Electron refrigerator: Ultrafast cooling mechanism discovered in novel plasma

Researchers from the Cluster of Excellence "CUI: Advanced Imaging of Matter" have achieved a breakthrough—creating a completely new type of plasma by combining state-of-the-art technologies using ultrashort laser pulses and ultracold atomic gases. They report on a novel electron cooling mechanism occurring in such plasmas in the journal Nature Communications.

Matter exists in four states—solid, gas, liquid, and plasma—with plasma being the most abundant state in the visible universe. It consists of free charged particles such as ions and electrons. Plasmas can exist over a tremendous range of temperatures and densities, from the sun's core to lightning or flames. The challenges to understand plasma dynamics are first to identify universal mechanisms and then compare them to a controlled laboratory experiment. 

the researchers cool and trap atoms with laser light. They use the intense light field of an ultrashort laser pulse to break up atoms into electrons and ions within 200 femtoseconds. A femtosecond is one millionth of one billionth of a second. Because of the extremely low initial temperature of the atoms, the ions have temperatures lower than 40 millikelvin, which is only a fraction above the lowest possible temperature in the universe (0 Kelvin or minus 273 degree on the Celsius scale). In contrast, the electrons are initially very hot with temperatures of 5250 Kelvin, close to the ones found at the surface of the sun.

Hot electrons directly created by the ultrashort laser pulse begin to escape and leave behind a positively charged region that traps some of the electrons in an ultracold plasma. Such a plasma state has never been observed before.

The researchers  also observed that the trapped electrons in the plasma are cooled on ultrafast timescales and measured the final electronic temperature. In addition, they observed that the plasma is stable over a few hundred nanoseconds, which is a very long time for such systems.

Such ultracold plasmas provide benchmarks for theoretical models and can shed light on extreme conditions present in inertial confinement fusion or astronomical objects such as white dwarfs. Furthermore, the resulting ultracold electrons are interesting by themselves as a bright source for imaging biological samples.

Tobias Kroker et al. Ultrafast electron cooling in an expanding ultracold plasma, Nature Communications (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-20815-8

https://phys.org/news/2021-02-electron-refrigerator-ultrafast-cooli...

Why is there water on Earth?

Water is essential to life as we know it and it seems completely normal to have water all around us. Yet Earth is the only known planet to be covered by oceans. Do we know exactly where its water came from?

This is not a simple question: it was long thought that Earth formed dry—without water, because of its proximity to the Sun and the high temperatures when the solar system formed. In this model, water could have been brought to Earth by comets or asteroids colliding with the Earth. Such a complex origin for water would likely mean that our planet is unique in the universe.

However, in a 2020 study, researchers showed that water—or at least its components, hydrogen and oxygen—may have been present in the rocks that initially formed the Earth. If that is so indeed, other "blue planets" with liquid water are more likely to exist elsewhere.

Liquid water covers more than 70% of Earth's surface, with about about 95.6% of it in oceans and seas, and the remaining 4% in glaciers, ice caps, groundwater, lakes, rivers, soil humidity, and the atmosphere.

But most of Earth's water is deep underground: between one and ten times the volume of the oceans are contained in the mantle.

At the surface of the Earth, "water" means two hydrogens for each oxygen (H₂0), whereas what we call "water" in the mantle corresponds to hydrogen incorporated in minerals, magmas and fluids. This hydrogen can bond with surrounding oxygen to form water at the appropriate temperature and pressure conditions.

While water represents less than 0.5% of the mass of the Earth, it is key to the evolution of the planet itself and to life at its surface.

In the early solar system, there was a lot of hydrogen, mainly in the form of dihydrogen gas (H₂), or bonded with oxygen atoms to form water (H₂O). However, Earth and the other rocky planets (Mercury, Venus, and Mars) formed near the Sun, where it was too hot for water to incorporate into rock as ice: it just would have evaporated. So why does the Earth now have so much water, both in its mantle and on its surface?

https://sciencex.com/news/2021-02-earth.html?utm_source=nwletter&am...

Discovery of naturally occurring protein that could reverse severe muscle wasting in disease, aging and trauma

An exciting discovery by scientists may lead to faster recovery from muscle injury and wasting diseases.

When we tear a muscle – stem cells within it repair the problem. We can see this occurring not only in severe muscle wasting diseases such as muscular dystrophy and in war veterans who survive catastrophic limb injuries, but also in our day to day lives when we “pull” a muscle. Also when we age and become frail we lose much of our muscle and our stem cells don’t seem to be able to work as well as we age.

These muscle stem cells are invisible engines that drive the tissue's growth and repair after such injuries. But growing these cells in the lab and then using them to therapeutically replace damaged muscle has been frustratingly difficult.

Researchers  have discovered a factor that triggers these muscle stem cells to proliferate and heal. In a mouse model of severe muscle damage, injections of this naturally occurring protein led to the complete regeneration of muscle and the return of normal movement after severe muscle trauma.

The scientists studied the regeneration of skeletal muscle in zebrafish, fast becoming the go-to animal model for the study of stem cell regeneration because the fish are quick to reproduce, easier to experimentally manipulate, and share at least 70 percent of their genes with humans. It is also transparent which allows the scientists to witness the actual regeneration in living muscle.

By studying the cells that migrated to a muscle injury in these fish the scientists identified a group of immune cells, called macrophages, which appeared to have a role in triggering the muscle stem cells to regenerate.

Macrophages are the cells that flock to any injury or infection site in the body, removing debris and promoting healing. They are the clean up crew of the immune system.

It has long been thought that two types of macrophages exist in the body: those that move to the injury rapidly and remove debris, and those that come in slower and stick around doing the longer term clean-up.

The research team, however, found that there were in fact eight genetically different types of macrophages in the injury site, and that one type, in particular, was the “cuddler”. Further investigation revealed that this affectionate macrophage released a substance called NAMPT. By removing these macrophages from the zebrafish and adding the NAMPT to the aquarium water the scientists found they could stimulate the muscle stem cells to grow and heal – effectively replacing the need for the macrophages.

The researchers are now trying to conduct clinical trials for the use of this compound in the treatment of muscle disease and injury.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03199-7

https://www.monash.edu/news/articles/discovery-of-naturally-occurri...

https://researchnews.cc/news/5097/Discovery-of-naturally-occurring-...

Tiny Crustacean Redefines Ultrafast Movement

A new study from Duke University describes how the amphipod Dulichiella cf. appendiculata sets a new standard for achieving high acceleration and repeatable movements at small sizes. Males will snap their relatively huge claws 10,000 faster than the blink of an eye. These ultrafast movements make an audible snap, create water jets, and sometimes produce small bubbles due to rapid changes in water pressure. The potential behind these ultrafast movements is so great that even the Army is paying attention to these small animals. Even the world’s most technologically advanced robots would lose in a competition with this tiny crustacean.

World First BMW Self Driving Motorbike Demo Live Video 2019 BMW Vision R1200 Autonomous Motorbike V

Protein behind corona’s slow Asia spread: Study

Deficiency in a particular human protein, which is more common in Europe and the United States than in Asia, could explain why coronavirus is not spreading as fast in Asian countries. The team has explained how higher levels of a human protein — neutrophil elastase — helps the virus to enter the human cell, multiply and also spread faster from infected individuals.

