science
- breaking news: light pollution sends bugs to hellwww.nature.com Why flying insects gather at artificial light - Nature Communications
It is unclear why flying insects congregate around artificial light sources. Here, the authors use high-speed videography and motion-capture, finding that insects fly perpendicular to light sources due to a disruption of the dorsal light response.
Preexisting research into bugs circling lights was mainly to see what properties of the lights attracted the bugs, which is how we know that certain LED lights can prevent the bugs from flying towards it.
This study, however, showed that the bugs aren't trying to get to the light at all. The light triggers their dorsal reflex, causing them to recalibrate their sense of direction to keep the light at a fixed angle from their perspective. The bugs think they are going in a straight line, forever, and they never get to where they are going.
- This Bat Uses Its Extra Long Penis Like an Arm While Matingwww.smithsonianmag.com This Bat Uses Its Extra Long Penis Like an Arm While Mating
Serotine bats are the first mammals known to mate without penetration, new research suggests
- Is disinfectant resistance a thing?
We’ve all heard about antibiotic resistance, but is it also possible for bacteria to develop resistance to common disinfectants, like bleach, alcohol and soap?
I was reading this story and was sort of confused as to what was going on
- Why do some people who experience childhood trauma seem unaffected by it?theconversation.com Why do some people who experience childhood trauma seem unaffected by it?
Childhood trauma can completely alter the trajectory of someone’s life, but for others, it barely affects them at all. After going through trauma, why do some people seem fine?
- Immune health is all about balance – an immunologist explains why both too strong and too weak an immune response can lead to illnesstheconversation.com Immune health is all about balance – an immunologist explains why both too strong and too weak an immune response can lead to illness
Dietary supplements claim to be able to ‘boost your immune system’ to combat disease. But attaining immune balance through a healthy lifestyle and vaccination is a safer bet to keep in good health.
- The obsession with raking leaves in the fall really blows my mind
Like I'm not even an expert but I coulda told you that nature already knows what to do with the leaves (https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/to-rake-or-not-to-rake-expert-tips-for-eco-friendly-autumnal-lawn-care). This isn't just conservatives, who usually do the yard work themselves, but liberals too. Except the libs hire immigrants to do landscaping, rake the leaves, and then leave them in bags for trash guys to pick them up where they'll go to a landfill or be burned or whatever.
- Decline in sperm counts linked to organophosphates and N-methyl carbamates
Most common exposure routes include insecticides, pesticides, cosmetics, press-finish fabrics, and pharmaceuticals.
- The universe is expanding faster than theory predicts – physicists are searching for new ideas that might explain the mismatchtheconversation.com The universe is expanding faster than theory predicts – physicists are searching for new ideas that might explain the mismatch
The universe is expanding faster than physicists would expect. To figure out what processes underlie this fast expansion rate, some researchers are first trying to rule out what processes can’t.
- Roscosmos has released previously classified photos of the Buran programmedium.com New Buran photos.
On the 35th anniversary of Buran’s orbital flight, Russia’s space agency Roscosmos has released a set of previously classified documents…
Today is the 35th anniversary of Buran's first and only orbital flight. RIP.
- Dear hexbears, is doing a PhD plus working 6 hours per day doable?
So, I've started working my first "real job" last month, and it's pretty decent. Good benefits, decent pay, strong union despite being tech, and for reasonable hours (6 per day). The problem is that I took this job mainly so I can continue grad school. Currently I'm finishing up my master's, so I'm managing to conciliate doing both OK since I don't need to be in uni premises for anything anymore, but I'm unsure about being able to do a PhD later.
I figure once I work for a few months and get to work remote for most of the week I can do 6 hours of office work plus 6 hours of research work, or alternatively 6 + 4 and compensate by doing some research on the weekends. However I've heard conflicting feedback about this plan. One of my roommates says this is a horrible idea and that I'll become the Joker after a couple months, while one of my coworkers said I should wait a bit to see if this job won't demand too much of me (still in training currently), but that he thinks it's doable. Both are currently doing/have done a PhD at the same uni I want to enroll in. Also is 6ish hours per day even enough for a PhD?
Additional info: Public latam uni, so no tuition but the government grants are nothing to write home about (before getting the job it was barely enough to get by, and that was with help from my folks). The advisor I'm aiming for can be demanding at times but is also really nice and is new faculty. The PhD is in compsci (ML/NLP) and I plan to continue exploring a niche I'm already familiar with. Work schedule is fairly flexible, save for the fucking meetings (agile delenda est). A lot of credits can be done by getting good publications instead of doing uni courses.
