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

[Jundo]

Never forget how special is the planet on which we live ... and it just got a little more special ...

The hunt for habitable planets may have just gotten far more narrow, new study finds


The hunt for planets that could harbor life may have just narrowed dramatically.

Scientists had long hoped and theorized that the most common type of star in our universe — called an M dwarf — could host nearby planets with atmospheres, potentially rich with carbon and perfect for the creation of life. But in a new study of a world orbiting an M dwarf 66 light-years from Earth, researchers found no indication such a planet could hold onto an atmosphere at all.

Without a carbon-rich atmosphere, it’s unlikely a planet would be hospitable to living things. Carbon molecules are, after all, considered the building blocks of life. And the findings don’t bode well for other types of planets orbiting M dwarfs, said study coauthor Michelle Hill, a planetary scientist and a doctoral candidate at the University of California, Riverside.

“The pressure from the star’s radiation is immense, enough to blow a planet’s atmosphere away,” Hill said in a post on the university’s website.

M dwarf stars are known to be volatile, sputtering out solar flares and raining radiation on nearby celestial bodies. But for years, the hope had been that fairly large planets orbiting near M dwarfs could be in a Goldilocks environment, close enough to their small star to keep warm and large enough to cling onto its atmosphere.

The nearby M dwarf, however, could be too intense to keep the atmosphere intact, according to the new study, which was published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

A similar phenomenon happens in our solar system: Earth’s atmosphere also deteriorates because of outbursts from its nearby star, the sun. The difference is that Earth has enough volcanic activity and other gas-emitting activity to replace the atmospheric loss and make it barely detectable, according to the research.

However, the M dwarf planet examined in the study, GJ 1252b, “could have 700 times more carbon than Earth has, and it still wouldn’t have an atmosphere. It would build up initially, but then taper off and erode away,” said study coauthor and UC Riverside astrophysicist Stephen Kane, in a news release.

GJ 1252b orbits less than a million miles from its home star, called GJ_1252. The planet reaches sweltering daytime temperatures of up to 2,242 degrees Fahrenheit (1,228 degrees Celsius), the study found.

However ...

There are, however, still plenty of interesting places to hunt for habitable worlds. Apart from looking to planets farther away from M dwarfs that could be more likely to retain an atmosphere, there are still roughly 1,000 sunlike stars relatively near Earth that could have their own planets circling within habitable zones, according to the UC Riverside post about the study.

https://us.cnn.com/2022/10/25/world/...scn/index.html

... and on the other hand ...

A new study finds the chances of uncovering life on Mars are better than previously expected.

Researchers simulated Mars’ harsh ionizing radiation conditions to see how long dried, frozen bacteria and fungi could survive.

Previous studies found ‘Conan the Bacterium’ (Deinococcus radiodurans) could survive over a million years in Mars’ harsh ionizing radiation.

A new study shatters that record, finding the hearty bacterium could survive 280 million years if buried.
This means evidence of life could still be dormant and buried below Mars’ surface.

... Because the scientists proved that certain strains of bacteria can survive despite Mars’ harsh environment, this also means that future astronauts and space tourists could inadvertently contaminate Mars with their own hitchhiking bacteria.

... and ... possible Invaders from Mars! ...

“We concluded that terrestrial contamination on Mars would essentially be permanent — over timeframes of thousands of years,” said Hoffman, a senior co-author of the study. “This could complicate scientific efforts to look for Martian life. Likewise, if microbes evolved on Mars, they could be capable of surviving until present day. That means returning Mars samples could contaminate Earth.”

https://scitechdaily.com/life-on-mars-ancient-bacteria-might-lurk-beneath-mars-surface/

Gassho, J

stlah

[Jundo]

Finding a pin in a haystack ... in a mountain of haystacks ...

Scientists Successfully Track Down a “Mystery Gene” ... The gene matures the skeleton of the cell.

“I’m a professional pin-in-a-haystack seeker,” geneticist Thijn Brummelkamp responded when asked why he succeeds at finding proteins and genes that others have missed, despite the fact that some have remained elusive for as long as forty years. His research group at the Netherlands Cancer Institute has once again identified one of these “mystery genes” – the gene that guarantees the final form of the protein actin, a key component of our cell skeleton – is produced. These findings were recently published in the journal Science.

Actin is one of the most common molecules in a cell and a key component of the cell skeleton, which is why cell biologists are particularly interested in it. In our lifetime, we produce more than 100 kilograms of actin. It is present in large amounts in all cell types and has a variety of functions, including giving cells structure and making them firmer, playing a key role in cell division, propelling cells forward, and giving our muscles strength. People who have defective actin proteins often have muscle disease. Much is known about actin’s function, but how is the final version of this vital protein produced and which gene is responsible? “We didn’t know,” says Brummelkamp ...

... Before a protein is completely “finished” – or mature, as the researchers describe it in Science – and can fully perform its function in the cell, it usually has to be stripped of a specific amino acid first. This amino acid is then cut from a protein by a pair of molecular scissors. This is also what occurs with actin. It was known on which side of the actin the relevant amino acid is cut off. However, no one managed to find the enzyme that acts as scissors in this process. ...

... Then came the “eureka”-moment: Haahr had traced down the molecular scissors that cut the essential amino acid from actin. Those scissors turned out to be controlled by a gene with a previously unknown function ...

... ACTMAP is not the first mystery gene discovered by Brummelkamp that plays a role in our cell skeleton function. Using the same method, his group has been able to detect three unknown molecular scissors over recent years that cut an amino acid from tubulin, the other main component of the cell skeleton. These scissors allow tubulin to perform its dynamic functions properly inside the cell.

https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-successfully-track-down-a-mystery-gene/

[Jundo]

Three for the price of one ...

