Intriguing science findings - not spacey

[Beyond]

Quantum entanglement sounds so foreign to our experience because it appears to exceed the speed of light, which violates Einstein’s general relativity.

Why? I thought it was only 'information' that cannot exceed the speed of light. A wormhole is not information, but only a pathway that information could traverse.

[neufer]

Quantum entanglement sounds so foreign to our experience because it appears to exceed the speed of light, which violates Einstein’s general relativity.

Why? I thought it was only 'information' that cannot exceed the speed of light. A wormhole is not information, but only a pathway that information could traverse.

Quantum entanglement doesn't technically disobey the letter of the law (of relativity) but, perhaps, it does disobey the spirit of the law.

Likewise, wormholes (if they exist) may produce possible conflicts as regards to causality (e.g., going back and killing one's own grandfather).

If the two could somehow be reduced to a single ‘Spooky Action’ perhaps we will be less haunted by the ambiguities.

[Beyond]

Darn! The Greenland thread is locked.

'Massive' reservoir of melt water found under Greenland ice.
http://www.bbc.com/travel/slideshow/201 ... t-powerful

[geckzilla]

That link didn't go to an article about Greenland, anyway.

[BMAONE23]

As far as quantity goes, it is reported to be estimated as enough water to raise sea level by 1/5". Now 1/5" doesn't sound like it would be realistic to discern the change from seasonal differences but considering that 70% of the earth is sea level, a 1/5" or 4mm change is a tremendous ammount of water

[MargaritaMc]

Invisibility cloaks from forward design to inverse design
http://info.scichina.com:8084/sciFe/EN/ ... 915.shtml#

Abstract
In this paper, we review the invisibility cloak design methodologies and their experimental developments from a practical perspective, as well as basic underlying theories, derived materials, and experimental implementations. Particular stress is laid on the recent transition from forward design to inverse design where some significant limitations of previous cloaking solution in practice can be solved. We anticipate that future invisibility cloaking devices will be based on integration of both forward and inverse designs.

When I first came across this, I checked the date (no, not April First...) and then saw where it came from. Science China Information Services aren't usually given to practical jokes! They provide a PDF download which, to my very inexpert eye, looks sensible and thorough.

Are there any forum members able to comment on this research from a position of expertise

M

[Beyond]

Can plants think

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

[MargaritaMc]

Invisibility cloaks from forward design to inverse design
http://info.scichina.com:8084/sciFe/EN/ ... 915.shtml#

Abstract
In this paper, we review the invisibility cloak design methodologies and their experimental developments from a practical perspective, as well as basic underlying theories, derived materials, and experimental implementations. Particular stress is laid on the recent transition from forward design to inverse design where some significant limitations of previous cloaking solution in practice can be solved. We anticipate that future invisibility cloaking devices will be based on integration of both forward and inverse designs.

When I first came across this, I checked the date (no, not April First...) and then saw where it came from. Science China Information Services aren't usually given to practical jokes! They provide a PDF download which, to my very inexpert eye, looks sensible and thorough.

Are there any forum members able to comment on this research from a position of expertise

M

More info via YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mMcJprV30Y

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

[Beyond]

I would say that you are the leading expert here on the subject, Margarita. At least so far. (perhaps it has to do with the 'flower-power' that you've aquired )

[MargaritaMc]

...(perhaps it has to do with the 'flower-power' that you've aquired )

Margarita = Marguerite= daisy!
http://www.bhg.com/gardening/plant-dict ... ite-daisy/

[Beyond]

Ah, different spelling... different color. I didn't know that.

[MargaritaMc]

PLOS ONE: Hominin Footprints from Early Pleistocene Deposits at Happisburgh, UK
ABSTRACT

Investigations at Happisburgh, UK, have revealed the oldest known hominin footprint surface outside Africa at between ca. 1 million and 0.78 million years ago. The site has long been recognised for the preservation of sediments containing Early Pleistocene fauna and flora, but since 2005 has also yielded humanly made flint artefacts, extending the record of human occupation of northern Europe by at least 350,000 years. The sediments consist of sands, gravels and laminated silts laid down by a large river within the upper reaches of its estuary. In May 2013 extensive areas of the laminated sediments were exposed on the foreshore. On the surface of one of the laminated silt horizons a series of hollows was revealed in an area of ca. 12 m2. The surface was recorded using multi-image photogrammetry which showed that the hollows are distinctly elongated and the majority fall within the range of juvenile to adult hominin foot sizes. In many cases the arch and front/back of the foot can be identified and in one case the impression of toes can be seen. Using foot length to stature ratios, the hominins are estimated to have been between ca. 0.93 and 1.73 m in height, suggestive of a group of mixed ages. The orientation of the prints indicates movement in a southerly direction on mud-flats along the river edge. Early Pleistocene human fossils are extremely rare in Europe, with no evidence from the UK. The only known species in western Europe of a similar age is Homo antecessor, whose fossil remains have been found at Atapuerca, Spain. The foot sizes and estimated stature of the hominins from Happisburgh fall within the range derived from the fossil evidence of Homo antecessor

The Guardian

[MargaritaMc]

I've read books by Chris Stringer (one of the authors of this paper) and knew he is somewhat knowledgeable - but just looooooook at his publication history and CV!

