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Submission + - How evolution explains autism rates in humans (phys.org)

Submitted by alternative_right
alternative_right writes: Researchers here investigated recently published cross-species single-nucleus RNA sequencing datasets from three distinct regions of the mammalian brain. They found that the most abundant type of outer-layer brain neurons, L2/3 IT neurons, evolved exceptionally quickly in the human lineage compared to other apes.

Surprisingly, this accelerated evolution was accompanied by dramatic changes in autism-associated genes, which was likely driven by natural selection specific to the human lineage. The researchers explain that although the results strongly suggest natural selection for autism spectrum disorder-associated genes, the reason why this conferred fitness benefits to human ancestors is unclear.

Answering this is difficult because we do not know what human-specific features of cognition, brain anatomy, and neuronal wiring gave human ancestors a fitness advantage, but the investigators here speculate that many of these genes are associated with developmental delay, so their evolution could have contributed to the slower postnatal brain development in humans compared to chimpanzees.

Submission + - Most Earth-Like Planet Yet May Have Been Found Just 40 Light Years Away (sciencealert.com)

Submitted by alternative_right
alternative_right writes: One of the worlds in the TRAPPIST-1 system, a mere 40 light-years away, just might be clad in a life-supporting atmosphere.

In exciting new JWST observations, the Earth-sized exoplanet TRAPPIST-1e shows hints of a gaseous envelope similar to our own, one that could facilitate liquid water on the surface.

Although the detection is ambiguous and needs extensive follow-up to find out what the deal is, it's the closest astronomers have come yet in their quest to find a second Earth.

Submission + - Beer drinkers are mosquito magnets, according to a festival study (phys.org)

Submitted by alternative_right
alternative_right writes: Researchers set up a pop-up lab in connected shipping containers in 2023, and around 500 volunteers took part. First, they filled out a questionnaire about their hygiene, diet and behavior at the festival. Then, to see how attractive they are to mosquitoes, they placed their arm into a custom-designed cage filled with the pesky insects.

The cage had tiny holes so the mosquitoes could smell the person's arm but couldn't bite them. A video camera recorded how many insects landed on a volunteer's arm compared to a sugar feeder on the other side of the cage. By comparing the video footage and questionnaire answers, researchers saw some clear results emerge.

Participants who drank beer were 1.35 times more attractive to mosquitoes than those who didn't. The tiny vampires were also more likely to target people who had slept with someone the previous night. The study also revealed that recent showering and sunscreen make people less attractive to the buzzing menace.

Comment What killed the web? (Score 2) 21

Centralization via mass appeal. PageRank is the ultimate weapon of its demise: whatever is popular, gets more popular, so social media and Wikipedia take over and independent creators are dis-incentivized to produce anything valuable. As a result, you get slop and now you get AI slop. "Enshittification" (a word for children) is what happens when the popular audience shapes tastes.

Submission + - Disposable face masks used during Covid have left chemical timebomb (theguardian.com)

Submitted by alternative_right
alternative_right writes: It has been estimated that during the height of the coronavirus pandemic 129bn disposable face masks, mostly made from polypropylene and other plastics, were being used every month around the world.

With no recycling stream, most ended up either in landfill or littered in streets, parks, beaches, waterways and rural areas, where they have now begun to degrade. Recent research has reported a significant presence of disposable face masks in both terrestrial and aquatic environments.

Subsequent chemical analysis of the leachate found medical masks also released bisphenol B, an endocrine-disrupting chemical that acts like oestrogen when absorbed into the bodies of humans and animals.

Taking into account the total amount of single-use face masks produced during the height of the pandemic, the researchers estimated they led to the release of 128-214kg of bisphenol B into the environment.

Submission + - Ultra-wideband radio observations unravel polarization mystery of millisecond pu (phys.org)

Submitted by alternative_right
alternative_right writes: Within our Milky Way galaxy, in the direction of the constellation Vulpecula, a cosmic "lighthouse" named PSR B1937+21 spins at an astonishing rate of 642 revolutions per second. It emits electromagnetic pulses that rival the precision of atomic clocks.

The researchers unveiled the radiation secrets of PSR B1937+21: the linear polarization degree of the main pulse decreases as frequency increases, while the interpulse shows the opposite trend; the circular polarization degree of both emission regions strengthens with rising frequency; and the main-to-interpulse intensity ratio follows a power-law spectrum with an index of 0.52±0.02.

The results confirmed that emission height decreases as frequency increases, which manifests as a narrowing pulse width. The results also suggest that the main pulse and interpulse likely originate from different regions within the magnetosphere. These findings provide observational support for the "relativistic beaming model."

Submission + - Couples Are More Likely to Share Psychiatric Disorders, But Why? (sciencealert.com)

Submitted by alternative_right
alternative_right writes: For those partnered up in a long-term relationship, studies have shown that different health characteristics can sometimes be shared across the couple – and that extends to psychiatric disorders, according to new research.

Based on an analysis of more than 6 million couples across Taiwan, Denmark, and Sweden, an international team of researchers found that people were significantly more likely to have the same psychiatric conditions as their partners than would be expected by chance.