Edit: Thanks everyone! I kind of feared "obviously no you moron" would be the general consensus. I probably got too optimistic about getting to keep doing research immediately. I'll wait for things to settle down and reevaluate my options. There's some mechanisms at the job that are supposedly designed so you can continue education, but my impression is that those are mostly reserved for MBA types, infrequently offered and also really contested, but I should ask around some more to be sure. I also know some better sources of funding are available once you enroll, but seeing my friend applying for those and failing repeatedly discourages me from betting on it. Worst comes to worst I'll save up some money, try doing this for a bit and quit if it proves unsustainable. Again, thanks for the input!
- Scientists create chimeric monkey with two sets of DNA | CNNwww.cnn.com Scientists create chimeric monkey with two sets of DNA | CNN
Scientists based in China have created a monkey chimera with two sets of DNA, experimental work they say could ultimately benefit medical research and the conservation of endangered species.
- So I checked the PubScholar portal and I found an error, (it lists the academic editors of a paper as authors), where can I report it?pubscholar.cn PubScholar公益学术平台
PubScholar公益学术平台是中国科学院作为国家战略科技力量的主力军,履行学术资源保障“国家队”职责,为满足全国科技界和全社会科技创新的学术资源基础保障需求,建设的提供公益性学术资源的检索发现、内容获取和交流共享等服务的平台。平台在尊重知识产权和国际通行规范的前提下,发挥中国科学院自身拥有丰富且高质量学术资源的优势,带动国内外的学术资源机构积极合作,最大限度地开放优质学术资源。目前,平台整合集成了中国科学院的科技成果资源、科技出版资源和学术交流资源;OA环境下允许集成服务的学术资源;以及通过协议授权或其它合作共建模式获得授权许可的学术资源。
It's not a one-off mistake, it seems systemic for some journals.
- Bioprospecting the unknown: how bacterial enzymes encoded by unknown genes might help clean up pollutiontheconversation.com Bioprospecting the unknown: how bacterial enzymes encoded by unknown genes might help clean up pollution
Bacterial DNA extracted from soil includes many genes whose function remains unknown. The novel enzymes these genes code for could be useful in efforts to clean up persistent pollutants.
- Convergent evolution, molecular machines, and computers made of dominoes
I think these 3 things are fascinating in a similar way. They all involve encoding some information or process in a way that could be replicated independent of the details of the underlying physical mechanisms. It really hammers home for me that life can be seen as a series of increasingly complex abstractions where the implementation details aren’t necessarily the defining factors. Some of that is probably because human intuition is messy and our taxonomies, though increasingly reliable, have started from a place of working backwards from that intuition.
Just had this thought stuck in my head and needed to write it out a bit.
- instant 3D printing with computed axial lithography at Bay Area Maker Faire 2023
YouTube Video
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- I got to visit the main American agricultural gene bank today.
Really neat USDA facility. It's the national backup bank which holds reserves for research, breeders, and conservation efforts. It has a 4-floor vault which stores animal/plant/microbe/insect samples- seeds, budwood, sperm, eggs. The vault is heavily reinforced to the point that it can withstand a train impact and is mostly kept at -18C and 25%~ relative humidity so that samples can be stored for decades or longer. Some samples are a neat pig, others are noxious weeds or corn with a specific target gene, others are entire ecosystems catalogued so that we can reseed them from scratch.
Some of the samples are stored bagged on racks. That section had thousands upon thousands of bags filled with seeds. Others are kept in large liquid nitrogen vats. I got photos of the insides of two, one with large canisters that are filled with individual seed collections and another with 6 species of sperm from who knows how many breeds/specimens represented. I confirmed that it's bee cum. The vats are loaded arbitrarily based on which has space available and they only last 20-30 years at a cost of $35k each.
They also have a neat clonal propagation room for when they're checking to make sure that samples are still viable. Apparently someone is growing out all of the bananas today. Like the national reserve of bananas.
Their infographic says they have 789k seed samples, 12k clones, 114k microbes, and 957k animal samples from 51k animals of 17 categories. Also the Smithsonian Institute's coral gene samples. That's outdated and apparently the collection is much larger now, growing by like 10k samples per month.
Fuck I want to work there.
- Prominent journal editor fired for retweeting Onion article about disregard for Palestinian lives
headline edited because it's not a war on Hamas, it's an indiscriminate genocidal war on Palestinians
- Watch the unparalleled horror of the Chicxulub impact event in real time:
YouTube Video
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66 million years ago, a massive 17km wide asteroid impacted what is now the modern day Yucatan peninsula at 25km/s. The immediate collision was so violent that the resulting crater floor was briefly deeper than the Mariana Trench while the crater rim was briefly taller than Mt. Everest. In total, it killed off 75% of all animal and plant species on this planet, including the dinosaurs.
The linked video is a real time demonstration of the catastrophic events that would occur within the first hour after impact if a similar asteroid were to hit Earth today.
