During the Mesolithic Age in East Asia, the discovery of stone tools reveals a complex range of human dynamics

Posted on April 2, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

The Mid-Lestic Age is considered a dynamic period in European and African history, but is generally considered a static period in East Asia. The discovery of a series of refined stone tools at Long Tang Sight in southwestern China, 50,000-60,000 years ago, challenges that recognition.

A product from the Quina system located at Longtan Site, China. Image credits: Luan et al. , doi: 10.1073/pnas.2418029122.

The Paleolithic period in the Central era occurred about 300,000-40,000 years ago and is considered an important time in human evolution.

This period is related to the origins and evolution of modern African people.

In Eurasia, it is associated with the development of several archaic human groups, such as the Neanderthals and Denisovan.

However, there is a widely believed belief that in most of the Paleostemic period, China’s development had slowed.

“Our discoveries challenge our current understanding of human history and technological development in East Asia,” said Professor Beau Lee of the University of Wollongong.

“This finding challenges a long-established general theory among archaeologists that China-China tools are relatively simple and unchanged.”

Professor Li and colleagues unearthed a rich collection of stone tools at the Longtan archaeological site in Yunnan, China.

This tool revealed a complete kina technology system that includes the cores used to generate large and thick flakes.

The Kina Industry is one of the most representative tool creation strategies developed in the Mid Paleolithic period around 300,000-40,000 years ago.

It is characterized by a steeply scaled retouch of thick flakes, which often produces robust scrapers with heavy edge modifications associated with neanderthals, representing strategies developed during marine isotope stage 4 as a response to open forest grassland environments and cool/dry climates.

The Kina Technical System was discovered in Western and Southern Europe during this period, but was not thought to have existed in East Asia.

The wear traces of Longtanquina scrape suggest that they are used in a variety of materials, including bones, horns, wood, meat, skin, and non-slow plants.

“Evidence has shown that the discoveries at Longtan significantly broadened the geographical distribution of human species, the tools used, and the adaptability to adapt to a variety of climates and environments,” Professor Li said.

“The discovery of Longtan also provides a perspective to understand how the human-leeze species evolved and evolved in East Asia prior to the massive arrival of early modern people 45,000 years ago.”

“Understanding rather old artifacts forces us to rethink models of human migration patterns and technology evolution in this part of the world.”

“This opens an exciting new avenue for research and, as we know, can rewrite East Asia’s prehistoric period.”

a paper The survey results were published this week Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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Qi-Jun Ruan et al. 2025. Kinarithic technology demonstrates the diverse late Pleistocene human dynamics of East Asia. pnas 122 (14): E2418029122; doi: 10.1073/pnas.2418029122

Source: www.sci.news

The Impact of Myanmar Earthquakes on Bangkok’s Skyscrapers.

Posted on April 2, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Separated by more than 600 miles of land, the epicenter of Friday’s earthquake in Myanmar was far from the skyscrapers of Bangkok. The collapse of a 33-storey building under construction raises questions about how the shaking in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, compares to past earthquakes.

One of the answers lies in low-frequency seismic waves that can travel long distances and impact high-rise buildings.

During a significant earthquake event, different frequencies of shaking are emitted simultaneously. Some produce rapid vibrations, while others generate low-frequency shaking.

This was evident during the Myanmar earthquake when violent, high-frequency seismic waves caused destruction near the epicenter, taking down low-rise buildings and structures made of brittle materials.

High-frequency seismic waves released during an earthquake dissipate within the Earth, while low-frequency waves can travel further along the Earth’s crust.

Low-frequency waves were observed during the 2002 Denali earthquake in Alaska, causing vibrations as far as Texas and Louisiana.

These seismic waves resonate with tall buildings, affecting them differently based on their design and height.

Similar to tuning forks producing varied sounds, buildings react uniquely to earthquakes depending on their characteristics.

Low-frequency seismic waves played a crucial role in the 1985 earthquake that caused extensive damage in Mexico City.

Seismic waves resonated through the soft soils of the Chao Phraya River Delta in Bangkok during the recent earthquake event.

Engineers have realized the underestimated risks posed by soft soils amplifying earthquake effects in recent years.

Cities like Bangkok, Mexico City, Los Angeles, and others are subject to basin effects, increasing earthquake forces, especially at low frequencies.

In 1985, the frequency of seismic waves was critical in understanding earthquake damage in Mexico City, particularly affecting buildings between 7-18 stories tall.

Old low-rise masonry buildings performed better during earthquakes in comparison to taller structures, highlighting vulnerability despite seeming stability.

Engineers shifted to building more flexible skyscrapers in earthquake-prone regions starting from the 1950s.

Concerns persist about the vulnerability of tall buildings to less frequent but more destructive earthquakes.

The fault destruction under modern cities during a major earthquake event can have devastating effects on tall buildings, despite engineering precautions.

Dr. Heaton warns about the rapid and violent movement caused by fault slip during earthquakes, potentially leaving tall buildings unsupported.

Buildings’ bases in earthquake-prone regions must be engineered to withstand such movements to prevent catastrophic collapses.

Source: www.nytimes.com

Dr. Oz alleviates senators’ worries, backing refusal of transgender healthcare

Posted on April 2, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican; On Monday, he said he decided to support him. Dr. Oz’s appointment to lead Medicare and Medicaid because Dr. Oz said he didn’t support transgender care for minors and was “clearly pro-life.”

The Senate plans to vote for Dr. Oz’s appointment later this month to become the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Holy had spoken out about withholding support for Dr. Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon who has become a daytime television celebrity, concerns about his previous position in transgender care and abortion laws in certain states. Dr. Oz featured the segment on a television program on transgender care, raising the possibility of dissenting previously proposed state law banning abortions based on fetal heartbeat.

In response to Mr. Holly’s written questions, Dr. Oz assured the Senator that he “denies previous support for trans-snary and drugs for minor children.” Posted on x, Social media site. He added, “We’ve come back after overcoming criticism of the state’s pro-life law.” Dr. Oz “works to end funding for abortion providers,” Holly said.

Mr Holy’s opposition may have put Dr. Oz’s confirmation at stake given that Democrats appear likely to vote against him along the party line. CMS is a $1.5 trillion institution responsible for providing healthcare coverage to almost half of Americans.

Last month, Holly managed to expel new Food and Drug Administration chief counsel, Hilary Perkins, for his job as a Biden administration lawyer who claimed to be defending the availability of abortion drugs. She is an anti-abortion conservative.

A spokesman for Dr. Oz did not reply to requests for comment.

Source: www.nytimes.com

Gallup Poll Shows Increasing Number of Americans Unable to Afford Healthcare

Posted on April 2, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

The high cost of living in America not only drives up egg prices and housing costs but also contributes to the unhappiness of its citizens. The affordability of healthcare remains a major concern for millions of people. A recent investigation published on Wednesday sheds light on the challenges many individuals face in affording doctor visits and prescription medications, even before discussions about reducing government aid.

According to the survey, 11% of respondents reported being unable to afford necessary medication and care in the past three months, marking the highest level in the four years of the survey. More than a third of those surveyed, approximately 91 million adults, stated they would be unable to pay for medical care if needed.

The survey, conducted by Western Health and Gallup from mid-November to late December 2024, revealed a widening disparity between black and Hispanic adults and individuals with lower incomes. A quarter of respondents earning annual household incomes under $24,000 expressed inability to afford care in the past three months.

“The extent to which this issue is magnified highlights the vulnerability of these particular groups,” noted Dan Witters, a senior researcher at Gallup.

While white adults and high-income earners reported no significant change in their ability to afford care, the rising premiums, additional physician costs, and recent reductions in Medicaid coverage all contribute to the financial burden on individuals. The Trump administration and Republican lawmakers’ arguments about repealing Medicaid cuts and tax reductions under the Obamacare plan could further exacerbate the issue, experts warn.

“This puts additional strain on already burdened systems and leads to financial toxicity,” stated Tim Rush, president of the West Health Policy Center. Many families are already grappling with medical debt. Rush emphasized that avoiding necessary care due to financial constraints could result in severe health consequences or even death.

Sarah R. Collins, vice president of healthcare coverage and access at the Nonprofit Commonwealth Fund, pointed out that even with insurance, many individuals lack sufficient coverage to meet their healthcare expenses. She warned that proposed cuts by Republican lawmakers and the Trump administration could lead to a rise in the number of people unable to afford care.

Collins remarked, “We’re regressing to pre-Affordable Care Act levels.”

Source: www.nytimes.com

Less than 1% of agency spending goes to federal health workers

Posted on April 2, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Recently, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made headlines by defending his decision to terminate thousands of employees in his department.

Last week, he announced plans to eliminate 10,000 jobs, in addition to the 10,000 positions cut during the early days of the Trump administration.

Kennedy referred to the Department of Health and Human Services as “the largest agency in the government, twice the size of the Pentagon, with a budget of $1.9 trillion.” News Nation. He suggested that the department does little to enhance the health of Americans.

Despite having a discretionary budget of around $850 billion, HHS spends more than the Department of Defense. However, experts argue that the majority of the HHS budget is not allocated to staff expenses.

According to three budget experts, a small fraction of the federal health agency budget goes towards officials’ salaries. This includes FDA staff, CDC, and NIH.

The majority of funds are spent on Medicare and Medicaid for elderly and low-income individuals, respectively. These funds support private insurance plans, hospitals, clinics, pharmaceutical companies, and more.

Melinda Bunting, a health policy professor, stated that HHS staff costs represent less than 1% of the department’s budget, despite overall spending increases.

Bobby Cogan, from the Center for Progress in America, criticized Kennedy’s depiction of HHS budgeting as “misleading.”

Kogan argued that the focus should be on the aging population, not misleading budget claims. HHS seeks to reduce federal spending by $1.8 billion annually through workforce cuts.

Another HHS institution, the administration for children and families, allocates billions to programs like Head Start and welfare support.

Christounner, from the Responsible Federal Budget Committee, estimated HHS staff costs to be less than 1% of spending, accounting for highly qualified health professionals.

While the Trump administration has focused on Medicare fraud, Congress is exploring potential fraud within Medicare Advantage Plans, involving hundreds of billions of dollars annually. Hundreds of Billions Annual dollars.

Source: www.nytimes.com

This tree is yearning to be struck by lightning

Posted on April 2, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

The entire forest explodes as lightning hits a tree in the tropical region.

“To the most extreme, the bombs look like they’ve disappeared,” said Evan Gola, a forest ecologist at the Carrie Ecosystem Institute in Millbrook, New York, who is a forest ecologist with dozens of trees around what was touched. Within a few months, a considerable forest ring will die.

For some reason, there is one survivor standing there who looks healthier than ever. New research Dr. Gora was published last week in the New Phytologist journal, revealing that some of the rainforest’s biggest trees will not survive the lightning attack. They thrive.

The tropical rainforest at the Baro Colorado Nature Monument in Panama is a great place to study whether some trees are immune to lightning. It is home to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and is one of the world’s most studied tropical forests. Dr. Gola tried to study whether individual trees in the forest would benefit from being hit by lightning. And if so, does that help species populations survive on a large scale?

Early on, he spent a lot of time climbing trees, searching for signs of lightning damage. However, making critical observations is painful and inefficient. Dr. Gola began climbing one tree, convinced that it was the trunk struck, and went up 50 feet and wanted him to actually be the tree next to him. The bees also crowd Dr. Gora’s eyes and ears.

“Your whole life is just bustling,” he said. “That’s scary.”

Dr. Gola needed a more efficient way to find the trees he attacked, so he and his collaborators developed a method to monitor lightning strikes and triangulate electromagnetic signals. This technique led him to the correct tree more quickly and could be evaluated using a drone.

From 2014 to 2019, the system captured 94 lightning strikes on trees. Dr. Gola and his team visited the site to see which species were hit. They were looking for dead trees and “flashover points.” There, the leaves are sung as lightning jumps between the trees. From there, the canopy dies and the tree eventually dies.

Eighty-five species were hit, seven survived, while one literally stood out figically. The DipteryxOleifera is a towering species hit nine times, including one tree that has hit twice and appears to be more active. D. oleifera has a crown about 30% higher than the remaining trees and about 50% larger than the other trees.

“It appears there is an architecture that can be attacked more frequently,” Dr. Gola said.

All D. oleifera trees struck survived the lightning attack, but 64% of the other species died within two years. The trees surrounding D. oleifera could be 48% higher than those around other species. In one notable break, one strike killed 57 trees around D. oleifera. Lightning also D. Blowing out parasite trees from the oleifera tree.

Cleaning adjacent trees and choking grapes, D. This meant that the oleifera tree would have less competition from the light and make it easier to produce more seeds. A computer model is a D when it is hit multiple times. We estimated that the lifespan of oleifera trees could be extended by almost 300 years.

“It seemed impossible for lightning to be good for trees,” Dr. Gola said before the study. However, the evidence is D. It suggests that oleifera will benefit from each impact.

“Trees are constantly competing with each other, so you need an edge compared to what surrounds you,” said Gabriel Arellano, a forest ecologist at the University of Michigan, who was not involved in the research.

The physical mechanisms that help trees survive the intense lightning strike remain unknown. Dr. Gora suggested that different trees may be more conductive and conductive, or that there may be an architecture that will escape damage.

This study was only in Panama, but similar patterns have been observed in other tropical forests. “It’s very common,” said Adrian Esquibel Muerbert, a forest ecologist at the University of Birmingham in the UK who worked with Dr. Gola but was not involved in the research. “It’s very clear when that will happen.”

Climate change is set to increase the frequency and severity of tropical thunderstorms. It appears that some trees may be more suited to the future of storms than others.

Source: www.nytimes.com

NASA reduces funding by $420 million for climate science, monthly modeling, and other projects

Posted on April 1, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

NASA’s funding cuts have already impacted US research and education programs

dcstockphotography/shutterstock

NASA has cancelled contracts and grants worth up to $420 million, following guidance from the Trump administration’s government efficiency (DOGE). The reductions will impact research projects and education programs in the United States, but NASA says it’s perfect for checking exactly which organizations are affected.

After Doge, an independent task force led by tech billionaire Elon Musk, NASA confirmed the amount but refused to specify which programs were cancelled. Casey Drier The Planetary Association, a California-based nonprofit organization, list of a program that has recently lost funds using the agency’s public grant database. NASA has since deleted the database and did not respond to questions about the accuracy of the list.

Much of the cuts on Dreyer’s list coincides with President Donald Trump’s skepticism about climate science and his administration’s active targets regarding his interpretation of the Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI) program.

