Large dinosaurs such as Titanosaurus significantly influenced their ecosystems
Christian Jegou/Science Photography Library
The extinction of dinosaurs had profound consequences for Earth, leading to significant alterations in the planet’s landscapes, including shifts in river systems.
There is a clear distinction between various rock formations in North America before and after the end of the dinosaurs during the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-PG) extinction event approximately 66 million years ago, triggered by the Chicxulub asteroid impact in the Yucatan Peninsula.
For example, the Green Gray Mudstone, recognized as the Hell Creek Formation from the dinosaur period, transitions into the more vivid pajama-striped layers of the Fort Union Formation, which hosts many lignite-rich charcoals from plant material that surfaced with the rise of mammals.
This transition was initially attributed to the direct impacts of asteroid strikes, such as increased rainfall. However, Luke Weaver from the University of Michigan and his team propose another explanation.
They examined floodplain areas in the western United States, revealing abrupt geological changes around the K-PG boundary, particularly in the Williston Basin, stretching across parts of Wyoming, Montana, and the Dakotas.
The multifaceted colorful layers from the Post-dinosaur period are believed to be deposits formed by rising water levels, creating temporary ponds. However, Weaver and his colleagues did not find supporting literature on water level changes during this era.
“There’s no evidence of extremely high water tables or particularly wet conditions,” he says. While there was an intrusion of seawater inland, the nearest instance occurred at least 300,000 years after the K-PG boundary.
Weaver’s team argues that significant sandstone layers formed post-K-PG boundary are indicative of large, stable rivers, known as Point Bar deposits, instead of temporary pond deposits. These layers can exceed 10 meters in thickness, reflecting the stability of these rivers.
Researchers attribute these findings to the extinction of dinosaurs. They propose that, like today’s large herbivores, dinosaurs were ecological engineers, disrupting vegetation, trampling, and grazing seedlings, inhibiting new plant growth.
“These creatures were colossal compared to modern fauna,” Weaver notes. For instance, while a contemporary elephant weighs around 5,000 kilograms, a Triceratops could weigh at least double that.
As they moved through and destroyed vegetation, the rivers would have flooded periodically instead of winding through forests. This change ultimately led to the expansion of marshy mudstone, according to Weaver. Once the dinosaurs vanished, tree roots stabilized the sediments, allowing water to flow through a meandering riverbed, thus creating point bars.
“This illustrates a landscape where biology plays a crucial role,” Weaver observes. Animals, he argues, significantly modify their environments, much like humans have drastically altered Earth’s landscapes.
Christopher Doughty from Northern Arizona University believes this perspective better explains the observed geological transformations than earlier theories. “In contemporary studies where large animals are removed from ecosystems, tree cover significantly increases,” he mentions. “With the extinction of dinosaurs, there were no longer large animals capable of uprooting trees. This led to a decrease in herbivory and reduced the disturbance of seedlings giving rise to robust tree growth.”
However, Cat Schroder from the University of New Mexico remains skeptical. “While there seems to be a correlation between large dinosaurs and open nutritional landscapes, causality hasn’t been established yet,” she says. “Forests thrived before, during, and after the age of dinosaurs.”
Doughty is using isotopic analysis of fossil leaves to investigate how forest structures have shifted since the dinosaurs went extinct.
Dinosaur Exploration in the Gobi Desert, Mongolia
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WThe chief executive of the Financial Times suggested this summer at a media conference that competing publishers might explore a “NATO” alliance to bolster negotiations with artificial intelligence firms.
Nevertheless, John Slade’s announcement regarding a “pretty sudden, sustained” drop in traffic from readers via search engines quickly highlighted the grave threat posed by the AI revolution.
Queries submitted on platforms like Google, which dominate over 90% of the search market, have been central to online journalism since its inception, with news outlets optimizing their headlines and content to secure high rankings and lucrative clicks.
Currently, Google’s AI summary appears at the top of the results page, presenting answers directly and reducing the need for users to click through to the original content. The introduction of the AI mode tab, which responds to queries in a chatbot format, has sparked fears of a future dominated by “Google Zero,” where referral traffic dwindles.
“This is the most significant change in search I’ve witnessed in decades,” states a senior editorial tech executive. “Google has historically been a reliable partner for publishers. Now, certain aspects of digital publishing are evolving in ways that could fundamentally alter the landscape.”
