Physicists see fluid-like electron whirlpools for the first time

Amazing stuff!

"... Now, physicists ... have observed electrons flowing in vortices, or whirlpools — a hallmark of fluid flow that theorists predicted electrons should exhibit, but that has never been seen until now. ...
“We know when electrons go in a fluid state, [energy] dissipation drops, and that’s of interest in trying to design low-power electronics,” ...
This liquid-like behavior should emerge in ultraclean materials and at near-zero temperatures. ...
In 2017, ... reported signatures of such fluid-like electron behavior in graphene, an atom-thin sheet of carbon onto which they etched a thin channel with several pinch points. They observed that a current sent through the channel could flow through the constrictions with little resistance. This suggested that the electrons in the current were able to squeeze through the pinch points collectively, much like a fluid, rather than clogging, like individual grains of sand. ...
tungsten ditelluride (WTe2), an ultraclean metallic compound that has been found to exhibit exotic electronic properties when isolated in single-atom-thin, two-dimensional form. ...
The group’s observations are the first direct visualization of swirling vortices in an electric current. The findings represent an experimental confirmation of a fundamental property in electron behavior. ..."

From the abstract:

"Vortices are the hallmarks of hydrodynamic flow. Strongly interacting electrons in ultrapure conductors can display signatures of hydrodynamic behaviour, including negative non-local resistance, higher-than-ballistic conduction, Poiseuille flow in narrow channels and violation of the Wiedemann–Franz law. Here we provide a visualization of whirlpools in an electron fluid. By using a nanoscale scanning superconducting quantum interference device on a tip, we image the current distribution in a circular chamber connected through a small aperture to a current-carrying strip in the high-purity type II Weyl semimetal WTe2. In this geometry, the Gurzhi momentum diffusion length and the size of the aperture determine the vortex stability phase diagram. We find that vortices are present for only small apertures, whereas the flow is laminar (non-vortical) for larger apertures. Near the vortical-to-laminar transition, we observe the single vortex in the chamber splitting into two vortices; this behaviour is expected only in the hydrodynamic regime and is not anticipated for ballistic transport. These findings suggest a new mechanism of hydrodynamic flow in thin pure crystals such that the spatial diffusion of electron momenta is enabled by small-angle scattering at the surfaces instead of the routinely invoked electron–electron scattering, which becomes extremely weak at low temperatures. ..."

Physicists see electron whirlpools for the first time | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology Long predicted but never observed, this fluid-like electron behavior could be leveraged for low-power next-generation electronics.

Direct observation of vortices in an electron fluid (no public access)

In most materials like gold (left), electrons flow with the electric field. But MIT physicists have found that in exotic tungsten ditelluride (right), the particles can reverse direction and swirl like a liquid.

Organ-on-a-chip system replicates rare neuromuscular disorders, finds new treatment without animal testing

Good news! This could be a breakthrough for organ on a chip systems to develop new drugs!

"Microphysiological systems, also known as organ-on-a-chip systems, are able to replicate key aspects of the human body and its function. These devices can be used with various living human cells to accelerate drug development, disease modeling, and personalize medicine — and the field is growing fast.
Now, researchers in the United States have used an advanced microphysiological system that mimics the pathology of chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy and multifocal motor neuropathy, two very rare but very devastating neuromuscular diseases that cannot be replicated in animal models like rodents or primates. ...
There are over 7,000 rare diseases with no effective treatments, and only about 400 are being actively researched due to a variety of reasons, including the lack of animal models. Moreover, about 9 in 10 drug candidates that show promising results in tests on rodents eventually fail in clinical trials on humans. ..."

From the abstract:

"Chronic autoimmune demyelinating neuropathies are a group of rare neuromuscular disorders with complex, poorly characterized etiology. Here the authors describe a phenotypic, human-on-a-chip (HoaC) electrical conduction model of two rare autoimmune demyelinating neuropathies, chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) and multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN), and explore the efficacy of TNT005, a monoclonal antibody inhibitor of the classical complement pathway. Patient sera is shown to contain anti-GM1 IgM and IgG antibodies capable of binding to human primary Schwann cells and induced pluripotent stem cell-derived motoneurons (MNs). Patient autoantibody binding is sufficient to activate the classical complement pathway, resulting in detection of C3b and C5b-9. A HoaC model, using a microelectrode array with directed axonal outgrowth over the electrodes treated with patient sera, exhibits reductions in MN action potential frequency and conduction velocity. TNT005 rescued the serum-induced complement deposition and functional deficits while treatment with an isotype control antibody has no rescue effect. These data indicate that complement activation by CIDP and MMN patient serum is sufficient to mimic neurophysiological features of each disease and that complement inhibition with TNT005 is sufficient to rescue these pathological effects and provide efficacy data included in an investigational new drug application, demonstrating the model's translational potential."

Human-on-a-chip system replicates rare neuromuscular disorders, finds new treatment without animal testing The FDA approved the first clinical trial using efficacy data collected from a microphysiological system. Here's why that's a pretty big deal.

Classical Complement Pathway Inhibition in a “Human-On-A-Chip” Model of Autoimmune Demyelinating Neuropathies (open access)

A molecule making a memory positive or negative in the brain

Amazing stuff! We may also have now a better answer why negative memory is stronger than positive memory.

"Researchers ... have discovered the molecule in the brain responsible for associating good or bad feelings with a memory. ...
In 2016, ... discovered that a group of neurons in the brain’s basolateral amygdala (BLA) helps assign valence when mice are learning. One set of BLA neurons was activated with positive valence, as the animals learned to associate a tone with a sweet taste. A separate set of BLA neurons was activated with negative valence, as the animals learned to associate a different tone with a bitter taste. ...

In the new study, the researchers homed in on the importance of the signaling molecule neurotensin to these BLA neurons. They already knew that neurotensin is a neuropeptide produced by the cells associated with valence processing, but so are a few other neurotransmitters. So they used CRISPR gene editing approaches to selectively remove the gene for neurotensin from the cells—the first time that CRISPR has been used to isolate specific neurotransmitter function.

Without neurotensin signaling in the BLA, mice could no longer assign positive valence and didn’t learn to associate the first tone with a positive stimulus. Interestingly, the absence of neurotensin did not block negative valence. ...
In further experiments ... showed that high levels of neurotensin promoted reward learning and dampened negative valence, further supporting the idea that neurotensin is responsible for positive valence. ...
The researchers still have questions about whether levels of neurotensin can be modulated in people’s brains to treat anxiety or PTSD. ..."

