Scientists on board the research vessel atlantis Five new deep-sea hydrothermal vents have been discovered on the ocean floor at a depth of 2,550 meters (1.6 miles). All exhaust fluids are hotter than 300 degrees Celsius (570 degrees Fahrenheit).
vehicle carried by humans alvin Arrived at the ocean floor. Image credits: J. McDermott, Lehigh University / T. Barreyre, CNRS / R. Parnell-Turner, Scripps Institution of Oceanography / D. Fornari, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution / National Deep Diving Facility / Alvin Group.
Hydrothermal vents are rich in chemicals that provide energy for animal life, fueling rich and productive ecosystems.
The location of the new hydrothermal vent was discovered by a team of scientists during a research expedition funded by the National Science Foundation.
They are located on the East Pacific Ridge near 10 degrees north latitude and are part of the trans-Earth mid-ocean ridge volcanic mountains, where two tectonic plates are breaking apart at a rate of about 11 cm (4.3 inches) per year.
Expedition researchers used underwater robots to map the area at night guard.
rear guard Retrieved each morning, high-resolution maps from the vehicle’s sensors were used to plan the day’s dives by the manned vehicle. alvinThis gives scientists a first-hand look at the complex and ever-changing environments of places like the East Pacific Rise.
“High-resolution maps are guard There is a possibility that new hydrothermal areas will be discovered soon guard will be back on deck,” said Dr. Jill McDermott, a researcher at Lehigh University.
“This gives us great goals such as: alvin And the opportunity to make multiple discoveries in one dive.”
scientists infiltrate alvin He first discovered a hydrothermal vent in 1977 while exploring an oceanic ridge north of the Galapagos Islands.
The discovery has reshaped scientists’ understanding of the conditions that can support life on Earth and elsewhere in the solar system.
“Mid-ocean ridges account for more than 75% of all volcanic activity on Earth,” said CNRS researcher Dr. Thibault Valley.
“There are thousands of these deep-sea hot springs, which together extract 10 percent of the Earth’s total internal heat.”
“We want to better understand how hydrothermal vents release heat and chemicals as they flow beneath the ocean floor, impacting global oceans.”
“new guard “Using the map, we can see vital details of lava flows erupting in the deep ocean and target them for rock sample collection, just as geologists do on land.” said Dr. Daniel Fornari, a researcher at the institute.
“These new perspectives and analysis of rock samples will help us understand how fast the lava erupted, how far it traveled, and how deep-sea lava eruptions affect hydrothermal eruptions. I guess.”
“By working together these two state-of-the-art deep-sea submersibles, we will make surprising new discoveries about how the deep sea floor is constructed in some of the harshest environments on Earth. Yes, we can,” said Dr. Ross Parnell Turner., a researcher at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
According to astronomers’ best models of black hole evolution, the magnetic field within the accretion disk must be strong enough to push the accreted plasma out into the surroundings. New results from Sagittarius A*, the 4.3 million solar mass black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy, and its much larger cousin M87* provide the first direct observational evidence supporting these models.
This image from the Event Horizon Telescope shows a polarized view of Sagittarius A*. The lines superimposed on this image show the direction of polarization associated with the magnetic field around the black hole’s shadow. Image credit: EHT Collaboration.
In 2022, EHT collaboration The first image of Sagittarius A*, about 27,000 light-years from Earth, has been released, showing that the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole looks very good despite being more than 1/1000th smaller and lighter in mass than M87. revealed that they are similar.
This led scientists to wonder if the two men had more in common than just their looks. To find out, they decided to study Sagittarius A* in polarized light.
Previous studies of the light surrounding M87* revealed that the magnetic field around the supermassive black hole causes powerful jets of matter to be ejected into the surrounding environment.
Based on this study, new EHT images reveal that the same may be true for Sagittarius A*.
“What we’re seeing now is a strong, twisted, organized magnetic field near the black hole at the center of the Milky Way,” said astronomers at the Harvard University & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. said Dr. Sarah Isaun.
“In addition to having a polarization structure that is strikingly similar to that seen in the much larger and more powerful M87* black hole, Sagittarius A* has a polarization structure that is strikingly similar to that seen in the much larger and more powerful M87* black hole. We found that strong, well-ordered magnetic fields are important for how they act.”
Light is a vibrating or moving electromagnetic wave that allows us to see objects. Light can oscillate in a particular direction, which scientists call polarization.
Polarized light is all around us, but to the human eye it is indistinguishable from “normal” light.
In the plasma around these black holes, particles swirling around magnetic field lines impart a polarization pattern perpendicular to the magnetic field.
This will allow astronomers to see in clearer detail what’s happening in the black hole region and map its magnetic field lines.
“By imaging polarized light from glowing gas near a black hole, we are directly inferring the structure and strength of the magnetic field that flows through the streams of gas and matter that the black hole feeds and ejects.” said Dr. Angelo Ricarte. Astronomer at Harvard University and the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
“Polarized light can tell us much more about astrophysics, the properties of the gas, and the mechanisms that occur when black holes feed.”
But imaging black holes under polarized light isn’t as easy as wearing polarized sunglasses. This is especially true for Sagittarius A*. Sagittarius A* changes so quickly that you can’t stand still and take a photo.
Imaging supermassive black holes requires sophisticated tools beyond those previously used to capture a more stable target, M87*.
“Sagittarius A*s are like enthusiastic toddlers,” said Avery Broderick, a professor at the University of Waterloo.
“For the first time, we see invisible structures that guide matter within a black hole’s disk, drive plasma to the event horizon, and help the plasma grow.”
“Sagittarius A* moves around while trying to photograph it, so it was difficult to even construct an unpolarized image,” said astronomer Dr. Jeffrey Bower of the Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica in Taipei. Told.
“The first image is an average of multiple images from the movement of Sagittarius A*.”
“I was relieved that polarized imaging was also possible. Some models had too much scrambling and turbulence to build polarized images, but nature isn’t that cruel. did.”
Professor Maria Felicia de Laurentiis, University of Naples Federico II, said: “Using samples of two black holes with very different masses and host galaxies, we can determine what they agree on and what they do not agree on.” It’s important.
“Since both point us toward strong magnetic fields, this suggests that this may be a universal and perhaps fundamental feature of this type of system.”
“One similarity between these two black holes could be a jet. But while we imaged a very obvious black hole in M87*, we have yet to find one in Sagittarius A*. not.”
Collaboration with Event Horizon Telescope. 2024. Horizon telescope results for the first Sagittarius A* event. VII. Polarization of the ring. APJL 964, L25; doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/ad2df0
Collaboration with Event Horizon Telescope. 2024. Horizon telescope results for the first Sagittarius A* event. VIII. Physical interpretation of polarization rings. APJL 964, L26; doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/ad2df1
Paleontologists from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and others have discovered a partial fossil of an ancient tapeworm preserved in Kachin amber from Myanmar from the mid-Cretaceous period.
A 99-million-year-old amber fragment containing a tapeworm fossil (long tentacles) and other inclusions: (AB) Overall view of the amber fragment. (C) Trichophytes of Gleichenidae. (D) Scale insect larva. (E) Sand grains. Scale bar – 2 mm inches (A, B), 0.1 mm inches (CE).Image credit: Luo other., doi:10.1130/G52071.1.
Parasites, especially parasitoids, are ubiquitous in extant ecosystems but poorly preserved in the geological record.
One such group is Sestoda (tapeworms), a special group of internal parasites flatworm.
These organisms have complex life cycles with at least two hosts and infect all major vertebrate groups.
However, due to its soft tissue and hidden habitat, the fossil record is very sparse, with the only widely accepted example of a pre-Quaternary period being a shark egg found in a Permian coprolite. be.
The lack of body fossils greatly hinders our understanding of early evolution.
Dr. Bo Wang, a researcher at the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, said: “The fossil record of tapeworms is extremely poor due to its soft tissue and endoparasite habitat, which is a major hindrance in understanding its early evolution. ''. Science.
The new fossil exhibits unique external (armature pattern) and internal (partially invaginated tentacles and rootless hooks) features that are most consistent with extant tentacles. Trypanolhynch tapeworm Parasitic substances of marine life elasmobranch (mainly sharks and rays).
“This discovery is the most convincing platyzoan fossil ever discovered,” said Dr. Cihang Luo. candidate at Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
“Our study provides an exceptional example of a marine endoparasite trapped in amber and also sheds new light on amber taphonomy.”
“Specifically, we showed that amber can preserve the internal structure of helminths.”
“Using high-resolution micro-CT, we discovered that inside the modern fossil, a folded vertical structure extending spirally around the longitudinal axis extends to the very front. It matches the tentacle you entered.”
“On the other hand, rootless hooks are the same as trypanorhynch hooks.”
“Previous studies have shown that internal structures can be preserved intact, similar to modern forms, but all such studies have focused on arthropods.”
A hypothetical ecological recreation of the Trypanorhynch tapeworm fossil. Image credit: Dinghua Yang / Luo other., doi:10.1130/G52071.1.
“Our results show that amber can preserve the internal structure of helminths such as tapeworms over geological time scales,” Dr. Wang said.
“In addition to remarkable examples of marine endoparasites trapped in amber, several Gleichenia trichomes and scale insect larvae were also preserved in the same amber specimen along with partial insect remains. I did.”
“This clearly indicates that it was in a terrestrial or terrestrial environment at the time it was trapped in the resin.”
“Additionally, many sand grains are evenly distributed throughout the amber, suggesting that the fossil was buried in a sandy environment.”
“Furthermore, evidence so far indicates that Kachin amber was deposited in a near-shore environment.”
“One possible scenario for the tapeworm being deposited in the amber is that its elasmobranch host became stranded by tides or storms.”
“In such a scenario, the host would have been bitten by a high level of terrestrial predator or scavenger.”
“When the host was consumed by a predator, the tentacles were pulled apart, detached from the intestine, and attached to nearby resin.”
“Our study further supports the hypothesis that Kachin amber was probably deposited in a paleoenvironment in the Pala region, and also highlights the importance of amber studies in paleoparasitology.”
team's paper It was published in the magazine geology.
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Jikyoura other. Exceptional preservation of marine tapeworm tentacles preserved in Cretaceous amber. geology, published online March 22, 2024. doi: 10.1130/G52071.1
Recently, I was walking alone down a quiet, winding road. The road is snowy and slippery, making it difficult to walk. The sun felt warm on my face. As I trudged uphill, I missed seeing my girlfriend’s partner, but I was grateful to be able to visit my little sister, who I don’t see often.
I spent a few hours alone that day. At that time, I felt a variety of emotions, including curiosity, anxiety, and joy. It was a welcome period of solitude, and I returned to civilization feeling calmer and clearer than when I left.
Think back to the last time you were alone. Maybe you were commuting to work or getting up before the rest of your family. Maybe you live alone. Did you enjoy that period of solitude and long to connect with others, or did you let it pass without much thought?
Loneliness is inevitable. The adults inside England And the US One-third of your waking life is spent alone And it increases as you get older. In many places, we live alone more than ever before.Recent Survey of 75 countries We find that 17 of these locations have more than 25% single-person households.
As social creatures, research has historically kept us from spending time in solitude. But these days, more and more people seem to be craving time away from the crowds. Well, we now have evidence as to why spending time alone feels so good and may actually be essential to your health and well-being. Furthermore, we…
A humanoid robot can predict one second in advance whether someone will smile and match the smile on its own face. The creators hope this technology will make interactions with robots more realistic.
Artificial intelligence is now able to imitate human language to an impressive degree, but interacting with physical robots often falls into the “uncanny valley.” One reason for this is that robots cannot reproduce the complex nonverbal cues and mannerisms that are essential to communication.
now, Hod Lipson Researchers at Columbia University in New York have developed a robot called Emo that uses AI models and high-resolution cameras to predict and attempt to reproduce people's facial expressions. It predicts whether someone will smile about 0.9 seconds in advance and smiles accordingly. “I'm a jaded roboticist, but when I see this robot, I smile back,” Lipson says.
