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Jul 19, 2023

Time Flowed Five Times Slower Shortly after the Big Bang

Posted by in category: cosmology

“For decades Isaac Newton gave us this vision of a universe where space and time is fixed, and every clock across the universe ticks at exactly the same rate. Then Einstein shattered this vision by proposing that time is actually rubbery and relative,” says Geraint Lewis, an astrophysicist at the University of Sydney and lead author of the study. “Now we’ve shown that Einstein was, once again, correct.”

The Einsteinian concept of time running slower in the early universe arose in the late 1920s as astronomers were discovering cosmic expansion. Galaxies in the sky were found to be flying away from the Milky Way at high speed, swept along by the ceaselessly growing void—and the farther off they were, the faster they flew. This not only meant that the universe was once much smaller and denser—arising in a “big bang” from some compact, primordial point—but also that the most distant galaxies visible to us should be receding at close to the speed of light.

According to Einstein’s special and general theories of relativity, both circumstances alter the flow of time. As light from one of those far-distant galaxies travels from the heavier gravitational grip of the deep, dense early cosmos and across the continuously expanding universe, it must traverse increasingly greater expanses of space to reach Earth. Consequently, time becomes stretched in a phenomenon known as time dilation: a clock running 10 billion years ago would tick at a normal rate to an observer from that time, but from the perspective of someone today, it would appear to be ticking much slower.

Jul 19, 2023

Record-Breaking Energy Storage: Nanosheet Technology Takes Dielectric Capacitors to New Heights

Posted by in categories: education, energy, government, sustainability, transportation

Researchers have developed an advanced dielectric capacitor using nanosheet technology, providing unprecedented energy storage density and stability. This breakthrough could significantly enhance renewable energy usage and electric vehicle production.

A research group, led by Nagoya University.

Nagoya University, sometimes abbreviated as NU, is a Japanese national research university located in Chikusa-ku, Nagoya. It was the seventh Imperial University in Japan, one of the first five Designated National University and selected as a Top Type university of Top Global University Project by the Japanese government. It is one of the highest ranked higher education institutions in Japan.

Jul 19, 2023

NZ curriculum refresh: the world faces complex challenges and science education must reflect that

Posted by in categories: education, science

We know students learn science concepts better when their learning is embedded in real-world issues. But teachers are currently not well prepared to teach science in this way.

Jul 19, 2023

Contact-engineered reconfigurable two-dimensional Schottky junction field-effect transistor with low leakage currents

Posted by in categories: computing, materials

Here, the authors report the realization of WSe2 Schottky junction field-effect transistors with asymmetric multi-layer graphene and WTe2 van der Waals contacts, enabling reconfigurable polarity, low off-state currents, near-ideal rectifying behaviour and bipolar photovoltaic response.

Jul 19, 2023

Lunar Mining, Processing & Refining

Posted by in category: space travel

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Jul 19, 2023

Treating Alzheimer’s Very Early Offers Better Hope of Slowing Decline, Study Finds

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

A trial of donanemab, an experimental drug, found it modestly slowed the worsening of memory and thinking and worked better in patients at earlier stages and those under 75.

Jul 19, 2023

Will AI kill humanity by 2100? “Superforecasters” and experts disagree on the odds

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

In a 2022 predictions tournament, AI experts were far more concerned about AI risks than ‘superforecasters’ were.

Jul 19, 2023

Why generative AI needs a creative human touch

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

To succeed with generative artificial intelligence and extended reality, companies should also harness human creativity, curiosity, and compassion.

Jul 19, 2023

The AI behind ChatGPT really does seem to be getting dumber — but no one can quite figure out why

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

A new research paper found that OpenAI’s top AI model, GPT-4, has deteriorated in performance over recent months.

Jul 19, 2023

New Developmental Role in Immune Cells Can Kill Pathogens

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

T cells are immune cells that fight off disease. The most common type of T cell, known as conventional T cells, maintains different functions, including activation of other T cells and killing pathogens. However, there is a less common type of T cell known as unconventional T cells. These cells regulate conventional T cells and often suppress conventional T cell function. How these cells develop and protect the body from infection and disease is unclear. Dr. Dan Pellicci and colleagues from Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and Federation University Australia reported on unconventional T cell development and their role in the immune system in a recent Science Immunology paper.

The researchers found that these unconventional T cells elicit an immune response. The discovery of an anti-pathogen role in these T cells has been unknown previously. Scientists can target these cells to prevent cancer and highly infectious diseases by understanding their role in immunity.

Dr. Pellicci and colleagues gathered samples from the Melbourne Children’s Heart Tissue Bank, where samples from children sixteen years old or younger who had heart surgery were kept. The researchers looked at the T cells from the thymus, a gland that further develops or matures T cells. After the T cells exit the thymus, they are ready to activate and target or kill infecting pathogens. Through T cell isolation, Dr. Pellicci and colleagues were able to determine the role of Unconventional T cells.