Science & TechnologyS


Moon

Space agency chief says Russia planning for permanent lunar base by 2030's


RT
Fri, 02 Nov 2018 14:17 UTC
lunar eclipse
© Peter Hartenfelser/Global Look PressLunar eclipse
Russia's plans for moon exploration are to be updated within two weeks, but Moscow still wants to have a permanent base on its surface, the head of Russian space agency Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin said.

Rogozin, who was appointed Russia's space chief in May, announced the looming lunar changes in an interview with RIA Novosti, as he was outlining his plans for a major overhaul of the space industry.

"We expect the suggestions from the Academy of Sciences and the Science and Technology Council of Roscosmos to come very soon. Within two weeks they are expected to present their vision for exploring the Moon," he said. He didn't offer further details about how the program may change, but said plans for a surface base would remain in it.

Comment: Russia doesn't need to play 'second fiddle' to the US in space exploration as others are willing to collaborate for mutual benefits:

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UFO

Israeli astronomers speculate that asteroid 'Oumuamua' could actually be alien craft


RT
Sat, 03 Nov 2018 14:30 UTC
asteriod probe
© Reuters / Handout
Interstellar mystery rock Oumuamua might have been part of an alien reconnaissance mission, according to two Harvard Smithsonian astronomers who saw in the strange object signs it could be a light-driven probe.

As the strange rock moved out of our solar system last September, it sped up instead of slowing down as would be expected. Observers dismissed the acceleration as the result of a release of gas from within the rock, but astronomers Shmuel Bialy and Abraham Loeb are rethinking the whole matter, reasoning that if Oumuamua had merely been a comet undergoing outgassing, the release would have set the object to spinning. Instead, it remained flat, and the astronomers believe that could be by design.

Oumuamua could be "powered" by the force exerted on its surface by sunlight, Bialy and Loeb concluded. Such a means of "power" would allow, say, an alien probe to travel far into the universe with nothing but light needed to fuel it. While there's a possibility that the object is merely an abnormally thin, extremely large naturally-occurring piece of interstellar rock - it didn't emit any radio signals detectable by human instruments - they speculate that it could be a defunct light-sail, space detritus fallen from a long-gone ship.

Comment: You know you're in a new reality when published papers are open to High Strangeness!

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Archaeology

Study reconstructs Neanderthal ribcage, offering new clues to ancient human anatomy and functioning

Katherine J. Wu
PBS Nova
Tue, 30 Oct 2018 20:11 UTC
kebara neanderthal skeleton fossil
© Nicolas Perrault III, Wikimedia CommonsA replica of the Kebara 2 skeleton, which boasts the most complete thorax of any Neanderthal remains discovered to date. Kebara 2 was about 30 years old when he died, approximately 60,000 years ago.
Researchers used modern technology to virtually reconstruct a 60,000-year-old Neanderthal rib cage, potentially shedding light on how these hominids interacted with their environment.

We are not Neanderthals. At the same time, we're not all that different. Like our own Homo sapiens ancestors, Neanderthals made use of stone tools and fire. They may have buried their dead and cared for the sick. Neanderthals even mingled their DNA with ours. For many, these sexual encounters paint an odd portrait of a union between our Homo sapiens predecessors and their stooped, brutish caveman rivals. But more and more, it's becoming clear that our conception of Neanderthals needs a reboot: they're much closer to us than we once believed.

Today, a new discovery further blurs the boundaries between us modern humans and these people of the past. With the first 3D virtual reconstruction of the Neanderthal rib cage, an international team of scientists shows these archaic humans not only stood upright, but also may have breathed and moved in ways that differed only subtly from modern humans.
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Brain

Scientists identify part of brain that inhibits fear, hope for PTSD breakthrough


RT
Fri, 02 Nov 2018 10:44 UTC
Brain
© U.S. Air Force
Scientists have found the part of the brain that inhibits fear, a breakthrough that could help with the treatment of PTSD and other psychiatric issues.

A team from Texas A&M University identified a region of the thalamus, called the nucleus reuniens, which inhibited fear in rats. Their findings were published in Nature Communications.

Lead researcher Stephen Maren, a psychological and brain sciences at Texas A&M University, said the finding "points us to parts of the brain that are important for the inhibitory function of fear, which could be an avenue to new drugs, therapies, and interventions for psychiatric disorders."

Psychiatric disorders are currently treated with drugs that target all of the brain's neurons. A more targeted approach would be more beneficial.
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Fire

The deepest volcanic eruption ever documented left an amazing sight on the ocean floor

Maddie Stone
Gizmodo
Thu, 25 Oct 2018 13:31 UTC
volcano
© Courtesy Bill ChadwickA lava flow detected in the Mariana back-arc that’s evidence for the deepest historic eruption ever detected.
Sometimes science is all about being in the right place at the right time. Such was the case with the "fortuitous" discovery of a wild lava garden nearly three miles underwater, which scientists are pointing to as evidence of the deepest recent undersea eruption ever documented.

Researchers got their lucky break exploring the central Mariana back-arc, a poorly-explored expanse of the western Pacific located not far from the Marianas Trench, with an autonomous underwater vehicle in 2015.

