Nearly one-third of patients with TBI have marginal or inadequate health literacy

Low health literacy is a problem for a substantial proportion of people with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), according to research published in The Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation (JHTR).

Personal health literacy as an individual's ability to find, understand, and use information about health and health services to make well-informed health decisions for themselves and/or others.

Researchers  emphasize that health literacy can impact the comprehension, assimilation, and utilization of health care education and recommendations, and they urge clinicians to attend to health literacy when providing education and recommendations to individuals with TBI.

To help patients with TBI better understand health-related information, the researchers suggest:

• Ask patients their preferences for health information format (visual, verbal, or written)
• Provide frequent reminders of important health information and related recommendations
• Ask patients to express their understanding of the recommendations in their own words
• Deliver supplemental instructions via the e-health portal when feasible
• Involve care partners in key discussions (eg, those about physical therapy instructions, medication adherence, and healthy lifestyle behaviors)
• Flag marginal/inadequate health literacy in the electronic medical record so other clinicians can adapt their treatment planning and patient education

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Research has demonstrated that  individuals with adequate health literacy had better physical and mental health outcomes.

And that is why we bring all this information before you through science communication portals like ours.

Monique R. Pappadis et al, The Relationship of Health Literacy to Health Outcomes Among Individuals With Traumatic Brain Injury: A Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems Study, Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation (2023). DOI: 10.1097/HTR.0000000000000912

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Unveiling gender differences in cancer: New insights into genomic instability

Recent research casts a new light on the nuanced interplay between gender and cancer, uncovering significant sex-specific disparities in copy number alterations (CNA) across various cancer types.

Published in Health Data Science, this study delineates the intricate ways in which these alterations influence cancer biology, offering a beacon for future therapeutic strategies.

At the crux of cancer research, understanding the divergent paths this disease takes in men and women is paramount. These latest findings  delve into the heart of this divergence, revealing distinct genomic imbalances that underscore the importance of a gender-tailored approach in cancer prognosis and treatment.

The study unveils pronounced differences in genomic instability, particularly in cancers of the kidney, lung, liver, and head and neck, spotlighting the profound impact of sex-biased CNAs on gene expression and their potential as prognostic biomarkers. Remarkably, over 60% of genes within these CNA regions are significantly swayed by these alterations, with approximately 14% of their mRNA abundance being influenced by both gender and CNA.

Insights into these gender-specific genetic alterations pave the way for more personalized cancer care, highlighting the necessity of integrating gender considerations into prognostic models and therapeutic interventions.

Further validating its methodology, the study corroborates the robustness of the CNGPLD tool over traditional statistical approaches, enhancing the accuracy of detecting sex-specific genetic differences. Notably, the research expands its implications beyond the widely acknowledged sex disparities in lung and kidney cancers, identifying critical sex-biased CNA regions in head and neck cancer and lower-grade glioma.

Researchers envision a future where these findings catalyze the development of gender-specific biomarkers and therapeutic avenues, reinforcing the commitment to personalized medicine.

Chenhao Zhang et al, Identification and Analysis of Sex-Biased Copy Number Alterations, Health Data Science (2024). DOI: 10.34133/hds.0121

People with diabetes, atrial fibrillation (a common type of irregular heart rhythm) and treated high blood pressure were at highest risk of going on to develop heart and circulatory diseases.
Nearly half of those at highest risk smoked or were living with obesity. Modeling showed that if all current smokers living with obesity were supported to lose weight and quit smoking, the mean 10-year risk in this group would fall from nearly 22% to around 16%.

 Kelvin P Jordan et al, Determining cardiovascular risk in patients with unattributed chest pain in UK primary care: an electronic health record study, European Journal of Preventive Cardiology (2023). DOI: 10.1093/eurjpc/zwad055

Researchers discover evolutionary 'tipping point' in fungi

Scientists have found a "tipping point" in the evolution of fungi that throttles their growth and sculpts their shapes. The findings, published in the journal Cell Reports, demonstrate how small changes in environmental factors can lead to huge changes in evolutionary outcomes.

Fungi are nature's great composters. They wait within the forest floor  to feed on fallen trees and autumn leaves, releasing essential nutrients from these plants back into the Earth.

Although fungi often bring to mind mushroom caps, fungi also have underground "roots" called mycelia. Mycelia are made up of thousands of interconnected, microscopic, finger-like cells called hyphae that grow into vast networks. Hyphae worm their way through the soil by growing from their tips. To do so, they inflate themselves, similar to the long balloons used to make balloon animals.

Their elongated forms allow hyphae to locate and consume nutrients within the soil. But not all hyphae are the same shape: some have rounded tips, while others are pointed. The hyphae of water molds—fungus-like pathogens that cause blight in crops—are particularly pointy.

A major challenge in biology is to identify the specific evolutionary factors that determine the shape—or form—of a given organism.

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To understand the reasons for different shapes of hyphae, researchers combined theory and experiments to investigate fungi and water molds from across nature. They first employed physics-based models of inflationary tip growth to determine all "possible" shapes of hyphae. Surprisingly, the shapes of "actual" hyphae found in nature assumed only a small subset of the possible shapes.

The researchers hypothesized that the limited shapes observed in nature reflected "survival of the fittest," and that the many possible shapes not observed in real fungi were, for some reason, weaker evolutionary rejects. To explore this idea, they examined the growth rate of hyphae with different shapes to create a fitness landscape for hyphae.

Their eureka moment came when they realized that the shapes of hyphae were intimately connected to their ability to grow fast.

A fitness landscape is like a topographic map that visualizes the evolution of an organism: every species wanders through its fitness landscape by testing whether or not random mutations in its genes increase its growth rate, or fitness. A species only stops its restless wandering when a new mutation decreases its fitness—that is, when it is at a fitness peak.

However, researchers found that fitness landscapes can be much more rich than a system of peaks and valleys. In fact, they found that the fitness landscape for hyphae contained an overhanging cliff, or tipping point, and that this acts as a barrier to evolution, strongly limiting the shapes of fungal hyphae. Accordingly, they predicted that hyphae with shapes near the brink of the tipping point would be particularly vulnerable to small environmental, chemical, or genetic changes.

The researchers tested their prediction by treating fungi near the tipping point with small amounts of chemicals that affected hyphal growth. They used one chemical that reduces pressure within the hyphae and another derived from a sea sponge that blocks the hypha's ability to deliver cellular components to the tip of the cell. Both treatments caused the same dramatic effect: the hyphae elongated much more slowly and with a strange nub shape not found in nature.

These findings explain hyphal shape diversity in an enormous, diverse, and important group of species. More broadly, they also demonstrate an important new evolutionary principle: that fitness landscapes can have instabilities, or tipping points, that impose strict constraints on complex traits, like biological form. 

The researchers think that their results have critical implications for our understanding of many ecological and evolutionary systems. For example, those species whose evolution is subject to a tipping point may be the most vulnerable to the gradual increase in temperature caused by climate change.

Their findings could also aid in the development of new antimicrobials against disease-causing fungi by identifying vulnerabilities in their growth associated with an evolutionary tipping point.

