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Scientists have recorded New Zealand’s rig sharks making noises in the world’s first documented case of active sound production by any shark species.

Until now, over a thousand fish species are known to produce sounds in several contexts, such as mating and for defence against predators.

While cartilaginous fish like sharks and rays are known to use sound for communicating, tracking prey, and for safely moving underwater, they are not known for producing sounds voluntarily.

A 2022 study showed for the first time that a stingray species produces clicks when approached by a diver.

Now, a new study has found that rig sharks handled by researchers deliberately make short, sharp clicks of relatively high peak frequencies.

The recordings, published in a new study in the journal Royal Society Open Science, hint that the sounds are created by these small sharks forcefully snapping their flattened teeth.……

Sharks are not the silent killers we thought, listen to the sounds they make

New Zealand’s rig sharks found making sharp clicks of high peak frequencies
www.independent.co.uk
 
Millions of people worldwide with severe back pain may be able to get relief from a new drug that uses antibiotics rather than painkillers to tackle the condition.

Doctors who have tested the drug said it could be “a gamechanger” for the one in four people whose lower back pain is caused by an infection rather than a muscular or spinal problem.

An early stage trial of the drug found that six in 10 of those who took it experienced major benefits, including a significant decline in the pain and disability they had previously suffered.


The drug, called PP353, is in development by Persica Pharmaceuticals, a Kent-based biotech firm. It staged the trial in conjunction with six NHS hospitals in England and Wales.

Dr Shiva Tripathi, an NHS pain consultant and the chief investigator of the trial, said if the drug is approved by regulators and becomes available it would be “a gamechanger for chronic lower back pain on the similar levels as [how] antibiotics made a difference to infection. Because if we can get these 25% of the patients with chronic low back pain back to work, back to no medications, back to no more disability, then I think [that] will be the massive gamechanger for the future.”

However, the randomised controlled trial involved only 44 patients – 22 in Britain and 22 in Spain, Denmark and New Zealand – so PP353 will have to undergo further trials, and be endorsed by the medicines watchdogs, before doctors can offer it to patients to relieve their symptoms.

The patients had all had severe back pain for at least six months, and in some cases more than five years, that had not responded to conventional treatment, such as painkilling medication.

Persica said that a big advantage of their treatment is that the patient has two injections four days apart rather than undergoing surgery or taking tablets for a long time. Recent research found that most of the 56 ways of trying to alleviate back pain which researchers studied – ranging from massage and acupuncture to painkillers and physiotherapy – brought little or no real relief.

PP353 is a combination of three substances that are already widely used in medicine: linezolid, an antibiotic; iohexol, a contrast agent or dye; and a thermosensitive gel. It is injected into the lower back in order to banish an infection that has developed around the discs.……

New drug for lower back pain could be ‘a gamechanger’

Exclusive: early stage trials of drug that uses antibiotics finds benefits for people whose pain is caused by infection
www.theguardian.com
 

The Particle That Might Explain Why Anything Exists at All

Scientists at CERN have made a groundbreaking discovery that deepens our understanding of why the Universe is made of matter and not antimatter. By analyzing an enormous trove of data from the LHC, researchers observed a subtle but significant asymmetry in the behavior of a particle called the be
scitechdaily.com
 
fred8615 said:

The Particle That Might Explain Why Anything Exists at All

Scientists at CERN have made a groundbreaking discovery that deepens our understanding of why the Universe is made of matter and not antimatter. By analyzing an enormous trove of data from the LHC, researchers observed a subtle but significant asymmetry in the behavior of a particle called the be
scitechdaily.com
Click to expand...
How do they know we aren't actually anti-matter and the other universe isn't just matter?
 

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