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!

 

[Cannuck]

I like making old things work by combining past tech with new tech. Fortunately I've got decent supply of unobtanium.

 

[Cal2]

un·ob·tain·i·um
/ˌənəbˈtānēəm/
Learn to pronounce

noun
INFORMAL
noun: unobtanium

1. a highly desirable material that is hypothetical, scientifically impossible, extremely rare, costly, or fictional, or has some of these properties in combination.
   "what type of cabling are we talking about, steel, composite, unobtainium?"

 

[Cannuck]

un·ob·tain·i·um
/ˌənəbˈtānēəm/

noun
INFORMAL
noun: unobtanium

1. a highly desirable material that is hypothetical, scientifically impossible, extremely rare, costly, or fictional, or has some of these properties in combination.
   "what type of cabling are we talking about, steel, composite, unobtainium?"

LOL, you confused me with unobtainium (sp.) daamit

 

[Cal2]

LOL, you confused me with unobtainium (sp.) daamit

That was google search's fault.

I can't remember exactly, but if it was unobtanum you were after:
/ONE PARTICLE OF. UNOBTANUM HAS A NUCLEAR REACTION WITH A FLUX® CAPACITOR, CARRY THE TWO) CHANGING [T'S 'ATOMIC ISOTOPE INTO A RADIOACTIVE SPIDER

Or Unobtainum: https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1...8C9EQvgUoAXoECAEQMg&biw=1536&bih=722&dpr=1.25

 

[Cannuck]

That was google search's fault.

I can't remember exactly, but if it was unobtanum you were after:
/ONE PARTICLE OF. UNOBTANUM HAS A NUCLEAR REACTION WITH A FLUX® CAPACITOR, CARRY THE TWO) CHANGING [T'S 'ATOMIC ISOTOPE INTO A RADIOACTIVE SPIDER

I had to disconnect my flux capacitor from the reactor, since combining unobtanium produced in excess of 1.21 gigawatts and my faraday box was unable to contain the power surge. Also, my vehicle body isn't stainless steel, so it limits flux dispersal and has a tendency to overheat under load during temporal displacement.

Now I just use it for a mobile booster, lol.

 

[Cannuck]

“Into space to produce anti-cancer drugs, quantum computers, and super optical fibers”

Why is it necessary to produce in space, with all the difficulties and costs involved?

"Simply because certain things cannot be produced if they are subjected to Earth’s gravity. Or, I know it sounds paradoxical, building certain things in space costs less and involves less risk than it does on Earth.”

Explain please.

"Let’s take certain components for future quantum computers or equipment that will use plasma (ionized gas used, for example, for cutting or modulation) or super optical fibers. In laboratories in microgravity situations such as the International Space Station, it is possible to study phenomena and types of production that are not possible on Earth. Or it is risky and therefore expensive: for example, to produce anti-cancer drugs you sometimes have to expose cells to radiation or have to protect them from other radiation. Well, in space this problem has fewer difficulties and fewer risks for humans."

Bases on the Moon will be built using lunar regolith, but to power it, knead it, and power large 3D printers, large-scale experiments cannot be carried out using samples taken from the Moon or using “simulators” produced in the USA. Then the Tuscan engineer Enrico Dini discovered that it was possible to obtain from the pozzolana quarry in Bolsena a material very similar to the lunar regolith, which he called Dna-1 Regolith Simulant. After the tests on Earth, a laboratory in microgravity will be needed to study how this substance is used on the moon.

https://www.wireservice.ca/into-spa...per-optical-fibers-aglianico-pomace-in-orbit/

 

[J Sokol]

Metaverse, Mars, meditation retreats: billionaires want to escape the world they ruined

On Thursday Facebook announced a groundbreaking and innovative new distraction from their PR disaster. As journalists continue to pore over thousands of leaked documents that show the company is fully aware that it is degrading democratic societies, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook is changing its name to Meta, has a new logo that looks like a Na’vi bending over, and is going to pivot from spreading vaccine disinformation to creating a super-lame version of Second Life.

