The Zen of Technology & Scientific Discovery! (& Robots)

[Jundo]

And then came Stuart Little ...

For the First Time: Human Brain Organoids Implanted in Mice Show Response to Visual Stimuli

A group of engineers and neuroscientists have shown, for the first time, that brain organoids implanted in mice form functional connections to the mice’s cortex and respond to external sensory stimuli. The team observed the organoids reacting to visual stimuli similarly to the surrounding tissues, thanks to a transparent graphene microelectrode array and two-photon imaging system that allowed real-time monitoring over several months.

Human cortical organoids are derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells, which are usually derived themselves from skin cells. These brain organoids have recently emerged as promising models to study the development of the human brain, as well as a range of neurological conditions.

But until now, no research team had been able to demonstrate that human brain organoids implanted in the mouse cortex were able to share the same functional properties and react to stimuli in the same way. This is because the technologies used to record brain function are limited, and are generally unable to record activity that lasts just a few milliseconds.

... These findings suggest that the organoids had established synaptic connections with surrounding cortex tissue three weeks after implantation, and received functional input from the mouse brain. Researchers continued these chronic multimodal experiments for eleven weeks and showed functional and morphological integration of implanted human brain organoids with the host mice’s cortex. ...

https://scitechdaily.com/for-the-first-time-human-brain-organoids-implanted-in-mice-show-response-to-visual-stimuli/

tsuku.jpg

Gassho, J

stlah

[Onrin]

I'd wager neanderthals had some zen understanding too. https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/n...kstories/2277/

[Jundo]

Some near-time dangers of AI competition ... truly earthshaking ...

Google and Microsoft’s AI arms race could have ‘unintended consequences,’ an AI ethicist warns


Google is officially set to confront OpenAI’s ChatGPT — and soon. The tech titan, which has had a stranglehold on internet search for as long as most web users can remember, formally announced Monday that it will roll out Bard, its experimental conversational AI service, in the “coming weeks.”

... Ammanath said that “unintended consequences” accompany every new technology and reluctantly expressed confidence that it too will occur with AI chatbots, unless significant precautions are taken. For now, she doesn’t see the guardrails in place to rein in the nascent technology. Instead, Ammanath equated what is currently transpiring with the swift deployment of AI as companies “building Jurassic Park, putting some danger signs on the fences, but leaving all the gates open.” Yes, there is some acknowledgment about the dangers the technology poses. But it’s not enough, given the risks.

Ammanath stressed that computer scientists working on AI have yet to solve for bias, a years-long problem, as well as other worrisome issues that plague the technology. One major problem is that AI bots cannot separate truth from fantasy.

“The challenge with new language models is they blend fact and fiction,” Ammanath told me. “It spreads misinformation effectively. It cannot understand the content. So it can spout out completely logical sounding content, but incorrect. And it delivers it with complete confidence.”

That’s effectively what happened last month when CNET was forced to issue corrections on a number of articles, including some that it described as “substantial,” after using an AI-powered tool to help the news outlet write dozens of stories. ...

https://us.cnn.com/2023/02/06/media/...ces/index.html

And on this day when massive earthquakes rock the world, a better understanding of the massive forces below our feet ...

Groundbreaking Discovery of Hidden Molten Rock Layer Under Earth’s Tectonic Plates

Scientists have discovered a new layer of partly molten rock under the Earth’s crust that might help settle a long-standing debate about how tectonic plates move.

Researchers had previously identified patches of melt at a similar depth. But a new study led by The University of Texas at Austin revealed for the first time the layer’s global extent and its part in plate tectonics. ... The molten layer is located about 100 miles from the surface and is part of the asthenosphere, which sits under the Earth’s tectonic plates in the upper mantle. The asthenosphere is important for plate tectonics because it forms a relatively soft boundary that lets tectonic plates move through the mantle. ...

https://scitechdaily.com/groundbreaking-discovery-of-hidden-molten-rock-layer-under-earths-tectonic-plates/

The Earth with the upper mantle revealed.

Fortunately, for those of us in earthquake zones, some advances perhaps ...

Revolutionizing Disaster Prevention: New Earthquake Prediction Model Unveiled by Scientists

A new earthquake model has been developed by Northwestern University that considers the full history of a fault’s earthquakes to better forecast the next one.

