Talk Elections

This is the place for discussion of news related to science, opinions/debates on global warming/energy, and pretty much anything else relevant to the thread title.  It might be necessary to sticky this if the thread attracts enough attention, but I think it's a better alternative to having a science/environment board, as has been suggested in the past, because that would just slow down our servers.

Personally, I'm no science buff, but I try to keep up on news related to it as much as I can.  For that, I regularly check the I f**king love science (https://www.facebook.com/IFeakingLoveScience?fref=ts) and I F**king Love Neuroscience (https://www.facebook.com/IFL.Neuroscience?fref=ts) Facebook pages.

My contribution (http://youtu.be/DZGINaRUEkU)

Interesting and rather obvious links between dinosaur bones and dragons. Essentially, ancient people unearthed dinosaur bones or else fossilized remains, perhaps, and constructed from them mythological creatures like dragons.

http://humanexperience.stanford.edu/feature-dragons

Of course ancient people had very detailed and remarkable knowledge of the skies and even axial procession (which is where interest in the zodiac germinates, I think, although there is not a single mystical thing about it), so there is no reason to think they weren't interested in what was in the Earth.

http://www.startribune.com/business/215881221.html

While Keystone XL has become a thing in the national consciousness, the focus on that one pipeline has meant that other pipelines are being expanded under the radar with hardly a wimper from environmentalists.

The Enbridge "Alberta Clipper" pipeline that was laid down across northern Minnesota in the heart of the economic downturn (2009 to early 2010), brought a very much needed injection of cash as hundreds of workers around the country moved in.

Now they'll expand pumping stations to increase the capacity of the pipeline by 27%. 

Here's the one simple reason I support the pipeline:  It is so much safer than transporting the oil by rail.  Already because the pipelines from the Bakken oil patch are at capacity, the number of oil tanker cars riding the rails through Minnesota has mushroomed from 9500 in 2008 to 380,000 in 2012 and will likely reach 600,000 soon.

Already a derailment led to an oil spill in western Minnesota last fall.

Opposing the pipeline knowing that the alternative is moving the oil on rails is short sighted and potentially damaging to the environment.

The truth, unfortunate or not, is that this oil will continue to be used.  Let's be reasonable and make the process of transporting the oil as safe as possible.  And continue to fight for increased fuel efficiency standards, electricity standards, and an overall reduction in oil use even as the proportion of our oil coming from stable regions increases.

Better our oil than Iraq's or Saudi Arabia's.

The well-meaning environmental movement that is actually causing more damage to the environment by exporting pollution to nations with lax pollution standards should be discouraged.

oh goodie! I have two!


 One  (http://www.learner.org/courses/envsci/interactives/index.php) that has Carbon, Population, Disease, Ecology, and Energy simulators...

and  another  (http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/category/new) that has a lot of cool simulators and stuff, most of which are Science-y stuff... Enjoy! :)

Neptune has a new moon

I quite like this youtube channel, if you want to lump mathematics in with science. 

http://www.youtube.com/user/numberphile

Chinese White Dolphin population may be under 60. :( Severely threatened is this species. Human activity largely the culprit of course, which I just hate. Dolphins period are marvelous creatures, so I hope something can be done.

Make a buck or save a dolphin? Save a dolphin, by all means.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/19/world/china-hong-kong-white-dolphin-extinction/index.html?hpt=hp_c3

     That reminds me, there are many dim objects in space that astronomers have yet to seriously examine. Many of the closest stars to us (Proxima Centauri, Barnard's Star, Wolf 359) are much too dim to be seen with the naked eye. The possibility for new objects of interest in our immediate vicinity is an ever present one.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2370100/Scientists-GIANT-Pandoravirus-come-alien-planet.html

'Scientists have found a new virus thought to be the biggest ever seen on Earth.

The virus, dubbed Pandoravirus, is one micrometre big - up to ten times the size of other viruses - and only six per cent of its genes resemble anything seen on Earth before.

This has led French researchers to believe the virus may have come from an ancient time or even another planet.'

Researchers have developed bone tissue from umbilical stem cells. (http://www.news-medical.net/news/20130719/Researchers-patent-biomaterial-that-generates-artificial-bones-from-umbilical-cord-stem-cells.aspx)  It has not been applied to an animal model yet, though researchers are optimistic, given its success in the lab.

Great CNN video! A young lady performs gymnastic movements for a very curious and amused dolphin. A little reading about these marvelous animals will demonstrate the range of emotions they are capable of, how curious they are, and how intelligent they are, being big brained mammals of the sea.

http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/living/2013/07/22/newday-girl-makes-dolphin-laugh.cnn.html

Scientists say they have, for the first time, generated a false memory in an animal. (http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/25/health/mouse-brain-memory/index.html?sr=fb072513micememory930p)

Sounds scary at first, but personally I'm a little skeptical.  Obviously, you can't be completely sure that you're distorting a mouse's memories since you can't ask a mouse to talk its memories.  As one of the commenters said, they are simply inferring that the mice have the memories when instead it could be related to instinctual fear.  Still, the reported experiments scientists have done on humans with this are slightly alarming.

Oh, and FYI: here is what your palm would look like without skin. (https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/1016866_611764968855179_1709936762_n.jpg)

Video: What Can You Do Without a Brain? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3teflb1QNN4#at=450)

And, speaking of that, this was on my FB news feed this morning.  Two guys at the U. of Louisiana Lafayette are hypothesizing that there is a planet in the Ort Cloud four times the size of Jupiter.  If that is the case, the story below says, it may have been a planet (or "dark clunker" star?) that escaped a nearby star system and was captured by ours.  It seems one major hitch in the hypothesis is that, if something that size was in the Ort Cloud, it would have major effects on commit paths through there, but that hasn't been observed.  The astrophysicists defending the theory will release their paper next year, so it should be interesting.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/14/tyche-hidden-planet_n_823028.html (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/14/tyche-hidden-planet_n_823028.html)

The evidence against it seems stronger than the evidence for it....but I'm no astrophysicist.

I agree and am skeptical for the moment.  But, on the other hand, while the theory seems to mathematically account for some commit trajectories entering the viewable solar system, I don't know what kind of observational data about commits could be gleaned from the Ort cloud.  So, it will be interesting to see what critiques or appraisals the paper draws once its published.

We may not be the main guilty party in the mass extinction of Ice Age megafauna, it seems:

Ice core data supports ancient space impact idea (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23536567)

By Simon Redfern
Reporter, BBC News

A layer of platinum is seen in ice of the same age as a known abrupt climate transition, US scientists report (http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/07/17/1303924110).

The climate flip has previously been linked to the demise of the North American "Clovis" people.

The data seem to back the idea that an impact tipped the climate into a colder phase, a point of current debate.

Rapid climate change occurred 12,900 years ago, and it is proposed that this is associated with the extinction of large mammals - such as the mammoth, widespread wildfires and rapid changes in atmospheric and ocean circulation.

All of these have previously been linked to a cosmic impact but the theory has been hotly disputed because there was a lack of clear evidence.

     That's interesting. For a while now, people have hypothesized the existence of a brown or red dwarf hiding in the far reaches of the Solar system. The hypothesis was advanced to help explain an observed periodicity in extinction rates. Funny enough, one of the people involved was a guy that I had as a professor last year.

NASA apparently decided to call it quits on trying to fix the Kepler Planet Hunter (http://www.weather.com/news/science/space/nasa-gives-fixing-kepler-planet-hunting-telescope-20130816).

I remember being contacted by this scientist in the UK about this very theory.  He had been poring over satellite pictures and was just sure that this impact had taken place over northern Minnesota in an area covered in vast peat bogs today.

It actually looks like something hit the earth north of Red Lake, leaving a distinct pattern that looks like an impact that hit at a glancing blow.

But alas, I posited that that had been caused by peat fires or some other terrestrial cause.

Researchers debunk myth of right-brain and left-brain personality traits (http://earthsky.org/science-wire/researchers-debunk-myth-of-right-brain-and-left-brain-personality-traits)


Who'da thought it's all bunk?

Hahahaha....

Oh, Snowguy...

What?

We had a very *interesting* debate on this last night in the IRC.

I'm pretty sure the debate amounted to me saying "each side of your brain is fairly separate and performs different functions and also performs the same functions as the other side, but slightly differently"

There is plenty of scientific literature to back that up.

Your response was "all that left brain right brain stuff is bullsh**t" and then you told me you were sensitive about the subject.

This article says nothing against what I said.

Thanks to radar, we now know that Greenland contains a canyon bigger than that of the better-known Grand Canyon in Arizona (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23866810).

Yeah, let's bump this. It drifted out to page six. :P

This is an outstanding discovery:  a free-floating planet (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57606963/free-floating-planet-drifts-in-space-without-orbiting-a-star/) has been discovered, a gas planet. It's not all that far from Earth, at least in celestial distances, at 80 light years. I believe it's around 12 million years old.

You know, the whole thing about E.T. life is complicated, I think, by the discovery of new planets, particularly gas planets. Considering that planets form from nebular and stellar debris, it's not  unreasonable to assume that a LOT of planets are gas planets, which means life as we know it would not evolve - not little green men, anyway. So if you have a lot of gas planets as well as a good share of rocky planets not in habitable zones, life as we know it could be very rare. Just a side note.

As most of you are probably aware, the discoverers of the Higgs boson have rightfully been awarded the Nobel prize in physics. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24436781)

Actually the prize went to the theoreticians who predicted the particle almost 50 years ago. The discovery last year confirmed what many felt must exist based on all the known properties of subatomic particles to date.

A new type of botulism toxin has been discovered that is so deadly and currently without an antidote that it's DNA code is being suppressed from public databases--a first.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn24398-new-botox-supertoxin-has-its-details-censored.html#.Ulv3rRAiy3U?utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=SOC&utm_campaign=twitter&cmpid=SOC|NSNS|2012-GLOBAL-twitter

By 'early-Cretaceous', the author probably meant this particular asteroid hit in the late Eocene -the Cretaceous ended 65 million years ago:

Seawater discovered near the Chesapeake Bay is up to 150 million years old (http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/seawater-discovered-near-the-chesapeake-bay-is-up-to-150-million-years-old/2013/11/16/096ac7ae-4e10-11e3-be6b-d3d28122e6d4_story.html?hpid=z4)

By Darryl Fears, Published: November 16

Not only is the Chesapeake Bay so enormous it can be seen from space, it essentially came from outer space.

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An asteroid or huge chunk of ice slammed into Earth about 35 million years ago, splashing into the Early Cretaceous North Atlantic, sending tsunamis as far as the Blue Ridge Mountains and leaving a 56-mile-wide hole at the mouth of what is now the bay.

But a newly published research paper written by U.S. Geological Survey scientists shows that wasn’t the end of it. While drilling holes in southern Virginia to study the impact crater, the scientists discovered “the oldest large body of ancient seawater in the world,” a survivor of that long-gone sea, resting about a half-mile underground near the bay, according to the USGS.

“What we essentially discovered was trapped water that’s twice the salinity of [modern] seawater,” said Ward Sanford, a USGS hydrologist. “In our attempt to find out the origin, we found it was Early Cretaceous seawater. It’s really water that’s from the North Atlantic.”

The findings showing that the water is probably between 100 million and 150 million years old were published Thursday in the journal Nature.

Also, the domesticated dog likely had a European ancestor (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24946944) that is now extinct.

The confusion is understandable since the trapped groundwater is from the early Cretaceous, but the impact that trapped it is from 100 million years later. The scientists probably didn't talk much about the time of the impact since that was established science from 1999, but did talk about the era of the groundwater. For a non-geologist it's easy to place those two events together. The scientists interviewed probably needed to go out of their way to stress that the groundwater was not from the time of the impact.

Evidence of three and a half billion year old microbes found in western Australia's Dresser Formation.  Fantastic find (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-13/scientists-discover-earliest-signs-of-life-on-earth-in-pilbara/5088190).

DNA indicates Eurasian roots for Native Americans, new study say (http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/fossil-indicates-eurasian-roots-for-native-americans/2013/11/20/2777ac24-51fa-11e3-a7f0-b790929232e1_story.html?hpid=z3)s

By Meeri Kim, Published: November 20

The genetic analysis of a 24,000-year-old arm bone from an ancient Siberian boy suggests that Native Americans have a more complicated ancestry than scientists realized, with some of their distant kin looking more Eurasian than East Asian.

The new study, published online Wednesday in the journal Nature, represents the oldest genome of a modern human ever fully sequenced.

Modern-day Native Americans share from 14 to 38 percent of their DNA with the Siberian hunter-gatherers — who are not closely related to East Asians — with the remainder coming from East Asian ancestors. Most scientists have thought that the first Americans came only from the East Asian populations.

“If you read about the origins of Native Americans, it will say East Asians somehow crossed the Bering Sea,” said study author and evolutionary biologist Eske Willerslev at Copenhagen University. “This is definitely not the case — it’s more complex than that.”

It would seem life was just itching to start once the earth cooled enough.  That's why space exploration is so important.  It is a distinct possibility that life could exist on other worlds in our solar system.

Lakes discovered beneath Greenland Ice Sheet (http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/lakes-discovered-beneath-greenland-ice-sheet-0)

Published 28 Nov 2013

The study, published in Geophysical Research Letters, discovered two subglacial lakes 800 metres below the surface of the Greenland Ice Sheet. The two lakes are each roughly 8-10 km2, and at one point may have been up to three times larger than their current size.

Subglacial lakes are likely to influence the flow of the ice sheet which, in turn, impacts global sea-level change. The discovery of the lakes in Greenland will also help researchers to understand how the ice will respond to changing environmental conditions.

The study, conducted at the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) at the University of Cambridge, used airborne radar measurements to reveal the lakes underneath the ice sheet.

Also, an Indian probe has begun its journey to Mars (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25163113).

Doctors save hand by attaching it to man's calf (http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/17/health/china-hand-leg/)

Be nice if we could stickie this thread somewhere.

I was just now cleaning out some old emails and found this:  Dolphins likely have the longest and most expansive memory of any non-human species (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23589041). They are like us in so many ways, yet they live in the water and communicate by clicks and tones. Which are thus far indecipherable. Like humans, their brains are very large and very complex when considering the size of their bodies. Freedom Species!

Here's a fascinating snippet:


I'd like to know more about that. Did they understand that they were "tidying up" or would that concept be alien to them?


I totally agree, and there is the possibility that that intelligent life will be like whales and never build a radio to talk back to us!

If we can figure out how to go into water and not get wet and go into space and not get whatever complex process that is... an intelligent marine species could easily evolve a way to communicate outside of water!

     By complex process, could you perchance be referring to suffocation? :P

 Dolphins surfing with humans. (http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/us/2014/01/21/newday-michaela-surfing-with-dolphins.cnn.html)

They love to surf and of course have been known to do this on a fairly regular basis, and they give people a good scare at first. I think the lady in the video saw them.

Don't get too excited about this, but dolphins are huge backers of legalized pot or at least legalized puffer fish (http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/31/5259898/dolphins-caught-chewing-on-fish-to-get-high).

Freakin hippies.

http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-living/ci_24965959/no-thats-not-jelly-doughnut-mars (http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-living/ci_24965959/no-thats-not-jelly-doughnut-mars)

The rover Opportunity found a rock on Mars that resembled like a jelly doughnut, that wasn't there in prior imaging

Said rock is high in sulfur and magnesium and scientists are trying to figure to out why?


