meet xingxiulong yueorum A new species of early extermination Zauropodmorph dinosaurs that lived in present-day China during the early Jurassic period.
Fossilized skeleton of xingxiulong yueorum. Image credit: Chinese Academy of Sciences.
xingxiulong yueorum It belongs to Masopoda A large group of Sauropodomorph dinosaurs described in 2007.
The new species is merely the second member of the previous monopolar genus. xingxiulong.
“xingxiulong yueorum It is distinguished from xingxiulong chengi By owning a pendant-shaped fourth trochanter with a distal end, an Astragalus with a rear almost straight dorsal margin, and a Pedalgiet V with two factors” Paleonanthropology and Chinese Academy of Sciences University, and colleagues.
Partial postcranial skeletal structure of xingxiulong yueorum It was discovered in 2015 near the city of Lufen in Yunnan Province, China.
“The Rufen Formation is one of the most important sedimentary units for understanding the evolution of early Jurassic sauropod dinosaurs,” the paleontologist said.
xingxiulong yueorum Estimated to reach lengths of 8-10 m (26-33 feet) – twice the size xingxiulong chengi.
“Both of both species xingxiulong There are usually four sacral vertebrae associated with delayed sauropods and sauropods, suggesting a complex early evolution of sauropods,” the researchers said.
According to the team, the discovery xingxiulong yueorum Adds diversity of Sauropodomorph dinosaurs from the Lufeng Formation.
“This finding contributes to an understanding of the complex patterns that characterize the early evolution of Asian sauropods,” the authors concluded.
Their paper It was published in the journal on February 3, 2025 Historical Biology.
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Xiang-Yuan Chen et al. New species of xingxiulong (Dinosaur, Sauropodmorpha) from the lower Rufen Formation in the Jurassic region of Yunnan Province, China. Historical BiologyPublished online on February 3, 2025. doi:10.1080/08912963.2025.2458130
The conditioner for the black hair on the left comes from the wooden powder on the right
Feng Shui King/Stockholm University
This sustainable wood-based hair conditioner may smell pure white and peat-like, but its creators suggest that the tests may work similarly to commercial products. They claim that it could become a future for hair care.
“We use the power of nature.” Ievgen Pylypchuk At Stockholm University in Sweden. “We combine high-level science with old traditions… [to] Get something really cool: simple, convenient, and very effective. ”
Pylypchuk and his colleagues used lignin, a polymer, a central component of wood and bark, as a starting point for bio-based conditioners. When extracted from wood, lignin naturally interacts with waterIt also functions as a surfactant, but is an important ingredient in surfactants. It also contains natural antioxidants that help preserve the conditioner, providing UV protection, says Pylypchuk. “In this context, lignin functions as a multifunctional platform,” he says. “It protects against UV rays and keeps you moisturized.”
The researchers combined lab-developed ligning gel with coconut oil and water to create the final product. Team Members Mika ShipponenStockholm University also claims it works much the same as commercial conditioners. When used with moist bleached human hair samples and then washed away, combing hair while 13% moisturizing reduces the “drag” and resists, compared to the commercial products tested. has decreased by 20%.
One potential drawback is that the current formula of conditioners is “pain black” and smells like “cooked wood” that resembles peat, Shipponen says. It does not prevent researchers from pondering its commercialization. They say they test hair, towels and pig skin formulas and wash them off without leaving any dirt. Even the smell is very comfortable, says Pylypchuk. “I personally liked it so much, and most of the people in our lab – maybe because they work with Lignin – they liked it.”
Pylypchuk and Sipponen There is a patent We hope that ligningel and conditioners will become consumer products, offering people a more sustainable alternative to current products that rely on ingredients derived from fossil fuels. They say the next step is to see if it causes irritation to the eyes and skin prior to the trials of living hair.
However, American cosmetics researchersTrefor Evans, Previously, he was at the Textile Research Institute in Princeton, New Jersey, where he questioned how well his products would work compared to his commercial rivals. “I've been doing these experiments for 30 years, and traditional conditioner products reduce the power of the comb by 80%, perhaps 90%,” he says. Shipponen believes that variations in hair testing methods and condition during analysis can explain whether his team was reduced by only 20% of commercial conditioners.
The appearance and unusual smell of wood-based conditioners may drive away consumers, Evans says. “Patent literature is absolutely packed with stuff. “And the reason is that you don't just need effectiveness. What you really need is aesthetics for consumers to buy it.” ”
So, will a black, lush, environmentally friendly conditioner be a hit with consumers? “It sounds a bit like a starter,” Evans says.
NASA/Magdalena Ridge 2.4M Telescope/New Mexico Institute of Technology/Ryan
The world’s space agency has reduced the chance that asteroid 2024 YR4 will affect Earth by less than 1%. This strongly suggests that potentially catastrophic conflicts will be avoided. However, the asteroid probably passes very extraordinarily close to our planet, giving astronomers a rare opportunity to observe the asteroid in close proximity.
“We don’t expect the impact probability above 1% will exceed 1% in 2032 due to our close approach with the Earth,” he says. Richard Moisle With the European Space Agency (ESA). “The most likely further development is a further reduction in impact probability, perhaps even dropping to zero.”
The alarm last December regarding the asteroid 2024 YR4 was first raised in December last year, when it discovered it could be on Earth’s collision course in 2032. It looks like it’s 40-90 meters wide and can produce a fatal explosion if attacked by a city. Over the next few weeks, global telescopes and space agencies have closely tracked their orbits, honing their future paths more accurately. On February 17th, we reached our highest shock risk with one in 32nd chance, but in the next few days this reduced to a 67th or 1.5% risk.
On February 20th, new observations led to a sudden downgrade of this risk, with NASA having a 0.27% impact chance of 1-in-360, and ESA having a 0.16%, or 1-in-in-in- in-in-in-in-in-in-in-in-in-in-in-in-in-in-in-in-in-in-in-in-in-in-in-in-in-in-in-in-in-in-in-in-in-in-in- in-ine 625. These ratings placed it at 1 on a 10-point Turin scale used to evaluate the hazards brought about by such objects. That score has decreased from 3. So, 2024 YR4 is now considered one of many low-risk asteroids discovered each year, but ultimately misses Earth.
I say this is good news Gareth Collins At Imperial College in London, asteroids still serve as a dry run for planetary defense systems and scientific purposes. “This still makes for an epic, close approach. If the risk of a hit was so high, it must be close to us,” he says.
Space companies that were sketching possible schemes to deflect NASA, ESA and asteroids, say they will likely continue their plans. Niklas Voight At OHB, a German space company. Voigt and his team were beginning to think about the mission to deflect the 2024 YR4, but the new risks won’t change that, he says. “The risk has decreased, but for the time being, we are still working on the topic.”
A close approach could be a good opportunity to test its ability to deflect asteroids, says Voigt – the only previous attempt to do this was NASA’s DART mission, the 160m in 2022 The asteroid-shaped trajectory of the . Satellites can be constructed to send to the 2024 YR4, he says, as well as the ESA’s Ramses satellite, to travel to observe the asteroid Apophis, passing near Earth in 2029. It is set to do so.
The final decision on what to do about YR4 2024 will likely not be made until the planned observation in March using James Webb Space Telescope. Not only does it collect orbital data, it also helps to better assess the size and composition of the asteroid. That information will be provided to the UN Assisted Space Mission Planning Advisory Group, which will determine the best action around the end of April. “These are very useful exercises to find a pinch point to make a decision, as you have time to do something wise in advance,” Collins says. “Absolutely, these committees are still meeting, but they’re probably less stressful.”
The possibility of an Earth shock has plummeted, but the risk of a YR4 collision with the moon in 2024 rose from 0.3% to 1.2%. “There’s a clear possibility that those numbers will rise even further,” says Moissl. “The exact impact of the effects of the moon from objects of this size is still under evaluation.”
The response to this object is also a useful rehearsal for other asteroids of concern, Collins says. “We want to avoid screams in the future, as the public is used to this threat, thinking, ‘Oh, that’s never going to happen.’ ”
DNA can store digital data such as visual and audio files
Science Picture Co / Alamy
Artificial intelligence can read data stored in DNA strands within 10 minutes, not the day required for previous methods, and DNA storage approaches practical use of computing.
“DNA stores huge amounts of data in a very compact form and remains intact for thousands of years.” Daniella Bar-Lev At the University of California, San Diego. “In addition, DNA is naturally replicable and offers a unique advantage for long-term data storage.”
However, getting encoded information within DNA is a monumental challenge as the strands become confused when mixed and stored. During the data encoding process, individual strands may be replicated incompletely, and some fragments may be lost completely. As a result, data readings stored in DNA are similar to reconstructing books from boxes filled with pages that go beyond the finest, varied.
“The traditional methods suffer from this confusion and require several days of processing,” says Bar-Lev. The new approach “rationalizes this with AI trained to find patterns of noise,” she says.
Bar-Lev and her colleagues developed an AI-driven method called DNAFormer. The system includes a deep learning AI model trained to reconstruct DNA sequences, another computer algorithm to identify and correct errors, and a third decoding that brings everything back to digital data while correcting any remaining mistakes. Includes algorithms.
In experiments, DNAFormer can read 100 megabytes of DNA storage data 90 times faster than the next fastest method developed with traditional rules-based computing algorithms, while achieving better or equivalent accuracy. I did. The decoded data included colored images of the test tube, a 24-second audio clip from astronaut Neil Armstrong's famous Moonlanding speech, and text on why DNA is a promising data storage medium .
The team says they plan to develop a version of DNAFormer tailored to new technologies for encoding data into DNA. Omar Savery Technion – Israel Institute of Technology.
“Crucially, our approach doesn't rely specifically on us. [DNA] Synthesis or sequencing methods can be adapted to future, still undeveloped technologies that are more commercially viable,” he says.
Tribal palm trees Trachycarpeae Fossilization analysis shows that it once flourished in Axiang Canada Phytris – Microscopic siliceous structures produced in specific tissues in many plant families – from the territory of the northwestern Canada.
Palm plant stones from the Eocene Giraffe Region (AQ) and modern plant stones extracted from Coryphoid Palm leaves Trachycarpus Fortunei. Image credit: Siver et al. , doi: 10.1093/aob/mcaf021.
“The palm is a monocot flowering plant of the Arecaceae family distributed primarily to tropical and subtropical regions around the world,” the University of Connecticut said. Professor Peter Siver And his colleague.
“It's a large family, with a particularly high variety of species, especially in Central and South America and Southeast Asia.”
“In general, the palms thrive in warm, wet conditions, so the majority of the species are found in rainforests.”
“There are significantly fewer species found in both Southern Europe and the southern regions of the United States, and families are completely lacking in more north latitudes.”
“In the southeastern US subtropical area, the palm is largely restricted to state coastal areas along the Gulf of Mexico, and some inland along the Atlantic coast that stretches north along Florida. It's growing to Tennessee.”
“The majority of the palms are found in climates marked with both high average annual temperatures and high average annual rainfall, but several species can be found under cool, dry conditions.”
Professor Siver and co-authors discovered fossilized plant matter from a tree in Trachycarpeae in ancient lakebed sediments extracted from the area of the Giraffin Balite Pipe in Canada's northwest territory.
Four aquatic organisms, largely restricted to today's warm subtropical and tropical regions, were also found in the same sediments.
These 48 million years ago (early Eocene) fossils exhibit much warmer climates than previously thought, challenging the challenge of ice that first formed in the Northern Hemisphere.
“This discovery of palm fossils in the north provides clear evidence that the Arctic Circle was once iceless and has a climate similar to today's subtropical climate,” Professor Shiver said.
“These findings provide a window into past greenhouse conditions and help refine models to predict future climate change.”
In addition to confirming records of the northernmost palms during this period, the authors established that this evolutionary characteristic appeared in the early Eocene: linear arrays of plant matter in palm leaves., Fossilized Stegmata – Fossilized Stegmata were also recorded.
The presence of multiple warm, adaptive aquatic species further strengthens the support of this prehistoric Arctic region's lush, temperate ecosystem.
“Our research contributes to a broader understanding of the extent and timing of ice formation in the Earth's climate history, particularly during the Cenozoic era,” the researchers said.
“Restructuring these past environments will give scientists valuable insight into how ecosystems respond to long-term climate change.”
Survey results It will be displayed in the journal The Anniversary of Botany.
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Peter A. Shiver et al. Palmphytris in sub-Western Canada means ice-free winter in the late Eocene period 48 million years ago. The Anniversary of BotanyPublished online on February 10th, 2025. doi:10.1093/aob/mcaf021
This supernova event may have occurred at the Upper Centaurus Lupus Society. This is a group of giant stars about 457 light years away from Earth.
Illustration of an exoplanet like Earth after X-ray radiation exposure. Image credit: NASA/CXC/M. Weiss.
Life on Earth is constantly evolving under continuous exposure to ionizing radiation from both terrestrial and cosmic origins.
The radioactivity in the bedrock gradually decreases over timescales of billions of years, but the level of cosmic radiation fluctuates as the solar system moves through the Milky Way.
