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!

 

[koolishman]

Nuclear fusion breakthrough: Scientists generate more power than used to create reaction​

On Tuesday, the head of the Department of Energy and other federal scientific leaders announced that a fusion reaction they ran at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California achieved net energy, meaning the reaction generated more energy than was put in to initiate the reaction. It’s the first time humankind has achieved this landmark.

 

[koolishman]

A startup says it’s begun releasing particles into the atmosphere, in an effort to tweak the climate​

A startup claims it has launched weather balloons that may have released reflective sulfur particles in the stratosphere, potentially crossing a controversial barrier in the field of solar geoengineering.

Geoengineering refers to deliberate efforts to manipulate the climate by reflecting more sunlight back into space, mimicking a natural process that occurs in the aftermath of large volcanic eruptions. In theory, spraying sulfur and similar particles in sufficient quantities could potentially ease global warming

 

[koolishman]

'Super' mosquitoes have now mutated to withstand insecticides, scientists say​

"Super" mosquitoes have evolved to withstand insecticides, according to new research -- and the most "sobering" finding is the high rate in which a species known for carrying disease has developed mutations.

Researchers at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Japan studied mosquitoes in dengue-endemic areas in Vietnam and Cambodia and found that they harbor mutations that endow them with strong resistance to common insecticides, according to a study published in Science Advances on Wednesday.

 

[koolishman]

AI-Created Comic Could Be Deemed Ineligible for Copyright Protection​

The United States Copyright Office (USCO) has initiated a proceeding to reverse an earlier decision to grant a copyright to a comic book that was created using "A.I. art," and announced that while the copyright will still be in effect until the proceeding is completed (and the filer for the copyright has a chance to respond to the proceeding), copyrighted works must be created by humans to gain official copyright protection.

 

[koolishman]

OpenAI releases Point-E, an AI that generates 3D models​

Point-E doesn’t create 3D objects in the traditional sense. Rather, it generates point clouds, or discrete sets of data points in space that represent a 3D shape — hence the cheeky abbreviation. (The “E” in Point-E is short for “efficiency,” because it’s ostensibly faster than previous 3D object generation approaches.) Point clouds are easier to synthesize from a computational standpoint, but they don’t capture an object’s fine-grained shape or texture — a key limitation of Point-E currently.

 

[koolishman]

First "virovore" discovered: An organism that eats viruses ​

To test the hypothesis, DeLong and his team collected samples of pond water, isolated different microbes, and then added large amounts of chlorovirus, a freshwater inhabitant that infects green algae. Over the next few days the team tracked the population size of the viruses and the other microbes to see if the latter was eating the former.

And sure enough, one particular microbe seemed to be snacking on the viruses – a ciliate known as Halteria. In water samples with no other food source for the ciliates, Halteria populations grew by about 15 times within two days, while chlorovirus levels dropped 100-fold. In control samples without the virus, Halteria didn’t grow at all.

In follow-up tests, the team tagged chlorovirus DNA with fluorescent dye, and found that Halteria cells soon began to glow. This helped confirm that Halteria was indeed consuming the virus.

 

[Cannuck]

Nuclear fusion breakthrough: Scientists generate more power than used to create reaction​

It’s the first time humankind has achieved this landmark.

Not too long ago, ^ this was the stuff of science fiction.

Just as the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) at CERN..

Measuring quarks with Alice...

LHCb reveals secret of antimatter creation in cosmic collisions...​

Antimatter explained: https://www.britannica.com/science/antimatter

Recreating Big Bang matter on Earth...​

Source: CERN

 

[koolishman]

Scientists unveil laser beam to deflect lightning strikes​

The “laser lightning rod” deflected four strikes at the Swisscom transmitter tower on Mount Säntis in Appenzell during six hours of thunderstorm activity. The electrical discharges followed the course of a high-frequency laser beam through the air for up to 60 metres.

Laser lightning conductors would not offer complete protection, said Wolf, but they would provide additional defence at vulnerable facilities. The likely cost of a commercially viable system will not be known, he added, until more development work has been completed.

 

[dna]

USC study of 70,000 men showed that Viagra reduces risk of heart disease by 39%

https://nypost.com/2023/01/18/men-who-use-viagra-are-25-less-likely-to-suffer-early-death-usc-study/

 

[koolishman]

Boston Dynamics’ Atlas robot grows a set of hands, attempts construction work. Atlas goes for "inertially significant" lifts, learns all about Newton's third law. ​

 

[koolishman]

Sharp-Shooting Farm Robot Can Treat 500,000 Plants Per Hour With 95% Decrease in Chemical Sprays.​

 

[ixex]

California Has Legalized Human Composting​

Show attachment 223978

California has joined a growing number of states that allow residents to compost their bodies after death. A new law, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday, directs California officials to develop regulations for the practice known as natural organic reduction by 2027.

