Science & TechnologyS


Attention

Weakening of Earth's magnetic field probed


Sputnik News
Mon, 15 Jun 2020 18:27 UTC
Earth’s magnetic field
© Aubert et al./IPGP/CNRS Photo libraryA simulation of the Earth’s magnetic field.
Geophysicists have been puzzling over a gradual weakening of the Earth's magnetic field in an area stretching from Africa to South America, which has resulted in technical disturbances in satellites orbiting Earth.

Scientists have resorted to data from the European Space Agency's (ESA) Swarm constellation to probe the disturbing weakening of Earth's magnetic field in the area known as the "South Atlantic Anomaly".

Jurgen Matzka, from the German Research Centre for Geosciences, and a team of experts from the Swarm Data, Innovation and Science Cluster (DISC) have been using data from ESA's Swarm satellite constellation to identify and measure the different magnetic signals that comprise Earth's magnetic field.
"The new, eastern minimum of the South Atlantic Anomaly has appeared over the last decade and in recent years is developing vigorously. We are very lucky to have the Swarm satellites in orbit to investigate the development of the South Atlantic Anomaly. The challenge now is to understand the processes in Earth's core driving these changes," said Matzka.
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Bullseye

The human body provides biomimetic inspiration


Evolution News
Mon, 15 Jun 2020 18:02 UTC
venus de milo head
© Livioandronico2013 / CC BY-SA.Venus de Milo
As symbols of the perfection of human form, one might consider the Venus de Milo or Michelangelo's David. But those don't show the insides, where exceptional designs can be found. As physiologists gain deeper knowledge at smaller and smaller scales, down to the cellular and molecular levels, they find an abundance of design inspirations. Here are some of the most recent examples that have come to light.

Hair

Scientists at Queensland University have made carbon nanodots out of human hair. Carbon nanodots are "highly luminescent carbon nanomaterial from which flexible light-emitting devices" can be fabricated. To produce the carbon nanodots, "they developed a two-step process that involved breaking down the hairs and then burning them at 240 degrees Celsius." Now isn't that a clever way to put wasted hair to use? Think of all that hair being swept up on the floors of barber shops and beauty salons. Why not make light of it?
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Rocket

SpaceX launches 58 Starlink satellites and 3 Planet SkySats, nails rocket landing

Amy Thompson
Space.com
Sat, 13 Jun 2020 15:42 UTC
rocket launch arc
© SpaceX
SpaceX successfully launched its first rideshare mission into orbit today (June 13), lofting a new batch of 58 Starlink internet satellites along with three small Earth-observation satellites before nailing a Falcon 9 rocket landing at sea.

It was a mostly clear morning, with just a few clouds above the launch pad here at Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at liftoff. Onlookers were treated to an awesome view in the predawn sky — the glow from the rocket's engines were visible well into the flight as it launched at 5:21 a.m. EDT (0921 GMT).

The exhaust from the rocket was illuminated by the sun, which was just below the horizon. The resulting cloud appeared as a nebula hanging in the sky.

"Liftoff of Falcon 9 and Starlink ocho," a SpaceX launch commentator said, referring to the mission's Starlink 8 in Spanish.

The launch is the second Starlink mission so far this month, with one more on the schedule for no earlier than June 22. SpaceX is taking advantage of its fleet of flight-proven Falcon 9 boosters, with plans of launching a record four times in June.
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Attention

Norwegian scientist claims coronavirus was lab-made and 'not natural in origin'

Nickie Louise
TechStartups
Sun, 07 Jun 2020 06:10 UTC
COVID19
© TechStartups
Just after we thought the question about the origin of coronavirus has been settled, a new study from Norwegian virologist Birger Sørensen is now reigniting the debate about the possible origin of the deadly coronavirus. In a new peer-reviewed paper published together with Professor Angus Dalgleish of St George's Hospital at the University of London, Sorensen claimed the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is not natural in origin.

