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Amazing Similarities Found By Texas Scientists between Sand Dunes of Titan and Earth

December 10, 2014 By Rebecca McGhee Leave a Comment

Ryan Ewing, geology professor at Texas A&M University, lead a team of scientists who have discovered recently that the sand dunes on Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, have moved over long periods of time in a similar manner as the sand dunes on Earth.

The Cassini spacecraft of NASA, which takes rounds near the moon, showed that some of the sand dunes that are greater than 300 feet were formed in around 3000 Saturn years which means 90,000 Earth years. This clearly indicated that the shifts in wind conditions on Titan may behave similarly as the changes in weather conditions of Earth’s great sandy deserts. These findings were published in the latest issue of Nature Geoscience, which adds further to the list of similarities between Earth and Titan that also includes an ocean, a river and an atmosphere.

Professor Ewing says,”The time scale exceeds what we thought were the dominant dune-forming wind cycles on Titan, and makes us think about winds changing in Titan’s past.”

“It takes so long to shape and move the dunes because the dunes are enormous (many of them over 300 feet high). These dunes are on par with some of the largest here on Earth.”

Ewing further added that these findings also means that the sand dunes covered landscapes of Titan may be evolving over time as the orbit of Saturn changes over tens of thousands of years, “and this is somewhat similar to how some of Earth’s sandy deserts have evolved.”

The Latest Research Discovered How Curiosity Improves Learning Skills Of The Brain

October 3, 2014 By Jason Leathers Leave a Comment

According to the researchers, curiosity is a huge motivator of learning, as it actually changes our brains and prepares them for new discoveries, then assists us remember what we’ve learned.

The researcher said that curiosity about a topic not only assists us take in new information about it but opens the brain with extra incidental information as well, so a greater interest in a question was linked to not only better memory for the answer but it also gives useful information.

The researcher also reported in the journal Neuron that curiosity was somehow preparing the brain for learning and it also frequently improves long-term memory.

The lead author Matthias Gruber says during the test, the brain activity was enhanced in sections, producing dopamine, which controls consciousness of reward and pleasure, this experiment suggests the brain was already appealing to its reward system even before the response to a curiosity-engaging question was revealed.

Dr. Matthias Gruber also said that our discoveries possibly have extreme success suggestions for the public because they disclose facts into how a form of natural incentive curiosity affects memory and these outcomes recommend ways to improve learning in the classroom and other settings.

The research disclosed three main discoveries: First, when people were extremely curious to find out the answer to a question, they were better at learning that information, next, the researchers found that when curiosity is encouraged, there is increased activity in the brain circuit connected to reward and the third last, the researchers discovered that when curiosity motivated learning, there was enlarged movement in the hippocampus, a brain part that is significant for forming new memories, and improved interactions between the hippocampus and the reward circuit.

The result could have implications for medicine and beyond, and assist examiners get an improved understanding of the brain.

First Rechargeable Solar Battery Build by Scientists

October 3, 2014 By Brian Galloway Leave a Comment

Recently, a new rechargeable solar battery is developed by Yiying Wu along with his friends at Ohio State University. It is basically an air-breathing battery, which has built-in solar cell for recharging. Undoubtedly, this is a noteworthy discovery so far, because one of the major problems with the solar systems is that they need big batteries in order to stock up electricity. Also, these batteries are quite expensive and the other thing is lots of electricity is lost during roving from one solar panel to external storage.

Conversely, this integrated solution is not just cheaper but efficient too. It has been observed by the researchers that, these solar batteries are 25% cheaper and 20% more efficient as compared to the traditional batteries. The new rechargeable solar battery comes with a nifty design, which is original. Wu stated that, the design will be certified to industrial partners, which would help in order to overthrow the cost of solar power.

This solar battery has 3 electrodes. One is standard lithium metal anode, second is an oxygen/air electrode in the middle, and the third one is a photo-electrode (photovoltaic solar cell) fitted on the top. Furthermore, the electrolyte sandwich guarantees that electrons can move slickly between each electrode. At the time of charging, the solar cell is connected to the lithium electrode, and on discharging, the lithium electrode is connected to the oxygen.

Researchers explained that there are 2 very discrete chemical reactions which happen inside the solar battery. At the time of discharging of the battery, the lithium reacts with the oxygen in order to make lithium peroxide (Li2O2) and electricity, and as a result it breathes in. Alternatively, when the solar battery recharges, the solar cell makes electrons (via the photovoltaic effect) that change the lithium peroxide molecules back into lithium ions (Li+) and oxygen (O2) and eventually the battery breathes call off. There’s an iodide “shuttle” in the electrolyte, which actually helps in carrying electrons between the electrodes. The solar cell itself is quite simple and cheap dye-sensitized titanium dioxide panel, with iron oxide (rust) as the dye. Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) aren’t quite as efficient as silicon. They presently crest out at around 15%, though they make up for it by being cheaper and spiky.

