WHAT IS FRACKING? FACTS ABOUT FRACKING

Hydraulic fracturing, Also Known As Fracking, is a Well stimulation technique in which rock is fractured by a pressurized liquid. The process involves the high-pressure injection of ‘fracking fluid’ (primarily water, containing sand or other proppants suspended with the aid of thickening agents) into a wellbore to create cracks in the deep-rock formations through which natural gas, petroleum, and brine will flow more freely. When the hydraulic pressure is removed from the well, small grains of hydraulic fracturing proppants (either sand or aluminium oxide) hold the fractures op

NASA’s NEIL GEHRELS SWIFT OBSERVATORY TRACKS WATER LOSS FROM INTERSTELLAR COMET 2I/BORISOV

Astronomers using NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory have tracked water loss from 2I/Borisov, the first known interstellar comet to visit our Solar System, as it approached and rounded the Sun. Their findings were published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

COULD A GIANT SPACE UMBRELLA HELP COOL DOWN OUR PLANET?

It’s a radical idea, and it just might just work. Reducing the amount of light reaching our planet could cool the Earth quickly, even with rising carbon dioxide levels. While the asteroid which helped wipe out the dinosaurs blocked out 90% of the Sun’s rays, we would need to divert just 2-4%, it’s believed, to take the Earth back to its pre-industrial climate.

A NEW REPORT FINDS RENEWABLE POWER SOURCES HAVE MADE GAINS AS FOSSIL FUEL USE HAS DECLINED DURING THE PANDEMIC

The precipitous drop in energy use is unparalleled back to the Great Depression of the 1930s. But not all energy sources are suffering equally. Efforts to shift toward renewable energy could be hastened, as fossil fuels, particularly coal and oil, have borne the brunt of the decline. Use of renewable energy meanwhile has risen, thanks to new projects coming online, and the low cost of turning wind turbines or harvesting sunlight.

New Kaleidoscopic Map Details the Geology of the Moon

This animation shows a rotating globe of the new Unified Geologic Map of the Moon with shaded topography from the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA). This geologic map is a synthesis of six Apollo-era regional geologic maps, updated based on data from recent satellite missions. It will serve as a reference for lunar science and future human missions to the Moon. Credit: NASA/GSFC/USGS.

DO YOU KNOW HOW OUR BLOOD VESSELS HEAL THEMSELVES AND ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION HAS THE POTENTIAL TO SAVE MANY LIVES?

A four-week-old human embryo already has miles of blood vessels. By adulthood, we each have 60,000 miles of blood vessels inside our bodies – that’s more than twice the distance around the world. Those vessels keep blood flowing, supplying your tissues with oxygen and nutrients and keeping your organs, including the heart, healthy. In the … Read more

NOVEL PROTEIN PLAYS A KEY ROLE IN THE TRANSDUCTION OF MECHANICAL CUES TO BLOOD VESSELS

Cella and tissues are far from being mere static structures. They have the ability to sense and dynamically react to external cues to ensure that they adapt to the ever-changing outside environment. Now, researchers from the University of Tsukuba have identified a novel protein that plays a central role in the transduction of external mechanical … Read more

RESEARCHERS FIND DEEP-SEA MICROBES THAT FEED ON ETHANE AND THE EXCITING THING IS THAT THE MECHANISM BY WHICH THEY BREAK DOWN ETHANE IS REVERSIBLE

Unlike animals, which only digest proteins, carbohydrates and fats, microorganisms also feed on a variety of other organic compounds. Even natural gas does not stop them. Researchers from Bremen have now discovered a microbe in the deep sea that eats ethane, which, with a share of up to 15%, is the second most common component of natural gas.

USE OF QUANTUM ENTANGLEMENT TO DETECT RADIO FREQUENCIES WITH MORE SENSITIVITY AND ACCURACY THAN EVER, BUT HOW?

Quantum Entanglement

In a new paper published in Physical Review Letters, University of Arizona engineering and optical sciences researchers, in collaboration with engineers from General Dynamics Mission Systems, demonstrate how a combination of two techniques (radio frequency photonics sensing and quantum metrology) can give sensor networks a previously unheard-of level of precision.