Climate-related cancellations include a Massachusetts Institute of Technology project that uses satellite sensors to map the impacts of extreme heat, air pollution and flooding. Another target was a University of Oklahoma study to develop digital twin simulations that predict the impact of flooding on tribal lands.

However, it is unclear why NASA has ended support for other research, such as using bioengineering cells to investigate how spaceflight affects the human body and modelling how lunar dust can contaminate future lunar missions.

NASA spokesman Bethany Stevens said New Scientist The agency is “to work with the Ministry of Government Efficiency initiative to optimize the workforce and resources.” Doge urged agencies across the US government to cut funding or shut down altogether.

But it says that ongoing grants and contract cancellations will fly in the face of a “strict” review process that selected them in the first place as “the most scientifically appropriate proposal.” Michael Batario At Yale University. “Politics cannot and should not define what is scientifically worth studying at the level of individual grants,” says Batario, who is studying the atmosphere of Mars and Titan in preparation for future missions.

“DEI related cuts get me the most out of the way.” Bruce Jacoski He was the lead scientist at NASA’s Maven Mission to Mars at the University of Colorado, Boulder. “These grants are about reaching out to underrepresented groups and making people accessible to training and education. None of them appears to promote people who are less qualified than more qualified.”

For example, NASA cut funding for a conference hosted by the National Association of Black Physicists, a longtime nonprofit that promotes the professional well-being of African-American physicists and physics students. “We were told that the reason for cancelling the contract is to comply with the president’s executive order regarding the DEI,” he said. Stephen Robersonpresident of the National Association of Black Physics. “We would like to appeal this decision and explain further why an annual conference, in which people of all races and academic levels present scientific research, is considered a DEI.”

New Scientist They reached out to researchers and organizations that they thought were affected, but few responded to the National Association of Black Physicists. The San Diego Aerospace Museum, featured on Drayer’s list, said NASA’s funding for educational events appears to be still intact, despite the NASA database indicating changes to the grant’s end date. NASA did not respond to requests to verify the status of this fund.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Venus Might Have More Surface Geologic Activity Than Previously Believed

Posted on April 1, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

It is called an unexpected phenomenon Convection It helps to explain many of the other features of the volcano and Venus landscape.

The artist’s impression is that a volcano erupts on Venus. Image credit: ESA/AOES Mediaab.

The University of Washington, Professor Slava Solomatov of St. Louis, said:

“Our calculations suggest that convection is possible and likely is likely. If so, it gives us new insight into the evolution of the planet.”

Convection occurs when the heated material rises towards the surface of the planet, and the cold material sinks, creating a constant conveyor belt.

On Earth, convection deep in the mantle provides the energy that drives plate tectonics.

The Earth’s crust, about 40 km thick on the continent and 6 km in the sea basin, is too thin to cool and cannot support convection.

However, Professor Solomatov and his colleague Dr. Chabi Jain of St. Louis suspected that Venus’ crust had a proper thickness (probably 30-90 km, and in some places 30-90 km), temperature and rock composition.

To confirm this possibility, researchers applied a new theory of fluid dynamics developed in the lab.

Their calculations suggested that Venus’ crust could indeed support convection. This is a whole new way of thinking about the geology of planetary surfaces.

In 2024, scientists used a similar approach to determine that convection would likely not occur in the mercury mantle. Because the planet is too small and has been cooled quite a bit since it formed 4.5 billion years ago.

Venus, on the other hand, is a hot planet both inside and outside. The surface temperature reaches 465 degrees Celsius (870 degrees Fahrenheit), and its volcano and other surface features show clear signs of melting.

Scientists have been wondering how heat from the interior of the earth is transferred to the surface.

“Crustal convection can be an important missing mechanism,” Professor Solomatov said.

“Convection near the surface can also affect the type and placement of volcanoes on Venus’ surface.”

The author hopes that future missions to Venus can provide more detailed data on crust density and temperature.

If convection occurs as expected, some areas of the crust must be warmer and less dense than others. This is a difference that can be detected using high-resolution gravity measurements.

But perhaps an even more interesting target is Plput, a frozen dwarf planet outside the solar system.

Images from NASA’s New Horizons mission revealed a prominent polygonal pattern in the Sputnik Planitia region of Pltune, which resembles the plate boundary on Earth.

These polygons are formed by the slow convection current in a 4-km thick layer of solid nitrogen ice.

“Pluto is probably the second planetary body in the non-Earth solar system, and the convection driving tectonics is clearly visible on the surface,” Professor Solomatov said.

“It’s an attractive system that we still need to understand.”

result Published in the journal Physics of the interior of Earth and Planets.

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Viatcheslav S. Solomatov & Chhavi Jain. 2025. The possibility of convection in the Venus crust. Earth and Planet Physics 361:107332; doi:10.1016/j.pepi.2025.107332

Source: www.sci.news

Hubble sheds light on atmospheric composition and dynamics of Uranus

Posted on April 1, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

The 20-year Hubble study of Uranus provides valuable data to help you understand the atmospheric dynamics of this distant ice giant. This serves as a proxy for studying the deformation of similar sizes and compositions.

The image sequence shows changes in Uranus over the past four years when Hubble’s STIS instrument observed Uranus over 20 years. Over that period, astronomers saw Uranus season as the Antarctic region (left) entered winter shadows, and the Arctic region (right) brightened, and began to become more direct view as summer approached the north. The top row of visible light shows how Uranus’ colours look to the human eye, as can be seen by even amateur telescopes. In the second line, false-colored images of the planet are assembled from visible and near-infrared light observations. The color and brightness correspond to the amount of methane and aerosol. Both of these quantities were indistinguishable before STI first targeted Uranus in 2002. Generally, the green area has less methane than the blue area, and the red area does not show methane. The red area is in the limbs, where the stratosphere of Uranus is almost completely free of methane. The two bottom rows show the latitudinal structures of aerosols and methane, inferred from those visible from 1,000 different wavelengths (colors) to near-infrared. In the third row, bright areas show cloudy conditions, while dark areas show clearer conditions. In the fourth row, the bright areas show depleted methane, and the dark areas show the total amount of methane. At mid- and low-latitude latitudes, aerosol and methane depletion has a unique latitude structure that has changed little over 20 years of observation. However, in polar regions, aerosol and methane depletion behave very differently. In the third row, aerosols near the Arctic show a dramatic increase, becoming very dark in the early days of the Northern Spring and very bright in recent years. It appears that aerosols also disappear in their left limbs when solar radiation disappears. This is evidence that solar radiation alters aerosol haze in Uranus’s atmosphere. On the other hand, methane depletion appears to remain very high in both polar regions throughout the observation period. Image credits: NASA/ESA/Erich Karkoschka, LPL.

Uranus is a giant ice planet about four times the diameter of Earth.

It has a hydrogen and helium feel and has a bit of methane that gives it a blue tint.

Uranus lies to its side and rotates, its magnetic field is biased – it tilts at the center 60 degrees from its axis.

When Voyager 2 passed Uranus in 1986, it provided a close-up snapshot of the planet facing sideways. What it saw resembled a bland blue-green billiard ball.

In comparison, Hubble recorded the story of 20 years of seasonal changes from 2002 to 2022.

During that period, it was used by a team of astronomers led by Dr. Erich Karkoschka of the University of Arizona and Dr. Larry Slomovsky and Dr. Pat Free of the University of Wisconsin. Hubble Space Telescope Imaging Spectrometer (stis) Draw an accurate picture of Uranus’ atmosphere structure.

Researchers observed Uranus four times in 20 years: 2002, 2012, 2015, and 2022.

They found that unlike gas giants Saturn and Jupiter, methane was not evenly distributed on Uranus.

Instead, it is heavily depleted near the pole. This depletion remained relatively constant for 20 years.

However, the structure of aerosols and hazes changes dramatically, and brightens significantly in the Arctic region as the planet approaches the northern summer solstice in 2030.

Uranus takes Earth age just over 84 years to complete the single orbit of the Sun.

Therefore, for over 20 years, the team has seen the spring almost north to make the Northern Pole shine directly in 2030, before shining the equator of Uranus.

“Hubble’s observations suggest a complex atmospheric circulation pattern for Uranus during this period,” the scientists said.

“The data most sensitive to methane distribution shows polar inundation and upwelling in other regions.”

Source: www.sci.news

Trump’s aid cuts will impact millions of women’s access to birth control

Posted on April 1, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

The US has ended financial support for family planning programs in developing countries, separating nearly 50 million women from access to birth control.

This policy change has attracted little attention in the wholesale demolition of US foreign aid, but it has great significance, including mother deaths and an overall increase in poverty. It derails the efforts that have in recent years brought long-acting birth control pills to some of the world’s poorest and most isolated regions.

The US contributed to family planning programs in 31 developing countries last year, providing about $600 million in 2023, according to the health research institute KFF.

According to an analysis by the sexual health research institute, the US funding provides birth control pills and medical services to deliver them to more than 47 million women and couples, reaching over 47 million women and couples. Without this annual contribution, 34,000 women could die from preventable mother deaths each year, Guttmacher’s calculation concluded.

“The magnitude of the impact is daunting,” said Mariva, who leads the coordination team for the Ouagadougou Partnership, an initiative to accelerate access to investment and family planning in nine West African countries.

The funding ended as part of the Trump administration’s breakdown of the US International Development Agency. The State Department, whose USAID skeletal remains were absorbed on Friday, did not reply to a request for comment on its decision to cease funding for family planning. Secretary of State Marco Rubio explains that he wasted the fired aid project and is not in line with America’s strategic interests.

Supporting family planning in the world’s poorest and most populous countries has been a consistent policy priority for both Democrats and Republican administrations for decades, considered a breakwater against political instability. It also reduced the number of women seeking abortions.

Among the countries that will be heavily affected by the decision are Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Yemen and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Funds to support the International Family Planning Program have been allocated by Congress and have been extended to the latest expenditure bill, which the government is operating until September. Moves by the State Department to cut these and other aid programs are now the subject of multiple lawsuits before federal courts.

The Trump administration has also fired US funding for UNFPA, the UN’s sexual reproductive health organization, the world’s largest procurement of birth control pills. The United States was the organization’s largest donor.

The US was not the sole supplier of birth control in any country, but the sudden termination of US fundraising has created disruption to the system and has already run out of products in clinics.

The estimated $27 million worth of family planning products already raised by USAID are stuck at various points in boats, ports and warehouses. Programs and employees have no programs or employees left to take them down or hand them over to the government. One plan proposed by Washington’s new USAID leadership is for the rest of the employees to destroy them.

Supply chain management is a major focus for USAID in all areas of health, with the US paying for transporting contraceptive products such as hormone implants, for example, from Thai manufacturers to ports in Mombasa, Kenya.

“It will be extremely difficult to put your work back on,” said Dr. Natalia Kanem, executive director of UNFPA.

The US has also paid for data and information systems that help the government track what is in stock and what needs to be ordered. None of these systems have been working since the Trump administration sent halt work orders to all programs that received the USAID grant.

Bellington Wwalika, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Zambia, said contraceptives have already begun running in some parts of the country, with the US supplying a quarter of the national family planning budget.

“Wealthy people can buy the products they want. It is the poor who have to think, ‘What should I get between food and birth control?'” he said.

Even before the US retracted its family planning program, the survey found that globally, 1 billion women of reproductive age wanted to avoid pregnancy, but modern methods of birth control were inaccessible.

At the same time, there have been great progress. Demand for contraception is steadily increasing in Africa, a region of the world with lowest coverage, in long-acting ways that provide women with greater privacy and safe protection. Supply has been improved with better infrastructure and helped deliver products to rural areas. And the “Demand Creation” project, which is the main funder in the US, used ads and social media to inform people of the various options available and the benefits of pregnancy intervals or delays. The rise in education levels among women has also increased demand.

Two weeks ago, Thermasibanda, a 27-year-old engineering graduate who lives in a low-income community on the edge of Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, received a hormone implant that prevents pregnancy for five years.

Shibanda has a two-year-old son and says he can’t afford more children. She can’t find a job in Zimbabwe’s broken economy and her husband can’t. They follow the $150 presence he earns from the vegetable stand every month. She relied on “hope, faith and natural methods” to prevent another pregnancy from happening after her son was born, Shibanda said, hoping for something more reliable, but that was simply impossible on her family’s budget – until a free clinic came to her neighborhood.

With USAID funding, the Zimbabwean organization that provided implants last year has been able to purchase six robust Toyota vehicles and camping equipment so that outreach teams can travel to the country’s most remote parts and provide vascular removal and IUD at pop-up clinics. Since Trump’s executive order, they have had to stop using all of that equipment.

International nonprofit MSI reproductive options intervened with temporary funds to ensure that they could continue to provide free care to women they could reach, such as Shibanda.

Shibanda said her priorities are to provide her son with the best possible education and that there are no more children as tuition costs. However, many African women have no way of making this choice. In Uganda, the national fertility rate is 4.5 children per woman, but it is not uncommon to meet women in rural areas with limited education with eight or 10 children, said Dr Justin Bukenya, lecturer in community health and behavioral sciences at Makerele University in Kampala. These women become pregnant for the first time as teenagers, with little space between pregnancy.

“By the time they were 30, they were able to get their 10th pregnancy. These are the women affected,” she said. “We’re missing the opportunity to make progress with them. The United States was doing a very strong job of creating the demands of birth control with these women here and mobilizing young men and women to go to family planning.”

Some women who rely on free or low-cost services through the public health system may now seek to buy birth control pills in the private market. However, the prices of tablets, IUDs and other devices are likely to rise significantly without guaranteed to buy large quantities from the US.

“As a result, women who relied on free or affordable options through the public health system could now be forced to rely on private sector sources.

The next biggest donor to post-US family planning is the Netherlands, which provided about 17% of donor government funding in 2023, and the UK provided 13%. The two countries recently announced plans to cut their aid budget by more than a third.

BA said the focus of the West African countries she works for is to mobilize domestic resources and come up with ways for governments to try and relocate money to cover what the US supplies. Charities such as the Gates Foundation and financial institutions, including the World Bank, which are already important contributors to family planning, could provide additional funding to try to move products into the country.

“We were very optimistic. Even with all the political instability in our area, we’ve been using modern methods to add millions of women over the last few years,” BA said. “And now, it’s all, US support, policy, it’s all gone completely. The gap is too big to fill.”

Source: www.nytimes.com

New Miyashita species found in Thailand by Paleontologists

Posted on April 1, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Amazing new genera and species of Gnathosaurine Pterosaur Garudapterus buffetauti It has been identified from the upper jaw of fossils found in eastern Thailand.

Garudapterus buffetauti. Image credits: Dinothaithai / Manitkoon et al. doi: 10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106135.

