Tag: Minutes

Earth grows large crystals, rare elements in just minutes

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Oct. 7 (UPI) — Scientists have gained new insights into crystal growth rates inside pegmatites, veinlike formations that host some of the planet’s biggest crystals, as well as valuable elements such as tantalum, niobium and lithium.

Magma cooling time typically controls the size of crystals — when magma cools quickly, crystals remain microscopic, and when it cools slowly, crystals have time to grow.

But pegmatite crystals appear to upend this logic, researchers said in a study published this week in the journal Nature Communications.

“Pegmatites cool relatively quickly, sometimes in just a few years, and yet they feature some of the largest crystals on Earth,” Cin-Ty Lee, professor of geology at Rice University, said in a news release. “The big question is really, ‘How can that be?'”

To determine the growth rates of pegmatite crystals, scientists turned to the rare elements that are often found inside pegmatites.

“It was more

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A new technology to diagnose COVID-19 in just 30 minutes

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Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Oct 5 2020

The year 2020 can be summarized simply by one word – COVID-19 – as it was the culprit that froze the entire world. For more than 8 months so far, movement between nations has been paralyzed all because there are no means to prevent or treat the virus and the diagnosis takes long.

In Korea, there are many confirmed cases among those arriving from abroad but diagnosis does not take place at the airport currently. Overseas visitors can enter the country if they show no symptoms and must visit the screening clinic nearest to their site of self-isolation on their own. Even this, when the clinic closes, they have no choice but to visit it the next day. Naturally, there have been concerns of them leaving the isolation facilities. What if there was a way to diagnose and identify the infected patients

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New smartphone app analyses coronavirus genome in minutes

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Melbourne, Sep 29 (PTI) Scientists have developed a new smartphone app that can analyse the genome of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, that causes COVID-19, within minutes.

Described in the journal Communications Biology, the ‘Genopo’ app makes genetic material more accessible to remote or under-resourced regions, as well as the hospital bedside.

‘Not everyone has access to the high-power computing resources that are required for DNA and RNA analysis, but most people have access to a smartphone,’ said Ira Deveson from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Australia.

‘Fast, real-time genomic analysis is more crucial today than ever, as a central method for tracking the spread of coronavirus. Our app makes genomic analysis more accessible, literally placing the technology into the pockets of scientists around the world,’ Deveson said.

The researchers tested Genopo on the raw sequencing data of virus samples isolated from nine Sydney patients infected with SARS-CoV-2.

They extracted

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Parents can use Tech to Protect Their Kids’ Future With up to $5 Million (in Minutes)

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As parents, we’d do anything to protect our kids’ future, especially when the world is so unpredictable. When you welcome a new family member, your world revolves around their education, upbringing, and teaching life in general right from day one to college and beyond.

As the breadwinner, you might provide everything for your family without straining your budget. But you cannot overlook the pandemic and stay oblivious to how your kids will do if you pass away. The key takeaway from this unending pandemic is that life is fragile, and we should have everything in place in case the worst happens.

Households can be chaotic, especially for new or busy parents. Sometimes you can miss out on must-dos, but you don’t get a pass when it’s about your child’s future. In a world so volatile, you can secure a term life insurance to protect your kids without burning a hole

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PSA: Google Meet to limit meetings to 60 minutes on free plans September 30th

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Google said in April it would allow unlimited-length meetings in its Google Meet video chat platform for all users until September 30th, and it looks like the company is sticking with that timeline. After September 30th, free versions of Meet will be limited to meetings no longer than 60 minutes.

“We don’t have anything to communicate regarding changes to the promo and advanced features expiring,” a Google spokesperson told The Verge in an email Friday. “If this changes, we’ll be sure to let you know.”

Under the extension, anyone with a Google account could create free meetings with up to 100 people, and with no time limit.

Also going away September 30th are access to advanced features for G Suite and G Suite for Education customers, including allowing meetings of up to 250 participants, live-streams of up to 100,000 people within a single domain, and the ability to save meeting

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Record-Breaking Whale Stays Underwater for Mind-Bending 3 Hours and 42 Minutes

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A Cuvier’s beaked whale (not the same individual described in the new study).

A Cuvier’s beaked whale (not the same individual described in the new study).
Image: NOAA

Marine biologists are astonished after a Cuvier’s beaked whale held its breath for nearly four hours during a deep dive. The unexpected observation shows there’s much to learn about these medium-sized whales.

Scientists from Duke University and the Cascadia Research Collective recorded the unbelievable dive during field observations off the coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, in 2017. In the first of two epic dives, the Cuvier beaked whale, wearing tag ZcTag066, stayed underwater for nearly three hours. A week later, the whale outdid itself, holding its breath for a bewildering three hours and 42 minutes.

“We didn’t believe it at first, because these are mammals after all, and any mammal spending that long underwater just seemed incredible,” Nicola Quick, the lead author of the new study and a biologist at Duke University, said

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