Today, we're starting our series on Custom Lighting Models with the most basic and simple type of lighting - vertex lighting. I show 3 simple ways to create ambient light and also how to create Lambert diffuse light.Take a look at the playlist for the whole series:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL78XDi0TS4lGnGa7L2X4o3UV-XYZEKNwj Here's last week's video that introduces the series:https://youtu.be/wI0YdkiduYY Shader Book Recommendationshttps://www.bencloward.com/resources_books.shtml ------------------------------Theme MusicPeace in the Circuitry - Glitch Hophttp://teknoaxe.com/Link_Code_3.php?q=1526 Background MusicSpeo - The Little Thingshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvCYuyyLgC0 #UnrealEngine #shadergraph #Unity

One of the last things you'd think could be lost is a volcano. Yet, when we look at the record of volcanic activity, even in the past few hundred years, there are signals that a large eruption occurred ... we just don't have any other evidence of the source of that big blast. Slowly but surely, through geochemical sleuthing, some of those mystery eruptions have been matched up with volcanoes. It turns out that many times, that source is more surprising than anticipated.A recent study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) by William Hutchinson and others may have found the smoking gun for a mysterious event recorded in the planet's ice cores. If we look at the signal of climate-altering eruptions since 1800 captured by ice core records on both poles, many famous eruptions show up: Tambora (1815), Krakatau (1883), Pinatubo (1991) and many others. However, certain peaks didn't have obvious matches in the known geological or historical records."Missing" VolcanoesRinjani caldera in Indonesia. Credit: Wikimedia Commons / DhmlombokOne of the most famous "missing eruptions" was one that occurred around 1257-58 CE. It was one of the largest sulfur-deposits events in the last few thousand years but up until recently, it had no known source. Work by Franck Lavigne and others in 2019 determined using geochemical comparisons of ash from a hitherto unmapped eruption of Samalas in the Rinjani caldera of Indonesia as the culprit. So, this "missing" eruption was hiding in plain sight.However, it sometimes isn't that simple. Rinjani is in Indonesia and currently has over 3,000,000 people living near it. Back when it erupted in the 1200s, the population wasn't nearly as high, but the regional capital at the time was located near the volcano. Records show that the capital was destroyed by ash and the locals could definitely point out the copious ash deposits all around the area. It just took the geochemical analyses of the ash near the volcano and in the ice core to correlate these two events.Now, suppose a volcano erupted and no one was watching? Hutchinson and others' choice for the most probable source of sulfur spike in the ice core record in 1831 is potentially a volcano that no one saw erupt. Using similar geochemical methods to compare ash fragments, they have pointed to the remote Zavaritskii caldera in the Kuril Islands south of Kamchatka in the western Pacific. The Middle of NowhereA Sentinel-2 image taken March 3, 2024 of Simushir Island in the Kuril Islands between Japan and Russia. The four volcanoes on the island are labeled. Credit: ESA, annotated by Erik KlemettiIf you've never heard of the volcano, you're not alone. Looking at the Global Volcanic Program's database, Zavaritskii has 118 people currently living with 100 kilometers of the volcano. That is no typo: 118 people. Back in the mid-1800s that number was likely closer to nobody ... and unlike today, where ships and jets pass near the region everyday, there was likely almost no ships in the area at the time as well. You have the perfect situation for a large eruption that no one saw happen.It isn't surprising that in such a remote location, there hasn't been much research done on the eruption history of Zavaritskii. There were a few small eruptions in the 1900s, but the history prior to that was pretty vague. Before this new research, the caldera and dome forming eruption was thought to have occurred "in the Holocene" ... which means the last 10,000 years or so. Not exactly the precision you want to match with a big sulfur spike. However, Hutchinson and others were able to collect some new radiocarbon ages for material caught up in this last major eruption and found it was less than 300 years ago.Up until now, the best guess volcanologists had for the source of the sulfur in the ice cores around 1831 was a very small eruption of Ferdinandea (part of the Campi Flegrei Del Mar di Sicilia) off the coast of Sicily (not to be confused with Fernandina in the Galpagos Islands). Even though it was a small event, the magma incorporated sediments rich in anhydrite, a mineral formed by the evaporation of water that is rich in sulfur. So, without a better source, that was the guess.Isotopic FingerprintsCompositional data of Zavaritskii Caldera Ash showing the composition match of ice core ash and material from the Zavaritskii caldera. Credit: Hutchinson and others, PNAS.However, Hutchinson and others were able to use the sulfur isotopic composition of the ice core and ash from Zavaritskii to show that Ferdinandea couldn't be the source. The ratio of sulfur isotopes in anhydrite, the supposed source of sulfur in the Ferndinandea eruption, is very different than that in normal magma erupting in a place like the Kuril Islands. The mismatch of sulfur isotopes from that of anhydrite and the close match between the ice core sulfur isotopes and Zavaritskii ash put the nail in the coffin of the 1831 sulfur spike source.It turns out that this eruption that doesn't appear to show up in any known historical record was likely comparable to the 1991 eruption of Pinatubo. There were plenty of associated climate and atmospheric impacts recorded at the time, including dimmed sunlight, blue hazes and changed weather patterns. The amount of sulfur thrown into the atmosphere played a role in crop failures that led to famines in the mid-to-late 1830s in Japan and India. This isn't the last "missing" volcanic eruption. There are a pair of sulfur spikes in ice core records in the early 1800s that have yet to be conclusively linked to a specific volcano. When you look back at some of the most significant explosive eruptions over the past few centuries, many have come from volcanoes that weren't recognized to have the potential: Pinatubo, El Chichn, Chaitn, Huaynaputina and more. This is why any list of the "next" volcanoes to cause such an eruption are dubious at best. Many of the volcanoes that caused climate havoc were ones that hadn't had a big eruption in millennia, so they weren't closely studied. This goes to show how vital basic mapping, geochemical analyses and dating of volcanoes is to understanding potential volcanic hazards. You never know when that seemingly obscure and quiet volcano could be the next big one.

