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Did Science Just Create The Perfect Lullaby?

Did Science Just Create The Perfect Lullaby?

May 07 2021 | comment(s)

Getting kids to go to sleep has long been a challenge for some, and there are beliefs that it got more challenging during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Spotify got science and music together (the parts that aren't already together, music is applied math) to create what they are calling the perfect lullaby. Maybe it will help.

Swedish rappers Jaqueline “Mapei” Cummings and Jason “Timbuktu” are both parents of young children. After Jaqueline gave birth they went to the studio armed with the science of what sounds to use to create the most soothing lullaby according to sleep expert Helena Kubicek Boye. Then they released the work on Spotify Kids.
Imaging The Human Body With Muons

Imaging The Human Body With Muons

May 07 2021 | comment(s)

While exchanging ideas with a dear colleague of mine on possible applications of differentiable programming to the optimization of the design of detection instruments, I came about an interesting, crazy idea which, since I do not have enough time to investigate at the moment, is only suitable for this blog. 

The rationale is that if it is a viable, patentable idea worth something, once it is published here it becomes of public knowledge and hence non-patentable anymore... Which in turn means nobody owns it, and it can be exploited without problem, like the Salk vaccine.
If The Bubonic Plague Didn't Kill You, It Helped Make Your Descendants Stronger

If The Bubonic Plague Didn't Kill You, It Helped Make Your Descendants Stronger

May 06 2021 | comment(s)

The remains of 36 bubonic plague victims from a 16th century mass grave in Germany provide evidence that evolutionary adaptive processes, driven by the disease, may have conferred immunity on later generations of people from the region.

The researchers collected DNA samples from the inner ear bones of individuals in a mass grave in the southern German city of Ellwangen which experienced bubonic plague outbreaks in the 16th and 17th centuries. Then they took DNA samples from 50 current residents of the town. They compared their frequency spectra - the distribution of gene variants in a given sample - for a large panel of immunity-related genes and found that innate immune markers increased in frequency in modern people from the town compared to plague victims.
Young Women Seem Healthier Than Men, And If They Claim Heart Attack Symptoms That Delays Treatment

Young Women Seem Healthier Than Men, And If They Claim Heart Attack Symptoms That Delays Treatment

May 06 2021 | comment(s)

Men may be more reluctant to go to a doctor for chest pain but when they get to a care facility, a new analysis finds they get it quicker than women.

In this look at the data, all of the patients were younger, from 18-55. 

Compared with men, women were triaged less urgently, waited longer to be seen, and were less likely to undergo basic tests or be hospitalized or admitted for observation to diagnose a heart attack, according to a demographic look presented at the American College of Cardiology meeting. 
Rocket Booster For China's Tianhe Space Station Will Re-Enter Uncontrolled. Don't Worry About It.

Rocket Booster For China's Tianhe Space Station Will Re-Enter Uncontrolled. Don't Worry About It.

May 05 2021 | comment(s)

The Chinese Space agency has achieved something interesting by launching the first part of their own space station.  This is not a breakthrough as space stations have been around for a while.  More science done in space will inevitably be good for humanity.  What is not good is the careless way they did their launch using a booster which will re-enter with no control at all, and which has a chance of hitting a populated area.  Human habitation areas are so small relative to the surface of the Earth that it is unlikely that the spent rocket body will hit anywhere near anyone.

 

Who Is Under the Rocket's Track?

 

60 Years Ago Today Alan Shepard Became The First American In Space - Where Will We Be In 60 More Years?

60 Years Ago Today Alan Shepard Became The First American In Space - Where Will We Be In 60 More Years?

May 05 2021 | comment(s)

Today is May 5th, when modern Americans assuming this is the day of Mexican independence (it isn't) consume Mexican stuff like burritos and margaritas (those aren't Mexican) but what we should be celebrating is Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard going into space.

On this day in 1961, 60 years ago, Alan Shepard let himself be strapped into a capsule sitting on top of a skyscraper of rocket fuel using parts all selected because they were the lowest bidder on a government contract - and set off for the unknown.

