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  • Listen to chilling underwater audio of the OceanGate Titan implosion
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    The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has released an audio clip of the moment of the deadly OceanGate Titan implosion. The recording, quietly released last week through the US Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS), is the first of its kind to be publicly released by government officials, and comes over two years after the controversial submersibles five passengers died en route to the Titanics wreckage in the North Atlantic.The sound of the implosion was captured on June 18, 2023 by a moored passive acoustic recorder roughly 900 miles away from the deadly event. The brief clip begins with a few moments of relative silence before a deep, sustained rumbling that nears 400 Hz, according to an accompanying frequency graph.Founded in 2007, OceanGate first began offering private dives to the historic luxury liners remains in 2021. For as much as $250,000-per-seat, tourists could ride inside the companys 22-foot-long submersible on a 2.5-mile journey to the UNESCO underwater cultural heritage site. Titan conducted multiple excursions over the next two years, but often encountered technical issues and communications blackouts with its surface ship crew. Throughout its excursions, multiple international maritime organizations and experts repeatedly voiced concerns about potential design flaws in the submersible, as well as the companys overall operations.Your marketing material advertises that the Titan design will meet or exceed the DNV-GL safety standards, yet it does not appear that OceanGate has the intention of following DNV-GL class rules, reads one such letter from 2018, referring to the internationally recognized maritime industry regulatory organization. Your representation is, at minimum, misleading to the public and breaches an industry-wide professional code of conduct we all endeavor to uphold. Get the Popular Science newsletter By signing up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.On June 18, 2023, Titan radio communications ceased approximately 103 minutes into a dive that included OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush and four others. Officials announced that remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) had located submersible debris near the Titanic on June 22, capping a frantic international search that ultimately encompassed over 10,000 miles of Atlantic Ocean. Experts later confirmed that Titan suffered a near-instantaneous implosion likely due to a flaw in its hull integrity. At that depth, surrounding water exerts the equivalent of 5,500 pounds per square inch (psi) of force on an object. Such pressure would have caused Titan to implode in less than 20 millisecondsfaster than a human brain could register the event.The US Coast Guards final salvage mission took place in October 2023, and included the retrieval of additional presumed human remains. During the Marine Board of Investigation public hearings in September 2024, experts confirmed the Titan implosion generated an approximately 30,000-square-meter debris field.While recovery efforts collected hundreds of debris fragments, a number of larger portions of wreckage were too heavy to bring to the surface. They currently rest around 1,600 feet from the Titanic.
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  • How water could make future solar cells recyclable
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    Researchers used a combination of nontoxic water, sodium acetate, sodium iodide, and hypophosphorous acid to recycle a solar cell. Credit: Thor BalkhedShareSolar energy has made major strides in recent years. Panel prices have dropped precipitously and the overall global solar market has reportedly grown by around 24% annually over the past decade. And despite vocal opposition from the recent Trump Administration, its not done growing yet. By 2028, the Solar Energy Industries Association estimates the global solar market will triple in size. At least part of the expected growth will be thanks to the expanded development of a newer generation of solar cells made out of the material perovskite, which are more energy efficient than its silicon-based predecessors. But theres a problem. These coveted, perovskite cells are also especially difficult to recycle. That inherent lack of reusability risks creating additional environmental challenges since solar cells require large quantities of difficult-to-source critical minerals from all around the world.Researchers from Linkping University in Sweden believe they may have found a solution that could let solar manufacturers have their cake and eat it too. Using a newly designed recycling technique, the researchers were able to fully break down a perovskite solar cell at the end of its life cycle using only a water solvent. When they used that recycled material to create an entirely new solar cell, they found it maintained the same overall efficiency as the first non-recycled iteration. In theory, this process could be scaled up to help create fully recyclable, energy-efficient solar cells that dont require environmentally harmful chemicals to break down. More uses of the same solar cells could also help bring down solar energy prices further long term.We can recycle everythingcovering glasses, electrodes, perovskite layers, and also the charge transport layer, Linkping University postdoc student and paper co-author Xun Xiao said in a statement. The researchers published thier findings this week in the journal Nature.Researchers replaced a toxic chemical process with waterPerovskite solar panels are derived from a family of elements that are valued for their high energy retention and low production costs. (These types of cells are able to convert 25% solar energy into electricity compared to 15-20% for most traditional silicon-based cells). The standard approach for dismantling perovskite solar panels for recycling requires soaking them in dimethylformamide, a chemical most commonly found in paint solvents. This approach, the researchers note, isnt ideal because it leads to potentially hazardous chemicals leaching into the environment.We need to take recycling into consideration when developing emerging solar cell technologies, Linkping University professor and paper coauthor Feng Gao said in a statement. If we dont know how to recycle them, maybe we shouldnt put them on the market at all.The researchers took a different approach and opted instead to create a nontoxic, water-based solvent that included sodium acetate, sodium iodide, and hypophosphorous acid additives. Sodium acetate was introduced to help break down the solar cells individual materials. Sodium iodide, by contrast, was added to help reform the separated perovskite crystals so that they could be used again later to create a new solar cell. The hypophosphorous acid was included to help keep the solution stable over time. Researchers heated the water to 80 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes before submerging the cell to further aid in the dismantling process. The newly recycled perovskite crystals and remaining liquid were then separated by running them through a centrifuge spinning at 5,000 rpm for three minutes.With that process complete, the researchers were then able to use that recycled material to create a new solar cell. Crucially, the new cell was just as energy-efficient as the one prior to recycling. The researchers were able to repeat this process several more times without the newer cells losing their energy output. Those findings suggest the researchers eco-friendly water solution approach could extend the life of next-generation perovskite-based solar panels by several multiples. The researchers estimate their approach reduced overall resource depletion by 96.6% compared to fresh solar panels tossed in a landfill after one life cycle.While its still not completely clear how this water-based recycling approach will fire when ramped up to a large industrial scale, the water method offers a possible avenue to make future renewable energy infrastructure more sustainable. The findings come at a crucial moment. Soaring international electricity demands jolted forward by massive, power-hungry AI data centers means the world will need to find a way to quickly generate new energy. Though much of that demand will likely be met by fossil fuels, highly recyclable solar cells could help drive down solar prices which in turn may make it more financially attractive.
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  • Genetically modified zebrafish and fruit flies munch on mercury to make it less toxic
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    The team modified the DNA of fruit flies and zebrafish by inserting variants of genes from bacteria to make two enzymes that together can convert methylmercury to elemental mercury which evaporates from the animals as a gas. Credit: CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT/AFP via Getty ImagesShareScientists from Australia have successfully bioengineered genetically modified fruit flies and zebrafish capable of absorbing toxic mercury and releasing it back into the environment in a less harmful form. The breakthrough, made possible by exposing the flies and fish to a pair of detoxifying enzymes found in microbes, meant the modified flies and fish were able to ingest mercury and safely convert it at far greater rates than their non-modified cousins. The findings were published this week in the journal Nature Communication.But the findings could also have wider implications beyond flies and fish. Zooming out from the test animals, the experiment proves its possible to degrade environmentally harmful mercury early before it manages to wind its way up food supplies and, eventually, human bodies. These are just the latest examples of researchers using modern science to slightly modify the genes of organisms with the ultimate goal of sending them out into the wild to reduce environmental toxins and combat diseases. Actually deploying these science experiments at a scale that can make a meaningful difference however requires navigating through legal, ethical, and regulatory barriers that are sometimes trickier to solve than the underlying science powering the discoveries.Mercury exposure is dangerous and its getting worseMercury is a natural but toxic element that is released into the Earths atmosphere. Methylmercury, a particularly poisonous form of the element, is of particular concern to humans because it gets biomagnified as it works its way through the oceans food web. Humans who eat fish that have eaten smaller aquatic life with methylmercury in their bodies can potentially be exposed to dangerous levels of methylmercury that acts like a neurotoxin. Once ingested by a human, methylmercury isnt easily excreted and can quickly cross the digestive tract, the blood-brain barrier, and the placenta. And while mercury is naturally occurring, recent research shows industrial activities like gold and coal mining are making mercury pollution much worse.The researchers from Macquarie University and the ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology in Australia wanted to see if it would be possible to engineer organisms that could interfere with that bioaccumulation process early on in the food cycles, a concept broadly called bioremediation. They settled on two different test subjects: the common fruit fly (an invertebrate) and a zebrafish (a vertebrate). They then injected the embryos of these creatures with a pair of enzymes, MerB (organomercurial lyase) and MerA (mercuric reductase), found in many microbes. These enzymes were chosen for their natural detoxifying properties. When exposed to methylmercury, the enzymes catalyze the protonolysis of methylmercury and naturally transform it into the less toxic elemental mercury (Hg0). Get the Popular Science newsletter By signing up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.Both modified and non-modified versions of the flies and fish were exposed to mercury. The results were impressive. After three days, the genetically modified fruit fly larvae had 83% less methylmercury present than the control group. Similarly, the engineered zebrafish also showed 64% lower levels of harmful mercury than their non-modified counterparts after six days. In both cases, the modified animals had successfully converted the toxic methylmercury into a far less poisonous elemental mercury or Hg0.When we tested the modified animals, we found that not only did they have less than half as much mercury in their bodies, but the majority of the mercury was in a much less bioavailable form than methylmercury, Macquarie University biologist Kate Tepper said in a statement.It still seems like magic to me that we can use synthetic biology to convert the most environmentally harmful form of mercury and evaporate it out of an animal, Tepper addedReleasing modified animals in the wild can create unintended consequencesThis isnt the first time scientists have tried to use genetically altered animals to reshape their broader environments. For years, researchers have been introducing modified mosquitoes with self-limiting genes to mate with other disease-carrying mosquitoes to cut down their population sizes. Researchers and startups are hopeful new bacteria genetically engineered to munch on plastics could one day cut down on ocean pollution and possibly play a role in reducing microplastics that make their way into human bodies. Recent advances in CRISPR-Cas9, which lets scientists make alterations to DNA sequences with far more precision than previously possible, make once improbable-sounding genetic modification now comfortable within reach.But being technically or scientifically possible isnt the same thing as being possible. Any large-scale efforts to release genetically modified animals into natural environments at scale also run the risk of diverting from their intended goals. Theres a long history of humans introducing non-native species into environments with one stated goal only to have them unintentionally decimate other populations. Those concerns around possible invasive species may get amplified further when the creature being introduced has been gene edited in a lab.The researchers behind mercury munching flies and fish seemed to agree, for now at least. Though they say they took some safety precautions to ensure their organisms could not spread uncontrollable in nature, they noted the research is still early and needs more testing before anyone thinks about wide-scale deployment. Still, the findings show the potential, at least in theory, to use gene editing to help solve currently existing environment dilemmas.
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  • These sea turtles dance when magnetic fields lead them to a snack
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    A 60-pound loggerhead turtle bobs in and out of the water after being released by Aquarium of the Pacific staff in a skipjack boat an hour from shore on October 16, 2024. It took the young turtle about five minutes to get orientated before it disappeared underwater. Mindy Schauer/MediaNewsGroup/Orange County Register via Getty ImagesShareLoggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) are pretty loyal marine reptiles. Even with their roughly 8,000-mile-long migrations across oceans, they consistently return to the same feeding and nesting sites. Sea turtles can travel these distances by remembering the magnetic signatures of an area and storing that knowledge in a mental map.However, the internal mechanisms behind this have been a bit of a mystery. New lab experiments reveal that they do a turtle dance when they reach an area that they associate with food, indicating how they are using magnetic fields to memorize where ecologically important areas are located.The findings are detailed in a study published February 12 in the journal Nature. Turtle dance behavior is a distinctive food-anticipatory behavior of captive-reared sea turtles. Hallmarks of the behavior include some or all of the following: tilting the body vertically, raising the head near to or above the water surface, opening the mouth, paddling alternately with the front flippers (dogpaddling), and occasionally spinning in place. Turtles typically display most elements of this behavior in the presence of food. During experimental trials when food is absent, turtle dance behavior is typically more subdued and limited to elements such as tilting towards the vertical, approaching the surface, and opening the mouth. The video shows one sequence of vigorous turtle dance behavior in the presence of food, followed by several more subtle instances of turtle dance behavior when a turtle was in the rewarded magnetic field but food was absent. Turtles swimming in the unrewarded field are also shown to illustrate baseline behavior for comparative purposes. CREDIT: Goforth et al., Nature (2025).Map sense vs. compass senseMigratory species like turtles, birds, and some fish tend to use two senses together to find their way. They can use the strength of the Earths magnetic field to identify where they aremap senseand where they need to go, or compass sense.Map sense is a positional sense. Its similar to a GPS system, Kayla Goforth, a study co-author and biologist at Texas A&M University, tells Popular Science. Compass sense is more directional and enables them to maintain a consistent heading.They appear to use both their map sense and compass sense to create mental maps of where they go to feed and nest that they can store over time. However, the mechanisms behind both are still a bit mysterious. 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.The turtle danceTo see if turtles can learn the magnetic signatures of specific places, Goforth and her colleagues set up two large tanks about eight to 10-feet-tall. In the tanks, the magnetic signatures related to specific geographic locations were recreated with large coils. Juvenile sea turtles from beaches in North Carolina were then temporarily placed in the tanks. The turtles spent an equal amount of time in both magnetic fields, but were only fed in one of them.When they reached the area they associated with feeding, the turtles started to dance in anticipation.The turtle dance is a food seeking behavior that they exhibit in captivity, and its really quite adorable, says Goforth. They stick their head stuff out of the water with their mouths and they start to move their clippers rapidly and spin around.CREDIT: Goforth et al., Nature (2025).According to Goforth, they do this in captivity because their food is generally coming from above them. In the wild, sea turtles are primarily foraging downward on the sea floor for their food.The turtles reactions to the areas where food is present is some compelling evidence that they can learn to distinguish between magnetic fields.Since they have the ability to learn magnetic fields, they can likely incorporate that information into a magnetic map, or into their larger navigational system, says Goforth. They can then use that information to get back to a feeding, nesting, or other ecologically important area. Its similar to how we might memorize where our favorite pizza place is.Using magnetoreceptionFor the team, observing that the turtles might rely on a mechanism called magnetoreception was surprising. Magnetoreception is theorized to be a still unknown chemical reaction that they used to facilitate their navigation.Complex chemical reactions might provide animals with an ability to sense magnetic fields in the shortest possible directions, says Goforth. The way that you test that hypothesis is you expose them to what are called radio frequency fields that are believed to disrupt these chemical reactions.When the team ran a second experiment in the tanks using different radio frequencies, they observed how the change in frequency was affecting their internal compass. The turtles could not orient themselves properly while swimming.This suggests that their compass sense does rely on chemical magnetoreception, but the map sense relies on some other mechanism, says Goforth.Birds are believed to also rely on chemical magnetoreception to navigate in a similar way. These tools for navigation are likely present in other vertebrate species, but more study is needed.Theres still a lot of work to be done in this study, says Goforth. It covers some important things, but theres a lot for the research that we still need.
