# Misc. science facts



## twilyth (Nov 17, 2014)

I feel a little stupid for not having known this but it seems that the moon's rate of rotation is almost perfectly synchronized with its orbit - which is why we only see the same "face."  Although technically this isn't completely true. When the moon is closest to earth its rotation is slightly slower and we see about 8 degrees more of the surface on one side.  At the farthest point, the rotation is faster and we 8 degrees more on the other side.  The phenomenon is called tidal locking.



> The rotational period of the moon wasn't always equal to its orbit around the planet. Just like the gravity of the moon affects ocean tides on the Earth, gravity from Earth affects the moon. But because the moon lacks an ocean, Earth pulls on its crust, creating a tidal bulge at the line that points toward Earth. [Infographic: Inside Earth's Moon]
> 
> Gravity from Earth pulls on the closest tidal bulge, trying to keep it aligned. This creates tidal friction that slows the moon's rotation. Over time, the rotation was slowed enough that the moon's orbit and rotation matched, and the same face became tidally locked, forever pointed toward Earth.
> 
> ...


In fact over the eons, earth's day has gone from about 6 hours to the current 24 as the moon has moved further and further from the earth


> Sedimentary rocks such as sandstone also testify to the quicker days of yore. As moon-spawned tides wash over rocks they deposit mineral specks, layer upon layer. In southern Australia, for example, these vertically accumulating tidal "rhythmites" have pegged an Earth day at 21.9 hours some 620 million years ago. This equates to a 400-day year, although other estimates suggest even brisker daily rotations then.


Here's what would happen if the moon didn't rotate


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## twilyth (Nov 18, 2014)




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## twilyth (Nov 18, 2014)

*Methane lakes extend more than 200 meters below surface of Saturnian moon*

*

*
*



DEEP DOWN  One of the largest seas on Titan, Ligeia Mare, seen in this false-color radar image taken by the Cassini spacecraft, extends more than 200 meters below the moon’s surface.
		
Click to expand...

*


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## INSTG8R (Nov 19, 2014)

Easy with the Triple Posting in your own thread...


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## Steevo (Nov 19, 2014)

twilyth said:


> *Methane lakes extend more than 200 meters below surface of Saturnian moon*
> 
> *
> 
> *


I think the US is found some WMD, so we may be invading to capture ummm, them.


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## twilyth (Nov 19, 2014)

INSTG8R said:


> Easy with the Triple Posting in your own thread...


Yeah.  I guess this thread is a little like public masturbation.  But at least I'm doing it quietly over in a corner.


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## INSTG8R (Nov 19, 2014)

twilyth said:


> Yeah.  I guess this thread is a little like public masturbation.  But at least I'm doing it quietly over in a corner.


Ya think?


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## twilyth (Nov 19, 2014)

I'm not sure what you're upset about.  I'm just trying to share things I think people will find interesting and avoid polluting the subforum with a lot of extraneous threads.  You can always put me on ignore if you find this especially annoying.


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## Steevo (Nov 19, 2014)

Keep going baby.


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## INSTG8R (Nov 19, 2014)

twilyth said:


> I'm not sure what you're upset about.  I'm just trying to share things I think people will find interesting and avoid polluting the subforum with a lot of extraneous threads.  You can always put me on ignore if you find this especially annoying.



I do and you just like to see yourself in text...


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## twilyth (Nov 19, 2014)

I don't know why you would think that but I'd be happy for you to PM me so I could find out.


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## twilyth (Nov 21, 2014)

LHC discovers 2 new hadrons

Following the recent confirmation of tetraquark particles, this may not be quite as exciting but it's still interesting, even if the discovery fits nicely within the standard model.


> In addition to the masses of these particles, the research team studied their relative production rates, their widths—which is a measurement of how unstable they are—and other details of their decays. The results match up with predictions based on the theory of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD).
> 
> “QCD is a powerful framework that describes the interactions of quarks, but it is not that precise,” Blusk says. “If we do see something new, we need to be able to say that is not the result of uncertainties in QCD, but that it is in fact something new and unexpected. That is why we need precision data and precision measurements like these—to refine our models.”


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## the54thvoid (Nov 21, 2014)

INSTG8R said:


> Ya think?



I wouldn't classify this as double posting when it is releasing newer and separate items of info, highly relevant to the thread title. Stop being a pedantic robot and let our resident factual science book post as they please.

Twilyth-please keep up the good work, I enjoy your science posts.


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## the54thvoid (Nov 21, 2014)

For the record, this is an example of double posting. Very different from the context that Twilyth has you so upset over.


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## Drone (Nov 21, 2014)

10 things you may not know about the Solar System

10 things you might not know about space


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## twilyth (Nov 21, 2014)

Drone said:


> 10 things you may not know about the Solar System
> 
> 10 things you might not know about space


From the first article


> *2. Pluto is smaller than the USA.* The greatest distance across the contiguous United States is nearly 2,900 miles (from Northern California to Maine). By the best current estimates, Pluto is just over 1400 miles across, less than half the width of the U.S. Certainly in size it is much smaller than any major planet, perhaps making it a bit easier to understand why a few years ago it was “demoted” from full planet status. It is now known as a “dwarf planet.”



From the second


> Some stars have more fuel than our sun, which is to say that they are more massive. Some stars have twice more, some 10 times more, and a relative few have 100 times more fuel as our sun. In fact, one “hypergiant” star designated as R136a1, is thought to be 265 times the mass of our sun. You might think that such stars, with such great mass, and such enormous reservoirs of fuel, would shine a very long time. But you would be wrong. In fact, very massive stars guzzle their nuclear fuel at prodigious rates, causing them to run out quickly. Our sun and similar stars have lifetimes of about 10 billion years, but a star 10 times more massive than the sun will “burn” for only about 30 million years, about one third of one percent as long!. A truly massive star 100 times more mass (and hence vastly more fuel) than our sun, may live only 100,000 years or so. If the sun’s lifetime were the same as the average human, a star 100 times as massive would live about six hours! And R136a1 would be gone in roughly the time it takes to watch a single episode of “The Big Bang Theory!”


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## Drone (Nov 21, 2014)

^ Thanks for pointing that out, here's some cool info about that monster star *R136a1*:







R136a1 is 165000 ly from Earth, located in the Large Magellanic Cloud (a nearby dwarf galaxy which orbits the Milky Way)






R136a1 is a hypergiant with a *radius of ~24 million km*, which is *~35 times larger than the sun*.

R136a1 is estimated to have a *mass of ~265 times that of the sun*, making it the most massive known star. *It also has the highest luminosity, close to 10 million times greater than the Sun*.


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## Drone (Nov 25, 2014)

*Gravitational lensing
*​


> Einstein's Theory of Relativity predicted that massive objects would bend and warp the fabric of spacetime. The more massive the object, the more severe the bending.
> 
> Einstein predicted that starlight passing near the massive object would follow invisible curved spacescape and be deflected from an otherwise straight path. In effect, the object acts as a lens, bending and refocusing the light from the distant source into either a brighter image or multiple and distorted images.



This stuff is extremely complicated involving tensor calculus, differential equations, Riemannian metric, Minkowski spacetime and lots of equations by Einstein, Ricci, Levi-Civita and many other great minds. Unfortunately I can't cover everything here because it's pretty much (tons of formulae) and I have only begun to understand, which is really hard let alone explain it to others. I have a really long journey ahead lol. Anyway, here are some famous examples of gravitation lensing:






The four dots are multiple images of supernova *SN Refsdal* taken with the Hubble Space Telescope. That's pretty crazy, isn't it? Four images of one thing.  






Another crazy example called *Einstein cross*.

What looks like a galaxy with five nuclei really has just one (at center) surrounded by a mirage of four images of a distant quasar. The galaxy lies 400 million ly away; the quasar about 8 billion. The quasar images flicker or change in brightness over time as they're microlensed by the passage of individual stars within the galaxy. Each star acts as a smaller lens within the main lens.

Some links:

http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/grav_lens.html

http://www.spacetelescope.org/science/gravitational_lensing/

http://astro.berkeley.edu/~jcohn/lens.html


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## twilyth (Nov 26, 2014)

Gravitational lensing might not be the only explanation for why light bends around massive objects - http://physicsworld.com/cws/article...-of-light-could-explain-sn1987-neutrino-burst

Photons are technically massless but they can spontaneously transform into pairs of matter/anti-matter particles that do have mass.  Those particles would be influenced by gravitational effects.  In fact, because they are so much more massive than neutrinos, light should be slowed down more than neutrinos originating from the same source - and that's what we seem to see in the above example.

Also, Einstein's explanation depends on time being an integral dimension of reality, something that is very hotly debated at present, especially since no one can really give a very good explanation for what is generally referred to as the "arrow of time" problem.  Beyond that, Julian Barbour has shown that the space-time construct is not essential for general relativity to work.  It can just as easily work within a timeless Machian dynamic framework.


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## Drone (Nov 26, 2014)

Kinda sorta oversimplified but nice video by Fraser Cain


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## twilyth (Nov 26, 2014)

On a related note, most of the mass of ordinary matter actually consists not of the quarks that make up protons and neutrons but of the massless gluons that hold them together.  In fact, the mass of the up and down quarks only makes up about 1% of the mass of a proton.  That's based on the resting mass of quarks but quarks in a proton make up a dynamic system.  Even so, most of the mass still comes from the gluons and what are known as 'sea quarks'.


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## rtwjunkie (Nov 26, 2014)

twilyth said:


> On a related note, most of the mass of ordinary matter actually consists not of the quarks that make up protons and neutrons but of the massless gluons that hold them together.  In fact, the mass of the up and down quarks only makes up about 1% of the mass of a proton.  That's based on the resting mass of quarks but quarks in a proton make up a dynamic system.  Even so, most of the mass still comes from the gluons and what are known as 'sea quarks'.


 
I feel my head exploding from information overload....

Seriously, good stuff!  I like this thread!


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## twilyth (Nov 26, 2014)

Don't feel bad.  Even the people that spend their lives studying the quantum real don't really understand it.  That's why you have at least 3 different interpretations of quantum mechanics.


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## Drone (Dec 2, 2014)

The human eye can see 'invisible' infrared light

... under certain conditions



Normally a photon, is absorbed by the retina, which then creates a molecule called a photopigment, which begins the process of converting light into vision. In standard vision, each of a large number of photopigments absorbs a single photon. But packing a lot of photons in a short pulse of the rapidly pulsing laser light makes it possible for two photons to be absorbed at one time by a single photopigment, and the combined energy of the two light particles is enough to activate the pigment and allow the eye to see what normally is *invisible*.

The visible spectrum includes waves of light that are 400-720 nm long. But if a pigment molecule in the retina is hit in rapid succession by a pair of photons that are 1 µm long, those light particles will deliver the same amount of energy as a single hit from a 500-nm photon, which is well within the visible spectrum. That's how we are able to see it.


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## twilyth (Dec 3, 2014)

I'm not sure if archeology technically fits under science and tech so I'll just leave a blurb in this thread for the article - http://www.sciencealert.com/new-evi...nd-the-golden-fleece-was-based-on-true-events

It seems that the Greek myth of the search for the golden fleece was based on historical fact.  It turns out that the area Jason traveled to, Colchis, was and still is know for its gold deposits.  Then as now, these are washed away by streams from rock outcroppings and can be captured.  The method that was used at the time involved sheep skins that helped to trap the gold particles.  And it's believed that this is the basis for the story.  It's an interesting read.


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## twilyth (Dec 4, 2014)

A new drug that I've been following for a couple years looks like it will finally enter Phase III clinical trials.  It's designed as an antidepressant but works on a completely different pathway than other drugs so if approved it will be the first in its class.  Unfortunately, P3 trials can take about 3 years since they are the most expensive and rigorous and as a result only about 1 in 5 drugs that are tested ever actually make it to market but things look good right now for Glyx-13



> The Chicago-area company says that in clinical proof-of-concept studies, GLYX-13 “was well-tolerated and demonstrated rapid, robust and sustained antidepressant effects.” The drug works by targeting NMDA receptors, which increase synaptic plasticity and correct irregularities in how neural cells communicate.
> 
> “Our company was established to develop therapeutics that precisely modulate the NMDA receptor to normalize and even enhance neuronal communication, thereby correcting the dysfunction that is at the root of many CNS disorders,” CEO Norbert Riedel said in a statement. He added that the proceeds will go toward addressing other CNS diseases and disorders.



New drug might help treat spinal cord injuries w/out surgery.  It doesn't seem to cause the axons of nerve cells to regrow through scar tissue but causes the few remaining functional neurons to send out more branches thus allowing them to have a greater effect.



