May has been an exciting month for our Sun. A barrage of solar storms and coronal mass ejections created the strongest solar storm to reach Earth in two decades — and possibly one of the strongest displays of auroras in the past 500 years. NASA.gov tells us how the agency tracked it, and the images and videos are astonishing, too. https://flip.it/VBUyCn #Science#Space#SolarStorms#Aurora#NASA
Researchers have found, in mice, that a strain of gut bacteria – Ruminococcus gnavus – can enhance the effects of cancer immunotherapy. This suggests a new strategy of using gut microbes to help unlock immunotherapy’s untapped cancer-fighting potential https://www.byteseu.com/120683/#Science
It’s surprising how many animals can act weirdly human. From territorial chimps to extroverted orcas, Live Science points us to 32 such animals that demonstrate humanlike behavior. https://flip.it/WyuSD1 #Science#Animals#Humans
From a Wash Post article on evidence humans were in N. America earlier than previously thought. I myself have a mixed-feelings middle-ground view on peer review, but I'm in a very different field.
"The peer-review process is designed to help validate scientific claims, but Lowery argues that in archaeology it often leads to a circle-the-wagon mentality, allowing scientists to wave away evidence that doesn’t support the dominant paradigm. He says he isn’t seeking formal publishing routes because “life’s too short,” comparing this aspect of academic science to “the dumbest game I’ve ever played.”"
Austrian molecular biologist Max F. Perutz was born #OTD in 1914.
He is best known for his work on the structure of hemoglobin, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1962, sharing it with John Kendrew.
Using X-ray crystallography, Perutz was able to determine the three-dimensional structure of hemoglobin, which was a groundbreaking achievement in understanding how proteins function at the molecular level.
French physicist Jean-Pierre Christin published the design of a mercury thermometer using the centigrade scale with 0 representing the melting point of water and 100 its boiling point.
Available at : Annales des sciences physiques et naturelles, d'agriculture et d'industrie
By Société d'agriculture, sciences et industrie de Lyon. via @googlebooks
In his paper Observations of two persistent degrees on a thermometer, Christin recounted his experiments showing that the melting point of ice is essentially unaffected by pressure. He also determined with remarkable precision how the boiling point of water varied as a function of atmospheric pressure. He proposed that the zero point of his temperature scale, being the boiling point, would be calibrated at the mean barometric pressure at mean sea level.
Historical note:
1742 Anders Celsius invented the Celsius temperature scale. In its original form the scale had 0 degrees for the boiling point of water and 100 degrees for its freezing point.
1743 The scale was changed by Jean Pierre Christin so that 0 degrees is the freezing point of water and 100 degrees is its boiling point.
Anders Celsius published his research at Abhandlungen über thermometrie, von Fahrenheit, Réaumur, Celsius, (1724, 1730-1733, 1742)
Hrsg. von A.J. von Oettingen.
@jeffmcneill Please inform the public on how much #whales#science education & how much wild whales experiences you have had. I've coexisted, paddled alongside & rescued whales. I live in area surrounded by whales. I work with #scientists to save whales.
What are your real life experiences with whales? You seem to have ZERO real experiences. Yet, your #HumanEgo prevents you from making apologies to #women who have a lot more science experiences & more science knowledge, than you.
👽 Scientists Identify Seven Star Systems That May Be Hosting Alien Megastructures
— @futurism
"They created a list of seven strong candidates that may be hosting Dyson spheres by analyzing observations from the European Space Agency’s Gaia satellite an, as well as more infrared survey results from other ground- and space-based telescopes.
The seven candidates are all M-dwarf stars, meaning they're both smaller and dimmer than our Sun."
Last year, data from the James Webb Space Telescope soured hopes that TRAPPIST-1 c had an atmosphere that could support life. But recent results have revived those earlier atmospheric hopes. Read more from Big Think. https://flip.it/ClyATt #Science#Space#JWST
“Ectogenesis raises a slew of scientific, medical and technical questions, but frankly these pale in comparison with the social, moral, ethical and political challenges the process poses, particularly if it is used by the state to raise population levels without the participation of mothers in baby birthing or parents in child rearing.” #Canada#ArtificialWomb#Reproduction#cdnpoli#Science#Ethics