“Oreos were my best friend as a kid,” he says brian hair. Once Hare wanted to hone his baseball pitching skills, his Labrador eagerly took on fielding duties. If he decided to explore the nearby forest, Oreo was always happy to take him. But there was one place where the boy and the dog always parted ways. “Oreo has never set foot in our house. Not once,” Hare says.
Nowadays, the front door is not closed for most dogs in high-income countries, and many dogs spend their days relaxing on the couch or watching TV. You would think they would be in dog heaven. But Hare, an evolutionary anthropologist at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, believes development has kept them in a doghouse. For thousands of years, he says, we have relied on dogs to protect our property and protect our families at night. Now, we have different expectations. Not only do you want your indoor dog to be friendly to strangers and rest quietly throughout the night, but also to be toilet trained, avoid chasing other animals, and avoid getting dirty paws on upholstery. You also need to do so. “This is an evolutionary mismatch,” Hare says.
Fortunately, this problem is solvable. Many recent studies have shown that selective breeding and careful training can help dogs adapt to indoor life. Meanwhile, Hare and his team “Puppy Kindergarten” Their lab delves into necessary behaviors and sheds new light on the milestones of cognitive development in dogs. Even better, researchers have devised a technique…
Some kitchen appliances have become popular in our kitchens due to their cost-effectiveness, durability, and easy cleaning. However, recent studies indicate that certain food staples like black plastic utensils, plastic cutting boards, and nonstick pots may release harmful substances into our food. This is not the kind of seasoning we want in our healthy, nutritious meals.
So, what are the risks associated with these kitchen tools, and what are the safer alternatives available?
Issues with Plastic Utensils
Many of us may have a set of black plastic spatulas, spoons, and ladles tucked away in our kitchen drawers. New research reveals that these items can potentially leach toxic flame retardants like decabromodiphenyl ether (decaBDE) into our food.
These chemicals were originally used in electronics to reduce fire risks but are now present in black plastic kitchen utensils made from recycled electronic waste.
Another study found that 85 percent of black plastic household items examined, including fast food trays, children’s toys, and kitchen utensils, contained toxic flame retardants, with the highest levels found in kitchen utensils.
DecaBDE is particularly harmful, linked to cancer, hormonal disorders, thyroid issues, developmental problems in children, neurobehavioral effects, and toxicity in the reproductive and immune systems. Due to these concerns, it was banned in the UK in 2018 and in the US in 2021.
Researchers estimate that people may be exposed to an average of 34.7 ppm of deca-BDE daily through recycled black plastic kitchen utensils, posing a significant health risk as the chemicals can accumulate in the body over time.
Instead of using black plastic utensils, consider switching to safer alternatives like stainless steel or food-grade silicone options.
Cutting Board and Microplastics
Plastic cutting boards, although seemingly harmless, can release microplastics into our food. These small particles, known as microplastics, can be ingested unintentionally and pose health risks.
Recent research suggests that cutting boards made of polypropylene and polyethylene can release up to 1,114 microplastic particles with just one cut, leading to potential health issues related to microplastic ingestion.
Replacing plastic cutting boards with bamboo or wood alternatives can help reduce these health risks, as these materials are naturally resistant to bacteria and environmentally friendly.
The Truth about Nonstick Cookware
Nonstick pans are favored by many home cooks for their convenience, but the chemicals used in these coatings, such as PFAS, raise health concerns. While modern nonstick pans are considered safe, there are uncertainties about their long-term impacts, especially when exposed to high temperatures or damage.
Be cautious with nonstick pans to prevent overheating, which can release toxic fumes and particles. Scratches or damage to the coating can also release harmful substances into food.
Consider using alternative cookware options like stainless steel or cast iron to avoid potential health risks associated with nonstick pans.
Influencers are big fans of post-workout ice baths.
But a recent small study suggests that recreational athletes may perform better when using hot tubs instead of cold ones, especially during breaks in training like halftime in football or soccer games. The study was presented at the Integrative Exercise Physiology Conference at the University Park, Pennsylvania.
According to Mamoru Tsuyuki, the lead author of the study and a master’s student in sports and health science at Ritsumeikan University, hot water promotes blood flow, helps muscles repair, and increases power output. He recommends soaking in hot water for 15-20 minutes to improve performance in the second half of a workout. Despite the benefits of hot water, Tsuyuki acknowledges that cold water can still be beneficial for relieving muscle pain and treating injuries.
Further research is needed to compare the advantages and disadvantages of both hot and cold water treatments. Different types of exercises may yield different results with each temperature soak.
Why Hot Soaks are Beneficial
To explore the effects of hot and cold water in more detail, Tsuyuki and his team conducted a three-part study involving 10 young men. After high-intensity interval running, the men soaked in either a 104-degree or 59-degree bathtub for 20 minutes or sat in water without soaking.
The study results showed that jumping heights were higher after hot water immersion compared to cold water immersion. Muscle soreness was not significantly different between the two groups.
Although cold baths can be soothing for injuries involving heat and inflammation, they may have a negative impact on post-workout recovery for intense workouts, according to Amy Leighton, an associate professor of applied physiology at Columbia University. Hot water facilitates circulation and speeds up the recovery process after strenuous exercise.
Dr. Spencer Stein, an orthopedic and sports medicine specialist at New York University, acknowledges the benefits of cold water baths in reducing pain but notes that warm baths are preferred by professional teams before a game. David Putrino, a rehabilitation innovation director, advises athletes to experiment with different temperatures and observe how their bodies react to determine the most effective recovery strategy.
Putrino recommends soaking in hot water for 10-20 minutes at 98-104 degrees Fahrenheit and in ice water for 10-15 minutes at 50-59 degrees Fahrenheit. Start with a 5-minute soak if you are new to cold water treatment. Ultimately, the best temperature soak is the one that helps you recover the fastest, so individual experimentation is key.
Flooding is a common occurrence in the cities of Navotas and Malabon, located in densely populated areas north of Metro Manila in the Philippines.
These cities have adapted to the constant threat of floods. For example, the iconic jeepney vehicles are now made of stainless steel to prevent corrosion from seawater. Additionally, roads have been continuously elevated, reaching heights higher than people’s doors in some areas.
“They keep raising the roads higher and higher, and it’s a challenge to sustain this,” says Dr. Mahal Ragmay, Executive Director of the University of the Philippines Resilience Institute.
The struggle to combat floods in these cities is not just due to rising sea levels, but also to the lowering of the ground level. A study led by Lagmay and his team revealed that parts of Metro Manila sank by 10.6 centimeters (4.2 inches) per year between 2014 and 2020, significantly higher than the global average sea level rise.
This rapid decline has been a growing concern, especially in certain coastal areas around Manila Bay where floods have left half of the houses submerged, forcing rice farmers to turn to fishing for their livelihood.
Similar subsidence issues are observed in various highly urbanized regions worldwide, as highlighted by land subsidence expert Dr. Matt Way, who studies urban subsidence on a global scale.
The Impact of Land Subsidence
Subsidence measurements are now conducted using advanced technologies like satellite data, allowing researchers to make more accurate estimates of ground movement. With tools like GNSS and InSAR, scientists can track ground movement in 3D at specific points, providing detailed insights into subsidence patterns.
By analyzing subsidence data from various cities globally, researchers have found that many urban areas are experiencing significant sinking rates, posing a threat to millions of people.
Causes of Subsidence
Tighter regulations on groundwater extraction have slowed Jakarta’s sinking rate, but flooding still occurs – Credit: BAY ISMOYO
Subsidence in cities like New York and Manila has various causes, including post-glacial rebound and human activities like excessive groundwater pumping. While natural phenomena like seismic faults contribute to ground movements, human interventions play a significant role in accelerating subsidence rates.
Addressing subsidence requires a multi-faceted approach, from regulating groundwater extraction to monitoring and mitigating the impact of sinking urban areas.
Mitigating Urban Subsidence
Cities like Jakarta, Tokyo, and Houston have made strides in slowing subsidence rates by implementing stricter water regulations and alternative water supply solutions. In Manila, efforts to ban deep well drilling and reduce reliance on groundwater are underway to address subsidence issues.
While some areas may face relocation due to flooding and sinking, careful management of groundwater resources and proactive monitoring can help cities bounce back from subsidence challenges.
About our experts
Dr. Matt Way is an expert in oceanography and studies natural disasters and crustal geodesy at the University of Rhode Island.
Dr. Mahal Lagmay is the Executive Director of the University of the Philippines Resilience Institute, focusing on projects related to flooding and groundwater management in the Philippines.
Today, the moon is a cold, dead world, but it hasn’t always been that way. Early in its history, the Moon was host to volcanic activity.
Now, the latest results from the first-ever samples returned from the far side of the moon by China’s Chang’e 6 spacecraft reveal this volcanic activity. It may have happened more recently More than previously suspected. But what remains unclear is how these eruptions were able to continue for so long.
The moon is tidally locked to the Earth, meaning the same side is always facing us. Throughout human history, the dark ocean on the moon’s near side (known as Mare) has been clearly visible.
However, the far side of the Moon was hidden from our view and remained a mystery until the advent of the Space Age. In 1959, the Soviet Union’s Luna 3 satellite returned the first-ever images of the far side of the Moon, revealing a completely different surface than the familiar near side. There are only a handful of small oceans on the moon. Instead, much of the opposite side is pocked with impact craters.
Why do we know so little about the far side of the moon?
The Moon is dual-faced, and each side has a markedly different appearance. In recent years, experiments such as NASA’s GRAIL satellite have revealed that this dual personality extends underground as well.
“There is a dichotomy of the crust between the near and far sides, and the crust on the far side is much thicker,” he says. Professor Clive Neal a planetary geologist at the University of Notre Dame in the United States.
The cause of this split is one of the biggest unanswered questions about the moon. To get to the bottom of it, researchers first need to investigate what causes the two different appearances in the first place.
In the ’60s and ’70s, the Luna and Apollo missions returned vast amounts of lunar rock, confirming what geologists had long suspected: that the lunar maria was formed primarily from basalt (cooled lava). We were able to confirm that it is made of minerals.
The moon’s oceans were actually ancient volcanic floodplains that formed between 4.3 billion and 3.1 billion years ago. This conclusively proved that there was volcanic activity on the surface.
A photo of the far side of the Moon taken and transmitted to Earth by the Soviet lunar probe Luna 3 in 1959. – Photo credit: Getty
The absence of maria on the moon may suggest that there are no signs of volcanic activity on the far side, but a closer look at the craters on the far side shows that this may not be the case. Over time, the rocky world develops the patina of impact craters from meteorite impacts.
If the planet is volcanically active, lava flooding the surface will fill these craters and erase them from the surface. This means that the more craters there are on a planet’s surface, the longer it has been volcanic.
Using orbital images of the moon’s surface, scientists have been able to count craters on the moon, and it appears that the far side of the moon has actually been carved clean by volcanic activity on roughly the same time scale as seen on the near side. I discovered that it looks like.
So what did the new mission find?
The only way to confirm this theory was to test for volcanic minerals on samples from the backside. Unfortunately, all early lunar exploration aimed at the easiest place to land: the brightly lit equator in front of the moon.
Things changed on June 1, 2024, when China’s Chang’e 6 lander touched down on the far side of an area known as the Antarctic Aitken Impact Basin. This was China’s second venture into the far side, after landing a spacecraft in 2019. Chang’e 6’s main purpose was to bring samples of the far side back to Earth, ultimately revealing how geologically different this region is from the far side. .
Immediately after landing, Chang’e 6 scooped up some of the moon’s soil, known as regolith. They also used a 2-meter (6.5-foot) long drill to collect samples from underground, where moon rocks are somewhat protected from the sun’s radiation.
In all, the mission collected 1,935 g (4.2 pounds) of lunar material, which was packaged into an ascent vehicle and returned to Earth on June 6.
The return capsule of the Chang’e 6 probe will land in Xiziwangban, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China, on June 25, 2024. – Photo credit: Getty
The return capsule was immediately taken to a special facility, where it was opened and subjected to preliminary tests, which revealed that the sample contained grains of basalt, proving that there was indeed a volcanic past behind it. It was done.
To learn more about what this past was like, more than 100 basalt fragments were extracted and sent to two independent teams of researchers who published their findings. science and nature November of this year.
They found that the basalt is about 2.8 billion years old, younger than the samples collected by Luna and Apollo.
How volcanic activity became possible is a “mystery”
The new sample matched a similarly young sample taken by China’s previous sample return mission, Chang’e 5.
Neither sample contained a group of metals called KREEP (potassium, rare earth metals, and phosphorus with the element symbol K) that were abundant in the previous samples. There was also a clear shortage of radioactive metals. Also a sample of Chang’e.
“The mystery is that young basalts, less than 3 billion years old, do not contain large amounts of KREEP radioactive elements either in the foreground or in the background,” said one of the few Western scientists allowed to cooperate in this research. Mr. Neil, one of the Analysis at this time.
