If your dog can distinguish between toys and doesn’t destroy them, then it may be a genius. That’s according to scientists who have identified a unique type of genius dog and have found that it all depends on how well they know their toys. You can read more about it here.
The dogs referred to by the researchers behind this study are known as gifted word learner (GWL) dogs. They know the names of their toys and can retrieve them on command. In fact, they can learn words very quickly and have been found to be incredibly rare.
One of the first organizations to closely examine the characteristics of these dogs, using a sample of 41 dogs from nine countries, was the Eötvös Lorand University (ELTE) in Hungary. The results showed that the genius dogs knew the names of 29 toys on average, but many of them knew over 100 of their toys by the end of the study.
Max, one of the genius dogs studied, knows the names of over 200 toys. Max, a 5-year-old male border collie, is from Hungary. – Photo credit: Ildiko Gyenes
To confirm that these dogs were real, the researchers first asked owners to send in videos of their dogs retrieving toys by name. After this stage, the researchers met with owners in a “virtual lab” to test the toy retrieval in more controlled conditions.
The study conducted by ELTE revealed that GWL dog owners reported that their talented pups were able to learn the names of new toys within 30 minutes. It became clear that certain breeds, such as Border Collies, were more likely to have this talent than others. However, no special training is required to own a GWL dog.
These dogs are so rare that it took researchers five years to find 41 dogs in nine countries using social media. You can watch their experiments here.
“GWL dogs are so rare that until now we only had anecdotes about their background.” – Professor Adam Miklosi, head of the Department of Animal Behavior at ELTE
If you have encountered a friend who started the day cheerful and then turned grumpy, you know the power of contagious emotions. It’s easy to find yourself feeling down when you’re around someone who is also feeling low. But the good news is that the opposite is also true. Your friend’s cheerful demeanor could help lift your spirits when you’re feeling sad.
Psychologists suggest that when people interact, they often mimic each other without even realizing it. This can include body language, speech patterns, and facial expressions, especially when interacting with people they know and care about.
These processes often involve effective communication and mutual understanding. One way we understand others’ emotions is by simulating those emotions in our own minds. The result is that we can “infect” each other with our emotions.
But who wins in these emotional interactions? Whether you succumb to someone else’s sadness or they catch your happiness may come down to their and your expressiveness and level of receptivity.
Emotional expressiveness and suggestibility vary from person to person. Those who laugh a lot when they’re happy are more likely to infect their friends with their happiness. Similarly, friends who are suggestive and mimic facial expressions are more likely to catch your smile and start feeling happier.
Facial expressions are not the only way to convey emotion. For example, fear has an odor, and there is evidence that smelling the sweat of an anxious person can trigger activity in parts of the brain involved in empathy and emotional processing.
And emotions can also be contagious through social media. People exposed to more negative posts are more likely to post negative content themselves.
When encountering emotions that differ from your own, your experience may depend on your investment in that person. When we care about someone, we are more likely to mirror their emotions. On the other hand, encountering conflicting emotions from strangers may be more difficult to handle.
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A recent study delved into the play preferences of cats and discovered that cats enjoy having control over when, where, and how they play. This finding sheds light on how to encourage cats to play fetch.
According to research published in Scientific Reports, scientists found that cats initiated and concluded the fetch game more frequently than their owners. And, when the cats were the ones to start the game, they played for a longer duration compared to when their owners initiated the game.
Interestingly, cats actually continued playing for longer periods even after their owners had stopped the game. This suggests that while cats seem to be in control of the fetch game, they are willing to continue playing as long as they are allowed to.
This study, announced in Scientific Reports, surveyed 924 cat owners with cats who play fetch, involving 1,154 current or former cats.
The study revealed that fetching cats typically have favorite items to retrieve and play with, often opting for various household objects over toys, especially those that are mouse-sized, such as hair ties or bottle tops.
Moreover, these cats tend to have a preferred family member and location for playing and fetching. The researchers from the University of Sussex, including Gemma Forman, noted that cats show a preference for bedrooms and stairs, with different heights adding to their interest in playing.
But why do some cats play fetch?
Researchers speculate that fetching behavior mirrors hunting behavior, but with an added element of social interaction with their owner, creating a unique interspecific dynamic that is not commonly observed in cats.
Among purebred cats, Siamese cats are more likely to engage in fetch, while mixed-breed cats exhibit higher involvement in the fetch game.
For pet owners who are not professional pet trainers, the study offered some encouragement – 94% of pet owners reported that their cats started playing fetch without needing to be taught. Additionally, most cats begin fetching at a young age, with 61% of the cats in the study starting before they were one year old.
Gemma Forman, one of the study authors, emphasized the importance of being open and accepting of their cat’s needs and behaviors, as their cat might have already indicated its desire to play, even if communicating this need can be challenging.
Approximately 15 species of eel live here. Eel family They are all long snake-shaped fish, most of which migrate between the ocean and inland freshwater at different times in their lives.
The most notable journey is carried out by the European eel. Anguilla Anguilla. Born in the Sargasso Sea in the central Atlantic Ocean. Hey, transparent larvae that look like leaves hatch. A small fish head is attached to it. They drift thousands of miles on Atlantic currents until they reach the shores of Eastern Europe, where they transform into young bootlace-sized fry known as glass eels or elvers.
They mature in shallow coastal waters and eventually change color into large yellow eels that migrate along rivers to lakes. Eels remain inland and freshwater for decades, before changing color again to become silver eels several meters long.
The golden eel is in the final stages of its life, taking on a daring mission to swim back decades into the Sargasso Sea. Only when they approach the spawning water do males and females mature and develop their reproductive organs.
For many years, the European eel’s epic life cycle remained an unproven theory. It was in 2022 that it became a reality. Scientists tracked golden eels to their spawning groundsThere, the female releases millions of eggs, which are fertilized externally by the male eel.
The next big question is what the future holds for eels. The number of glass eels reaching Europe’s coasts has plummeted by more than 95 percent in recent years, making the species critically endangered. They face many problems, including migratory routes blocked by dams and illegal trade in glass eels for breeding in farms.
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Scientists who study non-human animals do not use the word “love” in their published papers. Ironically, most animal behavior scientists were initially drawn to this topic due to their profound and enduring interest in animals.
However, researchers have traditionally been trained not to use anthropomorphic terms such as “love” to describe the emotions of non-human animals. Instead, they use terms like “temperament” and “positive cognitive bias” to avoid anthropomorphism. Though this strict stance on using human terminology for non-humans is starting to soften, due in part to the usefulness of certain terms in describing animal behavior and strong evolutionary reasons to believe that non-human animals are not completely dissimilar to humans.
Observing dog behavior makes it clear that dogs are deeply in love with humans, although some may refer to it as “hypersocial” or “socially obsessed.” There are also questions about how to recognize and define “love” in non-human animals who lack the linguistic capabilities to communicate their emotions.
Various studies have examined dogs’ sensitivity to human emotional states and physiological responses, such as separation anxiety and heart rate changes. These studies shed light on the complex relationship between dogs and humans and suggest that dogs may indeed experience emotions similar to love.
Credit: Justin Padgett
On the other hand, some behaviors that appear affectionate may be vestigial or instinctual rather than expressions of genuine affection. For example, wolves, dogs’ closest ancestors, use behaviors such as “kissing” as part of their natural interactions. Physiological research on heart rate, hormones, and brain activity provides further evidence of the bond between dogs and humans.
Furthermore, fMRI images of dog brains show activity in the reward center when dogs are near their owners, suggesting a positive emotional response. This evidence, combined with dogs’ ability to form associations and respond to human cues, implies a deep emotional bond between dogs and humans.
Our eyes, with over 100 million light-sensitive cells and some of the fastest muscles in the body, are able to pick up everything from starlight traveling across galaxies to the full range of human emotions. I can.
However, by connecting to our minds through the approximately 1 million nerve fibers that connect each eye to our brains, we are able to synthesize smooth vision that is not distracting or overwhelming, acquire the ability to interpret what is happening around you.
important parts of the human eye
pupil
It looks like a black dot, but it’s actually a gap that allows light to pass through to the back of your eye.
cornea
The cornea, the transparent dome in front of the eye, refracts light and helps direct it along the correct path to the retina.
iris
The colored part of the eye that dilates or constricts the pupil to control how much light enters. The iris is part of a larger structure that forms a layer between the retina and the sclera.
lens
A transparent lens that changes shape to focus incoming light onto the retina.
retina
Although it is often thought of as the back of the eye, it is more accurately the innermost layer that receives light that is reversed by the lens. The retina is packed with light-sensitive cells and nerve cells.
sclera
The sclera, also known as the white of the eye, is a tough, protective outer layer made of collagen fibers.
vitreous body
A transparent jelly that fills the eyeballs. As we age, the consistency of this jelly becomes more liquid and gradually becomes less wobbly.
optic nerve
A thick bundle of nerve fibers that carries signals between each eye and the brain.
How do we see it?
The simplest explanation is that what we see is the result of light entering the eye through the cornea and lens, which directs and focuses the light onto the light-sensitive cells (rods and cones) in the retina. about it.
June 4, 1996 marked the first flight of the Ariane 5 rocket, which unfortunately ended in disaster. Just forty seconds after takeoff, the rocket veered off course and exploded. This catastrophic event was caused by a small software error, where a 64-bit floating point number was converted to a 16-bit signed integer. The conversion failed because the number was greater than 32,767, the maximum value that can be represented in 16 bits. This overflow error led to the dumping of debug data into the memory area controlling the rocket’s engines, resulting in the failure of the backup computers and ultimately leading to the rocket’s loss of control and explosion.
In 2015, it was revealed that a similar overflow error could potentially cause a power outage if a Boeing 787’s generator controls were activated for 248 consecutive days, reaching the maximum value for a 32-bit signed register. However, the issue could be resolved by resetting the counters. Fortunately, the flawed software in the 737 Max did not cause a disaster like the Ariane 5 incident.
Overflow errors are similar to rounding errors, but have subtle differences. Rounding errors usually occur when a number is calculated incorrectly and stored in binary, causing small errors to accumulate and eventually lead to significant errors.
Rounding errors can affect missiles…
A well-known example of this type of mistake occurred during the Gulf War, where a Patriot missile hit barracks instead of the incoming Scud missile, resulting in casualties. This was due to rounding errors in the tracking system that accumulated and caused the missile to veer off target.
…and the train
Software bugs can have disastrous consequences, as seen in an incident in May 2019 where an experienced train driver unfamiliar with the train’s new software accidentally accelerated to 15 mph, causing a collision and derailing the train.
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Planets that are too close to their star (such as Venus) are too hot, and planets that are too far away (such as Mars) are too cold, but planets that are within the habitable zone have just the right temperature. Although great efforts have been made to identify planets in the theoretical habitable region of stars, until now there has been no way to know whether a planet really has liquid water. Now, astronomers from the University of Birmingham and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have found that if an exoplanet’s atmosphere has less carbon dioxide than its neighbors, it may have liquid water on its surface. It was shown that it was suggested.
Artist’s impression of the super-Earth planet Ross 508b. Image credit: Sci.News.
Astronomers have detected more than 5,200 extrasolar worlds so far. Modern telescopes allow us to directly measure the distance from a planet to a star and the time it takes to complete one revolution.
These measurements help scientists infer whether a planet is within its habitable zone.
However, there was no way to directly confirm whether a planet was truly habitable, i.e. whether there was liquid water on its surface.
Throughout our solar system, astronomers can detect the presence of liquid oceans by observing glints, flashes of sunlight reflecting off liquid surfaces.
These glows, or specular reflections, have been observed, for example, on Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, and helped identify the moon’s large lakes.
However, detecting similar glows on distant planets is not possible with current technology.
But astronomer Julien de Witt of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, astronomer Amaury Tryaud of the University of Birmingham and colleagues believe there is another habitable landform close to home that could be detected far away. I noticed something.
“Looking at what was happening to terrestrial planets in our own star system gave us an idea,” Tryaud said.
Venus, Earth, and Mars share similarities in that all three are rocky and live in relatively temperate regions relative to the Sun.
Earth is the only planet of the three that currently has liquid water. Researchers then noted another clear difference. That means there is significantly less carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere.
“We think these planets formed in a similar way, and if we find a planet with less carbon than it does now, it must have gone somewhere else,” Tryaud said.
“The only process that can remove this much carbon from the atmosphere is a strong water cycle involving oceans of liquid water.”
In fact, Earth’s oceans have played a major and persistent role in absorbing carbon dioxide.
For hundreds of millions of years, the ocean has absorbed enormous amounts of carbon dioxide. This is about the same amount that remains in Venus’ atmosphere today.
This planetary effect has resulted in Earth’s atmosphere being significantly depleted in carbon dioxide compared to neighboring planets.
Dr. Frieder Klein, a researcher at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, said: “On Earth, much of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is sequestered in seawater and solid rock over geological timescales; It has helped regulate climate and habitability for billions of years.” .
Astronomers reasoned that if a similar decrease in carbon dioxide was detected on a distant planet compared to a nearby planet, this would be a reliable signal of a liquid ocean and life on its surface. did.
“After an extensive review of the literature in many fields, from biology to chemistry to carbon sequestration related to climate change, we found that if carbon depletion is indeed detected, it is likely that liquid water and its effects are “We think this is likely a strong indication that this is a sign of life.” Dr. de Witt said.
In the study, the researchers developed a strategy to detect habitable planets by looking for traces of depleted carbon dioxide.
Such searches are ideal for “pea” systems, like our solar system, in which multiple terrestrial planets, all about the same size, orbit relatively close to each other.
The first step, the scientists suggest, is to confirm that a planet has an atmosphere by simply looking for the presence of carbon dioxide, which is expected to dominate the atmospheres of most planets.
“Carbon dioxide is a very strong absorber of infrared light and can be easily detected in the atmospheres of exoplanets,” Dr. de Witt said.
“The carbon dioxide signal could reveal the presence of an exoplanet’s atmosphere.”
Once astronomers determine that multiple planets in a system have atmospheres, they move on to measuring their carbon dioxide content to see if one planet has significantly less than the others.
If so, this planet is likely habitable, which means there is a large amount of liquid water on its surface.
However, habitable conditions do not necessarily mean that the planet is inhabited. To confirm whether life actually exists, the authors suggest that astronomers look for another feature in the planet’s atmosphere: ozone.
On Earth, plants and some microorganisms contribute to absorbing carbon dioxide, although to a lesser extent than the oceans. Nevertheless, as part of this process, living organisms release oxygen, which reacts with solar photons and turns into ozone. Ozone is a much easier molecule to detect than oxygen itself.
