22 Oct

Posted at 22:48h in Scoop.it

Here’s the reality: We’re messing up the Earth and any far-out ideas of colonizing another orb when we’re done with our own are wishful thinking. That’s according to Michel Mayor, an astrophysicist who was a co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in physics this year for discovering the first planet orbiting a sun-like star outside of our solar system.

 

"If we are talking about exoplanets, things should be clear: We will not migrate there," he told Agence France-Presse (AFP). He said he felt the need to "kill all the statements that say, ‘OK, we will go to a livable planet if one day life is not possible on Earth.’"

 

Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.livescience.com

16 Oct

Posted at 12:46h in Scoop.it

What is metacognition?

Metacognition, a term that was first defined by John H. Flavell in 1979, is basically thinking about thinking. With metacognition, we become aware of our own learning experiences and the activities we involve ourselves in our paths toward personal and professional growth. We are better able to understand ourselves in the whole process of learning and can develop skills to think about, connect with, and evaluate our learning and interactions each day. But how and why is metacognition important in education?

It has been identified as an essential skill for learner success. Therefore, do we need to design specific lessons focused on metacognition for use in our classrooms each day? And if so, how can we make this happen?

 

Learn more / En savoir plus / Mehr erfahren:

 

https://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?&tag=Metacognition

 

Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.gettingsmart.com

16 Oct

Posted at 12:44h in Scoop.it

Sleep is crucial for our survival, and many diseases are linked to long-term poor sleep quality. Before we can use sleep to enhance our health and performance and alleviate diseases associated with poor sleep, a greater understanding of sleep regulation is necessary. Researchers had identified a while ago a mutation in the β 1-adrenergic receptor gene (ADRB1) in humans who require fewer hours of sleep than most. In vitro, this mutation leads to decreased protein stability and dampened signaling in response to agonist treatment. In vivo, the mice carrying the same mutation demonstrated short sleep behavior. The scientists found that this receptor is highly expressed in the dorsal pons and that these ADRB1 + neurons are active during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and wakefulness. Activating these neurons can lead to wakefulness, and the activity of these neurons is affected by the mutation. These results highlight the important role of β 1-adrenergic receptors in sleep/wake regulation.

 

 

Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.ucsf.edu

16 Oct

Posted at 12:43h in Scoop.it

Farmers have always done their best to maximize yield, whether that be cramming another row of corn onto a field or breeding beefier cattle, but pig farmers in China are really taking things to a new level. As Bloomberg reports, some pig farmers in the country have bred their animals into an almost unrecognizable state, and boy are they big.

 

On a farm owned by a man named Pang Cong, one particularly supersized pig weighs in at over 1,100 pounds, making it bigger than a polar bear. Pork prices are currently high in many parts of China due to an illness that rapidly swept through farms and claimed the lives of countless animals. Now, the farms with healthy pigs are doing their best to meet the demand, and are getting top dollar for their animals as a bonus.

 

 

Sourced through Scoop.it from: bgr.com

15 Oct

Posted at 14:21h in Scoop.it

Professor Michel Mayor and Professor Didier Queloz, both working in Switzerland, were awarded for discovering the first exoplanet orbiting a sun-like star other than our own in 1995. 51 Pegasi b is a gaseous ball similar to Jupiter and was discovered by the professors at the Haute-Provence Observatory in southern France in 1995. Since this initial discovery, over 4,000 exoplanets have been found – 1,900 of which have been confirmed. Professor Queloz and Professor Mayor’s discovery is now regarded as a pivotal moment in astronomy that changed our understanding of our place in the universe. No planet other than those in our own solar system had ever been found before. 

 

 

Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.dailymail.co.uk

15 Oct

Posted at 14:20h in Scoop.it

Quantum computers with the ability to perform complex calculations, encrypt data more securely and more quickly predict the spread of viruses, may be within closer reach thanks to a new discovery by Johns Hopkins researchers.

 

"We’ve found that a certain superconducting material contains special properties that could be the building blocks for technology of the future," says Yufan Li, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Physics & Astronomy at The Johns Hopkins University and the paper’s first author. The findings will be published October 11, 2019, in the journal Science.

 

 

Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.itechpost.com

08 Oct

Posted at 22:25h in Scoop.it

A tapeworm is essentially a very long, parasitic towel with a grappling hook for a head. It attaches itself to the internal organs of its host with its fiendish head spines, and it absorbs nutrients through its tagliatelle-shaped body. Once fastened, it does very little. It has no mouth or gut, no circulatory or respiratory systems. Its sparse nerves culminate in a cluster that could barely be called a brain. And yet, this very simple creature can manipulate the minds of more complex animals—even without infecting them.

 

 

Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.theatlantic.com