From the abstract:

"The ability to associate temporally segregated information and assign positive or negative valence to environmental cues is paramount for survival. Studies have shown that different projections from the basolateral amygdala (BLA) are potentiated following reward or punishment learning. However, we do not yet understand how valence-specific information is routed to the BLA neurons with the appropriate downstream projections, nor do we understand how to reconcile the sub-second timescales of synaptic plasticity with the longer timescales separating the predictive cues from their outcomes. Here we demonstrate that neurotensin (NT)-expressing neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PVT) projecting to the BLA (PVT-BLA:NT) mediate valence assignment by exerting NT concentration-dependent modulation in BLA during associative learning. We found that optogenetic activation of the PVT-BLA:NT projection promotes reward learning, whereas PVT-BLA projection-specific knockout of the NT gene (Nts) augments punishment learning. Using genetically encoded calcium and NT sensors, we further revealed that both calcium dynamics within the PVT-BLA:NT projection and NT concentrations in the BLA are enhanced after reward learning and reduced after punishment learning. Finally, we showed that CRISPR-mediated knockout of the Nts gene in the PVT-BLA pathway blunts BLA neural dynamics and attenuates the preference for active behavioural strategies to reward and punishment predictive cues. In sum, we have identified NT as a neuropeptide that signals valence in the BLA, and showed that NT is a critical neuromodulator that orchestrates positive and negative valence assignment in amygdala neurons by extending valence-specific plasticity to behaviourally relevant timescales."

Making a memory positive or negative - Salk Institute for Biological Studies

Neurotensin orchestrates valence assignment in the amygdala (no public access)

Scientists Reveal New Function of Enzyme ADAR1 Linking it to Age-Related Diseases

Good news! Coming closer to the fountain of youth!

"... revealed a novel ADAR1-SIRT1-p16INK4a axis in regulating cellular senescence and its potential implications in tissue aging. ...
Central to this quest is a protein called p16INK4a because its expression both increases during tissue aging and it drives senescence Prior studies established that depletion of p16INK4a expressing cells is sufficient to delay age-associated disorders. ...
showed that stressed cells utilize ADAR1 as protection from apoptosis, programmed cell death ...
discovered that ADAR1 loss promotes p16INK4a expression through SIRT1, another protein known to regulate both senescence and tissue aging. Interestingly, this function of ADAR1 does not depend on its biological role in RNA editing. ...
downregulation of ADAR1 by a process called autophagy (the degradation and recycling of damaged or unneeded cell components) during senescence decreased the stability of SIRT1 mRNA, which in turn upregulated the translation of p16INK4a to induce senescence. ..."

From the abstract:

"Cellular senescence plays a causal role in ageing and, in mice, depletion of p16INK4a-expressing senescent cells delays ageing-associated disorders. Adenosine deaminases acting on RNA (ADARs) are RNA-editing enzymes that are also implicated as important regulators of human ageing, and ADAR inactivation causes age-associated pathologies such as neurodegeneration in model organisms. However, the role, if any, of ADARs in cellular senescence is unknown. Here we show that ADAR1 is post-transcriptionally downregulated by autophagic degradation to promote senescence through p16INK4a upregulation. The ADAR1 downregulation is sufficient to drive senescence in both in vitro and in vivo models. Senescence induced by ADAR1 downregulation is p16INK4a-dependent and independent of its RNA-editing function. Mechanistically, ADAR1 promotes SIRT1 expression by affecting its RNA stability through HuR, an RNA-binding protein that increases the half-life and steady-state levels of its target mRNAs. SIRT1 in turn antagonizes translation of mRNA encoding p16INK4a. Hence, downregulation of ADAR1 and SIRT1 mediates p16INK4a upregulation by enhancing its mRNA translation. Finally, Adar1 is downregulated during ageing of mouse tissues such as brain, ovary and intestine, and Adar1 expression correlates with Sirt1 expression in these tissues in mice. Together, our study reveals an RNA-editing-independent role for ADAR1 in the regulation of senescence by post-transcriptionally controlling p16INK4a expression."

Wistar Scientists Reveal New Function of Enzyme ADAR1 Linking it to Age-Related Diseases via a Role Independent of RNA-editing During Aging

ADAR1 downregulation by autophagy drives senescence independently of RNA editing by enhancing p16INK4a levels (no public access)

Crustaceans found to fertilize seaweed like bees pollinate plants

Amazing stuff! Animal-mediated pollination may have evolved first in water before on land.

"... via experiments and observations in the wild, the researchers discovered that the idoteas [marine isopods (small crustaceans)] play a helping hand. It was observed that as the crustaceans forage on male G. gracilis alga, sticky mucilage-coated spermatia (male gametes) cling to the animals' cuticles – the spermatia are produced by structures that dot the surface of the alga.

When those same idoteas land on a female alga, some of the spermatia are transferred to its reproductive organ, completing the fertilization process. The idoteas get something out of the deal too, as the algae provides protection from the elements, plus its surface is covered in small organisms which the iodteas eat. ..."

From the abstract:

"The long-held belief that animal-mediated pollination is absent in the sea has recently been contradicted in seagrasses, motivating investigations of other marine phyla. This is particularly relevant in red algae, in which female gametes are not liberated and male gametes are not flagellated. Using experiments with the isopod Idotea balthica and the red alga Gracilaria gracilis, we demonstrate that biotic interactions dramatically increase the fertilization success of the alga through animal transport of spermatia on their body. This discovery suggests that animal-mediated fertilization could have evolved independently in terrestrial and marine environments and raises the possibility of its emergence in the sea before plants moved ashore."

Crustaceans found to fertilize seaweed like bees pollinate plants

Pollinators of the sea: A discovery of animal-mediated fertilization in seaweed (no public access)

Michael Wood: In Search of Shakespeare

Very recommendable! Michael Wood is a great story teller.

It is quite amazing how many of the original places and documents from the childhood of Shakespeare are still very well preserved.

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

The Insane Biology of: The Electric Eel

Very recommendable!

Investigation into leaked SCOTUS abortion draft heats up

Good news! The number of suspects has been lowered from initially about 70! This YouTube video has been watched almost 119,000 times. That is a lot! I hope, the investigation will be successful soon!

I wonder, whether Politico, which published the leaked decision, can also be held accountable!

Research suggests depression may not be due to a chemical imbalance in the brain

If this research is confirmed, then it means for decades tens of millions patients were quite possibly prescribed the wrong medication and have been treated the wrong way over long periods. There are currently 8.3 million people in the UK alone taking antidepressants. That is depressing! 

President Biden tests positive for COVID-19 again

What???

"... A statement was from the White House physician and said the 79-year-old president tested positive "late Saturday morning" after multiple negative tests earlier in the week. ..."

President Biden tests positive for COVID-19 again | Just The News

Do Invertebrates Have Emotions?

Recommendable! This is a comprehensive overview article. Why should emotions be confined to vertebrates? How necessary is a nervous system or are there alternatives?

