Asteroid Bennu carries all the ingredients for life as we know it
science
We grew a forest WITHOUT planting a Single Tree
Across Africa, forests are disappearing faster than anywhere else on Earth. But hidden under the surface, a solution is waiting: Underground Forests. Root systems that are still alive and with the potential to restore huge areas of barren landscape.
#Nature #Conservation #Ecology #Science #Rewilding #forestry #Ecology #news #environment #Africa
My #Introduction.
I talk about life in #CambridgeMA and #Boston, #engineering, #science, #radios (#SDR, #HAM, #LoRa, #MeshCore), #pinball, #film, retro computers/video games, and more.
I collect #art, #LaserDiscs, study #horology, visit museums (The Met, MFA, Harvard Art #Museum) and support my local #library.
I read #poetry and books on #architecture, #design, and #urbanism.
I walk or take public #transit everywhere.
I practice #permacomputing and self-hosting, running #BSD where I can.
American bacteriological chemist, food scientist and refrigeration engineer Mary Engle Pennington was born #OTD in 1872.
She was a pioneer in the preservation, handling, storage and transportation of perishable foods and the first female lab chief at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. She was awarded 5 patents, received the Notable Service Medal from President Herbert Hoover and the Garvin-Olin Medal from the American Chemical Society.
In our most recent #SETILive #podcast, we met the show's newest host, Dr. Moiya McTier, who gave us the lore on her science and communication background. Listen to the full episode: https://feeds.libsyn.com/462636/rss
Physicists Discover Previously Unknown Crystal Forged During Manhattan Project's Trinity Test
What do planet formation and badminton have in common?
From @ArsTechnica: "Dust grains in protoplanetary disks align via the same aerodynamics as the sport."
See the full paper here: https://academic.oup.com/mnras/advance-article/doi/10.1093/mnras/stae2248/7783265?login=false
For more space news, follow @space-ScienceAlert
PRESS RELEASE
The Cosmic Chronicles Literary Award is a new contest for emerging authors from the SETI Institute’s Artist in Residence (AIR) program. The winner of the Cosmic Chronicles Literary Award 2025 is awarded a $1,000 prize, while the finalists receive $100 each. Due to the many strong entries, the jury also included four honorable mentions.
See the complete list of winners and honorable mentions: https://www.seti.org/news/cosmic-chronicles-literary-award-2025-winners-announced/
#Utah Becomes the New Center of #US #Measles Cases
Nearly 600 people have been sickened across the state, which has seen an increase in recent #vaccine exemptions among #children.
#RFKJr #Trump #idiocracy #PublicDisservice #PublicHealth #InfectiousDisease #AntiVaxxers #ConspiracyTheories #science #medicine #research #disease #ethics #HHS #NIH #CDC #FDA #USpol
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/16/well/measles-cases-utah.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
How the Telegraph Went From Semaphore to Communication Game Changer
Samuel Morse was an artist by trade, but to the world he’s best known for connecting the dots —and dashes— that forever changed the way we communicate
by Jimmy Stamp (from the archives)
Morse at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/3797
#OTD in 1846.
William T. G. Morton administers ether anesthesia during a surgical operation, by the use of inhaled ether.
A month after this demonstration, a patent was issued for "letheon", although it was widely known by then that the inhalant was ether. The promotion of his questionable claim to have been the discoverer of anesthesia became an obsession for the rest of his life.
If you're in STEM, at what level did you first get taught ethics (in general, and as specifically relevant in your field)?
Mastodon only allows 4 poll choices so please write in the comments if these choices don't cover you.
#Ethics #Science #AcademicChatter #STEM
Options: (choose one)
A new moon. An interstellar comet. An intriguing biosignature. An advance in signal detection. And so much more!
Across the SETI Institute, this year brought remarkable progress in our search for life and our understanding of the cosmos. We developed new techniques, expanded our datasets, and made discoveries that will shape the work ahead in meaningful ways.
JWST has delivered one of the most detailed looks yet at how moons form around young planetary bodies. In a recent SETI Live conversation, host Dr. Moiya McTier spoke with University of Zürich research fellow Dr. Gabriele Cugno and Carnegie Institution for Science postdoctoral fellow Dr. Sierra L. Grant about their analysis of CT Cha b – a distant, planetary-mass companion surrounded by a compact moon-forming disk.
