Science Thread

gadgetcool5

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Discuss general scientific developments here. (Some may be related to Sino Defence.)

I'll start:
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New findings suggest laws of nature 'downright weird,' not as constant as previously thought

In a paper published in Science Advances, scientists from UNSW Sydney reported that four new measurements of light emitted from a quasar 13 billion light years away reaffirm past studies that found tiny variations in the
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.

UNSW Science's Professor John Webb says the fine structure constant is a measure of electromagnetism—one of the four
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in nature (the others are gravity, weak nuclear force and strong nuclear force).

"The fine structure constant is the quantity that physicists use as a measure of the strength of the electromagnetic force," Professor Webb says.
 

gadgetcool5

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End of Ageing and Cancer? Scientists Unveil Structure of the ‘Immortality’ Enzyme Telomerase​

A 2018 study,
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, presents detailed images of a crucial anti-ageing enzyme known as telomerase – raising hopes that we can soon slow ageing and cure cancer.

At the end of each chromosome is a protective cap called a
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. However, most human cells can’t copy them – meaning that every time they divide, their telomeres become shorter. When telomeres become too short, the cell enters a toxic state called “senescence”. If these senescent cells are not cleared by the immune system, they begin to compromise the function of the tissues in which they reside. For millennia, humans have perceived this gradual compromise in tissue function over time without understanding what caused it.
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.

Enter telomerase, a specialised telomere repair enzyme in two parts – able to add DNA to the chromosome tips. The first part is a protein called TERT that does the copying. The second component is called TR, a small piece of
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which acts as a template. Together, these form telomerase, which trundles up and down on the ends of chromosomes, copying the template. At the bottom, a human telomere is roughly 3,000 copies of the DNA sequence “TTAGGG” – laid down and maintained by telomerase. But sadly, production of TERT is repressed in human tissues with the exception of sperm, eggs and some immune cells.

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gadgetcool5

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‘Tantalising’ experiment results defy known rules of physics

The particles aren’t doing what is expected in two different experiments in the US and Europe, suggesting the presence of an undiscovered particle or force

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China should be doing these kinds of experiments. Sigh.
 

Hendrik_2000

Lieutenant General

‘Tantalising’ experiment results defy known rules of physics

The particles aren’t doing what is expected in two different experiments in the US and Europe, suggesting the presence of an undiscovered particle or force

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China should be doing these kinds of experiments. Sigh.
What make you think that China didn't do that I am pretty sure they did theoretical and experimental Physic The western world has a lead because it is expensive to built collider to do particle physics experiment Only Now China is rich enough to do it Plan afoot to built world largest collider. The more basic the particle the bigger your collider must be. They certainly know that based on theoretical physic but need to be confirmed with experimental physic, for that you need tool and it expensive

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China making good progress in building world's largest supercollider: scientist​

By Deng Xiaoci Source:Global Times Published: 2020/5/25 11:28:24


4af1ff27-9666-4876-9877-d2c1af83096c.jpeg

A sketch of the future Circular Electron Positron Collider. Photo: Courtesy of Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of High Energy Physics

Research and development for the first batch of key equipment for the world's most powerful electron collider, the Circular Electron Positron Collider (CEPC), in China, has made solid progress, according to a leading scientist on the project Sunday.

Wang Yifang, director of the Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP), under the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, who is also a deputy to the National People's Congress, made the comments to the Global Times on the sidelines of the ongoing national two sessions in Beijing. The overall development of the CEPC project is moving forward smoothly, with some of the first batch of equipment reaching design standards.

Klystron is among the first batch of key equipment for the super-sized collider, which scored a 60 percent efficiency in the prototype test earlier this year, reaching world advanced levels, up from below 50 percent, according to Wang.

Wang's team aims to produce an even better version of the klystron with 80 percent efficiency this year.

The location for the CEPC has yet to be determined, Wang noted.

The CEPC project will reportedly cost 35 billion yuan ($5.05 billion) and will have a circumference of 100 kilometers, with center-mass energy of up to 240 giga electron-volts, both setting a world record.

Chinese scientists are eyeing the completion for CEPC construction by 2030, Global Times previously learned from IHEP.
 

gadgetcool5

Senior Member
Registered Member
What make you think that China didn't do that I am pretty sure they did t
Because they are not quoted in the article, that's why. Building a supercollider is not the same thing as studying muons.

Anyway, it's an interesting result. Science is really just another form of magic.
 

Hendrik_2000

Lieutenant General
Because they are not quoted in the article, that's why. Building a supercollider is not the same thing as studying muons.

Anyway, it's an interesting result. Science is really just another form of magic.

