Science News Thread (for articles that don't relate to ongoing discussions)

[DDE]

11 hours ago, magnemoe said:

I see an construction site, no doors, nut the upside down of \__/ makes sense of structural reasons as its kind of an arc but simpler to build in concrete than an true arc. 
Guess the doors would be square however. And an door like that has no benefits I can think of and it has to be an sliding door. 
Rounded doors makes sense if you has to handle pressure.

Subs might have doors with half circle top an bottom while ships tend to have rounded edges. 

Damn. All TG links get appended with a "single" tag that hides the rest of images in gallery. When you edit the pasted text, sometimes it deletes the tag, sometimes it doesn't.

https://t.me/v_bunkere_ne_strashno/1423

See image 3

Need to come up with a smarter way to handle TG posts on this forum...

[kerbiloid]

10 hours ago, DDE said:

See image 3

Both are like this one.

Spoiler

 

Spoiler

Expectations:  heroic door

Reality:  body-positive door.

[magnemoe]

1 hour ago, kerbiloid said:

Both are like this one.

  Hide contents

 

  Hide contents

Expectations:  heroic door

Reality:  body-positive door.

Rules of cool I say, no reason to not have the door frame square optionally with rounded edges, and why the weird shape on the lower one? You probably want an grove in one door edge and an similar ridge on the other for sealing and increase strength. 
Or more realistically you use one single door sliding in from a side. If smart this let you have an wedge in the track so the last cm pushes the door against the seal. 
This was the setup on an ferry from Sweden to Germany, school trip so we was obviously steerage as in below the car deck. 
So it was an an bulkhead door, in the corridor to our cabin. On the other side it was some annoying Swedes and some thought that closing the hatch would solve that problem. 
Agree but it would generate some much much larger ones as an alarm would go off at the bridge. 
And this would be so much more serious than trigger an fire alarm, also the seal is probably one time use. 
Also I don't think that door would stop if your arm was in the way. 

Visited the bridge and the engine room. Serious impressed by the star trek helmsman position, who had map with gps position with an radar overlay on an big screen. 
Or stuff any radar sets for boats give you today. 
But this was early 1990's so the bit screen would kill anybody bellow if it fell down. They also had sensors and settings for all the bulkhead doors and all the fire alarms. 

 

[steve9728]

The existing maglev train linking the two airports in Shanghai used to operate at 430km/h, but has now been reduced to 300, probably for safety reasons. And the current operating speed of China's high-speed rail is 350km/h.

But have to say that 8 minutes journey takes 40 RMB in 300km/h now is not very "cost-effective"

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

3 hours ago, steve9728 said:

ave to say that 8 minutes journey takes 40 RMB in 300km/h now is not very "cost-effective

I saw a while back that a lot of the high speed trains were being ignored / unused because of price.  People were more willing to take a 6 hour train because it was so much more economical 

[steve9728]

2 hours ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

I saw a while back that a lot of the high speed trains were being ignored / unused because of price.  People were more willing to take a 6 hour train because it was so much more economical 

That really depends on how the people thinks "which more important, time or money" and where they are going. In order to recoup losses, the railways have hung wagon cars carrying expresses on high-speed trains on some lines. And if it's just a tour, like the more interesting scenery of south-eastern China and routes from Shaanxi province into the complex terrain of the Sichuan basin, I would also choose the slower trains.

Why I said that's not cost effective is, well, put a comparison here: from the city where I live, Shenzhen, to my hometown, Guangzhou. That's around 120km in highway and takes 1.5 hours to drive if there's no traffic jam. If we take the high-speed train, that's 38min by 350km/h takes 78 RMB. A trip from Shanghai to the neighbouring city, Hangzhou, is also about the same price and time. If you are just looking for "Speed", well, that's somewhere better for everyone.

Edited April 5, 2023 by steve9728

[Jacke]

10 hours ago, steve9728 said:

The existing maglev train linking the two airports in Shanghai used to operate at 430km/h, but has now been reduced to 300, probably for safety reasons. And the current operating speed of China's high-speed rail is 350km/h.

But have to say that 8 minutes journey takes 40 RMB in 300km/h now is not very "cost-effective"

China is falling behind Japan.

 

[steve9728]

44 minutes ago, Jacke said:

China is falling behind Japan.

Currently, no one would deny this including me at the field of maglev train. But I want to remind you that this Shanghai one was run between the two airports since 2003.