Zuckerberg promised that in the future we would all work, play and “organise surprise birthday parties” as avatars in Facebook’s virtual-reality “Metaverse”. His examples of how this might work had all the cultural awareness of a Kendall Roy social media strategy.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeand...rse-zuckerberg-mars-billionaires-escape-world

 

[Cal2]

Gartner Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, 2021

The Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies is unique among most Gartner Hype Cycles because it distils insights from more than 1,500 technologies into a succinct set of “must know” emerging technologies and trends that show promise in delivering a high degree of competitive advantage over the next five to 10 years (see Figure 1).

https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom...ng-innovation-through-trust-growth-and-change


Some previous years Gartner tech hype cycle graphs:

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1...SI_AOMQjJkEegQIFRAC&biw=1536&bih=722&dpr=1.25

 

[Sutruk]

Metaverse, Mars, meditation retreats: billionaires want to escape the world they ruined

On Thursday Facebook announced a groundbreaking and innovative new distraction from their PR disaster. As journalists continue to pore over thousands of leaked documents that show the company is fully aware that it is degrading democratic societies, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook is changing its name to Meta, has a new logo that looks like a Na’vi bending over, and is going to pivot from spreading vaccine disinformation to creating a super-lame version of Second Life.

Zuckerberg promised that in the future we would all work, play and “organise surprise birthday parties” as avatars in Facebook’s virtual-reality “Metaverse”. His examples of how this might work had all the cultural awareness of a Kendall Roy social media strategy.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeand...rse-zuckerberg-mars-billionaires-escape-world

Even without reading the full article, I just read this quote and it seems like a perfect description of the Facebook situation to me! And especially the following one:

is going to pivot from spreading vaccine disinformation to creating a super-lame version of Second Life.

In my opinion... the Meta experiment is going to be the biggest nonsense in history to date.

 

[J Sokol]

In my opinion... the Meta experiment is boing to be the biggest nonsense in history to date.

It seems to be an illustration of Zuckerberg's desperation.

 

[J Sokol]

Streaming’s dirty secret: how viewing Netflix top 10 creates vast quantity of CO2

Streaming has a dirty secret. The carbon footprint produced by fans watching a month of Netflix’s top 10 global TV hits is equivalent to driving a car a hefty distance beyond Saturn.

The world’s largest video-sharing site, YouTube, is responsible for emitting enough carbon dioxide annually to far surpass the equivalent greenhouse gas output of Glasgow, the Scottish city where world leaders will be gathering from Sunday at the Cop26 climate summit.

While much of the focus of campaigners falls on sectors that emit the most CO2 – such as aviation, automotive and food – the explosion in popularity of services from Disney+ to Netflix is raising the question of just how bad the streaming boom is for the planet.

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-...g-netflix-top-10-creates-vast-quantity-of-co2

 

[Sutruk]

It seems to be an illustration of Zuckerberg's desperation.

Even Zuckerberg doesn't know how he hit the jackpot button a few time ago with Facebook. But a second Jackpot with a bigger nonsense like the Meta one, will be even beyond his best lucky day... and that happened some years ago.
And as the article says... "a super-lame version of Second Life".

 

[Cal2]

For what it's worth, Gartner on the metaverse:

"Today, the metaverse is mostly marketing hype, Gartner's Nguyen says. It's designed to show that a company is on the cutting edge and has future technology in mind.

It's just like a few years ago when every tech company was hyping its artificial intelligence prowess, Nguyen says.

"Metaverse is that flavor du jour," he said. "Too many vendors are metaverse-washing. It's like the latest buzzword.""

https://www.investors.com/news/technology/metaverse-is-it-sci-fi-hype-or-the-next-big-thing/

 

[Cannuck]

Metaverse, Mars, meditation retreats: billionaires want to escape the world they ruined

On Thursday Facebook announced a groundbreaking and innovative new distraction from their PR disaster. As journalists continue to pore over thousands of leaked documents that show the company is fully aware that it is degrading democratic societies, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook is changing its name to Meta, has a new logo that looks like a Na’vi bending over, and is going to pivot from spreading vaccine disinformation to creating a super-lame version of Second Life.

Zuck looks like an alien in the video describing Metaverse. It's a bold project, and FB is in a unique position to launch it. We'll probably see Google, as well as some of the other tech giants hop on the band wagon.

For what it's worth, Gartner on the metaverse:

"Today, the metaverse is mostly marketing hype, Gartner's Nguyen says. It's designed to show that a company is on the cutting edge and has future technology in mind.

"Metaverse is that flavor du jour," he said. "Too many vendors are metaverse-washing. It's like the latest buzzword.""

All this to what end? While it does provide incentive for development in the tech industry, are we developing technology to bring more soul to the machine or simply to get lost in it? I wonder how this will affect domaining? We already know the impact FB had.

