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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.
Biodiversity loss could wreck the global financial system – and it’s only a matter of time

Corporate Australia is familiar with the concept that climate change presents a financial risk to the global economy, but more recently biodiversity loss has emerged as an equally important risk.

In fact, climate change and biodiversity loss are now often referred to as the “twin crises” facing the global financial system and awareness of the role the financial sector plays in this is rising swiftly.

Crucially, a recent global review on the economics of biodiversity commissioned by the UK Government, often referred to as “The Dasgupta review”, concluded that our economic system is dependent on biodiversity. This fact is rightly of concern to the financial sector, given the world’s biodiversity is declining faster than at any other time in human history, and an estimated 1 million species are at risk of extinction.

https://www.theguardian.com/comment...inancial-system-and-its-only-a-matter-of-time
 
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MIT and Harvard engineers develop face mask that detects COVID-19

Researchers from MIT and Harvard have demonstrated a cutting-edge biosensor technology by developing a face mask that can detect SARS-CoV-2 in a wearer’s breath within just 90 minutes. The sensor technology can be programmed to detect any kind of virus or toxin and is small enough to be integrated into clothing fabrics.

https://newatlas.com/science/face-m...ail&utm_term=0_65b67362bd-437395be98-90628689
 
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Utah’s Great Salt Lake has been shrinking for years. Now it faces a drought

The silvery blue waters of the Great Salt Lake sprawl across the Utah desert, having covered an area nearly the size of Delaware for much of history. For years, though, the largest natural lake west of the Mississippi River has been shrinking. And a drought gripping the American west could make this year the worst yet.

The receding water is already affecting the nesting spot of pelicans that are among the millions of birds dependent on the lake. Sailboats have been hoisted out of the water to keep them from getting stuck in the mud. More dry lakebed getting exposed could send arsenic-laced dust into the air that millions breathe.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jul/06/utah-great-salt-lake-shrinking-drought
 
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My new climate reality? Packing a ‘firebag’ so I can flee at the drop of a hat

On the first day of summer, I woke up to the acrid smell of hot tar. Even before my sleepy brain could name the source, my body tensed with anxiety: wildfire season was underway. Given the deepening drought and record-setting heat across most of the American west, this year’s fire season is widely predicted to be among the worst in recent memory – which is saying something, because last year’s was grotesque.

More than 10.5m acres burned across the region in 2020, the highest annual total since accurate records began nearly 40 years ago. At least 43 people died as a direct result of the flames, and researchers estimate that thousands more died from the effects of sustained smoke inhalation. Entire neighborhoods were flattened, and evacuations lasted weeks, accelerating the spread of the coronavirus. In rural Washington state, where I live, my neighbors and I were trapped inside for days by smoke so thick we could barely see across the street.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jul/06/us-west-wildfires-heatwaves
 
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‘Save our water’: meet the rain harvesters taking on the US west’s water woes

The American west has a sprawling network of dams, reservoirs and pipelines that brings a supply of water to its cities and farms. But overexploitation and a two-decade dry spell have put a severe strain on the resources, with reserves dwindling to historic lows in some areas. The situation will only get worse in the coming decades, warn scientists, as surging populations will boost freshwater demand and a hotter, drier climate will bring deeper droughts and more erratic precipitation patterns.

The response has traditionally involved expanding supplies by more diversions, wells and dams and mining more aquifers. But experts say new water-sourcing approaches are also needed.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...vesters-rainwater-collection-drought-heatwave
 
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the ‘most important company you never heard of’

The post, “The Tech Cold War’s ‘Most Complicated Machine” That’s Out of China’s Reach,” quotes IBM Senior Vice President Dario Gill as calling ASML’s latest photolithography equipment “definitely the most complicated machine humans have built,” and an analyst at Wall Street investment giant Evercore as saying ASML is “the most important company you never heard of.”

https://dispatcheseurope.com/nytime...he-most-important-company-you-never-heard-of/
 
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Moon's 'wobble' in the 2030s will cause 'decade of dramatic increases in flood numbers,' NASA says

Nasa has warned that a "wobble" in the moon's orbit and rising sea levels will start "a decade of dramatic increases in flood numbers" in the 2030s.

It says that every coast in the United States will face rapidly increasing high tides that'll see a tsunami of problems for the globe.

The conclusion, which was published in the Nature Climate Change journal by Nasa Sea Level Change Science Team from the University of Hawaii, has to do with the moon's orbit, which takes 18.6 years to complete according to Nasa.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/mo...numbers-nasa-says/DABCFGXEYWDARKA7HBIZN2MCTM/
 
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Global warming turning Amazon basin into CO2 producer instead of absorber, researchers say

Climate change and deforestation have flipped a large swathe of the Amazon basin from absorbing to emitting planet-warming CO2, a transformation that could turn humanity's greatest natural ally in the fight against global warming into a foe, researchers reported on Wednesday.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07...rns-amazon-basin-into-source-of-co2/100297432
 
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Moon's 'wobble' in the 2030s will cause 'decade of dramatic increases in flood numbers,' NASA says
It's hard to imagine dramatic increases considering what we're already experiencing.

