Science! It's really cool!

Gvzbgul

https://www.quantamagazine.org/20150803-physics-theories-map/

In the quest for a unified, coherent description of all of nature — a “theory of everything” — physicists have unearthed the taproots linking ever more disparate phenomena. With the law of universal gravitation, Isaac Newton wedded the fall of an apple to the orbits of the planets. Albert Einstein, in his theory of relativity, wove space and time into a single fabric, and showed how apples and planets fall along the fabric’s curves. And today, all known elementary particles plug neatly into a mathematical structure called the Standard Model. But our physical theories remain riddled with disunions, holes and inconsistencies. These are the deep questions that must be answered in pursuit of the theory of everything.

Our map of the frontier of fundamental physics, built by the interactive developer Emily Fuhrman, weights questions roughly according to their importance in advancing the field.

A thread to discuss theories of everything, be they big, universal things, or small Earthly things.

This is a thread for anything Science. Everything from discussions about biology (I've always loved the discussions about Viruses either being a true living organism or not to be interesting) to physics (Black Holes anyone? The nature of a singularity is always fun to think about.) to just dreaming about and doing our own theorizing about future tech and discoveries.

This isn't limited to us discussing stuff either. The best things about scientists is that they're usually an adaptable creature capable of fully utilizing new tools in a quick and efficient manner usually to the benefit of their community. So there are plenty of youtube videos and other media items that you can post here.

Emissary42

To bring an end to the old thread, Cassini has found a global ocean under the frozen crust of Enceladus. The new findings prove a far larger ocean lurks beneath the surface compared to the earlier-hypothesized lake near the southern pole of the moon, which may span the entire surface of the moon below the ice.

davidsdurions

Okay, so, I don't fully understand what I'm about to link, but I find it fascinating and thought some of you might enjoy it as well.

Encyclopedia of Life email wrote:

How much do taxonomists agree on the evolutionary relationships among species— for example, Chinese birds? You will soon be able to use the new Taxonomic Tree Tool to visualize the answer to this question.

The Taxonomic Tree Tool (TTT) is the work of Jiangning Wang and EOL Rubenstein Fellow Congtian Lin at the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the site of the EOL China Regional Center. We are happy to announce that the TTT is supported by EOL data services. Using a free TTT account, you can use the tool to compare branches from any two of the classifications available on EOL, including the Catalog of Life, the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and others.

You will see Zheng's view in blue and Li's view in red; where both taxonomists agree will be shown in green.

Explore more taxonomic differences of opinion at http://ttt.biodinfo.org/TF/.

Seriously, I'm linking the crazy part again right here outside the quote.

Marathon

Hello, yes. I work in a lab. I am a professional science person.

Tynnan

Another week, another set of Pluto images.

These ones are pretty crazy. They've found evidence supporting a nitrogen-based glacial cycle. "Hydrologically" active with exotic ices, if you will.

http://www.nasa.gov/feature/pluto-wows-in-spectacular-new-backlit-panorama

Check the link for the rest, but here's a teaser:

DisruptedCapitalist

It's still mindblowing to me how cold Pluto (and Neptune for that matter) is.

Shivahn

Marathon wrote: »

Hello, yes. I work in a lab. I am a professional science person.

I am taking my qualifying exam right now.

Or, well, it's technically within the time window but I finished this section early because I am a badass at inhibition.

I... think and hope.

Tynnan

Good luck with your prelims!

We just had one of the grad students in lab use lab meeting yesterday as a practice for his oral prelim exam. The lab had a bit of fun running him across the coals I think we did a good job of capturing how the committee behaves during the exams.

Shivahn

Tynnan wrote: »

Good luck with your prelims!

We just had one of the grad students in lab use lab meeting yesterday as a practice for his oral prelim exam. The lab had a bit of fun running him across the coals I think we did a good job of capturing how the committee behaves during the exams.

Thanks!

I am hoping my committee is not particularly antagonistic, but the oral section isn't for six weeks or so.

Also hopefully I pass the written section.

There is a lot of hope going on right now.

Rhan9

Even though my field of work is in business, I'm super glad that the strong engineering/science background of my studies allows me to do/understand science! to a degree and most importantly appreciate science! and what it stands for.

Shit's just fascinating.

Tynnan

Shivahn wrote: »

Tynnan wrote: »

Good luck with your prelims!

