Science

Red specks in the early universe are puzzling astronomers, but a proposed explanation suggests they are the progenitors of supermassive black holes

Okay, my oil is changed, I have new wiper blades, car is lubed, all fluids checked, and my car is in pretty good shape for a 2000 Honda (still haven’t reached 90,000 miles). But I have stuff to do, and so you can enjoy this ZeFrank video (an old one): true facts about the duck. The most exciting part of the movie is, of course, the drake’s corkscrew penis.  This is an early ZeFrank video, so it’s short and there’s a dearth of science.

Meanwhile, Mordecai and Esther are doing well, and Esther is investigating windows for her nest. We think she’s picked one out now, and there is plenty of quacking, splashing, and diving. Tomorrow a Chicago Maroon writer will interview me about the ducks, and I hope they do a good article. I want the campus to learn about Esther and Mordecai so they are taken care of as a University asset. Students are already stopping frequently to gawk at and photograph our mallards.

Photosynthesising microbes in soil may increase their activity as temperatures rise, offsetting some of the carbon emissions expected to be released from peatland and permafrost

After nearly 36 years of searching, astronomers have finally confirmed Neptune has auroras, thanks to data from the James Webb Space Telescope

Mary Rasmussen lives in Chicago, but has photographed plenty of wildlife. Her photos are below, with her captions and IDs indented. You can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.

My Backyard on the Chicago River

My little yard in a lively neighborhood of Chicago backs up to a branch of the Chicago River. This is not the coveted motor-navigable part of the river. This part of the river is channelized, often clogged with debris, and across the river are canyons of apartment buildings. As a kid we rode our bikes to the river but were warned to stay out of it. It was considered pretty much an open sewer. That is changing.

From GROK: “Fish species that vanished from the river—like largemouth bass, bluegill, and even otters—have returned, with biodiversity surveys noting over 70 species now present, up from just a handful decades ago. The river’s still not pristine (urban runoff and legacy pollutants like PCBs linger), but it’s clean enough that people kayak, fish, and even swim in it—things unthinkable a generation ago.

So, yeah, it’s gotten a lot cleaner—less a sewer, more a living river. Still a work in progress, though.”

It is a hopeful sign of spring when the shopping carts are thawing from the ice.

Coyotes (Canis latrans) are pretty common here and they can make some real racket howling. This fellow is checking for spilled birdseed.

When there are no birds at the feeders and the yard is quiet I check for hawks. Cooper’s hawks (Astur cooperii) are frequent visitors. Sometimes they perch on the backs of our lawn chairs.

Lots of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) too. I saw this young deer a little after dawn eating my violets. They can easily leap over the chain link fences and go from yard to yard:

Eastern cottontail rabbits (Sylvilagus floridanus) eat almost everything. It’s good they’re so cute.

There is a family of raccoons (Procyon lotor) that lives in a hollow branch of a Cottonwood tree along the river. The branch overhangs our yard and makes for lots of entertainment.

It was over 90 degrees on this day and there were at least 3 or 4 raccoons in that branch. It must have been stifling:

American Crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) are often in the trees or on the power lines in the backyard. One day they were making such a fuss I went out to see what was happening. It was fledging season and I thought they could be upset about a neighbor’s cat moving through the yard:

The animal was moving so slowly through the grass that I went inside, grabbed my camera, and realized that it was not a cat. It went under the fence, turned around and stared at me. Not afraid. I checked the photo and realized it’s an American mink! (Neogale vison) They are making a comeback along the river. I’ve seen them twice in my yard since then:

This female wood duck (Aix sponsa)came last year to check for spilled seed under the feeders. I hope to see her and her mate this year:

Per Grok: “Urban wildlife diversity often surpasses that of farmland because cities, despite their challenges, are heterogeneous landscapes. They offer a mosaic of habitats—gardens, vacant lots, forest fragments, and even business parks—that can support a range of species, from songbirds to small mammals like foxes. Research from the last decade shows that urban areas can have higher or comparable mammal diversity to wild spaces, especially when green spaces are preserved.”

For fun I also asked Grok (X’s A.I. app) to create an image of my spirit animal. Grok checks the internet and creates an animal based on what it finds or information that I give it about myself. This is what it gave me. I’m not sure about the hat, but an owl is better than I expected. This was done with Grok 2. Grok 3 seems to generate less personal images:

I use a Nikon D500 camera with a NIKKOR 200-500mm lens.

A new review suggests that cranberries may in fact be effective at preventing urinary tract infections.

The post Cranberry Juice, Revisited first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.

A quantum algorithm for solving mathematical problems related to knots could give us the first example of a quantum computer tackling a genuinely useful problem that would otherwise be impossible for a classical computer

The rise of large language models like ChatGPT that can churn out computer code has led to a new term - vibe coding - for people who create software by asking AI to do it for them

The search for evidence of life on Mars just got a little more interesting with the discovery of large organic molecules in a rock sample. The Mars Curiosity Rover, which is digging in the Martian rock beds as it goes along, tested pieces of its haul and found interesting organic compounds inside them.

At hypersonic speeds, complexities occur when the gases interact with the surface of the vehicle such as boundary layers and shock waves. Researchers were able to observe new disturbances in simulations conducted for the first time in 3D.

At hypersonic speeds, complexities occur when the gases interact with the surface of the vehicle such as boundary layers and shock waves. Researchers were able to observe new disturbances in simulations conducted for the first time in 3D.

Bizarre parasitic wasps preserved in amber about 99 million years ago had trap-like abdomens that they may have used to immobilise other insects

Suppose humanity was faced with an extinction-level event. Not just high odds, but certain-sure. A nearby supernova will explode and irradiate all life, a black hole will engulf the Earth, a Mars-sized interstellar asteroid with our name on it. A cataclysm that will end all life on Earth. We could accept our fate and face our ultimate extinction together. We could gather the archives from libraries across the world and launch them into space in the hopes that another civilization will find them. Or we could build a fleet of arks containing life from Earth. Not people, but bacteria, fungi and other simple organisms. Seed the Universe with our genetic heritage. Of all of these, the last option has the greatest chance of continuing our story. It's an idea known as directed panspermia, and we will soon have the ability to undertake it. But should we?

What drives us to send probes throughout the Solar System and rovers and landers to Mars? It's not cheap, and it's not easy. It's because we live inside a big, natural puzzle, and we want to understand it. That's one reason. But the main reason for space exploration is to search for life beyond Earth. That our planet could be the only planet to host life is a disquieting thought.

A tiny magnetic robot which can take 3D scans from deep within the body, that could revolutionize early cancer detection, has been developed by researchers. The team say this is the first time it has been possible to generate high-resolution three-dimensional ultrasound images taken from a probe deep inside the gastrointestinal tract, or gut.

A tiny magnetic robot which can take 3D scans from deep within the body, that could revolutionize early cancer detection, has been developed by researchers. The team say this is the first time it has been possible to generate high-resolution three-dimensional ultrasound images taken from a probe deep inside the gastrointestinal tract, or gut.

Scientists have developed a new theory to explain heat transfer on advanced surfaces. The theory is critical to the researchers' work to develop innovative surfaces for applications such as harvesting water from air without electricity.

Every year, millions of tires end up in landfills, creating an environmental crisis with far-reaching consequences. In the United States alone, over 274 million tires were scrapped in 2021, with nearly a fifth of them being discarded into landfills. A study has now pioneered a technique for breaking down this rubber waste and transforming it into valuable precursors for epoxy resins. This technique offers an innovative and sustainable alternative to traditional recycling methods while significantly reducing rubber waste in landfills.

Proof-of-concept work uses unique, safe particles to remove microplastics in a single cycle.

It’s been almost 10 years since Breakthrough Starshot began funding research into interstellar missions. Back then, state of the art meant a tiny lightsail just 0.25mm across, skip forward to today and, following their funded research, a new prototype has been revealed measuring 60mm x 60mm and just 200 nanometres thick! We are not quite able to use it to hop to Proxima Centauri but the technology keeps advancing until that day arrives.