You could argue that LIFE is like a long game of blackjack. A common version of this is that each person is first dealt her two playing cards. The goal is to increase your hand to 21, or as close to this as possible without bursting. Players can either “stick” with their existing hand or “twist” it by requesting that they be dealt another card to add to their total. Of course, going over 21 risks being eliminated.
This may sound far from an everyday choice, but many of the most important decisions in our lives end up in dilemmas like this. Should I stay like this or should I take the plunge and move house? Should you keep your job or start your own business? Should you put up with an unsatisfactory relationship, or try your hand at love another time? In each case, we have to weigh the safety of what we have against riskier but potentially more valuable alternatives.
The uncertainty inherent in these dilemmas causes many of us to become paralyzed and stagnant in our analysis, staying where we are and never getting the chance to win big. In contrast, some people are easily swayed by the lure of new things. They are quick to gamble until they lose everything due to impulsive behavior. If any of these scenarios sound familiar, help may be on the way. Thanks to a greater understanding of our underlying cognitive biases and how to escape them, we now have evidence-based strategies to think more rationally about these challenges, so we can put our lives on the line. Playing the game gives us the most benefit.
Damage from storms like Hurricane Harvey caused severe power outages to the Texas power grid.
Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images
Simulations suggest that storm sheltering just 1% of the power lines in a power grid can reduce the likelihood of a hurricane-induced power outage by a factor of five to one in 20. The demonstration, conducted on a mock version of the Texas power grid, could help improve the resiliency of power transmission systems around the world.
“The importance of different power lines to the overall system becomes clear only when studying the partial disruption of the power grid as the storm progresses,” he says. frank hellman at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Germany.
To identify the critical power lines most in need of protection, Hellman and his colleagues investigated how the power grid responds to widespread damage over time. They focused on the large-scale “failure cascade” that occurs after the initial storm damage. When power plants and transmission lines shut down to protect against further damage, secondary power outages can occur and increase the impact of a hurricane.
Researchers have determined that wind-related storm damage, such as damaged pylons and fallen tree limbs from gusts, and resulting damage to Texas during seven historic hurricanes between 2003 and 2020. simulated both a series of power outages that occurred on the power grid.
Rather than trying to predict individual power line failures, which can be caused by fallen trees or lightning strikes, researchers set each power line's probability of failure based on local wind speeds during each storm event. assigned. Their model maintains the same 20 critical transmission lines, where initial storm damage can cause a series of secondary line failures, even if they randomly vary the probability of failure for each line and rerun the simulation. Consistently identified electrical wires.
This experiment synthetic network model of the Texas Grid, which was previously developed by a team at Texas A&M University. It is not an exact replica of the actual physical grid, but represents the overall behavior of the grid. “None of the power lines in that grid are real power lines,” he says. adam burchfield at Texas A&M University. “Therefore, to see if these results hold true for the real Texas grid, we need to perform the study on at least a model of the real Texas grid.”
Power grid operators themselves can run this simulation with their own detailed power grid models, although independent researchers typically do not have access to such models for security reasons. Once you identify which specific lines are weak points, you can weatherize critical components of your grid.
Beyond Texas, such simulations can also model grids in other locations where similar storms have occurred. It says it “may provide an opportunity to validate the model and results.” Chuan Yi Ji from Georgia Tech in Atlanta was not involved in the study.
Hellman acknowledges that wind damage models have limitations. It does not take into account the possibility of further damage from flooding or how precautions grid operators can take to prevent power outages.
Still, Burchfield said the study's use of “different scenarios” to check the probability of outages in a realistic grid model further emphasized the study's main findings. “I think grid strengthening is a key element in making the grid more resilient,” he says. “And this paper shows that strategically choosing which transmission lines to strengthen is important to have the greatest impact on resiliency.”
Bitcoin mining is linked to rising electricity prices
Thomas Wren/Alamy Stock Photo
The US government has proposed taxing crypto miners to reduce the industry's heavy environmental impact, but experts say the measure could simply shift the problem elsewhere. It warns that there is.
Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are kept secure through a process called mining, which involves intensive calculations and large amounts of power consumption. According to the latest data from the University of Cambridge, Bitcoin is 0.69% of all electricity used worldwide.
In America, the government Estimate Up to 2.3 percent of the nation's electricity use in 2023 will come from just 137 mining operations, and electricity rates in Texas are increasing by 5 percent. Directly linked to increased demand Caused by miners.President Joe Biden's 2025 budget proposal Cryptocurrency mining “has the potential to harm the environment, increase energy prices for those who share power grids with digital asset miners, as well as have environmental justice implications.”
The budget therefore proposes a 30% tax on miners' total energy costs, which would apply to both electricity from the grid and electricity generated by miners themselves. It will be phased in, with 10 percent starting in 2025, 20 percent in 2026, and finally 30 percent in 2027. A similar tax was proposed by Biden last year but did not pass. Although passed by the House and Senate and signed into law, this second attempt now faces hurdles.
The move, which comes as Bitcoin has soared to an all-time high of more than £56,000 in recent weeks, has drawn heavy criticism from the crypto industry.Dennis Porter of Satoshi Action Fund tweeted It claimed this was a “backdoor ban” on mining and promised: “We will vigorously oppose this attempt at targeted discrimination without hesitation!”
new scientist Several large Bitcoin mining companies have been approached for comment on the proposed tax. Block Mining, Frontier Mining, and HIVE Digital Technologies did not respond, while TeraWulf declined to comment.
But taxing the industry could have unintended consequences. alex de vries At VU Amsterdam in the Netherlands. China's ban on bitcoin mining in 2021 has prompted companies to move operations to countries such as Kazakhstan, where more than 90% of the country's electricity supply comes from fossil fuels such as coal.
“Perhaps it doesn’t actually solve anything, because mining operations are highly mobile and can be based anywhere, moving from country to country in search of better regulatory environments or cheaper power.” They won’t, says De Vries. “Climate change is a global problem, and moving emissions from one country to another, or worsening power supplies, is actually making the global problem worse.”
“Ideally, we would like to address this issue at a global level,” says de Vries. “You want to reduce the emissions of these miners.” De Vries has long advocated for Bitcoin to follow the lead of the cryptocurrency Ethereum, which has changed the way it operates. changed, abolished mining, and reduced power consumption by 99.99%. But most Bitcoin developers weren’t interested in the change, he said.
Duck penises are quite unusual. You may have come across information about Drake online or seen pictures of him. In that case, you probably know that Drake’s genitals are not shaped like a typical phallus but instead have a corkscrew shape.
So, why do ducks have such peculiar reproductive organs? How do they reproduce? And what led to their evolution? We posed these questions to Dr. Patricia Brennan, an evolutionary biologist and an expert on duck penises at Mount Holyoke College in the US. Keep reading to discover why Donald Duck might have been better off wearing pants instead of a sailor shirt.
“They appear somewhat like tentacles, being pale in color and corkscrew-shaped,” described Brennan.
In certain duck species, the penis undergoes growth and regression during the breeding season. The extent of growth depends on the surroundings. A study led by Brennan in 2017 revealed that Drake’s penis grew considerably longer in the presence of other males compared to those in pairs with females, with some reaching up to 18 cm. An example is the red duck species with a total length of only 39cm.
The lake duck, native to South America, boasts the largest bird penis worldwide and the longest relative to body size, with a specimen from Argentina measuring 42.5 cm in length, compared to the average body length when fully retracted of 36 to 46 cm. For reference, the average erect human penis measures 13 to 18 cm.
Per Guinness World Records, the lake duck’s penis is characterized by barbs at the base and a “soft, brush-like” tip.
A duck’s vagina also has a corkscrew shape, but it spirals in the opposite direction from the penis. “It’s like a maze,” Brennan remarked. “At the entrance, there are several blind pouches followed by a series of narrow spirals.”
How do ducks reproduce?
“Quickly!” exclaimed Brennan. “The male’s penis becomes erect, and since they ejaculate in a third of a second, a brief cloacal contact is needed for insemination.” (If you’re curious, you can watch the video here.) Drake delivers sperm into the female’s vagina near the ovaries.
The unusual genitalia of ducks is a result of a sexual competition. Forced copulation is common among ducks, so the male’s elongated, flexible penis enhances his chances of successfully impregnating the female, while the female’s counterclockwise vagina offers her some control.
“These intricate structures prevent the complete eversion of unwanted males’ penises, causing their sperm to be nearer to the cloaca entrance, making it easier for females to expel the sperm. Thus, Brennan’s research revealed that female ducks can inhibit fertilization from undesired males.
However, if a female desires to mate with a specific male, she can relax her cloacal muscles to facilitate easier access.
About our expert Dr. Patricia Brennan
Dr. Patricia Brennan is an assistant professor of biological sciences at Mount Holyoke College in the United States. She specializes in the evolution of genital morphology and the mechanisms driving reproductive diversification. She has authored numerous research papers on waterfowl reproductive organs.
In his influential work Descent of Man, Charles Darwin confidently asserted that male mammals are generally larger than females. This concept, known as sexual size dimorphism (SSD), initially seemed logical. Darwin believed that females needed to invest a significant amount of energy in their offspring during pregnancy and after giving birth, while males needed to be bigger and stronger to compete with other males, particularly in scenarios involving physical combat.
For over 150 years, Darwin’s views on this matter have remained largely unchallenged. However, a recent study conducted by researchers at the City University of New York and Princeton University may radically alter this perspective. The research indicates that in most mammalian species, there is actually no significant difference in body size between males and females.
The study analyzed a total of 429 mammal species, with nine individuals from each species being examined. While in species where sexual dimorphism is present (such as lions and deer, where males and females exhibit distinct physical traits), males tended to be larger. However, this pattern did not hold true for the majority of species.
For instance, many species of bats and rodents show minimal dimorphism, with males and females displaying similar sizes.
“We were surprised to discover that almost half of all bat species have larger females and that half of all rodent species exhibit sexual size monomorphism, where males and females are the same size,” stated Dr. Kaia Tombak, the lead scientist behind the study, in an interview with BBC Science Focus. “These two groups make up the majority of all mammals.”
Past studies on dimorphism have often excluded these species from their findings.
“The concept of ‘larger males’ remains prevalent in evolutionary biology,” Tombak noted. “However, if this research receives sufficient attention, it could lead to significant changes in this area.”
Bat
Yellow-winged bat (Lavia front) in Kenya. In this species, like most bats, females tend to be larger than males. Photo credit: Severin Hex
The most extreme female-biased dimorphism (where females are larger than males) was observed in peninsular tube-nosed bats (Murina Peninsula). Female world leaf-nosed bats (Phyllostomidae) also tended to be larger than males.
Neuroscientists at the University of Michigan have identified thermoreceptors that mediate the sensation of cold in somatosensory neurons.
GluK2 KO mice have a defect in cold sensing.Image credit: Kai other10.1038/s41593-024-01585-8.
“The field began elucidating such temperature sensors more than 20 years ago with the discovery of a heat-sensing protein called TRPV1,” said Professor Sean Hsu of the University of Michigan.
“While various studies have discovered proteins that sense hot, warm, and even cold temperatures, we have not identified any proteins that sense temperatures below about 15 degrees Celsius (60 degrees Fahrenheit).”
In 2019, scientists discovered The world's first cold receptor protein Caenorhabditis elegans a millimeter-long nematode species that the lab is studying as a model system for understanding sensory responses.
Because the gene that codes for it is Caenorhabditis elegans This protein is evolutionarily conserved across many species, including mice and humans, and this discovery was a starting point for testing cold sensors in mammals. Glutamate ion channel receptor kainate type subunit 2 (GluK2).
In a new study, Professor Xu and colleagues tested that hypothesis in mice with the deficiency. GluK2 Because of the gene, the GluK2 protein could not be produced.
Through a series of experiments testing animals' behavioral responses to temperature and other mechanical stimuli, they found that mice responded normally to hot, warm, and cold temperatures, but not to harmful cold.
GluK2 is primarily found in neurons in the brain, where it receives chemical signals and facilitates communication between neurons.
However, it is also expressed by sensory neurons in the peripheral nervous system (outside the brain and spinal cord).
“We found that this protein serves a completely different function in the peripheral nervous system, processing temperature cues instead of cold-sensing chemical signals,” said Dr. Bo Duan from the University of Michigan.
of GluK2 This gene has relatives across the evolutionary tree, going back to single-celled bacteria.
“Bacteria don't have brains, so why have they evolved a way to receive chemical signals from other neurons?” Professor Xu said.
“But the need to sense its environment, and perhaps both temperature and chemicals, will be very strong.”
“Thus, I suspect that temperature sensing is an ancient function, at least for some of these glutamate receptors, that was eventually adopted as organisms evolved more complex nervous systems. .”
of result appear in the diary natural neuroscience.