Fighting is actually not as big a stressor as other aspects of alpha male life. Credit: Deposit PhotosShareAlpha male baboons may earn the right to preside over their troops, but evidence indicates all that power takes its toll. A past study from Duke University research scientist Laurence Gesquiere, for example, indicated that alpha male baboons exhibit much higher stress hormone levels than their beta counterparts. At the time, however, the source of all that stress remained a mystery. According to a followup study published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the top ranking primates not only are significantly more stressed outtheyre also expending more energy than those around them. But not necessarily for the reasons you might think.The first evidence pointing to the unique daily problems faced by alpha male baboons arrived in 2011, when Gesquiere and colleagues identified that the animals displayed higher amounts of glucocorticoids. These and other hormones are released by the brain to help boost energy during tough situations.Since then, Gesquiere and others from both Duke and Stony Brook University have looked more closely at baboon hormonal levels while also reviewing their daily habits. They focused on 14 years worth of behavioral records collected from 204 wild male baboons by the Amboseli Baboon Research Project in Kenya. The team then supplemented that information by analyzing their droppings to better understand how their hormone levels changed over time.Consistent with previous data, the glucocorticoid levels of alpha baboons measured around six percent higher than their fellow males. At the same time, the team also noticed the top baboons had lower levels of the thyroid hormone T3a sign they burned more calories than they consumed.Being alpha really has energy consequences, Gesquiere said in an accompanying statement on Wednesday.But all that energy expenditure isnt entirely the result of baboons many brawls. The data showed that regardless how often the alphas scrapped with rivals or betas, both their stress and thyroid hormones remained at consistent levels.That was a big surprise, said Gesquiere.The team theorized there may be a couple explanations for this. One is that aggressive episodes between the males may be too short or minor to trigger a hormonal response. Another possibility may be that, once established, an alpha male simply doesnt need to spar as intensely or as often as before.So what actually is the reason behind all that extra stress and energy use? According to researchers, its likely often due to the amount of time they spend guarding and monitoring their mates. Get the Popular Science newsletter Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. By signing up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.Theyre essentially staking a claim; preventing other males from gaining access, added Susan Alberts, a Duke University professor and study lead author.Alberts explained that all that surveillance means an alpha males other needsnamely eatingis constantly interrupted by following their consorts around and preventing other males from getting too close. Alberts offered a common scenario in which an alpha baboon begins foraging for food, but then the female gets up and walks away, and they have to abandon it.While being high ranking has benefits for males in terms of mating and paternity success, our analysis demonstrates that it also imposes costs, the studys authors write in their conclusion.Gesquiere added that for alpha males, all that stress definitely has long-term consequences. These costs appear to speed up their epigenetic aging, and even shorten their overall lifespans. But dont think its any easier for the beta baboons in these communities.Low-ranking males, while being less energetically challenged than high-ranking (non-alpha) males, are probably exposed to more psychosocial stressors, the authors wrote in their study.Basically, its tough out there for baboons, no matter their social standing.

