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]

CEO Elon Musk says he wired up a monkey’s brain to play video games

Elon Musk says one of his startups has a monkey with wires going into its brain that’s able to play video games.

“He’s a happy monkey," said Musk, the chief executive officer of electric-vehicle maker Tesla Inc. and backer of numerous other futuristic projects, including Neuralink Corp., a startup focused on developing a brain-computer interface. He said videos of the plugged-in simians would be released soon, perhaps in around a month.

Donkey Kong?

 

[CraigD]

Water disinfection with ozone

While chlorine and ultraviolet light are the standard means of disinfecting water, ozone is equally effective in killing germs. To date, ozone has only been used as an oxidation agent for treating water in large plants. Now, however, a project consortium from Schleswig-Holstein is developing a miniaturized ozone generator for use in smaller applications such as water dispensers or small domestic appliances. The Fraunhofer Institute for Silicon Technology ISIT has provided the sensor chip and electrode substrates for the electrolysis cell.

https://phys.org/news/2021-02-disinfection-ozone.html

 

[CraigD]

Physics of Snakeskin Sheds Light on Specialized Sidewinding Locomotion of Sidewinder Snakes

Most snakes get from A to B by bending their bodies into S-shapes and slithering forward headfirst. A few species, however — found in the deserts of North America, Africa and the Middle East — have an odder way of getting around. Known as “sidewinders,” these snakes lead with their mid-sections instead of their heads, slinking sideways across loose sand.

Scientists took a microscopic look at the skin of sidewinders to see if it plays a role in their unique method of movement. They discovered that sidewinders’ bellies are studded with tiny pits and have few, if any, of the tiny spikes found on the bellies of other snakes.

The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published the discovery, which includes a mathematical model linking these distinct structures to function.

https://scitechdaily.com/physics-of...-sidewinding-locomotion-of-sidewinder-snakes/

 

[CraigD]

Israel Is Cashing In On a Global Race for Drone-Fighting Air Defense Systems

Killer-drone swarms and innovative missiles mean every country on earth is scrambling to improve its aerial defenses.

The nightmare scenario is already emerging. Iran used a drone swarm of 25 cruise missiles and drones to attack Saudi Arabia’s Abqaiq energy facility, temporarily disrupting half the kingdom’s oil output. Iran also downed a $220 million American Global Hawk surveillance drone in 2019. Tehran has been suffering tough sanctions from Washington and yet it is fielding unique technology that has major ramifications for the future battlefield. In short, the U.S. and other countries need better air defense to deal with threats at sea, in the air, and on land. The race is on globally for countries to build better radar, more precise missile interceptors, and drones and weapons that can evade these defenses.

Over the past year, The Daily Beast has spoken to experts in air defense and drone warfare from the U.S. to Israel, former drone pilots and engineers, and they all sound a similar alarm. "Today defense challenges are becoming versatile and require high operational capabilities and flexibility,” said Ron Tryfus, a vice-president a Israel Aerospace Industries Systems, Missile and Space Group.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/iron-...r-drone-fighting-air-defense-systems?ref=home

 

[CraigD]

Discovery could lead to self-propelled robots

Army-funded researchers discovered how to make materials capable of self-propulsion, allowing materials to move without motors or hands.

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst discovered how to make materials that snap and reset themselves, only relying upon energy flow from their environment. This research, published in Nature Materials and funded by the U.S. Army, could enable future military robots to move from their own energy.

"This work is part of a larger multi-disciplinary effort that seeks to understand biological and engineered impulsive systems that will lay the foundations for scalable methods for generating forces for mechanical action and energy storing structures and materials," said Dr. Ralph Anthenien, branch chief, Army Research Office, an element of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, now known as DEVCOM, Army Research Laboratory. "The work will have myriad possible future applications in actuation and motive systems for the Army and DOD."

https://phys.org/news/2021-02-discovery-self-propelled-robots.html

 

[CraigD]

Soap bubble freezes into an iridescent snow globe in cool new video
A photographer captured mesmerizing footage of a soap bubble freezing over and transforming into a delicate snow globe after temperatures plunged in Winnipeg, Canada.


The stunning footage was captured by Heather Hinam, a Canadian naturalist, artist, photographer and educator. She shared the video on Twitter, noting that "Cold, clear days with very little wind are great for freezing bubbles."

"This morning's -28 C [minus 18.4 degrees Fahrenheit] had me out in the backyard with the good camera, the bubble solution and the tripod," Hinam wrote. "Here's a frozen moment of zen for your afternoon."

This video was really amazing!

Someone needs to look into utilising this for rapid building of ice-structures in sub-zero temperatures.

 

[CraigD]

SpaceX's Starship prototype again explodes on landing attempt after successful launch

The latest prototype of SpaceX's next-generation Starship rocket launched successfully on Tuesday but exploded on impact during an attempted landing. Starship prototype Serial Number 9, or SN9, aimed to fly as high as 10 kilometers, or about 32,800 feet altitude. While the rocket flew successfully, it hit the ground explosively on its return, just as the SN8 flight did in December.



