Reconnaissance flight captures aftermath of tsunami in Tracy Arm Fjord.
Cyrus Reed/U.S. Geological Survey
A significant landslide in August 2025 triggered the second-largest tsunami recorded, elevating water levels by over 480 meters in an Alaskan fjord.
The tsunami surged through the fjord at a remarkable speed of at least 70 meters per second, generating a seiche, or reflected wave, that persisted for 36 hours.
Historically, the only larger event was the 1958 Lituya Bay tsunami in Alaska, which surpassed a 530-meter surge.
The Juneau area in Alaska features breathtaking landscapes, where glaciers descend into seas flanked by steep fjords, attracting thousands of cruise ships annually.
However, the tsunami struck at 5:26 a.m. deep within the Tracy Arm Fjord in southeastern Alaska, keeping tourist boats clear of the disaster zone. Dan Sugar from the University of Calgary commented on the event.
“This was an incredibly large and fearsome wave,” Sugar remarked. “If any ship had been in the upper fjord, its survival would have been uncertain.”
Using satellite imagery, seismic data, eyewitness accounts, and computational models, researchers reconstructed the tsunami event. They concluded that retreating glaciers destabilized the surrounding terrain, leading to the massive landslides responsible for the waves.
Throughout the 20th century and recent years, the South Sawyer Glacier has retreated more than 10 kilometers and significantly thinned out.
Despite this retreat, researchers did not anticipate a catastrophic collapse, as 64 million cubic meters of rock plummeted into the fjord. In retrospect, they noted small tremors leading up to the landslide.
At 5:45 a.m., a group of kayakers camped 50 kilometers away awoke to find their site flooded and equipment swept away.
Researchers learned about the disaster within hours due to the landslide triggering a magnitude 5.4 earthquake. However, it took until mid-October for a team to access the area for investigation.
Sugar warns that this event could signal a future with increased tsunami risks due to climate change, stating, “We hope this serves as a wake-up call for policymakers in regions like North America, Greenland, New Zealand, and Chile, where steep terrains border oceans and lakes. These tsunamis are likely an underestimated threat.”
“Generally, tsunamis aren’t directly linked to climate factors, making this a clear example of how climate change can indirectly cause natural disasters previously unassociated with it,” said Martin Koehler from the University of Queensland.
“We were lucky there were no ships in the vicinity during the incident, especially given the regular cruise traffic and the suddenness of the event.”
The years 2023 and 2024 are projected to be the warmest on record, coinciding with a significant Pacific climate event known as El Niño. This phenomenon raises surface temperatures in the eastern Pacific Ocean, resulting in excessive heatwaves in the Amazon and heavy rainfall across the southern United States. Conversely, the La Niña event introduces cooler temperatures, bringing wetter conditions to the northern United States.
Typically, during an El Niño, the warm water in the eastern Pacific weakens the trade winds, creating a self-reinforcing cycle that amplifies the warming. However, the El Niño of 2023 is distinct; despite rapid ocean warming, the trade winds have remained strong. Researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, led by Qihua Peng and Shang-Ping Xie, have explored this unique occurrence.
To understand the changes, the team monitored pressure variations across the Pacific using the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) established by NOAA. Typically, as the eastern Pacific warms during an El Niño, the pressure differences across the Pacific decrease. However, in 2023, while eastern Pacific temperatures soared more than 3°F (2°C) above average, the pressure drop was only about 31% stronger than anticipated. Additionally, alterations in wind speed and direction accounted for only about 30% of the warming. What then accounts for the robust El Niño in 2023?
To answer this question, researchers expanded their analysis beyond the Pacific, examining satellite data for sea surface temperatures from NOAA. They discovered that the North Atlantic and Indian Oceans also recorded unprecedented heat in 2023, with North Atlantic temperatures exceeding 2°F (1°C) above normal, marking an unusual occurrence. This indicates that El Niño events can be influenced by oceanic conditions globally, not simply confined to the Pacific Ocean.
The team employed a computer program to simulate atmospheric responses to oceanic temperatures using a community atmosphere model. This simulation helped assess how heat from the North Atlantic and Indian Oceans affects the Pacific. Results indicated that heat generated large columns of hot air in these regions, which then cooled at high altitudes before descending over the central Pacific. This enhanced updraft and downdraft loop directed the trade winds westward, fortifying the easterly trade winds by about 30% compared to what Pacific warming would alone suggest. If trade winds remained strong, why was the eastern Pacific so warm in 2023?
To uncover this, researchers scrutinized NOAA’s ocean temperature and sea level data over three consecutive years of La Niña from 2020 to 2023 using the Global Ocean Data System. During this period, the strengthening trade winds transported heat into the western Pacific, leading to thermal expansion of the warming waters, creating a “mountain” of warm water in the western Pacific — the highest level of heat storage recorded since 1982. When the weakening La Niña diminished the trade winds, this accumulated warm water surged eastward, paving the way for the El Niño event.
To ascertain if the stored heat alone could trigger El Niño, researchers utilized a computer simulation to model ocean-atmosphere interactions with a coupled general circulation model. They input observed sea temperatures from April 1, 2023, when La Niña ended, omitting all subsequent wind alterations. Their model adeptly replicated 87% of the observed warming from June to December 2023, indicating that only 13% of the warming resulted from trade wind influences. The stored heat migrated eastward via massive underwater waves along the equator, forcing deeper cold ocean water upwards, which warmed the surface layers. This oceanic dynamics thus enabled the 2023 El Niño to emerge without the typical wind feedback.
The research team posits that in an increasingly warmer world, substantial heat reservoirs in the western Pacific may become more prevalent, potentially leading to a rise in the frequency of strong El Niño events. However, since their analysis focused on this singular phenomenon, the frequency of El Niño occurrences driven purely by oceanic processes remains uncertain. Ultimately, their findings reveal that the ocean is not merely a passive player in El Niño events but can actively influence their development.
Renowned astronomers utilizing the Dark Energy Spectrometer (DESI) at NSF’s Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope have generated the most extensive high-resolution 3D map of the universe. This groundbreaking work tracks over 47 million galaxies and quasars.
A segment of DESI’s fifth-year map showcases the universe’s large-scale structure influenced by gravity, where each point denotes a galaxy. High-density regions highlight galaxy clusters forming cosmic threads, with vast voids evident between filaments. Image credit: DESI Collaboration / Member Institutions / DOE / KPNO / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / R. Proctor / M. Zamani, NOIRLab at NSF.
Managed by Berkeley Lab and funded by the DOE Office of Science, DESI represents a comprehensive initiative to decode dark energy.
By comparing historical galaxy clustering with their contemporary distribution, researchers can trace dark energy’s impact over an 11 billion-year cosmic timeline.
Since commencing data collection in May 2021, DESI has surpassed its initial targets significantly.
Initially aiming to capture light from 34 million galaxies during a five-year sky survey, DESI has instead recorded more than 47 million galaxies, quasars, and 20 million stars.
Now, DESI boasts cosmological data on six times more galaxies and quasars than all prior measurements combined.
The collaboration is set to start processing the amassed dataset without delay, with the first dark energy findings from the complete five-year study anticipated in 2027.
In the interim, the DESI team is actively analyzing data from the first three years, enhancing dark energy measurements, yielding further insights into the universe’s structure and evolution, and intends to publish several papers later this year.
“Acknowledging the myriad factors contributing to DESI’s success is no simple task,” stated Dr. Stephanie Juneau, director of NSF’s NOIRLab DESI.
“This accomplishment was a collective effort—from instrument manufacturers and software engineers to technicians, observatory staff, and scientists, including numerous aspiring researchers.”
“Ultimately, our mission serves humanity, enhancing our comprehension of the universe and its ultimate destiny.”
“After uncovering indications that dark energy may deviate from its steady state, every new analysis feels like an exhilarating journey as we navigate these uncharted territories.”
“We are also eager to uncover other fascinating discoveries that this new dataset may reveal.”
“DESI has undoubtedly surpassed expectations, delivering an unparalleled 3D map of the universe that transforms our understanding of dark energy,” said Dr. Kathy Turner, Space Frontiers Program Manager at the Department of Energy’s Office of High Energy Physics.
“Our vision was to push the frontiers of cosmology, and it is immensely gratifying to see the survey completed ahead of schedule with such rich data.”
“The innovation and dedication of the entire DESI collaboration have made this leading-edge research a reality. We are immensely proud of the groundbreaking results we’ve presented and the untapped discoveries yet to come.”
“The past five years of DESI research have indeed been a tremendous achievement,” proclaimed Dr. Michael Levi, DESI director and Berkeley Lab scientist.
“The instruments performed beyond expectations, yielding astonishing results. The scale of the map and the speed of data gathering is remarkable.”
“We will celebrate the initial study’s completion, then delve deep into the data, eager for the surprises that lie ahead.”
The DESI project has produced an unprecedented map of galaxies and quasars across the cosmos, with Earth positioned at the center.
Credit: Claire Laman/DESI collaboration
The Dark Energy Spectrometer (DESI) has recently completed a monumental five-year survey, documenting over 47 million galaxies and quasars. This expansive dataset contributes to the most precise map of the universe ever constructed, potentially unraveling the perplexing enigma of weakening dark energy — a factor that could radically alter our understanding of the universe.
