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!

 

[CraigD]

Findings on short-range nuclear interactions will help scientists investigate neutron stars and heavy radioactive nuclei

...an MIT-led team has simulated the behavior of protons and neutrons in several types of atomic nuclei, using some of the most powerful supercomputers in the world. The team explored a wide range of nuclear interaction models and found, surprisingly, that the formulas describing how atoms behave in a gas can be generalized to predict how protons and neutrons interact at close range in the nucleus.

https://phys.org/news/2020-11-short-range-nuclear-interactions-scientists-neutron.html

 

[CraigD]

Soyuz - most reliable rocket in history

The Russian Soyuz rocket family holds the record for the most reliable and most frequently used launch vehicle in the history of spaceflight, with over 1,700 flights since its debut in 1966.

If I was going into space, this is the rocket I'd want to be riding!

The Soyuz launch sequence explained

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_(rocket_family)

How the Soyuz rocket compares with the rest
https://www.dw.com/en/how-the-soyuz-rocket-compares-with-the-rest/a-46306369

 

[koolishman]

Creepy sonified video of The Helix Nebula

Posted on the official Instagram account of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, this recording was shared on November 9. The caption of the post details what it shows. It reads, “The Helix Nebula is 655 light-years away from us, and 3 light-years across! Near the end of a Sun-like star’s life, nebulae like this form when the star sheds some of its outer material”.

“In this sonification, red light is assigned lower pitches and blue light is assigned higher pitches. Just as the frequencies of light increase from red to blue, frequencies of sound increase from low to high pitches. While there’s no sound in space, sonifications like this help us conceptualize the data in astronomical images in a new, auditory way!” the text further goes on to explain.



https://www.instagram.com/p/CHX9Qg1FKEs/?utm_source=ig_embed

 

[CraigD]

Astronomers Discover First BL Lacertae Galaxy at Cosmic Dawn: The Farthest Black Hole From a Rare Family of Galaxies

An international team of astronomers has identified the farthest example of a rare class of gamma-ray emitting galaxies. The so-called BL Lacertae object was discovered at cosmic dawn, within the first two billion years of the age of the universe.

https://scitechdaily.com/astronomer...st-black-hole-from-a-rare-family-of-galaxies/

 

[Cannuck]

Space colonization and suffering risks: Reassessing

This article argues that, contra Bostrom (2003), every second of delayed space colonization could be immensely desirable; indeed, the longer the delay, the better, with the best outcome being no colonization at all. The argument begins by hypothesizing that expansion into space will generate a wide variety of distinct species, many having their own cultural, political, religious, etc. traditions. Next, the paper offers reasons for expecting catastrophic conflicts between different civilizations, both near and far, to be the default outcome. Third, it examines some strategies for mitigating conflict, including (i) the establishment of a “cosmic Leviathan” that is capable of imposing law and order within the cosmopolitical arena, and (ii) the implementation of policies of deterrence to prevent one civilization from attacking another. Both of these strategies appear problematic, though, due to (a) fundamental physical limitations on the speed of space travel and the transfer of information, and (b) the advanced weaponry that future civilizations will almost certainly have at their disposal. The conclusion is that colonizing our solar system, galaxy, and beyond will engender a Hobbesian predicament in which all actors are perpetually in fear of being destroyed—that is, when they aren’t engaged in devastating wars with their neighbors.

https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/d9aaad_5c9b881731054ee8bca5fd30699e7df9.pdf

Readers Digest Version:

http://nautil.us/blog/why-we-should-think-twice-about-colonizing-space

 

[CraigD]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Foundation_series_characters#The_Mule

Space colonization and suffering risks: Reassessing

This article argues that, contra Bostrom (2003), every second of delayed space colonization could be immensely desirable; indeed, the longer the delay, the better, with the best outcome being no colonization at all. The argument begins by hypothesizing that expansion into space will generate a wide variety of distinct species, many having their own cultural, political, religious, etc. traditions. Next, the paper offers reasons for expecting catastrophic conflicts between different civilizations, both near and far, to be the default outcome. Third, it examines some strategies for mitigating conflict, including (i) the establishment of a “cosmic Leviathan” that is capable of imposing law and order within the cosmopolitical arena, and (ii) the implementation of policies of deterrence to prevent one civilization from attacking another. Both of these strategies appear problematic, though, due to (a) fundamental physical limitations on the speed of space travel and the transfer of information, and (b) the advanced weaponry that future civilizations will almost certainly have at their disposal. The conclusion is that colonizing our solar system, galaxy, and beyond will engender a Hobbesian predicament in which all actors are perpetually in fear of being destroyed—that is, when they aren’t engaged in devastating wars with their neighbors.