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Rock doesn't look like a jelly doughnut to me....

http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2014/01/09/smart-curtains/ (http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2014/01/09/smart-curtains/)

A group of California Scientists created material that could lead to "smart curtains" that are activated by light.

Supernova goes off in the galaxy M82:

http://www.universetoday.com/108386/bright-new-supernova-blows-up-in-nearby-m82-the-cigar-galaxy/

At 12 million light years away, it's the closest supernova to us since 1993.

The spectrum of ball lightning has been discovered. It consists of neutral atomic silicon, calcium, iron, nitrogen and oxygen—in contrast with mainly ionized nitrogen emission lines in the spectrum of the parent lightning.

I've got my idea -- that they are space-chilled pieces of debris from supernova explosions that strike the earth's atmosphere at great speed and are heated to great temperatures through frictional drag.  Silicon, calcium, and iron are among the later and heaviest elements formed in a star as it approaches the supernova stage (and its catastrophic, fatal demise). If they are unoxidized, silicon, iron, and especially calcium react violently with the oxygen in the Earth's  atmosphere.

Ball lightning has certainly been proposed as an explanation for some UFO sightings and on rare occasions for paranormal sightings.

As to your proposal, wouldn't that have a shooting star effect, though? Ball lighting, from what I have read, need not behave that way.


Haha, surfers and pot smokers. Ehh, might be a bad influence on the kids after all! :P

http://guardianlv.com/2014/01/weight-loss-aided-by-colder-temperatures/ (http://guardianlv.com/2014/01/weight-loss-aided-by-colder-temperatures/)

Scientists found out that weight loss is easier in cold temperatures...

Guess I'm going to squat in the freezer next time I want to lose five pounds.

Water vapor has been discovered around the dwarf planet Ceres. (http://www.universetoday.com/108415/herschel-discovers-water-vapor-spewing-from-ceres/)

A wild conjecture, but not as wild as the idea that silica or silicate would be reduced to silicon vaporized on Earth (which requires a huge amount of energy to perform) and then that it would react with atmospheric oxygen in a strongly-exothermic process. The combustion of 'vaporized silicon' would release no more energy than was necessary for reducing silica to silicon, and the heat released from the condensation of silica basically recovers the heat of vaporization of silica or reduced silicon.  

Laws of thermodynamics preclude the possibility of the reversal of a process in roughly the same place and time yielding more energy than was put into the process.

To be sure, I have an extraterrestrial explanation -- but not involving any unknown processes of nature. Supernova explosions happen, and they eject huge amounts of material, some of it silicon, calcium, and iron; they are one of the few arguable sources of unoxidized silicon, calcium, and iron. Uncombined iron not a human creation (of course we have a huge iron-and-steel industry) does exist in meteorites. Calcium is extremely reactive, literally burning if it comes in contact with water. It would not last long in a terrestrial environment. Silicon is difficult to reduce, but it is common only in human artifacts typically of extremely-recent origins (electronics). Uncombined silicon and silicides have been found on Earth, but both are rare and are associated with meteorites. Silicates, in contrast, are extremely common.

http://guardianlv.com/2014/01/oldest-cancer-in-world-discovered/ (http://guardianlv.com/2014/01/oldest-cancer-in-world-discovered/)

The oldest cancer in world was discovered in an 11,000 year old dog... and it still exists in today's dogs.

http://www.livescience.com/42778-electrical-burn-star-cataract.html (http://www.livescience.com/42778-electrical-burn-star-cataract.html)
A man developed star-shaped cataract after an electrical burn...

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While interesting, I'd wish they'd worry at least as much about the flavor as the nutrition.

http://www.webmd.com/lung-cancer/news/20140128/breath-test-may-detect-signs-of-lung-cancer-study (http://www.webmd.com/lung-cancer/news/20140128/breath-test-may-detect-signs-of-lung-cancer-study)

They've apparently come up with a breath test that can detect Lung Cancer...

If this holds up, this will be another well-deserved blow to those who insisted we should have gone full speed ahead with embryonic stem cell research and never mind those who had ethical qualms about the practice.  More and more it's looking like we don't need to tear apart human embryos to get stem cells.

Severe droughts out west could hamper the water supply (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/02/us/severe-drought-has-us-west-fearing-worst.html) in rural areas.

Interesting:  Sugar is even worse than thought (http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2014/02/03/sugar-not-only-makes-you-fat-it-may-make-you-sick/?hpt=hp_t2) (link to the original study contained therein), or just as bad depending upon your circle. The nice thing about cleaning up your diet is that once something is gone, it's gone. For example, if you really do eliminate excess sugar your tolerance to it goes down so that something that used to not be very sweet now is too sweet. While salt is an issue, sugar is a big one.

And,  cancers are expected to increase. (http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/04/health/who-world-cancer-report/index.html?hpt=hp_t2) As people live longer and face other hazards (environmental, mainly), it sure could rise.

I can believe that. I like lemonade, but not the premixed varieties as they invariably are too sweet.  Similarly, I hate cake that has more than a thin layer of frosting just barely thick enough to not see the cake thru.

It could get even worse:

Scientists: Past California droughts have lasted 200 years (http://news.msn.com/in-depth/scientists-past-california-droughts-have-lasted-200-years)

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SAN JOSE, Calif. — California's current drought is being billed as the driest period in the state's recorded rainfall history. But scientists who study the West's long-term climate patterns say the state has been parched for much longer stretches before that 163-year historical period began.

And they worry that the "megadroughts" typical of California's earlier history could come again.

Through studies of tree rings, sediment and other natural evidence, researchers have documented multiple droughts in California that lasted 10 or 20 years in a row during the past 1,000 years — compared to the mere three-year duration of the current dry spell. The two most severe megadroughts make the Dust Bowl of the 1930s look tame: a 240-year-long drought that started in 850 and, 50 years after the conclusion of that one, another that stretched at least 180 years.

"We continue to run California as if the longest drought we are ever going to encounter is about seven years," said Scott Stine, a professor of geography and environmental studies at Cal State East Bay. "We're living in a dream world."

Here is a recently released night-time image of Earth from Mars, courtesy of our hardy rover, Curiosity:

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source (http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA17936)

The best part is that the Moon is visible to the naked eye from Mars as well.

More space news -Europe's star surveyor, Gaia, has taken up its observation post above the Earth, and is set to begin its mission of making an extremely precise 3D map of our Milky Way Galaxy:

Gaia 'billion-star surveyor' returns test image

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By Jonathan Amos
Science correspondent, BBC News

Europe's billion-star surveyor, Gaia, is on track to begin operations in the next two or three months.

Launched in December, the satellite has now taken up its observing station some 1.5 million km from Earth.

Engineers are currently commissioning Gaia's two telescopes and its three instruments, getting them ready to begin mapping the precise positions and motions of one-thousand-million stars.

As part of that process, an image has been produced of a small star cluster.

This grouping is sited in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a companion galaxy to our own Milky Way, some 160,000 light-years in the distance.

If the picture just released by the European Space Agency looks somewhat underwhelming, that is not really surprising - taking pretty vistas of the sky is not what this mission is about.

Rather, Gaia's job when operational will be to track and characterise points of light moving across its big camera detector - be those stars, asteroids, comets or the flashes generated by exploding objects such as supernovae - to work out how far away they are and how they are moving in relation to everything else.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-26073173

http://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1425308/australian-astronomers-find-most-ancient-star-ever-seen (http://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1425308/australian-astronomers-find-most-ancient-star-ever-seen)
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A pair of Australian Scientists discover the oldest known star in the universe, dated at 200 million years after the big bang. The Star is believed to be in the Milky Way Galaxy about 6,000 light years from earth.

We're one step closer to developing nuclear fusion energy (http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/fusion-energy-milestone-reported-by-california-scientists/2014/02/12/f511ed18-936b-11e3-84e1-27626c5ef5fb_story.html):

Human lung made in lab for first time (http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/14/health/texas-lungs-grown/index.html?sr=fb021714humanlung2p)

 Avocados  (http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=5) are not only good but are epic freedom food with tons of health benefits. I knew they were good for you, but not quite as good as they are. I've been working in one a day to my diet. You can do almost anything with them, although I would never ruin them by eating them with something that will kill you.

Related: if you want to go healthy, replace the black pepper in your pantry with cayenne pepper.

Detection of Waves in Space Buttresses Landmark Theory of Big Bang (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/18/science/space/detection-of-waves-in-space-buttresses-landmark-theory-of-big-bang.html?hp&_r=0)

By DENNIS OVERBYE
MARCH 17, 2014

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Paleontologists unveil the newly discovered "chicken from hell"

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/03/140319-dinosaurs-feathers-animals-science-new-species/

I think it was a recurring character on "Kids in the Hall"

Hello, science thread! It's been a while. :P

Interestingly, NASA appears to be seriously investigating the possibilities of  faster than light travel. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/06/11/this-is-the-amazing-design-for-nasas-star-trek-style-space-ship-the-ixs-enterprise/) I guess the big improvement is that they've figured out a way to need less power than previously thought to fuel the thing. Previously, they thought they needed to generate the power put out by Jupiter. which is LOL, no.

Back in 2008 they reported  this (http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/technology/warp/warpstat.html) - at which point the concept was moving from speculation into science in terms of "maturity" with still quite a ways to go.

Needless to say, if this were ever a reality, there is no question that it would be the absolute crowning achievement of humanity.

Scientists appear to have discovered a huge subterranean ocean (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/13/hidden-ocean-earth-core-underground-video_n_5491692.html?utm_hp_ref=science):

I found a very interesting article (http://waitbutwhy.com/2014/05/fermi-paradox.html) about the Fermi Paradox and the possibilities of extraterrestrial life. It's not the shortest article, but I definitely recommend it to anyone interested in the subject.

In case anyone's interested:

A group of scientists have found, based on their study of 13,000 years-old nanodiamonds spread across from North America to Europe (http://www.news.ucsb.edu/2014/014368/nanodiamonds-are-forever), that the cause of the Younger Dryas period was due to a comet impact that played a key role in the extinctions of the classic megafauna we all associate with the Ice Age -mammoths, cave bears, woolly rhinos, giant ground sloths, saber-toothed cats, etc.

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We apparently helped them along...

That theory has been around awhile, but there are quite a few skeptics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Younger_Dryas_impact_hypothesis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Younger_Dryas_impact_hypothesis)

Indeed, good read.

Do you think this latest study helps validate that hypothesis? 

No, because it doesn't address the concerns that skeptics have with it.

Researcher shows that black holes do not exist (http://phys.org/news/2014-09-black-holes.html)Say what now?  Muon?

Hmm, intriguing.


Ooh, that's like the Holy Grail of physics right there.  Very grandiose.  Such proof.  Wow.  Where was this groundbreaking discovery published?  Presumably ALL THE JOURNALS would be clamoring for it!

Let's see...



Oh.  Never mind.

Indeed, and that is worrisome, but it's based on a peer reviewed paper that is tackling the same thing.  link (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0370269314006686)

All of this stuff is way over my head, but I find it deeply interesting nonetheless.

Arxiv isn't peer-reviewed, but many of the papers there are preprints of papers that are or will be peer-reviewed in "real" journals.

But here's the paper in question:

http://arxiv.org/abs/1409.1837

There's nothing there suggesting that it's been submitted to a refereed journal.

BUT

The paper is titled "Back-reaction of the Hawking radiation flux on a gravitationally collapsing star II". There is, quite logically, a part I, which will be in the November "issue" of Physics Letters B (Volume 738), which is peer-reviewed.

EDIT: Also, the authors aren't from some dubious Indian/Chinese universities but UNC Chapel Hill and U Toronto.

OK, I didn't see that one.

But, to be fair, that "discovery" will need a lot of cross-examination (which will undoubtely happen once/if she gets published in a peer-reviewed publication).

I read the link, but not the article. If it's mostly mathematics, then I fear it might be a bit like the aerodynamic calculations that conclude a bumblebee can't fly. There is significant evidence for the existence of mass in such a small volume that it is consistent with the Schwartzchild radius of a black hole. We can detect them by a combination of the velocities of stars nearby pulled by the gravity and the radiation they emit as very intense x-rays. The link suggests that the radiation is consistent with the author's hypothesis, but that leaves the question about how can so much mass be in such a small volume.

The link seems to concentrate on the impossibility of formation from a supernova. That doesn't address the supermassive black holes at the center of galaxies, which are supported by a number of observations. It also doesn't address evidence for stellar black holes, such as the Hubble data for Cygnus X-1 (http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2001/03/text/).

About half of all the water on Earth is older even than the Sun (http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-old-water-on-earth-20140923-story.html).  

Since both the planetesimals that bombarded Earth with their water and the Sun formed from the same molecular cloud, then the water from those planetesimals should be older.

First carbon-capture plant opens in Saskatchewan, Canada (http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/carbon-capture-history-made-in-saskatchewan-besting-once-ambitious-alberta-1.2786478).

X37B set to return (http://www.space.com/27411-x37b-military-space-plane-landing.html)

World's largest asteroid impact zone believed uncovered by ANU researchers in central Australia (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-23/worlds-largest-asteroid-impact-zone-found-in-central-australia/6341408)

By Clarissa Thorpe
Updated about 3 hours ago


This is the area in question:

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 Outrageous Acts of Science (http://www.sciencechannel.com/tv-shows/outrageous-acts-of-science/), btw, is a great TV show that shows the "fun" side of science for sure.

This  Octopus video (http://www.sciencechannel.com/tv-shows/outrageous-acts-of-science/videos/octopus-houdini/Octopus) is amazing.

The verdict is in:

New DNA Results Show Kennewick Man Was Native American (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/19/science/new-dna-results-show-kennewick-man-was-native-american.html?hpw&rref=science&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region&region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well&_r=0)

JUNE 18, 2015

We're all gonna die, basically:

Earth 'entering new extinction phase' - US study (http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-33209548)

We're not entering the sixth mass extinction event.

We are the sixth mass extinction event.

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2015/06/24/uk-met-fastest-decline-solar-activity-last-ice-age/

The UK Met Office has raised the likelihood that the sun will will be in Maunder minimum conditions by 2050 from 8% to 15-20% after they found the sun is undergoing it's most rapid decline in activity in the past 9300 years.

The sun from about 1930-2005 was in what was called the "Modern Solar Maximum", a grand maximum in solar activity the very opposite of the grand "Maunder minimum" that occurred from 1645-1715 at the heart of the Little Ice Age period.

That came to an end when solar activity fell to unprecedented (by modern instruments) levels and the current solar cycle maximum has been the weakest in at least a century.

Of course the UK Met assures us human induced warming will overwhelm any cooling caused by the most rapid decline in solar activity since the last ice age.  We will see!

New model of cosmic stickiness favors “Big Rip” demise of universe (http://news.vanderbilt.edu/2015/06/new-model-of-cosmic-stickiness-favors-%E2%80%9Cbig-rip%E2%80%9D-demise-of-universe/)

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by David Salisbury | Jun. 30, 2015, 2:12 PM

Well that's depressing. :P

I have a small interest in astronomy, or at least stargazing, so I took advantage of the new moon a few weeks ago to see the Perseid meteor event. Of course, I made only about 20 counts in two days of observations, but it was pretty inspiring nonetheless.