> After spinal cord injury, axons try to cross the injury site and reconnect with other cells but are stymied by scarring that forms after the injury. Previous studies suggested their movements are blocked when the protein tyrosine phosphatase sigma (PTP sigma), an enzyme found in axons, interacts with chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans, a class of sugary proteins that fill the scars.
> 
> Dr. Lang and his colleagues designed a drug called ISP to block the enzyme and facilitate the drug’s entry into the brain and spinal cord. Injections of the drug under the skin of paralyzed rats near the injury site partially restored axon growth and improved movements and bladder functions.


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## Drone (Dec 6, 2014)




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## twilyth (Dec 9, 2014)

I'm not sure where to put this or if it deserved a thread so I'll let someone else decide that, but I figured this could affect some people here so I felt obliged.

 Lenovo Recalls Computer Power Cords Due to Fire and Burn Hazards 



> The AC power cord can overheat, posing fire and burn hazards.


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## twilyth (Dec 10, 2014)

LHC magnets get prepped for restart.  

In order to prepare the LHC to run at its design power of 14Tev (7Tev x 2), engineers had to upgrade all of its superconducting magnets.  These keep the beam moving in an arc around the accelerator.  The article talks about the process involved in getting the magnets ready to do this.



> The LHC magnets are superconducting, which means that when they are cooled down, current passes through them with zero electrical resistance. During powering, current is gradually increased in the magnetic coils, which sometimes generates tiny movements in the superconductor. These movements create friction, which in turn locally heats up the superconductor and makes it quench—or suddenly return to a non-superconducting state. When this occurs, the circuit is switched off and its energy is absorbed by huge resistors.
> 
> “By purposefully making the magnets quench, we can literally ‘shake out’ any unresolved tension in the coils and prep the magnets to hold a high current without losing their superconducting superpowers,” says Matteo Solfaroli, an LHC engineer-in-charge and co-leader of the commissioning team. “This is a necessary part of prepping the accelerator for the restart so that the magnets don’t quench while we are running the beam.”


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## Drone (Dec 11, 2014)

A bit of everything:

A Universe of 10 Dimensions

The Universe by Numbers

Number of Universes in the Multiverse

Story of the Universe


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## twilyth (Dec 12, 2014)

How to make a neutrino beam


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## Drone (Dec 15, 2014)

I've been playing Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker and dialogue between Big Boss and Cecile got me interested in ornithology XD

Some interesting facts about rulers of the skies:










200 scientists from 20 countries have produced a new family tree for nearly all species of birds alive today, drawing on a massive DNA analysis to gain insights into evolutionary history.

Here's amazing latest and greatest diagram *saves* 






And here's interactive version

Chickens and turkeys 'closer to dinosaur ancestors' than other birds

Haha, can you imagine that?

*New research suggests that chickens and turkeys have experienced fewer gross genomic changes than other birds as they evolved from their dinosaur ancestor.
*
Birds Lost Their Teeth 116 Million Years Ago

*A group of genetic researchers has found that teeth were lost in the common ancestor of all living birds about 116 million years ago (the end of the Early Cretaceous).
*
How birds get by without external ears

Unlike mammals, birds have no external ears. The outer ears have an important function: they help the animal identify sounds coming from different elevations. But birds are also able to perceive whether the source of a sound is above them, below them, or at the same level. Now a research team has discovered that *birds are able to localize these sounds by utilizing their entire head*.


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## rtwjunkie (Dec 15, 2014)

Well look at that...it appears the ostrich is a living fossil!


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## Drone (Dec 15, 2014)

rtwjunkie said:


> Well look at that...it appears the ostrich is a living fossil!




Haha yeah birds have a pretty long history. More than 110 million years.

Edit: more facts:



















Genes link human speech and bird song

As part of a huge effort to sequence and compare the entire genomes of 48 species of birds representing every major order of the bird family tree, researchers have found that vocal learning evolved twice (or maybe three times) among songbirds, parrots, and hummingbirds.
Even more striking is that the set of *genes involved in each of those song innovations is remarkably similar to the genes involved in human speaking ability*.


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## twilyth (Dec 18, 2014)

Possible dark matter signal detected



> While poring over data collected by the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton spacecraft, a team of researchers spotted an odd spike in X-ray emissions coming from two different celestial objects — the Andromeda galaxy and the Perseus galaxy cluster.
> 
> The signal corresponds to no known particle or atom and thus may have been produced by dark matter, researchers said. [Gallery: Dark Matter Throughout the Universe]
> 
> "The signal's distribution within the galaxy corresponds exactly to what we were expecting with dark matter — that is, concentrated and intense in the center of objects and weaker and diffuse on the edges," study co-author Oleg Ruchayskiy, of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland, said in a statement.


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## Drone (Dec 24, 2014)

Escape Velocity and Schwarzschild Radius











http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/vesc.html
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/astro/blkhol.html


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## twilyth (Dec 27, 2014)

Measure Planck's constant and define mass using Legos (umm, and a few other things)



> In a paper posted on ArXiv and submitted to the American Journal of Physics, the NIST researchers (joined by collaborators from the Joint Quantum Institute at the University of Maryland) show how to build—and understand—a Watt balance that can measure Planck’s constant and mass to within one part in a hundred. The device measures the electric power needed drive an electromagnet to balance a given mass. It uses 392 LEGO bricks, a USB data acquisition (DAQ) controller, a USB-controlled four-channel analog output device, a photodiode, two $15 lasers, some miscellaneous resistors, four ring magnets, some brass rod and a scrap of PVC pipe. The total cost is $633.77 or less: The two USB controllers account for $389 of the price tag; if you have them, or make a less expensive substitution, the project cost plummets.


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## Drone (Dec 30, 2014)

New video shows life in the deepest ocean

It's hard to believe that life is possible under 11 km deep


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## TheMailMan78 (Dec 30, 2014)

Great wall of China from "space"....


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## Ahhzz (Dec 30, 2014)

/tag for info   thanks for sharing guys


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## twilyth (Dec 31, 2014)

Cool infographic courtesy of XKCD.  Click to enlarge.


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## Steevo (Dec 31, 2014)

The "Door" was the fact they had traveled to the bottom of the deepest part of the ocean, not an actual "door".


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## twilyth (Jan 2, 2015)

How oxidative stress harms DNA.

This is a pretty interesting article from NIH since it seems to explain how stress on cells caused by free radicals can damage DNA.  What seems to happen is that when a cell is stressed, the number of free nucleotides that are used to build and repair DNA become oxidized.  Normally this isn't a problem since the amount of oxidized nucleotides is controlled.  But under stress, more may be created and these are then incorporated into DNA.  When this happens, any future attempt by DNA polymerase to repair the damage or to replicate the strand of DNA fails.



> Wilson and his colleagues saw the process in real time, by forming crystal complexes made of DNA, polymerase, and oxidized nucleotides, and capturing snapshots at different time points through time-lapse crystallography. The procedure not only uncovered the stages of nucleotide insertion, but indicated that the new DNA stopped the DNA repair machinery from sealing the gap. This fissure in the DNA prevented further DNA repair and replication, or caused an immediate double-strand break.
> 
> “The damaged nucleotide site is akin to a missing plank in a train track,” Wilson said. “When the engine hits it, the train jumps the track, and all of the box cars collide.”
> 
> Large numbers of these pileups and double-strand breaks are lethal to the cell, serving as a jumping off point for the development of disease. However, it can be a good thing if you are a researcher trying to destroy a cancer cell.



But this may turn out to be a boon for dealing with cancer cells that tend to have a lot of oxidized nucleotides.  See article to understand how.







> After the DNA polymerase (gray molecule in background) inserts a damaged nucleotide into DNA, the damaged nucleotide is unable to bond with its undamaged partner. As a result, the damaged nucleotide swings freely within the DNA, interfering with the repair function or causing double-strand breaks. These steps may ultimately lead to several human diseases. (Graphic courtesy of Bret Freudenthal)


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## HammerON (Jan 2, 2015)

Sub'd.

Saw this on Facebook:



__ https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152603210533845


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## twilyth (Jan 11, 2015)

Ninja squirrels - This may seem like an excuse to post a squirrel video but the behavior of California ground squirrels is actually something that people study.  In fact it was discovered a several years ago that a squirrel threatened by a snake can actually increase blood flow to its tail presumably to warn the snake off but possibly also making it more attractive target for the snake than its body.  Now it's been discovered that these squirrels have a special getaway technique when they think a snake might be on the prowl.


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## twilyth (Jan 12, 2015)

First LSST mirror completed.  I'd heard about this a while ago but wasn't aware of the unique 3 mirror design.



> After more than six years of grinding and polishing, the first-ever dual-surface mirror for a major telescope is complete.
> 
> In March 2008, a group of people gathered around a giant, red oven in a six-story workshop space beneath the bleachers of the University of Arizona football stadium.
> 
> ...


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## twilyth (Jan 13, 2015)

Carbon nucleus "protects" itself by conjuring a particle from the void.

This is both interesting and strange.  If I understand the article correctly, a neutrino hitting a carbon nucleus will often be deflected by a pion that appears from the quantum vacuum. 



> In what they call a “weird little corner” of the already weird world of neutrinos, physicists have found evidence these tiny particles might be involved in a surprising reaction.
> 
> Neutrinos are famous for almost never interacting. As an example, ten trillion neutrinos pass through your hand every second, and fewer than one actually interacts with any of the atoms that make up your hand.
> 
> ...


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## FireFox (Jan 13, 2015)

You are fascinated by these things, aren't  you?


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## Drone (Jan 14, 2015)

Our Galaxy is special after all. So it seems ....



> Given that our Solar System sits inside the Milky Way Galaxy, getting a clear picture of what it looks like as a whole can be quite tricky. In fact, it was not until 1852 that astronomer Stephen Alexander first postulated that the galaxy was spiral in shape. And since that time, numerous discoveries have come along that have altered how we picture it.
> 
> For decades astronomers have thought the Milky Way consists of four arms [made up of stars and clouds of star-forming gas] that extend outwards in a spiral fashion. Then in 2008, data from the Spitzer Space Telescope seemed to indicate that our Milky Way has just *two arms*, but a larger central bar. But now astronomers say that one of our galaxy's arms may stretch farther than previously thought, reaching all the way around the galaxy.



That's amazing! This would mean the arm is not only the single largest in our galaxy, but is also the only one to effectively reach 360° around the Milky Way. Nothing of the sort has ever been observed with other spiral galaxies.





> This arm is known as *Scutum-Centaurus*, which emanates from one end of the Milky Way bar, passes between us and Galactic Center, and extends to the other side of the galaxy. For many decades, it was believed that was where this arm terminated. However, back in 2011, astronomers Thomas Dame & Patrick Thaddeus spotted what appeared to be an extension of this arm on the other side of the galaxy.
> 
> Recently astronomers found 72 new clouds of interstellar gas that line up along a 30000 ly-long spiral-arm. The new arm appears to be the extension of the distant arm recently discovered by Dame & Thaddeus (2011) as well as the Scutum-Centaurus Arm into the outer second quadrant.


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## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Jan 14, 2015)

NASATV   broadcasts live from International Space Station and many other momentous occasions.
i like watching launches especially.

Today there has been a leak of ammonia on board. Unsurprisingly they arent showing that, but they are showing a lovely view out of the window.


http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv


try this too..... *quantum physics in a pint glass.*

The lecturer is a bit of a prick but i like the demonstration

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKGZDhQoR9E


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## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Jan 20, 2015)

Why do they call it VAIO  ?


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## Drone (Jan 20, 2015)

Rainfall can spread diseases ...


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## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Jan 22, 2015)

*The first second after the Big Bang
*
A lot of interesting stuff which is very well explained.    42 minutes well spent


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## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Jan 23, 2015)

*Expansion Theory

*
Everything stayed in the same place but the space between them got massive.                  I know

http://www.space.com/25078-universe-inflation-gravitational-waves-discovery.html

watch this, it is only 3 minutes long and does a good job of explaining it,  which in turn explains why the universe isnt significantly smaller or massively bigger.  This particular universe we are in anyway.



....................................................................................................................................................................

*Ancient star system reveals earth size planets forming near start of universe
*
Very Very old planets, many billions of years older than earth.


http://phys.org/news/2015-01-astro-archaeological-discovery-dawn.html


theres a video if you scroll down. Its worth a read as well though.


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## twilyth (Jan 28, 2015)

New psoriasis treatment approved by FDA


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## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Jan 28, 2015)

*Bucky Balls in a Blender    or.........*.rare earth magnets going mental












..................................................................................................................................

*Rare earth magnets     *are soooooper strong so how do you get one delivered without it getting stuck to the delivery van.?
And yes....anyone can buy them. In fact there are usually 2 small ones in every HDD











there is a clip on the internut of a poor fella who got his hand stuck to a fridge with one of these.
i am not providing a link to that.  


.....................................................................................................................................

Now ive got some,   what shall i do with them ?











theres loads of other good ones on youtube.

......................................................................................................................................

