Science, Art, Litt, Science based Art & Science Communication
JAI VIGNAN
All about Science - to remove misconceptions and encourage scientific temper
Communicating science to the common people
'To make them see the world differently through the beautiful lense of science'
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Latest Activity: 2 hours ago
WE LOVE SCIENCE HERE BECAUSE IT IS A MANY SPLENDOURED THING
THIS IS A WAR ZONE WHERE SCIENCE FIGHTS WITH NONSENSE AND WINS
“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.”
"Being a scientist is a state of mind, not a profession!"
"Science, when it's done right, can yield amazing things".
The Reach of Scientific Research From Labs to Laymen
The aim of science is not only to open a door to infinite knowledge and wisdom but to set a limit to infinite error.
"Knowledge is a Superpower but the irony is you cannot get enough of it with ever increasing data base unless you try to keep up with it constantly and in the right way!" The best education comes from learning from people who know what they are exactly talking about.
Science is this glorious adventure into the unknown, the opportunity to discover things that nobody knew before. And that’s just an experience that’s not to be missed. But it’s also a motivated effort to try to help humankind. And maybe that’s just by increasing human knowledge—because that’s a way to make us a nobler species.
If you are scientifically literate the world looks very different to you.
We do science and science communication not because they are easy but because they are difficult!
“Science is not a subject you studied in school. It’s life. We 're brought into existence by it!"
Links to some important articles :
1. Interactive science series...
a. how-to-do-research-and-write-research-papers-part 13
b. Some Qs people asked me on science and my replies to them...
Part 6, part-10, part-11, part-12, part 14 , part- 8,
part- 1, part-2, part-4, part-5, part-16, part-17, part-18 , part-19 , part-20
part-21 , part-22, part-23, part-24, part-25, part-26, part-27 , part-28
part-29, part-30, part-31, part-32, part-33, part-34, part-35, part-36, part-37,
part-38, part-40, part-41, part-42, part-43, part-44, part-45, part-46, part-47
Part 48, part49, Critical thinking -part 50 , part -51, part-52, part-53
part-54, part-55, part-57, part-58, part-59, part-60, part-61, part-62, part-63
part 64, part-65, part-66, part-67, part-68, part 69, part-70 part-71, part-73 ...
.......306
BP variations during pregnancy part-72
who is responsible for the gender of their children - a man or a woman -part-56
c. some-questions-people-asked-me-on-science-based-on-my-art-and-poems -part-7
d. science-s-rules-are-unyielding-they-will-not-be-bent-for-anybody-part-3-
e. debate-between-scientists-and-people-who-practice-and-propagate-pseudo-science - part -9
f. why astrology is pseudo-science part 15
g. How Science is demolishing patriarchal ideas - part-39
2. in-defence-of-mangalyaan-why-even-developing-countries-like-india need space research programmes
3. Science communication series:
a. science-communication - part 1
b. how-scienitsts-should-communicate-with-laymen - part 2
c. main-challenges-of-science-communication-and-how-to-overcome-them - part 3
d. the-importance-of-science-communication-through-art- part 4
e. why-science-communication-is-geting worse - part 5
f. why-science-journalism-is-not-taken-seriously-in-this-part-of-the-world - part 6
g. blogs-the-best-bet-to-communicate-science-by-scientists- part 7
h. why-it-is-difficult-for-scientists-to-debate-controversial-issues - part 8
i. science-writers-and-communicators-where-are-you - part 9
j. shooting-the-messengers-for-a-different-reason-for-conveying-the- part 10
k. why-is-science-journalism-different-from-other-forms-of-journalism - part 11
l. golden-rules-of-science-communication- Part 12
m. science-writers-should-develop-a-broader-view-to-put-things-in-th - part 13
n. an-informed-patient-is-the-most-cooperative-one -part 14
o. the-risks-scientists-will-have-to-face-while-communicating-science - part 15
p. the-most-difficult-part-of-science-communication - part 16
q. clarity-on-who-you-are-writing-for-is-important-before-sitting-to write a science story - part 17
r. science-communicators-get-thick-skinned-to-communicate-science-without-any-bias - part 18
s. is-post-truth-another-name-for-science-communication-failure?
t. why-is-it-difficult-for-scientists-to-have-high-eqs
u. art-and-literature-as-effective-aids-in-science-communication-and teaching
v.* some-qs-people-asked-me-on-science communication-and-my-replies-to-them
** qs-people-asked-me-on-science-and-my-replies-to-them-part-173
w. why-motivated-perception-influences-your-understanding-of-science
x. science-communication-in-uncertain-times
y. sci-com: why-keep-a-dog-and-bark-yourself
z. How to deal with sci com dilemmas?