European officials say 'climate change has arrived' as deadly floods engulf entire towns


Berlin (CNN)European officials have said climate change contributed to this week's extreme flooding, which has left entire towns submerged and more than 120 people dead.

Scientists have for decades warned that climate change will make extreme weather events, including heavy rain and deadly flooding, more likely.

Around 100 of those killed after torrential rainfall since Wednesday were in Germany's western states of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia, where local leaders are urging the world for swifter action on climate change as villages under their watch become a new and unexpected epicenter of global warming.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/16/europe/germany-floods-belgium-climate-change-grm-intl/index.html
 
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NASA and Boeing Progress Toward July Launch of Second Starliner Flight Test

boeing_oft-2_progress_photo_1.jpg


NASA and Boeing are continuing preparations ahead of Starliner’s second uncrewed flight to prove the system can safely carry astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

Teams inside the Starliner production factory at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida recently began fueling the Starliner crew module and service module in preparation for launch of Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) at 2:53 p.m. EDT on Friday, July 30. The fueling operations are expected to complete this week as teams load propellant inside the facility’s Hazardous Processing Area and perform final spacecraft checks.

Once fueling operations are complete, teams from Boeing and United Launch Alliance (ULA) will prepare to transport Starliner to the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) at Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station for mating with ULA’s Atlas V rocket. Beginning this week, ULA will begin stacking, or assembling, the Atlas V rocket at the VIF during an operation called Launch Vehicle on Stand (or LVOS).

Read on:

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-a...d-july-launch-of-second-starliner-flight-test


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Starliner includes one space tourist seat, and the Boeing contract with NASA allows Boeing to price and sell passage to low Earth orbit on that seat.

Boeing CST-100 Starliner:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_Starliner

Here's some info on the launch vehicle, the Atlas V:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlas_V
 
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Long-term climate regulation changed with the proliferation of marine animals and terrestrial plants

Geoscientific study traces carbon-silicon cycle over three billion years on the basis of lithium isotope levels


Earth's climate was relatively stable for a long period of time. For three billion years, temperatures were mostly warm and carbon dioxide levels high – until a shift occurred about 400 million years ago.

A new study suggests that the change at this time was accompanied by a fundamental alteration to the carbon-silicon cycle.

"This transformation of what was a consistent status quo in the Precambrian era into the more unstable climate we see today was likely due to the emergence and spread of new life forms," said Professor Philip Pogge von Strandmann, a geoscientist at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU). Together with researchers from Yale University, notably Boriana Kalderon-Asael and Professor Noah Planavsky, he has traced the long-term evolution of the carbon-silicon cycle with the help of lithium isotopes in marine sediments.

This cycle is regarded as a key mechanism controlling the Earth's climate, as it regulates carbon dioxide levels and, with it, temperature. The researchers' findings have been published recently in Nature.

Read on

https://www.uni-mainz.de/presse/aktuell/13947_ENG_HTML.php
 
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Wikipedia Co-Founder Says Website Has Become Untrustworthy: ‘Nasty, Complex Games’ to Manipulate Articles

Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger said in an interview this week that his website had become an untrustworthy pawn for the “wealthy and powerful” to to “shore up their power.”

“You can trust it to give a reliably establishment point of view on pretty much everything. Can you trust it always to give you the truth? Well, it depends on what you think the truth is,” Sanger said in a Wednesday interview with LockdownTV.

https://www.mediaite.com/news/wikip...y-nasty-complex-games-to-manipulate-articles/


Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger claims left-leaning editors have made site biased, untrustworthy

Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger criticized the current state of the online encyclopedia he started in a recent interview, casting doubt on whether it can be trusted to provide unbiased information because of the heavy input of editors with “establishment” views.

https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/jul/16/wikipedia-co-founder-larry-sanger-claims-left-lean/
 
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The Shift from Sustainable to Regenerative Design

"The language and terms we use influence our approach to the problems we face. Switching from sustainable to regenerative design enables us to more easily leave behind strategies that are no longer equal to the challenges we face."

https://sustainablebrands.com/read/...shift-from-sustainable-to-regenerative-design

This link was sent to me by a friend who has a couple regenerative projects that he's wanting input on. What the projects are, still waiting on details.

If interested in being involved in any such project(s), as a learning experience and/or to give input, message me.
 
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How data could save Earth from climate change

As monikers go, Subak may seem an odd choice for a new organisation that aims to accelerate hi-tech efforts to combat the climate crisis. The name is Indonesian, it transpires, and refers to an ancient agricultural system that allows farmers to co-ordinate their efforts when irrigating and growing crops.

