The purpose of this blog is the creation of an open, international, independent and free forum, where every UFO-researcher can publish the results of his/her research. The languagues, used for this blog, are Dutch, English and French.You can find the articles of a collegue by selecting his category. Each author stays resposable for the continue of his articles. As blogmaster I have the right to refuse an addition or an article, when it attacks other collegues or UFO-groupes.
Druk op onderstaande knop om te reageren in mijn forum
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Deze blog is opgedragen aan mijn overleden echtgenote Lucienne.
In 2012 verloor ze haar moedige strijd tegen kanker!
In 2011 startte ik deze blog, omdat ik niet mocht stoppen met mijn UFO-onderzoek.
BEDANKT!!!
Een interessant adres?
UFO'S of UAP'S, ASTRONOMIE, RUIMTEVAART, ARCHEOLOGIE, OUDHEIDKUNDE, SF-SNUFJES EN ANDERE ESOTERISCHE WETENSCHAPPEN - DE ALLERLAATSTE NIEUWTJES
UFO's of UAP'S in België en de rest van de wereld Ontdek de Fascinerende Wereld van UFO's en UAP's: Jouw Bron voor Onthullende Informatie!
Ben jij ook gefascineerd door het onbekende? Wil je meer weten over UFO's en UAP's, niet alleen in België, maar over de hele wereld? Dan ben je op de juiste plek!
België: Het Kloppend Hart van UFO-onderzoek
In België is BUFON (Belgisch UFO-Netwerk) dé autoriteit op het gebied van UFO-onderzoek. Voor betrouwbare en objectieve informatie over deze intrigerende fenomenen, bezoek je zeker onze Facebook-pagina en deze blog. Maar dat is nog niet alles! Ontdek ook het Belgisch UFO-meldpunt en Caelestia, twee organisaties die diepgaand onderzoek verrichten, al zijn ze soms kritisch of sceptisch.
Nederland: Een Schat aan Informatie
Voor onze Nederlandse buren is er de schitterende website www.ufowijzer.nl, beheerd door Paul Harmans. Deze site biedt een schat aan informatie en artikelen die je niet wilt missen!
Internationaal: MUFON - De Wereldwijde Autoriteit
Neem ook een kijkje bij MUFON (Mutual UFO Network Inc.), een gerenommeerde Amerikaanse UFO-vereniging met afdelingen in de VS en wereldwijd. MUFON is toegewijd aan de wetenschappelijke en analytische studie van het UFO-fenomeen, en hun maandelijkse tijdschrift, The MUFON UFO-Journal, is een must-read voor elke UFO-enthousiasteling. Bezoek hun website op www.mufon.com voor meer informatie.
Samenwerking en Toekomstvisie
Sinds 1 februari 2020 is Pieter niet alleen ex-president van BUFON, maar ook de voormalige nationale directeur van MUFON in Vlaanderen en Nederland. Dit creëert een sterke samenwerking met de Franse MUFON Reseau MUFON/EUROP, wat ons in staat stelt om nog meer waardevolle inzichten te delen.
Let op: Nepprofielen en Nieuwe Groeperingen
Pas op voor een nieuwe groepering die zich ook BUFON noemt, maar geen enkele connectie heeft met onze gevestigde organisatie. Hoewel zij de naam geregistreerd hebben, kunnen ze het rijke verleden en de expertise van onze groep niet evenaren. We wensen hen veel succes, maar we blijven de autoriteit in UFO-onderzoek!
Blijf Op De Hoogte!
Wil jij de laatste nieuwtjes over UFO's, ruimtevaart, archeologie, en meer? Volg ons dan en duik samen met ons in de fascinerende wereld van het onbekende! Sluit je aan bij de gemeenschap van nieuwsgierige geesten die net als jij verlangen naar antwoorden en avonturen in de sterren!
Heb je vragen of wil je meer weten? Aarzel dan niet om contact met ons op te nemen! Samen ontrafelen we het mysterie van de lucht en daarbuiten.
10-12-2021
Las Vegas is Building the World’s Largest Sphere
Las Vegas is Building the World’s Largest Sphere
The skyline-changing MSG Sphere entertainment venue in Las Vegas will be the largest such structure in the world.
The $1.8 billion orb will feature 17,500 seats surrounded by a super high-resolution LED screen that projects at an amazing 19,000 x 13,500 pixels, a world record.
The set up will create a revolutionary fully immersive, multi-sensory platform for audiences, and artists.
Just gotta beat that Covid thing and we’re off. Have a look.
Mother whose son, 14 months, has rare uncombable hair syndrome that makes his blonde mop stand on end reveals his water-resistant locks are EASY to take care off and only need washing once a week
Mother whose son, 14 months, has rare uncombable hair syndrome that makes his blonde mop stand on end reveals his water-resistant locks are EASY to take care off and only need washing once a week
Locklan, 14-months old, from Atlanta, Georgia has uncombable hair syndrome
His mother, Katelyn Samples, 33, says it brings her joy, but hasn't been easy
The condition is extremely rare with just 100 cases worldwide
Katelyn wants him to be proud but says strangers can make cruel comments
A mother has revealed how her baby is one of around just 100 people in the world diagnosed with the ultra 'rare uncombable hair syndrome' - but she is teaching him how to be proud of his unruly locks.
Katelyn Samples, 33, from Atlanta, Georgia is mother to Shepard, two, and 14-month-old Locklan.
When Locklan was around five months old and his hair started to grow, Katelyn and husband Caleb, 33, noticed it was quite fuzzy and thought it was going to be curly.
'It was coming in straight up and so soft and fuzzy,' Katelyn recalled.
Scroll down for video
Locklan's fuzzy hair that his parents thought would eventually lead to curly locks, but instead they found out he has ‘uncombable hair syndrome’
The genetic condition is a very rare one with only just 100 people in the world diagnosed
'As it continued to grow it never laid down... a lot of people who see him call him a baby chick.'
Then during the summer, a stranger messaged Katelyn to ask if he had something called uncombable hair syndrome.
Katelyn had never heard of the rare condition, which causes a rare structural anomaly of the hair meaning it can't be brushed or flattened down, no matter how hard you try.
The condition is extremely rare with around just 100 cases worldwide, and some believe Albert Einstein's famous 'mad scientist' look was because he had UHS.
The Samples family: Locklan, centre bottom with his older brother, Shepard behind him, with their parents
Katelyn said: 'Because UHS is so rare our paediatrician referred us to a pediatric dermatologist/specialist at Emory in Atlanta, Georgia.
'They took samples of his hair and called us a few weeks later and confirmed it was in fact, Uncombable Hair Syndrome!
Uncombable Hair Syndrome: The condition that was made famous by Albert Einstein
Uncombable hair syndrome is a rare inherited disorder that causes locks to stand up from the roots and not be flattened.
Such hair is usually silvery-blond or straw colored.
The hair usually appears between three and 12 months of age.
In rare cases, the syndrome has occurred alongside bone and eye abnormalities.
The syndrome usually resolves or improves at the onset of puberty.
It may be more manageable through applying conditioners and using soft brushes.
Source: Genetic and rare diseases information center
'His doctor had only seen one other case in the past 19 years. We have zero clue why he has it.'
Although UHS usually only affects the hair, Katelyn was still concerned about the diagnosis.
She said: 'Hearing your son has a genetic condition isn't easy, especially because it's so rare there isn't a lot of information on it. But as I learned as much as I could and connected with other parents around the world (in a UHS FB group), I became less scared and more appreciative of how unique Locklan is.
'Other than wild and crazy cool hair, he is perfectly healthy and very happy He does have severe eczema, which may be linked to UHS.'
At the minute, because Locklan is still young and his hair is short, his hair routine is pretty simple, and his parents have found that the unique texture actually means it's easier to keep it clean.
Katelyn said: 'His hair doesn't need to be washed much... maybe once a week.
'It's water-resistant so it takes a minute to saturate with water and gentle shampoo.'
His distinctive mane does attract attention when they are out and about - but usually, he doesn't mind.
Katelyn said: 'Lock is already a little celebrity. People come up to us everywhere we go.
'They ask about his hair, and sometimes even ask to touch it! At a fall festival in a local town people even asked to take pictures with him. He enjoys the attention.
'We really can't go anywhere without at least one person making a comment on his hair. It is almost always from a good place!
'However the mean/rude/sarcastic comments happen too and it breaks my heart.'
His mother has revealed that the 14-month-old's hair has been getting a lot of attention, from kind comments in real life to mean ones online. She's heard people say his hair looks like he stuck his finger in an electrical socket
Strangers have compared Locklan's locks to of a cat when it's scared, but his mother insists that it's nobody's business because they're not the ones dealing with it
His parents are adamant that they want their son to grow up celebrating his unique locks rather than shying away from it
Some of the comments Katelyn says they've heard include people calling it 'crazy' or saying he 'looks like he stuck his finger in a socket'.
Other people say things like "Wow his hair makes me happy", "He looks like my cat when its scared", and "That baby wakes up every day with a bad hair day".'
Katelyn added: 'For now myself and my husband are the only ones to have to deal with it but as Lock gets older he will too.