Since its launch in 2021 at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona, DESI has outperformed expectations, initially set to gather data from 34 million celestial bodies. Due to its exceptional efficiency, many faint galaxies, located at considerable distances, have been observed with as few as 100 to 200 photons.
David Schlegel and his team at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory assert that this invaluable data boosts our comprehension of cosmic structures by nearly tenfold, surpassing previous maps that documented only 5 million galaxies.
“Throughout our careers, we’ve continuously expanded our mapping capabilities to include ten times more data every decade,” he states. “We anticipate completing a comprehensive mapping of all observable galaxies within 10 billion light-years by 2061 if we maintain this trajectory.”
Although the primary study is concluded, accessible analysis from this new data will take an additional year to finalize. DESI will persist in its data collection efforts for at least another two-and-a-half years, with planned upgrades to extend its operational life into the 2030s. “This instrument remains the premier technology for such research,” he adds.
Currently, DESI’s cosmic mapping spans 14,000 square degrees, with aspirations to cover up to 17,000 square degrees. Given that the entire celestial sphere is over 41,000 square degrees, certain areas remain challenging to observe due to the brightness of nearby astronomical entities, including our home galaxy, the Milky Way.
This groundbreaking dataset will empower scientists to analyze and compare the distribution of galaxies from both the ancient past and the present, potentially yielding insights into the nature of dark energy — which constitutes roughly 70% of our universe. DESI’s initial findings for 2024 suggest an intriguing possibility that dark energy is not static but may be diminishing over time.
Should dark energy indeed prove to be weakening, it could significantly disrupt the established lambda-CDM model of cosmology. The culmination of DESI’s data will provide a robust framework for a deeper investigation into these phenomena.
Ofer Lahav, a professor at University College London, recalls a time when access to data like DESI’s was merely a dream. “Four decades ago, during my PhD at Cambridge, we sampled thousands of galaxies, and the thirst for data was immense. Now, with a plethora of data available, analyzing it presents a different set of challenges for my students,” he remarks.
As the deluge of data grows, breakthroughs regarding the fundamental nature of the universe are anticipated. This influx may also illuminate rare cosmological events, opening doors to fresh avenues of research.
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This week, an early-season heatwave has shattered multiple temperature records in California and Arizona, hitting unprecedented highs on Wednesday and Thursday.
Summer-like weather conditions are anticipated to persist and extend towards the eastern regions.
Currently, nearly 38 million individuals in Southern California and the desert Southwest are under heat warnings, with temperatures regularly reaching the low 90s and even exceeding 100 degrees. This extreme heat is attributed to a massive heat dome that remains stagnant over the Western U.S.
In Palm Springs, California, Thursday’s temperature soared to an astonishing 107 degrees Fahrenheit, marking a new record for March. The previous record of 105 was set just a day earlier.
Additionally, the Coachella Valley city of Indio experienced record-breaking temperatures, reaching 108 degrees on Thursday—the highest ever recorded for March.
California witnessed numerous daily records, including a Thursday high of 101 degrees in Riverside. The day prior, a high of 95 degrees was established. Anaheim saw 88 degrees, while Sacramento recorded 85 degrees, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
Over in Yuma County, Arizona, temperatures reached a remarkable 110 degrees on Thursday, setting a new record for the hottest March temperature ever recorded in the U.S., as confirmed by the National Weather Service.
Phoenix also recorded a high of 102 degrees on Wednesday, marking the earliest occurrence of triple-digit temperatures. On Thursday, temperatures escalated to 104 degrees.
“This is not just the first 100-degree day of 2026 but also the earliest recorded in Phoenix—previously occurring on March 26, 1988,” the NWS field office noted in a post on Wednesday.
Looking ahead, Phoenix is expected to see temperatures reach 106 degrees on Friday and Saturday, with a heatwave warning in effect until Sunday.
Las Vegas is also experiencing a surge in temperatures, setting a new March record of 95 degrees on Thursday. Local offices of the NWS predict temperatures could soar to 100 degrees on Friday, as reported by officials.
Regions in Oregon, Idaho, and Wyoming are also witnessing unusually warm conditions. The NWS office in Boise recorded a high of 80 degrees on Wednesday afternoon, marking the earliest date in history to reach that temperature since records began in 1875.
According to the NWS, this also marks only the second time Boise has reached 80 degrees in March since March 19, 1997, as stated in a post on X.
The extreme heat is forecasted to intensify over the weekend, moving eastward into the Rocky Mountains and the South-Central Plains.
“High temperatures are predicted to remain in the mid to upper 90s across Texas, while areas as far north as Nebraska and South Dakota could experience temperatures in the low to mid 90s,” the NWS stated on Thursday.
Skiers on the snowy slopes of Breckenridge Ski Resort in Colorado donned lighter attire as temperatures soared to 50 degrees on Wednesday. Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images
In Colorado, new temperature records are on the horizon, with Friday’s forecasted highs at 84 degrees in Denver, 86 degrees in Fort Collins, and 83 degrees in Boulder. The NWS has warned of increasing temperatures over the weekend.
This week’s heatwave is driven by a persistent ridge of high pressure that effectively traps hot air over the western United States.
While assessing the exact impacts of climate change on specific weather patterns is complex, it’s evident that global warming will lead to more frequent, intense, and prolonged heatwaves.
This week, much of the western United States is experiencing a summer-like heatwave in March, with temperatures soaring across California and the Southwest, raising significant climate concerns.
Forecasters predict high temperatures exceeding 90 degrees Fahrenheit will blanket Southern California and reach triple digits in parts of Arizona and Nevada. On Monday, about 39 million residents were placed under heat warnings, with expectations for the heatwave to intensify as the week progresses.
The National Weather Service attributes this “unusually rapid” heatwave to a unique atmospheric pattern characterized by a dome of high pressure settling over the West, trapping heat and humidity.
“We anticipate daily record ties and new records emerging throughout Southern California, the desert Southwest, and the Great Basin over the next few days,” the agency noted in their Monday short-term forecast. “These rising temperatures are paving the way for even more extreme and widespread record heat later this week.”
In Los Angeles, temperatures are expected to reach the mid to upper 90s this week, peaking at 98 degrees on Thursday. In Phoenix, readings could soar to 105 degrees by Thursday, while southern Nevada cities might hit 107 degrees, marking an exceptionally hot start to the year.
“Temperatures will be more than 20 degrees above normal, making it feel more like early June than mid-March,” the Las Vegas Weather Bureau stated in a recent post on X.
Cities likely to break monthly temperature records in the coming days include San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sacramento, and Palm Springs in California, alongside Phoenix and Tucson in Arizona, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Albuquerque, Colorado Springs, and Denver in Colorado.
Heat domes occur when a powerful, persistent area of high pressure hovers over land, effectively trapping hot air.
This week’s heatwave is especially concerning due to its unusual timing and extended duration. The Bureau of Meteorology cautioned that this heat dome might be “one of the strongest we’ve observed for this time of year,” with little relief expected until late next week.
While linking specific extreme weather events directly to climate change remains challenging, studies indicate that heatwaves are becoming more frequent, intense, and prolonged as global temperatures rise.
Extended periods of extreme heat pose significant risks to vulnerable populations, including children, the elderly, and individuals with pre-existing health conditions, especially as they adjust to summer-like climates.
The National Weather Service San Diego office warned, “Moderate to severe heat risk is expected. Please stay safe, especially for those without air conditioning. Avoid outdoor activities during peak heating hours.” They shared this announcement via X on Sunday.
This March heatwave has further worsened the West’s ongoing snow drought, diminishing the region’s already low snowpack and increasing concerns about wildfire risks and water availability for the upcoming months.
As the West faces soaring temperatures, a major winter storm is impacting the upper Midwest and Upper Great Lakes, with heavy snowfall anticipated in Wisconsin and Michigan on Monday. More than 120 million residents from the Mississippi Valley to New England also face wind warnings, with potential for damaging winds and tornadoes in areas like Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C.
Simultaneously, Hawaii has been battered by a powerful atmospheric river, bringing continuous rain and resulting in widespread flash flooding and landslides over the past five days.
Astronomers have utilized data gathered from a network of space and terrestrial telescopes to identify AT 2024wpp, the most radiant blue light transient (LFBOT) ever recorded. These uncommon, ephemeral, and exceedingly luminous outbursts have perplexed scientists for a decade, but the extraordinary brightness and comprehensive multiwavelength data from AT 2024wpp indicate that they cannot be attributed to typical stellar explosions such as supernovae. Instead, recent observations reveal that AT 2024wpp was generated by an extreme tidal disruption event, where a black hole, with a mass approximately 100 times that of the Sun, dismantles a massive companion star over the course of just a few days, converting a significant portion of the star’s mass into energy.
This composite image contains X-ray and optical data for the LFBOT event at 2024wpp. Image credits: NASA / CXC / University of California, Berkeley / Nayana others. / Legacy Survey / DECaLS / BASS / MzLS / SAO / P. Edmonds / N. Walk.
LFBOTs derive their name from their intense brightness, being visible from hundreds of millions to billions of light years away, and their ephemeral nature, lasting merely a few days.
