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The science behind RHCs liver thread

Discussion in 'Liverpool' started by Prince Knut, Apr 30, 2016.

  1. Milk not bear jizz

    Milk not bear jizz Grasser-In-Chief

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    I predict another collider post on here when RHC returns. ;-)
     
    #281
  2. Red Hadron Collider

    Red Hadron Collider The Hammerhead

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    That's not ****ing science <doh>
     
    #282
  3. Red Hadron Collider

    Red Hadron Collider The Hammerhead

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    The LHCb experiment relies on this ultraprecise vertex detector to spot the tiny firecracker-like decays of B mesons.

    CERN
    Physicists detect whiff of new particle at the Large Hadron Collider
    By Adrian ChoApr. 18, 2017 , 4:45 PM

    For decades, particle physicists have yearned for physics beyond their tried-and-true standard model. Now, they are finding signs of something unexpected at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s biggest atom smasher at CERN, the European particle physics laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland. The hints come not from the LHC’s two large detectors, which have yielded no new particles since they bagged the last missing piece of the standard model, the Higgs boson, in 2012, but from a smaller detector, called LHCb, that precisely measures the decays of familiar particles.

    The latest signal involves deviations in the decays of particles called B mesons—weak evidence on its own. But together with other hints, it could point to new particles lying on the high-energy horizon. “This has never happened before, to observe a set of coherent deviations that could be explained in a very economical way with one single new physics contribution,” says Joaquim Matias, a theorist at the Autonomous University of Barcelona in Spain. Matias says the evidence is strong enough for a discovery claim, but others urge caution.

    The LHC smashes protons together at unprecedented energy to try to blast into existence massive new particles, which its two big detectors, ATLAS and CMS, would spot. LHCb focuses on familiar particles, in particular B mesons, using an exquisitely sensitive tracking detector to sniff out the tiny explosive decays.

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    B mesons are made of fundamental particles called quarks. Familiar protons and neutrons are made of two flavors of quarks, up and down, bound in trios. Heavier quark flavors—charm, strange, top, and bottom—can be created, along with their antimatter counterparts, in high-energy particle collisions; they pair with antiquarks to form mesons.

    Lasting only a thousandth of a nanosecond, B mesons potentially provide a window onto new physics. Thanks to quantum uncertainty, their interiors roil with particles that flit in and out of existence and can affect how they decay. Any new particles tickling the innards of B mesons—even ones too massive for the LHC to create—could cause the rates and details of those decays to deviate from predictions in the standard model. It’s an indirect method of hunting new particles with a proven track record. In the 1970s, when only the up, down, and strange quarks were known, physicists predicted the existence of the charm quark by discovering oddities in the decays of K mesons (a family of mesons all containing a strange quark bound to an antiquark).

    In their latest result, reported today in a talk at CERN, LHCb physicists find that when one type of B meson decays into a K meson, its byproducts are skewed: The decay produces a muon (a cousin of the electron) and an antimuon less often than it makes an electron and a positron. In the standard model, those rates should be equal, says Guy Wilkinson, a physicist at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom and spokesperson for the 770-member LHCb team. “This measurement is of particular interest because theoretically it’s very, very clean,” he says.

    Strangely familiar
    A new process appears to be modifying one of the standard ways a B meson decays to a K meson. It may involve a new force-carrying particle called a Z9 that avoids creating a short-lived top quark.

    Standard model decaybd–sd–B mesonK mesonMuon, µ+Antimuon, µ–Possible new decayµ+µ–B mesonK mesonbd–sd–tCharged weak force boson, W–Neutral weak force boson, ZPossible new particle, Z'Bottom quarkStrange quarkTop quarkAnti-down quark

    V. ALTOUNIAN/SCIENCE
    The result is just one of half a dozen faint clues LHCb physicists have found that all seem to jibe. For example, in 2013, they examined the angles at which particles emerge in such B meson decays and found that they didn’t quite agree with predictions.