'Lock's hair is truly a source of joy and we celebrate it. I want him to grow up to be proud of his differences and what makes him unique.. everyone should!'
After getting his diagnosis, Katelyn and Caleb started his Instagram account @uncombable_locks in October to share pictures of their son and raise awareness.
The baby boy with the cool hair: Locklan's parents didn't know what to expect when their son's hair was growing
The silvery-blond or straw colored hair usually appears between three and 12 months of age
Locklan's parents want to use the Instagram account they started for their son to raise awareness for the rare genetic disease and also spark some happiness across the internet
Katelyn said: 'We set up his IG account because people truly are so intrigued by his hair and love it so much we wanted to raise awareness of such a rare genetic disease.
'My husband is very creative and came up with his IG name and set up the account!'
'Between his hair and his smile we wanted to spark some joy on the internet.'
Today we will be talking about China, the most populous country in the world. While we all have seen ‘made in china’ almost everywhere, there are a few lesser-known facts that will surprise you.
Do you think you know China? well i guess you need to think again because China is a homeland to some extremely weird and mysterious creatures that I bet you have never heard of. From the creepiest fish to actual dragons, there is much more in China to stun you than you can imagine. Today we will show you the 10 most peculiar and mysterious creatures found only in china.
In 1963 an, Italian sci-fi comedy called “Omnicron” hit the silver screen to a collective yawn. The plot revolved around the dead body of a blue collar worker, who was resurrected by an alien creature known as an Omicron. In essence, the corpse became possessed by a demon and was walking the earth as the living dead…a zombie. When the hybrid creature decides to return to the former job of the deceased laborer, he is able to function at a much higher level given his superior intellect. After getting involved in a labor disruption and a romantic relationship, the alient leaves the corpse and returns to Venus, the Morning Star, planet of The Light Bearer.
The newly-discovered octopus species inhabits the shallow waters off southwest Australia and belongs to the Octopus vulgaris group, according to a new paper published in the journal Zootaxa.
The star octopus (Octopus djinda).
Image credit: Mark Norman / Amor & Hart, doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.5061.1.7.
“Benthic shallow-water species are among the most studied and best understood octopods, and are, therefore, of high interest to researchers and fishers,” said Dr. Michael Amor from the Western Australian Museum and Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria and Dr. Anthony Hart from the Western Australian Fisheries and Marine Research Laboratory.
“This attention can lead to an improved understanding of species boundaries and distributions, including the potential identification of cryptic taxa.”
“Cryptic speciation is common among octopods and examples are prevalent throughout the order Octopoda.”
“Octopuses have few hard body parts or diagnostic taxonomic traits. Further, morphological plasticity that is linked to local environmental conditions and the limited utility of traditional molecular markers have compounded our likely underestimation of species richness among octopods.”
“Within Octopoda, perhaps the most iconic example of this phenomenon is observed among members of the Octopus vulgaris group,” they added.
“This species-group represents one of the greatest octopus fisheries targets, and are of broad scientific interest (e.g., cell biology, environmental science, fisheries research, neuroscience, physiology, robotics).”
The newly-discovered species is conspecific with another member of the Octopus vulgaris group — the common Sydney octopus (Octopus tetricus) from Australia’s east coast and New Zealand — but is morphologically and genetically distinct.
Named the star octopus (Octopus djinda), the marine creature is distributed along the southwest coast of Australia, from Shark Bay to Cape Le Grand.
“This distribution closely reflects the territory of the traditional custodians of this land, the Nyoongar people (‘a person of the southwest of Western Australia’),” the researchers said.
“To recognize their connection to this land, a Nyoongar translation of ‘star’ (djinda) was selected as a species name. This use of ‘star’ (luminous) reflects the shared recent ancestry with, and now-understood distinction from, Octopus tetricus.”
The new species is a medium to large octopus, with a mantle length of 10.9-17.7 cm (4.3-7 inches).
“Octopus djinda supports a highly productive fishery and is currently one of two octopod fisheries worldwide to have received sustainable certification from the Marine Stewardship Council,” the scientists said.
“Its taxonomic description provides formal recognition of the taxonomic status of southwest Australia’s common octopus, Octopus djinda, and facilitates appropriate fisheries catch reporting and management.”
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Michael D. Amor & Anthony M. Hart. 2021. Octopus djinda (Cephalopoda: Octopodidae): a new member of the Octopus vulgaris group from southwest Australia. Zootaxa 5061 (1): 145-156; doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.5061.1.7
An emerging industry of nuclear-fusion firms promises to have commercial reactors ready in the next decade.
By Philip Ball
The ancient village of Culham, nestled in a bend of the River Thames west of London, seems an unlikely launching pad for the future. But next year, construction will start here on a gleaming building of glass and steel that could house what many people consider to be an essential technology to meet demand for clean energy in the twenty-first century and beyond.
Long derided as a prospect that is forever 30 years away, nuclear fusion seems finally to be approaching commercial viability. There are now more than 30 private fusion firms globally, according to an October survey by the Fusion Industry Association (FIA) in Washington DC, which represents companies in the sector; the 18 firms that have declared their funding say they have attracted more than US$2.4 billion in total, almost entirely from private investments (see ‘Fusion funding’). Key to these efforts are advances in materials research and computing that are enabling technologies other than the standard designs that national and international agencies have pursued for so long.
FUSION FUNDING
Private fusion firms have disclosed more than $2.4 billion in funding.
TAE Technologies 880 US$ million
Helion Energy 578
Commonwealth Fusion Systems 250
General Fusion 200
Tokamak Energy 200
Other (12 firms) 302
The latest venture at Culham — the hub of UK fusion research for decades — is a demonstration plant for General Fusion (GF), a company based in Burnaby, Canada. It is scheduled to start operating in 2025, and the company aims to have reactors for sale in the early 2030s. It “will be the first power-plant-relevant large-scale demonstration”, says GF’s chief executive Chris Mowry — unless, that is, its competitors deliver sooner.
Designed by British architect Amanda Levete, GF’s prototype plant illustrates the way fusion research has shifted from gargantuan state- or internationally funded enterprises to sleek, image-conscious affairs driven by private companies, often with state support. (GF will receive some UK government funding; it has not disclosed how much.)
Artist’s impression of General Fusion’s planned plant at Culham, UK. Credit: AL_A for General Fusion. Lead image: The world's strongest high-temperature superconducting magnet will be used in a 2025 fusion reactor in Massachusetts.
Credit: Gretchen Ertl, CFS/MIT-PSFC, 2021
In this respect, advocates of fusion technology say it has many parallels with the space industry. That, too, was once confined to government agencies but is now benefiting from the drive and imagination of nimble (albeit often state-assisted) private enterprise. This is “the SpaceX moment for fusion”, says Mowry, referring to Elon Musk’s space-flight company in Hawthorne, California.
“The mood has changed,” says Thomas Klinger, a fusion specialist at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) in Greifswald, Germany. “We can smell that we’re getting close.” Investors sense the real prospect of returns on their money: Google and the New York City-based investment bank Goldman Sachs, for instance, are among those funding the fusion company TAE Technologies, based in Foothill Ranch, California, which has raised around $880 million so far. “Companies are starting to build things at the level of what governments can build,” says Bob Mumgaard, chief executive of Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
And just as private space travel is now materializing, many industry observers are forecasting that the same business model will give rise to commercial fusion — desperately needed to decarbonize the energy economy — within a decade. “There’s a very good shot to get there within less than ten years,” says Michl Binderbauer, chief executive of TAE Technologies. In the FIA report, a majority of respondents thought that fusion would power an electrical grid somewhere in the world in the 2030s.
Several fusion researchers who don’t work for private firms told Nature that, although prospects are undeniably exciting, commercial fusion in a decade is overly optimistic. “Private companies say they’ll have it working in ten years, but that’s just to attract funders,” says Tony Donné, programme manager of the Eurofusion consortium which conducts experiments at the state-run Joint European Torus, established at Culham in the late 1970s. “They all have stated constantly to be about ten years away from a working fusion reactor, and they still do.”
Timelines that companies project should be regarded not so much as promises but as motivational aspirations, says Melanie Windridge, a plasma physicist who is the FIA’s UK director of communications, and a communications consultant for the fusion firm Tokamak Energy, in Culham. “I think bold targets are necessary,” she says. State support is also likely to be needed to build a fusion power plant that actually feeds electricity into the grid, adds Ian Chapman, chief executive of the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA).
But whether it comes from small-scale private enterprise, huge national or international fusion projects, or a bit of both, practical nuclear fusion finally seems to be on the horizon. “I’m convinced that it’s going to happen”, says Chapman. Chris Kelsall, chief executive of Tokamak Energy, agrees. “Sooner or later this will be cracked,” he says. “And it will be transformative.”
Seventy-year dream
Nuclear fusion, says Klinger, is “the only primary energy source left in the Universe” that we have yet to exploit. Ever since the process that powers the stars was harnessed in the 1950s for hydrogen bombs, technologists have dreamt of unlocking it in a more controlled manner for energy generation.