A+. sci-com-what-makes-a-story-news-worthy-in-science
B+. is-a-perfect-language-important-in-writing-science-stories
C+. sci-com-how-much-entertainment-is-too-much-while-communicating-sc
D+. sci-com-why-can-t-everybody-understand-science-in-the-same-way
E+. how-to-successfully-negotiate-the-science-communication-maze
4. Health related topics:
a. why-antibiotic-resistance-is-increasing-and-how-scientists-are-tr
b. what-might-happen-when-you-take-lots-of-medicines
c. know-your-cesarean-facts-ladies
d. right-facts-about-menstruation
e. answer-to-the-question-why-on-big-c
f. how-scientists-are-identifying-new-preventive-measures-and-cures-
g. what-if-little-creatures-high-jack-your-brain-and-try-to-control-
h. who-knows-better?
k. can-rust-from-old-drinking-water-pipes-cause-health-problems
l. pvc-and-cpvc-pipes-should-not-be-used-for-drinking-water-supply
m. melioidosis
o. desensitization-and-transplant-success-story
p. do-you-think-the-medicines-you-are-taking-are-perfectly-alright-then revisit your position!
q. swine-flu-the-difficlulties-we-still-face-while-tackling-the-outb
r. dump-this-useless-information-into-a-garbage-bin-if-you-really-care about evidence based medicine
s. don-t-ignore-these-head-injuries
u. allergic- agony-caused-by-caterpillars-and-moths
General science:
a.why-do-water-bodies-suddenly-change-colour
b. don-t-knock-down-your-own-life-line
c. the-most-menacing-animal-in-the-world
d. how-exo-planets-are-detected
e. the-importance-of-earth-s-magnetic-field
f. saving-tigers-from-extinction-is-still-a-travail
g. the-importance-of-snakes-in-our-eco-systems
h. understanding-reverse-osmosis
i. the-importance-of-microbiomes
j. crispr-cas9-gene-editing-technique-a-boon-to-fixing-defective-gen
k. biomimicry-a-solution-to-some-of-our-problems
5. the-dilemmas-scientists-face
6. why-we-get-contradictory-reports-in-science
7. be-alert-pseudo-science-and-anti-science-are-on-prowl
8. science-will-answer-your-questions-and-solve-your-problems
9. how-science-debunks-baseless-beliefs
10. climate-science-and-its-relevance
11. the-road-to-a-healthy-life
12. relative-truth-about-gm-crops-and-foods
13. intuition-based-work-is-bad-science
14. how-science-explains-near-death-experiences
15. just-studies-are-different-from-thorough-scientific-research
16. lab-scientists-versus-internet-scientists
17. can-you-challenge-science?
18. the-myth-of-ritual-working
19.science-and-superstitions-how-rational-thinking-can-make-you-work-better
20. comets-are-not-harmful-or-bad-omens-so-enjoy-the-clestial-shows
21. explanation-of-mysterious-lights-during-earthquakes
22. science-can-tell-what-constitutes-the-beauty-of-a-rose
23. what-lessons-can-science-learn-from-tragedies-like-these
24. the-specific-traits-of-a-scientific-mind
25. science-and-the-paranormal
26. are-these-inventions-and-discoveries-really-accidental-and-intuitive like the journalists say?
27. how-the-brain-of-a-polymath-copes-with-all-the-things-it-does
28. how-to-make-scientific-research-in-india-a-success-story
29. getting-rid-of-plastic-the-natural-way
30. why-some-interesting-things-happen-in-nature
31. real-life-stories-that-proves-how-science-helps-you
32. Science and trust series:
a. how-to-trust-science-stories-a-guide-for-common-man
b. trust-in-science-what-makes-people-waver
c. standing-up-for-science-showing-reasons-why-science-should-be-trusted
You will find the entire list of discussions here: http://kkartlab.in/group/some-science/forum
( Please go through the comments section below to find scientific research reports posted on a daily basis and watch videos based on science)
Get interactive...
Please contact us if you want us to add any information or scientific explanation on any topic that interests you. We will try our level best to give you the right information.
Our mail ID: kkartlabin@gmail.com
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Green spaces are well known to mitigate stresses in many ways. Plants help protect and insulate us from the environment, keeping our surrounds up to several degrees cooler during heat waves. They decrease air and noise pollution.