 

[Cal2]

The 'metaverse' is reminding me of Peter Drucker's book Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Someone's summary of chapter 9:

"Far from my previous post about Perkins, Peter Drucker’s book Innovation and Entrepreneurship was a paradoxical reading. The first chapters were painful even if brilliant. I understood there that innovation is a process which will be successful if carefully planned and managed. Fortunately, chapter 9 completely changed my perception when the author dealt with knowledge-based innovation, which includes innovations based on science and technology. So let me summarize the main points of this chapter:

1- the characteristics of knowledge-based innovation:

a. the time span between the emergence of the technology and its application is long, 20 to 30 years,

b. it is a convergence of several knowledge and until all the needed ones are available, this innovation can not succeed,

2- the requirements:

a. a careful analysis of the required factors, i.e. the available knowledge and the missing ones,

b. a clear focus on the strategic position, i.e. you have to be right the first time or others will take your place,

c. learn and practice entrepreneurial management, because most tech. innovators lack management skills ,

3- the risks:

a. first, even after a careful analysis, knowledge-based innovation remain unpredictable and turbulent (see also Moore’s books about the chasm and the tornado), and this is linked to its characteristics above; this has two important implication:

i. time plays against innovators,

ii. survival rate is low,

b. there is a limited window where new ventures start, and when it closes, there is a general shakeout, where few survive; who survives is also unpredictable. The only chance of surviving is to have a strong management and resources,… and luck;

c. there is also a receptivity gamble. Even market research does not work with these innovations and the reason why an innovation is accepted or not is also unpredictable."

 

[Cal2]

All this to what end? While it does provide incentive for development in the tech industry, are we developing technology to bring more soul to the machine or simply to get lost in it? I wonder how this will affect domaining? We already know the impact FB had.

'We' aren't developing the technology. People wanting profits and control - power through manipulating others - are, using soul-less machines that they'll sell as having soul. My knee jerk thoughts.

 

[Cannuck]

'We' aren't developing the technology. People wanting profits and control - power through manipulating others - are, using soul-less machines that they'll sell as having soul. My knee jerk thoughts.

My initial reaction was: in a world of lies why do we need a make-believe world? Meta 5G rabbit hole.

Why has Facebook changed its name to Meta and what is the metaverse?

“They don’t want to be prisoner on other people’s platform. They want others to be prisoner on their platform.”

“This is yet another world that they want to conquer,” says Chander. “Having conquered the Earth, they now want to conquer the virtual metaverse.”

https://www.newscientist.com/articl...d-its-name-to-meta-and-what-is-the-metaverse/

On a sidenote (though it had little impact, NP's may be interested):
https://www.newscientist.com/articl...-worst-name-the-new-google-could-have-chosen/

 

[Cal2]

The risks of hypersonic weapons

https://ploughshares.ca/pl_publications/the-risks-of-hypersonic-weapons/

...and this is just the beginning

US NAVAL DIVISION TO LEAD HYPERSONIC WEAPONS DEVELOPMENT USING 3D PRINTING TECHNOLOGY

The US Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) has announced that it will be doubling down on the development of hypersonic missile technology, and it’s using advanced manufacturing processes such as 3D printing to do so.

https://3dprintingindustry.com/news...elopment-using-3d-printing-technology-198534/

 

[Cannuck]

Strategies for Sustainability of the Earth System

• Combines philosophical analysis with application oriented research
  
• Recommendations to counter detrimental ecological reactions of the Earth system

Abstracts available. For example:

We now live in the “Anthropocene”. Human dominance of the biosphere is the result of global ecological overshoot, breaching several ecological boundaries. Overusing the future’s resources to run the present economy is a clear example of what lawyers and economists call a “pyramid scheme”. Such a scheme is highly unstable and self-destructive, and therefore outlawed in most countries. How come, though, it is tolerated in the ecological domain? Why is our current ecological overshoot not even generally acknowledged as a pyramid scheme?

Can it even be seen if the physical dimension of human existence is largely missing in policy-oriented sciences? Why is it missing in current social sciences? Through these questions, this paper explores what might be key reasons behind our societies’ inability to respond to this massive pyramid scheme. It proposes that unacknowledged and undigested colonial philosophies are still deeply embedded in those sciences. These hidden philosophies may be key contributions to our dangerous blindness and our distorted collective situational awareness. p. 191-204

https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-74458-8#toc

 

[Cal2]

Strategies for Sustainability of the Earth System

• Combines philosophical analysis with application oriented research
• Recommendations to counter detrimental ecological reactions of the Earth system

Abstracts available. For example:

We now live in the “Anthropocene”. Human dominance of the biosphere is the result of global ecological overshoot, breaching several ecological boundaries. Overusing the future’s resources to run the present economy is a clear example of what lawyers and economists call a “pyramid scheme”. Such a scheme is highly unstable and self-destructive, and therefore outlawed in most countries. How come, though, it is tolerated in the ecological domain? Why is our current ecological overshoot not even generally acknowledged as a pyramid scheme?