Northwestern University researchers have published a study that could help solve one of seismology’s main challenges — predicting when the next big earthquake will occur on a fault. Seismologists traditionally believed that large earthquakes on faults follow a regular pattern and occur after the same amount of time as between the previous two. However, the Earth doesn’t always comply, as earthquakes can sometimes occur sooner or later than expected. Until now, seismologists lacked a way to explain this unpredictability.

Now they do. The Northwestern research team of seismologists and statisticians has developed an earthquake probability model that is more comprehensive and realistic than what is currently available. Instead of just using the average time between past earthquakes to forecast the next one, the new model considers the specific order and timing of previous earthquakes. It helps explain the puzzling fact that earthquakes sometimes come in clusters — groups with relatively short times between them, separated by longer times without earthquakes.

“Considering the full earthquake history, rather than just the average over time and the time since the last one, will help us a lot in forecasting when future earthquakes will happen,” said Seth Stein, William Deering Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. “When you’re trying to figure out a team’s chances of winning a ball game, you don’t want to look only at the last game and the long-term average. Looking back over additional recent games can also be helpful. We now can do a similar thing for earthquakes.”

https://scitechdaily.com/revolutionizing-disaster-prevention-new-earthquake-prediction-model-unveiled-by-scientists/

By the way, the Buddha is quoted as offering a traditional model for earthquakes, perhaps not a time when the Buddha got it all right, although it is not totally wrong either ...

Then the Blessed One said: "There are eight reasons, Ananda, eight causes for a mighty earthquake to arise. What are those eight?

"This great earth, Ananda, is established upon liquid, the liquid upon the atmosphere, and the atmosphere upon space. And when, Ananda, mighty atmospheric disturbances take place, the liquid is agitated. And with the agitation of the liquid, tremors of the earth arise. This is the first reason, the first cause for the arising of mighty earthquakes.

"Again, Ananda, when an ascetic or holy man of great power, one who has gained mastery of his mind, or a deity who is mighty and potent, develops intense concentration on the delimited aspect of the earth element, and to a boundless degree on the liquid element, he, too, causes the earth to tremble, quiver, and shake. This is the second reason, the second cause for the arising of mighty earthquakes.

"Again, Ananda, when the Bodhisatta departs from the Tusita realm and descends into his mother's womb, mindfully and clearly comprehending; and when the Bodhisatta comes out from his mother's womb, mindfully and clearly comprehending; and when the Tathagata becomes fully enlightened in unsurpassed, supreme Enlightenment; when the Tathagata sets rolling the excellent Wheel of the Dhamma; when the Tathagata renounces his will to live on; and when the Tathagata comes to pass away into the state of Nibbana in which no element of clinging remains — then, too, Ananda, this great earth trembles, quivers, and shakes.

...

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipi....1-6.vaji.html

Gassho, J

stlah

[Jundo]

Perhaps the Heart Sutra can be more specific ...

No eye, ear, nose, including no multivesicular transductosome organelles, tongue, body, mind ...

Researchers Discover a Previously Unknown Cellular Component Inside Neurons That We Use To Perceive Smell

Umeå University researchers in Sweden have uncovered a previously unidentified cellular component, an organelle, within neurons that play a role in our sense of smell. This discovery could have implications for future studies on the diminished sense of smell, a common symptom of COVID-19. ... What the researchers have discovered is a so-called organelle inside nerve cells, that has not previously been observed. The newly discovered organelle has been given the name multivesicular transducosome by the researchers. The discovery was made possible thanks to Umeå University’s unique microscopy infrastructure.

Organelles are distinct ’workstations’ inside cells that can be compared to the different organs of the body, i.e. different organelles have different functions in the cell. Most organelles are common to different cell types, but there are also organelles with specific functions that only occur in certain cell types. Olfactory nerve cells have long projections, i.e. cilia, that protrude into the nasal cavity and contain the proteins that bind odorous substances and thus initiate nerve impulses to the brain. The conversion of odor into nerve impulses is called transduction and the newly discovered organelle contains only transduction proteins.

The role of the transductosome is to both store and keep transduction proteins separate from each other until they are needed. Upon olfactory stimulation, the outer membrane of the organelle ruptures, releasing the transduction proteins so that they can reach the cilia of the neuron, and smell is perceived.