And what if I said that the train in China without maglev can reach 486.1km/h by CRH380A... (Thank you Hitachi)

Add: wait, we got a 600 one...

For something "flying too low" like this, the technology usually isn't the most important part, but the geography in which it is implemented and the degree of development of the cities to which it is connected. It is necessary that the distances between these places are long enough, that the paths are flat and that the tracks are as straight as possible.

Edited April 5, 2023 by steve9728

[magnemoe]

2 hours ago, steve9728 said:

Currently, no one would deny this including me at the field of maglev train. But I want to remind you that this Shanghai one was run between the two airports since 2003.

And what if I said that the train in China without maglev can reach 486.1km/h by CRH380A... (Thank you Hitachi)

Add: wait, we got a 600 one...

For something "flying too low" like this, the technology usually isn't the most important part, but the geography in which it is implemented and the degree of development of the cities to which it is connected. It is necessary that the distances between these places are long enough, that the paths are flat and that the tracks are as straight as possible.

Now if you can go close to 500 km/h on an standard bullet train I say maglev is a bit pointless unless it goes at aircraft speeds. 
Standard bullet trains has lots of benefit as in cheaper tracks and easy to switch tracks even redirect to an standard rail line in an emergency. 
Yes route has to be pretty much the same but track is much simpler. 

And yes high speed rails need volume and terrain you can get it trough. 
Yes you can probably do sharper turns and stuff with an maglev but most commuters don't want to ride an roller-coaster for some reason. 
Elevators would be much faster if it had two modes freefall and 2 g braking or accelerating they would also be fun. 

[StrandedonEarth]

Spoiler

Answer to What is the molecular basis of the sense of smell? by Dr Jo

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-molecular-basis-of-the-sense-of-smell/answer/Dr-Jo-6?ch=15&oid=1477743649582326&share=fea49ee8&srid=YEPGh&target_type=answer

I stumbled across this:

 

[steve9728]

No trees or bushes - altitude must over 4500 here

[darthgently]

On 4/5/2023 at 4:40 PM, magnemoe said:

Elevators would be much faster if it had two modes freefall and 2 g braking or accelerating

When kerbals make elevators 

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

https://news.sky.com/story/runaway-black-hole-tearing-through-universe-creates-astonishing-trail-of-stars-say-nasa-12851872

 

SMBH running amok and scattering stars 

[steve9728]

Tesla, the catfish of the "catfish effect" in the Chinese electric car industry, has indeed brought a lot of dynamism to the market. Although my dream electric car won't be Tesla.

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

Globally distributed subducted materials along the Earth’s core-mantle boundary: Implications for ultralow velocity zones | Science Advances

Scientists have stitched together the most high-resolution map yet of the underlying geology beneath Earth's Southern Hemisphere, revealing something previously undiscovered: an ancient ocean floor that may wrap around the core.

 

Earth's Core Appears to Be Wrapped in an Unexpected, Ancient Structure (msn.com)

[StrandedonEarth]

1 hour ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

Globally distributed subducted materials along the Earth’s core-mantle boundary: Implications for ultralow velocity zones | Science Advances

Scientists have stitched together the most high-resolution map yet of the underlying geology beneath Earth's Southern Hemisphere, revealing something previously undiscovered: an ancient ocean floor that may wrap around the core.

 

Earth's Core Appears to Be Wrapped in an Unexpected, Ancient Structure (msn.com)

An Easter egg from the Magratheans…

[Codraroll]

On 4/5/2023 at 12:56 PM, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

I saw a while back that a lot of the high speed trains were being ignored / unused because of price.  People were more willing to take a 6 hour train because it was so much more economical 

If I remember that correctly, they started by building high-speed rail along routes where the combination of distance and passenger volume made it a solid choice. Then they realized the world was admiring the rate of their high-speed rail construction, so they decided to keep it up for prestige … even on routes with too few passengers to justify the investment costs, or rural routes where most of the prospective passengers wouldn't be willing to splurge on the more expensive high-speed tickets. 

And regarding maglev ... there's a reason why the Shanghai Transrapid remains the only maglev system in regular service, 22 years after its opening. It seems to mostly be there as a tourist attraction and for the prestige.

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

18 minutes ago, Codraroll said:

maglev

Such a cool concept, though.  I remember being really excited about maglev possibilities and tech demos long ago.