Nyasasaurus is one of the earliest known dinosaurs or else a close relative of early dinosaurs. Mark Witton/The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, LondonShareDespite decades of digging and discovery, paleontologists still have not found fossil evidence of some of the planets earliest dinosaurs. Most of the specimens we have found like the T.rex all represent species that were significantly bigger and more advanced than early dinosaurs like Nyasasaurus. The earliest species of dinosaur are likely buried deep within the Earth and are incredibly difficult to reach. However, some research offers a suggestion of where to look. These bones may lie within the Amazon and other equatorial regions of South America and Africa. The findings are detailed in a study published January 23 in the journal Current Biology. Get the Popular Science newsletter Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. By signing up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.What are the oldest known dinosaurs?Currently, the earliest known dinosaurs include Nyasasaurus, Eoraptor, Herrerasaurus, Coelophysis, and Eodromaeus. A group of fossils belonging to an unknown dinosaur in the Herrerasauridae family were described last year and date back about 231 million years. Similarly old fossils have all been unearthed in countries located south of the equator including Argentina, Brazil, and Zimbabwe, but there are likely even older specimens that have not been uncovered yet.These early dinosaurs were also initially vastly outnumbered by their reptile cousinsa group of enormous crocodile ancestors called the pseudosuchians and pterosaurs who grew to the size of fighter jets. By comparison, Earths earliest dinosaurs were much smaller than their descendants. They were about the size of a dog or chicken, not 33,000 pounds like a Brontosaurus. Early dinosaurs were also bipedal and are believed to have been omnivores.The physical differences between the earliest known fossils and those from the dinosaurs that lived much later suggest that animals had already been evolving for some time. Paleontologists believe this means that they could have evolved years earlier, pushing back the fossil record by millions of years.Dinosaurs are well studied but we still dont really know where they came from, study co-author and University College London (UCL) PhD student Joel Heath said in a statement.The fossil record has such large gaps that it cant be taken at face value.Into LaurasiaIn the new study, a team of paleontologists examined the known fossils and evolutionary trees of dinosaurs and their close reptile relatives and compared them with changes to the Earths geography. To account for the numerous gaps in the fossil record, they treated the parts of the world where fossils have not been uncovered as missing information rather than designating them areas where no fossils exist.Based on the results from this computer simulation, the team believes that Earths earliest dinosaurs likely emerged in a hot and dry equatorial region in the former supercontinent Gondwana. This massive continent began to break apart due to tectonic activity about 175 million years ago. The Amazon basin in South America and Congo basin and Sahara Desert in Africa today are what remains of Gondwana.So far, no dinosaur fossils have been found in the regions of Africa and South America that once formed this part of Gondwana, said Heath. However, this might be because researchers havent stumbled across the right rocks yet, due to a mix of inaccessibility and a relative lack of research efforts in these areas.Dinosaurs also started to outnumber other reptiles after a series of volcanic eruptions about 201 million years ago. The study suggests that after the surviving dinosaurs and reptiles that originated in low-latitude Gondwana. They spread outwards into southern Gondwana and to Laurasiathe supercontinent next to Gondwana that later split up into Europe, Asia, and North America.According to the team, this spot is a midpoint of where the earliest known dinosaurs have been found and where many of their closest relatives have been discovered in what was north Laurasia.Family tiesTo piece together how these dinosaurs were related, the team ran their computer model of where dinosaurs originated on three potential evolutionary trees. They found a tree that included the silesauridscousins of dinosaurs but not dinosaurs themselvesas ancestors of a later group of ornithischian dinosaurs.Ornithischians are one of the three main dinosaur groups that would later include Stegosaurus and Triceratops. They are absent from the fossil record of these early years of the dinosaur era. If the silesaurids are the ancestors of ornithischians, it will help fill in gaps in their evolutionary tree and pinpoint when certain traits emerged.Our results suggest early dinosaurs may have been well adapted to hot and arid environments. Out of the three main dinosaur groups, one group, sauropods, which includes the Brontosaurus and the Diplodocus, seemed to retain their preference for a warm climate, keeping to Earths lower latitudes, study co-author and UCL paleobiologist Philip Mannion said in a statement.In turn, theropods and ornithischians may have developed the ability to generate their own body heat millions of years ago. This change during the Jurassic period would have allowed them to thrive in colder regions, as many species did.Only by digging deeper in the right areapotentially in parts of South America and Africawill paleontologists find the earliest dinosaurs to walk the Earth.

Nature, Published online: 23 January 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00229-6DeepSeek-R1 performs reasoning tasks at the same level as OpenAIs o1 and is open for researchers to examine.

Nature, Published online: 22 January 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-024-08441-6A non-invasive in vivo positron emission tomography imaging approach detects inflammatory disease using various preclinical models.

Eight months spent following a "carnivore diet" caused a man to grow big, yellow bumps on his hands, feet and elbows.

A hoard of 1,368 coins, most of them silver, was discovered in England. Why they were buried is a mystery.

submitted by /u/Khamekaze [link] [comments]

submitted by /u/dragontamerfibleman [link] [comments]