A fitness landscape instability governs the morphological diversity of tip-growing cells, Cell Reports (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.113961. www.cell.com/cell-reports/full … 2211-1247(24)00289-4

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Planting trees in wrong places heats the planet: Study

Planting trees in the wrong places can actually contribute to global warming, scientists said recently, but a new map identifies the best locations to regrow forests and cool the planet.

Trees soak up carbon dioxide and restoring areas of degraded woodlands or planting saplings to boost forest cover is one tool in the fight against climate change.

But in some cases, more trees means less sunlight is reflected back from the earth's surface and more heat is absorbed by the planet, according to a study in the journal Nature Communications.

There are some places where putting trees back leads to net climate negative outcomes. Scientists had already understood that restoring tree cover led to changes in albedo—the amount of solar radiation bounced back off the planet's surface—but didn't have the tools to account for it.

Using new maps, researchers were able to consider, for the first time, the cooling effect from trees and the warming caused by decreased albedo.

They found that projects that didn't factor albedo into the equation overestimated the climate benefit of additional trees by between 20 to 80 percent.

But the maps also provide the tools to help policymakers identify where best to funnel scarce resources for maximum climate impact.

There's also lots of places still where restoring tree cover is a great idea for climate change  Scientists are  just trying to help people find those spots.

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Albedo is highest in the frozen areas of the world, and mirror-like clean snow and ice with high levels of albedo reflect up to 90 percent of the sun's energy.

It is one of Earth's major cooling agents, along with lands and oceans that absorb excess heat and planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.

Many countries have promised to plant billions of trees as a bulwark against global warming but not all efforts deliver for the planet equally, this study showed.

Moist, tropical environments like the Amazon and Congo Basin boasted high carbon storage and low changes in albedo, making them ideal locations for restoring forest cover.

The opposite was true in temperate grasslands and savanna.

Even projects in the best locations were probably delivering 20 percent less cooling than estimated when changes to 'albedo' were taken into account.

Restoring forests delivered undeniable benefits for people and the planet, such as supporting ecosystems and providing clean air and water, among many.

(But) we can't put trees everywhere. We don't have enough money or time or resources or people or seedlings.

And so it's really about making the most of limited investments and getting the greatest climate return per hectare of investment, according to researchers.

  Natalia Hasler et al, Accounting for albedo change to identify climate-positive tree cover restoration, Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-46577-1

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Strange Metals
Scientists have discovered a new class of materials called “strange metals,” which are characterized by confusing electronic behavior. The class includes a dozen or more materials, such as some copper oxide or iron-based superconductors and twisted bilayer graphene under certain conditions.

How it works: Regular metals are held together by chemical bonds between their atoms. The atoms share negatively charged electrons, and in some cases, the outermost electrons move from one atom to the next, carrying their negative charge with them. But in strange metals, electrons seem to lose their individual identities, acting more like a soup in which all the particles are connected through quantum entanglement.

What the experts say: "Understanding these metals may help us develop superconductors that might operate at or close to room temperature, potentially transforming power grids, quantum computing and medical devices,” writes Douglas Natelson, professor of physics at Rice University.

confusing electronic behavior.

Cancer Killers
Scientists have discovered a gene that might turn white blood cells into cancer cell eating machines. When researchers activated a gene called RAC in human macrophages (white blood cells that naturally engulf harmful substances) in the laboratory, the macrophages turned ravenous for human cancer cells.

Why this matters: A new cancer treatment in early-stage human trials reprograms macrophages to go after cancer calls, but the lead researchers were noticing the macrophages only “nibbling” away at the cancer cells. Activating the RAC gene in the macrophages might supercharge the cells’ “cannibalism” on cancer cells. Researchers hope this kind of therapy, called CAR-M, will be able to target solid tumors, such as breast or lung cancers.

macrophages turned ravenous for human cancer cells.

What the experts say: “This is certainly a really exciting translation between an observation of basic biology and applying it to how you could engineer a mammalian immune cell,” says Nathan Singh, an oncologist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Hypervitaminosis A refers to the toxic effects of ingesting too much preformed vitamin A

Diet – Liver is high in vitamin A. The liver of certain animals, including the polar bear, bearded seal, fish and walrus, are particularly toxic (see Liver (food) § Poisoning). It has been estimated that consumption of 500 grams (18 oz) of polar bear liver would result in a toxic dose for a human.

Semi-transparent camera allows for eye tracking without obstructing the view

A team of engineers has developed a nearly transparent camera that can be used for eye tracking without obstructing the view. The team has published a paper describing their camera and its performance as an eye tracker on the arXiv preprint server.

Using technology to track eye movement is beneficial in applications such as virtual reality helmets, automotive assistance devices and even advertising tracking. But the technology has remained stagnant due to one major problem—devices in front of the eyes obstruct the user's view. In this new effort, the researchers in Spain have overcome this problem by developing a camera that is nearly invisible.
To create their camera, the research team built a photodetector by adding small dots of lead sulfide to sheets of graphene. When struck by a photon, the dots emit electrons that flow across the layer of carbon atoms, producing a current. And because the materials used to create the photodetector are so small, they are nearly invisible to the naked eye—in tests, it was capable of allowing 95% of light to pass through it.

Further testing involved projecting greyscale patterns onto the photodetector and comparing the output with a standard image sensor. The researchers say the results are promising. They also noted that it had a refresh rate of 400Hz, approximately twice that needed for producing reliable imagery. They then simulated eye tracking by projecting a small dark dot onto the photodetector and used the output to track the action as it occurred.

In practice, the camera could potentially be applied to standard eyeglasses, or better yet, contact lenses. The researchers note, however, that more work is required before their camera could be used for such applications. The photodetector does not have a lens, for example, which means it only works with projected images—and there is the matter of processing imagery and adding a power source for the processor.

Gabriel Mercier et al, Semi-Transparent Image Sensors for Eye-Tracking Applications, arXiv (2024). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2403.08297

A new window coating blocks heat, not view

Windows welcome light into interior spaces, but they also bring in unwanted heat. A new window coating blocks heat-generating ultraviolet and infrared light and lets through visible light, regardless of the sun's angle. The coating can be incorporated onto existing windows or automobiles and can reduce air-conditioning cooling costs by more than one-third in hot climates.

The coating maintains functionality and efficiency whatever the sun's position in the sky.