SpaceX’s Starship test flight ends in fiery crash, again

A prototype of a SpaceX rocket the company hopes will one day journey to the moon and Mars has exploded in a roaring ball of flames as it tried to land upright after a test flight in Texas.

It was the second such accident after the last prototype of the Starship met a similar fate in December.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/2/3/spacexs-second-starship-test-flight-ends-in-fiery-crash

 

[koolishman]

COVID-19 lockdowns temporarily raised global temperatures

The lockdowns and reduced societal activity related to the COVID-19 pandemic affected emissions of pollutants in ways that slightly warmed the planet for several months last year, according to new research led by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).

The counterintuitive finding highlights the influence of airborne particles, or aerosols, that block incoming sunlight. When emissions of aerosols dropped last spring, more of the Sun's warmth reached the planet, especially in heavily industrialized nations, such as the United States and Russia, that normally pump high amounts of aerosols into the atmosphere.

"There was a big decline in emissions from the most polluting industries, and that had immediate, short-term effects on temperatures," said NCAR scientist Andrew Gettelman, the study's lead author. "Pollution cools the planet, so it makes sense that pollution reductions would warm the planet."

 

[koolishman]

Apollo 15 landing site is strikingly clear in image captured from Earth
Scientists captured this striking image of the Apollo 15 landing site by shooting a powerful radar signal from Earth into space and bouncing it off the lunar surface.

The thin, meandering channel running through the middle of the image is the Hadley Rille, a scar left on the moon after past volcanic activity, likely a collapsing lava tube, according to a statement from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). The circular dent pictured near the rille is Hadley C, a crater about 3.7 miles (6 kilometers) in diameter.

https://www.iflscience.com/space/th...ge-of-the-moons-surface-was-taken-from-earth/

 

[koolishman]

Beautiful image of a spiral galaxy captured by Hubble.

 

[koolishman]

Scientists have taught spinach to send emails and it could warn us about climate change

It may sound like something out of a futuristic science fiction film, but scientists have managed to engineer spinach plants which are capable of sending emails.


Through nanotechnology, engineers at MIT in the US have transformed spinach into sensors capable of detecting explosive materials. These plants are then able to wirelessly relay this information back to the scientists.

When the spinach roots detect the presence of nitroaromatics in groundwater, a compound often found in explosives like landmines, the carbon nanotubes within the plant leaves emit a signal. This signal is then read by an infrared camera, sending an email alert to the scientists.

This experiment is part of a wider field of research which involves engineering electronic components and systems into plants. The technology is known as “plant nanobionics”, and is effectively the process of giving plants new abilities.

“Plants are very good analytical chemists,” explains Professor Michael Strano who led the research. “They have an extensive root network in the soil, are constantly sampling groundwater, and have a way to self-power the transport of that water up into the leaves.”

 

[koolishman]

NASA will pay $500,000 to whoever can figure out how to grow fresh food in space


UPI reports that NASA and the Canadian Space Agency have teamed up for the Deep Space Food Challenge, during which participants can win prize money for their ideas surrounding fresh food transport, production, and distribution in space. You can find all of the details on the Deep Space Food Challenge website, including the challenge timeline. (Hint: Phase I registration closes May 28, with submissions due July 30.) According to the challenge website, up to 20 top-scoring U.S. teams will receive $25,000 each from NASA before they compete in Phase 2. The website is unclear about the prize for winning Phase 2, but it does specify “up to $500,000.” Also, some pretty great bragging rights.

https://www.deepspacefoodchallenge.org/

 

[CraigD]

Researchers discover an immense hydrocarbon cycle in the world's ocean

Hydrocarbons and petroleum are almost synonymous in environmental science. After all, oil reserves account for nearly all the hydrocarbons we encounter. But the few hydrocarbons that trace their origin to biological sources may play a larger ecological role than scientists originally suspected.

https://phys.org/news/2021-02-immense-hydrocarbon-world-ocean.html

 

[koolishman]

Scientists Explain Why Food Still Sticks to Your Stupid Non-Stick Pan

An investigation into the way oils behave on hot, flat surfaces has uncovered the process responsible for foods sticking to non-stick frying pans.

Concise and straight to the point, as is the explanation: “thermocapillary convection,” according to the authors, Alexander Fedorchenko and Jan Hruby, both from the Czech Academy of Sciences.

For their experiment, Fedorchenko and Hruby, specialists in fluid dynamics and thermophysics, tested two non-stick frying pans—one coated in ceramic particles and one covered with Teflon. The surfaces of the pans were covered with a thin layer of sunflower oil, and then, using an overhead camera, the scientists measured the speed at which it took dry spots to form and grow as the pans were heated.

