Polar bears are greasier than you think. Here's why
Polar bears might be greasier than widely believed.
The bears' greasy fur is the secret to the popular species' survival in one of Earth's most punishing climates. The grease, also known as sebum, is made up of cholesterol, fatty acids and compounds that make it hard for ice to attach to the animals' fur.
'The sebum quickly jumped out as being the key component giving this anti-icing effect, as we discovered the adhesion strength was greatly impacted when the hair was washed,' Trinity College Dublin PhD candidate Julian Carolan said in a statement following new research.
'Unwashed, greasy hair made it much harder for ice to stick. In contrast, when the polar bear fur was washed and the grease largely removed it performed similarly to human hair, to which ice sticks easily whether it is washed or greasy,' he explained.
Carolan is the first author of the new research, which was published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances.
A group of international researchers analyzed the fur of six wild polar bears. They then performed a chemical analysis of the grease.
In addition, they measured how well ice sticks to fur, whether water can be shed before it freezes, and how long it takes for water to freeze at temperatures on a given surface, comparing the performance of polar bear fur to human hair and specialist human-made 'skins.'
The analysis revealed a surprise: Polar bear sebum did not have an ingredient found in human hair and in the hair of other aquatic animals, like sea otters.
The finding suggests sebum's presence in polar bears is very important from an anti-icing perspective, they said, shedding new light on our understanding of the species.
'This work not only represents the first study of the composition of polar bear fur sebum, but it also resolves the question of why polar bears don't suffer from ice accumulation,' noted assistant Professor Dr. Richard Hobbs, who is also a Royal Society-Science Foundation Ireland University research fellow in Trinity's School of Chemistry and the AMBER Research Ireland Centre.
In the future, Hobbs, the senior author of the journal article, said the sebum could help humans to develop anti-icing coats that could replace toxic 'forever chemicals' like PFAS.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
Scientists see amazing star explosion like never before
Astronomers have discovered some of the largest explosions ever recorded in the in the journal Science Advances, experts say the blasts give out ten times as much energy in one year that our Sun will put out during its entire very advanced telescopes, scientists were able to see this new rare cosmic explosions which they have called 'extreme nuclear transients'. (ENTs).The explosions happen due to massive stars getting ripped apart by black holes. How do these huge explosions happen and how big are they? Extreme nuclear transients (ENTs) explosions occur when a supermassive black hole eats a huge star. The massive star is torn to pieces as it goes too close to the black hole. When this happens a huge amount of energy is released. One of these ENTs, which astronomers have named Gaia18cdj, released over 25 times more energy than the most powerful supernova ever discovered. The amount of energy it released is the same as 100 suns release in their entire lifetime! The project to discover what these explosion actually are has been years in the making. ENTs are rare and hard to find, but it is hoped that new upcoming equipment will help more of them be findings not only set a new record for cosmic explosions, but also open up exciting possibilities for future discoveries in the vast universe.
The Independent
5 days ago
- The Independent
How an everyday breakfast staple could help people fight ‘forever chemicals'
A new study suggests that consuming a fibre supplement derived from oats before meals could help flush out toxic forever chemicals, known as PFAS, from the body. PFAS are widely used in products like non-stick cookware and cosmetics and have been linked to health conditions, including decreased fertility and a higher risk of some cancers. The study, published in Environmental Health, found that a dietary supplement with beta-glucan fibre, found in oats, can bind to PFAS in the digestive system, potentially reducing their levels in the body. Researchers found a nearly 10 per cent decrease in two dangerous PFAS types (PFOA and PFOS) in participants who took the oat fibre supplement for four weeks compared to those who received a placebo. The scientists suggest that while the results are modest, the findings offer a first step in formulating a dietary intervention to remove PFAS from the body, but further studies are needed.
The Guardian
6 days ago
- The Guardian
Aliens, asteroid mining … and Mars births? Royal Society envisions next 50 years in space
Humanity must prepare for a sweeping revolution as nations and companies gear up to build moon bases, space stations and orbiting factories, and uncover evidence – if evidence is out there – that we are not alone in the universe. A horizon-scanning report from the Royal Society envisions a new era of space activities that will reshape the world, including clean energy beamed to Earth, robots that mine asteroids or recycle dead satellites, and manufacturing plants that circle the planet churning out products labelled 'Made in Space'. Prediction is difficult, especially about the future, but the report anticipates radical developments that will generate some of the most important technological and economic opportunities of the century. While some countries are well-placed to benefit, Britain lacks a clear plan and is at risk of missing out, the authors warn. 'We're not trying to predict the future, but these are the sorts of things that could happen,' said Sir Martin Sweeting, the report's co-chair and professor of space engineering at the University of Surrey. 'And if we think about them sooner rather than later, we'll be better off.' The Space: 2075 report aims to kickstart discussions on the possibilities and consequences of space science and technology over the next 50 years, so governments, regulators, businesses and the public can prepare. The implications are as consequential to today's industry, society and culture as the Industrial Revolution was in the 18th century, the authors write. Future advances in reusable rockets and spaceplanes may pave the way for factories that make products feasible only in microgravity and larger-scale facilities for constructing spacecraft that could never launch from Earth, the report says. Interplanetary space stations could be built in orbit and deployed across the solar system as desired. Existing industries may relocate into orbit. Power-hungry data-farms, for example, would benefit from plentiful solar energy and free cooling in space. Meanwhile, radical new technologies may emerge, such as satellites that capture solar energy and beam it efficiently through the atmosphere to ground-based receiving stations by converting it into microwaves or laser beams. The ever-increasing volume of space debris from spent rockets, defunct satellites and fragments from collisions and explosions is driving ambitions to recycle the junk. This would reduce collision risks and prevent the materials from polluting the atmosphere when they burn up on re-entry. As space becomes more congested, conflict becomes more likely, the authors warn, with nations and companies clashing over prime spots on planetary bodies, valuable orbits and critical radiofrequency bands. While the UK is strong on a handful of technologies such as Earth observation, communications and small satellites, it needs a 'clear national ambition' to keep up with the pace of change, the report finds. 'The UK government, the international community, and society at large need to comprehend, anticipate and be prepared,' it states. Ethical challenges are expected, too. Extremophile bugs that endure harsh environments on Earth could be engineered to make 'living tools' on Mars that convert natural resources into useful compounds. But what if those bugs colonise the planet and crowd out yet-to-be-discovered native microbes? Terraforming trials, in which patches of planets are engineered to be more hospitable to humans, raise similar concerns. And if humans move to the red planet? 'What happens if we end up with humans being born on Mars?' asks Sweeting. At several public workshops convened for the report, questions arose about alien life and how it should be handled should proof arise. One participant at a workshop in Wrexham marvelled at the number of galaxies in the cosmos. 'In all those galaxies, there has to be one planet to have something similar to a caterpillar,' they asserted. If aliens, caterpillar-like or otherwise, live nearby, we will probably know in the next 50 years, the authors write. 'I would hope that would bring nations together and say: let's forget about our petty arguments and think about the bigger issues,' said Sweeting, 'but that may be wishful thinking.'
