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Plate tectonics found on Europa   

Such active geology suggests that Europa’s icy surface is connected to its buried ocean — creating a possible pathway for salts, minerals and maybe even microbes to get from the ocean to the surface and back again.

…

Places have already been spotted on Europa where fresh ice crust is being born, but the latest research is the first to pinpoint where it might be going to die.

But without high-resolution images from more areas, researchers cannot tell whether subduction might also be happening in other locations. If it turns out to be common, it might mean that the moon could be cycling life-friendly compounds between the surface and the deep, and that substantially increases the chance that its ocean is habitable, says Michael Bland, a planetary scientist at the US Geological Survey in Flagstaff, Arizona.

The discovery adds to excitement set off in December, when scientists reported plumes of water vapour spurting out at Europa’s south pole (L. Roth et al. Science 343, 171–174; 2014). The plumes have not been seen since, and they may or may not be related to Europa’s newly appreciated system of plate tectonics. NASA now needs to figure out what kind of mission might best to explore these discoveries.

Plate tectonics found on Europa   

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‘Soccer-ball’ robots to patrol space for deadly junk

fuckyeahdarkextropian:

Alvar Saenz-Otero and his colleagues at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have built several self-guided robots. Each is a little smaller than a soccer ball and designed to investigate potentially damaging objects from a safe distance with a 3D stereo camera. The images are relayed to the crew aboard the ISS, who can decide how to proceed.

The risks a space object poses need to be assessed without putting people in danger, but even robots must give unknown objects a wide berth. “Inspection is not a low-risk activity,” says Saenz-Otero. “An autonomous inspector could collide with the object and make problems worse. So very good sensors must be used to allow the vehicle to move safely around the object it is inspecting.”

In a test aboard the ISS, the robots successfully manoeuvred around an “unknown” object floating in microgravity. Using their cameras and internal gyroscopes to navigate, they maintained a safe distance from the object as they filmed it. The robots streamed the 3D footage to a crew elsewhere on the ISS, who could evaluate what they were seeing. The work is due to appear in the Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets (doi.org/vfm).

The experiments proved the robots could avoid an object without any prior knowledge of its shape or size – a crucial safety measure when approaching an object that could vary from a few centimetres in diameter to the size of a truck.

“Aboard the ISS we are now working on cooperative debris inspection, where more than one of the robots has cameras,” says Saenz-Otero. The work is also feeding into the Phoenix programme, funded by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The plan is to build robots that will travel to geosynchronous Earth orbit – much further away than most satellites. Once there they will repair and maintain old or broken satellites – tasks that would be not be feasible for a human crew.

Now look, just because these bots would be perfect for assessing the arrival of an extra-terrestrial visitor, does not mean the ISS is a multi-billion dollar embassy being funded for the sole purpose of welcoming the Neighbours. Nor were the elaborate celebrations in Dubai a few years ago with their ‘fireworks visible from space’ some sort of occult signalling… No. There is no deep black, Secret Space Program with a vast agenda revolving around a war in the heavens, no… just a regular [CLASSIFIED] one with perfectly.. rational… war & intelligence requirements.

‘Soccer-ball’ robots to patrol space for deadly junk

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In depth: Destiny beckons for Bungie’s next big shooter

Destiny is set after the cataclysmic end of a future golden age for humanity. The survivors shelter within Earth’s last surviving city. Players venture out to explore and reclaim their legacy – from the abandoned ships of a Baikonur-like Cosmodrome to lost colonies on other planets.

In depth: Destiny beckons for Bungie’s next big shooter

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Spotted: Asteroids ‘Smashing Themselves To Smithereens’ 1,200 Light-Years Away

When a crop of dust spread forth from the star NGC 2547-1D8 during 2012 observations, scientists quickly sprang into action. What they believe happened was two huge asteroids 1,200 light-years away crashed into each other. What’s more, researchers say that what they witnessed could herald planetary formation similar to what created our own solar system.

