Drinking is a social activity! 😊 Some animals seem to be able to deal with the effects of alcohol better than humans.
Thursday, October 31, 2024
Designer Babies? South Africa Revises Research Guidelines to Permit Heritable Human Genome Editing with Molly Gambhir
Concerning! How much longer can it be prevented?
Why people keep asking if Trump is a fascist. Really!
Such utter nonsense (aka Trump Derangement Syndrome) can only come from a German government owned news media!
South Korea’s Birth Rate Crisis
Recommendable! Very low fertility rates seems to be very serious in South Korea!
Rumble in the Jungle anniversary: 50 Years since Muhammad Ali beat George Foreman
I remember having watched it live back then on TV! Nobody beats the Greatest!
Plants better than nature: electro-ag could transform food. Really!
How much is hype? The abstract of the paper is weird! This seems to be early stage research!
Turns out this is not a research article, but a perspective! I don't like to be fooled like this!
"... bioengineers propose replacing photosynthesis with a solar-panel-powered chemical reaction that more efficiently converts CO2 into the organic molecule, acetate. ..."
"... Plants can be genetically modified to feed off acetate and photosynthesis, thereby making vertical indoor farming much more energy efficient.
The goal is to eventually engineer plants that can fully rely on acetate as fuel, which could lead to a massive reduction in agricultural land use — land that can instead be put toward conservation and decarbonization. ..."
From the abstract:
"Context & scale
The demand for food production is intensifying with a rapidly growing population, yet farmers around the world face unprecedented challenges owing to shifting climatic conditions. Controlled environment and vertical farming have emerged as a potential solution to boost resource use efficiency and food output per unit of land while allowing for cultivation in urban and arid regions, but widespread adoption has been hindered by substantial energy requirements.
Recent developments in CO2/CO electrolysis as well as advances in genetic engineering and selective breeding have laid the groundwork for the emergence of electro-ag to substantially reduce the energy needs of vertical farming. Fueled by acetate derived from CO2 using renewable electricity, electro-ag enables the heterotrophic growth of food crops. Unlike traditional controlled environments or conventional farming, electro-ag is not constrained by the same efficiency limitations of photosynthesis. Instead, the efficient metabolic pathways of acetate utilization are harnessed to allow for at least a 4-fold improvement in solar-to-food efficiency, with future efforts potentially leading to an order of magnitude improvement in energy solar-to-food efficiency. ...
Additionally, electro-ag systems can be deployed in extreme environments such as deserts, cities, or even on Mars where it is otherwise difficult to grow food. ...
Summary
... Here, we propose the adoption of an electro-agriculture (electro-ag) framework that combines CO2 electrolysis with biological systems to enhance food production efficiency. ...
Electro-ag bypasses traditional photosynthesis, enabling food cultivation in non-arable urban centers, arid deserts, and even outer space environments. We offer a new strategy that improves energy efficiency by an order of magnitude compared with photosynthesis ..."
How to grow food without light (original news release)
Electro-agriculture: Revolutionizing farming for a sustainable future (perspective, open access)
Figure 2 Enabling efficient crop growth with CO2 electrolysis
Scientists discover a promising way to create new superheavy elements
Good news! Amazing stuff!
"... The heaviest abundant element known to exist is uranium, with 92 protons (the atomic number "Z"). But scientists have succeeded in synthesizing superheavy elements up to oganesson, with a Z of 118. Immediately before it are livermorium, with 116 protons and tennessine, which has 117.
All have short half-lives—the amount of time for half of an assembly of the element's atoms to decay—usually less than a second and some as short as a microsecond. Creating and detecting such elements is not easy and requires powerful particle accelerators and elaborate measurements.
But the typical way of producing high-Z elements is reaching its limit. In response, a group of scientists from the United States and Europe have come up with a new method to produce superheavy elements beyond the dominant existing technique. ...
Theoretical models of the nucleus have successfully predicted the production rates of superheavy elements below oganesson using actinide targets and beams of isotopes heavier than 48-calcium. These models also agree that to produce elements with Z=119 and Z=120, beams of 50-titanium would work best, having the highest cross sections. ...
The discovery represents the first time a collision of non-magic nuclei has shown the potential to create other superheavy atoms and isotopes (both), hopefully paving the way for future discoveries. About 110 isotopes of superheavy elements are known to exist, but another 50 are expected to be out there, waiting to be uncovered by new techniques such as this."
Using the 88-Inch Cyclotron accelerator at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the team produced a beam that averaged 6 trillion titanium ions per second that exited the cyclotron. These impacted the plutonium target, which had a circular area of 12.2 cm, over a 22-day period. Making a slew of measurements, they determined that 290-livermorium had been produced via two different nuclear decay chains.
"This is the first reported production of a SHE [superheavy element] near the predicted island of stability with a beam other than 48-calcium," they concluded. The reaction cross section, or probability of interaction, did decrease, as was expected with heavier beam isotopes, but "success of this measurement validates that discoveries of new SHE are indeed within experimental reach."
"... In practice, of course, it’s incredibly difficult. It can take trillions of interactions before two atoms fuse successfully, and there are limitations on what elements can reasonably be turned into a particle beam or target. ..."
From the abstract:
"The 244 Pu (50 Ti ,𝑥𝑛) 294−𝑥 Lv reaction was investigated at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s 88-Inch Cyclotron. The experiment was aimed at the production of a superheavy element with 𝑍≥114 by irradiating an actinide target with a beam heavier than 48 Ca. Produced Lv ions were separated from the unwanted beam and nuclear reaction products using the Berkeley Gas-filled Separator and implanted into a newly commissioned focal-plane detector system. Two decay chains were observed and assigned to the decay of 290 Lv. The production cross section was measured to be 𝜎prod=0.44(+0.58−0.28) pb at a center-of-target center-of-mass energy of 220(3) MeV. This represents the first published measurement of the production of a superheavy element near the “island of stability,” with a beam of 50 Ti and is an essential precursor in the pursuit of searching for new elements beyond 𝑍=118."