Last week, the owner of the Daily Mail revealed that the AI summary was officially in place following Click-Through traffic to a competitive market review of Google’s search services.
DMG Media and other major news organizations, including the Guardian Media Group and the Magazine Trade Body, the PPA, have advocated for the competitive watchdog. Urge Google for more transparency regarding AI summaries and traffic metrics provided to publishers as part of an investigation into tech company search monopolies.
Publishers are already experiencing financial strain from rising costs, declining advertising revenue, reduced print circulation, and changing readership trends. Google insists that they must accept agreements regarding how their content is utilized in AI systems or face the loss of all search results.
Besides the funding threat, concerns about AI’s impact on accuracy persist. Historical iterations advised users to consume harmful items, and although Google has since enhanced its summaries, the issue of “hallucinations” — where AI presents inaccurate or fabricated information as truth — remains, alongside inherent biases when machines, not humans, interpret sources.
Google Discover has supplanted search with content as the primary source of traffic clicks. Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
In January, Apple pledged to improve its AI feature that summarized BBC News alerts with the company’s logo on the latest iPhone model. The alert misleadingly stated that a man accused of murdering a US insurance executive had taken his own life and falsely claimed that tennis star Rafael Nadal had come out as gay.
Last month, in a blog post, Liz Reid, Google’s search manager, claimed that AI had not yet been integrated into searches. “Driving more queries and quality clicks”.
“This data contradicts third-party reports that inaccurately suggest a drastic reduction in overall traffic,” she stated. “[These reports] are often based on flawed methodologies, isolated instances, or traffic alterations that occurred prior to the deployment of AI functionalities during searches.”
She also mentioned that overall traffic to all websites remains “relatively stable,” though “spacious” webs mean that user trends are redirecting traffic to different sites.
Recently, Google Discover, which delivers articles and videos tailored to user behavior, has taken precedence over search as the main source of traffic.
However, David Buttle, founder of DJB Strategy, stated that the services linked to publisher search transactions do not supply the quality traffic most publishers require to support their long-term strategies.
“Google Discover holds no product significance for Google,” he explained. “As traffic from general search diminishes, Google can concentrate more traffic on publishers. Publishers are left with no choice but to comply or face losing organic search, which often rewards ClickBaity content.”
Simultaneously, publishers are engaged in a broader struggle against AI companies looking to exploit content to train extensive language models.
The creative sector is rigorously lobbying the government to prevent AI firms from using copyrighted materials without authorization, urging for legislation.
The February Make It Fair campaign highlighted threats to the creative sector posed by Generative AI. Photo: Geoffrey Swaine/Rex
Some publishers have reacted against bilateral licensing agreements with AI companies, including the Financial Times, German media group Axel Springer, the Guardian, and Nordic publisher Schibsted. Others, like the BBC, have initiated actions against AI companies for alleged copyright infringement.
“It’s a double-edged attack on publishers, almost a ‘Pinker move’,” remarks Chris Duncan, a senior executive at News UK and Bauer Media, also leading the consultancy Seadelta. “Content is vanishing into AI products without appropriate compensation, while AI summaries are embedded within products, negating the need for clicks and effectively draining revenue from both ends. It’s an existential crisis.”
Publishers are pursuing various courses of action, from negotiations and litigation to regulatory lobbying, while also integrating AI tools into their newsrooms, as seen with the Washington Post and Financial Times launching their AI-powered chatbots and solutions for climate inquiries.
Christoph Zimmer, chief product officer at Germany’s Der Spiegel, notes that while current traffic remains steady, he anticipates a decline in referrals from all platforms.
“This is part of a longstanding trend,” he states. “However, it has affected brands that haven’t prioritized direct audience relationships or subscription growth in recent years, instead depending on broad content reach.”
“What has always been true remains valid. Prioritizing quality and diverse content is essential; it’s about connecting with people, not merely chasing algorithms.”
Publication industry leaders emphasize that efforts to negotiate deals for AI models to aggregate and summarize news are rapidly being replaced by advancements in models interpreting live news updates.
“The initial focus was on licensing arrangements for AI training to ‘speak English,’ but that will become less relevant over time,” asserts an executive. “We’re transitioning towards providing news directly. To achieve this, we require precise, live sources — a potentially lucrative market publishers are keen to explore next.”