The scientists noticed that, as the pans were being warmed from below, a temperature gradient appeared across the oily film. This in turn created a surface tension gradient, which directed the oils away from the center of the pan and towards the periphery; liquids with high surface tension pull more forcefully on surrounding liquids compared to liquids with low surface tension.

 

[koolishman]

Sea Levels Are Rising Faster Than Most Pessimistic Forecasts

Climate change is causing oceans to rise quicker than scientists’ most pessimistic forecasts, resulting in earlier flood risks to coastal economies already struggling to adapt.


The revised estimates published Tuesday in Ocean Science impact the two-fifths of the Earth’s population who live near coastlines. Insured property worth trillions of dollars could face even greater danger from floods, superstorms and tidal surges. The research suggests that countries will have to rein in their greenhouse gas emissions even more than expected to keep sea levels in check.

“It means our carbon budget is even more depleted,” said Aslak Grinsted, a geophysicist at the University of Copenhagen who co-authored the research. Economies need to slash an additional 200 billion metric tons of carbon — equivalent to about five years of global emissions — to remain within the thresholds set by previous forecasts, he said.

 

[koolishman]

Scientists Create A Tattoo That Is Able To Change Its Color Depending On Glucose Levels (2019)

A tattoo that will change colour to reflect the changes that occur in the blood glucose levels has been created by German scientists. So far, a team of scientists from the Technical University of Munich have successfully tested out the same on the skin of pigs. Led by a chemical engineer, Dr. Ali Yetise, the team used a colour-changing dye to reflect changes in blood glucose levels, with a view to help people manage diabetes. They also tried on picking up albumin, a marker of kidney disease. They used another dye to measure the pH level in human blood.

The dyes used react to changes in the three biomarkers in the interstitial fluid. This fluid acts as a storehouse of nutrients including glucose. The glucose level in interstitial fluid decreases and increases in response to the fall and rise in blood glucose levels. The researchers made the point that the glucose sensor picks up the chemical changes in blood glucose levels, leading to a change in the dye from yellow to dark green.

The albumin sensor turns green indicating presence of albumin. The pH sensor uses red and blue dye. The sensor turns yellow to blue when the pH level is normal for human blood.

 

[CraigD]

Rock collector finds rare gemstone that looks like Cookie Monster

You never know what you're going to get when you crack open a geode-like rock called an agate, but a new specimen is even more surprising than usual: It looks just like Cookie Monster.

The agate, found in Soledade, a precious stone hotspot in southern Brazil, is a dead ringer for the blue, googly-eyed Sesame Street Muppet.

https://www.livescience.com/colletor-finds-rare-cookie-monster-rock.html

 

[CraigD]

Spot's Got an Arm!

Now that Spot has an arm in addition to legs and cameras, it can do mobile manipulation. It finds and picks up objects (trash), tidies up the living room, opens doors, operates switches and valves, tends the garden, and generally has fun. Motion of the hand, arm and body are automatically coordinated to simplify manipulation tasks and expand the arm's workspace, making its reach essentially unbounded. The behavior shown here was programmed using a new API for mobile manipulation that supports autonomy and user applications, as well as a tablet that lets users do remote operations.
For more information, visit https://www.bostondynamics.com/spot-arm

Launch Event: Meet Spot's Expanded Product Line

Boston Dynamics reveal the latest in Spot's expanded product line

 

[secretagentdad]

Spot's Got an Arm!

Now that Spot has an arm in addition to legs and cameras, it can do mobile manipulation. It finds and picks up objects (trash), tidies up the living room, opens doors, operates switches and valves, tends the garden, and generally has fun. Motion of the hand, arm and body are automatically coordinated to simplify manipulation tasks and expand the arm's workspace, making its reach essentially unbounded. The behavior shown here was programmed using a new API for mobile manipulation that supports autonomy and user applications, as well as a tablet that lets users do remote operations.
For more information, visit https://www.bostondynamics.com/spot-arm

Launch Event: Meet Spot's Expanded Product Line

Boston Dynamics reveal the latest in Spot's expanded product line

Dis gives me the creeps for some reason. Like really badly in an exaggerated foreboding way.

 

[CraigD]

Nice try, but when the tree dies or wood burns, the carbon is released back into the atmosphere.

Next entry?

Yes, but they won't burn in the same amount and at the same time. In fact, with only the trees that have been cut down and without deforestation that have been made till today, the amount of CO2 in the air would be way lower.
Trees are the natural way to absorb CO2, and yearly deforestation will be definitely one of the causes for the next climate catastrophe. Not only they absorb CO2 but they produce oxygen, and we are destroying Earth's lungs.

Just a follow-up to our discussion.

I was thinking pines and gums that only live for a few hundred years.

I spoke with my friend this week who has been working in the plant-nursery and arborist field for the last 35-years.

His suggestion is that we plant long-living trees like sequoia - trees that live for thousands of years, so that we can be sure the carbon is trapped for that amount of time