Nearby supernova activity could increase the level of radiation on the Earth’s surface by several orders of magnitude, which is expected to have a major impact on the evolution of life.
In particular, radiation levels improve as the solar system passes near a large group of stars known as the OB Association.
The winds associated with these large star factories are expected to inflate the super bubbles of high temperature plasma first. This could be the birthplace of most of the Core Collapse explosions taking place within the AB Association.
The solar system entered such a super bubble, commonly known as the local bubble, about 6 million years ago, and is now close to its centre.
“The Earth entered the local bubble and passed its stardust-rich appearance about 6.5 million years ago, sowing the planet with old iron 60, the radioactive iron of iron produced by the exploding stars. did it,” astronomer Santa Cruz, and colleagues at the University of California.
“Then, 20-3 million years ago, one of our neighboring stars exploded with incredible force, providing another cohort of radioactive iron to the planet.”
When Nojiri and her co-authors simulated what the supernova looked like, they discovered that it hammered the Earth with cosmic rays for 100,000 years of explosion.
This model perfectly described previously recorded spikes of radiation that shocked the Earth around that time.
“We’ve seen from other papers that radiation can damage DNA,” Nojiri said.
“It could be an evolutionary change in the cell or an accelerated mutation.”
Meanwhile, the author came across research into viral diversity in one of the Rift Valley Lakes in Africa.
“I can’t say they’re connected, but there are similar time frames,” Nojiri said.
“We found it interesting that the virus’s diversification is increasing.”
study It was published in Astrophysics Journal Letter.
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Caitlyn Nojiri et al. 2025. Bubble Life: How nearby supernova left short-lived marks on the cosmic ray spectrum, leaving an indelible trace of life. apjl 979, L18; doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/ADA27A
According to a new study led by scientists at the University of Barcelona and Alcala, the bottleneck event took place between 130,000 and 50,000 years ago.
Neanderthal. Image credit: Trustee of the Museum of Natural History in London.
“Neanderthals are the most well-written humans in the fossil record in terms of morphology, genetics, behavior and culture,” said Dr. Alessandro Urciori, a colleague of a University of Barcelona.
“Recent molecular clock-based analyses, along with Denisovan, have divergences from 765,000-550,000 years old or older human lineages based on morphological data.”
“The Neanderthal lineage was differentiated soon after, and is testified by genetic and morphological evidence from the Simah delos Hussians of the Middle Pleistocene, which was previously thought to be expressed. . HOMO HEIDELBERGENSIS And now it is considered the early population of the Neanderthal lineage. ”
“Genetic divergence times are now well established for the entire clade, but also include relationships with the medieval Pleistocene populations of Europe, the medieval and late Pleistocene Neanderthal populations, and the evolution of the complete. There is a continuing debate over the connected evolutionary processes” Classic Neanderthal “Form of the late Neanderthal.”
“This is due to the mosaic form of the intermediate Pleistocene specimen, which is claimed to have evolved by the Neanderthals.”
In this study, the researchers measured the morphological diversity of semicircular canals, the structure of the inner ear that caused sense of balance.
They focus on two exceptional collections of fossils. One is from the site of Sima de los Husos in Spain, and dates 430,000 years old, making up the largest sample of pre-production available in the fossil record. Another location 130,000 to 120,000 years ago in Krapina, Croatia.
They calculated the amount of morphological diversity (i.e., disparity) in the semicircular canals in both samples, compared them to one another, and compared them with classic Neanderthal samples of different ages and geographical origins. .
The findings show that the morphological diversity of the semicircular canals of classical Neanderthals is clearly lower than the diversity of early Neanderthal morphologies before the Nianderthals, consistent with previous palaeogenesis results. It is revealed.
“The inclusion of fossils from a wide range of geographical and temporal ranges allowed us to capture a comprehensive photograph of the evolution of Neanderthal,” said Dr. Mercedes Conde Valvade, a researcher at Alcala University. .
“The reduced diversity observed between Krapina samples and classic Neanderthals is particularly impressive and clear, providing strong evidence of bottleneck events.”
“The results, on the other hand, challenge the previously accepted idea that Neanderthal origins are associated with a significant loss of genetic diversity and encourage the need to propose a new explanation of their origins.”
“We were surprised that pre-Neanderthal people in Sima de los Husos exhibited similar morphological diversity as early Neanderthals in Krapina,” Dr. Urshuuori said.
a paper The findings were published in the journal Natural Communication.
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A. Urushiuori et al. 2025. A semicircular canal that sheds light on bottleneck events in the evolution of the Neanderthal clade. Nut commune 16, 972; doi:10.1038/s41467-025-56155-8
In the quest for clean energy and a shift away from fossil fuels, scientists may have uncovered new sources of power, potentially hidden in our mountains. A team of researchers from Germany has identified a vast reservoir of hydrogen gas, generated by rocks formed millions of years ago, through advanced simulations.
This discovery is significant as hydrogen (H2) as a power source does not emit greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, making it a more sustainable alternative to fossil fuels that contribute to climate change. Additionally, the production of hydrogen results in water instead of harmful emissions. However, the challenge lies in the fact that natural hydrogen production is rare, with the current synthetic production relying on fossil fuels.
The main hurdle in hydrogen production is sourcing it naturally. While geological processes can generate natural hydrogen without the need for fossil fuels, the availability of large accessible reserves remains uncertain. The recent study conducted by German researchers could potentially address this issue.
“We may be on the brink of a new era in natural hydrogen exploration,” said Dr. Frank Zworn, the lead author of the study published in the journal Advances in Science. “This could pave the way for a new natural hydrogen industry.”
Researchers at the GFZ Helmholtz Center for Geosciences in Germany utilized simulations of plate tectonic processes to identify a substantial reserve of natural hydrogen.
Natural hydrogen can be generated through various methods, such as bacterial transformation of organic matter or the splitting of water molecules due to radioactivity in the Earth’s crust. However, one of the most promising natural methods involves a geological process known as “serpentinization,” where rocks from the Earth’s mantle react with water to release H2 gas.
According to researchers, when these hydrogen-rich rocks are situated near the Earth’s surface, they can create potential zones for large-scale hydrogen production via excavation. These rocks are brought closer to the surface through processes such as continental rifting and mountain formation over millions of years.
As the crustal plates collide and create mountains, deep mantle rocks push up to the surface of the Earth. ‘Hot spots’ of hydrogen gas were identified where these rocks surfaced. – Image credit: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 USGS/ESEU Frankswaan edition, GFZ
By analyzing two processes, researchers determined that mountain formation offers ideal conditions for hydrogen generation. The combination of cold environments in mountains and increased water circulation could enhance hydrogen levels significantly. Simulations showed that rocks emerging through mountain formations have 20 times the hydrogen capacity compared to those brought to the surface via continental rifting.
Signs of natural hydrogen production have already been observed in mountainous regions such as the Pyrenees, European Alps, and Balkans. The research team anticipates that their findings will inspire further exploration of natural hydrogen in these areas and other mountainous regions.
Professor Sasha Brune, the head of the geodynamic modeling section at GFZ, emphasized the economic prospects tied to natural hydrogen. He stated, “It is now crucial to delve deeper into the migration pathways of microbial ecosystems that consume hydrogen, both shallow and deep, and to gain a better understanding of where potential hydrogen reservoirs can be formed.”
The artist's impression of what asteroid 2024 YR4 looks like as they approached Earth in December 2032
NASA
NASA downgraded the risk that the 2024 YR4 would hit the planet by 1.5% in 2032. 1-in-67from the height of a 1-in-32 The chance was the best odds ever.
Astronomers discovered that an asteroid was slamming barrels towards Earth in December, and that has since been the focus of telescopes and space agencies around the world. As they collected more data on the exact orbit of the asteroid, astronomers were able to calculate the likelihood of hitting Earth more accurately. The asteroid is thought to be between 40 and 90 meters wide and can release energy equivalent to TNT's 7.7 megatonnes.
According to NASA, the likelihood of a 2032 collision has increased from a coincidence of one-third since it was first discovered. It then moved to 1/67, 1/53, 1/53, 1/53, 1-in-43, 1-in-38, 1-in-32, and now it's 1/67 I did. The European Space Agency has slightly different odds, Currently giving asteroids a 1.38% chance of collision. These changes reflect an increasing understanding of the asteroid path, meaning they may not necessarily impact Earth.
But we are running out of time to predict the risks of asteroids. One problem is that the 2024 YR4 flies behind the sun in April and goes outside from most Earth-based telescope views. It says it limits the amount that astronomers can narrow down their predictions. Hugh Lewis At the University of Southampton, England. That doesn't necessarily mean it's going down before April. It could continue to rise, but in the end I still miss us. ”
Once the asteroid pops out of sight, it is rare to get any more information before it comes back into view in 2028. However, astronomers can look at past data to reveal previously overlooked asteroid observations. Trajectory. The process is already being carried out by the world's space agencies, Lewis says.
We hope that important information about the size and composition of the asteroid will be collected by James Webb's Space Telescope in the coming months, Lewis says. This helps us understand whether an asteroid can make it intact through Earth's atmosphere and whether it can cause an impact or not.
“It helps us to determine what we need to do about it because if it's a stone asteroid, it's a very different proportion of iron metal asteroids,” Lewis said. I say it. Stone-rich asteroids will be even worse as stone-like asteroids potentially split during impact. “Mass makes a huge difference in terms of whether energy and the atmosphere affects it.”
Mouse tends to become an unconscious peer by pulling its tongue
Wenjian Sun et al. 2025
When they unconsciously find another mouse, it appears that some mice are trying to revive their companions by stepping into them and biting them and pulling their tongues aside to clean their airways. This finding suggests that caregiving behavior may be more common in animal kingdoms than we thought.
now, Lee Chang The University of Southern California (USC) and his colleagues filmed what happened when they introduced a familiar cagemate who was active or anesthetized and unresponsive to a laboratory mouse.
In a series of tests, on average, animals spent about 47% of the 13-minute observation window to interact with their unconscious partners, showing three different behaviors.
“They start with sniffing, then grooming, and very intensive or physical interactions,” says Zhang. “They really open their mouths and pull out their tongues.”
These more physical interactions included licking the eyes and chewing on the area of the mouth. After focusing on the mouth, the mice pulled the tongue of their unresponsive partner in more than 50% of cases.
In another test, the researchers gently placed a non-toxic plastic ball in the mouth of an unconscious mouse. In 80% of cases, the support mouse successfully removed the object.
“If you extend the observation window, your success rate can be even higher,” says team members. Huizhong Taoeven at USC.
The awakened mouse began walking again earlier than it was unharmed for the mouse. Then, as their responsibility moved and responded, the caregiver’s mouse slowed down and stopped the caregiving behavior.
Additionally, caregiver mice spent more time when they were familiar with unconscious mice than they had previously met.
Restoration behavior is not an analog of CPR that requires specialized training, Zhang says. It’s like awakening someone using a strong smelly salt or slapping, or doing basic first aid so that the unconscious person can breathe. It is also important during surgery to place the tongue of anesthetized patients to prevent airway blockage, he says.
Zhang and his colleagues found that behavior is driven by oxytocin-releasing neurons in the amygdala and hypothalamic regions of the brain. The hormone oxytocin is involved in other compassionate behaviors in a wide range of vertebrate species.
“I have never observed these types of behavior when I run experiments in the lab, but have never left a recovery animal with my partner until I have fully awakened.” Christina Marquez at the Centre for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Coimbra, Portugal. “The fact that three independent labs observe similar behaviors indicates that this is a robust finding, but we are observing what we observe in nonhuman species; We really need to be aware that we personify too many things that result from intentions that go beyond what is observed.”
Zhang and his colleagues believe that the behavior is innate, not learned. This is because all animals tested were only 2-3 months old and never saw this behavior or anesthetized cage companions.
He suggests that such instinctive behavior plays a role in strengthening group cohesion and may be more widespread among social animals than we have seen.
It may be difficult to see this behavior in wild mice, says Marquez. “Mouses are often prey animals that do not live in large groups, so they usually hide very well from us. However [the fact] That we haven’t seen it doesn’t mean they don’t do it. ”
Musk referred to Mogensen as an “idiot” and used a light pejorative term that escalated quickly.
“SpaceX could have brought them back a few months ago.” The tweet was posted. “I presented this directly to the Biden administration, and they rejected it. The return was delayed for political reasons. Idiot.”
Mogensen, who shuttled between the space station on a SpaceX rocket and capsule, replied 13 minutes later, acknowledging Musk’s earlier praise for his work with SpaceX.
“Like me, you know that Butch and Suni are back with Crew-9, just like me, as planned since September last year.” He mentioned in another tweet about NASA’s plan to bring Willmore and Williams back to Earth alongside two current space station crews. “Even now, you haven’t sent a rescue ship to bring them back. They’ve returned to the Dragon Capsules they’ve been working on with the ISS since September last year.”
Mogensen was the commander of the Space Station from September 2023 to March 2024, continuing to be stationed at his recent orbital post.
