Enjoy the beautiful scene of Music sounds as Maria and von Trapp’s children sing about the lonely Jasteld Jodel in the Austrian Alps (lay-ee-odl-lay-ee-odl-lay-hee-hoo).
Despite the picturesque moment, I was unfamiliar with these characters. Comparing their yodeling to that of monkeys in the rainforest of Latin America, it seems somewhat embarrassing.
Recent research conducted by Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) and the University of Vienna in collaboration with experts from Japan, Sweden, and Bolivia sheds light on this topic.
Through recordings and analysis of black and gold Howler monkeys, tufted capuchins, black-cap squirrel monkeys, and Peruvian spider monkeys at Randa Verde Wildlife Reserve in Bolivia, scientists discovered that these primates can jump three or more musical octaves at once, unlike human yodelers who span sub-octaves.
Dr. Jacob Dunn, an associate professor of evolutionary biology at ARU, highlighted how these voice leaps contribute to the primates’ communication abilities in complex social settings.
The unique vocalizations known as “ultra yodels” are made possible by the distinct anatomy of the monkey’s throat, specifically the vocal membrane. This thin tissue ribbon allows for extended pitch ranges, enhancing the monkeys’ vocal repertoire.
The evolution of monkeys’ vocal membranes contrasts with human vocal abilities, as they enhance pitch range but may lead to voice instability.
Capuchin Monkeys are known for their intelligence and tool use
While humans yodel by shifting between voice registers, monkeys utilize vocal membranes to produce complex vocal patterns without the need for intricate neural control.
Not all monkeys excel at yodeling, with Latin American monkeys displaying a particular proficiency due to their vocal membranes. This suggests the importance of these calls for certain species.
Scientists have achieved a breakthrough in quantum physics, creating a “Schrodinger Cat” state at warmer temperatures than previously thought possible.
This state relies on the concept of superposition, where particles can exist in multiple states simultaneously, a key principle of quantum mechanics.
The famous thought experiment by physicist Erwin Schrodinger involving a cat in a box with a radioactive material highlights the paradoxical nature of this concept.
Physicists have managed to create real Schrodinger cat particles, where quantum objects can exist in two states simultaneously without needing to be cooled to ground state temperature.
A recent study published in the journal Advances in Science has reported the creation of quantum states at ground state temperature.
In Erwin Schrödinger’s thought experiment, cats are alive and dead at the same time. Similar to how quantum objects occupy multiple states at once – Innsbruck University/Halaldricksch
Researchers at Innsbruck University have successfully produced the Schrodinger Cat state at a temperature of 1.8 Kelvin, a relatively warm temperature for quantum experiments.
This discovery challenges the traditional belief that quantum effects are disrupted by higher temperatures and opens up new possibilities for quantum technology.
Quantum computers, which could revolutionize technology by operating in multiple states, currently require expensive cooling methods. However, this study suggests that quantum phenomena can still be observed and utilized in warmer environments.
“Our work demonstrates that quantum interactions can persist even at higher temperatures, making temperature ultimately irrelevant for certain quantum effects,” said Professor Gerhard Kirchmair, one of the researchers involved in the study.
Constituity, the ability to combine meaningful elements into larger meaningful structures, is a characteristic of human language. Constitutiveness is trivial (the meaning of a combination is the sum of the meaning of that part) or non-trivial (one element changes the meaning of another element). In a new study, scientists studied the behavior of voices Wild bonobo (Pampaniscus) – Our closest living relatives – Kokoropoli Community Reserve The Democratic Republic of the Congo has found robust empirical evidence for the existence of non-trivial constitutive properties in these primates.
Tupac, a young male bonobo scratching his head. Image credits: Lukas Bierhoff, Kokolopori Bonobo Research Project.
A distinctive feature of human language is its ability to combine individual elements to form more complex and meaningful structures.
This principle known as constituency allows morphemes to be constructed into words and sentences.
The overall meaning is determined by its components and their arrangement.
Constitutiveness can take two forms: trivial and non-trivial. In trivial composition, each word maintains an independent meaning.
Non-trivial constituency involves more complex and nuanced relationships where meaning is not merely a direct sum of words that involve.
Constituity may not be inherent to human language. Birds and primate studies have demonstrated that some animals can combine meaningful vocalizations with structures of trivial composition.
However, to date, there is no direct evidence that animals use non-trivial compositionality in their communication.
In their new study, Melissa Bursett, a biologist at the University of Zurich, and her colleagues, discovered strong empirical evidence that wild bonobos use non-trivial constitutiveness in their vocal communications.
The authors analyzed 700 recordings and call combinations of bonobo vocal calls and documented over 300 contextual features associated with each utterance
A linguistic framework that measures the similarity of meaning between words using methods derived from distribution semantics, and these contextual features were analyzed to infer the meaning of individual bonobo vocalizations and quantify the relationships.
Next, to assess whether Bonobo Call combinations follow construct principles, they applied a multi-step approach that had previously been used to identify the constitutive nature of human communication.
They found that the bonobo call types are integrated into four constituent structures. Three of these suggest that they share more structural similarities with human language than previously recognized.
“Our approach allowed us to quantify how the meaning of the combination of single-call and call on bonobos relate to one another,” said Simon Townsend, professor at the University of Zurich.
“Humans and bonobos had a common ancestor about 70-13 million years ago, so they share many characteristics through descent, and constitutiveness seems likely to be one of them,” added Martin Sarbeck, a professor at Harvard University.
“So our research suggests that our ancestors already use compositionality extensively, if not more, at least 7 million years ago,” Professor Townsend said.
According to a team of physicists at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, liquids that recover the newly discovered shapes go against years of expectation derived from the laws of thermodynamics.
This image shows emulsion droplets stabilized by silica nanoparticles with nickel nanoparticles remaining on the drop surface. Image credit: Raykh et al. , doi: 10.1038/s41567-025-02865-1.
“Imagine your favorite Italian salad dressing,” said Professor Thomas Russell, Amherst professor at the University of Massachusetts.
“It consists of oil, water and spices, and all the ingredients are mixed together and shaken with it before pouring it into the salad.”
“It is those spices, something else, that are usually mutually exclusive, that mix water and oil, allowing a process called emulsification, that is small bits of those spices, something else, explained by the laws of thermodynamics.”
“Emulsification underlies a vast amount of technology and applications that go far beyond seasonings,” said Anthony Leif, a graduate student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst University.
“One day I was in the lab to mix this batch of science salad dressing and see what I could create. Instead of spice, I used magnetized particles of nickel because I could design any kind of interesting material that has useful properties when it contains magnetic particles.”
“I made the mixture and rocked it – and to my total surprise, the mixture formed this beautiful, pristine ur shape.”
“No matter how many times, how violently it was, the bones have always returned.”
The researchers determined that using additional lab experiments and simulations, they would explain the mysterious phenomenon of magnetism, strong magnetism, discovered.
“A very close look at the individual magnetized nickel nanoparticles that form the water-oil boundary gives you very detailed information on how the different morphologies are assembled.”
“In this case, the particles are magnetized so strongly that the assembly interferes with the emulsification process described by the laws of thermodynamics.”
The particles that are usually added to oil and water mixtures reduce the tension at the interface between the two liquids, allowing them to be mixed.
However, with a twist, the well-heavy magnetized particles actually increase the interfacial tension, bending the oil-water boundary into an elegant curve.
“When you see something impossible, you have to investigate,” Professor Russell said.
“We don’t have any applications yet in our discoveries, but we look forward to seeing how unprecedented states will affect the field of soft matter physics,” added Raykh.
Team’s work It will be displayed in the journal Natural Physics.
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A.Rafe et al. Shape recovery solution. nut. PhysPublished online on April 4, 2025. doi:10.1038/s41567-025-02865-1
The principle of quantum superposition allows the system to be prepared with two arbitrary state superpositions. A paradigmous example is the superposition of two coherent states. Superposition of such states is usually referred to as the Schrödinger cat state, but in Irwin Schrodinger’s original thought experiment, a cat-temperature-equal system system is prepared with superposition of two mixed states dominated by classical variation. Physicists at the University of Innsbruck have now managed to create the state of Hot Schrodinger cats with a superconducting microwave resonator.
Yang et al. We generated highly mixed quantum states with different quantum properties. Image credit: Innsbruck University.
SchrödingerCat states are an attractive phenomenon in quantum physics, where quantum objects exist simultaneously in two different states.
In Erwin Schrödinger’s thought experiment, it is a cat living and dead at the same time.
In real experiments, such simultaneity is seen in the positions of atoms and molecules, as well as the vibrations of electromagnetic resonators.
Previously, these analogues to Schrodinger’s thought experiments were first created by cooling quantum objects to their ground state.
In a new study, Dr. Gerhard Kirchumere and his colleagues at Innsbruck University demonstrated that it is indeed possible to create quantum superpositions from thermally excited states.
“Schrodinger also envisioned a living, namely “hot” cat in his thought experiments,” says Dr. Kirchumere, author of the study.
“We wanted to know if these quantum effects could also be produced if they didn’t start from the ‘cold’ ground state. ”
To generate the Schrödinger CAT state, researchers used a transmon Qubit with a microwave resonator.
They have succeeded in creating quantum layers at temperatures up to 1.8 k. This is 60 times the ambient temperature of the cavity.
“Our results show that it is possible to generate highly mixed quantum states with distinct quantum properties,” says Dr. Ian Yang, the first author of the study.
Scientists used two special protocols to create the state of Hot Schrodinger cats.
These protocols have been used previously to produce CAT states starting from the ground state of the system.
“It turns out that the tuned protocol also works at high temperatures and produces clear quantum interference,” said Professor Oriol Romero Isart, co-author of the study.
“This opens up new opportunities for the creation and use of quantum superpositions, for example, in nanomechanical oscillators.
“When I first mentioned our results, many of our colleagues were surprised because we usually think of temperature as a disruption to quantum effects,” says Thomas Agnius, co-author of the study.
“Our measurements confirm that quantum interference can last even at high temperatures.”
The findings could benefit quantum technology development.
“Our work reveals that quantum phenomena can be observed and used in warm, less ideal environments,” Dr. Kirchem said.
“If the system can create the interactions it needs, temperature is ultimately irrelevant.”
a paper The findings were published in the journal Advances in science.
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Ian Yang et al. 2025. Hot Schrodinger cat condition. Advances in science 11 (14); doi:10.1126/sciadv.adr4492
The Trump administration rejected the Biden plan on Friday, which proposed Medicare and Medicaid covering obesity drugs and increasing access to millions of people.
The Biden administration’s proposal aimed to circumvent the ban on Medicare paying for weight loss drugs by claiming they would treat diseases related to obesity.
Expanding drug coverage would cost the federal government billions of dollars, with an estimated cost of around $35 billion over a decade according to the Congressional Budget Office Estimates.
The decision was part of a larger set of regulations contained in a 438-page document aimed at updating Medicare benefits and private insurance plans used by about half of Medicare beneficiaries.
Catherine Howden, a spokesperson for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, stated that the agency did not believe it was appropriate at the time to approve the Biden plan.
Medicare currently covers a limited set of weight loss medications for individuals with specific health conditions, such as diabetes and heart problems.
The Biden plan aimed to extend coverage to obese patients without these specific diseases, with an estimated 3.4 million people potentially benefiting from the policy.
Popular weight loss pills like Wegovy by Eli Lilly and other related products are now available at reduced prices to patients paying out of pocket.
Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk offer discounts for their products to patients paying out of pocket instead of through insurance, significantly reducing the cost for individuals.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. criticized weight loss pills, advocating for a diet of healthy foods instead.
Clinical trials have shown benefits of weight loss drugs beyond just weight loss, including preventing heart attacks and strokes.
Supporters of expanded drug coverage argue that the long-term health benefits will outweigh the costs, potentially reducing overall medical expenses. However, the realization of such savings remains uncertain.
States’ Medicaid programs now have the option to decide whether to cover obesity drugs or not, with some already opting to provide coverage. If the Biden policy had been implemented, all states would have been required to provide coverage.
The exact cost of obesity drugs for Medicare and Medicaid patients is undisclosed, but it is estimated to be several hundred dollars per patient per month.
Many employers and private health insurance plans do not cover weight loss drugs, leading some to discontinue coverage due to high costs.
Patients without insurance often rely on cheaper generic versions of drugs created through compounding, costing less than $200 a month. However, regulators are phasing out this option due to improved supply of branded products.
Congressional Republicans have shown some interest in urging Medicare to cover weight loss drugs, although this is not a current priority. Negotiations with Novo Nordisk for lower drug prices under a 2022 law have been initiated, with reduced prices scheduled to start in 2027 for eligible individuals.
An investigation is underway at a Boston area hospital involving five nurses who worked in the same department and developed brain tumors.