We just had one of the grad students in lab use lab meeting yesterday as a practice for his oral prelim exam. The lab had a bit of fun running him across the coals I think we did a good job of capturing how the committee behaves during the exams.

Thanks!

I am hoping my committee is not particularly antagonistic, but the oral section isn't for six weeks or so.

Also hopefully I pass the written section.

There is a lot of hope going on right now.

It takes a pretty huge screwup to really not make it through the prelims (though it can happen). It's weird that you have your oral scheduled already while you're not sure you passed your written (you probably passed), but maybe your department does things differently than mine did.

Most people pass "with reservations". This is still a Pass! (It just might not feel like it.) It just means that your committee wants you to fill in whatever gap in knowledge they discovered during the exam. For example, with my prelims I nailed the written and then over-studied that topic for my oral exam at the expense of more general-knowledge studying (we gave a presentation on the topic we used for our written exam, followed by an open whiteboard session). So during my oral the first half went great, and the second half went south in a hurry. I just had to come back and do that part again a month later, and everything was good.

What most committees will do is take you down various lines of questioning related to your work, getting more and more detailed until you eventually have to say "I don't know the answer to that". Hopefully you get reasonably detailed before that happens, though it does help if you can say "I'm not sure, but here's what I think". Then they do that again for another topic, or pathway, or protein, or what have you, until they feel they made you sweat enough.

Shivahn

Tynnan wrote: »

Shivahn wrote: »

Tynnan wrote: »

Good luck with your prelims!

We just had one of the grad students in lab use lab meeting yesterday as a practice for his oral prelim exam. The lab had a bit of fun running him across the coals I think we did a good job of capturing how the committee behaves during the exams.

Thanks!

I am hoping my committee is not particularly antagonistic, but the oral section isn't for six weeks or so.

Also hopefully I pass the written section.

There is a lot of hope going on right now.

It takes a pretty huge screwup to really not make it through the prelims (though it can happen). It's weird that you have your oral scheduled already while you're not sure you passed your written (you probably passed), but maybe your department does things differently than mine did.

Most people pass "with reservations". This is still a Pass! (It just might not feel like it.) It just means that your committee wants you to fill in whatever gap in knowledge they discovered during the exam. For example, with my prelims I nailed the written and then over-studied that topic for my oral exam at the expense of more general-knowledge studying (we gave a presentation on the topic we used for our written exam, followed by an open whiteboard session). So during my oral the first half went great, and the second half went south in a hurry. I just had to come back and do that part again a month later, and everything was good.

What most committees will do is take you down various lines of questioning related to your work, getting more and more detailed until you eventually have to say "I don't know the answer to that". Hopefully you get reasonably detailed before that happens, though it does help if you can say "I'm not sure, but here's what I think". Then they do that again for another topic, or pathway, or protein, or what have you, until they feel they made you sweat enough.

Oh, orals aren't scheduled yet, that's just the expected time frame. Some holes in knowledge will be made clear when I receive the grades, whatever they are, so I intend to study those.

Paladin

Just came from a dinner with two physician CEOs... not feeling so great about science right now. Talk about political conspiracies. It's a little farfetched for most cases, but in science the people at the top are actually smart enough to play 5 steps ahead of regulation and reporting. How do you get to be the single author of a Cochrane review on steroids and spinal cord injury when you are salaried by steroid manufacturers? How can we catch people who suppress development of all other diagnostic tests by indirectly buying off program directors and reviewers by donating a grant that happens to put their grandkids through a supercompetitive program? How do we stop people who sabotage the results of a promising development company until it loses so much value that they take over control, credit, and profit from the person who brought the idea to life? No wonder that mathematician refused his prize money.


Anyway, yeah science is pretty cool

zakkiel

The Ig Nobels have been announced!

Tofystedeth

Oh my god that last one.

Elvenshae

zakkiel wrote: »

The Ig Nobels have been announced!

Always one of my favorite things!

AngelHedgie

Tofystedeth wrote: »

Oh my god that last one.

We salute you, brave man who willingly got stung in the wang For Science!

Madican

I love the Ig Nobel prizes. If an acceptance speech during the ceremony goes on too long, a little girl will start saying, "I'm bored, please stop," repeatedly, getting a higher pitch each time. Imagine having something like that for Oscars.