They emit high-energy light across the blue spectrum into ultraviolet and X-rays.
The inaugural observation was made in 2014, but the first LFBOT with sufficient data for analysis was recorded in 2018, termed AT 2018cow, in accordance with standard naming conventions.
Researchers nicknamed it “cow”, alongside other LFBOTs dubbed “tongue-twisted koala” (ZTF18abvkwla), “Tasmanian devil” (AT 2022tsd), and “finch” (AT 2023fhn). AT 2024wpp is likely to be known as Wasp.
Researchers determined that AT 2024wpp was not a supernova after assessing the energy output of the phenomenon.
The energy was found to be 100 times greater than that produced by typical supernovae.
The emitted energy must convert roughly 10% of the Sun’s rest mass into energy over a brief period of weeks.
Specifically, observations from Gemini South disclosed excess near-infrared radiation emitted by a luminous source.
This marks the second instance astronomers have witnessed such an occurrence, with the first being AT 2018cow, which seemingly doesn’t occur in regular stellar explosions.
These observations establish near-infrared excess as a defining characteristic of FBOT, yet no model can adequately explain it.
“The energy released by these bursts is so immense that it cannot be accounted for by a nuclear collapse or any typical stellar explosion,” stated Nathalie LeBaron, a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley.
“The main takeaway from AT 2024wpp is that the model we initially proposed is incorrect. This is definitely not an ordinary exploding star.”
Scientists suggest that the intense high-energy light emitted during this extreme tidal disruption stems from the black hole binary system’s prolonged parasitic behavior.
As they piece together this history, it appears the black hole has been gradually siphoning material from its companion star, enveloping itself in a ring of material too distant to be consumed.
Subsequently, when the companion star ventured too near and was shredded, the new material became ensnared in a rotating accretion disk, colliding with pre-existing material and releasing X-rays, ultraviolet light, and blue radiation.
Much of the gas from the companion star ended up spiraling toward the black hole’s poles, where it was expelled as material jets.
Authors calculated that the jet was traveling at about 40% the speed of light and emitted radio waves upon interacting with surrounding gas.
Similar to most LFBOTs, AT 2024wpp is situated in a galaxy characterized by active star formation, making the presence of large stars likely.
Located 1.1 billion light years away, AT 2024wpp is 5 to 10 times more brilliant than AT 2018cow.
The companion star that was torn apart was estimated to be over 10 times the mass of the Sun.
“It may have been what is referred to as a Wolf-Rayet star, a very hot evolved star that has depleted much of its hydrogen,” remarked the astronomers.
“This would account for the weak hydrogen emission observed from AT 2024wpp.”
Natalie LeBaron others. 2025. Brightest known fast blue light transient AT 2024wpp: unprecedented evolution and properties from ultraviolet to near-infrared. APJL in press. arXiv: 2509.00951
AJ Nayana others. 2025. Brightest known fast blue light transient AT 2024wpp: unprecedented evolution and properties in X-rays and radio. APJL in press. arXiv: 2509.00952
Stacking semiconductor transistors could aid in overcoming Moore’s law
Kaust
As semiconductor manufacturers make their products smaller, they encounter limitations on the computing power that can be integrated into a single chip. A groundbreaking chip may offer a solution to this dilemma and advance the creation of sustainable electronics.
Since the 1960s, enhancing electronic capabilities has revolved around miniaturizing their fundamental components, transistors, and packing them more densely onto chips. This trend was encapsulated by Moore’s Law, which posited that the number of components on a microchip doubles every year. However, this phenomenon began to falter around 2010. Li Xiaohan and colleagues at Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah University of Science and Technology have suggested that the answer to this challenge might be to build upwards instead of inwards.
They engineered a chip featuring 41 vertical layers of two distinct semiconductor types, separated by insulating material. This stack of transistors is approximately ten times taller than any previously created. To evaluate its efficiency, the team produced 600 duplicates, all demonstrating consistent performance. Some of these stacked chips were utilized to execute various fundamental operations required by computers or sensing devices, showing performance levels comparable to traditional non-stacked counterparts.
Li mentions that producing these stacks necessitates a manufacturing method that requires less energy compared to standard chip production. Team members, including Thomas Anthopoulos from the University of Manchester in the UK indicates that while the new chip may not lead to advanced supercomputers, its application in everyday devices like smart home gadgets and wearable health monitors could significantly lower the carbon footprint of the electronics industry while enhancing functionality with each additional layer.
How high will the stack rise? “The possibilities are endless; we can keep pushing the limits. It’s just a journey of determination,” Anthopoulos states.
However, he notes that engineering hurdles persist regarding the temperature tolerance of the chip before it fails. Muhammad Alam from Purdue University in Indiana comments that it’s analogous to trying to keep cool by layering on multiple hoodies; each additional layer raises the heat. Alam asserts that the chip’s current thermal threshold of 50 degrees Celsius would need to rise by over 30 degrees Celsius to become practical for real-world application. Nonetheless, he believes that for electronics to progress in the near future, pursuing vertical growth is the only viable strategy.
A “megaflash” of lightning recorded in the Great Plains of the United States has been recognized as the longest ever, stretching 829 km (about 515 miles) across five states, from eastern Texas to Missouri.
These megaflashes—extended lightning discharges—are associated with large clusters of thunderstorms typically found in the Great Plains and other lightning-prone areas. The reasons why some storms produce megaflashes while others do not remain a mystery. “I don’t know exactly why this happens,” says Michael Peterson from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
The lightning event occurred in October 2017 and lasted for over seven seconds. At the time, it was too lengthy to be completely mapped by ground-based lightning detection systems.
Zigzag branch of the longest flash of lightning on record
Michael Peterson, GTRI
To verify the extent of this flash, Peterson and his team returned to satellite data from Earth-based cameras that continuously monitor lightning. They utilized new software to process millions of light pulses, successfully tracking the lightning as it traveled through the storm.
“Every new pulse gives you an idea of how that flash evolves over time,” Peterson explains. “It’s like playing Connect-the-Dots to piece together the entire structure.”
They discovered the flash’s maximum linear length of 829 km, plus or minus 8 km—comparable to the distance between London and Zurich. However, the total trace along the bolt itself exceeds 1000 kilometers. “The Mega Flash can extend to the Megameter,” Peterson adds.
The World Meteorological Organization, which maintains records of extreme weather events, has confirmed this flash as the longest ever documented, surpassing prior records by approximately 61 kilometers since 2020.
“From this single flash, we observed over 100 cloud-to-cloud strokes,” Peterson notes. “Although mega flashes are rare, each one is quite remarkable.”
An Alabama woman lived with pig kidneys for a record-breaking 130 days before her body began rejecting them, leading to their removal and a return to dialysis, doctors announced Friday.
Following her removal surgery on April 4 at Nyu Langone Health, Towana Rooney steadily recovered and went back to her home in Gadsden, Alabama. Rooney expressed gratitude to the doctors for allowing her to take part in the study.
Rooney stated, “While the outcome was not what anyone would have hoped for, I have learned a great deal from having pig kidneys for 130 days. I believe this experience can benefit and inspire many others on their journey to overcome kidney disease.”
Scientists are working on genetically modifying pigs so that their organs are more similar to human organs, addressing the significant shortage of transplantable human organs. With over 100,000 people on the US transplant list, most in need of kidneys, and thousands waiting and dying, this advancement is crucial.
Prior to Rooney’s transplant, only four other Americans had received experimental xenotransplants using gene-edited pig organs – two hearts and two kidneys – all of which failed within two months. The recipients, who were severely ill before the surgery, did not survive.
Currently, researchers are attempting to transplant these pig organs into patients with less severe illnesses, like Rooney. A man from New Hampshire who received pig kidneys in January is doing well, and a comprehensive study of pig kidney transplants is scheduled for this summer. A Chinese researcher also reported successful renal xenotransplants recently.
Since 2016, Rooney has been on dialysis and was ineligible for conventional transplants due to her body’s predisposition to reject human kidneys. Turning to pig kidneys proved successful for her, allowing her to extend her life significantly. She referred to herself as a “superwoman” and lived longer than anyone with gene-edited pig organs before her body began rejecting them in early April.
Dr. Robert Montgomery, a pioneer of Nyu XenoTransplant and Rooney’s surgeon, stated that the rejection is being investigated. He emphasized that removing the pig kidneys was a safer option than continuing with high-risk rejection drugs.
Montgomery explained, “We took a safe approach. Rooney is not worse off post-XenoTransplant. In fact, she feels better as she had a four-month break from dialysis.”
Prior to the rejection, Rooney experienced infections associated with dialysis, while her immunosuppressive anti-rejection drugs were slightly reduced, allowing her immune system to revitalize after the transplant. These factors likely contributed to the rejection of the new kidneys.
Rejection is a common concern following organ transplants, which can result in the loss of new organs. Doctors must strike a delicate balance between suppressing the patient’s immune system, fighting infections, and maintaining the new organs.
This challenge is even greater with xenotransplants, where patients still require immunosuppressive medications despite modifications made to pig organs to prevent immediate rejection. Researchers are exploring different combinations of medications to find the most effective approach.