If a planet’s atmosphere shows signs of both ozone and carbon dioxide depletion, the planet may be habitable and inhabited by humans.
“If you see ozone, there’s a pretty good chance it’s related to carbon dioxide being consumed by life forms,” says Tryaud.
“And if it’s life, it’s glorious life. It won’t be just a few bacteria. It’ll be a planetary-scale biomass that can process and interact with large amounts of carbon.”
The researchers believe NASA/ESA/CSA’s James Webb Space Telescope can measure carbon dioxide, and possibly ozone, in nearby multiplanetary systems like TRAPPIST-1, a seven-planet system orbiting a bright star. I’m guessing it is. Light years from Earth.
“TRAPPIST-1 is one of the few systems that can use the Web to study Earth’s atmosphere,” said Dr. de Witt.
“We now have a roadmap to finding habitable planets. If we all work together, we may make paradigm-changing discoveries within the next few years.”
of study It was published in the magazine natural astronomy.
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AHMJ triode other. Atmospheric carbon depletion as a tracer of water oceans and biomass in temperate terrestrial exoplanets. Nat Astron, published online on December 28, 2023. doi: 10.1038/s41550-023-02157-9
I’m currently sitting in a trendy pub in a small village on the outskirts of Cambridge. It’s a Thursday night in early December, so it’s dark and freezing outside. But here there is a warm and cozy fireplace, and the whole place is decorated with festive decorations. Michael Bublé is singing Christmas songs on the radio and I’m holding a big glass of Malbec. life is wonderful.
It’s been a long day (actually a long week) and let me prove to you that this is definitely the place to be. This is one of his “gastropubs” that serves lovely food and where I enjoyed a weekday date night with his wife Jane.
For dinner we both had salted trout to start, then as main courses Jane had hake and I had burger and chips. The portion sizes were healthy and we were both pretty full by the time we finished eating.
Then you know what happened next. The waiter comes over with the dessert menu and asks, “Are you tempted?” Yes, it’s definitely possible. And even though we were full, even on a weeknight, we both ordered dessert. I had sticky toffee pudding with ice cream and my wife had a slice of tarte au citron with crème fraîche. Like clockwork, the dessert stomach hits again.
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Now the question arises, why is it so specific to dessert? Would I have been better off having another burger? Would Jane have eaten more hake? Absolutely not. So what’s so special about the dessert?
To answer this question, we need to look to evolution. Flashback to the Serengeti River 50,000 years ago and your ancestors dragging an antelope into their village. Let’s just say, metabolically speaking, they spent 2,000 calories stalking, chasing, and defeating them.
It is clear that once they return to their village, they will have to burn at least 2,000 calories to recoup their expenses. Otherwise, it’s not sustainable. However, there is no guarantee that you will successfully catch an antelope next time. This means that if they only They don’t live very long if they eat to meet their metabolic needs.
At that time, the pleasurable part of the brain is activated. This dominates the sense of reward we all receive from eating, leading us to eat more than we actually need. But how do you overcome the mechanical challenge of having 2,000 calories of food stuck in your stomach?
Well, our brains can be very picky. They begin to crave more calorie-dense foods, meaning they contain more calories per gram. This allows you to fill every inch of your stomach.
So what are the foods with the most calories? Those high in free sugars and fats. So, what foods are high in sugar and fat? dessert.
In other words, your dessert tripe is actually an evolutionary holdover from your days in the Serengeti. It’s there to make sure you’re craving the right types of food even when you’re full so you can maximize your calorie intake at every meal. After all, there was no guarantee at all when the next meal would arrive.
You’ve probably noticed an obvious problem here. While this movement has kept us living in a periodic cycle of feast and famine, many people today live in cycles of feast and then more feast. I definitely wasn’t need That sticky toffee pudding (which I really enjoyed and didn’t regret for a minute!).
By the way, the “dessert belly” is not just a strange human phenomenon. Now, I completely understand that I’m not going to top my lunch of crème brûlée and a glass of chilled muscat with a freshly killed antelope by a lion. But consider a grizzly bear during a salmon run upstream in the Pacific Northwest of the United States.
Grizzlies arrive at the salmon run swimming buffet in the fall, with the aim of storing as much fat as possible for the upcoming hibernation.
The bear first eats the fish almost whole, down to the bones. However, as they become fuller and filler and store more and more fat, they will only eat the skin of the salmon and the thin layer of fat underneath. why? Because this is the most caloric part of the fish. They begin to change what they eat to maximize their energy reserves.
So, while desserts are clearly a human cultural construct, the phenomenon of maximizing the caloric density of foods that we crave when we are full has been conserved through evolution. That means it’s not your fault for finding room for dessert even after a satisfying meal.
Are you wondering how to make the best cup of coffee possible? Unfortunately, there isn’t a simple answer. Navigating through social media and specialized coffee communities can leave you perplexed by expensive machines and unique methods for achieving the ideal flavor.
Given that taste in coffee is subjective, there isn’t really a “perfect” cup of coffee. Instead, it’s about finding a really good cup that suits your personal preferences. To achieve this, there are a few key components you’ll need. While additional costs can bring improvements, they are typically minimal.
So the real question is, how can you make excellent coffee without breaking the bank? We consulted Chris Hendon, a leading expert in coffee science and a professor of computational materials chemistry at the University of Oregon.
1. Get the right beans
Good coffee starts with high-quality beans, which comes as no surprise. While pre-ground coffee from the supermarket might be convenient, it doesn’t offer the best results in terms of flavor.
Hendon explains, “Coffee is a seasonal natural product. As it is roasted, gases escape and the organic molecules responsible for aroma and flavor are lost. The fresher the coffee, and the closer it is to the roasting and harvest date, the better. The flavor profile is enhanced when the coffee is fresher.”
“Look for coffee that has been roasted within one to four weeks before purchasing. Although it may take some effort to find, it makes a significant difference in the end result.”
While this may require more time and money, avoiding pre-ground coffee and opting for fresh, high-quality beans will deliver the best taste.
Credit: Jose A. Bernat Bacete
2. Perfect the grind
Although we mentioned that you don’t need to invest in expensive coffee equipment, if you’re going to spend money on one gadget, make it a grinder. According to Hendon, this will make the most significant difference in the taste of your coffee.
Typically, more expensive burr grinders grind coffee instead of breaking it with blades. Additionally, for those who want to take an extra step, Hendon and his team have researched the concept of “splitting beans.” This includes adding a small amount of liquid to the ground beans, resulting in reduced static electricity and a richer flavor.
3. Change the water
While ground coffee is a crucial ingredient in this widely popular drink, there’s another element often overlooked: the water used. The quality of the water can significantly impact the end result of your cup of coffee, and it all comes down to chemistry.
“Hendon points out that there is a substantial water quality issue in the UK, as hard water with high mineral content, including calcium and bicarbonate, forms calcium stones, which adversely affects the taste of coffee. Specifically, the calcium extracts flavor from the coffee, whereas bicarbonate neutralizes acidic compounds, ultimately detracting from the taste.”
Given that hard water is prevalent in the UK and worldwide, it may be the reason why the coffee you brew at home doesn’t match the quality of coffee from cafes, even when accounting for other factors. Hendon suggests trying soft or distilled water with your homemade coffee and observing any noticeable differences. If there is a discernible improvement, your hard water could be limiting the flavor of your morning cup of coffee.
4. Control temperature, timing, and mass
While investing in a top-notch grinder and high-quality coffee and using soft water can enhance your coffee, there are four additional essential factors that impact the taste of your coffee. The good news is that these factors don’t entail any extra expenses.
Extraction time
Water temperature
Water mass
Coffee mass
These four variables significantly influence the flavor and strength of your coffee.
“Hendon elaborates, “These are the four big factors that influence the final taste of coffee. There are nuances, such as how the grind affects brewing time, resulting in a slower process.”
“Higher temperatures facilitate the flavor extraction process, while adjusting the amount of water and coffee controls the coffee’s strength. More coffee and less water yield a stronger flavor, whereas it becomes diluted in the opposite scenario.”
5. Experiment
Ultimately, coffee is subjective. While science can provide guidelines for brewing great coffee, it can’t account for individual preferences. Feel free to experiment with various brewing methods to discover your preferred coffee flavor.
Consider experimenting with different brewing methods or altering aspects such as water quantity, temperature, brew time, bean type, and unique techniques like wetting beans before grinding or storing coffee in the freezer. Enjoy the process and have fun taking your coffee to new levels!
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About our expert Christopher Hendon
Christopher Hendon is a professor of computational materials chemistry at the University of Oregon and an author of multiple books and articles on how to brew the perfect cup of coffee.
In the relatively short period of space exploration history, the moon has experienced significant changes as a result of human activity. From the historical significance of our first footprints to the damage caused by spacecraft crashes, our impact on the moon is evident and nearly preserved within the moon’s regolith.
For the past 1.1 billion years, the Moon has been in the Copernican Era, the current epoch. Now, there are calls for a new lunar era to be formally defined: the lunar Anthropocene. This proposed era started in 1959 with Russia’s first-ever landing of the Luna 2 spacecraft on the moon. With upcoming missions like NASA’s Artemis and Lunar Gateway, further changes are expected.
Dr. Justin Holcomb, a space archaeologist, and researcher at the University of Kansas, USA, was interviewed.
What markers suggest that a new era has begun on the Moon?
Unlike the Earth’s Anthropocene, the moon provides a unique setting for human activity to be recorded due to its limited systems and ability to preserve the entirety of human history. The relatively slow impact of meteorite collisions has historically been the primary cause of change on the Moon, contrasting with the addition of the human variable now present on the lunar surface.
What’s the biggest impact we’ve had there?
When humans land on the Moon, they significantly impact the surface. However, accidental impacts, such as spacecraft crashes, pose a significant risk and have occurred multiple times since 2019. These accidents jeopardize planned areas of operation and can potentially erase important historical sites on the Moon.
What else do we have left there?
Various artifacts and items have been left on the Moon, including personal items, scientific equipment, and the national emblem on India’s rover. It’s argued that the space debris on the Moon should be considered as space heritage rather than just waste, and thus, it needs to be protected as such.
How are human activities changing the Moon’s geological processes, and to what extent can humans disrupt the balance of the Moon’s system?
The impact of human activities on the Moon’s geological processes, such as the movement of lunar regolith and potential contamination of ice due to rocket fuel, presents concerns for the future. These impacts could have far-reaching consequences and affect the balance of the Moon’s system.
How will the Moon change further for future space missions after 2024?
With a focus on mining and the potential for private companies to be involved in future space missions, the Moon is expected to experience significant changes in the coming years. The increase in planned lunar missions indicates a new phase in the relationship between humans and the moon. With the rise of private space companies, the landscape of space exploration has shifted.
About our experts
Dr. Justin Holcomb, a postdoctoral researcher at the Kansas Geological Survey at the University of Kansas, has conducted research in various scholarly publications.
It’s easy to be misunderstood if your name has the word “murderer” in it.
Still, it appears to have been a wild year for killer whales. From “attacking” and sinking several boats off the coast of southwest Europe to hunting great white sharks around South Africa and Australia, this black-and-white behemoth is living up to its name as of 2023. It looked like.
The whale’s surprising behavior has repeatedly put the spotlight on one of the ocean’s top predators since spring, spawning internet memes and wondering if the whale is just playing around or planning revenge. It’s fueling debate about what’s going on.
But for scientists, the recent orca antics are more fascinating than horrifying, with some saying they show how much there is still to learn about these highly intelligent marine animals.
Perhaps the biggest orca news of the year was a series of mysterious incidents in which killer whales appeared to ram boats off the coast of the Iberian Peninsula. In May, three killer whales collided with the rudder and side of a sailing yacht in the area, causing the yacht to sink.
This “attack” comes amid an observed increase in encounters between killer whales and boats since 2020. Monica Wieland Shields, director of the Orca Behavior Institute, a nonprofit research institute in Washington, said hundreds of incidents have been reported during this time.
At least four ships have sunk in the past two years due to the damage, she said.
No injuries or deaths were reported, and in most cases the whales did not sink boats. However, the incident became so famous that it sparked a meme that heralded the beginning of the “Orca Rebellion” and the “Orca Wars.” Many social media users supported “Team Killer Whales” and claimed that whales had finally fought back against humans.
But Shields said the sinking evoked real fear as well as light-hearted fun.
“So many people have come to my state of Washington this year and asked, ‘Is it safe to see whales here? How big is our boat? Is it possible that a whale will attack this ship?” she said. “I’m worried that instead of people leaving with a sense of respect and fascination with whales, they’re leaving with a fear of whales that’s probably not warranted.”
Among experts, the incident off the coast of the Iberian Peninsula is puzzling and has sparked debate about the whale’s intentions.
Many scientists believe that killer whales do not attack at all.
“They’re not afraid of boats, and there’s nothing to eat there,” said Robert Pittman, a marine ecologist at Oregon State University’s Marine Mammal Research Institute. “They are intelligent, social animals, but they probably live in environments that are less stimulating for their mental abilities.”
So whales sometimes stumble upon something they find interesting and repeat the behavior for a while, he said.
Shields said videos of some of the incidents do not appear to show the killer whale intentionally aiming at the boat’s rudder or hull. Rather, she thought, the animals were likely acting out of curiosity and playfulness.
Josh McInnes, a behavioral ecologist at the University of British Columbia, agreed, noting that killer whales are known to engage in social learning by spreading and picking up behaviors within their pods. That could explain the series of boat encounters, he said.
Mr McInnes compared the behavior to roughhousing.
“Orcas are very athletic. They can grow up to 25 feet long and weigh up to 80,000 pounds, so when they come into physical contact with objects, they can get a little bit forceful,” he said.
Mr Shields said given the whale’s size, it would likely cause much more damage to ships and yachts if it carried out a coordinated attack.
Additionally, the idea that whales are standing up and fighting back doesn’t fit with what scientists know about killer whales.
“Orcas just want to have fun,” Pittman said. “Revenge is not inherently beneficial. Unless you are human, you have no adaptive capacity at all.”
But encounters between killer whales and boats weren’t the only stories making headlines this year. The whale also attracted attention for its ruthless hunting techniques.
In October, the carcass of a great white shark with its liver ripped out washed up on a beach near Portland, Australia. Researchers determined that killer whales were the culprit.
McInnes said killer whales do not normally prey on sharks, but they are capable of preying on sharks and have been previously observed preying on them in waters of Australia, Africa and even the Pacific Northwest. It is said that there is.