Rare earth magnets in HDD











*BE CAREFUL*

These can destroy sensitive electrical equipment and may kill Grandad if he has a pacemaker    .



............................................................................................................................................
More info... Which i think is very interesting


universetoday.com/79266/super-magnets/


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## Tatty_One (Jan 28, 2015)

This is the most random of randomness threads I think I have ever seen in this place, it even makes General Nonsense look normal lol.


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## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Jan 29, 2015)

*Global Warming


*
I cant think of a better way to describe this other than

*Flaming Farting lake.*.........a frivolous title for an interesting phenomenom which is directly related to methane and global warming.


Vid is only 2 minutes long



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...apped-lake-ignited-match.html#v-4019753479001



OR    in TEXAS











this explains why


http://www.examiner.com/article/fis...hane-releases-on-days-of-intense-earth-wobble


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## twilyth (Jan 29, 2015)

Ebola vaccine successfully tested in UK

This is pretty interesting.  They re-engineered a cold virus to produce one of the proteins expressed by Ebola.  They use this to stimulate an immune response to the protein which the vaccine did.


> The vaccine is based on a chimpanzee cold virus, called adenovirus 3 (ChAd3), that’s been engineered to produce a viral protein specific to the Zaire Ebolavirus strain from the ongoing outbreak in West Africa. Ideally, it would trick the human immune system into making antibodies to fight this particular strain. A second vaccine against both the Zaire and Sudan strains is also being tested in people.


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## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Jan 29, 2015)

EBOLA evolving

As announced today

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/a...ious-warn-scientists-identified-outbreak.html


includes video on what is Ebola and where did it come from.


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## xvi (Jan 29, 2015)

Why have I not seen this thread before? Sub!


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## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Jan 29, 2015)

A chemical reaction that quite frankly frightened me 














More than mildly amusing


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## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Jan 30, 2015)

*The Oceans     
*
An island built from plastic bottles    .......................................... *Cool










*

Plastic bottles that make an island    .............................................*.shit
*











Deep Sea Fish farming   *   ..........................................................fish in pods that deliver themselves to market using GPS  ....     EPIC   

*


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## Drone (Jan 30, 2015)

https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/~dmilisav/casa-webapp/model.html

Cassiopeia in 3d


If ....



















Nice video


----------



## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Jan 30, 2015)

Drone said:


> https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/~dmilisav/casa-webapp/model.html
> 
> Cassiopeia in 3d




That is a stunning visual representation.   Are there other similar ones?


----------



## Drone (Jan 30, 2015)

CAPSLOCKSTUCK said:


> That is a stunning visual representation.   Are there other similar ones?


Sure. I've posted lots before but I don't remember lol


The Multiwavelength Milky Way







Interactive version here


----------



## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Jan 30, 2015)

Cardiff University.       I had a brain scan done there.  It might have looked a bit like some of the pics you post actually.

Diolch yn fawr.       ( thankyou, in Welsh)


----------



## xvi (Jan 30, 2015)

Ruben's Tube


----------



## Drone (Jan 30, 2015)

short video about ion engines


----------



## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Jan 30, 2015)

xvi said:


> Ruben's Tube




1 st is good
The 2nd vid is incredible. Especially once they get some music going.

They go to schools and show kids..... Epic

........................................................................................................................................
*Ferro Fluid *anyone ?














I am strangely attracted to magnets


Indulge yourself   *Ferro Fluid Sculpture










*
*Twins*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d44LW6KZ_iU



*Make your own Ferro Fluid.........











*




.
*
*


----------



## Ahhzz (Jan 30, 2015)

xvi said:


> Ruben's Tube


that second videos is absolutely freaking amazing....


----------



## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Jan 31, 2015)

I think everyone will enjoy this 3.30 minutes of aceness.


*Tone Generator












*
Best 24 seconds you will spend tonight
*Hydrographics
*

*








*


----------



## Drone (Feb 1, 2015)




----------



## Drone (Feb 2, 2015)

Mercury is very dense 


Ok, here's today's photo of the moon taken aboard the ISS and interesting fact:

"The moon looks almost like Earth when seen through the refraction from our atmosphere."


----------



## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Feb 2, 2015)

Drone said:


>




Thanks for posting that.. if i could have seen that as a child............it would have completely blown me apart.


----------



## xvi (Feb 2, 2015)

Drone said:


> Mercury is very dense


Woah woah woah! Easy there! Intellectually challenged!
*comforts Mercury*


----------



## twilyth (Feb 2, 2015)

And all of that came from an infinitesimal speck smaller than a proton. 





> The singularity was so small that it has to be observed using quantum physics, which deals with things on the smallest scale scientists have ever postulated. At the beginning of existence, the universe had a temperature of 1 x 1032 degree Celsius and only covered a region of 1 x 10-33 centimeters. It’s hard to believe that expanded to become the universe spanning billions of light years we know today!


----------



## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Feb 3, 2015)

*How to fold a record-breaking paper plane*

*http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2937778/How-fold-record-breaking-paper-plane-Maker-reveals-aerodynamic-secrets-offers-1-000-fly-design-him.html*


*How to make a paper plane fly forever...nearly*


----------



## Drone (Feb 3, 2015)




----------



## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Feb 3, 2015)

The banner at the end of the superb video

*Keep Looking Up*.........ace


----------



## Drone (Feb 3, 2015)

There's even better one by Stephen Hawking

Remember to _*look up*_ at the stars and not down at your feet.


----------



## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Feb 3, 2015)

*Vatican observatory where priests are also astrophysicists*




*http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-31051635*


----------



## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Feb 4, 2015)

*From bioluminescence to laser beams and lightning strikes, mesmerising images light in different forms*.



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2939439/Beyond-light-bulb-bioluminescence-laser-beams-lightning-strikes-mesmerising-images-light-different-forms.html


----------



## twilyth (Feb 4, 2015)

Drone said:


>


I decided to look up redshift to get some idea of distance.  I couldn't find a table that linked cosmological redshift to distance but did find this in wikipedia 





> The cosmic microwave background has a redshift of z = 1089, corresponding to an age of approximately 379,000 years after the Big Bang and a comoving distance of more than 46 billion light years.[75]


So if I'm reading that correctly, even though the universe is only 13.7B years old, the microwave background is 46B ly away.  I guess that gives us a rough idea of how quickly the universe is expanding. 





> The most precise measurement ever made of the speed of the universe's expansion is in, thanks to NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, and it's a doozy. Space itself is pulling apart at the seams, expanding at a rate of 74.3 plus or minus 2.1 kilometers (46.2 plus or minus 1.3 miles) per second per megaparsec (a megaparsec is roughly 3 million light-years).


----------



## Drone (Feb 4, 2015)

twilyth said:


> I decided to look up redshift to get some idea of distance.  I couldn't find a table that linked cosmological redshift to distance but did find this in wikipedia So if I'm reading that correctly, even though the universe is only 13.7B years old, the microwave background is 46B ly away.  I guess that gives us a rough idea of how quickly the universe is expanding.



Nope. The CMB is ~ 13.8B ly away from any reference point in the Universe. But for all that time Universe was expanding (still expanding) and everything keeps getting away from us. Hence the diameter of observable Universe is ~ 90 B ly or something (things that were close to us 13.8 b years ago aren't there anymore ... ugm there was no us then but you know what I mean) but that visible light since that time stretched back to microwave because universe is expanding. What lies beyond 13.8 b ly will get to us eventually but what lies beyond 45 B will never ever reach us because it's getting away due to expansion. It's really complicated but here's a diagram


----------



## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Feb 4, 2015)

@Drone where does brane theory fit in with this.?

I know none of this is easy to understand, for me anyway, the scale of everything is baffling enough.

Cosmic inflation is different to expansion in that inflation was an almost instantaneous thing and expansion is ongoing ?


Point me in the right direction mate, i'm struggling with this.


----------



## Drone (Feb 4, 2015)

Lol everybody struggles with that and nobody knows for sure, it's just a theory XD

But yeah that's correct inflation happened, expansion/redshifting still happening. It's impossible to measure redshift for close objects (close I mean our 'neighborhood' - galaxies that lie tens/hundreds million ly away), it works only for spectra of galaxies/objects that are really far away (billions ly away).

Big Bang theory says that everything happened from nothing while brane theory says that there's always something. Always was always will be.


----------



## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Feb 4, 2015)

Drone said:


> Big Bang theory says that everything happened from nothing while brane theory says that there's always something. Always was always will be.



At least i know whats confusing me now.  I hope that is at least part of the battle..

Soooooo, the rate of inflation was immeasurably greater than the current rate of expansion, and the redshift should enable us to discover /..........

.. LOOK what youve done to me this time...................................my brain is just melting now.    


I want to lie down.................no i need to lie down.


ps    .      ...   .  dont stop   (we will have to come up with a      "safe word")


----------



## Drone (Feb 4, 2015)

Yup inflation was a "big deal" it was fast and furious. Expansion is more steady and stable more or less.

BOSS established that *10.8 billion years ago, the universe was expanding by 1% every 44 million years*. If we look back to the universe when galaxies were 3 times closer together than they are today, we'd see that a pair of galaxies separated by 1 M ly would be drifting apart at a speed of 68 km/s as the universe expands.

WMAP confirms that number, they say that the Hubble constant is 69.3 km/s/Mpc (give or take 0.8 km/s/Mpc)









some other unrelated but interesting news:


Biologists Find Deep-Sea Sulfur Bacteria that Have Not Evolved in 2.3 Billion Years

Scientists found that half-life of iron-60 is 2.6 million years


edit: here's some nice video


----------



## twilyth (Feb 4, 2015)

There are patterns in the microwave background revealed by Planck that don't fit with standard inflation theories.  For example the so-called 'axis of evil'

If you can't view the article, there are plenty others, just search for Planck 'axis of evil'.


----------



## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Feb 5, 2015)

*Is dark matter lighter than we thought?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...erse-s-greatest-mystery-remains-unsolved.html
*
Some reading, lovely pics and a video.


----------



## Drone (Feb 6, 2015)

Carbon gives so many possibilities lol things get better and better:

Scientists Discover New Allotrope of Carbon - penta-graphene [*unique 2D carbon allotrope composed exclusively of pentagons*]






The material might outperform graphene in certain applications, as it would be mechanically stable, possess very high strength, and be capable of withstanding temperatures of up to 1000K. The material's mechanical strength, derived from a rare property known as Negative Poisson's Ratio.

"If you stretch graphene, it will expand along the direction it is stretched, but contract along the perpendicular direction but if you stretch penta-graphene, it will expand in both directions."


----------



## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Feb 6, 2015)

*Putting your hand in the LHC
*
serious people hypothesising about a stupid idea, interesting though...


----------



## xvi (Feb 6, 2015)

CAPSLOCKSTUCK said:


> Putting your hand in the LHC


Reminds me of a video from the same producer about drinking heavy water.
Sort of a theory exercise.


----------



## twilyth (Feb 6, 2015)

Triple moon transit of Jupiter


----------



## twilyth (Feb 6, 2015)

Better optical tweezers 



> A new way to create and guide beams of "twisted light" has been created by researchers in the UK. The team used a cylindrical array of ultrasound loudspeakers to create a pattern of density waves in a fluid through which a laser beam is shone. The system creates twisted "Bessel beams" that can be reconfigured at a rate of about 150 kHz and shows promise for use in a wide range of applications including optical tweezers, high-speed data transmission and aberration correction for microscopes.
> 
> Twisted light refers to a beam with a wavefront that rotates around its direction of propagation with a corkscrew-like motion – and therefore carries orbital angular momentum. Bessel beams are a type of twisted light that have been created in the lab using special lenses and have been used in optical tweezers. An important feature of Bessel beams is that they do not diverge as they propagate, which makes them well-suited for optical tweezers.







Illustration of a Bessel beam.


----------



## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Feb 7, 2015)

twilyth said:


> Better optical tweezers
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Amazing, the design and engineering and everything about it is incredible. The process these teams must go through to achieve something like this and other stuff like it is beyond belief really......to me anyway.
I really enjoyed reading that 


*How they make a cpu.*

 This is a good vid, only 10 minutes long


----------



## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Feb 7, 2015)

*@Drone * added a great one a couple of weeks ago about raindrops
I like this article as well

*Rain again
*

The team ran experiments with dozens of types of common foliage, including ivy, bamboo, peppermint, and banana leaves.

The researchers captured the sequence of events as raindrops hit each leaf, using high-speed videography at 1,000 frames per second.


some interesting reading, extraordinary pics and good vid
*





http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...ges-reveal-raindrops-spread-disease-leaf.html*[/QUOTE]


And while we are on the subject of rain


*How Much Does a Cloud Weigh ?*

Some reading
http://mentalfloss.com/article/49786/how-much-does-cloud-weigh

And then a guy on a video    (im not sure if hes got really long arms)











*Milky Rain Anyone?*

A little bit of reading and pics.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...st-ash-spewed-Japan-s-Sakurajima-volcano.html


----------



## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Feb 8, 2015)

* Positive and Negative lightning*


Most cloud-to-ground strikes are negative, and a much less common number are positive. The only difference between the two kinds is the reversal of polarities in the cloud base. Normally the negative charge collects in the cloud base, with a corresponding net positive charge in the ground under the cloud. Lightning strikes originating from this configuration are negative strikes.

