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#1
Science / Re: Not science as such but . ...
Last post by Icarus - Today at 05:38:57 AMThe propensity to outsmart ourselves seems to be a human trait.
Confucious say: We are prisoners of our own perceptions
He also said: woman who fly airplane upside down have crack up
Confucious say: We are prisoners of our own perceptions
He also said: woman who fly airplane upside down have crack up
#2
Science / Re: Re: How Life May Have Firs...
Last post by Recusant - Today at 04:12:08 AMThis isn't panspermia per se, and we already knew there are some amino acids in space, but peptides forming in space is something new I think. 
"Life's chemistry may begin in the cold darkness of space" | Science Daily
The paper is behind a paywall.
"Life's chemistry may begin in the cold darkness of space" | Science Daily
QuoteScientists at Aarhus University have overturned a long-standing assumption about how life's essential ingredients emerge. New experiments show that the basic components needed to build proteins can form naturally in space, a finding that increases the likelihood that life could exist elsewhere in the universe.
Peptides are short chains made when individual amino acids link together. When many peptides bond, they form proteins, which are essential for life as we know it. Identifying where and how these protein precursors originate is a key step in understanding how life might begin.
To test this process, the researchers placed glycine inside the chamber and exposed it to simulated cosmic rays using an ion accelerator at HUN-REN Atomki. They then analyzed the chemical reactions that followed.
"We saw that the glycine molecules started reacting with each other to form peptides and water. This indicates that the same process occurs in interstellar space," Alfred Thomas Hopkinson says. "This is a step toward proteins being created on dust particles, the same materials that later form rocky planets."
The research was carried out at advanced laboratories at Aarhus University and at a European research facility in Hungary (HUN-REN Atomki). The experiments were led by researchers Sergio Ioppolo and Alfred Thomas Hopkinson.
Inside a specially designed chamber, the researchers recreated the harsh environment found in vast clouds of cosmic dust located thousands of light-years from Earth. These regions are among the coldest and emptiest places in the universe.
Temperatures in such dust clouds reach about -260°C, and pressure is so low that researchers must constantly remove stray gas particles to maintain an ultra-high vacuum. Under these carefully controlled conditions, the team studied how particles behave when exposed to radiation, closely matching what happens in real interstellar space.
"We already know from earlier experiments that simple amino acids, like glycine, form in interstellar space. But we were interested in discovering if more complex molecules, like peptides, form naturally on the surface of dust grains before those take part in the formation of stars and planets," Sergio Ioppolo says.
[Continues . . .]
The paper is behind a paywall.
QuoteAbstract:
The origin of the molecular building blocks of life is a central question in science. A few α-amino acids, such as glycine, the simplest proteinogenic amino acid, have been detected in meteorites and comets, indicating an extraterrestrial origin for some prebiotic molecules. However, the formation of peptides, short chains of α-amino acids linked by peptide bonds, has remained unresolved under astrophysical conditions.
Here we show that the building blocks of proteins can form in interstellar ice analogues exposed to ionizing radiation without the presence of liquid water. Using isotopically labelled glycine irradiated with protons at cryogenic temperatures, we detect the formation of glycylglycine, the simplest dipeptide, along with deuterated and undeuterated water as by-products. The formation of peptide bonds is confirmed by infrared spectroscopy and high-resolution mass spectrometry, which also reveal the production of other complex organic species.
These findings demonstrate a non-aqueous route to peptide formation under space-like conditions and suggest that such molecules could form in the cold interstellar medium and be incorporated into forming planetary systems. Our results challenge aqueous-centric models of early biochemical evolution and broaden potential settings for the origins of life.
#3
Politics / Re: Duke of Bullshit: "The" Do...
Last post by billy rubin - January 22, 2026, 04:25:39 PMamazing, isnt it?
im waiting for the amendment that a;llows oligarchs to purchase a full voting membership independently of any political state.
im waiting for the amendment that a;llows oligarchs to purchase a full voting membership independently of any political state.
#4
Politics / Re: Duke of Bullshit: "The" Do...