"... Decades ago, scientists and lawmakers had all but reached a consensus that invertebrates could not feel pain, let alone other emotions like joy or fear. Recently, however, evidence is mounting that invertebrates are more than just reflexive beings. Experiments in bees, crabs, and octopuses show that some invertebrate animals can learn from painful experiences, have positive and negative emotion-like states, and might even experience a range of other emotions beyond pain and pleasure. ...
Still, many scientists remain extremely skeptical, and the question of whether invertebrates can experience emotions is hotly debated. ..."

From the abstract:

"If the UK joins a handful of other nations to recognize the sentience of invertebrates, such as cephalopod mollusks and decapod crustaceans, by, for example, prohibiting the boiling of live lobsters, this will be based on evidence that emotions and felt experiences (i.e., sentience) are not limited to animals close to humans, such as the mammals. This topic has been heavily debated in both affective neuroscience (how to define an emotion?) and philosophy (what is the moral relevance of animal experiences?), but a consensus on the criteria for and implications of recognizing animal sentience seems to be emerging"

Do Invertebrates Have Emotions? | The Scientist Magazine® And how do scientists go about answering that question?

The question of animal emotions (no public access) Do animals, including invertebrates, have felt emotions and does this morally matter?

Who was Elizabeth Báthory: the Blood Countess and Hungary's own female Dracula

Another Me Too! Gender equality has many meanings! Was she a predecessor of Marquis de Sade?

"On a dark and cold night on December 29, 1610, soldiers stormed the Hungarian castle of Csejte and arrested Countess Elisabeth Báthory and her servants. What they found inside shook them to their bones and, in the coming months, as her trial unfolded, an entire kingdom would lose sleep over the countess’ vile and despicable crimes.

Báthory is today remembered as one of the most cold-blooded and prolific killers in history. She reportedly was responsible for the torture and murder of 600 young girls and women. Indeed, even Guinness World Records lists her as the foremost female serial killer that we know of. ...
However, there is absolutely no credible evidence that suggests the countess actually took blood baths, although it wouldn’t be totally unheard of. Modern villain Vladimir Putin routinely bathes in the blood from Maral stag antlers, which is extracted while the stag is still alive, supposedly to boost male health and sexual potency, as well as improve the cardiovascular system and rejuvenate the skin. ...

According to surviving testimonials from subsequent trials from her closest servants, countess Báthory performed all manner of vile and unspeakable acts of savagery. ... She would beat servants so badly that the blood splattered on the walls and beds had to be soaked up with ashes and cinders. Servants were burned with red-hot keys, coins, and all manners of metal objects and in the most painful ways, such as ironing the soles of the feet or sticking burning iron rods into the victims’ vagina. Servants often had their lips and tongues stitched together, others were forced to stand in tubs of ice water up their necks until they died of hypothermia.

Some torture sessions were purely diabolical. According to one account, the countess forced servants to cook and eat their own flesh, usually from the buttocks. Needles, knives, burning candles, and all manner of pain-inducing objects were used to lacerate servants’ genitals. One servant girl was stripped naked, covered in honey, and left outside to be bitten by ants, wasps, bees, and flies. Dead bodies were found in the gardens, grain pits, and orchards on the castle’s domain and adjacent properties. ..."

Who was Elizabeth Báthory: the Blood Countess and Hungary's own female Dracula The dark story of a 17th-century Hungarian countess and her torturous escapades.

Asiens Wirtschaftswunder wird von zuverlässiger und erschwinglicher Kohlekraft angetrieben

Wie sich die westlichen Länder von China (Kommunistische Diktatur) verarschen lassen! China hat bereits über ein tausend Kohlekraftwerke und mehre neue werden jedes Jahr gebaut.

Auch Indien braucht erheblich mehr Strom für die Energieversorgung seiner Bevölkerung (mittlerweile die grösste der Welt) und Wirtschaft! Mit Wind und Solar ist das nicht zu schaffen! Nur Idioten glauben an sowas!

"... Kohleproduktion in Indien und China steigt um 700 Mio. Tonnen pro Jahr: Das ist mehr als in USA überhaupt gefördert wird ...
Der Anstieg der Kohlenachfrage in China und Indien – sowie in den USA, wo der Kohleverbrauch im vergangenen Jahr um 17 % gestiegen ist – zeigt zwei Dinge: dass das eiserne Gesetz der zuverlässigen Energieversorgung nicht gebrochen wurde, und zweitens, dass das Ende der Kohlevorräte noch weit entfernt ist Es ist einfacher, über die Reduzierung von Emissionen zu sprechen, als signifikante Einsparungen zu erzielen. ...
Bis Ende nächsten Jahres wird China etwa 4,4 Milliarden Tonnen Kohle pro Jahr produzieren und Indien wird etwa 1,2 Milliarden Tonnen abbauen. Wenn Sie das zusammenzählen, erhalten Sie 5,6 Milliarden Tonnen Kohle ..."

Asiens Wirtschaftswunder wird von zuverlässiger und erschwinglicher Kohlekraft angetrieben | EIKE - Europäisches Institut für Klima & Energie

"Sweet spot" for cancer exposes migration patterns of spreading cells

Good news! Cancer is history (soon)!

"the study builds on previous work in which the team found cells have an ability to sense the stiffness of their environment. This may be the rigid nature of bone material, the softer surroundings of fatty tissue or the medium stiffness of muscle tissue in between. This earlier research showed that the ability of cells to move differs between these environments. It also showed that there is a sweet spot for stiffness, in which the cells gain the best traction and can move at faster speeds. ...
The experiments deployed brain and breast cancer cells in between two environments, a stiffer region and a softer region, and the scientists observed for the first time that cells can actually gravitate towards the middle, which they describe as a "sweet spot." ...
From here, the team plans to develop a simulator that models how cancer cells move through a tumor. ..."

From the abstract:

"How cells sense tissue stiffness to guide cell migration is a fundamental question in development, fibrosis and cancer. Although durotaxis—cell migration towards increasing substrate stiffness—is well established, it remains unknown whether individual cells can migrate towards softer environments. Here, using microfabricated stiffness gradients, we describe the directed migration of U-251MG glioma cells towards less stiff regions. This ‘negative durotaxis’ does not coincide with changes in canonical mechanosensitive signalling or actomyosin contractility. Instead, as predicted by the motor–clutch-based model, migration occurs towards areas of ‘optimal stiffness’, where cells can generate maximal traction. In agreement with this model, negative durotaxis is selectively disrupted and even reversed by the partial inhibition of actomyosin contractility. Conversely, positive durotaxis can be switched to negative by lowering the optimal stiffness by the downregulation of talin—a key clutch component. Our results identify the molecular mechanism driving context-dependent positive or negative durotaxis, determined by a cell’s contractile and adhesive machinery."

"Sweet spot" for cancer exposes migration patterns of spreading cells

Directed cell migration towards softer environments (no public access)

Mapping the Neighborhoods (biogeography) of the Gut Microbiome

Amazing stuff! What little we still know about the gastrointestinal tract! Note that this is not a poop study!

