CaaC (John)

Greenland Ice Sheet: 'More than 50 hidden lakes' detected By Jonathan Amos BBC Science Correspondent Scientists have identified more than 50 new lakes of liquid water lying under the Greenland Ice Sheet. Only four had previously been detected. Antarctica hides some 470 lakes beneath its ice but this latest UK/US study proves the northern polar region also has its share. They are nothing like as big, however. The largest down south, Lake Vostok, is 250km long. The biggest subglacial lake in Greenland is just 6km long. Extensive areas of water can pool under a kilometres-thick ice sheet for a number of reasons. Pressure from above and geothermal heat from below can maintain a liquid; surface meltwaters will also drain to the bed and collect in hollows. Researchers are interested in finding such lakes because they say something about the hydrology (water network) underlying an ice sheet and the way it moves. Water acts as a lubricant, and as the world warms, modelling how quickly ice might slide towards the ocean will inform projections of future sea-level rise. Greenland's ice would increase global ocean height by 7m if it were all to melt. Jade Bowling from Lancaster University manually inspected 570,000km of ice-penetrating radar data gathered by Nasa's IceBridge programme in Greenland. The US space agency has regularly flown an instrumented plane back and forth across the ice sheet to map its internal layers and the shape of the bedrock. Liquid water has a telltale backscatter pattern in radar data. The PhD student identified 54 candidate lakes in this search. "In contrast to Antarctic subglacial lakes, which are typically clustered around (interior) ice divides, these new Greenlandic lakes are mostly found towards the margin of the ice sheet, under relatively slow-moving ice and are mostly stable," she told BBC News. "They are also much smaller than those in Antarctica (1.4km average length compared to 11km)." As well as the 54 radar lakes, a further two candidates were found by looking for sharp height changes in the new ArcticDEM dataset. This elevation model was built from very high-resolution satellite photos and Ms Bowling sees a couple of places where the ice surface has slumped, presumably because an underlying lake has drained away. "These 'active' lakes that fill and drain, making the ice lift up and down, seem to be rare," said co-author Dr Stephen Livingstone. "But we speculate that the signal of active subglacial lakes near the margin of the ice sheet may actually be being lost because this is where a lot of surface meltwater gets down to the bed. "This water may be flushing out the lakes on a seasonal basis by making very efficient channels. The margins may just be a very dynamic area." In Antarctica, a number of lakes, including Vostok, have been the target for scientific drilling. The thought is that some of the oldest, most stable lakes will hold ancient organisms that have been trapped in place from when the ice sheet formed. The chemistry of the water and the nature of the sediments should also provide valuable insights on past environmental conditions. Prof Martin Siegert at Imperial College London led an effort to try to drill into Antarctica's subglacial Lake Ellsworth. He commented to BBC News: "Since the ice sheet is likely to have changed massively in the last ice age cycle, these Greenlandic lakes are unlikely to be ‘very’ old. Hence, the types of questions you might ask from Lake Vostok/Ellsworth will be different from what you might accomplish by drilling into a Greenland lake. "As the authors say, these are just candidate lakes and more geophysics is needed to determine whether they would be interesting to drill (check for water depth, topographic setting, basal sediment). "So, an analysis on which lakes look best from an exploration perspective seems a logical next step. Then, if the science return looks strong enough, an exploration mission could well follow." Ms Bowling and co-workers have published their analysis of Greenland's subglacial lakes in the journal Nature Communications. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-48773778

Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus ‘has all the ingredients for alien life,’ scientists say Rob Waugh NASA's Cassini spacecraft is shown diving through the plume of Saturn's moon Enceladus, in 2015, in this photo illustration. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. EDITORIAL USE ONLY. Geyser-like plumes of ice which erupt from the surface of Saturn’s moon Enceladus have offered a new hint that life could lurk in the moon’s subsurface ocean. NASA’s Cassini probe sampled a plume of material erupting from Enceladus’s surface - but a new analysis of the material suggests an environment where life could flourish inside the moon. Researchers led by Lucas Fifer of the University of Washington found that the plumes are chemically different from the ocean beneath - changed by their 800mph eruption into space. Video: This Is What Clouds Look Like On Saturn’s Moon (Veuer) It means that the surface of the moon could be much more hospitable to life than previously believed. Fifer said, ‘Those high levels of carbon dioxide also imply a lower and more Earthlike pH level in the ocean of Enceladus than previous studies have shown. This bodes well for possible life. ‘Although there are exceptions, most life on Earth functions best living in or consuming water with near-neutral pH, so similar conditions on Enceladus could be encouraging.” © Provided by Oath Inc. Saturn's ocean-bearing moon Enceladus taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Nov. 27, 2016. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. EDITORIAL USE ONLY. ‘And they make it much easier to compare this strange ocean world to an environment that is more familiar.’ Fifer and his team believe that the moon’s high concentration of ammonium could also offer fuel for life. Fifer said, ‘Though the high concentrations of gases might indicate a lack of living organisms to consume it all that does not necessarily mean Enceladus is devoid of life. It might mean microbes just aren’t abundant enough to consume all the available chemical energy.’ https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/techandscience/saturns-icy-moon-enceladus-has-all-the-ingredients-for-alien-life-scientists-say/ar-AADsKzZ?MSCC=1561601826&ocid=chromentp

