Latest news with #FondaMwangi
Scientific American
19-05-2025
- Science
- Scientific American
Accidental Alchemy, Flamingo Food Tornado, and Kosmos-482 Lands
Kosmos-482 crash-lands, physicists turn lead to gold and animals show some clever behaviors. By , Allison Parshall, Fonda Mwangi, Jeffery DelViscio & Alex Sugiura Happy Monday, listeners! For Scientific American 's Science Quickly, this is Allison Parshall filling in for Rachel Feltman. Let's kick off the week with a quick roundup of some of the latest science news. First, an update on that doomed Soviet-era spacecraft Rachel mentioned last week. After spending more than half a century orbiting Earth, the Kosmos-482 probe made a crash landing on May 10. According to a post on the app Telegram from Russian space agency Roscosmos, the spacecraft crashed into the Indian Ocean somewhere west of Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. reports that other space agencies have estimated different landing spots for the probe, from locations on land in South Asia to stretches of the eastern Pacific. We may never know exactly where Kosmos-482 finally came to rest. In any case, we haven't heard any reports of falling space junk causing harm to humans, so it seems likely the object crashed somewhere out of the way. Now for some accidental alchemy. Despite the wishes of medieval scholars, there's no way to turn lead into gold, right? Wrong. Physicists at the Large Hadron Collider apparently did just that —very briefly, but still. The scientists published a description of this magical-sounding transformation earlier this month in the journal Physical Review C. On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. Here's how it worked: Scientists at CERN use the Large Hadron Collider to study the early universe by firing lead nuclei at one another at nearly the speed of light. Instead of smashing head-on, the nuclei usually pass very close to one another. In these near-misses, the powerful electric field from one nucleus can shake up the other. If the field is strong enough, it can knock out three protons from an incoming lead nucleus. Since gold has three fewer protons than lead, this transforms the lead into gold. The researchers estimate that 89,000 gold nuclei are produced per second during these experiments. That means that between 2015 and 2018—the accelerator's second run, which is when the scientists collected this data—the collider produced 29 trillionths of a gram of gold. Unfortunately for any prospectors at CERN, those atoms tend to get obliterated in about a microsecond. Nature reports that another CERN accelerator also observed this alchemical reaction during a 2002 to 2004 run. But because that experiment used less energy, less gold was produced. In public health news, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data released last Wednesday indicates a massive drop in overdose deaths between 2023 and 2024. In the 45 years that the CDC has collected equivalent data, the biggest one-year dip seen previously was 4 percent in 2018, according to the Associated Press. Deaths dropped from about 110,000 in 2023 to roughly 80,000 in 2024, which represents a nearly 27 percent decrease. The AP reports that experts mentioned several possible factors behind the drop, including the increased availability of naloxone for treating overdoses. It's important to note that, while this is promising news, we still have a long way to go. Overdose deaths are still higher than they were before the COVID pandemic, and overdose remains the leading cause of death for people in the U.S. between ages 18 and 44. If you don't already carry naloxone with you in case you encounter someone experiencing an overdose, consider looking into what resources your state and county offer for training and distribution. You can check out to find more information. We'll wrap up with a couple of fun animal stories. Let's start with flamingos. They're not exactly known for being very active. You're probably picturing the birds standing calmly in crystal clear water. But according to a study published last Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they're surprisingly busy just beneath the surface. Similar to the way spiders use webs to trap prey, the study authors say, flamingos create little water tornados to coax food straight into their mouths. First, the birds use their feet to churn sediment up. Then they jerk their heads up, turning those small whorls of sediment into vortexes. Meanwhile, the animals chatter their beaks to create even more water movement, pulling the swirling sediment into their mouths. From there, the flamingos can filter out tiny prey such as brine shrimp—but it seems like this filter feeding is a lot less passive than it looks. In other animal news, it turns out that chimps use leaves for everything from first aid to bathroom hygiene. In a study published Tuesday in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, researchers describe their observations of two different communities of chimpanzees in Uganda. The researchers identified numerous instances of 'self-care' using leaves, from dabbing wounds to packing them with chewed-up plant matter. The chimps sometimes offered this care to others, too. That's similar to behavior other researchers reported last year in orangutans over in Indonesia. Orangutans have also been seen applying juice made from saliva and the leaves of a plant with anti-inflammatory properties all over their bodies, which scientists suspect they might be doing to relieve joint and muscle pain. Plants seem to be part of a larger wellness routine for chimps, too: the scientists also saw them using leaves to clean themselves up after pooping or having sex. The researchers even described one instance of what they called 'prosocial postcoital penis wiping,' which means one chimp leant another a hand with intimate personal hygiene. While these aren't the first documented cases of first aid in nonhuman animals—or even in chimps, who have been seen putting smashed insects in their wounds, possibly for medicinal purposes—scientists are excited to see evidence that medicinal plant use might be more widespread than expected among our close relatives. That could suggest that wound care goes way, way back in our evolutionary history. That's all for this week's news roundup. Rachel will be back on Wednesday. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Naeem Amarsy and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by me, Allison Parshall, and edited by Alex Sugiura. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Subscribe to Scientific American for more up-to-date and in-depth science news. For Scientific American, this is Allison Parshall. Have a great week!
