The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator. It first started up on 10 September 2008, and remains the latest addition to CERN’s accelerator complex. The LHC consists of a 27-kilometre ring of superconducting magnets with a number of accelerating structures to boost the energy of the particles along the way.
Inside the accelerator, two high-energy particle beams travel at close to the speed of light before they are made to collide. The beams travel in opposite directions in separate beam pipes – two tubes kept at ultrahigh vacuum. They are guided around the accelerator ring by a strong magnetic field maintained by superconducting electromagnets. The electromagnets are built from coils of special electric cable that operates in a superconducting state, efficiently conducting electricity without resistance or loss of energy. This requires chilling the magnets to ‑271.3°C – a temperature colder than outer space. For this reason, much of the accelerator is connected to a distribution system of liquid helium, which cools the magnets, as well as to other supply services.
Jupiter is primarily composed of hydrogen with a quarter of its mass being helium, though helium comprises only about a tenth of the number of molecules. It may also have a rocky core of heavier elements,[15] but like the other giant planets, Jupiter lacks a well-defined solid surface. Because of its rapid rotation, the planet's shape is that of an oblate spheroid (it has a slight but noticeable bulge around the equator). The outer atmosphere is visibly segregated into several bands at different latitudes, resulting in turbulence and storms along their interacting boundaries. A prominent result is the Great Red Spot, a giant storm that is known to have existed since at least the 17th century when it was first seen by telescope. Surrounding Jupiter is a faint planetary ring system and a powerful magnetosphere. Jupiter has at least 67 moons, including the four large Galilean moons discovered by Galileo Galilei in 1610. Ganymede, the largest of these, has a diameter greater than that of the planet Mercury.
Mission Juno - Great documentary on Jupiter and NASA's Juno probe arriving at Jupiter in JULY 2016
https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu/
Jupiter has been explored on several occasions by robotic spacecraft, most notably during the early Pioneer and Voyagerflyby missions and later by theGalileo orbiter. In late February 2007, Jupiter was visited by the New Horizons probe, which used Jupiter's gravity to increase its speed and bend its trajectory en route to Pluto. The latest probe to visit the planet is Juno, which entered into orbit around Jupiter on July 4, 2016.[16][17] Future targets for exploration in the Jupiter system include the probable ice-covered liquid ocean of its moon Europa.
Eukaryotes can reproduce both asexually through mitosis and sexually through meiosis and gamete fusion. In mitosis, one cell divides to produce two genetically identical cells. In meiosis, DNA replication is followed by two rounds of cell division to produce four daughter cells each with half the number of chromosomes as the original parent cell (haploid cells). These act as sex cells (gametes – each gamete has just one complement of chromosomes, each a unique mix of the corresponding pair of parental chromosomes) resulting from genetic recombination during meiosis.
The domain Eukaryota appears to be monophyletic, and so makes up one of the three domains of life. The two other domains, Bacteria and Archaea, areprokaryotes[6] and have none of the above features. Eukaryotes represent a tiny minority of all living things.[7] However, due to their much larger size, eukaryotes' collective worldwide biomass is estimated at about equal to that of prokaryotes.[7] Eukaryotes first developed approximately 1.6–2.1 billion years ago (during the proterozoic era).
Proteins are made of amino acids arranged in a linear chain joined together by peptide bonds. Many proteins are enzymes that catalyze the chemical reactions in metabolism. Other proteins have structural or mechanical functions, such as those that form the cytoskeleton, a system of scaffolding that maintains the cell shape.[6] Proteins are also important in cell signaling, immune responses, cell adhesion, active transport across membranes, and the cell cycle.[7] Amino acids also contribute to cellular energy metabolism by providing a carbon source for entry into the citric acid cycle (tricarboxylic acid cycle),[8] especially when a primary source of energy, such asglucose, is scarce, or when cells undergo metabolic stress.[9]
Glucose can exist in both a straight-chain and ring form.
