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This is interesting - the astrobiological table

astrobiology.table.l.jpg


From here

The Astrobiological Periodic Table - Astrobiology

The Astrobiological Periodic Table has been developed by astrobiologist Charles Cockell. This is the preliminary first version. A second, more advanced version is in development. Larger version.
astrobiology.com astrobiology.com
 
memory metal and airless tires. What's not clear is if these airless tires would provide sufficient on earth in all weather conditions, but looks like a good solution for robot space buggies.

 
farmerbarleymow said:
This is interesting - the astrobiological table

astrobiology.table.l.jpg


From here

The Astrobiological Periodic Table - Astrobiology

The Astrobiological Periodic Table has been developed by astrobiologist Charles Cockell. This is the preliminary first version. A second, more advanced version is in development. Larger version.
astrobiology.com astrobiology.com
Click to expand...

I thought that all the elements with a greater atomic mass than Iron could only be made in supernovae but there seem to be a few bigger ones, notably cooper, zinc and arsenic, which are also produced in stars. Must be one of those islands of stability things.
 
farmerbarleymow said:
This is good news - a small river in the Lakes they restored to it's natural meandering route has salmon breeding it in again. Nice use of 'rewiggled' in the headline too.

www.bbc.co.uk

Salmon breeding after straightened Cumbria stream rewiggled

The previously straightened water course has been re-engineered by the RSPB and United Utilities.
www.bbc.co.uk
Click to expand...

one of my ex's brothers was a political functionary and was involved in un-damming rivers in their home state. the effect on salmon spawning was almost immediate.
 
SpookyFrank said:
I thought that all the elements with a greater atomic mass than Iron could only be made in supernovae but there seem to be a few bigger ones, notably cooper, zinc and arsenic, which are also produced in stars. Must be one of those islands of stability things.
Click to expand...
There's also strontium, barium and mercury that are a lot heavier. :eek:
 
The Universe Is Not Locally Real, and the Physics Nobel Prize Winners Proved It

One of the more unsettling discoveries in the past half a century is that the universe is not locally real. In this context, “real” means that objects have definite properties independent of observation—an apple can be red even when no one is looking. “Local” means that objects can be influenced only by their surroundings and that any influence cannot travel faster than light. Investigations at the frontiers of quantum physics have found that these things cannot both be true. Instead the evidence shows that objects are not influenced solely by their surroundings, and they may also lack definite properties prior to measurement.
Click to expand...
 
WouldBe said:
So interstellar travel could be possible. Just point the spacecraft in the right direction and wait until you bump into it. :hmm:
Click to expand...
Light barrier only exists in our perceived reality. Drop out of that and there's no time or space. So in theory if we ever understand how to do that - yep, we could go anywhere.
 
Jennaonthebeach said:
Light barrier only exists in our perceived reality. Drop out of that and there's no time or space. So in theory if we ever understand how to do that - yep, we could go anywhere.
Click to expand...
You might not need to. If stars lack definite properties until measured then the nearest star (apart from the sun) may only be a few million miles away. :hmm:
 
Jennaonthebeach said:
Light barrier only exists in our perceived reality. Drop out of that and there's no time or space. So in theory if we ever understand how to do that - yep, we could go anywhere.
Click to expand...

But 'dropping out' breaks causality.

This fella explains why very well, with some nice graphs...



Of course there's no reason unidirectional causality needs to be inviolable. Nothing else seems to be. Even entropy, according to Carlo Rovelli, could just be a matter of perspective and not something it's possible to objectively quantify. And if there's no objective entropy, there's no arrow of time, and so no causality either.

Assuming the universe is both deterministic and probabilistic, which we can pretty much prove, it doesn't really matter which comes first out of cause and effect. Which is exactly the lesson all the good time travel movies teach us.
 
SpookyFrank said:
But 'dropping out' breaks causality.

This fella explains why very well, with some nice graphs...



Of course there's no reason unidirectional causality needs to be inviolable. Nothing else seems to be. Even entropy, according to Carlo Rovelli, could just be a matter of perspective and not something it's possible to objectively quantify. And if there's no objective entropy, there's no arrow of time, and so no causality either.

Assuming the universe is both deterministic and probabilistic, which we can pretty much prove, it doesn't really matter which comes first out of cause and effect. Which is exactly the lesson all the good time travel movies teach us.
Click to expand...

Big question marks over all of those assumptions now I would imagine.
 
WouldBe said:
You might not need to. If stars lack definite properties until measured then the nearest star (apart from the sun) may only be a few million miles away. :hmm:
Click to expand...

The star's properties will exist along a spectrum of probabilities. For something as massive as a star, which is effectively observing itself constantly, the spectrum is pretty narrow. It doesn't include the star leaping a few hundred light years to the right instantaneously. It might not be impossible, because every individual particle of the star is non-local and theoretically able to use quantum party tricks like tunnelling, but the number of interactions between those particles make it so unlikely as to be effectively impossible.
 
farmerbarleymow said:
Looks like a fairly rare area of Ordovician fossils has been found in Wales

www.theguardian.com

Couple unearth one of world’s greatest fossil finds in mid-Wales

Discovery could help plug gaps in understanding of evolution after Cambrian explosion more than 500m years ago
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
Click to expand...
Missed this. I posted the article here Archaeological discoveries, breakthroughs and theories

The Delusion at the Center of the A.I. Boom
Rampant solutionism.
March 29, 2023 By Evan Selinger
A term coined by the technology critic Evgeny Morozov, technological solutionism is the mistaken belief that we can make great progress on alleviating complex dilemmas, if not remedy them entirely, by reducing their core issues to simpler engineering problems. It is seductive for three reasons.

First, it’s psychologically reassuring. It feels good to believe that in a complicated world, tough challenges can be met easily and straightforwardly. Second, technological solutionism is financially enticing. It promises an affordable, if not cheap, silver bullet in a world with limited resources for tackling many pressing problems. Third, technological solutionism reinforces optimism about innovation—particularly the technocratic idea that engineering approaches to problem-solving are more effective than alternatives that have social and political dimensions.
Click to expand...
 
DNA evidence confirms existence of black panthers in the British countryside

DNA from a black hair caught on a barbwire fence following a sheep attack has offered 'definitive proof' big cats are roaming the British countryside.

The strands were sent off for testing after being recovered from a farm in Gloucestershire where there had been some 'unusual predatory' activity.

Suspicion was raised when video footage of a large black animal was also captured only a few miles away from where the sample was taken.

And documentary-makers, who had been investigating sightings across the UK, say the test has now come back 'positive' and confirmed the existence of black panthers and other big cats living in the UK.

A forensic laboratory took on the species identification task and used mitochondrial DNA analysis to ascertain a 99 per cent match to a big cat species.
Click to expand...
 
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