Science & TechnologyS


Meteor

'Potentially hazardous' 500 foot asteroid due to hurtle close to Earth

Ella Wills
Evening Standard
Fri, 24 Aug 2018 02:20 UTC
asteroid
© ShutterstockThe asteroid is pass close to earth next week
An asteroid up to 500 feet (160m) in diameter is set to hurtle close past Earth next week.

The giant rock, known as 2016 NF23, is moving towards our corner of the solar system at around 20,000 miles an hour - faster than many rockets.

It is on track to pass nearest to our planet on August 29, according to NASA.

And the asteroid will come close enough for NASA scientists to place the object on the space agency's "potentially hazard asteroid" watch list.

NASA estimates the asteroid to be between 70 and 160 metres (230 to 525 feet) in diameter.

It is expected to pass within 0.03377 astronomical units (about 3 million miles) from Earth.

For comparison, the sun is 93 million miles away.

Comment: NASA animation shows the dramatic increase in near-Earth asteroids entering solar system over last 20 years

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Info

Brand new 'micro-organ' discovered in the human immune system

David Nield
Science Alert
Fri, 24 Aug 2018 19:24 UTC
Lymph gland tissue
© defun/iStockMagnified and artificially dyed slide of lymph gland tissue.
Researchers have identified a brand new 'micro-organ' inside the immune system of mice and humans - the first discovery of its kind for decades - and it could put scientists on the path to developing more effective vaccines in the future.

Vaccines are based on centuries of research showing that once the body has encountered a specific type of infection, it's better able to defend against it next time. And this new research suggests this new micro-organ could be key to how our body 'remembers' immunity.

The researchers from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Australia spotted thin, flat structures on top of the immune system's lymph nodes in mice, which they've dubbed "subcapsular proliferative foci" (or SPFs for short).

These SPFs appear to work like biological headquarters for planning a counter-attack to infection.

These SPFs only appear when the mice immune systems are fighting off infections that have been encountered before.

What's more, the researchers detected SPFs in human lymph nodes too, suggesting our bodies react in the same way.
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Beaker

Nitrous oxide may have helped warm the early Earth and acted as nourishing factor for microbial life


PhysOrg
Tue, 21 Aug 2018 17:02 UTC
iron in tiger eye stone
© Georgia Tech / Allison CarterThis tiger eye BIF (banded iron formation) rock shows layers of iron that settled as compounds out of oceanic solution. Before oxygen became more plentiful, the oceans were likely full of iron that could have made nitrous oxide that entered Earth's early atmosphere to keep it warm.
More than an eon ago, the sun shone dimmer than it does today, but the Earth stayed warm due to a strong greenhouse gas effect, geoscience theory holds. Astronomer Carl Sagan coined this "the Faint Young Sun Paradox," and for decades, researchers have searched for the right balance of atmospheric gases that could have kept early Earth cozy.

A new study led by the Georgia Institute of Technology suggests that nitrous oxide, known for its use as the dental sedative laughing gas, may have played a significant role.

The research team carried out experiments and atmospheric computer modeling that in detail substantiated an existing hypothesis about the presence of nitrous oxide (N2O), a powerful greenhouse gas, in the ancient atmosphere. Established research has already pointed to high levels of carbon dioxide and methane, but they may not have been plentiful enough to sufficiently keep the globe warm without the help of N2O.
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Jet4

Russia's 5th-gen Su-57 stealth fighter will have 'fully automatic' combat mode


RT
Fri, 24 Aug 2018 19:00 UTC
A Su-57 fighter jet
© Grigoriy Sisoev / SputnikA Su-57 fighter jet during a military parade in Moscow. May, 2018
Russia's newest supersonic stealth fighter jet, the Su-57, will have a "fully automatic" mode during combat, according to reports. The multi-purpose fifth-generation warplane is scheduled to officially join the military next year.

The jet's control and target acquisition systems will have a "fully automatic combat regime," a source within the aviation industry told RIA Novosti news agency on Friday. The source also noted that the mode will allow the jet to "come closer" to prospective sixth-generation UAVs.

The Su-57 fighter plane is designed to strike aerial, ground and naval targets. It is also capable of neutralizing the enemy air-defense systems, and may be used for long-distance reconnaissance flights.
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Info

Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo partly caused by massive volcano 'short circuiting' electrical current in atmosphere, study suggests

Samuel Osborne
The Independent
Thu, 23 Aug 2018 07:00 UTC
Napoleon tries to lead the final assault by his Imperial Guard at the Battle of Waterloo
© Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesNapoleon tries to lead the final assault by his Imperial Guard at the Battle of Waterloo on 18 June, 1815
Heavy rain across Europe played key role in French emperor's defeat at Battle of Waterloo

A gigantic volcanic eruption in Indonesia led to the wet and muddy conditions which contributed to Napoleon Bonaparte's defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, a study has suggested.

Two months before the battle changed the course of European history, Mount Tambora erupted on the Indonesian island of Sumbawa, killing 100,000 people and hurling huge plumes of ash up to 62 miles into the atmosphere.

