Science & TechnologyS


Light Saber

New report demolishes the claimed '99% consensus' on climate change

Chris Morrison
The Daily Sceptic
Thu, 09 Nov 2023 16:21 UTC
Yonatan Dubi climate change Ben Gurion University,
© Two Nice Jewish Boys PodcastYonatan Dubi, Professor of Chemistry and Physics at Ben Gurion University
The invented political notion that 99% of climate scientists believe humans have caused all or most recent global warming has been dealt another significant blow. A group of Israeli scientists has examined the widely-publicised claim by the climate activist Mark Lynas that there is a 99% 'consensus' that humans cause most warming. Led by Yonatan Dubi, Professor of Chemistry and Physics at Ben Gurion University, the scientists found that massive flaws and biases riddled the Lynas work, implying the conclusions of the study do not follow from the data.

This work matters. The claims of a 99% consensus, along with an earlier 97% figure, are widely used in political and media circles to shut down debate over anthropogenic global warming (AGW). Sceptical scientists - even those as distinguished as last year's Nobel Physics Prize winner Dr. John Clauser - can be dismissed as cranks and deniers. Of course consensus is not proof, which is notably lacking in the model-driven climate science field. However the Israeli authors observe a consensus claim is "influential in bolstering the reception of a particular thesis within the broader public sphere". This leads to "less quantifiable statements", such as humanity is facing an imminent climate crisis, and is followed by global calls for action. Not to put too fine a point on it, the collectivist Net Zero project relies on a fake scientific consensus that crumbles when exposed to the most basic scrutiny.

Comment: More on Lynas: Have you heard about the famous anti-GMO scientist who switched sides and is now pro?

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Galaxy

Astronomers use Webb data to measure rapid increase in oxygen in the early universe


PhysOrg
Thu, 09 Nov 2023 20:43 UTC
oxygen in early universe life chemicals
© NASA, ESA, CSA, K. Nakajima et alJWST infrared images of six galaxies from 500–700 million years after the birth of the universe. All six have low oxygen abundances compared to modern galaxies.
Using new data from the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have measured the abundance of oxygen in the early universe. The findings, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series and posted to the arXiv preprint server, show that the amount of oxygen in galaxies increased rapidly within 500-700 million years after the birth of the universe, and has remained as abundant as observed in modern galaxies since then. This early appearance of oxygen indicates that the elements necessary for life were present earlier than expected.

In the early universe, shortly after the Big Bang, only light elements such as hydrogen, helium, and lithium existed. Heavier elements like oxygen were subsequently formed through nuclear fusion reactions within stars and dispersed into galaxies, primarily through events like supernova explosions. This ongoing process of element synthesis, unfolding over the vast expanse of cosmic history, created the diverse elements that constitute the world and living organisms around us.

Comment: Oxygen gas filaments identified as the universe's missing matter

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Car Black

New cars will soon have technology to prevent drunk driving

Kevin Drum
jabberwocking
Tue, 07 Nov 2023 10:52 UTC
car meter
© UnknownHypothetical toxication meter
The nanny state is at it again:

This tweet generated a ton of responses from conservative followers who were outraged at the idea that the government is going to monitor your driving and activate a "kill switch" if it doesn't approve. But that isn't what's really happening. Here's the skinny:
  • This is solely about reducing drunk driving. It was part of the 2021 infrastructure bill.
  • Cars will be fitted with devices that (a) detect alcohol in the air via sensors in the door and (b) measure blood alcohol levels via infrared lights in the ignition button.
  • If you are over the legal limit, your car will start but it won't move.
  • This is entirely in-car tech. Neither the police nor anyone else has access to it.
  • The IIHS estimates it will save 9,000 lives per year.
You can decide for yourself what you think of this. But you should at least know what's really going on.

Comment: DUI-free future? Some questions remain:
Technology is constantly evolving, and methods aimed at bettering life are always being introduced, created and updated. This is never more true than right now, when technologies aimed at eliminating drunk driving are right on the horizon. But is everyone excited about this new step towards a DUI-free future? And is there a chance it may be less than ideal?

The system, called Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS), uses dual sensors located inside the vehicle to detect a person's blood alcohol count.

One sensor - the breath-based sensor, detects the alcohol molecules present in the driver's breath. The second sensor, which is the touch-based sensor, uses infrared tissue spectroscopy which measures the intensity of the light particles absorbed by alcohol. Together they work to narrow down the driver's blood alcohol content. If the driver's BAC exceeds the limit prescribed by the law, the car will automatically shut down.