The article also goes on to discuss the GI tract of ants and mice.

Poor animals again:

"Dissecting wombats’ intestines isn’t the easiest way to get an idea about what’s happening with their gut microbiomes ... for a recent study. Collecting poop would have been easier—particularly for endangered species like wombats ..."

"... characterized the microbial biogeography, or the spatial information about what microbes are present where, of the gastrointestinal (GI) tracts of one bare-nosed wombat (Vombatus ursinus) and one southern hairy-nosed wombat (Lasiorhinus latifrons) ...
For instance, in both animals, the distal end of the colon near the anus shared less than 20 percent of the microbial species of the proximal end near the small intestine. ... And the communities found in each of the animals’ proximal colons were more similar to each other than they were to the communities in the distal colon of the same animal. ... 
The differences identified so far in microbial communities across the gut indicate that microbial biogeography may have functional consequences ...
The main challenge is that it’s hard to look inside a place as well protected as the gut, she explains. Euthanizing animal models is usually necessary, while for humans, biopsies of different spots in the GI tract are needed to examine those tissues and their associated microbes. But preparing for biopsies usually includes a laxative regimen that clears out the GI tract and is likely to bias the results. ...
using microfluidics to simulate the environment of the gut and capture the real time dynamics of its biogeography. These so-called “gut-on-a-chip” devices allow researchers to seed human or mouse epithelial cells onto a transparent chip, where they produce mucus, and then introduce bacteria to watch how the microbes interact with the gut cells. ..."

From the abstract:

"Most herbivorous mammals have symbiotic microbes living in their gastrointestinal tracts that help with harvesting energy from recalcitrant plant fibre. The bulk of research into these microorganisms has focused on samples collected from faeces, representing the distal region of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. However, the GI tract in herbivorous mammals is typically long and complex, containing different regions with distinct physico-chemical properties that can structure resident microbial communities. Little work has been done to document GI microbial communities of herbivorous animals at these sites. In this study, we use 16S rRNA gene sequencing to characterize the microbial biogeography along the GI tract in two species of wombats. Specifically, we survey the microbes along four major gut regions (stomach, small intestine, proximal colon, distal colon) in a single bare-nosed wombat (Vombatus ursinus) and a single southern hairy-nosed wombat (Lasiorhinus latifrons). Our preliminary results show that GI microbial communities of wombats are structured by GI region. For both wombat individuals, we observed a trend of increasing microbial diversity from stomach to distal colon. The microbial composition in the first proximal colon region was more similar between wombat species than the corresponding distal colon region in the same species. We found several microbial genera that were differentially abundant between the first proximal colon (putative site for primary plant fermentation) and distal colon regions (which resemble faecal samples). Surprisingly, only 10.6% (98) and 18.8% (206) of amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) were shared between the first proximal colon region and the distal colon region for the bare-nosed and southern hairy-nosed wombat, respectively. These results suggest that microbial communities in the first proximal colon region—the putative site of primary plant fermentation in wombats—are distinct from the distal colon, and that faecal samples may have limitations in capturing the diversity of these communities. While faeces are still a valuable and effective means of characterising the distal colon microbiota, future work seeking to better understand how GI microbiota impact the energy economy of wombats (and potentially other hindgut-fermenting mammals) may need to take gut biogeography into account."

Mapping the Neighborhoods of the Gut Microbiome | The Scientist Magazine® Researchers are going beyond fecal samples to understand how the patterns of commensal microbes in the gastrointestinal tract influence development and health.

Microbial biogeography of the wombat gastrointestinal tract (open access)

Figure 5: Heat map of the microbial genera that were found to be differentially abundant between proximal and distal colon sites.

Scientists identify muscle-strength gene activated by exercise

How about developing muscle strength without exercise? Sounds too lazy? 😄

"... For the new study, researchers at the Universities of Melbourne and Copenhagen investigated the molecular signaling responses in muscles before, during and after different types of exercise. ...
performed an analysis of human skeletal muscle from a cross-over intervention of endurance, sprint and resistance exercise ...
From this, they identified a previously uncharacterized gene called C18ORF25, which was among those activated most often. ...
When the team engineered mice to lack this gene, the animals developed smaller skeletal muscle fibers ... Inversely, when they ramped up the gene activity, the animals’ muscles became stronger. ..."

From the abstract:

"... we performed a phosphoproteomic analysis of human skeletal muscle from a cross-over intervention of endurance, sprint, and resistance exercise. This identified 5,486 phosphosites regulated during or after at least one type of exercise modality and only 420 core phosphosites common to all exercise. One of these core phosphosites was S67 on the uncharacterized protein C18ORF25, which we validated as an AMPK substrate. Mice lacking C18ORF25 have reduced skeletal muscle fiber size, exercise capacity, and muscle contractile function, and this was associated with reduced phosphorylation of contractile and Ca2+ handling proteins. Expression of C18ORF25 S66/67D phospho-mimetic reversed the decreased muscle force production. This work defines the divergent and canonical exercise phosphoproteome across different modalities and identifies C18ORF25 as a regulator of exercise signaling and muscle function."

Scientists identify muscle-strength gene activated by exercise

Phosphoproteomics of three exercise modalities identifies canonical signaling and C18ORF25 as an AMPK substrate regulating skeletal muscle function (no public access)

This device can help diagnose diseases from your tears

Amazing stuff! Any bodily fluid can tell something! For tears, this is only the beginning.

"... We are interested in investigating extracellular vesicle-based multi-biomarkers from drops of tears for clinical diagnostics. Since the lacrimal glands secrete tears in the eyelids through filtration from blood plasma, which circulates the entire body by collecting exosomes from organs and tissues, it is time to recognize that tears contain rich clinical information about different parts of our body ...
exosomes ... play an important role in cell-to-cell communication and influence both physiological and pathological processes ...
The new system, dubbed “Incorporated Tear Exosomes Analysis via Rapid-isolation System,” or simply iTEARS for short, can separate exosomes from tear samples in just five minutes, as opposed to the hours or even days required by traditional approaches ...
a nanoporous membrane with oscillating pressure flow that effectively reduces clogging. The system allowed the researchers to tag proteins with fluorescent probes for tracking and later transfer to other instruments for further analysis, as well as extract nucleic acids for analysis. ...
In a demonstration, using iTEARS, the researchers were able to identify dry eye disease and diabetic retinopathy in samples taken from healthy controls and patients. But tears could be used to diagnose a range of diseases that affect the body, not just the eyes, the researchers claim. ..."

