Science News

https://phys.org/news/2018-10-astronomers-compelling-evidence-moon-solar.html Astronomers find first compelling evidence for a moon outside our solar system October 3, 2018, Columbia University: A pair of Columbia University astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and Kepler Space Telescope have assembled compelling evidence for the existence of a moon orbiting a gas-giant planet 8,000 light-years away. In a paper published Oct. 3 in the journal Science Advances, Alex Teachey and David Kipping report that the detection of a candidate exomoon—that is, moons orbiting planets in other star systems—is unusual because of its large size, comparable t…

A Canadian ( U of Waterloo, originally from Guelph ) woman, Donna Strickland, is only the third woman ever ( first in 1903, second was back in 1963 ) to be awarded the Nobel prize in Physics for her work in high energy lasers. The methods she helped develop while doing her PhD in the 80s, 'chirped pulse amplification', reconciles the requirements for short pulses and high power ( without blowing up the laser ). Especially significant for me; she is my age , so we probably attended ( different ) Universities at the same time. Glad that the Nobel Committee is recognizing women's accomplishments in Physics. ( but do they need to wait 60 yrs in between ? )

An expedition to the Atacama Trench has uncovered a wealth of information. They found three new fish species. They do not conform to the preconceived stereotypical image of what a deep-sea fish should look like. Instead of giant teeth and a menacing frame, the fishes that roam in the deepest parts of the ocean are small, translucent, bereft of scales—and highly adept at living where few other organisms can. https://phys.org/news/2018-09-species-fish-extreme-depths-pacific.html#jCp

It is an Atheist Forum, where arrogance and condescension rule. Opinions and facts presented which are contrary to the diktats of Swansont are summarily deleted, with malice. He has a faint orgasm every time he bans someone who doesn't speak and write in accordance with his own views. This is my final post. I am self-banning, denying Mister Petty Atheist the chance to meaningfully ban me.

https://phys.org/news/2018-09-phase-transition-quantum-chromodynamics.html New observations to understand the phase transition in quantum chromodynamics: The building blocks of matter in our universe were formed in the first 10 microseconds of its existence, according to the currently accepted scientific picture. After the Big Bang about 13.7 billion years ago, matter consisted mainly of quarks and gluons, two types of elementary particles whose interactions are governed by quantum chromodynamics (QCD), the theory of strong interaction. In the early universe, these particles moved nearly freely in a quark-gluon plasma. Then, in a phase transition, they combined …

It seems Galileo toned down his claims to 'fool' the Inquisition. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-06769-4

Here are some exacting shots of Typhoon Manghkut in Hong Kong (erm, without the killing):- https://www.facebook.com/nury.vittachi/videos/10156734007941214/?t=0 https://www.facebook.com/scmp/videos/231922087674097/?t=88 (Shenshen - city across border from Hong Kong) https://www.facebook.com/scmp/videos/268894683750552/?t=0

https://phys.org/news/2018-09-magnetic-chaos-star-forming-clouds.html Magnetic waves create chaos in star-forming clouds September 13, 2018, University of Texas McDonald Observatory New research by Stella Offner, assistant professor of astronomy at The University of Texas at Austin, finds that magnetic waves are an important factor driving the process of star formation within the enormous clouds that birth stars. Her research sheds light on the processes that are responsible for setting the properties of stars, which in turn affects the formation of planets orbiting them, and, ultimately, life on those planets. The research is published in the current is…

https://phys.org/news/2018-09-chemical-analysis-extremely-metal-poor-star.html Researchers conduct chemical analysis of six extremely metal-poor star candidates September 11, 2018 by Tomasz Nowakowski, Phys.org An international team of researchers has conducted a chemical study of six new very metal-poor star candidates in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 12 (SDSS DR12). The new research, available in a paper published August 29 on the arXiv pre-print repository, could help researchers better understand the early stages of chemical evolution of the galaxy. Extremely metal-poor stars (EMPs) are generally perceived by astronomers as the relics …