“This is a mystery, but it matches the young basalt of Chang’e 5, which is 2 billion years old.”
Heat from the decay of radioactive metals is one of the main mechanisms that sustains volcanic activity on our planet, but their apparent disappearance does not seem to have immediately stopped volcanic activity on the Moon. As it turns out, the samples are very similar in many other ways.
“They are similar in bulk composition to previous samples, which adds to the mystery: What was the heat source that produced such magmas?” says Neal.
Getting to the bottom of the mystery will almost certainly require more samples taken from different parts of the moon, as well as a closer look at what’s happening beneath the surface.
“The absence of creep elements in the basalts on the far side suggests that the Moon’s mantle is also bipartite. To understand the nature of the Moon’s interior, we need to use global geophysical networks to You need to explore what’s inside.”
It appears the other side still wants to keep some of its secrets hidden, at least for now.
About our experts
Professor Clive Neil is an expert in civil and environmental engineering and geosciences at the University of Notre Dame in the United States. His research is natural earth science, science and advances in space research.
Turbulence is a common occurrence during flights and can sometimes be dangerous. It can result in emergency landings and even fatalities.
In May 2024, a flight from London to Singapore had to make an emergency landing after encountering severe turbulence over Myanmar. Sadly, one passenger died, and many others were hospitalized.
Shortly after this incident, another flight from Doha to Dublin experienced turbulence, leading to several passengers being hospitalized. These incidents raise concerns about the frequency and severity of turbulence.
Turbulence is typically caused by sudden changes in airflow due to various factors like storm clouds, fronts, and air movement over mountains. Pilots can often anticipate and avoid these known forms of turbulence.
However, clear-air turbulence, which occurs without warning due to speed differences between air masses, poses a more significant risk. This type of turbulence is invisible and challenging to detect, making it particularly dangerous for passengers and crew.
Experts predict that turbulence will increase with climate change, with clear-sky turbulence already on the rise. Studies show a significant increase in wind shear and severe turbulence on common flight routes, with projections indicating a further rise in turbulence incidents in the coming years.
While the risk of turbulence-related injuries remains relatively low, it is essential for passengers to always wear their seat belts during flights. This simple precaution can reduce the likelihood of injuries during turbulent conditions.
If you have any questions or concerns about turbulence or climate change’s impact on air travel, feel free to contact us via email at questions@sciencefocus.com or reach out to us on social media.
For more intriguing science facts and information, visit our website for engaging content.
This article (by Dominic Hamilton in London) addresses the impact of climate change on turbulence during flights.
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Paleontologists have described a new genus and species of the trogonophid Amphisbaenian (worm lizard) from fossil specimens discovered in Tunisia.
rebuilding the life of Terrastiodontosaurus Marcelo Sanchesi Ready to prey on large snails of the Brimulidae family. Image credit: Jaime Chirinos.
Terrastiodontosaurus Marcelo Sanchesi They lived in what is now Africa during the Eocene epoch, about 47 million years ago.
The new species belongs to Trogonophidae, a small family of limbless carnivorous lizard-like reptiles belonging to the clade Amphisbaenia.
“Amphibians are a group of charismatic fossil squamates with bizarre morphological features and extreme anatomical variations,” said lead author Dr. Georgios Georgalis of the Institute of Animal Systemology and Evolution, Polish Academy of Sciences and his colleagues. said a colleague.
“In particular, its unique skeletal structure has fascinated and puzzled researchers since the 19th century.”
“Before the advent and widespread acceptance of phylogenetics, amphibians were considered to be the third major group of squamates, along with Serpenta and the paraphyletic 'Lacerthilla'.”
“However, recent phylogenetic analyzes place them as a sister group to lizards in the family Caricidae, and this topology is supported by both molecular evidence and a combination of morphological and molecular evidence. The name Lacertibaenia has also been proposed for the clade Amphisbaenia + Lacertidae.
“Amphibians have a relatively rich fossil record spanning the Cenozoic era in Europe and North America, in addition to several Neogene and Quaternary occurrences from South America and some from Africa. Paleogene, Neogene, and Quaternary productions, very few Neogene productions from the Arabian Peninsula, and very few Neogene occurrences from southwest Asia. is. ”
“Trogonophidae is a fairly distinctive group of amphibians that is today distributed across northern and north-central Africa (including Socotra Island in Yemen) and the Middle East,” the researchers added.
“Currently, four extant genera are recognized. Agamodon, Diplometopon, Pachykaramasu, and the type genus, Trogonophis”
The most distinguishing feature of trogonophids is their hooked teeth, a feature found only among squamates in the otherwise Iguanian group Chronophytes. ”
“Trogonophids have other unique features among amphibians, including locomotion and burrowing patterns, shoulder girdle or hemipenes morphology, chromosomes, spinal arrangement, lack of caudal autodissection, and triangular cross-section. It also has features.
some specimens Terrastiodontosaurus Marcelo Sanchesi It was discovered in a place where fossils of Jebel Chanbi Nature Park In Tunisia.
“Jebel Chambi National Park is located in the Kasserine region of central-western Tunisia,” the paleontologists said.
“Material for this study was obtained from a fossiliferous site (Chambi locus 1) consisting of fluvial-lacustrine deposits located at the base of the Chambi continental sequence.”
“These habitats support fish, amphibians, turtles, crocodiles, squamates, birds, and mammals such as bats, primates, euphorians, hyaenodonts, hyracoids, elephant shrews, marsupials, and mammals. It produces a diverse population of aquatic and terrestrial vertebrates, including rodents and sirenians.
Terrastiodontosaurus Marcelo Sanchesi At over 90 centimeters (35 inches) long, it was the largest amphibian ever known.
“Among the extant amphibian fliers, Amphisbaena Alba is the largest species, reaching a maximum total length of 81 centimeters (32 inches) and a skull length of more than 3.1 centimeters (1.2 inches), the researchers said.
Virtually all modern amphibians are burrowing animals and rarely appear on the surface outside of underground environments.
Nevertheless, certain features Terrastiodontosaurus Marcelo Sanchesi They seem to contradict this natural history pattern and instead suggest that ancient species likely lived on the surface of the earth.
This is further supported by the extreme size. Terrastiodontosaurus Marcelo Sanchesi which makes underground habits less likely to occur.
“Terrastiodontosaurus Marcelo Sanchesi “This is a significant contribution to the fossil record of the hitherto little-known African Amphisbaenia, making it only the fifth species to be named extinct on the African continent,” the scientists concluded. .
“Furthermore, the new material from Chambi further adds to the extremely poor fossil record of the Trogonophidae.”
Regarding new species, paper this week, Zoological journal of the Linnean Society.
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Georgios L. Georgalis others. 2024. The world's largest earthworm lizard: a new giant trogonophid (Squamata: Amphisbaenia) with extreme dental adaptations from the Eocene of Chambi, Tunisia. Zoological journal of the Linnean Society 202 (3): zlae133;doi: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae133
Scientists recently performed a groundbreaking test on a baleen whale to assess its hearing abilities. This controversial step is bringing scientists closer to understanding how the largest and most intelligent creatures on Earth perceive the world.
In 2023, researchers captured two young minke whales off the coast of Norway, attached electrodes to their skin using suction cups, and measured their brain waves while playing tones at various frequencies. The young whales were both over 12 feet long and weighed around one ton each.
The findings of the research, published in Science on Thursday, surprised whale researchers by suggesting that whales have the ability to hear much higher frequencies than previously thought, exceeding the hearing capabilities of most mammals, including humans.
Dorian Hauser, the study’s lead author and director of conservation biology at the National Marine Mammal Foundation, described the discovery as “a little shocking.” He explained that whales have ultrasonic hearing, likely to detect killer whales, their primary predators, as they hunt prey using echolocation signals in a similar frequency range.
The startling revelation comes at a time of increasing concern over the impact of ocean noise from sources like naval sonar, oil and gas exploration, and shipping traffic, which can alter marine mammal behavior, cause hearing loss, and even lead to death. This new information may lead to revising regulations under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and restricting certain activities.
Susan Parks, a biology professor at Syracuse University, stated, “High-frequency sound from ocean activities has not typically been considered a threat to baleen whales, but this may now need to be reevaluated,” as mentioned in the study.
The research concluded a longstanding disagreement in the whale research community. Previously, baleen whales were never captured for hearing tests due to safety concerns for both the whales and researchers, given their large size.
Certain scientists and activists opposed the four-year Minke Whale Hearing Project, fearing the whales could experience stress and even mortality during brief captivity. The project faced criticism, with organizations like Whale and Dolphin Conservation advocating against it in an open letter to the Norwegian government.
The hearing abilities of the largest whale species on Earth have long been a mystery due to the limitations of studying these massive creatures in captivity. However, through innovative methods like the Minke Whale Hearing Project, researchers are making strides in understanding how these animals experience the world through sound.
Brandon Southall, a scientist involved in developing standards for ocean sound exposure, believes that the research could influence future regulations to protect marine mammals from harmful underwater noise sources. He emphasized the importance of conducting such studies carefully and professionally to guide conservation efforts.
While the Minke Whale Hearing Project is currently on hold, researchers hope to continue the exploration of these fascinating creatures’ hearing abilities should further funding become available.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s false claims linking autism to childhood immunizations have led to President-elect Donald Trump’s selection of him to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. As a result, it is undergoing new scrutiny. Budget is $1.7 trillion. He oversees research into both autism and vaccines.
President Kennedy, who has espoused many health-related conspiracy theories, said the number of people diagnosed with autism has increased significantly in recent decades, from an estimated 1 in 150 in 2000 to 1 in 36 today. Vaccines are cited as an explanation for the rapid increase in cases among humans. Research shows that many of them increase This is due to increased awareness. and screening About the condition. redefining autismThe spectrum includes milder symptoms that were not recognized in previous years. The same goes for advances in diagnostic technology.
“For far too long, the anti-vaccination movement has exploited families of autistic people, promoting a market for pseudoscientific treatments that don’t provide the answers they’re looking for and can expose autistic people to real harm.” ,” said Ari Nieman, co-founder of the nonprofit Autism Self-Advocacy Network and assistant professor of health policy and management at Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “An even less credible conspiracy theory linking autism and vaccines is not the answer.”
Timothy Caulfield, director of research at Canada’s University of Alberta Health Law Institute, who studies health misinformation, said people are more susceptible to diseases than to disabling diseases, whose causes are complex and not fully understood. He said people are often inclined to believe conspiracy theories about illnesses such as autism. obvious cause.
For example, people seem less likely to speculate about long-known alternative explanations for Down syndrome, which causes intellectual disability. Caused by extra copies of chromosome 21.
“It’s really unfortunate because there are families out there who are vulnerable.” [of people with autism] These are the people who need our help,” said Judith Miller, clinical psychologist, senior scientist and training director at the Autism Research Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “Every dollar and hour spent debunking a conspiracy theory is a dollar and hour spent understanding how to help families.”
complex conditions
Manish Arora, a professor of environmental medicine and climate science at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, said it’s difficult to pinpoint the cause of autism because it’s not a single disorder.
“Autism is a spectrum, not one narrow disease,” Arora says. “So many things come under one umbrella.”
People diagnosed with autism often similar strengths and assignment, “There are many pathways to autism, and there are many symptoms of autism,” Miller said.
Scientists have discovered a variety of risk factors for autism – most of which are exists before birth — But there is no single cause for neurological and developmental conditions. influence the way people interact Communicate, learn, and act with others.
Many traits that are sometimes seen in people with autism (for example, sensitivity to loud noises or difficulty interpreting social cues) are also found in people who have not been diagnosed with autism. Arora, founder and CEO of a start-up company researching biomarkers for autism and other neurological disorders, said doctors can diagnose autism based on a person’s behavior and that they can detect the coronavirus. Point out that there is no simple test for autism like there is for autism or diabetes.
Finding the cause of infections such as the flu, which is caused by the influenza virus, is much easier.
Researchers continue to study factors that influence the development of autistic traits, but “one thing we know that does not cause autism is vaccines,” says the University of California, Los Angeles said Katherine Lord, a psychologist and researcher at the Center for Autism Research and Treatment. Geffen School of Medicine.
genetic vulnerability
Doctors have long known that genes play a large role in autism, just because it can run in families. For example, in identical twins who share all their DNA, if one twin is autistic, the other will usually be autistic as well. For fraternal twins who share about half of their DNA, if one fraternal twin has autism, the chance that the other will also have autism ranges from 53% to 67%. According to the analysis of research studies.
Miller said scientists have identified more than 100 genes associated with autism, and 60 to 80 percent of autism cases are thought to be genetically involved.
“The genetics of autism are better understood than ever before,” said Dr. Gregory Sejas, medical director of the Autism Clinical Center and Fragile X Clinic at the University of Washington School of Medicine. “We are making breakthrough research into the known genetic causes of autism.”