Since then, I've been learning about constellations. This week has been pretty poisonous to stargazing on account of the full moon and the general smogginess of TX in the summer, but I glad I made the effort. TX lies far enough southward that a number of constellations of the southern hemisphere are fully visible here, like Sagittarius and Scorpius (a stunning one). But I regret not starting earlier this year: at the end of spring, even most of Centaurus  (but not alpha-Centauri -- that star cluster is not visible north of Mexico) and some of Crux the Southern Cross are just visible on the deep southern horizon. I will have to wait until December (at 2 AM) before I can see either.

After a month of trial and error in finding the best site, I've finally found the Old Man Star, Canopus (http://earthsky.org/brightest-stars/few-know-the-second-brightest-star-canopus).

The article was written in February; at this time of year, Canopus rises about 45 min before sunrise.

Scientists suggest a new, earth-shaking twist on the demise of the dinosaurs (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/10/01/scientists-suggest-a-new-earth-shaking-twist-on-the-demise-of-the-dinosaurs/)

By Joel Achenbach
October 1 at 2:00 PM

NASA (among other federal agencies) fared well from the recently signed omnibus spending bill:

NASA RECEIVES SIGNIFICANT BUDGET BOOST FOR FISCAL YEAR 2016 (http://www.universetoday.com/123937/nasa-receives-significant-budget-boost-fiscal-year-2016/)

18 Dec , 2015   by Ken Kremer

An increase in funding for NASA is a good thing, but that budget is nowhere near what it should be. At this point, I don't think it would be a bad idea to partially put NASA under the jurisdiction of the DOD and create a United States Space Force. I can only imagine what NASA would be with 10x current funding. To me, the prospects are only exciting.

Isn't there a treaty forbidding weapons in space? 

There is the Outer Space Treaty of 1967. I am unaware of its limitations. However, to the extent its limitations prevent technological advancement, I would support withdrawal and full acceleration of the militarization of space (though perhaps that's a debate for another board).

Just did some preliminary readings on it, and it appears to only forbid weapons of mass destruction being used in outer space -which effectively takes the option of blasting incoming killer asteroids with nuclear weapons out of contention. 

Conventional weapons though, are good.  I'm assuming laser weapons (if we ever get around to developing weapons as futuristic as anything seen in Star Wars) fall under that broad category. 

The DoD already does its needed space activities outside of NASA and its budget and other than perhaps some joint research into improved launch systems, no real synergies to be gained from mixing the two at this point.

Any of you remember from history class about those knotted strings of records the Inca kept?  It seems archaeologists have found a way decode them:

Untangling an Accounting Tool and an Ancient Incan Mystery (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/03/world/americas/untangling-an-accounting-tool-and-an-ancient-incan-mystery.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0)

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By WILLIAM NEUMAN
JAN. 2, 2016

Scientists move one step closer to turning water into hydrogen fuel, affordably: (http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2016/0105/Scientists-move-one-step-closer-to-turning-water-into-hydrogen-fuel-affordably)
Researchers reveal a new mechanism to create hydrogen fuel that could power environmentally clean cars.

By Eva Botkin-Kowacki, Staff writer
JANUARY 5, 2016

That's great news.  It will already be nearly impossible to power our homes and businesses with renewables without adding electric cars to the mix.  If we can reasonably convert water to hydrogen for fuel cells.. it would potentially take a big burden off the grid.. at least for airplanes, trains, ships, and maybe trucks to start.

Color me skeptical this will actually go anywhere. They're making genetically modified e-coli to make an enzyme that catalyzes hydrolysis. That sounds cool and all, but I really doubt that will end up being close to competitive as a way to make hydrogen with the good old water gas shift. In order to use genetically modified bacteria to make something viable, the stuff it makes has to be pretty expensive.

Neat science though still.

NY Times: Ninth Planet May Exist in Solar System Beyond Pluto, Scientists Report (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/21/science/space/ninth-planet-solar-system-beyond-pluto.html?_r=0)

If confirmed, it probably would get the name of a Roman god or goddess that hasn't already been used for a minor planet.  How about Libertas? ;)

Signs of Modern Astronomy Seen in Ancient Babylon (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/29/science/babylonians-clay-tablets-geometry-astronomy-jupiter.html?hpw&rref=science&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region&region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well&_r=0)

By KENNETH CHANG
JAN. 28, 2016

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Proserpina!

And it has the advantage of starting wit a P. All the old mnemonics for the planets would be back unchanged.

I like the name "Telisto" personally.

Physicists detect gravitational waves from violent black-hole merger (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2016/02/11/cosmic-breakthrough-physicists-detect-gravitational-waves-from-violent-black-hole-merger/)

This sounds revolutionary. It could be a top story for 2016. Gravitational waves were first predicted by Einstein in 1916.

Virgin Galactic unveils new spaceship (http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/19/us/virgin-galactic-new-space-plane/?iid=ob_homepage_tech_pool&iref=obnetwork)

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By Rachel Crane and Amanda Barnett, CNN
Video by Claudia Morales, CNN
Updated 9:58 PM ET, Fri February 19, 2016

(CNN)

Two related articles I want to share:

Neanderthals, humans may have longer history of mating (http://www.cbsnews.com/news/neanderthals-humans-mating-history/)

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

Denisovan DNA Found in Modern-Day Melanesians (http://www.sci-news.com/othersciences/anthropology/denisovan-dna-modern-day-melanesians-03713.html)

Hybrid system could cut coal-plant emissions in half: (http://news.mit.edu/2016/hybrid-system-could-cut-coal-plant-emissions-half-0404)
Combining gasification with fuel-cell technology could boost efficiency of coal-powered plants.

David L. Chandler | MIT News Office
April 4, 2016

Things haven't gone very well

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/30/business/energy-environment/technology-to-make-clean-energy-from-coal-is-stumbling-in-practice.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0

Super Expensive.  Breaks down constantly.  Requires almost 1/3rd of the energy produced to run the plant and compress the carbon.  Be interesting to see how Kemper compares--if it ever runs on coal.

A power plant in Rwanda is going to run on methane harvested from a rift valley lake.

http://www.engineering.com/DesignerEdge/DesignerEdgeArticles/ArticleID/12175/Engineers-Harvest-Methane-Gas-from-Lake-in-Rwanda-That-May-Explode.aspx

May be a good idea (and reduce a chance of natural explosion) may be a really bad idea.

Scientists observe first signs of healing in the Antarctic ozone layer (http://news.mit.edu/2016/signs-healing-antarctic-ozone-layer-0630):
September ozone hole has shrunk by 4 million square kilometers since 2000.

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Jennifer Chu | MIT News Office
June 30, 2016

Using nanotechnology to give fuel cells more oomph (http://news.vanderbilt.edu/2016/08/using-nanotechnology-to-give-fuel-cells-more-oomph/)

by David Salisbury | Aug. 8, 2016, 10:09 AM

400-year-old Greenland shark ‘longest-living vertebrate’ (http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-37047168)

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By Rebecca Morelle
Science Correspondent, BBC News
12 August 2016

We could use this technology in the United States, as we steadily shut down the older nuclear power plants -it could even become the backbone of our energy sector with renewables playing a supplementary role:

Nuclear developers have big plans for pint-sized power plants in UK
 (http://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-nuclear-smr-idUSKCN10X1FC)
By Susanna Twidale | LONDON
Mon Aug 22, 2016 10:10am EDT

Apparently, there's an Earth-sized planet orbiting Proxima Centauri, just over 4 light-years away:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/earth-like-planet-proxima-centauri-1.3733882

Every news org seems to be running with "Earth-like" (as opposed to "Earth-sized" or its ilk) in their headlines, which implies something really important that we really don't know yet.

It's in the Goldilocks zone... it has Earth-like temperature. And with how abundant water has turned out to be, probably oceans of liquid water.

No, it has the potential for Earth-like temperatures. Nothing more is known than that. Venus and Mars are in the habitable zone but aren't hospitable to life and don't have Earth-like temperatures. There's also a strong chance it's tidally locked, which would not allow for Earth-like temperatures for the vast majority of the planet.

The US has been using tiny nuclear generators for decades in various boats and ships of the US Navy.  We even tried to put them in planes once.  wiki (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear-powered_aircraft#NEPA_and_ANP)
And it seems like I read something about putting them in tiny Canadian villages in the middle of nowhere as a cheaper alternative to driving tanker trucks to them to fill local generators.

and oh yeah, the Voyager spacecraft had them...and after looking that up, not quite.  They involved radioactive stuff, but just using the heat from natural decay, not forcing anything.

Hasn't been independently verified yet, but supposedly the world's oldest living person (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/worlds-oldest-person-man-mbah-gotho-indonesia-145-years-old-a7213191.html) has been discovered currently living at age 145.

Obviously this has to be taken with a huge grain of salt.

Russian man volunteers for first human head transplant (http://www.cbsnews.com/news/russian-man-volunteers-for-first-human-head-transplant/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab6a&linkId=28178831)

Bad science, at least in this case. The genetic condition that makes him desirous of a new body also makes him a poor transplant prospect. His brain cells and renaming central nervous system wil continue to deteriorate. It's like deciding to repair an old rust bucket of a jalopy by transplanting the old engine into a new car. There's almost no chance this'll extend his lifespan tho it may temporarily improve his quality of life. But the organs of his future donor could help many people if marvelled out individually.

SETI may have found something.  link (http://www.seti.org/seti-institute/a-seti-signal)

(probably not)

More history than science, but still:

Ship found in Arctic 168 years after doomed Northwest Passage attempt (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/12/hms-terror-wreck-found-arctic-nearly-170-years-northwest-passage-attempt)

Exclusive: Perfectly preserved HMS Terror vessel sank during disastrous expedition led by British explorer Sir John Franklin

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Paul Watson in Vancouver
Monday 12 September 2016 11.59 EDT

A 'Jurassic Park' remake is going to look so different:

Dinosaur's camouflage pattern revealed (http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-37376893)

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Laser Scans Unveil a Network of Ancient Cities in Cambodia (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/20/science/angkor-wat-cambodia-archeaology.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0)

By JULIA WALLACE
SEPT. 19, 2016

SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA —

Theory of human migration originating in Africa is conclusively confirmed:

A Single Migration From Africa Populated the World, Studies Find (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/22/science/ancient-dna-human-history.html?mabReward=CTM&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&region=CColumn&module=Recommendation&src=rechp&WT.nav=RecEngine&_r=0)

Carl Zimmer
SEPT. 21, 2016

Cold Tolerance Among Inuit May Come From Extinct Human Relatives (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/23/science/inuit-greenland-denisovans.html?hpw&rref=science&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region&region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well&_r=0)

solar power is cool

Indian firm makes carbon capture breakthrough (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/03/indian-firm-carbon-capture-breakthrough-carbonclean)

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NRG, JX Nippon Open $1 Billion Clean Coal Power Project in Texas (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-01-10/nrg-jx-nippon-open-1-billion-clean-coal-power-project-in-texas)

Apparently sea surface temperatures today are indistinguishable (http://science.sciencemag.org/content/355/6322/276) from those at the peak of the last interglacial.  

From the abstract, highlighting the portion I did not know already:

some good news that will no doubt scare the anti-science ninnies (http://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(16)31752-4)

They put some human stem cells into a pig embryo to see if they could get some human stuff to grow, it did!

Passports may eventually become a thing of the past:

Australia Is Replacing Passports With Facial Recognition Tech (https://futurism.com/australia-will-replace-passports-with-facial-recognition-technology/)


How soon before the United States follows suit?

Seems risky to me.

And isn't one important feature of US passports the datachip?

The newer passports yes -but since these are physical passports, they can still be lost, stolen, or confiscated.  

I'd rather have the microchip in my passport than in my body.

And facial recognition technology is easily fooled. You just need a good mask.

It would also need to be adopted pretty much universally in order to work... and I don't think the world is ready for that.

Scientists find 'oldest human ancestor.' (http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-38800987?ocid=socialflow_facebook&ns_mchannel=social&ns_campaign=bbcnews&ns_source=facebook)

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Horrifying.

oh and get a load of this


Some things never change.

Long Before Making Enigmatic Earthworks, People Reshaped Brazil’s Rain Forest (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/10/science/amazon-earthworks-geoglyphs-brazil.html?action=click&contentCollection=science&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0)

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By JOANNA KLEIN
FEB. 10, 2017

New underwater continent discovered: Zealandia (http://abcnews.go.com/International/earth-continent-called-zealandia/story?id=45564920)

That's been known for a long time.

Indonesia was once a subcontinent like Europe too, until 10,000-12,000 years ago.

Britain was a peninsula of France until 10,000-12,000 years ago too.

More of the Persian Gulf used to be above sea level.

The Kerguelen continent was also 3 times the size of Japan.

The Bering Strait.

The large island of Malta.

The large island of Hawaii (the entire island chain and more).

And smaller islands/coastlands lost even in the last 500 years.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_lands#Submerged_lands


There's also a theory that the Ancient Indian/Harappan civilization (which was remarkably well-organized and popped up out of nowhere, and eventually declined, with sewers and running water 6000 BC) was actually a colony of an ancient civilization in the Now-Sunken Indonesian subcontinent. And that when it had some powerful volcanic eruptions (all the most powerful in modern recorded history come from Indonesia) and when the Ice Age ended and flooded the continent, the civilization collapsed. And the rumor of it became the legend of Atlantis (non-sunken Indonesia / Sundah is the size the Ancient Egyptians said Atlantis was, and it had elephants and a tropical climate, also like the legend). Even today, the seas of Indonesia are hardly explored underwater due to difficulties.
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no.  "researchers" don't get to say what makes a continent or not.  Even it was above the water line (it's not, which is kind of important) it would still only be half the size of Australia.  This is a microcontinent or a continental fragment.  So at best it is a continent in the same way Pluto is a planet.  sorta

Komodo Dragon blood destroys antibiotic-resistant "superbugs"

http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/blood-dragons-destroy-antibiotic-resistance/







And this pic is just cool: the Giant African Land Snail

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Skulls found in China were part modern human, part Neanderthal; possibly new species (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/03/03/skulls-found-in-china-were-part-modern-human-part-neanderthal-possibly-new-species/?hpid=hp_rhp-morning-mix_mm-skulls%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.c9e3998e1ac9)

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Ozone treaty taking a bite out of US greenhouse gas emissions (https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-08/agu-ott081417.php)

WASHINGTON D.C. --

Experiments cast doubt on how the Earth was formed (https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-08/gc-ecd081117.php)

The algae that terraformed Earth (http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-40948972)

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The biomolecules were contained in oil extracted from deeply buried rock


By Roland Pease
BBC Radio Science Unit

3,700-year-old Babylonian tablet rewrites the history of maths - and shows the Greeks did not develop trigonometry (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2017/08/24/3700-year-old-babylonian-tablet-rewrites-history-maths-could/)

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Sarah Knapton, Science Editor
24 August 2017 • 7:00pm

The Universe Should Not Actually Exist, Scientists Say


Newsweek (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/the-universe-should-not-actually-exist-scientists-say/ar-AAu227S?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartanntp)

Why should the distribution of matter and antimatter be homogeneous? It would seem to make perfect sense that while our local supercluster is predominately matter, other superclusters are predominately antimatter.

New chamber discovered in the Great Pyramid using ... muons! (http://abc7chicago.com/science/scientists-discover-hidden-chamber-inside-great-pyramid/2599599/)

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Turning emissions into fuel: (http://news.mit.edu/2017/turning-emissions-into-fuel-1128)
MIT-developed method converts carbon dioxide into useful compounds.

