Scientists examining potassium have discovered a new state of physical matter where atoms can exist as both solid and liquid at the same time.  The research is said to clear up whether there was a distinct state of matter or the atom structures represented a transition between two stages – whether solid, liquid or gas.

Tests were carried out on the 'simple metal', such as applying high pressures and temperatures, with powerful computer simulations used to study what was known as the chain-melted state.

Experts from the University of Edinburgh believe more than half a dozen other elements – including sodium and bismuth – are capable of existing in this new state.  It was previously unclear if this structure represented its own distinct state of matter.  By simulating the behavior of roughly 20,000 potassium atoms under extreme conditions, the researchers say they have confirmed a new, stable state of matter.

Dr Andreas Hermann, of the university's School of Physics and Astronomy, led the study which is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.  He said: 'Potassium is one of the simplest metals we know, yet if you squeeze it, it forms very complicated structures.  We have shown that this unusual but stable state is part solid and part liquid.  Recreating this unusual state in other materials could have all kinds of applications.'

According to the team, the extreme conditions led to the formation of two interlinked solid lattice structures in the atoms.  These strong chemical interactions allowed the atoms to stay in solid form when heated.  The other atoms melted into a liquid state.

The study was supported by the European Research Council and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, and the work was carried out in collaboration with scientists from Xi'an Jiantong University in China.

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

Global warming is causing glaciers to melt which has boosted sea levels by more than an inch (27 mm) since 1961.

A study suggests the total mass lost from glaciers is far more than previously thought.  Based on their findings, the authors suggest that glaciers could almost disappear in some mountain ranges by 2100 (including the Caucasus, Central Europe, Western Canada and the USA and New Zealand).

Glaciers, not including the Greenland or Antarctic ice sheets, account for more than 40,000 cubic miles (170,000 cubic kilometres) of water.  Warming temperatures are causing them to melt and experts now believe melted glaciers account for 25 to 30 per cent of current sea level rises.  Ice loss from all the glaciers is believed to approximately equal to the shrinkage of Greenland's enormous Ice Sheet and far greater than that of the Antarctic.

An international research team combined glaciological observations with satellite measurements to accurately determine changes to glaciers and how this affected sea levels.  Satellite images allowed researchers to track the surface of the Earth and provided data on ice thickness and how it has changed over many years.  Researchers were then able to spot ice thickness changes to more than 190,000 glaciers around the world.

Glaciers in Alaska, Patagonia and in the Arctic regions were found to contribute the most to glacier ice loss.  Those found in the European Alps, the Caucasus and New Zealand were also affected but due to their relatively small size only play a minor role when it comes to sea levels.

Michael Zemp, who led the study, explains: 'By combining these two measurement methods and having the new comprehensive dataset, we can estimate how much ice has been lost each year in all mountain regions since the 1960s.  The glaciological measurements made in the field provide the annual fluctuations, while the satellite data allows us to determine overall ice loss over several years or decades.'

Global mass loss of glacier ice has increased significantly in the last 30 years and narrowed it down to a ten year window spanning from 2006 to 2016.  This revealed a worrying statistic that 335 billion tons of ice is lost each year from glaciers alone.  This corresponds to an increase in sea levels of almost 1 millimetre per year.

'Globally, we lose about three times the ice volume stored in the entirety of the European Alps every single year!' says glaciologist Dr Zemp.

The findings were published in the journal Nature.

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

Let’s face it – if you use a water bottle on a regular basis, you are probably not cleaning it nearly as often as you should be.  While it’s undoubtedly a good habit to keep a reusable bottle, studies have found these containers can harbor all sorts of potentially harmful bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus and E. coli.  But for whatever reason, many of us still remain lax about the upkeep.

A San Francisco startup is hoping to offer a convenient (albeit pricey) solution with what it says is the world’s first self-cleaning water bottle.  The $95 LARQ bottle uses patented UV-C LED microchips built into the cap to purify your water and sterilize the inside of the container no matter where you are; according to the company, the technology kills off up to 99.9999% of bacteria.  Once you get past the price tag (yes, personal UV sterilizers don’t come cheap), the LARQ bottle is a straightforward piece of low-key tech that fits right into your daily routine.

The bottle itself is sleek and durable, and it really does keep liquid cold for hours on end.  It doesn’t leak or ‘sweat,’ so you can toss it in a bag without worrying about ruining your other belongings.  But most importantly, it zaps bacteria and viruses that typically thrive in moist environments.

