Scientists recently discovered that red squirrels carry a type of bacteria that causes human leprosy. The researchers made the discovery after they had noticed many British squirrels had unexplained sores on their body. It seems like there is no immediate threat, but scientists are worried that if leprosy begins developing antibiotic resistance, a new plague could spread rapidly.

What Causes Leprosy?

Leprosy is caused by the Mycobacterium lepromatosis bacteria. The disease affects the body’s skin, eyes, respiratory tract, and peripheral nerves.

Hansen’s disease, as leprosy is also called, killed hundreds of thousands in Europe during the Middle Ages. Back then, the illness was associated with moral corruption and treatment was available in leprosariums, institutions ran by the church.

Now, the treatment consists of an antibiotics cocktail. Multidrug therapy has proved itself useful in the majority of cases, the risk of infection disappearing after the first dose. The rate of relapse after the treatment is also low, and very few resistance cases were confirmed over the years.

How Are Red Squirrels Connected to the Disorder?

Scientists gathered a sample of one hundred red squirrel cadavers from Ireland, Scotland, and England. According to the genetic screening tests, all specimens collected from England’s Brownsea Island carried both the Mycobacterium lepromatosis and the Mycobacterium leprae bacteria.

The researchers mentioned that the infection was discovered in specimens who presented symptoms of the disease. Some of the animals were overtly diseased with patches of missing fur, damaged nerve endings, and swollen feet, ears, snouts, and eyes.

How Is the Study Useful?

The UK has not registered any case of leprosy for hundreds of years, mainly because the contact between humans and the animals is limited.

However, Charlotte Avanzi, a researcher at the Federal Institute of Technology in Switzerland and lead author of the study, declared that the research could prove useful for countries where the disease is prevalent.

The United States, for example, is still registering leprosy cases. The same stands for India. In total, there are 200,000 leprosy cases reported each year.

Until recently, scientists believed that the disease could only be spread through human contact. The first animal discovered to be a carrier was the armadillo. Now, red squirrels are joining the list.

Even though there are slight chances of another leprosy outbreak, scientists are advising people to steer clear of red squirrels and avoid any physical contact with the animals.

Image source: Wikipedia 

Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, the producers of the upcoming National Geographic Mars miniseries opened up about their project and the possibility of humans colonizing the Red Planet. The six-part series will debut November 13^th.

The miniseries is built on a divided concept. The episodes will feature scenes from both worlds. For the Martian half of the show, the producers built a special module and hired actors to portray the first colonists. The Earth half will feature interviews with the likes of Charles Bolden, Scott Kelly, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Elon Musk.

Brian Grazer and Ron Howard present the habitation modules in detail, some of the elements featured in the show being educated guesses of how things will look like on the Red Planet. As the two executive producers have collaborated before on successful projects like From Earth to the Moon, Apollo 13, and A Brilliant Mind, the miniseries should bring valuable insight on the entire process.

Upon being asked about why Mars is such a hot topic, the two responded that the whole idea of exploring other planets had gained gargantuan proportions after influential men like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk started pitching it. The fact that President Obama was more than eager to embrace the Mars colonization plans also helped.

Moreover, the Red Planet has always been a source of fascination. The exotic landscape and the unknown dangers lurking in the canyons have provided Hollywood with countless of materials for blockbusters. Now, a Mark Wahlberg movie does not cut it anymore, and humanity is ready to explore the planet.

The goal of the miniseries is to explain the Mars mission. Brian Grazer and Ron Howard want to tell the world that the upcoming colonization mission will feature unique adventures and breathtaking discoveries while reshaping the geopolitical status of the planet.

Furthermore, Howard declared that his personal intention was also to help people expand the limits of their imagination.

When asked if they would volunteer for the Mars mission, both producers answered no. Howard did mention that Scott Kelly told him that he would not refuse the opportunity, but neither he nor Grazer imagine themselves on route for the Red Planet.

The first episode of the mini-series will air next Sunday, November 13^th.

Image source: Wikipedia 

Giant Snowballs have been discovered to have formed in Siberia, on the beach of the Golf of Ob. This phenomenon has fascinated scientists and other people, which keep imaging a huge snowball fight, among giants as some measure up to three feet across.

Siberian locals from the village of Nyda have discovered the giant snowballs which formed naturally across the 11-mile long beach of the Golf of Ob. The phenomenon is gaining worldwide attention after the residents posted images with the giant snowballs on social media.

