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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 22, 2022 at 9:24am

When solar wind plasma arrives at the earth it interacts with the planet's magnetic field (as illustrated below—the magnetic field is represented by the lines that look a bit like a spider). Most of the time, plasma travels easily along the lines of the magnetic field, but not across them. This means that solar wind arriving at Earth is diverted around the planet and kept away from the Earth's atmosphere. In turn, the solar wind drags the field lines out into the elongated form seen on the night side, called the magnetotail.

Sometimes moving plasma brings magnetic fields from different regions together, causing a local breakdown in the pattern of magnetic field lines. This phenomenon, called magnetic reconnection, heralds a new magnetic configuration, and, importantly, unleashes a huge amount of energy.

These events happen fairly often in the Sun's outer atmosphere, causing an explosive energy release and pushing clouds of magnetized gas, called coronal mass ejections, away from the Sun (as seen in the image above).

If a coronal mass ejection arrives at Earth it can in turn trigger reconnection in the magnetotail, releasing energy that drives electrical currents in near-Earth space: the substorm. Strong electric fields that develop in this process accelerate electrons to high energies. Some of these electrons may have come from the solar wind, allowed into near-Earth space by reconnection, but their acceleration in the substorm is essential to their role in the aurora.

These particles are then funneled by the magnetic field towards the atmosphere high above the polar regions. There they collide with the oxygen and nitrogen atoms, exciting them to glow as the aurora.

Part 2

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 22, 2022 at 9:23am

Are the northern lights caused by 'particles from the Sun'? Not exactly

What a spectacle a big aurora is, its shimmering curtains and colorful rays of light illuminating a dark sky. Many people refer to aurora as the northern lights (the aurora borealis), but there are southern lights too (the aurora australis). Either way, if you're lucky enough to catch a glimpse of this phenomenon, it's something you won't soon forget.

The aurora is often explained simply as "particles from the Sun" hitting our atmosphere. But that's not technically accurate except in a few limited cases. So what does happen to create this natural marvel?

We see the aurora when energetic charged particles—electrons and sometimes ions—collide with atoms in the upper atmosphere. While the aurora often follows explosive events on the Sun, it's not quite true to say these energetic particles that cause the aurora come from the Sun.

Earth's magnetism, the force that directs the compass needle, dominates the motions of electrically charged particles in space around Earth. The magnetic field near the surface of Earth is normally steady, but its strength and direction fluctuate when there are displays of the aurora. These fluctuations are caused by what's called a magnetic substorm—a rapid disturbance in the magnetic field in near-Earth space.

To understand what happens to trigger a substorm, we first need to learn about plasma. Plasma is a gas in which a significant number of the atoms have been broken into ions and electrons. The gas of the uppermost regions of Earth's atmosphere is in the plasma state, as is the gas that makes up the Sun and other stars. A gas of plasma flows away continuously from the Sun: this is called the solar wind.

Plasma behaves differently from those gases we meet in everyday life. Wave a magnet around in your kitchen and nothing much happens. The air of the kitchen consists overwhelmingly of electrically neutral atoms, so it's quite undisturbed by the moving magnet. In a plasma, however, with its electrically charged particles, things are different. So if your house was filled with plasma, waving a magnet around would make the air move.

Part 1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 21, 2022 at 11:33am

Pandemic preprints changed science forever The pandemic unleashed a staggering tide of preprint studies, which are released publicly before they have been peer reviewed. The stakes had never been higher, swift action was crucial and pre-printing results aided rapid data sharing, which expedited research. But it exposed the inner workings of the scientific process to a new audience and laid bare the best and worst of pandemic research. “We are down a pathway of open science, and that pathway is going to accelerate,” says physician-scientist Kyle Sheldrick. “Our choice is not whether it occurs or not; our choice is whether it occurs responsibly.”

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 21, 2022 at 9:50am

We're Facing a Myopia 'Epidemic', Scientists Say. Here's Why

Scientists are warning of an emerging 'epidemic' of myopia or near-sightedness, having observed sharp increases in the adult onset of myopia among late baby boomers.

Based on data collected from 107,442 participants in the extensive Biobank program in the UK, people born in the late 1960s are 10 percent more likely to be near-sighted than people born three decades earlier.

The biggest leap was in individuals who experienced their vision changes later in life, although among those with child-onset myopia, the number of severe cases doubled over the same period.