After three weeks of daily use without any additional cleaning beyond its own built-in capabilities, the bottle never once developed a muggy smell.  And, almost a month in, the battery has yet to die since its initial charge.

LARQ uses patented UV-C technology to quickly eradicate bacteria and viruses.  It offers two modes of cleaning: Normal Mode and Adventure Mode.  The latter gives a more thorough cleanse; according to the firm, this clean cycle will kill 99.9999% of bacteria and 99.99% of viruses.

The cap emits 280 nanometer UV light that taps into the same photochemical reactions used by hospitals to sterilize surfaces in patients’ rooms.

‘When UV light is absorbed, it breaks the DNA’s chemical bonds and kills the bacteria or virus,’ the company explains.  It purifies without a filter, mercury, or ozone, making it the ‘world’s only mercury-free portable water sanitation system,’ according to LARQ.

In practice, engaging the self-cleaning system is about as simple as it gets: tap once for Normal Mode, and twice for Adventure Mode.  The bottle will also run a short clean cycle on its own every two hours.  When this happens, you’ll see its blue ring ‘breathing’ for about 10 seconds.

LARQ had its technology tested independently at Harrens Lab in California to see how effective the technology really is.  A report on the analysis shows it was able to kill off E. coli almost entirely: in 1 minute, it killed 99.9775% of E. coli, 99.9998% in 2 minutes, and 99.9999% of E. coli in 3 minutes.

As LARQ’s purification system is designed only to work with water, you’ll still have to give it a regular soap and water wash if you put another liquid, such as juice or coffee, in the bottle.  Otherwise, if you are only using water (which should be clear to the eye to begin with, with no heavy sediment, the company notes), there is no need for additional cleaning, and the battery lasts for one to two months.

With the health benefits considered, not to mention the convenience of not having to clean it, the LARQ bottle definitely lives up to its price tag.

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

Hypersonic jet travel across the Atlantic has moved a step closer after scientists successfully tested technology to stop jet engines melting at speeds up to 25 times the speed of sound.

Researchers at Reaction Engines managed to make a 'pre cooler' work at a simulated speed of 3.3 mach or 2,500 mph (4,023kph) - that means large scale hypersonic engines that could be fitted to passenger jets are a step closer to being realised.   Their experimental Synergetic Air Breathing Rocket Engine (Sabre) is designed to be fitted to large aircraft to ferry passengers around the world in hours and deliver goods into orbit for less.

The 'pre-cooler', which lets the aircraft travel at high speed without hot air rushing in and causing the engine to melt was tested at simulated speeds of more than three times the speed of sound.  The next stage of tests will see the technology tested at Mach 5.5 (4,200mph / 6,800kph), and could one day lead to flights between London and New York that take less than an hour.

Reaction built a testing facility on the ground in Colorado and used a General Electric J79 turbojet engine to replicate the conditions that the vehicle will experience at hypersonic speeds.  The firm hopes to make a reusable vehicle that would combine the fuel efficiency of a jet engine with the power and speed of a rocket.

Reaction, based in Oxfordshire, believe that the aircraft could travel the distance between New York and London in less than an hour when running at its proposed top speed.  The company also wants to take people and payloads into space and return to Earth.

A spokesperson for Reaction Engines told MailOnline that although this technology is decades away from use in passenger jets, the technology could be used in more immediate applications.

The heat exchanger technology has a wide range of potential commercial applications and the ability to revolutionise the approach to thermal management across a range of industries; from aerospace to motorsport, industrial processes, and the oil and gas industry.

The breakthrough test was conducted at the company’s newly opened TF2 test facility at Colorado Air and Space Port.  It comes 30 years after Reaction Engines was formed in the UK around an engine cycle concept to enable access to space and hypersonic air-breathing flight from a standing start.

The pre-cooling technology is designed to lower the temperature of the air coming into the engine from more than 1,000°C (1,832°F) to room temperature in one twentieth of a second.  To do this, the team developed a heat-exchanger to manage very high temperature airflows.

The tech is designed to chill air in the inlet of high-speed turbojets for hypersonic vehicles and ultimately will form the basis for the company’s Sabre engine for low-cost repeatable access to space.  The goal is to incorporate this technology into their Sabre engine, which would work like an 'air breathing rocket engine'.