Features that the inventors behind this tech plan to include would be a programmable "zero tolerance" setting for teen drivers. This would make it impossible for the car to start if there is even a trace of alcohol in the driver's system. This way, parents can feel safe when handing their keys to their teenage son or daughter. Currently, human subject testing is underway at McLean Hospital Behavioral Psychopharmacology Research Laboratory.

Would a "smart car" help us save lives and eliminate DUI arrests?

According to the NHTSA, about 28 people die every single day around the country as a result of drunk driving. That amounts to a staggering 10,000 or more people every year. Could this new technology stop these tragic deaths? Perhaps reduce the number of drunk driving accidents in our future? Save lives in Michigan and elsewhere? Possibly.

However, while many people, including the NHTSA, the U.S. Department of Transportation and members of Congress, are excited about this development, some people are unsure. Will already expensive newer cars be even pricier with this new technology? What happens if the technology malfunctions and sober drivers are stuck with cars that don't start every time? How much will this tech inside new vehicles change the cost of basic maintenance?

Those aren't the only questions. What about designated driver situations? Does the presence of a non-driving drunk person in the vehicle, whose breath could be detected by the sensor, increase the risk of the vehicle refusing to start for a sober designated driver? Only time will tell whether or not this technology is as accurate, and as ethical, as early reports are claiming.


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Meteor

Comet Research Group debuts new journal with blockbuster papers on the Younger Dryas Impact

George
The Cosmic Tusk
Tue, 03 Oct 2023 22:04 UTC
cosmic tusk new journal annoucement
© The Cosmic Tusk
The Comet Research Group published profoundly important new data this weekend concerning the Younger Dryas Impact. A series of three papers were led by Dr. Andrew M.T. Moore, former President of the Archaeological Institute of America, concerning the catastrophe in earliest Mesopotamia, and a single paper was led by Dr. Robert Hermes, of Los Alamos National Laboratory, comparing and contrasting the effects of the YD airbursts and nuclear detonations.

As many followers of the YDI hypothesis are aware, publishing information from the CRG concerning man's most significant episode has always been difficult. Some papers have required four years to pass the so-called peer review and be published, while others, once published, have sustained repeated baseless "nuisance appeals" for their retraction. Each of the new papers this week were subjected to a rigorous review from hostile academic cliques for years.
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Microscope 1

A man with Parkinson's, unable to walk without falling is mobile again after experimental spine implant

Kim Schewitz
Insider
Mon, 06 Nov 2023 21:08 UTC
Marc Gautier parkinsons spinal implant
© NeurorestoreMarc Gautier can now walk down a flight of stairs on his own.
A man diagnosed with Parkinson's disease almost 30 years ago who could barely walk on his own can now climb stairs and go out independently again thanks to a potentially revolutionary device implanted in his spinal cord.

Marc Gautier, 62, from a small town near Bordeaux, France, has lived with Parkinson's since he was 36, and was forced to stop working as an architect three years ago when his mobility got so bad that he was falling down five to six times a day, meaning he often had to stay at home.

"I practically could not walk anymore without falling frequently, several times a day. In some situations, such as entering a lift, I'd trample on the spot, as though I was frozen there," Gautier said in a press release.

Two years since the device was surgically implanted, however, he can once again do many things he used to enjoy.

"Every Sunday I go to the lake, and I walk around six kilometers. It's incredible," he said.
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Comet 2

Volcanic 'devil comet' racing toward Earth resprouts its horns after erupting again

Harry Baker
Live Science
Tue, 07 Nov 2023 17:16 UTC
The massive volcanic comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, which grows giant horns when it erupts, has exploded for a third time in five months as it continues to race toward the sun.
12P/Pons-Brooks
© Comet Chasers/Richard MilesThe "devil" comet's distinctive horns were first spotted after a major eruption on July 20.
A volcanic "devil comet" that is racing toward Earth erupted again on Halloween, causing it to regrow its distinctive "horns." The latest outburst, which was the second within a month and the third since July, is a reminder that the comet is becoming more volcanically active as it continues its journey toward the heart of the solar system.

The comet, named 12P/Pons-Brooks (12P), is a cryovolcanic, or cold volcano, comet. Like other comets, 12P has a solid nucleus — a hard, icy shell filled with ice, gas and dust — that is surrounded by a fuzzy cloud, or coma made of materials that leak out of the comet's insides.

