From the moment you begin as an immature egg in your grandmother’s womb, your fertility journey is limited. However, scientists at Cambridge University may soon change that reality in their bright labs.
Dr. Staša Stankovic is one of these scientists. Her research at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge has uncovered valuable data in the field. Now, Stankovic is focused on unraveling the mysteries surrounding fertility and menopause.
Women’s ovaries hold a finite supply of eggs that represent their fertility. Stankovic compares this concept to an hourglass, where the sand (eggs) can only flow in one direction until it runs out, signaling the onset of menopause.
“In science, we aim to control the hourglass’s middle part,” she explains. “Our goal is to limit the eggs’ loss over time, preserving the highest quality eggs for as long as possible.”
Working with a team for five years, Stankovic is developing a method to predict the natural fertile period and age of menopause with 65% accuracy, aiming for 80% accuracy in clinical practice.
Additionally, the team is exploring potential drug solutions to address infertility and potentially delay menopause. The onset of menopause is influenced by the ovarian reserve and the rate at which eggs deplete over a woman’s lifetime, typically occurring around age 50 with fewer than 1,000 eggs left.
For women experiencing early menopause or premature menopause, these drug treatments could be life-changing.
Your Menopausal Age
Researchers are studying genetic factors using a blood sample rather than physical examinations to understand how genes impact fertility and menopause.
The research team analyzed data from over 200,000 women in the UK Biobank, which provided insights into menopause, fertility, and overall health metrics. This data will help researchers make connections with other health outcomes like dementia and diabetes.
By identifying over 300 genetic variations linked to menopause, researchers foresee potential solutions for ovarian diseases and early menopause using drug interventions.
Stankovic cautions against relying solely on IVF and egg freezing as magical solutions, emphasizing the need for more effective treatments with higher success rates.
Effects of Delaying Menopause
The research team is hopeful about developing infertility drugs that not only address symptoms but also regulate ovarian function. While the drug’s availability is estimated within the next decade, rigorous testing and validation are still required.
The team’s focus is on identifying crucial genes, conducting testing in ovarian models, and formulating drugs that maintain egg quality and quantity as women age.
Ultimately, the goal is to delay menopause and extend reproductive lifespan. Preliminary studies on mice have shown promising results, but further research is needed before human trials can begin.
Aside from fertility benefits, delaying menopause could also impact women’s overall health, offering insights into various diseases associated with menopause.
About Our Experts
Dr. Staša Stanković is an ovarian genomicist with a PhD in reproductive genomics from the University of Cambridge. Her groundbreaking research has been published in top scientific journals, shedding light on the biological mechanisms behind ovarian aging and menopause.
Hamsters, horses, and humans all do it, so it’s no surprise that gorillas, one of our closest living relatives, also fart a lot.
Farting is the body’s natural way of expelling unwanted gases produced by intestinal bacteria. These gases include odorless ones like carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and methane, as well as smelly sulfur compounds that can sometimes create a noxious odor.
There are two types of gorillas, the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, both found in the forests of equatorial Africa. These large primates, weighing up to 190 kg (420 lb), primarily eat fiber-rich plants. They typically consume around 20 kg (44 lb) of nettles, wild celery, and other plants daily through foraging.
When gorillas are not eating, they are usually resting, allowing their bodies to digest. Gorillas in the wild are known to have a lot of flatulence, especially during certain times of the year.
A recent BBC series titled spy in the wild revealed how much gas gorillas produce. Using a remote-controlled camera, researchers captured footage of mountain gorillas in Uganda. They observed that gorillas tend to vocalize while eating, and there is a constant tramping sound between meals.
Researcher Jordi Galvani Casals, who studies mountain gorillas, stated that gorillas always have a significant amount of flatulence.
This article was written in response to the question asked by Alan Rose via email: “Are gorillas permanently bloated?”
If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at:questions@sciencefocus.com or reach out to us on Facebook, Twitter, or our Instagram page (don’t forget to include your name and location).
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Five giant dinosaur footprints discovered in southeastern China were made by the largest birds of prey ever recorded. The predator was probably 5 meters tall from nose to tail, about half the length of a school bus. It probably used its giant “killer claws”, one on each foot, to attack its prey.
Most raptors (technically known as deinonychosaurs) were small. Velociraptor For example, it was about the same size as a turkey. However, some of these dinosaurs were larger. Utahraptor and dakota raptor both reached approximately 5-6 meters in length.
scott parsons Now professors at the College of Charleston in South Carolina have added another giant raptor to the list. they named it fujianips is said to have lived in East Asia about 96 million years ago.
We still know little about fujianips. That’s because Parsons and his colleagues have yet to discover any parts of the skeleton. Instead, they found several footprints measuring 36 centimeters in length. “The preservation conditions were good for the footprints, but not so good for the bones,” he says. But they are confident that the footprints are from a bird of prey because each footprint has only two finger prints. This is consistent with the structure of a raptor’s foot, in that he has three toes, but one toe is off the ground to protect the large claw at the tip from abrasion.
People say fujianips. This study shows that raptors had the potential to grow even larger and compete with the largest carnivorous dinosaurs living here at the time, the allosaurids, some of which were over 10 meters long. He added that the Raptors may have had a key advantage over these rivals: “They were fast.”
But in the end, the raptor became slightly larger fujianips. Parsons says this may be because a third group of dinosaurs, the tyrannosaurids, was beginning to become dominant. “Many of the tyrannosaurids were fast, so it was much harder to compete with the tyrannosaurids,” he says.
Nearly 40% of Americans live in areas with unhealthy levels of air pollution, and the U.S. is set to regress in air-cleaning progress as the effects of climate change intensify, according to a new report from the American Lung Association. It’s coming. The group’s report, its 25th annual analysis of the nation’s “state of the air,” estimates that between 2020 and 2022, 131 million people will live in areas with unhealthy levels of air pollution. It turned out that it was. This number is an increase of nearly 12 million people from the previous survey a year ago. The report also found that people in the United States are experiencing the most “very unhealthy” or “hazardous” air quality day in the study’s history. Katherine Pruitt, national senior director of clean air policy at the American Lung Association, said the process has been in place for decades through the Clean Air Act, a federal law passed in 1963 to regulate air pollution and set air quality standards. He said that the cleanup efforts that have been made are gradually being undermined by climate change.
“Climate change, including heat, drought and especially wildfires, is starting to undo some of the progress we’ve made,” Pruitt said. “It’s sad to know that so many people live with air quality that threatens their health.” Wildfires are a rapidly growing source of pollution that policymakers are struggling to address. Climate scientists predict that wildfire smoke will increase in the future as greenhouse gas emissions raise temperatures. The Lung Association’s analysis reached the same conclusion as a peer-reviewed study published last year in Nature. The study’s author, Marshall Burke, suggested that wildfire smoke has undone about 25% of the Clean Air Act’s progress.
“If you take a step back and think about what the root cause is, it’s the burning of fossil fuels,” says Dr. Lisa Patel, a pediatrician and clinical associate professor at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health. “We don’t have to be in this situation. We have the technology and the federal investment to harness renewable energy. What we need now is the political will.”
Each year, the “State of the Air” report analyzes air quality data from the past three years. This analysis focuses on ozone exposure and short-term and annual exposure to particulate pollution. The report issues a rating for each measure and summarizes the number of areas that passed or failed for each rating. According to the report, nearly 44 million people currently live in areas that do not meet all three criteria.Small particles are a serious concern because they can enter a person’s lungs, circulate in the bloodstream, and affect other organs. Although these particles are only a fraction of the size of a human hair, they have been shown to increase the risk of asthma, lung cancer, chronic lung disease, premature birth, and miscarriage. Patel, who is also executive director of the Medical Societies Consortium on Climate and Health, has noticed an increase in preterm births during wildfire seasons and is educating parents about how heat and smoke are risk factors during pregnancy. He said he has started giving advice.
“After several weeks of poor air quality, more people will become pregnant and give birth before 37 weeks,” Patel said, adding that parents may wonder whether their actions led to premature birth. He added that he often thinks about this. “When people ask me about the risk of premature birth, I say climate change. Heat and wildfires are both risk factors. They are not within your control.” Additionally, Patel said she has noticed that when wildfire smoke incidents occur in California, patients at her pediatric clinic often complain of nasal infections, eye irritation, and asthma exacerbations, among other ailments. Pruitt said concerns about particle pollution used to be concentrated in the industrial Midwest and Northeast. But in this report, for the first time, all 25 cities with the highest daily particle pollution are in the West. Most were in California.
“Early in our history, we had a lot of particulate pollution coming from coal-fired power plants, transportation sources, and industrial processes,” Pruitt said. “Particle pollution problems in the eastern United States are less severe because the Clean Air Act has cleaned up these sources. But Western countries, of course, have similar access to regulation and cleanup; We are also affected by climate change and wildfires.” Daniel Mendoza, an assistant professor of atmospheric science at the University of Utah, said many communities in Western states are dealing with acute, short-term pollution episodes rather than long-term chronic exposure. Scientists are still trying to figure out how much damage wildfire outbreaks cause compared to long-term exposure from industrial sources. “Not all bad air pollution is created equal,” Mendoza said. Pollution from traffic and industrial sources could continue to decline if the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed stricter standards could be implemented.
Last year, the EPA proposed a rule that would require nearly all coal and large gas plants in the country to reduce or capture about 90% of their carbon emissions by 2038. In March this year, the agency introduced stricter rules to reduce tailpipe emissions from passenger cars. Another EPA policy aimed at curbing nitrogen oxide pollution that spreads across states was challenged in the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2022, the Supreme Court limited the government’s ability to use the Clean Air Act to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. There is one bright spot in this report. That means ozone pollution continues to improve dramatically. Compared to last year, about 2.4 million fewer people live in areas with unhealthy ozone pollution. Since this analysis was completed, wildfire smoke has gotten even worse.
Americans in 2023 inhaled more wildfire smoke than in any other year on record, Stanford University researchers found last year.
A fossil shark that thrived during the Cretaceous period has been found and has shed light on how sharks hunted and their place on the evolutionary tree.
Fossil shark teeth Ptychodus have been in museums for over 200 years. While some members of this group grew to be enormous, the anatomy of others was largely unknown.
This lack of information left researchers uncertain about the shark’s overall appearance and feeding habits, but the wide, flat teeth suggest it was capable of eating hard-shelled prey.
Recently, Professor Roman Vullo at the University of Rennes in France discovered six well-preserved full-body fossils of Ptychodus in Mexico, placing the shark in the order Lamniformes alongside modern shark species like great whites and basking sharks.
What makes this discovery interesting is that while modern white sharks are known for hunting in open waters, Ptychodus were fast swimmers and voracious eaters in the open ocean, preying on armored pelagic fish like large ammonites and sea turtles.
Despite the small size of the studied specimens, estimated to be less than 3 meters long, researchers believe some members of the genus reached lengths of about 9.7 meters – twice the size of a great white shark. Females tended to be larger, measuring between 4.6 and 4.9 meters in length.
During the Cretaceous period, Ptychodus sharks played a significant role in the marine food chain. They likely competed with large marine reptiles with crushing dentition, which may have led to their extinction before the end-Cretaceous extinction event.
Enterobacter bugandensis It is mainly present in clinical specimens such as the human gastrointestinal tract.
Example workflow illustrating the process of comparative genomics analysis Enterobacter bugandensis, its prevalence and metabolic interactions within the microbial community, and assess its adaptation success within the ISS habitat. Image credit: Sengupta other., doi: 10.1186/s40168-024-01777-1.
The International Space Station (ISS) is a testament to humanity's achievements in space exploration.
Despite a highly controlled environment characterized by microgravity, increased carbon dioxide levels, and increased solar radiation, microorganisms occupy a unique niche.
These resident microbial bacteria play an important role in influencing the health and well-being of astronauts.
One particularly interesting microorganism is the Enterobacter bugandensis, a Gram-negative bacterium notorious for its multidrug resistance.
“Microorganisms in the built environment have a significant impact on the health of residents,” says the lead author Dr. Kastri Venkateswaran by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and colleagues.
“The ISS is a highly controlled built environment with extreme conditions such as microgravity, solar radiation, and elevated carbon dioxide levels, providing a unique location to study microbial survival and adaptation. .”