https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/d9aaad_5c9b881731054ee8bca5fd30699e7df9.pdf

Readers Digest Version:

http://nautil.us/blog/why-we-should-think-twice-about-colonizing-space

I read Frank Herbert's Dune series, and Asimov's Foundation series a couple of decades ago

The 'cosmic Leviathan' conjures images of Herbert's Leto II Atreides - aka the God Emperor, or Seldon or The Mule from Asimov's Foundation series.

Both of these sci-fi epics look at the history of humanity far into the future, and in both cases there is an overseer who limits their expansion and guides humanity for their own good.

An interesting concept!

 

[CraigD]

Ancient Lake Discovered Under Greenland May Be Millions of Years Old

The remains of a giant, ancient lake have been discovered under Greenland, buried deep below the ice sheet in the northwest of the country and estimated to be hundreds of thousands of years old, if not millions, scientists say.

https://www.sciencealert.com/ancien...d-may-be-millions-of-years-old-scientists-say

 

[CraigD]

Archaeologists discover ancient skull of distant human cousin Paranthropus robustus

The [2-million-year-old] fossil discovery provides the first high-resolution evidence for microevolution within early hominin species. "While we were the lineage that won out in the end, two million years ago the fossil record suggests that Paranthropus robustus was much more common than Homo erectus on the landscape."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-11...f-human-cousin-two-million-years-old/12869110

 

[BuyDomainsgg-Georges]

Soyuz - most reliable rocket in history

The Russian Soyuz rocket family holds the record for the most reliable and most frequently used launch vehicle in the history of spaceflight, with over 1,700 flights since its debut in 1966.

If I was going into space, this is the rocket I'd want to be riding!

The Soyuz launch sequence explained

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_(rocket_family)

How the Soyuz rocket compares with the rest
https://www.dw.com/en/how-the-soyuz-rocket-compares-with-the-rest/a-46306369

Here is my Junior rightly in the work of fixing a paper rocket..... Happy share this as I found this article concurrently while helping the kid to fix the rocket......

 

[CraigD]

Joe Biden just announced his NASA transition team. Here's what space policy might look like under the new administration.

• President-elect Joe Biden named the members of his NASA transition team on Tuesday.
• Ellen Stofan, a former NASA chief scientist, will chair the team, which also includes an astrophysicist and a climate researcher.
• Biden will likely push back the timeline of NASA’s Artemis moon mission, extend funding for the International Space Station, and direct more resources back to climate science.

https://www.businessinsider.com.au/biden-agenda-for-nasa-space-exploration-2020-11


So it sounds like good news for the ISS, but not so great for the Artemis Program's goal to land on the moon by 2024.

I cannot see that Artemis will be cancelled at this stage - there has been too much money and technology pumped into it, and too many partners are on board developing the systems and hardware.

The Artemis Program is carried out predominantly by NASA, U.S. commercial spaceflight companies contracted by NASA, and international partners including the European Space Agency (ESA), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the Italian Space Agency (ASI), the Australian Space Agency (ASA), the UK Space Agency (UKSA) and the United Arab Emirates Space Agency (UAESA).


The SLS (Space Launch System ie the rocket) is basically finished and is being tested - the first unmanned test-flight - Artemis 1 - was slated to fly this month but for various reasons has been pushed back to 2021.


Artemis Program news updates: ArtemisProgram.com

 

[CraigD]

SLS Green Run hotfire test set for mid-November

NASA announced late Nov. 6 that it was delaying the final phases of the Green Run test of the SLS core stage, including a full-duration static-fire test of its four engines.

