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]

Building a Giant 2D Map of the Universe to Prepare for the Largest 3D Map

Nearly 200 researchers pitched in to gather, process, and stitch together images for half of the sky to prepare for the start of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument’s observations

https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2021/01/...e-universe-to-prepare-for-the-largest-3d-map/

 

[CraigD]

Fleet of robots successfully tracks, monitors marine microbes

After years of development and testing, researchers from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have successfully demonstrated that a fleet of autonomous robots can track and study a moving microbial community in an open-ocean eddy. The results of this research effort were recently published in Science Robotics.

https://www.hawaii.edu/news/2021/01/13/robots-monitor-marine-microbes/

 

[CraigD]

These Adorable Fish Robots Form Schools Like the Real Thing

SEVEN LITTLE BLUEBOTS gently swim around a darkened tank in a Harvard University lab, spying on one another with great big eyes made of cameras. They’re on the lookout for the two glowing blue LEDs fixed to the backs and bellies of their comrades, allowing the machines to lock on to one another and form schools, a complex emergent behavior arising from surprisingly simple algorithms. With very little prodding from their human engineers, the seven robots eventually arrange themselves in a swirling tornado, a common defensive maneuver among real-life fish called milling.

https://www.wired.com/story/these-adorable-fish-robots-form-schools-like-the-real-thing/

 

[koolishman]

CIA releases entire collection of UFO-related documents to truth-seeking website

The massive data dump includes more than 2,700 pages of UFO-related documents declassified by the CIA since the 1980s. (The U.S. government also calls them "unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAP). According to The Black Vault — an online repository of UFO-related documents operated by author John Greenwald Jr. — the documents were obtained through a long string of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests filed over the last quarter century .

The documents cover dozens of incidents, including the 1976 account of the government’s then-Assistant Deputy Director for Science & Technology being hand-delivered a mysterious piece of intelligence on a UFO, to the description of a mysterious midnight explosion in a small Russian town.


LInk : www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/ufos-the-central-intelligence-agency-cia-collection/

 

[CraigD]

CIA releases entire collection of UFO-related documents to truth-seeking website

The massive data dump includes more than 2,700 pages of UFO-related documents declassified by the CIA since the 1980s. (The U.S. government also calls them "unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAP). According to The Black Vault — an online repository of UFO-related documents operated by author John Greenwald Jr. — the documents were obtained through a long string of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests filed over the last quarter century .

The documents cover dozens of incidents, including the 1976 account of the government’s then-Assistant Deputy Director for Science & Technology being hand-delivered a mysterious piece of intelligence on a UFO, to the description of a mysterious midnight explosion in a small Russian town.


LInk : www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/ufos-the-central-intelligence-agency-cia-collection/

THE perfect distraction to the current real problems we are facing

I doubt there is - or has ever been - any solid evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence behind UFO sightings.

I will however be more than happy to be proved wrong...

 

[koolishman]

NASA: You're about to get a rare chance to spot elusive planet

Jokes aside, Uranus isn't known as one of the most glamorous planets, but it's an underappreciated gem. The ice giant has a lovely blue color and sneaky rings. While our eyes are often drawn to brighter planets like Mars and Jupiter in the night sky, Jan. 20 will give us a decent shot at spotting elusive Uranus.

 

[CraigD]

Uranus is the but of jokes for good reason.
I wonder if the Greeks saw it the same way?

 

[CraigD]

£4.3m for Nottingham quantum projects to solve universe’s mysteries

Scientists will use cutting-edge quantum technologies to transform our understanding of the universe and answer key questions about the nature of black holes.

New research at the University of Nottingham is one of seven projects to have secured funding as part of £31 million investment from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). The new projects will demonstrate how quantum technologies could solve some of the greatest mysteries in fundamental physics.

"The Quantum Technology for Fundamental Physics program is a fantastic initiative, paving the way for the formation of a new community at the interface between two exciting fields. We have an amazing consortium, with excellent scientists from both camps, and over the next three years will turn a range of abstract concepts related to the early universe and black holes into reality."

- Professor Silke Weinfurtner​

https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/news/43m-for-nottingham-quantum-projects-to-solve-universes-mysteries?

 

[CraigD]

Apollo landers, Neil Armstrong’s bootprint and other human artifacts on Moon officially protected by new US law

Michelle L.D. Hanlon; Professor of Air and Space Law, University of Mississippi.

I am a lawyer who focuses on space issues that seek to ensure the peaceful and sustainable exploration and use of space.

It’s hard to care about bootprints sunk in soil 238,900 miles away as humanity suffers the combined burden of an unforgiving virus and a political unease. But how humans treat those bootprints and the historic lunar landing sites upon which they are found will speak volumes about who we humans are and who we seek to become.

On Dec. 31, the One Small Step to Protect Human Heritage in Space Act became law. As far as laws go, it’s pretty benign. It requires companies that are working with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration on lunar missions to agree to be bound by otherwise unenforceable guidelines intended to protect American landing sites on the Moon. That’s a pretty small pool of affected entities. However, it is also the first law enacted by any nation that recognizes the existence of human heritage in outer space. That’s important because it reaffirms our human commitment to protecting our history – as we do on Earth with sites like the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu, which is protected through instruments like the World Heritage Convention – while also acknowledging that the human species is expanding into space.

https://theconversation.com/apollo-...oon-officially-protected-by-new-us-law-152661

 

[CraigD]

The SpaceX Lunar Starship: Built Different

Let's take a look at the three moon lander designs NASA is currently funding, starting with the SpaceX Lunar Starship!