“Recent studies have demonstrated that microorganisms exposed to microgravity acquire antibiotic resistance and become more virulent through rapid mutation and horizontal gene transfer.”
“Prolonged space travel in microgravity can compromise astronauts' immune systems and increase their vulnerability to disease.”
“The microbial population on the ISS can influence the astronauts' microbiome and could be replenished by the arrival of new crew members.”
“Understanding microbial colonization, inheritance, and interactions is therefore critical to ensuring the health of astronauts and managing microbial risks in isolated and confined human habitats.”
In the new study, the authors analyzed 13 bacterial strains. Enterobacter bugandensis It is isolated from the ISS.
Their results show that under stress these strains mutated and became genetically and functionally distinct compared to their terrestrial counterparts.
These strains were able to persist in large numbers on the ISS for long periods of time.
They coexisted with multiple other microorganisms, and in some cases may have helped those microorganisms survive.
“Our comprehensive analysis reveals not only how these interactions shape microbial diversity, but also the factors that may contribute to the potential dominance and inheritance of microorganisms. Ta. Enterobacter bugandensis within the ISS environment,” the researchers said.
“The implications of these findings are twofold,” they added.
“First, we shed light on the behavior, adaptation, and evolution of microorganisms in extreme and isolated environments.”
“Second, it highlights the need for strong precautions to ensure the health and safety of astronauts by mitigating risks associated with potential pathogen threats.”
P. Sengupta other. 2024. Genomic, functional, and metabolic enrichment in multidrug-resistant patients. Enterobacter bugandensis Facilitate survival and succession on the International Space Station. microbiome 12, 62; doi: 10.1186/s40168-024-01777-1
A large number of stars are born in the center NGC4383where a unique galaxy is located 74 million light years It is located beyond the constellation Coma. The largest lose mass through powerful winds over their lifetime, eventually exploding into violent supernovae. These stellar winds and supernovae drag away some of NGC 4383's gas reservoir. The bright red filaments indicate hydrogen gas ejected at least 20,000 light-years from the galaxy. This process controls the rate at which stars form within the galaxy, as this gas is carried away from the galactic center rather than remaining to form the next generation of stars.
watt other. We mapped the chemical composition and motion of NGC 4383's outflow in detail, providing insight into the mechanisms that caused the dramatic outflow seen in this image from ESO's Very Large Telescope.Image credit: ESO / Watts other.
Gas outflow is important for controlling the rate and duration at which galaxies continue to form stars.
The gas ejected by these explosions can pollute the space between stars within galaxies and even between galaxies, becoming permanently suspended in the intergalactic medium.
Dr Adam Watts, an astronomer at the University of Western Australia's node at the International Radio Center, said: “This outflow is the result of a powerful stellar explosion at the center of the galaxy, potentially spewing out huge amounts of hydrogen and heavy elements. There is a gender,” he said. Astronomical Research (ICAR).
“The mass of gas released is equivalent to more than 50 million suns.”
“Spills are very difficult to detect, so very little is known about the physics of spills and their properties.”
“The ejected gas is extremely rich in heavy elements, providing a unique insight into the complex process by which metals mix with hydrogen in the ejected gas.”
“In this particular case, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur and many other chemical elements were detected.”
astronomers are muse (Multi-unit Spectroscopic Explorer) Turn on the instrument ESO's super large telescope (VLT) Created a high-resolution map of NGC 4383 in northern Chile.
Data were collected as part of VLT/MUSE's larger program MAUVE (MUSE and ALMA Unveiling the Virgo Environment).
“We designed MAUVE to investigate how physical processes, such as gas outflow, help stop star formation in galaxies,” said West, also at the International Center for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR). said Professor Barbara Catinella of the Australian University of Nord.
“NGC 4383 was our first target because we thought something very interesting might be happening, and the data exceeded all expectations.”
“In the future, we hope that MAUVE's observations will reveal in great detail the importance of gas outflow in the local universe.”
team's paper Published in Royal Astronomical Society Monthly Notices.
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Adam B. Watts other. 2024. Mauve: A 6 kpc bipolar outflow launched from NGC 4383, one of the most Hi-rich galaxies in the Virgo cluster. MNRAS 530 (2): 1968-1983; doi: 10.1093/mnras/stae898
A new genus and species of stegosaur from the Middle Jurassic period has been identified from fossilized posterior skulls discovered in the Middle Atlas Mountains, south of Fez, Morocco.
Dr. Mostafa Oukas of Casablanca’s Universidad Hassan II and his colleagues said, “Thireophora is a diverse clade of herbivorous ornithischians consisting of stegosaurs, sclerosaurs, and basal types.”
“Thyleophorans have an extensive fossil record spanning from the Early Jurassic to the Late Cretaceous and are best known from well-preserved specimens from Laurasia.”
“In contrast, fossil remains are poorly known in Gondwana, and most of them are partial,” the researchers added.
“In Africa, thyreophorans may have been present since the Early Middle Jurassic.”
“Stegosaur body fossils have been recorded from the Middle Jurassic of Morocco, the Late Jurassic of Tanzania, and the Early Cretaceous of South Africa.”
“African ankylosaurs are represented by Spicomerus afar from Morocco during the Middle Jurassic period.”
divided partial skeleton Tireosaurus atlasix found in gray marl. El Mars III formation is located in the northern part of the Bourafa region near Bourmane, in the Atlas region of central Morocco.
“In 2021, during a geological mapping mission south of Bourmane, we discovered a new site rich in dinosaur remains in the El Mars III Formation,” the paleontologists said.
“This site, named Bourafa North, is located north of the Bourafa quarry.”
“This material was collected during several consecutive field trips and consists of the posterior skull of a stegosaur, including dorsal vertebrae and ribs, limb bones, and skin armor.”
According to the team: Tireosaurus atlasix had a strange asymmetrical skin armor, unique among stegosaurs.
“Dermal armor is Tireosaurus atlasix “It is composed of up to 4 cm (1.6 in) thick bone oval to subrectangular shaped osteoderms,” the researchers said.
“The asymmetrical texture of the sides, with one side roughly decorated with small holes and strands of fibers and the other with a distinct cross-hatch pattern, is unlike anything previously observed in other stegosaurs and sclerosaurs. It’s clearly different.”
“The bone histology of these osteoderms is reminiscent of the histology of stegosaur tail spines.”
“These osteoderms are interpreted to have been placed in a lying position on the animal’s body, rather than in an upright position.”
Tireosaurus atlasix was estimated to be over 6 meters (19.7 feet) long.
“The axial features indicate that this specimen belongs to a medium- to large-sized stegosaur,” the scientists said.
“The holotype corresponds to an adult individual that has not yet reached its maximum body size.”
discovery of Tireosaurus atlasix is important in understanding the evolutionary history of stegosaurs and other thyreophora dinosaurs.
“Recent discoveries are adraticrit and Tireosaurus atlasix “We provide insight into the early evolution of stegosaurs during the Middle Jurassic of Africa,” the authors concluded.
of findings appear in the diary Gondwana research.
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Omar Zafati other. 2024. A new stegosaur dinosaur (Ornithischian: Thyreophora) with prominent cutaneous armor that lived during the Middle Jurassic period of North Africa. Gondwana research 131: 344-362; doi: 10.1016/j.gr.2024.03.009
The advice is the same no matter where you look. If you want to reduce your risk of heart disease, obesity, cancer, and all sorts of other health problems, you should reduce butter and the “bad” saturated fats found in it. Red meat or processed meat. Instead, you should consume “good” polyunsaturated fats. This means cooking with vegetable oil and focusing on leafy vegetables, fatty fish, and nuts and seeds. Simple.
Nothing is ever simple, except in nutrition. In this case, the complication arises from the growing recognition that not all “good” fats are created equal. Specifically, while omega-3 fatty acids are certainly good for us, omega-6 fatty acids may actually be damaging to our health.
The idea that the balance of omega in the foods we eat can affect our health is well established. Additionally, while the typical Western diet has become increasingly high in omega-6s and low in omega-3s over the past 50 years, at the same time the incidence of diseases associated with excessive inflammation has skyrocketed. It is also clear that These include heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
All this has led to the argument that in addition to increasing the amount of omega-3 in the diet, we also need to reduce the intake of omega-6. But correlation is not causation. So can consuming too much omega-6, which has long been thought to be beneficial, really be bad for you? If so, what foods should I eat more or less of to optimize…
Given the diversity and complexity of endogenous and extrinsic processes that contribute to the maintenance of habitable conditions over geological and biological timescales, it is unclear how rocky planets become habitable and their status. Fully understanding how it is maintained is a fundamental challenge for planetary scientists and astrobiologists. In the face of this challenge, it is essential to exploit the full range of atmospheric evolution data for rocky planets within the solar system. Although Venus represents an apparent fringe member of planetary habitability, its contribution to understanding the prevalence of long-term temperate surface conditions in large rocky worlds remains poorly recognized. Upcoming missions to Venus, including NASA's VERITAS and DAVINCI, and ESA's EnVision mission, will begin to crystallize this understanding.
Kane and Byrne describe Venus as an anchor point where planetary scientists can better understand the conditions that prevent life on exoplanets. Image credit: Kane & Byrne, doi: 10.1038/s41550-024-02228-5.
“We often assume that Earth is a model of habitability, but when we consider this planet in isolation, we don’t know where the boundaries and limits are. Venus gives us that. '' said Dr. Stephen Cain, an astrophysicist at the University of California, Riverside.
“Although they also feature a pressure cooker-like atmosphere that could flatten humans in an instant, Earth and Venus share some similarities.”
“They have roughly the same mass and radius. Given their proximity to the planet, it’s natural to wonder why Earth looked so different.”
Many scientists believe that solar flux, the amount of energy Venus receives from the sun, caused a runaway greenhouse effect that doomed Earth.
“If Earth receives 100% of the solar energy, Venus collects 191%. Many people think that’s why Venus looks different,” Dr. Kane said.
“But wait a minute. Venus doesn’t have a moon, but that gives Earth something like ocean tides and affects the amount of water here.”
In addition to some of the known differences, more NASA missions to Venus will also clarify some of the unknowns.
Planetary scientists have no idea how big its core is, how it arrived at its current relatively slow rotational speed, how its magnetic field has changed over time, or the chemistry of its lower atmosphere. i don’t know.
“Venus has no detectable magnetic field. That may be related to the size of its core,” Dr. Kane said.
“The size of the core also gives us information about how the planet cools. Earth has a mantle, and heat circulates through its core. What’s going on inside Venus? I don’t know.”
“The interior of a rocky planet also influences its atmosphere. That is the case for Earth, and our atmosphere is primarily the result of volcanic gas emissions.”
Schematic cross-section of Earth and Venus. Major internal and atmospheric components are shown to scale. Image credit: Kane & Byrne, doi: 10.1038/s41550-024-02228-5.
NASA is planning two missions to Venus (DAVINCI and VERITAS) for the end of this decade, and Dr. Cain is supporting both.
The DAVINCI mission will explore the acid-filled atmosphere and measure noble gases and other chemical elements.
“DAVINCI measures the atmosphere from top to bottom. This is extremely useful for building new climate models and predicting this type of atmosphere elsewhere, including on Earth, as the amount of carbon dioxide continues to increase. ,” Dr. Kane said.
Although the Veritas mission will not land on the surface, it will allow scientists to reconstruct detailed 3D terrain, which could reveal whether the planet has active plate tectonics or volcanoes.
“Currently, our global map is very incomplete. Understanding how active a surface is and understanding how it has changed over time are very different. We need both types of information,” Dr. Kane said.
Ultimately, Dr. Kane and his co-author, Dr. Paul Byrne of Washington University in St. Louis, advocate such a mission to Venus for two main reasons.
One is that with better data, we can use Venus to confirm that our inferences about life on distant planets are correct.
“The somber thing about searching for life elsewhere in the universe is that we will never have in-situ data on exoplanets. We will never go there, land on them, or measure them directly. I don’t intend to,” Dr. Kane said.
“If we think there is life on the surface of another planet, we may never realize we are wrong and end up dreaming of a planet without life.” I guess.”
“We can only get it right by understanding the Earth-sized planets we can visit. Venus gives us that chance.”
Another reason to study Venus is that it can predict what Earth’s future will be.
“One of the main reasons we study Venus is because of our sacred duty as stewards of this planet to protect its future,” Dr. Kane said.