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W. Kai other. The kainate receptor GluK2 mediates cold sensing in mice. nut neurosi, published online on March 11, 2024. doi: 10.1038/s41593-024-01585-8
Comet 12P/Ponsbrooks observed near Tromsø, Norway on March 5th
Bernt Olsen
One of the brightest known comets is headed toward Earth and could be visible to the naked eye within the next few weeks. Follow our guide and find Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks for yourself.
When will the comet be visible?
Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks orbits the sun for 71 years, during which it travels to the outer reaches of the solar system and back again. At this time, on April 21st, it will reach its perihelion, which means it will be closest to the sun. The comet will continue to approach Earth, reaching its closest approach on June 2nd at a distance of 232 million kilometers.
When is the best time to look for comets?
Although it will be close to Earth in June, the best time to see the comet in the Northern Hemisphere will be over the next few weeks, as the evenings will become brighter and less visible after the end of April. By June, it will be visible only in the Southern Hemisphere.
Where in the sky will comets appear?
12P/Pons Brooks has moved from the constellation Andromeda through the night sky to the constellation Pisces, where it is now located directly below the bright star Miraak. It will move into Aries at the end of March. It is expected to reach magnitude 5 and should be visible with the naked eye or with binoculars from areas with dark skies.
How can I see comets?
It’s best to plan ahead. Use astronomical observation software Stellarium etc. Pinpoint exactly where the comet will be visible on the days and times you want to see it. In the Northern Hemisphere, the comet will be near the horizon just after sunset and will set earlier as March progresses. At the end of the month, the sun sets a few hours after sunset, so we recommend viewing it as soon as it gets dark.
What do comets look like?
The core of 12P/Ponsbrooks is about 30 kilometers in diameter and, like other comets, appears to have a bright center and a tail behind it. Sightings of this particular comet date back to at least 1385, when Chinese and European astronomers recorded sightings of this comet.
Can I see Comet 12P/Ponsbrooks during a solar eclipse?
If you’re lucky enough to be in the path of the total solar eclipse on April 8, you might be able to spot the comet between the Sun and Jupiter. Jupiter appears to the upper left of the Sun during that period. The moon blocks all sunlight for four minutes.
NASA has released a surprising new image of the little-known dwarf galaxy LEDA 42160 taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.
This Hubble image shows dwarf galaxy LEDA 42160 located 53.5 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / M. Sun.
Also known as MCG+02-32-161, VCC 1725, ALFALFA 3-327, or AGC 220849, this galaxy is a member of a massive galaxy cluster called the Virgo Cluster.
“LEDA 42160 is one of many astronomers to force their way through the relatively dense gas in the Virgo cluster,” Hubble astronomers said.
“The pressure exerted by this intergalactic gas, known as the Ram pressure, has a dramatic effect on star formation in LEDA 42160, which is currently being studied using Hubble.”
“LEDA 42160 falls into the following categories.” magellanic spiral galaxyIn the de Vaucouleurs galaxy classification system, it is abbreviated as Sm. ”
“Magellanic spiral galaxies can be further classified as barred galaxies (SBm), barred galaxies (SAm), and weakly barred galaxies (SABm), where the ‘bar’ refers to the elongated bar at the center of the galaxy. ”
“Generally speaking, the Magellanic Spiral Galaxy is a dwarf galaxy with only one spiral arm.”
“They are named after their prototype SBm galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud.”
“The Magellanic Spiral Galaxy is an interesting example of how the classification of galaxies is actually more nuanced than just spiral, elliptical, irregular, etc.”
Color images of LEDA 42160 consist of observations from. Hubble’s advanced survey camera (ACS) in the near-infrared and optical portions of the spectrum.
Two filters were used to sample different wavelengths. Color is obtained by assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter.
The planets are doing a gravitational dance around the sun
Shutterstock/Johan Swanepoel
Mars’ gravitational pull could be strong enough to shake up Earth’s oceans and shift sediment as part of a 2.4 million-year climate cycle, researchers claim.
It has long been recognized that wobbles in Earth’s orbit around the sun affect Earth’s climate, and these Milankovitch cycles operate at intervals measured in thousands of years. Now, Adriana Dutkiewicz and his colleagues at the University of Sydney say they have discovered a 2.4-million-year “great cycle” that is driven by Mars and has dramatically affected the flow of Earth’s oceans for at least 40 million years. It is believed that it has been given.
Evidence for this cycle comes from approximately 300 deep-sea drill cores, revealing unexpected fluctuations in marine sediment deposition. During periods of stable ocean currents, oceanographers expect sediment to be deposited in stable layers, but when abnormal currents or eddies occur, sediment can be deposited elsewhere.
The researchers say the gaps or hiatus in the sediment record coincide with the period when Mars’ gravity exerts its greatest force on Earth, exerting subtle effects on the stability of Earth’s orbit. This changes solar radiation levels and climate, manifesting as stronger currents and eddies in the ocean.
team members Dietmar MullerResearchers, also from the University of Sydney, acknowledged that the great distance between Earth and Mars makes it unlikely that there is any significant gravitational force at work. “But there is so much feedback that even the slightest change can be amplified,” he says. “Mars’ influence on Earth’s climate is similar to the butterfly effect.”
benjamin mills Researchers from the University of Leeds in the UK say the drill core provides further evidence of the existence of “megacycles” in global environmental change.
“Many of us have seen these multimillion-year cycles in various geological, geochemical, and biological records, such as during the famous Cambrian explosion of animal life,” he said. says. “This paper helps solidify these ideas as an important part of environmental change.”
but matthew england A professor at the University of New South Wales in Sydney welcomed the study and said he believed it would improve our understanding of climate cycles on a geological scale, but said he was not convinced by the paper’s conclusions.
“I’m skeptical about the Mars connection, given that Mars’ gravitational pull on Earth is very weak, only about a millionth of the Sun’s gravitational pull,” he says. “Even Jupiter has a stronger gravitational field than Earth.”
The UK also points out that even if there is an impact from Mars, it will be negligible compared to human-induced climate change. “By comparison, greenhouse gas forcing is like a sledgehammer and has no effect on our current climate, where melting ice sheets are reducing ocean circulation.”
We're still trying to understand how animals react to solar eclipses
Ş. Uğur OKÇu/1001slide/iStockphoto/Getty Images
You can't miss a total solar eclipse. The sun's disk is completely covered by the moon, casting its shadow across the Earth's surface and causing a sharp drop in temperature. Animals seem to notice, too, and researchers around the world are studying how animals respond.
Researchers have observed all kinds of animals, from wild hippos to pet dogs, during the eclipse. However, some of the most thorough research is done in zoos around the world.
adam hartstone rose North Carolina State University and colleagues conducted one of these large-scale studies It was during a solar eclipse that crossed the United States in 2017. “To be honest, I didn't expect to see anything interesting. Animals always see clouds passing overhead, but sometimes it gets cloudy. I never thought I would care about that at all,” says Heartstone-Rose. “Surprisingly, three-quarters of the species we observed showed some kind of response.”
Most of these animals seemed to think that it was night during totality, the period when the sun was completely hidden behind the moon. This may not come as a surprise to anyone who witnessed a solar eclipse somewhere outdoors, as it has been known for centuries that birds and insects tend to become quiet and search for nests. not.
“Gorillas usually hang out in gardens all day and go indoors at night, so it was like a whole herd of gorillas marching towards the front door and I was confused as to why no one would let me in. ” said Hartstone-Rose. . Similarly, he observed birds going to roost and sleeping. Once the totality was over, the gorillas and birds returned to their normal daytime activities. Previous studies have also observed spiders laying down their nests during totality, and bats briefly emerging from their daytime resting spots.
Another response the researchers found in many animals was anxiety. “We have a lot of experience in assessing anxiety in animals, especially zoo animals, because we are always trying to reduce anxiety,” Hartstone-Rose said. say. “So we are very cognizant of behaviors that may indicate anxiety.”
These responses include pacing, huddled, and increased vocalization. “Giraffes generally only run when they need to run for their lives, but during the eclipse, some giraffes started running like the sky was falling,” Hartstone-Rose said. “Several animals showed such reactions.” For example, baboons were seen running around together in groups.
Solar eclipse in 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.
Some Galapagos giant tortoises began mating during the eclipse and looked up to the sky after the eclipse passed. Previous research on hippos found that they also remain excited even after the peak of the eclipse.
However, it is difficult to determine which animal behavior is caused by the eclipse itself, and which animal behavior is a reaction to the crowds drawn by the eclipse. This is especially true in zoos where animals and humans are in close contact. For the same reason, it is difficult to draw conclusions about changes in pet behavior during an eclipse.
Hartstone-Rose and her colleagues conducted another survey at the zoo during the total solar eclipse on April 8, observing some of the same species to see if their behavior matched, as well as identifying new species. We plan to collect data on they again, participatory science project Through this, anyone can report animal observations during the eclipse. By exploring the patterns of animal behavior during unusual events like solar eclipses, we may be able to understand animal thought processes more generally.
Taylor Swift performed in Melbourne earlier this year.
Graham Denholm/TAS24/TAS Copyright Management Getty Images
A rogue artificial intelligence obsessed with Taylor Swift could replace all recorded music with artificially generated cover versions of her, researchers say. History tells us that this American singer-songwriter for elise to paperback authorThere is no evidence left that Ludwig van Beethoven or the Beatles ever existed.
nick collins at Durham University, UK. mick grierson Professors at the University of the Arts London have issued an unusual warning in a paper that says humans should think about ways to resist “now, rather than when it is too late.”
Thankfully, the risk of AI Swiftpocalypse is low. Collins said the idea is a thought experiment aimed at encouraging researchers to develop ways to protect all types of data, including music, literature, scientific research, and historical records, from being corrupted by AI. I am.
The pair lay out a future scenario in which we rely on a few centralized data stores, such as Spotify and Apple for music. AI could infiltrate these stores and corrupt, delete, or alter the data inside. This can be dramatic and obvious, or it can be gradual and unnoticeable. “It's very likely that within a few thousand years there will be at least some corruption and some conflict over the truth of music in audio recordings,” Collins says.
To make their point clear and show how AI can already manipulate the data it has access to, researchers used current AI models to create Taylor Swift songs, including Queen songs. did. bohemian rhapsodyFrank Sinatra's I've Got You Under My Skin and the beach boys Isn't it wonderful?. They calculate that producing these “Taylor's versions” of all recorded music currently requires 1.67 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, costing him more than $266 million. However, this is an amount that Swift herself can afford.
Collins says that while digital and physical backups can leave us complacent about the safety and permanence of our data, AI with the right incentives and capabilities can access everything we record. It states that it may be damaged. “No matter how much we try to preserve human culture, unpredictable threats may emerge in the future,” he says.
However, not all experts are convinced that AI is such a serious threat. sandra wachter Oxford University researchers have shown that AI can cause great harm by replicating sexist and racist biases in humans, but Collins and Grierson said He said that such a feat would never be possible.
“I don't think there's a serious problem with AI waking up and setting its own goals, having its own motivations, and taking actions to achieve those goals,” she says. “I think that's a nonsense argument, and I don't think it's realistic. It's like asking me what I would do if aliens landed on this planet tomorrow. I think it's unlikely. I think so.”
Carissa VelisResearchers, also at the University of Oxford, said that decisive action against AI is needed, but not a dramatic “kill switch” to stop malicious models from progressing. Instead, it should be a careful system of checks and balances to ensure the safety of AI models.
“This argument seems to assume that there is a malicious AI that somehow has its own desires and becomes so powerful that we want to stop it,” she says. . “And that seems so implausible and so ridiculous to me.”
The real problem is that we will integrate AI into many aspects of our lives and become completely dependent on it, even though it is likely not apocalyptic in nature. , which she believes raises issues such as racism and sexist prejudice that are still very harmful. Or they are simply making up facts that sound plausible.
“The more you leave it [AI] The more embedded it is in a product, the harder it is to turn it off. Not because this malicious thing has become powerful enough to take over, but because we've become dependent on it and it's very costly to stop it even when it's not working well,” Bellis said. says Mr.
Taylor Swift did not respond to a request for comment.
Physicists from LHCb collaboration at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have made the first observation of the collapse of the Bc+ meson. This results in a J/ψ charm-anticharm quark bound state (consisting of two heavy quarks, b and c) and a pair of pions π+π0. This new decay process shows a contribution from an intermediate particle, the ρ+ meson, which forms for a short time and then decays into π+π0 pairs.
September 2016, LHCb experimental cave at LHC IP8. Image courtesy of CERN.
The Bc+ is the heaviest meson and decays only through weak interactions due to the decay of one heavy constituent quark.
It decays into an odd number of optical hadrons, and J/ψ (or another attractive and anti-attractive quark-bound state called Charmonia) has been intensively studied and found to be in remarkable agreement with theoretical predictions.
