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Pendulum may reveal gravity's secrets

Chris Lee
Ars Technica
Sat, 27 Jun 2020 20:08 UTC
Pendulum
© Getty Images/Christoph Burgstedt/Science Photo Library
Gravity is, at heart, a mystery. Yes, we can talk about curvature of space-time and perhaps make analogies with stretched rubber sheets. But we don't know why mass causes space-time to curve.

To put it another way, in our theory of gravity, matter is the scenery and space-time is both cast and stage crew. But matter's behavior is described by quantum mechanics, which takes space and time as a given. For quantum mechanics, space and time are the stage in which matter puts on the best show ever. How do we get these two theories to put on just one play?

Perhaps this is why the two theories simply do not get on — no show can have two lead actors, right? We may finally get to find out thanks to a new experimental device that may make it possible for both gravity and quantum mechanics to play lead roles.
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Galaxy

Deep space: Black hole merger suggests darkest components can create light


RT
Fri, 26 Jun 2020 15:54 UTC
Black holes and light
© File illustration M. Weiss/Chandra X -ray Center/GlobalLookPress
Analysis of a collision between two black holes in a distant region of space has revealed the existence of light, the first time such an association has been made with the phenomenon.

The merging of the two cosmic beasts was reported after a gravitational wave dubbed S190521g was detected in May 2019 by the twin Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) facilities in the US and the Virgo observatory in Italy.

Gravitational waves are caused by objects moving at very high speeds, such as when two black holes orbit and then merge with one another. Significant gravitational waves signal a curvature in space-time.

Remarkably, the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) at the Palomar Observatory in California, had its telescope focused on the same region of space at the same time - and detected an explosive flare in the vicinity. The research, published in astrophysics journal Physical Review Letters on Thursday, is the first record of light being associated with the collision of black holes.

The revelation could help prove the existing theory that black hole mergers occur regularly in regions of material known as 'accretion disks' surrounding supermassive black holes. Prior to the discovery, black holes were thought to merge in stellar graveyards, where there is little gas or dust that can heat up and glow.
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Info

Mysterious repeating FRB discovered coming from another galaxy

Meaghan MacSween
University of Toronto
Mon, 22 Jun 2020 05:14 UTC
CHIME and FRBs
© Photo courtesy CHIMEThe findings, described by U of T researcher Dongzi Li as "unexpected," are the first to demonstrate that repeating FRBs can burst predictably.
A Canadian-led team of astronomers, including researchers from the University of Toronto's Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics, has discovered that a repeating fast radio burst (FRB) originating from a nearby galaxy pulses at regular intervals.

Researchers with the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) Fast Radio Burst Collaboration used the CHIME telescope in British Columbia to show that the repeating radio source known as FRB 180916.J0158+65 - first discovered in 2018 by the same group - pulsates every 16.35 days.

The findings, described in a study published recently in Nature, are the first to demonstrate that repeating FRBs can burst predictably.

The finding was unexpected. "We were surprised by the fact that the FRB has regular activity on the time scale of weeks," said Dongzi Li, a PhD student at Dunlap and corresponding author of the paper. "Most people would expect it to be at much shorter time scales, like seconds or even milliseconds, from rotation of a compact star. Any explanation for a 16-day cycle is likely very different."
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Hearts

Humans and dogs have been sledding together for nearly 10,000 years

Jason Bittel
National Geographic
Thu, 25 Jun 2020 12:00 UTC
husky
© Katie Orlinsky, Nat Geo Image CollectionA team of sled dogs race on the Herbert Glacier, near Juneau, Alaska. This group of dog breeds has not interbred with wolves, a surprising discovery.
Greenland sled dogs, a fluffy, curly-tailed canine native to the harsh Arctic tundra, could be the oldest dog breed, according to the first study to take a deep dive into the animals' genetic history. The sled dog branch of the family tree, which includes various types of huskies and malamutes, broke off from the rest of the dogs around 9,500 years ago, versus something like a labradoodle, which only became a breed in 1989.

Scientists know that dogs likely evolved from Eurasian wolves, but exactly when or where that transformation took place is a matter of great mystery. To better understand the genetics of sled dogs and their place in the world, scientists sequenced the genome of a dog from Siberia's Zhokhov archaeological site, dating to around 9,500 years ago.

"I was actually anticipating that we would find some sort of precursor of domestic dogs," says lead author Mikkel-Holger Sinding, a paleogeneticist and Ph.D. student at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.

Comment: See also:

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Gear

Motions in the sun reveal inner workings of sunspot cycle

Max Planck Society
Phys.org
Thu, 25 Jun 2020 12:00 UTC
Helioseismology
© MPS (Z.-C. Liang)Helioseismology was used to measure the Sun's meridional flow (in miles per hour). This flow controls the evolution of the global magnetic field and the number of sunspots.
The sun's magnetic activity follows an 11-year cycle. Over the course of a solar cycle, the sun's magnetic activity comes and goes. During solar maximum, large sunspots and active regions appear on the sun's surface. Spectacular loops of hot plasma stretch throughout the sun's atmosphere and eruptions of particles and radiation shoot into interplanetary space. During solar minimum, the sun calms down considerably. A striking regularity appears in the so-called butterfly diagram, which describes the position of sunspots in a time-latitude plot. At the beginning of a solar cycle, sunspots emerge at mid-latitudes. As the cycle progresses, they emerge closer and closer to the equator. To explain this "butterfly diagram," solar physicists suspect that the deep magnetic field is carried toward the equator by a large-scale flow.

