Connect with us

Geology

Unusual double crater found in Sweden

blank

Published

on

blank

Erik Sturkell, Professor of Geophysics at the University of Gothenburg, led a team of researchers who discovered two craters in the Swedish country of Jämtland. One huge crater, with a diameter of 4.6 miles was found south of Östersund in Brunsflo and another smaller crater, with a diameter of 0.4 miles was located 9.9 miles. What’s unique about the craters is that they are both made by meteorite impacts 458 million years ago and the impacts happened at the same time. No other meteorite impacts around the world have been dated at the same exact time.

“Information from drilling operations demonstrates that identical sequences are present in the two craters, and the sediment above the impact sequences is of the same age. In other words, these are simultaneous impacts,” says Erik Sturkell. Several others meteorites have been found all around Sweden. An interesting fact is that large meteors explode and disintegrate at impact, leaving behind enormous craters, while small meteorites fall as stones. A lot of these types of stone, which are actually meteorites, were found all around Sweden in 1940.

“Around 470 million years ago, two large asteroids collided in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and many fragments were thrown off in new orbits. Many of these crashed on Earth, such as these two in Jämtland,” explained Erik Sturkell, by that time, Jämtland, was under the sea. It seems that 460 million years ago was a very dangerous place to live on earth, because of the numerous meteorite impacts. Makes you wonder when a big meteorite will hit earth again.

Who doesn’t enjoy listening to a good story. Personally I love reading about the people who inspire me and what it took for them to achieve their success. As I am a bit of a self confessed tech geek I think there is no better way to discover these stories than by reading every day some articles or the newspaper . My bookcases are filled with good tech biographies, they remind me that anyone can be a success. So even if you come from an underprivileged part of society or you aren’t the smartest person in the room we all have a chance to reach the top. The same message shines in my beliefs. All it takes to succeed is a good idea, a little risk and a lot of hard work and any geek can become a success. VENI VIDI VICI .

Engineering

Groundbreaking Discovery: Nature Reveals Unprecedented Superconductor

blank

Published

on

blank

Researchers have identified the initial non-traditional superconductor that has a chemical composition with natural substances. The mineral under consideration is known as miassite, a remarkably distinctive material. Three further natural superconductors exist, all of which adhere to the principles outlined in the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer hypothesis, which is recognized as the initial microscopic theory of superconductivity. The presence of lab-grown miassite is distinct.

Superconductivity refers to the property of a substance to exhibit zero electrical resistance, allowing it to transfer electricity without any energy loss while simultaneously generating magnetic fields outside the material. This phenomenon occurs at temperatures below a specific critical threshold. The production of electron pair bonding in a state is responsible for this phenomenon in typical superconductors. They are commonly referred to as cooperating pairs. Unconventional superconductors have similar macroscopic properties, but their state is attributed to a distinct factor.

Conventional and unusual superconductors exhibit a distinct disparity. The former has a critical temperature that is significantly closer to absolute zero, whereas the latter demonstrates the ability to exhibit high-temperature superconductence. High temperature refers to temperatures exceeding 77 Kelvin, which is still distant from achieving room-temperature superconductivity but is progressing towards it.

Miassite is the solution for this situation. Despite possessing a very low critical temperature of -267.75°C (-449.95°F), this material exhibits the characteristic features of superconductors with higher critical temperatures. Consequently, researchers aim to utilize this material in order to get a deeper comprehension of the underlying mechanisms responsible for unconventional superconductivity. The compound exhibits a sophisticated chemical formula consisting of 17 rhodium atoms and 15 sulfur atoms (Rh17S15).

Senior author Ruslan Prozorov from the Ames National Laboratory stated that it is improbable for this phenomenon to occur naturally and that it is intuitively believed to be the result of deliberate creation by a focused investigation. However, it is evident that it does.

Miassite was observed in the vicinity of the Miass River inside the Chelyabinsk Oblast of Russia. The ingredients responsible for its reactivity with oxygen contribute to its relatively low occurrence. Furthermore, due to its inability to form well-defined crystals, the evaluation of its qualities can only be conducted through laboratory growth.

Scientists were investigating rhodium-sulfur systems as a potential location for the presence of intriguing superconductors. Prozorov’s group maintained the material at a temperature just above absolute zero (-273.1°C/-460°F), and after achieving superconductivity, they conducted tests to determine its typical behavior.

A test known as the “London penetration depth” is conducted. Within a typical superconductor, a feeble magnetic field has the ability to permeate the entirety of the material at a consistent distance. In an atypical manner, this phenomenon varies in accordance with the temperature.

An alternative methodology involved subjecting the material to high-energy electrons, resulting in the formation of flaws. These flaws have a significant impact on unconventional superconductors. Miassite exhibited characteristics akin to those of an unusual superconductor.

“It is akin to uncovering a concealed fishing hole that is teeming with large, fatty fish.” Three novel superconductors were identified in the Rh-S system. According to Professor Paul Canfield, affiliated with Iowa State University and Ames Lab, it was determined through Ruslan’s meticulous measurements that miassite exhibits characteristics of an unusual superconductor. Canfield created miassite specifically for this endeavor.

The findings have been documented in a scholarly article published in the journal Communications Materials.

