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]

COVID-19 cross-protection? When vaccines provide 'bonus' protection against other diseases

Those of us who avoided COVID-19 over the past year may be somewhat surprised to learn there's a good chance we've already been infected by at least one coronavirus.

They're thought to be behind up to a third of all common colds. And intriguingly, evidence emerged last year that suggested people who were previously exposed to a common cold coronavirus might have some protection against COVID-19.

So could this cross-protection go the other way? Might the COVID-19 vaccines being rolled out now also cause a dip in seasonal coronaviruses?

While it's too early to tell, it's possible. But perhaps not in the way you'd think.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/science...on-cold-coronavirus-cross-protection/13056718

 

[CraigD]

Male butterflies mark their mates with a repulsive smell during sex to ‘turn off’ other suitors

Butterflies have evolved to produce a strongly scented chemical in their genitals, which they leave behind after sex to deter other males from pursuing their mates.

Led by Professor Chris Jiggins in the University of Cambridge’s Department of Zoology, the team mapped production of the scented chemical compound to the genome of a species of butterfly called Heliconius melponene, and discovered a new gene. They also discovered that the chemical, made in the sex glands of the males, is identical to a chemical produced by flowers to attract butterflies. The study, published today in the journal PLOS Biology, shows that butterflies and flowers independently evolved to make the same chemical for different purposes.

https://www.miragenews.com/male-but...e-smell-during-sex-to-turn-off-other-suitors/

 

[CraigD]

Australia's proposed media code could break the world wide web, says the man who invented it

Tim Berners-Lee says the plan to make Google and Facebook pay for news content undermines the web’s ‘fundamental principle’.

The inventor of the world wide web says proposed Australian media laws requiring tech giants Google and Facebook to pay for displaying news content risks setting a precedent that “could make the web unworkable around the world”.

Tim Berners-Lee, who invented the world wide web in 1989, said the draft legislation “risks breaching a fundamental principle of the web by requiring payment for linking between certain content online”.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2...e-world-wide-web-says-the-man-who-invented-it

 

[Sutruk]

The first magnetar flare detected from another galaxy was tracked to its home

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/magnetar-flare-first-home-galaxy-star-fast-radio-burst

An ultramagnetic stellar corpse sent a blast of light zipping through space

"For the first time, astronomers have definitively spotted a flaring magnetar in another galaxy."

"These ultra-magnetic stellar corpses were thought to be responsible for some of the highest-energy explosions in the nearby universe. But until this burst, no one could prove it, astronomers reported January 13 at the virtual meeting of the American Astronomical Society and in papers in Nature and Nature Astronomy."

 

[Sutruk]

The most ancient supermassive black hole is bafflingly big

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/most-ancient-supermassive-black-hole-quasar-bafflingly-big

The black hole doesn’t fit theories of how the cosmic beasts grow so massive

"The most ancient black hole ever discovered is so big it defies explanation."

"This active supermassive black hole, or quasar, boasts a mass of 1.6 billion suns and lies at the heart of a galaxy more than 13 billion light-years from Earth. The quasar, dubbed J0313-1806, dates back to when the universe was just 670 million years old, or about 5 percent of the universe’s current age. That makes J0313-1806 two times heavier and 20 million years older than the last record-holder for earliest known black hole (SN: 12/6/17).

Finding such a huge supermassive black hole so early in the universe’s history challenges astronomers’ understanding of how these cosmic beasts first formed, researchers reported January 12 at a virtual meeting of the American Astronomical Society and in a paper posted at arXiv.org on January 8."

 

[CraigD]

Question: What possesses people to document everything they do to social-media platforms?

I'm asking this out of an incredulous curiosity, as the FBI arrests protestors and rioters following the events that have occurred across the USA over the past ten months. Much of the evidence they are being arrested on was produced and published by themselves or aquaintances.

It's understandable when a couple of people document a situation, but when I watch these incidents unfold on television, the majority of participants are filming. What's the point?