Seongmin Kim et al, Wide-angle spectral filter for energy-saving windows designed by quantum annealing-enhanced active learning, Cell Reports Physical Science (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrp.2024.101847

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How The Internet Travels Across Oceans

Hair from tiger thought to be extinct found by conservationist on Java

This is good news for Tiger lovers

 

A team of environmentalists and zoologists affiliated with several institutions in Indonesia has confirmed that a tiger species once thought extinct is still living on the island of Java. In their study, published in the journal Oryx, the group conducted a DNA analysis of a hair found by a conservationist on a plantation on the island. Prior research has shown that the Java tiger once flourished on the island. The tiger is a subspecies of the more well-known Sumatran tiger. But as humans encroached on their territory, leaving little land for the tigers, their numbers began dwindling. After farmers began shooting them for killing livestock, they disappeared completely. In 2008, the species was declared extinct. In this new effort, the research team has found evidence that the declaration may have been premature. Over the past several decades, there have been reports by nonscientists of tigers still living on the island; some even suggested that livestock had been killed by one or more of them. But the sightings were unconfirmed. Then, five years ago, a conservationist working on the island saw what he believed to be a Java tiger on a western part of the island near a plantation. He reported this to a researcher on the island who visited the site and found footprints and claw marks on shrubbery and also a single hair stuck to a fence. A later in-depth interview with the conservationist led the researchers to believe the hair was indeed from a Java tiger. They tested it genetically and compared the results with samples from a museum specimen of a Javan tiger collected in 1930, which showed them to be closely matched. Based on the genetic evidence, the researchers concluded that the hair had come from a Java tiger. The finding shows that the tiger did not go extinct when thought and members of its species had been living on the island, but whether Javan tigers are still there needs to be confirmed with further genetic and field studies.

Wirdateti Wirdateti et al, Is the Javan tiger Panthera tigris sondaica extant? DNA analysis of a recent hair sample, Oryx (2024). DOI: 10.1017/S0030605323001400

Aquagenic Urticaria - commonly known as "water allergy".

Aquagenic urticaria, which has only ever been reported approximately 100 times, causes hives to form when a person's skin comes into contact with water, such as in the shower and pool - and sometimes even from a person's own sweat. 

The first documented mention of water allergy dates to the late 20th century, with case reports detailing the perplexing experiences of people afflicted by water-induced hives.

Since then, sporadic cases have dotted medical literature, contributing to our evolving understanding of this ailment. Recent trends suggest a gradual increase in cases, driven by heightened awareness among healthcare professionals and improved diagnostic capabilities.

This rare affliction transforms the seemingly innocuous act of water contact into a tormenting ordeal, afflicting people such as 22-year-old Loren Montefusco from South Carolina, US.

At its core, water allergy is believed to arise from an abnormal immune response triggered by water's interaction with the skin. Think of your immune system as a vigilant guardian, always on alert for invaders. In aquagenic urticaria, water somehow triggers an alarm response. This leads to the release of substances like histamine – causing hives, welts and itching.

Researchers have pinpointed mutations in specific genes associated with water allergy, such as the FABP5 gene, crucial for skin barrier function. Mutations in this gene disrupt the skin's ability to repel water, activating an inflammatory response.

Current estimates suggest that fewer than 100 cases have been reported globally. This underscores its status as one of the rarest form of hives.

Managing this allergy presents a formidable challenge for patients and healthcare providers alike.

Conventional allergy treatments (antihistamines, corticosteroids) offer temporary relief but may not address the underlying cause.

Experimental therapies such as phototherapy (exposing the skin to ultraviolet light) aim to calm the immune response and reduce inflammation. This therapy has shown some promise in alleviating symptoms.

Biologic agents, so-called "large-molecule drugs" made from proteins, target specific immune pathways implicated in allergic reactions. They offer a more targeted therapeutic approach that holds potential for long-term symptom management.

Avoiding water is tricky and involves careful planning, including alternative ways to stay clean.
Using protective barriers, such as emollient creams, can help create a layer between the skin and water, which may help reduce symptom severity and frequency.
investigation into immune system mechanisms underlying aquagenic urticaria is essential to finding new treatments.

Continued clinical trials and studies are crucial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of emerging therapies, such as phototherapy and biologic agents, in managing aquagenic urticaria. Unfortunately, these studies are limited by patient numbers.

https://theconversation.com/water-allergy-a-debilitating-but-thankf...

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Study reports that age is the driving force in changing how stars move within galaxies

Galaxies start life with their stars rotating in an orderly pattern but in some the motion of stars is more random. Until now, scientists have been uncertain about what causes this—possibly the surrounding environment or the mass of the galaxy itself.

A new study, published in MNRAS (Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society), has found that the most important factor is neither of these things. It shows the tendency of the stars to have random motion is driven mostly by the age of the galaxy—things just get messy over time.

When researchers did the analysis, they found that age, consistently, whichever way we slice or dice it, is always the most important parameter.

Once you account for age, there is essentially no environmental trend, and it's similar for mass.

"If you find a young galaxy it will be rotating, whatever environment it is in, and if you find an old galaxy, it will have more random orbits, whether it's in a dense environment or a void.

Young galaxies are star-forming super-factories, while in older ones, star formation ceases.

We do know that age is affected by environment. If a galaxy falls into a dense environment, it will tend to shut down the star formation. So galaxies in denser environments are, on average, older.

The point of their analysis is that it's not living in dense environments that reduces their spin, it's the fact that they're older.

Part 1

Our own galaxy, the Milky Way, still has a thin star forming disk, so is still considered a high spin rotational galaxy.

"But when we look at the Milky Way in detail, we do see something called the Milky Way thick disk. It's not dominant, in terms of light, but it is there and those look to be older stars, which may well have been heated from the thin disk at earlier times, or born with more turbulent motion in the early universe.

Scott Croom et al, The SAMI Galaxy Survey: galaxy spin is more strongly correlated with stellar population age than mass or environment, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2024). DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stae458. academic.oup.com/mnras/article … 0.1093/mnras/stae458

Part 2

Researchers find a simple way to harvest more 'blue energy' from waves

Waves pack a powerful punch. Now, we are one step closer to capturing the energy behind the ocean's constant ebb and flow with an improved "blue energy" harvesting device.

Researchers report in ACS Energy Letters that simply repositioning the electrode—from the center of a see-sawing liquid-filled tube to the end where the water crashes with the most force—dramatically increased the amount of wave energy that could be harvested.

The tube-shaped wave-energy harvesting device improved upon by the researchers is called a liquid–solid triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG). The TENG converts mechanical energy into electricity as water sloshes back and forth against the inside of the tube. One reason these devices aren't yet practical for large-scale applications is their low energy output.

aimed to increase a liquid–solid TENG's energy harvesting ability by optimizing the location of the energy-collecting electrode.

The researchers used 16-inch clear plastic tubes to create two TENGs. Inside the first device, they placed a copper foil electrode at the center of the tube—the usual location in conventional liquid–solid TENGs.

For the new design, they inserted a copper foil electrode at one end of the tube. The researchers then filled the tubes a quarter of the way with water and sealed the ends. A wire connected the electrodes to an external circuit.

Placing both devices on a benchtop, the rocker moved water back and forth within the tubes and generated electrical currents by converting mechanical energy—the friction from water hitting or sliding against the electrodes—into electricity. Compared to the conventional design, the researchers found that the optimized design increased the device's conversion of mechanical energy to electrical current by 2.4 times.

In another experiment, the optimized TENG blinked an array of 35 LEDs on and off as water entered the section of the tube covered by the electrode and then flowed away, respectively.

The researchers say these demonstrations lay the foundation for larger scale blue-energy harvesting from ocean waves and show their device's potential for other applications like wireless underwater signaling communications.

Space Volume Effect in Tube Liquid–Solid Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Output Performance Enhancement, ACS Energy Letters (2024). DOI: 10.1021/acsenergylett.4c00072. pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acsenergylett.4c00072

NASA wants to come up with a new clock for the moon, where seconds tick away faster

NASA wants to come up with an out-of-this-world way to keep track of time, putting the moon on its own  clock.

