Notices by Flipboard Science Desk (sciencedesk@flipboard.social), page 7

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700,000 years of Egyptian history finds enormous new home.

NBC News reports: "The public has finally been allowed to visit part of the Grand Egyptian Museum, which is the size of 80 football fields."

https://flip.it/kjvSCo

#Archaeology #Egypt #Museum #History #AncientEgypt

October’s supermoon pairs with a comet for a special nighttime spectacle.

From @AssociatedPress: "The third of four supermoons this year, it will be 222,055 miles (357,364 kilometers) away Wednesday night, making it seem even bigger and brighter than in August and September. It will reach its full lunar phase Thursday. In a twist of cosmic fate, a comet is in the neighborhood. Discovered last year, comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas is now prominent in the Northern Hemisphere after wowing stargazers in the Southern Hemisphere."

https://flip.it/dGwE.Y

#Space #Astronomy #Moon #Comet #Supermoon #Science

Mysterious elephant species uncovered in India with 87 prehistoric stone tools.

From @popsci: "A new analysis of this 400,000-year-old skull fills in missing branches on the elephant evolutionary tree."

https://flip.it/d7gIYq

Here's the full study: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02724634.2024.2396821

#Elephant #Evolution #Science #Paleontology #Fossil #Biology

What do planet formation and badminton have in common?

From @ArsTechnica: "Dust grains in protoplanetary disks align via the same aerodynamics as the sport."

https://flip.it/RiWHjv

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

#Space #Planet #Science #Physics

"Cats may seem solid, but they’re actually somewhat liquid — at least according to one 2017 theoretical physics paper inspired by videos of cats squeezing under doors, into tight vases and down narrow crevices. Now, one researcher has taken this idea a step further, physically testing dozens of cats to see when they act more like liquids or solids." 🐈

Science News reports: "Cats are tough to test in a lab, so researchers brought the lab to the cats."

https://flip.it/CQTliw

#Cats #Science #Animals #Biology

China unveils its plans to turn its feats in space exploration into scientific advances.

From @AssociatedPress: "The nation’s leading scientific institute laid out an ambitious plan Tuesday to become a global leader in space science by 2050. It listed a wide range of research areas including black holes, Mars and Jupiter, and the search for habitable planets and signs of extraterrestrial life."

https://flip.it/xaJs.z

#China #Science #Space

A simple experiment revealed the complex "thoughts" of fungi.

From @popsci: "Mycelium can plan and strategize based on their surroundings, even without brains."

https://flip.it/EEsjfg

#Fungi #Mycelium #Science

NASA’s mission to investigate a potentially habitable ocean world is ready for launch

CNN reports the "Europa Clipper spacecraft — designed to explore its namesake, Jupiter’s moon Europa — is expected to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket Monday at 12:06 p.m. ET from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida."

https://flip.it/qj5Pb5

You can watch a live stream here: https://www.nasa.gov/

#Europa #Space #Jupiter #NASA #Science

The Hunter's Moon this week will be a supermoon — the brightest in 2024.

@CBSNews explains that the Hunter's' Moon is "a centuries-old name for the full moon immediately following the autumnal equinox and the September Harvest Moon that rises with it, which signals an acceleration in the hunting season. Some Native American tribes referred to the celestial event by different monikers — like the Blood Moon, Travel Moon or Dying Grass Moon."

https://flip.it/UJz2do

#Moon #Space #Astronomy #NativeAmerican

A NASA spacecraft is ready to take off for Jupiter and its moon, Europa. Will it find life there? It might be one of the best bets for such a discovery. “It’s a chance for us to explore not a world that might have been habitable billions of years ago, but a world that might be habitable today — right now,” said program scientist Curt Niebur. Marcia Dunn of the @AssociatedPress reports: https://flip.it/PCsQm0
#Science #Space #NASA #Jupiter #LifeBeyondEarth #SpaceExploration

SpaceX launches Starship rocket, catches returning booster with mechanical arms in engineering first. @AssociatedPress has the report: https://flip.it/9jIr_9
#Science #Space #SpaceExploration #SpaceX #ElonMusk

Vegetarians and vegans need to work a little harder to get their protein. For example, tofu has about 8 grams of protein per 100 grams, whereas chicken breast has 31 grams. But why, on a biological level, does meat generally contain so much more protein than plants do? @LiveScience explains: https://flip.it/gzn_7A
#Science #Health #Nutrition #Vegetarian #Vegan #Diet

In the first half of 2024, satellites belonging to SpaceX’s Starlink fleet performed almost 50,000 collision-avoidance maneuvers. This has raised fears about satellite collisions if we continue launching more without much forethought. So a big question astronomy professor Andy Lawrence asks is “how do you manage to make it stop?” @sciencefocus has more: https://flip.it/UNmc.t
#Science #Space #SpaceExploration #SpaceX

Scientists have identified more than 600 viruses in samples taken from bathroom in the United States. In fact, toothbrushes and showerheads are teeming with never-before-seen viruses. Before freaking out, the discovery isn’t a cause for concern. In fact, there may even be a benefit. @LiveScience explains: https://flip.it/NgNFGp
#Science #Health #Virus #Bacteria #Cleaning #USA

Journalist @w7voa is a must-follow for fediverse folk who are interested in news. This week, he shared many stories, including this one from nonprofit, nonpartisan site NOTUS about the upcoming election. “Nearly a sixth of Donald Trump’s fake electors are back as his 2024 electors in key swing states,” wrote Jose Pagliery and @byrontau. “Several others are still in positions of political power across the country — despite criminal indictments and other efforts to hold them accountable.”

https://www.notus.org/trump-2024/fake-electors-2024-state-officials

#USPolitics #DonaldTrump #Conservative #RepublicanParty #Newstodon #NewstodonFriday #FollowFriday

Alzheimer’s disease is often seen as a old person’s ailment, and yet early-onset cases, meaning patients under the age of 65, make up 10% of all diagnoses. @ScienceAlert reports on this subset of patients, including the sad and confounding case of a 19-year-old who was diagnosed with the disease. https://flip.it/q-Zykj
#Science #Health #Human #Brain #Neuroscience #Alzheimers

@noplasticshower 😬

Climate change gave significant boost to Hurricane Milton’s destructive rain, winds, scientists say.

From @AssociatedPress: "World Weather Attribution researchers said Friday that without climate change, a hurricane like Milton would make landfall as a weaker Category 2, not considered a 'major' storm, instead of a Category 3."

https://flip.it/oTqsGJ

#Milton #Hurricane #ClimateChange #Climate #HurricaneMilton #Science

In the U.S., solar storm brings spectacular Northern Lights to sky-watchers as far south as Texas.

NBC News reports: "According to the [U.S.] National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the storm was ranked 4 out of 5 in severity, allowing for more widespread illuminations across night skies, particularly across Europe."

https://flip.it/nLu0Im

#SolarStorm #NorthernLights #Space #Science