Climate change denial has taken on a new focus, according to a recent report from the Center for Digital Action. Instead of denying that the planet is warming, scientists and activists are now questioning climate change solutions and skepticism about policy. Hate, a nonprofit organization researching digital hate speech and misinformation, has outlined this shift in their analysis. They argue that YouTube’s parent company, Google, has ineffective content policy regulations aimed at blocking ad revenue from content denying the scientific consensus of climate change.
Imran Ahmed, CEO of the organization, stated, “A new front has opened in this battle. They used to say climate change wasn’t happening, and now they’re saying, ‘Climate change is happening, but there’s no hope. There are no solutions.'” This reflects the evolution of the debate from outright denial to skepticism about the severity of climate change and potential solutions.
For decades, scientists have agreed that human activities, particularly the burning of fossil fuels, are causing an imbalance in the atmosphere, leading to global warming. As the Earth warms, the impacts are becoming increasingly evident, such as melting ice shelves and rising sea levels. Public perception of climate change has changed over recent decades, although it remains highly politicized, according to Pew Research Center.
The Center for Countering Digital Hate utilized artificial intelligence models to analyze YouTube videos with climate change denial content. Their analysis revealed a shift in the denial narrative from denying the existence of global warming to attacking climate change solutions.
John Cook, a senior research fellow, sees similar trends in his work, stating that the focus has shifted from questioning the existence of climate change to evaluating the seriousness of the problem and the effectiveness of proposed solutions.
The report also highlighted YouTube’s policies regarding misinformation about climate change and their failure to stop the monetization of negative narratives. They suggest that YouTube and Google should expand the types of content they can’t monetize to include climate change denial and to update their policies based on current trends.
YouTube has responded, stating that they prohibit advertising on content that violates the scientific consensus on climate change. They allow discussion and debate on the topic but will not show ads on videos that cross the line of climate change denial.
A coronavirus vaccine is being administered at Epsom Racecourse in Surrey, England.
PA Image/Alamy
Around 7,000 people in the UK would have avoided dying or being hospitalized from coronavirus in the summer of 2022 if they had been fully vaccinated against the virus, a major study has found. This is the first time that the health impact of hesitancy to get a COVID-19 vaccine has been calculated on a national basis.
Since the emergence of the Omicron variant, covid-19 vaccines are less effective at preventing people from getting infected, but they still reduce the risk of dying or needing hospitalization from the virus.
katherine sudlow Researchers at the University of Edinburgh in the UK used national health service data to determine how much vaccination would reduce hospitalizations and deaths in the summer of 2022, when most COVID-19 restrictions had ended. We investigated whether it had an impact on
Sudlow's team included data from June 1 to September 30, 2022, spanning the wave of coronavirus infections that peaked in July. During this period, 40,000 people died or required hospitalization due to the virus, all of which were classified as serious health hazards.
The team then looked at people who have received the recommended number of COVID-19 vaccines and boosters (for example, four doses for people 75 and older by that point) and those who have received fewer than the recommended number of doses. They compared rates of severe outcomes among people who received the vaccine or booster immunization. Not at all.
People who have not been fully vaccinated are more likely to develop severe disease than people who are fully vaccinated, and the exact increased risk depends on age. For example, people over the age of 75 are about three times more likely to develop severe illness from COVID-19 if they have not been fully vaccinated.
The researchers calculated that if everyone in the UK had been fully vaccinated, there would have been around 7,000 fewer deaths and hospital admissions. “Fully immunizing people will reduce adverse outcomes for society as a whole,” Sudlow said.
One caveat is that this study was not a randomized trial, which is the best medical evidence, but simply observed a correlation between vaccination status and outcome, which could bias the results. The fact is that there is, he said. stephen evans At the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Nevertheless, he says the results of studies on the vaccine's effectiveness are broadly consistent with previous randomized trials. “Their approach is a reasonable one.”
Using NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), astronomers have discovered an Earth-sized planet passing by the young Sun-like star HD 63433.
HD 63433d is located close to its parent star HD 63433, with two neighboring mini-Neptune-sized planets HD 63433b and HD 63433c orbiting further out. Image credit: Alyssa Jankowski.
HD 63433 is a G5V star located approximately 73 light years away in the constellation Gemini.
The star, also known as TOI-1726, is a member of the 414-million-year-old Moving Star Group in the Ursa Major constellation.
The newly discovered exoplanet HD 63433d is the third planet detected in this multi-planet system.
The discovery of two other planets — HD 63433b and HD 63433c (both mini-Neptunes) report By Astronomer in 2020.
The HD 63433d is tidally locked, meaning it has a day side that is always facing the stars and a side that is always in the dark.
The planet has an orbital period of 4.2 days and is very hot on its dayside (1,257 degrees Celsius, or 2,294 degrees Fahrenheit).
“These scorching temperatures are comparable to the lava world of: Corot-7b and Kepler-10bAnd we think the dayside of this planet may be a 'lava hemisphere,''' said the University of Florida astronomer. benjamin capistrant and his colleagues.
HD 63433d is the smallest known exoplanet less than 500 million years old.
The planet is also the closest Earth-sized exoplanet to be discovered at such a young age.
“HD 63433d is the closest planet to our solar system, orbiting a young star with a radius similar to Earth,” the astronomers said.
“This is therefore an attractive target for follow-up observations and provides an opportunity to uncover insights into the physics of atmospheric mass loss in exoplanets.”
“Between HD 63433d and the two larger planets known to date, the HD 63433 system is poised to play a key role in understanding the evolution of planetary systems during the first billion years after their formation. I am.”
The discovery of HD 63433d is paper inside astronomy magazine.
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Benjamin K. Capistrant other. 2024. TESS Search for Young and Mature Exoplanets (THYME). 11. An Earth-sized planet orbiting a nearby Sun-like host in the 400 million Ursa Majoris migration group. A.J. 167, 54; doi: 10.3847/1538-3881/ad1039
Brazilian anthropologist reconstructs ancient human face Homolonghi This comes from a well-preserved skull discovered in northeastern China in the 1930s.
portrait of Homolonghi. Image credit: Cicero Moraes, doi: 10.6084/m9.figshare.24648591.
Homolonghi It is an extinct species of the genus homo It lived in Asia during the Middle Pleistocene.
The species, also known as dragon man, was identified from a nearly complete skull dating back 148,000 years.
This fossil was discovered in 1933 when a bridge was being built over the Songhua River in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China.
Due to unsystematic recoveries and long periods of time, information about the exact location and fossil layers has been lost.
Harbin's skull is huge, larger than all other archaic humans. It is also relatively long and low, lacking the spherical shape of modern human brain cases.
It has larger, almost square eye sockets, thick eyebrow ridges, a wide mouth, and oversized teeth.
Its intracranial volume is estimated to be 1,420 ml; homo sapiens Neanderthals, and bigger than before homo seed.
This specimen, also known as the Harbin skull, probably represents a man less than 50 years old.
front view portrait of Homolonghi. Image credit: Cicero Moraes, doi: 10.6084/m9.figshare.24648591.
“Uranium series dating gives the fossil a reliable date of 148,000 years ago, and its remarkable dimensions mean the skull is larger than all known archaic hominin skulls. ” he said. Cicero Moraesresearcher at the Ortogonline Treinamento em Desenvolvimento Profissional e Consultoria LTDA.
Regarding face approximation, Homo longhiMoraes used not only Harbin's skull, but also a computed tomography (CT) scan of Harbin's skull. homo erectus, homo sapiens and pan-troglodytes.
“Forensic facial reconstruction, or forensic facial approximation, is an auxiliary recognition technique that reconstructs/approximates the face in a skull, and is used when there is little information to identify an individual based on the remains. ” explained Moraes.
portrait side view Homolonghi. Image credit: Cicero Moraes, doi: 10.6084/m9.figshare.24648591.
“To be able to approximate the face, the jaw and missing teeth had to be reconstructed,” he added.
“For this purpose, we need a complete skull. homo erectus Teeth that underwent some structural modifications and were precisely adjusted in the tooth area were used. ”
“The remaining molars served as parameters for aligning other teeth as well as the alveolus in the upper jaw.”
“Thanks to the wide range of information obtained in previous studies, the reconstruction of the fossil and face is now possible. HomolonghiIn addition to undertaking some measurements and comparisons in the context of other species,” concluded Moraes.
of result Published in an online journal OrtogOnLineMag.
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Cicero Moraes. 2023. Facial shortcuts Homo longhi (Harbin, China, approximately 148,000 AP). OrtogOnLineMag 4(2); doi: 10.6084/m9.figshare.24648591
New research from the University of Bristol has revealed the origin of titanium-rich basaltic magma on the Moon.
A map of titanium abundance on the moon's surface from NASA's Clementine spacecraft. The red area shows a very high concentration compared to terrestrial rocks. Image credit: Lunar and Planetary Institute.
The presence of surprisingly high concentrations of the element titanium (Ti) on parts of the moon's surface has been known since NASA's Apollo missions back in the 1960s and 1970s. The mission successfully recovered samples of solidified ancient lava from the moon's crust.
Recent maps from orbiting satellites show that these magmas, known as titanium-rich basalts, are widespread on the moon's surface.
Professor Tim Elliott and colleagues at the University of Bristol have used advanced isotopic analysis of lunar samples in a series of high-temperature lava labs to identify key reactions that control the composition of these characteristic magmas.
This reaction occurred about 3.5 billion years ago deep inside the moon, replacing elements of iron in the magma with elements of magnesium in the surrounding rock, changing the chemical and physical properties of the melt.
“The origin of the Moon's volcanic rocks is a fascinating story involving an 'avalanche' of unstable, planetary-scale piles of crystals produced by the cooling of a primordial magma ocean,” Professor Elliott said.
“Central to this epic history is the presence of a type of magma unique to the Moon, which explains how such magma reached the surface to be sampled on space missions. It was a tricky problem to solve. I'm really glad we were able to resolve this dilemma.”
“Until now, models have not been able to reproduce magma compositions that match the essential chemical and physical properties of high-titanium basalts,” said Dr. Martin Claver, a researcher at the Institute of Mineralogy at the University of Münster.
“Explaining that low density made eruptions possible about 3.5 billion years ago has proven particularly difficult.”
“We successfully mimicked high-titanium basalts in a laboratory process using high-temperature experiments,” the researchers said.
“Measurements of the titanium-rich basalts also revealed a unique isotopic composition, a signature of reactions that were reproduced in experiments.”
“Both results clearly demonstrate how melt-solid reactions are essential to understanding the formation of these unique magmas.”
of findings Published in today's diary natural earth science.
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M. Claver other. Titanium-rich basaltic melts exist on the lunar surface, conditioned by reactive flow processes. nut.earth science, published online on January 15, 2024. doi: 10.1038/s41561-023-01362-5
Fish caught in discarded nets in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
Ocean Voyages Institute/ZUMA Wire/Shutterstock
It was a bright sunny day in September 2023. Excitement filled the air and a rainbow appeared on the horizon as the team slowly pulled a giant net out of the glistening sea. ocean cleanup This project was trialling System 03 in the North Pacific. Basically she had two ships dragging a 2.2 kilometer long net designed to remove as much trash as possible. This time it was filmed for a promotional video, with one scoop weighing a record-breaking 18 tons.
Ocean Cleanup was founded in 2012 on the simple premise of trawling ocean plastic hotspots and mopping up floating debris. After years of testing and refining the technology, the organization says it is now ready to begin the planned cleanup of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a vast collection of plastic waste located between Hawaii and California. There is.
That sounds like a laudable goal. But in recent years, marine scientists have warned that efforts to mechanically remove plastic from the ocean are not only futile, but potentially harmful. It’s a waste, as we know that much of the ocean’s plastic waste is too small or out of reach to capture. And it’s probably harmful for two reasons. Firstly, new research shows that marine debris patches are home to all kinds of marine life, and secondly, cleanup efforts have removed such waste from its source. This is because efforts to stem the flow of the virus may be hindered.
Dengue fever is currently endemic in 100 countries, putting half of the world’s population at risk. The threat has increased dramatically, with the number of dengue fever cases increasing tenfold between 2000 and 2019, and the number of cases hitting an all-time high in 2023.
Bangladesh, Peru and Burkina Faso have all seen record outbreaks in the past 12 months, while France, Italy and Spain have also reported cases of mosquito-borne dengue fever.
What’s causing this? Scientists say global warming is making space more hospitable to insects, and that climate change is fueling the rise in this mosquito-borne viral disease. As mosquitoes become more common, we expect the time to outbreak of dengue fever to shorten and the transmission season to lengthen.
This is a worrying situation.But that’s what the sponsoring team decided world mosquito program There is a possible solution. They suggest treating mosquitoes with bacteria that can prevent the development of viruses in the body.
read more:
What are the symptoms of dengue fever?
There’s a good reason dengue fever has been labeled “breakbone fever.” 80% of cases are asymptomatic, but when symptoms develop, symptoms include high fever, muscle and joint pain, severe headache, pain behind the eyes, nausea, and vomiting.
Symptoms begin 4 to 10 days after infection and can last from 2 days to up to a week. DHF (severe dengue fever) manifests as severe abdominal pain, persistent vomiting, bleeding gums or nose, blood in the stool or vomit, pale, cold skin, and fatigue. Doctors can only alleviate these symptoms because antiviral drugs are not available.
