This Week in Science

[pkt77242]

NASA Releases Footage of The Sun in Ultra-HD - IGN

 

[GoIrish41]

NASA Releases Footage of The Sun in Ultra-HD - IGN

Will I go blind if I watch it?

 

[Rhode Irish]

Futurists have been discussing this for decades. Hawking has apparently "found" a recent theorist [Steve Omohundro] whose specialty seems to be trying to alert the world to the dangers of AI building which is focussed on central values that are not human-centric. This, he says, is because the big push for developments in the field will come from an AI Race between huge governments and economic giants, focussing primarily on military usages and economic growth/competition.

Omohundro [and now Hawking repeating him] warns that because neither militaries nor corporations have individual human thrival as anywhere near central goals, effective AI aimed at other central values should run-over the best interests of everyday people.

I buy this concern --- FAR more than the "Independently-operating Super-AI outruns humans and ultimately extinguishes or matrixes us" apocalypse. The goal of any AI will be programmed in. If the programmed goal is not antithetical to human survival, and hopefully thrival, then the AI, being based on deterministic algorithms, will not deviate "freely" from those algorithms --- as would a human intelligence which runs on a distinctly different basis. Of course if we're stupid enough to program algorithms which ARE inimitable to humanity, and hand over the weaponry and energy keys, well ... maybe we're so stupid that we deserve to "go".

I don't know, OMM. It seems that a lot of really brilliant thinkers are concerned about AI obtaining consciousness and sentience, at which point they would theoretically be capable of abandoning their "programmed goal" and freeing themselves of the restraints of deterministic algorithms. I cannot say that the singularity is something I think about frequently, but only because I find it so unpleasant and worrisome to contemplate. I hope it is not as near as some seem to think. Unfortunately, the degree to which networks have already infiltrated everything we do (mainly helpfully to this point, to be sure) and the blinding rapidity with which the jump is expected to happen, I don't know that there will be much time react or even realize what has happened. Actually, maybe that is a good thing.

 

[Grahambo]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/leading-harvard-physicist-radical-theory-160000092.html

Leading Harvard physicist has a radical new theory for why humans exist

 

[Corry]

Cool idea

Wrapping buildings in a layer of insulating liquid

 

[ndfi78]

Very cool

 

[Cackalacky]

NASA released this composite false color image of Titan and shows many earth like surface features. Beautiful.

 

[Cackalacky]

Germany Just Successfully Fired Up A Nuclear Fusion Reactor | IFLScience

 

[ndfi78]

Germany Just Successfully Fired Up A Nuclear Fusion Reactor | IFLScience

That is cool as hell

 

[Quinntastic]

Stop Asking Your Doctor for Antibiotics

As a Microbiologist who works in a hospital and whose significant other is immunocompromised, this topic hits really close to home and is something I'm really passionate about. We, as a society, are quickly running out of antibiotics. I am hoping to be able to go back for my PhD in Microbiology in the next 3-5 years and, when I graduate, I will be going into research to (hopefully) find some new alternatives so bacteria don't wipe us out as a species.

 

[no.1IrishFan]

Stop Asking Your Doctor for Antibiotics

As a Microbiologist who works in a hospital and whose significant other is immunocompromised, this topic hits really close to home and is something I'm really passionate about. We, as a society, are quickly running out of antibiotics. I am hoping to be able to go back for my PhD in Microbiology in the next 3-5 years and, when I graduate, I will be going into research to (hopefully) find some new alternatives so bacteria don't wipe us out as a species.

+1

This is a major issue that isn't getting nearly enough attention.

 

[GowerND11]

I don't understand why people need to go to the doctor for a cold. It's a damn cold. Rest, take some OTC meds, drink tea, and eat soup. There is no reason to visit the doctor. All he/she will do is tell you that it's a cold.

Unfortunately, with the pressures of our society, and risk of lawsuits, doctors are quick to perscribe something even for a cold. That is something that needs to change.

 

[IrishLion]

Wolf 1061 exoplanet: 'Super-Earth' only 14 light - CNN.com

Scientists in Australia found a planet that is "only" 14 light-years away and is in the Goldilocks Zone, meaning it could sustain life.

It's tightly locked, meaning it has one side too hot for life and one side too cold, but there is probably a "Twilight Zone" that could support life, though not comfortably. Gravity there would be 1.8 times that of Earth.

 

[Bluto]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hVxPJ9heetc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[BGIF]

Periodic table to gain four new elements - CNN.com

By Lin Taylor, for CNN
Updated 1:42 PM ET, Mon January 4, 2016

Chemistry textbooks as we know it are officially out of date, as four new elements will soon be added to the periodic table.

