Scientists Find the Atlas Blue Butterfly Has 229 Chromosome Pairs

Researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute and the Spanish Institute of Biology have mapped the female genome of the Atlas Blue Butterfly (Polyommatus atlantica), revealing 227 pairs of autosomes and four sex chromosomes, marking it as the organism with the highest chromosome count among all multicellular animals globally.


Atlas Blue Butterfly (Polyommatus atlantica). Image credit: Roger Villa.

The Atlas Blue Butterfly is native to the mountainous regions of Morocco and Northeast Algeria.

Previously suspected to have the highest chromosome count in the Animal Kingdom, this is the first instance where scientists have successfully sequenced the butterfly’s genome to confirm this assumption.

In comparison, the more commonly observed Common Blue Butterfly (Polyommatus icarus) has only 24 chromosomes.

Variations in chromosome numbers are believed to facilitate the formation of new species and assist in adaptation to changing environments.

The Atlas Blue Butterfly belongs to a group of closely related species that have evolved rapidly over a short geological timeframe.

“The genome is crucial for understanding how organisms develop and what the future may hold,” stated Professor Mark Blaxter from the Wellcome Sanger Institute.

“To narrate the stories of our planet, we must explore various tales and observe their interactions.”

“Insights gained from one genome can also enrich our understanding of others.”

“For instance, chromosomal rearrangements are also present in human cancer cells, and investigating these patterns in the Atlas Blue Butterfly could lead to methods for mitigating cancer cell growth in the future.”

In their research, Professor Blaxter and his team discovered that chromosomal structure was altered due to less tightly packed DNA.

This indicates that while the amount of genetic information remained similar, it was organized into smaller segments.

Except for the sex chromosomes, all chromosomes were found to be fragmented, leading researchers to estimate a dynamic range of 24 to 229 chromosomes emerging over approximately 3 million years, a brief period in evolutionary terms.

Generally, such drastic chromosomal modifications are considered detrimental; however, the Atlas Blue Butterfly has thrived for millions of years.

Its population faces threats primarily from climate change and human environmental impact.

This study opens numerous avenues for future exploration.

Chromosomal division is thought to enhance genetic diversity by allowing for increased genomic mixing or possibly offering other unforeseen advantages.

While this may enable butterflies to adapt quickly, possessing numerous chromosomes can also introduce complications, potentially making them more susceptible to extinction in the long run.

Further studies comparing other butterfly species will clarify whether genes are lost or retained, offering greater insights into butterfly biology and evolution.

“Observing chromosomal degradation at this level is uncommon, yet evident in butterflies of other species, hinting at a significant need for exploration in this area,” noted Dr. Roger Villa, a researcher at the Evolutionary Biology Institute in Spain.

“Moreover, chromosomes hold the secrets of species, and examining how these changes influence butterfly behavior could help us form a comprehensive understanding of species emergence.”

“When we embarked on studying butterfly evolution, we realized that sequencing the extraordinary Atlas Blue Butterfly was essential,” remarked Dr. Charlotte Wright from the Wellcome Sanger Institute.

“This research emphasizes the collaborative spirit of scientific inquiry.”

“By examining how the chromosomes of the Atlas Blue Butterfly have split over time in specific environments, we can begin to uncover the potential benefits of this phenomenon, how it influences adaptability, and whether there are lessons in the DNA that could aid our future conservation efforts.”

The findings have been published in this week’s edition of Current Biology.

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Charlotte J. Wright et al. Chromosomal evolutionary constraints revealed by the 229 chromosome pairs of the Atlas Blue Butterfly. Current Biology, published online on September 10th, 2025. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2025.08.032

Source: www.sci.news

Astronomers Uncover Polar Ejection Stripping Systems Surrounding Brown Dwarf Pairs

The recently identified planet orbits a binary system comprising two equal brown dwarf stars positioned at a 90-degree angle from 2mass J15104786-2818174 (hereafter referred to as 2M1510).



This diagram illustrates exoplanets orbiting two brown dwarfs. Image credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser.

Cardiovascular planets represent the realm of diabetes found within a binary star system.

These planets generally have orbits aligned with the planes in which their host stars revolve around one another.

Previously, there were indications that planets might exist in vertical or polar orbits. Theoretically, these orbits were stable, and disc formations observed suggested potential planets around polar orbits of stars.