Neither the White House nor NASA immediately responded to requests for comment.
Former Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, who led the space station in 2013, also reiterated his initial comment on X on February 14th.
“Suni and Butch have never been ‘stuck’ in space,” Hadfield stated. “They are well-prepared and dedicated to their missions, like all professional astronauts. Leading the Space Station Commander is Suni, and they are onboard spacecraft working diligently on behalf of NASA and all their partners. I commend their dedication.”
Spatt’s role as one of Trump’s top political advisers has raised new questions about his tendency to disseminate false and misleading information. Musk has also recently spread several misleading claims regarding fraud and spending within the US government.
Wilmore and Williams were launched on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft in June 2024 to the International Space Station, intending to spend about a week as part of their test flight.
However, the capsule encountered several issues and was forced to prolong its stay at the space station. Ultimately, NASA decided to return the Starliner to Earth in September.
Elon Musk in Washington on February 13th. Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Under the Biden administration, NASA has requested SpaceX to bring Willmore and Williams back to Earth. Their return, initially set for this month, was postponed to late March. NASA cited the need to “finalize” the new SpaceX spacecraft that will transport four new crews to the space station.
This flight, called Crew-10, is scheduled to carry NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nicole Ayers, Russian astronaut Kiril Peskov, and Japanese astronaut Onishi to the space station.
Upon their arrival, Wilmore and Williams will depart the station in another Dragon capsule, alongside NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian astronaut Alexander Golbunov.
Typically, incoming crews overlap with outgoing ones during handover periods, allowing astronauts to exchange information about ongoing experiments, maintenance tasks, and other protocols.
Musk also reiterated on Thursday. He suggested that the space station should be deorbited, proposing a timeline of two years instead of NASA’s plan to deorbit the facility by 2030.
“It has served its purpose. There are limited further utilities,” he stated. “Let’s aim for Mars.”
Astronomers investigate the possibilities of life around other stars, primarily by focusing on the distance that exoplanets orbit them. If the exoplanet is close enough to the star, all its water is not frozen and far away The water has not evaporated and does not peel offit is said to be within Residence zone. Many other factors, including the presence of planets, can determine how much life is likely to appear on a planet. A planet like Jupiter That system or a Big Moon By orbiting it, the researchers agree that the habitable zone is the need for a baseline.
One team of astronomers investigated one of these other aspects of livability. It is a danger around the stars around which the exoplanets are in habitable zones. Most stars are far enough apart so they do not directly interfere with their neighbor's planets. However, given time, adjacent stars can cause problems for those living in the stellar system.
The size of the sun can pull each other's planets with gravity if they pass each other within 20 billion miles of the Earth's distance, or 200 times the distance within 30 billion miles or 30 billion kilometers. these Flybys They may drag out exoplanets from their respective habitable zones or throw them entirely out of the star system! Up to 200 trillion miles or 300 trillion kilometers, also known as 10 PulsecStars that are more than eight times the mass of the sun die in an explosion called an explosion Supernova It can immerse nearby planetary systems with enough x-rays and gamma rays to destroy the atmosphere, deplete the ozone layer, and potentially wipe out all living things.
To assess the risks of these events, this team analyzed data from GAIA Data Release 3 and Hipparcos A catalogue containing 146 known star systems with planets in habitable zones. Of these 146 star systems, only 84 closest to the Sun, within 220 parsecs, quarter mile, or seventh quarter kilometers, within the range of uncertainty of 10 parsecs. There is an adjacent star measured at. By focusing on these 84, teams can best assess the true risks of the disappearing level of events facing these systems.
To assess the risk of Flybys, they used an equation to estimate the number of interstellar interstellar path encounters based on the radius of the star system. Movement. They have plugged data related to each of the 84 stars into their Python programs, and found that they are likely to pass with another star within the next 5 billion years. The team supports the general hypothesis that the general hypothesis that fewer adjacent stars are likely to support life, as this example comes from the star with the most neighbors in the entire set. I've explained it.
To assess the risk of supernova, they identified other stars within 10 parsecs of 84 star systems and used their brightness and temperature to calculate mass. For any star that is more than eight times the mass of the Sun, they calculated that the supernova will immerse any planet within this 10 parsecs range with the 100 billion times that the radiation Earth receives from the Sun. They discovered that only two of the 84 stars they tested have large adjacent stars within 10 parsecs, but other scientists say that up to 20 parsecs are He admitted that it suggested that it could be too close to remain still unharmed.
Overall, the team concluded that the risk of extinction-level events caused by adjacent stars facing known habitable zone planets. However, they warned that the current astronomical catalogue was incomplete. In other words, their calculations should be viewed as a low-end estimate of the real risks faced by potential alien lives. They suggested that deep future research could improve estimates of the risks faced by living in these systems and help to expand the number of systems where researchers can perform similar risk analyses.
We've all seen it frequently in science fiction films, so the concept seems completely plausible. Characters enter commands, and spacecraft reverse speed, jump to hyperspace, and create wormholes through space and time.
Whatever the terminology, the outcome is always the same. They fly through fictional universes faster than the speed of light, so travel between star systems is not only possible, but practical.
But in the real universe we live in, a huge barrier appears to forbid this. According to Albert Einstein's special theory of relativity, it cannot travel faster than light.
The light travels at an incredible speed of approximately 3 x 108 meters per second. This means that when you look at the universe, you won't see the heavenly objects as they are currently appearing. You can see how light from them first emerged when they departed across the universe.
Within the solar system, these delays are relatively short. For example, it takes only one second of sunlight to bounce off the surface of the moon and reach the Earth, but it takes eight minutes to cover the distance between the sun and our world.
Due to the enormous distance from us, if the sun suddenly disappears, you won't notice until 8 minutes later – Photo Credit: Getty
The more visible the longer the delay, which gives rise to the light-year concept as a measure of distance. Our closest star, Proxima Centauri, is about 4.25 light years away. In other words, it takes 4.25 years to get there from there. Therefore, the stars are not as they are now, and look like 4.25 years ago.
Beyond the vast expanse of the universe, distance is ultimately measured in billions of light years. This is what makes cosmology possible. The more we see the universe, the older the objects we see, and we can diagrammaticize today's evolution into stars and galaxies.
But if you can travel there and see what those objects look like now, wouldn't that be great?
Having a warp drive may sound like it, but it has some pretty weird results. For one thing, it would ruin the notion of causality.
Causality is our common sense perception that precedes effectiveness. But if you saw a faster spaceship trip towards you, you will see the ship in two places at once. The light carrying information about the ship's departure would not have reached the eye before the ship could be seen along the way.
Worse, the mathematics of relativity shows that if the speed exceeds the speed of light, literally time travel is possible.
This creates a full-scale causal paradox such as the famous “grandfather's paradox.” And how does it work – will you just no longer exist?
read more:
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Ghost Detector: This new machine can reveal the deepest secrets of the universe
Do you know what the star core looks like?
Negative energy inside
At first glance, Einstein's theory appears to protect us from such head-envelope challenges, as it appears to make it impossible to move faster than light. Masu.
According to the equation, the energy required to accelerate the ship to such a speed is infinite. However, researchers then began to look at mathematics in more detail.
A general theory of relativity – Einstein's extension of his special relativity – he proposes that the universe is made of adaptive fabrics called the space-time continuum, and he uses gravity to make this fabric I explained that it was distorted.
Who knows if tachyons exist, but if so, the theory suggests that it travels faster than light. – Image credits: Science Photography Library
1994, Physicist Dr. Miguel Alcubière At the University of Wales, and at Cardiff, we showed that solutions exist within the theory of general relativity that can be interpreted as warp drives. The problem was that it requires an exotic substance known as “negative energy” to make it work.
Astronomers have toyed using the concept of negative energy to explain why the universe appears to be accelerating, but with an understanding of physics, matter is comfortable to exist It cannot be done.
Then in May 2024, A group of researchers reexamined mathematics We will use only the types of particles and energy that make up the planet and people to see if the Alkbiere Warp phenomenon can be generated.
Their conclusion: Yes, they did. Dr. Jared Fuchs And colleagues at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, USA, discovered that they could arrange for normal material and energy to create warp phenomena and transport people through space. But there was a catch: they could only make it work at sub-light speed.
“It takes a lot of energy to make small changes to the space,” Fuchs says. To move the passenger seat, the size of a small room requires a small house-sized “warp bubble” for the size of a small room. And to make it, you need to narrow the mass of Jupiter several times. It becomes the volume that is the size of a small asteroid.
“now, [is that] Is it possible? perhaps. [Is it] Practical? I wouldn't say that,” says Fuchs. Even if it was possible to create such a device, the old boundaries still exist. To accelerate faster than the speed of light, you need an infinite amount of energy.
“We will not resolve the future of rapid transportation like Star Trek,” admits Fuchs.
Trouble with Tachon
Other researchers have conducted their own research into relativity. Professor Andrzej Dragan Collaborators at the University of Warsaw in Poland decided to consider possible solutions within the equation of particles that travel faster than light.
Physicists have previously messed with such concepts. They even called such virtual particles “tachyons,” but essentially considered them more than mathematical curiosity. However, Dragan and her colleagues found an equation explaining Tachyon's behavior.
“Mathematically, they make perfect sense,” says Dragan. In other words, our familiar world of secondary particle particles could coexist with the upper heart family of the second family, the tachyon.
Unfortunately, this does not mean that spacecraft can speed faster than light. To do that, Dragan explains that it requires the infinite energy that Einstein predicted, as well as the infinite energy to slow the Tachyon down to a sub-blue-minal speed.
“You can't exceed the speed of light in either direction,” says Dragan.
Nevertheless, the study We have proposed some fascinating results that may explain some of the most inexplicable observations physicists are working on.
When dealing with Tachon, Dragan and his colleagues encountered the causal issues they had been expecting. But the more I looked into these details, the more I realized that something surprising was happening. The strict lack of causes and effects was very similar to the behavior of normal, everyday subatomic particles.
The theory of relativity explains the behavior of the universe at its largest scale, while quantum theory describes the subatomic domain as a very different location.
Quantum theory introduces probability into particle interactions. For example, we know that an atom can absorb photons of light and at some stage it will re-emit that photon, but we cannot predict when or in which direction it will take.
In other words, the exact cause is hidden from us, and all we have left is an observable effect. Dragan suggests that when tachyon interacts with normal substances, the outcome of that interaction is unpredictable – like the emission of photons.
So, while these latest ideas do not seem to open a route to practical warp drives, they may only show a deeper look at the nature of the cosmos and the origins of quantum behavior.
About our experts
Dr. Jared Fuchs He is the CEO of Celedon Solutions Inc. and works in the Faculty of Physics at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, USA. His work has been published Classical and quantum gravity.
Professor Andrzej Dragan He is a filmmaker and professor of physics at the University of Warsaw in Poland, and a visiting professor at the National University of Singapore. His work has been published Physical review, Classic and Quatnam Gravity and New Journal of Physics.
read more:
What is the most powerful material in the universe?
This is our first photo of a star outside our galaxy
How the hidden “scars” of the universe unlock time travel
Feedback is the latest science and technology news of new scientists, the sidelines of the latest science and technology news. You can email Feedback@newscientist.com to send items you believe readers can be fascinated by feedback.
It’s solved! or not
Feedback likes true crime as much as the next pathologically curious ghoul, so toe to the well of speculation about Whitechapel murders from 1888-91 and almost God’s Jack the Ryper I soaked it occasionally. Frankly, we weren’t far ahead of Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell. From hellwhich links the murders (spoilers!) to British institutions and Freemasonry. However, the field of “Ripperology” goes far beyond one quirky graphic novel.
It all depends on shawls that appear to have belonged to Edows. Edows was gathered by police officers at the time and remained in his family for over a century. The shawl came to auction in 2007 and was purchased by a lippelologist Russell Edwards. He arranged for shawl to have a DNA test; result It was released in 2019. Get it by geneticists Jari Louhelainen and David Miller Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) From the two of them. There is a genetic marker that is common to Karen Miller, suggesting that it came from Edows. The other matched with the distant relative of Aaron Kosminski, the barber who was the suspect at the time of the murder.
Feedback will definitely ring this story forever, but we want to add something – not one of the latest news articles. We looked at the 2019 survey and found that the editor added “.Expression of concern“August 2024.
It refers to the letter to the editor, “concerns raised by third parties after publication.” And then the bomb comes. “During the investigation, the publishers and editors made every effort to obtain the original raw data from MtDNA analysis from the authors. However, the authors have been advised that due to device data failures and other complications. He said the data is no longer available.”
Yes, you read it correctly – the evidence of important mtDNA can never be verified because the author lost it. Perhaps Moore was right about evil mental powers after all.
The author argues that romantic love is “a means to the end of what feels important and valuable.” Feedback isn’t sure about it, but let’s try it. This leads them to a “multiplied three-factor model” that determines the “possibility of an actor falling in love with his partner.”
Specifically, “Love for a partner depends on the actor’s perception that (1) the partner has merit traits. These two factors are the actor’s exploration of the importance of the actor. Suppose the size and multiple combinations will determine the likelihood that an actor will be engrossed in his partner.”
