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Science News

Postby JessPlaysGames » May 5th, 2017, 1:24 pm

What's in the science news at the moment?

Place for posting science news and discussing :)

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Sea otters outsmart dolphins:

Abstract:
Many ecological aspects of tool-use in sea otters are similar to those in Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins. Within an area, most tool-using dolphins share a single mitochondrial haplotype and are more related to each other than to the population as a whole. We asked whether sea otters in California showed similar genetic patterns by sequencing mitogenomes of 43 otters and genotyping 154 otters at 38 microsatellite loci. There were six variable sites in the mitogenome that yielded three haplotypes, one found in only a single individual. The other two haplotypes contained similar percentages (33 and 36%) of frequent tool-users and a variety of diet types. Microsatellite analyses showed that snail specialists, the diet specialist group that most frequently used tools, were no more related to each other than to the population as a whole. The lack of genetic association among tool-using sea otters compared with dolphins may result from the length of time each species has been using tools. Tool-use in dolphins appears to be a relatively recent innovation (less than 200 years) but sea otters have probably been using tools for many thousands or even millions of years.


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Re: Science News

Postby pinkteddyx64 » May 5th, 2017, 1:31 pm

Kyx wrote:What's in the science news at the moment?

Place for posting science news and discussing :)

@princechromey
@pinkteddyx64

Sea otters outsmart dolphins:

Abstract:
Many ecological aspects of tool-use in sea otters are similar to those in Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins. Within an area, most tool-using dolphins share a single mitochondrial haplotype and are more related to each other than to the population as a whole. We asked whether sea otters in California showed similar genetic patterns by sequencing mitogenomes of 43 otters and genotyping 154 otters at 38 microsatellite loci. There were six variable sites in the mitogenome that yielded three haplotypes, one found in only a single individual. The other two haplotypes contained similar percentages (33 and 36%) of frequent tool-users and a variety of diet types. Microsatellite analyses showed that snail specialists, the diet specialist group that most frequently used tools, were no more related to each other than to the population as a whole. The lack of genetic association among tool-using sea otters compared with dolphins may result from the length of time each species has been using tools. Tool-use in dolphins appears to be a relatively recent innovation (less than 200 years) but sea otters have probably been using tools for many thousands or even millions of years.

Amazing. :D


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Re: Science News

Postby spotify95 » May 5th, 2017, 4:11 pm

Kyx wrote:What's in the science news at the moment?

Place for posting science news and discussing :)

@princechromey
@pinkteddyx64

Sea otters outsmart dolphins:

Abstract:
Many ecological aspects of tool-use in sea otters are similar to those in Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins. Within an area, most tool-using dolphins share a single mitochondrial haplotype and are more related to each other than to the population as a whole. We asked whether sea otters in California showed similar genetic patterns by sequencing mitogenomes of 43 otters and genotyping 154 otters at 38 microsatellite loci. There were six variable sites in the mitogenome that yielded three haplotypes, one found in only a single individual. The other two haplotypes contained similar percentages (33 and 36%) of frequent tool-users and a variety of diet types. Microsatellite analyses showed that snail specialists, the diet specialist group that most frequently used tools, were no more related to each other than to the population as a whole. The lack of genetic association among tool-using sea otters compared with dolphins may result from the length of time each species has been using tools. Tool-use in dolphins appears to be a relatively recent innovation (less than 200 years) but sea otters have probably been using tools for many thousands or even millions of years.


Thanks for this! Interesting abstract - if I find any more science-related stuff I'll pop it in :yep:


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Re: Science News

Postby JessPlaysGames » May 8th, 2017, 8:29 am

General Relativity passes Quantum test

Particles with mind-bending quantum properties still follow a standard gravitational rule, at least as far as scientists can tell.

The equivalence principle — one of the central tenets of Einstein’s theory of gravity — survived a quantum test, scientists report online April 7 at arXiv.org.