Elements 113, 115, 117 and 118 have formally been recognized by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), the U.S.-based world authority on chemistry. The organization's announcement on December 30 means the seventh row of the periodic table is finally complete.

It's the first time the table has been updated since 2011, when elements 114 (Flerovium) and 116 (Livermorium) were added. Devised by Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev in 1869, the table categorizes chemical elements according to their atomic number.

"The chemistry community is eager to see its most cherished table finally being completed down to the seventh row," said Jan Reedijk, president of the Inorganic Chemistry Division of IUPAC, in a statement.

"IUPAC has now initiated the process of formalizing names and symbols for these elements temporarily named as ununtrium, (Uut or element 113), ununpentium (Uup, element 115), ununseptium (Uus, element 117), and ununoctium (Uuo, element 118)."

A Russian-American team at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California discovered elements 115, 117 and 118, while Japanese researchers were credited for discovering element 113.

2013: Researchers confirm creation of element

2013: Researchers confirm creation of element 01:16
All four elements are not found in nature, and were synthetically created in laboratories. Until now, these elements had temporary names and symbols on the periodic table as their existence was hard to prove. Since they decay extremely quickly, scientists found it difficult to reproduce them more than once.

Japanese researchers said their search for element 113 began by "bombarding a thin layer of bismuth with zinc ions travelling at about 10% the speed of light." By doing so, they would theoretically fuse, forming an atom of element 113.

"For over seven years we continued to search for data conclusively identifying element 113, but we just never saw another event. I was not prepared to give up, however, as I believed that one day, if we persevered, luck would fall upon us again," said Kosuke Morita, the lead researcher at Japan's RIKEN group.

"Now that we have conclusively demonstrated the existence of element 113, we plan to look to the uncharted territory of element 119 and beyond."

With the discovery process now over, researchers have another tricky task at hand: coming up with permanent names and symbols for the elements.

According to the IUPAC, new elements can be named after a mythological concept, a mineral, a place or country, a property or a scientist.

After the proposed names are submitted, they will be open for public review for five months before the organization makes a final decision.

 

[Redbar]

The first I ever heard of element 115 was from Bob Lazar, and IIRC most people did not believe of it's existence at that time. If I am right that would go a long way to establishing his credibility. OMM can you help me here?

 

[Old Man Mike]

Bob Lazar was/is a complete fraud. Anyone could have bs'd about a putative element 115 [or whichever one he claimed --- I don't feel like reading my file on this again so I'll trust you on the number] when he spun his Area 51 tale. The properties of 115 [and others] were calculated theoretically at that time and were in the literature. Many scientists felt that by the time the proton/neutron mix got to that point there would be an "island of stability" where a few transuranium elements would have [marginally] longer lifespans before they decayed. Lazar could have easily read about that --- heck, even ignoramuses like myself were cognizant of this. Lazar's speculations/fictions about the nature of 115 [VERY long-term stability and anti-gravity properties] are now seen as even MORE fictional, not less. This does not in the least surprise anyone who seriously researches UFOs [like myself and my cadre of about two dozen "invisible collegians" scattered around the country, who get together at my house twice a year and for whom Lazar is at best an ongoing bad joke and at worst another barrier to the study being taken seriously.] Lazar's most spectacular contribution to society is not his Area 51 "revelation" but his arrest in Vegas on pornography charges.

If anyone really wanted to learn what's solid about UFOs, they should read UFOs and Government [a 500-600pp expose of government information management taken entirely from FOIAd and other primary documents.] In the interest of disclosure: I wrote most of it, with the very strong assistance of nine of my buddies, all veterans of the UFO Wars and some of UFOlogy's best.

 

[IrishLion]

Japanese researchers said their search for element 113 began by "bombarding a thin layer of bismuth with zinc ions travelling at about 10% the speed of light." By doing so, they would theoretically fuse, forming an atom of element 113.

Is it *really* an element if you have to take that large a part in creating it?

I thought the spirit of the elements were that they are the simplest substances in nature and that they can't be broken down.

If an element is "created" by bombarding a substance with another element, wouldn't it theoretically be able to be broken down in a reversed process, meaning it's not an element?

Or am I missing something in my Chem-101 knowledge?