PPA CEO Saj Merali emphasizes the need for a fair equilibrium between technology-induced changes in consumer digital behavior and the just compensation for trustworthy news.
“What remains at the core is something consumers require,” she explains. “AI needs credible content. There’s a shift in how consumers prefer to access information, but they must have confidence in what they read.”
“The industry has historically shown resilience through significant digital and technological transitions, yet it is crucial to ensure pathways that sustain business models. At this point, the AI and tech sectors have shown no commitment to support publishers’ revenue.”
A
as the saying goes, “On the Internet, Nobody knows you’re a dog.” Yet in Australia, various platforms—from search engines to social media and app stores—may require confirmation of your age.
The Albanese government proudly announced the introduction of a law that prohibits under-16s from using social media, set to take effect in December. However, the new industry code created in collaboration with high-tech experts and eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant may significantly influence how Australians navigate online.
Online services are implementing measures such as reviewing your account history, utilizing facial recognition age verification, and verifying age via bank cards. Identification documents, including driver licenses, will also be used to ensure compliance with the industry code effective since late June, and applicable to search engine logins starting in December.
The code mandates search engines to guarantee the age of all users. If an account holder is identified as under 18, the secure search function will activate, blocking access to adult content and other unsuitable material in search results.
Additionally, six more draft codes under consideration by the eSafety Commissioner will enforce similar age verification measures across various services regularly used by Australians.
Platforms that host or facilitate access to content like pornography, self-harming material, simulated violence, or any highly inappropriate content for minors must implement restrictions to prevent child access.
Last month, Inman Grant addressed the National Press Club, emphasizing the necessity for regulations to ensure child safety in all online spaces.
“It is vital to adopt a layered safety strategy that assigns responsibility and accountability to key chokepoints within the technology stack, such as app stores and device levels.”
The eSafety Commissioner previously announced intent behind the code during its development stage. Recent news coverage has renewed focus on its critical elements.
Some individuals welcome these changes. Recent reports indicate that Elon Musk’s AI Grok has integrated pornographic chat features. While Apple’s App Store is rated for ages 12 and up, advocates urge child safety organizations to reevaluate Apple’s ratings and enhance protective measures within its platform.
Both Apple and Google have begun implementing age verification at the device level, and apps may also be utilized to assess user age.
The app store has a “giant interference” to remove porn for profit.
Justin Warren, founder of Pivotnine, a tech analysis firm, commented that the code represents a significant shift in communication regulations among Australians.
“It seems like a considerable overreaction following years of policy stagnation regarding the influence of major foreign tech companies,” he stated.
“It’s darkly amusing that more authority over Australians’ online experiences will be handed to those same foreign tech giants.”
Digi, an industry organization collaborating with eSafety Commissioners to establish the code, has opposed the idea of diminishing online anonymity, clarifying that the code targets specific platforms that handle or grant access to certain content.
“The Code introduces proportionate safeguards for accessing pornography and materials considered inappropriate for users under 18, such as highly violent content,” remarked Dr. Jenny Duxbury, Director of Digital Policy at Digi.
“These codes offer protective measures for specific circumstances rather than blanket identity verification requirements across the Internet.”
Duxbury noted that companies could utilize inference methods like account history and usage patterns to approximate users’ ages.
“Some services might opt for reasoning methods since they are effective and unobtrusive.”
However, those who attempt to implement such changes may be caught off guard, cautioned John Payne, chairman of Australia’s Electronic Frontier.
“It seems that many Australians are aware of the discussions around social media, but that’s not the case for the average person, especially when they’ll need to authenticate to access content rated for those over 18.”
Failure to adhere to the code could result in hefty penalties, including fines up to $49.5 million or social media bans. Further consequences may entail delisting from search results for non-compliant websites.
Payne advocates for introducing AI regulations that would prompt the federal government to reform privacy laws and enforce risk assessments for certain AI functions deemed as unacceptable risks.
He stresses the importance of legislating user care obligations for all digital service platforms.
“We believe this strategy would be more effective than relying solely on regulatory mandates,” he asserted.
Warren expressed skepticism, emphasizing that age verification technologies are effective, and highlighting that search engine codes were raised prior to the outcomes of the recent government review.