And why were sharks missing certain organs? Experts say this was purely practical.
“Sharks generally aren’t very nutritious for killer whales because they’re made of cartilage,” McInnes said. “But the liver is rich in fats and lipids, so it’s a very nutritious part to eat.”
In the past, killer whales have been known to target the liver when preying on sharks. Since 2017, scientists have been tracking the hunts of two killer whales, Port and Starboard, who killed at least eight great white sharks off the coast of South Africa and washed their liverless carcasses ashore.
In a video taken by a whale watching expedition off the coast of San Diego, a killer whale teaches its baby how to hunt by headbutting a dolphin. Erika Sacrison / Gone Whale Watching
However, orca behavior recorded in different parts of the world is generally unrelated. McInnes said different populations of killer whales are genetically distinct and do not normally socialize or interact.
But by studying all the observed events, scientists can gain broader insight into what killer whales are capable of and how they live.
Shields said she had “mixed feelings” about the attention that killer whales will receive in 2023. If anything, she said she hopes the headline will inspire people to get more involved in conservation efforts.
“I really hope that people take away from these stories a certain fascination and appreciation for killer whales,” Shields said. “They are found in every ocean and are present all over the planet. The ocean body closest to where you live is probably home to killer whales. So there’s a lot to learn. there is.”
Matthew Brown's entry “Goleuadau'r Gogledd”. Means “Aurora” in Welsh.
Matthew Brown
There are few sights as spectacular as the Northern Lights. The Aurora Photographer of the Year competition, run by travel photography blog Capture the Atlas, takes advantage of the dazzling effects of the Northern Lights.
The waning sun photographed on Senja Island in Norway
alex wides
This year, 25 breathtaking shots from around the world made it to the final round, and we've published a selection of them here. Each brings a special aspect to this unusual phenomenon caused by charged particles from the sun colliding with atmospheric gases.
“Circle of Life” filmed in Finland at almost -30 degrees Celsius
Freudis Dalheim
As the sun's next peak in activity (known as the solar maximum) approaches in 2024, people are already able to catch glimpses of the aurora borealis over a wider area than usual in both the north and south. Next year's exhibition will be even more spectacular.
“A moment on the ice” taken from an ice cave in Alaska, USA
marybeth kitzenski
'Lost Who I Want To Be' filmed at Moke Lake in New Zealand
Jordan McInally
Many of the photos in the 2023 competition were taken in locations where the Northern Lights are rare, such as south Wales, and are captured in Matthew Brown's photography. Goreuadau's Goggled (Main image). The name translates to 'lights of the north' in Welsh and images show local landmark Paxton's Tower lit up. “It's rare to see the aurora borealis this far south,” Brown said. “For more than an hour, the horizon beyond the clouds cast shades of green and pink. But for one brief but magical moment, the sky burst
Carbon emissions from fossil fuels could finally start declining in 2024
Villanor/Shutterstock
Emissions of greenhouse gases that cause global warming have been on the rise since the Industrial Revolution, and 2023 looks set to be no different. According to him, this year emissions from fossil fuel combustion increased by more than 1% compared to 2022. global carbon budget Edited by Pierre Friedlingstein and his colleagues from the University of Exeter, UK.
However, in 2024, these emissions could begin to decline for the first time, largely due to unprecedented circumstances.
In the late 1990s, when I was studying for my PhD, I read an article touting the “next big thing” in the food sector. To be honest, the next highlight didn’t seem very appetizing. Apparently, within the next 10 years, we’ll all be eating Beetleburgers.
Entomophagy, the eating of insects, is common in many parts of the world. Considering the ethical issues of livestock farming, the article boldly proclaimed that insect farms are the future of food.
Insects raised without welfare issues are excellent at converting foodstuffs that are unavailable to us into proteins that we can use. Additionally, they require far less space than livestock and produce far fewer greenhouse gas emissions than cows.
But despite some obvious benefits, a quarter of a century later, customers in developed countries still aren’t eating flies or baking with beetles. The reason is obvious. More than 1,000 species of insects are eaten around the world, most commonly in the tropics, but Western societies generally do not eat “bugs.”
Like the bushtucker trial I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here Eating insects is a repulsive idea to many people.
A piglet eats food made from black soldier fly larvae in the animal house at the University of Bologna. – Photo credit: Luigi Avantaggiato
Articles extolling the virtues of eating insects continue to appear frequently in the media. And while the headlines often feature shock values, authors are increasingly focusing on the ethical and climate-friendly aspects of insect farming.
If you look beyond the headline ‘Grasshoppers for Beginners’, you’ll quickly see that insects are already well-positioned to play a more important role in our food chain. Instead of eating fried grasshoppers with a side salad of mealworms, we’re developing better ways than ever to use insects as food for our favorite animals.
Insects could be a protein-rich game changer
The star of this insect animal feed revolution is the black soldier fly (Hermesia Illuscens). Adults are only about 16 mm (about 0.5 inches) long and resemble small, independent wasps. But soldier flies don’t have stingers and don’t sting, so this mimicry is just an evolutionary ploy.
A widely distributed species, the key to the black soldier fly’s importance is its larvae. This is because black soldier fly larvae are “non-selective” feeders. This is a polite way of saying that you will eat almost anything.
Black soldier fly larva. – Photo credit: Luigi Avantaggiato
They thrive on all kinds of food, from manure to animal and vegetable food waste. This property makes it excellent for waste disposal. For this alone, the flight of black soldiers is beneficial to us, but only before we turn them into animal feed.
The waste treatment process is called “ento remediation” and uses large chambers called bioconverters that house large numbers of black soldier fly larvae. These larvae consume food and other organic waste, producing soil-like organic residue that can be used as a rich fertilizer.
Inside the bioconverter, the larvae grow rapidly, and more than 50 percent of the weight they gain is protein. Once they reach the pupal stage (the stage of metamorphosis into an adult), they reach their nutritional peak. At this point, it has already helped convert the waste into fertilizer, which can be harvested and used as animal feed.
Bioconverter at the BEF Biosystem facility in Alessandria, Italy. – Photo credit: Luigi Avantaggiato
Insect animal feed can replace traditional animal feed, which often relies on soybean meal. Soybeans have a high environmental cost due to the land and water required to grow them and the resources required for transportation.
Although much of the research on animal feed production has focused on feeding livestock such as pigs and chickens, the black soldier fly is also attracting attention as a food source for farmed fish. Currently, the majority of feed for farmed fish often consists of fishmeal. Fishmeal is also used as livestock feed and is made by drying and crushing fish.
While this makes good use of fish parts we don’t eat and bycatch that can’t be returned to the ocean, fishmeal production can promote overfishing and the decline of fragile marine ecosystems.
Replacing fishmeal with sustainably farmed insects could revolutionize this important aspect of marine conservation.
Desert locusts (grasshoppers) raised for animal feed at the Italian Cricket Farm in Turin, Italy – Photo credit: Luigi Avantaggiato
From pet food to human food
However, black fruit flies are not the only species raised as animal feed. Some species of locusts breed very well and are relatively easy to maintain.
Insects are small and do not require much space, so it is possible to keep them under strictly controlled conditions to optimize their growth and reproduction. Those who keep reptiles are probably familiar with house crickets (Aketa Domestic). These light brown crickets are widely grown as pet food, but their potential as a source of protein for livestock is also attracting attention.
These insects may also eventually become a more direct part of our diet. The Italian Cricket Farm in Turin, Italy, is investigating the possibility of processing crickets into a protein-rich “insect flour” that can be incorporated into our food products. Currently awaiting European food safety approval, it is precisely this type of processing that could become a culturally acceptable way for insects to enter our diets.
In fact, crickets are quite delicious even when eaten without being processed into flour. A few years ago I ran an insect-eating workshop at the Cheltenham Science Festival. At that time, a local chef prepared a series of dishes for people to try. Beer-battered fried brown crickets sandwiched between sage leaves were a snack that people tried at first out of curiosity, but were so delicious they returned within seconds.
After digesting organic waste at the BEF Biosystem facility in Alessandria, Italy, black soldier fly larvae are harvested and turned into animal feed. Digested organic waste is used as soil fertilizer – Photo credit: Luigi Avantaggiato
Cricket farms in Italy produce around 200,000 crickets a year, which can be scaled up relatively easily. The production efficiency of crickets is amazing. Every 1 kg (2.2 lb) of crickets requires only 1.7 kg (3.7 lb) of feed to produce. Compare this to the 10 kg (22 lb) of feed required to produce 1 kg of beef and the benefits are clear.
Additionally, the final product is incredibly nutritious, containing twice the protein of beef, as well as a variety of vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, and other nutrients.
Changing tastes and ethics
As with any new idea in food production, potential disadvantages must be carefully considered.
It is clear that what an animal eats can influence the quality of the meat that is subsequently produced. Research on this is ongoing, but data so far suggests that while insect diets can affect the fatty acid content of meat, these changes have no negative impact in terms of taste and are not noticeable. It has been shown that this is not the case.
Another important issue to ponder is the ethics of raising insects. Ethical concerns about animal use are complex and change in response to changes in society and our scientific understanding.
Over the past few decades, we have seen much higher welfare standards introduced into livestock farming than were thought necessary in the past, but many would argue that there is still a long way to go.
These welfare advances have focused primarily on mammals, secondarily on poultry, and to a lesser extent on fish. However, insects are not mentioned at all in ethical discussions about animal use.
Black soldier flies are kept in an “aviary” at the Bug’s Life farm in Perugia, Italy, to encourage breeding. – Photo credit: Luigi Avantaggiato
In fact, we tend to think that insects cannot feel pain or suffering. However, this view is beginning to change.
We are beginning to learn more about the internal world of insects, and are discovering that they may be able to feel what we perceive as pain. Although this is an emerging field of research, the conclusion is that we may need to rethink the way we think about insects in many cases.
Having said that, I think it is actually very unlikely that we will change our views until insects are given the same welfare measures as “traditional” farm animals. The biggest advantage of using insects for food, either directly or through animal feed, is that they are environmentally friendly.
Dredging oceans for fishmeal and growing soybeans for protein feed are environmentally harmful, associated with high carbon costs and habitat loss or degradation.
On the other hand, raising insects has the potential to significantly reduce environmental impact. They occupy less space, use fewer resources to produce more protein, can utilize waste produced by humans, and do not rely on habitat development or displacement.
Crane fly cakes and locust bread may not be on your plate anytime soon, but insect-raised pork, chicken and beef certainly will be. Maybe that article from 25 years ago was onto something after all. Insects may really be the future of food.
Experts answer the biggest questions facing humanity. For example, “Could we live on Mars?” Do pills really help you lose weight? Can technology save us from climate change? Will we ever cure cancer? Is it possible to stop the decline in cognitive function?
How to master your metabolism
Are you ready for a slimmer, healthier you? It's time for a metabolic transformation. By making a few simple, research-backed changes, you can significantly increase your body's calorie burn.
The best science images of 2023
A piece of rock shattered from an asteroid hurtling through space, the first human footprint in North America, and a giant meatball made from a woolly mammoth. These are just some of the images that caught our attention BBC Science Focus This year's editor, no, the last one was not a mistake. Enjoy our selection of incredible images as we rub our eyes in 2023.
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The best technology innovations of 2023: The desire to improve things drives innovation. We highlight some of the ground-breaking innovations announced last year that caught our attention as they took improvement to a whole new level.
Pain gap between men and women: The health care system is flawed and has dire consequences for women. Dr. Michelle Griffin looks at why women's pain is undertreated.
How modeling comet impacts can help find extraterrestrial life: A cosmic snowball in space may have delivered life-giving molecules to Earth.
Issue 400 will be released on December 29, 2023
don't forget that BBC Science Focus Also available on all major digital platforms. There is a version of android, Kindle Fire and Kindle e-readers, but also, iOS app For iPad and iPhone.
Its mauve, suction cup-covered arms gently unfold to grab an egg shaped like an elongated ping-pong ball. A jet of water from a siphon next to the octopus's head ensures that the unhatched cubs get enough oxygen.
From a distance, she is surrounded by hundreds of females, living up to her nickname. The pearl octopus (Muusoctopus robotus) resembles a spherical gem that sits on the ocean floor. This is the largest known assemblage of eight-armed molluscs on Earth, numbering approximately 20,000 individuals, and has been witnessed by people all over the world in astonishingly high resolution. “Oceans” episode BBC series Planet Earth III.
This view would have been amazing enough even if it were from shallow water, including tropical coral reefs and kelp forests. But these octopus mothers tend to their eggs in freezing cold and darkness, about 2 miles below the surface. of the deep sea.
“The fact that there is life there is amazing in itself,” says the producer and director. Will Ridgeon They spent two years photographing the octopus, collaborating with scientists and technicians at California's Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI).
The aptly named pearl octopus rears its eggs in an octopus garden surrounded by flower-like anemones. – Credit: Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
The octopus farm, as the site is now known, is located on a hill in the eastern Pacific Ocean, 160 km (100 miles) southwest of Monterey Bay, near a giant underwater mountain called Davidson Seamount. This place was discovered during his expedition in 2018. live streamed over the internet.
It was the first time I had ever seen so many creatures in one place, let alone in the deep sea. (Octopuses are notoriously solitary animals and tend to be cannibalistic when kept together in captivity.) ).
Ridgeon watched the livestream of the discovery and immediately knew it was a story to be filmed in a new BBC series.he teamed up with Dr. Jim Barrya senior scientist at MBARI, began regularly visiting octopus farms in 2019 to learn more about why so many octopuses congregate in certain areas.
“The question is, why is it there?” Barry says. Barry and his colleagues gathered specialized tools and began a series of detailed studies. They created a photomosaic of his 2.5-hectare (about 27,000 square feet2) portion of the property and stitched together high-resolution images that allowed them to count the octopus population.
They also installed time-lapse cameras on the ocean floor, taking close-up photos every 20 minutes at a time for months to show what the octopuses were doing, and Barry's team gradually expanded the octopus park's largest began to unravel some of the mysteries.
Octopus farm location. – Image credit: MBARI
work remotely
Ridgeon took part in an expedition to an octopus farm early on. Initially, filming took place during lockdown, so he participated via live video link from his bedroom in Bristol, England (with occasional interruptions from his five-year-old daughter).
Once COVID-19 restrictions allowed, Ridgeon joined Barry and his team aboard MBARI's vessel, the research vessel Western Flyer. However, no one visited the octopus farm directly. All surveys and filming were done using a car-sized remotely operated vehicle (ROV) equipped with a camera and a robotic arm.