“My hope is that by studying how Venus came to be today, we can learn lessons from it, especially if it had a benign past that is now in ruins. The question is when and how.”
of review paper It was published in the magazine natural astronomy.
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Stephen R. Cain and Paul K. Byrne. 2024. Venus as an anchor point for planetary habitability. Nat Astron 8, 417-424; doi: 10.1038/s41550-024-02228-5
Golden in the form of gold monolayer sheets is prepared by etching away titanium carbide (Ti)3C2. Slabs of titanium gold carbide (Ti)3AuC2.
Golden preparation.Image provided by: Kashiwaya other., doi: 10.1038/s44160-024-00518-4.
“When you make a material extremely thin, something unusual happens, just as it did with graphene. The same thing happens with gold,” said Dr. Shun Kashiwaya, a researcher at Linköping University.
“As you know, gold is normally a metal, but if it's an atomic layer thick, it can become a semiconductor instead.”
To create Goldene, Dr. Kashiwaya and his colleagues used a three-dimensional substrate with gold embedded between layers of titanium and carbon. However, coming up with a golden turned out to be difficult.
“We created the basic material with a completely different application in mind,” said Professor Lars Hartmann from Linköping University.
“We started with a conductive ceramic called titanium silicon carbide, which has a thin layer of silicon.”
“Then the idea was to coat the material with gold to make the contacts. However, when the component was exposed to high temperatures, the silicon layer inside the substrate was replaced by gold.”
This phenomenon is called intercalation, and what the researchers discovered was titanium-gold carbide.
For several years, authors have been using titanium gold carbide without knowing how the gold could be exfoliated or panned out.
They accidentally discovered a method that has been used in Japanese forging for more than 100 years.
This is called Murakami's reagent, and it etches away carbon residues and changes the color of steel, such as in knife making. However, it was not possible to use exactly the same recipe as the blacksmith.
“We tried varying the concentration of Murakami's reagent and the etching time. One day, one week, one month, several months. What we noticed was that the lower the concentration and the longer the etching process, the better. But even that wasn't enough,” Dr. Kashiwaya said.
Etching must also be performed in the dark, as the reaction produces cyanide, which dissolves the gold when exposed to light. This step was to stabilize the gold sheet.
A surfactant was added to prevent the exposed two-dimensional sheet from curling up. In this case, it is a long molecule, a surfactant, that separates and stabilizes the sheets.
“The golden sheets sit in a solution, a bit like cornflakes in milk. We use a sort of 'sieve' to collect the gold and examine it under an electron microscope to see if we were successful.” We have that,” Dr. Kashiwaya said.
“Golden's new properties are due to the fact that gold has two free bonds when it is two-dimensional.”
“Thanks to this, future applications could include carbon dioxide conversion, hydrogen production catalysts, selective production of value-added chemicals, hydrogen production, water purification, communications, etc.”
“Additionally, the amount of gold used in today's applications can be significantly reduced.”
team's work It was published in the magazine natural synthesis.
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Shin Kashiwaya other. Golden synthesis consisting of a single atomic layer of gold. nut.synthesizer, published online March 18, 2024. doi: 10.1038/s44160-024-00518-4
The Lyrids, the first major meteor shower of the year, will be gracing us with fireballs tonight if luck is on our side.
Although this year’s conditions are not ideal due to the peak of the meteor shower coinciding with a full moon, the Lyrid meteor shower still has the potential to produce fireballs, similar to the more famous Perseid meteor shower (mid-July to August).
One of the oldest known meteor showers, with observations dating back over 2,700 years, the Lyrids were first reported by Chinese astronomers who observed the constellation Lyra. The sky experienced significant meteoric activity in 687 BC, 1803, and 1833.
To increase your chances of spotting the Lyrid meteor shower, understand what causes it, and know where to look, this guide provides valuable insights.
If unfavorable weather affects your viewing experience this year, consider checking out our astrophotography guide to capture stunning moon photos.
When will the Lyrid meteor shower be visible in 2024?
The peak time to witness the Lyrid meteor shower in 2024 is Monday night (April 22-23) in the UK and US regions. However, the nearly full moon on the night of April 23-24 will reduce visibility. Ideal viewing conditions are in the hours before dawn.
The Lyrid meteor shower will be visible from April 14, 2024, extending until April 30, following a yearly recurrence pattern.
Where to look to find Lyrid
The Lyra radiant, where meteors seem to originate, is situated in the Lyra constellation.
During the shower’s peak, the Lyra radiant ascends higher as the night progresses, enhancing the chance of spotting shooting stars and ensuring they don’t disappear beneath the horizon. Look for meteors about two-thirds up in the sky at a 60-degree altitude and a short distance from the radiant. Enhanced visibility can be achieved by including more sky in your field of view.
Lyra is a compact constellation nestled between the Summer Triangle and Hercules constellations, featuring the distinctive star Vega as part of its makeup.
Efficient star hopping techniques can aid in locating Lyra.
First, identify the summer triangle asterism that includes Vega from the Lyra constellation, Altair from Aquila, and Deneb from Cygnus. This triangle becomes prominent in the April evening sky.
Spot Vega: As the brightest star in Lyra, Vega acts as a marker for locating the constellation being sought. Its piercing brightness makes Vega easily identifiable.
Follow the Lyra star pattern: Once Vega is found, identify the parallelogram shape forming the body of Lyra with Vega as one of its corners. Imagination can help visualize the rest of the constellation resembling a small harp or lyre.
If all else fails, using astronomy apps on your phone with a red light filter can be beneficial in identifying celestial objects.
How visible will Lyra be?
The almost full moon during the peak of the Lyrid meteor shower on April 22-23 poses a visibility challenge. Moon glare diminishes the visibility of meteors, stars, planets, and constellations. Dark adaptation of eyes is hindered by excessive moonlight, necessitating around 10-20 minutes for optimal vision adjustment.
Despite the lunar interference, spotting brighter meteors, including fireballs, remains a possibility during this year’s Lyrid meteor shower.
How many meteors can we actually see?
Under optimal conditions with minimal light pollution and close to 18 meteors per hour, meteor visibility varies annually, with an average of 10 to 20 sightings. However, this year’s bright moon will significantly reduce the number of visible meteors to around three to four per hour.
Dr. Darren Baskill, an astrophysicist from the University of Sussex, explains that the Perseid shower in mid-August, without moonlight interference, offers a meteor every five minutes in urban areas and up to one meteor per minute in dark environments.
What causes the Lyrid meteor shower?
Meteor showers occur as Earth crosses paths with debris left behind by comets and asteroids. As this debris orbits the sun, Earth’s orbit intersects, resulting in the combustion of tiny particles in the atmosphere, creating meteoric streaks.
Most meteor-producing particles are as small as grains of sand, but larger fragments can produce fireballs. The “peak” of a meteor shower denotes the densest part of the stream, resulting in higher meteor visibility.
The Lyrid meteor shower is notable for its fast and bright meteors that often leave lasting trails in the sky, aiding visibility against moon interference.
The Lyra comet and mother object of the Lyrids, C/1861 G1 Thatcher, is a long-period comet with a 415.5-year orbit around the sun. With its last perihelion in 1861, it will be a long wait until its return (around 2276).
Lyrid meteor shower: Viewing tips
To improve your chances of viewing the Lyrid meteor shower:
Reduce light pollution: Choose locations away from bright lights and ensure minimal light obstructs your view.
Allow night vision adjustment: Let your eyes adapt to darkness, even if moonlight interferes, for better perception of the surroundings.
Obstruct the moon: Opt for locations where foliage or buildings obscure the moon for clearer views.
Watch for Meteor Trains: Meteor trains can linger after a meteor, enhancing visibility.
Use a red light filter: Employ red light filters for devices to maintain night vision.
Be vigilant for fireballs: Fireballs are rare but possible during the Lyrid meteor shower and are worth watching for.
About our experts
Dr. Darren Baskill is an outreach officer and lecturer in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Sussex. With prior experience at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, he organized the annual Astronomical Photographer of the Year competition.
Europe is the continent experiencing the most rapid increase in temperature, with its temperatures rising at approximately twice the global average, as reported by two top climate watchdogs on Monday. This raises concerns about human health, glacier melting, and the impact on economic activity.
The World Meteorological Organization of the United Nations and the European Union’s climate change agency Copernicus jointly reported that the African continent has the potential to transition to renewable resources like wind, solar, and hydropower in response to the effects of climate change. There is an opportunity to develop specific strategies to accelerate action on climate change.
Last year, the European Climate Report stated that the continent generated 43% of its electricity from renewable sources, up from 36% the previous year. In Europe, more energy was produced from renewables than fossil fuels for the second consecutive year.
According to the report, the latest five-year average temperature shows Europe to be currently 2.3 degrees Celsius (4.1 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, compared to the global temperature being 1.3 degrees Celsius warmer. This is just below the target set in the 2015 Paris climate agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Firefighters and volunteers extinguish a burning field during a forest fire in Salonida, Greece, July 17, 2023. Nick Paleologos/Bloomberg from Getty Images File
“Europe has continued to face rising temperatures and extreme weather events this year, including heat stress from record temperatures, wildfires, heatwaves, glacier ice loss, and inadequate snowfall,” said Elisabeth Hamdoush, Deputy Division Chief of the EU Executive Director Copernicus.
This report complements the World Meteorological Organization’s flagship State of the World Climate Report, which has been published annually for 30 years and this year issued a “Red Alert” warning that the world is not taking sufficient action to combat the effects of global warming.
In March, Copernicus reported achieving a record for 10 consecutive months of record-breaking temperatures. According to a European report, the average sea surface temperature across oceans in Europe is expected to reach its highest annual level in 2023.
This year’s European report focuses on the impact of high temperatures on human health, noting a rise in heat-related deaths across the continent. Over 150 lives were directly lost due to storms, floods, and wildfires last year.
Economic losses related to weather and climate in 2023 are estimated to exceed 13.4 billion euros (around $14.3 billion).
Carlo Buontempo, Director of Copernicus, stated, “In 2023, hundreds of thousands of people will be affected by extreme weather events causing significant damage at a continental level, with an estimated cost of at least tens of billions of euros.” “It’s been done,” he said.
The report highlights that extreme weather conditions have led to heatwaves, wildfires, droughts, and floods. High temperatures are causing the reduction of glaciers on continents, including the Alps, where about 10% of glaciers have been lost over the past two years. Glacier ice has been declining.
Nevertheless, the authors of the report pointed out some exceptions, such as Scandinavia and Iceland, where temperatures were below average despite above-average mercury concentrations across much of the continent.
Artist's impression of the Brightline West high-speed rail line
brightline west
Today, construction begins on America's first full-scale high-speed rail line, connecting the suburbs of Los Angeles to the bright city of Las Vegas, Nevada. The project could not only allow people in the United States to finally experience high-speed passenger trains of European and Asian standards, but also provide a commercial model for building high-speed rail elsewhere in the United States. be.
A groundbreaking ceremony in Las Vegas today, attended by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, along with officials from Nevada and California, marked the official start of construction on the Brightline West project. Brightline West, which aims to be completed within four years in time for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, will bypass lines of stranded cars and cross the median of Interstate 15 at speeds of 320 km/h. It is expected to fly passengers at speed. In the weekend traffic jam.
The $12 billion project is a bold gamble for Brightline and its owner, Fortress Investment Group, even considering a $3 billion federal grant announced by President Joe Biden in December 2023. It may seem like. But there are several reasons why Brightline West will be more successful than the rest of the United States. High-speed rail projects are delayed.
According to sources, Brightline is focused on connecting major markets that are approximately 400 to 550 kilometers apart. report By infrastructure consultancy AECOM. This represents a sweet spot where high-speed rail is highly competitive with driving and flying. His 350-kilometre trip on Brightline West from Las Vegas to the Los Angeles suburbs is expected to take him just over two hours, making it an attractive alternative to his four-hour drive, which 50 million people travel between cities each year. This is a great alternative.
“High-speed rail has proven to be a very efficient way to move large numbers of passengers within median distances,” he says. Jiao Junfeng At the University of Texas at Austin. “There are many success stories out there in European countries and Asian countries, and there are markets where high-speed rail operations have proven profitable.”
Another factor in Brightline's favor is that it leased access from Nevada and California to build Brightline West through the existing Interstate 15 corridor. This avoids the costs and delays typically associated with obtaining rights of way and acquiring land.