Mass General Brigham Newton Wellesley Hospital reported a total of 11 employees in the fifth floor obstetrics department have raised health concerns, with five of them being diagnosed with benign brain tumors. Two of these tumors are meningiomas, the most common and benign types of brain tumors.
“The investigation did not find any environmental risks associated with the development of brain tumors,” said hospital administrator Jonathan Sonis, in a statement alongside Associate Nurse Sandy Muse Jonathan Sonis.
The hospital conducted the investigation in collaboration with government health and safety officials, ruling out disposable masks, water supplies, nearby X-rays, and chemotherapy treatments as possible sources of the issue.
“Based on these findings, we can assure our staff and patients that there are no environmental risks within our facilities,” the administrator assured.
Exterior of Mass General Brigham Newton Wellesley Hospital in Newton, Massachusetts. Google Maps
The Massachusetts Nurse Association, currently negotiating nurse compensation at the hospital, expressed their commitment to ongoing investigation.
The union highlighted nurses’ concerns about workplace health, leading to the discovery of individuals with tumors.
“The hospital’s environmental tests were not comprehensive, and they only spoke to a few nurses,” stated MNA spokesman Joe Markman. “The hospital cannot sweep this issue under the rug.”
The state agency and federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration are yet to provide conclusive information on the matter.
According to the American Cancer Society, a cancer cluster would involve an unusually high number of cancer cases within a specific area sharing common characteristics.
“Four out of ten people in the US develop cancer during their lifetime,” stated the association, emphasizing the frequency of cancer occurrences.
Four civil astronauts concluded their mission on SpaceX vehicles on Friday, landing in waters near Oceanside, California.
This marked the first time the company had brought people back to Earth in the Pacific Ocean after six years of Dragon Capsules splashing down in the Atlantic or Gulf of Mexico.
The FRAM2 mission orbited the Earth for four days in a north-south trajectory, allowing astronauts to witness North and Antarctica directly from space for the first time.
SpaceX relocated its operations to the Pacific Ocean to prevent dragon capsule debris from falling into random parts of the Earth. The vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean and favorable weather along the US West Coast provided a safe and conducive environment for the astronauts’ return.
The first SpaceX Astronaut Mission, a test flight in May 2020, saw Douglas Hurley and NASA’s Robert Behnken launching to the International Space Station. They returned just two months later, splashing down in the Gulf waters off Pensacola, Florida. This mission introduced SpaceX’s upgraded Dragon 2 capsule design.
Subsequently, there were nine NASA-funded flights, five private flights, and ten cargo missions to the International Space Station, all safely landing in Florida.
However, fragments of the spacecraft’s trunk began descending in unexpected locations, such as Australian sheep fields and North Carolina hiking trails. While no injuries or property damage occurred, the continuous rains of space debris pose a risk that needs to be addressed.
SpaceX had initially expected the spacecraft’s trunk to completely burn up during re-entry, but this turned out to be untrue. Therefore, last year, SpaceX announced changes to their Dragon Landing process.
The Dragon Trunk is now abandoned later in the return journey after the spacecraft uses thrusters to deorbit. This ensures targeted debris disposal, with the Pacific Ocean providing a safe area for debris to land without posing a threat to people.
Previously, the Dragon Trunk remained on trajectory for extended periods without a clear prediction of its re-entry location.
The milder Pacific climate also benefits NASA in scheduling missions.
SpaceX’s move partially to the Pacific Ocean for Dragon Landing meets NASA’s requirements for faster processing of scientific experiments returning from space, allowing SpaceX time to prepare for subsequent flights.
The most recent East Coast landing featured a NASA mission returning from the space station with NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore. Due to issues with the Boeing Starliner spacecraft, their stay in orbit extended over nine months. The mission ended with a playful encounter with a pod of dolphins investigating the spacecraft.
In this week’s FRAM2 mission, Chun Wang, an investor in blockchain and cryptocurrency mining, funded a private mission and chose three companions: Norwegian filmmaker Jannicke Mikkelsen, German robot researcher Laveer Lodge, and Australian explorer Eric Phillips.
Mr. Wang named the mission after the Norwegian ship Fram, which explored the Arctic Circle in the 19th century. He provided updates from orbit, including his experience with space sickness and the uniqueness of Pacific Ocean landings.
“Space motion sickness affected us all – we felt nauseous and vomited several times,” wrote Mr. Wang.
Splashdowns in the Pacific Ocean have historical significance in spaceflight, with most of NASA’s Apollo missions landing there. SpaceX’s return to Pacific landings marks a shift from previous missions primarily landing in Florida.
The curiosity of West Coast dolphins remains to be seen, adding a whimsical touch to the return of space missions.
An influential book by botanist and pioneering photographer Anna Atkins, almost two centuries ago. British algae photos: impressions of cyanotypes surprised readers with its scientific power and artistry. In it, Atkins presented images of seaweed collected from the British coastline using the cyanotype method, a printing process carried out by laying objects on chemically coated paper, exposing them to ultraviolet rays and creating a cyan blue background.
Artist Mandy Barker’s new book, British algae photo: Cyanotype defects she uses the same technique to draw attention to the ongoing pollution crisis facing our oceans. Like Atkins, Barker also scrutinised the British coastline. But rather than finding the beauty of nature, she saw abandoned clothes washed down on the beach. Her first discovery, she says, looked like seaweed. “It was kind of an attractive and beautiful fabric.” However, when jackets, dresses, shoes, underwear and school uniforms began to appear, the scale of the problem quickly became clear to her.
Inspired by the “seaweed-like shape” of the clothing, Barker decided to create a new cyanotype print (photo not the photo above) from this discovered fabric (photo above, not the photo above) to replicate Atkins’ work, which involves small but large changes. She draws attention to the climate costs associated with fast fashion by inventing the Latin name for clothing. Delesseria Tunica Ictus – Nodded to both the shirt she found and the red algae that Atkins had photographed.
Scientists have a passion for categorizing things, especially when it comes to life on Earth. The common categories are animals, plants, fungi, protists (like algae and amoeba), bacteria, and archaea (microscopic single-celled organisms).
However, recent studies have hinted that there might be more to the tree of life than we previously thought. This is due to a prehistoric cylindrical life form that some British scientists believe belongs to a unique branch of life.
The mysterious creature is known as Prototaxite and existed around 44-360 million years ago.
Professor Benjamin J.W. Mills, an expert in the evolution of the Earth system at Leeds University, mentioned that these creatures evolved during a time when Earth was becoming more habitable for organisms like them. The spread of plants and fungi on land increased oxygen levels in the atmosphere, leading to a surge in global photosynthesis.
These Prototaxite towers could reach heights of up to 8 meters and were often mistaken for massive tree trunks, despite only being a few inches wide.
Initially thought to be a type of fungus, recent research on Prototaxite suggests otherwise. By analyzing the fossilized bodies of Prototaxites Taiti found in Scotland, scientists concluded that it was a distinct life form rather than a fungus.
Unlike true fungi, the cells of P. Taiti contained lignin instead of chitin. This difference in molecular composition confirmed that it was not a fungus but rather a member of an extinct lineage.
The implications of these findings raise questions about the evolution of life and its impact on Earth’s atmosphere. The study of P. Taiti sheds light on the intricate relationship between organisms and their environment over time.
Experts like Professor Neil Gow from the University of Exeter emphasize the significance of such discoveries in understanding our planet’s history and potential habitability of other worlds.
To learn more about the experts involved in this research:
About our experts
Benjamin JW Mills is a biogeochemist and professor of the evolution of the Earth System at Leeds University. His work focuses on understanding the environmental changes that shaped Earth’s habitability and whether similar conditions could exist on other planets.
Neil Gow is a former professor of microbiology at the University of Exeter. His research on fungal diseases and cell wall structure has contributed to our understanding of life-threatening infections.
When you arrive at work, what is the first thing you do? Do you unpack your bag, set up your desk, and then head straight for the coffee machine? You’re not alone.
According to the National Coffee Association, the average American drinks more than three cups of coffee a day. In moderation, coffee is often considered part of a healthy lifestyle for good reason. It is linked to a reduced risk of conditions like diabetes and certain types of cancer.
However, your morning brew may not be as healthy as you think. Coffee contains natural compounds that can raise cholesterol levels, and depending on how it is prepared, your daily cup may contain more of these compounds than ideal.
A team of Swedish researchers investigated coffee machines in workplaces and found that many people brewed coffee with high levels of these cholesterol-raising substances.
“For decades, we’ve known that certain types of coffee can elevate cholesterol levels,” said Dr. David Igman, co-author of new research published in the journal Nutrition, Metabolism, Cardiovascular Disease to BBC Science Focus.
In particular, unfiltered or boiled coffee is known to contain two cholesterol-raising compounds (cafestol and kahweol) that belong to a group of naturally occurring fats called diterpenes.
Liquid model coffee machines contain lower levels of diterpenes than other brewers. – Getty
These compounds are associated with an increased risk of high cholesterol and cardiovascular disease, as well as a slight reduction in “good” cholesterol (HDL).
In contrast, filtered coffee typically contains much lower levels of these compounds and is considered a safer choice in terms of cholesterol levels.
Dr. Igman explained, “At work, many people get their coffee from machines, and yet no one has actually tested these machines to see if they produce filtered or unfiltered coffee.”
To investigate, the team tested 14 coffee machines in different workplaces, collecting samples brewed on different days and measuring the levels of cafestol and kahweol in the final cup.
In their analysis, they also examined other common types of coffee, such as Scandinavian-style drip coffee, percolators, French presses, espresso, and boiled coffee.
The results showed significant variations between the machines, with some producing coffee with very low diterpene levels similar to paper coffee.
Paper-filtered coffee contains minimal cholesterol-raising cafestol. – Erik et al. Nutrition, Metabolism, Cardiovascular Disease
Dr. Igman concluded, “From our data, liquid model machines are definitely a better option, producing coffee with very low diterpene levels similar to paper coffee.”
Liquid model machines do not brew coffee in the traditional way; they combine liquid coffee concentrate with hot water to create a cup.
In contrast, traditional brewers use ground or whole beans, passing hot water through a metal filter, resulting in higher levels of cholesterol-raising compounds.
In summary, Dr. Igman advised, “Don’t worry about drinking coffee, as it is associated with various health benefits. However, if you regularly consume machine-made coffee at work, pay attention to how it is brewed, especially if you are monitoring your cholesterol levels.”
“While we don’t fully understand how these machines affect blood lipids, it’s likely dependent on the amount of coffee consumed. Using a paper filter or instant coffee is the safest option for cholesterol levels,” he added.
About our experts
David Igman is a research associate at the Dalana Centre for Clinical Research at the University of Uppsala, Sweden. His research focuses on American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Diabetes, and Internal Medicine.
There is a higher likelihood of newer and more expensive medicines being produced in the US or Europe, with Ireland emerging as a hub due to its tax benefits.
Many major pharmaceutical products, such as Merck’s keytruda, Eli Lilly’s Zepbound, and Johnson & Johnson’s Stellara, are at least partially manufactured in Ireland.
President Trump acknowledged Ireland’s significance in the pharmaceutical industry during a meeting with Prime Minister Michael Martin in March.
Why did American drug manufacturing move overseas?
US drug production peaked in 2006, coinciding with the loss of patent protection for several top-selling American drugs and the rise of generic manufacturers in India and China. The phasing out of incentives for manufacturing in Puerto Rico led to the shift of production overseas, particularly to countries like Ireland offering tax benefits.
In 2021, most major generic drugs, antibiotics, and antivirals in the US rely on active ingredients produced outside the country, posing a potential risk to domestic drug supply.
President Trump expressed concern about the US’s reliance on foreign sources for essential medicines like antibiotics.
One example is the production of amoxicillin, a common antibiotic, which is predominantly located in China, India, and Europe, highlighting the vulnerability of US drug supply chains.
Has drugs been previously affected by tariffs?
While drugs are typically exempt from tariffs under global trade agreements, recent tariffs imposed by Trump on Chinese imports have impacted drug manufacturers importing active ingredients from China to the US.
The additional costs of tariffs could potentially lead to drug shortages, particularly for generic drugs with slim profit margins, prompting manufacturers to consider exiting the market.
Will tariffs lead to drug shortages?
Tariffs on active ingredients from China may exacerbate existing drug shortages, especially for generic injectables that are more challenging and less profitable to produce compared to new drugs.
Concerns have been raised about the impact of tariffs on drug supply chains, particularly for essential medications like lidocaine, where most active ingredients are sourced from India.
Approximately 6,500 years ago, hunting kits included spear throwers, boomerang fragments, wood and stone tipped darts. These were discovered in a cave in West Texas near remnants of a small fire and a well-preserved pile of human waste, suggesting past human habitation.
