This Week in Science

[drauz]

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/01/a-breakthrough-in-high-pressure-physics/


https://youtu.be/1qitm5fteL0

Nearly a century after it was theorized, Harvard scientists report they have succeeded in creating the rarest material on the planet, which could eventually develop into one of its most valuable.

Thomas D. Cabot Professor of the Natural Sciences Isaac Silvera and postdoctoral fellow Ranga Dias have long sought the material, called atomic metallic hydrogen. In addition to helping scientists answer some fundamental questions about the nature of matter, the material is theorized to have a wide range of applications, including as a room-temperature superconductor. Their research is described in a paper published today in Science.

[Whirlin]

I saw that as well... this can also revolutionize radiation protection for deep-space travel. The previous best option for lightweight radiation protection was actually liquid hydrogen due to it's particle density to absorb some types of radiation at a lighter weight and protection compared to something like lead...

This is a pretty big breakthrough if it remains stable at room temperature and isn't too volatile.

[drauz]

I saw that as well... this can also revolutionize radiation protection for deep-space travel. The previous best option for lightweight radiation protection was actually liquid hydrogen due to it's particle density to absorb some types of radiation at a lighter weight and protection compared to something like lead...

This is a pretty big breakthrough if it remains stable at room temperature and isn't too volatile.

Yeah, this will be huge if/when it is perfected.

It will impact so many aspects of our lives.

[Ardwen]

Don't let Trump get hold of the info, he will make it disappear too.

[drauz]

Don't let Trump get hold of the info, he will make it disappear too.

https://media.giphy.com/media/3h5pe45FM9qUM/giphy.gif

[drauz]

Not this week, but its new to me!

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2015/01/07/antibiotic-resistance-teixobactin/


Since humans started making antibiotics for ourselves in the 1940s, bacteria have evolved to counteract our efforts. They are now winning. There are strains of old foes that withstand everything we can throw at them. Meanwhile, our arsenal has dried up. Before 1962, scientists developed more than 20 new classes of antibiotics. Since then, they have made two.

More, hopefully, are coming. A team of scientists led by Kim Lewis from Northeastern University have identified a new antibiotic called teixobactin, which kills some kinds of bacteria by preventing them from building their outer coats. They used it to successfully treat antibiotic-resistant infections in mice. And more importantly, when they tried to deliberately evolve strains of bacteria that resist the drug, they failed. Teixobactin appears resistant to resistance.

Bacteria will eventually develop ways of beating teixobactin—remember Orgel—but the team are optimistic that it will take decades rather than years for this to happen. That buys us time.

[drauz]

http://i.imgur.com/6TKcTEo.png

https://futurism.com/images/most-awaited-space-science-missions-of-2017/

[drauz]

http://i.imgur.com/6h5bZtT.jpg

Synthetic Cells Have Passed A Turing Test - https://futurism.com/synthetic-cells-have-passed-a-turing-test/

Ireland Passes Historic Legislation, Set to be the First Nation To Completely Cut Fossil Fuels - https://futurism.com/ireland-passes-historic-legislation-set-to-be-the-first-nation-to-completely-cut-fossil-fuels/

Scientists Have Created Genetically Modified Cows That Are Resistant to Deadly Disease - https://futurism.com/scientists-have-created-genetically-modified-cows-that-are-resistant-to-deadly-disease/

Artificial Lung Keeps Woman Alive for 6 Days After Both Lungs Removed - https://futurism.com/artificial-lung-keeps-woman-alive-for-6-days-after-both-lungs-removed/

New Research Shows the Universe May Have Once Been a Hologram - https://futurism.com/new-research-shows-the-universe-may-have-once-been-a-hologram/

Leaked Video Shows New “Nightmare Inducing Robot” - https://futurism.com/leaked-video-shows-new-nightmare-inducing-robot/

[drauz]

The Calabash Nebula, pictured here — which has the technical name OH 231.8+04.2 — is a spectacular example of the death of a low-mass star like the sun. This image taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the star going through a rapid transformation from a red giant to a planetary nebula, during which it blows its outer layers of gas and dust out into the surrounding space. The recently ejected material is spat out in opposite directions with immense speed — the gas shown in yellow is moving close to one million kilometers per hour (621,371 miles per hour).

Astronomers rarely capture a star in this phase of its evolution because it occurs within the blink of an eye — in astronomical terms. Over the next thousand years the nebula is expected to evolve into a fully-fledged planetary nebula.

The nebula is also known as the Rotten Egg Nebula because it contains a lot of sulphur, an element that, when combined with other elements, smells like a rotten egg — but luckily, it resides over 5,000 light-years away in the constellation of Puppis.

https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_feature/public/thumbnails/image/potw1705a.jpg?itok=-5TOQvnL

[Gelston]

http://i.imgur.com/6h5bZtT.jpg

Synthetic Cells Have Passed A Turing Test - https://futurism.com/synthetic-cells-have-passed-a-turing-test/

Ireland Passes Historic Legislation, Set to be the First Nation To Completely Cut Fossil Fuels - https://futurism.com/ireland-passes-historic-legislation-set-to-be-the-first-nation-to-completely-cut-fossil-fuels/

Scientists Have Created Genetically Modified Cows That Are Resistant to Deadly Disease - https://futurism.com/scientists-have-created-genetically-modified-cows-that-are-resistant-to-deadly-disease/

Artificial Lung Keeps Woman Alive for 6 Days After Both Lungs Removed - https://futurism.com/artificial-lung-keeps-woman-alive-for-6-days-after-both-lungs-removed/

New Research Shows the Universe May Have Once Been a Hologram - https://futurism.com/new-research-shows-the-universe-may-have-once-been-a-hologram/

Leaked Video Shows New “Nightmare Inducing Robot” - https://futurism.com/leaked-video-shows-new-nightmare-inducing-robot/

A hologram! I knew we all lived in a video game.