A Pentagon report is warning that the U.S. Marine Corps' oldest F-35B Joint Strike Fighters could remain airworthy for just over a quarter of their expected lifespan due to 'serious structural problems'.

According to Bloomberg, one early version of the jet, known as 'early block F' and bought by the Marine Corps, could fly for just 2,100 flight hours, which the report says is 'well under' the expected service life of 8,000 hours.

The plane has been hit by a huge list of issues, and is over a decade late, with final cost estimates for the US military expected to reach $1.5 trillion.  It is being tested by military forces around the globe, with the Royal Air Force already having taken delivery of its test planes, known as the Lightning.

Although the structural issues are believed to affect only a small number of planes, the Pentagon test office 2018 annual report obtained by Bloomberg also found a huge host of flaws in all versions of the fighter, ranging from cybersecurity issues to 'unacceptable' problems with the accuracy of guns fitted to the Air Force's A version of the plane.  The finding means some jets expected to start hitting service life limit in 2026.

Bloomberg claims the report also said maintenance personnel and pilots 'must deal w pervasive problems w data integrity, completeness on a daily basis.'

Test office director Robert Behler said in the new assessment improvements 'are still not translating into improved availability'.  He also warns there is no 'improving trend in' aircraft availability to fly training or combat missions as it's remained 'flat' over the past 3 years, according to Bloomberg.  The details come a day after Defense Sec. Pat Shanahan told reporters the F-35 'has a lot of opportunity for more performance.'

Lockheed Martin, who manufactures the F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, hit back at the report, claiming 'The F-35s operating today are delivering exceptional capability, lethality and connectivity around the globe.

'Items identified in the Annual DOT&E report are well understood and have been resolved in partnership with the F-35 Joint Program Office or have an agreed path forward to resolution.'  It said the 'planned modifications and fleet management' of the early contract F-35B aircraft will ensure that they meet the 8,000 hour service life requirement, and promised 'aircraft delivering today incorporate design changes in the build process to ensure they'll meet 8,000 hours or more.'

With a current development and acquisition price tag already at $379 billion for a total of 2,443 F-35 aircraft - most destined for the US Air Force - the F-35 is the most expensive plane in history.  Once servicing and maintenance costs for the F-35 are factored in over the aircraft's lifespan through 2070, overall program costs are expected to rise to $1.5 trillion for the US alone.

The Marine Corps plans to buy a total of 353 F-35Bs, and 67 F-35Cs, which have tail hooks that allow them to land on aircraft carriers, it has previously been revealed.

According to The Drive, 'The appalling low durability of early F-35Bs is also something that DOT&E reports have highlighted in the past, but this is the first time there has been any concrete information on how bad the problem actually is.  It says the flaws, which have not been revealed, could be related to a 2004 project where Lockheed Martin tasked a group of engineers, known as STOVL (Short Take Off/Vertical Landing) Weight Attack Team, or SWAT, with cutting 2,700 pounds off the weight of the B model.  Proponents tout the F-35's radar-dodging stealth technology, supersonic speeds, close air support capabilities, airborne agility and a massive array of sensors giving pilots unparalleled access to information.

But the program has faced numerous delays, cost overruns and setbacks, including an engine fire in 2014 that led commanders to temporarily ground the planes.

Other problems include software bugs, technical glitches and even a faulty eject system that risked killing pilots who weighed less than 136 pounds (62 kilograms).

The plane was most recently hit with worries of pilot health.  Since May 2 2018, F-35 pilots on five occasions reported symptoms of hypoxia, or oxygen deprivation.  The Air Force says the F-35's backup oxygen system worked in each instance, and the pilot was able to land the plane safely.  'It could range to anything from headaches, to nausea, to color-blindness,' he told the AP.

Planes were subsequently grounded at Luke, and only began flying again a few days ago, even though the cause of the fault has not been found.  A team of engineers, test pilots, medics and others experts are 'digging into this problem 24 hours a day,' to try to identify the cause, Canterbury said.  'It could be lack of oxygen. It could be too much oxygen, too much carbon dioxide.  There have been similar incidents 'across a number of bases, but not in clusters like we saw at Luke.'

The local commander at Luke will decide when the planes can fly again, he said.  Canterbury said the pilots will 'start flying as soon as they can.  They are ready.'

