The Science Thread

Astronaut Scott Kelly (who is coming up on nearly a full year continuously in Space!), did a Tumblr question & answer thing a couple days back. I couldn't help but smile as I read through the feed.

Originally Posted by Drithius
Astronaut Scott Kelly (who is coming up on nearly a full year continuously in Space!), did a Tumblr question & answer thing a couple days back. I couldn't help but smile as I read through the feed.

It is going to be really interesting when they compare his health with his twin brother….

Originally Posted by GothicGothicness
It is going to be really interesting when they compare his health with his twin brother….

Yes. However, some of the possible effects (i.e. cancer resulting from radiation) will take years to manifest itself. (roughly 3-20 years, depending on the type of cancer).

pibbur who would like to spend time at the ISS, but who fears the wife will have a few objections.

In space nobody can hear your wife scream…

So go for it Pibbur!

Originally Posted by Ursusdraconis
In space nobody can hear your wife scream…

So go for it Pibbur!

Well, that was before they had internet on the ISS………………..

My goal is to go to Mars one day… hopefully I am not too optimistic about technology!

Originally Posted by GothicGothicness
Well, that was before they had internet on the ISS………………..

My goal is to go to Mars one day… hopefully I am not too optimistic about technology!

I would gladly go with you, but I fear that either being close to 100 or dead when opportunity knocks might be a problem.

Pibbur who otoh thinks that a centenarian could be well suited for long space travels, since radiation won't be as much of a problem. And who wonders if what he just wrote makes sense in English (preferrably proper, that is UK, English)

Originally Posted by Ursusdraconis
In space nobody can hear your wife scream…

So go for it Pibbur!

You know, that is a very sensible argument. I'll confront the wife. And report the results.

Pibbur who secretly worries that the wife might be actually thrilled by him leaving ground control for a very long time.

Stored water slows rising seas

Changes in water storage on land may have slowed sea-level rise during the past decade.

John Reager of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and his team investigated the shifting volumes of water stored on land using global data from NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite, which calculates water and ice mass on the basis of changes in Earth's gravity field. They found that between 2002 and 2014, 3,200 gigatons more water than expected was stored on land as snow, soil moisture, surface water and groundwater, thanks to climate-driven changes in hydrology. This offset sea-level rise caused by melting glaciers and ice sheets by about 20% over the same period.

These results show that climate-driven land water storage is significant enough to be included in future estimates of sea-level rise, the authors say.

Thus, groundwater storage has slowed the rate of recent sea-level rise by roughly 15%.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal…l/530257b.html

Maximum points to the Dutch for training eagles to bring winged death to drones.

http://www.wired.com/2016/02/so-dutc…o-hunt-drones/

If ever find a drone lurking in my garden, I shall summon Gwaihir to my aid.

Originally Posted by Ripper
Maximum points to the Dutch for training eagles to bring winged death to drones.

http://www.wired.com/2016/02/so-dutc…o-hunt-drones/

If ever find a drone lurking in my garden, I shall summon Gwaihir to my aid.

There have been protests; it isn't safe for these beautiful creatures, they could be seriously hurt.

Originally Posted by Eye
There have been protests; it isn't safe for these beautiful creatures, they could be seriously hurt.

Yes, you might be right. I'm not being entirely serious - just that, on one level, I like the image of these damn things meeting their doom in the claws of a mighty eagle.

Today 1927 – German theoretical physicist Werner Heisenberg wrote a letter to fellow physicist Wolfgang Pauli in which he described his uncertainty principle for the first time.

pibbur who decides to refrain from making bad jokes about speeding cars, cats and methamphetamine.

PS. One more thing: today 165984 BC, SN1987A went supernova. DS.

Did he actually write it or not? How certain was he?

(Yes I know pibbur refrained but not me!)

Are we sure of the date?

Check this out

The Next Generation of Boston Dynamics' ATLAS Robot Is Quiet, Robust, and Tether Free

Google's AI AlphaGo won the first Go match against professional player Lee Sedol (9p = highest level).

More about the AI: [ https://deepmind.com/alpha-go.html ]

Originally Posted by Thrasher
Check this out

The Next Generation of Boston Dynamics' ATLAS Robot Is Quiet, Robust, and Tether Free

That's extraordinary.

Why do I get the feeling we're going to regret that guy bullying them with a stick…

Yeah, I got so angry when the guy pushed him over. I half expected Atlas to get up and tear off his head.

It was done just to demonstrate robustness in the field in an antagonistic situation. The customer is the dept of defense.

Most of Boston Dynamics' 'products' were made for military purposes. But do they need to hassle these poor guys the way they do and then upload the vids to the net? That's multi-way cyber-mobbing!
Not talking about Petman here, making him do 100 pushups in a row is not something I'd consider bullying, but alas, poor Atlas … and I also felt for BigDog when they forced him to walk on slippery terrain .