Scientific Progression Big Bang Theory: Cosmic Inflation to Galactic Dust

September 25, 2014 By Jason Leathers Leave a Comment

According ScienceRecorder.com, the researchers, who were working from almost previous six months with a special telescope, named as BICEP2 indicated the presence of faint pin-wheel shaped swirls in the serenity of the Big Bang, which symbolizes the sketches of gravitational waves rippling through the recently born cosmos. Certainly, if the theory detained, it will seems to be the straight proof of what cosmetologists term ‘Cosmic Inflation’, quite crucial innovation, though.

On the other hand, critics argued with the researchers that it’s just a signal given by galactic dust inside the Milky Way galaxy.

Recently, the new finding revealed by Planck’s spaceship of European Space Agency’s proposed that much, if not all, of the BICEP signal can be responsible for space dust. Moreover, the results have been published to the journal named as Astronomy & Astrophysics and went online on Monday.

The Planck collaboration, led by Jean-Loup Puget of the Institute Astrophysique Spatiale in Orsay, France stated, “We have shown that there are no clean windows in the sky, even in the faded-dust emanating areas.”

However, co-author Jonathan Aumont (Orsay institute) stated, which was published in “The New York Times”, recent findings does not completely oppose the BICEP innovation and did not compute at all a cosmological signal. He further stated that the BICEP and the Planck’s group have used the entirely different observation techniques and signals processing in two varied experiments. So, it would be difficult to find out, which signal comes out from dust and which one from gravitational waves.

Though, these two dissimilar results seem to be a good example of the scientific method in stroke. Starting with the Aristotle, which was eventually forgotten by the Western World till then rediscovered in the 12^th and polished in the 17^th century. The scientific process is a kind of query entirely based on logical, organized examination of natural phenomena and the formulation, testing and hypothesis modification. This is the way, how consistent advances in knowledge are made. It’s not an easy straight pathway, though the ‘jagged ‘one to walk on.

Half of the North America’s Birds at Risk due to Climate Change

September 14, 2014 By Jason Leathers 13 Comments

A lot of animals, birds, fish, and plants will have to displace to keep up their current climate conditions, as global warming progresses. Several species will be able to acclimatize well. Some will struggle. Yet others might just die off.

Recently, The National Audubon Society has published the report regarding “How America’s bird will react to anticipated climate changes”. As per the report of the Audubon Society, there are almost half of all 588 species in North America together with the bald Eagle, which is a national symbol, are facing hefty climate shifts that eventually could cut their haunt and becomes the source of harsh population turn down of 314 species till 2080, as if the climate changes with the same pace.

The Audubon Bird Study seems to be the most fortunate and comprehensive study as it used more than 30 years of North American Climate data. They used global-warming projections in order to get an estimate for where those birds were likely to move as the world warms thinking that the birds needed to keep up their present climatic conditions. They also gathered the report from the American Breeding Bird Survey and the Audubon Christmas Bird Count, and also get the climate projections from a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

If you talk about the Common Loon, it presently breeds throughout Canada and parts of the northern United States during the summer. It prefers large lake areas in order to catch fish and then makes its way behind both US coasts during the winter. Since the earth gets hotter, the bird is possibly to drop roughly 56 % of its preferred breeding range. Once-frequent loon sightings in Minnesota may be a thing of the past till 2080.

Michelle Nijhuis in Audubon states that “Suitable breeding grounds for the Baird’s Sparrow could disappear entirely, and the Piping Plover, an icon of the Atlantic Flyway, may vanish from many eastern shores.”

According to another striking finding; as many as nine states may see their state birds vanish from within their borders in the coming century, thanks to this habitat shift.

A chief scientist, Gary Langham, led the team of Audubon bird study ornithologists. They scrutinized more than 500 bird species at a time. Researchers have developed various scenarios of birds’ geographic distribution during breeding and non-breeding seasons. With the help of these scenarios, they marked 126 of the species as “climate endangered” as their entire haunts/habitats will change in about 65 years. These researchers also mark the birds with less threat and they have the chances to expand their habitat. These birds are American Robin, crow and blue jay.

The Audubon Bird Study also displays the interactive colored maps for most of the species. You can filter the maps either by species or state or province. For instance, the map color is darker for specific species; it means that the condition for survival is more favorable for that specie. Moreover, the outlined areas represent the current range for each season.

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