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

[KSK]

21 hours ago, kerbiloid said:

Yes, the space is hexed.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

***

A decade later the scientists will discover the "saving throws".

God does not play dice with the universe.

[kerbiloid]

17 minutes ago, KSK said:

God does not play dice with the universe.

The proper word is "game master".

[steve9728]

19 hours ago, steve9728 said:

A well-preserved fossil Hadrosaurus embryo discovered in China. And the scientists named it as Ying Baby (英贝贝)

https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(21)01487-5#secsectitle0040

“In contrast, the larger chicks of the subfamily Lambeosaurus are early adults and can join the herd very quickly after birth. This interesting difference naturally raises a question for evolutionary biologists about the ancestral traits of Hadrosaurus: were the Hadrosaurus-like ancestors late or early hatchlings during the hatching process? The small size of the eggs and embryos in the embryonic eggs of Ying Baby, similar to that of the Hadrosaurus subfamily, suggests that small eggs and late chicks are the original traits of Hadrosaurus, while the larger eggs and early chicks of the Lambeosaurus subfamily are derived from them, which is the most important scientific insight that the embryonic eggs of Ying Baby tell us.”

Although relevant but not what I was talking about, so change this one: Hadrosauroid eggs and embryos from the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of Jiangxi Province, China

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

Due to Voyager's interstellar location, it takes light 20 hours and 33 minutes to travel one way

https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/18/world/nasa-voyager-1-issue-scn/index.html

Amazingly the spacecraft is still functional, but they're getting weird readings from the antenna positioning indicator... Despite that, the signal is still 'strong'. 

Edited May 19, 2022 by JoeSchmuckatelli

[kerbiloid]

On 5/19/2022 at 7:03 AM, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/18/world/nasa-voyager-1-issue-scn/index.html

Quote

Voyager 1 continues to operate well, despite its advanced age and 14.5 billion-mile distance (23.3 billion kilometers) from Earth. And it can receive and execute commands sent from NASA, as well as gather and send back science data.

But the readouts from the attitude articulation and control system, which control the spacecraft's orientation in space, don't match up with what Voyager is actually doing. The attitude articulation and control system, or AACS, ensures that the probe's high-gain antenna remains pointed at Earth so Voyager can send data back to NASA.
Due to Voyager's interstellar location, it takes light 20 hours and 33 minutes to travel one way, so the call and response of one message between NASA and Voyager takes two days.

So far, the Voyager team believes the AACS is still working, but the instrument's data readouts seem random or impossible. The system issue hasn't triggered anything to put the spacecraft into "safe mode" so far. That's when only essential operations occur so engineers can diagnose an issue that would put the spacecraft at risk. And Voyager's signal is as strong as ever, meaning the antenna is still pointed to Earth. The team is trying to determine if this incorrect data is coming directly from this instrument or if another system is causing it.

"Until the nature of the issue is better understood, the team cannot anticipate whether this might affect how long the spacecraft can collect and transmit science data," according to a NASA release.

The nature of the issue is absolutely clear.
It's just reached the physical range of the "Universe" and keeps ramming the invisible wall on which the skybox is painted.  (All those "stars", "galaxies", and so on.)

It's standing still, just wobbling.
Thus the signal is strong but the data are weird. The communication antenna is still pointing at the Earth.

Also the data are garbaged because they are not determined at the universe limit, so the scientific tools bahavior is unpredictable.

Remember that even galaxies are now presumable locked in discrete cells with walls.

It's a typical cellular automaton, and all those "galactic arms", "dark matter", and other voodoo are just following rather simple rules.

Spoiler

Inside the separated galactic (like in Elite, you know), there are cells/bubbles like ours, whose walls Voyager-1 has just reached.

Now we know the real size of our location, 23.3 terameters / 20.5 lighth ours.

Good news: it doesn't eliminate the approaching ship, just doesn't let it follow farther.

Though, probably not the whole skybox is painted, it's just like a dusty but transparent glass wall.

We can see other cells, but can't reach them.

[Autochrome]

This "scientific" news article implies that the moon is tidally locked to the Sun and only one side gets light and the other one is in complete darkness. I assume he got it from the misnomer "dark side of the Moon", even when each side of the Moon receives the same amount of sunlight over the course of a month.

Spoiler

So when we talk about a "day" on the moon, it's important to remember that one side of the moon -- the "dark side" -- never gets struck by sunlight. There's not going to be any sunrises or sunsets on the moon, ever. How do we measure a day on the moon, then? This is why such a simple question as "how long is a day on the moon?" is far more complicated than you might expect. 

Even when I was six I knew that the Moon is tidally locked to the Earth, not the Sun.