“Pterosaulia is the order of extinct flying reptiles that once lived among dinosaurs during the Mesozoic era, with fossil records from the late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous period.”

“Traditionally, Pterosaurs had two major groups.”

“The first branches generally have a long tail and a long fifth toe (traditionally known as the vacuum subsystem Rhamphorhynchoidea, now abolished).”

“The second one is Pterodactyloidea a large group with a high tail shrinking, relatively long metacarpal, short or non-existent fifth toe. ”

Garudapterus buffetauti It belongs to Gnathosaurinae a subfamily of pterodas within the Pterodactyloidea group.

The new species lived in what is now Thailand 130 million years ago, 130 million years ago, during the early Cretaceous period.

Fossilized sites of flying reptiles were found in the Pra Prong area in the southern region of the Phanom Dong Lac Mountains in Sa Keo province, Thailand.

Holotype of Garudapterus buffetauti – The first pterocortic skull material in Thailand – consists of a partial stud and five incomplete teeth from one individual.

“The anterior of the platoon is flattened dorsoventral and laterally expanded (spoon-shaped) shows an affinity for Gunasosaurnae,” the paleontologist said.

“The alveolar boundaries are severely scalloped and are like a collar, and the surface of the palate shows a pair of sine wave grooves.”

“These features have strong similarities to Gunasosaurin from the late Jurassic period. Gnathosaurus suburatus, Tacuadactylus luciae and Lucegnatos Almadrava. ”

Team phylogenetic analysis shows this Garudapterus buffetauti It is closely related to these Gnathosaurines.

“Even so, Thai gunasosaurin is unique and recognized as a new species for displaying the kite-shaped podium expansion,” the researchers said.

“This new specimen provides important information about Pterosaurs, including updated data to help us better understand diversity and distribution across Southeast Asia.”

Team’s paper It was published in the journal this month Cretaceous Research.

____

Shitamanitokoon et al. The first ganaurin (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea) in the early Cretaceous period in eastern Thailand. Cretaceous Research Published online on March 28th, 2025. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106135

Source: www.sci.news

Researchers claim the Trump administration has initiated a battle against science

Posted on April 1, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Approximately 1,900 leading researchers have denounced the Trump administration Open Letter On Monday, it conducted a “wholesale assault on National Science” that could backtrack research for decades, threatening the health and safety of Americans.

All signatories of the letter were warned by the damages caused by layoffs in health and science institutions, all elected members of the National Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine, and by the cuts and delays in funding that have historically supported research within government and across American universities.

“For over 80 years, wise investments by the US government have built up national research companies and are a global hope,” the letter states. “Amazingly, the Trump administration is destabilizing the company by stripping funds for research, firing thousands of scientists, removing public access to scientific data, and pressures researchers to change or abandon their work on ideological basis.”

The letter stated that many universities and research institutes have so far “became antagonistic to the administration and remained silent in order to put their funds at risk.” However, he said, “The country’s scientific enterprises are undoubtedly undoubtedly.”

The signatories urged Americans to appeal to Congress to protect scientific funds.

With Elon Musk’s efforts to cut spending on institutions he considers as ideological enemies and President Trump’s crackdown, the administration has sought to dismantle some of the federal government’s scientific fundraising equipment.

Funding from the National Institutes of Health, which supports jobs by more than 300,000 scientists across the country, has down billions of dollars from typical levels in the early months of the Trump administration.

The White House has also moved to cancel research in certain areas, including transgender health and climate science.

The Trump administration announced last week that it had fired 10,000 Health and Human Services Department employees as part of a broader restructuring that reflects the priorities of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The department hired unreliable vaccine skeptics to study the links that have been exposed by scientists for a long time between vaccines and autism. On Friday, the country’s top vaccine regulator resigned, citing Kennedy’s “misinformation and lies.”

Over the past few weeks, members of the National Academy of Medicine, a nonprofit that provides independent health policy advice, have begun discussing concerns with members of the National Academy of Science and Engineering.

Dr. Stephen Wolf, the organizer of the letter studying health policy at the Federal University of Virginia, said the conversations produced open letters.

The letter was drafted by a group of 13 scientists representing fields such as medicine, climate science, sociology and economics.

“We know what this does to the US life expectancy, mortality rates and the mental health crisis we have,” Dr. Wolf said. “These changes in research companies are going to lead to harm to everyday Americans.”

Dr. Wolf cited the planned reorganization of the Agency for Medical Research and Quality, a small institution responsible for protecting patient safety and ensuring Americans’ access to free preventive services like mammograms.

“The person responsible for protecting the quality of healthcare in the United States has just been demolished,” Dr. Wolf said.

The letter outlines the results of funding cuts, including a pause in research studies, faculty layoffs, and reduced enrollment of graduate students.

It also condemns the management of “censorship involvement” among other things by “blocking research on topics that appear undesirable, such as climate change, or topics that have unfavorable outcomes on topics from vaccine safety to economic trends.”

Source: www.nytimes.com

Experts warn that cuts in Trump’s science funding may negatively impact the economy

Posted on April 1, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

President Trump’s tariffs can increase prices, and efforts to reduce the federal workforce may lead to higher unemployment. Many economists are concerned about administration policies that will cut federal support for scientific research.

The Trump administration has recently canceled or frozen billions of dollars in federal grants for researchers, resulting in significant cuts to funding for academic medical centers and other institutions. It has also attempted to dismiss hundreds of workers at the National Science Foundation and has revoked visas for numerous foreign-born students.

These policies could jeopardize the US’s competitiveness in emerging fields like artificial intelligence, affecting the nation’s health and productivity in the long run.

“Universities play a crucial role in innovation,” says Sabrina Howell, a professor at New York University. “These policies are detrimental to our ability to innovate and grow.”

Scientists warn that the US risks losing its position as a leading research hub and a top destination for scientific talent globally.

Laboratories across the country are already laying off workers and halting projects, potentially affecting ongoing clinical trials. Top universities like Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania have announced employment freezes. Other countries are actively recruiting American scientists, offering a more welcoming environment.

Economists argue that taxpayer-funded research is crucial for early-stage studies that may not attract private investors. Research has shown that every dollar invested in research and development yields about $5 in economic returns, including intangible benefits like increased longevity and leisure time.

“Research is a high-return activity that benefits society in many ways,” said economist Benjamin F. Jones from Northwestern University. “We need to invest more in research to stay competitive.”

Unexpected discovery

Hudson Freeze’s groundbreaking research in microorganisms in the 1960s led to important discoveries in DNA replication and genetic sciences. His work showcases the vital role of government funding in scientific research.

Dr. Freeze’s discoveries underscore the importance of government support for scientific breakthroughs. While private investors may overlook research on rare disorders, government funding has led to significant advancements in medical science.

The US research and development system, established during World War II, has been instrumental in driving economic growth and innovation. Federal investments in research have led to key technologies like the Internet and modern medicine.

…

Immigration plays a crucial role in driving scientific and technological advancements in the US. Despite accounting for a small percentage of the population, immigrants have contributed significantly to innovation, patents, and entrepreneurial ventures.

Changes in immigration policy and the perception of the US as unwelcoming could deter foreign students and scientists from choosing the US for education and research. Research has shown that restrictions on immigration during the Trump administration led to a decline in Chinese students studying in the US.

“International students and scientists are responsive to the environment in the US,” said economist Britta Glennon from the University of Pennsylvania. “A welcoming atmosphere is crucial for attracting global talent.”

Source: www.nytimes.com

How Dining “Family Style” Shaped Life as We Know It

Posted on April 1, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

The Stentor, a giant in the world of single-celled creatures, is a trumpet-shaped organism that ranks among the largest of its kind, stretching to the size of a sharp pencil tip. Despite its impressive size, the Stentor sometimes struggles to capture the swimming bacteria and microscopic algae it feeds on.

A recent study reveals that Stentors, part of the Protist group, have found a way to overcome this challenge by adopting a “family style” approach to feeding. In a paper published in the journal Natural Physics on Monday, scientists shared their discovery that Stentor colonies can create currents to draw in prey more efficiently.

These new findings suggest that Stentors are capable of cooperation despite lacking neurons and brains.

“These single-cell organisms exhibit behaviors that we typically associate with more complex life forms,” said Shashank Shekhar, a biophysicist at Emory University and lead author of the study. “They form these higher structures, much like we do as humans.”

Scientists believe that the ability of single-cell organisms to form groups is a critical step in the evolution towards multicellular life on Earth. Recent discoveries emphasize the role of physical states and predator-prey interactions in these cellular collaborations.

In their natural habitat, Stentors are commonly found near the surface of ponds. They have cilia at the wider ends of their bodies that wave in patterns, creating water streams to capture prey.

To observe these currents in a laboratory setting, Dr. Shekhar placed a drop of milk in a Petri dish with a Stentor and watched the fluid movements under a microscope. “You can see them creating swirls around their mouths,” he described, likening it to the swirling cosmos in Van Gogh’s “Starry Night.”

When food is abundant, Stentors often come together in clusters, but little research has been done to explore the reasons for this colony formation.

Dr. Shekhar and his team observed the interactions between pairs of Stentors by analyzing microscope video footage of the organisms in a Petri dish capturing food particles to measure liquid dynamics.

The video unveiled intriguing patterns as the Stentors were drawn towards each other before moving apart, resembling a magnetic repulsion. “They seem to oscillate between ‘I like you’ and ‘I don’t like you,'” explained Dr. Shekhar.

Further analysis revealed that Stentor pairs often had unequal connections, with one organism producing stronger currents. When they gathered, the combined streams benefited both creatures, allowing weaker Stentors to benefit from the stronger ones.

These dynamics among Stentors lead to what Dr. Shekhar terms “indiscriminate behavior.” By forming colonies and choosing stronger partners, Stentors enhance their feeding efficiency, increasing the overall flow rate and enabling them to capture prey faster and from greater distances, ultimately boosting nutrient intake for the group.

The grouping behavior of single-cell organisms like Stentors to enhance survival represents a crucial stage in the evolution towards multicellularity. Uniting against single-cell prey makes them more formidable as predators, prompting vulnerable prey to band together for survival.

According to evolutionary biologist William Ratcliffe from Georgia Tech, who was not involved in the study, the improved feeding efficiency of group predators like Stentors can drive the evolution of multicellularity in prey organisms. “As a single cell, you’re vulnerable to being consumed. But as part of a larger group of cells, you become a less appealing target for predators,” Dr. Ratcliffe explained.

These new discoveries underscore the significance of physical forces in shaping biological evolution.

“While we often focus on genes and chemicals, the role of physics in the development of multicellular life is equally important,” noted Dr. Shekhar. “Even simple factors like water flow can influence evolutionary pathways.”

Source: www.nytimes.com

NASA astronauts share their experiences after nine months aboard the ISS

Posted on April 1, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Following an unexpected extended stay at the International Space Station lasting nine and a half months, NASA astronaut Suni Williams is back on Earth, enjoying herself once more.

“I actually went out and ran three miles yesterday,” Williams mentioned during a press conference at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on Monday. “So I’ll give myself a little pat on the back.”

Williams, along with her fellow astronaut Butch Wilmore, expressed their gratitude multiple times. Williams thanked the two astronauts who shared the Dragon Capsules of the SpaceX Crew, NASA, SpaceX, Boeing, and the medical team for helping them readjust to gravity.

These expressions of gratitude, much like many federal workers, were likely well received by individuals in the space agency who have faced uncertainty about their mission, direction, and ongoing employment since President Trump’s inauguration.

Williams and Wilmore embarked on a test flight of the Boeing Starliner spacecraft last June, initially planned as a brief visit to the International Space Station. However, due to issues with the Starliner’s propulsion system, NASA officials decided to bring the Starliner back to Earth, extending Williams and Wilmore’s stay until February.

Upon their return to Earth, they returned to a transitioning NASA, the trajectory of which remains uncertain.

Elon Musk and his government’s focus on efficiency aim to disrupt traditional bureaucratic structures. Meanwhile, SpaceX CEO Musk envisions sending settlers to Mars, sparking speculation about NASA’s current primary focus, the Artemis program, aimed at sending astronauts back to the moon.

In January, Williams and Wilmore found themselves caught in a political quarrel, as Trump and Musk insinuated they were left stranded in space to undermine favorable publicity for Musk, a Trump supporter during the presidential campaign, without providing any concrete details or evidence.

Both astronauts have publicly maintained that they were not abandoned in space for political reasons.

During a press conference at the Johnson Space Center, Williams, Wilmore, and Nick Haag, commanders of the SpaceX Crew Dragon mission that brought them back home, steered clear of political controversy and emphasized the cooperation and shared purpose essential for their astronaut mission.

“When you link with a nation that stands by, cares about human spaceflight programs, and supports us and our endeavors,” Wilmore stated.

Haag noted that much of the turmoil on Earth remains distant:

“When we are working in space, politics fade away,” he remarked. “It’s solely focused on the mission.”

He highlighted Williams’ nearly six-month tenure as commander of the space station.

“The magic of human spaceflight lies in our ability to concentrate on positive elements that unite people together,” Haag concluded.

Wilmore, who led the Starliner Mission, refused to place blame solely on Boeing for the issues with the Starliner capsule that led to their prolonged stay. “I dislike that term,” he commented.

Wilmore stated that both Boeing and NASA share responsibility for the malfunctioning system.

“I won’t point fingers and place blame,” Wilmore mentioned. “I might have posed some questions, and the responses could have altered the outcome.”

NASA officials anticipate the next Starliner flight could take place later this year or the following year. When asked if they would be willing to embark on another such flight, both Williams and Wilmore quickly responded affirmatively.

“Because we will address all the challenges we encountered,” Wilmore affirmed. “We will resolve them. We will make it work. Boeing and NASA are fully committed to this endeavor.

“I concur,” added Williams. “Spacecraft are incredibly capable.”

The International Space Station’s operations are scheduled until 2030, at which point a specially designed SpaceX spacecraft will guide the station out of orbit into the Pacific Ocean. Recently, Musk has suggested that space stations should increase their utility and be discarded sooner, within a few years. However, the astronauts spoke enthusiastically about the research they conducted aboard.

Haag remarked on the significant advancements in complexity of experiments compared to his prior mission six years ago.

“It gives you the sense that we are currently in the golden age of space stations in terms of the return on investment,” Haag concluded.

Source: www.nytimes.com

Experimental Brain Computer Implant Restores Speech for Stroke Survivors

Posted on April 1, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

A device has been created by scientists that can translate speech ideas into spoken words in real time.

Although still in the experimental stage, the goal is to develop a Brain Computer Interface that can give voice to individuals unable to speak.