Emo consists of a face with a camera in its eyeball and a flexible plastic skin with 23 individual motors attached by magnets. This robot uses her two neural networks. One looks at people's faces and predicts their expressions, and her other one figures out how to create expressions on her own face.
The first network was trained on YouTube videos of people making faces, while the second network was trained by watching the robot itself make faces on a live camera feed. “You learn what your face looks like when you pull all your muscles,” Lipson says. “It's like being in front of a mirror. Even if you close your eyes and smile, you know what your face looks like.”
Lipson and his team hope Emo's technology will improve human-robot interaction, but first they need to expand the range of expressions robots can perform. Lipson also wants to train his children to express themselves in response to what people say, rather than simply imitating others.
For decades, physicists have been searching for gravitons, the hypothetical particles thought to carry gravity. Although they had never been detected in space, particles like gravitons have now been observed in semiconductors. Using these to understand the behavior of gravitons could help unify general relativity and quantum mechanics, which have long been at odds.
“This is a needle in a haystack. [finding]. And the paper that started all this goes back to 1993. ” lauren pfeiffer at Princeton University. He wrote the paper with several colleagues. Aaron Pinchukdied in 2022 before finding any hint of the elusive particle.
Pinchuk's students and collaborators, including Pfeiffer, have completed the experiment they began discussing 30 years ago. They focused on electrons within a flat piece of the semiconductor gallium arsenide, which they placed in a powerful refrigerator and exposed to a strong magnetic field. Under these conditions, quantum effects cause electrons to behave in strange ways. The electrons interact strongly with each other, forming an unusual incompressible liquid.
Although this liquid is not gentle, it is characterized by collective motion in which all the electrons move in unison, which can lead to particle-like excitations. To investigate these excitations, the team illuminated the semiconductor with a carefully tuned laser and analyzed the light scattered from the semiconductor.
This revealed that the excitation contains a type of quantum spin that had previously been theorized to exist only in gravitons. This isn't a graviton itself, but it's the closest thing we've ever seen.
Liu Ziyu The professor at Columbia University in New York who worked on the experiment said he and his colleagues knew that graviton-like excitations could exist in semiconductors, but they needed to make the experiment precise enough to detect it. He said it took many years. “From a theoretical side, the story was kind of complete, but the experiments weren't really convincing,” he says.
This experiment is not a true analog of space-time. Electrons are confined in flat, two-dimensional space and move more slowly than objects governed by the theory of relativity.
But he says it is “hugely important” and bridges various previously underappreciated areas of physics, such as materials physics and the theory of gravity. Kun Yan from Florida State University was not involved in this study.
but, Zlatko Papik Researchers at the University of Leeds in the UK cautioned against equating the new discovery with the detection of gravitons in space. He said the two are equivalent enough for electronic systems like the one in the new experiment to serve as a testing ground for theories of quantum gravity, but they are not equivalent for all quantum phenomena that occur in space-time on a cosmic scale. It says no.
This connection between particle-like excitations and theoretical gravitons also yields new ideas about exotic electronic states, team members say. de Linjie At Nanjing University, China.
Antibodies are proteins that can target and attack specific cells.
Mirror Images/Alamy
An experimental treatment rejuvenates the immune systems of older mice and improves the animals’ ability to fight infections. If this treatment is effective in humans, it could reverse the age-related decline in immunity that makes older people more susceptible to illness.
These reductions may be due to changes in blood stem cells, which can develop into all types of blood cells, including important components of the immune system. As we age, a greater proportion of these stem cells tend to produce some immune cells than others. Jason Ross at Stanford University in California. This imbalance impairs the immune system’s ability to fight infection. It also promotes chronic inflammation, which accelerates aging and increases the risk of age-related diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes.
Ross and his colleagues have developed a treatment that uses antibodies, proteins that recognize and attack specific cells, to target these biased stem cells. Next, they tested the treatment on six mice aged 18 to 24 months. This is roughly equivalent to a human being between 56 and 70 years old.
One week after receiving the antibody injection, these abnormal stem cells in the mice had decreased by about 38 percent compared to six rodents of the same age who did not receive treatment. They also had significantly higher amounts of two types of white blood cells important for recognizing and fighting pathogens, and lower levels of inflammation.
“You can think of this as turning back the clock,” says Ross. “We are adjusting these percentages [immune] more similar cells [those of] A young adult mouse. ”
To test whether these changes result in a stronger immune system, the researchers vaccinated 17 older mice with a mouse virus. Nine of these mice had received antibody treatment eight weeks earlier. The researchers then infected rodents with the virus. After two weeks, the number of infected cells in the animals was measured and it was found that almost half of the treated mice (4 out of 9) had completely cleared the infection, compared to 1 out of 8 of the untreated mice. It turned out that there was only one.
Taken together, these findings demonstrate that antibody treatment rejuvenates the immune system of aged mice. Humans, like rodents, have more abnormal blood stem cells as they age, so a similar antibody treatment could also boost their immune systems, Ross said.
Such a possibility is still far away, robert signer at the University of California, San Diego. First, we need a better understanding of the potential side effects of treatments. In an accompanying article, Signer and his colleagues write: Yasar al-Fat KassResearchers, also at the University of California, San Diego, suggest that depletion of stem cells, even abnormal stem cells, may increase cancer risk. On the other hand, “if you have a better immune system, you’ll be better at investigating cancer, so we don’t know exactly what will happen yet,” Signer says.
Still, Ross says these findings are a promising advance in understanding age-related immune decline and how to reduce it.
Aging is the biggest risk factor for various diseases. “Rejuvenating or improving immune function in older adults could really help fight infectious diseases,” Signer says. “It may also have an impact on different types of chronic inflammatory diseases. That’s what’s so exciting here.”
Using data from ESA’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter and NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, planetary scientists created a 1:30,000-scale geological map of the Oxian Plain, the landing site for ESA’s ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover mission. Created.
Faudon other. Created the most detailed geological map of Oxia Planitia, the Mars landing site for ESA’s Rosalind Franklin rover. Image credit: Faudon other., doi: 10.1080/17445647.2024.2302361.
Oxia Planum Located on the northern edge of Arabian Terra, it preserves a record of the diverse geological processes that shaped the region.
It is a transitional region between the cratered Arabian Terra and the young lowland plain of the Chryse Planitia.
“Oxia Planum is located near the Martian equator and contains deposits that are nearly 4 billion years old,” said Open University researcher Peter Faudon and colleagues.
“On a geological scale, this would be the oldest landing site ever visited by a spacecraft on Mars.”
“This region is rich in clay minerals that form due to the presence of water. These rocks are ideal for preserving evidence of the earliest forms of life. This makes it possible to predict that life once existed on Mars. It’s a great place to look for clues as to whether this is the case.”
To map the Oxian Plains, the authors used several instruments, including the Color and Stereo Surface Imaging System (CaSSIS) onboard the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter and the HiRISE camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). We used data from.
This map details 15 rock units classified into 6 groups and 7 textural and surface units.
“This map includes the main types of rock and structures with unique shapes, such as ridges and craters,” the researchers said.
“It also features materials that are placed on top, blown by the wind or blown long distances when a meteorite hits the Earth’s surface, for example.”
The result is the highest-resolution map of the Oxian plains to date at a scale of 1:25000, where 1 centimeter corresponds to 250 meters on the surface of Mars.
Average daily driving time is 25-50 minutes. rosalind franklin rover On the map it is 1-2 mm.
“This map is really interesting because it’s a guide to where the answers are,” Dr. Faudon said.
“This serves as a visual hypothesis for what we currently know about the different rocks at the landing site.”
“With the instruments on board the Rosalind Franklin rover, you can test your knowledge on the fly when the time comes.”
peter faudon other. 2024. High-resolution map of the Oxian Plains on Mars. Landing site for the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover mission. map journal 20(1); doi: 10.1080/17445647.2024.2302361
Global warming is causing the Earth’s rotation to slow slightly, which could affect the way we measure time.
A study published Wednesday found that the melting of polar ice, a trend accelerated primarily by anthropogenic climate change, is causing the Earth to spin more slowly than it would otherwise.
Study author Duncan Agnew, a geophysicist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, said melting polar ice changes where the Earth’s mass is concentrated. This change affects the planet’s angular velocity.
Agnew likened the dynamic to a figure skater spinning around on ice. He said, “If a skater starts spinning and lowers his arms or extends his legs, he will slow down.” However, if the skater’s arms are pulled inward, the skater will rotate faster.
So less solid ice at the poles means more mass around the equator, at the Earth’s waist.
“What melting ice does is take water that has solidified in places like Antarctica or Greenland, and when that frozen water melts, it moves that liquid to other parts of the planet. “Thomas Herring said. He was a professor of geophysics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology but was not involved in the new research. “Water flows toward the equator.”
In other words, this study shows how human influence can successfully manipulate forces that have puzzled scholars, stargazers, and scientists for millennia: forces long thought to be constants beyond human control. It suggests that it has happened.
“It’s kind of impressive, even to me, that we were able to accomplish something that measurably changed the rotational speed of the Earth,” Agnew said. “Something unprecedented is happening.”
His research, published in the journal Nature, suggests that climate change is playing a significant enough role in the Earth’s rotation to delay the possibility of a “negative leap second.” If the polar ice hadn’t melted, clocks around the world might have needed to subtract one second by 2026 to synchronize universal time with the Earth’s rotation, which is influenced by a variety of factors.
Rather, the impact of climate change has delayed that outlook by an estimated three years. If timekeeping organizations ultimately decide to add negative leap seconds, the adjustment could disrupt computer networks.
A view of the Earth captured by a deep space climate observation satellite.NASA
The leap second adjustment is necessary because even without climate change, the Earth’s daily rotation tends to slow down over time, even though it appears constant.
Studies show that about 70 million years ago, days became even shorter, lasting about 23.5 hours. Implications of paleoceanography and paleoclimatology. This means that Cretaceous dinosaurs experienced 372 planetary days a year.
Several important factors influence a planet’s rotation, but they sometimes act in opposition.
Due in part to the moon’s gravitational pull, tidal friction in the oceans slows the Earth’s rotation. Meanwhile, since the last Ice Age, the Earth’s crust has been uplifting in some areas in response to the removal of ice sheet weight. This effect changes the distribution of mass, causing the planet to spin faster. Both of these processes are approximately constant and have predictable rates.
Yet another factor is the movement of fluids within Earth’s liquid inner core, a wild card that can either speed up or slow down Earth’s rotation, Agnew said.
Here, melted polar ice was added to the mix. As climate change intensifies, researchers expect melting ice to have an even more profound effect on the Earth’s rotation.
“As we predict, as melting accelerates over time, its contribution will become even larger,” Herring said. He added that the new study is a thorough and robust analysis that combines research from multiple scientific fields.
The need for timekeepers to adjust universal time to match the Earth’s rotation is not a new phenomenon. But historically, this involved adding leap seconds to the common standard for clocks. This is because astronomical time lags behind atomic time (measured by the vibrations of atoms in atomic clocks) due to the slowing of the Earth’s rotation.
But in recent decades, changes in the Earth’s core have caused the Earth to rotate faster than expected. This has led timekeepers, for the first time since Coordinated Universal Time was officially adopted in the 1960s, to consider whether it makes sense to subtract leap seconds to synchronize universal time with the Earth’s rotation. Ta.
The melting of polar ice counteracted that trend, avoiding any decision points regarding negative leap seconds. According to Agnew’s estimates, if the current rate of Earth’s rotation is maintained, it will likely be delayed by three years from 2026 to 2029.
Adding or subtracting leap seconds is troublesome because it can disrupt satellite, financial, and energy transmission systems that rely on very precise timing. For that purpose, Timekeepers around the world have voted to abolish leap seconds in 2022. By 2035, addition and subtraction will shift universal time from the pace of the Earth’s rotation.
“Since around 2000, there has been a movement to abolish leap seconds,” Agnew said.
Regardless of whether the clocks ultimately change, the idea that melting polar ice is affecting the Earth’s rotation speaks to how important an issue it has become. Studies have already shown that ice loss has significant impacts on coastal communities.