The James Webb Space Telescope has provided astronomers with a glimpse of the early universe in a new image shared on Wednesday. ... The telescope captured an image of a galaxy cluster called MACS0647, as well as the distant galaxy MACS0647-JD [that is within that cluster]. The cluster appears as a dazzling grouping of galaxies that seem to shine like precious gems against the dark backdrop of space.

The distant galaxy is visible because of a certain type of observational phenomenon due to the cluster. This phenomenon, called gravitational lensing, occurs when foreground galaxies act as a magnifying glass for the more distant objects behind them. Small boxes were used to pinpoint the galaxy MACS0647-JD, and more detailed images of the galaxy are aligned along the right side of the image. The cluster essentially triple lensed the galaxy, magnifying it and causing it to appear in three separate places within the image. Each box on the right showcases different details of the galaxy.

“With Hubble, it was just this pale, red dot. We could tell it was really small, just a tiny galaxy in the first 400 million years of the universe,” said Coe, a Space Telescope Science Institute astronomer for the European Space Agency ... “Now we look with Webb, and we’re able to resolve TWO objects! We’re actively discussing whether these are two galaxies or two clumps of stars within a galaxy. We don’t know, but these are the questions that Webb is designed to help us answer.” The two objects differ in color, with one being more blue while the other is more red. The colors indicate different gases. While the blue object indicates the formation of young stars, the red object is dusty and older. Astronomers think that the two objects in the galaxy image may suggest ... a merger between two galaxies.

https://us.cnn.com/2022/10/26/world/...scn/index.html

and ... our ancient fish ancestors ... filling in the gaps in the history of our jaws and of our teeth ...

New Findings Rewrite the Evolutionary Story of “Fish to Human”

Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences‘ Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) have recently found two fossil repositories in the early Silurian strata of southwest Guizhou and Chongqing that are rewriting the “from fish to human” evolutionary story. Four different papers describing their findings were recently published in the journal Nature.

Humans are one of the 99.8% of species of extant vertebrates that are gnathostomes, or jawed vertebrates. The basic body plan and several key organs of humans can be traced back to the origin of gnathostomes. One of the most significant developments in the evolution of vertebrates is the emergence of jaws.

However, how this innovation occurred remains a mystery, owing to the fact that fossils of early jawed vertebrates were not discovered in large numbers until the beginning of the Devonian (419 million years ago), despite molecular data indicating that the origin of jawed vertebrates should have occurred earlier than 450 million years ago. As a result, there is a significant gap in the fossil record of early jawed vertebrates, lasting at least 30 million years from the Late Ordovician to the Silurian.

The latest findings of Zhu Min’s team from IVPP are unearthed from two new fossil depositories, shedding light on the rise of jawed vertebrates: These jawed fishes were already thriving in the waters of the South China block, at least 440 million years ago, and by late Silurian, more diverse and larger jawed fishes had evolved and began to spread around the world ... Discoveries of fish fossils from the two depositories help to trace many human body structures back to ancient fishes, some 440 million years ago and fill some key gaps in the evolution of “from fish to human,” and provide further iron evidence to the evolutionary path.

https://scitechdaily.com/new-finding...fish-to-human/

The below picture summarizes the findings. Think about this, the next time you eat lunch or visit the dentist!

Bite into that!

Below, see your ancestors swim ... clear to the bottom ...

https://youtu.be/wius98NCkhM

Gassho, J

stlah

[Jundo]

This is just so beautiful, a dance of partners ...

Two of the galaxies in the galactic triplet Arp 248 — also known as Wild’s Triplet — are seen in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Arp 248 is located approximately 200 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Virgo. The two large spiral galaxies visible in this image — which flank a smaller, unrelated background spiral galaxy — appear to be connected by a luminous bridge. Known as a tidal tail, this elongated stream of stars and interstellar dust was formed by the mutual gravitational attraction of the two foreground galaxies.

https://scitechdaily.com/hubble-spac...pace-oddities/

Gassho, J

stlah

[Jundo]

It is all in the bones ...

Scientists have finally solved a centuries-old riddle in the evolution of life on earth, revealing what the first animals to make skeletons looked like. This discovery was possible due to an exceptionally well-preserved collection of fossils discovered in eastern Yunnan Province, China. The results of the research were published on November 2 in the scientific journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

During an event called the Cambrian Explosion around 550-520 million years ago, the first animals to build hard and robust skeletons appear suddenly in the fossil record in a geological blink of an eye. Many of these early fossils are simple hollow tubes ranging from a few millimeters to many centimeters in length. However, what sort of animals made these skeletons was almost completely unknown, because they lack preservation of the soft parts needed to identify them as belonging to major groups of animals that are still alive today.

Four specimens of Gangtoucunia aspera with soft tissues still intact, including the gut and mouthparts, are included in the new collection of 514 million-year-old fossils. ...

According to the researchers, Gangtoucunia would have looked similar to modern scyphozoan jellyfish polyps, with a hard tubular structure anchored to the underlying substrate. The tentacle mouth would have extended outside the tube, but could have been retracted inside the tube to avoid predators. Unlike living jellyfish polyps, however, the tube of Gangtoucunia was made of calcium phosphate, a hard mineral that makes up our own teeth and bones. Use of this material to build skeletons has become more rare among animals over time.

https://scitechdaily.com/500-million-year-old-fossils-solve-a-centuries-old-riddle-in-the-evolution-of-life-on-earth/

Artist’s reconstruction of Gangtoucunia aspera as it would have appeared in life on the Cambrian seafloor, circa 514 million years ago. The individual in the foreground has part of the skeleton removed to show the soft polyp inside the skeleton.

Gassho, J

stlah

[Jundo]

Let's hope so ...

Easily synthesized chemical filter could stop the greenhouse gas from reaching the atmosphere.

How can carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, be removed from the exhaust of fossil fuel power plants before it ever enters the atmosphere? New research findings suggest that a promising answer lies in a simple, economical, and potentially reusable material that was analyzed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Scientists there from multiple institutions have determined why this material works as well as it does.

