Solar Panel and Robotic Arm of NASA’s Phoenix Lander with Sample in Scoop
NASA/JPL-California Institute of Technology/University of Arizona/Texas A&M University
Mars might harbor a system of liquid water flowing beneath its icy surface. Similar to permafrost on Earth, which is theorized to have thin veins of liquid minerals, new models suggest these veins on Mars could be substantial enough to sustain life.
“For Mars, we’re constantly flirting with the edge of habitability. Initially, I theorized this study would reveal that adequate water wouldn’t exist, thus making microbial life impossible,” states Hannah Sizemore from the Planetary Science Institute in Arizona. “I was mistaken.”
Sizemore and her team analyzed Mars’ soil composition to estimate the amount of icy soil that might actually comprise liquid water and the dimensions of the channels through which it flows. Temperatures on Mars can plummet to -150°C (-240°F), challenging the existence of liquid water. While pure water freezes at 0°C, the presence of salts—widespread on Mars—can significantly lower the freezing point.
The research indicated that it is “surprisingly feasible” to find soil containing over 5 percent liquid water in channels exceeding 5 microns in diameter. This threshold was deemed necessary for a vein to be classified as habitable. “The largest veins we’re referencing are 10 times narrower than a fine human hair,” Sizemore elaborates. “Nonetheless, it’s a sufficiently expansive environment to host microorganisms, allowing for the transfer of nutrients and waste within the ecosystem.”
Based on soil data collected by NASA’s Phoenix spacecraft, which landed on Mars in 2008, these networks of waterways may be prevalent at latitudes above 50 degrees. Sizemore indicated that if life exists on Mars, liquid veins would be prime locations for investigation, proposing that “this is a site where one could land and excavate around 30 centimeters to collect samples.”
The primary concern regarding these veins as potential habitats is their temperature, which can be significantly below what most known life forms can endure. “However, we must exercise caution in applying the limits observed for terrestrial organisms to other life forms, as they do not necessarily define the survival limits for all life that could exist elsewhere,” states Bruce Jakosky from the University of Colorado Boulder. “Ultimately, this study and related research suggest that the existence of life near the Martian surface is not out of the question.”
Distributing quantum information akin to traditional broadcasting may not be feasible, even with mathematical models designed to work around quantum mechanics’ inherent limitations.
It is a well-established fact that quantum copy machines cannot exist due to the no-cloning theorem, which is a fundamental principle of quantum physics that prevents the duplication of quantum states. However, physicists have explored the possibility of transmitting or broadcasting copies of quantum information to multiple recipients without breaching this law.
To achieve this, researchers must permit the quantum copies to differ slightly and integrate additional information processing steps for the receivers. Recently, Zhenhuan Liu from Tsinghua University in China and his team demonstrated that these methods might be impractically complex.
“There’s no ‘Ctrl+C’ in the quantum realm,” Liu states. “If you aim to send quantum information to several receivers, there are no quick fixes. You must generate sufficient copies and transmit each one individually.”
The researchers honed in on the previously discussed “virtual quantum broadcast” protocol. In this model, information is adjusted so that various states maintain correlations with each other, although not with identical physical replicas. The messages received are not precise duplicates but share enough characteristics to be valuable. This is analogous to a television network broadcasting slightly different episodes of a serialized drama to each household while generally maintaining the narrative flow. While this protocol is certainly functional, team member Xiangjing Liu at the National University of Singapore questioned its efficiency.
The team analyzed the effort required by recipients to ensure that the information they received, despite not being identical, remained useful. Their mathematical assessment indicated that viable quantum broadcasts may not be realistic.
Counterintuitively, even this optimized approach to quantum broadcasting demands more resources compared to methods like drafting individual letters for each recipient, akin to how group texts send messages to everyone simultaneously, according to team member Yunlong Xiao from Singapore’s scientific research institutions.
“If your sole objective is to simply relay quantum states across various locations, it’s questionable whether exploring virtual quantum broadcasts is a viable method,” says Seok Hyun Lee at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology in Korea. He believes this protocol has never been considered a practical guideline for quantum communication but rather an investigation into the fundamental limits of quantum information theory.
Paolo Perinotti from Pavia University in Italy acknowledges the mathematical significance of the team’s efforts but also suggests it is unlikely to provide immediate benefits to quantum technology.
