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The Three-Legged Lion Discovers an Unconventional Hunting Technique

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Jacob was fitted with a tracking collar and lost his left hind leg in a poacher’s trap.

alex burakowski

A lion that suffered the loss of a leg due to a poacher’s trap has developed a remarkable new hunting technique, surprising conservation experts.

Last year, Jacob, an 11-year-old lion residing in Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth National Park, was observed swimming 1.5km (approximately 1 mile) through a river teeming with crocodiles, making this the longest recorded swim of its kind.

Typically, injured carnivores adapt by scavenging, stealing livestock, or, if fortunate, receiving assistance from their pride. However, Jacob, who has also lost an eye after an encounter with a buffalo, has only his younger brother Tib for support.

Many researchers believed he would eventually perish after losing his left hind leg in 2020. “However, he has demonstrated incredible resilience,” notes alexander braczkowski from the Cambra Lion Monitoring Project, supported by the Volcano Safari Partnership Trust, a Ugandan NGO dedicated to conservation and community progress.

Even Braczkowski, who has been observing Jacob since 2017, was astonished by his survival. Yet, the mystery has now been unraveled through thermal drone footage, revealing that this lion has begun to mimic the behavior of a leopard.

Unable to overpower his prey as a typical lion would, Jacob now ambushes them at short distances within dense foliage, employing stealth and agility.

According to Braczkowski, Jacob also hunts species typically avoided by other lions. The nocturnal footage has shown him hunting and successfully taking down 200kg wild pigs, either solo or in cooperation with his siblings.

“Jacob’s inability to sprint limits his ability to chase down prey,” Braczkowski noted. “It’s apparent that he has shifted his diet towards specific types of pigs. This adaptation further supports his leopard-like tactics and risk-taking behavior, but it’s essential for his survival, and it’s evidently working.”

Loss of limbs from traps is a “common” issue for big cats, according to Andrew Loveridge of Panthera, a non-profit organization focused on global wild cat conservation.

Jacob and his brother Tib wearing tracking collars

alex burakowski

Adaptation is also essential, he emphasized. Craig Packer from the University of Minnesota has studied lion behavior for decades, noting, “We’ve observed similar adaptive behavior in other lion populations, all of which had the advantage of four healthy limbs.”

However, as Braczkowski observes, the lions in Queen Elizabeth Park typically target large, agile prey like antelopes and buffalo.

“Sometimes, lions exhibit leopard-like behavior, such as climbing trees,” he remarks, referencing George Schaller and his groundbreaking fieldwork on Serengeti lions in the 1960s, which provided valuable insights into predator-prey dynamics.

Even the tree-climbing lions maintain distinct hunting modalities, Schaller adds, highlighting that lions referred to as tripods (those missing limbs) usually rely on their pride for survival.

Braczkowski has tracked Jacob during his swims across the Kazinga Strait multiple times over the past two years, noting an average daily distance of 1.73 kilometers, which, while less than a healthy lion, marks a significant achievement for an injured animal, potentially driven by an insufficiency of suitable prey or the quest for a mate.

Jacob’s novel hunting strategy could become a replicable behavior that might help combat declines in lion populations facing habitat loss, climate change, and human encroachment. Consequently, Jacob holds significant “symbolic and genetic” importance, according to Braczkowski.

Schaller remarked that Jacob represents a beacon of resilience: “He’s akin to a fighter jet in the natural world.”

Conservation and rewilding of the Central Apennines: Italy

Explore Italy’s Central Apennine region for an intriguing overview of the principles and practicalities of rewilding.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

The bat that walked backward developed a unique navigation technique

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Larger mousetail bats crape backwards

Sahar Hajyahia et al. 2025

Orienting yourself in the darkness of a cave seems like a difficult task. However, some bats may have an ingenious solution: use tails.

Larger mouse tail bat (Rhinopoma Microphyllum) Live in groups within small caves that are difficult to fly, so they move deeper by hanging from the cave walls and raw to the rear. They manipulate this way in many situations, depending on the appearance of the predator, or when they want to find a better location in the cave.

Biologists have wondered whether these bats might use their unusually long tails as “sensors” to navigate through the cave. Yossi Yovel Tel Aviv University in Israel and his colleagues designed two experiments to test bat tails.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7ku1o9zajk

In the first experiment, researchers recreated a setup that mimics the interior of a cave, creating a maze with obstacles that resemble the uneven, rocky terrain where bats encounter nature. The team measured how long it took the bat to climb the wall, then raw backwards, first naturally and then anaesthetized the tail to measure how smooth it was.

