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☆ I'm the CEO of a nuclear-fusion company, but starting out was tricky because I got famous on a reality-TV show about rich kids
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-01 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementAdvertisementRichard Dinan is the CEO of Pulsar Fusion, a UK firm aiming to use nuclear fusion to propel rockets in space. In my company, Pulsar Fusion, we believe that we'll have fusion for propulsion demonstrated well before energy, and the cold vacuum of space is the perfect place for it. AdvertisementAdvertisementRichard Dinan shown next to a prototype from Pulsar Fusion. Pulsar Fusion has a pedigree and the know-how to build conventional space engines that we deliver to aerospace clients.

Persons: Richard Dinan, He's, —, wasn't, Jon Furniss, It's, that's, We're Organizations: Service, Pulsar Fusion, Pulsar, SpaceX Locations: Chelsea, British, England

☆ NASA’s next stop: An asteroid named for the Egyptian god of chaos
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-30 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —After a nearly 4 billion-mile round trip, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft successfully delivered NASA’s first asteroid sample to Earth. Across the universeAn artist's rendering shows OSIRIS-APEX kicking up dust so it can study Apophis. The space rock — named for the Egyptian god of chaos and darkness — was once considered to be one of the most potentially hazardous asteroid threats to Earth. Courtesy Narin ChomphuphuangA newly described tarantula species looks like it would be right at home slinging webs alongside Spider-Man. The electric blue tarantula, named Taksinus bambus, was found living in tree hollows in southern Thailand last year.

Persons: REx, NASA’s, Brian May, OSIRIS, —, Thomas Dressler, Frank Rubio, Rubio, Sergey Prokopyev, Dmitri Petelin, readjusting, “, ”, José Hernández, Taksinus bambus, Narin Chomphuphuang, James Webb, Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt Organizations: CNN, Space Center, APEX, University of Arizona, Western, Soyuz, Space Station, NASA, Kaen University, CNN Space, Science Locations: Utah, Houston, Israel, Greece, Namibia, Southern, Spain, Thailand

Here are some things to know about the Nobel Prizes:AN IDEA MORE POWERFUL THAN DYNAMITEPolitical Cartoons View All 1190 ImagesThe Nobel Prizes were created by Alfred Nobel, a 19th-century businessman and chemist from Sweden. Though Nobel purists stress that the economics prize is technically not a Nobel Prize, it’s always presented together with the others. The Nobel Prizes project an aura of being above the political fray, focused solely on the benefit of humanity. The Norwegian Nobel Committee is an independent body that insists its only mission is to carry out the will of Alfred Nobel. To date, 60 women have won Nobel Prizes, including 25 in the scientific categories.

Persons: Alfred Nobel, Dynamite, ”, it’s, Nobel, Barack Obama, Liu Xiaobo, Albert Einstein, Mother Teresa, Jean, Paul Sartre, Le Duc Tho, Henry Kissinger, Ales Bialiatski, that’s Organizations: STOCKHOLM, Karolinska Institute, Nobel Foundation, U.S, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Locations: Scandinavia, Stockholm, Oslo, Swedish, Sweden, NORWAY, Norway, Norwegian, Beijing, China, Ukraine, Russia, Europe, North America

☆ What the Nobel Prizes get wrong about science
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Peter Brzezinski, the secretary of the committee for the Nobel chemistry prize, said there were no plans to change the rule. He said the Nobel Prize committees, at least for science prizes, are “innately conservative.”DiversityOther criticism leveled at the Nobel Prizes includes the lack of diversity among winners. Of course, these flaws and gaps only matter because the Nobels are far better known than other science prizes, Rees added. The Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine will be announced on Monday, followed by the physics prize on Tuesday and the Nobel Prize in chemistry on Wednesday. The Nobel Prize for literature and the Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Thursday and Friday, respectively.