Montgomery believes Rooney’s experience will yield valuable insights for future clinical trials. Achieving successful xenotransplants would be a significant achievement with benefits for patients in need of organ transplants.
Openai announced a $400 billion funding round that valued ChatGpt makers at $300 million. Partnering with SoftBank, Openai aims to push the boundaries of AI research towards AGI (artificial general information) with significant computing power.
SoftBank believes in achieving “artificial super intelligence” (ASI) surpassing human intelligence, praising Openai as the best partner to reach this goal. SoftBank plans to invest $10 billion initially and $300 billion by 2025, subject to meeting certain conditions.
Facing competition from Deepseek and Meta in the open source AI space, Openai announced plans to develop a more open, generative AI model. Additionally, Openai is expanding its user base rapidly with the latest image generation features in ChatGpt.
Openai, led by CEO Sam Altman, previously favored a closed model for AI development. However, with evolving priorities, Openai is now embracing open source to allow developers more flexibility in adapting AI technologies.
Critics of closed AI models, like Google, argue that open models pose higher risks and are more susceptible to misuse. Former Openai investor Elon Musk urges Openai to prioritize open source safety.
Companies and governments prefer AI models they can control for data security reasons. Meta and Deepseek offer customizable models, enabling users to download and modify them to suit their needs.
Commenting on the success of new features in ChatGpt, Altman mentioned a surge in users overwhelming Openai’s resources. This advancement underscores the growing interest and demand for AI advancements.
A rocket carrying satellites explodes from China's commercial aerospace zone
VCG/Getty Images
The small quantum satellite created a secure link between China and South African terrestrial stations, sharing quantum encrypted data over a record distance of 12,900 kilometers. Similar microsatellites could become part of the quantum internet of things in the future.
The record-breaking feat that took place in October 2024 was also notable for the use of satellites with small, light payloads. The miniaturized equipment on the Jinan-1 microsatellite weighed only 23 kilograms, about 10 times the payload of previous experiments.
Petite quantum satellites like Jinan-1 say “like what SpareX does with StarLink for the Internet, it could launch many satellites in one shot with the same space launcher.” Laurent de Forge de Panney at Thales Alenia Space, a space technology company headquartered in France.
In this experiment, the researchers used the quantum state of photons to generate a secret key for encrypting and decrypting the data. This key was used to encode photographs of the Great Wall in China and Stellenbosch University in South Africa, and was then transmitted between the Zinan-1 satellite and various ground stations using lasers and telescopes. Research team led by Jianwei Pan The University of Science and Technology in China has performed this quantum key distribution process 20 times, including a test of 12,900 km set record.
There are limits to this showcase of quantum technology. Jinan-1 satellites “apparently optimized for quantum key distributions and do not perform common quantum communication tasks such as teleportation or entanglement distributions.” Alexander Lynn At the National University of Singapore. Nevertheless, Lynn, who praises the demonstration, says it could become part of the actual communications network within the next decade.
Quantum Key Distribution can be “are considered the first practical quantum communication use case,” and “the first step into a quantum information network,” says De Forges de Parny. “China's activities will definitely help develop a second-generation small satellite for the quantum internet,” he says.
The Jinan-1 was originally launched in 2022, and PAN says China will send two or three more quantum satellites in 2025. Other countries are expecting to release their own quantum satellites by 2026. projectfunded by the European Space Agency. Boeing, a US aerospace company, is working on it Another.
Paleontologists in Uruguay have discovered a large, poorly preserved and incomplete skull of an ancient aquatic reptile called a mesosaurus, along with some accompanying bones. These new specimens suggest gigantism exists in mature mesosaurs that reach more than twice the size of previously reported adult and typical specimens.
Mesosaurs are small to medium-sized aquatic or semi-aquatic amniotes that lived in Gondwana during the Early Permian Period. Image credit: Roman Yevseyev / Graciela Piñeiro.
mesosaurus A group of small aquatic reptiles that lived in South Africa and South America during the Permian Period, approximately 299 to 270 million years ago.
These creatures were the first known aquatic reptiles to return to aquatic life from apparently terrestrial ancestors.
“Mesosaurs are often described as small to medium-sized aquatic amniotes due to their elongated bodies and long tails that exceed the length of the rest of their bodies,” Graciela Pinheiro of the University of the Republic and colleagues. said.
“Additionally, their long-nosed skulls consist of very thin skulls with numerous needle-like marginal teeth.”
“Despite the fragility of some parts of the skull, mesosaur fossils are abundant in the Percarboniferous shales and silt deposits of Gondwana, including preserved bones with articulated skulls. This includes nearly complete skeletons in good condition, as well as partially preserved specimens that still have recognizable soft tissue.
“This exceptional preservation has led to the designation of the Mangrullo Formation in Uruguay and the Illati Formation in Brazil as part of the Conservat Lagerstätten of Gondwana,” they added.
“Furthermore, mesosaur fossils collected from these units include a variety of ontogenetic stages, from fetuses to juveniles to adults.”
“Thus, the ontogeny of mesoosaurs is well documented, with body length ranging from 10 to 12 centimeters (3.9 to 4.7 inches) in hatchlings to 80 to 90 centimeters (2.6 to 3 feet) in young adults. ”
“The average body length of the middle dragon is about 70 cm (2.3 feet),” the researchers said.
“Previous research suggested that mesosaurs were semi-aquatic amniotes, rather than fully aquatic amniotes.”
Mesosaurus ontogenetic cranial series documented from specimens discovered in the Conservato Lagerstätte, Mangrullo Formation, Uruguay. Scale bar – 1 cm. Image credit: Pinheiro others., doi: 10.3390/fossils3010001.
Dr. Pinheiro and his co-authors discovered and studied the largest known mesosaur fossil ever recorded.
The specimen includes two fragmentary skulls, a dorsal vertebrae, a tail fragment, an isolated rib, and several other bones.
They come from the regions of Picada de Cuero and El Baron. Mangrullo formation Located in northern Uruguay.
Paleontologists compared the new fossil to a larger sample of the same bone. Mesosaurus tenuidens.
Their analysis revealed that the size of mesosaurs in the Mangrullo Formation exceeded the typical size distribution previously recorded. Mesosaurus tenuidens.
These individuals were four to five standard deviations larger than average, with skull lengths of 15 to 20 cm (5.9 to 7.9 inches) and total body sizes of 1.5 to 2.5 m (4.9 to 8.2 ft).
“To explore the importance of such large mesoosaurs in the Mangrullo Formation population, we considered the potential effects of Bergmann dominance,” the researchers said.
“This is a study of isolated populations of the same species or different taxa whose body size may have been affected by changes in temperature or food availability, such as competition for nutrients. Although this is an important paleogeographical principle, it does not explain the presence of such large creatures.'' Mesosaurian specimens from the Mangurlo Formation. ”
“We therefore conclude that the large body size variations observed in mesosaurs correspond to their ontogenetic stages and growth patterns,” the researchers said.
“The smaller body size previously recognized may represent a population dominated by early juveniles, subadults, and young adults, and may be due to normal carcass wasting of animals that died from a variety of causes. It may reflect a catastrophic mass mortality event that impedes the increase.”
“The bentonite layers and gypsum crystals found in the Mangrullo Formation are the result of occasional inflows of ash fall onto the lagoon resulting from increased tectonic activity associated with the Pangea Formation.”
“These volcanic events, combined with the gradual drought and associated desertification observed in the Irati-Whitehill Sea, are the main triggers that may explain the extinction of mesosaurs, at least in the Uruguayan region of the Paraná Basin. It is suggested that
of findings Published in a magazine fossil research.
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Graciela Pinheiro others. 2025. Largest Mesosaurus Ever Known: Evidence from the Scanti Record. Phos. stud 3(1):1;doi: 10.3390/fossils3010001
On December 24, 2024, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe will soar just 6.1 million km (3.8 million miles) above the surface of our home planet and hurtle through the solar atmosphere at 692,000 km (430,000 miles) per hour. I did. This is the fastest speed the spacecraft has ever achieved. An object made by humans. A signal received two days later confirmed that the spacecraft had safely passed the encounter and was operating normally.
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe approaches the Sun. Image credit: Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.
Near the Sun, the Parker Solar Probe relies on a carbon foam shield to protect the probe from the extreme heat in the upper part of the Sun’s atmosphere, called the corona, which can exceed 500,000 degrees Celsius (1 million degrees Fahrenheit).
The shield is designed to reach temperatures of 1,427 degrees Celsius (2,600 degrees Fahrenheit) while keeping the instruments behind it shaded at a comfortable room temperature.
In the hot but low-density corona, the spacecraft’s shield is expected to warm up to 982 degrees Celsius (1,800 degrees Fahrenheit).
“Flying this close to the Sun is a historic moment in humanity’s first mission to the stars,” said Dr. Nikki Fox, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.
“Studying the Sun up close will allow us to better understand its impact on the entire solar system, including the technologies we use every day on Earth and in space, and will also help us understand the workings of stars throughout the universe. We can learn about and help us explore habitable worlds beyond our home planet.
“Parker Solar Probe will venture into one of the most extreme environments in the universe,” said Dr. Noor Rawafi, a researcher at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and project scientist for the Parker Solar Probe. It has exceeded all expectations.”
