[Unmuseum_newsletter] Science Over the Edge - September 2016

Wed Aug 31 20:50:11 EDT 2016

Science Over the Edge - September 2016
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News:

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New Big Rex Found - Scientists have unearthed a new Tyrannosaurus rex skull that appears

to be completely intact. The skull, found in the famous Hell Creek Formation in Montana,

is about 4 feet in length and 66.3 million years old. The skull was recovered with about

fifth of the rest of the bones of the dinosaur and the creature has been designated the

"Tufts-Love Rex" in honor of the volunteer paleontologists who first found it. "Having

seen the 'Tufts-Love Rex' during its excavation, I can attest to the fact that it is

definitely one of the most significant specimens yet found, and because of its size, is

sure to yield important information about the growth and possible eating habits of these

magnificent animals," added Jack Horner, a Burke Museum researcher who founded the Hell

Creek project. The skull will find its way in to the Burke Museum in Seattle where in

October researchers will start separating the it from the surrounding rock a process that

could take more than a year.

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Venus More Hospitable in the Past - A new study by NASA suggests that our sister planet,

Venus, might have been much more earth-like 3 billion years ago. Today the planet has a

thick, toxic atmosphere and surface temperatures of over 800 degrees, but scientists from

the Goddard Institute for Spaces Studies took a computer model meant to predict climate

change on Earth and ran it backwards from Venus's current environment to find out about

its past. The results suggest that in its early history Venus may have had a shallow sea

and temperature slightly cooler than Earth. Unfortunately because Venus is the second

planet from the sun it gets more sunlight which would have evaporated the water. The

hydrogen part escaped and the carbon dioxide became concentrated. Since CO2 is a

greenhouse its presence is probably responsible for the high temperatures on the planet

today.

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Big Flocks Fly Faster - According to new study by scientists from Sweden, the bigger a

flock of birds is, the faster they will fly. Anders Hedenström and Susanne Åkesson

collected data on birds flying under different conditions and found that a lot of things

- length of trip, bird's body shape, wind speed and direction - all changed how fast the

birds flew. They were startled to find that another factor, the size of the flock, also

was a very important variable. "I was surprised that it is such an important factor. It

has usually been neglected in studies of bird flight," said Hedenström. It's not clear

why this is true, but one theory is that turbulence behind the leading birds in a

formation make the flight easier for the birds following to fly and maintain higher

speeds. The pair of scientists are planning additional studies to answer this question.

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Wreck Found Amid Rockets - Divers exploring off the coast of Cape Canaveral in Florida

expected to find debris from some of the many rocket launches made from the Kennedy Space

Center over the years. What they didn't expect to come across was the remains of a 16th-

century Spanish ship. Some of the objects found by Global Marine Exploration include

bronze cannons engraved with the coat of arms of the King of France. Researchers suspect

the cannons were installed by the French at Fort Caroline near what is now Jacksonville,

Florida, but stolen by the Spanish in a raid on the fort in 1565. They were probably

being transported to Havana, Cuba, when the ships carrying them were caught in a storm

and sunk. The company has informed the state of Florida about the artifacts and is

waiting for permission to recover them. "These artifacts are at the jeopardy of looters,

and of the weather," said Robert Pritchett, chief executive of Global Marine . "These

cannons are worth over a million dollars apiece - so if looters could find out the

location, then a piece of history is gone forever, because it's going to be sold on the

black market."

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Uber Testing Autonomous Car Service - Last month Uber started testing a self-driving car

service in Pittsburg. While the cars will still have a driver inside to take over in case

of an emergency, the company will be testing specially modified Volvo XC90 sport-utility

vehicles to see if they can do the job without human intervention. The test is the result

of a $300 million deal between the two companies. Uber expects to have 100 autonomous

cars on the road by the end of the year. People will request the cars as usual and maybe

assigned an autonomous one. If so, during the test period, they get to ride for free.

