Unique Object Puzzles Astronomers

A team mapping radio waves in the Universe has discovered something unusual that releases a giant burst of energy three times an hour, and it's unlike anything astronomers have seen before.

Source:  International Center for Radio Astronomy Research

January 27, 2022 -- Spinning around in space, the strange object sends out a beam of radiation that crosses our line of sight, and for a minute in every twenty, is one of the brightest radio sources in the sky.

A team mapping radio waves in the Universe has discovered something unusual that releases a giant burst of energy three times an hour, and it's unlike anything astronomers have seen before.

The team who discovered it think it could be a neutron star or a white dwarf -- collapsed cores of stars -- with an ultra-powerful magnetic field.

Spinning around in space, the strange object sends out a beam of radiation that crosses our line of sight, and for a minute in every twenty, is one of the brightest radio sources in the sky.

Astrophysicist Dr Natasha Hurley-Walker, from the Curtin University node of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, led the team that made the discovery.

"This object was appearing and disappearing over a few hours during our observations," she said.

"That was completely unexpected. It was kind of spooky for an astronomer because there's nothing known in the sky that does that.

"And it's really quite close to us -- about 4000 lightyears away. It's in our galactic backyard."

The object was discovered by Curtin University Honours student Tyrone O'Doherty using the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) telescope in outback Western Australia and a new technique he developed.

"It's exciting that the source I identified last year has turned out to be such a peculiar object," said Mr O'Doherty, who is now studying for a PhD at Curtin.

"The MWA's wide field of view and extreme sensitivity are perfect for surveying the entire sky and detecting the unexpected."

Objects that turn on and off in the Universe aren't new to astronomers -- they call them 'transients'.

ICRAR-Curtin astrophysicist and co-author Dr Gemma Anderson said that "when studying transients, you're watching the death of a massive star or the activity of the remnants it leaves behind."

'Slow transients' -- like supernovae -- might appear over the course of a few days and disappear after a few months.

'Fast transients' -- like a type of neutron star called a pulsar -- flash on and off within milliseconds or seconds.

But Dr Anderson said finding something that turned on for a minute was really weird.

She said the mysterious object was incredibly bright and smaller than the Sun, emitting highly-polarised radio waves -- suggesting the object had an extremely strong magnetic field.

Dr Hurley-Walker said the observations match a predicted astrophysical object called an 'ultra-long period magnetar'.

"It's a type of slowly spinning neutron star that has been predicted to exist theoretically," she said.

"But nobody expected to directly detect one like this because we didn't expect them to be so bright.

"Somehow it's converting magnetic energy to radio waves much more effectively than anything we've seen before."

Dr Hurley-Walker is now monitoring the object with the MWA to see if it switches back on.

"If it does, there are telescopes across the Southern Hemisphere and even in orbit that can point straight to it," she said.

Dr Hurley-Walker plans to search for more of these unusual objects in the vast archives of the MWA.

"More detections will tell astronomers whether this was a rare one-off event or a vast new population we'd never noticed before," she said.

MWA Director Professor Steven Tingay said the telescope is a precursor instrument for the Square Kilometre Array -- a global initiative to build the world's largest radio telescopes in Western Australia and South Africa.

"Key to finding this object, and studying its detailed properties, is the fact that we have been able to collect and store all the data the MWA produces for almost the last decade at the Pawsey Research Supercomputing Centre. Being able to look back through such a massive dataset when you find an object is pretty unique in astronomy," he said.

"There are, no doubt, many more gems to be discovered by the MWA and the SKA in coming years."

The Murchison Widefield Array is located on the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory in Western Australia. The observatory is managed by CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, and was established with the support of the Australian and Western Australian Governments. We acknowledge the Wajarri Yamatji as the traditional owners of the observatory site.

The Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre in Perth, a Tier 1 publicly funded national supercomputing facility, helped store and process the MWA observations used in this research.

Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (SHAO) is a member of the MWA. China's SKA Regional Centre Prototype, funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is hosted by SHAO and contributed to processing the MWA observations used in this research.

                 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/01/220126122424.htm

 

Do You Know These Properties of Water?

Water (H₂O) is a polar inorganic compound that is at room temperature a tasteless and odorless liquid, which is nearly colorless apart from an inherent hint of blue. It is by far the most studied chemical compound and is described as the "universal solvent" and the "solvent of life."  It is the most abundant substance on the surface of Earth and the only common substance to exist as a solid, liquid, and gas on Earth's surface.  It is also the third most abundant molecule in the universe (behind molecular hydrogen and carbon monoxide.

Water molecules form hydrogen bonds with each other and are strongly polar. This polarity allows it to dissociate ions in salts and bond to other polar substances such as alcohols and acids, thus dissolving them. Its hydrogen bonding causes its many unique properties, such as having a solid form less dense than its liquid form, a relatively high boiling point of 100 C for its molar mass, and a high heat capacity.

Water is amphoteric, meaning that it can exhibit properties of an acid or a base, depending on the pH of the solution that it is in; it readily produces both H⁺ and OH⁻ ions.  Related to its amphoteric character, it undergoes self-ionization.  The product of the activities, or approximately, the concentrations of H⁺ and OH⁻ is a constant, so their respective concentrations are inversely proportional to each other.

