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If you have any interest in UNRWA, several people, including Hillel Neuer, the head of the NGO UN Watch, will testify before a House subcommittee starting NOW. I expect there will be lot of testimony, supported by evidence, about how this UN agency was in effect an arm of Hamas.

It’s a bit late, as it was supposed to start at 2 p.m. Eastern time, but should start shortly.

Here are the witnesses. It should be enlightening:

Richard Goldberg
Senior Advisor
Foundation for Defense of Democracies

Marcus Sheff
Chief Executive Officer
IMPACT-se

Hillel Neuer
Executive Director
UN Watch

Mara Rudman
Schlesinger Professor
University of Virginia Miller Center

And here’s the link. It sounds as if there are hecklers in the audience.

Every fluid -- from Earth's atmosphere to blood pumping through the human body -- has viscosity, a quantifiable characteristic describing how the fluid will deform when it encounters some other matter. If the viscosity is higher, the fluid flows calmly, a state known as laminar. If the viscosity decreases, the fluid undergoes the transition from laminar to turbulent flow. The degree of laminar or turbulent flow is referred to as the Reynolds number, which is inversely proportional to the viscosity. However, this Reynolds similitude does not apply to quantum superfluids. A researcher has theorized a way to examine the Reynolds similitude in superfluids, which could demonstrate the existence of quantum viscosity in superfluids.

Modeling shows that stratospheric aerosol injection has the potential to reduce ice sheet loss due to climate change.

Researchers have developed artificial muscles that are lighter, safer and more robust than their predecessors. The newly developed actuators have a novel type of shell structure and use a high-permittivity ferroelectric material that can store relatively large amounts of electrical energy. They therefore work with relatively low electrical voltage, are waterproof, more robust and safer to touch.

A joint research team has developed a stretchable and adhesive microneedle sensor that can be attached to the skin and stably measure high-quality electrophysiological signals for a long period of time.

Plasmonics are unique light-matter interactions in the nanoscale regime. Now, a team of researchers has highlighted advances in shadow growth techniques for plasmonic materials, which have the potential to give rise to nanoparticles with diverse shapes and properties. They also introduce a method for large-scale production of nano-rotamers of magnesium with programmable polarization behavior, opening avenues for novel research applications.

Plasmonics are unique light-matter interactions in the nanoscale regime. Now, a team of researchers has highlighted advances in shadow growth techniques for plasmonic materials, which have the potential to give rise to nanoparticles with diverse shapes and properties. They also introduce a method for large-scale production of nano-rotamers of magnesium with programmable polarization behavior, opening avenues for novel research applications.

High-entropy alloys can withstand extreme heat and stress, making them suitable for a variety of specific applications. A new study at the X-ray synchrotron radiation source BESSY II has now provided deeper insights into the ordering processes and diffusion phenomena in these materials.

High-entropy alloys can withstand extreme heat and stress, making them suitable for a variety of specific applications. A new study at the X-ray synchrotron radiation source BESSY II has now provided deeper insights into the ordering processes and diffusion phenomena in these materials.

Nanoclusters (NCs) of transition metals like cobalt or nickel have widespread applications in drug delivery and water purification, with smaller NCs exhibiting improved functionalities. Downsizing NCs is, however, usually challenging. Now, scientists have demonstrated functional NC formation with atomic-scale precision. They successfully grew cobalt NCs on flat copper surfaces using molecular arrays as traps. This breakthrough paves the way for advancements like single-atom catalysis and spintronics miniaturization.

Researchers are currently developing anti-viral surfaces to decrease the spread of infectious diseases. A recent study found that a resin ingredient is effective against coronaviruses and strongly decreases their infectivity on plastic surfaces.

Scientists have developed a new system for imaging nanoparticles. It consists of a high-precision, short-wave infrared imaging technique capable of capturing the photoluminescence lifetimes of rare-earth doped nanoparticles in the micro- to millisecond range.