Scientific American
21-04-2025
- Health
- Scientific American
Public Health Focuses on Childhood, Magnetic Poles Once Wandered, and Colossal Squid Discovered
This week's news roundup covers measles and whooping cough cases, evidence of a carbon cycle on Mars and the first glimpse at a colossal squid in its natural habitat. By , Fonda Mwangi & Alex Sugiura Rachel Feltman: Happy Monday, listeners! For Scientific American 's Science Quickly, I'm Rachel Feltman. Let's kick off the week with a quick roundup of the latest science news. First, some public health updates. Measles is continuing to spread in the U.S., with 712 cases confirmed so far in 2025 as of April 11, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For reference, there were just 285 confirmed cases in all of 2024. The CDC has confirmed two deaths from measles this year and is investigating a third. Last week the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices met after its planned meeting in February was postponed. During the meeting last Tuesday a scientist leading the CDC's measles response said the number of measles cases is likely underreported. On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. But measles isn't the only illness that's increasingly putting kids at risk. Cases of whooping cough, or pertussis, are up more than 1,500 percent nationwide compared with 2021, according to recent reporting by ProPublica. Deaths from whooping cough are also on the rise. Caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis, whooping cough spreads easily between humans. Even people with mild symptoms can pass the microbe along, and the resulting illness can be much worse in vulnerable individuals like babies. While some infants will have cold symptoms, others may develop pneumonia and difficulty breathing. The best way to prevent the spread of pertussis —and to avoid serious symptoms—is with the DTaP or Tdap vaccine, both of which offer combined protection against diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis. The CDC recommends that all children get doses of the DTaP vaccine at two months, four months, six months, sometime between 15 and 18 months, and again sometime from age four to six. Kids should then get a Tdap booster from age 11 to 12. The CDC also recommends that people get a Tdap booster while pregnant—ideally between 27 and 36 weeks—to help confer immunity to their newborns. If you're an adult who's never been immunized against pertussis, you can get a Tdap shot at any age. You can also opt to get a Tdap jab when it's time for a tetanus booster in case your immunity against whooping cough has waned. According to ProPublica, vaccination rates among kindergarten students have fallen for measles, mumps and rubella; pertussis; diphtheria; tetanus; hepatitis B; and polio. In other public health news a new CDC study published last Tuesday shows a rise in the autism rate in children. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which is helmed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., put out a statement about the report that claimed it showed 'a persistent rise in [autism spectrum disorder] prevalence [and] an alarming escalation in case severity,' but this contradicts the conclusion of the study's own authors. The report suggests that rates of autism spectrum disorder are likely rising because early detection is improving, especially in groups that previously had less access to diagnostics. Kristin Sohl, who chairs the Autism Subcommittee of the American Academy of Pediatrics' Council on Children with Disabilities, told CNN that the results of the report were 'encouraging.' Looking back to simpler times, a study published last Wednesday in the journal Science Advances explored how ancient humans survived something called the Laschamp event. This incident about 41,000 years ago was a geomagnetic 'excursion,' which is where the Earth's magnetic poles move around. While the North and South poles didn't completely flip, they did kind of wander. The planet's magnetic field was much weaker than usual during this period. According to the authors of the new study, it was running at something like 10 percent of its current strength. Given that Earth's magnetic field helps protect us from cosmic radiation, it's likely that people were exposed to more UV light as a result. During this time Homo sapiens seem to have started using the naturally occurring pigment ochre more often, according to the study. Ochre has been shown to provide sun protection. The researchers also saw an uptick in humans' use of caves in times and places that solar radiation would have posed more of a threat. Speaking of cosmic happenings: another study from last week's Science Advances describes a planet with an unprecedented orbit. The story starts with a pair of rare 'failed stars' about 120 light-years away. They're both brown dwarfs, which sit somewhere between gas giants and small stars on the planet-to-star spectrum. Brown dwarfs interest scientists because they seem to form the way stars do, but they don't actually manage the hydrogen fusion that gives stars their light. Back in 2020 this couple made the news because scientists caught one of them eclipsing the other. Eclipsing brown dwarf pairs are really rare, and the passage of one star in front of the other helps scientists make certain observations to calculate their masses. Now this binary system is proving to be even more rare than we thought: it features a planet that orbits perpendicularly around them, instead of orbiting roughly along the same plane on which the brown dwarfs themselves orbit. That's never been seen in a binary star system before. Still in space, but much closer to home, scientists have found new evidence that Mars once had a carbon cycle. In a study published last Thursday in Science, researchers report that the Curiosity rover dug up a mineral called siderite when drilling the Gale crater. This mineral is made of iron and carbonate, and it indicates that carbon once moved through the Red Planet's environment similarly to how it does on Earth. That supports the idea that Mars once had a thicker atmosphere that could support liquid water. And speaking of making a splash, we'll end on a fun note with a very, very tiny colossal squid. The species, which was first discovered a century ago, has never been caught on camera in its natural habitat. Now, using a remote-controlled vessel at 1,968 feet [600 meters] below the surface, scientists have finally spotted a colossal squid in the comfort of its deep-sea home. This one is young, so it's only about a foot [30 centimeters] long. But it could grow to be as long as 23 feet [seven meters] in adulthood and might weigh as much as 1,100 pounds [500 pounds]. You can check out the footage for yourself on our YouTube channel. You'll find a link in our show notes. That's all for this week's science news roundup. We'll be back on Wednesday. Science Quickly is produced by me, Rachel Feltman, along with Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Naeem Amarsy and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Subscribe to Scientific American for more up-to-date and in-depth science news.
