Science! (4 Viewers)
- Thread starterbonnjer
- Start date
- Latest activity Latest activity:
- Joined
- Jul 18, 1998
- Messages
- 25,939
- Reaction score
- 56,880
Offline
Trees are believed to have originated hundreds of millions of years ago. Ever since, evidence of these ancient plant sentinels has been in short supply.
Now, a new discovery of uniquely 3D tree fossils has opened a window into what the world was like when the planet’s early forests were beginning to evolve, expanding our understanding of the architecture of trees throughout Earth’s history.
Five tree fossils buried alive by an earthquake 350 million years ago were found in a quarry in the Canadian province of New Brunswick, according to a study published Friday in the journal Current Biology. The authors said these new and unusual fossil trees not only bear a surprising shape reminiscent of a Dr. Seuss illustration, they reveal clues about a period of life on Earth of which we know little.
“They are time capsules,” said Robert Gastaldo, a paleontologist and sedimentologist who led the study, “literally little windows into deep-time landscapes and ecosystems.”
Coauthors Olivia King and Matthew Stimson unearthed the first of the ancient trees in 2017 while doing fieldwork in a rock quarry in New Brunswick. One of the specimens they discovered is among a handful of cases in the entire plant fossil record — spanning more than 400 million years — in which a tree’s branches and crown leaves are still attached to its trunk.
Few tree fossils that date back to Earth’s earliest forests have ever been found, according to Gastaldo. Their discovery helps fill in some missing pieces of an incomplete fossil record.
“There are only five or six trees that we can document, at least in the Paleozoic, that were preserved with its crown intact,” said Gastaldo, a professor of geology at Colby College in Waterville, Maine.
Most ancient tree specimens are relatively small, he noted, and often discovered in the form of a fossilized trunk with a stump or root system attached. For his colleagues to find a preserved tree that could have been 15 feet tall in its maturity with an 18-foot diameter crown left the paleontologist “gobsmacked.”..........
Now, a new discovery of uniquely 3D tree fossils has opened a window into what the world was like when the planet’s early forests were beginning to evolve, expanding our understanding of the architecture of trees throughout Earth’s history.
Five tree fossils buried alive by an earthquake 350 million years ago were found in a quarry in the Canadian province of New Brunswick, according to a study published Friday in the journal Current Biology. The authors said these new and unusual fossil trees not only bear a surprising shape reminiscent of a Dr. Seuss illustration, they reveal clues about a period of life on Earth of which we know little.
“They are time capsules,” said Robert Gastaldo, a paleontologist and sedimentologist who led the study, “literally little windows into deep-time landscapes and ecosystems.”
Coauthors Olivia King and Matthew Stimson unearthed the first of the ancient trees in 2017 while doing fieldwork in a rock quarry in New Brunswick. One of the specimens they discovered is among a handful of cases in the entire plant fossil record — spanning more than 400 million years — in which a tree’s branches and crown leaves are still attached to its trunk.
Few tree fossils that date back to Earth’s earliest forests have ever been found, according to Gastaldo. Their discovery helps fill in some missing pieces of an incomplete fossil record.
“There are only five or six trees that we can document, at least in the Paleozoic, that were preserved with its crown intact,” said Gastaldo, a professor of geology at Colby College in Waterville, Maine.
Most ancient tree specimens are relatively small, he noted, and often discovered in the form of a fossilized trunk with a stump or root system attached. For his colleagues to find a preserved tree that could have been 15 feet tall in its maturity with an 18-foot diameter crown left the paleontologist “gobsmacked.”..........
fred8615
Veteran Starter
Offline
Spider exploits firefly's flashing signals to lure more prey
Fireflies rely on flashing signals to communicate to other fireflies using light-emitting lanterns on their abdomens. In fireflies of the species Abscondita terminalis, males make multi-pulse flashes with two lanterns to attract females, while females make single-pulse flashes with their one...
phys.org
- Joined
- Jul 18, 1998
- Messages
- 25,939
- Reaction score
- 56,880
Offline
NEW YORK (AP) — A U.S. government report expected to stir debate concluded that fluoride in drinking water at twice the recommended limit is linked with lower IQ in children.
