Ongoing important Science news thread

[MoneyGuy]

Originally Posted by puffnstuff

Which list, the covidiots or the plotting to steal the moon list?
Or both?

My short list about five posts up of COVID and vaccine deniers.

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by Muta

Nobel Prize goes to scientists behind mRNA Covid vaccines

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-66983060

Absolutely well-deserved.

Extremely well-deserved, in 20-30 years when the mRNA technology is saving millions from cancer and other attacks Kariko and Weissman will be legions.

[photon]

Nobel Prize for physics goes for creating attosecond pulses of light.

There's the same number of attoseconds in 1 second as there are seconds in the age of the universe. Crazy.

'The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics to three scientists who used ultrafast pulses of light to do just that with a technique known as attosecond spectroscopy. Per the citation, Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz, and Anne L'Huillier "have given humanity new tools for exploring the world of electrons inside atoms."'

https://arstechnica.com/science/2023...udy-electrons/

[Geraldsh]

Originally Posted by photon

Nobel Prize for physics goes for creating attosecond pulses of light.

There's the same number of attoseconds in 1 second as there are seconds in the age of the universe. Crazy.


https://arstechnica.com/science/2023...udy-electrons/

I am trying to picture the size of the number …. just give me a minute.

[MoneyGuy]

One thousand earthquakes in Iceland in 24 hours. We visited a few months ago and saw the result of this activity.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1723140058234982433

[troutman]

Is It Time to Pull Up Stakes and Head for Mars?
Probably not, Kelly and Zach Weinersmith argue in “A City on Mars.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/28/b...y-on-mars.html

they found that the loudest advocates for space settlement are so dazzled by the beauty of their rockets that they wave away “the stuff regular lives are made of,” like food and birth, democracy and law. The main problem, the Weinersmiths write, is that “Space is terrible. All of it. Terrible,” adding:

The Moon isn’t just a sort of gray Sahara without air. Its surface is made of jagged, electrically charged microscopic glass and stone, which clings to pressure suits and landing vehicles. Nor is Mars just an off-world Death Valley — its soil is laden with toxic chemicals, and its thin carbonic atmosphere whips up worldwide dust storms that blot out the sun for weeks at a time. And those are the good places to land.

https://www.planetary.org/planetary-...a-city-on-mars

[starseed]

We should focus on Titan first. Abundant energy accessible on the surface, possibly water under the crust, water on nearby moons like Enceladus, higher atmospheric pressure that would be tolerable - combined with low gravity = arm powered human flight, radiation protection from Saturn and titans own atmosphere... Just have to figure out how to heat our homes without melting the surface around us.

Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk

[The Fonz]

When it comes to developing new habitable worlds, doesn't it make a lot more sense to develop our oceans?

What hurdles could you encounter with ocean living & development, where you'd say to yourself "this would have been a lot easier on another planet".

[photon]

I think establishing outposts elsewhere is more a hedge against a humanity-ending asteroid vs running out of space.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by The Fonz

When it comes to developing new habitable worlds, doesn't it make a lot more sense to develop our oceans?

What hurdles could you encounter with ocean living & development, where you'd say to yourself "this would have been a lot easier on another planet".

Well salt, constant impacts, and pressure beneath the surface are all much harder to build for than the vacuum of space.

[activeStick]

A battery that could last up to 50 years?!

https://www.techradar.com/phones/a-t...g-for-50-years

Betavolt Technology#claims to have successfully miniaturized atomic energy batteries, which measure less than a coin at 15 x 15 x 5mm. The compact battery uses 63 nuclear isotopes to generate 100 microwatts and a voltage of 3V of electricity through the process of radioactive decay.

The battery is currently in the pilot testing stage and Betavolt plans to mass-produce them for commercial devices like phones and drones, but also states nuclear batteries could be used for aerospace equipment, AI, medical equipment, advanced sensors, and micro-robots. The Beijing-based company claims to have drawn inspiration from devices such as pacemakers, and satellites.

To create the radioactive battery, Betavolt's scientist used nickel-63, which is a radiactive element, as the energy source and then diamond semiconductors as energy converters.

Hopefully, the relationship between China and the US improves in the coming years so we can get these kinds of innovations in our market.

[Fuzz]

That's 0.1 watts at 3v. It's not enough for much, barely an LED.

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

That's 0.1 watts at 3v. It's not enough for much, barely an LED.

Tech is always garbage at the start. Hopefully they can make it useable in the not too distant future.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

That's 0.1 watts at 3v. It's not enough for much, barely an LED.

It’s not enough on it’s own, but it could be used to charge a larger battery or a super cap for applications where the use is more intermittent, like flashlights or smart sensors.

[Geraldsh]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

That's 0.1 watts at 3v. It's not enough for much, barely an LED.

Small on its own, but what if you had a 1000 of them?

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Geraldsh

Small on its own, but what if you had a 1000 of them?

You'd have 10 watts, or enough for a household LED bulb.


These are not, nor will they ever be for much use for people. Think scientific instruments and industrial stuff that just needs a little juice for a long time. But they do talk about using other isotopes in the future that would have more power.


This idea isn't new, pacemakers were once built with a plutonium battery.


https://www.medicaldesignandoutsourc...red-pacemaker/

[photon]

They finally got the OSIRIS-REx asteroid material capture container open, and they got a lot of material.



Higher Res: https://i.imgur.com/kphqIJ0.jpeg

REALLY high res version: https://images-assets.nasa.gov/image...06057~orig.jpg

[DownInFlames]

Iridium?

[DownInFlames]

Newborn great white shark possibly seen in the wild for the first time


https://www.newscientist.com/article...he-first-time/

[Samonadreau]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

You'd have 10 watts, or enough for a household LED bulb.


These are not, nor will they ever be for much use for people. Think scientific instruments and industrial stuff that just needs a little juice for a long time. But they do talk about using other isotopes in the future that would have more power.


This idea isn't new, pacemakers were once built with a plutonium battery.


https://www.medicaldesignandoutsourc...red-pacemaker/

1000 would be 100watts assuming its .1 watts per. but 100microwatts is actually .0001 watts so would be .1 watts with 1000.of them