In other words, the chances you might fall for someone are to find out how good they think they are, how grateful they think you are, and how you find the meaning of your life It’s a combination of how much you care about.
Feedback tried to extrapolate this to dating advice. If the amount of gratitude you show to your partner is a predictor of whether they will fall into you, if you show to your partner, if you show to your partner, then if you show to your partner, then the person will be Frequent suggestions that you should play hard seem counterproductive. Instead, they tend to fall in love, so it seems a good idea to find a partner who is desperately exploring the importance of life. However, this may have its own drawbacks. In particular, such partners may join the cult.
Good luck.
bite that hand
With news editor Jacob Aron Financial TimesFeedback learns that humanity in AI companies does not want potential employees to use AI when writing job applications. Their work ads stated: “We encourage people to use AI systems during their roles, but we want to assess your non-AS support communication skills.” But why is it artificial? mosquito? Are AI characters full of gaffs that are insurmountable to sift through?
This feedback learned it a few days after the news broke that Chinese AI company Deepseek was outperforming the US technology giant by curious coincidence. Openai complained quickly.review It shows that DeepSeek may have inappropriately distilled the model, that is, he is engaged in copyright theft.
In summary, these AI companies don’t like being attacked in AI writing slops and don’t like it if they use their work to train AI without permission. As a writer who has almost certainly been stripped down by AI companies and has never seen Penny in return, feedback can say “Bwahahaha, suck on you.”
Have you talked about feedback?
You can send stories to feedback by email at feedback@newscientist.com. Include your home address. This week and past feedback can be found on our website.
Tropical riverbank ecosystems – what can be seen along rivers and wetlands – have now recovered within just two million years of North China's extinction. Terrestrial ecosystem.
An illustration depicting the beginning of the mass extinction of the Endopermians. Image credits: Dawid Adam Iurino/Paleofactory, Sapienza Rome University of Rome/Jurikova et aldoi: 10.1038/s41561-020-00646-4.
The mass extinction of the Endopermians occurred about 252 million years ago, and due to extreme environmental changes such as global warming, ocean acidification and long-term drought, more than 80% of marine species and 70% of terrestrial species. I've cleared up all of that.
Dr. Li Tian, a researcher at the China University of Earth Sciences, said:
“It has long been theorized that low-latitude land areas remained uninhabited for a long period of time, 7-10 million years after extinction, but our results suggest that some ecosystems have previously been considered. It suggests it's more adaptable than it was.”
To reconstruct the timeline of ecosystem recovery on the land, Dr. Tian and colleagues analyzed trace fossils (such as burrows and footprints), plant relics, plant relics, and vertebrate fossils . 247 million years ago.
These fossils were obtained from lake and river deposits in central central China.
Researchers used a combination of techniques such as biostratigraphy, biology (studying microfossils), sedimentology, and geochemical analysis.
Their research suggests harsh environments at the beginning of the early Triassic period, with only sparse and simple living remaining.
Fossils of this era represent monospecific communities. This means that there is little evidence of biodiversity, and only a single type of organism dominates.
Fossils showed a significant decrease in biological size compared to before the end of Permian, a common indicator of extreme environmental stress.
However, fossils from the Spacyan stage (approximately 249 million years ago) show increased plant stems, root traces, and signs of piercing activity, suggesting a more stable and structured environment .
Scientists also discovered fossils of medium-sized carnivorous vertebrates, indicating that a multi-level food web was established at this stage.
The revival of the action that dug a hole that was largely vanished after the events of extinction was a significant discovery.
Hole-digging behavior promotes sediment and plays an important role in cycling nutrients in riverbank ecosystems, suggesting that animals adapted to environmental stress by escaping underground during this period. Masu.
The findings challenge the view that ecosystem recovery on post-extinction lands is far behind marine life, and that some ecosystems are already stable within relatively short geological time frames. It is revealed.
“Our research is the first to suggest that, contrary to past assumptions, life in the tropical House of Representatives' riparian ecosystems has recovered relatively quickly after the mass extinction of Permians,” said Jinnan. Dr. Tong also spoke from China's University of Earth Sciences.
“The fossil records we studied suggest that riparian zones played an important role in stabilizing post-extinction ecosystems.”
“The rivers and wetlands served as shelters, providing more stable conditions and more stable conditions, allowing life to rebound faster than in arid inland areas.”
Team's paper Published online in the journal Elif.
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Wenwei Guo et al. 2025. Following the mass extinction of Permians, rapid recovery of riparian ecosystems in the hypoxic environment of northern China. Elif 14: RP104205; doi: 10.7554/Elife.104205.1
According to an analysis of new data from NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, the ejaculation ability that orbits Sagittarius a* emits a constant flow of flares with no period of rest. Some flares are faint flickering for a few seconds, while others are blindly bright eruptions that spit out every day. There is also slight flicker than the surges for several months at a time.
The artist's concept depicts an ultra-high Massive black hole in the heart of the Milky Way galaxy known as Sagittarius a*. Image credits: NASA/ESA/CSA/RALF CRAWFORD, STSCI.
“We expect flares to occur in essentially every super-large black hole, but our black holes are unique,” says Dr. Farhad Yousef Zadeh, an astronomer at Northwestern University. Ta.
“It's always bubbled up with activity and doesn't seem to reach a stable state.”
“We observed Sagittarius A* multiple times throughout 2023 and 2024, and noticed changes in all observations.”
“We saw something different each time, and that's really surprising. It didn't stay the same.”
Dr. Yousefzadeh and his colleagues used it Webb's nircam instrument Observe Sagittarius A* in total of 48 hours, increments of 8-10 hours over a year.
They expected to see the flare, but Sagittarius A* was more active than he had expected.
The accretion disk surrounding the black hole produced 5-6 large flares per day, during which several small subflares were generated.
“Our data showed constantly changing and bubbly brightness,” Dr. Yusef-Zadeh said.
“And boom! A huge explosion of brightness suddenly appeared. Then it settled down again. No patterns were found in this activity. It seems random. The activity profile of the black hole is what we see every time we see it. It was new and exciting.”
“It appears to be caused by two separate processes: short bursts and long flares. If the accretion disk is a river, the short, faint flicker is like a small ripple that fluctuates randomly on the surface of the river. .”
“But longer, brighter flares are like tidal waves caused by more important events.”
“Mild faults in the accretion disk can produce faint flickers. Specifically, turbulent fluctuations within the disk cause plasma (high-temperature charge gas) to be compressed and temporary. It can cause a burst of radiation.”
“This is similar to the way the solar magnetic fields gather together to compress and eject solar flares.”
“Of course, the environment around the black hole is much more energetic and extreme, so the process is more dramatic. But the surface of the sun also bubbles up with activity.”
Astronomers attribute large, bright flares to magnetic reconnection events. This is the process in which two magnetic fields collide and release energy in the form of accelerated particles. These particles, moving at a speed close to the speed of light, emit a burst of bright radiation.
“The magnetic reconnection event is like a static electricity spark, and in some ways it is also an electrical reconnection,” Dr. Yusef-Zadeh said.
The team wants to use Webb to observe Sagittarius A* for a long period of time.
“When you're watching such a weak flare event, you have to compete with the noise,” said Dr. Yousef Zadeh.
“If you can observe 24 hours a day, you can reduce the noise and see features that you didn't see before. That would be great. Also, these flares show periodicity (or repeat yourself) or really You can also check if it is random.”
F. Yusef-Zadeh et al. 2025. Nonstop Variation of SgrA** Uses JWST at wavelengths of 2.1 and 4.8 microns: evidence of clear populations of faint and bright variable emissions. apjlin press; Arxiv: 2501.04096
Personalized mRNA vaccines, including those for pancreatic cancer treatment, are currently in phase 1 of clinical trials. The research was recently published in Nature.
Pancreatic cancer has one of the lowest survival rates among cancer types, with less than 13% of patients surviving beyond five years after diagnosis. The disease is often diagnosed at an advanced stage, with nearly 90% of cases already progressing when detected.
Pancreatic cancer cells have a high tendency to spread rapidly to other parts of the body, usually after the primary tumor has grown large. Symptoms typically only appear in late stages, and there are currently no routine screening methods like mammograms or colonoscopies for this cancer.
Effective treatments for pancreatic cancer are limited, with survival rates remaining around 10% despite the best available therapies. The development of personalized mRNA vaccines for cancer treatment aims to change this narrative.
Before the widespread use of mRNA vaccines for Covid-19, researchers were exploring their potential for cancer treatment. These vaccines work by training the immune system to identify and attack cancer cells, essentially turning the body’s immune response into a cancer-fighting mechanism. Current research is focused on melanoma, colorectal cancer, and other solid tumors.
The success of mRNA cancer vaccines relies on generating a robust response from T cells, a type of immune cell that recognizes and fights off intruders. These T cells need to be durable and capable of detecting and eliminating cancer cells, including those in pancreatic cancer which present unique challenges due to limited mutation targets.
A recent clinical trial evaluated the efficacy of an mRNA vaccine in pancreatic cancer patients who had undergone surgery to remove the tumor. Results showed that the vaccine elicited a response in half of the participants, generating tumor-targeting T cells that persisted for years. This promising outcome underscores the potential of mRNA vaccines in improving outcomes for pancreatic cancer patients.
The study also highlighted the need for further research to determine the long-term impact of these vaccines on patient outcomes. The development of ready-made mRNA vaccines that target common mutations in pancreatic cancer tumors is another area of ongoing investigation, offering a more standardized approach to treatment.
Overall, early findings suggest that mRNA vaccines hold promise in enhancing the body’s immune response against pancreatic cancer, offering hope for improved survival rates and outcomes in the future.
WASHINGTON – Patrick Montague, a federal firefighter investigator, was unexpectedly fired by the Trump administration on Saturday night, along with thousands of other Department of Health and Human Services employees. Patrick, 46, from Kentucky, had 26 years of experience in firefighting and prevention programs, as well as academic training and technical expertise. Despite receiving repeated praise from his supervisors, he was let go before completing his two-year probationary period due to his alleged inadequate performance.
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Montague was part of a program aimed at reducing firefighters’ risks while on duty. Three out of the five members of his program were fired in a similar manner. The sudden layoffs were attributed to billionaire Elon Musk’s influence on cutting federal programs and reducing government workforce.
The termination of these employees, including Montague, has raised concerns about the impact on important public safety programs, such as the Fatal Firefighter Survey and Prevention Program. These programs were created to enhance the safety and well-being of firefighters across the country.
Edward Kelly, general president of the International Association of Firefighters, emphasized the importance of investing in firefighter safety programs and expressed hope that the Trump administration would prioritize such initiatives.
In addition to the firefighter safety programs, layoffs within the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health have also affected workers responsible for maintaining the national firefighters’ cancer registry. The registry, established by a law signed by Trump in July 2018, tracks and fights cancer deaths among firefighters.
The disconnect between Trump’s public praise for firefighters and the sudden layoffs of those working on critical firefighter safety programs has left many scratching their heads. Union officials and advocates for fire safety are puzzled by the contradictory actions taken by the administration.
Despite the termination notices citing performance issues, many affected employees, like Patrick Montague, believe that their performance was satisfactory and are baffled by the decision to let them go.
According to the most comprehensive assessment, glaciers around the world have been shrinking by more than 5% on average since 2000. This rapid melting rate has accelerated by more than a third over the past decade as climate change continues in stages.
It is said to be “a problem of warming level for glaciers.” Noel Goomeren At the University of Edinburgh, UK. “They are climate change barometers.”
The new numbers come from a global consortium of hundreds of researchers known as the Glacier Mass Balance Intercomparison Exercise. This group sought to reduce uncertainty about how much of the planet's 200,000 or so glacier melted by assessing different size measures using standard procedures. This includes gravity and elevation measurements from 20 satellites, as well as ground measurements.
Between 2000 and 2011, glaciers melted at an average rate of approximately 231 billion tons of ice per year, researchers found. This melting rate increased to 314 billion tonnes per year between 2012 and 2023, an acceleration of more than a third. In 2023, a mass of approximately 548 billion tons was recorded.
These numbers are consistent with previous estimates. But this comprehensive look “gives a little more confidence in the changes seen in the glacier,” says Gourmelen, part of the consortium. “And there's a clear acceleration.”
Overall, thawing of roughly 7 trillion tons of glacial ice since 2000 has increased sea level by almost 2 centimeters, melting into the second largest contributor of sea level rise, resulting in the expansion of water from warming oceans. Ta.
“This is a consistent story of glacial changes.” Tyler Sutterley At Washington University in Seattle. “Areas that have had glaciers since ancient times have lost these ice symbols.”
Alps glaciers have lost more ice than any other region, shrinking nearly 40% since 2000. In the Middle East, New Zealand and the West, glaciers have seen more than 20% reductions. Depending on future emissions, the world's glaciers are predicted to lose quarter to half of the ice by the end of the century.