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  • Macaques appear to associate spoken words with pictures
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    Macaques show signs of grasping the abstract notions of language in a lab setting.Credit: Photo by Harun Ozalp/Anadolu via Getty Images ShareOne of the most important cognitive foundations of human language is our ability to develop associations between the real-world phenomena we perceive with our senses and the sounds we use to refer to those phenomena. These soundswordsare the building blocks of language.Scientists have long wondered whether this ability is unique to humans, and a new study published February 12 in PLOS Biology suggests that macaques may possess similar capabilities. The study found that these monkeys are able to form associations between pictures and words, and that these associations remain when they hear the word spoken by different people.Luis Lemus, one of the studys co-authors, tells Popular Science that while many animals possess the ability to understand multiple senses reports as aspects of a single real-world phenomenona facility referred to as cross-modal correspondencethe ability to form the abstract associations required to understand how a word relates to its subject is far less common.Cross-modal correspondence, explains Lemus, refers to stimuli from different sensory modalities (e.g. auditory and visual) [being] inherently perceived as related or equivalent. For example, he says, we understand that the erratic buzzing of a mosquito naturally corresponds to the visual perception of an insects haphazard flight pattern. This ability, he says, appears to exist across most animal species. [This] suggests an evolutionarily conserved mechanism for multisensory integration.The ability to understand that the word mosquito refers to the insect in question, however, is a different phenomenon, referred to as cross-modal association. This is because, unlike the sound of a mosquito buzzing, the sound of the word mosquito has no inherent connection with the insect itself. Its an abstract label. This, Lemus says, means that the association between the visual object [i.e. the mosquito] and its verbal label must be explicitly acquired.This means that while they may appear superficially similar, associating a mosquito with the word mosquito places very different demands on the brain than associating a mosquito with the sound of its buzzing. The former, Lemus says, hinges on experience-dependent learning, whereas cross-modal correspondence reflects pre-existing perceptual linkages. In other words, while cross-modal correspondences can be hardwired into the brain, cross-modal associations require the formation of new neural connections. They need to be learned.To examine whether macaques possess the ability to learn such associations, the team played the animals a variety of soundseither human words or monkey vocalizationsand followed each sound with a specific image on a screen. Once the monkeys learned to match each sound to its associated image, the team introduced different speakers utterances of the sounds to see if the association remained.The study reports that this appeared to be the case: The hit rate remained high but more variable, suggesting that [the monkeys] perceived the sounds as equivalent, though not identical. Interestingly, while it took a relatively long time for the monkeys to form the first associations between sounds and images, subsequent associations were developed far more quickly. This, Lemus suggests, shows that the monkeys first need to grasp the concept of such associations: For monkeys, there is no initial known context to use as a template for learning new associations. An example would perhaps be when a human learns a completely different language.This notion is supported by way that the monkeys ages appeared to influence the speed at which they were able to make the initial associations, although Lemus says that more research is required to confirm this: One of the monkeys that learned the association task is already a fairly old monkey, and when we retrained it, it had a hard time learning the categories again. It even seems that it learned it more slowly, but we dont have conclusive data on that yet. 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.Another area for future research is the degree to which a monkeys inability to speak the words affects its learning. The fact that humans can use sounds to give meaning to things may depend on our ability to articulate those sounds, Lemus says. However, since monkeys cannot speak, conceptual thinking may be more than audiovisual associations alone. Therefore, to learn about such complex brain processes, we aim to find the neuronal basis of multisensory associations, including conceptual thinking.While the study of monkeys ability to develop proto-linguistic associations is fascinating in itself, Lemus says it also has potential consequences for our understanding of the human brain. The study of complex cognitive phenomena in monkeys is important for understanding the brain mechanisms of thinking, he says, [and] it opens avenues for understanding and treating mental illnesses like dementia, schizophrenia, and language aphasia.
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  • Scientists announce the highest-energy neutrino ever detected
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    Illustration: View from inside a detector building block of detection units. Clearly visible the yellow buoy of a near by detection unit. (KM3NeT)Credit: KM3NeT / Edward Berbee/Nikhef ShareOf all the fundamental particles that make up the standard model of particle physics, neutrinos remain the most enigmatic. Theyre virtually weightlessbut not quite! They carry no electric charge and almost never interact with other particles. They dont even seem to have a fixed identity, instead oscillating constantly between their three different flavors. Theyre streaming through your body as you read thisthe sun is constantly producing colossal quantities of thembut detecting them remains difficult, and theres still a great deal we dont know about them.Neutrinos are very mysterious particles, says Damien Dornic, one of the co-authors of a new paper published February 12 in Nature that describes the detection of the decay products of an extremely high energy neutrino by the Kilometer Cubed Neutrino Telescope (KM3NeT), a neutrino detector located deep beneath the Mediterranean Sea. Scientists calculate that the neutrino carried an energy of around 220 peta-electronvolts (PeV), making it the single most energetic neutrino ever observed. (220 PeV is an extraordinarily high energy: for comparison, the Large Hadron Collider collides particles at a maximum energy of 13.6 tera-electronvolts, which is just 0.006% of the neutrinos estimated energy; conversely, this means that the neutrino carried the energy of over 16,000 LHC collisions.)The neutrino itself was not observed directly; rather, its existence was implied from the detection of another particle called a muon, which lit up one of the two particle detectors on February 13, 2023. Scientists have spent the last two years examining the data and reconstructing the trajectory of the muon, concluding that it was created by the interaction between a matter particle and the ultra-high energy neutrino.While neutrinos remain extremely elusive, muons are both easier to detect and far better understood. They are often described as the electrons heavier cousin, becausebeyond some very subtle differences that remain the subject of active researchthey are almost identical to the familiar electron. Theres one key difference, however: a muons mass is some 200 times greater than that of an electron.This high mass makes muons unstable, and on average they decay into lighter particles after existing for less than two microseconds (a microsecond is one millionth of a second.) It might seem that this fleeting lifespan might also make muons hard to detect, but the effects of relativity mean that high-energy muons appear to us to exist far longer than this. The relativistic effects known as time dilation and length contraction basically mean that from our frame of reference, the faster a muon is traveling, the longer it takes to decay.Most muons detected on earth are produced by cosmic rays, which are high-energy particlesusually protonsthat can collide with particles in the Earths upper atmosphere, producing showers of exotic, short-lived particles when they do so. Muons produced in this manner are imbued with enough energy for some of them to reach the surface of the earth.However, the muon that struck the KM3NeT detector in 2023 cant have been one of these muons: unlike cosmic ray muons, which descend from above, it arrived on a nearly horizontal trajectory. The paper calculates that to reach KM3NeT in this manner, it must have travelled almost 100 miles through seawater and solid rocka much greater distance than is possible for a muon produced by a cosmic ray interaction. The immense energy required to propel this muon such a distance along this trajectory alerted scientists to the fact that it was unusualand suggested that its origins were similarly exotic.So where did it come from? What could possibly imbue a tiny, ghostly particle with such immense energy? It is only the most powerful sources in the Universe that are capable of producing such neutrinos, says Dornic. Active galactic nuclei, and in particular blazars, are particularly interesting [potential] sources. Gamma-ray bursts [from] starburst galaxies [could] also be candidates.The term active galactic nucleus (AGN) refers to the heart of a galaxy whose central supermassive black hole is actively consuming matter. The infalling material forms an accretion disk, and the resultant strong magnetic fields eject some of this matter at extremely high speed in jets that emerge from the poles of the black hole, perpendicular to the disk. Dornic explains that a blazar is an AGN with one special property: In blazars, the jet is pointing toward the Earth. This means that this high energy matterincluding, perhaps, the neutrino that came hurtling towards the Earth in February 2023is blasted straight at us.Dornic says that more research is needed into these extremely high energy neutrinos before any definitive statements can be made about their origin. However, he says, the detection of the neutrino described in Nature represents a landmark for astronomy: [Neutrinos] can be used to study the heart of the most cataclysmic sources in the Universe. They are really monsters, associated with the activities of supermassive black holes with masses or millions to billions of solar masses. With this ultra-high energy neutrino, we are opening a new window in our universe. [This is] the first stone of some super exciting future results.
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  • Dog goggles help scientists learn how to best get their attention
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    The eye-tracking headgear isn't necessary to train your own dog. Credit: Christoph VlterShareThere are plenty of strategies to train your dog, but is there a particularly effective method to get your pet pal to pay attention to you? A team of scientists believes the most successful technique likely involves combining two tried-and-true signalsand they gathered data from canines strapped with eye-tracking headgear to back up their theory.Dog owners frequently try communicating with their pets by looking or pointing directly at an object, but a team at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna recently wondered if either method (or a combination of the two) worked best. Led by comparative cognition postdoctoral candidate Christoph Vlter, researchers introduced various communication scenarios to dogs to learn the answer.To evaluate the best human-to-dog strategy, a researcher first sat on their knees with a bowl on either side of them, only one of which contained a concealed treat. They then offered dogs five different scenarios repeated six times each: pointing, pointing and gazing, gazing, mimicking a ball throw, and a no-cue control. Each dogs eye movement was then tracked to record how often they followed the gestures, followed by whether or not they heeded the commands.While their test group originally included nearly 30 subjects, not every dog was thrilled to sport the ski goggle-like eye-tracking headgear.[ Related: A visit to dog college ]Three dogs did not accept the goggles and two dogs were too aroused when they were in the testing rooms, they explained in their study published on February 12th in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.Ultimately, however, Vlter and colleagues settled on 20 amenable dogs consisting of eight mixed breeds along with four terriers, two Australian shepherds, two poodles, and a single collie, flat coated retriever, German shepherd, and Rhodesian Ridgeback.Six dogs performed significantly above chance in the pointing-gazing condition, while three dogs correctly chose the treat bowl all six times during the pointing scenario. Conversely, none of the dogs performed noticeably above chance in the other conditions.Our results show a clear difference in how dogs reacted to the directional but non-referential throwing cue compared with the referential hand gestures, the study authors wrote. While all cues including hand movements reliably prompted dogs to look to the side (unlike the referential gaze cue), only when presented with a pointing gesture did dogs redirect their gaze from the experimenters hand to the designated bowl.Despite the empirical evidence supporting the pointing-gazing combos efficacy, researchers stopped short of claiming dogs definitely understand their owners communication cues as we perceive them.Is it for them more like an imperative directive to go somewhere? Or do they understand it more in a communicative way? Vlter said in an accompanying statement on Wednesday.Vlter and his collaborators believe more study into the field of natural pedagogy is required to definitively answer that question. In the meantime, however, they say their research may support similar approaches to teaching younger children the names of everyday objects.