Persons: Alfred Nobel, Martin Rees, Rees, ”, Jonathan Nackstrand, Rainer Weiss, Barry Barish, Kip Thorne, David Pendlebury, “ Nobel, ” Pendlebury, Nobel’s, Peter Brzezinski, “, ” Brzezinski, John Jumper, AlphaFold, Lasker, Pendlebury, Emmanuelle Charpentier, Jennifer Doudna, it’s, Carolyn Bertozzi, Andrea Ghez, Naomi Oreskes, Henry Charles Lea, ” Rees Organizations: CNN, Royal Society, Getty, Clarivate’s Institute for Scientific, Nobel Foundation, Academy, Google, Harvard University Locations: Swedish, AFP, Stockholm

We are growing but nowhere near fast enough," said Ben Blackwell, CEO of the Global Wind Energy Council. In June, Siemens Gamesa said quality problems at its two most recent onshore wind turbines would cost 1.6 billion euros ($1.7 billion) to fix. "The ratio between risk and reward is out of line in the offshore wind market in many jurisdictions. You can see this from investors not showing up," the Global Wind Energy Council's Blackwell told Reuters. "The situation in U.S. offshore wind is severe," Orsted CEO Mads Nipper said last month.

Persons: Pascal, Jon Wallace, WindEurope, Markus Krebber, Germany's, Ben Blackwell, Rob West, Siemens Gamesa, Fraser McLachlan, McLachlan, Jochen Eickholt, Wallace, Energy Council's Blackwell, Denmark's Orsted, RWE's Krebber, Joe Biden's, Mads Nipper, Nina Chestney, Nichola Groom, Christoph Steitz, Nora Buli, Francesca Landini, Toby Sterling, David Clarke Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, European, Jupiter Asset Management, EU, Shell, Siemens, LinkedIn, Wind Energy, Thunder Said Energy, GCube Insurance, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, Energy, Reuters, European Commission, Thomson Locations: Le Havre, Normandy, France, European Union, Britain, Netherlands, Norway, Ukraine, Jupiter, U.S, Los Angeles, Frankfurt, Milan, Amsterdam

☆ Who is Sam Bankman-Fried, the onetime crypto mogul set to testify in his own defense?
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( Luc Cohen | Thomson Reuters | Reports On The New York Federal Courts. Previously Worked As A Correspondent In Venezuela | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

NEW YORK, Oct 26 (Reuters) - A few years after graduating from college, Sam Bankman-Fried grew worried he was not taking enough risks. Two years after launching a hedge fund, Alameda Research, Bankman-Fried founded FTX, an exchange that let users buy and sell digital assets such as bitcoin. Based in the Bahamas, Bankman-Fried became known for his mop of unkempt curly hair and for wearing rumpled shorts, even when entertaining dignitaries like Bill Clinton. They contend the theft came to a head in 2022, when crypto prices swooned and he used FTX funds to plug losses at Alameda. Defense lawyers have argued that their cooperation agreements with prosecutors encourage them to implicate Bankman-Fried in the hopes of receiving lenient sentences.

Persons: Sam Bankman, Fried, Bill Clinton, Tom Brady, Larry David, FTX, Caroline Ellison, Alameda's, Forbes, Bankman, Jane Street, Gary Wang, Ellison, Nishad Singh, Wang, Singh, District Judge Lewis Kaplan, FTX's, influencer, Luc Cohen, Noeleen Walder, Daniel Wallis Organizations: Stanford Law School, Alameda Research, Forbes, Democratic, NFL, Alameda, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Bankman, Prison, MIT, Jane, U.S, District, New York Times, Times, Thomson Locations: Bahamas, Manhattan, Alameda, United States, Asia, New York

☆ Right again, Einstein! Study shows how antimatter responds to gravity
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Antimatter is the enigmatic twin of ordinary matter, possessing the same mass but with an opposite electrical charge. Under current theory, the Big Bang explosion that initiated the universe should have produced equal amounts of matter and antimatter. However, antimatter can be synthesized under controlled conditions, as in the ALPHA experiment, which used antihydrogen created at CERN. "The nearly complete absence of naturally occurring antimatter is one of the great questions facing physics," Wurtele said. "No matter how pretty the theory, physics is an experimental science," Fajans said.