Deficiency in a particular human protein, which is more common in Europe and the United States than in Asia, could explain why coronavirus is not spreading as fast in Asian countries.

A team of scientists from the National Institute of Biomedical Genomics in WB, have found a biological reason for the slower spread of a mutant of coronavirus in Asia compared to the West. The team has explained how higher levels of a human protein — neutrophil elastase — helps the virus to enter the human cell, multiply and also spread faster from infected individuals.

However, this protein is kept in check by the biological system, which produces another protein called alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT). AAT deficiency leads to higher levels of neutrophil elastase in the cells, which in turn helps in faster spread of the virus. This deficiency is known to be much higher in Europe and America than among Asians. The study has been published in the journal, Infection, Genetics and Evolution

As per their data, AAT deficiency is the least in East Asian countries — 8 per 1,000 individuals in Malaysia, 5.4 per 1,000 in South Korea, 2.5 in Singapore. On the other hand, 67.3 in per 1,000 individuals in Spain are AAT deficient, 34.6 in the UK and 51.9 in France and in the US it is prevalent in 29 individuals among 1,000.

The numbers are representative of other Asian regions too, including India.

The researchers emphasized that this finding along with other social factors may explain the differential geographical/ethnic spread of the mutant virus.

https://health.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/protein-b...

Never Google Your Symptoms

Astronomers confirm orbit of most distant object ever observed in o...

A team of astronomers, including associate professor Chad Trujillo of Northern Arizona University's Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science, have confirmed a planetoid that is almost four times farther from the Sun than Pluto, making it the most distant object ever observed in our solar system. The planetoid, which has been nicknamed "Farfarout," was first detected in 2018, and the team has now collected enough observations to pin down its orbit. The Minor Planet Center has now given it the official designation of 2018 AG37.

Astronomers confirm orbit of most distant object ever observed in our solar system

A team of astronomers, including associate professor Chad Trujillo of Northern Arizona University's Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science, have confirmed a planetoid that is almost four times farther from the Sun than Pluto, making it the most distant object ever observed in our solar system. The planetoid, which has been nicknamed "Farfarout," was first detected in 2018, and the team has now collected enough observations to pin down its orbit. The Minor Planet Center has now given it the official designation of 2018 AG37.

Farfarout's nickname distinguished it from the previous record holder "Farout," found by the same team of astronomers in 2018. 

Farfarout's average distance from the Sun is 132 astronomical units (au); 1 au is the distance between the Earth and Sun. For comparison, Pluto is only 39 au from the Sun. The newly discovered object has a very elongated orbit that takes it out to 175 au at its most distant, and inside the orbit of Neptune, to around 27 au, when it is close to the Sun.

Farfarout's journey around the Sun takes about a thousand years, crossing the massive planet Neptune's orbit every time. This means Farfarout has likely experienced strong gravitational interactions with Neptune over the age of theA single orbit of Farfarout around the Sun takes a millennium. Because of this long orbital, it moves very slowly across the sky, requiring several years of observations to precisely determine its trajectory. solar system, and is the reason why it has such a large and elongated orbit. Farfarout is very faint, and based on its brightness and distance from the Sun, the team estimates its size to be about 400 km across, putting it on the low end of being a dwarf planet, assuming it is an ice rich object.

https://www.space.com/farfarout-most-distant-solar-system-object-co...

https://phys.org/news/2021-02-astronomers-orbit-distant-solar.html?...

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Elderly show fewer post-vaccine symptoms than young: Study

The elderly, who bore the brunt of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, have reacted with fewer symptoms after taking the vaccine against Covid-19 as compared to people in the 20-40 age group. This was the broad observation across India 29 days after the vaccination drive started on January 16.

With eight million healthcare and frontline workers vaccinated across the country by the end of Saturday, there are a range of observations that doctors’ associations and groups have made. For instance, most manage to make it to work despite suffering post vaccine symptoms, ranging from fatigue and headache to nausea. The majority of those vaccinated have some postvaccine symptom.

Also, women are more likely than men to develop symptoms. The milder-symptoms-foraged theory has been confirmed by a study of 5,396 healthcare workers put together by the Kochi branch of the Indian Medical Association. Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, head of the epidemiology cell of Kochi IMA who conducted the study, said 947 of the respondents were over 60 years of age.

The Kochi study, based on an online survey conducted between January 29 and February 4, also found that 66% of those vaccinated reported at least one post-inoculation symptom. The most reported symptoms were tiredness (45%), myalgia (44%), fever (34%), headache (28%), local pain at the infection site (27%), joint pain (12%), nausea (8%) and diarrhoea (3%).

The sharpest finding concerns the elderly who have accounted for almost 70% of mortalities caused by Covid-19 across the world. Infectious diseases specialist, Dr Tanu Singhal, from Kokilaben Ambani Hospital in Mumbai said, “People who are older have tolerated the vaccine better than younger people.”

The chance of having symptoms decreased with advancing age. Older people also had later onset of symptoms, occurring at an average of 13.4 hours (70-79 years), compared to 10 hours in younger age groups (20-29 years) following vaccination.

 About 80% of those who took the vaccine said the symptoms didn’t affect their work the next day. “Women were more likely to develop post-vaccination symptoms. This observation was consistent across all age groups,” said the study, which is in pre-print stage.

A sticky topic has been the reaction among recovered Covid-19 patients who took the vaccine: while some doctors said recovered patients showed more symptoms after the vaccine, the study from Kochi hasn’t found this.

https://health.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/diagnostics/elderl...

South Africa coronavirus variant identified in reinfection case

Patient critical after reinfection with S.African variant: study

 Doctors in France are treating a critically ill patient infected with the South African coronavirus variant, four months after he recovered from Covid-19, in what study authors said was the first case of its kind. The 58-year-old man had a history of asthma and initially tested positive for Covid-19 in September when he presented to medical staff with a fever and shortness of breath. The symptoms persisted only for a few days, and the man tested negative for Covid-19 twice in December 2020. However, he was admitted to hospital in January and diagnosed with the South African variant. The patient's condition worsened, and he is currently in a "critical condition" on a ventilator. "This is, to our knowledge, the first description of reinfection with the South African (variant) causing severe Covid-19, four months after a first mild infection," said authors of a study published this week in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

The 501Y.V2 coronavirus variant emerged late last year in South Africa and immediately provoked alarm among disease specialists.

It has eight key mutations, one of which affects the virus' spike protein, making it more effective at binding to human cells and therefore more infectious.

Vaccine manufacturers Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna say their mRNA vaccines retain their effectiveness against the South African variants and another that emerged last year in Britain.

However a study last week showed that AstraZeneca's vaccine failed to prevent mild and moderate cases of infection of the South African variant.

"The impact of 501Y.V2 mutations on the effectiveness of vaccines developed based on earlier SARS-CoV-2 strains is still unknown," said the authors of the reinfection study.

https://www.mdlinx.com/news/patient-critical-after-reinfection-with...

https://researchnews.cc/news/5146/Patient-critical-after-reinfectio...