You can only study muon with collider I am Physics major in my first 2nd year and I visited collider in Europe
 

voyager1

Captain
Registered Member
What make you think that China didn't do that I am pretty sure they did theoretical and experimental Physic The western world has a lead because it is expensive to built collider to do particle physics experiment Only Now China is rich enough to do it Plan afoot to built world largest collider. The more basic the particle the bigger your collider must be. They certainly know that based on theoretical physic but need to be confirmed with experimental physic, for that you need tool and it expensive

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China making good progress in building world's largest supercollider: scientist​

By Deng Xiaoci Source:Global Times Published: 2020/5/25 11:28:24


4af1ff27-9666-4876-9877-d2c1af83096c.jpeg

A sketch of the future Circular Electron Positron Collider. Photo: Courtesy of Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of High Energy Physics

Research and development for the first batch of key equipment for the world's most powerful electron collider, the Circular Electron Positron Collider (CEPC), in China, has made solid progress, according to a leading scientist on the project Sunday.

Wang Yifang, director of the Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP), under the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, who is also a deputy to the National People's Congress, made the comments to the Global Times on the sidelines of the ongoing national two sessions in Beijing. The overall development of the CEPC project is moving forward smoothly, with some of the first batch of equipment reaching design standards.

Klystron is among the first batch of key equipment for the super-sized collider, which scored a 60 percent efficiency in the prototype test earlier this year, reaching world advanced levels, up from below 50 percent, according to Wang.

Wang's team aims to produce an even better version of the klystron with 80 percent efficiency this year.

The location for the CEPC has yet to be determined, Wang noted.

The CEPC project will reportedly cost 35 billion yuan ($5.05 billion) and will have a circumference of 100 kilometers, with center-mass energy of up to 240 giga electron-volts, both setting a world record.

Chinese scientists are eyeing the completion for CEPC construction by 2030, Global Times previously learned from IHEP.
Unfortunately, China is very bad on funding fundamental science research as a portion of its total R&D budget.

The CEPC is a very good first step and i hope it is completed, however from what I know it is yet to be fully funded (currently funding studies and reports but not for construction)

Still, the funding for these kinds of research is very very low for China.

To give you a figure, for the US, basic funndamental science funding is 20% of its total R&D funding (i.e. 20% of ~3.4% R&D of GDP). While for China funding for the same kind of science is only 6% of its total R&D funding (i.e 6% of 2.4% R&D of GDP)

I mean look at these numbers for China. Dreadful numbers and ridiculously low for a country aspiring to be a scientific powerhouse in the future. And the worst is that on this 5 year plan, they said with great fanfare that the basic science budget will be increased by ~7% annually until 2025. But even with this, at the end of 2025 it is estimated that basic research will have grown as a proportion of total R&D from 6 to 7-8% of total R&D...Look at this number, total joke. While the US is doubling down on this research and it will dramatically increase the budget, China is playing around with this low digit number.

Now, of course as China continues to grow, its R&D (including basic science) will continue to grow naturally as a portion of the GDP, however this 5 year plan unfortunately shows that China places much much more emphasis on applied research than funding fundamental science
 

Appix

Senior Member
Registered Member
Unfortunately, China is very bad on funding fundamental science research as a portion of its total R&D budget.

The CEPC is a very good first step and i hope it is completed, however from what I know it is yet to be fully funded (currently funding studies and reports but not for construction)

Still, the funding for these kinds of research is very very low for China.

To give you a figure, for the US, basic funndamental science funding is 20% of its total R&D funding (i.e. 20% of ~3.4% R&D of GDP). While for China funding for the same kind of science is only 6% of its total R&D funding (i.e 6% of 2.4% R&D of GDP)

I mean look at these numbers for China. Dreadful numbers and ridiculously low for a country aspiring to be a scientific powerhouse in the future. And the worst is that on this 5 year plan, they said with great fanfare that the basic science budget will be increased by ~7% annually until 2025. But even with this, at the end of 2025 it is estimated that basic research will have grown as a proportion of total R&D from 6 to 7-8% of total R&D...Look at this number, total joke. While the US is doubling down on this research and it will dramatically increase the budget, China is playing around with this low digit number.

Now, of course as China continues to grow, its R&D (including basic science) will continue to grow naturally as a portion of the GDP, however this 5 year plan unfortunately shows that China places much much more emphasis on applied research than funding fundamental science
Yeah, I have been dissappointed for several years towards the lack of funding towards basic (theoretical) science.
 
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voyager1

Captain
Registered Member
Yes basic research is poorly funded But for theoretical physic all you need is pencil and paper and good brain
Here is the Muon research in china
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For fundamental science you need lots of funds for more researchers, better facilities, better scientific measurements tools/sensors, more big science projects (CEPC, fusion project) which are very expensive, more funding for international collaboration. And then you need more satellites, more observatories, more detectors for making different measurements and many many more things.

So its not as easy as having pencil and paper for basic science. And for theorists lol, these guys dont need much funding as you said, they can only need some low salaries and thats done then ... but even then ultimately depend on fundumental science funds because they need more data for scientific projects to refine their theories or make new one.

The one exception(who I know, but I amvsure there others) which didn't need such big experiments is Einstein who is Einstein, no comment here, this guy wasn't even human
 
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