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!

 

[koolishman]

Being Around Water Could Make You Happier, According to Research​

It's no surprise that ample water in our days makes us better, and recent research supports it too. The BlueHealth Project is a four-year research initiative that sought to understand this link between water and wellbeing. Headed by Matthew White, a team of researchers dove into this phenomenon—surveying over 18,000 people across Europe. Their findings supported the connection between being around water and happiness. One study found that simply walking in a blue space (where water is visible) for 20 minutes a day immediately increased mood, compared to walking in a more urban setting. For those that may be unable to get outside due to health or mobility, another study found watching ocean ambiences on television reduced boredom and even subdued pain during some medical treatments.


https://bluehealth2020.eu/about/

 

[koolishman]

Out of Africa: Newly devised human family tree reveals the 'genealogy of everyone'​

The oldest roots of present-day human genetic variation reach back to northeastern Africa at a time before our species originated, according to Anthony Wilder Wohns, a postdoctoral researcher in genetics at the Broad Institute of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University and lead author of the study published in the journal Science.

“The very earliest ancestors we identify trace back in time to a geographic location that is in modern Sudan. These ancestors lived up to and over one million years ago — which is much older than current estimates for the age of Homo sapiens — 250,000 to 300,000 years ago. So bits of our genome have been inherited from individuals who we wouldn't recognize as modern humans,” Wohns said.

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abo0498

 

[koolishman]

America’s obsession with road salt is hurting freshwater ecosystems — and our drinking water​

Salinization — the buildup of salt, particularly in freshwater ecosystems — can result from humans’ agricultural and mining activities, de-icing salt operations, and even climate change.

Until now, researchers hadn’t thoroughly examined the effects of human-induced salinization across numerous freshwater lake ecosystems throughout North America.

Hintz’s findings reveal that human-induced salinization causes substantial die-off of zooplankton populations in lakes across North America. Zooplankton are tiny microorganisms that feed on bacteria and algae. Creatures higher up in the aquatic ecosystem food chains in turn eat the zooplankton.


Mortality increased even in lakes where chloride levels — indicators of salinization — are at or below acceptable thresholds according to U.S. and Canadian laws. Chloride is often combined with sodium to create the salt (NaCl) often used in deicing salts, so it is a good marker for determining how much salt is in water.

 

[koolishman]

The Black Death Wasn’t as Deadly as Previously Thought, Research Suggests​

New research shows the Black Death might not have been as deadly as previously thought, Carl Zimmer writes for the New York Times. Led by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, scientists analyzed pollen samples to determine if the Black Death did, in fact, kill half of Europe’s population between 1346 and 1352—a death toll that experts have long regarded as accepted scholarship. They published their findings last week in the journal Nature Ecology.

The team assessed pollen samples from 261 sites in 19 modern-day European countries to examine topographical changes between 1250 and 1450. The researchers write in The Conversation that durable pollen grains can last for centuries and differ in shape between plants. If, indeed, half of Europe’s population had died during the Black Death, the researchers would expect to see a change from agricultural pollen grains to those of trees and shrubs as fields were left to fallow as farmers died off.

While some areas like southern Sweden, central Italy and Greece fit this pattern, other areas like Catalonia and Czechia showed no change in agricultural presence, according to The Conversation. Other areas like Poland, the Baltic countries and central Spain experienced an increase in agricultural expansion.

 

[koolishman]

Scientists discover one-centimeter long bacterium that’s visible to the naked eye​

An international team of scientists has discovered a bacterium measuring nearly one centimeter in length in a mangrove on the French island of Guadeloupe in the Caribbean. The extraordinary organism is visible to the naked eye, meaning it contradicts the very definition of a microbe, which is defined by its microscopic size. The bacterium, which has been named Thiomargarita magnifica, was identified by Mexican microbiologist Silvina González Rizzo, from the University of the French Antilles, in the Guadeloupean city of Pointe-à-Pitre.

 

[koolishman]

Bat-Eating Spider Discovered​

In their paper researchers said that the discovery was made at a house in Shropshire, U.K.

The scientists said a large female noble false widow spun a web directly under the bat's roost and managed to snare a young pipistrelle bat—a protected species in the U.K.