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  • Scientists are trying to figure out why hockey players all sound Canadian
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    Why do so many American hockey players sound like fake Canadians?Credit: DepositPhotos ShareWhats the weirdest thing you learned this week? Well, whatever it is, we promise youll have an even weirder answer if you listen to PopScis hit podcast. The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week hits Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and everywhere else you listen to podcasts every-other Wednesday morning. Its your new favorite source for the strangest science-adjacent facts, figures, and Wikipedia spirals the editors of Popular Science can muster. If you like the stories in this post, we guarantee youll love the show.FACT: Hockey players really do sound more CanadianIn this weeks episode, I dive into a fascinating linguistic quirk of the sports worldwhy do so many American hockey players sound like fake Canadians?My obsession with this topic started with research from linguist Andrew Bray. He noticed the phenomenon of fake Canadian accents while studying hockey lingo. While he originally set out to analyze hockey slang for its own sake (e.g. biscuit for puck or celly for celebration), he found himself asking an even bigger question: Why do American players seem to take on Canadian-esque speech?Bray recorded his conversations with players, analyzing their vowel shifts and pronunciation. He confirmed that many American hockey players adopt features of Canadian English, but not quite enough to pass as actually Canadian. Instead, they end up in this uncanny valley: they sound just Canadian enough for other people to notice, but not enough to blend in. This could be a case of linguistic mirroring, which is when people unconsciously adjust their speech to fit into a social group. Since hockey has such a strong Canadian identity, American players may be picking up on those speech patterns as part of the sports culture.Bray isnt the only person out there studying Hockey English. In fact, one study suggests that even Canadian players are accused of sounding more Canadian than theyre supposed to.Along the way, we chat about our own relationships with hockey, regional accents, and how our voices shift depending on where we are and who were with (and yes, we talk about Madonnas infamous British phase).FACT: We finally know why plants go toward the lightBy Riley BlackScientists finally figured out how plants know where the light is coming from! I had to hustle to include this as a last-minute addition to my book when I learned about it.Weve known for ages that plants are phototropic, which means they bend toward sunlight. You probably remember doing simple experiments with seedlings in school that showed this is the case. But until 2023, we didnt know how they did it.The answer came from an accidental discovery. Researchers found that plants with a mutation in a protein transporter (ABCG5) couldnt follow the light. As it turns out, plants rely on tiny air pockets inside them to scatter sunlight and create a gradient, telling them which way to grow. No air pockets? No phototropism.I love discoveries like thissomething we all assume is understood, but where science is still catching up!You can learn about the evolutionary romance between plants and animals in my new book, When the Earth Was Green.FACT: With enough pans of lasagna, you could theoretically power anythingBy Amanda ReedEver pulled foil off leftovers and found weird black spots? Congrats, youve made a lasagna cell! It happens when you store salty, moist foodlike lasagnain a steel pan covered with aluminum foil.Basically, youve unintentionally built a battery: the aluminum foil acts as the anode, the steel pan as the cathode, and the salty food as the electrolyte. Over time, the foil corrodes where it touches the food, thanks to galvanic corrosion. This reaction breaks down the foil, leaving behind aluminum salts. Those arent harmful, but theyre not exactly appetizing either. Acidic foods like vinegar-heavy dishes can speed up that particular effect, even without the full battery setup.The American Chemical Society whipped up a tasty little experiment showing that lasagna cells really do produce power. You can check that out here.
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  • Egg and gas prices probably arent dropping any time soon, but Sams Club could help you save
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    Stack CommerceShareWe may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn more We hate to break it to you, but it doesnt look like the price of eggs or gas is going anywhere but up. Our dollar used to be able to stretch a lot further, but these days, people are getting desperate. (Cue the person in Pennsylvania whostole 100,000 eggswe seriously wish we were kidding.)Want a better way to take your paycheck as far as it once did? Consider joining a warehouse club like Sams Club! You might justfind better value for your everyday groceries, household goods, and so much more, but only if you join with a 1-year auto-renewing membership while its price-dropped to only $20 through Feb. 26.Imagine finding incredible deals on everything from farm-fresh produce to paper towels, clothes, and even brand-name electronics. Thats possible when you become a Sams Club member, and the perks dont just stop there.Looking to save on your 2025 summer escape? You can also score savings on hotel bookings, car rentals, and live events, including Broadway shows. Sams Club says you can save as much as 60 percent on hotels across the globe and up to 25 percent on rental vehicles.Wincing at recent gas prices? Joining Sams Club couldunlock members-only gas prices (at select locations, of course). You can even score free services for car maintenance, including flat tire repair, battery testing, and wiper blade installation.Your membership also offers complimentary access to someone else in your household, so you can split your weekly (or monthly) stock-ups at Sams Club. Members can also enjoy in-store and online savings, as well as same-day delivery from Sams Club, depending on your location.Why watch grocery and gas prices soar when you can find greater value at Sams Club?Grab this1-year Sams Club membership with auto-renew now while its available for just $20. You have until Feb. 26 at 11:59 p.m. PT to hop on this exclusive offer!StackSocial prices subject to change.Sams Club 1-Year Membership with Auto-Renew! Only $20 at Popular Science
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  • The secret to cheap flights? Its not Googleits this
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    Stack CommerceShareWe may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn more The dream: taking off somewhere warm while everyone else is buried in snow. The reality? Travel prices are a constant rollercoaster. But heres a little hint: Google Flights and Expedia dont show every deal available. If you want the best travel deals, you have to get OneAir.This members-only service gives you access to hidden rates for airlines and hotels. What are the prices like? Something between 20 to 60 percent lower than public sites. The lifetime membership fee is normally $99.99, but you can use code FLY50 at checkout to get it for half off through February 16: $49.99!A lifetime of travel savingsLets go back to your dream. Its winter, and clearly, youd like to jet off somewhere anywhere else. You can start browsing flight and hotel deals the second you join, saving something like $20 to $150 per flight or hotel stay.But, where OneAir really stands out is with its travel deal notifications. You no longer have to search for the best prices yourselfOneAirs AI can do it for you. Heres how:Choose up to 10 departure airports you want to get deals from.Enter your desired destination(s).When prices drop, youll receive an email and mobile alert.Book your affordable vacation.Yet another perk of your OneAir membership is earning 10 percent back in cash rewards on hotel, flight, and insurance bookings. When you book through the app, you can use these rewards on future vacations and double down on your savings.Get a OneAir Elite lifetime subscription for $49.99 with code FLY50 at checkout until February 16 at 11:59 p.m. PT (reg. $99.99).StackSocial prices subject to change.OneAir Elite: Lifetime Subscription (Book Unbeatable Hotel and Flight Deals + Earn Up to 10% in Cash Rewards on Most Bookings)See Deal
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  • 500-year-old Transylvanian diaries detail the peril of the Little Ice Age
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    Some of the primary source documents in this new study include travel notes, diaries, and parish or monastery records. Gaceu et al., 2024ShareWith centuries old primary source documents, a team of researchers in Romania are exploring how a region best known for vampire legends was drastically altered by the effects of the Little Ice Age. This period of colder than usual temperatures from the early 14th century CE to the mid-19th is known for major social upheaval, famine, and plague. According to these first person accounts, geographical regions of the continent also appear to have experienced major weather changes at different times and humanity responded. The findings are detailed in a study published February 12 in the journal Frontiers in Climate. 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 was the Little Ice Age?The Little Ice Age was a period of global cooling that began during around 1300 CE and lasted until about 1850. Average temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere dropped by about 1.1 degrees Fahrenheit.Scientists are still not certain what phenomenon caused the Little Ice Age. Reduced solar output, changes in the circulation of the atmosphere, and increased volcanism on Earth may have played a role.Mountain glaciers expanded in several locations across Europe, North and South America, and Oceania. Famine was widespread, as crops failed due to the cold. Social uprisingsand even witch trailsincreased in response to the weather-induced devastation.Natures archive vs. societys archiveTo piece together Earths history from this time, scientists can use ice cores, sediment samples, and pollen. This natural archive can tell us a fair amount about sea levels, temperature history, storms, glacier positioning, and more.Societys archivewritten reports and observations about local climates or chiseled warnings like hunger stonescan help corroborate what natures archive says.In this new study, a team used documents from people who lived in present day Transylvania during the 16th century CE.The societys archive contains reports and observations about local climates in bygone centuries. CREDIT: Gaceu et al., 2024. We show that the climate was marked by significant variability, including prolonged periods of drought, heatwaves, and episodes of intense rainfall and flooding, Tudor Caciora, a study co-author and geographer at the University of Oradea in Romania, said in a statement. The study illustrates the complex interplay between heat waves, droughts, floods, and their cascading impacts on agriculture, public health, and societal stability, emphasizing the significant role of climate in shaping human history.From the documents, it appears that the first half of the 16th century was particularly hot and dry. A passage describing the summer of 1540 reads: The springs dried up, and the rivers dwindled to mere trickles. Livestock fell in the fields, and the air was thick with despair as the people gathered in processions, praying for rain.This vivid account underscores the emotional and spiritual dimensions of living through climatic extremes, said Caciora.The second half of the 16th century saw heavy rainfall and flooding, particularly during the 1590s. Other parts of Europe were still cooling significantly when the Little Ice Ages effects began to intensify and temperatures dropped. However, hot weather was recorded much more frequently than colder weather in 16th century Transylvania.This makes us believe that the Little Ice Age could have manifested itself later in this part of Europe, said Caciora.Additionally, some later writings describing severe winters and cold waves support this thesis.Through human eyesThese weather variations often resulted in major catastrophes including the Black Death, numerous famines, and locust invasions that were directly and indirectly related to climate.The team believes that these weather extremes and the resulting upheaval could have driven changes in settlement patterns.Chronicles and diaries revealed how people perceived, responded to, and were impacted by severe weather events. CREDIT: Gaceu et al., 2024. Towns might have adopted flood-resistant infrastructure or migrated to more favorable areas. The challenges might also have spurred technological innovations, such as improved irrigation systems or storage facilities, said Caciora.While the diaries do reveal how people understood and responded to these impactful events, there are several limitations with this study. Not many people at this time could read or write, records can be fragmented, and reports are often subjective and on a local scale so we are not getting a very holistic view of the time.[ Related: Shifting ancient climates shaped human evolution. ]These writings still provide scientists with a glimpse of the socio-economic consequences of extreme weather events and how they have constantly shaped human history.Studying climate records from the societys archive is as crucial as analyzing natural proxies, said Caciora. It provides a human-centric perspective on past climatic events.
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  • We put the Powerbeats Pro 2 earbuds through hard workouts to see if they stay in place
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    Stan HoraczekShareWe may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn more Workout headphones arent worth the plastic theyre made out of if they wont stay in place during a workout. With the Powerbeats Pro 2 earbuds, Beats (owned by Apple) has gone to great lengths to keep them in your ears during even the most vigorous exercise. In addition to the new heart-rate tracking function, these ambitious earbuds also add familiar AirPod features, like Spatial Audio and active noise cancellation. As a result, the Powerbeats Pro 2 are some of the best and most versatile wireless earbuds Ive ever used, even outside the confines of the gym.ProsHeart-rate monitoring is built inRedesigned ear loop is very comfortable and extremely effectiveSolid sound qualityIntegrates easily with Apple devicesLots of eartip optionsFit test helps find the best fitConsPricyCase is largeHow we tested the Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 earbudsI have personally been working out for a week with the Powerbeats Pro 2, doing both regular cardio and power lifts. To pressure test them, I also had my advanced-level CrossFit pals do some novel movements while wearing them. To test their viability outside the gym, I wore them for a full day of working remotely while listening to music and participating in video calls.Three key areas we evaluated: Fit, sound quality, heart-rate monitoring.Stan Horaczek FitWhen the original Powerbeats Pro debuted way back in 2019, the oversized hooks were a welcome but imperfect feature for those of us who couldnt keep regular AirPods in. They were effective but started to chafe and squeeze with extended use. With the Powerbeats Pro 2, the ear hooks have shrunk by half while actually increasing stability thanks to the new shape and nickel-titanium core. They didnt chafe during extended cardio, and I only felt mild soreness after two hours of wearing them during the workday. Ears are sensitive, so no earhook-style earbud will ever be perfect, but wearability isnt an issue here.The package includes a total of five different ear tips, plus an automatic fit test function that will help you choose the best ones for your specific ear holes. I had several people try the test with our review pair, and almost everyone was surprised that they required larger tips than they would have expected. I tried a few sizes just to see if they really make a difference, and I can say with certainty that you want to do the test and get the right tips for the best fit and sound.I had no issues with stability at all. I even had some of my very fit friends try them while doing burpees and bar muscle-ups (the scary older sibling of the pull-up in which you pull the top half of your body up and over the pull-up bar) without issue. They stay where theyre supposed to.The only slight hiccup comes when you have to put them in. Because the earbud itself has a click button on its outer shell, I found myself pausing and unpausing the music as I first inserted and adjusted the earbuds. Finger placement is key, and I eventually figured out the ideal technique, but putting them in quickly still results in the occasional input.Sound qualityThe Powerbeats Pro 2 earbuds have inherited many of their pure sound performance characteristics from the AirPods Pro 2. Thanks to Apples H2 chipset, the new Powerbeats support Spatial Audio for simulated surround sound, active noise-canceling (ANC) for isolation, and dynamic EQ for optimum levels.I started the test in transparency mode, which is crucial for a workout headphone that you might wear while running or cycling in the world. Its similar to transparency mode on the AirPods in that its effective, but it cant replicate the true pass-through effect of something like a bone conduction or open-back earbud. I took them walking on a busy street and felt confident I could hear cars, pedestrians, and whatever else was happening around me.With ANC turned on, the Powerbeats Pro 2 earbuds do a good job of blocking out the world. I employed this mode on a 45-minute elliptical trainer session in which the buds thankfully obfuscated the sound of the person on the machine next to me playing TikToks at full volume from their phone speaker. Again, performance is similar to the AirPods Pro.The dynamic EQ kicks in when youre not using ANC or transparency. Youre sick of hearing this, but theyre once again similar to the AirPods Pro. Ive been listening to a lot of slam metal at the gym lately, and the blast beats and pig squeals of the most recent PeelingFlesh EP sounded crisp and punchy, thanks to the custom vented drivers. Because I contain multitudes, I followed that up with Please, Please, Please by Sabrina Carpenter, and the Powerbeats Pro 2 did a solid job making the highs sound sufficiently sparkly without harshing the pleasing tone of the sultry vocals.Heart-rate monitoringI dont typically wear an Apple Watch at the gym. I cant resist digging into the workout and fitness data, but it ultimately ends up stressing me out and adding a layer of anxiety that I wouldnt otherwise feel. Oddly, the Powerbeats Pro 2 work very well for someone like me.Each Powerbeat Pro 2 earbud has an optical heart-rate sensor baked into it. Thats an upgrade from other similar products, which typically only have a sensor in one ear. The ear is a great place to monitor heart rate because the skin is so thin and the veins are so close to the surface. Plus, that redesigned hook works overtime to keep the sensor right where it should be.The heart-rate sensor plays nicely with seven third-party apps, which makes the setup a little finicky. I used the Nike Run Club app, and once it was up and running, the heart-rate measurements seemed accurate and steady. I had a friend of mine check it against his very fancy dedicated chest strap heart-rate monitor set up during a light workout, and they stayed within three to four BPM of each other for the duration of the activity.If you wear an Apple Watch and the earbuds at the same time, the Apple Watch data will override the readings from the earbuds, but hopefully, down the line, users will get the option to choose between the two. For now, though, this is great for people like me who dont always wear the watch.Beats Fit Pro vs. Powerbeats Pro 2While the Powerbeats Pro 2 earbuds have clearly taken over the title of best workout headphones in my eyes, this is also a good time to check out the venerable Beats Fit Pro. They dont have the outer ear hook, so theyre not as good if youre doing truly bombastic or explosive movements. And they dont offer heart-rate tracking. But you do get a great fit with their silicone wingtips, comparable battery life, active noise canceling, Spatial Audio, transparency mode, and a rugged build in an earbud thats often just $159 on sale.The verdictIf youre not worried about budget or you regularly do very strenuous and bombastic exercise, then the Powerbeats Pro 2 earbuds are absolutely worth the $250 asking price. They check all the boxes when it comes to sound, will never come out of your ears, and provide built-in heart-rate monitoring when no other Apple-native earbud does.