Bloody hell, I could not make this one up if I tried, and again, I am glad I don't drive. Driving Instructor Killed After Being Run Over By Woman Taking Test A driving test examiner has been killed after being run over by a 68-year-old woman taking her driving test in Poland, local police have confirmed. The incident took place at around 1.30pm on Monday 24 June in the southern Polish city of Rybnik, with police saying the 35-year-old man was run over while the woman was being tested on a series of manoeuvres. At the time he was struck, police believe the examiner was testing another candidate. The official statement from local police stated that the man sadly died from his injuries, referring to the incident as a 'tragic event'. The statement roughly translates as: "On the manoeuvre square of the Rybnik branch of the Provincial Traffic Center there was a tragic incident. The car, driven by a 68-year-old woman who passed her driving test, knocked off a 35-year-old examiner. "Unfortunately, the man died due to injuries. "The Rybnik investigators, under the supervision of the prosecutor, explain the reasons, course and circumstances of this tragic event." The statement continues: "The event took place around 1.30 pm on the manoeuvre square of the Voivodeship Road Traffic Center at Ekonomiczna Street in Rybnik. "Preliminary findings indicate that a 68-year-old woman who was in the course of taking her driving test was accredited by a 35-year-old examiner. Unfortunately, the man died due to injuries. "During the incident, the man was most likely to examine another person. The reasons, course and circumstances of this tragic event are explained by the Rybnik investigators and the prosecutor's office." Speaking with news channel TVP Info, deputy police commissioner Ryszard Czepczor said that the circumstances of how the incident occurred were still unclear and that unnamed woman was in 'shock' and thus difficult to interview. Czepczor said: "A 68-year-old woman, in circumstances which are unknown at the present time, hit the examiner, who unfortunately as a result of his injuries died at the scene." "When we spoke to the woman she was in a state of shock and because of that speaking to her would be quite difficult." Footage from the TVP Info news report showed the car involved in the accident being loaded onto a truck to be hauled away. The front bumper and number plate can be seen hanging off of the vehicle. https://www.ladbible.com/news/news-driving-instructor-killed-after-being-run-over-by-woman-taking-test-20190626?source=twitter

Aye, I posted such in the Transfer thread, we must have posted at the same time in different threads.

England centre-backs Steph Houghton and Millie Bright are "major doubts" for their Women's World Cup quarter-final against Norway, says boss Phil Neville. Houghton was injured in the Lionesses' 3-0 win over Cameroon in the last 16, while Bright has a bug which Neville said was "going through the camp a little bit". https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/48766811

