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A robot, trained for the first time by watching videos of seasoned surgeons, executed the same surgical procedures as skillfully as the human doctors, say researchers.

Engineers have found a way to make stronger and crack-resistant concrete with scrap carpet fibers, rolling out the red carpet for sustainability in the construction sector.

Plastics are inescapable in our daily lives. The vast amounts of plastic garbage heaped in landfills and in the environment, however, are as problematic as the plastics are useful. A research team has now introduced a new method for recycling polystyrene waste. Their efficient electrochemical process uses an inexpensive iron catalyst, produces hydrogen as a byproduct, and can be powered by solar panels.

How well a catalyst works often depends on the surface it is placed on. For years, it has been known that carbon substrates work well with precious metal catalysts, but it could never be properly explained. Now scientists managed to get to the bottom of this phenomenon -- with remarkable results: Metal atoms which are placed directly next to carbon are two hundred times more effective as catalysts.

Researchers have developed a new photocatalyst that could render steam methane reforming entirely emissions-free and extend catalyst lifetimes.

Most assessments of global warming use 1850-1900 as a baseline, but researchers have now established a new pre-industrial reference by using Antarctic ice cores to estimate the average temperature before 1700

Experiments show that illuminating the underside of a decoy seal reduces attacks by great white sharks, revealing a possible strategy to protect surfers and swimmers

Voyager 2 flew by Uranus in 1986, giving us our only up-close look at the planet – but unusual space weather just before the craft arrived has given us a misleading idea about the planet’s magnetic field

Extreme weather and a growing population is driving a food security crisis. What can we do to break the vicious cycle of carbon emissions, climate change and soaring food costs – or is it already too late?

Seven major datasets used to train audio-generating AI models are three times more likely to use the words "man" or "men" than "woman" or "women", raising fears of bias

Climate change is a huge topic and often debated across the world. We continue to burn fossil fuels and ignore our charge toward human driven climate change but while our behaviour never seems to improve, something else does! For the last few decades we have been pumping chlorofluorocarbons into the atmosphere causing a hole in the ozone layer to form. Thanks largely to worldwide regulation changes and a reduction in the use of these chemicals, the hole it seems is finally starting to get smaller. 

The ozone layer is the protective shield in Earth’s stratosphere. It’s about 15 to 35 kilometres above the Earth and its presence helps to protect us by absorbing harmful ultraviolet radiation. The region is mostly ozone composed of three oxygen molecules and it filters out the UV-B and UV-C radiation which can lead to skin cancer, cataracts and can even damage parents crops. The rest of the atmosphere is composed mostly of nitrogen gas (78%), oxygen (21%) and a few other gasses making up the remaining 1%. 

A view of Earth’s atmosphere from space. Credit: NASA

In the late 20th century scientists found that certain chemicals like the well known chlorofluorocarbons (CFC’s) were slowly destroying the layer. This resulted in seasonal holes appearing in the ozone especially over Antarctica. In 1987, the Montreal Protocol international treaty was signed to curb the global release of CFC’s and other ozone harmful gas. 

Just recently, a team of scientists from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have confirmed that the hole in the ozone layer over the south pole was relatively small compared to previous years. During the month of September to October, when the ozone depletion process is at its peak, it was the 7th smallest hole since 1992. An average season sees an incredible 20 million square kilometres of ozone depletion. The teams data even suggests the layer could fully recover by 2066. 

To collect the data the team uses a number of systems. A number of satellites (Aura, NOAA-20, NOAA-21 and Suomi NPP) are used to collect data from orbit. In addition they use weather balloons which are launched from the South Pole Baseline Atmospheric Observatory to directly measure ozone concentrations. 

Geostationary orbits are where telecommunication satellites and other monitoring satellites operate. This image shows one of the NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites. Image Credit: NOAA.

The measurements are captured as Dobson Units. One Dobson Unit is equivalent to the number of ozone molecules that would be needed to create a layer of pure ozone 0.01 millimetres thick. Of course temperature and pressure would effect this so the measurement is based on a layer at 0 degrees Celsius and 1 atmosphere (the average pressure of atmosphere at surface of Earth.) In 2024, the measurement in October 2024 was 109 Dobson Units in comparison to the lowest ever value of 92 Dobson Units in 2006. 

The Montreal Protocol certainly seems to be making a difference seeing a significant and continuous decline in CFCs. This, along with an infusion of ozone from north of Antarctica have combined to reverse the depletion. 

Source : Ozone Hole Continues Healing in 2024

The post Good News, the Ozone Layer Hole is Continuing to Shrink appeared first on Universe Today.

