Tag: science

Microplastics found in every human testicle in study

Microplastics have been found in human testicles, with researchers saying the discovery might be linked to declining sperm counts in men.

The scientists tested 23 human testes, as well as 47 testes from pet dogs. They found microplastic pollution in every sample.

The human testicles had been preserved and so their sperm count could not be measured. However, the sperm count in the dogs’ testes could be assessed and was lower in samples with higher contamination with PVC. The study demonstrates a correlation but further research is needed to prove microplastics cause sperm counts to fall.

Sperm counts in men have been falling for decades, with chemical pollution such as pesticides implicated by many studies. Microplastics have also recently been discovered in human blood, placentas and breast milk, indicating widespread contamination of people’s bodies. The impact on health is as yet unknown but microplastics have been shown to cause damage to human cells in the laboratory.

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THE SEARCH FOR ALIEN TECHNOLOGY MAY HAVE ACTUALLY FOUND SOMETHING

Astronomers scanning distant star systems for signs of alien technology say they have found 60 candidates, including seven M-dwarf stars giving off unexpectedly high infrared heat signatures, which may be surrounded by orbiting extraterrestrial power plants known as Dyson Spheres (DSs).

First proposed by theoretical physicist Freeman Dyson back in 1960, confirmation of these aptly named devices would not only represent the first verifiable signs of life beyond Earth but would likely indicate a species that is more technologically advanced than humans since constructing a Dyson Sphere is still well beyond our current capabilities.

The team behind the tantalizing findings says that more follow-up analysis of the data is planned. However, their initial readings appear to be consistent with the presence of alien technology orbiting at least seven of these stars.

HOW TO SPOT ALIEN TECHNOLOGY LIKE A DYSON SPHERE

Since humanity’s most powerful telescopes cannot image objects orbiting distant stars directly, researchers Matías Suazo at Uppsala University in Sweden and Gaby Contardo at the International School for Advanced Studies in Italy knew they would have to analyze light spectrum data emitted by millions of stars across the galaxy to search for signs of alien technology. In the case of Dyson Spheres, the team would need to look for an ‘unnatural’ imbalance between the visible light and the infrared light emitted by a distant star.

That’s because, as proposed by Dyson, the more technologically advanced a species becomes, the more energy it needs. If they become advanced enough, a species could, in theory, surround an entire star with a “sphere” designed to capture all of its emitted energy. The Debrief previously covered the science fiction origins and viability of Dyson Spheres in 2021.

A fully completed Dyson Sphere would be almost impossible to detect from such a long way away since all of its visible light would be captured by the sphere. However, either an incomplete sphere or a swarm of satellites known as a partial Dyson Sphere or a Dyson Swarm would still allow some of the visible light through for Earth’s telescopes to capture. At the same time, the sphere would radiate an excess of heat energy in the infrared spectrum as it captures the star’s radiated energy and then releases it into space.

Suazo and Contrado proposed that if the ratio between visible light and infrared light coming off of any particular star is just right, it would represent compelling evidence for the presence of a Dyson Sphere.

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THIS NASA-FUNDED PULSED PLASMA PROPULSION SYSTEM COULD CARRY HUMANS TO MARS IN JUST TWO MONTHS

A groundbreaking new pulsed plasma propulsion system could soon enable faster and safer crewed missions to planets like Mars, according to a leading developer of novel technologies aimed at advancing the next stages of human space exploration.

Scottsdale, Arizona-based space technology developer Howe Industries recently announced that its Pulsed Plasma Rocket (PPR) could represent a game-changer in advanced propulsion for space travel, allowing crewed missions to significantly reduce the travel time required to reach Mars.

According to current timelines, NASA aims to send the first crewed missions to Mars within the next two decades using habitat-like spacecraft paired with hybrid propulsion capabilities that combine chemical and electrical forms of propulsion to enable such long-duration missions.

Enter Howe Industries and the PPR’s unique combination of high thrust and specific impulse energies. The technology is an outgrowth of the Pulsed Fission Fusion (PuFF) concept, which employs a modified z-pinch device to compress a fission-fusion target within a liquid lithium sheath. The resulting thrust is produced as combustion propagates and expands against a magnetic nozzle through a process known as deflagration, which involves electrical discharges that create strong magnetic fields and produce high plasma densities and temperatures.