LaserFactory: Fabricating fully functional devices

scientists develop urine test to detect womb cancer

scientists announced on Friday they had developed a test to detect womb cancer using urine samples, explaining the method could replace a painful and invasive procedure currently in use.

At present, clinicians diagnose the cancer by taking a biopsy, a process which requires a narrow telescope called a hysteroscope, to examine inside of the uterus and remove cells.

Nearly a third of women who undergo the procedure have the process repeated because of technical difficulties or intolerable pain, the research showed.

 developed a new detection tool which examines urine or vaginal samples that can be collected by women on their own at home.

The findings, published in the journal Nature Communications, showed analysis of the samples correctly diagnosed 91.7 percent of women with womb cancer.

The proportion of women without womb cancer who tested negative with the new tool was 88.9 percent, the study showed. The results show that womb cancer cells can be detected in urine and vaginal samples using a microscope.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-21257-6

https://researchnews.cc/news/5144/UK-scientists-develop-urine-test-...

There's a Link Between Air Pollution And Irreversible Vision Loss, Study Reveals

Air pollution could cloud your vision in later life, according to a large study that found a link between fine particle air pollution and macular degeneration, an age-related eye disease that can lead to irreversible blindness.

The findings serve as a clear reminder of the many ways that air pollution can be harmful to our health, even though it's still early days for this research.  

The biggest public health concerns about poor air quality circle around pollutants such as particulate matter (dust, soot, and more), ground-level ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and other gases, which are emitted from motor vehicles, heavy industry, and wood fires.

Fine particles, called PM_2.5 for short, are especially concerning. These microscopic particles less than 2.5 micrometres in size can penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream, causing inflammation around the body.

Repeated exposure to pollutants like these can irritate people's eyes and throat, cause breathing difficulties. Furthermore, ambient air pollution accounts for 43 percent of deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and for over a quarter of all deaths from lung cancer, heart disease, or stroke.

In this study, the focus was on age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a condition where a person's vision worsens with age, leading to increased vision loss and potentially even blindness.

The disease is linked to leaky blood vessels in the back of the eye and small blobs of fat and protein that build up on the macula, the part of the eye at the centre of the retina. Genetics and being a smoker are amongst the main risk factors for this condition.

What the study found is that people who were exposed to higher levels of fine particle air pollution had higher rates of self-reported AMD.

Exposure to other pollutants, including nitrogen dioxide but not coarse particulate matter, was also associated with changes in retina thickness, detected on imaging.

But don't be swayed by the big numbers alone. Only a tiny fraction of people were actually diagnosed with AMD during the study – and remember, while this observational study can bring our attention to trends and patterns observed across a population, it can't establish a cause. 

The researchers suggest that air pollution may affect the eye in a roundabout way through inflammation and oxidative stress, two defence mechanisms where the body is fighting against foreign material and trying to detoxify chemical species, respectively. But more research will be required to examine that plausible link.

https://bjo.bmj.com/content/early/2021/01/11/bjophthalmol-2020-316218

https://www.sciencealert.com/air-pollution-linked-to-deteriorating-...

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A Signal From Beyond 

Researchers  recently published data on a hint of a signal that sent ripples of excitement through the physics community. These monumental findings are the culmination of 12 and a half years of data gathered from NANOGrav—a network of pulsars across the galaxy—all in the hopes of detecting gravitational waves.

Gravitational waves are generated when galaxies merge and supermassive black holes at their centers collide and send low-frequency gravitational waves out into the universe. The team thinks the source of the signal could be gravitational waves, but it will take about 2 more years of data to be sure.

Microalgae identified as clean source of hydrogen production

Microalgae identified as clean source of hydrogen production

Researchers at Monash University's Department of Chemical Engineering, IITB-Monash Research Academy Mumbai, and The Indian Institute of Technology's Department of Chemical Engineering have used reactive flash volatilisation (RFV) gasification technology to produce hydrogen using microalgae, giving rise to newer and cleaner forms of energy.

Hydrogen and methane are clean sources of fuel and green chemical synthesis only if they are produced from renewable resources. At present, 96% of hydrogen and all methane is produced using non-renewable resources. 

Microalgae as a feedstock is attractive due to its high carbon dioxide fixation efficiency, growth rate, photosynthetic efficiency, ability to grow in brackish water—like rivers and lakes—and the ability to cultivate it on land not suitable for agriculture.

"Water and renewable electricity integration with microalgae harvesting can bring down the costs and increase the sustainability of hydrogen production from this process.

 Pratik Gholkar et al. Renewable hydrogen and methane production from microalgae: A techno-economic and life cycle assessment study, Journal of Cleaner Production (2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.123726

https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-microalgae-source-hydrogen-prod...

Post Covid, patients see rise in rare fungal infection

A rare and serious fungal infection called ‘Mucormycosis’ that can affect the respiratory system, digestive system as well as the brain has been on the rise in recent months, especially among immuno compromised Covid-19 patients who have recovered.

A rare and serious fungal infection called ‘Mucormycosis’ that can affect the respiratory system, digestive system as well as the brain has been on the rise in recent months, especially among immuno compromised Covid-19 patients who have recovered. From barely five to seven cases in a year, the number of cases has jumped to over 60 over the last seven to eight months, say experts. Of these, 10 were seen at the state-run Gandhi hospital alone as several patients who had been treated are returning with post-Covid-19 complications including this infection. The infection, although, rare is a serious one as it can even lead to death if not treated in time. 

This infection is an opportunistic one which is seen in immune-compromised patients, especially patients who had a transplant or are on cancer-related drugs. Now this infection is seen in patients who have recovered from viral diseases and since Covid is also a viral disease, it is being seen in the Covid recovered patients too.

https://health.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/diagnostics/post-c...

Oxygen deficit makes nerve cells grow

Oxygen deficit, also called hypoxia, in the brain is actually an absolute state of emergency and can permanently damage nerve cells. Nevertheless, there is growing evidence that to a certain extent, hypoxia can also be an important signal for growth. Together with scientists from the University Hospitals of Copenhagen and Hamburg-Eppendorf, researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine in Göttingen have shown in mice that mentally and physically demanding activity triggers not only a local but also a brain-wide functional hypoxia. Although in an attenuated form, the effects are similar to oxygen deprivation. The shortage of oxygen activates, among other things, the growth factor erythropoietin (Epo), which stimulates the formation of new synapses and nerve cells. This mechanism could explain why physical and mental training have a positive effect on mental performance.

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Nanotechnologies reduce friction and improve durability of materials

A team of scientists from the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI and Immanuel Kant Baltic State Federal University suggested using innovative thin films to considerably reduce friction and thus increase the durability of surfaces in mechanisms. This discovery can be important for many fields, from medicine to space technologies.

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Experimental demonstration of measurement-dependent realities possi...

Shoe shops sell a variety of shoe sizes to accommodate a variety of foot sizes—but what if both the shoe and foot size depended on how it was measured? Recent developments in quantum theory suggest that the available values of a physical quantity, such as a foot size, can depend on the type of measurement used to determine them. If feet were governed by the laws of quantum mechanics, foot size would depend on the markings on a foot measure to find the best fit—at the time of measurement—and even if the markings were changed, the measurement could still be precise.