From the abstract:

"Nanoscale small extracellular vesicles (sEVs, exosomes) in tears allow us to investigate the multisignatures of diseases. However, the translations of tear sEVs for biomarker discovery and clinical diagnostics are practically limited by low recovery, long processing time, and small sample volume. Here, we report an incorporated tear-exosomes analysis via rapid-isolation system (iTEARS) via nanotechnology to discover the secrets of ocular disorders and systemic diseases. We isolate exosomes rapidly with high yield and purity from a few teardrops (∼10 μL) within 5 min via nanoporous membrane-based resonators for the quantitative detection and biomarker discovery through proteomic and transcriptomic analysis. We have identified 904 proteins, among which 228 proteins are discovered, 426 proteins are detected from exosomes of dry eye disease, and demonstrate CALML5, KRT6A, and S100P for the classification of dry eye disease. We have also investigated 484 miRNAs in tear exosomes and show miR-145-5p, miR-214-3p, miR-218-5p, and miR-9-5p are dysregulated during diabetic retinopathy development. We believe iTEARS can be used for improving molecular diagnostics via tears to identify ocular disorders, systemic diseases, and numerous other neurodegenerative diseases and cancer."

This device can help diagnose diseases from your tears

Discovering the Secret of Diseases by Incorporated Tear Exosomes Analysis via Rapid-Isolation System: iTEARS (open access)

Ukraine's ‘shadow army’ working behind Russian lines to free Kherson

You have to admire these brave Ukrainian partisans!

The Neolithic baby formula that ensured our survival

Amazing stuff! Some form of baby formula may have been used as far back as 7,500 years ago.

How China destroyed Jack Ma

Recommendable!

DOJ indicts Russian national in scheme to recruit U.S. citizens to spread pro-Russian propaganda

You wonder what or who else does Russia and China finance to influence public opinion in Western countries? Perhaps, some of the divisive skin color and gender identity ideology?

Have we still not learnt the lessons from the Cold War? The former Soviet Union was doing the same. And Putin the Terrible is a former KGB Director.

That the three political groups remained unnamed is a scandal!

"... "Specifically, Ionov provided financial support to these groups, directed them to publish pro-Russian propaganda, coordinated and funded direct action by these groups within the United States intended to further Russian interests, and coordinated coverage of this activity in Russian media outlets," according to the DOJ. "Ionov also relayed detailed information about this influence campaign to three FSB officials."

Ionov's efforts ranged from consulting on political campaigns to pushing Moscow's talking points on the war in Ukraine. ..."

DOJ indicts Russian national in scheme to recruit U.S. citizens to spread pro-Russian propaganda | Just The News: The announcement alleges that Ionov coordinated with the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) to recruit and direct three American political groups

Salk researchers discover how RNA splicing goes awry in rare immune disease

Amazing stuff! Good news!

"... “This study not only suggests new targets for treating Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome with small molecule drugs, but also sheds new light on the basic biology of RNA splicing, an important and not fully understood process ...
Scientists have long known that Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome is caused by mutations in a gene on the X chromosome; the gene and the protein it encodes were named WASP after the syndrome. The WASP protein is found throughout cells in the blood and immune system, and one of its functions is to maintain these cells’ cytoskeletons ... But changes to the cytoskeleton couldn’t explain all the symptoms. ...
To find out, they removed the WASP gene from stem cells and coaxed the cells to become macrophages or B cells, two types of immune cells impacted by the disease. They also collected cells from two patients with Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome and generated induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) containing the disease-associated mutations in WASP. Then they compared the altered cells to normal macrophages and B cells. ...
Immune cells lacking WASP, or containing mutations in the WASP gene, appeared different right away; there were many more clusters—known as nuclear speckles—in the centers of diseased cells. For a protein to be produced by a cell, the DNA encoding it is first transcribed into a strand of RNA. Often, this initial strand contains more genetic material than is needed; this is where RNA splicing comes in. Proteins in nuclear speckles cut and paste bits of the initial RNA strand into its final instructions for a protein. ...
Additional experiments revealed that repairing WASP mutations fixes these RNA splicing defects. What’s more, lowering levels of an RNA-splicing factor, SRSF2, can prevent the problems. These results suggest that drugs targeting SRSF2 could treat Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome in humans, the researchers say. ..."

From the abstract:

"The diverse functions of WASP, the deficiency of which causes Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS), remain poorly defined. We generated three isogenic WAS models using patient induced pluripotent stem cells and genome editing. These models recapitulated WAS phenotypes and revealed that WASP deficiency causes an upregulation of numerous RNA splicing factors and widespread altered splicing. Loss of WASP binding to splicing factor gene promoters frequently leads to aberrant epigenetic activation. WASP interacts with dozens of nuclear speckle constituents and constrains SRSF2 mobility. Using an optogenetic system, we showed that WASP forms phase-separated condensates that encompasses SRSF2, nascent RNA and active Pol II. The role of WASP in gene body condensates is corroborated by ChIPseq and RIPseq. Together our data reveal that WASP is a nexus regulator of RNA splicing that controls the transcription of splicing factors epigenetically and the dynamics of the splicing machinery through liquid-liquid phase separation."

Salk researchers discover how RNA processing goes awry in rare immune disease - Salk Institute for Biological Studies Findings could lead to new treatments for Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome

Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein forms nuclear condensates and regulates alternative splicing (open access)

Fig. 1: Generation of isogenic iPSC models of WAS.

Trudeau bad economic policies like father like son

Unfortunately, the Canadian citizens have to wait until 2025 for the next elections! Why they have reelected him 2021 is a riddle!

"Increasing taxes. Skyrocketing government debt. Expanding regulations, soaring inflation, and rising interest rates. 

You may think I’m describing Canada today.

But I’m actually describing Pierre Trudeau’s tenure as prime minister in the 1970s and 80s, which eventually culminated in a near crisis.

Unfortunately for us in the 2020s, Justin Trudeau is repeating his father’s mistakes.

For starters, both Trudeaus engage in deficit-financed spending.

Pierre Trudeau nearly doubled per-person spending between 1967 and 1984 , recording a budget deficit every year excluding a small surplus in 1969-70. Total federal debt increased by 167% during his time in office!

Similarly, Justin Trudeau has expanded the scope and role of the federal government, while also drastically increasing per-person spending to the second highest level on record – even after excluding COVID-related measures! Like his father, Justin Trudeau has recorded a deficit every year since taking office while total federal debt has increased 51% on his watch.

In both these cases, the higher spending and printing of money led to increasing rates of inflation. For Pierre Trudeau, inflation reached more than 12% by 1981. Under Justin Trudeau, inflation has surged to 8.1%, the largest year-over-year increase since… his father’s government. ...

Both Trudeaus introduced changes that hamper Canada’s investment climate and competitiveness.

In 1972, Pierre Trudeau introduced a tax on capital gains, which are found to be among the most economically damaging taxes. Similarly, Justin Trudeau raised the top marginal income tax rate on entrepreneurs, professionals and business owners, with more economically damaging tax hikes on the horizon.

