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Overnight News Digest-Science Saturday, 11/12/22 [1]

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Date: 2022-11-12

Topics in tonight’s digest include

Artificial photosynthesis

Sugar substitutes affect gut microbes

Batteries storing large amounts of power

France covering parking lots with solar panels

Prebunking, a psychological misinformation vaccine

A smartphone app to help tinnitus sufferers

Ominous pressurized water under Antarctic

Huge extragalactic structure behind the ‘zone of avoidance’

phys.org

by Louise Lerner

Chemists create an ‘artificial photosynthesis’ system ten times more efficient than existing systems

For the past two centuries, humans have relied on fossil fuels for concentrated energy; hundreds of millions of years of photosynthesis packed into a convenient, energy-dense substance. But that supply is finite, and fossil fuel consumption has tremendous negative impact on Earth's climate. "The biggest challenge many people don't realize is that even nature has no solution for the amount of energy we use," said University of Chicago chemist Wenbin Lin. Not even photosynthesis is that good, he said: "We will have to do better than nature, and that's scary." One possible option scientists are exploring is "artificial photosynthesis"—reworking a plant's system to make our own kinds of fuels. However, the chemical equipment in a single leaf is incredibly complex, and not so easy to turn to our own purposes. A Nature Catalysis study from six chemists at the University of Chicago shows an innovative new system for artificial photosynthesis that is more productive than previous artificial systems by an order of magnitude. Unlike regular photosynthesis, which produces carbohydrates from carbon dioxide and water, artificial photosynthesis could produce ethanol, methane, or other fuels.

Brighter Side of News

by Gizel Maimon

Sugar substitutes found to affect the human body in surprising ways

Non-nutritive sweeteners – also known as sugar substitutes or artificial sweeteners – are supposed to deliver all the sweetness of sugar without the calories. But a controlled trial conducted by Weizmann Institute of Science researchers, published today in Cell, suggests that contrary to previous belief, such sweeteners are not inert. They do have an effect on the human body. In fact, some can alter human consumers’ microbiomes – the trillions of microbes that live in our gut – in a way that can change a person’s blood sugar levels. And the effects these sweeteners produce vary greatly among different people.

Vox

by Neel Dhanesha

A mountain, a tower, a thermos of molten salt. These are the batteries that could power our renewable future

Blackouts are a devastating reality of our climate-changed world. An unprecedented winter storm in 2021 knocked out power for millions of Texans for days, killing hundreds, and this summer Californians managed to barely save their state’s power grid from the brink of collapse during a record-breaking heat wave. Some blackouts are caused by storms destroying infrastructure like transmission lines and substations — just look at what’s happened in Puerto Rico after Hurricanes Maria and, more recently, Fiona. But many blackouts can also be blamed on how the electric system works. Namely: The goal of the power grid is to deliver electricity to your home as soon as it’s been generated at a power plant. There isn’t a great pool of electricity waiting in reserve for when demand spikes. Experts say that needs to change.

Science

by Andrew Curry

‘Iceman’ discovery wasn’t a freak event. More frozen mummies may await

In 1991, hikers in the Alps came across a sensational find: a human body, partially encased in ice, at the top of a mountain pass between Italy and Austria. Police called to the scene initially assumed the man had died in a mountaineering accident, but within weeks archaeologists were arguing he was actually the victim of a 5100-year-old murder. They were right: Later dubbed Ötzi after the Ötztal Valley nearby, the man’s body is the oldest known “ice mummy” on record. His physical condition, equipment, and violent death—confirmed when x-ray and CT scans revealed an arrowhead embedded in his shoulder—have opened a window on life in prehistoric Europe. But Ötzi’s preservation may not be as unusual as it first seemed, archaeologists argue in a paper published today. And that could mean more bodies from the distant past are waiting to emerge as ice melts in a warming climate.

