Recent research has found a significant connection between cholesterol levels and the risk of developing dementia. It is not just high cholesterol levels that are concerning, but also the fluctuations in levels over time. A study of 10,000 individuals suggests that these fluctuations could increase the chances of developing dementia by up to 60 percent.
The study also indicates that large variations in cholesterol levels, from high to low, are linked to a higher risk of general cognitive decline, regardless of dementia. Dr. Jen Zhou, a researcher at Monash University in Australia, emphasized the importance of closely monitoring and actively intervening to prevent such fluctuations.
The research focused on two main types of cholesterol – “bad cholesterol” or LDL and “good cholesterol” or HDL. Large fluctuations in LDL levels were found to accelerate cognitive decline, while fluctuations in HDL levels did not impact cognitive decline risk significantly.
The study highlighted the potential adverse effects of LDL cholesterol levels above 130mg per deciliter and the role of LDL fluctuations in destabilizing atherosclerotic plaques in arteries, potentially leading to impaired blood flow to the brain.
The study involved individuals in their 70s from Australia and the United States who did not have dementia at the start of the observation period. By the end of the study, a portion of participants developed dementia while others experienced cognitive decline. Those with stable cholesterol levels had a lower risk of neurological symptoms.
Globally, high levels of bad cholesterol contributed to millions of deaths in 2021. To manage cholesterol levels, individuals are advised to undergo regular medical check-ups and make lifestyle changes such as increasing physical activity, quitting smoking, and consuming a healthy diet.
According to Emily McGrath from the British Heart Foundation, lowering cholesterol can be achieved through various lifestyle adjustments, including reducing saturated fats and opting for foods rich in unsaturated fats like olive oil, nuts, seeds, and oily fish.
Paleontologists have unearthed the exquisitely preserved remains of a Cretaceous enantiornithine bird in São Paulo state in southeastern Brazil. The skull’s extraordinary three-dimensional preservation allowed researchers to digitally reconstruct the bird’s brain.
The newly identified Enantiornithine species They lived in what is now Brazil about 80 million years ago (late Cretaceous period).
with scientific name Nabaornis Hestiathe ancient bird was about the same size as a starling.
This species had a larger cerebrum Archeopteryxsuggesting that they had more advanced cognitive abilities than early bird-like dinosaurs.
However, most regions of the brain, such as the cerebellum, are underdeveloped, suggesting that the complex flight control mechanisms of modern birds have not yet evolved.
“The structure of the brain is Nabaornis Hestia almost exactly in between Archeopteryx Dr Guillermo Navarone, a researcher at the University of Cambridge, says:
Fossilized remains are Nabaornis Hestia It was recovered in 2016 from the local Williams Quarry in Presidente Prudente, part of Brazil’s Adamantina Formation.
Tens of millions of years ago, the site was probably an arid region with slow-flowing streams, allowing for the impressive preservation of fossils.
The extraordinary three-dimensional preservation has allowed paleontologists to use advanced micro-CT scanning techniques to reconstruct the toothless, large-eyed bird’s skull and brain in stunning detail.
“This fossil is truly one of a kind and I was in awe from the moment I first saw it to the moment I finished assembling the skull and brain. “You can fully understand the scientific structure,” Dr. Navarone said.
Professor Daniel Field from the University of Cambridge added: “Modern birds have some of the most sophisticated cognitive abilities in the animal kingdom, rivaled only by mammals.”
“However, scientists have struggled to understand when and how birds’ unique brains and remarkable intelligence evolved. The field is looking forward to discovering fossils just like this one. I’ve been waiting for it.”
On the other hand, the skull Nabaornis Hestia At first glance, it resembles a small pigeon, but upon closer inspection, it turns out that it is not a modern bird at all, but a member of the “opposite birds”, or “opposite birds”.
Birds of the order Enantiornithiformes, which diverged from modern birds more than 130 million years ago, have complex feathers and are thought to have been able to fly as competently as modern birds. .
However, the anatomical structure of the brain Nabaornis Hestia This raises new questions: How does enantiornithine behave without a range of brain features observed in living birds, including an enlarged cerebellum, which is a spatial control center in living birds? Did they control the flight?
“This fossil represents a species at an intermediate point in the evolutionary process of bird cognition,” Professor Field said.
“The cognitive ability is Nabaornis Hestia They may have had an advantage in finding food and shelter, and were capable of elaborate mating displays and other complex social behaviors. ”
“This discovery shows that some of the birds that flew above the dinosaurs already had fully modern skull shapes more than 80 million years ago,” Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County said. said researcher Dr. Luis Chiappe.
This finding is reported in the following article: paper in a diary nature.
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LM Chiappe others. 2024. Cretaceous birds from Brazil tell the story of the evolution of bird skulls and brains. nature 635, 376-381; doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-08114-4
Amazon has introduced a budget-friendly online store featuring electronics, clothing, and other items priced under $20 to compete with discount retailers encroaching on its market.
The company announced the launch of Amazon Haul, a storefront primarily showcasing items under $10 with free delivery on orders over $25. Orders will be shipped to U.S. customers from Amazon warehouses in China, with delivery expected within one to two weeks.
Many products on Amazon Haul resemble those found on Chinese e-commerce platforms Shein and Temu, which have gained popularity in recent years.
Shein targets young women with affordable apparel, while Temu offers a variety of products for bargain hunters.
Both Shein and Temu have faced criticism for their fast-fashion business models and are under scrutiny from regulators for various issues.
Amazon’s new storefront on its shopping app and mobile website offers unbranded items like phone cases and hairbrushes for $2.99, and sleeveless dresses for $14.99, emphasizing “incredibly low prices” and “budget-friendly activewear.”
Vice President of Worldwide Sales Partners, Dharmesh Mehta, stated, “Finding great products at extremely low prices is important to our customers, and we continue to work with our partners to offer products at affordable prices.”
Importing goods from China could become costlier for Amazon due to new regulations targeting cheap Chinese products which aim to reduce U.S. reliance on China and might lead to price increases for U.S. consumers.
President-elect Donald Trump has also suggested imposing tariffs on Chinese products.
The shadow of the laser beam appears as a horizontal line against a blue background.
Abrahao et al. (2024)
Usually light casts shadows on other objects, but with the help of rubies, laser beams themselves can cast shadows.
When two laser beams interact, they don’t collide like the lightsabers in the movies. star warssay Rafael Abrahao At Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York. In real life, they simply pass through each other. But Abrahao and his colleagues discovered a way for one laser beam to block another, causing its shadow to appear.
The key ingredient was ruby cubes. The researchers illuminated the cube with a green laser beam while shining a blue laser from the side. When green light passed through the ruby’s atoms, its properties changed in a unique way, which affected its response to blue light.
Atoms affected by the green light blocked the blue laser light instead of letting it pass, creating a shadow that was exactly the same shape as the green laser beam. Remarkably, the researchers were able to project blue light onto a screen and see this “laser shadow” with the naked eye.
Abrahao says he and his colleagues had a long discussion about whether what they had created was actually worthy of a shadow. Because moving the green laser beam also moved the green laser beam, we were able to see it without special equipment, and we were able to project it onto commonplace objects like markers, so we finally found a positive answer. I made a judgment.
Historically, understanding shadows has been critical to understanding what light can do and how it can be used, and this experiment has added to scientists’ light manipulation toolbox. Add unexpected technology, he says.
thomas kloba Researchers at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Germany say their experiment used a known process to create an impressive visual demonstration of how materials can help control light. . For example, the interaction between lasers and rubies is similar to the interaction of materials used in laser eye surgery, and if the laser light becomes dangerously strong, it must be able to react by blocking the laser light. yeah.
LJust guessing, did you recently purchase Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, wander into the multiplayer mode, and find yourself being brutally beaten by hundreds of teenagers with suggestive usernames? Don’t worry. That’s completely normal. Call of Duty has always been an arcade twitchfest of the online shooting scene, but Black Ops 6 has a whole new feel thanks to its omni-movement system that lets you dive, roll, and sprint in all directions. And all weapons have been completely redesigned. As Olivia Rodrigo said, it’s cruel.
So I asked two talented professional players, Ethan “Fifakill” Pink and Liam “Jukeyz” James, for some tips. Instead of laughing and pointing at me, they agreed.
use the correct gun
If you’re new to CoD, stick with assault rifles or submachine guns [SMGs] – These are suitable for Black Ops 6’s small maps and intense engagement speed. “My favorite assault rifle” [AR] Probably Model L, but very good experts agreed not to use it, so we moved to AMES,” Jukeyz says. “The SMG is either the Jackal, which is fun to use, or the KSV, which is more difficult but way too powerful.”
Fifakill, on the other hand, recommends Kompakt 92. However, if you are a mid-range player, I think the Model L Assault Rifle is a very good option. It takes time to unlock, but it’s worth the effort – Super TTK [time to kill] and very low recoil.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Photo: Activision
Become a gunsmith
The Gunsmith is where you can make modifications to your weapons, which are essential to gaining an advantage in combat. “For the majority of players, it’s best to start by reducing recoil,” Fifakill says. “Focus on attachments that reduce load” horizontal Recoil – If your gun bounces up and down, it’s pretty easy to fix. But left and right makes it more difficult when you’re trying to track enemy players.”
Jukeyz prioritizes aim-down aiming speed (how quickly you can move the gun into the aiming position), but also suggests installing a vertical foregrip to counter recoil. “I also recommend Gunfighter Wildcard,” Fifakir added. “With eight attachments per gun, you get it all: better movement, bigger magazines, less recoil.”
A severe fire in a garage and home in south of Sydney may have been caused by a faulty lithium-ion battery in an electric scooter. Fire investigators discovered that this incident was part of a series involving lithium-ion batteries.
Another fire broke out at New Farm apartments in Brisbane city centre in early November, believed by authorities to be ignited by an electric scooter’s battery. In March, New South Wales experienced four battery-related fires in one day.
The New South Wales Fire and Rescue Service has identified lithium-ion batteries as the state’s fastest-growing fire hazard, responding to 272 battery-related fires last year. Fire authorities in Victoria and Queensland are responding to lithium-ion battery fires almost every day.
Lithium-ion batteries are widely used in various devices due to their fast charging, power density, and long battery life. Australia’s largest lithium-ion battery, the Victorian Big Battery, can power over one million homes for 30 minutes.
What are lithium-ion batteries used for?
Different types of lithium-ion batteries are used in various devices, and when operated correctly, they are considered safe.
Lithium-ion batteries power cell phones, computers, electric scooters, electric bicycles, and electric cars, providing quick energy delivery and long battery life.
Lithium-ion batteries can catch fire due to overheating and physical damage, reaching high temperatures and producing toxic gases.
Why do lithium-ion batteries catch fire?
Lithium-ion batteries contain lithium ions in an electrolyte, and charging them too quickly can cause thermal runaway, leading to a rise in temperature and potential explosion.
Battery quality matters, as physical damage, defects, and overcharging can contribute to battery fires. It is essential to use approved chargers and follow manufacturer guidelines.
To prevent battery fires, avoid overcharging, charge batteries on hard surfaces, and recycle old batteries properly to reduce the risk of fire incidents.
Coral polyps, tiny organisms, cluster together to form colonies that create vast coral reefs.
The researchers describe the giant coral as primarily brown with pops of yellow, blue, and red on its undulating surface resembling ocean waves.
This massive coral structure is essential as it serves as a habitat, sanctuary, and breeding ground for various species, from shrimp and crabs to different kinds of fish, Timmers highlighted.
Despite its significance, this coral is facing challenges both locally and globally.
Timmers emphasized the detrimental impact of overfishing on the ecosystem’s health by removing organisms crucial for balance. She suggested ways to protect coral reefs like using sea cucumbers for sediment cleaning and giant clams for water filtration, underscoring the importance of every living organism.
The rise in ocean temperatures due to climate change poses another threat, potentially causing the coral to bleach and perish, Timmers warned.
National Geographic diver Iñigo San Felix uses survey lines around giant corals. Manu Saint Felix/National Geographic
David M. Baker, a coral reef expert at the University of Hong Kong, lauded the discovery, calling it “remarkable.”
Baker, who was not part of the expedition, mentioned that corals are essentially immortal, surviving environmental changes due to favorable conditions and adaptability.
However, Baker cautioned that even remote reefs are vulnerable to climate change impacts.
He expressed hope in the presence of large, old corals, indicating opportunities to safeguard, preserve, and restore oceans while combatting climate change.
Divers swim over spectacular coral reefs. Manu Saint Felix/National Geographic
The Solomon Islands boast the world’s second highest coral diversity, housing over 490 species of hard and soft corals.
Currently, the world is experiencing the Fourth global coral bleaching event. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has confirmed large-scale bleaching in at least 62 countries and territories from 2023 to early 2024.
a Brutal Scene: A shadowy figure forces someone into a high-voltage circuit box. The victim becomes unable to move at the moment of death, his body convulsing and sparks flying. Downstairs, everyone froze in shock the moment the lights went out. You must scrutinize this scene to determine who everyone is, where they are, why they are there, and, of course, who committed this murder. Examine faces and objects, search everyone’s pockets to see what’s inside, and read notes, signs, and letters for clues. Eventually you’ll piece it together and fill in the report with the missing words that describe exactly who, what, when, where, and why.
Rise of the Golden Idol is a 1970s alternate reality detective game where, when solved, individual scenes tell us something about a larger mystery. This is a sequel to The Case of the Golden Idol, set 300 years after the game’s Age of Exploration mystery, but following the trail of the same cursed object. Some of these scenes are relatively harmless and even funny, such as a drive-in cinema where an unexpected fire breaks out and cosplayed patrons rush for the exit. There are other scary things too. In the opening incident, the strangulation unfolds in an endless loop, like an Instagram boomerang story.