How does dengue spread?
Dengue fever is spread through the bite of an infected female mosquito. Aedes aegypti, typically found in tropical and subtropical regions. Originating from the forests of West Africa, Aedes aegypti They spread around the world during the African slave trade and have continued to hitchhike as a means of human transportation ever since.
other Aedes Other species can also transmit dengue fever, although to a lesser extent. The highly invasive Asian tiger mosquito is the likely cause of dengue infections in Europe. Unlike malaria mosquitoes, which usually bite at night and can be prevented with insecticide-treated bed nets, dengue mosquitoes bite during the day and are very difficult to control.
Mosquitoes are now highly urbanized creatures, admirably adapted to coexist with humans, their preferred blood source. In cities, stagnant water is key to survival, providing spawning grounds and habitat for aquatic larval and pupal development. Mosquitoes breed in small puddles in garbage, used tires, and man-made containers such as flower pots. Thus, humans have been the main driving force behind the success of the dengue mosquito.
How can we fight the spread of infection?
Dengue prevention requires a multipronged attack on mosquitoes, with a focus on insecticide spraying. However, insecticide resistance is developing in mosquito populations around the world, threatening their effectiveness.
what else? Control strategies also include adaptations to eliminate breeding sites or prevent reproduction. Aedes aegypti Prevent spawning in stagnant water (remove debris that could trap water and install covers on water storage containers).
Bacterial toxins are also applied to bodies of water to kill mosquito larvae. These strategies are labor intensive because it is difficult to identify, treat, and eliminate all breeding sites. Therefore, new methods of mosquito control are desperately needed.
The World Mosquito Program (WMP) has devised a non-chemical and non-GMO-based approach for dengue control. Bacteria called Wolbachia which occurs naturally in many insect species; Aedes aegypti.
WMP was found to be “infected”. Aedes aegypti and Wolbachia Prevented the onset of dengue virus in adult women. From a logistical point of view, this method is self-sustaining. Wolbachia It can spread to wild populations because it infects eggs through mating.
WMP reports a significant decrease in dengue cases. Aedes aegypti carry Wolbachia has been released.given that Aedes aegypti Since Zika and Chikungunya viruses are also transmitted, WMP has developed a potential “three-for-one” method of disease control.
It’s no exaggeration to say that mosquitoes are the most hated insects, but despite their notoriety, only a handful of the 3,500 species of mosquitoes transmit disease. They are also important to the ecosystem.
Mosquitoes are a food source for fish, frogs, reptiles, bats, and birds, and they are also pollinators, as male insects suck nectar from flowers (only females drink blood). The WMP approach is species-specific and targeted only. Aedes aegyptiThis is in contrast to the “blunt force” approach with insecticides, which can affect insects other than the target.
The climate change trajectory we are currently on is leading to rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns, which will benefit this terrifying little insect and her viral cargo. Therefore, we need as many weapons as possible in our arsenal to combat the growing global dengue threat.
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has taken new photos of the relatively small galaxy UGC 5189A in the constellation Leo.
This Hubble image shows UGC 5189A, an irregular galaxy about 150 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / A. Filippenko.
UGC 5189A It is located approximately 150 million light years away in the constellation Leo.
This galaxy, also known as ECO 5363 or LEDA 27776, was observed by Hubble in 2010 to study supernova explosions.
This special supernova SN2010jlwas notable for its enormous brightness.
“In fact, over a three-year period, SN 2010jl alone emitted at least 2.5 billion times more visible energy than the Sun emitted in the same time frame across all wavelengths,” Hubble astronomers said.
“Even after a supernova has dimmed to an unobservable level, it can still be interesting to study the environment in which it occurred.”
“This could provide us with valuable information. Supernovae can occur for a variety of reasons, and understanding the environment in which they occur can help us understand why supernovae are triggered. It will help you better understand the necessary conditions.”
“Furthermore, follow-up studies after a supernova explosion could improve our understanding of the immediate aftermath of a supernova explosion, from the powerful effects on the surrounding gas and dust to the stellar debris left behind by the supernova.”
“To this end, UGC 5189A has been observed by Hubble many times since 2010.”
This new image of UGC 5189A consists of observations from. Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) Found in the ultraviolet and optical parts of the spectrum.
Two filters were used to sample different wavelengths. Color is obtained by assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter.
“This image is from data collected in three recent Hubble studies of UGC 5189A, which also examined several other relatively nearby galaxies that have recently gone supernova. “Relatively nearby” in this context means approximately 100 million light years away. ” said the astronomers.
Fossilized skin fragments collected from the Richards Spur Cave system in Oklahoma, US, are at least 21 million years older than any previously reported skin fossil.
Fossilized skin is captorinus aguti.Image credit: Moony other., doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.12.008.
The newly described fossilized skin is captorinus agutia type of early reptile that lived during the Permian period about 289 million years ago.
This reptile specimen and associated skeleton were collected by long-time paleontology enthusiasts Bill and Julie May. Richards Spara limestone cave system in Oklahoma that is currently undergoing quarrying.
The skin fragments are smaller than fingernails and have a pebble-like surface, most similar to crocodile skin.
This is the earliest preserved example of the epidermis, the outermost layer of skin, in terrestrial reptiles, birds, and mammals, and was an important evolutionary adaptation in the transition to terrestrial life.
“Every once in a while, we have a unique opportunity to glimpse deep into time,” said Ethan Mooney, a graduate student at the University of Toronto.
“Discoveries of this kind can really enrich our understanding and appreciation of these pioneering animals.”
Skin and other soft tissue rarely fossilize, but Mooney and colleagues say that this is possible thanks to unique features of the Richards Spur Cave system, including fine clay deposits that slow decomposition, oil seepage, and a cave environment. We believe that in this case it was possible to save the skin. It was probably an environment without oxygen.”
“Animals would have fallen into this cave system during the early Permian period and become buried in very fine clay sediments, slowing down the process of decay,” Mooney said.
“What is surprising, however, is that this cave system was also the site of an active oil seepage during the Permian, and the interaction of the hydrocarbons in the oil with the tar is likely what enabled the preservation of this surface. is.”
Analysis of the specimens revealed epidermal tissue, a characteristic of the skin of amniotes, a group of terrestrial vertebrates that includes reptiles, birds and mammals that evolved from amphibian ancestors during the Carboniferous Period.
“What we saw was completely different from what we expected, so we were in complete shock,” Mooney said.
“Finding ancient skin fossils like this is a unique opportunity to peer into the past and learn what the skin of these early animals looked like.”
The skin shares features with ancient and extant reptiles, including a pebble surface similar to crocodile skin and hinge areas between epidermal scales similar to the skin structure of snakes and earthworm lizards.
However, because the skin fossils are not associated with skeletons or other artifacts, it is not possible to determine which species or body part the skin belonged to.
The fact that this ancient skin resembles the skin of reptiles living today shows how important these structures are for survival in terrestrial environments.
“The epidermis was an important feature for vertebrates to survive on land. It is an important barrier between internal processes and the harsh external environment,” Mooney said.
“This skin may represent the skin structure of an early amniote terrestrial vertebrate ancestor that allowed for the eventual evolution of feathers in birds and hair follicles in mammals.”
Ethan D. Mooney other. Paleozoic cave systems preserve the earliest known evidence of amniote skin. current biology, published online on January 11, 2024. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.12.008
Mink are currently being spotted across the UK after escaping from fur farms or being released by animal activists
Roy Waller/Alamy
Wildlife conservation groups aim to eradicate the invasive American mink from all parts of the UK after removing it from parts of the country during a three-year trial. This includes a new approach that uses the odor of the mink's anal glands to lure them into clever traps, making it the first time in the world that the animals have been eradicated from a large area.
“Until about a month ago, we didn't think mink had been eradicated anywhere,” said association president Tony Martin. Waterlife Recovery Trust, organized the trial with volunteers. “Then we found reports of them being exterminated on a small island off the coast of Estonia, but nothing on this scale. This is an order of magnitude larger.”
Mink are small semi-aquatic predators related to weasels and are often farmed for their fur. Over the past century, the American mink (Neo Gale Vizon) is native to North America and has spread to many parts of Europe and South America.
There, the small European mink (Itachi Lutreola) Native to continental Europe.
Mr Martin said the idea of eradicating mink was previously considered completely unbelievable and attributed the success of the Waterlife Recovery Trust's attempt to two innovations. First, they use traps equipped with devices that detect when something is caught and alert the volunteer in charge. “This means you don't have to go to the traps every day,” Martin says.
This is especially important at the end of eradication efforts, he says, when mink may not be captured for months and volunteers are tired of checking traps every day. It is also more humane because traps are readily available and mink can be killed immediately.
The second innovation is the use of scent harvested from the anal glands of captive mink as bait. This makes the trap more attractive to mink and less likely to catch other animals.
In 2020, around 500 traps were set in an area of 6,000 square kilometers covering most of East Anglia. Currently, only traps on the border between the test area and other areas where mink still exist are capturing mink, Martin said. On January 15, the Waterlife Recovery Trust announced that its trials were successful in eradicating mink from designated areas.
The trust has already been given £500,000 by government agency Natural England to expand its eradication efforts to wider areas of the country, with the aim of eradicating mink from across the UK.
“We now know we can do this,” said Martin, who previously led a successful effort to eradicate rats from South Georgia. How long it takes depends on how many traps you can set, he says.
The same approach would work in continental Europe and South America, he says. “With proper planning, any size can work.”
NASA/JPL-California Institute of Technology/Stephane Le Mouelik, Virginia Pasek
Saturn’s moon Titan is home to strange “magical islands” that appear and disappear over hours to weeks. These so-called islands are actually porous, sponge-like masses of snow that can slowly fill with liquid before sinking.
Titan’s thick atmosphere is filled with complex organic molecules that can clump together and fall to the moon’s surface like snow. Sintin Yu Researchers at the University of Texas at San Antonio thought that snow could be the cause of the magical islands. To test their idea, they took advantage of what we know about these atmospheric compounds and how they are expected to interact with Titan’s oceans.
Titan’s liquid is methane, not water, so any solids on the surface of these oceans would normally be expected to sink quickly. Water molecules tend to stick together and displace other substances, but methane easily sticks to other molecules, so the surface tension of a pool of liquid methane is very low.
“Water molecules just love themselves by excluding certain molecules,” he says. michael marasca from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California was not involved in the study. “But if you put methane on the same surface, it will start crawling all over the place.” That means Titan’s methane oceans and lakes should immediately swallow up any solids that are expected to float. It means that.
But that clearly won’t happen on the magical island, which appeared as a temporary bright spot in observations from the Cassini spacecraft. “For us to see magical islands, they cannot float briefly and then immediately sink,” Yu said in the paper. statement. “You have to stay afloat for a while, but not forever.”
Researchers have found a solution to this problem. When large amounts of snow accumulate on the coast, they can form sponge-like, porous ice. Once these porous “icebergs” separated from the land, they could float in Titan’s oceans for long enough to rival Cassini’s observations. The researchers calculated that this would work if the sponge-like structure contained enough free space (at least about 25 to 50 percent, depending on the exact composition of the ice).
However, this does not mean that these mysterious islands are definitely porous icebergs. “We’re narrowing down different scenarios for the magical island, but we don’t know the answer yet,” Malasca says. Other possible explanations include nitrogen gas bubbles, waves caused by wind or solid ocean deposits. However, this provides evidence that Titan’s temporary islands may actually be suspended matter from this strange world’s atmosphere.
The United States is currently in the midst of an outbreak of the new coronavirus. JN.1 variant That's driving up hospitalizations and deaths across the country. But for most people, the new variant does not seem to cause worsening of symptoms.
That's why many people are wondering whether they should keep swabbing their nasal passages for coronavirus tests at the first sign of nasal congestion or pain. How well do rapid at-home tests work against new variants?
Here's what you need to know:
Do I still need to take a Covid test?
Influenza and some cold viruses are also circulating along with the new coronavirus. So there is good reason to know which virus you have, especially if you are at high risk of becoming seriously ill.
“It's important to know whether you have COVID-19, influenza, or a completely non-viral infection such as strep throat,” said Dr. Abrar Karan, an infectious disease physician at Stanford University. Because they have different treatments.” “There are different treatments for each, and the sooner you receive treatment, the better the results.”
If you're a healthy 25-year-old, there’s still some value in getting tested. For example, if you have someone in your household with a weakened immune system or someone who is battling cancer, it is important to isolate them to see if they have COVID-19.
“Remember that all of these viral and bacterial infections are transmissible differently and get sick differently,” Curran said.
Joseph Petrosino, a professor of molecular biology and microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine, said while there may not be much need for young, healthy people to get tested at home, they should be tested for the coronavirus just in case. He acknowledged that it might be helpful to know. Eventually, the symptoms will persist.
“Some people, even healthy people, runners and people who train, can get a prolonged COVID-19 infection,” he said. “We really don't know. It's difficult to predict based solely on comorbidity factors.”
Otherwise, for people at low risk, a positive coronavirus test does not change treatment much. Whether you have coronavirus, a cold or the flu, get plenty of rest, stay hydrated, and stay away from others.
How will new variants impact testing?
Experts say there is no data showing the JN.1 variant affects the results of rapid home tests.