Reaching net-zero emissions is essential for halting climate change - but even after we achieve this goal, parts of the planet will continue to warm. Delaying net zero will worsen these effects

Last week, Donald Trump defeated Kamala Harris and will return to the White House in January. What does this mean for science-based federal health policy? Hint: Nothing good. Just like the rest of the government, the worst people are likely to be in charge of health and science policy.

The post Donald Trump won. Now what for science-based federal health policy? first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.

Here’s Bill Maher’s 7-minute comedy/news bit from Friday’s “Real Time.”  The title of the episode refers, of course, to comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s statement at a Trump Rally in NYC: “”There’s a lot going on. I don’t know if you know this but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. Yeah, I think it’s called Puerto Rico.”  It was not funny, and did not go down well, though of course nothing hurts Trump.

In this bit Maher is calling attention to the human-caused “death of the ocean”.  He avers that un-polluting the ocean will be much harder than curbing global warming.  And what we see on the surface (there’s one “garbage island” the size of France!) is only the tip of the iceberg:  70% of the garbage, much of it plastic, sinks to the bottom.

Curiously, Maher avoids discussing the election results save to say that Harris was part of the only party that even deals with the environment, yet she never mentioned pollution and even reversed her earlier anti-fracking position. Maher clearly sees oceanic pollution—and environmental pollution in general—as critical but ignored issuea.  Recycling, he says, is a crock, since only 9% of plastic gets recycled.

. . . and here’s his 3½-minute monologue about the election itself:

From January 10-12 (Friday through Sunday), there will be a substantial conference at the University of Southern California on censorship in science, and by that they mean all the sciences: STEMM.  You can see details about the conference at the website below (click on screenshot), and view the preliminary program here.  (There was an sketchier announcement of the conference in August, but now things are in their final stages.)

You can register here; the fee is $200 ($100 for students), and that’s not a bad deal given that the registration includes lunches, coffee breaks, and receptions with drinks and food.  And the participants include, beyond a passel of working scientists, people like Jonathan Rauch, Jesse Singal, FIRE President Greg Lukianoff and, mirabile dictu, Marcia McNutt, President of the National Academy of Science.

And of course there’s this by way of self-promotion (end of the meeting):

Yes, I team up again with my partner in crime Dr. Maroja, on a two-person panel moderated by UC Berkeley molecular biologist Julia Schaletzky.

I hear that space is filling up, so if you want to register, and have the time and ability to go to USC (in LA), I recommend registering ASAP.

One of the most difficult challenges when assembling a telescope is aligning it to optical precision. If you don’t do it correctly, all your images will be fuzzy. This is particularly challenging when you assemble your telescope in space, as the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) demonstrates.

Unlike the Hubble Space Telescope, the JWST doesn’t have a single primary mirror. To fit in the launch rocket, it had to be folded, then assembled after launch. For this reason and others, JWST’s primary reflector is a set of 18 hexagonal mirror segments. Each segment is only 1.3-meters wide, but when aligned properly, they act effectively as a single 6.5-meter mirror. It’s an effective way to build a larger space telescope, but it means the mirror assembly has to be focused in space.

To achieve this, each mirror segment has a set of actuators that can shift the segment along six axes of alignment. They are focused using a wavefront phase technique. Since light behaves as a wave, when two beams of light overlap, the waves create an interference pattern. When the mirrors are aligned properly, the waves of light from each mirror segment also align, creating a sharp focus.

The primary mirrors of Hubble and JWST compared. Credit: Wikipedia user Bobarino

For JWST, its Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) is equipped with a wavefront camera. To align the mirrors, the JWST team points NIRCam at a star, then intentionally moves the mirrors out of alignment. This gives the star a blurred diffraction look. The team then positions the mirrors to focus the star, which brings them into alignment.

This was done to align the mirrors soon after JWST was launched. But due to vibrations and shifts in temperature, the mirror segments slowly drift out of alignment. Not by much, but enough that they need to be realigned occasionally. To keep things proper, the team typically does a wavefront error check every other day. There is also a small camera aimed at the mirror assembly, so the team can take a “selfie” to monitor the condition of the mirrors.

The JWST was designed to maintain a wavefront error of 150 nanometers, but the team has been able to maintain a 65 nanometer error. It’s an astonishingly tight alignment for a space telescope, which allows JWST to capture astounding images of the most distant galaxies in the observable universe.

You can learn more about this technique on the NASA Blog.

The post How Webb Stays in Focus appeared first on Universe Today.

Despite the calls of both Presidential candidates to “unite America”, the calls of many to “reach across the aisle” and confect bipartisan legislation, and the advice of some that it’s time to discuss America’s differences instead of hating one’s opponents, we are now hearing calls from Democrats and liberals to boot those who voted for Trump out of our lives.