Geochemistry

The action of water on rock over long periods of time typically leads to weathering and water erosion, physical processes that convert solid rocks and minerals into soil and sediment, but under some conditions chemical reactions with water occur as well, resulting in metasomatism or mineral hydration, a type of chemical alteration of a rock which produces clay minerals.  It also occurs when Portland cement hardens.

Water ice can form clathrate compounds, known as clathrate hydrates, with a variety of small molecules that can be embedded in its spacious crystal lattice. The most notable of these is methane clathrate, 4CH₄·23H2O, naturally found in large quantities on the ocean floor.

Acidity in nature

Rain is generally mildly acidic, with a pH between 5.2 and 5.8 if not having any acid stronger than carbon dioxide.  If high amounts of nitrogen and sulfur oxides are present in the air, they too will dissolve into the cloud and raindrops, producing acid rain.

History

Henry Cavendish showed that water was composed of oxygen and hydrogen in 1781.  The first decomposition of water into hydrogen and oxygen, by electrolysis, was done in 1800 by English chemist William Nicholson and Anthony Carlisle.  In 1805, Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac and Alexander von Humboldt showed that water is composed of two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen.

Gilbert Newton Lewis isolated the first sample of pure heavy water in 1933.

The properties of water have historically been used to define various temperature scales.  Notably, the Kelvin, Celsius, Rankine, and Fahrenheit scales were, or currently are, defined by the freezing and boiling points of water. The less common scales of Delisle, Newton, Réaumur and Rømer were defined similarly. The triple point of water is a more commonly used standard point today.

See much more at:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Properties_of_water

Curtailed Sleep May Alter How Intense Exercise Stresses the Heart

From:  Uppsala University

January 27, 2022 -- In a new study, participants underwent an intense bout of exercise after both normal sleep and after three nights of curtailed sleep. When they exercised after curtailed sleep, the levels of the heart injury biomarker troponin increased slightly more, compared with when the participants performed exercise in their well-rested condition. The study is a smaller pilot study and it is not yet possible to determine if the findings may be of relevance for cardiovascular health. The study is published in the journal Molecular Metabolism.

Previous epidemiological studies have demonstrated that, at the population level, chronically disrupted and shortened sleep increases the risk of several cardiovascular diseases, such as high blood pressure and myocardial infarction. In contrast, physical exercise can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. However, it has been unknown whether controlled sleep restriction can modulate cardiac stress during strenuous exercise.

"Exercise is great for the heart, while lack of sleep can adversely impact the cardiovascular system. But it has been unknown whether shortened sleep can modulate the physiologic stress that intense exercise seems to have on the cells of the heart," says Jonathan Cedernaes, physician and associate professor of medical cell biology at Uppsala University, who led the study.

A specific type of the protein troponin is found in the heart's muscle cells. Low amounts of troponin can be released after high-intensity training. Levels of troponin are routinely determined in the clinic, as significantly higher levels are seen in the setting of acute cardiovascular events.

"Higher blood levels of troponin after exercise have been linked to a relative increased prospective risk of cardiovascular diseases. It is not really known what the mechanism is, but at the same time, we know that one's cardiovascular health is modulated through an interplay of lifestyle factors. We therefore thought it would be important to investigate whether the release of troponin during exercise can be affected by sleep restriction. One reason is the fact that many occupations entail work that disrupts sleep, such as for healthcare workers," says Cedernaes.

Previous studies have found that exercise can counteract certain adverse effects of curtailed sleep on metabolism. Furthermore, data at the population level indicate that exercise can counteract the negative effects of chronic sleep loss on the cardiovascular system.

"Those who report exercising on a regular basis, but get less sleep than the ideal amount, still reduce their risk of dying from cardiovascular disease. At the same time, we know that chronic or recurrent sleep disruption is bad for cardiovascular health. It is therefore possible that a more pronounced lack of sleep in the long run can increase the relative risk that the heart is injured in some way by more intense exercise. But many individuals experience a temporary lack of sleep, and the need for sleep is also very individual," Cedernaes points out. "The epidemiological evidence related to disturbed sleep per se, applies primarily to chronic lack of sleep and long-term shift work, and are seen when averaging at the population level."

16 young men, healthy and normal-weight, underwent the study. All were extensively screened for previous cardiovascular disease, as well as for heredity for such conditions. In addition, all participants had normal sleeping habits within the recommended range -- that is, they reported getting 7-9 hours of sleep on a regular basis.

The participants were monitored in a sleep laboratory, where their meal and activity schedules were standardized. In one of the two sessions, participants got a normal amount of sleep, three nights in a row. During their other session, the participants were kept awake for half the nights, three nights in a row. On each occasion, blood samples were taken in the evening and in the morning. After both sleep interventions, blood samples were also taken on the last day, both before and after a 30-min-long intense stationary cycling session.