But unlike non-volcanic comets, radiation from the sun can superheat 12P's interior, causing pressure to build up until it becomes so intense it cracks the nucleus' shell from the inside and sprays its icy guts into space. These eruptions cause the comet's coma to expand and brighten as it reflects more sunlight toward Earth.

When the comet erupts, its coma forms iconic devil "horns." These occur because 12P's large nucleus, which spans around 10.5 miles (17 kilometers) across, has an unusual "notch" on its surface, which blocks the outflow of cryomagma into space and causes its expanded coma to grow with an irregular shape.
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Brain

Brain implant may enable communication from thoughts alone


Science Daily
Mon, 06 Nov 2023 14:50 UTC
brain right left hemisphere
A speech prosthetic developed by a collaborative team of Duke neuroscientists, neurosurgeons, and engineers can translate a person's brain signals into what they're trying to say.

Appearing Nov. 6 in the journal Nature Communications, the new technology might one day help people unable to talk due to neurological disorders regain the ability to communicate through a brain-computer interface.

Comment: For more information on recent developments in brain implant technology, see the following:

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Galaxy

Scientists discover record-breaking 13.2 billion-year-old 'behemoth' black hole

Allie Griffin
New York Post
Tue, 07 Nov 2023 06:58 UTC
black hole
© APThis annotated image provided by NASA on Nov. 6, 2023 shows a composite view of data from NASA as Chandra X-ray Observatory and James Webb Space Telescope indicating a growing black hole just 470 million years after the big bang.
The oldest known black hole — a 13.2 billion-year-old 'behemoth' — has been discovered by scientists.

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope and Chandra X-Ray Observatory spent the past year working together to find and confirm the black hole and on Monday, researchers published their findings which confirmed beliefs that supermassive black holes existed at the start of the universe.

They believe the newly-located black hole was formed just 470 million years after the Big Bang and is 10 times larger than the black hole in the Milky Way.

The scientists estimated its weight to be anywhere from 10 to 100% the mass of all the stars in its galaxy, according to the lead author Akos Bogdan of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

"It's just really early on in the universe to be such a behemoth," said Yale University's Priyamvada Natarajan, who took part in the study. "It's astounding how this thing actually is sitting in place already with its galaxy so early on in the universe."
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Microscope 1

Research finds starfish are 'all head and no butt'

Mrigakshi Dixit
Interesting Engineering
Thu, 02 Nov 2023 19:27 UTC
Nervous system in older Patiria starfish anatomy
© Laurent Formery/Evident Image of the Year AwardNervous system in older Patiria starfish
Scientists have long been perplexed by the anatomical arrangement of sea stars. Many experts assumed that sea stars didn't have heads because of their remarkable five-armed symmetry and the lack of a prominent head or tail.

However, it turns out that a starfish's entire body serves as a head.

This startling revelation comes from a recent study by researchers at Stanford University and UC Berkeley.

They uncovered gene signatures associated with head development in young sea stars after conducting a thorough gene analysis of the starfish's body. The expression of genes responsible for an animal's torso and tail portions, on the other hand, was noticeably lacking.

"It's as if the sea star is completely missing a trunk and is best described as just a head crawling along the seafloor. It's not at all what scientists have assumed about these animals," said Laurent Formery, lead author of the new study, in an official release.
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Satellite

NASA's Kepler telescope reveals 7 new planets orbiting distant star "hotter than the sun"


NASA
Fri, 03 Nov 2023 19:24 UTC
Kepler space telescope new planets system
© NASA/Daniel RutterArtist's concept of Kepler-385, the seven-planet system revealed in a new catalog of planet candidates discovered by NASA's Kepler space telescope.
A system of seven sweltering planets has been revealed by continued study of data from NASA's retired Kepler space telescope: Each one is bathed in more radiant heat from their host star per area than any planet in our solar system. Also unlike any of our immediate neighbors, all seven planets in this system, named Kepler-385, are larger than Earth but smaller than Neptune. It is one of only a few planetary systems known to contain more than six verified planets or planet candidates. The Kepler-385 system is among the highlights of a new Kepler catalog that contains almost 4,400 planet candidates, including more than 700 multi-planet systems.

"We've assembled the most accurate list of Kepler planet candidates and their properties to date," said Jack Lissauer, a research scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley and lead author on the paper presenting the new catalog. "NASA's Kepler mission has discovered the majority of known exoplanets, and this new catalog will enable astronomers to learn more about their characteristics."

Comment: Listen to a sonification of the orbit data of the seven planets in the Kepler-385 system:



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