The last time the Juan de Fuca oceanic plate jolted under the North American plate, unleashing a 9.0 earthquake, was in 1700. With the event scheduled to happen once every 500 years or so, we are due for another any day now. Although it's not clear what will happen when this mega quake does hit, researchers at the University of Washington recently presented 50 possible scenarios of how the event might unfold. Earthquakes are typically measured using the Richter scale, named after the geologist who invented it in the 1930s. The scale is numbered from 0-10, although no magnitude 10 earthquake has ever been observed, making a 9.0 one of the most powerful quakes in recorded history. The predicted earthquake, dubbed the "Really Big One," will take place where the Juan de Fuca and North American plates meet along Cascadia subduction zone, just north of the San Andreas fault line. The earthquake would affect those living in coastal Washington, Oregon, British Columbia and Northern …
Science
Radiation from the Fukushima nuclear disaster has been found in sand 60 miles away
It's been six and a half years since the giant one-two punch of an earthquake and a tsunami caused a partial meltdown at Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. In that time, scientists have identified a broad range of consequences, from unrecognized leaks of radioactive water , to a continuing wave of plastic debris carrying new species across the ocean , to the first confirmed case of cancer caused by the incident . Now, according to a new paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , there's one more to add to the list: radioactive cesium atoms leaching into the ocean as far as 60 miles away from the plant . Cesium is a natural element found in low levels in Earth's crust . But radioactive cesium is a different story— that version can be created only by detonating nuclear weapons or splitting uranium to make nuclear power. Humans who come in contact with radioactive cesium in large enough quantities can suffer from nausea, …
The very first trees ripped themselves apart to grow larger
Anyone ever taught to count rings to tell how long a tree lived for will know that tree rings are time made visible . But the orderly layers of growth that modern trees use are only one strategy for becoming large and tall. And according to a new paper being published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , the very earliest trees grew in a very different way: as a ring that expanded outward. "It's kind of a design of a plant that is cheap," Gregory Retallack , who studies fossilized plants and soils at the University of Oregon and was not affiliated with the new study, tells Newsweek . "People had found them years ago in New York, and we didn't really understand them all that well," he says of truly ancient trees belonging to a group called cladoxylopsids, which lived more than 375 million years ago. More than five years ago, Xu Honghe, who studies fossilized plants at the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology in China, and his colleagues …
[Read more...] about The very first trees ripped themselves apart to grow larger
In the deepest part of the ocean, scientists saw a ghostly fish they’d never seen alive before
Scientists are exploring an unknown world in the deepest waters of U.S. territory. A vessel owned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is plumbing the depths of the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument, north of Guam in the western Pacific, looking to learn more about the biology, geology, topography and potential minerals there, until July 10. In late June, the team happened upon a ghostly fish that had never been observed alive before. Its existence was only confirmed in decades past by dead samples plucked from the ocean floor using extremely long trawls. Scientists say they were thrilled, but shocked, to view the mysterious creature, which is in the little-known family Aphyonidae . "Some of us working with fish have had wish lists, bucket lists, for what we might want to see," says Bruce Mundy, a NOAA fisheries biologist with the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, in a video . "A fish in this family is probably first on those lists for a lot …
Gordon Brown warns 100m vaccines set to perish in move that ‘will come back to haunt us’
Gordon Brown warns 100 million vaccines could be wasted Sign up HERE for science breakthroughs in health, business and more that matter SUBSCRIBE Invalid email We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info The former Prime Minister appeared on Sky News this morning amid concerns over a new variant of COVID-19. First discovered in South Africa, the Omicron variant has put scientists around the world on red alert. But Mr Brown is not surprised by the news and has blamed a lack of vaccines in poorer countries for the development of new coronavirus variants. Related articles Russia outsmarted as UK handed way out of Putin's energy crisis Iran “two months” from nuclear bomb as Truss secures ‘historic’ deal He said this morning: "I've been …