A New Way to Make Element 116 Opens the Door to Heavier Atoms (original news release)
To make element 116, researchers fused isotopes of titanium and plutonium.
Nine Months of Javier Milei as President of Argentina: A Critical Assessment
Recommendable! For some, Milei is not doing enough to reform Argentina's economy towards more free markets.
Tiny magnetic discs offer remote brain stimulation without transgenes
Amazing stuff! Still seems to be kind of crude to inject tiny particles into the brain and hope for the best.
"Novel magnetic nanodiscs could provide a much less invasive way of stimulating parts of the brain, paving the way for stimulation therapies without implants or genetic modification ...
The scientists envision that the tiny discs, which are about 250 nanometers across (about 1/500 the width of a human hair), would be injected directly into the desired location in the brain. From there, they could be activated at any time simply by applying a magnetic field outside the body. The new particles could quickly find applications in biomedical research, and eventually, after sufficient testing, might be applied to clinical uses. ...
Over the past decade other implant-free methods of producing brain stimulation have been developed. However, these approaches were often limited by their spatial resolution or ability to target deep regions. For the past decade, Anikeeva’s Bioelectronics group as well as others in the field used magnetic nanomaterials to transduce remote magnetic signals into brain stimulation. However, these magnetic methods relied on genetic modifications and can’t be used in humans. ...
The structure of the new nanodiscs consists of a two-layer magnetic core and a piezoelectric shell. The magnetic core is magnetostrictive, which means it changes shape when magnetized. This deformation then induces strain in the piezoelectric shell which produces a varying electrical polarization. Through the combination of the two effects, these composite particles can deliver electrical pulses to neurons when exposed to magnetic fields. ..."
Over the past decade other implant-free methods of producing brain stimulation have been developed. However, these approaches were often limited by their spatial resolution or ability to target deep regions. For the past decade, Anikeeva’s Bioelectronics group as well as others in the field used magnetic nanomaterials to transduce remote magnetic signals into brain stimulation. However, these magnetic methods relied on genetic modifications and can’t be used in humans. ...
The structure of the new nanodiscs consists of a two-layer magnetic core and a piezoelectric shell. The magnetic core is magnetostrictive, which means it changes shape when magnetized. This deformation then induces strain in the piezoelectric shell which produces a varying electrical polarization. Through the combination of the two effects, these composite particles can deliver electrical pulses to neurons when exposed to magnetic fields. ..."
From the abstract:
"Deep brain stimulation with implanted electrodes has transformed neuroscience studies and treatment of neurological and psychiatric conditions. Discovering less invasive alternatives to deep brain stimulation could expand its clinical and research applications. Nanomaterial-mediated transduction of magnetic fields into electric potentials has been explored as a means for remote neuromodulation. Here we synthesize magnetoelectric nanodiscs (MENDs) with a core–double-shell Fe3O4–CoFe2O4–BaTiO3 architecture (250 nm diameter and 50 nm thickness) with efficient magnetoelectric coupling. We find robust responses to magnetic field stimulation in neurons decorated with MENDs at a density of 1 µg mm−2 despite individual-particle potentials below the neuronal excitation threshold. We propose a model for repetitive subthreshold depolarization that, combined with cable theory, supports our observations in vitro and informs magnetoelectric stimulation in vivo. Injected into the ventral tegmental area or the subthalamic nucleus of genetically intact mice at concentrations of 1 mg ml−1, MENDs enable remote control of reward or motor behaviours, respectively. These findings set the stage for mechanistic optimization of magnetoelectric neuromodulation towards applications in neuroscience research."
Magnetoelectric nanodiscs enable wireless transgene-free neuromodulation (open access)
The magnetic core of the nanodisc is magnetostrictive, which means it changes shape when magnetized. The rainbow nanodisc on the right is changing shape, allowing for the pink brain neuron to be stimulated.
Fig. 4: MEND-mediated neuronal stimulation in mice.
Gene therapy: Magnets used to turn specific brain circuits off and on at will to treat Parkinson's disease and other conditions
Good news!
"Researchers have developed a gene therapy technology that uses magnetic fields to switch groups of neurons on and off, controlling brain circuits affected by Parkinson’s disease. ..."
"A new technology enables the control of specific brain circuits non-invasively with magnetic fields, according to a preclinical study from researchers ... The technology holds promise as a powerful tool for studying the brain and as the basis for future neurological and psychiatric treatments for conditions as diverse as Parkinson’s disease, depression, obesity and complex pain. ...
The researchers performed experiments in mice showing that it can switch on or off selected populations of neurons, with clear effects on the animals’ movements. In one experiment, they used it to reduce abnormal movements in a mouse model of Parkinson’s disease. ..."
The researchers performed experiments in mice showing that it can switch on or off selected populations of neurons, with clear effects on the animals’ movements. In one experiment, they used it to reduce abnormal movements in a mouse model of Parkinson’s disease. ..."
From the abstract:
"Here, we report a magnetogenetic system, based on a single anti-ferritin nanobody-TRPV1 receptor fusion protein, which regulated neuronal activity when exposed to magnetic fields. Adeno-associated virus (AAV)–mediated delivery of a floxed nanobody-TRPV1 into the striatum of adenosine-2a receptor–Cre drivers resulted in motor freezing when placed in a magnetic resonance imaging machine or adjacent to a transcranial magnetic stimulation device. Functional imaging and fiber photometry confirmed activation in response to magnetic fields. Expression of the same construct in the striatum of wild-type mice along with a second injection of an AAVretro expressing Cre into the globus pallidus led to similar circuit specificity and motor responses. Last, a mutation was generated to gate chloride and inhibit neuronal activity. Expression of this variant in the subthalamic nucleus in PitX2-Cre parkinsonian mice resulted in reduced c-fos expression and motor rotational behavior. These data demonstrate that magnetogenetic constructs can bidirectionally regulate activity of specific neuronal circuits noninvasively in vivo using clinically available devices."