June 25, 2019 Hubble Finds Tiny “Electric Soccer Balls” in Space, Helps Solve Interstellar Mystery Scientists using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have confirmed the presence of electrically-charged molecules in space shaped like soccer balls, shedding light on the mysterious contents of the interstellar medium (ISM) – the gas and dust that fills interstellar space. This is an artist's concept depicting the presence of buckyballs in space. Buckyballs, which consist of 60 carbon atoms arranged like soccer balls, have been detected in space before by scientists using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The new result is the first time an electrically charged (ionized) version has been found in the interstellar medium. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech Original caption Since stars and planets form from collapsing clouds of gas and dust in space, “The diffuse ISM can be considered as the starting point for the chemical processes that ultimately give rise to planets and life,” said Martin Cordiner of the Catholic University of America, Washington. “So fully identifying its contents provides information on the ingredients available to create stars and planets.” Cordiner, who is stationed at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, is the lead author of a paper on this research published April 22nd in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. The molecules identified by Cordiner and his team are a form of carbon called “Buckminsterfullerene,” also known as “Buckyballs,” which consists of 60 carbon atoms (C60) arranged in a hollow sphere. C60 has been found in some rare cases on Earth in rocks and minerals, and can also turn up in high-temperature combustion soot. C60 has been seen in space before. However, this is the first time an electrically charged (ionized) version has been confirmed to be present in the diffuse ISM. The C60 gets ionized when ultraviolet light from stars tears off an electron from the molecule, giving the C60 a positive charge (C60+). “The diffuse ISM was historically considered too harsh and tenuous an environment for appreciable abundances of large molecules to occur,” said Cordiner. “Prior to the detection of C60, the largest known molecules in space were only 12 atoms in size. Our confirmation of C60+ shows just how complex astrochemistry can get, even in the lowest density, most strongly ultraviolet-irradiated environments in the Galaxy.” Life as we know it is based on carbon-bearing molecules and this discovery shows complex carbon molecules can form and survive in the harsh environment of interstellar space. “In some ways, life can be thought of as the ultimate in chemical complexity,” said Cordiner. “The presence of C60 unequivocally demonstrates a high level of chemical complexity intrinsic to space environments, and points toward a strong likelihood for other extremely complex, carbon-bearing molecules arising spontaneously in space.” Most of the ISM is hydrogen and helium, but it’s spiked with many compounds that haven’t been identified. Since interstellar space is so remote, scientists study how it affects the light from distant stars to identify its contents. As starlight passes through space, elements and compounds in the ISM absorb and block certain colors (wavelengths) of the light. When scientists analyze starlight by separating it into its component colors (spectrum), the colors that have been absorbed appear dim or are absent. Each element or compound has a unique absorption pattern that acts as a fingerprint allowing it to be identified. However, some absorption patterns from the ISM cover a broader range of colors, which appear different from any known atom or molecule on Earth. These absorption patterns are called Diffuse Interstellar Bands (DIBs). Their identity has remained a mystery ever since they were discovered by Mary Lea Heger, who published observations of the first two DIBs in 1922. A DIB can be assigned by finding a precise match with the absorption fingerprint of a substance in the laboratory. However, there are millions of different molecular structures to try, so it would take many lifetimes to test them all. “Today, more than 400 DIBs are known, but (apart from the few newly attributed to C60+), none has been conclusively identified,” said Cordiner. “Together, the appearance of the DIBs indicate the presence of a large amount of carbon-rich molecules in space, some of which may eventually participate in the chemistry that gives rise to life. However, the composition and characteristics of this material will remain unknown until the remaining DIBs are assigned.” Decades of laboratory studies have failed to find a precise match with any DIBs until the work on C60+. In the new work, the team was able to match the absorption pattern seen from C60+ in the laboratory to that from Hubble observations of the ISM, confirming the recently claimed assignment by a team from University of Basel, Switzerland, whose laboratory studies provided the required C60+ comparison data. The big problem for detecting C60+ using conventional, ground-based telescopes, is that atmospheric water vapour blocks the view of the C60+ absorption pattern. However, orbiting above most of the atmosphere in space, the Hubble telescope has a clear, unobstructed view. Nevertheless, they still had to push Hubble far beyond its usual sensitivity limits to stand a chance of detecting the faint fingerprints of C60+. The observed stars were all blue supergiants, located in the plane of our Galaxy, the Milky Way. The Milky Way's interstellar material is primarily located in a relatively flat disk, so lines of sight to stars in the Galactic plane traverse the greatest quantities of interstellar matter, and therefore show the strongest absorption features due to interstellar molecules. The detection of C60+ in the diffuse ISM supports the team’s expectations that very large, carbon-bearing molecules are likely candidates to explain many of the remaining, unidentified DIBs. This suggests that future laboratory efforts measure the absorption patterns of compounds related to C60+, to help identify some of the remaining DIBs. The team is seeking to detect C60+ in more environments to see just how widespread buckyballs are in the Universe. According to Cordiner, based on their observations so far, it seems that C60+ is very widespread in the Galaxy. This work was funded by NASA under a grant from the Space Telescope Science Institute. The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland, conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy in Washington, D.C. NASA is exploring our Solar System and beyond, uncovering worlds, stars, and cosmic mysteries near and far with our powerful fleet of space and ground-based missions. Bill Steigerwald NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland william.a.steigerwald@nasa.gov

Related Slideshow: Best places to see fossils of dinosaurs and other extinct species (Provided by Photo Services) Slides 1/17

