Lifeboat Foundation

The interplay between viscoelasticity and inertia in dilute polymer solutions at high deformation rates can result in inertio-elastic instabilities. We show how fluid elasticity has a nonmonotonic effect on jet stability depending on magnitude, creating two distinct regimes. The nonlinear evolution of these instabilities generates a state of elasto-inertial turbulence (EIT) with different spatiotemporal features than Newtonian turbulence. We use high-speed digital schlieren imaging and dynamic mode decomposition to quantify EIT and identify two modes of instability which can lead to a transition to turbulence at a lower Reynolds number with flow-aligned structures in the turbulent region.

Summary: Researchers mapped neural activity in an octopus’s visual system, revealing striking similarities to humans.

The team observed neural responses to light and dark spots, thereby creating a map resembling the organization of the human brain. Interestingly, octopuses and humans last shared a common ancestor around 500 million years ago, suggesting independent evolution of such complex visual systems.

These findings contribute greatly to our understanding of cephalopod vision and brain structure.

Insects, with their remarkable ability to undergo complete metamorphosis, have long fascinated scientists seeking to understand the underlying genetic mechanisms governing this transformative process.

Now, a recent study conducted by the Institute for Evolutionary Biology (IBE, CSIC-UPF) and the IRB Barcelona has shed light on the crucial role of three genes – Chinmo, Br-C and E93 – in orchestrating the stages of insect development. Published in eLife, this research provides valuable insights into the evolutionary origins of metamorphosis and sheds new light on the role of these genes in growth, development and cancer regulation [1].

Longevity. Technology: Chinmo might sound like a Pokémon character, but the truth is much more interesting. Conserved throughout the evolution of insects, scientists think it, and the more conventionally-named Br-C and E93, could play a key role in the evolution of metamorphosis, acting as the hands of the biological clock in insects. A maggot is radically different from the fly into which it changes – could understanding and leveraging the biology involved one day allow us to change cultured skin cells into replacement organs or to stop tumors in their early stages of formation? No, Dr Seth Brundle, you can buzz off.

Astronomers have mapped 39 interstellar clouds where high-mass stars are expected to form. This large data set shows that the accepted model of low-mass star formation needs to be expanded to explain the formation of high-mass stars. This suggests the formation of high-mass stars is fundamentally different from the formation of low-mass stars, not just a matter of scale.

High-mass stars play an important role in the evolution of the universe through the release of heavy elements and the shock waves produced when a massive star explodes in a supernova. Despite their importance, the way massive stars form remains poorly understood due to their rarity.

To better understand massive star formation a team led by Kaho Morii, Patricio Sanhueza, and Fumitaka Nakamura used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to observe 39 infrared dark clouds (IRDCs). IRDCs are massive, cold, and dense clouds of gas and dust; and are thought to be the sites of massive star formation. The team focused on clouds showing no signs of star formation, to understand the beginning of the formation process before young stars ignite. In the 39 clouds, the team found more than 800 stellar seeds, referred to as molecular cloud cores, which astronomers think will evolve into stars.

NASA will partner with SpaceX to make Starship space stations. This is part of NASA partnering with seven U.S. companies to make advanced space capabilities. SpaceX is collaborating with NASA on an integrated low Earth orbit architecture to provide a growing portfolio of technology with near-term Dragon evolution and concurrent Starship development. This architecture includes Starship as a transportation and in-space low-Earth orbit destination element supported by Super Heavy, Dragon, and Starlink, and constituent capabilities including crew and cargo transportation, communications, and operational and ground support.

Making Giant Space Stations Using SpaceX Starships

Each Starship has more than the volume of the International Space Station. They are also similar in size to the external fuel tank of the old Space Shuttle. There were many space station proposals based upon the external fuel tank of the Space Station. It will be easier to build with SpaceX Starships. The steel construction the SpaceX Starship makes them easy to weld, cut and modify. The SpaceX Starships will start being able to support astronauts.

In a new study, the scientists claimed to have found the answer to one of the most baffling questions in the history of humankind — ‘What came first: Chicken or the egg?’. The question has to date left everyone, from scholars to schoolchildren, stumped. However, scientists now claim to have discovered the answer.

As per the researchers from the University of Bristol, the early ancestors of reptiles and modern birds are likely to have given birth to live young and may have not laid eggs, according to The Times. The Journal Nature Ecology and Evolution published the study which detailed the discovery.

Scientists, along with researchers from Nanjing University, have challenged the belief which existed so far that hard-shelled eggs were the reason for the success of amniotes, which are animals whose foetuses are developed inside an amnion (membrane or sack) inside the egg.

They believe the process could take roughly a quadrillion years.

A team of astronomers discovered a star that is gradually crystallizing into an enormous diamond. Scientists believe it is at the beginning of a process that takes roughly a quadrillion years, a report from Space.com reveals. As the universe is 13.6 billion years old, no star has ever fully crystallized.

The discovery sheds new light on the evolution of stars as they gradually transform over time.

Continue reading “Astronomers observe white dwarf star transforming into massive celestial diamond” »

The interplay of quantum measurements and unitary evolution is expected to produce dynamical phases with different entanglement properties. An entanglement phase transition has now been detected with hybrid quantum circuits in a superconducting processor.

Previous morpho-molecular studies of evolutionary relationships within the economically important genus of honey bees (Apis), including the Western Honey Bee (A. mellifera L.), have suggested Out of Africa or Asia origins and subsequent spread to Europe. I test these hypotheses by a meta-analysis of complete mitochondrial DNA coding regions (11.0 kbp) from 22 nominal subspecies represented by 78 individual sequences in A. mellifera. Parsimony, distance, and likelihood analyses identify six nested clades: Things Fall Apart with Out of Africa or Asia hypotheses. Molecular clock-calibrated phylogeographic analysis shows instead a basal origin of A. m. mellifera in Europe ~ 780 Kya, and expansion to Southeast Europe and Asia Minor ~ 720 Kya. Eurasian bees spread southward via a Levantine/Nilotic/Arabian corridor into Africa ~ 540 Kya.