The other components of the SLS, such as the segments for its two solid-rocket boosters and its upper stage, as well as the Orion spacecraft, are already at KSC being prepared for launch.

https://spacenews.com/weather-and-technical-problems-further-delay-sls-green-run-test/

The SLS core stage, seen here being shipped to the Stennis Space Center in early January


Space Launch System (SLS)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Launch_System

An artist's rendering of SLS Block 1 with Orion spacecraft on the pad before launch

 

[CraigD]

The universe is getting hot, hot, hot, a new study suggests

The study, published Oct. 13 in the Astrophysical Journal, probed the thermal history of the universe over the last 10 billion years. It found that the mean temperature of gas across the universe has increased more than 10 times over that time period and reached about 2 million degrees Kelvin today — approximately 4 million degrees Fahrenheit.

https://news.osu.edu/the-universe-is-getting-hot-hot-hot-a-new-study-suggests/

 

[CraigD]

Large-scale nest study shows that noise and light pollution alter bird reproduction

A new study in the journal Nature provides the most comprehensive picture yet of how human-caused noise and light pollution affect birds in North America, including how these factors may interact with or mask the impacts of climate change.

https://www.miragenews.com/large-sc...-and-light-pollution-alter-bird-reproduction/

 

[CraigD]

Rare squid with ‘elbow’ tentacles baffles scientists in spooky new footage

The squid's tentacles are taller than an average human, but its body is small as a dollar bill.

https://www.livescience.com/rare-bigfin-squid-sighting-australia.html

 

[CraigD]

Physicists Pin Down Nuclear Reaction From Moments After the Big Bang

The reaction involves deuterium, a form of hydrogen consisting of one proton and one neutron that fused within the cosmos’s first three minutes. Most of the deuterium quickly fused into heavier, stabler elements like helium and lithium. But some survived to the present day. "You have a few grams of deuterium in your body, which comes all the way from the Big Bang"...

https://www.quantamagazine.org/phys...ion-from-moments-after-the-big-bang-20201111/

 

[CraigD]

This Is China's New Spacecraft to Take Astronauts to the Moon

The as-yet-unnamed craft could fly early next year. A recent promo video from the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), a state-owned spacecraft and satellite manufacturer, has given us the best look yet at the new-generation crewed craft, which is capable of deep-space travel.

https://www.space.com/china-new-spacecraft-crewed-moon-missions.html

More information:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Academy_of_Space_Technology
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_space_program

 

[CraigD]

How Smooth is a Neutron Star? - Sixty Symbols

Featuring Professor Mike Merrifield from the University of Nottingham talking about neutron stars and pulsars.

 

[CraigD]

SpaceX just test fired the Falcon 9 rocket for its astronaut launch for NASA

SpaceX just fired up the rocket that will ferry it's next crew of astronauts to the International Space Station this weekend. The private spaceflight company conducted a static-fire test on Wednesday (Nov. 11) of its Falcon 9 rocket at Pad 39A here at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The test is one of the last major milestones ahead of a planned launch on Saturday (Nov. 14).

https://www.space.com/spacex-test-fires-crew-1-falcon-9-rocket

 

[CraigD]

After 86 Years, Physicists Have Finally Made an Electron Crystal

In 1934, theoretical physicist Eugene Wigner proposed a new type of crystal. If the density of negatively charged electrons could be maintained below a certain level, the subatomic particles could be held in a repeating pattern to create a crystal of electrons; this idea came to known as a Wigner crystal.

https://www.sciencealert.com/physicists-have-created-a-long-hypothesised-electron-crystal

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2868-6

 

[CraigD]

A Huge Fusion Experiment in The UK Just Achieved The Much Anticipated 'First Plasma'

After a long, seven-year development, an experimental fusion reactor in the UK has been successfully powered on for the time, achieving 'first plasma': confirmation that all its components can work together to heat hydrogen gas into the plasma phase of matter.

This transition – achieved last week by a machine called MAST Upgrade in Culham, Oxfordshire – is the fundamental ingredient of a working nuclear fusion reactor, a dream scientists have been trying to realise for decades.

I thought this video might be of interest to anyone interested in some basic information of fusion power.

Fusion Power Explained - Future or Failure

How does Fusion Energy work and is it a good idea?

More information:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusion_power
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fusion_experiments

 

[CraigD]

Creepy sonified video of The Helix Nebula

Posted on the official Instagram account of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, this recording was shared on November 9. The caption of the post details what it shows. It reads, “The Helix Nebula is 655 light-years away from us, and 3 light-years across! Near the end of a Sun-like star’s life, nebulae like this form when the star sheds some of its outer material”.

