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Science Simplified!

                       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'

Members: 22
Latest Activity: 5 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 6part-10part-11part-12, part 14  ,  part- 8

part- 1part-2part-4part-5part-16part-17part-18 , part-19 , part-20

part-21 , part-22part-23part-24part-25part-26part-27 , part-28

part-29part-30part-31part-32part-33part-34part-35part-36part-37,

 part-38part-40part-41part-42part-43part-44part-45part-46part-47

Part 48 part49Critical thinking -part 50 , part -51part-52part-53

part-54part-55part-57part-58part-59part-60part-61part-62part-63

part 64, part-65part-66part-67part-68part 69part-70 part-71part-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?

i. mycotoxicoses

j. immunotherapy

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

n.vaccine-woes

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

t. the-detoxification-scam

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

Discussion Forum

The Parallax Effect

Started by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa. Last reply by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 5 hours ago. 1 Reply

Q: Why an airplane flying in the sky  appears to be stationary at the same time while we are traveling in a vehicle?Krishna: Yes, when  you are travelling in a car and suddenly look out the window…Continue

What is a three body problem?

Started by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa. Last reply by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa yesterday. 1 Reply

Q: What is a three body problem?Krishna: I don't know about  science fiction or movies that are made based on the theme, but I will tell you what it is based on science.  Systems with two objects…Continue

Your Biological Age Can Be Different From Your Actual (Chronological)Age!

Started by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa. Last reply by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa yesterday. 6 Replies

Recently I have seen an old lady teasing an young girl who became breathless after climbing up a few steps.  "Look I am 78. But still I can climb steps with ease. I can go anywhere I want without any…Continue

How Soil Microorganisms Can Combat Desertification

Started by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa. Last reply by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa yesterday. 1 Reply

 Soil Microbiology is the specialized subject I studied during my Post…Continue

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You need to be a member of Science Simplified! to add comments!

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 19, 2024 at 10:37am
Don’t let ‘FDA-approved’ or ‘patented’ in ads give you a false sense of security

"FDA approved"  means a product's benefits have been found to outweigh its risks for a specific purpose – not that it's of high quality or low risk in general.

But  advertisers throw these terms around in confusing ways.
Researchers, for instance, found an ad for a probiotic supplement stating, "The proof is in the patent"; an ad for an earwax removal product stating its "patented formula is safe, effective, and clinically proven"; and an ad for a headache remedy that made the words "FDA approved" a bold visual focal point.
And these terms appear most often in ads for things you eat or rub onto your skin, such as supplements, insecticides, toothpaste and lotions. That's probably no coincidence. Products like this aren't tightly regulated, yet consumers want to know they're safe. It seems likely that advertisers are name-dropping the government to make people think just that.

One danger is clear: Ads with vague references to government authorities could dupe consumers into thinking products are safer or more effective than they actually are. In fact, there's some evidence this is already happening.

Another risk is that this creates perverse incentives for business. Companies could chose to forgo actual innovation, focusing instead on securing dubious patents or regulatory nods to keep up in the advertising race.

These practices could distort competition, burden government agencies with frivolous patent applications and deter new entrants from competing in markets where they can't employ similar advertising tactics.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 19, 2024 at 10:26am

New study on decomposing microbes could help transform forensic science

For the first time, researchers have identified what appears to be a network of approximately 20 microbes that universally drive the decomposition of animal flesh. The findings have significant implications for the future of forensic science, including the potential to provide crime scene investigators with a more precise way to determine a body's time of death.

Decomposition of dead biological material is one of Earth's most fundamental processes. Organic plant waste accounts for the vast majority of matter that is decomposed, a process that is relatively well understood. Comparatively little, however, is known about the ecology of vertebrate decomposition, including humans, and better understanding how humans decompose has the potential to advance forensic science.

This new study, a multi-year undertaking, involved decomposing 36 cadavers at three different forensic anthropological facilities.

The bodies were decomposed in different climates and during all four seasons. The research team then collected skin and soil samples during the first 21 days for each decomposing body.

Researchers generated a significant amount of molecular and genomic information from the samples. They then used that information to construct an overall picture of the "microbial community," or microbiome, present at each site. They are also collected other details like what microbes are there, how did they get there, how does that change over time and what are they doing.