In the past I have worked as stills photographer, but my subjects knew that I was documenting them for a fee or for media publication. What I have been witnessing recently is something much more insidious and narcissistic. It's very disturbing.

Would be interested to hear your thoughts and read some studies on this phenomena.

 

[Cal2]

Question: What possesses people to document everything they do to social-media platforms?

Would be interested to hear your thoughts

For much of it, 1st thing that comes to mind is 'inferiority complex'
2th thought: &/or superiority complex
3rd: Airhead/s

I'm asking this out of an incredulous curiosity, as the FBI arrests protestors and rioters following the events that have occurred across the USA over the past ten months. Much of the evidence they are being arrested on was produced and published by themselves or aquaintances.

1st thought: Airhead/s

 

[CraigD]

Your Airheads point is well appreciated. It baffles me to see so many people incriminating themselves, and it's not confined to recent rioters. School kids have been filming themselves beating on classmates for years.

 

[Cannuck]

Question: What possesses people to document everything they do to social-media platforms?

Would be interested to hear your thoughts and read some studies on this phenomena.

Personally I never post on social media, but based on recent events, may be a belief in their actions as patriots and by so chronicling, is actually an attempt at debunking fake news. People have become desensitized and oversensationalized, that they may have a sense of distorted/misguided reality.

 

[CraigD]

That's a great point: ...and by so chronicling, is actually an attempt at debunking fake news

 

[Sutruk]

1st thought: Airhead/s

Personally I never post on social media, but based on recent events, may be a belief in their actions as patriots and by so chronicling, is actually an attempt at debunking fake news. People have become desensitized and oversensationalized, that they may have a sense of distorted/misguided reality.

That's a great point: ...and by so chronicling, is actually an attempt at debunking fake news

Capitol rioters have been brainwhased during 2 months by Trump and his lies. They just did what Trump told them minutes before the insurrection, that somebody: "has stolen the election and that they have to fight for their country, fight with strength, because they won't take back the country with weakness" "now go to the Capitol, I will be there with you (false, lier as always)".
So in their brainwashed heads, they really thought they were doing something right and worth to be recorded by selfies or tv cameras. That's the level of brainwash the sore loser of the elections did to his supporters.
They were commiting insurrection and sedition, but they thought it was right because they just were doing what Trump told them to do.

‘Trump said to do so’: Accounts of rioters who say the president spurred them to rush the Capitol could be pivotal testimony

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...b3d5c6-575b-11eb-a931-5b162d0d033d_story.html

"A man from Kentucky told the FBI that he and his cousin began marching toward the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 because “President Trump said to do so.” Chanting “Stop the steal,” the two men tramped through the building and snapped a photo of themselves with their middle fingers raised, according to court documents.

A video clip of another group of rioters mobbing the steps of the Capitol caught one man screaming at a police officer: “We were invited here! We were invited by the president of the United States!”

A retired firefighter from Pennsylvania who has been charged with throwing a fire extinguisher at police officers felt he was “instructed” to go to the Capitol by the president, a tipster told the FBI, according to court documents."

 

[CraigD]

Capitol rioters have been brainwhased during 2 months by Trump and his lies. They just did what Trump told them minutes before the insurrection, that somebody: "has stolen the election and that they have to fight for their country, fight with strength, because they won't take back the country with weakness" "now go to the Capitol, I will be there with you (false, lier as always)".
So in their brainwashed heads, they really thought they were doing something right and worth to be recorded by selfies or tv cameras. That's the level of brainwash the sore loser of the elections did to his supporters.
They were commiting insurrection and sedition, but they thought it was right because they just were doing what Trump told them to do.

‘Trump said to do so’: Accounts of rioters who say the president spurred them to rush the Capitol could be pivotal testimony

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...b3d5c6-575b-11eb-a931-5b162d0d033d_story.html

"A man from Kentucky told the FBI that he and his cousin began marching toward the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 because “President Trump said to do so.” Chanting “Stop the steal,” the two men tramped through the building and snapped a photo of themselves with their middle fingers raised, according to court documents.

