Helium Hydride found in space.

We Found the Universe’s First Type of Molecule

For decades, astronomers searched the cosmos for what is thought to be the first kind of molecule to have formed after the Big Bang. Now, it has finally been found. The molecule is called helium hydride. It’s made of a combination of hydrogen and helium. Astronomers think the molecule appeared more than 13 billion years ago and was the beginning step in the evolution of the universe. Only a few kinds of atoms existed when the universe was very young. Over time, the universe transformed from a primordial soup of simple molecules to the complex place it is today — filled with a seemingly infinite number of planets, stars and galaxies. Using SOFIA, the world’s largest airborne observatory, scientists observed newly formed helium hydride in a planetary nebula 3,000 light-years away. It was the first ever detection of the molecule in the modern universe. Learn more about the discovery:

Helium hydride is created when hydrogen and helium combine. 

Since the 1970s, scientists thought planetary nebula NGC 7027—a giant cloud of gas and dust in the constellation Cygnus—had the right environment for helium hydride to exist. 

But space telescopes could not pick out its chemical signal from a medley of molecules. 

Enter SOFIA, the world’s largest flying observatory! 

By pointing the aircraft’s 106-inch telescope at the planetary nebula and using a tool that works like a radio receiver to tune in to the “frequency” of helium hydride, similar to tuning a radio to a favorite station…

…the molecule’s chemical signal came through loud and clear, bringing a decades-long search to a happy end.

The discovery serves as proof that helium hydride can, in fact, exist in space. This confirms a key part of our basic understanding of the chemistry of the early universe, and how it evolved into today’s complexity. SOFIA is a modified Boeing 747SP aircraft that allows astronomers to study the solar system and beyond in ways that are not possible with ground-based telescopes. Find out more about the mission at www.nasa.gov/SOFIA

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#NASA#Science#space#nebula#NASA747#SOFIA

What NASA learned from the twins.

nasa

Two are Better Than One: The NASA Twins Study

What exactly happens to the human body during spaceflight? The Twins Study, a 340-day investigation conducted by NASA’s Human Research Program , sought to find answers. Scientists had an opportunity to see how conditions on the International Space Station translated to changes in gene expression by comparing identical twin astronauts: Scott Kelly who spent close to a year in space and Mark Kelly who remained on Earth. 

The Process

From high above the skies, for almost a year, astronaut Scott Kelly periodically collected his own blood specimens for researchers on the ground during his One-Year Mission aboard the Space Station. These biological specimens made their way down to Earth onboard two separate SpaceX Dragon vehicles. A little bit of Scott returned to Earth each time and was studied by scientists across the United States.

Totaling 183 samples from Scott and his brother, Mark, these vials helped scientists understand the changes Scott’s body underwent while spending a prolonged stay in low Earth orbit.  

The Twins

Because identical twins share the same genetic makeup, they are very similar on a molecular level. Twin studies provide a way for scientists to explore how our health is impacted by the environment around us.

What We Learned: Gene Expression

Micro plastics are in the air we breath today!

There are more plastics in dust than you might think. (Photo: Rajiv Bhuttan/Flickr)

It seems there's nowhere left to run from the scourge of microplastic pollution. A small pilot study recently took microplastic samples from one of Europe's most pristine hideaways, the French Pyrenees mountains, and found as many microplastics in the soil as you might expect from a megacity like Paris, reports NPR.

The culprit? The wind. Researchers now fear that our planet's winds can pick up microplastics from just about anywhere and transport them around the world, sometimes in alarming quantities.

"We'd kind of expected it in a city getting blown around," said Steve Allen from the University of Strathclyde in the U.K., one member of the team. "But way up there? The number is astounding."

Microplastics are fragments smaller than a fifth of an inch that have broken down from larger pieces of plastic. The forces of nature don't distinguish between materials like stones and rocks, and plastics. Wind and waves pound plastics and break them down just the same, whittling them down into dust that can then get swept up by the breeze and into the atmosphere. It's an ongoing environmental concern, as more and more microplastics find their way into our food and air.

The fact that microplastics can be found in large concentrations even in remote places is an indication that this has become a global pollution pandemic.

Steve Allen and his team set up collectors 4,500 feet up in the mountains for five months to trap plastic particles as they fell to Earth. There are only a few small villages within 60 miles of the test site. "We expected to find some," he said. "We didn't expect to find quite as much as we did."

