General Science Thread

[DZ]

Less specific.

What happens when an ice cube the size of Delaware breaks loose into the ocean? We will likely soon find out. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/...701c?section=&

At 21,000 square miles, Larsen C is the largest ice shelf in the region, according to a 2015 report. In recent years, however, what was once a small fracture has rapidly moved through the frozen structure, widening to more than 1,000 feet. The crack, scientists wrote in last year’s report, “is likely in the near future to generate the largest calving event since the 1980s and result in a new minimum area for the ice shelf

[23dpg]

Why would you listen to these so-called scientists who are using crack?

The crack scientists wrote in last year’s report, “is likely in the near future to generate the largest calving event since the 1980s and result in a new minimum area for the ice shelf

Plus, that's not even a grammatically correct sentence.

[23dpg]

Seriously, wow.
The nearby Larsen B ice shelf suddenly collapsed after the Antarctic summer in 2002. The ice shelf has existed since the last Ice Age 12,000 years ago. (NASA/AP)

[23dpg]

The Mariana Trench has always fascinated me. 14 facts about it.

http://viraldiggers.com/14-incredibl...h-fascinating/

[23dpg]

[23dpg]

Even with 8800m mountains and 11,000m ocean trenches, the earth is much smoother than a pool cue ball.

So, if a billiard ball were enlarged to the size of Earth, the maximum allowable bump (mountain) or dent (trench) would be 28,347 metres.


http://www.curiouser.co.uk/facts/smooth_earth.htm

[DZ]

Challenger Deep is - apparently - a challenge 3 times more dangerous/expensive/hard than going to the moon. Or the aliens no longer let us go down there, either.
\

The cue-ball fact is fascinating. Thank you - hadn't heard that.

[DZ]

Space X Elon Musk says the rocket explosion is their biggest setback in 14 years; http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/...c26c?section=&



CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Sept 9 - SpaceX founder and chief Elon Musk said on Friday he was unsure why one of the company’s Falcon rockets burst into flames on its Florida launch pad last week, destroying both the rocket and an Israeli communications satellite it was due to lift into orbit.

“Still working on the Falcon fireball investigation. Turning out to be the most difficult and complex failure we have ever had in 14 years,” Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur who is also the chief executive of Telsa Motors, wrote on Twitter.

[willandi]

We moved to Vandenberg AFB in California in 1960, I was 12. My Dad was involved in the development of the Atlas and Titan missile programs (while at about the same time they were developing the Minuteman). There were over 400 launches per year through 1966, when I graduated HS and moved away. Many were spectacular fails! It was amazing.

[DZ]

We moved to Vandenberg AFB in California in 1960, I was 12. My Dad was involved in the development of the Atlas and Titan missile programs (while at about the same time they were developing the Minuteman). There were over 400 launches per year through 1966, when I graduated HS and moved away. Many were spectacular fails! It was amazing.

I would bet there were amazing launches all the time, testing all those cold war systems. Vandenburg is tucked into its own little corner of southern California, tough to get to from just about any direction, correct? Doesn't one almost have to be on the base itself to see some of the launches?

Of course, some of those launches are thought to be UFO sightings, but are just spectacular launches:

[DZ]

A group of astronauts just spent a full year on the Big Island in Hawaii in a camp just like they'd use on Mars, living in the same small spaces and unable to go out without being in full space/Mars suit. The experiment was to study how humans react in a group dynamic in such small spaces while also separated from their families. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2...tour-pictures/

On August 28, the HI-SEAS team exited the dome on Mauna Loa for the first time in a year. Here, they lived, worked, suffered, and problem-solved together, emerging from their voluntary isolation ready to rejoin the planet they’d left behind, in theory if not in practice.


Inside the 1,200-square-foot habitat, they dealt with a 20-minute communications delay, limited water supplies, and a few strict house rules. But as we saw on a recent tour, this habitat is the lap of luxury for Martian hopefuls. And if this two-story house were on the earthbound market, it would be a total steal, considering that room, board, and utilities are all free

This home is right for you if you’re a non-smoker, in good physical shape, think backpacking food is delicious, crave occasional check-ins from researchers concerned about your stress level and well-being, and don’t mind the noise generated by roommates and somewhat nearby munitions testing. Also, you may need to be OK with recycling your own urine, which could become an added feature in the next year or so.