The researchers measured two biomarkers in the blood samples. NT-proBNP reflects the load on the heart. The second protein, troponin, is commonly used as a marker of cardiac injury. The results showed that the levels of NT-proBNP increased in response to exercise, but this increase did not differ depending on the amount of sleep. Blood levels of troponin also increased after the workout. However, for troponin, the increase after exercise was almost 40% higher after three nights of partial sleep restriction, compared with after three nights of normal sleep.

"An important observation was that the levels of troponin and NT-proBNP were not elevated in response to sleep restriction at any time prior to the workout. It is possible that lack of sleep may instead lower the threshold at which an increased exercise load results in measurable stress in heart muscle cells, as may occur in response to strenuous exercise," says Cedernaes. "However, we noted that the increase in circulating troponin levels following exercise was variable across individuals. Previous research under resting conditions has also hinted at such variability, and it would be interesting to uncover the mechanisms."

Cedernaes continues:

"Today there is no evidence to suggest that it would be harmful to the heart if you exercise regularly when you have slept too little. One can instead turn the argument around: by ensuring that one gets enough sleep, one may further increase the positive impact of physical exercise. While we know that high-intensity training generally has benefits in the long run, our results may be worth considering and exploring in specific groups of individuals. Examples include athletes and the military. These groups may be required to perform at extreme physical levels even under conditions of curtailed sleep. It may be good to further consider the importance of sleep in these contexts, especially as we also know that improving sleep can also improve one's performance, both cognitively and physically."

One limitation of the current study was that only 16 individuals were included. The study should be considered as a pilot study that requires further validation and follow up. Such studies are also needed to examine if these changes also apply to other age groups or women.

                  https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/01/220127114315.htm 

Lynx Select Habitat to Avoid Humans

Habitat selection in wildlife is a process that occurs at different scales: Balancing advantages, such as high abundance of food, with disadvantages, such as human disturbance. Large predators, with their large spatial requirements, are particularly sensitive to these disturbances.

From:  University of Freiburg

January 28, 2022 -- A team led by conservation biologists Prof. Dr. Marco Heurich and Joseph Premier from the Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Freiburg has studied this habitat selection process in Eurasian lynx. Their results, published by the researchers in Biological Conservation, provide important information for the conservation of this species in human-dominated landscapes. "Through this study, we can generalize the habitat selection behavior of a large carnivore species on a continental scale fort he first time," explains Heurich.

Large dataset with animals in several European areas

The researchers led by Heurich and Premier used a data set consisting of tracking data on 125 lynx from nine study areas across Europe. They compared the locations available to and actually used by the predators at two scales: the landscape scale, which shows how lynx place their home range in the landscape, and the home range scale, which shows how lynx select the habitats within their home range. For this comparison, the research team used a novel machine learning approach called the random forest. This was extended to include a random effect so that variability within and between study areas could be accounted for.

What the animals avoid and how they orient themselves

On the landscape scale the analysis revealed that lynx avoid roads and human settlements. On the level of their home range, the animals were oriented towards hiding places and the availability of prey. The researchers found only minor differences between female and male lynx in their choice of habitat.

Heurich and Premier found the greatest differences in lynx habitat choice at the landscape level, where there were clear differences between the various study areas, for example between the Swiss Alps and the plains of Estonia. Within the foraging areas, lynx behaved very similarly throughout Europe, preferring heterogeneous forest areas and areas that provided protection from human disturbance.

             https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/01/220128141305.htm

 

Still Seeking Laser Induced Nuclear Fusion

Researchers at the “National Ignition Facility” at the Lawrence Livermore National Lab in California were able to spark a fusion reaction that briefly sustained itself

192 lasers were simultaneously fired to achieve a brief moment of sustainability.  See the January 26, 2022, Associated Press article by Seth Borenstein here:

https://apnews.com/article/science-fusion-energy-lawrence-livermore-a3c1ecbb738640b0a2e384dc80b8dd07

Plastic Snowfall in the Alps

Nanoplastic in the environment

From: Empa Materials Science and Technology

By Noe Waldmann

January 25, 2022 -- In a large-scale fundraising campaign, popular YouTubers like Mister Beast and Mark Rober are currently trying to rid the oceans of almost 14,000 tonnes of plastic waste. That's about 0.15 per cent of the amount that ends up in the oceans every year. But it's not just our waters that are full of plastic. A new study shows that the spread of nanoplastic through the air is a more widespread problem than previously thought.

In a new study, Empa researcher Dominik Brunner, together with colleagues from Utrecht University and the Austrian Central Institute for Meteorology and Geophysics, is investigating how much plastic is trickling down on us from the atmosphere. According to the study, some nanoplastics travel over 2000 kilometers through the air. According to the figures from the measurements about 43 trillion miniature plastic particles land in Switzerland every year. Researchers still disagree on the exact number. But according to estimates from the study, it could be as much as 3,000 tonnes of nanoplastics that cover Switzerland every year, from the remote Alps to the urban lowlands. These estimates are very high compared to other studies, and more research is needed to verify these numbers

The study is uncharted scientific territory because the spread of nanoplastics through the air is still largely unexplored. The result of Brunner's research is the most accurate record of air pollution by nanoplastics ever made. To count the plastic particles, Brunner and his colleagues have developed a chemical method that determines the contamination of the samples with a mass spectrometer.