https://phys.org/news/2018-09-radio-superfast-jet-material-neutron.html Radio observations confirm superfast jet of material from neutron star merger: September 5, 2018, National Radio Astronomy Observatory Precise measurement using a continent-wide collection of National Science Foundation (NSF) radio telescopes has revealed that a narrow jet of particles moving at nearly the speed of light broke out into interstellar space after a pair of neutron stars merged in a galaxy 130 million light-years from Earth. The merger, which occurred in August of 2017, sent gravitational waves rippling through space. It was the first event ever to be detected both by gra…

https://phys.org/news/2018-08-dark-quarks.html Quarks are the smallest particles that we know of. In fact, according to the Standard Model of particle physics, which describes all known particles and their interactions, quarks should be infinitely small. If that's not mind-boggling enough, enter dark quarks – hypothetical particles that have been proposed to explain dark matter, an invisible form of matter that fills the universe and holds the Milky Way and other galaxies together. Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2018-08-dark-quarks.html#jCp A Supplementary article: https://phys.org/news/2018-08-potential-harbingers-physics-persist-lhc.html The p…

https://phys.org/news/2018-08-long-sought-higgs-boson.html Long-sought decay of Higgs boson observed August 28, 2018, CERN Six years after its discovery, the Higgs boson has at last been observed decaying to fundamental particles known as bottom quarks. The finding, presented today at CERN1 by the ATLAS and CMS collaborations at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), is consistent with the hypothesis that the all-pervading quantum field behind the Higgs boson also gives mass to the bottom quark. Both teams have submitted their results for publication today. The Standard Model of particle physics predicts that about 60% of the time a Higgs boson will decay to…

The Aeolus satellite will measure wind velocities of earth's atmosphere from space using ultra-violet laser light. But how does the physics work? This is what the article said about it:- Aeolus will fire an ultraviolet laser through the atmosphere and measure the return signal using a large telescope The light beam gets scattered back off air molecules and small particles moving in the wind at different altitudes https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-45100090

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/stories-45023403/what-boils-at-196c-and-could-help-cut-pollution BBC short video which claims that the pollution from the refrigeration system in lorries is greated that the pollution from the lorry engine itself. This system replaces that refrigeration system with aone based on compression liquid nitrogen that has zero pollution, though overall its pollution must also depend on the pollution from the energy source to the liqufication plant. Sorry I don't know how to embed this. If anyone can do that or tell me how I would be grateful.

https://phys.org/news/2018-08-physicists-demystify-einstein-spooky-science.html Physicists race to demystify Einstein's 'spooky' science August 27, 2018 by Cynthia Dillon, University of California - San Diego Schematic of the 2018 “Cosmic Bell” experiment at the Roque de Los Muchachos Observatory in the Canary Islands, where two large telescopes observed the fluctuating color of light from distant quasars (red and blue galaxies). The green beams indicate polarization-entangled photons sent through the open air between stations separated by about one kilometer. Credit: Andrew S. Friedman and Dominik Rauch When it com…

A female who died around 90,000 years ago was half Neanderthal and half Denisovan, according to genome analysis of a bone discovered in a Siberian cave. This is the first time scientists have identified an ancient individual whose parents belonged to distinct human groups. The findings were published on 22 August in Nature1.https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-06004-0

https://phys.org/news/2018-08-year-australian-reveals-steep-decline.html 32-year Australian study reveals steep decline in student belief that God created humans August 21, 2018, University of New South Wales The top figure shows the percentage of students who, between 1986 and 2017, choose one of four options in relation to the human evolution: (1) humans were created by God within the last 10,000 years (green); (2) humans evolved over millions of years with the whole process guided by God (blue); (3) humans evolved over millions of years but God had no part in this process (red); or (4) they are uncertain what they think (yellow). Figures include li…