Integrating maths and plant science to explain how plant roots generate a hormone gradient

The research team that developed a biosensor that first recorded that a distinct gradient of the plant growth hormone gibberellin correlated with plant cell size has now revealed how this distribution pattern is created in roots.

Starting when a plant embryo forms within a seed and continuing throughout the plant lifecycle, undifferentiated stem cells undergo radical transformations into specialised root, stem, leaf and reproductive organ cells. This transformation relies on a suite of molecules called phytohormones that, much like human hormones, can move between cells and tissues and trigger distinct biological processes across the body plan. While it was not known at the time, mutations involving the gibberellin class of phytohormones were behind the development of many of the high-yielding semi-dwarf wheat and rice varieties that helped drive the Green Revolution in the 1950s and 60s.

The mutations resulted in shorter stems, enabling the crop plants to redirect energy into growing grain rather than stems and leaves and also prevented lodging caused when tall spindly plants fall over before harvest. We now know through advances in molecular and genetic tools that gibberellins (GA) regulate growth and development throughout the plant lifecycle—from germinating seeds, elongating stems and roots, to the formation of flowers. It is therefore not surprising that GA continues to attract the interest of plant scientists investigating how hormones control plant growth and as a possible target for future crop improvements.

 Differential biosynthesis and cellular permeability explain longitudinal gibberellin gradients in growing roots. PNAS, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1921960118

https://phys.org/news/2021-02-maths-science-roots-hormone-gradient....

Microbes could pose health, ecosystem risks when rain brings them to Earth

Human health and ecosystems could be affected by microbes including cyanobacteria and algae that hitch rides in clouds and enter soil, lakes, oceans and other environments when it rains, according to a  study.

Some of the organisms the researchers detected in clouds and rain are known to have possible impacts on human health and could also affect microbial populations at rainfall locations.

Researchers  collected cloud water at the summit of puy de Dôme, a mountain in central France, about 4,800 feet above sea level. They also collected rainwater below the mountain at about 2,230 feet above sea level. They detected blue-green (cyanobacteria), green, red and golden algae, as well as diatoms (another form of algae), and they grew green algae in the Chlorellaceae family in a lab.

Some of the microbes that hitched a ride in clouds may have come from the Atlantic Ocean. Others were likely from other parts of France that clouds passed over. Microbes in rain include those in a cloud and the air below it.

The airborne organisms could have important impacts on atmospheric processes and the ecosystems they enter after falling to Earth, the study says.

Future work would involve identifying specific genes associated with the production of toxins by these organisms and trying to understand what could or would limit the growth of these microorganisms after they're transported into a new ecosystem by rain.

Kevin P. Dillon et al, Cyanobacteria and Algae in Clouds and Rain in the Area of puy de Dôme, Central France, Applied and Environmental Microbiology (2020). DOI: 10.1128/AEM.01850-20

https://phys.org/news/2021-02-microbes-pose-health-ecosystem-earth....

Five ways to reduce your household waste – and stop it being shipped to poorer countries -1

The UK is the largest plastic waste producer in Europe and one of the biggest producers of plastic waste in the world, second only to the US. The UK produces 99kg of plastic waste per person per year. And it exports about two-thirds of this waste to poorer countries such as Malaysia, Pakistan and Vietnam.

Shipping unsorted plastic waste from the European Union to non-OECD countries was banned by the EU from January this year. But the UK continues to export plastic waste to developing countries as part of new post-Brexit regulations.

Most of the plastic waste is sold to these countries as the UK currently does not have the means and capacity to process it at home. But these countries also lack the infrastructure and capacity to recycle imported waste. And waste that can't be recycled often ends up dumped in landfill or waterways or even burned—releasing toxic fumes into the environment. Indeed, much of the waste sent to these countries is unsorted and dirty plastics which can hardly be recycled anyway.

This trade of waste and the shifting of one country's problem onto another simply cannot continue. Our behaviour as consumers is central to tackling this huge amount of plastic waste waste—along with the 26 million tonnes of general household waste produced yearly in the UK. We therefore all need to start taking responsible actions and be held accountable for the waste we generate. Of course, changing behaviour is not easy or straightforward.

How to reduce waste  -2

Here are some affordable and practical tips:

Use less - stop and reflect on your wasteful consumption practices and simply use less (as many have during lockdown). Rethink your lifestyle and only use what you need for your daily living; not everything may be essential.

Buy local - in the early stages of the pandemic, with flights grounded and entry in and out of countries proving problematic, food shortages were abundant. Buying local proved to be the alternative. Buying local is not only better for the environment but it also helps to support your local economy and local producers.

Be resourceful - try your best to reuse, repair or upcycle before you decide to throw away things you think no longer work. Be creative in how you might repurpose products and materials. It may simply be giving a new lease of life to your old furniture with a touch of non-toxic paint instead of getting new pieces.

Think beyond recycling – recycling is good, but we consume more than we recycle. So avoid buying goods that you cannot recycle. This will push businesses to better design products and ultimately, design out wasteful materials.

Rethink ownership - there is a rise in new businesses adopting "rental", "pay per use" and "on-demand" models for products ranging from clothes to furniture. So where possible do not buy things you use only occasionally; instead pay for access to these things when you need them.

https://theconversation.com/five-ways-to-reduce-your-household-wast...

Planetary scientists discover evidence for a reduced atmosphere on ancient Mars

Both Earth and Mars currently have oxidising atmospheres, which is why iron-rich materials in daily life develop rust (a common name for iron oxide) during the oxidation reaction of iron and oxygen. The Earth has had an oxidising atmosphere for approximately 2.5 billion years, but before that, the atmosphere of this planet was reducing—there was no rust.

The transition from a reduced planet to an oxidised planet is referred to as the Great Oxidation Event or GOE. This transition was a central part of our planet's evolution, and fundamentally linked to the evolution of life here—specifically to the prevalence of photosynthesis that produced oxygen. Planetary geologists at HKU have discovered that Mars underwent a great oxygenation event of its own—billions of years ago, the red planet was not so red.

 The researchers used infrared remote sensing and spectroscopy to measure the molecular vibration of the material on the Martian surface from orbit, in order to reveal the mineralogy and geochemistry of ancient rocks on Mars. Through detailed comparisons of infrared remote sensing data and data collected in the laboratory here on Earth, the team showed that ancient rocks on Mars exposed at the surface had been weathered under reducing conditions, indicating a reduced atmosphere did exist.

 Mars is cold and dry now, but ~ 3.5 billion years ago, it was warmer and wetter. It was warm enough to allow the formation of river channels, lakes and minerals that formed by interaction with water. Scientists who have used mathematical models to constrain the conditions of an early Martian atmosphere, have concluded that greenhouse warming occurred, but they also concluded from their models that the greenhouse must have included reduced gases rather than carbon dioxide, implied that a reducing atmosphere might have existed. Yet until now, there has not been any evidence that the reduced atmosphere of early Mars actually occurred. This work indicates that it did exist.

5G phones may interfere with aircraft: French regulator

The latest generation of smartphones, 5G, can interfere with aircraft altitude instruments, the French Civil Aviation Authority warned Tuesday as it recommended they should be turned off during flight.

