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Jul 7, 2021

Ancient Diamonds Show Earth Was Primed for Life’s Explosion of Diversity at Least 2.7 Billion Years Ago

Posted by in categories: alien life, chemistry

A unique study of ancient diamonds has shown that the basic chemical composition of the Earth’s atmosphere which makes it suitable for life’s explosion of diversity was laid down at least 2.7 billion years ago. Volatile gases conserved in diamonds found in ancient rocks were present in similar proportions to those found in today’s mantle, which in turn indicates that there has been no fundamental change in the proportions of volatiles in the atmosphere over the last few billion years. This shows that one of the basic conditions necessary to support life, the presence of life-giving elements in sufficient quantity, appeared soon after Earth formed, and has remained fairly constant ever since.

Presenting the work at the Goldschmidt Geochemistry Conference, lead researcher Dr. Michael Broadly said, “The proportion and make-up of volatiles in the atmosphere reflects that found in the mantle, and we have no evidence of a significant change since these diamonds were formed 2.7 billion years ago.”

Volatiles, such as hydrogen, nitrogen, neon, and carbon-bearing species are light chemical elements and compounds, which can be readily vaporized due to heat, or pressure changes. They are necessary for life, especially carbon and nitrogen. Not all planets are rich in volatiles; Earth is volatile-rich, as is Venus, but Mars and the Moon lost most of their volatiles into space. Generally, a planet rich in volatiles has a better chance of sustaining life, which is why much of the search for life on planets surrounding distant stars (exoplanets) has focused on looking for volatiles.

Jul 7, 2021

Massive DNA study finds rare gene variants that protect against obesity

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

People with a disrupted GPR75 gene weighed less and were less likely to be obese.

Jul 7, 2021

Mystery Star Explained by New Type of Massive Cosmic Explosion – 10x More Energetic Than a Supernova

Posted by in categories: cosmology, physics

‘Magneto-rotational hypernova’ soon after the Big Bang fuelled high levels of uranium, zinc in ancient stellar oddity.

A massive explosion from a previously unknown source — 10 times more energetic than a supernova — could be the answer to a 13-billion-year-old Milky Way mystery.

Astronomers led by David Yong, Gary Da Costa and Chiaki Kobayashi from Australia’s ARC Centre of Excellence in All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D) based at the Australian National University (ANU) have potentially discovered the first evidence of the destruction of a collapsed rapidly spinning star — a phenomenon they describe as a “magneto-rotational hypernova”.

Jul 7, 2021

James Webb Space Telescope Passes Key Launch Clearance Review

Posted by in category: space travel

The international James Webb Space Telescope has passed the final mission analysis review for its launch on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.

This major milestone, carried out with Arianespace, the Webb launch service provider, confirms that Ariane 5, the Webb spacecraft, and the flight plan are set for launch. It also specifically provides the final confirmation that all aspects of the launch vehicle and spacecraft are fully compatible.

During launch, the spacecraft experiences a range of mechanical forces, vibrations, temperature changes, and electromagnetic radiation. All technical evaluations performed by Arianespace on the mission’s key aspects, including the launch trajectory and payload separation, have shown positive results.

Jul 7, 2021

11-Year-Old Gets Physics Degree, Says He’ll Use It to Attain Technological Immortality

Posted by in categories: cyborgs, life extension, physics

It’s an astonishing achievement — and in an eyebrow-raising twist, Simons says he plans to live forever, by turning himself into a cyborg.

It sounds like Simons has thought out his plan.

“This is the first puzzle piece in my goal of replacing body parts with mechanical parts,” Simons told De Telegraaf, adding that his goal is “immortality.”

Jul 7, 2021

How To Terraform Venus (Quickly)

Posted by in categories: energy, space

The first 1000 people to use this link will get a 1 month free trial of Skillshare:
https://skl.sh/kurzgesagtinanutshell08211

Sources & further reading:
https://sites.google.com/view/sources-terraform-venus/

Continue reading “How To Terraform Venus (Quickly)” »

Jul 7, 2021

Iceland’s Four-Day Week Trial Made Workers Happier and More Productive

Posted by in category: futurism

How’s your return to work after Independence Day weekend going?

Jul 7, 2021

Plant-Based Startup’s 3D-Printed Steaks Set For Mass Market

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Novameat is eyeing the expansion of its plant-based 3D-printed steaks since launching its cutting-edge technology three years ago.


A Spanish start-up creating 3D-printed plant-based steaks is eyeing an expansion onto the mass market.

It follows a successful launch last year, and the company has plans to produce 500kg of the vegan meat products per hour.

Continue reading “Plant-Based Startup’s 3D-Printed Steaks Set For Mass Market” »

Jul 7, 2021

New nanotech will enable a ‘healthy’ electric current production inside the human body

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, nanotechnology

The researchers explain that the development involves a new and very strong biological material, similar to collagen, which is non-toxic and causes no harm to the body’s tissues. The researchers believe that this new nanotechnology has many potential applications in medicine, including harvesting clean energy to operate devices implanted in the body (such as pacemakers) through the body’s natural movements, eliminating the need for batteries.


The study was led by Prof. Ehud Gazit of the Shmunis School of Biomedicine and Cancer Research at the Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Fleischman Faculty of Engineering and the Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, along with his lab team, Dr. Santu Bera and Dr. Wei Ji.

Also taking part in the study were researchers from the Weizmann Institute and a number of research institutes in Ireland, China and Australia. As a result of their findings, the researchers received two ERC-POC grants aimed at using the scientific research from the ERC grant that Gazit had previously won for applied technology. The research was published in the prestigious journal Nature Communications.

Continue reading “New nanotech will enable a ‘healthy’ electric current production inside the human body” »

Jul 7, 2021

Huge Supply of Water is Saved From Evaporation When Solar Panels Are Built Over Canals

Posted by in categories: solar power, sustainability

UC Santa Cruz is investigating this method as a possible generator of solar energy that would allow for the saving of 63.5 billion gallons of water from evaporation annually, a massive windfall for a state that sometimes rations water and which regularly suffers from droughts.


If mounted above irrigation canals, the shade of solar panels would reduce evaporation by 63 billion gallons, while generating clean energy.