The dive began around 6 a.m., and the ROV was lowered into the ocean through a hole in the Western Flyer's hull called the moonpool. “It's very James Bond,” Ridgeon says. The descent to the octopus garden can take up to two hours, and the ROV will remain there all day.
The pilot controls the ROV via a cable connected to a control room on the ship on the ground, and everyone watches the video feed to see what's happening below.
Researchers survey the octopus farm from the Western Flyer's ROV control room. – Credit: Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
“You forget you're looking at a screen,” Ridgeon says. “You think you're there,” says the MBARI engineer. He worked with the BBC to find the ideal camera setup to photograph the octopus garden. It was not possible to use footage from a camera fixed to the ROV due to too much vibration.
“I think the BBC will do a little bit about that.” [shivering]“But not as much as we had,” Barry says. ROVs “shudder” not because of the cold temperatures of the deep ocean, but because the thrusters must be activated constantly to ensure they stay close to the ocean floor (ROVs are positively buoyant, so if they fail they will ). .
To get around this, Barry and Ridgeon used a separate 4K camera mounted on a specially designed stand that could be placed on the ocean floor.
“I think that's the secret behind the images,” Ridgeon says. Unlike the ROV cameras used by scientists, which can only reach within a few meters of objects on the ocean floor, the 4K camera's focal length of about 20 centimeters (7 to 8 inches) allows it to precisely navigate between octopuses. can be captured.
But it was difficult to use. It took up to 40 minutes to get into position, and the team had to hope it wouldn't fall over and the action would happen in front of it. Ridgeon operated the camera from the ship using his PlayStation controller, which MBARI engineers adapted for the job. “At first it's like trying to film him with his hands tied behind his back,” Ridgeon said.
Another challenge with deep-sea photography is light. “Put the light as far away from the camera as possible, ideally around the sides so it’s three-quarters backlit. [the scene]That way, there are no reflections from any debris in the water,” explains Ridgeon.
The octopus garden provides insight into the life and reproduction of molluscs. – Credit: Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
Those “fragments” are marine snow. These are organic particles that constantly rain down from the shallow ocean above. Marine snow is made up of dead plankton and their feces stuck together by microbial glue, and is the main food source for deep-sea animals. However, it makes filming difficult as the movie can look like it was shot in a snowstorm.
To see through the snowstorm and achieve the desired three-quarters backlighting effect, the MBARI team built a lighting system that the ROV could hold on its side, away from the camera. “That's how we got some really great shots,” Barry says.
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Accelerate development
As Barry's investigation and BBC filming progressed, the team made some surprising discoveries. First, no medium-sized octopus ever visited this location, and there were no signs of it feeding. It was only a fully grown adult octopus.
They were here to breed and for no other purpose. It may be called an octopus farm, but this place is definitely an octopus farm. The researchers also collected evidence that incubating females use on-site hot springs to speed up the development of their offspring.
For octopuses, there is a strong relationship between temperature and hatching time. The colder it is, the longer it will take and the more dangerous it will be. This is because there are scavengers that prey on unborn, unprotected octopus eggs.
Temperature studies have shown that the seawater surrounding each octopus nest can reach 10°C (50°F), much warmer than the 1.6°C (34°F) seawater just a few meters away. It was shown. By observing specific octopuses (identifiable by scratch and scar patterns) in the field, Barry and his colleagues determined that their eggs take an average of 1.8 years to hatch.
During this time, the female does not move but is constantly fighting off predators and guarding her approximately 60 eggs. “Once you plant an egg on a rock, that's it. You can't leave that spot,” Barry says. At just under two years, it's not the longest parenting period for an octopus. This record is given to another species that other MBARI scientists discovered nearby, Graneledon boreopafica, clinging to the sides of Monterey She Canyon 1.4 km (just under a mile) deep. I did.
Researchers watched one female incubate her eggs for four and a half years, longer than any other recorded animal. However, she was growing her eggs in water that was much warmer than the octopus park's ambient temperature of 1.6 degrees Celsius. Without the hot springs, the eggs in the octopus garden would take more than 10 years to hatch. When this site was discovered, biologists were surprised to find octopuses nesting there.
But geologists were fascinated by warm water seeping through the ocean floor, something they had never seen before. These springs are much cooler than the red-hot hydrothermal vents that form at the edges of tectonic plates where new molten ocean floors are created.
Although the enormous pressure will not cause the water to boil, the temperature around the vent can reach hundreds of degrees. These were first discovered in his 1970s, and plumes of hydrothermal water rise up to hundreds of meters in the water column, making them relatively easy to detect with temperature probes. In contrast, hot springs are more difficult to find because they form away from these tectonically active regions and have much cooler temperatures.
But geologists believe they could exist in the thousands and are highly stable, likely remaining in the same location for hundreds or even thousands of years. Therefore, biologists believe that more octopus farms may be established around these springs.
birth and death
In the final scene of the “Octopus Garden” episode Planet Earth III, a cluster of tiny sucker-like arms appears beneath the brooding female, then a wobbling young octopus swims away into the darkness like a mini-umbrella. More chicks follow and begin life at sea.
No one knows where they're going…yet. “That's what I want to understand next,” Barry says. The hatchlings are large for a newborn octopus, at about 6 cm (2 inches), so they have the best chance of survival. But as anyone who has seen the Octopus documentary knows, this comes at a heavy cost to mothers.
“These mothers are trying so hard to protect their bloodlines, and they're just dying out,” Barry says. Her father died a few years ago, shortly after mating. On the screen, we see the women's eyes cloudy and their bodies wrinkled. Ridgeon saw what happened next, but she decided it was not suitable for an evening television audience.
Dead octopuses are quickly attacked by scavengers such as fish, snails, sea anemones, and shrimp. For Barry, this is another important part of his discovery at the octopus farm. The nesting season is asynchronous, with octopuses hatching and mothers dying throughout the year. Approximately 9 each day. The female octopus' body nourishes the rest of the ecosystem and helps supplement the energy input from marine snow by 72 percent.
Graneledon boreopafica (a species of octopus that incubates eggs in cold water) has a 4.5 year rearing period, which holds the record for the longest rearing period of any animal. – Credit: Alamy
“This is clearly a huge food subsidy for the local ecosystem,” Barry says. “That wouldn't happen in shallow water,” he added. Because there is a lot of food around. But in the more barren depths, nothing goes to waste.
The BBC has finished filming at the octopus farm, but Barry's research continues. One of the things he wants to know is the age of the sea anemone. These are giant orange flower-like animals that make the octopus garden look like a real garden.
Barry studies sea anemones, which live for decades in shallow coastal waters, and finds that deep-sea species can survive for centuries, in contrast to octopuses, which are relatively short-lived. That's what I'm thinking.
“They're like sentinels that just sit there while the octopus cycles,” he says. There are many more questions Barry would like to answer. “Are octopuses confined to this breeding form in warm areas, or are they able to breed elsewhere with cooler ambient temperatures? Is there fidelity to specific nest sites? ?Will they return to their place of birth?'' he asks.
No one knows how far the octopuses travel before they reach the garden or how they found them, but Barry said he was surprised by the large number of dead and dying octopuses floating around. I suspect I smelled it. “We'll definitely be back,” he says.
The Northern Hemisphere is currently in the midst of the Ursid meteor shower, which has a relatively short active period of just over a week. Last night’s winter solstice marks the peak of the Ursa Minor meteor shower, which is expected to produce approximately 5 to 10 meteors per hour. However, visibility may be affected by the almost full moon.
If you’re interested in exploring other celestial sights while waiting for the Ursid, consider checking out our beginner’s guide to astronomy for easy constellations to start with.
When will the Uruid meteor shower occur in 2023?
This year, the Uruid meteor shower will peak in the early hours of tonight, December 22-23, 2023, and will be active from December 17 to 26. The meteor shower may be less visible outside of the peak dates, and it’s expected to produce up to 10 meteors per hour, partly due to the influence of the almost full moon. This is in contrast to the Geminid meteor shower at the beginning of the month, which saw up to 150 meteors per hour.
According to astrophysicist Dr. Darren Baskill from the University of Sussex, “Just as the Geminid meteor shower, the best shooting star shower of the year, fades away on December 17th, the Ursa Minorids will take over. The crisp, cool nights this time of year are perfect for observing the night sky, as long as you stay warm.”
When is the best time to observe the constellation Urus?
The prime time to see shooting stars in the Ursid meteor shower is from midnight to 5 a.m. on December 23, 2023. This is when the radiant point is positioned highest in the sky, resulting in longer and more visible meteor trajectories.
At this time of year, the sky gets darker, and the moon sets as it nears 5am, increasing the chances of seeing meteors. Additionally, the Earth’s rotation shifts us in the direction of Earth’s orbital motion, facilitating the entry of meteors into the atmosphere and improving visibility.
Where should you look to see the Urshids?
The constellation Ursa Minor appears to radiate from a single point directly overhead, known as the “radiant,” located in the Ursa Minor constellation. Ursa Minor, also known as the Little Dipper, is a fixed feature of the northern sky and revolves around its poles once every 24 hours.
To locate the radiant of the Ursa Minorids meteor shower, follow these 5 steps:
Find the Big Dipper and Ursa Major. Look for the prominent star map of the Big Dipper, also known as the Plow, part of the Ursa Major constellation. Note the distinctive shape of the ladle or pot.
Identify the pointer star. Locate the two stars at the outer edge of the dipper’s bowl, known as the pointer stars, named Dube and Melek.
Extend a line from the pointer star. Imagine a line extending from the two pointer stars away from the ladle.
Find Polaris (North Star): Follow the imaginary line to reach the North Star, the North Star. It is located in the Ursa Minor constellation and is near the celestial north pole.
Follow the handles: From the North Star, follow the handle of the Big Dipper to arrive at another ladle resembling the Big Dipper, just above which the radiant point is located.
Knowing the radiant’s location can help differentiate between the Ursids and Geminids, although Ursids are visible across the sky. If possible, aim to observe from a location that provides a broad view of the night sky.
How to maximize your chances of finding Ursids
You don’t need special or expensive equipment to observe meteor showers; your eyes are your best tools. Here are some tips for maximizing your chances of spotting the elusive Ursids:
Maximize darkness: Choose a location away from light pollution for the best visibility.
Adjust your eyes. Allow your eyes to adapt to the dark for 10 to 20 minutes to improve night vision.
Protect from the elements: Prepare for low temperatures with blankets and warm drinks.
Stay comfortable: Find an unobstructed view of the sky using a recliner or hammock.
Use a red light. If necessary, use a red filter for your phone or a red flashlight to avoid disrupting your night vision. The red part of the light spectrum does not interfere with night vision.
Where do Urid meteors come from?
The Ursid meteor shower is associated with Comet 8P/Tuttle, a contact binary comet consisting of two separate objects that are in physical contact with each other. This comet leaves behind debris that intersects Earth’s orbit to produce the meteor shower.
Comet 8P/Tuttle has a 13.6-year orbital period and follows a predictable orbit around the Sun. It is influenced by Jupiter’s gravitational pull similar to the comet 46P/Wiltanen.
How many Urid meteors can we see?
Under ideal conditions, expect to see 5 to 10 meteors per hour. However, the nearly full moon may limit visibility at the end of 2023.
How can you tell the difference between Ursa Minor and Geminid meteors?
The Ursa Minor and Geminid meteor showers originate from different parts of the sky, with Ursids appearing overhead and Geminids appearing in the constellation Gemini. Additionally, they move at different speeds, with the Ursa Minor meteor shower producing slow-moving meteors with short tails.
About our expert Dr. Darren Baskill:
Dr. Darren Baskill is an outreach officer and lecturer at the University of Sussex, with a background in Physics and Astronomy. He previously lectured at the Royal Observatory Greenwich and organized the Astronomical Photographer of the Year competition.
The U.S. military’s X-37B spacecraft departed Thursday on another top-secret mission expected to last at least several years.
As with previous missions, the reusable plane, which resembles a mini space shuttle, carried sensitive experiments. No one is on board.
The spaceplane took off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at night aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, but was delayed for more than two weeks due to technical problems.
This was the seventh flight for the X-37B, which has been in orbit for more than a decade since its debut in 2010.
The military’s X-37B spacecraft will launch on Thursday from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on its seventh mission to orbit. Joe Skipper/Reuters
The last flight was the longest ever, lasting two and a half years before ending on the runway at Kennedy Airport a year ago.
Space Force officials declined to say how long the orbital test vehicle would remain in flight or what it would carry, other than for NASA experiments to measure the effects of radiation on materials.
Manufactured by Boeing, the X-37B resembles NASA’s retired space shuttle. But at 29 feet long, it’s only a quarter of the size. We don’t need astronauts. The X-37B is equipped with an autonomous landing system.
It is designed to take off vertically like a rocket, but land horizontally like an airplane, and orbit at a height of between 150 and 500 miles. Two X-37Bs are based in Kennedy’s former shuttle hangar.
How will our species evolve in space? If humans were suddenly forced to board a fleet of space arks and abandon Earth, evolution by natural selection would force our bodies to adapt to the new environment. Humans will probably become extinct before we change anything.
Even assuming that air, food, and water are all synthesized and infinitely recyclable, the microgravity environment currently makes it difficult for astronauts on the International Space Station to undergo daily strenuous exercise. Bone density decreases by about 1 percent every month.
If this situation continues for several years, everyone will suffer from serious illness. Osteoporosis. If our voyage were to go into deep space, we would also have to worry about radiation. Galactic cosmic rays We will be exposed to approximately 250 times the normal background radiation we receive on Earth, and a single solar flare can be strong enough to cause radiation sickness.
Surviving this situation for decades at a time would require a spacecraft with an environment more similar to Earth than our current spacecraft. A large-diameter rotating habitat to simulate gravity and thick shielding to block radiation would be the minimum requirements. But if the conditions inside the spacecraft were exactly the same as on Earth, there would be no evolutionary pressure for our bodies to adapt.
Society will definitely evolve. Surrounded by danger and heavily dependent on technology, we are becoming more authoritative, with each person fulfilling their assigned role without question, ready to sacrifice themselves for the good of the species. It is possible to develop a principled society. This is too important to be left to the unpredictability of democratic, free-market capitalism, so a rigid hierarchy akin to the sailing ship regime of the 19th century will likely emerge.
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One of my favorite activities while scuba diving or snorkeling on a tropical reef is to gently approach a coral rock and observe the colorful Christmas tree worms without startling them.