Recently, archaeologists from Surros State University and Kansas University uncovered one of the oldest almost complete wooden and stone hunting weapons in North America. The findings are still being studied, but initial assessments indicate that one weapon may be around 7,000 years old.
Brion Schroeder, director of the Big Bend Research Center, expressed surprise at the discoveries, highlighting the unique insights into ancient hunting methods and tool maintenance.
Recent discoveries in a cave near Malfa, Texas have revealed hunting kits containing weapons and antelope skins likely used for clothing. The excavation, funded by the University of Kansas, aims to uncover ancient human artifacts in North America.
Dr. Schroeder and his team faced challenges from looters but persisted in their search for ancient artifacts. The depths of the cave yielded valuable insights into the hunting practices of early humans.
During the excavation, researchers unearthed parts of a hunting kit, suggesting the cave was used by hunters to store and repair their weapons. This sheds light on how ancient hunters maintained their tools and equipment.
The discovery of various tools and their arrangement indicates a systematic approach to hunting and tool maintenance by the ancient inhabitants of the cave.
Among the artifacts found is an atlatl, or spear thrower, considered one of the oldest in North America. The well-preserved wooden components of the atlatl provide valuable insights into ancient hunting techniques.
In addition to the atlatl, researchers discovered fragments of boomerangs, wooden darts, and stone tips, indicating a sophisticated approach to hunting and tool usage by ancient humans.
The discoveries offer a rare glimpse into the daily lives and hunting practices of ancient people, showcasing their advanced technology and strategic planning.
The age and completeness of the artifacts suggest a well-maintained weapon kit used by ancient hunters, providing valuable insights into their behavior and technology.
The discoveries shed light on the skills and foresight of ancient hunters, highlighting their ability to adapt to their environment and plan for their hunting expeditions.
Anthropology experts emphasize the rarity of finding well-preserved organic materials in ancient tools, showcasing the complexity of ancient hunting equipment beyond stone tools.
Ongoing analyses of the artifacts aim to uncover not only insights into ancient human diet and DNA but also the advanced weaponry used by early hunters. Collaboration with Indigenous groups ensures respectful research practices and eventual public sharing of findings.
The discoveries challenge preconceived notions of ancient hunting methods and highlight the intelligence and adaptability of early human societies.
Archaeologists and researchers emphasize the importance of these findings in understanding the behavior and technology of ancient hunting communities.
The destructive forces of shocking asteroids are estimated primarily by knowledge of their size. Near Earth Asteroid 2024 YR4 reached a peak 2032 impact probability on Earth at 3%, motivated the desire to determine its size. Due to its infrared capabilities, the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webbspace Telescope is uniquely suited to such evaluations. Johns Hopkins University astronomer Andrew Livkin and his colleagues used two Webb instruments to measure the diameter for 2024.
These web images show asteroid 2024 YR4 near Earth. Image credits: NASA/ESA/CSA/STSCI/A. RIVKIN, JHU/APL.
2024 yr4 On December 27, 2024, the Asteroid Terrestrial Impact of Río Hurtado was discovered by the Last Alert System (Atlas) station.
The asteroid took a close approach to Earth at a distance of 828,800 km (515,000 miles) two days before its discovery.
Initial observations from the 2024 YR4 showed that the diameter was 40-90 m (131-295 ft).
Dr. Eric McLennan, an astronomer at the University of Helsinki, said:
“However, thermal radiation at infrared wavelengths is a direct indicator of size.”
Nircam data reflects light, while Miri’s observations show heat light.
“The observations were taken to study the thermal properties of the 2024 YR4, including how quickly it heats and cools at the current distance from the sun, and how hot the heat is,” the astronomer said.
“These measurements show that this asteroid does not share the properties observed on the larger asteroid.”
“This could be a combination of its fast spin and a lack of fine sand on its surface.”
“More research is needed, but this is thought to coincide with surfaces dominated by rocks that are roughly below the size of a fist.”
New Webb observations show that the asteroid measures approximately 60 m (197 feet).
“The 2024 YR4 has been the smallest object that Webb has ever targeted and is one of the smallest objects that directly measure its size,” the researchers said.
“New observations from Webb provide unique information about the size of the YR4 in 2024, as well as complement the ground-based observations of the object’s location to improve understanding of the object’s trajectory and future trajectory.”
Team’s Survey results It was published in AAS research notes.
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As Livin et al. 2025. JWST observation of potentially dangerous asteroid 2024 YR4. res. Note AAS 9, 70; doi:10.3847/2515-5172/ADC6F0
Apes and monkeys have special anatomy in their throats Voice membraneit disappeared from humans through evolution, allowing for more stable speech. However, the exact benefits these offer to non-human primates were previously unknown. New research provides important new insights Various vocal sounds It reveals for the first time how nonhuman primates and certain calls are generated.
The range from Mexico to Argentina has been found to have evolved the largest vocal membranes of all primates, suggesting that these thin tissue ribbons play a particularly important role in the repertoire of vocal production and calling. This image shows the black and gold Howler monkeys (Alouatta Caraya). Image credit: Jacob Dunn of Anglia Ruskin University.
Humans have evolved their ability to speak, but apes and monkeys, closest relatives in the animal kingdom, lack this skill.
However, they have a special anatomy in the larynx that humans have lost during their evolution: a thin, lightweight tissue membrane at the top of the crease of the voice.
Previous studies have suggested that these structures contribute to the complexity of animal vocalization, but their precise roles remain largely unclear to date.
The new study, led by researchers at Anglia Ruskin University and the University of Vienna, shows that these membranes promote rapid frequency transitions and significantly expand the range and complexity of monkey vocalization.
Scientists documented and studied the appeals of various primate species at the La Senda Verde Wildlife Sanctuary in Bolivia.Alouatta Caraya), tufted cappuchin (Sapaju Appella), black capped squirrel monkey (Saimiri boliviensis), and Peruvian spider monkeys (Atheres Chamek).
A combination of methods was used to identify two different modes of vocal fold vibration.
The first mode, which involves only the folding of the voice, produces a low-frequency sound similar to human ponation.
The second mode, which also involves the vocal membrane, results in much higher frequency oscillations, and, like human yodel, produces dramatic “mutation.”
In some cases, these shifts span octaves over 3 octaves. This goes far beyond the human ability of voice breaks, usually limited to a single octave.
“This is an attractive example of how nature offers a means to enrich animal vocalization despite the lack of language,” says Dr. Christian Herbst, a researcher at the University of Vienna.
“The production of these complex vocal patterns is almost possible by the way the animal’s larynx is anatomically shaped, and does not require the complex neural control produced by the brain.”
“These results show how monkeys can exploit new evolutionary features that can generate a wider range of calls, including these ultra-yodel,” says Jacob Dunn, a researcher at Anglia Ruskin University.
“This may be especially important for primates who have complex social lives and need to communicate in a variety of ways.”
This study further suggests that the vocal membrane also introduces vocal instability while enhancing the pitch range.
“Our research shows that the vocal membrane extends the pitch range of monkeys, but it also makes the voice unstable,” says Dr. Tecumse Fitch, a researcher at the University of Vienna.
“They may have been lost during human evolution to promote stability in the pitch of songs and speech.”
study Published in the journal Philosophical trade of the Royal Society b.
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Christian T. Herbst et al. 2025. “Monkey Yodel” – The new world’s frequency jumps far outweigh the human vocal register transition. fill. transformer. R. Soc. b 380 (1923): 20240005; doi: 10.1098/rstb.2024.0005
Dust devils are formed by rising warm air and rotating columns.
Air near the planet’s surface is heated by contact with warm ground and rises through the dense, cold air above.
It starts to spin as other air moves along the surface and replaces the warmer air rise.
As the incoming air rises to the pillar, the rotating ice skater speeds up so that it brings its arms closer to his body.
The air that charges also picks up dust, creating a dusty demon.
“The Dust Devils play an important role in Mars weather patterns,” said Dr. Katie Stack Morgan, a researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
“These phenomena indicate atmospheric conditions such as wind direction and velocity, and are responsible for about half of the dust in the atmosphere of Mars, so the dust devil is important.”
NASA’s Viking Orbiter in the 1970s was the first spacecraft to photograph the Dust Devils on Mars.
Twenty years later, the agency’s Pathfinder mission first took images from the surface, detecting the dust demon passing by the Lander.
The spirit and opportunity of the Twin Rovers was able to capture a significant share of the dusty whirlwind.
Curiosity is patience exploring a place called Mount Sharp in Gale Crater, opposite Mars.
Since landing in 2021, perseverance has whirlwind many occasions, including one on September 27, 2021. There, a group of Dust Devils danced across the Jeza Crater floor, and the rover used a super-cam microphone to record the first sounds of the Dust Devils on Mars.
Three dust devils can be seen in this image, taken on the rims of Jezero Crater by NASA’s Patience Mars Rover on January 25th, 2025. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI.
When I snapped a new image with patience about 1 km (0.6 miles), the large dust devil was about 65 m (210 feet) wide, but the smaller, and the driving dust demon was about 5 m (16 feet) wide.
Two other dust devils can also be seen in the background on the left and center.
Patience documented the scene as he explored the western edge of Mars’ Jezero Crater on January 25th, 2025.
“The patience scientist of the Institute of Space Sciences” said: “The patience scientist of the Institute of Space Sciences.”
“These mini-twisters wander the surface of Mars, pick up dust and lower the view of nearby areas.”
“If two dust devils arise from each other, they can either wipe them out or the stronger one can consume the weaker one and merge them.”
This article is part of It’s overlookedno obituaries were reported in the times about the astonishing people who died in 1851.
Katherine Dexter McCormick was born into a life of wealth that has deteriorated through marriage, but may have simply enjoyed many of the benefits that flowed in her way. Instead, she placed her considerable fortune, in line with her considerable intentionality, to make the woman’s life better.
Activist, philanthropist and benefactor McCormick strategically used her wealth. Most notably, he undertook basic research that led to the development of contraceptives in the late 1950s.
Previously, contraception in the US was very limited, with diaphragm and condoms being banned. The advent of pills made it easier for women to plan when and whether they have children, and promoted the explosive sexual revolution of the 1960s. Today, the pill is despite some side effects Most widely used A reversible form of birth control in the United States.
McCormick’s interest in birth control began in the 1910s when she learned of Margaret Sanger, a feminist leader who was imprisoned for opening the country’s first birth control clinic. She shared Sanger’s passionate belief that women should be able to diagram their biological fate.
The two met in 1917 and soon hatched an elaborate scheme for smuggling diaphragms into the United States.
Diaphragm was prohibited under the Comstock Act of 1873, resulting in a federal crime of mailing or delivering “indecent, indecent or crude” material, including pornography, birth control, and items used for abortion. (I have received laws that still prohibit mailing items related to abortions New attention (Because the federal rights to abortion were overturned in 2022)
Fluent in French and German, McCormick traveled to Europe, where the diaphragm was commonly used. She studied biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was able to possibly possibly in a meeting with the diaphragm maker. “She bought hundreds of devices and hired a local tailor to sew it on her dresses, evening dresses and coats.” Articles from 2011 MIT Technology Review. “Then she wrapped her clothes around and stuffed them neatly into the trunk for shipping.”
She and her steamer trunks passed through customs. If authorities had stopped her, they would have said, “Only the slightly fluffy dresses that own the boss’s socialites would ooze such self-importance, grandly restraining Porter and doubting nothing.”
From 1922 to 1925, McCormick smuggled over 1,000 diaphragms into Sanger’s clinic.
After her husband passed away in 1947, she took over a significant amount of money, and she asked Sanger for advice on how to put it to use birth control advances. In 1953, Sanger introduced Gregory Goodwin Pinkus and Min Chew Chan, a researcher in Worcester experimental biology in Massachusetts.
She was excited by their work and provided what she needed to provide almost all of the funding (about $23 million today). She even moved to Worcester to monitor and encourage their research. Pincus’ wife Elizabeth explained that McCormick was a warrior.
Katherine Moore Dexter was born on August 27, 1875 in Dexter, west of Detroit, to a family of wealthy social activists. The town is named after his grandfather, Samuel W. Dexter. Samuel W. Dexter founded it in 1824, maintaining an underground railway stop in the home where Catherine was born. Her great grandfather, Samuel Dexter, was the Secretary of Treasury under President John Adams.
Catherine and her brother, Samuel T. Dexter, grew up in Chicago. Their mother, Josephine (Moore) Dexter, was a Boston Brahmin who supported women’s rights. Their father, Wirt Dexter, was a powerful lawyer who served as president of the Chicago Bar Association and director of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroads. He also later led the relief committee. Amazing Chicago Fire In 1871 he was a major real estate developer.