Reducing the risk of delays can also reduce overall project costs in the long term. California's own high-speed rail project was first approved by voters in 2008 to connect San Francisco and Los Angeles; project cost Soared from $33 billion to $128 billion. Other high-speed rail projects are currently being considered in Texas and the Pacific Northwest.
“When you're talking about preparing for construction or progressing construction, time is not on your side. [because of] say “inflation” Jean Whittington at the University of Washington in Seattle. “These projects are so large that it's like implementing multiple megaprojects that all depend on each other to complete successfully.”
One lesson U.S. National Railroad officials can learn from Brightline is to avoid lengthy planning stages and “focus on the costs of delays and indecision,” he said. Russell Jackson, Global Transportation Director at AECOM. He also suggested that while Brightline's approach focuses only on the most profitable routes, government funding could fill in the gaps in other cases.
“Public funds can be used for projects that are still needed to connect pairs of cities that are a little too close to travel by plane and too far to drive,” Jackson said.
CDC Director Mandy Cohen emphasized the importance of utilizing tools and guidelines to help individuals identify places to stay cool when air conditioning is not available, recognize symptoms of heat illness, and properly manage medications. Cohen highlighted the significance of understanding how drugs interact with heat during a press conference on Monday.
“While heat can impact our health, it is crucial to remember that heat-related illness and death are preventable,” Cohen stated.
Heat-related deaths outnumber those caused by other extreme weather events such as floods, hurricanes, and tornadoes in the United States each year. The record-breaking heat experienced last summer highlighted the threat of scorching temperatures, particularly in the South and Southwest regions of the country.
NOAA officials expressed optimism that the new resources will assist communities in preparing for the upcoming summer season. The agency anticipates above-average temperatures in May and June across the United States, indicating another hot summer ahead.
“It is never too early to start preparing for heat-related challenges,” emphasized NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad during a briefing.
NOAA’s HeatRisk tool categorizes heat risks on a scale from 0 (green) to 4 (magenta), with 4 indicating extreme and/or prolonged heat impacts. The tool considers factors such as maximum and minimum temperatures as well as the combined effects of heat during both day and night. It is tailored to provide location-specific heat outlooks as environmental conditions vary from one place to another.
The forecast also includes historical data to provide context on the predicted temperatures relative to past records during the same time of year.
NOAA National Weather Service Director Ken Graham highlighted that the HeatRisk tool can assist individuals in making informed decisions about outdoor activities based on the heat risk level. The tool aims to complement heat watches and warnings issued by government agencies by offering additional context for users.
The initial prototype of the HeatRisk tool was developed for California by the National Weather Service in 2013 and expanded to include Western states in 2017. It is currently available as a trial tool across the continental United States.
Members of the public are encouraged to submit feedback on the tool by September 30th to the National Weather Service.
I spend countless hours sifting through plastic pieces in my kitchen to determine if they can be recycled. If you have them, put them in a bag along with glass, cans, cardboard, and paper. If not, or if you’re not confident, put it in a plastic bag (not recyclable) and shove it in the cupboard under the stairs. I plan to drop it off in a non-recyclable plastic bin at my local supermarket. But the road to the landfill is paved with good intentions. Sometimes I get frustrated and throw it away.
I don’t know if my relentless culling will actually make any difference. We hope that what is recyclable will eventually be recycled. As for the others, which make up about half of my plastic waste, I don’t know their fate. I think there’s a reason it’s called “non-recyclable.”
We hope that you won’t have to waste your precious time on this kind of waste prioritization any time soon. A series of “advanced recycling” technologies are gradually being rolled out that promise to convert all kinds of used plastics into something very useful: plastic. The goal is to create a circular economy for this material by eliminating the need to make virgin plastic from crude oil and simply endlessly recycling what we already have. Plastic, once demonized as the scourge of modern society, could once again be great.
There are many things you can use. Since the 1950s, we have produced over 10 billion tons of her.
A new genus and species of giant mazzoid snake that lived in what is now India about 47 million years ago (early mid-Eocene epoch) has been identified from part of a vertebral column excavated in the Indian state of Gujarat.
Artist’s impression Vasuki Indicus.
with scientific name Vasuki Indicus the new species flourished during a warm geological period when average temperatures were estimated to be 28 degrees Celsius.
the ancient snake Matzoidae an extinct group of primarily Gondwanan land snakes, spanning a time range of approximately 100 million years from the Late Cretaceous to the Late Pleistocene.
Paleontologists Debasjit Dutta and Sunil Bajpayee from the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee said, “The Mazzoidae existed for about 100 million years, from the Late Cretaceous to the Late Pleistocene, and has a wide geographical range including Africa, Europe, and India.” “They lived in the area,” he said.
“Vasuki Indicus “This represents a lineage of large matzoids that originated in the Indian subcontinent and spread through southern Europe to Africa during the Eocene epoch, approximately 56 to 34 million years ago.”
anterior trunk vertebrae Vasuki Indicus. Scale bar – 5 cm. Image credit: D. Datta & S. Bajpai, doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-58377-0.
A series of 27 well-preserved vertebrae from a fully grown animal. Vasuki Indicus It was recovered from the Panandro lignite mine, part of the Naledi Formation in Gujarat, western India.
The vertebrae are 3.75–6.3 cm (1.5–2.5 in) long and 6.24–11.14 cm (2.5–4.4 in) wide, suggesting a broad cylindrical body.
Vasuki Indicus Estimated lengths reach 11–15 m (36–49 ft), making this species the largest known mudsoid snake.
“This is comparable in size to the longest-living snake ever known, an extinct snake.” Titanoboa” said the researchers.
“The large size is Vasuki Indicus It was a slow-moving ambush predator, similar to an anaconda. “
“Biogeographical considerations, taken together with interactions with other Indian and North African madzoids, suggest that: Vasuki Indicus It represents a lineage of relics of Indian origin,” they added.
“The subsequent collision between India and Asia 50 million years ago led to intercontinental dispersal of this lineage from the subcontinent through southern Eurasia and into northern Africa.”
“Recovery of additional material and new species, including larger forms, may provide further insight into the phylogenetics and biogeography of madzoids.”
of study It was published in the magazine scientific report.
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D. Dutta and S. Bajpai. 2024. The largest known mudsoid snake lived in the warm Eocene of India, suggesting dispersal across Gondwana. science officer 14, 8054; doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-58377-0
Animals have various ways to detect chemicals in their environment, which differ depending on the species. Mammals use their tongues to taste, while fish and other aquatic creatures use their skin to taste. Insects, on the other hand, have taste buds not only inside their mouths but also outside their bodies.
Researchers have discovered that fruit flies, scientifically known as Drosophila melanogaster, have developed unique ways to utilize their senses of smell and taste to locate food and avoid dangers in diverse habitats. By exploring how fruit flies’ senses have evolved, scientists aim to uncover how these insects have adapted to their surroundings.
To study the sensory capabilities of fruit flies, researchers at the University of Lussanne in Switzerland compared the smells and tastes of different fruit fly species. They collected five essential body parts related to the flies’ senses: 1) larvae head, 2) egg-laying part, 3) front legs, 4) antennae, and 5) mouthparts with palpation structures. These body parts were collected from six closely related species of fruit flies living in various environments and consuming different diets.
The researchers separated male and female fruit flies into three replicates for each sex and species. They anesthetized the adult flies with CO2 to collect samples without causing harm. They separated larvae from their food source and removed their heads for analysis. This process was repeated three times for each body part of the adults, larvae, and egg-laying parts.
Using RNA sequencing technology, scientists examined the genes in different parts of the fruit fly’s body to understand how they respond to stimuli. This method helped identify active and inactive genes in various body parts, shedding light on how Drosophila adapts to its environment. The RNA data was stored in the Genomics Database for future research purposes.
The researchers observed that specific genes controlling smell and taste in fruit flies vary in their activation patterns. Changes in gene activity were influenced by factors like temperature, humidity, and interactions with other organisms. Differences in gene activity between male and female fruit flies were also noted, potentially impacting their mate selection.
The complexity of gene regulation in fruit fly sensory organs may vary across species and sexes, affecting their adaptation to diet and habitat changes. Further research is needed to understand the genetic basis of odor patterns in fruit flies and how it aids in their adaptation.
WASHINGTON — THE PRESIDENT Joe Biden marked Earth Day by announcing $7 billion in federal grants for residential solar power projects serving more than 900,000 households in low- and moderate-income areas. He also plans to expand the New Deal-style U.S. Climate Change Corps Green Jobs Training Program.
The grants were awarded by the Environmental Protection Agency, with 60 recipients announced on Monday. Government officials expect the projects to reduce emissions by the equivalent of 30 million tons of carbon dioxide and save households $350 million a year.
Biden’s climate announcement is aimed at energizing young voters in his re-election bid. Young people played a key role in defeating then-President Donald Trump in 2020. They have shown interest in Biden’s climate policy and are eager to contribute through programs like the Climate Change Corps.
Solar energy is gaining popularity as a renewable energy source that can reduce dependence on fossil fuels and improve the power grid’s reliability. However, the initial installation cost of solar energy remains a barrier for many Americans.
The grants include 49 state-level grants, six grants for Native American tribes, and five multi-state grants. They can be used for investments in rooftop solar power generation and community solar gardens.
Biden made the announcement at Prince William Forest Park in northern Virginia, about 30 miles southwest of Washington. The park was established in 1936 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as part of his Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression.
Biden’s American Climate Corps, modeled after President Roosevelt’s New Deal, offers about 2,000 positions in 36 states, including partnerships with the Building Trades Union of North America.
The grants are part of the Solar for All program, funded by a $27 billion “green bank” established as part of a broader climate law initiative. The program aims to reduce climate change, air pollution, and support disadvantaged communities most affected by climate change.
EPA Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe expressed excitement about the funds benefiting communities, providing skills, creating jobs, and helping households save on utility bills.
Among the businesses receiving grants are nonprofit projects in West Virginia, solar leasing programs in Mississippi, and solar worker training programs in South Carolina.
Concerns remain about Republican opposition to taxpayer-funded green banks and accountability for how the funds are used. The EPA previously allocated the remaining $20 billion in bank funds to support clean energy projects in various organizations and communities.
Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have captured an excellent image of the spiral galaxy ESO 422-41 in the constellation Columba.
This Hubble image shows ESO 422-41, a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Columba, about 34 million light-years away. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / C. Kilpatrick.
ESO 422-41 It is located in the constellation Columba, about 34 million light years away.
DDO 230, LEDA 16864, or UGCA 103, the diameter of this spiral galaxy is 30,000 light years.
“The name ESO 422-41 comes from its appearance in the European Southern Observatory (B) Atlas of the Southern Sky,” Hubble astronomers said.
“In the era before automated sky surveys by space observatories such as ESA's Gaia satellite, large-scale photographic surveys discovered many stars, galaxies, and nebulae.”
“Astronomers used the then most advanced large telescopes to create hundreds of photographs covering parts of the sky.”
“They then studied the resulting photographs and attempted to catalog all the new objects revealed.”
“In the 1970s, a new telescope at ESO's La Silla facility in Chile probed the southern sky, which had not yet been explored as deeply as the northern sky,” they added.
“At that time, the primary technology for recording images was glass plates treated with chemicals.”
“The resulting collection of photographic plates became the ESO (B) Atlas of the Southern Sky.”
“Astronomers from ESO and Uppsala, Sweden, worked together to study the plates and recorded hundreds of galaxies (ESO 422-41 is just one of them), star clusters and nebulae. I was a beginner.”
“Since then, astronomical sky surveys have progressed from digital, computer-aided surveys such as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and Legacy Survey to surveys performed by space telescopes such as Gaia and the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). It has transitioned to
“Nonetheless, photographic sky surveys have made significant contributions to astronomical knowledge over the decades, and the glass plate archive serves as an important historical reference for a wide range of skies. .”
“Some of them are still actively used, for example, to study variable stars over time,” the researchers pointed out.
“And the objects revealed by these surveys, including ESO 422-41, can now be studied in detail with telescopes like Hubble.”
The new images of ESO 422-41 consist of observations from Hubble's advanced survey camera (ACS) in the near-infrared and optical portions of the spectrum.
Two filters were used to sample different wavelengths. Color is obtained by assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter.