“We have not seen anything to suggest that the new variant has evaded test detection,” Curran said. “Certainly, similar things have happened in the past with other diagnostics early in the pandemic, but right now tests should be able to detect these mutations.”
Susan Butler Wu, a clinical pathologist at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, said she hasn't seen any data on this particular variant, but if it's similar to other variants, it’s not a problem. Rapid tests actually look for parts of the virus that are less likely to mutate and bypass testing.
“There's always the fear that a mutation will occur and the test won't work, but so far that hasn't really happened,” Butler-Wu said.
When is the best time to test?
An individual's viral load is highest early in a pandemic, when most people first develop symptoms, either after infection or before they have developed any immunity from vaccines.
Now, one researcher says that virus levels may actually be at their highest in the first few days of illness. study It was published last fall in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases by researchers at Harvard Medical School. They found that in people with pre-existing immunity, virus levels peaked around the fourth day after symptoms appeared.
This means that if you are tested in the early stages of the disease, it may turn out to be negative.
“Their symptoms may be caused by an immune response,” Curran said. “That means there's inflammation going on, which is causing the symptoms, and that's preventing the virus from multiplying as quickly. That's why the initial test could be negative.”
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still recommends getting tested immediately if you think you have been infected with the coronavirus and have symptoms such as a stuffy nose, cough, or body aches.
The CDC says to wait five days if you are infected but have no symptoms.
Butler-Wu says there is a misconception that rapid tests are “one-and-done”.
“If you have symptoms and your first test was negative, you should test again,” she says.
Official guidance from the CDC is to get a rapid test if you have symptoms and then test again 48 hours later if you test negative.
The test result was positive. Does that mean I'm contagious?
A rapid at-home test is a good way to find out if someone is contagious.
Simply put, rapid tests require higher levels of virus to be positive, and higher virus levels usually mean you're more contagious.
However, the test has some limitations.
Curran said they can be a good surrogate for contagiousness in the early stages of the disease, but are not as reliable at the end of the disease.
Rapid tests have shown positive results, but data shows the virus could not be cultured when samples were taken from people. That means those people are less likely to be contagious, Curran said.
2022 study Researchers at Harvard Medical School suggested that only half of people who test positive after five days are actually infectious.
“Even after that period, even if you test positive on a rapid test, there is no guarantee that you are still contagious.”
Understanding time can be challenging, as Einstein demonstrated time’s relativity and how it can be experienced differently based on an object’s speed. But what about the animals’ experience of time? Many animals around the world have lived incredibly long lives, defying the odds. So, what is the world’s longest-living animal species?
Scientists have been studying the secrets of longevity, and the species on this list may offer hints about living longer and healthier lives in the future. Let’s take a look at some of the world’s longest-living creatures.
Humans are the longest-lived land mammals
A photo of Jeanne Calment in 1995 at the age of 120. Photo courtesy: Pascal Parrot/Sygma/Getty Images
A photo depicts Jeanne Calment, recognized as the world’s oldest person, who lived an astonishing life of 122 years and 164 days. Despite smoking after every meal, she attributed her long life to her lack of stress and her sense of humor. She passed away in 1997 at the age of 117, outliving her only daughter and grandson, who both died much younger.
The longest-lived aquatic creature – glass sponge
Stalked vitreous cavernoma (hexatinerid) of Borosoma photographed at Maruru Seamount.Photo credit: National Marine Sanctuary/Wikipedia
One of the longest-lived creatures on Earth is the vitreous cavernosa, estimated to live up to 15,000 years. Found in all oceans, its unique ability to generate electrical impulses throughout its body sets it apart from other species.
The longest-living bird – Parrot Cookie
Cookie the pink parrot, photographed at Brookfield Zoo, USA, in 2008. Photo: Nimesh Madhavan/Wikipedia
Cookie, a male pink parrot recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records, lived to the age of 83. He outlived the next longest-living pink parrot by 52 years.
Longest living rodent – naked mole rat
Close-up of a naked mole rat (Heterocepalus glaber) in its underground burrow.Photo courtesy: Getty Images
Naked mole rats, known for surviving 18 minutes without oxygen and resistance to cancer, are burrowing rodents with long lifespans. One male was reported to have lived 37 years, making it the longest-living rodent on the planet.
The longest-lived invertebrate – ocean quahog
The oldest marine quahog is thought to be over 500 years old and is known as “Min”.Photo courtesy of Bangor University
The ocean quahog’s age is estimated by counting its shell stripes, with one specimen found to be 507 years old. It was named “Ming” after the Ming dynasty that ruled China when it was born.
The longest-lived turtle – Aldabra giant tortoise
Adwaita, a giant Aldabra tortoise, rests in a cage at Alipore Zoo in Kolkata, India, on April 25, 2005. Photo by Deshakalyan Chowdhury/AFP/Getty Images
The Aldabra giant tortoise is the longest-living turtle, with the oldest individual reaching 255 years. It is a species native to the Seychelles’ Aldabra Atoll, known for its large population living in the world’s largest turtle habitat.
Longest living fish – Greenland shark
Greenland shark or Greenland sleeper shark (Somniosus microcepalus) swimming along the St. Lawrence River estuary in Canada.Photo credit: Alamy
The Greenland shark, estimated to live to between 252 and 512 years, is the longest-lived shark species due to its slow metabolism in cold oceans.
The longest-lived dog – Bobbi
A photo taken on February 12, 2023 shows Bobi, the world’s oldest dog according to Guinness World Records, at her home in the village of Conqueiros, near Leiria, Portugal.Photo by Patricia de Melo Moreira/AFP/Getty Images
Bobi, a purebred Rafeiro de Alentejo, lived to the age of 31, surpassing previous records as the oldest dog in history. However, there are claims that this age may be incorrect.
New AI has revealed unexpected discoveries. Surprisingly, your fingerprints aren’t as unique as previously thought.
Well, at least when compared to each other. It has long been believed that fingerprints on different fingers of the same person are unique. In other words, the fingerprint on your index finger bears little resemblance to the fingerprint on your thumb.
This belief that “intrapersonal fingerprints” are unique has had a major impact on forensic science. For example, if a criminal leaves different finger prints at different crime scenes, it is difficult for police to link them to one person.
But a new “deep contrast network” artificial intelligence built by scientists at Columbia University could leave a big mark on future crime scenes. The researchers found that they could make predictions after training on a database of 60,000 fingerprints. Two prints are from the same person with 77% accuracy.
This number would rise even more if the AI was fed other fingerprints from the same hand. Researchers say this breakthrough could improve current forensic efficiency by more than 10 times.
“Imagine how well this would work [AI] “If it’s trained on millions of fingerprints instead of thousands, it will work,” said Anib Ray, engineering senior at Columbia.
Dr. Hod Lipson“If this information tipped the balance, I imagine there would be a resurgence of cold cases and even innocent people could be exonerated,” said the author, who oversaw the study.
So what has AI discovered that forensic scientists have missed for decades? Unlike traditional fingerprint comparisons, AI detects “minutiae,” or similarities between the branches and ends of fingerprint ridges. was not focused on. Instead, they focused on the angles and curvature of the whorls and loops at the center of the fingerprint.
Fingerprints are examined by minutiae (L) and central ridge angle (R). – Photo credit: Columbia University.
“Many people think that AI can’t actually make new discoveries, it just regurgitates knowledge,” Lipson says. “However, this study shows that even very simple AI, based on very simple datasets that the research community has had lying around for years, provides insights that have eluded experts for decades. This is an example of how we can deliver.”
After all, the fingerprints on your fingers may not be that different from each other, but it is unlikely to be shared with others. In fact, the chances that two people share the same fingerprint are estimated to be less than 1 in 64 billion. This means that probably more than 1 million years two people with identical fingerprints happen to appear in Scotland Yard’s fingerprint database.
Identical twins also have unique patterns. This is because the bumps on your fingers are determined not only by your DNA, but also by how you developed as a fetus. The length of the umbilical cord, its position in the uterus, blood pressure, nutrition, and rate of finger growth all play a role.
Gorillas, chimpanzees, and koalas are some of the animals that have been found to have unique markings.
discovery of Tyrannosaurus macraiensissister species of the famous one tyrannosaurus rexsuggests that tyrannosaurid dinosaurs originated from Laramidia, an island continent that existed between 100 million and 66 million years ago and stretched from present-day Alaska to Mexico.
rebuilding the life of Tyrannosaurus McClain. Image credit: Sergey Krasovskiy.
“Tyrannosaur dinosaurs were the dominant predators of North America and Asia during the Late Cretaceous period,” said Dr. Sebastian Dalman of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science and his colleagues.
“Evolved from a diminutive ancestor in the mid-Cretaceous period, became an apex predator in the late Cretaceous period, and eventually tyrannosaurus”
“tyrannosaurusWith a sturdy skeleton and powerful bone-crushing jaws, this animal was the dominant carnivore of the late Maastrichtian period in western North America. ”
“Grows up to 12 meters long and weighs 10 tons, tyrannosaurus It was the largest terrestrial predator of its time, and perhaps of all time. ”
“where and when Tyrannosaurini (tyrannosaurus and relatives) origin remains unknown. Competing hypotheses place its origin in Asia or western North America (Laramidia). ”
The newly identified species is Tyrannosaurus McClainlived in what is now the United States 71 million to 73 million years ago, or 5 million to 7 million years ago. tyrannosaurus.
The fossilized partial skull of this dinosaur was discovered in the Hall Lake Formation in New Mexico.
Although the specimens were initially assigned; tyrannosaurus and its size is tyrannosaurusPaleontologists have proposed that the specimen belongs to a new species, due to several subtle differences in the shape and joints between the specimen and the skull. tyrannosaurus.
Analysis of the relationship between Tyrannosaurus McClain and other theropod dinosaur species. Tyrannosaurus McClain It may have been a sister species of tyrannosaurusmaking it the closest known relative. tyrannosaurus.
The authors suggest that Tyrannosaurini may have originated in southern Laramidia, an island continent that existed between 100 million and 66 million years ago and stretched from present-day Alaska to Mexico.
Additionally, Tyrannosaurus, along with other giant dinosaurs of southern Laramidia such as ceratopsians, hadrosaurs and titanosaurs, may have evolved to large body sizes by about 72 million years ago, the researchers say. is suggesting.
They speculate that the evolution of giant tyrannosaurines may have been driven by the enormous body size of the herbivores they preyed on in southern Laramidia.
“The evolution of giant tyrannosaurs in southern North America suggests that large dinosaurs evolved at lower latitudes in North America, along with giant ceratopsians, hadrosaurs, and titanosaurs.” said.
of study It was published in the magazine scientific report.
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SG Dalman other. 2023. Giant tyrannosaurs that lived in southern North America from the Campanian to the Maastrichtian and the evolution of giant tyrannosaurids. science officer 13, 22124; doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-47011-0
Archaeologists in the Amazon have discovered a series of “lost cities” that have flourished for thousands of years, the results of which were published Thursday in the journal Science.
Laser images have revealed an intricate network of roads, districts, and gardens as complex as those built by the Maya civilization.
Traces of the city were first noticed more than 20 years ago by archaeologist Stephane Rostain of France's National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), but “I didn't have a complete overview of the area,” he told Science. Told.
A new laser mapping technology called LIDAR helped researchers see through forest cover and map new details of mounds and structures in Ecuador's Upano Valley settlement.
The images reveal a geometric pattern of more than 6,000 platforms connected by roads, intertwined with the agricultural landscape and river drainage channels of an urban farming civilization in the eastern foothills of the Andes.
“It was the Valley of the Lost City. It's unbelievable,” Rostain, who is leading the investigation at CNRS, told The Associated Press.
The image shows a main street cutting through the city area, forming an axis around which a complex of rectangular platforms is placed around a low square. Antoine Dollison, Stéphane Lotay/AP
These sites were built and inhabited by the Upano people between about 500 BC and 300-600 AD, but the size of their population is not yet known.
The research team found five large settlements and 10 smaller settlements with housing and ceremonial buildings across 116 square miles of the valley. Its size is comparable to other major ruins. For example, the core area of Quilamope, one of the settlements, is as large as the Giza Plateau in Egypt or the main thoroughfare of Teotihuacan in Mexico.
The landscape of Upano societies may be comparable to Mayan “garden cities,” where homes were surrounded by farmland and most of the food consumed by residents was grown in the city, the authors write in Science. Told.
Co-author Fernando Mejia, an archaeologist at the Pontifical University of Ecuador, said the discovery of Upano was so far only the “tip of the iceberg” of what could be discovered in the Ecuadorian Amazon.
The Amazon is considered the world's most dangerous forest, home to dense towering trees, tangled vines, hostile wildlife, and poisonous insects. Archaeologists believed it was primarily suitable for hunter-gatherers, but inhospitable to complex civilizations.
But over the past two decades, scientists have discovered evidence of human habitation, including mounds, hillforts, and pyramids, in the Amazon River from Bolivia to Brazil.
The newly mapped city in the Upano Valley is 1,000 years older than previous discoveries, including the Bolivian Amazonian society Llanos de Mojos. The discovery shattered what scientists previously believed about civilizations in the Amazon rainforest.
And the details of the cultures of these two places are only just beginning to emerge.