A video clip of another group of rioters mobbing the steps of the Capitol caught one man screaming at a police officer: “We were invited here! We were invited by the president of the United States!”

A retired firefighter from Pennsylvania who has been charged with throwing a fire extinguisher at police officers felt he was “instructed” to go to the Capitol by the president, a tipster told the FBI, according to court documents."

From an outsiders perspective - because I don't live in the USA - were these particular people actually following orders, or are they merely using this argument as point of legal defence?

Were the 'executive orders' perceived by followers as an enabling order similar to the Milgram experiment?

Or am I missing something else here?

It's not really the politics that interest me. More so what I perceive as a possible critical mass effect amongst a group of people.

It was obviously a very important moment in US history that will be discussed for many years...

Edited

 

[CraigD]

Solar Wind Is Strangely Drawn to Earth's North Pole, And Scientists Don't Know Why

Likely the most well-known result of the Earth's magnetic field are the Aurora Borealis and Australis (Northern and Southern Lights). When charged particles from the solar wind run into the Earth's magnetic field, they can occasionally elicit spectacular light displays.

For years now, scientists have thought that the charged particles that cause those displays were sent in equal numbers toward the North and South Pole.

However, recent research from a team led by scientists from the University of Alberta, have shown that there are actually more charged particles heading north rather than south. The question now is why?

https://www.sciencealert.com/solar-...s-north-pole-than-south-and-we-don-t-know-why

 

[koolishman]

Question: What possesses people to document everything they do to social-media platforms?

I'm asking this out of an incredulous curiosity, as the FBI arrests protestors and rioters following the events that have occurred across the USA over the past ten months. Much of the evidence they are being arrested on was produced and published by themselves or aquaintances.

It's understandable when a couple of people document a situation, but when I watch these incidents unfold on television, the majority of participants are filming. What's the point?

In the past I have worked as stills photographer, but my subjects knew that I was documenting them for a fee or for media publication. What I have been witnessing recently is something much more insidious and narcissistic. It's very disturbing.

Would be interested to hear your thoughts and read some studies on this phenomena.

Jaron Lanier, author of “Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now,” argues that it boils down to addiction — both to politics and to screens. “The process of addiction does harm to judgment,” he said. “Addicts get stupid, and these people have behavioral addictions fostered by old-fashioned cultism plus new-fashioned cloud algorithms that evolved from the advertising commerce model.”

Christopher J. Schneider, a sociology professor at Brandon University in Manitoba, Canada, and the author of “Policing and Social Media: Social Control in an Era of New Media,” said the self-incriminating social media postings fit into a larger trend that has emerged during “mass criminal events.”


He pointed to the 2011 Vancouver riots, which started when the Boston Bruins beat the Vancouver Canucks in the final game of the Stanley Cup. As violence and chaos spilled into the streets, bystanders and participants posted photos and videos to social media, making it “one of the first circumstances where you had a mass criminal event that was happening in real time online.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/01/19/capitol-riot-social-media/

 

[CraigD]

Jaron Lanier, author of “Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now,” argues that it boils down to addiction — both to politics and to screens. “The process of addiction does harm to judgment,” he said. “Addicts get stupid, and these people have behavioral addictions fostered by old-fashioned cultism plus new-fashioned cloud algorithms that evolved from the advertising commerce model.”

Christopher J. Schneider, a sociology professor at Brandon University in Manitoba, Canada, and the author of “Policing and Social Media: Social Control in an Era of New Media,” said the self-incriminating social media postings fit into a larger trend that has emerged during “mass criminal events.”


He pointed to the 2011 Vancouver riots, which started when the Boston Bruins beat the Vancouver Canucks in the final game of the Stanley Cup. As violence and chaos spilled into the streets, bystanders and participants posted photos and videos to social media, making it “one of the first circumstances where you had a mass criminal event that was happening in real time online.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/01/19/capitol-riot-social-media/

Food for thought.

During our many recent lockdowns, I've almost finished watching Netflix and reading the World Wide Web.

