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Post date: Nov 13, 2018 7:27:40 PM
Selected Sci-News Items November 03 - November 09, 2018
General Interest Cosmos Innovation Health Nature Environment Climate
great resource: Hapgood's Weekly List of Boston-Area Science Events
SftPublic Tu Nov 13 The Geometry of Structure and Motion
SftPublic Th Nov 15 Dark Matter and Other Cosmic Mysteries
GENERAL INTEREST
Daylight Saving Time Is Super Unpopular. Here Are the Countries Trying to Ditch It.
Washington Post, November 03, 2018
DST is another confusing wrinkle in a confusing temporal process that confounds the world.
Aeon, November 01, 2018
The trances and healing powers of shamans are so widespread that they can be counted a human universal. Why did they evolve?
Metric System Overhaul Will Dethrone the One, True Kilogram
Science, November 06, 2018
Representatives of the 60 member nations are expected to vote to redefine the International System of Units (SI) so that four of its base units-the kilogram, ampere, kelvin, and mole-are defined indirectly, in terms of physical constants that will be fixed by fiat.
Bubbles! The Physics of Champagne
Cosmos, November 06, 2018
Uncorking champagne uncorks a swathe of sophisticated physics phenomena that contribute to the special appeal of bubbly.
The Mysteries of Animal Movement
New York Times, November 05, 2018
(A hilarious path to scientific discovery). A scientist's unfettered curiosity leads him to investigate the physics at work in some very odd corners of the natural world.
COSMOS
SETI's Jill Tarter Discusses the Search for Intelligent Life
Phys.Org, November 02, 2018
Dr. Tarter, chair emeritus of the Center for SETI Research, worked as a project scientist forNASA's SETI program, which aimed to detect transmissions from alien intelligence
The Galactic Collision That Reshaped Our Milky Way
Scientific American, November 02, 2018
A new finding is shedding light on how our galaxy -and those throughout the universe- evolve.
Astronomers Creep Up to the Edge of the Milky Way's Black Hole
Quanta, October 30, 2018
Hot spots have been discovered orbiting just outside the supermassive black hole at thegalaxy's center. Their motions have given us the closest look at that violent environment.
Elusive Star Has Origins Close to Big Bang
Science Daily, November 05, 2018
Astronomers have found what could be one of the universe's oldest stars, made almost entirely of materials spewed from the Big Bang.
Science History: The Astrophysicist Who Defined How Stars Behave
Cosmos, November 07, 2018
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar was so influential, NASA honoured him by naming an orbiting observatory after him.
INNOVATION
Frankenstein: the Real Experiments That Inspired the Fictional Science
The Conversation, October 26, 2018
The Times reported the 1803 experiment on a corpse: On the first application of the [electical] process to the face, the jaw of the deceased criminal began to quiver, the adjoining muscles were horribly contorted, and one eye was actually opened.....
Cheesy Music: Swiss Experiment with Sound to Make Cheese Tastier
Phys.Org, November 03, 2018
Cheese aficionados have probably never grilled vendors over what kind of music was played to their cheeses.
Why Doctors Hate Their Computers
New Yorker, November 12 issue
Digitization promises to make medical care easier and more efficient. But are screens coming between doctors and patients?
In a Land of Quakes, Engineering a Future for a Church Made of Mud
New York Times, November 03, 2018
High in the Andes Mountains, conservators are testing traditional methods for strengthening adobe buildings to protect against earthquakes.
Will We Ever Be Able to Get Rid Of Paper Receipts?
The Guardian, November 06, 2018
Paper accounts of your spending might seem harmless, but they pose an environmental hazard. What should we do?
HEALTH
It Doesn't Have To Be PB with That J: A Nutritional Roundup of Alternative Nut and Seed Butters
Washington Post, October 29, 2018
In a nutshell, all nut and seed butters, including those made from peanuts, can be good sources of healthy fats, protein and fiber, along with vitamins and minerals.