“Ultimately, theoretical applications must align with practical implementations.”
In response to a recent media report concerning the code, the eSafety Commissioner’s Office defended the age verification requirements for search engines.
“The sector’s code represents a critical opportunity to establish important safeguards, as search engines are key gateways for children to potentially harmful content,” stated the office.
Ancient humans adapted to deeper forests as they journeyed from Africa, moving away from the savanna.
Lionel Bret/Eurelios/Science Photo Library
This is an excerpt from our human stories, a newsletter covering the archaeological revolution. Subscribe and receive updates in your inbox every month.
Our human origins trace back to Africa. While this has not always been clear, it is now widely accepted.
This truth can be understood in two ways. The earliest known species closely related to us emerged from Africa, dating back 7 million years. Additionally, the oldest representatives of our own species, Homo sapiens, also originated from Africa.
Here, I will focus on the narrative of modern humans originating in Africa and their subsequent migrations across the globe. The introduction of DNA sequencing technology in the latter half of the 20th century enabled comparisons between different populations. This research demonstrated that African populations exhibit the greatest genetic diversity, while non-Africans show relative genetic similarity (despite visible differences such as skin color).
This genetic distinction serves as a telling indicator. It suggests that Africa was our birthplace with a diverse population, from which all non-Africans descended from a smaller subset that left this ancestral home to settle elsewhere. Geneticists affirmed this idea as early as 1995, and further evidence has since supported this claim.
However, there is a discrepancy between archaeological evidence and genetic findings.
Genetics indicates that all living non-Africans are descendants of a small group that left Africa around 50,000 years ago. Aside from minor uncertainties about the exact timeline, this conclusion has remained consistent for two decades. Conversely, archaeologists highlight numerous instances of modern humans existing outside Africa long before this timeline.
In Greece, a modern human skull found in the Apidima Caves dates back 210,000 years. The jawbone from Misliya Cave in Israel has been dated to at least 177,000 years. Additionally, there are several debated sites in China that may contain remains of modern humans. “Moreover, there’s an ongoing discussion on the earliest inhabitants of Australia,” says Eleanor Scerri from the Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology in Germany, with some proposing human presence as early as 65,000 years ago.
What is the explanation for this disparity? Has our extensive genetic data misled us? Or is it true that we all share a common ancestry tied to a significant migration event, while older remains represent populations that did not survive?
Scerri and her team sought to understand this conundrum.
African Environment
The researchers debated the habitats of modern humans in Africa. “Did they simply migrate across diverse African grasslands, or were they adapting to vastly different environments?” asks Scerri.
To address this question, they needed extensive data.
“We began by analyzing all archaeological sites in Africa dating back 120,000 to 14,000 years ago,” explains Emily Yuko Hallett from Loyola University in Chicago. The team constructed a database identifying the climate at various locations and times.
A significant shift was observed around 70,000 years ago. “Simply examining the data without complicated modeling shows this climatic change,” notes Andrea Manica from the University of Cambridge. The range of temperatures and rainfall suitable for human habitation had notably expanded, leading people to venture into deeper forests and arid deserts.
However, mere observation is insufficient; the archaeological record is inherently incomplete and often biased.
“In certain regions, no archaeological sites exist,” remarks Michela Leonardi from the Natural History Museum in London. This absence might not reflect a lack of human occupancy, but rather the lack of preservation. “In more recent periods, preservation is easier due to the increased data availability,” she adds.
Leonardi devised a statistical modeling technique to determine if an animal shifted its environmental range. Could humans have transitioned from grasslands to diverse habitats, such as tropical rainforests? The team initially thought this modeling would take two weeks, but it took five and a half years.
Ultimately, the statistics affirmed their initial observation: around 70,000 years ago, modern humans began occupying a broader range of environments. The findings were published on June 18th here.
Jack of All Trades
“At 70,000 years ago, our species appears to have transformed into the ultimate generalist,” states Manica. From this period onwards, modern humans adapted to a variety of complex habitats.
This could be misinterpreted. The team did not imply that prior to H. sapiens people were incapable of adaptation. In fact, studies of extinct human species highlight that adaptability has increased over time.
“Humans were inhabiting environments vastly different from the early stages,” observes Scerri. “We’ve found evidence of habitation in mangrove forests, rainforests, desert edges, and highlands like those in Ethiopia.”
