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Virgin Galactic is set to send its billionaire founder Richard Branson, along with a crew of five others, aboard VSS Unity to the edge of space today, July 11. Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity SpaceShipTwo vehicle will lift off from Spaceport America near Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, US. Now, the question many have been asking is where they can watch all this live. 

On its Twitter handle, Virgin Galactic said that the live broadcast will begin at 6am PT, 2pm BST, and 9am ET. Viewers in India can catch the launch at 6:30pm IST. Virgin Galactic will broadcast the launch on its website as well as its YouTube channel. You can also watch it below: 

“The skies over Spaceport America are ready. Soon our Unity22 mission specialists will soar above New Mexico and see Earth from a whole new, spectacular point of view,” Virgin Galactic tweeted. 

Branson, whose role is to evaluate the experience for future clients, in an interview on Tuesday said, “I’ve been looking forward to this for 17 years,” adding while his wife may be a bit nervous but he wasn’t least bit afraid.  Branson’s flight to space comes just a week before he turns 71. A carrier aircraft, VMS Eve, will first take off from the runway and will drop VSS Unity after reaching a height of roughly 50,000 feet (15,000m).

At this juncture, VSS Unity’s two pilots —  Dave Mackay and Michael Masucci — will ignite its rocket engines, propelling the craft to Mach 3 above the 50 miles (80km) altitude, which is considered the boundary of space by the US. The ship, then, finally glides back to the original runway.

“When we return, I will announce something very exciting to give more people the chance to become an astronaut,” Branson has promised. He denied that there was any sort of competition between him and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to see who goes to space first.  “I just wish him [Bezos] and the people going up with him all the very best. I look forward to talking to him about his ride when he comes back,” Branson said. “I spoke to him two or three weeks ago, and we both wished each other well.”  Bezos, founder of Blue Origin, will travel to space on July 20. Bezos is one of the passengers on his company’s first suborbital sightseeing trip on its spacecraft, New Shepard.

Sunday’s mission is expected to last about 90 minutes in total, while the “weightless” phase — when the ship reaches the top of its suborbital path — may last for up to four minutes, according to a report by Space.com.

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Ancient Roman Silver Coins As Old As 2,000 Years Unearthed By Researchers

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September 8, 2024

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Ancient Roman Silver Coins As Old As 2,000 Years Unearthed By Researchers

A significant discovery of ancient silver coins has been made on the Mediterranean island of Pantelleria, located between Sicily and Tunisia. Archaeologists from the University of Tübingen, Germany, unearthed 27 Roman silver coins, known as “denarii,” dating back more than 2,000 years. The coins were found hidden in a hole in the wall during excavations at the Acropolis of Santa Teresa and San Marco. Some of these coins feature a human head profile, which remains unidentified.

Pirate Attack Theory

It is believed that the coins were hidden during one of the many pirate raids that plagued the region around 94 to 74 B.C., a period when the Roman Republic ruled. The discovery was made after earth from the site slipped following rainy weather, revealing part of the stash. The rest of the coins were found under a boulder. According to archaeologist Thomas Schäfer, the coins may have been concealed by locals during a pirate attack.

Pirates frequently raided coastal areas across the eastern Mediterranean until the Roman general Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, known as Pompey the Great, defeated them in 67 B.C.

Roman Ruins and Previous Discoveries

The discovery of these coins occurred near an earlier find – the heads of three Roman statues. These marble heads included portrayals of Julius Caesar, Emperor Titus (who ruled from A.D. 79 to 81), and a woman who could be Agrippina the Elder, the granddaughter of Augustus, or Antonia the Younger, daughter of Mark Antony.

The archaeological site, once a Roman settlement known as Cossyra or Cossura, remains untouched by looters and features an assembly area known as a “comitium.” Only five such locations have been found in Italy, making this a significant and well-preserved find.

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Great White Sharks Gather in This Mysterious Spot Every Year

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September 8, 2024

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Great White Sharks Gather in This Mysterious Spot Every Year

The White Shark Café, located in the Pacific Ocean between Baja California and Hawaii, is a mysterious region where great white sharks gather every winter and spring. This area, once thought to be an ocean desert, has puzzled scientists for years. Great white sharks, typically found off the coast of California, make a long journey to this remote location. Barbara Block, a marine sciences professor at Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station, named the area while studying the migration of these sharks using electronic tags between 1999 and 2000.

The Enigmatic Migration

Block’s research revealed that four out of six tagged sharks swam southwest, staying in this unexplored ocean patch the size of Colorado. These sharks also engaged in deep dives, some reaching depths of 1,500 feet, sparking curiosity among scientists. Why would these sharks leave their abundant hunting grounds in California to travel to what was once considered a barren part of the ocean?

A Lively Ocean Oasis

In 2018, Block and her team embarked on a mission to uncover the mystery behind the White Shark Café. They tagged 20 sharks and retrieved data from 10, revealing surprising findings. The Café, once thought to be desolate, was brimming with life.

Deep-sea fish, squids, and microscopic algae populated the area, suggesting it could be a vital food source for the sharks. But the study suggested that the food options in the open ocean were not more than the ones they could have found in their familiar hunting grounds, which leads to the speculation that the White Shark Café might have significance for mating practices.

Mysteries of Shark Diving Patterns

However, the question remains: why do sharks seek this food in the open ocean? Observing the sharks’ diving patterns, researchers noted that males increased their deep dives in April, leading to speculation about potential mating behaviours. Still, why males dive more than females remains unclear, leaving scientists like Block and her team searching for answers.

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Placebo Effect Link Found With Previously Unassociated Parts of the Brain

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September 8, 2024

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Placebo Effect Link Found With Previously Unassociated Parts of the Brain

Patients suffering from chronic pain have limited treatment options, often relying on medications like opioids that come with harmful side effects and high addiction risks. A new study in mice, published in Current Biology journal, suggests a new way to use the placebo effect for treating chronic pain. By activating specific neurons in the brain linked to pain relief, researchers managed to create an environment where mice associated pain relief with their surroundings, providing a sustained placebo effect.

Study by Fan Wang’s Team

Fan Wang, a neuroscientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, led this research. Wang and her team explored how neurons in the central amygdala could be “reverse-engineered” to mimic the placebo effect, according to a Science.org report. They conditioned mice, previously affected by chemotherapy-induced chronic pain, to link a particular environment with pain relief. Even when the neural stimulation was removed, the mice continued to display pain relief, showing reduced pain-related behaviours.

The Role of Pain-Suppressing Neurons

This placebo effect was achieved without reactivating the pain-suppressing neurons, indicating a separate brain mechanism driving this response. Researchers discovered that the placebo effect also occurred, though weaker, when the mice were given morphine instead of neural stimulation.

Potential Implications for Human Treatment

Fabrizio Benedetti, a placebo expert from the University of Turin Medical School, believes this study supports the idea that placebos and drugs might share common mechanisms. While the placebo effect in humans involves complex factors like social interaction, these animal models could help deepen our understanding of pain management.

Dr. Benedict Alter of the University of Pittsburgh notes that, although there is a long way to go before this research applies to human patients, these findings hold significant potential for drug-free treatments.

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