Category: 7. Science

Primordial rotating disk composed of at least 15 dense star-forming clumps at cosmic dawn
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The Tomato Twist That Created the Potato 9 Million Years Ago – SciTechDaily

The Tomato Twist That Created the Potato 9 Million Years Ago SciTechDaily
Potato evolved from tomato 9 million years ago EurekAlert!
Genetic Origins of Modern Potato Revealed: Hybridization with Tomato Ancestor Букви
Potato, tomato: Today’s French fries linked by evolution to tomatoes 9 million years ago Genetic Literacy Project
Genetic Scandal: Potato Forced To Acknowledge Tomato As Parent Slurrp

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Face to Face with the Coelacanth: A Story Revealed by Laurent Ballesta & Alexis Chappuis

Blancpain is proud to present an exclusive documentary featuring Laurent Ballesta and Alexis Chappuis, Brand partners and divers who made history by capturing the first-ever images of the world’s two living coelacanth species.

Once thought extinct for 70 million years, the coelacanth remains one of the ocean’s most elusive and fascinating creatures. This 12-minute film brings Ballesta and Chappuis together to reflect on their world-first discoveries, made possible thanks to Blancpain’s support.

The Explorers Sponsored by Blancpain © Blancpain

More than a celebration of scientific achievement, the documentary highlights the importance of marine conservation and the spirit of exploration that defines the Blancpain Ocean Commitment.

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China completes first landing, takeoff test of manned lunar lander

HUAILAI, Hebei — China on Thursday announced that it has successfully completed a comprehensive test for the landing and takeoff of its manned lunar lander at a test site in Huailai county, Hebei province.

The test completed on Wednesday represents a key step in the development of China”s manned lunar exploration program, and it also marks the first time that China has carried out a test for extraterrestrial landing and takeoff of a manned spacecraft, said the China Manned Space Agency.

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China completes first landing, takeoff test of manned lunar lander -Xinhua

HUAILAI, Hebei, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) — China on Thursday announced that it has successfully completed a comprehensive test for the landing and takeoff of its manned lunar lander at a test site in Huailai County, Hebei Province.

The test completed on Wednesday represents a key step in the development of China’s manned lunar exploration program, and it also marks the first time that China has carried out a test for extraterrestrial landing and takeoff of a manned spacecraft, said the China Manned Space Agency. ■

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Baby star fires a jet, then gets blasted by the fallout

Astronomers have observed an explosion in space that is pushing back against and influencing the baby star which triggered the explosion in the first place. If explosions like this one are common around young stars, then the young stars and their planets are exposed to a harsher environment than previously thought.

Stars and their associated planetary systems are formed from the gravitational collapse of molecular clouds in space. As a cloud collapses, it retains its angular momentum, causing it to evolve into a spinning structure known as a protoplanetary disk. Stars and planets form within a protoplanetary disk, but not all of the material is incorporated into the new stars and planets. Some of the material is ejected through powerful jets aligned with the rotation axis of the disk. These jets help remove excess angular momentum and matter from the protoplanetary disk.

A team of Japanese astronomers was reanalyzing archival data for protoplanetary disks from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), when they unexpectedly discovered an explosively expanding bubble structure near one of the disks. That disk, known as WSB 52, is located 441.3 light-years away in the direction of the constellation Ophiuchus. Further detailed analysis revealed that a shock front created by the expanding bubble was colliding with the disk and distorting it. Similar expanding bubble structures have been detected around other young stars, but none of them have shown signs of collision between the bubble and the disk. This phenomenon was also not predicted theoretically.

The team found that the center of the bubble aligned with the disk’s rotation axis. The chances of a bubble aligning with the axis of the disk by random chance are effectively zero, indicating that this alignment is not random. This led the research team to conclude that a jet aligned with the axis of the disk triggered the expansion of the bubble. According to their explanation, a high-speed jet emitted from WSB 52 hundreds of years ago collided with cold gas near the disk, causing the gas to compress. The increased pressure from the compression caused the gas to explode, which resulted in the formation of the expanding bubble.

Masataka Aizawa at Ibaraki University, who led this research, explains, “In science fiction, there are scenes where a beam is fired at something to destroy it, causing an explosion with debris flying back at the shooter. Similar things occur in real astronomical phenomena, but with greater intensity. Through this discovery, I once again realized that nature is far more complex than humans think. In future research, I hope to further explore the effects of the explosions on the formation of stars and planetary systems.”