But if the cloud base becomes positively charged relative to the top of the cloud, the ground below then assumes a net negative charge, and any lightning that develops will be a positive strike.

The lightning detection sensors used by many data observation and collection organizations are able to distinguish between positive and negative strikes, and report them as such. Research is ongoing, to determine if there is a relationship between positive strokes and certain types of severe weather.











.



*Lightning Facts*  Video


http://oceantoday.noaa.gov/lightning/


----------



## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Feb 9, 2015)

*Elements in the Human Body* 


Element Percent by Mass
Oxygen               65
Carbon                18
Hydrogen            10
Nitrogen              3
Calcium              1.5
Phosphorous     1.2
Potassium         0.2
Sulfur               0.2
Chlorine            0.2
Sodium              0.1
Magnesium        0.05
Iron, Cobalt, Copper, Zinc, Iodine
Selenium, Fluorine

*40 interesting human body facts*


The acid in your stomach is strong enough to dissolve razorblades.
The human body is estimated to have 60,000 miles of blood vessels.
Humans lose an average of 40 to 100 strands of hair a day.
Women’s hair is about half the diameter of men’s hair.
The lifespan of a human hair is 3 to 7 years on average.
Every inch of the skin, there are about 32 million bacteria.
300 billion new cells are produced every day. 300 million old cells die every minute.
The tooth is the only part of the human body that can’t repair itself.
On average, your kidneys will filter around 1.3 liters of blood every minute.
Men produce around 10 million sperm per day.
On average, a woman’s body produces about 1/2 a million eggs.
On average, an individual grows over 450 miles of hair in a lifetime.
The largest cell in the human body is the female egg and the smallest is the male sperm.
There are about one trillion bacteria on each of your feet.
A human sneeze creates a blast of air that can be moving more than 100 miles per hour.
The average human drinks about 16,000 gallons of water in his or her lifetime.
A baby human’s fingerprints are formed after just three months of the pregnancy.
The brain operates on the same amount of power as 10-watt light bulb.
Babies are born with 300 bones, but by adulthood the number is reduced to 206.
By the time they are 60 years old, most humans have lost half of their taste buds.
The human body has enough iron in it to make a 3 inches long nail.
The average human head has about 100,000 hairs.
Nerve impulses to and from the brain travel as fast as 170 miles per hour.
An adult human body contains approximately 100 trillion cells.
There are nearly 46 miles of nerves in an adult’s body.
Fingernails grow 4 times faster than toenails.
The strongest muscle in the human body is the tongue.
The human body is estimated to have 60,000 miles of blood vessels.
Everyone has a unique smell, except for identical twins, who smell the same.
All babies are color blind at birth, they see only black and white.
Your body requires 1000-1500 calories per day just to simply survive: breathing, sleeping and eating.
To completely regrow a human fingernail or toenail, all the way from base to tip, takes about 6 months.
The brain has approximately 100 billion nerve cells that send and receive information around the body.
A normal human being can survive 20 days without eating but can survive only 2 days without drinking.
By the time it is seventy years old, your human heart will have beat an average two-and-a-half billion times.
The only part of your body that has no blood supply is the cornea in the eye. It gets its oxygen directly from air.
In just 30 minutes, the average person’s body produces enough heat to boil a 1/2 gallon of water.
Your lungs need a lot of breathing room. The total surface area of the lungs is approximately equal to the size of a tennis court.
*The human brain cells can hold between 3 and 1000 Terabytes of information. The National Archives of Britain, containing over 900 years of history, only takes up 70 terabytes.*
The brain only makes up about 2% of the body but uses 20% of the oxygen that enters the bloodstream.


----------



## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Feb 11, 2015)

*History of Concrete





*
I like concrete, i have used it on some pretty big construction projects. The biggest pour i have been involved in was for a wind turbine base.  That was  42  x  6 m3  lorries full. Thats  a lot especially when it all has to be vibrated to get the air out.



Concrete is a manmade building material that looks like stone. Combining cement with aggregate and sufficient water makes concrete. Water allows it to set and bind the materials together. Different mixtures are added to meet specific requirements. Concrete is normally reinforced with the use of rods or steel mesh before it is poured into moulds. Interestingly, the history of concrete finds evidence in Rome some 2000 years back. Concrete was essentially used in aqueducts and roadway construction in Rome.

It is said that the Romans used a primal mix for their concrete. It consisted of small gravel and coarse sand mixed with hot lime and water, and sometimes even animal blood. To trim down shrinkage, they are known to have used horsehair. Historical evidence states that the Assyrians and Babylonians used clay as the bonding material. Even ancient Egyptians are believed to have used lime and gypsum cement for concrete. Lime mortars and gypsums were also used in building the world-acclaimed pyramids.





However, Romans are known to have made wide usage of concrete for building roads. It is interesting to learn that they built some 5,300 miles of roads using concrete. Concrete is a very strong building material. Historical evidence also points that Romans used Pozzalana, animal fat, milk and blood as admixtures for building concrete.














1903 England  Rail mounted concrete mixer






*Hoover Dam




*

2,500,000  cubic m's concrete


*Concrete Art









*


----------



## rtwjunkie (Feb 11, 2015)

Concrete was what also allowed the Romans to build the roof on the Pantheon, apartment buildings, and numerous other large buildings.


----------



## twilyth (Feb 12, 2015)

Learn about the cytosol - http://directorsblog.nih.gov/2015/02/12/cool-videos-coordinated-chaos-in-the-cells-cytosol/


https://www.youtube.com/embed/uh2vqlBuTxU


----------



## twilyth (Feb 12, 2015)

The mechanics of popcorn

A lot of math and jargon, but there are some interesting pix like this one







> Figure 3.
> Fractures and jumps. (_a_) Snapshots of the somersault of a piece of popcorn while heated on a hot plate, 350°C (see electronic supplementary material, movie S1). We assume that the displacement in the _y_-direction is small compared to the displacements in the _x–z_ plane because the kernel stays in the depth of field of the camera which is about 3 mm. (_b_) The fracture of _Impatiens glandulifera_ seedpod, adapted from Deegan [13]. (_c_) The snapshots of the somersault of a gymnast, adapted from Muybridge [26]. (Online version in colour.)



Article is summarized here - https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/science-ticker/biomechanics-popcorn


----------



## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Feb 12, 2015)

*Cleaning up oil spills with magnets*


*







*

*http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2012/how-to-clean-up-oil-spills-0912.html*


How does a transistor work ?












anybody fancy a silicon chip?


----------



## twilyth (Feb 14, 2015)

Technically this isn't strictly science related but it's science adjacent - the NASA's new mission poster.


----------



## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Feb 14, 2015)

For me.... this approach doesnt  work.  I remember when Star Wars was a real thing, the war in space, lets not forget, the first space missions were military backed with the aim of providing weapons platforms.


I was hoping they would ditch this shit after Challenger.










It kind of trivializes the science. Who is next....The Griffins, with Stewie at the helm.


----------



## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Feb 15, 2015)

*Why is super glue so strong?*

Super glue is made of cyanoacrylate, an acrylic resin that creates a strong bond almost instantly. The molecules of this acrylic resin react on contact with the hydroxyl ions found in water. Because some trace of water can be found on the surface of almost anything, super glue can bond immediately and tightly to almost any object. The cyanoacrylate molecules start to link and form chains, triggered by the water. They spin around in strands that form a super-strong plastic mesh, and they only stop when the glue becomes thick and hardens, and the molecular chains can't move.

The chemical process that super glue undergoes is called anionic polymerization. This dries up the water to create the bond, and the heat this process generates can even burn your skin. If you happen to glue something other than the intended object, like your fingers for example, be careful how you unstick yourself.

Cyanoacrylate's bonding ability is so quick and so strong (a square-inch bond can hold weight of over a ton) that inadvertent finger-sticking often happens. The basic rule of super-glue first aid is not to force anything apart, or you will tear your skin. First remove excess glue, but scrape it off and don't use any kind of fabric, as that may cause a chemical reaction that could burn your skin. Soak your hands in warm soapy water, and then carefully pull your fingers apart using a dull tool.

Take care never to open the super glue cap with your mouth! Loosening super-glued lips is no easy matter. Cyanoacrylate's bonding ability is so strong, it can be used instead of stitches to close up wounds. If super glue is combined with a different alcohol, it becomes less toxic and can be used more safely on the skin.


----------



## twilyth (Feb 15, 2015)

Is there a reason that you're posting in a 16pt font?


----------



## xvi (Feb 16, 2015)

twilyth said:


> Is there a reason that you're posting in a 16pt font?


..for maximum science, obviously.


----------



## twilyth (Feb 17, 2015)

Here is an article that talks about the different types of materials used in particle detectors - from dry cleaning fluid, to mineral oil and from Antarctic ice to old Soviet artillery shells - http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/article/february-2015/10-unusual-detector-materials

There's even a link for building your own particle detector at home - http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/article/january-2015/how-to-build-your-own-particle-detector


----------



## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Feb 18, 2015)

*The strongest natural material ever known has been found... in the teeth of a tiny shellfish.*

Scientists, who made the discovery while examining limpets, say the substance could revolutionise industrial engineering.

Researchers at the University of Portsmouth believe it is even stronger than the silk spiders use to make webs, until now thought weight for weight to be the world’s toughest biological material.






The scientists examined the teeth of limpets, which cling to rocks around Britain’s shores, and found fibres of a mineral in them, known as goethite, have evolved to form super-strong structures.








This helps the shellfish dig into rocks to stop them being washed out to sea.

Professor Asa Barber, who led the research, said: ‘Nature is a wonderful source of inspiration for structures that have excellent mechanical properties.

‘All the things we observe around us, such as trees, the shells of sea creatures and the limpet teeth studied in this work, have evolved to be effective at what they do.






‘Until now we thought that spider silk was the strongest biological material because of its super-strength and potential applications in everything from bullet-proof vests to computer electronics, but now we have discovered that limpet teeth exhibit a strength that is potentially higher.’

The study, published today in the Royal Society journal Interface, suggests that the structure could be copied by engineers.

Professor Barber added: ‘We discovered that the fibres of goethite are just the right size to make up a resilient composite structure.

‘This discovery means that the fibrous structures found in limpet teeth could be mimicked and used in high-performance engineering applications such as Formula 1 racing cars, the hulls of boats and aircraft structures


----------



## Ahhzz (Feb 18, 2015)

Yup, read that this morning. Interesting


----------



## twilyth (Feb 18, 2015)

From wikipedia 


> *Goethite* (FeO(OH)), (/ˈɡɜrtaɪt/ _*GUR*-tite_) named after the German polymath and poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832), an iron bearing hydroxide mineral of the diaspore group, is found in soil and other low-temperature environments. Goethite has been well known since ancient times for its use as a pigment (ochre). Evidence has been found of its use in paint pigment samples taken from the caves of Lascaux in France. It was first described in 1806 for occurrences in the Hollertszug Mine, Dermbach, Herdorf, Siegerland, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.[3]


----------



## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Feb 22, 2015)

*The science of bubbles









*
Anyone who has lathered up soap or seen frothy suds form on top of freshly poured soda has witnessed the delicate science of bubbles in action. But while bubbles and foamy materials are common in everyday life, scientists have struggled to model suds’ complicated behavior — the way clusters of bubbles grow, change shape and ultimately pop.

Understanding and predicting bubble behavior is important because the production of chemicals we rely on, such as flame-retardants, involves froths and foams.
The underlying equations could have a variety of applications, including helping to make better metal and plastic foams, developing lightweight crash-absorbent materials and also to model a number of biological processes such as the growth of cell clusters.

An early attempt at understanding the structure of soapy foams is encapsulated in "Plateau's laws" – formulated by 19th-century Belgian physicist Joseph Plateau. Then Lord Kelvin developed his theory of an "ideal foam" of equal-sized bubbles in 1887, an accurate version of which was finally made in the lab in 2012 by a team at Trinity College, Dublin. But a more general set of equations describing bubbles on varying length and time scales remained elusive, until now. The challenge is to create mathematical models that describe how interfaces between bubbles move and how they "meet" in complicated phases.