Edited May 20, 2022 by Autochrome

[kerbiloid]

How can the Moon be locked to the Sun when both are flying around the Earth, and thus the phases of the Moon exist?

[mikegarrison]

41 minutes ago, kerbiloid said:

How can the Moon be locked to the Sun when both are flying around the Earth, and thus the phases of the Moon exist?

I don't know. You should ask the galaxy-brain genius who wrote the article. I bet he could explain.

[Autochrome]

1 hour ago, kerbiloid said:

How can the Moon be locked to the Sun when both are flying around the Earth, and thus the phases of the Moon exist?

I don't know, I guess his head is empty, and/or didn't think five seconds about it before writing the article.

[Gargamel]

21 hours ago, Autochrome said:

This "scientific" news article implies that the moon is tidally locked to the Sun and only one side gets light and the other one is in complete darkness. I assume he got it from the misnomer "dark side of the Moon", even when each side of the Moon receives the same amount of sunlight over the course of a month.

  Reveal hidden contents

So when we talk about a "day" on the moon, it's important to remember that one side of the moon -- the "dark side" -- never gets struck by sunlight. There's not going to be any sunrises or sunsets on the moon, ever. How do we measure a day on the moon, then? This is why such a simple question as "how long is a day on the moon?" is far more complicated than you might expect. 

Even when I was six I knew that the Moon is tidally locked to the Earth, not the Sun.

We rules on this forum about posting links that are vulgar.    This entire article is vulgar.  
 

 

 

[Snark]

21 hours ago, Autochrome said:

This "scientific" news article implies that the moon is tidally locked to the Sun and only one side gets light and the other one is in complete darkness. I assume he got it from the misnomer "dark side of the Moon", even when each side of the Moon receives the same amount of sunlight over the course of a month.

The icing on the cake is the bit where, right after he asserts that "one side of the moon-- the 'dark side'-- never gets struck by sunlight", he actually provides a phys.org link as a citation... and if you go look at that article, of course it says no such thing.  So not only did he get the science hopelessly wrong, he's clearly not even reading his own citations.

If the blithering ineptitude of this article causes you actual physical pain, as it did me, then I suggest you take a look at the comments on it.  You won't be disappointed.    (My personal favorite comment is "Who is Richard's editor, Pink Floyd?")

[kerbiloid]

21 hours ago, kerbiloid said:

How can the Moon be locked to the Sun when both are flying around the Earth, and thus the phases of the Moon exist?

Just to not be accused in propagating fake science, and as nobody noticed, I have to highlight the joke part of my post...

Nice to read a serious space science forum.

[Autochrome]

21 hours ago, kerbiloid said:

How can the Moon be locked to the Sun when both are flying around the Earth, and thus the phases of the Moon exist?

I think kerbiloid is stuck in the pre-Copernicus days of Europe...

[kerbiloid]

The situation with Voyager looks rather similar to the well-known by late-Soviet pupils sci-fi story "White Cane 7.62".
Not long, but dramatic.

by https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ondřej_Neff

Can't find it in English, but the stackexchange answer brings the Russian version (don't read the question, it confuses)
https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/77341/book-possibly-russian-in-which-humans-had-their-heads-transformed-into-metall

[steve9728]

A Video about someone recorded a TLE (Transient Luminous Events) at Himalayas: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1N5411X7d3?spm_id_from=333.880.my_history.page.click

00:21: "The Red Pixies is super rare atmosheric luminescence phenomenon, mainly triggered by strong lightning. It was extremely intense and was accompanied by the first high-definition record of a Troll secondary jet-like phenomenon in China"

Spoiler

 

Edited May 22, 2022 by steve9728

[StrandedonEarth]

On 5/21/2022 at 8:45 AM, Snark said:

(My personal favorite comment is "Who is Richard's editor, Pink Floyd?")

“There is no Dark Side of the Moon really. As a matter of fact it’s all dark… (thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump….)

[Snark]

2 minutes ago, StrandedonEarth said:

“There is no Dark Side of the Moon really. As a matter of fact it’s all dark… (thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump….)

I guess, technically, if one wanted to refer to the "dark" side of the moon, it would be the near side, since it has the lunar maria, which appear darker than the rest of the surface.  (I mean, it's all fairly dark rock, but the maria appear somewhat darker from a distance.)

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

51 minutes ago, Snark said:

dark rock, but the maria appear somewhat darker from a distance.