Aluminum formate was the team’s object of study. It is one of a class of substances called metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). As a group, MOFs have exhibited tremendous potential for filtering and separating organic materials — often the various hydrocarbons in fossil fuels — from one another. Some MOFs have shown promise at refining natural gas or separating the octane components of gasoline; others might contribute to reducing the cost of plastics manufacturing or cheaply converting one substance to another. Their capacity to perform such separations comes from their inherently porous nature.

Aluminum formate, which the scientists refer to as ALF, has a talent for separating carbon dioxide (CO2) from the other gases that commonly fly out of the smokestacks of coal-fired power plants. According to NIST’s Hayden Evans, it also lacks the shortcomings that other proposed carbon filtration materials have. Evans is one of the lead authors of the team’s research paper, which was published on November 2 in the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances.

“What makes this work exciting is that ALF performs really well relative to other high-performing CO2 adsorbents, but it rivals designer compounds in its simplicity, overall stability and ease of preparation,” said Evans, a chemist at the NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR). “It is made of two substances found easily and abundantly, so creating enough ALF to use widely should be possible at very low cost.”
https://scitechdaily.com/nist-breakt...t-smokestacks/

That's our scientists, using their brains ... or parts of them anyway ...

The Brain Isn’t Symmetrical – Researchers Reveal New Insight About the Brain

At first glance, the human body seems to be symmetrical: two arms, two legs, two eyes, two ears, and even the nose and mouth appear to be mirrored on an imaginary axis that divides most people’s faces. Finally, the brain is split into two nearly equal-sized halves, and the furrows and bulges follow a similar pattern. The initial impression, however, is misleading since there are small, functionally relevant differences between the left and right sides of the different brain regions.

The two hemispheres have distinct functional specializations. For instance, most individuals process language mostly in their left hemisphere whereas spatial attention is primarily processed in their right hemisphere. Work can thus be distributed more effectively to both sides, and the overall range of tasks is expanded.

However, this so-called lateralization, or the tendency for brain regions to process certain functions more in the left or right hemisphere, differs between people. And not only in the minority whose brains are mirror-inverted in comparison to the majority. Even people with classically arranged brains have varying degrees of asymmetry. Previous research has indicated that this, in turn, may have an effect on the functions themselves.

For instance, dyslexia is characterized by a lack of left asymmetry in certain language areas. Inadequate brain lateralization may also contribute to conditions such as schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorders, and children’s hyperactivity.

Until now, however, it hasn’t been clear how much brain asymmetry variance, across individuals, is heritable and how much is due to different demands. Furthermore, are similar features of brain asymmetry also present in monkeys?

Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (MPI CBS) and Forschungszentrum Juelich (FZJ) have now investigated the asymmetry of functional gradients, describing axes of smooth variations of brain function across the cortex. They found that there are subtle variations in the functional organization of brain regions on the left and right sides of the brain. On the left side, regions involved in language processing are most distant from those implicated in vision and sensation.

Whereas on the right side the so-called frontoparietal network, responsible for attention and working memory, for example, is most distant from those sensory regions. The researchers also found that individual differences in these functional arrangements were heritable, meaning that they are partly influenced by genetic factors. At the same time, a large portion of this asymmetry in human brains could not be accounted for by genetic factors. This means some asymmetry is influenced, at least in part, by the person’s experience.

https://scitechdaily.com/the-brain-i...out-the-brain/

I grew up with a kind of dyslexia, plus have some memory issues related to names of people and some other oddities, so this is very interesting. I actually do better reading Japanese/Chinese characters than English letters! I can blame my lopsided brain!

Gassho, J

stlah

[Jundo]

Just a lovely story of the GEOMETRY of life finding a way ...

One of nature’s great mysteries may now have an answer, according to new ‘fairy circle’ study

For over 50 years, ecologists have studied and debated the mystery of the Namib Desert’s “fairy circles,” circular patches, mostly barren of grass, that have spread across 1,100 miles in the arid grasslands of Southern Africa. ... Many theories have been put forth, but two have held the most merit. One theory has looked to blame termites for these dry patches, while the other considers the grasses’ evolution. Scientists have gone back and forth for decades, but a new study offers what may finally be evidence for a clear explanation.

... What makes the fairy circles distinctive are the barren patches within them, but the growth of grasses around them is notable as well — they have found a way to thrive in what is considered one of the driest places in the world. In previous research, Getzin and his team hypothesized that plants in the circles’ outer rings had evolved to maximize their limited water in the desert. ... Analyzing the data from these rainfall seasons, Getzin’s team found water from within the circles was depleting fast, despite not having any grass to use it, while the grasses on the outside were as robust as ever. Under the strong heat in the desert, these well-established grasses had evolved to create a vacuum system around their roots that drew any water toward them, according to Getzin. The grasses from within the circles, which attempt to grow right after rainfall, meanwhile, were unable to receive enough water to live.

“A circle is the most logical geometric formation which you would create as a plant suffering from lack of water,” Getzin said. “If these circles were squares, or low, complex structures, then you would have a lot more individual grasses along the circumference. … The proportional area is smaller than if you grow in a circle. These grasses end up in a circle because that’s the most logical structure to maximize the water available to each individual plant.”

The study called this an example of “ecohydrological feedback,” in which the barren circles become reservoirs that help sustain grasses at the edges — though at the expense of grasses in the middle. This self-organization is used to buffer against the negative effects of increasing aridity, Getzin said, and is also seen in other harsh drylands in the world.

https://us.cnn.com/2022/11/10/world/...scn/index.html

All happened in a week, some 11 billion years ago ...

Light from a star that exploded over 11 billion years ago was captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. It was not just one postcard from the remote past but three messages that chronicle the fading fireball over a period of one week. ... When the star exploded more than 11 billion years ago, the universe was less than a fifth of its current age of 13.8 billion years.