He passed away when Catherine was 14 years old. A few years later, her brother died of meningitis while attending Harvard Law School. Those early deaths directed her into a medical career.
She attended MIT and majored in biology. A rare achievement for women of that era. She arrives with her own heart and successfully completes the rule that female students must always wear hats, claiming that they always pose a fire risk at the Institute of Science. She graduated in 1904 and was planning to attend medical school.
But by then she had begun dating the dashing Stanley Robert McCormick, whom she knew in Chicago. She knew in Chicago. As a young lawyer, he helped negotiate the merger that became his family. Main owner of International HarvesterBy 1909 it was America’s fourth largest industrial company and was measured by assets.
McCormick persuades Katherine to marry him instead of going to medical school. They married at their Swiss mother Chateau and settled in Brookline, Massachusetts.
However, even before they got married, he showed signs of mental instability, so he began to experience violent and delusional delusions. He was later admitted to hospital with what was later determined to be schizophrenia and remained under psychiatric care – almost Riven Rock, Until his death, McCormick Family Estate in Montecito, California. She never divorced him and never remarried. They had no children.
Katherine McCormick spent decades in personal, medical and legal disputes with her husband’s siblings. They fought about his treatment, his protection, and ultimately his property, Prologue Magazine’s 2007 articlePublications of the National Archives. She is his sole beneficiary, inheriting about $40 million ($563 million in today’s dollars). She combined with the $10 million inherited from her mother (more than $222 million today) made her one of America’s wealthiest women.
As her husband’s illness consumed her personal life, McCormick threw herself into social causes. She contributed financially to the suffrage movement, gave speeches, demonstrated leadership and demonstrated leadership to become treasurer and vice president. National Women’s Suffrage Association. After women gained the right to vote in 1920, the association evolved into a federation of women’s voters. McCormick has become vice president.
In 1927 she founded the Neuroendocrine Research Foundation at Harvard Medical School. She provided funding for 20 years, gaining expertise in endocrinology, and later conveyed her interest in the development of oral contraceptives.
After the FDA approved the pill, McCormick turned his attention to funding the first on-campus residence for women at MIT when he studied there. The women did not have a home. “If we can properly accommodate them, the best science education in our country will be open forever,” she said.
Named after her husband, McCormick Hall opened in 1963 on the Institute’s Cambridge campus. At the time, women accounted for about 3% of the school’s undergraduate students. Today they make up about 50%.
By the time she died of a stroke at her Boston home on December 28, 1967, McCormick was playing a major role in expanding opportunities for women in the 20th century. She was 92 years old.
Apart from the short Boston Globe article, she barely noticed her death. The later obituaries of birth control researchers she supported did not mention her role in their achievements.
At her will, she left $5 million in the planned Parent-Child Relations Federation (more than $46 million today) and $1 million in the Pincus Institute (more than $9 million today). Previously, she had donated Swiss successive property to the US government for use by diplomatic missions in Geneva. She left most of the rest of her property
President Trump’s recent tariffs may impact the use of grid batteries in the US energy sector. These batteries are crucial for storing excess wind and solar energy to enhance the electric grid’s reliability. Grid batteries have seen significant growth in states like Texas and Arizona over the past five years, being used to store solar power and reduce reliance on natural gas.
Despite their importance, the majority of US lithium-ion batteries are imported, with a large portion coming from China. With the new tariffs imposed by Trump, grid batteries will face significant taxes when imported from China, potentially hindering their deployment and impacting grid reliability.
Jason Burwen, vice president of policy and strategy at battery developer Gridstor, expressed concerns about the implications of these tariffs on the energy storage deployment, labeling it as detrimental to both business and grid reliability.
The grid battery capacity in the US was projected to reach a record 18,200 megawatts this year, according to the US Energy Information Agency. This growth in battery capacity, along with wind and solar power, was expected to contribute significantly to the grid expansion.
Grid batteries have been instrumental in addressing the intermittency of renewable energy sources like wind and solar power. States like California and Texas have seen an increase in battery installations to mitigate the risk of blackouts during peak demand periods.
Besides supporting renewable energy integration, grid batteries also help stabilize power flow, manage disruptions, and alleviate congestion on transmission lines. The decreasing cost of lithium-ion technology has fueled the installation of grid batteries, paralleling the EV battery trend.
Antoine Vagneur-Jones, head of trade and supply chain at Bloombergnef, highlighted the reliance on Chinese imports for batteries in the US clean energy sector. He warned that the tariffs imposed could have a more significant impact on batteries than other technologies.
The US has taken steps to develop a domestic battery supply chain, but the future remains uncertain due to potential policy changes. While investments have been made in new battery plants under the Biden administration, clean energy policies are facing challenges from Congressional President Trump and Republicans.
Vagneur-Jones noted the complexity of assessing the impact of tariffs on the energy mix, particularly in the competition between batteries and natural gas plants to support renewable energy fluctuations.
Utility companies may find it challenging to increase their reliance on gas due to global supply chain constraints and tariffs affecting the oil and gas industry. While tariffs may benefit fossil fuels, they could hinder clean energy progress, ultimately impacting energy solutions for all.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced widespread cuts at federal health agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration, which eliminates overlapping services and paper pushers.
However, interviews with more than a dozen current and former FDA staff featured another photo of the widespread impact of layoffs that ultimately cut the agency’s workforce by 20%. Among them are experts who have navigated the maze of law to determine whether expensive drugs can be sold as low-cost generics. Lab scientists who tested food and drugs for contaminants or fatal bacteria. Veterinary department experts investigating avian flu infections. Researchers who monitored advertisements that were aired for false claims about prescription drugs.
In many areas of the FDA, no employee will support overseas inspectors at risk of processing their pay, submitting retirement or layoff documents, or making the most of their agency’s credit card. Even libraries of institutions that relied on subscriptions to medical journals where researchers and experts were now cancelled have been closed.
FDA’s new commissioner, Dr. Marty McCurry, appeared on Wednesday in a much-anticipated appearance at Maryland headquarters. He gave a speech outlining a wide range of issues in the health care system, including an increase in chronic diseases. Employees were not given a formal opportunity to ask questions.
Approximately 3,500 FDA employees are expected to lose employment under the cuts. A spokesman for Health and Human Services did not answer the question.
When the Trump administration ran its first round with the FDA in February, it thwarted a team of scientists who did the nuanced job of ensuring the safety of surgical robots and devices injecting insulin into diabetic children. Some of the layoffs and cuts described as arbitrary volition by former FDA officials have quickly reversed.
Dr. David Kessler, a former agent committee member on the pandemic response under President Biden and White House adviser, said the latest round of layoffs has been deprived of decades of important experience and knowledge from the institution.
“I think it’s devastating, coincidence, thoughtful and confused,” he said. “I think they need to be revoked.”
It remains uncertain whether any of the lost jobs will be restored by the regime. In the interview, 15 current and former staff members spoke on condition of anonymity, some of whom spoke and explained the expected layoffs and expected impacts on food, drugs and medical supplies, fearing unemployment or retaliation.
Leonardo Augustus Patterson was born on April 15, 1942 in Limon, the Caribbean coastal town of Costa Rica. Little is known about his family history. He said his father left home when he was very young and his farmer mother died when he was a teenager.
He said he found his first ancient, ancient pottery shard in the Yam field when he was seven years old.
He moved to San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica, when he was 15 years old. There he found a job with a jeweller.
After selling items locally for several years, he moved to Miami, where he imported them to a local gallery. A chance encounter with a wealthy collector led to an opportunity in New York, where he had moved by the late 1970s.
Patterson kept his family’s life a lot secret. He claimed that five women had at least 13 children. The list of survivors was not available immediately.
Few people suspected that Patterson had committed a long list of crimes, but even some of his opponents have admitted that he has a loving side. They cited his gentle personality and his dry wit – a quiet charisma that appears to take on his entire career.
“He was adorable guy,” Brand said.
When he told Patterson he was planning to write a book about him, Brand recalled, and Patterson replied, “Wait until you’re dead.”
New research suggests that the peeps, cries, and groans of wild bonobos, a species of great apes living in Africa’s rainforests, can convey complex ideas in ways that resemble elements of human language.
According to a study published in the Journal Science, the closest living genetic relatives of humans can combine different calls to construct phrases that modify the meaning of another, challenging the notion that only humans possess such abilities.
Simon Townsend, a professor at the University of Zurich and the author of the study, stated that while language is not unique to humans, bonobos seem to exhibit language features in their communication systems.
Experts have found the research to be persuasive, suggesting that bonobos may be beyond chimpanzees in their communication abilities, with other species possibly exhibiting similar behaviors as well.
Young male bonobo scratching his head. Lukas Bierhoff / Kokolopori Bonobo Research Project
Witness
Melissa Bursett, the lead author of the University of Zurich study, spent about six months in the Democratic Republic of the Congo studying wild bonobos at the Kokoropoli Bonobo Reserve, documenting their various vocalizations and behaviors.
The study mapped over 700 vocal calls in relation to their meanings and highlighted instances where bonobos combined different calls to convey new meanings, demonstrating their complex communication abilities.
Researchers believe that bonobos, along with chimpanzees, share common ancestors with humans, providing insights into the evolution of language and communication among early humans.
The origin of language
Bonobos, with their sophisticated communication systems, serve as a link to understand the evolution of human language and shed light on how early humans developed complex forms of verbal communication.
The study raises questions about the ancient origins of human language and how bonobos and chimpanzees exhibit building blocks of communication that help in understanding the transition to more advanced languages in humans.
Despite the challenges in studying wild bonobos, researchers see them as a unique opportunity to reflect on human history and evolution, emphasizing the importance of preserving these endangered species.
Public domain sources from CBW/Alamy/Access rights
The base of future moons could be powered by solar cells made on-site from the melted moon dust.
Building items on the moon using materials already there is more practical than shipping them from the Earth. when Felix Lang He heard about this idea at the University of Potsdam in Germany and knew what to do right away. “We have to make solar cells like this, we have to make them right away,” he says.
Two years later, Lang’s team built and tested several solar cells that featured lunar dust as an ingredient. Another important component is a crystal called halide perovskite, which contains elements such as lead, bromine, and iodine, as well as long molecules of carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen.
The team melted a synthetic version of the lunar regolith, a layer of loose rock and dust that covers the moon, into “Moonglass.” Because they did not refine the regolith, the mungrass was less transparent than traditional solar cells. However, Lang says the team’s best prototype still reached around 12% efficiency. More traditional perovskite solar cells typically reach an efficiency close to 26%. Lang said the computer simulation suggests that his team could reach that number in the future.
In general, researchers agree that perovskite solar cells are superior to more traditional silicon-based devices in both space and Earth. From a lunar perspective, the use of perovskite materials is also attractive. This is because it can be kept very thin and reduces the weight of the material transported on the moon. Team estimates that a solar cell with an area of 400 square meters requires only about a kilogram of perovskite. This is an impressive claim, I say Ian Crawford at Birkbeck, University of London.
It is equally important that the regolith does not need to be purified. This means that no special reactor is needed. In fact, Lang says that the large curved mirror and sunlight can create a beam of light that is warm enough to make the mungrass. One of his colleagues has already tested the technology on their university roofs and saw signs of legolith melting, he says.
Nicholas Bennett At the University of Technology, Sydney says that while past research has tried to process the lunar regolith into clear glass, this is the first time that solar cells have been shown to work with fine moonglass instead. The challenge now, he says, is to make a lot of mungrass outside the lab. If successful, such melting techniques could help create other items that the moon base needs, such as tiles, Crawford says.
Michael Duke The Lunar and Planetary Institute states that manufacturing moongrass-based solar cells will require many technological advances, from excavating the legend to connecting individual cells. Still, if a solar plant is established on the moon, there could be a positive knock-on effect. In this future, space-based systems like satellites will need less energy to fire payloads from the moon, allowing solar cells covered in the moon rather than what was created on Earth.
Lang and his colleagues are currently working on increasing the efficiency of solar cells. For example, we know whether choosing iron before using magnets to melt Regolith can improve the quality of mungrass.
Ultimately, they want to expand the process to other dusty residents. “We’re already thinking, ‘Can we make this work on Mars Regolith?”,” says Lang.
Feedback is the latest science and technology news of new scientists, the sidelines of the latest science and technology news. You can email Feedback@newscientist.com to send items you believe readers can be fascinated by feedback.
Streisand strikes again
Some things are sadly inevitable: death, taxes, another ColdPlay album. One such inevitability is that, as it was proven beyond reasonable doubt, if you try to suppress an embarrassing story, it only draws more attention to it.