The utilisation of 5G devices onboard aircraft could lead to risks of interference that could potentially result in errors in altitude readings," a spokesman for the agency told AFP.

The potential phenomenon is due to "signal interference from a close frequency source of a strength that is similar or even superior to that of altimeters."

This interference can cause errors "in instruments that are extremely critical during landing," said the agency, known by its French acronym DGAC.

It sent a bulletin on the issue to airlines last week, recommending that 5G phones should either be turned off completely or put in "airplane mode" during flight

Most countries have long required that mobile phones be turned off or placed in airplane mode due to concerns that previous generations of mobile telecommunications networks can interfere with a plane's navigation and communication equipment.

The DGAC also recommended that in cases of disruption to an aircraft's equipment that the flight crew immediately notify air traffic controllers who can then alert authorities at the airport.

DGAC also noted that it had laid out conditions for the positioning of 5G base stations in order to limit the risks of interference during landing at French airports.

The strength of signals from 5G base stations placed near France's main airports has been restricted, said the DGAC, which has been conducting additional testing since November when French telecommunications operators were given the green light to begin rolling out 5G services.

It is continuing to monitor 5G base stations around all French airports in cooperation with the agency responsible for radio frequencies.

https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-5g-aircraft-french.html?utm_sou...

Collective worm and robot "blobs" protect individuals, swarm together

'New Car Smell' Is The Scent of Carcinogens, And Even Short Trips May Overexpose Us

A new study found commutes of more than 20 minutes put people at risk of unacceptably high levels of two carcinogens used in car manufacturing.

The distinct smell of a new car gives you a whiff of what's happening here. Materials used to fit out cars, from hard and soft plastics to adhesives, textiles and foam, contain some chemicals that can slowly seep into the air (the technical term is 'off-gas') or catch a ride on dust.

These chemicals are very volatile, moving easily from plastics and textiles to the air that you breathe. Volatile compounds can build up in small spaces, such as inside a car (unless you open a window for fresh air).

The researchers predicted that commuters' daily exposure to two out of five chemicals studied - benzene and formaldehyde - would probably exceed levels considered safe . The likelihood continued to rise the longer a person's commute. 

The two chemicals of concern are not huge unknowns, but certainly warrant attention. Benzene is found in rubber and dyes, and formaldehyde is used in carpets and paints. There is a range of exposure that depends on how long you're in the car, and how much of the compounds your car is emitting which can depend on the vehicle's age and surrounding temperatures.

 just because something is listed as a carcinogen doesn't mean it's guaranteed to cause health problems – it depends on the dose that people are exposed to, and how often.

Even known carcinogens are not likely to cause cancer under certain thresholds, and limiting your exposure to harmful substances goes a long way to reducing any associated risk.

Plus, the poor health outcomes observed among commuters – which does include higher rates of cancer – may stem from a combination of inactivity, obesity and shorter sleep that often come with lengthy commutes. These factors were not considered in this study.  

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016041202100026X...

https://www.sciencealert.com/a-20-minute-commute-puts-you-at-risk-o...

The Colossal Weight of Cities Is Making Them Sink, Even as Sea Levels Are Rising

Cities don't just have sea level rises to worry about – they're also slowly sinking under the weight of their own development, according to new research, which emphasises the importance of factoring subsidence into models of climate change risk.

As global populations move disproportionately toward the coasts, this additional subsidence in combination with expected sea level rise may exacerbate risk associated with inundation.

Anthropogenic loading effects at tectonically active continental margins are likely greater than more stable continental interiors where the lithosphere tends to be thicker and more rigid.

There are plenty of other causes of subsidence to think about too, including tectonic plate shifting and the groundwater pumping necessary to support a growing population – something we've seen cause significant city sinking in other parts of the world. The findings are notable enough to make city weight another consideration when scientists are figuring out how geography might change over time, and which areas are under threat as the sea level gets higher.

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2020AV000277

https://www.sciencealert.com/the-weight-of-cities-is-sinking-urban-...

Lunar Pioneers Will Use Lasers to Phone Home

NASA’s Orion and Gateway will try out optical communications gear for a high-speed connection to Earth

To meet the demands of high-definition video and data-intensive scientific research, NASA and other space agencies are pushing the radio bands traditionally allocated for space research to their limits. For example, the Orion spacecraft, which will carry astronauts around the moon during NASA’s Artemis 2 mission in 2022, will transmit mission-critical information to Earth via an S-band radio at 2 megabits per second. “It’s the most complex flight-management system ever flown on a spacecraft.

To boost data rates even higher means moving beyond radio and developing optical communications systems that use lasers to beam data across space. In addition to its S-band radio, Orion will carry a laser communications system for sending ultrahigh-definition 4K video back to Earth. And further out, NASA’s Gateway will create a long-term laser communications hub linking our planet and its satellite.

Laser communications are a tricky proposition. The slightest jolt to a spacecraft could send a laser beam wildly off course, while a passing cloud could interrupt it. But if they work, robust optical communications will allow future missions to receive software updates in minutes, not days. Astronauts will be sheltered from the loneliness of working in space. And the scientific community will have access to an unprecedented flow of data between Earth and the moon.

https://spectrum.ieee.org/telecom/wireless/lunar-pioneers-will-use-...

A 'twisted elevator' could be key to understanding neurological diseases

A University of Sydney-led international team of scientists has revealed the shape of one of the most important molecular machines in our cellsthe glutamate transporter, helping to explain how our brain cells communicate with one another.

Glutamate transporters are tiny proteins on the surface of all our cells that shut on and off the chemical signals that have a big role in making sure all cell-to-cell talk runs smoothly. They are also involved in nerve signalling, metabolism and learning and memory.

The researchers captured the transporters in exquisite detail using cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM), showing they look like a 'twisted elevator' embedded in the cell membrane.

This world-first discovery opens a whole new field of possibility, studying if defects in the transporters could be the reason behind neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's disease.

The results of the research have been published in Nature.

Using Cryo-EM,researchers have uncovered for the first time just how these transporters can multitask—carrying out the dual functions of moving chemicals (like glutamate) across the cell membrane while also allowing water and chloride ions to move through at the same time. These molecular machines use a really cool twisting, elevator-like mechanism to move their cargo across the cell membrane. But they also have an additional function where they can allow water and chloride ions to move across the cell membrane.

Understanding how the molecular machines in our cells work enables us to interpret defects in these machines in disease states and also gives us clues as to how we might target these machines with therapeutics.

Mapping out in detail the structure of the glutamate transporter could be a crucial tool for researchers in understanding how our bodies work ,and the mechanism behind some diseases.

Defects in the glutamate transporter have been linked to many neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and stroke.

This includes rare diseases such as episodic ataxia, a disease that impacts movement and causes periodic paralysis, caused by an uncontrolled leak of chloride through the glutamate transporter in brain cells.

Glutamate transporters have a chloride channel with two hydrophobic gates, Nature (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03240-9 , dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03240-9

https://phys.org/news/2021-02-elevator-key-neurological-diseases.ht...

