Category Archives: Futurism

A Plastic Solution

Plastic pollution in our oceans is a massive environmental problem. As documented by one recent study, there are approximately 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic, weighing 269,000 tons, currently polluting our oceans. That is immense.

Wildlife extinction is becoming an ever-increasing issue with the progression of climate change, and this massive accumulation of plastic trash and debris is making the problem that much worse. There are efforts to make a dent in this pollution, as The Ocean Cleanupproject has shown with their push to clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch within five years.

However, this problem will persist. And, while prevention is the best cure for this continuing trash burden, it is important that solutions to the existing problem are created. This is why scientists are investigating the possibility that a newly-evolved microbe could be capable of breaking down plastics in the ocean.

Researchers started to notice that, in some studies, plastics recorded should have been increasing over time but were not. If fact, 90 to 99 percent of the expected plastic was missing. When the researchers looked closer, this missing plastic was not the result of any serious recycling efforts, but possibly microscopic organisms, as they reported in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.

Now, this plastic-eating microbe theory is just that, a theory. It is not yet a proven fact, but researchers are hard at work to come to a solid conclusion.

However, while it is not yet proven, the theory makes a lot of logical sense. Because our oceans have been so bogged down with plastic particles and pieces for so long, it would seem only natural that some species of microbe would eventually evolve to better adapt to their environment.

There are other explanations for this missing plastic, however. It could just be weighed down by organisms to the bottom of the ocean, or broken apart into such small microscopic pieces that it is undetected by surveys.

But, whatever the explanation for this missing plastic is, one thing is for certain. In the words of researcher Matthew Cole of Exeter University in the U.K. to New Scientist, To really tackle the plastic problem, we need to stop it getting into the oceans in the first place.

See the original post here:
Newly-Evolved Microbes Could Be Eating 90% of Ocean Plastic - Futurism

In BriefJuno has revealed data from its first 5 flybys of Jupiter, andscientists are surprised that much of what we believed about theplanet was wrong. Juno's ultimate goal is to reveal more aboutplanet formation and the origins of the Solar System. Junos Revelations

NASAs Juno spacecraft has just revealed a wealth of new information about our Solar Systems biggest resident, Jupiter, and its now clear that everything we thought we knew about the gas giant may have been wrong. The first observations were made when the spacecraft dipped closer to the tops of the clouds covering the planets surface and passed over the poles.

What weve learned so far is Earth-shattering. Or should I say, Jupiter-shattering, Junos principal investigator at the South Research Institute, Scott Bolton, said in a press release. Discoveries about its composition, magnetosphere, and poles are as stunning as the photographs the mission is generating.

At the planetspoles, there are massive, oval-shaped cyclones, completely different from the polar regions observed on Saturn. Some of these cyclones were observed to be so enormous that they approached widths of 1,400 kilometers (900 miles), making them 10 times larger than the most massive cyclones seen on Earth. These storms also soar so high that they were observed leaving Jupiters atmosphere, extending almost 100 kilometers (62 miles) high.

The entire gaseous planet is enveloped by a powerful magnetic field, and solar winds cause the magnetosphere itself to expand and contract. Passing through the field, the spacecraft detected odd sounds. Jupiter is also home to strange northern lights totally different from those here on Earth.

Perhaps the strangest surprise was revealed beneath the planets clouds, where Juno measured the atmospheres thermal structure. The probe sent microwaves into the deep atmosphere and detected gigantic weather systems created by ammonia plumes emanating from the equatora wider version of Earths own trade winds.

Juno explored the Jovian magnetic field the Solar Systems largest object in the second study. Although researchers knew the field was massive, they were surprised to learn that it is actually twice as powerful as predicted with previous models, 10 times more powerful than Earths, and far more uneven and dynamic than before believed. And, while Earths magnetic field originates from its core, Jupiters varied, patchy magnetosphere may originate closer to its surface.

The real purpose of the Juno mission has been to learn more about how the planets in our Solar System formed. This, in turn, can allow us to better understand how all planets form, and better comprehend the nature of the Universe. The craft is doing this by mapping the gas giant in detail and gathering data on the atmosphere, magnetic field, and inner structure of the massive planet.

Earth and Jupiters different magnetospheres produce vastly different bow shock experiences as spacecraft pass through the magnetic fields. In fact, while passing through Earths magnetic field is a uniform experience, passing through Jupiters changes, depends on whether the magnetosphere is expanding or contracting in response to solar winds. Differences in the auroral emissions of the two planets are also striking.

