 11 different sites across the western US. They found that 84 percent of the plastic particles came from road dust, 11 percent originated from sea spray, 5 percent came from agricultural soil, and 0.4 percent was put down to population sources.

In other words, this is mainly plastic that has been ground down on roads or whipped up from garbage patches in the ocean. Microplastic pollution isn't just concentrated around urban areas – it's getting everywhere, carried on the wind.

 

[koolishman]

Scientists Develop New Blood Test That Could Diagnose Your Level of Depression


A newly developed system that monitors for blood biomarkers linked to mood disorders could lead to new ways to diagnose and treat depression and bipolar disorder, all beginning with a simple blood test.

In the new study, researchers have identified 26 biomarkers – measurable and naturally occurring indicators – in patients' blood variably linked to the incidence of mood disorders including depression, bipolar disorder, and mania.

 

[koolishman]

Inflammation, But Not Telomere Length, Predicts Successful Ageing at Extreme Old Age: A Longitudinal Study of Semi-supercentenarians​

Abstract
To determine the most important drivers of successful ageing at extreme old age, we combined community-based prospective cohorts: Tokyo Oldest Old Survey on Total Health (TOOTH), Tokyo Centenarians Study (TCS) and Japanese Semi-Supercentenarians Study (JSS) comprising 1554 individuals including 684 centenarians and (semi-)supercentenarians, 167 pairs of centenarian offspring and spouses, and 536 community-living very old (85 to 99 years). We combined z scores from multiple biomarkers to describe haematopoiesis, inflammation, lipid and glucose metabolism, liver function, renal function, and cellular senescence domains. In Cox proportional hazard models, inflammation predicted all-cause mortality with hazard ratios (95% CI) 1.89 (1.21 to 2.95) and 1.36 (1.05 to 1.78) in the very old and (semi-)supercentenarians, respectively. In linear forward stepwise models, inflammation predicted capability (10.8% variance explained) and cognition (8(.) 6% variance explained) in (semi-)supercentenarians better than chronologic age or gender. The inflammation score was also lower in centenarian offspring compared to age-matched controls with Δ (95% CI) = - 0.795 (- 1.436 to - 0.154). Centenarians and their offspring were able to maintain long telomeres, but telomere length was not a predictor of successful ageing in centenarians and semi-supercentenarians. We conclude that inflammation is an important malleable driver of ageing up to extreme old age in humans.​

 

[Cannuck]

Inflammation, But Not Telomere Length, Predicts Successful Ageing at Extreme Old Age: A Longitudinal Study of Semi-supercentenarians​

I'd have to have a medical degree to understand that research, lol

I found something a little more digestible: https://biologydictionary.net/telomerase/

 

[koolishman]

Scientists uncover secret of the hunger switch in the brain

A 3D structure reveals how a unique molecular switch in our brain causes us to feel full – and may help develop improved anti-obesity drugs.

A new study published today in Science, has revealed how the master switch for hunger in the brain, the melanocortin receptor 4 (MC4), works.

The research team, including scientists from the Weizmann Institute of Science, Queen Mary University of London and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, also clarified how this switch is activated by setmelanotide (Imcivree), a drug recently approved for the treatment of severe obesity caused by certain genetic changes.

The findings shed new light on the way hunger is regulated and could help to develop improved anti-obesity medications

 

[koolishman]

Zoom fatigue worse for women, Stanford study finds

In the first large-scale study examining the full extent of Zoom fatigue, Stanford researchers find that women report feeling more exhausted than men following video calls – and the “self-view” display may be to blame.

With the pandemic forcing many Americans to retreat into their homes, video calls have taken over people’s work and personal lives. Now, new Stanford research reveals how the shift from in-person meetings to virtual ones has taken its toll, particularly among women.

The feeling of exhaustion that comes from a day of back-to-back online meetings – also known as “Zoom fatigue” – is greater for women, according to the researchers’ data. They found that overall, one in seven women – 13.8 percent – compared with one in 20 men – 5.5 percent – reported feeling “very” to “extremely” fatigued after Zoom calls.

These new findings build on a paper the Stanford researchers recently published in the journal Technology, Mind and Behavior that explored why people might feel exhausted following video conference calls. Now, they have the data to show who is feeling the strain. For their follow-up study, the researchers surveyed 10,322 participants in February and March using their “Zoom Exhaustion and Fatigue Scale” to better understand the individual differences of burnout from the extended use of video conferencing technologies during the past year.

