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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 13, 2021 at 12:35pm

Faster-Than-Light Travel Is Possible Within Einstein's Physics, Astrophysicist Shows

Physicists are not the kind of people who give up easily, though. Give them an impossible dream, and they'll give you an incredible, hypothetical way of making it a reality. Maybe.

In a new study by physicist Erik Lentz from Göttingen University in Germany, we may have a viable solution to the dilemma, and it's one that could turn out to be more feasible than other would-be warp drives.

This is an area that attracts plenty of bright ideas, each offering a different approach to solving the puzzle of faster-than-light travel: achieving a means of sending something across space at superluminal speeds.

There are some problems with this notion, however. Within conventional physics, in accordance with Albert Einstein's theories of relativity, there's no real way to reach or exceed the speed of light, which is something we'd need for any journey measured in light-years.

That hasn't stopped physicists from trying to break this universal speed limit, though.

While pushing matter past the speed of light will always be a big no-no, spacetime itself has no such rule. In fact, the far reaches of the Universe are already stretching away faster than its light could ever hope to match.

To bend a small bubble of space in a similar fashion for transport purposes, we'd need to solve relativity's equations to create a density of energy that's lower than the emptiness of space. While this kind of negative energy happens on a quantum scale, piling up enough in the form of 'negative mass' is still a realm for exotic physics.

In addition to facilitating other kinds of abstract possibilities, such as wormholes and time travel, negative energy could help power what's known as the Alcubierre warp drive.

This speculative concept would make use of negative energy principles to warp space around a hypothetical spacecraft, enabling it to effectively travel faster than light without challenging traditional physical laws, except for the reasons explained above, we can't hope to provide such a fantastical fuel source to begin with.

https://www.sciencealert.com/faster-than-light-travel-is-possible-w...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 13, 2021 at 12:30pm

Scientists Find a Natural Protein That Stops Allergies And Autoimmune Conditions

It's called neuritin.

Using transgenic mice and cultures of cells taken from human tonsils, researchers have now found evidence of how our bodies might defend against the mistakes that result in conditions such as asthma, food allergies, and lupus. They found a protein called neuritin, produced by immune cells. It acts a bit like an inbuilt, boss-level antihistamine.

Neuritin suppresses formation of rogue plasma cells which are the cells that produce harmful antibodies.

https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(21)00177-X?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS009286742100177X%3Fshowall%3Dtrue

https://www.sciencealert.com/our-bodies-do-have-a-natural-answer-fo...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 13, 2021 at 11:43am

Researchers identify off switch for alcoholism

 A study led by the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health uncovered a potential therapeutic target to treat alcohol use disorder (AUD) by targeting a specific receptor in the brain. The researchers found that by targeting the muscarinic M4 receptor in the brain, both habitual drinking and the likelihood to relapse could be improved in those suffering from alcohol addiction.

 The team performed genome-wide RNA sequencing and protein expression studies in human tissue samples from people with AUD and non-drinkers to identify potential therapeutic targets.

https://www.monash.edu/pharm/about/news/news-listing/2020/researche...

https://researchnews.cc/news/5598/Researchers-identify-off-switch-f...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 13, 2021 at 11:33am

Bacterial communities vary on different parts of the eye surface

A pioneering study led by University of Saskatchewan (USask) veterinary ophthalmologist Dr. Marina Leis (DVM, DACVO) shows that bacterial communities vary on different parts of the eye surface—a finding that significantly alters understanding of the mechanisms of eye disease and can lead to developing new treatments.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 13, 2021 at 11:21am

Accurate aging of wild animals thanks to first epigenetic clock for bats

A new study  by  researchers found that DNA from tissue samples can be used to accurately predict the age of bats in the wild. The study also showed age-related changes to the DNA of long-lived species are different from those in short-lived species, especially in regions of the genome near genes associated with cancer and immunity. This work provides new insight into causes of age-related declines.

This is the first research paper to show that animals in the wild can be accurately aged using an epigenetic clock, which predicts age based on specific changes to DNA. This work provides a new tool for biologists studying animals in the wild. In addition, the results provide insight into possible mechanisms behind the exceptional longevity of many bat species. The study appears in the March 12, 2021, issue of the journal Nature Communications.

The researchers looked at DNA from 712 bats of known age, representing 26 species, to find changes in DNA methylation at sites in the genome known to be associated with aging. DNA methylation is a process that switches genes off. It occurs throughout development and is an important regulator for cells. Overall, methylation tends to decrease throughout the genome with age. Using machine learning to find patterns in the data, the researchers found that they could estimate a bat's age to within a year based on changes in methylation at 160 sites in the genome. The data also revealed that very long-lived bat species exhibit less change in methylation overall as they age than shorter-lived bats.

1. Gerald S. Wilkinson, Danielle M. Adams, Amin Haghani, Ake T. Lu, Joseph Zoller, Charles E. Breeze, Bryan D. Arnold, Hope C. Ball, Gerald G. Carter, Lisa Noelle Cooper, Dina K. N. Dechmann, Paolo Devanna, Nicolas J. Fasel, Alexander V. Galazyuk, Linus Günther, Edward Hurme, Gareth Jones, Mirjam Knörnschild, Ella Z. Lattenkamp, Caesar Z. Li, Frieder Mayer, Josephine A. Reinhardt, Rodrigo A. Medellin, Martina Nagy, Brian Pope, Megan L. Power, Roger D. Ransome, Emma C. Teeling, Sonja C. Vernes, Daniel Zamora-Mejías, Joshua Zhang, Paul A. Faure, Lucas J. Greville, Steve Horvath. DNA methylation predicts age and provides insight into exceptional longevity of bats. Nature Communications, 2021; 12 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-21900-2

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/03/210312095814.htm#:~:t....

https://phys.org/news/2021-03-accurate-aging-wild-animals-epigeneti...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 13, 2021 at 10:11am

blackhole movement  - 2

We may be observing the aftermath of two supermassive black holes merging. The result of such a merger can cause the newborn black hole to recoil, and we may be watching it in the act of recoiling or as it settles down again.