For starters, the feeble light from the supernova was amplified by the gravitational field of an enormous foreground galaxy cluster, Abell 370. The gravitational warp in space acts as a cosmic lens, bending and magnifying the light from the more distant supernova, which was located far behind the cluster.

A bonus for astronomers is that not one but three images of the supernova appear in the photo, strung along the cluster. They show the explosion over different times that all arrived at Hubble simultaneously. ...

... In fact, this is the first detailed look at a supernova so early in the universe’s history.

https://youtu.be/XGlWDljCdkw

https://scitechdaily.com/secrets-of-...ion-years-ago/

... and other ruins of the past, a hint at our future ... impermanence, all composite things change, said the Buddha ... so be the space, flow with the change ...

Astronomers Discover Oldest Planetary Debris in Our Galaxy – Remnants of Destroyed Solar System

... Astronomers have identified the oldest star in our galaxy that is accreting debris from orbiting planetesimals, making it one of the oldest rocky and icy planetary systems ever discovered in the Milky Way.

Their findings conclude that a faint white dwarf located just 90 light-years from Earth, as well as the remains of its orbiting planetary system, are over ten billion years old. ... Most stars, including those like our Sun, will eventually turn into white dwarfs. A white dwarf is a star that has used up all of its fuel, lost its outer layers, and is now undergoing a process of contracting and cooling. Any planets in orbit will be disrupted and, in some circumstances, destroyed during this process, and their debris will be left behind to accrete onto the surface of the white dwarf. ...

Artist’s impression of the old white dwarfs WDJ2147-4035 and WDJ1922+0233 surrounded by orbiting planetary debris

https://scitechdaily.com/astronomers-discover-oldest-planetary-debris-in-our-galaxy-remnants-of-destroyed-solar-system/

And if that gives you nightmares, an interesting treatment for bad dreams ...

Reducing Nightmares: Scientists Manipulate Emotions in Dreams

Some adults suffer from them multiple times a week, or even every night, for months on end. In therapy, dreamers may be coached to rehearse positive versions of their most frequent nightmares. However, scientists in Switzerland have taken this a step further in a study of such patients that was published in the journal Current Biology on October 27. They discovered that also playing a sound—one associated with a positive daytime experience—through a wireless headband during sleep may reduce nightmare frequency.

“There is a relationship between the types of emotions experienced in dreams and our emotional well-being,” says senior author Lampros Perogamvros, a psychiatrist at the Sleep Laboratory of the Geneva University Hospitals and the University of Geneva. “Based on this observation, we had the idea that we could help people by manipulating emotions in their dreams. In this study, we show that we can reduce the number of emotionally very strong and very negative dreams in patients suffering from nightmares.”

Up to 4 percent of adults have chronic nightmares at any given moment, according to the findings of epidemiological studies. Chronic nightmares are commonly associated with waking up during the night and lower-quality sleep. Patients are often prescribed imagery rehearsal therapy, which asks them to change the negative storyline toward a more positive ending and rehearse the rewritten dream scenario during the day. While effective for many, some cases are unresponsive. ...

https://scitechdaily.com/reducing-ni...ons-in-dreams/

I wish you sweet dreams.

Gassho, J

stlah

[Jundo]

More about what separates man from monkey ... for better or worse ... (I actually posted about this same paper a few weeks ago, but it is still very interesting) ...

Small but Significant: Differences Between Brains of Primates Revealed – Humans, Apes and Monkeys

A new study reveals that the brains of humans and non-human primates may be remarkably similar, despite the very distinct physical differences between them. And yet, the smallest changes may make big differences in developmental and psychiatric disorders.

Understanding the molecular differences that make the human brain distinct can help scientists investigate disruptions in its development. A new study investigates the differences and similarities of cells in the prefrontal cortex — the frontmost region of the brain, an area that plays a central role in higher cognitive functions — between humans and non-human primates such as chimpanzees, Rhesus macaques, and marmosets. Published recently in the journal Science, the study was conducted by a team of researchers including University of Wisconsin–Madison neuroscience professor Andre Sousa.

The cellular differences between these species may illuminate steps in their evolution and how those differences can be implicated in disorders, such as autism and intellectual disabilities, seen in humans. ... “We are profiling the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex because it is particularly interesting. This cortical area only exists in primates. It doesn’t exist in other species,” Sousa says. “It has been associated with several relevant functions in terms of high cognition, like working memory. It has also been implicated in several neuropsychiatric disorders. So, we decided to do this study to understand what is unique about humans in this brain region.”

Sousa and his lab collected genetic information from more than 600,000 prefrontal cortex cells from tissue samples from humans, chimpanzees, macaques and marmosets. ... “Most of the cells are actually very similar because these species are relatively close evolutionarily,” Sousa says. Sousa and his collaborators found five cell types in the prefrontal cortex that were not present in all four of the species. They also found differences in the abundances of certain cell types as well as diversity among similar cell populations across species. When comparing a chimpanzee to a human the differences seem huge — from their physical appearances down to the capabilities of their brains. But at the cellular and genetic level, at least in the prefrontal cortex, the similarities are many and the dissimilarities sparing.

Researchers analyzed genetic material from cells in the prefrontal cortex (the area shaded in each brain) from four closely-related primates to characterize subtle differences in cell type and genetics.

https://scitechdaily.com/small-but-significant-differences-between-brains-of-primates-revealed-humans-apes-and-monkeys/

And some research on what the prefrontal cortex does ... if I remember correctly ...

Remembering directions someone just gave you is an example of working memory. In a new study, MIT researchers show that the brain’s focus on the contents of what it’s holding in mind derives from bursts of gamma frequency rhythms in the front of the brain.

Working memory is the handy ability to consciously hold and manipulate new information in mind. It takes mental work. In particular, participating neurons in the prefrontal cortex have to work together in synchrony to focus our thoughts, whether we’re remembering a set of directions or tonight’s menu specials. Researchers based at The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT show how that focus emerges in a new study.