[DZ]

Really really cool article on the doomsday seedbank on an island north of Norway in the artic. They store seeds to preserve plant/food diversity in case ....well, I don't know. In case of a big asteroid, or big Yellowstone, or something. Every time I read about this thing I get the willies a bit. Just a small little voice in my head that wonders, "Do they know something I don't?" Bet you have that voice, too!

http://www.americanscientist.org/iss...seeds-on-ice/1

Closer to the North Pole than to the Arctic Circle, remote and rocky Plateau Mountain in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard seems an unlikely spot for any global effort, much less one to safeguard agriculture. In this frigid and dramatically desolate environment, no grains, no gardens, no trees can grow. Yet at the end of a 130-meter-long tunnel chiseled out of solid stone is a room filled with humanity’s most precious treasure, the largest and most diverse seed collection ever assembled: more than a half-billion seeds

Most seeds are packaged in heat-sealed, laminated, moisture-proof, air-tight foil packages. The packets are stored inside boxes. Typically, 400 to 500 samples with about 500 seeds each fit in a box, depending on the size of the seed. Thus far 2,291 boxes have been shipped to the Seed Vault. When the first vault room is filled with close to 1.5 million samples, about the maximum number of distinct varieties we think exist, it will contain nearly a billion seeds with a weight approaching 80 tons.

Everyone can look back now and say that the Seed Vault was a good and obvious idea, and that of course the Norwegian government should have approved and funded it. But back in 2004, when the Seed Vault was proposed, it might equally have been viewed as a crazy, impractical, unnecessary, and expensive idea, another grand government folly. Government administrations the world over are risk averse. A room for storing seeds inside a mountain near the North Pole? Are you kidding? Norway said yes.

Phish, yes, they preserved the plant you've taken a serious interest and care for.

[willandi]

I would bet there were amazing launches all the time, testing all those cold war systems. Vandenburg is tucked into its own little corner of southern California, tough to get to from just about any direction, correct? Doesn't one almost have to be on the base itself to see some of the launches?

Of course, some of those launches are thought to be UFO sightings, but are just spectacular launches:

VAFB was somewhat of the beaten path, tucked onto Point Conception between Santa Maria and Santa Barbara. The launches could be seen from many miles away, but Dad would call and tell us to be at a particular spot at a given time. He couldn't say why. We would show up, and got to see many from just a few miles...close enough that when one blew up, the heat wave was oppressive, albeit not dangerous. And many, due to atmospheric conditions, could be seen hundreds of miles down range. He likened the developing guidance system to being accurate enough to shoot the fuzz off a peach at 10 miles. BUT, they were essentially just huge firecrackers, loaded with liquid Oxygen, the penultimate Roman Candle, and there were men with cajones big enough, even after watching them blow up, to strap themselves into a capsule on top and venture into space and orbit the earth.

We got to meet a few of them, usually when they were out running for their health, and we boys, not knowing any better, would run backwards while talking to them. Foolishly, they would try to outpace us, but we must have run 20 miles a day because it was easier and quicker than waiting for the free shuttle bus!

[DZ]

This is freakin' amazing.

Look at the image above, and try to see all 12 black dots at once. Good luck. Honest, we aren’t playing tricks on you. Your eyes are literally deceiving you.

Kitaoka posted this image on Sunday, which has since been shared over 10,000 times, and got a further viral boost when video game developer Will Kerslake shared the image on his Twitter page, and it quickly appeared on Reddit. Now, we’re all hopelessly chasing black dots.

The image is called “Ninio’s Extinction Illusion,” named after the French scientist Jacques Ninio, who specializes in visual perception at the National des Recherches Scientifiques in Paris. There are actually 12 black dots at the intersections of the gray lines, but most people can’t see them. As Ninio explains in the journal Perception:

[LongIslandZagFan]

Damn... feel like I am chasing the purple dragon on that one Dixie. Thanks. And I mean that in the most sarcastic of senses.

[DZ]

Damn... feel like I am chasing the purple dragon on that one Dixie. Thanks. And I mean that in the most sarcastic of senses.

One would think it would be easier with a smaller one, so your eyes don't have to dart around at all. It's actually more difficult because you have to look harder to see one at all.

Apparently, basically no one can.

I didn't post a link (forgot), it's on discovermag.com

[DZ]

WOW WOW: I want to talk to Dolphins. Ask one to come to my daughter's birthday party. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/...c7d0?section=&






Just WOW

A study claims to have recorded a previously unknown language between dolphins it describes as akin to human speech ― but not everyone’s convinced.

