South Korea’s ‘artificial sun,’ a machine that generates and holds plasma at high temperatures, was able to set a new world record by maintaining a temperature over 180 million degrees Fahrenheit. Their machine was able to maintain such a high temperature for 20 seconds.
(via Flipboard)
Image screenshot via Flipboard
Ah, catnip. The seemingly-innocent plant that drives felines wild. Did you know that it isn’t even a drug (technically)? The power of catnip on cats is very strong, but we haven’t actually properly understood why cats go head over heels for a sniff. A study published in Science Advances has finally explained why catnip has such an effect on felines:
The plant's powers are thanks to an evolutionary trick that puts cats into a tizzy whenever they sniff this innocent-looking form of mint.
Catnip's pungent odor comes from a chemical called nepetalactone. It helps the plant repel insects.
But this research takes us further into the evolution of nepetalactone using genetic analysis. According to study co-author Benjamin Lichman, a plant biologist at the University of York, his team discovered "a suite of unusual enzymes" were responsible for nepetalactone's kitty arousing properties.
"These enzymes are not found in any related plant species and have evolved uniquely in catmint," Lichman says.
Nepetalactone uses a double-whammy — literally — to stupefy cats. Lichman and his colleagues discovered that while other types of mint form chemicals using only one enzyme, nepetalactone instead activates one enzyme, which sets off a chain reaction to activate a second enzyme.
This double whammy gives nepetalactone its potent powers, the study suggests, but it's not the only unique thing about the chemical.
Image via Inverse
What Youtube videos do you watch to relax? Mine are a mix of cooking videos and people building things. If you’re looking for videos that can either make you feel relaxed or creatively inspired, this one might fit the bill! YouTuber Hanabira工房 shares their step by step process for building a lovely Animal Crossing dollhouse by customizing a generic kit. Not only do they repaint and alter some of the materials provided in the kit, they also add more details, such as a whole yard to accompany this greenhouse kit.
Mitosis (not the biological process) is a sustainable architectural concept that focuses on regenerative sustainable living and urban development. The structure, a collaboration between Amsterdam-based architecture firm GG-loop and Arup, has the ability to expand itself to accommodate more people. YankoDesign has more details:
Just like flexible organism evolves to adapt to different settings, Mitosis will also be able to do that with its individual, rhomboid-shaped modules that are stacked together to create shared outdoor spaces and private terraces. The outdoor areas would be filled with enough plants to make a lush green cover which will allow the residents to reconnect with nature while offsetting the urban heat island effect – pretty ‘cool’, eh? These plants will also elevate the air quality levels, especially in cities while encouraging sustainable living practices of urban farming and community gardens. The terraced build provides ample natural light to both plants and apartments. The greenery will also help the existing wildlife of the area to continue having their space and coexist with the residents.
“Mitosis adopts the 14 principles of biophilic design and articulates the relationships between nature, human biology, and the design of the built environment. Its construction is organic and flexible, providing large areas of urban and vertical farming, greenhouses, wildlife corridors, and integration of habitat creation, that encourage shared outdoor activities among residents,” said the team in their project statement. The unique concept aims to give its residents an outdoor space along with the amenities needed to participate in environmentally friendly communal activities.
Image via YankoDesign
A new discovery has been made in Pompeii! Remains of a hot food and drink shop has been uncovered by archaeologists. The shop, also known as a thermopolium, contained 2,000-year-old food stored in deep terra cotta jars, as Reuters detailed:
The front of the counter was decorated with brightly coloured frescoes, some depicting animals that were part of the ingredients in the food sold, such as a chicken and two ducks hanging upside down.
“This is an extraordinary find. It’s the first time we are excavating an entire termopolium,” said Massimo Ossana, director of the Pompeii archaeological park.
Archaeologists also found a decorated bronze drinking bowl known as a patera, ceramic jars used for cooking stews and soups, wine flasks and amphora.
Image via Reuters
I can’t even hold a regular pan properly without fearing I might spill its contents. This chef takes cooking to a higher level, as she spins her wok and swings it around her body. That might sound simple, but it’s not really. I’m not sure how she can do that, but it’s really amazing!
It was hiding in plain sight, too. A graduate research assistant at the University of Kansas has discovered not one, but three new species of snakes preserved in the university’s Biodiversity Institute’s biodiversity collection. The snake specimens were overlooked until Jeff Weinell discovered that they were actually new species, and now these specimens are the only known members of a new snake genus called Levitonius:
The newly identified Levitonius mirus, also known as Waray dwarf burrowing snake, is native to the islands of Samar and Leyte in the Philippines, an exceptionally biodiverse archipelago that includes at least 112 land snake species, according to the study.