The decay of Bc+ to J/ψ and π+π0 pairs is the simplest decay to charmonium and even-numbered optical hadrons.
This has never been observed before. The main reason for this is that in the LHC proton-proton collision environment, it is very difficult to accurately reconstruct low-energy π0 mesons through their decay into a pair of photons.
“Accurate measurements of the Bc+→J/ψπ+π0 decay will allow us to better understand its possible contribution as a background source for the study of other decays of Bc mesons and rare decays of B0 mesons,” said the LHCb physicist.
From a theoretical point of view, J/ψ and the decay of Bc into an even number of pions are closely related to the decay of the τ lepton into an even number of pions and the e+e- annihilation into an even number of pions.
Accurate measurements of e+e- annihilation into two pions in the ρ mass region (like the Bc decay discussed here) are possible using the Fermilab G-2 experiment, which measures the anomalous magnetic dipole moment of the muon and is important for interpreting the results. The annihilation of low-energy e+e- into hadrons is an important source of uncertainty in g-2 measurements.
The ratio of the probability of a new decay to the probability of a decay from Bc+ to J/ψπ+ has been calculated by various theorists over the past 30 years.
Now these predictions can finally be compared with experimental measurements. Most predictions agree with the new result 2.80±0.15±0.11±0.16.
The large number of b quarks produced in LHC collisions and the excellent detectors allow LHCb researchers to study the formation, decay, and other properties of Bc+ mesons in detail.
“Since the discovery of the meson by the Tevatron Collider’s CDF experiment, 18 new Bc+ decays (with more than 5 standard deviations) have been observed, all from the LHCb,” the researchers said.
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LHCb collaboration. 2024. Observation of B+c→J/ψπ+π0 collapse. arXiv: 2402.05523
Pudera Carlae is the first deer species to be discovered in the 21st century and the first from the New World in over 60 years. Learn more about it here.
Pudera Carlae. Image credit: Sernanp.
The newly described deer species, Pudera Carlae, belongs to the Neotropical deer family, Odokoileini.
“Some questions regarding the phylogeny and taxonomy of Odocoileini, a group of 18 recognized extant species currently assigned to seven genera, remain unclear,” said Dr. Guillermo Delaire of the University of South Australia and his colleague.
“The few available phylogenetic analyzes indicate that some genera are not monophyletic and that species richness within groups is underestimated.”
“One genus that has both problems is the stocky, short-legged dwarf deer, Pudu”
In a new study, the authors found that the Pudu Mephisto File species are actually two different species.
“One is distributed north of the Huancabamba depression from the northernmost part of Peru to the north (Ecuador and Colombia), while the other is endemic in Peru south of the Huancabamba depression and does not have a name yet, so we propose naming it Pudera Carlae”
“This is the first extant deer species described in the 21st century and the first discovered in the New World in over 60 years.”
The researchers also found that the Pudupuda type species of Pudu are not related to the two northern Pudu species.
“We revalidate the genus Pudera and assign the latter two species to it.”
The team’s paper was published in the mammal journal this month.
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Javier Barrio et al. Extant deer species first described in the 21st century and their reexamination Pudera (Artiodactyla). mammal journal, published online March 1, 2024. Doi: 10.1093/jmammal/gyae012
Paleontologists have described a new species of enantiornithine bird with a toothless beak from the Chinese Jehor bird family. This discovery delayed the earliest appearance of edentulism (lack of teeth) in enantiornithines by about 48 million years.
fossil skeleton of Impalavis Attenborough and bird restoration. Image credit: Ville Sinkkkonen / Wang other., doi: 10.1016/j.cretres.2024.105867.
Impalavis Attenborough They lived in what is now northeastern China about 120 million years ago (early Cretaceous period).
This bird was a member of a group called. enantiornis, or “the opposite bird.” It is named for the feature of its shoulder joint that is “opposite” to that found in modern birds.
Enantiornithines were once the most diverse group of birds, but became extinct 66 million years ago following a meteorite impact that wiped out most dinosaurs.
Paleontologists are still working to understand why enantiornithids went extinct and the birds that gave rise to modern birds survived.
“The enantiornithines are very strange. Most of them had teeth and still had clawed fingers,” said Dr. Alex Clark. student at the University of Chicago and the Field Museum.
“If you were to travel back in time to northeast China 120 million years ago and walk around, you might have seen something that looked like a robin or a cardinal. But it had an open mouth and a bunch of teeth. . When you lift your wings, you’ll notice that you have little fingers.”
“Scientists previously thought that the first record of this group without teeth was from the late Cretaceous period, about 72 million years ago.”
“This little man is Impalavis Attenborough, pushing it back about 48 to 50 million years. Therefore, the lack of teeth, or edentulism, developed much earlier in this group than we thought. “
fossilized skeleton Impalavis Attenborough It was discovered by an amateur fossil collector near the village of Toudaoyingzi in northeastern China and donated to the Tianyu Natural Museum in Shandong Province.
“I think what attracted me to this specimen was the forelimbs, not the lack of teeth,” said Dr. Jingmai O’Connor, associate curator of fossil reptiles at the Field Museum.
“It had a huge bicrest, and a bony protrusion on top of the upper arm bone that had muscles attached to it.”
“I had seen such emblems on birds from the Late Cretaceous period, but never in the Early Cretaceous period like this one. That’s when I first suspected that it might be a new species. It was.”
rare wing bones Impalavis Attenborough Muscle attachments that allowed this bird to flap its wings with extra force may have been possible.
“We’re looking at potentially very strong wingbeats,” Clark said.
“Some of the bone features are similar to those of modern birds such as puffins and murres, which can flap their wings at crazy speeds, or of birds such as quail and pheasants. Although they are small birds, they generate enough force to instantly fly almost vertically when threatened.”
On the other hand, a toothless beak Impalavis Attenborough Modern toothless birds have a wide variety of diets, so researchers aren’t necessarily sure what they ate.
Like its fellow enantiornithines, and unlike modern birds, it does not appear to have a digestive system called a gizzard or gastric mill to help grind up its food.
“Although most enantiornithines appear to have been quite arboreal, differences in forelimb structure suggest that Impalavis Attenborough Although it probably still lived in trees, it probably went down to the ground to feed, and it had a unique diet compared to other enantiornithines. This suggests that there is a possibility, and that it may also explain why they lost their teeth.” said Dr. said Connor.
In their study, the scientists also reexamined previously known bird fossils. Chiapiavisand suggests that it was also an early toothless enantiornithine.
“This discovery… Impalavis Attenborough “We show that the lack of teeth may not have been as unique in early Cretaceous enantiornithines as previously thought,” the researchers said.
The specific name is Impalavis Attenborough Attenborough’s strange bird, after the naturalist Sir David Attenborough.
Sir David Attenborough said: “It is a great honor to have your name attached to a fossil, especially one as spectacular and important as this one.”
“It seems the history of birds is more complicated than we thought.”
“All birds are dinosaurs, but not all dinosaurs fall into the special type of dinosaur known as birds. All squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares. Is the same.”
“The newly explained Impalavis Attenborough Since it’s a bird, it’s also a dinosaur.”
a paper description Impalavis Attenborough Published in an online journal Cretaceous research.
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Wang Xiaoli other. 2024. The first edentulous enantiornithines from the Early Cretaceous Jehol ornithians (Birds: Ornithorax). Cretaceous research 159: 105867; doi: 10.1016/j.cretres.2024.105867
NGC604 is comparable to renowned star-forming regions in the Milky Way, like the Orion Nebula, but is significantly larger and contains more recently created stars.
This image from the NIRCam instrument in Webb’s star-forming region NGC 604 shows how stellar winds from bright, hot young stars form cavities in the surrounding gas and dust. Image credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI.
NGC 604 is a star-forming region situated 2.73 million light-years away in the Triangulum Galaxy.
Also identified as RX J0134.5+3047. discovered It was discovered by German-born British astronomer William Herschel on September 11, 1784.
NGC 604 is believed to be approximately 3.5 million years old and spans about 1,300 light years in diameter.
In the recent image, near infrared camera (NIRCam) and Mid-infrared measuring instrument The (MIRI) experiment aboard NASA/ESA/CSA’s NGC 604 James Webb Space Telescope reveals cavernous bubbles and elongated filaments of gas that reveal a more detailed and complete representation of a star than ever seen before. Etched birth tapestry.
Sheltered within NGC 604’s dusty gases are more than 200 of the hottest and most massive types of stars, all in the early stages of their lives.
These types of stars include type B and type O, the latter of which can have a mass more than 100 times that of the Sun.
It is extremely rare to find such a large concentration of them in nearby space. In fact, there is no similar region within our Milky Way galaxy.
This concentration of massive stars, combined with its relatively close distance, means that NGC 604 offers astronomers the opportunity to study these objects early in their lives.
This image from NGC 604’s Webb MIRI instrument shows how large clouds of cooler gas and dust glow at mid-infrared wavelengths. Image credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI.
“The most striking features in Webb’s near-infrared NIRCam images are bright red-appearing tendrils or clumps of luminescence extending from areas that appear to be open spaces or large bubbles in the nebula,” Webb astronomers said. Ta.
“Stellar winds from the brightest and hottest young stars carve out these cavities, and ultraviolet light ionizes the surrounding gas. This ionized hydrogen appears as a ghostly glow of white and blue.”
“The bright orange streaks in Webb’s near-infrared images indicate the presence of carbon-based molecules known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).”
“This material plays an important role in the interstellar medium and in the formation of stars and planets, but its origin is a mystery.”
“If you move away from where the dust was immediately removed, a deeper red color represents hydrogen molecules. This cooler gas is the perfect environment for star formation.”
“Webb’s superior resolution also provides insight into functionality previously thought to be irrelevant to the main cloud,” they added.
“For example, the Webb image shows two bright, young stars burrowing into the dust above the central nebula, connected by a diffuse red gas.”
“These appeared as separate spots in visible-light images taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.”
Webb’s observations at mid-infrared wavelengths also offer new perspectives on the region’s diverse and dynamic activities.
“MIRI observations of NGC 604 show a significantly lower number of stars,” the astronomers said.
“This is because hot stars emit much less light at these wavelengths, while large clouds of cooler gas and dust glow.”
“Some of the stars seen in this image belong to surrounding galaxies and are red supergiants. These stars are cold but very large, hundreds of times the diameter of the Sun.”
“Additionally, some of the background galaxies that appeared in the NIRCam images have also dimmed.”
“In the MIRI image, blue tendrils of material indicate the presence of PAHs.”
The World Health Organization reported that in 2020, 2.3 million women worldwide were diagnosed with breast cancer. American Cancer Society states that early diagnosis of breast cancer leads to a 100% survival rate. During the initial diagnosis, images or scans of breast tissue are examined by the doctor to detect abnormalities.
Doctors commonly use ultrasound devices to diagnose breast cancer using sound waves. Ultrasound for diagnosing breast cancer. Scientists have identified limitations of ultrasound in the past, such as the need for proper skills and training, poor contact with skin during scanning, and maintenance challenges of large ultrasound machines in hospitals.
To address these limitations, a group of researchers developed a wearable, portable, and affordable device called cUSBr-Patch, which stands for Compatible Ultrasonic Chest Patch. To create this wearable patch, they used a 3D printer to design a honeycomb-shaped patch with holes that can be attached to a soft fabric bra.
Scientists attached a small scanning device to the patch that uses sound waves to acquire medical images similar to an ultrasound machine. This device, called phased array transducer, uses piezoelectric material and differs from traditional hospital ultrasound scanners, producing clear and high-resolution images.
The cUSBr-Patch is attached to a bra with magnets and allows the patch to directly touch the skin for scanning. A small tracker on the phased array transducer is moved and rotated using a handle to capture images of the entire breast.
Researchers tested cUSBr-Patch on female patients with breast abnormalities, scanning both breasts in six different locations using the phased array transducer connected to the patch. Computer programs were then used to generate images similar to those from standard hospital ultrasound machines.
The researchers concluded that cUSBr-Patch can detect breast cancer at a level comparable to traditional hospital ultrasound equipment. They are working on a smaller version of the device, aiming to make it accessible for home use by high-risk individuals and populations without regular testing facilities to improve breast cancer survival rates significantly.
Alzheimer’s disease is a neurological disease that impairs brain functions such as memory and reasoning, and there is currently no known cure. People with this disease begin with basic forgetfulness, gradually lose control of their motor skills, and eventually become unable to complete normal daily activities.
Scientists have discovered that abnormal proteins that accumulate in and around brain cells are the main cause of Alzheimer’s disease. They also discovered that the disease depends on genetics, aging, and lifestyle choices such as being active and eating a healthy diet. However, it is not known how other disorders, such as sleep disorders, may exacerbate symptoms.