Magnetically Regulated Gene Therapy Tech Offers Precise Brain-Circuit Control (original news release)
Discovery Illuminates How Sleeping Sickness Parasite Outsmarts Immune Response
Good news!
"Researchers have uncovered a key mechanism used by the parasite that causes African sleeping sickness to evade antibodies... Trypanosoma brucei “constantly changes a surface coat made up of millions of copies of a single protein.” ..."
"... Using a mouse model, the researchers showed that Trypanosoma brucei essentially plays a game of hide-and-seek by setting up shop in its hosts’ tissues, allowing it to constantly change its protective surface coat and evade antibodies. ...
The T. brucei parasite constantly changes a surface coat made up of millions of copies of a single protein—the variant surface glycoprotein (VSG). Once one VSG has been recognized by a host’s antibody response, the parasite has already “switched” to a new one, which the immune system hasn’t spotted yet. By changing which of these variant genes is active, the parasite can alter its appearance enough to evade its host’s immune response for long periods. ..."
From the abstract:
"The protozoan parasite Trypanosoma brucei evades clearance by the host immune system through antigenic variation of its dense variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) coat, periodically ‘switching’ expression of the VSG using a large genomic repertoire of VSG-encoding genes. Recent studies of antigenic variation in vivo have focused near exclusively on parasites in the bloodstream, but research has shown that many, if not most, parasites reside in the interstitial spaces of tissues. We sought to explore the dynamics of antigenic variation in extravascular parasite populations using VSG-seq7, a high-throughput sequencing approach for profiling VSGs expressed in populations of T. brucei. Here we show that tissues, not the blood, are the primary reservoir of antigenic diversity during both needle- and tsetse bite-initiated T. brucei infections, with more than 75% of VSGs found exclusively within extravascular spaces. We found that this increased diversity is correlated with slower parasite clearance in tissue spaces. Together, these data support a model in which the slower immune response in extravascular spaces provides more time to generate the antigenic diversity needed to maintain a chronic infection. Our findings reveal the important role that extravascular spaces can have in pathogen diversification."
Discovery Illuminates How Sleeping Sickness Parasite Outsmarts Immune Response "Parasite spread by tsetse flies persists in hosts by hiding in tissues and evading antibodies"
Tissue spaces are reservoirs of antigenic diversity for Trypanosoma brucei (no public access, but article above contains link to PDF)
Verloren im Papierdschungel: Die erdrückende Last der EU Bürokratie
Sehr bedenklich!
"die EU-Bürokratie gerät außer Kontrolle. In den 76 EU-Institutionen arbeiten inzwischen über 60.000 Menschen, die jährlich über 2.000 Rechtsakte verfassen. Auf die Unternehmen warten in den nächsten Jahren echte Bürokratiemonster. Dabei ... Einpersonenunternehmen verbringen hierzulande rund 250 Stunden pro Jahr mit Bürokratie – das sind knapp zwei Monate. Gewerbe und Handwerk haben jährlich Bürokratiekosten von 4,3 Milliarden Euro zu stemmen. Dazu kommen nun erhebliche Haftungsrisiken für Verstöße, die Unternehmen weder selbst zu verantworten haben noch hätten verhindern können. Die Sanktionen richten sich oft nach dem weltweiten Umsatz und bedrohen Existenzen. ...
fünf Praxisbeispielen ...
1. Lieferkettenrichtlinie: Unternehmen haften für Umwelt- und Sozialstandards bei Zulieferern weltweit. Sorgfaltspflicht und hohe Strafen belasten Firmen – und könnten am Ende sogar kontraproduktiv wirken.
2. Entwaldungsverordnung: Betriebe müssen belegen, dass die verarbeiteten Kaffee- und Kakaobohnen nicht von entwaldeten Flächen stammen. Selbst kleine Holzverarbeiter müssen Dokumentationen erstellen. Die Verordnung musste nun verschoben werden, weil den Brüsseler Bürokraten ihr eigenes Regelwerk über den Kopf gewachsen ist.
3. „Wesentlichkeitsanalyse“: Firmen müssen durch umfassende Analysen Nachhaltigkeit selbst bewerten und kostspielig dokumentieren, was oft zu Greenwashing führt. Kosten und Nutzen stehen in keinem zu rechtfertigenden Verhältnis.
4. Taxonomieverordnung: Eine Klassifikation definiert, was als „nachhaltig“ gilt. Firmen müssen Berichte schreiben und darin die Tätigkeiten beichten, die nicht taxonomiekonform sind.
5. Lohntransparenzrichtlinie: Arbeitgeber sollen Lohnunterschiede zwischen Geschlechtern transparent machen und beseitigen. Auch kleine Unternehmen sind durch Auskunfts- und Berichtspflichten sowie Sanktionen betroffen. Das Lohnschema des öffentlichen Dienstes wird so in die Privatwirtschaft überführt.
..."
Internal CIA documents, presentation show effort to mandate DEI at the center of the intel agency
Not even the CIA was spared from this ideological nonsense! Insane!
That the CIA even has a Chief Diversity Officer is a scandal!
Quite dangerous to the mission of the CIA!
DEI must die!
Wednesday, October 30, 2024
Look Again: European Paintings — The Rise of the French Academy
Recommendable, but the video is clearly too short!
NASA, NOAA 2024 Ozone Hole over the Antarctica Update
I believe, I have not heard or seen anything about the infamous Ozone Hole in years! This Ozone Hole was one of the big alarmism and hysteria of the 1980s!
Looks like the Ozone Hole is doing fine since the early 2000s!
Beijing to New York in just 2 hours? Maybe as early as 2027?
Just hype? "... on October 27, 2024, that its Yunxing prototype plane completed the test flight the previous day ..."