Existing nuclear power plants use fission: the release of energy when heavy atoms such as uranium decay. Fusion, by contrast, produces energy by merging very light nuclei, typically hydrogen, which can happen only at very high temperatures and pressures. Most efforts to harness it in reactors involve heating the hydrogen isotopes deuterium (D) and tritium (T) until they form a plasma — a fluid state of matter containing ionized atoms and other charged particles — and then fuse (see ‘Fuel mix’). For these isotopes, fusion starts at lower temperatures and densities than for normal hydrogen.
D–T fusion generates some radiation in the form of short-lived neutrons, but no long-lived radioactive waste, unlike fission. It is also safer than fission because it can be switched off easily: if the plasma is brought below critical thresholds of temperature or density, the nuclear reactions stop.
FUEL MIX
Many reactors fuse deuterium (D) with tritium (T) to release energy. This mix ignites, or creates a self-sustaining fusion reaction,at around 100 million kelvin. It produces neutrons, which can make the chamber radioactive.
Deuterium + Tritium Helium 4 + neutron
Other reactions, such as fusing protons (p) with boron-11 (11B), don’t produce neutrons, but ignition requires higher temperatures.
p Boron-11 3a
What makes it so difficult to conduct in a controlled manner, however, is the challenge of containing electrically charged plasma that is undergoing fusion at temperatures of around 100 million kelvin — much hotter than the centre of the Sun. Generally, researchers use magnetic fields to confine and levitate the plasma inside the reactor. But instabilities in this infernal fluid make containment very difficult, and have so far prevented fusion from being sustained for long enough to extract more energy than is put in to trigger it.
This is necessarily big science, and until this century, only state-run projects could muster the resources. The scale of the enterprise is reflected today in the world’s biggest fusion effort: ITER, a fusion reactor being constructed in southern France and supported by 35 nations, including China, European Union member states, the United States, Russia, South Korea and Japan, with a price tag of at least $22 billion.
Although the first test runs are scheduled for 2025, full D–T fusion is not scheduled until 2035, ultimately with the goal of continuously extracting 500 MW of power — comparable to the output of a modest coal-fired power plant — while putting 50 MW into the reactor. (These numbers refer only to the energy put directly into and drawn out of the plasma; they don’t factor in other processes such as maintenance needs or the inefficiencies of converting the fusion heat output into electricity.)
A further series of big reactors might follow ITER: China, which has three fusion reactors feeding results into ITER, plans a China Fusion Engineering Testing Reactor (CFETR) in the 2030s, and both South Korea and the EU propose to build demonstration power plants that would follow on from ITER.
The big national and international efforts won’t succeed soon enough to enable the decarbonization needed to address climate change, although fusion is expected to become a key part of the energy economy in the second half of the century. But private companies hope to have working and affordable devices sooner (see ‘Fusion rush’).
As with space exploration, one of the benefits of a private fusion sector is greater diversity of approaches than monolithic state enterprises can muster. ITER is using the most common approach to confining plasma, in a device called a tokamak, which uses powerful superconducting magnets to hold the plasma in a ring-shaped (toroidal) vessel. The flow of the electrically charged plasma particles themselves also generates a magnetic field that helps to confine the plasma.
But a tokamak isn’t the only option. In the early days of fusion, in the 1950s, US astrophysicist Lyman Spitzer showed that magnetic fields could be configured in a twisted loop, rather like a figure of eight, to make a ‘magnetic bottle’ that could be filled with plasma. This design was known as a stellarator. But solving the equations describing the plasma for this complex geometry was too computationally intensive, so the concept was mostly abandoned once tokamaks had been shown to work.
As supercomputers became available in the late 1980s, however, researchers revisited the idea. This led to a stellarator project at the IPP called the Wendelstein 7-X reactor. Costing more than €1 billion (US$1.15 billion) to build, staff and operate up to its first plasma testing in 2015, with construction costs of €370 million largely borne by the German government, Wendelstein 7-X will be completed by the end of this year. Then comes a long process of working out how to operate it routinely as a demonstration project.
Stellarators have the advantage that their plasma is more easily confined, with no need (as in tokamaks) to drive strong electric currents through it to keep a lid on instabilities, says fusion physicist Josefine Proll at Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands. But it’s not clear whether it will be possible to implement stellarator technology in a reactor in 20–30 years. “It seems not all that likely at this moment,” she says. “We have a lot of basic questions still to answer,” says Klinger. “This is a first-of-a-kind machine, so one must be patient and go step by step.” Private companies set shorter-term goals because they have to satisfy their stakeholders, he says — but that doesn’t mean they can deliver.
Alternative designs
Some private fusion companies are sticking with the tokamak design, but scaled down. At Tokamak Energy, a team of around 165 employees is working on a spherical tokamak, shaped like an apple with its core removed. At 3.5 metres across, it will be many times smaller than the ITER tokamak, which, with surrounding cooling equipment, will be almost 30 metres wide and tall. Some state-funded schemes are considering the compact spherical design, too: the UKAEA, for example, has launched a project called STEP (Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production) that aims to create such a device in a prototype plant that would deliver at least 100 MW to the national grid by 2040. The UKAEA has shortlisted five sites to host the plant, and expects the final choice to be made next year.
Hydrogen plasma in Tokamak Energy’s ST40 spherical tokamak. This video has no sound.
Credit: Tokamak Energy Ltd
Key to these designs are new kinds of magnets made from ribbons of high-temperature superconducting materials, which should produce much stronger fields than the conventional superconducting magnets used by ITER. They are “a potential game-changer”, says Klinger — not just because of their higher fields, but also because conventional superconductors need liquid-helium cooling. That is an engineering nightmare: liquid helium’s viscosity is almost zero, allowing it to leak through any tiny cracks. High-temperature superconductors, by contrast, can be cooled with liquid nitrogen, which is abundant, cheap and easy to store.
Both Tokamak Energy (in collaboration with CERN, Europe’s particle-physics laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland) and CFS are banking on these new magnets. In August, CFS announced that it had made them in the form needed for its tokamaks — “on schedule and on budget”, Mumgaard says proudly.
In 2018, CFS was spun off from the Plasma Science and Fusion Center of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, and Klinger considers the firm “the most promising, most valuable and most thought-through private fusion initiative”. MIT and CFS together are preparing to build what Mumgaard calls “the first fusion machine that makes net energy” — producing more energy than goes into it. Named SPARC, it is being constructed in Devens, Massachusetts. Mumgaard says it will be running by the end of 2025, and will be “commercially relevant” because it will generate around 100 MW of power.
First Light Fusion, a company spun off from the University of Oxford, UK, in 2011, is pursuing a different strategy, called inertial confinement. Here, the fusion plasma isn’t held by magnetic fields: rather, a shock wave compresses it to the immense densities needed for fusion, and the plasma retains its shape just for a split second by inertia alone, before spreading out and dissipating its energy. The idea has been around since the 1950s, and is also being studied at the US National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, where pea-sized plastic capsules of D–T fuel are imploded by nanosecond pulses of laser light to ignite fusion. In August, NIF reported a laser shot that produced a fleeting energy output 8 times higher than it had ever before achieved — and amounted to 70% of the energy that had gone into the reaction. That has raised hopes of net gain from inertial-confinement laser fusion, although such an energy-intensive process might be more useful for fundamental research than for large-scale power generation.
At First Light, the compression shock wave is created not by energy-hungry lasers, but by using an electromagnetic projectile gun to fire a small piece of material into a target containing the hydrogen isotopes. The company is keeping details of the process secret, but has said that to achieve fusion, it will need to fire the material at 50 kilometres per second — twice as fast as is typically achieved in current shock-wave experiments.
GF is taking yet another approach, called magnetized target fusion. It involves the plasma being compressed more slowly — for instance, using pistons — but with the aid of magnetic confinement that prevents heat from dissipating as the plasma is squeezed. This idea, suggested in the early 1970s by researchers at the US Naval Research Laboratory in Washington DC, seeks an optimal compromise between the energy-intensive high magnetic fields needed to confine a tokamak plasma, and the energy-intensive shock waves, lasers or other methods used to rapidly compress plasma in inertial-confinement designs.
GF’s design for its Culham reactor uses a centrifuge to spin a chamber filled with molten lead and lithium. That motion opens a cavity in the liquid metal, where the plasma sits. A piston system pumps more liquid metal into the chamber, compressing the plasma over a few tens of milliseconds. Fusion begins; then the pressure is released and the process repeated in pulses, about once a second.
One especially neat aspect of this reactor is how it generates tritium fuel — a hugely expensive resource that can be made only in nuclear reactions, and decays rapidly. In ITER and other designs, tritium will be produced when neutrons escaping the reactor hit a lithium blanket lining the tokamak. In GF’s design, tritium is made when neutrons hit lithium within the liquid-metal compression system itself.
GF has cracked key challenges only in the past few years — making a plasma target that lasts for long enough to be compressed, and smoothly and rapidly collapsing the liquid- metal cavity. The firm says, however, that after it has its UK demonstration plant operating in 2025, it will “power homes, businesses and industry with clean, reliable and affordable fusion energy by the early 2030s”.
