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☆ Infinite Monkey Theorem: Monkeys will never write Shakespeare, new study finds
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-01 | by ( David Hodari | David Hodari Is A London-Based Editor. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

The Infinite Monkey Theorem hypothesizes that, given a typewriter and an infinite amount of time, a monkey could in theory produce the full works of William Shakespeare. According to Open Source Shakespeare, a web page containing all of the bard’s plays, poems and sonnets, there are 884,421 words in the entire works of Shakespeare. While the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust says the writer introduced more than 1,700 words into the English language, "banana" was not one of them. Other academics were less incredulous, suggesting that the paper was a wild goose chase — a phrase itself invented by Shakespeare. It may be time for the theorem to exit popular usage — pursued, unsuccessfully, by a monkey.

Persons: William Shakespeare, Franklin, ” Stephen Woodcock, “, ” Woodcock, it’s, Woodcock, Jay Falletta, Shakespeare, George — “, ”, ” Ian Stewart, ” Martin Hairer, Daniel Simmonds, Simmonds, — Organizations: Galaxy, University of Technology Sydney, university’s, Mathematical, Physical Sciences, NBC News, Trust, Warwick University, Imperial College London, London Zoo, Zoological Locations: Australia, Zaire

☆ Turbulent skies of Vincent Van Gogh’s ‘The Starry Night’ may align with a scientific theory
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-19 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —The dappled starlight and swirling clouds of Vincent van Gogh’s “The Starry Night” are thought to reflect the artist’s tumultuous state of mind when he painted the work in 1889. Now, a new analysis by physicists based in China and France suggests the artist had a deep, intuitive understanding of the mathematical structure of turbulent flow. Batchelor’s scaling mathematically represents how small particles, such as drifting algae in the ocean or pieces of dust in the wind, are passively mixed around by turbulent flow. “I think this physical relationship must be embedded in his mind so that’s why when he made this famous ‘Starry Night’ painting, it mimics the real flow,” Huang said. “What I take away from studies like this is that (van Gogh) captured some of this universality in the beautiful (‘Starry Night’),” Beattie added.

Persons: Vincent van Gogh’s, ”, Yongxiang Huang, Van Gogh, mutilating, van Gogh's, Huang, Andrey Kolmogorov, John Constable, De Agostini, James Beattie, Beattie wasn’t, van Gogh, ” Huang, Beattie, “, Van Gogh’s, Yinxiang, Gogh, ” Beattie Organizations: CNN, State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science & College of Ocean, Sciences, Xiamen University, Princeton University, NASA's, NASA Goddard Space, NASA’s, Museum of Modern Art Locations: China, France, Saint, Provence, Soviet, Brighton, British, New Jersey, New York

☆ New tech will trap CO2 from cargo ships and store it in the ocean
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-06 | by ( Jacopo Prisco | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

The dissolved calcium carbonate then reacts with the CO2 in the water to form bicarbonate salts, locking the CO2 away. Adkins says that with a full-scale reactor, he aims to capture and store about half of a ship’s CO2 emissions. BAR Technologies/Cargill French company Airseas has developed the Seawing, which it says could help ships cut their carbon emissions by an average of 20%. A British company called Seabound, for example, makes a device that captures between 25% and 95% of a ship’s CO2 emissions. “We think that ships are actually going to be able to compete with underground CO2 storage,” he said.

Persons: it’s, Jess Adkins, ”, Adkins, ” Adkins, Calcarea, Melissa Gutierrez, Pierre Forin, geochemist Will Berelson, Will Berelson, Airseas, Maxime Horlaville, Norsepower, Daniel Sigman Organizations: CNN — International, International Maritime Organization —, UN, California Institute of Technology, Caltech, University of Southern, USC, British Port Association, Cargill, BAR Technologies, de Bordeaux, Michelin, Norsepower, Anemoi, Technologies, Geophysical Sciences, Princeton University Locations: University of Southern California, Port of Los Angeles, Norway, Nantong, Vancouver, British