David L. Chandler | MIT News Office
November 28, 2017

An impossibility of symmetry includes an assumption of an atheistic worldview.

dudes is there been any news on Canada geese recently?

I thought it was understood the ancient Greeks adapted the knowledge they received from their Asian colonies and organized it and made it systematic. Their alphabet, religion, and astronomy certainly were not original creations.

Science trumps fearmongering in the EU as they legalize glyphosate for 5 more years (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-health-glyphosate/germany-swings-eu-vote-in-favor-of-weed-killer-glyphosate-idUSKBN1DR1SG)

yet another data point suggesting legal weed could help end our opioid problem (http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0187795)

Whether Plimpton 332 was intended for calculations that today would be considered to be more part of what we call algebra or trigonometry has been in dispute for decades. So other than defying the current consensus that it's more algebraic than geometric, this person's contribution to the morass of publish or perish appears inconsequential. Besides, the fundamental distinction between trigonometry and geometry is that the former explicitly links angles and sides, which this person isn't claiming. Dr. Mansfield is only claiming it was used to solve problems we'd use trigonometry to solve, not that the Babylonians developed trig centuries before the Greeks.

Sure it' just a rock, but it's a really cool one

meteorite older than the solar system found in Sahara (https://newatlas.com/hypatia-stone-interstellar-analysis/52900/)

Not only do we share our genes with Neanderthals and Denisovans -we share a passion for art as well:

World's Oldest Cave Art Found—And Neanderthals Made It (https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/02/neanderthals-cave-art-humans-evolution-science/)

Diamonds reveal sign of the deepest water known inside Earth
(https://www.sciencenews.org/article/diamonds-reveal-sign-deepest-water-known-inside-earth?mode=topic&context=60)

well that's weird...how had I missed that were different kinds (phases?) of ice?

To begin with, all ice on the surface is in the phase Ice-I_h.

Ice-VII requires pressures over 20,000 atm to exist.

yeah, I read (skimmed) the various wikis.  It was just weird that I had missed that little nugget in all my years of watching Nova, Cosmos, etc and reading wiki for hours on end.

To be fair, you might have heard about it, but thought it was science fiction (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat%27s_Cradle).

These are just fluid inclusion data in diamonds.

These are tiny inclusions found in the diamonds using microscopy and then spectrometry.

In no way does this suggest large quantities of water in the mantle.

However, it is interesting, and it should be noted that most minerals have a hydrous phase, albeit lessening the further you go into the crust.

Water by itself would have a hard time surviving, more likely in combination with brines and re-mobilised structural corridors.

CO2 and H2O are more commonly associated with upper crustal geology.  

Once you go deeper, you drive off these two molecules and end up with the "anhydrous" phase of the mineral concerned.

There are large slabs of primordial mantle material extruded onto the Earth's surface called Peridotite, and they have water in them added during retrogressive metamorphism as they are brought to the Earth's surface.... albeit slowly.

The reason why diamonds are thought to have better inclusions is that most diamonds are brought from the mantle to the surface in a matter of minutes. Kimberlites named after vertical diamond pipes in my home state.

As they were formed under huge pressure, all diamonds on the Earth's surface are thought to be on a path of degradation back into Graphite over the next 30-100 Million years.

A small consolation when you pawn Grandma's ring.

Scientists discover evidence of early human innovation, pushing back evolutionary timeline
 (https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/03/180315140733.htm)Evidence of innovation dates to a period when humans faced an unpredictable and uncertain environment, according to three new studies

The inland Clovis First theory suffers yet another body blow:

13,000-Year-Old Human Footprints Found—Oldest Yet From North America (https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/03/early-human-footprints-found-canada-ice-age-spd/)
Leading theories support the idea that prehistoric Americans first populated Alaska and may have migrated south along the coast.

It's possible that life is rare in the universe because it requires phosphorous to get going, and our solar system just happened to be unusually rich in phosphorous:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/alien-life-proof-phosphorus-discovery-planets-worlds-other-discovery-latest-a8288956.html

Computer system transcribes words users “speak silently” (http://news.mit.edu/2018/computer-system-transcribes-words-users-speak-silently-0404)
Electrodes on the face and jaw pick up otherwise undetectable neuromuscular signals triggered by internal verbalizations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuUSc53Xpeg

It challenges the Out of Africa theory on several fronts:

1. Humans migrated out of Africa tens of thousands of years earlier than once thought.

2. They didn't just migrate along the coast to the rest of the world, but also through the Arabian hinterlands which were much wetter and more humid than they are today.

3.  They left in several (successful) waves, not just one.  

An 85,000-year-old finger fossil may challenge theories about how early humans migrated from Africa (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/04/10/an-85000-year-old-finger-fossil-may-challenge-theories-about-how-early-humans-migrated-from-africa/?utm_term=.b79590ca39c0)

New Source Of Global Nitrogen Discovered (https://www.chem.info/news/2018/04/new-source-global-nitrogen-discovered)

when r they going to bring back mammoth

NASA, SpaceX to launch spacecraft to find another Earth (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/nasa-spacex-to-launch-spacecraft-to-find-another-earth/ar-AAvSgXR?ocid=spartandhp)

Sometime in the future, some of us could evolve to look something like this:

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Larger spleens may help ‘sea nomads’ stay underwater longer
(https://www.sciencenews.org/article/larger-spleens-help-bajau-divers-stay-underwater-longer)DNA tests reveal the genetic underpinnings of this adaptation in the ethnic Bajau divers

if the Nancies let proper testing of CRISPR and other gene altering techs anybody that wanted gills could have them.  The Luddites and the socialists will never allow proper institutions to study things like that above the board though, so it will only be the super rich willing to break laws that will benefit.  You'd think they would be against that, but alas, that's what always happen when Luddites and socialists are allowed to hand cuff science.

From the Ministry of Silly Archaeology, this Pythonesque story:

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This skeleton appears to be from a man who survived the initial explosion (at Pompei) and was fleeing the doomed city. But it was not slow-moving molten lava that killed most of the people of Pompeii. Instead, a vast cloud of hot gas and fragments - called a pyroclastic flow - surged over the city, killing its inhabitants wherever they were, and burying them in ash, preserving their final moment.

Archaeologists believe it was this lethal cloud which struck their newest discovery, throwing him backwards as he turned to look at it.

The man, believed to be in his 30s, was found on the first floor of a building, above the layer of small stones carried by the cloud.

But the force of the erupting gas and rock also picked up an enormous rock - which experts think might have been a door jamb (the vertical part of a door frame) - and hurled it at the victim, crushing his upper body near the throat and possibly removing his head, which is missing.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44303247

From the Ministry of Silly Palentology:

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In Utah, dinohunters found an unusual fossil underneath a dinosaur foot, a half mammal, half reptile creature that had only been found in Asia before.

https://www.sltrib.com/news/education/2018/05/29/scientists-discover-the-fossilized-skull-of-a-mammal-like-critter-under-a-dinosaurs-foot-in-utah-and-then-it-gets-even-weirder/

The fossil indicates that Pangaea didn't break up as soon as geologist thought.

This isn't proof that Mars had life per se -rather it shows that it has the basic building blocks for life to exist.  One step at a time:

Building Blocks of Life Found on Mars
(https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/building-blocks-of-life-found-on-mars/ar-AAylTuv?ocid=spartanntp)

sucking CO² is cheaper than we thought (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-05357-w?utm_source=twt_nnc&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=naturenews&sf191287565=1)

also Dr Oz is garbage (https://www.google.com/search?q=dr%20oz%20astrology&cad=h), but we already knew that.

Largest ice sheet on Earth was stable throughout last warm period (https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2018/Q2/largest-ice-sheet-on-earth-was-stable-throughout-last-warm-period.html) (the Pliocene Era)

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basketball sized AI bot helping on the ISS (https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/07/02/dragon-capsule-reaches-space-station-with-three-tons-of-cargo/)

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Oldest Tools Outside Africa Found, Rewriting Human Story (https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2018/07/news-china-human-tools-africa-shangchen-hominin-paleoanthropology/)
New evidence suggests that our ancient cousins left the continent much earlier than thought.

Humans Did Not Evolve From A Single Population In Africa, New Study Claims (https://www.techtimes.com/articles/232113/20180711/humans-did-not-evolve-from-a-single-population-in-africa-new-study-claims.htm)

Ancient Stone Toolmakers Came To North America Far Earlier Than Clovis People (https://www.techtimes.com/articles/232383/20180717/ancient-stone-toolmakers-came-to-north-america-far-earlier-than-clovis-people.htm)

Can we please call these people Buttermilk People and the culture Buttermilk culture?

Jupiter has 79 moons now (http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/07/ten-new-moons-including-one-oddball-discovered-around-jupiter?utm_source=sciencemagazine&utm_medium=facebook-text&utm_campaign=moonsofjupiter-20458)

The Moon, like Mars, once could have supported life in its distant past:

The Moon May Have Supported Life 4 Billion Years Ago, Scientists Say (https://www.techtimes.com/articles/232603/20180724/the-moon-may-have-supported-life-4-billion-years-ago-scientists-say.htm)

lots of nuclear power options here (or right around the corner) (https://www.wired.com/story/next-gen-nuclear/?mbid=social_fb), but we might be too soft to let them help us.

much much more at link

A lake of liquid water on Mars, under the polar ice.

yep, just read that too.  12 miles long, a mile under the surface.  Probably more of a slushy, salty muddy mess, but it's something.

NASA Releases Roadmap For New And Sustainable Lunar Missions (https://www.techtimes.com/articles/234690/20180929/nasa-releases-roadmap-for-new-and-sustainable-lunar-missions.htm)

The Neanderthals gave us a 'gift' before they went extinct, it seems:

Modern Humans Inherited Virus Defenses From Interbreeding With Neanderthals: Study (https://www.techtimes.com/articles/234893/20181005/modern-humans-inherited-virus-defenses-from-interbreeding-with-neanderthals-study.htm)

Neanderthals did not disappear 40,000 years ago.

We simply bred them out. The remnants of the Neanderthal species can still be seen in modern human genetics

1. Red Hair
2. Obscene bigotry towards other races
3. An unrepentant desire for leadership and self-glorification
4. A sexual urge to grab women without notice

Characteristics that one eventually cannot hide.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2018-10-12/genealogy-forensics-dna-long-range-familial-searches-identity/10363550

DNA database can extrapolate to 60% of the white population in the USA from Ancestry.com

Anthropology actually suggests Neanderthals were gentler (as well as having bigger brains and more strength) than Homo Sapiens. You're just referring to stereotypes based on outdated notions.

And for those with an interest in astrobiology:

Scientists Unveil Their New Strategy To Find Alien Life (https://www.techtimes.com/articles/235024/20181011/scientists-unveil-their-new-strategy-to-find-alien-life.htm)

Stone Tools Found In Algeria Could Rewrite Existing Theories On Human Origins (https://www.techtimes.com/articles/235929/20181201/stone-tools-found-in-algeria-could-rewrite-existing-theories-on-human-origins.htm)

Enjoy it while it lasts -Saturn's rings may not be there much longer:

Saturn's rings could vanish much sooner than expected (https://www.cnet.com/news/saturn-rings-could-vanish-much-sooner-than-expected/)
A new NASA study shows the planet's iconic rings are circling the cosmic drain.

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This is what happens when we don't fight global warming people!

Scientists find additional evidence for the 'Snowball Earth' theory:

Earth is missing a huge part of its crust. Now we may know why. (https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2018/12/part-earths-crust-went-missing-glaciers-may-be-why-geology/)

Striking New Study Proposes Model Of The Universe That Can Explain Dark Energy (https://www.techtimes.com/articles/236785/20181229/striking-new-study-proposes-model-of-the-universe-that-can-explain-dark-energy.htm)

NASA's New Horizons Mission Reveals Entirely New Kind of World (http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/News-Center/News-Article.php?page=20190102)

The first truly reliable energy source of the future that isn't a fossil fuel could finally be coming within our grasp:

Finally, Fusion Power Is About to Become a Reality
 (https://medium.com/s/2069/finally-fusion-power-is-about-to-become-a-reality-c6b8b5915cf5)Long considered a joke, or a pipe dream, fusion is suddenly making enormous leaps

Next time you put on sunscreen, think about this:

Sunscreen and cosmetics compound may harm coral by altering fatty acids
(https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/01/190109110048.htm)

Good thing it's not happening for another 2 billion years:

Looming galactic collision will rip open the black hole at the Milky Way's center (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/looming-galactic-collision-will-rip-open-the-black-hole-at-the-milky-ways-center/ar-BBRVCSz?ocid=spartandhp#image=1)

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in news that shocks nobody Extreme opponents of genetically modified foods know the least but think they know the most (https://static-content.springer.com/esm/art%3A10.1038%2Fs41562-018-0520-3/MediaObjects/41562_2018_520_MOESM1_ESM.pdf)

Scientists reveal 'ideal diet' for peoples' and planet's health

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-diet/scientists-reveal-ideal-diet-for-peoples-and-planets-health-idUSKCN1PA34E

Desalinization has its downsides -and it's not just the upfront cost of construction:

UN warns of rising levels of toxic brine as desalination plants meet growing water needs (https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-01/tca-uwo010719.php)

World's ~16,000 desalination plants discharge 142 million cubic meters of brine daily -- 50 percent more than previously estimated; Enough in a year to cover Florida under a foot (30.5 cm) of brine

Forest Soil Affected By Fire Or Logging Can Take Almost A Century To Recover (https://www.techtimes.com/articles/237775/20190123/forest-soil-affected-by-fire-or-logging-can-take-almost-a-century-to-recover.htm)

For the scientifically minded, were you ever curious to know what exactly caused that huge spike in temperatures ten of millions years ago called the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleocene–Eocene_Thermal_Maximum)?

Now I think we've found one of the culprits -it was a huge volcanic eruption in Scotland back when it was still as geologically active as East Africa and Indonesia are today:

Skye volcanic eruption 'changed climate' (https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-46986509)

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And here (https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/01/190124084743.htm) is a link to the study's summary.

New Theory: Life on Earth Came From Impact With Another Planet (https://futurism.com/the-byte/life-earth-impact-another-planet)

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That's not remotely a new theory?

The impact isn't the new theory, but that having such an impact increased the odds of life developing here.

Fossilized Feathers Of Winged Dinosaur Anchiornis Offer Clues To How Birds Evolved To Fly (https://www.techtimes.com/articles/238090/20190129/fossilized-feathers-of-winged-dinosaur-anchiornis-offer-clues-to-how-birds-evolved-to-fly.htm)

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And there's an excellent documentary (https://curiositystream.com/video/2058/the-mystery-of-the-feathered-dragons?playlist=) on the Curiosity Channel that helps to illustrate feathered dinosaurs.

Scientists Create Fabric That Cools When It's Hot And Warms When It's Cold (https://www.techtimes.com/articles/238457/20190208/scientists-create-fabric-that-cools-when-its-hot-and-warms-when-its-cold.htm)

Plummeting insect numbers 'threaten collapse of nature' (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/10/plummeting-insect-numbers-threaten-collapse-of-nature)

It's hard to get sad about an inanimate object, but Randall Munroe managed to do that for me today (https://xkcd.com/2111/) over at xkcd (https://xkcd.com/).

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And in case you don't know why. here's why (https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-47231247).

