Science & TechnologyS


Beaker

Researchers develop cheap, easy to produce nano-filter to scrub toxic metals from polluted water

Alexandru Micu
ZME Science
Wed, 26 Sep 2018 19:39 UTC
nano filter pollution toxic metals
© Ali Zavabeti et al., 2018, AFM.Low- (a,b) and high-resolution (c,d) transmisson electron microscope photos of the filter’s layers.
Researchers from the RMIT University and University of New South Wales (UNSW) present a new filter technology that harnesses naturally occurring nanostructures that grow on liquid metals. The team also shows that their new creation can filter both oils and heavy metals from water. The filter works over 100 times faster than current ones.

Not only is this filter way faster than its currently-available counterparts, but it's also simple to produce and scale up, meaning that it can be deployed rapidly and en masse in areas or situation that require it.
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Cassiopaea

Astronomers may have spotted the birth of a neutron star in heart of supernova

Lisa Grossman
Science News
Tue, 25 Sep 2018 17:36 UTC
new pulsar in supernova
© NASA, ESA and J. DePasquale/STScIAstronomers spotted evidence of a neutron star’s birth after supernova 2012au exploded in the galaxy NGC 4790 (shown). The supernova was absent in a 2001 Hubble Space Telescope image of the galaxy (top panel), but visible as a bright dot in 2013 (bottom panel).
Six years after a supernova exploded, scientists have found signs of a newborn pulsar

For the first time, astronomers may have watched a massive stellar explosion give rise in real time to a superdense dead star called a neutron star.

New observations of supernova 2012au show charged oxygen and sulfur atoms fleeing the scene of the explosion at 2,300 kilometers per second. That suggests the shells of gas surrounding the dense remains of the original star are being lit up from within by a pulsar, a type of fast-spinning, radiation-spewing neutron star, researchers report September 12 in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

"It's proof positive, a smoking gun for it," says astrophysicist and study coauthor Dan Milisavljevic of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. "We've seen this supernova from the explosion up until this transformation into the neutron star." The find gives astronomers a chance to test theories about how supernovas and their aftermaths evolve in real time.
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Apple Green

Research on plant intelligence may forever change how you think about plants


PRI
Fri, 10 Jan 2014 14:00 UTC
sunflower field
© Bruce Fritz/USDA/Wikimedia CommonsPlants, like these sunflowers, have proven to have amazing sensory abilities, but scientists aren't exactly sure how.
The Intelligent Plant. That is the title of a recent article in The New Yorker - and new research is showing that plants have astounding abilities to sense and react to the world.

But can a plant be intelligent? Some plant scientists insist they are - since they can sense, learn, remember and even react in ways that would be familiar to humans.

Michael Pollan, author of such books as "The Omnivore's Dilemma" and "The Botany of Desire," wrote the New Yorker piece about the developments in plant science. He says for the longest time, even mentioning the idea that plants could be intelligent was a quick way to being labeled "a whacko." But no more, which might be comforting to people who have long talked to their plants or played music for them.

Comment: If it turns out plants are intelligent, and suffer, vegetarians are going to have to dig a lot deeper for their justifications.

See also:

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Blackbox

Has nature finally won the debate with nurture?

Gregory Cochran
Quillette
Tue, 25 Sep 2018 08:57 UTC
DNA tangled
© Daniel Hertzberg
A review of Blueprint: How DNA Makes Us Who We Are by Robert Plomin. MIT Press (November 2018) 280 pages.

In Blueprint: How DNA Makes Us Who We Are Robert Plomin makes the case that genetic differences cause most variation in psychological traits - things like personality and cognitive abilities. The way your parents raise you, the schools you attend - they don't have much effect on those traits. Children are similar to their parents, but that similarity is due to shared genetics, rather than shared family environment.

