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Science (General/Chat)

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  • Astronomers Tracking Unexplained Spike in Meteor Events

    05/11/2026 6:32:23 AM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 9 replies
    The Epoch Times ^ | May 09, 2026 | T.J. Muscaro
    Just as it faces an annual hurricane season and tornado season, North America is also experiencing an annual "fireball season," according to NASA."From February through April, the appearance rate of these very bright meteors can increase by as much as 10 percent to 30 percent, especially around the weeks of the March equinox," NASA explained in a statement in late March. "Exactly why is not known. Some astronomers think the Earth passes through more large debris at this time of year, causing an uptick in fireball sightings."...The American Meteor Society, which has gathered professional and amateur meteor reports since 1911,...
  • We Know How the Hantavirus Outbreak Occurred on That Cruise Ship

    05/10/2026 9:17:16 PM PDT · by SeekAndFind · 40 replies
    Townhall ^ | 05/10/2026 | Matt Vespa
    The hantavirus cruise continues to stay on everyone’s mind as many of us prepare for the possibility of experts enforcing mask mandates and quarantine protocols. I don’t think it will come to that, but those who disembarked from a cruise ship that left Argentina last April are being monitored for exposure to a rare strain of the pathogen, which can be transmitted from person to person. Hantavirus “Patient Zero” has been identified as Leo Schilperoord, a 70-year-old Dutch ornithologist who visited a landfill in Argentina, containing rodents potentially carrying the Andes virus strain. pic.twitter.com/6EHWy2RH5u— Interesting AF (@interesting_aIl) May 9, 2026Usually,...
  • Scientists successfully transfer longevity gene and extend lifespan

    05/10/2026 4:21:50 PM PDT · by Red Badger · 28 replies
    https://www.sciencedaily.com ^ | May 10, 2026 | University of Rochester
    Summary: Scientists at the University of Rochester pulled off a remarkable experiment: they transferred a longevity-related gene from the famously long-lived naked mole rat into mice, and the mice ended up healthier and lived longer. The special gene boosts production of a substance called high molecular weight hyaluronic acid, which appears to protect against cancer, reduce inflammation, and support healthier aging. The modified mice showed stronger resistance to tumors, healthier guts, and lower levels of age-related inflammation.
  • Southern California rattled by earthquake swarm

    05/10/2026 2:53:17 PM PDT · by BenLurkin · 22 replies
    ktla ^ | y: Anna Ashcraft
    The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Service (CAL OES) is working with local agencies after an earthquake swarm struck near Brawley in Imperial County over the weekend, with the strongest earthquake reported as a magnitude 4.7. As of 12 p.m. Sunday, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) had recorded 354 earthquakes that struck in Imperial County, which started at 5:40 p.m. on Friday with several microearthquakes. Hundreds of earthquakes cause light to no damage Saturday night into Sunday morning in Imperial County in Southern California (USGS)Residents near Brawley reported feeling strong shaking from the 4.7 magnitude earthquake that struck at...
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day - Comet R3 PanSTARRS and Orion

    05/10/2026 12:33:50 PM PDT · by MtnClimber · 8 replies
    NASA ^ | 10 May, 2026 | Image Credit & Copyright: Luc Perrot (TWAN)
    Explanation: Orion never had a sword like this. As Comet C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS) heads out of the inner Solar System, it is putting on quite a show for long exposure cameras. Currently seen toward the constellation of Orion the Hunter, the distant Orion Nebula is visible on the upper right. Comet R3 PanSTARRS is now showing two distinct tails: a short dust tail pointing toward the top of the image and a long and wavy ion tail trailing off toward the upper left. The ion tail points away from the Sun and glows blue from excited carbon monoxide. Large particles...
  • Men without chests:why do Christian conservatives find it so hard to understand the importance of testosterone decline?

    05/10/2026 9:58:31 AM PDT · by JusPasenThru · 29 replies
    American Greatness ^ | May8, 2026 | Raw Egg Nationalist
    In a strange way—or in fact a not-so-strange way—conservative Christians who deny the importance of what’s happening to men today on a biological level mirror the attitudes and rhetoric of left-wingers, radical feminists, and men-haters, who label testosterone a poison or “toxin” we should be glad is disappearing. For the radical misandrists, a group that includes many men too, the suffering and plight of men today is a necessary evil on the road to a fairer, more equal society. And not even a form of evil, because many of them enjoy seeing men suffer. It’s a punishment for hundreds of...
  • A massive 11,000-carat ruby has been unearthed in Myanmar’s war-scarred gemstone heartland

    05/09/2026 8:29:32 PM PDT · by Red Badger · 33 replies
    AP News ^ | May 08, 2026 | Staff
    Miners in Myanmar have discovered a rare ruby of enormous size, considered to be the second-largest by weight ever found in the conflict-battered Southeast Asian nation, state media reported Friday. The ruby, measuring 11,000 carats (2.2 kilograms, or 4.8 pounds), was unearthed near the town of Mogok, in the upper Mandalay region, the heartland of the lucrative gem-mining industry that has recently experienced intense fighting in the country’s wide-ranging civil war. According to a report from the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar, the newly found rough ruby was discovered in mid-April, just after the traditional New Year festival. While...
  • LA City Council sides with criminals over cops in brainless traffic stop ban

