Science 2.0

The ichthyosaur (literally ‘fish-lizard’) lived in what is today southern Germany during the Jurassic Period some 180 million years ago. The two-meter long reptile swam in the vast ocean that is now, after climate and geological changes, Europe.

Researchers have analyzed the remains of an ichthyosaur so well-preserved that its soft-tissues retain some of their original pliability; the most comprehensive and in-depth examination of a soft-tissue fossil ever undertaken. Among other things, the study reveals that the soft parts have fossilized so quickly that both the original cells and their internal contents are preserved.

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As academia slid left politically in America beginning in the 1970s, an uncomfortable reality began to be swept under metaphorical university rugs; a whole lot of academic scientific innovation is due to military need. Like that your child's modern baby seat can't erupt in flame? Thank the Roman military of almost 2,000 years ago. Like heating up your recyclable pouch of avocado toast points in the microwave? Thank the American military of World War II,(1) when Raytheon engineer Percy Spencer discovered their culinary benefit while working on RADAR.

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This is running as a scary story in the news today. I’m asked if it means we are all going to die. No, it does not. That was a 10 °C rise and we are headed towards 3.6 °C at maximum with the Paris pledges already. With the Paris agreement if they continue to ramp up the pledges they should get within 2 °C, many countries have already got to that point in their pledges and a fair number to within 1.5 °C. Others, especially China and Russia, face huge challenges but are rising to them especially China. We aren’t currently headed for anything like 10 °C.

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Short summary - the risk from larger asteroids of 1 km upwards, large enough to have some global effects is more or less retired as a result of astronomical searches for the last few decades. There is still a risk from smaller asteroids, but in most cases we’d be able to deflect them if necessary, or evacuate the area. The chance of dying from an asteroid is tiny, far less than the risk of dying of lighning.

20 - 40 METER ASTEROIDS ARE TINY - JUST LARGE ENOUGH TO GET THROUGH THE EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE

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The Guardian, official newspaper of those in the anti-science left who still like to pretend they love science, knows what pays the bills...and it ain't science.

Yes, some real scientists write there, because it's mainstream media and scientists who do outreach want to be in as many publications as they can, but for the most part Guardian editors distrust science, because their audience does. And they love celebrities, for the same reason.

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A distant planet has an abundance of helium in its atmosphere so great that it has swollen to resemble an inflated balloon.

The helium of HAT-P-11b, 124 light years from Earth and in the Cygnus constellation, is blown away from the day side of the planet to its night side at over 10,000 km an hour. Because it is such a light gas, it escapes easily from the attraction of the planet and forms an extended cloud all around it.

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Twenty journalism Fellowships funded by the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research are available to cover travel costs, accommodations and meals for their Mayo Foundation Journalist Residency, which will be held in Jacksonville, Florida, February 24-28, 2019. 

The journalists will receive a look at what’s new and what’s next in several medical specialties. Topics will include aging, cancer, brain injuries and diseases, transplant medicine, vaccines and developing technologies such as regenerative medicine, telemedicine and simulation-based medical training. 

To apply, write journalistresidency@mayo.edu by December 11th and detail:

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A new sewage treatment project in London discovered something in the mud of the Thames; the remains of a human, leg bones still covered by thigh-high leather boots.

When you say thigh-high leather boots it sounds much sexier than fishing waders, which are not made of leather any more because, let's face it, leather is useless in water and science improved fishing a lot. Archaeologists analyzing the remains say the grooves in his teeth were likely caused by rope, and that, plus his build, suggests his trade was fisherman. He was in his mid-30s, they estimate, so his death was not natural. 

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The Carr Fire in Shasta and Trinity Counties began July 23rd, 2018 after a tire blew out on a trailer and the rim made sparks on the pavement. setting dry vegetation in an area historically dry ablaze.

That's simple bad luck but it caused 359 square miles to burn, estimated to be the seventh largest fire in recorded California history. By the end of August it was contained but not before it led to eight fatalities and destroyed 1,079 residences. 

