• World-firststudy reveals the mysteries of thedesert-dwellingmarsupialmole
    www.popsci.com
    ShareThis article was originally featured on The Conversation.Hidden beneath the dunes, a mysterious creature glides through the sand.This is not one of the giant worms of Arrakis in Frank Herberts sci-fi epic, Dune. Rather, its an enigmatic and tiny mammal found only in the deserts of Australia the marsupial mole.There are two related species of the marsupial mole.Notoryctes typhlops, or southern marsupial mole, is found across the deserts of central and southern Australia. It is also alsocalled itjaritjariby the local Indigenous Aangu peoples.Notoryctes caurinus, or the northern marsupial mole, is found in the deserts of northwestern Australia. It is also calledkakarratulby the local Indigenous Martu people.Until recently, these elusive animals have been nearly impossible to study. But ourrecent study in Science Advanceshas finally started to unravel the basis of their incredible desert power.Rarely observedMarsupial moles are small, about the length of a pencil, and weigh between 40 to 70 grams. They have a tubular body, yellow hair and limbs that barely protrude from their sides.Rather than building permanent tunnels like their namesakes in the northern hemisphere,they swim through the loose sands of Australias deserts.The subterranean lifestyle of marsupial moles, along with the vastness of the deserts they inhabit, means they are rarely observed. In fact, there are only a handful of sightings each decade.New technologies, new insightsNew DNA technologies can provide a window into the lives of cryptic species such as the marsupial mole that cant be studied effectively in the wild.To this end, our team worked with theAustralian Biological Tissue Collectionat the South Australian Museum to acquire two tiny tissue samples frozen more than a decade ago from a southern marsupial mole.From these, we extracted extremely long fragments of DNA needed to produce a genome assembly. This is a digital representation of every base or letter that makes up the marsupial moles genetic code.Because DNA contains both the instructions for how to make an organisms traits and a record of its evolutionary history, we were able to glean remarkable insights into this cryptic species.Unique adaptationsMarsupial moles have a variety of unique adaptations that help them survive in their harsh environment. For example, their eyes are tiny and located beneath their skin, making them functionally blind.By comparing the sequences of eye genes to those of related marsupials, we were able to show that marsupial moles first lost genes critical for the eyes lens. This probably happened because a clear image isnt very important underground.This was followed by genes for colour-sensing cone cells in the retina. After the eye had lost considerable function, the last genes to degrade were the ones active in rod cells, important for low-light conditions.In mammals living on the surface, these changes would likely be harmful. Yet, by occurring in the right order, the stepwise degradation of eye genes allowed the marsupial moles ancestors to change gradually without harming their fitness.This is a beautiful illustration of how both adaptations and disorders can share a similar genetic basis, with the line between them being shaped by their context.Other traitsSequencing the genome allowed us to study other traits in marsupial moles.For example, we showed that a key gene involved in testicles dropping during puberty is likely to have also degraded in this species. This may help to explain why male marsupial moles lack a scrotum and have their testes perched in their abdominal wall.We also found that marsupial moles have two copies of a gene encoding haemoglobin the molecule that carries oxygen in red blood cells. This is important because sand has low oxygen levels and poor air movement.Moreover, this duplicated haemoglobin gene is typically used in newborn mammals.The pouch of a marsupial is already a low-oxygen environment, so marsupial moles needed to evolve ways to avoid their young suffocating. Having more haemoglobin may help.Tracing the moles evolutionary heritageFor years the marsupial moles strange, specialised traits have frustrated attempts to determine precisely who its closest relatives actually are. But sequencing its genome has allowed us to trace its evolutionary heritage.To do this, we examined a special type of DNA sequence calledretrotransposons.These are short stretches of DNA that can make copies of themselves that get randomly inserted across an animals genome and passed down through generations.Our examination revealed marsupial moles are a sister group tobandicootsandbilbies, with carnivorous marsupials like theTasmanian devilbeing distant cousins.Long-term declineAlmost nothing is currently known about the population health of marsupial moles. However,deserts are among the ecosystems most threatened by climate change.Given this, we also sought to glean the first insights into how marsupial mole populations have changed over time.Using patterns of genetic diversity across the marsupial mole genome, we were able to show they have likely experienced a long-term decline in effective population size that began around 70,000 years ago. This corresponds with historical changes during the last glacial period, suggesting the decline was because of climate change rather than human actions.Its unclear precisely how genetic diversity lost over tens of thousands of years will affect the marsupial moles ability to continue its record of adaptation to extreme environments.However, these findings highlight that new, more expansive efforts to study marsupial moles through genetic methods may be needed to ensure they arent lost to the sands of time like too many other Australian mammals.
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  • Mole or marsupial? This subterranean critter with a backward pouch is both
    www.sciencenews.org
    NewsAnimalsMole or marsupial? This subterranean critter with a backward pouch is bothGenetics finally reveal where this enigmatic animal belongs on the family tree This Australian mole, shown eating a centipede, may look like South Africas golden mole but it is more closely related to kangaroos than to the other moles of the world.Mike Gillam/Auscape/Minden PicturesBy Susan Milius33 seconds agoEvolving a dig-in-the-dark mole lifestyle comes with radical anatomical changes, making it hard even to guess the animals closest relatives. Thats why the true identity of Australias most enigmatic and cryptic mammal, the marsupial mole, has been called into question for decades.The two fit-in-your-hand Notoryctes species are elusive. Ive never handled, or even seen, a marsupial mole in my life, and I almost certainly never will, says Stephen Frankenberg, an evolutionary geneticist at the University of Melbourne in Australia. Sightings are rare. Even in Australia, he says, plenty of people have probably never even heard of them.
