Tag: science

Out of Sight, ‘Dark Fungi’ Run the World from the Shadows

If you want to discover a hidden world of new life-forms, you don’t have to scour dark caves or slog through remote rainforests. Just look under your feet. When then-graduate student Anna Rosling went to northern Sweden to map the distribution of a particular root-loving fungus, she found something much more intriguing: Many of her root samples contained traces of DNA from unknown species. Weirder still, she never encountered a complete organism. When the field season ended, she had only isolated bits of raw genetic material. The fragments clearly belonged to the fungal kingdom, but they revealed little else. “I got obsessed,” recalls Rosling, now a professor of evolutionary biology at Uppsala University in Sweden.

Since then mycologists have realized that such phantoms are everywhere. Point to a patch of dirt, a body of water, even the air you’re breathing, and odds are that it is teeming with mushrooms, molds and yeasts (or their spores) that no one has ever seen. In ocean trenches, Tibetan glaciers and all habitats between, researchers are routinely detecting DNA from obscure fungi. By sequencing the snippets, they can tell they’re dealing with new species, thousands of them, that are genetically distinct from any known to science. They just can’t match that DNA to tangible organisms growing out in the world.

These slippery beings are so widespread that scientists are calling them “dark fungi.” It’s a comparison to the equally elusive dark matter and dark energy that make up 95 percent of our universe and exert tremendous influence on, well, everything. Like those invisible entities, dark fungi are hidden movers and shakers. Scientists are convinced they perform the same vital functions as known fungi, directing the flow of energy through ecosystems as they break down organic matter and recycle nutrients. Dark fungi are prime examples of what biologist E. O. Wilson called “the little things that run the world.” But their cryptic lifestyle has made it a maddening challenge for scientists trying to show how exactly they run it.

Taxonomists have described just 150,000 of the millions of fungi predicted by global biodiversity estimates, and recent discoveries suggest a huge portion of what’s left may be off-limits to routine biological investigation. “We have not even started to scratch the surface,” says Henrik Nilsson, a mycologist at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. “I’d be willing to bet that the clear majority will be dark.” Given the central place of fungi in the web of life that sustains us, experts argue we should get a better grasp on them.

Everything we know about dark fungi comes from environmental DNA, or eDNA. That term refers to strings of base pairs—the building blocks of DNA that are constantly sloughing off all living things. Researchers can analyze these free-floating bits of double helix to determine which species have been hanging around an area without seeing them. To identify fungi specifically, scientists look to a handy genetic marker called the internal transcribed spacer (ITS), which consists of several hundred base pairs that evolve quickly and thus help distinguish between species. Although the ITS is only a tiny fraction of the genome, researchers can single it out and amplify it with the same polymerase chain reaction technology used in COVID lab tests. If an ITS sequence is different enough from all others in genetic databases, it is thought to represent a new species, whether scientists lay eyes on its physical form or not.

At the turn of the millennium, eDNA sequencing burst onto the scene as a new way to discover species. Scientists suddenly found themselves awash in a “flood of data,” as David Hibbett, a mycologist at Clark University, and his colleagues wrote in 2009. That influx exposed the sheer vastness of dark fungi. Today, Hibbett says, “our understanding of the richness of fungal diversity is really being enlarged with these dark organisms.”

Every year researchers stumble on some 2,000 new fungi via the standard route, spotting them in nature or under a microscope. Yet a single eDNA study can register 10 times more dark fungi than that. As often as not, the fragments are among the most abundant DNA samples in their ecosystem. “I don’t think I ever saw an environmental sequencing study with less than 30 percent unknowns,” Nilsson says, and the ratio is typically much higher. Sometimes only a minority of DNA sequences can be classified at any meaningful taxonomic level, narrowing them from a kingdom (in this case, fungi) to a phylum and then to a class, and so on down to a species.