 

[CraigD]

The SpaceX Lunar Starship: Built Different

Let's take a look at the three moon lander designs NASA is currently funding, starting with the SpaceX Lunar Starship!

In all fairness, I don't see the SpaceX Starship design being anywhere near ready for Artemis-II or III landings..

The current prototype is basically a boilerplate design with a single engine. Once the design works up to a full engine fit-out, it will then require a pressurised cabin to be certified by NASA. That process takes years of R&D and testing.

 

[CraigD]

Rocky 'super-Earth' planet spotted orbiting one of the Milky Way's oldest stars

One of the oldest stars in the Milky Way galaxy hosts an unusually hot, rocky "super-Earth" planet, a new study reports.

Known as TOI-561b, this exoplanet is about 50% larger and three times more massive than Earth, researchers said. It whips around its host star in a very close orbit, taking less than 12 hours to complete one lap.

https://www.space.com/super-earth-exoplanet-old-star-milky-way

 

[CraigD]

Adelaide scientists turn marine microalgae into 'superfoods' to substitute animal proteins

A new wave of superfoods are being cultivated in Adelaide labs in the hope it'll provide alternative ways to sustainably feed the world's increasing population.

A team of Flinders University scientists have developed alternative proteins to consume, but instead of meat, food products like caviar, vegan patties, plant-based meats, jelly, jams and spreads have been developed from marine microalgae.

The substance is usually found in the ocean, but scientists at the university have been cultivating it in labs and turning it into consumable forms.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01...-be-the-solution-to-protein-shortage/13054084

 

[CraigD]

Indonesia: Archaeologists find world's oldest animal cave painting

Archaeologists have discovered the world's oldest known animal cave painting in Indonesia - a wild pig - believed to be drawn 45,500 years ago.

Painted using dark red ochre pigment, the life-sized picture of the Sulawesi warty pig appears to be part of a narrative scene.

The picture was found in the Leang Tedongnge cave in a remote valley on the island of Sulawesi.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-55657257

 

[koolishman]

Indonesia: Archaeologists find world's oldest animal cave painting

Archaeologists have discovered the world's oldest known animal cave painting in Indonesia - a wild pig - believed to be drawn 45,500 years ago.

Painted using dark red ochre pigment, the life-sized picture of the Sulawesi warty pig appears to be part of a narrative scene.

The picture was found in the Leang Tedongnge cave in a remote valley on the island of Sulawesi.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-55657257

Viewed from left to right, it is a bird too!

 

[CraigD]

Viewed from left to right, it is a bird too!

Oh wow. I had not noticed. Nice catch!

I wonder if the artist was a great ancestor of Salvador Dali or M.C. Escher?

 

[CraigD]

Optical illusions reveal regular waves of brain activity enable visual feature integration

Rhythmic waves of brain activity cause us to see or not see complex images that flash before our eyes. An image can become practically invisible if it flashes before our eyes at the same time as a low point of those brain waves. We can reset that brain wave rhythm with a simple voluntary action, like choosing to push a button.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/05/190521101504.htm


Optical illusions explained in a fly's eyes

Why people perceive motion in some static images has mystified not only those who view these optical illusions but neuroscientists who have tried to explain the phenomenon. Now neuroscientists have found some answers in the eyes of flies.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200824170451.htm

 

[CraigD]

European Space Agency to build module for Gateway space station

The European Space Agency (Esa) has signed a contract to begin building the module to supply communications and refuelling for the international lunar Gateway space station.

The European System Providing Refuelling, Infrastructure and Telecommunications (Esprit) will consist of two separate units. The communications system will be used by astronauts to provide data, voice and video links to and from the lunar surface. It will be mounted on the Nasa Habitation and Logistics Outpost (Halo) module, which is scheduled for launch in 2024.

https://www.theguardian.com/science...ncy-to-build-module-for-gateway-space-station

 

[koolishman]

Breathtaking! We can extract energy from black holes

Is it possible to harness energy from black holes? It seems like an absurd idea, but physicists have long pondered whether black holes could be tapped for energy one day.

Physicists from Columbia University now made it possible. They have found a new way to extract energy from black holes.

Physicists suggest that it is possible to extract energy from black holes by breaking and rejoining magnetic field lines near the event horizon, the point from which nothing, not even light, can escape the black hole’s gravitational pull.

https://journals.aps.org/prd/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevD.103.023014

 

[CraigD]

Physicists Find New State of Matter in a One-Dimensional Quantum Gas – “Beyond My Wildest Conception”

By adding some magnetic flair to an exotic quantum experiment, physicists produced an ultra-stable one-dimensional quantum gas with never-before-seen “scar” states – a feature that could someday be useful for securing quantum information.

As the story goes, the Greek mathematician and tinkerer Archimedes came across an invention while traveling through ancient Egypt that would later bear his name. It was a machine consisting of a screw housed inside a hollow tube that trapped and drew water upon rotation. Now, researchers led by Stanford University physicist Benjamin Lev have developed a quantum version of Archimedes’ screw that, instead of water, hauls fragile collections of gas atoms to higher and higher energy states without collapsing. Their discovery is detailed in a paper published today (January 14, 2021) in Science.

https://scitechdaily.com/physicists...nal-quantum-gas-beyond-my-wildest-conception/