Nature & Science Thread

[Skyefire]

Last I heard the death count is over 40. In Eastern Tennessee/Western North Carolina one portion of I-40 has been washed away. In Newport, TN, parts of the town have been evacuated because of a dam breach.

 

[Chris]

I know records only go back give or take 100 for anything decently reported, but this is by far the strongest a hurricane has ever went this far inland right? Pretty terrifying, the one solace everyone always has is the places usually hit by them are at least attempted to be built to withstand

 

[Chris]

American duo win Nobel Prize for Medicine for pioneering gene discovery

Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun discovered microRNA, which the Nobel Assembly describes as “a fundamental principle governing how gene activity is regulated.”

www.nbcnews.com

Two American scientists were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine or Physiology on Monday for their groundbreaking work on how genes behave.

Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun discovered microRNA, which the Nobel Assembly describes as "a fundamental principle governing how gene activity is regulated."

The tiny microRNA molecules play a crucial role in determining how different cells — which have the same chromosomes, essentially their instruction manual — have different characteristics.

 

[Chris]

Milton strengthens into Category 4 hurricane, triggers storm surge warnings for Florida's Gulf Coast

The storm, forecast to make landfall Wednesday evening in Florida, is now a Category 4 storm with sustained wind speeds of 150 mph.

www.nbcnews.com

Life-threatening storm surges are expected to hit Florida's Gulf Coast this week with the arrival of Hurricane Milton, which was upgraded early Monday into a Category 4 hurricane over the southern Gulf of Mexico.

The storm first strengthened into a Category 3 hurricane by 7 a.m. and by 9 a.m. ET rapidly intensified into a Category 4, the National Hurricane Center said.

 

[Grimoire Lenin]

 

[Chris]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2024/10/08/nobel-prize-physics/

Winners​

John Hopfield, Princeton University, and Geoffrey Hinton, the University of Toronto.

Discovery​

“For foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks.”

Machine learning refers to the development of computer systems that can learn and adapt without being given explicit instructions. The laureates figured out how to create systems that process data similar to how the brain processes information. Their work has found applications across fields, including astrophysics, medical diagnostics and climate modeling.

 

[Chris]

Hurricane Milton intensifies again, on cusp of a Category 5: Live updates

President Joe Biden warned that Milton could be one of the worst storms to hit Florida in a century and urged residents to leave “now, now, now.”

www.usatoday.com

TAMPA, Fla. − Already powerful Hurricane Milton was again gaining strength Tuesday and could double in size before slamming into west-central Florida as what could be one of the "most destructive hurricanes on record" late Wednesday.

The National Hurricane Center issued the warning Tuesday, saying damaging winds, life-threatening storm surge and heavy rainfall will extend well outside the forecast cone. Hurricane warning maps show Florida blanketed in red and orange alerts.

"Air Force reserve hurricane hunters find that Milton's intensity has rebounded," the hurricane center said in an advisory Tuesday afternoon.

Milton had undergone stunningly rapid intensification Monday, its sustained winds reaching 180 mph. By Tuesday the wind speed dropped dramatically although still a fierce Category 4 storm. It climbed back to 155 Tuesday afternoon, just below Category 5 status. Fluctuations were expected as the storm closes in on Florida, said John Cangialosi, a specialist with the National Hurricane Center.

Gov. Ron DeSantis told state residents in the path of Milton that "time is running out" before landfall, likely as a Category 3 storm. More than 1 million people were under evacuation orders in at least 16 counties, and both numbers were expected to climb as Milton draws closer to a coastline still recovering from Hurricane Helene's strike less than two weeks ago.

 

[Chris]

Nobel Prize in Chemistry Goes to 3 Scientists for Predicting and Creating Proteins

The Nobel, awarded to David Baker of the University of Washington and Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper of Google DeepMind, is the second this week to involve artificial intelligence.

www.nytimes.com

Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper were part of a Google DeepMind team whose A.I. technology predicts protein shapes. The University of Washington’s David Baker designed “a new protein that was unlike any other,” the Nobel committee said.​

 

[Chris]

 

[Grimoire Lenin]

That's very good news that it downgraded that far.

 

[Grimoire Lenin]

For anyone interested in other historically wild weather events.

 

[Wang Chung]

For anyone interested in other historically wild weather events.

I was in college and a week before I graduated in 1999 the original Tornado that wiped out Moore I sat through. It was a half mile from my apartment that I was in. It was devastating to see. That one changed the scale originally and then another followed the same path later.

 

[Grimoire Lenin]

I was in college and a week before I graduated in 1999 the original Tornado that wiped out Moore I sat through. It was a half mile from my apartment that I was in. It was devastating to see. That one changed the scale originally and then another followed the same path later.

Both the 1999 and 2013 Moore Tornadoes are also the last recorded (E)F5 tornadoes on earth, as this video talks about. The 1999 tornado was so terrifying that it brought about the very first "Tornado Emergency" NWS alerts.

That should put into perspective how rare and just how destructive an EF5 is.

 

[Wang Chung]

I witnessed the 99 one it was on the ground for 90 minutes. They found a baby in a tree alive still wrapped in its blankets.

 

[Grimoire Lenin]

Here in Minnesota the closest one we had to my location was the 1998 Comfrey-St. Peter Tornado.

Comfrey is 16 miles from where I live. The tornado destroyed the entire town. Comfrey still hasn't returned to its pre-tornado population. The tornado sirens went off less than a minute before the town was hit.