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Rare eleventh-century astrolabe discovery reveals Islamic-Jewish scientific exchange

astrolabe islamic hebrew 11th century spain
© Federica GiganteThe Verona astrolabe.
The identification of an eleventh-century Islamic astrolabe bearing both Arabic and Hebrew inscriptions makes it one of the oldest examples ever discovered and one of only a handful known in the world. The astronomical instrument was adapted, translated, and corrected for centuries by Muslim, Jewish, and Christian users in Spain, North Africa, and Italy.

Dr. Federica Gigante, from Cambridge University's History Faculty, made the discoveries in a museum in Verona, Italy, and published them today in the journal Nuncius.

Dr. Gigante first came across a newly uploaded image of the astrolabe by chance on the website of the Fondazione Museo Miniscalchi-Erizzo. Intrigued, she asked them about it.

"The museum didn't know what it was and thought it might actually be fake," Dr. Gigante said. "It's now the single most important object in their collection."

Galaxy

Our solar system map may need an update — the Kuiper belt could be way bigger

Kuiper Belt
© NASA/SOFIA/Lynette CookAn illustration of the Kuiper Belt.
NASA's New Horizons mission, which encountered Pluto in 2015 is now riding through the deepest depths of the Kuiper Belt, is encountering a cosmic dust storm that hints there may be more going on in the outermost reaches of the solar system than we imagine.

Space is filled with dust formed of tiny particles just microns — millionths of a meter — in size. Much of the dust in our solar system is leftover residue from the formation of the planets, which was a violent affair that saw a multitude of objects smash into one another. Today, this ancient dust is also joined by fresh dust sputtered off the surfaces of asteroids and comets by micrometeorite impacts. This dust content, both fresh and ancient, gives rise to the enigmatic "Zodiacal light." The dust extends into the farthest reaches of the solar system. Astronomers still are not entirely sure of the make-up of this final frontier.

The Kuiper Belt (or the Kuiper-Edgeworth Belt, named after astronomers Gerard Kuiper and Kenneth Edgeworth, who independently proposed its existence) is so far away, and its icy inhabitants are so small and faint, that it wasn't until 1992 that the first Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) beyond Pluto was discovered. That discovery was made by University of Hawaii astronomers Dave Jewitt and Jane Luu. But since then, thousands of KBOs have been spotted, and astronomers have tentatively been able to begin mapping the outer solar system.

Brain

Neurons help flush waste out of brain during sleep

brain graphic blue waves
© Getty
Findings could lead to new approaches for Alzheimer's, other neurological conditions

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that brain cell activity during sleep is responsible for propelling fluid into, through and out of the brain, cleaning it of debris.

There lies a paradox in sleep. Its apparent tranquility juxtaposes with the brain's bustling activity. The night is still, but the brain is far from dormant. During sleep, brain cells produce bursts of electrical pulses that cumulate into rhythmic waves - a sign of heightened brain cell function.

But why is the brain active when we are resting?

Galaxy

A nova in the making: Will T Coronae Borealis pop in 2024?

A recurrent nova in action.
© NASAA recurrent nova in action.
If predictions are correct, a key outburst star could put on a show in early 2024.

If astronomers are correct, a familiar northern constellation could briefly take on a different appearance in 2024, as a nova once again blazes into prominence. The star in question is T Coronae Borealis, also referred to as the 'Blaze Star' or T CrB. Located in the corner of the constellation Corona Borealis or the Northern Crown, T CrB is generally at a quiescent +10th magnitude, barely discernible with binoculars... but once every 60 years, the star has flared briefly into naked eye visibility at around +2nd magnitude.
Finding T CrB in the sky.

Recycle

Recycling doesn't work—and the plastics industry knew it

plastic recycling
A Chinese laborer sorts plastic bottles in a village on the outskirts of Beijing in 2015.
The industry knew decades ago that recycling was never viable in the long term, and now we're all being poisoned by its product.