Cyclists, from Team GB athletes to daily commuters, understand the importance of marginal gains. They constantly optimize their nutrition, equipment, and position to improve their race times by reducing drag.
It’s not surprising that some middle-aged men in Lycra (MAMILs) are considering shaving their legs. The idea is simple: removing leg hair can reduce drag, the force that slows down objects moving through the air. And on a bike, air resistance is the main factor that hinders speed.
When you’re cycling, the air in front of you moves as you move, creating wind resistance. To enhance aerodynamics, it’s crucial to optimize how the air flows around your body, reducing drag that holds you back. This is why cyclists wear skinsuits, position themselves low on the bike, and helmets are designed like sports cars.
There’s ongoing debate among riders and engineers about whether shaving your legs actually makes a significant difference in speed. An interesting study by a bicycle manufacturer tested shaved legs in a wind tunnel and found a 7 percent reduction in air resistance compared to natural legged riders.
In a 40 km time trial, this improvement could potentially give you a 79-second advantage over competitors. For professional riders, this could mean the difference between winning and losing.
This article addresses the question posed by Conrad Gordon via email: “Should I shave my legs if I love wearing Lycra and cycling?” If you have any questions, you can contact us at questions@sciencefocus.com or message us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Remember to include your name and location.
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The area of water between Florida, Puerto Rico, and Bermuda became notorious in the mid-20th century due to stories of mysterious disappearances of boats and planes.
A well-known incident occurred in 1945 when Flight 19, a group of five U.S. Navy bombers, vanished in the region. Over the years, wrecks and crashes in the Bermuda Triangle were often linked to supernatural forces.
In 1975, Larry Kush published a book debunking legends about the triangle, revealing inaccuracies and concluding that incidents in the area were not significantly higher than in other ocean regions.
Despite various theories proposed over the years, explanations range from natural phenomena like methane bubbles to supernatural causes like parallel worlds.
Some suggest that methane bubbles from the ocean floor caused ships to capsize, but research has shown no significant methane emissions in the area in the past 15,000 years.
The frequency of hurricanes in the region could have led to disasters before accurate weather forecasts were available, resulting in ships sinking due to high, rough waves.
While some blame magnetic anomalies for navigation errors, no such anomalies have been observed, though the alignment of true and magnetic north may have caused confusion in the past.
Despite the lack of identified dangers by the U.S. Coast Guard, and no statistically unusual number of incidents in the Bermuda Triangle, the mystery persists due to early reports receiving widespread attention.
Modern technology has enabled better tracking of air and sea traffic, reducing the sensationalism surrounding the Bermuda Triangle in recent years.
This article responds to the question posed by Cardiff resident Diane Johnston: “What happened in the Bermuda Triangle?”
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The presence of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), commonly known as “forever chemicals,” has been reported in various locations, including more than half of fruit and vegetable samples tested in the UK. This has led to increasing calls for the ban of pesticides containing these chemicals. But what are the health risks associated with consuming fruits and vegetables containing PFAS?
Understanding “Forever Chemicals”
PFAS are not a single chemical but a group of over 10,000 compounds with strong carbon and fluorine bonds. Examples include PFOS, PFOA, and PFHxS. These chemicals are used in the production of textiles, food packaging, nonstick surfaces, and pesticides due to their stability against heat, oil, and water. However, their poor biodegradability allows them to persist in the environment and human bodies for extended periods.
The Health Risks of PFAS
Ongoing research suggests that high exposure to certain PFAS compounds may lead to health issues such as increased cholesterol levels, thyroid and liver function impairment, adverse pregnancy outcomes, and a higher risk of certain cancers. While some governments have imposed restrictions on PFAS use, complete bans are rare as risks vary based on factors like exposure levels and individual health characteristics.
It’s essential to note that not all PFAS chemicals pose the same health risks, and exposure to high doses is typically required to observe harmful effects. Monitoring of PFAS levels in food is critical, with most samples in the UK containing PFAS below legal limits.
Reducing Risk and Ensuring Safety
Eating a diverse diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and grains can help reduce PFAS absorption and accumulation in the body. Washing produce thoroughly and peeling where necessary can also lower pesticide residue intake. While organic farming may reduce the presence of detectable residues, PFAS can still be found in organic produce due to environmental contamination.
Choosing locally grown, seasonal foods can further limit pesticide exposure and promote sustainable farming practices. It’s crucial to continue researching PFAS and other potentially harmful chemicals while also exploring safe and efficient methods for food production to sustain global food needs.
It’s important to approach food safety with caution, avoiding unnecessary fear or sweeping generalizations. While risks exist, proper awareness and informed choices can help mitigate potential health hazards associated with PFAS and other chemicals.
Sea cucumbers are related to sea urchins and starfish. They typically rest on the ocean floor and are not very active, similar to plants. However, in the deep sea, sea cucumbers exhibit different behaviors.
Resembling the twirling skirts of flamenco dancers, the Spanish Dancers are transparent ruby-red creatures that gracefully swim and float with the ocean currents in the deep sea, wearing their webbed cloaks. Also known as the “Remarkable Dreamer” (Enypniastes excimia).
They also have a more grotesque alias: the headless chicken monster. It looks like a plucked chicken carcass tossed into the sea and can grow up to 25cm (9 inches) long. The part that resembles a neck after decapitation is actually its mouth, surrounded by feeding tentacles. When it settles on the ocean floor, it uses its tentacles to scoop sediment into its mouth.
Like other sea cucumbers, they feed on marine snow, which is a shower of organic debris sinking from the ocean surface. It includes dead plankton and their feces bound together by a sticky microbial glue.
This swimming sea cucumber was discovered in the 1870s by scientists on a Royal Navy battleship during the famous ocean expedition known as the Challenger. They inhabit all oceans, including near Antarctica, at depths ranging from 500 meters (1,600 feet) to at least 6,000 meters (about 19,600 feet).
Due to their high water content, they are fragile, and collecting specimens often damages them. To observe them live, scientists rely on remote-controlled deep-diving robots with video cameras to get a clear picture of their appearance this century.
Thanks to their hydrated bodies, they have neutral buoyancy, enabling them to swim without much effort. This is a vital survival strategy in the deep sea where food is scarce.
Through their see-through bodies, you can see their coiled digestive tract filled with pale sediment. Before propelling into the water column, they expel their cleaned sediment waste, similar to dropping ballast sandbags from a hot air balloon.
By mixing and aerating the ocean floor, they contribute to the ecosystem like earthworms do on land. They can also illuminate their bodies, which helps them navigate in the dark.
When threatened, their skin glows and flakes off, acting as a warning signal to predators. Lab studies showed that they can quickly regenerate their skin and retain their glowing ability.
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According to climate scientists, the impact of global warming on California’s interior is becoming more evident as desert droughts worsen and rainfall intensifies. Residents of Death Valley are witnessing these changes firsthand. The future of this resilient symbol lies in the ability of the desert’s plants, animals, and local economies to adapt to the evolving conditions in one of the Earth’s harshest environments.
“It’s fascinating to witness these changes up close,” remarked Donnelly. “It’s a clear indication of climate disruption.”
Two Unprecedented Storms
Susan Sorrels, who owns an ecotourism town near Death Valley National Park called Shoshone, described the weather in the area as always erratic. However, recent years have shown a distinct pattern. In early 2022, Death Valley, along with the rest of the American Southwest, experienced a historical drought lasting 22 years, leading to record-low soil moisture levels and the gradual demise of plants such as creosote bushes. The severity of these conditions was a testament to the extreme weather in the region.
“Desert shrubs are incredibly resilient but eventually succumb,” explained Lynn Sweet, a research ecologist at the University of California, Riverside.
In August of the same year, the region was struck by an unprecedented flood, receiving 1.7 inches of rain within a few hours. This storm caused significant damage to park infrastructure and left a lasting impact on the area.
About a year later, the remnants of Hurricane Hillary caused another extraordinary event, dumping 2.2 inches of rain in a day, exceeding the typical annual rainfall. This extreme shift from drought to heavy rainfall exemplifies the unpredictability of the changing climate.
Road workers work along Highway 190, where much of the road was washed away by Tropical Storm Hillary the week before, in Death Valley, Aug. 31, 2023. Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images File
The aftermath of these storms led to challenges for Sorrels and her ecotourism business in Shoshone, with highway closures impacting accessibility during the peak tourist season.
Sorrels mentioned the local struggle to navigate through the economic impact of these weather fluctuations. She highlighted community efforts to expedite road repairs, ultimately reopening the park and highway for visitors.
In a surprising turn of events, Donnelly observed the growth of wildflowers in the region despite adverse conditions. The flowers, thriving in unusual ways, showcased a resilience that defied expectations.
Additionally, the presence of enough water led to the revival of Lake Manly, previously a dry lake bed filled with dust. This resurgence prompted the National Park Service to allow kayaking on the lake, a rare occurrence that highlighted the dramatic changes taking place in the region.
The immune system is a complex network of cells, proteins, and organs that acts as the body’s last line of defense against infection. Maintaining a healthy immune system is crucial for overall well-being.
While there are numerous supplements and products available to boost immune function, it’s important to understand that the immune system is a well-regulated system that typically functions optimally when you lead a healthy lifestyle.
Misconceptions about increasing immunity
Boosting immunity may seem like a good idea in theory, but in reality, the immune system is equipped to function efficiently on its own with the right lifestyle habits.
Attempting to supercharge the immune system with supplements can have negative consequences, as excess immune cells can lead to autoimmune diseases and other health issues.
According to Dr. Bobby Cherail, an expert in immunology, living a healthy lifestyle through proper diet, exercise, and avoiding harmful habits is the best way to support the immune system.
It’s important to note that the immune system may weaken with poor lifestyle choices, but infections typically occur only in extreme cases of malnourishment or deficiency.
Potential risks of vitamin supplements
While vitamin supplements may seem like a harmless way to boost immunity, there are risks associated with overconsumption of certain vitamins, such as vitamin A, D, E, and K.
Excess water-soluble vitamins are generally excreted by the body, but fat-soluble vitamins can accumulate and lead to toxicity if consumed in excess.
Studies have shown that multivitamins may not provide significant health benefits and can lead to a false sense of security, causing individuals to neglect other aspects of their health.
Long-term use of multivitamins has been linked to an increased risk of certain health conditions, especially in older individuals.
Vitamins still play a role…for some people.
While a healthy lifestyle is typically sufficient for maintaining a strong immune system, certain individuals with vitamin deficiencies may benefit from supplements.
People with difficulty chewing, swallowing, pregnant women, and those with digestive issues may require additional vitamin support to maintain optimal health.
Ultimately, the immune system is a highly efficient self-regulator, and for most people, immune-boosting supplements may not offer significant benefits.
About our expert Bobby Shereyle
Dr. Bobby Cherail is an associate professor of pediatrics at Harvard University, specializing in immunology and the immune system’s response to infection and inflammation.
In December 2023 and February 2024, NASA’s Juno spacecraft will fly extremely close to Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io, coming within about 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) of the surface and obtaining the first close-up images of the moon’s northern latitudes. Planetary scientists have now turned images collected during the flight into animations that show two of Io’s most dramatic features: its mountains and a nearly glassy rock formed by cooling lava called Loki Patera. It emphasized the smooth lake.
The JunoCam instrument aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft imaged Io, the most geologically active object in the solar system, on February 3, 2024, from a distance of approximately 7,904 km (4,911 miles) . Image credit: NASA/SwRI/MSSS.
“There are only a few scattered volcanoes on the island of Io, and we captured some of them active,” said Juno principal investigator and Southwest Research Institute cosmologist. said Scott Bolton, director of science and engineering.
“We also obtained great close-ups and other data about a 200 km (127 mile) long lava lake called Loki Patera.”
“It shows in amazing detail how these crazy islands are embedded in the middle of a potential magma lake fringed with hot lava.”
“The specular reflections that our instruments record about the lake suggest that parts of Io’s surface are glass-smooth, reminiscent of the obsidian glass produced in volcanoes on Earth. “
Map generated using data collected by Juno microwave radiometer (MWR)’s instruments revealed that Io not only has a relatively smooth surface compared to Jupiter’s other Galilean moons, but also has poles that are colder than the mid-latitudes.
During Juno’s long-term mission, the spacecraft will fly closer to Jupiter’s north pole with each pass.
This change in direction allows the MWR instrument to improve the resolution of Jupiter’s polar cyclones.