Scientists predict that sea level rise will accelerate as the climate warms, a process that will continue for hundreds of years. Last year, leading polar researchers warned in a report that parts of the major ice sheets could collapse and coastal regions should brace for several feet of sea level rise. If humans allowed global average temperatures to rise by 2 degrees Celsius, Earth could see sea levels rise by more than 40 feet.
It has been close to two years since the world was first introduced to Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), the supermassive black hole residing at the center of the Milky Way.
A true behemoth, Sgr A* boasts a mass equivalent to 4 million suns and is encircled by hot pockets of swirling gas. Despite its immense size, it sits about 27,000 light-years away from Earth, appearing in the sky only as large as a donut on the moon’s surface.
In a recent study published in the Astrophysics Journal Letter and released by the event horizon telescope (EHT), Sgr A* was captured in polarized light for the first time.
Similar to how sunglasses can filter polarized light from the sun, astronomers utilize polarized light to unveil concealed magnetic fields.
The lines within the image indicate the direction of polarization, which correlates with the structure of the magnetic field surrounding the black hole.
“The spiral pattern observed swirling around the black hole signifies that the magnetic field must also be swirling, indicating a very strong and ordered field,” stated Dr. Sarah Isaun, an Einstein Fellow and co-leader of the project in the NASA Hubble Fellowship Program, as quoted in BBC Science Focus.
A comparison between the supermassive black holes M87* and Sagittarius A*, depicted in polarized light, reveals similar magnetic field structures, suggesting a universal feature among supermassive black holes. – Image credit: EHT Collaboration
The first-ever image of a black hole was unveiled by EHT in 2019, featuring a much grander black hole at the core of the Messier 87 galaxy (M87*).
M87* is approximately 1,000 times heavier than Sgr A*, leading to a slower rotation making it easier to image.
Further developments include astronomers releasing images of the magnetic field encompassing M87* in 2021. Overcoming the challenge of capturing our own supermassive black hole in polarized light took an additional three years.
In a surprising revelation, despite the contrasting sizes of the two black holes, the new images demonstrate strikingly similar magnetic field structures, emphasizing the prevalence of strong magnetic fields in both. This highlights a fundamental feature of supermassive black holes.
Isaun emphasized, “Sgr A* now holds a polarization structure remarkably akin to the larger, more potent M87* black hole, supporting the significance of a robust, well-ordered magnetic field in these entities.”
A comparison of the sizes of two black holes imaged by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration: M87* at the core of the galaxy Messier 87 and Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) at the center of the Milky Way. – Image credit: EHT Collaboration (Acknowledgment: Lia Medeiros, xkcd)
Previous investigations on M87* disclosed that the encircling magnetic field generates potent jets of energy and matter extending far beyond the galaxy. While astronomers have visualized the jet around M87*, it has remained elusive around Sgr A*. However, recent images unveil remarkable similarities between the two black holes, suggesting the potential existence of jets in both.
Isaun highlighted, “The jets within the host galaxy can stimulate or counteract star formation, exhibiting a fascinating interplay between the dynamics of these emanating jets from these black holes and the evolvement of the host galaxy. There exists a connection.”
“I believe we can extract valuable insights into our galaxy’s history from this connection.”
Upon the release of this image in 2022 by the EHT collaboration, it served as the premier visual evidence of a supermassive black hole residing at the heart of our galaxy, Sagittarius A*. – Image credit: EHT Collaboration
The upgraded EHT is set to observe Sgr A* once more next month, with astronomers hopeful of uncovering concealed jets and other facets of the galaxy’s central region.
Anticipate further groundbreaking revelations from EHT, potentially including more awe-inspiring images and even real-time video footage in years to come.
About our experts
Sarah Isaun is an observational astronomer and member of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration. Her research focuses on aggregating, calibrating, and visualizing millimeter-wave radio observations of supermassive black holes. She led a project to produce new images of Sagittarius A* in polarized light.
This is a supermassive black hole at the center of a galaxy that we have never seen before. The image reveals a swirling magnetic field around Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), suggesting it may be producing jets of high-energy material that astronomers have not yet seen.
This photo was taken by a network of observatories around the world operating as a single giant telescope called the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). In 2022, the first images of Sgr A* were produced, revealing light emanating from swirling hot plasma set against the dark background of a black hole's event horizon. There, light cannot escape the extreme gravity.
Now, EHT researchers Jiri Yunshi The researchers from University College London measured how this light is polarized, or the direction of the electromagnetic field, and showed the direction and strength of the magnetic field around Sgr A*.
This image is very similar to the magnetic field of M87*, the first black hole studied by EHT. Given that M87* is about 1,500 times more massive than Sgr A*, this suggests that supermassive black holes may have similar structures regardless of their size, Yunshi says.
The two black holes photographed by the Event Horizon Telescope are strikingly similar.
European Southern Observatory (ESO)
One major difference between M87* and the black holes in our galaxy is the absence of visible high-energy jets visible from Sgr A*. This lack has long puzzled astronomers, but the fact that Sgr A* has a magnetic field like M87* suggests that our galaxy's black hole may also have jets. It suggests.
“There are very interesting hints that there may be additional structures,” Yunshi says. “I think something very exciting could be happening at the center of the galaxy, and we need to track these results.”
This makes sense given other evidence for jets that may have existed long before the galaxy's history, such as Fermi bubbles, large balls of X-ray-producing plasma above and below the Milky Way. Masu.
In addition to revealing potential hidden jets, the properties of magnetic fields also solve other astrophysical mysteries, such as how particles like cosmic rays and neutrinos are accelerated to ultrahigh energies. This could help solve the problem, Yunshi said. “Magnetic fields are the basis of all of this. Anything that yields further insight into how black holes and magnetic fields interact is of just fundamental importance to astrophysics.”
Yunshi and his colleagues hope to use a larger telescope network and more advanced equipment to take more images of Sgr A*, which will help them understand the nature of the magnetic field and how it directs the jet. This will deepen your understanding of what is being generated. EHT plans to begin these observations in April, but processing the data could take several years.
Whether you’re a child, student, teacher, or just a proud nerd, we all love a good science joke. Even the most cheesy and silly puns. That’s why we’ve curated a collection of the cheesiest (and most groan-worthy) short one-liners for kids and adults in 2024.
We brainstormed and selected 50 of our top picks. By the time you reach the end of this list, you’ll have had enough sulfur…
50 Best Science Jokes of 2024
What do you call subpar hydrocarbons? Crude oil
Never talk to Pi. They’ll go on forever
Why were chemists let go? Because they didn’t handle pressure well.
Oxygen and potassium went on a date. It was a good match
A neutron walks into a bar and asks the bartender, “How much is a beer?” Bartender: “It’s free.”
Why don’t ants get sick? Because they have ant bodies
Ever heard of physicists chilling to absolute zero? They’re now at 0k
The earth’s rotation really makes my day
Don’t trust atoms, they make up everything
Have you been to the Mercury restaurant? Great lighting but zero atmosphere
The chemical thief couldn’t be caught. They were planning to do Lin.
How often should you share chemistry jokes? Periodically
Albert Einstein had a theory about the universe. And the time is now
I think it lost an electron. Actually, I’m positive too.
Why did biologists break up with physicists? They lacked chemistry
A plant asks another plant, “Are you hungry?” They respond, “I’m up for a light meal.”
Chemists are happy in the lab because they’re in their element
We were studying frequency in physics class, but now we know the brain’s hertz is
Why did scientists remove the doorbell? To win the Nobel Prize
What is Iron’s favorite vehicle? Iron Wheel
Why did the bacteria pass through the microscope? To move to another slide
I was reading a book about helium and couldn’t put it down.
There are 10 types of people: those who understand binary and those who don’t.
Photon went on vacation, but he didn’t have any luggage. He was a light traveler
What do you call it when two diamonds go out to dinner? Carbon dating
Does a radioactive cat have a half-life of 18 years?
The quantum physicist walked into a bar but didn’t leave.
How do you throw a party in space? You planet
Why are chemists great problem solvers? They have a solution
What sound does a subatomic duck make? Quark Quark Quark
Two blood cells met and fell in love. It all made sense
If the king could make wind, would it be a noble gas?
Scientist studying the sun are probably star-struck
No matter how widespread antibiotics become, viruses will never spread.
I’m not lazy – I’m just full of potential energy
Ever heard of a nuclear enthusiast? He was the true proton
Why do tigers have stripes? So they’re not spotted
Why did 2 of 4 skip lunch? They’re already 8
Astronomers wondered all night where the sun went. Then it dawned on them
What did one charged atom say to the other? We got an ion.
Chemistry is like cooking. But never lick the spoon
Why don’t geologists like scary movies? They’re petrified
What’s the hardest book to read? Friction Book
What is a scientist’s favorite dog? Laboratory
What do solids, liquids, and gases have in common? They’re all matter
When I heard Oxygen and magnesium were dating, I was like, oh, magnesium.
What’s the difference between a dog and a marine biologist? One wags its tail, the other tags whales
How do scientists freshen their breath? With experiment mint
Where do astronauts park their spacecraft? In a meteor shower
Why are there so many bad chemistry jokes? Argon, they’re all good
Modern conveniences like smart refrigerators, virtual assistants, security systems, and robot vacuums have made household chores easier since the invention of the washing machine in the 19th century.
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Discover more about the cutting-edge technology behind robot vacuums and how they can streamline your daily life.
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The danger of aging explosives from unexploded ordnance is increasing
Gail P. Novik (2024)
A study of unexploded ordnance from World War II found that one of the explosives it contained had become shock-sensitive and could ignite if dropped during disposal. The explosive, called Amatol, was widely used during World War I and World War II and is still included in some of the ammunition used during Russia's war in Ukraine.
“Based on our findings, we can say it's relatively safe to handle, but you can't treat it like TNT,” he says. Gail Petter Novik At the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment. “In contrast to TNT, it can definitely explode if dropped.”
There are millions of tons of unexploded ordnance around the world, some in old ammunition dumps and some in shells and bombs that did not explode after being fired or dropped. Novick said there is a widespread misconception that unexploded ordnance becomes less dangerous over time. In a 2022 study, he examined samples of TNT and PETN, two of the most widely used high explosives, taken from World War II bombs and shells. test and There was no deterioration in explosive properties..
He has now tested the impact sensitivity of five samples of Amatol taken from unexploded World War II bombs and artillery shells found in Norway. The test involved dropping weights from various heights on small samples to see what would explode. All five samples were more sensitive to shock than expected with Amatol, and one sample was four times more sensitive.
Novick says this discovery will change the way he and his team deal with unexploded ordnance. For example, when clearing a dump, fewer volumes are transported at once. He now plans to find out why shock sensitivity has increased. “We think sensitive crystals or salts may have formed,” he says.
This may be the result of contaminants from the manufacturing process, or reactions with the metal case as the lining deteriorates, or simply due to aging.
Amatol is the name used to describe an explosive made from a mixture of TNT and ammonium nitrate. It was developed by Britain's Royal Arsenal in 1915 when TNT was in short supply. As TNT production increased at the end of World War II, many countries stopped using Amatol, although it continued to be used in countries such as the Soviet Union. “Several types of Soviet-era ammunition currently in use in Ukraine are known to contain Amatol,” Novik said.
It's impossible to say what percentage of the world's unexploded ordnance contains amatol, he says. But five of the 20 bombs and shells he cut open for this study contained the substance, and so did most of the World War II unexploded ordnance he examined. has been found.
Accidents in which unexploded ordnance explodes also occur frequently.For example, in 2023, World War II bombs Explosion at Great Yarmouth Currently being disposed of in the UK. In 2004, new scientist A US ship that sank in the Thames Estuary was carrying 1,400 tonnes of high explosives and posed a serious threat to nearby towns, an unpublished risk assessment has revealed. A 2023 survey of the ship found plans to remove the mast could be dangerous and were postponed.
Considering the importance of sleep to our mental and physical health, Balter and John AxelsonAt Karolinska Institutet, we also decided to investigate whether it affects our subjective age.
They surveyed 429 people between the ages of 18 and 70 about how old they felt and how much sleep they had gotten in the past 30 days.