German researcher Carla Jaimes Betancourt, an expert on Llanos de Mojos, told Science that the people of both Upano Valley and Llanos de Mojos were farmers. They built roads, canals, and large public and ceremonial buildings. But “we're just beginning to understand how these cities functioned, their populations, who they traded with, how their societies were governed, etc.” she said.
Rostain emphasized how much remains to be revealed. “We say 'Amazonia,' but we should say 'Amazonia' to capture the diversity of ancient cultures in this region,” he says.
“The Amazon has always had an incredibly diverse range of people and settlements, and there is not just one way of life,” he added. “We're still learning more about them.”
Fingerprints from two fingers on the same hand may look different, but AI can find basic similarities
Andrey Kuzmin/Shutterstock
Artificial intelligence can accurately identify whether fingerprints left by different fingers belong to the same person. This helps forensic investigators determine whether one person was at separate crime scenes.
Current technology can only match fingerprints left by the same finger. However, previous research suggests that all human fingertips may have fundamental similarities.
So, Gabe Guo Researchers at Columbia University in New York trained a machine learning model to determine whether fingerprints from different fingers can be identified as belonging to the same person. More than 50,000 fingerprints from around 1,000 people were used in the training. Samples were obtained from public databases at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the University at Buffalo, New York. All fingerprints either belonged to deceased individuals or were anonymized from those living.
The team then tested the trained model on another set of more than 7,000 fingerprints from about 150 people. They evaluated the model using a statistical measure that estimates accuracy on a scale of 0 to 1. The researchers found that the model's score was greater than 0.75. This suggests that the model can reliably identify whether fingerprints from different fingers belong to the same person.
This technology has the potential to improve the efficiency of forensic investigations. “It could be useful if fingerprints found at multiple crime scenes don't match anyone in the database,” he says. ralph listenbutt at Pennsylvania State University. “Is the person who left fingerprints at this particular crime scene the same person who left them?” [different] What about this other crime scene print? ”
However, “the accuracy is not sufficient at this time.” [for this model] The court will have to decide this,” Guo said.
“If this is actually used for legal purposes, it will require professional retraining. [bigger] database” Hod Lipsonalso part of the research team at Columbia University.
It is now confirmed that the previous year has been noted as the warmest year in the history of the Earth.
The average land and ocean surface temperature in 2023 will be 2.12 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th century average, surpassing the next closest temperature in 2016, as stated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in a Friday press conference with NASA.
The troubling records set in 2023 don’t stop there. The amount of heat stored in the upper ocean is at an all-time high, and Antarctica’s sea ice is at the lowest level on record. World temperature records date back to 1850.
This announcement did not come as a surprise to those closely following the climatological record but it does highlight the rapid changes occurring in the world as climate change and excessive greenhouse gas emissions continue to transform our planet.
According to NOAA, the past decade has been the warmest decade in modern history. Scientists predict that the Earth will continue to warm until world leaders effectively limit the use of fossil fuels.
The magnitude of the temperature change in 2023 surprised scientists, especially in comparison to the expectations for the year.
“We are observing this and, frankly, we’re surprised,” said Gavin Schmidt, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies. “The prediction we had at the beginning of the year was that this year would be pretty much on trend and there was a slim chance of a record because we were starting out in La Niña phase. That didn’t work out.”
Land and ocean temperatures exceeded previous records by about 0.27 degrees Fahrenheit.
“That’s really big. Most records are set in a few hundredths of a degree. This is a huge leap forward,” said Russell Vohs, NOAA’s director of climate monitoring and evaluation.
Schmidt said researchers do not fully understand why average temperatures have risen so much, and more research is needed to understand why 2023 was such a significant outlier.
“More research is needed to understand what happened in 2023,” Schmidt said. “I’m baffled by the results so far. Oh my goodness, it’s been another record year.”
Temperatures in the U.S. reached the fifth-highest level of the year, according to NOAA. Severe weather caused record losses in the US, with government agencies reporting $28 billion in disasters, six more than the previous record.
On Friday, the World Meteorological Organization also confirmed that 2023 will be the warmest year in global temperatures. WMO compared six climate datasets produced by different organizations, and all six ranked 2023 as the warmest year on record.
The group said El Niño, a natural climate pattern that releases heat from the ocean into the atmosphere, could contribute to record heat in 2023 and dictate this year’s weather.
“The shift from a cooling La Niña to a warming El Niño by mid-2023 is clearly reflected in the increase in temperatures since last year. El Niño typically has its greatest impact after global temperatures peak. 2024 could be even hotter given the global warming,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Sauro. “While El Niño events occur naturally and come and go from year to year, long-term climate change is intensifying and is unquestionably the result of human activity.”
NOAA estimates there is a one in three chance that 2024 will be warmer than 2023.
These exquisite images show starlings swirling and swooping to create dramatic cloud-like flocks known as murmurs.Photographer Seiren SolcareBest known for his portraits of Björk and Paul McCartney, these are from his new photo collection.
As a child growing up in southern Denmark near the Wadden Sea, Solker was fascinated by the murmurs of starlings. Returning several years later, he witnessed large flocks of these birds being attacked by peregrine falcons. “The shapes and formations the flock created to ward off attacking birds of prey amazed me. They were beautiful and dramatic, like ink paintings or calligraphy,” he says.
Black Sun #50
Seiren Solcare
After three years of photographing the phenomenon known as the “black sun” in Denmark, he expanded the project to other parts of Europe. What is shown in the main image is Black Sun #145, photographed over Rome's Piazza Venezia from a nearby rooftop. Moving clockwise, Black Sun #50, The top photo was taken in Glastonbury, England, and the bottom photo was taken in Glastonbury, England. Black Sun #230taken early one morning on the Italian island of Sardinia, as the birds were leaving their roost.
Black Sun #230
Seiren Solcare
“I believe that patterns in nature speak to us as humans on a deep and universal level,” Solkar says. “Experiencing these pure forms creates joy and recognition. To me, they seem to form a kind of language that many people can relate to. We want to inspire a deeper connection with ourselves.”
These images are featured in his new book starlingIt is a sequel. black sun. Solkær's photo is National Nordic MuseumSeattle, through March 10.
Some of the yeasts used to brew Guinness today are descendants of those used in 1903.
Artur Widak/NurPhoto SRL/Alamy
The yeast strain used to brew Guinness, Ireland's traditional stout, is genetically different from the yeast strains used to make other Irish beers.
Brewer's yeast (budding yeast) is an essential element in beer production. During fermentation, these microorganisms convert sugars from malt into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Using different strains of this yeast can result in different types of beer, such as stouts and lagers, and can also affect its flavor profile.
Daniel Kerruish A research team from food and drink company Diageo Ireland Unlimited has determined which yeasts are used to brew Guinness, based on records kept by the Guinness brewery since 1903 of the yeast strains used in its malty, bitter stout. investigated its evolution over many years.
The research team compared the genomes of 13 strains. S. cerevisiae There are up to 160 different strains, including those currently or historically used to brew Guinness, and six used by other Irish breweries.
Although Guinness yeast and other Irish brewer's yeasts belonged to the same lineage, Kerruish and his team discovered that they were genetically distinct enough that Guinness yeast belonged to a previously unidentified subpopulation. Did. Irish brewer's yeasts, other than Guinness, were more closely related to strains of British origin.
Guinness strains were also found to produce a particular balance of flavor compounds, including 4-vinylguaiacol, which produces a subtle clove-like aroma, and diacetyl, which imparts a buttery taste.
The research team also discovered that the two strains currently used in Guinness are descendants of the strain used to brew stout in 1903.
“The more we learn about Guinness yeast, the more we realize how unique and special it is,” says Keluisch. “Guinness is a great beer, so it probably won’t surprise you.”
“What's particularly unique and exciting about this study is that the company has very detailed records of past handling of the strains,” he says. brian gibson at the Technical University of Berlin, Germany. “This information could be used to further develop these yeasts and others used in industrial applications.”
Over the past four years, we’ve learned tough lessons about the balancing act of public health. Recent coronavirus research has highlighted the need to carefully weigh the benefits and harms of any action taken to mitigate the impact of the disease.
We need clarity on what has worked and what hasn’t in the fight against the coronavirus. One objective of a study was to understand more about this. Here’s what was found out…
Was the spread of the new coronavirus in nursing homes inevitable?
Early in the pandemic, being a resident or staff member in a care home carried the highest risk of death from coronavirus. The virus spread to nursing homes as elderly patients were discharged to make room for new hospitalizations. It was nearly impossible to stop infectious diseases from spreading within nursing homes, even if all patients were tested before being transferred to hospital, as tests can be negative until the person becomes infectious.
Did the personal protective equipment really work?
The importance of personal protective equipment (PPE) to reduce the risk of infection in hospitals and nursing homes was widely accepted even before COVID-19. The lack of availability of PPE was one of the main factors influencing coronavirus transmission in nursing homes.
Early in the pandemic, the benefits and risks of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) in the community were uncertain. NPIs such as closing schools and banning public gatherings were effective at reducing the spread of the virus.
Did wearing a mask help protect against coronavirus?
Wearing masks did reduce community transmission of coronavirus, at least until the Omicron variant emerged. The value of masks in schools is still debated, with some studies showing that mandatory mask-wearing in schools reduced infections at least for the first few weeks.
Has quarantine helped?
Testing and self-isolation should reduce coronavirus transmission, but studies have shown that for this to work, a significant proportion of infected people would need to self-isolate. Self-isolation rates may not have made a significant difference, as many infected people are never identified.
How effective was the lockdown?
Lockdowns have been associated with mental and musculoskeletal health problems. The overall impact of NPIs in relation to their harms is a broader societal debate beyond just a scientific question.
How effective has the vaccine rollout been?
Rapid development of effective vaccines has been a real success during the pandemic, preventing many more deaths. However, the vaccines did not create herd immunity and eradicated the virus. They also had side effects, such as blood clotting and heart inflammation. Advancements in vaccine science during the pandemic may benefit other infectious diseases for decades to come.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has had a profound impact on humanity. Prevention of infection by disinfecting surfaces and aerosols using non-chemical methods is highly desirable. Ultraviolet C (UVC) light is uniquely positioned to achieve pathogen inactivation.in new paper in a diary ACS PhotonicsScientists have reported the inactivation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus by UVC radiation and are investigating the mechanism.
David other. demonstrated inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 by 266 nm UVC light. This closely matches the absorption spectra of RNA and aromatic amino acids.Image credit: David other., doi: 10.1021/acsphotonics.3c00828.
The COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 spreads through nosocomial, public, and workplace-based infections.
Transmission is thought to be direct through respiratory droplets or indirect through fomites, leading to increased interest in virus disinfection.
The SARS-CoV-2 virion consists of a core of nucleic acid strands containing the virus's genetic information, surrounded by a lipid membrane with protruding protein spikes. Each component is required for infection.
In the new study, Sumeet Mahajan and colleagues at the University of Southampton investigated how ultraviolet laser light affects each of these key components and destroys the virus.
By using special lasers with two different wavelengths, they were able to see how each viral component breaks down under bright light.
They found that the genomic material was highly sensitive to degradation, and the protein spike lost the ability to bind to human cells.
UV light includes UVA light, UVB light, and UVC light. Very little UVC light with frequencies below 280 nm reaches the Earth's surface from the sun.
The authors used UVC light in their study, which is less studied because of its antiseptic properties.
UVC light is strongly absorbed by various viral components, such as genetic material (about 260 nm) and protein spikes (about 230 nm), allowing the team to choose laser frequencies of 266 nm and 227 nm for this project.
Researchers found that low-power 266nm light causes RNA damage and affects the genetic information of viruses.
266 nm light also damaged the structure of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, reducing its ability to bind to human cells by breaking disulfide bonds and aromatic amino acids.
Although 227 nm light was less effective at inducing RNA damage, it was effective at damaging proteins through oxidation, a chemical reaction involving oxygen that unravels protein structures.
Importantly, SARS-CoV-2 has one of the largest genomes of any RNA virus. This makes them particularly sensitive to genomic damage.
“Inactivating airborne viruses with light provides a versatile tool for disinfecting public spaces and sensitive equipment that is difficult to decontaminate using traditional methods,” Professor Mahajan said.
“We found differences in the susceptibility of the molecular components of the virus to light inactivation. This opens up the possibility of fine-tuned disinfection techniques.”
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George David other. Mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 inactivation using UVC laser irradiation. ACS Photonics, published online on December 25, 2023. doi: 10.1021/acsphotonics.3c00828
For the first time, physicists have directly imaged small clusters of noble gas atoms at room temperature. This result opens up exciting possibilities for fundamental research in condensed matter physics and applications in quantum information technology.
Xenon nanoclusters between two graphene layers. Sizes range from 2 to 10 atoms. Image credit: Manuel L'Engle.
“When I was researching the use of ion irradiation to modify the properties of graphene and other two-dimensional materials, I noticed something unusual. They can become trapped between the sheets,” the University of Vienna said. Dr. Jani Kotaski and his colleagues.
“This happens when noble gas ions pass through the first graphene layer fast enough to pass through, but not the second graphene layer.”
“Once trapped between the layers, the noble gases are free to move because they do not form chemical bonds.”
“But to accommodate the noble gas atoms, the graphene bends to form tiny pockets.”
“Here, two or more noble gas atoms can meet and form two-dimensional noble gas nanoclusters that are ordered and densely packed.”