Continue Reading

Geology

Mexican Congress hears UFOs with ‘alien’ bodies

blank

Published

on

blank

(Reuters). Mexico’s first congressional UFO hearing featured “we are not alone” and alleged non-human remains.

Politicians were shown two artifacts that Mexican journalist and longtime UFO enthusiast Jaime Maussan claimed were extraterrestrial corpses at the Tuesday hearing on FANI.

Maussan said The specimens were unrelated to Earthly life.

Two tiny “bodies,” displayed in cases, have elongated heads and three fingers each. Maussan said they were found in Peru near Nazca Lines in 2017. He estimated their age at 1,000 years using Mexico’s National Autonomous University’s carbon dating.

Mummified children were once found.

Maussan presented such evidence first.

“I think there is a clear demonstration that we are dealing with non-human specimens that are NOT related to any other species in our world and that any scientific institution can investigate it,” Maussan said.

“We are not alone,” he said.

“I can affirm that these bodies have no relation to human beings.”

Thursday, UNAM republished a 2017 statement saying its National Laboratory of Mass Spectrometry with Accelerators (LEMA) only wanted sample ages.

“In no case do we make conclusions about said samples’ origin,” it said.

Congress heard from former Navy pilot Ryan Graves about UAP sightings and the stigma of reporting them.

Sergio Gutierrez, a Morena congressman for President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, hoped the hearing would be the first of many in Mexico.

“We are left with reflections, concerns, and how to continue discussing this,” Gutierrez said.

Recent years have seen the U.S. government release UAP data after decades of denial. In recent years, NASA’s first independent UFO panel and the Pentagon have investigated military aviator sightings.

NASA will discuss study results Thursday.

Skeptics slammed Maussan’s Wednesday presentation.

“This could really hurt efforts to take the issue seriously,” tweeted. “Why didn’t they publish it after a scientific paper?”

X-rays, 3-D reconstruction, and DNA analysis were done on the remains, according to Mexican navy Scientific Institute for Health Director Jose de Jesus Zalce Benitez.

Continue Reading

Biology

New Evidence Modifies Homo sapiens Chronology and Behavior

blank

Published

on

Homo sapien skulls from Jebed Irhoud
Two reconstructed Homo sapiens skulls recovered from the excavations at Jebel Irhoud, Morocco.

Earlier this month, researchers published an article outlining new evidence from an excavation in Jebel Irhoud (Morocco) that provides the earliest date yet for the presence of Homo sapiens. A variety of dating methods provide an age of about 315,000 years ago (kya). Prior to this, the earliest securely dated evidence for Homo sapiens were the bones from the Omo Kibish site in Ethiopia dating to about 195 kya.

The decades-long excavation at Jebel Irhoud has uncovered various types of palaeo archaeological data. The skeletal material (e.g. skull, mandible, teeth, humerus, hip bone) shows that there were at least five individuals. The assemblage of stone tools includes examples of the Mousterian industry and the Levallois napping technique. Both of these are closely associated with Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis), though are not exclusive to the species. Also, the majority of the tools were made from stone not native to the Jebed Irhoud area. Other recovered evidence includes examples of fire use and animal bones (primarily gazelle) showing signs of hunting and butchering.

Dating Methods

A variety of dating techniques helped establish the age of the new assemblage at 315 kya. The research team measured sediment from the different stratigraphic levels for the quantity of radiation present. They used electron spin resonance on bone samples. Finally, the researchers applied thermoluminescence to the stone tools that were in direct association with the bones. Unfortunately, the research team was unable to extract DNA from the bones.

Homo sapiens stone tools from Jebel Irhoud, Morocco

Samples of stone tools recovered from Jebel Irhoud (Morocco).

Importance of Evidence

The importance of the evidence is twofold. First, it secures a mature development of Homo sapiens over 100,000 years earlier than previous evidence indicated. The date does not remove the firm placement of Homo sapiens within the Middle Pleistocene and during the Middle Palaeolithic. However, a date of 315 kya does provide overlap with the existence of Homo heidelbergensis. Previous evidence indicated that Homo sapiens developed from Homo heidelbergensis between 300 – 200 kya. The Jebel Irhoud data do not exclude this hypothesis but it means that Homo sapiens must have developed much earlier, probably closer to the nadir of Homo antecessor. It also means that Homo sapiens had much longer contemporaneity with Homo erectus than previously known.

The second important aspect is the location of the finds. Morocco is around 3,400 miles from Ethiopia. The prevailing models of human evolution place the development of Homo sapiens in Ethiopia. This makes sense based on the quantity and age of data recovered from sites in Ethiopia and in East Africa. The location of the new finds, and the fact that the fossils represent developed Homo sapiens, indicate that our ancestors had already moved across the continent in viable population sizes so the broad evolutionary changes that resulted in our species had already occurred.

The Jebel Irhoud evidence does not lessen the importance of East Africa in understanding the development of our species. Rather, it contributes data to provide a richer, more robust picture of hominid development and migrations across Africa and the world. It is quite exciting to imagine what else the excavation will recover to further elucidate the history of hominids and Homo sapiens. What are your thoughts?

Nature

Continue Reading

Trending