The researchers found that reporting sleep deprivation was associated with participants feeling older than their actual age, with consecutive days of sleep deprivation making participants feel older by an average of 0.23 years. was found to increase. In contrast, those who reported getting enough sleep over a 30-day period were, on average, 5.81 years younger than their chronological age.
In the second half of the study, the pair recruited an additional 186 people. These participants were asked to aim for 9 hours of sleep over two consecutive nights over a two-week period, which was recorded via a sleep log and sleep tracking wrist device. They were then told to limit their sleep to four hours for two consecutive nights.
After this period of sleep restriction, subjects reported feeling on average 4.44 years older than their age, whereas under the 9-hour sleep condition they reported feeling 0.24 years younger. Compared to those who felt the least fatigued, those who felt the most fatigue reported feeling about 10 years older.
The findings show that sleep is an important indicator of how old some people feel, and that it is linked to our health, Balter says. “If you protect your sleep, you'll feel younger,” she says.
According to physicists, CMS cooperation This is the first time this process has been observed in proton-proton collisions at CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC). This is also the most accurate measurement of tau's anomalous magnetic moment and provides a new way to constrain the existence of new physics.
We reproduced candidate events of the γγ →ττ process in proton-proton collisions measured by the CMS detector. Tau can decay into muons (red), charged pions (yellow), and neutrinos (not visible). Energy is stored in green in an electromagnetic calorimeter and cyan in a hadronic calorimeter. Image credit: CMS Collaboration.
of TauIt is a special particle of the lepton family, also called tauon.
In general, leptons, together with quarks, constitute the matter content of the Standard Model.
Tau was first discovered in the 1970s, and its associated neutrino (tau neutrino) was discovered by Fermilab's DONUT collaboration in 2000 to complete the tangible matter part.
However, tau has a very short lifetime and can remain stable for only 290*10 hours, making it quite difficult to study it accurately.-15 seconds.
Two other charged leptons, electrons and muons, are fairly well studied.
Much is also known about their magnetic moments and their associated anomalous magnetic moments.
The former can be understood as the strength and direction of a virtual bar magnet within the particle.
However, this measurable quantity requires correction at the quantum level resulting from the virtual particles pulling on the magnetic moment and deviates from the predicted value.
The quantum correction, called the anomalous magnetic moment, is about 0.1%.
If the theoretical and experimental results do not agree, this anomalous magnetic momentIopens the door to physics beyond the Standard Model.
The anomalous magnetic moment of the electron is one of the most accurately known quantities in particle physics and is in perfect agreement with models.
Its muon counterpart, on the other hand, is one of the most studied, and research is ongoing.
So far, theory and experiment are largely in agreement, but recent results raise tensions that require further investigation.
But for Tau, the race is still on. Its anomalous magnetic moment is particularly difficult to measure.τThis is because tau has a short lifespan.
The first attempt wasτ After the discovery of tau, there was an uncertainty 30 times higher than the size of the quantum correction.
Experimental efforts at CERN improved the constraints and reduced the uncertainty to 20 times the size of the quantum correction.
In collisions, physicists look for special processes. That is, two photons interact to produce two tau leptons (also called a ditau pair), which then decay into muons, electrons, or charged pions, and neutrinos.
So far, both ATLAS and CMS collaborations have observed this in ultraperipheral lead-to-lead collisions.
Now, CMS physicists report: first observation The same process occurs during proton-proton collisions.
These collisions provide greater sensitivity to physics over the standard model, as new physical effects increase with collision energy.
Taking advantage of the superior tracking capabilities of the CMS detector, the collaboration will isolate this particular process from other processes by selecting events that produce a tau with no other tracking within a distance of just 1 mm. I was able to separate it.
“This remarkable achievement in detecting proton-proton collisions in the super-periphery sets the stage for many breakthrough measurements of this kind from CMS experiments,” said Dr. Michael Pitt, a member of the CMS team. said.
This new method provided a new way to constrain tau's anomalous magnetic moments, and the CMS Collaboration quickly put it to the test.
Future driving data will likely improve the significance, but their new measurements impose the tightest constraints to date, with greater precision than ever before.
This reduces the prediction uncertainty to just three times the size of the quantum correction.
“We're really excited to finally be able to narrow down some of the fundamental properties of the elusive tau lepton,” said CMS team member Dr. Isaac Neutelings.
“This analysis introduces a new approach to investigating tau g-2 and revitalizes a measurement that has been stagnant for more than 20 years,” said CMS team member Dr. Xuelong Qin.
A team of paleontologists from California State Polytechnic University and others has described a new genus and species of shark-like fish from the Fayetteville Shale in late Mississippi, Arkansas.
Reconstruction by artist Cosmoserax meringii. Image credit: American Museum of Natural History.
The newly described species lived in the Devonian seas, about 326 million years ago.
named Cosmoserax meringii This is one of many well-preserved shark fossils discovered from oil-producing seas. fayetteville shale formation Stretching from southeastern Oklahoma to northwestern Arkansas, it has been studied for many years for its well-preserved invertebrate and plant fossils.
“These creatures are part of an ecosystem that recovered after the mass extinction of fish communities at the end of the Devonian period, so they're part of the cartilaginous fish family, which includes all sorts of strange anatomy not seen in modern sharks. We're at a point where the morphological diversity of the species is astonishing,” said Dr. Alison Bronson, a researcher at California State Polytechnic Institute.
fossil of Cosmoserax meringii It was collected by Professors Royal and Gene Mapes of Ohio University in the 1970s.
Dr. Bronson and his colleagues performed a CT scan of the specimen and digitally reconstructed it.
They spent months studying to describe its anatomy, which includes dozens of tiny pieces of cartilage.
Once the reconstruction is complete, they Cosmoserax meringii In the early cartilaginous fish tree of life.
Cosmoserax meringii It was photographed in the 1970s and positioned so that the throat, jaw, and underside of the pectoral fins are visible. Image credit: Royal Mapes.
The authors found that this new species plays an important role in understanding the evolution of a mysterious group called green sea turtles. Shinmori form.
“This group has been alternately associated with sharks and mousefish, and different researchers have reached different conclusions,” they said.
“Cosmoserax meringii Most have shark-like features, but with long pieces of cartilage forming gill operculae, which are only seen today in ratfish.”
of study It was published in the magazine geodiversity.
_____
AW Bronson other. 2024. A new gilllike simoliform chondrich from the Late Mississippian Fayetteville Shale (Arkansas, USA). geodiversity 46 (4): 101-117; doi: 10.5252/geodiversitas2024v46a4
To safely observe a solar eclipse, you’ll need some basic equipment
Liansen / Imago / Alamy
If you’re planning on observing the solar eclipse on April 8 this year, whether you’re in the middle of the total solar eclipse or not, you’ll need some gear to fully enjoy it.
The most important rule during a solar eclipse is not to look directly at the sun. This is only possible during totality, a few minutes when the sun’s light is completely blocked by the moon. But for everyone in North America who lives outside the 185-kilometer-wide total orbit, only a partial eclipse will be visible. And for those on the inside of the road, there are still a few hours on either side of totality, but part of the fun is watching the moon slowly move across the sun.
You can use special solar filters, such as eclipse glasses, to look directly at the sun. But you can also view the eclipse using a simple viewer made from a few things you probably have on hand. Here we will introduce how to create two types of Eclipse viewers.
How to make a pinhole camera
All you need for this viewer is paper, aluminum foil, scissors, and a pen. Make a hole in the middle of a piece of paper and cover with foil. Stick the foil in place and use a pen, needle, or other sharp object to make a small hole in the center of the foil. On the day of a solar eclipse, simply hold this up to the sun and place another piece of paper on the ground below. A small bright dot appears on the second sheet of paper. This is a solar projection. As the eclipse progresses and the moon covers more of the sun, you’ll see the shape of the dot change.
How to make a box eclipse viewer
The second type of eclipse viewer works similarly, but the projection is displayed inside a box instead of on the ground. For this, you will need paper, foil, scissors, and a cardboard box. Cereal boxes or shoe boxes work well.
Line one side of the inside of the box with white paper. Then, drill two holes, spaced apart on opposite sides. Tape the foil to one hole and make a small hole in it. The other hole will be a place to look inside.
On the day of the solar eclipse, hold the viewer in front of you with your back to the sun. A projection of the sun should appear on the white paper lined inside the box.
solar eclipse 2024
On April 8th, a total solar eclipse will pass over Mexico, the United States, and Canada. Our special series covers everything you need to know, from how and when to see a solar eclipse to the strangest solar eclipse experience of all time.
Dairy cows in several US states have reportedly contracted bird flu. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The virus has killed millions of birds around the world, but this is the first time it has been detected in cattle.
How many cows are affected by avian influenza?
As of March 25, milk samples from two dairy farms in Kansas and one in Texas tested positive for the avian influenza subtype called H5N1. new york times. This strain is highly lethal to birds. A cow throat swab taken from a dairy farm in Texas also tested positive. So far, no cows have died from the virus.
On March 22, U.S. authorities announced a diagnosis of avian influenza in bovines after some dairy cows at farms in Texas, Kansas, and New Mexico became ill and there were reports of dead wild birds on farm grounds. The inspection has started.
About 10% of the milking cows on the affected farms appear to be sick, most of them elderly. It is unclear whether avian influenza is the cause of all animal illness. U.S. authorities are moving quickly to conduct additional testing.
How did the cow become infected with the virus?
The Department of Agriculture announced that the cows appear to have contracted the virus from infected wild birds. However, it is unclear exactly how the virus was transmitted between species.
Most mammals that contract bird flu are carnivores, such as foxes and seals, who most likely contracted the virus by eating dead or infected birds.Because cows don’t eat birds, it’s difficult to explain the source of infection. Richard Webby at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Tennessee. Feces and saliva from wild birds may have contaminated the cows’ water and feed.
“The biggest question that I don’t fully understand is how do you account for transmission across the state with such geographic spread,” Webby said.
The worst-case scenario is that the virus spreads among cattle, but that’s probably unlikely, he said. This is because there is still no evidence that avian influenza can be transmitted between mammals.
Do sick cows increase the risk of avian influenza spreading to humans?
The risk of contracting bird flu remains low for most people. Initial testing of samples taken from infected cows has found no genetic changes that would suggest the virus is more transmissible to humans.
But each time a mammal gets avian influenza, Webby says, it gives the virus a chance to acquire the mutations it needs to spread between mammals. “But to put this into perspective, we still need some answers. Above all, how many cows are showing evidence of being infected with the virus?” If there are very few, the virus is likely to become a dead end again, as it did in foxes, bears, and other previously infected animals.
Is milk safe to drink?
Yes, milk is still safe to drink. The USDA already requires dairy farms to send only milk from healthy cows for processing. Milk from infected cows is also being discarded and kept out of the food supply.
Even if contaminated milk enters the supply chain, pasteurization kills bacteria and viruses, including influenza.
The fans roar to life, pumping air upwards at 260 kilometers per hour. Wearing a baggy blue jumpsuit, red helmet, and plastic goggles, claudia de rum When you step into the glass room… Whoosh! Suddenly, she was suspended in the air, her wide grin on her face excited by her simulated experience of free fall.
I persuaded de Lamme, a theoretical physicist at Imperial College London, to go indoor skydiving with me at iFLY London. It seemed appropriate, given that much of her life has been dedicated to exploring the limits and true nature of gravity. At least on this occasion, jumping out of the plane wasn't an option for her.
As she explains in her new book, the beauty of falling, de Rum trained to be a pilot and then an astronaut, but medical problems ruined his chance for the ultimate escape from gravity. But as a theorist, she continued to delve deeper into this most familiar and mysterious force, making her mark by asking her fundamental question: “What is the weight of gravity?” Ta.
That means she is a graviton, a hypothetical particle that is thought to carry this force. If it had mass, as de Rum suspects, that would open a new window on gravity. Among other things, we may finally discover a “gravitational rainbow” that betrays the existence of gravitons. Along with gravitons, it will also become possible to provide a quantum description of gravity, which has been sought for many years.
