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First Insect Proven To Use Milky Way For Orientation Uses Its Superpower To Push Big Balls Of Poop

The sky at night. It inspires awe. It inspires thoughts of an existential nature: Who are we? Why are we here? And, perhaps most importantly of all, in which direction should I roll this big ball of shit? That is, if you’re a dung beetle.

“African ball-rolling dung beetles exploit the [Sun], the [Moon], and the celestial polarization pattern to move along straight paths, away from the intense competition at the dung pile,” wrote the study authors. “Even on clear moonless nights, many beetles still manage to orientate along straight paths. This led us to hypothesize that dung beetles exploit the starry sky for orientation, a feat that has, to our knowledge, never been demonstrated in an insect.”

Researchers send a wireless curveball to deliver massive amounts of data

Ultrahigh frequency bandwidths are easily blocked by objects, so users can lose transmissions walking between rooms or even passing a bookcase. Now, researchers at Princeton engineering have developed a machine-learning system that could allow ultrahigh frequency transmissions to dodge those obstacles.

Engineers Take a Closer Look at How a Plant Virus Primes the Immune System to Fight Cancer

A virus that typically infects black-eyed peas is showing great promise as a low-cost, potent cancer immunotherapy—and researchers are uncovering why.

In a study published in Cell Biomaterials, a team led by chemical and nano engineers at the University of California San Diego took a closer look at how the cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV), unlike other plant viruses, is uniquely effective at activating the body’s immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells.

In preclinical studies, CPMV has demonstrated potent anti-tumor effects in multiple mouse models, as well as in canine cancer patients. When injected directly into tumors, CPMV therapy recruits innate immune cells—such as neutrophils, macrophages and natural killer cells—into the tumor microenvironment to destroy cancer cells. Meanwhile, it activates B cells and T cells to establish systemic, long-lasting anti-tumor memory. This immune reawakening not only helps clear the targeted tumor but also primes the immune system to hunt down metastatic tumors elsewhere in the body.

Crafting the Perfect Bite of Meat

Israeli and Palestinian engineers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem develop novel metamaterials for the cost-effective injection molding of whole cuts of meat. Link to images: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1EIb0hFDVh67Lddqkmf4x…sp=sharing In a new publication in Nature Communications, Israeli and Palestinian engineers from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem pioneered the use of metamaterials to create whole cuts of meat.

Skyrmions as Active Matter

Pairs of skyrmions—tiny whirlpools that emerge in some magnetic materials—might be able to self-propel, a behavior reminiscent of that of active-matter systems such as motile bacteria.

In nature, the collective motion of birds and fish can generate impressive dynamics and unique structures, as seen in flocks of starlings and shoals of sardines. The science of active matter studies such complex behaviors across a wide range of scales and origins [1], and it has attracted growing interest over the past three decades. Active matter encompasses not only living things but also inanimate objects. Examples include active colloids [2] and active liquid crystals [3] that are able to self-propel—that is, move by themselves powered by internal energy sources. Now Clécio de Souza Silva and colleagues at the Federal University of Pernambuco in Brazil have suggested an intriguing addition to the active-matter catalog: coupled pairs of skyrmions, whirlpool-like spin arrangements that emerge in certain magnetic materials.

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