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Artemis II astronauts board Orion spacecraft together for first time

National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA)long-coveted plan to launch Artemis II around the moon is approaching fast. The four astronauts for the first time have boarded the Orion spacecraft together to train and experience some of the conditions they can encounter during their mission.

The crew members comprise Reid Wiseman at the helm of commander, Victor Glover (pilot), Christina Koch (mission specialist) and the Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen.

After facing a multitude of delays, the crew is scheduled to launch the spacecraft in April 2026 on their 10-day mission around the moon and back.

The efforts regarding the mission are underway as the Artemis crew all suited up to enter their Orion spacecraft together on July 31 at NASA’ Kennedy Space Center (KSC) In Florida.

For the first time, the members were completely connected to the spacecraft’s communication and life control systems. Teams also simulated different flight conditions to give the members insight into the real time difficulties.

The practice involves hands-on experience in tackling life-threatening challenges such as leakage and failure of air revitalization system fans.

Sean Duffy, acting NASA administrator issued a statement: “In about 6 months, Artemis II astronauts will journey around the Moon for the first time in 53 years. America rallied behind Apollo because it represented the best of us and now it’s Artemis’ turn. They are not just carrying a flag. They are carrying pride, power and the promise of the United States of America.”

NASA is planning to send astronauts to explore the Moon for scientific and economic benefits and to lay the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.

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Small, Shapeshifting Catalytic Nanoparticles Steer Carbon Dioxide Conversion

Newswise — UPTON, N.Y. — Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have discovered that the size of catalytic nanoparticles determines how their shape and structure transform during chemical reactions. With insights into the nanoparticles’ atomic-scale behavior as they convert carbon dioxide into useful fuel — and a better understanding of how structural changes impact catalytic performance — researchers are newly positioned to design more effective catalysts for industrial applications.

Catalysts are substances that speed up chemical reactions. Though they may temporarily shapeshift to accelerate chemical transformations, they are not permanently altered, enabling them to facilitate subsequent reactions. In a new multimodal study, recently published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, Brookhaven researchers leveraged several powerful techniques to characterize a catalyst made up of cobalt oxide nanoparticles that sit atop a cerium oxide base. In contrast to commonly used catalyst ingredients, like platinum or palladium, cobalt and cerium are significantly more abundant and less expensive.

“We previously found that this cobalt-cerium oxide nanocatalyst system behaved differently when the cobalt-containing nanoparticles were smaller, but we didn’t know why,” said Kaixi Deng, first author on the paper who conducted this research at Brookhaven Lab while he was a graduate student at Stony Brook University. Deng is now a postdoctoral researcher at DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory.

In some cases, the nanoparticles catalyzed the conversion of carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide. Other times, the reaction yielded methane — and sometimes the researchers observed a combination of both products.

“It’s important to control the morphology of the catalyst so reactions can yield the desired products, or ratio of products,” explained Jose Rodriguez, leader of the Catalysis: Reactivity and Structure group in Brookhaven’s Chemistry Division and co-lead author on the paper. “That’s how we optimize catalysts and make them more efficient for different applications.”

The research team expected the interface between cobalt and cerium oxide to play an important role in this behavior, and they used standard techniques in catalysis science, like in-situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and infrared spectroscopy, to start exploring this hypothesis.

“There was still an important part missing,” said Deng. “That’s why we wanted to take more direct measurements of this interface — ones that could show us what was happening during chemical reactions.”

A multimodal study

A typical electron microscope uses a beam of electrons to visualize nanoscale structures with much higher resolution than light-based microscopes. Electron microscopy experiments, however, are typically conducted in a vacuum because air molecules can interact with the electron beam and hinder the image quality.

The researchers wanted to observe the atomic-scale structure of the catalytic nanoparticles in the presence of carbon dioxide, so they needed a special type of electron microscope that could accommodate gas in the sample area.

“At the Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN), we use an environmental transmission electron microscope, or E-TEM, to study samples in gaseous environments and at high temperatures, similar to the working conditions catalysts experience during chemical reactions,” said Dmitri Zakharov, co-lead author on the paper and scientist at CFN, a DOE Office of Science user facility at Brookhaven Lab.

“The E-TEM is not a mainstream tool,” Zakharov added. “It’s only available at a few facilities worldwide, and experiments are really challenging since the core microscope, gas delivery equipment, sample holder, image acquisition system, and sample all have to ‘perform’ at the same time. The effort, however, is well worth it!”