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A disease-sniffing device that rivals a dog's nose

Numerous studies have shown that trained dogs can detect many kinds of disease—including lung, breast, ovarian, bladder, and prostate cancers, and possibly COVID-19—simply through smell. In some cases, involving prostate cancer for example, the dogs had a 99 percent success rate in detecting the disease by sniffing patients' urine samples.

But it takes time to train such dogs, and their availability and time is limited. Scientists have been hunting for ways of automating the amazing olfactory capabilities of the canine nose and brain, in a compact device. Now, a team of researchers at MIT and other institutions has come up with a system that can detect the chemical and microbial content of an air sample with even greater sensitivity than a dog's nose. They coupled this to a machine-learning process that can identify the distinctive characteristics of the disease-bearing samples.

The findings, which the researchers say could someday lead to an automated odor-detection system small enough to be incorporated into a cellphone, are being published recently in the journal PLoS ONE.

Guest C, Harris R, Sfanos KS, Shrestha E, Partin AW, Trock B, et al. (2021) Feasibility of integrating canine olfaction with chemical and microbial profiling of urine to detect lethal prostate cancer. PLoS ONE 16(2): e0245530. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0245530

https://phys.org/news/2021-02-disease-sniffing-device-rivals-dog-no...

New skin patch brings us closer to wearable, all-in-one health monitor

Protein linked to Alzheimer's, strokes cleared from brain blood vessels

As people age, a normal brain protein known as amyloid beta often starts to collect into harmful amyloid plaques in the brain. Such plaques can be the first step on the path to Alzheimer's dementia. When they form around blood vessels in the brain, a condition known as cerebral amyloid angiopathy, the plaques also raise the risk of strokes.

Several antibodies that target amyloid plaques have been studied as experimental treatments for Alzheimer's disease. Such antibodies also may have the potential to treat cerebral amyloid angiopathy, although they haven't yet been evaluated in clinical trials. But all of the anti-amyloid antibodies that have successfully reduced amyloid plaques in Alzheimer's clinical trials also can cause a worrisome side effect: an increased risk of brain swelling and bleeds.

Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified an antibody that, in mice, removes amyloid plaques from brain tissue and blood vessels without increasing risk of brain bleeds. The antibody targets a minor component of amyloid plaques known as apolipoprotein E (APOE).

The findings, published Feb. 17 in Science Translational Medicine, suggest a potentially safer approach to removing harmful amyloid plaques as a way of treating Alzheimer's disease and cerebral amyloid angiopathy.

 "APOE immunotherapy reduces cerebral amyloid angiopathy and amyloid plaques while improving cerebrovascular function" Science Translational Medicine (2021). stm.sciencemag.org/lookup/doi/ … scitranslmed.abd7522

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-02-protein-linked-alzheimer-bra...

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Researchers report switching material between semiconductor and met...

A group of researchers from the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society and the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin have found out that a semiconductor can be converted to a metal and back by light more easily and more quickly than previously thought. This discovery may increase the processing speed and simplify the design of many common technological devices.

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Making swimming pools safer by reducing chlorine disinfection bypro...

Swimming in indoor or outdoor pools is a healthy form of exercise and recreation for many people. However, studies have linked compounds that arise from chlorine disinfection of the pools to respiratory problems, including asthma, in avid swimmers. Now, researchers reporting in ACS' Environmental Science & Technology have found that using a complementary form of disinfection, known as copper-silver ionization (CSI), can decrease disinfection byproducts and cell toxicity of chlorinated swimming pool water.

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Evidence of Planet Nine diminishing as researchers find no evidence...

An international team of researchers has found no evidence of trans-Neptunian object clustering as part of an effort to refute the idea of the existence of Planet Nine. The group has written a paper describing their findings and have uploaded it to the arXiv preprint server.

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This is what happens to spacecraft when they re-enter the Earth's a...

When one of the Russian Progress resupply ships undocks from the International Space Station, timing is everything. The Progress needs to fire its engines at just the right time to instigate the deorbit burn in order for the ship to enter the atmosphere at just the right place so that its destructive re-entry occurs over the Pacific Ocean. That way, any potential surviving bits and pieces that might reach Earth will hit far away from any land masses—which are home to people, buildings, and other things we don't want to get bonked.

An mRNA vaccine for cancer immunotherapy

Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines to prevent COVID-19 have made headlines around the world recently, but scientists have also been working on mRNA vaccines to treat or prevent other diseases, including some forms of cancer. Now, researchers reporting in ACS' Nano Letters have developed a hydrogel that, when injected into mice with melanoma, slowly released RNA nanovaccines that shrank tumors and kept them from metastasizing.

Cancer immunotherapy vaccines work similarly to mRNA vaccines for COVID-19, except they activate the immune system to attack tumors instead of a virus. These vaccines contain mRNA that encodes proteins made specifically by tumor cells. When the mRNA enters antigen-presenting cells, they begin making the tumor protein and displaying it on their surfaces, triggering other immune cells to seek and destroy tumors that also make this protein. However, mRNA is an unstable molecule that is quickly degraded by enzymes in the body. For cancer immunotherapy, researchers have tried using nanoparticles to protect and deliver mRNA, but they are typically cleared from the body within 1-2 days after injection. Researchers wanted to develop a hydrogel that, when injected under the skin, would slowly release mRNA nanoparticles, along with an adjuvant—a molecule that helps activate the immune system.

To develop their system, the researchers used ovalbumin (a protein found in chicken egg whites) as a model antigen. The team mixed ovalbumin mRNA and an adjuvant with other compounds to form a hydrogel. When injected under the skin of mice with melanoma tumors engineered to express ovalbumin, the hydrogel slowly released mRNA and adjuvant nanoparticles over a 30-day period. The mRNA vaccine activated T cells and stimulated antibody production, causing tumors to shrink in the treated mice. Also, in contrast to untreated mice, the vaccinated mice did not show any metastasis to the lung.

These results demonstrate that the hydrogel has great potential for achieving long-lasting and efficient cancer immunotherapy with only a single treatment, the researchers say.

"In Situ Transforming RNA Nanovaccines from Polyethylenimine Functionalized Graphene Oxide Hydrogel for Durable Cancer Immunotherapy" Nano Letters (2021). pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c05039

https://phys.org/news/2021-02-mrna-vaccine-cancer-immunotherapy.htm...

Quantum collaboration gives new gravity to the mysteries of the universe

Scientists have used cutting-edge research in quantum computation and quantum technology to pioneer a radical new approach to determining how our Universe works at its most fundamental level.

An international team of experts have demonstrated that only quantum and not classical gravity could be used to create a certain informatic ingredient that is needed for quantum computation. Their research "Non-Gaussianity as a signature of a quantum theory of gravity" has been published recently in PRX Quantum.

For more than a hundred years, physicists have struggled to determine how the two foundational theories of science, quantum theoryand general relativity, which respectively describe microscopic and macroscopic phenomena, are unified into a single overarching theory of nature.

During this time, they have come up with two fundamentally contrasting approaches, called 'quantum gravity' and 'classical gravity'. However, a complete lack of experimental evidence means that physicists do not know which approach the overarching theory actually takes, our research provides an experimental approach to solving this.

