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
A leading scientist who has worked closely with wealthy individuals to address the dangers of AI suggests that Elon Musk’s influence over Donald Trump’s administration could result in stricter safety standards for artificial intelligence. Concerns about AI were not a prominent feature of Trump’s campaign, but Musk’s support for AI regulation in California demonstrates his ongoing worries about the issue.
Musk has repeatedly cautioned against the uncontrolled advancement of AI, warning of potentially disastrous consequences for humanity. He has advocated for a moratorium on research into powerful AI technologies, emphasizing the need for safety standards to prevent the development of artificial general intelligence that surpasses human intelligence levels.
Max Tegmark, a professor specializing in AI at MIT, believes that Musk could influence Trump to introduce regulations that hinder the advancement of artificial general intelligence. Tegmark sees Musk’s backing of AI safety measures in California as a positive step, even though the bill was ultimately vetoed by Governor Gavin Newsom.
Musk’s early support for AI safety initiatives aligns with the efforts of Tegmark’s Future of Life Institute, which advocates for responsible technology use. Musk’s increasing wealth post-Trump’s presidency victory could further bolster his influence in shaping AI regulations.
While Musk has warned of a dystopian future controlled by AI, other experts argue that focusing on catastrophic scenarios may divert attention from immediate concerns like AI manipulation. President Trump’s administration aims to overturn AI safety measures introduced by the Biden administration, citing them as politically biased restrictions on AI development.
These measures include mandatory safety testing for high-risk AI systems that could jeopardize national security, economic stability, or public health and safety.
Bluesky, a social media platform, saw a surge of over 700,000 new users in the week following the US election, as users sought refuge from misinformation and offensive content on another platform, X.
The company reported reaching 14.5 million users globally, up from 9 million in September, with significant growth from North America and the United Kingdom.
According to social media researcher Axel Brands, Bluesky provides an alternative to X (formerly Twitter) with better mechanisms for blocking problematic accounts and addressing harmful behavior.
Brands mentioned, “Twitter users are turning to Bluesky for a more pure social media experience, free from far-right activity, misinformation, hate speech, and bots.”
CEO Jay Graeber stated that Bluesky, initially a project within Twitter, became an independent entity in 2022.
The platform’s growth is attributed to dissatisfaction with X and its owner, Elon Musk, leading to a significant user exodus from X following their rebranding.
Bluesky reported acquiring 3 million new users after X was suspended in Brazil and another 1.2 million after a policy change by Company X.
The platform’s user base is expanding rapidly, with notable figures such as historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat finding appeal in Bluesky’s community and features.
Bluesky is currently the second-largest social networking app in Apple’s US App Store, with a recent increase in monthly active users.
Recent updates to Bluesky, including direct messaging and video features, aim to differentiate it from meta-owned competitors and offer a user-friendly experience.
Overall, the platform is experiencing a resurgence reminiscent of the early days of social media, attracting users with its vibrant and active community.
Prominent figures like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have found a home on Bluesky, highlighting the platform’s appeal as a space for real connection.
A recent report has highlighted the concerning state of Earth’s snow and ice, indicating that various key climate tipping points are more likely to be reached than previously thought. These include significant ice melt leading to severe sea level rise and disruptions to crucial ocean currents controlling the Atlantic heat cycle.
The report reveals alarming statistics such as Venezuela losing its last glacier this year, Greenland’s ice sheet losing an average of 30 million tons of ice per hour, and the impending collapse of Thwaites Glacier, also known as the “terminal glacier.” This collapse could potentially result in the rapid disappearance of Antarctic ice.
Compiled by over 50 leading snow and ice scientists as part of the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative, the report summarizes the conditions for 2024, highlighting the disastrous impact of global warming on the planet’s frozen regions.
Of particular concern is the potential collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), which could lead to drastic changes in weather patterns, such as rapid cooling in the North Atlantic and warming in the Southern Hemisphere.
Additionally, the report underscores the rising consensus among scientists that these climate tipping points are now more likely to be surpassed, with the window for mitigating actions rapidly narrowing.
The report’s release coincided with the United Nations’ COP29 climate change conference in Azerbaijan, where global leaders gathered to address pressing environmental concerns. Despite some progress, particularly in carbon credit trading, the report emphasizes that current climate policies are inadequate to meet global climate goals.
While the scientific community continues to sound the alarm about the escalating climate crisis, there are growing fears that world leaders are failing to grasp the gravity of the situation. Urgent action is needed to address the imminent threats posed by melting ice, collapsing glaciers, and disruptions in vital ocean currents.