Regardless of climate or soil type, researchers found the same set of approximately 20 specialist decomposing microbes on all 36 bodies. What's more, those microbes arrived like clockwork at certain points throughout the 21-day observation period, and insects played a key role in their arrival.

They saw similar microbes arrive at similar times during decomposition, regardless of any number of outdoor variables you can think of.

Identifying the decomposing microbiome's consistent makeup and timing has important implications for forensic science. So researchers built a tool that can accurately predict a body's time since death, also known as the postmortem interval.

 Jessica Metcalf, A conserved interdomain microbial network underpins cadaver decomposition despite environmental variables, Nature Microbiology (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41564-023-01580-ywww.nature.com/articles/s41564-023-01580-y

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 18, 2024 at 10:27am
Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 18, 2024 at 8:15am

New theory for gravastars

The interior of black holes remains a conundrum for science. In 1916, German physicist Karl Schwarzschild outlined a solution to Albert Einstein's equations of general relativity, in which the center of a black hole consists of a so-called singularity, a point at which space and time no longer exist. Here, the theory goes, all physical laws, including Einstein's general theory of relativity, no longer apply; the principle of causality is suspended.

This constitutes a great nuisance for science—after all, it means that no information can escape from a black hole beyond the so-called event horizon. This could be a reason why Schwarzschild's solution did not attract much attention outside the theoretical realm—that is, until the first candidate for a black hole was discovered in 1971, followed by the discovery of the black hole in the center of our Milky Way in the 2000s, and finally the first image of a black hole, captured by the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration in 2019.

In 2001, Pawel Mazur and Emil Mottola proposed a different solution to Einstein's field equations that led to objects that they called gravitational condensate stars, or gravastars. Contrary to black holes, gravastars have several advantages from a theoretical astrophysics perspective.

On the one hand, they are almost as compact as black holes and also exhibit a gravity at their surface that is essentially as strong as that of a black hole, hence resembling a black hole for all practical purposes. On the other hand, gravastars do not have an event horizon, that is, a boundary from within which no information can be sent out, and their core does not contain a singularity.

Instead, the center of a gravastar is made up of an exotic (dark) energy that exerts a negative pressure to the enormous gravitational force compressing the star. The surface of a gravastar is represented by a wafer-thin skin of ordinary matter, the thickness of which approaches zero.

Theoretical physicists Daniel Jampolski and Prof. Luciano Rezzolla of Goethe University Frankfurt have now presented a solution to the field equations of general realtivity that describes the existence of a gravastar inside another gravastar. They have given this hypothetical celestial object the name "nestar" (from the English "nested"). The study is published in Classical and Quantum Gravity.

The nestar is like a matryoshka doll. The solution to the field equations allows for a whole series of nested gravastars. It's a little easier to imagine that something like this could exist.

It's great that even 100 years after Schwarzschild presented his first solution to Einstein's field equations from the general theory of relativity, it's still possible to find new solutions. It's a bit like finding a gold coin along a path that has been explored by many others before. Unfortunately, we still have no idea how such a gravastar could be created. But even if nestars don't exist, exploring the mathematical properties of these solutions ultimately helps us to better understand black holes.

 Daniel Jampolski et al, Nested solutions of gravitational condensate stars, Classical and Quantum Gravity (2024). DOI: 10.1088/1361-6382/ad2317

**

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 17, 2024 at 9:41am

These microbes, or extremophiles, were found inside SURF located in the former Black Hills mining town of Lead, SD. The team has spent years hunting for these extremophiles that grow thousands of feet below ground inside water-filled rock fractures with unique properties that enable them to thrive in extreme environments.

Researchers were able to isolate four types of microbes found at SURF and show, through a series of laboratory experiments, that they can turn large quantities of carbon dioxide into rocks that will remain stable and out of atmospheric circulation for thousands of years. 

The findings may lead to new ways to permanently capture CO2 emissions, reducing the impacts of climate change.

The team has presented this research at multiple scientific conferences in the United States and Europe, including the Dec. 2023 meeting of the American Geophysical Union in Chicago and the July 2023, Goldschmidt Conference in Lyon, France.

https://sanfordlab.org/article/university-researchers-discover-micr...