In Einstein’s gravity theory — the general theory of relativity — gravity and acceleration are two sides of the same coin. According to the equivalence principle, the gravitational mass of an object, which determines the strength of gravity’s pull, is the same as its inertial mass, which determines how much an object accelerates when given a push (SN: 10/17/15, p. 16). As a result, two objects dropped on Earth’s surface should accelerate at the same rate (neglecting air resistance), even if they have different masses or are made of different materials.

One of the first reported tests of the equivalence principle — well before it was understood in the framework of general relativity — was Galileo’s apocryphal experiment in which he is said to have dropped weights from the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Scientists have since adapted that test to smaller scales, swapping out the weights for atoms. In the new study, physicists went a step further, putting atoms into a quantum superposition, a kind of limbo in which an atom does not have a definite energy but occupies a combination of two energy levels.

Manipulating rubidium atoms with lasers, scientists led by researchers from Italy gave the atoms an upward kick and observed how gravity tugged them down. To compare the acceleration of normal atoms with those in a superposition, the scientists split the atoms into two clouds, put atoms in one cloud into a superposition, and measured how the clouds interacted. These clouds of atoms behave like waves, interfering similarly to merging water waves. The resulting ripples depend on the gravitational acceleration felt by the atoms.

The scientists then compared the result of this test to one where both clouds were in a normal energy state. Gravity, the researchers concluded, pulled on atoms in a superposition at the same rate as the others — at least to the level of sensitivity the scientists were able to probe, within 5 parts in 100 million.

Quantum tests of the equivalence principle explore the murky realm where quantum mechanics and general relativity meet. The two theories don’t play well with one another. Scientists are currently struggling to unify the pair into one theory of quantum gravity, and some candidate theories predict that the equivalence principle breaks down at the quantum level.

The test “is a new way of confronting gravity with quantum physics,” says theoretical physicist Robert Mann of the University of Waterloo in Canada. “Any way that we can do that tells us something about how to put together gravity with quantum physics,” even if the test finds no violation, he says.

Guglielmo Tino, a study coauthor and physicist at the University of Florence, declined to comment on the work due to the policies of the journal where the paper has been accepted.

Scientists have previously tested the equivalence principle in atoms, comparing gravity’s effects on different types of atoms, for example. Because such tests deal with tiny particles, they also explore the nebulous territory between quantum physics and general relativity. But the new test is the first to study superposition, one of the weirdest properties of quantum mechanics.

“It’s a beautiful demonstration of the versatility of these quantum tests,” says physicist Ernst Rasel of Leibniz Universität Hannover in Germany.

Source: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/key ... antum-test


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Re: Science News

Postby JessPlaysGames » May 9th, 2017, 8:32 am

Baby foods contain illegal levels of inorganic arsenic:

In January 2016, the EU imposed a maximum limit of inorganic arsenic on manufacturers in a bid to mitigate associated health risks. Researchers at the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen's have found that little has changed since this law was passed and that 50 per cent of baby rice food products still contain an illegal level of inorganic arsenic.

Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2 ... 161538.htm


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Re: Science News

Postby pinkteddyx64 » May 9th, 2017, 1:36 pm

Kyx wrote:Baby foods contain illegal levels of inorganic arsenic:

In January 2016, the EU imposed a maximum limit of inorganic arsenic on manufacturers in a bid to mitigate associated health risks. Researchers at the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen's have found that little has changed since this law was passed and that 50 per cent of baby rice food products still contain an illegal level of inorganic arsenic.

Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2 ... 161538.htm

Funny that, as I've read that LED street lights contain small amounts of arsenic! @princechromey


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Re: Science News

Postby spotify95 » May 9th, 2017, 2:34 pm

pinkteddyx64 wrote:
Kyx wrote:Baby foods contain illegal levels of inorganic arsenic:

In January 2016, the EU imposed a maximum limit of inorganic arsenic on manufacturers in a bid to mitigate associated health risks. Researchers at the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen's have found that little has changed since this law was passed and that 50 per cent of baby rice food products still contain an illegal level of inorganic arsenic.

Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2 ... 161538.htm

Funny that, as I've read that LED street lights contain small amounts of arsenic! @princechromey

You'd probably be more concerned by the amount of mercury in various household lamps such as CFL - as many homes have switched to CF after the ban on incandescent bulbs, but the take up of LEDs is a bit slower (certainly in bayonet/screw fittings or in fittings that need the equivalent of 100W or more). The only exception being in various spot lamps such as GU10 and MR16, where CFs were not produced to a huge scale and therefore a switch from halogen -> LED is seamless.

Plus, there are various older discharge lamps still in use industrially, such as low/high pressure sodium, mercury vapor and metal halide. (I know that DMU had various high pressure sodium lamps in use and has some mercury vapor and metal halide lights still in use - though these inefficient technologies are gradually being moved to LED.)


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Re: Science News

Postby JessPlaysGames » May 9th, 2017, 2:46 pm

Cannabis reverses ageing in mouse brains

Memory performance decreases with increasing age. Cannabis can reverse these ageing processes in the brain. This was shown in mice by scientists at the University of Bonn with their colleagues at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel). Old animals were able to regress to the state of two-month-old mice with a prolonged low-dose treatment with a cannabis active ingredient. This opens up new options, for instance, when it comes to treating dementia.

Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2 ... 112400.htm


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Re: Science News

Postby pinkteddyx64 » May 9th, 2017, 3:10 pm

princechromey wrote:
pinkteddyx64 wrote:
Kyx wrote:Baby foods contain illegal levels of inorganic arsenic:

In January 2016, the EU imposed a maximum limit of inorganic arsenic on manufacturers in a bid to mitigate associated health risks. Researchers at the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen's have found that little has changed since this law was passed and that 50 per cent of baby rice food products still contain an illegal level of inorganic arsenic.

Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2 ... 161538.htm

Funny that, as I've read that LED street lights contain small amounts of arsenic! @princechromey

You'd probably be more concerned by the amount of mercury in various household lamps such as CFL - as many homes have switched to CF after the ban on incandescent bulbs, but the take up of LEDs is a bit slower (certainly in bayonet/screw fittings or in fittings that need the equivalent of 100W or more). The only exception being in various spot lamps such as GU10 and MR16, where CFs were not produced to a huge scale and therefore a switch from halogen -> LED is seamless.

Plus, there are various older discharge lamps still in use industrially, such as low/high pressure sodium, mercury vapor and metal halide. (I know that DMU had various high pressure sodium lamps in use and has some mercury vapor and metal halide lights still in use - though these inefficient technologies are gradually being moved to LED.)
But I'd rather deal with a broken LED light than a mercury vapor one etc that was broken. Also, another street near me has lost it's concrete lampposts and LPS lights in favor of new metal lampposts with LEDs installed. :H


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Re: Science News

Postby JessPlaysGames » May 9th, 2017, 3:12 pm

pinkteddyx64 wrote:
princechromey wrote:
pinkteddyx64 wrote:
Kyx wrote:Baby foods contain illegal levels of inorganic arsenic:

In January 2016, the EU imposed a maximum limit of inorganic arsenic on manufacturers in a bid to mitigate associated health risks. Researchers at the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen's have found that little has changed since this law was passed and that 50 per cent of baby rice food products still contain an illegal level of inorganic arsenic.

Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2 ... 161538.htm

Funny that, as I've read that LED street lights contain small amounts of arsenic! @princechromey

You'd probably be more concerned by the amount of mercury in various household lamps such as CFL - as many homes have switched to CF after the ban on incandescent bulbs, but the take up of LEDs is a bit slower (certainly in bayonet/screw fittings or in fittings that need the equivalent of 100W or more). The only exception being in various spot lamps such as GU10 and MR16, where CFs were not produced to a huge scale and therefore a switch from halogen -> LED is seamless.