☆ Earth’s inner core has slowed so much it’s moving backward, scientists confirm. Here’s what it could mean
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-05 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Comparing the timing of seismic signals as they touched the core revealed changes in core rotation over time, confirming the 70-year rotation cycle. But the depth and inaccessibility of the inner core mean that uncertainties remain, she added. The mysterious region where the liquid outer core envelops the solid inner core is especially interesting, Vidale added. “We might have volcanoes on the inner core boundary, for example, where solid and fluid are meeting and moving,” he said. Because the spinning of the inner core affects movement in the outer core, inner core rotation is thought to help power Earth’s magnetic field, though more research is required to unravel its precise role.

Persons: seismologist Inge Lehmann, —, ”, Lauren Waszek, “, ” Waszek, John Vidale, “ We’ve, ” Vidale, we’ve, what’s, Vidale, Seismologists, Lehmann, Waszek, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, James Cook University, Earth Sciences, University of Southern California’s Dornsife, of Letters, Arts and Sciences, Geological Survey, Scientific Locations: Australia, New Zealand, South Sandwich, South

☆ Columbia University president hit with no-confidence vote from faculty group over handling of pro-Palestinian campus protests
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Alisha Ebrahimji | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

Columbia cited security concerns in canceling the large event, a school official told CNN, and instead is holding smaller ones. “Canceling the traditional commencement ceremony was one of the toughest calls in a year of many tough calls,” Shafik wrote in an op-ed in the Columbia Daily Spectator, noting her top priority has been the safety of students, faculty and staff. Fifty people were arrested, and police began the booking process onsite, university spokesperson Tom Vasich said in an email. Pro-Palestinian protesters had set up a campus encampment on April 29, when the university also called in local law enforcement. “This is not protest, this is pure hate.”The building’s takeover came a day after the UCB Divest Coalition agreed to end its campus encampment following discussions with university leadership.

Persons: Minouche Shafik, “, Shafik “, Ben Chang, Shafik, ”, ” Shafik, Tom Vasich, ” Vasich, Vasich, Anna, Dan Mogulof, Nazism ”, David, Mogulof, Santiago Mejia, ” Carol Christ, Jagdeep Singh Bachher, Ana Mari Cauce, ” Cauce, David Ryder David Ryder, ’, Russell Dorn, Robert Manuel, ” Manuel, Manuel, –, ” Benjamin Meyer, Morehouse, Joe Biden’s, David A, Thomas, CNN’s Victor Blackwell, Amanda Musa, Matt Egan, Julia Vargas Jones, Andy Rose, Chris Boyette, Melissa Alonso Organizations: CNN — Pro, Columbia University, Ivy League school’s, New York, CNN, Barnard College, American Association of University Professors, –, Columbia Daily Spectator, UC Irvine, University of California, Irvine Police Department, Orange County Sheriff’s Department, Authorities, KABC, UC Berkeley, Pro, KGO, Jewish Community Relations, Nazism, UCB, UC Berkeley’s, Palestine, San Francisco, Getty, UC Regents, UC, Regents, University of Washington, Seattle, Wednesday, REUTERS, Reuters, University, ” DePaul University, Police, DePaul University in, WLS, DePaul, ” University, Coalition, ” Morehouse, Morehouse College’s, White House, White Locations: Israel, Gaza, Shafik, Columbia, Irvine, Orange, Berkeley, Merced, Seattle, DePaul University in Chicago, Atlanta

☆ Opinion: Precious samples from Mars have been collected. Now it’s up to Congress to get them back
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( Opinion Jonathan I. Lunine | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

He served on the NASA Mars Sample Return Independent Review Board in 2023. Within these tubes are priceless samples of Mars that hold the clues to when and how Mars went from Earth-like habitability to uninhabitable desolation. Mars Sample Return is among the most challenging and complex robotic missions ever attempted, requiring the largest lander ever put on Mars, which would carry a rocket to launch the samples off the surface into Martian orbit. Mars holds secrets about what makes it possible for a planet to support life, locked in the samples that await return to Earth. NASA must provide that plan to Congress as soon as possible so that Congress can move forward with adequate funding.

