Tag Archives: organisms

2025 Discovery: Living Organisms Emit Ghostly Glow

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Living Things Emit “Biophotons”

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This year, scientists made a fascinating discovery: an eerie glow emitted by mice that vanished after death, evoking paranormal notions about the body’s aura. This finding has ignited significant interest in the scientific exploration of biophotons.

Biophotons are extremely faint particles of light created by cellular structures, particularly mitochondria, which are responsible for energy production. Researchers have been attempting to detect these weak signals, but the field has encountered skepticism. Separating biophotons from other light sources, such as infrared light, presents considerable challenges in demonstrating their authenticity.

<p>Due to experimental limitations, biophoton research has mainly concentrated on smaller, specific body parts. However, in May, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=sUKbEwsAAAAJ&hl=en">Daniel Oblak</a> and his team at the University of Calgary, Canada, observed biophotons emitted from the entire bodies of four hairless mice. Interestingly, these biophotons dissipated shortly after the mice died.</p>
<p>The researchers also recorded biophotons emitted from the leaves of umbrella trees (<em>Heptapleurum arboricola</em>), reinforcing the evidence for their existence through comprehensive study.</p>
<p>Following the <em>New Scientist</em> report on the study, many media outlets contacted Oblak’s team for interviews. The phenomenon's similarity to a "spiritual aura," which some psychics claim reflects an individual's physical and mental health, may have contributed to the public's fascination. Oblak mentioned, "Someone from Argentina urged us to investigate the glow of hands during healing." </p><section>

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<p>However, Oblak emphasizes that the science surrounding biophotons is legitimate. Numerous scientists have approached his team to collaborate on further studies. One proposal involves investigating biophoton production mechanisms in plants. Experts in genetically modified seeds suggest analyzing changes in biophoton emissions by disabling specific genes.</p>
<p>Insights into how biophotons correlate with seed germination could significantly benefit agriculture, according to Oblak. “You could assess seed samples to determine if the germination process happened without direct contact with the seeds.”</p>

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Snowball Earth’s harsh environmental conditions provided a competitive edge for the evolution of multicellular organisms

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Fossil and molecular evidence suggests that complex multicellular organisms arose and proliferated during the Neoproterozoic Era (1-541 million years ago). An extreme glacial period during the Cryogenian Period (720-635 million years ago), an event commonly referred to as Snowball Earth, led to dramatic changes in Earth's climate and oceans. New research suggests that Snowball Earth was an environmental trigger for the proliferation of complex multicellularity across multiple groups of eukaryotic organisms.

Artist's impression of “Snowball Earth.” Image courtesy of NASA.

Solving the mystery of why multicellular organisms emerged could help pinpoint life on other planets and explain the enormous diversity and complexity seen on Earth today, from marine sponges to redwoods to human societies.

The prevailing thinking is that oxygen levels must reach a certain threshold for a single cell to form a multicellular colony.

However, the oxygen story does not fully explain why the multicellular ancestors of animals, plants and fungi emerged simultaneously, or why the transition to multicellularity took more than a billion years.

The new study shows how the specific physical conditions of Snowball Earth, particularly the viscosity of the oceans and the depletion of resources, may have led eukaryotes to become multicellular.

“It seems almost counterintuitive that these extremely harsh conditions – this frozen planet – could actually select for larger, more complex organisms, rather than causing species to become extinct or shrink in size,” said William Crockett, a doctoral student at MIT.

Using scaling theory, Crockett and his colleagues found that a hypothetical ancestor of early animals, reminiscent of swimming algae that fed on prey instead of photosynthesizing, would have grown in size and complexity under Snowball Earth pressures.

In contrast, single-celled organisms that move and feed by diffusion, such as bacteria, will grow small.

“The world changed after Snowball Earth because new life forms emerged on the planet,” said Professor Christopher Kemps of the Santa Fe Institute.

“One of the central questions of evolution is: How did we evolve from nothing on Earth to beings and societies like us? Was it all by chance?”

“We don't think it's luck. There are ways to predict these big changes.”

The study shows how, during the Snowball Earth era, the oceans froze, blocking sunlight and reducing photosynthesis, which resulted in nutrient depletion in the oceans.

Larger organisms that could process more water were more likely to eat enough to survive.

As the glaciers melt, these large creatures could expand even further.

“Our study provides hypotheses about ancestral features to look for in the fossil record,” Crockett said.

of study Published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

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William W. Crockett others2024. Snowball Earth's physical constraints drive the evolution of multicellularity. Proc. R. Soc. B 291 (2025): 20232767; doi: 10.1098/rspb.2023.2767

This article is a version of a press release provided by the Santa Fe Institute.

Source: www.sci.news

The genome of a new fern species from New Caledonia is the largest among all organisms

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Tumecipteris oblancorata is a rare fern species known as the wolf lark, found in New Caledonia, a French overseas territory in the southwest Pacific Ocean. It has recently broken the world record with its genome size of 160.45 billion base pairs (Gbp), challenging current understanding and paving the way for further exploration of genome gigantism.

Tumecipteris oblancorata. Image courtesy of Pol Fernández.

Tomesypteris is a small and relatively understudied genus consisting of 15 species, mostly found in Oceania and some Pacific islands.

Scientists have previously estimated the genome sizes of two Tomesypteris species – Tumecipteris tannensis and Tomesypteris obliqua – with large genomes of 73.19 Gbp and 147.29 Gbp, respectively.

In 2023, Dr. Jaume Pellicer and his colleagues from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, traveled to New Caledonia to analyze the genome size of Tumecipteris oblancorata.

The analysis revealed a record-breaking genome size of 160.45 Gbp for Tumecipteris oblancorata, also known as Tumecipteris truncata, surpassing the genome size of the Japanese flower plant species Paris Japonica (148.89 Gbp). For comparison, the human genome contains approximately 3.1 Gbp across 23 chromosomes.

Tomesypteris is a unique fern genus whose ancestors date back around 350 million years, characterized by primarily being epiphytes with a distribution limited to Oceania and a few Pacific islands.

Dr. Ilia Reich of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, expressed surprise at the world record held by the inconspicuous Tumecipteris oblancorata, highlighting the diversity of plants at the DNA level and their importance in Earth’s biodiversity.

The team’s findings were published in the journal iScience.

Genome size diversity in eukaryotes: (A) Current distribution of genome sizes in the major lineages of plants, animals, and fungi. (B) Top 10 largest genome sizes recorded in eukaryotes. Image courtesy of Pol Fernández et al., doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.109889.

This remarkable discovery raises questions about the biological limits and complexities of plant genomes, inspiring further exploration into the mysteries of genome gigantism.

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Pol Fernandez othersThe 160 Gbp fork fern genome breaks eukaryotic size record. iSciencePublished online May 31, 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.109889

Source: www.sci.news