Starportal

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M83 The Milky Ways Smaller Cousin

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Why are you blinking weirdly?

[chanelgrunge]

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[astrophysics-cosmology-blog]

[avadu]

[sciencesoup]

[blamoscience]

Although comb jellies seem to be little more than tennis ball-sized blobs in the sea, these organisms are relatively sophisticated in how they use light. The creatures flash a blue-green light at predators, for example, possibly to startle them. Researchers studying the genome of the comb jelly, also known as a ctenophore, have discovered that the bioluminescent creatures pack in 10 proteins for generating light. They have other proteins called opsins that detect light, even though comb jellies lack eyes, the team reports today in BMC Biology. It’s not clear what the opsins do in this animal. The genome is the first to be sequenced from a bioluminescent animal. Because ctenophores appear to sit at the base of the animal tree of life, the findings suggest that light-generating and sensing proteins evolved at the same time as multicellularity. Such proteins may have given rise to the diversity of light-sensing molecules seen in animals today, such as in the rods and cones in human eyes. And studying them, the researchers say, could lead to new insights into the origin of eyes and therapies for treating sight disorders.

[sciencenote]

Quantumgravity is an overall term for theories that attempt to unify gravity with the other fundamental forces of physics (which are already unified together). It generally posits a theoretical entity, a graviton, which is a virtual particle that mediates the gravitational force. This is what distinguishesquantum gravity from certain other unified field theories … although, in fairness, some theories that are typically classified asquantum gravity don’t necessary require a graviton.

… The major problem in experimentally testing any theory ofquantumgravity is that the energy levels required to observe the conjectures are unattainable in current laboratory experiments.

Even theoretically, quantumgravity runs into serious problems. Gravitation is currently explained through the theory of general relativity, which makes very different assumptions about the universe at the macroscopic scale than those made byquantummechanics at the microscopic scale.

[sciencenote]

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Olympic opening ceremony today

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A Rocket Arcs Across the Northern Lights

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Volcano Light Show

Nature unleashes a torrent of energy as ash fills the air after lying dormant for more than 9,000 years! Scientists suspect that volcanic lightning results from particles in the ash cloud rubbing together as the plume swirls. (2009)

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Transparent-Headed Fish

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F-18 BREAKING THE SOUND BARRIER

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When mapped and color-coded, the brain can be a beautiful thing.