Disruption of gut microbial balance is associated with increased mortality after kidney, liver transplants

Disruptions in the gut microbiome have been linked to lower survival rates for people who have undergone kidney and liver transplants, a finding that highlights the critical importance of the vast and complex microbial communities that dwell within us.

Scientists studied  faecal samples from more than 1,000 recipients of kidney and liver transplants to learn how the balance of microbes in the gut microbiome impact post-transplant survival. Gut microbiome dysbiosis—disruptions in microbial diversity—is associated with increased mortality after solid organ transplantation, researchers found.

The gut microbiome is made up of both "good" and "bad" microbes: bacteria, viruses and fungi. Health benefits throughout the body are derived from the healthy balance of these microbial communities in the gut. However, the living communities are not static; they fluctuate in response to diet, emotions, exercise, surgery, and exposure to medications.

Past studies demonstrated that recipients of stem cell transplants had a higher mortality risk when faced with disruptions in their gut microbiome. It has taken until now to pose the same question, based on a large sample size, whether microbiota disruption negatively impacts recipients of solid organ transplants.

They were aware that the health of the microbiome influenced the fate of patients who had undergone stem cell transplants, infusions that are sometimes referred to as bone marrow transplants. The procedure provides the recipient with a donor's healthy progenitor cells to generate a new blood supply. But scientists also were aware that a successful stem cell transplant wasn't enough unless the gut microbiome was also flourishing with a diverse population of beneficial microbes.

The researchers reported  on the need for microbial variety to ensure a healthy transplant outcome.

J. Casper Swarte et al, Gut microbiome dysbiosis is associated with increased mortality after solid organ transplantation, Science Translational Medicine (2022). DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abn7566

Increased thermogenesis in fat cells during active period of circadian rhythm limits weight gain in mice

A team of researchers has found that an increase in thermogenesis in fat cells during active periods of the daily circadian rhythm can limit weight gain in mice.

Prior research has shown that overeating during the inactive phase of the circadian rhythm in mice and humans can lead to higher levels of weight gain. Likewise, adhering to time-restricted feeding (TRF) can lead to less weight gain. But until now, why this happens has not been fully understood. To learn more about the effects of a high-fat diet on mice over phases of the circadian rhythm, the researchers fed two groups of mice a high-fat diet. One group was fed during their active phase (when it was dark out) and the other was fed during their inactive phase (when it was light out.) They then took a close look at what was occurring in the fat cells of both groups. The researchers found that the mice fed during their inactive phase gained more weight, as expected. But they also learned more about the factors behind such a weight gain. One of the biggest was thermogenesis, the process by which heat is generated in the body. They found that an increase in thermogenesis in fat cells during the active phase of the circadian rhythm (due to a boost in creatine in fat cells) was at least partly responsible for restricting weight gain. They also found that a zinc finger protein can block the genes responsible for producing the chemicals that regulate thermogenesis by controlling production of adenosine triphosphate. They conclude that their work has helped to explain why TRF can play such an important role in weight management.

Chelsea Hepler et al, Time-restricted feeding mitigates obesity through adipocyte thermogenesis, Science (2022). DOI: 10.1126/science.abl8007

Damien Lagarde et al, The timing of eating controls energy use, Science (2022). DOI: 10.1126/science.ade6720

Why NASA is trying to crash land on Mars

 Like a car’s crumple zone, the experimental SHIELD lander is designed to absorb a hard impact.

NASA has successfully touched down on Mars nine times, relying on cutting-edge parachutes, massive airbags, and jetpacks to set spacecraft safely on the surface. Now engineers are testing whether or not the easiest way to get to the Martian surface is to crash.

Rather than slow a spacecraft’s high-speed descent, an experimental lander design called SHIELD (Simplified High Impact Energy Landing Device) would use an accordion-like, collapsible base that acts like the crumple zone of a car and absorbs the energy of a hard impact.

The new design could drastically reduce the cost of landing on Mars by simplifying the harrowing entry, descent, and landing process and expanding options for possible landing sites.

https://researchnews.cc/news/15986/Why-NASA-is-trying-to-crash-land...

Breaking the sound barriers without the sonic boom

Seventy-five years ago, a sonic boom thundered for the first time over the high desert of California.

It was Oct. 14, 1947, and the joint X-1 team of NACA, Air Force (newly formed that year), and Bell engineers and pilots had broken the sound barrier —an imaginary wall in the sky some said was impossible to penetrate.

Now, aeronautical innovators with NASA's Quesst mission are poised to break the sound barrier again, only this time in a very different way that could make it possible for all of us to one day travel by air just as fast as any of the X-1 pilots who flew supersonic. With X-59.

Through Quesst, NASA plans to demonstrate the X-59 can fly faster than sound without generating the typically loud sonic booms.

Researchers gained a greater understanding of how aircraft create sonic booms and turned their attention the idea of lowering the intensity of the sonic booms by manipulating the shape of the airplane.

That idea was tested in flight by NASA's Shaped Sonic Boom Demonstration program during 2003–2004. It used a Northrop F-5E jet whose fuselage was modified to give it a shape designed to produce quieter sonic booms.

And it worked now. First flight of the X-59 is targeted for early 2023.

Source: NASA

Particle Physics Could Reduce The 'Collateral Damage' of Cancer Treatments

Researchers at Europe's science lab CERN, who regularly use particle physics to challenge our understanding of the universe, are also applying their craft to upend the limits to cancer treatment.

The physicists here are working with giant particle accelerators in search of ways to expand the reach of cancer radiation therapy, and take on hard-to-reach tumors that would otherwise have been fatal.

In one CERN lab, called CLEAR, the research is aimed at creating very high energy beams of electrons – the negatively charged particles in the atom – that eventually could help to combat cancerous cells more effectively. They are researching a "technology to accelerate electrons to the energies that are needed to treat deep-seated tumors, which is above 100 million electron volts" (MeV)

The idea is to use these very high-energy electrons (VHEE) in combination with a new and promising treatment method called FLASH.

This method entails delivering the radiation dose in a few hundred milliseconds, instead of minutes as is the current approach.

This has been shown to have the same destructive effect on the targeted tumor but causes far less damage to the surrounding healthy tissue. The effect of the brief but intense FLASH treatment is to "reduce the toxicity to healthy tissue while still properly damaging cancer cells".

At such low energy though, the beams cannot penetrate deeply, meaning the highly-effective treatment has so far only been used on superficial tumors, found with skin cancer.

But the CERN physicists are now collaborating with the Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) to build a machine for FLASH delivery that can accelerate electrons to 100 to 200 MeV, making it possible to use the method for much more hard-to-reach tumors.

source: new agencies

NEOWISE: Revealing Changes in the Universe

During sleep, one brain region teaches another, converting novel data into enduring memories

What role do the stages of sleep play in forming memories?

We've known for a long time that useful learning happens during sleep. You encode new experiences while you're awake, you go to sleep, and when you wake up your memory has somehow been transformed.

Yet precisely how new experiences get processed during sleep has remained mostly a mystery. Using a neural network computational model they built, researchers now have new insight into the process.

In research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they show that as the brain cycles through slow-wave and rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep, which happens about five times a night, the hippocampus teaches the neocortex what it learned, transforming novel, fleeting information into enduring memory. This is not just a model of learning in local circuits in the brain. It's how one brain region can teach another brain region during sleep, a time when there is no guidance from the external world.