“This mission ushered in a new golden age of space exploration and brings us closer than ever to solving the sun’s deepest and most enduring mysteries.”
Parker Solar Probe’s record-breaking distance of 6.1 million kilometers (3.8 million miles) may seem far away, but on a cosmic scale it’s incredibly close. Image credit: NASA/APL.
“Being able to get a spacecraft this close to the sun is monumental,” said John Wurtzberger, a researcher at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and Parker Solar Probe mission systems engineer. .
“This is a challenge the space science community has wanted to address since 1958, and we’ve spent decades advancing technology to make it possible.”
The Parker Solar Probe will fly through the solar corona to help scientists better understand how the region gets hot, track the origins of the solar wind, and discover how energetic particles We can make measurements that will help us discover how it accelerates to half the speed of light.
“This data is extremely important to the scientific community because it gives us new advantages,” said Dr. Kelly Kolek, a program scientist at NASA Headquarters.
“Parker Solar Probe revolutionizes our understanding of the Sun by providing first-hand knowledge of what is happening in the Sun’s atmosphere.”
So far, the rover is only transmitting that it is safe, but it will soon arrive at a location where it can downlink the data it collects on this latest solar pass.
“The data coming down from the spacecraft will provide fresh information about places we humans have never been before. This is an amazing accomplishment,” said Joe, director of NASA’s Heliophysics Division. Dr. Westlake said.
The spacecraft’s next planned solar approaches will take place on March 22, 2025 and June 19, 2025.
IThis was one of history’s monumental moments, but if John Glenn had not stopped at a supermarket on his way aboard Friendship 7 to pick up a Contax camera and 35mm film, the visual record may not have existed. A photograph taken by an American astronaut through the window of a capsule while in Earth orbit on February 20, 1962, provided unprecedented evidence of Project Mercury’s first orbital mission. The Soviet Union may have beaten the Americans in the race to human spaceflight, but the Americans were also taking the first color photographs of the galaxy.
German gallerist Daniel Blau points out that these photos are also “the most expensive photographs ever taken.” Billions of dollars were spent to obtain them. Blau has an original print of Glenn’s first photograph taken in space. Photos from Paris this yearalong with NASA’s cache of rare photographic prints, many of which have never been publicly displayed before, most of them by unknown scientists and astronauts.
“At that time, NASA didn’t provide cameras to astronauts,” Blau says. “In a way, this was Glenn’s private photograph.” Despite their scientific motivations, Glenn’s images convey the inescapable mystery of the universe. A warm, glowing ball of light spreads out from the center of the frame. Luminescent flashes blaze into the deep darkness of the void, dancing like the “fireflies” described by Glenn. It must have been terrifying to watch. In fact, the spark turned out to be condensation.
Traveling at 28,000 km/h, humans managed to reach space, but they had not yet designed a photographic machine powerful enough to keep up with the journey. Lacking much visual information or detail, Glenn’s photographs probably reveal less about the universe and have become totems of human ambition. Glenn later added a personal caption, warning, “I guarantee you a photo will never be able to recreate the brilliance of a real scene.”
Blau began carrying vintage NASA prints in the 1990s. “The Space Race and the Cold War were the defining forces of the second half of the 20th century. Of course, my generation remembers all the important moments.” Some of the photos were published at the time, but original prints It is difficult to obtain. “These scientists and the people who worked on the missions passed down their personal archives to their children, and now their grandchildren, so there is still a lot of material on the market. It was natural for me to start searching and working with these photographs.”
At Paris Photo, a crowd gathered around a series of six silver gelatin photographs from 1948 overlooking the Rio Grande from a V-2 rocket at 73,000 feet. Also on display were humanity’s first close-up photo of Mars, taken in 1965, and the first panoramic photo of Earth seen from the moon. The latter was not photographed by humans, but was sent by radio signal from an unmanned mission in August 1966. They were then stitched together pixel by pixel into a single image at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
By 1979, the interstellar probe Voyager was able to take better pictures of the planet, and its images of Jupiter and its four moons suspended like marble in an onyx atmosphere were particularly startling.
The impressive large-scale mosaic of Mercury’s pockmarked surface, created in 1974, is “the only mosaic of this size I’ve ever seen,” Blau says. “It was probably produced for a NASA presentation, similar to Voyager’s photo of Mars.” This photo only shows part of the solar system’s smallest planet, but it doesn’t fit our understanding and You get another glimpse of what lies beyond your control.
By the late ’70s, photography had taken on a more central role in missions and the advancement of space science. “NASA was and still is dependent on public funding, but Glenn’s color photographs taken in Earth orbit showed that the best and most positive way for NASA to demonstrate its accomplishments was through photography.” It became clear that there was one thing,” Blau said. “Of course, the scientific side of things is the driving force, but photography tells a first-hand story.”
Blau’s footage was released the day after the US presidential election. He said he wanted to remind visitors of the “positive common efforts of many countries.” They are certainly humble. “Perhaps no photograph embodies more than this photograph the combination of mystical awe and mastery of nature that constitutes the human condition,” Blau muses. “Humans escape from the confines of the earth to see and record things that have never been seen or recorded before – the impossible.”
Excitement in the world of mathematics has been sparked by a significant discovery. The previous record for the largest prime number has been surpassed.
A prime number is only divisible by 1 and itself. For example, 23 is a prime number. Dividing by 1 results in 23, dividing by 23 gives 1, but dividing by any other number does not give an integer.
The new prime number is 2136,279,841-1 (known as M136279841). This prime number has a length of 41,024,320 digits, which is 16 million digits more than the previous record holder. It would take 237 days to fully read M136279841 if you read two digits per second.
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Additionally, this new prime number is a Mersenne prime, which is a special type of prime number of the form 2P-1. M136279841 is the 52nd Mersenne prime number discovered so far.
The discovery of M136279841 was the most challenging Mersenne Prime to date. It was found using free software from the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search (GIMPS) by 2-year-old Luke Durant, a 36-year-old volunteer, using a graphics processing unit (GPU) supercomputer.
This achievement earned Durant a $3,000 prize, which he will donate to the Alabama School of Mathematics and Science.
While the discovery of prime numbers may seem like a recreational pursuit, Mersenne primes, in particular, are of significant interest to mathematicians like Sophie MacLean, a PhD student in analytical number theory at King’s College London. MacLean is fascinated by the rarity and complexity of Mersenne primes and is eager to explore more about them.
About our experts
Sophie MacLean is a PhD student in analytical number theory and additive combinatorics at King’s College London. She has lectured at the Royal Institution and Cheltenham Science Festival and published videos on the Numberphile YouTube channel.
This includes a whopping 5.09 inches in one hour from 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM ET. This level is believed to have an approximately 0.1% chance of occurring in any given year.
“This is insane! St. Petersburg reported 5.09 inches of rain in one hour and 9.04 inches in three hours,” said Matthew Cappucci, Atmospheric Scientist and Senior Meteorologist at MyRadar Weather. states.Posted on Wednesday by X. “That’s rarer than a once-in-a-millennium rain event.”
Milton made landfall near Siesta Key as a strong Category 3 storm Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. ET.
Other significant precipitation amounts across Florida include 14.01 inches in Clearwater Beach, 13.09 inches in Baskin, 11.43 inches in Tampa, and 10.12 inches in Seminole.
Scientists have not yet completed their analysis of the impact on Milton because it takes time to understand the effects of climate change on individual weather events. But in general, experts know that global warming is making storms wetter and more intense.
Research shows that global warming causes sea surface temperatures to rise, which provides extra energy to storms, increasing their speed and intensity. The unusually high sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico that strengthened hurricanes Milton and Helen are 200 to 500 times more likely to be caused by climate change, according to a study released Wednesday. It is said that
The warmer the atmosphere, the more water it can hold. For every 1 degree Fahrenheit increase in Earth’s temperature, the atmosphere can hold about 3% to 4% more water. Therefore, storms can dump large amounts of rain on land.
Milton’s heavy rains quickly flooded roads, homes, and other structures along the Florida Gulf Coast. The National Weather Service issued a flash flood emergency for Tampa and St. Petersburg, which lasted until 2:30 a.m. ET Thursday.
Forecasters expected heavy rain as Milton moved into Florida. Hours before landfall, the National Hurricane Center said it expected 6 to 12 inches of rain to fall across the central and northern Florida peninsula through Thursday, with local rainfall totals up to 18 inches.
The east coast of Florida is also experiencing rain. Preliminary measurements Wednesday showed 7 inches of precipitation in St. Augustine, 7.38 inches in Titusville, and 3.05 inches in Daytona Beach, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Hurricane Milton has returned to the ocean, but additional rain and flooding is expected to continue into parts of eastern and central Florida through Thursday, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Dennis Chow
Dennis Chow is a science and space reporter for NBC News.
More than 50 heat records were broken in the western United States on Wednesday.
Daily temperature records include highs of 108 degrees Fahrenheit in Phoenix and 106 degrees Fahrenheit in San Jose, California.
October’s heatwave is expected to continue into the weekend, with extreme weather conditions continuing in states including California, Arizona and Nevada.
More than 50 heat records were set on Wednesday as October’s unusual heatwave continues to bake across much of the western United States.