However, it is clear that genes cannot explain all cases of autism.
Autism is very different from conditions such as sickle cell anemia or cystic fibrosis, which are caused by a single gene. Scientists believe that a combination of genetic vulnerability and environmental exposure causes people to develop autistic traits, Lord said.
“People are discovering so many different genetic patterns associated with autism, but none of them are exclusively associated with autism, and none of them are always associated with autism. It is not related to,” Lord said.
For example, Fragile X syndrome (caused by a mutated gene on the X chromosome) is the most common known cause Autistic. But only a small percentage of children with the gene mutation actually develop autism, Miller said. This mutation predisposes some people to developing autistic traits, while others with the same mutation are protected by as-yet-unidentified protective factors, making them less likely to develop autism. You may not develop the characteristics.
Some people blame the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine for causing autism. This is because this condition often develops around 12 to 15 months of age, the same time infants receive vaccinations. But Miller says, “Most genetic conditions that affect our lives and health are not obvious at birth. Symptoms and characteristics may not appear until much later, but the genetic code remains with us. It is with you.”
Prenatal vulnerability
Many of the known risk factors for autistic traits occur before or during birth, Arora said. babies experience complications at birth Things like having the umbilical cord wrapped around your neck increase the risk of autism.
So is the baby born early It’s probably because something happened in the womb.
Children are more likely to be diagnosed with autism If you have an older father And if you have an older mother, that’s a possibility, Miller said. It’s unclear whether there is something biological about older parents that increases the risk of autism in their children, or whether socioeconomic issues play a role. Older parents may be more likely to have their child diagnosed with autism because they have better access to medical care.
Neiman, of the Autism Self-Advocacy Network, said she is not opposed to basic biological research into autism and its causes, but that such research is a challenge that autistic people face in their daily lives. said it does little to overcome barriers.
He points out that only 8.4% of the $419 million spent on autism research in the United States has been spent. Dedicated to support and service For people with autism.
“We need an autism research agenda that reflects the real priorities of autistic people and our families: lifelong support and community inclusion.” he said.
Crystals within a Martian meteorite suggest Mars may have had abundant hydrothermal water when the rock formed 4.45 billion years ago.
The rock, called Black Beauty, was blown into space by an impact on Mars' surface and eventually crashed into the Sahara desert.
We already know a lot about Mars from the study of a meteorite discovered in Morocco in 2011, officially known as Northwest Africa 7034.
aaron cabosy Researchers at Curtin University in Perth, Australia, have been studying the tiny fragments, which contain zircon crystals 50 micrometers in diameter, for years.
Kavosie describes Black Beauty as “a rock that looks like a trash can.” Because it was formed by hundreds of pieces smashed together. “This is a great buffet of Martian history, with a mix of very old and very young rocks,” he says. “But much of the debris it contains belongs to some of the oldest rocks on Mars.”
The fragments studied by Kavosy and his team had crystallized in magma beneath Mars' surface. When they tested the zircons, they also found, unusually, that the elements iron, aluminum, and sodium were arranged in thin, onion-like layers.
“We wondered where else could we find elements like this in zircon crystals,” Kabosie says. The answer, he says, lies in South Australia's gold ore deposits. The zircon crystals there were nearly identical to those from Mars, including the same unusual combination of additional elements.
“This type of zircon is known to form only in places where hydrothermal processes or hydrothermal systems are active during igneous activity,” Kabosie says. “The hot water facilitates the transport of iron, aluminum, and sodium into the crystals as they grow layer by layer.”
Zircon has been exposed to multiple large-scale traumas, including the impact of an ancient collision and then another meteorite that hit the surface of Mars 5 to 10 million years ago and blasted Black Beauty into space have experienced. Despite these violent events, the rock's crystal structure is still intact at the atomic scale.
The lack of radiation damage means the extra elements were part of the crystal from the beginning, rather than being contaminated later, Kavosy said.
Eva Scherer Researchers at Stanford University in California believe that if this rock really formed in the presence of hydrothermal fluid and magma beneath the surface of Mars, water vapor entered the Martian atmosphere before rivers and lakes formed. This suggests that it may have been released.
“We're at a very old time, 4.5 billion years, when Mars was formed,” Scherrer said. “So this would be the earliest evidence of water behavior on Mars.”
A new class of atomically dispersed nickel catalysts directly converts trapped carbon dioxide (CO)2 to methane (CH4), according to Tomaz Neves García, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher at The Ohio State University, and colleagues.
Direct electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide scavenging species, namely carbamates and (bi)carbonates, may be promising for carbon dioxide capture and conversion from point sources. Image credit: Neves Garcia others., doi: 10.1021/jacs.4c09744.
Carbon dioxide is the greenhouse gas responsible for most of global warming and is produced by power plants, factories, and various forms of transportation.
Typical carbon capture systems, aimed at reducing the presence of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, reduce carbon dioxide emissions by separating carbon dioxide from other gases and converting it into useful products. .
However, the operation of these systems requires large amounts of energy, making this process difficult to implement on an industrial scale.
“Now we have found a way to save much of this precious energy by using a special nickel-based catalyst to convert the captured carbon dioxide directly into methane,” said Dr. Neves Garcia.
By using nickel atoms placed on a charged surface, Dr. Neves-Garcia and his co-authors were able to convert carbamates, a scavenging form of carbon dioxide, directly into methane.
They discovered that nickel atoms, an inexpensive and widely available catalyst, were very good at this transformation.
“We are producing high-energy fuels from low-energy molecules,” said Dr. Neves Garcia.
“What's so interesting about this is that while other companies are capturing, capturing and converting carbon in stages, we're saving energy by doing these steps simultaneously. is.”
Most importantly, streamlining the carbon capture process will help scientists reshape what they know about the carbon cycle and inform more complex strategies for faster and more efficient climate mitigation technologies. This is an important step to establish.
“We need to focus on minimizing the energy spent on carbon capture and conversion as much as possible,” said Dr. Neves García.
“So instead of performing all the capture and conversion steps separately, we can integrate it into one step and avoid wasted energy processes.”
“Many carbon capture methods are still in their infancy, but this is a promising field as researchers from a variety of disciplines are working on improvements.”
“Using renewable electricity to convert carbon dioxide into fuel has the potential to end the carbon cycle.”
“For example, when methane is burned to produce energy, it emits carbon dioxide, which can be captured and converted back into methane to support a continuous energy production cycle without adding to the planet's global warming burden. It may be possible.”
The study also represents the first time researchers have discovered that carbamates can be converted to methane using electrochemistry.
Many attempts have been made to convert the captured carbon dioxide into useful products, but so far most researchers have only shown the ability to produce carbon monoxide.
“Methane can be a very interesting product, but most importantly it opens the way to developing further processes to convert the captured carbon dioxide into other products” Neves Garcia said the doctor.
of the team work Published in Journal of the American Chemical Society.
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tomas neves garcia others. 2024. Integrated capture and conversion of carbon dioxide to methane with amines over single-atom nickel catalysts. J.Am. Chemistry. society 146 (46): 31633-31646;doi: 10.1021/jacs.4c09744
Bacteria on a sample of asteroid Ryugu observed using an electron microscope
Matthew J. Genge et al. 2024
Rocks brought back to Earth from the asteroid Ryugu appear to be inhabited by microorganisms. But researchers say these microbes almost certainly came from Earth, not space. The contamination is a wake-up call for future sample-return missions, such as NASA’s Mars rover Perseverance, to search for extraterrestrial life.
In 2020, the Japanese space probe Hayabusa2 returned to Earth carrying 5.4 grams of rock collected from the 4.5 billion-year-old asteroid Ryugu. After landing in Australia, the sample capsule was transported to a custom-built facility in Sagamihara, Japan. There, the capsule itself was first opened in a vacuum chamber inside a clean room and then moved to a room filled with pressurized nitrogen for long-term storage. From there, a portion of the sample can be placed in a container filled with nitrogen and sent to researchers.
One of these samples was sent to the UK for research. Matthew Genge Imperial College London and colleagues. Genge and his team initially scanned the samples using X-rays, but found no evidence of bacteria.
Samples from asteroid Ryugu collected by Hayabusa2
JAXA
After 3 weeks, the samples were transferred to resin and further examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) after another week. When Genge and his colleagues first looked at the sample and saw what appeared to be thread-like bacteria, his students “almost fell off their chairs” at the prospect of discovering extraterrestrial life. . “It was an exciting moment, but we also had in the back of our minds from previous research that bacteria tend to colonize rocks,” Genge said.
By tracking bacterial growth with follow-up SEM measurements, they found that bacterial populations varied in a manner similar to known microorganisms. Their familiar shape, combined with their absence in the first X-ray scan, makes it very likely that they were terrestrial in origin, Genge says.
He believes the samples may have become contaminated after being embedded in the resin. The experiment was conducted at a facility on Earth that also handles space rocks. Rock specimens often contain bacteria that are adapted to live within them. “All it takes is one bacterium or one bacterial spore for this to happen,” he says. “For example, when we’re preparing meteorite samples, we don’t usually see this kind of colonization happening, and that’s because the probability of it happening is so low. In this case , one bacterium fell onto the sample and started multiplying.”
But Genge added that this should serve as a warning for future sample return missions. “Finding microbes in samples returned from space should be the gold standard for discovering extraterrestrial life. If we were to do that, we would fly to Mars, collect samples, and bring them back. “If we found microorganisms in it, we would say that was the clincher,” Genge says. “But our findings really show that we have to be very careful in interpreting the samples because they are susceptible to contamination with terrestrial bacteria.”
Javier Martin Torres Researchers at the University of Aberdeen in the UK agree that changes in the microbial filament population suggest a terrestrial origin, but this does not exclude the possibility that they came from elsewhere. . “If you want to be sure that these microorganisms are not of extraterrestrial origin, you need to do DNA sequencing,” he says.
Scientists already knew that bacteria could survive very well in meteorite samples that fell to Earth, but this raises the possibility that bacteria could also survive on materials elsewhere in the solar system. It only strengthens it. “The microorganisms can use organic matter within the meteorite to sustain themselves. They’re feeding on an extraterrestrial snack,” Genge says. “So there may be an ecosystem on Mars. It’s a fairly sparse ecosystem, but it’s an ecosystem that’s supported by manna from the sky and by meteorites that fall on the surface.”
Environmental groups are gearing up to resist the anticipated policy changes from the incoming Trump administration.
They foresee President Trump expanding oil and gas drilling and attempting to undo or scale back some of the legislation passed during Biden’s presidency.
Environmental groups are bracing for legal battles ahead and are seeking donations to support their efforts.
Environmental groups are preparing for pushback against the upcoming Trump administration, expecting swift policy changes compared to when Donald Trump took office in 2017.
Based on Trump’s past actions and recent campaign comments, experts predict that he will expand oil and gas drilling, reduce land conservation efforts, and possibly aim to reverse Biden-era legislation like the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Curbing Inflation Act.
Environmentalists are concerned about Trump’s Cabinet picks, who are likely to support increased drilling activities as per Trump’s statements. Legal battles are on the horizon, with groups like the Center for Biological Diversity gearing up for potential fights against unlawful changes.
The Brookings Institution reported that Trump’s first administration made around 74 moves that were seen as detrimental to environmental policies, a number that might rise in the next term given Trump’s promise to change regulations significantly.
Environmental groups like NRDC and the Center for Biological Diversity are readying themselves for legal disputes and are actively seeking donations to fund their fight against expected environmental policy changes.
Trump’s transition team has not provided any comments on the matter.
Both NRDC and the Center for Biological Diversity have a track record of successfully challenging Trump’s policies in court, winning a significant percentage of the cases they engaged in.
Conservation groups are anticipating conflicts over protected federal lands, particularly in the Southwest, with past battles over Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah serving as examples of potential future clashes.
The sun sets over Monument Valley in the distance, seen from Bears Ears National Monument outside Blanding, Utah, in 2021.George Fry/Getty Images File
Creatine supplements are usually available in powder form
Shutterstock/RHJPhtotos
Creatine is one of the most widely studied performance-enhancing substances in the world. Once dismissed as just a bodybuilding supplement, its popularity among the public is growing alongside the interest of scientists.
Although this supplement is commonly associated with improving strength and muscle mass, evidence suggests that it actually helps: growth of children and to the brain health of adolescents.
“After 8pm [to] After 30 years of research into physical performance, we have discovered many health benefits.” richard crider at Texas A&M University. “This is a remarkable nutrient that helps our cells in a variety of ways, not just athletic performance.”
What is creatine?
This is a compound that is naturally produced in our bodies and in the bodies of other vertebrates. It is primarily found in the muscles, but also appears in the brain, blood, testicles, and other tissues and organs.