The team ran several sleep simulations using a brain-inspired learning algorithm they built. The simulations revealed that during slow-wave sleep, the brain mostly revisits recent incidents and data, guided by the hippocampus, and during REM sleep, it mostly reruns what happened previously, guided by memory storage in the neocortical regions. As the two brain regions connect during non-REM sleep, that's when the hippocampus is actually teaching the neocortex. Then, during the REM phase, the neocortex reactivates and can replay what it already knows, solidifying the data's hold in long-term memory.

When the neocortex doesn't have a chance to replay its own information, we see that the information there gets overwritten. Scientists think you need to have alternating REM and non-REM sleep for strong memory formation to occur.

This needs to be tested further to confirm, though. 

Singh, Dhairyya et al, A model of autonomous interactions between hippocampus and neocortex driving sleep-dependent memory consolidation, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2022). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2123432119. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2123432119

Study explains why adults' hearts don't regenerate

While skin and many other tissues of the human body retain the ability to repair themselves after injury, the same isn't true of the heart. During human embryonic and fetal development, heart cells undergo cell division to form the heart muscle. But as heart cells mature in adulthood, they enter a terminal state in which they can no longer divide.

As heart cells mature in mice, the number of communication pathways called nuclear pores dramatically decreases, according to new research . While this might protect the organ from damaging signals, it could also prevent adult heart cells from regenerating, the researchers found.

The study suggests that quieting communication between heart cells and their environment protects this organ from harmful signals related to stresses such as high blood pressure, but at the cost of preventing heart cells from receiving signals that promote regeneration.

This work provides an explanation for why adult hearts do not regenerate themselves, but newborn mice and human hearts do. These findings are an important advance in fundamental understanding of how the heart develops with age and how it has evolved to cope with stress.

Bernhard Kühn, Changes in nuclear pore numbers control nuclear import and stress response of mouse hearts, Developmental Cell (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2022.09.017. www.cell.com/developmental-cel … 1534-5807(22)00719-5

How heart failure disrupts the cell's mitochondria

Chronic heart failure causes the cell's powerhouses to malfunction, in part due to overconsumption of an important intermediary compound in energy production. Supplementing the diet to compensate for this could prove a promising strategy for treating heart failure.

Mitochondria are small organelles found in almost every cell and are responsible for converting carbohydrates, fats and proteins into energy to power biochemical reactions. Chronic heart failure is known to be associated with mitochondrial dysfunction, but much is still unknown about how this happens at the molecular level.

A research team 

studied the biochemical processes that occur in mice with chronic heart failure caused by surgically blocking part of the blood supply to their hearts. They specifically looked at heart cells outside the boundaries of dead tissue.

They found a significant reduction in a compound called succinyl-CoA, which is an intermediary in the cell's tricarboxylic acid cycle. This cycle, which happens inside mitochondria, plays an important role in breaking down organic molecules to release energy.

Further investigations revealed that this reduction of succinyl-CoA levels was at least in part caused by its overconsumption for the synthesis of heme, which is essential for mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation. This latter process is needed for transferring and synthesizing energy-carrying and storage molecules by mitochondria.

Adding a compound called 5-aminolevulinate acid (5-ALA) to the drinking water of mice immediately after cutting off the blood supply to part of the heart significantly improved their heart function, treadmill running capacity and survival. At the molecular level, it improved the oxidative phosphorylation capacity of heart muscle mitochondria and appeared to restore their succinyl-CoA levels.

Further research is needed to clarify other factors involved in reducing mitochondrial succinyl-CoA levels in heart failure. For example, the scientists found evidence that succinyl-CoA may also be overconsumed in heart failure-affected mitochondria in order to break down ketones as a source of energy. But more investigations are needed to understand why this might happen and whether there really is a direct link between the two.

Shingo Takada et al, Succinyl-CoA-based energy metabolism dysfunction in chronic heart failure, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2022). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2203628119

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Plastic recycling remains a 'myth':  study

Plastic recycling rates are declining even as production shoots up, according to a Greenpeace U.S. report out Monday that blasted industry claims of creating an efficient, circular economy as "fiction."

Titled "Circular Claims Fall Flat Again," the study found that of 51 million tons of plastic waste generated by US households in 2021, only 2.4 million tons were recycled, or around five percent.

After peaking in 2014 at 10 percent, the trend has been decreasing, especially since China stopped accepting the West's plastic waste in 2018.

Virgin production—of non-recycled plastic, that is—meanwhile is rapidly rising as the petrochemical industry expands, lowering costs.

Plastic waste is generated in vast quantities and is extremely difficult to collect— as becomes clear during what the report called ineffective "volunteer cleanup stunts".

Even if it were all collected, mixed plastic waste cannot be recycled together, and it would be "functionally impossible to sort the trillions of pieces of consumer plastic waste produced each year". 

Moreover,  the recycling process itself is environmentally harmful, exposing workers to toxic chemicals and itself generating microplastics.

Then recycled plastic carries toxicity risks through contamination with other plastic types in collection bins, preventing it from becoming food-grade material again. 

The most important point is  the process of recycling is prohibitively expensive.New plastic directly competes with recycled plastic, and it's far cheaper to produce and of higher quality. So people rarely tread this path.

Source: AFP

Climate Questions: How do we know humans triggered warming?

Call it Law and Order: Climate Change. Scientists used detective work to pinpoint the prime suspect in Earth's warming: us.

They proved it couldn't be anything but carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels.
___

For more than 30 years top scientists from across the globe have worked together every several years to draft a report on climate change and what causes it and with each report—and increases in global temperatures—they have become more and more certain that climate change is caused by human activities. In the latest version of their report they said: "It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ...

Scientists—including the late Ralph Cicerone, the former president of the National Academy of Scientists—have told The Associated Press their confidence in climate change being a human caused problem is equivalent to their certainty in understanding that cigarettes are deadly.

Scientists can calculate how much heat different suspects trap, using a complex understanding of chemistry and physics and feeding that into computer simulations that have been generally accurate in portraying climate, past and future. They measure what they call radiative forcing in watts per meter squared.

The first and most frequent natural suspect is the sun. The sun is what warms Earth in general providing about 1,361 watts per meter squared of heat, year in year out. That's the baseline, the delicate balance that makes Earth livable. Changes in energy coming from the sun have been minimal, about one-tenth of a watt per meter squared, scientists calculate.

But carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels is now trapping heat to the level of 2.07 watts per meter squared, more than 20 times that of the changes in the sun, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Methane, another powerful heat-trapping gas, is at 0.5 watts per meter square.

The sun's 11-year cycle goes through regular but small ups and downs, but that doesn't seem to change Earth's temperature. And if anything the ever so slight changes in 11-year-average solar irradiance have been shifting downward, according to NASA calculations, with the space agency concluding "it is therefore extremely unlikely that the Sun has caused the observed global temperature warming trend over the past century."

In other words, the sun had an alibi.

Part 1

The other natural suspects—volcanoes and cosmic rays—had even less influence during the last 150 years of warming, scientists conclude.

The other way to show that it is carbon dioxide causing warming is by building what Vecchi calls "a causal chain."

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration records measured on a Hawaiian volcano show rising carbon dioxide levels as do ice records that go back thousands of years. But the key is what type of carbon dioxide.

There are three types of carbon-containing material. Some contain light carbon, or carbon-12. Some contain heavy carbon or carbon-13 and still others contain radioactive carbon-14.

Over the last century or so, there's more carbon-12 in the atmosphere compared to carbon-13 and less carbon-14 in recent decades, according to NOAA. Carbon-12 is essentially fossil carbon from long ago, as in fossil fuels. So the change in the ratio of carbon-12 to carbon-13 tells scientists the carbon in the air is more from burning fossil fuels than natural carbon, Vecchi said.