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  • What went wrong at 23andMe? Why the genetic-data giant risks collapse
    www.nature.com
    Nature, Published online: 23 January 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00118-yAt-home DNA testing is no longer in high demand and critics have raised concerns about unreliable tests and privacy.
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  • Pioneering CERN scheme will pay publishers more if they hit open-science targets
    www.nature.com
    Nature, Published online: 23 January 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00183-3The particle-physics funder will provide financial incentives to encourage practices such as data sharing and transparent peer review.
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  • Blender castle
    v.redd.it
    It was a fun piece to work on. The character animations were created by a friend. submitted by /u/CG_K1NG [link] [comments]
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  • x.com
    David Consolo shared the process of developing a Pong-inspired arcade game during his time at Unreal Fellowship: Games, an intensive program led by industry professionals.Read here and apply: https://80.lv/articles/creating-pong-inspired-arcade-with-unreal-fellowship-games/#ue5 #unrealengine5 #indiedev #gamedev #arcade #pong
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  • x.com
    Check out this cool 3D model of Donkey Kong created with a unique painterly-looking style by a 3D Artist @MikMikEternity.More artwork: https://80.lv/articles/check-out-this-vibrant-donkey-kong-painterly-style-fanart/#3dart #fanart #DonkeyKong
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  • Beautiful Detailed Tram Created Using Vertex Painting
    cgshares.com
    This old tram has seen better days, but its little details tell countless stories thanks to Christopher Wallaces masterful work.He used 3ds Max, Substance 3D Painter, Substance 3D Designer, DaVinci Resolve, Unreal Engine, and Marmoset Toolbag to achieve this beautiful retro look of the asset, which is a part of Neon Point, a real-time environment he presented several months ago.Wallace wanted to see how far I could push it without having unique UVs and bakes. He used a tileable/trim workflow with weighted normals, relying heavily on vertex painting.I created 8 shaders for this asset, Painted Metal, Base Metal, Metal Floor, Rubber, Wooden Trim, Utility Trim, Glass, and lastly the Web Shader. For final touches I threw on a few grunge/leak decals to help give it that extra push.You can admire the artists other works on his ArtStation:Also, join our80 Level Talent platformand ournew Discord server, follow us onInstagram,Twitter,LinkedIn,Telegram,TikTok, andThreads,where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.Source link The post Beautiful Detailed Tram Created Using Vertex Painting appeared first on CG SHARES.
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  • Take a Look at This Teleportation Animation Made with Blender
    cgshares.com
    Check out this fun animation made with Blender showcased by a Reddit user known as MohamedFayed_CG. The artist created a visualization of portals when an object enters one of them and appears out of another. The portal can be turned at various angles.MohamedFayed_CG shared the Geometry nodes setup and explained that the setup uses an Intersection Boolean, requiring you to create a container in front of the first portal. Alternatively, you can use a Difference Boolean, which eliminates the need for a container and allows you to work with a plane. However, the Intersection Boolean method allows for greater accuracy.Also, take a look at other artwork created with Blender Geometry Nodes:A stunning tutorial on mixing colors in paint with Procedural Fluid Simulators v2.2, built using the Geometry Nodes of Blender 4.3x by Kuldeep Singh, a.k.a. 3DSinghVFX:Digital Artist Jie showcased an artwork depicting marigolds in bloom:A fun fact about Blender Geometry nodes: the toolset joined the list of things that can run DOOM, demonstrated by Game Developer and CG Generalist Aidan Sanderson, a.k.a. Sando:Dont forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.Source link The post Take a Look at This Teleportation Animation Made with Blender appeared first on CG SHARES.
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  • New Cyberpunk 2077 Patch Unlocks The Power Of DLSS 4 On PC And Improves Photo Mode
    www.gamespot.com
    A new patch has gone live for Cyberpunk 2077, with the big draw here being DLSS 4 support for PC players. Also available for the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S versions of the game, Patch 2.21 adds Multi Frame Generation for RTX 50-series GPUs, Nvidia's new feature that allows for substantial performance improvements in games that support it.Compared to traditional brute-force rendering, Multi Frame Generation generates up to three additional frames per traditionally rendered frame, and when combined with DLSS, Nvidia claims that it can multiply frame rates by up to eight times.If you own an older RTX 40-series Nvidia GPU, developer CD Projekt Red says you can expect faster single-frame generation with reduced memory usage. "All RTX GPU users will still benefit from several other features that can enhance stability, lighting, and other details," the patch notes also read. "You can now choose between the CNN model or the new Transformer model for DLSS Ray Reconstruction, DLSS Super Resolution, and DLAA on all GeForce RTX graphics cards today."Continue Reading at GameSpot
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