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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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Eerie Footage Captures Human Immune Cells Digging a Tunnel Through Tissue
When a pathogen attacks your cells, your body calls in the cavalry. But how exactly do immune components, such as white blood cells, make it through bodily tissues to get to the invasion?

In new experiments, researchers have demonstrated how a type of white blood cell, a cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL), is able to dig tunnels through tissue like a snowplow clearing the way for emergency vehicles. And they captured it on camera.


ImmuneCellsTunnelingThroughTissueCover_1024.gif



ImmuneCellsTunnelingThroughTissue.gif


Migration of Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes in 3D Collagen Matrices: Biophysical Journal (cell.com)
 
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Voyager Probes Spot Previously Unknown Phenomenon in Deep Space

NASA’s Voyager spacecraft may be billions of miles away and over 40 years old, but they’re still making significant discoveries, as new research reveals.

A paper published today in the Astronomical Journal describes an entirely new form of electron burst, a discovery made possible by the intrepid Voyager probes. These bursts are happening in the interstellar medium, a region of space in which the density of matter is achingly thin. As the new paper points out, something funky is happening to cosmic ray electrons that are making their way through this remote area: They’re being reflected and boosted to extreme speeds by advancing shock waves produced by the Sun.

By itself, this process, in which shock waves push particles, is nothing new. What is new, however, is that these bursts of electrons are appearing far ahead of the advancing shock wave, and that it’s happening in a supposedly quiet region of space. The new paper was co-authored by astrophysicist Don Gurnett from Iowa University.
 
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It will change everything’: DeepMind’s AI makes gigantic leap in solving protein structures

d41586-020-03348-4_18633160.jpg



An artificial intelligence (AI) network developed by Google AI offshoot DeepMind has made a gargantuan leap in solving one of biology’s grandest challenges — determining a protein’s 3D shape from its amino-acid sequence.

DeepMind’s program, called AlphaFold, outperformed around 100 other teams in a biennial protein-structure prediction challenge called CASP, short for Critical Assessment of Structure Prediction. The results were announced on 30 November, at the start of the conference — held virtually this year — that takes stock of the exercise.

“This is a big deal,” says John Moult, a computational biologist at the University of Maryland in College Park, who co-founded CASP in 1994 to improve computational methods for accurately predicting protein structures. “In some sense the problem is solved.”

The ability to accurately predict protein structures from their amino-acid sequence would be a huge boon to life sciences and medicine. It would vastly accelerate efforts to understand the building blocks of cells and enable quicker and more advanced drug discovery.


 
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Study shows promising material can store solar energy for months or years
Lancaster University researchers studying a crystalline material have discovered it has properties that allow it to capture energy from the sun. The energy can be stored for several months at room temperature, and it can be released on demand in the form of heat.

With further development, these kinds of materials could offer exciting potential as a way of capturing solar energy during the summer months, and storing it for use in winter – where less solar energy is available.

This would prove invaluable for applications such as heating systems in off-grid systems or remote locations, or as an environmentally-friendly supplement to conventional heating in houses and offices. It could potentially also be produced as a thin coating and applied to the surface of buildings, or used on the windscreens of cars where the stored heat could be used to de-ice the glass in freezing winter mornings.

The material is based on a type of ‘metal-organic framework’ (MOF). These consist of a network of metal ions linked by carbon-based molecules to form 3-D structures. A key property of MOFs is that they are porous, meaning that they can form composite materials by hosting other small molecules within their structures.

 
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Asteroid space capsule completes 5 billion kilometre mission, touching down in a blaze of light in outback South Australia

The Hayabusa2 spacecraft had successfully released the small capsule on Saturday and sent it toward Earth to deliver samples from a distant asteroid that could provide clues to the origin of the solar system and life on our planet, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said.

Early on Sunday the capsule briefly turned into a fireball as it re-entered the atmosphere 120km above Earth.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12...-mission-capsule-lands-in-outback-sa/12949898



Asteroid capsule 'found' in Australian desert

A recovery team in Australia has found a space capsule carrying the first large quantities of rock from an asteroid.

The capsule, containing material from a space rock called Ryugu, parachuted down near Woomera in South Australia.

The samples were originally collected by a Japanese spacecraft called Hayabusa-2, which spent more than a year investigating the object.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-55201662

Interesting part is,


With half of the xenon fuel for its ion engine remaining, the Hayabusa2 spacecraft is now headed back out into deep space to embark on an extended mission, using the visit to Earth to alter its orbit.

The new plan will see Hayabusa2 will fly past asteroid 2001 CC21 in 2026 and, following two further Earth swing-bys, rendezvous with a new target, asteroid 1998 KY26, in July 2031.