This new research, which is a collaboration between experts in quantum computing, quantum gravity, and quantum experiments finds an unexpected connection between the fields of quantum computing and quantum gravity and uses this to propose a way to test experimentally that there is quantum not classical gravity. The suggested experiment would involve cooling billions of atoms in a millimeter-sized spherical trap to extremely low temperatures such that they enter a new phase of matter, called a Bose-Einstein condensate, and start to behave like a single large, quantum atom. A magnetic field is then applied to this "atom" so that it feels only its own gravitational pull. With this all in place, if the single gravitating atom demonstrates the key ingredient needed for quantum computation, which is curiously associated with "negative probability," nature must take the quantum gravity approach.

This proposed experiment uses current technology, involves just a single quantum system, the gravitating "atom," and does not rely on assumptions concerning the locality of the interaction, making it simpler than previous approaches and potentially expediating the delivery of the first experimental test of quantum gravity. Physicists would then, after more than a hundred years of research, finally have information on the true overarching, fundamental theory of nature.

Richard Howl et al, Non-Gaussianity as a Signature of a Quantum Theory of Gravity, PRX Quantum 2, 010325 – Published 17 February 2021, DOI: 10.1103/PRXQuantum.2.010325

https://phys.org/news/2021-02-quantum-collaboration-gravity-mysteri...

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Plastic recycling results in rare metals being found in children's toys and food packaging

Some of the planet's rarest metals—used in the manufacture of smartphones and other electrical equipment—are increasingly being found in everyday consumer plastics, according to new research.

Scientists 

tested a range of new and used products including children's toys, office equipment and cosmetic containers.

Through a number of detailed assessments, they examined levels of rare earth elements (REEs) but also quantities of bromine and antimony, used as flame retardants in electrical equipment and a sign of the presence of recycled electronic plastic.

The results showed one or more REEs were found in 24 of the 31 products tested, including items where unregulated recycling is prohibited such as single-use food packaging.

They were most commonly observed in samples containing bromine and antimony at levels insufficient to effect flame retardancy, but also found in plastics where those chemicals weren't present.

Having also been found in beached marine plastics, the study's authors have suggested there is evidence that REEs are ubiquitous and pervasive contaminants of both contemporary and historical consumer and environmental plastics.

While they have previously been found in a variety of environments—including ground water, soils and the atmosphere—the study demonstrates the wide REE contamination of the "plastisphere" that does not appear to be related to a single source or activity.

Andrew Turner et al, Rare earth elements in plastics, Science of The Total Environment (2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145405

https://phys.org/news/2021-02-plastic-recycling-results-rare-metals...

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Excessive use of sanitisers could erase your fingerprints: Experts

Experts  are reporting cases where sanitisers are “wiping off” fingerprints along with the Covid-19 virus. Experts blamed the nature of alcohol for the phenomenon.

A lady reported: If you value your fingerprints, don’t over-sanitise. Nehal Mistry, a bank professional, learned this the hard way when the office biometric attendance machine failed to recognise her fingerprints.

The Bopal resident used to sanitise her hands at least six-seven times a day. “Even my home security system could not read my fingerprints. I was already receiving treatment for a skin problem. So, my dermatologist asked me to reduce the use of alcohol-based sanitiser and shift to soap-based cleaning. She also prescribed a few ointments. It worked, and I got my fingerprints back.”

Experts from the city are reporting cases where sanitisers are “wiping off” fingerprints along with the Covid-19 virus. Experts blamed the nature of alcohol for the phenomenon. The condition is temporary, but it can happen to people using sanitisers excessively or not using moisturisers enough, they added.

Due to the use of sanitisers and other hand rubs, there is abrasion of the skin’s upper layer (epidermis). The fingerprints are formed due to the ridges in this layer. The abrasions change it and a clear image is not formed. Edema (swelling) and contact dermatitis also affect the fingerprint pattern.

The issue is however not very common, assure experts. The issue with fingerprints is reported more in those with an existing history of hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating). Frequent use of sanitisers coupled with other skin issues can increase peeling of epidermis.

https://health.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/excessive...

COVID vaccines and safety: what the research says

Origin of the Armageddon causing comet

Scientists entered people’s dreams and got them ‘talking’

Because Lucid dreamers can hear and answer questions while still asleep, scientists find. 

Scientists have successfully "talked" to a sleeping person in real-time by invading their dreams, a new study shows. The researchers say it's like trying to communicate with an astronaut on another world.

Dreamers can follow instructions, solve simple math problems and answer yes-no questions without ever waking up, according to the results of four experiments described Thursday (Feb. 18) in the journal Current Biology.  

The researchers communicated directly with sleeping participants by asking them questions and having them respond with eye or facial movements during lucid dreams — when people are at minimum aware that they are dreaming. (Some lucid dreamers can control what happens in their dreams.) 

Studying dreams is difficult because people often forget or distort details after waking up. That's in part because the brain doesn't form many new memories while sleeping and has a limited capacity to accurately store information after the dream has ended, according to the study. 

To overcome this limitation, the researchers attempted to communicate with people while they were still dreaming. Because the study participants were having lucid dreams, that meant they could make a conscious effort to respond to cues coming in from the outside world, the researchers hypothesized. 

Researchers placed electrodes on the participants' heads, to measure their brainwaves; next to their eyes, to track eye movements; and on their chin, to measure muscle activity. They used this data to determine when the participants entered the rapid eye movement (REM) stage of sleep, when lucid dreams are most likely to occur.

The researchers used several techniques across the experiments to communicate with dreamers during REM sleep, including asking them spoken questions and giving them encoded messages in flashing lights, beeping tones and physical taps, that the dreamers had been trained to decipher. If dreamers received and understood the question or message during a lucid dream, they then responded with a set of distinctive eye or facial movements that were interpreted by the electrodes.

"Such two-way communication — from outside to inside the dream and back out again — is something that may seem to belong to the domain of science fiction.

https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(21)00059-2

https://www.livescience.com/real-time-communication-while-dreaming....

Metabolic mutations help bacteria resist drug treatment

Bacteria have many ways to evade the antibiotics that we use against them.

Most of the mutations known to confer resistance occur in the genes targeted by a particular antibiotic. Other resistance mutations allow bacteria to break down antibiotics or pump them out through their cell membranes.

Researchers have now identified another class of mutations that helps bacteria develop resistance. In a study of E. coli, they discovered that mutations to genes involved in metabolism can also help bacteria to evade the toxic effects of several different antibiotics. The findings shed light on a fundamental facet of how antibiotics work, and suggest potential new avenues for developing drugs that could enhance the effectiveness of existing antibiotics.

This study gives us insights into how we can boost the effectiveness of existing antibiotics because it emphasizes that downstream metabolism plays an important role. Specifically, the work indicates that the killing efficacy of an antibiotic can be enhanced if one can elevate the metabolic response of the treated pathogen. By turning down their metabolism after drug treatment, bacteria can prevent the buildup of harmful byproducts.

The findings raise the possibility that forcing bacteria into a heightened metabolic state could increase the effectiveness of existing antibiotics, the researchers say.

A.J. Lopatkin el al., "Clinically relevant mutations in core metabolic genes confer antibiotic resistance," Science (2021). science.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi … 1126/science.aba0862

"The genetic underground of antibiotic resistance," Science (2021). science.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi … 1126/science.abf7922

https://phys.org/news/2021-02-metabolic-mutations-bacteria-resist-d...