Keep reading

They Are Using Lab-Grown Human Brains Called “Organoids” To Run Computers

When I first started researching this, I could hardly believe that it was true. A company in Switzerland known as “Final Spark” has constructed a bizarre hybrid biocomputer that combines lab-grown miniature human brains with conventional electronic circuits.  This approach saves an extraordinary amount of energy compared to normal computers, but there is a big problem.  The lab-grown miniature human brains keep wearing out and dying, and so scientists have to keep growing new ones to replace them. 

Stem cells that are derived from human skin tissue are used to create the 16 spherical brain “organoids” that the system depends upon.  I realize that this sounds like something straight out of a really bad science fiction movie, but it is actually happening.

Scientists at Final Spark are calling their hybrid computer “the Neuroplatform”, and it is being reported that it only uses “a fraction of the energy required to power a traditional set up”…

Swiss tech startup FinalSpark is now selling access to biocomputers that combine up to four tiny lab-grown human brains with silicon chips.

This new bioprocessing platform, called the Neuroplatform, uses small versions of human brains to do computer work instead of silicon chips. The company says it can fit 16 of these mini-brains onto the Neuroplatform and use a fraction of the energy required to power a traditional set up.

The platform, currently adopted by nine institutions, integrates hardware, software and biology to construct a processing system that is energy-efficient and high-performing.

This “breakthrough” is being hailed as a way to save a gigantic amount of energy.

But what about the lab-grown human brains that are being enslaved to run the Neuroplatform?

Each of the 16 mini-brains is made up of approximately 10,000 living neurons, and they are kept alive by a “microfluidics system that supplies water and nutrients for the cells”…

Keep reading

CERN EXPERIMENT REVEALS “SPOOKY ACTION AT A DISTANCE” PERSISTS BETWEEN TOP QUARKS

Quantum entanglement in top quarks has been demonstrated, according to physicists at CERN who say the discovery offers new insights into the behavior of fundamental particles and their interactions at distances that cannot be attained by light-speed communication.

The research, led by University of Rochester professor Regina Demina, extends the phenomenon known as “spooky action at a distance” to the heaviest particles recognized by physicists and offers important new insights into high-energy quantum mechanics.

Initially discovered almost three decades ago, top quarks are the most massive elementary particles that have been observed. The mass of these unique particles originates from their coupling to the Higgs boson, the famous particle predicted in theory regarding the unification of the weak and electromagnetic interactions. According to the Standard Model of particle physics, this coupling is the largest that occurs at the scale of the weak interactions and those above it.

In the past, quantum entanglement has been observed in stable particles, including electrons and photons. In their new research, Demina and her team demonstrate entanglement between unstable top quarks and their antimatter counterparts, revealing spin correlations that occur over distances that extend beyond the transfer of information at light speed.

The findings present new challenges to existing models and expand our understanding of particle behavior at extreme energies. 

The experiment was conducted at the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN) as part of the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) Collaboration. CERN is home to the famous Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a device that propels high-energy particles at speeds nearing those of light across a 17-mile underground track.

Given the amount of energy required for the production of top quarks, such processes can only be achieved at facilities like CERN. The results of Demina’s recent study could help to shed some light on how long entanglement persists, as well as whether it can be extended to “daughter” particles or decay products. The research also may help determine whether entanglement between particles can be broken.

Presently, it is believed that the universe was in an entangled state following its initial fast expansion stage. The revelation of entanglement in top quarks may help scientists like Demina better understand what factors may have contributed to the quantum connection in our world becoming diminished over time, ultimately leading to the state in which our reality exists today.

Keep reading

Scientist wants to implant prisoners with ‘memories’ of their crimes that show the victim’s perspective

A scientist has unveiled a concept for a prison of the future that he has claimed would fast-track a criminal’s release to minutes, instead of years or decades.

Called Cognify, the design would implant synthetic memories of a person’s crime into their brain, but showing their victim’s perspective. 

The system could feature a VR-like device that displays AI-generated footage of the offence, coupled with a brain implant that induces emotional states like remorse or regret – feelings some individuals may not produce on their own.