It's not quite a time zone like those on Earth, but an entire frame of time reference for the moon. Because there's less gravity on the moon, time there moves a tad quicker—58.7 microseconds every day—compared to Earth. So the White House Tuesday instructed NASA and other U.S agencies to work with international agencies to come up with a new moon-centric time reference system.

An atomic clock on the moon will tick at a different rate than a clock on Earth. It makes sense that when you go to another body, like the moon or Mars that each one gets its own heartbeat.

So everything on the moon will operate on the speeded-up moon time.

The last time NASA sent astronauts to the moon they wore watches, but timing wasn't as precise and critical as it now with GPS, satellites and intricate computer and communications systems. Those microseconds matter when high tech systems interact.

Last year, the European Space Agency said Earth needs to come up with a unified time for the moon, where a day lasts 29.5 Earth days. The International Space Station, being in low Earth orbit, will continue to use coordinated universal time or UTC. But just where the new space time kicks in is something that NASA has to figure out. Even Earth's time speeds up and slows down, requiring leap seconds.

The White House wants NASA to come up with a preliminary idea by the end of the year and have a final plan by the end of 2026.

NASA is aiming to send astronauts around the moon in September 2025 and land people there a year later.

Source:  The Associated Press and other News agencies

From polar bears to groundwater, nature is riddled with 'forever chemicals'

They didn't exist a century ago but today PFAS "forever chemicals" contaminate the environment from groundwater to Antarctic snow to turtle eggs, and concern over their possible toxicity is growing.

Lawsuits and regulations targeting per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are multiplying, with France becoming the latest jurisdiction to consider tough new curbs on these long-life substances.

On Thursday, a French legislator will introduce a bill to address what he calls the health "emergency" posed by exposure to PFAS in the environment.

Widely used in everyday items, highly durable, and very slow to break down, PFAS have been detected in water, air, fish and soil in the remotest corners of the globe.

No ecosystem has escaped this contamination. 

These molecules—the best known of which gave birth to non-stick Teflon—were developed after World War II to give packaging, paints and coatings exceptional resistance to water or heat.

This very quality turned out to be a particular problem for oceans. Being persistent compounds—which do not degrade and are mobile—they end up in the marine environment, which always ultimately is the receptacle for contamination.

A study published in January by the American Chemical Society, a nonprofit scientific organisation, said that PFAS had ben detected in the Arctic Ocean at a depth of 3,000 feet (914 metres).

IFREMER recently examined the diets of two fish—sea bass and sole—in the Seine estuary of France and discovered PFAS riddled throughout the food chain.

From the tiny zooplankton eaten by shellfish, which are consumed by smaller fish and ultimately larger predators, PFAS lurked at every step along the way.

A 2022 study in Australia established the transmission of PFAS from female turtles to their unborn offspring, while other research found traces in polar bear livers and birds, seals and other animals.

A wealth of scientific research has demonstrated the pervasive reach of PFAS in nature, but possible harms to people and the planet have been harder to definitively establish.

More than 20 years ago, a study in the US concluded that once inside the body PFAS may be able to reach the brain of vertebrates and affect the nervous system.

Part 1

Studies have since shown that exposure to some PFAS—there are at least 4,000 chemical compounds in the family—may be linked to serious health effects in humans and animals.
The European Union is considering a blanket Europe-wide ban on PFAS from as early as 2026 while New Zealand will outlaw their use in cosmetic products by 2027.

In April, a US court approved a litigation settlement in which the conglomerate 3M agreed to pay billions to test for and filter out PFAS in public water supply.

In February, US regulators said materials containing PFAS would no longer be used to package microwave popcorn or other greasy foods.
Establishing the possible long-term harms of PFAS exposure is difficult when considering such a kaleidoscope of chemicals, many of which are industry secrets.
Those known to scientists are "only the tip of the iceberg".
Examining the full spectrum of chemicals is critical to better understanding their impact on nature.
A wild organism is never exposed to a single PFAS, but to a cocktail of PFAS.

Source: AFP and other news agencies

Why do we need a leap second? A physicist explains what is messing with the Earth's rotation
Meltwater from the polar ice caps, combined with the shifting spin of Earth's core, is messing with the Earth's rotation to the point that we might need to adjust for a "negative leap second."

The effects of climate change can be seen everywhere, in the global refugee crisis, an even worse allergy season and, now, even in the very concept of time.

Scientists have recently pinpointed how meltwater from the polar ice caps is throwing off Earth's rotation to the point that those who really care about precision timekeeping might have to implement a "negative leap second."

Does that mean our days will suddenly be 25 hours long? No, but even a change of one second is significant in a world that is built on digital systems, like GPS, that rely on precise timekeeping to operate correctly.

The core, the crust, oceans, climate change, glacial isostatic adjustment –– all of these factors [are] contributing to a change in the Earth's rate of rotation at a measurable pace, something that would accumulate a second per year or something like that.

There are two primary methods of timekeeping. Universal Coordinated Time (UTC), also known as astronomical time because it's based on Earth's rotation and position among the stars, has long been used as the global standard for clocks and timekeeping. It's what time zones are based on and what most people think of as "time."

However, Earth's rotation is not exactly a steady drumbeat. It's actually always changing as the sun, moon and Earth's gravitational forces, as well as Earth's tides and even the rotation of its core, play off one another.

To account for this, timekeepers—requiring a more exacting standard—started using atomic time, or International Atomic Time, to come up with the exact speed that our clocks tick. This measure varies so little that it might as well be static. In 1958, the international time keeping community agreed to synchronize both UTC and TAI. However, in 1972, scientists noticed that Earth's rotation was starting to slow ever so slightly, effectively making the days slightly longer. As a result, atomic and astronomical time began to diverge slowly but steadily. To keep them in sync—an increasing necessity as more and more digital systems, like GPS satellites, require even more exacting levels of precision—the "leap second" was created.

there are several factors responsible for the declining pace of Earth's rotation, including what is called tidal locking.

The moon pulls on Earth, Earth pulls on the moon and over time the effect of that is for the Earth to slow down in a minuscule—like one part in 10 billion—but non negligible way.

Part 1

Glacial melt that has been taking place since the Ice Age and, more recently, polar ice melt stemming from manmade climate change have also contributed to the Earth's slowing rotation.

In both cases, the meltwater disperses, creating a mass of water around the equator, while, at the same time, the land previously trapped under ice at the poles springs back up.

Those two forces together make it more difficult for the Earth to rotate, meaning the UTC day is technically longer. This phenomenon has been observed for decades.

"As the glaciers melt and as Earth slowly springs back and as mass that was once at the poles gets redistributed to the equators—because liquid spreads more easily, liquid responds to being spun—the rotation rate of the Earth slows down.

However, more recently scientists have discovered that Earth is not slowing down anymore. In fact, it's starting to speed up ever so slightly. Leap seconds were added almost every year between 1972 and 1999 to adjust for Earth's slowing rotation. But there have only been four added in the last 23 years, and the last time a leap second was added was in 2016.