According to the study, which was published in the Quarterly Review of Biophysics, the authors found that the coronavirus's spike protein contains sequences that appear to be artificially inserted. "The inserted sequences should never have been published. Had it been today, it would never have happened. It was a big mistake the Chinese made. The inserted sequences have a functionality that we describe. We explain why they are essential. But the Chinese pointed to them first," Sørensen told the NRK.

The eye opening claims also found that the virus had been doctored to bind to humans: "We are aware that these findings could have political significance and raise troubling questions." The two researchers also pointed out that the virus has hardly mutated since it began to infect humans, suggesting that it was already fully adapted to humans. According to Sørensen, this is quite unusual for viruses that cross species barriers. According to Sørensen, the virus has properties that differ greatly from SARS, and which have never been detected in nature.
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Fireball

Pro-science skeptic Dr. Marc Defant recants, now supports Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis

George Howard
The Cosmic Tusk
Mon, 08 Jun 2020 21:14 UTC
hancock defant
Dr. Marc Defant did a great thing this morning by announcing on Twitter and his blog that he had come around to support the Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis. As I told Marc, my respect for his intellectual integrity soared when I saw his tweet:


Defant's reversal on the YDIH after his public skepticism is good science in action. Unlike politics, where people pick sides (and stick to them come what may), Marc clearly operates according to the best traditions and underpinnings of reason, where any position is subject to persuasion given sufficient data and appropriate interpretation.

In an admirable twist, Marc credits his reassessment of the Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis to a recommendation from his Joe Rogan debate adversary, Graham Hancock, to read a recent book by James Laurence Powell. It's not surprising that Defant was persuaded by the book. Dr. Powell is also a former YDIH skeptic, and Deadly Voyager has become the essential read for the subject. (Unless you care to pick your way through every paper on The Bib.)

Good for Dr. Defant, good for the YDIH, and good for Science — the system works!
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Microscope 1

SARS antibodies found to block coronavirus infections, study shows

Cynthia Dizikes
San Francisco Chronicle
Thu, 11 Jun 2020 00:09 UTC
blood samples coronavirus covid-19
© Stephen Lam, Special to The ChronicleVials of blood samples are seen on a rack during a baseline visit for a UCSF study to better understand the virus' effect on the human body after recovery, at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center in San Francisco, on May 22, 2020.
Antibodies from people who recovered from SARS — a deadly respiratory disease caused by a coronavirus that emerged nearly 20 years ago — may be critical to fighting COVID-19, according to a study in the journal Nature.

The peer-reviewed paper reveals how an antibody discovered in a person infected by the severe acute respiratory syndrome virus in 2003 acted as a potent blocker against SARS-CoV-2, the closely related coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

A team of international researchers, including scientists from San Francisco's Vir Biotechnology and the University of Washington, conducted the study, which was published in May.

Their finding is part of a ballooning area of inquiry by researchers, universities and drug companies around the world, and in the Bay Area, to develop antibody treatments for COVID-19, and to prevent people from getting sick in the first place.
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Boat

Maritime mystery: Is the growing South Atlantic Anomaly causing ships to sail in circles, unable to steer?

Alexander Martin
Sky News
Thu, 04 Jun 2020 14:47 UTC
Oil Tanker Willowy, south atlantic anomaly, ships circling
Something bizarre happened to an oil tanker sailing near Cape Town on Sunday - ships were sailing in circles, unable to steer.
In the early hours of Sunday 31 May, senior officers aboard the oil tanker Willowy were called to the bridge to be told that their ship and four others in its vicinity were mysteriously sailing in circles, unable to steer, and on course to converge.

It must be easy to panic at sea. The immediate presumption was that strong currents were pushing the vessels around, but there were no such currents where the ships were sailing in the south Atlantic Ocean, west of the South African city of Cape Town.

Ships appearing to sail in circles have become an increasingly common and mysterious phenomenon near a number of ports on the coast of China, especially near oil terminals and government facilities - but nothing had been seen where the Willowy was.