It would carry significantly less fuel oxidant than a conventional rocket, making it much lighter.  From take-off to Mach 5.5 (5.5 times the speed of sound), it would take oxygen from the atmosphere, which would be fed into a rocket combustion chamber.  Here, it would be ignited along with stored liquid hydrogen and then switch at high altitude, burning liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen from on-board fuel tanks.

Mark Thomas, the Reaction Engines chief executive, told the Times: 'If you can pull it off, it's a game changer.  It kicks conventional rocket engines into touch.'

It did this by successfully quenching a 420°C (788°F) stream of gases in less than 1/20th of a second.  At low altitude and low speeds, it would behave like a jet, burning its fuel in a stream of air scooped from the atmosphere.  At high speeds and at high altitude, it would transition to full rocket mode, combining the fuel with the oxygen carried inside.

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

It may be a half-century since former U.S. astronaut, Buzz Aldrin rose up to become one of the first-ever humans to step foot on the moon, but that doesn't mean he's done making a splash.

Aldrin stole the show at a recent reunion of astronauts involved in the Apollo space missions. From left to right: Charles Duke (Apollo 16), Buzz Aldrin (Apollo 11), Walter Cunningham (Apollo 7), Al Worden (Apollo 15), Rusty Schweickart (Apollo 9), Harrison Schmitt (Apollo 17), Michael Collins (Apollo 11), Fred Haise (Apollo 13)

At a recent reunion, eight former Apollo astronauts, and three of the four living men to have walked on the moon, gathered together to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing.  While the momentous feat of humankind's lunar landing was the subject of the reunion, Aldrin quickly stole the show, showing up in a glimmering silver suit, American flag socks, and an array of accessories replete with not one but two gold watches and an array of gold rings.  Photographer Felix Kunze shared the image of the astronauts on his website.

Aldrin has made the news for his bold fashion choices in the past, particularly during Men's Fashion Week in 2017 when he took to the runway with fellow man-of-science, Bill Nye.

The former astronaut wore a similarly silvery suit with a T-shirt that read 'get your a** to Mars,' while Nye donned a jacket that looks almost identical to Aldrin's above.  The event last month wasn't all about Aldrin, though.

In a panel discussion, astronauts discussed their sometimes harrowing journeys, including what it's like to drive the rover on the moon's surface and another about how Aldrin and Armstrong were nearly stranded on the moon's surface only to be miraculously saved by a felt-tipped pen, as reported by Space.com.

An anniversary of the first lunar landing comes with apt timing as the U.S. begins to shift back towards human space travel, particularly returning astronauts to the moon which hasn't been done since 1972.

In a recent and buzzy announcement, Vice President Mike Pence announced the White House's intention to expedite another lunar visit, slating the next visit for 2024.  Previously, NASA said that the soonest it planned to do so was in 2028, double the amount of time.  Pence said: 'Since the end of Apollo 11, we’ve forged incredible breakthroughs in our technology that have allowed us to go further, more safely in space than ever before.  We have the technology to go the moon and renew American leadership in human space exploration.'

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

Female drivers in the world of auto-sport are genetically wired up to deal with the extreme conditions better than their male peers.  A study found that there is no difference between the physical fitness of males and females but women, with suitable training and experience, could become faster.

Debate over the differences in physical performance has raged for a long time as to whether women are as capable of enduring the brutal conditions at the wheel.  It also dispelled a common and unfounded myth that women are less tolerant of the high temperatures involved in Motorsport at a certain point on their menstrual cycle.

Carmen Jorda, a member of the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission, was criticised after encouraging female drivers to pursue 'less physical' racing opportunities.

Researchers at Michigan State University studied six people - three male and three female - to see if there was any difference between the sexes.  Evaluation was done in two classes of racing, closed and open cockpit, and found the physical durability to be the same.  Researchers analysed heart and breathing rate, core body and skin temperature as well as heat-induced stress, which can lead to heat exhaustion.

'Heat strain is the primary stressor in racing.  Women naturally have an elevated core temperature during a certain phase of their menstrual cycle.  The misperception was that they would potentially fatigue faster and become a safety risk to other drivers.  Based on our results, I'm here to say that's just not true,' said David Ferguson, an assistant professor who has spent 15 years studying the physiology of race car drivers at Michigan State University.

It was previously suggested that the luteal phase - the second half of the cycle which begins after ovulation and ends at the start of the next period - made women a danger to themselves and others.