That's the fingerprint of burning coal, oil and natural gas.

https://phys.org/news/2022-10-climate-humans-triggered.html?utm_sou...

Part 2

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Why eLife Is Doing Away with Rejections

The peer-reviewed journal eLife announced recently (October 20) that it will be doing away with the long-held practice of accepting or rejecting scientific manuscripts that are submitted for publication. Last year, the journal began exclusively reviewing papers that had already been posted as preprints. Now, eLife will post submitted preprints regardless of their quality, alongside commentary from peer reviewers and anassessment from the journal itself that details the reviewers’ and editors’ thoughts on the significance of the research and the strength of the evidence supporting the paper’s conclusions. Authors will have the option to revise the papers and resubmit, or simply ask that the manuscript be published as-is on the eLife site.

The peer-reviewed journal eLife announced recently (October 20) that it will be doing away with the long-held practice of accepting or rejecting scientific manuscripts that are submitted for publication. Last year, the journal began exclusively reviewing papers that had already been posted as preprints. Now, eLife will post submitted preprints regardless of their quality, alongside commentary from peer reviewers and an assessment from the journal itself that details the reviewers’ and editors’ thoughts on the significance of the research and the strength of the evidence supporting the paper’s conclusions. Authors will have the option to revise the papers and resubmit, or simply ask that the manuscript be published as-is on the eLife site. It’s all about moving from the assessment being based on where you publish [to being] based on what you publish.

The executive director of eLife says: 

For every paper that we review, we will post a reviewed preprint that is a rerendering of the of the original preprint on the eLife website. It will feature the peer reviews that we’ve received and an editorial assessment—we’re calling it an eLife assessment. And that is a brief summary of the reviews that give a description of the strength of evidence and also the significance of the research. . . . Rather than having published in eLife being the primary . . . indicator of quality, we’re replacing that with something which is much more nuanced, which essentially focuses on the actual research itself and highlights the strength of the paper itself.

https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/q-a-why-elife-is-doing-a...

https://elifesciences.org/articles/83889?utm_source=content_alert&a...

Researchers create first quasiparticle Bose-Einstein condensate

Physicists have created the first Bose-Einstein condensate—the mysterious fifth state of matter—made from quasiparticles, entities that do not count as elementary particles but that can still have elementary-particle properties like charge and spin. For decades, it was unknown whether they could undergo Bose-Einstein condensation in the same way as real particles, and it now appears that they can. The finding is set to have a significant impact on the development of quantum technologies including quantum computing.

Bose-Einstein condensates are sometimes described as the fifth state of matter, alongside solids, liquids, gases and plasmas. Theoretically predicted in the early 20th century, Bose-Einstein condensates, or BECs, were only created in a lab as recently as 1995. They are also perhaps the oddest state of matter, with a great deal about them remaining unknown to science.

BECs occur when a group of atoms is cooled to within billionths of a degree above absolute zero. Researchers commonly use lasers and magnet traps to steadily reduce the temperature of a gas, typically composed of rubidium atoms. At this ultracool temperature, the atoms barely move and begin to exhibit very strange behaviour.

They experience the same quantum state—almost like coherent photons in a laser—and start to clump together, occupying the same volume as one indistinguishable super atom. The collection of atoms essentially behaves as a single particle.

Most BECs are fabricated from dilute gases of ordinary atoms. But until now, a BEC made out of exotic atoms has never been achieved. Exotic atoms are atoms in which one subatomic particle, such as an electron or a proton, is replaced by another subatomic particle that has the same charge. Positronium, for example, is an exotic atom made of an electron and its positively charged anti-particle, a positron. An exciton is another such example. When light hits a semiconductor, the energy is sufficient to excite electrons to jump up from the valence level of an atom to its conduction level. These excited electrons then flow freely in an electric current—in essence transforming light energy into electrical energy. When the negatively charged electron performs this jump, the space left behind, or hole, can be treated as if it were a positively charged particle. The negative electron and positive hole are attracted and thus bound together.

Part 1

Combined, this electron-hole pair is an electrically neutral quasiparticle called an exciton. A quasiparticle is a particle-like entity that does not count as one of the 17 elementary particles of the standard model of particle physics, but that can still have elementary-particle properties like charge and spin. The exciton quasiparticle can also be described as an exotic atom because it is in effect a hydrogen atom that has had its single positive proton replaced by a single positive hole.

Electron-hole systems have been used to create other phases of matter such as electron-hole plasma and even exciton liquid droplets. The researchers wanted to see if they could make a BEC out of excitons.

Direct observation of an exciton condensate in a three-dimensional semiconductor has been highly sought after since it was first theoretically proposed in 1962. Nobody knew whether quasiparticles could undergo Bose-Einstein condensation in the same way as real particles

 Yusuke Morita et al, Observation of Bose-Einstein condensates of excitons in a bulk semiconductor, Nature Communications (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-33103-4

Part 2

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Word and face recognition can be adequately supported with half a brain, study finds

A study of brain plasticity and visual perception has found that people who, as children, had undergone surgery removing half of their brain, correctly recognized differences between pairs of words or faces more than 80% of the time. Considering the volume of removed brain tissue, the surprising accuracy highlights the brain's capacity—and its limitations—to rewire itself and adapt to dramatic surgery or traumatic injury.

The findings, published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), is the first-ever attempt to characterize neuroplasticity in humans and understand whether a single brain hemisphere can perform functions typically split between the two sides of the brain.

Neuroplasticity is a process that allows the brain to change its activity and rewire itself, either structurally or functionally, in response to changes in the environment. And even though brain plasticity peaks early in development, our brains continue to change well into adulthood.

As humans age, the two halves of our brains, called hemispheres, become increasingly specialized. Even though this division of labor is not absolute, the two hemispheres adopt distinct chief responsibilities: The left hemisphere matures into the primary place for reading printed words, and the right hemisphere matures into the primary place for recognizing faces.

But neuroplasticity has limitations, and this hemispheric preference becomes more rigid over time. In some cases, adults who develop a brain lesion because of stroke or a tumor might experience a reading impairment or become face blind, depending on whether the left or right hemisphere of the brain is affected.

But what happens when the brain is forced to change and adapt while it is still highly plastic? To answer this question, researchers looked at a special group of patients who had undergone a complete hemispherectomy—or a surgical removal of one hemisphere to control epileptic seizures—during childhood.

Part 1

Because hemispherectomies are relatively rare, scientists seldom have access to more than a handful of patients at a time. But the Pitt team found an unexpected silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic: the normalization of telemedicine services, which made it possible to enroll 40 hemispherectomy patients, an unprecedented number for studies of this kind.

To assess word recognition capacity, researchers presented their participants pairs of words, each differing by only one letter, such as "soap" and "soup" or "tank" and "tack." To test how well the children recognized different faces, scientists showed them pairs of photos of people. Either stimulus appeared on the screen for only a fraction of a second, and the participants had to decide whether the pair of words or the pair of faces were the same or different.

Astoundingly, the single remaining hemisphere supported both of those functions. The capacity for word and face recognition between control subjects and people with hemispherectomies differed, but the differences were less than 10%, and the average accuracy exceeded 80%. In direct comparisons between matching hemispheres in patients and controls, patients' accuracy on both face and word recognition was comparable regardless of the hemisphere removed.

This study showed that  losing half of the brain does not equate to losing half of its functionality. While we can't definitively predict how any given child might be affected by a hemispherectomy, the performance that we see in these patients is encouraging. 

Michael C. Granovetter et al, With childhood hemispherectomy, one hemisphere can support—but is suboptimal for—word and face recognition, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2022). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2212936119

Part 2

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Climate change is closing daily temperature gap: Clouds could be th...