In a recent study, the device was tested on a 47-year-old woman with quadriplegia who had been speech-impaired for 18 years since experiencing a stroke. The device was implanted in her brain during surgery as part of a clinical trial.

According to Gopala Anumanchipalli, co-author of the study published in Nature Neuroscience, the device “translates the intent to speak into fluent text.”

Most brain computer interfaces for speech experience a delay between thought and speech, which can disrupt conversations and cause misunderstandings. However, this new device is considered a significant advancement in the field.

The device works by recording brain activity using electrodes and generating speech based on this activity. An AI model is then trained to translate this neural activity into spoken words.

The UCSF Clinical Research Coordinator will connect a neural data port to the head of the ANN, a participant in El Cerrito, California, on May 22, 2023.Noah Berger/UCSF, via AP files via UC Berkeley

Anumanchipalli of the University of California, Berkeley, explains that the device operates similarly to existing systems used for transcribing meetings and phone calls in real time.

Located in the brain’s speech center, the implant translates signals into spoken sentences as they are heard. This “streaming approach” ensures a constant flow of audio to the recorder without waiting for the sentence to finish.

Rapid speech decoding enables the device to keep up with natural speech pace, enhancing language naturalness according to Brumberg.

Funded in part by the National Institutes of Health, further research is necessary before the technology can be widely available. Anumanchipalli suggests that with sustained investment, the device could potentially be accessible to patients within the next decade.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

The world’s largest lithium reserves are at risk due to water shortages

Posted on April 1, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Freshwater essential for lithium mining is found in parts of Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile, situated in the world’s “lithium triangle” on the Andean plateau, boasting half of all global lithium reserves.

A recent study in Communications Earth and the Environment revealed that available freshwater for lithium extraction in these regions is significantly lower than previously believed. With global demand for lithium expected to surge by 2040, this poses a challenge as it surpasses the limited annual rainfall supplying water to the dry lithium triangle.

Minimizing freshwater usage in the lithium industry is crucial to prevent disruption in mining activities. Extracting one ton of lithium requires approximately 500,000 gallons of water, which also sustains small indigenous communities and unique wildlife habitats in the region.

Water scarcity affects both the ecosystem and the industry in the lithium triangle, as lithium is a key component in batteries driving the global shift towards clean energy technologies. Despite the projected quadrupling demand for lithium batteries by 2030, delays in mining operations due to resource availability raise concerns about meeting this growing demand.

Freshwater plays a vital role in determining the supply of lithium available for mining in the lithium triangle. Rainfall washes lithium-rich minerals out of rocks, creating lagoons filled with lithium-rich water where mining companies extract the mineral. However, limited weather data and overestimation of freshwater supply in the region pose challenges to sustainable mining.

Research into water and resource availability for lithium mining operations is ongoing, emphasizing the need for a comprehensive understanding of the entire lithium supply chain. Studies in lithium-rich regions worldwide are essential to grasp the environmental and social impacts of lithium extraction.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

Drug developed by Eli Lilly decreases presence of mysterious LP(A) particles related to heart attack risk

Posted on March 30, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

One in five people (an estimated 64 million people in the US) has increased levels of small particles in their blood. It can significantly increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

But few people knew about it and there was not much to do, so little doctors would have checked it. Dieting is useless. I don’t even exercise. There were no medicines.

But that may change in the near future.

On Sunday, the cardiologist announced that the experimental drug created by Eli Lily of Repodisilan can lower particle levels by 94% with a single injection. The effect lasted for 6 months and there were no serious side effects.

However, it has not yet been confirmed that lowering LP(a) levels reduces the risk of heart attacks and strokes. It awaits a massive clinical trial currently underway.

Lily’s research was presented on Sunday at the American Society of Cardiology’s Annual Meeting and was presented simultaneously Published New England Journal of Medicine. At least four companies are also testing innovative drugs that block the production of the body of LP(A) and the mixing of lipids and proteins.

Dr. David Maron, a preventive cardiologist at Stanford University who is not involved in Lily’s research, said evidence of a severe and long-term reduction in lipoprotein levels by repodisilans is “thrilling.”

Dr. Martha Gulati, a preventive psychologist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, was also not involved in the exam, saying the study was “really elegant.”

Eli Lilly is currently conducting large clinical trials asking whether the drug can prevent heart attacks, strokes or cardiovascular death. It will end in 2029. Clinical trials of other drugs targeting LP(a) end more quickly. The first is a study of Novartis drugs that are injected monthly, with results expected in 2026.

However, cardiologists warn that there is no guarantee that medicine will protect people. They remember too well the lessons they learned, assuming that changing risk factors could change risk. Cardiologists were once keen on drugs that raise HDL levels known as “good cholesterol.” People with naturally higher HDL levels had a lower incidence of heart disease. These HDL raming drugs did not help.

Dr. Daniel Rader, a preventive psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, says LP(A)-lowering “is a huge new frontier in cardiovascular medicine.” Dr. Radar is a member of Novartis’ Scientific Advisory Committee and has written editorials to accompany new papers.

Treatments targeting LP(a) took a long time.

Lipoprotein was identified as a in 1974 Risk factors for heart disease This is controlled by genes rather than lifestyle or environment.

People with slightly higher than normal LP(a) levels have an approximately 25% increase in their risk of heart attacks and stroke. And very high levels can double the risk, as seen in 10% of the population.

Cardiologists say patients with no obvious reason for heart attacks or stroke (with normal cholesterol levels and blood pressure and not smoking) often know that their LP levels are high. Usually, it is found that they have a family history of heart disease of unknown cause.

The same applies to people who are experiencing heart attacks at a young age, says Dr. Stephen Nissen, a preventive psychologist at Cleveland Clinic, is an academic leader in the Lilly drug trials, and for clinical trials of three other new drugs.

“If you go to the coronary care unit and see a 40-year-old with an acute myocardial infarction, you need to know your LP(a) level,” he said, referring to a heart attack. Often they said their levels were 250 nanomoles or even higher per liter. The normal limit is 75.

Dr. Maron said his clinic is full of people who don’t know why they developed heart disease until they learn that they have high levels of LP.

One is Montewood, a 71-year-old retired firefighter who lives in Reading, California. His LDL cholesterol levels rose to moderately. His blood pressure was normal. He didn’t smoke. However, he had his first heart attack in 2006 while taking cholesterol-lowering statins.

It appeared that almost all of Mr. Kisae’s family had died of heart disease.

His paternal grandmother had her first heart attack when she was in her 40s. She died of a heart attack at the age of 63. His father and his father’s brother died of heart disease. Mr. Kisae’s brother died of a heart attack.

When Dr. Maron tested Wood’s LP level, it was above 400.

Dr. Maron and other preventive psychologists say they regularly test LP(a) levels in all patients, like Dr. Grati, Dr. Nissen and Dr. Radar. Because LP(a) levels are gene-controlled, patients should only test once.

Dr. Nissen is dull with LP(a) patients.

“We say: You have a disability that has serious meaning. I want to take all the risk factors you’ve been off the table,” he said.

But Dr. Grati said that a study found it. 0.3% The US population is receiving insurance-paid LP(a) tests, with only 3% of heart disease patients being tested.

She and other preventive cardiologists say that all adults should take the LP(a) test. If the level is high, your doctor should actively treat all other risk factors.

For Kisei, it meant taking Repatha, a powerful cholesterol-lowering drug that lowered his LDL cholesterol levels to 30.

However, Mr. Kisae’s case did not end there. Dr. Maron led one of the new drugs that lower LP(a) levels to clinical trial testing.

During the exam, Kisae had no symptoms of heart disease. I had no chest pain or shortness of breath. When the exam was finished, his symptoms returned, leading to a square bypass operation.

“It’s anecdotal,” Dr. Maron said. “But these drugs can prevent heart attacks.”

Source: www.nytimes.com

Here’s What Happens to Your Body When You Quit Vaping

Posted on March 30, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

E-cigarettes have been credited with helping millions of people in the UK quit smoking, but that doesn’t mean they are without risks.

Vaping may contain fewer harmful substances like nicotine, TAR, and other toxins compared to traditional tobacco, but it is still linked to long-term health issues and can be addictive. Your body may need time to adjust and overcome the addiction completely.

If you are heavily reliant on vaping and nicotine, quitting cold turkey can lead to withdrawal symptoms, including cravings, anxiety, irritability, dizziness, fatigue, headaches, and changes in appetite. These symptoms usually peak around 72 hours after you stop vaping as nicotine leaves your system entirely.

As you approach this 72-hour mark, you may start noticing improvements in taste and smell, clearer breathing, lower blood pressure and heart rate, and reduced chest tightness and shortness of breath.

Currently, an estimated 5.6 million British people are vaping

A survey by the non-smoking charity Truth Initiative found that 90% of people who quit vaping reported reduced stress, anxiety, and depression.

The lungs have the ability to repair themselves, and within a year of quitting nicotine altogether, lung capacity and immune function improve significantly, especially for former smokers.

While long-term effects of quitting vaping are still unknown due to its recent emergence, experts generally agree that the risk of cancer and heart disease is likely to decrease after quitting e-cigarettes.

This article addresses the question (from an email by Antonia Fletcher), “What happens if you stop vaping?”

Submit your questions via email to Question @sciencefocus.com or message us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram (don’t forget to include your name and location).

Explore more on our ultimate Fun Fact science pages

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Source: www.sciencefocus.com

Webb discovers Lyman-Alpha emissions from ancient galaxy in early universe

Posted on March 30, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

The light of Lyman Afa from Jades-GS-Z13-1 took us nearly 13.47 billion to contact us, as it dates back just 330 million years from the Big Bang.

This image shows the Jades-GS-Z13-1 (middle red dot) imaged with Webb’s near-infrared camera (Nircam) as part of the Jades program. Image credits: NASA/ESA/CSA/WEBB/STSCI/JADES COLLABORATION/BRANT ROBERTSON, UC SANTA CRUZ/BEN JOHNSON, CFA/Sandro Tacchella, Cambridge/Phill Cargile, CFA/J. Witstok, P. Jakobsen & A. Pagan, Stsci/M. Zamani, Esa & Webb.

NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope’s key scientific goal was to see more than ever before the distant past of our universe, when the first galaxy formed after the Big Bang.

This search has already led to record-breaking galaxies when observing programs such as the JWST Advanced Deep Deep Alactic Survey (Jades).

Webb’s extraordinary sensitivity to infrared also opens up a whole new path for research into when and how such galaxies were formed, and their impact on the universe of the time known as Cosmic Dawn.

Astronomers studying one of these very early galaxies have been discovered in a spectrum of light that challenges our established understanding of the early history of the universe.

The Jades-GS-Z13-1 (GS-Z13-1 for short) was discovered in images taken by Webb’s Nircam (near-infrared camera) as part of the Jades program.

Dr. Roberto Maiolino and colleagues at the University of Cambridge and London used galaxy brightness with various infrared filters to estimate the redshift that measures the distance of a galaxy from Earth, based on how light stretches along the path of a space.

NIRCAM imaging resulted in an initial redshift estimate of 12.9. In an attempt to confirm that extreme redshift, astronomers observed the galaxy using Webb’s near-infrared spectrometer (NIRSPEC) instrument.

The resulting spectrum confirmed that the redshift was 13.0. This is the equivalent of a galaxy seen just 330 million years after the Big Bang, the current 13.8 billion-year-old minority in the universe.

However, unexpected features also stood out. One is the wavelength of light of a particular distinct bright wavelength, identified as Lyman alpha radiation emitted by hydrogen atoms.

This emission was far stronger than astronomers who thought they could be possible at this early stage of space development.

“The early universe was soaked in a thick mist of neutral hydrogen,” Dr. Maiolino said.

“Most of this haze was lifted in a process called reionization, which was completed about a billion years after the Big Bang.”

“The GS-Z13-1 shows the incredibly clear and Telltail signature of the Lyman Alpha radiation, which can only be seen after the surrounding mist has been fully lifted,” he said.

“This result was completely unexpected by early galaxy formation theories, which surprised astronomers.”

“Before and during the reionization, the enormous amount of neutral hydrogen mist surrounding the galaxy blocked the ultraviolet rays of released energy, like the filtration effect of colored glass.”

“Until sufficient stars were formed and the hydrogen gas could ionize, such light, including Lyman Alpha radiation, could not escape these fledgling galaxies and reach Earth.”

“According to Lyman Alpha radiation from this galaxy has therefore had great significance in our early understanding of the universe.”

“We’ve seen a lot of people who have had a lot of trouble with the world,” said Dr. Kevin Hayneline, an astronomer at the University of Arizona.

“We could have thought that early universes were covered in dense mists that would be very difficult to find even a powerful lighthouse peering through, but here, beams of light from this galaxy penetrate the veil.”

“This fascinating emission line has a major impact on how and when the universe has been reionized.”

The source of GS-Z13-1’s Lyman Alpha radiation from this galaxy is yet to be known, but it may contain the first light from the earliest generation of stars formed in the universe.

“The large bubbles of ionized hydrogen surrounding this galaxy may have been created by the star’s unique population, much larger, hotter and brighter than the stars formed at the later epoch, and perhaps representative of the first generation of stars, said Dr. Joris Wittok, an astronomer at Cambridge and Appenhagen University.

“The powerful active galactic nucleus (AGN) driven by one of the first super-large black holes is another possibility identified by our team.”

Team’s Survey results Published in the March 26th issue of the journal Nature.

____

J. Wittstock et al. 2025. We witness the onset of reionization with Lyman-α ejection in the redshift13. Nature 639, 897-901; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08779-5

Source: www.sci.news

Continental Europe’s First Orbital Rocket Launch Ends in Crash

Posted on March 30, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

The engine trembled about half the local time on Sunday, with a brave roar, and the 92-foot-high spectral rocket slowly lifted from the launch tower, marking the first lift-off of its kind on the continent of Europe.

The rocket launched by ISAR aerospace from within the Arctic Circle on the space column of Andea Island, Norway, was the first orbital flight to leave Europe, a continent other than Russia. Approximately 30 seconds after the rocket cleared the launchpad, it pitched to the side and plunged back to Earth.

But Daniel Metzler, CEO of Isar Aerospace, was cheerful. He said in a statement that the test flight “meeted all our expectations and was a huge success” despite the crash.

“We had a clean lift-off, a 30-second flight and even validated the end-of-flight system,” Metzler said. The rocket fell directly into the sea, the launchpad was not damaged and no one could be hurt when the spacecraft crashed, he added.

