Do you understand entropy? It can be a difficult concept to get your head around, so let Brian Greene help you. Apart from that, the news we bring you is comparatively straightforward. 3D printing, paleoanthropology, space exploration and neuroscience – it’s all child’s play, right? 
If you come across news that everyone should know about, send me a link to it via info@thinkinc.org.au and we might include it in the next edition!
Warm regards,
Suzi
3D DUTCH-DESIGNED DEN
A Dutch couple are the first people in Europe to inhabit a 3D printed house. The house was inspired by a boulder, and the couple describes it as "bunker-like", creating a feeling of safety.
The house was printed by the company Project Milestone, using a machine with a huge robotic arm and nozzle that squirts out a special type of cement that resembles whipped cream. The actual printing process only took 120 hours, and in the future the company plans to take the printer on-site, which will further reduce time and cost. Is this the future of affordable housing?
→ Click here to learn more.
The house was printed by the company Project Milestone, using a machine with a huge robotic arm and nozzle that squirts out a special type of cement that resembles whipped cream. The actual printing process only took 120 hours, and in the future the company plans to take the printer on-site, which will further reduce time and cost. Is this the future of affordable housing?
→ Click here to learn more.
THE ENTROPY OF CLOCKS
It was already established that every time a clock ticks it produces entropy, but a recent paper accepted to Physical Review X shows that the more accurate the clock’s ticks are, the more entropy it emits.
The physicists discovered that the more powerful the electrical signal, the more precisely the clock ticked. As the accuracy of the clock improved, the entropy increased in unison, suggesting the theoretical relationship for quantum clocks also extends to other forms of timepieces. Therefore, if the clock didn’t create entropy, it would be just as likely to run backward as forward. The more entropy the clock creates, the less likely it is that the clockwork will suffer from fluctuations. So if the accuracy of all clocks does come at a cost of increased entropy, that trade-off may reflect a close link between the passage of time and its measurement.
The physicists discovered that the more powerful the electrical signal, the more precisely the clock ticked. As the accuracy of the clock improved, the entropy increased in unison, suggesting the theoretical relationship for quantum clocks also extends to other forms of timepieces. Therefore, if the clock didn’t create entropy, it would be just as likely to run backward as forward. The more entropy the clock creates, the less likely it is that the clockwork will suffer from fluctuations. So if the accuracy of all clocks does come at a cost of increased entropy, that trade-off may reflect a close link between the passage of time and its measurement.
FOR PEAT'S SAKE
Are you a millennial “plant parent”? In your attempt to create cleaner air, you may be contributing to greenhouse gas emissions without even nowing it! 
Most household plants are potted in peat. Peat mining is a pretty unsustainable practice, and peatlands are unique ecosystems that support biodiversity and serve as carbon sinks. Every time that peat is mined for household plants, a huge amount of CO2 is released.
But don’t worry! There are many peat-free soils on the market, you just have to check the composition. Last month #PEATFREEAPRIL started in the UK, but didn’t seem to catch on much in Australia, despite the fact that we have a number of peatlands including Wingecarribee Swamp near Bowral which collapsed in 1998 due to over mining for potting mix.
→ Click here to learn more.
Most household plants are potted in peat. Peat mining is a pretty unsustainable practice, and peatlands are unique ecosystems that support biodiversity and serve as carbon sinks. Every time that peat is mined for household plants, a huge amount of CO2 is released.
But don’t worry! There are many peat-free soils on the market, you just have to check the composition. Last month #PEATFREEAPRIL started in the UK, but didn’t seem to catch on much in Australia, despite the fact that we have a number of peatlands including Wingecarribee Swamp near Bowral which collapsed in 1998 due to over mining for potting mix.
→ Click here to learn more.
LESSONS FROM LITTLE FOOT
Paleoanthropologists from the University of Southern California have reanalyzed the skeleton of the 3.67-million-year-old hominid, Little Foot, who was carved out of a South African cave in the 1990s.
Scientists already knew that the likely-female Little Foot was upright and walking, due to the shape of her legs. But these recent studies found something very interesting – her shoulders were apelike and made for climbing and swinging from trees, not for hanging by her side while walking or for throwing objects as a human would!
This discovery shows that humans and apes shared skeletal similarities for longer than previously thought.
→ Click here to learn more.
Scientists already knew that the likely-female Little Foot was upright and walking, due to the shape of her legs. But these recent studies found something very interesting – her shoulders were apelike and made for climbing and swinging from trees, not for hanging by her side while walking or for throwing objects as a human would!
This discovery shows that humans and apes shared skeletal similarities for longer than previously thought.
→ Click here to learn more.
CSS CONSTRUCTION BEGINS
China has long been excluded from NASA and therefore no Chinese astronauts have entered the ISS, but this hasn't stopped the rising superpower from creating its own space station.
Last Thursday they successfully launched the first module of their planned space station which will be assembled in several modules, all launching at different times, and should be completed by the end of 2022. It won’t be as big as the ISS, but there’s no doubt it will challenge the US’ dominance in space.
While the US has long refused to collaborate with the Chinese regarding space exploration, the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and China have cooperated on the use of the CSS.
Upon creation of the CSS, the Chinese government plans to conduct experiments in areas including astronomy, space medicine, space life science, biotechnology, microgravity fluid physics, microgravity combustion, and space technologies.
→ Click here to learn more.
Last Thursday they successfully launched the first module of their planned space station which will be assembled in several modules, all launching at different times, and should be completed by the end of 2022. It won’t be as big as the ISS, but there’s no doubt it will challenge the US’ dominance in space.
While the US has long refused to collaborate with the Chinese regarding space exploration, the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and China have cooperated on the use of the CSS.
Upon creation of the CSS, the Chinese government plans to conduct experiments in areas including astronomy, space medicine, space life science, biotechnology, microgravity fluid physics, microgravity combustion, and space technologies.
→ Click here to learn more.
COVID AND LEAKY BRAINS
Headaches, confusion, hallucinations, and delirium… and it’s not coming from an illicit substance. These are just some of the symptoms reported from COVID patients.
Loss of smell is common, but some unlucky people also experience depression, anxiety, and sleep problems. Scientists are quickly trying to work out how COVID affects the brain, and their most recent work seems to suggest that leaky blood vessels and inflammation are somehow involved in these symptoms.
→ Click here to learn more.
Loss of smell is common, but some unlucky people also experience depression, anxiety, and sleep problems. Scientists are quickly trying to work out how COVID affects the brain, and their most recent work seems to suggest that leaky blood vessels and inflammation are somehow involved in these symptoms.
→ Click here to learn more.
PICTURE OF THE WEEK
The COVID 19 travel ban caused many major airlines to decommission their jumbo jets, leaving them in essentially aircraft graveyards. Designer Uros Pavasovic is proposing a highly creative way to repurpose them – megayachts that look like something out of Mad Max!
He designed a vessel named Cobra, which, despite its sci-fi appearance, is actually highly buildable. The main problem would of course be the very noisy engine, which could be mitigated by installing it in a sound-insulated area of the hull. The price tag would likely be hundreds of millions of dollars, so don’t expect to be cruising around Sydney Harbour in it anytime soon.
→ Click here for more info.
He designed a vessel named Cobra, which, despite its sci-fi appearance, is actually highly buildable. The main problem would of course be the very noisy engine, which could be mitigated by installing it in a sound-insulated area of the hull. The price tag would likely be hundreds of millions of dollars, so don’t expect to be cruising around Sydney Harbour in it anytime soon.
→ Click here for more info.
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