The researchers' method overcomes the difficulty that noble gases do not form stable structures under experimental conditions at ambient temperatures.
“We observed these clusters using a scanning transmission electron microscope, and they are really fascinating and very fun to look at,” said Dr. Manuel L'Engle, a physicist at the University of Vienna.
“They rotate, jump, grow, and shrink as we imagine them.”
“Getting the atoms between the layers was the most difficult part of the job.”
“Achieving this gives us a simple system to study fundamental processes related to the growth and behavior of materials.”
“The next step is to study the properties of clusters containing different noble gases and how they behave at low and high temperatures,” Dr Kotasky added.
“With the use of noble gases in light sources and lasers, these new structures may enable future applications such as quantum information technology.”
a paper The findings were published in this week's magazine Natural materials.
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M. Langre other. Two-dimensional few atomic noble gas clusters within a graphene sandwich. nut.meter, published online on January 11, 2024. doi: 10.1038/s41563-023-01780-1
HONG KONG — Didn't fall from the Empire State Building.
Instead, the giant ape, sometimes called the “real King Kong,” was driven to extinction by climate change that made its favorite fruit unavailable during the dry season, according to a new study published Wednesday in the journal Nature. The results have been announced.
An artist's impression of a herd of giant apes Gigantopithecus blackii in a forest landscape in southern China.Southern Cross University/AFP – Getty Images
They can grow up to 10 feet tall and weigh up to 650 pounds. Gigantopithecus brachy Hundreds of thousands of years ago, they roamed the forested plains of southern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, feeding on fruits and flowers.
But researchers have discovered that the apes' harsh diet may have led to the species' extinction.
The herbivorous apes made the “fatal mistake of becoming reluctant to change their food preferences to find new, more nutritious foods,” the study's lead researcher Yin-chi Chan said Thursday. told NBC News.
“As the environment changed, the food this great ape preferred became unavailable. But this great ape did not adapt to its dietary preferences. It remained dependent on a diet with low nutritional value. ” he added.
Zhang, a Beijing-based paleontologist, said the creatures stuck to dense forests, while apes like orangutans quickly adapted and moved into open forests, eating small animals.
Gigantopithecus blackii, thought to be the largest primate on Earth, roamed the plains of southern China before going extinct. Southern Cross University/AFP – Getty Images
The reason for the species' extinction has been a mystery ever since a tooth was discovered in a Hong Kong pharmacy in 1935 by German-Dutch paleontologist Gustav Heinrich Ralph von Königswald. It was sold as “Dragon Tooth”.
This discovery led to extensive research for more fossils, but 85 years later, only 2,000 isolated teeth and parts of the lower jaw have been discovered. No parts other than the skull were recovered.
Without a “precise timeline” of extinctions, “we're looking for clues in the wrong places,” said Kira Westaway, one of the study's lead authors and a geochronologist at Macquarie University in Sydney. says.
However, the researchers were able to use one of the latest techniques, called “luminescence dating,” which allowed them to determine the age of the soil around the fossils in 22 caves in southern China.
From this, they concluded that the great apes went extinct between 295,000 and 215,000 years ago.
“Now we have a target zone. We have a target period. So we start looking at changes in the environment,” Westaway said.
The researchers also found clues in the fauna around the cave, with analysis of pollen and wear on the great apes' teeth showing that changing seasons led to a lack of fruit and reduced reliance on less nutritious food. It became clear that he was no longer able to earn money.
“Gigants couldn't really expand their foraging range to find more suitable food because they're so big. Orangutans are also very small, mobile, and very “It's agile,” Westaway said, adding that the new study provided a blueprint for further research into the main extinction event.
“You need to get a very precise timeline. You need to look at what the environment is doing and then look at how they acted,” she said.
From about 2 million to 22 million years ago, dozens of species of great apes lived in Africa, Europe, and Asia. Today, only gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, and orangutans remain.
Westaway said the research could also open the door to future possibilities for how humans can adapt to adverse weather events and ensure species survival.
“This sets a precedent for trying to understand how primates respond to environmental stress and what makes certain primates vulnerable and what makes others resilient.” she says.
Mitchell Agarwal
Mithil Aggarwal is a reporter and producer for NBC News based in Hong Kong.
Northern Europeans have a higher risk of multiple sclerosis due to ancient DNA, a study reveals. About 5,000 years ago, people flocked to this area.
This discovery emerged from a large-scale study comparing modern DNA with DNA obtained from ancient human teeth and bones. This allowed scientists to explore prehistoric migration and associated disease-related genes.
Results show that when the Yamnaya people migrated from present-day Ukraine and Russia to northwestern Europe during the Bronze Age, they carried a genetic mutation. This mutation is now known to increase the risk of multiple sclerosis.
The study, published in the journal Nature, suggests that these genes not only allowed the Yamnaya to flourish and spread but also protected them from infectious diseases carried by cattle and sheep.
The project, led by Eske Willerslev and the University of Copenhagen, is pioneering ancient DNA research and comparing it to similar research, including tracking down early cousins such as Neanderthals.
The process of ancient DNA extraction at the Lundbeck Foundation Geogenetics Center in Copenhagen.Michal Schlosser / University of Copenhagen (via AP)
This gene bank’s first exploration of multiple sclerosis is especially relevant since the disease is most common among people of white Scandinavian descent, yet the reason remains unknown.
Scientists believe certain infections can cause MS in genetically susceptible individuals. Over 230 genetic mutations have been identified that may increase the risk of this disease.
The study uncovered major changes in the population of northern Europe, tracing the migration of the Yamnaya people around 5,000 years ago. The gene bank was used to compare ancient DNA with around 400,000 modern humans
Comparisons revealed that MS-related genetic variants remained in the north, the direction the Yamnaya migrated, rather than in southern Europe. This supports the idea that the Yamnaya people are the closest ancestors of modern Danes, and the incidence of MS is particularly high in Scandinavian countries.
Dr. Astrid Iversen from the University of Oxford explains how exposure to animal-based bacteria may lead to imbalances in the immune system, possibly playing a role in the early development of autoimmune diseases.
While the study provides a potential explanation for the North-South MS disparity in Europe, further research is required to confirm the link. This statement comes from New York’s M.D., Samira Asghari, a genetics expert at Sinai School of Medicine, who was not involved in the study.
Lidar scan of Ecuador’s Upano Valley reveals raised platform
Stephen Rostain
Aerial survey reveals the largest previously discovered pre-colonial city in the Amazon, connected by an extensive road network.
“This settlement is much larger than other settlements in the Amazon,” he says. Stefan Rostain at the French National Center for Scientific Research in Paris. “They are equivalent to Maya sites.”
Additionally, these cities are between 3,000 and 1,500 years old, making them older than other pre-Columbian cities found in the Amazon. It is not clear why the people who built them disappeared.
The Amazon rainforest was thought to be largely untouched until Italian explorer Christopher Columbus arrived in the Americas in the 15th century. In fact, the first Europeans reported seeing many farms and towns in the area.
These reports, long ignored, have been borne out in recent decades by the discovery of ancient earthworks and vast expanses of black soil created by farmers.According to some estimates, the pre-Columbian population of the Amazon was Up to 8 million.
Since the 1990s, Rostain and his colleagues have been studying archaeological sites in the Upano Valley of the Amazon River in Ecuador, in the foothills of the Andes Mountains. Traces of an ancient settlement were first discovered there in his 1970s, but only a few remains have been excavated.
In 2015, Rostain’s team conducted an aerial survey using LIDAR, a laser scanning technology that can create detailed 3D maps of the surface beneath most vegetation, revealing features that are normally invisible to the eye. did. The findings, which have just been published, show that the settlements were much more widespread than anyone realized.
The survey revealed more than 6,000 raised earth platforms within an area of 300 square kilometers. These are the sites where wooden buildings once stood, and excavations have revealed postholes and fireplaces in these buildings.
Most of the platforms are approximately 10 x 20 meters and 2 meters high and are believed to be the site of residential buildings. The largest was 40×140 meters and 5 meters high and was considered the site of a monumental building used for rituals.
Surrounding the home were fields, many of which were drained by small canals dug around them. “The valley has been almost completely modified,” Rostain says.
Analysis of pottery suggests that corn, beans, caniolk, and sweet potatoes were cultivated.
Overall, there were five major settlements in the study area. According to Rostain, these could be described as garden cities because of their low density of buildings.
The survey also revealed a network of straight roads made by digging out soil and piling it up on the sides. The longest span at least 25 kilometers, but may extend beyond the surveyed area.
Upano Valley in Ecuador
Stephen Rostain
What's strange, Rostain says, is that the people of Upano went to great lengths to straighten the road. For example, in one place they dug down 5 meters instead of along the contour line. So the road probably had a symbolic meaning, he says, since there was no practical reason to make it straight.
There are traces of defensive structures such as ditches in places, suggesting that there may have been some sort of conflict between groups.
In the rest of the Amazon, many settlements were abandoned after the arrival of Europeans, as most of the population died from disease and violence, probably caused by the invaders.
However, the Upano artifacts dated by Rostain's team are all more than 1,500 years old, suggesting that the valley settlements were abandoned after this period, long before colonial times. doing. It's not clear why, but the team found layers of volcanic ash, suggesting a series of eruptions may have forced people to leave the valley.
“This demonstrates the unprecedented degree of complexity and density of payments in this early period,” he says. michael heckenberger at the University of Florida. “The authors rightly conclude that the complexity and scale are now comparable to well-known cases such as the Maya.”
“This is the largest complex containing a large settlement ever found in the Amazon,” he says. charles clement at the National Amazonian Institute in Manaus, Brazil.
They were also found in an area of the Amazon that other researchers had concluded was sparsely inhabited during the pre-Columbian period, Clement said.
Researchers have discovered what is believed to be the oldest skin fossil on record.
The alligator-like skin, which is at least 286 million years old, was preserved in an ancient buried cave in what is now Oklahoma. The discovery could help unravel evolutionary mysteries and provide important clues to a time when some animals were transitioning to living on land.
“Finding old skin fossils like this is a great opportunity to peer into the past and learn what the skin looked like on these early animals,” said the University of Toronto graduate student and co-author of the book. says lead author Ethan Mooney. the paper said in a news release.
Three-dimensional skin casting and compacted fossil of an unknown amniote. Mooney et al. / Current Biology
Discovery announced Thursday Published in the scientific magazine “Current Biology”, created in a quarry and cave system called Richard's Spur. Researchers believe the animals fell into the cave system and were preserved by seeping oil and tar that enveloped them.
Skin is a three-dimensional mold with fossilized tissue attached to it.
“There are very few examples of Paleozoic land animals that have preserved skin,” said Paul Olsen, a paleontologist and Columbia University professor who was not involved in the paper. “He's one of the reasons why this is so important.”
Lepospondyl, temnospondyl, and dermal scales of an unknown quadruped. Mooney et al. / Current Biology
The preserved skin was discovered at a site full of fossils of lizard-like creatures called lizards. captorinus aguti, However, it was not clearly associated with any particular skeleton.
Olsen said the skin could help solve the mystery of how reptiles and mammals diverged from each other during evolutionary history. Her two branches of life have a common ancestor.
“They hypothesize that the common ancestor of reptiles and mammals had reptilian-like skin, but their reptilian-like skin is not associated with the skeleton, so they have We can't really show that with the materials we have,” Olsen said of the authors. “Maybe this site will reveal that in the future.”
Horny zone of Captorhinus aguti (OMNH 52541). Mooney et al. / Current Biology
Artist's impression of Tyrannosaurus macraensis, a relative of Tyrannosaurus rex
sergei krasinski
A portion of a dinosaur skull discovered 40 years ago has been identified as a new species of dinosaur. tyrannosaurusand is probably the closest relative tyrannosaurus rex. The study adds a new twist to the long-standing debate about how many different tyrannosaurus species there were, and could help shed light on how the iconic predator evolved.
tyrannosaurus They first appeared in North America about 68 million years ago, 2 million years before the mass extinction event that wiped out most dinosaurs. Paleontologists are puzzled about the origins of this carnivore. Some suggest that it is an ancestor of tyrannosaurus Some people walked across land bridges from prehistoric Asia, while others traced their origins to southern North America.
Anthony Fiorillo Researchers from the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science reviewed fossils in the museum's collection that were discovered in a rock formation known as the McRae Formation in western New Mexico.
Skulls were originally classified as: tyrannosaurus, Fiorillo and his colleagues noticed differences in the bones.They proposed that this specimen represented an older species, which they named Tyrannosaurus macraiensis in reference to the rock in which it was found.
They estimated that the dinosaur was about 12 meters long, comparable in size to an aosaurus. Tyrannosaurus, However, it lived about 4 million years ago.
difference between tyrannosaurus and T. macraensis It would have been relatively subtle.on the other hand tyrannosaurus He had a prominent ridge on his eyebrow, and a bone-crushingly wide jaw with the same ridge. T. macraensis The body is less developed and the skull is thinner, Fiorillo said.
Jawbone identified as new species of Tyrannosaurus
nick longrich
Other recent studies have proposed that several species exist. tyrannosaurus And the so-called tyrannosaurus Fossils need to be reallocated. However, such proposals are controversial and are mostly rejected by dinosaur paleontologists. The new study is likely to spark further debate about that number. tyrannosaurus The species was found in North America.
