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Friday offtopic. Heard of those direwolves?

Well, they aren't exactly direwolves.

And naming one of them Khaleesi was an affront to the entire Game of Thrones fanbase, duh!

No, the dire wolf has not been brought back from extinction
Colossal Biosciences claims three pups born recently are dire wolves, but they are actually grey wolves with genetic edits intended to make them resemble the lost species

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[personal profile] kiaa2025-03-21 09:12 pm
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Friday offtopic. Impressive research

You'd think these guys have gone to tremendous lenghts for nothing. Well, if you count proving a point about fact-checking and scientific veritability as "nothing", that is.

It's not just about the true total length of blood vessels in the human body, mind you:

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[personal profile] kiaa2024-12-13 08:38 pm
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Friday off-topic: Between life and death

"Third state" of existence between life and death confirmed by scientists



In science fiction movies like Frankenstein and Re-Animator, human bodies are revived, existing in a strange state between life and death. While this may seem like pure fantasy, a recent study suggests that a “third state” of existence might actually be present in modern biology.

According to the researchers, this third state occurs when the cells of a dead organism continue to function after its death, sometimes gaining new capabilities they never had while the organism was alive.
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[personal profile] kiaa2024-11-01 08:55 pm
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Friday offtopic. Impressive research

You'd think these guys have gone to tremendous lenghts for nothing. Well, if you count proving a point about fact-checking and scientific veritability as "nothing", that is.

It's not just about the true total length of blood vessels in the human body, mind you:

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[personal profile] kiaa2024-10-18 09:18 pm
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Friday offtopic. Tired light, an alternative cosmologic solution?

The theory of tired light has been out there for quite a while, but this is perhaps the first time that it has been utilized in such a comprehensive way to try and explain some cosmic observations that have perplexed scientists for decades, and have shaped the current dominant paradigm of the origin of the Universe:



Dark matter does not exist and the universe is 27 billion years old, study claims

The universe has always held mysteries that spark our curiosity. As we currently understand it, the fabric of the universe comprises three primary components: ‘normal matter,’ ‘dark energy,’ and ‘dark matter.’ However, new research is turning this established model on its head.
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[personal profile] kiaa2024-10-11 11:05 pm
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Friday offtopic. Your science newsreel

Giant Structure Lurking in Deep Space Challenges Our Understanding of The Universe

A colossal structure in the distant Universe is defying our understanding of how the Universe evolved.

In light that has traveled for 6.9 billion years to reach us, astronomers have found a giant, almost perfect ring of galaxies, some 1.3 billion light-years in diameter. It doesn't match any known structure or formation mechanism.

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[personal profile] kiaa2024-10-04 08:23 pm
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Friday off-topic: Venus terraformed (hypothetical map)

Venus with as much water as on the Earth
(map by ahstat (flickr))

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[personal profile] kiaa2024-07-19 10:30 am

Friday offtopic: One unexpected effect of climate change

New studies, which utilized AI to monitor the effects of climate change on Earth's spin, have shown that our days are getting increasingly longer and that our planet will get more wobbly in the future. These changes could have major implications for humanity's future:

Earth is wobbling and days are getting longer — and humans are to blame

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Friday on topic: The space Odyssey continues



The third installment of the sequal to Carl Sagan's famous blockbuster continues the electrifying journey through space and time, connecting with worlds billions of miles away and envisioning a future of science tempered with wisdom.

The visually stunning series feels like a top-notch sci-fi movie, except it delves into scientific concepts and discoveries, skillfully narrated by the beloved Neil deGrasse Tyson, who takes viewers on a wild ride with the Ship of Imagination. Enjoy the ride!
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[personal profile] kiaa2024-04-19 03:54 pm
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Friday curious. Solar eclipse photos galore!

Amazing. Here are the best photos of the April 8 total solar eclipse over North America

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[personal profile] kiaa2024-01-19 11:14 am
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Friday LOL. That's social media science for you!

Soon in science classes throughout the land during the imminent Trump 2nd term...

