The SRK Science Thread 2.0

MCP · January 6, 2013, 4:06am

Better article on the negative absolute temperature:

Hotter than infinite temperature? What the fuck?

pherai · January 8, 2013, 8:19am

http://news.yahoo.com/kilogram-gained-weight-005533827.html

I always found it funny that while measures of time and distance can be defined concretely and exactly, our model for mass is so prone to imprecision. Of course I don’t have any better ideas, its just crazy to consider all our measurements are built on a rather precarious model.

pedoviejo · January 8, 2013, 10:50am

Good point, I would have assumed that the definition for mass would be based in a relativly pure liquid at constant temperature, or electromagnetic forces being used to define what a kilo is.

goodm0urning · January 9, 2013, 1:58pm

So… who wants to go to Mars and never come back?

I am seriously considering applying for this. There are very few things for which I’d leave friends, family, and home behind, but one of them is most definitely to boldly go where no one has gone before.

pherai · January 10, 2013, 1:26am

dude I was considering applying to, but the fuckin website was down. I can definitely get along with the Dutch!!

ThePurpleBunny · January 10, 2013, 7:14am

I’d rather be the first one to penetrate Uranus.

high-fives himself *

maxx · January 10, 2013, 9:31am

so ummm 10ft giant squids off the coast of japan haha.makes me wonder if those myths about giant squids were true and they used to be closer to the surface than now.
http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/09/16413041-captured-deep-beneath-the-waves-giant-squid-filmed-in-natural-habitat

goodm0urning · January 10, 2013, 3:22pm

We may have quite a spectacle in the sky to look forward to in about a year.

pherai · January 11, 2013, 12:37am

thats exciting. always felt kinda jipped that I was too young to appreciate Halleys or Hale-Bopp when they made their appearances.

hubcapsignstop · January 11, 2013, 7:38am

kinda jealous of those heads that got to see supernovae

white_shadow · January 11, 2013, 8:09am

Finally something nice to look forwar… oh no! The comet seems to be diverting its course! It’s heading straight for us!

…in theatres everywhere this fall. [PG-13]

Sent from my LG-MS770 using Tapatalk 2

ThePurpleBunny · January 12, 2013, 9:43am

The largest structure in the universe.

At apparently 4 billion light-years wide, shatters the limit on what Einstein said should be the largest object we could find (1.2 billion light-years wide).

white_shadow · January 12, 2013, 10:08am

The comments section in that article makes me nauseous.

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white_shadow · January 13, 2013, 12:22pm

Pristine space rocks older than the Sun

A meteorite which crashed to Earth earlier this year contains grains older than the solar system itself, according to scientists.
These rare and primitive space rocks, called carbonaceous chondrites, act as time capsules, providing astronomers with a window into the formation of the Sun and planets, four and a half billion years ago.
Carbonaceous chondrites also contain organic carbon molecules, materials that may be the precursors to life on Earth.
The meteorite was spotted as a fast moving fireball in the skies over California and Nevada on the morning of 22 April 2012, and tracked by US Air Force and doppler weather radar installations.
This allowed scientists to quickly recover several fragments in the Sutter’s Mill area, before they were contaminated by rain, which would alter their composition.
Sutter’s Mill became world famous in 1848 as the location that sparked the California gold rush.
An analysis carried out by researchers including Dr Peter Jenniskens from the SETI Institute and NASA’s Ames Research Center, confirmed the unusually pristine condition of three fragments.
According to Jenniskens, the three and a half metre wide meteor, airburst with the force of a four kilotonne impact over the Sierra Nevada foothills.
“The meteorites survived a record breaking atmospheric entry speed of 28.6 kilometers per second from an orbit close to that of Jupiter-family comets,” says Jenniskens.
Ancient artefacts

Writing in the journal Science, Jenniskens says the Sutter’s Mill meteorite samples contain a significant abundance of pre-solar grains.
These are minerals older than the solar system, and are considered to be representative of the solar nebula out of which the solar system condensed.
Jenniskens says it was important for to recover fragments of the meteorite before they were exposed to rain
"Carbonaceous chondrites are almost 30 per cent empty, so they act like sponges and suck in water, which rapidly causes chemical reactions changing their composition," says Jenniskens.
According to Jenniskens, it was the first time they had a chance to study this type of meteorite before it came into contact with water on Earth.
The significance of this was evident in a comparison of two samples. One fragment was recovered after exposure to rain and showed significant changes in the composition of sulfur-bearing minerals.
“The considerable mineralogy, diversity and geochemical features in the pristine samples, indicate they are regolith breccia, part of the surface of the asteroid that spawned them,” says Jenniskens.
“This provides us with clues to the complex formation history of the parent asteroid.”
“We found oldamite, which is a calcium sulfide, so sensitive to water, if you breathe on a sample, it disappears,” says Jenniskens.
“These are normally found in evolved meteorites that come from the area where the Earth and Venus formed, while carbonaceous chondrites come from very primitive asteroids that form further out.”
“So this tells us about collisions between primitive and evolved asteroids at the time this meteorite formed.”

BEWD · January 24, 2013, 4:40am

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130122101903.htm really cool HIV research

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130122122306.htm

http://phys.org/news/2013-01-dark-hearts-kindness-mankind.html - interesting hypothesis on the origin of altruism. Posits that alturistic behavior originated out of selfish dominating individuals trying to prevent other selfish dominating individuals from dominating. These behaviors continued for so long that eventually the group at large took on regulatory measures. Interesting hypothesis(and an interesting rebuttal in the comments). Makes you wonder where people like raz0r(selfish and “self made” individual who talks about us evolving away from things) fits in >:P

Don_Barracuda · January 27, 2013, 9:09pm

This is great, I know a couple of people who believe the landing was fake

[media=youtube]sGXTF6bs1IU[/media]

white_shadow · January 29, 2013, 10:28am

http://news.yahoo.com/tiny-feathered-dinosaur-discovered-134932382.html;_ylt=Ar48LiTjyubxB63HlXuC5h97hMgF;_ylu=X3oDMTRnZXJla2YyBG1pdANUb3BTdG9yeSBTY2llbmNlU0YgRGlub3NhdXJzRm9zc2lsc1NTRgRwa2cDMjJjNGNjYjYtZTVmNy0zNzhiLWI3YzktMzc3MDI1NmRkZjlmBHBvcwMxBHNlYwN0b3Bfc3RvcnkEdmVyAzA4MDhlOTYxLTY5NTMtMTFlMi1iZmRmLThiNWNmNGM1OWUxYw--;_ylg=X3oDMTI3bHMxdGNwBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANzY2llbmNlfGRpbm9zYXVycy1mb3NzaWxzBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3

New bird-like dinosaur discovered.

goodm0urning · February 22, 2013, 3:24pm

<a href=“http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/jupiters-europa-moon-likeliest-to-have-life-20130218-2em1g.html”>Let’s go explore Europa!</a>

white_shadow · March 7, 2013, 11:45am

http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=700400&CategoryId=14095

A Peruvian engineering college basically found a way to utilize their environment to create potable water from a billboard. True science at work! God Tier!

ThePurpleBunny · March 14, 2013, 7:34pm

It’s official. It’s a Higgs. 
 
http://www.livescience.com/27888-newfound-particle-is-higgs.html 
 
And on Pi Day too. Possibly just a coincidence.