The concept, developed by Hashem Al-Ghaili, would ensure the long-term effects of the therapy session by making the memories permanent.

There are more than 1.7 million people currently incarcerated in the US.

While officials have long said prison deters offenders from future crimes, more than 100 studies in 2021 found that it does not prevent people from reoffending.

With this in mind, Al-Ghaili is looking towards the future with a prison he claims will help criminals learn from their past.

Keep reading

Group of scientists and researchers seeks access to Vatican archives on the UFO phenomenon

A group of scientists and researchers are seeking access to the Vatican’s Apostolic Archives to uncover information about UFOs and the paranormal, believing there may be traces among the 50 miles of shelves that contain everything from handwritten papal notes to presidential missives.

The decades-long effort gained momentum in 2023 following congressional testimony by former U.S. intelligence official David Grusch alleging the Vatican’s involvement in an international cover-up of alien secrets.

Grusch claimed that Pope Pius XII “back-channeled” information to the United States about a crashed UFO recovered by fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.

“I don’t know where [Grusch] got this information,” Marco Grilli, the mayor’s secretary for archives, told Catholic News Service on June 11.

Grilli said the archives received emails asking about the veracity of Grusch’s claims, but compared them to requests to read personal letters from Pontius Pilate or the Virgin Mary.

“You can laugh at that,” he said.

However, discoveries like those reported in Diana Walsh Pasulka’s 2019 book “American Cosmic” suggest to UFO enthusiasts that the archives contain more than meets the eye.

Pasulka, a professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, said the archives are full of reports of paranormal events, such as nuns witnessing orbs entering their cells, flying houses and other aerial phenomena.

She argues that these events can be better understood as UFO-type occurrences rather than miracles as Catholics traditionally understand them.

“The historical record is full of these types of events,” she told CNS on May 30; “people in the Vatican don’t even know where to look; It’s in their basements.”

Keep reading

Experimental biosynthetic food to replace natural food is happening, now!

A comprehensive presentation by Kate Mason at the recent 100-year Biodynamic Conference in Australia cast light on the true extent of biotechnology experimentation currently underway and also on the techniques being used to deceive the public about its intent and scope.

For one hour at a staccato pace, Mason flashed document after document on the screen detailing the involvement of national and international government and corporate interests determined to alter the nature and content of our food supply. If you can manage it, it is a truly frightening watch. It spoke volumes about the need for the International Genetic Charter.

Wildly imaginative biotech projects are being sold to governments by corporations under the cloak of a glossy facade of virtue signalling using deceptive buzzwords like sustainable development, regenerative agriculture, increased resilience, climate-smart mitigation, crop surveillance, strategic development, the food and agribusiness green revolution, transforming and future-proofing the food system, zero hunger, innovation, the fourth industrial revolution, increasing consistency, nurturing the planet and feeding the world. Whew!!!

Biosynthetic food products are even being falsely promoted as more nutritious than organic food. None of this is backed by sound science. Although most, if not all, of these projects are doomed to fail and will ultimately disappear off the menu, along the way our taxes are being diverted to pay the handsome salaries of biotechnology schemers hungry for profit and fame and boost corporate profits. More importantly, the experimentation will leave a toxic legacy of persistent genetic pollution which will continue to undermine plant health and human longevity through the generations.

Keep reading

Premature Babies Being Exposed to Massive Quantities of Gender-Bending Chemicals in Intensive-care Wards

Premature babies are being exposed to massive quantities of gender-bending chemicals in intensive-care wards, according to a new study. The findings are particularly shocking because premature babies are even more vulnerable to the effects of such chemicals than full-term babies.

In 2021, the EU brought into force a new regulation limiting the use of certain endocrine-disrupting substances in medical equipment, but this new study reveals these chemicals are still present in medical equipment and that the most vulnerable populations are being exposed to them at worrying levels. DEHP (di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate), for example, was widely detected in the new study, despite being a known endocrine-disruptor and probable carcinogen.