Extreme conditions

The scientists studied a small area at an altitude of 3106 meters at the top of the mountain "Hoher Sonnenblick" in the "Hohe Tauern" National Park in Austria. An observatory of the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics has been located here since 1886. The observatory is run by meteorologist and Arctic researcher Elke Ludewig. Since research began here in the late 19th century, the observatory has only been non-operational on four days. The research station also served as a base for the study on the spread of nanoplastics in remote areas.

Every day, and in all weather conditions, scientists removed a part of the top layer of snow around a marker at 8 AM and carefully stored it. Contamination of the samples by nanoplastics in the air or on the scientists' clothes was a particular challenge. In the laboratory, the researchers sometimes had to remain motionless when a colleague handled an open sample.

The origin of the tiny particles was traced with the help of European wind and weather data. The researchers could show that the greatest emission of nanoplastics into the atmosphere occurs in densely populated, urban areas. About 30% of the nanoplastic particles measured on the mountain top originate from a radius of 200 kilometers, mainly from cities. However, plastics from the world's oceans apparently also get into the air via the spray of the waves. Around 10% of the particles measured in the study were blown onto the mountain by wind and weather over 2000 kilometers – some of them from the Atlantic.

Nanoparticles in the bloodstream

It is estimated that more than 8300 million tonnes of plastic have been produced worldwide to date, about 60% of which is now waste. This waste erodes through weathering effects and mechanical abrasion from macro- to micro- and nanoparticles. But discarded plastic is far from the only source. Everyday use of plastic products such as packaging and clothing releases nanoplastics. Particles in this size range are so light that their movement in the air can best be compared to gases.

Besides plastics, there are all kinds of other tiny particles. From Sahara sand to brake pads, the world is buzzing through the air as abrasion. It is as yet unclear whether this kind of air pollution poses a potential health threat to humans. Nanoparticles, unlike microparticles, do not just end up in the stomach. They are sucked deep into the lungs through respiration, where their size may allow them to cross the cell-blood barrier and enter the human bloodstream. Whether this is harmful or even dangerous, however, remains to be researched.

                  https://www.empa.ch/web/s604/nanoplastik-in-den-alpen

 

Breathing Clocks the Sleeping Brain

LMU neuroscientists have shown that breathing coordinates neuronal activity throughout the brain while sleeping and resting.

From:  Ludwig Maximilians Universitat Munchen [LMU]

January 24, 2022 -- While we sleep, the brain is not switched off, but is busy with “saving” the important memories of the day. To do this, brain regions are synchronized to coordinate the transmission of information between them. Yet, the mechanisms that enable this synchronization across multiple remote brain regions are poorly understood. Traditionally, these mechanisms were sought in correlated activity patterns within the brain. However, LMU neuroscientists Prof. Anton Sirota and Dr. Nikolas Karalis have now been able to show that breathing acts as a pacemaker that entrains the various brain regions and synchronizes them with each other.

Breathing is the most constant, enduring, and essential bodily rhythm and exerts a strong physiological effect on the autonomous nervous system. It is also known to modulate a wide range of cognitive functions such as perception, attention, and thought structure. However, the mechanisms of its impact on cognitive function and the brain are largely unknown.

The scientists carried out large-scale in vivo electrophysiological recordings in mice, from thousands of neurons across the limbic system. They showed that respiration entrains and coordinates neuronal activity in all investigated brain regions - including the hippocampus, medial prefrontal and visual cortex, thalamus, amygdala, and nucleus accumbens - by modulating the excitability of these circuits in a way that is independent of olfaction. “Thus, we were able to prove the existence of a novel non-olfactory, intracerebral, mechanism that accounts for the entrainment of distributed circuits by breathing, which we termed “respiratory corollary discharge”, says Karalis, who is currently research fellow at the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research in Basel. “Our findings identify the existence of a previously unknown link between respiratory and limbic circuits and are a departure from the standard belief that breathing modulates brain activity via the nose-olfactory route”, emphasizes Sirota.

This mechanism mediates the coordination of sleep-related activity in these brain regions, which is essential for memory consolidation and provides the means for the co-modulation of the cortico-hippocampal circuits synchronous dynamics. According to the authors, these results represent a major step forward and provide the foundation for new mechanistic theories, that incorporate the respiratory rhythm as a fundamental mechanism underlying the communication of distributed systems during memory consolidation.

https://www.lmu.de/en/newsroom/news-overview/news/breathing-the-master-clock-of-the-sleeping-brain.html

 

Debris Threatens Future Space Economy

From: West Virginia University Today

January 21, 2022 -- The space economy is on track to be valued at a trillion dollars by the end of 2030, according to Piyush Mehta, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at West Virginia University. Yet space assets–equipment that is placed in space such as navigation, weather and communication satellites that serve our society daily–are threatened by space debris. 

According to NASA, it is estimated that millions of pieces of space debris orbit around Earth. A major portion of these debris objects as well as active satellites reside in the low Earth orbit region, at altitudes between 200 and 1000 km. 

