I must say, I got that number from the Dutch translation I read first. And thought that a cubic kilometer is already quite a bit. But apparently, according to some other articles, it can blow 1,000 cubic kilometers, which is nothing because it's storing 11,200 cubic miles of magma... My conversion program doesn't even have a cubic mile, but that doesn't matter anymore. It's way too much. ;-)

I'm trying to decide which one to read first https://www.livescience.com/50718-weekend-reading.html - 4 days late. Maybe the asteroid one. It's mostly to stay awake for as long as it takes to not burn what's in the oven.

Crypto-currency craze 'hinders search for alien life'
Scientists listening out for broadcasts by extra-terrestrials are struggling to get the computer hardware they need, thanks to the crypto-currency mining craze, a radio-astronomer has said.

Seti (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) researchers want to expand operations at two observatories. However, it has found that key computer chips are in short supply.
"We'd like to use the latest GPUs [graphics processing units]... and we can't get 'em," said Dan Werthimer. Demand for GPUs has soared recently thanks to crypto-currency mining. "That's limiting our search for extra-terrestrials, to try to answer the question, 'Are we alone? Is there anybody out there?'," Dr Werthimer told the BBC.

"This is a new problem, it's only happened on orders we've been trying to make in the last couple of months." Mining a currency such as Bitcoin or Ethereum involves connecting computers to a global network and using them to solve complex mathematical puzzles. This forms part of the process of validating transactions made by people who use the currency. As a reward for this work, the miners receive a small crypto-currency payment, making it potentially profitable.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin energy use in Iceland set to overtake homes

Iceland is facing an "exponential" rise in Bitcoin mining that is gobbling up power resources, a spokesman for Icelandic energy firm HS Orka has said.

This year, electricity use at Bitcoin mining data centres is likely to exceed that of all Iceland's homes, according to Johann Snorri Sigurbergsson.

My opinion is that this craze has exceeded all reasonable limits.

Muscle-like material expands and contracts in response to light

Scientists have developed a new material that expands and contracts, lifting a weight merely by shining a light on it.

Materials that respond to red or near-infrared light, which can penetrate human tissue, could be used in biomedical applications, such as drug-delivery devices or, eventually, as artificial muscles.

Barnes says that his group has only begun to test the limits of these new materials. Currently, the team is studying the self-healing properties of polyviologen-embedded hydrogels, and they are exploring the possibility of 3D printing the polymers into different types of materials.

A team of researchers at the University of Cincinnati developed a tiny portable lab capable of plugging into your smartphone and diagnosing infectious diseases like COVID-19 and Lyme disease. The lab could also aid in identifying mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety. The findings appeared in the journal Microsystems & Nanoengineering. Source: Mental Daily / https://www.mentaldaily.com/article/2020/02/researchers-developed-tiny-lab-for-smartphone-diagnose-mental-health-conditions-and-diseases-coronavirus

Scientists Detect 1,652 Radio Signals From Mysterious Source in Space

Fast radio bursts are a huge cosmic mystery, and now scientists have detected an unprecedented number of signals from one source in just 47 days.

https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/big-bang-beginning-universe/
We used to think the Big Bang meant the universe began from a singularity. Nearly 100 years later, we're not so sure.

https://www.indiatoday.in/science/story/earth-receives-first-radio-signals-from-planet-outside-of-solar-system-1863850-2021-10-12

In a major discovery, astronomers have for the first time detected stars that are blasting radio signals hinting at the presence of hidden planets around them. The signals were picked up using the world’s most powerful radio antenna, the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) situated in the Netherlands.

Robot vacuum cleaner escapes from Cambridge Travelodge (about six miles from where I live.) Best Twitter comment.

Worried about the safety of it because nature abhors a vacuum

Interesting video on the New Horizons flyby of Pluto and Arrokoth (Ultima Thule): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5XPuS-Y0fg

Why Voyager 1 is "sending back weird data": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PI5uwMhX38Q (which for a 45 year old spacecraft on its 5 year mission isn't too weird)

China's FAST telescope detected several Fast Radio Bursts emanating from a star system 3 billion light years away.
https://www.wionews.com/science/china-detects-fast-radio-burst-3-billion-light-years-away-is-it-an-alien-message-486552
https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/frb-china-1.6481552
https://twitter.com/globaltimesnews/status/1536600248323231744

https://news.sky.com/story/absolutely-bizarre-spirals-of-blue-light-spotted-in-sky-above-new-zealand-12637367

"As far as we can tell it's created by the sun catching the exhaust [fumes] from the second stage of a SpaceX rocket that reignited about an hour after it had been placed in orbit at Cape Canaveral"

Llama blood may offer protection against COVID-19 and all of its variants, including the ever-changing omicron variant, a new study found.

The findings also suggest that the potential protection llama’s blood can provide is not limited to just COVID-19 — it may extend to 18 related viruses, according to a June 28 news release on the study, which was published in the journal Cell Reports.

The work involved a team at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York and a llama named Wally.

From: COVID-19 vaccine with IPD nanoparticles wins full approval abroad

The IPD is excited to announce it's first designed protein medicine with full approval abroad.

Congrats and thank you to all Rosetta@home contributors! The computing you have provided has greatly aided in de novo protein design challenges such as vaccine development leading to breakthroughs like this.

From the IPD news site:
• Clinical testing found the vaccine outperforms Oxford/AstraZeneca’s
• The protein-based vaccine, now called SKYCovione, does not require deep freezing
• University of Washington to waive royalty fees for the duration of the pandemic
• South Korea to purchase 10 million doses for domestic use

A vaccine for COVID-19 developed at the University of Washington School of Medicine has been approved by the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for use in individuals 18 years of age and older. The vaccine, now known as SKYCovione, was found to be more effective than the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine sold under the brand names Covishield and Vaxzevria.

https://www.sciencealert.com/super-long-distance-nasa-fix-restores-voyager-1-roughly-15-billion-miles-away

The Voyager 1 space probe launched from Earth in September 1977, and is now around 23.5 billion kilometers (or 14.6 billion miles) away from home – and counting. But despite that mind-blowing distance, NASA scientists just carried out a repair job on the craft.