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A better way to challenge scientific consensus

Executive summary

In this article, I suggest a simple way to resolve scientific disagreements on important issues.

The method is simple:

  1. The two parties mutually agree on a series of experiments to resolve the conflict.
  2. The experiments are designed so the results are reproducible, for example, by having several independent efforts doing the same thing.
  3. Win or lose, the “mainstream view” party (who should be led by a prominent scientist in the field being explored) agrees to write up the results of the experiment(s) and submit it to a prominent peer-reviewed technical journal.
  4. The “mainstream” party gets a large monetary award (a research grant) upon publication. The more prestigious the author, the higher the reward.
  5. We pay all costs in addition to the reward for people’s time and to fund the experiment(s).
  6. The idea is to make this “an offer that nobody can refuse.”

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Fake scientific studies forcing closures of medical journals

Fraudulent studies have infiltrated top scientific journals, “leading to thousands of retractions and millions of dollars in lost revenue,” the Wall Street Journal  reported.

“Although this large-scale fraud represents a small percentage of submissions to journals, it threatens the legitimacy of the nearly $30 billion academic publishing industry and the credibility of science as a whole,” the article stated.

Wiley, a 217-year-old publisher based in Hoboken, New Jersey, which is slated to close 19 journals, has taken the largest hit, WSJ reported.

The problem is due to paper mills — entities that, “for a price, will list a scientist as an author of a wholly or partially fabricated paper,” WSJ noted. The paper mills then submit the work, “generally avoiding the most prestigious journals in favor of publications such as one-off special editions that might not undergo as thorough a review and where they have a better chance of getting bogus work published.”

And, on the other side, there are motivating factors at play, WSJ noted.

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Scientists discover ‘hidden planet’ buried under the Earth’s surface

There’s all sorts of intriguing stuff hidden beneath the Earth’s surface, from massive oceans to water leaking directly into the planet’s core – the latest discovery, though, might be the most interesting of all.

New research has pointed to fascinating findings close to the Earth’s core which experts are claiming to be remains from an ancient planet.

The planet, named Theia, could have collided with our planet billions of years ago and evidence of this event is supposedly found within two blobs far beneath the surface.

These blobs have fascinated the scientific community since they were first discovered back in the 1980s. These structures are the size of entire continents and around twice the size of the moon.

They’re located beneath Africa and the Pacific Ocean, and due to the high iron content of these structures, seismic waves pass through them at a slower rate – leading to them being labelled “large low-velocity provinces” (LLVPs).

A study into these LLVPs was published at the end of 2023 in the journal Nature and featured new findings from Caltech researchers.

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Chinese scientists move closer to bringing cryogenically frozen humans back to life – after brain tissue is thawed without damage

Scientists have moved a step closer to preserving our brains forever. 

They are one of the first to successfully thaw brain tissue that has been cryogenically frozen – without damaging it.

Further, after being frozen, their neurons were still able to send signals as normal.

This has been a major challenge for science, because freezing the ultra-delicate, spongy brain usually damages it, making it useless when it’s thawed. 

Not only is it a breakthrough for neuroscientists looking to study new drugs, it could also advance the sci-fi idea of bringing people back to life in the future. 

The idea is that people could freeze their bodies, preserving them indefinitely, in hopes that in the future, science will be advanced enough to bring them back to life, healthy. 

Professor Zhicheng Shao, a Harvard trained neuroscientist who works at Fudan University in Shanghai China, developed a complex chemical mixture nicknamed MEDY which protects neurons from being damaged while frozen. 

He is not shying away from the idea that the research could be used for cryonics, which has been a fantasy among futurists for decades. 

‘MEDY could be used for the cryopreservation of human brain tissue,’ Dr Shao said in his study, published in the journal Cell Reports Methods.

For a range of future-minded people, from the likes of Peter Thiel to Steve Aoki, who are banking on preserving their bodies in ice after they die, this should be welcome news. 

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‘Giant’ viruses that formed 1.5bn years ago are discovered in Yellowstone’s Hot Springs

Giant viruses dating back 1.5 billion years were found in Yellowstone’s geothermal springs, which scientists claim could reveal the conditions under which life formed on Earth.