Brexit boost: UK researchers to receive £15bn funding as EU ban ‘puts projects at risk’
Lord Frost gives update on UK’s participation in Horizon Europe Sign up HERE for science breakthroughs in health, business and more that matter SUBSCRIBE Invalid email We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info The Government is expected to announce a "safety net" of funding that science researchers were supposed to receive from the UK’s inclusion in Horizon Europe. The £80bn project is the EU’s key research and innovation project from which Britain has had its formal entry delayed over Brexit disputes. Britain was supposed to contribute £15billion to the project, but now it has been suggested that the UK may use the money it was supposed to contribute for its own domestic science purposes. Related articles Russia threatens millions as it runs …
The science behind workout music
You're psyching yourself up for a morning run. Or about to climb on the elliptical for a high-energy workout. Or warming up before a weightlifting session. What's the first thing you reach for? Your earbuds, naturally. Studies have shown that listening to music that fits the cadence of what you're doing - running, cycling, aerobics - makes you work harder. "The metronome aspect, the synchronisation of movement to music, is the most important," says Carl Foster, director of the Human Performance Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin at Lacrosse. The idea of synchronisng movement to a beat is nothing new, he points out: in Roman galleys, the drumbeat drove the pace of the rowers. "But there is also the distraction and arousal that music brings," Foster says. They both matter, but it's unclear how much. "There's definitely more buried in music that affects us. But we don't know exactly how to tease it out." HOW DO YOU PICK THE 'RIGHT' MUSIC? If you want to make a …
Russia is about to send a humanoid AI robot to the International Space Station
Russia's space agency Roscosmos is about to send a humanoid robot to the International Space Station. Skybot F-850 will be sent to the ISS on August 22 on board the Soyuz MS-14 spacecraft, and will spend over two weeks there before returning to Earth on September 7. The robot, also known as Fedor, made headlines in 2017 when Dmitry Rogozin, director general of Roscosmos, shared a video of it shooting guns. Shortly after he clarified they "are not creating a Terminator, but artificial intelligence that will be of great practical significance in various fields." Fedor was created to replicate the movement of a remote operator. It is also able to carry out some tasks autonomously. One of the goals of the robot is to send it to the moon ahead of manned missions. "First, we will send a humanoid robot there, and only after that we will send humans, after we study all the risks and learn to cope with them," Rogozin told Russian news agency Tass last month, after announcing the trip to the …
[Read more...] about Russia is about to send a humanoid AI robot to the International Space Station
Germany stokes Putin fury and SUSPENDS Russia gas pipeline amid EU energy crisis
Russia 'took advantage' of Europe's energy issues says expert Sign up HERE for science breakthroughs in health, business and more that matter SUBSCRIBE Invalid email We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info Russia’s new Nord Stream 2 pipeline was scheduled to transport gas from Russia into Germany, bypassing Poland and Ukraine. Mr Putin was waiting for months since the pipeline was completed in September, and has been accused of using the pipeline as a "geopolitical weapon" after decreasing gas supplies from other pipelines to speed up the certification process. The move to order Gazprom to decrease gas flow from his vast network of other pipelines had caused wholesale gas prices across Europe to skyrocket and further deepen the energy crisis. …
Paris will use FLYING TAXIS to shuttle sports fans across the city during the 2024 Olympic Games, officials claim
From The Jetsons to Harry Potter, flying taxis are a staple feature of many science fiction blockbusters. But the futuristic vehicles are inching closer to becoming a reality, and could even be used to shuttle sports fans across Paris during the 2024 Olympic Games. French officials have announced that Paris will begin testing electric air taxis at a test site just outside Paris. The ultimate goal is to create at least two flights paths to ease congestion during the summer games, according to the officials. French officials have announced that Paris will begin testing electric air taxis at a test site just outside Paris Paris' flying taxi routes Overall, the aim is to have two routes available for sports fans during the 2024 Olympic Games: Paris-Issy-les-Moulineaux heliport to Saint-Cyr airfield Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Le Bourget airports and Paris city, on a site to be determined The Pontoise test site is located at the Cormeilles-en-Vexin airfield …