Persons: Jonathan Wurtele, Joel Fajans, Wurtele, Einstein, William Bertsche, Bertsche, Fajans, Will Dunham, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: European Center for Nuclear Research, CERN, Enterprise, University of California, ALPHA, UC Berkeley, University of Manchester, Thomson Locations: Geneva, Switzerland, Berkeley, England, Washington

☆ The full moon has different names for each month. Here's the meaning and origin for the whole lunar calendar.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

The next full moon will be a harvest moon, rising on September 29. AdvertisementAdvertisementSeptember: harvest moon, "corn moon," "barley moon"Amish people harvest corn in Maryland. A harvest moon sometimes occurs in October (the moon doesn't follow the Gregorian calendar), but it's always the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox. The next worm moon: March 25, 2024April: "pink moon," "sprouting grass moon," "egg moon," "fish moon"Wildflowers along the California coastline in Big Sur at sunset. AdvertisementAdvertisementThe next seasonal blue moon: August 19, 2024The next monthly blue moon: August 19, 2024

Persons: It's, —, Patrick Hartigan, Mark Wilson, it's, Shamil Zhumatov, Eddie Keog, what's, Jeff R Clow, Andy ClarkREUTERS, John Moore, Mike Segar, Charlie Baker, Brian Snyder, that's, Mike Blake, Toby Talbot, Mead, Toby Melville Deer, Matt Balazik, Steve Helber, Champlain, Paul Hanna Supermoons, Andrew Lichtenstein Organizations: Service, Rice University, Reuters, North, Getty, Beavers, REUTERS, Former, NASA, AP, Astronomical Union Locations: Maryland, Moscow, Russia, North America, Europe, New England, Superior, Colonial, Stokenchurch, England, Lake Louise , Alberta, Irvington , New York, Former Massachusetts, Hollis Hill, Fitchburg , Massachusetts, Algonquin, California, Big Sur, Calais , Vermont, Richmond Park, London, Britain, Alaska, James, Charles City , Virginia

“Russia’s thinly veiled threats to use nuclear weapons remind the world that escalation of the conflict – by accident, intention, or miscalculation – is a terrible risk. New Construction at Russia's Novaya Zemlya nuclear test site, June 22, 2023. Lop Nur nuclear test site. “The Chinese test site is different than the Russian test site,” Lewis said. Both countries keep their strategic nuclear arsenals on “hair-trigger” alert, meaning that nuclear weapons can be launched on short notice.

Persons: Jeffrey Lewis, James Martin, ”, Cedric Leighton, “, Vladimir Putin, ” Lewis, Lewis ’, António Guterres, ” Guterres, Dmitry Medvedev, Putin, Alexander Lukashenko, Sergei Shoigu, Lewis, we’ve, Leighton, they’d, ” Leighton, Nur, Hans Kristensen, Kristensen, Israel –, Dyess, Frederic J . Brown, Fiona Cunningham, Yang Kun, ” Daryl Kimball, Kimball, Michael Frankel, James Scouras, George Ullrich, Soviet Union –, Russia –, We’re Organizations: CNN, James, James Martin Center, Nonproliferation Studies, Middlebury Institute of International Studies, US, US Air Force, Atomic Scientists, Soviet Union, United Nations, Russia’s Security, Russian Defense Ministry, Planet Labs PBC, Middlebury, Science and Global Security, Novaya, Middlebury Institute, China Observer, China’s Foreign Ministry, Planet Labs, Nevada National Security, National Security Administration, US Department of Energy, Office, National Security Council, International Monitoring, Federation of American Scientists, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Missile Defense, Center for Strategic, International Studies, Columbia, Northrop Grumman's Air Force, Getty, Control Association, ACA, NGO, PLA, Nuclear, Carnegie Endowment, International, Arms Control Association, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Soviet Locations: Russia, United States, China, Xinjiang, Nevada, . China, Moscow, Washington, Ukraine, Soviet, Belarus, Minsk, Novaya Zemlya, Zemlya, Soviet Union, Lop Nur, Japan, Lop, Beijing, Stockholm, United Kingdom, France, India, Pakistan, North Korea, Israel, Ellsworth, Palmdale , California, AFP, Yuli County, Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Baltimore, Russian, Hiroshima

☆ A NASA probe got slammed by a massive eruption from the sun — and caught it all on camera
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Rebecca Cohen | Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A NASA probe caught a massive eruption from the sun on camera. The Parker Solar Probe flew right through a major coronal mass ejection last year. NASA said that the CME that struck the Parker Solar Probe was "one of the most powerful coronal mass ejections ever recorded." The Parker Solar Probe's mission to touch the sunAn artist's illustration of the Parker Solar Probe approaching the sun. NASAThe Parker Solar Probe was designed specifically to study the sun.

