General science advances thread

[Mr. H.]

I went to High School with this guy...

Geneticist Stephen J. Elledge receives Lasker Award

 

[ScienceRocks]

2 Accelerators Find Particles That May Break Known Laws of Physics

At the smallest scales, everything in the universe can be broken down into fundamental morsels called particles. The Standard Model of particle physics—the reigning theory of these morsels—describes a small collection of known species that combine in myriad ways to build the matter around us and carry the forces of nature. Yet physicists know that these particles cannot be all there is—they do not account for the dark matter or dark energy that seem to contribute much of the universe’s mass, for example. Now two experiments have observed particles misbehaving in ways not predicted by any known laws of physics, potentially suggesting the existence of some new type of particle beyond the standard zoo. The results are not fully confirmed yet, but the fact that two experiments colliding different types of particles have seen a similar effect, and that hints of this behavior also showed up in 2012 at a third particle collider, has many physicists animated. “It’s really bizarre,” says Mark Wise, a theorist at the California Institute of Technology who was not involved in the experiments. “The discrepancy is large and it seems like it’s on very sound footing. It’s probably the strongest, most enduring deviation we’ve seen from the Standard Model.” Finding such a crack in the Standard Model is exciting because it suggests a potential path toward expanding the model beyond those particles currently known.

 

[ScienceRocks]

‘Molecules’ Made of Light May Be Possible

A team including theoretical physicists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has taken another step toward building objects out of photons, and the findings* hint that weightless particles of light can be joined into a sort of “molecule” with its own peculiar force. The findings build on previous research that several...

 

[ScienceRocks]

Russia developing underwater drone submarine to deliver megaton nuclear weapon

Russia is building a drone submarine to deliver large-scale nuclear weapons against U.S. harbors and coastal cities, according to Pentagon officials. The developmental unmanned underwater vehicle, or UUV, when deployed, will be equipped with megaton-class warheads capable of blowing up key ports used by U.S. nuclear missile submarines, such...

Ultrathin Optical Devices Shape Light in Exotic Ways

Researchers have developed innovative flat, optical lenses as part of a collaboration between NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the California Institute of Technology, both in Pasadena, California. These optical components are capable of manipulating light in ways that are difficult or impossible to achieve with conventional optical devices. The...

 

[ScienceRocks]

New human-like species discovered in S Africa

Scientists have discovered a new human-like species in a burial chamber deep in a cave system in South Africa.

The discovery of 15 partial skeletons is the largest single discovery of its type in Africa.

The researchers claim that the discovery will change ideas about our human ancestors.

The studies which have been published in the journal Elife also indicate that these individuals were capable of ritual behaviour.

The species which has been named naledi has been classified in the grouping, or genus, Homo to which modern humans belong.



The researchers who made the find have not been able to find out how long ago these creatures lived - but the scientist who led the team, Prof Lee Berger, told BBC News that he believed they could be among the first of our kind (genus Homo) and could have lived in Africa up to three million years ago.



http://www.bbc.co.uk...onment-34192447

 

[waltky]

Cool video...

Sep 9, 2015
How Scientists Created A Wormhole In A Lab

 

[longknife]

Hybrid solar cell converts both light and heat from sun’s rays into electricity (video)







Scientists have developed a new hybrid, solar-energy system that harnesses the full spectrum of the sun’s radiation by pairing a photovoltaic cell with polymer films. The films convert the light that goes unused by the solar cell into heat and then converts the heat into electricity. They report on their device, which produces a voltage more than five times higher than other hybrid systems, in the journal ACS Nano.



More @ Hybrid solar cell converts both light and heat from sun’s rays into electricity (video)

 

[ScienceRocks]

New Super-Hard Diamond-Like Material Invented

Although diamonds are the hardest known substances on the planet, one weakness with diamonds is that they can oxidise when cutting certain materials at high temperatures (such as iron or nickel). Researchers have been seeking a way to overcome this problem.

To do this scientists have been looking at cubic boron nitride. This substance does not oxidise at high temperatures but it does not possess the hardness and strength of diamond. Nonetheless, the less reactive properties have provided the basis for a new ‘super-hard’ material.
New Super-Hard Diamond-Like Material Invented - The Latest News

 

[ScienceRocks]

 

[ScienceRocks]

 

[ScienceRocks]

Huge prehistoric monument found near Stonehenge: http://on.mash.to/1Qy1OJG

 

[ScienceRocks]

B3 bomber will be a stealthy AWACS with a lot of missiles and bombs

First and foremost, the new B-3 bomber — will be a stealthy bomb truck built to carry tons of munitions into contested airspace. (What is “contested airspace”? An area guarded by powerful radars and surface-to-air missiles that could easily shoot down today’s non-stealthy B-1 and B-52 bombers. Where does this type of airspace exist? China,...

 

[ScienceRocks]

UK funding combat lasers on Navy ships by 2020 and will use formula 1 flywheel technology to store energy for laser shots

The UK Ministry of Defence is looking to have a land-based cannon by 2017 and a ship-mounted one by 2020. There were early experiments using lasers to try to blind enemy pilots or to disrupt the electronic systems of planes. But the new types of lasers being developed are intended to destroy, in particular enemy planes, and should be capable...

Read more »

Spreading as more and more nations come to the conclusion that lasers are cheaper ways to fight war.