What scientists have found is that although climate change is "applying the brakes", the liquid part of Earth's core is also slowing down, affecting how fast the surface of the planet spins.

"The core of the Earth, the liquid part, rotates too, and it sometimes just experiences random changes, random fluctuations.

Right now, the core of the Earth in the last few decades has randomly slowed down and by a complicated series of interactions between the liquid part of the core and the mantle and the crust, or the solid part of the Earth, the crust is spinning faster. This random change in the core's rotation, specifically a slowing down in the rate of rotation, translates into a speeding up of the Earth's surface rotating, which would have the effect of shortening days.

Part 2

In a few years, it could result in implementing a negative leap second to keep atomic and astronomical time in sync, although the impacts of polar ice melt could end up delaying our need to shift the clocks from 2026 to 2029.

Would adjusting the clocks by a second make that much of a difference? It could impact global systems in a major way.

Although our computer infrastructure is equipped to handle positive leap seconds, essentially none of our networks or web services are equipped for negative leap seconds.

They don't know how to go from 12:00:03 to 12:00:02. This is essentially on par with the Y2K bug where you had to reprogram everything to allow for four-digit years.

Similar to Y2K,  it likely wouldn't actually end up causing catastrophe. Although it could impact the precision timekeeping community and atomic time, the alternative to letting "a couple of seconds float" is "reprogramming the internet." In that case, a little lost time might not be a bad thing.

A reason for right- or left-handedness
Researchers examined rare genetic variants from a database of more than 350,000 individuals’ genetic data to hunt for clues for what influences handedness in humans. Their findings implicate tubulins — proteins that build cells’ internal skeletons.

The results, published on 2 April in Nature Communications1, were obtained specifically at protein-coding parts of the DNA, and add to previous studies that linked genetic variations with handedness .
During the embryonic stage of human development, the left and right brain hemispheres get wired differently, which in part determines innate behaviours, such as where we lean when we hug someone, on which side of our mouth we tend to chew our food and, most prominently, which hand is our dominant one. This turns out to be the left hand for around 10% of the human population.

Because most people have a clear preference for one hand over the other, finding genes linked to handedness can provide clues for the genetic basis of the brain’s left–right asymmetry.
Previous studies looking at genome-wide data from UK Biobank2 found 48 common genetic variants associated with left-handedness, which were mostly in non-coding regions of the DNA. These included sections that could control the expression of genes related to tubulins. These proteins assemble into long, tube-like filaments called microtubules, which control the shapes and movements of cells.
Part 1

But Clyde Francks, a geneticist and neuroscientist at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, and his team looked for genetic variants in protein-coding sequences. Their analysis of 313,271 right-handed and 38,043 left-handed individuals’ genetic data, from the UK Biobank, uncovered variants in a tubulin gene, dubbed TUBB4B, which were 2.7 times more common in left-handed people than in right-handers.

Microtubules could influence handedness because they form cilia — hair-like protrusions in cell membranes — which can direct fluid flows in an asymmetric way during development.

In spite of affecting only a small proportion of the people in this considerable data set, rare variants “can give clues to developmental mechanisms of brain asymmetry in everyone”, these findings pave the way for future work to determine how microtubules, which themselves have a molecular ‘handedness’, can give an “asymmetric twist” to early brain development.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-46277-w?utm_source=Live+...

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Part 2

Cancer-busting vaccines are coming: here's how they work

Scientists identify rare gene variants which confer up to 6-fold increase in risk of obesity

A study led by Medical Research Council (MRC) researchers has identified genetic variants in two genes that have some of the largest impacts on obesity risk discovered to date.

The discovery of rare variants in the genes BSN and APBA1 are some of the first obesity-related genes identified for which the increased risk of obesity is not observed until adulthood.

The researchers used UK Biobank and other data to perform whole exome sequencing of body mass index (BMI) in over 500,000 individuals.

They found that genetic variants in the gene BSN, also known as Bassoon, can raise the risk of obesity as much as six times and was also associated with an increased risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and of type 2 diabetes.

The Bassoon gene variants were found to affect 1 in 6,500 adults.

Previous research has identified several obesity-associated gene variants conferring large effects from childhood, acting through the leptin-melanocortin pathway in the brain, which plays a key role in appetite regulation.

However, while both BSN and APBA1 encode proteins found in the brain, they are not currently known to be involved in the leptin-melanocortin pathway. In addition, unlike the obesity genes previously identified, variants in BSN and APBA1 are not associated with childhood obesity. 

This has led the researchers to think that they may have uncovered a new biological mechanism for obesity, different to those we already know for previously identified obesity gene variants.

Based on published research and laboratory studies they report in this paper, which indicate that BSN and APBA1 play a role in the transmission of signals between brain cells, the researchers suggest that age-related neurodegeneration could be affecting appetite control.

For this study, the researchers worked closely with AstraZeneca to replicate their findings in existing cohorts using genetic data from individuals from Pakistan and Mexico. This is important as the researchers can now apply their findings beyond individuals of European ancestry.

If the researchers can better understand the neural biology of obesity, it could present more potential drug targets to treat obesity in the future.

Protein-truncating variants in BSN are associated with severe adult-onset obesity, type 2 diabetes and fatty liver disease, Nature Genetics (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41588-024-01694-x

Automated bioacoustics: Researchers are listening in on insects to better gauge environmental health

Recent research evaluates how well machine learning can identify different insect species by their sound, from malaria-carrying mosquitoes and grain-hungry weevils to crop-pollinating bees and sap-sucking cicadas.

Listening in on the insect world gives us a way to monitor how populations of insects are shifting, and so can tell us about the overall health of the environment. The study,  published  in the Journal of Applied Ecology, suggests that machine and deep learning are becoming the gold standards for automated bioacoustics modeling, and that ecologists and machine-learning experts can fruitfully work together to develop the technology's full potential.

Insects rule the world. Some are disease vectors and pests, while others pollinate nutritious crops and cycle nutrients. They're the foundation of ecosystems around the world, being food for animals ranging from birds and fishes to bears and humans. Everywhere we look, there are insects, but it's difficult to get a sense of how their populations are changing.

Indeed, in the age of chemical pesticides, climate change and other environmental stressors, insect populations are changing drastically. Some species—like the pollinators that are annually responsible for ecosystem services estimated at well over $200 billion worldwide—seem to be crashing, while others, like mosquitoes that can carry malaria, dengue and other diseases, seem to be surging. Yet it can be difficult to get an accurate picture how insect populations are shifting.

Many traditional methods of sampling insect populations involve sending entomologists out into the field to collect and identify individual species, and while these methods can yield reliable results, it's also time and resource intensive and often lethal to the insects that get caught. This is where AI comes into the picture.

Part 1

With their experience, scientists can tell the difference.  Since many, but not all, insects emit sound, we should be able train AI models to identify them by the unique sounds they make.

In fact, such training is already happening.

Most of the models need huge sets of data to train on, and while they are getting better at working with smaller data sets, they remain data-intensive tools. Furthermore, not all insects emit sounds—such as aphids. And very noisy contexts, like an urban environment, can easily confuse sound-based monitoring efforts.