Obviously the thoughts in your head, the facts you know, are not the same as your great-great-grand-father's - we learn those things. But how easily you learn those facts, how well you remember them, how optimistic or pessimistic you are - those are largely set by your genes. Almost every psychological trait has significant heritability, even political leanings. To a significant degree, you're either born a little Liberal or else a little Conservative, to quote Gilbert and Sullivan.

And to the extent that your personality is not set by your genes, it's apparently influenced by poorly-understood random factors, rather than your upbringing or social circumstances.
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Laptop

The world's first practical quantum computer could be just five years away

Dan Robitzski
Futurism
Fri, 21 Sep 2018 08:30 UTC
Quantum computer1
© TheDigitalArtist/Victor Tangermann
You've read the headlines: quantum computers are going to cure disease by discovering new pharmaceuticals! They're going to pore through all the world's data and find solutions to problems like poverty and inequality!

Alternatively, they might not do any of that. We're really not sure what a quantum computer will even look like, but boy are we excited.

It often feels like quantum computers are in their own quantum state - they're revolutionizing the world, but are still a distant pipe dream.

We're really not sure what a quantum computer will even look like, but boy are we excited.

Now, though, the National Science Foundation has plans to pluck quantum computers from the realm of the fantastic and drop them squarely in its research labs. And it's willing to pay an awful lot to do so.

In August, the federal agency announced the Software-Tailored Architecture for Quantum co-design (STAQ) project. Physicists, engineers, computer scientists, and other researchers from Duke and six other universities (including MIT and University of California-Berkeley) will band together to embark on the five-year, $15 million mission.

Comment: See also:

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Rocket

Russian Navy test-fires supersonic Onyx missile for the first time in Arctic drills (VIDEO)


RT
Wed, 26 Sep 2018 09:57 UTC
Russia fires an Onyx supersonic missile
© Russia's Ministry of DefenseRussia fires an Onyx supersonic missile from Bastion coastal defense missile complex in the Arktic for the first time
The Russian Navy has test-fired a supersonic Onyx anti-ship cruise missile for the first time. It was launched from the Bastion missile-defense system, which was recently deployed to the Russian Arctic.

A video of the launch shows one P-800 Onyx missile, which can travel at speeds of up to 1,980mph, shooting up in the air and then gliding above the sea towards a mock target designed to simulate a group of hostile ships.

The Bastion launcher can carry two Onyx anti-ship missiles, which can engage targets at a range up to 300km with a high-low trajectory, or 120km with a low-low flight trajectory. Although designed to be deployed against ships, it can be used against ground targets as well.
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Cassiopaea

Supernova that went unnoticed 14 years ago discovered

AAS Nova
Sky & Telescope
Tue, 25 Sep 2018 22:43 UTC
NGC 1892
© NASA/ESA/HSTHubble image of the galaxy NGC 1892, in which a supernova from 2004 was recently discovered.
Observing Explosions

Supernovae - some of the brightest phenomena in our universe - are vast explosions thought to mark the destruction of stars in the end stages of their evolution.

The history of supernova observations is long: the first recorded supernova was seen in China in 185 AD! Because supernovae are scarce (there are perhaps 1-3 per century in the Milky Way) and their brightest stages of are short-lived (lasting just a few months), only a handful of supernova were spotted by naked eye through the ages. The invention of the telescope, however, changed this: as technology improved, astronomers became able to observe bright supernovae in galaxies beyond the Milky Way.

Today, around 50,000 supernovae have been observed. The field has been vastly expanded by recent automated sky surveys that methodically hunt for transients. Nonetheless, intrepid individual astronomers still contribute to this scene - as evidenced by the recent discovery by Brazilian amateur astronomer Jorge Stockler de Moraes.
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Brain

Gut branches of the Vagus Nerve are essential components of the brain's reward and motivation system


mountsinai.org
Thu, 20 Sep 2018 19:58 UTC
vagus nerve
Mount Sinai study identifies novel pathway that could help inform new vagal stimulation approaches to affective disorders

A novel gut-to-brain neural circuit establishes the vagus nerve as an essential component of the brain system that regulates reward and motivation, according to research conducted at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published September 20 in the journal Cell. The study provides a concrete link between visceral organs and brain function, especially in regards to reward, and may help to inform novel targets for vagal stimulation therapy, particularly for eating and emotional disorders.