This phenomenon is called the Streisand effect after the 2003 incident in which Barbra Streisand appealed to take aerial photographs from the Internet. The shot was part of a series that documented coastal erosion in California, but identified her cliff top mansion. She lost and in the process she turned her attention to the public to the photos. It has been accessed hundreds of thousands of times after downloading six times (two by lawyers).
So, with the tired inevitability, we come to the meta again. Meta, Mark Zuckerberg’s personal empire covers Facebook, Instagram, threads, WhatsApp and a fair amount of Hawaiian chunks. In March, Sarah Wynn-Williams – former Facebook’s director of public policy – published a memoir of time at a company that has a Gatsby-esque title Careless people. Meta has a very strong honorary lawyer and we don’t want to be held liable, so feedback is not going to repeat certain claims. New Scientist“All of the in-house lawyers have dropped heart attack deaths, and just say it is enough, it is a real page turn.
Meta responded by taking legal action. By leveraging the non-disclosure agreement, Meta blocked her from being promoted as Wynn-Williams signed when he left the company Careless people. An interview that she might have seen with was conducted before Meta was given an injunction.
result? This book has become a global bestseller and you just read about it New Scientist.
Aggressive Paris Dae
Feedback recently told the story of researcher Nicholas Gegen. Nicholas Gegen retracted some of his papers on the benefits of having a big breast while hitchhiking, as a result of an investigation by Data Detective and James Heathers (March 15).
So we were naturally intrigued to receive emails from Brown. We wondered if the details were wrong or if they packed them with stories.
However, he wrote according to another item in the same column. This is related to the issue of perennial Scunthorpe. Because it is the fact that completely innocent words can contain isolated and offensive strings, automated systems that block suspicious words often catch harmless words in the web.
“I worked there before I became a scientist,” explains Brown. “Maybe around 1999, someone came to me with a question. Her email to the Royal Bank of Scotland bouncing back. The rejection notice literally said this: “Reason: Smell: Boobs.”
Reader: Take some time to recover from the shock. We were also amazed at how automated systems used the phrase “dirty words.” We were not aware that the RBS system was based on elementary school behavioral guidance.
Brown looked into the message that it was “completely harmless and did not contain any references to birds of the Palidae family.” He then used a text editor to look at the email header where he found “slutty words.”
“We were in France and used that name. Asterix Our server cartoon was named “Petitsuix” by one of the email servers the message passed through. “This is the inn that appears in three different places. Asterix volume: His name is a parody of Petit Sau cheese.if you didn’t get it. So, the email header “contains something,” Brown says.Via: Petitsuix.domain.com‘, and therefore you run into the Scunthorpe problem.’
This led Brown to wonder what would have happened if his employer had used the same spam spam software by accident in hell. Did our spam filter server come back saying, “You’re ‘boobs'” and “No, ‘boobs'”? ”
So what happened next? “I remember back then saying, ‘Well, the bank is going to burst,'” Brown says. He had to wait until 2008. And we must say that legal feedback, despite Brown’s pun glory, did not happen. The government has bailed out the banks.
I’m in line
Sometimes feedback comes across solutions to a brilliant, rocky problem at the same time. Such a solution was drawn to our attention by reporter Matthew Sparks.
As three researchers were trying to make queuing fatal, they developed a robot for the people in Queu to play. As they explained, the robots areSocial Queue“It’s a robot pole.[s] Together with people through three modes of interaction: “attraction”, “running away” and “friendly.” “It apparently “enhanced people’s enjoyment.”
Feedback is not a robot player: not from a complete lack of technical capabilities, but destroying ideas – that’s what we saw Battlestar Galactica I decided not to conspire with the robot apocalypse. Still, this sounds like an engineering feat.
However, we wondered why everyone cares about designing a cue robot when they can set up a timing entry system to eliminate queues.
Have you talked about feedback?
You can send stories to feedback by email at feedback@newscientist.com. Include your home address. This week and past feedback can be found on our website.
The three Gorge dams in China are the main sources of hydroelectric power generation
costfoto/nurphoto/shutterstock
China’s vast electric grids cause more fuss than any other country with renewable energy, but the system is also vulnerable to electricity shortages caused by adverse weather conditions. The need to ensure reliable power supply could encourage Chinese governments to use more coal-fired power plants.
China’s energy systems are rapidly becoming cleaner, setting new records for wind power and solar energy generation almost every month. The country’s overall greenhouse gas emissions – the highest emissions in the world are expected to peak soon and begin to decline. Wind, solar and hydroelectric power currently account for about half of China’s generation capacity, and is expected to increase to almost 90% by 2060, when the country promised to reach “carbon neutrality.”
This increasingly reliance on renewables means that the country’s electricity system is becoming increasingly vulnerable to changes in weather. Intermittent winds and sun can be replenished by more stable hydropower produced by huge hydroelectric dams enriched in southern China. But what happens when the wind and sun slump coincides with drought?
Jinjiang Shen Darian Institute of Technology in China and his colleagues modeled how power generation on increasingly renewable grids corresponds to these “extreme weather” years. They estimated how future mixing of wind, solar and hydropower behaves under the most favourable weather conditions seen in the past.
They found that future grids are much more sensitive to weather changes than they are today. In a very unfavourable year, 2060, it could reduce the amount of generation capacity by 12% compared to today’s grid, leading to a power shortage. In 2030, in the most extreme cases, they found that this leads to over 400 hours of blackout times, a power shortage of nearly 4% of total energy demand. “That’s not a number that everyone can ignore.” Li Shuo At the Institute of Policy Studies in Asia Association, Washington, DC.
In addition to the overall lack of force, drought could specifically limit the amount of hydroelectric power available to smooth out irregular winds and solar generation. This could also lead to a shortage of electricity. “It is essential to equip a suitable proportion of stable power sources that are less susceptible to weather factors to avoid large-scale, large-scale power shortages,” the researchers wrote in their paper.
One way to help is to run excess electricity more efficiently across states. By expanding the transmission infrastructure, researchers found that it could eliminate the risk of power shortages on today’s grids and reduce half of the risk by 2060. Adding new energy storage in tens of millions of kilowatts, whether using batteries or other methods, would also be alleviated against hydroelectric droughts.
According to Li Shuo, any additional storage amounts China needs to be added to achieve carbon neutrality “becomes an astronomical number.”
These changes are difficult, but they add that many storage is viable given the enormous amount of batteries already produced in China. Lauri Myllyvirta At the Finland Energy and Clean Air Research Centre. He says the country is also building 190 gigawatts of pumped hydropower storage. This says that it can provide long-term energy storage by using surplus electricity to pump water over the dam and releasing it when more electricity is needed.
But so far, the electricity shortage has primarily spurred the Chinese government to build more coal-fired power plants. For example, in 2021 and 2022, hydroelectric droughts and heat waves increased enough electricity demand to cause serious power outages; Continuous expansion of coal. Record hydropower generation in 2023 resulted in record time for emissions.
Chinese President Xi Jinping said coal would peak this year, but he has entrenched political support for power sources. “If China is struggling with another round of these episodes, more coal-fired power plants shouldn’t be the answer,” says Li Shuo. “It’s difficult to abolish coal. China loves coal.”
Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope took an incredible new photo of the Spiral Galaxy NGC 4941.
This Hubble image shows NGC 4941, a spiral galaxy in Virgo’s constellation, about 67 million light years away. The color image consists of near-infrared, optical and ultraviolet observations from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). Six filters were used to sample different wavelengths. Colors are attributed to assigning different hue to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credits: NASA/ESA/Hubble/D. Thilker.
NGC 4941 It is approximately 67 million light years away from Earth, the Virgo constellation.
Also known as AGC 530009, IRAS 13016-0516, Leda 45165, or UGCA 321. 60,000 light years Crossing.
It was discovered on April 24, 1784 by German and British astronomer William Herschel.
NGC 4941 is a member of two galaxy groups, the NGC 4941 group and the NGC 4697 group.
“Because this galaxy is nearby, in cosmic terms, Hubble’s sharp instruments can choose exquisite details such as individual star clusters and filament clouds of gas and dust,” said the Hubble astronomer.
“The Hubble data used to construct this image was collected as part of an observation program that investigates star formation and stellar feedback cycles in nearby galaxies.”
“When stars form in densely cold gas clusters, they start to affect their surroundings.”
“The stars heat and stir the gas clouds created by exploding as supernoves for the wind, starlight, and ultimately the large stars.”
“These processes collectively are called stellar feedback and affect the rate at which galaxies can form new stars.”
“After all, stars aren’t the only entities that provide feedback in NGC 4941,” they added.
“When a black hole accumulates gas from the surroundings, it swirls into an overheated disk that glows brightly at wavelengths throughout the electromagnetic spectrum.”
“It resembles a star, but on a much larger scale – the active galactic nucleus shapes its surroundings through wind, radiation and powerful jets, changing not only the formation of stars but also the evolution of the entire galaxy.”
in paper Published in the journal BMC Biologypaleontologists described an extinct species of the parasite hornet, found in the cretbone system in the Kachin region of Myanmar. It has been named Sirenobethylus charybdisthis species may have used abdomen like Venus’ flight laps to capture and immobilize prey.
Sirenobethylus charybdis. Scale bar – 0.5 mm in (a), 0.3 mm in (b), 0.2 mm in (c). Image credits: Woo et al. , doi: 10.1186/s12915-025-02190-2.
“Insects are the most diverse group of animals on the planet, with more than a million described species, and perhaps fewer than several times listed,” said Taipingao, a paleontologist at a regular university in the capital.
“Recent estimates suggest a total of about 5.5 million species.”
“Their highly adaptable exoskeletons have enabled them to radiate and colonize a wide range of habitats and develop highly efficient and innovative solutions to the various challenges posed by their surroundings.”
“Among other mechanisms, carnivorous insects have evolved a variety of prey capture mechanisms.”
“However, insect predation strategies in the fossil record are still poorly understood.”
In the new study, the author examined 16 adult women Sirenobethylus charybdis Found on Kachin Amber.
The new species lived in the mid-Cretaceous period, about 99 million years ago.
Form of Sirenobethylus charybdis It indicates that the insects were parasites – insects that cause larvae to live as parasites and ultimately kill their hosts.
“Modern parasitic wasps from Superfamily Chrysidoidea include cuckoo and vetirido hornets,” the researchers said.
“but, Sirenobethylus charybdis The specimen has a unique venous pattern in the hind wing suggesting that the species belongs within its own family, Sirenovetiridae. ”
Scientists also discovered that this species is likely to be Koinobion. This is a parasitic wasp that allows the host to continue to grow during the host’s diet.
“A hornet specimen has an abdominal device made up of three flaps, and its decay forms a paddle-shaped structure with dozens of hair-like hairs that are visually reminiscent of the Venus flight lap plant,” they explained.
“Abdominal device Sirenobethylus charybdis Unlike that of known insects, it may have served as a mechanism to temporarily suppress the host during egg sales. ”
“The wasps were unable to pursue their prey over long distances, so potential hosts would have opened their devices and waited to activate the capture response.”
“Easy grasping devices are permitted Sirenobethylus charybdis Target highly mobile prey such as small, winged or jumping insects. ”
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Q. Woo et al. 2025. Cretaceous flight lap? Remarkable abdominal modifications in fossil hornets. BMC Biol 23, 81; doi:10.1186/s12915-025-02190-2
From a global perspective, the early Jurassic was characterized by the steady division of the Supercontinent Pangaea and associated climate change that produced alternating greenhouses and ice house conditions.
These paleoenvironmental changes coincided with radiation in various reptile groups. Plesiosauria.
The early Jurassic fossil records of the Plesiosaurus are particularly diverse, with members of Plesiosauroidea, Pliosauridae and Rhomaleosauridae being represented by numerous species in Europe, particularly in Germany and the UK.
3 m long skeleton Plesioptery Wildi It provides new clues about the evolution and geographical distribution of early Jurassic Precio Sources.
Fossils that were 180 million years ago posidonienschiefer layer Near Holtzmadden in southern Germany.
The specimen, called MH 7, is one of the most complete and distinct plesioaurus skeletons found in the region.
“Unlike the fishy scallions and marine crocodile parents who dominate the fossil record of this formation, Pleciosaurus is relatively rare,” said Miguel Marx, a paleontologist at Lund University and his colleagues.
“Therefore, new discoveries offer rare glimpses into the biodiversity of these long-necked marine reptiles.”
“MH 7 represents someone who refines this type of known trait and refines its validity as a clear taxa.”
Phylogenetic analysis shows that Plesioptery Wildi It is a close-related early potential plesiosaualoid Franconiasaurus Brevispinus.
“This finding suggests a progressive evolutionary transition to more derived cryptocrizids in the late Jurassic period,” the paleontologist said.