Can it even be seen if the physical dimension of human existence is largely missing in policy-oriented sciences? Why is it missing in current social sciences? Through these questions, this paper explores what might be key reasons behind our societies’ inability to respond to this massive pyramid scheme. It proposes that unacknowledged and undigested colonial philosophies are still deeply embedded in those sciences. These hidden philosophies may be key contributions to our dangerous blindness and our distorted collective situational awareness. p. 191-204

https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-74458-8#toc

And if and when they can't solve the problem well enough traditionally:

Lateral thinking and problem solving

"Edward de Bono points out that the term problem solving implies that there is a problem to respond to and that it can be resolved. That eliminates situations where there is no problem or a problem exists that cannot be resolved. It is logical to think about making a good situation, that has no problems, into a better situation. Sometimes a problem cannot be solved by removing its cause.

We may need to solve some problems not by removing the cause but by designing the way forward even if the cause remains in place. – (Edward de Bono)"

 

[Cal2]

Strategies for Sustainability of the Earth System

• Combines philosophical analysis with application oriented research
• Recommendations to counter detrimental ecological reactions of the Earth system

Abstracts available. For example:

We now live in the “Anthropocene”. Human dominance of the biosphere is the result of global ecological overshoot, breaching several ecological boundaries. Overusing the future’s resources to run the present economy is a clear example of what lawyers and economists call a “pyramid scheme”. Such a scheme is highly unstable and self-destructive, and therefore outlawed in most countries. How come, though, it is tolerated in the ecological domain? Why is our current ecological overshoot not even generally acknowledged as a pyramid scheme?

Can it even be seen if the physical dimension of human existence is largely missing in policy-oriented sciences? Why is it missing in current social sciences? Through these questions, this paper explores what might be key reasons behind our societies’ inability to respond to this massive pyramid scheme. It proposes that unacknowledged and undigested colonial philosophies are still deeply embedded in those sciences. These hidden philosophies may be key contributions to our dangerous blindness and our distorted collective situational awareness. p. 191-204

https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-74458-8#toc

One place I've come across where they might find paths to answers and solutions they might not otherwise find, is a book I'd mentioned in your environmental thread - Edward de Bono's I Am Right, You Are Wrong - https://pdfroom.com/books/i-am-right-you-are-wrong-edward-de-bono/kZdow7PpdM8

 

[Cannuck]

It's not if, but when the next Carrington Event will occur. We now have 1-3 day space weather hazard warning.

Edit: See Solar panorama from Space Weather

 

[J Sokol]

California’s landscapers to bear brunt of ban on gas-powered lawnmowers

Sometimes I wish I lived in California. It’s not just the weather or In-N-Out Burgers, it’s simpler than that. It’s the peace and quiet I’d soon be experiencing when the state’s new ban on gas-powered engines takes effect. No loud leaf blowers drowning out my Zoom calls. No lawnmowers grooming my neighbor’s yard as I’m trying to concentrate.

The state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, in his effort to achieve 100% zero emissions, has signed a new bill that bans the sale of small off-road engines by 2024. And while I’m sure many people will welcome the less noisy electrical replacements that will soon be widely used, many small business owners in the landscaping and construction industries are not happy.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/oct/31/california-lawnmower-ban-gas-powered-landscapers

 

[Cannuck]

The origins and spread of domestic horses from the Western Eurasian steppes

The genetic, geographic and temporal origins of modern domestic horses have remained unknown. This work resolves longstanding debates about the origins and spread of domestic horses. Here we pinpoint the Western Eurasian steppes, especially the lower Volga-Don region, as the homeland of modern domestic horses. Furthermore, we map the population changes accompanying domestication from 273 ancient horse genomes. This reveals that modern domestic horses ultimately replaced almost all other local populations as they expanded rapidly across Eurasia from about 2000 bc, synchronously with equestrian material culture, including Sintashta spoke-wheeled chariots. We find that equestrianism involved strong selection for critical locomotor and behavioural adaptations.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-04018-9

Study using DNA, nuclear and mitochondrial horse reference genomes.

 

[Cannuck]

One is to upgrade a custom material pump system I built a few years ago, so it can handle chemical set compounds like what they're using to 3d print houses with. The goal is to come up with a pump system that could help solve some issues current pump systems have.

Probably will also be investing some time and $ over the winter on an asphalt repair system I built a prototype of a few years ago. It showed good promise in addressing some of the problems with similar equipment, and I need to upgrade it further for field testing, to make sure it can do what's needed.

I might try some old-school moulding with a twist... found this home construction video using Aircrete panels (concrete + styrofoam). I like the fact it's putting recycled styrofoam to good use, but I wonder what shredding styrofoam does to the ozone layer.