The viruses are labeled as ‘giant’ because they have extremely large genomes compared to regular viruses and pose no risk to humans but could explain what the conditions on Earth were like when single-cell organisms formed. 

Researchers at Rutgers University found that the viruses consisted of bacteria while others belonged to archaea – a single-cell organism similar to bacteria – which requires extreme environments to reproduce and eukaryote, which is found in fungi.

Previous theories suggested the viruses were more recent because hot springs come and go over time, but the latest study revealed they have lived at least as long as cellular organisms.

At first, the researchers believed the giant viruses wouldn’t be very old because as the hot springs form and disappear, meaning the viruses would have to re-form under hotter temperatures in the newly developed hot spring. 

Hot springs reside on dormant volcanoes whose magma heats the groundwater causing the steam and less dense hot water to rise up through the fissures in the earth, creating geysers and hot springs.

Yellowstone’s hot springs formed at least 15,000 years ago after the last glaciers in the region melted, allowing the geysers to spring up – but the bacteria was thriving for more than one billion years before.

However, the findings showed that ‘the connections between the viruses and [the hot springs] are ancient,’ Bhattacharya told Science.

The viruses thrive in temperatures exceeding 200 degrees Fahrenheit, high pressures or excessive salt concentrations and researchers believe they reproduce by infecting red algae in the hot springs.

Researchers analyzed DNA in Lemonade Creek – an acidic hot spring in Yellowstone that reaches temperatures of about 111 degrees Fahrenheit.

They took samples from the thick green mat that coated the creek’s floor, called Rhodophyta or red algae, and from the nearby soil and the area between rocks lying near the creek bed.

The researchers found that the DNA contained sequences of archaea, algae (eukaryote) and bacteria that hosted 3,700 potential viruses – about two-thirds were giant viruses that aren’t known to infect humans.

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HAARP’s aurora switch was turned on last week to create “artificial airglows”

The aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, has been a spectacular sight in the night sky recently. On 10 May 2024, the aurora was visible in many parts of the world, including the United States, Europe, and Asia.

According to corporate media, a powerful geomagnetic storm caused by a solar flare triggered the spectacular display of the northern lights. The storm was strong enough to cause disruptions to power grids and communication systems, but it also created a breathtaking sight for those who were able to see it.

In the United States, the aurora was visible in many parts of the country, including the northern states and even as far south as Alabama and California. In Europe, the aurora was seen in countries such as the UK, Germany and Norway.

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Scientists discover ancient HERPES in 50,000-year-old Neanderthal bones found in a Russian cave… and they want to bring virus back to life

The oldest human viruses, including herpes, have been uncovered in 50,000-year-old Neanderthal bones – and experts could soon recreate them. 

Researchers at Brazil‘s Federal University of São Paulo identified remnants of the herpesviruses, which causes cold sores, the sexually transmitted papillomavirus and adenovirus, also known as the common cold, in two male Neanderthals’ DNA found in a Russian cave.

Previous theories suggested that Neanderthals may have gone extinct because of viruses and the latest study may be the first to provide evidence for this idea.

Now, the team hopes to synthesize the viruses and infect human cells in a lab to see how they compare to their modern-day counterparts.

‘These Jurassic Park-like viruses could then be studied for their reproductive and pathogenic traits and compared to present-day counterparts,’ Marcelo Briones, the study’s lead author told NewScientist.

‘I am skeptical that this could be achieved given the lack of full understanding of how the viruses’ DNA is damaged and how to reconstruct the recovered pieces into a full viral genome,’ he added. 

‘Also, the host-virus interaction, especially in a completely different environment, is something to consider.’ 

The team found the Neanderthals’ remains in Siberia’s Chagyrskaya cave in the Altai mountains, which they used to sequence genome data of the ancient beings. 

The results determined that the remnants of the viruses were not contracted from possible predators that fed on Neanderthals or from modern humans who might have handled the bones. 

Adenovirus causes cold symptoms in modern humans and can cause infections in the tonsils, adenoids and other mucosal tissues while they could develop genital warts and cancer from the sexually transmitted papillomavirus.

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