Not all plastics are created the same, and some last longer in the ocean than others. Scientists have been working for years to quantify the environmental lifetimes of a wide range of plastic goods to see which have the shortest and longest lifespans in the ocean. To determine what plastics persist in the ocean, the team tests different products in large tanks that recreate the natural ocean environment.

Our built environment is aging and failing faster than we can maintain it. Recent building collapses and structural failures of roads and bridges are indicators of a problem that's likely to get worse, according to experts, because it's just not possible to inspect every crack, creak and crumble to parse dangerous signs of failure from normal wear and tear. In hopes of playing catch-up, researchers are trying to give robotic assistants the tools to help inspectors with the job.

A new way of creating color uses the scattering of light of specific wavelengths around tiny, almost perfectly round silicon crystals. This development enables non-fading structural colors that do not depend on the viewing angle and can be printed. The material has a low environmental and biological impact and can be applied extremely thinly, promising significant weight improvements over conventional paints.

Investigators have developed a low-cost, high-throughput device that can reliably generate uniform tumor spheroids. The study describes how to assemble the 'Do-It-Yourself (DIY)' device from parts totaling less than $7, including a coin-vibrating motor commonly found in cell phones.

Investigators have developed a low-cost, high-throughput device that can reliably generate uniform tumor spheroids. The study describes how to assemble the 'Do-It-Yourself (DIY)' device from parts totaling less than $7, including a coin-vibrating motor commonly found in cell phones.

Within the next fifteen years, NASA, China, and SpaceX plan to send the first crewed missions to Mars. In all three cases, these missions are meant to culminate in the creation of surface habitats that will allow for many returns and – quite possibly – permanent human settlements. This presents numerous challenges, one of the greatest of which is the need for plenty of breathable air and propellant. Both can be manufactured through electrolysis, where electromagnetic fields are applied to water (H2O) to create oxygen gas (O2) and liquid hydrogen (LH2).

While Mars has ample deposits of water ice on its surface that make this feasible, existing technological solutions fall short of the reliability and efficiency levels required for space exploration. Fortunately, a team of researchers from Georgia Tech has proposed a “Magnetohydrodynamic Drive for Hydrogen and Oxygen Production in Mars Transfer” that combines multiple functionalities into a system with no moving parts. This system could revolutionize spacecraft propulsion and was selected by NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program for Phase I development.

The proposal comes from Alvaro Romero-Calvo, an assistant professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and his colleagues from the Georgia Tech Research Corporation (GTRC). The system employs a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) electrolytic cell, which relies on electromagnetic fields to accelerate electrically conductive fluid (in this case, water) without any moving parts. This allows the system to extract and separate oxygen and hydrogen gas in microgravity, removing the need for forced water recirculation and the associated equipment (i.e., pumps or centrifuges).

As a specialist in low-gravity science, fluid mechanics, and magnetohydrodynamics, Romero-Calvo and his team have spent many years investigating the applications of MHD systems for spaceflight. The need for a dedicated study to assess the concept’s feasibility and integration into a suitable oxygen production architecture ultimately motivated their proposal. In a previous study, Romero-Calvo and co-author Dr. Katharina Brinkert (a professor of Chemistry at the University of Warwick) noted how water harvested in situ would reduce vehicle launch masses.

However, they also noted that operating this kind of machinery in microgravity presented many unknowns, most of which are not addressed by current research. In particular, they stressed how the absence of buoyancy in microgravity results in major technical challenges, like the need to detach and collect oxygen and hydrogen bubbles, which was traditionally addressed using forced water recirculation loops. However, they argued, this leads to liquid management devices composed of multiple elements and moving parts, which are complex, inefficient, and unreliable in space. As Romero-Calvo explained in a recent Georgia Tech news release:

“The idea of using MHD forces for liquid pumping is explored in the 1990 thriller The Hunt for Red October, where a stealth soviet submarine powered by an MHD drive defects to the United States. Although it’s fun to see Sean Connery playing the role of a Soviet submarine commander, the truth is that submarine MHD propulsion is very inefficient. Our concept, on the contrary, works in the microgravity environment, where the weak MHD force becomes dominant and can lead to mission-enabling capabilities.”