Seriously, this was a risk only test pilots would happily have taken. If you look at the spec that NASA gave to all the corporations that actually put us into space, it reads like aspirational quotes more than engineering:
People Often Choose Partners Similar In Social Status - That May Also Be True For Schizophrenia

People Often Choose Partners Similar In Social Status - That May Also Be True For Schizophrenia

May 04 2021 | comment(s)

A new analysis finds that nearly 50 percent of people who have children with a partner who suffers from schizophrenia or bipolar disorder themselves meet the criteria for a mental disorder.
They Have Light Sabers In Space Now?

They Have Light Sabers In Space Now?

May 04 2021 | comment(s)

It's May 4th, which in 2011 became a Star Wars celebration Day - a play on the first-religious-then-biological "may the force be with you" from the films. 

"May the fourth be with you" had nothing to do with "Star Wars" initially, though obviously the hit phenomenon inspired it. It was used as congratulations to new UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who took office on that day in 1979. Then it showed up in a 1988 episode of "Count Duckula" (The Vampire Strikes Back) spoofing the movies. Toronto had the first real celebration of it in 2011 and it took off from there.
You Can't Get Into Eleven Madison, Now You Won't Want To Anyway

You Can't Get Into Eleven Madison, Now You Won't Want To Anyway

May 03 2021 | comment(s)

Epicurious, a food website owned by the billion-dollar Condé Nast group, has stated it will no longer carry recipes that use beef. Because of the environment.
Push Is On To Get A Space Station Named After Apollo 11 Astronaut Michael Collins

Push Is On To Get A Space Station Named After Apollo 11 Astronaut Michael Collins

Apr 30 2021 | comment(s)

A man who was a test pilot, a major general in the Air Force, and who was an astronaut in both the Gemini and Apollo programs achieved a lot. Yet if you ask most people to name Apollo 11 astronauts, many will get Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, only a few can name Michael Collins.

That's because he walked in space but he never walked on the moon. He was instead the command module pilot for Apollo 11, which went to the astronaut NASA regarded as the most experienced.
More Efficient Solar Panels On The Horizon

More Efficient Solar Panels On The Horizon

Apr 30 2021 | comment(s)

Horizon

We've all seen how helpful solar panels are in renewable energy. From a consumer perspective, solar power is still an up-and-coming challenger to the existing fossil fuel infrastructure that most power generation systems take advantage of. The University of Michigan estimates that as little as 1.8% of US power generation in 2019 came from solar sources. Part of the reason this number is so low is why more commercial users haven't tapped into the technology. It makes little sense to go to the expense of installing a solar generation system based on the returns that it offers. However, that may soon change, based on new advances in technology.

Winds Will Take Out The Larsen C Ice Shelf Before Climate Change Can

Winds Will Take Out The Larsen C Ice Shelf Before Climate Change Can

Apr 29 2021 | comment(s)

Antarctica’s fourth largest ice shelf, the Larsen C Ice Shelf located on the Antarctic Peninsula, risks collapse due to mountain winds, according to a recent presentation at annual meeting of the European Geophysical Union.
Latte Nonsense: No, Your Genes Do Not Tell You How Much Coffee To Drink

Latte Nonsense: No, Your Genes Do Not Tell You How Much Coffee To Drink

Apr 29 2021 | comment(s)

When 23andMe was in its most ridiculous phase of existence, the co-founder was telling FDA to talk to the hand while she assumed campaign donations to members of Congress would exempt them from being told to stop lying about their tests allowing consumers to “take steps toward mitigating serious diseases” like breast cancer.
Acceleron Makes History By Getting FDA's First Notice Of Noncompliance For Not Posting Results To ClinicalTrials.Gov

Acceleron Makes History By Getting FDA's First Notice Of Noncompliance For Not Posting Results To ClinicalTrials.Gov

Apr 28 2021 | comment(s)