Climate change is shrinking the difference between the daily high temperature and the daily low in many parts of the world. The gap between the two, known as the diurnal temperature range (DTR), has a significant effect on growing seasons, crop yields, residential energy consumption and human health issues related to heat stress. But why and where the DTR shrinks with climate change has been something of a mystery.

Hidden 'Oasis of Life' Discovered Deep Under The Ocean in The Maldives

Purified Sand Particles Have Anti-Obesity Effects, Scientists Confirm

Porous particles of silica made from purified sand could one day play a role in attempts to lose weight.

Past clinical trials have already produced promising results, but the actual weight-lowering mechanism behind the potential treatment has been poorly understood.

To sift out the key variables, researchers have now tested a range of silica sizes and shapes in a simulation of the human gut after a heavy meal.

The results support the idea that porous silica can "impede the digestive processes" that are usually triggered by enzymes breaking down fat, cholesterol, starches, and sugars in the stomach and intestines.

What's more, the size of administered nanoparticles seems to determine how much digestive activity is inhibited.

The authors acknowledge that their model is much too simple to perfectly mimic the complexity of the human gut during digestion, but given the ethics surrounding human clinical trials, gut simulations and animal models are closer than researchers might otherwise get.

Unlike other human gut models, this new one accounts for both fat digestion and carbohydrate digestion. The authors also analyzed the degree to which organic matter might be absorbed within the gastrointestinal tract.

It's possible that porous silica triggers a reduction of weight gain in other ways, too, but the new findings provide additional research with a more solid place to start.

In 2014, researchers found mice on high fat diets put on significantly less weight when fed nanoparticles of porous silica (MSPs). Their total body fat percentage was also reduced. Still, that effect seemed to be based on the relative size of the silica particles used. Larger particles were ultimately more effective.

Follow-up studies on mice supported these results. The right size and shape of porous silica particles seemed to determine the power of mouse digestion in the small intestine.

In 2020, the first clinical data on 10 healthy humans with obesity demonstrated that MSPs can reduce blood glucose levels and blood cholesterol levels, both of which are known risk factors for metabolic and cardiovascular complications.

Part 1

Even better, the treatment did not trigger any abdominal discomfort or changes to bowel habits, which can't be said of current medicines for weight gain like Orlistat.

The current research elaborates on these promising findings by comparing an array of 13 porous silica samples of various widths, absorption potentials, shapes, sizes, and surface chemistries.

These samples were each introduced to a human gastrointestinal model that simulated a fed state after a high-carbohydrate, high-fat meal. The model allowed for half an hour of gastric digestion and an hour of intestinal digestion and absorption.

Fat digestion was monitored by titrating fatty acids from what was absorbed, while starch digestion was monitored by measuring the concentration of sugars absorbed.

The authors say the ideal silica samples were silica microparticles with pore widths between 6 and 10 nanometers. These sizes seemed to inhibit the enzymes examined best.

The pores don't just appear to trap enzymes, either. It's more complicated than that, researchers think.

Some pores which were the optimal size for inhibiting starch digestion, for instance, were too large to optimally trap enzymes associated with fat digestion.

The porous sand particles also seemed to absorb digested and undigested nutrients from the gastrointestinal tract before they could pass into the system's bloodstream.

This could be another way in which the particles counter the input of calories.

Those particles with greater surface areas but smaller pores unable to impact digestive enzymes actually absorbed the most organic matter in models.

Further research on animal models will be needed to replicate these results.

https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4923/14/9/1813/htm

Part 2

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Scientists discover material that can be made like a plastic but conducts like a metal

Scientists have discovered a way to create a material that can be made like a plastic, but conducts electricity more like a metal.

The research, published Oct. 26 in Nature, shows how to make a kind of material in which the molecular fragments are jumbled and disordered, but can still conduct electricity extremely well.

This goes against all of the rules we know about for conductivity. In principle, this opens up the design of a whole new class of materials that conduct electricity, are easy to shape, and are very robust in everyday conditions. 

Conductive materials are absolutely essential if you're making any kind of electronic device, whether it be an iPhone, a solar panel, or a television. By far the oldest and largest group of conductors is the metals: copper, gold, aluminum. Then, about 50 years ago, scientists were able to create conductors made out of organic materials, using a chemical treatment known as "doping," which sprinkles in different atoms or electrons through the material.

This is advantageous because these materials are more flexible and easier to process than traditional metals, but the trouble is they aren't very stable; they can lose their conductivity if exposed to moisture or if the temperature gets too high.

But fundamentally, both of these organic and traditional metallic conductors share a common characteristic. They are made up of straight, closely packed rows of atoms or molecules. This means that electrons can easily flow through the material, much like cars on a highway. In fact, scientists till now thought a material had to have these straight, orderly rows in order to conduct electricity efficiently.

Then some researchers began experimenting with some materials discovered years ago, but largely ignored. They strung nickel atoms like pearls into a string of of molecular beads made of carbon and sulfur, and began testing.

To the scientists' astonishment, the material easily and strongly conducted electricity. What's more, it was very stable. When they heated it, chilled it, exposed it to air and humidity, and even dripped acid and base on it, and nothing happened. That is enormously helpful for a device that has to function in the real world.

But the most striking thing was that the molecular structure of the material was disordered.

They tried to understand how the material can conduct electricity. After tests, simulations, and theoretical work, they think that the material forms layers, like sheets in a lasagna. Even if the sheets rotate sideways, no longer forming a neat lasagna stack, electrons can still move horizontally or vertically—as long as the pieces touch.

The end result is unprecedented for a conductive material.

The discovery suggests a fundamentally new design principle for electronics technology.

John Anderson, Intrinsic glassy-metallic transport in an amorphous coordination polymer, Nature (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05261-4. www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05261-4

Scientists discover exotic quantum state at room temperature

For the first time, physicists have observed novel quantum effects in a topological insulator at room temperature. This breakthrough, published as the cover article of the October issue of Nature Materials, came when  scientists explored a topological material based on the element bismuth.

The scientists have used topological insulators to demonstrate quantum effects for more than a decade, but this experiment is the first time these effects have been observed at room temperature. Typically, inducing and observing quantum states in topological insulators requires temperatures around absolute zero, which is equal to -459 degrees Fahrenheit (or -273 degrees Celsius).

This finding opens up a new range of possibilities for the development of efficient quantum technologies, such as spin-based electronics, which may potentially replace many current electronic systems for higher energy efficiency.

Nana Shumiya et al, Evidence of a room-temperature quantum spin Hall edge state in a higher-order topological insulator, Nature Materials (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41563-022-01304-3

Scientists warn in report that climate change has pushed Earth to 'code red'

Writing in the journal BioScience, an international coalition of  researchers says in a report published today that the Earth's vital signs have reached "code red" and that "humanity is unequivocally facing a climate emergency."

In the special report, "World Scientists' Warning of a Climate Emergency 2022," the authors note that 16 of 35 planetary vital signs they use to track climate change are at record extremes. The report's authors share new data illustrating increasing frequency of extreme heat events, rising global tree cover loss because of fires, and a greater prevalence of the mosquito-borne dengue virus. Further, they note that atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have reached 418 parts per million, the highest on record.

The report follows by five years the "World Scientists' Warning to Humanity: A Second Notice" published by Ripple and colleagues in BioScience and co-signed by more than 15,000 scientists in 184 countries.

As we can see by the annual surges in climate disasters, we are now in the midst of a major climate crisis, with far worse to come if we keep doing things the way we've been doing them, say the scientists. 