Persons: NASA's Parker, Parker, Johns Hopkins, it's, Jim Kinnison, We're, Russ Howard Organizations: NASA, Parker, Probe, Service, Solar Probe, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics, CME, NASA's Parker Solar Probe, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory Locations: Wall, Silicon, CMEs

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California lawmakers, union leaders and truck drivers are trying to steer Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom toward signing into law a proposal that could save jobs as self-driving trucks are tested for their safety on the roads. Businesses say self-driving trucks would help them transport transport products more efficiently in the future. In Phoenix, companies have tested self-driving trucks on highways and to deliver mail through a partnership with the U.S. There are about 200,000 commercial truck drivers in California, according to Teamsters officials.

Persons: Gavin Newsom, Republican Assemblymember Tom Lackey, aren't, ” Lackey, ”, Newsom, Dee Dee Myers, Mike Di Bene, Brian Rice, ” Rice, Jerry Brown, Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar, Curry, Steve Gordon, Gordon, ___ Sophie Austin, Austin @sophieadanna Organizations: Democratic Gov, Republican, administration’s Department of Finance, Business, Economic, state's Department of Motor Vehicles, U.S . Postal, Drivers, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Oakland Teamsters, California Professional Firefighters, ” Labor, Hollywood, Department of Motor Vehicles, DMV, Associated Press, America Statehouse News Initiative, America Locations: SACRAMENTO, Calif, California, “, San Francisco, Phoenix, Sacramento

Forecasting solar storms is especially difficult right now, even as the sun is getting more active. CMEs fling charged, super-hot plasma into space, and sometimes — like in the case of this CME — that plasma strikes Earth. On the bright side, these solar storms also make stunning displays of the Northern Lights, or aurora borealis, visible in the middle of the US. On a different day, all of these effects combined could have created a very violent solar storm. In the worst-case scenario, which is very rare, all the conditions align to send a very fast and very powerful solar storm to Earth.

Persons: oozing, Keith Strong, Lockheed Martin, Dean Pesnell, Rune Stoltz Bertinussen, Matt Owens, Bryan Brasher, Daniel Verscharen, Owens Organizations: Service, Lockheed, NASA, Dynamics, Prediction, National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, Reuters, CME, University of Reading, University College London, NASA Solar Dynamics Locations: Wall, Silicon, Tromso, Norway, Montana , Missouri, Virginia

☆ SpaceX engineer risked drunk driving rather than ignore an Elon Musk order: book
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-17 | by ( Polly Thompson | Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Musk's management style allows him to "move faster, take more risks, break rules, and question requirements", Isaacson writes in his biography published this week. AdvertisementAdvertisementOne engineer, Kiko Dontchev, described how having just returned home to his wife after working three days straight, he was told Musk wanted him back at the hangar. In several cases the brutal management style and intense expectations of the SpaceX CEO prompted employees to quit. But sometimes, tools get worn down and [Musk] feels he can just replace that tool," Hughes told Isaacson. It cares about whether you got the rocket right," he told Isaacson.

Persons: Elon, Walter Isaacson's, Musk, Walter Isaacson, Elon Musk, Isaacson, He's, Kiko Dontchev, PHILIP PACHECO Lucas Hughes, Hughes, It's, Tom Mueller Organizations: SpaceX, Service, Elon, Wall Street, Employees, Crew Locations: Wall, Silicon

☆ Elon Musk learned social cues from reading books because he had no friends as a child
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-16 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk was bad at understanding social cues as a child because he had no friends in school. As a result, he picked up social cues from reading books, according to his new biography. As a teenager, Elon Musk followed his sister around to clubs and parties so he didn't have to be lonely. Maye Musk told Isaacson that Elon Musk "became so lonely and sad," when he started going to school. Musk walked "behind her and her friends," Isaacson wrote, "carrying a book to read whenever they went into a club or party."

