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Considering what’s known about their brain structures, sensory systems and learning capacity, it appears that cephalopods as a group may be similar in intelligence to vertebrates as a group. Since many societies have animal welfare standards for mice, rats, chickens and other vertebrates, logic would suggest that there’s an equal case for regulations enforcing humane treatment of cephalopods.

Such rules generally specify that when a species is held in captivity, its housing conditions should support the animal’s welfare and natural behavior. This view has led some U.S. states to outlaw confined cages for egg-laying hens and crates too narrow for pregnant sows to turn around.

Animal welfare regulations say little about invertebrates, but guidelines for the care and use of captive cephalopods have started to appear over the past decade. In 2010, the European Union required considering ethical issues when using cephalopods for research. And in 2015, AAALAC International, an international accreditation organization for ethical animal research, and the Federation of European Laboratory Animal Science Associations promoted guidelines for the care and use of cephalopods in research. The U.S. National Institutes of Health is currently considering similar guidelines.

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A Chinese robotics firm has started mass-producing humanoid robots for general use, while its US counterparts, like Tesla, are aiming for such a feat in 2026.

Agibot, or Zhiyuan Robotics, showcased footage of its manufacturing facility on its official website and revealed that it’s on course to produce 1,000 units by the end of the year, according to a Chinese online news outlet.

Founded in February 2023 by Peng Zhihui, a former participant in Huawei’s “Genius Youth” program, the Shanghai-based startup launched its first humanoid robot model, the Raise A1, in August 2023.

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Demographers estimate that in premodern societies, out of every 1,000 babies born, about 300 died before reaching their first birthday. Most of those infants succumbed to infectious diseases and malnutrition.

By 1900, infant mortality rates had fallen to approximately 140 per 1,000 live births in modernizing countries, such as the United Kingdom and the United States. Infant mortality rates in the two countries continued to fall to about 56 per 1,000 live births in 1935 and down to about 30 per 1,000 live births by 1950. In 2017, the UK and U.S. infant mortality rates were, respectively, 3.8 and 5.9 per 1,000 live births. Since 1900, in other words, infant mortality in those two countries has fallen by more than 95 percent.

In the past few decades, infant mortality rates have been falling steeply in the rest of the world. The World Health Organization estimates that the global infant mortality rate was just under 160 per 1,000 live births in 1950. By 1990, the agency reports that the global infant mortality rate had dropped to 64.8 per 1,000 live births. In 2017, the global infant mortality rate was down to 29.4 per 1,000 live births, about the level of the United Kingdom and the United States in 1950.

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Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/seanmcarroll.
Blog post with audio player, show notes, and transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2023/06/19/240-…-universe/

It’s somewhat amazing that cosmology, the study of the universe as a whole, can make any progress at all. But it has, especially so in recent decades. Partly that’s because nature has been kind to us in some ways: the universe is quite a simple place on large scales and at early times. Another reason is a leap forward in the data we have collected, and in the growing use of a powerful tool: computer simulations. I talk with cosmologist Andrew Pontzen on what we know about the universe, and how simulations have helped us figure it out. We also touch on hot topics in cosmology (early galaxies discovered by JWST) as well as philosophical issues (are simulations data or theory?).

Andrew Pontzen received his Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of Cambridge. He is currently Professor of Cosmology at University College London. In addition to his research in cosmology, he frequently writes popular articles and appears in science documentaries. His new book is The Universe in a Box: Simulations and the Quest to Code the Cosmos.

Mindscape Podcast playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrxfgDEc2NxY_fRExpDXr87tzRbPCaA5x.

Continue reading “Mindscape 240 | Andrew Pontzen on Simulations and the Universe” | >

One hacker has managed to recover over $2,000,000 for a man who forgot the password to his crypto wallet by breaking into the physical device in a ‘high-stakes’ hacking attempt.

Even in its infancy cryptocurrency was worth a lot of money, and it’s surprisingly easy to lose it all with one simple mistake.

Horror stories of people accidentally throwing away hard drives with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Bitcoin are more than enough to scare anyone away, and this particular video shows how close of a call it can be to recover otherwise simple information.

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There are various studies that have explored the role of the body’s circadian rhythm in regulating immune activity. Disruptions in the circadian rhythms exacerbate inflammation. Researchers from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) University of Medicine and Health Sciences have previously studied how the immune cells called macrophages are affected without an internal body clock. Now, new research by RCSI describes how macrophages work differently at various times of day and could pave the way for time-targeted treatments for inflammatory diseases. The research also illuminates a key role for mitochondria in driving daily changes in immune activity.

The findings are published in The FASEB Journal in an article titled, “Time-of-day control of mitochondria regulates NLRP3 inflammasome activation in macrophages.”

Macrophages release interleukin-1 (IL-1) cytokines in response to inflammatory stimuli, and the NLRP3 inflammasome mediates IL-1-family cytokine release via pyroptosis. Mitochondria play a multifaceted role regulating NLRP3 inflammasome activity. However, whether the macrophage clock regulates the NLRP3 inflammasome via mitochondrial control remains unclear.

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