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Inside every proton, 10 neutron stars.

BREAKING: Senate passes resolution to restore net neutrality in historic upset, amid massive public outcry over FCC repeal

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 16, 2018 Contact: Evan Greer, [email protected], 978-852-6457

Amid massive online protests and unprecedented public engagement including more than 16 million emails, calls, and messages to lawmakers in recent months, the US Senate has passed a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to block the FCC’s overwhelmingly unpopular repeal of net neutrality.

The measure passed 52 to 47 with Republicans Susan Collins (R-ME), John Kennedy (R-LA), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) voting yes. The last minute Republican support for the measure bodes well for its chances in the House, where net neutrality supporters plan to wage a fierce battle to force a vote.

Fight for the Future, a digital rights group that has mobilized millions to speak out on net neutrality, issued the following statement, which can be attributed to deputy director, Evan Greer (pronouns: she/her):

“This is a historic victory for the free and open Internet, and a major step forward for the future of free expression and democracy. But we’re just getting started.

When the FCC repealed net neutrality they unleashed the fury of the Internet, and it led to a backlash unlike anything ever seen before. People from across the political spectrum, from the far left to the far right, can all agree: they don’t want their cable company to control where they get their news and information, how they listen to music, or where they can stream videos.

The fight for net neutrality is about freedom. Companies like Comcast and AT&T want the power to manipulate what we see and do online. People want the freedom to choose, to connect, and to express themselves.

The FCC has announced that net neutrality protections will officially end on June 11th. The Internet will surely light up in protest on that day, but the fight will continue long after that. The ISPs are pushing for bad legislation that kneecaps net neutrality while claiming to save it. Internet users will not be fooled.

Now that the CRA resolution has passed the Senate, every House member has a choice to make: will they side with some of the most hated companies in America, or will they listen to the overwhelming majority of their constituents and small businesses in their districts, and vote to keep the Internet free from censorship, throttling, and expensive new fees.

The Internet is watching. We’re organized. We’re ruthless. We’re not accepting anything less than real net neutrality. And we’re going to win.”

Some quick links for background:

Net neutrality supporters have driven more than 16 million contacts to Congress through BattleForTheNet.com alone calling on lawmakers to stop the FCC repeal

More than 6,000 small businesses signed on to an open letter in support of the CRA

Net neutrality supporters have crowdfunded billboards and newspaper ads highlighting the concerns of small businesses

Thousands of major websites and apps including Etsy, Tumblr, Tinder, Foursquare, Reddit, OK Cupid, participated in mass “Red Alert” protests ahead of the vote

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Snails’ trace: scientists transfer memories between molluscs

Scientists have been able to transfer a memory from one snail to another, providing a tantalising clue to the answer of one of most vexing questions in biology – how are memories stored?

Stellar Effort: Chart of the Milky Way Includes More Than 1 Billion Stars

The second data set release from Europe’s Gaia mission could provide clues to the galaxy’s past and future

#milky way

Modelling suggests that the Earth’s magnetic field won’t be flipping any time soon. Andrew Masterson reports.

#magnetic shift

Gravitational Waves 101 -- Credit National Geographic

#Gravitational Waves

In a First, Gravitational Waves Linked to Neutron Star Crash

The stunning find is already helping astronomers resolve a heated debate about the cosmic origins of gold and silver.

Researchers observe dynamical quantum phase transitions in an interacting many-body system

“ Back in 2013, a team of theoretical physicists noted that there appeared to be similarities between the evolution operator and the partition function. The role that time played in the evolution of a thermally isolated quantum system, they showed, was equal to the inverse temperature in a system that was at thermal equilibrium. Their calculations showed that a quantum system should be able to go through changes of state that were similar in nature to phase transitions. In this new effort, the researchers have proved this theory to be true by creating a modified transverse-field Ising model and manipulating the spin of ions held in an ultracold environment.”

New proposal for a subspecies definition triggered by a new longhorn beetle subspecies

“According to the once no less disputed definition of species, regardless of their unique traits, populations cannot be considered as separate species until they are no longer able to produce fertile offspring according to the Biological Species concept, this being one of a number of proposed species concepts. A consensus is emerging around the unified species concept defining species as separately evolving (meta) population lineages.