The E-TEM studies revealed that when cobalt oxide nanoparticles smaller than 2 nanometers are exposed to carbon dioxide gas, they rearrange from a 3D, pyramidal shape into a 2D, single layer of particles attached to the cerium oxide base. Upon removal of the carbon dioxide gas, the nanoparticles returned to their pyramidal shape.

“The beauty of this whole dynamic system is that the nanoparticles want to bind carbon dioxide, so they rearrange in such a way that creates more sites for carbon dioxide to bind, increasing catalytic activity,” said Rodriguez. “We never imagined we would find something like this.”

If the particles were larger by even one nanometer — that’s just one billionth of a meter — they exhibited an entirely different behavior and maintained their 3D structure despite the introduction of carbon dioxide. This varying nanoparticle behavior explains, in part, why the conversion of carbon dioxide can yield different products or combinations of products: Carbon dioxide interacts with the catalytic nanoparticles in different ways, depending on the nanoparticle size and configuration.

“The E-TEM really made it possible to directly visualize the physical changes during a chemical reaction,” said Deng. But to fully understand the catalytic nanoparticles — and be able to optimize future catalysts — the researchers also needed to unveil the chemical behavior of the nanoparticles as they catalyzed reactions. So, the team turned to colleagues at the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II), another DOE Office of Science user facility at Brookhaven Lab.

At NSLS-II, the researchers leveraged the In situ and Operando Soft X-ray Spectroscopy (IOS) and the Inner-Shell Spectroscopy (ISS) beamlines, where they conducted X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and XAS, respectively. The XPS and XAS studies provided information about the chemical composition of the catalyst when it was exposed to different temperatures or gas pressures.

“It’s great that we have all these powerful characterization techniques right here at Brookhaven Lab,” said Zakharov. “I can see both NSLS-II and the chemistry building from CFN. Leveraging such a breadth of tools and expertise all at one lab is hugely beneficial for collaborative, multimodal studies like this one.”

The Brookhaven researchers also collaborated with Wenqian Xu at the Advanced Photon Source (APS), a DOE Office of Science user facility at Argonne, to conduct in situ X-ray diffraction (XRD) at APS’s Rapid Acquisition Powder Diffraction beamline. The XRD studies offered insights into the catalyst’s overall crystalline structure, in contrast to the E-TEM experiments that were focused on local, microscopic structure.

As this was the first multimodal study to characterize the cobalt-cerium oxide nanocatalyst system while it converted carbon dioxide, theorists are eager to use the findings to build better models of catalysts. Such theoretical models could help discern why nanoparticles spread out on the cerium surface — and why their size determines their behavior.

Researchers who specialize in catalyst preparation plan to leverage the findings to guide the development of future catalysts. In some cases, they may desire increased methane production. So, they can modify catalyst synthesis techniques to ensure that the nanoparticles are small enough to flatten against the cerium base. For other industrial applications, they may prepare the catalyst differently to increase the likelihood of different reaction products, like carbon monoxide.

“This is just one step in understanding the system, but it’s an essential step,” said Rodriguez. “These findings, especially the E-TEM images, will serve as the new guiding direction for researchers working to figure out how this type of catalyst works.”

This work was supported by the DOE Office of Science. The samples used in this research were prepared by collaborators at the Institute of Catalysis and Petrochemistry in Madrid, Spain.

Brookhaven National Laboratory is supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit science.energy.gov.

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Natural Treatment for Alzheimer’s Boosts Brain Energy

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Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have identified a promising nonpharmaceutical treatment that rejuvenates aging brain cells and clears away the buildup of harmful proteins associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

In a paper published recently in the journal GeroScience, the UC Irvine team reports that a combination of naturally occurring compounds – nicotinamide (a form of vitamin B3) and epigallocatechin gallate (a green tea antioxidant) – can reinstate levels of guanosine triphosphate, an essential energy molecule in brain cells. In tests on neurons in a dish, the treatment reversed age-related cellular deficits and improved the brain cells’ ability to clear damaging amyloid protein aggregates, an Alzheimer’s hallmark.

“As people age, their brains show a decline in neuronal energy levels, which limits the ability to remove unwanted proteins and damaged components,” said lead author Gregory Brewer, adjunct professor of biomedical engineering at UC Irvine. “We found that restoring energy levels helps neurons regain this critical cleanup function.”

The researchers used a genetically encoded fluorescent sensor called GEVAL to track live guanosine triphosphate levels in neurons from aged Alzheimer’s model mice. They discovered that free GTP levels declined with age – particularly in mitochondria, the cells’ energy hubs – leading to impaired autophagy, the process by which cells eliminate damaged components.