And both Trudeaus made a concerted effort to curtail the western-based oil and gas sector, heightening regional tensions.

Pierre Trudeau introduced the National Energy Program, which taxed more profits from the sector, creating animosity and distrust of Ottawa, particularly in Alberta.

Justin Trudeau introduced a national carbon tax, a cap on greenhouse gas emissions that only applies to the oil and gas sector, and other regulations that further constrain energy development. These policies have sparked significant animosity in the West ..."

Trudeau policies—an economically dangerous déjà vu | Fraser Institute

How to make carbon-neutral jet fuel from sunlight, air and water vapor

Just recycle the CO2 from the air to fuel and back into the air! 

"Jet fuel can now be siphoned from the air. Or at least that’s the case in Móstoles, Spain, where researchers demonstrated that an outdoor system could produce kerosene, used as jet fuel, with three simple ingredients: sunlight, carbon dioxide and water vapor. Solar kerosene could replace petroleum-derived jet fuel in aviation ..."

From the abstract:

"Developing solar technologies for producing carbon-neutral aviation fuels has become a global energy challenge, but their readiness level has largely been limited to laboratory-scale studies. Here, we report on the experimental demonstration of a fully integrated thermochemical production chain from H2O and CO2 to kerosene using concentrated solar energy in a solar tower configuration. The co-splitting of H2O and CO2 was performed via a ceria-based thermochemical redox cycle to produce a tailored mixture of H2 and CO (syngas) with full selectivity, which was further processed to kerosene. The 50-kW solar reactor consisted of a cavity-receiver containing a reticulated porous structure directly exposed to a mean solar flux concentration of 2,500 suns. A solar-to-syngas energy conversion efficiency of 4.1% was achieved without applying heat recovery. This solar tower fuel plant was operated with a setup relevant to industrial implementation, setting a technological milestone toward the production of sustainable aviation fuels."

How to make jet fuel from sunlight, air and water vapor | Science News Solar kerosene could one day provide aviation with a carbon-neutral fuel

A solar tower fuel plant for the thermochemical production of kerosene from H2O and CO2 (open access)

Over 90% of U.S. atmospheric temperature Data have been found corrupted in 2009 and again in 2022

The situation is similar in Germany with the national weather service (Deutscher Wetterdienst)!

What is actually the atmospheric temperature time series like for e.g. the middle of Siberia or northern Canada? Either the data is not available or they won't tell you for good reason.

"A new study, Corrupted Climate Stations: The Official U.S. Surface Temperature Record Remains Fatally Flawed, finds approximately 96 percent of U.S. temperature stations used to measure climate change fail to meet what the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) considers to be “acceptable” and  uncorrupted placement by its own published standards. ...
The research shows that 96% of these stations are corrupted by localized effects of urbanization – producing heat-bias because of their close proximity to asphalt, machinery, and other heat-producing, heat-trapping, or heat-accentuating objects. Placing temperature stations in such locations violates NOAA’s own published standards (see section 3.1 at this link), and strongly undermines the legitimacy and the magnitude of the official consensus on long-term climate warming trends in the United States. ..."

News - MEDIA ADVISORY: 96% of U.S. Climate Data Is Corrupted | Heartland Institute Official NOAA temperature stations produce corrupted data due to purposeful placement in man-made hot spots

Hunger, depression and unemployment: Trans adults are struggling

Being transgender or LGBTQ is apparently not healthy according to this report. It does not seem like they are happier.

What these reports most of the times not tell you is how many transgender or LGBTQ persons (it is a minority, but how many) are there and what was their health condition before they became transgender

I did not know I was cisgender!

Another report states "25% of LGBTQ youth with high levels of trauma symptoms attempted suicide in 2021, according to a Trevor Project online survey of nearly 34K LGBTQ people ages 13–24—a population in which trauma symptoms are common, with 37% reporting high levels. Axios"

Hunger, depression and unemployment: Trans adults are struggling – Center for Public Integrity

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health: Global Health NOW

How are offices changing?

Recommendable! More home offices and more offices closer to home.

Ron DeSantis takes new comprehensive steps against anti-fiduciary ESG governance

Governor DeSantis doing the right thing again! He sure could be a candidate in 2024!

Google: Putting the power of AlphaFold 2.0 into the world’s hands

Good news! AlphaFold is a game changer for humanity! 

"... Today [7/22/2022], in partnership with EMBL-EBI, we’re incredibly proud to be launching the AlphaFold Protein Structure Database, which offers the most complete and accurate picture of the human proteome to date, more than doubling humanity’s accumulated knowledge of high-accuracy human protein structures. ...
In addition to the human proteome (all the ~20,000 proteins expressed by the human genome), we’re providing open access to the proteomes of 20 other biologically-significant organisms, totalling over 350,000 protein structures. Research into these organisms has been the subject of countless research papers and numerous major breakthroughs, and has resulted in a deeper understanding of life itself. In the coming months we plan to vastly expand the coverage to almost every sequenced protein known to science - over 100 million structures covering most of the UniProt reference database. ..."

Putting the power of AlphaFold into the world’s hands In July 2022, we released AlphaFold protein structure predictions for nearly all catalogued proteins known to science.

What are the culture wars like

Progress of human civilization is very slow, slower than molasses! A lot of time and resources are wasted! That is the sad truth!

Today, you may want to add to this trio:
Everything is racism and gender identity is arbitrary!

Ukraine is exporting electrical power to the EU at an accelerated pace

Good news! Exports started in early July via Romania! This could also be a game changer!

Apparently, the President of the Ukraine Zelenskyy has just announced an increase of these exports!

Since March 2022, the power grid of the Ukraine is connected to the power grid of the EU. The Ukraine generates a substantial amount of its electrical power via nuclear power plants (about 24%).

"... Ukraine’s integration with the European network of transmission system operators for electricity (ENTSO-E) was not scheduled to take place until 2023 and was subject to passing difficult tests and breaking free from the old Soviet lines linking the country to the Russian and Belarusian grids.

However, Ukraine outperformed all expectations in synchronizing with the European system well ahead of time despite the exceptionally gruelling circumstances of Europe’s largest conflict since WWII. This made it possible for the Ukrainian electricity grid system operator, Ukrenergo, to allocate the first 100 megawatts (MW) of transmission capacity for commercial exports to neighboring Romania.

The interconnection capacity is small for now but the Ukrainian operator expects to increase it gradually to 1.5 gigawatts (GW) before the end of this year and expand it to additional neighboring ENTSO-E countries Slovakia and Hungary shortly, subject to further upgrades in order to stabilize the relevant infrastructure.

Ukraine’s operator also expects to raise the capacity of a separate isolated power line with Poland to 1GW by the beginning of next year. ..."