Electrek

by Jennifer Mossalgue

France to require all large parking lots to be covered by solar panels

In France, solar just got a huge boost from new legislation approved through the Senate this week that will require all parking lots with spaces for at least 80 vehicles – both existing and new – to be covered by solar panels. The new provisions are part of French president Emmanuel Macron’s large-scale plan to heavily invest in renewables, which aims to multiply by 10 the amount of solar energy produced in the country, and to double the power from land-based wind farms. Starting July 1, 2023, smaller carparks that have between 80 and 400 spaces will have five years to be in compliance with the new measures. Carparks with more than 400 spaces have a shorter timeline: They will need to comply with the new measures within three years of this date, and at least half of the surface area of the parking lot will need to be covered in solar panels.

Big Think

by Elizabeth Gilbert

A “psychological vaccine”: Why prebunking is the best way to fight misinformation

Misinformation is everywhere — and it always has been. Gossip, whethr true or false, has existed since humans could communicate. “Fake” politically motivated news has been a part of American journalism since the Founding Fathers created free speech protections. What’s different is that social media apps like Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter have exacerbated its spread. A recent review by the World Health Organization, for example, found that social media can spread myths worldwide more quickly than they can be debunked. Moreover, whether in the form of objectively false statements, cherry-picked facts, or manipulated narratives, many people believe this misinformation and share it. And it affects real-world behavior, ranging from policy preferences to health decisions to vigilantism. So what can we do about it? Perhaps the most common tactic is to fact-check and debunk false or misleading information. But a recent studyby Dr. Jon Roozenbeek and colleagues in partnership with Google’s Jigsaw laboratory adds to a growing line of research suggesting that prebunking may be more effective. Specifically, the team set out to “inoculate” people against misinformation before it could even take hold.

Science Focus

by Jason Goodyer

Smartphone-based therapy offers hope for sufferers of tinnitus

Tinnitus is the sensation of hearing ringing or buzzing in the ears that has no external source. It is thought to affect more than 7 million people in the UK. Around one in 20 people with tinnitus experience it to a distressing degree, leading to them having trouble sleeping, difficulty carrying out daily tasks and suffering from depression. There is currently no cure and few effective treatments.

Now, researchers form the University of Auckland, New Zealand have developed a smartphone app-based treatment that successfully relieved the symptoms of 65 per cent of the participants in a small trial.

Wired

by Matt Simon

Scientists are uncovering ominous waters under Antarctic ice

FOR ALL ITS treacherousness and general inclination to kill you, Antarctica’s icy surface is fairly tranquil: vast stretches of miles-thick whiteness, with not a plant or animal to speak of. But way below the surface, where that ice meets land, things get wild. What scientists used to think was a ho-hum subglacial environment is in fact humming with hydrological activity, recent research is revealing, with major implications for global sea-level rise. Researchers just found that, at the base of Antarctica’s ice, an area the size of Germany and France combined is feeding meltwater into a super-pressurized, 290-mile-long river running to the sea. “Thirty years ago, we thought the whole of the ice pretty much was frozen to the bed,” says Imperial College London glaciologist Martin Siegert, coauthor of a new paper in Nature Geoscience describing the finding. “Now we're in a position that we've just never been in before, to understand the whole of the Antarctic ice sheet.”

Vice

by Becky Ferriera

Scientists discover huge ‘extragalactic structure’ in hidden region of space

Scientists have discovered a huge “extragalactic structure” hidden behind the Milky Way in a mysterious area of the sky known as the “zone of avoidance” because it is obscured by our own galaxy’s opaque bulge, according to a new preprint study. The discovery of the structure, which appears to be a large galaxy cluster, helps to fill in this shadowy part of our cosmic map, which may as well be labeled “here be space dragons” because it is so unclear what exists there.

This is an open thread where everyone is welcome, especially night owls and early birds, to share and discuss the happenings of the day. Please feel free to share your articles and stories in the comments.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/11/12/2135456/-Overnight-News-Digest-Science-Saturday-11-12-22

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