Primed, likely by the "Pink Floyd" comment, but as soon as I read this... I heard:

 

Edited May 22, 2022 by JoeSchmuckatelli

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

On another note (albeit related to something I posted above) I'm a huge fan of absurdist humor and effective sarcasm.  I'm always a bit stymied by people who 'don't get it' and especially by those who 'get offended' by what I recognize as clearly a joke.  This is exceptionally notable in textual contexts (forums, etc.) and frankly I've been quite guilty of using absurdism and sarcasm as a stand-in for a fast, impromptu intelligence test.  People who 'get it' are clearly smart... and those who don't?  Well, that's part of the fun.

Sadly, this is sometimes seen as 'trolling' - even though it is not.  (Well, not always).

Part of this comes from my appreciation of dry humor, and especially Monty Python.  How Absurd Comedy Works - The Cheeky Monkey (cheekymonkeycomedy.com)

I won't repost my 'sarcasm as humor' links above, but I did find this Harvard article that does give some advice on when and where to use it: Sarcasm, Self-Deprecation, and Inside Jokes: A User’s Guide to Humor at Work (hbr.org)

Quote

Sarcasm involves saying one thing and meaning the opposite, so using and interpreting it requires higher-level abstract thinking (compared with straightforward statements), which boosts creativity. The downside is that sarcasm can produce higher levels of perceived conflict, particularly when trust is low between the expresser and the recipient. And because sarcasm involves saying the opposite of what you mean, there’s a risk of misunderstanding or worse if the recipient does not pick up on the humorous intent and takes a sarcastic comment literally. The lesson: Unleash your sarcastic side to get creative juices flowing—but tone it down with new colleagues, in unfamiliar settings, or when working in teams where strong relationships haven’t yet been built. Until you’ve established trust, it’s best to communicate with respect.

 

[kerbiloid]

Imho, technically, the laughter is probably a "fake alarm" sound.

The first humour happened when a neighbour monkey had unexpectedly fallen from branch.

The first laughter happened when another monkey, seeing this, first was frightened and started an alarm scream, but in the middle realized that the danger was false and finished the aborted scream with forced exhale, like a cough.

The first thick joke happened when this monkey pushed the returned fallen one to make fall intentionally and laughed again .

The first thin joke happened when this monkey made it look as it's going to push the re-returned fallen one and repeated the laughing.
While indeed it felt too lazy to actually keep pushing.

The first sarcasm happened when this monkey made it look a it's going to make it look as it's going to push, but instead just scratched.
When the neighbor tried to avoid the pushing, it was funny, because no real danger was actually around. So, the monkey repeated the "fake alarm" scream-cough exhale with pleasure.

Other monkeys were watching the scene, perplexed.
Then tried to copy the new, unusual sound.
Then another monkey pushed its neighbor to fall, to the pleasure of the whole monkey bunch.
Everyone coughed-laughed, so it was considered joyful.

The first unexpected joke happened when a monkey fell down while laughing, not pushed by anybody.

Everyone started throwing at it with nuts and bananas, and this was even more funny.

The first stand-up show happened when a monkey fell down intentionally, and gathered the thrown nuts and bananas.

The first stand-up fail happened when a monkey fell down intentionally, but the other monkeys were out of nuts and bananas and started throwing crap instead.

The first sitcom happened when several monkeys were pushing each other from branch and falling, while others were watching and laughing.

So, the humour was born.

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

Supersonic passenger jet flight in your (near) future - or will it be FTL? 

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/bombardier-confirms-launch-of-global-8000/index.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Failure to Launch

 

[StrandedonEarth]

Getting hyper with it!

https://interestingengineering.com/new-high-speed-propulsion-system-paves-way-for-hypersonic-flight-up-to-mach-16?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Article&utm_campaign=organic&utm_content=May28

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

37 minutes ago, StrandedonEarth said:

Getting hyper with it!

https://interestingengineering.com/new-high-speed-propulsion-system-paves-way-for-hypersonic-flight-up-to-mach-16?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Article&utm_campaign=organic&utm_content=May28

Recently I listened to George Freidman giving a talk to (UAE?) some folks in the middle east about how medium economies can compete in tech by leveraging their defense industry's innovation.  Reminded me of this video - which conveniently has animations describing what the article you linked is talking about (and what G.F. described)

Pulse wave description starts about 2:09.

Edited May 28, 2022 by JoeSchmuckatelli

[kerbiloid]

https://seapowermagazine.org/navys-orca-xluuv-will-carry-34-foot-payload-module-for-mine-laying/

Spoiler

34 ft cargo bay is sounding Poseudonic.

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/surgically-implanted-3d-printed-ear-marks-medical-advance-rcna31671

A 20-year-old woman who was born with the congenital disorder microtia and had one misshapen ear received the new appendage in March, 3DBio Therapeutics, the company that manufactured the ear, said in a news release Thursday. The ear was constructed from her own cells as a mirror replica of her other ear.