The ClinicalTrials.gov data bank, managed by the National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Library of Medicine, requires trial sponsors to register applicable clinical trials within 21 days after the first human subject is enrolled and submit certain summary results information for those trials, generally no later than one year after the study’s completion date unless a deadline extension is obtained.
Gauging The Environmental Impact Of NFTs

Gauging The Environmental Impact Of NFTs

Apr 28 2021 | comment(s)

Artwork is one of the newest purchasable commodities on the crypto market, thanks to a new technology known as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). NPR informs us that an NFT is a crypto token that isn't interchangeable but is tied to a specific commodity. The easiest way to think about them is an analog to how they're being used. For the first time in its history, blockchains can be used to hold and trade collectibles. Yet, the trade of these collectible tokens brings with it some alarming environmental concerns.

Tons of Power Consumption


New Social Distancing Guidelines For The Partially Vaccinated

New Social Distancing Guidelines For The Partially Vaccinated

Apr 27 2021 | comment(s)

The Six Foot Rule is only a rule in a 'rule of thumb' way; it's okay for an estimate but you use a real ruler to build a house. 

Analyses instead show that the most important things are a mix of masks and ventilation. What about outdoors where ventilation is terrific? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  has now relaxed its guidelines and are in line with what the science says; namely that unless you're in a protest unmasked, you'll be fine. And the Biden administration wants to use that to promote vaccines as well.
Feel Heavy? There Are 10,000,000 Pounds Of Space Dust Falling On Us Each Year

Feel Heavy? There Are 10,000,000 Pounds Of Space Dust Falling On Us Each Year

Apr 27 2021 | comment(s)

About 23,000,000 years ago, something hit the giant Asteroid 4 Vesta(1) some 120,000,000 miles away and the impact sent huge rocks into space. In 2018, one such meteorite from that time hit Botswana.

It was not unique. Over 30 percent of such Howardite-Eucrite-Diogenites (HED) meteorites that hit Earth year come from just the impact that formed the Antonia crater on Vesta. And then there is everything else happening outside our atmosphere piling on.
Motopi Pan Meteorite That Hit Botswana Came From The Giant Asteroid Vesta

Motopi Pan Meteorite That Hit Botswana Came From The Giant Asteroid Vesta

Apr 26 2021 | comment(s)

Thanks to cosmic rays that created radioactive isotopes while it was in space, an asteroid on an impact trajectory with Earth On June 2, 2018 was detected before it arrived. 

Thanks to the isotopes in those fragments, researchers determined that 2018 LA, called such by the University of Arizona's Catalina Sky Survey as part of NASA's Planetary Defense program, was a solid rock about 1.5 m in size, which reflected about 25 percent of sunlight.

Eight hours later, a video camera in South Africa recorded a bright fireball over Botswana and the hunt was on for surviving meteorites deep inside the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. The first meteorite they found 18 grams and about 3 cm in size.
Will Some Antibiotics Prevent The Entry Of SARS-CoV-2 Into Cells?

Will Some Antibiotics Prevent The Entry Of SARS-CoV-2 Into Cells?

Apr 26 2021 | comment(s)

Antibiotics won't help with COVID-19 because the disease is not caused by bacteria but instead a virus. However, a new study finds that some antibiotics can prevent the entry of the SARS-CoV-2 virus into cells. The Drug Design and Molecular Topology Unit group of the University of Valencia found that certain macrolide antibiotics like clarithromycin and azithromycin (used in respiratory tract infections) does just that.
6-Foot Rule Does Little To Prevent COVID-19 Exposure

6-Foot Rule Does Little To Prevent COVID-19 Exposure

Apr 26 2021 | comment(s)

There were a lot of rules introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic that originated during late 2019 in Wuhan, China. Some were pretty Draconian. China welded the homes of people shut and destroyed 16,000 coronavirus samples at the world's largest coronavirus lab nearby.  Some were pointless, like everyone carrying Clorox wipes around.  Most were less intrusive and at least somewhat helpful; wear a mask, stay six feet apart.