“In low Earth orbit, our ability to safeguard these space assets depends on modeling of the aerodynamic forces acting on the satellites, specifically satellite drag. The drag force acting on a satellite is affected by various physical parameters, however, the most crucial and uncertain are the drag coefficient and mass density,” Mehta said. 

Mehta explained that because of the interconnectedness of the two parameters, one of them is held constant, typically the drag coefficient, while the other is investigated. However, Mehta said this causes inconsistencies or inaccuracies in our understanding of the mass density variability in the upper atmosphere or thermosphere.

Recently, Mehta earned the prestigious Faculty Early Career Development, or CAREER, Award from the National Science Foundation to alleviate this inconsistency and develop a state-of-the-art model of thermosphere mass density, which will strengthen researchers understanding, modeling and forecasting of the upper atmosphere variability. 

“We will achieve this by not assuming the drag coefficient to be a constant but gaining statistical insights into the physical process that drives changes in drag coefficient, specifically the gas-surface interactions that describe the way energy and momentum are exchanged between the atmosphere and the satellite.” Mehta said. “The CAREER Award will alleviate this inconsistency through an innovative methodology that combines artificial intelligence and statistical estimation techniques. This is a very niche domain with only a handful of research groups around the world tackling the problem.” 

Mehta leads a collaborative effort amongst some of these groups on satellite drag coefficient modeling under the International Space Weather Action Teams initiative.

Through this highly competitive award, Mehta will receive $640,655 in funding over five years to advance this research project, while also developing plans to strengthen the space science curriculum at WVU.

The Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources plans to develop a new graduate course, space weather and space systems, that will be offered yearly in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Along with the new course, the College plans to expand outreach efforts through hands-on activities for K-12 schools across the state. 

“Outreach efforts will establish learning modules and a hands-on build–a-satellite activity in collaboration with the West Virginia Science Public Outreach Team,” Mehta said. “Educational and outreach activities will serve to excite and train the next-generation workforce in space sciences and artificial intelligence.”

The NSF’s CAREER program supports junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research within the context of their mission organizations.

“Dr. Mehta’s cross-cutting research lies at the intersection of atmospheric sciences, space systems engineering and machine learning,” said Jason Gross, associate professor and interim chair of mechanical and aerospace engineering, and associate chair for research at the Statler College. “With the continued rapid increase of manmade satellites in low Earth orbit, his work toward improved orbital decay prediction becomes more important for the future of space environment sustainability with each passing day. His lab is at the forefront of this important field, and we are proud that he is on our faculty.”

https://wvutoday.wvu.edu/stories/2022/01/21/future-trillion-dollar-space-economy-threatened-by-debris-wvu-researcher-says

  

New Neutron-Based Method Helps Keep Underwater Pipelines Open

Neutrons detect clogs non-destructively through the metal walls of pipelines

From:  Technical University of Munich (TUM)

January 21, 2022 -- Industry and private consumers alike depend on oil and gas pipelines that stretch thousands of kilometers underwater. It is not uncommon for these pipelines to become clogged with deposits. Until now, there have been few means of identifying the formation of plugs in-situ and non-destructively. Measurements at the Research Neutron Source Heinz Maier-Leibnitz (FRM II) at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) now show that neutrons may provide the solution of choice.

Oil and gas pipelines are the arteries of our energy supply. As with the Nord Stream pipelines, they transport the sources of energy over long distances underwater to storage and production facilities on land.

But it's not just supply bottlenecks, as we have them now, that can lead to shortages. Under certain conditions, the mixture in the pipelines -- which typically comprises gas, oil, and water -- can become very viscous and even form solid phases.

Especially inconvenient for operators are solid hydrates that form from gas and water, for example when the mixture cools down to the low temperatures of the seabed during longer pipeline shutdowns.

Previous approaches do not work underwater

For a clog to be remediated in-situ, the affected section of the pipeline must first be found. Localizing clogs from the outside is challenging, since they can form anywhere along the length of the pipeline.

To date, thermal imaging cameras and gamma rays are used to detect the clogs. However, neither of these methods works underwater. Ultrasound, on the other hand, has no problem penetrating water, but the hydrate blocks can only be detected at close range from outside the pipeline wall.

This constraint poses practical difficulties because underwater pipelines are laid at depths of up to 2000 meters and are often naturally covered by seabed materials like sand or silt. Another technical challenge associated with acoustic methods arises from the lack of a clear difference between the acoustic impedances of the hydrate phase and other phases of the crude oil mixture, which makes discrimination difficult.

Neutrons -- the perfect probe

TechnipFMC, a company with around 20,000 employees worldwide that specializes in subsea pipelines, was "Looking for a more efficient method to find the plugs in a non-contact, non-destructive and reliable way despite thick walls," says Dr. Xavier Sebastian, a project manager at the company.

As suggested by Dr. Sophie Bouat, CEO of Science-S.A.V.E.D. (Scientific Analysis Vitalises Enterprise Development), "Neutrons are the perfect probe for the task at hand." She established the contact to the scientists at the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum in Garching near Munich.