These tiny creatures resemble miniature fir trees, resembling the man-made variety made of brightly colored plastic and tinsel. They come in a variety of colors such as red, yellow, orange, and blue, but they all belong to the same species, Spirobranchis giganteus.
If you get too close, these reclusive creatures quickly retreat into a tube in the coral, closing the small gill opercula behind them before eventually reemerging when it’s safe.
Christmas tree worms can grow up to 3.5 cm in length, with most of their bodies concealed within the tube. They have feather-like spiral tentacles known as radiozoa that are used for breathing and feeding.
These tentacles, which act as gills, absorb oxygen and filter out food particles and plankton, transporting them towards the worm’s mouth. Close relatives of Christmas tree worms, including feather dusters and peacock worms, are part of the same family, Sabellidae.
Both female and male Christmas tree worms release their eggs and sperm into the seawater, where they fuse to form larvae that drift for 9-12 days before settling on a suitable coral to begin their lives. These worms are known to be picky about their coral hosts and can live up to 30 years.
Christmas tree worms have hundreds of bright orange eye spots between their tentacles, which contain light-sensitive opsin pigments that send signals to the worm’s brain to alert them to potential predators overhead. Interestingly, worms in crowded colonies tend to hide in their nests for longer periods of time, possibly due to the safety of blending in with a larger group.
For more interesting information, check out our ultimate science pages.
A strange phenomenon called visual masking can reveal the time scale of perception, but its underlying mechanisms are not well understood.
Colored plots show neural activity recorded in mouse visual cortex (V1). Each row of tick marks represents the spikes of a different neuron. Although researchers can predict the target side from neural activity with near-perfect accuracy, animal subjects often get incorrect masked trials due to how brain regions downstream of V1 process this information. I am.Image credit: Gail other.
Have you ever wanted to make something invisible? It turns out your brain can do it.
Unfortunately, this is a limited superpower. In visual masking, we do not consciously recognize another image when it appears in rapid succession.
But the timing of those images is important. For masking to work, the first image must flash very quickly, and the second image must follow rapidly (on the order of 50 milliseconds).
Don't get me wrong, the first image doesn't stay in view very long, but it's definitely long enough to be recognizable without the second image or mask.
Scientists discovered this phenomenon in the 19th century, but why and how the human brain does this remains a mystery.
“This is an interesting observation, that your perception doesn't accurately reflect what exists in the world,” said Dr. Sean Olsen, a researcher at the Allen Institute.
“Like other optical illusions, we think this tells us something about how the visual system works and, ultimately, the neural circuits underlying visual perception.”
In a new study, Dr. Olsen and colleagues take a closer look at the science behind this bizarre illusion and show for the first time that it also occurs in mice.
When the mice were trained to report what they saw, they were also able to pinpoint the specific areas of the brain needed for the visual masking illusion to work.
Dr. Christoph Koch, also from the Allen Institute, said, “Our research has narrowed down the region of the brain responsible for perceiving the world around us.''
“What are the steps from the time the photons rain down on your retina to when you actually become consciously aware of what you’re seeing?”
When a rain of photons hits our retina, the information follows a predetermined path from the eyeball through several different areas of the brain and into the highly-processed areas of the cortex, the wrinkled outermost shell of the brain. It ends with
Previous research on visual masking has led scientists to believe that neurons in the early part of the brain in the retina and its pathways are activated even when a person is unaware that they are looking at an image. I know. In other words, your brain sees things without your knowledge.
To explore where unconscious sensations turn into conscious perceptions and actions, scientists first asked 16 mice to move a small mouse in the direction of rapidly flashing images in exchange for a reward if they chose the correct direction. I trained him to spin a Lego wheel.
I then added different masking images on either side of the screen, immediately after the target image.
Adding a mask prevented the animal from performing the task correctly. This means that the animal can no longer recognize the original target image.
Because visual masking had never been tested in mice before, the authors had to create a task for mice, in which the images and the way they were presented were different from those used in previous human studies. I meant that.
To confirm that the optical illusion they showed to rodents was also relevant to us, they tested it on 16 people.
It turns out that human perception (or lack thereof) and mouse perception of this particular visual masking illusion are very similar.
The researchers then used a special technique known as optogenetics, which allowed them to quickly suppress activity in cells or areas throughout the brain with flashes of light.
They targeted this inhibition to the mouse's primary visual cortex, known as the first part of the cortex where visual information from the eyes enters higher cortical areas of the brain.
By turning off the primary visual cortex the moment the masking image appeared, they were able to completely block visual masking after the target image. Even though the masking image was visible, the mouse reverted to accurately locating the first image. the current.
This result implies that conscious perception is occurring in the visual cortex or in higher regions of the cortex downstream.
“This is consistent with the general idea in the field that the cortex is the seat of conscious cognition in mammals, including ourselves,” Dr. Koch said.
Although this study narrowed down the region responsible for conscious perception to the cortex, there are still many regions of the cortex that may be involved.
Further studies will need to silence these other areas to test their effects on visual masking tasks.
“We're starting to put some limits on where masking is occurring,” Dr. Olsen said.
“We think this is a good paradigm to track to track other areas that are listening to the primary visual cortex and essentially fusing the flow of target and mask information in the brain. Masu.”
of findings It was published in the magazine natural neuroscience.
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SD Gale other. Visual cortex is required for posterior masking in mice. nut neurosi, published online on November 13, 2023. doi: 10.1038/s41593-023-01488-0
Before the movie Top Gun, kids dreamed of being astronauts or sports stars. But after the release of the film, everyone wanted to be pilots in high-tech fighter jets.
Our gallery provides information about the 10 fastest jet planes in the world and their history.
Strap in and get your sick bags ready as we take to the skies to see which jet is the fastest.
10 – F-22 Raptor
An F-22 Raptor flies over Kadena Air Base, Japan on a routine training mission.Photo by Sergeant Major Andy Dunaway/U.S. Air Force
The F-22 Raptor is a single-seat stealth fighter with a top speed of Mach 2.25 and long-range cruise capability. Its stealth capabilities are so advanced that it’s not allowed to be sold outside the United States. Despite its speed and stealth, it has been overshadowed by the F-35 Lightning II jet. Only 187 were built, making it rare to see in the air.
9 – MiG-29 Fulcrum
Bangladesh Air Force MiG-29 with full afterburner.Photo credit: Bangladesh Air Force/Wikipedia
The MiG-29 was built by the Soviet Union and has a top speed of Mach 2.3. Despite its age, it’s still used in many countries around the world.
8 – F-14 Tomcat
An F-14D Tomcat flies over the Persian Gulf region. Photo by Sergeant Rob Tabor/USAF
The F-14 has a top speed of Mach 2.34 and has been in service for over 30 years.
7 – MiG-23 Frogger
An aerial view of a Soviet-era MiG-23 jet in flight.Photo credit: U.S. Air Force
The MiG-23 has a top speed of Mach 2.35 and is known for its agility. Over 5,000 were built and it is still in use today.
6 – Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker
Sukhoi Su-27 demonstrating its capabilities at the MAKS-2005 air show.Photo credit: Dmitry Pichugin/Wikipedia
The Sukhoi Su-27 has a top speed of Mach 2.35 and is known for its excellent range and flight maneuverability. It remains in production more than 40 years after its introduction.
All pterosaur eurypterids (sea scorpions), giant aquatic arthropods with large claws, were considered apex predators, but some scientists believe that certain species are not predatory because their claws are weak. suggested. New research reveals that their claws were stronger and were only used to capture prey. Other appendages chewed it up. Fossils found in the pterosaur eurypterids show that some species specialized in lightly armored crustaceans and fishes, but most species specialized in heavily armored fishes.
Size of sea scorpions (Euripterids) over time.pterosaur eurypterid Jachelopterus (Background), the largest arthropod of all time, and a eurypterid of the Hibertopteridae family. Siltoctenus (Foreground) The size of a human (an average British male) compared to the silhouette of its eurypterid relatives. Image credit: Simon Powell.
Sea scorpions (family Eurypteridae) are ancient aquatic creepy crawlers (arthropods) that lived long before the dinosaurs, from 467 million to 253 million years ago.
These include the “pterygoids” (428 to 391 million years ago), which had large, fearsome claws. Grows up to 2.5 meters longthe biggest bug that ever existed.
An extinct millipede called Arthropleura was It is claimed that it is even largerHowever, if the length of 12 to 14 preserved body segments is 76 cm, the body length of an animal with 32 segments is (76/12 x 32), which is just over 2 m (excluding the head).
All pterosaurs, eurypterids, were thought to have been ferocious apex predators. tyrannosaurus About their time.
Later, some scientists believed that pterygoid claws acutiramus It could only catch and slice weak, soft-bodied prey, and its eyesight wasn't sharp enough Becoming a predator.It has been demoted from the top echelon of predators and even a label is attached “Pussycat”.
According to new research, nails acutiramus It was much more robust. Suggestions that they would snap were based on incorrect assumptions.
The apparent lack of an “elbow joint” doesn't hurt either. This was at the base of the nail. Also, the claws were used only for catching prey. If it had more powerful mouthparts in the groin, it would kill or chew it up.
It doesn't matter that their eyesight is poor either. Their prey is large, and some non-predatory insects (such as bees and butterflies) have eye indicators similar to arthropods that were considered predators.
Computer modeling and experiments with robotic swimming eurypterids also show that pterosaurs were slower swimmers than expected. They were so large that relatively small swim paddles could not provide sufficient propulsion, so a flat tail (telson) served both as a rudder and as propulsion.
Analysis of the types of fossils found with pterygomorphs also suggests that: acutiramus It specializes in lightly armored crustaceans (called foliaceans) and pterophytes. Eretopterus Therodont fish and pterigotus and Jachelopterus About the more heavily armored placoderm fish.
Evidence of predation (claw marks) and fossilized feces (coprolites) confirm that some eurypterids ate armored fish, trilobites, and even other eurypterids.
Previous studies have generally dismissed suggestions that Eurypteridae influenced the evolution of early vertebrates (fish) in a predator-prey arms race, but this new study This suggests that pterosaurs and other eurypterids probably had some influence on the evolution of early vertebrates.
The evolutionary relationships of pterygoids have also changed. Their shape, vision, fossil associations, ecology, and stratigraphic record all indicate that: acutiramus It was more basic Jachelopterus and pterigotus.
This is the largest arthropod in history (Jachelopterus lenaniae) It is now estimated to be about 2.6 meters long, 10 centimeters longer than previous estimates. The biggest bug is now a little bigger.
S. J. Brady. 2023. Paleoecology of the pterygoid eurypterids: Pladicnia and paleontological assemblages. Earth Science Bulletin 98(4); doi: 10.3140/bull.geosci.1891
new movies from NASA's Fermi mission shows the intensity of gamma rays, the highest energy form of light, with energies of over 200 million electron volts (MeV), detected by Fermi's Large Area Telescope between August 2008 and August 2022 . For comparison, visible light has an energy of 2 to 3 electrons. bolt. Lighter colors indicate the location of more intense gamma ray sources.
“The Milky Way's bright, steady gamma-ray glow is punctuated by intense flares of near-light-speed jets that last for days, powered by the supermassive black hole at the center of the distant galaxy.” Dr. Digel said. Staff Scientist at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.
“These dramatic eruptions can appear anywhere in the sky, occurred millions to billions of years ago, and their light is just reaching Fermi as we see it. ”
“The first thing you see in a movie is a steady arc of light across the screen,” said Dr. Judy Racusin, a research scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
“It's our sun, and its apparent motion reflects the Earth's annual orbital motion.”
Most of the time, Fermi's Large Area Telescope (LAT) picks up faint glimpses of the Sun due to the influence of accelerated particles called cosmic rays. When they come into contact with the sun's gases or the light it emits, gamma rays are produced.
But sometimes, the sun suddenly brightens up in a powerful eruption called a solar flare, temporarily making our star one of the brightest sources of gamma rays in the sky.
The Fermi team created an all-sky time-lapse movie using 14 years of data acquired by Fermi's large-area telescope. Image credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center/DOE/LAT Collaboration.
“The new film depicts the sky from two different perspectives,” the astronomers said.
“The rectangular view shows the entire sky with the galaxy's center in the middle.”
“This highlights the central plane of the Milky Way, which glows with gamma rays produced from cosmic rays striking interstellar gas and starlight.”
“Many other sources are also scattered, such as neutron stars and supernova remnants.”
“Above and beyond this central band, we look out beyond our galaxy and into a wider universe studded with bright, rapidly changing light sources.”
“Most of these are actually distant galaxies that are better seen from a different perspective, centered around our galaxy's north and south poles.”
“Each of these galaxies, called blazars, has a central black hole with the mass of more than a million suns.”
“Somehow, black holes produce jets of matter that move at very high speeds. Using a blazar, we can see one of these jets almost directly below us, enhancing their brightness and variability. Masu.”
“This fluctuation indicates that something has changed in these jets,” Dr. Raksin said.
“We monitor these sources regularly and alert other telescopes, both in space and on the ground, when something interesting is happening.”
“We need to catch these flares quickly before they disappear, and the more observations we can collect, the better we can understand these events.”
Fermi plays a key role in a growing network of missions working together to capture these changes as they unfold in space.
“Many of these galaxies are very distant,” the researchers said.
“For example, the light from the blazar known as 4C +21.35 has been traveling for 4.6 billion years. This means that the flare-ups we see today actually happened when the sun and solar system began to form. means.”
“Other bright blazars are more than twice as far away, providing an impressive snapshot of black hole activity across cosmic time.”
“Many short-lived events that Fermi studies, such as gamma-ray bursts, the most powerful cosmic explosions, cannot be seen in time-lapse.”
“This is the result of processing data over several days to sharpen the image.”
The core of a neutron star contains the highest density of matter in the universe. This highly compressed matter can undergo a phase transition in which nuclear matter dissolves into unconfined quark matter, releasing its constituent quarks and gluons. However, it is currently unknown whether this transition occurs inside at least some physical neutron stars. In a new study, physicists from the University of Helsinki, the University of Stavanger, the Flatiron Institute, and Columbia University quantified this possibility by combining information from astrophysical observations and theoretical calculations.
Artist's impression of a neutron star. Image credit: Sci.News.
Neutron stars are extreme astrophysical objects containing the densest matter found in the modern universe.
It has a radius of about 10 km (6 miles) and a mass of about 1.4 solar masses.
“A long-standing unresolved question concerns whether the enormous central pressure of a neutron star can compress protons and neutrons into a phase called cold quark matter. In this exotic state, individual protons and neutrons no longer exist. We don’t,” said Professor Aleksi Vuorinen of the University of Helsinki.
