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CraigD

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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!
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
Were Dinosaurs Dying Out Before The Asteroid Hit? New Study Adds to The Debate

While the Chicxulub asteroid and the consequences of its impact - which blocked the Sun's rays and triggered global climate cooling - are generally considered the prime candidates for the massive Cretaceous extinction event, some recent evidence suggests certain dinosaur species were already in decline tens of millions of years before that.

https://www.sciencealert.com/a-new-...-were-going-strong-before-the-asteroid-struck
 
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Simulating NASA's Rocket Launch for Artemis Moon Missions
simulating_nasas_rocket_launch_for_artemis_moon_missions.png


As part of the Artemis program, NASA is preparing to test the integrated systems that will take crew on missions to the Moon, including a powerful new rocket that will launch crew and cargo to lunar orbit. There are many critical moments in a rocket's journey from the ground to orbit, but perhaps none more so than the moment of ignition from the launch pad. When the Space Launch System, or SLS, rocket engines begin to roar – emitting fire, smoke, and shockwaves – it is critical the entire launch complex is designed to withstand the pressure.

https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/ames/launch-pad-simulations
 
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Field geology at Mars' equator points to ancient megaflood

Floods of unimaginable magnitude once washed through Gale Crater on Mars' equator around 4 billion years ago—a finding that hints at the possibility that life may have existed there, according to data collected by NASA's Curiosity rover and analyzed in joint project by scientists from Jackson State University, Cornell University, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the University of Hawaii.

https://phys.org/news/2020-11-field-geology-mars-equator-ancient.html
 
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Microsoft Windows turned 35: From MS-DOS to Android

Windows_logo_-_1992.svg_.png

Microsoft Windows is 35 years old. On the 20th of November in 1985, Windows 1.0 was released, giving IBM-compatibles (what we now just call PCs) their first Graphical User Interface (GUI).

So let’s take a potted look back at the operating system that shaped the others.

https://www.xda-developers.com/microsoft-windows-turned-35-from-ms-dos-to-android/
 
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Microsoft Windows turned 35: From MS-DOS to Android

Windows_logo_-_1992.svg_.png

Microsoft Windows is 35 years old. On the 20th of November in 1985, Windows 1.0 was released, giving IBM-compatibles (what we now just call PCs) their first Graphical User Interface (GUI).

So let’s take a potted look back at the operating system that shaped the others.

https://www.xda-developers.com/microsoft-windows-turned-35-from-ms-dos-to-android/

I remember mucking about with DOS and Win3.1, but Win95(B) was the game changer for me. Suddenly the future had arrived and anything was possible if you set your mind to it.
 
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I remember mucking about with DOS and Win3.1, but Win95(B) was the game changer for me. Suddenly the future had arrived and anything was possible if you set your mind to it.

I was using Apple back then, didn't care much for DOS. Problem was compatibility of programs between systems. Since Win95, I've mostly stuck to MS, but still have both.
 
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RMIT researchers create ‘light-powered’ AI chip

Researchers have developed artificial intelligence technology that brings together imaging, processing, machine learning and memory in one electronic chip, powered by light.

The prototype shrinks artificial intelligence technology by imitating the way that the human brain processes visual information.

https://itbrief.com.au/story/rmit-researchers-create-light-powered-ai-chip
 
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A long distance connection: Polar climate affects trade wind strength in tropics

"Climate signals can propagate from the polar regions to the tropics either via the atmosphere or the ocean," explained Malte Stuecker, co-author and assistant professor in the Department of Oceanography and International Pacific Research Center at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa. "Our climate model simulations were designed to investigate the relative role of these pathways and whether their importance differs for perturbations originating from the North pole or the South pole."

https://phys.org/news/2020-11-distance-polar-climate-affects-strength.html
 
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Sentinel-6: 'Dog kennel' satellite blasts off on ocean mission