This data allows us to compare multiple wavelengths at the poles and reveals that not all polar cyclones are created equal.
“Perhaps the most striking example of this difference is seen in the central cyclone at Jupiter’s north pole,” said Dr. Steve Levin, Juno project scientist and researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. states.
“Although clearly visible in both infrared and visible light images, the microwave signature is not as strong as other nearby storms.”
“This indicates that its subsurface structure must be very different from other cyclones.”
“As the MWR team continues to collect more and better microwave data in every orbit, we expect to develop more detailed 3D maps of these interesting polar storms.”
632 main-belt asteroids (178 known objects and 454 unknown objects) have been identified in archival images from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Citizen scientists from around the world contributed to the discovery of this asteroid. Professional astronomers identified the asteroid using a combination of volunteer efforts and machine learning algorithms.
This Hubble image of barred spiral galaxy UGC 12158 looks like someone took it with a white marking pen. In reality, this is a combination of long exposures of a foreground asteroid moving within Hubble's field of view, adding light bombardment to observations of the galaxy. The galaxy was photographed several times. The dashed pattern is proof of this. Due to parallax, the asteroid appears as a curved trajectory. Hubble is not stationary, but orbits around the Earth, giving the illusion of a faint asteroid swimming along a curved trajectory. This unknown asteroid is located inside the solar system's asteroid belt, so it is 10 trillion times closer to Hubble than the background galaxy. Image credits: NASA / ESA / Hubble / Pablo García Martín, UAM / Joseph DePasquale, STScI / Alex Filippenko, University of California, Berkeley.
More than 4 billion years ago, the eight major planets around the sun formed by sweeping up debris from the vast disk of dust and gas surrounding the sun.
This is common in the birth process of planets, and the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has for the first time optically observed a similar disk surrounding a newborn star, providing a glimpse into the solar system's formative years.
Four billion years later, debris still litters the planet's construction yards.
Most of this ancient space debris, or asteroids, lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter within the main asteroid belt.
“We are starting to learn more about the presence of a small number of main-belt asteroids,” said Dr. Pablo García Martín, an astronomer at the Autonomous University of Madrid.
“We were surprised to see so many candidate objects.”
“We've had some hints that this population exists, but we're now confirming it with a random asteroid population sample obtained using the entire Hubble archive.”
“This is important for gaining insight into models of the evolution of the solar system.”
Since Hubble orbits around the Earth at high speed, Hubble exposure allows us to follow its trail and capture a wandering asteroid.
When viewed from a telescope on Earth, the asteroid leaves streaks across the photo.
The asteroid appears as an unmistakable curved trajectory in the photo, making the Hubble exposure a “photobomb.”
Hubble observes the asteroid from different perspectives as it moves around Earth, but the asteroid also moves along its own orbit.
By knowing Hubble's position during observations and measuring the curvature of its stripes, scientists can determine the distance to the asteroid and estimate the shape of its orbit.
Most of the asteroids involved are in the main belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
Their brightness is measured by Hubble's sensitive camera. Then, by comparing its brightness and distance, we can estimate its size.
The faintest asteroid found in the survey is approximately 40 million times less bright than the faintest star visible to the human eye.
“Because the asteroid's position changes over time, you can't find the asteroid's location just by entering the coordinates, because the asteroid may not be there at a different time,” Melin said.
“As astronomers, we don't have time to study images of every asteroid.”
“So we came up with the idea of collaborating with more than 10,000 citizen science volunteers to browse the massive Hubble archive.”
of result appear in the diary astronomy and astrophysics.
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Pablo Garcia-Martin other. 2024. Hubble Asteroid Hunter III. Physical properties of newly discovered asteroids. A&A 683, A122; doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202346771
Camels are not your typical finicky herd animals anymore. They are gaining popularity in the world of agriculture.
While the idea of incorporating camel milk into your diet may seem odd to some in Europe or the United States, it has been a dietary staple for many communities for years. Now, camel products are making their way to shelves worldwide.
Currently, it is the United Nations’ international year of the camel, celebrating camels, alpacas, and llamas. Events like the big camel parade in Paris aim to raise awareness about these animals.
Camels already contribute 8% of sub-Saharan Africa’s milk production and are expected to see a significant increase in global trade, reaching $13 billion by the end of the decade.
Experts like Dr. Ariel Ahern from the University of Oxford point out the rapid growth in camel farming, especially in regions like Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia. They predict that by 2050, camel products may become more common even in western countries like the UK.
Camels are gaining popularity due to their ability to thrive in harsh environments, making them a sustainable alternative in the face of climate change. Their high efficiency in converting food and water into meat and dairy products makes them a valuable resource in regions facing food and water scarcity.
With the potential environmental benefits of camel farming, such as reduced greenhouse gas emissions compared to traditional livestock farming, the shift towards camels in agriculture seems promising.
Why are we seeing a shift towards camels?
The International Year of the Camel aims to raise awareness about the importance of camels in the future food chain. As climate change threatens traditional food sources, camels offer advantages in adapting to dry climates and maximizing resource efficiency.
A group of camels feeding in the desert, shot from directly above, Dubai, United Arab Emirates – Image credit: Getty
Camels’ resilience to extreme conditions, lower resource requirements, and lower environmental impact make them a promising option for sustainable agriculture.
Is it time to add camel to your diet?
Camel products like milk and meat offer nutritional benefits and can be suitable alternatives for those with dietary restrictions. Camel milk, in particular, is rich in vitamin C and iron, making it a healthy option for many.
Studies show that camel milk can help lower blood sugar levels and boost immunity, while camel meat is leaner and higher in iron compared to traditional meats like beef or lamb.
Camel: Coming to a farm near you?
While camel farming is on the rise, experts caution against industrialized models and advocate for more sustainable practices. Free-range, nomadic farming models that allow camels to graze naturally may offer a greener alternative to traditional agriculture.
By utilizing the unique traits of camels, such as their ability to thrive in arid environments and their resource efficiency, we can create a more sustainable and resilient food system for the future.
About our experts
Ariel Ahearn is a lecturer at the University of Oxford, specializing in human geography and rural development. Dr. Ahearn has extensive experience working with nomadic communities in Mongolia and advocating for sustainable land use practices.
Ilse Köhler Rollefson is a German scientist known for her work with camel herders in India and her advocacy for pastoralism and sustainable farming. She is a co-founder of Camel Charisma, promoting eco-friendly camel products.
For more information on camel farming and its potential impact on agriculture, read on.
All three discoveries were made in the past five years, and the more scientists experiment with animals, the more they discover that many species have an inner life and may be sentient. It shows that. A surprising range of organisms show evidence of conscious thought and experience, including insects, fish, and some crustaceans.
That’s why a group of top animal cognition researchers has released a new statement they hope will change the way scientists and society view and care for animals.
Nearly 40 researchers signed the petition. New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness” was first presented Friday morning at a conference at New York University. This comes at a pivotal moment, as a plethora of research on animal cognition collides with debates about how different species should be treated.
The declaration says there is “strong scientific support” that birds and mammals have conscious experience, and that there is a “realistic possibility” that consciousness exists in all vertebrates, including reptiles, amphibians, and fish. It has said. The possibility extends to many organisms without backbones, including insects, decapod crustaceans (including crabs and lobsters), and cephalopod molluscs such as squid, octopuses, and cuttlefish, he added.
“If an animal has a real possibility of conscious experience, it would be irresponsible to ignore that possibility in decisions affecting that animal,” the declaration reads. “We should consider welfare risks and use evidence to inform our responses to these risks.”
Jonathan Birch, professor of philosophy at the London School of Economics and principal investigator of the Fundamentals of Animal Senses project, is also one of the signatories of the declaration. He said many scientists had previously thought questions about animal consciousness were unanswerable, but the declaration shows his field is moving in a new direction.
“This has been a very exciting decade for the study of animal minds,” Professor Birch said. “People are boldly going out there in ways that have never been done before, and are excited about the possibility that animals like bees, octopuses, and squids are somehow having conscious experiences.”
From “automaton” to perceiver
There is no standard definition for animal perception or consciousness, but these terms generally refer to the ability to have subjective experiences, i.e. the ability to feel and map the outside world, and to feel emotions such as pleasure and pain. Refers to ability. In some cases, it may mean that the animal has some degree of self-awareness.
In this sense, the new declaration goes against long-standing orthodoxy in historical science. In the 17th century, French philosopher René Descartes argued that animals are nothing more than “material automatons” without souls or consciousness.
Rajesh Reddy, assistant professor and director of the animal law program at Lewis & Clark College, said Descartes believed that animals “cannot feel or suffer.” “There was something stupid and anthropomorphic about feeling sorry for them or empathizing with them.”
In the early 20th century, prominent behavioral psychologists promoted the idea that science should study only observable behavior in animals. rather than emotions or subjective experience.. But in the 1960s, scientists began to reconsider. Research began to focus on animal cognition, primarily other primates.
Birch said the new declaration attempts to “embody an emerging consensus that rejects the 100-year-old view that there is no way to study these issues scientifically.”
Indeed, there has been a recent surge in new discoveries that support the new declaration. As scientists develop new cognitive tests and test existing tests on a wider range of species, there are some surprises.
For example, consider the mirror mark test that scientists sometimes use to see if animals recognize themselves.
The fish were placed in an aquarium covered with mirrors, but no abnormal reactions were observed. However, when the cover was removed, seven out of 10 fish launched an attack toward the mirror, indicating that they may have interpreted the image as a rival fish.
After a few days, the fish calmed down and attempted strange behaviors never seen before in this species, such as swimming upside down in front of a mirror. Afterwards, some spent an unusual amount of time in front of the mirror observing their bodies. The researchers then placed brown spots under the fish’s skin to resemble parasites. Some fish tried to scrape off the mark.
“They’re able to see wrasse perform a series of steps that you can only imagine seeing in incredibly intelligent animals like chimpanzees and dolphins,” Birch said. “No one in a million years would have expected a small fish to pass this test.”
Birch said these experiments are part of a growing body of animal consciousness research over the past 10 to 15 years. “You have a much broader canvas to study a much wider range of animals, not just mammals and birds, but also invertebrates like octopuses and squid,” he said. “And people are talking about this idea more and more in relation to insects.”
Reddy said researchers may soon need to completely reorient their research, as more and more species are showing these signs.
A new legal perspective
Reddy said the change in scientists’ understanding of animal sentience could have implications for U.S. law, which does not classify animals as sentient at the federal level. Instead, animal-related laws primarily focus on conservation, agriculture, or the treatment of animals by zoos, laboratories, and pet retailers.
“The law moves very slowly and follows society’s views on many of these issues,” Reddy said. “This declaration, and other measures to remind the public that animals are more than just biological automatons, could greatly increase support for increased protections.”
Helge Karl/Getty Images/iStockphoto
State laws vary widely. Ten years ago, Oregon passed a law recognizing that animals are sentient and capable of feeling pain, stress and fear, forming the basis of progressive judicial opinion in the state, Reddy said. he said.
meanwhile, Washington and California These are among the states where lawmakers this year are considering bans on farming octopuses, a species in which scientists have found strong evidence of sentience.
British law has recently changed to consider octopuses as living organisms, just like crabs and lobsters.
“Once you realize that animals are intelligent, the concept of humane slaughter starts to become important. You have to make sure that the methods you’re using on the animals are humane,” Birch said. says. “For crabs and lobsters, very inhumane methods such as dropping them into a pot of boiling water are very common.”
The curved tip of a wind turbine blade, or winglet, based on the shape of a condor wing
Kashayar Ranamai Vahanbali
A design change inspired by the wings of the Andean condor could increase the energy produced by wind turbines.
Different types of birds have upturned tips at the ends of their wings, which help maximize lift. Similar features, known as winglets, are commonly used on aircraft wings, but have not been tested on the giant turbine blades used to generate electricity.
Kashayar Ranamai Vahanbali Researchers at the University of Alberta in Canada say collecting experimental data on wind turbines with winglets is extremely difficult due to their size.
His team designed a winglet based on the Andean condor, the heaviest flying bird in the world. The Andean condor can travel vast distances, despite weighing up to 15 kg.
Computer simulations of airflow through the turbine showed that these winglets reduced drag and increased efficiency by an average of 10%.