Learn more: https://www.seti.org/news/baby-moons-in-the-making-the-discovery-of-a-moon-forming-disk/
Scientists Uncover Strange New State of Matter Inside Uranus and Neptune https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-uncover-strange-new-state-of-matter-inside-uranus-and-neptune/ #science
Comet 3I/ATLAS passed through the inner solar system on a one-time trajectory, entering a brief but consequential observational gap. During this interval, the object moved behind the Sun from Earth’s perspective.
In a recent #SETILive discussion, Beth Johnson and Dr. Cynthia Phillips discussed how an instrument built for a very different target was rapidly repurposed to study one of the rarest objects ever detected in the solar system.
Learn more: https://www.seti.org/news/3iatlas-caught-in-uv-what-europa-clipper-saw-when-no-one-else-could/
Lise Meitner died #OTD in 1968.
She is known for her part in the discovery of nuclear fission. Among physicists she had been known for many years as one of the early pioneers in the study of radioactivity. Einstein nicknamed her ‘the German Madame Curie’.
Edited 1y ago
The European Space Agency's Euclid space telescope is assembling the largest 3D map of the universe ever made.
The first section is now complete. Take a look at what happens when you zoom in...
https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Euclid/Zoom_into_the_first_page_of_ESA_Euclid_s_great_cosmic_atlas #space #science #astronomy #nature
"Why Is Ice Slippery?"
Oh my god well done Quanta magazine, amazing article.
https://www.quantamagazine.org/why-is-ice-slippery-a-new-hypothesis-slides-into-the-chat-20251208/
#physics #science
Oh my god well done Quanta magazine, amazing article.
https://www.quantamagazine.org/why-is-ice-slippery-a-new-hypothesis-slides-into-the-chat-20251208/
#physics #science
Most dog owners would do just about anything to ensure their pets’ comfort — including identify when they’re in pain. But we humans probably aren’t as good as that as we’d like to think. Turns out dogs do a pretty good job of hiding their pain. Read more from @ScienceAlert:
Oops,
Pocket mammoths really existed. I only knew them from Elder Scrolls Online:
https://en.m.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Pocket_Mammoth_(pet)
But according to @wikipedia, they also existed on Crete:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammuthus_creticus
Image from @uesp
#Mammoth #Mastodon #Gaming #Science #Paleontology #NaturalHistory #ElderScrollsOnline
Edited 1y ago
By way of an overdue #introduction; I'm rather a simple soul, I mainly enjoy tinkering with #computers, strumming #guitars and a wee bit of #spaniel sitting. I'm now taking some tentative first steps into #gardening too, just to fall in with the #retired stereotype I suppose. I'm also reading the #internet and I'm currently about halfway through it. I detest #BigTech, the #algorithm, #AI and #SurveillanceCapitalism. I love the #Fediverse because it reminds me of the olde worlde internet. I try to post/boost a little bit of everything and anything, including #art, #science, #botany, #transport, #animals, #architecture and #humour, without getting too mired in #politics, although it's not easy to avoid politics when you care about #nature and the #environment. I'm happy to interact with everyone/anyone irrespective of creed, colour, nationality or gender/sexual preferences. In the nicest sense of the word, I really don't give a fuck what you are. I consider myself to be a floating voter of centre/left leaning persuasion. I support the notion of managed #degrowth and #social responsibility. I would rather discuss the common ground we share and aim to respect our differences. I try to avoid fuckwits wherever I encounter them. That'll do for now although I dare say I'll edit this over time. Thanks for reading and peace out☮️
Edited 151d ago
Scientists say they have discovered 20 new species deep in the Pacific Ocean
During a recent #SETILive conversation, SETI Institute research scientist Dr. Lauren Sgro sat down with Arizona State University postdoctoral fellow Dr. Sagnick Mukherjee to discuss a problem that has frustrated exoplanet astronomers for years: clouds.
Learn more: https://www.seti.org/news/how-clouds-hide-alien-worlds/
What was the loudest sound ever recorded?
By Clarissa Brincat
Determining the "loudest recorded sound" depends on how you define sound and on which measurements you choose to include.
https://www.livescience.com/physics-mathematics/what-was-the-loudest-sound-ever-recorded
Krakatau
Edited 264d ago