$390,000 Cheese Stolen in the UK: Biggest Food Heists with Palki Sharma
Recommendable! Organised cheese theft seems to be quite common around the world!
India Brings Back 102 Tonnes of reserve Gold from London with Palki Sharma
Good news! India, a rising superpower!
Ancient genome reveals how people immigrated to Japan from Korea
Amazing stuff! Japan with substantial Korean ancestry!
Given the long and brutal occupation of Korea by Japan between 1910-1945, this is particularly noteworthy.
"Japan has been inhabited by people since about 35,000 years ago. Roughly 16,500 years ago a group of Neolithic hunter-gatherers, referred to as the “Jomon” culture, developed a complex society including the production of pottery and jewellery.
About 3,000 years ago, rice cultivation in paddy fields was introduced to Japan. This saw the beginning of the Yayoi period which ended around the year 300 CE. After the Yayoi came the Kofun period (300–538 CE).
The new research ... sought to understand the population dynamics behind this shift. ...
“There were various hypotheses to explain the history of the Japanese,” ...
“For example, the ‘transformation model’ posits that only culture, not people, came from the continent.
The ‘replacement model’ suggests a complete replacement of indigenous Jomon people by the Yayoi people, while
the ‘hybridization model’ proposes admixture between indigenous Jomon people and continental immigrants.” ...
the current consensus based on DNA evidence from modern Japanese people is that there was 2 or 3-way mixing between the indigenous Jomon people and 1 or 2 other sources of immigration to the archipelago during the Yayoi and Kofun periods. ...
The ‘replacement model’ suggests a complete replacement of indigenous Jomon people by the Yayoi people, while
the ‘hybridization model’ proposes admixture between indigenous Jomon people and continental immigrants.” ...
the current consensus based on DNA evidence from modern Japanese people is that there was 2 or 3-way mixing between the indigenous Jomon people and 1 or 2 other sources of immigration to the archipelago during the Yayoi and Kofun periods. ...
Among modern populations, the Yayoi genome most closely resembled – apart from modern Japanese people – Korean populations. ..."
"A joint research group ... has demonstrated that the majority of immigration to the Japanese Archipelago in the Yayoi and Kofun periods came from the Korean Peninsula. ..."
From the abstract:
"Mainland Japanese have been recognized as having dual ancestry, originating from indigenous Jomon people and immigrants from continental East Eurasia. Although migration from the continent to the Japanese Archipelago continued from the Yayoi to the Kofun period, our understanding of these immigrants, particularly their origins, remains insufficient due to the lack of high-quality genome samples from the Yayoi period, complicating predictions about the admixture process. To address this, we sequenced the whole nuclear genome of a Yayoi individual from the Doigahama site in Yamaguchi prefecture, Japan. A comprehensive population genetic analysis of the Doigahama Yayoi individual, along with ancient and modern populations in East Asia and Northeastern Eurasia, revealed that the Doigahama Yayoi individual, similar to Kofun individuals and modern Mainland Japanese, had three distinct genetic ancestries: Jomon-related, East Asian-related, and Northeastern Siberian-related. Among non-Japanese populations, the Korean population, possessing both East Asian-related and Northeastern Siberian-related ancestries, exhibited the highest degree of genetic similarity to the Doigahama Yayoi individual. The analysis of admixture modeling for Yayoi individuals, Kofun individuals, and modern Japanese respectively supported a two-way admixture model assuming Jomon-related and Korean-related ancestries. These results suggest that between the Yayoi and Kofun periods, the majority of immigrants to the Japanese Archipelago originated primarily from the Korean Peninsula."
Traces of ancient immigration patterns to Japan found in 2000-year-old genome (original news release) "Genetic analysis of an individual from the Yayoi period reveals immigration patterns from the Korean Peninsula"
The roots of immigration to the Japanese archipelago.
Researchers identify deletions in long noncoding RNA that lead to severe neurodevelopmental disorder
Good news! Apparently, these deletions have very severe consequences.
"... scientists reveal the role of CHASERR deletions in disrupting neurodevelopment through increased CHD2 protein expression. ...
All three patients had de novo deletions in the CHASERR gene, distinct from the promoter or coding region of CHD2. The deletions caused overexpression of the CHD2 gene on the same chromosome, leading to increased protein levels. ...
Clinical evaluations showed that the children exhibited severe encephalopathy, unique facial dysmorphisms, cortical atrophy, and cerebral hypomyelination, none of which are typical in patients with CHD2 haploinsufficiency. Brain imaging in the children revealed significant cortical atrophy, a thin corpus callosum by age 4, and generalized hypomyelination of subcortical white matter. ..."
All three patients had de novo deletions in the CHASERR gene, distinct from the promoter or coding region of CHD2. The deletions caused overexpression of the CHD2 gene on the same chromosome, leading to increased protein levels. ...
Clinical evaluations showed that the children exhibited severe encephalopathy, unique facial dysmorphisms, cortical atrophy, and cerebral hypomyelination, none of which are typical in patients with CHD2 haploinsufficiency. Brain imaging in the children revealed significant cortical atrophy, a thin corpus callosum by age 4, and generalized hypomyelination of subcortical white matter. ..."
"
- Study focused on ‘Goldilocks Gene’ CHD2 that causes autism and epilepsy
- Deletion of long non-coding RNA CHASERR produces too much CHD2 protein in the cell, leaving patients non-ambulatory, nonverbal and with intellectual delays
..."
From the abstract:
"CHASERR encodes a human long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) adjacent to CHD2, a coding gene in which de novo loss-of-function variants cause developmental and epileptic encephalopathy. Here, we report our findings in three unrelated children with a syndromic, early-onset neurodevelopmental disorder, each of whom had a de novo deletion in the CHASERR locus. The children had severe encephalopathy, shared facial dysmorphisms, cortical atrophy, and cerebral hypomyelination — a phenotype that is distinct from the phenotypes of patients with CHD2 haploinsufficiency. We found that the CHASERR deletion results in increased CHD2 protein abundance in patient-derived cell lines and increased expression of the CHD2 transcript in cis. These findings indicate that CHD2 has bidirectional dosage sensitivity in human disease, and we recommend that other lncRNA-encoding genes be evaluated, particularly those upstream of genes associated with mendelian disorders. ..."
