The Science Thread

If you meant both forms of water, Alrik, I'm not certain but I think we probably do have both types. The two spin isomers of hydrogen occur in a natural mixture, so quite possibly in water also.

ALRIK: WHAT DID YOU MEAN????

pibbur who probably won't be able to sleep until he knows

We seem to have spun it in different directions.

The KATRIN-Experiment went online today. It's sort of a huge "scale" that's going to be used to indirectly measure the weight of neutrinos.

Neutrino detected and traced back to a distant galaxy for the first time

More pictures at space.com

Originally Posted by Arhu
Neutrino detected and traced back to a distant galaxy for the first time

More pictures at space.com

Wow, that's a pretty major find.

Originally Posted by Ripper
Wow, that's a pretty major find.

I would say it's a pretty (extremely) small find, of major importance.

pibbur who remembers Armstrong (not the bicyclist, but of course he remembers him as well, for completely different reasons).

Originally Posted by pibbur who
I would say it's a pretty (extremely) small find, of major importance.

pibbur who remembers Armstrong (not the bicyclist, but of course he remembers him as well, for completely different reasons).

That's what the wife said, right?

Originally Posted by Darth Tagnan
That's what the wife said, right?

Don't know, haven't talked to her.

pibbur who claims not to understand what the darth is saying

Telescope Upgrade Produces Stunningly Clear Views of Space

New photographs released by the European Southern Observatory show how severe the effect can be — and how a technology called adaptive optics can reduce the problem [of blurring caused by turbulence in Earth's atmosphere].
(..)
The system compensates so effectively for the atmosphere that the test images taken with the system are about as sharp as photographs from the Hubble Space Telescope — which doesn't have to deal with the phenomenon at all.

The Very Large Telescope's views of Neptune, with and without its new adaptive-optics module, show how significant an improvement the new system represents.

Pretty sweet. And the technique is also going to be used for the extremely large telescope in Chile that is currently under construction.

It's like they corrected miopia on Earth-based telescope, lol.

So one is a picture, the other is effectively a photoshopped image?

Humans might be made of natural "legos" called scutoids.

Well, now called scutoids.

I don't have the link in front of me but a few days ago there was an article that we used to have a 'sister' galaxy until it was 'eaten' by a much larger galaxy. It appears that this galaxy eater has started munching on our fringes… (I think that was what the article said but perhaps I misread it).

Originally Posted by Arhu
Neutrino detected and traced back to a distant galaxy for the first time

More pictures at space.com

Bottle made of plastic can ignite a fire : https://www.ksta.de/panorama/experim…r-aus-31074010
(It's in German language, though.)

Fish seem to recognize themselves in the mirror. Well, the cleaner wrasse anyway:

Chimpanzees, elephants, dolphins and corvids have passed the mark test. “The marktest in which a coloured mark is placed on a test subject in a location that can only be viewed in a mirror reflection, is held as the benchmark behavioural assay for assessing whether an individual has the capacity for self-recognition.”
"Cleaner wrasse pass the mark test." - PLoS Biology

I like this autonomous car concept from Volvo. If I had to be somewhere, just spend the evening catching up on some gaming, then fall asleep (I like dozing in the back of a car) and wake up at the destination. I think some sort of autonomous Winnebago would be better, though, with room for more than one, and a shower for the morning!

https://www.topgear.com/car-news/con…utonomous-cars

This year's IgNobel prize for rollercoaster kidney stone therapy.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-45513012

Originally Posted by Ripper
This year's IgNobel prize for rollercoaster kidney stone therapy.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-45513012

Yes, it actually makes sense. Most renal stones come out by themselves, and it doesn't surprise me that the accelerations supplied by a rollercoaster might accelerate the process. Why didn't I think of this before?

On a sidenote, for stones that remain stuck, focused ultrasound can be used to tear them to pieces (lithotripsy). In Norway the apparatus involved (the lithotriptor) is sometimes referred to as a "steinknuser" which translates to "stone crusher" in English. Considering that in Norwegian the common name for a testicle is "stein" ("stone") and …. *shivers*.

pibbur who, AFAHK, so far hasn't had any stones besides the two resting down under.

Originally Posted by pibbur who
Yes, it actually makes sense. Most renal stones come out by themselves, and it doesn't surprise me that the accelerations supplied by a rollercoaster might accelerate the process. Why didn't I think of this before?

On a sidenote, for stones that remain stuck, focused ultrasound can be used to tear them to pieces (lithotripsy). In Norway the apparatus involved (the lithotriptor) is sometimes referred to as a "steinknuser" which translates to "stone crusher" in English. Considering that in Norwegian the common name for a testicle is "stein" ("stone") and …. *shivers*.

pibbur who, AFAHK, so far hasn't had any stones besides the two resting down under.

I think I would definitely give a day on the rollercoasters a try, before visiting the Norwegian stone crushers.