Science Saturday 01/12
Good Morning, and welcome back to Science Saturday. Let’s begin.
Scientists have detected repeated, millisecond-long radio signals from a galaxy approximately 1.5 billion light-years away. The signals were generated with a level of energy roughly equivalent to what the sun can produce in one year. This is only the second time any of the over 60 fast radio bursts detected by scientists was repeated from the same location. Thus, this finding represents a chance for scientists to better understand that side of the universe.
Washington Post: Hubble is Broken Again
Wide Field Camera 3 on the Hubble Space Telescope has experienced a hardware malfunction. This is the latest of several serious malfunctions that the telescope has experienced in recent months. This camera has been responsible for roughly 50% of all scientific results that have been obtained from Hubble. Despite this setback, NASA scientists are still optimistic about Hubble’s future.
Science Alert: IBM Reveals First Quantum Computer
Technology giant IBM officially unveiled the IBM Q System One, the world’s first-ever quantum computer designed for use in corporate offices. This represents a gigantic step in personal computing technology, as quantum computers have historically been restricted to research labs due to their sheer power (and equally tremendous operating requirements). Q System One can process exponentially more data than the average personal computer, and is expected to be the first step in a massive, industry-changing technological movement.
Nature.com: Government Shutdown Impacts the Scientific Community
The U.S. Government shutdown continues to drag on, and the Scientific community is feeling the impacts. This article highlights five of the areas that are feeling the biggest effects of the shutdown.
ScienceDaily: CRISPR Makes Antibiotics Better
A University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher and his collaborators at the University of California, San Francisco have repurposed the gene-editing tool CRISPR to study which genes are targeted by particular antibiotics, providing clues on how to improve existing antibiotics or develop new ones. This is a welcome development after the outrage caused in late 2018 by a Chinese team using CRISPR to edit the genes of a human child. Let this serve as a reminder to us that this incredible technology can be used for good.
That’s all for this week. Enjoy the weekend.
-Sal
