Science News: all the news that's fit to wrap your head around, theoretically.

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Any scientific discovery or news item that seems worth pursuing can find its home here, from the serious to the less than and any combination thereof...by way of:


Giant Ninth Planet Discovered and Then Some

In January of this year Caltech researchers noted they had discovered evidence of a giant ninth planet following a highly elongated orbit out beyond Neptune. The scientists at Caltech, renowned for comparatively fecund whimsy among traditionally staid academic circles, immediately dubbed their discovery “Planet 9”.

Now comes word from the University of Lund, in Sweden, that "Planet 9" wasn't originally even a part of our solar system, that it is, instead, an exoplanet pilfered from another system when our own was fairly young.

"It is almost ironic that while astronomers often find exoplanets hundreds of light years away in other solar systems, there's probably one hiding in our own backyard," said Senior research fellow (forkare) Alexander Mustill, in a scientifically cheeky press release earlier today. Among other things Mustill found nearly ironic were non-stick labels stuck to cookery items and plastic package openers in impossible to open plastic packages.

No word on whether any effort is underway to discover the system from which “Planet 9” was purloined or whether, if ascertained, any effort would be made to return it.
 
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Town Heretic

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Aug. 5

Partial to particles?

Despite initial hints and hopes, the new particle scientists thought to discover hasn't materialized. Despite those first flush results, it appears more likely that the semblance was the product of coincidence and random fluctuation during the CERN experiments in Geneva earlier in the year.


Biologists Audrey Maille and Carsten Schradin of the University of Strasbourg in France announced today, on the heels of an exhaustive study, that smart mice have an appreciably improved chance of surviving.

In related news: scientists who can procure funding for a study on whether or not intelligence aids in survival are statistically more likely to enjoy regular meals and the odd hot bath. :plain:

Data collected by NASA's Dawn spacecraft is sending back the curious and confounding as it pertains to the dwarf planet Ceres. Among the finds, floating mountains and a shocking absence of many craters. Before the fly by, utilizing data and extrapolation, scientists had created models showing a couple of hundred large craters they expected to find there. So far, there appear to be all of sixteen...leading some in NASA to dub Ceres, the "dodgy" dwarf. :plain:
 

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Turning Exhaust Into Energy?

Researchers at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a Department of Energy lab in Tennessee, have discovered a mechanism for converting carbon dioxide into ethanol. Their method takes advantage of nanotechnology, creating a catalyst that produces ethanol from a solution of carbon dioxide in water. Yahoo.com (link)


One to Remember


If you could implant a device in your brain to enhance your intelligence, would you do it? A new company has just invested $100 million into developing such a device, and is being advised by some of the biggest names in science.

“The idea is that if you have loss of memory function, then you could build a prosthetic for the hippocampus that would help restore the circuitry, and restore memory,” says Johnson.

People with memory disorders, for example due to a traumatic experience or ageing, are intended to be the first people to test such a prosthesis. “The first super-humans are those who have deficits to start with,” says Johnson. New Scientist (link)
 

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Mysterious Ping Being Heard From Arctic Seafloor

In the northernmost province of Canada, pings have been recorded emanating from deep below the ice. While Canadian armed forces haven't ruled out a submarine as the source, they believe it is unlikely, given the location and duration of the source.
 

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Breakthrough led by The Institute of Science and Technology, Austria: Autism Spectrum Disorder Gene Identified


Gaia Novarino, Professor at IST Austria, noted, "Our analysis not only revealed a new autism-linked gene, but also identified the mechanism by which its mutation causes autism."

Ongoing experiments with mice have been productive and led to marked behavioral changes within a three week window. Researchers are optimistic that continued study may lead to a treatment at some point for humans.
 
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