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  • Chronic stress affects the way mice perceive loudness
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    Mice with chronic stress appeared to become less sensitive to a range of 'mid-level' sounds between about 50dB and 70dB. Credit: Buena Vista Images via Getty ImagesShareWhile stress is an unfortunate fact of modern life, scientists are still learning how it affects us. Chronic stress, in particular, has been linked with many negative health outcomesand a new study published February 11 in PLOS Biology finds that in mice, at least, it can also affect the way in which the brain processes sound.The teams work investigated the effect of chronic stress on mices perception of sounds as being loud or quiet. The paper describes how two groups of mice were subjected to a number of noises, some loud and some soft. The mice were taught to choose one source of water in response to the quiet noises, and an alternative source in response to loud noises. Some mice were then placed in a state of chronic stress by repeated exposure to a mildly stressful situation (in this case, being restrained for half an hour).Both groups then played a variety of noises. For very loud and very quiet noises, the responses of the stressed and non-stressed mice were largely identical. However, as study co-author Jennifer Resnik explains to Popular Science, the mice experiencing chronic stress appeared to become less sensitive to a range of mid-level sounds between about 50dB and 70dB, reporting these sounds as quiet more often than their non-stressed peers. (A level of 50dB is roughly equivalent to quiet conversation or rainfall, while 70dB is comparable to a vacuum cleaner operating in the same room.)Physiological and behavioral evidence of stress. Left: Schematics of two-photon imaging during baseline and repetitive stress conditions. In repetitive stress sessions, the mice were placed in a 50 ml tube for 30 min to achieve mild stress. The imaging session started directly after the restraint. Individual cells were tracked over imaging days. Shown are examples of 2 imaging planes on day 1 and day 9 (scale bar, 50 m) and the noise-evoked responses of 3 exemplar cells (mean SE). Credit: Bisharat G et al., 2025, PLOS Biology, CC-BY 4.0 So does the stress affect the mices actual ability to hear? Or does it change the way in which their brains process the signals sent to it from their ears? Resnik explains that the answer seems to be the latter: while stress does not change the actual signal sent to a mouses brain by its ears in response to a given noise, it does seem to change how the animal perceives that noise.Resnik says that this effect is caused by the fact that stress induces an increased level of background noise within the brain. In the stressed mice, she explains, we observed an increase in baseline (spontaneous) activity in excitatory cells in the auditory cortex.In a brain without this increased baseline activity, a signal from the ears is relatively strong; in a stressed brain, however, theres less of a difference between the level of the signal and the ambient level of neural activity. The result, Resnik says, [is that] the brain becomes less sensitive to mid-level sounds. You can think of it this way: when youre under chronic stress, your kids might need to speak louder to get your attention.Very loud noises, however, appear to be able to break through this barrier: Responses to high sound levels appear to be preserved, says Resnik. No matter what, the brain still reacts when a sound is loud enough. So if your kids shout, youll hear them just as clearly, regardless of stress.Beyond its loudness, the actual nature of a noise doesnt appear to matter: Resnick says that chronic stress alters auditory processing in a way that primarily affects sensitivity to sound intensity, rather than particular frequencies or sound types. So the effect is the same whether its your kids speaking, the doorbell ringing or the bass frequencies from a passing cars stereo. All that matters is how loud the noise is.Resnik says that the implications of this work could reshape our understanding of how stress affects us: We often think of chronic stress as primarily influencing complex cognitive functions like decision-making and learning. However, our findings show that it also affects much more fundamental processes, such as the perception of sound. This raises an intriguing question: How much of our daily experience is shaped by chronic stress in ways we dont even realize?There are also many other questions raised by the studys findings. Resnik says that one particularly important subject of research is developing a better understanding of how long the effects of chronic stress can linger after the actual source of stress has been removed. The mice in this study, for instance, were not studied while actively stressed, but the stress they had experienced nevertheless had a material effect on their hearing. With regard to this particular effect, she says, Our current findings suggest that it persists for several days. However, she says, We are now conducting further experiments to determine whether these changes have longer-term consequences.Similarly, the way in which such effects take hold also remain the topic of ongoing research. A single exposure to stress had little impact, but as stress became chronic, we observed increasingly pronounced changes in auditory cortex activity. Does the effect continue to intensify as levels of stress increase? Resnik says this remains an open question.Either way, Resnik says, the creeping way in which the effects of stress take hold suggests its effects can be as subtle as they are pernicious. This gradual progression has important implications for daily life, she says. It suggests that prolonged stress doesnt just affect how we feelit can subtly alter how we perceive the world around us.
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  • Experimental jet achieves supersonic flight, minus the boom
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    The XB-1's 13th test flight was also its last. Credit: Boom SupersonicShareBoom Supersonic passed a major milestone last month when its XB-1 prototype became the first civil aircraft to break the sound barrier over the continental US. Less than a month later, Chief Test Pilot Tristan Geppetto Brandenburg has once again surpassed Mach 1 in the experimental plane while flying as high as 36,514 feet above the Mojave Desert. This time, however, the XB-1 demonstrated another important achievement during its 13th test flight: passing the Mach cutoff. While the planes engines were still audible on the ground, surpassing the Mach cutoff ensured no one heard a disruptive sonic boom.According to the companys February 10th announcement, Mondays test flight continued efforts to assess aircraft performance and data collection above Mach 1. This included measuring acoustic sonic boom data using strategically positioned sound pressure recording equipment and microphones. While Boom Supersonic engineers used similar methods during XB-1s last flight on January 28th, Mondays test also included capturing what are known as Schlieren images. These visualizations, taken by photographers at ground level under precise conditions, detail the air density changes around a plane, including any supersonic shock waves.Boom Supersonics mission crew was particularly focused on demonstrating that the XB-1 is capable of passing the Mach cutoff, a physics event that only occurs at sufficiently high altitudes. During a Mach cutoff, a sonic boom is refracted inside the atmosphere and prevented from ever reaching ground level. In theory, this would ensure nobody beneath a supersonic plane would hear the extremely disruptive (and sometimes dangerous) concussive burst.Mach cutoff flights ensure any sonic booms dont reach the ground. Credit: Pennsylvania State University / Boom Supersonic But aside from being a nuisance, audible sonic booms in the continental US are illegal thanks to longstanding FAA regulations. For Boom Supersonic to realize its end goal of reintroducing commercial flights faster than Mach 1, it needs to have aircraft engineered to achieve Mach cutoffs.The XB-1 is a one-third-sized proof-of-concept meant to demonstrate the aerodynamics involved in Overture, the companys proposed commercial supersonic jet. Overture is ultimately intended to ferry 64-80 passengers on both cross-continental and international trips at speeds as fast as Mach 1.7about twice as fast as modern subsonic jets. Because XB-1s design created a Mach cutoff on Monday, then it stands to reason Overture will be able to do the same during its Boomless Cruise flights. 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.Boom Supersonic also noted this weeks work officially concludes its multiyear flight test program. XB-1 will soon travel from the Mojave Air & Space Port near Barstow, California to its original home in Denver, Colorado. Once there, the company intends to focus its full efforts on scaling XB-1 learnings and technology to build the Overture supersonic airliner.But given its history of past delays, theres still a solid chance Overture wont make its currently scheduled 2029 debut. Thats not to say supersonic travel isnt ever coming back, but compared to an international Mach 1.7 flight, its probably going to take a little bit.