The report, based on an analysis of previously published research, marks the first time a federal agency has determined — “with moderate confidence” — that there is a link between higher levels of fluoride exposure and lower IQ in kids. While the report was not designed to evaluate the health effects of fluoride in drinking water alone, it is a striking acknowledgment of a potential neurological risk from high levels of fluoride.
Fluoride strengthens teeth and reduces cavities by replacing minerals lost during normal wear and tear, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The addition of low levels of fluoride to drinking water has long been considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century.
“I think this (report) is crucial in our understanding” of this risk, said Ashley Malin, a University of Florida researcher who has studied the effect of higher fluoride levels in pregnant women on their children. She called it the most rigorously conducted report of its kind.
The long-awaited report released Wednesday comes from the National Toxicology Program, part of the Department of Health and Human Services. It summarizes a review of studies, conducted in Canada, China, India, Iran, Pakistan, and Mexico, that concludes that drinking water containing more than 1.5 milligrams of fluoride per liter is consistently associated with lower IQs in kids.
The report did not try to quantify exactly how many IQ points might be lost at different levels of fluoride exposure. But some of the studies reviewed in the report suggested IQ was 2 to 5 points lower in children who'd had higher exposures.
Since 2015, federal health officials have recommended a fluoridation level of 0.7 milligrams per liter of water, and for five decades before the recommended upper range was 1.2. The World Health Organization has set a safe limit for fluoride in drinking water of 1.5.
The report said that about 0.6% of the U.S. population — about 1.9 million people — are on water systems with naturally occurring fluoride levels of 1.5 milligrams or higher.
“The findings from this report raise the questions about how these people can be protected and what makes the most sense,” Malin said.
The 324-page report did not reach a conclusion about the risks of lower levels of fluoride, saying more study is needed. It also did not answer what high levels of fluoride might do to adults.............
The report, based on an analysis of previously published research, marks the first time a federal agency has determined — “with moderate confidence” — that there is a link between higher levels of fluoride exposure and lower IQ in kids. While the report was not designed to evaluate the health effects of fluoride in drinking water alone, it is a striking acknowledgment of a potential neurological risk from high levels of fluoride.
Fluoride strengthens teeth and reduces cavities by replacing minerals lost during normal wear and tear, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The addition of low levels of fluoride to drinking water has long been considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century.
“I think this (report) is crucial in our understanding” of this risk, said Ashley Malin, a University of Florida researcher who has studied the effect of higher fluoride levels in pregnant women on their children. She called it the most rigorously conducted report of its kind.
The long-awaited report released Wednesday comes from the National Toxicology Program, part of the Department of Health and Human Services. It summarizes a review of studies, conducted in Canada, China, India, Iran, Pakistan, and Mexico, that concludes that drinking water containing more than 1.5 milligrams of fluoride per liter is consistently associated with lower IQs in kids.
The report did not try to quantify exactly how many IQ points might be lost at different levels of fluoride exposure. But some of the studies reviewed in the report suggested IQ was 2 to 5 points lower in children who'd had higher exposures.
Since 2015, federal health officials have recommended a fluoridation level of 0.7 milligrams per liter of water, and for five decades before the recommended upper range was 1.2. The World Health Organization has set a safe limit for fluoride in drinking water of 1.5.
The report said that about 0.6% of the U.S. population — about 1.9 million people — are on water systems with naturally occurring fluoride levels of 1.5 milligrams or higher.
“The findings from this report raise the questions about how these people can be protected and what makes the most sense,” Malin said.
The 324-page report did not reach a conclusion about the risks of lower levels of fluoride, saying more study is needed. It also did not answer what high levels of fluoride might do to adults.............