It appears that this adaptability is what allowed Homo sapiens to thrive during environmental changes in Africa, while other species like Paranthropus did not; they remained too rigid in their lifestyle to adapt.
What likely transpired in our species 70,000 years ago is that existing adaptability became pronounced.
Some of this understanding only becomes clear when considering the diverse habitats humans occupied. “One might think of deserts and rainforests in rigid terms, but there are actually numerous variations,” explains Scerri. “There are lowland rainforests, montane forests, marshes, and periodically flooded woodlands.” The same diversity applies even within desert environments.
Before, H. sapiens “did not exploit the full range of potential habitats,” states Scerri. “But around 70,000 years ago, we see the beginning of this expansion into more types of forests and rainforests.”
This narrative intrigued me, as I had been contemplating an opposite idea.
Great Quarantine
Last week, I authored a piece about the extinction of local human groups: it appears that some H. sapiens populations vanished without a trace in modern genetics. After departing from Africa, they faced challenges in harsh environments, eventually succumbing during encounters with the first modern humans in Europe. These lost groups fascinated me. Why did they fail while others that entered Europe thousands of years later found much success?
The discovery that African groups expanded their environmental niches 70,000 years ago provides a partial explanation. If these later migrations involved more adaptable populations, they may have been better equipped to face the unfamiliar environments of Northern Europe—and subsequently Southeast Asia, Australia, and the Americas where their descendants would eventually journey.
A crucial point: this does not suggest that all populations 70,000 years ago thrived. “Not all humans instantly turned into successful populations,” Scerri explains. “Many of these groups disappeared, both inside and outside of Africa.”
Moreover, as with any significant discovery, this study introduces as many questions as it resolves. Specifically: what triggered modern humans to become more adaptable around 70,000 years ago?
Manica notes that skeletal morphology supports this idea. Ancient fossils classified as H. sapiens today exhibit only some of the traits we typically associate with modern humans. “Starting around 70,000 years ago, we broadly witnessed the emergence of many of these characteristics as a collective,” he asserts.
Manica posits that moving into new environments may have facilitated increased interaction between previously isolated populations. For instance, if two groups were separated by desert, they wouldn’t encounter or exchange ideas or genetic material until they learned to adapt to desert conditions.
“There may also be positive feedback,” suggests Manica. “With increased connectivity comes greater flexibility… breaking down barriers and fostering further interaction.”
To conclude, in a story about these lost populations, I mentioned that one of the greatest challenges for human groups was isolation. Without neighbors, a small group can face extinction due to minor setbacks. If Manica is correct, the opposite trend unfolded in Africa. Populations expanded and became increasingly connected, leading to a surge of creativity that allowed our species to spread across the globe.
In this light, the success of the last migration out of Africa could be attributed to the need for community. Without others, we may be vulnerable and at risk of failing. The notion of preparing for an apocalypse alone in isolation may be fundamentally flawed.
Collisions involving high-energy lead nuclei at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider generate a powerful electromagnetic field capable of displacing protons and converting lead into ephemeral gold nuclei.
The lead ions (208Pb) in the LHC pass by one another without direct collision. During electromagnetic dissociation, photons interact with the nucleus, causing internal vibrations that result in the ejection of a small number of neutrons (2) and protons (3), leaving behind the nucleus of gold (before gold 203Au). Image credit: CERN.
The transformation of base metal lead into the precious metal gold was a long-held aspiration of medieval alchemists.
This enduring pursuit, known as Chrysopia, may have been spurred by the recognition that the relatively common lead, with its dull gray color, bears resemblance to gold.
It has since been established that lead and gold are fundamentally different chemical elements, and that chemical means cannot facilitate their conversion.
The advent of nuclear physics in the 20th century uncovered the possibility of transforming heavy elements into others through processes such as radioactive decay or in laboratory settings involving bombardment by neutrons or protons.
Gold has been artificially generated through such means previously, but physicists from the Alice Collaboration at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have recently measured lead’s conversion into gold using a novel mechanism that relies on close interactions between lead nuclei at the LHC.
High-energy collisions between lead nuclei can lead to the formation of quark-gluon plasma, a state of high temperature and density believed to represent conditions shortly after the Big Bang, initiating phenomena we now recognize.