The team found that an average of 365 plastic particles fell on their square meter collector daily. This included fibers from clothing, bits from plastic bags, plastic film and packaging material, among other plastic sources. Many of these materials were small enough to be inhaled without even realizing it. They're in the air, and they're everywhere.

It's a humbling reminder that human pollution has no boundaries or borders. In fact, some geologists suspect that layers of geological strata which contain plastics might one day be the marker of our time.

"We suggest that microplastics can reach and affect remote, sparsely inhabited areas through atmospheric transport," the authors conclude in their article, published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

Related on MNN:

Sea salt contains an alarming amount of microplastics

What is the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch?

ANOTHER GREENPEACE VICTORY!

Christy Ferguson, Greenpeace Canada	Apr 4, 2019, 3:49 PM (8 days ago)
to me

Nelson, Wow! I want to say a huge thank you to the amazing 848 supporters who chipped in with generous donations to meet our first quarter deadline last month.  It was down to the wire and honestly, on Friday I wasn’t sure if we were going to meet our goal. But over the weekend you really stepped up, and we raised an amazing $12,235 thanks to your generous support. Thank you! To show you the incredible impact of everything you do, here are some inspiring good news stories from the past few weeks. Read on…  Court Defeat for Trump Is a Win for the Arctic Trump lost big in court last Friday when a federal judge in Alaska threw out his plan to open up the Arctic Ocean to more oil drilling. The judge ruled that Trump's attempt to overturn permanent protections for nearly all of the Arctic and some of the Atlantic was illegal. This is a major victory and puts another obstacle in the way of oil companies trying to drill for oil in US waters. Greenpeace USA was part of the case, led by attorneys from the Natural Resources Defense Council and Earth Justice. Read more about this legal victory. EU parliament bans single-use plastics The European parliament has voted to ban single-use plastic cutlery, cotton buds, straws and stir sticks as part of a sweeping law against plastic waste. The vote paves the way for a ban on single-use plastics to come into force by 2021 in all EU member states. With more and more whales washing up dead with stomachs full of plastic, this news couldn’t come soon enough. Could Canadian cities and provinces follow suit? We think so. Right now we’re mobilizing supporters in Ontario to speak out in support of a provincial ban on single-use plastics. If you’re in Ontario, please add your voice — or share with your network. New regulation protects vulnerable marine ecosystems in the Norwegian Arctic Three years ago, Greenpeace launched a report investigating the expansion of destructive bottom trawling into pristine areas of the Norwegian Arctic. That same year, our campaign led to an industry commitment to halt the expansion of trawling. Since then, we’ve worked with industry and challenged the lack of regulation. And we won! The new regulation will protect 10 new vulnerable marine ecosystems and limit the expansion of bottom trawling in the Norwegian Arctic. Now we’re calling for a strong global oceans treaty and for at least 30% of our oceans to be protected by 2030. Swamp Creatures Showed Up to a Hearing for Trump's Latest Cabinet Pick A study exposing the dangers posed to wildlife by three widely-used pesticides in the US was blocked from publication by a deputy secretary at the Department of the Interior. Two of the pesticides were found to be so toxic that they “jeopardize the continued existence” of more than 1,200 endangered species. The man that blocked the study, David Bernhardt, is a former oil-industry lawyer and now Trump’s pick for Secretary of the Interior. Trump campaigned on “draining the swamp,” so in a creative (and mischievous!) act of protest, Bernhardt was photobombed by swamp monsters who showed up at his confirmation hearing this week. Our colleagues at Greenpeace USA were behind the masks. The stunt made headlines in Newsweek, USA Today, and MSNBC calling out polluter lobbyists in US halls of power.  I hope these stories made you smile, Nelson. Thank you so much for all the ways you’ve helped make them a reality. Any success we have in standing up for and protecting the planet is only made possible because millions of people around the world -- including you -- are making your voices heard.  Thank you. Christy Executive Director (Interim), Greenpeace Canada

We don't accept any money from companies or governments so we can be independent and challenge anyone who threatens the planet or peace. To help us keep fighting climate change, defending our oceans and protecting ancient forests, please make a regular donation. Thank you! If you no longer want to be in the loop with the latest news from these emails, we'll be sad, but you can unsubscribe here. Greenpeace Canada, 33 Cecil Street, Toronto, ON M5T 1N1 This email was sent to: human4usbillions@gmail.com

WHAT IF THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH YOU?

WOW! A GREAT QUESTION AND JUST WHEN I THOUGHT I WAS BECOMING SENILE!! 

WE HUMANS

Here’s a question to consider: What if there’s nothing wrong with you?