Luke is a training base for F-35 pilots.  Operational units have not had such issues.  It is still too early to tell the root cause,' he said. 'An airplane in development, such as this, will have teething problems, he said.

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A meteorite crashed down in western Cuba on 1 February following reports of an object seen streaking across the sky over the Florida Keys.  Locals say the impact rocked Viñales, Pinar del Río with a ‘large explosion’ that shattered windows in some homes.  No injuries have been reported.

Several residents are now sharing images of what they believe to be fragments of the space rock.

‘We’re receiving reports that a meteor was seen in the sky across the Florida Keys.  It appears that a meteorite impact occurred in western Cuba, near the town of Viñales, Pinar del Río, earlier this afternoon,’ NWS Key West tweeted Friday afternoon amid mounting questions from locals who saw the smoking object fly overhead.

The impact occurred at around 1:20 p.m. local time.  Residents of Cuba and the Florida Keys took to social media to report what they’d seen and share images of the black rocks they suspect are bits of the meteorite.

‘Only in Cuba does an apparent meteorite crash and you happen to know the person whose house was hit,’ Patrick Oppman, CNN’s Cuba correspondent, tweeted after reporting that there were no known injuries.

While the exact source of the meteor is unclear, the American Meteor Society predicted meteor activity from a slew of radiants for that week.  The radiant is the area from which meteors appear to originate in the sky.

According to the AMS, the week was expected to bring as many as four meteors per hour for southern-latitude viewers, as seen from dark skies.

‘Hourly meteor rates for evening observers this week is near 3 as seen from mid-northern latitudes (45N) and 4 as seen from tropical southern locations (25S).  For morning observers the estimated total hourly rates should be near 7 as seen from mid-northern latitudes and 10 from the southern tropics,’ the AMS forecast says.

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A new Super Bowl commercial aims to calm frenzied football fans with oddly relaxing images of actress Zoe Kravitz whispering into a pair of microphones and softly tapping on a bottle.  The beer ad already has drawn more than 10 million views and stands to expose a vast audience to an internet craze known as autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR).  However, scientists say there is not yet enough evidence to say the ads really work.

Some people spend hours watching videos of hair brushing, paper crinkling or 'happy little clouds' artist Bob Ross painting because they say it makes their brains tingle.  They report feeling a rush from the subtle, repetitive sights and sounds, but is it all in their heads?  Not everyone feels ASMR.  And so far, there's not enough evidence to recommend it as a stand-alone treatment for depression, anxiety, insomnia or any of the other problems its fans claim it solves.

But a few scientists are trying to study ASMR, and there is evidence that there might be something to it.  And if any harm is done, it's not financial: It's usually free.

Most people agree the sound of nails on a chalkboard is freakishly unpleasant. ASMR is described as an opposite feeling: a tingly euphoric response, usually starting on the head and scalp, and sometimes spreading down the neck, arms or back.

Triggers include videos of someone turning pages in a book, pretending to give an eye exam or tapping on a collection of purses.

Some call it a 'brain orgasm,' though most say it's not sexual. They say it's deeply relaxing, making it different from goosebumps or chills. The feeling helps some people get to sleep.

'I'll feel my eyelids start to droop.  I'll feel a tingling sensation start toward the top of my head and slowly travel down my neck to my shoulders to my fingertips,' said Robert Calaceto, 24, of Ridgewood, New Jersey, who uses it nightly before going to sleep and sometimes after work. 'Listening to these videos helps my mind to mellow out.'

Craig Richard, author of 'Brain Tingles' and a professor at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia, traces the history to 2007 when a post titled 'Weird sensation feels good' kicked off a conversation in an internet health forum.

A Facebook group and YouTube channels followed.  From the start, people shared their triggers: slow or quiet talking, teeth cleaning and chewing sounds.

Today, millions subscribe to content from the most popular ASMR artists. Products including Dove chocolate, Behr paint and IKEA have used it in advertising.  A hair-cutting scene in the 2017 movie 'Battle of the Sexes' was designed to elicit the response.  A live ASMR spa experience has launched with planned performances in New York and California.

IS IT REAL?

About a dozen research studies have been published.  That's not a lot in the world of medical science.