Noble false widows use poison when catching and eating their prey but are not considered very dangerous to humans. London's Natural History Museum said on their website that the pain from a noble false widow bite is comparable to a wasp sting and generally lasts between 1-12 hours.

BatMan and Spidey fighting each other?

 

[J Sokol]

The teenager that tracked Elon Musk's jet is now tracking Russian oligarchs​

New York (CNN Business)Jack Sweeney, a Florida teen who tracks Elon Musk's private jet online has a new aviation-themed target: Russian oligarchs and billionaires.

The 19-year-old, who rejected Musk's $5,000 offer to delete his Twitter account, recently launched two new automated Twitter handles — @RUOligarchJets and @Putinjet — following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The two profiles have amassed nearly 300,000 followers combined and provide nearly live updates of the private jets' movements along with pictures of maps locating them.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/02/business/russian-jets-tracker-twitter-account/index.html

 

[Cal2]

"Drug factory" beads implanted in mice take out tumors within a week​

Among the many challenges in treating tumors is the difficulty in getting anti-cancer drugs to the right locations, and in the right amounts. A new type of implant developed at Rice University tackles both these issues, carrying the cellular machinery needed to produce and deliver continuous doses of anti-cancer compounds, and doing so with such potency that they took out 100 percent of ovarian tumors in mice in the space of a week.

The bioengineers behind this promising new form of immunotherapy treatment for cancer describe it as a "drug factory," in that once it is in place, it can go on generating the compounds needed to take out tumors all on its own.

https://newatlas.com/medical/drug-f...ail&utm_term=0_65b67362bd-2edc3a20b4-90628689

 

[koolishman]

Scientists develop gel that delivers drugs directly to diseased joints​

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a progressive condition affecting the lives of more than 32 million Americans. Post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA), a major subset of osteoarthritis that comprises 10% of diagnoses and disproportionally affects injured military personnel, has no effective therapeutic protocols that slow or stop the progression except for over-the-counter analgesics. Post-traumatic osteoarthritis leads to articular cartilage damage and results in more than $3 billion in health care costs each year.

U.S. National Science Foundation-funded researchers based at New York University identified the molecular mechanism and therapeutic payload for delivering pharmacologic treatment directly to affected joints, effectively halting the onset and progression of post-traumatic osteoarthritis. The team published its findings in Biomaterials.

The researchers combined compounds to develop a porous gel that can reach and envelop affected joints, reduce inflammation and induce regeneration. The substance, referred to as E5C, is a protein-based gel that contains native, not synthetic, cartilage components that are nontoxic and biodegradable. The properties of E5C make it a viable candidate for injectable biomaterials.

 

[CraigD]

Scientists think an old rocket just hit the Moon going 5,800 mph​

Add one more crater to the long list of pockmarks on the lunar surface.

According to orbital calculations, a rocket hurtling through space for years crashed into the Moon on Friday, but the strike wasn't directly observed, and there might be a wait for photographic evidence.

The impact would have taken place at 7:25 am Eastern Time (1225 GMT), on the far side of the Moon, said the astronomer Bill Gray, who was the first to predict the collision.

Racing through the cosmos at around 5,800 mph (9,300 kph), the roughly four ton object should make a crater "10 or 20 meters across," Gray told AFP.

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-scientists-rocket-moon-mph.html

 

[koolishman]

Shopping trolleys save shoppers money as pushing reduces spending, finds new study​

Ahead of the holiday season, new Bayes Business School research has found that repositioning the handles on trolleys could boost sales by 25 per cent for retailers.

Psychology research has proven that triceps activation is associated with rejecting things we don’t like – for example when we push or hold something away from us – while biceps activation is associated with things we do like – for example when we pull or hold something close to our body.

When testing the newly designed trolley on consumers at a supermarket, report authors Professor Zachary Estes and Mathias Streicher found that those who used shopping trolleys with parallel handles bought more products and spent 25 per cent more money than those using the standard trolley.

