Science & TechnologyS


Microscope 2

Scientists at CERN discover two new particles, with a third 'exotic' one on the way


RT
Mon, 01 Oct 2018 17:23 UTC
Large Hadron Collider
© Pierre Albouy / ReutersLarge Hadron Collider (LHC)
The eggheads at the Large Hadron Collider near Geneva have rocked the world of particle physics yet again, observing two never-seen-before particles and are confident they have discovered traces of a third, more exotic kind.

Operated by CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research), the discovery was made by researchers working with the Large Hadron Collider beauty (LHCb) collaboration, a team that specializes in investigating the slight differences between matter and antimatter by studying a type of particle called the "beauty quark", or "b quark."


Comment: Some other rather interesting developments have occurred at CERN over that past few years:

Read More...
Jet2

Weapon producer: Russia field-tests 'microwave guns' for 6th-generation fighter jets


RT
Mon, 01 Oct 2018 11:16 UTC
Su-57 fighter jet
© Aleksey Druzhinin/SputnikA fifth-generation Su-57 fighter jet being built.
Microwave directed-energy weapons are reportedly being tested at firing ranges in Russia. The prototypes are designed to burn missile-homing systems, and may be incorporated in the arsenal of sixth-generation fighter jets.

The cutting-edge weapons systems "exist and progress quite effectively," said Vladimir Mikheev, deputy head of KRET, a leading electronic warfare contractor. "Tests are being conducted constantly, both in labs and at test ranges," he told TASS news agency.

Microwave guns are basically projectors of powerful electromagnetic radiation that causes electronic circuits to burn out. They are not single-use weapons, unlike electromagnetic-pulse devices, which can be used for a similar purpose.

Such directed-energy weapons can be used to disable incoming missiles by destroying their guidance systems. The KRET official earlier said Russia's future sixth-generation fighter jets may be equipped with such devices.

Mikheev predicted that several electronic components in an aircraft would be merged into an integrated device, which would combine the functions of radar and other sensors, as well as an electronic warfare system, a missile-guidance system, and probably even communication device. Its offensive use would produce large amounts of microwave radiation, which would be harmful to pilots, meaning that only UAV-type aircraft would be suitable.
Read More...
Beaker

Searching for a diagnosis: Untangling the mystery of genetic disorders

Linda Geddes
Mosaic
Tue, 18 Sep 2018 16:38 UTC
child toy genetics
© Lennarts & de Bruijn for Mosaic
There are between 6,000 and 8,000 known rare diseases, many of which affect children's development. One pioneering project is showing how, 17 years since the first draft of the human genome, our genes are giving up their secrets and bringing hope to parents around the world.

Evie Walker sits on Alison's lap, playing a game she never grows tired of: turning her mum's hand over and over, stroking and examining it. When she takes a break and looks around, it is with the open-mouthed look of curiosity and awe that you see in many infants. Evie's vocabulary currently consists of a repertoire of squawks and "mmm" sounds. In the past few months, she has begun to stand unaided for short periods - even taking a few steps in her walking frame - progress that fills her parents with immeasurable pride, not to mention hope for the future.

Despite her baby-like demeanour, Evie is eight years old. She has PURA syndrome, a vanishingly rare developmental disorder that didn't officially exist until four years ago. Developmental disorders affect children's normal mental or physical development. Before she was diagnosed, all Evie's parents knew was that she suffered from 'global developmental delay': a vague umbrella term for a set of symptoms with myriad potential causes - some, but not all of them, associated with a heartbreakingly poor prognosis.
Read More...
Satellite

The big chill of the Solar Minimum now being recorded by the SABER instrument onboard NASA's TIMED satellite

Dr. Tony Phillips
Space Weather Archive
Thu, 27 Sep 2018 00:00 UTC
TIMED satellite
The TIMED satellite monitoring the temperature of the upper atmosphere
The sun is entering one of the deepest Solar Minima of the Space Age. Sunspots have been absent for most of 2018, and the sun's ultraviolet output has sharply dropped. New research shows that Earth's upper atmosphere is responding.

"We see a cooling trend," says Martin Mlynczak of NASA's Langley Research Center. "High above Earth's surface, near the edge of space, our atmosphere is losing heat energy. If current trends continue, it could soon set a Space Age record for cold."

These results come from the SABER instrument onboard NASA's TIMED satellite. SABER monitors infrared emissions from carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitric oxide (NO), two substances that play a key role in the energy balance of air 100 to 300 kilometers above our planet's surface. By measuring the infrared glow of these molecules, SABER can assess the thermal state of gas at the very top of the atmosphere-a layer researchers call "the thermosphere."

"The thermosphere always cools off during Solar Minimum. It's one of the most important ways the solar cycle affects our planet," explains Mlynczak, who is the associate principal investigator for SABER.

Comment: For more on the Solar Minimum, see:

Read More...
Comet 2

5 meteor showers that will light up the night sky this fall

Brian Lada
Accu Weather
Tue, 25 Sep 2018 00:00 UTC
Meteor showers
Autumn is meteor shower season across the Northern Hemisphere with the season's longer nights benefiting those trying to spot a few shooting stars.