The report points out that in the three decades since more than 1,700 scientists signed the original "World Scientists' Warning to Humanity" in 1992, global greenhouse gas emissions have increased by 40%.

As Earth's temperatures are creeping up, the frequency or magnitude of some types of climate disasters may actually be leaping up.

William J Ripple et al, World Scientists' Warning of a Climate Emergency 2022, BioScience (2022). DOI: 10.1093/biosci/biac083

William J. Ripple et al, World Scientists' Warning to Humanity: A Second Notice, BioScience (2017) DOI: 10.1093/biosci/bix125

Doctors say 'fossil fuel addiction' kills, starves millions

Extreme weather from climate change triggered hunger in nearly 100 million people and increased heat deaths by 68% in vulnerable populations worldwide as the world's "fossil fuel addiction" degrades public health each year, doctors reported in a new study.

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Earth on track to warm above 2 degrees Celsius despite climate action

Government plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions aren't enough to avoid catastrophic global warming, with the planet on track to heat up between 2.1 and 2.9 degrees Celsius by the end of the century compared to pre-industrial times, according to a new report from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

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Bacteria could last on Mars for 280 million years

Researchers have discovered that certain hardy bacteria could survive in the hostile Martian conditions for millions of years, by testing the ability of a selection of ‘extremophile’ microbes — which can live in harsh environments — to survive in cold, radioactive conditions similar to those on Mars. The team found that, when dried and frozen, the Deinococcus radiodurans microbe could survive under the surface of Mars for 280 million years. The findings increase the chance that life could be found in future samples from the red planet.

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The scientists trying to rewind ageing

Research laboratories and biotech companies are applying cellular-reprogramming techniques to animals to see whether they can make them more youthful. The methods are based on the Nobel-prizewinning discovery in 2006 by Japanese scientist Shinya Yamanaka, who turned adult cells into stem cells that resemble embryonic cells. Some scientists say they have found evidence of the procedure rejuvenating the animals and their organs. “We think we can turn back the clock,” Richard Klausner, chief scientist of the company Altos Labs, told an audience at an event in June. Investors are throwing billions into these initiatives, despite a lack of consensus among scientists on what causes ageing and when ageing even begins.

Quantum pseudo-telepathy is the fact that in certain Bayesian games with asymmetric information, players who have access to a shared physical system in an entangled quantum state, and who are able to execute strategies that are contingent upon measurements performed on the entangled physical system, are able to achieve higher expected payoffs in equilibrium than can be achieved in any mixed-strategy Nash equilibrium of the same game by players without access to the entangled quantum system.

In their 1999 paper,[1] Gilles Brassard, Richard Cleve and Alain Tapp demonstrated that quantum pseudo-telepathy allows players in some games to achieve outcomes that would otherwise only be possible if participants were allowed to communicate during the game.

This phenomenon came to be referred to as quantum pseudo-telepathy,[2] with the prefix pseudo referring to the fact that quantum pseudo-telepathy does not involve the exchange of information between any parties. Instead, quantum pseudo-telepathy removes the need for parties to exchange information in some circumstances.

By removing the need to engage in communication to achieve mutually advantageous outcomes in some circumstances, quantum pseudo-telepathy could be useful if some participants in a game were separated by many light years, meaning that communication between them would take many years. This would be an example of a macroscopic implication of quantum non-locality.

Quantum pseudo-telepathy is generally used as a thought experiment to demonstrate the non-local characteristics of quantum mechanics. However, quantum pseudo-telepathy is a real-world phenomenon which can be verified experimentally. It is thus an especially striking example of an experimental confirmation of Bell inequality violations.

1. Brassard, Gilles; Cleve, Richard; Tapp, Alain (1999). "Cost of Exactly Simulating Quantum Entanglement with Classical Communication". Physical Review Letters. 83 (9): 1874–1877. arXiv:quant-ph/9901035. Bibcode:1999PhRvL..83.1874B. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.83.1874. S2CID 5837965.
2. ^ Brassard, Gilles; Broadbent, Anne; Tapp, Alain (2003). "Multi-party Pseudo-Telepathy". Algorithms and Data Structures. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Vol. 2748. pp. 1–11. arXiv:quant-ph/0306042. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-45078-8_1. ISBN 978-3-540-40545-0. S2CID 14390319.

Part 2

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Birds getting smaller, 'wingier' as planet warms, research finds

A UCLA-led study published today reveals that migratory birds across North America are getting smaller, a change the researchers attribute to the rapidly warming climate.

The link between gut bacteria and rheumatoid arthritis

Researchers have discovered that a unique bacteria found in the gut could be responsible for triggering rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in people already at risk for the autoimmune disease.

They established that  they can identify people who are at risk for RA based on serologic markers, and that these markers can be present in the blood for many years before diagnosis. 

The researchers  took the antibodies created by immune cells  from individuals whose blood markers showed they were at risk for the disease and mixed them with the feces of the at-risk individuals to find the bacteria that were tagged by the antibodies.

To further test their hypothesis, the researchers used animal models to host the newly discovered bacteria. Those experiments showed that not only did the bacteria cause the animal models to develop the blood markers found in individuals at risk for RA; but some of the models showed development of full-blown RA as well.

They confirmed that the T cells in the blood of people with RA will respond to these bacteria, but people who are otherwise healthy do not respond to these bacteria. 

If the unique species of bacteria is indeed driving the immune response that leads to RA in individuals already at risk for the disease. It might be possible to target the bacteria with medication to prevent that response from happening.

 Meagan E. Chriswell et al, Clonal IgA and IgG autoantibodies from individuals at risk for rheumatoid arthritis identify an arthritogenic strain of Subdoligranulum, Science Translational Medicine (2022). DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abn5166

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Social mammals evolve faster than solitary ones, according to new study of evolution

A groundbreaking new research project has analyzed the evolution of the placental mammal skull using 3D scans of 322 specimens housed in more than 20 international museum collections, and crafted a new model of how mammals diversified based on the emerging patterns.

By gathering data on the skulls of all major groups of placental mammals, both extinct and extant, the team of researchers have gained a unique look across time and taxa to trace the adaptive radiation (rapid evolution which fills a variety of ecological niches) of mammals and decipher what drove their incredible rise in the wake of the dinosaur extinction.

Although the earliest mammals existed alongside dinosaurs, they were relatively constrained in their diversity, with the largest mammals of the Mesozoic Era growing to be the size of a small dog. However, immediately after the extinction of the dinosaurs there is an incredible explosion of diversity among placental mammals with the earliest ancestors of today's living groups appearing in the fossil record within a few 100,000 years of this event.

However, this new study shows that after the initial burst of mammal diversification, the pace of evolution quickly slows down. Later bursts of faster evolution do occur, but their impacts get smaller and smaller through time, and never match the speed of that first peak. While uncertainty in the exact timing of these later bursts makes it is difficult to attribute them to specific events, they are likely caused by periods of rapid or sustained climate change and the global cooling through the Cenozoic era.

Part 1

The study also shows remarkable similarities, or convergence, among placental mammals with most mammal skull shapes evolving in much the same way throughout the fossil record. The biggest exceptions are whales and rodents.

What makes mammals evolve fast?

A key aim of this study is to better predict how different species may respond to rapid changes in their environment—the kind we are likely to see throughout the current planetary emergency. To do this the team investigated the characteristics of mammals that evolve fast and found the key influencers to be habitat, social behaviors, diet, parental care and time of activity.

Social structures hugely differentiate the rate which mammals evolve. Mammals which are social evolve much faster than those that are solitary. This is easily witnessed in ungulates which have evolved horns and antlers for fighting and social display. Mammals that live in aquatic environments, including whales but also manatees, seals and walruses are also fast evolvers. Herbivores also evolve faster than carnivores, probably because they track changes in plants and the environment more closely than meat eaters do.