The bat moved its tail back and forth, feeling the obstacles and went through the maze. However, when researchers anesthetized the bat’s tail, the flying mammals navigated the maze without making it smoother and sailed about 10% slower. But they still do that and suggest that they use other body parts to feel the disorder. “When you walk back you can still feel it in your body and feet,” Jubel says. “It’s clear they can do that, but they’ve reduced performance significantly.”

In the second experiment, the researchers designed a Y-shaped maze that presents two corridors with different raised textures that bats can feel. They used the difference in textures of the two corridors to teach bats that one corridor brought rewards, while the other was not. The texture difference was subtle, but one corridor had lattices every 1.5 centimeters and every 1 cm, but the animals were able to distinguish them.

Other bat species have long tails, but researchers say this is the only known thing to use this unique strategy to find its way in the dark. “I don’t think this is common for long-tailed bats,” Jubel says. But “we really don’t know until we test other bats.”

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Psychologist reveals quick and easy technique for reframing rejection response

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Feeling rejected, whether by a relative, significant other, date, friend, or employer, can be tough. It’s crucial to remember that you value the relationship more than they do, indicating a mismatch in values.

The asymmetry of such situations can be hurtful, especially when it occurs repeatedly. Research shows that people often consider the loss of relationships as one of the most painful experiences in their lives.

Brain imaging research also suggests that feelings of rejection activate parts of the brain associated with physical pain, explaining the visceral nature of mental suffering in such situations.

If you face rejection frequently, you may develop “rejection sensitivity,” causing you to avoid interactions to prevent further pain. Therapists can assist in developing a sense of belonging elsewhere and managing difficult emotions.

Credit: Adam Gale

Therapists can also help you view rejection in a more rational and self-compassionate manner. Instead of internalizing rejection as a flaw in yourself, consider alternate perspectives.

For instance, a job rejection could be due to being overqualified, or a missed call from a potential date may be from nervousness. Sometimes, rejection may not be about you at all, such as a friend avoiding you due to their own reasons.

Approaching new relationships as learning opportunities and staying open-minded can help you overcome fear of rejection. Reflect on what you could do differently in the future and seek connections in different ways.

This article addresses overcoming the fear of rejection, inspired by a question from Birmingham resident Louisa Rollins.

If you have any queries, contact us at: questions@sciencefocus.com or reach out to us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram (don’t forget to include your name and location).

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Source: www.sciencefocus.com

SpaceX readies Starship for flight with innovative ‘chopstick’ landing technique

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Testing the Super Heavy booster for Starship's fifth test flight

SpaceX

SpaceX is making final preparations for its fifth and most ambitious Starship test flight yet. While the previous four flights all aimed to land on water in the ocean, this test will be the first to attempt a landing on a launch pad.

What is Starship?

This is the heaviest, most powerful rocket ever flown. SpaceX aims to develop it as a rapidly reusable launch vehicle that can carry a large payload into space, return to the launch pad, land, and be ready for the next mission within days or even hours. A series of test flights over the past two years has inched closer to that goal.

NASA has signed a contract with SpaceX to supply a variant of its Starship lunar lander to send astronauts to the moon's surface after late 2026. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's ultimate ambition is to send humans to Mars using Starship.

What will SpaceX attempt on its fifth test flight?

The fifth flight will likely be the first attempt to catch Starship's Super Heavy booster (the rocket's first stage) on the launch pad. SpaceX's launch tower, called Mechazilla, will eventually Grab boosters at specific points You can secure it and lower it the remaining distance to the ground later.

During the fourth test flight, the booster performed a “virtual landing” over the ocean, slowing its descent over the water's surface to simulate what would be required to capture a real swordfish, before splashing down on the water. Musk posted on X “I think we should try catching the booster with Mechazilla's arms on our next flight.”

When is it expected to be released?

The official release date has not yet been decided, Full-time test burning The first stage of the rocket was launched on July 15th and is currently unhindered by any obstacles.

Musk himself X Post on July 6th The launch is expected to take place within “four weeks,” tentatively around August 3, though it's worth keeping in mind that Musk has a history of insisting on delivery dates that haven't been met.

What has happened in Starship launches so far?

During the first test flight on April 20, 2023, three of the first stage's 33 engines failed to ignite, after which several more failed during the flight, causing the rocket to spin out of control and self-destruct.