Those conditions included schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), depression, autism, anxiety, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), substance abuse, and anorexia nervosa.

Submission + - Gains in Human Life Expectancy May Have Already Passed Their Peak (sciencealert.com)

Submitted by alternative_right
alternative_right writes: With the drastic increase in life expectancy seen over the last century or so, it's natural to assume that eventually we'll all be regularly living to 100. But a new study suggests that surge is slowing down.

The study comes from an international team of researchers who looked at population data across 23 high-income, low-mortality countries during the 20th century. Historical records were combined with six different forecasting models, primarily for people born between 1939 and 2000.

Here's the takeaway: gains in life expectancy are already slowing down significantly, and that's going to continue for the foreseeable future. Life expectancy will still edge up, but only at a rate about half of what it's been previously.

Submission + - Heart attacks may actually be infectious (sciencedaily.com)

Submitted by alternative_right
alternative_right writes: Scientists from Finland and the UK have uncovered groundbreaking evidence that heart attacks may be triggered by infectious processes rather than just cholesterol and lifestyle factors. Hidden bacterial biofilms inside arterial plaques can remain dormant for decades, shielded from the immune system, until activated by a viral infection or another external trigger. Once awakened, the bacteria spark inflammation, rupture arterial plaques, and cause blockages that lead to heart attacks.

Submission + - The Biological Rulebook Was Just Rewritten—by Ants (404media.co)

Submitted by alternative_right
alternative_right writes: Scientists have discovered a gnarly reproductive strategy that is unlike anything ever documented in nature: Ant queens that produce offspring from two entirely different species by cloning the “alien genome” of males from another lineage. This unique behavior has been dubbed “xenoparity,” according to a new study.

Submission + - Declawing cats causes them lifelong pain. It's time to ban the practice, says re (phys.org)

Submitted by alternative_right
alternative_right writes: Our findings, published in the journal Scientific Reports, were striking: we discovered that declawing causes long-term nerve damage, increased sensitivity to pain, and exacerbated mobility issues, particularly in heavier cats. These animals' nervous systems are overloaded from an early age and eventually become exhausted, which leads to chronic fatigue, hypersensitivity and decreased well-being.

In other words, declawing cats condemns them to a life of pain.

Declawing does not mean simply cutting the claws. It involves amputating the last phalanx of each toe, usually on the front paws, sometimes on all four paws. The operation is performed using a scalpel blade, a surgical laser, or sterilized claw clippers.

Submission + - Vicious Cycle Revealed: How Alcohol Helps Gut Bacteria Attack Your Liver (sciencealert.com)

Submitted by alternative_right
alternative_right writes: It's no secret that excessive alcohol consumption damages the liver, but a new study reveals a previously unknown vicious cycle that makes that damage worse. Chronic alcohol use makes it easier for bacteria to leak out of the gut and migrate to the liver, causing further harm.

The new study, led by scientists at the University of California San Diego, examined human liver biopsies as well as mouse models of alcohol-associated liver disease. The team found that chronic alcohol use impaired the production of a cellular signaling protein called mAChR4 in the small intestine.

Lower levels of this protein were found to interfere with the formation of what are called goblet cell-associated antigen passages (GAPs). These specialized structures play a key role in teaching the immune system to respond to microbes, particularly those that escape the gut into other parts of the body, where they don't belong.

Submission + - Microsoft's 6502 BASIC is now Open Source (microsoft.com)

Submitted by alternative_right
alternative_right writes: Microsoft BASIC began in 1975 as the company’s very first product: a BASIC interpreter for the Intel 8080, written by Bill Gates and Paul Allen for the Altair 8800. That codebase was soon adapted to run on other 8-bit CPUs, including the MOS 6502, Motorola 6800, and 6809.

The 6502 port was completed in 1976 by Bill Gates and Ric Weiland. In 1977, Commodore licensed it for a flat fee of $25,000, a deal that placed Microsoft BASIC at the heart of Commodore’s PET computers and, later, the VIC-20 and Commodore 64.

The version we are releasing here—labeled “1.1”—contains fixes to the garbage collector identified by Commodore and jointly implemented in 1978 by Commodore engineer John Feagans and Bill Gates, when Feagans traveled to Microsoft’s Bellevue offices. This is the version that shipped as the PET’s “BASIC V2.” It even contains a playful Bill Gates Easter egg, hidden in the labels STORDO and STORD0, which Gates himself confirmed in 2010.

Submission + - Switching Off One Crucial Protein Appears to Reverse Brain Aging in Mice (sciencealert.com)

Submitted by alternative_right
alternative_right writes: FTL1 was brought to light through a careful comparison of the hippocampus part of the brain in mice of different ages. The hippocampus is involved in memory and learning, and it is one of the regions that suffers most from age-related decline.

The study team found that FLT1 was the one protein in this region that old mice had more of and young mice had less of.

FTL1 is known to be related to storing iron in the body, but hasn't come up in relation to brain aging before. To test its involvement after their initial findings, the researchers used genetic editing to overexpress the protein in young mice, and reduce its level in old mice.

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