Weird Science

[kyonides]

The Dead Water Phenomenon

What the hell is that?  

Nope, it's not some TV show.  
It's some phenomenon taking place in any ocean and some river mouths.
Dead water can frustrate you indeed.  
You just get trapped by it when fresh water from a melting glacier or a lake and the sea get mixed up to some point.
You see, they're not the same water!
Sediments and water density have a lot to do with this mysterious event.
There are times where both kinds of water form sheets and strange currents that can even make your ship get stuck.  
Now scientists unlike this one fear that might have caused the famous queen Cleopatra and her lover had lost a naval battle in Actium. Curiously her opponents owned ships that were weaker than hers and still defeated her navy.

http://www.cnrs.fr/en/behind-dead-water-phenomenon

[kyonides]

A New Dinosaur

Vectaerovenator inopinatus

I'm posting this here because it's supposed to be a scientific discovery. Besides there's a Canadian forumer that grows desperate whenever she hears about dinosaur related stuff. Nope, she's never played golf nor hockey.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hampshire-53738762

In 2019 the vectaerovenator inopinatus was unearthed in Shanklin, Isle of Wight but it took them about a year to realize it was related to T. Rex and birds!
This animal is considered a theropod and has got some interesting air sacs.
Theropods feature hollow bones and three-toed limbs and are considered to be carnivorous but some of them might have had quite different tastes like preferring to consume lots of fish for instance.

These air sacs, also seen in modern birds, were extensions of the lung, and it is likely they "helped fuel an efficient breathing system while also making the skeleton lighter", the University of Southampton said.
Parts of its skeleton must have been rather delicate.
It is likely that the Vectaerovenator lived in an area just north of where its remains were found, with the carcass having washed out into the shallow sea nearby.

What a curious way to become aerodynamic up to some point!
Sadly, his story didn't end up very well... Could this mean his  environment was quite hostile?

Where can you pay him a visit?  
That's a curious question indeed. You'd need to travel to the Dinosaur Isle Museum at Sandown where they're being displayed.

I was walking along the beach, kicking stones and came across what looked like a bone from a dinosaur.

Who would tell kicking stones would pay off?

[kyonides]

The Coronavirus Has a Weakness

Disclaimer: I'm fully aware the source is in Spanish only but it's not my fault. BBC News didn't seem to quickly translate it to English for the discovery was made in Mexico and not in any English speaking country.

https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-53812444

Why should this discovery be sensational at all?  
The reason behind this impulse is that it was not MEDICINE but PHYSICS what let us now learn about a total new way to fight and reduce the risk of letting the virus mutate many times in order to increase its chances of defeating the human antibodies.
Physics you say!?
Yes, Physics!

A Mexican scientist found out that the SARS-CoV-2 and its cousin number 1 share a common trait, their spike has a POSITIVE magnetic charge. It's not just its own or the receptor's shape and aminoacids what lets it enter your cells with ease, its charge is an important factor as well. The attraction is what makes them get near the ACE2 receptor, a very specific enzyme receptor found in your heart, your lungs, your kidneys and your stomach. She altered this charge and it reduced its attraction some 30%!  

They're still studying this method and some other properties found in the virus spike to further increase the power of this alterations up to some 90%.
How would that ever be possible?

Well, they've managed to block one of three energies that involved in the spike's ability to connect to the human cell receptor. By creating a polymer that could block all three of them would reduce its chances to harm you up to a point where your body could handle it on its own. Even people fearing their immune system would overreact would no longer get overwhelmed for it'd only need to take care of some 10% of the viruses. As far as they've studied it, the virus could not develop a resistance in time to turn the tide.

Let's see if we get more exciting scientific news in the near future!

[kyonides]

Water Exists on the Moon

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020...ts-confirm

Using images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, Paul Hayne, of the University of Colorado in Boulder, and colleagues mapped the distribution of smaller craters and areas of rough ground, and calculated that approximately 40,000 km2 of the lunar surface has the capacity to trap water. Although this still only represents 0.15% of the lunar surface, their existence may also reduce the risk of conflict between moon-faring nations.

But how do they know there's water on the moon? It could have been hydroxyl alias a molecule consisting of one hydrogen atom and a single oxygen atom.

Casey Honniball at Nasa’s ASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, US, and colleagues have detected a chemical signature that is unambiguously H2O, by measuring the wavelengths of sunlight reflecting off the moon’s surface.

With billions of potential water reservoirs scattered over the polar regions, the focus should be shifted away from the handful of well-known large craters and towards the multitude of potential landing sites our study reveals.

So far eight countries including the United Kingdom have signed the Artemis Accords. These would regulate the exploration of our only natural satellite.
Sadly, Russia and China don't seem to be interested in joining them.