A high temperature of 108 degrees Fahrenheit was recorded in Phoenix, breaking the previous record of 107 degrees Fahrenheit, set in 1980. According to the National Weather Service. On Wednesday, temperatures in Yuma, Arizona, reached 112 degrees, tying the previous record, also set in 1980.
California also set several daily heat records, according to the National Weather Service. San Jose recorded a high of 106 degrees, breaking previous highs of 96 degrees in both 1980 and 2012. Napa recorded a high of 103 degrees, beating the previous record of 102 degrees set in 1980.
About 29 million people were under heat warnings on Thursday. Excessive heat warning substantially in most casesCalifornia, Arizona, and Nevada.
Dozens more records are expected from California to Colorado as extreme temperatures continue into the weekend.
More dangerously high temperatures are expected in California over the next few days, with highs reaching 112 degrees in the eastern San Fernando Valley, Santa Clarita Valley and western San Fernando Valley, the National Weather Service said. High temperatures could reach 102 degrees in parts of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Temperatures in Death Valley National Park could reach highs of 113 degrees in lower elevations this weekend, making it “dangerously hot for early October,” the NWS said in an alert.
The National Weather Service also warned Arizonans of a “significant heat risk” into the weekend, with temperatures reaching 115 degrees in some parts of the state. Temperatures in parts of neighboring Nevada could reach 110 degrees by the end of the week.
Meanwhile, on the other side, temperatures rose into the mid-90s in parts of Florida recently hit by Hurricane Helen, including Tampa, Fort Myers and St. Petersburg.
According to the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service, Sunday was the hottest day on record.
The global average temperature reached 17.09 degrees Celsius (62.76 degrees Fahrenheit), breaking the previous record set in July last year.
Last month was the hottest June on record worldwide.
Sunday is The hottest day on record According to data from the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service, on Earth:
The global average temperature reached 17.09 degrees Celsius (about 62.76 degrees Fahrenheit), slightly surpassing the previous record of 17.08 degrees Celsius recorded on July 6, 2023.
“We are now in truly uncharted territory and there is no doubt that new records will be broken in the coming months and years as the climate continues to warm,” Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, said in a statement.
So far, both July this year and July 2023 have been much warmer than the 1991 to 2020 average, according to Copernicus data. Before last year, the hottest day on record was August 12, 2016, when the average temperature reached 16.8 degrees.
Last week, a heatwave that hit southern and central Europe reportedly sparked wildfires in southern Italy, forcing the Greek Ministry of Culture to close the Acropolis for several hours. Associated Press.
In the United States, High temperature warning Six states, including Arizona, California and Montana, enacted special heat stroke laws on Tuesday. Officials believe more than 300 people have died from heat stroke in Maricopa County, Arizona, so far this year.
Last month was the hottest June on record globally, breaking records for the 13th consecutive month of record high temperatures. Copernicus Service Monitoring.
“As it gets hotter, we're going to have to significantly recalibrate how we live our lives,” said Bharat Venkat, director of the UCLA Thermal Lab, which studies the effects of rising temperatures.
As a more personal example, Venkat said he took his dog for a walk at a local mall this summer because the sidewalk was “really hot and I was worried his paws would get burned.”
He stressed that at a larger, more severe level, “many of these adverse effects overlap with existing social inequalities.”
People with underlying medical conditions are more susceptible to heatstroke. People who work outdoors, like delivery people or farmers, face a bigger problem. Certain structures, like prisons and food trucks, retain more heat, making them especially hot for people inside.
Global average temperatures typically peak between late June and early August because this is the hottest time of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, which contains most of the world's land mass and population.
In the Southern Hemisphere, average temperatures are also rising due to melting Antarctic sea ice, the Copernicus Service reported.
This year has been particularly warm because of an El Niño weather pattern, said Bob Henson, a meteorologist and climate writer at Yale University's Climate Connections.
La Niña is Estimated Arrival There should be a moderate cooling effect over the next few months.
But overall temperatures will continue to rise and records will continue to be broken, Henson said.
A nearly complete stegosaurus skeleton sold at auction on Wednesday for a record-breaking $44.6 million.
Sotheby’s, which handled the auction, said the fossil was the best-preserved specimen of a stegosaurus of its size ever found.
The identity of the buyer was not made public.
A nearly complete 150-million-year-old stegosaurus skeleton sold at auction on Wednesday for a record-breaking $44.6 million.
Sotheby’s, which handled the New York auction, described the fossil as the “most complete” and “best-preserved” stegosaurus specimen of its size ever found. The massive skeleton, measuring 11 feet tall and 20 feet long, has been nicknamed “Apex.”
Dinosaur fossils It's estimated to be worth $6 million. But the price far exceeded expectations, setting a new world record for a fossil at auction after a bidding war that lasted more than 15 minutes, according to Sotheby’s representative Anna Tisci.
The identity of the buyer was not made public.
According to Sotheby’s, Apex’s skeleton was unearthed in 2022 near the town of Dinosaur in Moffat County, Colorado, on the private property of a paleontologist who discovered it but will remain anonymous. The bones were found in the Morrison Formation of sedimentary rock, which is centered in Colorado and Wyoming and extends to parts of 11 other states.
The auction house said the fossil was found with no other specimens nearby and no signs of injury, adding that signs of arthritis suggested the stegosaurus may have lived to an advanced age.
“Apex marks an enormous milestone as one of the finest fossils of its kind ever unearthed,” said Cassandra Hutton, Sotheby’s global head of science and popular culture. It said in a statement “Stegosaurus is one of the most widely known dinosaurs, and its unmistakable silhouette has fascinated and amazed people for generations,” the release said in a statement ahead of the sale.
Stegosaurus is a four-legged, armored dinosaur best known for the distinctive line of kite-shaped plates on its back.
The pointy-tailed dinosaurs lived during the Late Jurassic period, between about 155 million and 145 million years ago.
Another nearly complete stegosaurus fossil, known as Sophie, is housed at the Natural History Museum in London, but Apex’s skeleton is more than 30 percent larger, according to Sotheby’s.
The previous record for the most expensive fossil sold at auction was set in 2020 when a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton named “Stan” sold for $31.8 million.
The first dinosaur sold at auction was the now famous “Sue the T-Rex“The Great Gatsby” was auctioned in 1997 and purchased by the Field Museum in Chicago, where the painting is on display, for $8.4 million.
Neutron stars typically spin quickly, taking just a few seconds or even a fraction of a second to complete one revolution around their axis, but one neutron star labeled ASKAP J1935+2148 bucks this rule, emitting radio signals at a relatively slow interval of 53.8 minutes.
Artist's impression of a neutron star. Image courtesy of Sci.News.
“We're used to extreme examples when studying radio-emitting neutron stars, so the discovery of such a compact star that is still emitting radio waves despite rotating slowly was unexpected,” said Professor Ben Stappers, from the University of Manchester.
“This new generation of radio telescopes demonstrates that pushing the boundaries of our search space will reveal surprises that will shake up our understanding.”
At the end of their lives, massive stars use up all their fuel and undergo a spectacular explosion called a supernova.
What remains is a stellar remnant called a neutron star, which consists of trillions of neutrons packed into an extremely dense sphere with a mass 1.4 times that of the Sun, packed into a radius of just 10 km.
Astronomers detected an unexpected radio signal from ASKAP J1935+2148 that traveled about 16,000 light-years to Earth.
The nature of its radio emission and the rate of change of its rotation period suggest that it is a neutron star, but further study is needed to confirm what this object is.
“This discovery relied on the complementary capabilities of the ASKAP and MeerKAT telescopes, combined with our ability to probe these objects on timescales of minutes, and examine how their radiation changes from second to second,” said Dr Kaustubh Rajwade, an astronomer at the University of Oxford.
“Such synergies can shed new light on how these compact objects evolve.”
ASKAP J1935+2148 was detected by CSIRO's ASKAP radio telescope in the Wadjari Yamatji region of Western Australia.
“What's interesting is that this object exhibits three different radiation states, each with completely different properties to the others,” said Dr Manisha Caleb, an astronomer at the University of Sydney.
“The MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa played a key role in distinguishing between these states.”
“If the signals had not come from the same point in the sky, it would be hard to believe that it was the same object producing these different signals.”
“Until the arrival of these new telescopes, the dynamic radio sky was relatively unexplored,” said Professor Tara Murphy, from the University of Sydney.
“Now we can look deeply and frequently see a variety of unusual phenomena.”
“These events give us insight into how physics works in extreme environments.”
This discovery paper In the journal Natural Astronomy.
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M. Caleb othersA radio transient phenomenon in which the radiation state switches with a period of 54 minutes. Nat AstronPublished online June 5, 2024; doi: 10.1038/s41550-024-02277-w
People collect water in hot weather in New Delhi, India on May 22.
Amarjeet Kumar Singh/Anadolu via Getty Images
With each new month comes new records as the planet continues to experience unprecedented, record-breaking heatwaves. Last month, global temperatures were the warmest on record for a May, marking the 12th consecutive month of such record-breaking weather, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
Copernicus’ Carlo Buontempo said in a statement that while the current record will eventually end, the record set over the past year is likely to be broken in coming years as the world continues to warm due to rising greenhouse gases. “This period of the hottest months will likely be remembered as a relatively cool one,” Buontempo said.