    What all those anomalies point to is less certain. Within the standard model, a B meson decays to a K meson only through a complicated “loop” process in which the bottom quark briefly turns into a top quark before becoming a strange quark. To do that, it has to emit and reabsorb a W boson, a “force particle” that conveys the weak force (see graphic, previous page).

    The new data suggest the bottom quark might morph directly into a strange quark—a change the standard model forbids—by spitting out a new particle called a Z9 boson. That hypothetical cousin of the Z boson would be the first particle beyond the standard model and would add a new force to theory. The extra decay process would lower production of muons, explaining the anomaly. “It sort of an ad hoc construct, but it fits the data beautifully,” says Wolfgang Altmannshofer, a theorist at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio. Others have proposed that a quark–electron hybrid called a leptoquark might briefly materialize in the loop process and provide another way to explain the discrepancies.

    Of course, the case for new physics could be a mirage of statistical fluctuations. Physicists with ATLAS and CMS 18 months ago reported hints of a hugely massive new particle only to see them fade away with more data. The current signs are about as strong as those were, Altmannshofer says.

    The fact that physicists are using LHCb to search in the weeds for signs of something new underscores the fact that the LHC hasn’t yet lived up to its promise. “ATLAS and CMS were the detectors that were going to discover new things, and LHCb was going to be more complementary,” Matias says. “But things go as they go.”

    If the Z9 or leptoquarks exist, then the LHC might have a chance to blast them into bona fide, albeit fleeting, existence, Matias says. The LHC is now revving up after its winter shutdown. Next month, the particle hunters will return to their quest.

    Happy to oblige <laugh>
     
    #283
  4. Milk not bear jizz

    Milk not bear jizz Grasser-In-Chief

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    Of course it is. Biology/behavioural science.
     
    #284
  5. Milk not bear jizz

    Milk not bear jizz Grasser-In-Chief

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    A cure for the Flu?

    A molecule found in the mucus of a South Indian Frog has been found to eliminate the Flu virus. All different strains tested have been neutralised.
     
    #285
  6. Red Hadron Collider

    Red Hadron Collider The Hammerhead

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    Monitor lizard blood <ok>
     
    #286
  7. Milk not bear jizz

    Milk not bear jizz Grasser-In-Chief

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    New mega-virus discovered in the sewage of Klosterneuberg, Austria (known as the Klosneuvirus) are blurring the lines between viruses and life.

    The virus contains a larger genetic footprint than many bacteria and can synthesize most of its own proteins (viruses typically require a host to create proteins for it, being typical little more than a strand of RNA themselves)



    http://www.sci-news.com/biology/klosneuviruses-new-group-giant-viruses-04774.html
     
    #287
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  8. moreinjuredthanowen

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    They the ones that snot at you when angry?

    Do they have poisonous saliva or something.
     
    #288
  9. Prince Knut

    Prince Knut GC Thread Terminator

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    Or even, in this case.... MILK monitor lizard blood!



    I'll get my coat.
     
    #289
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  10. Prince Knut

    Prince Knut GC Thread Terminator

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    Not sure how 'new' that is. I read something about this in Bill Bryson's book four/five years ago.
     
    #290

  11. Red Hadron Collider

    Red Hadron Collider The Hammerhead

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    Yes.
     
    #291
  12. Red Hadron Collider

    Red Hadron Collider The Hammerhead

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    Physicists excited by latest LHC anomaly
    A series of odd findings have theorists hoping for new particles.

    19 April 2017
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    CERN

    Physicists are debating whether data from the LHCb, shown here, hint at a new particle or are just statistical artefacts.

    The latest in a series of anomalies spotted in five-year-old data from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) could point the way to an entirely new elementary particle, physicists hope.

    The most recent finding, reported at an 18 April seminar at CERN, Europe's particle-physics lab near Geneva, may turn out to be a statistical fluctuation that fades as new data are analysed. But it is intriguing because it seems to chime with previously-reported oddities. And it matches the predictions of new physics that some theorists had already made based on those earlier reports.

    Particular short-lived particles called B-mesons, created when the LHC smashes protons together, seem to be decaying in unexpected ways, Simone Bifani at the University of Birmingham, UK, told physicists at the CERN seminar.