 

[connor_in]

Bob Lazar was/is a complete fraud. Anyone could have bs'd about a putative element 115 [or whichever one he claimed --- I don't feel like reading my file on this again so I'll trust you on the number] when he spun his Area 51 tale. The properties of 115 [and others] were calculated theoretically at that time and were in the literature. Many scientists felt that by the time the proton/neutron mix got to that point there would be an "island of stability" where a few transuranium elements would have [marginally] longer lifespans before they decayed. Lazar could have easily read about that --- heck, even ignoramuses like myself were cognizant of this. Lazar's speculations/fictions about the nature of 115 [VERY long-term stability and anti-gravity properties] are now seen as even MORE fictional, not less. This does not in the least surprise anyone who seriously researches UFOs [like myself and my cadre of about two dozen "invisible collegians" scattered around the country, who get together at my house twice a year and for whom Lazar is at best an ongoing bad joke and at worst another barrier to the study being taken seriously.] Lazar's most spectacular contribution to society is not his Area 51 "revelation" but his arrest in Vegas on pornography charges.

If anyone really wanted to learn what's solid about UFOs, they should read UFOs and Government [a 500-600pp expose of government information management taken entirely from FOIAd and other primary documents.] In the interest of disclosure: I wrote most of it, with the very strong assistance of nine of my buddies, all veterans of the UFO Wars and some of UFOlogy's best.

UFO War Now In Antarctic Ocean! 3 UFOs Destroyed!

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/97YkOWwUE2Y" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Pops Freshenmeyer]

Is it *really* an element if you have to take that large a part in creating it?

I thought the spirit of the elements were that they are the simplest substances in nature and that they can't be broken down.

If an element is "created" by bombarding a substance with another element, wouldn't it theoretically be able to be broken down in a reversed process, meaning it's not an element?

Or am I missing something in my Chem-101 knowledge?

All elements can be broken down in such a process and all elements heavier than lead have some rate of natural decay.

 

[IrishLion]

All elements can be broken down in such a process and all elements heavier than lead have some rate of natural decay.

Right, but I'm more concerned about the element's creation, in that it doesn't exist unless a substance is "bombarded" with Zinc ions. If it is created through such a process, why is it considered an element? Is it because it still follows the "atomic number" rule?

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

Bob Lazar was/is a complete fraud. Anyone could have bs'd about a putative element 115 [or whichever one he claimed --- I don't feel like reading my file on this again so I'll trust you on the number] when he spun his Area 51 tale. The properties of 115 [and others] were calculated theoretically at that time and were in the literature. Many scientists felt that by the time the proton/neutron mix got to that point there would be an "island of stability" where a few transuranium elements would have [marginally] longer lifespans before they decayed. Lazar could have easily read about that --- heck, even ignoramuses like myself were cognizant of this. Lazar's speculations/fictions about the nature of 115 [VERY long-term stability and anti-gravity properties] are now seen as even MORE fictional, not less. This does not in the least surprise anyone who seriously researches UFOs [like myself and my cadre of about two dozen "invisible collegians" scattered around the country, who get together at my house twice a year and for whom Lazar is at best an ongoing bad joke and at worst another barrier to the study being taken seriously.] Lazar's most spectacular contribution to society is not his Area 51 "revelation" but his arrest in Vegas on pornography charges.

If anyone really wanted to learn what's solid about UFOs, they should read UFOs and Government [a 500-600pp expose of government information management taken entirely from FOIAd and other primary documents.] In the interest of disclosure: I wrote most of it, with the very strong assistance of nine of my buddies, all veterans of the UFO Wars and some of UFOlogy's best.

OMM's book for those who are google challenged

I'm going to buy this and give it a read this year. After my queue dwindles a bit.

 

[connor_in]

OMM's book for those who are google challenged

I'm going to buy this and give it a read this year. After my queue dwindles a bit.

No Kindle version? :frowny face:

 

[Rhode Irish]

I am not at all trying to dox anyone here and am doing this only out of respect and admiration, so if Mike or anyone has any issue at all with me posting this I will gladly delete it. But here is our very own OMM's wikipedia page, which is pretty awesome. I do not have a wikipedia page.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_D._Swords

 

[woolybug25]

I am not at all trying to dox anyone here and am doing this only out of respect and admiration, so if Mike or anyone has any issue at all with me posting this I will gladly delete it. But here is our very own OMM's wikipedia page, which is pretty awesome. I do not have a wikipedia page.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_D._Swords

That's when you know you've made it.

 

[MNIrishman]

Sooooo, Mike, general invitation to Kzoo for your alien parties? I'd love to get my X-files on (I'm more Scully than Mulder, for the record).