The researchers also discovered that the transductosome carries a protein called retinitis pigmentosa 2, RP2, which is otherwise known to regulate transduction in the eye’s photoreceptor cells. If the RP2 gene is mutated, it can cause a variant of the eye disease retinitis pigmentosa that damages the eye’s light-sensitive cells.

“A question for further research is whether the transductosome has a role in vision and whether it is present in brain neurons that are activated by neurotransmitters and not light and smell. If so, the discovery may prove even more significant,” says Staffan Bohm.

https://scitechdaily.com/researchers-discover-a-previously-unknown-cellular-component-inside-neurons-that-we-use-to-perceive-smell/

Release of vesicles with transduction proteins in electron microscope magnification.

Gassho, J

stlah

[Jundo]

More implanting of human brain parts into rats. What could go wrong?

Scientists Transplant Human Brain Organoids Into Adult Rats – And They Respond to Visual Stimuli

In a study published in the journal Cell Stem Cell on February 2, researchers show that brain organoids—clumps of lab-grown neurons—can integrate with rat brains and respond to visual stimulation like flashing lights.

Decades of research has shown that we can transplant individual human and rodent neurons into rodent brains, and, more recently, it has been demonstrated that human brain organoids can integrate with developing rodent brains. However, whether these organoid grafts can functionally integrate with the visual system of injured adult brains has yet to be explored. “We focused on not just transplanting individual cells, but actually transplanting tissue,” says senior author H. Isaac Chen, a physician and Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Pennsylvania. “Brain organoids have architecture; they have structure that resembles the brain. We were able to look at individual neurons within this structure to gain a deeper understanding of the integration of transplanted organoids.”

...


The team was surprised by the degree to which the organoids were able to integrate within only three months. “We were not expecting to see this degree of functional integration so early,” says Chen. “There have been other studies looking at transplantation of individual cells that show that even 9 or 10 months after you transplant human neurons into a rodent, they’re still not completely mature.”

“Neural tissues have the potential to rebuild areas of the injured brain,” says Chen. “We haven’t worked everything out, but this is a very solid first step. Now, we want to understand how organoids could be used in other areas of the cortex, not just the visual cortex, and we want to understand the rules that guide how organoid neurons integrate with the brain so that we can better control that process and make it happen faster.”

https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-transplant-human-brain-organoids-into-adult-rats-and-they-respond-to-visual-stimuli/

This is a histological image of a rat brain with a grafted human brain organoid

A look back in time ...

James Webb Space Telescope Explores Star Formation in Distant Galaxies

Thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope’s first images of galaxy clusters, researchers have, for the very first time, been able to examine very compact structures of star clusters inside galaxies, so-called clumps. In a paper published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, researchers from Stockholm University have studied the first phase of star formation in distant galaxies.

... “The images from the James Webb Space Telescope show that we can now detect very small structures inside very distant galaxies and that we can see these clumps in many of these galaxies. The telescope is a game-changer for the entire field of research and helps us understand how galaxies form and evolve”, says Angela Adamo, Oscar Klein Center, Stockholm University, one of the lead authors of the study.

The oldest galaxy studied in the paper is so far away that we see what it looked like 13 billion years ago, when the Universe was only 680 million years old.

The James Webb Space Telescope captured this image of a galaxy cluster (SMACS0723). The five zoomed in galaxies are so far away that we observe them as they were when the Universe was between one and five billion years old. Today the Universe is 13.7 billion years old.

Gassho, J

stlah

[Jundo]

More rice for more mouths to feed including, perhaps, more clone rice for future clone mouths ...

Feeding Billions: Researchers Clone Hybrid Rice Strains With 95% Efficiency

An international group of researchers has achieved a 95% success rate in reproducing a commercial hybrid rice variety as a clone through seeds. This breakthrough has the potential to reduce the cost of hybrid rice seeds, making high-yielding and disease-resistant rice strains accessible to farmers with limited resources worldwide. The findings were recently published in the journal Nature Communications.

Crops produced from first-generation hybrids often display improved performance compared to their parent strains, which is referred to as “hybrid vigor”. However, this improvement does not continue when the hybrids are bred for a second generation. As a result, farmers who wish to use high-performing hybrid plant varieties must purchase new seeds each season.

Rice, the staple crop for half the world’s population, is relatively costly to breed as a hybrid for a yield improvement of about 10 percent. This means that the benefits of rice hybrids have yet to reach many of the world’s farmers, said Gurdev Khush, adjunct professor emeritus in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of California, Davis. ...

https://scitechdaily.com/feeding-bil...95-efficiency/

ChatGPT ... is soon to be a GP (General Practitioner) MD??