Washington became the first state in the nation to legalize human composting in 2019, followed by Colorado and Oregon in 2021. Vermont legalized the practice in June 2022.

regged humancomposting com , net , org, few other extensions

 

[koolishman]

The Fermi Paradox Revisited: Technosignatures and the Contact Era​

Why Aliens haven't contacted us?

Abstract​

A new solution to the Fermi Paradox is presented: probes or visits from putative alien civilizations have a very low probability until a civilization reaches a certain age (called the "Contact Era") after the onset of radio communications. If biotic planets are common, putative advanced civilizations may send probes not to any planet showing biosignatures, but rather to planets with technosignatures, such as radio broadcasts. The contact probability is defined as the chance to find a nearby civilization located close enough so that it could have detected the earliest radio emissions (the "radiosphere") and sent a probe that would reach the solar system at present. It is found that the current contact probability for Earth is very low unless civilizations are extremely abundant. Since the radiosphere expands with time, so does the contact probability. The Contact Era is defined as the time (since the onset of radio transmissions) at which the contact probability becomes of order unity. At that time alien probes (or messages) become more likely. Unless civilizations are highly abundant, the Contact Era is shown to be of the order of a few hundred to a few thousand years and may be applied not only to physical probes but also to transmissions (i.e., search for extraterrestrial intelligence). Consequently, it is shown that civilizations are unlikely to be able to intercommunicate unless their communicative lifetime is at least a few thousand years.


So, we haven't been intelligent for enough time to see a contact!

 

[Cal2]

Toroidal propellers: A noise-killing game changer in air and water​

These strangely-shaped twisted-toroid propellers look like a revolutionary (sorry) advance for the aviation and marine sectors. Radically quieter than traditional propellers in both air and water, they're also showing some huge efficiency gains.
https://newatlas.com/aircraft/toroi..._term=0_65b67362bd-fa81f0909b-[LIST_EMAIL_ID]

 

[Cannuck]

Toroidal propellers: A noise-killing game changer in air and water​

These strangely-shaped twisted-toroid propellers look like a revolutionary (sorry) advance for the aviation and marine sectors. Radically quieter than traditional propellers in both air and water, they're also showing some huge efficiency gains.

Fascinating... would definitely help whale migration and other sensitive wildlife on marine props and offshore wind farms

 

[Cannuck]

STARSHIP packs 16 million pounds (70 Meganewtons) of thrust, which is almost double that of the other new generation rocket created by NASA and known as the Space Launch System (SLS). Musk claimed a Starship launch could cost just $2 million (£1.8 million) each time, thanks to efficiency savings that come from reusing a rocket.

By comparison, NASA's new SLS is estimated to cost an eye-watering $4.1 billion (£3.3 billion) per launch.

NASA will land the first woman and first person of color on the moon in 2025 as part of the Artemis mission​

All you need to know about Elon's £2.4 BILLION, 395ft-tall Starship - designed to ferry 100 people to the Red Planet

 

[eyedomainous]

The Fermi Paradox Revisited: Technosignatures and the Contact Era​

Why Aliens haven't contacted us?

Abstract​

A new solution to the Fermi Paradox is presented: probes or visits from putative alien civilizations have a very low probability until a civilization reaches a certain age (called the "Contact Era") after the onset of radio communications. If biotic planets are common, putative advanced civilizations may send probes not to any planet showing biosignatures, but rather to planets with technosignatures, such as radio broadcasts. The contact probability is defined as the chance to find a nearby civilization located close enough so that it could have detected the earliest radio emissions (the "radiosphere") and sent a probe that would reach the solar system at present. It is found that the current contact probability for Earth is very low unless civilizations are extremely abundant. Since the radiosphere expands with time, so does the contact probability. The Contact Era is defined as the time (since the onset of radio transmissions) at which the contact probability becomes of order unity. At that time alien probes (or messages) become more likely. Unless civilizations are highly abundant, the Contact Era is shown to be of the order of a few hundred to a few thousand years and may be applied not only to physical probes but also to transmissions (i.e., search for extraterrestrial intelligence). Consequently, it is shown that civilizations are unlikely to be able to intercommunicate unless their communicative lifetime is at least a few thousand years.


So, we haven't been intelligent for enough time to see a contact!