Intentionally grotesque art style…the rise of the Golden Idol. Photo: Color Gray Games
Solving these cases is very satisfying, but you better hope your memory for names and faces is good. Scenes could include 10 or more people and required a notebook to record them. There are more and more obvious hints offered when you get stuck, but as the game warns, using them takes away the fun of using deductive reasoning. Nevertheless, when I understood the gist of the case but couldn’t get someone’s last name correctly, I was glad that there was a button to show me which blanks in the report were incorrectly filled in. I thought.
The strangeness of Rise of the Golden Idol is what makes it so memorable. The art style is intentionally grotesque, with the characters’ asymmetrical faces and eyes moving like crazy, and the backgrounds filled with paint pens. The murders, robberies, and other crimes here are strange, and the picture becomes unsteady in its eternal two-second loop of movement. Until I solved the problem, the scene stuck in my head and I ended up staring at my phone screen for half an hour at a time, thinking, cross-referencing, and taking notes. Where is the character’s gaze leading me? Why is that rug in disarray? Where did that dirt come from?
The big story that comes from these details is worth all the effort. As the chapters change, the fill-in-the-blank incident report turns into a fill-in-the-blank summary of everything you’ve learned from several past cases, helping you draw connections that make the story full of intrigue. This is not a game you can play while thinking about something else. You have to pay close attention, focus your thoughts, and see what your brain can do. I was pleasantly surprised by my own reasoning skills.
The crime scenes are so bizarre that you never know where this game will take you, but there’s always something you need to solve.
Netflix shows love is blind Rather, I ignored the feedback. This is a romance show where participants cannot meet each other in person and only communicate through audio. You will only be allowed to meet in person if you are engaged.
Like many reality shows, it is “Social experiment”which is an interesting way to explain putting something so personal on television as entertainment, but I’m sure Netflix’s consent form is perfect.
I bring this up because a quantum physicist was introduced in Season 7, which was released in October. Garrett Josemans is a technical program manager at IonQ, which is developing “next generation” quantum computing systems.
According to the company’s blog post He touted his experience, saying, “The opportunity to focus on love in a structured environment was interesting.” That’s one way to say it. Josemans added: “My intellectual curiosity grew and I felt like fate was knocking at my door.”
Obviously he was right. Josemans is currently married to co-star Taylor Krauss. As one of my colleagues in the news department pointed out, being used to having two confusing and contradictory realities existing at the same time is probably a boon in some relationships.
the biggest odor
Speaking of dating, Mrs. Feedback draws attention to pheromone maximization (sometimes spelled maxxing). This is apparently what alpha males do.
Actually, let me stop you there. Alpha males are not the problem. The concept stems from research on captive wolves in the 1940s, which found that a single male often dominated the pack. From there, the concept spread into popular culture. But it turns out that wild wolves don’t behave like that. Their herd is like an extended family. Wolf researcher L. David Meck has spent much of his career correcting the record, including trying to get his early books out of print.
where were we? Well, a human alpha male (which doesn’t exist) has come up with a novel strategy to attract women as sexual partners. They maximize their “musk” by refraining from showering and wearing the same clothes for several days, producing an attractive cocktail of pheromones that sends women into a sexual frenzy.
The idea gained some fame on the internet after a teenage TikTok user posted a video about an experiment that begins like this: First It doesn’t smell. It’s pheromone MAX. ” follow-up video, from His mother asked other parents for advice on how to get him to shower.
I don’t know where to start with feedback. Perhaps the idea of human pheromones? Indeed, some animals communicate by releasing chemicals into the air called pheromones, some of which play a role in mating. However, despite decades of research, there is no conclusive evidence that human pheromones exist. Basing your dating strategy on a phenomenon that may not be real is a bold move.
Even if human sex pheromones exist, why do we get the most benefit from not showering? And why do pheromones cancel out other odors?
It’s been a long time since Feedback played the dating game, but according to our vague memories, the best way to connect with people is to talk to them, find common interests, and be nice. That was it. Still, young minds, fresh ideas.
Trouble with TED talks
I’ve never gotten feedback on a TED talk. Perhaps our invitation ended up in your spam folder. But the goal is to bring together the best and brightest to communicate their ideas to a wide audience. Jennifer Doudna, CRISPR pioneer and Nobel Prize winner, 2 TED Talks. Malcolm Gladwell turning point fame, did 4 Therefore, it is assumed that he is twice as important.
But when you need a never-ending firehose of content, you inevitably end up hunting for material – Feedback knows this feeling all too well – which brings us to a talk by Raymond Tan. he It was delivered Back in 2017, TED Conferences social media reshared Feedback first encountered that profound wisdom in October.
At the time, Mr Tan was an IT manager at a financial services company. But his talk is about “Lessons from the Philosophy of Water.” By studying the behavior of water, we can gain a sense of fulfillment in our lives. This kind of thing is a headache for feedback, so I’ll give you some examples of what was provided.
“If you think about water flowing through a river, it’s always at a low level,” Tan said. Yes, liquids under gravity tend to do that. “Water can change. Depending on the temperature, it can be a liquid, a solid, or a gas… We also constantly reskill to stay relevant. We are expected to invent and update.” Feedback appreciates the comparison between the job market situation and the simmering and frozen experience. Indeed, water embodies the hustle spirit. #grind
Let’s put the obvious facts aside. You might get similar advice from one of those internet memes that highlights an “inspirational” phrase over a photo of a waterfall. The real problem with advice like this is that it’s not as universally applicable as the speakers claim. Many people may do the easy job, but too many cooks will ruin the soup. Here we argue in our TED talk: “It depends.”
Have a story for feedback?
You can email your article to Feedback at feedback@newscientist.com. Please enter your home address. This week’s and past feedback can be found on our website.
IThis was one of history’s monumental moments, but if John Glenn had not stopped at a supermarket on his way aboard Friendship 7 to pick up a Contax camera and 35mm film, the visual record may not have existed. A photograph taken by an American astronaut through the window of a capsule while in Earth orbit on February 20, 1962, provided unprecedented evidence of Project Mercury’s first orbital mission. The Soviet Union may have beaten the Americans in the race to human spaceflight, but the Americans were also taking the first color photographs of the galaxy.
German gallerist Daniel Blau points out that these photos are also “the most expensive photographs ever taken.” Billions of dollars were spent to obtain them. Blau has an original print of Glenn’s first photograph taken in space. Photos from Paris this yearalong with NASA’s cache of rare photographic prints, many of which have never been publicly displayed before, most of them by unknown scientists and astronauts.
“At that time, NASA didn’t provide cameras to astronauts,” Blau says. “In a way, this was Glenn’s private photograph.” Despite their scientific motivations, Glenn’s images convey the inescapable mystery of the universe. A warm, glowing ball of light spreads out from the center of the frame. Luminescent flashes blaze into the deep darkness of the void, dancing like the “fireflies” described by Glenn. It must have been terrifying to watch. In fact, the spark turned out to be condensation.
Traveling at 28,000 km/h, humans managed to reach space, but they had not yet designed a photographic machine powerful enough to keep up with the journey. Lacking much visual information or detail, Glenn’s photographs probably reveal less about the universe and have become totems of human ambition. Glenn later added a personal caption, warning, “I guarantee you a photo will never be able to recreate the brilliance of a real scene.”
Blau began carrying vintage NASA prints in the 1990s. “The Space Race and the Cold War were the defining forces of the second half of the 20th century. Of course, my generation remembers all the important moments.” Some of the photos were published at the time, but original prints It is difficult to obtain. “These scientists and the people who worked on the missions passed down their personal archives to their children, and now their grandchildren, so there is still a lot of material on the market. It was natural for me to start searching and working with these photographs.”
At Paris Photo, a crowd gathered around a series of six silver gelatin photographs from 1948 overlooking the Rio Grande from a V-2 rocket at 73,000 feet. Also on display were humanity’s first close-up photo of Mars, taken in 1965, and the first panoramic photo of Earth seen from the moon. The latter was not photographed by humans, but was sent by radio signal from an unmanned mission in August 1966. They were then stitched together pixel by pixel into a single image at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
By 1979, the interstellar probe Voyager was able to take better pictures of the planet, and its images of Jupiter and its four moons suspended like marble in an onyx atmosphere were particularly startling.
The impressive large-scale mosaic of Mercury’s pockmarked surface, created in 1974, is “the only mosaic of this size I’ve ever seen,” Blau says. “It was probably produced for a NASA presentation, similar to Voyager’s photo of Mars.” This photo only shows part of the solar system’s smallest planet, but it doesn’t fit our understanding and You get another glimpse of what lies beyond your control.
By the late ’70s, photography had taken on a more central role in missions and the advancement of space science. “NASA was and still is dependent on public funding, but Glenn’s color photographs taken in Earth orbit showed that the best and most positive way for NASA to demonstrate its accomplishments was through photography.” It became clear that there was one thing,” Blau said. “Of course, the scientific side of things is the driving force, but photography tells a first-hand story.”
Blau’s footage was released the day after the US presidential election. He said he wanted to remind visitors of the “positive common efforts of many countries.” They are certainly humble. “Perhaps no photograph embodies more than this photograph the combination of mystical awe and mastery of nature that constitutes the human condition,” Blau muses. “Humans escape from the confines of the earth to see and record things that have never been seen or recorded before – the impossible.”
SpaceX said on its website that it aims to conduct Starship's sixth test flight as early as November 18.
space x
SpaceX is preparing for the sixth test flight of Starship, the world's most powerful rocket. The company has a “fail fast, learn fast” approach to research and development that is more akin to the world of Silicon Valley than the aerospace industry, and the pace of launches appears to only be accelerating.
When is the next flight?
SpaceX says on the website The company said it aims to conduct Starship's sixth test flight as early as November 18. This claim is supported by the Federal Aviation Administration issuing a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen). rocket launch warning SpaceX launch pad area in Boca Chica, Texas. The 30-minute launch slot opens at 4pm local time (10pm Japan time).
It took SpaceX 18 months to conduct Starship's first five test flights, with the fifth taking place in mid-October. When the airline launches its sixth flight next week, it will be just over a month since the last flight, making it the fastest flight ever.
What will SpaceX try with Flight 6?
In many ways, Flight 6 is a repeat of Flight 5, but with some key differences.
The booster stage will again attempt a “chopstick” landing, grabbing and securing the aircraft as it returns to the launch pad so it can be lowered to the ground. This approach is designed to ultimately allow boosters to be reused multiple times and significantly reduce the cost of putting payloads into orbit.
Starship during high altitude test flight
space x
The upper stage will reach space, complete a partial orbit, re-enter Earth's atmosphere and splash-land in the Indian Ocean. But this time, the upper stage will attempt to reignite one of the Raptor engines during its stay in space in order to gather valuable operational data. It also plans to test new heat shield designs during atmospheric reentry.
Another difference is that because the launch will take place later in the day, the landing of the upper stage in the Indian Ocean can be filmed during the day, allowing for more detailed shots. Previous missions had landed at night, so while the footage was cinematic and dramatic, it didn't provide engineers with as much insight as footage from daytime landings.
What happened during previous Starship launches?
During the first test flight on April 20, 2023, three of the 33 engines in the booster stage failed to ignite. The rocket then became uncontrollable and self-destructed.
During the second test flight on November 18, 2023, the flight progressed further and gained enough altitude to separate the booster and upper stage as planned. The booster stage ultimately exploded before reaching the ground, and the upper stage self-destructed before reaching space.
Test Flight 3 on March 14, 2024 was at least partially successful as the upper stage reached space again, but it did not return to Earth unscathed.
The next flight was on June 6, when the upper stage reached an altitude of more than 200 kilometers and flew at speeds of more than 27,000 kilometers per hour. Both the booster and upper stage completed a soft landing at sea.
Test Flight 5 was the most ambitious yet, with Starship's super-heavy booster dropping onto the launch pad and being safely caught by “chopsticks” on SpaceX's launch tower, known as Mechazilla. It is equipped with “chopsticks” that can be used to grab and fix a specific position on the aircraft and lower it to the ground.
IIt’s ’90s week in Podcastland! At least, you’d think so, judging by the nostalgic homage to children’s entertainment from decades past. There’s an entire series dedicated to the fictional purple dinosaur Barney, and investigative news stalwarts Serial Productions literally digs deep into an important subject: What happened to the whale in Free Willy?
For a bit more extreme retro nostalgia, there’s also the Audible star’s new Agatha Christie adaptation, with Game of Thrones’ Peter Dinklage playing Poirot in Christie’s first novel, The Case in Stiles. Himesh Patel and Harriet Walter co-star as Hastings. Does the fact that they started at the beginning of the Christie canon mean they intend to publish all the books? We certainly don’t disagree.
But if that thought strikes fear into your time-pressed mind, don’t worry. For those who want to immerse themselves in a long-running show without digging through their entire back catalogue, we’ve rounded up the best listens. You can take inspiration from the proliferation of 1990s podcasts, but wait 30 years for retro, nostalgic podcasts before listening to the highlights.
