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Scientists have discovered key conditions needed for a stellar black hole to create plasma jets. Their findings show that when superheated gas material experiences a rapid shrinkage towards the black hole, jet formation occurs.

Titanium micro-particles in the oral mucosa around dental implants are common. This is shown in a new study which also identified 14 genes that may be affected by these particles.

Researchers analyzed trade-related risks to energy security across 1,092 scenarios for cutting carbon emissions by 2060. They found that swapping out dependence on imported fossil fuels for increased dependence on critical minerals for clean energy would improve security for most nations -- including the U.S., if it cultivates new trade partners.

Nanoplastics are an increasing threat to the ecosystem; however, their mobility in the soil is still underexplored. Against this backdrop, researchers investigated the adsorption and aggregation behavior of nanoplastics in different types of soil under different pH conditions. The study offers new perspectives on the migration and environmental interactions of nanoplastics, while broadening our knowledge of pollution dynamics and soil contamination processes.

Cancer diagnoses traditionally require invasive or labor-intensive procedures such as tissue biopsies. Now, research reveals a method that uses pulsed infrared light to identify molecular profiles in blood plasma that could indicate the presence of certain common cancers. In this proof-of-concept study, blood plasma from more than 2,000 people was analyzed to link molecular patterns to lung cancer, extrapolating a potential 'cancer fingerprint.'

Wear and tear on plastic products releases small to nearly invisible plastic particles, which could impact people's health when consumed or inhaled. To make these particles biodegradable, researchers created plastics from plant starch instead of petroleum. An initial study shows how animals consuming particles from this alternative material developed health problems such as liver damage and gut microbiome imbalances.

Iron and its alloys, such as steel and cast iron, dominate the modern world, and there's growing demand for iron-derived products. Traditionally, blast furnaces transform iron ore into purified elemental metal, but the process requires a lot of energy and emits air pollution. Now, researchers report that they've developed a cleaner method to extract iron from a synthetic iron ore using electrochemistry, which they say could become cost-competitive with blast furnaces.

American Sign Language (ASL) recognition systems often struggle with accuracy due to similar gestures, poor image quality and inconsistent lighting. To address this, researchers developed a system that translates gestures into text with 98.2% accuracy, operating in real time under varying conditions. Using a standard webcam and advanced tracking, it offers a scalable solution for real-world use, with MediaPipe tracking 21 keypoints on each hand and YOLOv11 classifying ASL letters precisely.

American Sign Language (ASL) recognition systems often struggle with accuracy due to similar gestures, poor image quality and inconsistent lighting. To address this, researchers developed a system that translates gestures into text with 98.2% accuracy, operating in real time under varying conditions. Using a standard webcam and advanced tracking, it offers a scalable solution for real-world use, with MediaPipe tracking 21 keypoints on each hand and YOLOv11 classifying ASL letters precisely.

The NASA/ESA Solar Orbiter recently recorded the highest-ever concentration of a rare helium isotope (3He) emitted from the Sun. A Southwest Research Institute-led team of scientists sought the source of this unusual occurrence to better understand the mechanisms that drive solar energetic particles (SEPs) that permeate our solar system. SEPs are high-energy, accelerated particles including protons, electrons and heavy ions associated with solar events like flares and coronal mass ejections.

The rapidly increasing data traffic is placing ever greater demands on the capacity of communication systems. A research team now introduces a new amplifier that enables the transmission of ten times more data per second than those of current fiber-optic systems. This amplifier, which fits on a small chip, holds significant potential for various critical laser systems, including those used in medical diagnostics and treatment.

The rapidly increasing data traffic is placing ever greater demands on the capacity of communication systems. A research team now introduces a new amplifier that enables the transmission of ten times more data per second than those of current fiber-optic systems. This amplifier, which fits on a small chip, holds significant potential for various critical laser systems, including those used in medical diagnostics and treatment.

Rsearchers have developed the first wearable device for measuring gases emitted from and absorbed by the skin. By analyzing these gases, the device offers an entirely new way to assess skin health, including monitoring wounds, detecting skin infections, tracking hydration levels, quantifying exposure to harmful environmental chemicals and more.

Preparing catalysts by sending hot, steamy car exhaust over them could improve their efficiency and reduce the amount of rare and expensive metals required in vehicle catalytic converters and many other emission control and industrial processes.

A research team has developed an advanced delivery system that transports gene-editing tools based on the CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing system into living cells with significantly greater efficiency than before. Their technology, ENVLPE, uses engineered non-infectious virus-like particles to precisely correct defective genes -- demonstrated successfully in living mouse models that are blind due to a mutation. This system also holds promise for advancing cancer therapy by enabling precise genetic manipulation of engineered immune cells making them more universally compatible and thus more accessible for a larger group of cancer patients.

Today’s Jesus and Mo strip, called “well2”, is a reboot, and came with this note: “A resurrection today from 2007. Poor Twelfth Imam! Let’s hope he’s got plenty of reading material.

Yep, there has been a long wait. As Wikipedia says of Muhammad al-Mahdi, the Twelfth Imam:

Muhammad al-Mahdi (Arabic: محمد بن الحسن المهدي, romanized: Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Mahdī) is believed by the Twelver Shia to be the last of the Twelve Imams and the eschatological Mahdi, who will emerge in the end of time to establish peace and justice and redeem Islam.

Hasan al-Askari, the eleventh Imam, died in 260 AH (873–874), possibly poisoned by the Abbasids. Immediately after his death, his main representative, Uthman ibn Sa’id al-Asadi, claimed that the eleventh Imam had an infant son named Muhammad, who was kept hidden from the public out of fear of Abbasid persecution. Uthman also claimed to represent Muhammad, who had entered a state of occultation. Other local representatives of al-Askari largely supported these assertions, while the Shia community fragmented into several sects over al-Askari’s succession. All these sects, however, are said to have disappeared after a few decades except the Twelvers, who accept the son of al-Askari as the twelfth and final Imam in occultation.

“Occulatation” is like religious hibernation, and according to Wikipedia the Twelvers constitute “about 90% of all Shi’a Muslims”, or number between 140 million and 180 million people. And, like Christians, they’ve waited a long time for their Messiah to appear. And they’ll wait forever.

Reader J Monaghan from Australia sends us some urban birds from his area. It must be nice to live in Oz and see these around your house! Monaghan’s captions and IDs are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them. 

Urban Birds

These photos were taken in my garden and neighbouring streets in the Lake Macquarie area of New South Wales, one of Australia’s largest coastal salt water lakes. As we live in a “bird corridor” with many native and introduced different birds, we have had to learn to co-exist.

Australian magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen). During their August to October breeding season they become  protective of their nests and young, swooping on and sometimes injuring unwary passers by. Cyclists resort to sticking plastic ties and pipe cleaners in their helmets to protect from direct injury:

Female Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) are an introduced bird. Several families live near a creek at the bottom of my street and we all slow down and drive slowly past them as they take their time waddling off:

Mallards are not particularly shy and are happy to visit. If we walk and talk slowly, they will hang around for quite a while:

Australian Wood Duck (Chenonetta jubata) are common in our area, particularly around creeks and parks, as have adapted well to the urban environment:

Eastern Rosella (Platycercus eximius). The only two photos I have of these birds, as not only do they rarely come out into the open but they are skittish and fly away at the sight of my creeping cats:

Eastern Rosella. My second photo, just before it took flight:

Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae, also known as the laughing kookaburra). A frequent visitor to my friend’s pottery workshop, where it checks out her latest creations. Their raucous call can be sleep shattering at 6am:

Little Corellas (Cacatua sanguinea). Increasingly common in urban areas and often seen feeding on lawns, shrubs and playing fields. They are very social and can be boisterous and playful with each other. These two stayed still long enough for me to photograph them:

Masked Lapwing (Vanellus miles novaehollandiae). May swoop during breeding season but rare actual contact (unlike the magpie!). They nest in small depressions in the ground, and sometimes beside roads or in the roofs of buildings. We have to take care not to disturb their nests, which may require mowing around them or relocating them if they are in a particularly unsafe place:

Masked Lapwing couple on guard duty:

Sulphur-crested Cockatoo (Cacatua galerita). These birds are highly intelligent and comical, using loud, raucous calls and screeches to call out to each other. They drown out converstion when a flock flies over, so best to just wait until they fly off again:

The Sulphur-crested Cockatoo on the right spotted me trying to photograph it, raising its crest in reaction to my threat:

 Australian white ibis (Threskiornis molucca). Though they have many names (Tip turkey, Dumpster chook, Rubbish raptor), they are most commonly known as Bin Chickens, due to their ability to survive in cities by scavenging our leftovers, as their wetlands have been increasingly lost.

Australian White Ibis. Wary enough of humans that I couldn’t get close enough to take a better photo of them but brave enough to take over the local dog park:

Astronomers are on the hunt for those in-between black holes, not the small stellar ones or the supermassive ones, but something right in the middle. Recently, a group of scientists spotted a star travelling at high velocity out of the globular cluster M15. This speedy star got kicked out about 20 million years ago and is now zooming along at an incredible 550 km/s, fast enough that it's actually escaping our entire Galaxy! The researchers think this stellar ejection might have happened because of some cosmic game of pool - basically a three-body interaction involving one of those middle-sized black holes they've been trying to find!

The search for life in our Solar System, however primitive, past or present has typically focussed upon Mars and a select few moons of the outer Solar System. Saturn’s moon Titan for example has all the raw materials for life scattered across its surface, rivers and lakes of methane along with rock and sand containing water ice. There’s even a sprinkling of organic compounds too but according to a new study, Titan can probably only support a few kilograms of biomass overall, that’s just one cell per litre of water across Titan’s ocean.

The core mission of SBM comes down to a few things – examining the complex relationship between scientific evidence and healthcare, exploring issues of how optimally to regulate health care and health products, and fighting misinformation. Over the years I think we have made some solid strides on the first category. The medical infrastructure has been trending increasing towards higher standards of […]

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