Green spaces encourage physical activity and social interactions and are associated with lower risk of crime.
Yet at the same time we've been learning just how intrinsically reliant our minds and bodies are on the natural world.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969723060795...
Part 2
Surrounding ourselves with nature does wonders for our bodies, from better mental health to healthier hearts and stronger developing immune systems. So much so that some doctors are literally prescribing nature as a treatment.
New research may have found a potential explanation for some of these benefits: People living in areas surrounded by nature tend to have younger biological ages.
Examining 7,827 people and their home environments, the researchers found those living in areas filled with more parks, gardens, trees, and other vegetation had longer telomeres – a region in DNA sequences associated with longevity.
Telomeres are repeating sections of DNA found at the ends of each of our 46 chromosomes, preventing the genetic molecule from unraveling like the plastic ends of shoelaces.
Each time a cell divides the telomeres inside them become shorter, until the cell can no longer divide its genetic material and its cell line dies out.
This makes telomeres important markers of biological age, or how worn down our cells are. We know that many variables – such as stress – can influence how quickly our telomeres wear down.
Researchers decided to focus on microRNA genes due to their simple structure: the genes are very short—just a few tens of bases—and they have to fold into a hairpin structure to function correctly.
A central insight was to model the gene history using a custom computer algorithm. This enables the closest inspection of the origin of genes thus far.
The whole genome of tens of primates and mammals is known. A comparison of their genomes reveals which species have the microRNA palindrome pair and which lack it. With a detailed modeling of the history, they could see that whole palindromes are created by single mutation events.
By focusing on humans and other primates, researchers demonstrated that the newly found mechanism can explain at least a quarter of the novel microRNA genes. As similar cases were found in other evolutionary lineages, the origin mechanism appears universal.
In principle, the rise of microRNA genes is so easy that novel genes could affect human health.
The emergence of new genes from nothing has fascinated researchers. Although the results are based on small regulatory genes, researchers think that the findings can be generalized to other RNA genes and molecules.
Heli A. M. Mönttinen et al, Generation of de novo miRNAs from template switching during DNA replication, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2023). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2310752120
Part 2
The complexity of living organisms is encoded within their genes, but where do these genes come from? Researchers resolved outstanding questions around the origin of small regulatory genes, and described a mechanism that creates their DNA palindromes. Under suitable circumstances, these palindromes evolve into microRNA genes.
The human genome contains ca. 20,000 genes that are used for the construction of proteins. Actions of these classical genes are coordinated by thousands of regulatory genes, the smallest of which encode microRNA molecules that are 22 base pairs in length. While the number of genes remains relatively constant, occasionally, new genes emerge during evolution. Similar to the genesis of biological life, the origin of new genes has continued to fascinate scientists.
All RNA molecules require palindromic runs of bases that lock the molecule into its functional conformation. Importantly, the chances of random base mutations gradually forming such palindromic runs are extremely small, even for the simple microRNA genes.
Hence, the origin of these palindromic sequences has puzzled researchers till now. Experts now resolved this mystery, describing a mechanism that can instantaneously generate complete DNA palindromes and thus create new microRNA genes from previously noncoding DNA sequences.
In their project, the researchers studied errors in DNA replication. DNA replication can be compared to typing of text. DNA is copied one base at a time, and typically mutations are erroneous single bases, like mis-punches on a laptop keyboard. So researchers studied a mechanism creating larger errors.
Researchers recognized that DNA replication errors could sometimes be beneficial. Some researchers saw the connection to the structure of RNA molecules.
In an RNA molecule, the bases of adjacent palindromes can pair and form structures resembling a hairpin. Such structures are crucial for the function of the RNA molecules.
Part 1
A new study has identified a potentially growing natural hazard in the north: frostquakes. With climate change contributing to many observed changes in weather extremes, such as heavy precipitation and cold waves, these seismic events could become more common. Researchers were surprised by the role of wetlands and drainage channels in irrigated wetlands in origin of frostquakes.
Frostquakes are seismic events caused by the rapid freezing of water in the ground. They are most common during extreme winter conditions, when wet, snow-free ground freezes rapidly. They have been reported in northern Finland in 2016, 2019 and 2022, as well as in Chicago in 2019 and Ottawa in 2022, among others.
Roads and other areas cleared of snow in winter are particularly vulnerable to frostquakes. "It was previously thought that roads were the main areas, from which frostquakes originate. Unpredicted in a new study was the importance of wetlands and drainage channels.