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  • A visit to dog college
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    Vauk is a black labrador from a litter that the PVWDC bred as a part of their breeding program. She currently participates in the scent detection studies. She is doing a practice search on a rubble pile for a concealed person.Credit: Wise K9 Photography ShareThe wind is blowing hard, changing direction every few seconds, and whipping hair into my eyes. Despite the cold breeze, Andy is hot on a smell trail. The black lab, at just over a year old and months into his education, deftly navigates the expanse of concrete chunks, bricks, metal grates, and wooden pallets. With sure paws and a keen nose, he finds the person hiding amid the rubble pile in a matter of seconds, barking continually until rewarded with his squishy basketball toy and eager words of praise from his trainers.Each of the four dogs tested on the rubble field homed in on the mock-victim, but Andy did it the fastestclear evidence that hes close to graduating and nearly ready to enter the workforce. Staff at the Penn Vet Working Dog Center (PVWDC) agree, which is why Ken, a member of Canada Task Force 2, has recently arrived to spend two weeks getting to know Andy. If all goes well, he and the dog will leave Philadelphia for Alberta together as a united search and rescue team.Its just one of the careers the Working Dog Center prepares its canine students for. In the more than 12 years since the centers founding, nearly 200 furry graduates of varying breeds. have gone on to work in fields like disaster response, cadaver search, explosive and drug detection, invasive species monitoring, and even disease detection research. Almost every dog who enters PVWDC exits into a stable nose-related job, becauseunlike more specified training programs for seeing eye or police dogsthe humans at PVWDC try their best to follow the dogs lead. If a dog proves to be a square peg, then theres almost certainly a hole to match.Skye, a 13-month old German Shepherd in training for urban search and rescue, barks to signal to that shes located a hidden person beneath the rubble field. Skye will bark continually until rewarded with a toy. Credit: Lauren LefferThe most important thing is theyre doing what they love, says Ruth Desiderio, the centers volunteer and outreach coordinator leading the public tour Ive joined in on. The dogs, she explains, indicate their interests and aptitude through apparent eagerness and ambivalence, and are allowed to proceed accordingly. If a dog relishes the challenge of sniffing out a hidden human, but reacts with fear to loud, sudden banging soundsperhaps theyre destined for wilderness over urban search and rescue. If they love to smell and be rewarded, but crave routine, then a long-term post in the lab could be the perfect fit.Dogs are generally donated to the facility from breeders of working dogs, and begin their training at just eight weeks old. They come from well-established lineages of successful sniffers. Most are Laboradors, Malinois, and shepherds of varying origin though an Italian truffle dog and a German Shorthaired Pointer were also present on the day I visited. Even with pedigree on their side, PVWDCs boasts an impressive graduation rate above 90 percent. The few dogs who dont make it generally drop out for medical, not behavioral reasons, the scientists and staff say.Vig is a black labrador from a litter that the PVWDC bred as a part of their breeding program. He currently works as an urban search and rescue dog for Calgary Task Force 2. He is doing a practice search on a rubble pile for a concealed person.Credit: Wise K9 Photography Shelby WiseEach puppy who bounds through the doors is given the chance to shine. We assume that all dogs will be superstars, says Cindy Otto, the centers executive director and a professor of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. High-intensity urban search and rescue is the job all dogs start out training for, but when a pup isnt clearly excited about a challenge, they pivot to alternate opportunities, Otto explains. Through this collaborative, canine-centric approach, the PVWDC has advanced our understanding of what dogs are capable of, how to best ensure their health and safety on the job, and the science of smell detection.The seeds of the center were planted in the immediate aftermath of September 11, 2001, when Otto spent 10 days at Ground Zero helping to care for the search and rescue (and later cadaver) dogs on site. The event prompted her to consider new questions about the animals well being, as well as how working dogs could be trained and cared for to maximize their abilities. In an initial, long-term research project, she and colleagues kept tabs on 95 dogs that deployed to Ground Zero and compared them with 55 that didnt over 15 years. Amid that study, in 2012, the PVWDC was opened. Ultimately, the researchers found that the dogs that had helped to sniff out 9/11 survivors and the deceased did not suffer significant long term health consequences or increased disease risk (unlike the human first responders). Yet that one line of inquiry has led to many others.Now, five days a week, about two dozen rotating dogs are dropped off at PVWDC by their foster families (who in some cases are also center staff), as if its a day school. The small, one-story building houses a handful of foam-floored rooms full of toys, ramps, barrels and other training tools, along with a research area where computerized smell boxes and cameras can be set up to carefully record dogs through various smell trials.Outside, among the parking lots and industrial sprawl of Forgotten Bottom, Philadelphia there is the agility coursewith ladders, balance beams, platforms, and see-sawsand the rubble field outfitted with about 50 different human hiding spots. Each animals routine is customized, but generally includes some combination of physical fitness (planks, squats, side steps, and pivots are all part of the routine); training tasks like agility trials or search and rescue challenges; smell practice; and plenty of playtime, rest, and walks. A subset of the dogs who are there as working research animals also spend a portion of their days participating in detection experiments, trying to find the hidden scent sample or responding to new odor concentrations or scent stimuli.Training or testing sessions are brief, sometimes no more than a few minutes long, but productive nonetheless. Just like muscles take regular work to maintain, so too do noses. Sniffing is a diaphragmatic workout, says Emma Gaalaas Mullaney, the centers search and rescue director. Its also a mental challenge and can be a frustrating, emotionally taxing task. You have to condition them for sniffing duration, she adds.Helen is a black labrador from a litter bred by the PVWDC and the organization Puppies Behind Bars. She participates in our scent detection studies. She recently retired and is now living happily with the foster family who helped raise her. Here, she is doing a plank exercise, which works on her core strength.Credit: Penn Vet Working Dog Center While training dogs for service careers, the scientists at the center also study the animals and the process of educating them. Recently, the researchers have characterized what behavioral traits make for the most successful search and rescue dogs, devised and tested protocols to reduce dangerous overheating for canines laboring on in hot conditions, fine-tuned fitness training and assessment to help dogs avoid and recover from injuries, and discovered that dogs can detect infections associated with prosthetics.Smell is fundamentally the ability to recognize and identify things based on their chemical makeup and its dogs primary sense for navigating the world, says Amritha Mallikarjun, a cognitive scientist and post-doctoral researcher at PVWDC. Dogs assess and understand their surroundings via the ambient molecules that are constantly mixing and floating through the air. Their keen ability to pick up on teeny odor traces coupled with how well dogs and humans are able to communicate can be harnessed as an invaluable tool for the detection of all sorts of things, including disease and environmental contaminants, Mallikarjun says.Lucy is a Dutch Shepherd that the PVWDC bred as a part of their breeding program. She participated in our scent detection studies. She recently retired and is now living happily with the foster family who helped raise her. Here she is checking an automated scent detection box for her trained odor. Credit: Wise K9 Photography Our four-legged friends are so adept at smelling that, in many instances, theyre more sensitive detectors than existing machines and technologies. Dogs smell in color, explains Otto. Its like Wheres Waldo, where we are visual, they use their nose to pick out that one tiny little thing thats different, she adds. Canine noses can be well-tuned enough that researchers occasionally have to re-revisit and revise their initial study designs, notes Clara Wilson, a canine olfaction and behavior scientist and postdoc at PVWDC. In one 2010 medical study , a detection dog correctly identified an early case of prostate cancer from a sample that had initially been classified as a healthy control via biopsy. The patient was rebiopsied after the dogs insistence it was cancer positive, and cancer was found.Smelling ability can be quantified via odor detection threshold, or the relative amount of target molecules in an air sample necessary for a scent to be noticeable. Different odors are detectable at different levels, but dogs are unambiguously champion sniffers. In training and acclimating the dogs to lab experiments, the staff at PVWDC rely on a musty-smelling synthetic odorant called Universal Detection Compound. The average human nose can detect UDC on the order of parts per 10,000, says Wilson. A dog, on the other hand, can sniff out UDC when its present in concentrations as low as just a few molecules per million.Critically, dogs can still detect target scents at this low threshold when theyre presented with many other smells in a messy odor stew, Wilson notes. This means that, even when many people are around or the wind is carrying faraway scents on the breeze, a well-trained search and rescue dog can track down the hidden human scent of a person beneath rubble. It also means that, amid all other compounds present in a persons body odor or blood sample, a detection dog can parse whether or not they smell like cancer or infection.During my visit, I watch as the scientists run Mallikarjuns foster and research dog, Dalton, through a slate of scent-box trials. Black plastic cubes about the size of a large toaster oven, outfitted with a precise smell release system, emit small puffs of odor from a circular hole in a randomized order. Dalton is trained to stand and freeze at a particular box, with his nose in the hole, when he detects the target odor (in this case UDC and not a disease sample). Infrared detection beams at the top of the box measure how long Daltons snout has stayed put at any given box, and the contraptions beep after a pre-programmed number of seconds have passed, confirming the dogs choice. Once the beep releases Dalton, he bounds over to a trainer for a reward (a bit of cheese, some enthusiastic pets, or a toy). To avoid interfering with the test, the humans stand behind a partition wall and observe from a computer screen.A researcher looks on as Dalton, a black lab, completes a scent detection trial. The scientists monitor each trial via video to avoid interfering with the dogs selection process. Credit: Lauren Leffer The goal of this particular exercise is basic: the researchers are simply trying to re-acclimate Dalton to this type of detection, after a few weeks performing other scent tasks. But still, the outcome is impressive. Round after round, Dalton quickly identifies the correct box, which would smell like nothing to the average personoften walking directly to it from across the room, without so much as glancing at the others. Even in a test where none of the boxes emit a smell, the 5-year old labrador knows exactly what to do. He briefly surveys each option and then returns to the threshold of the testing zone, looking expectantly at the trainer.Communication and training arent a one-way street, points out Gaalaas Mullaney, who frequently goes on search and rescue deployments with her own dog, Toby, as part of a volunteer task force. Dogs, she says, are continually providing feedback and shaping how their humans respond. We have a very nuanced conversion with the dog once we are trained to understand what they are telling us, she explains. Often, in scent detection, people are posing questions to dogs that they dont know the answer to. In order to decode what responses mean, there has to be a relationship. Other animals, like pigs, elephants, and bears may be just as good, or even better at smelling, than dogsbut few animals are able to translate that incredible sense into human terms.During a nasal tumor detection study, Mallikarjun recalls a trial where she and her co-researchers suddenly switched from offering dogs blood plasma samples to smell to presenting mucus samples. We wanted to see what their reaction to this novel sample type would be, she explains. Presumably, some aspect of the scent marker would still be present in the disease positive samples, but the dogs might not recognize it against the novel background. In response, one of the dogs improvised: she stood hovering her open mouth over the positive sample, while looking back at her trainer. It wasnt the sit alert shed been trained to do in response to blood plasma positives, but it clearly indicated she understood there was something worth paying attention to in the particular mucus sample, while also communicating uncertainty and seeking direction. Thats a full conversation, Mallikarjun says.Ross is a black labrador generously donated by Kaiser K9. He currently works as an urban search and rescue dog for New Jersey Task Force 1. He is doing a practice search on a rubble pile for a concealed person.Credit: Wise K9 Photography Shelby WiseDetection dogs are expensive to train and maintain. At PVWDC, Desideria notes that caring for and educating each dog costs upwards of $50,000. (Though affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania, the center receives no direct funding from the school. Instead, they sustain their efforts with donations and grants.) The idea is not that every medical test could or should be replaced by a dogs nose. Instead, by assessing what dogs are able to pick up on, researchers hope to isolate the chemical components that make up a diseases signature scent and develop better diagnostic tools.In a 2022 study, Mallikarjun, Otto, and their co-authors trained dogs to pick out blood samples from people positive for ovarian cancer. Then, they ran multiple tests to see which components of the blood samples the dogs were responding to. They discovered that ovarian cancer is detectable through many volatile organic compounds, and that the most important biomarkers are the lightest and quickest to evaporate. Knowing this could inform how blood samples from patients are collected, stored, and tested. With further research, the scientists could help build better, more specific and accurate screening tests.Scent science isnt just useful for human diseases. PVWDC researchers have also shown that dogs can be used to detect a lethal and difficult to diagnose a form of canine cancer. In another ongoing project, Mallikarjun and colleagues have discovered dogs can suss out a pernicious environmental pathogen both in the lab and the field.Dalton is a black labrador retriever who participates in Penn Vet Working Dog Centers scent detection studies. He was generously donated by Chiron K9. Amritha Mallikarjun is his foster. Here he is checking a set of automated scent detection boxes for his trained odor. When he finds the correct odor, he performs a stand-and-stare alert, and is then rewarded with a treat. Credit: Penn Vet Working Dog CenterChronic wasting disease is a deadly and untreatable prion infection that affects wild deer, elk, and moose and has been spreading across the United States for decades. The visible symptoms of the illness among a deer population can take a long time to manifest, but by smelling poop pellets (or even just cotton balls stored for a period of time near poop pellets), dogs can readily recognize the presence of the disease with more than 80% accuracy, according to a 2023 study. If, in follow-up work, dogs do prove able to quickly survey an area for chronic wasting disease earlier than other detection methods, it could help wildlife managers establish quarantines and management protocols soonerpotentially slowing the spread. Conservation dogs have previously been used in similar applications to find hidden pockets of invasive species, track down endangered plants or animals, and identify fungal pathogens.I think everything has a scent, says Otto. And she means everything. Some of Wilsons previous research found that dogs can smell stress and negative human emotional states. The main question in all detection dog research is not if the smell exists, its if any given scent is something we can isolate and then train animals to recognize, Otto adds. As scientists at PVWDC and elsewhere continue to probe that question, the answer has repeatedly and routinely been yes. Asking has uncovered new odor markers of disease, new ways to boost search and rescue scent detection and save lives, and new ways to assess environmental health. So far, the only thing she and her collaboratorshuman and canine alikehavent yet found the limits of whats possible.
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  • A radioactive deep sea mystery may have cosmic origins
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    Beryllium-10 allows researchers to date fossils as much as 10 million years old. Credit: Deposit PhotosShareAn unexpected radioactive discovery beneath the Pacific Ocean seabed may provide researchers with a new global geologic time marker. According to a study published on February 10th in the journal Nature Communications, this previously unknown isotopic accumulation may be the result of cosmic disruptions caused by an ancient, near-Earth supernova.Researchers often use radiocarbon dating to determine the age of many fossilized plant and animal specimensbut the method has its limits. Because carbon-14s half-life is roughly 5,700 years, samples older than 50,000 years lack enough isotopes to detect. Anything beyond that age requires analyzing isotopes such as beryllium-10, whose 1.4-million-year half-life allows researchers to date samples as far back as 10 million years.The problem, however, is that naturally occurring beryllium-10 is a rare find. Isotopes are only created after high-energy cosmic rays interact with the upper atmospheres oxygen and nitrogen. The resulting beryllium-10 radionuclides then eventually fall to Earth in precipitation, where they are subsequently absorbed into the ground.Schematic depiction of production and incorporation of cosmogenic10Be into ferromanganese crusts. Credit: HZDR / blrck.de Global dating archives require a shared geologic event that allows them to synchronize between each other. An event based on beryllium-10 isotopes would allow experts to vastly improve their ability to analyze the planets history. But according to Domink Koll, a physicist at Germanys Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) and the studys lead author, no such event has been found.For periods spanning millions of years, such cosmogenic time markers do not yet exist, Koll said in a statement.But after analyzing two sets of ferromanganese crust samples collected from Pacific Ocean floor drill sites, Koll and colleagues at the TUD Dresden University of Technology and the Australian National University believe they may now have just such a time marker in a geologic trove of beryllium-10.Their discovery relied on the results of accelerator mass spectrometry. After purifying their ocean floor samples, Kolls team subjected them to high voltages to speed up the movement of individual atoms. These atoms were then rerouted by powerful magnets and recorded using fine-tuned detection equipment. In this case, the final beryllium-10 measurements surprised them.At around 10 million years, we found almost twice as much [beryllium-10] as we had anticipated, explained Koll. We had stumbled upon a previously undiscovered anomaly.To make sure their readings werent the accidental result of contamination, Kolls team retrieved and analyzed more samples taken from additional sites in the Pacific Ocean. Like their first experiments, these newer selections showed similarly high beryllium-10 levels.But what was responsible for this major spike in isotopes? According to Koll, thats still anyones guessalthough two theories appear to be the most plausible. The first is related to shifts in ocean circulation near Antarctica that occurred 10-12 million years ago.This could have caused [beryllium-10] to be unevenly distributed across the Earth for a period of time due to the altered ocean currents, Koll said. Those isotopes may have eventually concentrated in the Pacific Ocean, where physicists eventually recovered them. 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.The second theory involves a potential event that began not on Earth, but in deep space. According to the team, cosmic rays generated by a nearby supernova possibly passed through the planets atmosphere around 10 million years ago. This may have caused severe damage to the Earths heliosphere, allowing for more cosmic radiation to interact with oxygen and nitrogen to generate the influx of beryllium-10.To find out if either theory is the true explanation, Koll hopes he and other teams can collaborate and compare additional samples from around the world. Finding similarly elevated beryllium-10 levels in other locations would bolster the supernova hypothesis, while a lack of them may support the more localized ocean current idea.