Andøya Spaceport could not be immediately contacted for comment. Previously, they posted on social media that “crisis management” was activated after crash and was working with emergency services and ISAR Aerospace.

The test flight was seven years in 2018 for Isar Aerospace’s Making for Isar Aerospace, a German-based company with a mission to make satellite launches more accessible. There are European companies push Beyond space technology and research, we explore the possibilities of the space sector for defense, security and geopolitics.

“There are about a million things that could be wrong, and in reality, only one method can go well,” said Metzler, CEO of Isar Aerospace, in a video interview before its launch. The team had rescheduled several previous launch attempts, citing unfavourable weather conditions. “Frankly, if we only fly 30 seconds, I’d be happy,” he said at the time.

He said that time would provide the team with a lot of information to analyze and use. And that was the time that mostly had the flights on Sunday.

In the video, Metzler noted that SpaceX, the first private company to launch its own designed rocket into orbit before achieving that milestone in 2008, had failed three attempts.

There are several private companies in Europe design Spaceport for new waves of rockets. Sweden has revamped its old research foundation for its state-of-the-art satellite launch centre north of the Arctic, and the UK has also opened a space centre in Cornwall, far southwest of the UK. However, misfires can be costly. Virgin Orbit, a space company founded by British billionaire Richard Branson, has finally collapsed after an unsuccessful attempt to launch the rocket into orbit in 2023.

“Space has become a very important component of geopolitics and global insights. Of course, it’s a huge economic opportunity,” Metzler said.

The company was initially supported by former senior Space X executive, Bulent Altan. It was raised Its website has raised more than $430 million in funding from international investors, including securing support from NATO innovation. Fund.

Ali Watkins I contributed to this report.

Source: www.nytimes.com

The lingering impact of pregnancy on the body is greater than we realized

Posted on March 30, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Postpartum recovery takes longer than the traditional six-week period commonly referred to as the “fourth stage.” Recent research conducted by biologists at the Wiseman Institute of Science and Helen Schneider Women’s Hospital in Israel, and Yale University School of Medicine in the United States, suggests that it may take more than a year for the body to settle into a new normal after giving birth.

Professor Uriaron, a systems biologist at the Weizmann Institute of Science, led the study and emphasized the importance of understanding the extended recovery period postpartum. Using data from over 300,000 Israeli births, the researchers analyzed how various health markers changed between four and a half months to a year and a half after giving birth.

The study revealed that only 47% of the health markers studied stabilized within a month of delivery, while 12% took 4-10 weeks, and the remaining 41% took more than 10 weeks to stabilize. Some markers, such as bone and liver health, took up to 56 weeks to stabilize after childbirth.

Although certain health measurements improved over time, they did not return to pre-pregnancy levels even after a year and a half postpartum. The study also highlighted potential risk factors for pregnancy disorders but did not analyze differences between breastfeeding.

The effects of breastfeeding on the postpartum body have not been analyzed in this study, but may provide useful insights in future studies. – Credit: Igor Alessander via Getty

Experts like Professor Rebecca Reynolds, Professor Uriaron, and Professor Dimitrios Siassakos have provided valuable insights into the study’s findings. This research offers a detailed understanding of how the body changes after childbirth, which can potentially improve postnatal care.

Read more:

About our experts:

Professor Uriaron: He is a system biologist at the Weizmann Institute of Science and the lead researcher at Uri Alon Lab.

Professor Rebecca Reynolds: She is a professor of metabolic medicine at the University of Edinburgh, focusing on understanding the mechanisms linking intrauterine development to health and illness.

Professor Dimitrios Siassakos: He is an honorary consultant in obstetrics at University College London and University College Hospital, contributing to various clinical care groups and research initiatives.

Source: www.sciencefocus.com

Questioning Our Understanding of Autism: Reevaluating Important Indicators

Posted on March 29, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Characters portrayed on-screen with autism, from Sheldon Cooper to Sherlock Holmes, have traditionally been characterized by their unique social skills.

While experts often focus on social skills when diagnosing individuals with autism, recent research suggests that other traits may be better indicators of the condition. These traits include repetitive behaviors, special interests, and differences in sensation.

Recent research has shown that special interests may play a more significant role in diagnosing autism.

Special interest may be more important to obtain an autism diagnosis – Credit: Mikset via Getty

“Our research has the potential to have a significant impact,” says Jack Stanley, a doctoral student in biochemistry and machine learning at McGill University in Montreal. BBC Science Focus.

From the perspective of the autism community, this study could lead to a reevaluation of longstanding clinical standards for diagnosing autism.

Diagnosing individuals with autism typically involves clinical observations where healthcare professionals assess potential autism traits. However, this process relies heavily on subjective judgment and intuition.

McGill researchers utilized a large-scale language model (LLM) to quantitatively understand how clinicians diagnose autism based on over 4,000 reports from clinicians assessing patients with the condition.

“Our goal was not to replace clinicians with LLM, but to better understand the key factors in diagnosing autism,” explains Stanley.

The study revealed that repetitive behaviors and special interests were more crucial in predicting autism diagnoses than social skills, which contrasts with current clinical guidelines.

As the study did not differentiate between genders, the findings may vary for individuals of different genders.

Researchers hope that this study will prompt healthcare professionals to reassess the most relevant factors in diagnosing autism.

read more:

About our experts:

Jack Stanley is a doctoral student at the Mira AI Institute in Montreal, specializing in applying machine learning to biological and medical challenges. He completed an Honors BSC in Statistics and Biochemistry at the University of Toronto before joining McGill.

Source: www.sciencefocus.com

Scientists discover that indulging in junk food can aid in weight loss

Posted on March 29, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

It is common to assume that individuals who are overweight derive more pleasure from food compared to those with smaller bodies, but this is not accurate. Instead, individuals tend to experience increased pleasure from their diet as they gain weight.

Researchers have now identified the reasons behind this phenomenon, as well as how restoring the pleasure response can be facilitated by adopting a healthier diet.

“Obesity is often associated with an excessive enjoyment of food. People believe they cannot resist unhealthy food options,” explained Professor Stephan Lammel, a neuroscientist at the University of California, Berkeley and the senior author of the study, in an interview with BBC Science Focus.

“However, both our research and previous studies indicate the opposite: Over time, individuals may experience a decrease in food-related pleasure.”

These findings are linked to the role of dopamine, a brain chemical associated with rewards, motivation, and pleasure. Researchers have discovered that overweight mice have lower levels of a molecule called neurotensin, which impacts dopamine responses to food.

“Contrary to popular belief, individuals with obesity may not eat for pleasure. In reality, much of their eating habits are influenced by routines and emotional cues rather than pleasure or desire,” Lammel added.

To investigate this further, researchers fed a group of mice a high-fat, unhealthy diet and observed their eating behavior. The results showed that the mice preferred the high-fat diet over regular low-calorie foods, indicating a preference for unhealthy options.

However, when presented with high-calorie treats like butter, peanut butter, and chocolate, the mice showed less interest compared to those on a normal diet. This suggests that their food choices were driven by habits rather than pleasure.

Further experiments involving stimulating brain circuits connected to dopamine yielded interesting results. While normal weight mice responded positively to the treatment, overweight mice did not, indicating an issue with dopamine and neurotensin levels.

The researchers were able to correct this by switching some mice to a normal diet, resulting in a return to normal levels of neurotensin, dopamine function, and interest in high-calorie foods. Additionally, artificially restoring neurotensin levels in other mice led to weight loss and improved food motivation, mood, and mobility.

“Our findings suggest that targeting neurotensin signaling through genetic strategies could help rebalance food motivation and promote healthier eating habits,” Lammel stated.

It is important to note that this study was conducted on mice fed high-fat diets, so the results may not directly apply to obese individuals. Nevertheless, the implications for human health are promising.

When asked about the potential impact on people, Lammel commented, “It could potentially make it easier for individuals to maintain a healthy weight without solely relying on willpower or restrictive diets.”

About our experts

Stephen Lammel: Associate Professor of Neurobiology at the Department of Neuroscience at the University of California, Berkeley. Investigator at Weil Neurohub with a focus on neural circuits mediating motivation and reward. Member of the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute.

Read more:

Source: www.sciencefocus.com

Researchers have discovered a method to eradicate hazardous “eternal chemicals” lurking in your household

Posted on March 29, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

For over 70 years, chemical compounds known as “Forever Chemicals” have been used in various products, ranging from non-stick cookware to food packaging. Despite their widespread use, these chemicals have been linked to serious health risks, including certain types of cancer. Recent scientific advancements have led to the development of new methods for breaking down and recycling these seemingly permanent materials, prompting a need for alternative names.

Mark Ruffalo, a fan of the 2019 film Dark Waters, is well aware of the environmental and health hazards posed by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

The difficulty in removing PFAS has been a significant challenge until now. Researchers from Oxford University and Colorado State University have collaborated to create a novel technique for not only destroying PFAS, but also recovering valuable components from it.

“The breakthrough in using phosphates to destroy PFAS represents a significant advancement in addressing longstanding environmental concerns,” stated Dr. Longyan, a chemist at Oxford University and the lead author of the study published in Nature.

“Through this effective PFAS destruction method, we aim to shift away from referring to these compounds as ‘Forever Chemicals’.”

So, how was this achieved? The scientists treated PFAS samples with potassium phosphate salts and mechanically ground the mixture using ball bearings to break the strong carbon-fluorine bonds present in PFAS and extract the fluorine content for other applications.

This process is crucial as fluorine is primarily sourced from a mineral called Fluorspar, which is used in various industries including pharmaceuticals and agriculture.

Professor Véronique Gouverneur, the Oxford chemist leading the study, emphasized the significance of recovering fluoride for essential drug production, highlighting the impact of large-scale mining on depleting this resource.

This innovative approach not only addresses the removal of PFAS but also enables the recycling of components to support other industries, making it a potentially beneficial solution for multiple sectors.

Read more:

Source: www.sciencefocus.com

The neighborhood’s current thoughts on your dementia risk

Posted on March 29, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Living in different areas can greatly impact your health. Various factors, such as the environment, income, and overall living conditions, can play a role in affecting your long-term well-being. Recent studies suggest that these factors may also influence your chances of developing dementia.

A new study published in the Journal Neurology revealed that individuals residing in disadvantaged neighborhoods are more than twice as likely to develop dementia compared to those in wealthier areas.

Conducted by Professor Pankaja Desai at Rush University in Chicago, the study involved over 6,800 participants aged 65 and older from four nearby communities. The research found that individuals in the most disadvantaged areas had a 22% risk of developing dementia, whereas those in more privileged areas had only an 11% risk.

Even after adjusting for factors like age, gender, and education, the study observed that individuals in disadvantaged neighborhoods were more than twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease. This connection was determined using the Social Vulnerability Index (SVI), which incorporates various socio-economic factors to assess neighborhood-level risk.

Furthermore, individuals in disadvantaged areas experienced a faster decline in cognitive function as they aged, regardless of an Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis. This emphasizes the impact of community-level factors on dementia risk.

According to Desai, addressing neighborhood-level social characteristics is crucial in reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s and planning efficient health services. The study also highlighted disparities in dementia risk among different racial groups, indicating the importance of considering community factors in dementia care.

While the study’s focus was on Chicago neighborhoods and may not be universally applicable, the findings underscore the link between neighborhood disadvantage and dementia risk. Ultimately, the study emphasizes the significance of environmental factors in brain health.

About our experts

Dr. Pankaja Desai is an assistant professor at the Rush Institute for Healthy Aging and serves as the management director of Rush Bioinformatics and Biostatistics Core. Her research has been featured in publications such as American Journal of Health Behavior and Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia.

read more:

Source: www.sciencefocus.com

The Turley Monster mystery only grows stranger

Posted on March 29, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Sometimes evolution can produce organisms that are very strange and wonderfully different from those we know that scientists are confused. Enter the Tully Monster, a soft-body sea creature swimming in the muddy estuary of today’s Illinois about 300 million years ago.

It was discovered in 1955 by an amateur fossil collector called Francis Tully. Mazon Creek Fossil Bed To the northeast of the state.

The Tully Monster appeared to have a torpedo shape with triangular tail fins and teeth at the ends of the long bent Absis, and it looked like someone had stabbed his back with a skewer, then his eyes at each end.

It uses the appropriate scientific terminology here. Tully took the fossil (below) to the Outdoor Natural History Museum in Chicago, where experts were covered in bamboo.

The fossils of the Tully Monster were discovered by Francistorley in a fossil bed in Mazon Creek, Illinois. – Photo credit: Aramie

Was it a worm? Was it a slug? Did you have a backbone? Is it an eel? They had no idea, so they called it Talimontherum Gregalium. This is the Latin word for “Tallie’s common monster.”

In 1989, the Tully Monster became the official state fossil of Illinois, but no one knew what it was. After that, two papers were written in 2016. It has been publishedboth suggest a Tally monster It was certainly a vertebrate.

The structure previously thought to be the intestine of animals was found to be a primitive skeletal-like structure called the notochord, but the pigments of the eye were determined to be vertebrates, like invertebrates.

Backbone made of cartilage, teeth made of keratin, single nostrils, dorsal fin, perhaps the Tully monster could be a distant relative of modern lamprey. The classification mystery has been solved. But not everyone is sure.

Skeptics pointed out that the pigment in the eye was not convincing, and that the notochord stretched out right in front of the eye, which was strange. Maybe it was a strange squid? Perhaps a strange squid?

After that, in 2023, Japanese researchers I looked closely at 153 museum specimens. If the previous approach was subjective and driven by researcher premonitions, this time a neutral, data-driven approach was used.

Using a 3D scanner, we created color-coded digital maps of the animal’s surface, leading to the fact that presumed vertebrate-like features such as gill pouches and fin rays, whether they were vertebrate-like or not at all. Furthermore, the Tully monster was shown to have segments not only in its body but also in its head area.

It was possible that the Tully monsters were ultimately vertebrates, as vertebrates were not known to have this particular feature arrangement.

Or is it possible? Today the ju umpire is still out and the joy of the Tully Monster is that it is just a mystery that continues to give. The best guess from the Japanese team is that it is “invertebrate strings.” This is a category that includes animals like eels, such as lancelets, but honestly, no one knows for sure.

Therefore, until consensus is reached, the Tully monsters remain in taxonomic range.

Please email us to submit your questions Question @sciencefocus.com or Message Facebook, xor Instagram Page (don’t forget to include your name and location).