Hayabusa2 delivers asteroid samples to Earth after six-year voyage - SpaceNews
 
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Scientists Discover an Unexpected Structure Hidden Inside Plant Cells

Although we think of the cells inside of us and the organelles that make them up as pretty well mapped, it seems that there are still some surprises in store.
A team of researchers has just published a paper describing a surprising structure existing within an organelle – one that has remained hidden in plain sight for decades.

https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-discover-surprise-structure-in-plant-organelle
 
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Triple threat: The first observation of three massive gauge bosons produced in proton-proton collisions

The Standard Model, the most exhaustive existing theory outlining fundamental particle interactions, predicts the existence of what are known as triboson interactions. These interactions are processes in which three-gauge bosons are simultaneously produced from one Large Hadron Collider event.

https://phys.org/news/2020-12-triple-threat-massive-gauge-bosons.html
 
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Here's one for those who love a good conspiracy...

Aliens in hiding until mankind is ready, says ex-Israeli space head

Space aliens have reached an agreement with the US government to stay mum on the experiments they conduct on Earth — as well as their secret base on Mars — until mankind is ready to accept them, the former head of Israel’s space program claimed in a new interview.

“The aliens have asked not to announce that they are here [because] humanity is not ready yet,” Haim Eshed told Israeli paper Yedioth Aharonoth, according to the Jewish Press .

https://www.news.com.au/technology/...d/news-story/1bca4557a4f1e012fb4f0531bcef6023

hswrwhivd4931.jpg
 
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Genetic engineering transformed stem cells into working mini-livers that extended the life of mice with liver disease

I’m a researcher working in this new field – called synthetic biology – focused on creating new biological parts and redesigning existing biological systems. In a new paper, my colleagues and I showed progress in one of the key challenges with lab-grown organs – figuring out the genes necessary to produce the variety of mature cells needed to construct a functioning liver.

https://theconversation.com/genetic...ed-the-life-of-mice-with-liver-disease-151089
 
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Interesting part is,


With half of the xenon fuel for its ion engine remaining, the Hayabusa2 spacecraft is now headed back out into deep space to embark on an extended mission, using the visit to Earth to alter its orbit.

The new plan will see Hayabusa2 will fly past asteroid 2001 CC21 in 2026 and, following two further Earth swing-bys, rendezvous with a new target, asteroid 1998 KY26, in July 2031.

Hayabusa2 delivers asteroid samples to Earth after six-year voyage - SpaceNews

Yes it has definitely gone a above and beyond the call of duty.

The cost of the project estimated in 2010 was 16.4 billion yen (US$150 million).
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayabusa2#Funding_and_history

Good space science doesn't have to cost an outrageous amount of money.
 
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Here's one for those who love a good conspiracy...

Aliens in hiding until mankind is ready, says ex-Israeli space head

Space aliens have reached an agreement with the US government to stay mum on the experiments they conduct on Earth — as well as their secret base on Mars — until mankind is ready to accept them, the former head of Israel’s space program claimed in a new interview.

“The aliens have asked not to announce that they are here [because] humanity is not ready yet,” Haim Eshed told Israeli paper Yedioth Aharonoth, according to the Jewish Press .

https://www.news.com.au/technology/...d/news-story/1bca4557a4f1e012fb4f0531bcef6023

hswrwhivd4931.jpg

This just keeps getting better...

“There’s an underground base in the depths of Mars, where their representatives are, and also our American astronauts.”

I'm reasonably confident that we can account for the whereabouts of every active American astronaut:
https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/active
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_astronauts_by_name
 
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This just keeps getting better...

“There’s an underground base in the depths of Mars, where their representatives are, and also our American astronauts.”

I'm reasonably confident that we can account for the whereabouts of every active American astronaut:
https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/active
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_astronauts_by_name

Why do you think Musk is boring tunnels on earth?

He knows about Mars base already and is just prepping.:xf.grin:
 
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Here's one for those who love a good conspiracy...

Aliens in hiding until mankind is ready, says ex-Israeli space head

Space aliens have reached an agreement with the US government to stay mum on the experiments they conduct on Earth — as well as their secret base on Mars — until mankind is ready to accept them, the former head of Israel’s space program claimed in a new interview.