Scientists have hypothesized that brain activity during sleep may be related to Alzheimer’s disease because many important memory-related events occur during sleep. Scientists are therefore hoping to find out whether disruptions in brain function during sleep are related to the development of Alzheimer’s disease.
Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis recently tested whether Alzheimer’s disease is related to electrical activity that occurs in the brain during sleep. Most people experience changes in brain activity early in the night as the body relaxes and goes to sleep. Each of these changes sleep vibration event, lasts about 20-40 minutes. The researchers hypothesized that the interactions of brain circuits during sleep oscillations are different in patients with early Alzheimer’s disease and could be used for diagnostic purposes.
To test their hypothesis, the scientists used a machine that measures electrical activity in the brain. electroencephalograph, or brain waves.They chose 205 political partiesParticipants who have previously completed at least 3 nights of EEG measurements, 1 night of home sleep apnea testing, and clinical dementia testing.Based on dementia testing, most One participant had no cognitive impairment, some participants had very mild cognitive impairment, and one participant had mild cognitive impairment.
The researchers asked participants to wear the EEG as a headband while they slept, allowing them to measure brain waves during the sleep oscillation phenomenon. The three types of sleep oscillatory events they measured during the experiment were: theta burst, sleeping spindleand slow waves.
The researchers explained that theta bursts occur when humans are in light sleep and help process information and form memories. Sleep spindles occur during non-rapid eye movement sleep and are involved in memory consolidation. Slow waves occur during deep sleep, slowing heart and breathing rates, and also play a role in memory development.
The researchers categorized each patient’s individual slow-wave events by how often they coincided with sleep spindles and theta bursts. They classified sleep spindle and slow wave events that occur within 1.5 seconds of each other as coupled events. They also classified theta burst and slow wave events that occurred within 0.5 seconds of each other as coupled events.
The researchers found that people with cognitive impairment had weaker electrical activity during theta bursts and greater differences in brain electrical activity during theta bursts and slow waves. They also found that people with cognitive impairment and other biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease had fewer slow waves with theta bursts and sleep spindles. The researchers interpreted their results to confirm that disruptions in brain circuits involved in memory function during sleep may be associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
The researchers concluded that the EEG pattern of sleep oscillatory events could be used as a biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers suggested that early signs of the neurodegenerative process associated with Alzheimer’s disease could be detected in sleeping patients’ brain waves, even before they develop cognitive symptoms. They also believe that the results may provide an accessible and cost-effective tool for monitoring brain health and early Alzheimer’s disease, allowing for earlier responses and improved patient treatment. suggested something.
Hemophilia B is a blood disorder that affects about 30,000 people in the United States. Individuals with hemophilia B have a deficiency in factor IX, a protein essential for proper blood clotting. This condition is hereditary, leading to the inability to clot blood effectively.. Treatment for hemophilia B involves injecting factor IX into the veins, but this method is costly and time-consuming. Therefore, scientists are exploring alternative treatments for hemophilia B.
A team of British researchers conducted a gene therapy trial using adenovirus FLT180a to increase factor IX levels in the livers of hemophilia B patients. They administered this gene therapy to a total of 10 male patients with severe or moderate hemophilia B, aged between 25 to 67 years. The patients were given different doses of the adenovirus and monitored for 26 weeks.
The results of the trial showed that some patients reached normal factor IX levels, while others experienced dangerously high levels. Patients who received lower doses had factor IX levels ranging from 40% to 60% of normal, while those who received higher doses had levels up to 300% of normal. The researchers noted varying responses in different patients and observed side effects like unexpected bleeding.
Despite the variability in patient response, the researchers believe that gene therapy could be a potential treatment for increasing factor IX levels in hemophilia B patients and improving blood clotting. They caution about the need to monitor and manage side effects effectively and suggest that this therapy could provide benefits for up to a year before requiring further intervention.
Many individuals engage in fishing for both sustenance and recreation in modern times. Ever pondered about the origins of fishing? While fishing has been a part of human history for centuries, the limited discovery of ancient fishing hooks poses a challenge in uncovering the details of past fishing practices.
Although fishhooks dating back over 20,000 years have been unearthed, those found on coastlines or excavation sites older than approximately 12,000 years are scarce. However, recent discoveries by researchers from Australia and Indonesia have shed light on this subject.
In Makupang Cave on Indonesia’s Alor Island, a significant collection of 239 fishing artifacts estimated to be up to 15,000 years old was uncovered. Most of these artifacts date back to a period between 11,000 and 13,000 years ago, including 218 fishing hooks and fragments. Makpan, located on the southwest coast of Alor, was identified as a convenient storage spot for ancient fishing equipment due to its proximity to the sea, even during periods of lower sea levels, such as the last ice age approximately 25,000 years ago.
During excavations at Makupang, the research team carefully removed accumulated layers of soil and dust to uncover the ancient fishing hooks. The sediment from the cave entrance was meticulously examined through a 1.5-millimeter mesh sieve. Other fishing remnants, including hooks and fragments, were recovered and analyzed under a powerful microscope to determine the ancient techniques used in their production.
The researchers identified various types of hooks, including jab hooks, rotating hooks, and sinkers, as well as possible fishing lures. These hooks, ranging from 9 to 50 millimeters in size, were predominantly crafted from shellfish such as limpets, Rokia, and turbo. By studying the tool collection, researchers could discern the process of hook-making, which indicated multiple craftsmen involved in the production.
The discovery in Makupang Cave is considered remarkable due to the abundance of fishing artifacts found, surpassing previous finds from the same period by more than five times. Ongoing research at the site is anticipated to offer further insights into ancient fishing practices.
Scientists who study cancer have historically focused on understanding the various factors that contribute to cancer development and progression. They have looked at factors such as genes, lifestyle choices, and even bacteria. However, few researchers have investigated the role of fungi in the human body and how they affect cancer.
Researchers in Israel and the United States recently characterized the fungi that live inside human cancer tissue. Researchers took tumor, blood and plasma samples from more than 1,000 of her patients with various types of cancer and performed a type of “DNA sequencing.” ITS2 amplicon sequencing. They used this sequencing method to determine the presence of different fungal species within cancer tissue and measure the number of fungal cells living there.
Researchers found fragments of fungal DNA and cells in tissues from various human cancers. For example, they discovered several types of fungi associated with breast cancer. Cladosporium sphaerospermum, mainly affected patients over 50 years of age. they again, Malassezia globosaa skin fungus that affects pancreatic cancer patients, and Malassezia restriction bacterium, another skin fungus present in breast cancer tissue. Additionally, they discovered the following species: aspergillus and agar medium Found in lung cancer samples, especially those from smoking patients.
The researchers explained that their results were surprising. Skin fungi are not usually associated with breast cancer. Additionally, they suggested: Malassezia globosa DNA found in both breast and pancreatic cancer samples This suggests that it may play a broader role in cancer development.
The scientists then confirmed that the fungus was growing within the cancerous tumor using a method called . tissue staining. Histological staining is like adding color to a black and white photograph. In this case, the photos were of tissue taken from different types of cancer: melanoma, pancreatic cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer, and ovarian cancer. When we stained these tissues, we found that fungi often existed next to cancer cells.
The research team interpreted the results as indicating that fungi can influence cancer progression. They suggested that these fungi may have a commensal or even pathogenic relationship with cancer. In particular, they suggested that the fungus may function as follows. opportunistic pathogensIn other words, they were taking advantage of patients' weakened immune systems to cause infections that would not normally occur in healthy people.
Finally, the researchers used an advanced computational technique known as . machine learning, recognize and identify patterns in DNA data. They wanted to test whether certain types of fungi were present in different types of cancer. Scientists have determined that different types of cancer tissue are inhabited by different fungal communities.
The scientists concluded that understanding the relationship between fungi and cancer could help doctors develop new tools to diagnose and treat cancer patients. In particular, the researchers suggested that doctors could sort the fungal DNA in a patient's blood sample to detect which type of cancer they have. They suggested that fungi may provide a new non-invasive fingerprint for early detection of cancer.
Prince Harry, who caused an uproar in the press last year, wrote candidly in his memoirs: spare About taking ketamine to cope with his mother’s death. He’s not the only one talking about this substance. The substance was previously known primarily as a tranquilizer for horses and a psychedelic rave drug. It’s hard to keep track of the many celebrities who have openly talked about taking ketamine to improve their mental health.
Hundreds of clinics have opened across the United States offering intravenous infusions of the drug at point of care, a trend now extending to the United Kingdom. Pioneering companies concerned about the mental health of their employees are beginning to offer this therapy as a benefit. Some companies even floated the idea of setting up ketamine clinics at their headquarters. Meanwhile, pharmaceutical companies are developing over-the-counter ketamine products such as lozenges and topical creams. This drug has become the most commonly available psychedelic therapy.
This may sound like good news, given the growing evidence that ketamine can treat depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and addiction. However, its use in the treatment of mental health conditions is still novel and many uncertainties remain. Possibly influenced by its popularity as a therapeutic agent, illicit use is also on the rise.
All of this means it’s time to ask whether ketamine can really relieve mental health problems, how it works, and are there any risks to its newfound popularity? is. Psychiatrist…
Palestinian children wait for food prepared in a charity kitchen as food supplies run short in Rafah
Ismael Mohamad/UPI/Shutterstock
The situation in Gaza is rapidly evolving into the worst humanitarian crisis in modern memory, and international health organizations have no long-term plan to address the region’s post-war needs.
More than three-quarters of Gaza’s 2.2 million residents, half of whom are children, are internally displaced, trapped in one of the world’s most densely populated areas and without access to food, water, or health care. Since October 7, when Hamas militants in Gaza invaded Israel, killing more than 1,000 civilians, Israel has heavily bombed the enclave, disrupting the flow of humanitarian aid and destroying civilian infrastructure. As a result, more than 30,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, were killed, and more than 72,000 were injured in Gaza, according to the United Nations.
But these numbers only mark the beginning of a public health disaster. Those who survive the war will face lifelong health effects. Thousands of Palestinians will be living with missing limbs, weakened immune systems, mental illnesses, and other chronic illnesses. Meeting their health needs will be a decades-long undertaking, and no global aid organization has adequately planned for it.
The World Health Organization, World Food Programme, UNICEF, Palestine Red Crescent Society, CARE International, Mercy Corps, and Médecins Sans Frontières all have specific projects to address health needs in the Gaza Strip, according to information shared by the organizations. Lack of long-term planning. new scientist. Save the Children and the International Committee of the Red Cross did not respond to questions about long-term plans.
unprecedented humanitarian disaster
The lack of planning for health needs in the coming decades contributes to the enormity of the current humanitarian crisis. Most of Gaza’s residents live in crowded conditions without sewage treatment or garbage removal. On average, people can consume less than 1 liter of clean water per day. As a result, infectious diseases spread.
A survey conducted in a limited number of shelters in December and January found that at least 90% of children under 5 years of age have one or more infections, and 70% have experienced diarrhea within the past 2 weeks. “And it doesn’t take into account the hundreds of thousands of people who are not in refugee shelters,” he says. Margaret Harris At WHO.
Hunger is also widespread. Almost two-thirds of households have one meal a day, and a quarter of the population faces imminent hunger and extreme malnutrition. The situation is most dire in northern Gaza, where one in six children is malnourished, according to the study. The Gaza Ministry of Health reported on March 7 that 20 people had died, including: 15 children Some died from malnutrition and dehydration. Inadequate monitoring means these numbers could be even higher.
“The problem with child malnutrition is that it causes further disease,” says Tanya Hadji-Hassan of Médecins Sans Frontières. Malnourished children are more susceptible to infections, and the lining of their intestines wears down, making it difficult to absorb nutrients. “So they become even more malnourished, their immune system weakens, and it just creates this vicious cycle that snowballs into death,” she says.
Bombing left much of the territory in danger. By December, UNICEF 1000 children On average, more than 10 children per day have lost one or both legs since the conflict began. And there are few options for receiving treatment for these injuries. As of February 21, only 18 of Gaza’s 40 hospitals are still functioning, but with reduced capacity. “They don’t have drugs. They don’t have machines. They don’t have power. They might have a few doctors running emergency rooms. So there’s not really a functioning medical system. I don’t,” he says. serena victor At Mercy Corps.
The overwhelming humanitarian crisis has thrown health institutions into chaos. “Never in modern history have we seen this level of violence, terror, fear, and deprivation perpetrated against any nation,” Harris said. “In a sense, we are exploring uncharted territory.”
Gaza’s impending public health crisis
Even if the war were to end tomorrow, survivors would face lifelong health consequences. Many will have physical disabilities. Some people suffer from severe mental illness. Some people develop chronic lung disease, heart disease, and cancer from chemical contaminants in bombs and destroyed buildings, Harris said.