I've also become addicted to NP and this thread.

It may be time to delete my user account

 

[koolishman]

Personally I never post on social media, but based on recent events, may be a belief in their actions as patriots and by so chronicling, is actually an attempt at debunking fake news. People have become desensitized and oversensationalized, that they may have a sense of distorted/misguided reality.

Interesting viewpoint.

I always thought the trigger was " I was here" and " I am superior because I witnessed this" kind of feeling.

 

[CraigD]

From Trump to Biden: How transfer of nuclear codes will work

VIDEO: With President Donald Trump leaving Washington, DC without meeting President-elect Joe Biden, CNN's Barbara Starr breaks down how the exchange of the United States' nuclear weapon codes will happen.

https://edition.cnn.com/videos/poli...en-trump-hand-off-inauguration-newday-vpx.cnn

-------------


...if an adversary were to launch a nuclear strike at the US, the president would immediately be on a classified communications network...

I'm assuming they are referring to the secret network set-up in the late 1960's by DARPA, known as ARPANET, and otherwise known as the 'internet'.

Obviously not Twitter because his accounts have been deactivated.

And yes, I meant this all tongue in cheek.

 

[koolishman]

^^

Oh no... the engines were shut down in the first minute during the gimbal test sequence of NASA's Green Run Hot Fire test.


Waiting for more info as to why the engines didn't fire for the full 8-minutes.

Watch the video link above for the post-test briefing in 2-hours time.

Before shortened NASA SLS rocket engine test, officials predicted only a 50 percent chance of complete success

But during a private briefing Tuesday morning, industry officials said their expectations for successfully completing all the test objectives had been only “50/50” given the complexity of the test and the fact that the four engines had never been fired while attached to NASA’s Space Launch System rocket.

“Public expectations should have been set lower,” according to notes of the meeting by a participant that were obtained by The Washington Post. In the end, NASA got 100 percent of the data it needed for only 15 of the 23 test objectives, after the engines fired for just 67.2 seconds instead of the full eight minutes as planned.

 

[koolishman]

A 99-million-year-old beetle shines light on the evolution of glowing insects

The beetle, known by its Latin name Cretophengodes, was found fossilized in a piece of amber in northern Myanmar. The tropical location was full of insect life during the Cretaceous period, said study author Chenyang Cai, an associate professor at Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing.

Each of the insect's antennae had 12 segments branching off it, but what caught Cai's eye was the light organ nestled into its abdomen. That organ gave the beetle bioluminescence, the ability for a living organism to produce its own light, Cai said.

Modern-day insects such as fireflies and glowworms are part of Elateroidea, the same superfamily animal classification that the beetle is from.

It's not known why the beetles were bioluminescent, but based on relatives, Cai speculated that the function was used as a defense mechanism. Today, some young beetle larvae in the same superfamily have used light to protect themselves from predators, and adults have been known to use their light abilities to attract mates.
Modern-day fireflies produce light through a chemical reaction in their body. When a series of ingredients including the compound luciferin and the enzyme luciferase interact with oxygen, it produces a flickering

 

[koolishman]

Dinosaur fossils could belong to the world's largest ever creature

Experts have uncovered the remains of a gigantic dinosaur in Argentina, and believe it could be one of the largest creatures to have ever walked the Earth.

Paleontologists discovered the fossilized remains of a 98 million-year-old titanosaur in Neuquén Province in Argentina's northwest Patagonia, in thick, sedimentary deposits known as the Candeleros Formation.

The 24 vertebrae of the tail and elements of the pelvic and pectoral girdle discovered are thought to belong to a titanosaur, a diverse group of sauropod dinosaurs, characterized by their large size, a long neck and tail, and four-legged stance.

In research published in the journal Cretaceous Research, experts say they believe the creature to be "one of the largest sauropods ever found" and could exceed the size of a Patagotitan, a species which lived 100 million to 95 million years ago and measured up to a staggering 37.2 meters (122 feet) long.