 

[koolishman]

Just one drink per day can shrink your brain, study says​

Just one pint of beer or average glass of wine a day may begin to shrink the overall volume of the brain, a new study has found, and the damage worsens as the number of daily drinks rises

On average, people at age 50 who drank a pint of beer or 6-ounce glass of wine (two alcohol units) a day in the last month had brains that appeared two years older than those who only drank a half of a beer (one unit), according to the study, which published Friday in the journal Nature.

 

[J Sokol]

Shopping trolleys save shoppers money as pushing reduces spending, finds new study

I'm not crazy about that design. As someone who has recently fractured an arm, I would not have been able to push that cart for several months. Also, a lot of older people lean on the carts for support, and they would no longer be able to do that.

 

[J Sokol]

Bottles, cans, batteries: octopuses found using litter on seabed​

Whether it’s mimicking venomous creatures, or shooting jets of water at aquarium light switches to turn them off, octopuses are nothing if not resourceful. Now, an analysis of underwater images suggests octopuses are increasingly using discarded bottles, cans, and other human rubbish as shelter or as a sanctuary for their eggs.

The study – the first to systematically evaluate and characterise litter use by octopuses using crowdsourced images – analysed hundreds of underwater photos posted on social media platforms and image databases, or collected by marine biologists and diving interest groups.

https://www.theguardian.com/environ...teries-octopuses-found-using-litter-on-seabed

 

[koolishman]

Octopuses were around before dinosaurs, fossil find suggests​

Scientists have found the oldest known ancestor of octopuses – an approximately 330m-year-old fossil unearthed in Montana.

The researchers concluded the ancient creature lived millions of years earlier than previously believed, meaning that octopuses originated before the era of dinosaurs.


The 4.7-inch (12-cm) fossil has 10 limbs – modern octopuses have eight – each with two rows of suckers. It probably lived in a shallow, tropical ocean bay.

They named it after POTUS Jo Biden

 

[koolishman]

Russians Barred From New Large Hadron Collider Experiments Over Ukraine Invasion​

The CERN Council convened today to discuss how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine affects the scientific collaboration’s ability to pursue its goals and ensure the safety and wellbeing of its members. The council meeting resulted in a resolution to condemn the Russian invasion, to suspend Russia’s Observer status to the council, and to not begin new collaborations with Russian institutions. The council also deplored “the involvement of Belarus in this unlawful use of force against Ukraine.”

 

[koolishman]

The wreck of Endurance, Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship, has been found off the coast of Antarctica 100 years to the day of Shackleton's burial.

The whereabouts of wooden ship, which was submerged in the Weddell Sea after it became trapped in ice in 1915, had remained a mystery for decades.

However, an expedition team have now been able to located it at a depth of 3,008 metres and approximately four miles south of the position originally recorded by the ship’s captain Frank Worsley, The Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust said.

 

[Cal2]

Cancer-sniffing ants prove as accurate as dogs in detecting disease​

A fascinating new study suggests trained ants could be an effective way to detect cancer in humans. The researchers demonstrated a certain species of ant can be quickly trained to detect cancerous cells with an accuracy equal to that seen in dogs.

The preliminary tests focused on two types of breast cancer cells, both with differing VOC profiles. In as little as three training trials, the researchers were able to effectively teach the ants to differentiate between cancerous cells and non-cancerous cells with an accuracy similar to that seen in recent studies using dogs.

“Ants are thus equivalent to dogs – the most studied bio-detectors – in terms of detection abilities,” the researchers write. “In some respects, ants surpass dogs because they need an extremely shorter training time (30 min compared to 6–12 months for a dog) and a reduced cost of training and maintenance (honey and frozen insects twice a week). Our simple conditioning protocol can be implemented by everyone, after a training time of about 3-day.”

Referencing prior ant training studies the researchers hypothesize individual ants could be used to detect cancerous cells up to nine times before their conditioned responses begin to lapse. This makes ants a more efficient and cost-effective detection tool compared to any other animal or organism used for similar purposes.

 

[J Sokol]

Ukraine halts half of world's neon output for chips, clouding outlook​

(CNN Business)Ukraine's two leading suppliers of neon, which produce about half the world's supply of the key ingredient for making chips, have halted their operations as Moscow has sharpened its attack on the country, threatening to raise prices and aggravate the semiconductor shortage.