Part 2

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 17, 2024 at 9:40am
The microbes, discovered by researchers deep inside SURF, could help reduce carbon emissions.
At room temperature, carbon dioxide, or CO2, is a gas, which makes it hard to store for long periods of time. One idea to reduce carbon emissions involves pumping this greenhouse gas underground into deep caverns or rock layers in a process called geologic sequestration.
When injected as a gas, CO2 has the potential to leak back to the atmosphere. For example, if a geologic fault occurs or when there are changes in pressure following the initial pumping on the surface, stored gas will be looking for a way to escape.

To solve this problem, scientists are exploring efforts to bind CO2 gas underground by pumping it into rock layers with specific geochemical properties that will dissolve the gas and turn it into a carbonate mineral in a process called in-situ mineralization. However, this process takes a long time, between 7 to 10 years, in nature. But an innovation discovered by researchers working at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) could change this.

The team of researchers found a set of naturally occurring microbes inside SURF that eat carbon dioxide gas and turn it into solid rock through a process called carbon mineralization. 

Part 1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 17, 2024 at 9:36am

Earth Receives First Beams of Solar Power From Space!

For the first time ever, Earth has received a tangible zap of solar energy beamed directly from space, marking a historic moment in our quest for clean, limitless power thanks to the Space Solar Power Demonstrator (SSPD).

SSPD's MAPLE experiment has used a satellite called DOLCE and beamed 100 milliwatts of power from space, with 1 milliwatt reaching Earth — a small but mighty first step.

Unlike here on Earth, solar energy in space is unencumbered by factors like day and night, or obstruction by clouds and weather on our planet. This makes space-based solar harvesters ideal as they could potentially yield roughly eight times more power than even the most efficient solar panels on the Earth’s surface.

https://www.space.com/space-solar-power-satellite-beams-energy-1st-...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 17, 2024 at 9:18am

Why Is It So Hard to Swat a Fly?

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 16, 2024 at 8:56am

New study finds little-known toxic crop chemical in four out of five people tested

A new Environmental Working Group study has found chlormequat, a little-known pesticide, in four out of five people tested. Because the chemical is linked to reproductive and developmental problems in animal studies, the findings suggest the potential for similar harm to humans.

EWG's research, published February 15 in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology, tested the urine of 96 people for the presence of chlormequat, finding it in 77 of them.

The ubiquity of this little-studied pesticide in people raises alarm bells about how it could potentially cause harm without anyone even knowing they've consumed it.

Environmental Protection Agency regulations allow the chemical to be used on ornamental plants only—not food crops. But now some governments have made concessions that have resulted in these alarming consequences!

 A pilot study of chlormequat in food and urine from adults in the United States from 2017 to 2023, Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41370-024-00643-4

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 16, 2024 at 8:51am

How do oceans start to close? New study suggests the Atlantic may 'soon' enter its declining phase

A new study, resorting to computational models, predicts that a subduction zone currently below the Gibraltar Strait will propagate further inside the Atlantic and contribute to forming an Atlantic subduction system—an Atlantic ring of fire. This will happen 'soon' in geological terms—in approximately 20 million years.

Oceans seem eternal to our lifespan, but they are not here for long: they are born, grow, and one day close. This process, which takes a few hundred million years, is called Wilson Cycle. The Atlantic, for example, was born when Pangea broke up around 180 million years ago and will one day close. And the Mediterranean is what remains from a big ocean—the Tethys– that once existed between Africa and Eurasia.

For an ocean like the Atlantic to stop growing and start closing, new subduction zones—places where one tectonic plate sinks below another—have to form. But subduction zones are hard to form, as they require plates to break and bend, and plates are very strong. A way out of this "paradox" is to consider that subduction zones can migrate from a dying ocean in which they already exist—the Mediterranean—into pristine oceans—such as the Atlantic. This process was dubbed subduction invasion.

This study shows for the first time how such a direct invasion can happen. The computational, gravity-driven 3D model predicts that a subduction zone currently below the Gibraltar Strait will propagate further inside the Atlantic and contribute to forming an Atlantic subduction system—an Atlantic ring of fire, in an analogy to the already existing structure in the Pacific. This will happen 'soon' in geological terms—but not before approximately 20 million years.

João C. Duarte et al, Gibraltar subduction zone is invading the Atlantic, Geology (2024). DOI: 10.1130/G51654.1

 

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