This will make you look at a monument like Stonehenge with a whole different mindset.  Or at least provide context:

Europe’s Megalithic Monuments Originated in France and Spread by Sea Routes, New Study Suggests

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Read more: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/articles/europe-megalithic-monuments-france-sea-routes-mediterranean-180971467/#55m6b20cSZDCjhXk.99

I am sure some of you have seen the Animal Channel 'mockumentary (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfKWyV99C68)' from several years ago proposing that there are still remnant populations of Megalodons lurking beneath the ocean depths.  Well, not only are they definitely extinct (thank God), but they became extinct a million years earlier than any of us thought.  And the primary culprit of their demise was the Great White Shark:

Megalodon is definitely extinct—and great white sharks may be to blame (https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/02/megalodon-extinct-great-white-shark/)
New analysis of the ancient behemoths suggests they disappeared a million years earlier than thought, raising questions about what led to their demise.

Here is a size comparison -basically, Great Whites are about the same size as a juvenile Megalodon:

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humans killed a lot of megafauna off even before we had things like atl-atls and slings (much less AR15s and semi-auto shotguns)

Shattering my dreams that Meg was killed by muons (https://arxiv.org/abs/1712.09367). ;)

Thank goodness for GMOs:

How to feed the world by 2050? Recent breakthrough boosts plant growth by 40 percent (https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-02/crwi-htf020819.php)

Researchers Succeed In Turning CO2 Back Into Coal (https://www.techtimes.com/articles/238982/20190227/researchers-succeed-in-turning-co2-back-into-coal.htm)

We may be on the brink of finding a viable alternative to plastic:

Squid Teeth-Inspired Proteins May Provide Eco-Friendly Plastic Alternative (https://www.techtimes.com/articles/238814/20190222/squid-teeth-inspired-proteins-may-provide-eco-friendly-plastic-alternative.htm)

HIV-positive man in U.K. is 2nd known adult worldwide to be cleared of the AIDS virus

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/hiv-positive-man-u-k-2nd-known-adult-worldwide-be-n979186

meanwhile, in Bad Science News...Canada spends $70k/year on homeopathy in Hondorous (https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/stop-homeopaths-honduras-1.5039745)

Imagine the original 'Jurassic Park' with a feathered T-Rex:

A new T. rex exhibit takes a deep dive into the iconic dinosaur (https://www.sciencenews.org/article/new-t-rex-exhibit-takes-deep-dive-iconic-dinosaur)

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Paleontologists have found a fossil site in North Dakota that contains animals and plants killed and buried within an hour of the meteor impact that killed the dinosaurs 66 million years ago. This is the richest K-T boundary site ever found, incorporating insects, fish, mammals, dinosaurs and plants living at the end of the Cretaceous, mixed with tektites and rock created and scattered by the impact. The find shows that dinosaurs survived until the impact. (https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/03/190329144223.htm)

Apparently the Neanderthal were survived not just by modern humans, but also by their Denisovan cousins:

Denisovans Mated With Modern Humans More Recently Than Previously Thought (https://www.techtimes.com/articles/240799/20190403/denisovans-mated-with-modern-humans-more-recently-than-previously-thought.htm)

Something to think about before you build your dream home:

Transparent Wood That Can Store And Release Heat Could Be Next Trendy Material In Energy-Efficient Homes (https://www.techtimes.com/articles/240911/20190405/transparent-wood-that-can-store-and-release-heat-could-be-next-trendy-material-in-energy-efficient-homes.htm)

Fossil Of Ancient Four-Legged Whale Found In Peru (https://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-ancient-four-legged-whale-peru-20190404-story.html)

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I'm sure we've all heard by now of the 'hobbits' of Flores Island in the Indonesian archipelago.  They apparently had counterparts on the island of Luzon in the Philippines:

An Ancient Human Species Is Discovered in a Philippine Cave (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/10/science/homo-luzonensis-philippines-evolution.html)

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Hey, that looks kinda like my mom!

DNA Shows The Denisovans Have At Least 3 Distinct Branches (https://www.techtimes.com/articles/241303/20190412/dna-shows-the-denisovans-have-at-least-3-distinct-branches.htm)

Ice Ages triggered when tropical islands and continents collide (https://news.berkeley.edu/2019/04/11/ice-ages-triggered-when-tropical-islands-and-continents-collide/)

Now we find Tibetans can trace at least part of their ancestry to the ancient Denisovans -and their shared genes is the reason why they can live full-time at high-altitudes:

First fossil jaw of Denisovans finally puts a face on elusive human relatives (https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/05/first-fossil-jaw-denisovans-finally-puts-face-elusive-human-relatives)

If you think this is impressive, just wait until the James Webb Space Telescope (https://jwst.nasa.gov/about.html) and Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (https://wfirst.gsfc.nasa.gov/) are launched and fully operational:

New Hubble Telescope View of the Evolving Universe (https://scitechdaily.com/new-hubble-telescope-view-of-the-evolving-universe/)

Iceland turns carbon dioxide to rock for cleaner air (https://phys.org/news/2019-05-iceland-carbon-dioxide-cleaner-air.html)


There's always a 'but':

This takes 'planning ahead' to a whole new level:

Protect solar system from mining 'gold rush', say scientists (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/may/12/protect-solar-system-space-mining-gold-rush-say-scientists)
Proposal calls for wilderness protection as startup space miners look to the stars

Where is this idiot getting his figures?  50% greater survival rate ?!?!? Any successful human colony on Mars is going to be in a sealed environment with little chance for natural section to be a factor. The only significant environmental difference will be the 0.38g gravity field.

So the water that first gave us our oceans didn't just come from random comets early in Earth's geologic history, but mainly from one cataclysmic collision:

All Water On Earth Originated From The Moon’s Formation, Says Study (https://www.techtimes.com/articles/243606/20190522/all-water-on-earth-originated-from-the-moon-s-formation-says-study.htm)

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CO2 isn't just plant food -it turns out we can also use it as (liquid) fuel by mimicking nature through artificial photosynthesis:

Artificial photosynthesis transforms carbon dioxide into liquefiable fuels (https://phys.org/news/2019-05-artificial-photosynthesis-carbon-dioxide-liquefiable.html)

Virgin anaconda in zoo unexpectedly gives live birth to two clones
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/anaconda-snake-virgin-birth-parthenogenesis_n_5ce99b93e4b00356fc227180

Eventually we'll most likely terraform the planet so we don't have to live in a sealed environment.

Possibly, but certainly not anytime soon. Without even trying to get any particular atmosphere there, we'd have to increase the atmospheric pressure more than 10 times what it currently is just to reach the Armstrong limit (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armstrong_limit) (where water boils at normal body temperature) which is an absolute minimum for human survival. We don't have the technology to do that at present, and even if we did, it won't make economic sense until there is a well-established human presence on Mars.

Nearby supernovae (plural) exploding like firecrackers almost simultaneously in the Milky Way Galaxy (so right in our neighborhood) millions of years ago helped spur human evolution, according to this:

Exploding stars led to humans walking on two legs, radical study suggests (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/may/28/exploding-stars-led-humans-walking-on-two-legs-study)
Scientists say surge of radiation led to lightning causing forest fires, making adaptation vital

Closest-known ancestor of today’s Native Americans found in Siberia (https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/06/closest-known-ancestor-today-s-native-americans-found-siberia)

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If they are going to be doing this, then it makes sense to extend the life of the International Space Station from 2024 to 2030:

NASA is opening the space station to commercial business and more private astronauts (https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/7/18656280/nasa-space-station-private-astronauts-commercial-business)

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another one of those, "this might be a HUGE deal or we might never hear of it again" things (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-45370-1)if this works out, it could make a future computer super fast, but more importantly, could save us a ton of energy.

They found no signs of intelligent life, that obviously doesn't mean there couldn't be relatively advanced creatures living on planets that orbit those stars, maybe something comparable to dogs or cats in terms of intelligence. it's also possible there is intelligent life that's intentionally hiding from us, perhaps because they recognize how destructive us humans can be.

There's also the anthropocentric viewpoint that an intelligent civilization would necessarily emit extra EM radiation.

Considering how much we blame human-induced climate change, there are actually other factors contributing to the decline of coral reefs.  Factors we may find easier to control:

Sewage, Fertilizers Contribute To Coral Death, Study Finds (https://www.techtimes.com/articles/244580/20190717/sewage-fertilizers-contribute-to-coral-death-study-finds.htm)

The fable Burgess Shale has produced a new find, a predator shaped like the Millenium Falcon, the Cambroraster falcatus

https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/cambroraster-burgess-shale-1.5229120

Ecologically-friendly air-conditioning.  Quite timely, too:

New Cooling System Reduces Temperatures In Crowded City Buildings Without Electricity (https://www.techtimes.com/articles/244912/20190806/new-cooling-system-reduces-temperatures-in-crowded-city-buildings-without-electricity.htm)

Allow me to introduce the parrot from hell, the kind that stood 3 feet tall and was a cannibal:

This toddler-size parrot was a prehistoric oddity (https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/08/fossils-15-pound-parrot-found-new-zealand-kakapo/)
The flightless 'squawkzilla' stood three feet tall and was twice the weight of the kakapo, the heaviest parrot alive today.

You beat me to it.  His scientific name is pretty awesome--Heracles inexpectatus

Can't wait for the Syfy channel movie.

And while we are on the subject of giant, flightless, prehistoric birds, here is yet another:

This monster penguin was as big as humans. And it once swam the oceans, scientists say (https://www.freep.com/story/news/nation/2019/08/14/human-sized-penguin-monster-bird-once-swam-oceans-scientists-say/2006219001/)

It is now raining plastics....literally:

Scientists make troubling discovery in rain falling over portion of US (https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/scientists-make-troubling-discovery-in-rain-falling-over-portion-of-us/70009080)


Does anyone think this is a bigger crisis than human-induced climate change?  Should it be given priority in terms of government resources? 

there isn't much our govt can do here at home, there needs to be better waste management in the third world and better practices by those fishing in the oceans.

16,000 year-old artifacts found near an Idaho river suggest that humans not only lived in the Americas before the opening of the ice-free corridor, but that they arrived by water along the Pacific coast.  Thereby driving one more stake into the heart of the Clovis-first theory, which should by all rights ought to be stone-cold dead by now:

16,000-Year-Old Stone Artifacts Unearthed in Idaho (http://www.sci-news.com/archaeology/coopers-ferry-tools-07546.html)

Does anyone else here plan to win a Nobel Prize at least once in their lifetime?

There are planets out there beyond our solar system that may not only harbor conditions conducive to life, but that may be even more conducive than our own planet:

Study shows some exoplanets may have greater variety of life than exists on Earth (https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-08/gc-sss082119.php)

Strange life forms found deep in a mine point to vast 'underground Galapagos'
The rock-eating, sulfur-breathing microbes have scientists wondering what other strange creatures dwell deep below Earth's surface.

Something odd is stirring in the depths of Canada's Kidd Mine. The zinc and copper mine, 350 miles northwest of Toronto, is the deepest spot ever explored on land and the reservoir of the oldest known water. And yet 7,900 feet below the surface, in perpetual darkness and in waters that have remained undisturbed for up to two billion years, the mine is teeming with life.

Many scientists had doubted that anything could live under such extreme conditions. But in July, a team led by University of Toronto geologist Barbara Sherwood Lollar reported that the mine’s dark, deep water harbors a population of remarkable microbes (http://'https://deepcarbon.net/worlds-oldest-groundwater-supports-life-through-water-rock-chemistry').

The single-celled organisms don’t need oxygen because they breathe sulfur compounds. Nor do they need sunlight. Instead, they live off chemicals in the surrounding rock — in particular, the glittery mineral pyrite, commonly known as fool’s gold.

“It's a fascinating system where the organisms are literally eating fool's gold to survive,” Sherwood Lollar said. “What we are finding is so exciting — like ‘being a kid again’ level exciting.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/strange-life-forms-found-deep-mine-point-vast-underground-galapagos-ncna1050906 (https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/strange-life-forms-found-deep-mine-point-vast-underground-galapagos-ncna1050906)

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NASA'S Hubble Finds Water Vapor On Habitable-Zone Exoplanet For the First Time (https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2019/news-2019-50)

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Saturn passes Jupiter for most moons in the solar system.

reuters (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-space-saturn/saturn-is-the-solar-systems-moon-king-with-20-more-spotted-idUSKBN1WO2VD)update your Trivia Pursuit cards!

It seems Botswana is the motherland of modern humans, according to this latest study:

Controversial new study pinpoints where all modern humans arose (https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/10/controversial-study-pinpoints-birthplace-modern-humans/#close)
The research reignites a long-simmering debate about how and where our species emerged.

This newly discovered trove of fossils found in Colorado fills a crucial gap in our understanding of how life recovered in the one million-year period immediately after the extinction of the dinosaurs, leading to the subsequent rise of mammals, eventually including us:

Extraordinary fossils show how mammals rose from the dinosaurs’ ashes

Read more: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2221128-extraordinary-fossils-show-how-mammals-rose-from-the-dinosaurs-ashes/#ixzz63zSprtwM

PBS has a show on that in their loop right now.  Good stuff.

Apparently the distant ancestors of native Americans were clever and wily enough to use traps to hunt and kill mammoths:

Two Traps Where Woolly Mammoths Were Driven to Their Deaths Found in Mexico (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/found-mexico-two-traps-where-woolly-mammoths-were-driven-their-deaths-180973522/)
The discovery may offer rare evidence that humans were actively hunting the great creatures

Scientists extract hydrogen gas from oil and bitumen, giving potential pollution-free energy (https://phys.org/news/2019-08-scientists-hydrogen-gas-oil-bitumen.html)

Very interesting, just like all these exoplanets discovered in recent years, opening up the possibility for some form of life out there.


Full CNN Article (https://edition.cnn.com/2019/11/18/world/europa-moon-water-scn/index.html)

HIV vaccine in 2021? Leading experts 'optimistic' about ongoing trials

https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/hiv-vaccine-2021-leading-experts-optimistic-about-ongoing-trials-n1092021

 Climate models have accurately predicted global heating, study finds (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/dec/04/climate-models-have-accurately-predicted-global-heating-study-finds)

The story of a 1,700 year old sock found in Egypt.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smartnews-history-archaeology/1700-year-old-sock-spins-yarn-about-ancient-egyptian-fashion-180970501/

Nice sock.  Note they only found one though.

Confirmation that Dobby was Cleopatras House elf

The remains of a forest from the Devonian period have been found in a quarry in the Catskills in upstate New York, making it the oldest forest on earth:

World’s Oldest Forest Reveals Modern Trees Emerged Earlier Than Thought (https://www.courthousenews.com/worlds-oldest-forest-reveals-modern-trees-emerged-earlier-than-thought/)




 

One other factor not mentioned in the article is the absence of any predators large enough to seriously threaten them once they grow to become full behemoths.  The (definite) extinction of the Megalodon (Discovery Channel mocumentaries aside) allowed whales the space to grow as large as their food-sources would allow them to.  Not even the Great White Shark or the Orca have (yet) filled that predator vacuum left by the extinction of that giant shark:

How Whales Got So Large -- And Why They Aren’t Even Bigger (https://www.insidescience.org/news/how-whales-got-so-large-and-why-they-aren’t-even-bigger)
The bigger the whale, the tougher it is to find a decent meal.

Interestingly, NASA appears to be seriously investigating the possibilities of faster than light travel. I guess the big improvement is that they've figured out a way to need less power than previously thought to fuel the thing. Previously, they thought they needed to generate the power put out by Jupiter. which is LOL, no.

