Magnitude 5.6 earthquake hits China's Xizang, GFZ says
The quake's epicentre was 10 km (6.21 miles) below the Earth's surface.
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Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Insomnia breakthrough as experts discover key 'driver' of the sleep problem that ruins millions of lives
Scientists have pinpointed why millions of people struggle to get a good night's sleep—and it's not lumpy pillows or a racing mind, the problem lies in their GUT. In a new study, published in medical journal General Psychiatry, researchers explored the link between nodding off and the presence of certain types of bacteria in the digestive system. Study lead Shangyun Shi, from Nanjing Medical University in China, concluded that there appears to be a direct link between gut bacteria and the risk of insomnia. Ms Shi used the data from 386,533 people with insomnia and compared it with data taken from two studies into microbiomes—totalling 26,548 people—who had 71 groups of bacteria in common. She concluded that certain types of bacteria seem to boost or lower the risk of insomnia, and the sleep disorder itself also seems to alter the presence of certain types of bacteria. The analysis revealed a total of 14 groups of bacteria were positively associated (1-4 per cent higher odds), and 8 groups negatively associated (1-3 per cent lower odds), with insomnia. Insomnia was also noted to have an effect on gut microbiome. It was linked to a reduction of 43 per cent to 79 per cent of seven groups of bacteria, and a more than four-fold increase in the abundance of 12 other groups. One group in particular, the odoribacter class of bacteria which is also linked to was associated with insomnia. High levels of odoribacter are linked with good gut help and lower levels of inflammation in the body, while lower levels have been observed in people living with diagnoses of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), obesity and type 2 diabetes. Ms Shi said her study further cemented the link between 'the effects of insomnia on gut microbiota, and vice versa', adding that they have a complex two-way relationship. Future treatments for insomnia could therefore include ways to manage levels of gut bacteria, including the use of probiotics, prebiotics, or faecal microbiota transplantation. However, Ms Shi noted that the study was not without limitations which needed further exploration. Firstly, all the study participants were of European descent. This is important to note as the make-up of the microbiome varies among different ethnicities and geographies. Furthermore, lifestyle factors such as diet and lifestyle weren't accounted for. These are known to have an effect the microbiome, and the interplay between genes and the environment, The NHS estimates that around a third of Britons experience insomnia, with a similar figure in the US. WHAT HAPPENS TO OUR BODIES IF WE STAY AWAKE FOR DAYS ON END? Failing to sleep for days on end can cause an array of symptoms and may even be deadly. Within the first 24 hours of sleep deprivation, the body's hormone levels change, leading to a rise in blood pressure, SLATE reported. By day two the body is no longer able to break down glucose properly, leading to carbohydrate cravings. A person's body temperature also drops and their immune system becomes compromised. Although no human has ever being reported as dying from insomnia, a 1980s study by the University of Chicago found rats died after 32 days of total sleep deprivation. It is thought the rodents' body temperatures dropped so much they developed hypothermia. Their immune systems may also have become so weak that bacteria normally confined to their guts spread throughout their bodies. Another theory is the animals became so stressed they died. One of the most famous insomniacs is the music teacher Michael Corke, of New Lenox, Illinois, who suffered from the rare disease fatal familial insomnia. He died aged 42 after an alleged six months of total sleep deprivation, however, it cannot be said for sure that insomnia is what killed him. But it is Randy Gardner who holds the record for the longest time without sleep. In 1964 while at secondary school in San Diego, the then 17-year-old stayed awake for 11 days and 25 minutes.
Daily Mail
7 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Scientists issue chilling warning about 'The Big One': Impending mega–earthquake on California's notorious San Andreas fault could be even BIGGER than we thought
It is predicted to be one of the most devastating earthquakes in history. And now scientists have issued a chilling warning about 'The Big One' – a mega–earthquake set to rock California 's notorious San Andreas fault. Experts from Caltech in Pasadena have studied a 7.7–magnitude earthquake that shook Myanmar in March along the Sagaing fault – a fault known for being eerily similar to San Andreas. That earthquake ended up rupturing a much longer section of the fault than scientists expected, killing thousands and causing widespread damage. According to the researchers, this suggests The Big One could also be even bigger than we originally thought. 'Future earthquakes might not simply repeat past known earthquakes,' said Jean–Philippe Avouac, co–author of the study. 'Successive ruptures of a given fault, even as simple as the Sagaing or the San Andreas faults, can be very different and can release even more than the deficit of slip since the last event. 'In addition, historical records are generally far too short for statistical models to represent the full range of possible earthquakes and eventual patterns in earthquake recurrence.' The devastating earthquake hit Myanmar on 28 March 2025, killing more than 2,000 people, and leaving 3,900 injured. The quake occurred when a section of the Sagaing fault ruptured, causing widespread damage along a swathe of territory down the middle of the country, including Sagaing, Mandalay, Magway and Bago regions and Shan State. In their new study, the Caltech team used satellite imagery of the Sagaing Fault's motion to understand exactly what happened – and whether a similar incident could happen in California. 'This earthquake turned out to be an ideal case to apply image correlation methods that were developed by our research group,' said Solène Antoine, first author of the study. 'They allow us to measure ground displacements at the fault, where the alternative method, radar interferometry, is blind due to phenomenon like decorrelation [a process to decouple signals] and limited sensitivity to north–south displacements.' Based on studies of previous tremors along the Sagaing fault, the researchers expected that the earthquake would occur on a 186–mile (300–kilometer) section of the fault, where no large earthquakes had occurred since 1839. The satellite images confirmed that this was the case – but that the fault actually slipped along a total of more than 310 miles (500km). In fact, the 310–mile section shifted by a whopping 9.8ft (three metres) after the quake. So, what does this mean for The Big One? Well, according to the researchers, it suggests The Big One won't look like anything we've seen before. Previous earthquakes on the San Andreas Fault include a 7.9–magnitude earthquake in 1857, which ruptured the fault from Monterey County all the way to Los Angeles County. Meanwhile, in 1906, an earthquake began just offshore of San Francisco, before rupturing in two directions, towards Humboldt County and Santa Cruz County. Instead, a future rupture could result in smaller, separate earthquakes. Or, it could be even bigger than those seen before – rupturing the fault all the way into San Bernardino, Riverside, and Imperial counties, and reaching a magnitude of 8. The researchers now hope to use their new models to better understand what The Big One will actually look like. 'Physics–based models provide an alternative approach with the advantage that they could, in principle, be tuned to observations and used for time–dependent forecast,' Professor Avouac added.