I disagree. I know some of those people, and although I don’t like the way they voted, I don’t think that’s sufficient to avoid them forever, or to give them sharp lectures that they are fascists and tried to ruin America and our livelihood. There are, as I’ve pointed out in the nooz over the last few days, a diversity of reasons why people voted for Trump: wokeism of the Left, their own economic problems due to inflation, immigration, and so on—reasons that can be debated but not dismissed.

Sadly, we have some on the Left becoming haters like this. One such person is discussed in a column on by Jonathan Turley written on his website.  Turley is a professor at George Washington University Law School, an attorney, a legal scholar. and, I believe, a libertarian.  As noted below, Turley wrote a recent column in The Hill about the “liberal rage” that is spreading now that Democrats have started to internalize the election debacle. In that piece Turley made a reasonable point:

It is important to note at the outset that there is no reason Democratic activists should abandon their values just because they lost this election. Our system is strengthened by passionate and active advocacy.

Rather, it is the collective fury and delirium of the post-election protests that was so disconcerting. Pundits lashed out at the majority of voters, insisting that the election established that half of the nation is composed of racists, misogynists or domination addicts who long to submit to tyranny.

No, not everyone who voted for Trump is a fascist racist, or misogynist. (For crying out loud, a huge number of women voted against Harris.( In fact, more than half of all Americans voted for the Orange Man, since Harris apparently lost the popular vote. I am embarrassed before the world that we chose Trump to hold the most important job in the country, but there it is.

Ergo the rage. In his new column, Turley note a particularly striking and offensive (to me) example of that rage: a resident in psychiatry at Yale. Turley’s words:

With women pledging to break up with their boyfriends and divorce their husbands over the Trump victory, Yale University chief psychiatry resident Dr. Amanda Calhoun is advising that it may also be necessary for your mental health to cut off your family and friends who supported Trump. In that way, you can avoid being “triggered” by opposing political views — much like Yale itself.

As academics, we are dealing with the election on campuses across America. After the election, I had some valuable discussions with students who supported Harris and some who supported Trump. I wish there would be more interaction between the two groups. That is why this story stood out for me. I do not believe that further separation or isolation will help this country or these individuals.

Dr. Calhoun went on MSNBC’s Joy Reid to offer the curious take on good mental health. Reid has spent the week condemning the majority of voters (particularly minority voters) in the nation as racists and misogynists for the Trump victory.

Reid joined a rising tide of rage, which I discussed in my column this weekend. Dr. Calhoun added her voice to the madness.

“So, if you are going into a situation where you have family members, where you have close friends who you know have voted in ways that are against you… it’s completely fine to not be around those people and to tell them why…

…You know, to say, ‘I have a problem with the way that you voted because it went against my very livelihood, and I’m not going to be around you this holiday. I need to take some space for me.’ I think you should very much be entitled to do so, and I think it may be essential for your mental health.”

There is another possibility. You can try to resolve those feelings with people who you previously liked or loved. It may actually help to discuss these issues outside of the echo chamber of your political associations.

If you want to hear Calhoun, who is African-American, actually say what she said above, click on the screenshot below, which will take you to the Fox News column showing a video of Calhoun speaking to Joy Reid on MSNBC. Yes, the words she said are indeed the ones above:

Turley adds this and touts his book, which I haven’t read:

Across the country, women have been cutting their hair and joining the Korean 4B movement—bihon (no marriage), bichulsan (no childbirth), biyeonae (no dating), and bisekseu (no sex). One is quoted as saying, “I fear The Handmaid’s Tale will become our reality.”

It is a curious response since figures like Reid blame white women for the loss. Trump won white women voters by eight points at 53 percent. Harris actually fell slightly in the support of women overall. Conversely, roughly 43 percent of men voted for Harris. Yet I watched one deranged voter say that she is thinking of buying a “Glock” and shooting the first man who comes near her. If so, she would have an over 4 out of 10 likelihood of shooting a fellow Harris supporter.

None of this is good for our nation’s mental health and suggesting that people retreat further into their silos does not make for particularly healthy advice.

As discussed in my book, The Indispensable Right, we have become a nation of rage addicts. Taking another hit of rage will do little to break that addiction.

Now I didn’t vote for Trump, of course, but I am not prepared to either lecture people who did, telling them that they were attacking my livelihood, or telling them that I don’t want to associate with them. I suppose it’s okay to say that “I want to take some time for myself right now,” without giving the reason, and then trying to have a discussion later.

Of course people can sever any relationship they want over the election, but that sort of attitude doesn’t seem to me conducive to mental health—even though Calhoun is a shrink—and it’s certainly not good for the Democrats. After all, a common element in post-election analyses is the idea that the elitism of Democrats, combined with their characterizing their enemies as yokels or fascists, are factors that turned off centrists and leftish Republicans.