 

[Redbar]

Bob Lazar was/is a complete fraud. Anyone could have bs'd about a putative element 115 [or whichever one he claimed --- I don't feel like reading my file on this again so I'll trust you on the number] when he spun his Area 51 tale. The properties of 115 [and others] were calculated theoretically at that time and were in the literature. Many scientists felt that by the time the proton/neutron mix got to that point there would be an "island of stability" where a few transuranium elements would have [marginally] longer lifespans before they decayed. Lazar could have easily read about that --- heck, even ignoramuses like myself were cognizant of this. Lazar's speculations/fictions about the nature of 115 [VERY long-term stability and anti-gravity properties] are now seen as even MORE fictional, not less. This does not in the least surprise anyone who seriously researches UFOs [like myself and my cadre of about two dozen "invisible collegians" scattered around the country, who get together at my house twice a year and for whom Lazar is at best an ongoing bad joke and at worst another barrier to the study being taken seriously.] Lazar's most spectacular contribution to society is not his Area 51 "revelation" but his arrest in Vegas on pornography charges.

If anyone really wanted to learn what's solid about UFOs, they should read UFOs and Government [a 500-600pp expose of government information management taken entirely from FOIAd and other primary documents.] In the interest of disclosure: I wrote most of it, with the very strong assistance of nine of my buddies, all veterans of the UFO Wars and some of UFOlogy's best.

Thanks OMM, they weave a tangled web!

 

[Old Man Mike]

If anyone's serious about visiting the archives here in Kalamazoo, I'll extend the same invitation that I've extended to the readers of my [just terminated after 500 posts; I got weary] blog: anyone is welcome. The archives consist of several of the rare files of important people in researching the history of various anomalies [not only UFOs, where former USAF Project chief Edward Ruppelt's files are kept, but other "mysteries" (cryptozoology and paranormal phenomenon, where Ivan Sanderson's SITU files are kept.] I just need some heads-up prior to someone showing. The preservation of this "forbidden subject" material is sort of sacred duty for me, since these subjects have been so savagely and inappropriately treated. Therefore it's a bit of a Catholic Guilt moral duty to make them available.

As to the UFO Invisible Collegian get-togethers: those are in-house friend things. I invite "new" people into the get-togethers only if I know them, or one of my friends knows them, AND they are serious about doing some actual research, writing, publishing in intelligent, open-minded, and civilized ways. I'm sure that there is someone or another on IE who meets those criteria [one of our buddies has become a UFO field investigator, as I have been informed via e-mail, for instance] but you could imagine how out-of-tune most of our posters would be. These folks are true heavy-weights in these studies [several scientists, engineers, phds, etc, though not all have fancy credentials, which are not necessary] and we'd rather have one helluva good time talking sympathetically and at depth with persons who know as much or more than we do. The most scientific productive member of MUFON [a very flawed organization which nevertheless contains good people here and there,] is Robert Powell; the big dog in J. Allen Hynek's Center for UFO Studies is Mark Rodeghier; the chief FOIA researcher in the world is Barry Greenwood; the head of Project 1947 is Jan Aldrich: all of these guys are part of this "college" and most come to the Kalamazoo get-togethers. It's out of firepower like that that the UFOS and Government book was possible.

Just being around these guys, and trawling the Archives, is why I can tell you two things:

1). "UFOs" are a flat true anomalous mystery whose explanation is overwhelmingly likely to be extremely advanced aerial technology of which Earth-folk aren't capable, and certainly weren't back in the 1940s;
2). Almost everything that you view on the TV is produced by UFOriac nut cases or money-grubbing snake-oil salesmen, and is almost entirely wrong. ... as I said with regards to Lazar: bad jokes and unhelpful embarrassments.

 

[Old Man Mike]

Oh ... and to Rhode: thanks for the nice thought. I didn't even know I had a wikipedia page. ... and most of it seems accurate, thankfully.

And to Wooly: also thanks for the nice thought. I'll "know that I've made it," however, if I get to the Gates and the Lord says: Welcome Home! By the way, that UFO stuff was entertaining, but I liked the environmental and teaching and spiritual stuff better.

 

[woolybug25]

And to Wooly: also thanks for the nice thought. I'll "know that I've made it," however, if I get to the Gates and the Lord says: Welcome Home.

Ahh... That's what OMM's doing with his life's little pod. Staying nimble till he gets the call from the mother ship. His raison d'état. Then he's gonna fight. Then you'll see OMM coming in here throwing seven different kinds of smoke!