Researchers say they made an audio recording of two black sea bottlenose dolphins named Tasha and Yana emitting unique pulses and whistles that “most likely” formed words and sentences

[DZ]

About time. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/...8c30?section=&

Now, California is hammering the nail into the coffin. Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation this week that will outlaw orca breeding and captivity programs in the state.

The new law, which Assemblyman Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica) authored, will also ban California parks from featuring orcas in performances for entertainment purposes. Starting in June 2017, killer whales in captivity can only be used for “educational presentations,” the Los Angeles Times reports. The legislation makes other exceptions for scientific and educational institutions that have orcas in their care.

[DZ]

Star mapping shows Milky Way is bigger than they thought. http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/...larger-thought

The Milky Way has been mapped in greater detail than ever before. And a first quick look indicates that our home galaxy is larger in extent than scientists had thought before, says Gisella Clementini, an astronomer at the Astronomical Observatory of Bologna in Italy.

The new information is of particular interest to astronomers studying stellar evolution and the formation history of the Milky Way, including the role and distribution of dark matter. In the future, Gaia is also expected to discover new asteroids in our solar system and thousands of Jupiter-like planets orbiting other stars

[Bogozags]

This is freakin' amazing.

I spent several minutes but could only see four dots at one time...I gazed at the very middle of each line having dots and then could see the four dots on that one line...

I am not sure what this is called but I have seen books where pictures are "layered" and after staring at the middle of the picture, my depth perception comes in and I can see the several layers of objects in that picture...

It's incredible how people can think of let alone design these types of diagrams/pictures...there are some pretty brilliant people out there!

[DZ]

I couldn't either, Bogo.

Noticed page views and 20-30 stop by with each post. I appreciate it. Science gets underreported, imo.

Things like this. Enceladus just surpassed Europa as the leading candidate for life in the solar system outside earth. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal...ture14262.html

Astrophysicists working with NASA's Saturn sweeping Cassini spacecraft have just announced that Enceladus has a warm ocean at its southern pole with ongoing hydrothermal activity—the first ever discovered outside of Earth. This new research, published in the journal Nature, builds upon last year's discovery of the moon's 6-mile-deep ocean, which is also believed to contain many of the chemicals commonly associated with life.

"We've known from quite early on that Enceladus was the source of the material in Saturn's [outermost] ring… based on the ring's composition" Hsu says, "although we didn't know the exact mechanism for the material transfer." But the 2005 discovery of 125-mile-high icy geysers shouted out to scientists how Enceladus flung material skyward.

The heat - all the way out near Saturn- comes from tidal pressure on the rock. http://www.esquire.com/news-politics...rn-moon-ocean/

With temperate, vent-warmed waters that contain nitrogen, methane, carbon dioxide, and various other chemicals required for Earth-like life, Enceladus could very much look like the Lost City hydrothermal field under the Atlantic Ocean—an environment where many scientists believe life first originated on Earth. That's a far cry from the scientific state of affairs 15 years ago, when scientists were sure Enceladus was a lump of boring, uneventful rock. This idea would have been laughable.

But while Hsu says Enceladus looks tantalizingly habitable, it's not clear whether life could (or does) exist on the moon. "An important consideration is the timescale of the Enceladus's ocean's hydrothermal activities," Hsu says. That is, we just don't know how long Enceladus's hydrothermal activity has gone on. Unlike thermal activity on Earth, which is powered by our hot, churning core, Enceladus's heat is created by gravitational friction from the pull of Saturn and its other moons.

[bullzag23]

"Science"

[DZ]

Well, that would definitely be underreported. I'd never have guessed.

[DZ]

Too cool to not post. Radiotelescope picture of a black hole releasing energy. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/...19e6?section=&

According to NASA, when black holes swallow stars, they release a burst of energy, a flare containing high-energy radiation, including ultraviolet and X-ray light. Now, astronomers have been able to observe the flares for the first time.

Two studies examined these galactic burps, which destroy the space dust closest to the black hole. A little further out, the heat isn’t as intense and the dust can survive.

Using data from NASA’s Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), the astronomers were able to measure the radiation this “hot dust” gives off. The dust, which can’t be seen with the naked eye, forms a shell that extends a few trillion miles from the black hole, or about half a light year away, NASA stated.

“The black hole has destroyed everything between itself and this dust shell,” Sjoert van Velzen, postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University and lead author of one of the studies, said in a NASA news release. “It’s as though the black hole has cleaned its room by throwing flames

[TexasZagFan]

Too cool to not post. Radiotelescope picture of a black hole releasing energy. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/...19e6?section=&

IOW, the black hole burped.