Looking forward, researchers are keen to explore the theoretical implications of this current analysis. It helps us comprehend the correlations permissible when manipulating quantum states, regardless of whether they are distributed over space or transmitted sequentially in time. Xiangjing Liu notes that this work could form the basis of a new framework for understanding quantum processes, emphasizing a clearer distinction between time and space compared to traditional methods.
Egg cells do not dispose of waste like other cells.
Sebastian Kauritzki / Aramie
Human eggs appear to manage waste differently than other cell types.
All women are born with a limited supply of egg cells, or oocytes, expected to last around 50 years. This duration is remarkably extended for a single cell. Certain human cells, including brain and retinal cells, can persist for a lifetime, but the innate processes that facilitate their function often lead to gradual damage over time.
Cells require protein recycling as part of their housekeeping, but this comes with a price. The energy spent during this process can generate reactive oxygen species (ROS), which inflict random damage on the cells. “This background damage is ever-present,” notes Elvan Beke from the Spanish Genome Regulation Center. “An increase in ROS correlates with increased damage.”
However, it appears that healthy eggs circumvent this issue. To investigate this phenomenon, Beke and her team examined human eggs under a microscope. The cells were immersed in a fluid containing a fluorescent dye that binds to acidic cellular components known as lysosomes, which are considered “recycling plants.” Gabriele Zaffagnini from the University of Cologne, Germany, was involved in this study.
The bright dyes indicated that the lysosomes containing waste in human eggs demonstrated less activity compared to similar structures in other human cells or small mammalian egg cells, such as those from mice. Zaffagnini and his colleagues theorize that this may serve a self-preservation purpose.
According to Zaffagnini, reducing the waste recycling process might be one of several strategies employed by human egg cells to maintain their extended lifespan. Beke suggests that human oocytes appear to “put the brakes on everything” in order to minimize damage, as all cellular functions slow down in these eggs, thereby lowering the production of harmful ROS.
Slowing the protein recycling mechanism seems beneficial for egg cell health, and failure to do so could explain the prevalence of unhealthy oocytes. “This insight might help explain why human oocytes become dysfunctional after a certain age,” states M-Re from Yale University School of Medicine. “This could lead to a broader understanding of the challenges faced by human oocytes,” he adds.
Fluorescent dyes highlight human egg cells, showcasing components
such as mitochondria (orange) and DNA (light blue).
Gabriele Zaffagnini/Centro de Regulación Genómica
Evaluating egg cell health in this manner could enhance fertility therapies. “It’s well-known that protein degradation is vital for cell survival, directly affecting fertility,” explains Beke, who is focused on researching healthy egg cells. There are ongoing comparisons between oocytes and cells from individuals encountering fertility issues. “Elevated ROS levels correlate with poor IVF outcomes,” she states.
Research on human egg cells is still in its early stages due to inherent complexities. “They are hard to manipulate due to sample constraints,” comments Beke. Seri mentions that this is one of several “layers” complicating egg cell studies, including regulatory limitations and funding challenges.
Zaffagnini believes that overcoming these obstacles could lead to “truly astonishing” discoveries. “It’s certainly worth pursuing,” he concludes.
Hemophilia B is a blood disorder that affects about 30,000 people in the United States. Individuals with hemophilia B have a deficiency in factor IX, a protein essential for proper blood clotting. This condition is hereditary, leading to the inability to clot blood effectively.. Treatment for hemophilia B involves injecting factor IX into the veins, but this method is costly and time-consuming. Therefore, scientists are exploring alternative treatments for hemophilia B.
A team of British researchers conducted a gene therapy trial using adenovirus FLT180a to increase factor IX levels in the livers of hemophilia B patients. They administered this gene therapy to a total of 10 male patients with severe or moderate hemophilia B, aged between 25 to 67 years. The patients were given different doses of the adenovirus and monitored for 26 weeks.
The results of the trial showed that some patients reached normal factor IX levels, while others experienced dangerously high levels. Patients who received lower doses had factor IX levels ranging from 40% to 60% of normal, while those who received higher doses had levels up to 300% of normal. The researchers noted varying responses in different patients and observed side effects like unexpected bleeding.
Despite the variability in patient response, the researchers believe that gene therapy could be a potential treatment for increasing factor IX levels in hemophilia B patients and improving blood clotting. They caution about the need to monitor and manage side effects effectively and suggest that this therapy could provide benefits for up to a year before requiring further intervention.
If you have received this newsletter for the second time, we apologize. Due to a technical error, it was originally sent with last week's subject line.
Last week, Bluesky opened its doors. After a year in her closed, invite-only beta, anyone who wants to can now sign up for an account with just their email address.