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Source: www.sciencefocus.com

Webb captures Aurorae on Neptune for the first time while detecting trihydrogen

Posted on March 29, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Emission from trihydrogen cations of large atmospheres flames (h³⁺) It has been used for over 30 years to study the global interactions of Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus with the surrounding space environment, revealing the process of aurora formation. However, despite repeated attempts, and against models that predict it should exist, this ion has proven elusive in Neptune. Currently, using observations from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webspace telescope, astronomers have detected Neptune’s trihydrogen cations and distinct infrared South Aurorae.

This composite image, created using data from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webbspace Telescope, shows the aurora activity (cyan bevel) in Neptune. Image credits: NASA/ESA/CSA/STSCI/HEIDI HAMMEL, Aura/Henrik Mellin, University of Northumbria/Leafletcher, University of Leicester/Stefanie Millam, NASA-GSFC.

“In the past, astronomers have seen appetizing hints for Aurora’s activities in Neptune,” said Henrik Mellin, an astronomer at Northumbria University and his colleagues.

“However, imaging and confirmation of Aurorae in Neptune has been avoiding astronomers for a long time despite successful detections on Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus.”

“Neptune was a missing part of the puzzle when it came to detecting the giant planet of the solar system, Aurorae.”

In this study, the authors analyzed the obtained data. Webb’s Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRSPEC) June 2023.

In addition to the image of the planet, astronomers have characterized the composition and acquired spectra to measure the temperature of the planet’s upper atmosphere (ionosphere).

They discovered a very prominent efflux system indicating the presence of trihydrogen cations.

“In Neptune’s Webb image, the glowing aurora appears as a spot, represented by cyan,” the astronomer said.

“The aurora activity seen in Neptune is markedly different from what we are used to seeing here on Earth, or even Jupiter and Saturn.”

“Instead of being trapped in the north and south poles of the planet, Neptune’s aurora is located in the mid-latitudes of the planet. Think about where South America is on Earth.”

“This is due to the strange nature of Neptune’s magnetic field, originally discovered by NASA’s Voyager 2 in 1989, tilting 47 degrees from the planet’s axis of rotation.”

“The activity of the aurora is based on where the magnetic field converges into the planet’s atmosphere, so Neptune’s aurora is far from the rotating pole.”

“The groundbreaking detection of Neptune’s Aurorae helps us understand how Neptune’s magnetic fields interact with particles flowing through far-flung areas of the solar system.

Researchers were also able to measure the temperature above the Neptune atmosphere for the first time since the flyby of the Voyager 2.

Their results suggest why Neptune’s Aurorae remained hidden from astronomers for a long time. The upper atmosphere of the Neptune was cooled several hundred degrees.

For many years, astronomers have predicted the strength of Neptune Aurorae based on temperatures recorded by Voyager 2.

“A rather cold temperature would result in a very prominent aurorae,” the scientist said.

“This cold temperature could be the reason why Neptune’s Aurorae remains undetected for a long time.”

“Dramatic cooling suggests that even though Earth is more than 30 times more seated from the Sun compared to Earth, this area of the atmosphere can change dramatically.”

result Today I’ll be appearing in the journal Natural Astronomy.

____

H. Merin et al. Discovery of h³⁺ JWST and Neptune’s infrared aurorae. Nut AthlonPublished online on March 26th, 2025. doi:10.1038/s41550-025-02507-9

Source: www.sci.news

Research reveals that a multitude of plants, fungi, protists, bacteria, and viruses possess toxin delivery mechanisms.

Posted on March 29, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

These toxin delivery systems are completely similar and often rival the complexity of the venom delivery systems found in animals such as venom snakes, scorpions, and spiders.

Four representative plant species introducing the poison delivery system: (a) Many ant plants share ants that provide homes and food. (b) Horstria, a parasitic plant that attacks other plants. (c) Stingy trichomes of stinging plants. (d) Raffide penetrates the oral membrane of an animal browsing a plant. Image credit: Hayes et al. , doi: 10.3390/toxin 17030099.

Toxologists and other biologists have studied toxic organisms and their secretions for centuries.

Their interest is largely due to the frequently and severe consequences of human exposure.

Humans also take advantage of the potential of toxins to explore the treatment of human illnesses and illnesses.

In doing so, scientists have leveraged countless natural experiments involving interactions between toxins and target cells and tissues.

The classification of biological toxins, in particular the distinction between venom and venom, is characterized by a colorful and sometimes controversial history.

Nevertheless, with the views of consensus and the introduction of the third phase, toxic biological secretions can be divided into three groups based on their mode of delivery to other organisms.

These include poisons that are transmitted passively without a delivery mechanism (intake, inhalation, or absorption of the entire surface). Toxicity was fed to the body surface without any associated wounds (e.g., spitting, spraying, or smearing). Poison (e.g., sting, biting) carried to internal tissues through the formation of wounds.

The organisms that possess these toxins are called toxic, toxins, and/or toxic, respectively.

These distinctions provide a meaningful framework for studying the evolution of these toxins, including biochemical structures. Related structures for synthesis, storage and application. And their functional role.

Discourses on poison and poisonous animals focus exclusively on animals.

The use of venom has evolved independently in at least 104 strains within at least eight animal phylums, which emphasizes the pronounced adaptability of the trait.

But do poison distribution systems exist in other entities?

“Our findings show that we rely on poisons to solve problems such as predation, defense, and competition.

“The venomous animals have long been trying to understand the fatal secretions and the properties associated with their use, but have long fascinated biologists who have also contributed to many life-saving treatments.”

“To date, our understanding of venoms, poison delivery systems, and poisonous organisms is entirely based on animals. This represents only a small fraction of organisms that can search for meaningful tools and treatments.”

According to the study, plants inject toxins into animals through spines, thorns and stinging hairs, some of which exist with stinging ants by providing living space and food in exchange for protection.

Even bacteria and viruses have evolved mechanisms such as secretory and contractile injection systems to introduce toxins to the target through host cells and wounds.

“I have a long history of studying venom in rattlesnakes, and I began exploring the broader definition of venom over a decade ago, teaching special courses on the biology of venom,” Professor Hayes said.

“My team and I were working on a paper to define what Venom really is, so we came across non-animal examples and decided to dig deeper to identify many of the possible overlooked examples.”

This research paves the way for new discoveries, and the authors hope that experts and scientists will encourage collaboration across disciplines and explore further how Venom has evolved across diverse organisms.

“We only hurt the surface in understanding evolutionary pathways of venom dissemination, including gene duplication, co-configuration of existing genes, and natural selection,” concluded Professor Hayes.

study Published in the journal toxin.

____

William K. Hayes et al. 2025. After all, it’s a small world. It is a prominent yet overlooked diversity of poisonous organisms with candidates for plants, fungi, protists, bacteria and viruses. toxin 17(3):99; doi:10.3390/toxin 17030099

Source: www.sci.news

New research suggests large lakes played crucial role in origin of life

Posted on March 29, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

The origin of life on Earth required the supply of phosphorus for the synthesis of universal biomolecules. The closed lake may have accumulated high concentrations of this element on the early Earth. However, it is not clear whether prebiotic sink in such settings was sustainable. New research by scientists from Eth Zurich, Cambridge University and the University of Science and Technology in China shows that high concentrations of phosphorus can be combined in steady states in large closed basin lakes.

Aerial view of Lake Mono. Image credit: Dick Lyon / CC by 4.0.

Phosphorus is an important component of all known forms of biochemistry and plays an important role in such polymers that encode metabolism, cell structure, and information.

However, the environmental conditions that provided sufficient phosphorus available in aqueous solutions to promote the chemical origin of life are uncertain.

“Large soda lakes with no natural runoff can maintain phosphorus concentrations for a long enough long, even if life begins to exist at some point, and could continually consume phosphorus.”

“Such lakes lose water only by evaporation. This means that phosphorus is left in the water, not washed away through rivers or streams.”

“As a result, very high concentrations of phosphorus can accumulate in these soda lakes.”

Not all soda lakes are suitable. Researchers rule out small ones.

“As soon as life develops within them, the supply of phosphorus will deplete faster than it is replenished. This will snag both chemical reactions and developing life,” Dr. Walton said.

“On the other hand, in large soda lakes, phosphorus concentrations are high enough to maintain both basic chemical reactions and life over the long term.”

“These high concentrations are achieved by the large amounts of influential river water, including phosphorus, but the water only leaves the lake by evaporation.”

“Phosphorus doesn’t evaporate easily, so it accumulates in the lake and accumulates.”

In their study, Dr. Walton and colleagues focus on Lake Mono in California, with high phosphorus concentrations at steady state despite extremely high biological productivity.

“This is important because in small lakes, phosphorus is exhausted before new quantities form,” they said.

They consider the large soda lake, which had a constant high phosphorus supply in the early history of the Earth, to be an ideal environment for the origin of life.

They assume that life is more likely to have been born in such a larger body of water than in a small pool, as Charles Darwin suspected.

Therefore, the origin of life may be closely related to the special environment of large soda lakes, which provide ideal conditions for prebiotic chemistry due to the balance of geological environment and phosphorus.

“This new theory will help us solve another part of the puzzle of the origins of life on Earth,” Dr. Walton said.

a paper A description of the findings was published in the journal Advances in science.

____

Craig R. Walton et al. 2025. Large, closed basin lakes provided sustained phosphates during the origin of life. Advances in science 11(8); doi:10.1126/sciadv.adq0027

Source: www.sci.news

Eggshell Fossils of Dinosaurs and Crocodiles from 100 Million Years Ago Unearthed in Utah

Posted on March 29, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

A team of paleontologists from Lake Forest College, Stellenbosch University, University of Minnesota, and North Carolina State University described a new population of fossil eggshells, members of the formation of cedar mountains, a well-known unit among scientists studying early lobular epochs.

A 100 million-year-old dinosaur eggshell fragment from a Mussantit member of Cedar Mountain Formation. Image credit: Lake Forest College.

The first fossil eggshells from Mussantit members of Cedar Mountain Formation were described over 50 years ago.

Since then, in half a century, the diversity of fossil eggshells in this rock unit has been limited to only one egg type.

However, Dr. Josh Hedge and his colleagues at Lake Forest College revealed another story.

“We found new dinosaur egg types here and here, which we didn’t see before,” Dr. Hedge said.

“When previous research explained one type, we found five types of eggshells in this area.”

“Three eggshell fragments belonging to the feathered bipedal dinosaur, two types of dinosaurs with dinosaurs with ornitopod ducks, and a truly funky discovery: some crocodile eggshells.”

These new discoveries challenge the traditional view of one of the different types of dinosaurs that live in ecosystems.

“You can see patterns of coexisting dinosaurs,” Dr. Hedge said.

“Just as multiple big cat-loving animals coexist in Africa’s savanna, we can see the co-occurrence of similar types of dinosaurs in one geographical area.”

Researchers hope to uncover information that will lead to a better understanding of ecosystems 100 million years ago.

They are currently researching ways to better understand these oviraptorosaur eggs.

“We found so many eggshells, so we hope that we can distinguish between individuals who share a single nest, not just the species, for example, because we have sample sizes large enough to interpret them at a higher resolution,” Dr. Hedge said.

Team’s paper Published online in the journal PLOS 1.

____

J. Hedge et al. 2025. Diversity of fossil eggshells from Mussentuchit members of Cedar Mountain Formation, Utah. PLOS 1 20(2): E0314689; doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0314689

Source: www.sci.news

Top FDA Vaccine Official Resigns, Cites Kennedy’s Accusations of ‘Misinformation and Lies’

Posted on March 29, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Dr. Peter Marks, a top Food and Drug Administration vaccine official, resigned under pressure on Friday, stating that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s aggressive attitude towards vaccines was irresponsible and posed a risk to public health.

“It became clear that truth and transparency are not valued by the secretary, but instead he desires blind confirmation of his misinformation and lies,” Dr. Marks wrote to Sarah Brenner, the agency’s representative. He reiterated his sentiments in an interview, stating, “This individual does not prioritize truth. He prioritizes followership.”

Dr. Marks resigned after being called to the Department of Health and Human Services on Friday afternoon, where he was given the ultimatum of resigning or being terminated, according to sources familiar with the situation.

Dr. Marks headed the Biologics Evaluation and Research Center responsible for approving and monitoring vaccine safety, as well as a variety of other therapies including cell and gene therapy. He was viewed as a steady and reliable presence by many during the pandemic, despite facing criticism for being overly accommodating to businesses seeking approval for treatments with complex evidence of effectiveness.

Ongoing scrutiny of the FDA’s vaccine program clearly placed Dr. Marks at odds with the new health secretary. Since Kennedy took office on February 13th, he has issued a series of directives on vaccine policy. He has alarmed those concerned about his potential to leverage his government authority to advance his long-standing campaign asserting vaccines are highly detrimental despite overwhelming evidence of their life-saving impact worldwide.

“Undermining trust in a well-established vaccine that has met the FDA’s rigorous standards of quality, safety, and efficacy for decades is irresponsible and poses a significant risk to public health and our nation’s well-being and security,” Dr. Marks wrote.

For instance, Kennedy promoted the use of vitamin A as a treatment during a major measles outbreak in Texas, downplaying the importance of vaccination. He has surrounded himself with analysts tied to the anti-vaccine movement and is pursuing studies examining long-debunked theories linking vaccines to autism.

On Thursday, Kennedy announced plans to establish a vaccine injury agency within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He emphasized that this initiative was a top priority and would bring the “gold standard of science” to the federal government.

An HHS spokesperson stated on Friday night that Dr. Marks would no longer have a place at the FDA if he did not commit to transparency.

In his resignation letter, Dr. Marks highlighted the tragic toll of measles amid Kennedy’s lukewarm approach to the urgent vaccination needs among many unvaccinated individuals in Texas and other states.

Dr. Marks pointed out that through widespread vaccine availability, “over 100,000 children who received vaccinations last year in Africa and Asia were saved.”

Dr. Marks expressed his willingness to address Kennedy’s vaccine safety and transparency concerns in public forums and through collaboration with national experts in science, engineering, and medicine, which he was rebuffed.

“I have exhausted all efforts to work with them to restore confidence in vaccines,” Dr. Marks stated in an interview. “It became evident that this was not their goal.”

With that, Dr. Marks bid farewell to the FDA.

“His leadership has been instrumental in driving medical innovation and ensuring life-saving treatments reach those in need,” stated Ellen V. Sigal, founder of the cancer research advocacy group Friends and a close associate of Dr. Marks. His departure, she noted, “will leave significant gaps.”

Dr. Marks guided the agency and its external advisors on the type of evidence required to pilot the FDA’s vaccine program amid the tumultuous year of the coronavirus pandemic and expedite emergency authorizations for vaccines developed under the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed.

In June 2022, he urged an external expert panel to consider the risks the virus posed to children under five years old, leading the panel to recommend the vaccine for that age group later that day.