According to the village administrator, the perfectly round balls of ice and now have formed since October. The water from the gulf extended on to the land and covered the beach in a sheet of ice. After the water retreated, the ice mixed in with the wet sand and falling snow to form the giant snowballs.

The description of this process matches with what scientists discovered to be behind this somewhat strange phenomenon. A rare combination of factors such as sludge and slob ice, strong winds, the lay of the beach and coastline, and the temperature led to the formation of the snowballs in other parts of the world. When a thin sheet of ice forms and it is rolled by wind and water, collecting more snow, it will eventually form these balls of ice the size of basketballs or even larger.

The beach in Siberia met the previously mentioned conditions along with the record cold and level of snow in the region for this time of the year. A similar natural phenomenon previously occurred in Finland and in the US, on the shores of Lake Michigan in 2013, where locals found balls of ice weighing even more than 50 pounds.

Some meteorologists make use of the snow cover levels in Siberia in October to determine how various key weather patterns are likely to evolve during the upcoming winter. The current conditions in Siberia could lead to a strong, snowy winter in certain parts of the US, in the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast. Similar winter conditions might occur in Western Europe as well.

Have you ever seen this giant snowballs phenomenon before?

Image courtesy: Siberian Times/@atlasobscura/Twitter

Meteor showers are a popular event for both the general public and amateur skywatchers. If you enjoy a night time stroll then you try to catch a glimpse of The Taurid meteor shower. The event features less-frequent but much brighter meteors during November, which will fall in two stages.

In order to fully enjoy the meteor showers you need to have the patience and luck to spot them as they fall to earth. This aspect applies even more in the case of the Taurid meteor shower since the meteors are less numerous compared to other similar events. However, they are more impressive, compensating their lack of numbers with the higher quality of the light show.

Astronomers estimate that this year we will only be able to see a few fireballs across the night sky, around seven meteors every hour. This means that those interested in the event will have to wait at least nine minutes and almost 10 seconds for each meteor to pop up in the sky on average.  However, you don’t have to pay close attention as they will be able easy to spot and recognize.

The first stage of the Taurid meteor shower will take place during the late hours of November 4^th until the dawn of the next day. The stage is also known as the South Taurids, which are very spread out and diffused. For this reason, they will last longer on the night sky but appear brighter for a more impressive light show. According to expert sources, skywatchers will have a higher chance of seeing a meteor shortly after midnight.

The second stage of the Taurid meteor shower known as the North Taurids will take place between the night of November 11 and the dawn of Nov. 12. This series of meteors will last slightly longer than the first. They will also be at their peak frequency near midnight.

Most Taurid meteors will burn up in our atmosphere but some of the bigger rocks might even be able to reach the Earth’s surface. Findings these meteors would have tremendous scientific as they were never found before.

The Taurid meteor shower will be visible from anywhere in the world except at the South Pole.

Are you going the watch the meteor shower?

Image source: Wikipedia

An hourly census study has revealed that the number of monarch butterflies migrating to southern New Jersey in this year have fallen by more than 50 percent this year compared to the previous one. However, the study also reveals that the main cause of this phenomenon is the bad weather experienced throughout the year in the region and not due to a trend of change in populations.

According to Mark Garland, the director of the Monarch Monitoring Project, the region saw strong easterly winds for the most part of September. This may have played in important role in migratory patterns of the monarch butterflies. The winds might have pushed them farther west rather than remaining near the coast.

The Cape May Bird Observatory in Audubon, New Jersey, has had a 25 years old project in the works involving the counting of the populations of the butterflies in the region. Volunteers would count them the insects three times per day in routers covering around 5 miles around the Point from September 21 up to October 31. Unfortunately, this year marks the third-lowest count of monarch butterflies ever recorded by the volunteers in the entire history of the project.

Although Garland speculates that the weather might be the main cause of the reduced populations, he is still waiting for confirmation depending on the numbers of butterflies in Mexico. That is where the insect have made their wintering ground and the full count of the populations residing there will signify if there is indeed a change in the population or just a change in migratory route of the butterflies.

The observatory’s project also involves the tagging of the insects, besides just counting them, in order to the monitor their behavior for the purpose of better understanding their migration. The institution also holds educational workshops for the public on a regular basis.

Monarch butterflies play an important role in our ecosystem, as they are more than just beautiful. As pollinators, they have an essential role in maintaining our food supply. Unfortunately, they share the same habitat as other pollinators such as bees. This means that whatever happens to one species can happen to all of them. This can have a drastic impact on our whole ecosystem.

Should we pay more attention to the fate of monarch butterflies and other pollinators?