Simultaneously, in more frequent instances where nuclei narrowly miss each other without direct contact, the strong electromagnetic fields they generate can provoke photon-nucleus interactions, potentially uncovering more exploration avenues.
The electromagnetic field produced by the nucleus is particularly potent due to its 82 protons, each carrying a fundamental charge.
Additionally, when lead nuclei are accelerated to extreme speeds at the LHC, the electromagnetic field lines become compressed into thin layers, extending laterally in the motion direction, generating transient pulses of photons.
This phenomenon often triggers electromagnetic dissociation, where photons interact with the nucleus, causing vibrations in its internal structure and leading to the release of a limited number of neutrons and protons.
To fabricate gold (with 79 protons), three protons must be removed from the lead nuclei in the LHC beam.
“It is remarkable to witness our detectors managing direct collisions that produce thousands of particles, while being sensitive to scenarios where merely a few particles are generated,” said a researcher.
The Alice team employed a zero degree calorimeter (ZDC) to quantify the number of photon-nucleus interactions, correlating them to the emission of zero, one, two, and three protons related to the production of lead, thallium, mercury, and gold, respectively.
While the creation of thallium and mercury occurs more frequently, results indicate that the LHC currently generates gold at a rate of approximately 89,000 nuclei from lead collisions at the Alice collision point.
These gold nuclei emerge from collisions at extremely high energies, colliding with LHC beam pipes or collimators at various downstream points and swiftly fragmenting into individual protons, neutrons, and other particles, lasting mere seconds.
The analysis from Alice shows that roughly 86 billion gold nuclei were produced during four significant experiments across two runs of the LHC, equating to only 29 picograms (2.9*10-11 g) in mass.
With ongoing upgrades to the LHC enhancing its brightness, Run 3 yielded almost double the amount of gold as observed in Run 2, although the overall quantity remains trillions of times less than what is necessary for jewelry production.
Though the technological aspirations of medieval alchemists have been partially fulfilled, their dreams of acquiring wealth have yet again been dashed.
“Thanks to the distinctive capabilities of Alice’s ZDC, our current analysis marks the inaugural systematic detection and examination of gold production signatures at the LHC,” states Dr. Uliana Dmitrieva, a member of the Alice Collaboration.
“These results extend beyond fundamental physics interests and serve to test and refine theoretical models of electromagnetic dissociation, improving our understanding of beam loss— a significant factor influencing the performance limitations of the LHC and future colliders,” adds Dr. John Jowett, also of the Alice Collaboration.
A new study will be published in the journal Physical Review C.
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S. Acharya et al. (Alice Collaboration). √sNN= 5.02 Proton emission in ultra-fine Pb-Pb collisions at TeV. Phys. Rev. C 111, 054906; doi:10.1103/PhysRevC.111.054906
Protesters gathered at Tesla showrooms in cities worldwide over the weekend to demonstrate against Elon Musk’s alliance with Donald Trump within the US government. Their main focus was to denounce Tesla’s vehicles. A sign in Manhattan declared, “Burning Tesla and saving democracy.” Demonstrators are leveraging consumer products as a means to impact American political democracy.
Reports from colleagues Dara Kerr and Edward Helmore revealed:
Hundreds of anti-Tesla protesters convened outside the EV Manhattan showroom on Saturday. Sophie Shepherd, 23, an organizer at Planet over Profit, clarified that the protest was not about electric vehicles per se.
“We’re here to protest the ties that essentially linked Tesla’s car show to the White House lawn,” she stated. “Our aim is to disrupt his business in every way possible, including not just CyberTruck but all Tesla models.”
Although the demonstration didn’t draw a large crowd, Musk’s fortune has decreased by over $100 billion as Tesla’s stock plummeted by nearly half from its peak in December 2024.
The political involvement of Musk forces many Tesla owners to take a stand for or against the company.
Musk is closely associated with Tesla. The company disclosed in its annual report that it heavily relies on Tesla and Musk’s technology services. Tesla’s technology is a significant factor in this contentious connection.
Moreover, the public perception of Musk’s political affiliations is intertwined with Tesla. Initially revered as a tech genius, Musk’s inspiration from Iron Man elevated Tesla’s brand, fueling the growth of his rocket enterprise.