Persons: Elon Musk, Walter Isaacson, Isaacson, Elon, Maye Musk, Kimbal, Tosca, Tosca Musk, Musk Organizations: Service Locations: Wall, Silicon, Toronto

BOSTON (AP) — When it comes to hurricanes, New England can't compete with Florida or the Caribbean. Lee remained a Category 1 hurricane late Friday night with sustained winds of 80 mph (128 kph). One recent study found climate change could result in hurricanes expanding their reach more often into mid-latitude regions, which include New York, Boston and even Beijing. While hurricanes and tropical storms are uncommon in New England, the region has been seen its share of violent weather events. The Great New England Hurricane of 1938 brought gusts as high as 186 mph (300 kph) and sustained winds of 121 mph (195 kph) at Massachusetts’ Blue Hill Observatory.

Persons: Lee, ”, Joshua Studholme, they’re, Andra Garner, Garner, Kerry Emanuel, Emanuel, “, ” Garner, Hurricanes Carol, Edna, Hurricane Bob, Superstorm Sandy, Storm Irene, Michael Casey Organizations: BOSTON, Yale University, U.S ., Rowan University, New, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Hurricanes, Hurricane, AP Locations: New England, Florida, of Maine, England, Canadian, of Nova Scotia, Massachusetts, Maine, New York, Boston, Beijing, Boston , New York, Norfolk , Virginia, New Englanders, U.S, U.S . East Coast, New Jersey, New York City, Gulf, Atlantic City , New Jersey, Vermont

☆ How the airline boarding process became such a mess
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-16 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

And airlines have made it chaotic by design — so people will pay to get an easier boarding process. Decades ago, airlines used to board first class and use an open boarding process for the main cabin. A better boarding processAirlines have been experimenting with different boarding schemes to try to speed up the process. Jason Steffen, a University of Nevada, Las Vegas physics professor developed a boarding method that boards passengers in rows of two. Southwest Airlines has the fastest boarding process of any major airline by simply allowing people to claim the first available seat.

Persons: New York CNN —, Don’t, Nathan Howard, it’s, you’ve, ”, Henry Harteveldt, Robert Mann, Nicolas Economou, Harteveldt, Massoud Bazargan, Jeffrey Greenberg, ” Bazargan, Aircrafts, —, Wilma, Jason Steffen, Charlie Riedel, Steffen, “ Organizations: New, New York CNN, Atmosphere Research, Carriers, Airlines, Embry, Riddle Aeronautical University, Universal, Transportation Department, Companies, University of Nevada, Southwest Airlines Locations: New York, Daytona Beach , Florida, Las Vegas

☆ Nobel Prize award raised to nearly $1 million for 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The Nobel laureates and King Carl XVI Gustaf, Queen Silvia, Prince Daniel, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden attends the Nobel Prize award ceremony at the Concert Hall in Stockholm, Sweden, December 10, 2022. TT News Agency/Christine Olsson via REUTERS/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSTOCKHOLM, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Winners of this year's Nobel Prizes will get an extra 1 million crowns, taking the total financial reward to 11 million Swedish crowns ($986,000), the Nobel Foundation, which administers the awards, said on Friday. In 2012, prize money was reduced from 10 million crowns to 8 million as the Foundation looked to shore up its finances. The prize amount was increased to 9 million in 2017 and in 2020 to 10 million - where it was prior to 2012. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is the first of this year's prizes and will be announced on Oct. 2 followed by Physics, Chemistry, Literature and Peace on the following days.