When De Rum is suspended in the air, she makes it look easy. She will ascend soon…
Beer brewers produce a wide variety of flavors from just a handful of ingredients
Cthredrig/Getty Images
Artificial intelligence that can predict taste from beer's chemical composition could help create alcohol-free versions that taste exactly like regular beer.
Predicting flavor from a compound is difficult because complex interactions between ingredients and the psychology of taste can result in surprisingly different perceptions, even among people who have tasted the same thing.
To deal with this, kevin verstrapen Professors at the University of Leuven in Belgium have developed an AI model that can predict the flavor profile of beer based on its chemical composition and suggest ways to improve the flavor.
The model was trained on beer reviews by a panel of 16 expert tasters who scored each beer on 50 attributes, as well as 180,000 public ratings from online beer rating websites. The study compared these subjective descriptions with measurements of 226 compounds in 250 Belgian beers.
“Hundreds of these compounds are received by our nose and mouth, but mostly in the nose, and then processed in the brain to give us what we think of as flavor,” Verstrepen says. “The fact that we can actually predict this accurately using machine learning is pretty amazing.”
Verstrepen and his team used this model to predict how to improve the flavor of beer by adding mixtures of specific compounds, such as lactic acid and ethyl acetate. The resulting beer was given significantly higher ratings by a panel of trained tasters.
In another study, which has not yet been published, after making the changes suggested by the model, non-alcoholic beer became indistinguishable from regular beer, Verstrepen said.
The idea is that brewers should aim to implement AI recommendations by tweaking recipes, rather than simply adding flavors, he says. “Simply adding pure aroma compounds is not really acceptable in beer brewing. All you need is malt, hops, water, and yeast.”
“So I look at it as a tool, specifically to be used to make better non-alcoholic beer, but not to take away the art of crafting good beer in an artisanal way,” Versträpen said. To tell.
This artifact is a two-piece construction with a rounded top soldered to the main body.
Six horizontal bands are placed in a zigzag pattern around the body and overlaid on an incised brick or basket weave pattern.
“'' is engraved at the base of the band.I still love you like' Roman capital in serif font.
The researchers said: “Posey's inscription appears on several 17th-century silver thimbles found across England and Wales.”
“The Cardiff, Kent and Hampshire examples were all reported through the Treasure Act 1996.”
“Such romantic passages are very similar to those found on modern posey rings,” they added.
“Perhaps a thimble, worn on one's finger while sewing, was considered an intimate (and therefore romantic) possession, suitable as a gift between lovers.”
Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have captured detailed images of the globular star cluster NGC 1651 in the constellation Mensa.
This Hubble image shows the globular cluster NGC 1651 about 162,000 light-years away in the constellation Mensa. Image credits: NASA / ESA / Hubble / L. Girardi / F. Niederhofer.
Globular clusters are densely packed spherical clusters of hundreds of thousands or even millions of stars.
They are among the oldest known objects in the universe and are preferentially associated with the oldest components of galaxies.
There are at least 150 such objects in our Milky Way, and several more may be hidden behind the galaxy's thick disk.
NGC1651 is part of the Large Magellanic Cloud, the largest and brightest of the Milky Way's satellite galaxies.
beginning discovered Discovered by British astronomer John Herschel on November 3, 1834, this globular cluster is located approximately 162,000 light-years away in the constellation Mensa.
NGC 1651, also known as ESO 55-30 or LW 12, has a diameter of 120 light years.
“A remarkable feature of this image is that NGC 1651 nearly fills the entire image, even though the globular cluster is only about 10 to 300 light-years in diameter,” Hubble astronomers said. Masu.
“In contrast, there are many Hubble images that feature entire galaxies, tens or even hundreds of millions of light-years in diameter, that more or less fill the entire image.”
Color images of NGC 1651 consist of observations from. Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 Found in the near-infrared and optical portions of the spectrum.
“A common misconception is that Hubble and other large telescopes can observe objects of vastly different sizes by zooming in, much like we would with special cameras on Earth,” the astronomers said. Ta.
“However, while smaller telescopes may have the option to zoom in and out to some extent, larger telescopes do not.”
“Each telescope instrument has a fixed 'field of view' (the size of the area of the sky that can be observed in a single observation).”
“For example, WFC3's ultraviolet/visible light channel, the channel and instrument used to collect the data used in this image, has a field of view that is approximately one-twelfth the diameter of the moon as seen from Earth. Masu.”
“Every time WFC3 makes an observation, it becomes the size of the region of sky it can observe.”
“There are two reasons why Hubble is able to observe objects with such widely different sizes,” the researchers said.
“First, the distance to an object determines how big that object appears from Earth, so an entire galaxy that is relatively far away is compared to a relatively nearby globular cluster like NGC 1651. could take up the same amount of space as the sky.''
“In fact, a distant spiral galaxy lurks just to the left of the cluster in this image. It's undoubtedly much larger than the cluster, but here it appears small enough to blend in with the foreground stars.”
“Second, multiple images across different parts of the sky can be mosaicked to create a single image of an object too large for Hubble's field of view.”
Police officer in Rome, Italy gestures to tourists
Jochen Tack/imageBROKER/Alamy
Research shows that different nationalities seem to use hand gestures differently, supporting the idea that Italians in particular “talk with their hands.”
Maria Graziano and her colleagues Marianne Gullberg from Lund University in Sweden asked 12 people from Sweden and 12 from Italy to describe clips from children’s TV shows, such as Pingu, and examine their gestures.
“Italians gesture more,” Graziano said on a video call, using gestures to emphasize herself, which she attributed to her upbringing in Naples, Italy. In this study, Italians made an average of 22 gestures per 100 words, compared to 11 for Swedes.
But what’s more interesting, says Graziano, is the difference in the functionality of the gestures. Swedes primarily used “representational gestures” to describe events and actions in stories, while Italians also made more “practical gestures” that commented on the story or introduced new information, such as hand movements indicating new characters.
This suggests that the two cultures think differently about how stories are produced, Graziano says. Gestures can reflect what a culture values about the content and purpose of a story.
Barbara Tversky, a researcher at Stanford University in California, mentioned that the exact reason for these results is unclear, but the findings suggest that “cultural practices of understanding and explaining short episodes are driving this behavior.” Tversky suggests further research involving larger populations with a more diverse mix of nationalities.
Graziano is currently researching the gestures used in different types of discourse and the different relationships between speakers to further understand how different cultures use gestures to communicate and tell stories.
If you frequently visit the “How to Be Productive” section of TikTok, you’ve probably encountered the latest strategies to maintain focus and avoid procrastination. The key is to start your day with a low dopamine routine.
According to the low dopamine trend in the morning, the activities you engage in during the first 90 minutes after waking up determine your brain’s cravings for the rest of the day.
If your first interaction after turning off your alarm is to open Facebook or Instagram, you’ll get your initial dopamine fix from your smartphone. As a result, when you’re working at your desk and find your focus slipping, you’ll find it difficult to resist reaching for your phone for another dopamine hit, as warned by TikTok.
Instead of engaging activities, low dopamine mornings focus on calming or mundane tasks. This approach prevents your brain from feeling a lack of dopamine when you start working.
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For instance, you can swap reading the morning news for a light chore, or replace a high-intensity workout with a leisurely walk, yoga session, or meditation.
However, the concept of low dopamine mornings is more complex than popular trends suggest. While dopamine is often dubbed the “reward chemical,” its functionality is multifaceted.
Neurotransmitters play a role in various bodily processes, including movement, attention regulation, milk production, and forming associations between activities and pleasure.
These associations are not limited to joyous experiences. Unpleasant stimuli can also trigger a dopamine release, reinforcing aversion to those activities.
Therefore, if you receive a morning dopamine rush from viewing a distressing news story, you might want to limit your phone scrolling rather than increase it.
Mornings with low dopamine often involve low-intensity exercises like walking or yoga. However, these activities can elevate dopamine levels. Conversely, exercises like running or weight training do not necessarily result in a dopamine release.
Research indicates that running on a treadmill for 30 minutes has no impact on dopamine levels in the brain.
Choosing to spend a morning without social media browsing or opting for time outdoors can still have benefits for cognitive function and overall well-being. However, the effect an activity has on dopamine does not determine its worthiness.
To enhance productivity and combat procrastination, it’s essential to assess your actions individually. If you find distractions from phone notifications or office noise, consider implementing strategies to safeguard your focus.
Shut off your phone or keep it out of sight. Use earplugs or listen to soothing sounds like rain or cafe ambiance to create a conducive work environment.
If smartphone usage concerns you, adopting some aspects of the low-dopamine morning trend, like setting rules for phone usage, could prove beneficial. By consciously scheduling phone time, you can enjoy activities guilt-free and take control of your habits.
This article responds to the question “Is there a science to achieving low-dopamine mornings?” posed by Carla Saunders via email.
For inquiries, please email us at:questions@sciencefocus.comor reach out to us onFacebook,TwitterorInstagram(please include your name and location).
According to a study by Harvard Business in 2023, data breaches in the US have reached an “all-time high”, with a 20% increase in the first three quarters of 2023 compared to 2022. This trend was seen globally, with concentrated attacks in the UK, Australia, and Canada. In the Middle East, ransomware gang activity increased by 77% in the same year.
Exploring the dynamic global cybersecurity landscape gives us an understanding of the level of threats faced by countries worldwide.
In response, governments are implementing new laws and policies to safeguard data and infrastructure. Additionally, national Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERT) and Cyber Instance Response Teams (CIRT) are being established, along with reporting channels for breaches.
ExpressVPN delves into the impact of cybercrime on individuals and economies in this blog post, highlighting which countries excel or lag in cybersecurity.
5 countries with the best cybersecurity
Earth in outer space with network connections and sunlight. (City Lights 2012 – Flat Map – https://images.nasa.gov/details-GSFC_20171208_Archive_e001589 – Software: 3dsMax, Adobe After Effects, Photoshop)
US
The United States has been a frontrunner in cybersecurity, but recent challenges like a real estate information leak in 2023, which exposed financial details of 1.5 billion individuals, have been concerning. In March 2023, the Biden administration introduced a national cybersecurity strategy focusing on safeguarding critical infrastructure.
Denmark
Denmark, with a high cybersecurity score of 92.6, faced a major cyberattack in 2023 by Russian hackers targeting 22 electricity companies, despite its Nordic region’s generally high cybersecurity rating.
England
The UK ranks 5th globally in cybersecurity and has initiated a cyber intelligence hub, the Cyber Coordination Centre, as part of its 2022 Cybersecurity Strategy to combat cyber threats.
Poland
Poland leads in cybersecurity readiness according to the National Cyber Security Index, attributing its success to public awareness campaigns and education about cyber threats.
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, ranking second in the ITU Global Cybersecurity Index, has made significant strides in bolstering its cybersecurity infrastructure, spending $1.2 billion on cybersecurity education for young people.
Global cybersecurity: Which countries are failing?
System hacking warning alert on notebook (laptop). Cyber-attacks on computer networks, viruses, spyware, malware, or malicious software. Cybersecurity and Cybercrime. Compromised Information Internet.
Namibia
Namibia faces increased cyberattacks due to inadequate cybersecurity regulations and infrastructure, prompting calls for stronger network and data security measures.
Tajikistan
Central Asia, including Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, is vulnerable to cyber threats, with Tajikistan experiencing a high rate of malware attacks.
China
China, despite decent rankings, has a significant number of malware-infected mobile phones and IoT-based attacks originating from the country.
Bangladesh
Bangladesh struggles with cybersecurity, with a high percentage of malware-infected mobile devices and recent breaches exposing citizen data.
Iran
Iran faces major cybersecurity challenges, including a high rate of mobile phone infections with malware and vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure exposed through cyberattacks.
Witnessing the Northern Lights at the North and South Poles is considered a rare and unforgettable experience for many individuals. However, you now have the opportunity to cross this off your bucket list as the Northern Lights might be visible in the skies over the US and UK tonight.
Yesterday, the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Space Weather Prediction Center issued a magnetic storm warning following a solar eruption that sent a stream of particles towards Earth, triggering the aurora borealis.
When Can You See the Aurora Borealis?