Image source: Wikipedia

As all consumers know, when electronic devices break they can be quite a frustrating time, either you’ll have to buy a new TV, a computer and a phone in most cases, or in more unfortunate cases all your unsaved data on a broken device will be lost. However, a new technology that uses magnetic ink for self-repair promises to give electronic devices a second life.

A team of researchers from the Jacobs School of Engineering, at the University of California, San Diego have developed an innovative new technology that promises to address some of the consumers’ biggest woes regarding electronics. They created a magnetic ink that can repair circuitry or even close gaps of up to 3 millimeters wide.

Researchers developed the magnetic ink by collecting microparticles from pulverized neodymium magnets found in hard drives. This type of material is cheap and has strong magnetic properties. They added a carbon powder for increased conductivity into the ink, which was subjected to a magnetic field so that when the circuitry with the magnetic ink breaks apart or is cut, then two sides will be attracted to each other magnetically, closing the gap in the process.

According to one of the researchers, Amay Bandodkar , they wanted to create a smart system which has extraordinary abilities to self-repair while still being inexpensive by using common materials. They also wanted to develop a self-healing technology that would avoid heat or other catalysts in order to start the process.

The result of their research was the new and revolutionary magnetic ink which can heal cuts in only a few seconds, a major improvement over previous technologies. The researchers demonstrated the ink’s capacity they printed a circuit with the ink in question on the sleeve of a shirt attached to a battery and a LED light. A few seconds later after it was cut with a pair of scissors, the circuit was repaired and the light came back on. The ink maintains its capacity even after being repeatedly damaged in the same place.

This magnetic ink technology greatly benefits the wearables industry, more specifically smart clothing which could be subjected to a lot of stress while wearing them. The ink solves the problem of any circuitry being torn apart just by stretching. However, in the case of cuts, the ink repairs the circuit but there still remains a visible scar behind. More research is also required to figure out how to avoid magnetic interference with other devices.

Image source: Jacobs School of Engineering/UC San Diego

Poachers looking to capitalize on the very lucrative trade in rhino horns and illegal ivory kill around 20,000 elephants each year in Africa. This has led to a 20 percent decline in the elephant population. To make matters worse, the elephant poaching also leads to $25 million lost in tourism opportunities.

A recent status report issued by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature( IUCN) points out that Africa only has an estimated 415,000 elephants left alive in the wild. The report emphasizes the strong ethical arguments in support of the protection of elephants from poachers. Their argument is reinforced by a new study, published this Tuesday in the Journal Nature Communications, which has found that there is also a very strong financial incentive to strengthen the protection measures of animals.

A team of researchers from the University of Vermont, the World Wildlife Fund and the University of Cambridge, has discovered that African tourism is severely affected by elephant poaching. More specifically, countries with elephant populations affected by poaching lose up to $25 million in tourism revenue.

For their study, scientists took into consideration how several parks were affected by an increase in elephant poaching. Their findings suggest that the conservation efforts should be increased, even if purely on a financial reasoning. For every dollar invested in measures that protect the populations of elephants in countries in the West, East and South of Africa, can lead to a $1.78 return. This type of study is the first one that has managed to offer a continent-wide quantification of financial losses suffered from elephant poaching.

Unfortunately, their financial arguments meant to convince the countries to improve their conservation efforts only make sense where elephant tourism is high. Currently, countries with large parks in savannahs which allow tourists to easily spot and admire elephants have the best financial incentive to protect the animals. However, countries located in Central Africa where forest elephants predominantly live have less to gain from conservation efforts. This is caused by the fact that those elephants are elusive, much harder to spot by visitors and thus tourism activities are not as profitable.

In this regard, the scientists have stated that financial incentives should only complement the ethical imperative and other forms of justification in protecting the biodiversity of our planet.

Image source: Wikipedia

A new, groundbreaking discovery has been made in the world of paleontology. Scientists have managed to find the elusive fossil of a dinosaur brain. This marks the first time that a brain has been discovered and it could help scientists learn more about the still mysterious dinosaurs.

To the untrained eye, the fossilized dinosaur brain doesn’t look any different from a regular rock. However, Jamie Hiscock, an amateur fossil hunter, knew that what he found back in 2004 in Sussex, England, was something more than ordinary. Only until now scientists have been able to confirm is long-held suspicion.

Jamie took his fossil to Martin Brasier, who is a paleobiologist at Oxford University From there the fossil ended up being extensively analyzed by a team of researchers from the University of Western Australia and Cambridge University, who were able to confirm that the object was a preserved dinosaur brain.