Little-studied RNA might be key to regulating genetic disorders like epilepsy, autism (original news release) "Future studies that manipulate this RNA could help treat neurodevelopmental diseases in humans"
How mammal posture evolved hundreds of millions of years ago
Amazing stuff!
"... The research shows that the transition from sprawled to upright locomotion was intricate and occurred later than was previously believed. Some species showed flexibility in limb posture similar to that of a modern alligator. ..."
From the abstract:
"The evolutionary transition from early synapsids to therian mammals involved profound reorganization in locomotor anatomy and function, centered around a shift from “sprawled” to “erect” limb postures. When and how this functional shift was accomplished has remained difficult to decipher from the fossil record alone. Through biomechanical modeling of hindlimb force-generating performance in eight exemplar fossil synapsids, we demonstrate that the erect locomotor regime typifying modern therians did not evolve until just before crown Theria. Modeling also identifies a transient phase of increased performance in therapsids and early cynodonts, before crown mammals. Further, quantifying the global actions of major hip muscle groups indicates a protracted juxtaposition of functional redeployment and conservatism, highlighting the intricate interplay between anatomical reorganization and function across postural transitions. We infer a complex history of synapsid locomotor evolution and suggest that major evolutionary transitions between contrasting locomotor behaviors may follow highly nonlinear trajectories."
Late acquisition of erect hindlimb posture and function in the forerunners of therian mammals (open access)
Land animals exhibit a continuum of limb postures.
Fig. 1. Summary of approach to investigating hindlimb force-producing ability.
Arnold Schwarzenegger endorses Kamala Harris for president despite 'disagreements' with her platform
They say bodybuilders have more muscles than brain!
A Terminator for Mistress Kamala! May she soon be a footnote in history!
Mr. Sprengmeister: Welche Folgen hätte ein Donald-Trump-Sieg für die Weltwirtschaft? Wirklich!
Das Trump Derangement Syndrome grassiert auch in der Bananenrepublik D!
Bitte schnellstens ärztliche Hilfe aufsuchen!
Less Nutritious Crops: Another Result of Rising CO2
More alarmism and hysteria about CO2!
CO2 is a life essential trace gas!
This latest nonsense is based on a 2018 meta study using extremely high and unrealistic CO2 levels!
"... The amount of nutrient decline varies by experiment and plant, and most experiments double the current CO2 levels. A 2018 review of 50 articles published in Frontiers in Plant Science found that when carbon levels rise, protein levels drop by nearly 10%, iron by 16%, zinc by about 9%, and magnesium by about 9%. ..."
From the abstract:
"Elevated atmospheric CO2 (eCO2) enhances the yield of vegetables and could also affect their nutritional quality. We conducted a meta-analysis using 57 articles consisting of 1,015 observations and found that eCO2 increased the concentrations of fructose, glucose, total soluble sugar, total antioxidant capacity, total phenols, total flavonoids, ascorbic acid, and calcium in the edible part of vegetables by 14.2%, 13.2%, 17.5%, 59.0%, 8.9%, 45.5%, 9.5%, and 8.2%, respectively, but decreased the concentrations of protein, nitrate, magnesium, iron, and zinc by 9.5%, 18.0%, 9.2%, 16.0%, and 9.4%. The concentrations of titratable acidity, total chlorophyll, carotenoids, lycopene, anthocyanins, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, copper, and manganese were not affected by eCO2. Furthermore, we propose several approaches to improving vegetable quality based on the interaction of eCO2 with various factors, including species, cultivars, CO2 levels, growth stages, light, O3 stress, nutrient, and salinity. Finally, we present a summary of the eCO2 impact on the quality of three widely cultivated crops, namely, lettuce, tomato, and potato."
Putin the Terrible Revives Cold War Bioweapons center
What else is new when it comes to former KGB agent Putin the Terrible!
"New construction at a military research site near Moscow shows signs of being a specialized laboratory complex designed to handle extremely dangerous pathogens, say U.S. intelligence officials.
The past: The site, Sergiev Posad-6, was a major biological weapons research center that conducted experiments during the Cold War on the viruses that cause smallpox, Ebola, and hemorrhagic fevers.
The present: Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, satellite imagery revealed expansions of the facility, including new biological labs, which have continued.
Russian officials have said the labs will be used to strengthen the country’s defenses against pandemics and bioterrorism—the same justification the Soviet Union used to expand its bioweapons program in the 1970s and 1980s."
Oceanographers record the largest predation event ever observed in the ocean
What a massacre! What a feast! Of hotspots and blind spots!
"With a new mapping method, MIT scientists observed millions of capelin fish shoaling off the Norwegian coast. A vast swarm of cod devoured the capelin, in the largest predation event yet recorded. ..."
From the abstract:
"Sensing limitations have impeded knowledge about how individual predator-prey interactions build to organized multi-species group behaviour across an ecosystem. Population densities of overlapping interacting oceanic fish predator and prey species, however, can be instantaneously distinguished and quantified from roughly the elemental individual to spatial scales spanning thousands of square kilometres by wide-area multispectral underwater-acoustic sensing, as shown here. This enables fundamental mechanisms behind large-scale ordered predator-prey interactions to be investigated. Critical population densities that transition random individual behaviour to ordered group behaviour are found to rapidly propagate to form vast adversarial prey and predator shoals of capelin and surrounding cod in the Barents Sea Arctic ecosystem for these keystone species. This leads to a sudden major shift in predator-prey balance. Only a small change in local behaviour triggers the shift due to an unstable equilibrium. Such unstable equilibria and associated balance shifts at predation hotspots are often overlooked as blind spots in present ocean ecosystem monitoring and assessment due to use of highly undersampled spatio-temporal sampling methods."