TAE Technologies has, in some ways, an even more audacious concept. It plans to abandon D–T fuel altogether, instead fusing boron-11 atoms with hydrogen-1 nuclei (protons). This idea, championed by TAE’s co-founder, the Canadian plasma physicist Norman Rostoker, and dubbed p–11B fusion, requires temperatures ten times greater than for D–T fusion: about one billion kelvin. The advantage is that this reaction uses only abundantly available fuel, and generates no neutrons that could contaminate the reactor. Binderbauer says that the concept offers lowers maintenance costs and a much more sustainable end goal.
In TAE reactors, the plasma is confined inside a cylindrical magnetic field made by a solenoid — a design that draws on particle-accelerator technologies. The plasma rotates around the axis; that rotation, as in a spinning top, generates inherent stability. Confinement doesn’t require strong external magnetic fields; those are mostly generated by the spinning plasma itself. To keep it rotating, tangential beams of boron inject angular momentum, rather as a top is torqued by a whip.
The company has made prototypes to demonstrate this set-up; since 2017, it has been working with a test system called Norman, and it is now starting work on a device called Copernicus that will run with normal hydrogen (or other non-fusing) plasmas to avoid producing neutrons. Computer simulations will show what energy would be generated if real fusion fuel were used. If TAE achieves the conditions needed for D–T fusion — which it hopes to do by around the middle of this decade — the company plans to license the technology to others who are pursuing those fuels. Binderbauer calls Copernicus a “stepping stone” to the temperatures needed for p–11B fusion. “We’re convinced that we can go to the billion-degree level,” he says — and he hopes to see this towards the end of the decade.
Among the many other private fusion firms, Helion Energy, in Everett, Washington, has attracted the most interest from investors: this month, it announced a $500-million funding round, bringing its total to $578 million. Its aim is to generate electricity directly from fusion, rather than using the process to heat fluids and drive turbines. Helion’s technique involves firing pulses of plasma together inside a linear reactor, then rapidly compressing the merged plasma with magnetic fields. When fusion occurs, the plasma expands and its magnetic field interacts with that surrounding the reactor to induce an electric current. Helion hopes to fuse a mixture of deuterium and helium-3, which would not produce neutrons as a by-product. But helium-3 itself would need to be produced by D–D fusion. The company is building a demonstration reactor called Polaris, which it aims to have in operation by 2024.
How Helion’s technology will generate electricity. This video has no sound.
Credit: Helion Energy
Cheaper reactors?
The reactors built by private companies, being smaller than ITER-scale projects, will be much more affordable. Tokamak Energy’s co-founder, David Kingham, envisages billion-dollar devices, and Binderbauer thinks TAE’s systems could be built for around $250 million.
The aim is to make small fusion reactors that are compatible with existing energy grids. Kelsall says they could also serve industries that are particularly energy-intensive, such as metal smelting — a sector that can’t be supplied by renewables. Mowry adds that shipping could be another important market: devices producing around 100 MW of power are “just the right size for a large container ship”.
Donné remains cautious about the prospects, however, saying that private companies “are working on aggressive time paths compared to publicly funded projects, but also have a much higher risk of potential failure”. All the same, TAE, for one, insists that it is still on the track that it promised in the mid-2010s, of having a fusion device ready for commercialization by around the end of this decade
Despite his scepticism, Donné adds: “I see the booming of private fusion companies as a good sign. There can be mutual benefits in keeping close ties between public and private fusion projects.” That’s certainly happening. Not only is the private fusion industry building on years of state investment in projects such as ITER, but it is benefiting from governments that see value in supporting it — which is why the UK government and the US Department of Energy are also investing in firms such as Tokamak Energy, CFS and GF. Mowry thinks that such public–private partnerships are the way forward — as they were for COVID-19 vaccines. And, as with the vaccines, fusion will be needed everywhere, especially as energy use rises in lower-income countries.
The vaccines showed “what you can do if you have the resources”, says Windridge. “If we had that kind of commitment in energy, I think it would be incredible to see what can be achieved.” As with the vaccines, too, society desperately needs more clean, carbon-free sources of energy. “This is an existential challenge,” says Mowry. “Fusion is the vaccine for climate change.”
Carbon Dioxide Fertilization Greening Earth, Study Finds
Carbon Dioxide Fertilization Greening Earth, Study Finds
From a quarter to half of Earth’s vegetated lands has shown significant greening over the last 35 years largely due to rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, according to a new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change on April 25.
An international team of 32 authors from 24 institutions in eight countries led the effort, which involved using satellite data from NASA’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer instruments to help determine the leaf area index, or amount of leaf cover, over the planet’s vegetated regions. The greening represents an increase in leaves on plants and trees equivalent in area to two times the continental United States.
This image shows the change in leaf area across the globe from 1982-2015. Credits: Boston University/R. Myneni
Green leaves use energy from sunlight through photosynthesis to chemically combine carbon dioxide drawn in from the air with water and nutrients tapped from the ground to produce sugars, which are the main source of food, fiber and fuel for life on Earth. Studies have shown that increased concentrations of carbon dioxide increase photosynthesis, spurring plant growth.
However, carbon dioxide fertilization isn’t the only cause of increased plant growth—nitrogen, land cover change and climate change by way of global temperature, precipitation and sunlight changes all contribute to the greening effect. To determine the extent of carbon dioxide’s contribution, researchers ran the data for carbon dioxide and each of the other variables in isolation through several computer models that mimic the plant growth observed in the satellite data.
Results showed that carbon dioxide fertilization explains 70 percent of the greening effect, said co-author Ranga Myneni, a professor in the Department of Earth and Environment at Boston University. “The second most important driver is nitrogen, at 9 percent. So we see what an outsized role CO2 plays in this process.”
About 85 percent of Earth’s ice-free lands is covered by vegetation. The area covered by all the green leaves on Earth is equal to, on average, 32 percent of Earth’s total surface area – oceans, lands and permanent ice sheets combined. The extent of the greening over the past 35 years “has the ability to fundamentally change the cycling of water and carbon in the climate system,” said lead author Zaichun Zhu, a researcher from Peking University, China, who did the first half of this study with Myneni as a visiting scholar at Boston University.
Every year, about half of the 10 billion tons of carbon emitted into the atmosphere from human activities remains temporarily stored, in about equal parts, in the oceans and plants. “While our study did not address the connection between greening and carbon storage in plants, other studies have reported an increasing carbon sink on land since the 1980s, which is entirely consistent with the idea of a greening Earth,” said co-author Shilong Piao of the College of Urban and Environmental Sciences at Peking University.
While rising carbon dioxide concentrations in the air can be beneficial for plants, it is also the chief culprit of climate change. The gas, which traps heat in Earth’s atmosphere, has been increasing since the industrial age due to the burning of oil, gas, coal and wood for energy and is continuing to reach concentrations not seen in at least 500,000 years. The impacts of climate change include global warming, rising sea levels, melting glaciers and sea ice as well as more severe weather events.
The beneficial impacts of carbon dioxide on plants may also be limited, said co-author Dr. Philippe Ciais, associate director of the Laboratory of Climate and Environmental Sciences, Gif-suv-Yvette, France. “Studies have shown that plants acclimatize, or adjust, to rising carbon dioxide concentration and the fertilization effect diminishes over time.”
“While the detection of greening is based on data, the attribution to various drivers is based on models,” said co-author Josep Canadell of the Oceans and Atmosphere Division in the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in Canberra, Australia. Canadell added that while the models represent the best possible simulation of Earth system components, they are continually being improved.
Scientists Sent An Underwater Robot Inside The Fukushima Reactor & Made A Chilling Discovery via Unexplained Mysteries
Scientists Sent An Underwater Robot Inside The Fukushima Reactor & Made A Chilling Discovery via Unexplained Mysteries
Scientists sent an underwater robot inside the Fukushima reactor & made a chilling discovery. Today, we take a look at what scientists found inside the Fukushima Reactor. The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear disaster was a devastating event, with 18 non-fatal injuries being directly attributed to the incident, including physical injuries from the hydrogen explosion and radiation burns, and one loss of life with a clear link to the radiation exposure from Fukushima.
This nuclear accident was caused by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, both of which hit the powerplant and saw an additional 18,000 lost their lives. Whilst it was 2011 when disaster struck, the aftermath lingers on even today. The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear disaster continues to this day to be the most severe nuclear accident since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986… Thank you for watching! Thank you to CO.AG for the background music!
What do you think? Staying cool this week I hope! Thanks for stopping by. Stay tuned for more BIN news.
12 Unbelievable Things That You Will See For The First Time
12 Unbelievable Things That You Will See For The First Time
We love to discover new things, things that are surprising, strange but also fascinating. Just when you think you have seen it all, there comes a discovery that takes your breath away. We have brought for you some of the rare inventions and happenings around the world that are truly wonderful. Here is the list of cool things, we bet you would have not seen before.
Are you afraid of spiders? It’s a common fear and one that keeps the roll-able magazine and foldable newspaper businesses profitable. If you’re arachnophobic, Georgia is not the state to live in – entomologists announced recently that giant Joro spiders (Trichonephila clavate), an invasive species from East Asia that only showed up in 2014, has taken over the state … covering it with its massive, intricate webs. Don’t rest too easily Tennessee, South Carolina, Florida and Alabama – the entomologists say the Joro Spiders have crossed your borders with Georgia and are spreading. And, while they’re not the largest spider in North America, they may even be scaring other spiders. Is it time to subscribe to a few more magazines?