"Using prompt gamma neutron activation analysis, light atoms and hydrogen in particular can be detected very precisely," she continues. Since the hydrogen content of hydrates and normal oil or gas is considerably different, it should be possible to detect blockages by measuring the hydrogen concentration.

Feasibility study at FRM II

Dr. Ralph Gilles industry coordinator at the Research Neutron Source FRM II carried out a feasibility study on this topic together with other colleagues from the Technical University of Munich and the Forschungszentrum Jülich. Using the PGAA (Prompt Gamma Activation Analysis) instrument, which utilizes cold neutrons from FRM II, the researchers established that this approach can be used to differentiate between oil and gas and the blockage.

At the NECTAR radiography and tomography facility and the FaNGAS (fast neutron-induced gamma ray spectroscopy) instrument they used fast neutrons from FRM II to show that a sufficiently large number of neutrons penetrate the metal walls of the pipelines to facilitate the respective measurement, and that the measurement also works well underwater.

A small neutron source detects plugs

The results clearly demonstrate that neutrons are ideally suited for this application. Moreover, "Our experiments have shown that we can even distinguish an incipient blockage from a fully developed one," says Dr. Ralph Gilles. "That's very beneficial, because then one can even preventatively heat a pipe segment to melt the blockage before it fully develops."

In practice, a mobile detector with a small neutron source will move back and forth along the pipeline to look for plugs. "We are very pleased that, with the help of the measurements at the research neutron source, we have now found an efficient method that makes it much easier to detect these plugs in the future," says Dr. Xavier Sebastian.

Besides scientists of the Technical University of Munich, researchers of Forschungszentrum Jülich and RWTH Aachen University contributed to the analysis. The contact to the company TechnipFMC was mediated through the company Science-S.A.V.E.D. (Scientific Analysis Vitalises Enterprise Development). Access for beam time was paid by TechnipFMC.

New neutron-based method helps keep underwater pipelines open: Neutrons detect clogs non-destructively through the metal walls of pipelines -- ScienceDaily

  

Buddhist Peace Activist Thich Nhat Hanh Died

Thích Nhất Hạnh born as Nguyễn Đình Lang and later known by the name Nguyễn Xuân Bảo; 11 October 1926 – 22 January 2022 was a Vietnamese Thiền Buddhist monk, peace activist, and founder of the Plum Village Tradition, historically recognized as the main inspiration for engaged Buddhism.

Nhất Hạnh spent most of his later life at the Plum Village Monastery in southwest France near Thénac, travelling internationally to give retreats and talks. He coined the term "Engaged Buddhism" in his book Vietnam: Lotus in a Sea of Fire.  After a 39-year exile, he was permitted to visit Vietnam in 2005.  In November 2018, he returned to Vietnam to spend his remaining days at his "root temple", Từ Hiếu Temple, near Huế, where he died on 22 January 2022 at the age of 95.

Nhất Hạnh was active in the peace movement and deep ecology, promoting nonviolent solutions to conflict and raising awareness of the interconnectedness of all elements in nature.  He was the founder of the largest monastic order in the West.  He also refrained from consuming animal products, as a means of nonviolence toward animals.

During the Vietnam War

At an April 1965 meeting, Vạn Hanh Union of students issued a Call for Peace statement. It declared: "It is time for North and South Vietnam to find a way to stop the war and help all Vietnamese people live peacefully and with mutual respect."

Vạn Hạnh University was taken over by one of the chancellors, who wished to sever ties with Nhất Hạnh and the SYSS, accusing Chân Không of being a communist. Thereafter the SYSS struggled to raise funds and faced attacks on its members. It persisted in its relief efforts without taking sides in the conflict.

Nhất Hạnh returned to the US in 1966 to lead a symposium in Vietnamese Buddhism at Cornell University and continue his work for peace. While in the US, he visited Gethsemani Abbey to speak with Thomas Merton.  When the South Vietnamese regime threatened to block Nhất Hạnh's reentry to the country, Merton wrote an essay of solidarity, "Nhat Hanh is my Brother".  In 1965 he had written Martin Luther King Jr. a letter titled "In Search of the Enemy of Man".   During his 1966 stay in the US, Nhất Hạnh met King and urged him to publicly denounce the Vietnam War.  In 1967, King gave the speech "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence" at the Riverside Church in New York City, his first to publicly question U.S. involvement in Vietnam.  Later that year, King nominated Nhất Hạnh for the 1967 Nobel Peace Prize.  In his nomination, King said, "I do not personally know of anyone more worthy of [this prize] than this gentle monk from Vietnam. His ideas for peace, if applied, would build a monument to ecumenism, to world brotherhood, to humanity".  That King had revealed the candidate he had chosen to nominate and had made a "strong request" to the prize committee was in sharp violation of Nobel traditions and protocol.  The committee did not make an award that year.

Nhất Hạnh moved to France and became the chair of the Vietnamese Buddhist Peace Delegation.  When the Northern Vietnamese army took control of the south in 1975, he was denied permission to return to Vietnam.  In 1976–77 he led efforts to help rescue Vietnamese boat people in the Gulf of Siam, eventually stopping under pressure from the governments of Thailand and Singapore.