In conclusion, the report serves as a stark reminder of the urgent need for decisive action to combat climate change before irreversible consequences unfold.
This amazing new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope is one of the best ever of a galaxy combination called MCG+05-31-045.
This Hubble image shows MCG+05-31-045, a pair of interacting galaxies located approximately 390 million light-years apart in the constellation Coma. Image credit: NASA/ESA/Hubble/RJ Foley, University of California, Santa Cruz.
MCG+05-31-045 It is located approximately 390 million light-years away in the constellation of Coma.
This galaxy pair, also known as IC 3935, AGC 221216, or LEDA 44438, is part of the Coma cluster.
“The Coma cluster is a particularly rich galaxy cluster, containing more than 1,000 known galaxies,” Hubble astronomers said in a statement.
“Some are easily visible with amateur telescopes.”
“Most of them are elliptical galaxies, which are typical of dense galaxy clusters like the Milky Way Cluster. Many elliptical galaxies are created when galaxies come close to each other and collide, stirring them up or They are formed when groups are torn apart.
“Stars in interacting galaxies can stay together, but gas in galaxies is a different story. Gas is twisted and compressed by gravity and is quickly used up to form new stars.” Masu.”
“When hot, massive blue stars die, there is little gas left to replace them with a new generation of young stars.”
“In the case of interacting spiral galaxies, the regular orbits that give rise to their impressive spiral arms are also disrupted.”
“Whether it’s a merger or a simple near-miss, the result is a galaxy with little gas and aging stars orbiting in uncoordinated circles – elliptical galaxies.”
“A similar fate is very likely to befall MCG+05-31-045,” the astronomers said.
“When small spiral galaxies are torn apart and merged into larger galaxies, many new stars are formed, and the hot, blue stars quickly burn out, leaving colder, redder stars like other stars in a coma. is left behind in the elliptical galaxy.” “
“But this process will take millions of years to complete. Until then, Queen Berenice II will suffer from knots in her hair.”
When NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft flew by Uranus in 1986, scientists got their first close glimpse of the giant icy planet. Alongside the discovery of new moons and rings, a puzzling new mystery faced scientists. The energetic particles around Uranus defied their understanding of how magnetic fields trap particle radiation. The cause of that special mystery is a cosmic coincidence, according to a new study. Just before Voyager 2's flyby, Uranus was found to have been affected by an unusual type of space weather that crushed and dramatically compressed the planet's magnetic field. Its magnetosphere.
The first panel of this artist's concept depicts how Uranus' magnetosphere operated before NASA's Voyager 2 flyby. The second panel shows that an unusual type of solar weather occurred during the 1986 flyby, giving scientists a biased view of the magnetosphere. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
The planetary magnetosphere (the region around a planet dominated by its magnetic field) influences the environment around the planet, and understanding its properties is important for mission planning.
Voyager 2's close encounter of Uranus reveals a unique magnetosphere that is highly asymmetric and appears to lack plasma, a common element in the magnetospheres of other planets, and has an unusually strong band of high-energy electrons It became.
The signatures from this single measurement have since been used as the basis for understanding Uranus's magnetic field, but these anomalies have been difficult to explain without complex physics.
“If Voyager 2 had arrived just a few days earlier, we would have seen a completely different magnetosphere on Uranus,” said Dr. Jamie Jasinski, a researcher at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
“The spacecraft observed Uranus in a situation that has a probability of only about 4%.”
Jasinski and his colleagues reanalyzed Voyager 2 data before the flyby and found that the spacecraft encountered Uranus shortly after a violent solar wind event that ejected streams of charged particles from the Sun's atmosphere.
This compressed Uranus's magnetosphere, creating a condition that only occurs 4% of the time.
In this state, we see a plasma-free magnetosphere with highly excited electron emission bands.
The authors suggest that two magnetospheric cycles may exist during solar minimum due to variations in Uranus' solar wind.
Additionally, the chances of Uranus' outermost major moons, Titania and Oberon, orbiting outside the magnetosphere may be very low, giving scientists the possibility of detecting an underground ocean without interference from the magnetosphere. There is.
“The 1986 flyby was full of surprises, and we were looking for an explanation for its unusual behavior,” said Dr. Linda Spilker, also of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
“The magnetosphere measured by Voyager 2 is just a snapshot in time.”