----------



## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Feb 23, 2015)

*Wing Tip Vortex







*
from wiki
Wingtip vortices are circular patterns of rotating air left behind a wing as it generates lift.[1] One wingtip vortex trails from the tip of each wing. Wingtip vortices are sometimes named _trailing_ or _lift-induced vortices_because they also occur at points other than at the wing tips.[1] Indeed, vorticity is trailed at any point on the wing where the lift varies span-wise (a fact described and quantified by the lifting-line theory); it eventually rolls up into large vortices near the wingtip, at the edge of flap devices, or at other abrupt changes in wing planform.

have a click here
*https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Lift-induced_vortices_behind_aircraft_(DLR_demonstration).ogv*


----------



## twilyth (Feb 23, 2015)

Vortex generator







> A *vortex generator* (VG) is an aerodynamic device, consisting of a small vane usually attached to a lifting surface (or airfoil, such as an aircraft wing)[1] or a rotor blade of a wind turbine.[2] VGs may also be attached to some part of an aerodynamic vehicle such as an aircraft fuselage or a car. When the airfoil or the body is in motion relative to the air, the VG creates a vortex,[1][3] which, by removing some part of the slow-moving boundary layer in contact with the airfoil surface, delays local flow separation and aerodynamic stalling, thereby improving the effectiveness of wings and control surfaces, such as flaps, elevators, ailerons, and rudders.[3]


----------



## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Feb 23, 2015)

you see these on a lot of commercial aircraft they save about 10 % fuel i think.





they are called canards, its the French word for duck.


----------



## 64K (Feb 23, 2015)

Some things defy my understanding about aerodynamics. Did you know that you can make a paper tube fly?

http://www.10paperairplanes.com/how-to-make-paper-airplanes/07-the-ring.html

You don't have to go to great lengths to make it spin as the author says. Just toss it like a football. I make these sometimes for kids and they think it's some kind of magic because there are no wings. Even most adults have never seen this.


----------



## bihboy23 (Feb 23, 2015)

CAPSLOCKSTUCK said:


> *The strongest natural material ever known has been found... in the teeth of a tiny shellfish.*
> 
> Scientists, who made the discovery while examining limpets, say the substance could revolutionise industrial engineering.
> 
> ...


Weird. I thought some spider silk was the strongest, but now this right?


----------



## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Feb 23, 2015)

bihboy23 said:


> Weird. I thought some spider silk was the strongest, but now this right?



The strangest kind of research can come up with such amazing results.  Brilliant.


Here is some more stuff about it

Scientists believe they may have found the strongest natural material known to man, one that could be copied to make the cars, boats and planes of the future - the teeth of the humble limpet.

Researchers at the University of Portsmouth examined the mechanics of limpet teeth by pulling them apart all the way down to the level of the atom.

They found that the teeth of the snail-like creatures, common to shorelines and rock pools around the world, is potentially stronger than what was previously thought to be the strongest biological material, the silk of a spider.

Scientists believe the structure could be reproduced in high-performance engineering, such as racing cars and in boat hulls.

Professor Asa Barber, who led the study, said: "Nature is a wonderful source of inspiration for structures that have excellent mechanical properties. All the things we observe around us, such as trees, the shells of sea creatures and the limpet teeth studied in this work, have evolved to be effective at what they do.

"Until now we thought that spider silk was the strongest biological material because of its super-strength and potential applications in everything from bullet-proof vests to computer electronics, but now we have discovered that limpet teeth exhibit a strength that is potentially higher."

The study, published today in the Royal Society journal Interface, found that the teeth contain a hard material known as goethite, which forms in the limpet as it grows.

Limpets need the high-strength teeth to rasp over rock surfaces and remove algae for feed when the tide is in.

Prof Barber said: " We discovered that the fibres of goethite are just the right size to make up a resilient composite structure.

"This discovery means that the fibrous structures found in limpet teeth could be mimicked and used in high-performance engineering applications such as Formula 1 racing cars, the hulls of boats and aircraft structures.

"Engineers are always interested in making these structures stronger to improve their performance or lighter so they use less material."

Limpets' teeth were also found to be the same strength, no matter what the size.

Prof Barber added: "Generally a big structure has lots of flaws and can break more easily than a smaller structure, which has fewer flaws and is stronger.

"The problem is that most structures have to be fairly big, so they're weaker than we would like. Limpet teeth break this rule as their strength is the same no matter what the size."

Examining effective designs in nature and then making structures based on these designs is known as 'bio-inspiration'.

Prof Barber said: "Biology is a great source of inspiration when designing new structures but with so many biological structures to consider, it can take time to discover which may be useful."


----------



## xvi (Feb 24, 2015)

64K said:


> Some things defy my understanding about aerodynamics. Did you know that you can make a paper tube fly?
> 
> http://www.10paperairplanes.com/how-to-make-paper-airplanes/07-the-ring.html
> 
> You don't have to go to great lengths to make it spin as the author says. Just toss it like a football. I make these sometimes for kids and they think it's some kind of magic because there are no wings. Even most adults have never seen this.


Some quick googling found me this. Neat!


----------



## twilyth (Mar 4, 2015)

Atoms are mostly empty space


> It is true that atoms are mostly empty space. In fact, if all of the space from the body’s atoms were eliminated, the leftover result would be so tiny, the body could fit into an opening that is less than 1/500th of a centimeter -- or the point of a pin. Although atoms are small and comprised of empty space, they are numerous; the average adult human body is estimated to contain 7 octillion (or 7 followed by 27 zeros) individual atoms. Each atom is believed to contain material that was created billions of years ago. For instance, hydrogen is thought to be nearly 14 billion years old, and oxygen was thought to be created about 12 billion years ago.
> 
> *More about the structure of the human body*:
> 
> ...


----------



## twilyth (Mar 5, 2015)

Smallest bacterium found - this is so small no one was even sure it could exist.







> For scale, the bar on the bottom right is 100 nanometers.





> Forget Mars.
> 
> Scientists recently found a type of life on Earth so unknown to us it might as well be alien. The lifeforms are so tiny that researchers have been debating whether or not they could even exist for decades.
> 
> They finally caught the tiny bacterium, which only has a volume of 0.009 cubic microns (for perspective, a micron is one _millionth_ the length of a meter) on film. Here's the shot:


----------



## xvi (Mar 6, 2015)

A resource group managed to capture light acting as a wave and a particle at the same time. Too much science for me to fully comprehend quickly, but there are articles out there that explain it. Thought that was pretty neat.


----------



## twilyth (Mar 6, 2015)

Try this article - http://www.businessinsider.com/image-of-light-as-a-wave-and-a-particle-2015-3

It's difficult to understand exactly what they were doing but it's the best explanation I've seen so far.


----------



## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Mar 6, 2015)

@xvi 
the most easily comprehensible info i have found was what i put on TPU.
The scholarly article is very complicated.

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/t...he-same-time-in-first-ever-photograph.210356/


----------



## xvi (Mar 6, 2015)

Quick easier to comprehend science. I'll look in to the other stuff when I'm not a post-work zombie.

Reaction of Aluminum and Iodine


----------



## twilyth (Mar 8, 2015)

Chimps and humans have the same number of hairs.  Human hair is just much finer.



> A chimp has no more individual hairs than a human. While the texture of the hair on the human body is much finer and less visible to the naked eye, it is actually about the same amount of fur as on a chimp. It is thought that perhaps humans originally had a thicker coat of fur that may have served as protection, but it eventually receded over time as it began to be less necessary for survival. Evolutionary theories as to why humans’ body hair became finer include making it easier to sweat, as well as to make parasites and lice less of a nuisance.
> 
> *More about chimpanzees and humans*:
> 
> ...


----------



## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Mar 10, 2015)

Artist creates world's smallest sculpture only for it to be accidentally CRUSHED as it was being photographed











An artist has created the world's smallest sculpture only for it to be accidentally crushed by a finger while being photographed.
Jonty Hurwitz's creations are so tiny they can rest on a human hair and are the same size of an ant's head.
Having spent months working on the pieces, the 45-year-old from Chichester, West Sussex, took them to a photographer to have them pictured under a microscope.

But within minutes his work had been destroyed by the stroke of the lab technician's finger.

I went off to have the original sculptures photographed so I found a laboratory with an electron microscope and the photographic technology,' said Mr Hurwitz.
'The technician went to change the orientation and then for the next half an hour we were looking for the piece through the lens.

'Eventually I noticed there was a fingerprint exactly where the sculpture used to be and I was like "man you have just destroyed the smallest art pieces" ever made - I slightly freaked out.'

The sculptures are less than 1mm tall and are produced via a process called nano-painting.

They are too small to be seen with the naked eye so must be viewed and photographed under a microscope.

Mr Hurwitz uses a 3D printing technology to produce them.

Describing the process on his website, he said: 'The structure is created using a ground-breaking new 3D printing technology and a technique called Multiphoton Lithography.








The artist from Chichester, West Sussex, described his work as a combination of 'art and Quantum Physics'

'Ultimately these works are created using the physical phenomenon of two photon absorption. Art, literally created with Quantum Physics.


'This two photon absorption occurs only at the tiny focal point - basically a tiny 3D pixel (called a Voxel).

'The sculpture is then moved along fractionally by a computer controlled process and the next pixel is created. Slowly, over hours and hours the entire sculpture is assembled pixel by pixel and layer by layer.'

*What is nanopaint ?*

Nanopaint is a coating that can modify the properties of a surface or substance according to user-defined parameters. Like ordinary paint, nanopaint is applied as a liquid and then hardens. The liquid contains a suspension of microscopic particles called nanotube s that alter their behavior as external conditions change or when a specific command is given. Nanopaint is in the research-and-development phase.

Engineers have produced a prototype nanopaint that can block RF (radio frequency) fields in much the same way as a metal, such as copper, can do. When applied to the interior walls of a building, the material can selectively pass or impede signals to and from cell phones, portable radios or other wireless devices.

Potential applications of nanopaint abound. One especially interesting idea is the use of nanopaint on the exteriors of buildings to alter their infrared (IR) reflecting or absorbing properties depending on external conditions. This could improve energy efficiency by helping structures absorb thermal energy on cool but sunny days, reflect it on hot days, retain thermal energy on cold nights and radiate it away on warm nights. Specialized nanopaints might perform an almost endless number of other functions, such as:


Block cell phone signals in inappropriate environments, such as theaters, hospitals and funerals.
Give glass the ability to become more or less opaque as desired.
Give the surfaces of motor vehicles or industrial machines the ability to repair themselves when damaged.
Allow the textures of surfaces to be altered at will.
Discourage the growth of pathogens such as bacteria or viruses.
Repel or neutralize toxic chemicals, acids or other corrosive agents.


The sculptures are believed to be the smallest representation of the human form ever created by man.



Spoiler














Spoiler


----------



## 64K (Mar 10, 2015)

Incredible what can be done with 3D printing.


----------



## twilyth (Mar 10, 2015)

The rockets and launch systems of human spaceflight - expand to see in it's full glory.






Here are just the launch vehicles.  I include it because it includes the SLS.  It also has nozzle configurations and payloads.


----------



## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Mar 11, 2015)

*How to build a skyscraper in NINETEEN DAYS:
*
Theres some good tech here.

Time-lapse shows how Chinese firm builds 57-storey block at a rate of three floors a day 

The building has 800 apartments and enough office space for 4,000 people
It was originally planned to be built up to a height of 220 storeys
However, it was cut down because of concern it was too close to an airport
Amazing time-lapse video shows the skyscraper rising up in seconds






http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ys-rate-three-floors-day.html#v-4104593156001


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/


----------



## Peter1986C (Mar 12, 2015)

Prefab.


----------



## twilyth (Mar 22, 2015)

Gravitational Casimir Effect

It might be possible to use superconductors to detect gravitons.


----------



## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Mar 22, 2015)

twilyth said:


> Gravitational Casimir Effect
> 
> It might be possible to use superconductors to detect gravitons.




2 weeks ago we were finding out about light being detected as a particle and a wave (top of this page ) now possibly gravity too.


"the existence of gravitons would show that gravity has a quantum nature, capable of behaving as both a particle and wave"


----------



## MrGenius (Mar 22, 2015)

I've got one that nobody ever knows when I mention it.

*Fact: One out of every four animals on Earth is a beetle.*

Beetles are the largest group of living organisms known to science. Even with plants included in the count, one in every five known organisms is a beetle. Scientists have described over 350,000 species of beetles, with many more still undiscovered, undoubtedly. By some estimates, there may be as many as 3 million beetle species living on the planet. The order Coleoptera is the largest order in the entire animal kingdom.