However, astronomers have now obtained clear evidence of the existence of these polar planets.

“We are thrilled to have played a role in finding robust evidence for this configuration,” stated PhD candidate Thomas Beycroft from the University of Birmingham.

The newly discovered exoplanet, 2M1510B, orbits a unique pair of young brown dwarfs.

These brown dwarfs undergo mutual solar eclipses as viewed from Earth, a characteristic that qualifies them within what astronomers refer to as a binary system.

This configuration is exceptionally rare, marking only the second identified pair of brown dwarfs and the first solar system discovered at a right angle relative to the orbit of its two host stars.



Artist’s impression of the unusual trajectory of 2M1510B around the brown dwarf. Image credit: ESO/L. Calsada.

“The planet revolving around the binary brown dwarfs in a polar orbit is remarkably thrilling,” commented Amalie Triaudo, a professor at the University of Birmingham.

Astronomers discovered 2M1510B by refining the trajectories and physical characteristics of the two brown dwarfs using UV and Visual Echelle Spectroscopy (UVES) at ESO’s Very Large Telescope.

The researchers observed strange forces acting on the trajectory of the brown dwarf, leading to speculation about a unique formation with an unusual orbital angle.

“After considering all plausible scenarios, the only explanation consistent with our data is that the planet within this binary is in polar orbit,” Beycroft noted.

“This discovery was fortuitous, as our observations weren’t initially aimed at studying the composition or orbit of such a planet, making it an exciting surprise,” Professor Triaud explained.

“Overall, I believe this not only showcases our astronomers’ capabilities but also illuminates the possibilities within the intriguing universe we inhabit.”



This image depicts the triple system 2M1510. Image credits: Centre Donna Astromyk destrasbourg/Sinbad/Panstars.

This discovery was made possible due to innovative data analysis developed by Dr. Larita Sylum of Cambridge University.

“We can derive their physical and orbital parameters from the variation in speed between the two brown dwarfs, although these measurements were previously uncertain,” Dr. Sairam remarked.

“This improvement has revealed that the interactions between the two brown dwarfs are intricately influenced.”

Study published in the journal Advances in Science.

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Thomas A. Baicroft et al. 2025. Evidence of polar drainage bulges orbiting a pair of brown dwarfs. Advances in Science 11 (16); doi:10.1126/sciadv.adu0627

Source: www.sci.news

Do black holes come in pairs?

When you like giant objects Neutron Star and Black Hole Merge or when Supernova If it explodes in a far distance of space, it creates a final product smaller than an object that collides or erupts. The mass they lose is converted to energy according to Einstein’s famous equation E = MC2 Moves in the form of distortions in space. Scientists call these distortions Gravity wavesand they can indirectly detect them by studying how waves interfere with the observation of other distant objects, or directly interfere in facilities such as Laser interferometer gravitational wave astronomy Or ligo.

Scientists working on the Ligo project have discovered that most of the gravitational waves they detect come from the fusion of two black holes. However, these scientists don’t know how these pairs of black holes converge. So far, they have two broad theories about how this happens. The first is when a large star transforms into a black hole, drifting in close proximity due to the complexity of pushing and pulling other nearby objects. These duos are called It was formed dynamically Binary pair. The second is that two giant stars begin their lives in binary pairs before transitioning to a pair of black holes. These duos are called It is formed primitively Binary pair. Scientists cannot use LIGO data to distinguish between these two types of black holes. Can only be detected if integrated. Therefore, there are other ways to know how they merged.

A team of astrophysicists at Cardiff University used a series of computer simulations to test tests that the theory of black hole mergers is likely to reflect the real world. They use the astrophysical collision modeling code PETAR to group or cluster Stars, including black holes pioneers, have evolved over millions of years, and which scenarios have led to the merger of black holes.

The team created 35 model star clusters that vary by size, with a total mass of 1,000,000 times the total mass of the sun’s mass of all constituent stars, how close the stars are, and the percentage of the non-helium-helium-like elements of helium called hydrogen or helium. Metallic. They determined the size of a particular star within these clusters using statistical distributions ranging from 0.08 to 150 times the mass of the sun. Next, we divide the specific variations of cluster size, star density, and metallicity into two model versions. One had no primitive binary pairs, and the other had more than 20 times the sun’s binary companions.