Apr 4, 2019 / Daryl Chen

Jordan Awan

While asking this question won’t change your life, it can help pause your inner critic and create space for possibility, says therapist Susan Henkels.

This post is part of TED’s “How to Be a Better Human” series, each of which contains a piece of helpful advice from someone in the TED community; browse through all the posts here.

Susan Henkels has worked as a psychotherapist for more than 45 years. That means she’s spent decades smiling and nodding, decades handing over tissues at the appropriate moment — and decades hearing people tell her all the things about themselves that need to be fixed.

One day, as she was listening to a patient take her through the “whole list of what was wrong with her,” says Henkels, “I thought in the middle of this litany, ‘What? There’s actually nothing wrong with her.’”

From that moment, she realized there is a surprising power to be found in prompting people to ask themselves, “What if there’s nothing wrong with me?”

This does not mean we’re perfect. For instance, most of us could stand to eat better and sit up straighter. But we can stop spending so much time dwelling on our personal shortcomings and imagining how our lives will be better once we finally — finally! — vanquish them. “We create this whole list of what we think is wrong and then create an entire life around it,” says Henkels, who is based in Flagstaff, Arizona.

In fact, the attributes we think of as problems can be our strengths. Henkels tells this story. She once found herself chatting with a director after a screening at a film festival, and he asked her what she did for a living. She said she was working on a book called What If There Is Nothing Wrong With You?

Henkels recalls, “He looked at me and said, ‘I can tell you right now eight things that are wrong with me.’ So I said, ‘Name one,’ and he said very defiantly and certainly, ‘I have oppositional defiant disorder.’ I said to him, ‘What’s wrong with that?’ He said, ‘Well, I would always defy my parents and teachers.’ I asked, ‘Well, what’s wrong with that?’ ‘I wouldn’t comply with any of the rules at school and I didn’t do anything I was told to do at home. ‘What’s wrong with that?’ He said, ‘Well, I was always in a bad temper, I argued with my parents all the time, I never had any friends, and I loved being alone.’ I said, ‘Well, what’s wrong with that?’ We had several interactions like that, and at some point … he said to me, ‘Hmm, you know, actually I really liked being alone, and I was able to write stories, write film scripts in my head. Come to think of it, oppositional defiant disorder has made me who I am.’”

The next day, “he came up to me and told me: ‘I slept through the night for the first time in years. I wasn’t having to make myself wrong and decide what I should be doing and shouldn’t be doing,’” says Henkels. “He said, ‘You know, I’m going to look at those seven other things that I was so sure were wrong with me.’”

“What if there’s nothing wrong with you?” is about building the skill of acceptance.Acceptance is a core aspect of Buddhism (where it’s known as “equanimity”) and a quality that scientists are beginning to study. In one experiment, researchers at Carnegie-Mellon University found that a mindfulness app that featured acceptance as part of its training reduced the impact of stress on its subjects. In a more recent experiment from the same research team, subjects who used the app showed increased feelings of sociability and decreased feelings of loneliness.

Henkels says this question is about pressing pause on your inner critic and making “a choice to let go of all the ways you’ve made yourself wrong,” as she puts it. To be clear: “What if there’s nothing wrong with me?” is not a magic question. It will not all-caps CHANGE YOUR LIFE. But it can help you create a clearing in the busyness of your mind and life, a space of promise and possibility that is yours to plant and cultivate.

Watch her TEDxSedona talk here:

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Daryl Chen is the Ideas Editor at TED.

• how to be a better human
• psychology
• susan henkels
• TEDx

GENTLE PEOPLE:

   As I grow older I experience a patronizing prejudice I find funny!  Ageism.
Younger people either want to help me across the street or place me in an old person's home.  I turn to my memories to remember if I acted the same way towards those much older than I and the answer is...wait for it....nope! I always respected my elders. I waited for them to ask for my help before I willingly provided them with a helping hand.

 Today, many young people are kind hearted and respectful of older people. They ask how we are feeling and what they can do to help us if we should need them. They are nice people with positive actions towards the elderly but there are also the negative and selfish people! Negative abusers who would gladly take advantage of our frailties. They assume simply by looking at us that we are not as quick or clever as they and therefore can be manipulated and separated from our money or property or both.  For those abusers I create the following short poem.   

 HEY YOU!
ARROGANT YOUTH!
YOU SPIT ON AGE UNTIL ONE DAY
YOU ARE FORCED TO LOOK IN THE MIRROR
TO CLEAN THE SPIT!