The key measure in the study published recently in the journal Scientific Reports is the variability of the neurons’ activity. There is wide agreement among scientists that less variability activity means more-focused attunement to the task. Indeed, measures of that variability have shown that it decreases when humans and animals focus during working memory games in the lab.

In several studies between 2016 and 2018, lead author Mikael Lundqvist and co-senior author Earl K. Miller showed through direct measurements of hundreds of neurons and rigorous modeling that bursts of gamma frequency rhythms in the prefrontal cortex coordinate neural representation of the information held in mind. The information representation can be measured in the synchronized spiking of populations of individual neurons. Bursts of beta frequency rhythms, meanwhile, implement the brain’s manipulation of that information.

The theory, which Miller dubbed “Working Memory 2.0” challenged a long-held orthodoxy that neurons maintain working memory information through steady, persistent activity. Proponents of that older model, which emerged from averaged measurements made in relatively few neurons, used computer-based modeling of brain activity to argue that reduced variability cannot emerge from intermittent bursts of rhythmic activity.

But the new study shows that the reduced variability, does, in fact, emerge.

“We used actual neural activity recorded from the prefrontal cortex to show that the rhythmic bursts reduce their variability as animals focus on a task,” says Miller, Picower Professor in MIT’s Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences.

https://scitechdaily.com/working-mem...whats-in-mind/

... and one thing the human brain has done is plan our return to the moon ... (Mina and I had the thrill of seeing a "night launch" of a Shuttle many years ago, when we lived in Florida. It is something.) ...

... check out the video for an amazing ballet ...

The Artemis I mega Moon rocket is on the launch pad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This powerful Space Launch System (SLS) rocket is getting ready to launch the Orion spacecraft and its European Service Module. The first opportunity for launch is November 16 at 1:04 a.m. EST/local time (07:04 CET, 06:04 GMT).

Artemis I is the first mission in a large program to send astronauts around and on the Moon sustainably. This uncrewed first launch will see the Orion spacecraft travel to the Moon, enter an elongated orbit around our satellite, and then return to Earth. The Orion spacecraft is powered by the European-built module that supplies electricity, propulsion, fuel, water, and air in addition to keeping the spacecraft operating at the right temperature.

https://scitechdaily.com/artemis-i-mega-moon-rocket-ready-for-launch/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2cuoWOczxQ&t=32s

The Orion spacecraft with European Service Module will fly farther from Earth than any human-rated vehicle has ever flown before. This video gives an overview of the first mission – without astronauts – for Artemis, focusing on ESA’s European Service Module that powers the spacecraft. The spacecraft will perform a flyby of the Moon, using lunar gravity to gain speed and propel itself 70,000 km beyond the Moon, almost half a million km from Earth – further than any human has ever traveled, where it will inject itself in a Distant Retrograde Orbit around the Moon. On its return journey, Orion will do another flyby of the Moon before heading back to Earth. The total trip will take around 20 days, ending with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean without the European Service Module – it separates and burns up harmlessly in the atmosphere.

... and also this week, in moon news ...

Today, November 13, CAPSTONE will reach the Moon and become the first spacecraft to enter into a unique, elongated orbit that will support NASA’s Artemis missions.

Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) is a microwave oven-sized satellite, weighing just 55 pounds, that will be the first CubeSat to fly to and operate at the Moon. It serves as a pathfinder for Gateway, a Moon-orbiting space station that is part of NASA’s Artemis program. CAPSTONE’s mission will help reduce risk for future spacecraft, including Orion, by validating innovative navigation technologies and verifying the dynamics of a type of halo-shaped orbit that has never been flown before.

Gassho, J

stlah

[Jundo]

And then there was fire ... and fried fish ... and friends sharing a meal around the fire ...

Clues at ancient lake site reveal earliest known cooked meal

Scientists have found the earliest known evidence of cooking at an archaeological site in Israel.

The shift from eating raw to cooked food was a dramatic turning point in human evolution, and the discovery has suggested prehistoric humans were able to deliberately make fires to cook food at least 780,000 years ago.

The detailed study of fish teeth unearthed at the Gesher Benot Ya’aqov site, situated on the edge of the ancient lake Hula, revealed that some of our early ancestors — most likely Homo erectus — were able to cook fish, said study author Dr. Irit Zohar, a researcher at Tel Aviv University’s Steinhardt Museum of Natural History.

The lakeside dwellers feasted on a large freshwater species, according to Zohar, who is also a curator of the Beit Margolin Biological Collections at Oranim Academic College.

No human remains had been found at the site, but the stone tools matched those found at Homo erectus sites across Africa, Zohar said. She said the lake would have been shallow, and it might have been easy to catch large fish like the extinct Luciobarbus longicep, which could grow up to 6.5 feet (2 meters), by hand.

... The shift to eating cooked meals meant humans expended less energy on the intensive work of searching for and digesting fresh, raw food, freeing up more time in which to develop new social and behavioral systems. “Diet has had a big impact on the evolution of our species. It has been suggested that the consumption of meat in particular contributed to the increase in relative brain size of our early Homo ancestors — but pathogenic bacteria make the consumption of uncooked meat a risky business,” Linscott said.

“Cooking, however, kills bacteria and increases the energetic value of meat — thereby creating a new, reliable food source for early hominins. Understanding when this happened is therefore a topic of great interest, because it might help to explain why our hominin ancestors evolved the way that they did.”

... Homo erectus was the first hominin to migrate outside Africa, and the research suggested ancient Lake Hula might have been a key staging post on the route of these early migrations.

Exactly when humans first began cooking fish — or any other type of food — is unknown, and there’s no consensus on when ancient hominins first developed the ability to start fires and cook. Until this study, the earliest hard evidence of the use of fire to cook was by Neanderthals and Homo sapiens, who cooked starchy roots in what’s now South Africa about 170,000 years ago.