Researchers looked for general trends in how the simulation progressed. They discovered four million years later that the first black hole formed from the largest star was a pair of binary black holes and black holes stars. Simulations using primitively formed pairs showed that binary black holes formed faster around the same time as the first black holes appeared. In simulations without primitively formed pairs, binary pairs still appeared through dynamic processes, but only after millions of years it was at the very heart of a star cluster. In both simulations, the clusters discharged many of the binary black holes on a sufficiently long timescale and quickly integrated.

Final statistical analysis of 35 model star clusters showed that, unless there are large binary stars when formed in star clusters, the majority of black hole mergers come from primitive binary pairs. They also found no clear relationships between how large and dense the star cluster was and the number of dynamic mergers it generated. Dynamic mergers are relatively rare, but we saw how frequently metals in star clusters occurred. They also reported that a small portion of the merged black hole pairs are part of a larger group of three or four black holes!

The team admitted that they rely on a model of binary star evolution, where their outcomes remain uncertain. However, their conclusions argued that many astrophysicists challenged the core assumption that the most detected black holes merged from large, dense clusters of stars. By showing that primitive binaries are the dominant source of mergers, and knowing that most stars form in small clusters, they argued that most ligo detections are likely to come from small star clusters in the distance of the universe.


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Source: sciworthy.com

Anomalies in the Universe: Massive spiral galaxies expel enormous pairs of relativistic jets

2MASX J23453268-0449256 (J2345-0449 for short), a very huge, rapidly spinning, jet lag spiral galaxy with approximately 947 million light years in the Aquarius constellation, a mass of billions of people billions that are billions of times the sun’s, and mounted on a massive radio jet spanning six million light years. This is one of the largest known in any spiral galaxy, and such powerful jets are almost exclusively found in elliptical galaxies rather than spiral, thus covering the conventional wisdom of galaxies’ evolution. It also means that the Milky Way can potentially create similar energetic jets in the future.



This image shows the Spiral Galaxy 2Masx J23453268-0449256 and its huge radio jet. Image credit: Bagchi et al. /Giant Metrure Lave Radio Telescope.

“This discovery is more than just weird. It forces us to rethink the evolution of galaxies and how super-large black holes grow and shape the environment within them,” said Professor Joydeep Baguch of Christ University.

“If spiral galaxies can not only survive, but also thrive under such extreme conditions, what does this mean for the future of our own Milky Way galaxies?”

“Can our Galaxy experience similar high-energy phenomena that have serious consequences for the survival of precious lives within it?”

In a new study, astronomers have unraveled the structure and evolution of the Spiral Galaxy J2345-0449, three times the size of the Milky Way.

Using observations from NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, Giant Metruh Rave Radio Telescope, Atacama’s Large Millimeter/Sub-Millimeter Array (ALMA), and multi-wavelength analysis, we detected the giant ultrafine black holes of its mind and radio jets in the largest radio jets by creating rare galaxies.

Traditionally, scientists believed that such huge, superimpression violent activities would destroy the delicate structures of spiral galaxies.

But for all possibilities, J2345-0449 retains its quiet nature with a well-defined spiral arm, bright nuclear bars and an uninterrupted ring of stars.

In addition to enigma, the galaxy is surrounded by vast halos of hot x-ray exhaust, providing important insights into its history.

This halo cools slowly over time, but the black hole jets act like space furnaces, preventing new star formation despite the abundant star-building materials present.

The authors also found that J2345-0449 contains 10 times the dark matter as the Milky Way.

“Understanding these rare galaxies could provide important clues about the invisible forces that govern the universe, such as the nature of dark matter, the long-term fate of the galaxy, and the origin of life,” says Ph.D. A student at the University of Christ.

“In the end, this research brings us one step closer to solving the mystery of the Cosmos and reminds us that the universe holds surprise beyond our imagination.”

Survey results It was published in Monthly Notices from the Royal Astronomical Society.

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Joydeep Bagchi et al. 2025. Announcing bulge disk structures, AGN feedback and baryon landscapes in a large helical galaxy with MPC-scale radio jets. mnras 538(3): 1628-1652; doi: 10.1093/mnras/staf229

Source: www.sci.news

Astronauts launching into space in Boeing capsules reduce the number of pairs flying together

A team of four astronauts is gearing up for launch to the International Space Station on Wednesday. This marks the beginning of the process to bring NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Willmore back to Earth.