“This new study explains some of the apparent contradictions and will once again change our view of Uranus.”
of findings Published in today's magazine natural astronomy.
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JM Jasinski others. Unusual conditions in Uranus' magnetosphere during Voyager 2's flyby. Nat Astronpublished online on November 11, 2024. doi: 10.1038/s41550-024-02389-3
Accurate description of low-density nuclear matter is critical to explaining the physics of the neutron star’s crust, according to a team of theoretical physicists led by Argonne National Laboratory. Dr. Alessandro Lovato.
Fore others. We study the crust of neutron stars by simulating neutron matter and then adding “hidden” neutrons that mediate interactions between “real” neutrons. The neural network then constructs quantum wave functions for the normal and superfluid phases of neutronic matter. Image credit: Jane Kim, Ohio University.
The inner crust of a neutron star is characteristic Due to the existence of neutron superfluid.
A superfluid is a fluid that has no viscosity. In a neutron star, this means that the superfluid allows neutrons to flow without resistance.
To accurately predict the properties of neutronic matter at the lowest energy levels in this low-density form, researchers typically perform theoretical calculations that assume that neutrons combine to form Cooper pairs.
“The low-density nuclear material found in the crust of neutron stars exhibits complex and interesting structures that vary greatly with density,” Lovato and colleagues said.
“In the outer shell, the nucleons are bound to fully ionized nuclei. As the density increases within this region, these nuclei become increasingly neutron-rich, so in ground-based experiments they are present at lower densities. It is only possible to directly determine the main nuclides that
physicist used Artificial neural networks do not rely on this assumption to make accurate predictions.
They modified the standard “single particle” approach by introducing “hidden” neutrons that facilitate interactions between “real” neutrons and encode quantum many-body correlations.
This allows Cooper pairs to appear naturally during calculations.
“Understanding neutron superfluidity provides important insights into neutron stars,” the researchers said.
“This reveals phenomena such as its cooling mechanisms, rotation, and sudden changes in rotational speed.”
“Although we cannot directly access neutron star material experimentally, the fundamental interactions that govern the behavior of this material are the same as those that govern the nuclei of atoms on Earth.”
“Researchers are working to create simple yet predictable nuclear interactions.”
“Solving the quantum many-body problem accurately is an important part of assessing the quality of these interactions.”
“Our study uses simple interactions that are in good agreement with previous calculations that assumed more complex interactions.”
Low-density neutronic matter is characterized by fascinating emergent quantum phenomena, such as the formation of Cooper pairs and the onset of superfluidity.
“We used a combination of artificial neural networks and advanced optimization techniques to study this dense region,” the scientists said.
“Using a simplified model of the interaction between neutrons, we calculated the energy per particle and compared the results with those obtained from very realistic interactions.”
“This approach is competitive compared to other computational techniques at a fraction of the cost.”
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Bryce Foer others. 2024. Investigating the crust of a neutron star with the quantum state of a neural network. arXiv: 2407.21207
Bryce Foer others. 2023. Diluting neutron star material from quantum states in neural networks. Physics. Rev. Research 5(3):033062;doi: 10.1103/PhysRevResearch.5.033062
A new genus and species of Ankylosaurus has been identified from an articulated partial skeleton discovered in southern China in 1986.
artistic reconstruction Huaxiazhou Longshouwen. Image credit: Ye Jianhao.
The newly discovered species was an early member of a family called armored dinosaurs. ankylosauridae.
dubbing Huaxiazhou Longshouwen the ancient animal was about 6 meters (20 feet) long.
In a paper, paleontologist Ziheng Zhu of Yunnan University and colleagues write, “Sclerosaurs were quadrupedal, herbivorous dinosaurs characterized by sagittal osteodermal rows on the dorsolateral surface of their bodies and heavily armored skulls. It is a diverse clade of
“Ankylosaurs lived from the Middle Jurassic to the end of the Late Cretaceous.”
“As a subgroup of the scleractylids, scleractyl dinosaurs are currently found only in Asia and North America. In Asia, they were primarily found in Mongolia and northern China.”
fossilized remains of an adult Huaxiazhou Longshouwen It was discovered in a mineral deposit in 1986. Karabe formation In Longxi Village, Jiangxi Province, southern China.
“This deposit is a series of Late Cretaceous strata, represented by an extensive series of red mudstones, sandstones, and conglomerates,” the researchers wrote.
“This series of strata is locally classified as the Karabe Formation, which belongs to the Katsurabo Formation Group.''
“We got some pieces of dinosaurs and dinosaur eggs.”