“We must be cautious not to be paralyzed by the number of pediatric deaths due to the overwhelming number of fatalities we are facing here,” Dr. Marks cautioned at the time.

Dr. Peter Hotez, a vaccine expert at Baylor College of Medicine, spoke highly of his regular interactions with Dr. Marks during the pandemic, describing him as deeply committed to leveraging science to aid the American populace. “He was a pandemic hero, and it’s truly unfortunate to see him go,” Hotez remarked.

Dr. Marks faced skepticism from some within the FDA, including former members of his own vaccine team. Two senior regulators in the agency’s vaccine office resigned in 2021 over the Biden administration’s efforts to push for the approval of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine and booster shot.

Kennedy’s call for further investigation into vaccine injuries was met with reservations by Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, who noted that such research had been a focal point for decades. “I fear this is an attempt to magnify vaccine harm out of proportion to the actual risk,” Osterholm cautioned.

Dr. Marks shared these concerns, expressing his desire in his letter to mitigate the harm inflicted by the current administration.

“My hope,” he penned, “is that the unprecedented assault on scientific truths that has detrimentally impacted our nation’s public health will cease in the coming years, allowing our citizens to fully benefit from the wide array of medical advancements.”

Source: www.nytimes.com

What you need to know about the spreading measles outbreak in the US

Posted on March 29, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Common symptoms of measles include rashes

Aleksandr Finch/Shutterstock

The United States is currently facing the most severe measles revival in years. On March 26th, Ohio became the fifth state to declare Measles outbreak This year, they will join Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Kansas.

How many cases of measles are there in the US?

As of March 27th, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed 483 measles cases in the United States this year. This has been the highest number of infectious diseases since 2019, with over 1,200 confirmed cases. The CDC is aware of more cases of measles, but is waiting for confirmation before including them in the case count.

Which states are affected by measles?

To date, 19 states have confirmed at least one case of measles this year: Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Texas. The infection had not spread to others as 14 of these states only reported isolated outbreaks.

However, five states have declared an outbreak of measles, defined as at least three related measles cases. As of March 28, confirmed cases of measles have been added 400 In Texas 44 In New Mexico. there were Seven Oklahoma cases As of March 25th. Kansas and Ohio As of March 26th, 23 cases of measles and 10 cases have been confirmed, respectively.

Has anyone been hospitalized or died?

The CDC has reported that 70 people have been hospitalized so far this year due to measles. One unvaccinated child also died of the virus on February 26th in Texas. This is the first measles death to be recorded in 10 years. New Mexico is investigating a second measles-related death.

When did the outbreak begin?

Texas was the first state to declare a measles outbreak. Texas Department of State Health Services issued an alert January 23rd After identifying measles in two adults living together in Houston and recently traveled abroad. A week later, the state confirmed the addition Two cases Unvaccinated children on the other side of the state in Gaines County. It is not clear whether these two incidents were related.

Since then, measles has rapidly spread to Gaines County in western Texas, infecting at least 270 individuals. Gaines County has a large rural population and low vaccination rates. I was vaccinated from measles, just below my kindergarten children, usually starting at age 5. The data does not include homeschooled children, so the actual rate may be lower.

The outbreak has since ruffled neighbouring communities, including those across New Mexico’s state borders, and announced its first lawsuit. February 11thand Oklahoma announced the first two cases. March 11th. New York Times State health officials also reported that they believe the Kansas outbreak has begun. March 13threlated to the people of New Mexico and Texas.

The latest outbreak in Ohio is unrelated to people from other states. Ohio Department of Health declared the first case March 20th A man who has not had vaccine contact with someone who has recently traveled abroad. All nine other confirmed cases are associated with this first unvaccinated man.

Who is most affected by measles?

Almost all confirmed cases of measles (97%) occur in people who have not been vaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown. Only 2% of people who have received two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine are cases. Two doses of the vaccine 97% effective One dose is only 93% effective against measles.

Children and adolescents are particularly susceptible to measles. The majority of cases (75%) are in people over the age of 19. Children also have a risk of developing serious complications from measles. About One in 20 Children with measles develop pneumonia, with about 100 in 1000 people experiencing the disease’s brain swelling, which can lead to hearing loss, intellectual disability and death.

Why are there so many cases of measles?

The US declared that measles had been eliminated in 2000. However, outbreaks can occur from time to time as vaccination rates decline. Measles is a highly contagious virus. Each case could lead to another 12-18 cases if people are not protected from illness. If more than 95% of the community are fully vaccinated against measles, most people in this area are protected by herd immunity.

Over 95% of kindergarten children were vaccinated against measles in the 2019-2020 grades. However, that number fell to less than 93% in the 2023-2024 academic year, leaving around 280,000 kindergarteners at risk of infection.

What is the US doing to contain the outbreak?

Vaccination is the best protection against measles. “The fact that there is a measles incident now in Ohio underscores the importance of getting fully vaccinated,” says Bruce Vanderhoff of the Ohio Department of Public Health. press release Announces the first case of the state. “The disease can be very serious, but it is preventable. I highly recommend getting vaccinated and protecting yourself and your child.”

However, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has stopped asking people to be vaccinated. “The decision to get the vaccine is personal,” he wrote Fox News Article from March 2nd. “Vaccinations not only protect individual children from measles, but also contribute to community immunity and protect those who are unable to get vaccinated for medical reasons.”

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Source: www.newscientist.com

New Species of Ordovician Arthropods Discovered by Paleontologists

Posted on March 29, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Paleontologists at the University of Leicester use fossilized specimens discovered in South Africa 20 years ago to describe new genus and mysterious multi-class arthropod species.

keurbos susanae. Image credit: Saragabot/University of Leicester.

It was named scientifically keurbos susanae And after the discoverer’s mother, the ancient arthropods lived during the Ordovician about 444 million years ago.

“Su is a flipped, legsless, headless wonder,” said Professor Sarah Gabott, a research author at the University of Leicester.

“Amazingly, her inner side is a mineralized time capsule. Muscles, muscles, tendons, and even courage are all preserved in unimaginable details.”

“Even so, her durable shell, legs and head are missing. She’s lost to collapse over 440 million years ago.”

“We are now convinced that she is a primitive marine arthropod, but her exact evolutionary relationship remains frustrating and elusive.”

“Today, about 85% of the animals on Earth are arthropods, including shrimp, lobsters, spiders, mites, mites, worms and centipedes.”

“They have excellent fossil records dating back to half a billion years, but while fossil remains are usually external features, “Su” is totally against it, as it is her inside, which is fossilized. ”

Fossil specimen of keurbos susanae Found in SOOM shale in South Africa.

“These layers lay on the seabed more than 440 million years ago when catastrophic glaciers wiped out about 85% of Earth’s species.

“The ocean basin, where ‘Su’ swimming was somehow protected from the worst frozen state and attractive animal communities, including ‘Su’, appears to have been evacuated there. ”

“The conditions of the sediment that “Su” came to rest were extremely toxic. ”

“There was no oxygen, but worse hydrogen sulfide was dissolved in the water.”

Researchers suspect that strange chemical alchemy was working to create fossils and their unusual inner preservation.

“However, the unique preservation of ‘Su’ makes it difficult to compare her to other fossils of the era, and how she fits into the evolutionary tree of life remains a mystery,” Professor Gabott pointed out.

“The small roadside quarry where I found fossils 25 years ago at the start of my academic career, almost disappeared, so it’s unlikely that we’ll find any other specimens.”

“The fossils are very difficult to interpret and they wanted to find another specimen with their heads and feet intact.”

study It will be published in the journal Paleontology.

____

Sarah Gabott. 2025. A new euarthropope from Soom Shale (Ordovician) Konservat-Lagerstätte in South Africa. Paleontologyin printing; doi: 10.1002/spp2.70004

Source: www.sci.news

Sludge Fertilizer Corporation Abandons Texas Town in Wake of “Forever Chemicals” Crisis

Posted on March 28, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

The city of Fort Worth, Texas, has ended its contract with Cinagro, a Goldman Sachs-backed provider of fertilizers made from sewage sludge over concerns that the “eternal chemicals” of fertilizer are polluting local farmland and groundwater.

This month, Fort Worth also sued several manufacturers of chemicals, also known as palfluoroalkyl substances or PFAs, alleging they contaminated the city’s water supply.

The New York Times reported last year about a group of ranchers in Johnson County, just south of Fort Worth.

The sewage sludge fertilizer comes from Chinagro. Cinagro had a contract to take the sewage from the Fort Worth sewage treatment plant, further treat it and distribute it to farmers as fertilizer. Johnson County then launched a criminal investigation into Cinagro.

An ever-growing number of research has shown that sewage sludge, which is often used as fertilizer, can be contaminated with PFA. PFA is a synthetic chemical widely used in everyday items such as non-stick cooking utensils and dirt-resistant carpets.

Chemicals Links to various diseases Do not break in the environment, including increased risk of cancer. Contaminated sludge can contaminate soil, groundwater, crops and livestock when used as fertilizer in farmland.

In January, the Environmental Protection Agency warned for the first time that PFA, which is present in sewage fertilizers, also known as biosolids, could pose a human health risk. Maine, the only state to systematically begin testing PFA farmlands, has detected chemicals on dozens of dairy farms. However, it has rarely been tested on farms in other states.

Fort Worth City Council I voted unanimously To cancel the 10-year contract signed with Synagro in 2019, the contract ended April 1, with city water utility staff working on a new contract for the biosolid business, according to council records.

The city did not cite any reason to terminate the contract. However, in a recent lawsuit filed by Fort Worth against the manufacturer of PFAS chemicals, the city cited the presence of PFA in the city’s drinking water sources and wastewater infrastructure.

Synagro said in a statement that the company and the city of Fort Worth “have mutually agreed to resolve all claims following ongoing differences in opinion regarding contract requirements.” He said the termination has nothing to do with PFA. The city’s water department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Synagro, owned by Goldman Sachs Asset Management, challenges claims that its biosolids contaminated Texas farmland. This month, the company filed an motion to dismiss the claims of a Johnson County rancher. It cited an independent study that concluded that sludge fertilizer was not the source of the high PFA levels found in rancher livestock.

Synagro also said it tested much lower levels of PFA in the soil than ranchers argue. The company has not published the investigation.

The attorney representing the ranch could not be contacted for comment. The rancher stops sending their cows to the market while continuing to care for them, saying they are facing economic ruin.

Dana Ames, the environmental investigator who leads the investigation into Chinagro in Johnson County, said the “intensive investigation” discovered high levels of PFA on the rancher’s property. “We eliminated all other sources of contamination, and we also tested the biosolids and discovered contamination,” she said.

At a council meeting, Luan Langley, a resident of Grandview, Texas, blamed the standing city while Cinagro “dumped biosolids on unsuspecting landowners and farmers.” She said cancelling the contract is not enough. “How does that help families whose lives have been destroyed?” she said.

Source: www.nytimes.com

Discovering Aurora on Neptune for the First Time with NASA’s Webb Telescope

Posted on March 28, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

The Northern and Southern Lights Vermillion, Amethyst, and Jade Ribbons are some of the most distinctive features of the Earth. However, our planet has no monopoly of the Aurora. Scientists spy on them throughout the solar system, weaving the Martian sky into Saturn, Jupiter and even some of Jupiter’s fiery softening.

The light shines in the sky Uranus too. However, the aurora around Neptune, the farthest planet of our Sun, has long escaped astronomers.

That was changed by the powerful infrared equipment installed in the James Webb Space Telescope. In a study published in the journal on Wednesday Natural Astronomy scientists reveal unique auroras spilling on either side of Neptune’s equator. This contrasts with the sparkling Gossamers, arcing at Poles in other worlds.

Astronomers are excited that the Aurora Hunting Quest has been completed over decades. “Everyone is very excited to prove it’s there, as we thought,” he said. Rosie Johnson an astrophysics researcher at Aberystwyth University in Wales who was not involved in new research.

The discovery allows scientists to study previously out-of-reach aspects of Neptune. “They use the aurora to understand the shape of the magnetic field on planets looking at the invisible,” he said. Karl Schmidt Boston University planetary astronomers were not involved in new research.

Each world produces aurora differently, but it is basically the same. Energy particles (often from the sun, but sometimes from the eruption of a lunar volcano) hit the atmosphere and bounce back the gas. The collision of the particles causes a temporary flash of light. And if there is a magnetic field in the world, it will guide the position…

Luckily, the Webb Telescope, released in 2021, came to rescue.

Heidi Hammel Another astronomer of the University Association for Astronomical Studies and the author of the research, has been studying Neptune since the 1980s. She said that if Webb “is powerful enough to see the early galaxies of the universe, it would be strong enough to see something like Neptune’s Aurorae.” “And by Golly, that was the case.”

Using the telescope’s near-infrared spectrometer, astronomers captured Neptune’s infrared aurora in June 2023. This is because Neptune has an unstable magnetic field tilted to 47 degrees from the planet’s spin axis.

New Webb observations also reveal why Neptune’s Auroras has never been visible until now. Almost 40 years ago, Voyager 2 recorded a temperature of about 900 degrees Fahrenheit in the Neptune’s upper atmosphere. However, the Webb telescope shows that the temperature has dropped nearly 200 degrees. This low temperature means that the aurora is a dimmer.

In fact, Neptune’s Aurora said, “It’s less than 1% of the expected brightness and explains why I’ve never seen it before.” James O’Donohew a planetary astronomer at the UK’s Reading University and one of the authors of the study. “But that means we have a new mystery in our hands now. How did Neptune get so cold?”

Neptune’s Strange Light Show detection may bring your answers closer.

“The Aurora is like a TV screen,” he said. Lee Fletcher a planetary scientist at the University of Leicester in the UK and one of the authors of the study. They said, “We are able to see the delicate dance of the magnetosphere processes.

Source: www.nytimes.com

Planning Your Garden Considerating Climate Change

Posted on March 28, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

The quiet season is coming to an end.

During the winter there was a little bird gush to lift my heart. There are no occasional caw caw, chickadee dee of chickadee, big songs of little carolina rens that stay on our Pennsylvania farms throughout the winter, but no great horned owl courtship calls, nor wooden thrush or Baltimore orioles. Still, I was delighted with the music that was left behind.

However, we just heard the first notes of our first returning songbird, and with a red-winged blackbird, the snowdrop began to protrude from the ground.

The other day I forced their flowers to move last fall potted tulips and hyacinths from the unheated side of the barn into the warmth of the garden room. However, the vegetable garden is a puddle of icy mud, and the flowerbeds are still finely covered with leaves, showing little signs of life. The boxwood is covered in burlap and the snow fence is covered around trees and shrubs to prevent deer from being devoured.