“Last year, there were dozens of spiders, and they began to be something of a nuisance when I was doing yard work. This year, I have several hundred, and they actually make the place look spooky with all the messy webs — like a scene out of ‘Arachnophobia.'”
Joro spider
University of Georgia entomologist Will Hudson explains in a statement that the Joro spiders are venomous but pose a danger only to insects caught in their webs, not humans of pets. However, their rapid spread throughout Georgia and has him concerned and he recommends killing any females one comes across – females are larger (3 inches across) and more colorful than the small brown males. Hudson himself has killed more than 300 females on his property just this year. He instructs to avoid persiticides and instead use old-fashioned methods like shovels, brinks, boots and magazines (big thick ones). And he warns it’s already too late to eradicate them from Georgia and the U.S
“Jumping spiders (Salticidae) have superb vision and are excellent predators but they can equally fall prey to other jumping spiders. In a hierarchical decision-making setup, we tested whether the common zebra jumping spider Salticus scenicus can visually recognize stationary predators.”
While Will Hudson is chasing Joro spiders, researchers led by Dr. Daniela Rößler at Germany’s University of Konstanz found something unusual about jumping spiders of the Salticidae family – they’re afraid of other jumping spiders. In a study published by the British Ecological Society and appropriately nicknamed “Arachno-Arachnophobia,” the entomologists wondered how jumping spiders, which use their springy talent to avoid predators, recognized the predators, particularly other jumping spiders. While many creatures detect, the researchers were surprised when jumping spiders recognized and backed away from a dead jumping spider. Even more interesting, Rößler says in a tweet that this behavior was present in newly hatched spiderlings too.
Jumping spider
“So, while we usually think of anti-predator adaptations in terms of morphology and behavior, we might want to include cognitive and perceptual abilities more into this discussion. Isn’t it absolutely amazing that a brain the size of a poppy seed is able to do this???”
Amazing? Yes. Frightening? Well, think about it. Something with a brain the size of a poppy seed can spot spiders before you can. And Rößler’s study only looks at jumping spiders. Do other spiders have this innate ability? Are Joro spiders already evolving to fear other spiders … boots?
Even if you’re not getting married, “Modern Bride” is a pretty thick magazine.
There’s good and bad news. Let’s start with the latter. As everyone knows—at least, those who are sane—there’s this thing called global warming. Earth is rapidly becoming uninhabitable, with polar ice caps melting and sea levels rising, and more frequent wildfires and hurricanes. This is bad news. Very bad news.
But the good news, though not really comparable in magnitude as, you know, our planet dying, is that there are people building things that could help fight climate change. So while it is easy to view our future as a dystopian hell world with rising sea levels, dead agricultural crops, and a massive die-off of the human species— The Debrief has decided to provide a nice little list of how some people are working to save our asses. So, here we go.
THE TOP 4 WAYS HUMANITY CAN BE SAVED FROM GLOBAL WARMING:
1. China’s Artificial Star
A non-negotiable way of fighting climate change is switching to renewable energy. Solar energy is one thing, but what if we can generate energy comparable to that of the Sun itself? Instead of using our Sun as a source of energy, scientists are wondering if it’s possible to create the Sun itself.
That line of research has led to the birth of an artificial star. In the hopes of finding a better way to fuel the Earth, China is betting on one of its own inventions: EAST (Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak).
Harnessing the power of nuclear fusion, EAST burns at temperatures eight times hotter than the Sun. And it’s sustainable, too! Nuclear fusion reactors not only produce an extreme abundance of energy, but it also generates (practically) zero waste and is safe to use, despite having the word “nuclear” in its title.
So how does this artificial star do all this?
When particles of hydrogen nuclei collide, they fuse to form helium nuclei. The resulting helium atom is lighter than the two hydrogen ones, and since energy is conserved, the lost mass of the collision results in the creation of pure energy.
A rendering of hot plasma moving inside the EAST system. (Image: ITER)
To get enough of these hydrogen nuclei particles to collide, they need to be sped up via heat. This is basically what is going on in the Sun, and it’s the same process that is replicated in the artificial star. It’s nuclear fusion.
The problem scientists have previously faced with nuclear fusion is not blowing things up. But in the 1950s, Russian scientists discovered a way around that unfortunate side-effect. Nuclear fusion can happen safely when it’s in a donut-shaped chamber filled with magnets—a Tokamak.
So really, China’s artificial star is more of a hot nuclear donut.
EAST isn’t anywhere close to producing enough energy for consumers yet. Scientists behind the project are still focused on the goal of keeping the temperature stable for a long time, but so far, it’s looking like a positive step towards solving the energy crisis.
2. Algae photobioreactor
We’ve established that we need clean energy if we’re to fight climate change, but we also need clean water. An algae photobioreactor can help us get both.
NASA invented a new method to grow algae, clean wastewater, and capture carbon dioxide to produce biofuel.
A photobioreactor uses a light source to cultivate microorganisms. These microorganisms then generate biomass from light and carbon dioxide. NASA’s photobioreactors in particular have semi-permeable membranes which utilize osmosis to clean the water as well.
Algae-derived fuel is an emerging practice in the field of renewable energy, with similar projects coming out of Scotland-based BioEconomy (ENBIO). ENBIO’s photobioreactor uses LED technology to produce microalgae and has cultivation systems that allow for integration with local renewable energy grids.
“Since microalgae are grown using only light, CO2, and nutrients, the use of algae-based fuel could limit the impact on the environment,” said ENBIO business development officer Carole Shellcock.
While NASA and ENBIO have pushed for algae in discussions on biofuel, algae-derived fuel isn’t going to be the kind of showstopper-energy-producer that China’s EAST plans to be. Instead, algae proves to be a hub of innovation in the realm of biofuel, with more projects using the organism to refine and re-invent.
3. Alternatives to lithium-ion batteries
What good is producing energy if there’s no sustainable way to store it?
A central reason why renewable energy has yet to catch up with the petrochemical industry is because of the challenges that come with producing, storing, and disposing of this energy form. Renewable energy is already difficult to store, but the whole dilemma is made even harder when factoring in how expensive it is to create energy storage tools, and how unsustainable it is.
A rechargeable lithium-ion battery from scooter company Kumpan Electric. Great for your bike, not so great for the Earth. (Image: Kumpan Electric)
Lithium-ion batteries are currently viewed as the go-to renewable energy storage solution, but they are costly to produce and dispose of. They also require sourcing raw materials—lithium, nickel, manganese, cobalt, and graphite—a process which has led to dire ecological consequences, such as toxic black holes and ecological die-offs (like the flamingos in Chile!).
But there are innovators in search of technology that can dethrone the lithium-ion battery. Volt Storage is a new company looking to use its new vanadium redox flow storage technology. Volt Storage uses a vanadium-based liquid electrolyte, which flows through the battery cells in two separate circuits. The technology promises to be resource-saving and CO2-reducing.
Another company looking to put forth a new battery is Form Energy. With the invention of flow battery, a new type of sulfur-based battery, Form Energy promises to reform the electricity grid to run on low-cost, renewable energy.
Yet-Ming Chiang, Form Energy co-founder, said, “this battery literally inhales and exhales air, but it doesn’t exhale carbon dioxide, it exhales oxygen.”
In August, Form Energy announced that it raised $240 million in funding, with backing from investors like Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos. Talk about an energized industry!
4. Alternative meat
It’s long been understood that meat consumption is bad for the environment. Yet there’s no stopping us carnivores. The average American eats 274 pounds of meat per year, and that doesn’t include seafood. Meat and dairy production accounts for 14.5 percent of the planet’s greenhouse gas emissions. Safe to say, we should all be eating way less meat.
Targeting those who just can’t seem to give up meat, companies have started producing alternatives: laboratory-grown meat.
In the last decade, this field of cellular agriculture has raised $7 billion worth of investor and venture capital funding, with Bill Gates and SoftBank showing support. There are currently over 70 startups worldwide dedicated to the production of this alternative meat product. But what is this form of lab meat exactly, and how is it different from most of the vegan meats you can find at Whole Foods?
Cultured meat is meat created using animal stem cells. These cells are nurtured to grow into muscle cells or fat cells, then assembled to replicate the structure of meat itself. This method bypasses animal slaughter and cruelty and promises to have a smaller environmental footprint than traditional meat production.
The first time cultured meat was approved for sale was in December 2020. In Singapore, a private members club started serving chicken nuggets made by San Francisco-based Just Eat. Now companies have manufactured lab-grown Italian pork sausages and bluefin tuna.
While a report from consulting firm AT Kearney predicts that most meat in 2040 would not come from dead animals, and innovation in the field of cellular agriculture is rapidly growing, cultured meat is still a long way away from being a dinnertime staple. But at least it’s on its way.
Humanity still has a way to go to solve the climate crisis. However, if any of these ideas can become a mainstream change, there may be hope for us. Otherwise, we are all going to have to go ‘Mad Max’ for a few centuries…
Candy Chan is a journalist based in New York City. She recently graduated from Barnard College with a degree in History. Follow her reporting on her Twitter @candyschan.