Persons: Jonathan Lunine, David C, Duncan, Jonathan I, Mars Organizations: Cornell University, NASA, CNN, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, JPL, Apollo, European Space Agency, US National Academy of Sciences, MSR, Planetary Science Locations: Washington, DC, China

☆ Black holes are rampaging through our universe at more than 2.2 million mph and scientists think they now know why
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-27 | by ( Maiya Focht | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

These black holes get kicked into space, moving as fast as 1,000 kilometers per second. AdvertisementScientists studying how supernovas explode may have discovered a new process for how certain black holes form. Turns out, some baby black holes hit the ground running at colossal speeds just moments after they take shape. Asymmetrical explosions can lead to powerful kicks that send black holes shooting into space at over 2 million mph. AdvertisementIf the black holes are movingIf you hear blazing-fast black holes and start to panic, don't.

Persons: —, MARK GARLICK, GARLICK, Adam Burrows, Burrows, Vijay Varma, Ivo Labbe, Swinburne, Rachel Bezanson, Varma Organizations: Service, Princeton University, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, NASA, ESA, CSA, University of Pittsburgh

An FBI agent sought the warrants in the days after the shooting to search Qi’s phone, apartment and car. Qi's student visa prevented him from legally possessing a firearm, the warrants state. Qi’s arrest warrant from August accused him of possessing a 9 mm pistol unlawfully on campus. An employee of a shooting range in nearby Wake County said Qi visited the range on Aug. 17 and Aug. 27, according to the documents. In paperwork he filled out to use the range, Qi listed Yan as his emergency contact, according to the search warrants.

Persons: Qi, Zijie, Yan Organizations: —, University of North, UNC, Chapel, News, Observer, FBI, Caudill Laboratories, Department, Applied Physical Sciences, Authorities Locations: N.C, University of North Carolina, Zijie Yan, Raleigh, Wake County

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The University of North Carolina graduate student charged with fatally shooting his faculty adviser has been found unfit for trial after two mental evaluations, a judge ruled Monday. Tailei Qi, 34, is accused of killing associate professor Zijie Yan in a science building at the state’s flagship public university on Aug. 28. He is being held without bond on charges of first-degree murder and misdemeanor possession of a firearm on educational property. Orange County Superior Court Judge Alyson Grine said Monday that two separate mental evaluations found Qi likely suffers from untreated schizophrenia. An autopsy released earlier this month showed that Yan had been shot multiple times in his office in Caudill Labs.

Persons: Tailei Qi, Zijie Yan, Alyson Grine, Qi, “ Qi, Grine, Brian James, Yan, Qi —, ___ Hannah Schoenbaum Organizations: University of North, Central Regional Hospital, Hill, UNC Police, Caudill Labs . Police, Prosecutors, Department, Applied Physical Sciences, Yan Research Group, UNC, Associated Press, America Statehouse News Initiative, America Locations: RALEIGH, N.C, University of North Carolina, Orange County, Butner, Caudill, United States

WASHINGTON (AP) — A new batch of Rhodes scholars from the United States has been selected to study at the University of Oxford in a screening process that was conducted in person for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the globe in 2020. The scholars, who are among students selected from more than 70 countries, are due to pursue graduate degrees ranging from social sciences and humanities to biological and physical sciences. The U.S. scholars were selected by 16 independent district committees from a pool of more than 2,500 applicants. The sponsorships were created in 1902 by the will of Cecil Rhodes, a founder of the diamond mining and manufacturing company De Beers. The inaugural class entered Oxford in 1903 and the first U.S. Rhodes scholars arrived the next year, according to the website of the trust’s American secretary.