Instead of traditional recirculation loops, the proposed MHD system relies on two distinct mechanisms to separate oxygen and hydrogen from water. The first comes from diamagnetic forces, which arise in the presence of strong magnetic fields and result in a magnetic buoyancy effect. Second, there are Lorentz forces, which are a consequence of the imposition of a magnetic field on the current generated between two electrodes. As Romero-Calvo noted in their proposal paper:

“Both approaches can potentially lead to a new generation of electrolytic cells with minimum or no moving parts, hence enabling human deep space operations with minimum mass and power penalties. Preliminary estimations indicate that the integration of functionalities leads to up to 50% mass budget reductions with respect to the Oxygen Generation Assembly architecture for a 99% reliability level. These values apply to a standard four-crew Mars transfer with 3.36 kg oxygen consumption per day.”

Two CubeSats communicated and then maneuvered toward one another in a recent technology demonstration. Credit: NASA

If successful, this HMD system would enable the recycling of water and oxygen gas in long-term space travel. Romero-Calvo and other colleagues at the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering at Georgia Tech demonstrated in another paper that this technology could also have applications for water-based SmallSat propulsion and other mission profiles where ISRU is a must. At present, Romero-Calvo and his colleagues have formulated the concept and have developed analytical and numeral models.

The next step will involve the team and their partners at Giner Labs (a Massachusetts-based electrochemical R&D firm) conducting feasibility studies. Over the next nine months, they will receive $175,000 to explore the system’s overall viability and technology readiness level. These will consist primarily of computational studies but will include prototypes testing key technologies here on Earth. As a Phase I proposal, they will also be eligible to compete for Phase II funding worth $600,000 for a two-year study.

An early demonstrator of this technology was tested aboard the 24th flight of the New Sheperd (NS-24), an uncrewed mission that launched on December 19th, 2023. With support from Blue Origin and the American Society for Gravitation and Space Research (ASGSR), Romero-Calvo’s team tested how magnets electrolyzer water in microgravity conditions. The data from this flight and the forthcoming tests will inform an HMD electrolyzer prototype and could lead to a system integrated aboard future space missions. Said Romero-Calvo:

“We were studying the fundamental magnetohydrodynamic flow regimes that arise when we apply a magnetic field to water electrolyzers in spaceflight conditions,” Romero-Calvo explained. “The Blue Origin experiment, in combination with our current collaboration with Prof. Katharina Brinkert’s group at the University of Warwick, will help us predict the movement of oxygen bubbles in microgravity and it hints at how we can build a future water electrolyzer for humans.”

Further Reading: NASA, Georgia Tech

The post A Magnetohydrodynamic Drive Could Lead to Fuel Stations on Mars appeared first on Universe Today.

A review of dementia research highlights unequal healthcare outcomes for Black and Hispanic people in the US

Despite the acceptance by biologists of the fact that all animals have only two sexes, and that include humans, people keep insisting that there is a “spectrum of sex”, especially in humans. The “spectrum” assertion is made for purely ideological reasons: to buttress the feelings of those who don’t feel that they are either male or female, including trans people. (The weird thing about the trans issue, however, is that transitions are made between characteristics of one sex, males, and another, females, and vice versa—an implicit admission of a sex binary.

There are other arguments for a human sex “spectrum” based on things like chromosomes and genital configuration, but in the end biological sex is defined by gamete type, as I’ve noted repeatedly. Recognizing biological sex, however, is often done by looking at traits like genitals or chromosome that are usually (but not invariably) correlated with gamete type.

The Definitions: Males have small mobile gametes (sperm) and females large immobile ones (eggs). This definition was not confected to produce some kind of nonexistent binary; rather, it is what biologists observe in nature, and the gamete-based definition not only places nearly everyone (exceptions are roughly, 0.018%, and don’t represent “other sexes,” but rather developmental anomalies), byut also is immensely useful in understanding a lot about biology, like sexual selection.  Luana Maroja and I, in our paper “The ideological subversion of biology“, discuss the sex binary as one of the prime targets of biology ideologues.