US government report says fluoride at twice the recommended limit is linked to lower IQ in kids
A U.S. government report concludes that fluoride in drinking water at twice the recommended limit is linked with lower IQ in children.
apnews.com
- Joined
- Jul 18, 1998
- Messages
- 25,939
- Reaction score
- 56,880
Offline
Researchers have found a soft and squidgy water-rich gel is not only able to play the video game Pong, but gets better at it over time.
The findings come almost two years after brain cells in a dish were taught how to play the 1970s classic, a result the researchers involved said showed “something that resembles intelligence”.
The team behind the latest study said that while they were inspired by that work, they were not claiming their hydrogel was sentient.
“We are claiming that it has memory, and through that memory it can improve in performance by gaining experience,” said Dr Vincent Strong, the first author of the research, from the University of Reading.
Strong said the work could offer a simpler way to develop algorithms for neural networks – models that underpin AI systems including Chat GPT – noting that at present they are based on how biological structures work.……
The findings come almost two years after brain cells in a dish were taught how to play the 1970s classic, a result the researchers involved said showed “something that resembles intelligence”.
The team behind the latest study said that while they were inspired by that work, they were not claiming their hydrogel was sentient.
“We are claiming that it has memory, and through that memory it can improve in performance by gaining experience,” said Dr Vincent Strong, the first author of the research, from the University of Reading.
Strong said the work could offer a simpler way to develop algorithms for neural networks – models that underpin AI systems including Chat GPT – noting that at present they are based on how biological structures work.……
Scientists enable hydrogel to play and improve at Pong video game
Researchers say their creation has memory, which it can use to perform better by gaining experience
www.theguardian.com
Zztop
Hall-of-Famer
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2012
- Messages
- 7,001
- Reaction score
- 10,103
Offline
Problems? With something from Boeing?
Senior NASA leaders, including the agency's administrator, Bill Nelson, will meet Saturday in Houston to decide whether Boeing's Starliner spacecraft is safe enough to ferry astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams back to Earth from the International Space Station
After months of mulling, NASA will decide on Starliner return this weekend
"The agency flight readiness review is where any formal dissents are presented and reconciled."
arstechnica.com
Senior NASA leaders, including the agency's administrator, Bill Nelson, will meet Saturday in Houston to decide whether Boeing's Starliner spacecraft is safe enough to ferry astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams back to Earth from the International Space Station
fred8615
Veteran Starter
Offline
Researchers led by SMU paleontologist find matching dinosaur footprints on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean
More than 260 footprints were discovered in Brazil and Cameroon, showing where land-dwelling dinosaurs were able to freely cross between South America and Africa.
www.wfaa.com
- Joined
- Jul 18, 1998
- Messages
- 25,939
- Reaction score
- 56,880
Offline
CNN —
Human brain samples collected at autopsy in early 2024 contained more tiny shards of plasticthan samples collected eight years prior, according to a preprint posted online in May. A preprint is a study which has not yet been peer-reviewed and published in a journal.
“The concentrations we saw in the brain tissue of normal individuals, who had an average age of around 45 or 50 years old, were 4,800 micrograms per gram, or 0.5% by weight,” said lead study author Matthew Campen, a regents’ professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.
“Compared to autopsy brain samples from 2016, that’s about 50% higher,” Campen said. “That would mean that our brains today are 99.5% brain and the rest is plastic.”……
Human brain samples collected at autopsy in early 2024 contained more tiny shards of plasticthan samples collected eight years prior, according to a preprint posted online in May. A preprint is a study which has not yet been peer-reviewed and published in a journal.
“The concentrations we saw in the brain tissue of normal individuals, who had an average age of around 45 or 50 years old, were 4,800 micrograms per gram, or 0.5% by weight,” said lead study author Matthew Campen, a regents’ professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.
“Compared to autopsy brain samples from 2016, that’s about 50% higher,” Campen said. “That would mean that our brains today are 99.5% brain and the rest is plastic.”……
Sailorsaint
Guest
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2005
- Messages
- 14,735
- Reaction score
- 26,719
Offline
Some more plastic than others.