The effects will be most severe on children. Sustained malnutrition early in life stunts growth and impairs brain development, leading to deficits in cognition, memory, motor function, and intelligence, Haji Hassan said. Your child’s immune system will also be weakened, making them more susceptible to illness. Studies have shown that malnutrition during pregnancy increases the risk of your baby developing obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes.a February report One in five pregnant women treated at Gaza clinics was malnourished, as was one in 10 children seen there, according to research by the international aid group Project Hope.
But the most widespread harm may be the impact on mental health, Harris said. “Imagine what it’s like for people who are going through this situation relentlessly every day. They feel terrible uncertainty. Where to go, what will happen next? You never know where your next bit of food is going to come from,” she says. Such traumatic experiences are associated with depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and suicidal thoughts. For children, this trauma can disrupt brain and organ development and increase the risk of learning disabilities and mental health conditions. Without early intervention, these problems can persist into adulthood. “There’s going to be a huge burden of mental illness going forward, and it’s going to be very difficult to deal with,” Harris said.
Even adults who experienced adversity in childhood 12 times more risk Develop alcohol and drug use disorders and attempt suicide. They are also more likely to have physical health conditions such as heart disease and cancer. Young people who survive conflict are almost three times more likely to develop severe mental illness, including psychosis, than young people who have not experienced war.
Current postwar plans are not enough
Given these results, there is a need to establish a long-term health plan for Gaza. Such plans should address rebuilding infrastructure, developing mental and physical rehabilitation programs, and regular disease screening.
“It seems ridiculous for city officials to say what will happen now when people are dying trying to get a handful of bread for their families. It just doesn’t do the math,” Victor said. Masu. “But we need to think about it.”
But most organizations are just getting started. The few organizations that have protocols in place, such as the Palestinian Red Crescent Society and CARE International, are working for the next year or two, but not for decades. WHO is developing a plan to address health needs from April 2024 until the end of the year. “We are working on several different scenarios. A good scenario would be a ceasefire, so that we can really look at things. [long-term plans]” says Harris. Another possibility is that there is a war going on.
This uncertainty, along with the pressing question of who will govern Gaza in the aftermath of the conflict, makes preparing for the future extremely difficult. “The reason why we so desperately want not just a ceasefire, but a peaceful solution, is because until that happens, any plan or even consideration is just a castle in the air,” Harris said. says.
Israel restricts aid groups’ access to the area, making the few workers in Gaza unable to operate safely. “Half the time they can’t do anything. They can’t move around safely. Basic things like communications continue to be cut off,” Victor says. And many of them died. For example, a 29-year-old man who is a member of WHO’s limb reconstruction team in the Gaza Strip. Dima Abdullatif Mohammed AlhajiHarris said she was killed along with her six-month-old baby, two brothers, and her husband in an Israeli airstrike.
These risks and obstacles complicate long-term planning. “You can make any plan you want, but if you don’t know your needs, you won’t have a very useful plan,” he says.
Dealing with the widespread destruction in Gaza will require huge sums of money. Margaret Harris of the World Health Organization says early estimates suggest $204.2 million will be needed to fund health emergency planning in Gaza in 2024 alone. .
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said the organization has a budget of $300 million for the campaign in Gaza, which is expected to run until the end of 2025. Approximately $38 million of this will be used for the health sector, including replenishing medical supplies. We are supplying supplies, deploying additional ambulances, and preventing infectious diseases.
This cannot begin to address the long-term health needs of Palestinians in Gaza. It’s difficult to estimate what will be needed now, but over the long term, “I think it’s safe to say it’s going to be in the billions of dollars,” Harris said.
Aboriginal people use fire to manage the landscape
Penny Tweedy/Getty Images
Analysis of sediment cores taken from ancient lakes shows that Australia's indigenous peoples have been using fire to manage their environment for at least 11,000 years.
michael bird Researchers at James Cook University in Cairns, Australia, say their findings suggest that returning to indigenous regimes of more frequent but smaller fires could reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires. This suggests that environmental management could be improved.
It has long been known that Australia's first people, who are thought to have lived on the continent for 65,000 years, carefully managed the landscape, using fire to make it easier to move around and hunt prey. . They also realized that this benefits some of the plants and animals they like and reduces the risk of more dangerous fires.
But how long this has been going on is difficult to establish, Bird said. That's because most waterways dry up completely during the annual dry season, destroying carbon in the sediment.
Girraween Lagoon, near Darwin in the Northern Territory, is a huge sinkhole that covers an area of about 1 hectare and has remained permanently wet for at least 150,000 years. As the climate changed over the millennia, so did the vegetation around the sinkhole. “Girraween Lagoon has 150,000 years worth of sediment that has never dried out,” says Bird.
Bird and his colleagues were able to study three important indicators by analyzing sediment cores from the lagoon floor. It is a measure of the accumulation of fine charcoal particles, the proportion of burnt material in charred vegetation material, and the amount of different types of charcoal. Carbon that remains after combustion.
The first two indicators allow researchers to estimate the intensity of the fire, and the third indicates whether the fire was cold enough to leave traces of grass.
Before the arrival of humans, natural fires in the savanna of northern Australia were ignited by lightning strikes at the end of the dry season, when the vegetation and landscape were almost completely dry. This type of more intense fire burns biomass more completely, especially fine fuels such as grass and trash, leaving less grass uncharted.
Indigenous fires, on the other hand, burn more frequently, but with much lower heat, and their impact is confined to smaller areas and to the ground layer, promoting a mosaic of vegetation and helping to protect biodiversity.
Byrd said recent layers of the core show more frequent fires and clear evidence of grass that hasn't completely burned, indicating the fires are cooler. . This type of fire is very different from traditional natural fire patterns and is evidence of indigenous fire management, he says.
Researchers collect sediment cores in Girraween Lagoon, Northern Territory, Australia
michael bird
This signal can be seen in sediments that are at least 11,000 years old, but the study found that metrics for the proportion of grass and tree debris before that point have become difficult to study. Bird said there are signs of human fire starting 40,000 years ago, but the evidence is less clear.
“This means that savannahs have been growing alongside humans for at least 11,000 years,” he says. “Biodiversity has grown with that fire policy. When you remove this kind of burnout, you start to see serious problems with biodiversity.”
david bowman Researchers from Australia's University of Tasmania say the paper highlights the twin importance of climate and humans in shaping fire regimes.
“Decoupling climate from anthropogenic and, importantly, indigenous fire management is a very important topic,” he says. “As we fight to combat climate-induced wildfires around the world, a long-term perspective like this will be an invaluable addition to current research and development in sustainable fire management. .”
trilobite are a diverse group of marine animals that lived between 540 and 250 million years ago. They were some of the oldest and longest-lived arthropods known. Trilobites are named for the shape of their bodies, which are characterized by a hard exoskeleton divided into three lobes.
Paleontologists have described more than 20,000 different species of trilobites. Lifestyle and eating behavior. Some burrowed into the ocean floor, while others floated or swam freely in the ocean. But everything scientists know (or think they know) about what trilobites ate; indirect evidencelike them Intestinal shape and size. Researchers have never before discovered a fully-fed trilobite fossil. until now…
A group of researchers from the Czech Republic and Sweden recently reported a complete fossil of a trilobite. Bohemorichas Incora The intestinal contents remain intact. They discovered this unique specimen in the Šárka Formation in the Prague Basin of the Czech Republic. It died 465 million years ago lying on its belly on the ocean floor, rapidly becoming encased in a mass of silica. nodules. The researchers explained that the silica nodules prevented the carcass from being crushed during burial, preserving the entire fossil in three dimensions for millions of years.
The research team used a 3D imaging technique called . micro tomography Let's take a look inside the intestines of trilobites. They used this method to create a series of superimposed slice-by-slice images of the fossil's interior, which a computer program knitted into his three-dimensional shape. Scientists traditionally used his X-rays for microscopic tomography, but this team used a special energy source. synchrotron radiation, increase image resolution and contrast. Synchrotron radiation is high-intensity light produced by electrons traveling at nearly the speed of light in a circular accelerator. synchrotron. They combined this method with another type of imaging known as . Propagation phase contrast imagingwhich further enhances the contrast between normal light-absorbing soft tissues as well.
The researchers discovered that the trilobite's intestines were completely filled with shell fragments made of calcium carbonate. They determined that most of the shells belonged to small crustaceans, about the size of ants. ostracod. Some of the shell fragments were from larger, two-shelled organisms, similar to bivalves or bivalves, while others were from a single organism, similar to starfish. All of these creatures lived in the mud on the ocean floor, suggesting that the trilobites were feeding on them as they ran along the ocean floor. Because the trilobite ate several types of shelled creatures, the researchers hypothesized that it was a scavenger that scavenged indiscriminately on whatever it encountered, rather than a selective predator.
The researchers also noted that the trilobite's intestinal shell had sharp edges and no signs of etching. The researchers interpreted this to mean that the pH of the trilobite's digestive tract was neutral or alkaline, since if the intestine is acidic, like humans and most mammals, the shell will begin to dissolve. The researchers explained that enzymes that help animals digest food are very sensitive to pH. Therefore, this evidence suggests that trilobites had enzymes similar to other organisms with neutral or alkaline digestive systems. Living examples of these organisms include crustaceans such as shrimp and lobsters, and chelicerae such as spiders and scorpions.
Finally, the researchers found a series of small tunnels dug into the trilobite's remains. This indicates that the trilobites fell prey to their own scavengers after death, before becoming encased in silica. They found the most concentrated set of burrows near the trilobite's head, which appeared to be the area of most intense feeding. They also found several burrows in the lower part of the trilobite's body, but none of them entered the digestive tract. In other words, the scavengers avoided the trilobite's intestines entirely. The researchers suggested that if intestinal enzymes continued to digest the animal's last meal after it died, the intestine could have remained toxic for some time.
The researchers concluded that the 3D specimen was: Bohemorichas Incola They said this provides the best knowledge to date of the feeding habits of trilobites, including what they eat and how they digest it. They also suggested that the physiological properties of this particular trilobite may mean that a near-neutral pH gut is a feature of most primitive arthropods. However, they also noted that few scientists have studied how gut pH affects digestion in living arthropods, so further research is needed to test this hypothesis. .
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, affecting millions of people worldwide. This disease affects the parts of the brain that control memory, thinking, and language. Most commonly, people with Alzheimer’s disease begin to show symptoms. mid 60’s. Scientists have shown that some rare cases of Alzheimer’s disease are caused by a genetic mutation known as PSEN1-E280A, which causes people to develop Alzheimer’s disease as early as their mid-40s, and that this The condition is called early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
Scientists have identified a Colombian man who carries the gene for early-onset Alzheimer’s disease and a second genetic mutation called the RELN-COLBOS mutation. This man maintained a fully functioning brain for about 30 years longer than the average person with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Scientists hypothesized that his genetic mutation could help develop treatments to help others resist Alzheimer’s disease. But additional case studies were needed to find out whether the genetic mutation was the sole reason for the man’s resistance to the disease.
Researchers in Columbia recently set out to study patients with the RELN-COLBOS mutation to see how it may help fight early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. They enrolled the patient in an international collaboration.Antioch University in Columbia and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston; called Columbia-Boston Biomarker Research Program.This program includes: More than 6,000 participants took part, including those with and without genes known to cause Alzheimer’s disease.
Researchers compared a Colombian man with the RELN-COLBOS mutation to young-onset Alzheimer’s disease patients who do not carry this mutation to determine whether they develop the disease through different pathways. They compared each patient’s cognitive decline in terms of their motor function, number of neurons firing in their brains, and signal strength. They also measured proteins in each patient’s brain that are known to help with memory and learning, such as Dab1 and Tau proteins.
The researchers also collected brain tissue from the man. They performed a type of genetic profiling called. Single cell RNA sequencing Examining his brain tissue revealed that he PSEN1-E280A Gene that causes early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. They used this same method to determine which RELN mutation he had.
They explained that the RELN gene normally tells the body how to make the protein Reelin, which controls brain development.. This man had a mutation in his RELN gene that codes for a different amino acid. Researchers have observed similar mutations in people with other brain-related diseases such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and autism. They named it the RELN-COLBOS mutation, after their research program.
The researchers then looked at the men’s brains using several medical imaging techniques, including positron emission tomography. PET scanmagnetic resonance imaging, or MRI scan. They examined these images of the man’s brain for signs of disease or other abnormalities.
They found that the men’s brains contained large amounts of amyloid beta protein. They explained that this protein causes the loss of neurons and neural connections in Alzheimer’s patients.But the men’s brains were also found to have lower-than-normal levels of another protein called tau protein, which is usually associated with Alzheimer’s disease.. They explained that Alzheimer’s patients typically have high amounts of the protein tau, which disrupts the internal skeleton of neurons and impairs thinking and memory. The researchers suggested that the man’s low levels of tau protein in his brain were part of his resistance to Alzheimer’s disease.
