Welcome to Overnight News Digest- Saturday Science. Since 2007 the OND has been a regular community feature on Daily Kos, consisting of science stories from around the world, sometimes coupled with a daily theme, original research or commentary. Editors of OND impart their own presentation styles and content choices, typically publishing each day near 12:00 AM Eastern Time.
Topics in this edition include:
- Oil industry is writing executive orders for potential Republican president
- Don’t fall for “climate-friendly” beef
- One alternative food could increase life expectancy
- Is millionaires’ quest for anti-aging strategies real?
- A 19x energy storage jump in capacitors may signal better batteries
- Melting arctic permafrost called ‘Gateway to Hell’
- MIRA I prototype crashed on takeoff
- Archeologists solve the mystery origin of the Stonehenge stones
Politico
by Ben Lefebre
‘A little bold and gross’: Oil industry writes executive orders for Trump to sign
The U.S. oil industry is drawing up ready-to-sign executive orders for Donald Trump aimed at pushing natural gas exports, cutting drilling costs and increasing offshore oil leases in case he wins a second term, according to energy executives with direct knowledge of the work.
The effort stems from the industry’s skepticism that the Trump campaign will be able to focus on energy issues as Election Day draws closer — and worries that the former president is too distracted to prepare a quick reversal of the Biden administration’s green policies. Oil executives also worry that a second Trump administration won’t attract staff skillful enough to roll back President Joe Biden’s regulations or craft new ones favoring the industry, these people added.
[…]
The initiative is just one example of the efforts underway from multiple advocacy groups with strong policy agendas — including abortion-rights opponents — to fill in the gaps for Trump’s potential return to the White House.
Vox
by Kenny Torrella
“Climate-friendly” beef could land in a meat aisle near you. Don’t fall for it.
One species accounts for around 10 percent of all global greenhouse gas emissions: the cow.
Every few months, like clockwork, environmental scientists publish a new report on how we can’t limit planetary warming if people in rich countries don’t eat fewer cows and other animals. But meat giant Tyson Foods, in conjunction with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), has a different solution: “climate-friendly” beef.
Tyson claims that its “Climate-Smart Beef” program, launched last year and supported with taxpayer dollars, has managed to cut 10 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions from a tiny fraction of its cattle herd. Those cattle are then slaughtered and sold under the company’s Brazen Beef brand with a USDA-approved “climate-friendly” label, which is now for sale in limited quantities but could soon land in your local supermarket’s meat aisle.
It sounds nice — Americans could continue to eat nearly 60 pounds of beef annually while the world burns. But it’s just the latest salvo in the meat industry’s escalating war against climate science, and its campaign to greenwash its way out of the fight for a livable planet.
Then what shall we eat? I’m glad you asked!
The Cool Down
by Kristen Lawrence
Study shows replacing single food from your diet with alternative could increase your life expectancy: 'Considerable benefits for health'
While meat is a staple in many people's diets worldwide, new research shows that replacing red and processed meats with plant-based alternatives could help you live longer.
As SciTechDaily reported, a joint study by McGill University and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine found that substituting plant proteins for even half of a person's red or processed meat intake could extend their lifespan by nearly nine months.
The team attributed the life expectancy boost to a lower risk of chronic diseases. Furthermore, they found that switching to a plant-based or plant-forward diet would benefit men more, with double the gain in life expectancy compared to women.
Vox
by Jacob Sweet
The real science behind the billionaire pursuit of immortality
Jonathan An tries to ignore the hype about new life-extension treatments, but it’s caught up to him anyway.
He has heard the gospel of the longevity influencers, including that one multimillionaire who has been on a media campaign for months claiming that the 111 pills he takes each day will help him live forever. An, an assistant professor of oral sciences at the University of Washington, doesn’t buy it. But he recently found himself inadvertently ensnared by the fervor around anti-aging — thanks to his mice.
Popular Mechanics
by Tim Newcomb
A Staggering 19x Energy Jump in Capacitors May Be the Beginning of the End for Batteries
A battery’s best friend is a capacitor. Powering everything from smartphones to electric vehicles, capacitors store energy from a battery in the form of an electrical charge and enable ultrafast charging and discharging. However, their Achilles’ heel has always been their limited energy storage efficiency.
Now, Washington University in St. Louis researchers have unveiled a groundbreaking capacitor design that looks like it could overcome those energy storage challenges.
In a study published in Science, lead author Sang-Hoon Bae, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering and materials science, demonstrates a novel heterostructure that curbs energy loss, enabling capacitors to store more energy and charge rapidly without sacrificing durability.
New Atlas
by Bronwyn Thompson
Earth's 'Gateway to Hell' is growing by 35 million cubic feet each year
Whether you're a John Carpenter fan or a biology enthusiast, you shouldn't need much convincing to know that the melting of subterranean permafrost at the poles is not a good thing. Last year, scientists gave us one more thing to lose sleep over, reviving a 48,500-year-old 'zombie virus' unearthed from Arctic permafrost – and it was not the first time. It's one more sting in the tail of climate change – the threat of ancient diseases that have lain frozen and dormant for millennia.
Now, new research has detailed the rate at which Siberia's massive Batagaika crater is devouring the surface of the Earth, expanding at a rate of 35 million cubic feet each year. Currently, it measures around 1 km (0.6 mi) long and 800 m (0.5 mi) across at its widest point. And it's speeding up.
New Atlas
by Joe Sabas
Groundbreaking spaceplane crashes before landmark aerospike rocket test
It was set to be the world's first flight test for an aerospike rocket engine, but the MIRA I prototype crashed on takeoff before the most innovative part of its propulsion system could fire. Undeterred, Polaris is building two bigger prototypes.
The MIRA I, from German aerospace startup Polaris Raumflugzeuge, was traveling at approximately 105 mph (169 km/h) during takeoff when a "landing gear steering reaction" plus a side wind caused a "hard landing event," rendering the space plane inoperable and it's fiberglass airframe damaged beyond repair.
Its subsystems remained mostly intact – however, rather than attempt to repair the prototype spaceplane, Polaris has opted to decommission the 4.25-meter (13.9-ft) long MIRA I to go ahead with the identically shaped 5 m (16 ft) MIRA II and III design. Basically larger copies of the MIRA I.
The Brighter Side
by Joseph Shavit
Archaeologists solve the 4,500 year-old mystery of Stonehenge’s colossal stones
In a groundbreaking discovery chronicled in the prestigious journal Science Direct, a team of researchers led by geomorphologist Professor David Nash has unraveled the centuries-old mystery of Stonehenge's colossal sarsen stones.
These massive stones, each typically weighing an astonishing 20 tonnes and soaring up to 7 meters in height, have long shrouded their origins in enigma. Now, thanks to modern scientific techniques and a serendipitous return of a core drilled from Stonehenge's 'Stone 58' during repair work in the 1950s, the veil of uncertainty has been lifted.
This is an open thread where everyone is welcome, especially night owls and early birds, to share and discuss the science news of the day. Please share your articles and stories in the comments.