But other people, including Colin Wright, Carole Hooven, and Emma Hilton, have spent much more time than Luana and I defending the sex binary and the biological definition of sex—not on political grounds but, well, because the sex binary is not only real, but immensely useful. If we let ideology corrupt biology, it distorts the whole purpose and interpretation of studying nature.

But I’ve said this many times before. Today, being under the weather, I call your attention to two articles and a video confirming and defending the sex binary. The first is by Eve Kurilova at the website The Distance, and I love the title (below).  If you’ve read here, you’ve probably heard about clownfish (viz., Nemo) being used as an example of the “sex spectrum”.  But they’re not. What happens, as we all know by now, is that there are males and females in clownfish, and males can change into females under certain circumstances. Here’s Wikipedia’s explanation:

In a group of anemonefish [clownfish], a strict dominance hierarchy exists. The largest and most aggressive female is found at the top. Only two anemonefish, a male and a female, in a group reproduce – through external fertilization. Anemonefish are protandrous sequential hermaphrodites, meaning they develop into males first, and when they mature, they become females. If the female anemonefish is removed from the group, such as by death, one of the largest and most dominant males becomes a female. The remaining males move up a rank in the hierarchy. Clownfish live in a hierarchy, like hyenas, except smaller and based on size not sex, and order of joining/birth.

Note that the words “male” and “female” are the only ones used. When a dominant female dies, one male, in a process called “sequential hermaphroditism”, turns into the alpha female, changing phenotype and ability to produce gametes. An individual that was a male, producing sperm, now changes its reproductive system to produce eggs, becoming a female. There are still two sexes, but one type can become another.  But even that doesn’t somehow buttress humans of different gender, as it doesn’t show the existence of a sex spectrum. And, as Kurilova says anyway, “humans are not fish”, so even if the clownfish did demonstrate a sex spectrum, producing novel types of gametes (they don’t), it wouldn’t say anything about Homo sapiens.  Click to read:

Kurilova (and Colin Wright) seem to have spent an inordinate amount of time correcting a misguided individual named Ian Copeland, who tweeted (or Xd) this:

Here we go again.  (There’s some question about Copeland’s “Ph.D.” designation, but you can read that in the posts. At any rate, Copeland was corrected but refused to give in. Here are two responses from Zachary Elliott, who works at the Paradox Institute and has written three books on sex and gender as well as produced several videos on biological sex:

Another correction from Colin and one from Heather Heying:

And of course the wag Gad Saad weighs in, asking if Copeland was joking (he wasn’t):

These sex-spectrum addicts are like creationists: when they can’t convince others with data, they invite a “debate”. And so Ian Copeland set up  a nearly three-hour debate with his detractors.You can listen to it by clicking below, but I’m not interested. Colin jumps into the fray from the outset, while Copeland comes off like, well, somebody that’s unhinged:

Kurilova ends her short piece this way:

It’s obvious that this is not an individual to take seriously, and many are recommending not to interact with him to hinder his engagement farming. I am inclined to agree, which is why I limited my own involvement to a couple of subtweets.

But I do feel like the response was very useful to show others how to deal with unscientific claims like the one Copeland was making. As I said, this is probably not the last time we will hear of someone trying to use the sex-changing abilities of fish to spread lies about human biology and call others bigots. The clear and concise rebuttals from people like Colin Wright can serve as an example of how to respond.

So, no, just because fish can change sex, it doesn’t mean that sex isn’t binary. And just because fish can change sex, it doesn’t mean that humans can. Humans are not fish.