AngelHedgie

Madican wrote: »

I love the Ig Nobel prizes. If an acceptance speech during the ceremony goes on too long, a little girl will start saying, "I'm bored, please stop," repeatedly, getting a higher pitch each time. Imagine having something like that for Oscars.

https://youtu.be/xAnVNXaa5oA

Mojo_Jojo

AngelHedgie wrote: »

Tofystedeth wrote: »

Oh my god that last one.

We salute you, brave man who willingly got stung in the wang For Science!

There wasn't really a pressing need for those experiments. I'm guessing he just enjoyed it

The nostril location is one I find stranger than cock shaft

Rhan9

Getting stung in the dick hurts, news at 11.

Madican

Wasn't there a scientist who stung himself and his kid with jellyfish stingers to rate the pain from it? and it was the jellyfish that produces one of the worst pains imaginable?

AngelHedgie

Rhan9 wrote: »

Getting stung in the dick hurts, news at 11.

Yes, but we didn't know how much, relative to other body locations. Now we do.

Nova_C

AngelHedgie wrote: »

Rhan9 wrote: »

Getting stung in the dick hurts, news at 11.

Yes, but we didn't know how much, relative to other body locations. Now we do.

What an age we live in!

Soggybiscuit

Nova_C wrote: »

AngelHedgie wrote: »

Rhan9 wrote: »

Getting stung in the dick hurts, news at 11.

Yes, but we didn't know how much, relative to other body locations. Now we do.

What an age we live in!

I think mathematics prize is fantastic.

They analyzed how some emperor managed to procreate 888 times.

Emissary42

A bit of topical stuff: thanks to a Vogue piece on Elon Musk and SpaceX, we have our first glimpse of SpaceX's flight suit and a better shot of the Crew Dragon interior:

Flight Suit, no photoshop:

Crew Dragon Interior:

Scooter

It's hard to say how many of Musk's plans will come to anything in the long term, but if more rich people spent their time like he does and less time trying to get politicians to give them more tax breaks, the world would be an incredible place.

Campy

Man everything is those photos is so godamn sci-fi. I love it!

darleysam

Scooter wrote: »

It's hard to say how many of Musk's plans will come to anything in the long term, but if more rich people spent their time like he does and less time trying to get politicians to give them more tax breaks, the world would be an incredible place.

It's simple: have a child, get killed by gravity, bequeath fortune, kid goes on to lead a secret life fighting gravity - space exploration solved.

Emissary42

NASA has made an announcement of an announcement on this coming Monday, September 28th regarding Mars. Current educated guesses are pointing to either confirmed cases of liquid water [saline] outflows on the Martian surface, or possibly something regarding those methane emissions.

NASA wrote:

News conference participants will be:

· Jim Green, director of planetary science at NASA Headquarters

· Michael Meyer, lead scientist for the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters

· Lujendra Ojha of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta

· Mary Beth Wilhelm of NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California and the Georgia Institute of Technology

· Alfred McEwen, principal investigator for the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) at the University of Arizona in Tucson

davidsdurions

To bring back this science thread since the other one got so bloated that a robot had to come in and carry it away, I'll point you all to Pluto-science, Plutoience?:

http://www.nasa.gov/feature/new-horizons-publishes-first-research-paper-in-science-describing-numerous-pluto-system

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft reached a distance of 7,750 miles (12,500 kilometers) from Pluto’s surface during its July 14 closest approach, gathering so much data it will take almost another year to return to Earth. The data returned so far show a surprisingly wide variety of landforms and terrain ages on Pluto, as well as variations in color, composition and albedo (surface reflectivity). Team members also discovered evidence for a water-ice rich crust, multiple haze layers above the surface in Pluto’s atmosphere, and that Pluto is somewhat larger and a bit more ice rich than expected.

“The Pluto system surprised us in many ways, most notably teaching us that small planets can remain active billions of years after their formation,” said Stern, with the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in Boulder, Colorado. “We were also taught important lessons by the degree of geological complexity that both Pluto and its large moon Charon display.”

Science person declares Pluto a planet. Shots fired.

Rhan9

Man, fuck Tyson.

Edit: To reiterate:

Dedwrekka

Emissary42 wrote: »

Crew Dragon Interior:

Man, I've worked with that kind of tubing, and I really hope they have some kind of internal structure inside it otherwise two people are getting a face full of chair once one of them fails.

Dedwrekka

Rhan9 wrote: »

Man, fuck Tyson.

It wasn't Tyson, it was an international group of planetary scientists. And Pluto has always been able to be loosely referred to as a planet, it just got downgraded to "Dwarf Planet" from "Planet" by the IAU.