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  • Nervous about egg and gas prices? Join Costco and get a $20 reward
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    Stack CommerceShareWe may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn more You never know what grocery prices will look like from one week to the next. One day, eggs are reasonable, the next, youre considering starting a hobby farm. If you want to keep your budget predictable, a Costco membership is one of the best ways to do it.No doubt, youve seen others online filling their carts to the brim with bulk groceries or spotting brand-name clothing finds, so was it the membership cost holding you back from joining? If so, this may sweeten the deal: Get a $20 Digital Costco Shop Card when you sign up as a Gold Star Member ($65 per year).This offer is only available for new members or those with cards that have been expired for over 18 months. You may share the membership with a second adult living at your address using the free Household Card.Heres how to get your Costco membershipYou already know all about Costco and whats inside, so lets focus on how to get your hands on that membership card ASAPgroceries and gas arent getting any cheaper. (You know that Costco Gold Star Members can fill up at Costco Gas Stations for less, right?)Buy your Costco membership online here for $65 (dont worry, youll get that $20 reward back).Immediately after purchase, youll get a confirmation email with a unique code and a link to an online form.Click the link and fill out the form, making sure to provide a valid email address. You must redeem your code by June 30, 2025, to qualify for this promotion.Head to your nearest Costco warehouse to pick up your physical membership card.Within two weeks of signing up, youll receive a $20 Digital Costco Shop Card to spend online or in-store.Sign up for a Costco Gold Star Membership ($65 per year) and receive a $20 Digital Costco Shop Card today. No coupon is needed to get this offer.StackSocial prices subject to change.Costco 1-Year Gold Star Membership + $20 Digital Costco Shop Card $65See Deal
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  • Rare fly species wears fake termite head to infiltrate nests
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    A blow fly larva disguised as a termite, antennae and all. Roger VilaShareThe natural world is full of tricksters. African daisies can imitate flies to trick real insects into attempting to mate with them and depositing precious pollen. Some spiders can scuttle around like ants to avoid trouble. Now, an international team of scientists have observed a blow fly successfully living in disguise among termitesby wearing termite masks. The findings are detailed in a study published February 10 in the journal Current Biology.A chance discoveryA team of scientists discovered a species of blow fly (family Calliphoridae) whose larvae can infiltrate colonies of harvester termites in the Anti-Atlas mountains of southern Morocco. The research group from the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE) at the Spanish National Research Council primarily studies ants and butterflies. Since the area was a little dry and lacking rainfall, the butterflies were not flying. The team decided to look around for some ants instead and were in for a surprise.When we lifted a stone we found a termite mound with three fly larvae that we had never seen before. The water had probably flooded the deeper layers of the nest and the larvae had emerged onto the surface, Roger Vila, a study co-author and an evolutionary biologist at IBE said in a statement. It must be an extremely rare species, because we have made three more expeditions in that area and, despite lifting hundreds of stones, we found only two more flies, together, in another termite mound. 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.Put on a termite maskThe team took a closer look at the ants bodies to see what types of adaptations were unique to this species of blow fly. The larvae of this calliphorid fly use disguise that helps them infiltrate termite mounds. The larvae display a termite mask on the backs of their bodies. The mask includes a non-functional head adorned with antennae and palpsforward appendages near the mouth of termitesthat are the same size as those of a large harvester termites. They also have two false eyes. These fake peepers are the larvaes breathing holes.Most termites live several metres deep and have no visual perception, said Vila. However, harvester termites come out at dusk to collect grass, so they have functional eyes that the larvae are able to mimic with their spiracles.The larvae also use unusual tentacles around their bodies that are detailed termite antennae dupes. The team used a scanning electron microscopy to look at the tentacles and saw that they help the larvae communicate with several termites at the same time.[ Related: Even ants may hold grudges. ]Spray on a chemical disguiseEverything inside a termite nest is dark, so the termites use their antennae to recognize each other. Their antennae can detect the shape and smell of their siblings, since all members of the nest share a particular scent. If the soldier termites sniff out intruders from other colonies, they will attack and dismember the interlopers.To keep from being detectedand likely dismemberedthe bowflies mimic the distinctive odour of their hosts. The teams analysis revealed that the chemical composition of the larvae is indistinguishable from the termites in the colony. This chemical disguise is key to interacting with the termites and benefitting from their communicable nest life. Future studies could determine how they create this unique scent booster.When the team initially found the larvae in Morocco, they were in the termite mounds food chambers. When they observed the larvae back in a laboratory set up, they saw that they tend to settle in the most populated area of the nest. Here, they actually received constant attention from the termites. While the team couldnt determine what the larvae were eating, they did observe that the termites appeared to be transmitting food to the larvae using their mouths.The larvae are not only tolerated, but they constantly communicate with the termites through contact with their antenna-like tentacles, said Vila. The termites even seem to feed them, although this has not yet been unequivocally demonstrated.One of the studys biggest challenges was the difficulty of keeping the insects in the lab. It involves maintaining colonies of desert termites, who live in very special conditions in the wild.The larvae we studied eventually died without metamorphosing, so there may be elements of the nest and the symbiotic relationship between the termites and the flies that we were unable to transfer to the laboratory. Their diet is currently unknown, and their adult form remains a mystery, said Vila.Evolve quicklyAccording to the team, the relationship between the blow fly larvae and termites appears to be some form of social parasitism or symbiosis. Humpbacked flies and termites have a similar relationship. However, it is adult humpback flies and not the larvae that mimic termites.Genomic study also showed that the fly belongs to the genus Rhyncomya. No known species of this genus have this unusual lifestyle or physical traits, so the team believes that this new species must have evolved very quickly.This discovery invites us to reconsider the limits and potential of symbiotic relationships and social parasitism in nature, said Vila. But, above all, we should realise how much we still do not know about the vast diversity and specialisation of insects, which are essential organisms in ecosystems.
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  • If your charger isnt this fast, youre living in the past
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    Stack CommerceShareWe may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn more That charging block plugged into your wall? Its stealing your time. You plug in your laptop, phone, or tablet, and then you wait. And wait. An hour later, youre lucky to have half of a full charge. Its time for a much-needed upgrade.This 100W charging block isnt like the one that came with your phoneits so unique that it was named an Innovation Awards Honoree at CES. Why? Its a GaN (Gallium Nitride) charger, meaning peak charging speeds, efficiency, and heat dissipation for the best charging experience. Save $59 on one right here.Not just a charging upgrade but also a lifestyle oneWhen you grab a wall block to power your phone, you probably dont think twice about it unless you notice your phone charging slower than a dinosaur. But a fast-charging block makes all the difference for mornings when you forgot to plug in your phone or if youre trying to power up your laptop when working remotely.But we can think of even more reasons beyond charging speed to love this charger:You can charge a laptop, tablet, and smartphone simultaneously with two USB-C and one USB-A supporting 22.5WGaN technology means it wont get hot if you want to charge three devices at onceIts a travel-friendly charger since its smaller than a credit card and includes EU, UK, and AU travel adaptersGet this GaN charging block for $59.99 (reg. $119) and save 49 percent.StackSocial prices subject to change.100W Omega USB-C GaN Charger $59.99See Deal
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  • Fighting monkeys cause nationwide blackout in Sri Lanka
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    Deforestation and habitat loss is forcing more monkeys to migrate into towns and cities. Credit: Deposit PhotosShareSri Lanka has grappled with a struggling energy grid for years, and monkeys are making it worse. On Sunday at around 11:00 local time (12:30 AM EST), a nationwide blackout forced its 22 million residents to either turn to personal generators, or endure the latest outage while temperatures rose to 86 degrees Fahrenheit. According to the Sri Lankan newspaperThe Daily Mirror, engineers soon traced the issue to the Panadura Power Station in the town of Colombo. Once on the scene, multiple witnesses including a security guard reported hearing a loud explosion accompanied by a ball of fire at the station. A subsequent investigation at the facility quickly confirmed the culprit.A monkey has come into contact with our grid transformer, causing an imbalance in the system, Kumara Jayakody, Sri Lankas Energy Minister, told local reporters yesterday.Although power has since been restored across the country, the hourslong emergency highlighted the energy grids ongoing unreliability. In 2022, Sri Lanka experienced multiple widespread blackouts during the nations economic crisis, and continues to face regular power shortages. Sri Lankas main source of energy production comes from hydropower, but it still often relies on coal and oil, as well. This has proven particularly problematic since the 2022 crisis, when the country used the entirety of its two fossil fuel reserves. Although Sri Lanka now has a supplementary 1,000 megawatt solar energy system, those panels are not directly connected to the islands primary grid.The government continues to explore potential energy grid deals with India, as well as plans to construct a new, larger hydropower plant to boost energy availability. Speaking with The Daily Mirror, however, some local experts said far more is needed to solve the issues. 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.These may be the immediate solutions but past governments have failed to act or upgrade the systems, an unnamed source said. In fact the national power grid is in such a weakened state that frequent islandwide power outages may be expected if there is a disturbance even in one of our lines.Meanwhile, Sri Lankas monkeys may eventually cause more of these disturbances. The islands toque macaque population has exploded in recent years, and is currently estimated to range somewhere between 2-3 million monkeys. As humans continue to encroach on their habitats, the macaques are increasingly turning to scavenging food from local crops, damaging agricultural yields and raising the risks of further damage to infrastructure.
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  • These large-capacity Stanley IceFlow water bottles are at their cheapest price ever at Amazon right now
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    We have to stay hydrated, even during the cold weather months. Theres no better way to keep your innards damp than with a big water bottle. Right now. Amazon has some of the larger Stanley IceFlow water bottles on sale for nearly half-off. The size and color selection is scattered, but the ones linked below are the cheapest weve found:Stanley IceFlow Flip Straw Jug with Handle 64 oz $30 (was $55)Stanley This massive jug holds a half-gallon of liquid and keeps it cold with double-wall stainless steel construction. The whole package is dishwasher safe, and a chunky handle makes it easy to carry around. I have never seen this bottle cheaper than $45, and its typically over $50, so this is an impressive deal. This $30 price seems to only apply to the azure color, but its a lovely shade of blue. The flip-up straw makes it easy to drink out of and keeps it sealed during transport.Stanley 50-ounce IceFlow Fast Flow Water Bottle | Angled Spout Lid $30 (was $55)Stanl If you dont need the full 64 ounces, this 50-ounce bottle offers a less jug-like form factor. Its still durable and offers burly insulation to keep drinks cold inside for hours and even days under the right conditions. The price applies to the neutral Ash color, which is very appealing. I have the 24-ounce version that I use every day. More Stanley drinkware dealsStanley IceFlow Flip Straw Jug with Handle 40 oz $30 (was $45)Stanley IceFlow Flip Straw 2.0 Water Bottle 36 OZ $27 (was $45)Stanley 50-ounce IceFlow Fast Flow Water Bottle | Angled Spout Lid $30 (was $55)
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  • Earths inner core is less solid than we thought
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    The Earth's internal layers including the mantle, outer core, and inner core. USC Graphic/Edward SoteloShareEarths core is pretty dynamic. Its spin speeds up and slows down based on how its two primary layers are behaving. As we improve the waveform techniques used to study the deepest layer thousands of feet below the surface, our understanding of it continues to evolve. Now, scientists believe that Earths inner core might be less solid than we previously thought. The findings are detailed in a study published February 10 in the journal Nature Geoscience and shed light on how topographical changes might be affecting the cores rotation. 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.Round and round it goesEarths core is located below the middle layer called the mantle and the outer layeror crust. It consists of two main partsa liquid outer core and a more solid inner core. The outer layer is made of liquid iron-nickel and is responsible for producing Earths magnetic field. The magnetic field and the liquid outer core are further stabilized by the more solid inner section. The inner core is made of solid iron-nickel about 3,000 miles below the surface of the Earth.Scientists believe that the inner cores rotation began to slow down in 2010, but what that really means has been up for debate. We cant really feel those changes on Earth, but when the core spins more slowly, the mantle will speed up. This shift ultimately makes the Earth rotate faster, but translates to only thousandths of a second in day length.The goal of this new study was initially to further document this slowing. However, one particular dataset on seismic waves revealed to study co-author and University of Southern California seismologist John Vidale that the inner core is not quite as solid as we thought.What we ended up discovering is evidence that the near surface of Earths inner core undergoes structural change, Vidale said in a statement.The new study used seismic waveform data, including 121 repeating earthquakes recorded from 42 locations near Antarcticas South Sandwich Islands between 1991 and 2024. This kind of data can give scientists a glimpse of what takes place in the inner core since they cant journey to the center of the Earth. The researchers analyzed the waveforms from receiver-array stations located near Fairbanks, Alaska, and Yellowknife in Canadas Northwest Territories. One dataset of seismic waves from the Yellowknife station included some uncharacteristic properties the team had never observed before.Once his research team improved their resolution technique so that they could see the data better, it was clear that these waveforms represented additional physical activity of the inner core.Disturbing the inner coreAccording to the study, this physical activity appears to be temporal changes in the shape of the inner core. The near surface of the inner core may undergo viscous deformation, or changing its shape and shifting at the inner cores shallow boundary. This interaction between the inner and outer core is likely the cause of this structural change.The molten outer core is widely known to be turbulent, but its turbulence had not been observed to disrupt its neighbor the inner core on a human timescale, Vidale said. What were observing in this study for the first time is likely the outer core disturbing the inner core.This new discovery could lead scientists to some previously hidden dynamics happening deep within Earths core. Both rotational and non-rotational changes are happening in the inner core, fundamentally changing what we once understood about this deep layer. The team believes that more investigation into these forces is needed to see what is stirring at the core and could help us better understand Earths thermal and magnetic field.
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  • WikiTok just might help you stop doomscrolling
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    It sometimes feels nearly impossible to break away from doomscrolling. But this isnt a design flaw on the part of social media companies, howeverits baked into the apps themselves. Sites like Facebook, TikTok, X, YouTube, and Instagram are all governed by algorithms designed to maximize the amount of time each user spends on the app. While mounting research suggests this isnt exactly the healthiest way to idly browse the internet, its unlikely that these gamifying tactics are disappearing anytime soon. In the meantime, WikiTok is at least here to help.The website, which debuted last week, is currently available through mobile and desktop browsers, and provides a potentially healthier way to pass the time online. The functionality is similar to TikTok (hence the portmanteau), but minus any algorithmic tailoring or manipulation. Instead, WikiTok visitors are randomly treated to one of Wikipedias nearly-9.5 million-and-counting entries along with an accompanying image from the article. If the subject matter interests you, you simply click through to visit the full entryif not, you can then swipe up to move on to the next suggestion culled from Wikipedias API. Gone is the constant threat of accidentally falling into yet another rabbit hole of AI-generated images, misinformation, and toxic comments.The entire project came about in a matter of hours. On February 3rd, developer Tyler Angert offered his insane project idea in a post to X: all of wikipedia on a single, scrollable page. Bloomberg Beta VC James Cham soon replied with the suggestion of an infinitely scrolling Wikipedia page based on whatever you are interested in next, followed by Angerts suggestion of the name WikiTok.Another programmer named Isaac Gemal soon saw the exchange, and got to work later that night. After only about an hour-and-a-half of tinkering with help from generative AI programs like Claude and the coding editor Cursor, Gemal had a functioning WikiTok prototype in the early hours of Tuesday morning.The code is very simple, theres no backend at all actually, I believe because wikipedias api [sic] is very permissive and you can just make the requests in the frontend, Gemal replied to a post about his project on ycombinators Hacker News forum. So you just simply request random articles, get some snippets, and the image attached!Speaking with Ars Technica last week, Gemal estimated that the AI tools did about 90-percent of the heavy lifting, but believed there was still plenty of room to optimize the overall experience. In just a few scrolls, WikiTok users can explore everything from Nielluccio (a red wine grape varietal), to US Special Operations Command parachute team, to a history of ancient Roman-Armenian relations. Its a randomized grab bag of triviaone that Gemal intends to keep free from targeted algorithms. WikiTok may not be the cure-all to social media doomscrolling, but it at least offers a nice way to break it up a bit.The post WikiTok just might help you stop doomscrolling appeared first on Popular Science.
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  • Social media CEOs limit screen timemaybe you should, too
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    Stack CommerceShareWe may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn more Social media was supposed to be fun. A quick check-in, a little entertainment, a few likes here and there. But somehow, it turned into hours of scrolling, endless doomscrolling, and an algorithm that knows you better than your best friend.Heres the hard truth: The average person will spend 17 years of their life scrolling (according to Fortune). Thats almost two decades lost to rabbit holes of viral videos, mindless swiping, and whatever the latest TikTok trend is. But dont panictheres hope.Zario AI is the screen-time coach that actually fights back. This AI-powered app challenges you to rethink your scrolling habits, blocks distractions when you need focus, and even roasts you a little when you slip up.And the best part? You can get lifetime access for just $49.99 (instead of $299). Pay once, break free forever.We all know social media addiction is real. Even tech CEOs limit screen time for their kids because they know how powerful these apps are.Instead of just locking you out, Zario negotiates with you. Want more screen time? Convince the AI why you deserve it. Need help staying accountable? Strict Mode wont let you bypass your own rules.With Zario, youll cut down an average of 1 hour and 35 minutes of screen time daily. That adds up to five years of your life back. And it doesnt just block appsit makes you rethink why youre opening them in the first place.Instead of mindlessly tapping Instagram for the 17th time today, Zario puts up a motivational quote or makes you wait a few seconds to reconsider. It helps you create a focus schedule, limit sessions on time-wasting apps, and even track how much screen time youre actually spending. Spoiler alert: Its more than you think.For those who need serious accountability, Strict Mode ensures you stick to your goals. Once youve reached your limit, you cant delete the app or change its settings.Help yourself with the support of this app. Choose from the lifetime versions below:Zario AI for Android for just $49.99 (instead of $299).Zario AI for iOS for just $49.99 (instead of $299).StackSocial prices subject to change.Zario AI Screen Time App Pro Plan: Lifetime Subscription (Android) $49.99Get It Here
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  • How space missions make discoveries on the way to their main destinations
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    Europa Clipper will travel 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion km) to reach Jupiter in April 2030. The spacecraft will orbit Jupiter, and conduct 49 close flybys of Europa. On each orbit, the spacecraft will spend less than a day in the dangerous radiation zone near Europa before zipping back out. Two to three weeks later, it will repeat the process. The spacecraft carries nine science instruments, and a gravity experiment that uses the telecommunications system. All science instruments will operate simultaneously on every pass.Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech ShareTo get somewhere in outer space, you cant exactly drive in a straight line. Orbits are tricky things, and sending a probe to a faraway planet involves lots of loop-de-loops around other planets on the way. These moves are known as gravity assists, where a spacecraft swings by a massive planet to slingshot itself towards its destination.These trajectory tricks are more than just pit stops on the long journeythey can be prime time to do some bonus science before the spacecrafts main mission. Many solar system missions have made significant discoveries during such flybys, from the earliest probes of the 1970s to BepiColombos recent Mercury flyby and perhaps Europa Clippers Mars flyby happening next month.[ Credit: Scientists explain why BepiColombos mission to Mercury is so tricky ]The planets closest to Earth get the most flyby action: Mars, Venus, and of course, Earth itself. Just last year (and twice before in 2020 and 2021), NASAs Parker Solar Probe dipped by Venus, helping the spacecraft get closer to the Sun than any other human made object before it. One of Parkers cameras was pointed at Venus to track changes in our neighboring planets thick clouds, but it also gave scientists a surpriseat longer wavelengths of light, the camera was able to peer down to Venuss ultra-hot surface. These images revealed strange differences from observations of Venuss surface by the Magellan spacecraft in the 1990s, which may be details missed by the earlier images such as places where the ground is made of different materials.Left: A series of WISPR images of the nightside of Venus from Parker Solar Probes fourth flyby showing near infrared emissions from the surface. In these images, lighter shades represent warmer temperatures and darker shades represent cooler. Right: A combined mosaic of radar images of Venus surface from NASAs Magellan mission, where the brightness indicates radar properties from smooth (dark) to rough (light), and the colors indicate elevation from low (blue) to high (red). Caption Text: NASA. Credit: NASA. The famous Cassini mission to Saturn also made two trips to Venus in 1998 and 1999. Using its various instruments, Cassini measured the amount of dust in the inner solar system, plus ions and other particles streaming off the Sun. It even took some photos of Earths Moon when it passed by us. Since this particular mission was traveling farther out in our solar system, it also did a flyby of Jupiter, spending about six months exploring the giant planet. Cassini revealed a second storm similar to the Great Red Spot, and recorded how small storms globbed on to large storms to make even bigger storms in Jupiters tumultuous atmosphere.This pair of false-color images, made from data obtained by NASAs Cassini spacecraft, shows clouds covering parts of Saturns moon Titan in yellow. Credit: NASA The New Horizons mission provided yet another view of Jupiter on its way to Plutoimages from this particular spacecraft showed lightning at Jupiters poles (something that had before only been seen on Earth), and evidence of a recent collision inside Jupiters very thin rings. New Horizons also took a peek at Jupiters moon Io, looking into its volcanic activity. 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.For both Cassini and New Horizons, these Jupiter encounters also served another purpose: a sort of dress rehearsal for their main missions. With a target as big and exciting as Jupiter, scientists turned on the spacecrafts instruments that had been hibernating on the long trip there, using the opportunity to work out any kinks in their software before the real showtime. This is especially critical for a mission like New Horizons, which wasnt actually stopping at its destination; it took data as it zoomed past over the course of a couple months, unlike Cassini which orbited Saturn for almost two decades.This picture shows the asteroids Ida (left) and Gaspra (right) to the same scale. These images were taken by the Galileo spacecraft while enroute to Jupiter. Gaspra was imaged on October 29, 1991 at a range of 3,300 miles (5,300 km). Ida was imaged on August 28, 1993 from a range of 1,900 to 2,400 miles (3,000 to 3,800 km). Both objects are irregular in shape. Gaspra is about 10.5 miles long (17 km), and Ida is 18.6 miles long and 6 to 8 miles wide (9.3 x 12.7 x 29.9 km). These asteroids are just two of the billions of such rocky and metallic objects that orbit the sun mainly between Mars and Jupiter. Caption text: NASA. Credit: NASA/JPL/USGS. Not all targets are as spectacularly large as Jupiter, though. New Horizons also passed by an asteroid named 132524 APLnot for a gravity assist, but just because it happened to be in the neighborhood. Measurements from the spacecraft helped scientists confirm this particular asteroid is made of silicates, nickel, and iron. Another mission did this first, nearly two decades earlier, when the Galileo probe to Jupiter swung by the asteroid Gaspra to produce the first ever close-up image of an asteroid. Galileo then snapped a photo of the asteroid Ida a few years later on its voyage.Credit: NASA When these worlds are so difficult to visitmissions cost millions to billions of dollars, and it takes years to reach the outer solar systemany amount of information we can gain is helpful for scientists. Keep an eye out to see what Europa Clipper finds at Mars next month, and what Psyche (a mission to a metal asteroid) spots on Mars in 2026!
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  • Turn your ideas into smash hits with this AI music generator
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    Stack CommerceShareWe may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn more Ever wanted to create a song without picking up an instrument or singing a note? Supermusic AI lets you do just thatturning simple text prompts into full-fledged tracks with vocals. Whether you dream of dropping pop anthems or producing smooth jazz, this app makes it happen in minutes. For a limited time, pay $39.97 just once for a lifetime subscription.Supermusic AI is like having a recording studio in your pocket. Type out your lyrics, choose a genre, and watch as your words transform into a professional-sounding song. The magic doesnt stop thereSupermusic even generates vocal tracks, singing your lyrics with clarity and emotion. Got a catchy chorus or a powerful verse? Share your creations directly on social media or with friends, and let your hits spread like wildfire.With a lifetime subscription, you can generate up to 100 songs per month, giving you endless opportunities to experiment and find your unique sound. The apps intuitive interface makes it easy for anyoneno musical background required. From electronic beats to country ballads, you can explore multiple genres and create tracks that match your mood or project.Supermusic also brings the community aspect of music-making to the forefront. Set up your artist profile, create custom playlists, and follow other users to discover new music. The leaderboard tracks the most played, liked, and shared songs, giving you a chance to be recognized among the Supermusic community.Whether youre a budding artist looking for a new way to create or just someone who wants to dabble in music without the learning curve, Supermusic AI offers a fun, innovative experience. And with updates continuously improving the apps features, your music journey will only get better.Turn your text into tunes today with a lifetime subscription to Supermusic AI for $39.97, and let your creativity take center stage.StackSocial prices subject to change.Supermusic AI: Lifetime Subscription $39.97See Deal
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  • Extremely rare Einstein ring discovered close to Earth
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    The ring of light surrounding the centre of the galaxy NGC 6505, captured by ESAs Euclid telescope, is a stunning example of an Einstein ring. NGC 6505 is acting as a gravitational lens, bending light from a galaxy far behind it. The almost perfect alignment of NGC 6505 and the background galaxy has bent and magnified the light from the background galaxy into a spectacular ring. This rare phenomenon was first theorised to exist by Einstein in his general theory of relativity. This wide field shows the extended stellar halo of NGC 6505 and showcases the Einstein ring, surrounded by colourful foreground stars and background galaxies. ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre, T. LiShareThe European Space Agencys (ESA) Euclid space telescope has discovered an extremely rare Einstein ring. Einstein rings of light are produced when two galaxies are almost perfectly aligned, with one behind the other from a fixed perspective. They are one of the best examples we have of gravitational lensinga phenomenon that Albert Einstein predicted in 1915. The ring and other findings are detailed in a study published February 10 in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.A close-up view of the centre of the NGC 6505 galaxy, with the bright Einstein ring around its nucleus, captured by ESAs Euclid space telescope. The Einstein ring is formed by gravitational lensing, with the mass of galaxy NGC 6505 bending and magnifying the light from a more distant galaxy into a ring. CREDIT: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre, T. Li. Gravitational lensing and Einstein ringsIn space, gravitational lensing occurs when the energy in a massive celestial body like a galaxy cluster creates enough of a curve in spacetime for the path of light around it to appear bent as if by a lens. The celestial body that is causing the light to curve is called a gravitational lens, which should be able to help us detect the light from hidden galaxies.According to Albert Einsteins general theory of relativity, light will bend around objects in space, so that they focus the light the way that a lens does. This resulting gravitational lensing effect is larger for the bigger objects, such as galaxies and galaxy clusters. The lensing means that astronomers can sometimes see the light coming from far away galaxies that would otherwise be hidden. If they are aligned just right, the light from the distant source galaxy will bend to form a ring around the foreground objectcalled an Einstein ring.When we observe a distant galaxy with our telescope, its light may encounter another galaxy on its way to us. The foreground galaxy acts like a magnifying lens, bending the travelling light rays due to its gravity. This is called gravitational lensing. If the background galaxy, the lensing galaxy, and the telescope are perfectly aligned, the image appears as a ringcalled an Einstein ring. Einstein rings were first theorized to exist by Einstein in his general theory of relativity. CREDIT: ESA. An Einstein ring is an example of strong gravitational lensing, Conor ORiordan, a study co-author and astrophysicist at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Germany, said in a statement. All strong lenses are special, because theyre so rare, and theyre incredibly useful scientifically. This one is particularly special, because its so close to Earth and the alignment makes it very beautiful.Studying the gravitational effects of Einstein rings can help scientists learn more about the expansion of the universe, detect the effects of invisible dark matter and dark energy, and probe background sources of light that are bent by dark matter. 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.Euclids new Einstein ringThe Einstein ring that Euclid spotted is located in the galaxy NGC 6505. It is only a hop, skip, and a jump away from Earth at 590 million light-years away. This is the first time that the ring of light surrounding its center has been detected.The ring situated around the foreground galaxy is made up of light from a galaxy that is further out and more luminous. This background galaxy is about 4.42 billion light-years away and its light has been distorted by gravity as it travels. The far-away galaxy has not been observed before and does not have a name.[ Related: Dark energy fills the cosmos. But what is it? ]I find it very intriguing that this ring was observed within a well-known galaxy, which was first discovered in 1884, Valeria Pettorino, a study co-author and ESA Euclid Project Scientist, said in a statement. The galaxy has been known to astronomers for a very long time. And yet this ring was never observed before. This demonstrates how powerful Euclid is, finding new things even in places we thought we knew well. This discovery is very encouraging for the future of the Euclid mission and demonstrates its fantastic capabilities.Mapping the dark universeEuclid kicked-off its six-year mission on July 1, 2023. The space telescopes primary job is to explore the dark universe, searching for the more subtle effects of weak gravitational lensing. Here, background galaxies appear to be only mildly stretched or displaced. In order to detect this effect, scientists will need to analyze billions of galaxies. Euclid began its detailed survey of the sky on February 14, 2024 and is gradually creating an extensive 3D map of the universe.The space telescope is expected to map more than one third of the sky, observing billions of galaxies out to 10 billion light-years. Astronomers expect Euclid to spot 100,000 strong lenses. However, the team says that finding a gravitational lens like this one so close to home is exciting. Less than 1,000 strong lenses were previously known to astronomers and even fewer have been imaged at high resolution.Euclid is going to revolutionise the field, with all this data weve never had before, said Conor.
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  • How 3D-printed parts changed the NASCAR Cup Series
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    In 2021, NASCAR unveiled its Next Gen platform that included a number of rule changes from the previous iteration. Now fully symmetrical and using composite body panels instead of metal, the latest NASCAR vehicles are more like the street versions of the Chevrolet Camaro, the Ford Mustang, and the Toyota TRD Camry.Race car driving isnt an inexpensive sport, and one of the goals for the Next Gen platform was to reduce operating costs and create parity across the board. Technique Chassis, the sole chassis manufacturer for the NASCAR Cup Series, builds a modular offering in three parts. As a result, everyone is starting with the same platform, and finding a competitive advantage is in the tiniest details.One smart way to differentiate from the competition is 3D-printed parts. But this isnt your hobbyist level 3D printing.Additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printingMinnesota-based Stratasys specializes in additive manufacturing, the process of creating an object by building it one layer at a time. Stratesys Senior Global Director of Automotive & Mobility Fadi Abro explains that this term is synonymous with 3D printing. However, the industry often reserves that description for hobby-level projects on smaller, non-industrial printers, while additive manufacturing represents robust industrial solutions.Additive manufacturing is the exact inverse of subtractive manufacturing, which requires cutting away at a solid chunk of material to achieve a final product. In art terms, additive manufacturing would be like sculpting with modeling clay while subtractive is akin to carving a shape from a block of marble. As it relates to NASCAR, Stratasys provides parts like ducts, covers, brackets, and tubing. Together with the racing organization, Stratasys reviews the current driver needs and makes recommendations for other parts and modifications.Left: 3D-printed laptop holder, used for track testing to record pressure data within the car.Right: 3D-printed parts on display in glass case at Stratasys.Images: StratasysNot long ago, the standard part-making process was CNC (computer numerically controlled) manufacturing, which relates to the computerized operation of machine tools. CNC is a subtractive process, which Abro says is more limiting than additive manufacturing.You get a lot more freedom of design, he says. If youre cutting into a block, you cant make a 90-degree turn, and that limits your shapes and designs. You either have to flip the block or move the block or angle the block, and sometimes you cant get to the angle. We always say complexity is free with the additive process, whereas in the more traditional methods complexity can really increase the price and the lead time as the design elements make it a lot more difficult. 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.The kind of printers Stratasys builds arent the type you buy at your local electronics store, either. Each industrial-grade 3D printer costs anywhere from $20,000 to $600,000. Using this kind of equipment isnt without precedent, and builds at SEMAs annual extravaganza feature 3D parts we wouldnt have dreamed of a few years ago.The Stratasys industrial-grade 3D printers. Image: Stratasys Last year, a small shop called Blazin Rods in Orange County, California used 3D printing to create the Doughboy, a heavily modified 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle. Designed digitally in CAD, the entire Chevelle was scanned and fitted with custom 3D parts, including carbon-fiber radiator ducts and heat exchanger outlets, integrated air ducts, and trunk lid.The bet on the Chevelle paid off. SEMA awarded Blazin Rodz the Best Engineered Vehicle of the Year Award for its exceptional engineering.The next frontier in 3D printingIn the past few months, Stratasys has been on a roll, signing an extension to its 20-year partnership with the Joe Gibbs Racing team and earning the title of Official 3D Printing Partner of NASCAR. Competition for this market continues to heat up, however, as there are startups and legacy companies pushing hard. Around the world, 3D printing companies abound.Stratasys has one major factor on its side: 35 years of experience. Whats new is that todays printing is more accurate, its faster, the materials are more robust, Abro says.I think whats changed drastically over the past five to seven years has been all about material development, he explains. Were seeing materials that are just incredible, whether its how resistant to heat they are or how strong they are compared to how much they weigh.He expects the next frontier to be all about throughput, or how quickly the printer can print.If you need a hundred different versions of something, you dont want a hundred printers side by side, Abro says. You want to get the five to ten printers that you have printing faster. How quickly can you make a part that is still accurate, still strong, all the other things that the customer cares about, but faster?NASCAR clearly cares about speed on all fronts, and 3D printing allows the racing organization to quickly test and create new components. Abra tells the story about tubing that wasnt quite fitting with the rest of the components on a Joe Gibbs Racing car. Stratasys printed out a custom fixture for the tube that should have fit perfectly on paper, but it didnt. As a result, JGR went back to its vendor to report a problematic part.Stratasys 3D-printed windshield air duct, used on all NASCAR Cup cars, funnels air into the car to keep the driver cool.Image: Stratasys In the past, the worst case scenario might have been to hammer the part until it fit. But more likely, the team would be required to machine something using a CNC, which would have meant a lot of programming and wasted materials. Its very expensive and requires skilled labor and time, a scarce commodity.The thing that these teams never have is extra time, Abdo says.Many of the 3D-printed parts Joe Gibbs Racing is using are ducts. Air flow direction is incredibly important, as some cars at certain times need to harness the power of air to create downforce to prevent slipping and sliding on the track. Air is also directed toward the engine to cool it. Sometimes air is necessary to cool the driver. And sometimes the driver wants to use air to create drag to make a sharp turn.Its better, faster, cheaper, Abro says. its faster to print something than to mill it, and then its certainly cheaper in a multitude of different ways. Number one, theres not as much skill required for 3D printing as there is in CNC machining; you need a more traditional manufacturing method.
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  • How to use tasks and reminders inside ChatGPT
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    Weve seen numerous new features added to ChatGPT in recent months, including updated models, web search capabilities, and the ability to remember what you say to itand the latest software upgrade added to the AI bot by OpenAI makes it more useful as a general-purpose digital assistant.Beginning in beta form, and available initially to paying subscribersthe feature will reach everyone eventually, OpenAI saysChatGPT Tasks lets you request the AI chatbot perform actions regularly on an automated schedule, or remind you about something in the future. Heres everything you need to know about it.How the ChatGPT Tasks feature worksYou can set up notifications for your tasks. Screenshot: OpenAI In this early beta, you can create scheduled tasks that enable ChatGPT to run automated prompts and proactively reach out to you on a scheduled basis, explains OpenAI. Tasks are available on the web, in the mobile apps, and in the macOS desktop app; OpenAI says the feature will make it to the Windows desktop app soon.You could use Tasks to, for example, get an AI-powered news briefing every afternoon or be reminded of an upcoming birthday. Tasks sync across devices through your ChatGPT account, and will run whether or not youre online and using ChatGPT at the designated time.Whenever a task is completed, youll get a notification from ChatGPTso you may need to tweak some of the notification settings on your devices or your web browser to make sure you dont miss anything (or to silence the alerts, if you dont want to be notified every time ChatGPT does something).ChatGPT wont take over your phone or your laptop to tell you it has done something or to display a reminderall the scheduling is done inside the ChatGPT apps, so theyll need to be open or have permission to send notifications when theyre not open.You can essentially schedule anything ChatGPT can do in a conversation, whether thats creating cat images or checking flight prices. Your tasks appear alongside your regular conversations, and can be shared, archived, and deleted in the same way (via the three dots next to them on the desktop, and with a long press on mobile).How to use ChatGPT TasksIn the desktop and web apps, click the model picker in the top left corner to choose ChatGPT-4o with scheduled tasks, then start chatting. If youre using the ChatGPT app on mobile, tap the model picker at the top of the conversation panel to find the same option. The first time you use the Tasks feature inside ChatGPT, you may see some suggestions to get you started.ChatGPT understands natural language just fine, so you dont need to pick dates and times from a menu. Just say something like tell me a funny joke every Thursday at 3 p.m. and ChatGPT Tasks will oblige. Anything from basic reminders to more creative prompts will workso you could get alerts about birthdays or a recap of the weeks tech news.When you create a task, youll see a confirmation on screen, so you know ChatGPT has understood you. If youre using the web or desktop apps, click the three dots next to the task to Edit it or Pause it; if youre on mobile, you can only pause the task. Tasks can be paused and resumed as needed.The Edit window gives you some more control over your task, letting you modify the instructions and set up recurring tasks and reminders. If youre using the ChatGPT web interface, you can click your profile picture (top right), then Tasks to see an overview of the tasks youve got scheduledand you can make changes and delete tasks from here too.One final setting only available on ChatGPT for the web is for notifications: Click your profile picture (top right) and then Settings and Notifications, where you can choose whether tasks trigger push notifications, emails, both, or neither. Email notifications can be a handy way of getting confirmation that tasks are running without the constant interruption of push notifications.
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  • Upgrade to Microsoft Office 2024 for Windows or Mac with this deal
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    Stack CommerceShareWe may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn more Whether youre working from home, in-office, or in school, Microsoft Office is one of the most, if not the most, commonly used productivity suites on the planet. Load up your laptop with the full Microsoft Office 2024 Home & Business suite for Windows or Mac for a one-time payment of $159.97.Available on either platform, the Home & Business version of Office 2024 comes with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote. Connected to your cloud identity through your Microsoft Account, this one-use code sets up your preferred laptop or desktop with the programs you need most.Fully compatible with Ventura and higher on Mac and both Windows 10 and 11, you get the full range of upgrades from Office 2021: Words new Focus mode trims back the toolbars and other elements so you can write without distraction, with research and suggestion tools.The latest version of Excel includes support for dynamic arrays, letting you leave Control-Shift-Enter behind as data can fill the cell next to it with no joining. AI tools help you draw insights from your data and integrate them into other sources.And PowerPoint has new recording tools that capture not just your slides but your voice, camera, and captions, as well as multimedia integration for sound clips and video.All Office apps also have a unified interface, enhanced support for touchscreens and stylus tools, and easy collaboration built into the software. As you download the suite directly, instead of running it in the cloud, you wont need to worry about your internets uptime or a password. Full language support and legacy file support are included, making it easier to get to work and dig out archived data.Get your laptop up to date with adownload key for Microsoft Office 2024 Home & Business for Windows or Mac for $159.97 (reg. $249) now through February 23.StackSocial prices subject to change.Microsoft Office 2024 Home & Business for Mac or PC Lifetime License $159.97See Deal
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