Science News

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-56462390 For those who might be vulnerable.

The Winchcombe meteorite from a few days ago contains chondrites and possibly simple organics https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-56326246

Las Vegas developer, Robert Bigelow, is offering almost $1,000,000 to neurologists or psychologists as follows: "Specifically, the billionaire wants to know if it is possible "the survival of human consciousness beyond bodily death ." To do this, scientists, neurologists and psychologists have until August 1, 2021 to submit a response of up to 25 thousand words. A group of specialist judges will select the winner on November 1. Thus the first place will receive 500 thousand dollars, the second 300 thousand and the third 150 thousand." I think I can answer that question in 1 word but Mr. Bigelow requires 25,000. If you're up for easy money, here's your chance. E…

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-56016031 Interestingly there are a couple of photos about the use of solar power in the list and also several other environmental science subjects.

https://phys.org/news/2021-02-discoveries-edge-periodic-table-einsteinium.html https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einsteinium

Model of the 2320 hemolithin molecule after MMFF energy minimization. Top: in space-filling mode; Center: ball and stick; Bottom: enlarged view of iron, oxygen and lithium termination. White = H; orange = Li; grey = C; blue = N; red = O and green = Fe. Hydrogen bonds are shown by dotted lines. Credit: arXiv:2002.11688 [astro-ph.EP] https://phys.org/news/2020-03-protein-meteorite.amp?utm_source=quora&utm_medium=referral

https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-achieve-transformational-breakthrough-in-scaling-up-quantum-computers

Just when you thought you could sleep at night... An asteroid more than a mile wide will pass by Earth on Wednesday while travelling at a speed of about 19,000 miles (30,578km) an hour. The space rock, known as (52768) 1998 OR2, is expected to make its closest approach at 10.56am BST, when it will be just 3.9m miles (6.3m km) away – about 16 times the distance between the Earth and the Moon. Although the asteroid is classified as a potentially hazardous object (PHO), scientists have said it will not pose a danger to the planet. Dr Brad Tucker, an astrophysicist at the Australian National University, said: “This asteroid poses no danger to the Earth and…

Hi. News report it is coming with lunar rock samples and will land in Australia in few days... Also, Japanese probe heading back to earth with hopefully samples from meteorite on board.

Prospects for life elsewhere. The candidates are all pretty far away, however the hope is identifying the characteristics of these types of planets would give us clues as to how to locate them more locally.

Just how big Black Holes can get. Massive enough to affect galaxies in a cluster. And possible effects of Dark Matter in their creation. https://www.msn.com/en-ca/weather/topstories/monster-black-hole-is-caught-feeding-off-galaxies-trapped-in-its-spider-s-web/ar-BB19LywO?ocid=msedgntp

https://phys.org/news/2019-05-nasa-unveils-artemis-moon-mission.html NASA on Thursday unveiled the calendar for the "Artemis" program that will return astronauts to the Moon for the first time in half a century, including eight scheduled launches and a mini-station in lunar orbit by 2024. The original lunar missions were named for Apollo—Artemis was his twin sister in Greek mythology, and the goddess of hunting, wilderness and the Moon. Administrator Jim Bridenstine confirmed that Artemis 1 will be an uncrewed mission around the Moon planned for 2020. Next will come Artemis 2, which will orbit Earth's satellite with a crew around 2022; followed finally…

Hours before the rise of the very star it will study, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe launched from Florida Sunday to begin its journey to the Sun, where it will undertake a landmark mission. The spacecraft will transmit its first science observations in December, beginning a revolution in our understanding of the star that makes life on Earth possible. The mission’s findings will help researchers improve their forecasts of space weather events, which have the potential to damage satellites and harm astronauts on orbit, disrupt radio communications and, at their most severe, overwhelm power grids. https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-ula-launch-parker-solar-probe-o…

https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2020/hubble-sees-a-molten-ring

https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/bacteria-can-survive-interplanetary-travel-between-earth-and-mars/

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/entertainment/news/spooky-action-at-a-distance-could-create-a-nearly-perfect-clock/ar-BB1d04gd?ocid=BingNews

https://earthlymission.com/dinosaur-mummy-science-discovery-nodosaur-intact-canada/?fbclid=IwAR2wWqKTY7lykqaIexocCP6L16aepPxOVr1dXe-bVywjNbJldL54l3fjgdM Scientists are hailing it as the best-preserved dinosaur specimen ever discovered. That’s why you cannot see its bones – they remain covered by intact skin and armor. This dinosaur was built like a tank. A member of a newly discovered species called nodosaur, it was an enormous four-legged herbivore protected by a spiky, plated armor. It weighed approximately 3,000 pounds. To give you an idea of how intact the mummified nodosaur is: it still weighs 2,500 pounds! more at link...…

Swedish scientists use slowmo videography in a wind tunnel to confirm 1970s hypothesis of the aerodynamics of butterfly flight. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-55719955

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/scientists-find-world-they-thought-couldnt-exist-–-and-it-could-change-our-understanding-of-how-planets-form/ar-BB1cRpVz?ocid=BingNews https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/abcd3c

https://techxplore.com/news/2021-01-inexpensive-battery-rapidly-electric-vehicles.html Battery R&D is a huge deal now - and appears to be making significant progress. Of course commercial ie real world success is still to be shown, but - 400km vehicle range in a 10 minute charge, costs not known but claimed to be lower cost than existing Li-Ion - no cobalt or other expensive metals - and expected working life of >3 million km (2 million miles). Supposed to be because the (lithium iron sulphate) battery heats up to best temperature (60 C/140F) for charging and discharging. I have to say I had always thought raised temperatures was a problem for batter…

It has been long assumed that in early hunter/gatherer societies job division was along gender lines. However, recent finding challenge the notion. After finding a skeleton that appeared to be female among a hunter burial site, researchers revisited the other skeletons using a proteomic analysis of enamel and together with osteological measurements they determined that altogether 11 out of 27 of bodies found with big-game hunting tools were actually female. It is an interesting study that challenges a notion that I assume most of us grew up with. Ref: Haas et al. Science Adv. 2020 6:45

https://www.livescience.com/baby-magnetar-pulsar.html

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2021/jan/quantum-tech-help-weigh-universes-most-elusive-particle

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200803-the-solar-canals-revolutionising-indias-renewable-energy Clever solution

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/07/science/jellyfish-swimming-vortex.html contains cool gif at the top of a jellyfish swimming through laser sheet with tracer particles. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2020.2494