This specimen dates from the Late Cretaceous Period, 84 to 72 million years ago.
It was excavated by paleontologists from the Guangchang County Museum and consists of a partial articulated skeleton without a skull and mandible.
“Huaxiazhou Longshouwen “This is the second ankylosaurid species discovered in China's Jiangxi province,” the scientists wrote in their paper.
“According to phylogenetic analysis, Huaxiazhou Longshouwen is a basal member of the ankylosaurid family. ”
“Next discovery Huaxiazhou Longshouwen It adds diversity to the Late Cretaceous of China and helps elucidate the evolution of ankylosaurid dinosaurs in East Asia. ”
of paper Published in this month's magazine historical biology.
_____
Zhu Zihyung others. A new species of ankylosaurid dinosaur discovered from the late Cretaceous period in Jiangxi Province, southern China. historical biologypublished online on November 8, 2024. doi: 10.1080/08912963.2024.2417208
You've probably already noticed that the prices of many foods in your shopping cart have increased significantly. In the UK, the price of white potatoes is 20% increase in the past yearwith carrots 38% increase Olive oil rose 40%. And while that means the cost of assembling a roast dinner has soared, specialty items have also seen an even bigger price increase, with you now paying nearly twice as much for a portion of a chocolate bar. It will be.
The drivers of price increases are complex, but one of the biggest drivers is climate change. In the short term, extreme weather caused by global warming is having a devastating impact on producers. For example, in Northern Europe, heavy rains in the spring of 2024 left fields too waterlogged to harvest vegetables or plant new crops. Meanwhile, Morocco, which normally exports many vegetables to Europe, experienced a drought and ran out of water for irrigation. As a result, the prices of potatoes and carrots have soared.
As average global temperatures rise by 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels in the coming years, heat waves, droughts and extreme storms will become more common and intense, causing major disruptions to food production. It will be. But current efforts to compensate for the effects of crop failures, such as clearing forests to grow more crops, are exacerbating many other problems, from biodiversity loss to rising carbon dioxide levels. I am. Are we underestimating the magnitude of the impact, when it's already happening to so many foods? If so, what can we do about it?
Uranus’ strange magnetic field may be much less strange than astronomers first thought, and it could mean that Uranus’ largest moon is much more active and perhaps even has a global ocean It means that there is.
The only direct measurement of Uranus’s magnetic field was obtained by NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft, which flew close to the planet in 1986. The spacecraft’s measurements suggested that the magnetic field was skewed, meaning it was not aligned with the planet’s rotation, and that it was an anomalous field. It is rich in highly energetic electrons and lacks the plasma that is common in the magnetic fields of other gas giant planets like Jupiter. Astronomers at the time thought the results were so strange that they either invoked complex physics to explain the measurements or simply dismissed them as evidence that Voyager 2’s instruments had gone awry.
now, jamie jasinski Researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California reanalyzed Voyager 2 data and found that a rare explosion of solar wind that crushed Uranus’ magnetic field just before the spacecraft arrived may have distorted the data, causing the measurements to I discovered that it was disturbed. This means everything we thought we knew about Uranus’ magnetic field may be wrong, Jasinski says. “This is almost like resetting everything,” he says.
Jasinski and his team found that the solar wind compressed Uranus’s magnetic field to a size that typically occurs only 4 percent of the time. But for the past 40 years, scientists have assumed that is the normal state of affairs. Jasinski says the collapse of the magnetic field explains some of the strange results so far, including the lack of plasma and high-energy electrons.
If there is indeed plasma in Uranus’ magnetic field, and Voyager 2 just happened to miss it, it’s possible that not all of it came from the planet itself. Some may have come from Uranus’ moons, the largest of which are called Titania and Oberon. Until now, these moons were thought to be inert, but new research leaves open the possibility that they may be geologically active after all. This is consistent with recent calculations that suggest there may be a hidden ocean on the moon. “The solar wind may have wiped out all evidence of an active satellite just before the flyby occurred,” Jasinski said.
A great white shark attacks a dummy seal during an experiment in which lights were used to deter shark attacks
Nathan Hart, Macquarie University
Lighting the underside of surfboards, kayaks, and wetsuits could prevent the majority of great white shark attacks on humans.