Automated bioacoustics is a key tool in a multifaceted toolkit that we can use to effectively monitor these important organisms all over the world.

 From buzzes to bytes: A systematic review of automated bioacoustics models used to detect, classify, and monitor insects, Journal of Applied Ecology (2024). DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.14630. besjournals.onlinelibrary.wile … 1111/1365-2664.14630

Part 2

 How 'forever chemicals' affect health

Invisible, omnipresent "forever chemicals" have been linked to a wide range of serious effects on human health, prompting growing calls for them to be banned.

While there is firm evidence that at least one of the more than 4,000 human-made chemicals called PFAS causes cancer, researchers are still attempting to fully understand their broader impact on health.

Here is what we know so far.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are synthetic chemicals that were first developed in the 1940s to withstand intense heat and repel water and grease. They have since been used in a vast range of household and industrial products including food packaging, make-up, stain-proof fabric, non-stick pots and pans and foam used to fight fires. Because PFAS take an extremely long time to break down—earning them the nickname "forever chemicals"—over the years they have seeped into the soil and groundwater, getting into our food chain and drinking water in the process. These chemicals have now been detected virtually everywhere on Earth, from the top of Mount Everest to inside human blood and brains.

The two most researched PFAS compounds have already been banned or restricted in many countries, though they remain detectable throughout the environment.

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), which was once used to make the non-stick cookware coating Teflon, was in December classified as "carcinogenic to humans" by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).

The World Health Organization agency said there is "sufficient evidence" that PFOA gave animals cancer during experiments, as well as "limited evidence" of renal cell and testicular cancer in humans.

Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid  (PFOS)—once the key ingredient in the Scotchgard fabric protector—was meanwhile ruled "possibly carcinogenic to humans".

There was limited proof of cancer in animals but "inadequate evidence regarding cancer in humans", the IARC said.

Part 1

More broadly, observational studies have suggested that exposure to PFAS chemicals is associated with an increased rate of cancer, obesity, thyroid, liver and kidney disease, higher cholesterol, low birth weight, infertility and even a lower response to vaccines.

But such observational research cannot prove that the chemicals directly cause these health problems.

And the level of risk can vary greatly depending on the level of PFAS people are exposed to—almost everyone on Earth is believed to have at least a little PFAS in their bodies.

According to the IARC, most at risk for serious PFAS exposure are people who directly work with the chemicals while making products.

Exactly what level of PFAS exposure is hazardous to health has been a matter of debate.

Previously, guidelines in numerous countries ruled that having less than 100 nanogrammes of PFAS per liter of tap water was enough to protect health.

Last year, a media investigation found PFAS levels over 100 nanogrammes per liter at 2,100 sites across Europe and the UK.

The level soared over 10,000 nanogrammes at 300 of the sites, according to the investigation carried out by 16 newsrooms.

Further complicating the ability of research to comprehend the health effects of PFAS is that new compounds are still being developed.

As manufacturers phase out compounds identified as potentially hazardous, they sometimes simply replace it with another member of the PFAS family that has been studied less, researchers have warned.

Part 2

Environmentalists and health experts across the world have been increasingly sounding the alarm about forever chemicals.

On Thursday, French MP Nicolas Thierry will introduce a bill that—if passed—would ban non-essential PFAS in France from 2025.

The European Union is also considering a Europe-wide ban on PFAS from as early as 2026.

What can you do?

For people at home, it is nearly impossible to avoid consuming miniscule amounts of PFAS.

But experts recommend reducing contact with non-stick cookware and grease-proof food packaging such as fast food wrappers.

Drinking filtered or bottled water and storing leftovers in glass—not plastic—containers could also help.

Source: AFP and other news agencies

Part 3

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The omnipresence of PFAS—and what we can do about them

Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)—also known as "forever chemicals"—are everywhere. Created in the 1940s, these synthetic compounds are an unseen ingredient in many items that we use in our daily lives, like cleaning products, food packaging, nonstick cookware, cosmetics, personal care items like dental floss, water-repellent clothing, as well as stain-resistant carpets and upholstery. Since the 1970s, they have also been used in firefighting foams and by the military.

Food is another potential source. Unfortunately, PFAS are also present in biosolids which are used as agricultural fertilizer, creating a pathway from contaminated soil to produce in the grocery store.

Because of their longevity and resistance to disintegration—a characteristic born of their carbon-fluorine chemical bonds—PFAS can last thousands of years. These "attributes also make them very resistant to degradation in our treatment systems.

The most common method of destroying PFAS is incineration, but some studies indicate that this fails to eliminate all the chemicals, and instead releases the remaining pollution into the air.

In water treatment systems, the main methods for destroying PFAS are reverse osmosis, activated carbon, and ion-exchange resins—but these technologies are costly. Other methods include supercritical water oxidation, plasma reactors, and most recently, sodium hydroxide (lye) and dimethyl sulfoxide, chemicals used in soap and as a medication for bladder pain syndrome, respectively.

But when items containing PFAS inevitably reach landfills, the compounds leach into the environment. And every day, people flush PFA-laden products—like shampoo, cleaning liquids, even some toilet papers—down the drain.

Part 1

If they're not removed in our wastewater treatment plants, [PFAS] get into our rivers, streams, and groundwater, which are commonly used for drinking water production. Around 50% of our rivers and streams contain measurable PFAS concentrations.
According to a 2020 study published in Science by the Environmental Working Group, an estimated 200 million Americans are served by water systems that contain PFAS. And it's not just public systems—a 2023 study by the U.S. Geological Survey found that approximately 20% of private wells are contaminated.

These compounds are now so ubiquitous, that an estimated 98% of the U.S. population has detectable concentrations in their blood. That's concerning, since studies have shown that exposure to some PFAS may be linked to harmful health effects, both in animals and humans.
We know today that even very low concentrations can impact the reproductive system, [have] developmental effects, increase risk of certain cancers, reduce immune response, as well as increase cholesterol levels.
The Environmental Protection Agency also links the compounds to thyroid disorders, obesity, and asthma.
Individuals who may have had high exposure to PFAS—in firefighting or chemical manufacturing industries, for example—should consider blood testing
Part 2

we still know very little about the health impacts of PFAS, especially on a population level. While these compounds have been around for some time, there is insufficient research to answer many questions that have emerged over decades.

But some action is being taken. Last year, the EPA proposed the first federal limits on forever chemicals in drinking water. And in February 2024, the agency proposed that nine PFAS be categorized as hazardous to human health—a designation only applied to substances that are toxic or cause cancer, genetic mutation, or embryo malformation.

"The main reason for the step that the EPA is taking is that there's increasing evidence that there are toxic effects on a variety of levels.
The proposal would classify the chemicals as "hazardous constituents" under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, making it easier for the agency to clean up contaminated sites—and to allocate funds to treat affected drinking water.

But these nine compounds are only the tip of the iceberg.