Williams and Wilmore have been capturing public interest since their launch in June on a test flight of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. Initially planned to stay at the space station for a week, they are now set to spend nine months in orbit.

During their journey to the ISS, the Boeing capsule faced various challenges like thruster malfunctions and propellant leaks. Consequently, NASA decided to return the Starliner craft to Earth with only one crew member, leaving the two astronauts aboard the orbiting outpost.

NASA then rearranged crew rotations to free up seats on the SpaceX Dragon Capsule for Williams and Willmore to return home.

On September 29th, the capsule arrived at the space station carrying NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos astronaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. The plan is for Willmore and Williams to hitch a ride back with them at the end of their approximately six-month mission.

As the new crew gets ready to launch, NASA astronauts Anne McLain and Nicole Ayers, Japanese astronaut Onishi, and Russian astronaut Kiril Peskov are set to blast off into space on Wednesday aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket for the Crew-10 mission.

The liftoff is scheduled for 7:48pm from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The Crew-10 astronauts are expected to dock around 6am on Thursday and reach the space station later that day, taking over from the current crew of four.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

Exploring the Production of Higgs Boson Pairs in Proton-Proton Collisions with the CMS Experiment

CMS Collaboration physicists used data from high-energy proton-proton collisions from Experiment 2 at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) to released The latest research into the production of Higgs boson pairs, known as De-Higgs, has placed constraints on the rate of their formation.



Event display of candidate events for Higgs pair generation. Image credit: CERN.

According to physicists, Higgs particle pair can be created in two main ways.

The first is called gluon-gluon fusion, in which gluons (particles inside colliding protons) interact to produce the Higgs boson. This process allows scientists to study the interaction between one so-called intermediate state Higgs boson and two final state Higgs bosons.

The second method involves quarks, also inside the colliding protons, which emit two vector bosons. These vector particles interact to form a Higgs particle, allowing the study of the interaction between two Higgs particles and two vector particles.

CMS physicists performed the latest analysis by exploring multiple ways DeHiggs could collapse.

These final states resulted from the decay of Higgs boson pairs into bottom quarks, W particles, tau leptons, and photons.

By combining these searches and analyzing all the data simultaneously using advanced analytics techniques such as boosted decision trees and deep neural networks, the collaboration was able to extract more information than ever before. .

This study allowed the researchers to set an upper bound on the Higgs pair production rate with a 95% confidence level.

The measured limits are now 3.5 times higher than the Standard Model’s prediction for total DeHiggs production and 79 times higher than the Standard Model’s prediction for DeHiggs production by vector boson fusion.

The LHC’s Run 3 data acquisition era is underway, and the amount of data collected by CMS experiments has already doubled, and CMS researchers are making progress in analyzing it.

One of the most exciting prospects for measuring the self-interactions of the Higgs boson is the upcoming High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC), scheduled to become operational in 2030.

In this new phase, the accelerator will provide CMS with the highest luminosity ever reached in a collider.

Considering luminosity predictions and systematic uncertainties, scientists estimate that the first evidence of Higgs formation may begin to appear in about half of the HL-LHC data.

“We look forward to further investigating this rare and exciting phenomenon,” they said.

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CMS cooperation. 2024. Combined search for non-resonant Higgs boson pair production in proton-proton collisions at √s=13 TeV. CMS-PAS-HIG-20-011

Source: www.sci.news

Interacting Pairs of Galaxies in the Kaminoke Galaxy Cluster Spotted by Hubble

This amazing new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope is one of the best ever of a galaxy combination called MCG+05-31-045.



This Hubble image shows MCG+05-31-045, a pair of interacting galaxies located approximately 390 million light-years apart in the constellation Coma. Image credit: NASA/ESA/Hubble/RJ Foley, University of California, Santa Cruz.

MCG+05-31-045 It is located approximately 390 million light-years away in the constellation of Coma.

This galaxy pair, also known as IC 3935, AGC 221216, or LEDA 44438, is part of the Coma cluster.

“The Coma cluster is a particularly rich galaxy cluster, containing more than 1,000 known galaxies,” Hubble astronomers said in a statement.