Last post by Recusant - January 22, 2026, 06:40:38 AMAs mentioned by Ecurb Noselrub above, some brilliant advisor has given Trump a plan to circumvent the United Nations with an organization ruled by Trump, regardless of whether he's president of the US or not. He will have final say in all decisions, and gets to anoint his successor. It's only $1 billion to buy in, do it now before the price goes up!
QuoteThe full text of a charter for President Donald Trump's proposed Board of Peace sounds suspiciously like plans to make himself "king of the world," according to a political theorist.
A charter was sent out with invitations to dozens of world leaders, asking them to join the U.S. president on a panel to oversee the postwar management of Gaza, but the full text, obtained by The Times of Israel, conspicuously does not mention Gaza.
"So, the 'Board of Peace' [sic] not only doesn't mention Gaza in particular; it proposes to make Donald Trump in particular (not the president of the United States) king of the world," said Jacob T. Levy, a political theory professor at McGill University.
Levy dug into the full text of the charter and analyzed its rules, which he believes sketch out a plan to make the 79-year-old former reality TV star the ruler of the global conglomerate and then pass that title down to one of his heirs.
"Membership is subject to a 3-year term limit unless the member state either pays a billion-dollar bribe or the Chairman — entirely unilaterally — decides to extend it," Levy wrote. "The Chairman may choose to *terminate* a member state's membership (even if it has paid!), which requires a 2/3 vote to override."
Decisions shall be made by a majority of the member states that are present and voting, but subject to the approval of the chairman, and Levy dismissed that arrangement as absurd.
"That's not how collective decision-making works," Levy wrote. "That's a curia regis or the medieval privy council."
Trump himself shall serve as inaugural chairman, according to the charter, and the chairman shall at all times designate his own successor.
"So Don Jr will still be in charge even if Kamala Harris wins the presidency in a landslide in 2028," Levy wrote.
"Indeed, at that point the membership of the United States is subject to the same whims of the Chairman," he added. Assuming the thing goes into force sometime soon, the US' initial three-year term will expire right about the time the next president is inaugurated... so Chairman Don Jr can either demand that President Harris pay the billion-dollar bribe or else terminate the US' membership entirely."
[source]
#5
Politics / Re: Duke of Bullshit: "The" Do...
Last post by zorkan - January 21, 2026, 02:49:11 PMTrump now says he won't use force to acquire Greenland.
Strange, I thought he had implied he would send in the military.
"The first casualty of war is the truth."
Attributed to ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus, the saying highlights how war thrives on illusion, with words becoming weapons and facts becoming flexible to sway public opinion, even while the actual truth perseveres in quiet corners.
Strange, I thought he had implied he would send in the military.
"The first casualty of war is the truth."
Attributed to ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus, the saying highlights how war thrives on illusion, with words becoming weapons and facts becoming flexible to sway public opinion, even while the actual truth perseveres in quiet corners.
#6
Politics / Re: Duke of Bullshit: "The" Do...
Last post by billy rubin - January 21, 2026, 12:08:41 AMbruce, how have the other texans not started burning crosses in your front yard?
#7
Politics / Re: Duke of Bullshit: "The" Do...
Last post by Ecurb Noselrub - January 20, 2026, 09:57:10 PMOn behalf of the entire USA, I apologize to the world. I didn't vote for Trump, but I live in a society that did and thinks he is great. I don't understand my fellow citizens. I can only attribute it to ignorance.
#8
Politics / Re: Duke of Bullshit: "The" Do...
Last post by Dark Lightning - January 20, 2026, 07:09:26 PM^ This is, unfortunately, true.
#9
Politics / Re: Duke of Bullshit: "The" Do...
Last post by billy rubin - January 20, 2026, 06:19:15 PMi agree, hes bonkers.
but the 25th amendment must be invoked by vance and trumps cabinet.
theyre happy with what hes doing
but the 25th amendment must be invoked by vance and trumps cabinet.
theyre happy with what hes doing
#10
Politics / Re: Duke of Bullshit: "The" Do...
Last post by Dark Lightning - January 20, 2026, 05:31:27 PMIt won't happen, but he should be removed from office via the 25th Amendment. He's proven that he's bat-shit crazy.