 'Like sending bees to war': the deadly truth behind your almond-milk obsession (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/07/honeybees-deaths-almonds-hives-aoe)

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2020/01/chinese-paddlefish-one-of-largest-fish-extinct/

The Holocene Extinction event continues with the Chinese paddlefish, one of the world's largest fish, officially being declared extinct. Extinction rates are predicted to continue rising until about the 2060s. Until it ends, millions of years of natural history and evolution, will be gone just like that.

while it's true that people that eat a lot of California almonds, the farmers of them and the politicians that cover for them are all just flat horrible people, the bee dying off issue is overblown.  Commercial bee keepers have had 1/3rd to 1/2 (38.7% avg) of their colonies die off every year since they've started moving them around the country, but the numbers of bees has remained steady.
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Apparently those Amazon women warriors mentioned in Homer's Iliad were real after all, and not just a figment of Greek mythology:

Ancient Amazon warrior women discovered in Russia (https://www.foxnews.com/science/ancient-amazon-warrior-women-discovered-russia)

Not only can asteroids cause mass extinctions if they are large enough -they can even change our global climate:

World’s Oldest Known Impact Crater Confirmed in Australia (https://gizmodo.com/world-s-oldest-known-impact-crater-confirmed-in-austral-1841130758)

This crater is 'supposedly' next to Meekatharra. I will reserve judgement at this stage.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2020-01-22/wa-crater-yarrabubba-meteorite-impact-worlds-oldest/11881786

It has a real outback country town feel of impoverished despair. It's a gold town.

I worked near their maybe once or twice. When I was shopping in the supermarket on the main street, i was getting groceries for our exploration program, and I grabbed some food and the like, and in particular, I placed an iced coffee and a newpaper in the top of the trolley where small things go.

But before I reached the checkout (cash register), they were stolen.

You do realise that once you go faster than the speed of light, Einstein predicted that you would travel back in time.

And the reason why it is impossible to travel faster than the speed of light is actually quite simple.

I came up with this idea in theoretical physics in my honours year.

Let's say that in the year 2491, someone manages to travel faster than the speed of light and therefore has the ability to travel back in time. They build their device and throw it in the back of a Delorian for arguments sake.

Well, given the lack of people claiming to be from the year 2491 in 2020 (or any future year for that matter) and the lack of a technologically advanced space ship commensurate with the year 2491, it is therefore proven that you cannot travel back in time.

Apart from one member of Space Force, we have no spacey looking travellers claiming to be from the future. It's clearly not possible in 2020 or in the future.

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And further, it follows that you cannot go faster than the speed of light and survive.

Your protons and electrons would disassociate from their respective neutrons, and you would disintegrate into a subatomic mush.

It is much more possible however to travel forward in time given Einsteins theories of relativity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v32VypWeF0I

In 1987, William "Buck" Rogers was teleported into 2491 where he met the lovely Wilma:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNC8fBSvYOc

I want to go back to the 70's so bad. But I need a time machine to go back 42 years.

Apparently you've never heard of either Niven's law of time travel or of the Temporal Prime Directive, since you naively believe that our lack of knowledge of people travelling back in time is proof it cannot be done.

My apologies Ernest.

Turns out you were right after all.

https://m.facebook.com/drphilshow/videos/951674141940487

From New York University's Abu Dhabi campus:

NYUAD researchers find new method to allow corals to rapidly respond to climate change (https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-02/nyu-nrf021020.php)
Reef-building corals transmit epigenetic adaptations to their offspring that can combat the effects of global warming

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New study (this one is based on canine teeth) confirms dog domestication during the Pleistocene:

New Study Results Consistent With Dog Domestication During Ice Age (https://researchfrontiers.uark.edu/new-study-results-consistent-with-dog-domestication-during-ice-age/)

From King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia:

Landmark study concludes marine life can be rebuilt by 2050 (https://phys.org/news/2020-04-landmark-marine-life-rebuilt.html)

Dr. Albert Einstein was right!

Very Large Telescope sees star dance around supermassive black hole, proves Einstein right (https://phys.org/news/2020-04-eso-telescope-star-supermassive-black.html?utm_source=webpush&utm_medium=push)

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Expect the Northwest Passage (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Passage) (having just opened a decade ago) to become a regularly traveled route as this century progresses:

North Pole soon to be ice free in summer (https://phys.org/news/2020-04-north-pole-ice-free-summer.html)

Rice genetically engineered to resist heat waves can also produce up to 20% more grain (https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/04/rice-genetically-engineered-resist-heat-waves-can-also-produce-20-more-grain)

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Digging Up Regolith: Why Mining the Moon Seems More Possible Than Ever (https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/moon-mars/a32253706/history-moon-mining/)
For decades, the idea of mining the moon was pure science fiction for most and a wild concept for even the most ardent believers. Now technical advances and rare political support are making it an actual possibility.

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Experts Doubt the Sun Is Actually Burning Coal (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/experts-doubt-the-sun-is-actually-burning-coal/)

1st known swimming dinosaur just discovered. And it was magnificent. (https://www.livescience.com/spinosaurus-first-swimming-dinosaur-discovered.html)

Total badass

Oddly enuff, astronomers already knew back then about carbon stars (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_star), of which the sun is not one.

Geometry guided construction of earliest known temple, built 6,000 years before Stonehenge (https://phys.org/news/2020-05-geometry-earliest-temple-built-years.html)

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The laws of entropy state that a lower energy state is preferred by matter,.and that matter will decay to a lower energy state when possible. The Higgs boson gives mass to everything and there is a non-zero chance of a Higgs boson somewhere in the universe decaying to a lower energy state and no longer giving mass to matter. Apparently this would cause a chain reaction causing all Higgs bosons to decay to this state and matter to lose all mass, and this chain reaction would spread out in all directions at the speed of light.

https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/stephen-hawking-fears-higgs-boson-doomsday-he-s-not-alone-n198766

Except Higgs bosons don't actually give mass to particles, they're just indicators of it (it's complicated, I misunderstood this too for a long time).

Interesting.

Do you know then for what reason Stephen Hawkins predicted it could end the universe as we know it in his collection of essays and lectures titled "Starmus"?

No, never heard of Starmus. But I can share videos explaining the Higgs boson after it was actually confirmed to exist a few years ago.

Don't rule out nuclear energy:

3D-printed nuclear reactor promises faster, more economical path to nuclear energy (https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-05/drnl-3nr050820.php)

So apparently human-induced climate change could reach a tipping point in the latter part of this century, reawakening an El Niño/La Niña-like cycle in the Indian Ocean that was last active during the depths of the last ice age (or last glacial maximum, to be more precise):

Climate change could reawaken Indian Ocean El Nino (https://phys.org/news/2020-05-climate-reawaken-indian-ocean-el.html)

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Tiny plankton drive processes in the ocean that capture twice as much carbon as scientists thought (https://theconversation.com/tiny-plankton-drive-processes-in-the-ocean-that-capture-twice-as-much-carbon-as-scientists-thought-136599)

And this is how it works:

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It wasn't just unlucky timing and location that resulted in the worst mass catastrophe since the Permian Extinction Event:

Dinosaur-dooming asteroid struck Earth at 'deadliest possible' angle (https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-05/icl-das052520.php)

Our deepest view of the X-ray sky (https://phys.org/news/2020-06-deepest-view-x-ray-sky.html)

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New maps offer detailed look at 'lost' continent of Zealandia (https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/new-maps-offer-detailed-look-lost-continent-zealandia-n1232054)
The maps show how volcanism and tectonic motion have shaped the submerged landmass over millions of years.


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Fortunately, most of Zealandia is already claimed as part of various EEZs, so whether it really is a continent or a microcontinent won't affect seabed rights that might cause a dispute between New Zealand, Australia, or New Caledonia.

It appears that the hotspot that created a string of supervolcanic eruptions beginning in the Miocene epoch around 16 million years ago (and is currently at the Yellowstone Caldera) is losing steam so to speak, according to a recent geological study:

What the New Discovery of Ancient Super-Eruptions Indicates for the Yellowstone Hotspot (https://scitechdaily.com/what-the-new-discovery-of-ancient-super-eruptions-indicates-for-the-yellowstone-hotspot/)

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We may not have to worry about a super eruption from Yellowstone for another 900,000 years.  

Polynesians, Native Americans made contact before European arrival, genetic study finds (https://phys.org/news/2020-07-polynesians-native-americans-contact-european.html)

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Blast sends star hurtling across the Milky Way (https://phys.org/news/2020-07-blast-star-hurtling-milky.html)

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The African continent is very slowly peeling apart. Scientists say a new ocean is being born. (https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/african-continent-very-slowly-peeling-apart-scientists-say-new-ocean-n1234128)
New satellite measurements are offering valuable tools to study the tectonic rift in one of the most geologically unique spots on the planet.

()


Here is one theory on what the African continent will look like 10 million years from now:

https://twitter.com/simongerman600/status/1006619696807010304
 

Stone artifacts hint that humans reached the Americas surprisingly early (https://www.sciencenews.org/article/cave-mexico-stone-artifacts-humans-americas-early)
Archaeologists date their finds in Mexico to as early as about 33,000 years ago


So if the first humans arrived in North America as early as 33,000 years ago, then they could have arrived by both the coastal and overland routes since the Laurentide and Cordilleran icesheets would not have reached their fullest extent for another 12,000 years. 

That's nonsense from a geological perspective. That dark blue subduction zone is pushing west bringing everything up as it disappears.

These are colliding pieces of mafic Oceanic Crust, around 6-8km thick moving west at 10-18cm a year.

No continental geological processes will work on that block until it joins Australia and thickens up
through orogenesis and accretion (crust thickening through thrust slices stacking on top of one another).

Given that NZ is sitting on a transform fault, there is no guarantee that that slab will ever grow higher out of the ocean unless that Eastern slab subducts underneath and produces volcanism similar to that process creating the Andes Mountain chain in South America.

If you look to the south-east, you can see a block of oceanic crust in blue moving towards NZ in the NW direction. This is causing the general uplift of the oceanic crust east of NZ.

Keep in mind Continental Crust is 35km thick. The most likely outcome for these oceanic slabs is accretion with the existing Continent to the left. You can already see the shape of the Australian continent in one slab affected. It is the next part to join the Australian continent. All of Eastern Australia was 'accreted' onto Australia. It's just happening again. It's not another continent.

We don't call the gap from Alaska to Russia another continent. If an oceanic crustal slab starting uplifting short of South America, that is not a new continent.

If these slabs do come out of the water, they will attach to NSW, Victoria and Tasmania over 200 million years and be 4 times thinner in an E-W direction and 4 times thicker (guess) in a vertical direction. But there is a lot of volcanism which will go on before that process is finished (i.e. generating felsic Continental Crust from recycling Oceanic crust)

We essentially have a process where 8km thick Oceanic crust will morph into 32km Continental crust (at 16cm per year roughly), after which, NZ will be closer to Australia and connected to us.

There won't be any legal territorial disputes as we will all be wiped out by a virus by that stage anyway.

It will just be all cute Kangaroos and Koalas and birds.

Are we off the hook?

Ancient genomes suggest woolly rhinos went extinct due to climate change, not overhunting (https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-08/cp-ags080620.php)

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source (https://animalstime.com/woolly-rhino-facts/)

And now the same climate-change adaptation is being done with wheat, beginning in Western Australia (WA):

Long coleoptile wheat could help farmers adapt to climate change (https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2020-08-19/long-coleoptile-wheat-genetics-and-climate-change/12566422)

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They've narrowed it down -the age of the Earth's inner core is between 1 billion and 1.3 billion years old:

The age of the Earth's inner core revised (https://phys.org/news/2020-08-age-earth-core.html)

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Was anyone else aware that Stonehenge (when it was still complete, and not in ruins) had special acoustic effects?  

Stonehenge enhanced sounds like voices or music for people inside the monument (https://www.sciencenews.org/article/stonehenge-acoustics-sounds-voices-music)
Scientists created a scale model one-twelfth the size of the ancient site to study its acoustics

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Land conservation could play a huge part in solving human-induced climate change:

Protecting half the planet could help solve climate change and save species (https://www.sciencenews.org/article/protecting-half-planet-climate-change-save-species)
A new map shows where new land protections could complement existing conserved areas

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https://scitechdaily.com/giant-100-million-year-old-sperm-cells-discovered-the-oldest-known-sperm-cells/ (https://scitechdaily.com/giant-100-million-year-old-sperm-cells-discovered-the-oldest-known-sperm-cells/)

I really hope this is not another one of those 'just around the corner' 'light at the end of the tunnel'-type stories regarding nuclear fusion...  :P

Compact Nuclear Fusion Reactor Is ‘Very Likely to Work,’ Studies Suggest (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/29/climate/nuclear-fusion-reactor.html)
A series of research papers renews hope that the long-elusive goal of mimicking the way the sun produces energy might be achievable.

So now we know that what made our species (Homo sapiens) so adaptable and innovative as we were evolving in Africa wasn't just (natural) climate change -it was plate tectonics as well:

Surprising leap in ancient human technology tied to environmental upheaval (https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/10/surprising-leap-in-ancient-human-technology-tied-to-environment/#close)
Sediment core evidence reveals the critical factors that may have given rise to strikingly complex behaviors some 320,000 years ago, around the time the first members of our species appeared.

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"Master plan of the universe revealed in new galaxy maps

In the renderings, our Milky Way galaxy is a tiny speck in the midst of other galaxies and colossal voids."

https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/amp/ncna1040936

It wasn't only men doing the hunting, as evidence suggests that women were routinely hunting big game alongside them:

This Prehistoric Peruvian Woman Was a Big-Game Hunter (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/9000-year-old-big-game-hunter-peru-prompts-questions-about-hunter-gatherer-gender-roles-180976218/)
Some 9,000 years ago, a 17- to 19-year-old female was buried alongside a hunter’s toolkit

Slightly unnerving, no?

Earth faster, closer to black hole in new map of galaxy (https://phys.org/news/2020-11-earth-faster-closer-black-hole.html)

Oh, they're lying to us

I watched a video last night in which they think planet 9; a half of Uranus/Neptune sized ice giant is lurking keying the Kuiper belt snd is located near Orion’s bow currently. This is due to the peculiar inclined and eccentric orbits of scattered disc objects like Sedna. Astronomers believe it will be discovered in the next 10-20 years but is difficult due to how far and dim it is. Which brings us to this question... what would you name this dark giant world?

I would go with something like Minerva/Athena after the Greco-Roman goddess of wisdom. Because finding this planet requires a lot of smarts to hunt it down. Any moons could be named for famous scientists to fit this theme (Aristotle, Einstein, Newton, Copernicus, Galileo etc.) It fits the pattern of using Greco-Roman names and reflects something about the planet like all others have followed
Mercury- fast
Venus- beautiful
Mars- bloody
Jupiter-Saturn-Uranus  Big, the king. Followed by his dad and grandpa
Neptune- dark blue like the sea
Pluto- dark and cold

Eris- (once considered planet 10). Chaos and discord

Great Conjunction (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_conjunction) is expected to occur today, where Jupiter and Saturn appear closest together in the sky. The conjunction occurs approximately every 20 years when Jupiter "overtakes" Saturn in its orbit.

According to our local radio station, it should be visible on the night sky at about 5.30 pm. local time. As of now, we're under a cloud, but maybe we get a clear sky in a few hours. In case I see anything, I'll be taking some photos.