Sort of begs the question, "Is God a beetle?". Why would he/she/it create so many different beetles, and so few of all the other living things? Not that I'm even religious, or necessarily believe in higher powers of any sort. But from a philosophical perspective.

http://insects.about.com/od/beetles/a/10-Facts-About-Beetles.htm


----------



## twilyth (Mar 25, 2015)

The dawn of DUNE - http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/article/march-2015/the-dawn-of-dune



> The neutrino experiment formerly known as LBNE has transformed. Since January, its collaboration has gained about 50 new member institutions, elected two new spokespersons and chosen a new name: Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, or DUNE.
> 
> The proposed experiment will be the most powerful tool in the world for studying hard-to-catch particles called neutrinos. It will span 800 miles. It will start with a near detector and an intense beam of neutrinos produced at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Illinois. It will end with a 10-kiloton far detector located underground in a laboratory at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in South Dakota. The distance between the two detectors will allow scientists to study how neutrinos change as they zip at close to the speed of light straight through the Earth.
> 
> “This will be the flagship experiment for particle physics hosted in the US,” says Jim Siegrist, associate director of high-energy physics for the US Department of Energy’s Office of Science. “It’s an exciting time for neutrino science and particle physics generally.”


----------



## twilyth (Mar 27, 2015)

The penguin anomaly

Not a great article but does help to explain what new physics might appear in the next run of the LHC.


----------



## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Mar 27, 2015)

" a loss at darts obliged him to use the word “penguin” " 


An interesting read 
Shame about the minor delay to LHC kicking off again.


----------



## dorsetknob (Mar 27, 2015)

Rumour has it that the short circuit that delayed the restart   " was actuality a micro black hole.

We are all "Doomed"  or "Quakeing"in our tin foil hats
Damm  pity i only got a half life


----------



## twilyth (Mar 27, 2015)

an oldie but a goodie.


----------



## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Mar 27, 2015)

A nice piece to read.







*Originally it was thought the journey from one side of the Earth to the other - such as London to Antipodes Islands - would take 42 minutes *

*It examines the hypothetical scenario of falling through Earth *

*But student claims this doesn't take into account Earth's changing density*

*Alexander Klotz from McGill University has published a new estimate*

*He claims the journey would actually take 38 minutes and 11 seconds*
*FALLING THROUGH THE EARTH*
Theoretically speaking, as a person falls through Earth, gravity is constantly changing as they make their way to the middle.
Consequently they would speed up as they approached the centre, and begin to slow down again as they made their way to the other side.
Ignoring drag effects due to the presence of air, it would take exactly the same amount of time to make the journey either side of the core.
Under these conditions, the speed reached during the descent would be enough for to reach the surface on the other side. 
Earth’s density is less than 2,200lbs (1,000kg) per cubic metre at the surface, but 28,700 lbs (13,000kg) per cubic metre at the core - 3,960 miles (6,370km) below.
And 2,200 miles (3,500km) from the centre, about half way, there is also a dramatic jump in density near the outer core.
Using these numbers it would take 38 minutes 11 seconds to fall through Earth - four minutes and a second quicker than thought.






The full article is here
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...ught-density-taken-account.html#ixzz3VcMnvfvB


----------



## twilyth (Mar 27, 2015)

In at one atmosphere or so, the terminal velocity is only about 120mph so it would be a much longer ride.  You'd need a hammock, tablet and some tunes.  Probably some food too.


----------



## twilyth (Apr 1, 2015)

An April Fool's joke from CERN that you might like - http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/art...entists-reveal-secret-project?email_issue=720


----------



## twilyth (Apr 2, 2015)

Why stranglets, micro-black holes or magnetic monopoles from the LHC will NOT eat the earth.



> The world's largest, most powerful particle accelerator — the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) — is scheduled to turn back on in the next few days, according to a report in Nature on March 31.
> 
> Although this event is highly-anticipated around the world, there are two men who have remained silent: now-retired nuclear safety office, Walter Wagner, and Spanish journalist, Luis Sancho.
> 
> ...


----------



## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Apr 2, 2015)

A good read, thanks @twilyth, i can remember those 2 and their fears, ive got to admit they got me thinking.  (a little bit)

at the end of that piece is an animated map showing what the planet would look like if all the ice melted, even if CERN doesnt interest you this might.

http://www.businessinsider.com/what...-2015-2#ooid=5xam5iczrSx4Ibx8MvarDsu3zOG88omE


----------



## twilyth (Apr 3, 2015)

I just read about this which is too bad since it looks like it would have been fun.  But you can still participate in the final round.  It's a voting competition which pits various physics equipment like Fermi telescope agains Super Kamikande or the LHC.  The final round of voting pits the LHC against the Dark Energy Camera.  There are one paragraph descriptions of all of the contestants at the link, so it worth a look just for that.

http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/article/april-2015/the-grand-unified-championship?email_issue=721


----------



## twilyth (Apr 4, 2015)

Dark matter doesn't seem to be made of particles.  In a study of colliding galaxies, it appears that dark matter doesn't react with itself in any way.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...-matter-is-apparently-darker-than-we-thought/


> In watching 72 galactic showdowns, Harvey and his colleagues found that dark matter didn't slow down when clusters collided. That was unexpected, because scientists think that dark matter is _really_ common in the universe, perhaps making up as much as 90 percent of total matter. So dark matter (whatever it is) had to be hitting other dark matter en route, but these unseen particles weren't showing any evidence of dragging against each other.
> 
> So basically, dark matter is even less like "regular" matter than we thought.


----------



## twilyth (Apr 10, 2015)

LHC breaks old record of 4Tev with 6.5Tev run - http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/article/april-2015/lhc-breaks-energy-record?email_issue=729

I'm pretty sure that is for just one of the rings.  If both rings can produce that much energy, then the LHC is on track to reach its design power of 13-14 Tev using both rings.

Also, IIRC, the luminosity of the beams is much higher than previously.  Luminosity is a measure of how "bright" the beams are which I believe indicates the concentration of particles in the beam.  Better luminosity means more collisions per run.


----------



## Caring1 (Apr 11, 2015)

CAPSLOCKSTUCK said:


> A nice piece to read
> 
> *Originally it was thought the journey from one side of the Earth to the other - such as London to Antipodes Islands - would take 42 minutes *
> 
> ...


Taking in to account terminal velocity and increase in density, I call B.S.
If it were possible, any normal person would be crushed when nearing the core.


----------



## xvi (Apr 11, 2015)

*sigh* Just click it. Minutephysics and Vsauce to the rescue.


----------



## Caring1 (Apr 11, 2015)

xvi said:


> *sigh* Just click it. Minutephysics and Vsauce to the rescue.


*sigh* Simple physics for the unthinking man.
According to a balding man with a beard wearing glasses (an attempt to appear intelligent?) gravity is 9.8m/s2 and we are expected to believe that is a constant, when in reality, it isn't. Everything they speak of is hypothesis and speculation.


----------



## Ahhzz (Apr 11, 2015)

True enough. I don't think there's enough data to extrapolate the change in velocity from 9.8m/s/s as you get closer to the magnetic core, but you have to start somewhere....


----------



## twilyth (Apr 13, 2015)

Holometer at Fermilab eliminates the possibility of high frequency gravity waves.



> *Absence of gravitational-wave signal extends limit on knowable universe*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


----------



## Peter1986C (Apr 16, 2015)

Not sure if it belongs here, but whatever.



> *TU/ecomotive presents design ‘Nova’*
> Added friday 6 february 2015 - 07:29 |
> 
> The world's very first modular car, the first-ever car made of biocomposite, and the first three-seater 'consumer car' in which the driver is seated in the middle of the vehicle. These are the most striking features of Nova, the new electric car TU/ecomotive will be peddling over the next few months. The student team presented the design in the Auditorium of the Blauwe Zaal on Wednesday night.
> ...



Full article
Official site


----------



## twilyth (Apr 16, 2015)

Sure dude, it's cool.  This was meant to be a general depository for things that generally fit the S&T category but which you don't feel deserve their own thread.


----------



## twilyth (Apr 21, 2015)

Fermilab has broken ground for the Mu2e detector


> Muons and electrons are two different flavors in the charged-lepton family. Muons are 200 times more massive than electrons and decay quickly into lighter particles, while electrons are stable and live forever. Most of the time, a muon decays into an electron and two neutrinos, but physicists have reason to believe that once in a blue moon, muons will convert directly into an electron without releasing any neutrinos. This is physics beyond the Standard Model.
> 
> Under the Standard Model, the muon-to-electron direct conversion happens too rarely to ever observe. In more sophisticated models, however, this occurs just frequently enough for an extremely sensitive machine to detect.
> 
> The Mu2e detector, when complete, will be the instrument to do this. The 92-foot-long apparatus will have three sections, each with its own superconducting magnet. Its unique S-shape was designed to capture as many slow muons as possible with an aluminum target. The direct conversion of a muon to an electron in an aluminum nucleus would release exactly 105 million electronvolts of energy, which means that if it occurs, the signal in the detector will be unmistakable. Scientists expect Mu2e to be 10,000 times more sensitive than previous attempts to see this process.


----------



## Arjai (Apr 21, 2015)

I got about 4:45 into this and actually started to laugh. "...Science and Magic...Wormhole... Apollo..."

This guy? WOW! A little bit...Crazy?


----------



## dorsetknob (Apr 21, 2015)

For me it lost any chance of credability 26 Seconds into the Video when he mentioned the ""Sky fairy handbook""


----------



## Arjai (Apr 21, 2015)

dorsetknob said:


> For me it lost any chance of credability 26 Seconds into the Video when he mentioned the ""Sky fairy handbook""


----------



## twilyth (Apr 24, 2015)

The search for neutrinoless double beta decay gets serious - and very, very cold.



> The full CUORE experiment requires 19 towers of tellurium dioxide crystals, each made of 52 blocks just smaller than a Rubik’s cube. Physicists will place these towers into a refrigerator called a cryostat and cool it to 10 millikelvin, barely above absolute zero. The cryostat will eclipse even the chill of empty space, which registers a toasty 2.7 Kelvin (minus 455 degrees Fahrenheit).
> 
> CUORE uses the cold crystals to search for a small change in temperature caused by these rare nuclear decays. Unlike ordinary beta decays, in which electrons and antineutrinos share energy, the neutrinoless double beta decay produces two electrons, but no neutrinos at all. It is as if the two antineutrinos that should have been produced annihilate one another inside the nucleus.
> 
> “This would be really cool because it would mean that the neutrino and the antineutrino are the same particle, and most of the time we just can’t tell the difference,” says Lindley Winslow, a professor at MIT and one of over 160 scientists working on CUORE.


IOW, it would prove that neutrinos are majorana fermions.


----------



## twilyth (Apr 25, 2015)

Is that a shark in your pocket?







Why, yes.  Yes it is.



> A juvenile male pocket shark has been discovered, making it the second of this type of shark ever recorded, scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) say.
> 
> The teensy shark, extending just 5.5 inches (14 centimeters) in length and weighing a mere half ounce (14.6 grams), was found in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, though it was only recently identified, when Mark Grace, of NOAA Fisheries' Pascagoula, Mississippi, Laboratory, examined the specimen.


----------



## twilyth (Apr 30, 2015)

I guess this is technically off topic but I know a lot of people here have kids and/or pets so you might find this interesting and it's sort of sciencey. 



> There’s a new label hitting store shelves this spring and summer that will make it easier to find cleaning products that are safer for everyone, including our pets and the environment.
> 
> To display the new Safer Choice label, a product must first be reviewed by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) scientists to ensure every ingredient it contains meets strict human health and environmental standards. Products are also tested to confirm they work well.
> 
> There are already 2,000 cleaning products that meet the requirements. You should start seeing them carry the new label soon. In the meantime, you can search online for products that meet the Safer Choice Standard.


----------



## Ahhzz (Apr 30, 2015)

Thoughts?

http://io9.com/new-test-suggests-nasas-impossible-em-drive-will-work-1701188933

_
Last year, NASA’s advanced propulsion research wing made headlines by announcing thesuccessful test of a physics-defying electromagnetic drive, or EM drive. Now, this futuristic engine, which could in theory propel objects to near-relativistic speeds, has been shown to work inside a space-like vacuum._


----------



## twilyth (Apr 30, 2015)

I think you buried the lede: 





> The EM drive is controversial in that it appears to violate conventional physics and the law of conservation of momentum; the engine, invented by British scientist Roger Sawyer, converts electric power to thrust without the need for any propellant by bouncing microwaves within a closed container. So, with no expulsion of propellant, there’s nothing to balance the change in the spacecraft’s momentum during acceleration. Hence the skepticism. But as stated by NASA Eagleworks scientist Harold White:


if that's really how it works, that's just freakin' amazing.  It's a little like harnessing Hawking radiation for space flight.


----------



## dorsetknob (Apr 30, 2015)

Quoted from
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-07/31/nasa-validates-impossible-space-drive

""In hindsight, it may turn out to be another great British invention that someone else turned into a success.""

Alas all Too true


----------



## twilyth (May 2, 2015)

RHIC gets a gently used 20 ton, superconducting magnet.  It was only used by a little old lady from Akron to go to an alternate universe on Sundays.