Construction Workers Stumbled Upon a 68-Million-Year-Old Triceratops Fossil in Colorado Michele Debczak In May 2019, a construction crew working outside Denver, Colorado uncovered what appeared to be the fossilized remains of a dinosaur. As The Denver Postreports, paleontologists have traced the bones back to triceratops—the three-horned dinosaur that walked the Earth more than 65 million years ago. The construction workers were digging up land in Highlands Ranch near the Wind Crest retirement center when they struck upon the fossils. The partial skeleton they found includes a limb bone and several ribs. After studying the remains, paleontologists from the Denver Museum of Nature & Scienceconfirmed that they once belonged to an adult triceratops. The rock layer containing the fossil was dated 65 million to 68 million years old. Triceratops went extinct 65 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous period—they were among the last dinosaurs alive leading up to the mass extinction event that killed them. After stumbling upon the prehistoric specimen, the construction team and Wind Crest have agreed to allow the museum to fully excavate the site in search of more bones. Meanwhile, the uncovered fossils have been wrapped in burlap and plaster and transported to the Denver museum to be examined further. The exciting find isn't a first for Colorado. Triceratops accounts for most of the fossils found in the state. In 2017, a different construction crew working near Denver discovered a skeleton of the dinosaur that included its skull. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/construction-workers-stumbled-upon-a-68-million-year-old-triceratops-fossil-in-colorado/ar-AADoSpZ

David Silva: Manchester City midfielder to leave the club at end of 2019-20 season Manchester City midfielder David Silva says he will leave the club at the end of the 2019-20 season. The Spaniard, 33, has won four Premier League titles, the FA Cup twice and the League Cup four times since joining the club in 2010, playing 395 times. He featured in 33 Premier League games last term and scored six goals as Pep Guardiola's side retained the title. Asked if he would stay beyond next season, Silva said: "No, this is the last one." He added: "Ten years for me is enough. It's the perfect time for me. "Initially, City were talking about two years, but I decided to sign [for] another one, so I finished at 10 years. "It completes the cycle. It's a nice round figure. I can never see myself playing against City for another team. So 10 years - that's it." https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/48767169

'If the objective of the team is to finish ninth, that's not for me': Jose Mourinho all-but rules himself out of Newcastle job as he talks about his next role Jose Mourinho appears to have ruled himself out of the Newcastle job, claiming he would not join a club that doesn't share the same lofty ambitions. Rafa Benitez walked away from Newcastle after it was revealed he had not signed a new contract and Mourinho since emerged as a candidate for the vacant position. The Spaniard, who had been in talks over a contract extension at Newcastle but became frustrated with progress, wanted the promise of more investment, greater control and an improvement on his £6million-per-year salary. Mourinho is still looking for a new challenge after he was sacked by Manchester United last December. But the Portuguese manager, while not referring specifically to Newcastle, has claimed he would never manage a club that doesn't 'play to win'. In a video recorded before Benitez's shock departure on Tuesday, Mourinho told The Coaches' voice: 'The only thing that I know is what I don't want: I am quite pathological in the sense of I have to play to win. 'Then, if I don't win, then that's my problem and the players and the club and the structure but I need a project where the feeling is I play to win. 'If somebody gives me a wonderful 10-year contract and the objective of the team is to stay in the first half of the table and if you finish seventh, eighth or ninth, it's perfect, then that's not for me. That's my nature. My next (goal) is to fight to win.' Benitez's departure comes as a huge blow to Newcastle fans, who witnessed promotion back to the Premier League in 2017 under the Spaniard. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-7181187/Jose-Mourinho-rules-Newcastle-job-talks-role.html

These monkeys are 3,000 years into their own 'Stone Age' Michael Greshko For capuchin monkeys at Brazil’s Serra da Capivara National Park, tool use is a tradition going back millennia: A new study finds that these primates have used stone tools to process their food for the past 3,000 years, making it the oldest non-human site of its kind outside of Africa. The site, described today in Nature Ecology & Evolution, contains layers of rounded stone cobbles that capuchins in the area produced over time to crack open seeds and nuts. Other non-human tool sites have been documented in and out of Africa; the oldest one known, a chimpanzee site in Côte d'Ivoire, is more than 4,000 years old. But Serra da Capivara’s tools alone show long-term variation, a milestone for archaeology outside the human lineage. There, the stone tools vary in size over time, suggesting that the area’s capuchins may have been adapting their tool use to eat foods of varying hardnesses. MORE

You never know you Chelsea guys, Lamps might turn the job down and..........RAFA signs as the Blues manager..... Hang on, I will get my coat.....