The condition is thought to be caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors, including increased screen time – though the study also finds evidence that these are trends that can be changed with the right public health initiatives.

Digging further into the data, the researchers suggest several reasons for the jump: changes in the nutrition of diets in childhood, rises in the use of digital screens, and shifts in teaching methods (more homework and less time spent outdoors, for example).

An increase in the number of people staying in education past the age of 18 could also be a factor, according to the research. This association between higher education (more years spent reading, revising, and taking exams) and a higher risk of myopia has previously been noted in several previous studies.

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0...

https://www.sciencealert.com/we-re-facing-a-myopia-epidemic-scienti...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 21, 2022 at 9:35am

In 2009, an international team of researchers put together a list of nine boundaries that kept our planet stable for human existence, including greenhouse gas emissions, the ozone layer, forests, and freshwater.

In 2015, they concluded humanity had breached four of these boundaries: climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, land-system change, and the extinction rate.

Until now, chemical pollution, or 'novel entities', had never been quantified.

Like a cap on greenhouse gases, researchers say nations also need to limit the rapid production of synthetic chemicals, while assessing the ones they've already got.

Today, tens of thousands of chemicals on the market are untested, and even the ones that have been assessed for health and safety still hold many unknown risks.

While some chemicals might be safe on their own, for instance, studies have shown they can grow toxic when breaking down or in the presence of other chemicals. If enough of these byproducts accumulate in the environment, it could potentially have long-lasting and detrimental impacts.

The chemicals in some sunscreens, for instance, have turned out to be toxic to coral. In recent years, antidepressants have also been found accumulating in water sources, where they appear to impact how some fish hunt for food.

Avoiding similar mistakes in the future will be all but impossible if we do not dramatically slow the global production of novel entities, and soon.

"Shifting to a circular economy is really important. That means changing materials and products so they can be reused not wasted, designing chemicals and products for recycling, and much better screening of chemicals for their safety and sustainability along their whole impact pathway in the Earth system."

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.1c04158

https://www.sciencealert.com/synthetic-chemicals-aren-t-just-pushin...

Part2

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 21, 2022 at 9:34am

We Have Breached The Safe Planetary Limit For Synthetic Chemicals, Scientists Warn

From sea to land to sky, Earth's systems are contaminated with synthetic substances, and scientists warn it has already pushed the integrity of our planet over the brink.

Today, there are about 350,000 human-made chemicals on the market, including plastics, pesticides, industrial chemicals, cosmetic chemicals, antibiotics, and other drugs.

The fact this number continues to rise at an extraordinary rate makes it virtually impossible for any authority to keep track of their potential impacts on the environment.

At this point, there's no keeping up. Now, a new analysis of the situation suggests we have firmly crossed a planetary boundary into an unsafe space.

Since the 1950s, chemical production has increased by 50-fold. By 2050, it's on track to triple again.

"The rate at which these pollutants are appearing in the environment far exceeds the capacity of governments to assess global and regional risks, let alone control any potential problems.

Even if we can slow chemical production in the future, novel entities of our own making have already infiltrated the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, the cryosphere, the geosphere, and the biosphere.

Given that many of these chemicals can live 'forever' in the environment, any potential threat they pose could be the foundation for ongoing problems far into the future.

Ignoring the problem is foolish, but that is largely what humanity has done.

Part1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 21, 2022 at 9:30am

Scientists develop new coating to protect kidney failure patients on dialysis

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 21, 2022 at 8:40am

Air pollution significantly reduces pollination by confusing butterflies and bees

Common air pollutants from both urban and rural environments may be reducing the pollinating abilities of insects by preventing them from sniffing out the crops and wildflowers that depend on them, new research has shown.

Scientists found that there were up to 70% fewer pollinators, up to 90% fewer flower visits and an overall pollination reduction of up to 31% in test plants when common ground-level air pollutants, including diesel exhaust pollutants and ozone, were present.

The study, published in the journal Environmental Pollution, is the first to observe a negative impact of common air pollutants on pollination in the natural environment. The theory is that the pollutants react with and change the scents of flowers, making them harder to find.

Researchers knew from their previous lab studies that diesel exhaust can have negative effects on insect pollinators, but the impacts they found in the field were much more dramatic than they had expected.