> *Mapping primordial plasma*
> The subatomic collisions inside RHIC’s 2.4-mile particle racetrack reach temperatures 250,000 times hotter than the center of the sun, melting protons and freeing the quarks and gluons otherwise bound inside the nucleus. The resulting quark-gluon plasma, known as QGP, only exists for a tiny fraction of a second, but it filled the universe microseconds after the big bang and reveals otherwise imperceptible aspects of the strong nuclear force.
> 
> RHIC physicists saw the first hints that they were creating QGP at RHIC in 2001 and were the first to reveal that it behaves like a perfect liquid with virtually zero resistance in 2005.
> ...


----------



## Caring1 (May 2, 2015)

Sounded feasible until they threw speculation in to the mix:
"The resulting quark-gluon plasma, known as QGP, only exists for a tiny fraction of a second, but it filled the universe microseconds after the big bang"
There is doubt as to whether the Big Bang actually occurred, when proof is presented that indisputably and irrefutably proves it occurred, then they may include it in scientific peer reviewed articles.


----------



## twilyth (May 2, 2015)

Yeah there are still problems with that theory, but it does seem to partially explain things like the microwave background.  Anyway, the RHIC is a pretty impressive machine and we still know so little about quantum chromodynamics that it might provide some interesting new insights.  What I don't understand it why we have to wait until 2021 for their starting to take data.  I know things like this tend to move slowly, but 6 years to install a magnet that was already in use for many years?  I don't get that.


----------



## twilyth (May 5, 2015)

Strange worm shoots out appendage that grabs food.  Some might find this a little gross so think twice before clicking the spoiler.



Spoiler

















> The white thing that shoots out of the worm is its proboscis, the appendage it uses to eat. Seriously, that growing rootlike structure that's vomited out is designed to drag food inside. Crab, fish, snails, other worms — anything will do (depending on the type and size of the ribbon worm we are talking about).
> 
> Until the worm needs to eat, the proboscis stays in a sac on top of the worm's gut.
> 
> ...


----------



## twilyth (May 9, 2015)

Just a note for any fans of Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman - the new season started April 29 and we're 2 episodes in now.  It airs in the US Wednesdays at 10 EDT on the Science Channel.


----------



## Countryside (May 9, 2015)




----------



## 64K (May 9, 2015)

twilyth said:


> Just a note for any fans of Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman - the new season started April 29 and we're 2 episodes in now.  It airs in the US Wednesdays at 10 EDT on the Science Channel.



Old episodes can be watched on youtube. He's an excellent narrator for the series. He makes the subject more interesting because of his amiable personality.


----------



## Countryside (May 9, 2015)

twilyth said:


> Just a note for any fans of Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman - the new season started April 29 and we're 2 episodes in now.  It airs in the US Wednesdays at 10 EDT on the Science Channel.



Indeed  and Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey  Neil is kickass.

Carl Sagan father of kosmos


----------



## twilyth (May 12, 2015)

Fructose may increase hunger more than glucose.



> The type of sugar you consume may affect how quickly subsequent hunger pangs kick in, according to new research. A new study compared the effects of fructose and glucose on hunger and food responses in the brain.
> 
> 24 healthy people were asked to drink a beverage sweetened with fructose one day and glucose another. Before and after each session, blood samples were taken and the participants rated their hunger level and motivation for food on a scale of 1 to 10. They also underwent brain scans while they were shown images of high-calorie foods. The men and women reported greater appetite after drinking fructose compared with glucose. Their scans also showed more activity in areas of the brain related to food cue reaction in response to the images. When offered a choice between delayed monetary rewards or immediate high-calorie food rewards, participants were more willing to choose food after ingesting fructose.The study authors say these findings suggest fructose may not produce the same feelings of fullness and satisfaction as glucose.


----------



## twilyth (May 14, 2015)

A new state of matter discovered.



> When an international team of physicists, chemists, and material scientists tested the phase properties of a new type of material that they had created in the lab, they discovered something they had never seen before: A substance that exhibited the properties of an insulator, superconductor, metal, and magnet all in one. They published their results in the journal Science Advances on April 17.
> 
> They did it by taking a crystalline arrangement of carbon-60 molecules — or buckyballs — and inserting, or doping, the substance with atoms of rubidium, a type of alkali metal. The scientists could then control the distance and pressure between the buckyballs by manipulating the rubidium atoms to tune the substance's phases — sort of like how you can change a solid into a liquid by dislodging the atoms from their rigid structure.
> 
> While they were tweaking the pressure between the buckyballs, the team came across a phase shift that transformed the material from an insulator into a conductor — a process called the Jahn-Teller effect that was first predicted in 1937. Appropriately, the team is calling this novel material a Jahn-Teller metal.


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## twilyth (May 15, 2015)

At 7 orders of magnitude higher than the maximum energy of the LHC, the Oh-My-God particle has created a mystery that researchers are trying to explain.

The Particle That Broke a Cosmic Speed Limit



> On the night of October 15, 1991, the “Oh-My-God” particle streaked across the Utah sky.
> 
> A cosmic ray from space, it possessed 320 exa-electron volts (EeV) of energy, millions of times more than particles attain at the Large Hadron Collider, the most powerful accelerator ever built by humans. The particle was going so fast that in a yearlong race with light, it would have lost by mere thousandths of a hair. Its energy equaled that of a bowling ball dropped on a toe. But bowling balls contain as many atoms as there are stars. “Nobody ever thought you could concentrate so much energy into a single particle before,” said David Kieda, an astrophysicist at the University of Utah.


It's a long article but well worth reading if you're interested in this sort of stuff.


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## twilyth (May 29, 2015)

What really makes a particle accelerator useful?  Trackers and calorimeters.




> Much of the complexity of particle physics experiments can be boiled down to two basic types of detectors: trackers and calorimeters. They each have strengths and weaknesses, and most modern experiments use both.
> 
> The first tracker started out as an experiment to study clouds, not particles. In the early 1900s, Charles Wilson built an enclosed sphere of moist air to study cloud formation. Dust particles were known to seed cloud formation—water vapor condenses on the dust to make clouds of tiny droplets. But no matter how clean Wilson made his chamber, clouds still formed.
> 
> ...


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## Deleted member 67555 (May 29, 2015)

sub'd for good reads


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## twilyth (May 29, 2015)

And after the cloud chamber was the bubble chamber - long thought to have been inspired by drinking beer, even if that turns out not to be true (or at least the inventor won't admit it  )



> A *bubble chamber* is a vessel filled with a superheated transparent liquid (most often liquid hydrogen) used to detect electrically charged particles moving through it. It was invented in 1952 by Donald A. Glaser,[1] for which he was awarded the 1960 Nobel Prize in Physics.[2] *Supposedly, Glaser was inspired by the bubbles in a glass of beer; however, in a 2006 talk, he refuted this story, although saying that while beer was not the inspiration for the bubble chamber, he did experiments using beer to fill early prototypes*.[3]


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## twilyth (May 29, 2015)

Follow up article on particle detectors - calorimeters.



> The previous article in this series introduced tracking, a technique that allows physicists to see the trajectories of individual particles. The biggest limitation of tracking is that only charged particles ionize the medium that forms clouds, bubbles, discharges or digital signals. Neutral particles are invisible to any form of tracking.
> 
> Calorimetry, which now complements tracking in most particle physics experiments, takes advantage of a curious effect that was first observed in cloud chambers in the 1930s. Occasionally, a single high-energy particle seemed to split into dozens of low-energy particles. These inexplicable events were called “bursts,” “explosions” or “die Stöße.” Physicists initially thought they could only be explained by a radical revision of the prevailing quantum theory.
> 
> ...


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## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (May 30, 2015)

The light powered by GRAVITY: Lamp uses energy from falling weight to illuminate homes without electricity


It works using a pulley system where a weight can be fixed at one end and as it drops the force drives a generator through a series of low torque gears.
The generator produces just under a tenth of a watt which powers an LED light on the unit itself and two smaller satellite lights that can be hung over a desk or bed.







The designers of GravityLight claim that with a 26lb (12kg) weight it is possible to provide between 25 minutes of light if installed at a height of six feet (1.8 metres).


Jim Reeves and Martin Riddiford, who are based in London, invented the device.
They point out that unlike devices that rely upon solar energy to provide power to remote communities, gravity does not disappear at night.
The device is installed to the ceiling of a room and a bag filled with around 26ft (12kg) of rocks or sand is attached to a cord that runs through the unit.
A beaded cord running through the unit allows the weight to be lifted into the air and it then falls slowly to the ground.
A system of gears and a generator inside the device convert the kinetic energy released by the bag as it falls under the influence of gravity into electricity.
Once the bag reaches the ground it can be raised back up to the ceiling to produce more power.
The energy produced can be used to power the light and other devices attached to a DC power outlet.

The generator produces just under a tenth of a watt which powers and provides between 20 to 30 minutes of light if installed at a height of over 6ft (1.8 metres).






The GravityLight comes with a bag that can be filled with sand or rocks to provide the weight needed to power it


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## twilyth (Jun 1, 2015)

Third article in the particle detection series, other 2 noted above.  

F***ing magnets, how do they work.  LOL, just kidding but the article is about magnets used in particle detectors.

http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/article/june-2015/inside-particle-detectors-magnets?email_issue=770



> Broadly speaking, a modern particle physics detector has three main pieces: (1) tracking, which charts the course of charged particles by letting them pass through thin sensors, (2) calorimetry, which measures the energy of charged or neutral particles by making them splat into a wall and (3) a strong magnetic field. Unlike tracking and calorimetry, the magnet doesn't detect the particles directly—it affects them in revealing ways.
> 
> Magnetic fields curve the paths of charged particles, and the direction of curvature depends on whether the particle is positively or negatively charged. Thus, a tracking system with a magnetic field can distinguish between matter and antimatter. In addition, the deflection is larger for slow, low-momentum particles than it is for fast, high-momentum ones. Fast particles zip right through while slow ones loop around, possibly several times.
> 
> ...


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## Frick (Jun 5, 2015)

Russia has used ion thrusters since the 70's, and they never failed in orbit. And here I was thinking they were just science fiction.


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## Caring1 (Jun 5, 2015)

CAPSLOCKSTUCK said:


> The light powered by GRAVITY: Lamp uses energy from falling weight to illuminate homes without electricity
> 
> It works using a pulley system where a weight can be fixed at one end and as it drops the force drives a generator through a series of low torque gears.
> 
> Jim Reeves and Martin Riddiford, who are based in London, invented the device.


So basically they stole borrowed the concept of a cuckoo clock and inserted a tiny generator in the gears.


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## dorsetknob (Jun 5, 2015)

Caring1 said:


> So basically they stole the concept of a cuckoo clock and inserted a tiny generator in the gears.



Not Stole But Adapted an existing device for a new USE

Much in the same way the cuckoo clock adapted the pendulum clock to mechanize and animate its chimes

So to use your concept   the Swiss stole their concept from the makers of pendulum clocks


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## dorsetknob (Jun 5, 2015)

Now Your TROLLING


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## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Jun 5, 2015)

Caring1 said:


> So basically they stole the concept of a cuckoo clock and inserted a tiny generator in the gears.




yep, someone reinvented the wheel...again, 

lets hope it makes them a tidy sum of money and shines a light in many peoples lives.
I like it.


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## Frick (Jun 5, 2015)

dorsetknob said:


> Now Your TROLLING



Technically (and better suiting IMO) trolls are fishers, fishing for reactions essentially.


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## Caring1 (Jun 5, 2015)

dorsetknob said:


> Now Your TROLLING


So by posting that, by definition you are a troll.
It worked, I reacted.


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## dorsetknob (Jun 5, 2015)

@Caring1
ninja edit/removed his apple trolling post oh cute

Now lets resume the thread with out being sidetracked

or it will be Moderated


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## twilyth (Jun 15, 2015)

The octopus only uses 2 of its 3 hearts when swimming




> Octopuses crawl when they can swim because their cardiac systems don’t operate at full capacity. Although an octopus has three hearts, only two of them beat while they are swimming. This is because two of the hearts are used to pump blood to the octopuses’ gills, while the third heart is reserved for circulating blood to the organs only.
> 
> Since their two hearts are not pumping as much blood throughout their bodies as they would normally, octopuses can become fatigued while swimming. Crawling conserves their energy while still allowing them to travel through the water.
> 
> ...




You can subscribe to daily wisegeek factoids here.


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## twilyth (Jun 17, 2015)

The search for neutrino-less double beta decay

This is a pretty interesting article if you're interested in particle physics.  There has been speculation for some time that neutrinos might be their own anti-particle, or what's called majorana fermions.  We know that they change flavors on the fly as was recently proven by the OPERA experiment in Italy.  There, a small number of muon neutrinos produced at CERN were detected as tau neutrinos at OPERA.  

The question now will be whether or not neutrinos also act as their own anti-particle much like the positron is the anti-particle of an electron.  If it turns out that it is, it could explain why matter exists and wasn't gobbled up by anti-matter in the first fractions of a second after the big bang.



