Science

Geologists estimate Earth contains several trillion tonnes of natural hydrogen that could be used as a clean fuel, but a global search for large reserves hasn’t delivered so far

A new study points to why, and how, Io became the most volcanic body in the solar system.

New radio astronomy observations of a planetary system in the process of forming show that once the first planets form close to the central star, these planets can help shepherd the material to form new planets farther out. In this way each planet helps to form the next, like a line of falling dominos each triggering the next in turn.

We might all be able to breathe a bit easier thanks to copper nanoclusters that can help us reduce carbon emissions through an electrochemical reaction.

A new screening method that combines laser analysis with a type of AI is the first of its kind to identify patients in the earliest stage of breast cancer, a study suggests.

A new screening method that combines laser analysis with a type of AI is the first of its kind to identify patients in the earliest stage of breast cancer, a study suggests.

A new AI image tool could aid the development of algorithms to analyse wildlife images to help improve understanding of how species around the world are responding to climate change, a study suggests.

Neutron stars are so named because in the simplest of models they are made of neutrons. They form when the core of a large star collapses, and the weight of gravity causes atoms to collapse. Electrons are squeezed together with protons so that the core becomes a dense sea of neutrons. But we now know that neutron stars aren’t just gravitationally bound neutrons. For one thing, neutrons are comprised of quarks, which have their own interactions both within and between neutrons. These interactions are extremely complex, so the details of a neutron star’s interior are something we don’t fully understand.

The bulk properties of neutron matter are best described by the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff (TOV) equation of state. Based on this, the upper mass limit for a neutron star should be around 2.2 to 2.6 solar masses, which seems to agree with observation. The TOV equation also assumes that the neutrons within the neutron star remain neutrons. In atomic nuclei, you can’t have a sea of free quarks because of the nature of the strong nuclear force, so this seems like a reasonable assumption. But some physicists and astronomers have argued that within the dense heart of a neutron star, quarks might break free to create a quark star. Some have even suggested that quarks within a neutron star might interact so strongly that strange quarks appear, making them strange quark stars.

One way to explore these ideas is to look at pulsars. Since pulsars are rotating neutron stars where their magnetic pole sweeps in our direction, we can measure the rate of rotation by timing the radio pulses from a pulsar. So if a pulsar flashes every three seconds, we know that’s how long it takes for the neutron star to rotate once. Pulsars are how we first learned that neutron stars are, well, neutron stars, because the rate of an object’s rotation tells you the minimum density the object must have.

The shape of a neutron star at different frequencies. Credit: Gärtlein, et al

You can think of it like a playground merry-go-round. If you let a few children climb on, then spin the merry-go-round really fast, you can watch the kids fly off one by one as they lose their grip. This is one of the reasons playground merry-go-rounds are so rare these days. Since stars are held together by gravity, there is an upper limit on how fast a star can rotate. Any faster and gravity would lose its grip and the star would fly apart. So when we measure the rotation of a pulsar, we know it must be below that upper limit, known as the Kepler frequency. Since the surface gravity of a star depends on its density, the rotation frequency tells us the minimum density of the star. When astronomers first discovered pulsars rotating several times a second, they knew the density of the pulsar was greater than a white dwarf, so it had to be a neutron star.

There are some pulsars that have very high rotation frequencies. The fastest observed pulsars, known as millisecond pulsars, can have frequencies above 700 Hz. It’s pretty astonishing when you think about it. An object with nearly twice the mass of the Sun, but only a few kilometers across and making hundreds of rotations a second. Millisecond pulsars rotate so quickly that they aren’t even spherical. They bulge out around their equators to become oblate spheroids. This means the density in their polar regions must be much higher than near the equator. This raises the question of whether neutrons in the polar regions might undergo a phase transition into quark matter.