Researchers took urine samples from premature babies (neonates) born before 31 weeks gestational age at the Antwerp University Hospital, Belgium. Repeated samples were taken over a period of ten weeks after birth or until the subjects were discharged from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Analysis of the samples showed that almost all urine samples contained metabolites of harmful endocrine-disrupting chemicals including phthalates and other plasticizers. These chemicals have been linked to a wide variety of reproductive and health harms, from genital malformation, gender dysphoria and reduced fertility, to obesity and some forms of cancer.

Professor Shanna Swan, a reproductive-health expert from Mount Sinai University, has made endocrine-disruptors like phthalates central to her explanation of the global fertility crisis, which could see mankind unable to reproduce by natural means within decades, if current trends in sperm counts continue.

Keep reading

Study confirms the rotation of Earth’s inner core has slowed

University of Southern California scientists have proven that the Earth’s inner core is backtracking—slowing down—in relation to the planet’s surface, as shown in new research published in Nature.

Movement of the inner core has been debated by the scientific community for two decades, with some research indicating that the inner core rotates faster than the planet’s surface. The new USC study provides unambiguous evidence that the inner core began to decrease its speed around 2010, moving slower than the Earth’s surface.

“When I first saw the seismograms that hinted at this change, I was stumped,” said John Vidale, Dean’s Professor of Earth Sciences at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. “But when we found two dozen more observations signaling the same pattern, the result was inescapable. The inner core had slowed down for the first time in many decades. Other scientists have recently argued for similar and different models, but our latest study provides the most convincing resolution.”

Keep reading

New concrete can turn homes into giant batteries

A new type of energy-storing concrete holds the potential to transform entire homes into giant batteries and supercharge the transition towards renewables, according to its creators.

Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) discovered that adding a highly conductive substance called carbon black to a water and cement mixture created a construction material that could also serve as a supercapacitor.

Supercapacitors can charge and discharge extremely efficiently but are typically not capable of storing energy for long amounts of time. So while they lack the functionality of traditional lithium-ion batteries – which are found in everything from smartphones to electric cars – they are a useful method of storing excess electricity generated from renewable energy sources like solar and wind.

Since first unveiling the technology last year, the team has now built a working proof-of-concept concrete battery, the BBC reported. The MIT researchers are now hoping to build a 45-cubic-metre (1,590-cubic-feet) version capable of meeting the energy needs of a residential home.

Keep reading

20-Year-Old Puzzle Solved: Physicists Reveal the “Three-Dimensional Vortex” of Zero-Dimensional Ferroelectrics

A KAIST-led research team has successfully demonstrated the internal three-dimensional polarization distribution in ferroelectric nanoparticles, paving the way for advanced memory devices capable of storing over 10,000 times more data than current technologies.

Materials that remain magnetized independently, without needing an external magnetic field, are known as ferromagnets. Similarly, ferroelectrics can maintain a polarized state on their own, without any external electric field, serving as the electrical equivalent to ferromagnets.

It is well-known that ferromagnets lose their magnetic properties when reduced to nano sizes below a certain threshold. What happens when ferroelectrics are similarly made extremely small in all directions (i.e., into a zero-dimensional structure such as nanoparticles) has been a topic of controversy for a long time.

The research team led by Dr. Yongsoo Yang from the Department of Physics at KAIST has, for the first time, experimentally clarified the three-dimensional, vortex-shaped polarization distribution inside ferroelectric nanoparticles through international collaborative research with POSTECH, SNU, KBSI, LBNL, and the University of Arkansas.

About 20 years ago, Prof. Laurent Bellaiche (currently at University of Arkansas) and his colleagues theoretically predicted that a unique form of polarization distribution, arranged in a toroidal vortex shape, could occur inside ferroelectric nanodots. They also suggested that if this vortex distribution could be properly controlled, it could be applied to ultra-high-density memory devices with capacities over 10,000 times greater than existing ones. However, experimental clarification had not been achieved due to the difficulty of measuring the three-dimensional polarization distribution within ferroelectric nanostructures.

Keep reading