However, with Musk’s polarizing public image, Tesla’s success hinges on maintaining public trust and confidence. The company’s disclosure emphasizes its aim to appeal to a diverse range of potential customers globally.
Musk’s political endeavors place Tesla owners in the spotlight, forcing them to either endorse or disavow the company. Owners often feel compelled to justify their purchase or publicly distance themselves from the company’s political stance. This dichotomy raises concerns about the public’s perception of Tesla as a mere political symbol.
Meanwhile, Musk’s narrow target audience was highlighted by hosting a Tesla sales event on the White House grounds, aligning with a controversial presidency. The outcome for Tesla remains uncertain, but its social relevance appears to impact its financial standing.
For more details on Saturday’s protest, read the full story here.
plants by exposing them to certain chemicals at seed can affect subsequent growth. Researchers found that treating seeds with ethylene gas improved both growth and stress tolerance. This finding includes enhanced photosynthesis. Carbohydrate production in plants has the potential to be a breakthrough in improving crop yields and resilience to environmental stressors. Like other living things, plants can be stressed. Usually the conditions are as follows heat and drought. That can lead to stress, and when stressed, the plant may not grow as much or produce less. This can be a problem for farmers, so many scientists have tried genetically modified plants to make it more elastic. However, plants modified to obtain higher crop yields are low stress tolerance. This is because they put more energy into growing than protecting them from stress. Similarly, as plants improve their ability to withstand stress, production often decreases because they spend more energy protecting than growing. This brainteaser makes it possible It is difficult to improve crop yields. I was studying How the plant hormone ethylene regulates plant growth and stress responses. In Research to be published in July 2023, my lab made an unexpected and provocative observation. We found that when seeds that are normally underground germinate in the dark, adding ethylene improves both growth and stress tolerance. Ethylene is a plant hormone Because plants cannot move around, they cannot avoid stressful environmental conditions such as heat or drought. They receive various signals from their environment, such as light and temperature, which shape their growth, development, and how they respond to stressful situations. As part of this regulation, plants make various hormones They are part of a regulatory network that allows them to adapt to environmental conditions. Ethylene was first discovered as a gaseous plant hormone over 100 years ago. Since then, research has shown that all land plants studied produce ethylene. In addition to controlling growth and responding to stress, they are also involved in other processes, such as turning leaves in autumn and promoting fruit ripening. Ethylene as a way to “prime” plants My lab focuses on how plants and bacteria sense ethylene and how ethylene interacts with other hormonal pathways to regulate plant development. While conducting this research, my group accidental discovery. We were experimenting with germinating seeds in a dark room. Seed germination is a critical period in a plant’s life when seeds transition from dormancy to seedlings under favorable conditions. In this experiment, Seeds exposed to ethylene gas Continue this for a few days to see what effect it has. The ethylene was then removed. Normally, the experiment should end here. However, after collecting data on these seedlings, we transferred them to lightweight carts. This is not something we normally do, but we wanted to grow the plants to adulthood so we could have seeds for future experiments. After a few days of placing the seedlings under light, some lab members made the unexpected and surprising observation that the plants briefly gassed with ethylene. it was much bigger. These plants had larger leaves and longer and more complex root systems than plants not exposed to ethylene. These plants continued to grow at a faster rate throughout their lives. The plant on the left was not primed with ethylene, while the plant on the right was primed with ethylene. Both plants are the same age. Credit: Binder Lab, University of Tennessee, Knoxville My colleagues and I wanted to know if plants are diverse seed Exposure to ethylene during seed germination showed growth stimulation. We discovered it the answer is yes. We tested the effects of short-term ethylene treatment on germinating tomato, cucumber, wheat, and arugula seeds, all of which grew significantly. However, what made this observation unusual and exciting is that short ethylene treatments also Increased tolerance to various stresses salinity stress, high temperature, hypoxic conditions, etc. The long-term effects of short-term exposure to a stimulus on growth and stress tolerance are often referred to as priming effects. This can be thought of as pump priming priming allows the pump to start easier and faster. There are studies that investigated how plants grow after priming at different ages and developmental stages. but Seed priming Methods using various chemicals and stress are probably the most studied because they are easy to implement and, if successful, can be…
New research reveals how cladoceran jellyfish can regenerate tentacles in just a few days, highlighting the role of unique stem-like proliferating cells in this rapid regeneration process. This breakthrough provides insight into similar regeneration processes in other species. Credit: SciTechDaily.com
Japanese scientists have discovered that the cladoceran jellyfish uses stem-like proliferating cells to regenerate its tentacles, providing new insights into the process of blastogenesis and its evolutionary similarities in other organisms. . seed Like a salamander.