    Related stories
    More related stories

    The standard model of particle physics predicts that pairs of matter-antimatter particles should be among the B-mesons’ decay products: and specifically that electron-positron pairs and muon-anti-muon pairs should be found in roughly equal numbers. (The muon is a heavy cousin of the electron). But researchers see more of the electron-positron pairs, Bifani said, based on data collected at the collider’s LHCb experiment.

    This could just be a statistical fluke, says Guy Wilkinson, a physicist at the University of Oxford, UK, and the spokesperson for LHCb. In the latest study, researchers looked at two separate groups of data from LHCb on B-meson decays, and in each case found an anomaly with a statistical significance below 2.5 sigma (a measure of statistical confidence). That falls far short of the 5 sigma threshold usually needed to claim a ‘discovery’.

    But the LHCb has already spotted a number of similar anomalies to do with meson decay, Wilkinson notes, and in particular with various types of B-mesons. None are yet statistically significant, but they point in the same direction. “There have been strange things happening over the last five years,” he says.

    Some LHC physicists are not so sure that the announcement was worth the buzz it has received among researchers. CERN physicist André David, for example, tweeted that “piling up a sigma here and a sigma there" does not make for a discovery.

    Short-lived new particles?
    Still, theorists had already been positing new physics based on the earlier findings. And excitingly, the latest B-meson decay results are consistent with these ideas, says theorist David Straub at the Technical University of Munich, Germany. Straub posted a paper to the arXiv website yesterday analyzing the latest meson-decay results; five other theory papers have also been posted, and more are likely to follow. “The community was watching these results with quite some interest,” says Juan Rojo, a theorist at the Free University of Amsterdam.

    The most obvious way to explain the results — if they are not a statistical fluke — is that as B-mesons decay, novel particles not predicted in physics’ standard model make a fleeting appearance that affect the decay products, the six papers agree. One possibility is that there could be a heavier cousin of a particle known as the Z boson, called Z'. Another explanation is the existence of a ‘leptoquark’, a boson that would share some properties with both leptons and quarks.

    Neither of these particles occurs in theorists' favourite schemes for extending the standard model, but researchers say that if they exist, the LHC's bigger experiments — ATLAS and CMS — should be able to create them directly, rather than looking at their effects on the decays of other particles.

    The LHCb's latest analysis is entirely based on data from the LHC’s first run, which ended in early 2013 when the collider shut down for an upgrade. Since the collider reopened in 2015 for its second run, LHCb and the other experiments have bagged considerably more data. Several more studies of B-meson decay are now under way. So, before the end of the year, the mystery might be solved.

    "We have enough data on tape to validate or disprove these effects. The truth will out," says Wilkinson.

    Nature

    doi:10.1038/nature.2017.21865

    You do all know what this means?
     
    #292
  13. Milk not bear jizz

    Milk not bear jizz Grasser-In-Chief

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    Yeah, the mega-virus were first discovered about that time. What's new is that they recently published a lot more about them. Such as, they know where they got their protein synthesising ability (stole much of it from algae), but they actually took alot of genetic information from different life sources.

    They're also more aware of how almost independent they are. These viruses are very close to being able to live without any host. And, if they do achieve that how will they be classified, should they be classified as life?

    They're not eukaryotic, they're not bacteria, they're not archaea. If they get classified as alive there will need to be a brand new classification for them.
     
    #293
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  14. Red Hadron Collider

    Red Hadron Collider The Hammerhead

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    Sound like some of the cheese clientele, except more advanced <laugh>
     
    #294
  15. Milk not bear jizz

    Milk not bear jizz Grasser-In-Chief

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    Are Cheese clientele self replicating, or do they need an outside agent... Like alcohol to reproduce.
     
