Science & TechnologyS


Seismograph

Study reveals new earthquake hazard in Afghanistan-Pakistan border region


Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science
Mon, 19 Sep 2016 12:00 UTC
Study Reveals New Earthquake Hazard in Afghanistan-Pakistan Border Region
© University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric ScienceFigure 1: a) Western India plate boundary zone, includes the Chaman fault and Kabul and b) ground velocity field of the Ghazaband fault and Quetta obtained from SAR imagery of the Envisat satellite.
The uniquely designed study helps to understand earthquake hazard in politically unstable region

MIAMI—University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science scientists have revealed alarming conclusions about the earthquake hazard in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region. The new study focused on two of the major faults in the region— the Chaman and Ghazaband faults.

"Typically earthquake hazard research is a result of extensive ground-based measurements," said the study's lead author Heresh Fattahi, a UM Rosenstiel School alumni. "These faults, however, are in a region where the political situation makes these ground-based measurements dangerous and virtually impossible."

Comment:

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Bizarro Earth

Large ninth planet in distant orbit must exist, scientists say

Mike Wall
Live Science
Thu, 20 Oct 2016 14:33 UTC
planet in space
© Caltech/R. Hurt (IPAC)Artist's illustration of Planet Nine, a world about 10 times more massive than Earth that may lie undiscovered in the outer solar system.
Planet Nine's days of lurking unseen in the dark depths of the outer solar system may be numbered.

The hypothetical giant planet, which is thought to be about 10 times more massive than Earth, will be discovered within 16 months or so, astronomer Mike Brown predicted.

"I'm pretty sure, I think, that by the end of next winter — not this winter, next winter — I think that there'll be enough people looking for it that ... somebody's actually going to track this down," Brown said during a news conference Wednesday (Oct. 19) at a joint meeting of the American Astronomical Society's Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) and the European Planetary Science Congress (EPSC) in Pasadena, California. Brown said that eight to 10 groups are currently looking for the planet.

Comment: Here at SOTT, we have been postulating the existence of a twin sun, a brown dwarf, to account for anomalies that could be explained by our solar system being a 'binary star system'.

The consequences of such an object (nemesis) smashing in and out through the Oort Cloud and the Kuiper Belt are chronicled in our Fire in the Sky section, and our Comets and Catastrophes series. The historical consequences can be reviewed in the book series, The Secret History of the World, by Laura Knight Jadczyk.

Below is a video we have published on the subject:



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Info

Brand-new aspect of our immune system discovered by scientist

Hayley Dunning
Imperial College London
Thu, 20 Oct 2016 19:01 UTC
Cell
© Imperial College London
Thousands of new immune system signals have been uncovered with potential implications for immunotherapy, autoimmune diseases and vaccine development.

The researchers behind the finding say it is the biological equivalent of discovering a new continent.

Our cells regularly break down proteins from our own bodies and from foreign bodies, such as viruses and bacteria. Small fragments of these proteins, called epitopes, are displayed on the surface of the cells like little flags so that the immune system can scan them. If they are recognised as foreign, the immune system will destroy the cell to prevent the spread of infection.

In a new study, researchers have discovered that around one third of all the epitopes displayed for scanning by the immune system are a type known as 'spliced' epitopes.

These spliced epitopes were thought to be rare, but the scientists have now identified thousands of them by developing a new method that allowed them to map the surface of cells and identify a myriad of previously unknown epitopes.

The findings should help scientists to better understand the immune system, including autoimmune diseases, as well as provide potential new targets for immunotherapy and vaccine design.
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Mars

ExoMars 2016 mission: Lander chute malfunction, signal lost before landing


RT
Thu, 20 Oct 2016 09:09 UTC
ExoMars 2016
© ESA Robotic Exploration of Mars / YouTube
Despite the Schiaparelli test-landing sequence not going completely as expected, the ESA considers its ExoMars 2016 mission a success. The lander stopped communicating with the TGO orbiter after detaching its parachute.

The Schiaparelli reached the Mars surface, but the European Space Agency (ESA) is yet not sure about its current condition, journalists were told during a press conference on Thursday. Nevertheless the craft translated a huge amount of data from its sensors to the orbiter during the descent. The ESA said that since the landing was meant as a technology test, it considered it's the Schiaparelli part of the mission a success despite the loss of signal.

The landing sequence deviated from the nominal expectations during the transition from the parachute phase to the breaking thruster firing phase, about 50 seconds before the planned soft landing. The thrusters did fire for several seconds, observation from the orbit confirmed, but the ESA was not sure whether all of them fired as planned, the agency told journalists.
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Bulb

9th grader invents device to save children left in hot cars

Casey Leins
US News & World Report
Wed, 05 Oct 2016 12:24 UTC
Sara Makboul
© Mohammed MakboulSara Makboul works on her project in her home in Acworth, Ga.
In June 2014, Justin Ross Harris, then 33, left his 22-month-old son in the car during the workday. After he was charged with murder, the Georgia father's story became one of the most notorious cases highlighting a parent's worst nightmare: forgetting to take a child out of the backseat.

Even if Harris is found innocent, he isn't the only parent who will have to live with knowing his son would still be alive had Harris been more cognizant that day. About 37 children die annually of heatstroke after being left in a car - and the number has already climbed to 35 this year, according to the advocacy group KidsAndCars.org.

A ninth-grader from Acworth, Georgia, wants to ensure that other children won't become part of these statistics.

Sara Makboul, an outgoing, 15-year-old finalist in this year's Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge, has created a system that could save an infant or child if he or she is left alone in a sweltering car.

