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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 26, 2022 at 9:21am

New  duality found in theoretical particle physics

A new and surprising duality has been discovered in theoretical particle physics. The duality exists between two types of scattering processes that can occur in the proton collisions made in the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Switzerland and France. The fact that this connection can, surprisingly, be made points to the fact that there is something in the intricate details of the standard model of particle physics that is not fully understood. The standard model is the model of the world on sub-atomic scale that explains all particles and their interactions, so when surprises appear, there is cause for attention. The scientific article is now published in Physical Review Letters.

The concept of duality occurs in different areas of physics. The most well known duality is probably the particle-wave duality in quantum mechanics. The famous double-slit experiment shows that light behaves like a wave, while Albert Einstein received his Nobel prize for showing that light behaves like a particle.

The strange thing is that light is actually both and neither of the two at the same time. There are simply two ways we can look at this entity, light, and each comes with a mathematical description. Both with a completely different intuitive idea, but still describe the same thing.

What physicists have now found is a similar duality. They calculated the prediction for one scattering process and for another scattering process.

Their current calculations are less experimentally tangible than the famous double slit experiment, but there is a clear mathematical map between the two, and it shows that they both contain the same information. They are linked, somehow.

Part 1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 26, 2022 at 8:45am

New discoveries about the origin of the brain's immune system

What gets into the brain and what doesn't is strictly regulated. Researchers  have now studied phagocytes that coat the blood vessels in the brain and reinforce the blood-brain barrier. As the scientists have shown, these cells only mature fully after birth according to a defined step-by-step developmental program. Until now, it had been assumed that this process was completed during embryonic development. Their studies, which were published in the journal Nature on April 20, 2022, were initially carried out on genetically modified mouse lines and were confirmed on human samples. They are expected to provide important insights into the development and treatment of diseases of the brain.

Researchers  were able to show that the immune cells we studied migrate from the cerebral membrane to the blood vessels in the brain shortly before birth and mature there. This process is probably not completed until weeks after birth and could partly explain why the brain is so vulnerable at the beginning of life.

The late timing of the maturation of the phagocytes, also called macrophages, was very surprising , since the precursor cells are already present in the brain long before. In addition, the scientists were able to show for the first time that the vessels, as structure-giving cells of the brain, send important signals for normal development of the brain's macrophages.

The blood-brain barrier is formed by cells on the blood vessels of the brain. They control which substances can enter the brain and which cannot. This protects the brain from harmful substances and pathogens. The blood-brain barrier is particularly permeable in the case of infectious diseases, certain brain tumors and oxygen deficiency.

Significance for Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis and more
In addition to the blood-brain barrier, the immune cells scientists studied control what can reach the brain cells from the blood, they eat pathogens and prevent excessive inflammation. They are also involved in the development of cancer, Alzheimer's disease and multiple sclerosis. These findings could be important for a better understanding of these diseases and future therapies.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04596-2

https://researchnews.cc/news/12820/New-discoveries-about-the-origin...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 25, 2022 at 8:30am

Elephant trunk 

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 25, 2022 at 7:13am

How does GPS work?

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 24, 2022 at 9:12am

Hidden miracles of the natural world: brought before your eyes by science

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 22, 2022 at 8:16am

Scientists invented a ‘biohybrid’ fish that swims with a pacemaker

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 21, 2022 at 6:22am

Study shows everyday plastic products release trillions of microsco...

Plastics surround us, whether it's the grocery bags we use at the supermarket or household items such as shampoo and detergent bottles. Plastics don't exist only as large objects, but also as microscopic particles that are released from these larger products. These microscopic plastics can end up in the environment, and they can be ingested into our bodies.

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Using bacteria to build settlements on Mars

In collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), a team of researchers from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has developed a sustainable method for making bricks out of Martian soil, using bacteria and urea. These "space bricks" can be used to construct building-like structures on Mars that could facilitate human settlement on the red planet.