"Researchers estimated there are more than 12,000 individual PFAS compounds, and unfortunately for most of them, we have basically no understanding about toxicity, and we don't really know a lot about their occurrence in the environment.
A small study published in Environment International showed that cholestyramine—a cholesterol-lowering drug—could help scrub toxic forever chemicals from the blood of people who have been highly exposed. But the most efficient way to reduce contamination is preventatively.
by regulating PFAS production and cleaning up the environment—especially waterways—and ensuring that our drinking water facilities are equipped to remove these compounds.

"The issue at this point is really that we don't know what levels are concerning or lead to health effects, and which don't.
That's something that only the future will tell."
Part 3

experts recommend a variety of actions to minimize exposure to PFAS:

Avoid using nonstick cookware.
Limit use of food packaging, such as grease-resistant takeout containers.
Filter your water at the tap, with pitchers that are certified for PFAS.
Avoid wearing water-resistant textiles.
Seek out PFAS-free retailers' products—including menstrual products and large items like carpets or furniture.

Janne Julie Møller et al, Substantial decrease of PFAS with anion exchange resin treatment – A clinical cross-over trial, Environment International (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2024.108497

Part 4

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Ancient Egyptian Mummies Are Riddled With Malaria, Worms, And Lice

The inhabitants of ancient Egypt were infested with parasites, many of which caused anemia and other debilitating conditions. According to a new meta-analysis of prior research on Egyptian mummies, around two-thirds suffered from worms of various kinds, while 22 percent had malaria and 40 percent had headlice.

In the famous Valley of the Kings, for instance, four out of 16 mummies tested for Plasmodium falciparum – the microbe responsible for a deadly form of malaria – were positive. One of these was Tutankhamun, who was found to be infected by two different strains though probably died from falling from his chariot rather than as a result of malaria.

According to study author Piers D. Mitchell from the University of Cambridge, 49 of the 221 Egyptian mummies analyzed for malaria tested positive.  “As such, we would expect malaria to have had a major impact upon child deaths and debilitating anemia in all ancient populations along the Nile.”

Indeed, 92 percent of malaria-infected mummies display porous bones and other signs of anemia, which is characterized by a reduced number of red blood cells or depleted hemoglobin levels. “Such a disease burden must have had major consequences upon the physical stamina and productivity of a large proportion of the workforce,” writes Mitchell.

Other parasites detected in ancient Egyptian mummies include the mind-altering pathogen toxoplasmosis, which has been linked to schizophrenia and, bizarrely, an increased likelihood of dying in a car crash. “As toxoplasmosis can be caught by humans when they are in close contact with cats, it is possible that the disease occurred due to the role of cats as cult animals which were often mummified and used as religious offerings in ancient Egypt,” explains the author.

Mitchell also estimates that around 10 percent of mummies are positive for visceral leishmaniasis, which has also been linked to anemia and is fatal in around 95 percent of untreated cases. Stomach worms such as fish tapeworm have also been detected in two mummies and were probably caught by eating undercooked fish from the Nile.

Another type of worm known as trichinosis was identified in the chest muscles of the mummy of an individual called Nakht, who has been identified as a weaver from the royal funerary chapel at Thebes. Typically contracted by eating undercooked pork, this nasty little nematode encysts inside muscle tissue and can cause death if it enters the heart.

Part 1

Nakht was also found to be riddled with worms that infect both the blood vessels and the urinary tract. Like 65 percent of other mummies, he suffered from schistosomiasis, an acute parasitic illness caused by worms known as blood flukes.

Another mummy housed at the Manchester Museum even had worms in its brain, while 40 percent of 218 mummies analyzed for headlice turned out to be positive.
Explaining this high prevalence of microscopic nasties, Mitchell suspects that “the River Nile acted as a conduit for tropical water-born parasites that would not normally be found in arid regions.” Malaria-carrying mosquitoes and other harmful pathogens could therefore have flourished in ancient Egypt despite low levels of rainfall.

However, as well as bringing death, the Nile may also have helped to fertilize agricultural fields by depositing sediment during annual floods. As a result, farmers didn’t have to fertilize their crops with human poop, which may explain why ancient Egyptian mummies show very low rates of whipworm and roundworm, both of which were common throughout the Middle East and Mediterranean.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0065308X2300...

mRNA shows promise beyond vaccines
A therapy that extends mRNA technology beyond vaccines has shown early success in treating a rare genetic disease, propionic acidaemia, that prevents people from processing certain nutrients. The treatment — made by US pharma company Moderna, and known as mRNA-3927 — gives those treated a working copy of the instructions needed to make an enzyme that is missing in people with the disease. In a small clinical trial, half of the participants receiving the therapy saw their risk of life-threatening episodes decrease by 70-80%. But the drug also produced side effects and required frequent infusions.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00954-4?utm_source=Live+...

Four in five bird species cannot tolerate intense human pressures, data show

Currently 14% of the world's 11,000 bird species are threatened with extinction. A new study assessed the populations of bird species across a spectrum of landscapes from pristine habitats to human-dominated environments.

Threatened species, and species with declining populations, are less tolerant to breeding in human-dominated habitats. For example, the Fern Wren, a species occurring only in tropical forests of northeastern Australia, is endangered, has a declining population and a very low tolerance to any human pressure, say the researchers. However, not all species are as sensitive to living alongside humans. Some species can tolerate even the most intense human pressures on all continents. Common Swifts are an example of such species that can be found breeding in urban areas all around the world.
Following the UN's Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, goals have been set to protect 30% of the Earth's land for conservation, but not much of that percentage will be pristine habitat.
This new study enables us to identify species that are particularly sensitive to human activity and need more protected habitats to thrive, for example the Great Snipe in Europe, the Nkulengu Rail in Africa and the Hume's Lark in Asia. Conservation action to protect or restore habitat can then be targeted towards the species and locations that need it most.
Part 1

Europe and North America had higher proportions of human-tolerant bird species than Latin America and Africa did. Europe has a long history of environmental impacts spanning millennia, which, according to the researchers, may have resulted in historical disappearances of sensitive species and also in a long time frame for the remaining species to adapt to the gradually changing landscapes.

The researchers quantified tolerance to breeding in human-dominated environments for 6,000 bird species. The data on birds originated from citizen science observations from the eBird project from 2013–2021. The data on the extent of human impact was the Human Footprint Index that summarizes the combined pressures of built environments, human population density, night-time lights, agriculture and roads.

Emma‐Liina Marjakangas et al, Bird species' tolerance to human pressures and associations with population change, Global Ecology and Biogeography (2024). DOI: 10.1111/geb.13816

Part 2

Bird flu has infected a person after spreading to cows

A strain of avian influenza that has likely sickened and killed millions of birds around the globe has popped up in an unexpected species: Cows.

On April 1, the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed that cattle on a farm in New Mexico had tested positive for a strain of bird flu called H5N1. The news followed a March 25 announcement that officials had detected the virus on two dairy farms in Kansas and two Texas farms. The virus was also detected in a Michigan herd that had recently received cows from Texas, the USDA reported on March 29. Five additional herds in Texas have tested positive, and an outbreak in Idaho is presumed to have been caused by H5N1.