In England, University of Sheffield researchers found something surprising when they hooked up 112 volunteers to electrodes to gather biophysical data during ASMR videos: The tinglers seemed physically excited, but their heart rates slowed.

Half the volunteers were self-identified ASMR fans.  They had greater reductions in their heart rates - by about 3 beats per minute - compared to the non-tinglers while watching the same videos.  Their bodies became more excited, compared to non-tinglers, as measured by how their skin conducted electricity.

In Canada, University of Winnipeg researchers conducted brain scans of 11 people who experience ASMR and 11 people who don't.  The scientists measured which areas of the brain fired together when participants were lying in the scanner but weren't watching any videos.

In the brains of ASMR people, they saw unexpected 'teams' of neurons firing together, suggesting that normally distinct networks were blended together.  It was as if 'a few members of the Seahawks are trying to play outfield for the Mariners,' said Stephen Smith of the University of Winnipeg.

That could mean ASMR is similar to synesthesia, a better-known condition where people describe seeing music or numbers as specific colors.

PLACEBO EFFECT

Louisiana State University researchers tried to see whether the power of suggestion affected people's responses to ASMR audio clips.  It did, but only for the people who never before experienced ASMR.

The study involved 209 volunteers, including fans of ASMR recruited from the online forum Reddit.  All were told about the ASMR effect and that they would hear three audio clips.

Half were told the audio clips were known to produce the effect.  The others were told none of the audio clips had been shown to elicit ASMR.  Some clips were ASMR-triggering sounds such as a whispering and tapping.  Other clips were fakes: screaming and piano scales.

The encouraging instructions made a huge difference in those who'd never experienced ASMR before; they mostly felt tingles when they were told to expect tingles.

But ASMR fans weren't fooled by the fakes or the misleading instructions. They reported more tingles when they heard legitimate ASMR audio, no matter what they were told ahead of time.

'In a way, it doesn't matter as long as what the user experiences is relief or stress reduction,' said Megan Papesh, who led the study. 'It seems relatively harmless and it is free, which is wonderful.'

WHAT'S NEXT

For ASMR to take hold in mainstream science hinges on whether the craze lasts long enough for researchers to find out whether it helps people with stress or other health problems.  That kind of study is expensive and lengthy.

For now, Richard said the best way to think about ASMR is 'supplemental intimacy.'  It shouldn't replace healthy relationships, but it can be used to improve mood.

A pleasant feeling caused by a soft voice, caring gaze, gentle disposition, light touch and soothing hand movements - 'that's something we're born with,' he said, 'and its purpose is to soothe and comfort.'

It could even be educational.

'I think it helps teach people the feeling from a healthy relationship,' Richard said. 'You can have people learning for the first time what a healthy relationship feels like from an ASMR video.'

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A mega yacht that would be the biggest private vessel ever built would stretch the length of more than two football fields and contain its own casino and art galleries, under new plans.

The colossal $800 million 'Valkyrie Project' stretches an impressive 229 metres - the same as 24 buses parked end-to-end.  This would smash the record currently held by the superyacht Azzam which belongs to president of the United Arab Emirates, Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and measures 180 metres.

The floating leviathan could carry an incredible 52 guests and 92 crew members including an entire deck just for the owner and would travel at a comfortable speed of 25 knots.  It would also be equipped with its own casino, theatres, restaurants and even art galleries.  However, rather than an oligarch's play thing, the designer claims he wants the vessel to be used more like a 'floating entertainment hub' which the public could enjoy.

The mammoth project is the brainchild of Chulhun Park who spent eight months working with yacht designers Palmer Johnson as part of his university course.

Mr Park, 36, from Seoul, South Korea, said the vessel would be made from aluminium and a specially made carbon-fibre structure.  He said: 'Valkyrie project was my thesis project supported by Palmer Johnson at Royal College of Art in London.  It took eight months to design her.  'I tried to manipulate the structure's surface skin and create non-rectilinear shapes which appear to distort and dislocate elements of shape.  When I decided to be a yacht designer, I realized that most yachts are white coloured and stacked up like wedding cakes.  Therefore, I determined to design a very unique looking yacht which would stand out of the fleet.  My main goal of designing Valkyrie project was to build a floating entertainment hub, a 229m-long yacht which the public could come onto and enjoy the benefits.  Most people consider superyachts to be an exclusive property for billionaires to show off their wealth.  However, what if we create floating architecture to be used by everyone.  I put a huge amount of open space on the yacht, including a casino, theatre, ocean mall, restaurants and exhibition halls, all to satisfy visitors' needs and create a profit.  To create Valkyrie, it would cost around $800 million.  I have had a few interesting offers, but no contracts have been signed yet.  If she is eventually built, she would be the longest superyacht ever made.'