Persons: King Carl XVI Gustaf, Queen Silvia, Prince Daniel, Crown Princess Victoria of, Christine Olsson, givers, Simon Johnson, Essi Organizations: Concert Hall, TT News Agency, REUTERS, Rights, Nobel Foundation, Physics, Thomson Locations: Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, Stockholm, Sweden, Rights STOCKHOLM, Swedish

☆ Ig Nobel prizes go to research into nose hairs, dead spiders and licking rocks
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( Catherine Nicholls | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The scientists who researched these questions are among the winners of this year’s Ig Nobel Prizes – an accolade that has no affiliation to the Nobel Prizes – which aim to “celebrate the unusual, honor the imaginative and spur people’s interest in science, medicine, and technology.”Rice University graduate student Faye Yap with a dead wolf spider for use as a necrobotic gripper. Brandon Martin/Rice UniversityThe Ig Nobel Prize’s 33rd ceremony took place virtually on Thursday night, with prizes awarded by “genuine, genuinely bemused” Nobel laureates over Zoom. Geologist Jan Zalasiewicz won the coveted Chemistry and Geology Prize for his research into why many scientists like to lick rocks. The Medicine Prize was awarded for research into how many nose hairs are in each of a person’s nostrils. The researchers will have the opportunity to meet one another at a companion Ig Nobel Face-to-Face event in Cambridge, Massachusetts in November.

Persons: Faye Yap, Brandon Martin, Jan Zalasiewicz, Zalasiewicz, ”, urologist Seung, Homei, Hiromi Nakamura, Stanley Milgram, Leonard Bickman, Lawrence Berkowitz Organizations: London CNN, ” Rice University, Rice University, Ig, Zimbabwe, Rice University in Texas, Mechanical, Communication, Public Locations: United States, United Kingdom, China, Cambridge , Massachusetts

But scientists said Friday that the arrival of storms like Hurricane Lee this weekend could become more common in the region as the planet warms, including in places such as the Gulf of Maine. One recent study found climate change could result in hurricanes expanding their reach more often into mid-latitude regions, which includes New York, Boston and even Beijing. Lee remained a hurricane with 80 mph (128 kph) winds at 2 p.m. EDT Friday as it headed toward New England and eastern Canada with 20-foot (6-meter) ocean swells, strong winds and rain. While hurricanes and tropical storms are uncommon in New England, the region has been seen its share of violent weather events. The Great New England Hurricane of 1938 brought gusts as high as 186 mph (300 kph) and sustained winds of 121 mph (195 kph) at Massachusetts’ Blue Hill Observatory.

Persons: Lee, Joshua Studholme, they’re, ”, Andra Garner, Kerry Emanuel, Emanuel, “, ” Garner, Hurricanes Carol, Edna, Bob, Superstorm Sandy, Storm Irene, Garner, Michael Casey Organizations: BOSTON, Yale University, U.S ., Rowan University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Hurricanes, AP Locations: New England, Florida, of Maine, New York, Boston, Beijing, Boston , New York, Norfolk, Virginia, New Englanders, U.S, U.S . East Coast, New York City, Maine, Gulf, Canada, England, Massachusetts, —, Atlantic City , New Jersey, Vermont

☆ Nobel Prize Award Raised to Nearly $1 Million for 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( Sept. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Winners of this year's Nobel Prizes will get an extra 1 million crowns, taking the total financial reward to 11 million Swedish crowns ($986,000), the Nobel Foundation, which administers the awards, said on Friday. In 2012, prize money was reduced from 10 million crowns to 8 million as the Foundation looked to shore up its finances. The prize amount was increased to 9 million in 2017 and in 2020 to 10 million - where it was prior to 2012. In 2013, the prizes for achievements in science, literature and peace - which were first awarded in 1901 - were worth around 1.2 million dollars, despite the cut in the Swedish currency sum to 8 million crowns. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is the first of this year's prizes and will be announced on Oct. 2 followed by Physics, Chemistry, Literature and Peace on the following days.

Persons: givers, Simon Johnson, Essi Lehto Organizations: Nobel Foundation, Physics Locations: STOCKHOLM, Swedish, Sweden

☆ Morocco earthquake lights: strange light phenomenon before some quakes is a long standing mystery
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Reports of “earthquake lights,” like the ones seen in videos captured before Friday’s 6.8-magnitude earthquake in Morocco, go back centuries to ancient Greece. He has coauthored several scientific papers on earthquake lights, or EQL. To better understand earthquake lights, Derr and his colleagues gathered information on 65 American and European earthquakes associated with trustworthy reports of earthquake lights dating back to 1600. Other theories about what causes earthquake lights include static electricity produced by the fracturing of rock and radon emanation, among many others. At present there is no consensus among seismologists on the mechanism that causes earthquake lights, and scientists are still trying to unlock the mysteries of these outbursts.