[farmerben]

Makes one wonder about Musk's Boring company and hyperloop.  When the things we are not building are subways.

Edited April 12, 2023 by farmerben

[steve9728]

3 hours ago, Codraroll said:

If I remember that correctly, they started by building high-speed rail along routes where the combination of distance and passenger volume made it a solid choice. Then they realized the world was admiring the rate of their high-speed rail construction, so they decided to keep it up for prestige … even on routes with too few passengers to justify the investment costs, or rural routes where most of the prospective passengers wouldn't be willing to splurge on the more expensive high-speed tickets. 

And regarding maglev ... there's a reason why the Shanghai Transrapid remains the only maglev system in regular service, 22 years after its opening. It seems to mostly be there as a tourist attraction and for the prestige.

You can think the high-speed train and the normal slower train as some kind highway and secondary highway. Many areas that were once less developed were given better development potential because of the access to trains and then, decades later, to high-speed rail. In this country we believe that "If you want to get rich, build the roads first"

If only costs and benefits were considered, the mountainous regions of south-western China would never be accessible by train: those places were extremely poor, the geographically are literally as complicated as hell - when you dig the tunnel, the rock would even explode because the instantaneous release of stress. But the people here have the right to have a better life and the right to bring back developments from outside the mountains to develop their homeland. At this point, the train is the best option.

First of all, let the poor people get on the train, let the local children get into good schools and colleges in the big cities of this country, and let them return home with what they have learned. Decades later, when they have been lifted out of poverty and the original one is already congested, why not let them get on a 250km/h high-speed train too? (In plain areas the speed limit for high-speed trains is 350, while the speed limit for some lines in complex terrain with many bridges and tunnels is 250)

In terms of giving more potential for local development, "admiring" is just a side effect. While I do resent the phrase "they just don't care", it is true that we don't care what foreigners think when it comes to high-speed rail.

How complex is the terrain in those places? For example, the Chengdu-Kunming railway, the video about the slower one: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV18a411r76L/?spm_id_from=333.337.search-card.all.click&vd_source=6fef304b8d0c4737896e6b702ddfbfb3. And the faster one: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1ix4y1P7Hj/?spm_id_from=333.337.search-card.all.click&vd_source=6fef304b8d0c4737896e6b702ddfbfb3 (350km/h one of this route is currently under construction)

Edited April 12, 2023 by steve9728

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

3 hours ago, steve9728 said:

let the local children get into good schools and colleges in the big cities of this country, and let them return home with what they have learned

I forget the term - but some long decades ago the CCP had rules in place where people who were born in a region had to stay in the region.  Is that still in place? 

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

Not a criticism, btw, just curious.  

[steve9728]

2 hours ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

I forget the term - but some long decades ago the CCP had rules in place where people who were born in a region had to stay in the region.  Is that still in place? 

Nah, it may have existed when my parents' generation was in primary or secondary school. Now it doesn't. At least since 2000s.

We have a way to alleviate poverty, called relocation to alleviate poverty - which means, this **hole is too difficult to build a road to get in, we have vacated a good place in the county, the government has built and repaired the houses, schools and other facilities for you, you guys can move to live and work here.

"The relocation targets are mainly rural poor people living in poor living environments such as deep mountains, desertification, endemic diseases and other areas that do not have basic development conditions, as well as areas with fragile ecological environments and restricted or prohibited development, and priority is given to poor people living in seismically active zones and those threatened by geological disasters such as mudslides and landslides."

Sad fact is, before this relocation, in many natural disasters such as earthquakes, it is common for such 'target villages', now prioritised for relocation, to be buried by natural disasters such as mudslides and floods that bury entire villages and towns.

Add: on the other hands about population movement between different regions, which just occurred to me is the problem called "left-behind children". And it seems that it's only in the last few years that the gov has figured out somewhat useful way to resolve this conflict. When I was in the primary school, there was had some kind "student exchange programme" in our school between somewhere pretty poor. These "special classmates" are good looking and dark-skinned, introverted and sensitive. Often easy to think "are you guys trying to bully us".

Edited April 12, 2023 by steve9728

[steve9728]

From 101 to 403 seconds, EAST broke its own previous record.

[tater]

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/new-interactive-mosaic-uses-nasa-imagery-to-show-mars-in-vivid-detail

Cool.