Plus, there are various older discharge lamps still in use industrially, such as low/high pressure sodium, mercury vapor and metal halide. (I know that DMU had various high pressure sodium lamps in use and has some mercury vapor and metal halide lights still in use - though these inefficient technologies are gradually being moved to LED.)
But I'd rather deal with a broken LED light than a mercury vapor one etc that was broken. Also, another street near me has lost it's concrete lampposts and LPS lights in favor of new metal lampposts with LEDs installed. :H


Exactly, you don't want to be near a broken Mercury vapour lamp, unless that's your kind of thing, in which case you need to :seeadoctor: :o


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Re: Science News

Postby pinkteddyx64 » May 9th, 2017, 3:15 pm

Kyx wrote:
pinkteddyx64 wrote:
princechromey wrote:
pinkteddyx64 wrote:
Kyx wrote:Baby foods contain illegal levels of inorganic arsenic:

In January 2016, the EU imposed a maximum limit of inorganic arsenic on manufacturers in a bid to mitigate associated health risks. Researchers at the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen's have found that little has changed since this law was passed and that 50 per cent of baby rice food products still contain an illegal level of inorganic arsenic.

Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2 ... 161538.htm

Funny that, as I've read that LED street lights contain small amounts of arsenic! @princechromey

You'd probably be more concerned by the amount of mercury in various household lamps such as CFL - as many homes have switched to CF after the ban on incandescent bulbs, but the take up of LEDs is a bit slower (certainly in bayonet/screw fittings or in fittings that need the equivalent of 100W or more). The only exception being in various spot lamps such as GU10 and MR16, where CFs were not produced to a huge scale and therefore a switch from halogen -> LED is seamless.

Plus, there are various older discharge lamps still in use industrially, such as low/high pressure sodium, mercury vapor and metal halide. (I know that DMU had various high pressure sodium lamps in use and has some mercury vapor and metal halide lights still in use - though these inefficient technologies are gradually being moved to LED.)
But I'd rather deal with a broken LED light than a mercury vapor one etc that was broken. Also, another street near me has lost it's concrete lampposts and LPS lights in favor of new metal lampposts with LEDs installed. :H


Exactly, you don't want to be near a broken Mercury vapour lamp, unless that's your kind of thing, in which case you need to :seeadoctor: :o

I've only ever been near a broken mercury vapor lamp once. :o :eek:


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Re: Science News

Postby spotify95 » May 9th, 2017, 9:55 pm

Kyx wrote:
pinkteddyx64 wrote:
princechromey wrote:
pinkteddyx64 wrote:
Kyx wrote:Baby foods contain illegal levels of inorganic arsenic:

In January 2016, the EU imposed a maximum limit of inorganic arsenic on manufacturers in a bid to mitigate associated health risks. Researchers at the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen's have found that little has changed since this law was passed and that 50 per cent of baby rice food products still contain an illegal level of inorganic arsenic.

Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2 ... 161538.htm

Funny that, as I've read that LED street lights contain small amounts of arsenic! @princechromey

You'd probably be more concerned by the amount of mercury in various household lamps such as CFL - as many homes have switched to CF after the ban on incandescent bulbs, but the take up of LEDs is a bit slower (certainly in bayonet/screw fittings or in fittings that need the equivalent of 100W or more). The only exception being in various spot lamps such as GU10 and MR16, where CFs were not produced to a huge scale and therefore a switch from halogen -> LED is seamless.

Plus, there are various older discharge lamps still in use industrially, such as low/high pressure sodium, mercury vapor and metal halide. (I know that DMU had various high pressure sodium lamps in use and has some mercury vapor and metal halide lights still in use - though these inefficient technologies are gradually being moved to LED.)
But I'd rather deal with a broken LED light than a mercury vapor one etc that was broken. Also, another street near me has lost it's concrete lampposts and LPS lights in favor of new metal lampposts with LEDs installed. :H


Exactly, you don't want to be near a broken Mercury vapour lamp, unless that's your kind of thing, in which case you need to :seeadoctor: :o


Mercury vapor lamps aren't that great as they produce a lot of heat, use a lot of energy compared to other sources and their light output significantly degrades over time.
Plus you have the issues with disposing of a mercury vapor lamp, due to, well, the mercury. :p