- Scientists create world’s most water-resistant surfacewww.theguardian.com Scientists create world’s most water-resistant surface
Finnish researchers make ‘liquid-like’ outer layer from silicon that could revolutionise household tasks
- Ancient pots hold clues about how diverse diets helped herders thrive in southern Africatheconversation.com Ancient pots hold clues about how diverse diets helped herders thrive in southern Africa
Archaeological data alone can’t always help to answer researchers’ questions: multiple lines of evidence are needed.
- Revealing the OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample (Official NASA Broadcast in 4K)
YouTube Video
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The first asteroid sample collected in space by a U.S. spacecraft and brought to Earth is unveiled to the world at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on Wednesday, Oct. 11.
The science team from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security – Regolith Explorer) mission will provide results from an initial analysis of the sample, which landed on Sunday, Sept. 24, in the Utah desert. News conference participants include:
• NASA Administrator Bill Nelson
• Lori Glaze, NASA Planetary Directorate Science Division Director
• Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator, University of Arizona, Tucson
• Francis McCubbin, OSIRIS-REx Head Astromaterials curator, NASA Johnson
• Daniel Glavin, OSIRIS-REx sample analysis lead, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt
Scientists worldwide will study the bits of asteroid to gather clues about the origin of the solar system and how life may have begun on Earth.
Watch the moment OSIRIS-REx collected the sample in 2020: https://youtu.be/xj0O-fLSV7c
- NYTimes - The Harvard Professor and the Bloggers - Data Falsification in Behavioral Science
Found this a bit of an interesting rabbit hole. Archive link: https://archive.ph/NHCjE
- Tire Dust Makes Up the Majority of Ocean Microplastics, Study Findswww.thedrive.com Tire Dust Makes Up the Majority of Ocean Microplastics, Study Finds
Recent studies have shown tire emissions to be a larger threat to global health than anyone realized—and EVs could make the problem worse.
- NASA administrator is sworn in using Carl Sagan's Contact
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-names-new-head-of-technology-policy-strategy/
>Charity Weeden will serve as associate administrator for the agency’s Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy
- Waited Long Enough, The India's Moon Mission Is Over. Here's What It Found
YouTube Video
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- Eastern European nationalists in shambles
>A schematic depiction according to genetic studies by Alena Kushniarevich
>http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0135820
- Science paints a new picture of the ancient past, when we mixed and mated with other kinds of humansapnews.com Science paints a new picture of the ancient past, when we mixed and mated with other kinds of humans
The science of human evolution has made big leaps in recent years, and it’s painting a new picture of our origins.
- Path of the upcoming annular solar eclipse on October 14th, 2023
This will be an annular eclipse, meaning the moon will be too distant from Earth to fully block out the sun. Instead, the moon will block out 90.7% of the sun's disk from the perspective of those along the path of greatest eclipse, the yellow path on the above map. The remaining 9.3% of the sun's disk will be visible around the moon in an annulus shape- a ring of non-zero thickness. Hence why it's called an annular eclipse.
Outside of the path of greatest eclipse, the vast majority of both American continents will see at least a partial eclipse. You can use the orange paths to estimate maximum solar obscuration from your area. The time of maximum eclipse is at 1:59pm EDT.
Remember not to ever look directly at the sun without proper eye protection, not even during an eclipse! In the absence of proper protection, the best way to observe the eclipse is to watch the shadows left on the ground by leaves on a tree. You'll see many small projections corresponding to the uncovered area of the sun. Along the path of greatest eclipse at the time of maximum obscuration, you'll see rings. Otherwise, you'll see crescents.
- Revealed: top carbon offset projects may not cut planet-heating emissionswww.theguardian.com Revealed: top carbon offset projects may not cut planet-heating emissions
Majority of offset projects that have sold the most carbon credits are ‘likely junk’, according to analysis by Corporate Accountability and the Guardian
- Why Time and Space swap in a Black Holevid.puffyan.us Why Time and Space swap in a Black Hole
What is the difference between time and space? Why do time and space swap roles in a black hole? What is a Penrose diagram? All these answers in 12 minutes! 0:00 - Light cones 2:45 - Space and time 4:56 - General relativity 6:20 - Black holes 10:13 - Collapse diagrams This video is narrated by Oct...
- Muon Detecting
YouTube Video
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there's a ton of useful information for building a homebrew muon detector in this video wow! a similar project for detecting gamma rays provides a starting point for building a bill of materials to replicate the work in the video.
it would be fun to try to replicate this on a shoestring budget.
- Entropy and the Arrow of Timevid.puffyan.us Entropy and the Arrow of Time
What is entropy? In what fields is it useful? And how does it explain the direction in which transformations occur? All these answers in 12 minutes! 0:00 - Introduction 1:30 - Entropy in physics 4:31 - Entropy in other fields 6:25 - The arrow of Time 10:47 - Conclusion This video is narrated by Oc...