Our bodies synthesize creatine, with 1 to 2 grams produced daily by the liver, kidneys, pancreas, and brain. People who eat protein-rich animal foods get about the same amount from their diet.
“When you consume protein, that protein is made up of amino acids. When three specific amino acids combine, they form a molecule called creatine.” scott forbes At Brandon University, Canada.
How does creatine work in the body?
According to Forbes, it plays a key role in the complex way our bodies produce energy at the cellular level. “It is converted into a molecule called phosphocreatine, stored, and then rapidly broken down into energy.”
Similar to carbohydrates, creatine is used for: Generates adenosine triphosphate (ATP)stores energy and supplies it to cells. It also seems to have the effect of protecting structures, Function of mitochondriathe energy power plant inside the cell.
Forbes says creatine is especially helpful when you're stressed or when your tissues are starved of oxygen due to conditions like asthma or anemia. “Any situation where you might need more energy,” he says.
How does it affect physical performance?
Creatine is available as a sports supplement Since the early 1990shas long been recognized for helping athletes increase strength and speed.
There are thousands of studies supporting this, Kreider says. “Athletes with higher creatine stores sprint faster, recover faster, do more total work, and have 10-15% better performance and training adaptability. That's not humbling at all. ”
By supplementing with creatine, increase in muscle masswhich is why it is popular among bodybuilders. “We know that trained athletes can gain up to 10 pounds of muscle mass within five to 10 weeks,” Kreider says. “That's deep. If you compare it to a control where someone just trains and eats normally, they could gain half a kilogram a month.”
Creatine supplements can be especially beneficial later in life. “Creatine is recommended for active aging to reduce muscle loss.” [and] to maintain muscle performance,” Kreider says.
However, researchers stress that this is not a panacea to replace a healthy lifestyle. Forbes says, “Real benefits are only achieved when combined with exercise and strength training, especially when it comes to muscle growth.”
What effect does creatine have on the brain?
Many papers have shown that creatine supplementation can improve aspects of cognitive performance. A small study published earlier this year found that after taking a single dose of creatine, improve memory Compared to a placebo, sleep-deprived people had processing speeds of less than 3 hours.
However, not all studies have yielded consistent results. In 2023, the largest randomized, placebo-controlled study of creatine's effects on cognition to date. small beneficial effectwhich corresponds to an increase of 1 to 2.5 points in intelligence quotient (IQ).
“Most studies show that it can affect the brain, but in young, healthy people, unless the brain is stressed by lack of sleep or mental fatigue, it can have a significant effect on the brain. It doesn’t seem to play a role,” Forbes said.
And although research on this is still in its early stages, it may also have protective effects against neurodegenerative diseases. For example, Alzheimer's patients low amount of creatine Brain or even physical brain damage.
“For example, when you have a concussion, you're essentially experiencing an ischemic phenomenon, meaning areas of the brain are starved of oxygen, limiting their function and causing swelling and inflammation.” Ryder says. “At least in animals given creatine, we find that concussion injuries are reduced by about half.”
How does creatine affect our overall health?
Because creatine acts at the cellular level, researchers believe its positive effects may be widespread within the body. “We found that increasing energy availability within the cell is important, especially when there are many constraints on the energy supply,” says Kreider. “For example, if you have a heart attack or stroke, [creatine] Because you are protecting the cells, the scale of the damage is reduced. ”
Analysis of data from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey also suggests that creatine may have the following effects: beneficial for children. “Children who grow up with less creatine in their diets have less muscle, are shorter, and have higher body fat,” Kreider says. “Adolescent girls with higher creatine levels have fewer menstrual cycle problems.”
There is an emerging consensus among scientists that creatine supplementation is beneficial for almost everyone. Over time, Kreider predicts this will become recommended for specific groups, such as the elderly, pregnant people, and people who don't eat meat, fish, or dairy products.
He also thinks certain foods will one day be fortified with creatine. “It starts in the plant-based space, adding creatine to things like plant-based protein powders and veggie burgers,” Kreider says. “That way we can fill in the gaps in their diets.”
Does it matter when I take creatine?
Time of day may only be important for athletes who are trying to win a race or beat a personal best. “We've found that if you take this right near your workout, your results will be a little bit better,” says Forbes.
However, creatine is also stored in the body as an energy store. “Think of an endurance athlete whose pace changes during a race,” says Forbes. “All of a sudden someone runs away and you're like, 'Hey, how did they do that?'” Well, they changed the power output pretty drastically, and I think creatine plays a role in that. . ”
Although the effects of supplements are relatively long-lasting, they still need to be repeated. “Once you stop taking creatine, it takes four to six weeks to return to baseline,” says Forbes. “Some people cycle with and without creatine, but no study has ever compared consuming creatine for long periods of time on and off cycling to simply taking creatine.”
How should I take it?
Creatine is available in powder, tablet, or gummy form. In terms of effectiveness, tablets and powders tend to be the formulations tested in research because they've been around for a while, but there doesn't seem to be any difference between them.
There are also different types of creatine available, but creatine monohydrate is the most widely available and the most well-studied.
Does creatine have side effects?
According to Forbes, supplements are generally considered safe at the doses most people take (about 5 grams a day). However, some people report dehydration and muscle cramps. “We have several people with gastrointestinal disorders.” [gastrointestinal] It’s painful,” Forbes said. “They're taking creatine, but it doesn't sit well in their stomachs. For those people, we recommend lowering their creatine intake.”
You may need to consult your doctor before taking supplements
The finalists for the Close-Up Photographer of the Year have been revealed, showcasing some incredible, bizarre, and highly magnified images.
From cute baby wallabies seeking refuge in their mother’s pouch to birds feeding their offspring in unique ways, these photos capture the intricate beauty of nature up close.
Founded by Tracy and Dan Calder, Close-up Photographer of the Year (CUPOTY) aims to celebrate the marvels of close-up nature photography, including macro and micro shots. The winners will be announced in January 2025, but in the meantime, we’ve picked some of our favorites from this year’s shortlist.
Insect Category
Four bees drinking water during a Texas drought. Photo by Jose Madrigal/CUPOTY
Read more:
Animal Category
Young wallabies trying to snuggle into their mother’s pouch for warmth and shelter. Photo by Pedro Jalque/CUPOTY
Butterfly and Dragonfly Category
A blue dragonfly (Enallagma civile) flying over the sea. Photo by Jose Madrigal/CUPOTY
Animal Category
A snakebird (Anhinga anhinga) parent feeding her three offspring unconventionally. Photo by Jackie Schletter/CUPOTY
Underwater Department
A basket star (Asteronychidae) holding onto an orange sponge. Photo by Ofek Liepaz/CUPOTY
Animal Category
The Malabar sliding frog (Rhacophorus malabaricus) trying to escape a Malabar pit viper (Craspedocepalus malabaricus). Photo by Pavan-Kumar/CUPOTY
Arachnids Category
A mother wolf spider hunting with her offspring. Photo by Lane Kirstein/CUPOTY
Invertebrate Portrait Department
Distinct caterpillar of the lobster moth (Stauropus fagi). Photo by Jose Manuel Royce Real/CUPOTY
Fungi and Slime Mold Division
Mushroom slime mold covered in sand particles. Photo by Jamie Spensley/CUPOTY
Animal Category
A tick on the head of a cross forest dragon (Gonocepalus klossi). Photo by Aloys Pichard/CUPOTY
Insect Category
Two male stag beetles (Lucanus cervus) competing for a mate. Photo by Ivanenko Svetlana/CUPOTY
Imagine being able to visualize every aspect of our bodies, from our genes to the smallest cells that make up our organs. Scientists are now working on creating a comprehensive directory known as the Human Cell Atlas.
Think of it as a GPS for cells in the body, containing information on how cells evolve over time. This groundbreaking study, spanning 40 research papers, could potentially unravel major scientific mysteries such as bone formation, arthritis, and Crohn’s disease development.
Researchers have already gathered data on over 100 million cells from more than 10,000 individuals, with hopes of incorporating this information in the final atlas, which could potentially include billions of cells.
Professor Sarah Teichmann, the founding co-chair of the Human Cell Atlas and a researcher at the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, stated, “This new level of insight into specific genes, mechanisms, and cell types within tissues lays the foundation for more accurate diagnosis, innovative drug discovery, and advanced regenerative medicine approaches.”
One significant milestone in the project focuses on the digestive system. By compiling data from 1.6 million cells, researchers have created an intricate map of intestinal cells, detailing their types, locations, and interactions within the body – the most detailed map of its kind.
Utilizing sophisticated techniques such as computer analysis and artificial intelligence (AI), researchers isolated individual cells and identified them, demonstrating the potential for AI in disease diagnosis.
A new approach similar to a “reverse image search” is being employed by researchers to aid in disease diagnosis, potentially revolutionizing the field.
Two striking images from the study stand out:
Image credit: Nathan Richoz University of Cambridge
This captivating image displays a magnified view of lung tissue, shedding light on the body’s response to COVID-19.
While it may resemble an artistic beach scene, this image actually depicts the intricate structures of the small intestine, a crucial organ in the digestive process.
For the first time ever, scientists have successfully captured images of stars outside our galaxy. The images show a massive red supergiant star named WOH G64, located 160,000 light-years away. This star is in the process of shedding its outer layers, a sign that it may soon undergo a massive supernova explosion.
“This star, WOH G64, is incredibly unique, and we may witness significant changes that could lead to its explosive end,” said Dr. Jacco Van Loon, co-author of the study and director of the Kiel Observatory.
Located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy at the edge of the Milky Way, this star is of particular interest to researchers. Only 25 objects in the Milky Way have been closely studied in such detail, making this discovery even more significant.
With the help of the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) at the European Southern Observatory in Chile, researchers were able to capture detailed images of WOH G64. The presence of a dust cocoon around the red supergiant star suggests the emission of gas and dust, possibly from the star itself or a companion star.
Despite the challenges posed by the distance of stars from Earth, advancements in technology and research have allowed scientists to observe and learn more about these celestial bodies. Understanding the final stages of a star’s life, such as before a supernova, can provide insights into the production of chemical elements.
About our experts:
Dr. Darren Baskill is a lecturer in astronomy and physics at the University of Sussex. With over 25 years of experience in the field of astronomy, he specializes in public education about space-related topics.
This image, taken by ESO’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer’s GRAVITY instrument, shows the red supergiant star WOH G64. Image credit: ESO / Onaka others., doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202451820.
WOH G64 is located in the constellation Shira, about 160,000 light years away.
The star, also known as IRAS 04553-6825, 2MASS J04551048-6820298, or TIC 30186593, is part of the Large Magellanic Cloud, one of the smaller galaxies orbiting the Milky Way.
WOH G64 is approximately 2,000 times larger than the Sun and is classified as a red supergiant star.
“We discovered an egg-shaped cocoon that tightly surrounds this star,” said Dr. Keiichi Onaka, an astrophysicist at Andres Bello University.
“We’re excited because this could be related to the rapid ejection of material from a dying star before it explodes into a supernova.”
“Astronomers have taken zoomed-in images of and characterized about two dozen stars in our Milky Way galaxy, but countless other stars exist in other galaxies. and were so far away that it was very difficult to observe one of them in detail.
Artist’s reconstruction of the red supergiant star WOH G64. Image credit: ESO/L. Calçada.
Dr. Onaka and his colleagues have been interested in WOH G64 for a long time.
In 2005 and 2007, they used VLTI to learn more about the star’s properties and continued their research in the years since. However, the actual appearance of this star remained elusive.
To achieve the desired photos, it was necessary to wait for the development of VLTI’s second generation equipment. gravity.
After comparing the new results with other previous observations of WOH G64, they were surprised to find that the star had become fainter over the past decade.
Professor Gerd Weigert, an astronomer at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, said: “We found that this star has undergone significant changes over the past 10 years, and this is a rare opportunity to witness the life of a star in real time.” he said. .
During the final stages of their lives, red supergiant stars like WOH G64 shed their outer layers of gas and dust in a process that lasts thousands of years.
Dr Jacco van Loon, director of the Kiel Observatory at Kiel University, said: “This star is one of the most extreme of its kind and any dramatic changes could bring it closer to an explosive demise. ” he said.
“These ejected materials may also be responsible for the dimming and the unexpected shape of the dust cocoon around the star,” the astronomers said.
The new image shows the cocoon elongating, surprising researchers who had expected a different shape based on previous observations and computer models.
They believe that the cocoon’s egg-like shape could be explained by the star’s molting or the influence of an as-yet-undiscovered companion star.
As the star dims, it becomes increasingly difficult to take other close-up photos, even VLTI.
Nevertheless, in the future, an update of the telescope’s instruments is planned. Gravity+I promise to change this soon.
“Similar follow-up observations using ESO’s instruments will be important for understanding what is happening inside this star,” said Dr. Onaka.
of the team paper Published in a magazine astronomy and astrophysics.