But there's another, perhaps even more exciting possibility: the black hole may be part of a binary system.

Further observations, however, will ultimately be needed to pin down the true cause of this supermassive black hole's unusual motion.

Dominic W. Pesce et al, A Restless Supermassive Black Hole in the Galaxy J0437+2456, The Astrophysical Journal (2021). DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/abde3d

https://phys.org/news/2021-03-astronomers-black-hole.html?utm_sourc...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 13, 2021 at 10:09am

Astronomers detect a black hole on the move

Scientists have long theorized that supermassive black holes can wander through space—but catching them in the act has proven difficult. Now, researchers at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian have identified the clearest case to date of a supermassive black hole in motion. Their results are published today in the Astrophysical Journal.

We don't expect the majority of supermassive black holes to be moving; they're usually content to just sit around. They're just so heavy that it's tough to get them going. Consider how much more difficult it is to kick a bowling ball into motion than it is to kick a soccer ball—realizing that in this case, the 'bowling ball' is several million times the mass of our Sun. That's going to require a pretty mighty kick.

Usually the velocities of the black holes the same as the velocities of the galaxies they reside in. We expect them to have the same velocity. If they don't, that implies the black hole has been disturbed.

For their search, the team initially surveyed 10 distant galaxies and the supermassive black holes at their cores. They specifically studied black holes that contained water within their accretion disks—the spiral structures that spin inward towards the black hole.

As the water orbits around the black hole, it produces a laser-like beam of radio light known as a maser. When studied with a combined network of radio antennas using a technique known as very long baseline interferometry (VLBI), masers can help measure a black hole's velocity very precisely.

The technique helped the team determine that nine of the 10 supermassive black holes were at rest—but one stood out and seemed to be in motion.

Located 230 million light-years away from Earth, the black hole sits at the center of a galaxy named J0437+2456. Its mass is about three million times that of our Sun.

Using follow-up observations with the Arecibo and Gemini Observatories, the team has now confirmed their initial findings. The supermassive black hole is moving with a speed of about 110,000 miles per hour inside the galaxy J0437+2456.

But what's causing the motion is not known. The team suspects there are two possibilities.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 13, 2021 at 9:16am

Three Ways Quantum Physics Affects Your Daily Life

Quantum physics is all around us. The universe as we know it runs on quantum rules, and while the classical physics that emerges when you apply quantum physics to enormously huge numbers of particles seem very different, there are lots of familiar, everyday phenomena that owe their existence to quantum effects. Here are a few examples of things you probably run into in your everyday life without realizing that they're quantum:

Toasters: The red glow of a heating element as you toast a slice of bread or a bagel is a very familiar sight for most of us. It's also the place where quantum physics got its start: Explaining why hot objects glow that particular color of red is the problem that quantum physics was invented to solve.

"quantum hypothesis" (giving the eventual theory its name) that the light could only be emitted in discrete chunks of energy, integer multiples of a small constant times the frequency of the light. For high-frequency light, this energy quantum is larger than the share of heat energy allotted to that frequency, and thus no light is emitted at that frequency. This cuts off the high-frequency light, and leads to a formula that matches the observed spectrum of light from hot objects to great precision.

So, every time you toast bread, you're looking at the place where quantum physics got its start.

Fluorescent Lights: Old-school incandescent light bulbs make light by getting a piece of wire hot enough to emit a bright white glow, which makes them quantum in the same way that a toaster is. If you have fluorescent bulbs around-- either the long tubes or the newer twisty CFL bulbs, you're getting light from another revolutionary quantum process.

Computers: While Bohr's quantum model was undeniably useful, it didn't initially come with a physical reason as to why there should be special states for electrons within atoms. That didn't come for almost ten years, but once the idea got locked it, it turned out to be the basis for the most transformative technological revolution of the last century.

So, every time you turn on your computer (say, to read a blog post about quantum physics), you're exploiting the wave nature of electrons, and the unprecedented control of materials that allows. It may not be the sexy kind of quantum computer, but every modern computer needs quantum physics to work properly.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/chadorzel/2018/12/04/three-ways-quantu...

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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 12, 2021 at 12:18pm

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 12, 2021 at 11:41am

I ain't afraid of no ghosts: people with mind-blindness not so easily spooked

People with aphantasia – that is, the inability to visualise mental images – are harder to spook with scary stories, a new UNSW Sydney study shows.

The study, published today in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, tested how aphantasic people reacted to reading distressing scenarios, like being chased by a shark, falling off a cliff, or being in a plane that’s about to crash.

The researchers were able to physically measure each participant’s fear response by monitoring changing skin conductivity levels – in other words, how much the story made a person sweat. This type of test is commonly used in psychology research to measure the body’s physical expression of emotion.

According to the findings, scary stories lost their fear factor when the readers couldn’t visually imagine the scene – suggesting imagery may have a closer link to emotions than scientists previously thought.

Researchers found the strongest evidence yet that mental imagery plays a key role in linking thoughts and emotions.

Aphantasia affects 2-5 per cent of the population, but there is still very little known about the condition.

A UNSW study published last year found that aphantasia is linked to a widespread pattern of changes to other cognitive processes, like remembering, dreaming and imagining.

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2021.0267

https://researchnews.cc/news/5578/I-ain-t-afraid-of-no-ghosts--peop...

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