 

[koolishman]

Dietary cocoa improves health of obese mice; likely has implications for humans

Supplementation of cocoa powder in the diet of high-fat-fed mice with liver disease markedly reduced the severity of their condition, according to a new study by Penn State researchers, who suggest the results have implications for people.

Cocoa powder, a popular food ingredient most commonly used in the production of chocolate, is rich in fiber, iron and phytochemicals reported to have positive health benefits, including antioxidant polyphenols and methylxanthines, noted study leader Joshua Lambert, professor of food science in the College of Agricultural Sciences.

“While it is typically considered an indulgence food because of its high sugar and fat content, epidemiological and human-intervention studies have suggested that chocolate consumption is associated with reduced risk of cardio-metabolic diseases including stroke, coronary heart disease and Type 2 diabetes,” Lambert said. “So, it made sense to investigate whether cocoa consumption had an effect on non-alcohol-related fatty liver disease, which is commonly associated with human obesity.”

This study has several strengths, Lambert explained. It used a commercially available cocoa product at a “physiologically achievable dose” — meaning its equivalent could be duplicated by humans. “Doing the calculations, for people it works out to about 10 tablespoons of cocoa powder a day,” he said. “Or, if you follow the directions on the Hershey’s box of cocoa powder, that’s about five cups of hot cocoa a day.”

 

[koolishman]

Sunlight to solve the world’s clean water crisis

Researchers at UniSA have developed a cost-effective technique that could deliver safe drinking water to millions of vulnerable people using cheap, sustainable materials and sunlight.

Less than 3 per cent of the world’s water is fresh, and due to the pressures of climate change, pollution, and shifting population patterns, in many areas this already scarce resource is becoming scarcer.

Currently, 1.42 billion people – including 450 million children – live in areas of high, or extremely high, water vulnerability, and that figure is expected to grow in coming decades.

Researchers at UniSA’s Future Industries Institute have developed a promising new process that could eliminate water stress for millions of people, including those living in many of the planet’s most vulnerable and disadvantaged communities.

A team led by Associate Professor Haolan Xu has refined a technique to derive freshwater from seawater, brackish water, or contaminated water, through highly efficient solar evaporation, delivering enough daily fresh drinking water for a family of four from just one square metre of source water.

 

[koolishman]

Video Conferencing Can Tank Collective Intelligence

Non-visual communication methods that better synchronize and boost audio cues are more effective at mimicking face-to-face interactions than video conferencing, researchers report.


“We found that video conferencing can actually reduce collective intelligence,” says coauthor Anita Williams Woolley, associate professor of organizational behavior and theory at Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business. “This is because it leads to more unequal contribution to conversation and disrupts vocal synchrony. Our study underscores the importance of audio cues, which appear to be compromised by video access.”

Woolley and her colleagues pulled together a large, diverse sample of 198 individuals and divided them into 99 pairs. Forty-nine of these pairs formed the first group, which were physically separated with audio capabilities but not video capabilities. The remaining 50 pairs were also physically separated but had both video and audio capabilities. During a 30-minute session, each duo completed six tasks designed to test collective intelligence. As Woolley points out, the results challenge the prevailing assumptions.

The groups with video access did achieve some form of collective intelligence through facial expression synchrony, suggesting that when video is available, collaborators should be aware of these cues. However, the researchers found that prosodic synchrony improved collective intelligence whether or not the group had access to video technology and that this synchrony was enhanced by equality in speaking turns.

Most strikingly, though, was that video access dampened the pairs’ ability to achieve equality in speaking turns, meaning that using video conferencing can actually limit prosodic synchrony and therefore impede upon collective intelligence.

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0247655

 

[CraigD]

International paleontology team discovers tiny cat-sized stegosaur

A single footprint left by a cat-sized dinosaur around 100 million years ago has been discovered in China by an international team of paleontologists.

"This footprint was made by a herbivorous, armored dinosaur known broadly as a stegosaur – the family of dinosaurs that includes the famed stegosaurus," Dr Romilio said.

"Like the stegosaurus, this little dinosaur probably had spikes on its tail and bony plates along its back as an adult.

"With a footprint of less than six centimeters, this is the smallest stegosaur footprint known in the world.

"It's in strong contrast with other stegosaur prints found at the Chinese track site which measured up to 30 centimeters, and prints found in places like Broome in Western Australia where they can be up to 80 centimeters."

The tiny footprint has similar characteristics of other stegosaur footprints with three short, wide, round toe impressions.