“We think two big asteroids crashed into each other, creating a huge cloud of grains the size of very fine sand, which are now smashing themselves into smithereens and slowly leaking away from the star,” stated lead author and graduate student Huan Meng of the University of Arizona.

The debris was tracked with NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, and represents the first time scientists have picked up information before and after an event such as this.

Spotted: Asteroids ‘Smashing Themselves To Smithereens’ 1,200 Light-Years Away

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Android security mystery – ‘fake’ cellphone towers found in U.S.

warrenellis:

“Seventeen mysterious cellphone towers have been found in America which look like ordinary towers, and can only be identified by a heavily customized handset built for Android security – but have a much more malicious purpose, according to Popular Science.”

I was already thinking about running some crazy mods on my phone, now I want to see what’s out there when I’m on a long walk through the city.

Android security mystery – ‘fake’ cellphone towers found in U.S.

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“Severe” Ice Age event could have killed off Neanderthals 39,000 years ago, say experts

Significant interbreeding between Neanderthals and early modern humans had probably already occurred in Asia more than 50,000 years ago, so the dating evidence now indicates that the two populations could have been in some kind of contact with each other for up to 20,000 years, first in Asia then later in Europe.

This may support the idea that some of the changes in Neanderthal and early modern human technology after 60,000 years ago can be attributed to a process of acculturation between these two human groups.

Of course, samples from some sites did not produce dates at all, and the coverage did not extend to eastern regions such as Uzbekistan and Siberia, where Neanderthals are also known to have lived, so it is still possible Neanderthals lingered later in some areas.

But the overall pattern seems clear – the Neanderthals had largely, and perhaps entirely, vanished from their known range by 39,000 years ago.

A severe Heinrich event, characterised by cold and dry conditions, hit Europe between 39-40,000 years ago, and it remains to be seen whether that event delivered the coup de grâce to a Neanderthal population that was already low in numbers and genetic diversity, and trying to cope with economic competition from incoming groups of Homo sapiens.”

“Severe” Ice Age event could have killed off Neanderthals 39,000 years ago, say experts

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Neanderthals made some of Europe’s oldest art

Rock art is notoriously tricky to date because it is not immediately linked to human or animal bones that can be carbon-dated. Finlayson, however, is confident that the etching was made by Neanderthals more than 39,000 years ago. A layer of sediment that once covered the engraving contained stone tools typical of those made by Neanderthals dating to between 30,000 and 39,000 years ago. This means that the engraving must be even older, Finlayson says, perhaps 40,000 to 45,000 years old. Humans did not arrive at Gorham’s Cave until more than 10,000 years later, and long after Neanderthals were gone.

The team’s dating of the Gorham etching makes it one of the oldest examples of cave art in Europe. A smudge of pigment in the Cave of El Castillo in northern Spain dates to more than 40,000 years ago, but it is not clear whether Homo sapiens or Neanderthals created it.

To better understand the engraving, Finlayson’s team tried replicating them using original Neanderthal stone tools. They found that only dozens of purposeful, repeated motions could create similar etchings. “We wanted to show that this was not a doodle, a casual thing,” he says, unlike the helter-skelter scratchings that the authors left when they sliced fresh pork skin on rock, for instance. The team’s results appear in this week’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Neanderthals made some of Europe’s oldest art

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About | Disaster Playground

coldalbion:

m1k3y:

fuckyeahdarkextropian:

Disaster Playground is a ‘theatre of cruelty’ as defined by Antonin Artaud, a platform where scientific catastrophe and/or surprise can be more acclaimed than success. This cross and pluri-cultural project will go beyond American and European frontiers and will question the notion of disasters, widely represented in the literature of J.G Ballard and will investigate rescue reactions across culture.