“The quarks and gluons that make them up are instead freed from typical color confinement and can move almost freely.”
In a new paper, Professor Vuorinen and colleagues provide the first quantitative estimate of the possibility of a core of quark matter existing inside a massive neutron star.
They showed that quark matter is almost inevitable in the most massive neutron stars, based on current astrophysical observations. The quantitative estimates they extracted put the likelihood in the 80-90% range.
For there to be a small chance that all neutron stars are composed only of nuclear matter, the change from nuclear matter to quark matter must occur through a strong primary phase similar to the phenomenon in which liquid water turns to ice. Must be a metastasis.
This type of rapid change in the properties of neutron star matter could destabilize the star in such a way that even the formation of a tiny quark matter core could cause the star to collapse into a black hole.
An artist's impression of the various layers inside a giant neutron star. The red circle represents a significant amount of quark matter core. Image credit: Jyrki Hokkanen, CSC.
“A key element in deriving the new results is a series of large-scale supercomputer calculations that utilize Bayesian inference, a branch of statistical deduction that estimates the likelihood of various model parameters through direct comparison with observed data. “, the authors explained.
“We demonstrate that the Bayesian component allows us to derive new limits on the properties of neutron star matter, approaching the so-called conformal behavior near the center of the most massive and stable neutron stars.”
Dr. Joonas Nettila from the University of Helsinki added: “It is interesting to see specifically how each new neutron star observation improves the ability to estimate the properties of the neutron star material.” .
“Being able to compare theoretical predictions with observations and constrain the possibility of quark-matter nuclei requires hundreds of supercomputers,” said Jonas Hirvonen, a doctoral student at the Flatiron Institute and Columbia University. “We had to spend tens of thousands of CPU hours.”
“We are very grateful to the Finnish Supercomputer Center CSC for providing us with all the necessary resources.”
of paper It was published in the magazine nature communications.
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E.Annara other. 2023. Strongly interacting matter exhibits unconfined behavior in massive neutron stars. Nat Commune 14, 8451; doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-44051-y
A road sign near a property recently purchased by Flannery Associates near Rio Vista, California.
Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images
For the past six years, a mysterious group called Flannery Associates has been buying up swaths of farmland in Solano County, north of San Francisco.now it has Plans to build a city on an area of more than 200 square kilometers have been made public, and the name of the project has been revealed. california forever.
Jan Sramek, CEO of the business, said: work Investors include venture capitalist Marc Andreessen and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman. They are…
Short, powerful bursts of radio waves from space are becoming increasingly bizarre. Astronomers discovered 35 of these bursts from a single object with a pattern unlike anything seen before.
sophia sheikh Researchers at California's SETI Institute and colleagues observed the object, a fast radio burst (FRB) called FRB 20220912A, during 541 hours of observation with the Allen Telescope Array in California. In each of this burst from his Fed, they discovered a phenomenon called “sad trombone”…
Alabama has announced it will use nitrogen gas in an upcoming execution. This would make the state the first to use such a method as officials struggle with a shortage of lethal injection drugs. Legal challenges are on the horizon as the matter is under consideration.
While Alabama is eager to use nitrogen, details of the protocol remain under wraps, with some information on how the process works being kept from the public. Death row inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith noted his lack of access to unredacted state protocols that explain how the process works, alongside other inmates under the sentence.
In addition to the novelty of Smith’s case, he is also a rare survivor of a failed execution attempt from last year. Smith, convicted for his role in the 1988 murder of a preacher’s wife, Elizabeth Sennett, remains awaiting execution with the proposed nitrogen method set for January. In light of unsuccessful attempts to execute Smith using lethal injection, the state agreed to try an alternative method.
Read more about this story hereNBCNews.com Watch Harry Jackson NOW on NBC News NOW Fridays at 5pm ET/4pm CT.
Although lethal injection remains Alabama’s primary method of execution, the state authorized the use of nitrogen in 2018 and aims to use it in Smith’s case. With many questions remaining and the state’s questionable track record, critics argue that the decision to use an untested method won’t win public trust.
This month, Smith’s lawyers argued before a federal judge that the use of nitrogen hypoxia violates the Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. An anesthetist testifying on Smith’s behalf expressed concerns about possible adverse effects on Smith’s health, such as vomiting, suffocation, or going into a vegetative state.
astronomer using Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array ALMA observed disk bending waves in BRI 1335-0417, the oldest known spiral galaxy, more than 12 billion years old. This unprecedented observation reveals the galaxy’s dynamic growth pattern, showing the motion of a vertically oscillating disk similar to ripples in a pond. This study is the first time such a phenomenon has been detected in an early galaxy.
This simulation shows how the galactic disk is disturbed and seismic ripples propagate throughout the disk. Image credit: Brand-Hawthorne & Tepper-Garcia, University of Sydney.
Bar structures play an important role in driving galaxy evolution and forming disk structures.
In galaxies, axisymmetric stellar bars exert a gravitational torque on the gas, driving it toward the galactic center and forming concentrated stellar structures such as bulges and core disks.
This process may also promote the accretion of gas onto black holes, which are observed as active galactic nuclei.
Bars can also cause radial migration of gas and stars, which is essential for explaining the stellar kinematics observed in galaxies similar to the Milky Way.
“Thanks to a cutting-edge telescope called ALMA, we have been able to observe the ancient galaxy BRI 1335-0417 in greater detail,” said lead author Dr Takafumi Tsukui, an astronomer at the Australian National University.
“In particular, we were interested in how gas moves within and across galaxies.”
“Gas is a key component for star formation and provides important clues about how galaxies actually drive star formation.”
In this case, Dr. Tsukui and his colleagues were not only able to capture the movement of gas around BRI 1335-0417, but also revealed the formation of seismic waves, a first for this type of early galaxy.
The galaxy’s disk moves similar to the ripples in a pond after a stone is thrown into it.
ALMA detected emission from carbon ions in the galaxy BRI 1335-0417. Image credit: ALMA / ESO / NAOJ / NRAO / T. Tsukui & S. Iguchi, doi: 10.1126/science.abe9680.
“The vertical oscillatory motion of the disk is due to external factors, such as new gas flowing into the galaxy or contact with other small galaxies,” Tsukui said.
“Both possibilities would bombard the galaxy with new fuel for star formation.”
“Furthermore, our study revealed rod-like structures within the disk.”
“The galactic rods can destroy gas and transport it towards the center of the galaxy.”
“The bar discovered at BRI 1335-0417 is the most remote known structure of its kind.”
“Taken together, these results point to the dynamic growth of young galaxies.”
“We know that early galaxies formed stars at much faster rates than modern galaxies,” said co-author Dr Emily Wisnioski, also from the Australian National University.
“This is also true for BRI 1335-0417, which has a similar mass to our Milky Way galaxy but forms stars hundreds of times faster.”
“We wanted to understand how gas is supplied to keep up with this rapid rate of star formation.”
“Spiral structures are rare in the early Universe, and exactly how they form remains unknown.”
“This study also provides important information about the most likely scenario.”
“While it is impossible to directly observe the evolution of galaxies, our observations only provide snapshots, so computer simulations can help piece together the story.”
of findings will appear in Royal Astronomical Society Monthly Notices.
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Takafumi Tsukui other. 2024. Disk bending waves detected in a barred spiral galaxy at redshift 4.4. MNRAS 527 (3): 8941-8949; doi: 10.1093/mnras/stad3588
Baleen whales (mysterious animals) are the largest animals on Earth. How they achieved such enormous sizes is still debated, and research to date has focused primarily on when they grew, rather than where they grew. was. Paleontologists now report on the remains of a toothless baleen whale (chaeomysticete) from South Australia. At an estimated length of 9 meters, it is the largest baleen whale from the early Miocene. Analysis of body size over time shows that ancient baleen whales in the Southern Hemisphere were larger than those in the Northern Hemisphere.
Mysterious gigantism from the early Miocene. Image credit: Ruairidh Duncan
It was previously thought that the onset of the Ice Age in the Northern Hemisphere about 3 million years ago triggered the evolution of truly gigantic baleen whales.
The new study, led by Dr James Rule of Monash University and the Natural History Museum in London, reveals that this evolutionary size jump did, in fact, occur as early as 20 million years ago, and in the exact opposite direction in the southern hemisphere. I made it.
The major discovery came from a study of 16- to 21-million-year-old fossils held in Museum Victoria’s collection.
This specimen, the anterior end of the lower jaw of a large edentulous baleen whale, was discovered in 1921 on a cliff face on the banks of the Murray River in South Australia, but was largely unrecognized in collections.
In their study, Dr. Ruhl and colleagues explain how whales evolved to be larger in the southern hemisphere rather than the northern hemisphere, and that whales have been larger in the southern hemisphere throughout their evolutionary history (about 20 million to 30 million years). It was shown that
The discovery highlights the vital importance of the Australian and wider Southern Hemisphere fossil record in putting together a global picture of whale evolution.
The Murray River whale fossil confounds that theory, although previous leading theories were based primarily on fossils found in the northern hemisphere.
“The Southern Hemisphere, and Australia in particular, has always been overlooked as a frontier for fossil whale discovery,” says Dr Eric Fitzgerald, a palaeontologist at Museums Victoria Research Institute.
“Like the Murray River whale, the fossil whale discoveries in the south have shaken up whale evolution, giving us a more accurate, truly global picture of what was happening in the oceans in ancient times. .”
Researchers have discovered that the tip of a baleen whale’s jaw can expand depending on its body size.
They estimated the baleen whale to be about 9 meters long.
“The largest whales alive today, such as the blue whale, reach the length of a basketball court,” Dr. Ruhl said.
“About 19 million years ago, Murray River whales were nine meters long, already a third of this length. So baleen whales were well on their way to becoming ocean giants.”
of result will appear in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
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James P. Rule other. 2023. A huge baleen whale emerges from its cold cradle in the south. Procedure R. Soc. B 290 (2013): 20232177; doi: 10.1098/rspb.2023.2177
Scientists have identified a new genus and species of true toad from a single specimen found in a high-altitude forest. mount kenya, an extinct volcano in Kenya and the second highest mountain in Africa after Kilimanjaro. Contrary to the popular belief that most of Kenya’s amphibians arose after volcanic activity subsided millions of years ago, this new species is related to the Kenya volcanic toad (Kenya Phrynoides vulcanis) – Its origins may date back as far as 20 million years, making it considerably older than the volcanic formation of Mt Kenya itself.
artistic performance Kenya Phrynoides vulcanis (A), dorsal view of the left hand of the holotype (B), and photographs of the dorsal (C) and ventral (D) sides of the holotype before preservation. Image credit: Liedtke other., doi: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad160.
Dr Simon Loader, lead curator of vertebrates at the Natural History Museum, London, said: ‘Many of Kenya’s mountains are volcanic or geologically relatively new, so discovering ancient lineages that have lasted for millions of years is unlikely. It’s amazing.”
“It’s a real challenge to figure out how it got here.”
“We can’t say for sure, but it seems likely that they were once more widespread, and as the climate has changed over the past tens of millions of years, they have tracked their way through tropical forests, with their final destinations being the mountaintops. It was ‘Mt Kenya’. ”
The discovery of Kenya’s volcanic toads calls into question the concept of the Kenya interval, a term used to describe the striking contrast in amphibian diversity between Kenya and its neighboring countries.
Ethiopia and Tanzania have long been hotspots for amphibian biodiversity, but Kenya’s geological history and frequency of tectonic activity make it a difficult place for these organisms to thrive.
unique features Kenya Phrynoides vulcanis This suggests that the Kenyan Interval may not be as simple as previously believed.
When this toad was first discovered in Mount Kenya’s pit in 2015, it already seemed very different from the species normally seen in the area.
“We were really surprised to see this animal. It looked nothing like anything we had seen before, but it was similar to what we know and call the Tanzanian animal. Ta” Churamiti MaridadiIt is a forest tree toad that lives in the Ukaguru Mountains rainforest,” said National Museums of Kenya curators Dr Patrick Maronza and Dr Victor Wasonga.
Kenya Phrynoides vulcanisDistinctive features include its small size, more frog-like body, and distinctive green and brown markings.
Genetic and morphological differences from other known toad species have led to its recognition at the genus level.
Clues from physical features such as enlarged fingertips suggest it may be a climber.
Its thumb has a sharp tip known as a nuptial spine found in many male frogs and toads, which helps the male grasp the female and encourage reproduction.
“The forest toad found in the mountains of East Africa is unusual and does not resemble typical toads,” said Dr. Hendrik Müller, a researcher at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg.
“More interestingly, some individuals are known to have an unusual reproductive strategy called ovoviviparity.”
“In ovoviviparity, the eggs hatch inside the female’s body. This means that the chicks are born from the mother as small toads, rather than as tadpoles.”
This finding is reported in the following article: paper inside Zoological journal of the Linnean Society.
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H. Christoph Liedtke other. A new species of toad discovered from Mount Kenya sheds light on the biogeography of East Africa’s mountains. Zoological journal of the Linnean Society, published online on November 7, 2023. doi: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad160
Eating Disorders: The Basics debunks the stereotype that eating disorders only affect a certain group of people and emphasizes their universal impact and the need for comprehensive, early treatment and support. I am.
According to eating disorder experts, eating disorders affect everyone, regardless of race, gender, or age.
Medical experts say the myth that only thin, white, wealthy girls develop eating disorders is preventing other patients from receiving diagnosis and treatment.
Psychiatrist Janet Treasure, general practitioner Dr Elizabeth McNaught and therapist Jess Griffiths (all survivors of eating disorders) agree that this stereotype is not true for other people, including black women and men. She says it means she has a hard time asking for help.
They urge clinicians to treat all eating disorders as serious, even those that don’t involve weight loss, such as purging.
The importance of early intervention and comprehensiveness in treatment
Professor Treasure, Dr McNaught and Jess from King’s College London also highlight the importance of early intervention to save lives and the important role of fathers in helping girls recover.
their books Eating disorders: the basics – TV presenter Strictly Winner Stacey Dooley – For schools, health care workers, and families.
This guide details common risk factors, different types of eating disorders, the latest treatments, and provides advice for families on how to support their loved one’s recovery.
“Eating disorders are often thought of as affecting thin, white, affluent girls. But they lack true discrimination about who they affect,” the authors write. states.
“Other groups, such as men, racial minorities, transgender people, and people from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds, can remain in our communities struggling with eating disorders for years untreated. There is a gender.