Hardly any plastics can be recycled. You'd be forgiven for not knowing that, given how much messaging Americans receive about the convenience of recycling old bottles and food containers — from the weekly curbside collections to the "chasing arrows" markings on food and beverage packaging. But here's the reality: Between 1990 and 2015, some 90 percent of plastics either ended up in a landfill, were burned, or leaked into the environment. Another recent study estimates that just 5 to 6 percent are successfully recycled.

While those numbers may surprise you, these sorts of statistics aren't news to the companies that produce plastics. For more than 30 years, the industry knew precisely how impractical it is to recycle them, according to a new report from the Center for Climate Integrity. A trade association called the Vinyl Institute concluded in a 1986 report that "recycling cannot be considered a permanent solid waste solution" to plastics, as it merely prolongs the time until an item is disposed of." Still, facing public backlash over the growing amount of plastics being incinerated and piling up in landfills, manufacturers and their lobbyists sold recycling as an easy solution, warding off potential legislation to ban or limit plastics.

Comment: Has there ever been a 'green' initiative that didn't turn out to be a scam?

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Info

Record-smashing Chinese maglev hyperloop train hits 387 mph and could someday outpace a plane

The T-Flight is a maglev train that hit a record-breaking speed of 387 mph on a short test track — but engineers want to double that rate so the train can carry passengers at speeds faster than if they were traveling by plane.
T-Flight Maglev
© CASICChina claims its T-Flight vacuum-tube maglev train has set a world speed record in prototype testing. It's eventually targeting at least 1,000 km/h, significantly quicker than an airliner.
China says its maglev hyperloop train has broken the world speed record in a test run, reaching a blistering 387 mph (623 km/h). Ultimately, its makers want to build a train more than three times as fast that will break the sound barrier and outpace airplanes.

The maglev train, dubbed the T-Flight, was built by the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC), New Atlas reported. Hyperloop trains work by pushing magnetically levitating pods through tunnels with very little air resistance.

The previous record holder for the fastest maglev train is the L0 Series SCMaglev in Japan, according to JRPass, which can hit a top speed of 375 mph (630 km/h).

To test the new train, CASIC built a track roughly 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) long in a low-pressure vacuum tube.

Moon

Upside-down Japanese 'Slim' lunar lander 'wakes up' , surviving freezing Moon night

moon lander slim japan upside down
© AXA/TAKARA TOMY/Sony Group/Doshisha University/ReutersAn apparent thruster failure had the Japanese moon probe 'Slim' land safely but upside down on the lunar surface.
It seems to be the season of crazy - but ultimately successful - moon landings.

A couple of days ago, American Nova-C 'Odysseus' managed a historical moon landing for a private company - but ended up lying on its side.

Now, the original space oddity, the upside-down Japanese SLIM lander, has 'woken up' from its formant stage during a second freezing lunar night, to the surprise and delight of mission controllers on Earth.

Japan's first moon lander has responded to a signal from Earth in what has been hailed as a "miracle" by the country's space agency.

Comment: Yahoo News adds:
Dr Barber said that future landers will need so-called 'active' thermal control - that is the ability to dissipate heat generated on board during the daytime, and then to change into a heat-conserving mode at night to prevent things getting too cold.

"The fact that Slim survived without such a complex design might give us clues as to how electronics really behaves on the Moon," he said. "Plus, we can look forward to more science from Slim!"

The landing in January made Jaxa only the fifth national space agency to achieve a soft touchdown on the Moon - after the US, the former Soviet Union, China and India.

Also in a post on X, Jaxa congratulated the team behind a US spacecraft, the Odysseus Moon lander, for making history on Thursday by becoming the first ever privately built and operated robot to complete a soft lunar touchdown.

Like Slim, it also landed awkwardly. Controllers at the operating company, Intuitive Machines, think their robot tipped on to its side at the moment of touchdown. Odysseus does, however, appear still to be functional and is communicating with Earth.

No pictures from the Odysseus mission at the surface have yet been released.