Scientists believe that the fossilized brain belonged to an Iguanodon, which was a 30-foot dinosaur that lived around 133 million years ago. According to the scientists, the existence of such a fossil is extremely unlikely as the brain is the first part of the body that begins to decay after death. In order for the brain to be preserved, scientists think that the animal must have died near a body of water with certain conditions such as low oxygen levels and high acidity while being partially buried in sediments.

The discovery of a fossilized dinosaur brain marks an important step in learning more about the giants that ruled the planet before us. It can help scientists understand how the brains of dinosaurs have evolved over the course of millions of years. Additionally, researchers will also have a more precise idea of what and where to look for when trying to discover more similar fossils. As such, they think that it’s only a matter time before more dinosaur brains will be discovered to further improve our understanding of various species.

Scientists require more fossils to draw any final conclusions about dinosaurs. Using one fossil may lead to fallacies and as such, experts are hesitant to make their discovery and speculations public. However, they have stated that the brain is very similar to the ones found in dinosaurs and birds.

After commercial whaling has been monitored for the past three decades, experts have now come to the conclusion that many species of whales are currently endangered due to massive hunts conducted especially by Japan.

The data was collected by scientists from the International Whaling Commission, which organized the 66^th event Friday in Slovenia. This agency had saved until now countless of whales and helped many species recover from excessive hunting especially during the 20^th century when whales were hunted for their blubber and meat used in restaurants, fuel, and soap.

Although only Japan was allowed to hunt whales supposedly for research, the statistics have shown that over 15,000 specimens have been killed since 1985, which many people claim that were used for food, not science.

More precisely, Japan hunts around 500 whales every year forcing the International Court of Justice to take active measures in preventing this country from killing whales to such a large extent.

In the exemption, it is clearly stipulated that all meat must be processed, whereas in this case, it ends up in restaurants and supermarkets. Whale hunting has been part of the Japanese tradition for hundreds of years, because whale meat represented the primary protein source, especially during the World War II.

Although over the past thirty years many people started to consume less whale meat, these large animals are still massively hunted.

Experts underline that Norway is another bad example because it is the top whale hunter worldwide. More precisely, this country is responsible for killing around 12,000 minkes from 1986 to 2014, while the highest annual record was established in 2014 when 736 specimens were taken down.

Together with Iceland, it has negotiated a formal objection against the IWC regulations under which they keep hunting whales, although hunting rates are much lower in Iceland.

The statistics have revealed that hunters from Iceland have killed 906 minke and fin whales between 1986 and 2014. As most people don’t eat whale meat in these two countries, experts believe that all haul was probably shipped to Japan.

This meat is usually consumed by tourists, but most of it is eventually used to feed animals. According to Russel Smith, IWC US commissioner, Norway and Iceland are urged to immediately stop whale hunting and international trade of this meat because many species of whales are critically endangered.

Image Source: WCVB

Researchers have managed to develop a new 3D-printed material with a unique property. The ‘metamaterial’ is able to shrink when it exposed to heat. After it has cooled down to its normal temperature the material expands to its original size.

According to the laws of physics, things made from solid materials like rubber, glass, and metals expand when heated. Only a few substances like cold water contract when they are heated. However, this new discovery manages to somewhat bend these laws by having an opposite reaction to heat.

The newly discovered material was the result of a research study published in the journal Physical Review Letters on October 21^st. The scientists describe the process that went into the development of the new metamaterial. Generally speaking, metamaterials are engineered to have certain properties that are not found in natural materials.

According to the research paper, the material was made through a 3D printing process called microstereolithography. Researchers used this process to print lightweight microlattice structures from a polymer and polymer/copper composite which have a negative thermal expansion. The structures have the ability of flex inward, which gives the material the property to contract when exposed to a range of temperatures.

Scientists have already considered potential applications for this new negative thermal expansion 3D-printed material. It can be used to security parts in microchips in a passive way so they can remain in place without the need for active cooling and heating. According to Nicholas Fang from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who is researcher involved in the study, the material can even be used in printed circuit boards which tend to heat up the CPU is running. Their sudden heating can affect the performance and thus required extra care to account for this type of stress. This problem wouldn’t be an issue if you are using this new 3D-printed material.

Another interesting application for the metamaterial is using it in dental fillings. This would make them more secure when a patient is eating hot food. The thermal expansion material can even be used in the construction of bridges and buildings with solid padding. However, before we see any real-world applications, the material requires more research and testing.

What do you think about the potential of this 3D-printed material?

Image source: MIT