Scientists anticipate that the aurora will be visible from tonight (March 25) until early tomorrow (March 26), with optimal viewing between 11pm and 12am.
“Predicting the exact visibility of the aurora can be challenging due to rapidly changing conditions,” states Professor Don Polacco, a graduate from the Department of Physics at the University of Warwick. “However, one thing is certain: urban areas with bright lights are unlikely to provide a clear view. To observe the Northern Lights, you must venture into darker, rural settings and look towards the northern horizon (focus on the North Star).” Hence, being in the countryside away from city lights is recommended.
The prime viewing time typically falls during the darkest hours of the night, around 11pm to 12am. Nevertheless, as Polacco mentions, the appearance of the lights can be unpredictable, with avid observers possibly needing to wait until late at night for their glimpse.
The further north you venture in the Northern Hemisphere, the better your chances are of witnessing this celestial phenomenon. The same applies to individuals further south in the Southern Hemisphere.
According to astrophysicist Dr. Paul Strom, “The most effective way to see the Northern Lights is to subscribe to an alert service that keeps you informed about the activity.” For UK residents, he recommends utilizing aurora watch UK for updates.
If you intend to capture images of the aurora, Strom advises setting your camera to higher sensitivity (ISO) and securing it on a tripod to facilitate long exposure shots of a few seconds. Photography is encouraged.
Where Can You See the Northern Lights?
In the northern hemisphere, the aurora borealis can be observed across the United States, with sightings possible in states like Washington, Wisconsin, and New York. If the current geomagnetic storm maintains its strength, it might extend southwards to Northern California and Alabama.
In the UK, Scotland and Northern Ireland stand a good chance of viewing the Northern Lights if the skies remain clear.
Conversely, in the southern hemisphere, the Japan Meteorological Agency Space Weather Forecast Center has alerted Australia about the possibility of aurora borealis (southern lights). Tasmanian residents, Victoria’s coastal regions, and the southwest coast of Western Australia are expected to experience the phenomenon.
Auroras tend to be visible near the Earth’s magnetic poles, in synchronization with the geographic location of the poles. Individuals located near the Arctic or Antarctic Circles can anticipate a dazzling display of lights.
Read more:
What Causes the Aurora Borealis?
The interaction of particles emanating from the sun with Earth’s strong magnetic field set off by its molten iron core results in the aurora borealis phenomenon.
“Auroras materialize when the Sun expels huge bubbles of magnetic gas into space,” remarked Dr. Darren Baskill, an astronomy lecturer at the University of Sussex, to BBC Science Focus. “Occasionally, these bubbles collide with Earth and its magnetic channels, prompting gas to flow towards the north and south poles, illuminating the sky with the enchanting lights of the aurora borealis.”
Baskill elucidated that the sun undergoes an 11-year cycle during which its magnetic field alternates between increasing and decreasing in intensity. Presently, we are approaching the pinnacle of this cycle, implying an elevated frequency of aurora borealis sightings over the next year as solar activity heightens.
This evening’s light display follows a recent solar flare, as Baskill delineated, “A solar eruption on Sunday, March 24, 2024, resulted in the release of a gas bubble (coronal mass ejection). “The solar wind carrying the gas is currently traveling at approximately 800 km/s and is expected to impact Earth from Monday night into Tuesday morning.”
Why Are the Aurora Borealis Different Colors?
The hues of the aurora borealis and australis are determined by the fusion of specific atoms in Earth’s atmosphere with solar particles.
When oxygen atoms at higher altitudes react, a green aurora emerges. Meanwhile, sightings of blue, yellow, or red auroras indicate interactions between solar particles and oxygen or nitrogen atoms at lower altitudes.
The occasional presence of a purple hue is attributable to interactions with hydrogen and helium.
Are Geomagnetic Storms Hazardous?
Rest assured, unless you are seeking to witness the aurora borealis, geomagnetic storms pose no significant risk.
Nevertheless, these storms can potentially disrupt high-frequency radio communications. Experts vigilantly monitor aircraft and satellite communications to ensure uninterrupted operations.
In a statement released on Sunday, the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center assured the public that no adverse effects were to be expected, with infrastructure operators already taking precautions to mitigate potential impacts.
However, the statement cautioned that disruptions to GPS systems could become more frequent and prolonged.
About Our Experts
Don Polacco: He serves as a Professor in the Astronomy and Astrophysics Group at the University of Warwick, focusing on exoplanets and overseeing the successful SuperWASP project on La Palma Island.
Dr. Paul Strom: A faculty member in the Astronomy and Astrophysics Group at the University of Warwick, engaged in the PLATO space mission and various astrophysical research endeavors, particularly emphasizing far-ultraviolet observations for understanding young planet formation environments.
Dr. Darren Baskill: An outreach officer and lecturer at the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Sussex, formerly affiliated with the Royal Observatory Greenwich and the administrator of the annual Astronomical Photographer of the Year competition.
Paleontologists have unearthed two fossilized phalanges of ancient carnivorous birds on Seymour Island in Antarctica.
Paleoenvironmental reconstruction of an early Eocene continental community on Seymour Island: large claw-shaped birds hunting and gazing at medium-sized ungulates. Nothiolophos regeloiseveral marsupials on the tree, Antarctoboenus carlinii It is flying in the sky, and behind it is a runner who cannot fly. Image credit: Carolina Acosta Hospitaleche & Washington Jones, doi: 10.26879/1340.
Ancient bird fossils were discovered in the La Meseta Formation on Seymour Island in West Antarctica.
“These phalanges belonged to a large predator, estimated to weigh around 100 kg,” said Dr. Carolina Acosta Hospitalrecce of the National University of La Plata and Dr. Washington Jones of the National Museum of History of Uruguay.
The specimen is approximately 50 million years old (early Eocene).
They belong to the following types Forsulacid (commonly known as the fear bird), an extinct family in the order Calliamyformes.
“Caryamiformes are a primarily terrestrial bird order that has shown significant diversification in the past, but only two species currently inhabit South America,” the paleontologists said.
“Despite the rich fossil record, phylogenetic and biogeographic relationships within this order remain poorly understood.”
“Within the Calliamydae, Phorsuracidae forms a crown group with the Caryamydae, and Idiornithidae and Basorhuntiidae have been reconfirmed as fossil families.”
Fossilized phalanx of an ancient Karyamiform bird from Seymour Island, Antarctica. Scale bar – 10 mm. Image credit: Carolina Acosta Hospitaleche & Washington Jones, doi: 10.26879/1340.
The Antarctic terror bird probably preyed on small marsupials and medium-sized ungulates.
“They are likely active hunters, clearly fulfilling the role of continental apex predators similar to the mammals of Paleogene Antarctic communities,” the researchers said.
“Large birds resembling Phorsulaceae represent a previously unknown guild in Antarctica.”
“These findings unequivocally reshape our understanding of the dynamics of the Antarctic ecosystem during the early Eocene.”
of result Published in an online magazine Old Trogia Electronica.
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Carolina Acosta Hospitalrecce & Washington Jones. 2024. Was the fearbird an apex predator in Antarctica? New discoveries from the early Eocene of Seymour Island. Old Trogia Electronica 27 (1):a13; doi: 10.26879/1340
After spaceflight, astronauts often experience symptoms that affect their sensory systems, such as unsteadiness when walking or standing, blurred vision, and fatigue. These symptoms are called Bilateral vestibular disorder or BVP. Patients on Earth can also experience BVP, but they have different symptoms than astronauts who suffer from BVP. Scientists believe these differences occur in the part of the sensory system responsible for tracking head movement and body orientation in space. This includes the set of nerves in your ear. vestibular nerve.
Astronauts experience lower gravity than on Earth. Under these conditions, the organs in the inner ear that our brains use to sense head movement and spatial orientation don’t work properly. This makes it difficult for astronauts to determine their body’s actual position, movement, and altitude. After returning to Earth’s gravity, astronauts typically need to undergo rehabilitation to correct any resulting balance and coordination problems.
French researchers recently compared the symptoms of BVP experienced by astronauts during readjustment to Earth’s gravity with those of BVP patients on Earth. The team wanted to test strategies to help people on Earth adapt to BVP during rehabilitation, in hopes of establishing or improving rehabilitation strategies for astronauts returning from space.
The researchers recruited 28 astronauts, seven men and 11 women, with an average age of 48, all of whom lived on the spacecraft. international space station For 6 to 11 months. They also recruited 30 patients, including 13 men and 17 women with an average age of 61 years, all of whom had BVP but had never left Earth. They asked each participant to perform his five tests designed to examine mobility and reaction time.
To examine participants’ balance, we measured the time it took them to stand up from a sitting position and establish a stable posture.“Standing test”. They then measured how long it took them to walk around the cone. “Walk around test”. We then asked participants to: from heel to toe This is called the “tandem walk test” and is similar to walking a tightrope with your arms crossed in front of your chest. The researchers recorded each participant repeating this procedure twice and examined each recording to determine the correct number of steps taken during each trial.
The researchers also asked patients to track their progress for one minute while wearing the device. Virtual reality (VR) devices and earphones that mask external noise. The VR device instructed the patient to press the “run” button on the laptop mouse, wait 1 minute, and then press the “stop” button. They used this test, known as the “Duration Judgment Test,” to see how well each participant performed. I felt the passage of time. Finally, the participant who turned on the VR device was asked to respond as quickly as possible to a blue square that was displayed for 50 ms at random intervals.reaction time test. The researchers gave these tests to astronauts about three months before launch, once a month during spaceflight, two hours after returning to Earth, and 24 hours after returning to Earth. A test was conducted.
Researchers found that earthbound BVP patients walked around the cone more slowly than Astronauts did so during and after spaceflight. They also found that BVP patients took fewer correct tightrope steps than astronauts in the 24 hours after returning to Earth. However, the time it took for BVP patients on Earth to calm down during the sit-to-stand test fell between the day the astronauts landed and 24 hours later. Both BVP patients and astronauts who remained on Earth were unable to properly sense the passage of time and were slow to respond to blue squares.
The researchers concluded that problems with balance, sensing the passage of time, and reaction time experienced by astronauts after spaceflight are similar to those experienced by BVP patients on Earth. Therefore, they proposed that these problems, similar to those in earthbound patients, are caused by central nervous system dysfunction that affects the senses. To reduce these post-flight health problems, the researchers recommended that astronauts undergo training designed to improve their vision, hearing, and touch during orbit and after spaceflight.
The researchers cited two limitations of the study: the age difference between the astronauts and the Earth-bound group, and the fact that the BVP subjects on Earth received rehabilitation therapy, while the astronauts did not. I was warned that there was a point. They also were unable to test the astronauts post-flight to properly diagnose central nervous system conditions, so further research is needed to confirm whether the central nervous system is causing these symptoms. He pointed out that.
I was going to start this article differently. But that was before my 10-year-old daughter intervened. In fact, I had already started writing when she got up and tried to trick me. She offered to bet me her ten pounds that I could write red with a regular pencil. Unfortunately for this budding entrepreneur, I turned down the bet. She was so confident that she suspected he was up to something. But I let her reveal the trick. She took her lead pencil in her hand and she wrote, “In red color.” Then she laughed like a hyena and went out to fool her mother.
Our bright little sparks have opinions on everything from video games to sports to books. She’s learning basic algebra and coding, but her Taylor Swift expertise far exceeds mine. But even with all this knowledge, she still has many years to go before she reaches adulthood. If she lives out her average lifespan, she will spend a quarter of her year as a minor.
It is truly strange that humans have long childhoods. No other primate takes this long to reach adulthood. During the evolution of our species, childhood has become significantly longer, along with more obvious physical changes. Traditionally, paleoanthropologists have paid little attention to children, but that is now changing. A series of interesting discoveries over the past few years are building a complete picture of human childhood. When did this seemingly unproductive life stage expand, why was it so long, and what did prehistoric children do? This discovery does more than just shed light on a dark corner…
In April, a total solar eclipse is expected to occur, promising great scientific success thanks to new spacecraft, telescopes, and cosmic coincidences.