Info

3 new moons discovered around Uranus and Neptune

The International Astronomical Union has confirmed the existence of three currently unnamed moons — one around Uranus and two orbiting Neptune.
New Moons
© Getty ImagesNeptune (right) and Uranus (bottom left) have both gained at least one extra moon.
The solar system just got three new official residents — a trio of tiny moons, one of which orbits Uranus and two more that circle Neptune.

The three moons were all spotted several years ago but were recently confirmed by the International Astronomical Union's (IAU) Minor Planet Center — the organization responsible for naming new solar system objects such as moons, asteroids and comets. The new trio, which have been given numerical designations, will be given formal, literature and mythology-inspired names in the coming years.

Uranus' new moon, S/2023 U1, is only around 5 miles (8 kilometers) across, making it one of the smallest known moons around any of the eight planets in the solar system, alongside Mars' minute companion Deimos. The diminutive moon, which takes around 680 days to orbit around Uranus, brings the planet's total moon count to 28. Like the other Uranian moons, S/2023 U1 will eventually be named after a character from the plays of William Shakespeare, joining the likes of previously discovered moons such as Titania, Oberon and Puck.

Neptune's new satellites, S/2002 N5 and S/2021 N1, are around 14.3 miles (23 km) and 8.7 miles (14 km) wide respectively. S/2021 N1 takes around 9 years to orbit Neptune, while S/2002 N5 takes almost 27 years to orbit the furthest planet from the sun, which now has 16 known moons. Like other Neptunian moons, the newly recognized bodies will be named after the Nereids — the daughters of the sea god Nereus from Greek mythology.

The new moons were each spotted using ground-based telescopes, which is no mean feat considering their diminutive size and distance from our planet.

Attention

Forty years of trust in science drops after pandemic

The brand-name of science is being trashed

Trust in science continues to fall. The disillusionment with the Covid response has spread to science in general. Anthony Fauci said "trust the science" then showed us how untrustworthy science was. SARS-2 definitely wasn't a lab-leak, except it probably was; the vaccine was 95% effective, except everyone caught covid, and the data was world's best practice but the FDA fought tooth and nail to stop us seeing it until 2076.

These results are terrible: despite respondents being surrounded by hi-tech cars, phones, food and gadgets which were all impossible without science, only 57% of people now think science has has a "mostly positive" effect. That's 43% of the population who now think science hurts us as much as it helps (or is even worse).

The good name of science, created by two generations with antibiotics, satellites, and the moon-landing, has been exploited by name-calling parasites.

Pew research released this in November, calling it just "a decline":

Trust in Science
© Pew Research
What Pew didn't say was that these sort of surveys have been going on for years and this was the biggest fall in forty years.

A similar survey set by the National Science Foundation has been running since 1979, and year after year, found that between 68% and 79% of Americans used to think the benefits of science outweighed the negatives.

It's been remarkably consistent for four decades but we're in new territory now.

Display

'Quantum memory breakthrough' may lead to a quantum internet

A new technique in quantum storage that operates at room temperature could pave the way for a quantum internet.

quantum computer
© PM Images via Getty ImagesAs well as being faster, quantum communications are inherently secure — while classical communications can be intercepted or manipulated.
We're now one step closer to a "quantum internet" — an interconnected web of quantum computers — after scientists built a network of "quantum memories" at room temperature for the first time.

In their experiments, the scientists stored and retrieved two photonic qubits — qubits made from photons (or light particles) — at the quantum level, according to their paper published on Jan. 15 in the Nature journal, Quantum Information.

The breakthrough is significant because quantum memory is a foundational technology that will be a precursor to a quantum internet - the next generation of the World Wide Web.

Quantum memory is the quantum version of binary computing memory. While data in classical computing is encoded in binary states of 1 or 0, quantum memory stores data as a quantum bit, or qubit, which can also be a superposition of 1 and 0. If observed, the superposition collapses and the qubit is as useful as a conventional bit.

Quantum computers with millions of qubits are expected to be vastly more powerful than today's fastest supercomputers — because entangled qubits (intrinsically linked over space and time) can make many more calculations simultaneously.