Carbohydrates are aldehydes or ketones, with many hydroxyl groups attached, that can exist as straight chains or rings. Carbohydrates are the most abundant biological molecules, and fill numerous roles, such as the storage and transport of energy (starch, glycogen) and structural components (cellulose in plants, chitin in animals).[7] The basic carbohydrate units are called monosaccharides and include galactose, fructose, and most importantly glucose. Monosaccharides can be linked together to form polysaccharides in almost limitless ways.[13]
Metabolism involves a vast array of chemical reactions, but most fall under a few basic types of reactions that involve the transfer of functional groups of atoms and their bonds within molecules.[16] This common chemistry allows cells to use a small set of metabolic intermediates to carry chemical groups between different reactions.[15] These group-transfer intermediates are called coenzymes. Each class of group-transfer reactions is carried out by a particular coenzyme, which is the substrate for a set of enzymes that produce it, and a set of enzymes that consume it. These coenzymes are therefore continuously made, consumed and then recycled.[17]
One central coenzyme is adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the universal energy currency of cells. This nucleotide is used to transfer chemical energy between different chemical reactions. There is only a small amount of ATP in cells, but as it is continuously regenerated, the human body can use about its own weight in ATP per day.[17] ATP acts as a bridge betweencatabolism and anabolism. Catabolism breaks down molecules and anabolism puts them together. Catabolic reactions generate ATP and anabolic reactions consume it. It also serves as a carrier of phosphate groups in phosphorylation reactions.
A vitamin is an organic compound needed in small quantities that cannot be made in cells. In human nutrition, most vitamins function as coenzymes after modification; for example, all water-soluble vitamins are phosphorylated or are coupled to nucleotides when they are used in cells.[18]Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+), a derivative of vitamin B3 (niacin), is an important coenzyme that acts as a hydrogen acceptor. Hundreds of separate types of dehydrogenases remove electrons from their substrates and reduce NAD+ into NADH. This reduced form of the coenzyme is then a substrate for any of the reductases in the cell that need to reduce their substrates.[19] Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide exists in two related forms in the cell, NADH and NADPH. The NAD+/NADH form is more important in catabolic reactions, while NADP+/NADPH is used in anabolic reactions.
According to researchers: "Dr Ranga-Ram Chary examined the noise and residual signals in the cosmic microwave background left over from the Big Bang (pictured) and found a number of scattered bright spots which he believes may be signals of another universe bumping into our own billions of years ago."
At least that's the tentative conclusion researchers have come to. According to some cosmological theories, collisions of alternative universes should be possible. Theories conclude that our universe is like a bubble among many.
Once a universe begins in a big bang type setting, it never stops expanding. That goes for all the universes. So it makes sense they'd periodically bump into one another. They're all likely in a row, say researchers, vibrating, bouncing around, and rubbing up on each other.
The structure of the multiverse, the nature of each universe within it, and the relationships among these universes depend upon the specific multiverse hypothesis being considered.
Multiple universes have been hypothesized in cosmology, physics, astronomy, religion, philosophy, transpersonal psychology, and fiction, particularly in science fiction andfantasy. In these contexts, parallel universes are also called "alternate universes", "quantum universes", "interpenetrating dimensions", "parallel dimensions", "parallel worlds", "alternate realities", "alternate timelines", and "dimensional planes".
The physics community continues to debate the multiverse hypothesis. Prominent physicists disagree about whether the multiverse exists.
Some physicists say the multiverse is not a legitimate topic of scientific inquiry.[2] Concerns have been raised about whether attempts to exempt the multiverse from experimental verification could erode public confidence in science and ultimately damage the study of fundamental physics.[3] Some have argued that the multiverse is a philosophical rather than a scientific hypothesis because it cannot be falsified. The ability to disprove a theory by means of scientific experiment has always been part of the accepted scientific method.[4]Paul Steinhardt has famously argued that no experiment can rule out a theory if the theory provides for all possible outcomes.[5]
In 2007, Nobel laureate Steven Weinberg suggested that if the multiverse existed, "the hope of finding a rational explanation for the precise values of quark masses and other constants of the standard model that we observe in our Big Bang is doomed, for their values would be an accident of the particular part of the multiverse in which we live."[6]
"Scientists reported on Wednesday that they had taken a significant step toward understanding the cause of schizophrenia, in a landmark study that provides the first rigorously tested insight into the biology behind any common psychiatric disorder. The researchers pieced together the steps by which genes can increase a person’s risk of developing schizophrenia. That risk, they found, is tied to a natural process called synaptic pruning, in which the brain sheds weak or redundant connections between neurons as it matures. During adolescenceand early adulthood, this activity takes place primarily in the section of the brain where thinking and planning skills are centered, known as the prefrontal cortex. People who carry genes that accelerate or intensify that pruning are at higher risk of developing schizophrenia than those who do not, the new study suggests."