Read on...

https://phys.org/news/2021-04-international-paleontology-team-tiny-cat-sized.html

 

[Cal2]

Interesting...there's an audio clip on that link, de Bono makes some very good points.

As Einstein is supposed to have said: "The world that we have made as a result of the level of thinking we have done thus far creates problems that we cannot solve at the same level as the level we created them at."

https://hsm.stackexchange.com/quest...r-problems-with-the-same-thinking-we-used-to#

 

[koolishman]

As Einstein is supposed to have said: "The world that we have made as a result of the level of thinking we have done thus far creates problems that we cannot solve at the same level as the level we created them at."

https://hsm.stackexchange.com/quest...r-problems-with-the-same-thinking-we-used-to#

Great quote, irrespective of whosoever said it.

 

[CraigD]

As Einstein is supposed to have said: "The world that we have made as a result of the level of thinking we have done thus far creates problems that we cannot solve at the same level as the level we created them at."

https://hsm.stackexchange.com/quest...r-problems-with-the-same-thinking-we-used-to#

I like it!

I was intrigued about the context Einstein would have said that in, but it appears to be a mish-mash of quotes, possibly made by a spiritualist.

There are so many misattributed quotes floating around online thanks to the meme factory!

 

[Sutruk]

Digidog, a Robotic Dog Used by the Police, Stirs Privacy Concerns

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/27/nyregion/nypd-robot-dog.html

"The New York Police Department has been testing Digidog, which it says can be deployed in dangerous situations and keep officers safer, but some fear it could become an aggressive surveillance tool.

Two men were being held hostage in a Bronx apartment. They had been threatened at gunpoint, tied up and tortured for hours by two other men who pretended to be plumbers to get inside, the police said.

One of the victims managed to escape and called the police, who showed up early Tuesday morning at the apartment on East 227th Street, unsure if the armed men were still inside.

The police decided it was time to deploy Digidog, a 70-pound robotic dog with a loping gait, cameras and lights affixed to its frame, and a two-way communication system that allows the officer maneuvering it remotely to see and hear what is happening.

The police said the robot can see in the dark and assess how safe it is for officers to enter an apartment or building where there may be a threat.

In the case of the Bronx home invasion, the police said that Digidog helped the officers determine that there was no one inside. The police said they were still searching for the two men, who stole a cellphone and $2,000 in cash and used a hot iron to burn one of the victims.

“The N.Y.P.D. has been using robots since the 1970s to save lives in hostage situations & hazmat incidents,” the department said on Twitter. “This model of robot is being tested to evaluate its capabilities against other models in use by our emergency service unit and bomb squad.

The New York Police Department is among three in the country that have the mechanical dog, which is built by Boston Dynamics, the tech company known for videos of its robots dancing and jumping with eerie, humanlike fluidity.”

 

[Cannuck]

Digidog, a Robotic Dog Used by the Police, Stirs Privacy Concerns

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/27/nyregion/nypd-robot-dog.html

"There is also concern that the robot could be paired with other technology and be weaponized."

As much as I find the fields of robotics and avionics fascinating, without question I foresee their military application. Developments in robotics & drone technology on land, in sea and air is inviting the inevitable. Manned fighter jets are no match for swarms of drones in defense. Robots are immune to biological warfare. Satellite controlled weapons know no borders.

Movies like The Terminator about to enter the realm of non-fiction.

 

[CraigD]

New imaging system allows us to see UV and visible light simultaneously

When it comes to light, there’s a lot more than meets the human eye.

While people can see visible light in the wavelength range between 400 and 700 nanometers – that rainbow between violet and red – there’s a lot of information our eyes can’t detect in the slightly longer wavelengths of near infrared and shorter wavelengths of the ultraviolet range. Various systems to make UV light visible to the human eye have been on the market for years and used to inspect electrical insulation and in criminal forensics, astronomy and photography. But those typically require a power source and electronic components.

Now, an imaging system created by University of Wisconsin-Madison engineers allows humans to peer into the UV range while still viewing the visible spectrum with no batteries required. The engineers described their advance recently in the Journal of Optics.

“The optical system takes UV light rays and converts them into rays of bright-green visible light,” says Mikhail Kats, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at UW-Madison who led the research. “We can use it to simultaneously see in the visible spectrum and UV. You can view this as extending the range of human vision. We’re mapping a broad band of UV light into the narrow band of wavelengths that corresponds to green.”

Read on:

https://www.miragenews.com/new-imaging-system-allows-us-to-see-uv-and-545206/