ChatGPT’s Stunning Results on the US Medical Licensing Exam

The AI software was able to achieve passing scores for the exam, which usually requires years of medical training.

OpenAI’s ChatGPT can score at or around the approximately 60 percent passing threshold for the United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE), with responses that make coherent, internal sense and contain frequent insights. This is according to a study by Tiffany Kung, Victor Tseng, and colleagues at AnsibleHealth, which was published on February 9, 2023, in the open-access journal PLOS Digital Health.

ChatGPT is a new artificial intelligence (AI) system, known as a large language model (LLM), designed to generate human-like writing by predicting upcoming word sequences. Unlike most chatbots, ChatGPT cannot search the internet. Instead, it generates text using word relationships predicted by its internal processes.

https://scitechdaily.com/the-rise-of...icensing-exam/

Gassho, J

stlah

[Jishin]

While ChatGPT has been trained on a large corpus of text, including medical information, it is important to note that it is not capable of practicing medicine independently. The ability to pass a medical exam is not the same as having the training, skills, and experience necessary to diagnose and treat patients.

However, AI like ChatGPT can serve as a valuable tool in assisting medical professionals in providing better care for their patients. By providing access to vast amounts of information and data, AI can help doctors make more informed decisions and provide more effective treatment plans. Additionally, AI can assist in streamlining administrative tasks, freeing up more time for medical professionals to focus on patient care.

There are several reasons why ChatGPT cannot practice medicine independently. First, it lacks the hands-on experience necessary to diagnose and treat patients. Medicine is a hands-on field that requires direct interaction with patients, examination of symptoms, and the ability to perform procedures. ChatGPT does not have a physical body and cannot perform these tasks.

Second, medicine is a constantly evolving field, and it is important for medical professionals to stay up to date with the latest developments and best practices. ChatGPT is not capable of continuing to learn and grow in the same way that a human medical professional would.

Finally, medical professionals must consider the ethical and legal implications of their actions. They must make decisions based on the best interests of their patients, and must adhere to strict codes of conduct and standards of care. ChatGPT does not have the ability to understand and act in accordance with these ethical and legal considerations.

While ChatGPT may have knowledge about medical topics, it is not capable of practicing medicine independently. However, AI has the potential to serve as a valuable tool in assisting medical professionals in providing better care for their patients. The field of medicine requires hands-on experience, ongoing learning and development, and ethical and legal considerations that ChatGPT is not capable of handling.

My 2 cents,

Gassho, Jishin, ST, LAH

[Tokan]

Hey there

Yeah I ran a bunch of medical or psychiatric conundrums through ChatGPT and it was knowledgable and the answers were surprisingly thoughtful, but fall way short of interepretative diagnositic processes. However, I thought it had some cool answers to questions like, "how do I become enlightened?" or "will the human species survive long-term?"

How much of our decision making will we eventually devolve to AI? I tell you, New Zealand could do with AI-nurse-bot's, not to replace humans, but to complement them as the nursing workforce continues to contract locally and globally.

Gassho, Tokan

satlah

[Jundo]

I will bet you $2 that you just copy and pasted this from ChatGPT, whom you asked "can you practice medicine." Am I right, you?

Gassho, JundoGPT

stlah

While ChatGPT has been trained on a large corpus of text, including medical information, it is important to note that it is not capable of practicing medicine independently. The ability to pass a medical exam is not the same as having the training, skills, and experience necessary to diagnose and treat patients.

However, AI like ChatGPT can serve as a valuable tool in assisting medical professionals in providing better care for their patients. By providing access to vast amounts of information and data, AI can help doctors make more informed decisions and provide more effective treatment plans. Additionally, AI can assist in streamlining administrative tasks, freeing up more time for medical professionals to focus on patient care.

There are several reasons why ChatGPT cannot practice medicine independently. First, it lacks the hands-on experience necessary to diagnose and treat patients. Medicine is a hands-on field that requires direct interaction with patients, examination of symptoms, and the ability to perform procedures. ChatGPT does not have a physical body and cannot perform these tasks.

Second, medicine is a constantly evolving field, and it is important for medical professionals to stay up to date with the latest developments and best practices. ChatGPT is not capable of continuing to learn and grow in the same way that a human medical professional would.