“It is also important to recognize that all eating disorders are serious and all eating disorders deserve treatment and support.
“It doesn’t have to be a lifelong or fatal disease, but it can often be due to lack of preparedness and lack of awareness of symptoms in people who are underweight.”
Recognize the universal impact of eating disorders
Problematic behaviors related to eating food are common around the world. These can occur at any stage of life and affect everyone, regardless of race, gender, or age.
eating disorder Based on the latest evidence on anorexia, bulimia, bulimia, and other conditions.
The guide also features real-life stories from people who have developed eating disorders, as well as letters of hope to support those still suffering.
These stories include those of patients who were told they were not sick enough to need help.
Despite the risks and pain associated with her condition, Carla Lisette said her purging disorder would only be taken seriously if it met the criteria for anorexia.
Furthermore, she added: “Although most people with purge disorder do not become underweight, that does not mean they are at a healthy weight for their bodies or that they are not harming themselves. It doesn’t even mean it. The purge could be deadly.”
In the letter, Christina Taylor was told she was “too healthy” to be helped, even though she drank excessively and felt sick 10 times a day.
“This (receiving the letter) was one of the most invalidating experiences of my life. I truly felt that there was no point in continuing this way.”
Professor Treasure and his co-authors say other challenges remain when it comes to eating disorders, including:
Food poverty, ultra-processed foods, and less sharing of home-cooked meals. These are among the environmental factors behind eating disorders.
Men often face societal pressure to “be manly.” This can create further secrecy about one’s disorder and create barriers to receiving treatment.
Body mass index (BMI) may not be useful in many situations. The authors state that the risk of poor health is related to the degree of weight loss, not absolute body weight. Some people may have a “normal” BMI but still be at risk for serious physical harm.
Fathers and partners may feel left out, as if eating disorders are “women’s work”, or siblings may be seen as too young to be involved. However, the authors say it plays an important role in supporting your loved one’s recovery.
References: Eating Disorders: The Basics, by Elizabeth McNaught, Janet Treasure, and Jess Griffiths. DOI: 10.4324/9781003342762
Chip-scale ultrafast mode-locked laser based on nanophotonic lithium niobate.Credit: Alireza Marandi
Researchers have developed a compact mode-locked laser integrated into a nanophotonic platform that can generate ultrafast light pulses at high power. This breakthrough in the miniaturization of MLL technology has the potential to significantly expand photonics applications.
Innovation in mode-locked laser technology
Setting out to improve a technology that typically requires bulky benchtop equipment, Quishi Guo and colleagues have miniaturized a mode-locked laser (MLL) with an integrated nanophotonics platform to the size of an optical chip. This result shows promise for the development of ultrafast nanophotonics systems for a wide range of applications.
Possibility of small MLL
Model-locked lasers (MLLs) can generate coherent ultrashort pulses of light at very fast speeds on the order of picoseconds to femtoseconds. These devices have enabled numerous techniques in the field of photonics, including extreme nonlinear optics.photon Microscopy and optical computing.
However, most MLLs are expensive, power-hungry, and require bulky, separate optical components and equipment. As a result, the use of ultrafast photonic systems has generally been limited to benchtop laboratory experiments. Furthermore, so-called “integrated” MLLs aimed at driving nanophotonics platforms have significant limitations, such as low peak power and lack of controllability.
Breakthrough advances in nanophotonics MLL integration
Through hybrid integration of semiconductor optical amplification chips and novel thin-film lithium niobate nanophotonic circuits, Guo other. We created an optical chip-sized integrated MLL.
According to the authors, this MLL generates ultrashort light pulses of about 4.8 picoseconds at about 1065 nanometers with a maximum output of about 0.5 watts. This is the highest output pulse energy and peak power of any MLL integrated into a nanophotonics platform.
Furthermore, the researchers show that the repetition rate of the integrated MLL can be tuned over a range of about 200 MHz and that the coherence properties of the laser can be precisely controlled, creating a fully stable on-chip nanophotonic frequency comb source. provided a path to.
Learn more about this breakthrough advancement below.
Reference: “Ultrafast mode-locked lasers in nanophotonic lithium niobate” Qiushi Guo, Benjamin K. Gutierrez, Ryotosekine, Robert M. Gray, James A. Williams, Luis Ledezma, Luis Costa, Arkadev Roy, Selina Zhou, Mingchen Liu, and Alireza Marandi, November 9, 2023; science. DOI: 10.1126/science.adj5438
byRamon J. Osorio, NASA Marshall Space Flight CenterDecember 26, 2023
Engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, successfully completed a 251-second high-temperature combustion test of a full-scale rotary explosion rocket engine combustor in fall 2023, achieving more than 5,800 pounds of thrust. Credit: NASA
NASAMarshall Space Flight Center tested a 3D-printed Rotating Explosive Rocket Engine (RDRE) for more than four minutes and was able to generate significant thrust. This test is essential for deep space missions and represents a step forward in NASA’s development of an efficient propulsion system for the Moon. Mars vision.
NASA has achieved a new benchmark in the development of an innovative propulsion system called the Rotating Explosive Rocket Engine (RDRE). Engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, tested his new 3D-printed RDRE for 251 seconds (or over four minutes) and were able to generate more than 5,800 pounds of thrust.
This type of sustained burn emulates the typical requirements for a lander touchdown or deep space burn that could set a spacecraft on a course from the Moon to Mars, the center said. said Thomas Teasley, lead Marshall combustion equipment engineer.
RDRE’s first high-temperature fire test was conducted in Marshall in the summer of 2022 in partnership with In Space LLC and Purdue University (Lafayette, Indiana). The test generated more than 4,000 pounds of thrust for nearly a minute. The main objective of the latest tests was to extend the combustor to different thrust classes, support all types of engine systems, and maximize the diversity of missions it can deliver, from landers to upper stages to supersonics. Teasley said the key is to better understand how to increase the Reverse propulsion is a deceleration technique that has the potential to land larger payloads, and even humans, on the surface of Mars.
Test stand video taken at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, shows the ignition of a full-size rotary-explosion rocket engine combustor that ignited for a record 251 seconds and achieved more than 5,800 pounds of thrust. It is shown.
“RDRE significantly increases design efficiency,” he said. “This shows we are getting closer to developing lightweight propulsion systems that will allow us to send more mass and payloads into deep space, a critical component for NASA. From the moon to Mars vision. “
Engineers at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland; Venus Aerospace, Houston, Texas, is working with NASA Marshall to identify ways to scale the technology for higher performance.
RDRE is managed and funded by the Game Changing Development Program within NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.
Illustration of Sierra Space’s first dream chaser, DC#1 (Tenacity). The Dream Chaser spacecraft developed by Sierra Space for NASA is gearing up for a demonstration mission to the ISS in 2024, with a focus on cargo delivery and in-orbit certification. .Credit: Sierra Space
NASA Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser spacecraft is scheduled for a demonstration flight to the ISS in 2024, carrying cargo transport and various on-orbit tests to ensure operational readiness for future missions. be exposed.NASA and Sierra Space are making progress toward the maiden flight of the company’s Dream Chaser spacecraft. international space station. The unmanned cargo spaceplane is scheduled to begin demonstration missions to orbital complexes in 2024 as part of NASA’s commercial resupply services.
Dream chaser and shooting starManufactured by Sierra Space, Louisville, Colorado, the Dream Chaser cargo system consists of two main elements: the Dream Chaser spacecraft and the Shooting Star cargo module. As a lifting body spacecraft, Dream Chaser is designed to be reused up to 15 times. HL-20 spacecraft It was developed at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.Shooting Star, a spaceplane cargo module companion, is designed to support the transportation and disposal of pressurized and unpressurized cargo to the space station. The cargo module can only be used once and is disposed of before reentry.
The Dream Chaser system will be mounted on a ULA (United Launch Alliance) Vulcan Centaur rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, inside a 5-meter fairing. It can be launched by folding its wings. Fairing panels protect the spacecraft during ascent, but are discarded once it reaches orbit. Dream Chaser’s cargo module and wing-mounted solar arrays will be deployed during an autonomous rendezvous with the space station. In the event of disaster, Dream Chaser is designed to be ready for launch within as little as 24 hours.
NASA and Sierra Space are making progress toward the company’s Dream Chaser spacecraft’s maiden flight to the International Space Station. The unmanned cargo spaceplane is scheduled to begin demonstration missions to orbital complexes in 2024 as part of NASA’s commercial resupply services.Credit: Sierra SpaceMission overview
During the first flight, Sierra Space will conduct an in-orbit demonstration to qualify Dream Chaser for future missions. Teams from NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, and Dream Chaser Mission Control Center in Louisville, Colorado will monitor the flight. Sierra Space flight controllers will control the Dream Chaser spacecraft at the launch pad until it is handed over to NASA Kennedy’s Sierra Space ground operations team after landing.
The far-field demonstration will be conducted outside the vicinity of the space station before the spacecraft enters the invisible 2.5-by-1.25-by-1.25-mile (4-by-2-by-2-kilometer) boundary around the ellipsoid. . Rotating laboratory. These demonstrations are required before Dream His Chaser enters joint operations with his NASA team at Mission Control Center in Houston. These include demonstrating postural control, translational movements, and aborting functions.
Near-field demonstrations must be performed in close proximity to the space station, and include activation and use of light detection and ranging (LIDAR) sensors, responding to commands sent from the space station, retreating from the station in response to commands, and initially This includes maintaining proximity. 1,083 feet (330 meters) from the station, then 820 feet (250 meters), and finally 98 feet (30 meters). After the successful completion of the demonstration, Dream Chaser will move towards the space station.
As Dream Chaser approaches the orbiting laboratory, it will eventually park approximately 38 feet (11.5 meters) from the space station, where the station’s crew will use the Canadarm2 robotic arm to maneuver the spacecraft in front of the team on the ground. Hold on to the cargo module fixtures. Attach the cargo module to the earth-facing port of the Unity or Harmony module.
Dream Chaser will carry more than 7,800 pounds of cargo on its first flight to the International Space Station. On future missions, Dream Chaser is designed to remain on station for up to 75 days and deliver up to 11,500 pounds of cargo. Cargo can be loaded onto the spacecraft up to 24 hours before launch. Dream Chaser can return more than 3,500 pounds of cargo and experimental samples to Earth, and more than 8,700 pounds of trash can be disposed of during reentry using its cargo module.return to earthDream Chaser will remain on the space station for approximately 45 days before being uninstalled using Canadarm2. After departure, the spacecraft can land within 11 to 15 hours at the earliest, with the possibility of landing daily if weather conditions permit.
Dream Chaser’s landing weather criteria typically require crosswinds of less than 17.2 mph (15 knots), headwinds of less than 23 mph (20 knots), and tailwinds of less than 11.5 mph (10 knots). Thunderstorms, lightning, or rain within a 20-mile radius of the runway or 10 miles along the approach path are not acceptable conditions for landing. Detailed flight rules help controllers determine whether a landing opportunity is favorable.
A combination of Dream Chaser’s 26 Reaction Control System thrusters ignites, sending the spacecraft out of orbit. Dream Chaser re-entered Earth’s atmosphere and glided in the style of NASA’s Space Shuttle to a runway landing at Kennedy Launch and Landing Facility, becoming the first spacecraft to land at the facility since the Space Shuttle’s last flight in 2011. becomes.Once Dream Chaser is powered down after landing, the Sierra Space ground operations team will transport Dream Chaser to the Space Systems Processing Facility for necessary inspections, unload remaining NASA cargo, and prepare for the next mission. let’s start doing ….Sierra Space (formerly Sierra Nevada Corporation) was selected in 2016 as NASA’s third commercial cargo replenishment spacecraft to service the International Space Station.
A new study has revealed how visual masking, a phenomenon in which rapid succession of images leads to unconscious image processing, occurs in both humans and mice. This study highlights the role of the cortex in conscious perception and provides important insights into the brain’s visual processing mechanisms.
Delve into the mysterious optical illusions and science of visual masking.
Recent research published in natural neuroscience Visual masking is a phenomenon that plays an important role in how we perceive things, or rather how we don’t “see” them. This study not only revealed aspects of conscious perception in the brain, but also demonstrated that this phenomenon occurs in both humans and mice.
Visual masking occurs when a person does not consciously recognize an image because another image is displayed in rapid succession. For effective masking, the first image must appear and disappear quickly, followed by her second image within about 50 milliseconds.
Groundbreaking research in visual perception
Allen Institute researcher Dr. Sean Olsen and his colleagues have delved into the science behind this optical illusion and shown for the first time that it also occurs in mice. After training the mice to report what they saw, the researchers were also able to pinpoint the specific areas of the brain needed for the visual masking illusion to work.
“This is an interesting observation, that what exists in the world is not accurately reflected in your perception,” Olsen said. “Like other optical illusions, we think this tells us something about how the visual system works and, ultimately, the neural circuits underlying visual perception.”
Exploring the brain’s role in visual recognition
Scientists discovered this strange phenomenon in the 19th century, but why and how the human brain does this remains a mystery.
The study narrows down the parts of the brain involved in perceiving the world around us, said Dr. Christoph Koch, a Distinguished Fellow at the Allen Institute who led the study with Dr. Olsen and Dr. Sam Gale. Ta. , a scientist at the Allen Institute.
When a rain of photons hits our retina, the information follows a predetermined path from the eyeball through several different areas of the brain and into the highly-processed areas of the cortex, the wrinkled outermost shell of the brain. It ends with Previous research on visual masking has led scientists to believe that neurons in early parts of the brain, in the retina and its pathways, are activated even when a person is unaware that they are looking at an image. I know. In other words, your brain sees things without your knowledge.
From mouse to human: parallel recognition
To explore where unconscious sensations turn into conscious perceptions and actions, scientists first taught 16 mice to move a small mouse in the direction of a rapidly flashing image in exchange for a reward if they chose the correct direction. I trained him to spin a Lego wheel. The scientists then added different masking images on either side of the screen immediately after the target image. Adding a mask prevented the animal from performing the task correctly. This means that the animal can no longer recognize the original target image.
Visual masking had never been tested in mice before, so the research team had to create a task for mice, in which the images and the way they were displayed were different from those used in previous human studies. I meant that. To confirm that the optical illusion they showed to rodents was also relevant to us, the research team tested it on 16 people (using keystrokes instead of a wheel). It turns out that human perception (or lack thereof) and mouse perception of this particular visual masking illusion are very similar.
This result implies that conscious perception is occurring in the visual cortex or in higher regions of the cortex downstream. This is consistent with the general sentiment in the field that the cortex is the seat of conscious cognition in mammals, including us, Koch said.