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Kento Ohnaka others. 2024. Image of the innermost circumstellar environment of the red supergiant star WOH G64 in the Large Magellanic Cloud. A&A 691, L15; doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202451820
EEG tests on two young baleen whales reveal they can hear sounds at higher frequencies than previously thought, leading researchers to explore how the ocean's largest animals respond to noise from predators and humans. We are being forced to reconsider how we react.
“This is truly groundbreaking work,” he says. susan parks from Syracuse University in New York was not involved in the new study. “Directly measuring hearing in wild baleen whales is something researchers in this field have been working on for decades…To my knowledge, this is the first successful test of this method in baleen whales. is.”
However, baleen whales are the largest animals on earth, and research methods such as temporarily restraining them for hearing tests are not easy. “The body size of most baleen whales is too large for approaches to be effective,” he says. dorian howser at the National Marine Mammal Foundation, a California-based nonprofit organization. So Hauser and his colleagues focused on a relatively small baleen species called the minke whale.
Researchers investigated the migratory routes of minke whales along the Norwegian coast and discovered a natural channel between the two islands, where they used mesh fencing and boats to capture the two whales, which are about 3 to 5 meters long. The whale was guided to an enclosure at the farm. Drop down net door. The researchers then used a roller system to pull up the net, keeping the teens partially submerged in the water.
For the hearing test, the researchers were able to record brain wave signals by placing two gold-plated electrodes with silicone suction cups on each whale's skin near its blowhole and dorsal fin. They measured how the whales' brains responded to sounds played through underwater speakers for about 30 minutes in one whale and 90 minutes in the other.
These experiments revealed that whales' auditory brainstem responds to ultrasonic waves at frequencies as high as 45 to 90 kilohertz, which exceeds the ultrasonic waves that the human ear can detect. This is a much wider audible range than previously thought possible based on ear anatomy and vocalizations.
He said corralling and confining wild marine mammals is “quite controversial” because it can cause “significant stress” to the animals. Oliver Boisseau At Marine Conservation Research, a UK-based non-profit organization. But he said the discovery was “hugely important” for understanding how baleen whales evade predators such as killer whales, which use high-frequency echolocation clicks to hunt. .
Researchers should also reconsider how military sonar and commercial echo sounders used to map the ocean floor affect baleen whales, Boisseau said. “The more we study hearing in marine mammals, the more our initial assumptions seem to become confused,” he says.
Chimpanzees in the wild, just like humans, seem to learn skills from each other and improve their skills from generation to generation.
In particular, young females who migrate between groups bring cultural knowledge with them, allowing groups to combine new and existing techniques to become better at foraging. Such “accumulated culture” means that some chimpanzee communities are becoming more technologically advanced over time, even if very slowly, he says. Andrew Whiten At the University of St. Andrews, UK.
“If chimpanzees have cultural knowledge that the community they migrate to doesn’t have, they may pass it on in the same way they pass on genes,” he says. “And that’s where the culture is built.”
Scientists already knew that chimpanzees use tools in sophisticated ways and can pass on that knowledge to their offspring. However, compared to humans’ rapid technological development, chimpanzees did not seem to have advanced in previous technological innovations, Whiten said. The fact that chimpanzee tools are often made from biodegradable plants makes it difficult for scientists to track chimpanzee cultural evolution.
Cassandra Gunasekaram Researchers at the University of Zurich in Switzerland thought they might be able to apply genetic analysis to this puzzle. Male chimpanzees remain in their home regions, but young females leave their home communities to search for mates elsewhere. She wondered if these women were bringing their skill sets to the new group.
To find out, she and her colleagues obtained data from 240 chimpanzees representing all four subspecies. previously collected by other research groups At 35 research facilities in Africa. The data included precise information about what tools, if any, each animal used and their genetic connections over the past 15,000 years. “Genetics gives us a kind of time machine to see how culture was transmitted among chimpanzees in the past,” Whiten says. “It’s quite a revelation to have new insights like this.”
Some chimpanzees used complex combinations of tools to hunt termites, including drill rods and fishing brushes made by pulling plant stems between their teeth. The researchers found that even if they lived thousands of miles apart, chimpanzees with the most advanced tool sets had the same level of performance compared to chimpanzees that used simple tools or chimpanzees that did not use any tools at all. They found that they were three to five times more likely to share DNA. Also, the use of advanced tools is more strongly associated with women’s migration compared to the use of simple tools or no tool use.
“Our interpretation is that these complex toolsets were actually invented, perhaps building on earlier, simpler forms, so we learned from the community that first invented them and from all the others along the way. “We need to rely on women’s transmission to communities,” she says. Whitens the skin.
“This shows that complex tools rely on social interactions between groups, which is very surprising and interesting,” says Gunasekaram.
thibault gruber The University of Geneva professor said he was not surprised by the results, but said the definition of complex behavior was debatable. “Having worked with chimpanzees for 20 years, I would argue that cane use itself is complex,” he says.
For example, his own team discovered what is called a cumulative culture of chimpanzees that make sponges from moss instead of leaves. This is not very complicated, but Works more efficiently to absorb mineral-rich water from the clay pores.. “It’s not a matter of more complexity, it’s just that some technologies build on previously established technologies,” he says.
Gunasekaram says that cumulative culture in chimpanzees is still significantly slower than in humans, likely due to differences in chimpanzees’ cognitive abilities and lack of language skills. Additionally, chimpanzees interact far less with others outside their community than humans, and have fewer opportunities to share culture.
The generation of top quark pairs is observed This process of interaction between atomic nuclei was observed for the first time in lead-lead collisions at CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and the ATLAS detector.
We show lead-lead collisions at 5.02 TeV per nucleon pair, resulting in the production of candidate pairs of top quarks that decay into other particles. This event contains four particle jets (yellow cone), one electron (green line), and one muon (red line). The inlay shows an axial view of the event. Image credit: ATLAS/CERN.
In quark-gluon plasma, quarks (matter particles) and gluons (strong force transmitters), which are the basic constituents of protons and neutrons, are not bound within particles and exist in an unconfined state of matter, and almost It forms a complete dense fluid.
Physicists believe that quark-gluon plasma filled the universe shortly after the Big Bang, and their study provides a glimpse into conditions at earlier times in the universe's history.
However, the lifespan of quark-gluon plasma produced by heavy ion collisions is extremely short, approximately 10 years.-twenty three Seconds — means not directly observable.
Instead, physicists study the particles produced in these collisions that pass through the quark-gluon plasma and use them as probes of the plasma's properties.
In particular, the top quark is a very promising probe of the evolution of quark-gluon plasmas over time.
The top quark, the heaviest elementary particle known, decays into other particles an order of magnitude faster than the time required to form a quark-gluon plasma.
The delay between the collision and the decay products of the top quark interacting with the quark-gluon plasma may serve as a “time marker” and provide a unique opportunity to study the temporal dynamics of the plasma.
In addition, physicists could potentially extract new information about the nuclear parton distribution function, which describes how the momentum of a nucleon (proton or neutron) is distributed among its constituent quarks and gluons.
In the new study, physicists from the ATLAS collaboration studied lead ion collisions that occurred during LHC Experiment 2 at a collision energy of 5.02 teraelectronvolts (TeV) per nucleon pair.
They observed the production of a top quark in a dilepton channel, where the top quark decays into a bottom quark and a W boson, which then decays into an electron or muon and its associated neutrino.
This result has statistical significance with a standard deviation of 5.0, and is the first observation of the production of a top quark pair in a nucleus-nucleus collision.
“We measured the production rate, or cross section, of the top quark pair with a relative uncertainty of 35%,” the physicists said.
“The overall uncertainty is primarily driven by the size of the dataset, which means new heavy ion data from the ongoing Experiment 3 will improve the accuracy of the measurements.”
“The new results open the door to the study of quark-gluon plasmas,” the researchers added.
“Future studies will also consider semi-leptonic decay channels for top quark pairs in heavy ion collisions. This may provide the first glimpse of the evolution of quark-gluon plasmas over time.” ”
According to Professor Glenn Schwartz of Johns Hopkins University, the script dates from around 2400 B.C., making it roughly 500 years older than any other known alphabet.
A 4,400-year-old clay object discovered in the ancient city of Umm El Mara in Syria. The carved symbols may be part of the oldest known alphabet. Image credit: Glenn Schwartz, Johns Hopkins University.
“The alphabet revolutionized writing by making it accessible to people beyond royalty and social elites. Alphabet writing changed the way people lived, thought, and communicated.” said Professor Schwartz.
“And this new discovery shows that people were experimenting with new communication technologies in different places much earlier than previously imagined.”
The letters of this alphabet are carved into finger-long clay cylinders excavated at Tell Um-el-Mara, one of the first medium-sized cities to emerge in western Syria.
In Umm El Mara, archaeologists have discovered tombs dating back to the early Bronze Age.
One of the best-preserved tombs contained six skeletons, gold and silver jewelry, cooking utensils, spear points, and intact ceramic vessels.
Next to the pottery, researchers found four lightly fired clay cylinders with letters that appeared to be an alphabet written on them.
A 4,400-year-old clay object discovered in the ancient city of Umm El Mara in Syria. Image credit: Glenn Schwartz, Johns Hopkins University.
“The cylinder had a hole in it, so we think it may have a string attached to another object that acts as a label,” Schwartz said.
“Perhaps there are details about what's inside the ship, or where it came from or who it belongs to.”
“We have no way to translate the text, so we can only guess.”
Scientists used carbon-14 dating techniques to confirm the age of the graves, artifacts and writings.
“Until now, scholars thought the alphabet was invented in or around Egypt sometime after 1900 BC,” Professor Schwartz said.
“But our artifacts are older and come from a different region on the map, suggesting the alphabet may have an entirely different origin story than we thought.” I am.”
A recent study has identified a new chemical byproduct that may be present in the tap water of approximately one-third of U.S. households. The potential dangers of this byproduct are still unknown.
Researchers are currently investigating the toxicity of this newly discovered chemical due to its similarities to other concerning chemicals.
A study revealed that around one-third of U.S. residents are consuming tap water containing a previously unidentified chemical byproduct. Concerns about the potential toxicity of this chemical have led scientists to closely examine it.
The newly identified substance, known as ‘chloronitramid anion’, is created during the water treatment process involving chloramine, which is produced by combining chlorine and ammonia. Chloramines are commonly used in municipal water treatment to eliminate viruses and bacteria.
Although the existence of this byproduct was discovered four decades ago, recent advancements in analytical techniques have now enabled scientists to determine its structure. It has only recently been identified.
While it may take several years to ascertain the potential dangers of the chlornitramide anion, researchers from the study published their findings in the journal Science to prompt further research on its safety.
Researchers noted that there is currently no conclusive evidence indicating that the compound is harmful, but its widespread detection and structural similarities to other concerning chemicals warrant thorough investigation.
Research showed that the chlornitramide anion is a byproduct formed as chloramine deteriorates over time, indicating that it is likely present in all water treated using this method.
The discovery of potentially hazardous byproducts in tap water underscores the importance of understanding the health implications of water treatment chemicals. Further studies are necessary to evaluate the safety of these substances.
Regulations requiring the monitoring and control of disinfectant byproducts are prompting water utilities to shift towards using chloramines over chlorine, as some chlorine byproducts have been linked to health risks.
While conclusive findings on the toxicity of the newly identified chemical may take years, ongoing research aims to minimize public exposure to potential health risks associated with water treatment chemicals.
Many water utilities in the U.S. disclose information on their treatment processes and potential byproducts, suggesting the use of activated carbon filters in household purifiers to remove disinfectant byproducts.
Our news colleagues Jacob Aaron and Michael Le Page drew attention to feedback on a post on social media site BlueSky that highlighted a scientific paper with reverence.
The study in question was recently conducted published in International Hydrogen Energy Journal. There are 7 authors. It's about how hydrogen atoms can penetrate certain metal alloys and cause them to become brittle. To understand the mechanism of this embrittlement, we focus on calculating precisely where hydrogen atoms are located in the metal's crystal structure.
At this point, you may be wondering what this survey does with feedback. Well, the introduction ends with the next paragraph. [[35], [36], [37], [38], [39], [40], [41], [42], [43], [44], [45], [46], [47]” has nothing to do with it.
For those who have never worked in academia, the best way to describe this is that the authors are spectacularly sneaky. Their paper was reviewed by anonymous reviewers, who (along with other suggestions) encouraged them to cite the 13 older studies on the list. The authors had no choice but to insert supposedly irrelevant studies, so they refused to incorporate them into the actual text and instead called attention to their irrelevance. However, I included them.
or blue sky user @Dave nʎ=2dsinɵ :protein: Please enter: “absolute shot I was fired.” By the way, kudos to @Dave nʎ=2dsinɵ :protein: for pushing the username new scientistWe have revised the fonts to the limit and submitted feedback to search engines. The little equation in the middle that we discovered is Bragg's law, which describes how a crystal lattice scatters incoming waves.