The upcoming eclipse will feature the Moon very close to Earth, resulting in a prolonged period of darkness, and an anticipated increase in solar activity with possible dramatic plasma bursts. Additionally, densely populated areas from Mexico to America to Canada will witness this phenomenon.
During the eclipse, citizen scientists among the tens of millions of spectators will assist NASA and other research groups in studying our planet and stars. They will capture images of the sun’s corona as the moon blocks sunlight for up to 4 minutes and 28 seconds on April 8. The atmosphere will witness calm among birds and animals as darkness envelops midday. Other activities include measuring temperature drops, monitoring clouds, and using amateur radio to assess interruptions in communications.
Simultaneously, a rocket carrying scientific instruments will be launched into the ionosphere near the edge of the universe. This launch, from Wallops Island, Virginia, aims to study the electrically charged region of the atmosphere during the partial solar eclipse, obscuring 81% of the sun. NASA’s high-altitude jets will also be deployed with improved telescopes to observe the eclipse’s effects on the sun’s corona and surrounding dust.
Various scientific activities will take place along the eclipse path across different locations. More than 600 weather balloons will be launched for live-streamed atmospheric studies by university students, irrespective of cloudy skies. The eclipse will provide a rare opportunity to observe the sun’s corona, which is usually hidden by its glare, and offer valuable insights into the corona’s extreme temperatures.
The eclipse will traverse through several U.S. states, into Canada, and finally exit into the Atlantic Ocean. Scientists are looking forward to the event to gather valuable data and insights, especially with the heightened solar activity compared to the 2017 eclipse. With new spacecraft studying the sun and advanced scientific instruments in place, April’s solar eclipse promises a wealth of scientific discoveries.
This eclipse, passing through U.S. radar sites monitoring space weather, will offer a unique opportunity for scientific observation closer to home.
Some zoo animals contracted SARS-CoV-2 from humans
Sergei Supinsky/AFP/Getty
Animals such as rats are often considered carriers of the disease. But when it comes to the spread of disease, it turns out that other animals have more reason to fear us than we do.
Analysis of the viral genome found that when viruses move between humans and other animals, in 64% of cases they are transmitted from humans to other animals, rather than vice versa.
“We give more viruses to animals than they give us,” he says. Cedric Tan At University College London. For example, after the SARS-CoV-2 virus passed from bats to humans, likely through another species, humans passed the virus on to many other species.
Tan and his colleagues have been using a global database of sequenced viruses to study how viruses move between species. There are nearly 12 million sequences in the database, but many are incomplete or lack data on when and from which host species they were collected.
So the researchers narrowed down the 12 million to about 60,000 high-quality sequences with complete accompanying data. They then created a “family tree” of related viruses.
In total, approximately 13,000 virus lineages and 3,000 jumps between species were identified. Of the 599 jumps involving humans, most were from humans to other animals, not the other way around.
Tan says the team didn't expect this, but in retrospect it makes sense. “Our population size is huge. And our global footprint is basically everywhere.”
In other words, a virus that circulates among humans has many opportunities to spread to many other species around the world, whereas a virus that circulates among non-human species confined to a single region does not. That's far less.
Studies have found that SARS-CoV-2, MERS-CoV, and influenza viruses are the viruses most commonly transmitted by humans to other animals. This is consistent with other studies showing, for example, that SARS-CoV-2 spread from humans to pets, zoo animals, domestic animals such as mink, and wild animals such as white-tailed deer.
However, even when SARS-CoV-2, MERS-CoV, and influenza viruses were excluded from the analysis, the researchers found that 54 percent of infections were from humans to other animals.
The spread of viruses from humans to other species is a threat to many endangered animal species, Tan said. For example, outbreaks of human metapneumovirus and human respirovirus have killed several wild chimpanzees in Uganda.
Great tits appear to flap their wings to signal their mates to enter the nest, suggesting that birds may use a variety of gestures to communicate.
Signals such as hand waving are common aspects of communication between humans and other great apes. To learn more about such behavior of birds, Toshitaka Suzuki Professors at the University of Tokyo installed hundreds of nest boxes in forests where great tits live (minor pulse) For the past few years, near the town of Karuizawa.
To mimic the tree cavities that great tits normally inhabit, each box had a 7.5-centimeter-wide hole, just large enough to fit one bird at a time.
During the breeding season, the researchers observed 321 nest visits by eight pairs, with great tits often carrying food to feed the hatchlings.
When the couple arrives at the nest together, each tit perches on a nearby branch before entering the nest. About 40 percent of the time, the female turned her chest toward the male and flap her wings for a few seconds. Immediately the male entered the nest first, followed by the female.
However, when neither bird was flapping, which accounted for 44 percent of nest visits, the female usually entered the nest first. Only one male was observed flapping its wings repeatedly, and then the female moved in first. No flapping of wings was observed when each bird arrived separately.
“We can conclude that this wing flapping conveys ‘after you’ and encourages the male to enter the nest first,” Suzuki says. “This study is the first to demonstrate that birds can use wing movements to convey specific meanings.”
The findings suggest that great tits, and perhaps other bird species, communicate in a much more complex way than previously thought.
“There is a hypothesis that language evolved from communication through gestures,” Suzuki says. “Thus, these studies help us understand the evolution of complex communication, including our language.”
Gender gaps within science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) still persist despite significant advancements. Women continue to be underrepresented, with only 29.2% of STEM employees being women compared to nearly 50% in non-STEM occupations, as reported in the Global Gender Gap Report (2023).
However, the urgent need to address goes beyond just getting women into STEM. A recent study at UCL revealed that female she-STEM students are twice as likely to have experienced sex discrimination compared to non-STEM students.
With advancements in hackers and digital technologies, the demand for cybersecurity professionals is on the rise to combat digital threats. The global cybersecurity market is projected to reach $424.97 billion by 2030, highlighting the importance of closing the gender gap to address this deficit.
Throughout history, women in STEM fields have overcome barriers, but there is still a long way to go. Here are five remarkable women who have significantly contributed to STEM:
5 women who advanced STEM
Ada Lovelace (1815-1852)
Katherine Johnson (1918-2020)
Dame Stephanie Shirley “Steve” (1933-present)
Michelle Zatlin (1979-present)
Elizabeth Coulon (1994-present)
Ada Loveless
Augusta Ada, Countess of Lovelace (1815-1852) British mathematician and writer. – (Photo courtesy of Universal History Archive/Getty Images)
Ada Lovelace, a prominent figure in computer engineering, was ahead of her time. She envisioned a steam-powered flying machine at 12 and played a significant role in Charles Babbage’s analytical engine, laying the foundation for modern computing.
Katherine Johnson
Portrait of NASA/NACA female physicist and scientist Katherine Johnson, 1955. – Image courtesy of NASA. (Photo via Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)
Katherine Johnson, an African-American mathematician, played a crucial role in NASA’s early missions, including Glenn’s orbit in 1962 and the Apollo 13 mission. Her calculations contributed to landing humans on the moon and creating a flight plan for crew safety.
Mrs. Stephanie Shirley
Entrepreneur and philanthropist Dame Stephanie Shirley has been appointed a Member of the Order of the Brotherhood by the Duke of Cambridge. – Photo credit: John Stillwell – WPA Pool / Getty Images
Stephanie Shirley, a work-from-home pioneer, founded Freelance Programmers and overcame industry obstacles through her innovative approach, paving the way for equal labor rights. She also founded Autistica, a charity dedicated to autism research.
Michelle Zatlin
CloudFlare’s Michelle Zatlin will be on stage judging Startup Battlefield. – Photo by Steve Jennings/Getty Images for TechCrunch
Michelle Zatlin, a technology pioneer, co-founded Cloudflare, a cybersecurity company that prevents cyberattacks and safeguards internet traffic. Cloudflare’s projects, such as “Athenian” and “Project Cyber Safe Schools,” focus on election integrity and cybersecurity in schools.
Elizabeth Coulombe
Elizabeth Coulombe, co-founder of Tero. – Photo credit: Tero
Elizabeth Coulombe, the CEO of Tero, developed a device that recycles food waste into organic fertilizer in hours, addressing global food waste issues. Her innovation has prevented significant waste from reaching landfills, contributing to environmental sustainability.
Women have played pivotal roles in shaping a better world, from cybersecurity to environmental sustainability, demonstrating their impact and contributions to solving pressing global issues.
In a new paper in the journal Nature Machine Intelligence, leading computer scientists from around the world review recent advances in machine learning that are converging towards creating collective machine-learned intelligence. They propose that this convergence of scientific and technological advances will lead to the emergence of new types of AI systems that are scalable, resilient, and sustainable.
Saltoggio other. In other words, we will see the emergence of collective AI, where many artificial intelligence units, each able to continuously acquire new knowledge and skills, form a network and share information with each other.
Loughborough University Dr. Andrea Sortoggio and colleagues recognize striking similarities between collective AI and many science fiction concepts.
One example they give is Borg – a cybernetic life form that appears in the Star Trek universe that operates and shares knowledge through a linked collective consciousness.
However, unlike many science fiction stories, the authors envision that collective AI will bring major positive breakthroughs across a variety of fields.
“Instantaneous knowledge sharing across a collective network of AI units that can continuously learn and adapt to new data enables rapid response to new situations, challenges, and threats,” said Dr. Sortogeo.
“For example, in a cybersecurity environment, when one AI unit identifies a threat, it can quickly share knowledge and prompt a collective response, which helps the human immune system protect the body from external intruders. It’s the same as protecting it.”
“It could also lead to the development of disaster response robots that can quickly adapt to the situation they are dispatched to, and personalized medical agents that combine cutting-edge medical knowledge with patient-specific information to improve health outcomes. Yes, the potential applications are vast and exciting.”
Researchers acknowledge that there are risks associated with collective AI (such as the rapid spread of potentially unethical or illegal knowledge), but that AI units have their own objectives and independence from the collective. The authors emphasize the important safety aspect of their vision: to maintain
“This will enable democracy for AI agents and greatly reduce the risk of AI domination by a few large systems,” said Dr. Sortoggio.
After analyzing recent advances in machine learning, the authors concluded that the future of AI lies in collective intelligence.
The study focuses global efforts on enabling lifelong learning (where AI agents can extend their knowledge throughout their operational life) and developing universal protocols and languages that allow AI systems to share knowledge with each other. It became clear that it was.
This differs from current large-scale AI models such as ChatGPT, which have limited lifelong learning and knowledge sharing capabilities.
Such models are unable to continue learning because they acquire most of their knowledge during energy-intensive training sessions.
“Recent research trends are extending AI models with the ability to continuously adapt once deployed, allowing their knowledge to be reused in other models, and effectively recycling knowledge to increase learning speed and energy.” It’s about optimizing demand,” said Dr. Sortogeo.
“We believe that the currently dominant large-scale, expensive, non-sharable, non-lifetime AI models will be replaced by sustainable, evolving, and shared collections of AI units in the future. I don’t believe I will survive.”
“Thanks to communication and sharing, human knowledge has increased step by step over thousands of years.”
“We believe that similar movements are likely to occur in future societies of AI units that achieve democratic and cooperative collectives.”
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A. Saltoggio other. 2024. Collective AI with lifelong learning and sharing at the edge. nat mach intel 6, 251-264; doi: 10.1038/s42256-024-00800-2
Let’s prepare for an amazing event. A stunning lunar eclipse is set to occur on Monday, March 25, 2024, when the Earth aligns between the Sun and the Moon. This alignment causes the Earth’s shadow to fall on the Moon, resulting in a dimmer appearance.
This event coincides with the Festival of Colors, a traditional Hindu celebration marking the arrival of spring and new beginnings. For locations more than 6 hours behind GMT (west of Chicago), the eclipse will start on the night of March 24, 2024.
Curious about where to witness a lunar eclipse, the difference between penumbral and umbral solar eclipses, the possibility of the moon turning red, or the astrological sign the moon will be in during a solar eclipse? Find answers to these questions below.
If you’re excited about clear nights this year, consider planning ahead with our UK full moon calendar and beginner’s guide to astronomy.
When does a lunar eclipse occur?