> In the first few instants after the big bang, perfectly equal amounts of matter and antimatter particles were produced. This was a clincher moment for our newborn universe: When a particle of matter meets its antimatter twin — which carries an identical mass but an opposite charge — both particles are annihilated, producing only pure energy. Roughly one second later, however, a large amount of matter and practically all the antimatter disappeared from the universe. That leftover matter forged galaxies, stars, planets, people — everything that we know exists.
> 
> Why did so much matter remain when antimatter all but disappeared? We don’t know. The Majorana Demonstrator has the potential to help us figure this out.
> 
> “What we really want to learn from this particular experiment is whether neutrinos are their own antiparticle. If they are their own antiparticle, then there’s a family of theories that might explain why the universe has got all this leftover matter,” Majorana Spokesperson Steve Elliott of Los Alamos National Laboratory said. “The fact that we’re here requires that all the matter that’s here didn’t interact with anti-matter and go away after the big bang. If neutrinos are their own antiparticle, there are ways to understand that.”



See first link for full article.


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## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Jun 20, 2015)

Death of a white blood cell:

Exploding cells captured on film for first time - shedding light on how our immune system works









A key component of the body’s defence against disease has been captured on film for the first time.

Researchers at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia, used time lapse photography to film a white blood cell as it died.

It had been thought these cells broke down in a random way when they died in the cell.
But the new research has revealed they actually die in an organised manner that may help to alert other parts of the immune system to a threat.

The study revealed molecules are ejected from the dying cell on long ‘beads’ that shoot out like a necklace and then break apart.

The researchers say the monocytes appear to die in three stages – bulging, exploding and breaking apart.

Dr Ivan Poon, a molecular biologist at La Trobe University who led the work, said they may have uncovered a key part of the immune systems defence mechanism.

*WHAT ARE MONOCYTES *
Monocytes are the largest of all the white blood cells in the immune system.
They are produced in the bone marrow and then migrate rapidly through the blood stream in response to infections in tissues around the body.
Once at the site of an infection, they differentiate into macrophages or dendritic cells that mounting an immune response to the pathogen.
Monocytes are also capable of killing infected cells.
If a disease or infection causes white blood cells to die, they can then warn others nearby to mount an immune response.

Dr Poon said: 'The role of white blood cells is central to our body's innate immune system and much like fighter jet pilots are ejected from their downed aeroplane, we have discovered certain molecules are pushed free from the dying cell, while others are left behind in the 'wreckage' of the cell fragments.

'It is the first time we have ever seen this take place and we now need to better understand the reasons behind this and the implications of this process of cell fragmentation.

'It could be that we've identified the mechanics of how dying white blood cells go about alerting neighbouring cells to the presence of disease or infection.

‘Alternatively we may have discovered the transportation mechanism for a virus to infect other parts of the body.’

The research, which is published in the journal Nature Communications, could now help scientists develop new ways of harnessing the power of the immune system to fight off disease.








Molecular biologists have captured the death of a white blood cell on film for the first time. As the cell collapses it spits out long beads studded with molecules, as shown in the image above, before finally breaking apart. It is thought this forms a key part of the body's immune response alerting surrounding cells to an infection






The study shows the monocytes going through three stages of cell death, the first of which is bulging, as can be seen in the cell shown on the bottom left in the image above





Next the cell explodes (seen above) spewing out long beads of molecules up to eight times longer than itself





Finally the cell breaks apart, after the beads extend outwards and then break into shorter segments. Above the long beads can be seen extending out of the cell shortly before they begin to break apart


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## Steevo (Jun 22, 2015)

https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=NERVA


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## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Jun 22, 2015)

@Steevo   ^.....Epic !


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## twilyth (Jun 26, 2015)

the complexity of detecting particles
Note - if you want to find this link after June25th, click on the archive link and then the correct date.



> *The wonderful thing about triggers*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## twilyth (Jun 26, 2015)

Black holes might really be fuzzballs.

This is a pretty theoretical article and a bit long but it does a decent job of explaining the firewall paradox and some related concepts.



> The firewall paradox called attention to the possibility of structure at the event horizon — an irony not lost on string theorists like Warner. “We’ve been screaming that for about ten years now,” he said. He insists that the central firewall argument is fundamentally Mathur’s argument with a few extra flourishes: A firewall is essentially a hot fuzzball. “We’re not giving up on equivalence, we’re saying there is no singularity and no horizon. It just caps off into some fuzz,” he said. “The firewall is simply the fact that this stuff can be hot. I’m curious to see where the firewall story goes, because my view is it’s hot fuzzballs, and that’s the end of it.”


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## twilyth (Jul 10, 2015)

LHC may be the most powerful accelerator in the world, but a lot of the research being done involves neutrinos


> *Fermilab’s flagship accelerator sets world record*
> * Most powerful high-energy particle beam for a neutrino experiment ever generated *
> 
> 
> ...


More at link.


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## haswrong (Jul 10, 2015)

CAPSLOCKSTUCK said:


> The light powered by GRAVITY: Lamp uses energy from falling weight to illuminate homes without electricity
> 
> 
> It works using a pulley system where a weight can be fixed at one end and as it drops the force drives a generator through a series of low torque gears.
> ...


in the past, clocks were powered by gravity..


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## Ahhzz (Jul 16, 2015)

Science is fun


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## twilyth (Aug 17, 2015)

9 biggest mysteries in physics - http://www.livescience.com/34052-unsolved-mysteries-physics.html


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## Steevo (Aug 19, 2015)

They have found people who were considered mentally ill could and did paint/draw certain specific things as if they understood the chaos in the physical world.


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## twilyth (Sep 24, 2015)

Faraday cages leak - http://physicsworld.com/cws/article...-cages-less-effective-than-previously-thought


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## twilyth (Oct 10, 2015)

A couple of small changes to a harmless bacterium created yersinia pestis - The Black Death.



> But fleas are only part of the story of the plague’s development. While Hinnebusch was working on urease, Lathem was examining another small genetic change that allowed the plague to defeat one of the body’s main defense mechanisms: blood clots.
> 
> When a flea bites into flesh, the body responds by clotting blood to prevent bleeding and promote healing. If a plague bacterium gets trapped in this clot, it can’t multiply and spread itself through its new host. Lathem showed that _Y. pestis_ has a gene called _pla_ that its ancestors lack. This gene encodes for a protein that helps to dissolve blood clots. Without a clot, the bacterium is free to spread to the nearest lymph node, where it makes billions of copies of itself.
> 
> Lathem’s work, which was published in _Science_, showed that _pla_ is required for pneumonic plague, a form of plague that can be transmitted from person to person and can kill its host in under 24 hours. But Lathem didn’t know whether _pla_ was the only factor necessary. He turned to several ancestral strains of _Y. pestis_ that continue to circulate in rodents in the highlands of China and Central Asia, likely the ancestral home of the bacterium. These strains provided an intermediate version between _Y. pseudotuberculosis_ and modern _Y. pestis_. More importantly, some of these particular strains lacked _pla_.



See the following for BD tour dates


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## twilyth (Nov 25, 2015)

I think I've posted before about plasma wakefield accelerators.  Now it looks like you can build a pretty powerful accelerator with just a little silica.

http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/article/shrinking-the-accelerator



> The speeding electrons then entered a chip made of silica and traveled through a microscopic tunnel that had tiny ridges carved into its walls. Laser light shining on the chip interacted with those ridges and produced an electrical field that boosted the energy of the passing electrons.
> 
> In the experiments, the chip achieved an acceleration gradient, or energy boost over a given distance, roughly 10 times higher than the existing 2-mile-long SLAC linear accelerator can provide. At full potential, this means the SLAC accelerator could be replaced with a series of accelerator chips 100 meters long, roughly the length of a football field.


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## Ahhzz (Apr 25, 2016)

Hmmm.. to wake this thread up a little, let's throw some Quantum Mechanics in. 

http://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.167802

https://www.ornl.gov/news/ornl-researchers-discover-new-state-water-molecule

A situation in which water acts like neither liquid, gas, nor solid....
_
“At low temperatures, this tunneling water exhibits quantum motion through the separating potential walls, which is forbidden in the classical world. This means that the oxygen and hydrogen atoms of the water molecule are ‘delocalized’ and therefore simultaneously present in all six symmetrically equivalent positions in the channel at the same time. It’s one of those phenomena that only occur in quantum mechanics and has no parallel in our everyday experience.”_


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## rtwjunkie (Apr 25, 2016)

Ahhzz said:


> Hmmm.. to wake this thread up a little, let's throw some Quantum Mechanics in.
> 
> http://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.167802
> 
> ...



My head....it's threatening to explode.....


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## Drone (May 13, 2016)

Manchester astronomers detect precious element in space


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## Drone (May 25, 2016)

Can't stand asap bullshit but this one is awesome










And this one too










Because these guys don't take themselves seriously ... ever


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## Drone (Jul 6, 2016)

Short but informative video about how Einstein, Heisenberg, Gödel and Turing changed the world. Basically proving that we know jack shit about the things lol


Full transcript is here


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## Drone (Jul 12, 2016)

Supernova explosions that occurred millions of years ago and 300 ly away may have had a significant impact on Earth










Covalent Bonding. Duh .. everybody knows this but it's pretty short simple and informative video


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## Drone (Aug 27, 2016)

MagLab scientists uncover secrets of the highly radioactive element Berkelium


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## qubit (Aug 27, 2016)

@Drone That Bk (Burger King) element sounds fascinating, but even more fascinating is what that background tune is. Has a fantastic, deep bass line and I'd like to know what it is, but alas, they don't say.


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## Drone (Aug 27, 2016)

@qubit  burger king lolz  

I agree with you, heavy radioactive elements are really mysterious. And yeah music was cool too


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## twilyth (Sep 1, 2016)

IBM's Watson AI creates trailer for Morgan AI movie.  Some creepy s*** here.

http://www.geekwire.com/2016/ibm-watson-ai-trailer-morgan-movie/



> Experts may reassure us that artificial intelligence won’t take over the world anytime soon – but they just might invade the multiplex.
> 
> At least that’s the plot developing at IBM, where the Watson artificial-intelligence team programmed a computer to come up with a scary trailer for “Morgan,” a thriller about a genetically modified, AI-enhanced super-human.
> 
> GeekWire’s crack team of movie critics gave “Morgan” an average grade of C – but I have to say Watson’s trailer gave me the creeps. Maybe it’s the way short cuts are spliced together to create a sense of ominousness without revealing what the heck is going on. Maybe it’s the eerie music. Or maybe it’s just knowing that a faceless piece of software helped create it.


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## Ahhzz (Sep 1, 2016)

twilyth said:


> IBM's Watson AI creates trailer for Morgan AI movie.  Some creepy s*** here.
> 
> http://www.geekwire.com/2016/ibm-watson-ai-trailer-morgan-movie/


yup, I wanna see this


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## Drone (Sep 1, 2016)




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## twilyth (Sep 1, 2016)

Galaxy the size of the Milky Way discovered that is 99.99% dark matter.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ered-one-made-almost-entirely-of-dark-matter/



> Much of the universe is made of dark matter, the unknowable, as-yet-undetected stuff that barely interacts with the "normal" matter around it. In the Milky Way, dark matter outnumbers regular matter by about 5 to 1, and very tiny dwarf galaxies are known to contain even more of the stuff.
> 
> But now scientists have found something entirely new: a galaxy with the same mass as the Milky Way but with only 1 percent of our galaxy's star power. About 99.99 percent of this other galaxy is made up of dark matter, and scientists believe it may be one of many.
> 
> The galaxy *Dragonfly 44*, described in a study published Thursday in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, is 300 million light years away. If scientists can track down a similar galaxy closer to home, however, they may be able to use it to make the first direct detection of


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## BiggieShady (Sep 1, 2016)

I just watched interview with Leonard Susskind about his holographic principle where he explains it a little better ... well, sort of


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## twilyth (Sep 1, 2016)

I thought the holographic principle had to deal with the firewall problem and last I heard, the best they could come up with was wormholes connecting the sets of particles - the ones going into the wormhole [late edit.  was supposed to be ] black hole and the ones going out as Hawking radiation.  Now they seem to have refined that to create some sort of identity between these wormholes and the concept of entanglement.  Except I think the entanglement idea violates some principle of quantum mechanics.



> In yet another thought experiment, Polchinski and his team pondered what would happen if just one of a pair of entangled particles near a black hole’s event horizon fell in, while the other escaped as Hawking radiation. According to complementarity, the escaping particle would also have to be entangled with another Hawking particle. But that’s a no-no in quantum mechanics: Particles entangled with each other outside a black hole cannot also be entangled with particles inside the black hole. Physicists call this forbidden arrangement entanglement polygamy.


https://www.sciencenews.org/article/mysterious-boundary?mode=magazine&context=188541


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