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Australian scientists are working on a revolutionary new wetsuit to protect people from fatal shark attacks.

Experts at Flinders University, Adelaide, are busy developing a prototype made from strong synthetic fibers, similar to those found in bullet-proof vests.  Although it couldn't withstand the force of the predator's jaw, it may help limit tissue damage and reduce blood-loss, which often causes death.

The ambitious project has been supported with a $90,000 government grant.

Charlie Huveneers, associate professor at Flinders University, told 9News :'The majority of fatalities from shark bites is due to blood loss, or the shock from blood loss.  We want new technologies, a new way of doing business when it comes to interacting with sharks.  If we can reduce that blood loss from minimising injury, and with rapid emergency responses, we can hopefully increase the survival rate of people being bitten by sharks.'

Testing of the material is due to start later this year in a common shark hotspot off the Spencer Gulf, west of Adelaide.

A Great White Shark exerts roughly 4,000 pounds of force through its jaws via 50 razor-sharp teeth, making a suit fit to withstand this is an engineering feat.

Despite tens of millions of trips to the beach taken in Australia every year, shark attacks are extremely rare, but each incident sets off public debate about beach safety.  There were 27 shark attacks in Australian waters last year, according to data compiled by Sydney's Taronga Zoo, including one fatal incident in popular tourist destination Whitsunday Islands, near the Great Barrier Reef.  Many experts point to the increased number of people going into the water as a reason for any increase in attacks.

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Our planet's magnetic field is believed to be generated deep down in the Earth's core.  Nobody has ever journeyed to the centre of the Earth, but by studying shockwaves from earthquakes, physicists have been able to work out its likely structure.

At the heart of the Earth is a solid inner core, two thirds of the size of the moon, made mainly of iron.  At 5,700°C, this iron is as hot as the Sun's surface, but the crushing pressure caused by gravity prevents it from becoming liquid.

Surrounding this is the outer core there is a 2,000 km thick layer of iron, nickel, and small quantities of other metals.  The metal here is fluid, because of the lower pressure than the inner core.

Differences in temperature, pressure and composition in the outer core cause convection currents in the molten metal as cool, dense matter sinks and warm matter rises.

The 'Coriolis' force, caused by the Earth's spin, also causes swirling whirlpools.  This flow of liquid iron generates electric currents, which in turn create magnetic fields.

Charged metals passing through these fields go on to create electric currents of their own, and so the cycle continues.  This self-sustaining loop is known as the geodynamo.

The spiralling caused by the Coriolis force means the separate magnetic fields are roughly aligned in the same direction, their combined effect adding up to produce one vast magnetic field engulfing the planet.

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Earth narrowly avoided a catastrophic collapse of the magnetic field that protects our planet 565 million years ago, it has been revealed.

Researchers say that if it had collapsed, life on Earth would have faced severe challenges as the solar wind would have stripped the planet of its atmosphere and bombarded the surface with harmful radiation.

Researchers found that, luckily, our planet's core solidified 'right in the nick of time', recharging Earth's magnetic field when it was at its weakest point.

The discovery provides a new insight into the formation of Earth's core, and backs the theory the Earth's core is relatively young.

Scientists led by Richard Bono, a palaeomagnetism researcher at the University of Rochester, studied single crystals of plagioclase and clinopyroxene formed 565 million years ago in what is now Canada's eastern Quebec.  This data allowed them to reconstruct this timeline of Earth's inner core 'nucleation,' or solidification for the paper published online recently in Nature Geoscience.

They found unprecedentedly low geomagnetic field intensities, revealing there was a high frequency of magnetic reversals at that time, suggesting that the geodynamo was on the point of collapsing.