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[personal profile] kiaa2024-01-12 03:26 pm
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Friday curious. 2 pieces of archeological gusto

These must be exciting days for archeologists and history junkies in general...

Exhibit 1.
An ancient, massive urban complex has been found in the Ecuadorian Amazon

The site includes thousands of human-made mounds along with roads and agricultural fields



Exhibit 2.
Discovery of immense fortifications dating back 4,000 years in north-western Arabia

The North Arabian Desert oases were inhabited by sedentary populations in the 4th and 3rd millennia BCE. A fortification enclosing the Khaybar Oasis -- one of the longest known going back to this period -- was just revealed by a team of scientists. This new walled oasis is, along with that of Tayma, one of the two largest in Saudi Arabia.
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[personal profile] kiaa2024-01-05 10:45 am

Friday offtopic: Welcome to the Anthropocene

Scientific bodies are due to make an official decision in the coming year about whether to declare a new geochronological unit precipitated by the impact of humans on Earth:

Scientists say they’ve found a site that marks a new chapter in Earth’s history


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[personal profile] kiaa2023-11-03 07:09 pm
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Friday curious: Meet Zealandia

Meet the lost continent of Zealandia in its full glory! Scientists have created a new and detailed map of the world's 8th continent, a landmass that is largely submerged now in the southwestern Pacific:

https://www.timesnownews.com/technology-science/scientists-create-new-map-of-zealandia-the-worlds-eighth-continent-article-103993079

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[personal profile] kiaa2023-10-13 02:19 pm
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Friday curious. Earth's deepest secrets are unraveling

Hidden structure discovered in Earth's core could 'rewrite' scientist's understanding of the planet

Scientists think they have discovered a previously unknown hidden structure inside the Earth’s core that could change our understanding of our planet.

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[personal profile] kiaa2023-09-15 09:33 pm
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Friday science. Mysterious lights before the earthquake

Mysterious Lights Flashed in The Sky Before Morocco's Devastating Earthquake

Mysterious lights appear to have been spotted in Morocco before a devastating earthquake hit last week – and scientists still can't figure out what caused them.


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[personal profile] mahnmut2023-09-08 02:24 pm
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Friday LOL. How people in science see each other

Do you ever wonder how others view you in the lab? Maybe this comic, a viral hit within the science blogosphere, can shed a little light (and humor!) on the matter.

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[personal profile] kiaa2023-07-28 02:54 pm

Friday offtopic. Gulf Stream trouble

Crying wolf or a real threat?

The Gulf Stream Is Slowing Down. What Would Happen If It Stopped?

"The AMOC is presently in its weakest state for more than 1,000 years".

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[personal profile] kiaa2023-07-07 10:57 pm
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Friday science offtopic. This is big!

Astrophysicists from NANOGrav have announced they've found the gravitational wave background! This is a brand new way to study the universe, so let's go over exactly what this means for humanity!



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[personal profile] kiaa2023-06-18 12:40 am
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Game-changer

The First Synthetic Human Embryos Now Exist

But they immediately raise serious ethical questions.



Here's the short version:
“They are embryo models, but they are very exciting because they are very looking similar to human embryos and very important path towards discovery of why so many pregnancies fail, as the majority of the pregnancies fail around the time of the development at which we build these embryo-like structures.”

Great stuff - go science! Also, human stem cell research offers incredible life extending possibilities. Science needs the freedom to execute free of the religious rhetoric that has held critical research back. Christopher Hitchens spoke eloquently of this during his cancer battle years back.

Of course there's the question about ethical boundaries being transgressed in the pursuit of this organ transplantation technology. Creating living animals (and humans in particular) for use as “organ transplant feedstock “ strikes many as problematic.

Last year I watched the results on the news on this vote in Austin on abortion, which was won by pro-choice voters with a 50% margin. The response from a pro-life voter was devastation because it was against her religion and her feelings.

I think feelings are good to have as they point you to a moral dilemma, which ideally you can then rationally think through to come to the right conclusion in terms of your dilemma, and the implications of your decision about that and the effect of that on other people's fundamental rights.

So let's not kill science like this prematurely.