Early in his presidency, former president Donald Trump was widely reported to have asked during a hurricane briefing why the military couldn’t drop a nuclear bomb into the eye of a storm, detonate it and weaken or eliminate the hurricane. While Mr. Trump later denied asking the question, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was concerned enough to post a page explaining why a nuclear bomb would not alter the storm but would release radioactive fallout that would spread quickly with the trade winds already moving the hurricane towards North and Central America. Proving that bad ideas don’t die … they just move to another country, a politician in Spain has proposed bombing a volcano to stop it from erupting. What could possibly go wrong … that hasn’t already been demonstrated with Mentos and Diet Coke?
“Isn’t there a plane that could fly and drop [a bomb]? It arrives, drops and boom. And it sends the lava in a different direction? Maybe it’s madness, but I get the impression from a technological point of view that it should be tried.”
What could possibly go wrong?
The La Cumbre Vieja volcano in Spain’s Canary Islands has been erupting constantly since September 19, 2021, with no sign of letting up. Lava flows have destroyed buildings on the southwest part of La Palma, forcing at least 7,000 island residents to evacuate. At the same time, recent earthquakes – one a magnitude 5.0 – caused the partial collapse of the volcano’s cone and reconfigured the lava flows. Casimiro Curbelo, the president of the La Gomera Municipal Council (La Gomera is another Canary Island), wants to protect his constituents so he recently proposed taking a drastic measure — using military planes to bomb the volcano into submission.
Hasn’t the history of warfare shown this doesn’t work? Actually, the history of bombing volcanoes is a better gauge.
“Hours after bombs were dropped by U.S. Army Air Corps airplanes, Jaggar declared the bombing a success on a radio broadcast. “Our purpose was not to stop the lava flow, but to start it all over again at the source so that it will take a new course,” he said. The bombs were successfully dropped (“direct hits on all targets”), but Jaggar waited to see any effects on the lava flow.”
On December 27, 1935, Thomas A. Jaggar, Director of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, ordered bombs dropped on the lava flows of the Humu‘ula volcano flow to redirect them away from the nearby city of Hilo. Jaggar thought the bombs slowed the flow and helped stop it in 1936, but a study in the 1970s concluded it was already dying out and the bombs had no effect.
In 1983, an erupting Mouth Etna in Sicily was threatening a nearby village so engineers placed around 900 pounds (408 kilograms) of explosives, enclosed in water-cooled pipes, next to the flow. The explosion successfully redirected the lava flow to an artificial trench, but it also split another part of the lava stream which had to be redirected manually. While touted as a success, the Mount Etna explosion still caused other problems and was not a true bomb dropping.
What about a giant stopper?
Will Casimiro Curbelo get his wish to have the La Cumbre Vieja volcano bombed into submission? Live Science reports that Spain’s military has not responded to Curbelo’s suggestion, and neither has Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. The eruption hasn’t caused any deaths and most of the population lives away from the volcano’s active west side. In other words, it hasn’t affected tourism or cost those in charge any money … yet.
Let’s hope cooler heads prevail and cut the fuse on this bomb of a scheme to stop an active volcano.
According to the “infinite monkey theory,” an infinite number of monkeys randomly hitting a keyboard an infinite number of times will at some point type the complete works of William Shakespeare. That would be an impressive, albeit accidental, accomplishment. But could it be topped? Could an infinite number of monkeys add music to the words and compose the complete works of The Beatles? How about The Monkees? Queen? It turns out the odds of this happening are better because of a species called the singing lemur which has just demonstrated that humans and birds are not the only animals with musical rhythm – singing lemurs matched the beat of Queen’s “We Will Rock You.” What next … lemurs leading the cheers at football games?
Buddy, you’re a monkey, lemur Shouting in the trees, gonna take on the world someday You got mud on your face, you big disgrace Waving your tail all over the place Lemurs, lemurs rock you Lemurs, lemurs rock you — (apologies to Queen)
Singing lemur by Alfred Grandidier (1875-1921)
While most songs have a 1:1 beat structure with the notes being of the same length, Queen’s “We Will Rock You” has a 1:2 ratio where some notes are twice as long as the others – specifically, the short-short-long pattern of stomps and claps. Mastering that rhythm was thought to be something only humans and a few birds (the nightingale thrush is one) could do until Chiara De Gregorio, a primatologist at Italy’s University of Turin went to the rainforests of Madagascar to study the critically endangered primate known as the indri (Indri indri) or singing lemur – one of the world’s largest lemurs. Their singing was well known – their loud songs can last up to three minutes and are a form of communication or warning signals – but it was thought to be random. De Gregorio and her team discovered otherwise.
“Since indris’ songs are composed of notes that are organized in phrases, they were very good candidates to understand if indris would share the same categorical rhythms that are typical of human music.”
Indris, the largest lemur of Madagascar, often strike up songs with members of their family, with sounds ranging from roars to wails. Photograph: Zoonar GmbH/Alamy
De Gregorio explains in Inverse (and in a study published in Current Biology) how the researchers recorded indris singing in the wild, measured the intervals between the lemur’s musical notes, then “calculated the ratios between two subsequent notes by dividing each onset for its duration plus the duration of the following one.” They were shocked to find the lemurs using the 1:2 ration because “aspects of human musicality rare in other species.”
“Finding in indris [a] musical universal may indicate that human music is not truly novel, but its intrinsic musical properties are more deeply rooted in the primate lineage than previously thought.”
Does the band need a horn section?
Is this a “Planet of the Apes” moment that will lead to singing lemurs taking over the music charts? Hardly. In fact, there’s no chance a million of them working together could compose Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” or “We Will Rock You” because the indri are so critically endangered – there are less than 10,000 in the wild on Madagascar. De Gregorio hopes her work can help save the indri from extinction. Maybe what she needs is a singing lemur cheer.
We will, we will save you, yeah, yeah, come on We will, we will save you, alright, louder! We will, we will save you, one more time We will, we will save you
At times we come across some funny or unexpected happenings which are just unbelievable, unless seen by one’s own eyes. Let’s consider this dog who is continuously trying to scale the wall. Why do you guess is it making such a relentless efforts? Just wait a minute and see, what crazy thing is going to take place. Today, we will show you plenty of incredible things. May it be a dog shopping in a mall like humans or this innocent creature that loves massaging or a car cut into pieces and several other mind blowing events. Waiting for long would test your patience and may lead to anxiety. So, let’s immediately witness the amusing but unbelievable incidents recorded by the camera at different locations across the globe.
Nieuwe simulaties tonen hoe wereld er zal uitzien als aarde verder opwarmt
Maar liefst vijftig grote kuststeden overal ter wereld zullen “ongeziene” maatregelen moeten nemen om te voorkomen dat ze deels verzwolgen worden door het stijgende zeeniveau als gevolg van de opwarming van de aarde. Dat staat te lezen in een nieuwe studie van Climate Central, een vzw die klimaatwetenschap analyseert en rapporteert. De organisatie maakte voor 180 plaatsen simulaties om te tonen hoe de wereld eruit kan zien als de temperatuur 1,5 graden, 3 graden of zelfs 4 graden zou stijgen. Ook voor Antwerpen werd de denkoefening gemaakt.
De studie van Climate Central werd uitgevoerd in samenwerking met onderzoekers van de gerenommeerde universiteit van Princeton in de Verenigde Staten en het Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Duitsland. De simulaties tonen wat er zou kunnen gebeuren als de temperatuur op onze planeet 1,5 graden, 3 graden en soms zelfs 4 graden zou stijgen boven het pre-industrieel niveau.
(Hieronder de situatie in Havana, Cuba: links als we de opwarming kunnen beperken tot 1,5 graden, rechts als we naar een opwarming van 3 graden gaan)
Ter vergelijking: vandaag zitten we al op 1,2 graden boven dat niveau. Als we de opwarming onder de 1,5 graden kunnen houden, zouden we nog aan het ergste ontsnappen. Dan zullen we ‘alleen’ moeten wennen aan nog meer extreem weer, dat nog vaker zal voorkomen dan nu. Desalniettemin zouden al zo’n 385 miljoen mensen momenteel op een plaats wonen die verzwolgen zou kunnen worden door water.
Als de temperatuur 1,5 graden zou stijgen, zou dat aantal oplopen tot 510 miljoen mensen. En als we op 3 graden extra zouden uitkomen, zou dat oplopen tot meer dan 800 miljoen mensen.
(Hieronder de situatie in Mumbai, India: links als we de opwarming kunnen beperken tot 1,5 graden, rechts als we naar een opwarming van 3 graden gaan)
De opwarming beperken tot 1,5 graden wordt hoe dan ook niet eenvoudig, want zelfs in het meest optimistische scenario waarin de globale uitstoot van broeikasgassen vanaf vandaag wordt teruggedrongen en tegen 2050 tot nul wordt herleid, zullen we nog boven die kaap uitkomen. En als we boven de 1,5 graden gaan, zal het klimaat onherkenbaar beginnen te worden volgens het nieuwe rapport.