Previous research established the gut as a major regulator of motivational and emotional states but until now, the relevant gut-brain neuronal circuitry remained elusive. The vagus nerve, the longest of the cranial nerves, contains motor and sensory fibers and passes through the neck and thorax to the abdomen. Traditionally, scientists believed that the nerve exclusively mediated suppressive functions such as fullness and nausea; in contrast, circulating hormones, rather than vagal transmission, were thought to convey reward signals from the gut to the brain.

Comment: Nervy facts about the vagus nerve:

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Nebula

"Exposome": Scientists measure invisible clouds of matter that orbit every human being


RT
Tue, 25 Sep 2018 14:00 UTC
aura
© iStock
A team of would-be ghostbusters have developed a device to measure the 'exposome' - an invisible and somewhat spooky cloud that orbits every human. It is populated by bacteria and viruses, and may change how we view medicine.

"For years we've been sequencing people's genomes, testing their blood and urine, and analyzing the microbes in their guts to understand how these things impact human health," geneticist and lead author of the researchMichael Snyder from Stanford University told Wired. "But all of those things have to do with what's inside your body. The one big thing we're missing is: What are you exposed to?"

Snyder and his team developed a device, roughly the size of an old cell phone or a pack of cards, which sucked up the air around the 15 participants for periods of between one week and one month. Unfortunately, it wasn't just the aroma from their aftershave and perfume that the device inhaled.

Comment: See also:

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Monkey Wrench

Genetic havoc: New Gene-Editing Report highlights risks to human health and our environment


Sustainable Pulse
Thu, 13 Sep 2018 14:17 UTC
gene drives
© Scientific American
On the heels on the European Court of Justice's ruling requiring organisms developed using new genetic engineering techniques to undergo GMO risk assessments, and several new studies revealing "genetic havoc" as a result of gene editing, Friends of the Earth and Logos Environmental released a new report Wednesday, Gene-edited organisms in agriculture: Risks and unexpected consequences.

With the breakneck speed of recent developments in genetic engineering that could be used to alter DNA in plants, animals, bacteria, and even humans, the report examines the growing body of scientific studies highlighting the risks and unintended consequences from the use of genetic engineering techniques like gene editing in agriculture.

Comment: Read more about Gene drives and 'unintended consequences'

The DARPA-Mind report casually states potential harm:
"Gene drives developed for agricultural purposes could also have adverse effects on human well- being. Transfer of a suppression drive to a non-target wild species could have both adverse environmental outcomes and harmful effects on vegetable crops, for example. Palmer amaranth in Case Study 6 is a damaging weed in the United States, but related Amaranthus species are cultivated for food in in Mexico, South America, India, and China."
Top funder of controversial gene editing tech is the Pentagon
The US military is the world's top funder of a controversial gene editing technology capable of altering global ecosystems. Emails obtained by an environmental advocacy group show that the Pentagon has been secretly funding 'gene drive' studies.

Over 1,200 emails obtained through a freedom of information request by the ETC Group, a research and advocacy organization that focuses on ecological and agricultural issues, shed new light on gene drive research conducted by the shadowy Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

The US Department of Defense has pumped at least $100 million into a controversial technology known as "gene drives" - $35 million more than previously reported - making the US military the top funder and developer of the gene-modifying tech.

The technology is capable of splicing DNA strands in order to insert, alter, or remove targeted traits, and "drive" them through a population by ensuring all the offspring of the targeted organism inherit the alteration.Proponents of the gene-editing technology say it can be used to wipe out malaria-spreading mosquitoes, for example. Critics point out that the method could have unforeseen environmental consequences.


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