“I hesitate to consider Tyrannosaurus macraiensis as different from tyrannosaurus rex” Jared Voris at the University of Calgary, Canada. He points out that many of the anatomical features that make the new species unique are also present in the specimen. tyrannosaurus.
Regardless of species assignment, the existence of such large tyrannosaurs millions of years ago is tyrannosaurus This suggests that southwestern North America was an important center of dinosaur evolution. “The age range of the proposed specimen is unique and requires further study,” Voris said. That's because it could outline a clearer picture of dinosaur evolution during the last few million years of the Cretaceous.
The New Mexico tyrannosaurus was discovered in the same rock as a giant horned dinosaur, an anthropomorphic duck-billed dinosaur, and a long-necked herbivore up to 30 meters long. Fiorillo and his colleagues tyrannosaurus It may have evolved to its gigantic size to prey on these large herbivores, and later spread north as the last “tyrant lizard” to stalk the planet.
A quoll searches for termites in a fallen log.Poor night vision is also part of the reason they have to forage for food in the heat of the day.
kristin cooper
As Australia's temperatures continue to get hotter, the specialized fur that possums evolved to save energy is now putting them at risk of overheating.
possum (Myrmecobius fasciatus) is an unusual marsupial in that it is active during the day, feeding on termites hidden under tree logs and topsoil. Because these insects are low-calorie foods, possums, which typically weigh about 500 grams, have evolved fur that absorbs heat from the sun, saving calories spent on generating body heat.
As temperatures rise, that evolutionary trait can backfire, causing possums to overheat within minutes of feeding in direct sunlight. kristin cooper at Curtin University, Perth, Australia.
Quolls once roamed southern Australia, but over the past two centuries they have fallen prey to cats and foxes introduced by European settlers. Currently, these endangered animals are concentrated in just two small nature reserves in Western Australia.
To increase their numbers, conservation groups are gradually moving the marsupials to areas protected from their native predators. But global warming is making some of these regions even hotter and drier.
“Environmental change is occurring at an unprecedented rate due to anthropogenic global warming, which means that predicting future species distribution and population patterns, protecting and managing them requires environmental conditions “This means it is important to understand the ecological consequences of changes in philip withers researchers from the University of Western Australia write in a paper.
To learn more, the pair used a thermal imaging camera to film 50 wild animals eating termites at different times of the day from 2020 to 2021.
At each site, portable weather stations were used to record factors such as temperature, wind speed, and humidity. They then incorporated this data into a computer program to model how environmental conditions affected the quolls' internal temperatures.
The researchers found that on days of high heat stress, such as in dry environments with temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius, possums overheat within 10 minutes of exposure to direct sunlight. After that, they need to stop eating and hide from the sun until their body temperature drops.
Shade is helpful, but shade is often scarce, and seeking shade limits the termite-hunting territory of possums, Cooper says. The model also suggests that the combination of high outdoor temperatures and radiant heat from the ground can cause possums to overheat even in the shade.
Feeding at night is not an option for possums, as they have poor night vision and lack the strength to invade termite mounds at night.
To overcome these problems, Cooper recommends conservation groups move quolls to cooler areas of their territory and provide plenty of shade.
Captorhinus aguti, an ancient reptile that may be the source of the oldest skin fossils
michael debraga
The collection of fossilized skin fragments is the oldest ever discovered. This 300 million-year-old fossil belongs to a crocodile-like reptile and could help us understand how skin evolved.
After an animal dies, the skin decomposes quickly, so fossilization is rare. But this early Paleozoic reptile eventually ended up in a suitable place to preserve its skin. It was buried in oily clay deposits in an ancient limestone cave in what is now Oklahoma. There was little oxygen in the cave sediments, which slowed the decomposition process long enough for the tissue to fossilize, trapping the mummified skin mold.
The discovery was a surprise to researchers who had been examining the tiny black fossil fragments using microscopic 3D scans. “They were so small and skinny that we had to be very gentle with them,” he says. tea maho At the University of Toronto, Canada. Their scans revealed a pebble-like scale texture similar to crocodile skin, especially the flatter, smaller scales on the crocodile's flanks.
Researchers concluded that the skin belonged to a Paleozoic reptile, but it is unclear which species. Based on nearby fossils, they suspect the skin belongs to an extinct lizard-like species. Captorinus aguti. It's not clear how the reptile reached its final resting place. Perhaps it fell into the cave from a vertical shaft or was swept into the cave by a heavy rainstorm.
The fossilized skin fragments are about 21 million years older than any previously discovered, showing how and when vertebrates developed skin after they transitioned from living in the sea to living on land. It reveals new clues about how it evolved. “This is a unique opportunity to examine the first chapter in the evolution of higher vertebrates,” he says. ethan mooney at the University of Toronto. Skin helped aquatic animals make the leap to life on land by providing a watertight barrier between sensitive organs and the outside world.
Following the feedback discussion on New Zealand’s Blackhole public toilets (25 November 2023), news has arrived of a plan called “Using black holes as secondary batteries and nuclear reactors” published in the magazine Physical Review D.
Successful engineers, much like unsuccessful engineers, are not easily intimidated by limitations that others believe are insurmountable. The plan’s authors, Zhan-Feng Mai and Run-Qiu Yang of Tianjin University in China, continue to keep their jaws high and scratch their heads.
They say, “The strong gravity of a black hole prevents classical matter from escaping from it, but fortunately energy can be extracted from a black hole through quantum or classical processes.” he wrote.
They wave away a series of problems that are said to plague anyone who even proposes to get close to a black hole. They state that their black hole is a “mini black hole”.
This kind of confidence inspires venture capitalists, a diverse group of people who are experiencing the golden age of the early 2020s. After raising capital and extracting a suitable portion from it, many people are looking for new big opportunities to invest some of it.
Black hole batteries could be their next big thing, following in the capricious footsteps of cryptocurrencies and artificial intelligence. Many investors are finding both to be as compellingly attractive as black holes.
2 story superpower
Alison Litherland tells the story of a boring superpower with useful duplicity.
she says: “When you mentioned Rosemary Fuhrman’s husband’s ability to read her two pages in different Braille at the same time (September 16, 2023), I was reminded of the small superpowers she had when her children were small. I remembered my abilities.
“I was able to read a bedtime story aloud to her while at the same time quietly reading a novel to herself. I don’t know how my brain was able to distinguish between the two stories, but… It certainly helped with the boredom of re-reading the same story before bed.”
The title rests on a letter to the editor from Anna Vittoria Mattioli and Alberto Farinetti of the University of Modena-Reggio Emilia in Italy. The diary is Nutrition, metabolism and cardiovascular disease.
Mattioli and Farinetti explore some of the ambiguity in medical research and medical pronouncements regarding the positive and negative health effects of drinking coffee.
Some people drink espresso in some places, while others drink other forms of coffee. Some people drink coffee filtered, while others drink it unfiltered.
Some people drink coffee “in conjunction with a meal” in some places, while others drink coffee on its own. Some men are men and others are not, and there may be differences in “absorption of macronutrients and micronutrients and their bioavailability.”
Mattioli and Farinetti suggest further research is needed to “de-confound” under confusing headings.
he says: “The old chestnut about drainage circulation rears its head again. I see. Given the very small volume and mass involved in hair, and the fact that people spend a significant amount of time moving around in non-vertical positions, it is absurd to suggest that the Coriolis force could be responsible for the swirling of hair. The Coriolis force is responsible for the surprising twist in how objects appear to move when they rotate Please remember that.
The new version gives a meandering nod to the Coriolis question, this time at a distance. “Other non-hemispheric factors are [be] Maternal health, maternal nutrition, and prenatal hormone exposure were evaluated in samples from different locations in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, before considering the potential influence of hemispheric environmental physical factors such as the Coriolis force. I did.”
Sheffield names the harvest
Susan Frank is second to none when it comes to sharing information about garden varieties.
She writes: “We wanted to include the names of two of our trustees associated with Sheffield Botanic Gardens Trust, Barbara Plant and Christine Rose.”
According to feedback, Sheffield Botanic Gardens Trust Website Trustee Miles Stevenson, who is neither a plant nor a rose, makes it clear (by displaying special information in parentheses) that it is a chair.
Mark Abrahams hosted the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony and co-founded the magazine Annals of Improbable Research. Previously, he was working on unusual uses of computers. his website is impossible.com Have a story for feedback? You can email your article to Feedback at feedback@newscientist.com. Please enter your home address. This week’s and past feedback can be found on our website.
China played a big role in the growth of solar and wind power in 2023
Yuan Yuan Xie / Alamy Stock Photo
According to one study, 2023 will see a record expansion of renewable energy, with nearly 50% more solar, wind, and other clean energy sources built than in 2022. report From the International Energy Agency (IEA). But this unprecedented pace lags behind the pace needed to reach net-zero emissions and limit dangerous climate warming by mid-century.
“When you look at the numbers, it definitely has a ‘wow’ effect.” Fatih Birolsaid the IEA Director-General at a press conference today. “Renewable energy expansion exceeds 500 gigawatts in 2023.”
Under existing policies, the IEA predicts that renewable energy will overtake coal to account for the largest share of global electricity in 2025. The IEA predicts that by the end of 2025, renewable energy capacity will increase by 2.5 times. “It's very good news,” Birol said.
This is a significantly higher increase than projections made ahead of the COP28 climate change summit to be held in Dubai in December 2023. report A paper published last November by British energy think tank Ember found that the world is on track to double production capacity by the end of 2010.
but, dave jones At Ember said this difference is mainly due to the latest data on China's unusual development of solar and wind power, rather than policy changes or new project announcements in the past few months. The IEA report says China will have access to more solar energy in 2023 than the entire world saw in 2022.
“China is the most important driver of this impressive growth that we will see in 2023,” Birol said. He also pointed to record renewable energy capacity increases in the US, Europe, Brazil and India as a key driver of the surge.
Nevertheless, the IEA forecasts that the world still lags behind the goal of tripling renewable energy capacity by 2030, one of the key outcomes agreed at COP28. .
“We're not there yet, but we're not miles away from that goal,” Birol said, adding that officials are concerned about what the COP28 goals on clean energy and methane will do in the “real world.” It added that it plans to closely monitor the situation.
Closing the renewable energy gap will require different interventions in different regions of the world, the report says. In high-income countries, this will include improving electricity grids and speeding up the granting of permits for large backlogs of energy projects. Low-income countries need improved access to finance for clean energy projects.
“We are talking about transitioning away from fossil fuels, but there are still many economies in Africa that are in debt,” he says. Amos Wemanya Speaking at PowerShift Africa, a Kenyan energy think tank, he added that some of the continent's clean energy investments are going to rich countries.
Mr Jones said if the twin COP28 targets of tripling renewable energy and doubling energy efficiency were met by the end of 2010, global carbon dioxide emissions would be cut by more than a third and fossil fuels would be cut by more than a third. It says it could start to be replaced by fuel. “2024 will be the year renewable energy goes from being a nuisance to an existential threat to the fossil fuel industry,” he says.
The storm is pummeling much of the northern United States, a welcome relief for some areas that have seen little snow in recent months.
A late start to winter until early January limited ski resort operations and raised early concerns about water supplies for the summer.
“We’re playing catch-up now,” said Dan McEvoy, a regional climatologist at the Desert Research Institute in Reno, Nevada.
About 800 monitoring stations track snowfall across the West. More than 90% of those stations reported measurements below the median. Mr McEvoy said it was perfect for this time of year. It’s not unusual for parts of the West to be below seasonal averages, but it’s unusual for so many areas to be below them at once.
In Western states, the size of the snowpack affects how much water farmers can use, how severe the wildfire season is, and how much electricity hydroelectric dams can generate. Climate scientists predict that as the climate warms, snowpack will decrease, further threatening already tight supplies in much of the West.
Scientists have struggled to quantify the impact of climate change on snowpack, but the results of the study were published Wednesday. Published in Nature magazine They found that climate change is the cause of the decreasing trend in snowfall.
“Our analysis reveals that many of the world’s most populated basins lie on cliffs of rapid snowfall,” the authors write.
Previous studies have shown that snowfall is decreasing. Quantifying snow cover (the amount of water stored as snow) is more difficult because it varies significantly from year to year and is difficult to measure. In some cases, the atmosphere warms and can hold more water, leading to more snowfall or more extreme events.
“Snow is a very bad canary for a coal mine,” said Justin Mankin, an author of the Nature paper and a climatologist at Dartmouth College, who continued the study because the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change did not cooperate. . We were able to talk clearly about how the overall snowpack had changed.
For the study, Mankin and Dartmouth Earth System Scientist Alexander Gottlieb analyzed snowpack in 169 river basins in the Northern Hemisphere. They identified clear snowpack trends in 82 of these basins and sharp declines in the snowpack that supplies water to populated areas. Researchers were able to confirm that human influence, or global warming, is causing changes in 31 watersheds.
Their research suggests that many watersheds in the Northern Hemisphere are nearing rapid loss, with the potential to rebuild water supplies for more than 2 billion people.
“When snow falls off a cliff, it accelerates and falls off the cliff,” Mankin said. “We are fundamentally unprepared.”
McEvoy said a ridge of high pressure blocked moisture in December, leaving areas in the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains with dry conditions. Snow fell in parts of the Midwest, including Chicago, Minneapolis, and the Dakotas.