The second test flight on November 18 of the same year continued, reaching an altitude high enough for the first and second stages to separate as planned, but exploded as the first stage rotated to begin its deceleration and landing procedure. The second stage continued safely to an altitude of about 90 miles (149 km), passing the Kármán line, which marks the beginning of the universe, but was destroyed by a safety mechanism after it stopped transmitting data before completing an orbit or returning to Earth.

The third test flight, on March 14 this year, was at least partially successful, as it reached space, performed a fuel transfer test, and flew farther and faster than ever before, but lost attitude control during the flight and failed to make a planned soft landing.

The fourth test flight, on June 6 this year, was the most successful to date, with Starship reaching an orbital altitude of more than 200 km and traveling at a speed of more than 27,000 km/h. Both the booster and upper stage made a soft landing in the ocean. There was a dramatic scene when the intense heat of Starship's re-entry into Earth's orbit caused the skin of one of its control wings to burn off, but the company said this was resolved with a new heat-resistant tile design.

What would happen if this launch were to fail?

The chances of Starship completing its mission perfectly are slim, so it's likely that it will fail in some way. But failure will provide data and experience that can be used to improve the design and processes for the sixth launch. SpaceX has shown it can iterate quickly and make great strides with each launch.

Still, the company's bold strategy of catching the booster on the launch pad puts not just the spacecraft at risk but also the hardware on the ground, meaning the fifth test flight will likely be the riskiest yet.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Physicists showcase novel technique for pinpointing 3D location of individual atoms

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Developed by a team of physicists from the University of Bonn and the University of Bristol, this new method makes it possible to precisely determine the position of atoms in 3D in a single image and is based on an original physical principle.

The different directions of rotation of the various “dumbbells” indicate that the atoms are in different planes. Image credit: Institute of Applied Physics, University of Bonn.

“If you have ever used a microscope to study plant cells in your biology class, you can probably recall a similar situation,” said Tanguy Legrand and colleagues at the University of Bonn.

“It's easy to see that a particular chloroplast is located above and to the right of the nucleus. But are they both on the same plane?”

“However, when we adjust the focus of the microscope, we find that the images of the nuclei become clearer, while the images of the chloroplasts become blurred.”

“One of them has to be a little higher than the other, and the other a little lower than the other. However, this method doesn't give you exact details about the vertical position.”

“The principle is very similar if you want to observe individual atoms rather than cells. So-called quantum gas microscopes can be used for this purpose.”

“This allows us to directly determine the x and y coordinates of atoms.”

“However, it is much more difficult to measure its z-coordinate, and thus its distance to the objective lens. To find out in which plane an atom lies, we need to take multiple images by moving the focus to various different planes. I need to take a picture of a plane. This is a complex and time-consuming process. ”

“We have developed a method that completes this process in one step,” Dr. Legrand said.

“To achieve this, we use an effect that was already known in theory since the 1990s but had not yet been used in quantum gas microscopy.”

To experiment with atoms, you must first cool them down significantly until they barely move.

It is then possible to confine them to a standing wave of laser light, for example.

The egg then slides into the trough of the waves so that it fits inside the egg box.

After being captured, it is exposed to an additional laser beam and stimulated to emit light to reveal its location.

The resulting fluorescence appears as slightly blurred round spots in quantum gas microscopy.

“We have now developed a special method to transform the wavefront of light emitted by atoms,” said Dr. Andrea Alberti, also from the University of Bonn.

“Instead of a typical round spot, the deformed wavefront produces a dumbbell shape on the camera, which rotates itself.”

“The direction this dumbbell points is determined by the distance light travels from the atom to the camera.”

Professor Dieter Meschede from the University of Bonn said: “The dumbbell acts like a compass needle, and depending on its direction we can read the Z coordinate.”

This new method could be used to develop new quantum materials with special properties.

“For example, we can find out what quantum mechanical effects occur when atoms are arranged in a particular order,” said physicist Dr Carrie Widener from the University of Bristol.

“This allows us to simulate the properties of three-dimensional materials to some extent without having to synthesize them.”

team's work It was published in the magazine Physical review A.

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Tanguy Legrand other. 2024. His three-dimensional imaging of single atoms in optical lattices by helical point spread function engineering. Physics. Rev.A 109 (3): 033304; doi: 10.1103/PhysRevA.109.033304

Source: www.sci.news

Caltech Researchers Introduce Novel Error-Correction Technique for Quantum Computers

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Researchers at the California Institute of Technology have developed a quantum erasure device to correct “erasure” errors in quantum computing systems. The technique allows fluorescent error detection and correction by manipulating alkaline earth neutral atoms with laser light “tweezers.” This innovation leads to a 10-fold increase in the entanglement rate of Rydberg neutral atomic systems, and is an important step forward in making quantum computers more reliable and scalable.