Alexi Duggins TV Deputy Editor-in-Chief
This week’s picks
Peter Dinklage in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Photo: Murray Close/Lionsgate
Mysterious incident at Stiles All episodes now available on Audible Peter Dinklage plays Hercule Poirot in this brilliantly cast adaptation of Agatha Christie’s debut novel. Rob Delaney, Harriet Walter, Jessica Gunning and Himesh Patel are joining the cast of the high-budget, immersive production. Dinklage’s Poirot transforms from a gritty force of nature into a wise and luminous soul in the story of the murder of a matriarch at the country estate where his Belgian detective friend Captain Hastings is recuperating from World War I. It covers a wide range of things. Alexi Duggins
good whale Wide range of weekly episodes available For an iconic investigative series like “Serial,” the whale from the ’90s movie “Free Willy” isn’t an obvious topic. But this fascinating series shows how, from his unhealthy years in captivity to becoming a Hollywood star, the PR-driven campaign to actually free him, and, sadly, how extremely difficult it was. We delve deep into the story of what happened to this creature, right down to how it turned out. Get used to it. advertisement
quilt Wide range of weekly episodes available Queer Britain, the UK’s first LGBTQ+ museum, has partnered with the producers of podcast The Log Books to produce this moving new series. Hosts Tash Walker and Adam Zumis travel around the UK collecting stories, starting with a trans woman in her 70s in Norfolk who sheds tears as she looks at an old photograph. Holly Richardson
generation barney Wide range of weekly episodes available Can a giant purple dinosaur provide a generation with much-needed solace during turbulent times? He certainly revolutionized children’s television in the 1990s, giving young viewers their first superstar. Host Sabrina Herrera, like any good children’s TV character, is full of joy as she tells the story of a dinosaur that provoked the hatred of outraged parents. Hannah Verdier
lady mafia Weekly episodes widely available Sarah King developed a reputation as the “female Bernie Madoff” after allegedly amassing large sums of money through loan sharks and spending them on jewelry, cars and extended stays at the Wynn Resort in Las Vegas. Now, Michelle McPhee gets her lawyer to tell her side of the story and why she doesn’t think he’s a fraud. HV
There’s a podcast for that
Alex Cooper interviews presidential candidate Kamala Harris on Call Her Daddy. Photo: Call Daddy/Reuters
this week, Rachel Aroesti We choose the 5 best podcasts Can be soaked or soakedfrom Radio 4’s classics to Alex Cooper’s $60 million show.
please call her dad Most podcasts, no matter how popular, feel like cult concerns. Their intimate banter and free-spirited vibe give the impression that they exist outside of mainstream cultural conversation. Even Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy, the second most listened to pod on the planet, has an upscale club vibe. But every once in a while, Cooper pulls off a headline-grabbing cut-through feat. The show, popular for its sex-positive take on femininity, has been in the news in recent months for interviews with Katy Perry (about her disastrous comeback) and Kamala Harris (about family life and campaigns). A must-listen episode for anyone looking to stay on top of the zeitgeist.
nymphet reunion If you’ve ever been baffled by the endless reboots of TikTok’s aesthetic or confused by the latest (like, 10-minute-old) trends, Nymphet Alumni is here to help. The trio of hosts Biz Sherbert, Sam Cummins, and Alexi Alario explore cutting-edge fashion and hyper-online phenomena (from “mogging” to Mormonism in an unashamedly literate yet never approachable way). (down to style). Sometimes they name trends themselves (see: Brockett, a fusion of soccer shirts and samba-meets-girly-girl attire), or look back at the 20th-century fashion roots of various revivals. Immerse yourself in the feeling of understanding the modern world, even if it’s just for an hour.
off menu Some podcasts succeed regardless of, or sometimes in spite of, their guests, while others rely heavily on the energy of the celebrities who participate. At this point, Ed Gamble and James Acaster are consummate professionals when it comes to eliciting dream meal-based jokes from their interview subjects, but they’re adamant about the off-menu episodes that are truly worth listening to. It includes a guest with eccentric tastes and the resulting spiral of hysterical callbacks. Highlights include Victoria Coren-Mitchell’s dinner party sandwich, Ivo Graham and Yeo Valley yoghurt, Nicola Coughlan’s Robbie Williams wrap and The Inbetweeners star Joe Thomas’ unparalleled madness, ‘Soft Touch’ and Buried Contains lamb.
desert island disc Few podcasts can trace back decades of archives, let alone ones that date back to the 1940s. But that’s what you get when you convert Britain’s longest-running radio show into a podcast. Desert Island Discs currently has 2,482 episodes, and its taste-based premise has proven to be an influential template for modern podcasts (see the aforementioned Off Menu and many others). The back catalog alone is a fascinating cultural chronicle, featuring some very famous guests, as well as many forgotten guests.
good one The old adage that analysis destroys comedy has now been completely debunked by critical forces that are more likely to take stand-up seriously. And Good Ones, a “podcast about jokes” by Vulture’s Jesse David Fox, certainly takes its comedy very seriously. Featuring guests such as John Early, Alex Edelman, Jack Whitehall, and Joel Kim Booster, Fox dives deep into the technique and background behind the routines and sketches. I talk about over two hours of post-mortems on my stand-up shows. It might be a bit too intense for serious listening, but it’s a thrilling and insightful peek behind the curtain, so be patient.
Researchers have identified a new drug similar to Ozempic that aids in weight loss without causing muscle loss. This drug, known as NK2R, works by suppressing appetite and boosting calorie burning. According to scientists, it has been successful in promoting weight loss while avoiding negative side effects such as nausea. The team of 47 researchers believe that NK2R could be a valuable option for individuals who have not seen results with other weight loss treatments.
Associate Professor Zach Gerhart-Hines, a metabolic researcher at the University of Copenhagen and co-author of the study, noted that their drug, unlike Ozempic, did not trigger nausea and also resulted in muscle relief rather than muscle loss. The drug targets specific neural circuits in the brain and affects blood sugar, weight, and cholesterol levels.
While Ozempic mimics the hormone GLP-1 to reduce hunger, NK2R works differently by targeting a molecule naturally present in the body’s cells called NK2R. When tested on overweight mice, the drug led to weight loss and decreased food intake.
However, some health experts are cautious about the effects of this treatment on humans, as it is currently based on animal studies. Dr. Adam Collins, an associate professor of nutrition at the University of Surrey, expressed skepticism about the research’s applicability to humans.
Clinical trials of NK2R in humans are scheduled to begin within the next two years.
About our experts:
Dr. Zach Gerhart-Hines is an associate professor at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, focusing on diet, circadian clocks, and metabolism.
Dr. Adam Collins is an Associate Professor at the University of Surrey with expertise in weight loss, metabolism, and nutrition.
Physicists are GSI/FAIR accelerator facility gained insight into the structure of the atomic nucleus. Fermium is a synthetic chemical element of the actinide series with atomic number 100. Using laser spectroscopy techniques, they tracked changes in the nucleus’s charge radius and found that it steadily increased as neutrons were added to the nucleus.
Fermium isotopes studied by Warbinek others. It is highlighted in this graph. Image credit: S. Raeder.
“The heaviest atomic nucleus known to date owes its existence to quantum mechanical nuclear shell effects,'' say researchers from the Helmholtz Institute Mainz and Geographical Survey Institute Helmholtzzentrum Schwerionenforschung. said Dr. Sebastian Roeder and colleagues.
“These increase the stability of the nucleus against spontaneous fission, allowing the formation of superheavy nuclei.”
“For a certain number of protons (Z) or neutrons (N), the so-called magic numbers, the nuclear shell exhibits a large energy gap, resulting in increased stability of the nucleus.”
“This is similar to the closed electron shell of noble gases, which provides chemical inertness.”
“The heaviest known atomic nucleus with a magic number for both protons (Z = 82) and neutrons (N = 126) is lead-208, a spherical nucleus.”
“The location of the next spherical gap beyond lead-208 is still unknown. Nuclear models predict it most frequently at Z = 114, Z = 120 or Z = 126, and N = 172 or N = 184. Masu.”
“This variation in predictions is primarily due to the large single-particle density in the heaviest nuclei, among other factors.”
The authors used a laser-based method to investigate a fermium nucleus with 100 protons (Z = 100) and 145 to 157 neutrons (N = 145 to 157).
Specifically, we studied the influence of quantum mechanical shell effects on the size of atomic nuclei.
“This allows us to elucidate the structure of these nuclei in the range around the known shell effect of neutron number 152 from a new perspective,” said Dr. Rader.
“At this neutron number, signs of neutron shell closure were previously observed in trends in nuclear binding energies.”
“The strength of the shell effect was measured by high-precision mass measurements at GSI/FAIR in 2012.”
“According to Einstein, mass equals energy, so these mass measurements gave us a hint about the additional binding energy that shell effects provide.”
“The nucleus around neutron number 152 is shaped more like a rugby ball than a sphere, making it an ideal guinea pig for deeper research.”
“This deformation allows many protons within the nucleus to be separated further apart than in a spherical nucleus.”
In the measurements, the researchers investigated fermium isotopes with lifetimes ranging from a few seconds to 100 days, using different methods for producing fermium isotopes and methodological developments in applied laser spectroscopy techniques. Ta.
Short-lived isotopes are produced at the GSI/FAIR accelerator facility, where in some cases only a few atoms per minute are available for experiments.
The generated nuclei were stopped in argon gas, and electrons were picked up to form neutral atoms, which were then examined using laser light.
The neutron-rich, long-lived fermium isotopes (fermium-255, fermium-257) were produced in picogram quantities at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, USA, and the Laue Langevina Institute in France.
Their results provided insight into the variation of the nuclear charge radius of the fermium isotope over neutron number 152 and showed a stable and uniform increase.
“Our experimental results and interpretation by modern theoretical methods show that in fermium nuclei, nuclear shell effects have a small influence on the charge radius of the nuclei, in contrast to their strong influence on the binding energy of these nuclei. “This shows that,” Dr. Jessica said. Mr. Warbinek is a researcher at CERN.
“This result supports the theoretical prediction that local shell effects due to a small number of neutrons and protons lose influence as the nuclear mass increases.”
“Instead, the effects attributed to the complete assembly of all nucleons dominate, with the nuclei being seen rather as charged liquid droplets.”
J. Warbinek others. 2024. Smooth trend of charge radius in fermium and influence of shell effect. nature 634, 1075-1079;doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-08062-z
In 1961, American astrophysicist and astrobiologist Dr. Frank Drake multiplied several factors to estimate the number of intelligent civilizations in the Milky Way that could make their presence known to humans. I devised an equation. More than 60 years later, astrophysicists have created a different model that focuses instead on conditions created by the accelerating expansion of the universe and the amount of stars forming. This expansion is thought to be caused by dark energy, which makes up more than two-thirds of the universe.
Artistic impression of the multiverse. Image credit: Jaime Salcido / EAGLE collaboration.
“Understanding dark energy and its impact on our universe is one of the biggest challenges in cosmology and fundamental physics,” said Dr. Daniele Solini, a researcher at Durham University’s Institute for Computational Cosmology. .
“The parameters that govern our universe, such as the density of dark energy, may explain our own existence.”
Because stars are a prerequisite for the emergence of life as we know it, the team’s new model predicts the probability of intelligent life arising in our universe, and in a hypothetical multiverse scenario of different universes. could be used to estimate the
The new study does not attempt to calculate the absolute number of observers (i.e. intelligent life) in the universe, but instead calculates the relative probability that a randomly chosen observer will inhabit a universe with certain properties. will be considered.
It concludes that a typical observer would expect to experience significantly greater densities of dark energy than seen in our Universe. This suggests that its ingredients make it a rare and unusual case in the multiverse.
The approach presented in this paper involves calculating the rate at which ordinary matter is converted into stars for different dark energy densities throughout the history of the universe.
Models predict that this proportion would be about 27% in a universe where star formation is most efficient, compared to 23% in our universe.
This means that we do not live in a hypothetical universe where intelligent life has the highest probability of forming.
In other words, according to the model, the values of dark energy density that we observe in the Universe do not maximize the potential for life.
“Surprisingly, we found that even fairly high dark energy densities can still coexist with life. This suggests that we may not be living in the most likely universe. ,” Dr. Solini said.
The model could help scientists understand how different densities of dark energy affect the structure of the universe and the conditions for life to develop there.
Dark energy causes the universe to expand faster, balancing the pull of gravity and creating a universe that is capable of both expansion and structure formation.
But for life to develop, there needs to be areas where matter can aggregate to form stars and planets, and conditions need to remain stable for billions of years to allow life to evolve.
Importantly, this study shows that the astrophysics of star formation and the evolution of the large-scale structure of the universe combine in subtle ways to determine the optimal value of dark energy density required for the generation of intelligent life. It suggests that.
“We will use this model to investigate the emergence of life across different universes and reinterpret some fundamental questions we ask ourselves about our own universe,” said Lucas Lombreiser, professor at the University of Geneva. It will be interesting to see if there is a need.”
of study Published in Royal Astronomical Society Monthly Notices.
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Daniele Solini others. 2024. Influence of the cosmological constant on past and future star formation. MNRAS 535 (2): 1449-1474;doi: 10.1093/mnras/stae2236
Research has revealed a new metabolic pathway involving beta-hydroxybutyric acid (BHB). Previously known as a liver-produced fuel, BHB is now found to be attached to amino acids by the enzyme CNDP2. The most abundant BHB amino acid, N-β-hydroxybutyryl phenylalanine (BHB-Phe), can impact body weight and metabolism in animal models.
Beta-hydroxybutyric acid (BHB) is an abundant ketone body. All BHB metabolic pathways known to date involve the interconversion of BHB and primary energy intermediates. Moya Garzon others. BHB et al. identified a previously undescribed BHB secondary metabolic pathway via CNDP2-dependent enzymatic binding of BHB and free amino acids. Image credit: Moya-Garzon others., doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.10.032.
Mammals have developed intricate nutrient response pathways linking external energy sources with internal metabolic balance.
These pathways involve changes in cellular energy metabolites serving as both fuel sources and downstream regulators.
BHB, a ketone body, is a key example whose levels rise during low carbohydrate conditions like starvation, intermittent fasting, or ketogenic diet.
In a recent study, Professor Yong Xu of Baylor College of Medicine and team investigated how BHB-Phe, the most common BHB amino acid, affects eating habits and body weight in mice.
“Brain neuron groups regulate feeding behavior, so we mapped the brain to identify regions activated by BHB-Phe,” explained Professor Xu.
“BHB-Phe activated neural populations in the hypothalamus and brainstem, suppressing feeding and leading to weight loss.”