The deer, which has changed from the color of milk chocolate to dark, breaks through the makeshift deterrent, eating Ee, Eunee Mauss, Treehouse, and this winter, Holly. The squirrels are running around joining their radar, but the chipmunks are still nowhere to be seen. I think they are in their dens that I think opossums, raccoons and bears are.

I’ve been waiting for a greenhouse, but now I’m hoping to hibernate in the winter and take a break from sowing, potting and growing. To walk through snowy forests and observe animal tracks, study ice patterns in the pond and make it seasonal. I would like to read in the Fire and Skilled Garden Catalog. Imagine what the garden will look like next year, and hope that next year will be better than last time, as all gardeners do. As Vita Sackville-West wrote in her poem, “The Garden:”

The gardener dreams of his own special alloy

Possibility and impossible.

But what is possible now? Looking back at last year’s terrible season, how do you adapt to the changes I witness?

A year ago, the winter was very warm, the shrub barely died, and last spring, a welcome sight dripping with leaves, but not normal. Spring was so hot that I missed out on a nice, cool window for the transplant. Early season, I didn’t know when to plant ruthless vegetables, and when to produce soft plants, not 85 degrees.

“After the danger of frost” is a general wisdom, but when is that? my Plant hardiness zone I’ve recently shifted as the coldest temperatures in my area are three degrees higher than in 2012. But even that new guidance didn’t help me.

Mid May felt like mid-June. It was then arriving on May 29th.

Anyway, I planted poppies in April (they like cool weather), but the seeds were washed away by the flood. There was a drought between June and November. The grass was brown. Dogwood and Tulip Poplar lost their leaves in July. My vegetable garden resembles a cracked riverbed. The soil was very hard and weeding was almost impossible.

The stream was dry so I saw deer walking into the pond and drinking for the first time in 36 years. Small food was available for them, so they distorted to our garage and ate deer-bearing lavender. Walking through the forest, I was impressed by the lack of growth underneath, especially the huge patch of nettle nettle from North American origin, the host plant for Admiral Akagi and the butterfly in Eastern Comma. Chanteles never bear fruit in normal places. I was worried that our spring would dry out.

Pennsylvania saw record wildfires in the fall. Usually, the two lilacs that appear in the spring bloom in October, and in late November I was harvesting something that I had not yet grown.

All of this reminds me of a radio show called “Piano Puzzlers.” My husband and I listen to it on Saturday mornings. Composer Bruce Adolf rewrites songs that are familiar to the classic composer’s style. He changes the tempo, harmony, or mode of the tune, and the contestants try to name the song and the composer. Imagine “a bit of a jude” in Brahms style. Somewhere in my brain, the song sounds familiar, but something is off. The music is misplaced. Sometimes I guess correctly. In many cases, it is not.

Climate change gardening is the same. Confusing and there are many speculations.

What should a home gardener do?

“The only predictable thing is that it becomes unpredictable,” said Sonja Skelly, director of education at Cornell Botanical Gardens in Ithaca, New York, “it was crazy too.”

Last spring was hot in Ithaca, so vegetable gardeners began planting two weeks before the frost-free date on May 31st. Extreme temperature fluctuations were then created, but the plants that just started were better as they were established. Things planted on the target day were stunted and were in poor growth period. “A good lesson,” Dr. Skelly said. The line covering that allows gardeners to get and grow plants later in the season “is really important in a climate like ours,” she said.

Covered crops such as millet, sorghum and black-eyed peas have been successful in botanical gardens. They improve moisture retention, reduce weeds, reduce erosion, and limit negative microorganisms in the soil. The birds love them, Dr. Skelly said.

She recommended planting together what the Haudeno Sauny people call three sisters, corn, beans and squash. The system produces better yields per hectare than any monoculture crop system, she said.

Drip irrigation is another solution, Dr. Skelly said. “It adds moisture where it is needed at the roots,” she said. The water is slowly released and remains laid down, and does not escape as with manual watering or using sprinklers.

“Observe, take notes, ask questions, ask for answers,” advised Dr. Skelly. “What are your neighbors watching?” I’ve been working on this issue for a while, learning through going to local botanical gardens, public gardens and nature centres. “Try to keep the information cycle running and talk to friends, family and neighbors as a way to help you understand it. That’s very important,” she said.

Dr. Skelly believes it is important for home gardeners to truly understand their plants. “Climate change may be a way to get to know our gardens much better,” she said. “We have to do it.”

For a long time I relied on experts who taught me how to garden responsibly. Do not harm the environment. I have learned to plant a variety of plants, including pollinator natives, and celebrate native weeds like Freeben. I’m practicing planting companions. I don’t spray pesticides or pesticides, and instead use compost, I make my own from comfrey and stinging nettles instead. I wish I could buy plants from something other than plastic.

But the more we contemplate gardening in an age of climate change, the more we believe our home gardeners must find many solutions for themselves. Much of gardening is trial and error, and unstable weather patterns mean that we must experiment more to do our own research. Essentially, we must become citizen scientists in our own vegetable patches and flowerbeds.

Cornell Botanic Garden has a garden for climate demonstrations, but in fact we all do. None of us had experienced this. And in the end, we’re all together. You will navigate a strange new world of digging the soil and growing things.

The collection of Daryln Brewer Hoffstot’s essay, “A Farm Life: Observations from Fields and Forests,” was published by Stackpole Books.

Source: www.nytimes.com

Where and How to View the Partial Solar Eclipse in March 2025

Posted on March 28, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

There is currently another solar eclipse happening.

On Saturday, the moon will cast a shadow on the earth’s surface, creating a partial solar eclipse visible to some in the US, Canada, the Caribbean, Europe, Russia, and Africa. While not as spectacular as last year’s total solar eclipse in the US, it still offers a chance to pause from daily concerns and observe our position in the solar system.

During a solar eclipse, the moon appears to take a bite out of the sun, but the amount of coverage varies depending on the location. It’s important to note that cloud cover can obstruct visibility.

It’s never safe to view a partial solar eclipse without proper eye protection, as the sun’s surface will still be visible during the event.

When is the solar eclipse?

The experience of a partial solar eclipse can differ based on location, with the extent of sun coverage and overall visibility varying. It’s also advisable to check local weather conditions for clear viewing.

NASA has released a schedule of solar eclipse times in various major cities here.

In North America, the eclipse begins early in the morning, with the sun mostly partially covered when it rises.

Where is the path for the solar eclipse?

The upcoming solar eclipse will be visible in the northern hemisphere, spanning both sides of the Atlantic. Unlike a total solar eclipse, it covers a larger area of the sun with fewer defined paths.

Viewers along the northeast coast of the US will witness the most significant coverage of the sun during the eclipse. For instance, individuals in Boston may see 43% of the sun covered at 6:38am, while New York City will experience a 22% coverage. Further south, in Washington, D.C., there will be a minimal 1% coverage at 6:59am.

The most substantial sun coverage will occur further north, with areas like northern Quebec, Nunavut, and parts of Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada seeing over 90% of the sun covered by the moon.

Across the Atlantic, residents of Northern and Western Europe, as well as the northwest coast of Africa, will experience the solar eclipse in the late night or early afternoon. In northern Russia, the eclipse will occur in the late afternoon and in some locations close to sunset.

Eclipse duration can vary, with places like Halifax, Nova Scotia experiencing an eclipse lasting over an hour while Buffalo, with just a 2% coverage, will have a shorter duration of seven minutes.

What is a partial solar eclipse?

A partial solar eclipse occurs when the moon moves between the Earth and the Sun, partially obscuring the sun from view.

Unlike a total solar eclipse where the sun is entirely covered, during a partial eclipse, only a portion of the sun is obscured. This occurs when the Earth, Moon, and Sun are not perfectly aligned. As a result, the sky does not darken enough during a partial eclipse to reveal stars and planets, and animals are unlikely to exhibit strong reactions.

A solar eclipse typically happens in pairs, two weeks apart, representing the time it takes for the moon to travel to the other side of the globe. Recently, stargazers witnessed a red moon during a full lunar eclipse earlier this month.

Do you need solar eclipse glasses to view safely?

Staring at the sun, even for a few seconds, can lead to permanent eye damage as the retina lacks pain receptors. The same risk applies during partial solar eclipses. However, there are ways to protect your eyes while observing the event, such as using proper eye protection like eclipse glasses.

Be cautious of counterfeit solar eclipse glasses and viewers. To ensure safety, refer to a list of trusted suppliers compiled by the American Astronomical Association here.

If you’re unable to find eclipse glasses in time, there are alternative safe viewing methods, such as projecting the eclipse onto the ground using household items like cardboard or a kitchen strainer. The next partial solar eclipse is set to occur on September 21st, primarily visible in Australia, while a total solar eclipse is expected in the summer of 2026.

When will the next solar eclipse take place?

In addition to future solar eclipses, there are upcoming total lunar eclipses scheduled for September and March of next year, offering different celestial viewing experiences.

Source: www.nytimes.com

Next Solar Eclipse: How to Watch the 2025 Partial Eclipse

Posted on March 28, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Another solar eclipse is above us.

On Saturday, the moon casts a shadow on the surface of the earth. This is a phenomenon in which some people in the US, Canada, the Caribbean, Europe, Russia and Africa can experience it as a partial solar eclipse. As impressive as the total solar eclipse that crossed the US last year, but it’s an opportunity to take a break from secular issues and witness our place in the solar system.

During a solar eclipse, the moon appears to bite from the sun, but how much does it change depending on the location? And clouds can ruin your vision.

It is never safe to see a partial solar eclipse without protective eye gear, as the surface of the sun will not be completely obscured during this event.

When is the solar eclipse?

People in areas where partial solar eclipses can experience it differently. How much sun is covered and what happens depends on where. You should also check your local weather report for clear or cloudy conditions.

NASA has published a list of solar eclipse times in several major cities here.

In North America, events begin early in the morning of sunrise, and are mostly already partially covered when the sun appears.

Saturday’s solar eclipse will be seen in the northern hemisphere, including both sides of the Atlantic. Unlike a total solar eclipse, it affects the wide area of the sun and has few clear paths.

In the US, viewers along the northeast coast will see the biggest solar eclipse. For example, people in Boston can see 43% of the surface of the sun covered at 6:38am in the eastern part. In New York City, the sun is eclipsed at just 22%, and those who are on the same south as Washington, D.C. at 6:46am experience a 1% solar eclipse at 6:59am.

The most blocked sun occurs much north. People in northern Quebec, Nunavut, and many of Newfoundland and Labradors in Canada witness more than 90% of the moon-covered sun.

On the other side of the Atlantic, people in Northern and Western Europe, and on the northwest coast of Africa, solar eclipses reach maximums in the late night or early afternoon. In northern Russia, solar eclipses occur late in the afternoon and in several places near sunset.

Eclipses can last for more than an hour in places like Halifax, Nova Scotia. The moon slowly glides over 83% of the sun, reaching its maximum point and retreat. However, in Buffalo, where the solar eclipse reaches up to 2%, it lasts just seven minutes.

What is a partial solar eclipse?

The solar eclipse occurs when the moon glides between the Earth and the Sun, protecting all or part of the surface of the Sun from our field of vision.

The most dramatic version of this is the solar eclipse of the total sun when the entire sun is covered and its outer atmosphere, or when the corona is visible for a few minutes at the height of the event. This is known as the whole.

In contrast, on Saturday, only the mass of the sun is obscured, known as the partial solar eclipse. This happens when the Earth, Moon and Sun are incompletely aligned. Unlike the whole, the sky does not get dark enough during the partial solar eclipse to see stars and planets during the day. Animals are not likely to respond strongly.

The solar eclipse comes in pairs two weeks apart. It is the amount of time it takes for the moon to sway on the other side of the globe. The Stargazers recently saw the moon turn red and red during a full lunar eclipse earlier this month.

Do you need solar eclipse glasses to display safely?

Even in seconds, staring at the sun can permanently damage your eyes. The retina has no pain receptors so you don’t feel it while it’s happening.

The same applies during partial solar eclipses. However, there are several ways to protect your eyes and still watch the event. If you save your paper glasses from gross solar power last year, they can be used again, provided they are not torn, scratched or damaged.

Beware of counterfeit solar eclipse glasses and solar viewers. You can find a list of trusted suppliers compiled by the American Astronomical Association here.

If it’s too late to find Eclipse Glasses, you can safely view the projection onto the ground using items around the house. Options include fashioning Eclipse Viewer from CardStock or cardboard boxes. You can also use a kitchen strainer, straw hat, or even your own fingers.

When will the next solar eclipse be held?

Another partial solar eclipse occurs on September 21st, the most common in Australia, according to NASA. A total solar eclipse occurs in the summer of 2026, which is visible on the top of the Northern Hemisphere.

If it’s too long and the wait is too long, then the two total lunar eclipses are also coming. One will be in September and the other will be in March next year. Unlike the total solar eclipse of the total sun only visible along the narrow path of the Earth’s surface, total erythema can be seen by most people on the night of the planet.

Source: www.nytimes.com

Is your phone causing distractions? Keeping it out of reach may not solve the problem

Posted on March 28, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Smartphones can be distracted from other tasks

Phelings Media/Shutterstock

Can you scroll through at work and take a little care about your smartphone? One solution is to keep your phone out of reach, but unfortunately this doesn’t seem to work.

“People flip the phone over and hide it under the notebook. Sometimes you see a slightly fatal “throwing it over my shoulder” thing.” Maxi Heitmayer At the London School of Economics and Political Science in London. He previously studied phone use and found that people interact with their devices About every 5 minutes.

To see if this distraction could be avoided, Heitmayer and his colleagues recorded 22 college students and office workers, ages 22 to 31. One day, participants kept their phones within reach of their phones. Soon they kept their phones on a second desk, 1.5 metres away. In other words, I had to stand up to check it out.

Researchers found that volunteers spent an average of 23 minutes doing leisure activities over the phone on their first day, but 16 minutes, when the devices were even further apart. However, they were no longer working on the second day. Instead, participants spent more time running their activities slowly on their laptops, mainly on social media. “We use less mobile phones, but the whole thing that’s scrolling on social media is scrolling longer than we intended to move to a laptop,” says Heitmayer.

“This shows that distractions are not itself the device, but the underlying activity. daantje derks At Rotterdam, the University of Erasmus, Netherlands.

However, she points out that large-scale studies tracking people in a normal working environment are needed to verify these initial results. “This is an experimental lab study. People usually have others around and their lives are much more dynamic than this setup.

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Source: www.newscientist.com