... “Fire is not just about safety and protection. It prolongs the working day and provides a really important mechanism for social bonding — we literally built our societies around our fires. Cooking opens up new dietary opportunities and brings new food stuffs on-line, as well as increasing the nutritious potential of what we eat. Was cooking the reason Homo erectus was able to move into strange new territories.”

https://us.cnn.com/2022/11/14/world/...scn/index.html

... which led us to this other milestone today ...

15 November 2022 is predicted to be the day that the global population reaches eight billion. The projection is revealed in the UN’s World Population Prospects 2022 report, which also shows that India is on course to surpass China as the world’s most populous country in 2023.

https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/07/1122272

Gassho, J

stlah

[Jundo]

This video is speeded up (even for the original 612,000 km per hour) ... but so beautiful ...

Solar Orbiter has detected a ‘tube’ of cooler atmospheric gases rapidly snaking its way through the Sun’s powerful magnetic field. This observation provides a fascinating new addition to the zoo of features revealed by the Solar Orbiter mission, which is led by the European Space Agency (ESA). It is especially intriguing because the snake was a precursor to a much larger eruption.

The snake was spotted on September 5, 2022, as the Solar Orbiter spacecraft was approaching the Sun for a close pass that took place on October 12. The ‘snake’ is a tube of cool plasma suspended by magnetic fields in the hotter surrounding plasma of the Sun’s atmosphere.

Plasma is a state of matter much like the more familiar solid, liquid and gas. Plasmas are so incredibly hot, that the electrons leave their atoms, making it essentially a gas of charged particles. As charged particles, they are therefore susceptible to magnetic fields. All gas in the Sun’s atmosphere is plasma because the temperature there is more than a million degrees centigrade.

The plasma in the snake is following a particularly long filament of the Sun’s magnetic field that is reaching from one side of the Sun to another.

... The movie at the top of this page has been constructed as a time-lapse from images from the Extreme-Ultraviolet Imager (EUI( onboard Solar Orbiter. In reality, the snake took around three hours to complete its journey. However, at the distances involved in crossing the solar surface, that means the plasma must have been traveling at around 170 kilometers per second (106 miles per second) or 612,000 km per hour (380,000 miles per hour). ...
https://scitechdaily.com/see-a-solar...iles-per-hour/

https://youtu.be/lF9MxR3L_3w

Gassho, J

stlah

[Jundo]

I look forward to the coming day when many kinds of addiction ... as well as the humor tendency to violence triggered by excess anger ... are vaccinated away ...

Fentanyl Vaccine Breakthrough – Potential “Game Changer” for Opioid Epidemic

A new vaccine has been developed that targets the dangerous synthetic opioid fentanyl that could block its ability to enter the brain, thus eliminating the drug’s “high.” The breakthrough discovery could have major implications for the nation’s opioid epidemic by becoming a relapse prevention agent for people trying to quit using opioids. While research reveals Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) is treatable, an estimated 80% of those dependent on the drug suffer a relapse. The vaccine was developed by a research team led by the University of Houston.

Published recently in the journal Pharmaceutics, the findings could not be timelier or more in demand: Over 150 people die every day from overdoses of synthetic opioids including fentanyl, which is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. Consumption of about 2 milligrams of fentanyl (the size of two grains of rice) is likely to be fatal depending on a person’s size.

“We believe these findings could have a significant impact on a very serious problem plaguing society for years – opioid misuse. Our vaccine is able to generate anti-fentanyl antibodies that bind to the consumed fentanyl and prevent it from entering the brain, allowing it to be eliminated out of the body via the kidneys. Thus, the individual will not feel the euphoric effects and can ‘get back on the wagon’ to sobriety,” said the study’s lead author Colin Haile, a research associate professor of psychology at UH and the Texas Institute for Measurement, Evaluation and Statistics (TIMES), and a founding member of the UH Drug Discovery Institute.

In another positive finding, the vaccine did not cause any adverse side effects in the immunized rats involved in lab studies. The team plans to start manufacturing clinical-grade vaccine in the coming months with clinical trials in humans planned soon.

https://scitechdaily.com/fentanyl-va...ioid-epidemic/

Gassho, J

stlah

[Jundo]

In this world of change, all species were "invasive" at some point ...

Against Common Belief – Invasive Species Are Often Beneficial

A Brown University biologist calls for a more balanced view of invasive species.

Invasive species, also known as non-native species, have become much more well-known over the last 50 years, to the point that everybody with a green conscience has heard of them and their detrimental effects.

The advantages of non-native species are less well known, and biologist Dov Sax from Brown University thinks that has to change.

Sax and two co-authors pointed out that the majority of research on non-native species concentrates on their detrimental effects in a review article that was recently published in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution. They said that long-standing prejudices against non-native species in the scientific literature had muddled the scientific process and made it more difficult for the public to understand. The authors of the new paper attempt to shift the focus to explore the benefits of non-native species in order to have a more balanced discussion.

“Positive impacts of non-native species are often explained as serendipitous surprises — the sort of thing that people might expect to happen every once in a while, in special circumstances,” said Sax, a professor of environment and society, and of ecology, evolution and organismal biology. “Our new paper argues that the positive impacts of non-native species are neither unexpected nor rare, but instead common, important, and often of large magnitude.”

The study, according to Sax, a member of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, applies a recent framework that looks at the benefits of biodiversity for people and nature to non-native species, illuminating the frequent, diverse, and important ways that non-native species provide positive value for people and nature.

... The authors, who also included Julian Olden from the University of Washington and Martin Schlaepfer from the University of Geneva, acknowledged that certain non-native species, such as introduced pathogens and agricultural pests, have undeniably high net costs. However, they pointed out that the majority of domesticated species, including crops like wheat and tomatoes, textiles like cotton and wool, and animals like dogs and goldfish who are kept as pets, provide significant net advantages to human society. They concentrated on so-called “wild” or “naturalized” species, which are species that are not directly controlled by humans, noting that many of these species have both negative and positive effects on both people and the environment.