Despite Criticism and Concerns, FDA Approves New Opioid 10 Times More Powerful Than Fentanyl
STAT, November 02, 2018
n a highly controversial move, the Food and Drug Administration approved an especially powerful opioid painkiller despite criticism that the medicine could be a "danger" to publichealth.
We Add It to Drinking Water for Our Teeth - But Is Fluoride Hurting Us?
Environmental Health News, October 10, 2018
Three new studies released today link fluoride exposure to ADHD and thyroid problems - and point to drinking water as the major source of exposure.
Do High-Cholesterol Foods Raise Your Cholesterol?
New York Times/Well, November 02, 2018
The best evidence available suggests that saturated fat, rather than dietary cholesterol per se, is the major contributor to serum cholesterol.
Rise In Melatonin Use to Help Children Sleep Leads to Safety Warning
The Guardian, November 02, 2018
Concerns hormone is being over-prescribed in England with little evidence of effectiveness.
NATURE
A Vault of Glass and the Deepest Volcanic Eruption Ever Detected
New York Times, October 30, 2018 (w/images)
Close to the Mariana Trench and nearly three miles below sea level, recent lava deposits from the eruption include pillow tubes, glass and other formations.
New Discovery Throws Light on Mystery of Pyramids' Construction
The Guardian, November 05, 2018
Egyptologists stumble across ramp that helps explain how huge blocks of stones were hauled into place.
What Teeth Can Tell about the Lives and Environments of Ancient Humans and Neanderthals
The Conversation, October 31, 2018
Teeth are a really useful indicator of past environments. That's because teeth have biological rhythms and key events get locked inside them.
If It Weren't for Fungi, We Wouldn't Be Here
Cosmos, November 07, 2018
The button mushroom in your local grocery store is a visible outpost of a largely hidden, alien-like kingdom that rules all life on land: fungi.
Just Months of American Life Change the Microbiome
The Atlantic, November 01, 2018
Immigrants' gut bacteria "westernize" soon after they move to the U.S., which might influence obesity in immigrants and Americans alike.
ENVIRONMENT
'The Most Intellectual Creature to Ever Walk Earth Is Destroying Its Only Home'
The Guardian, November 03, 2018 (Jane Goodall)
The renowned primatologist describes the dramatic vanishing of wildlife she has witnessed in her lifetime - and how we can all play a vital role in halting its destruction.
Trump's EPA Concludes Communities Don't Have the Right to Know About Potentially Toxic Emissions
ThinkProgress, October 31, 2018
Industry supporters describe potentially toxic emissions as "normal odors" from animal waste.
Nature, October 31, 2018
Global conservation policy must stop the disappearance of Earth's few intact ecosystems, warn James E. M. Watson, James R. Allan and colleagues.
Insect Populations Are Declining Around the World. How Worried Should We Be?
Ensia, October 31, 2018
Widely reported studies this year and last led to headlines globally of an "insect Armageddon." The real story is more nuanced - but probably just as unsettling.
Rural America's Own Private Flint: Polluted Water Too Dangerous to Drink
New York TImes, November 03, 2018
A diffuse, creeping water crisis tied to industrial farms and slack regulations that for years has tainted thousands of residential wells across the Midwest and beyond.
CLIMATE
New Findings On Ocean Warming: 5 Questions Answered
The Conversation, November 02, 2018
This finding suggests that global warming may be even more advanced than previously thought.
US Supreme Court Allows Historic Kids' Climate Lawsuit to Go Forward
Nature, November 03, 2018
Case aims to compel the government to slash greenhouse-gas emissions.
It's Not Rocket Science: Climate Change Was Behind This Summer's Extreme Weather
Washington Post, November 02, 2018 (Michael Mann)
Summer 2018 saw an unprecedented spate of extreme floods, droughts, heat waves and wildfires break out across North America, Europe and Asia.
New York Review of Books, November 22, 2018 issue
Bill McKibben explains Global Warming of 1.5°C: An IPCC Special Report by theIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. (A must-read!)
Future Shock in the Countryside
The Atlantic, November 02, 2018
Earth's rural areas are being transformed by climate change and technology.
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