All posts tagged: detected

Evidence of beaches from ancient Martian ocean detected by Chinese rover

Evidence of beaches from ancient Martian ocean detected by Chinese rover

Published by Sam

“The beaches would have been formed by similar processes to those on Earth – waves and tides,” said Liu, one of the leaders of the study published on Monday (Feb 24) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “Such oceans would have profoundly influenced Mars’ climate, shaped its landscape and created environments potentially suitable for life to emerge and thrive.” “Shorelines are great locations to look for evidence of past life,” said planetary scientist and study co-author Michael Manga of the University of California, Berkeley. “It’s thought that the earliest life on Earth began at locations like this, near the interface of air and shallow water.” The rover explored in the southern part of Utopia Planitia, a large plain in the Martian northern hemisphere. The researchers ruled out other possible explanations for the structures Zhurong detected. “A primary part of this work was testing these other hypotheses. Wind-blown dunes were considered, but there were a few issues. First, dunes tend to come in groups, and these groups produce characteristic patterns not present …

How our team spotted the most energetic neutrino detected to date

How our team spotted the most energetic neutrino detected to date

Published by skeptic

Recent research on lightweight particles called neutrinos might have passed you by – much like the more than 10 trillion neutrinos passing through your body each second. Now, our new paper – with 21 countries, more than 60 institutes and around 360 scientists contributing – reports the observation of the most energetic neutrino yet. Despite the enormous number of neutrinos around us, this is one of the most exciting – and rarest – astronomical events of the year. Our paper has been published in the journal Nature. Neutrinos are tiny elementary (sub-atomic) particles that are abundant in our universe. Yet, you probably haven’t seen any. They do not interact with other matter in the ways we are familiar with. Their lack of charge, for example, means that the electrostatic force that governs most of our everyday experiences does not interact with them at all. And their vanishingly small mass means that gravity – the other major force we experience – also has no effect on them in lab conditions on Earth. So, detecting their presence …

Gamma Radiation Detected at Popular Bay Area Sculpture Park

Gamma Radiation Detected at Popular Bay Area Sculpture Park

Published by skeptic

Potentially cancerous radiation has been detected at a popular Bay Area landfill turned outdoor sculpture, according to a state investigation. As first reported by the Los Angeles Times on Monday, the city of Albany ordered experts from technicians with Cabrera Services Inc. to survey for radioactive waste at the Albany Bulb, a former municipal landfill for construction waste now home to popular hiking trails and grounds scattered with sculptures. The investigation was spurred by the discovery of a 1980 archival document that indicated that a chemical plant dumped 11,000 of tons of waste in the site between 1960 and 1971. According to the report, the waste may have included toxic pesticides and potentially radioactive sludge produced by aluminum processing. Related Articles The report continues that Cabrera Services found high levels of gamma radiation in 10 areas on the city-owned section of the peninsula. Gamma radiation can easily penetrate the human body and harm tissue or organs, or even cause cancerous mutations to DNA. Albany has been recommended to conduct soil sampling in three areas where radioactive …

Mpox: First case of Clade 1b strain detected in London | UK News

Mpox: First case of Clade 1b strain detected in London | UK News

Published by skeptic

A case of a new strain of mpox has been detected in the UK for the first time, it has been announced. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said a single case of the mpox virus variant Clade 1b was detected in London. There was no evidence of community transmission from the patient, who is being treated at the Royal Free Hospital in London. The person involved had been on holiday in Africa and travelled back to the UK on an overnight flight on 21 October. The case was confirmed to the UKHSA on Tuesday. Image: File pic: Reuters More than 24 hours later, they developed flu-like symptoms and on 24 October, started to develop a rash which got worse in the following days. When they attended A&E in London on 27 October, they were swabbed, tested and then isolated while waiting for their results. Fewer than 10 direct contacts are being traced after the discovery, and Professor Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser at UKHSA, said the “risk to the UK population remains low”. Image: …

Boeing Forced to Scrub First Astronaut Launch After Strange Buzzing Detected

Boeing Forced to Scrub First Astronaut Launch After Strange Buzzing Detected

Published by skeptic

It was the wrong kind of noise. Buzz Kill The long-awaited crewed launch of Boeing’s Starliner space capsule had to be delayed yet again — but this time, it wasn’t Boeing’s fault. Two hours before countdown late Monday evening, the launch was scrubbed, with officials noticing a “buzzing,” CNN reports, which later turned out to be an issue with a valve on United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket. In many ways, it’s a routine issue — rocket launches get scrubbed all the time. Even SpaceX’s first crewed launch of its Crew Dragon spacecraft was scrubbed due to bad weather four years ago. However, Boeing’s development of an alternative way to get to the International Space Station has already faced years of delays, major budget overruns, and considerable technical issues. That’s not to mention a continuous stream of disasters plaguing Boeing’s avionics department. At the same time, it’s important to note that Monday’s scrub was due to a problem with ULA’s rocket, not Boeing’s cursed spacecraft. According to ULA CEO Tory Bruno, who spoke at a …