As one example of a non-native species with underappreciated benefits, Sax cited the earthworm. While they can negatively change forest ecosystems, Sax said that earthworms can also augment organic agriculture: Some research has shown that when earthworms are present, there can be a 25% increase in agricultural productivity. The resulting decrease in food costs and increased ability to feed people is a direct economic benefit, Sax said.

Sax also extolled the unexpected benefits of another non-native species — brown trout. Looking at New Zealand as an example, he said most of the non-native species that have invaded the country have negative consequences, and residents, therefore, focus on eradicating them. Yet the nation has effectively embraced brown trout, Sax said: New Zealanders value the nutritional benefits of eating brown trout and the recreational benefits of fishing brown trout so much that they’ve established new environmental regulations to protect the species within their waters.

... non-native species can be a leading cause of species extinctions, but also contribute, through their own migration, to regional biodiversity; they can reduce certain ecosystem functions, such as water clarity, while increasing others, such as erosion control; they can provide new resources, such as recreational hunting and fishing opportunities.

Yet because of the research bias against non-native species that focuses on threats and harm, Sax said that the net consequences of most non-native species are less certain. That is why he and his co-authors call for a re-evaluation of non-native species, informed by data.

https://scitechdaily.com/against-common-belief-invasive-species-are-often-beneficial/

Gassho, J

stlah

[Jundo]

A proto-star in an hour glass ...

Cosmic hourglass captured by the James Webb Space Telescope reveals birth of a star

The cosmic chaos caused by a very young star has been captured in the latest enchanting image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.

The protostar the image centers around is hidden from view in the neck of a dark, hourglass-shape cloud of gas and dust. The dark line across the middle of the neck is a protoplanetary disc — dense gas and dust that could form a planet in the future — about the size of our solar system. Light from the protostar spreads above and below this disc, according to a news release.

It has a long way to go until it becomes a full-fledged star. L1527, as the protostar and its cloud are known, is only about 100,000 years old — a relatively young celestial body compared with our sun, which is about 4.6 billion years old.

The blue and orange clouds in the image outline cavities created as material shoots away from the protostar and collides with the surrounding matter, the release noted.

The nebula’s vibrant colors are only visible in infrared light detected by Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera, or NIRCam. Infrared light is invisible to the human eye, making Webb particularly essential to revealing otherwise hidden aspects of the universe.

The blue areas are where the dust is thinnest. The thicker the layer of dust, the less blue light is able to escape, creating pockets of orange.

“Shocks and turbulence inhibit the formation of new stars, which would otherwise form throughout the cloud. As a result, the protostar dominates the space, taking much of the material for itself,” according to the news release.

The protostar doesn’t yet generate its own energy through nuclear fusion of hydrogen, an essential characteristic of stars. Its shape — a puffy clump of hot gas somewhere between 20% and 40% of the mass of our sun — is also unstable.

The image provides context for what our sun and solar system looked like in their infancy.

https://us.cnn.com/2022/11/16/world/webb-telescope-hourglass-star-formation-scn/index.html

and
https://esawebb.org/news/weic2219/

... and real ghosts detected from outer space ...

“Ghost” Particles Detected Emanating From Galactic Neighbor With a Gigantic Black Hole

On Earth, trillions of subatomic particles called neutrinos stream through our bodies every second, but we never notice because they rarely interact with matter. In fact, because they so rarely interact with other matter, neutrinos can travel straight paths over vast distances unimpeded, carrying information about their cosmic origins.

Although most of these aptly named “ghost” particles detected on Earth originate from the Sun or our own atmosphere, some neutrinos come from the cosmos, far beyond our galaxy. Called astrophysical neutrinos, these neutrinos can provide valuable insight into some of the most powerful objects in the universe.

An international team of scientists has, for the first time, found evidence of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos emanating from the galaxy NGC 1068 in the constellation Cetus.

The detection was made by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. This 1-billion-ton neutrino telescope is made of scientific instruments and ice that is situated 1.5-2.5 kilometers (0.9 to 1.2 miles) below the surface at the South Pole. ...

On Earth, trillions of subatomic particles called neutrinos stream through our bodies every second, but we never notice because they rarely interact with matter. In fact, because they so rarely interact with other matter, neutrinos can travel straight paths over vast distances unimpeded, carrying information about their cosmic origins.

Although most of these aptly named “ghost” particles detected on Earth originate from the Sun or our own atmosphere, some neutrinos come from the cosmos, far beyond our galaxy. Called astrophysical neutrinos, these neutrinos can provide valuable insight into some of the most powerful objects in the universe.

An international team of scientists has, for the first time, found evidence of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos emanating from the galaxy NGC 1068 in the constellation Cetus.

“The IceCube Neutrino Observatory’s identification of a neighboring galaxy as a cosmic source of neutrinos is just the beginning of this new and exciting field that promises insights into the undiscovered power of massive black holes and other fundamental properties of the universe.” — Denise Caldwell, director of NSF’s Physics Division

The detection was made by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. This 1-billion-ton neutrino telescope is made of scientific instruments and ice that is situated 1.5-2.5 kilometers (0.9 to 1.2 miles) below the surface at the South Pole. The National Science Foundation (NSF) provided the primary funding for the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, and the University of Wisconsin–Madison is the lead institution, responsible for the maintenance and operations of the detector.

These new results, which were published this month in the journal Science, were shared in a presentation given at the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery.

“One neutrino can single out a source. But only an observation with multiple neutrinos will reveal the obscured core of the most energetic cosmic objects,” says Francis Halzen, a University of Wisconsin–Madison professor of physics and principal investigator of the IceCube project. “IceCube has accumulated some 80 neutrinos of teraelectronvolt energy from NGC 1068, which are not yet enough to answer all our questions, but they definitely are the next big step toward the realization of neutrino astronomy.” ...