“Some are easily visible with amateur telescopes.”

“Most of them are elliptical galaxies, which are typical of dense galaxy clusters like the Milky Way Cluster. Many elliptical galaxies are created when galaxies come close to each other and collide, stirring them up or They are formed when groups are torn apart.

“Stars in interacting galaxies can stay together, but gas in galaxies is a different story. Gas is twisted and compressed by gravity and is quickly used up to form new stars.” Masu.”

“When hot, massive blue stars die, there is little gas left to replace them with a new generation of young stars.”

“In the case of interacting spiral galaxies, the regular orbits that give rise to their impressive spiral arms are also disrupted.”

“Whether it’s a merger or a simple near-miss, the result is a galaxy with little gas and aging stars orbiting in uncoordinated circles – elliptical galaxies.”

“A similar fate is very likely to befall MCG+05-31-045,” the astronomers said.

“When small spiral galaxies are torn apart and merged into larger galaxies, many new stars are formed, and the hot, blue stars quickly burn out, leaving colder, redder stars like other stars in a coma. is left behind in the elliptical galaxy.” “

“But this process will take millions of years to complete. Until then, Queen Berenice II will suffer from knots in her hair.”

Source: www.sci.news

Newly discovered fossils show that trilobites possessed five pairs of head appendages

Based on multiple analytical techniques applied to two well-preserved soft-bodied specimens of trilobites, the Late Ordovician species Triarturus Eatonii and Middle Cambrian species Polygonum gracilis, paleontologists claim that there was an additional pair of cephalopods just behind the antennae, indicating that the trilobite had five pairs of cephalopods and six segments.

Triarturus Eatonii Image credit: Jin-bo Hou and Melanie J. Hopkins, doi: 10.1111/pala.12723.

Trilobites are extinct arthropods that dominated the marine fauna of the Paleozoic Era.

During their lifetime on Earth, which lasted much longer than the dinosaurs, they survived two major extinctions and dominated undersea ecosystems.

They appeared in the ancient oceans of the Early Cambrian period about 540 million years ago, long before life appeared on land, and disappeared during the mass extinction at the end of the Permian period about 252 million years ago.

They are incredibly diverse, with around 20,000 species, and fossils of their exoskeletons have been found all over the world.

Like other arthropods, trilobites have a body made up of many segments and a head made up of several fused segments.

Like the rest of the trilobite’s body (the thorax and tail), these segments are associated with appendages whose functions range from sensing to feeding to locomotion.

“The number of these segments and how it relates to other important features, such as eyes and legs, is important for understanding how arthropods relate to each other and how they evolved,” said Dr. Melanie Hopkins, curator and head of the Department of Palaeontology at the American Museum of Natural History.

The segments on a trilobite’s head can be counted in two different ways: by looking at the grooves (called sulci) on the top of the trilobite fossil’s hard exoskeleton, and by counting the pairs of antennae and legs preserved on the underside of the fossil.

However, trilobites’ soft appendages are rarely preserved, and when looking at trilobite head segments, researchers frequently find a mismatch between these two methods.

In the new study, Dr. Hopkins and Dr. Hou Jinbo of Nanjing University studied Triarturus Eatonii.

These fossils are known for their golden glow from well-preserved pyrite replacements, and show that there are additional, previously undescribed legs beneath the head.

“This incredible preservation method allows us to view the 3D appendages of hundreds of specimens directly from the ventral side of the animals, just like grabbing an appendage from a horseshoe crab on the beach and turning it upside down to view it,” Dr. Hou said.

Exceptionally well preserved compared to other trilobite species, Polygonum gracilis based on the fossil, which was discovered in the Burgess Shale of British Columbia, the authors propose a model for how the appendages may have been attached to the head in relation to grooves in the exoskeleton.

“This model resolves apparent inconsistencies and shows that the trilobite head contained six segments: the anterior segment associated with the origin of eye development, and five additional segments each associated with a pair of antennae and four pairs of walking legs,” the researchers explained.

Their paper published in the journal Paleontology.

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Jin-bo Hou & Melanie J. Hopkins. 2024. New evidence for five cephalopods in trilobites and its implications for trilobite head segmentation. Paleontology 67(5):e12723; doi:10.1111/pala.12723

Source: www.sci.news