In contrast, mice lacking CNDP2 enzyme, deficient in BHB-Phe, ate more and gained weight.
Interestingly, CNDP2 also produces Lac-Phe, a compound discovered earlier by the research team.
“Lac-Phe from exercise can reduce food intake and obesity in mice,” added Professor Xu.
“But do Lac-Phe and BHB-Phe trigger effects by activating the same brain neurons?”
This discovery points to a possible disruption of the BHB-Phe pathway, present in humans, in obesity and other conditions, warranting further research to understand the mechanism.
“This study unveils new prospects,” commented Dr. Jonathan Long from Stanford.
“In the future, using BHB-Phe to promote weight loss without carbohydrate restrictions may be feasible.”
Maria Dolores Moya-Garzon others. The β-hydroxybutyrate shunt pathway produces anti-obesity ketone metabolites. cell published online on November 12, 2024. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.10.032
Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have determined that within the first billion years after the Big Bang, three supermassive galaxies with a mass roughly the same as our own Milky Way already existed. I discovered that there is. The discovery, part of the JWST/FRESCO survey, shows that stars in the early universe grew much more rapidly than previously thought, casting doubt on existing models of galaxy formation.
Three red monster galaxies discovered by Webb. Image credits: NASA / CSA / ESA / M. Xiao & PA Oesch, University of Geneva / G. Brammer, Niels Bohr Institute / Dawn JWST Archive.
Until now, it was thought that all galaxies formed gradually within large halos of dark matter.
Dark matter halos trap gas (atoms and molecules) in gravitationally bound structures.
Typically, up to 20% of this gas is converted into stars within a galaxy.
But new discoveries cast doubt on this view, revealing that giant galaxies in the early universe may have grown much more rapidly and efficiently than previously thought.
“The problem of ‘impossible’ giant galaxies in the aftermath of the Big Bang has puzzled astronomers since the first images of the web,” said Dr Ivo Rabe, an astronomer at Swinburne University of Technology.
“This is like finding a 100 kg infant. Webb has proven that monsters roam the early universe.”
While most of the sources found in the FRESCO survey fit existing models, astronomers also discovered three surprisingly massive galaxies with stellar masses comparable to today’s Milky Way galaxy. .
They are named “red monsters” because of their high dust content and their distinctive red color in web images.
These form stars nearly twice as efficiently as their subsequent lower-mass counterparts and galaxies.
“These findings raise new questions about galaxy formation theory, especially the problem of ‘too many, too big’ galaxies in the early Universe,” said Dr. Rabe.
“Current models cannot explain why star formation occurs so efficiently so early in the universe.”
“The general assumption is that an exploding star or a supermassive black hole kills star formation and blows out the candle.”
“I have no doubt that future observations of the web will provide clues about what we are missing.”
Professor Stein Weitz, an astronomer at the University of Bath, said: “Finding three such gigantic beasts among the specimens poses an interesting puzzle.”
“Many processes of galactic evolution tend to introduce rate-limiting steps in how efficiently gas turns into stars, but somehow this red monster quickly bypassed most of these hurdles. It seems there is.”
“These results show that galaxies in the early Universe may form stars with unexpected efficiency,” said Dr. Mengyuan Xiao, an astronomer at the University of Geneva.
“Studying these galaxies in more detail will provide new insights into the conditions that shaped the early days of the universe.”
“The Red Monster is just the beginning of a new era in the exploration of the early universe.”
“That’s the great thing about astronomy: we’re always surprised by new discoveries,” Professor Weitz said.
“Already in the first few years, Webb has thrown us some curveballs.”
“In multiple ways, we show that some galaxies mature rapidly during the first chapters of the universe’s history.”
a paper Survey results are published in a magazine nature.
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M. Xiao others. The formation of supermassive galaxies accelerates during the first billion years. naturepublished online on November 13, 2024. doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-08094-5
A steel cable supporting the telescope’s 900-ton receiver platform came loose after a zinc-filled socket built to support it failed, according to a report released Oct. 25. That’s what it means.
The report said the failure was caused by excessive “zinc creep,” a phenomenon in which the metal used to protect the socket from corrosion and rust deforms over time and loses its grip.
The zinc gradually lost its hold on the cable suspending the telescope’s main platform above the reflector dish. This caused multiple cables to be pulled from their sockets, ultimately causing the platform to crash into a reflector more than 400 feet below, according to the report.
Roger L. McCarthy, chairman of the committee for the analysis of the causes of failure and collapse of Arecibo’s 305-meter telescope, said, “This type of failure has been the most common occurrence in more than a century, when zinc spelter sockets have been widely and successfully used. This has never been reported before.” The observatory wrote in its report:
The committee that prepared the report said there was insufficient data to definitively prove the exact cause of the acceleration of “zinc creep.” The only hypothesis the committee was able to develop based on the data was that low current electroplastic effects were responsible. In other words, the constant current flowing through the socket could have strengthened the plastic behavior of the metallic zinc and, as a result, weakened its grip.
The committee reviewed an array of documents commissioned by the University of Central Florida and the National Science Foundation, the federal agency that owns the observatory, including a forensic investigation, structural analysis, engineering plans, inspection reports, photographs, and repair proposals. Reach that conclusion. They also gathered information from Arecibo Observatory employees, other “related research” sources, and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. I mentioned this in a media advisory last month..
The commission also issued a series of recommendations in its report. These include making the remaining sockets and cable sections of the radio telescope available for further research and increasing careful monitoring of aging research facilities to detect deterioration and potential new failure modes. Included.
The telescope was used to track asteroids as they headed toward Earth, conduct research that led to Nobel Prizes, and determine whether planets were potentially habitable. It also functions as a training venue for graduate students, and is visited by approximately 90,000 people annually.
The telescope was built in the 1960s with funding from the Department of Defense during the development of ballistic missile defense. In its 57 years of operation, it has withstood hurricanes, tropical humidity, and a recent series of earthquakes.
The observatory began to collapse in August 2020 when an auxiliary cable snapped, damaging the telescope’s antenna and the receiver platform suspended above it, according to the National Science Foundation. After several other cable failures, the federal agency decided to begin a plan to decommission the telescope in November 2020.
This transition did little to stop the telescope’s complete collapse on December 1, 2020.
In 2022, the National Science Foundation says: Puerto Rico’s famous radio telescope won’t be rebuilt. Instead, it called for a $5 million education center to be established in its place to promote programs and partnerships related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
A gigantic underwater structure off the coast of the tropical Solomon Islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean has been confirmed to be the world's largest known coral.
A team of scientists and filmmakers visited a remote location in mid-October national geographic The object was so large that I thought it must be the remains of a shipwreck.
However, for underwater cinematographers, Manu Saint Felix Jumping into the water to get a better look, he was surprised by what he saw.
“I completely remember jumping up and looking down, but I was surprised,” he told reporters during a briefing. Instead of a shipwreck, San Felix encountered the largest coral ever discovered. “It's huge,” he said. “It's almost the same size as a cathedral.”
A coral species located a few hundred meters off the east coast of Marauralo Island was identified as this species. Pavona Kraus. At 34 meters wide and 32 meters long, it is larger than a blue whale and is thought to be 300 years old.
He says the discovery was a “happy coincidence”. enric sala of national geographic's Pristine Seas project aims to encourage governments to protect marine ecosystems through exploration and research. This is by far the largest single coral colony ever discovered, easily surpassing this one. previous record holder – giant porphyry A colony with a diameter of 22.4 meters and a height of 8 meters discovered in American Samoa in 2019.
Over the past two years, record sea temperatures have led to a series of coral bleaching events around the world. But Sala says the giant reef is showing signs of bleaching, while other reefs around the Solomon Islands are showing signs of bleaching. P. Cravath The coral looks healthy. It is an important habitat for marine life, providing shelter and food for fish, shrimp, insects and crabs, he says. “It’s like a big patch of old-growth forest.”
However, corals are not immune from ecological threats, including local pollution, overfishing, and global climate change. Sala said he would like to see more marine protected areas (MPAs) established to protect marine life from localized pollution, in parallel with global efforts to combat climate change. . “Protecting coral reefs won't lower water temperatures, and it won't stop oceans from warming,” he says. “We need to fix it, and we need to reduce carbon emissions. But MPAs can help buy us time by making reefs more resilient.”
New Jersey’s governor issued a drought warning Wednesday.
State officials said the state is experiencing the driest conditions in nearly 120 years, prompting an increase in wildfires.
The extreme drought is part of a widespread drought plaguing the Northeast.
New Jersey’s governor issued a drought warning Wednesday, stating that the state could impose mandatory water restrictions if conditions worsen.
A record dry spell has left New Jersey at its driest in nearly 120 years, leading to a significant rise in wildfires, as reported by state officials during a news conference.
The New Jersey State Forest Fire Department has battled 537 fires that have scorched thousands of acres since early October, according to Governor Phil Murphy. This number is 500 more fires than the same period last year.
Murphy urged residents to heed the drought warnings seriously and voluntarily decrease their water usage.
“Each of us needs to do everything we can to conserve water,” he emphasized.
Tim Eustace, executive director of the North Jersey Regional Water Commission, criticized the state for not declaring a drought emergency, which usually restricts non-essential outdoor water use.
“I’ve always been against using potable water to water lawns. It’s a terrible waste of resources,” Eustace stated.
His commission supplies water to around a third of New Jersey, with the main reservoir, Wanaque Reservoir, at 45% capacity as of Wednesday.
Monday at Wanaque Reservoir in Ringwood, New Jersey. Ted Shafley/Associated Press
The state’s other major reservoir, Manasquan Reservoir, is at 51% of its capacity, while the Passaic River, a vital drinking water source, is at about 14% of its normal capacity, sufficient to meet demand, officials assured.
New Jersey American Water, serving approximately 2.9 million people in the state, issued conservation notices to customers on Wednesday. Mark McDonough, president of New Jersey American Water, clarified that the notice was described as “mandatory” to convey urgency but is not enforceable against violators.
“I’d like to limit movement if possible, but I don’t have the authority to issue tickets or inspect people’s lawns,” McDonough remarked. “If we can get our customers to focus on saving water, we can make a significant impact.”
Murphy mentioned that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s winter forecast predicts even drier weather ahead. Forecasting seasonal outlook Temperatures are higher than average, with precipitation chances remaining unchanged regardless of above or below average levels.
The dry conditions affecting New Jersey are part of a broader drought across the Northeast. In October, cities like Newark, New Jersey. Wilmington, Delaware. And Norfolk, Virginia, registered no rainfall at all. Southeast Regional Climate Center collects precipitation data nationwide. Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., set records for the most consecutive days without measurable precipitation.
Throughout the United States, October was declared One of the driest months on record according to NOAA. US Drought Monitor Data shows over half of the continental United States is facing some level of drought, with 56% of the Northeast impacted.
State climatologist Dave Robinson noted that New Jersey usually receives rainfall evenly over several months. However, some regions have not seen any measurable rainfall for 40 days, a first in nearly 150 years of record-keeping.
“We’ve experienced longer droughts before, but we’ve never encountered anything as exceptional as this prolonged dry period,” Robinson remarked.
He highlighted that New Jersey typically experiences heavy rainfall in October due to hurricanes, remnants of tropical cyclones, or nor’easters forming in the mid-Atlantic region.
Both weather patterns were absent this fall, with a ridge of high pressure dominating New Jersey and other Northeastern areas for weeks.
“There’s no significant storm to break through this ridge. It’s been a slow and frustrating process,” Robinson explained. “There are indications that the central part of the country, which has been relatively dry, is starting to see more moisture. …It appears to be gradually shifting eastward.”
November has marked the 12th consecutive month of above-average temperatures in New Jersey. Atmospheric warming can exacerbate droughts and heighten the chances of extreme rainfall.
“With a warmer climate system, there’s more energy that can hold moisture in the atmosphere. …If we can’t access that moisture source, a warmer climate will worsen dryness and lead to more severe droughts,” Robinson stated. “The system has become more volatile.”
Given New Jersey’s dry spell since mid-August, it would require several months of above-average, if not considerably above, rainfall to alleviate the drought, estimated Sean LaTourette, director of the state Department of Environmental Protection.
Some areas received about a quarter of an inch of rain on Sunday, but Murphy remarked that it was “far from adequate.”
Firefighters respond to a forest fire in Evesham, New Jersey, on November 6th. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (via AP)
Finally, a state of drought emergency was instated in New Jersey. The last time a drought warning was issued was in 2016, lasting over six months, LaTourette indicated.
Greg McLaughlin, New Jersey Forest and Fire Department’s Office of Forests and Natural Lands manager, mentioned that the current condition measures 748 out of 800 on a scale for forest floor dryness.
“These numbers are unprecedented in the 118-year history of the Forest Fire Service,” McLaughlin remarked. “The impact of this dryness on wildfires cannot be overstated.”
The Jennings Creek Wildfire along the New York-New Jersey border continued burning on Wednesday, with containment at 30%. Over 5,000 acres were destroyed in both states. An 18-year-old New York park worker lost his life to a falling tree while battling a fire in Orange County, New York, last Saturday.
“We sincerely appreciate his dedication and willingness to protect the residents of New York and New Jersey from these deadly fires,” Murphy expressed.
There are two major problems with the global food system. First, hundreds of millions of people cannot afford enough nutritious food to stay healthy. Second, it’s incredibly destructive. We’re still destroying rainforests to make way for ranches, both conventional and organic farms produce all kinds of pollutants, and our food system produces more than a third of greenhouse gases. I’m letting you do it.
Things could get even worse if global temperatures rise above 1.5 °C (see 2024 expected to be first year to surpass 1.5 °C warming threshold). But there’s a lot we can do, from eating less meat to reducing food waste (see “Is the climate food crisis even worse than we imagined?”). The amazing advances in genetic technology in recent years have greatly expanded the scope for improving the plants and animals that feed us. We can make them more nutritious and healthier, better able to cope with changing conditions and less susceptible to the diseases that will become more prevalent as the world warms. It should also be possible to produce plants that require less fertilizer and capture more of the sun’s energy.