It has long been known that sharks often attack humans, mistaking their silhouettes on the water for prey such as seals. Now, researchers have conducted an experiment to see what happens when a decoy seal's silhouette is distorted by illuminating its underside to disguise its shape.
laura ryan Researchers from Macquarie University in Sydney spent nearly 500 hours towing seal-shaped decoys around Mossel Bay in South Africa's Western Cape region, where great white sharks (carcharodon carcharius) gather in large numbers to hunt.
The team tested multiple light treatments. I covered the underside of the decoy with dim, medium, and bright LED and strobe lighting, as well as horizontal and vertical strip lighting. Each time we towed with any of the light treatments, we immediately towed the control decoy seal without using any underside lighting. As an additional experiment, we conducted a paired test in which an unlit control dummy was towed 3 meters away from a lit dummy.
Unlit decoys were more likely to be attacked or chased by sharks than lit decoys. The brightest light appeared to be the most effective, with zero predator incidents when the decoy illumination was at its brightest.
Vertical strip lighting was less effective than horizontal strips, Ryan said, perhaps because it broke up the silhouette into long sections that could be identified as seals.
Strobe lighting was less effective than continuous lighting, likely because the sharks could still see the silhouette of their likely prey between flashes.
Ryan said the team expected it would be important to match the decoy's lighting with the background light and make sure it was no brighter than the surrounding underwater conditions, but that wasn't the case.
“The most important thing was that the brightness of the decoy had to be brighter than the background light,” she says. “As long as the lighting doesn't make the silhouette look black, it seems to work.”
The research team has now developed a prototype lighting array to be used as a deterrent for great white sharks. “We are now moving from research to providing protection for swimmers and surfers,” Ryan says. “We took an approach that involved understanding the sensory systems of these animals, how they see the world, and their behavior.”
Ryan cautioned that lighting deterrents have not been tested against other species known to attack humans, such as tiger sharks (Galeocerdo Cuvier) and bull sharks (Porgy whale), each with a different hunting strategy.
david booth The University of Technology Sydney conducts a number of field studies off the Sydney coastline, where sharks, including great whites, are common. Based on these findings, he says he will definitely order a counter-illuminated wetsuit when it becomes available.
“I was surprised to find that ‘destructive camouflage’ was more effective, as I thought low lighting to match the background was most effective,” he says.
“These results apply only to great white sharks, and only to this feeding mode, so it is unclear at this point how broadly applicable they are.”
Bubbles trapped in Antarctic ice were used to estimate past temperatures
aldiami/Andreas Alexander/Alamy
Humankind has already caused around 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming since the start of the industrial revolution, according to new estimates based on temperature data collected from air bubbles trapped in ice.
Measuring anthropogenic global warming typically uses the period from 1850 to 1900 as a pre-industrial baseline. This is because this is the time when temperature records began. 2024 is almost certain to be the first year in which average temperatures rise by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above this baseline. This single-year data is influenced by naturally occurring factors such as the strong El Niño event, which has pushed up global temperatures.
When you remove this natural variation, scientists believe humans alone have caused 1.31°C of warming since the Industrial Revolution. But by 1850, the Industrial Revolution was already underway, and fossil fuel-powered engines were in use around the world.
Andrew Jarvis Lancaster University and Piers Foster Researchers at the University of Leeds, both in the UK, set out to establish a new pre-industrial baseline using data taken from Antarctic ice core samples. The pair analyzed the composition of air bubbles trapped in ice cores to establish atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations from 13 AD to 1700, before humans significantly influenced atmospheric temperatures. This CO2 data was then used to establish the average global temperature over the same period, assuming a linear relationship between CO2 and temperature increases.
Using this new pre-1700 baseline, humanity has caused 1.49°C of warming by 2023, meaning the 1.5°C level has been “effectively reached,” the researchers say in their findings. It is written in the paper to be reported. “We have provided a new, scientifically defensible way to derive a pre-industrial baseline for measuring global warming,” Jarvis told reporters at a press conference.
Jarvis said the new method would also help reduce the uncertainty in temperature estimates based on the current 1850-1900 baseline used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Using ice core data to establish a baseline between 1850 and 1900, the researchers say humans caused 1.31°C of warming. This is consistent with existing median estimates, but the range of uncertainty is significantly reduced, the researchers note.
“The problem with just looking at surface temperature observations is that the further back in time you go, the more uncertain those observations become,” Forster says. “We are now much more confident than before that the current temperature is around 1.3°C.”
Jarvis and Forster hope their new method will be adopted by scientists and policymakers as the primary way to judge humanity's progress against global climate goals. “I think there is still room in the policy and scientific communities to rethink the pre-industrial baseline,” Jarvis said. “We know that the estimates for 1850 to 1900 incorporate warming, simply because that was not the beginning of the industrial revolution. We provide a way to operate from a secure baseline.”
