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Thousands of pieces of abandoned spacecraft orbit Earth, and when gravity finally pulls them down, authorities rarely know exactly where they'll land. Now researchers at Johns Hopkins University have demonstrated a clever solution. Surprisingly they have found using earthquake detecting seismometers they can track falling space debris in real time by listening for the sonic booms it produces. The technique successfully traced a Chinese spacecraft module as it streaked across California at Mach 25-30, revealing its actual trajectory lay 25 miles north of predictions, a significant improvement that could help authorities quickly locate potentially toxic debris and protect people from contamination.

New research from the International Space Station reveals that in near weightless conditions, both bacteriophages and their *E. coli* hosts mutate in ways not seen on Earth. This unexpected finding not only deepens our understanding of how microbial life adapts to extreme environments but has already yielded practical benefits. Some of the mutations discovered in space dwelling viruses led researchers to create superior viruses that specifically infect and kill bacteria, capable of fighting drug resistant bacterial infections back on Earth.

Astronomers may have finally cracked one of the universe’s biggest mysteries: how black holes grew so enormous so fast after the Big Bang. New simulations show that early, chaotic galaxies created perfect conditions for small “baby” black holes to go on extreme growth spurts, devouring gas at astonishing rates. These feeding frenzies allowed modest black holes—once thought too puny to matter—to balloon into monsters tens of thousands of times the Sun’s mass.

As we continue the search for life outside of the Earth, it helps if we have a clear picture of where life might be. This is all a probability game, but that’s the point – to maximize the chance of finding the biosignatures of life. One limitation of this search, however, is that we have only one example of life and a living ecosystem – Earth. Life may take many different forms and therefore exist in what we would consider exotic environments.

That aside, it seems a good bet that life is more likely in locations where liquid water is possible, and therefore liquid water is a reasonable marker for habitability. When we talk about the habitable zone of stars, that is what we are talking about – the distance from the star where it is possible for liquid water to exist on the surface of planets. There are more variables than just the temperature of the star, however. The composition of the atmosphere also matters. High concentrations of CO2, for example, extend the habitable zone outward. There is therefore a conservative habitable zone, and then a more generous one allowing for compensating factors.

A new paper wishes to extend the conservative habitable zone further, specifically around M and K class dwarfs. K-dwarfs, or orange stars, are likely already the best candidates for life. They are bright and hot enough to support liquid water and photosynthesis, they emit less harmful radiation than red (M) dwarfs, and live a relatively long time, 15-70 billion years. They also comprise about 12% of all main sequence stars. Yellow stars like our sun are also good for life, but have a shorter lifespan (10 billion years) and make up only about 6% of main sequence stars.

There has been a lot of speculation about the habitability of red dwarfs, mostly because they make up about 70% of the stars in the Milky Way. Therefore they dramatically change the number of star systems that are candidates for life. Most of the time that you see a headline about a new study increasing or decreased the possibility of life in the galaxy, it’s a good bet it’s about red dwarf stars. Research has gone back and forth about this question, but overall I think the probability is quite low.

The biggest problem with red dwarfs is that they emit a lot of radiation, enough to blast the atmosphere of any planet in the habitable zone away. They do settle down when they get older, however. This means if a planet wanders into the inner stellar system after the star has calmed down, it may keep its atmosphere. Or a planet may reconstitute its atmosphere later in life. But this this means far fewer candidates, and these events are less likely.

Another recent paper also was pretty down of red dwarf life. The researchers calculate that while the light from red dwarfs was enough to support photosynthesis, it is not enough to support complex life. So if there were life on planets around red dwarfs, they would likely only be microbes. That’s still exciting, but, you know.

The new paper is about another feather of red dwarf planets in the habitable zone that is also problematic. In order to be close enough to be hot enough for liquid water, a planet would also likely be tidally locked. This means it would show the same face to the sun at all times, with the near side boiling and the far side freezing. A lot of attention is therefore paid to the terminus, the zone around the middle between too hot and too cold that is just right. But would this be enough to support life, and what would conditions be like there? What the new paper explores is the heat distribution on such planets. They find that heat could travel from the near side to the far side in sufficient amounts to allow for liquid water, even on the far side of the planet.

What this does is extend the habitable zone inward, closer to the star, where it is too hot on the near side and perhaps even in the terminus, but, they argue, could be habitable on the far side of the tidally locked planet.

They also argue that the conservative habitable zone may be extended outward, because there could be liquid water beneath an entirely frozen surface. This did not sound like news to me, however – because of Europa and Enceladus. We already know that icy worlds outside the conservative habitable zone can contain liquid water beneath the surface. On these worlds like would need to be mostly chemosynthetic, deriving its energy from chemical reactions rather than sunlight.

While the paper is interesting, it seems like a tweak to our existing models. I also don’t think (unlike as some flashy headlines imply) that this has a significant effect on the probability of life and therefore the amount of life in the galaxy. It basically means there may be some outlier planets that manage to have life despite being outside a conservative habitable zone. In any case, we should not expect any civilizations on these worlds. At most we might find some extremophile microbes.

Another way to look at this is (again, since we are playing the probability game), every time we identify a challenge to habitability, even if it can be theoretically overcome, the number of potential worlds that have overcome it is reduced. So now, in order to have life on a planet around an M-dwarf, we need for it to have migrated in later in life, or reconstituted an atmosphere, be able to eke out photosynthesis with low energy light, and hunker down in the liminal spaces between hot and frozen death. Such planets also likely need a strong magnetic field to protect from even the later-stage radiation from M-dwarfs.

Sure, we may find such life. But it still means that 70% of the stars in our galaxy are poor candidates for life, and at most may host some microbes. Orange stars, meanwhile, are a much better candidate. They are probably the sweet spot for life.

The post Rethinking the Habitable Zone first appeared on NeuroLogica Blog.

Last week was a hellscape for vaccines, with a RICO lawsuit against the AAP and the newly antivax CDC coming for your HPV and polio vaccines.

The post RFK Jr. is definitely coming for your vaccines (part 7): What, me worry (about polio and HPV)? first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.

Webb’s latest image of the Helix Nebula reveals a dramatic close-up of a dying star shedding its outer layers. The detailed view highlights glowing knots of gas shaped by fast-moving stellar winds colliding with older material. Changes in color trace a shift from scorching hot gas near the center to cooler regions farther out. The scene captures how stellar death helps supply the building blocks for future worlds.

Researchers have demonstrated that quantum entanglement can link atoms across space to improve measurement accuracy. By splitting an entangled group of atoms into separate clouds, they were able to measure electromagnetic fields more precisely than before. The technique takes advantage of quantum connections acting at a distance. It could enhance tools such as atomic clocks and gravity sensors.

Researchers have demonstrated that quantum entanglement can link atoms across space to improve measurement accuracy. By splitting an entangled group of atoms into separate clouds, they were able to measure electromagnetic fields more precisely than before. The technique takes advantage of quantum connections acting at a distance. It could enhance tools such as atomic clocks and gravity sensors.

Solar geoengineering could halve the economic cost of climate change, but stopping it would cause temperatures to rebound sharply, leading to greater damage than unabated global warming

Columnist Helen Thomson investigates the neurological benefits of saunas, and how heat therapy can have anti-inflammatory effects throughout the body

Despite its small size, Mars seems to have a huge impact on the orbital cycles that govern Earth’s climate, especially those that cause ice ages

The Circinus Galaxy, a galaxy about 13 million light-years away, contains an active supermassive black hole that continues to influence its evolution. The largest source of infrared light from the region closest to the black hole itself was thought to be outflows, or streams of superheated matter that fire outward.

We’re not going to have a political discussion today, which can apparently lead to a website version of a fractious Thanksgiving dinner involving a family with sharply different political views. Instead, marvel here at the courage of two aged Japanese ladies, whose job is to catch deadly sea snakes—to make soup. It’s shown in the four-minute BBC video below.

Now all banded sea snakes are highly toxic, and are the kraits (genus Bungarus). Although bitten victims can be treated with antivenom, mortality from some species can be as high as 80% in untreated victims (age of victim and time until treatment begins are crucial). The venoms are neurotoxic and the symptoms are dire.

The snakes being hunted in this video, are probably the black-banded sea krait (Laticauda semifasciata), and they’re caught for food. From Wikipedia:

Black-banded sea krait venom is reportedly ten times stronger than that of a cobra; however, as with the vast majority of venomous snake species, the black-banded sea krait generally does not aggressively strike at humans unless it is cornered or threatened (or otherwise maliciously provoked), preferring to conserve its energy and venom supplies for hunting purposes, reacting defensively only as a very last resort.

Despite its potent venom, which is concentrated in the snake’s venom glands (behind the eyes), the meat of the erabu snake is a winter staple food in southern Japan, where it is believed to replenish a female’s womanhood or increase fertility. Irabu soup, or irabu-jiru (ja:イラブー汁), is said to taste like miso and a bit like tuna. This dish was a favorite of the royal court of the Ryukyu Kingdom; it is thought to have analeptic properties.

During certain warm years, the sea snakes are drawn en masse to the sea caves and tide pools of the coastal Ryukyu cliffs, in search of fresh water to drink and possibly to mate. It is in these cryptic spots where, by cover of darkness (and usually guided only by lantern light), elderly women—who are the most experienced at preparing irabu-jiru—explore the dangerous caverns in pursuit of black-banded sea kraits, which the ladies catch with their bare hands. Some areas may contain hundreds of the snakes, some engaged in active breeding balls, yet the women hike through the caves barefoot or with minimal protective gear. As with the handling of any venomous snake species, the sea snakes are grabbed quickly behind the head, as to avoid any potential envenomation. They are placed in a cloth bag, alive, and later quickly dispatched and prepared in a simple broth with kombu or other edible kelp, and possibly a bit of pork.

Look how they handle these snakes! Bare-handed, and no real protection.  Would you do this?

A massive new study comparing more than 100,000 people with today’s most advanced AI systems delivers a surprising result: generative AI can now beat the average human on certain creativity tests. Models like GPT-4 showed strong performance on tasks designed to measure original thinking and idea generation, sometimes outperforming typical human responses. But there’s a clear ceiling. The most creative humans — especially the top 10% — still leave AI well behind, particularly on richer creative work like poetry and storytelling.

Researchers have developed a technique that allows them to carve complex three dimensional nanodevices directly from single crystals. To demonstrate its power, they sculpted microscopic helices from a magnetic material and found that the structures behave like switchable diodes. Electric current prefers one direction, but the effect can be flipped by changing the magnetization or the twist of the helix. The findings show that geometry itself can be used as a tool for electronic design.

NASA is moving into a new phase of space exploration, with major progress across human spaceflight, science missions, and advanced technology. In just one year, the agency has launched multiple crewed and science missions, test-flown new aircraft, and pushed forward plans for the Moon, Mars, and beyond. With Artemis II set to send astronauts around the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years, NASA is laying the groundwork not just for a return to the lunar surface, but for a sustained human presence in deep space.

Falling space junk is becoming a real-world hazard, and scientists have found a clever new way to track it using instruments already listening to the Earth itself. By tapping into networks of earthquake sensors, researchers can follow the sonic booms created when space debris tears through the atmosphere, revealing where it traveled, broke apart, and possibly hit the ground.

A distant Sun-like star suddenly went dark for months, stunning astronomers who quickly realized something massive was passing in front of it. Observations revealed a gigantic disk of gas and dust filled with vaporized metals, swirling around an unseen companion object. For the first time, scientists directly measured the motion of these metallic winds inside such a disk. The findings suggest that even ancient star systems can still experience catastrophic planetary smashups.

As I’m occupied with another writing assignment, and because I’m trying to take a wee break from writing about news, as it’s so depressing, I’ll proffer this post to readers who want to weigh in on Minnesota.

As I’ve said before, I haven’t formed firm opinions about a lot of aspects of the ICE/military presence there and the clashes with protestors, and that’s because it’s hard to do so when you’re not on the ground seeing what happens in the street. Each side has its own videos and own interpretations, and it’s hard to figure out what is real and what is propaganda. It is clear that ICE has acted in a heavy-handed manner, that Trump is trying to punish that blue state, but it’s also hard to judge whether some ICE actions are defensible. Further, it’s clear that some of the protestors are, like Martin Luther King, Jr.in the Sixties, trying to provoke violence by the authorities as it helps their cause. That is civil disobedience, but for ICE the morality of the protestors’ cause is (to me) not nearly as clear as it was for the civil rights protests.  I do not favor open borders, but it seems like many of the protestors—like many Democrats in general—do.

At any rate, that’s all the opinions I have now, and they are subject to change. (I haven’t weighed in on what happened to Renée Good, except that there needs to be an objective and thorough investigation by both the federal government and Minnesota, with sharing of information by both). If ICE officers look like they committed crimes, they should go through the judicial process.

So, here are some questions to discuss, but feel free to say what you think about the situation in general. Remember, be civil and don’t jump down my throat for raising this issue.

a.) How heavy-handed is ICE acting relative to how they should be acting?  Should they even be there?
b.) It’s likely that the National Guard and the U.S. military will be employed if the protests continue. Is this justifiable? If so, is it proper for Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act?
c.) Is the violence being exacerbated by the protestors, or is it solely the result of ICE?
d.) Do you think the protestors really want no enforcement of immigration laws, i.e., open borders? Would that apply to every immigrant, including the criminals so loudly touted by Kristi Noem?
e.) Are governor Walz and Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey exacerbating the situation? Are they correct in calling for ICE to leave Minnesota?
f.) If you were President, how would you handle the situation?

. . . and so on.

Scientists are finding new ways to replace expensive, scarce platinum catalysts with something far more abundant: tungsten carbide. By carefully controlling how tungsten carbide’s atoms are arranged at extremely high temperatures, researchers discovered a specific form that can rival platinum in key chemical reactions, including turning carbon dioxide into useful fuels and chemicals. Even more promising, the same material proved dramatically better at breaking down plastic waste, outperforming platinum by more than tenfold.