“It supports the idea that Prisiosaurus species may have been regionally different in the Epicontoninent Seas of early Jurassic Europe, reinforcing the pattern of paleobiogeographic segregation.”
“The Holtzmadden specimen gives us an unprecedented view Plesioptery Wildi At a more mature stage of development, we can refine our understanding of this species and its place in the evolution of plesiosaurus,” said Dr. Marx.
“It also suggests that different plesiosaurus communities may have evolved in different regions of the European sea during the early Jurassic region.”
“Our research reinforces the Pleciosoaurus already evolves specialized adaptations and distinct regional lineages much faster than we believed,” added Dr. Sven Sachs, a researcher at the Naturkunde Museum Bielefeld.
“This has important implications for understanding how marine reptiles responded to changes in the Jurassic ocean environment.”
M. Marx et al. 2025. New specimen of Plesioptery Wildi We reveal the diversification and possible uniqueness of Cryptocrizia precursors in the early European Jurassic Plecioaurauro assembly. Peerj 13:E18960; doi:10.7717/peerj.18960
Light from the very distant spiral galaxy was bent and expanded by the gravity of the members of the Galaxy Cluster SMACSJ0028.2-7537 to form a ring-like structure known as the Einstein ring.
This composite image combines data from Webb’s near-infrared camera (Nircam), Hubble’s Widefield Camera 3 (WFC3), and advanced cameras for survey (ACS) equipment, showing Einstein’s rings around the elliptical galaxy of the Galaxy Cluster. Image credits: NASA/ESA/CSA/Webb/G. Mahler.
Einstein RingAlso known as Einstein-Chwolson Rings or Chwolson Rings, occurs when light from very distant objects bend around a large intermediate object.
“This is possible because space-time, the fabric of the universe itself, is bent by mass, so light passing through space and time is also bent,” said Guillaume Mahler, an astronomer at the University of Ligiju and a colleague.
“This effect is too subtle to observe at a local level, but dealing with the curvature of light on a huge astronomical scale can make it clearly observable.”
“When light from one galaxy is bent around another galaxy or cluster of galaxies.”
“If the lensed and lens objects are perfectly aligned, the result is a unique Einstein ring.”
“This will appear as a complete circle or a partial circle of light around the lens object, depending on the accuracy of the alignment.”
“Objects like this are the ideal laboratory for studying how galaxies are so faintly far away.”
“The lens galaxy at the heart of this Einstein ring is an oval galaxy that can be seen by the galaxy’s bright core, smooth, uncharacteristic body,” the astronomer said.
“This galaxy belongs to a galaxy cluster named smacsj0028.2-7537.”
“Galaxies with lenses wrapped in elliptical galaxies are spiral galaxies.”
“The image is distorted as the light travels around the galaxy in its path, but the individual star clusters and gas structures are clearly visible.”
Since it was discovered during the excavation of Heinrich Schlimann in the legendary fortress city of Troy, Depas Amphikypellon – The cylindrical goblet with two curved handles, considered to be the goblet mentioned in Homer’s epic, is considered a potential drinking container for wine. New research by archaeologists at the University of Tübingen, Bonn and Jena University confirms this hypothesis by identifying high concentrations of fruit acids that exhibit regular use exclusively for wine, but these same acids were also found in Troy cups and beakers. This raises questions about the social and cultural significance of beverages. Although previously recognized as the exclusive coat of arms of the early Bronze Age, wine consumption may have been more widespread than previously assumed.
Height 15 cm Depas Amphikypellon It was excavated by Heinrich Schlimann of Troy. Image credit: Valentin Marcard / University of Tübingen.
‘Hefaestus spoke, then rose to his feet and handed the double goblet to his beloved mother.” says the first book iliadtells us how fire gods, metalworking and volcanoes encourage mothers.
‘As he spoke, the white goddess Hera smiled. She reached for her son’s goblet.‘
‘He pulled out the sweet nectar from the mixing bowl, right to left to left for all the other gods.‘
This drinking container Depas Amphikypellonwell known to archaeologists.
The object is a thin clay goblet with two handles narrowed to a pointed base.
Over 100 ships have been previously discovered in Troy from 2500 to 2000 BC.
They are also scattered from the Aegean Sea to Asia and Mesopotamia, and can hold between 0.25 and 1 liter.
“Heinrich Schlimann has already speculated that Depas’ goblet was handed over to celebrate. iliadsaid Dr. Stephen Blum, an archaeologist at the University of Tubingen.
“The classic archaeological collection at the University of Tübingen has two fragments and depas goblets from the Schliman terrorist attack.”
In the new study, researchers heated 2 grams of samples from two fragments and studied the resulting mixture using Gas Chromatography (GC) and mass spectrometry (GC-MS).
“The evidence for succinic acid and pyruvate was conclusive. It only occurs when grape juices ferment,” said Dr. Maxim Reigeot, a researcher at the University of Bonn.
“So now we can confidently state that the wine is actually drunk not only from grape juice but also from DePas’ goblet.”
Wine was the most expensive drink of the Bronze Age, and DePas’ goblets were the most precious ship. DePas’ goblets have been found in a temple and palace complex.
Therefore, scientists speculated that wine drinking took place on special occasions in elite circles.
But did the lower classes of Troy drink wine as everyday food and luxury?
“We also studied ordinary cups where chemicals were found in the outer settlements of Troy.
“So it’s clear that wine was a daily drink for the public as well.”
Team’s paper It was published in American Journal of Archeology.
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Stephen We are Bram et al. 2025. Wine consumption problems in Troy in the early Bronze Age: organic residue analysis and Depas Amphikypellon. American Journal of Archeology 129(2); doi:10.1086/734061
Paleontologists have discovered 131 large theropods and sauropods in the formations of the central Jurassic Kirmalag at Prince Charles’s point, located on the northwest coast of the Troternas Peninsula in Sky.
A 167 million-year-old dinosaur trackway located at Prince Charles’s point on the Isle of Skye. Image credit: Blakesley et al. , doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0319862.
The rocks of Isle of Skye are rich in dinosaur footprints, providing insight into the distribution and behavior of dinosaurs at critical times of evolution.
The newly discovered footprint was left in the wavy sands of an ancient subtropical lagoon dating back to the mid-Jurassic period about 167 million years ago.
The footprint is 25-60 cm long and comes in two types. This is a round “Tyre-Size” track, made by three untidy trucks left by Bipedal: a carnivorous theropod, a tetrapod, and a long-necked sauropod.
Based on comparisons with previous fossil discoveries, the most likely truck maker is Megalosaurus Similar to early branching members of the Neosauropod group CethiosaurusBoth are known from British skeletal ruins.
According to paleontologists, many of these footprints occur together in successive steps.
The longest of these trackways is over 12m, among the longest known examples from the Isle of Skye.
The spacing and orientation of these trackways represent slow walking without consistent orientation or interaction with each other, and what is probably left by the dinosaurs is casually crushed at slightly different times.
The site at Prince Charles’s point supports previous evidence that the Jurassic Sauropod frequently visited Scottish lagoons.
However, this site contains a higher percentage of theropod tracks than similar locales, perhaps indicating differences in the environment between these ancient lagoons.
The site also does not have footprints from other dinosaurs such as Stegosaurus and Ornithopods, but it remains unclear whether these animals really do not exist in this environment or simply did not leave a mark on this site.
“Prince Charles’s footprint at points provides fascinating insight into the behavior and environmental distribution of meat-eating theropods and plant-eating long-necked sauropods during key periods of evolution.”
“In Sky, these dinosaurs obviously preferred shallow, submerged lagoon environments to muddy air exposed.”
“Interestingly, this site also has historical significance as a location for Skye, where Prince Bonnie landed and hidden while flying through Scotland following the Battle of Culloden.”
Discoveries are reported in a paper Published online in the journal PLOS 1.
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T. Blakely et al. 2025. A new central Jurassic Lagoon margin assembly of theropod and sauropod dinosaur trajectories from the Isle of Skye, Scotland. PLOS 1 20(4): E0319862; doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0319862
Ralph Hollogay, a pioneering anthropologist who emphasized the importance of changes in brain structure in human evolution, passed away on March 12th at his Manhattan home at the age of 90.
His death was announced by the School of Anthropology at Columbia University, where he had been a professor for nearly 50 years.
Holloway’s theory challenged the notion that brain size alone distinguished humans from apes and early ancestors, highlighting the significance of brain organization.
Although no brains from millions of years ago exist, Dr. Holloway focused on creating fossil skull endocasts from latex to overcome this limitation.
In a 2008 paper, he detailed how he obtained information from these casts, providing insight into brain structure by examining the outer edges of the brain.
Using endocasts, Dr. Holloway concluded that the fossil skulls from South Africa’s Town’s Children quarry belonged to early human ancestors, supporting Raymond Dart’s controversial discovery.
His meticulous research included studying natural endocasts found in the quarry to validate his conclusions, emphasizing the importance of independent investigation in scientific discovery.
Dr. Holloway’s focus on the Lunath groove behind the endocast provided evidence that aligned with human brain positioning, confirming the accuracy of Dr. Dart’s initial findings.
The contentious debate surrounding the Town’s Children’s findings has subsided, with Dr. Holloway’s and Dr. Dart’s conclusions about the Lunate Sulcus now widely accepted in the scientific community.
Dr. Holloway’s emphasis on brain structure over volume played a pivotal role in validating human ancestry, highlighting the significance of reorganization in evolutionary development.
Throughout his career, Dr. Holloway’s dedication to studying brain evolution through three-dimensional modeling remained unwavering, emphasizing the importance of understanding the human brain’s journey to its current complexity.
His contributions, such as his work on TaungChild, continue to shape our understanding of human origins and evolution.
Dr. Holloway’s legacy extends beyond his scientific achievements, as he leaves behind a lasting impact on the field of anthropology and evolutionary studies.
His commitment to rigorous research, innovative methods, and interdisciplinary collaboration sets a standard for future generations of scientists.
Dr. Hollogay’s contributions will continue to inspire and guide anthropologists, researchers, and educators in their quest to unravel the mysteries of human evolution.
His impact will be felt for generations to come, shaping the future of evolutionary studies and advancing our understanding of human origins.
Ralph Hollogay’s legacy lives on through his groundbreaking research and profound influence on the field of anthropology.
His work continues to shape our understanding of human evolution and the complexities of brain development.
The country’s most polluted coal burning power plant has called on President Trump to exempt it from stricter restrictions on dangerous air pollution after the administration recently invited businesses to apply for presidential pollution exemptions via email.
Aging Corstrip power plants in Corstrip, Montana release more harmful particulate matter contamination or soot than any other power plant in the country, the Environmental Protection Agency. The diagram is shown. The new rules adopted by the Biden administration in 2023 would have forced facilities to install new equipment because they lack modern pollution prevention, the country’s only coal plant.
The Colstrip Factory is currently applying for a two-year exemption from these rules, according to the Montana Legislature delegation that backed the request.
The new pollution standards “have at stake the economic viability of plants that will damage the local electrical grid if closed,” Sen. Steve Daines and other members of the delegation wrote in a letter sent Monday to EPA administrator Lee Zeldin. “Without the corstrip, consumers will bear a burden of higher energy costs and grid reliability, and their closure will hinder economic development in the region.”
Health experts pointed out that the letter does not address the health effects of fine contaminated particles. Many studies have shown that particles penetrate deep into the lungs and are small enough to enter the bloodstream, where they migrate to the heart and other organs, increasing mortality from cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.
A 2023 study showed that it emits coal-fired power plants, particularly fine particles containing sulfur dioxide. Related to higher mortality rates More than other types of pollution.
The contamination “can be extremely harmful, especially for young children with lung disease,” said Robert Merchant, a pulmonary surgeon at Billings, Mont. He said the delegation’s letters showed “complete indifference to health.”
Colstrip Plant’s stricter pollution rules exemption came after the EPA last month told businesses that they could apply for exemptions from key clean air rules by sending emails to agents. The EPA pointed to some of the Clean Air Act, which allows the president to temporarily exempt industrial facilities from the new rules if the technology necessary to meet these rules is not available, and if it is for national security.
The Trump administration has also announced its intention to roll back many of the rules completely. This could mean that plants like Corstrips ultimately do not need to meet new contamination standards.
The move was part of Zeldin’s broad efforts to guide energy and cars from its original role in environmental protection and regulation to make them more affordable.
Northwestern Energy Group and Talen Energy, which operate the factory along with other minority owners, did not immediately respond to comments.
The exemption granted by the Trump administration could face legal challenges from environmental groups. In creating the new rules, the Biden administration had identified already available technologies that would allow corstrip facilities to meet more stringent standards.
The Biden administration also estimated that new pollution prevention technology would cost much less for installations than the $500 million that the Corstrip factory said it would cost.
