Meanwhile in science news.

[the Schwartz]

If I’m doing the math right that seems like an unusable level of power density.

Might be too low for higher intensity applications like the projection of coherent light, but perhaps enough for simply lighting a solid state component—like a LED—that doesn't require as much power to work?

If enough of these very thin diamond batteries were to be connected in parallel (to ensure an adequate input current) to a voltage multiplier circuit, that might make it possible. Haven't run the numbers myself, yet.

[Wondering Beard]

Damn it! Now I have to wipe the orange juice that I was drinking off of my computer screen. 🤣😂🤣😂

It is apparent that blues has been a horrible influence on you and many others here. Or is it the other way around?

Maybe it's a radiation based mutation?

We're still looking for a crystal clear explanation.

[blues]

[JAD]

Might be too low for higher intensity applications like the projection of coherent light, but perhaps enough for simply lighting a solid state component—like a LED—that doesn't require as much power to work?

If enough of these very thin diamond batteries were to be connected in parallel (to ensure an adequate input current) to a voltage multiplier circuit, that might make it possible. Haven't run the numbers myself, yet.

Somewhere in the aimpoint rds battery life thread we worked out its power demand, I’ll dig it up and figger it out.

[the Schwartz]

Somewhere in the aimpoint rds battery life thread we worked out its power demand, I’ll dig it up and figger it out.

I'd enjoy seeing that, JAD.

I suspect that with the correct VM circuit it might be possible. Heck, the multi-stage rectifier-capacitance reactance VMs found in those el-cheapo electrified tennis racquet fly-swatters get the relatively low power 4.5-volt supplies up to several kV and pack quite a punch. I would bet that similar scalar performance could be obtained if the correct circuitry were developed taking into account the V*I output of the diamond batteries in parallel.

[Wondering Beard]

Acorn Woodpeckers Have Multi-Day Wars, and Birds Come From All Around to Watch

"Power struggles are messy affairs, even in the world of acorn woodpeckers. Dozens of birds, grouped in coalitions, can fight for days on end, while spectators fly in from nearly two miles away to witness a battle for the right to breed. And word spreads fast—when a bird’s death creates a vacancy in prime territory, the battle to fill it breaks out within minutes, and faraway onlookers can arrive in less than an hour."


Read the whole thing.

[Wondering Beard]

As posted in the Sippin' Bourbon thread where it's directly relevant..

Unravelling the Secrets of Tennessee Whiskey


"More than a century has passed since the last scientific analyses of the famed “Lincoln County [Tennessee] process” was published, but the secrets of the famous Tennessee whiskey flavor are starting to unravel at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture. The latest research promises advancements in the field of flavor science as well as marketing."


"The study incorporated a combination of advanced flavor chemistry techniques to probe the changes in flavor chemistry occurring during charcoal filtration. This type of filtration is a common step in the production of distilled beverages, including vodka and rum, but it’s a required step for a product to be labeled “Tennessee whiskey.” The step is called the Lincoln County Process (LCP), after the locale of the original Jack Daniel’s distillery. It is also referred to as “charcoal mellowing.”

The LCP step is performed by passing the fresh whiskey distillate through a bed of charcoal, usually derived from burnt sugar maple, prior to barrel-aging the product. Although no scientific studies have proved such a claim, it is believed that the LCP imparts a “smoother” flavor to Tennessee whiskey. In addition, by law for the distinction of having “Tennessee whiskey” on the label, the liquor must be produced in the state of Tennessee from at least 51% corn after having been aged in Tennessee for at least 2 years in unused charred oak barrels."

[Wondering Beard]

Nanocrystals can trigger explosive volcanic eruptions


"Exactly what causes the sudden and violent eruption of apparently peaceful volcanoes has always been a mystery in geology research," lead researcher Danilo Di Genova said in a news release.
"Nanogeoscience research has now allowed us to find an explanation. Tiny crystal grains containing mostly iron, silicon, and aluminium are the first link in a chain of cause and effect that can end in catastrophe for people living in the vicinity of a volcano," said Di Genova, a geophysicist at the University of Bayreuth in Germany."

"For their experiments, researchers focused on magma with low levels of silicon oxide, the kind of magma that forms basalt when it cools. Low silica magma isn't very viscous; it is typically thin and runny. When low silica magma erupts, it spreads quickly.
"Basaltic volcanoes generally provide a stark contrast to their high-silica cousins, showing relatively low explosivity even if they have a high volatile content," researchers wrote in their paper.
But the latest research suggests the presence of nanolites can turn low silica magma quite viscous, making it difficult for rising gasses to pass through it. As a result, bubbling gasses accumulate, increasing pressure in a magma chamber until the volcano explodes."

[Wondering Beard]

I think that's right inside @RevolverRob's lane.