Plants detected in ancient Mayan ‘ballcourts’ point to a sacred spot

Plants detected in ancient Mayan ‘ballcourts’ point to a sacred spot

Published by skeptic

Archeologists have found evidence that ancient Mayans may have made ceremonial offerings during the construction of the ballcourts they used for sporting events. An international team of researchers used advances in environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis to detect evidence of several plants known for both medicinal and religious purposes. The microscopic fragments of ancient plants were found beneath the floor of a Mayan ballcourt in present day Mexico and are described in a study published April 26 in the journal PLOS One.  The research was a collaboration of Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History in collaboration with researchers from the University of Cincinnati in the United States, the University of Calgary, in Canada, Mexico’s Autonomous University of Campeche and the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Play ball From 2016 to 2022, the team excavated ruins of the ancient city of Yaxnohcah–formerly major city is in the present day Mexican state of Campeche, near the border of Guatemala. The structure in the study was originally constructed sometime between 1000 and 400 BCE. It was subsequently remodeled …

Bird flu virus traces detected in 1 in 5 pasteurized cow milk samples

Bird flu virus traces detected in 1 in 5 pasteurized cow milk samples

Published by skeptic

Genetic material from a particularly virulent strain of bird flu virus has been found in 1 in 5 samples of pasteurized milk, according to an April 25 update from the Food and Drug Administration. The tested milk came from a nationally representative sample and the positive results came from milk in areas with herds of dairy cows where Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) or H5N1 infections have been detected. The FDA’s new test results indicate that the virus has spread further among dairy cows than previously indicated. As of April 25, bird flu had been detected in 33 herds in Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Dakota, Ohio, and Texas. This particular virus strain has caused a devastating outbreak in wild and commercial birds since 2021. It first spread to mammals in 2022 and can occasionally infect humans. Only two human cases of HPAI have been reported in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).  The FDA used quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) testing to inspect the milk samples. …

Mum’s warning after son’s cancer detected through tiny unusual glow in his eye

Mum’s warning after son’s cancer detected through tiny unusual glow in his eye

Published by Sam

Sign up to our free Living Well email for advice on living a happier, healthier and longer life Live your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletter A mum has issued a warning to other parents after spotting her son’s cancer after seeing an unusual glow in his eye. Megan Brimson, 28, noticed that her son, Arlo’s, five, right eye had a white glow while he was playing in the sunand took him to hospital. He had a routine eye test which revealed a large mass on his eye. Megan and her partner Richard, 29, a digital designer, were referred to the Royal London Hospital, London, and Arlo was diagnosed with retinoblastoma – a rare type of eye cancer that can affect young children. Arlo had to have an enucleation – where the eye is removed – and underwent four rounds of chemotherapy. But the little boy has “recovered well” and is waiting for a prosthetic eye. Megan, a singer, from Isle of Wight, said: “Arlo is doing so well, we …

Drug residue can be detected in fingerprints left at crime scenes

Drug residue can be detected in fingerprints left at crime scenes

Published by skeptic

A researcher uses a chemical to extract drug residue from fingerprints Loughborough University Forensic scientists have developed a new technique that can detect drug and explosive residue on fingerprint samples from crime scenes. “That information, the presence of drug particles, is an almost untapped resource,” says James Reynolds at Loughborough University in the UK. That is because investigators use thin gelatine layers, called gel lifters, to lift fingerprints. These introduce chemicals to samples, making it difficult to identify trace amounts of drugs or explosives on them. … Source link

Stellar winds of three Sun-like stars detected for the first time

Stellar winds of three Sun-like stars detected for the first time

Published by skeptic

An international research team led by the University of Vienna has directly detected stellar winds from three Sun-like stars by recording the X-ray emissions from their astrospheres. The study also placed constraints on the mass loss rate of the Sun-like stars via their stellar winds. The study, ‘X-ray detection of astrospheres around three main-sequence stars and their mass-loss rates’, is published in Nature Astronomy. What can stellar winds tell us about planetary evolution? Astrospheres, stellar analogues of the heliosphere that surrounds our Solar System, are very hot plasma bubbles blown by stellar winds into the interstellar medium, a space filled with gas and dust. The study of the stellar winds of low-mass stars similar to the Sun allows us to understand stellar and planetary evolution and, ultimately, the history and future of our own Sun and Solar System. They drive many processes that evaporate planetary atmospheres into space and, therefore, lead to atmospheric mass loss. Although planets’ escape rates over an hour or even a year are tiny, they operate over long geological periods. The …