Comment: See also: And check out SOTT radio's:

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Snowflake Cold

Antarctica's Adélie penguins happier with less sea ice, research shows ice is growing

Research Organization of Information and Systems
Sci Tech Daily
Wed, 24 Jun 2020 12:00 UTC
penguins
© Yuuki Watanabe (National Institute of Polar Research, Japan)Adélie penguins in Lützow-Holm Bay, Antarctica, enjoy easy access to food and increase body weight and breeding success in ice-free summer.
Researchers have been surprised to find that Adélie penguins in Antarctica prefer reduced sea-ice conditions, not just a little bit, but a lot. As climate models project rapid reduction of the continent's sea ice over the rest of the century, this iconic polar predator could be a rare global warming winner. Their research findings are published today (June 24, 2020) in Science Advances.

In recent decades, Antarctica has experienced a steady increase in the extent of its sea ice — frozen seawater — even as its polar twin, the Arctic, has suffered through a marked decrease. But this is not expected to last for much longer as the climate changes, with Antarctica also projected to see a decline in its sea ice, with all the consequences of such changes to the maritime habitat for the organisms that live there.


Comment: Relentless and baseless claims of global warming are debunked every year as the world, overall, gets cooler: Global cooling: Second largest 2-month temperature drop in history recorded by NOAA satellite


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Magnet

A global magnetic anomaly


Spaceweather.com
Fri, 26 Jun 2020 02:27 UTC
magnetic field graph
Lately, Earth's magnetic field has been quiet. Very quiet. The sun is in the pits of what may turn out to be the deepest Solar Minimum in a century. Geomagnetic storms just aren't happening.

"That's why I was so surprised on June 23rd when my instruments picked up a magnetic anomaly," reports Stuart Green, who operates a research-grade magnetometer in his backyard in Preston UK. "For more than 30 minutes, the local magnetic field oscillated like a sine wave."

Green quickly checked solar wind data from NOAA's DSCOVR satellite. "There was nothing-no uptick in the solar wind speed or other factors that might explain the disturbance," he says.

He wasn't the only one who noticed. In the Lofoten islands of Norway, Rob Stammes detected a similar anomaly on his magnetometer. "It was remarkable," says Stammes. "Our magnetic field swung back and forth by about 1/3rd of a degree. I also detected ground currents with the same 10 minute period."

What happened? Space physicists call this phenomenon a "pulsation continuous" or "Pc" for short. Imagine blowing across a piece of paper, making it flutter with your breath. Solar wind can have a similar effect on magnetic fields. Pc waves are essentially flutters propagating down the flanks of Earth's magnetosphere excited by the breath of the sun. During more active phases of the solar cycle, these flutters are easily lost in the noise of rambunctious geomagnetic activity. But during the extreme quiet of Solar Minimum, such waves can make themselves "heard" like a pin dropping in an silent room.

Comment: Earth's magnetic field is weakening for unexplained reason says ESA

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Attention

Billionaires invest in artificial milk

Carla Times
Science Times
Sat, 20 Jun 2020 10:16 UTC
BioMilq
© RNZ
A new and better breast milk alternative has arrived, and it claims to be helpful for the environment as well. The U.S. firm, BIOMILQ, is artificially producing human breast milk from cultured human mammary epithelial cells to be commercially available to consumers.

The start-up company has received $3.5 million from an investment fund that is co-founded by Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, and Mark Zuckerberg. The fund was established to help prevent the ill effects of climate change brought about by carbon emissions.

A Greener Infant Milk Alternative

Additionally, BIOMILQ aims to provide a greener alternative for formula milk as an estimated ten percent of the global dairy industry, which is a significant source of greenhouse gases, is used in manufacturing baby formula.

The firm claims to have developed a milk form that is easier for babies to digest than formula. Most importantly, it emits a smaller carbon footprint, which will help the environment.

It is unclear when BIOMILQ's artificial breast milk might become commercially available, but representatives from the firm say it would likely depend on the approval of regulatory bodies such as the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.
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Fireball 5

Impact of meteorites led to life-giving amino acids on Earth

Tetsuya Ishikura
The Asahi Shimbun
Thu, 25 Jun 2020 10:58 UTC
Meteorite Impact
© Provided byTohoku University associate professor Yoshihiro FurukawaAn illustration of how a meteorite struck Earth 4 billion years ago.
A simulation of how substances essential for living creatures were formed on Earth reinforces the theory that life started after meteorites rained down on the planet.

Living organisms are said to have emerged on Earth 4 billion years ago. A large number of meteorites are believed to have bombarded the planet 200 million years before and after the birth of life.

"Materials needed for the start of life may have been generated over long periods, offering a chance for life to appear," said Yoshihiro Furukawa, an associate professor of geochemistry at Tohoku University.

Furukawa and his colleagues primarily from the university put carbon dioxide, nitrogen, water and iron in a container to reproduce conditions of primordial times. The vessel was then struck with a piece of metal to simulate the impact from a meteorite.
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Better Earth

How water in the deep Earth triggers earthquakes and tsunamis


University of Bristol
Wed, 24 Jun 2020 12:00 UTC
Earthquake
© Reuters / Ismail CoskunRescuers work on collapsed buildings after an earthquake in Elazig, Turkey, January 25, 2020.
In a new study, published in the journal Nature, an international team of scientists provide the first conclusive evidence directly linking deep Earth's water cycle with magmatic productivity and earthquake activity.

Water (H2O) and other volatiles (e.g. CO2 and sulphur) that are cycled through the deep Earth have played a key role in the evolution of our planet, including in the formation of continents, the onset of life, the concentration of mineral resources, and the distribution of volcanoes and earthquakes.

Subduction zones, where tectonic plates converge and one plate sinks beneath another, are the most important parts of the cycle - with large volumes of water going in and coming out, mainly through volcanic eruptions. Yet, just how (and how much) water is transported via subduction, and its effect on natural hazards and the formation of natural resources, has historically been poorly understood.

Comment: See also:

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