(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Overnight News Digest - Saturday Science - solar batteries, language, planting trees, unsafe pyrex [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-12-16 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: Energy storage using inexpensive tin and graphite instead of lithium Time & space perception based on one’s native language Large mammal extinction linked to human behavior more than to climate change Discovery changes perception of Native Americans Stop planting trees Tesla claims a Powerwall combined with solar is cheaper than a traditional generator The difference between PYREX ® and pyrex and pyrex How do brain waves function at the end of life? New Atlas by Loz Blain White-hot thermal grid battery aims to decimate lithium on price Fourth Power says its ultra-high temperature "sun in a box" energy storage tech is more than 10X cheaper than lithium-ion batteries, and vastly more powerful and efficient than any other thermal battery. It's hoping to prove it with a 1-MWh prototype. As a grid-level energy storage solution, Fourth aims to compete with big lithium battery arrays in the short-duration 5-10 hour range – basically storing excess solar energy during the heat of the day for use in the evening and at night when generation drops off. But the company says it's also relevant up to the 100-hour stage, which would cover the "several days of bad weather and poor renewable generation" case. IFL Science by Tom Hale Your Perception Of Time And Space Is Radically Altered By The Language You Speak Picture a flow diagram of a human aging through numerous stages of their life, from baby to toddler then child and teen to adult and elderly person. Chances are, you imagined the youngest person on the left and the eldest on the right. This might seem like the “natural” way to order things, but not everyone will necessarily agree with you. Some studies have shown that people who use a written system arranged from left to right – like English and many other languages – tend to lay out time as proceeding from left to right when thinking abstractly, while people who read text arranged from right to left – like Arabic, Hebrew, and others – arrange time from right to left. Likewise, some researchers have argued that people who read vertical writing in East Asian scripts can often imagine time to flow downwards vertically, although you’ll find some researchers who argue this isn’t strictly true. PHYS.org by Aarhus University People, not the climate, found to have caused the decline of the giant mammals For years, scientists have debated whether humans or the climate have caused the population of large mammals to decline dramatically over the past several thousand years. A new study from Aarhus University confirms that climate cannot be the explanation. About 100,000 years ago, the first modern humans migrated out of Africa in large numbers. They were eminent at adapting to new habitats, and they settled in virtually every kind of landscape—from deserts to jungles to the icy taiga in the far north. Part of the success was human's ability to hunt large animals. With clever hunting techniques and specially built weapons, they perfected the art of killing even the most dangerous mammals. But unfortunately, the great success of our ancestors came at the expense of the other large mammals. Greek Reporter by Nisha Zahid New Discovery Changes Perception of Native Americans In a groundbreaking discovery, a group of Kraków-based archaeologists has unearthed remarkable findings in Colorado, reshaping our understanding of the Native Americans who once lived there. Under the guidance of Professor Radosław Palonka from Jagiellonian University in Poland, the team revealed a collection of petroglyphs and intricate carvings on rocks. These carvings showcase elaborate designs, spirals, and geometric shapes. While most of these carvings are believed to originate from the 12th and 13th centuries, the oldest ones are suspected to date back to the third century, known as the Age of the Basket Weavers. WIRED by Alec Lunn Stop Planting Trees, Says Guy Who Inspired World to Plant a Trillion Trees In a cavernous theater lit up with the green shapes of camels and palms at COP28 in Dubai, ecologist Thomas Crowther, former chief scientific adviser for the United Nations’ Trillion Trees Campaign, was doing something he never would have expected a few years ago: begging environmental ministers to stop planting so many trees. Mass plantations are not the environmental solution they’re purported to be, Crowther argued when he took the floor on December 9 for one of the summit’s “Nature Day” events. The potential of newly created forests to draw down carbon is often overstated. They can be harmful to biodiversity. Above all, they are really damaging when used, as they often are, as avoidance offsets— “as an excuse to avoid cutting emissions,” Crowther said. Electrek by Fred Lambert Tesla claims Powerwall with solar is cheaper than a backup generator Tesla has released a new comparison report claiming Powerwall with solar is cheaper than a traditional backup generator. For years now, Tesla has enjoyed a giant backlog of Powerwall orders, but now that production has ramped up, the automaker has worked through most of that backlog, and it has to start generating more demand for the home energy storage product. Tesla has now released a new report that compares Powerwalls as a backup system to backup generators. The company claims that when combining a Powerwall with solar, the backup system is cheaper than a traditional generator: Popular Mechanics by Manasee Wagh Worried About Your Pyrex Exploding? Check If It Has This Special Ingredient I clearly remember the very last time I used one of my large pyrex baking dishes. I was making a chicken dish, but had forgotten to add enough liquid to the pan. I took the hot pan out of the oven, and poured some cold chicken stock from the fridge into it. That’s when my pyrex baking dish shattered. Three or four large segments lay on the stove, mingled with the now ruined chicken. While I was shocked, I realized what my mistake was—the glass was simply too hot to bear the sudden temperature change. But it made me wonder: wasn’t pyrex supposed to perform more reliably under just these kinds of temperature fluctuations? When I started googling, I found that people have been complaining about their pyrex cookware exploding for years. Perhaps people just weren’t reading the instructions. Then, I stumbled across a possible answer: there’s pyrex, and then there’s PYREX®. Neuroscience News source: Paris Brain Institute Tracking Brain’s “Wave of Death”: New Insights into Neural End-of-Life Researchers have made significant strides in understanding the neurological process of dying. Their study reveals that during anoxia, or oxygen deprivation, the brain undergoes a series of changes, including a massive release of glutamate and a surge in gamma and beta waves, potentially linked to near-death experiences. This is followed by a ‘wave of death’ – a high-amplitude wave marking the transition towards total cessation of brain activity. The study, focusing on rats, found that this wave originates in the neocortex’s layer 5 pyramidal neurons and can potentially be reversed under certain conditions, offering new insights into preserving brain function during resuscitation. 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. 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