Anyway, once the feedback stopped flashing back to us during our brief period in academia, something like this happened to us, but we didn't have the courage to go back to print, we did our due diligence and listed all 13 references. I looked into it.
All of them concern alloys and other composite materials, but none seem to concern hydrogen embrittlement. The feedback was pretty overwhelming in our attempts to fully understand, as most are very technical. Readers familiar with composite materials are welcome to attend regular talks. Still, despite our poor understanding, none of the references seem to be directly relevant.
However, I found the feedback strange. The same authors appeared multiple times in the author lists of 13 studies, and one author was involved in all studies.
Feedback doesn't want to wear a tinfoil hat, especially if it's brittle with hydrogen. However, it is questionable whether anonymous reviewers could be identified. The question we have now is how did this get printed? Did the editor not notice the prank, or did he allow it for his own reasons? Inquiring minds want to know.
Shady story
Speaking of incorporating ideas from colleagues, associate editor Sam Wong flagged an interesting study. water resources research. I'll admit this diary isn't one of Feedback's daily readers, but it seems like we missed it.
of study This piece is about the Biblical miracle of the loaves and fishes, in which Jesus supposedly fed 5,000 people using five loaves and two fish. The authors propose a naturalistic explanation: a seiche or standing wave. The idea is that the waves blowing into the lake sometimes create standing waves that cause deeper water to rise to the surface. The deep waters of Lake Kinneret, the Biblical Sea of Galilee, are low in oxygen, so when oxygen rises to the surface, fish can suffocate en masse.
The authors document two such events at Lake Kinneret in 2012. They also point out that they appear to be extremely rare. No such event has occurred since 2012. That means most people may not have been aware of the possibility, especially if they've traveled before. I lacked the local knowledge to listen to charismatic speakers.
Feedback has led to a long list of scientific explanations for seemingly supernatural occurrences, including that manna from heaven is nectar crystallized from scale insects, and that infrasonic waves tend to cause eerie sensations that can be interpreted as ghosts. This is being added to. We also removed our tinfoil hats because we were worried that they might act as a conductor for the sacred lightning.
moon of uranus
News from this issue's cover that Voyager 2 visited Uranus in 1986, thanks to a gust of solar wind, and Uranus wasn't in its normal state. As a result, many of our ideas about Uranus need to be reconsidered, and some believe there may even be life on one or more of its moons.
Are you saying there is life on Uranus? Is there actually life on Uranus' moons? I hope you're not a Klingon. or as writer Tess Stenson put it down: NASA, “Let's go for Uranus.”
Feedback took longer than necessary to come up with a pun, but the blank slate was wiped clean. One bright spark, conscious of the joke about planet names, decided to name all of Uranus' moons after Shakespearean characters, choosing respectable names like Rosalind and Oberon. This means we can rule out the possibility of life on any of the moons. Juliet is definitely lifeless. There was a play about it. Meanwhile, astronomers urgently need to find a few more moons so that Uranus can enter Bottom's orbit.
Have a story for feedback? Send it to feedback@newscientist.com or New Scientist, 9 Derry Street, London, W8 5HY. Review of items posted in the post will be delayed.
You can email your article to Feedback at feedback@newscientist.com. Please enter your home address. This week's and past feedback can be found on our website.
Left: Image of star WOH G64 taken with the Very Large Telescope Interferometer in Chile. Right: Artist’s impression of the star
ESO/K. Onaka et al., L. Calçada
Astronomers have taken the first detailed pictures of a star in another galaxy more than 160,000 light-years away. This giant star may be showing signs that it’s only a few years away from exploding, but we’ve never seen it in detail before.
The largest stars we know of are red supergiants, which are stars that have run out of hydrogen fuel in their cores. Instead, the shell of hydrogen gas surrounding the core burns, causing the star’s volume to expand significantly.
One of the largest red supergiants that we know of is WOH G64, also known as a giant star. It is 1540 to 2575 times larger than the Sun and resides in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. The star has attracted the attention of astronomers since it was discovered in the 1970s, but its distance has made it difficult to study it in detail.
now, jacko van loon and colleagues from Keele University in the UK used the Very Large Telescope Interferometer in Chile’s Atacama Desert to take close-up pictures of WOH G64. The interferometer is a collection of four individual telescopes linked together to function as if they were 200 telescopes in one. meter telescope. “In this image, you can see details similar to what you would see in an astronaut walking on the moon,” Van Loon said. “You can’t see it with a normal telescope aimed at the moon.”
The image, taken using infrared light, shows a bright ball of gas and dust, exhaled by the star and now surrounding it in a dense cocoon, at temperatures above 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,832 degrees Fahrenheit). “This is a structure that we really didn’t expect to see,” Van Loon said. “We expected to have a star in the middle.”
The star appears dimmer than when it was last observed, so the gas and dust likely appeared relatively recently, Van Loon said. It may have been created by a star blowing away its outer layers, and astronomers have never seen it in a red supergiant.
If that happens, and the process is similar to that seen in similar stars called blue supergiants, it could be a sign that the star will take decades or even years to explode. I don’t know. “If we can watch this star explode, we will be able to learn much more about the star before it explodes,” Van Loon said.
“Being able to reconstruct an image of this object at such a great distance is technically quite impressive,” he says. paul krauser At the University of Sheffield, UK.
But it’s difficult to say with certainty whether the observed gases and dust, and the accompanying dimming of the brightness, are signs of an impending explosion. “Stars like this object are well known to be highly volatile,” Krauser said. “It’s simply what happens in these objects where there’s a dense, slow outflow that doesn’t go very far from the star. They’re well known to be dust factories.”
Ethiopian wolf licks nectar from red hot poker flowers in Ethiopia
Adrian Lesaffre
Ethiopian wolves feed on the sweet nectar of local flowers and apply pollen to their noses as they do so. This could make them the first carnivores discovered to function as pollinators.
Ethiopian wolf (canis mensis) is the world's rarest wild canid and Africa's most endangered carnivore. Endemic to the Ethiopian highlands, fewer than 500 individuals remain.
sandra rye Researchers at the University of Oxford observed wild Ethiopian wolves sucking nectar from Ethiopian red hot pokers (Kniphofia foliosa) flowers. Local mountain people have traditionally used its nectar as a sweetener for coffee and flatbread.
Wolves are thought to be the first large carnivores recorded to regularly feed on nectar.
“Nectar feeding is highly unusual for large carnivores such as wolves. This is due to a lack of physical adaptations such as long tongues and specialized noses, and also because most flowers are too fragile. “It's either easy to eat, or it produces too little nectar to be interesting to large carnivores,” Rai says.
The poker plant's durable, nectar-rich flower heads make this behavior possible, she says. “To my knowledge, no other large carnivores have shown nectar-feeding behavior. However, although rare and poorly documented, some omnivorous bears do opportunistically forage for nectar.” It may happen.
Some wolves reportedly visited as many as 30 flowers at once. When wolves lick nectar from flowers, their muzzles become coated with pollen. Pollen may be transferred from flower to flower as wolves feed.
Sucking nectar is extremely rare among carnivores
Adrian Lesaffre
“This behavior is interesting because it suggests that nectar feeding and pollination by flightless mammals may be more widespread than currently recognized, and raises the question of the ecological importance of these little-known pollinators.” “It shows that it may be more important than we think,” Lai said. “It's very exciting.”
Mr. Rai and his colleagues Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Program In the future, we hope to dig deeper into this behavior and its effects. “It would be ideal to confirm actual pollination by wolves, but that would be very difficult,” she says. “I'm also very interested in the social learning aspect of behavior. This year I witnessed adults bringing children to flower gardens, which may indicate cultural transmission. there is.”
Astronomers used the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) to take high-resolution images of eight protoplanetary disks. sigma orionisa star cluster that is irradiated with strong ultraviolet light from a massive star. Surprisingly, they found evidence of gaps and rings in most of the disks. These are the substructures commonly associated with the formation of giant exoplanets.
These ALMA images show the rich disk structure around the star Sigma Orioni. Image credits: ALMA / ESO / JAO / National Astronomical Observatory of Japan / NRAO / Huang others.
“We expected that high levels of radiation within this cluster would inhibit planet formation in the outer regions of these disks,” the Columbia University astronomers said. jane fan.
“But instead, we are seeing signs that planets may be forming at distances of tens of astronomical units from their stars, similar to what we have observed in less harsh environments.”
Previous research has focused on regions of the disk with little ultraviolet (UV) radiation.
This study used ALMA's highest resolution to observe a disk in a much harsher environment.
“These observations suggest that the processes driving planet formation are very robust and can function even under difficult conditions,” said Dr. Huang.
“This gives us even more confidence that planets may be forming in many more places across the galaxy, even in areas previously thought to be too harsh.”
The discovery has important implications for understanding the formation of our own solar system, which likely evolved in a similar high-radiation environment.
These also motivate future studies of disks in more extreme stellar neighborhoods.
Astronomers used ALMA's most extended antenna configuration to obtain unprecedented detail in disk images, achieving a resolution of about 8 AU (astronomical units).
This allowed us to resolve several different gaps and rings on several disks.
The exact nature of these disk structures is still under debate, but it is thought that they either contribute to planet formation or are the result of interactions between the forming planet and the disk's material.
“Our observations suggest that the substructure is common not only in disks near mildly illuminated star-forming regions, but also in disks exposed to intermediate levels of external ultraviolet radiation.” the researchers said.
“If these substructures track planet-disk interactions, ice and gas giant planets may still be forming on Solar System scales in Sigma Orioni, but with very large semi-major axes (50 Giant planet formation in the ~100 AU) region may be rare compared to star formation in nearby regions. ”
“These observations motivate high-resolution imaging of the disk in more extreme ultraviolet environments to investigate the universality of the disk's substructure.”
of findings Coming up this week are: astrophysical journal.
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jane fan others. 2024. High-resolution ALMA observations of the highly structured protoplanetary disk of σ Orionis. APJ 976,132;doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ad84df
New research from the University of Birmingham examines the properties of photons (individual particles of light) in more detail than ever before.
Ben Yuen and Angela Demetriadou define the precise shape of a single photon. Image credit: Ben Yuen and Angela Demetriadou.
Professor Angela Demetriadou from the University of Birmingham said: “The geometry and optical properties of the environment have a significant impact on how photons are emitted, including defining their shape, color, and even the likelihood of their existence.” said.
The team's new research shows how photons are emitted by atoms and molecules and how they are shaped by their environment.
The nature of this interaction creates endless possibilities for light to exist and propagate, or travel, through the surrounding environment.
However, this infinite possibility makes modeling interactions extremely difficult, a challenge that quantum physicists have been grappling with for decades.
By grouping these possibilities into distinct sets, the authors explain not only the interaction between the photon and the emitter, but also how the energy from that interaction is transmitted far into the far field. I was able to create a model.
At the same time, they were able to use calculations to visualize the photons themselves.
“Our calculations have enabled us to transform a seemingly unsolvable problem into a computable problem,” said Dr. Benjamin Yuen from the University of Birmingham.
“And almost as a byproduct of the model, we were able to generate this image of a photon that physics had never seen before.”
This research is important because it opens new research avenues for quantum physicists and materials scientists.
Being able to precisely define how photons interact with matter and other elements of its environment allows scientists to discover ways to communicate securely, detect pathogens, control chemical reactions at the molecular level, and more. We can design new nanophotonics technologies that have the potential to change the world.
“This research will help us better understand the energy exchange between light and matter, which in turn will help us better understand how light radiates into nearby and distant environments,” Yuen said. Ta.
“A lot of this information used to be thought of as just noise, but there is so much information in it that we can now understand and use. .”
“By understanding this, we have established a foundation from which we can engineer light-matter interactions for future applications such as better sensors, improved photovoltaic cells, and quantum computing.”
of work Published in a magazine physical review letter.
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Ben Yuen and Angela Demetriadou. 2024. Precise quantum electrodynamics of synchrotron radiation environments. Physics. pastor rhett 133, 203604; doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.133.203604
of Frozen specimen from 36,000 years ago Originally from Yakutia Homotherium latidensA species of scimitar-toothed cat that lived in Eurasia during the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs.The modern lion cub is characterized by elongated front legs, an unusually shaped muzzle with a large mouth and small ears, and a very large body. differs greatly. Neck area and dark coat.
homotherium serum. Image credit: Sergiodlarosa / CC BY-SA 3.0.
Homotherium latidens It was 1.5 to 2 meters long, up to 1.1 meters high, and weighed up to 200 kilograms, about the same size as an average modern lion or tiger.
However, its physical appearance is It was different Differences from other big cats: This extinct species had long saber-like canine teeth, a sloping back, and a short tail.