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Science Quote of the Month - "The most beautiful experience we can have is the

mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true

science." - Albert Einstein

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What's New at the Museum:

Gotthard Rail Tunnels - On June 1st, 2016, the longest rail tunnel in the world, the 35 ½

mile Gotthard Base Tunnel was, opened. It was a technical achievement that took 17 years

to finish and unites northern and southern Europe by allowing passage via high speed

trains through some of the most forbidding mountains in the world. What shouldn't be

forgotten in this success, however, is that another rail tunnel, also the longest in the

world at the time, was dug though these same mountains almost a century and a half

earlier. It was an achievement that changed the face of commerce and travel across 19th

century Europe and a Wonder of the Age of Steam. Full Story:

http://www.unmuseum.org/7wonders/gotthard.htm

Mysterious Picture of the Month - What is this this? http://www.unmuseum.org/squid.htm

[http://www.unmuseum.org/squidswim.jpg]<http://www.unmuseum.org/squid.htm>

The UnMuseum - The Giant Squid<http://www.unmuseum.org/squid.htm>
www.unmuseum.org
We know the giant squid tangles with whales from eye-witness accounts. In October 1966, two lighthouse keepers at Danger Point, South ...

[http://www.unmuseum.org/mysterypics/gsquid.jpg]
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Ask the Curator:

Before Big Bang - I'm a 60 year old scientist and I have a rock-solid understanding of

the concept of entropy, including the idea of life as a temporary bump in the overall

decline of order and organization in a system. All I want before I die is to know if

there is any credible scientific theory about how the spring originally got wound 14-or-

so billion years ago - Bob W.

Let me re-phrase you question as, "What was there before the Big-Bang and where did all

the energy it requires come from?" At this point I don't believe there are any "credible"

theories to explain this as none of the ideas scientists have about this area can be

tested by experimentation. In fact, there is not likely to be anything testable until

scientists can first create a Grand Unified theory of everything combining Einstein's

General Relativity with Quantum Physics. That quest, which has been pursued by physicists

like the Holy Grail for almost a century, so far does not seem near a conclusion.

So the best I can do is to throw out one of the more intriguing ideas floating around

cosmology circles these days. This particular model comes out of string theory (One

possible candidate for the Grand Unified Theory that says all energy and matter is

composed of super-small vibrating loops of strings.) This idea was worked out by Paul

Steinhardt (Princeton University) and Neil Turok (Cambridge University). They suggest our

universe is part of a much larger universe. The model says that our universe exists on a

three dimensional membrane ( or "Brane" in string theory lingo) and there are other

branes close to ours, only millimeters away, but invisible.

Every trillion years or so these branes are drawn together and when they collide a huge

amount of energy is released making a "Big Bang" that creates a universe on the brane

(other universes can be created at other locations of the brane that may collide at other

times) This process of collision Steinhardt and Turok named ekpyrosis which is the Greek

word for conflagration. In addition to creating a smaller universe, ekpyrosis also pushes

the branes apart.

Over the life of the universe some of the big bang energy turns into matter which becomes

stars, galaxies and, of course, us. Eventually the energy involved in our universe

spreads out as stars burn out and the universe grows cold. According to this idea,

however, the branes which still contain the energy, and they are drawn back together

again to collide and create another universe in an eternal cycle.

They only problem with this, and alternate theories like it, is that there is no way to

test these theories experimentally to know if there is any evidence that they are true.

Even if this idea is true, however, we may have just moved the question back a little bit

further: What created that greater universe and where did all its energy come from?

Have a question? Click here to send it to us. http://www.unmuseum.org/postmail.htm

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In History:

Record Breaking Hailstone - On September 3rd, 1970, a 1-lb 11-oz (0.77 kg) hailstone with

5.7 inch (14.7 cm) diameter fell to the ground during a storm in Coffeyville, Kansas. It

was the biggest authenticated hailstone to fall in the United States in the 20th Century

up to that point. The previous record holder fell in Potter, Nebraska, and weighed about

1-lb 8-oz (0.68 kg), and was around 7-in diameter

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In the Sky:

Mercury Visible at the End of the Month - The end of September might be a good time to

see if you can find the planet Mercury in the early morning sky. Look for it on the 28th

or 29th near the crescent moon. Mercury is the planet nearest the Sun and if can be

difficult to find because of our star's glaring brightness.

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Observed:

Big Snake Lurks Near Maine Town - People in Westbook, Maine, were a little nervous last

month when a ten foot long snake skin was found near the Presumpscot River. The incident

follows the report of a woman seeing a ten-foot snake back in June near a playground.

There have been several other sighting since then of the creature that has been nicknamed

"Wessie." Police have warned residents to be aware of wildlife in the area. So far the

type of snake involved has not been identified.

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LGM:

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