The electrically-charged ash "short circuited" the ionosphere, the upper atmospheric layer responsible for cloud formation, researchers from Imperial College London said.

It led to a "pulse" of cloud formation which brought heavy rain across Europe and played a part in the French emperor's defeat.

Lead scientist Dr Matthew Genge said: "Previously, geologists thought that volcanic ash gets trapped in the lower atmosphere, because volcanic plumes rise buoyantly. My research, however, shows that ash can be shot into the upper atmosphere by electrical forces."

Comment: Future volcanic eruptions could cause more climate cooling

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Fireball

Meteor explosion in Michigan helps scientists detect future threats

Connor Ertz
earth.com
Tue, 21 Aug 2018 19:03 UTC
Michigan meteor explosion
© earth.com
On January 17th of this year, bright flashes lit up the night sky above Detroit, Michigan. The flashes were the result of a meteor explosion as it disintegrated in the atmosphere. These extremely bright meteors are called bolides, and roughly 2,000 of them pass through the Earth's atmosphere each year, exploding with the force of between 0.8 and 8.1 tons of TNT. Despite the fact that thousands of these bolides are seen from Earth annually, the Michigan bolide was an especially interesting event for scientists to study.

This meteor explosion was captured by infrasonic microphones and seismometers, which gave researchers the rare opportunity to compare the data with satellite and ground camera images. A team of scientists led by Michael Hedlin of Scripps Institution of Oceanography has published a report in Seismological Research Letters in which they use this data to pinpoint the time, location, and height of the bolide disintegration, as well as calculate an approximate yield for the explosion.
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Health

Human gut contains 'promising enzyme' to create universal blood - research


RT
Thu, 23 Aug 2018 16:33 UTC
blood
© Michaela Rehle/Reuters
As part of the battle to boost emergency blood supplies scientists have found a way to transform human blood into the O-type class that can be administered to people universally.

Scientists from the University of British Columbia (UBC) have confirmed that they are using e-coli to discover enzymes that can cut out blood sugars and alter the blood's antibodies, meaning it can be given to more patients.

The research idea was recently presented to the American Chemical Society, with UBC biochemist professor Stephen Withers explaining that enzymes lining the wall of the human gut appear to be a successful candidate for use in the transformation process.

"We have been particularly interested in enzymes that allow us to remove the A or B antigens from red blood cells. If you can remove those antigens, which are just simple sugars, then you can convert A or B to O blood," Withers explained.

The researcher added that the method will have to undergo rigorous testing to ensure that it is safe but he is very confident that it can deliver on its promise to change blood types.
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Brain

Largest brain study: 62,454 scans identifies drivers of brain aging


Technology Networks
Thu, 23 Aug 2018 13:38 UTC
Drivers of Brain Aging.
© Daniel G. AmenDrivers of Brain Aging.
In the largest known brain imaging study, scientists from Amen Clinics (Costa Mesa, CA), Google, John's Hopkins University, University of California, Los Angeles and the University of California, San Francisco evaluated 62,454 brain SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography) scans of more than 30,000 individuals from 9 months old to 105 years of age to investigate factors that accelerate brain aging. SPECT tomography) evaluates regional cerebral blood flow in the brain that is reduced in various disorders.

Comment:

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Fish

Survival of the laziest: Research finds evolution rewards species with the best energy conservation strategies


PhysOrg
Tue, 21 Aug 2018 13:19 UTC
fossil shells
© Neogene Atlas of Ancient Life / University of KansasAnadara aequalitas was included in new large-data study of fossil and extant bivalves and gastropods in the Atlantic Ocean that suggests laziness might be a fruitful strategy for survival of individuals, species and even communities of species. Credit:
If you've got an unemployed, 30-year-old adult child still living in the basement, fear not.

A new large-data study of fossil and extant bivalves and gastropods in the Atlantic Ocean suggests laziness might be a fruitful strategy for survival of individuals, species and even communities of species. The results have just been published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B by a research team based at the University of Kansas.

Looking at a period of roughly 5 million years from the mid-Pliocene to the present, the researchers analyzed 299 species' metabolic rates - or, the amount of energy the organisms need to live their daily lives - and found higher metabolic rates were a reliable predictor of extinction likelihood.
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Binoculars

Magnitude 6.3 earthquake off coast of Oregon warns of Cascadia subduction zone slippage

Mac Slavo
SHTFplan.org
Wed, 22 Aug 2018 00:00 UTC
Cascadia subduction zone
Cascadia subduction zone
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck off the coast of Oregon on Wednesday. The quake, which occurred 188 miles west of the town of Bandon is sparking fears that the Cascadia subduction zone will slip causing a major apocalyptic tsunami.

The quake was recorded at a depth of about 10 km, according to the USGS website and there was no tsunami warning issued. Robert Sanders said people as far away as Portland reported feeling the tremblor. No injuries or damage has been reported.

All seems well and quiet on the West Coast. For now. But scientists still warn that the Cascadia subduction zone could cause a major event if the Juan de Fuca ocean plate, which goes under the North American continental plate causes a "slip" and a massive 9.0 earthquake.

Comment: See also:

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