Natural History Museum

[neufer]

PLOS ONE: Hominin Footprints from Early Pleistocene Deposits at Happisburgh, UK

The Guardian

• . http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology ... z2sjcCLVUD

[b][color=#0000FF]The oldest human footprints found outside Africa have been discovered in Norfolk, with the man a Size 8 - and may have been CANNIBALS[/color][/b]

---

<<Homo antecessor is an extinct human species (or subspecies) dating from 800,000 to 1.2 million years ago, that was discovered by Eudald Carbonell, Juan Luis Arsuaga and J. M. Bermúdez de Castro. H. antecessor is one of the earliest known human varieties in Europe.

Various archaeologists and anthropologists have debated how H. antecessor relates to other Homo species in Europe, with suggestions that it was an evolutionary link between H. ergaster and H. heidelbergensis, although Richard Klein believes that it was instead a separate species that evolved from H. ergaster. Others believe that H. antecessor is the same species as H. heidelbergensis, who inhabited Europe from 250,000 to 600,000 years ago in the Pleistocene.

The best-preserved fossil is a maxilla that belonged to a 10-year-old individual found in Spain. Based on palaeomagnetic measurements, it is thought to be older than 780–857 ka. The average brain was 1,000 cm³ in volume. In 1994 and 1995, 80 fossils of six individuals that may have belonged to the species were found in Atapuerca, Spain. At the site were numerous examples of cuts where the flesh had been flensed from the bones, which indicates that H. antecessor may have practiced cannibalism.

On 7 February 2014, archaeologists reported that human footprints, possibly from H. antecessor, that may be as much as 1 million years old, were found at Happisburgh on the east coast of England.>>

[MargaritaMc]

Nature: What climate negotiators can learn from slime moulds
Ecologist Simon Levin discusses his work linking social and natural systems.

Emma Marris
26 March 2014
...
What do slime moulds tell us?
Slime moulds are cooperative because individual amoebae at particular stages aggregate into assemblages, which lead to sporulation and the next generation. This involves some individuals giving up their own reproductive fitness to help the collective. Why do they do this? How do they do this? And what can we learn from this process about getting cooperation in our own societies?

Can international agreements ever achieve the level of cooperation of slime moulds?
You have nothing to lose by being optimistic.

http://www.nature.com/news/what-climate ... ds-1.14917

Margarita

[MargaritaMc]

Could your computer one day look like this?

Click to view full size image

Slime mold (Physarum polycephalum).
Credit: Dr. Jonatha Gott and the Center for RNA Molecular Biology, Case Western Reserve University

Computing with Slime
Study published in journal Materials Today* reveals details of logical circuits built using living slime molds

Oxford, March 27, 2014
A future computer might be a lot slimier than the solid silicon devices we have today. In a study published in the journal Materials Today, European researchers reveal details of logic units built using living slime molds, which might act as the building blocks for computing devices and sensors.

Andrew Adamatzky (University of the West of England, Bristol, UK) and Theresa Schubert (Bauhaus-University Weimar, Germany) have constructed logical circuits that exploit networks of interconnected slime mold tubes to process information.

- See more at: Elsevier.com

*Slime mold microfluidic logical gates

[Beyond]

Stunning Astronomical Alignment Found at Peru Pyramid



http://www.livescience.com/29335-astron ... ramid.html

[MargaritaMc]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 141117.htm

Gecko-like adhesives now useful for real world surfaces
Date:
April 18, 2014
Source:
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Summary:
The ability to stick objects to a wide range of surfaces such as drywall, wood, metal and glass with a single adhesive has been the elusive goal of many research teams across the world, but now a team inventors describe a new, more versatile version of their invention, Geckskin, that can adhere strongly to a wider range of surfaces, yet releases easily, like a gecko's feet.

[geckzilla]

Yup, that stuff is going to be awesome someday.

[Beyond]

New family of recyclable plastics created 'by accident'.


Researchers have developed a collection of new plastics that are recyclable and adaptable - and the discovery began with a laboratory mistake.

Story here-->http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-27424318

[Beyond]

The Human Bomb.

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

[hwriter]

Could your computer one day look like this?

Click to view full size image

I recently crossed 'the cloud' frontier via the cloud providers 1&1 at home and stumbled upon this article from The Atlantic during my search, called 'The Cloud' and Other Dangerous Metaphors':

Contemporary ideas about data are tied up inextricably with metaphors around data. As a concept, data constantly eludes crisp definition. It is everywhere and nowhere, encompassing a mind-boggling array of people, activities, and concepts ... Depending on the situation, data is either like a liquid (data streams), a solid (data mining), or a gas (the cloud). Why and how these metaphors get used when they do is not immediately obvious.

I had to laugh when I saw that big pile of computing mold!