Zelenskiy says Ukraine is now exporting power to EU | Reuters

Ukraine defies Russia and launches electricity exports to EU neighbors

Google: Tech Equity Collective - Accelerating Black Genius

Appalling! Google promotes skin color ideology and is being racist!

This obviously racist announcement was emailed today to Google Developers!

Every time, you see this ideological term of art equity you may very well start to cringe! Pure baloney! It can mean anything and everything!

Tech Equity Collective Tech Equity Collective is an initiative, started by Google, to accelerate Black representation and genius in the tech industry. Tech Equity Collective partners with the Black community, other tech companies, and organizations to create holistic pathways for Black tech innovators.

Caterina Sforza: One of the few women discussed by Machiavelli at length

Quite an impressive biography!

She is perhaps most famous for this story: "According to one rumour, when they threatened to kill her children, Caterina, standing in the walls of the fortress exposed her genitals and said: "Fatelo, se volete: impiccateli pure davanti a me ... qui ho quanto basta per farne altri!" ('Do it, if you want to: hang them even in front of me ... here I have what's needed to make others!')."

Caterina Sforza - Wikipedia

Joe Biden met with at least 14 of Hunter’s business associates while vice president from the U.S., Mexico, Ukraine, China and Kazakhstan

The demented and senile 46th President and lifelong pathological liar is probably seriously compromised and Russia and China know more about it! More on the Biden clan dealings! How corrupt?

Joe Biden met with at least 14 of Hunter’s business associates while vice president | Fox News

Former Republicans and Democrats form new third U.S. political party called Forward

Competition is good! But in a traditionally, mostly two-party country, this is a tough battle. Good luck!

"... Dozens of former Republican and Democratic officials announced on Wednesday a new national political third party to appeal to millions of voters they say are dismayed with what they see as America's dysfunctional two-party system.

The new party, called Forward and whose creation was first reported by Reuters, will initially be co-chaired by former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang and Christine Todd Whitman, the former Republican governor of New Jersey. They hope the party will become a viable alternative to the Republican and Democratic parties that dominate U.S. politics, founding members told Reuters. ..."

Former Republicans and Democrats form new third U.S. political party | Reuters

Russia-Ukraine War: Russian dead and wounded exceed 75,000

When will the Russian people finally say enough is enough! Putin the Terrible must go!

Compare this to the 9 year long Afghanistan war (1979-1989): "About 15,000 Soviet soldiers were killed, and about 35,000 were wounded. About two million Afghan civilians were killed."

"... The Ukrainian military claimed in a Thursday morning update that around 40,230 Russian military casualties since the war began. ...
Last week, a senior US defense official said that the United States believes that Russian forces are suffering hundreds of casualties daily in the war, including thousands of lieutenants and captains. ..."

Russia-Ukraine War: Russian dead and wounded exceed 75,000 - US - The Jerusalem Post

Pro-Kopf Staatsverschuldung klettert auf 27.922 Euro

Ordentlich Schulden machen gehört auch zu einer Bananenrepublik D!

Anwachsende Staatsverschuldung und hohe Haushaltsdefizite treiben auch die Inflation an.

"Mit mehr als 2,3 Billionen Euro haben die Schulden der öffentlichen Haushalte bei Banken und Privatunternehmen Ende vergangenen Jahres einen Höchststand erreicht. ...
Binnen eines Jahres wuchs die öffentliche Verschuldung um 6,8 Prozent oder 148,3 Milliarden Euro. ...
Der Bund war Ende 2021 mit 1 548,5 Milliarden Euro verschuldet, das waren 10,3 Prozent mehr als ein Jahr zuvor ..."

Pro-Kopf-Verschuldung klettert auf 27.922 Euro Die Summe der öffentlichen Schulden hat zum Ende des vergangenen Jahres einen neuen Höchststand erreicht. Die erste Schätzung war noch niedriger ausgefallen.

Blinken personally meets in his office with Shireen Abu Akleh's family, pledges to 'pursue accountability' in her killing

This was incredibly important for the U.S. Secretary of State to get involved with! (Caution: irony)!

Does Blinken have anything else to show for in these dangerous times!

"... The family, and the Palestinian Authority, have said that they are not satisfied with the results of a U.S. inquiry released on July 4. Working with Israeli forensics experts, U.S. observers concluded Israelis likely fired the shot that killed the prominent Al Jazeera journalist during a raid in Jenin on May 11, but that there was no evidence that the killing was intentional. ..."

Blinken meets with Shireen Abu Akleh's family, pledges to 'pursue accountability' in her killing - Jewish Telegraphic Agency

China Targeted Federal Reserve to Build Informant Network and Access Data for over a decade, Probe Finds

That is a bit of unusual news! Besides buying farm land across the United States with sometimes national security sensitive installations/facilities nearby, this is apparently another avenue for Chinese espionage.

"China tried to build a network of informants inside the Federal Reserve system, at one point threatening to imprison a Fed economist during a trip to Shanghai unless he agreed to provide nonpublic economic data, a congressional investigation found.

The investigation by Republican staff members of the Senate’s Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs found that Fed employees were offered contracts with Chinese talent-recruitment programs, which often include cash payments, and asked to provide information on the U.S. economy, interest-rate changes and policies, according to a report of the findings released Tuesday.

In the case of the economist, the report said, Chinese officials in 2019 detained and tried to coerce him to share data and information on U.S. government policies, including on tariffs while the U.S. and China were in the midst of a trade war.

The report doesn’t say whether any sensitive information was compromised in what it said has been a decade long effort that began around 2013. Access to such information could provide valuable insights given the Fed’s extensive analysis of U.S. economic activity, its oversight of the U.S. financial system, and the setting of interest-rate policy. ..."

China Targeted Fed to Build Informant Network and Access Data, Probe Finds - WSJ The investigation by Senate Republicans found that the decade long effort included detaining a Fed economist in China

Is GERMANY ready for WAR?

Recommendable! The German military is a sad state of affairs!

How Many States Of Matter Are There? A lot more than the classical three

Very recommendable! Mind boggling!

Human conscience may also be a state of matter.

WHO recommends men who have sex with men reduce sex partners to limit monkeypox risk

A sort of redux of the AIDS/HIV epidemic? I blogged here about it in mid May 2022.

It appears that government organisations responsible for health tried to suppress this similarity for several months.

Safer sex used to be one of the recommendations before and during the AIDS/HIV epidemic.

This makes it all the more surprising why the WHO just declared it a health emergency despite relatively few cases and slow transmission. It is also not a very lethal disease. Least, but not last, a vaccine is available.

WHO suggests gay, bisexual men reduce sex partners due to monkeypox

Artificial Intelligence Could Be About To Change professional athletes scouting and evaluation

Good news! Scouting for talent will never be the same again! It will also give talented people the opportunity to be discovered more easily by submitting themselves expressions of their talent.