Finally, medical professionals must consider the ethical and legal implications of their actions. They must make decisions based on the best interests of their patients, and must adhere to strict codes of conduct and standards of care. ChatGPT does not have the ability to understand and act in accordance with these ethical and legal considerations.

While ChatGPT may have knowledge about medical topics, it is not capable of practicing medicine independently. However, AI has the potential to serve as a valuable tool in assisting medical professionals in providing better care for their patients. The field of medicine requires hands-on experience, ongoing learning and development, and ethical and legal considerations that ChatGPT is not capable of handling.

My 2 cents,

Gassho, Jishin, ST, LAH

[Buyo]

As a Biomedical scientist I must say I really like this thread Finally made it to the end, some good articles here. Though I would caution, as I think was mentioned by someone earlier, that for media releases on scientific discoveries, its like 90% 'hype'. Of course, people want to hear hope, and its good to inspire hope, but it can lead to exaggeration or over-simplification which can then get misrepresented by those not in the field.

Gassho,

Buyo (Steve)
Sat

[Jundo]

As a Biomedical scientist I must say I really like this thread Finally made it to the end, some good articles here. Though I would caution, as I think was mentioned by someone earlier, that for media releases on scientific discoveries, its like 90% 'hype'. Of course, people want to hear hope, and its good to inspire hope, but it can lead to exaggeration or over-simplification which can then get misrepresented by those not in the field.

Gassho,

Buyo (Steve)
Sat

[Jishin]

I will bet you $2 that you just copy and pasted this from ChatGPT, whom you asked "can you practice medicine." Am I right, you?

Gassho, JundoGPT

stlah

You lose 2 dollars. I did 3 commands:

1- argue that chatgtp can’t practice medicine.

2. Add that chatgtp can assist doctors to 1.

3. Combine arguments 1. and 2.

[emoji3]

Gassho, JishinGTP, ST, LAH

[Jundo]

You lose 2 dollars. I did 3 commands:

1- argue that chatgtp can’t practice medicine.

2. Add that chatgtp can assist doctors to 1.

3. Combine arguments 1. and 2.

[emoji3]

Gassho, JishinGTP, ST, LAH

I read that as your owing me $4.

Gassho, J

[Jundo]

... it can lead to exaggeration or over-simplification which can then get misrepresented by those not in the field.

This is so true, and no more true than in the sometime articles published on the positive health effects of meditation. I saw one today that I hesitated to put here, with a miniscule sample and poor study structure, supposedly showing that meditation has good effect on gut bacteria!

https://scitechdaily.com/deep-meditation-may-alter-gut-microbes-and-improve-physical-and-mental-health/

But, still, it is these science stories that should capture the world's daily news attention, not the belching of politicians or movie stars or balloons.

However, my real reason for putting stories here is not to comment on their worth for scientific advancement, but because the vast majority are stories ... about the ancient formation of stars and galaxies, about the balance of biology on this planet, within our cells and these amazing brains ... that should give us pause to consider what a wonder it is that we are here at all, alive, on this planet, in these bodies, in this universe.



Gassho, Jundo

stlah

[Jundo]

Lakefront property ... on Mars ...

NASA rover finds ‘clearest evidence yet’ of an ancient lake on Mars


In the foothills of a Martian mountain, NASA’s Curiosity rover found stunning new evidence of an ancient lake in the form of rocks etched with the ripples of waves — and the telltale signs appeared in an unlikely place.

The rover is traversing an area of Mars called the “sulfate-bearing unit” that researchers previously thought would only show evidence of mere trickles of water, as scientists believed the rocks there formed as the surface of the red planet was drying out. Instead, the rover found some of the clearest evidence yet of ancient waters. ... The sulfate-bearing unit is a region previously identified by the Mars Reconaissance Orbiter as containing salty mineral deposits just beneath an 18,000-foot (5,500-meter) mountain called Mount Sharp. Scientists consider the sulfate-bearing unit to be a location rife with clues about how and why Mars morphed from a watery planet into the frozen place it is today, and researchers have long sought to explore the area in more depth. ...

... “Billions of years ago, waves on the surface of a shallow lake stirred up sediment at the lake bottom, over time creating rippled textures left in rock,” according to a NASA news release.