A penumbral lunar eclipse is scheduled for March 24th to 25th, 2024.
For viewers in the UK, the eclipse will take place a few hours before sunrise, with the moon setting as it reaches its maximum phase. In Bristol, the sunrise will be at 6am GMT on March 25th, placing the eclipse in the early morning sky just before the moon sets.
At 6:03 a.m. GMT, the eclipse will peak while the moon is still above the horizon. The true maximum at 7:12 a.m. won’t be visible as the moon will have set by then.
The moon will start to set at 6:11 a.m. GMT, but its proximity to the horizon and the eclipse phase may dim it before its descent, possibly making it almost invisible.
During a lunar eclipse, the moon will be above the horizon, providing better visibility for observers in the United States.
For Bristol, UK:
A penumbral solar eclipse begins: March 25th, 4:53 a.m. GMT (Moon visible on the horizon)
Maximum eclipse: March 25, 7:12 a.m. GMT (moon below the horizon)
Penumbral eclipse ends: March 25, 9:32 a.m. GMT (moon below the horizon)
For New York City, USA:
A penumbral solar eclipse begins: March 25th 12:53am ET (Moon visible above the horizon)
Maximum eclipse: March 25th, 3:12 a.m. ET (Moon visible on the horizon)
Penumbral eclipse ends: March 25th, 5:32am ET (moon visible on the horizon)
For San Francisco, USA:
A penumbral solar eclipse begins: March 24th, 9:53 PM PST* (Moon visible on the horizon)
Maximum eclipse: March 25th, 12:12am PST (Moon visible on the horizon)
Penumbral eclipse ends: March 25th, 2:32 a.m. PST (Moon visible on the horizon)
* In the United States, clocks changed to daylight saving time on March 10th. In the UK, clocks change to BST on March 31st.
Where can I see the lunar eclipse?
The lunar eclipse on March 25, 2024, will be visible across the United States, South America, Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe, Africa, Asia, Western Australia, and the Arctic and Antarctic regions.
For locations west of Chicago, Illinois, the eclipse will begin on March 24 and last until sunrise.
What exactly is a penumbral eclipse?
All objects cast two shadows when in front of a light source: the dark umbra and the bright penumbra. This remains true when the Earth is between the Sun and the Moon.
During a lunar eclipse, when the moon enters Earth’s penumbra, a partial shadow is formed. Penumbral eclipses are subtle and may be challenging to observe. On Earth, this translates to a gradual dimming of the Moon’s brightness.
During a lunar eclipse, the Earth casts a shadow on the moon. – Photo credit: Getty
During a total lunar eclipse, as the Moon enters Earth’s umbra, it takes on a reddish hue for a more dramatic effect. The intensity of the red color depends on the Moon’s position in Earth’s shadow, appearing blood red in the deepest shadow and pale red in partial shadow.
For future lunar residents, standing on the Moon during a lunar eclipse would reveal Earth blocking the Sun, a scenario where a solar eclipse is witnessed.
What causes a lunar eclipse?
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth moves in front of the Sun, casting its shadow on the Moon. Since the Moon reflects sunlight back to us, its visibility during a lunar eclipse is affected when this sunlight is obstructed.
There are different stages to a lunar eclipse: transition through Earth’s penumbra, entry into the dark umbra, return to the penumbra, and finally exit from the shadow completely.
During the upcoming lunar eclipse on March 24-25, 2024, the Moon will stay within the penumbra without entering the central umbra.
What constellation is the moon in?
The penumbral eclipse on March 24-25, 2024, will take place while the Moon is in Virgo, mirroring the placement of Spica, the brightest object in the constellation but slightly to the west.
Will the moon turn red?
Unfortunately, the lunar eclipse on March 24-25, 2024, will not be total, meaning the Moon will not turn red. At most, observant viewers may notice a slight darkening, far less dramatic than during a total lunar eclipse.
Under most circumstances, the lunar eclipse will go unnoticed: “Regrettably, this full moon will only pass through Earth’s darker outer shadow. The lunar eclipse will not be observable at all!” Dr. Darren Baskill, University of Sussex, remarks.
To visualize the distinction, Dr. Baskill suggests placing your hand between a bright light and a surface at night, observing the fainter penumbra surrounding the dark umbra of your hand.
Why do solar eclipses come in pairs?
Observant viewers will notice solar and lunar eclipses occurring successively. After the lunar eclipse on March 24-25, 2024, a solar eclipse will follow on April 8, 2024, promising an even more impressive celestial event.
This phenomenon arises from the alignment of the Sun, Earth, Moon, and their orbital planes.
The Moon’s orbit is slightly inclined compared to Earth’s orbit around the Sun, leading it to pass slightly above or below Earth’s orbital path. Despite this, specific points where the Moon’s orbit intersects Earth’s orbital path—termed “nodes”—exist.
During a solar eclipse season, recurring approximately every six months, alignments near these nodes permit both solar and lunar eclipses to occur. The full moon’s passage through Earth’s shadow creates a lunar eclipse, which is followed by a solar eclipse two weeks later, during the new moon phase, with the Sun, Earth, and Moon aligning perfectly.
When is the next lunar eclipse?
Following March 25, 2024, a partial lunar eclipse is slated for September 18, 2024, preceding a total lunar eclipse about a year later, on March 14, 2025.
Subsequent total lunar eclipses will occur in three consecutive instances, on September 7, 2025, and March 3, 2026.
Here is a list of upcoming lunar eclipses:
March 25, 2024: penumbra
September 18, 2024: Partial
March 14, 2025: total
September 7, 2025: total
March 3, 2026: total
August 28, 2026: Partial
February 20, 2027: penumbra
July 18, 2027: penumbra
August 17, 2027: penumbra
January 12, 2028: Partial
July 6, 2028: Partial
December 31, 2028: total
June 26, 2029: total
December 20, 2029: total
Tips for viewing the lunar eclipse
No special equipment is needed to observe a lunar eclipse, as it is entirely safe to view the moon even during the event. The moon reflects sunlight and lacks dangerous radiation. Therefore, it poses no threat to human eyes.
On a clear night, simply use your eyes to witness the eclipse. A reclining chair may enhance comfort during outdoor viewing. For UK spectators, the eclipse will transpire before dawn, with the moon low on the horizon, possibly visible from indoors if not obstructed by foliage.
To maximize visibility, avoiding areas with high light pollution remains crucial.
Where is the comet located relative to the moon?
About our expert Dr. Darren Baskill
Dr. Darren Baskill is an Outreach Officer and Lecturer in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Sussex. He previously instructed at the Royal Observatory Greenwich and managed the annual Astronomical Photographer of the Year competition.
Historically, the brain was not always recognized as the center of thought. In ancient Egypt, it was believed that the heart held intellect and the soul, resulting in the preservation of the heart in mummified bodies, while the brain was discarded.
In the 5th century B.C., Greek scholar Alcmaion of Croton made claims about the brain, but two centuries later, Aristotle still upheld the belief that the heart was the seat of intelligence.
Octopuses are an interesting example, as about two-thirds of their neurons are found in their tentacles, allowing for semi-independent responses to stimuli. This challenges the idea of a central location for thought.
Advancements in AI models, like ChatGPT, show that conscious thought can be produced without physical sense organs, resembling human thought processes.
While modern neuroscience confirms that the brain controls perception, thinking, and language, cultural and religious beliefs can shape ideas about consciousness and its origins.
In various indigenous cultures, consciousness is often associated with spirits or ancestors, separate from the physical body. Sensations like hunger and pain also demonstrate that thought is not solely contained in the brain.
If our brains and stomachs were reversed, we might view conscious thought as originating in the stomach, with the head serving as a sensory and input location.
This article explores the question of whether we would “think from our stomachs” if our brains were located there, reflecting on the nature of consciousness.
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On February 21, a meter-wide space capsule landed in the Utah desert after eight months in orbit. The cargo is a batch of ritonavir, an antiviral drug used to treat HIV and COVID-19.
Carried out by a California startup Varda Space Industries, the mission aims to showcase the potential of automated drug manufacturing in space, potentially opening doors for more efficient ways to develop medications.
Varda’s W-1 mission was launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in June 2023. The capsule itself weighs about 90 kg, capable of producing nearly 100 kg of product during several months in orbit.
However, the initial mission produced only a small amount of ritonavir during a 27-hour test run.
In-flight analysis indicates that the manufacturing process was executed as planned, and while final results are pending, Varda is gearing up for its second mission carrying its first commercial payload.
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But why the focus on space?
Experiments in microgravity have shown that it’s possible to produce pharmaceuticals more efficiently in space compared to on Earth. The unique conditions in space enable the growth of crystals used in medications to be more perfect and uniform.
Pharmaceutical companies are leveraging insights from space experiments to enhance manufacturing processes on Earth. Crystals grown in space demonstrate exceptional properties that could lead to more effective drugs than those produced on Earth.
Varda and other companies are exploring the potential of harnessing microgravity to develop new drugs, ushering in a new era of pharmaceutical innovation.
Economics present a challenge in producing materials in space for Earth use, but advancements in reusable spacecraft and versatile space labs are driving costs down and opening up new possibilities for scientific discovery.
Experts like Dr. Ann Wilson and Dr. Katie King are at the forefront of research in crystal growth and pharmaceutical development in microgravity, shaping the future of space-based manufacturing.
About our experts
Dr. Ann Wilson, a professor at Butler University, has conducted groundbreaking research on crystal growth in microgravity, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Dr. Katie King, with expertise in nanomedicine, is leading research on pharmaceutical development in microgravity and is a key figure in advancing medical science through space-based experiments.
The UK Government has initiated a consultation to gather public and industry input on increasing the legal power of electric bike models from 250W to 500W in the UK. This move has sparked concerns in the fire protection community.
Electric bicycles utilize various types of batteries, with lithium-ion technology being the common choice. These batteries come in different shapes and sizes, such as cylindrical or box-shaped configurations.
Battery packs in electric bikes are composed of multiple cells connected in series and parallel to provide the necessary voltage and capacity. Incidents of fires linked to lithium-ion batteries are on the rise, posing risks to users of electric bikes and e-scooters.
Recent data disclosed in May 2023 by the Guardian newspaper revealed that defective electric bikes and e-scooters have caused injuries to 190 individuals and claimed eight lives in the UK. The London Fire Brigade noted a substantial increase in battery-related fires in 2023, with a rise of 78% compared to the previous year.
Potential causes of fires in lithium-ion batteries include mechanical or thermal shock, overcharging, and reactive materials interacting with each other, leading to heat generation and abnormal electrical behavior. Despite the benefits of higher wattage batteries in electric bikes, there are concerns about the increased risk of fires and other safety issues.
To mitigate the risk of battery fires, users are advised to avoid tampering with batteries, charge them within the recommended parameters, and store them in a safe environment away from flammable materials. Adherence to manufacturer guidelines and proper disposal of damaged batteries are crucial in preventing incidents of fires.
NASA stays in touch with its space probes, like Voyager 2, through the Deep Space Network (DSN), which consists of radio receiving antennas located in three different spots globally. These locations include Goldstone in California, Robredo near Madrid, and Tidbinbilla near Canberra.
Voyager 2 can only be observed from the southern hemisphere, making the DSS-43 antenna at the Australian site the sole antenna on Earth that can communicate with the spacecraft.
Currently positioned more than 20 billion kilometers from Earth, Voyager 2 has a transmitter that outputs approximately 23 watts (around eight times more powerful than a typical cell phone). By the time a radio signal reaches Earth, it has only about one-tenth of this power.
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To detect this extremely faint signal, DSS-43 and Voyager 2’s transmitters use narrowband, high-frequency signals that are highly directional and transmitted at slow bit rates.
Advanced signal processing techniques, minimal interference, and the fact that radio signals can travel through space with little obstruction allow DSS-43 to overcome long distances.
The antenna can transmit a signal to Voyager 2 at a much higher power level (up to about 400,000 watts) than it receives. This strong output can be easily picked up by the spacecraft even at far distances.
This piece (by Elouise Pace) addresses the question, “How can we communicate with Voyager 2, which is billions of miles away?”
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