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Jan 13, 2020

Meteorite contains the oldest material on Earth: 7-billion-year-old stardust

Posted by in category: particle physics

Stars have life cycles. They’re born when bits of dust and gas floating through space find each other and collapse in on each other and heat up. They burn for millions to billions of years, and then they die. When they die, they pitch the particles that formed in their winds out into space, and those bits of stardust eventually form new stars, along with new planets and moons and meteorites. And in a meteorite that fell fifty years ago in Australia, scientists have now discovered stardust that formed 5 to 7 billion years ago-the oldest solid material ever found on Earth.

“This is one of the most exciting studies I’ve worked on,” says Philipp Heck, a curator at the Field Museum, associate professor at the University of Chicago, and lead author of a paper describing the findings in PNAS. “These are the oldest solid materials ever found, and they tell us about how formed in our galaxy.”

Jan 13, 2020

A Facebook Bug Exposed Anonymous Admins of Pages

Posted by in category: futurism

A bad code update allowed anyone to easily reveal which accounts posted to Facebook Pages—including celebrities and politicians—for several hours.

Jan 13, 2020

A New Dental Procedure Could Eliminate Tooth Loss

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, life extension

Tooth loss is a concern that most people will face at some point in their life. According to studies, by the age of 74, 26 percent of adults will have lost all of their permanent teeth. Dentures are sufficient, but they’re uncomfortable and dental implants can fail and have no ability to “remodel” as the surrounding jaw bone changes with age.

All of these are reasons why some people have placed their hope in stem cell research. While there are controversy surrounds the new medical method such as the use and destruction of human embryos, not all research involves human tissue and has the potential to change a lot of lives.

A new technique being tested in the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Laboratory of Dr. Jeremy Mao, Edward V. Zegarelli prof of odontology, and a professor of biomedical engineering at Columbia University, could make “tooth loss” a thing of the past. The cluster believes they need to find some ways to own the body’s stem cells, migrate it to a three-dimensional scaffold manufactured from natural material and insert it to a patient’s mouth.

Jan 13, 2020

7 Billion-Year-Old Stardust Is Oldest Material Found on Earth

Posted by in categories: asteroid/comet impacts, existential risks, space travel

Scientists recently identified the oldest material on Earth: stardust that’s 7 billion years old, tucked away in a massive, rocky meteorite that struck our planet half a century ago.

This ancient interstellar dust, made of presolar grains (dust grains that predate our sun), was belched into the universe by dying stars during the final stages of their lives. Some of that dust eventually hitched a ride to Earth on an asteroid that produced the Murchison meteorite, a massive, 220-lb. (100 kilograms) rock that fell on Sept. 28, 1969, near Murchison, Victoria, in Australia.

Jan 13, 2020

Could A Pill Replace Exercise? Scientists Discover Protein Mimics Effects Of Working Out

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Given the option, would you avoid the gym altogether and simply pop a pill or drink a supplement that brings about the same benefits as a workout? It sounds farfetched, but the idea of lounging around all day yet still enjoying the health benefits of an intense workout may soon be possible. While there are still many details to be worked out, researchers at the University of Michigan say that the naturally occurring protein Sestrin appears to mimic the effects of exercise on both flies and mice in experimental trials.

These findings could have far reaching implications across the fitness, medical, and scientific fields. For instance, Sestrin could conceivably help individuals unable to work out due to old age or health problems maintain their muscles.

“Researchers have previously observed that Sestrin accumulates in muscle following exercise,” explains Myungjin Kim, Ph.D., a research assistant professor in the Department of Molecular & Integrative Physiology, in a release.

Jan 13, 2020

A gold nugget made of plastic

Posted by in category: materials

ETH researchers have created an incredibly lightweight 18-carat gold, using a matrix of plastic in place of metallic alloy elements.

Jan 13, 2020

Breathtaking Image Shows Powerful Magnetic ‘Ropes’ Surrounding The Whale Galaxy

Posted by in category: space

Sometimes you just have to stand back in awe at the beauty of the Universe – and that’s absolutely the case with this image from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), which captures the side view of a spiral galaxy know as the Whale Galaxy.

But if you look closer, the stunning picture also shows something else: the magnetic ‘ropes’ around the edges of the galaxy’s disc.

These filaments, like cosmic strands of hair, show the galaxy’s magnetic field extending into its halo.

Jan 13, 2020

World’s first city discovered by U.S. spy satellite

Posted by in category: futurism

Old U.S. spy satellite images of the Middle East have unearthed a stunning discovery: the world’s first city, Tell Brak – 4,000 years older than the Great Pyramids. From the Series: The Life of Earth: The Age of Humans http://bit.ly/32oNmi8

Jan 13, 2020

Crew Dragon faces its last big test before human spaceflight on Saturday

Posted by in category: space travel

One launch emergency. Four parachutes. Eight SuperDracos.

Jan 13, 2020

Samsung’s Galaxy S20 Ultra might have more RAM than your PC

Posted by in category: mobile phones

Samsung’s Galaxy S20 Ultra might have over-the-top specs with 16GB of RAM and a ridiculous variety of cameras.