Based on how the RELN-COLBOS mutation acted in this man, scientists hypothesized that it was the cause. Gain-of-function (GOF) mutations. GOF mutations occur when a mutated gene acquires a new function. In other words, it will work differently than it should. For example, a coffee machine’s function is to make coffee, but a GOF mutation could cause it to start making orange juice instead. They classified the RELN-COLBOS mutation as a GOF mutation because the normal function of the RELN gene is to produce the Reelin protein, but the mutant form instead slows down the production of the tau protein.
The researchers concluded that the new function of the RELN-COLBOS mutation may help the gene regulate neural circuits damaged by Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia. However, the researchers cautioned that the mutation’s impact on these diseases is modest, as it slows but does not prevent cognitive impairment. They say there are currently only a handful of cases available and that different genetic mutations may delay Alzheimer’s symptoms in the same patient, so future researchers could study other patients with the same mutations. I suggested that it should be done.
Our world is dominated by single-celled microorganisms that can survive in extreme and strange places. These habitats include the human body, where about one microorganism lives in every human cell. Many of these microorganisms are harmless or even good for our health, but some can cause us severe illness. To make matters worse, many dangerous microorganisms Pathogen, can be transmitted from person to person. This infection can introduce pathogens and pose a serious problem for hospitals that attract large numbers of sick people.
In the mid-1840s, a Viennese doctor named Ignaz Semmelweis realized that simply washing your hands could reduce the spread of disease. This was the beginning of our understanding of disinfection in hospitals. Since then, scientists and doctors have learned to use a variety of chemicals to kill pathogens and keep patients safe. One of the most powerful disinfecting chemicals is sodium hypochlorite, also known as bleach. This chemical kills microorganisms by destroying the outside of the cell and changing its internal chemistry. Bleach is so effective that doctors have been using it as a hospital disinfectant for nearly 200 years. But even though it is highly lethal, it does not kill all microorganisms.
To investigate how some microorganisms survive bleach treatment, a team of scientists from the University of Plymouth in the UK studied a pathogen called clostridioides difficile. This microorganism causes diarrhea and is notoriously difficult to kill. clostridioides difficile It produces durable minicells called spore. Transmission can occur between patients through contact. These spores are in a kind of hibernation state. clostridioides difficile Comes with a durable outer shield. The spores wait quietly until they reach the human colon, where they awaken and cause disease. These spores are very difficult to kill, so scientists wanted to know how effective normal hospital disinfection protocols were against them.
Scientists first grew clostridioides difficile Spores were collected in the laboratory. They tried to kill these spores using regular strength, 5x strength, and 10x strength bleach. They treated the spores with different bleach mixtures for 10 minutes to see how many survived. Even if you use a bleach that is 10 times stronger than normal strength hospital bleach, clostridioides difficile The spores died after treatment.
Next, the scientists wanted to know how well the spores were transported within the hospital on patient and surgical gowns. They lightly sprayed a sample of 10 million spores onto a fabric gown and treated it with three different strengths of bleach. The scientists then dabbed the fabric gown onto the agar plate they used for the culture. clostridioides difficile They then counted how many spores survived and grew. Again, only 10% of the spores were killed by this treatment.
Finally, the scientists wanted to see if the bleach treatment was affecting the spore’s outer shield. Spores are only 1 micrometer long, or about 1/25,000th of an inch. These spores are too small to be seen with the naked eye, so scientists used a special electron microscope to see them clearly. This microscope uses a high-power beam of electron particles to provide much better resolution than standard optical microscopes. The researchers used the device to compare the shape of spores before and after bleaching. Scientists reasoned that because the pathogen survived the bleaching process, the outer surface of the spores was probably unaffected. This is exactly what they saw in the microscopic images. Treated and untreated spores looked exactly like each other and showed no signs of degradation due to bleach.
Scientists concluded that clostridiodes difficile It utilizes a durable spore form to withstand bleach disinfection.Stopping the spread of infectious diseases is extremely difficult. The researchers suggested that doctors combat these spores by using different fabrics in hospital and surgical gowns to prevent the spores from sticking to them. Doctors also urged caution in disinfection methods. Finally, they suggested that future researchers focus on new ways to destroy these spores and prevent the spread of infectious diseases. clostridiodes difficile.
Pierre Maslow, a statistician at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, stated that Paris is considered the highest risk city among all European capitals. Heat exposure concerns in 854 European cities.
The Olympic Village in Paris will feature a wildlife-friendly rooftop, environmentally-friendly building materials, and green spaces including a public park.
However, as part of efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions during the event, no air conditioning will be installed in the players’ rooms. Instead, the complex will rely on natural airflow cooling and groundwater cooling systems. Organizers mentioned that even in the heat, nighttime temperatures do not exceed 79 degrees. Read more here.
A study in Nature Climate and Atmospheric Science suggests that heatwave temperatures are on the rise in comparison to 2003. Temperatures could now reach up to 7 degrees F higher than during the 2003 heatwave.
During the last Summer Olympics in Tokyo, extreme heat affected many athletes, leading to rescheduling of events. About 110 athletes suffered heatstroke during the Tokyo Games due to high temperatures. Endurance events were moved to Sapporo to deal with the heat.
The absence of spectators at the Tokyo Games helped reduce the burden on medical staff, according to Shota Tanaka, a part-time researcher at Kokushikan University. However, this is an issue that Paris must consider as the number of heatstroke cases is expected to be high.
Tanaka added, “Holding the Olympics in August is fundamentally a risky idea from a heatstroke perspective.” Athletes typically prepare for the heat several weeks before the games.
Cognitive decline is characterized by a decline or slowing of memory, concentration, and thinking abilities. It’s common for individuals to experience increased forgetfulness as they age, such as forgetting names or shopping lists.
If the frequency of forgetful episodes is escalating and the decline is faster than expected for normal aging, it could indicate cognitive impairment. This can be concerning for the individual experiencing symptoms as well as their family and friends.
Common signs of cognitive impairment include forgetting important dates, losing track of thoughts, feeling overwhelmed with decisions, getting lost in familiar places, and becoming more impulsive.
Cognitive decline varies among individuals and is influenced by genetics and family history. Building cognitive reserve through a lifetime of experiences, including education, career, and engaging activities, can help mitigate the effects of aging on cognitive function.
What can you do now to prevent cognitive decline?
Developing a “cognitive reserve” through education, occupation, and engaging activities can help bolster cognitive function. Lifestyle factors like diet, exercise, and avoiding tobacco and alcohol can also impact cognitive health.
Image credit: Getty
Positive lifestyle changes in areas like diet and exercise can have cascading health benefits. Conversely, unhealthy habits can lead to adverse health effects.
Habits to avoid
Studies show that high-fat diets and smoking can contribute to obesity, diabetes, and cognitive decline. Maintaining a balanced lifestyle with good nutrition, physical activity, and healthy habits can help prevent cognitive decline.
Cognitive decline is a natural part of aging, but taking steps to build cognitive reserve and adopt a healthy lifestyle can help slow its progression.
Aim for an overall healthy lifestyle
Incorporating social activities, hobbies, and maintaining intimate relationships can also play a role in preventing cognitive decline. Engaging in challenging activities and stimulating the brain through hobbies can help preserve cognitive function.
Sex on the brain
Maintaining romantic and intimate relationships can have a positive impact on cognitive health. Research suggests a link between sexual activity and cognitive function, possibly due to social connections and hormonal influences.
Indulging in hobbies and activities, getting quality sleep, and regular dental checkups can also contribute to maintaining cognitive function as we age. It’s important to address any concerns about cognitive abilities with a healthcare professional for proper evaluation and guidance.
It feels unfair. I will be sacrificing an hour of sleep tonight.
With Daylight Saving Time (DST) starting in the United States in the summer, the clocks are set to move forward by an hour tonight at 2 a.m. local time. This means the new local daylight saving time will be 3:00 AM.
Scientists are expressing concerns that apart from causing sleepiness, the transition to daylight saving time could have adverse effects on our health. According to Dr. Beth Murrow, a neurology professor and director of Vanderbilt’s sleep division, the clock change leads to a slight increase in strokes, heart attacks, car accidents, and sleep deprivation.
The impact of “springing forward” is not limited to the elderly but also affects young people. Research published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine revealed that teenagers lost an average of 2 hours and 42 minutes of sleep on weeknights after the time change in a 2015 study.
Dr. Murrow emphasizes the importance of morning light for setting our body clocks, improving mood, and aiding sleep. She suggests that the shift in light from morning to evening due to changing clocks for almost eight months could have health effects.
Despite the challenges posed by losing an hour of sleep, there are practical tips to counteract the effects:
1. Adjust your bedtime earlier for a few days before the clock change.
Experts recommend gradually going to bed 15 to 20 minutes earlier each night in the week leading up to daylight saving time.
American Academy of Sleep Medicine mentions that around 30 to 35 percent of adults experience temporary insomnia symptoms due to sudden changes in sleep schedules, such as the clock change.
Adapting slowly to the new time can help ease the transition and provide some extra rest,” says Dr. Murrow.
2. Get exposure to bright light in the morning
Daylight Saving Time aims to extend daylight in the evening, but this may disrupt your natural sleep-wake cycle. Exposing yourself to natural light in the morning can help set your body clock, making it easier to sleep at night.
3. Avoid long naps and late-day caffeine, opt for exercise instead
Avoiding long naps and caffeine late in the day can help regulate your sleep. Instead, engage in physical activity which can promote better sleep at night.
Exercise should be done at least 90 minutes before bedtime to avoid disruptions in sleep caused by increased endorphins and core body temperature.
Read more:
4. Limit screen time before bed
Exposure to blue light from screens like cell phones can interfere with melatonin production, affecting sleep. Try to avoid using electronic devices before bedtime to promote better sleep.
Watching content with blue light before bed, like news, can hinder relaxation and sleep after the clock change.
Consider abolishing Daylight Saving Time
Many experts suggest abandoning Daylight Saving Time due to its negative impacts on health. Living on Standard Time year-round could have health benefits compared to Daylight Saving Time’s schedule changes.
Dr. Murrow and Professor Alice Gregory advocate for a permanent Standard Time to align better with our natural circadian rhythms and improve overall well-being.
About our experts:
Dr. Beth Murrow is a neurology and sleep medicine professor, director of Vanderbilt’s Sleep Division, and advocate for sleep research related to medical conditions and genetics.
Alice Gregory, a psychology professor at Goldsmiths University, has contributed to various areas of sleep research and promotes public engagement with science through her work and publications.
Here is some encouraging environmental news that we all need to hear. Efforts to restore the natural world can yield positive results. A project spearheaded by British and Indonesian scientists has successfully rejuvenated damaged coral reefs in just four years.
Currently, most of the world’s coral reefs are in jeopardy, with some irreparably damaged. However, amidst the concerning reports about the state of our planet’s environment, this recent study provides a glimmer of hope.
Published in the journal Current Biology, the research showcases the capability to increase coral cover and restore essential ecosystem functions rapidly. You can view the paper here.
“The rapid recovery we witnessed was truly remarkable,” commented study author Dr. Ines Lang, a graduate of Exeter University. “We did not anticipate a full restoration of reef framework production within just four years.”
Coral reefs are crucial marine habitats that safeguard coastal regions from storms and erosion. The largest coral reef restoration project in the world is currently underway in South Sulawesi, Indonesia.
The initiative, known as the Mars Coral Reef Restoration Program, involves creating hexagonal “reef stars” (sand-coated steel structures) and affixing young corals to them. These structures are placed in coral reefs damaged by bakutsuri, an explosive fishing method that impairs coral growth. In these areas, coral recovery is impeded without human intervention.
The research team observed coral growth on the structures, with corals adding calcium carbonate to their frames. It was a crucial indicator for scientists to monitor whether reefs were growing or deteriorating based on their carbonate balance.
Within four years, the damaged reefs saw a three-fold increase in their carbonate budget, mirroring that of healthy reefs.
Researchers will continue monitoring the recovered reef’s response to stressors like ocean warming due to climate change. While restoration does not guarantee complete recovery, as restored coral reefs have yet to regain full diversity.
In fact, only one type of coral (branched corals) was transplanted, which are more vulnerable to bleaching. Researchers aim to introduce other coral species to enhance reef diversity.
Lange remarked, “There is no universal solution, but we hope this success story will inspire similar reef restoration projects worldwide.”
As we transition from midwinter to midsummer, spring has officially arrived.
There are two equinoxes each year, one in March and one in September, serving as significant points in Earth’s orbit with direct effects on our planet.