They were looking for hydrothermal vents, but at a depth of about 14,000 feet (4300 meters), the robot came across a glassy black lava flow that formed drip castle-like mounds and long, worm-like extrusions.
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Satellite

NASA's asteroid belt mission declared over after spacecraft runs out of fuel


RT
Fri, 02 Nov 2018 10:37 UTC
Dawn 1
© NASA/JPL-CaltechDawn was the first spacecraft to orbit a celestial body between Mars and Jupiter.
After 11 years, 4.3 billion miles (6.9 billion kilometers) and two planetary orbits, NASA's Dawn mission has been declared over after the craft failed to communicate with Earth for two days in a row.

The 11-year mission to investigate "time capsules from the solar system's earliest chapter" in the asteroid belt concluded after Dawn finally ran out of hydrazine fuel, which meant it could no longer turn to face Earth, to communicate, or the sun, to recharge.


The probe, currently in orbit around the dwarf planet Ceres, missed communications with NASA's Deep Space Network on Wednesday and Thursday; and mission managers were forced to confirm the end of the mission.

Comment: See also:

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Info

The appendix implicated in Parkinson's disease

Aimee Cunningham
Science News
Wed, 31 Oct 2018 01:17 UTC
Appendix Tissue
© V. Labrie/Van Andel Research InstituteCLUMPS FOUND HERE - Globs of alpha-synuclein protein (red) found in appendix tissue from healthy individuals add to evidence that the gut plays a role in the development of Parkinson’s disease.
The appendix, a once-dismissed organ now known to play a role in the immune system, may contribute to a person's chances of developing Parkinson's disease.

An analysis of data from nearly 1.7 million Swedes found that those who'd had their appendix removed had a lower overall risk of Parkinson's disease. Also, samples of appendix tissue from healthy individuals revealed protein clumps similar to those found in the brains of Parkinson's patients, researchers report online October 31 in Science Translational Medicine.

Together, the findings suggest that the appendix may play a role in the early events of Parkinson's disease, Viviane Labrie, a neuroscientist at the Van Andel Research Institute in Grand Rapids, Mich., said at a news conference on October 30.

Parkinson's, which affects more than 10 million people worldwide, is a neurodegenerative disease that leads to difficulty with movement, coordination and balance. It's unknown what causes Parkinson's, but one hallmark of the disease is the death of nerve cells, or neurons, in a brain region called the substantia nigra that helps control movement. Lewy bodies, which are mostly made of clumped bits of the protein alpha-synuclein (SN: 1/12/2013, p. 13), also build up in those neurons but the connection between the cells' death and the Lewy bodies isn't clear yet.
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Heart

Spinal implant helps three paralyzed men walk again, helped regrow damaged nerves

Pallab Ghosh
BBC
Wed, 31 Oct 2018 12:00 UTC
spinal implant
Sebastian, Gertan and David have all benefited from the work of Dr Courtine
Three paralysed men, who were told they would spend the rest of their lives in a wheelchair, are able to walk again thanks to doctors in Switzerland.

An electrical device inserted around the men's spines boosted signals from their brains to their legs.

And it also helped damaged nerves in the spinal cord to regrow.

The researchers hope that this unexpected bonus will enable some paralysed people ultimately to regain independent movement.

BBC News has had exclusive access to the patients in the clinical trial, the results of which are published in the journal Nature.

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Galaxy

"An illusion": Grave doubts over LIGO's 'discovery' of gravitational waves

Michael Brooks
New Scientist
Sat, 01 Dec 2018 12:00 UTC
LIGO's detectors
© Enrico SacchettiLIGO's detectors
The news we had finally found ripples in space-time reverberated around the world in 2015. Now it seems they might have been an illusion

THERE was never much doubt that we would observe gravitational waves sooner or later. This rhythmic squeezing and stretching of space and time is a natural consequence of one of science's most well-established theories, Einstein's general relativity. So when we built a machine capable of observing the waves, it seemed that it would be only a matter of time before a detection.

In point of fact, it took two days. The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory collaboration, better known as LIGO, switched on its upgraded detectors on 12 September 2015. Within 48 hours, it had made its first detection. It took a few months before the researchers were confident enough in the signal to announce a discovery. Headlines around the world soon heralded one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs of the past century. In 2017, a Nobel prize followed. Five other waves have since been spotted.

Or have they? That's the question asked by a group of physicists who have done their own analysis of the data. "We believe that LIGO has failed to make a convincing case for the detection of any gravitational wave event," says Andrew Jackson, the group's spokesperson. According to them, the breakthrough was nothing of the sort: it was all an illusion.

Comment: When science claims to have discovered something it barely understands, it's OK to be skeptical. Also check out SOTT radio's:

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Satellite

Soyuz rocket failure: Roscosmos publishes video from on-board cameras showing exact moment of malfunction


RT
Thu, 01 Nov 2018 13:15 UTC
Soyuz rocket malfunction
© Roscosmos
Russian space agency Roscosmos has published footage, captured by the Soyuz-FG carrier rocket's on-board cameras, showing the moment the rocket fails mid-air, forcing the crew to make an emergency landing.

The video, released on Thursday, confirms that the dramatic mid-air failure was caused by a malfunction in the detector that signals separation of the rocket's first and second stages.

The footage first shows the vehicle's regular flight. However, about 2 minutes after takeoff, the rocket spins out of control. This exact moment is seen in the video.


Comment: See also:

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