A techno-advanced civilization is not likely to let a less advanced (more barbaric) species detect (spy) on their "technosignatures, such as radio broadcast".

This whole argument does not make sense, to me. After all, we already have stealth tech, radio jamming and signal blocking ability... so our 'communicative lifetime' is far less relevant than an alien civilization that is many 'communicative lifetimes' ahead of us likely has 'anti-alien spy tech' activated by default.

 

[koolishman]

An advance civilization may consider us a nuisance.

 

[HotKey]

An advance civilization may consider us a nuisance.

Like a mosquito that buzzes incessantly, to be squashed, or like a mosquito that spreads malaria, to be analyzed? Either way could spell doom..

 

[Cannuck]

Earthships - self-sufficient homes built out of waste material

 

[koolishman]

Crazy interesting’ findings by Australian researchers may reveal key to Covid immunity​

Australian researchers have found a protein in the lungs that sticks to the Covid-19 virus like velcro and immobilises it, which may explain why some people never become sick with the virus while others suffer serious illness.

The research was done using the genetic engineering tool known as Crispr, which allowed them to turn on all genes in the human genome, then look to see which of those genes give human cells the ability to bind to the Sars-CoV-2 spike protein. The spike protein is crucial to the virus’s ability to infect human cells.
LRRC15 [the receptor protein] is not present in humans until Sars-CoV-2 enters the body. It appears to be part of a new immune barrier that helps protect from serious Covid-19 infection while activating the body’s antiviral response.
“Our data suggests that higher levels of LRRC15 would result in people having less severe disease,” said lead researcher Greg Neely, a professor of functional genomics with the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre.
“The fact that there’s this natural immune receptor that we didn’t know about, that’s lining our lungs and blocks and controls virus – that’s crazy interesting.”

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001967

 

[koolishman]

Part of the Sun breaks free and forms a strange vortex, baffling scientists​

Something very strange is going on with the Sun, and while it’s a phenomenon that’s baffling scientists, it also has them very excited.

Space weather forecaster Tamitha Skov shared a video sequence to Twitter late last week that shows a huge filament of solar plasma breaking free from the Sun’s surface.

“Talk about polar vortex! Material from a northern prominence just broke away from the main filament & is now circulating in a massive polar vortex around the north pole of our star,” she tweeted of the footage, taken by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1621276153075109888

 

[koolishman]

How living on Mars would warp the human body​

We do know that trips to the Moon and long periods in space, such as what the crew on the International Space Station experiences, have caused profound alterations to astronaut bodies. Microgravity can trigger muscle atrophy and loss of bone density. Pressure differences between the brain and eye when in space can cause visual impairments, like Spaceflight-Associated Neuro-ocular Syndrome. Away from the Earth's electromagnetic field, ionizing radiation is everywhere, which can not only cause cancer, but also bleeding gums, one's hair falling out, brain damage and reduced immunity. And while astronauts on the International Space Station are shielded from the sun's radiation at least half the time (when the Earth is blocking it), astronauts headed to Mars would have no metaphorical lead apron during the seven-month journey to the red planet.

 

[Cal2]

This startup can 3D print a battery into any shape you want​

Its solid-state batteries may be the holy grail of the industry.​

Inside the Silicon Valley factory of a startup called Sakuu, a new type of 3D printer is reinventing how batteries are made. The technique, which prints using thin layers of powder, can change what the batteries look like—imagine an e-bike battery that curves to fit the frame of a bike, or a cellphone battery that’s shaped to fill every gap around the circuit board, making the phone last longer before it needs another charge. But 3D printing also enables what’s often called the holy grail of the industry: Solid-state batteries.

https://www.fastcompany.com/9085115...kTBjMIYw2k1w2qfh9OQDX-MiHzximBDXotVNtd0CBRLkA

 

[Cal2]

Turning Blue-Green Algae Into A Smoked Salmon Superfood

An Israeli startup has become the first to use the algae as a plant-based meat and fish substitute. It wants to reintroduce spirulina to the public as a superfood, rather than just a supplement. And its first product will be a smoked salmon substitute.

It’s developed the technology to give spirulina the texture of beef, fish, or seafood by compressing its cells into ’tissues’. ......

Why should customers eat it? Dach says it’s rich in health benefits – high in protein, vitamins A, E, and K, fatty acids, and minerals.

And they don’t need to compromise on flavor, texture, and the entire culinary experience because they’re eating something healthy.

https://nocamels.com/2023/02/turning-blue-green-algae-into-a-smoked-salmon-superfood/