Scottish Sun
a day ago
- Scottish Sun
New clues to mysterious extinct & ancient ‘Hobbit' humans that roamed earth 1 million years ago uncovered by scientists
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) SCIENTISTS have found new clues about a mysterious ancient human species - indicating they roamed around the earth a million years ago. The species called "Hobbit" was first discovered in 2004 when archaeologists searching a cave on an Indonesian island found a 60,000-year-old skull no bigger than a grapefruit. 6 Stone tools are pictured at the site where archaeologists found small, chipped tools, used to cut little animals and carve rocks Credit: Reuters 6 Archaeologists from Australia and Indonesia work at the site where they found small, chipped tools Credit: Reuters 6 A reconstruction sculpture of Homo floresiensis who lived tens of thousands of years ago Credit: Alamy And after some digging, archaeologists uncovered some very well-preserved fossil remains in the Liang Bua cave on Flores Island, Indonesia. The diminutive size of this new human species, scientifically called homo floresiensis, earned it the nickname "Hobbit". Shockingly, researchers believe the three-foot-tall hominin had survived until the end of the last Ice Age, some 18,000 years ago. That was much later than Neanderthals lived, later than any human species other than our own. But a new reseach has now found new stone tools that date back to at least a million years - near the place where homo floresiensis once existed. This suggests that the "Hobbit" species may have arrived far earlier than scientists previously estimated. The seven stone tools were found at an Early Pleistocene (Ice Age) site called Calio, located southern Sulawesi. Researchers from Griffith University and Indonesia's National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) dug up small, sharp flakes which early humans would have used as knives and blades. And through advanced dating techniques, the experts were able to confidently place the age of these tools at over 1.04 million years old. Gerrit van den Bergh, a vertebrate paleontologist from the University of Wollongong in Australia, told National Geographic: "At least one million years ago, there were tool-producing hominins on Sulawesi." Mystery Solved: The Story of 'The Screaming Woman' Mummy (1) Professor Adam Brumm, who led the study added: "This discovery adds to our understanding of the movement of extinct humans across the Wallace Line, a transitional zone beyond which unique and often quite peculiar animal species evolved in isolation." However, mystery still remains if the tools were used by "Hobbit" or members of a yet-undiscovered Human species. The homo floresienis were ancient humans that lived between 100,000 and 50,000 years ago. Adults stood just three-and-a-half feet tall and their brains were roughly one-third the size of our own, about the size of a chimpanzee's. 6 Researchers believed the three-foot-tall hominin had survived until the end of the last Ice Age 6 The Liang Bua cave on Flores Island where scientists found remains of 'hobbits' Credit: Alamy Scientists are still debating where they came from. One theory states the Hobbits may have arrived on the island from Java after being washed out to sea by a tsunami. Over time, they could have shrunk on their new island home – a strange yet common phenomenon known as island dwarfism. Their extinction happened around the time modern humans arrived, but the exact reasons are unknown. Who were the homo floresiensis? Homo floresiensis, nicknamed "the Hobbit", was a tiny human species discovered in 2003 on the Indonesian island of Flores. Fossils found in the Liang Bua cave revealed they were about 1 metre tall with very small brains, much smaller than modern humans. Despite this, they lived successfully on the island. They existed from around 100,000 to 50,000 years ago, at the same time as modern humans arrived in the area. They made stone tools, hunted small elephants and large rodents, and adapted to life alongside predators like Komodo dragons. Their ability to survive in such conditions was remarkable. Scientists are still debating where they came from. Some think they evolved from larger humans like Homo erectus, becoming smaller over time due to island living. Others believe they descended from much older ancestors. What's clear is that they were a completely unique species. The discovery of Homo floresiensis changed how we understand human evolution. It showed that brain size doesn't always equal intelligence and that humans were much more varied than previously thought.