Frank Lampard: Chelsea has given permission to hold talks with Derby manager Chelsea have been given permission to speak to Derby County boss Frank Lampard about their vacant manager's job. Lampard spent 13 years as a Chelsea player and would replace Maurizio Sarri, who has joined Juventus. "With pre-season fast approaching for both clubs it is hoped this will allow Chelsea to swiftly conclude their discussions," said a Derby statement. "The club will make no further comment until it is appropriate to do so." https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/48755457

Nasa puts up deep-space atomic clock Nasa has put a miniaturised atomic clock in orbit that it believes can revolutionise deep-space navigation. About the size of a toaster, the device is said to have 50 times the stability of existing space clocks, such as those flown in GPS satellites. If the technology proves itself over the next year, Nasa will install the clock in future planetary probes. The timepiece was one of 24 separate deployments from a Falcon Heavy rocket that launched from Florida on Tuesday. The other passengers on the flight were largely also demonstrators. They included a small spacecraft to test a new type of "green" rocket fuel, and another platform that aims to propel itself via the pressure of sunlight caught in a large membrane; what's often called a "lightsail". But it is the mercury-ion atomic clock, developed at Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which has had the most attention. Today, deep-space probes are tracked across the Solar System via radio signals. These signals are sent from Earth and are immediately returned by the spacecraft. The very precise time taken for the speed-of-light messages to echo back enables navigators to work out the mission's exact position and to command the necessary course corrections. But if probes carried their own atomic clocks, this two-way system could be reduced to one-way, and the missions' onboard computers would then make all the necessary navigational calculations. The atomic clocks currently used on Earth for deep-space navigation are refrigerator-sized. JPL's engineers have shrunk this down to something that can easily be accommodated on a spacecraft. Deputy principal investigator Jill Seubert said "self-driving spacecraft" were one of the top technologies needed to put humans on Mars. "Autonomous onboard navigation means that a spacecraft can perform its own navigation in real-time without waiting for directions to be sent from navigators back here on Earth. And with this capability, a human-crewed spacecraft can be delivered safely to a landing site with less uncertainty in their path," she told reporters. Don Cornwell, from Nasa's Space Communications and Navigation Program, added: "Of course, for a spacecraft travelling well beyond Earth orbit, the smallest clock inaccuracies can lead to large navigational errors. But [the new clock] has a high degree of clock stability, meaning it can maintain its accuracy over many years. "The deep space atomic clock's design should gain or lose less than 2 nanoseconds per day, or an error of one second in nine million years." The development of the spacecraft chassis, or bus, that is carrying the clock was begun by the British manufacturer Surrey Satellite Technology Limited at its US division, which was then later sold to the American General Atomics company. Surrey itself had an interest in six other spacecraft launched on Monday's Falcon Heavy. The UK firm assembled this sextet of platforms to be part of a constellation known as FORMOSAT-7. It is a joint US-Taiwanese initiative to monitor the weather by interrogating the way radio signals from GPS satellites are affected as they pass through the atmosphere. Tuesday was the third time a Falcon Heavy had flown. The rocket is essentially three Falcon-9 rockets strapped together. As is customary now for the rocket operator SpaceX, the three boosters were commanded to come back to Earth under control once they had finished the job of sending the multi-satellite mission on its way. Two of the boosters successfully landed back at Cape Canaveral. The third just missed its touchdown target on a drone ship out in the Atlantic. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-48755909

Robbie Fowler's Brisbane Roar sign Tom Aldred, Aaron Amadi-Holloway & Macaulay Gillesphey Robbie Fowler's Brisbane Roar have signed Shrewsbury striker Aaron Amadi-Holloway, Bury defender Tom Aldred and Carlisle's Macaulay Gillesphey. Aldred, 28, spent the past 18 months on loan at Scottish side Motherwell and left League One Bury this summer. Welshman Amadi-Holloway, 26, scored three goals for Shrewsbury last season and joins the Australian side for an undisclosed fee. Centre-back Gillesphey, 23, played 30 times for Carlisle in 2018-19. "It was an opportunity I couldn't say no to, being coached by one of the best Premiership strikers in his time," said former Oldham and Wycombe man Amadi-Holloway. Former Liverpool striker Fowler, 44, has been in charge of A-League side Brisbane since April. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/48756470

TRANSFER DEALS UPDATES (Last updated: 6 September) All transfer fees are undisclosed unless otherwise stated

Newcastle United are set to hold last-ditch talks in an attempt to persuade Rafael Benitez to extend his contract as manager. The 59-year-old, whose contract expires at the end of June, has reportedly been offered a job in China. (Evening Chronicle)

Light rain they say (Met) with a moderate breeze, it's bloody pissing down

As per what @Stan said, I was in the middle of typing the answer but Stan beat me to it and his reply popped up first lol. You also have a follow rule on but just look at this link below and you might understand Cricket a lot better, even I can get lost especially with the follow on rule. A beginners guide to Cricket What is the follow-on rule in cricket?