“Normally in late December we have snow on the ground. We really didn’t have any,” McEvoy said of those cities, adding that some parts of the Midwest saw average monthly temperatures in December that were below normal in degrees Fahrenheit. He pointed out that the temperature was 10 to 15 degrees higher.
Meanwhile, warmer temperatures and several storms in the Pacific Northwest hindered snowpack development. Rain wiped out the snow after the storm in the Northeast.
Recent storms have put 164 million people in the United States under weather warnings, and the situation will improve, not ease.
“From what we’ve seen so far, it doesn’t look like a pattern that will completely eliminate the snow drought,” McEvoy said.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center predicts a warm and dry winter for most northern states, due in part to strong El Niño conditions. El Niño is a naturally occurring pattern associated with warm ocean temperatures in the Pacific Ocean that slow trade winds. .
“El Niño is a double whammy, with warmer waters from the Pacific Ocean adding more heat and energy to the atmosphere as a result of warming due to climate change,” McEvoy said. “This combination allows us to have a warm year ahead.”
All living things must eat in some way…whatever the shape of their mouth. And there are some truly bizarre mouths in the animal kingdom. Some of the most unusual examples are enough to surprise you.
Unfussy Eater
Striped mackerel
Photo credit: Alex Mustard/naturepl.com
Most animals are relatively picky, preferring only plants or only meat, and tend to rely on one strategy when foraging or hunting.
Mackerel are unusual in that they use two different feeding methods, filter feeding and particulate feeding, and switch between them opportunistically as needed. Particulate feeding involves capturing each prey item individually, like sharks and penguins.
Filter feeding is the way bivalves and baleen whales eat, and requires scraping bits of food out of the water. Mackerel uses the underside of its gills. The gills have overlapping bone hooks called gill akirs. As a makeshift sieve to catch prey suspended in the water.
All fish have gill rakers, and variations in their appearance are sometimes used to identify species. When the prey is small and numerous, such as in a swarm of plankton, filter feeding can yield more food with minimal effort.
For large prey or sparse prey, it is better to feed with particulate bait. Even when surrounded by thousands of other fish in schools, mackerel keep their bellies full by not being too picky about how they eat.
Rapid Inflation
Gulper eel
Photo credit: Norbert Wu / Minden / Naturepl.com
Food is scarce in the deep sea, so the animals living there must cherish every meal. Few animals take this as seriously as the gulper eel. Gulper eels are also known as pelican eels because they share similar characteristics with birds.
Gulper eels have huge, loosely hinged mouths that are about a quarter of their body length. Their mouths are paper-thin, fragile, and unwieldy, so they hide their mouths when not feeding. Gulper eels have long, whip-like tails, but they are not fast enough to chase prey.
Instead, they float and wait, camouflaged in the darkness of the deep ocean. When a school of crustaceans or squid approaches, the eel lunges forward, quickly opening its origami mouth and swallowing large amounts of water.
After the attack, the eel’s mouth becomes fully inflated, making it look silly, like a candy or a balloon. It then slowly pushes excess water out of its gills before swallowing its unlucky prey. We are obsessed with this distinctive feature.
Bottom Feeder
Sea urchin
Photo credit: Sergio Hanquet / Naturepl / Nature in Stock
The mouth of a sea urchin is on the underside, which is probably the least unusual way to eat a sea urchin. The interior of a sea urchin is a complex pyramid-shaped structure made of hard calcareous calcium carbonate. Substances also found in corals.
The pyramid is made up of triangular plates, each with a hook-shaped tooth at the end. Like the crane machines found in old arcades, the pyramid can move up and down and tilt. You can also move each plate to scrape, grab, dig, and even smash rocks.
The individual plates are ground while sliding against each other, so they are ready for cutting at any time. The entire device is precisely controlled by a network of wire-like muscles. With the help of powerful jaws, sea urchins greedily eat food. A single colony of these spiny starfish relatives can destroy an entire kelp forest by chewing through rocks and uprooting seaweed.
The sea urchin’s biological claw machine, properly called Aristotle’s lantern, is so unique that it has inspired engineers to design new machines to scoop up soil samples on Mars.
The Ultimate Underbite
Cookie cutter shark
Photo courtesy of NOAA Image Library
Back in the 1970s, several U.S. Navy submarines returned from missions with damaged sonar equipment. Initial fears about the enemy’s new weapon disappear when the culprit turns out to be a cookie-cutter shark.
Cookie-cutter sharks, as their name suggests, leave perfectly round cuts in large fish and marine mammals (as well as the rubber covers of submarine sonar domes). These parasites make a living by stealth and deception, floating underwater until something big and tasty approaches.
They sneak up on you and hug you with their thick, fleshy sucker lips. The shark locks itself in place. It digs in with its thin upper teeth and cuts through the flesh with the razor-sharp teeth of its lower jaw. Twisting and turning, they move their mandibles back and forth like a bandsaw, cutting out perfectly round discs of flesh before sneaking back into the dark depths of the ocean.
Cookie-cutter sharks are harmless to humans and merely a pest to their larger prey, but they occasionally cause nuisance to marine activities, damaging unprotected equipment and communication cables.
Monster Mouth
Lamprey
Photo credit: Blue Planet Archive
Several Hollywood creatures, including the sandworm Dune, the kraken Pirates of the Caribbean, and from the Sarlacc Return of the Jedi, a stylized version of a lamprey’s mouth. There’s something deeply unsettling about the concentric rings of sharp teeth that reach deep into the black depths of a monster’s throat.
In reality, lampreys are evolutionarily ancient animals that separated from other vertebrates more than 500 million years ago, before jaws and bones evolved. Lampreys can latch on to large fish, whales, and even sharks using a combination of suction and hooks made of keratin (a protein that claws are made of).
Lampreys spend several days using their sharp, piston-like, rough tongues to burrow into the flesh of their prey and suck in its blood and body fluids. Lampreys’ frightening appearance and unpleasant lifestyle have given them a bad reputation.
In fact, lamprey larvae are important members of the ecosystem, filtering river water and sediment like bivalves, and are also an important food source for benthic predators such as sturgeon.
A Large Plate of Food
Humpback whale
Photo credit: John Cornforth
Humpback whales only eat between spring and fall, when they vacation in the Arctic and Antarctic waters where prey is abundant. With stomachs to fill and time limited, they rely on a creative strategy known as “bubble net hunting” to get the job done.
Humpback whales often travel in groups, diving beneath their prey and then slowly rising to the surface in a spiraling motion while blowing bubbles. The bubbles scare and confuse small fish called krill and crustacean prey like shrimp.
With the help of long fins, the whale rotates more and more tightly, concentrating future prey in dense masses near the water surface. Eventually, they take turns lunging forward, opening their mouths and punching through the solidified prey, swallowing tens of thousands of liters in one gulp.
Whales force water through their mouths, filtering it through sieve-like baleen plates on the roof of their mouths. Fish and krill are trapped inside strong, flexible hairs, ready to be swallowed whole by hunters.
Sawtooth Throat
Leatherback turtle
Photo credit: Tui De Roy/naturepl
Leatherback turtles spend most of their lives in the open ocean, tracking prey into deep water during the day and shallow water at night. They are always on the lookout for jellyfish, their favorite food, but will also eat other soft snacks, such as squid and small crustaceans.
Leatherbacks act like natural pest control, controlling jellyfish populations and protecting juvenile fish and beaches from nuisance swarms, as each leatherback turtle eats hundreds of kilograms of jellyfish per day.
Jellyfish are squishy, so they can be difficult to track down, especially if they don’t have teeth or claws. Leatherback turtles use their delicate, scissor-like jaws to cut jellyfish into easily digestible pieces. Additionally, the leatherback’s throat is lined with backward-pointing spines that prevent slippery prey from escaping once captured (jellyfish can survive being cut in half, after all).
Leatherbacks can also eat poisonous organisms such as jellyfish, so the spines likely provide some protection from the stinging cells of their prey.
Nutcracker
Paku fish
Photo credit: Jean-claude Soboul/Nature.pl
Yes, cheese! The pakuu fish has many flat, square teeth in its mouth, giving it a human-like smile. Pakuu fish, also known as “vegetarian piranhas” because of their body shape and color, prefer freshwater “trail mix” rather than raw meat.
Their molar-shaped teeth do an excellent job of crushing the hard shells of nuts and seeds that irritate other animals, and provide a reliable source of fat and protein despite their plant-based diet. To do. Paku fish are the gardeners of the Amazon, playing an important ecological role in dispersing seeds across river tributaries and floodplains.
The most famous of Pacu’s fish, the tambaqui, can grow to the size of a golden retriever. At 1 meter (3 ft) long and 30 kg (66 lb), it is the second largest fish in the Amazon after the arapaima.
Tambaqui is a popular food in South America and is often sold in bone-in cuts like pork ribs. They also appear on the exotic pet market, but they require experienced keepers and really huge aquariums to thrive.
Cat Got Your Tongue?
Penguin
Photo courtesy of Alamy
Penguins are agile underwater predators, flying around like torpedoes while chasing fish. And squid. But how do they keep their prey from squirming and escaping their grasp?what is the answer The birds are already in the mouth.
A penguin’s mouth and tongue are covered with hard, backward-facing spines called papillae. This is the same function that makes a cat’s tongue feel like sandpaper. However, you don’t want to be licked by a penguin. Not only are the spines large, but they are also sharp (they bleed easily if you lick them).
The spines help bite into slippery prey and transport it to the bird’s throat. A penguin’s tongue is also very muscular, so it’s probably used to push and manipulate food into its mouth, just like in humans. However, unlike us, penguins do not have the genes to detect sweet, bitter, and umami (umami) tastes, so they cannot taste the fish they eat.
Scientists think penguins lost their sense of taste because they didn’t use their senses. Not only do penguins swallow their food whole, but the proteins needed to send taste signals to their brains malfunction in cold temperatures.
Gigantopithecus brachyThe largest primate in history and one of the largest species of Southeast Asian megafauna, it lived in China from about 2 million years until its extinction during the Middle Pleistocene. New research shows that starting 2.3 million years ago, this environment was a mosaic of forests and grasses, providing ideal conditions to thrive. Gigantopithecus brachy population. However, from 295,000 years ago, just before and during the extinction period 215,000 years ago, increased seasonality led to increased environmental variability, changes in plant communities, and an increase in open forest environments. Although they are close relatives, Chinese orangutan (Pongo Weidenrach)managed to adapt their food preferences and behavior to this fluctuation. Gigantopithecus brachy There were signs of chronic stress and population decline. Ultimately, that struggle to adapt led to the extinction of the largest primate to ever live on Earth.
Impressions of a group of artists Gigantopithecus brachy In the forest of southern China. Image credit: Garcia / Joannes-Boyau, Southern Cross University.
Gigantopithecus brachy It is an extinct giant hominid that once lived in the jungles of Southeast Asia.
As the name suggests, this giant primate was larger than a gorilla, reaching up to 3 meters (10 feet) tall and weighing up to 540 kg (1,200 pounds).
“Our current understanding is that Gigantopithecus brachy “It originates from early to mid-Pleistocene cave deposits between the Yangtze River in southern China and the South China Sea,” said Professor Yingqi Zhang of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and colleagues.
“This primate is known for its unusually large molars, abnormally thick enamel, estimated height of about 3 meters, and weight of 200 to 300 kg, making it the largest primate to have ever existed on Earth. I am.”
“Despite 85 years of exploration, Gigantopithecus blacki's fossil record is limited to four mandibles and nearly 2,000 isolated teeth, with no postcranial evidence. ”
“The initial discovery as a 'dragon's tooth' in a pharmacy in Hong Kong led to the search for the first in situ finds, which led to the discovery of several cave sites in two major regions of Chongzuo and Fuping basins in Guangxi province. This led to the discovery of
“These sites contain important evidence of its survival and eventual demise.”
“Providing a clear cause for a species' extinction is a major feat, but establishing the exact time a species disappeared from the fossil record provides a target time frame for environmental reconstruction and behavioral assessment.” said Macquarie University geochronologist Dr John Martin. Kira Westaway.
“Without reliable dating, you're simply looking for clues in the wrong places.”
To identify potential causes Gigantopithecus brachy In case of extinction, the researchers applied a regional approach to 22 caves in the Chongzuo and Bupyeong basins. Gigantopithecus brachy-Bearing or non-bearing-Gigantopithecus brachy-Contains cave deposits.
They combined previous excavations with recently discovered caves to identify and sample fossil breccias for dating, paleoclimate estimation, and behavioral analysis.
Six different dating techniques were applied to the cave deposits and fossils, yielding 157 radiometric dates.
Luminescence dating measures light-sensitive signals in buried sediments. Gigantopithecus brachy Fossils were the primary technology supported by uranium series and electron spin resonance dating. Gigantopithecus brachy The tooth itself.
“Direct dating of the fossil remains allowed us to confirm that their ages match the luminescence order of the deposits in which they were found, providing a comprehensive and reliable chronology of the human extinction. Gigantopithecus brachy'' said Dr Renaud-Joan Boyau, a geochronologist at Southern Cross University.
The findings show that Gigantopithecus brachy They went extinct between 295,000 and 215,000 years ago, much earlier than previously thought.
Before this time, Gigantopithecus brachy They thrived in rich and diverse forests.