Neandertals have adopted male sex chromosome from modern humans

"[...]because all specimens well-preserved enough to yield sufficient amounts of DNA have been from female individuals, comprehensive studies of the Y chromosomes of Neandertals and Denisovans have not yet been possible. Unlike the rest of the autosomal genome, which represents a rich tapestry of thousands of genealogies of any individual's ancestors, Y chromosomes have a peculiar mode of inheritance—they are passed exclusively from father to son. Y chromosomes, and also the maternally-inherited mitochondrial DNA, have been extremely valuable for studying human history."

"By comparing the archaic human Y chromosomes to each other and to the Y chromosomes of people living today, the team found that Neandertal and modern human Y chromosomes are more similar to one another than they are to Denisovan Y chromosomes. "This was quite a surprise to us. We know from studying their autosomal DNA that Neandertals and Denisovans were closely related and that humans living today are their more distant evolutionary cousins. Before we first looked at the data, we expected that their Y chromosomes would show a similar picture," says Martin Petr, the lead author of the study. The researchers also calculated that the most recent common ancestor of Neandertal and modern human Y chromosomes lived around 370,000 years ago, much more recently than previously thought."

"These Y chromosome sequences now provide new evidence that Neandertals and early modern humans met and exchanged genes before the major out of Africa migration—potentially as early as 370,000 years ago and certainly more than 100,000 years ago. This implies that some population closely related to early modern humans must already have been in Eurasia at that time. Surprisingly, this interbreeding resulted in the replacement of the original Neandertal Y chromosomes with those of early modern humans, a pattern similar to what has been seen for Neandertal mitochondrial DNA in an earlier study."

[RevolverRob]

I think that's right inside @RevolverRob's lane.


Neandertals have adopted male sex chromosome from modern humans

"[...]because all specimens well-preserved enough to yield sufficient amounts of DNA have been from female individuals, comprehensive studies of the Y chromosomes of Neandertals and Denisovans have not yet been possible. Unlike the rest of the autosomal genome, which represents a rich tapestry of thousands of genealogies of any individual's ancestors, Y chromosomes have a peculiar mode of inheritance—they are passed exclusively from father to son. Y chromosomes, and also the maternally-inherited mitochondrial DNA, have been extremely valuable for studying human history."

"By comparing the archaic human Y chromosomes to each other and to the Y chromosomes of people living today, the team found that Neandertal and modern human Y chromosomes are more similar to one another than they are to Denisovan Y chromosomes. "This was quite a surprise to us. We know from studying their autosomal DNA that Neandertals and Denisovans were closely related and that humans living today are their more distant evolutionary cousins. Before we first looked at the data, we expected that their Y chromosomes would show a similar picture," says Martin Petr, the lead author of the study. The researchers also calculated that the most recent common ancestor of Neandertal and modern human Y chromosomes lived around 370,000 years ago, much more recently than previously thought."

"These Y chromosome sequences now provide new evidence that Neandertals and early modern humans met and exchanged genes before the major out of Africa migration—potentially as early as 370,000 years ago and certainly more than 100,000 years ago. This implies that some population closely related to early modern humans must already have been in Eurasia at that time. Surprisingly, this interbreeding resulted in the replacement of the original Neandertal Y chromosomes with those of early modern humans, a pattern similar to what has been seen for Neandertal mitochondrial DNA in an earlier study."

Cool stuff!

Two pieces stuck with me -

It is by now well established that all people with non-African ancestry carry a small amount of Neandertal DNA as a result of interbreeding between Neandertals and modern humans approximately 50,000-70,000 years ago, quite shortly after modern humans migrated out of Africa and started spreading around the world. However, whether Neandertals might also carry some modern human DNA has been a matter of some debate.

This point seems very counter-intuitive to me. If humans carry Neanderthal DNA - then it is a foregone conclusion that Neanderthals would carry anatomically-modern-human (what they call 'modern human') DNA. Interbreeding works both ways...it's a bit silly to think it's a one-way cycle, recombination does not work that way.

What this reinforces more than anything else though, is that the three distinct genetic lineages (Neanderthal, Denisovan, and Anat-Mod-Human) are not that distinct and really can be viewed as evolutionary events that are regional in nature, that were eventually supplanted by the now dominant line (A-M-Human).

Janet Kelso, the senior author of the study, is optimistic that this replacement hypothesis could be tested in the near future: "If we can retrieve Y chromosome sequences from Neandertals that lived prior to this hypothesized early introgression event, such as the 430,000 year old Neandertals from Sima de los Huesos in Spain, we predict that they would still have the original Neandertal Y chromosome and will therefore be more similar to Denisovans than to modern humans."

Now that is a cool damn idea. I love when folks produce a great study and a great hypothesis, but importantly provide a way to test it. I'm always on my colleagues about this, "It's fine to point out the evidence and the problems, but can you provide potential solutions?"