There will be some lively discussion around the Thanksgiving and Christmas groaning boards, but Calhoun’s table will be emptier than usual.

h/t: Bill

Well, we have one more batch of photos after this, and then the feature goes belly-up.  If you don’t want that to happen, please send in your good wildlife photos.

Today being Sunday, we have a visit by John Avise, who sent photos of some birds near his home. John’s captions and IDs are indented, and you can click the photos to enlarge them.

A Morning at the Beach 

A few days ago, I went to Crystal Cove State Park, which is only a 15-minute drive from my house here in Southern California.  I timed my visit so as to capture the long morning light at low tide.  Here are some of the birds that I photographed on that short but special visit.  All of these species are regulars along our beaches, especially during the autumn and winter months.

Willet (Tringa semipalmata) posing:

Willet standing on one leg

Willet showing the white stripe along its wing (normally visible only during flight):

Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus) posing:

Whimbrel with small crab:

Another Whimbrel pose. showing its head stripes:

Sanderling (Calidris alba) posing:

Sanderling stretching:

Western Gull (Larus occidentalis) posing:

Black phoebe (Sayornis nigricans) (yes, they inhabit beachfronts as well as many other habitats in S. Cal.):

Black Turnstone (Arenaria melanocephala) posing:

Black Turnstone in flight:

Mass purges and prosecutions of scientists have happened before. We shouldn't pretend they can't happen here.

The post Dr. Vinay Prasad: “I Don’t Believe in Forgiveness Because in My Opinion These Pieces of Shit Are Still Lying.” first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.

Astronauts on the International Space Station generate their share of garbage, filling up cargo ships that then deorbit and burn up in the atmosphere. Now Sierra Space has won a contract to build a trash compactor for the space station. The device will compact space trash by 75% in volume and allow water and other gases to be extracted for reclamation. The resulting garbage blocks are easily stored and could even be used as radiation shielding on long missions.

Called the Trash Compaction and Processing System (TCPS), plans are to test it aboard the International Space Station in late 2026.

Sierra Space said this technology could be critical for the success of future space exploration — such as long-duration crewed missions to the Moon and Mars — to handle waste management, stowage, and water reclamation.

“Long-term space travel requires the efficient use of every ounce of material and every piece of equipment. Every decision made on a spacecraft can have far-reaching consequences, and waste management becomes a matter of survival and mission integrity in the vacuum of space,” said Sierra Space CEO, Tom Vice, in a press release. “We’re addressing this challenge through technological innovation and commitment to sustainability in every facet of space operations. Efficient, sustainable, and innovative waste disposal is essential for the success of crewed space exploration.”

A sample trash tile, compressed to less than one-eighth of the original trash volume, was produced by the Heat Melt Compactor. Credit: NASA.

NASA said that currently aboard the International Space Station (ISS), common trash such as food packaging, clothing, and wipes are separated into wet and dry trash bags; these bags are stored temporarily before being packed into a spent resupply vehicle, such as the Russian Progress ship or Northrup Grumman’s Cygnus vehicle. When full, these ships undock and burn up during atmospheric re-entry, taking all the trash with it.

However, for missions further out into space trash will have to be managed and disposed of by other methods, such as jettisoning the trash into space – which doesn’t sound like a very eco-friendly idea. Additionally, wet trash contains components that may not be storable for long periods between jettisoning events without endangering the crew. 

Plus, there’s currently no way for any water to be reclaimed from the “wet” waste. The TCPS should be able to recover nearly all the water from the trash for future use.

TCPS is a stand-alone system and only requires access to power, data, and air-cooling interfaces. It is being designed as simple to use.

Sierra Space said the device includes an innovative Catalytic Oxidizer (CatOx) “that processes volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other gaseous byproducts to maintain a safe and sterile environment in space habitats.” Heat and pressure compacts astronaut trash into solid square tiles that compress to less than one-eighth of the original trash volume. The tiles are easy to store, safe to handle, and have the added — and potentially very important — benefit of providing additional radiation protection.

Sierra Space was originally awarded a contract in 2023, and in January 2024 they completed the initial design and review phase, which was presented to NASA for review. Sierra Space is now finalizing the fabrication, integration, and checkout of the TCPS Ground Unit, which will be used for ground testing in ongoing system evaluations. Based on the success of their design, Sierra Space was now awarded a new contract to build a Flight Unit that will be launched and tested in orbit aboard the space station.

NASA said that once tested on the ISS, the TCPS can be used for exploration missions wherever common spacecraft trash is generated and needs to be managed.

The post A Trash Compactor is Going to the Space Station appeared first on Universe Today.