It is surprising that most countries do not invest significantly in crop improvement.
The benefits from all this will be immense. We get more food from less land, lower prices, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and make it less likely that viruses such as H5N1 bird flu will cause new pandemics.
It is therefore surprising that most countries do not invest heavily in crop improvement. While there is some private investment, these companies are unlikely to make their technology freely available and adoption has been slow.
Opposition to genetically modified (GM) crops also binds us to the idea that more “natural” agricultural methods are better, as approval is difficult and expensive.
This situation is starting to change, with many countries making it easier to bring gene-edited crops and animals to market, but we need more action, and faster action.
The idea that organic food is good for the planet and genetically modified food is bad for the planet is a false narrative that hides a much more unpleasant reality. This means that continuing as is will only lead to more destruction and more hunger.
A pebble with holes excavated from the ruins of Nahal Ein Geb II. Could be an ancient spindle whorl
Laurent Davin
A 12,000-year-old set of perforated pebbles unearthed in northern Israel may be the oldest known hand-spun whorls. This weaving technique may have ultimately helped inspire the invention of the wheel.
The whorl at the bottom of the spindle, which acted as a flywheel, allowed people to efficiently spin natural fibers into yarn and yarn to make clothing and other textiles. Newly discovered stone tools represent early axle-based turning technology, thousands of years before the first carts appeared, researchers say. Talia Yashuv at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
“If you look back at the discovery of the first car wheel 6,000 years ago, it didn't just come out of nowhere,” she says. “It's important to look at the functional evolution of how transportation and wheels have evolved.”
Yashuv and her colleagues leoa grossmanAlso at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, researchers studied 113 partially or fully perforated stones at the site of Nahal Ein Geb II, an ancient village just east of the Sea of Galilee. Archaeologists have been discovering these chalky, primarily limestone artifacts since 1972. It was probably made from raw pebbles found along the nearby shore.
The 3D scan revealed that the hole had been drilled part way from both sides using a flint hand drill, but unlike modern drills, it remained in the shape of a narrow, twisted cone, Yashuf said. says. A hole 3 to 4 centimeters in diameter usually passes through the center of gravity of the pebble.
Drilling holes from both sides would have balanced the stone and made it more stable to rotate, Yaszhu said. Some of the partially perforated stones had off-center holes, suggesting they may have been discarded by mistake.
Yashov said the team suspected that the stones, which weigh an average of 9 grams, would be too heavy and “ugly” to be beads, and too light and fragile to be used as fishing weights. Their size, shape, and balance around the hole led researchers to believe that these artifacts were spindle-like whorls.
To test their hypothesis, the researchers created a replica whorl using nearby pebbles and a flint drill. then they asked yonit crystalWhy not try your hand at flax spinning with a traditional craftsman?
“She was really surprised at how well they worked, because they weren't perfectly circular,” Yaszhu says. “But in reality, all you have to do is place the hole in the center of the mass, and it's balanced and works.”
If the stone is indeed a spiral, it could be the oldest known rotating spiral, she says. 1991 study of bone and antler artifacts She found what are likely 20,000-year-old whorls, but added that the researchers who examined them suggested the fragments were probably decorative accents on clothing. Still, people may have been using whorls even earlier, using wood and other biological materials that would have degraded.
The discovery suggests that people were experimenting with spinning techniques thousands of years before they invented potter's wheels and cart wheels about 5,500 years ago, and perhaps the whirlpool helped lead to those inventions. Yaszhu says it's possible.
carol cheval But a professor at the University of the Cote d'Azur in Nice, France, isn't so sure. She explains that the whorl works more like a spinning top than a wheel.
And while the artifact is very likely a whorl, the study lacks microscopic data that would reveal any traces of use, as the threads may have made their mark on the stone over time. , says Cheval.
Trace analysis is “beyond the scope” of the current study, Yashuv said.
Ideally, researchers studying ancient whorls would be skilled at spinning themselves, but the study authors said this was not the case. “It really changes the way you think about archaeological discoveries,” she says.
Air pollution is difficult to avoid, especially for city dwellers
Ron Adder/Alamy
Air pollution is increasingly linked to an increased risk of eczema, with new research showing a clear link between air pollution and skin conditions.
Vehicles and power plants emit pollution particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, called PM2.5. These have previously been associated with an increased risk of eczemathis is thought to be the result of the immune system becoming overactive and causing inflammation, drying out the skin and causing itching.
In order to collect more evidence, Jeffrey Cohen Professors at Yale University School of Medicine analyzed the medical records of more than 280,000 people. Most of them were in their 50s and participated in this medical treatment. Research programs for all of us. It collects health data from a diverse population in the United States, with an emphasis on people typically underrepresented in research, such as ethnic minorities.
We then compared PM2.5 levels at 788 locations across the United States to eczema cases diagnosed through mid-2022. They found that for every 10 micrograms per cubic meter of PM2.5, the incidence of eczema more than doubled. “More contaminated areas of the country had more eczema outbreaks,” Cohen says.
The research team considered factors that could influence the results, such as ethnicity and whether the participants smoked or had food allergies.
“This study successfully demonstrated a clear correlation in a large population and advanced the science,” he says. Giuseppe Varacchi at North Carolina State University. PM2.5, like pollen and dust mites, can irritate the immune system and cause inflammation when it comes into contact with the skin, Valacki said. Inhaling it may also have an effect, he says, because it can worsen inflammation in the body.
The study should give governments new reasons to implement policies to reduce air pollution, Cohen said. Meanwhile, people living in contaminated areas can reduce their risk by wearing long sleeves and staying indoors when pollution levels are particularly high, Valacki said.
Skeleton of Nabaornis Hestia, an 80-million-year-old bird fossil
S. Abramowitz/Dinosaur Institute/Los Angeles County Natural History Museum
An 80-million-year-old fossil bird skull is so well preserved that scientists were able to study the detailed structure of its brain.
In both age and evolutionary development, new species Nabaornis Hestiae, It falls about halfway between the earliest known bird-like dinosaurs. ArcheopteryxBirds that lived 150 million years ago and modern birds. They lived along with dinosaurs during the Cretaceous period. tyrannosaurus and triceratops.
The fossil, which superficially resembles a pigeon, was discovered in 2016 near Presidente Prudente, Brazil, and quickly became important because of the rarity of complete bird skeletons, especially those from the same period. recognized as something.
but daniel field It wasn't until 2022 that Cambridge University professors realized that the skull was so intact that it could be scanned to create a 3D model of the brain.
High-resolution CT scans allow paleontologists to see inside fossils. “This involves careful 'digital dissection' – separating the individual components of the skull and reassembling them to create a complete, undistorted three-dimensional reconstruction,” Field said. says Mr.
“This new fossil provides unprecedented insight into the patterns and timing of the evolution of specialized brain functions in living birds.”
Professor Field said that based on the brains his team reconstructed, human cognitive and flight abilities: nabaornis It was probably inferior to most living birds.
Artist's impression of Nabaornis Hestia
J. D'Oliveira
The parts of the brain responsible for complex cognition and spatial awareness are not as enlarged as they are in modern birds, he says.
“It’s cerebral, but nabaornis greatly expanded compared to more archaic bird conditions such as . Archeopteryx, It is not as expanded as we see in living birds. ”
Professor Field said the enlarged brains of modern birds support a wide range of complex behaviors, but there is a lack of sufficiently complete and well-preserved fossil bird skulls from early bird relatives. This makes it difficult to understand how their brains evolved.
“nabaornis This fills an approximately 70 million-year gap in our understanding of how the distinctive brains of modern birds evolved. ”
Gene editing can make larger tomato varieties sweeter
Paul Maguire/Shutterstock
If you like sweet tomatoes, smaller cherry tomato varieties are the way to go right now. But larger tomato varieties could soon be enhanced for sweetness with the help of CRISPR gene editing.
Jinzhe Zhang of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Beijing said the larger the tomato, the lower the sugar content usually is. Efforts to increase the sweetness of large varieties also had downsides, such as lower yields.
Zhang and colleagues compared different varieties to identify genetic variations that affect sweetness. They discovered two closely related genes called. SlCDPK27 and SlCDPK26 Larger varieties are more active. These genes code for proteins that reduce the levels of sugar-producing enzymes.
When the research team used CRISPR gene editing to disable these genes in a variety called Moneymaker, glucose and fructose levels in the fruit increased by up to 30% without any loss in yield. Taste tests also rated the fruit as sweeter. The only other effect is that the number of species that consumers are likely to prefer will be smaller and smaller.
“We are working with several companies to develop several commercial varieties by knocking out these genes,” Zhang says. “It's still in the early stages.”
In addition to increased sweetness, another potential benefit is that fewer tomatoes are needed to make tomato ketchup with the same sweetness level.
Gene-edited Money Maker tomatoes aren't as sweet as cherry varieties such as Sungold, but they could be made even sweeter, Zhang said. “Many important genes that control sugar are still waiting to be discovered.”
CRISPR-edited tomatoes, which contain high concentrations of a beneficial nutrient called GABA, are already on sale in Japan, the first CRISPR food to be sold, and are sometimes given as seedlings.
Tomatoes were also the first genetically modified food to be sold commercially. Called Flavr Savr, it was sold in paste form in the United States starting in 1994, but was later discontinued. Since last year, purple GM tomatoes rich in anthocyanins have become available in the United States in fruit and seedling form.
Several countries, including Japan and China, have regulations that make it easier to obtain approval for gene-edited crops compared to other forms of genetic modification, except for conventional breeding. approved by china Last year, the first gene-edited crop was created. Soybeans have high levels of oleic acid.
IIn 2004, Holly Longdale was a game designer at EverQuest and a champion of a new genre of video games that enabled massively multiplayer role-playing. These online fantasy worlds allow players to pursue quests together rather than alone, adding an engaging new social – and competitive – dimension to the static offline role-playing that Holly’s generation was accustomed to. I did. But whenever possible, Longdale would instead sneak in a few hours of play as EverQuest’s main competitor. That game was World of Warcraft (WoW).
“There were so many moments in WoW that I was jealous of,” she says. Then I saw another player running in the opposite direction. This is the druid who buffed me along the way. That’s when I knew I was going to be in this business for the long term. ” Twenty years later, Longdale is now vice president of WoW and executive producer at developer Blizzard, and one of the millions of people who have accepted the game as a part of their lives.
For two decades, World of Warcraft has been an icon of geek culture, referenced everywhere from South Park to The Big Bang Theory to Family Guy. WoW has become a convenient abbreviation for not only a certain type of gamer, but all sorts of nerds, nerds, and silly subcultures. In the ’00s, Ozzy Osbourne, Chuck Norris, Mr. T and more promoted it along with the infamous Night Elf Mohawk. Henry Cavill, Mila Kunis and Vin Diesel are among the fans, but the 2016 film did not do particularly well, grossing $439 million. In 2021, Blizzard revealed that players have combined for nearly 9 million years of play time.
There were certainly other role-playing games before WoW was released in 2004. However, 3D graphics was still in its infancy. Games like Star Wars Galaxies and Everquest have vast, largely barren worlds that rely on copious amounts of in-game text and clunky rules removed from tabletop games for explanation. did. Then along came Blizzard, the developer company that made a name for itself and a small fortune with great online competitive strategy games like StarCraft and Warcraft III. Unlike its competitors, WoW’s world of Azeroth felt alive, with gorgeous scenery and a huge number of animals and monsters roaming the landscape. An iconic bright yellow exclamation point will float above your non-player character’s head, letting them know that a quest awaits them. And of course, there are other players everywhere, taming beasts, slaying monsters for quests, drinking at inns, mining ore, or just passing by in high-level gear. He would see you doing things like that, and he would get jealous as you struggled to tackle the pack. A despicable Murloc.
What came to define early WoW was the social aspect of the game. The world’s tightly controlled zones encouraged players to encounter other people as they explored Azeroth. Additionally, when creating a character, players had to choose between two factions: the Alliance and the Horde, giving players an instant sense of loyalty. Whether grouping up to take on a dungeon, rallying in a band of 40 to take down a giant raid boss, or storming into an enemy capital as an army of low-level cannon fodder, every player has the power to It seems to have a story about the era of. Azeroth.
A perfect storm is brewing…World of Warcraft: Shadowlands. Photo: Blizzard Entertainment
I still romanticize my role sneaking into the Alliance capital of Stormwind with a group of low-level undead rogues. I imagined it to be a daring attack, but in the end I had to run for my life. Another time, I asked a better-equipped passerby for help in defeating a particularly formidable monster in the Night Elf Zone of Darkshore, but ended up chatting with the person for hours. . Over the next few months, I messaged that same player.
WOW was a completely simple phenomenon. Blizzard had to more than double its workforce within a year to answer player questions, resolve technical issues, and keep servers running. WoW achieved impressive subscriber numbers, which were further increased by the release of two expansion packs: The Burning Crusade in 2007 and Wrath of the Lich King in 2008.
By 2010, over 12 million players had active monthly subscriptions. Some called themselves WoWaholics. Other players find WoW to be an escape from the constraints of real life, as evidenced by Mads Steen’s moving story recently told in the Netflix documentary The Remarkable Life of Ibelin. Although Mads suffered from muscular dystropy until his untimely death at the age of 25, he lived a vibrant life in WoW. His parents were completely unaware of his son’s life until online friends sent them long messages from all over Europe telling them how much their son had affected their lives. Five members of Mads’ WoW guild traveled to Norway for his funeral.