A comparison of mass and Kepler frequencies for neutron stars and hybrid neutron stars. Credit: Gärtlein, et al

To explore this idea, a team looked at various models of neutron stars. They modeled the equation of state for traditional neutron stars and compared them to so-called hybrid stars, where the interior is a mix of neutrons and quark matter. From this, they calculated the Kepler frequency as it relates to the overall mass of the star. They found that while all the currently observed millisecond pulsars can be described by the traditional model, the hybrid model is a better fit for the fastest pulsars. They also calculated that hybrid stars would push the upper limit closer to 1,000 rotations a second. So if we find pulsars in the 800 Hz or higher range, we know they likely contain quark matter in their cores.

Another way to test the hybrid neutron star model would be to find more millisecond pulsars with a wide range of masses. This would allow us to look at how the rotation frequency varies with mass at the upper limit to see if Kepler frequencies agree more strongly with a hybrid or traditional model.

Reference: Gärtlein, Christoph, et al. “Fastest spinning millisecond pulsars: indicators for quark matter in neutron stars?” arXiv preprint arXiv:2412.07758 (2024).

The post Do the Fastest Spinning Pulsars Contain Quark Matter? appeared first on Universe Today.

The bit in quotes in the title may be a bit mean, but it’s the title an anonymous reader gave in an email linking to several articles from a New Zealand site (here, here, and here). The articles describe a new set of standards for registered nurses in the country, standards that I read in the official government document (see below).

Why this seems “asylum-ish” is because the standards are almost entirely directed to prioritizing and catering to the indigenous Māori population of the country, even though they are in a minority of the population (16.5%) compared to Europeans (70%) but also very close in numbers to Asians (15.3%, with most of the remainder being Pacific Islanders).  The standards direct New Zealand nurses to become “culturally competent”, which is okay if it means being sensitive to differences in psychology of different groups, but is not okay if it means medically treating those groups in different ways, or having to become politicized by absorbing the Treaty of Waitangi or learning about intersectionality.  And that is in fact the case with the new standards, which also prompt NZ nurses to engage in untested herbal and spiritual healing, including prayers.  The whole thing is bonkers, but it takes effect in January.

As one of the articles says, “critics argue that these changes prioritise ideology over practical skills.” And I suspect you’ll agree after you read the relatively short set of official standards given below. Here’s an excerpt from one of the articles in the news:

The updated Standards of Competence require nurses to demonstrate kawa whakaruruhau (Māori cultural safety) by addressing power imbalances in healthcare settings and working collaboratively with Māori to support equitable health outcomes.

The standards place a strong emphasis on cultural competency, including the need for nurses to establish therapeutic relationships with individuals, whānau [Māori extended families], and communities. They must also recognise the importance of whanaungatanga (building relationships) and manaakitanga (hospitality and respect) in fostering collective wellbeing.

One of the more significant additions involves requiring nurses to “describe the impact of colonisation and social determinants on health and wellbeing.” Additionally, nurses must advocate for individuals and whānau by incorporating cultural, spiritual, physical, and mental health into whakapapa-centred care (care focused on family and ancestral connections).

The new Standards of Competence have faced sharp criticism from some nurses, who argue the requirements impose ideological perspectives and unnecessarily complicate training processes.

However, none were willing to speak on the record for fear that voicing their concerns could jeopardise their employment.

The standards are unbelievable, so extreme in their catering to indigenous peoples that they seem racist against everyone else. But don’t take my word for it: simply click on the document below and look it over. It’s no wonder that many nurses are flummoxed by the new directive, which, as usual, is heavily larded with indigenous jargon that many (including Māori) don’t understand.  The language is simple virtue flaunting.

The very start of the standards promotes the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi (“Te Tiriti o Waitangi”)—an agreement between some (not all) Māori tribes and the British governance that established three principles. First, Māori would become British citizens with all the rights attending thereto. Second, the governance of New Zealand would remain in the hands of Britain and British settlers (“the Crown’). Finally, the Māori would be able to keep their lands and possessions and retain “chieftainship” of their lands.

Even though this agreement was never signed by all indigenous tribes on the island, it has assumed almost a sacred status in New Zealand, with a newer interpretation that goes something like this: “The Māori get at least half of everything afforded by the government, and their ‘ways of knowing’ would be considered coequal to modern knowledge (including in science and medicine). Further, Māori, as ‘sacred victims’, would get priority in educational opportunities and, in this case, medical treatment.”