“These technologies are available,” said Amanda Levin, director of Policy Analysis for the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental advocacy group.
The significant federal health workers layoffs that began Tuesday will result in a substantial reduction in the scope and impact of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the world’s premier public health agency.
The Department of Health and Human Services reorganization will trim the CDC workforce by 2,400 employees, representing about 18% of the total workforce, and eliminate some core functions.
Some Democrats in Congress have criticized the reorganization of the entire HHS as potentially illegal.
“We cannot dismantle and reconstruct HHS without congressional approval,” said Sen. Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat and member of the Senate Health Committee.
“Not only is this potentially illegal, but it is also incredibly damaging, putting the health and well-being of Americans at risk,” she added.
Murray highlighted that the Trump administration has not specified which units within the CDC and other health agencies have been affected by the layoffs. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stated last week that the layoffs would primarily impact management functions.
However, information obtained from numerous workers by the New York Times indicates that the cuts were more widespread. Scientists working on environmental health, asthma, injuries, lead poisoning, smoking, and climate change have been let go.
Researchers studying blood disorders, violence prevention, and vaccine access have also been terminated. The HIV and Sexually Transmitted Disease Agency Centre experienced the most significant staff reduction, losing around 27% of its workforce.
The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, which offers recommendations for maintaining workplace safety, has been mostly dissolved.
Public health experts noted that what remains of the CDC has been severed from its global influence, resulting in fewer resources for environmental health, occupational health, and disease prevention.
The U.S. Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit alleging that the National Institutes of Health violated federal law by engaging in an unconstitutional “continuous ideological purging.”
The lawsuit, filed in Massachusetts District Court on behalf of members, four researchers, and three unions that rely on NIH funding, claims that federal scientific agencies have abruptly cancelled hundreds of research projects without providing scientifically sound explanations.
According to the lawsuit, the cancellations were justified by the NIH based on “ideological purity instructions” regarding research areas such as diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI), vaccine reluctance, and gender identity.
The lawsuit argues that this new arbitrary regime lacks any legal or policy basis, and accuses the NIH of failing to establish clear guidelines, definitions, or explanations for the restrictions on research related to DEI, gender, and other areas that do not align with the agency’s standards.
The defendants named in the lawsuit include the NIH, its director Jay Battacharya, the American Department of Human Health Services, and Director Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Both federal agencies have declined to comment on the pending lawsuit.
The ACLU is working with the Science Center for the Public Interest and Conservation Democracy Project on this litigation.
This lawsuit is just one of several legal challenges facing the NIH as the Trump administration seeks to reduce research funding, change allocation methods, and diminish the emphasis on diversity in academia.
After facing legal challenges, a Massachusetts judge halted the NIH’s efforts to restrict overhead funding in February. Other lawsuits are challenging the freeze on federal-wide funding and the administration’s ban on DEI programs.
Olga Axelrod, senior attorney for the ACLU Racial Justice Program, emphasized the importance of maintaining a fair grant review process and ending NIH’s alleged lawless grants that have disrupted numerous research projects and affected the careers of many scientists.
According to the lawsuit, at least 678 research projects, including studies on breast cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and HIV prevention, have been terminated by the NIH, amounting to over $2.4 billion in cancelled grants.
The lawsuit highlights the significant impact of these cancellations not only in terms of financial loss but also in the disruption of years of dedicated research aimed at addressing critical biomedical issues.
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit include researchers like Brittany Charlton, a Harvard Medical School professor who focuses on LGBTQ health inequality, and Katie Edwards, a professor at the University of Michigan School of Social Work who studies sexual violence prevention in minority communities.
These researchers, along with others, have had their grants abruptly cancelled by the NIH, prompting the lawsuit to seek justice and protection for the affected research projects and scientists.
The Trump administration has suddenly laid off all staff running the $4.1 billion program to help low-income households across the United States pay for heating and cooling bills.
The shooting was threatened to paralyze a low-income housing energy assistance program created by Congress in 1981, helping to offset the high utility bills of around 6.2 million from Maine to Texas during the cold and hot summers.
“They fired everyone. No one will do anything,” said Mark Wolfe, executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors Association, which works with the state to secure funding from the program. “This was incredibly sloppy or I’m going to kill the program entirely.”
The layoffs were part of a broader purging Monday of approximately 10,000 employees at the Department of Health and Human Services, with health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. moving to dramatically reorganize the agency. Approximately 25 employees I was directing An energy support program also known as Liheap. Everything had been fired, Wolf said.
meeting It approved $4.1 billion In the 2025 fiscal year program, around 90% of that money had already been sent to the state in October, supporting households struggling with mass heating costs. There is still about $378 million left to help households turn up their air conditioners and cool them down the summer. The US heat wave is stronger and longer-lasting as a result of climate change.
Typically, the federal government uses complex formulas to allocate funds and conduct various reviews and audits before sending money to state agencies. Some states, like Maine, use money to support low-income families to offset the cost of buying fuel oil to warm their homes in the winter. The state also uses money to weather homes and provide emergency assistance to households at risk of being separated from their practicality.
Now, despite Congress explicitly ordering the federal government to spend money, it is not clear how the remaining funds will be paid to the state.
“If we don’t have staff, how do we allocate the rest of this money?” Wolf said. “My fear is they’re going to say we have this funds, but we can’t send it because no one is left to manage it.”
In an emailed statement, Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson Emily Hilliard said the agency would “continue to comply with federal law.”
For the past two months, the Trump administration has repeatedly tried to freeze or withhold expenses approved by Congress. These moves have led to an increase in legal challenges and judicial rulings that it is unconstitutional to do so.
The shootings at the Energy Aid Bureau sparked a furious response from several democratic lawmakers.
“What is achieved by firing everyone in Maine, the job of helping Maine buy heating oil when it’s cold,” wrote Jared Golden, a Democrat who represents Maine’s mostly rural areas who voted for President Trump. Social media posts.
Sen. Edward Markey, a Democrat of Massachusetts, said he will work to unlock funds for the program. “Eliminating the entire federal staff of Liheap’s heads — relying on millions of households to stay warm in the winter, and summer is not a cool program — is not a reform,” he said in a statement. “That’s an obstruction.”
“Senator Collins is a longtime advocate for LIHEAP and provides the important financial support we provide to help low-income families stay warmer during the winter,” said Senator Susan Collins, a Maine Republican.
a Research published in the Economic Journal Last year, it was found that about 17% of US households spend more than a tenth of their income on energy. The study also found a strong relationship between affordable energy and winter mortality.
“When heating your house is not affordable, many people die every winter,” said Sheema Jayachandran, Princeton economist and one of the authors of the study. I wrote it on Monday. “That’s what our analysis found during the time Liheap was in place. Without Liheap, the effect would probably be much greater.”
April is watching the release of a new space opera trilogy from Neil Usher
Arami Stock Photo
When the sun comes out, it’s almost warm to read outside here in northeast London. So it’s time to take out the best new science fiction and find a protected place. Whether it’s aging or artificial intelligence, I love the way this genre continues to tackle today’s biggest issues. At the top of my mountain, Lucy Lapinska sees how robots deal with being freed from human governance, and while Nick Halcaway’s latest latest (at a huge price) is looking forward to the set in a world where you stop aging, it will also make you grow very big. And I would like to try Sayaka Murata’s vision of a strange and disturbing future, The world that disappears.
Our Science Fiction Hub is where you can read all the roundups, reviews and interviews with leading science fiction writers.
New novels with interesting sounds from bestselling authors Convenience store woman. Amane lives in a society where children are pregnant through artificial insemination and are raised by parents in a “clean” sexually unsexual marriage. When she and her husband heard about an experimental town where residents are randomly chosen to be artificially inseminated and children are raised collectively and anonymously, they decide to try and live there.
We loved Nick Halcaway’s first titanium noir novel here New ScientistThe world is set in which Megarich can take anti-aging medications, but grow them into a giant, Titanic-proportion. This latest in Halcaway, fresh from continuing his father’s John Le Carré legacy Carla’s Choicehe tells the story of a detective and Titan Cal investigating the murder of a young woman in a devastated holiday town.
This is the first in a new cosmic opera trilogy from Usher, following the story of Captain Bright, who is continuing to kill someone. The mysterious black diamonds left behind him by the “dark AI” keep him alive, but each attempt in his life creates a temporary anomaly. Bright is trying to reveal the true nature of dark diamonds…
For Jamie Pike, Fair Harbor is a city stuck in eternal winter. In the case of Esther Pike, it is stuck in a constant summer. In both versions, intense forces were controlled after the cataclysm and fell apart into a once united city. Jamie and Esther have found a way to communicate across a broken world, but can they solve the mystery that split Fair Harbor?
Highly praised by our sci-fi columnist Emily H. Wilson, this follows the story of Abigail, a robot set during the final days of humanity and embedded in the image of David’s late wife. However, the law is about to change, and soon Abigail can go where she likes and do what she wants. Recently, there have been many interesting and fictional take on robot ethics and freedom, and I am keen to read this “robot liberation” story.
Abigail is a robot about to be released in Lucy Lapinska’s novel
Getty Images/Istockphoto
For me, time travel counts as sci-fi, so I plan to relax in this time travel romance where student Joe dreams of a future where he becomes a famous writer. Meanwhile, ESI (People from the Future) heads out on a time-travel tour to witness the biggest moments in history, including Joe Falls for Diana, the subject of his famous love poem. However (of course!) Fate is disappointed by the arrival of ESI, and she and Joe begin to fall for each other instead…
In this speculative thriller, injections were invented to slow aging. Of course, the super-rich people are ruining things and getting upgrades that further expand human lives. As dangerous side effects of vaccines appear and planets are under threat, populations are skyrocketing…
This sounds like a fun thought experiment. Humanity has dipped to the height of the Handspan, not only has its world a place full of danger, but it has also brought richness. Giles awakens with his new body on a remote coastal road and sets out on a quest to find his loved one.
Ray Naylor is an incredible writer – I loved his previous novels, Sea mountainsand he wrote an article with great comments for me. New Scientist The government argues that speculative fiction should be used to predict the future. In this latest in a horrifying sound, the President of the Authoritarian Federation maintains a grip of power by downloading his mind to a series of new organisations, while Western Europe is plump for AI-driven prime ministers rather than human governance. However, the artificial mind is malfunctioning and disaster is looming.
This story, countering East London’s swamp, is a story that is left out of the corrupt government and is left out of the outsider, and a climate-stricken city goes back three centuries, moving from the next 100 years to save her present.
Arts and Sciences in Writing Science Fiction Courses: England
Explore the world of science fiction and learn how to create your own fascinating science fiction stories in this immersive weekend break. Hosted by New Scientist Comments and Culture Editor Alison Flood, along with author and former new scientist editor Emily H. Wilson.
Keygene’s new potato variety (center) has pimpernel (left) skin and Bintje meat (right)
Provided by Keygene
New techniques for producing fruits and vegetables with one varieties of skin and another meaty skin can make crops more resistant due to pests and droughts.
Many of the fruits and vegetables we eat come from grafted plants created by blocking off one plant and replacing it with another plant. What makes grafting useful is that even plants that are too far associated with hybridization can be implanted together. For example, you can graft the desired variety of fruit plants onto another type of rootstock that is resistant to pests and diseases.
Very occasionally, buds arise from the junction between grafted plants, two strange mixtures called graft chimeras, with the outer layer of one plant and the inside of another plant. This can occur because shoots arise from three different stem cell layers at the tip, one of which forms the skin of the plant. Coincidentally, shoots from the graft junction result in a mixture of stem cell types from two plants.
Usually, to create a specific type of grafted plant, you need to run the graft for each graft you want to grow. However, graft chimeras can be reproduced by taking cuttings from them, or simply from tubers.
However, researchers sometimes deliberately created graft chimera, but that’s not easy. Many known graft chimeras, such as Bizzarria Citrus, are very rare and accidental by-products of traditional grafts.
now, Jeroen Stuurman At Kigen, a Dutch crop technology company, he says he was the first to develop a reliable method of producing graft chimera. He won’t reveal any details about this method, but he says he used it to create many different graft chimeras from the types of potatoes, tomatoes and aubenin, and between sweet and chili peppers.
In the case of one graft thimella potato with a type of skin called pimpanell and another meaty skin called vintee, keygene is awarded the right of a plant breeder, that is, the right to horticultural, equivalent to copyright. This is the first time for a graft chimera. Getting these rights indicates that producing them is a potentially viable business, Suurman says. “For us, this was a signal that we could move on to the next step.”
The company is currently planning to create graft chimeras with properties such as resistance to pests and diseases. Pest resistance is often due to hair-like structures called trichomes on the surface of plants, which can secrete repellents or sticky substances to trap insects, Stuurman said. Trichomes are very difficult to move between plant varieties with traditional reproduction and genetic engineering, as many genes are involved, but his method effectively gives existing varieties “skin grafts.”