Even if the value of the invitation has dropped somewhat in recent months (I have 5 unused seats, not that I want to try), it's clear there was latent demand. In just two days, the service received more than 1 million new registrations. By the way, since Bluesky released his iOS app last February, it took him over three months to reach his 70,000 user count.
This slow growth has also been a blessing for Blue Sky. On the other hand, the beta did its job, allowing the company to iterate on the service based on feedback from a smaller but more engaged user base than it might otherwise have.
Last year, the company built a suite of moderation tools that enable a “decentralized” approach to social networking, where users can voluntarily opt in or out of content such as nudity, violence, and hate speech. Launching on Android and the web. And by adopting a butterfly as our own version of Twitter's bird, we created a consistent visual identity. Meanwhile, Elon Musk's site destroyed its own visual shorthand in response, replacing some, but not all, Twitter branding with a double-strike 𝕏.
But the slow burn also meant that Bluesky never really got his moment in the sun. For a year now, I've been listening to the words I often hear from new users. It was about getting excited to be granted access to the service, then being disappointed when you realized there was less content than there was in Twitter's heyday.
In some cases, it's a memory trick. A Bluesky feed that follows 50 people will be less crowded than a Twitter feed that follows 500 people, and for many power users of the latter service, everyone they follow will be his 2 Gone are the days when you could ride a decker bus. Many longtime Twitter users probably don't remember what it was like to have a quiet feed or have to find new people to follow. And those things could cause people to push back from new social networks like Bluesky, just as they have bothered many people. I stumble when registering on Twitter itself.
(That's why Facebook's People You May Know feature is so incisive.) The biggest hurdle for social networks isn't getting people to sign up, it's getting people to keep using them. I always know that the trick is to get as many other users to follow as possible…)
Even if you went through the trouble of building a Bluesky account and building a fairly extensive address book, there's no way the service could match the rosy memories of Twitter's heyday. Sure, it's a similar enough experience to curb your craving for the real thing, but it's not compelling enough to make you want more. You post. No one responds. Log off and touch the grass.
Of course, all of this is talking about Bluesky as an early social network. But the company doesn't think that way. Chief Executive Officer Jay Graeber gave several interviews to commemorate the grand opening.she came talk to wired:
We weren't using invites to try to be exclusive. We were using them to manage our growth while building rails, the essential foundation of this new kind of decentralized network.
We needed to build an app protocol, an AT protocol, under Bluesky that allows different developers, companies, and people to come in and change the experience. Some of them will be rolled out soon.
When it's finished, Bluesky's vision is for it to sit somewhere between a full Twitter replacement and a fully decentralized service like Mastodon, the second of the big three social networks after Twitter. . Like Mastodon, the technology behind Bluesky should eventually make that possible. But unlike Mastodon, Bluesky has been less keen to highlight its technical differences with Twitter, as the majority of its users will continue to use its official apps and services for the time being.
And then there's the thread. Meta's Twitter clone is arguably the largest of the three in terms of user numbers alone, but it has made little ripple in broader culture. The site's policy of suppressing political content (according to Threads' platform safety policy, there is no algorithmic promotion) does not solve the problem. There are parallels here with early online culture. Twitter dominates the discussion despite being a fraction of Facebook's size, and so does TikTok despite YouTube having a much larger user base.
The silent majority of successful text-based social media sites are lurkers. They are sane, normal people living sane, normal lives… Influencers are building businesses. They are creating #content … The commenter is trying to have a conversation with another human being. They want to be able to have meaningful interactions online, even if they are misplaced. Replyers can be considered the most important subclass of commenters. They are specific. They usually interact with or act on behalf of their favorite Internet users. Finally, prepare your poster (also known as a poster). Posters are necessary for all social networks to function.
The problem that all Twitter alternatives face is that there is an imbalance. Threads is huge, but its user base is hidden and influential. Like Marvel movie audiences, they may consume professionally produced content, but they never form lasting memories. For the past year, Bluesky has been a pure poster child, locked in rooms with each other and unable to get much of the dopamine needed to maintain his frenetic energy. Mastodon is a community of commenters and responders, and while it's possible to have fun chatting, it's decentralized to the point that it's hard to discern conversations that originate from within.
So opening up Bluesky could be the first step toward restoring some of that balance. Posters cannot survive on posters alone. They, and we, need lurkers. Would you like to join us, we have to touch the grass.
Wider Techscape
Waymo self-driving car catches fire in San Francisco.
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.