- Moderator
- #3,006
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2002
- Messages
- 37,689
- Reaction score
- 49,876
- Age
- 49
Online
Yeah, I'm gonna pass on this one, Polaris...
Zztop
Hall-of-Famer
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2012
- Messages
- 7,001
- Reaction score
- 10,103
Offline
Astrophysicists May Have Found the Source of Mysterious Wow! Signal
The signal, recorded in 1977, was at first suspected to be an alien transmission.
gizmodo.com
Zztop
Hall-of-Famer
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2012
- Messages
- 7,001
- Reaction score
- 10,103
Offline
Mathematicians Prove Hawking Wrong About ‘Extremal’ Black Holes | Quanta Magazine
For decades, extremal black holes were considered mathematically impossible. A new proof reveals otherwise.
www.quantamagazine.org
Sailorsaint
Guest
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2005
- Messages
- 14,735
- Reaction score
- 26,719
Offline
Scientists Are Investigating a Puzzling Underground 'Anomaly' Near the Giza Pyramids
Using remote-sensing technologies, researchers have discovered two connected structures in a previously unexplored area
www.smithsonianmag.com
- Joined
- Jul 18, 1998
- Messages
- 25,939
- Reaction score
- 56,880
Offline
CNN) — Imagine: You and your sister are 66-year-old twins on Medicare who share the same family history of Alzheimer’s disease, making an early diagnosis critical for long-term planning and preventive health care.
Since Medicare provides coverage for a cognitive screening as part of each year’s wellness visit, you believe that diagnosis, if needed, will occur.
Let’s say you live in Hartford, Connecticut. Your sister is some 26 miles away in Springfield, Massachusetts — so close that you often share Sunday dinners.
Yet according to a new study, you are 18% more likely to obtain a diagnosis of dementia in Hartford than your sister in Springfield.
How could this be? According to Medicare data, the health care system in Connecticut may be doing a better job than Massachusetts of screening and diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias and referring patients to specialists, said lead study author Julie Bynum, a professor of internal medicine and geriatric and palliative medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor.
Such disparities happen across the United States, Bynum said. In fact, depending on your ZIP code, you may be twice as likely to be diagnosed in some areas of the country as others.
Compared with the national average, people who live in ZIP codes with the lowest diagnostic intensity — a measure of how often doctors offer tests and treatments to patients — are 28% less likely to get a timely diagnosis, the study found.
Those who live in regions with the highest diagnostic intensity — where physicians may be more aggressive in their level of care — are 36% more likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia, according to the study…….,
Since Medicare provides coverage for a cognitive screening as part of each year’s wellness visit, you believe that diagnosis, if needed, will occur.
Let’s say you live in Hartford, Connecticut. Your sister is some 26 miles away in Springfield, Massachusetts — so close that you often share Sunday dinners.
Yet according to a new study, you are 18% more likely to obtain a diagnosis of dementia in Hartford than your sister in Springfield.
How could this be? According to Medicare data, the health care system in Connecticut may be doing a better job than Massachusetts of screening and diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias and referring patients to specialists, said lead study author Julie Bynum, a professor of internal medicine and geriatric and palliative medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor.
Such disparities happen across the United States, Bynum said. In fact, depending on your ZIP code, you may be twice as likely to be diagnosed in some areas of the country as others.
Compared with the national average, people who live in ZIP codes with the lowest diagnostic intensity — a measure of how often doctors offer tests and treatments to patients — are 28% less likely to get a timely diagnosis, the study found.
Those who live in regions with the highest diagnostic intensity — where physicians may be more aggressive in their level of care — are 36% more likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia, according to the study…….,
Create an account or login to comment
You must be a member in order to leave a comment
Create account
Create an account on our community. It's easy!
Log in
Already have an account? Log in here.