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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 21, 2022 at 6:20am

During the experiment, scientists were surprised to also detect titanium dioxide in the "control" group of rats that hadn't been given nanoparticles to inhale. It turns out the food given to the animals contained titanium dioxide. As a result, the researchers were able to observe the path the metal took through a rat's body.

The research emerged from investigations into the causes of low birth weight in human infants. Newborns weighing less than 5.5 pounds can suffer adverse health effects as infants and throughout their lives.

According to Stapleton, one theory is mothers who give birth to babies with low birth weights may have inhaled harmful particulates. The resulting inflammation may affect bodily systems, such as blood flow in the uterus, that could inhibit growth of the fetus.

J.N. D'Errico et al, Maternal, placental, and fetal distribution of titanium after repeated titanium dioxide nanoparticle inhalation through pregnancy, Placenta (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.placenta.2022.03.008

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-04-nanoparticles-placenta-pregn...

Part 2

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 21, 2022 at 6:19am

Nanoparticles can cross the placenta during pregnancy, potentially exposing fetus

Most nanoparticles are engineered, with few produced naturally. These particles are used in thousands of products, from sunscreens to pharmaceuticals to sports equipment. They are highly valued because they can enhance the effectiveness of drugs and produce sturdy-though-lightweight products.

Nanoparticles are so named because they are less than 100 nanometers wide, meaning they are tens of thousands of times smaller than the diameter of a single human hair. Despite their usefulness, nanoscale materials are poorly understood, with very little known about the potential effects on human health and the environment.

Inhaled nanoparticles—human-made specks so minuscule they can't be seen in conventional microscopes, found in thousands of common products—can cross a natural, protective barrier that normally protects fetuses, according to  scientists studying factors that produce low-birth-weight babies.

The scientists reported in the medical journal Placenta they were able to track the movement of nanoparticles made of metal titanium dioxide through the bodies of pregnant rats. After the nanoparticles were inhaled into the lungs of the rodents, some of them escaped this initial barrier. From there, the particles flowed through the placentas, which generally filter out foreign substances to protect the fetus.

Using some specialized techniques, researchers found evidence that the particles can migrate from the lung to the placenta and possibly the fetal tissues after maternal exposure throughout pregnancy. The placenta does not act as a barrier to these particles. Nor do the lungs.

Part 1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 21, 2022 at 6:13am

Astronomers discover micronovae, a new kind of stellar explosion

A team of astronomers, with the help of the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT), have observed a new type of stellar explosion—a micronova. These outbursts happen on the surface of certain stars, and can each burn through around 3.5 billion Great Pyramids of Giza of stellar material in only a few hours.

The phenomenon challenges our understanding of how thermonuclear explosions in stars occur. We thought we knew this, but this discovery proposes a totally new way to achieve them.

Micronovae are extremely powerful events, but are small on astronomical scales; they are much less energetic than the stellar explosions known as novae, which astronomers have known about for centuries. Both types of explosions occur on white dwarfs, dead stars with a mass about that of our sun, but as small as Earth.

A white dwarf in a two-star system can steal material, mostly hydrogen, from its companion star if they are close enough together. As this gas falls onto the very hot surface of the white dwarf star, it triggers the hydrogen atoms to fuse into helium explosively. In novae, these thermonuclear explosions occur over the entire stellar surface. Such detonations make the entire surface of the white dwarf burn and shine brightly for several weeks.

Micronovae are similar explosions that are smaller in scale and faster, lasting just several hours. They occur on some white dwarfs with strong magnetic fields, which funnel material towards the star's magnetic poles. For the first time, researchers have now seen that hydrogen fusion can also happen in a localized way. The hydrogen fuel can be contained at the base of the magnetic poles of some white dwarfs, so that fusion only happens at these magnetic poles.

This leads to micro-fusion bombs going off, which have about one millionth of the strength of a nova explosion, hence the name micronova.

 Simone Scaringi et al, Localized thermonuclear bursts from accreting magnetic white dwarfs, Nature (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04495-6. www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04495-6

https://phys.org/news/2022-04-astronomers-micronovae-kind-stellar-e...

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