Parental care also seems to be a big factor slowing down the speed of evolution. Precocial animals that require little primary care, such as horses and antelopes, evolve a lot faster than altricial mammals that are reliant on caregivers in infancy, such as primates. When animals are active also makes a difference, with species with a strict schedule, whether nocturnal or diurnal, evolving slower than animals without a fixed activity pattern.

Unexpectedly, the groups of mammals with the most species, rodents and bats, don't appear to evolve very quickly, suggesting that diversity in shape and diversity in number aren't closely linked in mammals.

Anjali Goswami et al, Attenuated evolution of mammals through the Cenozoic, Science (2022). DOI: 10.1126/science.abm7525

Part 2

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Heat waves driven by climate change have cost global economy trillions since the 1990s

Massive economic losses due to sweltering temperatures brought on by human-caused climate change are not just a problem for the distant future. A study in the journal Science Advances has found that more severe heat waves resulting from global warming have already cost the world economy trillions of dollars since the early 1990s—with the world's poorest and lowest carbon-emitting nations suffering the most.

Researchers combined newly available, in-depth economic data for regions worldwide with the average temperature for the hottest five-day period—a commonly used measurement of heat intensity—for each region in each year. They found that from 1992–2013, heat waves statistically coincided with variations in economic growth and that an estimated $16 trillion was lost to the effects of high temperatures on human health, productivity and agricultural output.

The findings stress the immediate need for policies and technologies that protect people during the hottest days of the year, particularly in the world's warmest, most economically vulnerable nations, the researchers report.

Christopher W. Callahan et al, Globally unequal effect of extreme heat on economic growth, Science Advances (2022). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.add3726. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.add3726

Physicists see light waves moving through a metal

When we encounter metals in our day-to-day lives, we perceive them as shiny. That's because common metallic materials are reflective at visible light wavelengths and will bounce back any light that strikes them. While metals are well suited to conducting electricity and heat, they aren't typically thought of as a means to conduct light.

But in the burgeoning field of quantum materials, researchers are increasingly finding examples that challenge expectations about how things should behave. In new research published in Science Advances, a research team describes a metal capable of conducting light. These results defy our daily experiences and common conceptions.

Researchers have been  exploring the optical properties of a semimetal material known as ZrSiSe. They  showed that ZrSiSe shares electronic similarities with graphene, the first so-called Dirac material discovered in 2004. ZrSiSe, however, has enhanced electronic correlations that are rare for Dirac semimetals.

Whereas graphene is a single, atom-thin layer of carbon, ZrSiSe is a three-dimensional metallic crystal made up of layers that behave differently in the in-plane and out-of-plane directions, a property known as anisotropy. It's sort of like a sandwich: One layer acts like a metal while the next layer acts like an insulator. Whereas graphene is a single, atom-thin layer of carbon, ZrSiSe is a three-dimensional metallic crystal made up of layers that behave differently in the in-plane and out-of-plane directions, a property known as anisotropy. "It's sort of like a sandwich: One layer acts like a metal while the next layer acts like an insulator.

They observed such zigzag movement of light, so-called hyperbolic waveguide modes, through ZrSiSe samples of varying thicknesses. Such waveguides can guide light through a material and here, result from photons of light mixing with electron oscillations to create hybrid quasiparticles called plasmons.

Although the conditions to generate plasmons that can propagate hyperbolically are met in many layered metals, it is the unique range of electron energy levels, called electronic band structure, of ZrSiSe that allowed the team to observe them in this material.

Yinming Shao et al. Infrared plasmons propagate through a hyperbolic nodal metal. Science Advances (2022). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.add6169

Rainbows will change their frequency because of climate change

Climate change will increase or decrease opportunities to see rainbows, according to a new study led by researchers.

The study's authors estimate that by 2100, the average land location on Earth will experience about 5% more days with rainbows than at the beginning of the 21st century.

Northern latitudes and very high elevations, where warming is predicted to lead to less snow and more rain, will experience the greatest gains in rainbow occurrence. However, places with reduced rainfall under climate change—such as the Mediterranean—are projected to lose rainbow days.

Rainbows are produced when water droplets refract sunlight. Sunlight and rainfall are therefore essential ingredients for rainbows. Human activities such as burning fossil fuels are warming the atmosphere, which changes patterns and amounts of rainfall and cloud cover.

Researchers  sorted through tens of thousands of photos taken around the world, labeled with the word "rainbow," to identify rainbows generated from the refraction of light by rain droplets.

Then, the scientists trained a rainbow prediction model based on rainbow photo locations and maps of precipitation, cloud cover, and sun angle. Finally, they applied their model to predict present day and future rainbow occurrences over global land areas. The model suggests that islands are rainbow hotspots.

Kimberly M. Carlson et al, Global rainbow distribution under current and future climates, Global Environmental Change (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2022.102604

Geomagnetic fields reveal the truth behind Biblical narratives

A joint study by TAU and the Hebrew University, involving 20 researchers from different countries and disciplines, has accurately dated 21 destruction layers at 17 archaeological sites in Israel by reconstructing the direction and/or intensity of the earth's magnetic field recorded in burnt remnants. The new data verify the Biblical accounts of the Egyptian, Aramean, Assyrian, and Babylonian military campaigns against the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah.

Should we move species to save them?

A proposed change to conservation rules in the United States could expand the use of a controversial tool to save species on the.... Assisted migration, in which an endangered species is relocated to a new environment, is a last resort for organisms being squeezed out of their historic ranges by climate change, habitat loss and threats from introduced species. But fears of unintended ecological consequences have limited its use so far. The US Fish and Wildlife Service is set to relax assisted-migration regulations, to allow experimental relocations outside a species’ current or recent range. Regulators “need to seriously consider conservation actions that are currently deemed too extreme”, says conservation biologist Avril Harder.

Monoclonal antibody prevents malaria infection

One dose of an antibody drug safely protected healthy, non-pregnant adults from malaria infection during an intense six-month malaria season in Mali, Africa, a National Institutes of Health clinical trial has found. The antibody was up to 88.2% effective at preventing infection over a 24-week period, demonstrating for the first time that a monoclonal antibody can prevent malaria infection in an endemic region. 

These study results suggest that a monoclonal antibody could potentially complement other measures to protect travelers and vulnerable groups such as infants, children, and pregnant women from seasonal malaria and help eliminate malaria from defined geographical areas.

Malaria is caused by Plasmodium parasites, which are transmitted to people through the bite of an infected mosquito. The mosquito injects the parasites in a form called sporozoites into the skin and bloodstream. These travel to the liver, where they mature and multiply. Then the mature parasite spreads throughout the body via the bloodstream to cause illness. P. falciparum is the Plasmodium species most likely to result in severe malaria infections, which—if not promptly treated—may lead to death.

The Phase 2 NIAID-USTTB trial evaluated the safety and efficacy of a one-time, intravenous infusion of a monoclonal antibody called CIS43LS. This antibody was previously shown to neutralize the sporozoites of P. falciparum in the skin and blood before they could infect liver cells. Researchers  isolated a naturally occurring form of this antibody from the blood of a volunteer who had received an investigational malaria vaccine, and then modified the antibody to extend the length of time it would remain in the bloodstream. And tested it.

  Kassoum Kayentao. Testing the safety and efficacy of anti-malaria monoclonal antibodies in African adults and children. Session 41—Progress in the discovery and clinical development of anti-malaria monoclonal antibodies. ASTMH 2022 Annual Meeting, Seattle. Monday, Oct. 31, 2022. 5:40 pm Pacific Time.

