Science & TechnologyS


Blue Planet

Is Natural Law irreducible?

Stephen J. Iacoboni
Evolution News
Tue, 02 Apr 2024 15:51 UTC
Seashells display the Fibonacci sequence
Seashells display a Golden Spiral
Perhaps the most fundamental distinction between naturalism and intelligent design is where each metaphysical framework draws the line at irreducibility. Leading intelligent design theorists Michael Behe, William Dembski, and Stephen Meyer, for example, have asserted that the specified complexity of living systems cannot be reduced to natural law. Scientific atheists, aka naturalists, deny this, insisting that what is truly irreducible is natural law itself. That is, scientific atheism is based on the belief that all of reality ultimately reduces to matter and energy, and the natural law that governs the interactions between them.

Naturalism, aka materialism, aka scientism, rests irrevocably on that discrete metaphysical position. Without it, the edifice of scientism or naturalism must collapse. In writing at Evolution News on the science of purpose, my goal has been to deconstruct that foundational assertion. The next step in that undertaking is to demonstrate the reducibility of natural law itself.
Read More...
Cassiopaea

Most massive stellar black hole in the Milky Way discovered 'extremely close' to Earth

Ben Turner
Live Science
Tue, 16 Apr 2024 15:42 UTC
black hole star companion artist illustration
© ESO/L. CalçadaAn artist's illustration of the black hole and its orbiting star.
Astronomers found the most massive stellar-mass black hole in the galaxy after spotting a star "wobbling" nearby. The baby monster is the 2nd-closest black hole to Earth ever detected.

Astronomers have found the most massive stellar-mass black hole ever discovered in our galaxy — and it's lurking "extremely close" to Earth, according to new research.

The black hole, named Gaia BH3, is 33 times more massive than our sun. Cygnus X-1, the next-biggest stellar black hole known in our galaxy, weighs only 21 solar masses. The newfound black hole is located roughly 2,000 light-years away in the constellation Aquila, making it the second-closest known black hole to Earth.

The researchers published their findings April 16 in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.
Read More...
Life Preserver

Rogue waves: Southern Ocean expedition reveals wind as key cause, phenomenon occurs more frequently than thought

University of Melbourne
Phys.org
Mon, 15 Apr 2024 11:54 UTC
rogue wave ship
© Professor Alessandro Toffoli
A University of Melbourne expedition to the southernmost waters encircling Antarctica has discovered that wind drives the formation of colossal rogue waves, and that these unpredictable waves occur more frequently than scientists had previously thought — providing critical information to inform future rogue wave prediction models.

A rogue wave is a single swell that is much higher than nearby waves, which can damage ships or coastal infrastructure. Ocean waves are among the most powerful natural forces on Earth, and as global trends suggest ocean winds will blow harder because of climate change, ocean waves could become more powerful.


Comment: As if the global shipping industry, and the supply chains we all rely on, needed any other threats to contend.

It's also notable that aircraft have reported a 37% increase in turbulence in the last 40 years.


In a study published in Physical Review Letters, the research team led by Professor Alessandro Toffoli found that rogue waves emerge from strong wind forces and unpredictable waveform patterns, confirming an idea previously only demonstrated in laboratory experiments.

Comment: See also:

Read More...
Light Sabers

UK scrambles to fit DragonFire laser 'death ray' onto warships

Mark Nicol
Daily Mail
Fri, 12 Apr 2024 12:56 UTC
dragonfire laser uk
© CopyrightThe advanced weapon pictured being trialled at the MOD's Hebrides Range. It is hoped the newest weapon will help combat the threat of Russian missiles and drones.
Military chiefs are to rush devastating laser guns into service to meet the threat posed by Russian drones and missiles.


Comment: Meanwhile what's actually proving to be a problem for the UK is Yemen's drone warfare in the Red Sea.


Royal Artillery troops will test the revolutionary 'DragonFire' weaponry, which burns holes through incoming enemy ordnance, during the summer.

The sudden urgency to roll out a suite of 'directed energy weapons' follows the Kremlin's alarming effective use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in Ukraine.

British soldiers will also experiment with radio frequency weapons capable of firing magnetic pulses at enemy targets thereby cutting off their power supplies.

Comment: Whatever could go wrong?

Read More...
No Entry

Defunct Russian satellite escapes crash with US Timed satellite by just 10 metres

Heena Sharma
WION
Thu, 11 Apr 2024 15:27 UTC
Nasa’s timed satellite
FILE: Artist’s impression of Nasa’s timed satellite in orbit
Russian spacecraft: The close call had NASA officials tense. This was because of the potential danger posed by debris if the two crafts had collided. Such an eventuality could pose a threat to the astronauts on board the International Space Station (ISS).

An American satellite, in a recent space scare, narrowly escaped destruction after a close encounter with a Russian spacecraft. Though the incident took place on February 28, officials only recently learned that the spacecraft came within a mere 10 metres of collision.