The wave-marked rocks were found about one-half mile (800 meters) into Curiosity’s ascent of Mount Sharp. As the rover climbed higher, it traveled over rocks that would have formed more recently. That’s why researchers didn’t expect to see such clear markers of a large body of water.

https://us.cnn.com/2023/02/10/world/mars-nasa-curiosity-rover-ancient-waters-scn/index.html

HUMANganese ...

New research reveals clues about the physical and chemical characteristics of Earth when life is thought to have emerged.

About four billion years ago, the first signs of life emerged on Earth in the form of microbes. Although scientists are still determining exactly when and how these microbes appeared, it’s clear that the emergence of life is intricately intertwined with the chemical and physical characteristics of early Earth. “It is reasonable to suspect that life could have started differently—or not at all—if the early chemical characteristics of our planet were different,” says Dustin Trail, an associate professor of earth and environmental sciences at the University of Rochester.

... Research into life and its origins typically involves a variety of disciplines including genomics, the study of genes and their functions; proteomics, the study of proteins; and an emerging field called metallomics, which explores the important role of metals in performing cellular functions. As life evolved, the need for certain metals changed, but Trail and McCollom wanted to determine what metals may have been available when microbes first appeared billions of years ago.

“When hypotheses are proposed for different origin-of-life scenarios, scientists have generally assumed all metals were available because there weren’t studies that provided geologically robust constraints on metal concentrations of fluids for the earliest times of Earth’s history,” Trail says.

... The researchers were surprised by what the model simulations indicated. Many origin-of-life researchers, for instance, consider copper a likely component in the chemistry that could have led to life. But Trail and McCollom did not find evidence that copper would have been abundant under the constraints in their analysis.

One metal they did test that may have been available in high concentrations was manganese. While it is rarely considered in origin-of-life scenarios, today manganese helps the body form bones and assists enzymes in breaking down carbohydrates and cholesterol. “Our research shows that metals like manganese may function as important links between the ‘solid’ Earth and emerging biological systems at Earth’s surface,” Trail says.

https://scitechdaily.com/new-models-...gins-on-earth/

My son goes to Virginia Tech, and he thinks that his dad is a fossil ...

First “Unmistakable” Triassic-Era Caecilian Fossils Discovered, Revealing Origins of Living Amphibians

A team of Virginia Tech paleontologists, led by doctoral candidate Ben Kligman, have discovered the first Triassic-era caecilian fossils, the oldest-known of their kind, in Arizona. The find helps fill a massive gap of roughly 90 million years in the historical record of caecilians where no fossils had been previously found, baffling scientists. ... Named by Kligman as Funcusvermis gilmorei, the fossil extends the history of caecilians 35 million years back to Triassic Period, roughly 250 million to 200 million years ago. ... Prior to this new study, published today in the journal Nature, only 10 fossil caecilian occurrences were known, dating back to the Early Jurassic Period, about 183 million years ago. However, previous DNA studies estimated evolutionary origins of caecilians back to the Carboniferous or Permian eras, some 370 million to 270 million years ago, according to Kligman, marking that 87-million-year gap. However, no such fossils had been found. ...

https://scitechdaily.com/first-unmistakable-triassic-era-caecilian-fossils-discovered-revealing-origins-of-living-amphibians/

Microscopic photograph of a lower jaw from Funcusvermis gilmorei soon after it was recovered during microscopic sorting of sediment from the Thunderstorm Ridge fossil site in the Petrified Forest National Park Paleontology Lab.

A cosmic love triangle ...

Hubble Captures a Spectacular Triple Galactic Crash Course

A spectacular trio of merging galaxies in the constellation Boötes takes center stage in this stunning image from the Hubble Space Telescope. These three galaxies are set on a collision course and will eventually merge into a single larger galaxy, distorting one another’s spiral structure through mutual gravitational interaction in the process. An unrelated foreground galaxy appears to float serenely alongside the collision, and the smudged shapes of much more distant galaxies are visible in the background.

This colliding trio — known to astronomers as SDSSCGB 10189 — is a relatively rare combination of three large star-forming galaxies lying within only 50,000 light-years of one another. While that might sound like a safe distance, for galaxies this makes them extremely close neighbors! Our own galactic neighbors are much further away; Andromeda, the nearest large galaxy to the Milky Way, is more than 2.5 million light-years away from Earth. ...

Gassho, J

stlah