The average Earth’s surface temperature in May 2024 was 1.52°C higher than the 1850-1900 average, considered pre-industrial levels, and 0.19°C higher than the warmest May to date, in 2020. May 2024 will mark the 11th consecutive month with average temperatures more than 1.5°C higher than pre-industrial levels, the threshold that countries aim to avoid exceeding under the 2015 Paris Agreement.
The global average temperature over the past 12 months was 1.63°C higher than the average from 1850 to 1900, the highest on record, but climate scientists will not consider the 1.5°C limit to have been breached until the long-term average exceeds this level.
Climate scientists had predicted that 2023 and 2024 would be hotter because of an El Niño weather phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean that dumps ocean heat into the atmosphere, temporarily warming the surface of the planet on top of the trends caused by rising greenhouse gases. But temperatures actually turned out to be even hotter than predicted, and it’s unclear why.
El Niño is now being replaced by La Niña, during which much of the Pacific Ocean absorbs more heat than usual from the atmosphere. This may temporarily cool sea surface temperatures, but because sea surface temperatures are still at record levels, 2024 is likely to be even hotter than 2023.
Unusually warm May caused extreme heat and heat waves Heat waves are occurring in parts of the world, including large swaths of India, where temperatures in the capital Delhi reached a new record of 49.9°C (121.8°F) on May 28.
Howler monkeys in Mexico Falling from a tree and dying This heat has now spread to the northern United States during a prolonged heat wave.
Last year, a study warned that if the world exceeds the 1.5°C limit, heatwaves could become so intense that they cause mass deaths in places where people are not used to such heat and buildings are not designed with it in mind.
The latest genealogy is detailed in two supplementary papers published today. journal Nature And that Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers have uncovered patterns in the evolutionary history of birds after the massive mass extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago. The authors observed rapid increases in effective population size, replacement rate, and relative brain size in early birds, and found that new adaptive mechanisms that drove bird diversification in the aftermath of this pivotal event. Shined a light. The researchers also took a closer look at one branch of the new family tree and found that flamingos and pigeons are more distantly related than previous genome-wide analyzes had shown.
The latest bird family tree outlining 93 million years of evolutionary relationships among 363 bird species. Image credit: Jon Fjeldså / Josefin Stiller.
“Our goal is to reconstruct the entire evolutionary history of all birds,” said Professor Siavash Milarab, a researcher at the University of California, San Diego.
This work is part of that Bird 10,000 Genomes (B10K) ProjectThis is a multi-institutional effort led by the University of Copenhagen, Zhejiang University, and the University of California, San Diego, with the aim of producing draft genome sequences for approximately 10,500 extant bird species.
At the heart of these studies is a suite of algorithms known as ASTRAL, developed by Professor Miralove and colleagues to infer evolutionary relationships with unprecedented scalability, accuracy, and speed.
By harnessing the power of these algorithms, we integrated genomic data from over 60,000 genomic regions and provided a robust statistical foundation for our analysis.
The researchers then examined the evolutionary history of individual segments across the genome.
From there, they pieced together a mosaic of gene trees and compiled them into a comprehensive species tree.
This meticulous approach has allowed researchers to construct new and improved bird genealogies that depict complex divergence events with remarkable accuracy and detail, even in the face of historical uncertainty. I did.
“We found that our method, which adds tens of thousands of genes to the analysis, is indeed necessary to unravel the evolutionary relationships between bird species,” Professor Miralove said.
“We really need all the genomic data to reconstruct with a high degree of confidence what happened during this period of time, 65 to 67 million years ago.”
The scientists also looked at the impact of different genome sampling methods on the accuracy of the tree.
They showed that to reconstruct this evolutionary history, it is important to combine two strategies: sequence many genes in each species and sequence many species. Ta.
“Because we used both strategies in combination, we were able to test which approach has a stronger impact on phylogenetic reconstructions,” said Professor Josephine Stiller from the University of Copenhagen.
We found that it is more important to sample many gene sequences from each organism than to sample from a wider range of species, but the latter method does not allow us to determine when different groups evolved. It was helpful to know. ”
mira love other. They took a closer look at one branch of the updated bird family tree and found that groups including flamingos and pigeons are more distantly related than previous genome-wide analyzes had shown. We attributed the results to an abnormal region on chromosome 4.Image credits: Ed Braun / Daniel J. Field / Siavash Miarab
With the help of advanced computational techniques, the researchers were also able to shed light on anomalies discovered in previous studies. The theory is that a particular part of a chromosome in the bird's genome remained unchanged and blank for millions of years. Description of expected genetic recombination patterns.
“Ten years ago, we put together a family tree. Neo Avesthe group that includes the vast majority of bird species,” said Professor Edward Brown of the University of Florida.
“Based on the genomes of 48 species, we divided neoabees into two broad categories: pigeons and flamingos in one group, and all the rest in the other.”
“This year, when we repeated the same analysis with 363 species, a different family tree emerged that divided pigeons and flamingos into two distinct groups.”
“Given two mutually exclusive family trees, I looked for an explanation that would allow me to determine which family tree was correct.”
“When we looked at individual genes and which trees they supported, it suddenly dawned on us that all the genes that support old trees were all in one place. That's how it all started. “It was,” he explained.
“When we investigated this site, we realized that it was a place where sexual reproduction had been occurring for millions of years, but it wasn't as mixed.”
“Just like humans, birds combine the genes of their father and mother to create the next generation.”
“But in birds and humans alike, when creating sperm and eggs, we first mix together genes inherited from both parents.”
“This process, called recombination, maximizes the genetic diversity of a species by ensuring that no two siblings are exactly alike.”
The authors found evidence that parts of bird chromosomes suppressed this recombination process for millions of years after the dinosaurs went extinct.
It is unclear whether extinction events and genomic abnormalities are related.
They found that flamingos and pigeons resemble each other in this frozen chunk of DNA.
However, when the complete genomes were considered, it became clear that the two groups were more distantly related.
“What is surprising is that this period of recombination suppression can mislead the analysis,” says Professor Brown.
“And because that can mislead the analysis, it was actually detectable more than 60 million years in the future. That's the cool thing about it.”
“Such mysteries may also be hidden in the genomes of other organisms.”
“We discovered this misleading region of birds because we put a lot of energy into deciphering their genomes.”
“I think there are similar cases in other species that are unknown at this time.”
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J. Stiller other. 2024. The complexity of bird evolution revealed by family-level genomes. Naturein press.
Marine heat waves will occur around the world in 2023
Matt Cardy/Getty
According to the latest statistics from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), 2023 was not only the hottest year on record, but also other signs of global warming, including rising sea levels, ocean heating, loss of Antarctic sea ice, and receding glaciers. Many important indicators also broke records. Part of the Global Climate Report.
“We have never been this close to reaching the 1.5°C lower limit of the Paris Climate Agreement, even if it is temporary at the moment,” WMO Secretary-General Celeste Sauro said in a press release. “The WMO community is sounding an emergency alert to the world.”
A range of glaciers around the world, which are monitored to show what's happening to all glaciers, have seen the biggest ice loss since records began in 1950, according to preliminary data. The most extreme melting was in Europe and western North America.
Since satellite monitoring began in 1993, the rate of sea level rise has more than doubled. The global average sea level rise rate from 2014 to 2023 was more than twice the rate from 1993 to 2002.
This is due not only to the melting of glaciers and ice sheets, but also to the thermal expansion of the oceans as temperatures rise. The ocean-wide heat content will reach a new high in 2023, and the rate of warming has increased over the past two decades.
On average, on any given day in 2023, almost a third of the world's oceans were affected by a marine heatwave. More than 90% experienced heat wave conditions throughout the year.
At the end of 2023, an extreme marine heatwave occurred across the North Atlantic, with water temperatures 3 degrees Celsius above average. Recent studies show that ocean heatwaves are causing major changes in ecosystems, and thousands of whales may have starved to death.
Antarctic sea ice extent is the lowest on record, with the southern hemisphere's maximum area at the end of winter being 1 million square kilometers below the previous record minimum. Its area is larger than France and Germany combined.
Heat waves, floods, droughts, wildfires and tropical cyclones, exacerbated by global warming, have also affected millions of lives and caused economic losses amounting to billions of dollars, according to a WMO report. That's what it means.
For example, Hurricane Otis strengthened from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane in less than a day. According to reports, more than 50 people were killed in Mexico and up to $16 billion in damage was caused. US National Hurricane Center Report.
Overall, 2023 was the warmest year on record, with global average surface temperatures 1.45 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial baseline, the WMO report confirms.
So far, 2024 has been even hotter than 2023, with January and February setting new records, according to the EU's Copernicus climate monitoring service.
Global sea surface temperatures have been breaking records every day for the past 12 months, causing concern among marine scientists.
Senior research scientist Brian McNoldy from the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School expressed worry about the unprecedented margins by which the records are being broken. He mentioned that the current average sea surface temperatures are approximately 1.25 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than they were from 1982 to 2011, as per the University of Maine’s climate reanalyzer, which could have significant impacts on the climate and ecosystem.
