Tag Archives: Humanitys

Why Memory Manipulation Might Be One of Humanity’s Best Innovations

Posted on by
Reply
New scientist. Our website and magazine feature science news and long reads by expert journalists covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment.

I vividly remember the moment my late lab partner, Xu Liu, and I first met.
Illuminated, it felt as if the neurons responsible for some of our memories were breathing life into those thoughts again. We stimulated groups of neurons in the hippocampus of mice, positing that these neurons serve as the physical foundation of memories, or engrams. Little did we realize, we were delving into one of neuroscience’s most thrilling frontiers: the potential to modify memories themselves.

The term “memory manipulation” might evoke unsettling imagery of erased histories and deceitful implants. However, within the lab, the reality is much more serene and optimistic. The very discovery that enables us to activate or deactivate memories in mice is also guiding us on how to heal our brains, including methods for diminishing trauma
memory and enhancing the fading
elements, allowing us to rebalance the emotions associated with our memories
we carry.

Over the last decade, this research has unveiled three significant principles. First, memories are adaptable during their storage, recall, and restoration. Second, they are situated across various regions in the brain rather than being localized to one area. Finally, memories can be artificially implanted within the brain. Each principle reshapes our understanding of what “memory editing” signifies.

During memory formation, brain cells collaborate and strengthen their connections. This process can be either enhanced or hindered by varying stimulation patterns. Brain stimulation through implanted electrodes or magnetic pulses can facilitate navigation in a
virtual environment. Substances like medications, hormones, and even tiny amounts of sugar can bolster the brain’s ability to stabilize new experiences. Moreover, exercise promotes the development of new neurons, thereby enhancing the health of the hippocampus and the brain overall
body. Conversely, overstimulation of memory circuits may lead to a decline in memory strength
leading to degradation; inhibiting the molecules that fortify these connections can weaken them further.

Memories can also be altered at the moment of recollection, temporarily rendering them unstable, thus creating opportunities to adjust them before they are stored once more. Therapists are already utilizing this “window of reintegration” in assisting individuals grappling with phobias and trauma. In our studies involving animals, the repeated reactivation of distressing memories is enough to
dull their emotional impact. Additionally, reactivating positive memories during periods of stress can completely overshadow negative emotions. In one
rat study, a week of “positive memory reactivation” alleviated depression-like symptoms for over a month.

Given that memories are distributed throughout the brain, they are highly resilient. Damage to a specific region will likely not erase the entire experience; instead, the brain finds alternative pathways to access memories through
multiple “drafts”. This redundancy provides hope for treating Alzheimer’s disease. If we can reinforce the pathways to the intact memories, we might restore fragments of our identity previously deemed lost. Thus, memory manipulation isn’t about altering who we are; it’s about forging new pathways back to our true selves.

Like any significant medical development, from pacemakers to transplants, this concept raises ethical considerations. Our aim is to alleviate suffering to improve overall well-being. It’s about assisting veterans in easing the grip of flashbacks, aiding individuals in recovery to dissociate cravings from triggers, and helping those with Alzheimer’s to grasp the names of loved ones.

Learning to reshape memories responsibly can foster healing. Each time a memory is revisited, the brain is already in editing mode. Today’s science is just beginning to uncover the rules guiding this process. As I recall fleeting memories with Xu, I envision not science fiction, but a future in which scientific knowledge and memory converge to become foundational to mental health.


Steve Ramirez. I am the author of How to change your memory: One neuroscientist’s quest to change the past.

Topic:

Source: www.newscientist.com

The Moon Could Soon Be the Site of Humanity’s Wildest Experiments

Posted on by
Reply

What would occur if a Super Collider encircled the moon? Surprisingly, scientists and engineers are intrigued by the concept of a Super Collider of the Moon.

This type of machine operates similarly to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN near Geneva, which is the world’s most extensive and highest-energy particle accelerator. These “atomic smashers” generate two beams of particles that travel in opposing directions through ultra-high navigational rings.

A robust superconducting electromagnet propels the beams to nearly the speed of light. When these beams collide with detector instruments, they produce a cascade of additional particles that can be measured and analyzed.

The greater the energy of the particles involved, the more substantial the mass of the collider’s “products”.

Numerous inquiries in contemporary particle physics necessitate exploring this high mass parameter space. Consequently, physicists are eager to construct larger, more powerful colliders. The moon, in this case, serves as an ideal location.

One study from 2022 explored the concept of atomic smashers surrounding the moon, spanning approximately 11,000 km (6,835 miles). This collider could operate at 1,000 times the energy of the LHC, enabling physicists to search for new particles and phenomena.

The Large Hadron Collider has enabled us to deduce important properties of dark matter. A nuclear clock may further illuminate this enigmatic material that constitutes most of the universe. – Photo Credit: Getty Images

While it is challenging to foresee the discoveries that such an enormous accelerator might yield, scientists hope it could provide insights into the evolution of the universe and its colossal structures.

But why construct these machines on the moon instead of Earth? Essentially, it boils down to real estate. Colliders exceeding 10,000 km (6,214 miles) in diameter present numerous geological, technical, and political challenges on our planet.

Conversely, the moon offers several advantages. Building a circular tunnel beneath its surface and maintaining the essential superconducting ring would be easier (and more cost-effective).

Additionally, the moon is more geologically stable than Earth and has a plentiful supply of solar energy.

Engineers estimate that establishing a Super Collider on the moon would take over 20 years, assuming human presence is established there. Thus, the prospect of a “Mega-Collider” materializing in this century appears slim.

This article addresses the question posed by Faye Holmes via email: “What if we made a Super Collider around the Moon?”

Please reach out to us with your questions at Question @sciencefocus.com or message us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram Page (don’t forget to include your name and location).

Check out our ultimate Fun Fact and more fabulous science pages!

read more:


Source: www.sciencefocus.com

Is the Giant Moon Telescope Humanity’s Best Hope for Discovering Aliens?

Posted on by
Reply

“In 2050, the first 100m diameter telescope took shape in a crater on the moon.”

Vladimir Vasyansky/NASA

The Allsea eyes, operational since the 2070s, were the largest and most powerful optical systems ever constructed. Comprising eight telescopes dispersed across the lunar expanse, each equipped with a 100-meter mirror, the collective aperture of this composite telescope spanned the entire lunar surface, enabling exceptional imaging capabilities.

This marked the first occasion we could observe the “first light,” indicating the birth of the universe’s first star. We also captured details of distant exoplanet surfaces across great expanses of time.

In 2020, numerous proposals emerged for these ambitious, next-generation telescopes; however, the technological feasibility for large-scale space projects was limited at that time. By the 2050s, lunar transport became routine and economically viable, paving the way for lunar construction.

An earlier proposal from 2020 focused on what was termed Finally, a large telescope (ULT), with a mirror measuring 100 meters, came to fruition.

ULT utilized liquid mirrors instead of traditional glass. These liquids were more cost-effective to transport to the moon and could be molded into completely reflective surfaces. Given the moon’s gravity, constructing larger mirrors that exceed those on Earth became practical. For comparison, the James Webb Space Telescope, operational in the 2020s, features a 6.5-meter mirror.

While the lunar single telescope was powerful, it lacked the resolution to distinguish the detailed features of exoplanet bodies. Nonetheless, astronomers focused on expanding ULT’s capabilities.

A clever technique used in radio telescopes to enhance their range, Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), proved suitable for optical systems as well. In 2017, the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration employed VLBI to capture the first image of a supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy by merging inputs from eight Earth-based telescopes to amplify the effective telescope size.

In 2025, scientists spearheaded by Zixin Huang at the Engineering Quantum Systems Center at Macquarie University, Australia, proposed using VLBI for optical telescopes. Although technical, political, and financial barriers prolonged development, the advent of the first 100-meter diameter telescope in lunar craters by 2050 led to serious initiatives for constructing a lunar-sized optical telescope.

“
The telescope on the moon dates back 13 billion years and photographs the first generation of high-mass stars.
“

By 2075, an additional seven telescopes were established on the lunar surface, linking to form an effective aperture equivalent to a 3000 km mirror.

In the mid-2020s, the James Webb Telescope revisited the past to observe the formation of the universe’s first galaxy. Now, through the combined observations, the enigmatic Population III stars have been unveiled. Stars are categorized into different groups; Population I contains recent stars abundant in heavy elements, Population II includes older stars with lower metal content, while Population III consists of the universe’s earliest stars formed post-Big Bang, characterized by minimal metallic content. The Big Bang primarily produced hydrogen and helium, with mere traces of lithium and beryllium. All heavier elements had to be synthesized in stars. The combined observations have looked back 13 billion years and documented the high-mass first-generation stars, including one blue giant star, 100,000 times the mass of the sun, dubbed Zixin-1 in honor of the astronomer who significantly contributed to the development of optical VLBI.

The moon-sized telescope concept has been referred to by various names over the years. Initially proposed in 2008 by a team from the University of Arizona, the lunar liquid spraying telescope eventually evolved into a larger project in 2020. To escape the possibly uninspired public names like Moony McMoonface, the term “Allsea Eyes” was officially adopted. The project is now affectionately dubbed Sauron: Super-Accessible Ultra-Resolution Optical Network.

The facility has enabled unprecedented imaging of black holes, but its primary objective was to determine if humanity is alone in the universe. The observations made of the exoplanet Gliese 667cc indicated the potential for alien civilizations to have developed in our cosmic neighborhood, particularly within the Trappist-1 system, about 22 light-years away. Despite debates surrounding the costs of constructing Sauron, they never gained significant traction.

Rowan Hooper is the podcast editor for New Scientist and the author of How to Spend $1 Trillion. These are 10 global issues that can be fixed. Follow him on BlueSky
@rowhoop.bsky.social

Topic:

Source: www.newscientist.com

Humanity’s First True Urban Pest: A 60,000-Year History of Infestation

Posted on by
Reply

As the saying goes, “Don’t bite bed bugs.”

Recent studies reveal that these pests have been accompanying humans since they ventured out of caves approximately 60,000 years ago, possibly earning the title of “the first true urban pest.”

Researchers indicate that understanding the symbiotic relationship between bed bugs and blood-sucking parasites could enhance predictive models for the spread of pests and diseases as urban populations swell. This finding was detailed in a study published in the journal Biology Letters on Wednesday.

Through genetic analysis, Virginia Tech researchers have found that the populations of bed bugs that fed on humans began to dwindle until the last ice age around 20,000 years ago.

At this point, the two lineages began to diverge.

“The most thrilling part is the resurgence of human-associated strains and a rise in effective population,” stated Lindsay Miles, the study’s lead author and a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Entomology at Virginia Tech. News Release from Wednesday.

Bed bug populations also surged approximately 12,000 years ago when humans began forming large settlements that evolved into cities like Mesopotamia. The study noted that furniture and blood-sucking pests such as rats and cockroaches became domestic nuisances.

The research indicated a decline in the bat bedbug.

The analysis of demographic patterns “offers compelling evidence that human-associated lineages closely followed the demographic history and movement of modern humans toward the first city,” concluded the researchers.

“Bed bugs shared living spaces with early humans, and as humans migrated, they took along a subset of the population, leading to reduced genetic diversity in those strains associated with humans,” explained Warren Booth, an associate professor of urban entomology at Virginia Tech.

The team observes an “effective population size,” which refers to the number of breeders contributing to the next generation, allowing them to glimpse past trends, according to Miles.

The earliest human civilizations emerged around 10,000 years ago, creating optimal conditions for the “proliferation of pests in communal cities,” as noted by Miles and Booth in the study results.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

Photographs that encapsulate humanity’s eternal fascination with the moon

Posted on by
Reply

Close-up photo of astronaut shoes and shoe marks in lunar soil taken by Buzz Aldrin in July 1969

NASA/Johnson Space Center

We say don’t stop thinking about or talking about the moon Matthew CindelCurator of the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.

“In cities with lots of artificial light that tend to make it difficult to see stars, the moon is still very bright above us. We have been obscuring the stars, but where do we go? And yet, the moon is this extremely constant presence during our nighttime,” he says.

in Ring: The history of the moon in myths, maps and matterCompiled by Sindel, 19 authors tell the story of this coexistence between humanity and celestial bodies through a series of insightful essays, impressive images, and detailed maps of the geological features of the moon.

“It’s a story of how people’s views across the universe have changed, how physics works, how they see their position in the universe, what their views are about,” says Sindel.

Geological Maps – Almost 4 dozen of them – Location month Changing readers’ understanding of the reality of the moon. They are part of the lunar atlas produced by NASA and the US Geological Survey between 1962 and 1974, and are based on telescope observations, images, and samples taken by Robotlanders and astronauts.

In these maps, the moon is divided into 144 sections called Quadrangles, some of which were named in the 1600s and began sketching what cartographers saw through newly developed telescopes (hereinafter referred to as).

Three portrayals of the moon by Claude Melan (1637) are considered to be the most detailed and realistic portrayal of the moon surface.

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Beyond being a scientific document, the maps revealed the culture of their time. Part of the moon was named after modern monarchs, such as the Oceanu Philip IV of Spain. The dark plains of the moon were often labeled “sea.” Because early observers imagined they were like the oceans of Earth. Even today, looking at the moon maps can make you think about sailing through the Serenity seas or taking a dip in the Rainbow Bay.

Cindel says the more powerful telescopes came into being, the deeper the moon’s imagination became. One notable example is the 1835 Great Moon Hoax in New York solar The newspaper has released a series of false reports of the discovery of moon life, accompanied by flying and other sculptures of fantastic creatures. In the same era, we see the beginning and surge in science fiction stories about visiting the moon, folding into modern writers and scientifically advanced visions of the future, with ancient people worshipping it as a god. It was linked.

Published by the Great Moon Hoax (1835) solar It depicts a human-like moon valley and a flying bat-like creature

Library of Congress Prints and Photography Division Washington, DC

Sindel says that with scientific advances, many researchers have continued to cherish a very direct and personal approach to the moon. In the 1840s, it was possible to combine cameras and telescopes to photograph the moon, but due to technical challenges, many moon cartographers still have the eyes of being the best cartographer instrument. got it.

The map below shows the Petavius square, named after the 17th-century theologian Dennis Petau, and features a crater of the same name, about 200 kilometers in diameter.

www.newscientist.com

Prehistoric Lovebirds Thrived in Humanity’s Birthplace 2.5 Million Years Ago

Posted on by
Reply

Paleontologists have discovered the fossilized bones of a new species of parrot. Agapornis The event will take place in three regions of the UNESCO World Heritage Site “The Cradle of Humankind” in Gauteng, South Africa.

Rebuilding the couple's lives Agapornis longipes People forage on the ground during the dry season in the Early Pleistocene period of the Cradle of Humankind, Gauteng, South Africa. Image by Martina Cadin.

“Lovebirds (Genus Agapornis“Psittacidae (parrots) are small parrots endemic to sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar,” said Dr Marco Pavia from the University of Turin and his colleagues.

“It currently includes nine species that live in woodlands and wooded savannahs, breed in tree cavities, and feed mainly on grass seeds and fruits collected on the ground and, to a lesser extent, on trees.”

“Genetic data suggest that parrots colonized Africa during the late Eocene and early Oligocene. Agapornis They first migrated into Africa from Australasia during the Late Oligocene/Early Miocene, about 24 million years ago.”

“Psittacula Crameri “It is the most recent parrot to have dispersed across the continents around the boundary between the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs (2.5 to 1.5 million years ago).”

“The fossil record of African parrots is very scarce, with the oldest dating back to the early Pliocene period of the Langebaanweg.”

“Surprisingly, most of the African fossils AgapornisThe oldest one is Agapornis Attenborough It was described from the Early Pliocene of the Langebaanweg in South Africa.”

The newly identified species is Agapornis longipesIt lived in South Africa about 2.5 million years ago.

The fossils have been found at Kromdraai, Cooper Cave and Swartkrans sites in South Africa.

The specimen includes all major wing bones (humerus, ulna, carpometacarpals), tarsometatarsus, a fragmentary mandible, and a coracoid.

“The fossils were recovered from three sites in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Cradle of Humankind, a key area for understanding early human evolution in Southern Africa,” the paleontologists said.

“The Cradle of Humankind contains several hominin fossil sites dating from the Late Pliocene to the Late Pleistocene, and their study has shed light on the paleoecological and paleoenvironmental context surrounding the emergence of the genus Homo in the region, and its relationship to the contemporary species Australopithecus and Paranthropus.”

“The three fossil sites – Swartkrans, Cooper's Cave and Kromdraai – are located in the southern part of the Cradle Range, approximately one kilometre east and one and a half kilometres northeast of Sterkfontein Cave respectively, and are separated by a few hundred metres from each other,” the researchers added.

Agapornis longipes It is distinct from nine extant species. Agapornis Genus and extinct Agapornis atlanticus and Agapornis Attenborough It is known for several morphological characteristics and for having the smallest humerus-to-tarsometatarsal ratio. Agapornis seed.

“Except for one. Agapornis “These species feed primarily on grass seeds and then fruits and are generally associated with the presence of grasslands, permanent water sources and tall trees that provide either natural cavities or holes excavated by other birds such as woodpeckers or barbets,” the researchers said.

“The long, slender legs Agapornis longipes This may be related to feeding adaptations of this extinct species.”

“Indeed, modern species with a low humerus-to-tarsometatarsus ratio typically gather food on the ground, while others also gather seeds and fruits from trees.”

“We assume that Agapornis longipes As suggested by paleoenvironmental reconstructions, it used its longer legs to feed on grass seeds at ground level in the tall grass, dense prairie of the paleo-Blue Bank Valley.”

“The present-day environment in this region of the Cradle of Humankind and South Africa is not significantly different from that of the Early Pleistocene, and the extinction of lovebirds from this region during the Pleistocene is likely related to changes in microclimatic conditions and the extinction of specific food resources, rather than changes in general environmental conditions.”

This new species is paper In the journal Geobios.

_____

Marco Pavia othersLovebirds (birds, parrot family, AgapornisThis fossil was discovered in the Plio-Pleistocene era (Gauteng, South Africa), the birthplace of humankind. GeobiosPublished online August 9, 2024; doi: 10.1016/j.geobios.2024.05.006

Source: www.sci.news