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In 2006, former Vice-President and global warming clarion Al Gore said we only had 10 years to stop CO2 emissions or it would be too late. More cynical people noted that he came up with that 10-year figure because it was two years from his rematch contest for U.S. President plus eight he expected to be in office. It's beyond me to know if that was ever his intent, but if it was, perhaps a Peace Prize and an Academy Award made political campaigning too petty. He never ran again.

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Infertility affects about 10 percent of couples and among them are one in 500 women with congenital defects in their uterus or a medical issue that caused damage. In the past, that meant adoption but recently uterus transplants became possible. In 2013, Sweden performed the first and since then there have been 39, resulting in 11 live births.

But those were living donors, and that is going to be rare because uterus donation is only available for women with friends or family members who will donate.

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In Science Left Behind I showed that in America it was easy to accurately correlate beliefs about science to political viewpoints. If you believed in psychics, witchcraft, organic food or homeopathy, statistically I could be determine how you voted. If you believed in GMOs and vaccines I also knew how you voted. 

But everyone hates the word "chemical."

That is why it is fertile ground for scaremongering. As soon as you use the word chemical, people are scared, and if you throw the word "toxic" in front of it, like activist academics and $2 billion per year in environmental groups do, dollar signs are sure to follow.  

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My CMS colleague Didar Dobur, who chairs the "Top Properties" working group in the experiment, presented today the first observation of the process whereby a top quark is produced in association to a Z boson. I could follow the presentation by videoconference, so I am blogging about this result in close to real time, for a change.

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It may not feel like science wins often in court but it beat out activists last week.

Not only did science, and Science 2.0, win, it was a unanimous decision at the highest court in the land, the Supreme Court of the United States.  And the ruling dealt a serious blow to "sue and settle" agreements with trial lawyer groups, in this case Center for Biological Diversity, along with limiting the power of the federal government to bully and intimidate landowners.

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Marta Venier, an environmentalist at Indiana University, recently teamed up with a Michigan activist group to "test" car seats and declared they had toxic chemicals.

Obviously that is media clickbait but if you are reading here, you want to know science truth and will leave the fake news to Mother Jones. So let's get to it

In 2018, we can detect anything in anything

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The Population Council is enrolling 420 couples to test NES/T, which is the progestin compound segesterone acetate (Nestorone) in combination with testosterone.

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This is an article from Head to Head, a series in which academics from different disciplines chew over current debates. Let us know what else you’d like covered – all questions are welcome..

Sharon George: Plastics are ingrained in our everyday lives. Since 1950, it’s estimated that we have produced billions of tons of plastic, and most of this is not recycled.

Plastics have spread around the world through oceans, rivers and the air to every part of the planet. In rivers and oceans, plastic moves vast distances and is now found right through the water column of the oceans, from the surface to the deepest trenches.

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There's no question "Gone With The Wind" is the most successful movie of all time, when you count tickets sold, but it's not the most influential. Nor is "Star Wars."

A network analysis instead shows that title goes to "The Wizard Oz", the definitive Judy Garland film.

The analysis was of 47,000 films listed in IMDb (the internet movie database) and based on how much each film had been referenced by subsequent films.

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The North American Free Trade Agreement won't see its 25th birthday. The United States, Canada, and Mexico have signed on the dotted line for its replacement, The United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement.

The debate fell outside usual positions. Free trade is the hallmark of Republicans, they say, but they seemed to be unhappy with NAFTA. Democrats, in the old days, were protectionist about American workers, yet their criticisms suggested they wanted to keep manufacturing jobs in Mexico and for Canadian farmers to have a good deal in the U.S. while America got penalized in Canada.

What gives?  

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In 8,000 B.C., when there were only about 10 million people on the entire planet, the boom and bust of famine and feast and wondering when the next meal would be was already a cultural concern. 

And so agriculture was created. Mankind set out to do genetic engineering, doing RNA Interference (RNAi) cereals, legumes, roots and tubers. They not only scientifically selected for larger fruits, uniform ripening and taste, they even turned dangerous natural foods into healthy ones. 

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