Persons: Rhodes, —, Ramona L, Doyle, Cecil Rhodes Organizations: WASHINGTON, University of Oxford, American, Rhodes, De Beers, Oxford Locations: United States, Puerto Rico, American

☆ Most distant black hole discovered by Chandra, Webb telescopes
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Two powerful NASA telescopes have detected the oldest and most distant black hole ever found. “We needed Webb to find this remarkably distant galaxy and Chandra to find its supermassive black hole,” said lead study author Akos Bogdan, in a statement. Potential black hole theoryTypically, black holes located at the centers of galaxies only have about 0.1% the mass of the stars within their host galaxy. The unusual black hole could be an “Outsize Black Hole” that formed when a huge cloud of gas collapsed, as theorized in 2017 by Priyamvada Natarajan, a coauthor on both studies and the Joseph S. and Sophia S. Fruton professor of astronomy and professor of physics at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. “We think that this is the first detection of an ‘Outsize Black Hole’ and the best evidence yet obtained that some black holes form from massive clouds of gas,” Natarajan said.

Persons: Chandra, James Webb, Webb, ”, Akos Bogdan, “, ” Bogdan, Abell, they’ve, Andy Goulding, Priyamvada Natarajan, Joseph S, Sophia S, ” Natarajan Organizations: CNN, NASA, Telescope, Harvard - Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Chandra, telltale, Princeton University, Yale University Locations: Cambridge , Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Haven , Connecticut

☆ Apollo 17 samples reveal that the moon is 40 million years older than previously thought
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Lunar dust collected by Apollo 17 astronauts in the 1970s has revealed that the moon is 40 million years older than previously believed. After landing on the moon on December 11, 1972, NASA astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt collected rocks and dust from the lunar surface. A new analysis of that sample detected zircon crystals and dated them to 4.46 billion years old. “When the surface was molten like that, zircon crystals couldn’t form and survive. A lunar zircon grain is shown under a microscope.

Persons: Eugene Cernan, Harrison Schmitt, ”, Philipp Heck, Robert A, Heck, Bidong Zhang, Zhang, Audrey Bouvier, Jennika Greer, Greer, they’re, ” Heck, “, ” Greer, Dieter Isheim Organizations: CNN, Apollo, NASA, Polar Studies, Field, Research Center, University of Chicago, University of California, Bayreuth University, University of Glasgow, Northwestern University, Field Museum, Northwestern University Center, Atom Locations: Chicago, Los Angeles, Germany, Evanston , Illinois

A graduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has been charged in the fatal shooting of one of his professors on Monday, a killing that spread fear across the campus and forced an hourslong lockdown, according to court documents. The student, Tailei Qi, 34, was charged with first-degree murder and possession of a firearm on educational property in the killing of Zijie Yan, an associate professor in the applied physical sciences department, inside a campus lab, according to court documents filed in Orange County Court in Hillsborough, N.C.Mr. Qi made a brief appearance in court on Tuesday afternoon and was ordered held without bond until his next court appearance on Sept. 18. He did not enter a plea. The public defender who represented him did not immediately respond to an email and phone call seeking comment. Court documents did not describe a motive for the shooting, and Jeffrey L. Nieman, the Orange County district attorney, declined to comment on what might have led to it.

Persons: Tailei Qi, Zijie Yan, Qi, Jeffrey L, Nieman Organizations: University of North, Chapel, Orange County Court, Mr Locations: University of North Carolina, Orange County, Hillsborough, N.C

☆ Graduate student charged in shooting death of North Carolina professor
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( Sharon Bernstein | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Aug 29 (Reuters) - A University of North Carolina graduate student has been charged in the fatal shooting on Monday of a professor at the school's Chapel Hill campus, the university said on Tuesday. A university website showed Qi was a doctoral student who had joined Yan's research group in January 2022. It was not immediately clear what prompted the shooting in a campus lab on Monday afternoon. "We know that the wounds of this tragedy will not heal quickly," Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz said in an email announcing Yan's death to the campus community. He said the university would ring the campus bell tower and hold a moment of silence on Wednesday afternoon in Yan's honor.