Worstcasescenario’s
In de worstcasescenario’s waarin de uitstoot ook na 2050 blijft stijgen, zou onze planeet de grens van 3 graden al kunnen bereiken in de jaren 2060 of 2070 en daarna zelfs naar 4 graden extra kunnen gaan. Zeeën en oceanen zouden nog tientallen jaren daarna verder kunnen stijgen voor ze hun hoogste punt bereiken.
(Hieronder de situatie in Antwerpen: links als we de opwarming kunnen beperken tot 1,5 graden, rechts als we naar een opwarming van 3 graden gaan)
De meest kwetsbare plaatsen op onze planeet blijken in Azië en Oceanië te liggen. Vier van de vijf meest bedreigde landen zijn China, India, Vietnam en Indonesië. Dat zijn ook landen die de jongste jaren extra ingezet hebben op fossiele brandstoffen. In Oceanië worden hele eilanden bedreigd.
Zwak punt
Een zwak punt in de studie is dat er volgens de onderzoekers geen internationale databank bestaat met de bestaande verdedigingslinies tegen het opkomende water, zoals zeeweringen en dijken. Desondanks tonen stormen en overstromingen vandaag al aan dat heel wat kuststeden extra maatregelen zullen moeten nemen om de voeten droog te houden. Zelfs als het lukt om het Akkoord van Parijs na te leven. Voor rijke landen zal dat mogelijk wel nog lukken, maar de onderzoekers vrezen voor minder rijke landen.
Climate Central roept dan ook op tot actie, met de internationale klimaattop in Glasgow in het vooruitzicht.
(Hieronder nog de situatie in respectievelijk Londen (Buckingham Palace), Sevilla, Hamburg, Kopenhagen en Shanghai: links telkens als we de opwarming kunnen beperken tot 1,5 graden, rechts als we naar een opwarming van 3 graden gaan. De volledige lijst met simulaties vind je hier)
Scientists Are Predicting Polar Vortex To Bring Big Freeze And Coldest Winter :”People Should Be Prepared For a Real Flagstaff Winter”
Scientists Are Predicting Polar Vortex To Bring Big Freeze And Coldest Winter :”People Should Be Prepared For a Real Flagstaff Winter”
Polar vortex enters Northern U.S.
The stratospheric polar vortex is a large-scale region of air that is contained by a strong west-to-east jet stream that circles the polar region. This jet stream is usually referred to as the polar night jet. The polar vortex extends from the tropopause (the dividing line between the stratosphere and troposphere) through the stratosphere and into the mesosphere (above 50 km). Low values of ozone and cold temperatures are associated with the air inside the vortex.
The stratospheric polar vortex shows quite a bit of day-to-day variability. This variability is caused by weather systems or large-scale waves that move upward from the troposphere into the stratosphere. In the left image , we see some undulations along the edge of the polar vortex, but the vortex is generally centered on the North Pole. Two weeks later we see the center of the polar vortex pushed away from the North Pole. On a constant latitude circle, PV values are high in the eastern hemisphere and low in the western hemisphere. This is referred to as a wave-1 pattern . The wave-1 pattern develops in the troposphere and moves upward (propagates) into the stratosphere.
These stratospheric waves are forced by the large-scale mountain systems and the land-sea contrasts between the continents and oceans. During the northern winter, these waves are continuously forming and moving upward into the stratosphere. The waves can “break”, much like the waves on a beach. These wave-breaking events erode the vortex and keep the polar region warmer and ozone amounts higher. Often, parts of the polar vortex are pulled away from the main vortex. The image on the right shows this, where a large piece of the polar vortex was pulled away from the main vortex (green colored material at the bottom of the image). A comparison between the middle and right images also shows a slight contraction of the polar vortex because of these waves.
Vortex breakup The polar vortex is a winter phenomena. It develops as the sun sets over the polar region and temperatures cool. During the spring, the sun rises and the absorption of solar radiation by ozone begins to heat the polar stratosphere. This heating eventually causes the vortex to disappear along with the polar night jet. However, this process is helped along by planetary-scale waves that propagate up from the troposphere. This wave event that drives the vortex breakup (or final warming) acts to also increase the temperature of the polar region and ozone levels. We mark the day of the vortex breakup when the winds around the vortex edge decrease below a particular value (about 15 m s -1on the 460 K potential temperature surface).
Health officials have issued a desperate plea to the public, urging them to wrap up warm and turn to pharmacies at the first sign of illness, amid “enormous pressure” on casualty departments. Forecasts suggest could be facing the coldest winter for five years, with average minimum temperatures. Research has also shown that people with conditions such as heart disease, lung problems including asthma, and dementia are much more likely to die in winter.
It also makes the blood more likely to clot, raising the risk of heart attack and stroke, and reduces the lung’s ability to fight off infection.
The senior doctor advised keeping homes warm, with regular hot drinks and meals, and urged people to see their pharmacist at the first sign of health problems.
Omdat ze op het Australische Phillip-eiland geen natuurlijke vijand hebben, bevinden deze vraatzuchtige duizendpoten zich wonderbaarlijk genoeg aan de top van de voedselketen.
Als je aan een duizendpoot denkt, denk je misschien aan die kleine, krioelende beestjes in de zanderige grond. Maar in Australië nemen zelfs deze diertjes bizarre vormen aan. Onderzoekers hebben namelijk ontdekt dat de Cormocephalus coynei, een duizendpoot die leeft op het onbewoonde, Australische Phillip-eiland, niet alleen gigantisch is, maar ook een wat opmerkelijk dieet volgt.
Meer over de Cormocephalus coynei
Cormocephalus coynei is een duizendpootsoort die voorkomt op Phillip- en Nepean-eiland, gelegen ten zuiden van het Australische Norfolkeiland. De soort werd voor het eerst gezien op Phillip-eiland in 1792, maar werd pas in 1984 formeel beschreven. De duizendpoot kan maar liefst 23,5 cm lang worden en is roodbruin en oranje van kleur. Maar het meest opmerkelijke is zijn bizarre gewoonte om op gewervelde dieren te jagen.
In de studie besloten onderzoekers het dieet van de duizendpoot te bestuderen. Want dat deze diertjes een bijzondere eetlust hebben, weten we al langer. Zo staan ze erom bekend om op gekko’s, stinken en vissen te jagen. Maar soms hebben de beestjes zelfs nog grotere honger.
Een gekko is ten prooi gevallen aan een vleesetende duizendpoot.
Afbeelding: D. Terrington (2019)
Zeevogels De onderzoekers kwamen namelijk tot de ontdekking dat de duizendpoten op Phillip-eiland het zelfs op zeevogels hebben voorzien. “Er zijn aanwijzingen dat grote duizendpoten over de hele wereld gewervelde dieren verorberen,” zegt onderzoeksleider Luke Halpin. “Maar dit is de eerste keer dat we ontdekken dat de duizendpoot op zeevogels jaagt.”
Dieet De onderzoekers hebben het opmerkelijke dieet van Cormocephalus coynei nauwkeurig in kaart gebracht. En daaruit blijkt dat het bizarre eetpatroon van deze roofzuchtige duizendpoot voor 48 procent bestaat uit gewervelde dieren en 52 procent uit ongewervelde dieren. 30,5 procent bestaat uit hagedissen, waaronder de inheemse Lord Howe Island Skink en de endemische hagedis Christinus guentheri. Opvallend genoeg bestaat 7,9 procent van het dieet van de duizendpoot uit de zwartvleugelstormvogel (met name de kuikentjes) en 9,6 procent uit zeevissen die door in bomen nestelende zeevogels op de bosbodem zijn gedropt.
Bekijk in deze video hoe een duizendpoot een kuikentje vangt.
Het is een vrij merkwaardige samenstelling voor een duizendpoot. “Het vertegenwoordigt een ongewoon hoog percentage gewervelde dieren in het dieet van een ongewervelde,” constateert Halpin. “We laten zien hoe roofzuchtige geleedpotigen druk uitoefenen op gewervelde populaties.”
Top van voedselketen Maar dat is niet eens het enige. Aangezien geen enkel roofdier op het eiland het op de duizendpoot heeft voorzien, zijn deze langbenige monstertjes de onbetwiste toproofdieren op Philip-eiland. Ze bevinden zich wonderbaarlijk genoeg aan de top van de voedselketen.
Sleutelrol Hoe maf het ook klinkt, volgens de onderzoekers is de vraatzuchtige eetlust van de duizendpoten eigenlijk van vitaal belang voor het ecosysteem op het eiland. Dat komt omdat ze belangrijke voedingsstoffen uit de zee (die de zeevogels meenemen) naar het land brengen. Volgens onderzoeker Rohan Clarke spelen de gigantische duizendpoten dan ook een sleutelrol in de vormgeving van het natuurlijke systeem. “Het benadrukt echt de complexiteit van de natuur,” aldus de Clarke.
De duizendpoten houden dus de dynamiek van het ecosysteem op het eiland in balans. En daar kunnen wij ook een belangrijke les uit trekken. “Het laat zien hoe belangrijk het is om de resterende natuurlijke gebieden te behouden,” benadrukt Clarke. “Op die manier kunnen we voorkomen dat complexe interacties zoals deze – die uiteindelijk het leven op aarde ondersteunen – verder worden verstoord.”