New US research shows invisibility cloak nears reality
Sat, Sep 19, 2015 - A cloak of invisibility may be common in science fiction, but it is not so easy in the real world. New research suggests such a device may be moving closer to reality.
Scientists on Thursday said they have successfully tested an ultrathin invisibility cloak made of microscopic rectangular gold blocks that, like skin, conform to the shape of an object and can render it undetectable with visible light. They said that while their experiments involved cloaking a miniscule object, they believe the technology could be made to conceal larger objects, with military and other possible applications. The cloak, 80 nanometers in thickness, was wrapped around a 3D object shaped with bumps and dents. The cloak’s surface rerouted light waves scattered from the object to make it invisible to optical detection.

It may take five to 10 years to make the technology practical to use, said Zhang Xiang, director of the Materials Sciences Division of the US Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. “We do not see fundamental roadblocks, but much more work needs to be done,” said Zhang, whose research was published in the journal Science. The technology involves so-called metamaterials, which possess properties not present in nature. Their surfaces bear features much smaller than the size of a wavelength of light. They redirect incoming light waves, shifting them away from the object being cloaked.

Light reflects off a cloak (red arrows) as if it were reflecting off a flat mirror in a 3D illustration of a metasurface skin cloak made from an ultrathin layer of nanoantennae (gold blocks) covering an arbitrarily shaped object

The cloaking “skin” boasts microscopic light-scattering antennae that make light bouncing off an object look as if it were reflected by a flat mirror, rendering the object invisible. “The fact that we can make a curved surface appear flat also means that we can make it look like anything else. We also can make a flat surface appear curved,” said Penn State University electrical engineering professor Ni Xingjie, the study’s lead author. The researchers said they overcame two drawbacks of previous experimental microscopic cloaks that were bulkier and harder to “scale up,” or become usable for larger objects.

Ni said the technology eventually could be used for military applications, such as making large objects like vehicles or aircraft or even soldiers “invisible.” Ni also mentioned some unconventional applications. How about a cloaking mask for the face?v “All the pimples and wrinkles will no longer be visible,” Ni said. How about fashion design? Ni suggested a cloak that “can be made to hide one’s belly.”

New US research shows invisibility cloak nears reality - Taipei Times

 

[ScienceRocks]

Advanced winglet on show as Boeing 737 MAX heads to final assembly

• David Szondy
• 
  
• 4 PICTURES

In June, Boeing’s new 737 MAX single-aisle airliner began wing assembly in Renton, Washington. Since then, the first fuselage arrived from Wichita, Kansas, and is now undergoing final assembly, which includes installation of a new advanced winglet designed to improve fuel efficiency.

Zymergen looks to marry synthetic biology, new materials and machine learning to create a million new genomes

Dr. Zach Serber, co-founder of Zymergen, explains his company's efforts to marry synthetic biology, machine learning and materials science to endow microbes with new genetic programs for creating impossible materials with novel and valuable properties. He spoke at DARPA's "Wait, What? A Future Technology Forum" on Sept. 9, 2015. Zymergen...

 

[ScienceRocks]

 

[ScienceRocks]

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'Tree of life' for 2.3 million species released
A first draft of the "tree of life" for the roughly 2.3 million named species of animals, plants, fungi and microbes—from platypuses to puffballs—has been released.


Most precise test of Lorentz symmetry for the photon finds that the speed of light is indeed constant
(Phys.org)—The laws of physics are the same no matter which direction you're facing or how fast you're moving—it's such an intuitive concept that most people probably don't know that it has a name: Lorentz symmetry.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Researchers create fatigue-free, stretchable conductor
Researchers have discovered a new stretchable, transparent conductor that can be folded or stretched and released, resulting in a large curvature or a significant strain, at least 10,000 times without showing signs of fatigue.

 

[ScienceRocks]

General Heithold wants combat lasers on AC130 gunships by 2020 ahead of previously stated plans

The head of Air Force Special Operations Command says he wants to put a laser cannon on the nation’s fleet of gunships by 2020. Air Force Special Operations Command boss Lt. Gen. Bradley Heithold is in charge of 19,000 air commandos. The Air Force has stated they want the system to weigh less than 5,000 pounds — roughly the weight of a Jeep.

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Wow, this is fucking cool!

 

[ScienceRocks]

DARPA Warrior Web Exosuit is undergoing outdoor Army tests on a 6 mile course

Harvard’s Warrior Web exoskeleton prototype is undergoing performance testing by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. Soldiers wear the prototype underneath a full set of battle gear and hike a three mile course, including roadways and moderately rugged, wooded terrain. ARL technicians monitor the soldiers’ stride lengths and frequency, muscle activity, and energy expenditure. The goal...

 

[ScienceRocks]

Triple-decker floating farms may address future food issues

• John Anderson
• September 24, 2015
• 4 PICTURES

With the world’s population expected to hit 9.1 billion by 2050, coupled with the growing effects of climate change on our ability to grow crops, a company out of Barcelona has proposed a solution to feeding the future world. Forward Thinking Architecture's triple-decker Smart Floating Farms would feature 2.2 million square feet (2.04 sq km) of fish farm, hydroponic garden, and rooftop solar panels to power a floating barge, which could be anchored to the beds of oceans, lakes or rivers. The company estimates that each of its floating farms could produce about 8 tons (7.3 tonnes) of vegetables and 1.7 tons (1.5 tonnes) of fish per year.