So, when exactly is the vernal equinox, and how does it impact Earth?
When is the vernal equinox in 2024?
In 2024, the vernal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere falls on Wednesday, March 20th. While meteorological spring starts on March 1st, the vernal equinox marks the astronomical beginning of spring at 3:06 a.m. GMT.
The vernal equinox brings opposite experiences to the northern and southern hemispheres, heralding spring in the former and autumn in the latter.
What is the vernal equino?
During the vernal equinox, the sun crosses the celestial equator, transitioning from the southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere.
This event leads to nearly equal day and night lengths in both hemispheres, giving rise to the term “equal equinox,” which means “equal night” in Latin.
Despite the balanced division, slight sunlight increase occurs due to atmospheric refraction.
Unlike the vernal equinox, the autumnal equinox sees the sun crossing the celestial equator from north to south.
The shifting “first point of Aries” signifies where this occurs, altering due to Earth’s precession motion. Currently moving towards Aquarius, this point will return to Aries in about 23,000 years.
Known as the vernal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere, the term “vernal equinox” directly relates to spring.
Are the vernal equinox and solstice the same?
No, they are not. The difference lies in day length, with equinoxes having nearly equal day and night durations, while solstices mark the shortest (winter) and longest (summer) days.
During the vernal equinox, the sun aligns directly above the Earth’s equator, affecting tides and other phenomena, unlike the summer solstice with longer days due to the northern hemisphere tilting towards the sun.
Image credit: Getty
Why do the days of the vernal equinox change?
The varying equinox dates stem from Earth’s orbit taking slightly over 365 days, prompting the Gregorian calendar to include leap years. As a result, the March equinox time shifts yearly, ensuring we don’t have to memorize different dates.
Thanks to leap years, equinoxes will stay on March 20th until 2044, then changing to March 19th.
Future equinox date and time (GMT)
2024: March 20th, 3:06am
2025: March 20th, 9:01am
2026: March 20th, 2:45pm
2027: March 20th, 8:24pm
2028: March 20th, 2:16am
2029: March 20th, 8:01am
2030: March 20th, 1:51pm
What is the difference between astronomical spring and meteorological spring?
Astronomical and meteorological spring differ in their definitions, with the former based on Earth’s orbit position and the latter on temperature cycles. Meteorological spring spans specific months to aid in seasonal analysis and forecasting.
Regardless of the definition, spring has arrived in the Northern Hemisphere.
Do the equinoxes affect the tides?
Yes, during the equinoxes, moon and sun gravitational pulls impact tides differently, leading to “vernal equinox tides.”
Do the equinoxes affect the aurora borealis?
More frequent auroras and geomagnetic storms occur around the vernal equinox due to heightened Earth-Sun interaction. Solar material collisions with Earth’s atmosphere create the spectacular aurora borealis seen at the North and South Poles.
Obesity has undergone a significant shift in how we perceive it in recent years. It was once seen as a personal lifestyle choice, but is now acknowledged as a complex disease affected by genetics, biology, psychosocial factors, and the environment. It is a prevalent condition affecting a large portion of the population.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that around 2 billion adults are overweight or obese and this number is rising rapidly across different income countries.
Obesity poses a major health risk as it increases the likelihood of developing diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, dementia, cancer, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and kidney failure.
Recent advancements in understanding obesity have revealed that the regulation of energy balance and eating behavior occurs in the brain, not the stomach. Scientists have identified numerous genes that impact weight regulation and predispose individuals to obesity. Additionally, maintaining weight loss is challenging due to the body’s natural responses, which slow metabolism and increase hunger hormones.
Efforts to find effective treatments for obesity have intensified, considering the stigma and discrimination individuals with obesity often face. Traditional methods such as surgery or lifestyle changes like diet and exercise have been common strategies for weight loss. However, these approaches come with risks, limitations, and costs.
Current weight loss drugs have not been very successful in achieving significant results. New gut hormone treatments known as incretins show promise in managing obesity by regulating appetite through the gut-brain axis. Drugs like semaglutide have demonstrated notable weight loss benefits and improved blood sugar levels, offering hope for effective obesity management in the future.
Despite the potential of new weight loss drugs, challenges like administration methods, cost, and long-term effectiveness need to be addressed. Developments in weight loss medications, including oral drugs like orforglyprone, are still in progress, suggesting a promising future for obesity treatment.
While weight loss pills offer a valuable tool, they should be part of a comprehensive approach that includes lifestyle changes, psychological support, and addressing socio-economic factors influencing health inequalities. The future of obesity treatment looks promising with ongoing research and advancements in medical technology.
It’s crucial to recognize that a holistic approach, which combines different strategies tailored to individual needs, is essential in effectively addressing the complexities of obesity. By destigmatizing obesity and focusing on a well-rounded treatment plan, we can make significant strides in managing this chronic disease.
It is estimated that one in two people will develop cancer during their lifetime. However, advancements in diagnosis and treatment have led to more people surviving cancer than ever before. The question now is, will this trend of increasing survival rates continue, and how close are we to finding a cure?
The trend of improving survival rates is likely to continue, but the discovery of a cure for cancer is complicated due to the fact that cancer is not a single disease, but rather a group of over 200 diseases, each with its own unique characteristics. Despite this complexity, all cancers originate from mutant cells that divide uncontrollably.
While cancer cells evade normal controls on cell division, targeted cancer therapy has emerged as a promising treatment approach. This therapy focuses on inhibiting genetic mutations that drive cancer growth and has shown to be more effective with fewer side effects than traditional treatments like chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
Targeted therapies like hormone therapy and drugs such as imatinib have revolutionized the treatment of certain types of cancer, improving survival rates significantly. The development of new drugs and the repurposing of existing ones have been accelerated by genetic technologies that utilize big data to understand genetic changes driving cancer.
The power of big data
Advances in cancer treatment have been further propelled by genetic technologies and clinical trials that utilize big data to develop new drugs and repurpose existing ones. The Cancer Genome Atlas Project, for example, provides valuable genetic information for various types of cancer, allowing for targeted treatments based on individual genetic profiles.
Credit: Getty Images
While drug treatments have seen significant advancements, immunotherapy has also emerged as a promising approach in cancer treatment. Immunotherapy aims to boost the patient’s immune system to detect and destroy cancer cells more effectively. This field is rapidly evolving, with treatments like immune checkpoint inhibitors and adoptive cell therapy showing promising results.
Vax is on track
Developments in cancer immunization, including mRNA-based vaccines, are changing the landscape of cancer treatment by utilizing the body’s immune system to target cancer cells. Early diagnosis remains crucial in cancer treatment, with advancements in AI technology offering improved diagnostic capabilities.
Prevention is also a key focus in the fight against cancer, with vaccines against infectious causes of cancer such as HPV and HBV showing promising results. Additionally, cancer prevention strategies using drugs or vaccines to eliminate cancer cells before they form detectable tumors are gaining traction.
While a single “cure” for cancer may be unlikely, ongoing advancements in diagnosis, treatment, and prevention offer new hope to cancer patients worldwide. The future of cancer treatment holds the promise of personalized medicine, targeted therapies, and innovative approaches to combat this complex disease.
Make sure to set your clocks forward an hour tonight as Daylight Saving Time (DST) begins for the summer of 2024. But have you ever wondered why we have daylight saving time and when exactly does the time change?
Lately, the necessity of such time changes has been questioned and even a bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate in March 2022 to end the practice of constantly moving the clocks forward and backward twice a year. However, the bill did not pass the house, so here we are again.
When will the clocks change in March 2024?
In the United States, clocks will spring forward one hour on Sunday, March 10, 2024, at 2 a.m. local time, making the new local daylight saving time 3:00 AM. This change will result in sunset being one hour later on March 10, 2024, compared to the previous day, around 6:00pm to 7:00pm in New York and Los Angeles, and 6:30pm to 7:30pm in Houston.
On November 5, 2023, clocks were set back one hour for winter time, giving you that extra hour of sleep you may have enjoyed.
Daylight saving time (DST) will end on Sunday, November 3, 2024 when the United States returns to standard time. Your internet-connected devices will automatically adjust, but remember to manually change the time on devices like wall clocks and car clocks.
Why do clocks change?
There isn’t a scientific explanation for this time dance, but it aims to make the most of daylight hours as the days get longer in the Northern Hemisphere heading into summer. So, take advantage of daylight saving time by enjoying outdoor activities after work or socializing with friends.
What is the history of daylight saving time?
Contrary to popular belief that Benjamin Franklin came up with DST, the idea is credited to New Zealander George Hudson in 1895. DST was first implemented in the U.S. during World War I and later standardized in 1966. Originally, DST lasted from the last Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October, but in 2007, it was extended to the current period from March to November.
Do all states use daylight savings time?
No, states and territories can choose to opt in or out of DST as per the Uniform Time Act. Arizona and Hawaii are on Permanent Standard Time, while some parts of Arizona observe DST. The situation in Arizona can be a bit confusing.
Will daylight saving time always be used?
Despite efforts to abolish DST, changes cannot happen until federal laws are amended. Some states are pushing for a permanent transition to standard time rather than DST, leading to a lack of consensus on the issue.
Why do people want to abolish daylight saving time?
Studies have shown negative health impacts of DST changes, like increased blood pressure and sleep deprivation. Losing morning light can affect mood and contribute to Seasonal Affective Disorder. Some people advocate for the abolition of DST to mitigate these effects.
Are there any countries that do not use daylight saving time?
About 70 out of 195 countries use DST, while major economies like Japan, India, and China do not. Some places, like the Antarctic Research Station Troll, switch between GMT and CEST. The debate over DST continues in different parts of the world.
SpaceX launched one of the largest rockets ever built on November 18, 2023. The Starship rocket has the potential to revolutionize humanity’s interaction with space, including the Mars base. This reusable rocket is so powerful that it could transport the entire International Space Station’s mass in just a few launches, possibly at a lower cost.
While the dreams of the Apollo era were initially shattered due to the high costs of space access, Starship’s launch has reignited the debate about the significance of space exploration for humans. Despite facing setbacks and challenges in achieving its goals, the space enthusiast community views the Starship launch as a success, given the valuable data collected during the flight.
Is a Mars base really worth the investment?
Space advocates believe that space offers hope, opportunities for resource extraction from asteroids, environmental protection, and the establishment of a second home for humanity. However, some question the allocation of resources to space exploration instead of addressing pressing issues on Earth.
The space industry is rapidly growing and is projected to reach a value of over $1 trillion in the next two decades. Investments in space exploration often lead to innovations in navigation, data transmission, and environmental monitoring, benefiting both space and Earth. The share of government spending on space, particularly NASA, is minimal compared to other sectors.
Concerns about space billionaires building Martian fortresses as a safeguard against Earth’s destruction remain speculative. While asteroid mining and space resource utilization hold potential, the practical challenges and time required for extraction may limit immediate benefits. Therefore, it is crucial to approach space exploration with caution and realistic expectations.
Credit: Alamy
A Mars base will involve complex life.
Extraterrestrial resource utilization may offer new opportunities, but the majority of Earth’s wealth derives from ideas and technologies rather than material resources. Building infrastructure in space to reduce Earth’s burden and provide a sustainable living environment poses significant challenges and requires substantial investment.
Practical considerations for Mars bases include long travel times, harsh environmental conditions, and limited resources. Establishing a sustainable colony on Mars involves complex engineering solutions and adaptation to the planet’s inhospitable environment.
Big questions about Mars biology
Challenges in Mars biology include reproduction in low gravity, creating enclosed ecosystems for sustenance, and understanding the long-term effects of living on Mars. Addressing these biological questions requires extensive research and investment, which may not align with current priorities in space exploration.
Despite the uncertainties and challenges of Mars colonization, space exploration continues to offer economic benefits, valuable knowledge, and opportunities for progress. While the feasibility of large-scale space migration remains uncertain, the exploration of space contributes to our understanding of the universe and benefits our society as a whole.
The lifestyle of spinosaurids has been a topic of intense debate since important new skeletal parts were uncovered. Spinosaurus aegyptius Different lifestyles of this species have been proposed in the literature. Some claim that they were more or less semi-aquatic, hunting fish from the edges of bodies of water or by walking or swimming on the surface. Others suggest that it was entirely aquatic and an underwater tracking predator.
A pair of animals that do things better than any animal that has ever evolved. Spinosaurus aegyptius About 95 million years ago, pterosaurs soared overhead on the northern coast of Africa and invaded nearby waters in search of prey. Image credit: Daniel Navarro.
Paleontologists generally agree that Spinosaurus aegyptius were fish-eaters, but how exactly these dinosaurs caught their prey is the subject of active debate, with some researchers suggesting that they hunted on the coast and others walked or swam in shallow water, and other researchers have suggested that it was an aquatic tracking predator.