Reference: “Visual cortex is required for posterior masking in mice” by Samuel D. Gale, Chelsea Stroder, Corbett Bennett, Stefan Mihalas, Christoph Koch, and Sean R. Olsen, November 13, 2023 Day, natural neuroscience. DOI: 10.1038/s41593-023-01488-0
This scientific study used satellite transmitters, population counts, and DNA analysis of tissue samples to describe the special Kangi ringed seal in the Ilulissat Icefjord. Here, a satellite transmitter is attached to the seal’s back.Credit: Pinngortitaleriffik – Greenland Institute of Nature Research
Local hunters in the Icefjord near Ilulissat are familiar with a special type of ringed seal known as the Kangia seal. Kangia seals vary in size and appearance, being significantly larger than the common Arctic ringed seal, and with markedly different fur colors and patterns. Recent scientific research has revealed that this distinctive seal has been genetically separated from Arctic seals over a long period of over 100,000 years.
Exploring the natural wonders of the Arctic can be difficult. Extreme weather and vast distances often hinder researchers’ quest to uncover nature’s mysteries.
However, a research project led by Greenlandic and Danish researchers has succeeded in describing a new species of ringed seal that lives in an ice fjord near Ilulissat in West Greenland. A unique natural area on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The results were recently published in a prestigious scientific journal. molecular ecology.
Kangia ringed seals are larger than the typical Arctic ringed seal, and their fur is a different color and has more distinctive markings.Credit: Pinngortitaleriffik – Greenland Institute of Nature Research
small population
For years, researchers worked with local hunters to trap seals in nets and attach small satellite transmitters to their backs. As the seals flew, satellite transmitters sent messages about the seal’s location.
“We found that the Kangia seals mainly stayed within the ice fjords. We were able to count the seals from the plane, so we estimated that there was only about one seal. There are 3,000 special Kangi ringed seals,” said Akual Rosing Asvid, a senior researcher at the Greenland Institute for Nature Research Pingoltitalerifik and one of the researchers who supported the study. .
Color and pattern of the fur of the Kangia ringed seal (left) and a typical Arctic ringed seal (right).Credit: Pinngortitaleriffik – Greenland Institute of Nature Research
Their small population is very unusual compared to the typical Arctic ringed seal, which is huge and often travels thousands of kilometers around the North Pole in search of food.
isolated for thousands of years
The researchers also took small tissue samples from the captive seals. The samples were sent for genetic analysis to determine the seal’s identity. DNA The results revealed that Kangia ringed seals are genetically distinct from typical Arctic ringed seals.
Kangia ringed seals live in the Ilulissat Icefjord, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its spectacular and unique nature.Credit: Pinngortitaleriffik – Greenland Institute of Nature Research
However, where and how the Kangia ringed seal became isolated from other Arctic ringed seals and why it acquired new special biological characteristics remains a mystery.
Perhaps other arctic fjords also have special seals
The study highlights that there is still much we don’t know about the biodiversity of the Arctic and its potential to adapt to climate change and human activities.
“There are many other fjords in the Arctic that have not yet been studied in detail, and ringed seals may also carry new genetic mutations in these areas,” said Rune Dietz, professor at Aarhus University’s School of Ecological Sciences. Point out. he participated in the research.
Reference: “Evolutionarily distinct ringed seals of the Ilulissat Icefjord” Aqqalu Rosing-Asvid, Ari Löytynoja, Paolo Momigliano, Rikke Guldborg Hansen, Camilla Hjorth Scharff-Olsen, Mia Valtonen, Juhana Kammonen, Rune Dietz, Frank Farsø Rigét, Steve By H Ferguson, Christian Leidersen, Kit M. Kovacs, David M. Holland, Jukka Jarnvall, Petri Auvinen, Morten Tange Olsen, October 19, 2023. molecular ecology.
NIST researchers studied VOC emissions from living Christmas trees and their interaction with ozone. They found that monoterpenes were the main VOCs emitted, decreasing over time and reacting with ozone to produce low levels of formaldehyde. The study concludes that Christmas trees have minimal impact on indoor air quality for most people. Credit: SciTechDaily.com
Living Christmas trees emit chemicals called volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
Some of these VOCs can react with ozone, a reactive gas, to create chemical irritants in your home.
Levels of chemical irritants are low, but may be a potential concern for people who are sensitive to chemical irritants.
Every year during the holiday season, Americans purchase approximately 30 million live Christmas trees. Many families enjoy not only having a live tree in their home, but also smelling the fresh scent it produces. That odor comes from chemicals called volatile organic compounds (VOCs). However, little is known about how much is excreted and whether it affects health.
“Our noses are excellent chemical sensors,” says Dustin Poppendieck, an environmental engineer at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). “We know these trees are emitting something, but the question is how big is the source? We are investigating which chemicals and how much they are emitting. “We wanted to compare that to other chemical sources in the home,” he said.
To answer these questions, Poppendieck and his colleagues at NIST took a common type of Christmas tree (Dog pine) and sealed it inside a room. They then measured the amount and type of VOCs emitted over a 17-day period. They also investigated whether VOCs react with other components of indoor air to form new compounds.
The team’s findings were published in the journal indoor environment.
NIST researchers placed a common type of Christmas tree in a sealed room for 17 days and monitored and measured the chemicals released from it. These chemicals are called volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which give the smell of pine and can react with ozone to produce byproducts. Researchers found low amounts of these chemicals, which could be a potential concern for people who are sensitive to chemicals. Credit: M. King/NIST
The refreshing scent commonly associated with Christmas trees comes from a group of VOCs called . monoterpenesIt is also found in air fresheners, candles, and some personal care products. In the outdoors, conifer, a group of plants, including most Christmas trees, emit monoterpenes and can affect outdoor air quality. However, little is known about how much monoterpene is released when trees are cut down and placed indoors.
Research also shows that monoterpenes can react with ozone. Ozone in the upper atmosphere acts as a protective barrier against the sun. On the ground, chemical reactions with light produce ozone, which can cause symptoms such as coughs and throat irritation. Ozone also easily reacts with other chemicals in the air to form new compounds. Researchers were therefore interested in observing the effects of ozone in the presence of indoor trees.
They placed it inside an environmentally controlled room so they could measure the chemicals released by the tree in real time. Using a technique that can detect airborne organic compounds, known as proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS), they measured the VOCs emitted over a 17-day period.
In the experiment, the researchers simulated a home environment. They decorated the tree with a typical holiday lighting setup and illuminated it with bright lights to mimic the day/night cycle. They turned off the lights every 12 hours and watered the tree daily. They brought in outside air at rates typical of a typical home and constantly measured chemicals in the indoor air.
Monoterpenes were the most abundant VOCs emitted by trees. They peaked on the first day and then decreased significantly by the third day. Poppendieck said the concentrations were initially similar to those found in plug-in air fresheners and new homes, but quickly dropped to nearly 10 times the original concentration. Researchers detected 52 different monoterpenes.
The researchers then injected ozone into the chamber to see how it affected indoor air chemistry. They found that ozone reacts with monoterpenes, producing byproducts such as formaldehyde, another type of VOC, and other reactive chemicals. It was found that the introduction of ozone further reduced monoterpene concentrations and increased formaldehyde levels, affecting indoor air chemistry. However, the amount of formaldehyde produced was relatively small at approximately 1 ppb. Formaldehyde concentrations in typical homes in the United States range from 20 to 30 ppb.
For people who are sensitive to VOCs, Christmas trees can be another source of watery eyes and noses, especially if you first bring them indoors. In that case, Poppendieck suggests opening a window near the tree to reduce exposure. In addition, the emission intensity naturally decays over time, so a newly cut tree can be left outdoors or in the garage for three days before bringing it into the house.
“But for most people, this shouldn’t be a big concern,” Poppendieck says. I will continue to decorate the Christmas tree at home. ”
Reference: “Jingle Bells, what do they smell like?” Indoor VOC Emissions from Living Christmas Trees,” by Dustin Poppendieck, Riley Robertson, and Michael F. Link, December 22, 2023. indoor environment. DOI: 10.1016/j.indenv.2023.100002
Confocal microscopy images show mesenchymal stem cells (green) captured within nanovials (pink). Nanovial technology was developed by Dino Di Carlo and colleagues at UCLA. Credit: Shreya Udani/UCLA
University of California Los Angeles Stem cell scientists have uncovered surprising genetic instructions for promoting protein secretion, with major implications for biotechnology and cell therapy.
Mesenchymal stem cells present in the bone marrow secrete therapeutic proteins that may help regenerate damaged tissue.
The UCLA study examining these cells challenges conventional understanding of what genetic instructions drive the release of these therapeutic proteins.
The discovery could help advance both regenerative medicine research and the laboratory production of biological therapeutics already in use.
Expanding the possibilities of antibody-based medicineToday, drugs based on antibodies (proteins that fight infection and disease) are prescribed for everything from cancer to disease. COVID-19 (new coronavirus infection) For high cholesterol. Antibody drugs are supplied by genetically engineered cells that act as small protein-producing factories in the lab.
Meanwhile, researchers are targeting cancer, internal organ damage, and many other diseases with a new strategy that involves transplanting similarly engineered cells directly into patients.
These biotechnological applications rely on the principle of causing cellular changes. DNA When a cell produces more genetic instructions to make a particular protein, it releases more of that protein.
Challenging established biological principlesBut a groundbreaking study from UCLA challenges this long-held belief, at least when it comes to certain types of stem cells.
The researchers looked at mesenchymal stem cells, which reside in the bone marrow and can self-renew and grow into bone, fat, and muscle cells. Mesenchymal cells secrete a protein growth factor called VEGF-A. Scientists believe this may play a role in blood vessel regeneration, repairing damage caused by heart attacks, kidney damage, arterial disease in the extremities, and other diseases.
Amazing discoveries in stem cell researchWhen the researchers compared the amount of VEGF-A released by each mesenchymal cell to the expression of the gene encoding VEGF-A in the same cells, the results were surprising. There was only a weak correlation between gene expression and actual growth factor secretion. Scientists have identified other genes that better correlate with growth factor secretion, including genes that code for proteins on the surface of some stem cells. The research team isolated stem cells with the protein on their surface, cultured a population that secreted large amounts of VEGF-A, and continued to secrete it even after several days.
Biotechnology and its impact on medicineThe findings were published Dec. 11 in the journal natural nanotechnologyco-author Dino Di Carlo said, suggesting that fundamental assumptions in biology and biotechnology may be worth reconsidering. UCLA Samueli School of Engineering.
“The central dogma is that there are instructions in DNA, and these instructions are transcribed. RNAThe RNA is then translated into protein,” said Di Carlo, who is also a member of UCLA. California Nanosystems Institute and Eli and Edythe Regional Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research. “Based on this, many scientists assumed that if you had more RNA, you would get more protein, and more protein would be released from the cell. I had doubts.”
It seems inconceivable that when a gene is expressed at a higher level, there is more secretion of the corresponding protein. We found a clear example where this does not occur, and many new questions arise.” Ta.
“The results could help make the production of antibody-based therapeutics more efficient and define new, more effective cell therapies. Knowing the right genetic switches to flip could enable the manipulation and selection of highly productive cells to create or deliver therapeutics.
Breakthrough in single cell analysisThe UCLA study was conducted using standard laboratory equipment enhanced with technology invented by Di Carlo and his colleagues. Nanovials, microscopic bowl-shaped hydrogel containers, each capturing a single cell and its secretions. By leveraging a new analytical method using nanovials, scientists were able to measure the amount of VEGF-A released by each of 10,000 mesenchymal stem cells compared to tens of thousands of genes expressed by that same cell. I was able to link it to the mapped atlas.
“The ability to link protein secretion to gene expression at the single-cell level holds great promise for the fields of life science research and therapeutic development,” said David, a member of the Broad Stem Cell Research Group and a professor of biology at the University of California, Los Angeles. said chemistry professor Kathryn Plath. Center and co-corresponding author of the study. “Without that, we would not have been able to reach the unexpected results found in this study. Now we have learned something new about the mechanisms that underpin the fundamental processes of life, and we have We have an incredible opportunity to leverage this to improve human health.”
A new path in therapeutic drug developmentAlthough activation of genetic instructions for VEGF-A showed little correlation with protein release, the researchers identified a cluster of 153 genes with strong associations with VEGF-A secretion. Many of them are known for their functions in blood vessel development and wound healing. For others, their functionality is currently unknown.
One of the top matches encodes the cell surface protein IL13RA2, but its purpose is poorly understood. Its outer location made it easy for scientists to use it as a marker and separate those cells from other cells. Cells with IL13RA2 showed 30% more VEGF-A secretion than cells lacking the marker.
In a similar experiment, the researchers kept isolated cells in culture for six days. At the end of that period, cells with the marker secreted 60% more VEGF-A compared to cells without the marker.
Potential impact on clinical applicationsMesenchymal stem cell-based therapies have shown promise in laboratory studies, but many of these new options are safe but not effective in clinical trials with human participants. It is shown that there is no. Her ability to use IL13RA2 to sort VEGF-A-rich cells could help change this trend.
“Identifying the subpopulations that produce more and the markers associated with that population means that they can be separated very easily,” Di Carlo said. “If we had very pure populations of cells that produced high levels of therapeutic proteins, we would have better treatments.”The nanovials are commercially available from Partillion Bioscience, a company co-founded by Di Carlo and founded in CNSI’s on-campus incubator. Expand.
Reference: “Correlating growth factor secretion in nanovials with single cell transcriptome using SEC-seq” Shreya Udani, Justin Langerman, Doyeon Koo, Sevana Baghdasarian, Brian Cheng, Simran Kang, Citradewi Soemardy, Joseph de Rutte, Kathrin Plath, Dino Di Carlo, December 11, 2023; natural nanotechnology.
DOI: 10.1038/s41565-023-01560-7The study’s lead author is Shreya Udani, who received her PhD from UCLA in 2023. Other co-authors, all at UCLA, are staff scientist Justin Langerman; Doyoung Koo, who received his Ph.D. in 2023. graduate students Sevana Bagdasarian and Chitradewi Somardi; undergraduate student Brian Chen; Simran Kang received her bachelor’s degree in 2023. and Joseph de Rutte, who completed his PhD in 2020 and is co-founder and CEO of Partillion.This research was supported by: National Institutes of Health It also won the Stem Cell Nanomedicine Program Award, jointly funded by CNSI and the Broad Center for Stem Cell Research.
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