Interesting Science Stuff Thread

[anytownUSA 32]

Check this out.  This is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.

 

Laniakea supercluster of galaxies

 

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

 

Polar ice melt increases ocean depth by 1 mm per annum.

 

So over 20 years that's 2 cm, or almost an inch.  For some countries this could be pretty serious.

 

I've seen all the data on global warming, and decided not to worry about it in the least.  I've always thought it was pretty arrogant to think that human civilization has more effect on the climate than the sun and the oceans.  

 

True.  It is time for people to stop acting like King Canute and realize that Nature doesn't give a damn.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Lost Franklin Expedition Ships Found in Canadian Arctic.

 

And BBC says

 

Parks Canada with its partners has sponsored the recovery expedition for the last six years.  Seems the Inuit verbal accounts played a large role in this.

[hym 358]

So in news that it simultaneously awesome and a major can of worms, scientists have created the world's first room temperature terahertz radiation detector...and it can see through walls and human skin.

 

Link

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Wow!  Let's hear it for graphene.  Good old Carbon strikes again!  If T-rays are ubiquitous, the need for a generator for them seems rather a non-starter.

[hym 358]

I suspect it is application specific. If you are trying to look through a wall, ambient terahertz radiation may be sufficient. If you a trying to look into a person's leg to set a broken bone, you may need a precisely controlled source of terahertz radiation to accurately see what you are doing.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Only if this gear is cheaper than the current stuff. Bone setting is a pretty cut and dried affair these days.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

New Storage Card.

 

Aimed at 4K movie makers.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Cluttering up Near Mars Orbits.

 

Among other things these new satellites will be looking for CH₄ (cow farts).  If any is found in anything more than trace amounts, yours truly will be truly surprised.

 

Why did Mars lose its atmosphere?  Theory is pretty solid that it doesn't have enough mass (gravity).

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Hot stuff.

 

Storage for excess power generated by green systems.

[hym 358]

It would appear as though Dr. Sadoway's research team has reached its goal.  (He gave a TED talk about this about 2.5 years ago).

 

The question I have is the lifespan of the battery.  A battery has two charge numbers: rated charge and maximum possible charge.  Research has conclusively proven that when a lead-acid battery's maximum possible charge drops to 80% of its rated charge, the battery has failed.  Assuming for a second that, because of the heavy lead content of the proposed battery design, this new battery approximates a lead-acid battery's performance curve, then this battery will almost certainly fail in less than 2 years of service.  If that is indeed true, then there is no way this can be cost effective for electric utilities, as they simply do not have millions to spend on batteries every year.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Somehow, I don't think the research group would have overlooked anything so obvious.  Rather silly of them if they did.

[hym 358]

Personally, I would call it a 50% chance that they didn't consider it. This is a well known concern that any power engineer is going to be thinking about. It's not like it would have taken much more to conclusively answer the question, so why not do it?

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

The article doesn't say, but since they are dealing with power engineering people you'd think someone would have raised this issue.  Since that is your field, we'll count on you to chase this.

[Enekist 39]

some interseting fact: most of the meat that is sold has more vitamin C then most fruits and vegetables because they put ascorbic acid in the meat to make it look better and ascorbic acid is the substance which provides the main part of our daily dosis of vitamin C

[Blade711 24]

some interseting fact: most of the meat that is sold has more vitamin C then most fruits and vegetables because they put ascorbic acid in the meat to make it look better and ascorbic acid is the substance which provides the main part of our daily dosis of vitamin C

 

Everybody: *Starts eating meat instead of being a vegetarian*

[Sabretooth78 808]

Cluttering up Near Mars Orbits.

 

Among other things these new satellites will be looking for CH₄ (cow farts).  If any is found in anything more than trace amounts, yours truly will be truly surprised.

 

Why did Mars lose its atmosphere?  Theory is pretty solid that it doesn't have enough mass (gravity).

Based on what I read, I think the reason is due to the planet's lack of a complete magnetic field, likely caused by the freezing of the core a few billion years ago (so indirectly due to small mass).  This allowed the solar wind to gradually sputter off the atmosphere.

 

I don't think mass alone is the sole determinant.  Venus is slightly less massive than Earth yet has an atmosphere something on the order of 10x denser (although nor does Venus have an appreciable magnetic field due to its glacial rotation speed).  Then there's the question of Titan, a body even smaller than Mars with an atmosphere 40% denser than Earth's.

 

Clearly a lot of different effects at play here.

[jmsepe 2,038]

Study On Near-Death Experiences Sheds Light On Consciousness After Death

 

Looks like we're getting closer to see the light at the end of tunnel. 

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

If the consciousness continues then it might make a good argument for ghosts.  However, with no plant to sustain it, for how long?

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Type 1 Diabetes cure on the tip.

 

Insulin producing Beta cells created from stem cells.  The trick is to prevent them being attacked by the immune system.

[Terring 6,473]

Electric cars with auto-pilot. I want one

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Would be fine if it really was autopilot.  According to the announcement I read, it is a misnomer.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Plants do it better than believed.

 

So, clear cutting the rainforests may be worse than was earlier thought.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Paleontologists actually call this species Hobbits.

 

This bit of research and digging has been going on for 10 years.  Did J.R.R.T. know something they didn't?  Could this be a piece of "The Shire"?

[KonstantinII 1,106]

Check this out! There's actually a moon in the solar system that looks just like death star from Star Wars franchise. Isn't that funny?

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Hardly a coincidence.  Why dream up an image when you already have one?

[KonstantinII 1,106]

Ok, so it's not an original concept.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Clever though.  Wonder if that image was known outside of astronomical circles in the 1970s when the first films were made?  I saw ST IV on an extended lunch break in 1977.

[Terring 6,473]

This similarity is a coincidence, as the crater was not discovered until 1980, three years after the film was made

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Well, I guess they do happen.  I do not believe in coincidences in human affairs, however.