But no game can stay in the spotlight forever. WOW went from strength to strength over its first six years, but as the game got older, so did the players. Ion Hazzikostas, then lead game designer, now game director put it down 2014: “If you started this game in 2004, you were a student with a lot of free time, and now you’re a career woman with a family.” Blizzard maintains existing fans while attracting new generations. It was necessary to attract. The 2010 Cataclysm expansion decided to revolutionize the game by overhauling the world with a new design philosophy suited to the faster gameplay that modern gamers were thought to demand. . This change remains controversial.
Today, exploring Azeroth is an almost unrecognizable experience compared to its early days. WoW has had several different eras. The classic WoW era lasted until Wrath of the Lich King (2004-2008). The world overhaul that characterized Cataclysm (2010) to Warlords of Draenor (2014). From Legion (2016) to Shadowlands (2020), the pivot to a long endgame grind that allows players to become infinitely more powerful. and the modern era of WoW, starting with Dragonflight (2022) and continuing through the recently launched expansion The War Within (2024). These “eras” are so distinct that it feels like the game is being reinvented every six years.
Social aspects have also changed over time. As Taliesin – one half of a couple YouTube Duo Taliesin & Evitel – says: 2004 was the era of bulletin boards, forums, and a more “underground” Internet. Today’s internet is much shorter and crisper. It’s TikTok, a social media focused on one or two megasites. What we do socially on the internet has changed, and so has WoW. ”
Anger… 2021 Protesters. Photo: David McNew/AFP/Getty Images
I often hear complaints that WoW has changed so much that it has lost its original spirit. Players were often confused about design decisions that they felt conflicted with the traditional experience. Unfortunately for Blizzard, these peaked after the launch of Shadowlands in 2020, just as the perfect storm was brewing for the company. Not only has the coronavirus upended game development, but in 2021 Blizzard was hit with a lawsuit brought by the California Department of Fair Employment, accusing it of a “frat boy” workplace culture, including sexual harassment and poor treatment of women. He was accused of encouraging.
The lawsuit had far-reaching implications for the company and the gaming industry as a whole. Several senior executives, including Blizzard President J. Allen Black, fell downand the company agreed to pay millions of dollars to address concerns of sex discrimination and pay inequality. The lawsuit ultimately helped form the first labor union at a major U.S. gaming company.
Especially within WOW, this suit brought about rapid changes in the game. Characters named after accused abusers have been renamed, and many in-game assets deemed inappropriate in light of the accusations have been replaced or tweaked, including sexual depictions of women. Many of the changes were ridiculed by the player base, prompting Blizzard to combat toxicity. Instead of “turning women into fruit bowls””.
A showdown in Azeroth…a great battle. Photo: Blizzard Entertainment
Longdale had just joined Blizzard in 2020 when the lawsuit began. “It was heartbreaking,” she says. “I’d only been here a few months, and it was really heartbreaking to see the team so devastated thinking about what the future holds.” The fallout from this already exists about the state of the game. Combined with the discomfort it caused, it could easily have been the beginning of the end for WoW. However, the game was able to hold up due to the commitment of both the WoW team and new Blizzard leadership to come back better. “What I’m really proud of is the huge increase in diversity on our team,” Longdale says. The content we create now has more “voices” and people are creating highly personal content based on their own experiences. ”
Every time WOW has been in danger of losing relevance over the years, it has reinvented itself and managed to come back. And although its cultural influence has diminished over time, the influence it has had is undeniable. Countless fantasy role-playing worlds and characters draw inspiration from WoW’s pantheon of heroes. This game is in the DNA of subsequent generations of video games that have been developed since 2004.
Today’s WoW may not evoke the same sense of wonder that early players felt in 2004 when they roamed the green hills of Stranglethorn or boarded their first ships from Kalimdor to the Eastern Kingdoms. But the fact that it’s still going on and changing is a testament to the great foundation we laid 20 years ago. And what about the future of WoW? “My goal, and the team’s goal, is that WoW is more than just a game,” Longdale says. “It’s essentially part of your lifestyle. It could be for your friends, or it could be for parents playing with their children. It’s a fascinating fantasy world that connects you with people. ”
I vividly remember buying my first pair of glasses as a child. My mother is extremely nearsighted and takes me to the optician every year. My older sister was diagnosed when she was about 8 years old, and I prayed that she wouldn't copy me because she was afraid of being made fun of, but by the time I was her age, the world had become a blur. A visit to the optician that year confirmed it, and I've been wearing glasses or contact lenses ever since.
In the late 1970s, it was extremely unusual for someone to need glasses at such a young age. No more. Over the past 30 years, myopia has increased rapidly, especially among children. Approximately one-third of 5- to 19-year-olds are now nearsighted, up from one-quarter in 1990. If this trend continues, the proportion will be approximately 40% by 2050 – or 740 million myopic young people.
It's more than an inconvenience. “Myopia is a disease,” they say. K. Davina Flick Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Maryland, where he recently served as co-chair. National Academy of Sciences Committee on Conditions. “It is widespread Quality of life and economic impactThere is a risk of blindness, especially in severe cases,” she says. But researchers are increasingly thinking that the epidemic can be slowed or even reversed.
Most cases of myopia are axial. This means that the axis of the eyeball, the distance between the cornea at the front and the light-sensing retina at the back, becomes too long. This means that the light that enters your eyes is focused right in front of your eyes.
Believe me when I say that I thought I knew everything about the story of Tetris. The popular puzzle game’s journey from 1980s Moscow behind the Iron Curtain to becoming a multi-million selling video game has been extensively covered in numerous articles, a fun book, and recent movies. With over 30 years of experience playing Tetris across different platforms like Game Boy, Nintendo Switch, and even VR, I didn’t expect to learn anything new when I opened Tetris Forever, an interactive documentary by Digital Eclipse that delves into the 40-year history of Tetris.
Did you know about Hattoris, the 1990 sequel to Tetris where colorful hats are stacked on top of your head? Maybe vaguely. How about Spectrum Holobyte’s quirky twist on the game called Faces…Tris III, where players try to build a human face by stacking different facial features? Surprisingly, Henk Rogers, a key figure in Tetris’ global success, revealed interesting details about his past, including his days surfing in Hawaii and forging business friendships in Japan. Tetris Forever offers a treasure trove of images and videos documenting the game’s evolution and significant moments in its history.
The documentary is divided into five chapters, offering a comprehensive look at Tetris’ history post its codification by Alexei Pajitnov in the early days. It includes playable versions of games, behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with key players in Tetris history. Tetris Forever sheds light on the game’s complete history, unlike the surface-level coverage seen in other media adaptations.
Tetris first appeared on Electronica 60 in 1985. Photo: Digital Eclipse/Tetris Company
While Tetris Forever may cater more to hardcore gaming enthusiasts, it offers a respectful reissue of the game’s history. The playable versions included are faithful to the originals, allowing anyone to experience Tetris’ evolution. Personally, I still believe Tetris Effect remains the pinnacle of the game’s adaptations, created by Tetsuya Mizuguchi, known for his synesthetic music games.
Playing the first version of Tetris on Electronica 60 computers takes me back to the game’s humble beginnings. Despite the various iterations and controversies over the years, Tetris remains a timeless classic that has endured for four decades, largely unchanged.
President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswami will head the newly established Department of Government Efficiency.
Despite the name, this department is not a government agency. Trump stated that Musk and Ramaswamy will operate externally, offering “advice and guidance” to the White House, collaborating with the Office of Management and Budget to implement significant structural reforms and fortify an entrepreneurial approach. He expressed that this initiative would be a disruptor to the government system.
President Trump mentioned that this duo will lead the way for his administration to streamline bureaucracy, reduce unnecessary regulations, cut wasteful spending, and restructure federal agencies.
Musk pledged on his social media platform X to document all department actions online for maximum transparency. He encouraged the public to provide feedback if they believe something important is being cut or something unnecessary is being retained.
Ramaswamy acknowledged his appointment on the X show, promising to work diligently alongside Musk, symbolized by an American flag emoji.
The operational model of this organization remains unclear and may be subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which defines the operations and accountability of external bodies advising the government.
As Musk and Ramaswamy are not official federal employees, they are not obligated to disclose assets, divest holdings, or adhere to ethical restrictions imposed on federal employees.
Musk advocated for the government’s efficiency division, emphasizing the acronym “Doge” and promising a comprehensive audit of the federal government’s finances and performance for fundamental reforms.
Dogecoin’s value has surged post-Election Day amid hopes of deregulation under the Trump administration, benefiting Tesla stock which has also seen a rise since the election.
President Trump expects their work to conclude by July 4, 2026, presenting a more compact and efficient government as a “gift” on the Declaration of Independence’s 250th anniversary.
Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur, endorsed Trump after withdrawing from the Republican nomination race last year. He has significant experience in cost-cutting within the corporate realm.
Musk aims to slash government spending by $2 trillion, which could impact his companies such as Tesla, SpaceX, X, and Neuralink due to deregulation and policy changes.
Incorporating a government portfolio into Musk’s endeavors could bolster his companies’ market value and specialties like artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies.
Analyst Daniel Ives from Wedbush Securities believes Musk will have a significant impact in the Trump administration and on federal agencies.
Critics from Public Citizen, a consumer rights organization, oppose Musk’s appointment, citing his lack of experience in government efficiency and concerns about potential conflicts of interest.
President Trump indicated that Musk, due to his numerous commitments, will not serve full-time in the role but will act as a cost-cutting advisor.
When it comes to food cravings, some of us lean towards ice cream while others prefer something savory. It can be hard to understand how people have different tastes when it comes to food. How can anyone not enjoy chocolate?
A recent study may provide some answers. It appears that individuals who have an aversion to sweet foods may have a genetic anomaly in their DNA that makes it challenging for them to digest sucrose (sugar).
Genetic issues with sucrose digestion are commonly linked to irritable bowel syndrome. However, a new study featured in the journal Gastroenterology suggests that defects in the sucrase-isomaltase (SI) gene could also impact how much we enjoy sweet treats.
To investigate further, a team of researchers from the University of Nottingham conducted studies on mice lacking the SI gene. They discovered that these mice had a decreased preference for sucrose consumption.
The researchers then expanded their study to include humans, analyzing data from 6,000 individuals in Greenland and approximately 135,000 individuals in the UK from the UK Biobank. Their findings showed that Greenlandic participants with a completely non-functional SI gene consumed more sugar compared to those with a functioning gene. This pattern was also observed in the UK, where individuals with a partially functioning SI gene showed a lower inclination towards sweet foods.
If you are not a fan of sweet treats, could it be due to a genetic issue? Not necessarily.
“If you have a dislike for sweet foods, it may be linked to reduced SI function, but other factors with bigger impacts are likely contributing to your preference for less sweet foods,” said Dr. Mette Andersen, a co-author of the study and assistant professor at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, as reported by BBC Science Focus.
Excessive sugar consumption is a significant factor in the rise of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Researchers involved in the study believe that targeting the SI gene with new medications to enhance digestive health could potentially help reduce sugar intake.
About our experts
Dr. Mette Andersen is an assistant professor at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Jayi Na is an underwater archaeological site dating back to the early Classic Maya period (250-600 AD) that focused on the production of salt for local use, or perhaps local production for downstream trade. I was there.
A curved-walled bowl from an underwater survey at J-E-Na, Belize. Image credit: H. MacKillop.
The Mayan diet focused primarily on corn, beans, squash, and other plant foods lacking in salt, and individual meals were supplemented with manufactured salt.
Field research at Payne’s Creek Salt Works in southern Belize shows that coastal Maya households produced surplus salt during the Classic period (250-900 CE) and built dedicated salt kitchens and separate dwellings. It turned out that it was under construction.
Professor Heather McKillop and Dr. Elizabeth Sills from Louisiana State University said: “Most of the salt works along the coast of Belize date back to the Late Classic period (AD 650-800), which corresponds to the period of population growth in the southern Maya lowlands.” said. Graduated from the University of Texas.
“These include the Northern River Lagoon, Wits Ca Aquar, Marco Gonzalez Salt Works, and others at Ambergris Cay, Moho Cay, Corson Point, Placencia Lagoon, and Paynes Creek Salt Works. Includes location.
“Large-scale salt production appears to have ended by the late Classic period (800-900 CE), and perhaps even earlier at Marco Gonzalez, when much of the southern Maya lowland abandoned, and there was a marked increase in trade around the peninsula, including exotic pottery such as fine orange, plumbate, Yucatan slate, and other pottery, particularly evident from Marco Gonzalez and Wild Cane Cay.
In 2023, archaeologists discovered the ruins of a new saltworks called J.E.N., but strangely, while it lacked the broken pots commonly found in other saltworks, it did contain some pottery. fragments were found.
“These were similar to fragments from an island site near Wild Cane Cay that I had previously excavated,” Professor McKillop said.
“So I suggested to Dr. Sills that he re-examine the remains of the J.E.N. pillars and underwater artifacts.”
The artifacts the researchers found contrasted with those from other nearby underwater sites, which included imported pottery, obsidian, and high-quality chert or flint.
“At first, I was confused by this. However, radiocarbon dating of the post discovered at J.I.N. revealed an early classical date of 250 to 600 A.D., and the mystery was solved.” Professor MacKillop said.
It turns out that J-E-Na is much older than other underwater ruins.
Through the findings, the scientists learned that J.E.N. developed as a local enterprise, without the connections to external trade that developed in the Late Classic period. At the time, the inland Maya population was at its peak in demand for salt, a basic biological element. Inland cities are running out of essential goods.
J.E.N.A. began as a small salt works through connections with the nearby community of Wild Cane Cay, which also produced salt in the early Classic period.
The abundance of fish bones preserved in the anaerobic deposits of Wild Cane Cay suggests that salt was made there to salt fish for later consumption or trade.
“Characteristic large bowls with curved walls and necked urns with fluted spouts were associated with early classical pole-and-thatched salt cookhouses, while later “Vessel supports and trade goods characteristic of salt-making sites were absent,” the authors write.