Some 45%-54% of the world's semiconductor grade neon, critical for the lasers used to make chips, comes from two Ukrainian companies, Ingas and Cryoin, according to Reuters calculations based on figures from the companies and market research firm Techcet. Global neon consumption for chip production reached about 540 metric tons last year, Techcet estimates.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/11/tech/ukraine-neon-chips/index.html

 

[koolishman]

A New Galapagos Tortoise Species May Have Just Been Discovered​

The island in the Galapagos upon which Charles Darwin first landed in 1835 was once thought to be home to a single lineage of giant tortoise. But a team of researchers from across the world has identified a second, genetically distinct lineage there—one they believe has long been extinct.

The finding is laid out in a new paper published last month in the peer-reviewed journal Hereditary, the work of a group of 12 scientists from Newcastle University, Yale, MIT, the non-profit Galapagos Conservancy, and more. If the findings are confirmed to represent a new species, the living tortoises on the island may need a new name, the researchers say.

 

[koolishman]

Pig grunts reveal their emotions​

Using more than 7000 audio recordings of pigs, the researchers designed an algorithm that can decode whether an individual pig is experiencing a positive emotion (‘happy’ or ‘excited’), a negative one (‘scared’ or ‘stressed’) or somewhere in between. The recordings were collected in a wide range of situations encountered by commercial pigs, both positive and negative, from when they are born until their deaths.

"With this study, we demonstrate that animal sounds provide great insight into their emotions. We also prove that an algorithm can be used to decode and understand the emotions of pigs, which is an important step towards improved animal welfare for livestock", says Associate Professor Elodie Briefer of the University of Copenhagen’s Department of Biology at the University of Copenhagen, who co-led the study.

 

[koolishman]

Asteroid half the size of a giraffe strikes Earth off the coast of Iceland – just two HOURS after it was discovered by astronomers​

small asteroid struck the Earth above Iceland last Friday — just two hours after it was spotted by an astronomer.

The space rock, named 2022 EB5, is believed to have mostly burnt up in our planet's atmosphere, but even if it had impacted the surface it would have done little to no damage because it was just 10ft (3 metres) wide, about half the size of a giraffe.

 

[koolishman]

Affection from a dog really is medicinal, according to a new study​

Dogs may also be a doctor's best friend.

For patients suffering from pain in the emergency room, just 10 minutes with a four-legged friend may help reduce pain, according to a study published Wednesday.

The results support what dog lovers everywhere have long suspected -- canine affection cures all ills -- as well as provides a bit of optimism for patients and health care providers frequently grappling with strapped hospital resources in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

[koolishman]

Lead Exposure in Last Century Shrank IQ Scores of Half of Americans​

In 1923, lead was first added to gasoline to help keep car engines healthy. However, automotive health came at the great expense of our own well-being.


A new study calculates that exposure to car exhaust from leaded gas during childhood stole a collective 824 million IQ points from more than 170 million Americans alive today, about half the population of the United States.


The findings, from Aaron Reuben, a PhD candidate in clinical psychology at Duke University, and colleagues at Florida State University, suggest that Americans born before 1996 may now be at greater risk for lead-related health problems, such as faster aging of the brain. Leaded gas for cars was banned in the U.S. in 1996, but the researchers say that anyone born before the end of that era, and especially those at the peak of its use in the 1960s and 1970s, had concerningly high lead exposures as children.

 

[J Sokol]

Starbucks is planning to phase out its iconic cups​

New York (CNN Business)Starbucks has a love-hate relationship with its cups.

The company's white — or sometimes holiday-themed — logo-emblazoned paper cups for hot drinks, and clear plastic cups for cold drinks are instantly recognizable symbols of the brand. But that's not entirely a good thing.
"Our cup is ubiquitous, and we love that," said Michael Kobori, Starbucks chief sustainability officer. "But it is also this ubiquitous symbol of a throwaway society."

That's because the cups are disposable. When they are thrown away, the cups end up in landfills or as litter in streets and waterways. Some might be recycled, but recycling is an imperfect option — recyclable items still end up in landfills.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/15/business-food/starbucks-cup-sustainability/index.html