Jupiter has more to tell us, and Juno is on the case. It has thus far completed only 5 of 33 planned flyby investigations, so we can expect more strange revelations. Next up, on July 11, Juno will pass over the Great Red Spot, and hopefully tell us more about the most famous storm in the Solar System and perhaps about our Universes origins as well.

See original here:
NASA's Juno Reported Back, and Things Are Getting Weird - Futurism

In Brief NASA's mission to visit the asteroid 16 Psyched has been fast-tracked and should happen in 2026. The agency will look at but not extract metals from the $10,000 quadrillion asteroid, which is worth more than the global economy. Asteroid Could Crash Into Economy

NASA is fast-tracking a planned trip to 16 Psyche an asteroid that almost completely consists of nickel-iron metal. The iron in 16 Psyche alone is estimated to be worth $10,000 quadrillion, if humans were able to somehow extract it and bring it to Earth, which sounds great, until you realize that the entire global economy is only worth $78 trillion. Injecting that much worth into the world economy would crash it, in a totally different kind of asteroid impact than most people think about.

Fortunately, extracting minerals from 16 Psyche is not in NASAs plans. NASAs lead scientist for the mission, Lindy Elkins-Tanton, posed some fascinating questions to Global News Canada in January 2017: Even if we could grab a big metal piece and drag it back herewhat would you do? Could you kind of sit on it and hide it and control the global resource kind of like diamonds are controlled corporately and protect your market? What if you decided you were going to bring it back and you were just going to solve the metal resource problems of humankind for all time? This is wild speculation, obviously.

16 Psyche will allow humans their first shot at exploring a world made of iron rather than ice or rock if NASA succeeds. The mission was originally set to begin in 2023, but now the agency is planning on starting in 2022 and making contact in 2026, thanks to a more efficient, lower-cost trajectory discovered by the team.

The potential importance of the 16 Psyche mission will also affect the future of space mining something we are likely to see in the future, especially if we have a colony on Mars. Last year, a former NASA researcher presented a report declaring that space mining is possible with technologies we have right now, and that we will see it within a few decades. Luxembourg has already established a space mining fund. Given the extreme distances in space, it seems likely that we will depend on our ability to mine resources in space as we travel further from Earth and an exciting experience on 16 Psyche may be what the majority of humanity needs to be convinced that space mining is possible.

See the article here:
NASA Is Fast-Tracking Plans to Explore a Metal Asteroid Worth $10000 Quadrillion - Futurism

Apples Other Steve

Experts in techand tech enthusiasts alike know that there wasnt just one Steve behind Apple. While Steve Jobs was the popular (and disruptive) face of the company, Steve Wozniak was the genius behind Apples earliest technology most notably, the original Macintosh that was the key to Apples initial successes.

No stranger to innovation himself, Wozniak has made some startling assertions recently, stating that hethinks that the next big thing in tech wont be coming from the company he co-foundedand in whichhe still owns a sizable amount ofstock. In a recent interview with Bloomberg Canada,

Wozniakis betting that Tesla, and its CEO Elon Musk, will be the source of the next, greatinnovation.

I think Tesla is on the best direction right now. Theyve put an awful lot of effort into very risky things, Wozniak said. They started with a carthe Tesla Model Sthat made little sense in engineering terms in how much you have to build for what price and what the market will be.

Its precisely that kind of attitude that won Wozs admiration. Im going to bet on Tesla, he added.

Back in the day, Jobs and Wozniak didnt always see eye to eye, but its not this largely unspoken conflict that made Woz bet on Tesla. More than anything, its the bit of Apple that Woz sees in Tesla now. Look at the companies like Google and Facebook and Apple and Microsoft that changed the worldand Tesla included. They usually came from young people. They didnt spring out of big businesses, he said.

For the most part, its also because Tesla started with a product that Musk liked very much. Again, this is another parallel with how Apple started froma project Woz was building as a hobby. It was really built for Elons own life. What car would he like? And when things come from yourself, knowing what youd like very much and being in control of it .thats when you get the best products, he explained.

Tesla and Musk have gone a long way from that first electric car. For one, Woz admires Musks latest boring project. Apple, on the other hand, seems to be suffering from a lack of innovative spark. This has led some toargue that Apple and Tesla might work better by combining their resources together Apples money and Teslas innovation. However, Musk has alreadycast doubt on the proposal. Alas.