The title says most of it, here is an inspiring extract Four years ago, Brian and his fellow students at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, came up with this low-cost, reusable device called Matibabu which detects malaria quickly without drawing blood. Although still in prototype stage, the society judges called his malaria testing machine "simply a game changer" in the fight against this deadly disease. Magnets and matiscope "Matibabu" means "treatment" in Swahili, and the machine uses magnets and a custom-made portable device called a matiscope. This shines a red beam of light on to the user's finger, detecting a substance called haemozoin c…

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-08-core-error-underlies-belief-creationism.html Core thinking error underlies belief in creationism, conspiracy theories: study: August 20, 2018, Cell Press: It's not uncommon to hear someone espouse the idea that "everything happens for a reason" or that something that happened was "meant to be." Now, researchers reporting in Current Biology on August 20 have found that this kind of teleological thinking is linked to two seemingly unrelated beliefs: creationism, the belief that life on Earth was purposely created by a supernatural agent, and conspiracism, the tendency to explain historical or current events in terms of s…

https://techxplore.com/news/2018-08-team-world-first-ever-d-ceramics.html extract: 4-D printing is conventional 3-D printing combined with the additional element of time as the fourth dimension, where the printed objects can re-shape or self-assemble themselves over time with external stimuli, such as mechanical force, temperature, or a magnetic field. In this research, the team made use of the elastic energy stored in the stretched precursors for shape morphing. When the stretched ceramic precursors are released, they undergo self-reshaping. After heat treatment, the precursors turn into ceramics. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::…

Hello to all, I've recently created my YouTube channel called "Backed by Science" where so far I've posted 2 videos. The link to my channel is provided below: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg92N7DgEUEgtFtpSf_SIoQ/featured My intention is to provide answers to health related questions and discuss health and fitness matters based purely on scientific evidence. My purpose is to see a disease free world where no one will ever have to suffer at the hands of poverty and unaffordability of health costs. As its the first time I've ever made videos using my knowledge of science, I wish to rece…

Human activities including hunting and hiking are driving mammals around the world to be more active at night, when they’re less likely to run into people, according to a new study. The consequences of this shift are still unclear, but scientists suspect it could threaten the survival of several animal populations. Coyotes are among the more than 60 mammal species that have shifted to a more nocturnal schedule when living around people. http://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-05430-4

https://phys.org/news/2018-08-renovations-big-nuclear-astrophysics-lab.html In nature, the nuclear reactions that form stars are often accompanied by astronomically high amounts of energy, sometimes over billions of years. This presents a challenge for nuclear astrophysicists trying to study these reactions in a controlled, low-energy laboratory setting. The chances of re-creating such a spark without bombarding targets with high-intensity beams are unfathomably low. However, after recent renovations to its accelerator, one laboratory reported record-breaking performance. Following six years of upgrades to the Electron Cyclotron Resonance Ion Source (ECRIS) at t…

https://phys.org/news/2018-08-quiet-sunday-night-supermassive-black.html Earlier this year, on a quiet Sunday night, my colleague Jack and I found the fastest-growing supermassive black hole in the known universe. We were fortunate to be part of the team that made one of the greatest discoveries in astronomy this year. This supermassive black hole, or quasar, is 20 billion times the mass of our Sun and is 12.5 billion light years away from Earth. It expands 1 per cent every million years and it devours a mass equivalent to our Sun every two days. Officially, it is called SMSS J215728.21-360215.1, but we call it the hungry monster. The 'we' that made the dis…

Hi, I'm not a "hard" scientist (history of art), but by accident I stumbled across a recent scientific book (published by Wiley, written by University professor) which contains what I think are many plagiarized sections (some identical, some with very minor changes). I contacted Wiley about this more than a month ago, but haven't gotten a reply nor have they taken any action about the book. I have no idea where I could best report this situation, I have no personal stake in this (the copied texts are not by me or anyone I know), but don't like knowing about such a situation and not doing anything about it. Do I post my evidence here (in whichever subforum you prefer)…