Other people, including many young scientists, are trying to solve the same problem as Makboul, but they haven't been very successful, she tells U.S. News. "I realized after my research that people were not actually using [these scientists' inventions] and they weren't actually working."
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Sherlock

Vitamin B12 deficiency can now be detected with an optical sensor

Mae Chan
Prevent Disease
Thu, 20 Oct 2016 11:11 UTC
vitamin B12
Australian researchers have developed a world-first optical sensor that can detect vitamin B12 in diluted human blood -- something they believe is a first step towards a low-cost and portable, vitamin B12 deficiency test.

Previous reviews have concluded that people following a vegan diet may require additional vitamin B12 supplementation to reduce an excess risk of heart disease. Now there's a test that may help.

Vitamin B12 deficiency is associated with an increased risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease and such a device would enable the tracking of vitamin B12 levels in high-risk patients and early intervention.

It is hoped this will help overcome the limitations of current testing methods which the researchers believe are time-consuming and costly.

The research, developed by academics at the University of Adelaide, uses biophotonics - optical technologies - to analyse and measure biological material.
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Brain

Scientists discover genetic roots of schizophrenia

Jim Schnabel
Science Daily
Wed, 19 Oct 2016 00:00 UTC
genetic
UCLA scientists have made a major advance in understanding the biology of schizophrenia.

Using a recently developed technology for analyzing DNA, the scientists found dozens of genes and two major biological pathways that are likely involved in the development of the disorder but had not been uncovered in previous genetic studies of schizophrenia. The work provides important new information about how schizophrenia originates and points the way to more detailed studies -- and possibly better treatments in the future.

Schizophrenia is a chronic, disabling mental illness whose symptoms can include hallucinations, delusions and cognitive problems. The illness afflicts about 1 percent of the human population -- more than 50 million people worldwide. Because the causes of schizophrenia are poorly understood, current medications can help diminish the symptoms but do not cure the disorder.

The study, which is published online in the journal Nature, is likely to have an impact beyond schizophrenia research because it demonstrates a general and potentially powerful new strategy for illuminating the mechanisms of human disease.

Comment: Separate from the genetic causes of schizophrenia, there is much research to suggest that certain types of diet and supplementation could very well help ameliorate its effects now: And then there's vitamin B3.

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Satellite

Shenzhou-11 spacecraft delivers two astronauts to China's prototype 'space station'

Ananya Roy
International Business Times
Thu, 20 Oct 2016 17:56 UTC
Shenzhou-11 china spacecraft
© ReutersThe Shenzhou-11 manned spacecraft carrying astronauts Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong successfully docked at the orbiting Tiangong-2 space lab early on Wednesday, 19 October
The manned spacecraft launched by China on Monday (17 October) morning from the Gobi desert has successfully completed its docking with the orbiting Tiangong-2 space lab early on Wednesday, 19 October. The two astronauts on board the Shenzhou-11 monitored and reported the automated docking operation.

The Beijing Aerospace Control Center (BACC) said the spacecraft began to approach the Tiangong-2 space lab automatically at 1.11am Beijing time on Wednesday (6.11pm BST on Tuesday) and made contact with the space lab at 3.24am. The spacecraft docked at 3.31am, the centre added.


Comment: 'Made in China' is not what it used to mean!

Just one month after getting the lab into orbit, they're sending astronauts there. And by 2023, China could have its own space station. What takes others decades, China seems capable of doing in just years.

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Beaker

Fossil fuels get a boost: Scientists accidentally convert CO2 into ethanol


Sputnik
Thu, 20 Oct 2016 18:44 UTC
Coal power plant
© AP Photo/ Martin Meissner
Scientists at the US Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have developed a technology that turns carbon dioxide into ethanol, according to a study published in the Chemistry Select journal in September.

The discovery was made during an electrochemical process of reversing combustion, using copper and carbon nanospikes. The scientists were attempting to turn carbon dioxide, a waste byproduct of burning fossil fuels, into an organic element, when they realized that the first step of the experiment did the entire job. "We discovered somewhat by accident that this material worked," said ORNL's Adam Rondinone, lead author of the study. "We were trying to study the first step of a proposed reaction when we realized that the catalyst was doing the entire reaction on its own."
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Robot

Stephen Hawking's warning: Robots could be humanity's worst thing ever


RT
Thu, 20 Oct 2016 15:36 UTC
AI head
© adebayobamitale.com
Artificial Intelligence (AI) could be the worst thing to ever happen to humanity, acclaimed physicist Stephen Hawking has warned. The Cambridge University professor predicts robots could develop "powerful autonomous weapons" or new methods to "oppress the many."

His chilling prophecy was made on Wednesday at the launch of The Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence (CFI), which has been created to monitor the implications of rapidly developing AI. "I believe there is no deep difference between what can be achieved by a biological brain and what can be achieved by a computer," Hawking said. "It therefore follows that computers can, in theory, emulate human intelligence - and exceed it."

Hawking warned AI "could develop a will of its own - a will that is in conflict with ours. The rise of powerful AI will be either the best, or the worst thing, ever to happen to humanity."

Last week, Parliament's Science & Technology Committee warned the government is not prepared for the arrival of robots, which will "fundamentally" change people's lives. AI such as driverless cars and supercomputers that can help doctors with medical diagnoses will soon be the norm, the committee said. MPs warned the government does not have a strategy in place for developing new skills to help workers succeed in a world with greater reliance on AI.

Earlier this month scientist's at Google's DeepMind division announced they have developed an AI computer program that uses basic reasoning to learn complex systems, such as the London Underground. The advancement could mark a major breakthrough in the development of AI, as the "differentiable neural computer" (DNC) can solve problems without any prior knowledge.
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