While human-induced climate change is considered a contributing factor, there are likely other natural climate processes at play as well. The rise in sea surface temperatures has puzzled scientists as they are unsure of the exact reasons behind it.
The warming ocean temperatures could lead to coral bleaching, stronger hurricanes, warmer coastal temperatures, and more extreme precipitation. Researchers have observed these effects in 2023, and they fear that if the trend continues, it could have severe consequences.
Some potential factors influencing the rise in sea surface temperatures include weakening trade winds in the North Atlantic and changes in shipping regulations limiting sulfur pollution, amongst others. Researchers are trying to understand the complex interplay of these factors leading to such unprecedented temperature increases.
The warmer ocean temperatures could fuel more powerful storms and hurricanes, putting coastal areas at risk. The Atlantic Ocean and the Horn of Africa, known for producing hurricanes hitting the East Coast of the United States, are experiencing significant anomalies in sea surface temperatures.
Overall, the rising sea surface temperatures pose a serious threat to marine ecosystems and climate stability. Scientists are working to unravel the mystery behind this phenomenon to better predict and mitigate its impacts.
A map showing the expected surface temperature anomalies in 2024 if a strong El Niño event occurs.Blue dots indicate areas where record heat is expected
Ning Jiang et al., Scientific Reports
Climate models predict this year will be the hottest 12 months on record as El Niño conditions persist in the Caribbean, Bay of Bengal, South China Sea, Alaska and parts of the Amazon.
“These are places where the risk of extreme events is increased, and these extreme events are really harmful,” team members say. michael mcfaden NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Seattle, Washington.
“They negatively impact human health and increase the risk of wildfires. And in the ocean, they increase the risk of marine heatwaves, damaging marine ecosystems, fisheries and corals,” he said. Masu.
Earth’s surface temperatures are currently at record highs in many parts of the world. The main reason is global warming caused by carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels. However, in addition to this, the strong El Niño phenomenon that started in mid-2023 is causing temperatures to rise further.
When an El Niño event occurs, warm water spreads across the surface of the Pacific Ocean toward South America. This vast area of warm water transfers large amounts of ocean heat to the atmosphere, causing an increase in surface temperature.
The reverse phase, known as La Niña, reverses this process. Cold water spreads over the surface of the Pacific Ocean away from South America, absorbing heat from the atmosphere and lowering the surface temperature.
This means that the Earth’s average surface temperature typically reaches record levels during El Niño periods and then drops during La Niña periods.
McFadden and his colleagues used a computer model that took into account aerosol pollution and volcanic eruptions in addition to El Niño to try to predict where in the world record heat would occur. Their regional forecast is the average surface temperature for the period from July 2023 to June 2024.
“Even if it’s not exactly timed to a specific season, there’s real value in having this kind of warning,” McFayden says. “It gives us a grace period to prepare how best to protect life, property, marine resources and economic development.”
The research team considered two scenarios: a strong El Niño and a milder El Niño. It’s now clear that a strong El Niño is occurring, and in fact, it’s likely to be in the top five strongest El Niños since 1950, McFadden said.
In this strong El Niño scenario, the research team predicts that the global average surface temperature from July 2023 to June 2024 would be 1.1°C to 1.2°C warmer than the 1951-1980 average. Masu.
this is Equivalent to a temperature above 1.4-1.5 °C average from 1850 to 1900, new scientist This is considered a pre-industrial benchmark. This suggests that the model is underestimating the temperature since it is already above this level. From January 2023 to January 2024, the Earth’s average surface temperature was more than 1.5 °C above the 1850-1900 average, and in January 2024 it was 1.7 °C above this level.
Temperature records have already been broken during El Niño, especially in the tropics, he said. maximiliano herrera, an independent climatologist who tracks extreme temperatures. “This is amazing,” he says. “We are experiencing record heat and it is inevitable.”
A 40-year-old nuclear fusion reactor in the UK has set a world record for energy output in its final run before permanent shutdown, scientists have announced.
The Joint European Taurus (JET) in Oxfordshire began operations in 1983. During its operation, it briefly became the hottest point in the solar system, reaching 150 million degrees Celsius.
The reactor's previous record was in 2021 for a reaction that lasted five seconds and produced 59 megajoules of thermal energy. However, it surpassed this in its final test in late 2023, using just 0.2 milligrams of fuel to sustain the reaction for 5.2 seconds, reaching an output of 69 megajoules.
This corresponds to an output of 12.5 megawatts, enough to power 12,000 homes, Mikhail Maslov of the UK Atomic Energy Agency said at a press conference on February 8.
Today's nuclear power plants rely on nuclear fission reactions, in which atoms are shattered to release energy and small particles. Fusion works in reverse, pushing smaller particles together into larger atoms.
Nuclear fusion can produce more energy without any of the radioactive waste produced by nuclear fission, but there is still no practical way to use the process in power plants.
JET trains atoms of two stable isotopes of hydrogen, deuterium and tritium, together in a plasma to create helium, releasing a huge amount of energy at the same time. This is the same reaction that powers our sun. This is a type of fusion reactor known as a tokamak, which uses rings of electromagnets to contain plasma in a donut shape.
Scientists conducted the final experiment using deuterium and tritium fuel on JET in October last year, and other experiments continued until December. However, the machine is now permanently closed and will be decommissioned over the next 16 years.
Juan Matthews Researchers at the University of Manchester in the UK say many secrets will be revealed during JET's dismantling. For example, how the reactor lining deteriorated from contact with the plasma, and where in the machine the precious tritium, worth around £30,000 a gram, is embedded. You can recover. This will be important information for future research and commercial reactors.
“It's great to have a little bit of a bang,” Matthews said. “It has a noble history. Now that it has served its purpose, we plan to squeeze out more information during the decommissioning period as well. So it's not sad. It's something to be celebrated.”
France's larger, more modern replacement for JET, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), is nearing completion, with first experiments scheduled to begin in 2025.
ITER construction project deputy director Tim Luce told a news conference that ITER plans to expand its energy output to 500 megawatts and possibly 700 megawatts.
“These are what I normally call power plant sizes,” he said. “They are at the lowest level of cost required for a power generation facility. Moreover, to obtain high fusion power and gain the timescale needs to be extended to at least 300 seconds, but from an energy production point of view it is probably less than an hour. So what JET has done is exactly a scale model of what we need to do with the ITER project.”
Another reactor using the same design, the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) device, recently succeeded in sustaining a reaction for 30 seconds at temperatures above 100 million degrees Celsius.
Other approaches to creating practical fusion reactors are also being pursued around the world, such as the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. It fired a very powerful laser into the fuel capsule, a process called inertial confinement fusion, and was able to release almost twice the energy that was put into it.
It is now confirmed that the previous year has been noted as the warmest year in the history of the Earth.
The average land and ocean surface temperature in 2023 will be 2.12 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th century average, surpassing the next closest temperature in 2016, as stated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in a Friday press conference with NASA.
The troubling records set in 2023 don’t stop there. The amount of heat stored in the upper ocean is at an all-time high, and Antarctica’s sea ice is at the lowest level on record. World temperature records date back to 1850.
This announcement did not come as a surprise to those closely following the climatological record but it does highlight the rapid changes occurring in the world as climate change and excessive greenhouse gas emissions continue to transform our planet.
According to NOAA, the past decade has been the warmest decade in modern history. Scientists predict that the Earth will continue to warm until world leaders effectively limit the use of fossil fuels.
The magnitude of the temperature change in 2023 surprised scientists, especially in comparison to the expectations for the year.
“We are observing this and, frankly, we’re surprised,” said Gavin Schmidt, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies. “The prediction we had at the beginning of the year was that this year would be pretty much on trend and there was a slim chance of a record because we were starting out in La Niña phase. That didn’t work out.”
Land and ocean temperatures exceeded previous records by about 0.27 degrees Fahrenheit.
“That’s really big. Most records are set in a few hundredths of a degree. This is a huge leap forward,” said Russell Vohs, NOAA’s director of climate monitoring and evaluation.
Schmidt said researchers do not fully understand why average temperatures have risen so much, and more research is needed to understand why 2023 was such a significant outlier.
“More research is needed to understand what happened in 2023,” Schmidt said. “I’m baffled by the results so far. Oh my goodness, it’s been another record year.”
Temperatures in the U.S. reached the fifth-highest level of the year, according to NOAA. Severe weather caused record losses in the US, with government agencies reporting $28 billion in disasters, six more than the previous record.
On Friday, the World Meteorological Organization also confirmed that 2023 will be the warmest year in global temperatures. WMO compared six climate datasets produced by different organizations, and all six ranked 2023 as the warmest year on record.
The group said El Niño, a natural climate pattern that releases heat from the ocean into the atmosphere, could contribute to record heat in 2023 and dictate this year’s weather.
“The shift from a cooling La Niña to a warming El Niño by mid-2023 is clearly reflected in the increase in temperatures since last year. El Niño typically has its greatest impact after global temperatures peak. 2024 could be even hotter given the global warming,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Sauro. “While El Niño events occur naturally and come and go from year to year, long-term climate change is intensifying and is unquestionably the result of human activity.”
NOAA estimates there is a one in three chance that 2024 will be warmer than 2023.
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