Fig. 1: Instantaneous wide area population density images of overlapping species showing transition from random individual behaviour to ordered adversarial group behaviour in rapid formation and propagation of capelin prey and engulfing cod predator shoals.
A must read: Emissions Gap Report 2024 | UNEP - UN Environment Programme
Best joke of the week! No more hot air please!
Yes, indeed climate change/global warming is a lot of hot air!
"As climate impacts intensify globally, the Emissions Gap Report 2024: No more hot air … please! finds that nations must deliver dramatically stronger ambition and action in the next round of Nationally Determined Contributions or the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C goal will be gone within a few years. ..."
Thailand begins OECD accession after BRICS debut within a week
Good news! Thailand is in a hurry to join clubs! 😊
"Thailand on Wednesday formally began the yearslong process to join the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, part of its bid to transform into a high-income country by 2037 by adopting standards and practices championed by the club of advanced economies.
Thailand's OECD accession process starts a week after it became a partner of the BRICS bloc, which began as Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. ..."
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
Little ‘nappy street dancer’ goes viral in China
Funny! Amazing stuff! His father is a street dance coach!
How Mexico’s migrant crackdown unfolded before the US election
Is Mexico betting that Trump wins? 😊
Mexico is four years late! Mexico deserves major blame for the mass illegal immigration across the US southern border. Why Mexico allowed this to happen is very concerning! What Mexico did would have been considered a cause for war in times past.
Inside the Newly Legalized World of Election Betting
Is there anything (other than extreme cases) you can not bet on? 😊
What remains of the dried-out Aral Sea, a man-made ecological disaster?
Recommendable! Meet e.g. a brine shrimp farmer.
Lost Chopin waltz discovered almost 200 years after it was written
Good news! Very short! Perhaps a gift to a friend!
Student accidentally uncovers lost Mayan city hidden in Mexico’s jungle
More on this breaking story!
Why hand held Anti-drone Gun Vajra Shot and other weapon systems is Crucial for India with Palki Sharma
Recommendable! India is becoming a major arms manufacturer and exporter!
France Repairs Ties with Morocco: Signs Deals worth over $10 Billion with Palki Sharma
Recommendable! Good news!
Former boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather Visits Israeli Facility for Wounded Soldiers
Good news! The article does not mention why he visited? A glance at the Mayweather Wikipedia entry does not provide a clue either.
Not mentioned either is his jail term for domestic abuse. Maybe he changed his life.
Israel does extraordinary and often commendable things for their injured soldiers! This is just one example!
"In a heartfelt visit, retired boxing champion Floyd Mayweather arrived in Israel today to spend time at B’Lev Echad, an organization dedicated to supporting wounded soldiers in their healing journey. The visit took on even deeper significance as Mayweather honored the memory of Matan Abergel, an Israeli soldier who courageously gave his life to protect his unit. ..."
Belev Echad "Restoring the Lives of the Wounded Men and Women of the IDF"
Older and grumpier: Aging sparrows have fewer friends
Amazing stuff! But how much is due to effect of natural changes in demography (older ones dying off)?
"... Researchers have tracked every house sparrow on tiny Lundy Island in the U.K. from egg to death since 2000, so they know exactly how old each animal is. From 2013 to 2017, they also collected detailed social data by noting interactions between individuals at video-monitored bird feeders. In all, they tallied more than 1600 observations of 615 different individuals, finding that the number of “friends” (defined as individuals a given bird is often observed with) decreased with age. Not only did old birds lose touch with old friends, they formed fewer new social connections. ..."
From the abstract:
"Humans become more selective with whom they spend their time, and as a result, the social networks of older humans are smaller than those of younger ones. In non-human animals, processes such as competition and opportunity can result in patterns of declining sociality with age. While there is support for declining sociality with age in mammals, evidence from wild bird populations is lacking. Here, we test whether sociality declines with age in a wild, insular bird population, where we know the exact ages of individuals. Using 6 years of sociality data, we find that as birds aged, their degree and betweenness decreased. The number of same-age birds still alive also decreased with age. Our results suggest that a longitudinal change in sociality with age may be, in part, an emergent effect of natural changes in demography. This highlights the need to investigate the changing costs and benefits of sociality across a lifetime."
Figure 1.
(a) The number of repeated observations of individuals.
(b) The ages of Lundy house sparrows (y-axis, in years) in relation to the percentage of fledged individuals of their own cohort that were still alive (x-axis), 2013−2017.
(a) The number of repeated observations of individuals.
(b) The ages of Lundy house sparrows (y-axis, in years) in relation to the percentage of fledged individuals of their own cohort that were still alive (x-axis), 2013−2017.
Kissing may have gotten its start as an ape grooming ritual
As if we did not know that! 😊 Did the kiss become more common with human fur-loss?
"... Clay tablets from Ancient Mesopotamia dating to 2500 B.C.E. provide the earliest archaeological evidence of romantic kissing. The behavior may even be older than civilization itself, with some studies suggesting neanderthals swapped spit with modern humans— and shared each other’s oral microbes—more than 100,000 years ago. ...
Why did humans start kissing in the first place? Some researchers have suggested it evolved from sniffing, nursing babies, or even parents passing chewed-up food to their children. But in an article published last week in Evolutionary Anthropology, evolutionary psychologist Adriano Lameira suggests that kissing got its start as a fur grooming ritual still observed in modern-day chimpanzees and other great apes. After searching through its companion’s coat for parasites or debris, he explains, one ape will typically pucker its lips and remove the offending item with its mouth. ..."