When water in the ground, accumulated during heavy rainfalls in autumn or melting of snow during warm winter weather, freezes and expands rapidly, it causes cracks in the ground, accompanied by tremors and booms. When occurred in populated areas, frostquakes, or cryoseisms, are felt by people and they can be accompanied by specific noises. Ground motions during frostquakes are comparable to those of other seismic events, such as more distant earthquakes, mining explosions and vibrations produced by freight trains. Frostquakes are also known phenomenon in permafrost regions.
The new study, currently available as a preprint and set to be published in the journal EGUsphere, is the first applied study of seismic events from marsh and wetland areas.
Fracturing in the uppermost frozen ground can be initiated if the thickness of frozen layer is about 5 cm and larger. Ruptures can propagate deeper and damage infrastructure such as buildings, basements, pipelines and roads.
With climate change, rapid changes in weather patterns have brought frostquakes to the attention of the wider audience, and they may become more common. Although their intensity is usually low, a series of relatively strong frostquakes rupture roads.
Nikita Afonin et al, Frost quakes in wetlands in northern Finland during extreme winter weather conditions and related hazard to urban infrastructure (2023). DOI: 10.5194/egusphere-2023-1853
The cost of repairing corrosion worldwide is estimated at $2.5 trillion a year, which is more than 3% of the global GDP—so developing better ways to manage oxidation would be an economic boon.
When water vapor meets metal, the resulting corrosion can lead to mechanical problems that harm a machine's performance. Through a process called passivation, it also can form a thin inert layer that acts as a barrier against further deterioration.
A technique called environmental transmission electron microscopy (TEM), allows researchers to directly view molecules interacting on the tiniest possible scale.
Researchers introduced water vapour to clean aluminum samples and observed the surface reactions. They discovered something that had never been observed before: In addition to the aluminum hydroxide layer that formed on the surface, a second amorphous layer developed underneath it, which indicates there is a transport mechanism that diffuses oxygen into the substrate.
Understanding how a water molecule's hydrogen and oxygen atoms break apart to interact with metals could lead to clean-energy solutions.
Xiaobo Chen et al, Atomistic mechanisms of water vapor–induced surface passivation, Science Advances (2023). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adh5565
Scientists are trying to test this now . They are trying to launch a rocket from Alaska through these phenomena and measure the strength and direction of the electric and magnetic fields. SSL scientists specialize in designing and building instruments that do just that. Many of these instruments are on spacecraft now orbiting Earth and the sun.
Initially, the target would be what's known as an enhanced aurora, which is a normal aurora with picket fence-like emissions embedded in it.
The enhanced aurora is basically this bright layer that's embedded in the normal aurora. The colors are similar to the picket fence in that there's not as much blue in them, and there's more green from oxygen and red from nitrogen. The hypothesis is that these are also created by parallel electric fields, but they are a lot more common than the picket fence.
The plan is not only to fly a rocket through that enhanced layer to actually measure those parallel electric fields for the first time but also to distinguish the conditions from those that cause the auroras. Eventually, researchers hope for a rocket that will fly directly through Steve and the picket fence.
L. Claire Gasque et al, It's Not Easy Being Green: Kinetic Modeling of the Emission Spectrum Observed in STEVE's Picket Fence, Geophysical Research Letters (2023). DOI: 10.1029/2023GL106073
Part 3
**
The common auroras are produced when the solar wind energizes particles in Earth's magnetosphere, often at altitudes higher than 1,000 kilometers above the surface. These energized particles spiral around Earth's magnetic field lines toward the poles, where they crash into and excite oxygen and nitrogen molecules in the upper atmosphere. When those molecules relax, oxygen emits specific frequencies of green and red light, while nitrogen generates a bit of red, but primarily a blue, emission line.
The colorful, shimmering curtains that result can extend for thousands of kilometers across the northern or southern latitudes.
Steve, however, displays not individual emission lines, but a broad range of frequencies centered around purple or mauve. And unlike auroras, neither Steve nor the picket fence emit blue light, which is generated when the most energetic particles hit and ionize nitrogen. Steve and the picket fence also occur at lower latitudes than the aurora, potentially even as far south as the equator.
Some researchers proposed that Steve is caused by ion flows in the upper atmosphere, referred to as subauroral ion drift, or SAID, though there's no well accepted physical explanation for how SAID could generate the colorful emissions.
