a quick look at some intriguing stories
Zapping Climate change: One thing we all know for certain. That old sea is marching up the beaches and into our homes and towns sooner than we know it. How to stop it? More cheaply, that is, than building colossally expensive barriers of concrete and steel. One answer might be to fuse natural sand into hard deposits via the medium of huge electric discharges, a bit like lightning, Here’s Stephen Luntz for IFL Science:
thanks to P Seymour
India strides in Space It’s not what they’ve found, it’s the way that this forward-looking nation is progressing which impresses us. Indian mission reveals molten moon from Nature Briefings. Compare that to the former Imperial master, which has just come out of fourteen years navel gazing at past glories!
The first-ever analysis of soil near the Moon’s south pole has found further evidence that the lunar surface melted shortly after it formed. The data come from India’s pioneering Chandrayaan-3 mission, which deployed a rover on the Moon last August that found the soil mainly comprised the mineral ferroan anorthosite. Previous landers have found similar results at other locations, suggesting the composition of the surface is uniform. This supports the theory that the Moon originated from material scattered into space when a large impactor struck the newly formed Earth.Nature | 4 min read
Reference: Nature paper
No way back? Even if by some miracle we suddenly reduce carbon burning and get to net zero, there’s still all that old CO2 up there, warming us like chickens in an oven. Scary stuff, according to James Dyke and his mates at The Conversation:
Lung cancer vaccine is good news Every time you meet an anti-vaxxer, ask them about their next bright idea about lung cancer. Meanwhile people who actually think have come up with what may be a working vaccine against this dread disease. We wish them luck: here’s Andrew Gregory for The Guardian
Raising our hat to Gussie A few years ago (LSS 3 6 2021) we published a tribute to the great Gussie Fink-Nottle, long time friend of Bertie Wooster and keen student of the order Salamandridae in general, as represented by newts in particular. Well now a colony of these ancient creatures has made a base in our garden pond. And so we join Gussie as custodians of these Carboniferous chums. And hope, when finaces allow, to get some tree ferns to accompany them!
#cliamte change #global warming #cancer #vaccine #newts
Learning, Science and Society 