The near collision left NASA officials on edge as there were risks involved from the potential debris had the two craft hit each other. It could be dangerous for astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

Comment: However it's not just satellite particulates that are a cause for concern, because back in 2023: Russia to launch mission to rescue stranded ISS crew after meteoroid strike

It's also particularly notable considering how back in 2022: Minor geomagnetic storm brings 40 recently launched Starlink satellites crashing down to earth

See also:
SpaceX is reportedly building hundreds of spy satellites for the US government

Read More...
Microscope 2

Mediterranean marine worm has developed eyes "as big as millstones"


Science Communications
Wed, 10 Apr 2024 19:42 UTC
The Vanadis bristle wormMediterranean marine
© Michael BokThe Vanadis bristle worm
The Vanadis bristle worm has eyes as big as millstones - relatively speaking. Indeed, if our eyes were proportionally as big as the ones of this Mediterranean marine worm, we would need a big sturdy wheelbarrow and brawny arms to lug around the extra 100kg.

As a set, the worm's eyes weigh about twenty times as much as the rest of the animal's head and seem grotesquely out of place on this tiny and transparent marine critter. As if two giant, shiny red balloons have been strapped to its body.

Vanadis bristle worms, also known as polychaetes, can be found around the Italian island of Ponza, just west of Naples. Like some of the island's summertime partiers, the worms are nocturnal and out of sight when the sun is high in the sky. So what does this polychaete do with its walloping peepers after dark? And what are they good for?

Comment: Indeed.

Read More...
Brain

New analytic technique sheds light on memory and learning


The Rockefeller University
Mon, 08 Apr 2024 19:27 UTC
neurons dendrites memory formation
© iStock.com via koto_fejaActivity taking place within the dendrites that branch off of neuron cell bodies is key to memory formation.
Less than twenty minutes after finishing this article, your brain will begin to store the information that you've just read in a coordinated burst of neuronal activity. Underpinning this process is a phenomenon known as dendritic translation, which involves an uptick in localized protein production within dendrites, the spiny branches that project off the neuron cell body and receive signals from other neurons at synapses. It's a process key to memory — and its dysfunction is linked to intellectual disorders.

That makes the inner workings of dendritic translation a "holy grail for understanding memory formation," says Rockefeller's Robert B. Darnell, whose team just published a study in Nature Neuroscience describing a new platform capable of identifying the specific regulatory mechanisms that drive dendritic translation. The team leveraged a method, dubbed TurboID, to discover an entire suite of previously unknown factors in memory formation, revealing now mechanisms that underlie how protein synthesis in dendrites contributes to learning and memory. The findings may also have implications for intellectual disabilities, such as Fragile X syndrome.
Read More...
X

New paper finds effect of human-caused carbon emissions on climate is 'non-discernible'

Chris Morrison
The Daily Sceptic
Mon, 08 Apr 2024 07:00 UTC
group
© screenshotFists Raised!
Every now and then, a giant of modern science should be allowed to express himself in language that we all understand. In the informative Climate: The Movie, the 2022 Nobel physics laureate Dr. John Clauser thundered:
"I assert there is no connection whatsoever between climate change and CO2 - it's all a crock of crap, in my opinion."
While not expressing himself in such forthright terms, the Greek scientist Professor Demetris Koutsoyiannis might agree. He recently published a paper that argues it is the recent expansion of a more productive biosphere that has led to increased CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere and greening of the Earth. It is widely argued that changing atmospheric carbon isotopes prove that most if not all recent warming is caused by the 4% human contribution from burning hydrocarbons, but such anthropogenic involvement is dismissed by Koutsoyiannis as "non-discernible". Koutsoyiannis is Professor Emeritus of Hydrology and Analysis of Hydrosystems at the National Technical University of Athens.
Read More...
Biohazard

Is your DNA an EMF antenna?

Scottie
ScottiesTech.Info
Tue, 09 Apr 2024 09:46 UTC
DNA fractal antenna
There are hundreds and hundreds of studies showing that our wireless wonderland of EMF is not good for our health.

But you might ask: Well, HOW?

When we say "EMF", we're talking about many different types of electromagnetic waves, different frequencies, different power levels, and so on.

How could it possibly work?!

It turns out that the answer may very well be in our DNA!
Read More...
Beaker

Inside the 20-year quest to unravel the bizarre realm of 'quantum superchemistry'

Sam Lemonick
Live Science
Fri, 29 Mar 2024 08:06 UTC
Quantum superchemistry
© koto_feja via Getty ImagesQuantum superchemistry is a strange phenomenon in which particles undergo collective chemical reactions. It was finally demonstrated in 2023, when ultra-cold cesium atoms were converted to cesium molecules, and then back again.
Chemistry depends on heat.

Atoms or molecules bounce around randomly, collide, and form other molecules. At higher temperatures, atoms collide more and the rate at which atoms become molecules increases. Below a certain temperature, the reaction won't happen at all.

But something very weird happens at the lowest temperatures. In this extreme cold, there is essentially no heat energy, yet chemical reactions happen faster than they do at high temperatures.

The phenomenon is called quantum superchemistry. And it was finally demonstrated last year, more than 20 years after physicists first proposed it.
Read More...