“Another perspective is that the winglets allow the turbine to capture more wind energy with minimal losses. [resistance]” says Ranamayvahanbury.
Winglets can be retrofitted after a turbine is manufactured, he said, by slipping “sock-like” pieces onto the ends of the blades. Researchers are developing an experimental setup to test models of wind turbine winglets.
Peter Majewski, who recently retired from the University of South Australia, said the research results made sense from an engineering and aerodynamics perspective, but retrofitting existing wind turbines would be prohibitive in terms of downtime and cost. He said it might be realistic.
But for new turbine blades, adding winglets during the manufacturing process can lead to significant performance improvements, he says.
Maltese artists at the 60th Venice Biennale Matthew Attard Through the prism of AI-driven technology, we address our nation's maritime heritage, along with concepts of faith and progress. His work focuses on images of ships graffitied by sailors on the stone facades of Maltese chapels from the 16th century to his 19th century, one of his is pictured below.
Boat graffiti in the Chapel of the Visitation of Our Lady in Weed Kilda, Malta
Elise Tonna
Attard, pictured below, used his line of sight to follow notches in the ship's hull, rigging, and billowing sails, a process facilitated by line-of-sight trackers and generative algorithms. “This line of sight was converted by technology into data points, which were further interpreted to produce lines and drawings,” he says.
A database of digital images generated from the data points captured the sculpture from different perspectives, from which works of art such as 3D scans and video works were created.
Matthew Attard wearing an eye tracking device.
Elise Tonna
Marine graffiti resonates with cultures where the relationship with the sea has been and continues to be important, and ships remain a metaphor for hope and survival. Similarly, the Maltese chapels have long been sanctuaries. Attard said he wanted to explore “parallels to the current 'blind faith' in digital technology.”
A reinterpretation of his etching is the impression of a ghostly skeleton, as shown in the main image. “Some would argue that even the most traditional mediums, such as pencil or charcoal, can be considered a form of drawing technique,” he points out. His exhibition, commissioned by the Malta Arts Council, will run at the Malta Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in Italy until 24 November.
Eating less of some types of foods and more of others may ease irritable bowel syndrome
Aamrya/Getty Images
Two types of diets are more effective at treating irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) than drugs, a trial has found.
One diet was designed to be low in FODMAPs, a group of carbohydrates similar to sugars found in dairy products, wheat, and certain fruits and vegetables. The second, less common approach used for IBS is an adaptation of a low-carbohydrate diet that is high in fiber and low in other types of carbohydrates, such as sugar and starch.
In a randomized trial, both diets showed better symptom improvement than standard drug treatment after four weeks.
IBS can cause mysterious symptoms such as diarrhea, constipation, bloating, and abdominal pain that increase or decrease over time. The underlying cause of this condition is unknown.
The usual advice is to avoid common triggers such as caffeine, alcohol and spicy foods. Symptomatic treatments such as laxatives for constipation and drug therapy for diarrhea may be given.
If these measures don’t work, you may want to consider cutting back on foods high in FODMAPs. FODMAPs tend not to be digested until they reach the colon, which is why they are thought to cause bloating and diarrhea. This encourages the colon to retain water, and when the molecules are consumed by bacteria, gas is produced and causes bloating.
Sanna Niebacka Researchers from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden wanted to find out how a regular low-FODMAP diet compared to an alternative approach: high in fiber but low in carbohydrates. In practice, this means eating high-fat, high-protein foods such as meat and dairy products, and sources of fiber include nuts, seeds, beans, and vegetables such as cabbage.
The research team asked around 300 people with IBS to use one of three approaches depending on their symptoms: take medication or adopt one of two diets. The diet provided people with free grocery delivery, as well as detailed meal plans and recipes.
After one month, 76% of the low-FODMAP group reported a significant reduction in symptoms, compared with 71% of the low-carbohydrate diet group and 58% of the drug treatment group.
The big surprise was that a low-carbohydrate, high-fiber diet that didn’t exclude FODMAP-containing foods was about as effective as a low-FODMAP approach, Nybacka says. “We can’t answer any questions as to why. It appears that altering carbohydrate content and reducing FODMAP intake may be beneficial.”
but hazel everitt Researchers at the University of Southampton in the UK say the trial would have been more informative if it had lasted longer. “The problem with many of the IBS diets that have been proposed is that they are very difficult to stick to long-term,” she says.
Participants were followed for up to six months, but during the last five months participants who were initially offered drug treatment were also given dietary advice.
Niebacka says one potential problem with the low-carbohydrate, high-fiber diet is that this group of people had slightly elevated blood cholesterol levels. Therefore, you should seek your doctor’s advice before adopting this diet, she says.
There is a new space race underway, with missions to the moon increasing at a significant pace. Recently, a spacecraft built by Intuitive Machines became the first U.S. mission to land on the moon since 1972’s Apollo mission.
China is preparing to launch Chang’e 6, furthering their lunar exploration program with plans to bring back lunar rocks from the far side of the moon. A NASA study suggests that 22 international missions could reach the moon by the end of 2026, potentially leading to astronauts leaving footprints on the moon once again.
Despite the exciting progress, researchers like Dr. Alanna Krolikowski and martin elvis warn of dangers overlooked in the rush of exploration. They emphasize the need to protect Sites of Extremely Scientific Significance (SESI) on the moon, similar to protecting special sites on Earth.
Krolikowski stresses the urgency of implementing SESI protections to avoid irreversible harm to these important areas. Two key locations on the moon, its backside shielded from Earth’s radio noise and its poles with valuable volatiles like water ice, require preservation for scientific research and exploration.
“The problem is urgent,” says Krolikowski. “We are facing a rapidly closing window in which SESI protections can be implemented to avoid the worst possible irreversible harm.”
Special attention is drawn to the moon’s poles with areas of eternal darkness that trap important volatiles. These regions hold valuable information about the history of the solar system, particularly in studying the early universe.
Researchers advocate for careful management of activities on the moon to avoid contaminating these special areas and preserving their natural state for exploration.
Proposals for protecting lunar SESIs include identifying and characterizing these areas, establishing rules in national and international space policies, and initiating negotiations under the United Nations for effective international cooperation.
Despite the challenges, experts like Krolikowski, Elvis, and Crawford stress the importance of getting it right to preserve the moon’s unique habitats and secrets. With increasing lunar activities, taking action now is crucial.
About our experts
Dr. Alanna Krolikowski is an assistant professor of political science at the Missouri Institute of Technology, specializing in space policy research published in academic journals like space policy and global policy.
martin elvis is an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics focusing on space economics, law, and ethics, with research published in Nature and other journals.
Professor Ian Crawford is a planetary scientist at Birkbeck University, known for his lunar science and exploration research published in various scientific journals.
Continued use of drugs such as cocaine and morphine is thought to affect the way the brain prioritizes the body’s basic needs, but we are only now understanding how this happens.
When people repeatedly misuse drugs, they can experience long-term behavioral changes, where they choose to take drugs instead of doing what they need to do, such as eating or drinking.
A brain pathway called the mesolimbic reward system is thought to be involved in this process, but few studies have directly compared the system’s response to drug intake and its response when its innate needs are not met.
now, bowen tan from Rockefeller University in New York and colleagues showed that the same neurons are activated in these two situations. They revealed this using sophisticated microscopy equipment that can track the activity of individual neurons in the brains of mice in a state of withdrawal after repeated exposure to these drugs.
“There has long been a debate in this field about whether there are specialized cell types that encode only drug value and specialized cell types that encode only natural reward value,” Tan said. To tell. “What we saw is that these drugs of abuse typically activate the same set of neurons as natural rewards.”
The researchers also observed that after giving mice cocaine or morphine, their food and water intake decreased, while the neural responses needed to satisfy basic needs were disrupted.
“What’s really remarkable about this finding is that the strong neural responses to food and water are almost replaced by responses to drugs,” he says. Jeremy Day At the University of Alabama at Birmingham. “[This suggests] Drug rewards can override the way the brain converts desire states into behaviors that satisfy those desires.”
Tan and his team also identified a gene called.Rev which appears to be necessary for the drug to have this effect. Rev Because it is part of a cell signaling pathway that is also found in humans, future research could explore how inhibiting this pathway could be used as a treatment for substance misuse, he said. To tell.
Traditionally, climate has been thought to be the cause of the emergence and extinction of human species. However, interspecific competition is known to play an important role in most vertebrates. A new study shows for the first time that competition has been the basis of speciation (the rate at which new species emerge) over five million years of human evolution.It also means that our speciation patterns homo The pedigree was different from most others.
a homo heidelbergensis, Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons. Image credit: SINC / Jose Antonio Peñas.
“We have ignored how competition between species has shaped our own evolutionary tree,” says Dr Laura van Holstein, an anthropologist at the University of Cambridge.
“The effects of climate on the human species are only part of the story.”
“In other vertebrates, species form to fill ecological niches. Darwin's finches, for example, have evolved large beaks for cracking nuts, while others have evolved large beaks for eating certain insects. Some have evolved small beaks to accommodate them. Once their respective resource niches are filled, competition ensues, no new finches emerge, and extinction takes over.”
Dr Van Holstein and Professor Robert Foley from the University of Cambridge used Bayesian modeling and phylogenetic analysis to show that, like other vertebrates, most species of humans formed when competition for resources and space was low. It was shown that
“The pattern seen in many early humans is similar to all other mammals,” van Holstein says.
“The speciation rate increases, then levels off, at which point the extinction rate begins to increase. This suggests that competition between species was a major evolutionary factor.”
However, when the authors analyzed our group, homothe findings were “bizarre.”
for homo The pattern of evolution of the lineage leading to modern humans suggests that interspecific competition actually led to the emergence of even newer species, a complete departure from trends seen in almost all other vertebrates. It's a reversal.
“The more types there are, the more homo The more there are, the higher the rate of speciation,” Dr. van Holstein said.
“So once those niches were filled, something caused more species to emerge. This is almost unprecedented in evolutionary science.”
The closest comparison she found was a species of beetle that lives on the island. On islands, confined ecosystems can produce unusual evolutionary trends.
“The evolutionary patterns we see across species are homo “The direct link to modern humans is more closely related to island beetles than to other primates or other mammals,” Dr van Holstein said.
Ichthyotitan severnensis It lived in the Triassic seas around 202 million years ago and may have grown over 25 meters (82 feet) long.
Ichthyotitan severnensis. Image credit: Gabriel Uguet.
Ichthyosaurs are dolphin-like marine reptiles known from hundreds of fossils from the time of the dinosaurs.
These creatures ranged in size from less than a meter to over 20 meters (65 feet) in length.
All animals gave birth to live young in the sea, and some had giant eyes and so-called warm-blooded physiology, and some were fast swimmers and deep divers.
“Ichthyosaurs first evolved during the early Triassic period, about 250 million years ago,” said Dr Dean Lomax and colleagues from the Universities of Bristol and Manchester.
“Within a few million years, some ichthyosaurs evolved to reach lengths of 15 meters or more, and by the late Triassic period (about 200 million years ago), the largest fish, including the newly described ichthyosaurs. The dragon has evolved. Ichthyotitan severnensis“
“But this reign didn’t necessarily last long. Some species of ichthyosaurs continued to roam the oceans for millions of years, but these ‘giant ichthyosaurs’ It is thought to have become extinct during the Tatami-Jurassic extinction event. And this unique group of marine reptiles never reached such a world again. Huge size.”
two fragmentary jaw bones Ichthyotitan severnensis Collected from the uppermost layer of the Triassic period Westbury Mudstone Formation Located in Somerset, England.
Based on the length of the fossil, the new species could have been a whopping 25 meters long, or twice as long as a city bus.
“In 2018, my team studied and described a giant jawbone, and we were hopeful that one day another jawbone would be revealed,” Dr. Lomax said.
“The new specimen is more complete and better preserved, showing that there are two large bones (called quadrilateral bones) with unique shapes and structures.”
“It’s quite amazing to think that gigantic ichthyosaurs, the size of blue whales, were swimming in the seas around Britain during the Triassic period.”
“These jaw bones provide intriguing evidence that perhaps someday the complete skull or skeleton of these giants may be discovered. You never know.”
discovery of Ichthyotitan severnensis is explained in paper in diary PLoS ONE.