The findings are worrying because these pollutants are commonly found in the air many of us breathe every day. These pollutants are bad for our health, and the significant reductions researchers saw in pollinator numbers and activity shows that there are also clear implications for the natural ecosystems we depend on.

James M.W. Ryalls et al, Anthropogenic air pollutants reduce insect-mediated pollination services, Environmental Pollution (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.118847

https://phys.org/news/2022-01-air-pollution-significantly-pollinati...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 20, 2022 at 11:16am

It's Time to Upgrade Your Mask, Experts Say. Here's Why

With the rapid spread of Omicron, many countries are rethinking their COVID mask advice for the community.

Respirators have been mandatory in public places in Austria for a year. Now, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests respirators be considered for greater protection, for instance, on public transport or in enclosed crowded spaces. It's time to rethink and upgrade masks for you and your family.

Respirators, often wrongly called "masks" because of their appearance, are personal protective equipment made to a particular standard and designed to prevent inhalation of hazardous airborne contaminants.

In the US, respirator standards are managed by the  (NIOSH), and cover three things: filter efficiency, breathing resistance, and fit.

A filter that meets the N95 standard (equivalent to Europe's FFP2) must capture at least 95 percent of particles in the most penetrating size range at a high flow rate. In Australia, a respirator must meet TGA standards.

A respirator that consists entirely of filtering material – rather than having layers, say for waterproofing – is called a filtering facepiece respirator (FFR). An FFR can be worn multiple times but must eventually be thrown away.

Research suggests FFRs lose their ability to fit well after 2o wears – due to stretching of straps or failure of the nose clip or edge components.

The filter material is usually a non-woven polypropylene electret, which means the fibers carry an electrical charge to enhance particle collection while ensuring low breathing resistance.

The safest situation, especially for prolonged contact in crowded settings, is when everyone is wearing well-fitting N95 respirators.

There is strong evidence  from RCTs in health workers and laboratory studies showing respirators are effective for source control and personal protection.

A respirator should rest against your face with no gaps, especially around the nose and chin. To create a tight seal, form the nose clip and place both straps around your head, adjusting them if necessary.

If the facepiece collapses a small amount when you inhale, the respirator probably fits well. Get in the habit of doing a self seal check before each wear.

https://theconversation.com/time-to-upgrade-from-cloth-and-surgical...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 20, 2022 at 9:36am

Using a bacteriophage to successfully treat a patient infected with a drug-resistant bacteria

A team of doctors and researchers working at Erasmus Hospital in Belgium has successfully treated an adult woman infected with a drug-resistant bacteria using a combination of bacteriophage therapy and antibiotics. In their paper published in the journal Nature Communications, the group describes the reasons for the use of the treatment and the ways it might be used in other cases.

Bacteriophages are viruses that infect and kill bacteria. Research involving their use in human patients has been ongoing for several decades, but they are still not used to treat patients. In this new effort, the researchers were presented with a unique opportunity not only to treat a patient in need of help, but to learn more about the possible use of viruses to treat patients infected with bacteria that have become resistant to conventional antibiotics.

In this case, the patient had been severely injured by a terrorist's bomb—she suffered multiple injuries, including damage to her leg. Doctors treating her had to remove some of the bone, which led to a bacterial infection. Unfortunately for the patient, the bacteria was Klebsiella pneumoniae, which is known to be resistant to antibiotics, and it also creates films that make it difficult for antibiotics to reach infected areas. Over the course of several years, the researchers tried multiple ways to rid the patient of the infection, to no avail. Her medical team, finding no other options, chose to pursue bacteriophage therapy.

To use a bacteriophage, a virus must be found that attacks the exact strain of bacteria behind an infection. The researchers conducted an exhaustive search and test regimen until finally coming across a virus they found in a sample of sewer water. The virus was cultured and then mixed into a liquid solution that was applied directly to the infected site on the patient's leg. They also administered a host of antibacterial agents. The patient finally began recovering from her infection, and over a period of three years, she recovered to the point that she was not only free of the bacterial infection, but able to walk again.

Anaïs Eskenazi et al, Combination of pre-adapted bacteriophage therapy and antibiotics for treatment of fracture-related infection due to pandrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae, Nature Communications (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-27656-z

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-01-bacteriophage-successfully-p...

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