“homotherium was widespread during the Pliocene to Pleistocene in Eurasia, Africa, and the Americas,” said lead author Dr. Alexei Lopatin and his colleagues.
“For a long time, as the latest presence, homotherium Records in Eurasia were recorded in the Middle Pleistocene. ”
“The key event was the discovery of a late Pleistocene mandible. Homotherium latidens It comes from the North Sea and dates back 28,000 years. ”
“The largest number of Late Pleistocene discoveries homotherium It is concentrated in North America (more than 30 regions), where it is traditionally classified as a species. homotherium serum”
In the new study, the authors examined frozen mummified corpses. Homotherium latidens A baby discovered in the Pleistocene permafrost at a place called Badlyikskoe, along the Badlyikkha River in northeastern Yakutia, Siberia.
“A large number of bones of representative mammoth animals have been collected from the loess loam of the Yedma horizon in this region,” they said.
Researchers say the Bajarica specimen is about 36,000 years old.
“The specimen includes the head and the anterior part of the body, which was preserved up to the caudal end of the thorax,” the researchers said.
“Some people have an incomplete pelvis with joints that connect with the femur and shin bones.”
“The baby was found trapped in ice along with its front part.”
According to the team's analysis, most of the postcranial features are Homotherium latidens It can be tracked already at 3 weeks of age.
“The length of the preserved part is homotherium The length from the tip of the baby's nose to the thoracic gap (at the level of the 12th vertebra) is 248 mm,” the scientists said.
“Two rows of wool are clearly visible on the upper lip, most of which are broken off at a height of 3 to 5 mm from the base.”
“The hair around the corners of the mouth has grown considerably.”
“The overall morphology of the skull is typical of juvenile felines,” the researchers added.
“The skull is also characterized by a relatively long facial area, a rounded braincase, an expanded zygomatic arch, a wide area of the premaxilla, and large maxillary deciduous incisors.”
“The bones of the nose are homotherium Compared to lion cubs, the cubs are significantly shorter and wider. ”
“The neck is longer than a lion's and more than twice as thick,” they said.
“The difference in thickness is explained by the large amount of muscle visually observed at the site where the skin was separated from the mummified flesh.”
“The length of the forelimb is homotherium Lion cubs are 18-23% larger than baby lions. ”
“At the same time, the body length of the latter is homotherium Or about 10% more. ”
“The increased size of the mouth cleft indicates adaptation to a wider mouth cleft.”
” front paws homotherium turnip It has a round shape. Its width is about the same as its body length, in contrast to lion cubs, whose front legs are long and relatively narrow. ”
“All claws are sharp and strongly curved. In cross section, the claws are laterally compressed, giving them the same shape as a lion cub.”
“The wide feet, square-shaped pads, and lack of carpal pads are adaptations to walking in snow and cold temperatures.”
“The pinna is small and low, and there is no carpal bone in Bajarica.” homotherium This contrasts with the taller pinnae and normally developed pads of lion cubs. All these characteristics can be interpreted as adaptations to life in cold climates. ”
discovery of Homotherium latidens Cub fundamentally expands our understanding of the distribution of this genus and confirms its presence in the Late Pleistocene of Asia.
“For the first time in the history of paleontological research, the appearance of an extinct mammal with no analogues in modern fauna has been directly studied,” the authors concluded.
their paper Published in this week's magazine scientific report.
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AV Lopatin others. 2024. Mummy of a young saber-toothed tiger Homotherium latidens From the Upper Pleistocene of Siberia. science officer 14, 28016; doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-79546-1
For decades, paleontologists have hypothesized that a major group of animals called ecdysizoans must be older than the Cambrian, but until now their origins have remained a mystery. discovery of Unkus Zaugishi A research team led by Professor Mary Droser at the University of California, Riverside says that the large gap between predictions based on molecular data and the lack of description of ecdysizoans prior to the rich Cambrian fossil record has been reconciled and animal life This will deepen our understanding of the evolution of .
Digital photography and 3D laser scanning Unkus Zaugishi body fossils. Scale bar – 10 mm. Image credit: Hughes others., doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.10.030.
Ecdysids are the largest and most species-rich group of animals on Earth, containing more than half of all animals.
Characterized by a cuticle (a tough external skeleton that is periodically shed), this group consists of three subgroups. Arthropods, including insects, spiders, and crustaceans. and Scaridophora, an eclectic group of small scaly marine creatures.
“Like many modern animal groups, ecdymozoans are prevalent in the Cambrian fossil record, and at the beginning of this era, about 540 million years ago, we see evidence of all three subgroups. We can,” said Ian Hughes, a graduate student in oceanography. Studied biology at Harvard University.
“We know that they didn’t suddenly appear out of nowhere, so the ancestors of all ecdysizoans originated in the preceding Ediacaran period (635 to 539 million years ago). It must have existed.”
“DNA-based analyzes used to predict the age of fauna by comparing it to its closest living relatives supported this hypothesis.”
“However, ecdysozoan fossil animals remain hidden among the large number of animal remains that paleontologists have discovered during the Ediacaran period.”
Newly described Ediacaran ecdysizoan, Unkus Zaugishi was only a few centimeters long.
Gathering of 82 people Unkus Zaugishi The specimen was discovered in Nilpena-Ediakara National Park in South Australia.
Dr. Scott Evans of Florida State University said, “Nilpena is perhaps the best fossil site in the world for understanding the evolution of early animals, because fossils occur during periods of increased diversity, and these “This is because we can excavate extensive rock formations that preserve snapshots of the world.” .
“The layer we found was Unkus Zaugishi It's especially interesting because the grains in the sediment are so small that you can actually see every detail of the fossils preserved there. ”
“We were excited to find evidence for what scientists have long predicted: the presence of ecdymozoans during Ediacaran times,” Hughes said.
“It’s also very important for understanding what these early animal groups looked like and their lifestyles, especially since ecdysizoans really came to dominate the Cambrian marine ecosystem.”
This finding is reported in the following article: paper in a diary current biology.
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Ian V. Hughes others. An Ediacaran bilaterian from South Australia with an affinity for molting animals. current biology published online on November 18, 2024. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.10.030
astronomer using dark energy spectrometer The most advanced instrument (DESI) aboard NSF's Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory maps how nearly 6 million galaxies cluster together over 11 billion years of the universe's history I did. Their results provide one of the most rigorous tests of Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity to date.
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.
“General relativity has been very well tested at the scale of the solar system, but we also needed to test whether our assumptions work on even larger scales,” said the CNRS and Institute for Nuclear and High Energy Research. said cosmologist Dr. Pauline Zarouk. Physics.
“Studying the rate of galaxy formation allows us to directly test our theory, and so far it is consistent with what general relativity predicts on cosmological scales.”
In a new study, Dr. Zarouk and his colleagues found that gravity behaves as predicted by Einstein's theory of general relativity.
This result validates our main model of the universe and limits the possibility of a modified theory of gravity. Modified gravity theories have been proposed as an alternative way to explain unexpected observations, such as the accelerated expansion of the universe, which is usually attributed to dark energy.
This complex analysis uses around 6 million galaxies and quasars, allowing researchers to look up to 11 billion years into the past.
Today's results provide an expanded analysis of DESI's first year of data. DESI created the largest 3D map of the universe to date in April, revealing hints that dark energy may be evolving over time.
April's results examine a particular feature of how galaxies cluster together, known as baryon acoustic oscillations (BAOs).
The new analysis expands the scope by measuring how galaxies and matter are distributed across the universe at different scales.
The study also improved constraints on the mass of neutrinos, the only fundamental particle whose mass has not yet been precisely measured.
Neutrinos slightly affect the clustering pattern of galaxies, which can be measured by the quality of the DESI data.
The DESI constraints are the most stringent to date and complement those from laboratory measurements.
The study required months of additional work and cross-checking. As with the previous study, they used a method that kept the results of the study hidden from the scientists until the end, reducing unconscious bias.
“This research is one of the important projects of the DESI experiment to learn not only fundamental aspects of particles, but also fundamental aspects of the large-scale universe, such as the distribution of matter and the behavior of dark energy.” he said. Dr. Stephanie Juneau is an astronomer in NSF's NOIRLab and a member of the DESI Collaboration.
“By comparing the evolution of the distribution of matter in the universe with existing predictions, such as Einstein's theory of general relativity and competing theories, we are further narrowing down the possibilities for the gravitational model.”
“Dark matter makes up about a quarter of the universe, and dark energy makes up another 70%, but we don't actually know what either is,” says Dr. Mark Maus. student at Berkeley Lab and the University of California, Berkeley.
“The idea that we can take pictures of the universe and address these big fundamental questions is amazing.”
The DESI Collaboration today shared its results below. some papers in arXiv.org.
Ethiopian wolf (canis mensis) Lick the nectar of the Ethiopian Red Hot Poker flower (Kniphofia foliosa). Image credit: Adrian LeSafre.
Ethiopian wolf too known as The red jackal, Ethiopian jackal, Abyssinian wolf, horse jackal, Simien jackal, or Simien fox, is the world's rarest wild canid.
The seeds are listed as endangered species IUCN, citing their small number and fragmented scope,
Found only in the highlands of Ethiopia, fewer than 500 individuals survive in 99 herds confined to six Afroalpine enclaves.
This large carnivore's main prey is the African mole rat, but it also eats other types of rats, hares, and sometimes geese and eggs.
Dr. Sandra Rai, a researcher at the Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Program and the University of Oxford, and her colleagues observed Ethiopian wolves foraging for wolf nectar. Kniphofia foliosa.
“Kniphofia foliosa is an endemic Ethiopian perennial found in the Bare Mountains and other high-altitude grasslands, where the endemic Ethiopian wolf, a top predator restricted to African alpine ecosystems, also lives.” said.
“Flowers from kniphofia This genus produces large amounts of nectar and attracts a variety of bird and insect pollinators. ”
The researchers say some Ethiopian wolves visit up to 30 flowers on a single trip, with multiple wolves from different packs exploiting this resource.
There is also evidence of social learning, with children being taken to flower gardens with adults.
By doing so, the wolf's muzzle becomes coated with pollen, which can be transferred from flower to flower as the wolf feeds.
This new behavior is probably the first known plant-pollinator interaction involving a large predator, and it is also the only large carnivorous predator ever observed to feed on nectar.
Professor Claudio Cirello of the University of Oxford, founder and director of the Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Program, said: “I first discovered the nectar of the Ethiopian red hot poker when I saw shepherd children in the Bale Mountains licking the flowers.'' I learned of its existence,” he said.
“Soon I tasted it too. The honey had a pleasant sweetness.”
“When I later saw the wolves doing the same thing, I could see that they were having fun tapping into this rare energy source.”
“We are pleased to report that this behavior is common among Ethiopian wolves and to investigate its ecological significance.”
“These findings highlight how much we still have to learn about one of the world's most threatened carnivores,” Dr Lai said.
“This also shows the complexity of the interactions between the different species that inhabit Africa's beautiful roofs.”
“This extremely unique and biodiverse ecosystem remains under threat from habitat loss and fragmentation.”
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sandra rye others. Are canids pollinators? Nectar collection by Ethiopian wolves may contribute to wolf pollination. Kniphofia foliosa. ecologypublished online on November 19, 2024. doi: 10.1002/ecy.4470
Astronomers have discovered a transiting exoplanet, named IRAS 04125+2902b, orbiting a 3 million-year-old, 0.7 solar mass protostar in the Taurus Molecular Cloud.
Artistic interpretation of the IRAS 04125+2902 system. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / R. Hurt & K. Miller, Caltech & IPAC.
The radius of IRAS 04125+2902b is 0.96 the radius of Jupiter, and the mass is
This giant exoplanet, also known as TIDYE-1b, orbits its parent star. IRAS 04125+2902once every 8.83 days.
The system is located approximately 522 light-years away in the constellation Taurus.
it is part of Taurus Molecular Cloudan active star nursery with hundreds of newborn stars.
“IRAS 04125+2902b casts doubt on previous theories about the rate of planet formation,” said astronomer Madison Barber of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and colleagues.
“While Earth took 10 to 20 million years to form, this exoplanet emerged in just 3 million years and orbits its star almost every week.”
“When we discover planets like this, we can look back into the past and get a glimpse of how planets formed.”
First detected by NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), IRAS 04125+2902b is the newest known transiting planet.
The discovery sheds light on potential differences between our solar system and planetary systems that host nearby giant planets, such as IRAS 04125+2902b, and provides greater context about our own cosmic neighborhood. We provide.
Additionally, because the planet is still within a disk of nascent material, scientists will be able to study its formation up close, opening up new avenues of research.
Follow-up research will analyze how the planet's atmosphere compares to the surrounding disk material, providing clues about its journey into a compressed orbit.
Astronomers will also investigate whether IRAS 04125+2902b is still growing through accretion of material, or whether it may have lost its upper atmosphere to its host star.