Kassoum Kayentao et al, Safety and efficacy of a monoclonal antibody against malaria in Mali. The New England Journal of Medicine DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2206966 (2022).

R.L. Wu et al, Low-dose subcutaneous or intravenous monoclonal antibody to prevent malaria. The New England Journal of Medicine DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2203067 (2022).

Photos suggest rhino horns have shrunk over past century, likely due to hunting

By scrutinizing over a century's worth of photos researchers have made the first ever measurements that show rhinoceros horns have gradually decreased in size over time.

The researchers measured the horns of 80 rhinos, photographed in profile view between 1886 and 2018. The photographs, held by the Rhino Resource Center—an online repository—included all five species of rhino: white, black, Indian, Javan and Sumatran. Horn length was found to have decreased significantly in all species over the last century.

Real rhino horns are so valuable that strict security protocols typically prevent researchers accessing them for study, so this is the first time that horn length has been measured over a long timeframe.

The researchers think rhino horns have become smaller over time due to intensive hunting. Rhino horns command a high price and are in demand both as a financial investment, and for their use in traditional medicines in China and Vietnam. The report is published today in the journal People and Nature.

Image-based analyses from an online repository provide rich information on long-term changes in morphology and human perceptions of rhinos, People and Nature (2022). DOI: 10.1002/pan3.10406

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Neurotransmitter Buildup May Be Why Your Brain Feels Tired

Performing complex cognitive tasks leads to glutamate accumulating in a key region of the brain, a study finds, which could explain why mental labor is so exhausting.

The fatigue that comes from performing demanding mental tasks may stem from a buildup of the neurotransmitter glutamate, according to research published recently in Current Biology.

Mental fatigue also appears to shift decision-making toward a kind of easy-button mode where the brain favours low-cost, immediate-reward options, according to researchers. So after a day of work, you [make] different choices compared to when you’re fresh in the morning. They think that this is due to glutamate accumulation.

The research has identified a potential marker of fatigue to study more widely in athletes or in people with disorders such as myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). 

Previous theories posited that the tiredness people experience from mental exertion stemmed from the depletion of energy reserves. But research hasn’t borne that out, the study authors write. 

The region that helps orchestrate cognitive control: the left lateral prefrontal cortex.  In addition to helping us undertake complex tasks like solving a Sudoku puzzle, playing chess, or designing an experiment, the left lateral cortex helps control the processes required to remember and manipulate information to solve those problems. It’s also part of the system that says, ‘Well, actually, maybe I don’t want to play chess. I want to watch Netflix and do something simpler. I want to relax.

That result of this work suggested to the researchers that mental fatigue could be the result of the glutamate diffusing out of neurons and building up this area of the brain, perhaps causing it to work less efficiently. 

https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(22)01111-3

 Groundbreaking bioelectronic devices: Bacterial sensors send a jolt of electricity when triggered

When you hit your finger with a hammer, you feel the pain immediately. And you react immediately. But what if the pain comes 20 minutes after the hit? By then, the injury might be harder to heal.

The same is true for the environment. If a chemical spill in a river goes unnoticed for 20 minutes, it might be too late to remediate.

Scientists thought living bioelectronic sensors can help. So they engineered bacteria to quickly sense and report on the presence of a variety of contaminants.

The study published in Nature journal shows the cells can be programmed to identify chemical invaders and report within minutes by releasing a detectable electrical current.

Such "smart" devices could power themselves by scavenging energy in the environment as they monitor conditions in settings like rivers, farms, industry and waste water treatment plants and to ensure water security, according to the researchers.

The researchers' proof-of-concept bacteria was Escherichia coli, and their first target was thiosulfate, a dichlorination agent used in water treatment that can cause algae blooms.

 Caroline Ajo-Franklin, Real-time bioelectronic sensing of environmental contaminants, Nature (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05356-y. www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05356-y

The environmental information communicated by these self-replicating bacteria can be customized by replacing a single protein in the eight-component, synthetic electron transport chain that gives rise to the sensor signal.

Planets can be an anti-aging formula for stars

Planets can force their host stars to act younger than their age, according to a new study of multiple systems using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. This may be the best evidence to date that some planets apparently slow down the aging process for their host stars.

A hot Jupiter like planet can potentially influence its host star by tidal forces, causing the star to spin more quickly than if it did not have such a planet. This more rapid rotation can make the host star more active and produce more X-rays, signs that are generally associated with stellar youth.

As with humans, however, there are many factors that can determine a star's vitality. All stars will slow their rotation and activity and undergo fewer outbursts as they age. Because it is challenging to precisely determine the ages of most stars, it has been difficult for astronomers to identify whether a star is unusually active because it is being affected by a close-in planet, making it act younger than it really is, or because it is actually young.

In previous cases there were some very intriguing hints, but now we finally have statistical evidence that some planets are indeed influencing their stars and keeping them acting young.

Nikoleta Ilic et al, Tidal star-planet interaction and its observed impact on stellar activity in planet-hosting wide binary systems, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2022). DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stac861. academic.oup.com/mnras/article … t/513/3/4380/6564186

Nikoleta Ilic et al, Tidal star-planet interaction and its observed impact on stellar activity in planet-hosting wide binary systems, arXiv (2022). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2203.13637

Part 1

The new Chandra study led by Ilic approached this problem by looking at double-star (or "binary") systems where the stars are widely separated but only one of them has a hot Jupiter orbiting it. Astronomers know that just like human twins, the stars in binary systems form at the same time. The separation between the stars is much too large for them to influence each other or for the hot Jupiter to affect the other star. This means they could use the planet-free star in the system as a control subject.

It's almost like using twins in a study where one twin lives in a completely different neighborhood that affects their health. By comparing one star with a nearby planet to its twin without one, we can study the differences in behavior of the same-aged stars.

The team used the amount of X-rays to determine how "young" a star is acting. They looked for evidence of planet-to-star influence by studying almost three dozen systems in X-rays (the final sample contained 10 systems observed by Chandra and six by ESA's XMM-Newton, with several observed by both). They found that the stars with hot Jupiters tended to be brighter in X-rays and therefore more active than their companion stars without hot Jupiters.

Part 2

Adverse effects of hand sanitisers

Despite many benefits of hand sanitiser, it also possesses some side effects

 if used extensively:

• Irrational use of hand sanitiser can lead to moisture loss on our skin. It can further result in dry, flaky, and cracked skin. Many studies have shown that dry skin is more prone to germ attack.
• Overusing hand sanitiser may cause red or discolored itchy patches on our skin. This patch is also called eczema.
• Direct exposure to hand sanitiser on the eye may result in irritation and redness of the eyes. If not washed immediately, it can damage the outer layer of our eyes.
• When we use hand sanitiser more, pathogens and germs start building up resistance to the drugs, putting us at risk for several infections.
• Hand sanitiser approved for use contains a high amount of alcohol (60-95%) and other ingredients. So if swallowed in a significant amount, they may show symptoms similar to alcohol poisoning.

Cats May Be Harboring Crime Scene DNA

 New research suggests that our little feline friends could be surprising sources of evidence when a crime has been committed.

Specifically, a cat's fur can retain enough DNA shed by a person who has been in their vicinity to serve as evidence of a fleeting meeting between the two. This could mean that, even though cats can't be questioned, they might still be able to help identify perpetrators of crime.

The new study is the first to examine how household pets can contribute to DNA transfer, so there's a lot more work to be done. But it represents a positive step towards the future collection of more comprehensive forensic evidence – which, obviously, would be really helpful police investigations.