Scientists identify over 140,000 virus species in the human gut

Viruses are the most numerous biological entities on the planet. Now researchers  have identified over 140,000 viral species living in the human gut, more than half of which have never been seen before.

The paper, published today (18 February 2021) in Cell, contains an analysis of over 28,000 gut microbiome samples collected in different parts of the world. The number and diversity of the viruses the researchers found was surprisingly high, and the data opens up new research avenues for understanding how viruses living in the gut affect human health.

The human gut is an incredibly biodiverse environment. In addition to bacteria, hundreds of thousands of viruses called bacteriophages, which can infect bacteria, also live there.

It is known that imbalances in our gut microbiome can contribute to diseases and complex conditions such as Inflammatory Bowel Disease, allergies and obesity. But relatively little is known about the role our gut bacteria, and the bacteriophages that infect them, play in human health and disease.

Using a DNA-sequencing method called metagenomics, researchers at the Wellcome Sanger Institute and EMBL's European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) explored and catalogued the biodiversity of the viral species found in 28,060 public human gut metagenomes and 2,898 bacterial isolate genomes cultured from the human gut.

The analysis identified over 140,000 viral species living in the human gut, more than half of which have never been seen before.

Camarillo-Guerrero, L.F., et al. (2021). Massive expansion of human gut bacteriophage diversity. Cell. DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2021.01.029

https://phys.org/news/2021-02-scientists-virus-species-human-gut.ht...

Physics of tumours: Cancer cells become fluidised and squeeze through tissue

Researchers  have achieved a breakthrough in research into how cancer cells spread. They demonstrated for the first time how cells deform in order to move in dense tumor tissues and squeeze past neighboring cells. The researchers found that motile cells work together to fluidise tumour tissue.

These first observations of a phase transition in human tumours change our basic concepts of tumour progression and could improve cancer diagnosis and therapy.

 the research showed that human tumours contain solid and fluid cell clusters, which would be a breakthrough in scientists' understanding of tumour mechanics.

Steffen Grosser et al, Cell and Nucleus Shape as an Indicator of Tissue Fluidity in Carcinoma, Physical Review X (2021). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevX.11.011033

https://phys.org/news/2021-02-physics-tumours-cancer-cells-fluidise...

Using plasma technology to feed the world

Using state-of-the-art plasma technology to make cheap fertilizer for small farmers may sound like magic, but it has now become reality. Researchers have built a small plasma-powered plant that produces nitrogen-based liquid fertilizer only using sun, water and air. The plant is easy to set up, sustainable and very efficient.

https://www.tue.nl/en/news/news-overview/01-01-1970-using-plasma-te...

https://phys.org/news/2021-02-plasma-technology-world.html?utm_sour...

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AI may mistake chess discussions as racist talk

"The Queen's Gambit," the recent TV mini-series about a chess master, may have stirred increased interest in chess, but a word to the wise: social media talk about game-piece colors could lead to misunderstandings, at least for hate-speech detection software.

The dogs trained to spot cancer

Ancient trees show turning point in Earth history 42,000yr ago

Researchers observe stationary Hawking radiation in an analog black hole

Black holes are regions in space where gravity is very strong—so strong that nothing that enters them can escape, including light. Theoretical predictions suggest that there is a radius surrounding black holes known as the event horizon. Once something passes the event horizon, it can no longer escape a black hole, as gravity becomes stronger as it approaches its center.

Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking predicted that while nothing can escape from within them, black holes spontaneously emit a limited amount of light, which is known as Hawking radiation. According to his predictions, this radiation is spontaneous (i.e., it arises from nothing) and stationary (i.e., its intensity does not change much over time).

Researchers at Technion- Israel Institute of Technology have recently carried out a study aimed at testing Hawking's theoretical predictions. More specifically, they examined whether the equivalent of Hawking radiation in an "artificial black hole" created in a laboratory setting was stationary.

If you go inside the event horizon there's no way to get out, even for light. Hawking radiation starts just outside the event horizon, where light can barely escape. That is really weird because there's nothing there; it's empty space. Yet this radiation starts from nothing, comes out, and goes towards Earth.

The Hawking radiation emitted by this analog black hole is made of sound waves, rather than light waves. The rubidium atoms flow faster than the speed of sound, so sound waves cannot reach the event horizon and escape from the black hole. Outside of the event horizon, however, the gas flows slowly, so sound waves can move freely.

According to Hawking's predictions, the radiation emitted by black holes is spontaneous. In one of their previous studies, Researchers were able to confirm this prediction in their artificial black hole. In their new study, they set out to investigate whether the radiation emitted by their black hole is also stationary (i.e., if it remains constant over time).

A black hole is supposed to radiate like a black body, which is essentially a warm object that emits a constant infrared radiation (i.e., black body radiation). Hawking suggested that black holes are just like regular stars, which radiate a certain type of radiation all the time, constantly. That's what they wanted to confirm in our study, and they did.

Observation of stationary spontaneous Hawking radiation and the time evolution of an analog black hole. Nature Physics(2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41567-020-01076-0

https://phys.org/news/2021-02-stationary-hawking-analog-black-hole....

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Spina bifida can be caused by uninherited genetic mutations

Genetic mutations which occur naturally during the earliest stages of an embryo's development can cause the severe birth defect spina bifida, finds a new experimental study in mice.

The research explains for the first time how a 'mosaic mutation' - a mutation which is not inherited from either parent (either via sperm or egg cell) but occurs randomly during cell divisions in the developing embryo—causes spina bifida.

Scientists 

found that when a mutation in the gene Vangl2 (which contains information needed to create spinal cord tissue) was present in 16% of developing spinal cord cells of mouse embryos, this was sufficient to produce spina bifida.

Researchers say the findings add to scientists' understanding of how and why mosaic mutations can affect and disrupt cell function, including those of neighbouring cells, helping cause birth defects.

For parents, the findings may help reduce the burden felt by those who believe their child inherited spina bifida from them via genes, and believe future children could also inherit the condition. This is often discussed during genetic counselling.

Cell non-autonomy amplifies disruption of neurulation by mosaic Vangl2 deletion in mice, Nature Communications (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-21372-4

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-02-spina-bifida-uninherited-gen...

People who don't suffer in cold have a genetic mutation to tolerate cold better

A new research has identified a specific genetic mutation that makes a fifth of us more resilient to cold conditions.

The genetic mutation in question stops the production of the protein α-actinin-3, which is important for skeletal muscle fibre: The protein is only found in fast-twitch (or white) fibres and not in slow-twitch (or red) fibres.

Based on the new study's results, people without α-actinin-3 have a higher proportion of slow-twitch fibres, and one of the consequences is that the body tends to conserve energy by building up muscle tone through contractions rather than shivering.

This suggests that people lacking α-actinin-3 are better at keeping warm and, energy-wise, at enduring a tougher climate. The loss of this protein gives a greater resilience to cold .

https://www.cell.com/ajhg/fulltext/S0002-9297(21)00013-6

https://www.sciencealert.com/1-in-5-of-us-have-a-genetic-mutation-t...