Trace

*runs through with a torch*

Morninglord

It's a ball of rock in the sky. I really don't care what they call it. It doesn't hurt my feelings. It certainly doesn't hurt the damn ball of rocks feelings.

Mr_Rose

davidsdurions wrote: »

To bring back this science thread since the other one got so bloated that a robot had to come in and carry it away, I'll point you all to Pluto-science, Plutoience?:

http://www.nasa.gov/feature/new-horizons-publishes-first-research-paper-in-science-describing-numerous-pluto-system

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft reached a distance of 7,750 miles (12,500 kilometers) from Pluto’s surface during its July 14 closest approach, gathering so much data it will take almost another year to return to Earth. The data returned so far show a surprisingly wide variety of landforms and terrain ages on Pluto, as well as variations in color, composition and albedo (surface reflectivity). Team members also discovered evidence for a water-ice rich crust, multiple haze layers above the surface in Pluto’s atmosphere, and that Pluto is somewhat larger and a bit more ice rich than expected.

“The Pluto system surprised us in many ways, most notably teaching us that small planets can remain active billions of years after their formation,” said Stern, with the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in Boulder, Colorado. “We were also taught important lessons by the degree of geological complexity that both Pluto and its large moon Charon display.”

Science person declares Pluto a planet. Shots fired.

Since its current classification is "dwarf planet" and dwarf can sometimes be considered synonymous with "small" I'm not seeing the problem here?

DanHibiki

would you all feel better if we called it a Tyrion Planet?

AngelHedgie

Mr_Rose wrote: »

davidsdurions wrote: »

To bring back this science thread since the other one got so bloated that a robot had to come in and carry it away, I'll point you all to Pluto-science, Plutoience?:

http://www.nasa.gov/feature/new-horizons-publishes-first-research-paper-in-science-describing-numerous-pluto-system

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft reached a distance of 7,750 miles (12,500 kilometers) from Pluto’s surface during its July 14 closest approach, gathering so much data it will take almost another year to return to Earth. The data returned so far show a surprisingly wide variety of landforms and terrain ages on Pluto, as well as variations in color, composition and albedo (surface reflectivity). Team members also discovered evidence for a water-ice rich crust, multiple haze layers above the surface in Pluto’s atmosphere, and that Pluto is somewhat larger and a bit more ice rich than expected.

“The Pluto system surprised us in many ways, most notably teaching us that small planets can remain active billions of years after their formation,” said Stern, with the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in Boulder, Colorado. “We were also taught important lessons by the degree of geological complexity that both Pluto and its large moon Charon display.”

Science person declares Pluto a planet. Shots fired.

Since its current classification is "dwarf planet" and dwarf can sometimes be considered synonymous with "small" I'm not seeing the problem here?

The reassignment of Pluto was actually really political - the way it went down was pretty ugly and felt gamed.

davidsdurions

Mr_Rose wrote: »

davidsdurions wrote: »

To bring back this science thread since the other one got so bloated that a robot had to come in and carry it away, I'll point you all to Pluto-science, Plutoience?:

http://www.nasa.gov/feature/new-horizons-publishes-first-research-paper-in-science-describing-numerous-pluto-system

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft reached a distance of 7,750 miles (12,500 kilometers) from Pluto’s surface during its July 14 closest approach, gathering so much data it will take almost another year to return to Earth. The data returned so far show a surprisingly wide variety of landforms and terrain ages on Pluto, as well as variations in color, composition and albedo (surface reflectivity). Team members also discovered evidence for a water-ice rich crust, multiple haze layers above the surface in Pluto’s atmosphere, and that Pluto is somewhat larger and a bit more ice rich than expected.

“The Pluto system surprised us in many ways, most notably teaching us that small planets can remain active billions of years after their formation,” said Stern, with the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in Boulder, Colorado. “We were also taught important lessons by the degree of geological complexity that both Pluto and its large moon Charon display.”

Science person declares Pluto a planet. Shots fired.

Since its current classification is "dwarf planet" and dwarf can sometimes be considered synonymous with "small" I'm not seeing the problem here?

The problem is, clearly, I need to discontinue my crusade to bring humor to the science thread.

The important part of my post was that we still have months of data streaming in from New Horizons and that is exciting.

Trace

Pluto's small heart grew three sizes that day.