But the ever-energetic Colin, who seems to think that Copeland has an open mind, recounts the debate in a post on his website. (Colin must have a masochistic streak!).  Clicl below to reads Colin’s account his own site, Reality’s Last Stand. Click below to read:

I won’t go into the details, but do want to emphasize that Colin refutes Copeland’s claim, which is common, that sex is defined by genes or chromosome constitution. It isn’t, though of course in some groups sex is correlated with genes or chromosome constitution. (Howeveer, in some reptiles sex is determined by temperature but is still defined by gametes.) I’ll quote Colin briefly. As usual, his arguments are clear:

Put plainly, “genetic sex” is not a distinct type of sex at all; it is a convenient term or shorthand to denote that a person or cell contains the sex chromosomes that typically cause a [male/female] to develop. For a geneticist, knowing this about a cell culture might be useful if they are investigating sex differences or wish to control for cellular sex differences as a potential confound in an experiment. Additionally, medical professionals often describe sex in multifaceted terms because examining a person’s chromosomes, hormones, genitals, gonads, and their alignment aids in diagnosing potential issues along this biological chain. The use of terms like “genetic sex,” “hormonal sex,” and “genital sex,” is driven by practicality, not because they represent legitimate, separate types of sex.

“Genetic sex” is not an alternative type of sex. Sex only refers to the type of gamete an organism has the function to produce.

This becomes obvious when we look at other animals, such as turtles, that do not use chromosomes to guide their sex development. In the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas), the sex of their offspring is not determined by a genetic coin flip, but by the thermostat setting. Eggs incubated below 27.7°C develop into males, and eggs incubated above 31°C develop into females.

Discussing humans as “genetically male or female” is as illogical as referring to a turtle’s “incubation temperature sex.” In experiments, it might be convenient to label incubators set below 28°C as “male” and those above 31°C as “female,” but there’s nothing inherently “male” or “female” about these temperatures. We may use terms like “male temperatures” for those under 28°C and “female temperatures” for those over 31°C as shorthand for “temperatures that typically lead to male or female development.” However, a turtle’s sex is ultimately defined by the gamete it produces, not the temperature of its early days in the egg. For instance, if a female turtle popped out of an incubator set below 28°C, we wouldn’t say she has a female “gametic sex” and a male “temperature sex.” She would simply be female, and the researchers would likely be intrigued to learn how she developed at a temperature typically associated with male development.

In a similar vein, the Blue Groper (Achoerodus viridis) is a fish species characterized by males that are blue and females that are brown. In the field, it may be useful for researchers to use color as a quick and accurate proxy when recording a fish’s sex. However, it would be incorrect to claim that Blue Gropers have a “color sex,” as there is nothing inherently “male” about being blue or “female” about being brown.

And he quotes philosopher Paul Griffiths (my bolding)

Like chromosomal definitions of sex, phenotypic definitions are not really ‘definitions’—they are operational criteria for sex determination underpinned by the gametic definition of sex and valid only for one species or group of species.

Copeland won’t give in, and even produced this tweet below. Look at that huge area of overlap, though individuals of indeterminate sex are only 1 in 5600! Plus intersexes are not “third, four, and fifth sexes,” and so on.

Finally, Colin just put up a 35-minute lecture on the nature of the sex binary, refuting arguments like that of Copeland and P. Z. My*rs, who’s gotten on the woke “sex-spectrum” bandwagon but should know better. You can go to Wright’s lecture by clicking Dawkins’s approving tweet below, or see it to Colin’s website here.

The attempt of ideologically motivated individuals to change the biological definition of sex, trying to turn it into a spectrum, is one of the most notable examples of how biology gets corrupted by wokeness. I’m grateful to those like Colin and others who spend much of their time correcting claims of ideologues and educating the public. As for correcting off-the-rails individuals like Copeland, well, that’s like like trying to change the mind of a creationist. It won’t work unless the person has an open mind, and creationists (and “sex spectrum” loons) don’t have open minds: they are all balled up in religion or ideology.

Superbly clear & totally correct lecture by Colin Wright @SwipeWright. There are only 2 sexes & they're defined by gamete size. Convoluted attempts to deny binary sex are like Ptolemaic epicycles.https://t.co/LS3PG54JBi

— Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) January 30, 2024