Read more from the original source:
Apple Founder Says Tesla, Not Apple, Will Create The Next Breakthrough Technology - Futurism

In Brief British researchers have found that the amount of coffee you drink correlates to your chances of developing liver cancer. The research claims the same applies for Decaf, but don't drink it all day just yet... A Dose-Dependent Cancer Cure?

Researchers from the University of Southampton and the University of Edinburgh have found that its possible that the more coffee you drink, the less likely you are to develop hepatocellular cancer (HCC) the most prolific form of liver cancer. Analyzing data from 26 studies, which involved more than 2.25 million participants in total, they concluded that people who drink 1 cup of coffee per day have a 20% reduced risk, 2 cups per day reduces risk by 35%, and 3 cups per day decreased risk by 50%. These findings showed that decaffeinated coffee also affects your risk, but the team could not deduce the precise amount.

Lead author Dr. Oliver Kennedy, a member of the Primary Care and Population Sciences Faculty of Medicine at the University of Southampton, told The Guardian: Coffee is widely believed to possess a range of health benefits, and these latest findings suggest it could have a significant effect on liver cancer risk. Coffee has also been said to havepainkilling capabilities and the potential toprevent heart attacks.

The main consequence of this study is that doctors may be able to use coffee tohelp in the prevention of liver cancer. Its a step that is both inexpensive and easy for people to incorporate into their daily lives, if they havent already. These benefits are also present in decaffeinated coffee, meaning that this means of prevention would also be accessible to those who cant or do not drink caffeinated coffee.

The study authors wrote It may be important for developing coffee as a lifestyle intervention in chronic liver disease, as decaffeinated coffee might be more acceptable to those who do not drink coffee or who limit their coffee consumption because of caffeine-related symptoms.

Now, this development is not necessarily an encouragement to drown yourself in Starbucks. There are dangers in consuming too much caffeine, and much more research still needs to be done before coffee can be used medically with certainty. There is not enough existing research into the possible repercussions of consuming large quantities of caffeine over time, especially as a preventative medical measure. Hopefully in the future, preventing liver cancer will be cheap, easy, and delicious.

See more here:
Scientists Just Found a New Weapon That Can Combat Cancer: Coffee - Futurism

In BriefPhysicists have developed a method that could potentially spota previously hidden force in the universe. If proven to exists,this fifth force could change how we model physics itself. Redefining Physics

For the most part, we seem to have our universe figured out: there are four fundamental forces that govern the interactions of every conceivable object, from atoms to planets. These four the weak and strong nuclear forces, electromagnetic force, and gravity explain all there is. Except they dont, really.

As much as weve understood these forces, there are still phenomena that the standard model of physics and Einsteins theory of general relativity dont quite make explain. For instance, theres more gravity in space than what all visible matter can supposedly produce. Thats why some suggest undiscovered dark matteras the source of this, or as other physicists suggests, that a hidden fifth force is out there. One such physicist isAndrea Ghez, director at the University of California, Los Angeles, Galactic Center Group.

The key to detecting this fifth force, according to Ghez and her team, is studying the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way and the stars around it. By watching the stars move over 20 years using very precise measurements taken from Keck Observatory data, you can see and put constraints on how gravity works, she explained in a press release. If gravitation is driven by something other than Einsteins theory of General Relativity, youll see small variations in the orbital paths of the stars. They published their method in the journal Physical Review Letters.

This research could go a long way to answering questions that have risen since Einstein published his theories, Ghez said.

Einsteins theory describes [gravity] beautifully well, but theres lots of evidence showing the theory has holes, Ghez said in her interview for the press release. The mere existence of supermassive black holes tells us that our current theories of how the Universe works are inadequate to explain what a black hole is.

In particular, the team is excited to observe a star called S0-2 as it passes closer than ever to the Milky Ways supermassive black hole next year. If the orbital path of these stars show deviations from what general relativity predicts, then the researchers might discoverclues about the supposed fifth force.

If a fifth force does exist and Ghezs method discovers it, wed probably need to reexamine the physics of our Universe. This is really exciting. Its taken us 20 years to get here, but now our work on studying stars at the center of our galaxy is opening up a new method of looking at how gravity works, Ghez said in the interview.

Read more:
Our Galaxy's Supermassive Black Hole May Reveal the Universe's Hidden Fifth Force - Futurism