Persons: there’s, ”, John Derr, Juan Antonio Lira Cacho, Derr, Antonio Lira, Freund, Derr’s, “ Organizations: CNN —, Friday’s, Geological Survey, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San, Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, CNN, Geophysics, San Jose University, NASA Ames Research Center Locations: Morocco, Greece, Pisco, Peru, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, China, Sichuan, Earthquakes, Guayaquil, Ecuador

☆ NASA installs new chief of UFO research after expert panel report
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Joey Roulette | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"The mission of NASA is to find out the unknown," Nelson said. The NASA panel, comprising experts in scientific fields ranging from physics to astrobiology, issued the report after holding its first public meeting in June. NASA said the new director of UAP research will handle "centralized communications, resources and data analytical capabilities to establish a robust database for the evaluation of future UAP." The report said defense and intelligence analysts lacked sufficient data to determine the nature of some of the objects. The NASA panel studying UAPs held its first public meeting in June, comprising experts in scientific fields ranging from physics to astrobiology.

Persons: Joe Skipper, Bill Nelson, Nelson, UAPs, Joey Roulette, Will Dunham Organizations: NASA, Vehicle, Kennedy Space Center, REUTERS, Rights, UAP, National Intelligence, Navy, U.S, East, Pentagon, Thomson Locations: Cape Canaveral , Florida, U.S, West

Counting nose hairs in cadavers, repurposing dead spiders and explaining why scientists lick rocks, are among the winning achievements in this year's Ig Nobels, the prize for humorous scientific feats, organizers announced Thursday. The 33rd annual prize ceremony was a prerecorded online event, as it has been since the coronavirus pandemic, instead of the past live ceremonies at Harvard University. Among the winners was Jan Zalasiewicz of Poland who earned the chemistry and geology prize for explaining why many scientists like to lick rocks. “Licking the rock, of course, is part of the geologist’s and palaeontologist’s armoury of tried-and-much-tested techniques used to help survive in the field,” Zalasiewicz wrote in The Palaeontological Association newsletter in 2017. “Each winner (or winning team) has done something that makes people LAUGH, then THINK,” according to the “Annals of Improbable Research” website.

Persons: Jan Zalasiewicz, ” Zalasiewicz, ___ Rathke Organizations: Harvard University, Palaeontological Association, United States, Harvard, Radcliffe Science Fiction Association, Radcliffe Society of Physics Locations: Poland, Licking, India, China, Malaysia, Marshfield , Vermont

☆ Opinion | The Unimaginable Has Happened in Libya
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Ethan Chorin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

This week, the worst storm in recent memory pounded the Green Mountains in eastern Libya with rain, pushing two poorly maintained, half-century-old dams to their limit. Many people in Libya are calling what happened a tsunami, not a flood, to attempt to capture the physics and power of the devastation. For Libya it will be impossible, given the disaster zone’s sudden isolation, lack of equipment and depth of the country’s political dysfunction. But it’s the United States’ unique and tragic history in Libya, its technical expertise and depth of resources in the region, that create a moral obligation for America to step into this breach. The United States left most of the rebuilding to its European allies.

Persons: Libya’s, Muammar Gaddafi, Gaddafi’s Organizations: United Locations: Libya, Derna, Derna’s, Italy, United States, Benghazi, NATO

☆ ‘Earthquake lights’ phenomenon is a long-standing scientific mystery. Here’s what experts think is behind them
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Persons: there’s, ”, John Derr, Juan Antonio Lira Cacho, Derr, Antonio Lira, Freund, Derr’s, “ Organizations: CNN —, Friday’s, Geological Survey, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San, Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, Geophysics, San Jose University, NASA Ames Research Center Locations: Morocco, Greece, Pisco, Peru, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, China, Sichuan, Earthquakes, Guayaquil, Ecuador

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