Unfortunately, I was not able to see anything. I took on my coat and checked from balcony and the street. Too cloudy. Anyone noticed something on the sky?

Microplastics found in human placentas (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/22/microplastics-revealed-in-placentas-unborn-babies)
AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/12/21/2020-amazing-science-space-discoveries/3922477001/

The coronavirus vaccine wasn't the only amazing discovery: A look at all the ways science thrived in 2020

In 2020, incredible scientific discoveries didn't stop because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

First and foremost was the phenomenal work done by scientists to study the disease and develop vaccines in record time to put the brakes on the global pandemic. It was a truly Herculean effort by literally thousands of scientists around the world.

Otherwise, while nothing can compare to the vaccine effort for impact, we discovered there could be water on the sunlit surface of the moon, potentially life on Venus, "Marsquakes" on Mars, and the chance that dozens of intelligent civilizations could be scattered across our Milky Way galaxy.

Closer to home, we uncovered prehistoric evidence of a ferocious tyrannosaur in Canada, a car-sized turtle in South America, and the oldest bird fossil ever found, dubbed the "wonderchicken."

And as for us humans, we listened to a mummy speak after 3,000 years, found Africa's oldest human footprints, and even realized that Neanderthals were skilled fishermen.

Here are just a few of the amazing science stories of 2020:

We heard the voice of an ancient mummy
In January, scientists re-created the voice of an ancient, 3,000-year-old Egyptian mummy  (http://'https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/01/24/scientists-recreate-voice-ancient-egyptian-mummy/4557044002/')using 3D printing, medical scanners and an electronic larynx, a study said. They were able to reproduce a single vowel sound, which sounds like something between the vowels in the words "bed" and "bad." Listen for yourself below.

detailed photos of the sun ever taken (http://'https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/01/29/inouye-solar-telescope-most-detailed-images-ever-taken-sun/4611271002/'). One of the images showed a pattern of turbulent "boiling" plasma that covers the entire sun. The cell-like structures – each about the size of Texas – are the signature of violent motions that carry heat from the inside of the sun to its surface.

https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2020/01/29/USAT/f7985ac2-386f-44f7-ad5c-3dce9762f070-crop_the_image_with_scalebar_texas_medium_res.jpg?width=660&height=660&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp
Scientists discovered the fossil of a giant turtle
In February, paleontologists discovered what they called the "reaper of death," (http://'https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/02/10/tyrannosaur-dinosaur-new-species-discovered-canada/4713828002/') a fearsome new species of dinosaur that was the "oldest occurrence of a large tyrannosaur in Canada."

Also in February, scientists announced the discovery of a huge turtle fossil in South America (http://'https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/02/15/giant-turtle-fossil-discovered-south-america/4763480002/'). It's "one of the largest, if not the largest, turtle that ever existed," scientists said, noting that the colossal, long-extinct beast lived 5 million to 10 million years ago and measured 9½ feet, roughly the size and shape of a midsized car.

https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2020/02/14/USAT/482988b2-62ae-4118-a15e-59c1ef402330-223992.jpg?width=660&height=295&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp
NASA's robot detected hundreds of 'marsquakes'
And that month we also heard about "marsquakes," and the fact that our red neighbor planet had hundreds of quakes (http://'https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/02/24/marsquakes-hundreds-detected-red-planet-mars-insight-lander/4858878002/') over the past year. The marsquakes were recorded by NASA's InSight, a robot spacecraft that landed on Mars in November 2018. "We've finally, for the first time, established that Mars is a seismically active planet," said NASA's Bruce Banerdt.

https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2020/02/24/USAT/269e0327-6e68-43d9-952f-b920ec6fb461-AFP_1P97K9.JPG?width=660&height=534&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp
'Wonderchicken' becomes oldest bird fossil ever
https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2020/03/18/USAT/e64034d7-e305-41ee-bde0-283be39b98aa-226987_web.jpg?width=300&height=389&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp
In March, our attention turned to a creature dubbed the "wonderchicken,"  (http://'https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/03/18/wonderchicken-oldest-bird-fossil-discovered/2866185001/')a seagull-size shorebird with features of ducks, chickens and turkeys. The nearly complete skull was hidden inside nondescript pieces of rock, and it dates to more than 66 million years ago – which makes it the oldest bird fossil ever discovered. (That's less than 1 million years before the asteroid impact that killed off all the large dinosaurs.)

"The moment I first saw what was beneath the rock was the most exciting moment of my scientific career," said study lead author Daniel Field.

We also learned about an ancient wormlike creature that's the ancestor of all animals (http://'https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/03/24/oldest-animal-ancestor-555-million-year-old-worm-like-creature/2902075001/'). The tiny thing, about the size of a grain of rice, lived about 555 million years ago.

We learned Neanderthals were actually skilled fishermen
Also in March, the reputation of Neanderthals got a boost when we found out that they weren't just the club-wielding brutes of popular legend, hunting and eating only woolly mammoths in frozen northern climates.

A study, for the first time, suggested that they were skilled fishermen and that seafood was a key ingredient (http://'https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/03/27/neanderthals-knew-how-fish-regularly-ate-seafood-study-says/2916710001/') in their diets.

A comet from outside our solar system paid a visit
In April, we tracked an unusual visitor from outer space: Comet 2I/Borisov, which astronomers described as a "snowman from a dark and cold place (http://'https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/04/20/comet-2-i-borisov-rich-carbon-monoxide-its-unusual-visitor/5166901002/')," because “comets are leftover building blocks from the time of planet formation."

“This is the first time we’ve ever looked inside a comet from outside our solar system,” said NASA astrochemist Martin Cordiner.

https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2020/04/20/USAT/93de9f37-2a7d-49a5-bb7f-f467eab2153c-nrao20in05_Borisov_ArtistImpression_SD.jpg?width=660&height=372&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp
Bizarre mammal called 'crazy beast' fossil discovered in Madagascar
Also in April, we learned about the fossil of a bizarre mammal, called "crazy beast,"  (http://'https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/04/29/fossil-adalatherium-hui-crazy-beast-discovered-madagascar/3044412001/')which was discovered in Madagascar. The skeleton is the most complete for any Mesozoic mammal yet discovered in the Southern Hemisphere.

The 66-million-year-old opossum-size fossil represented a new species, which the study authors have named "Adalatherium hui," from a Malagasy word meaning “crazy” and the Greek word for “beast.”

https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2020/04/28/USAT/6ff7d543-763e-4389-8f2e-027d8b8732a4-Image_two.jpg?width=660&height=387&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp
Scientists spot 'incredibly rare' Super-Earth
Meanwhile, in May, scientists announced the discovery of an incredibly rare "Super-Earth,"  (http://'https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/05/13/super-earth-discovered-near-center-our-galaxy-1-million-discovery/3119467001/')which they said was a "one in a million" find. Also calling it "incredibly rare," New Zealand astronomers say the planet "is one of only a handful that have been discovered with both size and orbit comparable to that of Earth."

Africa's largest group of human fossil footprints (http://'https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2020/05/14/fossil-footprints-largest-collection-footprints-discovered-africa/5192379002/'), which were discovered in Tanzania. Thousands of years ago, a group of 17 people took a walk through the mud in eastern Africa. Amazingly, their footprints are still there today, and were recently identified by archaeologists.

https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2020/05/14/USAT/362fd7ea-dcf2-4452-8679-a1f4e52e4ae7-Image_2.jpg?width=660&height=439&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp
We learned there could be 'dozens' of intelligent civilizations in our galaxy
In June, we got the news that we're probably not alone in our galaxy (http://'https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/06/15/alien-life-could-dozens-intelligent-civilizations-galaxy/3190598001/'): There could be "dozens" of intelligent civilizations scattered throughout the Milky Way.

“There should be at least a few dozen active civilizations in our galaxy under the assumption that it takes 5 billion years for intelligent life to form on other planets, as on Earth,” University of Nottingham astrophysicist Christopher Conselice said.

This estimate assumes that intelligent life forms on other planets in a similar way as it does on Earth.

https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2020/01/22/USAT/5047be77-c963-4b47-be22-9cce3903f549-GettyImages-1070687964.jpg?width=660&height=436&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp
An asteroid impact, not volcanoes, killed off dinosaurs
Also in June we learned for sure that an asteroid impact – not volcanic eruptions –  (http://'https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/06/30/dinosaurs-earth-killed-asteroid-impact-new-study-confirms/5350191002/')killed off the dinosaurs. The asteroid strike would have released particles and gases high into the atmosphere, blocking out the sun for years and causing permanent winters, a study said.

"Our study confirms, for the first time quantitatively, that the only plausible explanation for the extinction is the impact winter that eradicated dinosaur habitats worldwide," said study lead author Alessandro Chiarenza of Imperial College London.

Scientists confirmed the universe is 13.8 billion years old
The discoveries continued in the second half of the year: Scientists confirmed in July that the universe is 13.8 billion years old (http://'https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/07/15/age-universe-13-8-billion-years-scientists-confirm/3287409001/'). While this estimate had been known, in recent years other scientific measurements had suggested instead the universe may be hundreds of millions of years younger than that. The scientists studied an image of the oldest light in the universe to confirm its age of 13.8 billion years.

https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2020/07/15/USAT/71f12125-1e6a-4036-9d2d-6bc0de597de1-OldestLightMeasurement.png?width=660&height=264&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp
Comet Neowise made a rare appearance
Also in July, folks got a rare chance to spot another interstellar interloper: Comet Neowise. “Discovered on March 27, 2020, by NASA’s Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) mission, Comet Neowise is putting on a dazzling display for skywatchers before it disappears, not to be seen again for another 6,800 years,” NASA said in July.

https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2020/07/15/USAT/3470a041-5983-42e4-8d70-e4fc8b3a1a29-Comet_Neowise_01.JPG?width=660&height=457&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp
Greenland's melting ice sheet passed the point of no return
Also in August, in unsettling news, scientists said Greenland's melting ice sheet had passed the point of no return. (http://'https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/08/17/greenlands-melting-ice-sheet-has-passed-point-no-return/3378469001/') In fact, glaciers on the island have shrunk so much that even if global warming were to stop today, the ice sheet would continue shrinking, a study suggested.

"Glacier retreat has knocked the dynamics of the whole ice sheet into a constant state of loss," said study co-author Ian Howat, an earth scientist from Ohio State University.

https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2020/08/17/USAT/29eebfb0-2edd-4d91-923f-06acc583ba0b-icebergs2.jpg?width=660&height=441&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp
Astronomers see hint of life on Venus
Scientists in September announced the discovery of a possible sign of life high in the clouds of Venus. (http://'https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/09/14/life-venus-astronomers-see-phosphine-hint-life-clouds-venus/5793706002/') Using telescopes based in Chile and Hawaii, astronomers spotted in Venus' clouds the chemical signature of phosphine, a noxious gas that on Earth is associated only with life. Based on the many scenarios the astronomers considered, the team concluded there is no explanation for the phosphine in Venus’ clouds other than the presence of life.

water had been discovered on the sunlit surface of the moon for the first time. (http://'https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/10/26/nasa-announce-an-exciting-new-discovery-moon-monday/6039412002/') NASA said this was an important revelation that indicates water may be distributed across the lunar surface – and not just limited to its cold, shadowed places such as the poles. This is good news for astronauts at future lunar bases who could tap into those resources for drinking and rocket fuel production.

“We had indications that H2O – the familiar water we know – might be present on the sunlit side of the moon,” said Paul Hertz, director of the astrophysics division in the science mission directorate at NASA headquarters in Washington. “Now we know it is there. This discovery challenges our understanding of the lunar surface and raises intriguing questions about resources relevant for deep space exploration.”

There's a metal asteroid out there worth $10,000 quadrillion
This isn't your typical space rock. Also in October, we found out that the asteroid 16 Psyche – one of the most massive objects in the main asteroid belt orbiting between Mars and Jupiter – could be made entirely of metal, according to a study.

Even more intriguing, the asteroid's metal is worth an estimated $10,000 quadrillion (http://'https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/10/29/metal-asteroid-psyche-nasa-hubble-images/6069223002/') (that's 15 more zeroes), more than the entire economy of Earth.

https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2020/10/29/USAT/ff91e33b-ebe9-425e-97d3-3f54d6b194e3-asteroid-16-psyche.jpg?width=660&height=511&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp
Radio bursts were detected from within our Milky Way for first time
For the first time, astronomers in November discovered a "fast radio burst" that came from within our own Milky Way galaxy (http://'https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/11/04/fast-radio-bursts-detected-magnetar-our-own-galaxy/6160954002/').

They also believe they have found a source of one of the bursts, which are extremely bright flashes of energy that last for a fraction of a second, during which they can blast out more than 100 million times more power than our sun.

It appears the radio pulses were produced by a magnetar – a type of neutron star with a hugely powerful magnetic field.

https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2020/11/04/USAT/18605cc7-4afe-4cba-9887-d011cd135926-AP_CORRECTION_Space_Cosmic_Bursts.jpg?width=660&height=422&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp
A 50-year-old science problem was solved
And in December, we learned about the arcane field of "protein folding."  (http://'https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/12/03/protein-folding-discovery-major-breakthrough-deepmind/3809693001/')A new discovery about the field could unlock a world of possibilities into the understanding of everything from diseases to drugs, researchers say. The breakthrough sent ripples of excitement through the science and medical communities because it deals with the shapes tiny proteins in our bodies – essential to all life – fold into.

The "protein-folding problem" has puzzled scientists for five decades, and the discovery  from the London-based artificial intelligence lab DeepMind was heralded as a major milestone.

"This computational work represents a stunning advance on the protein-folding problem, a 50-year old grand challenge in biology," said Venki Ramakrishnan, president of the U.K.'s Royal Society.

https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2020/12/03/USAT/dcb849fd-63f8-4bca-8b61-7b364eb808bc-ca_1204NID_Protein_Fold_large_online.jpg?width=660&height=372&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp
We learned mass extinctions of Earth's land animals follow a cycle
Also in December, we found out that mass extinctions of life on Earth appear to follow a regular pattern (http://'https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/12/11/earth-mass-extinctions-life-occur-27-million-year-cycles-study/3883872001/'), according to a study. In fact, widespread die-offs of land-dwelling animals – which include amphibians, reptiles, mammals and birds – follow a cycle of about 27 million years, the study reports. The study also said these mass extinctions coincide with major asteroid impacts and devastating volcanic outpourings of lava.

"The global mass extinctions were apparently caused by the largest cataclysmic impacts and massive volcanism, perhaps sometimes working in concert," said study lead author Michael Rampino of New York University.

What do ya'll think about string theory?

There are mitigating factors that show it's not all our fault:

Newly Discovered Greenland Plume Drives Thermal Activities in the Arctic (http://www.tohoku.ac.jp/en/press/greenland_plume_drive_thermal_activities.html)

This should answer the question, 'where did we come from?' from a purely scientific perspective:

Discovery boosts theory that life on Earth arose from RNA-DNA mix (https://phys.org/news/2020-12-discovery-boosts-theory-life-earth.html)

1st preserved dinosaur butthole is 'perfect' and 'unique,' paleontologist says (https://www.livescience.com/first-dinosaur-butthole-found.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=dlvr.it)

I don't write them, I just report them

I'm not a fan, but undergraduate physics doesn't take me far enough to have a truly informed opinion on the topic.

Hasn't string theory been largely discredited....since like 2002?