Researchers monitoring these bizarre circles near the Chinese coast believe they are probably the result of systematic GPS manipulation designed to undermine a tracking system which all commercial ships are required to use under international law.

Known as AIS (automated identification system), the technology broadcasts unique identifiers from each vessel - along with the vessel's GPS location, course and speed - to other ships nearby.

These signals are even collected by satellites and used to monitor suspicious behaviour, including smuggling, illegal fishing, and - most relevantly - trade in sanctioned oil.

Comment: See also:

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Microscope 1

Human eggs prefer some men's sperm over others, research shows

Stockholm University
Phys.org
Tue, 09 Jun 2020 18:50 UTC
bean sprouts, egg and sperm
© CC0 Public Domain
Human eggs use chemical signals to attract sperm. New research from Stockholm University and Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust shows that eggs use these chemical signals to choose sperm. Different women's eggs attract different men's sperm — and not necessarily their partner's.

Humans spend a lot of time and energy choosing their partner. A new study by researchers from Stockholm University and Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) shows that choosing your partner continues even after sex — human eggs can "choose" sperm.

"Human eggs release chemicals called chemoattractants that attract sperm to unfertilized eggs. We wanted to know if eggs use these chemical signals to pick which sperm they attract," said John Fitzpatrick, an Associate Professor at Stockholm University.

The researchers examined how sperm respond to follicular fluid, which surrounds eggs and contains sperm chemoattractants. The researchers wanted to find out if follicular fluids from different females attracted sperm from some males more than others.
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Sun

Ancient mud reveals reason for sudden collapse of Mayan Empire

Sarah Sloat
Inverse
Mon, 06 Aug 2018 12:22 UTC
Mayan temple
© Happy Star/Shutterstock
The empire took thousands of years to build and just 100 years to collapse.

During their 3,000-year dominance over Mesoamerica, the Mayans built elaborate architectural structures and developed a sophisticated, technologically progressive society. But immediately after reaching the peak of its powers over the entire Yucatan Peninsula, the Mayan Empire collapsed, falling apart in just 150 years. The reasons for its sudden demise remain a mystery, but in a new Science study, scientists find clues buried deep in the mud of Lake Chichancanab.

Deforestation, overpopulation, and extreme drought have all been proposed as the reason for the empire's collapse. The most probable of those, argue the University of Cambridge and University of Florida scientists in the new study, is drought. The evidence they gathered in the muddy sediments underlying Lake Chichancanab, which was once a part of the empire, underscore the devastating power of a drought on a population.
Lake Chichancanab
© Mark BrennerLake Chichancanab

Comment: See also: SOTT Exclusive: A 'Blue Hole,' a cosmic connection and the demise of the Maya

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Info

Giant structures deep beneath Earth's surface discovered

Donna Lu
New Scientist
Thu, 11 Jun 2020 18:25 UTC
Marquesas Islands
© Michael Runkel / AlamyDeep beneath the Marquesas Islands in the South Pacific is a giant structure near Earth’s core
Seismic wave data has revealed giant structures 2900 kilometres beneath the surface of Earth, at the boundary between Earth's molten core and solid mantle.

Analysing data from hundreds of major earthquakes, Doyeon Kim at the University of Maryland and his colleagues have found a new structure beneath the volcanic Marquesas Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. The structure, known as an ultra-low velocity (ULV) zone, is about 1000 kilometres in diameter and 25 kilometres thick, says Kim.

These structures are called ULV zones because seismic waves pass through them at slower velocities, but what they are made of is still a mystery. They might be chemically distinct from Earth's iron-nickel alloy core and silicate rock mantle, or have different thermal properties.

The researchers discovered the structure while analysing 7000 records of seismic activity from earthquakes that occurred around the Pacific Ocean basin between 1990 and 2018. The earthquakes all had a magnitude of 6.5 or greater, and were all deeper than 200 kilometres below Earth's surface.
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