From the abstract:
"A kiss has been a signal of special affection across continents and cultures for millennia. Between times and peoples, social norms invariably prescribe kissing to specific affiliations and contexts, implying deeper biological bases. Why the protruding of the lips and slight suction when touching another? Capuchin monkeys stick their fingers in their friends' eyes as sign of affection, why have humans developed kissing? Here I briefly review proposed hypotheses for the evolution of human kissing. Great ape social behavior suggests that kissing is likely the conserved final mouth-contact stage of a grooming bout when the groomer sucks with protruded lips the fur or skin of the groomed to latch on debris or a parasite. The hygienic relevance of grooming decreased over human evolution due to fur-loss, but shorter sessions would have predictably retained a final “kissing” stage, ultimately, remaining the only vestige of a once ritualistic behavior for signaling and strengthening social and kinship ties in an ancestral ape."
The evolutionary origin of human kissing (open access)
"Did the first kiss look like this?"
New theory identifies how physics principle of 'rattling' relates to self-organization
Rattling news!
"... This goal is the motivation behind a recently introduced principle of physics called rattling, which posits that systems with sufficiently "messy" dynamics organize into what researchers refer to as low rattling states. ...
how rattling is related to the amount of time that a system spends in a state. Their theory further identifies the classes of systems for which rattling explains self-organization. ..."
From the significance and abstract:
"Significance
Fundamentals of statistical physics explain that systems in thermal equilibrium exhibit spontaneous order because orderly configurations have low energy. This fact is remarkable, and powerful, because energy is a “local” property of configurations. Nonequilibrium systems, including engineered and living systems, can also exhibit order, but there is no property analogous to energy that generally explains why orderly configurations of these systems often emerge. However, recent experiments suggest that a local property called “rattling” predicts which configurations are favored, at least for a broad class of nonequilibrium systems. We develop a theory of rattling that explains for which systems it works and why, and we demonstrate its application across scientific domains.
Abstract
The global steady state of a system in thermal equilibrium exponentially favors configurations with lesser energy. This principle is a powerful explanation of self-organization because energy is a local property of configurations. For nonequilibrium systems, there is no such property for which an analogous principle holds, hence no common explanation of the diverse forms of self-organization they exhibit. However, a flurry of recent empirical results has shown that a local property of configurations called “rattling” predicts the steady states of some nonequilibrium systems, leading to claims of a far-reaching principle of nonequilibrium self-organization. But for which nonequilibrium systems is rattling accurate, and why? We develop a theory of rattling in terms of Markov processes that gives simple and precise answers to these key questions. Our results show that rattling predicts a broader class of nonequilibrium steady states than has been claimed and for different reasons than have been suggested. Its predictions hold to an extent determined by the relative variance of, and correlation between, the local and global “parts” of a steady state. We show how these quantities characterize the local-global relationships of various random walks on random graphs, spin-glass dynamics, and models of animal collective behavior. Surprisingly, we find that the core idea of rattling is so general as to apply to equilibrium and nonequilibrium systems alike."
Rattling Physics with New Math (original news release)
A local–global principle for nonequilibrium steady states (no public access)
Professor Dana Randall
Scientists can reverse brain aging in fruit flies by preventing buildup of a common protein
Good news! My old brain already feels younger just reading about it! 😊
These results seem to be very promising!
More on discovering the fountain of youth!
"Key takeaways
- Buildup of a protein called filamentous actin, or F-actin, in the brain inhibits the removal of cellular wastes, including DNA, lipids, proteins and organelles.
- The resulting accumulation of waste diminishes neuronal functions and contributes to cognitive decline.
- By tweaking a few very specific genes in the neurons of aging fruit flies, the researchers prevented F-actin buildup, maintained cellular recycling and extended the healthy lifespan of fruit flies by approximately 30%.
...
when a common cell structural protein called filamentous actin, or F-actin, builds up in the brain, it inhibits a key process that removes unnecessary or dysfunctional components within cells, including DNA, lipids, proteins and organelles. The resulting accumulation of waste diminishes neuronal functions and contributes to cognitive decline. By tweaking a few specific genes in aging fruit flies’ neurons, the researchers prevented F-actin buildup, maintained cellular recycling and extended the healthy lifespan of fruit flies by approximately 30%. ...
when a common cell structural protein called filamentous actin, or F-actin, builds up in the brain, it inhibits a key process that removes unnecessary or dysfunctional components within cells, including DNA, lipids, proteins and organelles. The resulting accumulation of waste diminishes neuronal functions and contributes to cognitive decline. By tweaking a few specific genes in aging fruit flies’ neurons, the researchers prevented F-actin buildup, maintained cellular recycling and extended the healthy lifespan of fruit flies by approximately 30%. ...
Their first clue of a correlation: Flies on a restricted diet both lived longer and had less F-actin buildup in their brains.
Their second clue: When treated with a drug known to extend lifespan, called rapamycin, there was also less F-actin in the brains of aged flies. ...
“When we reduced Fhos expression in aging neurons, it prevented the accumulation of F-actin in the brain,” ...
“When we reduced Fhos expression in aging neurons, it prevented the accumulation of F-actin in the brain,” ...
Even though the genetic intervention was targeted to just neurons, it improved the flies’ overall health. They lived 25-30% longer, while showing signs of improved brain function as well as markers of improved health in other organ systems. ...
Further investigation showed the F-actin was interfering with the body’s “cellular garbage disposal system.” Damaged or superfluous proteins and other components inside a cell are broken down in a process called “autophagy.” Aging research has established that autophagy pathways become less active with age, but no one knew exactly why. ..."
Further investigation showed the F-actin was interfering with the body’s “cellular garbage disposal system.” Damaged or superfluous proteins and other components inside a cell are broken down in a process called “autophagy.” Aging research has established that autophagy pathways become less active with age, but no one knew exactly why. ..."