    05/09/2026 7:10:15 PM PDT · by Libloather · 22 replies
    California Post ^ | 5/08/26 | Jon Fleischman
    The Los Angeles City Council voted 14-0 to advance restrictions on police traffic stops rooted in one dangerous idea: That cops enforcing traffic laws are somehow the real threat on the streets of LA. Not the drunk driver. Not the gang member carrying an illegal gun. Not the reckless driver blowing through intersections at 90 miles per hour. The cops. Only in LA could elected officials look at street disorder and decide the problem is still too much policing. Read the motion that passed and the message is obvious: Los Angeles is now governed by people who start with suspicion...
  • Smart Underwear Tracks Farts in Real Time

    05/09/2026 5:50:12 PM PDT · by Red Badger · 38 replies
    The Scientist ^ | May 04, 2026 | Stephanie DeMarco, PhD
    A wearable gas sensor called “Smart Underwear” attached to the inside of people’s underwear monitors hydrogen gas emissions to track digestive health in real time. Image credit:© iStock.com, Nadezhda Kurbatova Just one bite of ice cream or a sip of a milkshake can’t hurt too much, right? Anyone with lactose intolerance knows that this bargaining usually results in some uncomfortable gut sensations and stinky side effects about 30 minutes to a couple of hours later. People with lactose intolerance cannot breakdown lactose, the natural sugar in dairy products. When gut microbes encounter this unabsorbed lactose, they ferment it and release...
  • Minnesota GOP state lawmaker pushes House Oversight panel to subpoena Rep. Ilhan Omar

    05/09/2026 4:26:30 PM PDT · by Libloather · 2 replies
    NY Post ^ | 5/08/26 | Josh Christenson
    A Minnesota state lawmaker is asking a powerful House committee to subpoena US Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) for refusing to cooperate with an investigation into her possible ties to Somali fraudsters who bilked Twin Cities taxpayers out of $250 million. State Rep. Kristin Robbins (R-Maple Grove), who is chairing a fraud oversight investigation in Minnesota’s legislature, wrote to US House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) on Thursday requesting that his panel compel Omar to hand over “her staff’s communications with defendants” implicated in the fraud. “As you may be aware, Rep. Ilhan Omar has documented ties to criminals convicted...
  • Popular Miami tourist attraction rocked by apparent boat explosion, 15 people rushed to hospital

    05/09/2026 3:08:57 PM PDT · by Libloather · 17 replies
    NY Post ^ | 5/09/26 | David Spector
    A reported boat explosion in Miami sent 15 people to the hospital Saturday afternoon, as over 25 fire rescue units were dispatched to the scene. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue units responded to calls about a reported explosion around 12:50 p.m. at Haulover Sandbar near North Miami, The Miami Herald reported.
  • “Perpetual Motion is Possible in the Quantum Realm”: Researchers Link a ‘Time Crystal’ to an External Device in a Breakthrough First

    05/09/2026 2:14:46 PM PDT · by Red Badger · 22 replies
    The Debrief ^ | May 08, 2026 | Micah Hanks
    In a new physics milestone, scientists report that a time crystal and an external system have been successfully linked for the first time. The achievement, made by researchers at Aalto University’s Department of Applied Physics, marks the first demonstration of converting a time crystal—an unusual quantum system in which particles are in constant, repetitive motion in its ground state—into an optomechanical system. A range of potential technological applications, including new high-precision sensors, quantum storage systems, and other innovative capabilities, could result from the research, led by Jere Mäkinen and detailed in a new paper appearing in Nature Communications. A New...
  • Ukrainian anti-drone laser system with 16400-foot [3 miles] engagement range nears deployment

    05/09/2026 2:02:24 PM PDT · by Red Badger · 5 replies
    Interesting Engineering ^ | May 09, 2026 | Christopher McFadden
    Ukraine is testing an AI-assisted laser system designed to destroy Shahed drones and protect key infrastructure. Image of the Ukrainian Tryzub laser system. Military NYI Ukraine’s Celebra Tech is edging closer to deploying its Tryzub anti-drone laser weapon in Ukraine, the company reports. According to Celebra, the system is now entering its final testing phase before battlefield deployment. Colloquially called “Trident,” the system has been designed to give Ukrainian forces a cheap and rapid deployable counter to massed Russian first-person-view (FPV) drone and reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operations. This could be game-changing, as Russia has made use of large...
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day - Messier Craters in Stereo