The upcoming months feature many minor to moderate meteor showers, but concludes with the Geminids, which features hundreds of multi-colored meteors every night.

Meteor showers occur when the Earth passes through a trail of debris left behind by a comet. The debris is largely just grains of dust that burn brightly when entering the planet's atmosphere.
Read More...
Blue Planet

Waddling into history: Six foot ancient penguin inhabited New Zealand

Will Dunham
The Epoch Times
Wed, 13 Dec 2017 00:00 UTC
6' penguin/diver
© G.Mayr/Senckenberg Research Institute
Scientists have unearthed in New Zealand fossil bones of what might be the heavyweight champion of the penguin world, a bird nearly 6 feet tall that thrived 55 to 60 million years ago, relatively soon after the demise of the dinosaurs.

Researchers said on Tuesday the ancient penguin, called Kumimanu biceae, weighed nearly 225 pounds, and was much bigger than the largest of these flightless seabirds alive today, the emperor penguin, which grows to about 4-1/4 feet and about 90 pounds.

The only ancient penguin yet discovered that might have been larger than Kumimanu is known only from a leg bone, said ornithologist Gerald Mayr of the Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt.

Kumimanu, named after a creature from Maori folklore and the Maori word for bird, is the second-oldest known penguin. The older one, also from New Zealand, was 61 million years old.
Read More...
Cut

Genetically Engineered Clothes - Synthetic biology in fashion

Mandeep Sidhu
wtvox.com
Tue, 18 Sep 2018 11:58 UTC
GMO cloths
Genetically engineered clothes. The fashion and technology sectors have been buzzing lately about high-tech fabrics obtained from biomaterials and genetically engineered microorganisms.

In its recent endeavor to support organic textiles and in opposition to genetic engineering, Patagonia Inc. has teamed up the biotech startup Bolt Threads to help propel innovative clothes to the apparel market. However, a new report released by the civil society experts cut through the hype.
Read More...
Comet

Huge asteroid, recently-discovered, to make close fly-by of Earth on October 3rd


RT
Sun, 30 Sep 2018 02:48 UTC
asteroid
© Ferrari/ZUMAPRESS.com / Global Look PressFILE PHOTO
A huge asteroid dubbed 2018 SP1 is hurtling towards Earth. The space rock is estimated to be about the size of the Statue of Liberty or larger.

The giant space rock, discovered by NASA on September 19, is closing in on Earth at the speed of 37,600 mph, or 60,000 kph.

SP1 measures between 229ft and 524ft (70m and 160m) in diameter, which is comparable to the size of Statue of Liberty (305ft), a standard football pitch (295 to 393ft) or the London Eye (440ft).

The asteroid falls into the "potentially hazardous" category in NASA terms, given to all asteroids that go closer to Earth than 4.6mn miles and are bigger than 500ft in diameter. The space object is expected to make a "close approach" to Earth on October 3, when it passes by within 3.54mn miles.

Comment: Also in October, an eerie 'death comet' with a skull face will fly past Earth just after Halloween (but no worries, it will be 25 million miles away).

Read More...
Telescope

If extra dimensions exist, they're really, really small

Mara Johnson-Groh
LiveScience
Tue, 25 Sep 2018 02:59 UTC
extra dimentions physics
© sakkmesterke/Shutterstock
Does our universe exist in more than just three dimensions?

Probably not on large scales, according to new research published July 23 in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics. The study found that across vast distances in space, the universe likely operates in just the dimensions we experience on Earth. The results are also helping scientists better understand the puzzling nature of dark energy, the mysterious phenomenon behind the accelerating expansion of the universe.

In October 2017, scientists used the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) to detect a gravitational wave produced in the collision of two neutron stars. Dubbed GW170817, the event was also seen with traditional telescopes, allowing the scientists to simultaneously study the occurrence via gravitational waves and light waves. The dual measurements are allowing scientists to learn all sorts of things about our universe, including how many dimensions it might hold. The new results also offer additional evidence for Albert Einstein's general relativity.
Read More...
Dig

26,000-pound dinosaur discovered in South Africa was Earth's largest land animal

Ashley Strickland
CNN
Thu, 27 Sep 2018 15:10 UTC
Ledumahadi
Ledumahadi mafube
If humans had lived 200 million years ago, they would have marveled at the largest dinosaur of its time. It's name means "a giant thunderclap at dawn." The recently discovered fossil of a new dinosaur species in South Africa revealed a relative of the brontosaurus that weighed 26,000 pounds, about double the size of a large African elephant.

The researchers have named it Ledumahadi mafube, which is Sesotho for "a giant thunderclap at dawn." Sesotho is an official South African language indigenous to the part of the country where the dinosaur was found.

"The name reflects the great size of the animal as well as the fact that its lineage appeared at the origins of sauropod dinosaurs," said Jonah Choiniere, study author and paleontology professor at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. "It honors both the recent and ancient heritage of southern Africa."

Apart from its massive size, there are other evolutionary details about the new species that make it entirely unique, according to a new study published Thursday in the journal Current Biology.

Comment: For more on the environmental conditions that supported such life on our planet, see: See also:

Read More...