In fact, I know of a corridor in the De Montfort University Queens Building that was full of old 80W mercury vapor lamps, and the brightness varied from lamp to lamp because of the age of the lamps. (Some that were on a staircase, were very dim and not giving out a lot of light.) They were replaced with 14W LED lamps (the retrofit lamps designed for 2D fluoro tubes) and the area is now nice and bright (they choose cool white/daylight instead of warm white, which was also good) with an even luminosity across the entire area. Plus the lamp enclosures are no longer hot to the touch!

LED is the way forward, they are very good and produce a lot of light for their low energy consumption. Plus you can now buy the lights that look very much like the old filament bulbs.


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Re: Science News

Postby JessPlaysGames » May 10th, 2017, 10:26 am

Scientists create viable mathematical model of a TARDIS

After some serious number crunching, a researcher says that he has come up with a mathematical model for a viable time machine: a Traversable Acausal Retrograde Domain in Space-time (TARDIS). He describes it as a bubble of space-time geometry which carries its contents backward and forwards through space and time as it tours a large circular path. The bubble moves through space-time at speeds greater than the speed of light at times, allowing it to move backward in time.

Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2 ... 091717.htm


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Re: Science News

Postby pinkteddyx64 » May 10th, 2017, 8:55 pm



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Re: Science News

Postby JessPlaysGames » July 10th, 2017, 2:51 pm

Pluto is emitting strong X-rays and nobody knows why


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Re: Science News

Postby unturned_cake » November 18th, 2019, 9:06 pm

Vegans, worry no more: lab grown meat at your service :)
https://www.zmescience.com/science/how- ... nsumption/


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Re: Science News

Postby unturned_cake » November 18th, 2019, 9:08 pm

Kyx wrote:Pluto is emitting strong X-rays and nobody knows why


Didnt know that dwarf planet or any planet for that matter could emit EM radiation other than IR :eek:


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Re: Science News

Postby pinkteddyx64 » November 18th, 2019, 9:22 pm

unturned_cake wrote:
Kyx wrote:Pluto is emitting strong X-rays and nobody knows why


Didnt know that dwarf planet or any planet for that matter could emit EM radiation other than IR :eek:

Hey, hey, hey, hey. :H :woo:


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Re: Science News

Postby JessPlaysGames » November 19th, 2019, 9:17 am

Google creates a quantum computer more powerful than even the most powerful supercomputer

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/goo ... macy-claim


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Re: Science News

Postby pinkteddyx64 » November 19th, 2019, 11:26 am

Kyx wrote:Google creates a quantum computer more powerful than even the most powerful supercomputer

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/goo ... macy-claim

Will you buy me it? :gah:


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Re: Science News

Postby unturned_cake » November 19th, 2019, 11:48 am

pinkteddyx64 wrote:
Kyx wrote:Google creates a quantum computer more powerful than even the most powerful supercomputer

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/goo ... macy-claim

Will you buy me it? :gah:


I wonder wot would be its approx value? :rofl:


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Re: Science News

Postby JessPlaysGames » November 19th, 2019, 2:10 pm

unturned_cake wrote:
pinkteddyx64 wrote:
Kyx wrote:Google creates a quantum computer more powerful than even the most powerful supercomputer

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/goo ... macy-claim

Will you buy me it? :gah:


I wonder wot would be its approx value? :rofl:


£10 billion


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Re: Science News

Postby pinkteddyx64 » November 19th, 2019, 2:15 pm

Kyx wrote:
unturned_cake wrote:
pinkteddyx64 wrote:
Kyx wrote:Google creates a quantum computer more powerful than even the most powerful supercomputer

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/goo ... macy-claim

Will you buy me it? :gah:


I wonder wot would be its approx value? :rofl:


£10 billion

With that money, I could easily have the biggest and most luxurious house in Hull!

How did the rest of the Dungeons & Dragons session go after I left?


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