Olivine rock naturally reacts with carbon dioxide, but it’s a slow business
Renhour48 via Wikimedia/CC0 1.0 Universal
The new process will allow crushed rocks to capture carbon dioxide more quickly from the air by turbocharged with already widely adopted carbon removal techniques.
Natural silicate minerals such as basalt react with water and CO2 to form solid carbonic acid materials, a process known as reinforced lock weathering (ERW). Research suggests Spreading crushed silicate rocks on farmland increases the amount of carbon the soil can absorb, while improving farmer crop yields.
but Matthew Canan Stanford University in California believes that the carbon advantage of ERW is exaggerated as natural silicates do not reach the climate quickly enough to extract large amounts of carbon from the atmosphere. “The data is very clear. They don’t weather at a useful speed,” he says.
Conversion of silicates into more reactive minerals increases weathering rates and makes ERW a viable climate solution, he says. Canaan and his colleagues Yuxuan Chen Stanford University also developed a method for producing magnesium oxide and calcium silicate using a process inspired by cement production.
“When you take calcium sources and magnesium silicate and heat it, you can make calcium silicate and magnesium oxide,” says Canaan. “The core reaction is what is called ion exchange, and it exchanges magnesium for calcium.”
“The reason it’s strong is because calcium silicate is reactive and so is magnesium oxide,” he says. “I put one reactive thing in and two come out.” The ingredients get the weather thousands of times faster than standard silicates, says Canaan.
The ki used in this process must be heated to 1400°C for the reaction, and energy may be provided by natural gas. This means that this method generates significant carbon emissions, but Canaan can capture these at sources or use several reactive minerals to capture the emissions at the site. It suggests that booking can offset it.
When the emissions associated with material production are taken into consideration, one ton of reactive material removes about one ton of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Researchers can now create 15 kilograms of reactive rocks per day, but they hope to turn the idea into a commercial venture by selling the materials to farmers for use on farmland.
Rachel James The University of Southampton, UK, challenges Canaan’s claim that traditional ERWs do not work, pointing to many documented examples of intensified weathering tests. However, she welcomes attempts to accelerate the weathering rate of silicate.
“The climate crisis now requires action, so what you can do to speed up weathering rates is extremely beneficial,” she says. “Weathering is essentially a slow process and frankly, we want to see meaningful carbon dioxide removal on a timescale of 10 years or more than 50 years.”
However, she warns that the team is likely to face problems with expanding production and deployment. She says that using minerals in agricultural systems does not guarantee that all captured carbon is permanently trapped.
Phil Renforth At Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh, UK, the proposal is said to be a smart idea, but it takes more research to understand how it should be unfolded. “They essentially produce cement minerals, which may not be an ideal candidate mineral in addition to agricultural soils,” he says.
Microsoft’s artificial intelligence models can replicate realistic video game footage the company says will help designers create games, but experts are not convinced that the tool will help most game developers. yeah.
Neural networks that can generate consistent, accurate footage from video games are nothing new. A recent Google-created AI produced a fully playable version of a classic computer game destiny No access to the underlying game engine. original destiny, However, it was released in 1993. More modern games are more complex with sophisticated physics and computationally intensive graphics, and have proven difficult for AIS to faithfully replicate.
now, Katja Hofmann Microsoft Research and her colleagues developed an AI model called Muse. This allows you to recreate the complete sequence of multiplayer online battle games Bleeding edge. These sequences follow the physics that underlie the game, and appear to keep players and in-game objects consistent over time. This means that the model has a deeper understanding of the game, says Hofmann.
The Muse is trained with seven years of human gameplay data, including both controllers and video footage. Bleeding EdgeNinja Studios is a Microsoft-owned developer. It works similarly to large language models such as ChatGpt. If given input, it imposes predicting the next gameplay in the form of video game frames and their associated controller actions. “To this day, for me, it’s a very moving thing to me, purely from training models to predict what will come next. I learn a sophisticated and deep understanding of this complex 3D environment,” Hoffman said. I say it.
To understand how people use AI tools like Muse, the team researched game developers and learned which features would be useful. As a result, researchers added the ability to repeatedly adjust changes made on the spot, such as changes to player characters or new objects entering the scene. This could help you come up with new ideas and try out what-if scenarios for developers, says Hofmann.
However, the muse is still limited to generating sequences within the original boundaries Bleeding Edge Games – Can’t come up with new concepts or designs. And I say it’s unclear whether this is a model-specific limitation or something that can be overcome with more training data from other games. Mike Cook King’s College London. “This is a long way from the idea that AI systems can design their own games.”
The ability to generate consistent gameplay sequences is impressive, but developers may prefer greater control, says Cook. “If you create a tool that is actually testing the game code itself, you don’t have to worry about persistence or consistency because you’re running the actual game. So these are introduced by generative AI itself. It’s solving the problem.”
It is promised that the model is designed with developers in mind, he says Georgios Yannakakis The Digital Games Institute at the University of Malta may not be feasible for most developers who don’t have that much training data. “Does that come down to the question of it being worth it?” says Yannakakis. “Microsoft has been collecting data for seven years and training these models to demonstrate what they can actually do. But real game studios can afford it. [to do] this? “
Even Microsoft itself is vague about whether AI-designed games could be on the horizon. When asked if there was a possibility that developers in the Xbox gaming division would use the tool, the company declined to comment.
Hofmann and her team hope that future versions of Muse can generalize beyond training data, but they can create new scenarios and levels for the games they are trained to work in a variety of games. I hope that I can do it. Challenge is because modern games are very complicated.
“One way games distinguish themselves is by changing the system and introducing new concept-level ideas. So machine learning systems go outside of their training data and go beyond what they see. It’s extremely difficult to innovate and invent,” he says.
The Earth is about 4.5 billion years ago. When it was formed from rocks colliding around the dim young sun, it was probably not lively, and for a long time geologists thought life would not appear for more than a decade. The idea came from the analysis of Moonlock, brought back from Apollo Landings. This indicated that the Earth was hampered by space rocks from 4 billion to 3.8 billion years ago. The meaning was that, as we know, it must have started after that, since the previous creatures were getting faster.
“There are two problems with that.” Philip Donohue At the University of Bristol, UK. First, the model suggests that some life could have survived deep within the ocean. Even worse, it appears that the heavy late artillery fires did not actually occur now. The Apollo mission produced the impression of a large artillery over a short period of time, as all gathered rocks of similar age.
Early in the history of the Earth, we found that major effects had sporadically occurred over hundreds of millions of years. However, it is also known that a Mars-sized body collides shortly after the formation of Earth, evaporating the planet's surface. “If life had been born earlier, it would have been wiped out,” Donohue said.
The oldest rock on the earth
Life began when inerts were self-organised into a living system, but despite decades of research, how it happened remains a mystery. As the fossil record gets worse, it's also a big challenge to understand that it happened when it happened…
Google’s AI “co-scientists” is based on the company’s Gemini major language model
Raa/Nurphoto/Shutterstock
Google has announced an experimental artificial intelligence system that uses advanced reasoning to help scientists integrate vast amounts of literature, generate new hypotheses, and propose detailed research plans. “Idea with [the] “AI co-scientists” is about giving scientists a superpower,” says Alan Karthikesalingam of Google.
The tool, which has not yet been officially named, is based on Google’s Gemini major language model. When researchers ask questions or specify goals, they come up with their first idea within 15 minutes, for example, to find a new drug. According to Google’s Vivek Natarajan, several Gemini agents “discuss” these hypotheses with each other, ranking them over the next hours and days, and improving them.
During this process, agents can search the scientific literature, access databases, and use tools such as Google’s AlphaFold system to predict protein structure. “They constantly refine ideas, discuss ideas, criticize ideas,” says Natarajan.
Google has already made the system available to several research groups and has released a short paper explaining its use. The teams who tried it were keen on the possibilities, and these examples suggest that AI co-scientists can help integrate their findings. However, whether the example supports the claim that AI can generate new hypotheses is debatable.
For example, Google says a team used the system to find a “new” method of potentially treating liver fibrosis. However, drugs proposed by AI have been previously studied for this purpose. “It is well established that all identified drugs are anti-fibrotic.” Stephen O’Reilly at the UK biotechnology company Alcyomics. “There’s nothing new here.”
The potential use of this treatment is not new, but team members Gary Peltz at Stanford University School of Medicine in California, two of the three drugs selected by AI co-scientists showed promise in testing for human liver organoids, while the two he selected were both his. There is no growing evidence supporting a choice. Peltz says Google gave him a small amount of money to cover the costs of the test.
In another paper, Jose Penades Imperial College London and his colleagues explain how co-scientists proposed hypotheses that matched unpublished findings. He and his team are studying mobile genetic elements that can move between bacteria – bits of DNA that can move between bacteria – mobile gene elements. Some mobile genetic elements hijack the bacteriophage virus. These viruses consist of a DNA-containing shell and a tail that binds to specific bacteria and injects DNA into IT. Therefore, if the element can enter the shell of a phage virus, you can ride another bacteria for free.
One mobile genetic element creates its own shell. This type was particularly popular and confused Penade and his team. The answer they discovered recently is that these shells can connect with different phage tails, allowing mobile elements to enter a wide range of bacteria.
The discovery was still unpublished, but the team asked AI co-scientists to explain the puzzle. The number one suggestion was to steal a different phage tail.
“We were shocked,” Penades says. “I sent an email to Google. I can access the computer. Is that right? Otherwise, I can’t believe what I’m reading here.”
However, the team released a paper supplied to the system in 2023 – how this family of mobile genetic elements “It steals the tail of a bacteriophage and spreads naturally.” at the time, researchers thought that the elements were limited to obtaining tails from phages that infect the same cell. Only later they discovered that elements can pick up tails floating outside the cell.
So one explanation of how AI co-scientists came up with the correct answer is that they missed the obvious limitation that stopped humans from getting it.
What’s clear is that instead of coming up with a whole new idea, you’re given everything you need to find the answer. “Everything was already public, but it was publicly available on different bits,” Penades says. “The system was able to put it all together.”
The team tried other AI systems already on the market, but none of them came up with an answer, he says. In fact, some people didn’t manage it even when they gave the answer to a paper explaining it. “This system suggests something you’ve never thought of,” says Penades, who hasn’t received funding from Google. “I think it’s going to change the game.”
It becomes clearer over time whether it really changes the game. There’s a mix of Google’s track record when it comes to claiming AI tools to help scientists. Its Alphafold system withstands hype and won the team behind it a Nobel Prize last year.
Despite his discoveries, Palgrave believes that AI can help scientists. “In general, I think AI has a huge amount of contributions to science when implemented in collaboration with experts in their respective fields,” he says.
Greenland ice sheet algae absorb light and accelerate melting
Laura Halbach
Dark algae growing on the surface of the Arctic ice sheet are likely to expand future coverage, and tend to exacerbate melting, sea level rise and warming.
“These algae are not a new phenomenon.” James Bradley At the Institute of Oceanography in Marseille, France. “But if they bloom more intensely or the flowers bloom more widely, this is an important thing to consider in future projections of sea level rise.”
Greenland's ice sheets, which cover most of the island, are rapidly melting due to rising temperatures, making them the biggest contributor to sea level rise worldwide.
ancylonema Algae under a microscope
Natural Communication
ancylonema Algae species bloom in patches of ice called ablation zones, which are exposed as snow lines recede to the ice sheet every summer. Flowers darken the ice, reduce its reflectivity, absorbing more heat, thereby increasing melting in these regions by an estimated 10-13%.
To better understand this feedback loop, Bradley and his colleagues gathered ancylonema Samples from the southwest tip of the ice sheet were examined for cells using advanced imaging techniques.
The results reveal that algae are highly adapted to malnutritional conditions and suggest that they can invade ice at high elevations with low nutrients.
Global warming already causes snow lines to increase altitude over time, exposing more ice. Ice algae should add yet another layer to these interactions and explain it in future climate forecasts.
“We have been studying glacial algae flowers for several years, and one of the biggest questions that remains is that we can grow to such high numbers in such undernourished ice.” I say that. Christopher Williamson At the University of Bristol, UK, where he was not involved in the project. “A big part of understanding this puzzle is the amount of nutrients needed for glacial algae cells and whether it can efficiently take and store rare nutrients available in the system. This research is cutting edge. They do an amazing job of demonstrating these things using the methodology of
A huge elliptical galaxy called the NGC 3640 has interacted with several small galaxies in the past, as revealed by data analysis from ESO’s VLT Survey Telescope (VST) at a fictional observatory in Chile.
This VST image shows two elliptical galaxies, the NGC 3640 and the NGC 3641. Image credits: ESO/INAF/MIRABILE et al. /Ragusa et al.
NGC 3640 is located approximately 88 million light years away from Earth in the constellation of Leo.
Also known as Leda 34778 and UGC 6368, the galaxies have diameters of 90,000 light years.
It was first discovered on February 23, 1784, by the German-British astronomer William Herschel.
The NGC 3640 is part of a relatively young group consisting of at least eight galaxies.
It also forms a pair that interacts with an elliptical galaxy known as NGC 3641.
“Throughout their extensive lifetimes, galaxies undergo changes,” said Dr. Marco Miraville, a colleague from the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics, in a statement.
“As they traverse space, they may either acquire gas or stars from other galaxies, or even merge with them.”
“Following these events, the galaxy will exhibit distortions, as demonstrated by the compact NGC 3640 and the diffuse light surrounding it.”
“This galaxy has left behind a ‘scar’ that hints at a tumultuous history, which astronomers can use to uncover its past and present.”
To unravel the history of the NGC 3640-NGC 3641 pair, Dr. Mirabile and co-authors used VST to study spheroidal, compact clusters of gravitationally bound stars.
These clusters typically contain some of the oldest stars formed within the galaxy, serving as fossil records that reveal the galaxy’s history even after significant events.
“The results affirm that NGC 3640 has indeed interacted with other galaxies in the past, showing signs of previous involvement with the smaller NGC 3641,” noted the astronomer.
“However, the smaller galaxy displays a noticeable lack of distortion in its shape or spheroidal clusters.”
“This suggests that, although their interaction has been significant, NGC 3640 is not currently in close proximity to pose a threat. NGC 3641 may be safe – at least for now.”
Marco Mirabire et al. 2024. Vegas-SSS: Tracing the stellar cluster population of the interacting NGC 3640 Galaxy Group. A&A 691, A104; doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202451273
New research reveals how hundreds of species affect Earth’s surface processes, from vast termite mounds visible from space to beavers that produce whole wetlands.
Termites mounds in the bangle bangle range in Western Australia. Image credit: ouderkraal/cc by-sa 3.0.
“This study shows that the role of animals in shaping the Earth’s landscape is far more important than previously recognized,” says Professor Gemma Harvey, a researcher at Queen Mary University in London.
“From beavers that create wetlands to ants that build soil mounds, these diverse natural processes are extremely important, but there is a risk of losing them as biodiversity decreases.”
“From small ants moving through soil to salmon remodeling riverbeds, this study highlights the diversity and scale of animal impacts across all freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems.”
“By estimating the collective energy of these natural engineers, this study shows that their topographical contributions are comparable to those of hundreds of thousands of major floods.”
In this study, Professor Harvey and colleagues identified 603 species, genera, or families, including insects, mammals, fish, birds, and reptiles to create landscapes in a surprising way.
Despite covering only 2.4% of the planet’s surface, freshwater habitats take on a third of these astonishing species.
Animals collectively contribute at least 76,000 gigare energy each year to shape the surface of the earth. This is a number that rivals hundreds of thousands of extreme floods.
This estimate is likely to be conservative, especially in tropical and subtropical regions where biodiversity is the highest but research is limited.
“Terrates build a huge network of Brazilian mounds. Some cover thousands of kilometers, but salmon spawning can alter as much sediment as annual floods.” The researcher said.
“Even ants change soil structure and drainage through their small but countless actions.”
Almost 30% of identified species are rare and endemic or threatened, and can cease to cease before a critical topographical process is completely important.
This loss can have great consequences for the ecosystem and the landscapes they support.
“This study provides new insights into biodiversity conservation and ecosystem restoration,” Professor Harvey said.
“How can rewild and species reintroduction projects, such as the reintroduction of beavers to restore wetlands, help combat environmental challenges such as erosion and flooding by leveraging these natural processes? It shows that.
study It was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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Gemma L. Harvey et al. 2025. The global diversity and energy of animals that shape the surface of the earth. pnas 122 (8): E2415104122; doi: 10.1073/pnas.2415104122
In 1983, theoretical physicist Brandon Carter said that the time it took for humans to evolve on Earth compared to the total lifespan of the Sun was essentially unlikely to have been our evolutionary origin. We concluded that observers like humans who are comparable to the above are very rare. . In a new study, scientists from Pennsylvania, the University of Munich and the University of Rochester have critically reevaluated the core assumptions of Carter's “hard step” theory through the lens of historical geologics. Specifically, they propose alternative theories with no harsh steps, and the evolutionary specificity required for human origin can be explained through mechanisms other than essentially non-performance. Furthermore, if the surface environment of the Earth initially did not reach the specific important intermediate steps necessary for human existence, as well as human life, the timing of human origin would be a habitability surrounding the history of the Earth. Controlled by continuous openings in the new global environment window.
The new theory proposes that humans may represent potential consequences of biological and planetary evolution. Image credit: Fernando Ribas.
“This is a huge change in how we think about life history,” said Professor Jennifer McCalady of Pennsylvania.
“It suggests that the evolution of complex life may be less about the interaction between luck and its environment, and I am to understand our origins and our place in the universe. paves the path for exciting new research in our quest.”
“The 'hard step' model, originally developed by Brandon Carter in 1983, took humans to evolve on Earth compared to the total lifespan of the sun, so our evolutionary origins are largely due to the fact that He claims it is unlikely. Human beings are extremely low across the globe. ”
In a new study, Professor Makaradi and her colleagues say that the Earth's environment is initially incapable of parasitic life in many forms, and only important evolutionary steps when the Earth's environment reaches a state of “tolerant” claimed that it was possible.
“For example, because complex animal life requires a certain level of oxygen in the atmosphere, oxygenation of the Earth's atmosphere through photosynthesis is the oxygenation of the Earth's atmosphere through microorganisms and bacteria, and oxygenation of the Earth's atmosphere through planets. It was a natural evolutionary step, said Dr. Dan Mills, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Munich.
“We argue that intelligent life may not need a series of lucky breaks.”
“Humans did not evolve “early” or “slowly” in the history of the Earth, but when conditions were right, they “on time.” ”
“It's probably just a matter of time, and while other planets can probably achieve these conditions more quickly than Earth, other planets may take even longer.”
The central prediction of the “hard step” theory is that, based on Carter's, steps such as the origin of life, the development of complex cells, and the emergence of human intelligence, if there are no other civilizations, then the other civilizations are He says there is little that exists in the universe. The interpretation of the total lifespan of the Sun is 10 billion years, and the age of the Earth is about 5 billion years old.
In a new study, the authors have the ability to originate human origin by continuous openings in the window of habitability to the history of the Earth, driven by changes in nutritional availability, sea surface temperature, ocean salinity levels, and oxygen levels. I suggested that the timing could be explained. atmosphere.
Given all the interaction factors, the Earth has only just become kind to humanity recently. It is simply a natural result of workplace conditions.
“We believe we need to use geological time scales rather than predicting based on the lifespan of the sun, because it takes time for the atmosphere and landscape to change,” Penn State said. said Professor Jason Wright.
“These are the normal timescales on Earth. When life evolves with planets, they evolve at the planet's pace on the planet's timescale.”
Team's paper It was published in the journal this month Advances in science.
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Daniel B. Mills et al. 2025. A reevaluation of the “hard step” model for the evolution of intellectual life. Advances in science 11(7); doi:10.1126/sciadv.ads5698
An extreme class of planets not found in our solar system, Ultrahot Jupiters offers a unique window into atmospheric processes. Using four telescope units in ESO’s extremely large telescopes, astronomers are currently being investigated deep into the atmosphere of the Ultra Hot Jupiter ExoPlanet WASP-121B, revealing separate powerful winds in separate layers, We have formed a map of the 3D structure of the atmosphere.
This diagram shows the atmospheric structure and movement of the WASP-121B. Image credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser.
The WASP-121B is a gas giant exoplanet 1.87 times larger than Jupiter and 1.18 times larger.
First discovered in 2016, this alien world takes just 1.3 days to traverse the parent F6 star WASP-121 (TYC 7630-352-1).
The WASP-121 system is approximately 881 light years away from the puppy’s constellations.
The WASP-121B is what is called “Ultra Hot Jupiter” and takes only 1.3 days to get the WASP-121 into orbit. It’s so close to the parent star, that when it gets closer, the star’s gravity begins to tear it apart.
Astronomers estimate the planet’s temperature is about 2,500 degrees Celsius (4,600 degrees Fahrenheit), high enough to boil some metals.
“The WASP-121B atmosphere behaves in a way that challenges understanding of how the weather works not only on Earth, but on all planets,” says the astronomer at Lagrange Laboratory, an astronomer at ESO. said Dr. Julia Victoria Seidel. Cote d’Azur.
“It feels like something from science fiction.”
“What we found was amazing. The Jet River rotates material around the planet’s equator, and another flow at a lower level in the atmosphere moves the gas from the hot side to the cool side. “
“We’ve never seen this kind of climate on any planet.”
“The observed jet stream spans half the planet, gaining speed and thrusts the air in the sky hard as it crosses the hot side of the WASP-121B.”
“Even the strongest hurricanes in the solar system seem milder in comparison.”
Dr. Seidel and colleagues to reveal the 3D structure of the atmosphere of the WASP-121B Used Espresso equipment located in ESO’s extremely large telescopes (VLTs) combines the light from four large telescope units into a single signal.
This combination mode of VLT collects 4 times the light of an individual telescope unit and reveals the details of the feinder.
Espresso was able to detect signatures of multiple chemical elements by observing the planet’s complete passage in front of the host star, resulting in different layers of the atmosphere.
“The VLT has led to three different layers of the Exoplanet atmosphere falling on one side,” said Dr. Leonardo A. dos Santos, an astronomer at the Institute of Space Telescope Science.
Astronomers were able to track the movement of iron, sodium and hydrogen, and track winds in the deep, central and shallow layers of the Earth’s atmosphere, respectively.
“It’s a very challenging observation for space telescopes and highlights the importance of ground-based observations on exoplanets,” Dr. Dos Santos said.
Interestingly, observations are also It was revealed Titanium is present just below the jet stream.
This was another surprise, as previous observations of the planet showed that this element was absent, and perhaps hidden deep within the atmosphere.
“It’s truly amazing to be able to study the details of such vast distances such as the chemical composition and weather patterns,” said PhD Viviana Prinos. A student at Lund University.
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JV Seidel et al. Vertical structure of the atmospheric jet stream of the exporanet. NaturePublished online on February 18th, 2025. doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08664-1
Three layers of the atmosphere of a giant tyro gas
ESO/m. Cone Messer
The atmosphere of a distant world is mapped in detail for the first time, revealing a strange, dizzy weather system, and the fastest winds ever blew inexplicably around the Earth's stratosphere.
Astronomers have been studying the WASP-121B, also known as Tylos, since 2015. A planet 900 light years away is a vast ball of gas twice the size of Jupiter, and the stars orbit very closely and complete their perfect orbit. Only 30 Earth Time. This close orbit heats the planet's atmosphere to a temperature of 2500°C, and is hot enough to boil iron.
now, Julia Seidel Chile and her colleagues' observatory in southern Europe use a very large telescope at the observatory to see in the burnt, hot atmosphere of Tyros, with at least three different layers of gas in different directions around the planet. I found out there. I've seen it before. “It's absolutely crazy, it's a science fiction-like pattern and behavior,” Seidel says.
The atmosphere of our solar system planets is driven by the internal temperature difference, whereas the winds in the upper layers are more affected by the temperature difference, and the strong wind flows are more affected by the temperature difference. shares a similar structure to Created by the heat of the sun, it warms the daylight side of the planet, while the other warms.
However, in the atmosphere of Tyros, it is driven by heat from the planetary stars, and it is the lower wind that moves away from the warm surface, but the jetstream is primarily in the middle layer of the atmosphere, surrounding the equator of Tyros. It looks like it's moving. In the direction of the planet's rotation. The upper layer also exhibits jetstream-like characteristics, but hydrogen gas floats outward from the planet. This is difficult to explain using current models, Seidel says. “What we're looking at now is actually the opposite of what comes out of theory.”
Furthermore, Tylos' jetstream is the most powerful ever, blasting at about 70,000 km/h on half the planet. This is almost twice as much as the previous record holder. It is unknown what exactly drives this velocity, but researchers believe it is caused by the planet's strong magnetic field or by ultraviolet rays from the stars. “This could change the flow pattern, but this is all very speculative,” Seidel says.
If there is one word related to scientific curiosity, it is “why”. Why is the universe expanding? Why are the rise in cancer cases among young people? Why is the sky blue?
In contrast, it is rare to pay much attention to questions that begin with “when.” Certainly, the universe began 13.8 billion years ago, our planet began 4.5 billion years ago, or Homo sapiens It evolved 300,000 years ago. However, these confident statements hide a lot of scientific conspiracy, mystery, and uncertainty. That may all be strange, well, why? Why not focus on “when” a little more?
Ask when we force us to sharpen our thinking, carefully define our terminology, and think about what the beginnings really look like. In this spirit, addressing seven of the most important “when” questions in a special package that begins here is “When did time begin? Tip: It wasn’t a big bang.” Each piece indicates “When?” It could be one of the most interesting questions you can ask.
Ask when we have already taught us so much about the epic sweep of universe history
To give an example, I’ve recently begun to see that the first galaxy appeared much earlier than you could imagine. The “when” here dramatically changes not only the early universe but also how the chemical elements that took place in order to create life were born. Without “when,” there is no “way,” and certainly no “why.”