One recent study used a fairly new statistical method called phylogenetic flexible discriminant analysis (pFDA) to analyze the density and proportion of organisms and supported the latter hypothesis. spinosaurus skeleton.
In a new study, University of Chicago professor Paul Sereno and colleagues critically evaluated the methods of previous research and identified significant flaws.
“spinosaurusand its close relatives, are fascinating due to their unusual anatomical features, the rarity of specimens, and the fact that scientists
had not discovered bones in any parts of their bodies until very recently. they stated.
“Unlike other carnivorous dinosaurs, there is strong evidence that it lived near water and ate fish and other aquatic organisms.”
“This has caused a lot of controversy as to how it is done. spinosaurus It was alive—was it a fast-swimming predator chasing fish like a sea lion? Or maybe it’s a predator lurking at the water’s edge, grabbing at you with its clawed hands like a gigantic version of a brown bear chasing a salmon, or poking its head into the water like a seven-ton heron from hell. I wonder if it was? ”
The authors began by asking new questions about bone density, such as how to digitize thin sections, where to slice through the femur and ribs, and whether to include bones from multiple individuals.
Some modern aquatic mammals, like manatees, have dense bones that bulge to help them stay underwater, like a scuba diver’s weight belt.
Large land animals such as elephants and dinosaurs also have dense bones to support their increased weight.
most modern birds and many dinosaurs spinosaurus Air sacs are attached to the inside of the lungs and bones and act like a life jacket to prevent submersion.
Assessing the aquatic abilities of extinct species such as spinosaurus All these factors must be considered.
Given the complexity of understanding the meaning of bone density, paleontologists reevaluated how statistical methods used in previous studies were applied to support the following claims: . spinosaurus It was a deep diver.
pFDA's approach is similar to machine learning, training classification algorithms based on groups of species whose lifestyles are well understood.
In principle, researchers could use algorithms to estimate the likelihood of the existence of poorly understood species such as: spinosaurus classified into some behavioral group.
“But in reality, there are challenges that need to be overcome,” said Intellectual Ventures researcher Nathan Myhrvold.
“Unfortunately, this technique doesn’t work well unless you have a large amount of data and do apples-to-apples comparisons to ensure that the data meets certain statistical assumptions.”
“None of these requirements were met in the previous study, so the results did not stand up to review.”
This new paper should help paleontologists understand the pitfalls of pFDA and other types of extensive statistical analysis and how to avoid them.
Researchers show that it is important to use consistent and objective criteria when deciding which species to include or exclude, and how to categorize their behavior .
The results of this study also demonstrate the importance of considering measurement error and individual differences when assessing bone mineral density.
“We think spinosaurus“As one of the largest predators to have ever evolved, this animal needed extra bone strength to support its weight on its relatively short hind legs,” Professor Sereno said.
“spinosaurus They could walk in channels more than 6 feet deep without floating, and could use their claws and jaws to ambush fish of any size, even while keeping their toes firmly planted in the mud. I stayed. ”
of study It was published in the magazine PLoS ONE.
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NP Myhrvold other. 2024. Diving dinosaur? Considerations regarding the use of bone density and pFDA to infer lifestyle. PLoS ONE 19 (3): e0298957; doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0298957
Fascinated by the shelled mollusk, Saravana and colleagues decided to build a large, soft, single-legged version of the snail and use it as the basis for a robot that moves like a snail.
Saravana explained in his presentation that the team chose to make the legs out of a soft material that could be partially inflated with a small pneumatic pump. Although the chemistry of snail mucus has been studied in detail, the way the snail’s legs move has only been hypothesized based on biologists’ observations, he says. These past studies propose that different parts of the snail’s foot impact the ground and leave the ground before impacting the ground again, and that their movements are not synchronized with each other. This creates a wave pattern across the foot, causing the snail to glide forward on the mucus.
Researchers have successfully reproduced this “pedal wave” motion, which can also expel mucus, in an experimental robot, allowing it to move forward and change direction without falling over. Saravana said that in some experiments, the robot was able to climb steep slopes.
Snail robot without shell
Saravana Prashanth Murali Babu/University of Southern Denmark
Although the bot is still in the experimental stage, Saravana hopes it will be the first robot ever to propel itself like a snail. To make it more self-contained, the team is experimenting with placing the pump inside a snail-like shell on top of the robot. A slightly larger plastic replica of a real snail’s shell, the shell contains electronics to remotely control the robot and emits mucus under the robot’s feet to mimic the slimy tracks of a real snail. It can also accommodate a syringe system for use.
But the team’s ultimate goal is to make the robot’s inflatable legs even softer, making it more like a real snail, whose body is mostly made of water. The researchers hope that a robot that successfully navigates on mucus could eventually inform the design of soft medical robots that can navigate inside the mucus-rich human body.
Culture refers to behaviors that are socially learned and persist within a group over long periods of time. Growing evidence suggests that animal culture, like human culture, may be cumulative. However, the accumulated culture of humans contains behaviors so complex that they exceed the ability of individuals to discover them independently over a lifetime. New research shows that the buff-tailed bumblebee (Western bumblebee) can learn how to open new two-step puzzle boxes and obtain food from trained conspecifics, even if they fail to open them independently.
Bufftail Bumblebee (Western bumblebee) socially learn behaviors that are too complex to innovate alone. Image credit: Ralphs Fotos.
“This groundbreaking research opens new avenues for understanding the evolution of intelligence and social learning in animals,” said study lead author Lars, a researcher at Queen Mary University of London. Professor Chitka said.
“This challenges long-held assumptions, paves the way to further explore the cognitive wonders hidden in the insect world, and even suggests the exciting possibility of accumulated culture among seemingly simple creatures. Masu.”
Professor Chitka and his colleagues designed a two-step puzzle box that required bumblebees to perform two different actions in sequence to access a sweet reward at the end.
Training bees to do this was no easy task, and we had to help them by adding additional rewards along the way.
This temporary reward was eventually taken away, and the bees were forced to open the entire box before getting the treat.
Surprisingly, while individual bees had difficulty solving the puzzle from the beginning, bees allowed to observe trained demonstration bees completed the entire sequence, including the first step. You just learned quickly and got rewarded at the end.
This study shows that bumblebees have a level of social learning that was previously thought to be unique to humans.
They can share and acquire behaviors that are beyond the cognitive capacity of individuals. This ability is thought to underpin the vast and complex nature of human culture, and was previously thought to be exclusive to us.
“This is a very difficult task for bees,” said study lead author Dr. Alice Bridges, a researcher at Queen Mary University of London and the University of Sheffield.
“They had to learn two steps to get the reward, and the first action in the sequence was not rewarded.”
“Initially, we had to train demonstration bees to include temporary rewards, which highlighted the complexity.”
“But other bees learned the sequence from the social observations of these trained bees, without ever experiencing the reward of the first step.”
“But when we tried to get other bees to open the box without a bee trained to show them the solution, they couldn't open it at all.”
This study opens up exciting possibilities for understanding the emergence of cumulative culture in the animal kingdom, beyond individual learning.
Cumulative culture refers to the gradual accumulation of knowledge and skills over generations, allowing increasingly complex behaviors to develop.
The ability of bees to learn such complex tasks from demonstrators suggests potential pathways for cultural transmission and innovation beyond the bees' individual learning abilities.
“This challenges the traditional view that only humans can learn socially complex behaviors beyond individual learning,” says Professor Chitka.
“Many of the most remarkable achievements of social insects, such as the nesting structures of honey bees and wasps and the agricultural habits of ants that farm aphids and fungi, may have first been spread by imitation by clever innovators, and then spread. , which is increasingly likely.'' They eventually became part of the species-specific behavioral repertoire. ”
Regarding this research, paper Published in the Journal on March 6, 2024 Nature.
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AD bridge other. Bumblebees socially learn behaviors that are too complex to innovate alone. Nature, published online March 6, 2024. doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07126-4
Hexagonal frames called Reef Stars are installed in disturbed areas to stabilize loose debris and encourage rapid coral growth.
Maritime Agency
Research findings from a restoration project in Indonesia suggest that restored coral reefs can develop at a rate comparable to healthy coral reefs in just four years. Although quick recovery rates are anticipated, restored reefs tend to have lower species diversity compared to undamaged reefs, raising questions about their long-term survival under more extreme conditions like heat waves. Further studies are required to validate these findings.
Global coral reefs confront a variety of threats, from escalating sea temperatures and ocean acidification to human-related activities such as overfishing.
In the vicinity of Indonesia’s Sulawesi island, coral reefs suffered severe damage approximately three decades ago due to dynamite fishing, a method involving the use of explosives in water to catch large quantities of fish.
According to Tim Lamont from Lancaster University in the UK, “recovery from dynamite fishing does not occur naturally.” The aftermath of this fishing technique leaves a substantial amount of fragmented dead coral skeletons floating, hindering natural coral settlement and growth.
To facilitate the recovery of coral reefs, the Mars Coral Reef Restoration Program has undertaken efforts to restore reefs. As part of Mars’ sustainability initiative, they have deployed sand-coated hexagonal steel structures on the seabed and transplanted them with cuttings from healthy corals. Known as reef stars, these structures stabilize loose debris and promote coral growth.
Simultaneously, Lamont and his team have been monitoring the progress of these initiatives.
One measure of coral health involves examining if the coral’s limestone skeleton grows faster than it erodes. This metric, known as the carbonate budget, signifies the reef’s overall growth rate.
“Four years post the commencement of the restoration process, the reef exhibited growth rates similar to those of healthy reefs,” noted Lamont. “It’s a remarkably rapid recovery.”
However, the composition of the restored coral reef differed from that of a healthy reef, predominantly comprising branched corals. This variance is primarily due to the restoration technique employing branch corals that can be sourced from living corals, entail less damage, and readily adhere to steel structures.
A local community attaches coral fragments to a steel frame as part of a restoration program in Indonesia
Maritime Agency
“Given that branching corals are generally more susceptible to bleaching, variations in communities could result in differing resilience to future stressors, particularly heat stress,” stated team member Ines Lange from the University of Exeter in the UK. “We anticipate that larger and more covered corals will naturally rejuvenate and recover in the restored areas over prolonged periods.”
Lamont emphasized that under stable climate conditions, it is feasible to reconstruct these vital ecosystems. Nevertheless, continued research is essential to assess the recovery of species diversity and the resilience of coral reefs when compared to healthy reefs.
While acknowledging the positive outcomes, members like Michael Bode from Queensland University of Technology, Australia, voiced concerns about the scalability of such projects amidst escalating climate change, the primary threat to coral reefs.
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is experiencing significant heat-induced coral bleaching once again, as confirmed by the country’s government on Friday.
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, responsible for conservation and protection efforts for the reef, stated that widespread bleaching is occurring due to increased heat stress over the summer.
Scientists from the Australian Institute of Marine Science reported that this is the fifth major bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef since 2016.
Coral bleaching poses a serious threat to coral reefs worldwide, triggered by abnormal conditions such as high or cold seawater temperatures and increased acidity. When corals expel photosynthetic algae, they turn white, making them more vulnerable to disease.
While corals can recover from bleaching events, frequent occurrences make it difficult for reefs to bounce back. Climate change is causing ocean temperatures to rise, leading to more frequent bleaching events globally.
The current mass bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef is consistent with reports of bleaching in coral reefs in the Northern Hemisphere, exacerbated by El Niño and climate change, according to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.
On March 5, researchers observed large-scale coral bleaching at a site in the southern Great Barrier Reef.Renata Ferrari / Australian Institute of Marine Science
The agency, in collaboration with scientists from the Australian Institute of Marine Science, conducted an aerial survey covering nearly two-thirds of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park to assess the severity of the bleaching event.
Further research and underwater assessments are necessary to gauge the impact of the ongoing bleaching event, with plans for additional aerial surveys in other reef areas.
While heat stress has not affected the entire reef, variations exist in the extent of bleaching among different areas, as highlighted by Neil Cantin, a senior research scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science.
Coral affected by coral bleaching (left), Arlington Reef, Central Barrier Reef, February 27.Grace Frank / Australian Institute of Marine Science
Since the first recorded bleaching event in 1998, with subsequent events in 2002, 2016, 2017, 2020, and 2022, it is clear that coral bleaching incidents are becoming more frequent, posing a significant threat to the Great Barrier Reef.
Efforts are underway to understand the overall condition of the reef and implement effective restoration measures guided by aerial surveys and underwater observations.
David Wachenfeld, the Australian Institute of Marine Science’s research program director, emphasized the urgent need to address climate change to protect the Great Barrier Reef effectively.
“Protecting coral reefs like the Great Barrier Reef from climate change requires global emissions reductions, best practices in local management, interventions to increase climate and reef resilience, and ongoing research and development,” Wachenfeld stated.
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