No, but it hasn't advanced beyond being merely a hypothesis rather than a widely accepted truth.

It hasn't advanced, and from what I've seen it probably never will. When the hypothesis doesn't make any predictions, it cannot possibly be proven or disproven, and it can't really be regarded as science. When a string theory can be shown to make some testable prediction, that would be an advancement. It won't be a widely accepted truth until that prediction can be proven.

The problem starts with Grand Unified Theory - how to reconcile Einstein's gravity and Planck's quanta, both which clearly work in their respective spheres. Most GUTs have hit a clear contradiction with reality and have to be discarded. I think the problem with string theory stems from its ability to fit to a vast number of realities and it is therefore hard to falsify. Theoreticians will work on it as it seems like "the only game in town", since it can be hard to find resources to explore new GUTs not based on string theory.

The melting of large icebergs is a key stage in the evolution of ice ages (https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-02/uog-tmo021921.php)

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source: Cool Antarctica

Warm oceans helped first human migration from Asia to North America (https://www.washington.edu/news/2020/12/09/warm-oceans-helped-first-human-migration-from-asia-to-north-america/)

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Scientists find unexpected animal life far beneath Antarctica’s floating ice shelves (https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/scientists-find-unexpected-animal-life-far-antarcticas-floating-ice-sh-rcna285)
The discovery of what appear to be sponges in the pitch-black seawater beneath almost half a mile of ice has biologists baffled.

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In 2 Million years hawaii will go underwater

As a follow-up:

There’s a Global Plan to Conserve Nature. Indigenous People Could Lead the Way. (https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/11/climate/nature-conservation-30-percent.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage)
Dozens of countries are backing an effort that would protect 30 percent of Earth’s land and water. Native people, often among the most effective stewards of nature, have been disregarded, or worse, in the past.

...and there was light:

How did early life on Earth start? It could have been lightning, study says (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/03/16/how-did-early-life-earth-start-could-have-been-lightning/4708857001/)

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Cloud-to-ground lightning during a storm in Iowa. Kevin Skow/NOAA Photo Library

Knowing what we now know of quantum physics, what could Yoda be referring to by 'the Force'?  

Gluons, maybe?

The remains of another ancient planet are believed to have been found within our own planet, from the same cataclysmic impact that created our Moon:

Remains of impact that created the Moon may lie deep within Earth (https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/03/remains-impact-created-moon-may-lie-deep-within-earth)

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An artist's rendering of the collision that created the moon (Paul Wootton/ /Science Photo Library/Corbis)

Does everyone remember Christian fundamentalist claims that humans lived alongside dinosaurs?  They were wrong about humans, obviously, but there is a possibility they weren't entirely wrong as far as our distant ancestors are concerned:

Did ancient primates walk alongside T. rex? New evidence backs up theory. (https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/did-ancient-primates-walk-alongside-dinosaurs-new-evidence-backs-up-theory)
The oldest known primate fossils were dated to just after the extinction event 66 million years ago—suggesting some primate ancestors lived even longer ago.

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Image credit: Andrey Atuchin

Ancient eggshells and a hoard of crystals reveal early human innovation and ritual in the Kalahari (https://theconversation.com/ancient-eggshells-and-a-hoard-of-crystals-reveal-early-human-innovation-and-ritual-in-the-kalahari-154191)

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The archaeological site at a rock shelter in South Africa’s Kalahari Desert. More than 100,000 years ago, people used the so-called Ga-Mohana Hill North Rockshelter for spiritual activities. (Photo by Jayne Wilkins)

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/research-shows-promising-development-hunt-hiv-vaccine/story?id=76904202

Research shows promising development in hunt for HIV vaccine

I was on the Zoom call of the announcement yesterday. It's important to note that neither of the two experimentalists nor the theorist who jointly made the presentation made any mention, yet alone claims, relating to a fifth force. That appears to come from a quote from the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council, not the Muon g-2 experiment at Fermilab.

Here's a Fermilab picture of Muon g-2. It is the answer to the question "Have I ever caused an interstate highway to be blocked for over four hours?" I was responsible for arranging the route to transport the ring from a barge to the laboratory in 2013.

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There was apparently more extensive (conjugal) mixing of the species than previously thought:

Interactions between early modern humans and Neanderthals were a lot more common than we thought (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/interactions-between-early-modern-humans-and-neanderthals-were-a-lot-more-common-than-we-thought/ar-BB1fE887?ocid=msedgntp)

I am so looking forward to the newest version of Jurassic Park if the creators faithfully incorporate the latest research into the movie.  It is going to look so different from what we have seen, what with feathered dinosaurs, and tyrannosaurs hunting in packs (so better resembling lions, saber-toothed cats, and wolves instead of tigers, jaguars, and leopards), among other updates:

Mass fossil site may prove tyrannosaurs lived in packs (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/mass-fossil-site-may-prove-tyrannosaurs-lived-in-packs/ar-BB1fPoCt?ocid=msedgntp)

And it looks like there were far more of them than anyone thought:

Billions of T. rex likely roamed the Earth, paleontologists report (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/billions-of-t-rex-likely-roamed-the-earth-paleontologists-report/ar-BB1fPxuP?ocid=msedgntp)

I'm actually surprised there are even people at that Fermi lab.

I thought it turned into a crack ghetto years ago and all the whiz kids were whisked off to Geneva.  

Note:  I am not insulting Chicago.  It's just that you rarely hear about the goings-on at Fermi in the news ever since the LHC went online.  

It is interesting that cattle is what united nearly all the ancient societies (including the predecessors of who would later become the Nubians, Egyptians, and Arabians) who dwelt in the lands now covered by desert from North Africa to the Arabian peninsula.  Goes to show just how radically different the landscape must have been during the Neolithic.

These mysterious stone structures in Saudi Arabia are older than the pyramids (https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/mysterious-stone-structures-saudi-arabia-are-older-pyramids-rcna805)
Researchers think the region’s "mustatils" form the oldest ritual landscape in the world. But exactly what they were for isn’t clear.

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AAKSA and Royal Commission for AlUla/Antiquity

According to researchers, it better resembled the open savannah that we are more accustomed to seeing in Kenya and Tanzania.

We're getting closer and closer to turning the world of Star Wars and Star Trek into reality:

Physicists Have Broken The Speed of Light With Pulses Inside Hot Plasma (https://www.sciencealert.com/pulses-of-light-can-break-the-universal-speed-limit-and-it-s-been-seen-inside-plasma)

The Oldest Known Spiral Galaxy Was Just Detected, And It Has Some Surprises For Us (https://www.sciencealert.com/at-the-age-of-12-4-billion-years-bri-1335-0417-is-the-oldest-known-spiral-galaxy)


And check out this computer simulation of how a spiral galaxy forms:

Researchers see atoms at record resolution (https://phys.org/news/2021-05-atoms-resolution.html)


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^{This image shows an electron ptychographic reconstruction of a praseodymium orthoscandate (PrScO3) crystal, zoomed in 100 million times.}

Science says we can never live as long as the Dúnedain:

Humans Could Live up to 150 Years, New Research Suggests (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/humans-could-live-up-to-150-years-new-research-suggests/)
A study counts blood cells and footsteps to predict a hard limit to our longevity

Although I think I read somewhere that the average Dúnedain (who weren't of royal blood) generally had lifespans short of 200 years, so we aren't that far off from them potentially, assuming all goes well in our lives...  

Question about technology/and on about a science fiction story.

Some people who know about the history of computers know about this, otherwise, not so much.

In 1946, Will F. Jenkins, under the pen name Murray Leinster, had published in the pulp magazine Astounding Science Fiction, a short story called "A Logic Named Joe."

This is the short story:
http://www.baen.com/chapters/W200506/0743499107___2.htm

1.This short story, written before television came into common use, is not only one of the few works of science fiction to predict personal computers and the internet, it does so with fairly stunning accuracy:
"Or you punch "Sally Hancock's Phone" an' the screen blinks an' sputters an' you're hooked up with the logic in her house an' if somebody answers you got a vision-phone connection. But besides that, if you punch for the weather forecast or who won today's race at Hialeah or who was mistress of the White House durin' Garfield's administration or what is PDQ and R sellin' for today, that comes on the screen too. The relays in the tank do it. The tank is a big buildin' full of all the facts in creation an' all the recorded telecasts that ever was made—an' it's hooked in with all the other tanks all over the country—an' everything you wanna know or see or hear, you punch for it an' you get it. Very convenient. Also it does math for you, an' keeps books, an' acts as consultin' chemist, physicist, astronomer, an' tea-leaf reader, with a "Advice to the Lovelorn" thrown in."

The only thing not mentioned is the interactivity the internet has led to.

2.It even mentions the major societal changes the internet has led to:
"Shut down the tank?" he says, mirthless. "Does it occur to you, fella, that the tank has been doin' all the computin' for every business office for years? It's been handlin' the distribution of ninety-four per cent of all telecast programs, has given out all information on weather, plane schedules, special sales, employment opportunities and news; has handled all person-to-person contacts over wires and recorded every business conversation and agreement— Listen, fella! Logics changed civilization. Logics are civilization! If we shut off logics, we go back to a kind of civilization we have forgotten how to run!

He smiles a haggard smile at me and snaps off. And I sit down and put my head in my hands. It's true. If something had happened back in cave days and they'd hadda stop usin' fire— If they'd hadda stop usin' steam in the nineteenth century or electricity in the twentieth— It's like that. We got a very simple civilization. In the nineteen hundreds a man would have to make use of a typewriter, radio, telephone, teletypewriter, newspaper, reference library, encyclopedias, office files, directories, plus messenger service and consulting lawyers, chemists, doctors, dieticians, filing clerks, secretaries—all to put down what he wanted to remember an' to tell him what other people had put down that he wanted to know; to report what he said to somebody else and to report to him what they said back. All we have to have is logics. Anything we want to know or see or hear, or anybody we want to talk to, we punch keys on a logic. Shut off logics and everything goes skiddoo."

3.This is the most interesting part for me though, could say quantum computers actually do things like this:
"It is a matter of record that part of the Mid-Western Electric research guys had been workin' on cold electron-emission for thirty years, to make vacuum tubes that wouldn't need a power source to heat the filament. And one of those fellas was intrigued by the "Ask your logic" flash. He asked how to get cold emission of electrons. And the logic integrates a few squintillion facts on the physics data plates and tells him."  

Southern Ocean officially declared as fifth in the world: National Geographic (https://www.wionews.com/world/southern-ocean-officially-declared-as-fifth-in-the-world-national-geographic-393579)

Not really. The article itself says so.

I’d also recommend this video:
https://youtu.be/mTf4eqdQXpA

Don't know where to put this, so I'll put this here.

Climate change: Large-scale CO2 removal facility set for Scotland
 (https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-57588248)

You will never look at dirt quite the same again:

Neandertal DNA from cave mud shows two waves of migration across Eurasia (https://www.sciencenews.org/article/neandertal-dna-cave-mud-migration-eurasia)
Genetic material left behind in sediments could yield troves of data

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Sediments from the Galería de las Estatuas cave (pictured) in Spain contain Neandertal DNA. That genetic material is helping researchers piece together the migration history of these ancient hominids.
JAVIER TRUEBA/MADRID SCIENTIFIC FILMS

Scientists show a single catalyst can perform the first step of turning CO2 into fuel in two very different ways (https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/924605)
Their work aims to bridge two approaches to driving the reaction – one powered by heat, the other by electricity – with the goal of discovering more efficient and sustainable ways to convert carbon dioxide into useful products.

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Greg Stewart/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Important step towards nuclear fusion! (https://phys.org/news/2021-08-nuclear-scientists-hail-fusion-breakthrough.amp)

S******g bricks? Nah, I prefer pissing bricks out.  8)

Cosmic concrete developed from space dust and astronaut blood (https://phys.org/news/2021-09-cosmic-concrete-space-astronaut-blood.html)


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Does everyone remember the 'Great Oxidation Event (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Oxidation_Event)' we all learned about in science class that made it possible for creatures like us to exist?  Now it is being theorized that volcanic eruptions are what got that ball rolling:

Volcanic eruptions may have spurred first ‘whiffs’ of oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere (https://www.washington.edu/news/2021/08/25/volcanic-eruptions-may-have-spurred-first-whiffs-of-oxygen-in-earths-atmosphere/)

New photos of Mercury.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-03/spacecraft-captures-first-glimpse-of-mercury/100510338

Enormous 'shipyard' of ancient galaxies discovered 11 billion light-years away (https://www.livescience.com/protocluster-shipyard-g237-confirmed)
A similar protocluster may have created our Milky Way.

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The G237 protocluster with its galaxies in different colors representing different wavelengths of observations. (Image credit: ESA/Herschel and XMM-Newton; NASA/Spitzer; NAOJ/Subaru; Large Binocular Telescope; ESO/VISTA. Polletta, M. et al. 2021; Koyama, Y. et al. 2021)

Water Detected in Ancient, Distant Galaxy From The Beginnings of The Universe (https://www.sciencealert.com/water-has-been-detected-in-the-most-massive-galaxy-in-the-early-universe)

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Artist's impression of emission from water and carbon in SPT0311-58. (ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/S. Dagnello (NRAO))

Scientists, archaeologists, and linguists believe they have found the geographic source for those peoples speaking the ancestral tongues that gave rise to Mongolian, Turkish, Korean, and Japanese, among other Northeast Asian languages (those who spoke ancestral Chinese dialects were farming elsewhere along the Yellow River valley further south):

Japanese-Korean-Turkish language group traced to farmers in ancient China (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/japanese-korean-turkish-language-group-traced-to-farmers-in-ancient-china/ar-AAQy8Pp?ocid=msedgntp)

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source: carinteriordesign.net

Inb4 Emperor Xi uses this to justify claiming more territory

Earth's 1st continents may have appeared 750 million years earlier (https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/earths-1st-continents-appeared-750-million-years-earlier/story?id=81151311)

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Credit: Science Photo Library

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https://apnews.com/article/climate-science-california-butterflies-habitat-destruction-ffc90bc85fe95c60acc368e00966d025

How to read a jellyfish's mind (https://phys.org/news/2021-11-jellyfish-mind.html)

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^{Clytia hemisphaerica from the side. Credit: B. Weissbourd}

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20211209-experimental-mrna-vaccine-for-hiv-shows-promise-in-animals

Experimental mRNA vaccine for HIV shows promise in animals

It is expected to last for a decade.  Hopefully it will surpass that:

NASA Launches IXPE, a New X-ray Space Telescope (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/nasa-launches-ixpe-a-new-x-ray-space-telescope/)
The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer will probe the physics behind black holes, neutron stars and other dynamic cosmic objects

Its launch date is now Christmas Day (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/nasa-delays-james-webb-telescope-launch-due-to-poor-weather/ar-AAS3syz?ocid=msedgntp):

What The Giant James Webb Telescope Will See That Hubble Can't (https://in.mashable.com/science/25524/what-the-giant-james-webb-telescope-will-see-that-hubble-cant)
The invisible will become visible.

Shouldn't the name of this spacecraft be 'Icarus' instead?

NASA craft 'touches' sun for 1st time, dives into atmosphere (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/nasa-craft-touches-sun-for-1st-time-dives-into-atmosphere/ar-AAROw7t?ocid=msedgntp)

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source: the Independent (https://www.independent.co.uk/news/cape-canaveral-nasa-scientists-parker-solar-probe-johns-hopkins-university-b1976165.html)