Science is increasingly well equipped to investigate when things happened. Distant past dates can be inferred using evidence from radioisotopes or by extrapolating from known points in history. Our special feature reminds us that we have already asked what we have told you about the epic sweep of space and earthly history, from the switch on the first star to the first life of this planet. It’s something.
Of course, why is a key part of scientific curiosity, and asking what we do frequently, but let us not give it all the glory. If not now…
This article is part of a special series that explores seven of the biggest chronological challenges of all time. To read other stories in this series, come back today later:
When did the time begin? Tip: It wasn’t a big bang
Why it’s so difficult to know why Homo sapiens became a clear species
When did the first galaxy form? Much faster than we thought
tomorrow:
When did life begin on Earth? New evidence reveals shocking stories
When did plate tectonics begin? Problems are very important for childhood
We reveal a fundamentally different view of the origins of civilization.
Why geologists cannot agree when the Anthropocene era began
Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have produced an excellent image of the Spiral Galaxy UGC 5460.
This Hubble image shows the UGC 5460, a spiral galaxy about 60 million light years away in the URSA major constellations. Image credits: NASA/ESA/Hubble/W. Jacobson-Galán/A. Filippenko/J. Mauerhan.
UGC 5460 is It was located His major in Ursa is about 60 million light years.
Otherwise known as IRAS F10048+5205, Leda 29469, or TC 132, the galaxy is seen to be very close to face.
Two supernova explosions, named in 2011 and 2015 SN 2011ht and SN 2015ASwere observed with UGC 5460, respectively.
“Hubble targeted this galaxy because of the explosion of these two stars, collecting data from three observational programs aimed at studying different types of supernova,” says Hubble astronomers. said in a statement.
“SN 2015as was what is known as the Core Collapse Supernova. The intense events occur when the solar nucleus collapses under its own gravity, and begins to rebound material outside the core. It's an explosion.”
“The Hubble observations in SN 2015A help researchers understand what happens when the supernova's expanding shock wave collides with the gas surrounding the exploded star.”
“SN 2011HT may have been a Core Collapse Supernova, but it could also be a con man called the Luminous Blue variable.”
“The bright blue variable is a rare star that experiences eruptions so large that it can mimic a supernova.”
“Crucially, while these eruptions are intact, bright blue variables appear, but stars going to supernovae are not.”
“Hubble searches for stellar survivors at the location of SN 2011HT and it is possible that the explosion's identity will finally be revealed.”
The color image of the UGC 5460 is Hubble Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) UV, near-infrared, and optical parts of the spectrum.
“The image combines light of four different wavelengths to reveal the central bar of the star, a winding spiral arm, and a bright blue star cluster on the UGC 5460,” the astronomer said.
“In the upper left corner of this image there is an object much closer to it. It's a star just 577 light years away in our own galaxy.”
Paleontologists at American universities in Cairo and elsewhere say they found the almost perfect skull of Hyaenodont Bust Don Siltos in the lower part of the Ebel Catrani Formation in Egypt.
Bust Don Siltos. Image credit: Ahmad Morsi.
Bust Don Siltos lived in Egypt’s lush forests around 30 million years ago during the Oligocene era. Egypt is now home to the desert.
It is also known as Pterodon syrtos, the ancient species had the weight of hyenas or leopards (27 kg).
The animal had sharp teeth and strong jaw muscles, suggesting a strong bite.
It had a highly carnivorous diet that likely preyed on primates, early hippos, early elephants, and other large mammals.
“Bust Don Siltos belongs to a species of extinct group of carnivorous mammals known as hyaenodonts,” Dr. Shoruk al Ashkar, a paleontologist at Mansora University, American University in Cairo and colleagues, said.
“Hyenodons evolved before modern carnivorous animals such as cats, dogs and hyenas.”
“After the extinction of dinosaurs, these predators with hyena-like teeth hunted in African ecosystems.”
The skull of Bust Don Siltos was excavated in the Jebel Catlany Formation in the Faium depression.
“For several days, our team excavated a densely packed layer of rock dating back about 30 million years,” said Dr. Al Ashkar.
“As we were about to wrap up, our team members found something amazing. A large set of teeth sticking out from the ground.”
“His excited cry united the team and marked the beginning of an extraordinary discovery. The almost complete skull of an ancient apex carnivorous animal – a dream for a vertebrate paleontologist.”
“Faium is one of Africa’s most important fossil regions,” added Dr. Matt Bose, fossil curator at the Duke University Museum of Natural History.
“Without it, we would know little about the origins of African ecosystems and the evolution of African mammals like elephants, primates, and hyenodon.”
“Discovering Bustodon is an important achievement in understanding the diversity and evolution of Hyaenodonts and its global distribution,” said Dr. Al-Ashqar.
“We want to continue our research to unravel the complex relationships between these ancient predators and their environments across time and the continent.”
In their study, the authors also reevaluated a group of lion-sized hyanodons discovered in the rocks of Faium over 120 years ago.
They established a new genus of hyaenodont, sekhmetops, and reanalyzed materials from 33.8 million years ago.
They demonstrated that both Bustodon and sekhmetops actually belonged to the Hyaenodont group, which originated in Africa.
“Relatives of Bustodon and sekhmetops spread across multiple waves from Africa and eventually reached Asia, Europe, India, and North America,” they said.
“18 million years ago, some relatives of these Hyaenodonts were among the largest mammalian meat eaters to walk the planet.”
“However, radical changes in Africa’s global climate and geological shifts opened the continent to modern cats, dogs, and hyena ancestors.”
“As the environment and prey changed, the specialized and carnivorous hyaenodonts became less diverse and eventually became extinct, bringing primate relatives face to face with new adversaries.”
Survey results will be published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
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Shorouq F. al-ashqar et al. Cranial anatomy of hypercarnivore Bust Don Siltos Gen. November. (hyaenodonta, hyainailourinae) and reevaluation of Pterodon in Africa. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology Published online on February 16th, 2025. doi:10.1080/02724634.2024.2442472
Using Gemini South Telescope, NSF's Noirlab astronomers imaged a beautiful nebula around the young open cluster NGC 2040.
The nebula, including the NGC 2040, resembles the vivid roses in this image taken by a Gemini Southeres scope. Image credits: International Gemini Observatory / Neur Love / NSF / Aura / J. Miller & M. Rodriguez, International Gemini Observatory & NSF No Arab/TA Rector, University of Alaska Anchorage & NSF No Arab/NSF No Arab/NSF No Arab, NSF No Arab.
NGC 2040 It is about 160,000 light years away from Earth, the constellation of Dorado.
This cluster, also known as the Cal 60 or ESO 56-164, resides within the large Magellan cloud, a satellite d-star galaxy of the Milky Way.
NGC 2040 is a so-called OB association, usually a stellar group containing stars between 10 and 100 stars O and B.
“O- and B-spectral types of stars live a short life of just millions of years, burning very hot before they explode like supernovae during that time,” Noirlab astronomers said in a statement.
“The energy released by these massive star explosions will be fed into the formation of NGC structures in the 2040s, while the material emitted sowing the growth of the next generation of stars.”
Most of our galaxy stars are thought to have been born in the OB Association, as well as NGC 2040.
“NGC 2040 is part of a large structure of interstellar gas known as LH 88, one of the largest active star-forming regions within the large Magellan cloud,” the astronomer said. Ta.
“Thousands of new stars will be born in the region over the millions of years to come.”
“When stars O and B end their supernovae life, they enrich the clusters with elements like carbon, oxygen and iron,” they said.
“Along with the rich hydrogen in the cluster, these elements provide the components necessary for the formation of new stars, planets, and perhaps life.”
“The bright stars seen in the image are widely separated, but their movements through space are similar, indicating that they have a common origin.”
“The layered ambiguous structure of LH 88 is the remains of an already dead star.”
“The delicate leaves of the rose were formed by both the shock waves of the supernova and the stellar winds of the stars of O and B.”
Paleontologists have identified a new genus and species of small dinophalosaurid archosauromorph from a fossilized skeleton found in China’s Yunnan province.
Holotype of Austronaga Minuta Most of the caudal vertebrae, which were found in looping in Yunnan Province, China, were found, and preserved in the skull, anterior cervical spine, and blocks. Image credit: Wang et al. , doi: 10.19615/j.cnki.2096-9899.231013.
Austronaga Minuta lived in the Thetis Sea during the Middle Triassic period around 244 million years ago.
This new species is an Archosauromorph, a member of a group that contains all forms more closely related to it (such as Crocodilians and dinosaurs, etc.) than Lepidosaurs.
Ancient reptiles are sister species Dinocephalosaurus orientalis, another amazing marine reptile from the Triassic period in central China.
“The Medium Triassic in southern China has produced a prominent marine vertebrate assembly that dramatically alters the understanding of the Tethys Sea and its coastline biota,” says Vertebrate paleontology and paleontology. A colleague and colleague at the institute said. National Geopark.
“The Triassic non-quadrilateral alxaulmorph group holds an important position in these findings.”
“They were traditionally called prototrosauria or prototrosaurs, but are now considered paraphrasing groups.”
“One species belonging to this group of reptiles, Dinocephalosaurus orientalis one of the most interesting reptiles discovered in recent years from the Triassic period in southern China,” they added.
“Its very elongated neck reminds me of a similar condition as seen in the ausauromorph, another aquatic creature. Tanistrophius. ”
“Both species have more than twice the necks as the trunk.”
“Yunnan’s new non-crocodile Archosauromorph shares many features Dinocephalosaurus And along with the latter, it can be distinguished from other long-necked Archosauromorphs. ”
“However, this new species also exhibits many different anatomical features. Dinocephalosaurus therefore, new genus and species have been proposed. ”
A small but mature skeletal specimen of Austronaga Minuta was recovered from the Guanling Formation in Waina village in Yunnan Province, southwestern China.
“The specimen is very compacted, but contains almost completely completely complete, with the anterior part of the skull joint with the skull, and most of the caudal tail of about 60.” The paleontologist said.
Their phylogenetic analysis shows that Austronaga Minuta With Dinocephalosaurus and Pektden It forms a clade representing the Dinocephalosauridae of the Archosauromorph family.
New marine reptiles probably had an aquatic or semi-aquatic lifestyle.
“The dentition Austronaga It's less specialized than that Tanistrophius and Dinocephalosaurus yet they have enlarged teeth like these species. This corresponds to the food possibilities of small aquatic animals, such as fish and cephalopods,” the researchers said.
“Other potential indicators for aquatic movement are Austronaga. ”
“The elaborate structure of the caudal neural spines and chevrons is only observed in Austronaga and Dinocephalosaurus Among these non-crocopodan alxaulmorphs. ”
“These structures of the tail are not essential for aquatic propulsion, taking into account the absence of other aquatic reptiles and even some aquatic lines.”
“Nevertheless, similar morphology converges in many aquatic reptiles: caudal neural spines like plates have been developed in basal fishy disease. Sclerocormus and Chaohusaurus. ”
“The T-shaped chevron is found in the mysterious Zauroptari horn Atopodentatus and with primitive placedonts Paraplacodos and Placodus. ”
“Therefore, we consider the morphology of the caudal vertebrae. Austronaga Suitable for aquatic or at least semi-aquatic animals. ”
Findings are reported in a paper In the journal Palasiatica spine.
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W. Wang et al. 2024. A small dinophalosaurid archosauromorph from the Triassic period in central Yunnan Province, southwestern China. Palasiatica spine 62(1):13-32; doi:10.19615/j.cnki.2096-9899.231013
Bacteria resistance to antibiotics is a global health concern as once easily curable infections have become more difficult to treat. Many bacteria such as Escherichia coli, Escherichia coli It can generate resilient forms with additional survival mechanisms. For example, they can form a shield like a mat called Biofilmto keep yourself safe. Or they can move as a group known as Flockfind new resources. Researchers are studying antibiotic-resistant bacteria They have not studied how nutrients affect protective bacterial behavior across generations. Multi-generational memory.
Researchers at the University of Texas recently tested whether iron in the environment contributes to multi-generational memories of bacteria. Iron is an important nutrient for bacteria, just like humans. Metabolism and respiration. However, the amount of iron bacteria varies greatly depending on environmental conditions. If there is too little iron, bacteria cannot flourish. in the case of E. colidifferent iron levels may change their behavior.
The researchers created two groups E. coli. They gave the first group sufficient iron levels to inhibit growth. They gave the other groups 1,000 times more iron, making it extremely abundant. after that, Y removed nutrients from both groups of bacteria and raised the temperature so high that it caused them to stress. To see how their behavior has changed.
They found that bacteria tend to move towards different defensive behaviors depending on the iron level. Bacteria with less iron tended to crowd more frequently, whereas bacteria that formed more iron formed more frequently biofilms. Iron levels also influenced the ability of bacteria to form biofilms. This is because bacteria containing excess iron better protected biofilms, which form biofilms. However, they also found that for tracking exposure to two antibiotics, bacteria given to less iron become harder and better. Kanamycin and Chloramphenicol.