The world is ruled by shape-shifting lizards, the landing on the moon was fake, and a UFO crashed in Roswell. Where do conspiracy theories originate from? Prof. Włodzisław Duch from the Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Informatics of the Nicolaus Copernicus University (NCU) has decided to examine the process of their development in the brain. An article dealing with this issue has just been published in a prestigious journal “Patterns” (Cell Press).
Multitude of conspiracy theories people believe in all over the world is astonishing. They actually accompany each significant event: a catastrophe, assassination, death of a famous person or, currently, the Covid-19 pandemic. Because the formation of a distorted image of reality is so widespread this topic has been dealt with by numerous scientists. Various studies, articles and books using psychological, sociological, political science, or anthropological approaches have been published. However, the presumed conspiracy theories mechanism is still a matter of speculations because the problem is scarcely researched by specialists in natural science.
Professor Włodzisław Duch from the Department of Informatics at the Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Informatics, NCU, is an exception. For years, his scientific interests have been focused on artificial intelligence, neural networks, informatics, quantum physics as well as cognitive science. 10 years ago, he wrote his first report on memetics, conspiracy theories, representation of memes as neural network attractor states in the brain, linking it with the formation of conspiracy theories. His article entitled “Memetics and Neural Models of Conspiracy Theories“, has just been published in “Patterns” (Cell Press), a highly renowned, open-access journal in which breakthrough, original texts concerning data science are released.
– It is one of those long-lasting things in my professional life. I have tried to publish this work for so many years. Even though I indicated 10 potential reviewers, nobody felt competent enough to review it, and thus, journals rejected it – explains Prof. Duch. – The concept seemed too innovative. Moreover, it concerns the subtle processes taking place in the brain. Neuroscience experts prefer experiments on rats, so they have no chance to take a closer look at the subject of conspiracy theories. Computer models, in turn, are not concerned with subtle phenomena addressed by memetics.
Richard Dawkins is the originator of memetics. He used the word meme (from Greek root i.e. imitation) to name bits of information “inserted into the head”, those which are rapidly embedded in the neural connections structure in the brain, and whose behavior is similar to that of genes.
– Memetics is thus the theory of human behavior and provides a common paradigm for cultural studies, religious studies, sociology and other fields of social studies which describe our mental space. The main challenge it faces is the identification of memes, studying how they are reproduced, spread, and developed – explains Prof. Duch. – But, what is the meme from the physical, neuroscientific point of view? It has not been described so far.
Brain determinants
Why do people believe in conspiracy theories?
Because this is how their brains function. We think the way our brains allow us to do – says Prof. Duch. – On the one hand, we are dealing with genetic determinism: human cognitive capacity and affective reactions are much varied and dependent on the presence of genes responsible for building individual brain structure, for example COMT, DARPP-32, DRD2 – the genes connected with dopamine, an important neurotransmitter. Hence, genes determine personality, predispositions, skills, but not particular decisions.
On the other hand, genetic determinism only partially affects our neuronal determinism, namely, our brain formation resulting from our life experience, upbringing, culture, and religion.
– We cannot think differently than our neuronal activity allows – says Prof. Duch. – The whole history of a given individual, his/her experience starting in the fetal stage, may influence easy activation of certain neurons in the brain whereas other neurons require strong stimulation in order to be activated. It would be interesting to find out how certain bits of information we receive are turned into memes and reproduced while others remain unnoticed.
Professor Włodzisław Duch from the Department of Informatics at the Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Informatics, NCUfot. Andrzej Romański
The formation of biological and psychological mechanisms of false belief and thus conspiracy theories is obviously very complex. Accepting distorted images of reality can be a side effect of many different factors such as education or life experience, and this is why they are so difficult to study.
– Moreover, accepting simple explanations can be satisfactory; it saves energy (and the brain consumes huge amounts of it), brings a pleasant sense of understanding. In contrast, complex explanations require much effort and time to be fully understood. A simple, but false, explanation is thus attractive: it is always better than no explanation at all – explains Prof. Duch.
Sinks of false beliefs
In his article, Prof. Duch presents one of the possible mechanisms of conspiracy theories formation in the brain.
Emotional excitement or uneasy situations induce temporarily higher neuroplasticity of the brain to make it memorize situations that affect us. After a traumatic situation a suddenly appearing explanationcan rapidly reduce the brain plasticity, ‘freezing’ false images – explains Prof. Duch. – All kinds of gossip becomes unambiguously associated with emotional experience. The flowing of new information is combined with the embedded traces of memory; it can self-organize to create memes attracting many accidental patterns of brain activation that represent memories and concepts. In neural networks such states are called attractors. On the mental level they appear as memes, with many accidental and false associations, destroying relationships between different states of memory. This model of formation of conspiracy beliefs can be called the rapid freezing of high neuroplasticity (RFHN).
– We can now imagine that such condensation of conceptual framework starts to cause the association of the same trace of memory with completely unrelated observations – continues prof. Duch. – It is the model I tried to present in computer simulations: there appear states so condensed with conceptual framework that practically everything merges into one place. In the terminology of dynamic systems many attractor states form a “sink”. ( fig.)
This is why struggling with conspiracy theories is so difficult. In the brains of those who believe in them (even if they hear an argument contradictory to what they think), memeplexes, i.e. complexes of memes related to a given topic, emerge.
And when it emerges, it is also reinforced, says Prof. Duch. In the brain neural network each excitation of memory reinforces its pattern of activation, causing stronger associations of different, even most distant, information. Such memory trace creates a “basin of attraction” in our conceptual framework, and more and more thoughts and observations fall into this basin. It is a physical process. It is something that cannot be changed by simple persuasion. And the physical change of brain’s connections is difficult because it requires highly energy-consuming processes.
Subtle processes
Prof. Duch admits that in the near future he does not consider performing experiments involving the human brain.
– Such experiments would be considered unethical because, to some extent, they would be based on confusing people’s minds. It is also difficult to see subtle changes on the neuronal level with the current experimental techniques. Nevertheless, we have a range of sophisticated tools which may soon help us achieve more. The world is big and many good research teams continue their studies. I hope my work will inspire others to start investigations in this area – says Prof. Duch.
As the researcher from Toruń emphasizes, the simulations he presents should attract attention to the need of analyzing the types of distortions which commonly appear in the neural networks. More complex neural models will be necessary to enable predictions comparable to results given by neuroimaging and behavioral experiments. But even such simple models can be applied to illustrate the presumed processes responsible for the formation of different conspiracy theories. The next step will be to perform more sophisticated simulations.
THE CLIMATE PROJECTION FOR 500 YEARS FROM NOW IS UNBELIEVABLY BAD
BULGAC VIA GETTY / FUTURISM
THE CLIMATE PROJECTION FOR 500 YEARS FROM NOW IS UNBELIEVABLY BAD
RESEARCHERS WARN OF AN EARTH THAT'S "ALIEN TO HUMANS."
Planning Ahead
With climate change, we tend to worry about the present (are hurricanes getting worse?) and the medium-term future (what will the planet be like in the year 2100?)
Look a few hundred more years down the road, though, and the world will likely appear totally alien.
By the year 2500, the Amazon may become a barren hellscape and the midwestern United States could turn into a tropical jungle, according to a new set of far-reaching climate projections that a team of climate scientists from several Canadian and British universities published in the journal Global Change Biology on Friday. It’s alarming research — and, to be fair, by no means authoritative — as well as a bleak look into the long-term repercussions of human industrialization.
Then What?
Many climate models predict environmental change up to the year 2100, so it makes sense that we try and understand what the world will look like farther down the road, the researchers argued in an essay in The Conversation.
“This is surprising because people born now will only be in their 70s by 2100,” the scientists wrote. “What will the world look like for their children and grandchildren?”
Looking that far into the future is a fairly speculative affair, the scientists noted. But they did find that their projections align with existing, robust models for the nearer future, lending more credibility to their predictions.
Desert Planet
As temperatures continue to rise, the scientists found, much of the planet will become inhospitable to humans and coastlines will continue to be reshaped by rising sea levels, causing huge changes in terms of both geography and human society.
“Further, we found heat stress may reach fatal levels for humans in tropical regions which are currently highly populated,” the team wrote. “Such areas might become uninhabitable.”
Ultimately, the researchers hope they’re proven wrong. They ended their Conversation essay with a plea to drastically reduce carbon emissions or face the consequences.
“The Earth of our high-end projections is alien to humans,” they wrote. “The choice we face is to urgently reduce emissions, while continuing to adapt to the warming we cannot escape as a result of emissions up to now, or begin to consider life on an Earth very different to this one.”
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Over mijzelf
Ik ben Pieter, en gebruik soms ook wel de schuilnaam Peter2011.
Ik ben een man en woon in Linter (België) en mijn beroep is Ik ben op rust..
Ik ben geboren op 18/10/1950 en ben nu dus 74 jaar jong.
Mijn hobby's zijn: Ufologie en andere esoterische onderwerpen.
Op deze blog vind je onder artikels, werk van mezelf. Mijn dank gaat ook naar André, Ingrid, Oliver, Paul, Vincent, Georges Filer en MUFON voor de bijdragen voor de verschillende categorieën...
Veel leesplezier en geef je mening over deze blog.
