Menu

Blog

Page 7611

May 17, 2020

Germany: Radiation leak detected at research reactor

Posted by in category: futurism

A research reactor near Munich has emitted excess C-14 radiation, says the Bavarian city’s technical university. The “slight” leak late March had shown up Thursday when monthly readings were collated.

May 17, 2020

The Magnetic North Pole Is Rapidly Moving Because of Some Blobs

Posted by in category: futurism

It started in Canada and now it’s inching closer to Siberia. Thanks a lot, blobs.

May 17, 2020

The Weight of the Universe – Physicists Challenge the Standard Model of Cosmology

Posted by in categories: cosmology, physics

Results from physicists in Bochum have challenged the Standard Model of Cosmology. Infrared data, which have recently been included in the analysis, could be decisive.

Bochum cosmologists headed by Professor Hendrik Hildebrandt have gained new insights into the density and structure of matter in the Universe. Several years ago, Hildebrandt had already been involved in a research consortium that had pointed out discrepancies in the data between different groups. The values determined for matter density and structure differed depending on the measurement method. A new analysis, which included additional infrared data, made the differences stand out even more. They could indicate that this is the flaw in the Standard Model of Cosmology.

Rubin, the science magazine of Ruhr-Universität Bochum, has published a report on Hendrik Hildebrandt’s research. The latest analysis of the research consortium, called Kilo-Degree Survey, was published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics in January 2020.

May 17, 2020

New Ways to Nudge the Brain

Posted by in categories: military, neuroscience

Summary: New neurostimulation technology works safely and non-invasively to modify brain activity. The findings may provide some foundational knowledge for the development of future technologies that could expedite cognitive processes.

Source: US Army Research Laboratory

For Army scientists, the goal of neuroscience research is pursuing the inner workings of the human brain to advance scientific understanding and improve Soldier performance.

May 17, 2020

Neil Ferguson’s Imperial model could be the most devastating software mistake of all time

Posted by in category: government

The boss of a top software firm asks why the Government failed to get a second opinion before accepting Imperial College’s Covid modelling.

May 17, 2020

Universities last in line as Europe eases coronavirus lockdown

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, business, computing

“In one sense, universities have become victims of their own success at teaching online, but some academics are concerned that continued closures could hurt poorer students without access to computers or study space, while others mourn the loss of face-to-face connection while teaching.” Universities have become bloated cliques. Has Covid shown we don’t need mini-towns and fat fees? Poorer students might welcome online courses at 10% of the cost surely and shorter completion time, surely?


Governments are prioritising reopening schools and businesses over campuses. But some academics fear the impact on disadvantaged students – and on their teaching.

May 17, 2020

These drones will plant 40,000 trees in a month. By 2028, they’ll have planted 1 billion

Posted by in categories: drones, sustainability

We need to massively reforest the planet, in a very short period of time. Flash Forest’s drones can plant trees a lot faster than humans.

[Photo: courtesy Flash Forest] One of Flash Forest’s prototype drones.

May 17, 2020

Scientists are making human-monkey hybrids in China

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical

Circa 2019.

Gain of function research was heavily debated amidst many CDC mishaps. It was stopped, and then outsourced to China due to lax regulations. Now we have an outbreak that no one can confirm it’s origin, but the epicenter is in close proximity to a Wuhan lab working on the same pathogen, with direct bat to human transmission.

Knowing this, this story disturbs me, as we have no international protocols and regulations to prevent mishaps. The last thing we need is a lab mishap, and monkeys riding on horses with guns, all pissed off at humans. We are already experiencing the Contagion movie, and biblical plagues like locusts, the last we need is planet of the apes.

Continue reading “Scientists are making human-monkey hybrids in China” »

May 17, 2020

Astronomers Find a Record-Breaking Star That’s Nearly as Old as The Universe

Posted by in category: space

Artist’s impression of the first stars. (Wise, Abel, Kaehler (KIPAC/SLAC))

May 17, 2020

Plutonem: Adding Efficiency to Space Travel Through Fusion Rockets

Posted by in category: space travel

Since the ancient times, humans have been observant and curious to know why everything around us exists. Looking up into the sky, we see many celestial objects such as stars and planets. In the past few centuries, we have made many jumps in the field of space exploration. Telescopes have been created, the stars have been mapped, people have flown in space and even lived there for over six months. These activities have played a major role in the development of our knowledge about space, yet there is so much more we need to discover.

One thing we need to find is how to make space travel quicker and more efficient. Why making space travel better, out of all the problems mankind faces? Currently, our global population is about 7.6 billion and is exponentially rising. By 2025, in just seven years, the global population will be roughly 8.1 billion. Since our resource availability is going down and our population is rising, the Earth can not sustain such an imbalance. This why we must start looking to live on other planets and in order to do this, shortening the time it takes to reach such planets is a necessity.

As a society, when we think of space in general, we just think “oh yeah, that’s cool” but there are multiple problems with space travel. One major issue is the lack of experience. The last Moon landing was in 1972 and space shuttles have been out of use 2011. We can’t just get up and say “you know what, let’s go to space” as it takes many years of preparation and training. This ties to two other major problems: