We now know that dinosaurs were large reptiles that ruled the Earth, but scientists have always been curious about why it took them 30 million years to reach their peak. New research on fossilized poop and vomit may have found the answer – food.
According to the study, carnivorous dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus may owe their massive size to their plant-eating ancestors. If these herbivores hadn’t consumed so many plants, researchers suggest that dinosaurs might not have evolved into the colossal creatures we know today.
The fossilized poop and vomit, dated back to about 230 to 200 million years ago, provide insights into the ancient food web. By studying over 500 fossils, scientists identified various prey items from beetles to bones, shedding light on the evolving food chains during the Triassic period.
By combining this information with climate data and other fossils, researchers gained valuable knowledge about the prehistoric environment and the species that coexisted with dinosaurs on Earth.
“Sometimes seemingly ordinary fossils hold extraordinary information that is invaluable,” said study co-author Dr. Martin Kvarnström from Uppsala University in Sweden, as reported by BBC Science Focus.
Co-author Dr. Grzegorz Niedzwicki added, “Understanding the dietary habits of early dinosaurs can offer insights into their success as a group and the importance of predator-prey relationships in shaping Earth’s evolutionary history.”
The study, featured in Nature magazine, analyzed digestive samples from south-central Poland, providing clues about the Late Triassic period and the changes in vegetation during that time.
By employing advanced scanning techniques, researchers were able to visualize intricate details of the fossils, unveiling significant discoveries about the size and distribution of vertebrate populations before the dominance of dinosaurs.
Scientists scanned more than 500 fossils for the study. – Illustration: Qvarnström et al., Nature, 2024
This research model opens up opportunities to explore ancient species in different regions worldwide, emphasizing the importance of analyzing fossilized remains beyond just skeletal findings.
“We aim to highlight the significance of saprolites in reconstructing ancient ecosystems, moving beyond their conventional perception as mere curiosities,” noted Kvarnström.
“While everyone focuses on fossilized skeletons, it is the organic remains that provide crucial insights into the ancient ecological dynamics,” added Niedzwicki.
About our experts:
Dr. Martin Kvarnström, a researcher at Uppsala University, specializes in using fossils to study reptilian diets, particularly dinosaurs.
Dr. Grzegorz Niedzwicki, also a researcher at Uppsala University, focuses on the early evolution of dinosaurs and quadrupeds.
When it comes to weight loss, one universal truth stands out: losing body fat is challenging, and keeping it off can be even more difficult. A recent study may shed some light on why this is the case: adipose tissue, or body fat, retains a sort of “memory” even after cells have become obese.
“This discovery potentially helps explain the changes that occur in adipose tissue during weight fluctuations,” explained Dr. Ferdinand von Mayen, an assistant professor at ETH Zurich’s Faculty of Health Sciences and Technology, in an interview with BBC Science Focus.
Dr. von Mayen and his team observed transcriptional changes in human cells, which are responsible for regulating genetic material, in individuals’ adipose tissue before and after a 25 percent reduction in BMI. “We found that even after weight loss, the genetic regulation in adipose tissue did not fully return to normal, indicating that the body is programmed to regain lost weight,” he added.
While this news may be disheartening for those on a weight loss journey, Dr. von Mayen hopes that this study will help destigmatize weight fluctuations. “There is a molecular mechanism at play that influences weight regain, and it’s not simply a matter of willpower,” he emphasized.
He also stressed the importance of prevention in addressing the global obesity epidemic. “Early intervention is key, as it is much harder to lose weight once it has been gained. Implementing healthier lifestyle choices at a societal level is crucial in combating this issue,” Dr. von Mayen noted.
About our experts
Dr. von Mayen: I specialize in researching obesity and metabolic diseases at the Nutritional and Metabolic Epigenetics Laboratory at ETH Zurich.
Evidence of antimatter in cosmic rays has been discovered by scientists, suggesting the potential existence of a new type of particle. These particles could be a part of dark matter, a mysterious substance that makes up 85 percent of the universe’s mass but has never been directly observed.
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A recent study indicates that antihelium particles, the antimatter form of helium, detected by instruments on the International Space Station may have originated from a new class of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs). It is believed that dark matter could be made up of WIMPs.
“WIMP is a theoretical particle that could potentially be a perfect candidate for dark matter,” explained lead author Pedro de la Torre Luque, a physicist supporting research at the Institute of Theoretical Physics in Madrid. “Many proposed models have been ruled out, leaving only a few surviving theories.”
The antihelium core observed during cosmic ray research on the space station’s alpha magnetic spectrometer (AMS-02) may have been the result of two WIMPs colliding and annihilating each other. This collision could have generated matter, antimatter, and energy.
Antimatter is essentially the “mirror image” of normal matter, with the same mass but opposite properties such as charge.
While some antimatter may have been created during the Big Bang, researchers believe that additional antimatter is continuously generated by specific cosmic events, although it is challenging to observe.
“The observation of antihelium was thrilling because it indicates an unusual phenomenon occurring in the interstellar medium, where the production of antiparticles is unexpected,” stated De La Torre Luque.
“Theoretical forecasts suggest that even though cosmic rays interact with interstellar gas to produce antiparticles, the presence of antinuclei, particularly antihelium, should be extremely rare.”
“We anticipated discovering an antihelium event once every few decades, but the approximately 10 antihelium events observed by AMS-02 resulted from standard cosmic ray interactions. Therefore, these antihelium occurrences provide a promising clue to WIMP annihilation.”
This fall marks 10 years since we launched the Guardian Long Read. Looking back now, it’s hard to remember how counterintuitive this idea was at the time. At the time, readers were still increasingly willing to read things longer than a few hundred words, or even 140 characters. Creating a space in the Guardian dedicated to publishing multiple 5,000 (or more) words a week, many of which take months or even years to produce, is a strange project. It seemed like. Thankfully, our readers aren’t, and we’ve learned a lot about everything from the “brutal, paranoid and failed” Home Office and the fight against Islamic State to the strange world of competitive farming and the rise of hygge. They embraced our deeply researched stories.
Just a few months after launching The Long Read, our audio team had the bright idea to start the Audio Long Read Podcast. The idea was simple: get a good voice actor to read the article. That was it. We found that our listeners loved it. (A few years ago, I met Ed Miliband briefly and he said he likes to listen to podcasts when he swims in the pool.)
Since then, we’ve created well over 1,000 audio long reads. If you spend 12 hours a day doing nothing, it would take you about two months to listen to everything. While we wholeheartedly support this way of spending your time, we’ve selected just five of our favorites below.
We also have a range of 10th-anniversary content available in our audio long-form feed, and earlier this week, we began a roundtable discussion between editors about the section’s past, present, and future. And over the next 10 weeks, the podcast will be highlighting some of our favorite audio long reads from each year, along with new introductions from authors.
david wolf The Guardian Editor-in-Chief’s Long Read
This week’s picks
Tom Kerridge and Chris Stark, hosts of the podcast Proper Tasty Pub Quiz Photo: Daniel Billinghurst
Margate murder case Audible, all episodes now available Sheridan Smith and Joanne Froggatt lead the cast in this dangerously gluttonous untrue crime drama. A serial murder case occurs once every 10 years, and as a forensic psychologist, detective, and local newspaper reporter discuss the case, it becomes clear that not everyone’s testimony is reliable. Although the story is scripted, it sounds like a convincing true crime story, thanks to the actors’ deft direction and a refreshingly understated realism. Hannah Verdier
Single women in your area Wide range of weekly episodes available Prepare for contagious hysteria. In this raucous giggle-fest, hear comedians Harriet Kemsley and Amy Gledhill grapple with being single in your 30s. Is true love lurking on rodeo night? How can I find a partner who will please my picky 2-year-old daughter? Is true love washing someone’s skid-marked pants? All will be revealed. Alexi Duggins
The Secret World: Alphayed, Harrods Predator BBC Sounds, all episodes now available This Mohamed Al-Fayed expose series may be a little stilted in narration, but the victims’ astonishing testimonies are truly heart-wrenching. Hearing the stories of staff who have had their crotches grabbed, been raped, or had their ovaries checked by an in-house doctor is horrifying and a testament to the courage of those who speak out. advertisement
from now on Wide range of weekly episodes available Presenter Lisa Phillips is a former model who was abused on Jeffrey Epstein’s private island when she was 21 years old. Here she shares her story and uses it to help other abuse survivors. Part confessional, part interviews with guests, including former cult members, it transforms from the confessional of a brave soul into a deeply insightful psychological help book. advertisement
correct delicious pub quiz Wide range of weekly episodes available Every week, award-winning chef Tom Kerridge and broadcaster friend Chris Stark invite you to take part in a pub quiz at Kerridge’s gourmet bar, The Butcher’s Tap and Grill in Chelsea. Celebrity guests will be answering questions and giving food talks, with the first few episodes starting with Jamie Redknapp and Pixie Lott. Holly Richardson
There’s a podcast for that
Dapper Laughs, Jimmy Carr, Dave…a “joke” era phenomenon explored in a long-running Guardian series in 2017. Illustration: Guardian Design Team
this week, charlie lindler choose the best five Guardian audio long text readingfrom Archie Brand’s essay on the rise and fall of ‘jokes’ to Michael Aylwin’s shocking account of his wife’s battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
era of jokes Archie Bland’s 2017 read takes us back to the heyday of LadBible and Dapper Laughs. So we examine the era of brash and gory comedy and ask what it was all about. Archie meets a group of “party pilgrims” who take a night boat from Ayia Napa to Syria, tracing the history of youth magazines and interrogating the pinnacle of this strange culture. Richard Keys and Andy Gray are questioned over their departure from Sky over sexism. A comment that, in the immortal words of “Kesey,” was “just a joke.” “Is it time to get off the banter bus?” the piece asks. Yes, of course, but this great piece is worth riding one last time.
For more from Archie, sign up for our inaugural newsletter here
How a dazzling creative wife in her 40s recovered from Alzheimer’s disease In August this year, Guardian journalist Michael Aylwin wrote a remarkable article about his wife Vanessa and her battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Aylwin considers Vanessa’s early signs of dementia, her strength as the disease ate away at her, and recalls how their relationship changed as it took hold. This is a tough, must-read book that reveals the truth about the disease, the strain it places on marriages, and the damage that can be done by not speaking up about its effects. Michael’s description of his “dazzling and creative” wife and her “cruel and unanswerable” degradation is even more moving when heard in his own words.
My 4 miscarriages: Why is pregnancy loss so mysterious? This 2020 full-length book explores perhaps the most personal burden of all: fertility. After experiencing four consecutive miscarriages, journalist Jenny Agg explores the words we use to describe losing a pregnancy, the circumstances of miscarriage care, and what she could do to change what happened to her. I decided to investigate whether there was anything I could do. Agg gracefully writes, “To become pregnant again after a previous miscarriage is to live at the crossroads of two lives,” and Emma Powell matches her in a gripping reading of her profound words. . Additionally, Agg delves deeper into the urgent need for better miscarriage treatment on this 2021 episode of Today in Focus.
How sandwiches consumed Britain Believe it or not, there was a time before Pret a Manger, Greggs and Tesco meal deals. Lunch used to be something completely different. So how did we arrive at the sandwich monoculture? Author Sam Knight traces the packaged sandwich back to its roots in the 1980s, and how Marks & Spencer’s Egg and Cress Triangle came to be in the 80s. We look at how it has grown into a £billion industry, where ‘sandwich people’ have come to pre-empt and often dictate what people eat for lunch. Knight reads this episode’s story with the same sense of wonder and whimsy with which he wrote the original.
Cotton Capital: Repulsion – How slavery research came under criticism As part of The Guardian’s 2023 series examining the paper’s founder and its historical links to slavery, Samira Shackle will be reviewing a series of articles taking place at universities and other public institutions. We delved into similar studies and the harsh backlash that accompanied them. Shackle meets intrepid historian Nicholas Bel Romero and accompanies him on his quest to understand Cambridge’s troubled past. It’s not just about how scholarship drew from slavery, but, in Shackle’s words, “how that scholarship may have reinforced, validated, or challenged race-based thinking.” . Important parts of your report will be more convincing in audio format. To learn more about the Cotton Capital project, visit the project homepage or sign up for our 15-week newsletter series.
Why not try it…
Dig deeper into unusual hobbies, from Warhammer to wild turkey conservation. Niche that meets you.
deserterThe New York Times’ new “audio feature” features Sarah A. Topol’s epic report on a fugitive Russian military officer, narrated by Liev Schreiber.
TRussian-born tech entrepreneur Pavel Durov founded wildly popular social networks and cryptocurrencies, amassed a multi-billion dollar fortune, and found himself at odds with authorities in Russia and around the world.
The man, who is just a few months away from his 40th birthday and has been nicknamed “Russia’s Zuckerberg” after Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, has now been arrested in France after being detained at a Paris airport this weekend.
The St. Petersburg native rose to fame in Russia in his 20s when he founded VKontakte (VK), a social network that catered to the needs of Russian-speaking users and surpassed Facebook across the former Soviet Union.
After disputes with Russian authorities and an ownership battle, he sold VKontakte and founded a new messaging service called Telegram, which quickly became popular but also became controversial after being criticized for its lack of control over extremist content.
As this drama raged, Durov remained a mercurial and at times enigmatic figure, rarely giving interviews and limiting himself to the occasional cryptic statement on Telegram.
A self-described libertarian, Durov has promoted internet secrecy and message encryption.
He has steadfastly refused to allow moderation of messages on Telegram, where users can post videos, photos, and comments to “channels” that anyone can follow.
Durov, 39, had an arrest warrant out for him in France for allegedly conducting a wide range of criminal activities on Telegram, including fraud, drug trafficking, cyberbullying, and organized crime, including promoting terrorism and fraud.
The investigation has been entrusted to the French national police’s cyber unit and the national anti-fraud office. The suspect was still in police custody on Sunday, according to two sources familiar with the case. He has not been charged with any crime.
In 2006, Durov, a graduate of St. Petersburg University, founded VK, which captivated users despite its mysterious founder.
In an act that epitomized his unpredictable behavior, Durov in 2012 hurled large banknotes at passersby from VK’s headquarters on the roof of a historic bookstore on Nevsky Prospect in St. Petersburg.
This may solve one of the mysteries of breastfeeding.
Svetlana Lepnitskaya/Getty Images
A newly discovered hormone discovered in mice may solve a long-standing mystery about how adult bones stay strong under the stress of breastfeeding, a discovery that could lead to new treatments for osteoporosis, a disease that causes bones to become weak and brittle.
For decades, it was unclear how bones maintain their strength during breastfeeding. Breastfeeding removes calcium from bones to produce nutritious breast milk. Breastfeeding also reduces levels of estrogen, a hormone essential for bone health. Temporary loss of bone mass This will resolve within 6-12 months after breastfeeding ends.
While conducting research unrelated to this conundrum, Holly Ingraham Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco have found that targeting receptors in the hypothalamus of the brain to inhibit estrogen production actually strengthens the bones of female mice.
“It's a bit of a paradox that we're eliminating estrogen signaling, which is thought to be beneficial for bone, and then creating women with extremely dense bones,” Ingraham said.
To find out why, they bred female mice that lacked estrogen receptors and had unusually strong bones, then surgically mated these animals with other female mice that had the receptors, linking their circulatory systems.
After 17 weeks, the mice that had been attached to the strong-bone mice had an average 152 percent increase in bone mass, suggesting that a bone-strengthening substance was circulating in the blood and being transferred from the mice that didn't have the receptor to the ones that did. Subsequent experiments revealed that this substance was a brain hormone called CCN3.
The researchers then measured CCN3 in the brains of female mice before and after pregnancy and found that it is only produced during lactation. Moreover, blocking the hormone caused bone loss in lactating mice, suggesting that it may be the mysterious molecule that prevents bone loss during lactation. This finding suggests that CCN3 may be used to repair bone in other situations as well.
To explore this further, the researchers placed patches containing CCN3 on four male mice that had suffered fractures. An equal number of animals received patches that did not contain the hormone. All rodents were 2 years old. 69 years in humans.
After three weeks, mice with the CCN3 patch had an average of 240% more bone mass than mice without the patch, suggesting that CCN3 may be useful in treating or preventing osteoporosis, which affects more than one million people. 12 percent Among U.S. adults age 50 and older.
But it's unclear whether these findings apply to humans, Ingraham said. She and her colleagues are developing a blood test for CCN3 that will allow them to test whether levels of the hormone increase in breastfeeding women.
Life is abundant on Earth, from pigeons in the park to invisible microorganisms covering every surface. However, when Earth first formed 4.5 billion years ago, it was devoid of life. The question remains: how did the first life form emerge?
The answer is still unknown. If we understood the process, we could recreate it in a controlled environment. Scientists could replicate the right conditions with the right chemicals and potentially observe living organisms forming. Yet, this has never been accomplished before.
Although the exact origin of life remains a mystery, there are several clues that provide insight. Living organisms consist of various chemicals, including proteins and nucleic acids that carry genetic information. While these chemicals are complex, their basic building blocks are simple to create.
One of the first demonstrations of this concept came from chemist Stanley Miller in 1953. By simulating the early Earth’s conditions with water and gases, Miller produced amino acids, the fundamental components of proteins, through heating and electrical shocks resembling lightning.
Subsequent studies, such as one conducted by Sarah Simkuch, have shown how complex chemicals can arise from basic compounds. By starting with everyday chemicals like water and methane, researchers have generated thousands of substances found in living organisms.
While this abundance of chemical building blocks suggests a fertile environment for life to emerge, the transition from chemicals to life is not automatic. Several key factors contribute to the formation of life, including structure, sustenance, and reproduction.
Research into the origin of life has focused on creating systems that encompass these essentials, such as genetic molecules capable of self-replication. However, the interdependence of these systems suggests a simultaneous emergence may be more plausible, possibly within confined spaces like deep-sea hydrothermal vents or terrestrial pools.
While the exact beginning of life remains uncertain, advancements in understanding have made the origin of life seem less inexplicable than before.
Stonehenge, an ancient prehistoric temple in southern England, remains a fascinating mystery. Construction began around 5,000 years ago, but the purpose of this enigmatic site remains unknown as its builders left no written records.
Analysis has shown that the massive stones of Stonehenge were transported from distant quarries, some weighing over 20 tonnes.
The alignment of Stonehenge with the sun during the solstices is well-documented, but its potential connection with the moon has intrigued experts. Scholars are exploring whether Stonehenge was not only designed to align with the sun but also with the moon, a remarkable achievement for a society predating the invention of the wheel.
On June 21, 2024, experts are investigating the relationship between Stonehenge and the lunar cycles as a rare lunar standstill event unfolds.
Professor Michael Parker Pearson, a renowned expert in British prehistory, speculates that Stonehenge’s builders may have aimed to unify people, ancestors, land, and the cosmos by linking the movements of the sun and moon.
The lunar standstill, occurring once every 18.6 years, results in the moon reaching its most extreme northern and southern positions in the night sky. This phenomenon, unlike the annual solstices tied to the sun, creates a unique celestial display.
While Stonehenge’s alignment with the solstices is well-known, its relationship with the lunar cycles remains less understood. Research indicates that burials at Stonehenge predate the arrival of the large stones, and possible alignments suggest a connection with the lunar standstill phenomenon.
An ongoing study by experts from Oxford, Leicester, and Bournemouth universities aims to delve into the significance of the moon in Stonehenge’s construction, potentially reshaping our understanding of this ancient monument.
Experts like Professor Parker Pearson, Professor Ruggles, and Dr. Chadburn are at the forefront of unraveling the mysteries of Stonehenge and its celestial connections.
On a daily basis, everyone naturally releases about 2.5 liters of gas through burps and farts. This gas originates from the air we breathe, the liquids we consume, and the bacteria in our digestive system. Our bodies expel this excessive gas through the mouth and anus. Sometimes, the gas may be released without notice, in small amounts, and without any detectable odor.
Unlike cows, methane is not the primary component of human farts. Therefore, when someone ignites a fart, it usually burns hydrogen gas.
Farting is a normal bodily function, but if you notice an increase in farting frequency, it may be due to an underlying medical condition.
Why do we fart?
Farting occurs because there is gas in our intestines that needs to be released.
A mixture of swallowed air and gas produced by digestive bacteria in the intestines eventually needs to be expelled through burps and farts.
The main gases in flatulence are hydrogen and carbon dioxide, while the unpleasant odor often comes from sulfur compounds present in small amounts.
Nerve endings in the anus help distinguish between gas buildup and solid stool, allowing gas to pass through without any issues.
Does everyone fart?
Every individual, without exception, passes gas through the large intestine due to swallowed air and intestinal bacteria. This gas mainly consists of nitrogen, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, methane, and trace amounts of smelly compounds.
Although everyone farts, some individuals may be more discreet about their flatulence.
Read more about flatulence:
Why do I fart so much?
It is normal for some people to fart more frequently than others. According to NHS, the average person farts between 5 and 15 times a day. However, certain medical conditions can lead to excessive farting.
Farting can be a symptom of conditions like celiac disease and lactose intolerance, as well as issues like constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, and gastroenteritis.
If you are concerned about your farting frequency, it is advisable to consult a doctor.
If you try to suppress a fart, it might come out more quietly or get retained until your next trip to the bathroom. Eventually, the gas will find its way out!
What foods make you fart?
Beans, lentils, cabbage, broccoli, onions, prunes, and apples are among the foods that can cause flatulence. Consuming these foods, rich in soluble fiber, can lead to the production of gas during the fermentation process in the colon.
Do animals fart?
All humans fart, but not all animals do. Different animals have varying digestive systems that influence flatulence production.
Do rabbits fart?
Yes, rabbits fart due to their plant-based diet and digestive process involving fermentation in the cecum. Excessive gas buildup can be harmful to rabbits if not expelled properly.
Do spiders fart?
The possibility of spiders farting exists, but it has not been extensively studied. Their unique digestive system suggests gas production during liquid digestion.
Do birds fart?
Birds can fart, but evidence of this phenomenon is scarce. Some theories propose that birds may not fart frequently due to their rapid digestion process.
Did dinosaurs fart?
Dinosaurs, like other animals, did fart. Their historical flatulence played a role in the planet’s climate during the Mesozoic Era.
A fossil shark that thrived during the Cretaceous period has been found and has shed light on how sharks hunted and their place on the evolutionary tree.
Fossil shark teeth Ptychodus have been in museums for over 200 years. While some members of this group grew to be enormous, the anatomy of others was largely unknown.
This lack of information left researchers uncertain about the shark’s overall appearance and feeding habits, but the wide, flat teeth suggest it was capable of eating hard-shelled prey.
Recently, Professor Roman Vullo at the University of Rennes in France discovered six well-preserved full-body fossils of Ptychodus in Mexico, placing the shark in the order Lamniformes alongside modern shark species like great whites and basking sharks.
What makes this discovery interesting is that while modern white sharks are known for hunting in open waters, Ptychodus were fast swimmers and voracious eaters in the open ocean, preying on armored pelagic fish like large ammonites and sea turtles.
Despite the small size of the studied specimens, estimated to be less than 3 meters long, researchers believe some members of the genus reached lengths of about 9.7 meters – twice the size of a great white shark. Females tended to be larger, measuring between 4.6 and 4.9 meters in length.
During the Cretaceous period, Ptychodus sharks played a significant role in the marine food chain. They likely competed with large marine reptiles with crushing dentition, which may have led to their extinction before the end-Cretaceous extinction event.
The area of water between Florida, Puerto Rico, and Bermuda became notorious in the mid-20th century due to stories of mysterious disappearances of boats and planes.
A well-known incident occurred in 1945 when Flight 19, a group of five U.S. Navy bombers, vanished in the region. Over the years, wrecks and crashes in the Bermuda Triangle were often linked to supernatural forces.
In 1975, Larry Kush published a book debunking legends about the triangle, revealing inaccuracies and concluding that incidents in the area were not significantly higher than in other ocean regions.
Despite various theories proposed over the years, explanations range from natural phenomena like methane bubbles to supernatural causes like parallel worlds.
Some suggest that methane bubbles from the ocean floor caused ships to capsize, but research has shown no significant methane emissions in the area in the past 15,000 years.
The frequency of hurricanes in the region could have led to disasters before accurate weather forecasts were available, resulting in ships sinking due to high, rough waves.
While some blame magnetic anomalies for navigation errors, no such anomalies have been observed, though the alignment of true and magnetic north may have caused confusion in the past.
Despite the lack of identified dangers by the U.S. Coast Guard, and no statistically unusual number of incidents in the Bermuda Triangle, the mystery persists due to early reports receiving widespread attention.
Modern technology has enabled better tracking of air and sea traffic, reducing the sensationalism surrounding the Bermuda Triangle in recent years.
This article responds to the question posed by Cardiff resident Diane Johnston: “What happened in the Bermuda Triangle?”
For questions, email:questions@sciencefocus.comor message us onFacebook, Twitter orInstagramPage (include your name and location).
Wide range of weekly episodes available “Themes are for cowards,” says the outspoken host of this new freeform chat series with three Glaswegian comedy buddies, Frankie Boyle, Susie McCabe and Christopher MacArthur Boyd. There are frank discussions about the ethics of sex with Tories, whether Billy Connolly would have been radicalized had he grown up in the internet age, and whether Boyle’s date with a “neo-Nazi” constituted sexual assault. There is a high possibility that it will develop into love. Alexi Duggins
Wide range of weekly episodes available Delve into the delusions of Daily Mail readers’ brains in this witty, high-spirited piece, where you hear celebrity guests comment on the news stories they’ve covered and guess which one it’s related to. I’ll try. Our first guest is Dani Dyer, who talks about his father’s love of Chinese restaurants, babysitting Keira Knightley and blow-drying fake eyelashes on Love Island. advertisement
Wide range of weekly episodes available Before his death, American filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich was working on an interview podcast. Now, thanks to his ex-wife and collaborator Louise Stratten, the work has seen the light of day. The guest list is impressive, with Quentin Tarantino, Guillermo del Toro, Greta Gerwig, Julie Delpy and more talking about other greats in filmmaking. Hannah Verdier
‘Themes are for cowards’…Frankie Boyle (pictured) has launched a new podcast with Susie McCabe and Christopher MacArthur-Boyd. Photo: Paul Hansen/Observer
A new study has revealed how visual masking, a phenomenon in which rapid succession of images leads to unconscious image processing, occurs in both humans and mice. This study highlights the role of the cortex in conscious perception and provides important insights into the brain’s visual processing mechanisms.