A satellite that will be critical to the understanding of climate change has blasted skyward from California. Sentinel-6 "Michael Freilich" is set to become the primary means of measuring the shape of the world's oceans. Its data will track not only sea-level rise but reveal how the great mass of waters is moving around the globe. Looking somewhat like a dog kennel, the sophisticated 1.3-tonne satellite was taken aloft from the Vandenberg base on a SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-55022567
 
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Dark matter

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_matter

"Dark matter
is a form of matter theorized to account for approximately 85% of the matter in the universe and about a quarter of its total mass–energy density or about 2.241×10−27 kg/m3. Its presence is implied in a variety of astrophysical observations, including gravitational effects that cannot be explained by accepted theories of gravity unless more matter is present than can be observed via non-gravitational methods. For this reason, most experts think that dark matter is abundant in the universe and that it has had a strong influence on its structure and evolution. Dark matter is called dark because the unaccounted-for mass does not appear to interact with the electromagnetic field, which means it does not absorb, reflect or emit electromagnetic radiation, and is therefore difficult to detect."

Dark energy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_energy

"In physical cosmology and astronomy, dark energy is an unknown form of energy that affects the universe on the largest scales. The first observational evidence for its existence came from supernovae measurements, which showed that the universe does not expand at a constant rate; rather, the expansion of the universe is accelerating.[1][2] Understanding the evolution of the universe requires knowledge of its starting conditions and its composition. Prior to these observations, the only forms of matter-energy known to exist were ordinary matter, antimatter, dark matter, and radiation. Measurements of the cosmic microwave background suggest the universe began in a hot Big Bang, from which general relativity explains its evolution and the subsequent large scale motion. Without introducing a new form of energy, there was no way to explain how an accelerating universe could be measured. Since the 1990s, dark energy has been the most accepted premise to account for the accelerated expansion. As of 2020, there are active areas of cosmology research aimed at understanding the fundamental nature of dark energy.[3]

Assuming that the lambda-CDM model of cosmology is correct, the best current measurements indicate that dark energy contributes 69% of the total energy in the present-day observable universe."

Very good talk on the subject.

 
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Researchers found signs of human pollution in animals living six miles beneath the sea

Tens of thousands of feet below the surface, deep-sea fish and crustaceans thrive amidst extreme pressure, freezing cold, and absolute darkness. Food is scarce in this remote environment, and fish carcasses and detritus drifting down from shallower waters are a vital source of nutrition.

Turns out they’re also a prime source of toxic mercury, scientists reported on November 16 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers found mercury in creatures dwelling deep within the Pacific ocean’s Mariana and Kermadec Trenches, depressions in the seafloor that form the deepest areas of the ocean’s bottom, and concluded that sinking carrion is the main route by which this pollution infiltrates the ocean’s abyss.

Mercury isotopes identify near-surface marine mercury in deep-sea trench biota | PNAS
 
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Rocket Lab launches 30 satellites, recovers booster in reusability milestone

The "Return to Sender" mission broke new ground for Rocket Lab.

https://www.space.com/rocket-lab-launch-booster-recovery


If you are wondering about the little man towards the end of the footage, his name is Gnome Chompski and he is riding the kick booster into space before he performs a suicide dive back to Earth for charity.

Godspeed little man ('-')7

Congratulations New Zealand cousins!


They will catch up with Musk. :xf.smile:
 
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Road map to saving Australia's Great Barrier Reef
(Originally published as: Road map to saving our reef)

How cutting-edge reef forecasting is helping scientists to understand and protect our natural wonder.
While new technologies and big data are helping scientists better understand the health of our most precious natural resource, more importantly, they are helping to save the largest living thing on Earth. The Great Barrier Reef is one of the seven natural wonders of the world, but its irreplaceable ecosystem, rich coral beds and unique marine life are facing a growing number of threats.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/we...f/news-story/3756d1a11d4e0b13896cda77d148648b
 
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Road map to saving Australia's Great Barrier Reef
(Originally published as: Road map to saving our reef)

How cutting-edge reef forecasting is helping scientists to understand and protect our natural wonder.
While new technologies and big data are helping scientists better understand the health of our most precious natural resource, more importantly, they are helping to save the largest living thing on Earth. The Great Barrier Reef is one of the seven natural wonders of the world, but its irreplaceable ecosystem, rich coral beds and unique marine life are facing a growing number of threats.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/we...f/news-story/3756d1a11d4e0b13896cda77d148648b
The Great Barrier Reef, off the coast of Queensland in northeastern Australia, is the largest living thing on Earth, and even visible from outer space!
 
