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Category: evolution – Page 8

How the distinctive folds in the brain cortex, seen in humans, whales, other animals, form

One of the defining features of humans is our brain’s remarkable capacity for language, planning, memory, creativity, and more. These abilities stem not just from our large brain size, but also from the folded structure of the brain’s outer layer, the cerebral cortex.

A new study, published in the journal Nature Communications, offers insight into how these wrinkles form, pointing to a range of contributing factors—including the number of early-stage , how they migrate during development, and the specific types of cells involved.

These findings may help guide future research into brain development, evolution, and health.

Asteroid Bennu Is A “Frankenstein’s Monster” Of Material From The Inner Solar System, Outer, And Beyond

Ryugu is another asteroid for which we have a sample, collected by the Hayabusa-2 mission. Despite their differences, Ryugu and Bennu also share similarities, and Ryugu, too, had plenty of organic materials, simply not as much of them.

Bennu’s parent body seems to have formed from a really different set of materials from across the Solar System, and it might have formed further away from the Sun, too.

“We’re looking at unique snapshot of the outer solar system at the birth of our Sun,” said Professor Sara Russell, planetary scientist at the Natural History Museum, and co-author on the paper. “Some of these grains have survived billions of years of solar system evolution almost untouched and can tell us more about the environment in which planets were born.”

A new perspective on how cosmological correlations change based on kinematic parameters

To study the origin and evolution of the universe, physicists rely on theories that describe the statistical relationships between different events or fields in spacetime, broadly referred to as cosmological correlations. Kinematic parameters are essentially the data that specify a cosmological correlation—the positions of particles, or the wavenumbers of cosmological fluctuations.

Changes in cosmological correlations influenced by variations in parameters can be described using so-called differential equations. These are a type of mathematical equation that connect a function (i.e., a relationship between an input and an output) to its rate of change. In physics, these equations are used extensively as they are well-suited for capturing the universe’s highly dynamic nature.

Researchers at Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study, the Leung Center for Cosmology and Particle Astrophysics in Taipei, Caltech’s Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics, the University of Chicago, and the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa recently introduced a new perspective to approach equations describing how cosmological correlations are affected by smooth changes in kinematic parameters.

Measuring a previously mysterious imaginary component of wave scattering

Inside the system, the light wave’s velocity typically changes; such a system is called a “dispersive medium.” In particular, the scattering matrix for a dispersive medium can provide the of the wave’s transition from incoming to outgoing—how long the wave stays in the system.

The time delay, in turn, provides scientists, engineers and technicians with parameters such as the phase evolution of quantum waves, the delay of a wave group in a fiber optic cable and the group delay in waveguides, among other quantities.

But what to make of the imaginary parts of the scattering matrix? In a 2016 paper in Nature Communications by lead author M. Asano of Japan, a group of scientists from several countries around the world recognized that for that meet certain requirements, the imaginary part of the scattering matrix—more precisely, the real number before “i,” the square root of-1—represented the “frequency shift” of the transitioning wave due to its passage through the scattering system. In particular, it represents the shift of the frequency in the center of the pulse (shaped as a Bell curve, a Gaussian distribution) of the incoming light pulse.

Voyager missed it, but now we know Uranus has a fiery secret

For decades, scientists puzzled over why Uranus seemed colder than expected. Now, an international research team led by the University of Houston has solved the mystery: Uranus emits more heat than it gets from the Sun, meaning it still carries internal warmth from its ancient formation. This revelation rewrites what scientists know about the ice giant’s history, strengthens the case for NASA’s upcoming mission, and offers fresh insight into the forces shaping not only other planets, but also Earth’s future climate.

A new study led by University of Houston researchers, in collaboration with planetary scientists worldwide, suggests Uranus does have its own internal heat — an advance that not only informs NASA’s future missions but also deepens scientists’ understanding of planetary systems, including processes that influence Earth’s climate and atmospheric evolution.

The discovery resolves a long-standing scientific mystery about the giant planet, because observational analyses from Voyager 2 in 1986 didn’t suggest the presence of significant internal heat — contradicting scientists’ understanding of how giant planets form and evolve.

Mathematical model reveals how collapsing matter and expanding voids shape universe’s evolution

A University of Queensland researcher has developed a new mathematical model to explain the evolution of the universe which, for the first time, includes collapsing regions of matter and expanding voids.

Theoretical study reveals failure of key quark-gluon plasma probe in low-energy region

According to theoretical predictions, within a millionth of a second after the Big Bang, nucleons had not yet formed, and matter existed as a hot, dense “soup” composed of freely moving quarks and gluons. This state of matter is known as quark-gluon plasma (QGP). Finding definitive evidence for the existence of QGP is crucial for understanding cosmic evolution.

Predicting the topological properties of quantum spin liquids using Rydberg atom lattices

Topological quantum systems are physical systems exhibiting properties that depend on the overall connectivity of their underlying lattice, as opposed to local interactions and their microscopic structure. Predicting the evolution of these systems over time and their long-range quantum correlations is often challenging, as their behavior is not defined by magnetization or other parameters linked to local interactions.

Scientists may have found the tiny DNA switch that made us human

Ultimately, HAR123 promotes a particularly advanced human trait called cognitive flexibility, or the ability to unlearn and replace previous knowledge.

In addition to providing new insights into the biology of the human brain, the results also offer a molecular explanation for some of the radical changes that have occurred in the human brain over the course of our evolution. This is supported, for example, by the authors’ finding that the human version of HAR123 exerts different molecular and cellular effects than the chimpanzee version in both stem cells and neuron precursor cells in a petri dish.

Further research is needed to more fully understand the molecular action of HAR123 and whether the human version of HAR123 does indeed confer human-specific neural traits. This line of research could lead us to a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying many neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism.

Ultrafast untethered levitation device offers frictionless design for omni-directional transport

Advances in technology have led to the miniaturization of many mechanical, electronic, chemical and biomedical products, and with that, an evolution in the way these tiny components and parts are transported is necessary to follow. Transport systems, such as those based on conveyor belts, suffer from the challenge of friction, which drastically slows the speed and precision of small transport.

Researchers from Yokohama National University addressed this issue by developing an untethered levitation device capable of moving in all directions. The frictionless design allows for ultrafast, agile movement that can prove to be very valuable in machine assembly, biomedical and chemical applications via contactless transport.

The results are published in the journal Advanced Intelligent Systems.

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