“These anthropogenic differences allow us to account for technological changes in coastal salt production and expansion of trade networks due to increased demand for inland salt during the Late Classic.”
“Despite the challenges of archeology at shallow underwater sites, research at J.E.N.A. shows that preserved wooden structures can be accurately dated and traced back to ancient commodity production (in this case salt) practices. This highlights the value of excavations in sub-seafloor mangrove peat providing context.”
Heather McKillop and E. Corey Sills. The earliest ancient Mayan salt production in southern Belize: excavations at J.E.N. ancientpublished on November 6, 2024. doi: 10.15184/aqy.2024.186
Giant reed warbler migrating between Europe and Africa
AGAMI Photo Agency / Alamy Stock
Many migratory birds use the Earth's magnetic field as a compass, and others can use information from that field to more or less determine where they are on their mental map.
Greater Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus skillupaceus) appears to calculate geographic location by drawing data from various distances and angles between the magnetic field and the shape of the Earth. The study suggests that birds use magnetic information as a kind of “GPS,” telling them not only where to go, but also their initial whereabouts, they said. richard holland At Bangor University, UK.
“When we travel, we have a map that shows us where we are and a compass that shows us which direction to go to reach our destination,” he says. “We don't expect birds to have this much precision or knowledge about the entire planet. Yet, when they travel along their normal path, or even when they travel far from that path, they , and observe how the magnetic cues change.”
Scientists have known for decades that migratory birds rely on cues from the ocean. solar, star and earth's magnetic field To decide which direction to go. But using a compass to figure out direction and knowing where a bird is in the world are markedly different, and scientists are wondering if and how birds figure out their current map location. I'm still debating whether to do it or not.
Florian Packmore Germany's Lower Saxony Wadden Sea National Park Administration suspected that birds could detect detailed aspects of magnetic fields to determine their global location. Specifically, magnetic obliquity (the change in the angle of the Earth's surface relative to magnetic field lines) and magnetic declination (the difference in orientation between the geographic and magnetic poles) are used to better understand where you are in the world. He thought he might be able to do it.
To test their theory, Packmore, Holland and colleagues captured 21 adult reed warblers in Illmitz, Austria, on their migration route from Europe to Africa. So the researchers temporarily placed the birds in an outdoor aviary, where they used a Helmholtz coil to disrupt the magnetic field. They artificially altered the inclination and declination in a way that corresponded to the location of Neftekamsk, Russia, 2,600 kilometers away. “That's way off course for them,” Packmore says.
The researchers then placed the birds in special cages to study their migratory instincts and asked two independent researchers, who were unaware of changes in the magnetic field, to record which direction the birds headed. In the changed magnetic field conditions, most birds showed a clear tendency to fly west-southwest, as if trying to return to their migratory route from Russia. In contrast, when the magnetic field was unchanged, the same birds attempted to fly south-southeast from Austria.
This suggests that the birds believed they were no longer in Austria, but Russia, based solely on magnetic inclination and declination, Packmore said.
“Of course they don't know it's Russia, but it's too far north and east from where they should be,” Holland says. “And at that point, they look at their compass system and figure out how to fly south and west.”
However, the neurological mechanisms that allow birds to sense these aspects of the Earth's magnetic field are still not fully understood.
“This is an important step in understanding how the magnetic maps of songbirds, especially the great reed warbler, work,” he says. Nikita Chernetsov The professor at the Institute of Zoology of the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg was not involved in the study.
The study confirms that the great reed warbler relies on these magnetic fields for positioning, but that doesn't mean all birds do, he added. “Not all birds work the same.”
Packmore and Holland said the birds were released two to three weeks after the study, at which point they were able to continue their normal migration. In fact, one of the birds they studied was captured a second time a year later. This means that the researchers' work did not interfere with the birds' successful migration.
Wildfires in the tropics caused a slight increase in CO2 emissions, but most of that was due to burning fossil fuels
Carl De Souza/AFP/Getty Images
Carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels in 2024 are expected to exceed last year's record levels, dashing hopes that global warming emissions will peak this year.
“Reducing emissions is more urgent than ever, and the only way to do that is by significantly reducing fossil fuel emissions,” he said. Pierre Friedlingstein At the University of Exeter, UK.
This is according to the latest global carbon budget. reporta preliminary calculation of CO2 emissions to date, including projections until the end of the year, prepared by Friedlingstein and his colleagues. The announcement was made at the ongoing COP29 summit in Azerbaijan, where countries aim to set new fiscal targets to combat climate change.
Last year, some researchers predicted a peak in emissions in 2024, but the report found that anthropogenic CO2 emissions would reach a record high of 41.6 gigatonnes in 2024, up 2% from the 2023 record. It has been revealed that the number is expected to increase. Almost 90% of that total is made up of emissions from fossil fuel combustion. The remainder is primarily due to land changes caused by deforestation and wildfires.
Fossil fuel emissions will grow at 0.8 percent, half as much as in 2023, but still higher than the average growth rate over the past decade. “[The slower rate] This is a good sign, but we are still miles away from reaching our goal,” says Friedlingstein.
Despite a long-term downward trend, projected emissions from land-use change also increased this year, mainly due to drought-induced wildfires in the tropics. Part of this increase is also due to the collapse of terrestrial sinks of carbon in 2023, which typically removes about a quarter of annual CO2 emissions from the atmosphere. This absorption decreased by more than 40 percent last year and in early 2024 as global temperatures soared due to El Niño.
“2023 is an amazing demonstration of what can happen in a warmer world when El Niño droughts and fires combine to create record global temperatures,” he says. pep canadel He is a researcher at Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Agency and co-author of this report. “Taken all together, the world's forests contributed almost a third less carbon dioxide from the atmosphere last year than they did in the previous decade.”
This will also increase emissions in 2024, but researchers expect this “land carbon sink” to largely recover as the warming effects of El Niño fade. “This is not a long-term collapse,” Friedlingstein says.
The report reveals that China's CO2 emissions, which emit almost a third of the world's total emissions, are projected to increase by only 0.2% in 2024 compared to 2023. . Canadel said this forecast of China's emissions has a large margin of error, so they may actually be stable or even declining. India's emissions have also slowed down from last year, increasing by just under 5%. In the US and EU, emissions continued to decline, albeit at a much slower pace than last year.
Increased demand for electricity to power air conditioners due to higher temperatures is also a key reason why fossil fuel emissions will continue to rise despite a massive build-up of renewable energy in 2024. He says: Neil Grant At the German think tank Climate Analytics. Whether it's from electric vehicles, data centers or manufacturing, “most people seem to be a little surprised by the level of electricity demand this year,” he says.
If emissions continue at this level, the world will exceed its carbon budget to limit warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels within six years, and exceed its budget to limit warming to 2°C within 27 years, the report says. Pointed out. .
“We have to accelerate, accelerate, accelerate, accelerate the transition to renewable energy,” Candell said. “Climate change is like a slippery slope and we can keep falling. We need to slam on the brakes as hard as we can to avoid falling.”
Marine biologists from Queensland Museum Kurilpa have described a new species of hermit crab. Strigopagurus fragachela (Common name is Strawberry Claw Hermit) Lives from the continental shelf off the southeast coast of Queensland, Australia.
“A genus of digeneans from central India to the western Pacific strigopagurus It currently includes five species: Strigopagulus strigimanus, Strigopagulus bilineatus, Strigopagulus boreonotus, Strigopagulus elongatusand Strigopagulus pupini'' said Queensland Museum Kurilpa researchers Peter Davey and Marissa McNamara.
“Two of them are Strigopagulus strigimanus and Strigopagulus elongatuswhich is endemic to temperate southern Australia. Strigopagulus bilineatus It is currently known only off the coast of tropical Queensland. ”
“The remaining two species have not been recorded in Australian waters.”
“The known distribution is Strigopagulus pupini Although limited to French Polynesia, it is more widespread. Strigopagulus boreonotus It has been recorded in southeastern Indonesia, the eastern Coral Sea, and waters around New Caledonia, so it may occur in tropical Australian waters. ”
“Recent trawls of continental shelf waters off south-east Queensland have revealed a large number of large and strikingly colored marine species. strigopagurus This specimen represents a newer species endemic to Australia. ”
The new species is Strigopagurus fragachelafound in relatively deep waters (120-260 meters) off the coast of south-east Queensland.
“The new species has some very distinctive features,” Dr. McNamara said.
“While their bright red claws are most striking, they have also evolved a unique way of producing sound (strumming) underwater, much like cicadas do in the air.”
“We quickly learned that this was a special hermit crab and quickly nicknamed it Strawberry Claw.”
Identification of Strigopagurus fragachela An exciting addition to this genus, of which Australia seems to be its home. ”
“There are currently four endemic species, two of which are found only in Queensland.”
“As the new species of hermit crab has only been collected by trawlers, little is known about its ecology, but there is no doubt that it is an important member of the rich biological community of the continental shelf off south-east Queensland. there is no.”
“The work of Queensland Museum scientists and researchers will help provide a record of our state's biodiversity for future generations,” said Queensland Museum CEO Dr Jim Thompson.
“Our natural history collections are more than just preserved specimens; they are important tools for scientific discovery, conservation, and public education.”
Regarding this discovery, paper in Queensland Museum Reminiscences – Nature.
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PJF Davie and MKA McNamara. 2024. New species of hermit crab genus strigopagurus Forest, 1995 (Crustacea: Anomura: Diogenidae) from the continental shelf off southeastern Queensland, Australia. Queensland Museum Reminiscences – Nature 65: 110-123;doi: 10.17082/j.2204-1478.65.2024.2024-04
Human cognitive abilities can be greatly influenced by the presence of an audience. Although often associated with reputation management, which is thought to be unique to humans, it is unclear to what extent this phenomenon is common to non-human animals. To investigate such audience effects in chimpanzees, researchers Kyoto University Contains performances by 6 people Chimpanzee (pan-troglodytes) Over a period of 6 years, we conducted experiments on three different numerical touch screen tasks of varying difficulty and cognitive demands, in a variety of audience compositions. The results showed that chimpanzee performance was influenced by the number and type of audience present.
To investigate whether chimpanzees' task performance is influenced by the presence of an audience, Lin others. analyzed multiple chimpanzee cognitive task data across different types of tasks. Image provided by: Akiho Muramatsu
“It was very surprising to discover that chimpanzees were influenced by the audience, and even by the human audience, in their task performance,” said Kyoto University researcher Dr. Kristen Lin.
“Although we might not expect chimpanzees to particularly care whether other species are watching them perform a task, chimpanzees are influenced by human spectators even depending on the difficulty of the task. The fact that it looks like this suggests that this relationship is more complex than we thought and initially expected. ”
Lin and his colleagues wanted to find out whether the audience effect often attributed to reputation management in humans also existed in non-human primates.
People knew that paying attention to who was looking at them, sometimes unconsciously, would affect their performance.
Chimpanzees live in hierarchical societies, but it was not clear to what extent they were also influenced by the people observing them.
“Our research site is special in that the chimpanzees frequently interact with and even enjoy human company, participating in various touchscreen experiments almost daily for food rewards. '' said Dr. Akiho Muramatsu of Kyoto University.
“So we thought there was an opportunity to not only explore potential similarities in effects that are relevant to viewers, but also do it in the context of chimpanzees, which share a unique bond with humans.”
The researchers made this discovery after analyzing thousands of sessions in which chimpanzees completed touchscreen tasks over a six-year period.
The researchers found that across three different number-based tasks, the chimpanzees performed better on the most difficult task as the number of experimenters observing them increased.
In contrast, they also found that on the simplest tasks, chimpanzees performed worse when they were observed by more experimenters and other familiar people.
Scientists note that the specific mechanisms underlying these audience-related effects remain unclear, even in humans.
They suggest that further studies in non-human apes may provide more insight into how this trait evolved and why it developed.
“Our findings suggest that how much humans care about witnesses and audiences may not be so unique to our species,” said Shinya Yamamoto of Kyoto University. said the doctor.
“These characteristics are a core part of how our society is primarily based on reputation, and if chimpanzees also pay special attention to their audience when performing their tasks, then these It stands to reason that audience-based traits may have evolved before reputation-based traits.''Society arose in our great ape lineage. ”
of the team findings Published in a magazine iscience.
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Kristen Lin others. The presence of an audience influences chimpanzees' performance on cognitive tasks. isciencepublished online on November 8, 2024. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.111191
The first-ever fragment of Antarctic amber was discovered in a sediment core on the mid-shelf of Antarctica’s Pine Island Trough.
Pine Island Amber. Scale bar – 50 μm. Image credit: Klages others., doi: 10.1017/S0954102024000208.
“Resins are direct plant products defined as lipophilic mixtures of volatile and non-volatile compounds that are exuded inside or on the surface of plants primarily by gymnosperms,” said first author Johann from the University of Bremen.・Dr. Klages et al. .
“Some plant resins fossilize under certain conditions and are preserved in the geological record as amber.”
“So far, the southernmost ambers date from the mid-Cretaceous period and have been found in the Otway Basin of southern Australia (Otway amber) and part of the Tupangi Formation in New Zealand's Chatham Islands (Tupangi amber), respectively.”
The first Antarctic amber was recovered by the MARUM-MeBo70 subsea drilling rig from the mid-shelf section of the Pine Island Trough in West Antarctica's Amundsen Sea Bight. RV porous stern Expedition in early 2017.
This specimen, called Pine Island amber, dates from the mid-Cretaceous period, between 92 and 83 million years ago.
The discovery points to a wet, temperate rainforest environment near Antarctica that was dominated by coniferous trees.
“Antarctic amber likely contains remnants of the original bark as microinclusions,” said co-author Dr Henny Gerschel, a researcher at the Saxon Department of Environment, Agriculture and Geology. Ta.