... The galaxy NGC 1068, also known as Messier 77, is one of the most familiar and well-studied galaxies to date. Located 47 million light-years away — close in astronomical terms — this galaxy can be observed with a pair of large binoculars. ... As is the case with our home galaxy, the Milky Way, NGC 1068 is a barred spiral galaxy, with loosely wound arms and a relatively small central bulge. However, unlike the Milky Way, NGC 1068 is an active galaxy where most radiation is not produced by stars, but rather by material falling into a black hole millions of times more massive than our Sun and even more massive than the inactive black hole at the center of the Milky Way ...

https://scitechdaily.com/ghost-parti...ic-black-hole/

The IceCube Lab sits atop a 1-billion-ton network of sensing equipment and ice at the South Pole.

Gassho, J

stlah

[Jundo]

New "oldest galaxy ever seen" ... Webb keeps doing its thing ... and surprising scientists ...

James Webb telescope spots galaxies near the dawn of time, thrilling scientists

New baby pictures of the universe, taken by the James Webb Space Telescope, show that galaxies started forming faster and earlier than expected. ...

... The snapshots captured so far have both thrilled and perplexed scientists, because it turns out that many luminous galaxies existed when the universe was very young. "Just a few hundred million years after the Big Bang, there are already lots of galaxies," says Tommaso Treu, an astronomer at the University of California at Los Angeles. "JWST has opened up a new frontier, bringing us closer to understanding how it all began."

In research papers published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, Treu and other astronomers report the discovery of one galaxy that dates back to just 450 million years after the beginning, and another that dates back to 350 million years. That latter discovery broke a record set by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2016, when it managed to glimpse a galaxy called GN-z11, which existed about 400 million years after the Big Bang. Astronomer Garth Illingworth of the University of California, Santa Cruz was a member of the team that found GN-z11, and says that seeing it was "a huge surprise." But now, with the help of their new space telescope, scientists know it wasn't just a weird outlier — because they have at least two more examples.

... Since astronomers started using JWST, some have claimed to have spotted galaxies from even earlier times, like 250 million years after the Big Bang. But those are more tentative observations.

"We feel very confident about these two, but less confident about the others," says Illingworth. "There's certainly a lot of discussion going on."

The two newly-seen galaxies are both much smaller than our home galaxy, the Milky Way, and one appears to be unexpectedly elongated.

Because so many early, bright galaxies have been seen by JWST, astronomers are having to rethink their old ideas about the evolution of the universe.

...

“Somehow, the universe managed to form galaxies faster and earlier than we thought. Just a few hundred million years after the big bang, there were already lots of galaxies. JWST has opened up a new frontier, bringing us closer to understanding how it all began. And we’ve just started to explore it,” said Treu, who was a coauthor of an October study in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

https://www.npr.org/2022/11/17/11374...lescope-images

The small red dot highlighted inside the white box on this James Webb Space Telescope image is an early galaxy, seen as it looked just 350 million years after the Big Bang.

Gassho, J

stlah

[Jundo]

Our planet's amazing balances ... and ability to maintain and regulate balances ...

“Stabilizing Feedback” Confirmed by MIT Scientists – Earth Can Regulate Its Own Temperature Over Millennia

Scientists have confirmed that a “stabilizing feedback” on 100,000-year timescales keeps global temperatures in check.

From global volcanism to planet-cooling ice ages and dramatic shifts in solar radiation, the Earth’s climate has undergone some big changes. And yet for the last 3.7 billion years, life has kept on beating.

Now, new research by MIT scientists confirms that the planet harbors a “stabilizing feedback” mechanism that acts over hundreds of thousands of years to pull the climate back from the brink, keeping global temperatures within a steady, habitable range. The study was published on November 16 in the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances.

Just how does Earth accomplish this? A likely mechanism is “silicate weathering” — a geological process by which the slow and steady weathering of silicate rocks involves chemical reactions that ultimately draw carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and into ocean sediments, trapping the gas in rocks.

It has been long suspected by researchers that silicate weathering plays a major role in regulating the Earth’s carbon cycle. The mechanism of silicate weathering could provide a geologically constant force in keeping carbon dioxide — and global temperatures — in check. But until now, there’s never been direct evidence for the continual operation of such a feedback.

... but also, maybe some elements of chance ...

Without stabilizing feedbacks, fluctuations of global temperature should grow with timescale. But the team’s analysis revealed a regime in which fluctuations did not grow, implying that a stabilizing mechanism reigned in the climate before fluctuations grew too extreme. The timescale for this stabilizing effect — hundreds of thousands of years — coincides with what scientists predict for silicate weathering.

Interestingly, Arnscheidt and Rothman found that on longer timescales, the data did not reveal any stabilizing feedbacks. That is, there doesn’t appear to be any recurring pull-back of global temperatures on timescales longer than a million years. Over these longer timescales, then, what has kept global temperatures in check? “There’s an idea that chance may have played a major role in determining why, after more than 3 billion years, life still exists,” Rothman offers.

In other words, as the Earth’s temperatures fluctuate over longer stretches, these fluctuations may just happen to be small enough in the geologic sense, to be within a range that a stabilizing feedback, such as silicate weathering, could periodically keep the climate in check, and more to the point, within a habitable zone.

“There are two camps: Some say random chance is a good enough explanation, and others say there must be a stabilizing feedback,” Arnscheidt says. “We’re able to show, directly from data, that the answer is probably somewhere in between. In other words, there was some stabilization, but pure luck likely also played a role in keeping Earth continuously habitable.”

https://scitechdaily.com/stabilizing...ver-millennia/

However, that's the long term ... In the short term, we may be in for trouble, the Karmic effects of humankinds own doing. ...

Gassho, J

stlah