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The Great Barrier Reef, off the coast of Queensland in northeastern Australia, is the largest living thing on Earth, and even visible from outer space!

Speaking of large organisms:

This Humongous Fungus Has Been Around Since the Birth of Socrates

A humongous fungus lurking underground in Michigan is exceptionally old, tremendously heavy and has a curiously low mutation rate, a new study finds.
Here are the fungus' impressive stats: It's at least 2,500 years old (although it's likely much older), weighs nearly 882,000 lbs. (400,000 kilograms) and spans about 75 hectares (0.75 square kilometers, or 140 American football fields).

https://www.livescience.com/64343-humongous-fungus-in-michigan.html


'Europe's biggest mushroom' found

Swiss scientists have found what they say may be Europe's biggest mushroom - covering an area about the size of 35 football pitches. The fungus was discovered in a national park near the eastern town of Ofenpass, said the Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Countryside Research (WSL). Spanning 35 hectares (86 acres), the mostly underground fungus is believed to be 1,000 years old, the WSL added.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3692136.stm
 
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Pando

Pando, also known as the trembling giant is a clonal colony of an individual male quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) determined to be a single living organism and assumed to have one massive underground root system. The plant is located in the Fremont River Ranger District of the Fishlake National Forest in south-central Utah, United States.

Pando occupies 43.6 hectares (108 acres) and is estimated to weigh collectively 6,000,000 kilograms (6,600 short tons), making it the heaviest known organism. The root system of Pando is estimated to be several thousand years old, placing Pando among the oldest known living organisms.

Pando (tree) - Wikipedia
 
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"Fossil galaxy" found in the heart of the Milky Way

A research team led by Danny Horta at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) has discovered a fossil galaxy within the Milky Way. Using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey's Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE), the scientists conclude that the galaxy, called Heracles, collided and merged with the Milky Way 10 billion years ago.

https://newatlas.com/space/fossil-galaxy-found-heart-milky-way/
 
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Simulation of the formation of the Milky Way

This movie shows a computer simulation of a galaxy like the Milky Way. The movie fast-forwards through simulated time from 13 billion years ago to today. The main galaxy grows as many small galaxies merge with it. Heracles resembles one of the smaller galaxies that merged with the Milky


 
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Celera 500L | Egg with wings or a revolution in aviation


The Celera 500L is a single-engine piston aircraft that is being built by Otto Aviation and is undergoing prototype testing. The aircraft is very unusual: its fuselage has a simple bullet-like shape, the wing is straight and very thin, and the propeller is located in the tail behind the empennage. All these unusual design solutions pursue special goals of the creators, among which are outstanding flight and economic characteristics of the aircraft.


More Information:
CELERA 500L — OTTO AVIATION
 
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Some Amazon Rainforest Regions More Resistant to Climate Change than Previously Thought

Columbia Engineering researchers decided to investigate whether this was true, whether these forests are really as sensitive to water stress as what the models have been showing. In a study published today in Science Advances, they report their discovery that these models have been largely over-estimating water stress in tropical forests.

The team found that, while models show that increases in air dryness greatly diminish photosynthesis rates in certain regions of the Amazon rainforest, the observational data results show the opposite: in certain very wet regions, the forests instead even increase photosynthesis rates in response to drier air.


Amazon rainforest photosynthesis increases in response to atmospheric dryness | Science Advances (sciencemag.org)
 
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