168814402
submission
InfiniteZero writes:
According to an article from NewScientist, the laws of physics don't actually exist.
First things first. What we often call laws of physics are really just consistent mathematical theories that seem to match some parts of nature. These laws are not static; they evolve as our empirical knowledge of the universe improves. As we discover more about nature, we can hone our descriptions of it, but it is never-ending.
Take string theory as an example. It has a rather thorny stumbling block known as the landscape problem, where literally zillions of universes are acceptable solutions of the theory. This scenario is often called the multiverse. All possible laws, conceivable and inconceivable, are allowed in some possible universe, and laws of physics are no longer meaningful or unique from a fundamental sense, since they depend entirely on where in the multiverse landscape one is looking.
One possible conclusion from this is that the conventional reductionist approach of particle physics, where natural laws are increasingly focused on smaller and smaller building blocks (like molecules, atoms and particles) and fundamental forces (like gravity and electromagnetism) acting between them, is no longer a fruitful way of looking at the physical world. There are no fundamental building blocks and no fundamental forces and, as such, there are no laws because thinking about ultimate reductionist laws rigorously has led to all possible universes existing, with only one of them perhaps obeying the laws needed to accommodate Homo sapiens.
167579261
submission
InfiniteZero writes:
A new study shows that around one in five people who survive cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) after cardiac arrest describe lucid experiences of death that occurred while they were seemingly unconscious and on the brink of death.
Survivors reported having unique lucid experiences, including a perception of separation from the body and observing events without pain or distress. They also reported a meaningful evaluation of life, including of their actions, intentions, and thoughts toward others. The researchers found these experiences of death to be different from hallucinations, dreams, delusions, illusions, or CPR-induced consciousness.
Tests for hidden brain activity were also included in the research. A key finding was the discovery of spikes of brain activity, including so-called gamma, delta, theta, alpha, and beta waves up to an hour into CPR. Some of these brain waves normally occur when people are conscious and performing higher mental functions, including thinking, memory retrieval, and conscious perception.
161340688
submission
InfiniteZero writes:
The global effort to protect Earth from dangerous asteroids is set to become stronger, as China has announced its intentions to test an asteroid redirect system as early as 2025.
For the proposed test, a probe would closely survey a near-Earth object prior to smashing into it. Known as kinetic impaction, the idea is to alter the orbital trajectory of a threatening asteroid by directing a large, high-speed spacecraft into the object. NASA is currently running a similar test, known as the Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART, which seeks to deliberately crash a space probe into Dimorphos—a tiny asteroid—later this year.
160151307
submission
InfiniteZero writes:
Last Wednesday (March 23), NASA astronaut Raja Chari and the European Space Agency's Matthias Maurer spent nearly seven hours outside the International Space Station, performing a variety of maintenance work.
Amazingly, astrophotographer Sebastian Voltmer managed to capture a snapshot of the spacewalk action from the ground — and from Maurer's hometown of Sankt Wendel, Germany, no less.
"I feel like I just made a once-in-a-lifetime image", Voltmer wrote.
157118319
submission
InfiniteZero writes:
China's Tianwen-1 spacecraft at Mars pulled a big New Year's surprise with stunning new images captured by a small camera that flew free of the orbiter to snap epic selfies above the Red Planet.
The new images published by the China National Space Administration show Tianwen-1 above Mars' north pole, with its solar arrays and antennas on display, as well as a partial closeup of the orbiter and a view of the Red Planet's northern ice cap.
The views give an unprecedented view of a spacecraft in orbit around another planet, showing the golden body of Tianwen-1, the silver high-gain antenna for communications, solar arrays and science antennae. A closeup shows the spacecraft’s radar antenna parallel to the solar array.
156694471
submission
InfiniteZero writes:
Imaginary numbers are necessary to accurately describe reality, two new studies have suggested. If standard quantum theory holds up, imaginary numbers are critical.
But whether quantum theory needs them or just uses them as convenient shortcuts has long been controversial. In fact, even the founders of quantum mechanics themselves thought that the implications of having complex numbers in their equations was disquieting.
To test how important imaginary numbers were in describing reality, the researchers used an updated version of the Bell test, an experiment which relies on quantum entanglement.
147722260
submission
InfiniteZero writes:
China's Zhurong rover has sent back a batch of new images from Mars — including a "selfie". The robot, which landed in May, positioned a wireless camera on the ground and then rolled back a short distance to take the snap.
Full resolution images including a 360 panoramic view of the landing site, can be found at the official CNSA website.
91808969
submission
InfiniteZero writes:
According to the article at phys.org: "Did our sun have a twin when it was born 4.5 billion years ago? Almost certainly yes — though not an identical twin. And so did every other sun-like star in the universe, according to a new analysis by a theoretical physicist from UC Berkeley and a radio astronomer from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory at Harvard University."
71813631
submission
InfiniteZero writes:
Education is probably one of the areas that will benefit the most from 3D printers in the long run. The problem though is getting the machines into the schools in the first place. The Chinese government has a new policy to install a 3D printer in each of its approximately 400,000 elementary schools over the next two years.
33674761
submission
InfiniteZero writes:
Researchers agree that our immediate ancestors, the upright walking apes, arose in Africa. But the discovery of a new primate that lived about 37 million years ago in the ancient swamplands of Myanmar bolsters the idea that the deep primate family tree that gave rise to humans is rooted in Asia. If true, the discovery suggests that the ancestors of all monkeys, apes, and humans—known as the anthropoids—arose in Asia and made the arduous journey to the island continent of Africa almost 40 million years ago.
25539012
submission
InfiniteZero writes:
Einstein once said, "A person who has not made his great contribution to science before the age of 30 will never do so." That peak age has shifted considerably, a new study found, with 48 being prime time for physicists.
25053150
submission
InfiniteZero writes:
Researchers at the University of Hong Kong observed stars at different evolutionary phases and found that they are able to produce complex organic compounds and eject them into space, filling the regions between stars. The compounds are so complex that their chemical structures resemble the makeup of coal and petroleum, the study's lead author Sun Kwok, of the University of Hong Kong, said.
21295884
submission
InfiniteZero writes:
China has admitted for the first time that it had poured massive investment into the formation of a 30-strong commando unit of cyberwarriors — a team supposedly trained to protect the People's Liberation Army from outside assault on its networks.
21241386
submission
InfiniteZero writes:
A clever technology is helping hazmat crews in Japan contain and clean up the contamination caused by the ongoing nuclear disaster there: a blue liquid that hardens into a gel that peels off of surfaces, taking microscopic particles like radiation and other contaminants with it. Known as DeconGel, Japanese authorities are using it inside and outside the exclusion zone on everything from pavement to buildings.
5316925
submission
InfiniteZero writes:
According to this WSJ story, 'Two teams of Chinese researchers working separately have reprogrammed mature skin cells of mice to an embryonic-like state and used the resulting cells to create live mouse offspring. The reprogramming may bring scientists one step closer to creating medically useful stem-cell lines for treating human disease without having to resort to controversial laboratory techniques. However, the advance poses fresh ethical challenges because the results could make it easier to create human clones and babies with specific genetic traits.'