Anyway, scientists still debate on how they might be able to find those water reservoirs on the moon. Are they mixed with lunar glass? I mean, soil turned into glass after a meteorite has hit the surface. Or are we talking about tiny ice crystals? Plus extracting the water is no easy task at all.

Harvesting it from dark, steep-walled craters where the temperature rarely climbs above -230C – which is where the bulk of any frozen water was assumed to lie – would be a perilous undertaking.

[kyonides]

Real life ‘invisibility shield’ hides user in plain sight

A group of British nerds claim to have created a mind-blowing invisibility shield to “surprise friends” and “avoid enemies”.

The shield is essentially a flat panel that magically hides whoever ducks behind it.

Even more impressive is the fact the device doesn’t need any power.

It cleverly works by deflecting light around people using a “precision engineered lens array,” creators Invisibility Shield Co say.

But it’s not completely perfect — you don’t get a clear picture of the scene behind the subject, instead it creates more of a blur.

So far, they’ve made 25 fully functional invisibility shields.

...
Inventors have also said that the clothes you wear can impact the shield’s effectiveness.

If you open the link to the article, you will be able to see a simple chart explaining how it deflects light around people.

[kyonides]

Earthquake in Mexico creates 'desert tsunami' 1,500 miles away in Death Valley National Park

7.6 magnitude earthquake in Mexico felt in Devils Hole cave system at Death Valley National Park in Nevada

A 7.6 magnitude earthquake that rattled Mexico on Monday sent shockwaves that triggered a "desert tsunami" in a cave system 1,500 miles away in Death Valley National Park in Nevada, officials said.

The quake rocked Mexico's central Pacific coast, killing at least one person. About 22 minutes after the quake struck, the tremors caused 4-foot-high waves to slosh in Devils Hole, the National Park Service (NPS) said.

Devils Hole is a partially water-filled limestone cave in Nye County, Nevada, and is hundreds of feet deep, according to the NPS.

It is home to the endangered Devils Hole pupfish, which depend on algae that grow on a shallow, sunlit shelf as a food source.

Officials described the "surprising quirk of geology" as a "desert tsunami," but said it is properly known as a "seiche." A seiche is a standing wave in an enclosed body of water.

The waves stirred the rocks and sediment on the shallow shelf and removed most of the algae growth, limiting the amount of food available to the pupfish in the short term, the NPS said.
...
Officials said the Devils Hole pupfish population has been steadily growing, with 175 fish living in Devils Hole in March, compared to just 35 nine years ago.

[kyonides]

Archaeologists prove biblical Israel invasions
via Earth magnetic field

The new data verify the biblical accounts of the Egyptian, Aramean, Assyrian, and Babylonian military campaigns against the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah.

Geomagnetic fields recorded in 21 archaeological destruction layers throughout Israel reconstructed by Israeli researchers have verified accounts related in the Hebrew Bible of the Egyptian, Aramean, Assyrian and Babylonian military campaigns against the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah.

Researchers at Tel Aviv University (TAU) and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU) led the team that used the data to develop a reliable new scientific tool for archaeological dating. The tool reconstructed the direction and/or intensity of the Earth’s magnetic field recorded in burnt remnants.

Findings indicate, for example, that the army of Hazael, king of Aram-Damascus, was responsible for the destruction of several cities – Tel Rehov, Tel Zayit and Horvat Tevet, in addition to Gath of the Philistines. Other geomagnetic findings show that sites in southern Judah were destroyed by the Edomites, who took advantage of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Kingdom of Judah by the Babylonians.
...
The researchers said geophysicists – who aim at understanding the mechanism of Earth’s magnetic field – track changes in this field that occurred throughout history. To this end, they used archaeological findings containing magnetic minerals that, when heated or burned, record the magnetic field at the time of the fire.

Thus, in a 2020 study, researchers reconstructed the magnetic field as it was on the 9th of Av, 586 BCE, which is recognized as the Hebrew date of the destruction of the First Temple and the City of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian army.

One example given by the researchers is the destruction of Gath of the Philistines (identified today as Tel Tzafit in the Judean foothills) by Hazael. Various dating methods have placed this event at around 830 BCE, but they were unable to verify that Hazael was also responsible for the destruction of Tel Rehov, Tel Zayit and Horvat Tevet. The new study, identifying full statistical synchronization between the magnetic fields recorded at all of these four sites at the time of destruction, makes a very strong case for their destruction during the same campaign.

[kyonides]

Research uncovers secret that made ancient Roman concrete so durable

Here is the  former theory on how Romans were able to build many large structures that are still standing as of today.

Volcanic ash from the area of Pozzuoli, on the Bay of Naples was believed to be a key element that led to the unique durability of ancient structures and kept them standing as modern concrete crumbled to the ground.