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DR Lomax other. 2024. The last giant: new evidence of a giant Late Triassic (Rhaetian) ichthyosaur from Britain. PLoS ONE 19 (4): e0300289; doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0300289
Breast cancer affects thousands of people each year. Scientists have shown that many factors can influence breast cancer, including age, physical inactivity, and obesity. However, it is unclear exactly how obesity and breast cancer are related.
Previous researchers have shown that tissue inflammation in obese patients is related to cancer. Other researchers have shown that obese patients have the following characteristics: specific genetic mutations It is also related to cancer. However, how this mutation acts to generate different types of tumors is not fully understood.
Ha-Linh Nguyen and colleagues recently investigated the relationship between breast cancer and obesity. Nguyen and his team wanted to determine how obesity affects breast cancer by examining the tissue cell and genetic profiles of breast cancer in obese patients. Their goal was to see if doctors could develop more targeted treatments for breast cancer based on the genetic mutations involved.
They collected genetic data from the tumors of more than 2,000 breast cancer patients collected during multiple large-scale breast cancer studies conducted by five accredited cancer research institutions. To ensure that no changes had occurred in the breast tumors, the researchers only used data from patients who had not yet started cancer treatment.
The researchers defined obesity based on the patient’s weight-to-height ratio. body mass index, or BMI. They used patients’ BMI data to classify patients into three categories: obese, overweight, and underweight. An obese patient, her BMI was over 30 kilograms per square meter (kg/m2).2), the BMI of overweight patients was 25–30 kg/m2.2lean patients had a BMI of 18.5 to 25 kg/m.2. For reference, the average BMI for adults is approximately 26 kg/m3.2.
Patients were then further categorized based on breast tumor type. These categories include patients with tumors that originate in the milk-producing glands of the breast. Invasive lobular carcinoma tumoror a comparison of patients with ILC tumors and patients without specific tumor types.
The researchers also took into account other biological factors used to identify the type of breast cancer. estrogen receptor. Tumors in patients with estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer contain receptors that use the hormone estrogen to stimulate tumor cell growth. The tumors of breast cancer patients who are estrogen receptor-negative do not contain this receptor.
They also looked at another way to determine the type of tumor, a method called. HER2 factor. HER2-positive breast cancer patients contain a protein called human epidermal growth factor 2, which allows cancer cells to multiply rapidly. The researchers used these biochemical markers to classify patients by tumor type, and then used statistical analysis to distinguish between tumor types in obese patients and those in lean and overweight groups. We compared the types.
Researchers found that in obese patients with non-specific tumors that are estrogen receptor positive and HER2 negative, BMI influences breast cancer in the same way that age influences cancer development. The researchers explained that as we age, the body’s immune response slows down, giving cancer cells more time to accumulate before the body reacts and stops the process. They suggested that these results support the idea that both age and obesity are risk factors for developing breast cancer.
The scientists then looked at whether the tumors in each group had one or more cancer-causing mutations. The research team specifically looked at genes that researchers had previously shown had mutations that cause breast cancer. They also examined tumor DNA to see if there were mutations that caused deletions or amplifications of specific parts of the DNA. Change number of copies.
Researchers found different genetic mutations in patients with different BMIs. They found that a gene involved in cell division signaling, called P1K3CA, was less mutated in obese patients who were estrogen receptor positive, HER2 negative, and had unspecific tumors. Mutations in two other HER genes, CCND1 and CCNE1, were more common in obese patients with estrogen receptor-positive tumors.
The researchers concluded that their study showed a genetic link between breast cancer and obesity. They suggested that some genetic mutations found in tumors of obese patients, particularly CCND1 and CCNE1 mutations, may enable targeted breast cancer treatments. They suggested that future researchers should investigate how the biochemical pathways these genes are associated with actually contribute to breast cancer formation to better develop treatments. .
research author: Harinh Nguyen, Tatiana Geukens, Marion Mehtens, Samuel Aparicio, Ayse Bassez, Ake Borg, Jane Block, Anejan Brooks, Carlos Caldas, Fatima Cardoso, Maxim de Schepper, Mauro DeLorenzi. , Caroline A. Drucker, Anuska M. Glass, Andrew R. Green, Edoardo Isnardi, Jörn Eifjords, Hazem Kout, Stian Knapskog, Savitri Krishnamurthy, Sunil R. Lakhani, Anita Langerod, John W. M. Martens, Amy E. McCart-Reid, Lee Murphy, Stefan Nauraz, Selina Nick-Zinal, Ines Nebelsteen, Patrick Neven, Martine Picard, Coralie Ponsetto, Kevin Puni, Colin Purdy, Emad A. Raka, Andrea Richardson, Emile Rutgers, Anne Vincent-Salomon, Peter T. Simpson, Marjanka K. Schmidt, Christos Sotiriou, Paul N. Spann, Kiat. Tee Benita Tan, Alastair Thompson, Stefania Tommasi, Karen van Baeren, Marc van de Wivel, Steven van Leer, Laura van't Veer, Giuseppe Viale, Alan Viali, Hanne Voss, Anke T. Witteveen, Hans Wildyas, Giuseppe Floris, Abhishek D. Garg, Anne Smeets, Dieter Lambrecht, Elia Biganzoli, Francois Richard, Christine Desmet
The research was conducted at the following locations:: Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium), Lund University (Sweden), Netherlands Cancer Institute (Netherlands), University of Cambridge (UK), Champalimaud Clinical Center/Champalimaud Foundation (Portugal), University of Lausanne (Switzerland), SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (Switzerland), Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital (Netherlands), University of Nottingham (UK), University of Iceland (Iceland), University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust (UK), University of Bergen (Norway), and University of Texas MD Anderson. University of Queensland, Herston (Australia), Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Herston (Australia), Oslo University Hospital, Ullenjausen (Norway), Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam (Netherlands), University of Manitoba , Manitoba Institute for Cancer Treatment (Canada), University Hospital Leuven (Belgium), Jules Bordet Institute and Free University of Bruxelles (Belgium), European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Headquarters (Belgium), University of Dundee (UK) , Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (UK), Johns Hopkins University (USA), Netherlands Cancer Institute (Netherlands), Institut Curie, PSL Research University (France), Radboud University Medical Center (Netherlands), Sengkang General Hospital ( Singapore), National Cancer Center (Singapore), Baylor College of Medicine (USA), IRCCS Istituto Tumouri “Giovanni Paolo II” (Italy), University of Amsterdam (Netherlands), University of Antwerp (Belgium), UCSF Helen Diller Family Institute Cancer Center (USA), European Institute of Oncology IRCCS (Italy), University of Milan (Italy), Synergie Lyon Cancer, Plateforme de Bio-informatique 'Gilles Thomas' (France), Università degli Studi di Milano (Italy)
This research was funded by: Luxembourg Cancer Foundation, European Research Council, University of Leuven.
Availability of raw data: Data from the ICGC cohort includes: ICGC Data Portalthe data from ELBC includes: gene expression omnibus Accession number GSE88770 provides access to data from MINDACT. EORTCindividual patient read count data can be accessed below. bio keythe raw sequence reads include European Genomic Phenomena Archive Research No. EGAS00001004809 and data accession number. EGAD00001006608
Io, Jupiter’s innermost moon, is the most volcanically active object in the solar system.
Joshimer Binas/Alamy Stock Photo
Jupiter’s moon Io has been continually modified by volcanic eruptions over billions of years, probably since it first formed.
Io is the most volcanically active object in the solar system, with many volcanoes spewing plumes of sulfurous material that can be seen from Earth. Astronomers now know this is caused by so-called tidal heating, in which the gravity of Jupiter and its nearby moons deforms Io, but they wonder if it’s always been this way or if there was a more benign past. It was unclear whether it was there or not.
now, Catherine de Clear Caltech researchers have discovered that Io has probably been spewing lava for almost the entirety of its history. They did this by measuring the ratio of her two isotopes of sulfur in the atmosphere.
The most common stable form of sulfur contains 16 protons and 16 neutrons in each atom, but a heavier stable form called sulfur-34 has two extra neutrons. On Io, volcanoes continually spew both isotopes into the atmosphere and onto the ground. The top layer of the atmosphere, rich in lighter sulfur atoms, is lost to space as the moon moves around Jupiter, changing the ratio of these isotopes.
De Kleer and colleagues used observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), a series of radio telescopes in Chile, to measure the proportions of Io’s atmosphere. Then, by modeling how much sulfur Io loses each year, the researchers were able to see at what point Io’s sulfur ratios are similar to the rest of the solar system. Although it is not possible to say exactly how long the volcano has been active, it appears that it has been erupting for between 2.5 billion and 4 billion years.
Because Io’s volcanic activity is due to tidal heating by Jupiter and other moons such as Europa and Ganymede, the results can also be used to infer the configuration of the Jupiter system billions of years ago. “The length of Io’s volcanic activity is a direct reflection of how long this orbital structure has existed,” de Clare says.
If Io has been consistently volcanically active for billions of years, this also means that its deep geological formations have been recycled many times, they say. Lionel Wilson At Lancaster University, UK.
Sampling the ejected material will provide a rare opportunity to learn about the chemical composition of Io’s deeper layers, such as the mantle beneath its outer shell. “If these volcanoes have continued to erupt essentially throughout the history of the solar system, even if we look at the composition of what’s erupting and find that it’s actually a snapshot of Io’s entire mantle, It’s safe,” Wilson said.
Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope detected methane emissions from the. CWISEP J193518.59-154620.3 (W1935 for short) is an isolated brown dwarf star with a temperature of about 482 K. Their findings also suggest that W1935 could produce auroras similar to those seen on our planet, Jupiter, and Saturn.
Artist's impression of the brown dwarf W1935. Image credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/L. Hustak, STScI.
W1935 is located about 47 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius.
This brown dwarf was co-discovered by Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 citizen science volunteer Dan Caselden and NASA's CatWISE team.
W1935's mass is not well known, but it is probably in the range of 6 to 35 times the mass of Jupiter.
After observing numerous brown dwarfs observed by Webb, Dr. Jackie Faherty Researchers at the American Museum of Natural History found W1935 to be similar, with one notable exception. It was emitting methane, which had never been seen before in brown dwarfs.
“Methane gas is expected to be present in giant planets and brown dwarfs, but we typically see it absorbing light rather than absorbing it,” Faherty said.
“At first we were confused by what we were seeing, but eventually it turned into pure excitement when it was discovered.”
Computer modeling provided another surprise. W1935 may have a temperature inversion, a phenomenon in which the atmosphere becomes warmer as altitude increases.
Temperature inversions easily occur in planets orbiting stars, but brown dwarfs are isolated and have no obvious external heat source.
“We were pleasantly shocked when the model clearly predicted a temperature inversion,” said Dr Ben Burningham, an astronomer at the University of Hertfordshire.
“But we also needed to figure out where that extra upper atmosphere heat was coming from.”
To find out, astronomers turned to our solar system. In particular, they focused on the study of Jupiter and Saturn. Both show methane release and temperature inversions.
Since the aurora is likely the cause of this feature on the solar system's giants, the researchers speculated that they had discovered the same phenomenon in W1935.
Planetary scientists know that one of the main drivers of Jupiter and Saturn's auroras are high-energy particles from the sun that interact with the planets' magnetic fields and atmospheres, heating the upper layers.
This is also the reason for the aurora borealis we see on Earth. Auroras are most unusual near the poles, so they are commonly referred to as aurora borealis or southern lights.
However, W1935 does not have a host star, so solar wind cannot contribute to the explanation.
There's another fascinating reason why auroras occur in our solar system.
Both Jupiter and Saturn have active moons that occasionally eject material into space, interacting with the planets and enhancing the auroral footprints of those worlds.
Jupiter's moon Io is the most volcanically active world in the solar system, spewing fountains of lava tens of miles high. Also, Saturn's moon Encereadus spews water vapor from geysers that freeze and boil as soon as they reach space.
Although more observations are needed, researchers speculate that one explanation for W1935's aurora may be an active moon that has yet to be discovered.
“Every time astronomers point an object at the Webb, new and surprising discoveries can occur,” Dr. Faherty said.
“When we started this project, we weren't concerned about methane emissions, but now that we know that methane emissions can exist and the explanations are very attractive, we're always paying attention. That's part of how science moves forward.”
a paper The survey results were published in a magazine Nature.
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JK Faherty other. 2024. Methane emission from cool brown dwarfs. Nature 628, 511-514; doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07190-w
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