Gizmorama - January 13, 2016

Good Morning,

Today's issue asks the question: Can we use magnetic fields to make and manipulate gravity?

Is it just me or should we just leave gravity alone? Let's treat gravity like Texas... don't mess with it!

Learn about this and more interesting stories from the scientific community in today's issue.

Until Next Time,
Erin

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*-- Can we use magnetic fields to make and manipulate gravity? --*
NAMUR, Belgium - André Füzfa, a math professor at Namur University in Belgium, wants researchers to take a more aggressive approach toward the study of gravity.

In a new paper, accepted for publication in the journal Physical Review D, Füzfa calls for scientists to use magnetic fields to make, measure, manipulate and use gravitational fields -- both for scientific study and technological innovation.

Currently, scientists are content to study gravity passively, observing the gravitational forces of Earth and other large bodies in space -- stars, black holes, planets, dwarf planets, comets, asteroids.

Füzfa wonders: Why travel so far from home, when we can make gravity right here in our backyard?

If scientists could create controllable gravitational fields, they could bend space-time and test Einstein's theory of general relativity.

The manipulation of matter and high-energy particles using particle accelerators has resulted in a number of game-changing revelations. Füzfa says a similar approach to gravity could be equally revealing.

In his paper, Füzfa, a physicist and cosmologist, offers a mathematical framework for a gravity-manipulation device.

"Until now, a scientific advance like this was a dream of science fiction, but it could open up many new applications tomorrow," officials write in a press release.

"For example in the field of telecommunications with gravitational waves: imagine calling the other side of the world without going through satellite or terrestrial relays!"


*-- Gradual environmental change delays evolution, adaptation --*
WAGENINGEN, Netherlands - Previous research has suggested rapid or sudden environmental change often precipitate accelerated evolutionary adaptation and speciation. Now, scientists say the opposite is also true.

According to new research out of the Netherlands, slow or subtle environmental change slows evolution, leading to fewer adaptations.

With growing concerns about climate change and the ability of plants and animals to adapt, some scientists have questioned whether slowing down global warming would be beneficial.

To find out, researchers at the Wageningen University and Research Centre subjected yeast to variety of environmental changes. Specifically, the yeast strains where exposed to varying concentrations of the heavy metals cadmium, nickel and zinc.

Yeast strains were allowed to grow for 500 generations. Some strains were exposed to more rapid change, ramping up the levels of nickel or zinc, while others were subjected to slower rates of change.

"You might intuitively expect that giving them some respite by increasing the concentration more slowly causes them to end up being more adapted," Florien Gorter, a PhD candidate in evolutionary genetics at Wageningen, said in a press release.

"But we did not find any evidence for that," Gorter continued. "However, even if the performance of the evolved populations is very similar, it could still be that changes on the DNA level are different. We are now investigating if that is indeed the case."

Though yeast as a rather simple organism, researchers say it is similar enough to plants and animals to offer valuable insight into the nature of evolution and adaptation.

Researchers published their findings in the journal The American Naturalist.

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