Persons: Qi, Zijie Yan, Kevin Guskiewicz, Sharon Bernstein, Matthew Lewis Organizations: University of North, Public, Thomson Locations: University of North Carolina, Hill

☆ ‘Underground climate change’ is deforming the ground beneath buildings, study finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Jacopo Prisco | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —A phenomenon that scientists have called “underground climate change” is deforming the ground beneath cities, a study conducted in Chicago has found. Technically known as “subsurface heat islands,” underground climate change is the warming of the ground under our feet, caused by heat released by buildings and subterranean transportation such as subway systems. “Deformations caused by underground climate change are relatively small in magnitude, but they continuously develop,” he said. “Calling it climate change seems like a bit of a coattail thing,” Archer, who was not involved with the study, said. The term “underground climate change,” however, was not coined for this study — it has been in use, and the phenomenon a subject of research, for some time.

Persons: ”, Alessandro Rotta Loria, Rotta Loria, David Archer, ” Archer, Rotta, Bruce Leighty, David Toll Organizations: CNN, Northwestern University, University of Chicago, “, Communications Engineering, Chicago, Institute of Hazard, Durham University Locations: Chicago, Evanston , Illinois, Grant Park, Lake Michigan, United Kingdom

☆ An experiment that reaches across the galaxy has 'heard' an invisible sea of ripples in space-time for the first time. It's surprisingly loud.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Those ripples are probably the distant thunder of countless collisions between supermassive black holes, throughout space and time. He predicted that the intense gravity of extremely massive objects, like black holes, warps the fabric of space-time. The NSF funded the 15-year experiment, which is called the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav). Supermassive black holes are thought to exist at the center of every galaxy. Her lab runs computer models of merging supermassive black holes to predict how they behave and what signals they send out into space.

Persons: —, Albert Einstein's, Aurore, Sean Jones, Manuela Campanelli, NASA's James Webb, Noll, Kip Thorne, NASA Goddard Thorne, NANOGrav, LIGO, Stephen Taylor, Lorenzo Ennoggi Organizations: Service, Sciences, National Science Foundation, NSF, American Nanohertz, Rochester Institute of Technology, NASA's James Webb Space, Hubble, Telescope, NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Locations: Louisiana, Washington, Europe, India, Australia, China

☆ World-renowned Puerto Rico telescope won't be rebuilt after collapse
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The National Science Foundation announced Thursday that it will not rebuild a renowned radio telescope in Puerto Rico, which was one of the world’s largest until it collapsed nearly two years ago. Instead, the agency issued a solicitation for the creation of a $5 million education center at the site that would promote programs and partnerships related to science, technology, engineering and math. The decision was mourned by scientists around the world who used the telescope at the Arecibo Observatory for years to search for asteroids, planets and extraterrestrial life. The education component is very important,” said James Moore, assistant director for education and human resource directorate at NSF. He said by phone that one of the agency’s priorities is to make STEM more accessible and inclusive and that the proposed education center would fill that need.

☆ Now Even Science Grants Must Bow to ‘Equity and Inclusion’
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Lawrence Krauss | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

America’s largest research funder in physical sciences isn’t the National Aeronautics and Space Administration or the National Science Foundation. It’s the Energy Department’s Office of Science, which gives money to university programs throughout the country and oversees the 10 major national laboratories, from Livermore to Los Alamos. Its brief includes energy and research into fundamental questions: the structure of matter, the nature of the cosmos, high-energy and nuclear physics with large accelerators, materials physics with X-ray synchrotrons, fusion and advanced scientific computers. And now, social justice.

☆ How an oil fracking boom to bust startup plans to thrive in the climate change era
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Eric Rosenbaum | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +17 min

And in a way, Duncan thought the science wasn't a good match for the blunt process of oil and gas drilling. The Covid downturn in 2020 capped close to a decade of a bear market for oil and culminated in the negative spot prices in the oil market in May 2020. Oil and gas was changing from a growth business to a value business, and oil company management were much more focused on fiscal discipline. That concentration of equipment and infrastructure's resulting reduced costs was not good for an oil services company. And there have been a lot of surprises along the way – how the shale boom became its biggest business, followed by how quickly the science became commoditized in the oil market.

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