But when aged neurons were treated for just 24 hours with nicotinamide and epigallocatechin gallate, GTP levels were restored to those typically seen in younger cells. This revival triggered a cascade of benefits: improved energy metabolism; activation of key GTPases involved in cellular trafficking, Rab7 and Arl8b; and efficient clearance of amyloid beta aggregates. Oxidative stress, another contributor to neurodegeneration, was also reduced.

“This study highlights GTP as a previously underappreciated energy source driving vital brain functions,” Brewer said. “By supplementing the brain’s energy systems with compounds that are already available as dietary supplements, we may have a new path toward treating age-related cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease.”

He cautioned, “More work is going to be required to find the best way to administer this treatment, since a recent clinical trial involving UC Irvine researchers showed that oral nicotinamide was not very effective because of inactivation in the bloodstream.”

Reference: Santana RA, McWhirt JM, Brewer GJ. Treatment of age-related decreases in GTP levels restores endocytosis and autophagy. GeroScience. 2025. doi: 10.1007/s11357-025-01786-4

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Nocturnal Moths and Bees Under Threat From Urbanization

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Increasing urbanization is linked to a decline in crucial pollinator populations, including nocturnal moths, hoverflies, and bees, according to a new study from the University of Sheffield.

The research, which paints a concerning picture for biodiversity, is published in the Royal Society’s flagship biological research journal.

On allotment sites in Sheffield, Leeds and Leicester, a research team sampled pollinator species in a range of urban settings from city centers to more suburban areas. They found that there was a decline in species abundance and richness – up to 43 per cent – on allotments situated in more built-up areas.

The findings suggest that a wide range of pollinators are under threat in urban landscapes, and the researchers warn that more needs to be done to understand and conserve pollinating insects that are vulnerable to the effects of habitat loss through urbanization.

“The scale of the threat to many pollinator species remains relatively unknown due to a global focus on bees. However moths and hoverflies are just as important for our ecosystems, and our results show they may be particularly vulnerable in urban habitats.”

“Pollinating insects are vital for the reproduction of up to 90 per cent of wild flowering plant species and many crop species. As urbanization causes more habitat loss, insect communities suffer and ecosystems become fragile. Our study identifies some of the features of urban greenspaces that are key to preserving and growing habitats for pollinators that are vulnerable to environmental change,” Emilie Ellise, lead author on the study, from the University of Sheffield’s School of Biosciences.

The study shows that the cause of reduced pollinator diversity and abundance varies depending on the species, but is primarily driven through a reduction in the tree canopy and semi-natural habitat that form part of the green spaces found in our cities.

Jill Edmondson, senior author from the University of Sheffield’s School of Biosciences, said: “Allotments form greenspace oases in the urban landscape, with a rich mix of crops and flowers species to support pollinator communities, but, as the area of impervious surface (or the concrete, tarmac and buildings that often form the urban landscape we recognize) around allotments increased there was less habitat available for all pollinator groups. This may have consequences for crop pollination and ultimately yield in more urban allotments.

“Our study demonstrates the importance of urban semi-natural spaces for insects, which we rely on, not just to make our gardens beautiful, but to support worldwide farming systems.”

Stuart Campbell, co-author from the University of Sheffield’s School of Biosciences, said: “All pollinating insects struggle to find suitable food and habitat in cities, but there haven’t been many studies directly comparing different groups. The greater sensitivity of hoverflies and moths to urbanization might be due to their ecological requirements.

“All of these species need flowers to feed on, but moths also require tree and shrub canopies, and food plants for their caterpillars, while many hoverflies require stagnant water to breed. These are all habitat characteristics that can be much harder to find in more heavily built up areas, and we will need to consider these features in order to conserve such a diverse group of insects for future generations.”

The team say the findings should underpin a more nuanced approach to pollinator conservation, and point out that more engagement with urban planners, stakeholders and policymakers is required to successfully protect the habitat features needed to support and sustain diverse pollinating insect communities in urban areas.

Emilie Ellis was funded by a PhD Scholarship from the Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures with Jill Edmondson and Stuart Campbell as supervisors. Emilie is currently a postdoctoral associate with the Research Centre for Ecological Change at the University of Helsinki.

Reference: Ellis EE, Campbell SA, Edmondson JL. Drivers of nocturnal and diurnal pollinating insect declines in urban landscapes. Proc R Soc B. 2025. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2025.0102