But a report released Friday discovered that it is not necessarily the ingredients that attributed to the strength of the Roman’s concrete but the mixing process.

Then what is this secret process they've mentioned above?  

Scientists in a MIT, Harvard University study found that Romans actually relied on a process called "hot mixing" to whip up their hyper durable concrete.

"The benefits of hot mixing are twofold," MIT professor of civil and environmental engineering Admir Masic told MIT News. "First, when the overall concrete is heated to high temperatures, it allows chemistries that are not possible if you only used slaked lime, producing high-temperature-associated compounds that would not otherwise form.

"Second, this increased temperature significantly reduces curing and setting times since all the reactions are accelerated, allowing for much faster construction," he added.

Now they're revealing to us how did they make such a discovery.

Masic was first alerted to the concept after noticing millimeter-small bright white minerals in the ancient concrete.

The outlet said these deposits, described as "lime clasts" and not found in concrete today, were once chalked up to poor mixing practices.
...
Masic and his team discovered that the white specs were actually calcium carbonate that had been formed after the mixture, which include quicklime, reached an "extreme temperature."

His team then ran a series of tests using modern and ancient techniques with and without quicklime.

The team are now working to commercialize the ancient practices for modern use.

Well, we all know very well that science needs some  serious funding, don't you agree?

[DerVVulfman]

EARTH'S CORE STOPPED ROTATING?
AND IT MAY BE REVERSING COURSE?

Bizarre sounding, but apparently not 'Earth' Shattering.

Reported January 23rd by Nature Geoscience, the inner core of our little blue planet may have temporarily stopped rotating, or at least when compared to the mantle and the surface. And in fact, it may be reversing direction. However, this has been suggested as part of a 70-year-long cycle that might influence the days and our planet's magnetic field.

Obviously, some researchers are skeptical.

We see strong evidence that the inner core has been rotating faster than the surface.  Now it is gradually mov[ing] in the opposite direction.

Evidence of the inner core's fluctuating rotation first emerged in 1996 when a 30-year study suggested that seismic waves from earthquakes took different amounts of time to traverse Earth's solid heart. And scientists inferred the inner core rotates at a different speed than the mantle and crust, 1/360 faster than the rest of the Earth.

Again, not everyone is in agreement.

And as of 2022, Dr John Vidale of Los Angeles, and a colleague reported that the inner core may be reversing its direction every three years or so.

Meanwhile, other researchers suggest the core isn't moving at all.

Why can't they all just... get along?

[kyonides]

Not from the producers of "The Real Life Version of Skynet" made a ChatBot...

Real ‘Terminator 2’ robot can switch from solid to liquid — and back

Is “Judgment Day” here?

Hong Kong scientists bridged the gap between sci-fi and real life after creating a robot that can transform from solid to liquid like a real-life T-1000 robot from “Terminator 2.” A study detailing the cybernetic shapeshifter was published last month in the journal Matter.

“Giving robots the ability to switch between liquid and solid states endows them with more functionality,” said Chengfeng Pan, an engineer at the Chinese University of Hong Kong who spearheaded the groundbreaking study, said in a statement.

 Could anyone tell the  Chinese  lunatics that they should immediately stop watching the Terminator movies?

The robot, dubbed “magnetoactive phase transitional matter (MPTM),” was reportedly created to combine the structural integrity and strength of traditional robots with the flexibility of their soft counterpart, Smithsonian magazine reported.
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MPTM was inspired by the sea cucumber, a marine invertebrate that can “can very rapidly and reversibly change their stiffness,” according to senior author and mechanical engineer Carmel Majidi of Carnegie Mellon University.
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Researchers created the robot out of a metal called gallium — which has a low melting point of about 86 degrees Fahrenheit. They then infused it with magnetic particles, which allow scientists to control how they melt or move.

“The magnetic particles here have two roles,” explained Majidi. “One is that they make the material responsive to an alternating magnetic field, so you can, through induction, heat up the material and cause the phase change.”

He added, “But the magnetic particles also give the robots mobility and the ability to move in response to the magnetic field.”

After melting like mercury, the material then immediately reverts back to its original solid form via ambient cooling.

An accompanying video shows the MPTM liquefying to escape a cage before glomming back together, again much like the iconic jailbreak scene from “Terminator 2.” Other feats included jumping up to 20 times its body length, scaling walls, and even soldering a circuit board, Smithsonian mag reported.

Hey Schwarzenegger! We got  news for you! You have finally become Expendable!
 How long would it take to see Microsoft asking Hong Kong to create their first Terminator agent in exchange for a deranged AI that we all know very well by now?
 Don't feel depressed, guys! They can't become time travelers...  but I can't guarantee those agents won't start chasing down anybody named Connor or O'Connor and the like in the not so near future.
I really wanna be totally wrong about that last assumption, my dear readers.