If you read The treaty of Waitangi, you’ll see it says nothing of the sort. It simply establishes rights of governance and possession in a deal between Europeans and Māori. But the Māori have used it to inflict considerable guilt on the non-Māori population, to the extent that you simply cannot question the interpretation of the treaty above, or of the increasing forms of “affirmative action” for Māori, because people who raise those questions, like the baffled nurses above, risk losing their jobs. This is the reason that virtually every academic and citizen who writes to me from New Zealand about the fulminating and debilitating wokeness of the country asks me to keep their names confidential.   The fear of questioning what’s happening in that country is almost worse than the burgeoning affirmative action towards a small moiety of the population. Granted, the Māori have been discriminated against and had it bad for a while, but those days are really over now, and it’s time to treat everyone according to the same rules. And of course nurses know that they have to have different bedside manners towards different patients. But that doesn’t mean that they must treat some of them with chants and prayers.

Well, on to the rules. And they begin, in the very first directive, by emphasizing the importance of the Treaty of Waitangi!. I’ll post screenshots as well as text, and will highlight some bits in red. Here’s the first page of “standards of competence”. Te Tiriti doesn’t take long to appear!

“Pou” are “standards”. Here are the first two. Note that the introduction to the document doesn’t say explicitly that these standards are culture-directed and a subset of other standards of nursing skill. No, these are just “the standards.”

Pou one: Māori health. Reflecting a commitment to Māori health, registered nurses must support, respect and protect Māori rights while advocating for equitable and positive health outcomes. Nurses are also required to demonstrate kawa whakaruruhau by addressing power imbalances and working collaboratively with Māori.

Pou two: Cultural safety Cultural safety in nursing practice ensures registered nurses provide culturally safe care to all people. This requires nurses to understand their own cultural identity and its impact on professional practice, including the potential for a power imbalance between the nurse and the recipient of care.

The two pou expanded, which are directives about how registered nurses are supposed to behave.

Under standard (pou) #4, called “Pūkengatanga [expertise] and evidence-informed nursing practice”, we see this.

What is Rongoā? Ask the Museum of New Zealand, which describes it as “Māori medicine”, characterizing it like this:

In traditional Māori medicine, ailments are treated in a holistic manner with:

• spiritual healing
• the power of karakia [prayers of incantations]
• the mana [supernatural essence] of the tohunga (expert)
• by the use of herbs.

In other words, nurses are supposed to allow patients to choose their own therapy, even if it includes untested herbal remedies, spiritual healing, supernatural power, and prayers. Is it any wonder that nurses are both confused and opposed to this?

It goes on and on in this vein, consistently outlining standards of care that favor Māori, and then ending with a glossary heavily laden with woke and postmodern terms, Again, these are being given to registered nurses (no, not shamans) to tell them how they must behave. A few items from the glossary, which have no clear connection with nursing:

 

Again, as far as I can determine, these are not just standards for nurses to become culturally sensitive, but appear to be general standards for nurses that want to be qualified as nurses. And the standards have become so ideological and political that—and I don’t say this lightly—they seem pretty racist, favoring one group over another and telling nurses to afford indigenous people care and treatment that others don’t get. Is there to be no cultural sensitivity towards Asians, who have their own form of indigenous herbal medicine?

Here are some sentiments expressed by Jenny Marcroft, the Health Spokesperson for the New Zealand First political party.

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It goes without saying that it nurses must do all this stuff to practice their skills, many might be compelled to leave New Zealand and practice overseas, something that the country can’t afford to happen. And so, because opponents of this stuff are silenced, the country, immersed in wokeness, continues to go downhill.

Surging mpox cases in East, West and Central Africa prompted the World Health Organization to once again make the infection a global health emergency

Well, folks, this is the penultimate batch of photos I have, so if you don’t contribute, the feature will die. Don’t make me beg.

Today, though, we have a contribution from reader Lukas Konecny, who has provided some introductory notes (indented). You can enlarge his photos by clicking on them.