A person exposed to cattle on one of those Texas farms has tested positive too, becoming only the second person in the United States ever documented to be infected with H5N1, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported April 1. The individual is being treated with an antiviral drug for a single symptom, eye redness. It’s unclear how the cows were infected, although consuming wild bird excrement is a possibility. The person was probably infected while in close contact with the cows. Most people fall ill with H5N1 only after close contact with infected animals, typically poultry, and these infections can be mild to deadly. Right now, the CDC considers H5N1’s risk to people to be low. But milk from infected cows should be thrown out before reaching our food supply, the USDA says. Pasteurization would also kill the virus, so it should not spread through the country’s milk, the agency said.

https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2024/p0401-avian-flu.html

A new study has linked microplastics to heart attacks and strokes. Here’s what we know 

The results have renewed concerns about plastics’ potential effects on human health

Tiny flecks of plastic inside in the arteries may ramp up the risks of cardiovascular disease.

An analysis of artery-clogging plaques in 257 patients found that the presence of these microplastics was associated with a roughly quadr..., researchers report March 7 in the New England Journal of Medicine. 

The extent of that enhanced risk is “stunning,” say the researchers. Because  “very, very, very few things have that much of a risk.”

The study has gained attention worldwide and renewed concerns about the effects of plastics on human health. It’s also one of a growing number of reports that have found microscopic particles of plastic inside our bodies’ tissues, including the lungs, liver and blood.

Plastic is everywhere and enters our body through multiple routes 

When plastic toys, pipes, food containers and other objects inevitably break down over time, they can shed infinitesimal particles into our environment. Scientists have already documented how broadly these plastic smithereens have scattered.

Particles speckle even extreme locations, from the depths of the ocean to nearly the peak of Mount Everest.  Microplastics, which are smaller than 5 millimeters (about the size of a peppercorn) and nanoplastics, which are roughly one five-thousandth that size, can get into our water, accumulate in soil and waft along whispers of wind.

These specks of plastic pollution can travel into our bodies via food and drink, the air we breathe and even directly through the skin. And our exposure to microplastics will only go up, say experts.

Part 1

Scientists examined plaque samples from patients who had undergone surgery to clean out their carotid arteries, blood vessels in the neck that carry blood to the brain. They found that more than half of patients had evidence of at least one type of plastic.

These patients’ plaques all contained polyethylene, a ubiquitous material used in everything from cling wrap to cutting boards. And in 12 percent of the patients, scientists also found polyvinyl chloride, or PVC. 

Of 150 people with evidence of these plastics, 30 died or experienced a nonfatal stroke or heart attack within roughly the next three years. That’s compared to eight out of 107 people whose plaques appeared to be plastic-free, the team reports.

It’s too early to say whether microplastics in the arteries can cause heart attacks

It’s possible that plastics inside the arteries drive inflammation, further kindling cardiovascular disease. Plaques embedded with plastic, for instance, tended to contain more inflammatory molecules than plastic-free plaques, the research  team found.

The researchers did not prove that microplastics are harmful, scientists say. They simply exposed a link between plastics in plaques and poor outcomes in patients.

The plaque study offers yet another reason why it’s probably a good idea to reduce plastic use 

R. Marfella et al. Microplastics and nanoplastics in atheromas and cardiovascular events. The New England Journal of Medicine. Published online March 7, 2024. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2309822.

M. A. Garcia et al. Quantitation and identification of microplastics accumulation in hu... Toxicological Sciences. Published online February 17, 2024. doi:10.1093/toxsci/kfae021.

Part 2

Huge star explosion to appear in sky in once-in-a-lifetime event

Sometime between now and September, a massive explosion 3,000 light years from Earth will flare up in the night sky, giving amateur astronomers a once-in-a-lifetime chance to witness this space oddity.

The binary star system in the constellation Corona Borealis—"northern crown"—is normally too dim to see with the naked eye.

But every 80 years or so, exchanges between its two stars, which are locked in a deadly embrace, spark a runaway nuclear explosion.

The light from the blast travels through the cosmos and makes it appear as if a new star—as bright as the North Star, according to NASA—has suddenly just popped up in our night sky for a few days.

It will be at least the third time that humans have witnessed this event, which was first discovered by Irish polymath John Birmingham in 1866, then reappeared in 1946.

There are only around 10 recurring novas in the Milky Way and surrounding galaxies. Normal novas explode "maybe every 100,000 years". But recurrent novas repeat their outbursts on a human timeline because of a peculiar relationship between their two stars.

The other is a white dwarf, a later stage in the death of a star, after all the atmosphere has blown away and only the incredibly dense core remains.

Their size disparity is so huge that it takes T Coronae Borealis's white dwarf 227 days to orbit its red giant. 

The two are so close that matter being ejected by the red giant collects near the surface of the white dwarf.

Once the mass roughly of Earth has built up on the white dwarf—which takes around 80 years—it heats up enough to kickstart a runaway thermonuclear reaction. This ends up in a "big explosion and within a few seconds the temperature goes up 100-200 million degrees Celsius". 

But you do not need  advanced technology to witness this rare event—whenever it may happen. You simply have to go out and look in the direction of the Corona Borealis .... and you can see it with your own naked eyes!

This particular star explosion is unique for its brief yet intense display, completing its cycle in merely a week. 

Source: AFP and other news agencies

Differences between nova and supernova explosions

The cosmos is a stage for some of the most spectacular and powerful events known to science. Among these, nova and supernova explosions stand out for their brilliance and the fundamental roles they play in the universe’s lifecycle.

Despite the similarity in their names, novae and supernovae differ vastly in their origins, mechanisms, and consequences. This article demystifies these cosmic phenomena, highlighting their distinct characteristics.

What is a nova?

As discussed above, a nova occurs in a binary star system, where a white dwarf and a companion star orbit closely. The white dwarf, a dense remnant of a star that has exhausted its nuclear fuel, pulls material — primarily hydrogen — from its companion.

This material accumulates on the white dwarf’s surface, eventually igniting in a thermonuclear explosion. The explosion causes the white dwarf to brighten significantly, but it does not result in the star’s destruction. Instead, the process may repeat if the white dwarf continues to accrete material.

What is a supernova?

In contrast, a supernova is a cataclysmic event marking the death of a star. Supernovae can occur in one of two primary ways:

Core-Collapse Supernova: This type happens at the end of a massive star’s life cycle. When the star’s core runs out of nuclear fuel, it can no longer support the outer layers against gravity. The core collapses, resulting in a massive explosion that obliterates the star.

Type Ia Supernova: This type involves a binary system where a white dwarf accretes material from a companion star, similar to a nova. However, in this case, the white dwarf reaches a critical mass (Chandrasekhar limit), leading to a runaway nuclear reaction that completely destroys the white dwarf.

Key differences between novae and supernovae

Scale and Energy

The most striking difference lies in their scale and the energy released. Supernovae are among the universe’s most energetic events, outshining entire galaxies and releasing vast amounts of energy. Novae, while still bright and powerful, are far less energetic and only cause a temporary increase in brightness.

Frequency and Visibility

Supernovae are relatively rare events, occurring about once every 50 years in a galaxy the size of the Milky Way. Novae, on the other hand, are more common, with several occurring in our galaxy each year. Despite their rarity, supernovae can often be seen from greater distances due to their immense brightness.