Within this system, two young stars engage in an intimate celestial waltz, while a third star pirouettes around the pair. Enveloping all three stars is a fragmented disk of dust and gas, a cosmic canvas where future planets may take shape. This disk, unlike the one that gave rise to our solar system’s planets, comprises three loops, each with its unique contortions — a middle ring distinctly warped, and an inner ring playfully askew in relation to its companions.
Script Editing: Andy Popescu. Connor Hogan. Edward Nardella. Eustratius Graham. Gregory Leal. Jefferson Eagley. Luca de Rosa. Mark Warburton. Michael Gusevsky. Mitch Armstrong. MolbOrg. Naomi Kern. Philip Baldock. Sigmund Kopperud. Tiffany Penner.
The first study of bottlenose dolphins’ sensitivity to electric fields has found some can detect electric direct current (DC) fields as weak as 2.4 microvolts per centimeter, even better than the measured capacities of platypus. Although still less capable in this regard than sharks and rays, the finding suggests electroreceptivity may play a more important role in dolphins’ survival than previously suspected.
Dolphins have small pits rich in nerve endings on their face, known as vibrissal crypts. A 2022 study confirmedthese allow them to detect weak electric fields, but provided no indication on how weak that can be. It makes sense for species that live in murky rivers or estuaries to develop alternatives to seeing underwater, but for those dolphins that inhabit clearer waters such capacities might prove superfluous.
However, it seems even in their frequently crystal-clear waters bottlenose dolphins find electrosensitivity useful enough they have maintained it to a considerable degree.