However, new methods may not be future-proof. The linear relationship between CO2 concentrations and global temperatures is likely to break down as the climate changes. For example, if a so-called tipping point is triggered in the Earth system that triggers a series of warming events.
The new methods won't change the effects of climate change that are felt on the ground, Forster said. “The impact on human life from Spain and the hurricanes we are experiencing today is exactly the same whether you call it 1.3°C above pre-industrial levels or 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. is” . Influence is influence. ”
Richard Betts The Met Office, the UK's meteorological agency, said the new method “provides a clear and easy way to provide an up-to-date estimate of the current level of anthropogenic global warming”. Part of the reason is that it can produce “real-time” estimates of human-induced warming, rather than relying on 10-year moving averages as current estimates do.
He said the approach could help provide policymakers with a more up-to-date picture of current levels of warming, but changing the baseline used in the assessment would be an “objective” for climate action. It warned that it could be considered as “moving.'' “Even without changing the baseline, it is clear that current warming is much closer to 1.5°C than expected using older 10-year averages,” he says .
Scientists from the Leibniz Center for Archaeology and Durham University conducted a study on a collection of 406 carved schist tablets discovered at the Magdalenian site in Gennersdorf, Germany. These ancient carvings depict fishing techniques and tools used by Paleolithic people, showcasing nets with interlaced diamond and square mesh. This provides valuable insight into the transformation of their culture.
Placket 341 from the Magdalenian ruins of Gennersdorf, Germany. Image credit: Robitaille others., doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0311302.
“Prehistoric fisheries introduced a variety of techniques and strategies for capturing fish. It can be summarized as active fishing, which requires active fishing, passive fishing with trapping methods, or a combination of both,” said Dr. Jérôme Robitaille of the Leibniz Center for Archaeology and colleagues.
“Some methods have been developed for individual fishing, such as fishing, while others have been improved to maximize yields using collective nets and traps.”
“The choice of a particular method was influenced not only by the fish species targeted, but also by the distinct habitats and topography in which particular aquatic resources thrive.”
“Evidence for fishing in the Upper Paleolithic (20,000 to 14,500 years ago) is not abundant, but there is direct and indirect evidence of several fishing methods, including barbed tips and harpoons, bows and arrows, traps, and fishing nets. exists sporadically.”
In their study, the authors analyzed carvings carved into 406 schist plaquettes from the Magdalena site in Gennersdorf, on the north bank of the Rhine River in central-western Germany.
These plaquettes feature a unique artistic style and iconographic theme depicting both terrestrial and aquatic animals and humans.
The new imaging technique allowed researchers to see intricate carvings on the fish, with grid patterns interpreted as depictions of fishing nets or traps.
This discovery suggests that fishing may have had symbolic meaning in the Upper Paleolithic.
These expand the known repertoire of Ice Age art and provide surprising insights into the symbolic and social practices of early hunter-gatherer societies.
“A comparative analysis including other sites from the same period, such as Altamira and Lascaux, highlights Gennersdorf’s contribution to the understanding of Paleolithic art and survival strategies,” the scientists concluded.
“Unlike famous locations known for their vivid depictions of fish, Gennersdorf’s abstract, minimalist style offers a fresh perspective on the sociocultural dynamics of the Magdalene community.”
“Net fishing, which originates from a wide range of economies, reveals the diversity, adaptability, and creativity of prehistoric communities, and their proficiency in utilizing a variety of fishing methods to sustainably exploit aquatic resources.”
“This research not only increases our understanding of the diverse survival strategies of Paleolithic societies, but also contributes to a broader discussion about the complexity and richness of their cultural practices.”
“By highlighting often overlooked aspects of fishing practices and the representation of those practices in art, our research adds to a more comprehensive and dynamic picture of Upper Paleolithic subsistence and contributes to the field. opens new avenues for future research in the field. “
“Clearly fishing plays a more important role in shaping social and cultural practices than hitherto recognized, as evidenced by population patterns around rich fishing grounds, and is therefore a subject worthy of further investigation.” It is.”
of study Published in an online journal PLoS ONE.
J. Robitaille others. 2024. Upper Paleolithic fishing techniques: Insights from carved plates from the Magdalenian site of Gennersdorf, Germany. PLoS ONE 19 (11): e0311302;doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0311302
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