Science! (6 Viewers)

[Optimus Prime]

Ice-free Arctic summers are now unavoidable, scientists have said.

Even if rapid, dramatic cuts are made to planet-heating emissions, the polar region will still be without sea ice in September in the next few decades, according to research published in the journal Nature Communications. The first sea ice-free September could occur as early as the 2030s, the study found.

Arctic sea ice has been declining for decades but has shrunk at an even faster rate in the past 20 years.

The latest assessment from the UN climate science body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), found that the Arctic would be practically ice-free in September, sometime around mid-century, with failure to cut emissions.

However, the study, published on Tuesday, found that ice loss was happening even faster.

“We basically are saying that it has become too late to save the Arctic summer sea ice,” Professor Dirk Notz, of the University of Hamburg, Germany, who was part of the research team, told Bloomberg……

Ice-free Arctic summers are now unavoidable and could happen as soon as 2030s

‘People didn’t listen to our warnings’

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Optimus Prime]

Scientists have discovered how to double the efficiency of an ultra-lightweight solar cell, which they claim could be used to harvest the Sun’s energy in space at a never-before-seen scale.

The next-generation solar panels, built by a team from the University of Pennsylvania, use layers that are over a thousand times thinner than a human hair, yet capable of absorbing a comparable amount of sunlight to commercially available solar cells. The extreme thinness earned them the label two-dimensional, or 2D TMDC, as they are only a few atoms thick…….

Solar panel breakthrough paves way for ‘utility-scale’ space farms

Doubling the efficiency of ‘two-dimensional’ material makes harvesting the Sun’s energy in space at scale economically viable, researchers say

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Optimus Prime]

Evolutionary biologists have traced the origins of masturbation to ancient primates that predate the first humans by tens of millions of years.

The findings emerged from what scientists believe is the largest dataset ever compiled on the activity, and confirm that humans arose on a branch of the tree of life replete with self-pleasuring predecessors.

“What we can say is this behaviour was present around 40m years ago, in the common ancestor of all monkeys and apes,” said Dr Matilda Brindle, the lead researcher on the study at University College London. “It’s not that some species woke up one day and started doing it. This is an ancient, evolved trait.”.

Brindle and her colleagues delved deep into the history of the behaviour in the hope of understanding the origins of what at first glance seems an evolutionary conundrum. From an evolutionary perspective, masturbation appears costly, distracting, wasteful, even risky.

To reconstruct the history of the act, the scientists pulled together hundreds of publications, questionnaire responses and personal notes about masturbating primates from primatologists and zoo keepers. They then mapped the information on to primate evolutionary trees, revealing how the activity reached back through time.

Writing in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the team describes how masturbation appeared common across primates of all sexes and ages. But why it evolved more than 40m years ago is less clear. Historically, biological studies have neglected females, giving the authors little good data to go on. For males, however, there are at least hints.

The scientists’ analyses found support for the idea that male masturbation boosted the chances of impregnating a mate. For example, a low-ranking male may masturbate just enough to increase their arousal before sex, meaning they inseminate their partner faster – and before a burly competitor has the chance to knock them off and spoil the fun. Masturbation could also help males to shed old sperm, leaving them with fresher, more competitive sperm for sex……..

Origins of masturbation traced back to primates 40m years ago

Behaviour predates humans by tens of millions of years but evolutionary purpose is less clear, scientists say

www.theguardian.com

 

[fred8615]

Strange star holds 'holy grail' clues about unique supernova explosions in the early universe

The star's chemical fingerprints represent evidence of pair-instability supernovae of the first massive stars, a new study suggests.

www.space.com

 

[fred8615]

'Virgin birth' recorded in crocodile for 1st time ever

The American crocodile had been isolated in a reptile park enclosure for 16 years when she laid a clutch of eggs.

www.livescience.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

Scientists say they have built the first ever “breathing, sweating, shivering” robot, designed to cope and adapt to different temperatures.

The heat-sensitive “thermal mannequin”, dubbed ANDI, features 35 individually controlled surfaces with pores that bead sweat like humans.

Designed by US firm Thermetrics for use by researchers at Arizona State University, the robot was created to help better understand the health impacts of extreme temperatures on the human body.

“ANDI sweats, he generates heat, shivers, walks and breathes,” said Konrad Rykaczewski, principal investigator for the ASU research project, whose work aims to identify and measure the effects of extreme heat on humans……

Scientists invent first ever ‘breathing, sweating, shivering’ robot

ANDI features pores that bead sweat like humans

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Tapxe]

Tonga Eruption Triggered Massive 'Equatorial Plasma Bubble'

Scientists are using satellite observations of a massive volcanic eruption’s impact to better understand Earth’s atmosphere

www.scientificamerican.com

about 30 New Jerseys

Scientific American comes thru with another new unit of measure.

 

[bonnjer]

Tonga Eruption Triggered Massive 'Equatorial Plasma Bubble'

Scientists are using satellite observations of a massive volcanic eruption’s impact to better understand Earth’s atmosphere

www.scientificamerican.com

Scientific American comes thru with another new unit of measure.

Can you convert that to Louisianas please?

 

[JOMFA]

Can you convert that to Louisianas please?

5... 5 Louisianas
conversion rates these days, amiright?

 

[SWJJ]

5... 5 Louisianas
conversion rates these days, amiright?

The conversion factor of 6 is for imperial Louisianas. If you want to convert to standard Louisianas the conversion rate is actually 4.7, making the answer 6.3 Louisianas.


I know because I got it wrong on my term paper and the professor mocked American conversions in front of the class after.

 

[fred8615]

Lingering effects of Neanderthal DNA found in modern humans

Recent scientific discoveries have shown that Neanderthal genes comprise some 1 to 4% of the genome of present-day humans whose ancestors migrated out of Africa, but the question remained open on how much those genes are still actively influencing human traits—until now.

phys.org

 

[fred8615]

Research sheds light on new model of cosmological dark matter

Newcastle University researchers used insights gained from the study of ultracold atomic Bose Einstein condensates to analyze the behavior of fuzzy dark matter, a new model for cosmological dark matter that has recently drawn the attention of cosmologists.

phys.org

 

[Sailorsaint]

Lingering effects of Neanderthal DNA found in modern humans

Recent scientific discoveries have shown that Neanderthal genes comprise some 1 to 4% of the genome of present-day humans whose ancestors migrated out of Africa, but the question remained open on how much those genes are still actively influencing human traits—until now.

phys.org

We are definitely seeing that in certain segments of the population....

 

[Tapxe]

We are definitely seeing that in certain segments of the population....

 

[fred8615]

12,000-year-old flutes carved of bone are some of the oldest in the world and sound like birds of prey

A collection of prehistoric flutes unearthed in Israel once used by the Natufians are some of the oldest musical instruments in the world.

www.livescience.com