Scientists observed five generations e. E. coliCheck for each group to see if this behavior persists. They discovered that bacteria have tailored their herds and biofilms to their preferences for up to four generations. In other words, I remembered the iron level of my ancestors. But this Iron memoryas researchers called it, disappeared by the fifth generation. Based on these results, the researchers concluded that bacterial colonies can convey information about their environment, but only for a short time.
Researchers also found that bacterial memory itself is associated with iron levels. By observing behavioural and genetic changes in bacteria, they identified two proteins that regulate the amount of bacteria absorbed. Fepa and fur. These were observed that all affected bacteria tend to be herd when iron levels were lower and these proteins worked more vigorously. They interpret this result and show that iron levels leave permanent physical changes in bacteria, affecting the bacterial environment memory, leading to behavioral changes.
The researchers also suggested that their findings could help scientists improve antibiotics. They explained that antibiotics produce harmful chemicals that damage bacterial cells. Reactive oxygen species Or ROS. They found that high iron levels within the environment promote this ROS production. Therefore, bacteria with low iron levels survived the treatment better as antibiotics generate less productive ROS. They suggested that the findings suggest that low iron levels also support bacteria in responding to antibiotics, as they adapt quickly to environmental stresses.
Researchers say learning how bacteria use iron memories can help scientists fight antibiotic resistance through multi-generational adaptations. Bacteria that remember previous antibiotic exposures are much more difficult to kill and are constantly concerned about antibiotic resistance. Researchers concluded that antibiotics could potentially provide benefits in the future by breaking the memory of such bacteria. Still, they acknowledged that further research is needed to determine the limitations of this mechanism and whether it works in other bacteria.
Cancer therapy using genetically modified immune cells called CAR T cells has maintained people without potentially fatal neurotumors for a record 18 years.
“This is, to my knowledge, the longest lasting complete remission among patients who have received T-cell therapy in their car,” he says. Karin Stratoff At University College London, where he was not involved in treatment. “This patient will be cured,” she says.
Doctors use CAR T-cell therapy to treat certain blood cancers, such as leukemia. To do this, they collect samples of T cells that form part of the immune system from the patient's blood and genetically manipulate them to target and kill cancer cells. The modified cells are then returned to the body. In 2022, a follow-up study found that this approach was in remission for two people with leukemia for about 11 years.
However, CAR T-cell therapy usually fails against solid tumors such as neuroblastoma. Neuroblastoma occurs when developing neurons in children and usually becomes cancerous before the age of five. Such tumors often resist being attacked by the immune system, reducing the effectiveness of the modified T-cell.
This is the reason Cliona Rooney At Baylor School of Medicine in Houston, Texas, and her colleagues were surprised that people with neuroblastoma in childhood treated with CAR T cell therapy as part of their 2005 trial remained in control of cancer. . 18 years later. “These results were amazing. It's very rare to get a complete response from neuroblastoma with this approach,” says Rooney.
The person was treated at age 4 after several chemotherapy and radiation therapy failed to completely eradicate the cancer. At the time, the team also treated 10 other people who were in the same condition that the cancer had recurred after standard treatment, and they all had virtually no side effects, says Rooney. One of these participants showed no signs of cancer before dropping out of the study nearly nine years later, making follow-up impossible. The remaining nine participants eventually died from cancer. This was mainly killed within a few years of receiving treatment.
It is unclear why some people responded much better than others. “That's a million dollar question. I really don't know why,” Rooney says.
One reason is that each individual's T-cell behaves slightly differently depending on a variety of lifestyle factors, such as their genetics, prior exposure to infections, and diet, Rooney says. In fact, the team found that CAR T cells last longer in the blood among longer surviving participants.
Another explanation is that some participants' tumors were more immunosuppressive and strongly resisted T cells in the car, Rooney says.
The Rooney team is now looking for new ways to design cells so that it can benefit more people. “We have to improve them and make them stronger without increasing toxicity,” she says.
Such efforts are likely to lead to even greater success, Straathof says. “Now we have a glimpse of what is possible.”
The eastern half of the US is bracing for severe weather this weekend, with “life-threatening” flash floods expected in parts of the southeast and heavy snowfall as the storm progresses from the Midwest to New England.
The heaviest snow is predicted in Michigan, New York, New Hampshire, and Maine, with double-digit totals projected by the National Weather Service.
Workers removing snow from sidewalks during a winter storm in Chicago on February 12, 2025. Scott Olson/Getty Images
The National Weather Service issued an early warning on Saturday highlighting the potential for severe flash floods in Ohio and Tennessee valleys, especially in Kentucky and Tennessee.
Approximately 21 million people from Arkansas to Pennsylvania have been placed under various flood warnings.
A broad range of severe thunderstorms is anticipated across the region, bringing rainfall of up to 6 inches and isolated higher totals of 8 inches in certain areas.
The Weather Bureau stated, “The heavy rainfall poses the greatest risk of life-threatening flash floods, notably in northwest Tennessee and western Kentucky, where there is a high risk of excessive rainfall (level 4/4) in effect.” Read more in the Short-Range Forecast Discussion.
Apart from flooding, there is also a potential for thunderstorms and strong tornadoes in parts of the Lower Mississippi Valley, according to the National Weather Service.
A large area of rain and thunderstorms is expected to persist along the mid-Atlantic and southeastern coasts through the weekend, increasing the risk of heavy precipitation and flash flooding.
Further north, medium to heavy snowfall is forecasted from the upper Midwest through the Great Lakes to New England, affecting around 70 million people with winter weather warnings from Nebraska to Maine.
A mix of sleet and freezing rain is expected in much of the northeast, creating hazardous driving conditions.
The NWS Weather Prediction Center warned, “The greatest risk for ice accumulation due to freezing rain is in the northeast.” They also cautioned that in some areas, icing could lead to power outages. Read the advisory on x website.
The storm is expected to intensify in the northeast from late Saturday through Sunday, with strong gusty winds and periods of snow creating extremely difficult travel conditions, as per the Weather Service.
Early next week, forecasts indicate that rain and snow will move away from the east coast, but breezy winds will maintain cooler temperatures across much of the eastern US.
Quality of sleep is often judged by the number of hours we sleep, but recent research suggests that the timing of sleep may be more crucial than the duration.
A study published in the journal Sleep indicates that the consistency of your sleep schedule, rather than just the number of hours slept, is a strong predictor of your risk of mortality. Even individuals who consistently get 7-8 hours of sleep but have irregular sleep patterns were found to be at a higher risk of stroke, heart attacks, and cancer. On the other hand, those with a consistent sleep routine had up to a 48% lower risk of death from all causes.
It’s important to note that simply sticking to an erratic sleep pattern with minimal hours of sleep is not advised. The study found that individuals who slept less than six hours or more than nine hours per night had a higher risk of mortality. While sleep duration is significant, the link between mortality and consistent sleep patterns was stronger.
Researchers analyzed data from nearly 61,000 individuals in the UK Biobank, totaling over 10 million recorded sleep hours. By studying sleep patterns and mortality rates, they identified the factors associated with an increased risk of early death.
These findings may lead to updated public health guidelines on sleep recommendations, emphasizing the importance of not only getting sufficient sleep but also maintaining a consistent sleep schedule for overall health improvement.
Further research is needed to determine if these findings are applicable to a broader population beyond the UK.
Distribution area and sampling site for pangolins in China and Malay. Image credit: LAN et al. , doi: 10.1093/gigascience/giaf003.
Pangolins are living fossils with many unique biological properties, including the body-covering keratin scale, a special diet, a long, muscular tongue, a sensitive olfactory system, and the ability to dig holes.
Locals in that distribution area have traditionally used their scales and meat for medicine and food.
An excess excerpt of pangolin, driven by rising demand for luxurious foods and traditional Chinese herbal medicines, has pushed the animal to the edge of extinction.
Currently, pangolins are the most trafficked wildlife in the world, with over 900,000 individuals poaching 67 countries from six continents involved in illegal poaching and trade.
Poaching is more rampant for Asian pangolins compared to African pangolins, particularly Malayan pangolins and Chinese pangolins.
These two species are listed as Critical at risk On the IUCN Red List for the first time since 2014.
“World Pangolin Day is celebrated on February 15th, so a new study presenting high-quality genomic data for these pangolin species is the genetic vulnerability and risk of extinction in Malayan and China's pangolin species. It's fitting that he is in the spotlight on the subject,” Yang Hua and colleagues.
The starting point for their analysis was to generate genome sequences of Chinese and Malay pangolins at significantly higher resolutions than those currently available.
Having such high quality data in the form of near-gap chromosomal scale sequences will capture important information, which is a key indicator of genetic health, and important information, which is the risk of extinction in any population. It's very valuable for it.
Therefore, the analysis included estimates of genetic diversity. This shows how many genetic variations exist between individuals in the population.
Scientists then used high-quality data as reference points and used previously published genomic data from 37 Chinese pangolins and 72 Malayan pangolin individuals to conservation inheritance of five pangolin populations. The condition has been reassessed.
They found the overall genetic diversity was surprisingly high. This is a positive indication of the genetic health of the population.
However, their detailed analysis showed that some of these populations were at higher risk of extinction than others.
Specifically, based on genetic data from one pangolin population, the authors have shown that this population has significantly faster and more sharper population declines within the last 10,000 years compared to the other populations in the study. I confirmed that it was over.
Furthermore, other genetic parameters in their studies indicate that this population, particularly in particular, is at a very high risk of extinction.
In addition to this, analysis of pangolin specimens from Taiwan revealed equally painful data.
Severe survival pressures require future work to solidify certain pangolin populations to some extent at the risk of extinction.
The data also show that further research into regional differences in these populations should be more careful as it has the capacity to help guide the already ongoing genetic rescue efforts.
“In addition to supporting the management of illegal poaching and human trafficking, the Chinese government has built breeding centres for the conservation of pangolins in both China and Malay and developed artificial breeding and breeding programs.” Academy and Northeast Forestry University.
“With the support of these data, we can better assess the genetic rescue strategies of wild populations by reconstructing and releasing these prisoner individuals in the future.”
a paper The findings were published in the journal gigascience.
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TIANMING LAN et al. 2025. Enhanced inbreeding estimation and global conservation insights through chromosomal-level gatherings of pangolins in China and Malay. gigascience 14: GIAF003; doi: 10.1093/gigascience/giaf003
Paleontologists explain new specimens of the genus Archeopteryx From the Mercim Formation in Franconia Albus in Bavaria, Germany.
Karlsruhe specimen: (a) Original condition of the slab before preparation. (b) Slab containing the remains of the left arm and fragments of the right arm after initial preparation. Image credit: foth et al. , doi: 10.3897/fr.28.131671.
Archeopteryx It is a genus of dinosaurs, like feathered birds, that lived during the Jurassic period about 150 million years ago.
3 species and over 10 specimens Archeopteryx It is now all known from Bavaria, Germany.
It is considered the first known bird, Archeopteryx It had primitive properties like teeth and long bone tails, and was similar in size to Eurasian magpies.
“Archeopteryx Dr. Christian Foss, a paleontologist at Friborg and Rostock University, and his colleagues, said:
“To date, this taxa is known only from the lower Titonians of Bavaria in Germany. Nine of the 11 specimens currently known as this genus have been excavated from the Altmühltal Formation.”
“Morphological variation, such as dentition and limb proportions – suggestions within the genus Archeopteryx They may experience evolutionary changes and be divided into different species during this period. ”
“For over 150 years, the genus Archeopteryx “It was the only Jurassic representative that could be introduced to the Pareve, the theropod clade, which includes the bird and its closest parents, Doromaosaurid and Trudontid,” they added.
“Discovering diverse communities of Pallavia packaging from slightly older rocks in northeastern China over the past decades, identification of fragmented harem specimens. Archeopteryx As another taxa, Ostromia Classicesand discovery Alcmonavis Poeschlielucidated the previously unexpected complexity of the evolution, diversity and distribution of Pallavia in the late Jurassic period. ”
Reconstruction of Archeopteryx albersdoerferi. Image credit: Zhao Chuang/Martin Kundrát.
new Archeopteryx The specimen – a fragmentary skeleton – was discovered in May 2019 in the Mörnsheim Formation in Mörnsheim, Baibaria, Southern Germany.
“The skeleton is the third Aviala specimen found in the Mörnsheim formation,” the paleontologist said.
“It consists of fragments of both the right forelimb and shoulder, left forelimb and both the hind limb.”
Unofficially called Karlsruhe specimen, the new fossil is about 149 million years old, and is the 12th specimen representing it Archeopteryx Genus.
“The specimens are within the size range of specimens for Dating, Munich, Thermopolis and feather wings and therefore represent one of the medium sizes. Archeopteryx Samples,” the researchers said.
Their paper It was published in the journal in January 2025 Fossil Record.
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C. foth et al. 2025. new Archeopteryx From the Mercim Formation in lower Titonia at Mullheim (Jurassic Evening). Fossil Record 28(1):17-43; doi:10.3897/fr.28.131671
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