“Planets typically form from flat disks of dust and gas, which is why the planets in our solar system are arranged in a 'pancake-flat' arrangement,” says the Young World Institute's said lead researcher and astronomer Dr. Andrew Mann. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
“But here the disk is tilted and out of alignment with both the planet and its star. This is a surprising twist that calls into question our current understanding of how planets form.”
This finding is reported in the following article: paper Published in today's magazine nature.
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MG Barber others. 2024. A giant planet passing through a 3 million meter protostar with a misaligned disk. nature 635, 574-577; doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-08123-3
Humidity makes Shanghai’s heat even more unbearable
lukyeee1976/Getty Images
“My office was like a steamer on Monday morning,” Chinese influencer Bi Dao wrote in a social media post in August. He removed a drink from what appeared to be a cold water dispenser, and its temperature was 40.8°C (105°F). Bi, who lives in Hangzhou, a provincial city on China’s east coast, decided to walk around the city with a temperature gun and point it at things to find out exactly how much the temperature was rising. “The ground was 72.6 degrees Celsius, the seat of a shared bike was 56.5 degrees Celsius, the handrails of the subway station were 45 degrees Celsius, and even the bark of a tree was 38.7 degrees Celsius,” he wrote. He concluded his post by thanking Willis Carrier, who invented air conditioning.
Hangzhou is known for its beautiful lakes, large pagodas, and rolling green tea fields, but it’s not known for its heat. But Bi witnessed just one of the 60 “hot days” above 35 degrees Celsius that have scorched the city and its 12.5 million residents this year. It’s not just Hangzhou. Many cities around the world are feeling the heat. The situation has gotten so bad that more and more people are facing temperatures that are beyond what humans can tolerate.
Approximately 500,000 people die each year due to these conditions. This rate will inevitably rise as climate change increases the number and intensity of heat waves around the world. Cities are on the front lines of this ongoing crisis. And China’s vast, densely populated metropolises are leading the way. At the same time we can get a glimpse of the situation we are in…
A pigeon-inspired robot has uncovered the mystery of bird flight without vertical tails found in human-designed aircraft. The prototype has the potential to lead to passenger planes that can reduce drag and fuel consumption.
The vertical stabilizer, or tail fin, in aircraft allows for side-to-side turns and prevents unintentional changes in direction. Some military aircraft, like the Northrop B-2 Spirit, are designed without tails to reduce radar visibility. Instead, they use inefficient methods like flaps creating extra resistance on one side.
Research by David Lentink at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands led to the development of the PigeonBot II to study how birds maintain control without vertical stabilizers.
PigeonBot II, a robot designed to imitate bird flight techniques
Eric Chan
The previous model, built in 2020, mimicked bird flight by flapping wings but had a traditional tail. The new design, featuring 52 real pigeon feathers, incorporates a bird-like tail, and successful test flights confirm its functionality.
Lentink explains that PigeonBot II’s success lies in its programmed, reflexive tail movements resembling those of birds. The intricate tail movements contribute to stability, proven by the robotic replica’s flight.
The team controlled PigeonBot II’s nine servo motors, utilizing propellers on each wing for steering and tail adjustments in response to the autopilot’s commands. Lentink notes that the complexity of these reflex movements prevents direct human control of PigeonBot II.
After numerous unsuccessful tests, the control system was refined, enabling safe takeoff, cruising, and landing. Lentink envisions a future where vertical stabilizers are unnecessary, reducing weight and drag in aircraft designs.
It hasn’t been a good year for people concerned about climate change. The expected peak in carbon emissions has not appeared, meaning global warming continues to accelerate (see ‘Humans have warmed the planet by 1.5°C since 1700’). Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s election as US president for a second term and his pledge to “drill, baby, drill” new oil and gas supplies could lead the country to backtrack on climate action. expensive.
Similar sentiments against fossil fuels come from Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, who called the oil-rich country’s natural resources a “gift from God.” Aliyev made the comments at the COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku. Ironically, this “gift” will become increasingly unavailable as a warming world dries up the Caspian Sea and strands billions of dollars in fossil fuel infrastructure. (See ‘We face climate disaster as the world dries up’).
Given the failure of politicians on the international stage to grasp the reality of climate change, other leaders need to step up, but surprisingly, mayors are the best suited to do so. Maybe it’s the position.
It will be essential for cities to adapt to cope with the unique impacts of urban heat.
Mayors cannot be expected to influence the Earth’s climate, but they oversee the well-being of more than 50 percent of the world’s population who live in urban centers. This number is expected to increase to 70 percent by 2050. Current projections are for spot temperatures to increase by 2.5 degrees Celsius. Adapting cities to deal with the unique effects of urban heat will be essential, from promoting green spaces to investing in buildings that can be cooled without air conditioning (‘Extreme heat makes cities uninhabitable’). (See “How can I survive?”)
The good news is that many mayors already recognize their responsibilities. London Mayor Sadiq Khan aims for the city to be net zero by 2030. Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, France, planted trees in certain areas and banned cars from passing. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass also pledged environmentally friendly changes in preparation for the 2028 Olympics. Organizations like C40 and Climate Mayors are helping to unite local politicians around the world into action. This won’t solve climate change, but it will make life in a warming world more bearable for many people.
The sun’s upper atmosphere, or corona, seen in ultraviolet light
ESA & NASA/Solar Probe/EUI Team
These fiery images are the clearest views of the Sun ever seen by the Solar Orbiter spacecraft.
solar orbitera joint mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA, is a state-of-the-art instrument that orbits the sun and has been sending information back to Earth since it arrived in 2020.
These images were taken in March 2023, when Solar Orbiter was less than 74 million kilometers from the sun. The photo above was taken using ultraviolet light and reveals the sun’s outer atmosphere, or corona, in great detail, showing billowing million-degree plasma exploding along the sun’s magnetic field lines. There is. Normally, bright light from the sun’s surface hides the corona. Therefore, the corona can only be seen when observing it by blocking visible light or using ultraviolet light, which typically occurs during solar eclipses.
To create this complete image of the sun’s corona, many smaller zoomed-in images had to be stitched together, resulting in this complete mosaic of 8000 pixels. In the future, Solar Orbiter will be able to obtain two such high-resolution photos of the Sun each year, according to ESA.
Visible Sun imaged by the Solar Orbiter spacecraft’s polarization measurements and solar seismic imager
ESA & NASA/Solar Probe/PHI Team
This second image shows what the sun’s surface, or photosphere, looks like when viewed from Solar Orbiter in visible light, the same light that our eyes can see . The temperature of this layer of the sun is approximately 4500-6000°C. The dark areas here are sunspots, which are cooler and emit less light than the surrounding areas.
Map of the Sun’s magnetic field measured by the Solar Orbiter spacecraft’s polarization measurements and solar seismic imager.
ESA & NASA/Solar Probe/PHI Team
Observations using the spacecraft’s magnetic instruments show that the Sun’s magnetic field is concentrated around the sunspot region (see image above). The field directs charged particles away from these areas, cooling them and giving them a dark appearance.
Velocity map, or tachogram, showing the speed and direction of movement of matter on the visible surface of the Sun
ESA & NASA/Solar Probe/PHI Team
Solar Orbiter can also track the speed and direction of plasma as it moves across the Sun’s surface. In this velocity map (above), called a tachogram, blue represents movement toward the spacecraft and red represents movement away from the spacecraft. It shows that it diverges in its surroundings.
This collection of images helps scientists understand the behavior of the sun’s corona and photosphere. Solar Orbiter will also image never-before-seen images of the Sun’s poles at the top and bottom of the star. Currently, not much is known about the solar poles, and researchers expect these regions to look significantly different from the rest of the sun.
There's a lot to keep in mind when working in space
NASA (from Getty Images)
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) have shown declines in memory, attention, and processing speed after six months, raising concerns about the impact of cognitive impairment on future space missions to Mars.
The extreme environment of space, including reduced gravity, harsh radiation, and lack of regular sunrises and sunsets, can have dramatic effects on astronauts' health, from muscle loss to increased risk of heart disease. There is a gender. However, the cognitive effects of long-term space travel are less well documented.
now, Sheena Dev Researchers from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, examined the cognitive abilities of 25 astronauts while on the ISS.
The team conducted 10 tests on the astronauts, some on Earth once before and after the mission, and others on the ISS early and late in the mission. These tests measure specific cognitive abilities, such as finding patterns on a grid to test abstract reasoning, or choosing when to stop an inflated balloon before it bursts to test risk-taking. I did.
The researchers found that on the ISS, astronauts took longer to complete tests measuring processing speed, working memory, and attention than on Earth, but the accuracy was the same. Although there were no overall cognitive impairments or lasting effects on the astronauts' abilities, some measures, such as processing speed, took longer to return to normal after returning to Earth.
Having clear data on the cognitive effects of space travel is critical for future human spaceflight. Elisa Raffaella Ferre But before we know the full story, it's important to collect more data both on Earth and in space.
“Mission to Mars is not only long in terms of time, but also in terms of autonomy,” Ferre says. “Human performance is key as people on the ground will have a completely different interaction with ground control due to distance and communication delays and will need to be fully autonomous in making decisions. You wouldn't want an astronaut on Mars who has slow reaction times in terms of attention, memory, and processing speed. ”
Given the unusual environment of space, it's not surprising that there was a certain decline in cognitive performance, he said. Joe Bower at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK. “It's not necessarily a huge cause for alarm, but it's useful to know, especially to know your limits when you're in such an extreme environment,” she says.
That awareness could be especially helpful for astronauts on long-duration missions, Bower added. “It’s not just about how well you do on a test, it’s also about how you perceive your abilities,” she says. “For example, when you're sleep deprived, your performance often suffers, but you don't even realize it's happening.”
President-elect Donald Trump, who once criticized Elon Musk’s SpaceX for launching “rocket ships to nowhere,” visited the Texas coast on Tuesday to witness the latest tests of the massive Starship rocket. SpaceX received a warm welcome.
Trump, sporting a red MAGA hat, observed the launch from under a tent alongside Musk as the large rocket soared into the sky near Brownsville. The rocket is a crucial component of Musk’s plan to establish a colony on Mars.
This appearance further illustrates Trump’s evolving relationship with Musk, one of the wealthiest individuals globally. Musk has been serving as a general advisor to Trump following his assistance in securing a second term in the White House two weeks prior.
President Trump has expressed his support for the Mars exploration initiative. He announced his visit via X, a social media platform owned by Musk.
“I’m traveling to Texas to witness the launch of the largest object ever lifted from the ground, not just to reach space. @ElonMusk and all the amazing patriots who contributed to this incredible project, good luck!” he stated.
The event was attended by several guests, including Donald Trump Jr., Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and Linda McMahon, a former professional wrestling executive supporting Trump’s transition. During the event, Musk enthusiastically conversed with Trump, while Trump observed the rocket launch mostly stoically. The rocket lifted off around 5 p.m. ET, and the booster seemed to land safely in the Gulf of Mexico shortly afterward.
Following the launch, Musk guided Trump on a tour of his nearby office, and Trump interacted with guests outside. They did not address the public immediately as the Starship’s upper stage continued on its trajectory towards the Indian Ocean.
Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, stated on X that Trump expressed his honor in attending the event.
Thousands of homes lost power, as downed power lines and trees blocked highways in Washington state on Tuesday due to a powerful atmospheric river event, officials announced.
Forecasters stated that a storm could bring up to 15 inches of rain and heavy snowfall in the mountains. By 7 p.m. local time, about 100,000 homes and businesses in Washington and over 14,000 homes in Oregon were without power, as reported by news agencies on the Rack Website poweroutage.us.
The Bellevue, Washington, fire department warned, “Trees are falling across the city, hitting homes.” They advised residents to stay away from windows and not to go outside if possible. X was contacted on Tuesday around 8pm.
Weather forecasters warned of a whiteout snowstorm in the Cascade Range and possible 2 feet of snow in Mount Shasta, Northern California, along Interstate 5. High wind gusts of up to 90 mph were recorded on Mount Rainier and 52 mph in Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
Known as bomb cyclones, these intense winds are caused by rapidly intensifying storm systems with decreasing atmospheric pressure. Scientists attribute this phenomenon to climate change generating more atmospheric rivers, which are significant contributors to precipitation on the West Coast.
An atmospheric river storm could bring significant rainfall over a three-day period in Northern California, with a flood watch issued in several areas. These storms help replenish water supplies after dry summers, but can also lead to severe flooding and damage.
Satellite images show a weather system moving towards the Pacific Northwest, prompting concerns of damaging winds, rain, and snow. Climate scientists are closely monitoring the storm and its potential impacts on various regions.
Satellite images show the weather system moving closer to the Pacific Northwest on Tuesday morning. NOAA
As the storm progresses, residents in affected areas are advised to stay updated on weather alerts and follow safety guidelines to minimize risks and potential damage.
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