    05/09/2026 12:41:17 PM PDT · by MtnClimber · 9 replies
    NASA ^ | 9 May, 2026 | Image Credit: Apollo 11, NASA; Stereo Image Copyright Patrick Vantuyne
    Explanation: Many bright nebulae and star clusters in planet Earth's sky are associated with the name of astronomer Charles Messier from his famous 18th century catalog. His name is also given to these two large and remarkable craters on the Moon. Standouts in the dark, smooth lunar Sea of Fertility or Mare Fecunditatis, Messier (left) and Messier A have dimensions of 15 by 8 and 16 by 11 kilometers respectively. Their elongated shapes are explained by the extremely shallow-angle trajectory followed by an impactor, moving left to right, that gouged out the craters. The shallow impact also resulted in two...
  • Plaster-making technique previously attributed to the Romans appears 8,000 years earlier in Motza

    05/09/2026 6:13:55 AM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 11 replies
    Phys dot org ^ | May 4, 2026 | Krystal Kasal; edited by Gaby Clark, reviewed by Robert Egan
    Excavations from 2015 to 2021 on the ancient site of Motza, just west of Jerusalem, revealed a sprawling settlement with some surprisingly advanced technology. The site dates back to 7100–6700 BCE during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) period...There is evidence of the use of calcitic lime plaster, or calcium carbonate-based plaster, in construction as far back as 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. It later became a dominant, durable building material used by civilizations like the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. The earliest evidence of its use appeared in the Fertile Crescent, or modern day Jordan and Turkey. The material is produced...
  • US moving to evacuate American passengers aboard hantavirus cruise ship, quarantine in Nebraska

    05/09/2026 4:56:43 AM PDT · by Libloather · 25 replies
    Fox News ^ | 5/09/26 | Brittany Miller
    The US government is moving to evacuate American passengers from a cruise ship linked to a deadly hantavirus outbreak, with plans to transport them to a military base in Nebraska for quarantine and monitoring, federal health officials said Friday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the risk to the American public remains extremely low as officials move forward with a medical repatriation flight for passengers aboard the M/V Hondius. President Trump said earlier Friday that the situation appears to be under control, pointing to the virus being difficult to transmit. “We have very good people looking at it....
  • US lowers 10 million pounds of steel a mile underground for massive DUNE detectors...The massive underground cryostats will each hold 17,000 tons of liquid argon.

    05/08/2026 8:27:01 PM PDT · by Red Badger · 69 replies
    Interesting Engineering ^ | May 08, 2026 | Georgina Jedikovska
    The beams are an in-kind contribution from CERN. Matthew Kapust / SURF The US has begun lowering 10 million pounds of steel nearly a mile underground to build the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), widely regarded as one of the world’s most ambitious particle physics experiments. The Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), the premier US national lab for high-energy particle physics announced the start of the underground detector assembly for the massive neutrino project in South Dakota on May 7. It is carried out along with the Sanford Underground Research Facility and CERN. Transported deep underground, the steel beams will...
  • Highly contagious norovirus spreads on cruise ship, sickening over 100 passengers and crew

    05/08/2026 5:10:18 PM PDT · by Libloather · 37 replies
    Fox News ^ | 5/08/26 | Brittany Miller
    Over 100 people were affected by a norovirus outbreak aboard the Caribbean Princess cruise, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report released Thursday. According to the report, 102 of 3,116 passengers (3.3%) and 13 of 1,131 crew members (1.2%) were reported ill, with symptoms including diarrhea and vomiting. The outbreak was reported to the CDC on May 7. The cruise voyage took place from April 28 to May 11, according to the CDC. Princess Cruises said a limited number of individuals reported mild gastrointestinal illness during the voyage. "Princess Cruises can confirm that a limited number...
  • Who are his people? The 4,000-year hunt for a warrior's kin

    05/08/2026 3:55:36 PM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 10 replies
    Science X ^ | May 4, 2026 | Sayan Tribed; iedited by Sadie Harley, reviewed by Robert Egan
    For 4,200 years, the Y chromosome of a Yakutian warrior has quietly echoed in Siberia's Arctic peoples. His extraordinary Stone Age grave was discovered in Russia's far northeast near Yakutsk in 2004 by scientists. The middle-aged hunter's skeleton was found on its back with arms at its side. Dozens of elk-bone plates were laid as a shield over the chest. Analysis of the radiocarbon data hints that the person died nearly 4,000 years ago. The person is presumed to be from the Ymyyakhtakh cultural horizon. This cultural horizon contains the nomadic hunter-gatherers who used more sophisticated bone and antler weapons......
  • The Impact Crater Beneath Chicago; The Des Plaines Crater [4:32]

    05/08/2026 3:40:00 PM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 21 replies
    YouTube ^ | May 23, 2024 | GeologyHub
    Beneath a section of Chicago, there is a hidden several mile wide impact crater. This might initially seem like a crazy claim but it is true, existing underneath the city of Des Plaines. The only reason it isn't highly visible today is due to sediments emplaced during extensive glaciers during the last 2 million years. It is for this reason that I will discuss when this crater formed, what evidence we have, and what immediate effects its formation had. Thumbnail Photo Credit: Google Earth. This image was overlaid with text, and then overlaid with GeologyHub made graphics (the image border,...