Potatoes are already grown from tubers rather than seeds, so if farmers choose, they could start growing such graft chimera tomorrow, Stuurman said. “There’s no need to change the way things grow.”
“It’s really interesting to be able to create a stable graft chimeras with commercially relevant properties.” Charles Menick At the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. “I don’t know that this has been done before, so their findings are really important.”
Graft chimeras tend to be unstable. So you can go back to one of the original forms, but the keygene must have overcome this to get the plant breeders right, says Colin Turn Bull Imperial College London. “The novelty appears to be the stability of “skin grafting,” and there are marketable types. ”
Getting vaccinated from shingles reduces the risk of developing dementia. Large-scale new research I’ll find it.
This result provides some of the most powerful evidence that several viral infections can affect brain function in a few years and can interfere with them.
The study, published in Nature on Wednesday, found that those who received the shingles vaccine were 20% less likely to develop dementia seven years later than those who were not vaccinated.
“If you are reducing your risk of dementia by 20%, that’s very important in the public health context. Given that there aren’t too many at this point in slowing the onset of dementia,” Dr. Harrison was not involved in the new study. Other studies The shingles vaccine indicates a lower risk of dementia.
Whether protection can exceed seven years can only be determined by further research. However, with few effective treatments or prevention currently available, Dr. Harrison said the shingles vaccine appears to have “some of the most potent potential protective effects against dementia that we know are actually potentially potentially available.”
The case of shingles comes from a virus that causes water cell-zoster, a childhood chicken pox. As the age and the immune system weakens, the virus can reactivate and cause shingles, with symptoms such as burning, tingling, painful blisters and numbness. Nerve pain can be chronic and ineffective.
In the US, 1 in 3 Develop a lifetime centre for disease control and prevention of at least one case of shingles, also known as Herpes Zoster. Approximately one-third of eligible adults have received the vaccine in recent years. According to the CDC
While several previous studies suggest that shingles vaccinations may reduce the risk of dementia, most people were unable to rule out the possibility that vaccinated individuals may have other dementia protective properties, such as a healthier lifestyle, better diet, or more education.
New research ruled out many of these factors.
“That’s very strong evidence,” said Dr. Anupam Jena, a health economist and physician at Harvard Medical School.
This study emerged from an unusual aspect of the development of the shingles vaccine in Wales on September 1, 2013. Welsh officials have established strict age requirements. That date, 79 people were eligible for the vaccine for a year, but those over 80 were ineligible. When the young people turned 79, they qualified for the vaccine for a year.
Dr. Pascal Geldsetzer, an assistant professor of medicine at Stanford University and senior author of the study, said the age cutoff was imposed because of limited supply and the vaccine was deemed ineffective to people over 80 years of age.
Scientists were able to compare relatively equal groups. I’m with people who qualify for the vaccine and people who couldn’t get it. “If you hire 1,000 people born a week and 1,000 people born a week later, there shouldn’t be any difference between them, except for the big differences in vaccinations,” Dr. Geldsetzer said.
Researchers tracked health records of around 280,000 people, ages 71-88, without dementia when the development began. Over seven years, almost half of those eligible for the vaccine received it, but only a small number of ineligible groups received it, providing a clear front-and-after distinction.
To limit the likelihood of differences between groups, researchers used statistical analysis to measure data from people who only had one week on either side of the cutoff.
They also looked at medical records for possible differences between vaccinated and non-vaccinated. They evaluated whether unvaccinated people received more dementia diagnoses and took more medications that could increase their risk of dementia simply because they visited their doctors more frequently.
“They do a pretty good job with that,” Dr. Jena said. I wrote an explanation about nature research. “They are seeing nearly 200 drugs that have been shown to be linked to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease at least.”
He said, “They are making a lot of effort to understand whether there may be other things to suit that age cutoff, other health policy changes, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.”
The study included Zostavax, an older form of shingles vaccine. This includes a fixed version of the live virus. It was then discontinued in the US and several other countries as protection against shingles declined over time. Singlix, a new vaccine containing the inactive portion of the virus, is more effective and permanent, research shows.
Last year’s research Dr. Harrison and his colleagues suggested that Singlix may be more protective against dementia than the older vaccine. Based on another “natural experiment,” the shift from Zostavax to Shingrix in the US in 2017 found that people who received the new vaccine for more than six years had fewer dementia diagnoses than those who received the old vaccine. Of those diagnosed with dementia, those who received the new vaccine were nearly six months longer than those who received the old vaccine, and nearly six months before they developed the condition.
There are various theories as to why the shingles vaccine protects against dementia. One possibility is that by preventing shingles, the vaccine reduces neuroinflammation caused by virus reactivation, Dr. Geldsetzer said. “Inflammation is a bad thing for many chronic diseases, including dementia,” he said.
Both new and Singlics research support that theory.
Another possibility is that vaccines will make the immune system more broad. New research also provides some evidence of that theory. Dr. Geldsetzer found that women with a more reactive immune system and greater antibody response to vaccination than men experience greater protection against dementia than men. The vaccine also provided a greater protective effect against dementia among people with autoimmune conditions and allergies.
Dr. Maria Nagel, a professor of neurology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, was not involved in the study, but said both theories were true. “There is evidence of direct and indirect effects,” said Dr. Nagel, who consulted the manufacturer of GSK’s Shingrix.
She said that while other vaccines, including those against the flu, produce common neuroprotective effects, there are several studies that have found that it makes sense that the shingles vaccine is especially protected against cognitive impairment, as the shingles virus is hidden in the nerves.
Although this study did not distinguish between types of dementia, other studies suggest that “the effect of the shingles vaccine against Alzheimer’s disease is much more pronounced than that of another dementia.” Recent research Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia and vaccines. She said that some cases of Alzheimer’s are linked to immunity compromise.
The Welsh population in the study was mostly white, Dr. Geldsetzer said, but the report suggested similar protective effects by analyzing UK death certificates for deaths caused by dementia. His team also replicated the results in Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
Dr. Jena said there is a need to further study the connection, noting that reducing the risk of dementia is not the same as preventing all cases. Still, he suggests that the evidence “something about exposure or access to the vaccine will have this effect on the risk of dementia in a few years.”
A recent study conducted by the University of Bristol presents evidence that many mammals had already transitioned towards a more ground-based lifestyle prior to the final Cretaceous mass extinction that eradicated the non-avian dinosaurs 66 million years ago.
Dryolestes late Jurassic relatives of Cretaceous treatment mammals. Image credits: James Brown/Pamelagill/University of Bristol.
Present-day mammals thrive in a varied environment mainly dominated by angiosperms (flowering plants).
In contrast to the habitats provided by coniferous vegetation, forests and woodland environments possess intricate lower levels and towering trees, offering rich biodiversity and resources for terrestrial mammals of all sizes.
Yet, the angiosperm-dominated habitat is relatively recent in Earth’s history, primarily characteristic of the Cenozoic era (66 million years ago to the present), with initial developments towards the end of the Cretaceous period.
“Mesozoic mammals were typically small, mostly weighing under 5 kg, with few surpassing 10 kg,” noted Professor Christine Janice from the University of Bristol and a colleague.
“While it holds true that the majority of present-day mammals are small, averaging around 0.5 kg, the Cenozoic era saw the evolution of greater mammal diversity.”
“The small size of Mesozoic mammals has commonly been attributed to dinosaur predation, but recent recognition of the late Cretaceous proliferation of angiosperms and the habitats they offered may be more crucial than dinosaurs in elucidating the patterns of Mesozoic mammal evolution and diversification.”
“Did these mammals prefer trees or terrestrial substrates? And did this preference alter towards the close of the Cretaceous period with the changes in angiosperm habitats?”
In their research, the authors scrutinized tiny bone fragments of ancient mammalian taxa (marsupials and placentals) unearthed in western North America, specifically the extremity bone edges.
They identified indications that these mammals were adapting to a terrestrial lifestyle.
The analysis of extremity bone edges entailed signatures of locomotive patterns that could be statistically compared to modern mammals.
“There was a known shift in plant life towards the Cretaceous boundary, characterized by angiosperms,” stated the researchers.
“It was also acknowledged that arboreal-dwelling mammals faced challenges post-asteroid impact.”
“However, what remained undocumented was whether mammals were inclining towards a more ground-dwelling lifestyle alongside habitat transformations.”
Former studies utilized complete skeletons to study the movement patterns of ancient mammals, but this study was among the first to employ small bone elements to track alterations across the community.
“The plant habitat appears to have played a pivotal role in the trajectory of Cretaceous mammal evolution beyond dinosaur influences,” remarked Professor Janice.
Published in the March/April 2025 issue of the journal Paleontology, the study unveils intriguing insights into ancient mammal adaptations.
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Christine M. Janice et al. 2025. Paleontology 68(2): E70004; doi: 10.1111/pala.70004
According to a new study from the Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences, certain lichen species can withstand a 50 Gy (gray) Mars-like condition expected at a 50 Gy (gray) X-ray radiation dose of strong solar activity over a year on the surface of Mars.
Morphological and anatomical properties of Setoria Acleatta (a,d,g,j) and diploschistes muscorum (B, C, E, F, H, I, K, L).
Liches live in a wide variety of ecosystems around the world, but are especially important in extreme environments such as hot deserts and cold polar regions.
They are known as extremes and can survive under extreme temperatures, intense radiation, and prolonged water shortages.
The prominent ability of lichens to withstand harsh conditions led to the suggestion that it is suitable for survival in extreme environments of outer space.
The successful life strategy of lichen depends on the symbiotic relationship between fungi and algae or cyanobacteria, allowing them to colonize extreme terrestrial habitats where other multicellular organisms cannot survive.
The key to understanding their impressive resistance lies in the “stress tolerant” organisms, namely the characteristics of low nutritional requirements for metabolic rates and extended lifespans. These are further supported by radiation screening, heat dissipation and antioxidant protection.
Moreover, they can even deal with long periods of water shortage and total lack of liquid water.
This is associated with a lack of ability to regulate moisture content, allowing long-term, severe dryness without damage from dormant states, but can withstand high levels of UV/photosynthetic active radiation and extreme temperatures associated with drought conditions.
Mars is the main focus of interest in astrobiology due to the presence of water and the related possibilities of life.
The current atmospheric conditions on Mars keep people at bay, and the potential habitat for existing living is limited.
Nevertheless, during more favorable climate times, habitable environments may be present below or on the surface.
These niches can serve as isolated habitats that protect against harsh conditions.
The atmosphere is mainly composed of carbon dioxide (95%), but the effectiveness of greenhouse warming is limited.
Mars’ temperature is mainly below the freezing point of water, with atmospheric pressure of 6 mbar.
As a result, a significant portion of Mars’ existing water is ice and atmospheric water vapor. However, certain amounts of water may be present temporarily as liquid water.
Both ionizing radiation and deindependence always reach the surface of Mars and pass through the Mars atmosphere much easier than Earth.
This factor is most restrictive in the Martian habitability context, as ultraviolet and ionizing radiation are very harmful to living things.
“In our study, lichen symbiotic fungal partners remained metabolically active when exposed to atmospheric conditions like Mars in the dark, including the expected X-ray radiation levels on Mars, which are expected to have strong solar activity over a year.”
In their study, the authors focused on two lichen species, diploschistes muscorum and Setoria Acleattaselected for different properties and exposed to Mars-like conditions for 5 hours in simulations of planetary atmosphere composition, pressure, temperature variation, and X-ray radiation.
The findings suggest particularly lichens diploschistes muscorumdespite the high doses of X-ray radiation associated with solar flares and energy particles reaching the surface of the planet, it can survive on Mars.
These results challenge the assumption that ionizing radiation is an insurmountable barrier to Mars’ life and set the stages of further research into the possibilities of extraterrestrial microorganisms and symbiotic survival.
“Our study is the first to demonstrate that the metabolism of fungal partners in lichen symbiosis remains active while in an environment similar to the Martian surface,” Dr. Sukibauwa said.
“We found it diploschistes muscorum It was able to carry out metabolic processes and effectively activate the defense mechanism. ”
“These findings expand our understanding of biological processes under simulated Mars conditions and reveal how hydrates respond to ionized radiation.
“Ultimately, this study will deepen our knowledge of the adaptation of lichens and the possibility of colonizing the extraterrestrial environment.”
Survey results It will be displayed in the journal IMA bacteria.
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K.Skubała et al. 2025. Ionized Radiation Resilience: How metabolically active lichens endure simulated exposure to the Martian atmosphere. IMA bacteria 16:E145477; doi:10.3897/imafungus.16.145477
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