'The luteal phase is when women can have higher heart rates, core body temperature and an increase in other physiological factors that are considered markers for fatigue.  Yet even during this time, these factors still were no different than what male drivers exhibited.'

The study, published in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, also found that the structure of the car, whether a closed or open cockpit, was more of a factor causing higher physiological stress in both sets of drivers than any hormonal changes.

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

A new wave of ultra-fast charging stations can fill up an electric vehicle in the time it takes to brew a pot of coffee.  That is, if the cars' batteries can keep up.

One company, the Australia-based Tritium, says it can provide drivers about 210 miles of charge in just 10 minutes — a feat that would shatter prior standards.  To put Tritium's claims in perspective, an average electric vehicle, with a normal charger, takes about eight hours to fully charge.

And Tritium isn't alone in their quest.  A European consortium of auto manufacturers that include BMW Group, Ford, and Volkswagen called Ionity has invested in the company's charging stations as a preemptive move according to a recent report by Bloomberg.

Volkswagen told Bloomberg in an email: 'The charging capacities of electric vehicles have doubled in the space of a few years.  We expect that fast-charging in public spaces will become the norm.'

Across Europe, Ionity is in the process of building 400 stations which will have as many as six ultra-fast chargers at each.

Shell also began to roll out ultra-fast chargers in Europe last year.

As EV infrastructure and car companies look to get ahead of the curve, however, battery manufacturers are struggling to advance their technology quickly enough to meet the chargers half way.   Most cars are not yet compatible with ultra-fast charging and according to CEO of electric infrastructure company ABB, who spoke at a recent conference in Houston, and the process of trying to develop a viable ultra-fast charger can be dangerous.

'[Ultra fast chargers] are a real breakthrough in terms of convenience,’ said Ulrich Spiesshofer at CERAWeek conference in Houston last month as reported in Bloomberg.  'We barbecued a couple of cars until we got there.'

The biggest hindrance for ultra-fast chargers is reportedly the size of the current generation of batteries as well as the voltage they can accept.  Despite those restrictions, some newer electric vehicles are beginning to close the gap.  Among them is the Jaguar I-PACE which can accept 440 Volts giving it a top charge time of 1.5 hours according to the company.

Several battery technologies are also emerging that could help increase range and charging capabilities of electric vehicles, including one recent company that says it has developed a lithium-ion battery capable of allowing cars to travel up to 600 miles in one charge.  Current batteries offer about 200 to 300 miles of range.

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

The United Nations is exploring the possibility of building floating cities as the world continues to find a way to curb rising sea levels.  Ninety per cent of the world's largest cities are vulnerable to inundation as glaciers melt and seas rise on a warming planet.

A UN-backed partnership will study the futuristic prospect of modular platforms anchored to the sea floor could be connected in a ring to house communities atop the oceans, members said.

UN-Habitat, which works on sustainable urban development, will team up with private firm Oceanix, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and The Explorers Club, a professional society, to advance the concept.

As climate change gathers pace and more people crowd into city slums, 'floating cities is one of the possible solutions', said UN-Habitat's executive director, Maimunah Mohd Sharif.  The partnership plans to build within months a prototype open to the public, which it hopes to dock on the East River next to UN headquarters.

Compared with another located in Copenhagen, the New York City version aims to grow its own food and meet its water and energy needs, said U.S. company Oceanix, which will build it.

The vision for floating cities has raised questions over whether they could divert attention from dealing with the root causes of climate change, which by boosting sea levels threatens low-lying coastal communities with storm surges and flooding.  Some have also warned the cities may end up being only for the ultra-rich - such as floating villas currently being sold off the coast of Dubai - a risk the new project aims to address by exploring sea-borne homes for the neediest too.

The concept has prompted cutting-edge research in water management, ocean engineering and farming that could produce floating cities which are self-sufficient and safe from extreme weather like storms, a discussion at the United Nations heard.

'We're basically building resilience at the platform level,' said Marc Collins Chen, Oceanix chief executive.

Should global average temperatures increase 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7°F) from pre-industrial times, sea levels could rise as much as 30.3 inches (77cm) by 2100, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The lower 1.5°C limit enshrined in the Paris Agreement is likely to be breached between 2030 and 2052 if global warming continues at its current pace and unprecedented measures are not taken to stem the increase, a 2018 IPCC report said.

Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz told the Reuters that much of the technology emerging from research on floating cities could also be used to improve existing cities on solid ground.  'The benefits are not just going to be what you will be doing on water, but on land,' he said

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

There were two nuns: One of them was known as Sister Mathematical (SM), and the other one was known as Sister Logical (SL).

It is getting dark and they are still far away from the convent.

SM: Have you noticed that a man has been following us for the past 38 ½ minutes?  I wonder what he wants.
SL: It's logical.  He wants to violate us.
SM: Oh, no!  At this rate he will reach us in 15 minutes at the most! What can we do?
SL: The only logical thing to do of course is to walk faster.

A little while later...

SM: It's not working.
SL: Of course it's not working.  The man did the only logical thing.  He started to walk faster, too.
SM: So, what shall we do?  At this rate he will reach us in 1 minute.
SL: The only logical thing we can do is split.  You go that way and I'll go this way.  He cannot follow us both.

So the man decided to follow Sister Logical...

Sister Mathematical arrives at the convent and is worried about what has happened to Sister Logical.  Then Sister Logical arrives.
SM: Sister Logical!  Thank God you are here!  Tell me what happened!
SL: The only logical thing happened.  The man couldn't follow us both, so he followed me
SM: Yes, yes!  But what happened then?
SL: The only logical thing happened.  I started to run as fast as I could and he started to run as fast as he could.
SM: And?
SL: The only logical thing happened.  He reached me.
SM: Oh, dear!  What did you do?
S : The only logical thing to do.  I lifted my dress up.
SM: Oh, Sister!  What did the man do?
SL: The only logical thing to do.  He pulled down his pants.
SM: Oh, no!  What happened then?
SL: Isn't it logical, Sister?  A nun with her dress up can run faster than a man with his pants down.

And for those of you who thought it would be something else…………………
And the Moral of the Story is: Logic Beats Math Anytime.  And Math cannot survive without Logic.

Extracted from: Internet

AI may be able to predict when patients battling chronic diseases will die, research suggests.

Scientists and doctors used data from half a million people to develop the tool that foresees who is at risk of an early death.   It takes into account everything from a patient's family history of disease and how much salt they eat, to medication use and whether they wear sunscreen.  Researchers said the AI system was 'very accurate' in tests and around 10 per cent more reliable than estimations by existing machine-learning systems.

The research was carried out by the University of Nottingham and led by Dr Stephen Weng, an assistant professor of epidemiology and data science.

Dr Weng said: 'Preventative healthcare is a growing priority in the fight against serious diseases.  So we have been working for a number of years to improve the accuracy of computerised health risk assessment in the general population.  Most applications focus on a single disease area but predicting death due to several different disease outcomes is highly complex, especially given environmental and individual factors that may affect them.  We have taken a major step forward in this field by developing a unique and holistic approach to predicting a person’s risk of premature death by machine-learning.'

The AI algorithm was created from data of 502,628 people aged 40-to-69 who took part in the UK Biobank study between 2006 and 2010, and were followed until 2016.  It took into account 60 health predictors, including the participants' BMI, blood pressure and vitamin or supplement use.  The AI model also included information on the participants' fruit, vegetable, meat, cheese, cereal, fish and alcohol consumption.

'We mapped the resulting predictions to mortality data from the cohort using Office of National Statistics death records, the UK cancer registry and "hospital episodes" statistics,' Dr Weng said.

The model was then compared against two standard machine-learning techniques.  Results - published in the journal PLOS ONE - suggest the new AI model was up to 10.1 per cent more accurate than existing networks.

Dr Weng said: 'We found machine learned algorithms were significantly more accurate in predicting death than the standard prediction models developed by a human expert.’

Study author Professor Joe Kai, head of primary care at the faculty of medicine & health sciences, added: 'There is intense interest in the potential to use "AI" or "machine learning" to better predict health outcomes.  In some situations we may find it helps, in others it may not.  In this particular case, we have shown that with careful tuning, these algorithms can usefully improve prediction.  These techniques can be new to many in health research and difficult to follow.  We believe by clearly reporting these methods in a transparent way, this could help with scientific verification and future development of this exciting field for healthcare.'

The latest study builds on past research by the University of Nottingham that suggested four different AI algorithms were significantly better at predicting heart disease than an established one used in cardiology guidelines.

The scientists predict AI will play a vital role in the development of personalised medicine.  But, they add, further research is required into machine learning's effectiveness in other population groups, as well as how to incorporate AI into everyday healthcare.

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk