A 46,000-year-old worm frozen in Siberian permafrost has been brought back to life, revealing new insights into survival in extreme conditions.
Many people who have spinal cord injuries also have dramatic tales of disaster: a diving accident, a car crash, a construction site catastrophe. But Chloë Angus has quite a different story. She was home one evening in 2015 when her right foot started tingling and gradually lost sensation. She managed to drive herself to the hospital, but over the course of the next few days she lost all sensation and control of both legs. The doctors found a benign tumor inside her spinal cord that couldn’t be removed, and told her she’d never walk again. But Angus, a jet-setting fashion designer, isn’t the type to take such news lying—or sitting—down.
Ten years later, at the CES tech trade show in January, Angus was showing off her dancing moves in a powered exoskeleton from the Canadian company Human in Motion Robotics. “Getting back to walking is pretty cool after spinal cord injury, but getting back to dancing is a game changer,” she told a crowd on the expo floor.
A woman can see nearly 100 million more colors than the rest of us.
This extraordinary ability, known as tetrachromacy, arises from a rare genetic variation that influences the development of the retina, giving her an extra type of cone cell capable of detecting a broader spectrum of light.
While most people have three types of cone cells, allowing them to see around a million colors, tetrachromats have four, enabling them to perceive a staggering range of hues that remain invisible to the average person. For this woman, the world is a kaleidoscope of vibrant, nuanced colors. Ordinary scenes, such as a pathway of pebbles, transform into a dazzling array of oranges, yellows, greens, blues, and pinks, while others see only dull gray.
However, tetrachromacy is not always a blessing. The overwhelming array of colors in environments like grocery stores can be distressing, as the sheer intensity of visual information becomes exhausting. She finds solace in the simplicity of white surfaces, which provide a rare respite from the constant flood of color. Tetrachromacy is thought to be exclusive to women due to its genetic basis. The genes responsible for red and green cone cells are located on the X chromosome. Women, with two X chromosomes, can carry different versions of these genes, potentially resulting in four distinct cone types. While approximately 12% of women may have the genetic potential for tetrachromacy, only a small fraction exhibit the enhanced color perception associated with the condition. Researchers identified the first tetrachromat in 2010. Since then, others have described experiencing a world filled with richer and more nuanced colors.
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Meta has unveiled the next iteration of its sensor-packed research eyewear, the Aria Gen 2. This latest model follows the initial version introduced in 2020. The original glasses came equipped with a variety of sensors but lacked a display, and were not designed as either a prototype or a consumer product. Instead, they were exclusively meant for research to explore the types of data that future augmented reality (AR) glasses would need to gather from their surroundings to provide valuable functionality.
In their Project Aria initiative, Meta explored collecting egocentric data—information from the viewpoint of the user—to help train artificial intelligence systems. These systems could eventually comprehend the user’s environment and offer contextually appropriate support in daily activities. Notably, like its predecessor, the newly announced Aria Gen 2 does not feature a display.
Meta has highlighted several advancements in Aria Gen 2 compared to the first generation:
The Bajau tribe of Indonesia have become the first known humans to genetically adapt to diving.
The tribe live an extremely amphibious life, and have now been proven to possess the genetic makeup to do so.
Living off the coasts of Indonesia for more than 1,000 years, the Bajau people live in houseboats, spending a high quantity of their lives in the sea.
Finland sets a record with this energy giant capable of powering 30,000 homes and revolutionizing electricity production
Posted in climatology, habitats, solar power, sustainability | Leave a Comment on Finland sets a record with this energy giant capable of powering 30,000 homes and revolutionizing electricity production
In a bold move towards a sustainable future, Helsinki, Finland’s capital, has installed the world’s largest heat pump, a groundbreaking piece of technology that has the capacity to power 30,000 homes. This ambitious project is a significant step in the fight against climate change, utilizing renewable energy sources to provide a reliable and efficient heating system even in the coldest of winters. In this article, we’ll explore how this technological marvel works, its environmental impact, and the potential it has to change energy production on a global scale.
Helsinki’s heat pump represents a major breakthrough in energy technology. The system works by transferring heat from a colder environment to a warmer one, ensuring maximum energy efficiency. One of the most impressive features of this heat pump is its use of carbon dioxide as a refrigerant, which allows the pump to generate heat at temperatures of up to 90°C.
A standout innovation is the oil-free compressor, a key component that ensures the system operates efficiently while minimizing its environmental footprint. This marks the first time such a system has been implemented on this scale, reinforcing Finland’s commitment to adopting sustainable solutions for energy production. By using renewable energy sources like wind and solar power, this heat pump reduces the need for fossil fuels and helps Finland move towards a more sustainable energy future.
Among the roughly 10 billion white dwarf stars in the Milky Way galaxy, a greater number than previously expected could provide a stellar environment hospitable to life-supporting exoplanets, according to astronomers at the University of California, Irvine.
In a paper published recently in The Astrophysical Journal, a research team led by Aomawa Shields, UC Irvine associate professor of physics and astronomy, share the results of a study comparing the climates of exoplanets at two different stars.
One is a hypothetical white dwarf that’s passed through much of its life cycle and is on a slow path to stellar death. The other subject is Kepler-62, a “main sequence” star at a similar phase in its evolution as our sun.