“Subak allows farmers to carefully synchronise their use of water and so maximise rice production,” said Bryony Worthington, founder and board member of the new, not-for-profit climate action group. “And that is exactly what we are going to do – with data. By sharing and channelling data, we can maximise our efforts to combat carbon emissions and global warming. Data is going to be the new water, in other words.”

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jul/18/how-data-could-save-earth-from-climate-change
 
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How the billionaire space race could be one giant leap for pollution

Last week Virgin Galactic took Richard Branson past the edge of space, roughly 86 km up – part of a new space race with the Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, who aims to make a similar journey on Tuesday.

Both very wealthy businessmen hope to vastly expand the number of people in space. “We’re here to make space more accessible to all,” said Branson, shortly after his flight. “Welcome to the dawn of a new space age.”

Already, people are buying tickets to space. Companies including SpaceX, Virgin Galactic and Space Adventures want to make space tourism more common.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/jul/19/billionaires-space-tourism-environment-emissions
 
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Jeff Bezos: 'We Need to Move All Polluting Industry Into Space'

“When you get up there, and you see it, you see how tiny it is and how fragile it is,” Bezos continued. “We need to take all heavy industry, all polluting industry and move it into space.”

Seems a bit 'nuts' when assessed in the usual way. But if one were to use the idea for thinking 'movement value', and not go straight to assessment, what might come from it? Possibly something sustainable, even regenerative, for the environment?


Movement techniques[edit]
The purpose of movement techniques is to produce as many alternatives as possible in order to encourage new ways of thinking about both problems and solutions. The production of alternatives tends to produce many possible solutions to problems that seemed to only have one possible solution.[9] One can move from a provocation to a new idea through the following methods: extract a principle, focus on the difference, moment to moment, positive aspects or special circumstances.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateral_thinking
 
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How the billionaire space race could be one giant leap for pollution

Last week Virgin Galactic took Richard Branson past the edge of space, roughly 86 km up – part of a new space race with the Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, who aims to make a similar journey on Tuesday.

Both very wealthy businessmen hope to vastly expand the number of people in space. “We’re here to make space more accessible to all,” said Branson, shortly after his flight. “Welcome to the dawn of a new space age.”

Already, people are buying tickets to space. Companies including SpaceX, Virgin Galactic and Space Adventures want to make space tourism more common.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/jul/19/billionaires-space-tourism-environment-emissions

Thanks, there are some good points discussed in that article.

The actual rocket exhaust isn't always so bad, depending on the fuel burnt. I believe that the Bezos launch yesterday produced mostly water vapour.

What concerns me is the growing space tourism trade as mentioned in the article. At least we have reached the point where the flight hardware is somewhat reuseable, but what many don't realise is that there is an amazing amount of pollution created in the R&D stages, as well as ongoing pollution from the support systems.

If we can launch some pollution causing industries into space over the next 50 or so years - as referenced by @Cal2 - it could actually be a good long-term trade-off.

It's early days yet. Fingers crossed ;)
 
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Speaking of space travel:

Men cause more climate emissions than women, study finds


https://www.theguardian.com/environ...more-climate-emissions-than-women-study-finds on goods causes 16% more climate-heating emissions than women’s, despite the sum of money being very similar, a study has found.

The biggest difference was men’s spending on petrol and diesel for their cars. The gender differences in emissions have been little studied, the researchers said, and should be recognised in action to beat the climate crisis.

The analysis compared single men and women in Sweden and found that food and holidays caused more than half of all emissions for both men and women. The scientists found that swapping meat and dairy for plant-based foods and switching to train-based holidays, rather than using planes or cars, cut people’s emissions by 40%.

https://www.theguardian.com/environ...more-climate-emissions-than-women-study-finds
 
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If we can launch some pollution causing industries into space over the next 50 or so years - as referenced by @Cal2 - it could actually be a good long-term trade-off.

I'm having a hard time understanding how that would work. The plants would just float around in space somehow? How would their products make it back to earth?
 
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I'm having a hard time understanding how that would work. The plants would just float around in space somehow? How would their products make it back to earth?

I think Craig might've taken me too literally in some ways. When it comes to using a thinking provocation - like Bezos comment could be used, to potentially get some useable ideas - some things need to be done that we most often don't do, because we haven't been trained in it (or in my case, trained in it, but 'lazy' about applying it): "One can move from a provocation to a new idea through the following methods: extract a principle, focus on the difference, moment to moment, positive aspects or special circumstances."

There could be value in making some things in space and bringing them back here, though. Whether there would be a lot of 'heavy industry' that would fit that bill...
 
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I'm having a hard time understanding how that would work. The plants would just float around in space somehow? How would their products make it back to earth?

I was thinking along the lines of mining and refining on the moon.

It's relatively easy to 'drop' mass back to earth - splashdown in the ocean.

I realise it sounds like science fiction, but who knows where we will be in 50 years time. There have been some amazing innovations over the last twenty years.
 
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