“Given its solid, transparent, and translucent particles, we can see that the amber is of high quality and buried close to the surface, as the amber dissipates as thermal stress and burial depth increases.”
“We also found signs of diseased resin flow, a strategy trees use to seal up damaged bark caused by parasites and wildfires, protecting them from insect attack and infection. create chemical and physical barriers that
“Our findings are another piece of the puzzle and help us better understand the wetland, conifer-rich temperate rainforest environment identified near Antarctica during the mid-Cretaceous.”
“It was very exciting to learn that at some point in their history, all seven continents had climatic conditions that allowed resin-producing trees to survive,” Dr. Klages said.
“Our goal now is to learn more about forest ecosystems. If a forest burns down, can we find traces of life in the amber?”
“This discovery allows us to travel into the past in an even more direct way.”
a paper A report of the discovery was published in today's journal Antarctic science.
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Johann P. Klages others. First discovery of Antarctic amber. Antarctic sciencepublished online on November 12, 2024. doi: 10.1017/S0954102024000208
SpaceX is preparing for the sixth test flight of Starship, the world’s most powerful rocket. The company has a “fail fast, learn fast” approach to research and development that is more akin to the world of Silicon Valley than the aerospace industry, and the pace of launches appears to only be accelerating.
When is the next flight?
SpaceX says on the website The company said it aims to conduct Starship’s sixth test flight as early as November 18. This claim is supported by the Federal Aviation Administration issuing a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen). rocket launch warning SpaceX launch pad area in Boca Chica, Texas. The 30-minute launch slot opens at 4pm local time (10pm Japan time).
It took SpaceX 18 months to conduct Starship’s first five test flights, with the fifth taking place in mid-October. When the airline launches its sixth flight next week, it will be just over a month since the last flight, making it the fastest flight ever.
What will SpaceX try with Flight 6?
In many ways, Flight 6 is a repeat of Flight 5, but with some key differences.
The booster stage will again attempt a “chopstick” landing, grabbing and securing the aircraft as it returns to the launch pad so it can be lowered to the ground. This approach is designed to ultimately allow boosters to be reused multiple times and significantly reduce the cost of putting payloads into orbit.
The upper stage will reach space, complete a partial orbit, re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and splash-land in the Indian Ocean. But this time, the upper stage will attempt to reignite one of the Raptor engines during its stay in space in order to gather valuable operational data. It also plans to test new heat shield designs during atmospheric reentry.
Another difference is that because the launch will take place later in the day, the upper stage’s landing in the Indian Ocean can be photographed during daylight hours, allowing for more detailed images. Previous missions had landed at night, so while the footage was cinematic and dramatic, it didn’t provide engineers with as much insight as footage from daytime landings.
What happened on previous Starship launches?
During the first test flight on April 20, 2023, three of the 33 engines in the booster stage failed to ignite. The rocket then became uncontrollable and self-destructed.
During the second test flight on November 18, 2023, the flight progressed further and gained enough altitude to separate the booster and upper stage as planned. The booster stage ultimately exploded before reaching the ground, and the upper stage self-destructed before reaching space.
Test Flight 3 on March 14, 2024 was at least partially successful as the upper stage reached space again, but it did not return to Earth unscathed.
The next flight was on June 6, when the upper stage reached an altitude of more than 200 kilometers and flew at speeds of more than 27,000 kilometers per hour. Both the booster and upper stage completed a soft landing at sea.
Test Flight 5 was the most ambitious yet, with Starship’s super-heavy booster dropping onto the launch pad and being safely caught by “chopsticks” on SpaceX’s launch tower, known as Mechazilla. It is equipped with “chopsticks” that can be used to grab and fix a specific position on the aircraft and lower it to the ground.
A number of prominent French newspapers have declared their intention to take legal action against social media platform X for freely distributing their content.
The collective lawsuit, spearheaded by Le Figaro, Les Echos, Le Parisien, Le Monde, Telerama, Courier International, Huffington Post, Malsherbes, and Nouvel Obs, accuses the platform, previously known as Twitter, of violating “neighboring rights” mandated under a European directive adopted into French law.
The newspapers and Agence France-Presse (AFP) had previously sought an emergency injunction against Company X due to a lack of negotiations.
The Paris Tribunal has granted media companies two months to provide commercial data to evaluate the revenue earned from their content by X.
In their statement, the newspapers criticized X for failing to comply with the court’s decision and showing a continued disregard for legal obligations.
France has been at the forefront of efforts to protect publishing rights and media revenues from tech giants that share and display news content without compensation.
To address this issue, the EU introduced neighboring rights to allow news media to claim compensation for the use of their content.
France’s implementation of the neighboring rights directive has made it a test case for EU regulations, with major tech companies like Google and Facebook eventually agreeing to pay French media outlets for displaying their articles in search results.
A lawyer for X argued that the social network, based on user-generated content rather than published content, is not subject to the Neighboring Rights Directive, unlike Google and Facebook.
In a controversial post last year, X commented on the AFP incident, questioning the demand for payment from them for traffic redirected to their sites where they earn ad revenue.
The Standard Model predicted that the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope would observe a faint signal from a small protogalaxy. However, the common hypothesis that invisible dark matter contributed to the clumping of early stars and galaxies is not supported by the data. In fact, a new study led by astrophysicists at Case Western Reserve University says that the fact that the oldest galaxies are larger and brighter is consistent with another theory of gravity.
This artist's impression shows the evolution of the universe, starting with the Big Bang on the left and continuing with the emergence of the Cosmic Microwave Background. The formation of the first stars ends the Dark Ages of the universe, followed by the formation of galaxies. Image credit: M. Weiss / Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
“What dark matter theory predicts is not what we're seeing,” says Case Western Conservancy Professor Stacey McGaw.
“Instead of dark matter, modified gravity may have played a role. A theory known as MOND (Modified Newtonian Mechanics) proposed in 1998 that structure formation in the early universe would have occurred very quickly. It's much faster than the cold dark matter theory known as lambda CDM predicted.
The Webb is designed to answer some of the universe's biggest questions, such as when and how stars and galaxies formed.
Until its launch in 2021, there was no telescope that could peer deep into space and far back in time.
Lambda CDM predicts that galaxies formed by the gradual accretion of matter from smaller structures to larger structures due to the extra gravity provided by the mass of dark matter.
“Astronomers invented dark matter to explain how we went from a very smooth early universe to the large galaxies we see today with lots of space in between.” Professor McGough said.
Smaller pieces clustered into larger structures until galaxies formed. Webb should be able to see these tiny galaxy precursors as dim lights.
“All the large galaxies we see in the nearby universe were expected to have started from these tiny pieces,” Professor McGough said.
But even at higher and higher redshifts, the signal is larger and brighter than expected, even from this early stage of the universe's evolution.
MOND predicted that the mass that would become galaxies would rapidly aggregate and initially expand outward with the rest of the universe.
The stronger gravity slows the expansion, which then reverses and the matter collapses on itself to form galaxies. In this theory, dark matter does not exist at all.
“The large, bright structures that Webb saw in the very early days of the universe were predicted by MOND more than a quarter of a century ago,” Professor McGough said.
“The bottom line is, “I told you so.'' I was raised to think it was rude to say that, but that's the whole point of the scientific method, to make predictions and find out which ones. Let's see if it becomes a reality.”
“Finding a theory that fits both MOND and general relativity remains a major challenge.”
Stacey S. McGaw others. 2024. Accelerating structure formation: The early emergence of massive galaxies and galaxy clusters. APJin press. arXiv: 2406.17930
This article is a version of a press release provided by Case Western Reserve University.
Hello. Welcome to TechScape. I’m Blake Montgomery, the Guardian’s US technology editor. Newsletter of the Week: Elon Musk and Donald Trump want to create a “Department of Government Efficiency,” cryptocurrencies score big wins across the board, and the modern-day equivalent of Lysistrata takes hold on TikTok. Thank you for your participation.
US President-elect Trump has expressed his desire to appoint Musk, the world’s richest man, as the country’s “cost-cutting secretary” with the goal of reducing the federal government’s bureaucracy by about a third, or $2 trillion. President Trump announced in September the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency. Musk has been endorsing the idea and actively promoting it, focusing on the agency’s acronym Doge (a nod to the popular Shiba Inu meme). President Trump stated that the agency will conduct a thorough financial and performance audit of the entire federal government to propose fundamental reforms.
In a video posted on X, Two days after the election, President Trump stated, “I am immediately reissuing my 2020 Executive Order, restoring the President’s authority to remove corrupt officials.” He aims to “eradicate the deep state,” echoing his famous catchphrase from The Apprentice: “You’re fired!” Project 2025, President Trump’s controversial blueprint for a second term, outlines how bureaucrats can be dismissed.
The billionaire appears to have no illusions about what will happen after the proposed cuts.
Mr. Musk has a proven track record of reducing corporate spending and has pledged to cut down federal payroll costs in a similar manner. He mentioned that after acquiring Company X (previously Twitter) in 2022, the company downsized its workforce by 80%. Despite preventing a $3 billion shortfall, revenue has declined significantly, and a revival seems improbable. However, as the CEO of SpaceX, he has established a reputation for launching rockets at lower costs than competitors by efficient management and negotiations with suppliers.
Considering the proposed spending cuts, the billionaire acknowledged that they would likely lead to temporary challenges, reflecting Americans’ desire for decreased expenditure. Do they advocate for austerity and federal budget cuts? Are they willing to heed advice from the world’s wealthiest person on curbing expenses?
Mr. Musk has already urged Mr. Trump to appoint SpaceX employees to key government roles. According to a report by The New York Times, the president-elect has vowed to restrict bureaucrats from transitioning to roles in regulated companies, potentially blocking SpaceX executives from federal positions. However, nepotism is not unfamiliar to the president-elect, and there seems to be no effort to avoid conflicts of interest. Mr. Musk’s involvement in the government will likely be structured to allow him to retain control of his businesses, as covered in the Financial Times.
During his first term, President Trump’s administration struggled to fill numerous government vacancies required for effective governance. Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s administration admitted that it never fully recovered from the inability to appoint officials. Perhaps incorporating Mr. Musk into the equation is an attempt to avoid a repetition of such challenges. In a radical approach, Trump and Musk might simply eliminate positions for which suitable appointees cannot be found. This scenario is reminiscent of John Kennedy Toole’s novel, The Confederacy of Dunces, where a clueless protagonist attempts to clean up an organization’s mess, but only makes matters worse. It’s not far-fetched to imagine Trump and Musk following a similar path.
However, labor laws pose a significant obstacle for Musk, as Tesla remains the only major US automaker without unionized workers. The billionaire CEO intends to maintain this status quo. In contrast, federal employees benefit from strong job protections that may hinder Musk’s cost-cutting strategies. Despite his experience in managing various companies, handling public sector employees could prove challenging, as they may not be as flexible as those he is accustomed to.
Click here for more information. wonderful 4 months This has taken Elon Musk from someone who refused to endorse candidates to perhaps the most powerful figure in American politics, second only to Donald Trump. Read more about how Trump’s second term could be richer Musk.
Cryptocurrency companies poured $135 million into the US election, but what did they get for it?
Cryptocurrency companies spent $10 million attacking Katie Porter, an advocate of stricter crypto laws, in the California Senate primary. Porter lost. Photo: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto/Rex/Shutterstock
The cryptocurrency industry witnessed significant victories in the 48 elections where FairShake, the largest crypto pack, donated, with all industry-backed candidates emerging victorious. According to Bloomberg, over 60% of the cash contributed supported Republican candidates or opposed Democratic contenders.
The industry’s major investment was in Ohio, where Republican Bernie Moreno, backed by a cryptocurrency company with $40 million, challenged popular Democratic incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown. Mr. Brown’s advocacy for stricter regulation of digital currencies conflicted with the industry’s interests. Earlier, crypto companies spent $10 million targeting Katie Porter, a proponent of tougher crypto laws, in the California Senate primary, resulting in her defeat. Another crypto advocacy group, Protect Progress, equally invested in Senate races in Arizona and Michigan, where crypto was less contentious, but successful candidates were supportive of industry-related legislation.
Apart from the future advantages of a favorable regulatory climate, the cryptocurrency industry has reaped immediate economic gains, with Bitcoin reaching record highs exceeding $75,000.
While Fairshake did not contribute to the presidential election, it stands to benefit from the outcome, as Trump now endorses cryptocurrencies and supports the industry, reversing his initial stance. Musk has actively promoted cryptocurrencies, particularly Dogecoin, for years, even before their surge in popularity. (Harris has remained neutral towards cryptocurrencies.)
Musk is particularly interested in the removal of stock exchange chairman Gary Gensler, aligning with his priorities for cryptocurrencies.
Coinbase, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency exchange, donated $25 million to Fairshake. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong remarked that DC has received a clear message that opposition to crypto could end political careers, as he observed following the US election. The industry ranks second in political contributions after fossil fuel companies, according to consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen.
This week on iPhone
Following President Trump’s victory, American women are focusing on the 4Bs. Composite: Getty Images; TikTok; Guardian Design
I am watching dystopian coffeehouse comedy on Instagram and exploring why South Korea’s 4B movement (a modern-day version of Lysistrata) has gained popularity on TikTok. My colleague Alaina Demopoulos elaborates:
The core concept: Women vow to abstain from heterosexual marriage, dating, sex, and childbearing in protest against institutionalized misogyny and abuse. (Dubbed 4B after these four specific commitments.) Originating from online protests against revenge porn around 2018, the movement evolved into a #MeToo-inspired feminist movement in South Korea.
In light of Trump’s win, American women are contemplating the 4Bs, as highlighted by Demopoulos.
Read the full article here.
Wider TechScape
AI companies are keen to reduce red tape. Photo: Graham Robertson/Guardian
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