From the abstract:
"The actin cytoskeleton is a key determinant of cell structure and homeostasis. However, possible tissue-specific changes to actin dynamics during aging, notably brain aging, are not understood. Here, we show that there is an age-related increase in filamentous actin (F-actin) in Drosophila brains, which is counteracted by prolongevity interventions. Critically, decreasing F-actin levels in aging neurons prevents age-onset cognitive decline and extends organismal healthspan. Mechanistically, we show that autophagy, a recycling process required for neuronal homeostasis, is disabled upon actin dysregulation in the aged brain. Remarkably, disrupting actin polymerization in aged animals with cytoskeletal drugs restores brain autophagy to youthful levels and reverses cellular hallmarks of brain aging. Finally, reducing F-actin levels in aging neurons slows brain aging and promotes healthspan in an autophagy-dependent manner. Our data identify excess actin polymerization as a hallmark of brain aging, which can be targeted to reverse brain aging phenotypes and prolong healthspan."
Fig. 1: F-actin accumulates in aged Drosophila brains and correlates with health.
New nano-weapon discovered in use by antibiotic-resistant hospital superbugs to kill off competing bacteria
Amazing stuff! Good news!
"A. baumannii bacteria is a nasty antibiotic-resistant bug that thrives in hospitals ... an opportunistic bacteria ... often found on the skin of healthcare workers, which makes it highly transmissible. ...
it can outcompete other bacteria in its environment. Focussing on that, the team discovered that the bacteria wipes out the competition by using a needle-like nano "machine" that injects deadly toxins into nearby bacteria.
"We learned how this toxin, called Tse15, is attached to the needle and then delivered into other bacteria to kill them," ..."
"... that bacteria rarely exist alone; like plants and animals, different types compete for space and resources. “In many environments, A. baumannii must engage in bacterial ‘warfare’ to survive in the presence of other species,” ...
“To outcompete surrounding bacteria, A. baumannii (and many other bacteria) use a nano-weapon called the Type VI Secretion System (T6SS). This is a tiny needle-like machine that injects toxins directly into nearby bacteria, killing them so that A. baumannii can dominate.” ..."
From the abstract:
"The type VI secretion system (T6SS) is a molecular machine utilised by many Gram-negative bacteria to deliver antibacterial toxins into adjacent cells. Here we present the structure of Tse15, a T6SS Rhs effector from the nosocomial pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii. Tse15 forms a triple layered β-cocoon Rhs domain with an N-terminal α-helical clade domain and an unfolded C-terminal toxin domain inside the Rhs cage. Tse15 is cleaved into three domains, through independent auto-cleavage events involving aspartyl protease activity for toxin self-cleavage and a nucleophilic glutamic acid for N-terminal clade cleavage. Proteomic analyses identified that significantly more peptides from the N-terminal clade and toxin domains were secreted than from the Rhs cage, suggesting toxin delivery often occurs without the cage. We propose the clade domain acts as an internal chaperone to mediate toxin tethering to the T6SS machinery. Conservation of the clade domain in other Gram-negative bacteria suggests this may be a common mechanism for delivery."
Structure of a Rhs effector clade domain provides mechanistic insights into type VI secretion system toxin delivery (open access)
Fig. 7: Delivery schematic for Tse15:VgrG15.
$32 billion settlement BHP Group and Vale signed with Brazilian authorities over the disastrous 2015 collapse of a mine-waste dam
"... The settlement ... is the largest of its kind globally, according to Brazil’s attorney general. ...
The deal comes about three years after Vale struck a 38 billion reais settlement with Brazilian authorities for another tailings dam collapse near Brumadinho city, in Minas Gerais state, in 2019. That disaster killed 270 people and led to production cutbacks that stripped Vale of its ranking as world’s biggest iron ore producer. At the time, it was the largest reparation agreement ever signed in Latin America. ..." (Source)
"Size of the settlement BHP Group and Vale signed with Brazilian authorities over the disastrous 2015 collapse of a mine-waste dam that killed 19 people and polluted more than 400 miles of rivers. The settlement is the result of years of litigation that revealed a series of management missteps and failed oversight, according to prosecutors. BHP’s legal chief called the dam collapse a tragedy."
Is this new material the easiest way yet to capture carbon from the air and achieve negative emissions?
What is the hysteria and alarmism about CO2 in our atmosphere all about! Take e.g. carbon capture it could easily take care of the issue!
"... The porous material is a covalent organic framework (COF). The rigid molecular structure has regularly spaced internal pores to which gas molecules stick or absorb. ..."
"... The porous material — a covalent organic framework (COF) — captures CO2 from ambient air without degradation by water or other contaminants, one of the limitations of existing DAC [direct air capture] technologies. ...
“We took a powder of this material, put it in a tube, and we passed Berkeley air — just outdoor air — into the material to see how it would perform, and it was beautiful. It cleaned the air entirely of CO2. Everything,” ...
... that a mere 200 grams of the material, a bit less than half a pound, can take up as much CO2 in a year — 20 kilograms (44 pounds) — as a tree. ..."
From the abstract:
"Capture of CO2 from the air offers a promising approach to addressing climate change and achieving carbon neutrality goals. However, the development of a durable material with high capacity, fast kinetics and low regeneration temperature for CO2 capture, especially from the intricate and dynamic atmosphere, is still lacking. Here a porous, crystalline covalent organic framework (COF) with olefin linkages has been synthesized, structurally characterized and post-synthetically modified by the covalent attachment of amine initiators for producing polyamines within the pores. This COF (termed COF-999) can capture CO2 from open air. COF-999 has a capacity of 0.96 mmol g–1 under dry conditions and 2.05 mmol g–1 under 50% relative humidity, both from 400 ppm CO2. This COF was tested for more than 100 adsorption–desorption cycles in the open air of Berkeley, California, and found to fully retain its performance. COF-999 is an exceptional material for the capture of CO2 from open air as evidenced by its cycling stability, facile uptake of CO2 (reaches half capacity in 18.8 min) and low regeneration temperature (60 °C)."
Capturing carbon from the air just got easier (original news release) "A new type of porous material called a covalent organic framework quickly sucks up carbon dioxide from ambient air"
Carbon dioxide capture from open air using covalent organic frameworks (no public access)
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