A type of jellyfish about the size of a little fingernail cladonema Amputated tentacles can regrow in a few days, but how do they regrow? Functional tissue regeneration across species such as salamanders and insects repairs damage and grows into missing appendages It relies on its ability to form blastocytes, which are masses of undifferentiated cells. Jellyfish, like other cnidarians such as corals and sea anemones, exhibit high regenerative abilities, but how their vital blastema cells are formed has remained a mystery until now.
Japanese research team reveals that stem-like proliferating cells (actively growing and dividing but not yet differentiated into specific cell types) appear at injury sites and help form blastomas. I made it.
The results of this study were published in the journal Science on December 21st. PLOS Biology.
The jellyfish Cladonema pacificum exhibits branched tentacles that can strongly regenerate after amputation.Credit: Sou Fujita, University of Tokyo
“Importantly, these stem-like proliferating cells in the blastema are different from the resident stem cells localized in the tentacles,” said corresponding author Yuichiro Nakajima, a lecturer at the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences. “Repair-specific proliferating cells primarily contribute to the newly formed tentacle epithelium (thin outer layer).”
According to Nakajima, the resident stem cells present in and near the tentacles are responsible for generating all cell lineages during homeostasis and regeneration, and maintain all the cells needed throughout the jellyfish’s life. means to repair. Repair-specific proliferating cells appear only upon injury.
“The combination of resident stem cells and repair-specific proliferating cells enables the rapid regeneration of functional tentacles within a few days,” Professor Nakajima said, adding that jellyfish use their tentacles to hunt and feed. he pointed out.
Resident stem cells (green) and repair-specific proliferating cells (red) contribute to the regeneration of Cladonema tentacles.Credit: Sou Fujita, University of Tokyo
According to lead author Sosuke Fujita, a postdoctoral researcher in the same laboratory as Nakajima at the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, the discovery will help researchers understand how blastoma formation differs between different animal groups. It shows that you understand.
“In this study, our aim was to use the tentacles of the cnidarian jellyfish to address the mechanisms of blastogenesis. cladonema “As a regeneration model for non-bilateral animals, or animals that do not form bilaterally symmetrically during embryonic development,” Professor Fujita said, explaining that this study could provide insights from an evolutionary perspective.
For example, salamanders are bilaterally symmetrical animals that can regenerate limbs. Their limbs contain stem cells that are restricted to the needs of specific cell types, and this process is thought to function similarly to the repair-specific proliferating cells observed in jellyfish.
“Given that repair-specific proliferating cells are similar to restricted stem cells in the limbs of bilateral salamanders, the formation of blastema by repair-specific proliferating cells has been linked to complex organs and appendages during animal evolution. We can infer that this is a common feature that was acquired independently for organ regeneration,” said Fujita. Said.
After 72 hours of amputation, Cladonema’s regenerating tentacles are fully functional.Credit: Sou Fujita, University of Tokyo
However, the cellular origin of the repair-specific proliferating cells observed in blastema cells remains unclear, and researchers believe that the tools currently available to investigate their origin are too limited. They say they are unable to elucidate or identify other distinct stem-like cells. cell.
“It is essential to introduce genetic tools that allow tracing and intracellular manipulation of specific cell lineages. cladonema‘ said Nakajima. “Ultimately, understanding the mechanisms of blastoma formation in regenerating animals, including jellyfish, may help us identify cellular and molecular components that improve our own regenerative abilities.”
Reference: “Distinct stem-like cell populations promote functional regeneration of Cladonema medusa tentacles” by Sosuke Fujita, Mako Takahashi, Manabu Kumano, Erina Kuranaga, Masayuki Miura, and Yuichiro Nakajima, December 21, 2023. PLOS Biology. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002435
This research was supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, the Japan Science and Technology Agency, the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development, and a grant from the National Institute for Basic Biology Joint Research Project.
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