There are also other suggestions that the picket fence's emissions could be generated by low-altitude electric fields parallel to Earth's magnetic field, a situation thought to be impossible because any electric field aligned with the magnetic field should quickly short out and disappear.
One model showed that a moderate parallel electric field—around 100 millivolts per meter—at a height of about 110 km could accelerate electrons to an energy that would excite oxygen and nitrogen and generate the spectrum of light observed from the picket fence. Unusual conditions in that area, such as a lower density of charged plasma and more neutral atoms of oxygen and nitrogen, could potentially act as insulation to keep the electric field from shorting out.
If you look at the spectrum of the picket fence, it's much more green than you would expect. And there's none of the blue that's coming from the ionization of nitrogen. What that's telling us is that there's only a specific energy range of electrons that can create those colors, and they can't be coming from way out in space down into the atmosphere, because those particles have too much energy.
Instead the light from the picket fence is being created by particles that have to be energized right there in space by a parallel electric field, which is a completely different mechanism than any of the aurora that researchers have studied or known before.
They also suspect that Steve itself may be produced by related processes. Their calculations also predict the type of ultraviolet emissions that this process would produce, which can be checked to verify the new hypothesis about the picket fence.
Though some calculations don't directly address the on-off glow that makes the phenomenon look like a picket fence, it's likely due to wavelike variations in the electric field. And while the particles that are accelerated by the electric field are probably not from the sun, the scrambling of the atmosphere by solar storms probably triggers Steve and the picket fence, as it does the common aurora.
Part 2
The shimmering green, red and purple curtains of the northern and southern lights—the auroras—may be the best-known phenomena lighting up the nighttime sky, but the most mysterious are the mauve and white streaks called Steve and their frequent companion, a glowing green "picket fence."
First recognized in 2018 as distinct from the common auroras, Steve and its associated picket fence were nevertheless thought to be caused by the same physical processes. But scientists were left scratching their heads about how these glowing emissions were produced.
Vibrant auroras and glowing phenomena such as Steve and the picket fence are becoming more common as the sun enters the active period of its 11-year cycle.
Because all these transient luminous phenomena are triggered by solar storms and coronal mass ejections from the sun, the approaching solar maximum is an ideal time to study rare events like Steve and the picket fence.
In a region of the upper atmosphere farther south than that in which auroras form, electric fields parallel to Earth's magnetic field could produce the color spectrum of the picket fence. If correct, this unusual process has implications for how physicists understand energy flow between Earth's magnetosphere, which surrounds and protects Earth from the solar wind, and the ionosphere at the edge of space.
A new paper showed that parallel electric fields are capable of explaining this exotic spectrum.
Part 1
A small international team of soil and water ecosystem conservation specialists has found that biocrusts clinging to parts of the Great Wall of China have been serving to protect the famous structure from erosion. In their paper published in the journal Science Advances (1), the group describes their study and analysis of material growing on the wall.
The Great Wall of China was built over several centuries starting approximately 221 BC—its function was to protect the people living behind it from enemies attempting to invade from the other side. Prior research has shown that different parts of the wall were made with different materials—mostly rammed earth or stone.
Rammed earth is made by mixing organic materials with inorganic materials. Because of their nature, such materials are more susceptible to erosion. That has led to questions regarding how sections of the wall made with the material have survived for so many years. In this new effort, the researchers wondered if perhaps biocrusts may have played a role.
For many years, scientists have assumed that such biocrusts, which are generally made of cyanobacteria, lichen and mosses, speed up the erosion process. To find out if that is the case, the research team collected samples of the biocrusts from several points along the wall and brought them back to a lab for study.
The researchers measured the mechanical strength and soil stability of the samples. They also tested parts of the wall directly comparing those covered in biocrusts and those that were directly exposed to the elements.
They found that the biocrusts were stronger than the rammed earth material upon which they were growing—in some cases, three times as strong. The researchers also found the strength in the biocrusts was due to secretion of tightly bound polymers.
The research team concluded that rather than speeding up erosion, the biocrusts have been slowing the process, helping to preserve the famed structure. Somewhat analogous to their findings were those by a team from the University of Granada working in Honduras that found that organic plant materials added to plasters by early Mayan people have served to reduce weathering of the stone structures they built(2).
Footnotes:
1.Yousong Cao et al, Biocrusts protect the Great Wall of China from erosion, Science Advances (2023). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adk5892
2. Carlos Rodriguez-Navarro et al, Unveiling the secret of ancient Maya masons: Biomimetic lime plasters with plant extracts, Science Advances (2023). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adf6138
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