A CIA document from the Vietnam War has called Thích Nhất Hạnh a "brain truster" of Thích Trí Quang, the leader of a dissident group.

Establishing the Order of Interbeing

Nhất Hạnh created the Order of Interbeing (Vietnamese: Tiếp Hiện) in 1966. He headed this monastic and lay group, teaching Five Mindfulness Trainings and the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings.  In 1969 he established the Unified Buddhist Church (Église Bouddhique Unifiée) in France (not a part of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam). In 1975 he formed the Sweet Potato Meditation Centre. The centre grew and in 1982 he and Chân Không founded Plum Village Monastery, a vihara in the Dordogne in the south of France.  Plum Village is the largest Buddhist monastery in Europe and America, with over 200 monastics and over 10,000 visitors a year.

The Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism (formerly the Unified Buddhist Church) and its sister organization in France, the Congrégation Bouddhique Zen Village des Pruniers, are the legally recognised governing bodies of Plum Village in France; Blue Cliff Monastery in Pine Bush, New York; the Community of Mindful Living in Berkeley, California; Parallax Press; Deer Park Monastery (Tu Viện Lộc Uyển) in Escondido, California; Magnolia Grove Monastery (Đạo Tràng Mộc Lan) in Batesville, Mississippi; and the European Institute of Applied Buddhism in Waldbröl, Germany.  According to the Thích Nhất Hạnh Foundation, the charitable organization that serves as the Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism's fundraising arm, the monastic order Nhất Hạnh established comprises over 750 monastics in 9 monasteries worldwide.

Nhất Hạnh established two monasteries in Vietnam, at the original Từ Hiếu Temple near Huế and at Prajna Temple in the central highlands. He and the Order of Interbeing have established monasteries and Dharma centres in the United States at Deer Park Monastery, Magnolia Grove Monastery, and Maple Forest Monastery (Tu Viện Rừng Phong) and Green Mountain Dharma Center (Ðạo Tràng Thanh Sơn) in Vermont, the last two of which closed in 2007 and moved to the Blue Cliff Monastery in Pine Bush, New York. These monasteries are open to the public during much of the year and provide ongoing retreats for lay people.  The Order of Interbeing also holds retreats for specific groups of laypeople, such as families, teenagers, military veterans, the entertainment industry, members of Congress, law enforcement officers and people of colour.  Nhất Hạnh conducted peace walks in Los Angeles in 2005 and 2007.

Notable members of the order of interbeing and disciples of Nhất Hạnh include Skip Ewing, founder of the Nashville Mindfulness Center; Natalie Goldberg, author and teacher; Chân Không, dharma teacher; Caitriona Reed, dharma teacher and co-founder of Manzanita Village Retreat Center; Larry Rosenberg, dharma teacher; Cheri Maples, police officer and dharma teacher; and Pritam Singh, real estate developer and editor of several of Nhất Hạnh's books.

Other notable students of Nhất Hạnh include Joan Halifax, founder of the Upaya Institute; Albert Low, Zen teacher and author; Joanna Macy, environmentalist and author; Jon Kabat-Zinn, creator of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR); Jack Kornfield, dharma teacher and author; Christiana Figueres, former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; Garry Shandling, comedian and actor; Marc Benioff, founder of Salesforce.com; Jim Yong Kim, former president of the World Bank; John Croft, co-creator of Dragon Dreaming; Leila Seth, author and Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court; Stephanie Kaza, environmentalist; and Gregory M Corrigan, Roman Catholic priest.

Writings

Nhất Hạnh has published over 130 books, including more than 100 in English, which have sold over 5 million copies worldwide.