"The observable universe consists of the galaxies and other matter that can, in principle, be observed from Earth at the present time because light and other signals from these objects have had time to reach Earth since the beginning of thecosmological expansion. Assuming the universe is isotropic, the distance to the edge of the observable universe is roughly the same in every direction. That is, the observable universe is a spherical volume (a ball) centered on the observer. Every location in the Universe has its own observable universe, which may or may not overlap with the one centered on Earth.
The word observable used in this sense does not depend on whether modern technology actually permits detection ofradiation from an object in this region (or indeed on whether there is any radiation to detect). It simply indicates that it is possible in principle for light or other signals from the object to reach an observer on Earth. In practice, we can see light only from as far back as the time of photon decoupling in the recombinationepoch. That is when particles were first able to emit photons that were not quickly re-absorbed by other particles. Before then, the Universe was filled with a plasmathat was opaque to photons."
The Michigan Department of
Environmental Quality failed to ensure the water was treated for its
corrosiveness.
The Flint River water turned out to be
more corrosive than the water Flint received from Detroit -- so corrosive, in
fact, that in October 2014, General Motors opted toquit
using itto avoid
corroding parts in its engine plant. Corrosiveness is a problem because Flint,
like many American cities, has water pipes that are made from lead, which can
leach into the water and poison people who drink it.
Back in 2011, Flint had commissioned
an evaluation of Flint River water, the results of which indicated it would
need to be treated with phosphates to reduce its corrosiveness. Two years
later,according
to the Detroit Free Press, a Flint official forwarded that
information to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, which is
responsible for ensuring that Flint follows the federal Safe Drinking Water
Act. But the MDEQ didn't do its job.
As Miguel Del Toral, an expert with
the Environmental Protection Agency who was investigating local complaints
about the water, explained in a June 2015 memo: "Recent drinking water
sample results indicate the presence of high lead results in the drinking
water, which is to be expected in a public water system that is not providing
corrosion control treatment. The lack of any mitigating treatment for lead is
of serious concern for residents that live in homes with lead service lines or
partial lead service lines, which are common throughout the City of
Flint."
Stereotype threat is a situational predicament in which people are or feel themselves to be at risk of confirming negative stereotypes about their social group.[1] Since its introduction into the academic literature, stereotype threat has become one of the most widely studied topics in the field of social psychology.[2] Stereotype threat has been shown to reduce the performance of individuals who belong to negatively stereotyped groups.[3] If negative stereotypes are present regarding a specific group, group members are likely to become anxiousabout their performance, which may hinder their ability to perform at their maximum level. For example, stereotype threat can lower the intellectual performance of African Americanstaking the SAT test used for college entrance in the United States, due to the stereotype that African Americans are less intelligent than other groups.[4] Importantly, the individual does not need to subscribe to the stereotype for it to be activated. The specific mechanism through which anxiety (induced by the activation of the stereotype) decreases performance is by depleting working memory (especially the phonological aspects of the working memory system).[5]
Stereotype threat is a potential contributing factor to long-standing racial and gender gaps in academic performance. It may occur whenever an individual's performance might confirm a negative stereotype because stereotype threat is thought to arise from a particular situation, rather than from an individual's personality traits or characteristics. Since most people have at least one social identity which is negatively stereotyped, most people are vulnerable to stereotype threat if they encounter a situation in which the stereotype is relevant. Situational factors that increase stereotype threat can include the difficulty of the task, the belief that the task measures their abilities, and the relevance of the stereotype to the task. Individuals show higher degrees of stereotype threat on tasks they wish to perform well on and when they identify strongly with the stereotyped group. These effects are also increased when they expect discrimination due to their identification with a negatively stereotyped group.[6] Repeated experiences of stereotype threat can lead to a vicious circle of diminished confidence, poor performance, and loss of interest in the relevant area of achievement.[7]
Proponents of stereotype threat have been criticized for exaggerating its importance as an explanation of real-world performance gaps[8][9] and misrepresenting evidence as more conclusive than it is.[10][11] One review has voiced concerns that the effect has been over-estimated and that the field suffers from publication bias.[12]
The opposite of stereotype threat is stereotype boost, which is when people perform better than they otherwise would have, because of exposure to positive stereotypes about their social group. A variant of stereotype boost is stereotype lift, which is people achieving better performance because of exposure to negative stereotypes about other social groups.[1]