However, differentiating between subspecies nowadays is a significantly tougher task, since there is no stable definition of the rank yet. Through the years, there have been various explanations of what a subspecies is and what criteria it needs to meet in order to be classified as one.Compared to previous definitions, the researchers decode it quite simply. To them, the only necessary attributes a population needs to possess before being deemed a subspecies are that they are a potentially incipient new species; diagnosed by at least one heritable trait; and either partially or completely isolated geographically.Furthermore, they refute a number of factors, including reciprocal monophyly in neutral markers, the "75% rule", reproductive compatibility and the degree of gene flow."

Evolution of a killer—researchers study traces deadly fungus affecting bats

First discovered in 2006, Pseudogymnoascus destructans is a fungus that has wreaked havoc on eastern North American bat populations. The fungus, which is thought to have been accidentally introduced from Europe, has taken hold in caves along eastern Canada and the United States, where it has thrived in a perfect ecosystem of cold temperatures and unsuspecting hosts. The fungus causes white-nose syndrome, so named because it covers the snouts and wing membranes of hibernating bats with a fuzzy white growth.

Bats who contract the fungus have trouble flying and hunting, and eventually starve. About seven million bats have died of the syndrome in the past decade.

Could psychedelic drugs be the ticket to improved mental health?

New research suggests the altered sense of self from the use of psychedelic drugs could help mental health patients recover.

A far northern storm on Jupiter

A dynamic storm at the southern edge of Jupiter’s northern polar region dominates this Jovian cloudscape, courtesy of NASA’s Juno spacecraft.

This storm is a long-lived anticyclonic oval named North North Temperate Little Red Spot 1 (NN-LRS-1); it has been tracked at least since 1993, and may be older still. An anticyclone is a weather phenomenon where winds around the storm flow in the direction opposite to that of the flow around a region of low pressure.

It is the third largest anticyclonic oval on the planet, typically around 3,700 miles (6,000 kilometers) long. The color varies between red and off-white (as it is now), but this JunoCam image shows that it still has a pale reddish core within the radius of maximum wind speeds.

The image has been rotated so that the top of the image is actually the equatorial regions while the bottom of the image is of the northern polar regions of the planet.

The structural mystery of scandium fluoride illustrated

Scandium fluoride is a transparent crystal with a cubic shape, a byproduct of mining. It's not used commercially and it wouldn't be particularly interesting to anyone except for one odd thing: it shrinks as it warms.

fuckyeahfluiddynamics

There are many beautiful ways to visualize sound and music – Chris Stanford’s fantastic “Cymatics” music video comes to mind – but this is one I haven’t seen. This visualization uses a soap film on the end of an open tube with music playing from the other end. You can see the set-up here. The result is a fascinating interplay of acoustics, fluid dynamics, and optics. As sound travels through the tube, certain frequencies resonant, vibrating the soap film with a standing wave pattern (3:20). At the same time, interference between light waves reflecting off the front and back of the soap film create vibrant colors that show the film’s thickness and flow.

When the frequency and amplitude are just right, the sound excites counter-rotating vortex pairs in the film (0:05), mixing areas of different thicknesses. With just a single note, the vortex pairs appear and disappear, but with the music, their disappearance comes from the changing tones. Watching the patterns shift as the film drains and the black areas grow is pretty fascinating, but one of the coolest behaviors is how the acoustic interactions are actually able to replenish the draining film (2:15). Because the tube was dipped in soap solution, some fluid is still inside the tube, lining the walls. With the right acoustic forcing, that fresh fluid actually gets driven into the soap film, thickening it.

There are several more videos with different songs here – “Carmen Bizet” is particularly neat – as well as a short article summarizing the relevant physics for those who are interested. (Video and research credit: C. Gaulon et al.; more videos here)

New scanning process allows unprecedented look inside live insects

The team has managed to create spectacularly detailed, three-dimensional views of insects' insides—without harming them in any way—by using carbon dioxide to place them into a state of temporary suspended animation.

Motorhead's 'Lemmy' has dino croc named after him

The invisible bird: what makes the nightjar a camouflage champion

Self-awareness appears to be behind the nightjar's astonishing ability to fade into the background

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