Delve into the mysterious optical illusions and science of visual masking.
Recent research published in natural neuroscience Visual masking is a phenomenon that plays an important role in how we perceive things, or rather how we don’t “see” them. This study not only revealed aspects of conscious perception in the brain, but also demonstrated that this phenomenon occurs in both humans and mice.
Visual masking occurs when a person does not consciously recognize an image because another image is displayed in rapid succession. For effective masking, the first image must appear and disappear quickly, followed by her second image within about 50 milliseconds.
Groundbreaking research in visual perception
Allen Institute researcher Dr. Sean Olsen and his colleagues have delved into the science behind this optical illusion and shown for the first time that it also occurs in mice. After training the mice to report what they saw, the researchers were also able to pinpoint the specific areas of the brain needed for the visual masking illusion to work.
“This is an interesting observation, that what exists in the world is not accurately reflected in your perception,” Olsen said. “Like other optical illusions, we think this tells us something about how the visual system works and, ultimately, the neural circuits underlying visual perception.”
Exploring the brain’s role in visual recognition
Scientists discovered this strange phenomenon in the 19th century, but why and how the human brain does this remains a mystery.
The study narrows down the parts of the brain involved in perceiving the world around us, said Dr. Christoph Koch, a Distinguished Fellow at the Allen Institute who led the study with Dr. Olsen and Dr. Sam Gale. Ta. , a scientist at the Allen Institute.
When a rain of photons hits our retina, the information follows a predetermined path from the eyeball through several different areas of the brain and into the highly-processed areas of the cortex, the wrinkled outermost shell of the brain. It ends with Previous research on visual masking has led scientists to believe that neurons in early parts of the brain, in the retina and its pathways, are activated even when a person is unaware that they are looking at an image. I know. In other words, your brain sees things without your knowledge.
From mouse to human: parallel recognition
To explore where unconscious sensations turn into conscious perceptions and actions, scientists first taught 16 mice to move a small mouse in the direction of a rapidly flashing image in exchange for a reward if they chose the correct direction. I trained him to spin a Lego wheel. The scientists then added different masking images on either side of the screen immediately after the target image. Adding a mask prevented the animal from performing the task correctly. This means that the animal can no longer recognize the original target image.
Visual masking had never been tested in mice before, so the research team had to create a task for mice, in which the images and the way they were displayed were different from those used in previous human studies. I meant that. To confirm that the optical illusion they showed to rodents was also relevant to us, the research team tested it on 16 people (using keystrokes instead of a wheel). It turns out that human perception (or lack thereof) and mouse perception of this particular visual masking illusion are very similar.
This result implies that conscious perception is occurring in the visual cortex or in higher regions of the cortex downstream. This is consistent with the general sentiment in the field that the cortex is the seat of conscious cognition in mammals, including us, Koch said.
Reference: “Visual cortex is required for posterior masking in mice” by Samuel D. Gale, Chelsea Stroder, Corbett Bennett, Stefan Mihalas, Christoph Koch, and Sean R. Olsen, November 13, 2023 Day, natural neuroscience. DOI: 10.1038/s41593-023-01488-0
Vampire bats are not only masters of flight, but also skillful walkers
Joel Sartor/Photo Arc/naturepl.com
Something begins to stir in the undergrowth of a New Zealand forest. Small furry animals run around on tree roots and in fallen leaves, looking for insects and fruit. He runs with a strange gait, as if he were on stilts. Is it a rat? bird? No, it’s a bat. The New Zealand brown bat, or more precisely, the Pekapeka toupoto.
Bats first took to the skies about 52 million years ago and have remained there ever since. There are approximately 1,300 species in the world, but not one of them is flightless. Most bats can’t even walk well. That’s why many of us are surprised by the behavior of Pekapekatupoto, a bat that is comfortable both in the air and on the ground.