Disaster Playground, PART I: The Film,  is about the scientists planning the monitoring and deflection of hazardous Near Earth Objects_NEO (asteroids).  It attempt to address the complex decision-making involved in developing a coordinated international response to the challenge of protecting the Earth from NEO impacts. The thrust of the film follows a real-life procedure in place in the event of an asteroid collision with the earth. It depicts the chain of command necessary where only a few experts exist who understand the technology. Hollywood relied on Bruce Willis and a big drill to save the world in Armageddon, but how real is that and what needs to be done to save our civilization from the next major asteroid impact? The film explores aspects of planetary defense, such as Asteroid Deflection and Asteroid Capture, and showcases the work of the scientists’ pioneering missions to interact with asteroids and to accelerate efforts to detect, track, characterize, and mitigate the threat of potentially hazardous asteroids.

This sounds amazing.

New life goal: play a life-giving, panspermic asteroid in local production of a Dark Extropian, “theatre of cruelty” dramatization of existential risk.

“WE GIVE LIFE. WE TAKE IT AWAY.”
chorus chants: “PRAISE BE THE ASTEROID”

Wth this as your themesong,

m1k3y

? Killing Joke-Asteroid:

http://youtu.be/g5ujsROMsAU

YES.

Find anthem for asteroid death cult? CHECK

About | Disaster Playground

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About | Disaster Playground

fuckyeahdarkextropian:

Disaster Playground is a ‘theatre of cruelty’ as defined by Antonin Artaud, a platform where scientific catastrophe and/or surprise can be more acclaimed than success. This cross and pluri-cultural project will go beyond American and European frontiers and will question the notion of disasters, widely represented in the literature of J.G Ballard and will investigate rescue reactions across culture.

Disaster Playground, PART I: The Film,  is about the scientists planning the monitoring and deflection of hazardous Near Earth Objects_NEO (asteroids).  It attempt to address the complex decision-making involved in developing a coordinated international response to the challenge of protecting the Earth from NEO impacts. The thrust of the film follows a real-life procedure in place in the event of an asteroid collision with the earth. It depicts the chain of command necessary where only a few experts exist who understand the technology. Hollywood relied on Bruce Willis and a big drill to save the world in Armageddon, but how real is that and what needs to be done to save our civilization from the next major asteroid impact? The film explores aspects of planetary defense, such as Asteroid Deflection and Asteroid Capture, and showcases the work of the scientists’ pioneering missions to interact with asteroids and to accelerate efforts to detect, track, characterize, and mitigate the threat of potentially hazardous asteroids.

This sounds amazing.

New life goal: play a life-giving, panspermic asteroid in local production of a Dark Extropian, “theatre of cruelty” dramatization of existential risk.

“WE GIVE LIFE. WE TAKE IT AWAY.”
chorus chants: “PRAISE BE THE ASTEROID”

About | Disaster Playground

Read more "About | Disaster Playground"

PLOS ONE: Characterizing a Middle Bronze Palatial Wine Cellar from Tel Kabri, Israel

“
During the 2013 excavation season of the Kabri Archaeological Project, a rare opportunity materialized when forty large storage vessels were found in situ in an enclosed room located to the west of the central courtyard within the Middle Bronze Age Canaanite palace. A comprehensive program of organic residue analysis has now revealed that all of the relatively uniform jars contain evidence for wine. Furthermore, the enclosed context inherent to a singular intact wine cellar presented an unprecedented opportunity for a scientifically intensive study, allowing for the detection of subtle differences in the ingredients or additives within similar wine jars of apparently the same vintage. Additives seem to have included honey, storax resin, terebinth resin, cedar oil, cyperus, juniper, and perhaps even mint, myrtle, or cinnamon, all or most of which are attested in the 18th century BC Mari texts from Mesopotamia and the 15th century BC Ebers Papyrus from Egypt.
These additives suggest a sophisticated understanding of the botanical landscape and the pharmacopeic skills necessary to produce a complex beverage that balanced preservation, palatability, and psychoactivity. This new study has resulted in insights unachievable in the past, which contribute to a greater understanding not only of ancient viticulture but also of Canaanite palatial economy.
”

* coming soon I’m sure Atemporal Alcohol – authentic Canaanite wino

PLOS ONE: Characterizing a Middle Bronze Palatial Wine Cellar from Tel Kabri, Israel

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