For the first time, researchers have successfully demonstrated the identification and removal of “erasure” errors.

Future quantum computers are expected to revolutionize problem-solving in a variety of fields, including creating sustainable materials, developing new drugs, and solving complex problems in fundamental physics. However, these pioneering quantum systems are more error-prone than the classical computers we use today. Wouldn’t it be great if researchers could whip out a special quantum eraser and remove mistakes?

Report in magazine Nature, A group of researchers led by the California Institute of Technology has demonstrated for the first time a type of quantum erasure device. Physicists have shown that mistakes can be pinpointed and corrected. quantum computing A system known as an “erasure” error.

“Typically, it’s very difficult to detect errors in quantum computers, because just the act of looking for errors creates more errors,” said Manuel Endres, co-lead author of the new study and co-author of the study. says Adam Shaw, a graduate student in the room. Professor of Physics at California Institute of Technology. “However, we found that with careful control, certain errors can be precisely identified and erased without significant impact. This is where the name erasure comes from.”

How quantum computing works

Quantum computers are based on the physical laws that govern the subatomic realm, such as entanglement, a phenomenon in which particles mimic each other while remaining connected without direct contact. In the new study, researchers focused on a type of quantum computing platform that uses arrays of neutral atoms, or atoms that carry no electric charge. Specifically, they manipulated individual alkaline earth neutral atoms trapped inside “tweezers” made with laser light. The atoms are excited to a high-energy state, or “Rydberg” state, and neighboring atoms begin to interact.

Errors are typically difficult to spot in quantum devices, but researchers have shown that if carefully controlled, some errors can cause atoms to emit light. The researchers used this ability to perform quantum simulations using atomic arrays and laser beams, as shown in this artist’s concept. Experiments show that quantum simulations can be run more efficiently by discarding erroneous atoms that are glowing.Credit: Caltech/Lance Hayashida

“The atoms in our quantum systems interact with each other and generate entanglements,” said the study’s other co-lead author, a former postdoctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technology and now at a French quantum computing company. Pascal Scholl, who works at PASQAL, explains.

Entanglement is what allows quantum computers to outperform classical computers. “But nature doesn’t like to stay in this entangled state,” Scholl explains. “Eventually an error will occur and the entire quantum state will be destroyed. You can think of these entangled states like a basket full of apples, where the atoms are the apples. Over time , some apples will start to rot. If you don’t remove these apples from the basket and replace them with fresh apples, all the apples will quickly rot. It’s not clear how to completely prevent these errors from occurring. Therefore, the only viable option at this time is to detect and remediate them.”

Innovation in error detection and correction

The new error-trapping system is designed so that atoms with errors fluoresce, or glow, when hit by a laser. “We have images of glowing atoms that show us where the errors are, so we can either exclude them from the final statistics or actively correct them by applying additional laser pulses.” says Scholl.

Implementation theory of erasure detection in neutral atom The system was first developed by Jeff Thompson, a professor of electrical and computer engineering. princeton university, and his colleagues.The team recently reported a demonstration of the technique in the journal Nature.

The Caltech team says that by removing and identifying errors in the Rydberg atomic system, the overall rate of entanglement, and therefore fidelity, can be improved. In the new study, the researchers report that only one out of every 1,000 pairs of atoms failed to entangle. This is a 10-fold improvement over what was previously achieved and the highest entanglement rate ever observed for this type of system.

Ultimately, these results bode well for quantum computing platforms that use Rydberg neutral atomic arrays. “Neutral atoms are the most scalable type of quantum computer, but until now they have not had the high degree of entanglement fidelity,” Shaw says.

References: “Elimination Transformations in High-Fidelity Rydberg Quantum Simulators” Pascal Scholl, Adam L. Shaw, Richard Bing-Shiun Tsai, Ran Finkelstein, Joonhee Choi, Manuel Endres, October 11, 2023. Nature.
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06516-4

The research was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) through the Institute for Quantum Information and Materials (IQIM), based at the California Institute of Technology. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. NSF Career Award. Air Force Office of Scientific Research. NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Laboratory. Department of Energy’s Quantum Systems Accelerator. Fellowships in Taiwan and California Institute of Technology. and a Troesch Postdoctoral Fellowship. Other Caltech-related authors include graduate student Richard Bing-Shiun Tsai; Ran Finkelstein, Troesch Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Physics. Former postdoc Joonhee Choi is now a professor at Stanford University.

Source: scitechdaily.com