"... From this season, several football (soccer)  clubs including Chelsea, Nottingham Forest and Olympiacos will start using a mobile application called AiSCOUT to help them search for new players. ...
The drills on the app can range from dribbling at speed to cognitive tests that measure concentration or reaction time. ..."

Artificial Intelligence Could Be About To Change Soccer Player Scouting

Here is one of companies offering such services: "Ai Platform Amateur Players Can Now Generate Academy Required Data, Using A Mobile Phone"

Credits: The Batch by Andrew Ng

On the controversy of Nancy Pelosi visiting Taiwan. Is it more than a political stunt?

Update of 7/29/2022: Now that we have learnt that dictator Xi Jinping openly threatened with severe consequences if Pelosi was to visit Taiwan this presents an opening for other, more important initiatives to really strengthen the ties with Taiwan other than the political nominal showmanship like this visit.

One should be generally very careful about provoking a superpower like China. Is it necessary, how, and when to do it?

What is the point of having the erratic and nutty 82 years old Nancy Pelosi travel to Taiwan before the mid-term elections 2022. After the mid-terms, she is most likely not the Speaker of the House anymore (Thank goodness!). Her cognitive abilities are not very far behind the demented and senile 46th President.

Biden administration offers deal to Russia for release of Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan

Probably, this is not a good deal or what do you expect from the demented and senile 46th president, who is surrounded by plenty of fools in his administration.

I blogged here about Ms. Griner.

The article also mentions: "... Blinken has requested a phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to discuss the deal, which would mark the first direct communications between the two since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began." What!!! The first contact since the Russo-Ukrainian war began in late February if confirmed. What was Blinken doing the past five months?

Biden administration offers deal to Russia for release of Brittney Griner, Paul Whelan | Just The News Blinken acknowledged that the government had made an offer to Russia, but did not specify the terms

Will areal and underwater drones make military nuclear Submarines vulnerable to detection and destruction?

Recommendable! Nice overview article on the various technologies to detect and destroy military submarines.  

How vulnerable have nuclear powered ballistic missile submarines, on which Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) in a second strike depends, become or will become in the near future?

Commercial versus military underwater drones:

"... Confusion might come from the fact that [under water] drones, unlike surface ships, do not bear a country flag, and therefore their ownership may be unclear. This uncertainty, coupled with the possibility that the drones could also carry lethal payloads, increases the risk that a naval force might view an innocuous commercial drone as hostile. ..."

"The assurance that submarines would likely survive the first missile strike in a nuclear war and thus be able to respond by launching missiles in a second strike is key to the strategy of deterrence known as mutually assured destruction. ...
And now the game of submarine hide-and-seek may be approaching the point at which submarines can no longer elude detection and simply disappear.  ...

Underwater drone swarms can do just that, which is why some experts have proposed them as the ultimate antisubmarine capability. ... that such drones now have enhanced computing power and batteries that can last for two weeks between charges. The U.S. Navy is working on a drone that could run for 90 days. Drones are also now equipped with the chemical, optical, and geomagnetic sensors mentioned earlier. Networked underwater drones, perhaps working in conjunction with airborne drones, may be useful for not only detecting submarines but also destroying them, which is why several militaries are investing heavily in them. ...
For example, the Chinese Navy has invested in a fishlike undersea drone known as Robo-Shark, which was designed specifically for hunting submarines. Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy is developing the Low-Cost Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Swarming Technology, for conducting surveillance missions. Each Locust drone weighs about 6 kilograms, costs $15,000, and can be outfitted with MAD [Magnetic anomaly detection] sensors; it can skim low over the ocean’s surface to detect signals under the water. ..."

Will AI Steal Submarines’ Stealth? - IEEE Spectrum Better detection will make the oceans transparent—and perhaps doom mutually assured destruction

Half a billion years ago, Earth was on track to become just like Mars. Ancient rocks now show what saved our magnetic field

Amazing stuff! Getting to the core of geomagnetism! 

By the way, a geomagnetic reversal is also due! Plus, the very important geomagnetic field has been weakening for the past 2000 years, but in particular over the past 150 years ""At present, the overall geomagnetic field is becoming weaker; the present strong deterioration corresponds to a 10–15% decline over the last 150 years and has accelerated in the past several years; geomagnetic intensity has declined almost continuously from a maximum 35% above the modern value achieved approximately 2,000 years ago." Climate Change anyone!

"Thank Earth’s magnetic field for all the plentiful riches and diversity of life this planet has to offer. Without it, solar radiation would strip away the atmosphere and oceans, leaving behind a barren landscape. That’s in fact what happened to Mars, once believed to be a “blue” water world covered in a planetary ocean, which eventually turned “red” after it mysteriously lost its magnetic field some four billion years ago. ...
About 565 million years ago, scientists found evidence that the strength of Earth’s magnetic field plummeted to just 10% of today’s strength. If this trend had continued, all life on our planet would have been surely doomed. But right before the so-called Cambrian explosion of multicellular life on Earth, the magnetic field bounced back — and, according to a new study by geologists at the University of Rochester, this is all thanks to some fundamental changes in the inner core. ...

But in just 15 million years — almost a flash in geological time — the magnetosphere bounced back. ... this rapid renewal in magnetic field strength can be explained by the formation of a solid inner core about 550 million years ago, which essentially recharged the molten outer core. Then, some 450 million years ago, the growing inner core’s structure changed yet again, cementing a boundary between the innermost and outermost inner core. ..."

From the abstract:

"Paleomagnetism can elucidate the origin of inner core structure by establishing when crystallization started. The salient signal is an ultralow field strength, associated with waning thermal energy to power the geodynamo from core-mantle heat flux, followed by a sharp intensity increase as new thermal and compositional sources of buoyancy become available once inner core nucleation (ICN) commences. Ultralow fields have been reported from Ediacaran (~565 Ma) rocks, but the transition to stronger strengths has been unclear. Herein, we present single crystal paleointensity results from early Cambrian (~532 Ma) anorthosites of Oklahoma. These yield a time-averaged dipole moment 5 times greater than that of the Ediacaran Period. This rapid renewal of the field, together with data defining ultralow strengths, constrains ICN to ~550 Ma. Thermal modeling using this onset age suggests the inner core had grown to 50% of its current radius, where seismic anisotropy changes, by ~450 Ma. We propose the seismic anisotropy of the outermost inner core reflects development of a global spherical harmonic degree-2 deep mantle structure at this time that has persisted to the present day. The imprint of an older degree-1 pattern is preserved in the innermost inner core."

Half a billion years ago, Earth was on track to become just like Mars. Ancient rocks now show what saved our magnetic field Earth's magnetic field bounced back right in the nick of time around 550 million years ago.

Early Cambrian renewal of the geodynamo and the origin of inner core structure (open access)

Fig. 3: Early Cambrian field renewal and inner core growth.