Some of these nature shots are quite old and I have never had a good camera, but I tried to pick some good ones (some of the grasshopper photos may need zooming in and cropping but when I tried to do that, my software always distorted the photos). The cicada is from Greece (it sits on a wire rope), the rest are from Slovakia, the mushroom was in a forest and the dragonfly in my university dormitory in Bratislava while others (owls, hummingbird hawkmoth, cat, grasshopper) are all from a garden.  The autumn owl (in a cherry tree) is from the same year (2015) as the spring owlet (in an apricot tree) so it might be the same bird. The grasshopper and the cat are from this summer – the cat watched me while I was releasing the grasshopper that had made its way to my room during the night and to my relief didn’t immediately attack it but let it fly away in peace. Maybe nature finding its way into human spaces is the common theme (except for the mushroom, that’s just autumnal feeling).

Amanita muscaria:

Cat:

Cicada:

Dragonfly:

Grasshopper photos:

Macroglossumm a hummingbird hawkmoth:

Owl, autum:

Owlet, spring:

From not smoking to maintaining a healthy weight, there are many healthy habits that could help keep your brain young

The ability to admit ignorance could be a sign of truly intelligent AI, and a new quiz of unsolved or perhaps even unsolvable questions aims to put this idea to the test

We don't need "spirited debate" about RFK Jr. We've been trying to warn you about him for years. It's not our fault that some people didn't listen.

The post Anyone Who Supports Pro-RFK Jr. Doctors, Is Also Pro-RFK Jr. first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.

Many children in the US seem to be using a chatbot to help them with their work, despite the risks of errors and often in defiance of school rules

Space largely seems quite empty! Yet even in the dark voids of the cosmos, ultra-high-energy cosmic rays are streaming through space. The rays contain 10 million times as much energy as the Large Hadron Collider can produce! The origin of the rays though is still the source of many a scientific debate but they are thought to be coming from some of the most energetic events in the universe. A new paper suggests the rays may be linked to magnetic turbulence, coming from regions where magnetic fields get tangled and twisted up. 

Cosmic rays are high-energy particles, typically protons and atomic nuclei. They travel at speeds near the speed of light and are thought to come from different sources such as the Sun, supernova explosions and other events across the universe. As the rays travel through space, they bombard Earth, interacting with molecules in the atmosphere producing secondary particles that rain down. The term cosmic ray often leads to the confusion that they are part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Instead they are streams of charged particles. 

Distant past supernovae could be linked by cosmic ray particles to climate change on Earth and changes in biodiversity. Courtesy: Henrik Svensmark, DTU Space.

A cousin of the cosmic rays are the ultra-high-energy rays. These are among the most energetic particles in the universe with energies that exceed 1018 electron volts, this equates to more energy than the energetic particles that escape from the Sun. The origin of these energetic particles is still not clearly understood but they are thought to originate in highly energetic events like active galactic nuclei, gamma ray bursts or the more massive black holes. Just like the typical cosmic rays, the ultra-high energy particles strike molecules in the atmosphere and produce secondary particles. Studying the secondary particles is one way researchers are trying to unravel their nature. 

This artist’s visualization of GRB 221009A shows the narrow relativistic jets (emerging from a central black hole) that gave rise to the gamma-ray burst (GRB) and the expanding remains of the original star ejected via the supernova explosion. Credit: Aaron M. Geller / Northwestern / CIERA / IT Research Computing and Data Services

These previous theories have seemed reasonable but a team of researchers have published their findings about their origins in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. The team suggest the rays have instead originated in magnetic turbulence – the fluctuation of magnetic fields, often occurring in plasmas. Their research found that the magnetic fields get tangled up, swiftly causing the particles to accelerate with an increase in energy. 

According to Luca Comisso, associate research scientist from the Columbia Astrophysics Lab explained that ‘These findings help solve enduring questions that are of great interest to both astrophysicists and particle physicists about how the cosmic rays get their energy.’