The snake has among the fewest number of vertebrae of any snake species in the world, according to the study, and has a long and narrow skull relative to its size, Weinell explained in a conversation with CNN. Its scales are highly iridescent, and it is likely that its diet is based on earthworms.
Weinell emphasized the importance of collaboration between US-based scientists and scientists in the Philippines, furthering the understanding of biodiversity in the region.
Image via CNN
It’s smaller than we would imagine a ‘sea dragon’ to be. The Thalassodraco etchesi or Etches sea dragon is a small marine reptile from 150 million years ago. The species, whose remains have been discovered in a marine deposit in Dorset, England, may have been able to dive to extreme depths, and are also described as "streamlined marine predators from the Late Jurassic period." IGN has more details:
“This ichthyosaur has several differences that makes it unique enough to be its own genus and species,” paleontologist Megan L. Jacobs said. “New Late Jurassic ichthyosaurs in the United Kingdom are extremely rare, as these creatures have been studied for 200 years. We knew it was new almost instantly, but it took about a year to make thorough comparisons with all other Late Jurassic ichthyosaurs to make certain our instincts were correct. It was very exciting to not be able to find a match.”
This specific specimen was discovered in 2009 and was estimated to have been about 6 feet long. It was discovered by fossil collector Steve Etches MBE after a "cliff crumbled along the seaside."
It appears to have some similarities to sperm whales with its "extremely deep rib cage" that may have allowed for larger lungs and space so internal organs weren't crushed under the pressure. It also had large eyes, which meant it could have been able to see well in low light.
Its hundreds of tiny teeth seem to indicate a diet that may have consisted of squid and small fish, and "the teeth are unique by being completely smooth."
Image via IGN
It seems that not all people get a unique set of swirls on their fingertips. This unique condition, which manifested in Apu Sarker’s family, is a rare genetic mutation. The condition, called Adermatoglyphia, renders people affected with it to have no fingerprints and a reduced amount of sweat glands on their hands, as BBC details:
Apu, who is 22, lives with his family in a village in the northern district of Rajshahi. He was working as a medical assistant until recently. His father and his grandfather were farmers.
The men in Apu's family appear to share a genetic mutation so rare it is thought to affect only a small handful of families in the world: they have no fingerprints.
Back in the day of Apu's grandfather, having no fingerprints was no big deal. "I don't think he ever thought of it as a problem," Apu said.
But over the decades, the tiny grooves that swirl around our fingertips - known properly as dermatoglyphs - have become the world's most collected biometric data. We use them for everything from passing through airports to voting and opening our smartphones.
[...]
A dermatologist in Bangladesh has diagnosed the family's condition as congenital palmoplantar keratoderma, which Prof Itin believes developed into secondary Adermatoglyphia - a version of the disease which can also cause dry skin and reduced sweating on palms and feet - symptoms reported by the Sarkers.
More testing would be needed to confirm that the family has some form of Adermatoglyphia. Professor Sprecher said his team would be "very glad" to assist the family with genetic testing. The results of those tests might bring the Sarkers some certainly, but no relief from the day to day struggles of navigating the world without fingerprints.
Image via BBC
While we may insist that our environment influences our preferences, new research reveals that our genes also have influence over our preferences. Our genes control how much of our behavior might have a biological predisposition. This means that we might have been born to have a particular behavior or characteristic, as the Next Web details:
Research has shown genes may predispose not only our height, eye colour or weight, but also our vulnerability to mental ill-health, longevity, intelligence and impulsivity. Such traits are, to varying degrees, written into our genes — sometimes thousands of genes working in concert.
Most of these genes instruct how our brain circuitry is laid down in the womb, and how it functions. We can now view a baby’s brain as it is built, even 20 weeks before birth. Circuitry changes exist in their brains that strongly correlate with genes that predispose for autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). They even predispose for conditions that might not emerge for decades: bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder and schizophrenia.
Increasingly we are faced with the prospect that predispositions to more complex behaviors are similarly wired into our brains. These include which religion we choose, how we form our political ideologies, and even how we create our friendship groups.
Image via The Next Web
Okay, "wraps" doesn’t mean Yianni Charalambous puts wrapping paper around luxury cars as gifts, no. Charalambous specializes in customizing rare and expensive cars for celebrities. If a celebrity isn’t satisfied by how their Ferrari, Aston Martin, Porsche, McLaren, Bentley, or Rolls Royce look, they can hire Charalmbous’ services to customize their beloved cars. Check out the delicate and intricate process on how he changes the look of celebrities’ expensive automobiles.
I pet my dog every chance I get. Do you (if you have one, that is) have to pet your furry companion before you leave? Researchers recommend you do. Giving pups a little pat before we head out actually keeps them calm while we’re away. According to a study published in the Journal of Veterinary Behavior, gently petting a dog before leaving home has a positive effect on the animal’s stress response:
The researchers monitored the dogs’ behaviors while the owners were gone, measured the dogs’ heart rates before and after the separation, and noted the animals’ salivary cortisol after their owners left (excess drooling can be a sign of stress). The experimenters noticed that though none of the dogs were highly stressed, the animals from both groups spent almost half the time looking for their missing owners.
However, the key difference between the groups was that dogs who were pet before their owners left exhibited more calm behaviors when their owners were missing and had a lower heart rate after the reunion compared to dogs in the neutral condition. The researchers conclude that this topic needs further study, though they write that the findings suggest “that petting a dog before a brief separation from the owner may have a positive effect, making the dog calmer during the separation itself.”
Image via First For Women
Renowned photographer Nathan Myhrvold developed a special camera to shoot delicate snowflakes in high definition. He was able to capture stunning images of snowflakes, and their every intricate detail. The process was not as easy as pulling out your phone camera and clicking the camera button, no! Myhrvold had to consider a lot of factors, such as temperature and the type of lens he would use, as My Modern Met details:
To get these perfect shots—available now as prints at the Modernist Cuisine Gallery—many factors had to be perfectly calibrated. To avoid melting or sublimation of the snowflakes, the images were shot on location in Fairbanks, Alaska and Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. Myhrvold used a special camera of his own design. He combined the magnifying power of a microscopic lens (as typically used in snowflake photography) with a specially designed optical path. This path allowed the lens to channel its image to a medium-format digital sensor—which provided the stunningly high level of resolution. In addition, the camera featured a cooling stage upon which the tiny specimens could rest. With LED short-pulse lights and a shutter speed of less than 500 microseconds, Myhrvold was able to capture multiple images of each snowflake at different focal lengths. These images were then stacked to create the final image.
The scientific precision which enabled Myhrvold to create this unique snowflake camera is a hallmark of his varied career. With a PhD in Physics from Princeton, as well as two master's degrees, he did his postdoctoral research on quantum field theory with Stephen Hawking at Cambridge University. The young scientist then began his own software company, before working for Microsoft as chief technology officer alongside founder Bill Gates.
Image via My Modern Met
That’s one step closer to our dreams of saying ‘beam me up!’ anytime we go to other locations! Researchers are not able to teleport actual human beings yet, sorry. However, the team of scientists have successfully teleported qubits (basic units of quantum info) across almost 14 miles of fiber optic cables with 90 percent precision. This might be a stepping stone to not only human teleportation, but towards the quantum internet (possibly a much more powerful Internet connection).
When quantum internet is finally a thing, it will make Wifi look obsolete and dial-up even more ancient than it already is. “We achieved sustained, high-fidelity quantum teleportation utilizing time-bin (time-of-arrival_ qubits of light, at the telecommunication wavelength of 1.5 microns, over fiber optic cables,” Panagiotis Spentzouris, Head of Quantum Science at the Fermilab Quantum Institute, told SYFY WIRE. “This type of qubit is compatible with several devices that are required for the deployment of quantum networks.”
What you might recognize is the fiber optic cables used in the experiment, since they are everywhere in telecommunication tech today. Lasers, electronics and optical equipment which were also used for the experiments at Caltech (CQNET) and Fermilab (FQNET) that could someday evolve into the next iteration of internet. Though this is equipment you probably also recognize, what it did for these experiments was enable them to go off without a glitch. Information traveled across the cables at warp speed with the help of semi-autonomous systems that monitored it while while managing control and synchronization of the entangled particles. The system could run for up to a week without human intervention.
Image via Syfy
I had no idea this existed. But this infamous goat problem is more difficult than the ‘how many milk bottles’ will one have after a certain number of conditions. This one has baffled mathematicians for quite some time. The problem is this: ‘for a goat to be able to eat grass in a circle with an area of exactly one half acre, how much rope does it need?’ Now this may look simple, but the answer actually has only been approximations for centuries, as Popular Mechanics detailed:
The goat problem is a living example of what it means to round off your answer. Steve Nadis at Quanta explains the distinction:
“To illustrate the difference, consider the equation x2 − 2 = 0. One could derive an approximate numerical answer, x = 1.4142, but that’s not as accurate or satisfying as the exact solution, x = √2.”
With a few moments of thought, the goat problem quickly turns into an exercise in many intersecting approximations. This is why every answer offered since the 1700s has been an approximation as well.
And now, finally, there’s an exact solution for the first time. Mathematician Ingo Ullisch took a cue from the previous researchers who made progress on the problem. He introduced complex analysis, which is kind of like algebra with an optional imaginary-number add-on.
Check Popular Mechanics’ full piece on the solution to the problem here.
Image via Popular Mechanics