“In this sonification, red light is assigned lower pitches and blue light is assigned higher pitches. Just as the frequencies of light increase from red to blue, frequencies of sound increase from low to high pitches. While there’s no sound in space, sonifications like this help us conceptualize the data in astronomical images in a new, auditory way!” the text further goes on to explain.



https://www.instagram.com/p/CHX9Qg1FKEs/?utm_source=ig_embed

Thanks - that's very interesting technology.

I'd be very keen to see the technology of sonification applied to music visualisation.
It could be a useful tool for children who have not learned to read or write using musical notation.

EDIT: I just found this interesting paper on the subject:
http://clarlow.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Visualising-Sound-–-Sonifying-the-Visual-Bourges.pdf

 

[CraigD]

Quantum Field Theory visualized

How to reconcile relativity with quantum mechanics ? What is spin ? Where does the electric charge come from ? All these answers in 15 minutes !

0:00 - Introduction
1:52 - Field and spin
4:38 - Conserved quantities
6:02 - Quantum field
7:39 - Standard model
10:15 - Interactions
13:58 - Conclusion

More information:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_field_theory

 

[koolishman]

A team of researchers has discovered a new method that makes it possible to transform electricity into hydrogen or chemical products by solely using microwaves

EDIT: Better headline. https://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/11/04/spanish-researchers-claim-green-hydrogen-breakthrough/

A team of researchers from the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) has discovered a new method that makes it possible to transform electricity into hydrogen or chemical products by solely using microwaves – without cables and without any type of contact with electrodes. This can represent a disruption in the field of energy research and a key development for the decarbonisation of process industry, as well as for the future of the automotive sector and the chemical industry, among many others. The study has been published in the latest edition of Nature Energy.

The team from the ITACA and ITQ institutes verified that microwaves interact with these materials by ‘accelerating’ the electrons and triggering the release of molecules of oxygen from their structure (which is also called reduction). This change became visible to us by sudden alterations to the conductivity at relatively low temperatures (approximately 300ºC). “This non-equilibrium state is maintained while microwaves are applied, but tends to revert back via reoxygenation (reoxidation) when microwaves are switched off. At first sight, we realised the great practical potential of this discovery, especially now that very ambitious goals should be meet in the next two decades to reach an economy with zero net greenhouse gas emissions,” concludes Prof. Serra.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-020-00720-6

 

[koolishman]

Europe moves ahead with Ariel exoplanet mission

The Ariel space telescope, which will study the atmospheres of distant worlds, has the green light to proceed.

European Space Agency (Esa) member states formally adopted the project on Thursday, signing off two years of feasibility studies.

The near-billion-euro observatory is now clear to launch in 2029.

Ariel will probe the gases that shroud exoplanets to try to understand how these objects formed and how they have evolved through time.

• Launch year: 2029
• Mission lifetime: 4 years
• Payload mass: 500kg
• Launch mass: 1,500kg

Ariel will be despatched to a special observing position that is about 1.5 million km from Earth

 

[CraigD]

A team of researchers has discovered a new method that makes it possible to transform electricity into hydrogen or chemical products by solely using microwaves

A team of researchers from the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) has discovered a new method that makes it possible to transform electricity into hydrogen or chemical products by solely using microwaves – without cables and without any type of contact with electrodes. This can represent a disruption in the field of energy research and a key development for the decarbonisation of process industry, as well as for the future of the automotive sector and the chemical industry, among many others. The study has been published in the latest edition of Nature Energy.

The team from the ITACA and ITQ institutes verified that microwaves interact with these materials by ‘accelerating’ the electrons and triggering the release of molecules of oxygen from their structure (which is also called reduction). This change became visible to us by sudden alterations to the conductivity at relatively low temperatures (approximately 300ºC). “This non-equilibrium state is maintained while microwaves are applied, but tends to revert back via reoxygenation (reoxidation) when microwaves are switched off. At first sight, we realised the great practical potential of this discovery, especially now that very ambitious goals should be meet in the next two decades to reach an economy with zero net greenhouse gas emissions,” concludes Prof. Serra.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-020-00720-6

"...transform electricity into hydrogen..." ??
I think there may be something fundamentally incorrect here. I had a brief read through, but I'll come back to it later today.