General Science Thread

[DZ]

Top of page. I aim for "special."

To me, the most fascinating question in science and spirituality, excellent new article. http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20170...uantum-physics

Quantum consciousness" is widely derided as mystical woo, but it just will not go away.

Perhaps the most renowned of its mysteries is the fact that the outcome of a quantum experiment can change depending on whether or not we choose to measure some property of the particles involved.

When this "observer effect" was first noticed by the early pioneers of quantum theory, they were deeply troubled. It seemed to undermine the basic assumption behind all science: that there is an objective world out there, irrespective of us. If the way the world behaves depends on how – or if – we look at it, what can "reality" really mean?

THIS IS WHERE IT ALL GETS VERY MEANINGFUL

John Wheeler, and this "delayed choice" experiment was performed in the following decade.....It turns out that, just as Bohr confidently predicted, it makes no difference whether we delay the measurement or not .....

It is as if nature "knows" not just if we are looking, but if we are planning to look.

OUR BRAINS USE ELECTRONS AND PHOSPHATE WITHIN MICROTUBLES THAT "SHOULD" REQUIRE AN OBSERVER TO COLLAPSE TO PARTICLES, BUT WHO IS OBSERVING WHAT IS IN THE BRAIN?



The article is a brilliant survey of the big questions.


I can't get around the fact that it seems that our universe is set up specifically for consciousness, and the only "observer" as to what is inside our brains might well be a soul that is independent of our biochemical selves. That or it's a higher power. Wedding science and religion, God.


That's just me. I've posted before on general idea, and always love the responses.

[DZ]

Can't resist a story entitled: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/...ce-junk?tgt=nr

Gecko-inspired robot grippers could grab hold of space junk

Most strategies for sticking don’t work in space. Chemical adhesives can’t withstand the wide range of temperatures, and suction doesn’t work in a vacuum.

Adhesives inspired by gecko feet — which use van der Waals forces to cling without feeling sticky could fit the bill, says Mark Cutkosky of Stanford University, whose team has been designing such stickers for more than a decade. Now his team has built robotic gripper “hands” that can grapple objects many times their size without pushing them away.

Gripper hands could be used to repair or move dead satellites, or help miniature satellites called CubeSats stick to larger spacecraft like barnacles, Parness says

To Donate to Society for Science.org https://www.societyforscience.org/donate

[DZ]

Should be top of fold news in every paper: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/...about-get-real


Quantum computers are about to get real

The most advanced computers are working with fewer than two dozen qubits. But teams from industry and academia are working on expanding their own versions of quantum computers to 50 or 100 qubits, enough to perform certain calculations that the most powerful supercomputers can’t pull off. The race is on to reach that milestone, known as “quantum supremacy.”

Some of the first useful problems quantum computers will probably tackle will be to simulate small molecules or chemical reactions. From there, the computers could go on to speed the search for new drugs or kick-start the development of energy-saving catalysts to accelerate chemical reactions. To find the best material for a particular job, quantum computers could search through millions of possibilities to pinpoint the ideal choice, for example, ultrastrong polymers for use in airplane wings. .....

Advertisers could use a quantum algorithm to improve their product recommendations — dishing out an ad for that new cell phone just when you’re on the verge of purchasing one.

One of the most famous potential uses for quantum computers is breaking up large integers into their prime factors. For classical computers, this task is so difficult that credit card data and other sensitive information are secured via encryption based on factoring numbers. Eventually, a large enough quantum computer could break this type of encryption, factoring numbers that would take millions of years for a classical computer to crack.

[DZ]

If you are on the road, or in the air, and just want to "listen to something," and veg, I cannot recommend this more. Hilarious, fascinating, deep, moving .... you will not regret the time. Talk was given about 8 years ago in Seattle. If anyone saw it, stand up.

[DZ]

Biggest iceberg on record. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/...ushpmg00000009

‘Bergxit’: One Of The Largest Icebergs On Record Set To Break From Antarctic Shelf

For over two years, the U.K.-based Project MIDAS has been monitoring a large, fast-moving rift in the Larsen C ice shelf, located on the northern end of the Antarctic Peninsula. On Wednesday, researchers with the European Space Agency released a detailed analysis of the soon-to-be iceberg.

It’s expected to rise some 620 feet above the ocean’s surface — roughly the height of St. Louis’ Gateway Arch — and contain about 277 cubic miles of ice, according to ESA. Below the surface, the iceberg could reach a depth of nearly 700 feet.

[DZ]

From Buzzfeed's "Most Beautiful Pictures in Science 2016": https://www.buzzfeed.com/kellyoakes/...k15#.tsbqqZgXm

I can't move the actual samples bc of how they're formatted, so I gathered a couple that are like the ones listed. The link is spectacular.



Lightning from the ISS




Thunderheads from space




The "Sombrero Galaxy"






Milky Way from above the clouds on Everest





Soyuz Space Capsule coming back from ISS




99 Million Year old Dinosaur feathers, preserved in amber:




"Warrior of the Grassland": a fan-throated lizard, a highly territorial creature, on guard to protect its territory. Image taken in Maharashtra state, India,

[gu03alum]

This is a terrifying article, and now I can't sleep.

The Uninhabitable Earth
Famine, economic collapse, a sun that cooks us: What climate change could wreak — sooner than you think.

[DZ]

This is a terrifying article, and now I can't sleep.

The Uninhabitable Earth
Famine, economic collapse, a sun that cooks us: What climate change could wreak — sooner than you think.

Yeah, saw that.

The U.S. military is sure preparing. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2...ment-military/

[DZ]

More science at it's most beautiful. http://mashable.com/2017/03/07/2016-.../#SD82I1qFvkqZ

5,000 internet points to anyone who can guess what this is:





Answer in the next post.

[DZ]

Below

Surface of a Mouse Retina

The retina, located at the back of the eye, contains light-sensitive cells responsible for converting light into electrical nerve signals that the brain can process. As a result of aging or injury the retina can lose this function, causing vision loss. This image was created by digitally stitching together over 400 images to form one large image, so as to show the entire surface of a mouse retina. Blood vessels (blue) can be seen radiating from the centre of the image, supplying the entire retinal surface. Astrocytes, specialist cells of the nervous system, are double stained in red and green. These cells perform many functions – including maintaining and delivering nutrients to the nerves and the brain, and supporting the repair processes of the brain and spinal cord following injury – and are important for nerve survival and regeneration. Here, scientists are researching whether the function of astrocytes changes during retinal degeneration, which may lead to the development of new treatments for vision loss.

Gabriel Luna, Neuroscience Research Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara

[willandi]

Australian geologists discover meteorite older than Earth
Read more at http://www.geologyin.com/2016/03/aus...Uez4ByEDAj7.99

[gu03alum]

One of the biggest icebergs in recorded history just broke loose from Antarctica

[DZ]

One of the biggest icebergs in recorded history just broke loose from Antarctica

[gu03alum]

Incredible

[bartruff1]

I read the other day in the Nat. Geo that a polar bear mother swam for 9 straight days and some 425 miles in the Beaufort Sea to reach a ice flow...that is simply amazing to me...unfortunately her cub did not make it.....