By 700,000 to 600,000 years ago, the environment had further changed due to increased seasonal intensity, leading to changes in the structure of forest communities.
orangutans etc. Pongo Weidenrach They adapted their size, behavior, and habitat preferences in response to changing conditions.
In comparison, Gigantopithecus brachy When preferences were not available, they relied on backup food sources with low nutritional value, reducing dietary diversity.
The primates experienced reduced locomotion, reduced geographic foraging range, chronic stress and population decline.
“Gigantopithecus brachy “It was the ultimate specialist compared to more agile adapters like orangutans, but this ultimately led to its demise,” Professor Chan said.
“With the threat of a sixth mass extinction looming over us, there is an urgent need to understand why species go extinct,” Dr Westaway said.
“Exploring the reasons for unresolved extinctions in the past is a good starting point for understanding the resilience of primates and the fate of other large animals in the past and future.”
Dr. Christopher Stark and colleagues at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center present new coronagraphic images from Earth NIRCam (near infrared camera) and mm (Mid-Infrared Instrument) instruments aboard the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope reveal never-before-seen structures in the debris disk around the young star Beta Pictoris.
Pictoris Beta is a young planetary system located approximately 63 light-years from Earth.
Estimated to be only 20 million years old, it is known to be home to the gas giant Beta Pictoris b.
In the new study, Stark and co-authors used Webb's NIRCam and MIRI instruments to investigate the composition of Beta Pictoris' primary and secondary debris disks.
“Pictoris Beta is an all-inclusive debris disk. It has a very bright and close star that we can study well, a multicomponent disk, an exocomet, and two imaged “There is a complex circumstellar environment that includes exoplanets,” the Astrobiology Center said. astronomer Isabel Rebolido;
“There have been ground-based observations in this wavelength range before, but this feature was not detected because we did not have the sensitivity and spatial resolution of the current web.”
Even with Webb, peering into Beta Pictoris in the right wavelength range was crucial to detecting the never-before-seen dust trail, which resembles a cat's tail. This is because it only appeared in MIRI data.
Webb's mid-infrared data also revealed differences in temperature between Beta Pictoris' two disks. This is probably due to differences in composition.
“We didn't expect Webb to reveal that there are two different types of material surrounding Beta Pictoris, but MIRI clearly shows that the material in the secondary disk and cat's tail is hotter than the main disk. Dr. Stark said.
“The dust that forms its disk and tail must be so dark that it is not easily visible at visible wavelengths, but it glows in the mid-infrared.”
This artist's impression shows an exocomet orbiting the star Pictoris Beta. Image credit: L. Calçada / ESO.
To explain the higher temperatures, astronomers speculated that the dust could be a porous “organic refractory” similar to the material found on the surfaces of comets and asteroids in our solar system. .
For example, preliminary analysis of material collected from the asteroid Bennu by NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission revealed very dark, carbon-rich material similar to what MIRI detected on Beta Pictoris.
But big questions still remain. What explains the shape of the cat's tail, a uniquely curved feature unlike those seen in disks around other stars?
Researchers modeled various scenarios to mimic a cat's tail and uncover its origins.
Although more research and experiments are needed, the researchers offer a strong hypothesis that cat tails are the result of a dust-producing phenomenon that occurred just 100 years ago.
“Something happens, like a collision, and it creates a lot of dust,” says Dr. Marshall Perrin, an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute.
“At first, the dust follows the same trajectory as its source, but then it starts to spread out.”
“Light from the star pushes the smallest, fluffiest dust particles away from the star faster, while larger particles move less, creating long dust tendrils.”
“The characteristics of a cat's tail are so unusual that it has been difficult to reproduce the curvature in mechanical models,” Dr. Stark said.
“Our model requires dust to be pushed out of the system very quickly, which also suggests it is made of organic refractory materials.”
“The model we have recommended explains the sharp angle of the tail away from the disk as a simple optical illusion.”
“Our perspective, combined with the curved shape of the tail, creates the observed tail angle, but in reality, the arc of material is only pointing away from the disk at a 5-degree inclination.”
“Considering the brightness of the tail, we estimate that the amount of dust in the cat's tail is equivalent to a large main-belt asteroid spanning 10 billion miles.”
Recent dust production events within Beta Pictoris' debris disk may also explain the newly observed asymmetric spreading of the tilted inner disk, shown in the MIRI data and only seen on the opposite side of the tail. there is.
“Our study suggests that Beta pictris may be even more active and chaotic than previously thought,” Dr. Stark said.
“The Webb continues to amaze us even when looking at the most well-studied celestial objects. We have a whole new window into these planetary systems.”
of result This week, it was announced in AAS243243rd Meeting of the American Astronomical Society, New Orleans, USA.
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christopher stark other. 2024. A new view of JWST's Beta Pictris suggests recent bursts of dust production from an eccentric, tilted secondary debris disk. AAS243Abstract #4036
A fast radio burst phenomenon called FRB 20220610A flashed in an unlikely location: a collection of at least seven galaxies that existed when the universe was only 5 billion years old. Most fast radio bursts to date have been found in isolated galaxies.
This Hubble image shows the host galaxy of the extremely powerful fast radio burst FRB 20220610A. Image credit: NASA/ESA/STScI/Alexa Gordon, Northwestern University.
FRB 20220610A was first detected by the Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) radio telescope in Western Australia on June 10, 2022.
ESO's Very Large Telescope confirmed that the FRB came from a distant place. The Fed was four times more energetic than its closer counterpart.
“We needed Hubble's acuity and sensitivity to pinpoint the source of the FRB,” said Northwestern University astronomer Alexa Gordon.
“Without Hubble's images, it will remain a mystery whether this arose from a monolithic galaxy or some kind of interacting system.”
“It's these kinds of environments, these strange environments, that are driving us to a deeper understanding of the Fed's mysteries.”
Hubble's sharp images suggest that FRB 20220610A arose in an environment where up to seven galaxies could be on a potential path to a merger, which is also very significant.
“We're ultimately trying to answer the question: What causes this? What are their ancestry and their origin?” said Wen-Fai Fung, an astronomer at Northwestern University. Ta.
“Hubble observations provide an incredible view of the surprising types of environments that give rise to these mysterious events.”
Although hundreds of FRBs have been detected, their ancestry is unknown. One of the leading candidates is magnetars.
They have magnetic fields so strong that if a magnetar were to be located halfway between the Earth and the Moon, it would erase the magnetic stripes on everyone's credit cards around the world.
Even worse, if the astronaut traveled within a few hundred miles of the magnetar, they would effectively be dissolved, as every atom in their body would be destroyed.
Possible mechanisms include some kind of shocking starquake, or an explosion triggered when the magnetar's twisted magnetic field lines break and recombine.
A similar phenomenon occurs on the Sun, causing solar flares, but the magnetar's magnetic field is a trillion times more powerful than the Sun's magnetosphere.
This snap can cause a flash of the FRB or create a shock wave that incinerates the surrounding dust and heats the gas to create a plasma.
There can be several types of magnetars. In some cases, it could be an explosive object orbiting a black hole surrounded by a disk of matter.
Another option is a pair of orbiting neutron stars whose magnetospheres interact periodically to create cavities in which eruptions can occur.
Magnetars are estimated to be active for about 10,000 years before becoming permanent, and are expected to be discovered in areas where violent storms of star formation occur. However, this does not seem to be the case for all magnetars.
In the near future, the sensitivity of FRB experiments will improve and FRBs will be detected at unprecedented rates at these distances.
“We need to continue to find more of these FRBs in different types of environments, both near and far,” Dr. Gordon said.
Astronomers announced that findings in AAS243243rd Meeting of the American Astronomical Society, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
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alexa gordon other. 2024. Revealing the environment of the most distant FRB with the Hubble Space Telescope. AAS243summary #3679
Immersing your body in cold water stimulates the release of an invigorating cocktail of chemicals.
Jacob Staedler/EyeEm/Getty Images
“It's like pressing Control-Alt-Del on your computer,” says Cath Pendleton. “When I'm in the water, I get so focused on my body that my brain switches off. It's just swimming with me.”
Pendleton, an ice swimmer based in Merthyr Tydfil, England, is as tough as anyone. In 2020, five years after she realized she didn't mind swimming in very cold water, she became the first person to swim one mile inside the Antarctic Circle. Part of her training included sitting in a freezer in a shed.
But she's not the only one passionate about cold water. Rivers, lakes, and oceans that were once home to a handful of serious year-round swimmers are now on the verge of extinction, thanks to media reports about the mental health impact of frigid dips and pool closures due to COVID-19. The number of people visiting is rapidly increasing. An estimated 7.5 million people swim outdoors in the UK alone, and more and more people swim outdoors during the winter. Global numbers are hard to come by, but the International Winter Swimming Association is seeing a boom in winter swimmer registrations around the world, including in China, Russia and Finland, where water temperatures can drop below 0C.
But what could be better than the joy of being in nature and the perverted feeling of happiness that defies the cold? According to the latest research, the answer is probably: Recent studies are beginning to uncover evidence that cold water immersion can reduce stress and depression, and may help deal with autoimmune diseases.
The African manatee is one of three subspecies of these creatures. It belongs to the mammal family that also includes dugongs.
Imaginechina/Sipa US/Alamy
“This is the perfect place for manatees,” said Lucy Keith Diagne, looking out at the slow mudflow of the Niandang River. It seems unlikely, but how did this mobile aquatic mammal, also known as a sea cow, live some 4,000 kilometers up Guinea's Niger River, almost as close to the Sahara Desert and the Atlantic Ocean? Is there one? But Keith Diagne, the world's leading expert on African manatees, should know.
These chubby creatures are known to inhabit the lower reaches of the Niger River, which stretches like a gigantic boomerang through much of West Africa, and long-standing anecdotal evidence suggests that they can be found separately in the upper reaches of tributaries near its source. This suggests that there is a population of Additionally, Dr. Keith Diagne believes that because this group has been separated from other manatees for so long, its members may have evolved into separate subspecies. “They went up the Niger River. They found something good. They kept going. They never came back and ended up different,” she said. Masu. But for now, this is just a guess.
To learn more, we drove hundreds of kilometers from the marshy coast of Guinea, across the highlands and down into the forested savanna in search of these elusive creatures. Keith Diagne and his team will spend a two-week expedition interviewing local residents, following clues from recent sightings, and searching for signs of feeding along riverbanks. Importantly, they also collect samples of…
Gigantopythos black probably lived in a “mosaic of forest and grass”
Garcia/Joanne Boyau (Southern Cross University)
The largest known primates went extinct between 295,000 and 215,000 years ago, probably because they were unable to adapt their food preferences to a changing climate.
A relative of modern orangutans, Gigantopithecus brachy Known as “Giganto”, it was 3 meters tall and weighed up to 300 kilograms.
Despite living for more than two million years, the species has been shrouded in mystery since 1935, when a fossilized tooth was discovered in a traditional medicine store in Hong Kong. The giant tooth was initially thought to belong to a dragon, but paleontologists soon discovered it. In fact, it turns out that it belongs to a primate.
“When I think of them, I think of the giants,” he says. Kira Westaway Graduated from Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. “Usually when you think of giants, you think of dinosaurs, but this was a primate giant.”
To establish a timeline of when this ape became extinct, Westaway and her colleagues studied hundreds of teeth and four jawbone fragments found in caves throughout southern China's Guangxi province. By observing the radioactive decay of certain elements, such as uranium, in teeth and bones, researchers can determine how much time has passed since death.
They also examined other deposits in the cave, such as pollen and sediment, to determine its condition. G. Blackie – Herbivores – lived there.
“We show that starting 2.3 million years ago, the environment was a mosaic of forests and grasses, providing ideal conditions for flourishing. G. Blackie population,” the researchers wrote. “However, just before and during the extinction period between 295,000 and 215,000 years ago, increased seasonality led to increased environmental variability, which led to changes in plant communities and an increase in open forest environments. the researchers added.
By studying the stripes on fossilized animals' teeth, researchers discovered signs of chronic stress caused by lack of access to their favorite foods. They say the creature's failure to adapt to a changing climate and accompanying fluctuations in food likely sealed its fate. In contrast, orangutans, of which three species survive, have adapted their dietary preferences and behavior in response to increasing climate change.
“eventually [G.blacki’s] “The struggle to adapt led to the extinction of the largest primate to ever live on Earth,” the researchers wrote. They also dispelled the idea that hominins may have competed with or hunted the species, precipitating its extinction. “There's no evidence for this,” Westaway says.
julian lewis Researchers at Griffith University in Queensland, Australia say they present a convincing case that environmental change, particularly increased habitat variability, has likely had negative effects on organisms. . G. Blackie.
However, he added that the fossils studied came from a very limited geographical area.resembles a fossil G. Blackie It is also found in Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
“One thing seems almost certain: Their actual geographic range would have been much larger than current fossils indicate,” Ruiz says. “We don't know how much this will affect the timing of global extinction of this species.”
anne marie bacon Researchers at France's National Center for Scientific Research say this study can help us understand. Mr. G. Blackie But studying China's fossils only reveals part of its history.
“Although this paper focuses on records from China, we do not know whether the geographic range of great apes extended into Indochina because there are few paleontological remains in Asia.” [mainland South-East Asia]we also looked at what the southern limit of this range was,” she says.
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