    #295
  16. Red Hadron Collider

    Red Hadron Collider The Hammerhead

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    Unknown <yikes>
     
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  17. Prince Knut

    Prince Knut GC Thread Terminator

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    Still does my head in 30 years later:

     
    #297
  18. Red Hadron Collider

    Red Hadron Collider The Hammerhead

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    Experts excited by brain 'wonder-drug'
    By James GallagherHealth and science reporter, BBC News website
    • 20 April 2017
    • From the sectionHealth
    • 187comments
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    Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
    Image captionThere is no drug that slows the pace of dementia
    Scientists hope they have found a drug to stop all neurodegenerative brain diseases, including dementia.

    In 2013, a UK Medical Research Council team stopped brain cells dying in an animal for the first time, creating headline news around the world.

    But the compound used was unsuitable for people, as it caused organ damage.

    Now two drugs have been found that should have the same protective effect on the brain and are already safely used in people.

    "It's really exciting," said Prof Giovanna Mallucci, from the MRC Toxicology Unit in Leicester.

    She wants to start human clinical trials on dementia patients soon and expects to know whether the drugs work within two to three years.

    Why might they work?
    The novel approach is focused on the natural defence mechanisms built into brain cells.

    When a virus hijacks a brain cell it leads to a build-up of viral proteins.

    Cells respond by shutting down nearly all protein production in order to halt the virus's spread.

    Many neurodegenerative diseases involve the production of faulty proteins that activate the same defences, but with more severe consequences.

    The brain cells shut down production for so long that they eventually starve themselves to death.

    This process, repeated in neurons throughout the brain, can destroy movement, memory or even kill, depending on the disease.

    It is thought to take place in many forms of neurodegeneration, so safely disrupting it could treat a wide range of diseases.

    In the initial study, the researchers used a compound that prevented the defence mechanism kicking in.

    It halted the progress of prion disease in mice - the first time any neurodegenerative disease had been halted in any animal.

    Further studies showed the approach could halt a range of degenerative diseases.

    The findings were described as a "turning point" for the field even though the compound was toxic to the pancreas.

    Neurodegeneration
    • A neurodegenerative disease is one in which the cells of the brain and spinal cord are lost
    • The functions of these cells include decision making and control of movements
    • These cells are not easily regenerated, so the effects of diseases can be devastating
    • Neurodegenerative diseases include Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis and Huntington's
    Source: London Brain Centre

    Safe drugs?
    Since 2013, the research group has tested more than 1,000 ready-made drugs on nematode worms, human cells in a dish and mice.

    Two were shown to prevent both a form of dementia and prion disease by stopping brain cells dying.

    Prof Mallucci told the BBC News website: "Both were very highly protective and prevented memory deficits, paralysis and dysfunction of brain cells."

    The best known drug of the pair is trazodone, which is already taken by patients with depression.

    The other, DBM, is being tested in cancer patients.

    Prof Mallucci said: "It's time for clinical trials to see if there's similar effects in people and put our money where our mouth is.

    "We're very unlikely to cure them completely, but if you arrest the progression you change Alzheimer's disease into something completely different so it becomes liveable with."

    But, although trazodone is a current medication, she added: "As a professional, a doctor and a scientists, I must advise people to wait for the results."

    The study was published in the journal Brain.

    What do the experts think?
    Dr Doug Brown, from the Alzheimer's Society, said: "We're excited by the potential of these findings, from this well conducted and robust study.

    "As one of the drugs is already available as a treatment for depression, the time taken to get from the lab to the pharmacy could be dramatically reduced."

    Dr David Dexter, from Parkinson's UK, said: "This is a very robust and important study.

    "If these studies were replicated in human clinical trials, both trazodone and DBM could represent a major step forward."

    Hope for us old ****ers yet <laugh>
     
    #298
  19. Milk not bear jizz

    Milk not bear jizz Grasser-In-Chief

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    No. It wont be ready in time for you.

    I was reading another article today (I think on scientific american) about a study with mice. Old mice that were given constant blood transfusions from young mice would show more mental flexibility and fewer signs of mental aging.



    What you old people need to do is just keeping sucking the blood out of youngsters to stay mentally young.
     
    #299
  20. Prince Knut

    Prince Knut GC Thread Terminator

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