'An enduring mystery about Earth has been the age of its solid inner core,' the researchers wrote.  Estimates of when the inner core solidified vary widely, ranging between 2.5 billion and 500 million years ago.

In an accompanying News & Views article, Peter Driscoll writes that 'the nucleation of the inner core may have occurred right in the nick of time to recharge the geodynamo and save Earth's magnetic shield.'

Driscoll said scientists had previously interpreted the weak magnetic field 565 million years ago as being the result of 'rapid tectonic motion, hyper-frequent polarity reversals, and even an equatorial dipole.  'A young inner core is consistent with thermal history models of the Earth9–12 that predict a large transfer of heat from the core to the mantle due, indirectly, to upward revisions to the thermal conductivity of the core,' he wrote.

The new study could also improve the search for alien life, giving astronomers a new glimpse into how planets that can sustain life form.

Earth is made up of several different layers, each with unique properties:

At the deepest level is the inner core which is believed to be solid.  This produces Earth's magnetic field and protects us from cosmic radiation.

The next layer is Earth's liquid core which is a fluid layer about 2,200 km thick and composed of mostly iron and nickel.

The mantle is the largest region of subterranean Earth and makes up around 84 per cent of the planet's volume.  It sits between the crust and the outer core and is broken down into two sections - upper and lower.

The asthenosphere is a part of the upper mantle that sits below the lithosphere and is believed to be involved in plate tectonic movement.

The lithosphere is the region of the planet that is known as the crust and some parts of the uppermost mantle. It features everything we think of as the ground.  It is made up predominantly of silica and is broken up into the tectonic plates.

The Lithosphere-Asthenosphere boundary (LAB) is defined by a difference in response to stress.  The plates and the lithosphere often remain rigid but the weaker and more viscous asthenosphere can move and is known to move.  This movement causes plates to move into, underneath and below others and  the LAB is the fundamental cause behind tsunamis and earthquakes as well as mountain range formation.

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

Not having time to go to the gym is no longer an excuse not to exercise, research suggests.

A study of 10 overweight men found those who took part in high intensity interval training (HIIT) for only 15 minutes three times a week saw their insulin sensitivity improve just as much those doing the same work out for 45 minutes.  Insulin sensitivity is a marker of type 2 diabetes, with the results suggesting short bursts of rigorous activity may ward off the disease.

The research was carried out by the University of Edinburgh and led by Dr Stuart Gray, a lecturer in exercise and metabolic health.

Obesity is on the rise, with 26 per cent of adults in the UK being classified with the eating disorder in 2016, compared to just 15 per cent in 1993, NHS Digital statistics show.  And more than two in three adults in the US are overweight or obese, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

Some 3.2million people in the UK have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, while the condition affects 30.3million in the US.  In both countries, 90 per cent of patients have type 2, which is strongly associated with carrying too much weight.

To determine the effects of HIIT on insulin sensitivity, the researchers analysed overweight men, some of whom were put on a rigorous 15 minute exercise routine.

Each training session involved a set of nine resistance exercises - such as leg presses and bicep curls.  The men repeated these exercises - within the 15 minutes - until they felt unable to do anymore.  The remaining men completed the same workout for three 45 minute sessions every seven days.

After six weeks, results - published in the journal Experimental Physiology - suggested a 15 minute workout is just as effective as exercising for three quarters of an hour.  Men in both groups saw a 16 per cent improvement to their insulin sensitivity.  This measures how a person responds to the hormone insulin, which is responsible for the uptake of glucose from our blood to be used as energy or stored in tissues.

Type 2 diabetes occurs when insulin sensitivity decreases, which causes blood sugar levels to rise.  Untreated, this raises a person's risk of heart disease and stroke.

All of the participants also saw their muscles become stronger and bigger after just two weeks.  But the study was lacking a control group and only included healthy - albeit overweight - men.  Additional trials made up of men of a range of sizes and health statuses should therefore be carried out, the researchers said.

Dr Gray said: 'On top of these results, we know that the gym is not for everyone.  Therefore, we also need to see if we can get people doing similar exercises at home without gym equipment, to achieve similarly beneficial effects.'

If these trials are positive, the scientists hope further studies will demonstrate the effectiveness of HIIT in improving type 2 diabetes.

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