The team ran several simulations that demonstrated particle acceleration by magnetic turbulence could accelerate cosmic rays to high energies. Using the Pierre Auger Observatory to measure magnetic turbulence samples, the team found their measurements supported the simulation results. This as perhaps the first successful analysis into ultra-high-energy cosmic rays. 

Source : A New Discovery About the Source of the Vast Energy in Cosmic Rays

The post Another Clue About the Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays: Magnetic Turbulence appeared first on Universe Today.

NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter sent its final signals to Earth in the earlier part of the year. Engineers have been studying these and have started to piece together a picture of events that led up to its final flight. They concluded that data provided by the navigation system was inaccurate leading to a chain of events that caused its ultimate demise. One of the biggest problems it seems is that the terrain was smooth leading to a lack of landmarks during Flight 72.

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and is well known for its distinctive red colour. It’s surface is is covered in iron-oxide which is known by the more common name – rust. The planet is just over half the size of the Earth and has some fascinating geological features like Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in the Solar System. Valles Marineris is a canyon system which stretches thousands of kilometres and dwarfs the Grand Canyon. The atmosphere of the planet is mostly composed of carbon dioxide and currently incapable of supporting life. It’s not thought this has not always been the case and its missions like Mars 2020 that have helped to unravel the mysteries of the red planet. 

A full-disk view of Mars, courtesy of VMC. Credit: ESA

The Perseverance Rover and Ingenuity helicopter were both part of the Mars 2020 mission and have been exploring Mars since their launch in 2020 atop an Atlas V rocket. Ingenuity became the first robotic rotorcraft that undertook powered flight in the Martian atmosphere. The inaugural flight took place on 19 April 2021 the 1.8 kilogram drone took off under the power of two counter-rotating blades. The blades of the drone are 1.2m long, oversized by Earth standards but the atmosphere is only 1% as dense as Earth so larger than usual blades are needed. 

Image of the Mars Ingenuity helicopter (Source : NASA)

Flight 72 was scheduled for the 18th January this year and there was nothing special about it. The plan was a brief vertical hop to checkout the flight systems and to grab some photographs of the area. The flight data revealed it reached an altitude of 12 metres, took the images and was back on the surface after 32 seconds but had severed communications. After communications  was re-established, it was discovered that Ingenuity had sustained damage to its rotors. 

Now, almost a year after the incident, a team of engineers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory have been analysing the data. Their findings will be published in the next few weeks however the team of engineers assert it was harder than expected to complete an accident investigation from 160 million kilometres. The faults lie in the navigation system that was designed to visually track surface features using a camera pointed at the round. The system worked during early flights over more textured terrain but as Ingenuity moved over the Jezero Crater, it began operating over featureless sand ripples. 

The navigation system was designed to provide estimates of the helicopter’s velocity, chiefly to enable it to land. The data revealed from Flight 72 revealed that the navigation system couldn’t find features to track. Images showed that the lack of features led to a harden than usual touchdown leading to a pitch and roll of the craft. The sudden change of attitude led to increase load on the rotors, beyond their designed limits leading to the structural damage. 

Even though Ingenuity will not be able to fly anymore it can still provide weather and avionics data to the Perseverance rover. It will help us to understand more about the weather in its vicinity but perhaps its greatest legacy are its hours of flight on an alien world. 

Source : NASA Performs First Aircraft Accident Investigation on Another World

The post NASA Thinks it Knows Why Ingenuity Crashed on Mars appeared first on Universe Today.

For experiments that require ultra-precise measurements and control over atoms -- think two-photon atomic clocks, cold-atom interferometer sensors and quantum gates -- lasers are the technology of choice, the more spectrally pure (emitting a single color/frequency), the better. Conventional lab-scale laser technology currently achieves this ultra low-noise, stable light via bulky, costly tabletop systems designed to generate, harness and emit photons within a narrow spectral range.

Solid phase manufacturing can create new custom metal alloys through an innovative process called solid phase alloying, researchers report.

Household plumbing is alive with microbes; environmental engineers are working to study those ecosystems to ensure clean water flows in homes.