“The aliens have asked not to announce that they are here [because] humanity is not ready yet,” Haim Eshed told Israeli paper Yedioth Aharonoth, according to the Jewish Press .

https://www.news.com.au/technology/...d/news-story/1bca4557a4f1e012fb4f0531bcef6023

hswrwhivd4931.jpg
There have been plenty of movies on this. :)
Now I remember a classic one, "They Live" by John Carpenter. I like these movies out of the Hollywood system. And John Carpenter has a few of these! :)
 
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Experimental flu vaccine could last for years, early results show

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/cold...-could-last-years-early-results-show-n1250228

"Early stage trial shows a universal flu shot protects against all strains of the flu while producing no more side effects than the current seasonal vaccines."

"The results of an early-stage trial suggest that may become a thing of the past in the not-too-distant future. Researchers found in the Phase 1 trial that a universal flu vaccine, one designed to protect against all strains of the flu, sparked a strong immune response while producing no more side effects than the current seasonal flu vaccines, according to a report published Monday in Nature Medicine.

“This was the first time that a Phase 1 study in humans looked at a rationally designed vaccine that has the potential to protect against all kinds of seasonal flu, as well as a potential flu pandemic,” said study co-author Florian Krammer, a vaccine specialist and a professor of microbiology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai in New York."
 
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There have been plenty of movies on this. :)
Now I remember a classic one, "They Live" by John Carpenter. I like these movies out of the Hollywood system. And John Carpenter has a few of these! :)

Dark Star (1974) was probably my favourite John Carpenter space sci-fi film.
The alien was played by a beach ball ;)

.
 
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Dark Star (1974) was probably my favourite John Carpenter space sci-fi film.
The alien was played by a beach ball ;)

.
That one is the oldest! I haven't seen it :) But I think I recognise John Carpenter on that trailer.
I have seen "The Thing", "They Live" (these two about aliens), "Big Trouble in Little China", "John Carpenter's Vampires" and "Body Bags" (3 TV short movies).
I like the originality of his movies!
 
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That one is the oldest! I haven't seen it :) But I think I recognise John Carpenter on that trailer.
I have seen "The Thing", "They Live" (these two about aliens), "Big Trouble in Little China", "John Carpenter's Vampires" and "Body Bags" (3 TV short movies).
I like the originality of his movies!

Carpenter's The Thing was brilliant, and scared the hell out of me as a kid! Have you seen the new prequel?

You can watch the complete Dark Star film here. Hilariously bad, but still more original and interesting than many modern sci-fi films, and it predates Star Wars by a couple of years. Apparently the beach ball alien was the inspiration for the film Alien.
 
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WHY A CLASSIC PHYSICS PHENOMENON COULD PREVENT FUTURE CAR CRASHES
A team of researchers in Poland has designed a smart traffic sign that uses the Doppler Effect, a physics phenomenon, and video to detect everything from passing vehicle speed to road conditions. Unlike existing traffic sensors that simply record speed, these dynamic signs would warn drivers of impending accidents before they happen.

This research was virtually presented Monday at the 179th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America.

HOW IT WORKS — To capture traffic patterns in real-time, these smart traffic signs rely on a two-tiered system of sensors. First, a Doppler radar is used to collect acoustic data of vehicles as they pass by individual signs.

This radar works by taking advantage of a simple, but powerful, physics phenomenon called the Doppler Effect. Essentially, as vehicles drive by these signs they squish sound waves in front of them while behind them the waves fan out more leisurely — kind of like what happens when you kick a blanket away with just one foot.


ed29d130-b400-4e65-9057-8c094b100d82-shutterstock-658148101.jpg


 
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Coral recovery during a prolonged heatwave offers new hope

University of Victoria biologists have discovered how some corals managed to survive a globally unprecedented heatwave, in a first-ever study that provides new hope for the long-term survival of coral reefs in the face of climate change.
Published today in Nature Communications, the study presents the discoveries made by the international research team as they tracked hundreds of coral colonies on reefs around Christmas Island (Kiritimati), throughout the 2015-2016 El Niño. Heat stress from that El Niño triggered the third-ever global coral bleaching event, causing mass coral bleaching and mortality on reefs around the world. Its epicenter was Christmas Island, where the heatwave lasted an unprecedented 10 months.

"Although this pathway to survival may not be open to all corals or in all conditions, it demonstrates an innovative strategy for survival that could be leveraged by conservationists to support coral survival," adds Claar

coralrecover.jpg

 
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Here's how genes determine your facial features

Takeaways
  • A new study reveals more than 130 regions in human DNA play a role in sculpting facial features.
  • The nose is the facial feature most influenced by your genes.
  • Understanding the link between specific genes and facial features could be useful for treating facial malformations or for orthodontics.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.12.090555v1

Thanks. An interesting (and heavy) read for someone without a biology background ;)
 
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