The companion animals can be highly relevant in assessing the presence and activities of the inhabitants of the household, or any recent visitors to the scene.

In recent years, DNA analysis technology has become so sophisticated that even the most minute traces of genetic material can be relevant for a crime scene investigation. And we messy humans leave our DNA everywhere. Even just brief contact with an object can transfer traces of our genetic material. So-called touch DNA isn't enough on its own to positively identify a suspect, but it can be used to support other lines of evidence, or rule people out.

Touch DNA obtained from a surface doesn't even require the person to touch that surface, necessarily. It can be transported by a number of means, in skin cells or hairs that drift from a passing body, for example. Which is where household pets may play a role.

Researchers found detectable levels of DNA  in 80 percent of the cat swab samples. For all cats, there was no significant difference between the amount of DNA present, and the time since last contacted by a human, or length of hair on the cat.

https://www.fsigeneticssup.com/article/S1875-1768(22)00056-7/fulltext

Researchers find that 60% of home 'compostable' plastic doesn't fully break down and ends up in our soil instead

In a recent study, researchers have found that 60% of home-compostable plastics do not fully disintegrate in home compost bins, and inevitably end up in our soil. The study also found that citizens are confused about the labels of compostable and biodegradable plastics, leading to incorrect plastic waste disposal. These results highlight the need to revise and redesign this supposedly sustainable plastic waste management system.

Global plastic pollution remains one of the biggest environmental challenges of our time. A new OECD report shows that plastic consumption has quadrupled over the past 30 years. Globally, only 9% of plastic waste is recycled, while 50% ends up in landfills, 22% evades waste management systems, and 19% is incinerated.

In response to this pollution crisis, several countries have set targets to eliminate all single-use plastics and to make plastic packaging 100% recyclable, reusable, or compostable by 2025.

Compostable plastics are becoming more common as the demand for sustainable products grows. The main applications of compostable plastics include food packaging, bags; cups and plates, cutlery, and bio-waste bags. But there are some fundamental problems with these types of plastics. They are largely unregulated, and claims around their environmental benefits are often exaggerated.

Now, in a new study published in Frontiers in Sustainability, researchers   have found that consumers are often confused about the meaning of the labels of compostable plastics, and that a large portion of compostable plastics do not fully disintegrate under home composting conditions.

"Compostable plastic" describes a material that can undergo biological degradation in a compost site at a rate consistent with other known compostable materials, leaving no visible (toxic) residues.

However, compostable plastics are currently incompatible with most waste management systems. There exists no harmonized international standard for home compostable plastics. The fate of these plastics, when they are thrown away or sorted for recycling, is therefore either incineration or landfill.

Frontiers in Sustainability (2022). DOI: 10.3389/frsus.2022.942724

New research discovers new role for blood clotting protein in triggering inflammation

Scientists have discovered a new role for the blood clotting protein known as von Willebrand Factor (VWF), which could lead to the development of new treatments for patients with inflammatory and blood clotting disorders.

The research finds that VWF plays an important role in regulating immune responses at sites of blood vessel injury. This means that the protein has a newly discovered role in repairing damaged blood vessels in addition to its role in blood clotting.

Deficiency in VWF is called "von Willebrand Disease" and occurs in about 1 in 1,000 people in Ireland. People with this condition have increased risk of serious heavy bleeding. In contrast, people with high levels of the protein in their blood are at risk of developing serious blood clots. For example, very high VWF levels have been implicated in the unusual blood clots seen in the lungs of patients with severe COVID-19.

This research shows, for the first time, that VWF not only regulates blood clotting at the site of damage but also triggers local immune responses. Understanding this new biological role for VWF in regulating inflammatory responses may offer the opportunity to develop entirely new treatment options for patients with inflammatory and blood clotting disorders, such as von Willebrand Disease, deep vein thrombosis and myocardial infarction.

von Willebrand factor links primary hemostasis to innate immunity, Nature Communications (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-33796-7

How magnetism could help explain the Earth-moon system's formation

There are several theories about how Earth and its moon were formed, most involving a giant impact. Now scientists have analyzed the dynamics of fluids and electrically conducting fluids and concluded that Earth must have been magnetized either before the impact or as a result of it.

They claim this could help to narrow down the theories of the Earth-moon formation and inform future research into what really happened. Their work is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

This new idea is to point out that our theoretical understanding of the Earth's magnetic field today can actually tell us something about the very formation of the Earth-moon system. At first glance, this seems somewhat surprising, and previous theories had not recognized this potentially important connection.

This new assessment is based on the resilience of Earth's magnetic field, which is maintained by a rotating and electrically conducting fluid in the outer core, known as a geodynamo.

A peculiar property of the Earth's dynamo is that it can maintain a strong magnetic field but not amplify a weak one.

The scientists therefore concluded that if Earth's field were to get switched off, or even reduced to a very small level, it would not have the capability to kick in again.

It is this remarkable feature that allows us to make deductions about the history of the early Earth; including, possibly, how the moon was formed.

This work says any realistic model of the formation of the Earth–moon system must include magnetic field evolution. 

Fausto Cattaneo et al, How was the Earth-Moon system formed? New insights from the geodynamo, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2022). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2120682119

Why Does Climate Change Matter?

A scientist explains

Sunlight-absorbing organic compounds are produced on the wet surfac...

Heterogenous oxidation reactions can occur upon mixing chemicals that are in two different physical states, such a liquid and a gas; for example, in the atmosphere the reaction of gaseous nitrate (NO3) free radicals reaching the wet surface of aerosol particles containing aromatic pollutants from wildfires.

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Can cosmic inflation be ruled out?

A team of astrophysicists say that cosmic inflation—a point in the universe's infancy when space-time expanded exponentially, and what physicists really refer to when they talk about the "Big Bang"—can in principle be ruled out in an assumption-free way.

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Mars: Could life itself have made the planet uninhabitable?

Four billion years ago, the solar system was still young. Almost fully formed, its planets were starting to experience asteroid strikes a little less frequently. Our own planet could have become habitable as long as 3.9 billion years ago, but its primitive biosphere was much different than it is today. Life had not yet invented photosynthesis, which some 500 million years later would become its main source of energy. The primordial microbes—the common ancestors to all current life forms on Earth—in our planet's oceans therefore had to survive on another source of energy. They consumed chemicals released from inside the planet through its hydrothermal systems and volcanoes, which built up as gas in the atmosphere.

Lighting fires using ferro rods

Ferro Rod

Ferrocerium (also known in Europe as Auermetall) is a synthetic pyrophoric alloy of mischmetal (cerium, lanthanum, neodymium, other trace lanthanides and some iron – about 95% lanthanides and 5% iron) hardened by blending in oxides of iron and/or magnesium. When struck with a harder material, the mixture produces hot sparks that can reach temperatures of 3,315 °C (6,000 °F) when rapidly oxidized by the process of striking the rod. Striking both scrapes fragments off, exposing them to the oxygen in the air, and easily ignites them by friction heat due to cerium's remarkably low ignition temperature of ~170 °C (338 °F).
Its easy flammability gives ferrocerium many commercial applications, such as the ignition source for lighters, strikers for gas welding and cutting torches, deoxidization in metallurgy, and ferrocerium rods. Because of ferrocerium's ability to ignite in adverse conditions, rods of ferrocerium (also called ferro rods, spark rods, and flint-spark-lighters are commonly used as an emergency fire lighting device in survival kits.The ferrocerium is referred to as a "flint" in this case despite being dissimilar to natural flint as both are used in conjunction for fire lighting, albeit with opposite mechanical operation.