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May 9, 2019

This Bird Went Extinct and Then Evolved Into Existence Again

Posted by in categories: education, evolution

The Aldabra white-throated rail, a flightless bird that lives on its namesake atoll in the Indian Ocean, doesn’t look like anything special at first glance. But the small bird has big bragging rights, because it has effectively evolved into existence twice after first going extinct some 136,000 years ago.

According to a study published Wednesday in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, the rail is an example of a rarely observed phenomenon called iterative evolution, in which the same ancestral lineage produces parallel offshoot species at different points in time. This means that near-identical species can pop up multiple times in different eras and locations, even if past iterations have gone extinct.

Fossils of the flightless bird were found both before and after Albadra was submerged by an “inundation event” that occurred around 136,000 years ago, said study authors Julian Hume, an avian paleontologist at Natural History Museum in London, and David Martill, a paleobiologist at the University of Portsmouth.

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May 9, 2019

Gravitational waves leave a detectable mark, physicists say

Posted by in categories: cosmology, physics

Gravitational waves, first detected in 2016, offer a new window on the universe, with the potential to tell us about everything from the time following the Big Bang to more recent events in galaxy centers.

And while the billion-dollar Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) detector watches 24/7 for gravitational waves to pass through the Earth, new research shows those waves leave behind plenty of “memories” that could help detect them even after they’ve passed.

“That gravitational waves can leave permanent changes to a detector after the gravitational waves have passed is one of the rather unusual predictions of general relativity,” said doctoral candidate Alexander Grant, lead author of “Persistent Gravitational Wave Observables: General Framework,” published April 26 in Physical Review D.

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May 9, 2019

Elon Musk & Jeff Bezos Can Save American Households $30+ Billion with LEO Satellites

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, internet, satellites

Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites are still in their nascency, but analysis of BroadbandNow US market pricing data suggests that the technology could save American households more than $30 billion per year by intensifying broadband competition.

LEO satellites, such as the constellations planned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starlink project and Jeff Bezos’ Project Kuiper, promise to bring low-latency broadband internet to millions of Americans. LEO satellite orbit extremely close to earth, between 99 to 1200 miles versus 22,000 miles of traditional GEO satellites, which means less time to transfer information (lower latency) and a quality of service comparable to wired broadband cable and fiber providers. The arrays will be precisely mapped into massive constellations to maximize coverage.

LEO technology will offer robust internet access to underserved and rural communities lacking wired, low-latency broadband options. The arrival of this emergent technology is likely to drive down monthly internet prices for hundreds of millions of Americans.

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May 9, 2019

How To Make A Spaceship

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, space travel

Jeff Bezos just unveiled a giant lunar-landing vehicle created by his rocket company Blue Origin.

Called “Blue Moon,” the lander is designed to deliver a variety of sizes and types of payloads to the moon’s surface, with the eventual goal of establishing what the company calls a “sustained human presence” on the moon.

The model of the Blue Moon lander that Bezos revealed today is the version designed to carry robotic and infrastructure payloads to the moon. Bezos said payloads could weigh up to 7 tons (6.5 metric tonnes). But according to the company’s website, “the larger variant of Blue Moon has been designed to land an ascent vehicle that will allow us to return Americans to the moon by 2024.” A vehicle designed for people was not shown at the event, however.

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May 9, 2019

Early biomarkers of psychosis

Posted by in category: health

Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2005;7:17–29.

Freedman R, Ross R, Leonard S, Myles-Worsley M, Adams CE, Waldo M, Tregellas J, Martin L, Olincy A, Tanabe J, Kisley MA, Hunter S, Stevens KE.

1Department of Psychiatry C-268–71, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, CO 80262, USA. Robert. [email protected]

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May 9, 2019

VO Underwear S8 Graphene air Pants Trace Antibacterial Blood Circulation Briefs(2-Pack)

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, materials

Graphene underwear.


L(170÷95) Waist circumference65 leg circumference21.

XL(175/100)Waist circumference 69 leg circumference 23.

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May 9, 2019

Robotic Space Explorer To Pursue Elusive Earth-Like Planets

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, space

The mission will look for analogues trillions of miles away.

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May 9, 2019

This startup invented underwear you can wear for weeks without washing

Posted by in category: futurism

O.o…


A group of Danish innovators have launched a kickstarter campaign for underpants that don’t need to be washed with every use.

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May 9, 2019

Billionaire Bezos unveils moon lander mockup, touts Blue Origin’s lunar goals

Posted by in categories: government, space travel

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Billionaire entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, founder of rocket company Blue Origin, unveiled on Thursday a mockup of a lunar lander spacecraft and discussed missions to the moon in a strategy tailored to the U.S. government’s renewed push to establish a lunar outpost in just five years.

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May 9, 2019

Bill Nye: Killer Asteroid Will Hit Earth ‘Like Control-Alt-Delete For Everything’

Posted by in categories: asteroid/comet impacts, existential risks

A killer asteroid will hit the Earth, and it is not a matter of “if” but “when,” based on the discussions during last week’s 2019 International Planetary Defense Conference.

Bill Nye opened up about the threat of asteroid impacts and possible extinction, explaining that people need to be more aware of this threat. “The Earth is going to get hit with another asteroid,” Nye said during the 2019 International Planetary Defense Conference. “The problem is, we don’t know when.”

Nye, who is known as the TV “Science Guy” and is currently the CEO of the Planetary Society, continued by saying that even if an asteroid doesn’t hit Earth within the next few decades, the threat is still there.

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