Bibliography

• A Pebble for Your Pocket, Full Circle Publishing, 2001, ISBN 81-7621-188-5
• Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames, Riverhead Trade, 2002, ISBN 1-57322-937-7
• At Home in the World: Stories and Essential Teachings from a Monk's Life, with Jason Deantonis (Illustrator), Parallax Press, 2016, ISBN 1941529429
• The Moon Bamboo, Parallax Press, 1989, ISBN 0938077201
• Be Free Where You Are, Parallax Press, 2002, ISBN 1-888375-23-X
• Being Peace, Parallax Press, 1987, ISBN 0-938077-00-7
• Buddha Mind, Buddha Body: Walking Toward Enlightenment, Parallax Press, 2007, ISBN 1-888375-75-2
• Cultivating The Mind Of Love, Full Circle, 1996, ISBN 81-216-0676-4
• Fear: Essential Wisdom for Getting Through the Storm, HarperOne, 2012, ISBN 978-1846043185
• Fragrant Palm Leaves: Journals, 1962–1966, Riverhead Trade, 1999, ISBN 1-57322-796-X
• Going Home: Jesus and Buddha as Brothers, Riverhead Books, 1999, ISBN 1-57322-145-7
• Hermitage Among the Clouds, Parallax Press, 1993, ISBN 0-938077-56-2
• How to Eat, Parallax Press, 2014, ISBN 978-1937006723
• How to Fight, Parallax Press, 2017, ISBN 978-1941529867
• How to Love, Parallax Press, 2014, ISBN 978-1937006884
• How to Relax, Parallax Press, 2015, ISBN 978-1941529089
• How to Sit, Parallax Press, 2014, ISBN 978-1937006587
• Is nothing something? : Kids' questions and zen answers about life, death, family, friendship, and everything in between, Parallax Press 2014, ISBN 978-1-937006-65-5
• Living Buddha, Living Christ, Riverhead Trade, 1997, ISBN 1-57322-568-1
• Love Letter to the Earth, Parallax Press, 2012, ISBN 978-1937006389
• Mindful Movements: Ten Exercises for Well-Being, Parallax Press 2008, ISBN 978-1-888375-79-4
• No Death, No Fear, Riverhead Trade reissue, 2003, ISBN 1-57322-333-6
• No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering, Parallax Press, 2014, ISBN 978-1937006853
• Old Path White Clouds: Walking in the Footsteps of the Buddha, Parallax Press, 1991, ISBN 81-216-0675-6
• Old Path, White Clouds: Walking in the Footsteps of the Buddha Blackstone Audio, Inc.; 2016, ISBN 978-1504615983
• Our Appointment with Life: Sutra on Knowing the Better Way to Live Alone, Parallax Press, 1990, ISBN 1-935209-79-5
• Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life, Bantam reissue, 1992, ISBN 9780553351392
• Reconciliation: Healing the Inner Child, Parallax Press, 2010, ISBN 1-935209-64-7
• Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life. HarperOne. 2010. ISBN 978-0-06-169769-2.
• Silence: The Power of Quiet in a World Full of Noise], HarperOne (1705), 2015, ASIN: B014TAC7GQ
• Teachings on Love, Full Circle Publishing, 2005, ISBN 81-7621-167-2
• The Art of Communicating, HarperOne, 2013, ISBN 978-0-06-222467-5
• The Art of Living: Peace and Freedom in the Here and Now, HarperOne, 2017, ISBN 978-0062434661
• The Art of Power, HarperOne, 2007, ISBN 0-06-124234-9
• The Blooming of a Lotus, Beacon Press, 2009, ISBN 9780807012383
• The Diamond That Cuts Through Illusion, Commentaries on the Prajnaparamita Diamond Sutrs, Parallax Press, 1992, ISBN 0-938077-51-1
• The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching, Broadway Books, 1999, ISBN 0-7679-0369-2
• The Heart Of Understanding: Commentaries on the Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra, Full Circle, 1997, ISBN 81-216-0703-5, ISBN 9781888375923 (2005 Edition)
• The Miracle of Mindfulness, Rider Books, 1991, ISBN 978-0-7126-4787-8
• The Miracle of Mindfulness: A Manual on Meditation, Beacon Press, 1999, ISBN 0-8070-1239-4 (Vietnamese: Phép lạ của sự tỉnh thức).
• The Novice: A Story of True Love, HarperCollins, 2011, ISBN 978-0-06-200583-0
• The Other Shore: A New Translation of the Heart Sutra with Commentaries, Palm Leaves Press, 2017, ISBN 978-1-941529-14-0
• The Path of Emancipation: Talks from a 21-Day Mindfulness Retreat, Unified Buddhist Church, 2000, ISBN 81-7621-189-3
• The Pocket Thich Nhat Hanh, Shambhala Pocket Classics, 2012, ISBN 978-1-59030-936-0
• The Raft Is Not the Shore: Conversations Toward a Buddhist/Christian Awareness, Daniel Berrigan (Co-author), Orbis Books, 2000, ISBN 1-57075-344-X
• The Sun My Heart, Parallax Press, 1988, ISBN 0-938077-12-0
• Thich Nhat Hanh: Essential Writings, Robert Ellsberg (Editor), Orbis Books, 2001, ISBN 1-57075-370-9
• Touching the Earth: Intimate Conversations with the Buddha, Parallax Press, 2004, ISBN 1-888375-41-8
• Transformation and Healing: Sutra on the Four Establishments of Mindfulness, Full Circle, 1997, ISBN 81-216-0696-9
• True Love: A Practice for Awakening the Heart, Shambhala Publications, 1997, ISBN 1-59030-404-7
• Under the Banyan Tree, Full Circle Publishing, 2008, ISBN 81-7621-175-3
• Understanding Our Mind, HarperCollins, 2006, ISBN 978-81-7223-796-7
• Vietnam: Lotus in a sea of fire. New York, Hill and Wang. 1967.
• Works by or about Thích Nhất Hạnh in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• You Are Here: Discovering the Magic of the Present Moment, Shambhala Publications, 2010, ISBN 978-1590308387
• Your True Home: The Everyday Wisdom of Thich Nhat Hanh, Shambhala Publications, 2011, ISBN 978-1-59030-926-1
• Zen Keys: A Guide to Zen Practice, Harmony, 1994, ISBN 978-0-385-47561-7
• Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet, Harper Collins, 2021, ISBN 978-0-06-295479-4

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%ADch_Nh%E1%BA%A5t_H%E1%BA%A1nh#During_the_Vietnam_War