However, why flightless bats do not exist is an evolutionary mystery. Birds, another great group of flying vertebrates, have evolved into flightless animals many times around the world. They frequent remote islands such as New Zealand, where there is little danger from ground-based predation (at least until humans show up, anyone else grilling dodos?). In such situations, flightlessness is a good adaptation because flight is energetically costly.
The world’s most land-dwelling bat, the pekapekatoupoto, has long been thought to hold the key to explaining the strange absence of flightless bats. But research over the past two decades has revealed the surprising fact that many other species of bats can walk, too. Inside…
New research explores the possibility that dark matter is composed of theoretical particles called axions, and focuses on detecting them through additional light from pulsars. Although axions have not yet been confirmed in early observations, this research is critical to understanding dark matter.
A central question in the ongoing search for dark matter is: What is dark matter made of? One possible answer is that dark matter is made up of particles known as axions. A recent study by astrophysicists at the University of Amsterdam and Princeton University suggests that if dark matter is indeed made of axions, it could manifest itself in the form of subtle additional glow emanating from pulsating stars.
Dark matter may be the most sought-after building block in our universe. Remarkably, this mysterious form of matter, so far undetectable by physicists and astronomers, is thought to make up a huge portion of what exists on Earth. It is suspected that more than 85% of the matter in the universe is “dark”, and at the moment it is only recognized by the gravitational force it exerts on other celestial bodies. Naturally, scientists want to look directly detect its existence rather than just inferring it from gravitational effects. And of course they want to know what of course, solve two problems One thing is clear: dark matter cannot be the same kind of matter that makes up you and me. If so, dark matter would simply behave like ordinary matter. Dark matter will form star-like objects, will glow, and will no longer be “dark.” So scientists are looking for something new, a type of particle that no one has detected yet, and perhaps one that only interacts very weakly with the types of particles we know about.
One common hypothesis is that dark matter may be made of: Axion. This hypothetical type of particle was first introduced in the 1970s when he solved a problem that had nothing to do with dark matter. The separation of positive and negative charges inside a neutron, one of the building blocks of a normal atom, turns out to be unexpectedly small. Of course, scientists wanted to know why. It turns out that the presence of a previously undetected type of particle that interacts very weakly with components of neutrons can cause just such an effect. Frank Wilczek, who later won the Nobel Prize, came up with the name for this new particle. Axion – as well as similar to another particle name such as protons, neutrons, and electrons. photon, but it’s also inspired by the laundry detergent of the same name. Axion existed to solve problems. In fact, it might clean up the two even if it’s not detected. Several theories about elementary particles, including string theory, one of the leading candidate theories for unifying all the forces in nature, seem to predict the possibility of axion-like particles.
Fortunately, there appears to be a way out of this conundrum for axions. If the theory predicting axions is correct, not only would axions be expected to be produced in large quantities in the universe, but some axions could also be converted to light in the presence of strong electromagnetic fields. If there is light, we can see. Could this be the key to detecting axions and, by extension, dark matter? To answer this question, scientists first had to ask themselves where in the universe the strongest known electric and magnetic fields occur. The answer is known in the region around rotating neutron stars. pulsar. These pulsars (short for “pulsating stars”) are dense objects with a mass about the same as the Sun, but a radius about 100,000 times smaller, or only about 10 km. Because pulsars are so small, they rotate at enormous frequencies and emit bright, narrow beams of radio radiation along their axis of rotation. Just like a lighthouse pulsarThe beam can sweep across the Earth, making it easy to observe the pulsating star. But the pulsar’s massive rotation does more than that. it is, neutron star It turns into a very powerful electromagnet. That could mean Pulsar is a highly efficient axion factory. The average pulsar can produce 50 orders of magnitude axions per second. Because of the strong electromagnetic fields surrounding pulsars, some of these axions can be converted into observable light.
As always in science, carrying out such observations in practice is, of course, not so easy. The light emitted by axions (which can be detected in the form of radio waves) is only a fraction of the total light these bright cosmic lighthouses send back to us. Much less can we quantify the difference and turn it into a measurement of the amount of dark matter. This is exactly what a team of physicists and astronomers are currently doing. Through a collaboration between the Netherlands, Portugal, and the United States, the research team has uncovered details about how axions are created, how axions escape the neutron star’s gravity, and…
First observational tests were performed on the theory and simulation results…referencesystem, simulate a subtle glow
Next, first observational tests were performed on the theory and simulation results…referencesystem to show that it is very unlikely that axions are a component of…s
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