Snakes have become so intertwined with human religion and folklore that it would be impossible to imagine a world without the slithering reptile. But according to a recent study, that day may be fast-approaching.

A new study published in the journal, Science Advances, warns of a deadly fungal disease that has spread from the U.S. to Europe and has affected over 23 snake species. The disease, caused by a bacteria called Ophidiomyces ophidiocodiicola, can infect any type of snake regardless of their physical characteristics, genetic make-up, or habitats. According to the researchers, the Europe outbreak may bring the snake species close to an extinction event. They state that no species, so far, had been immune to the fungal disease. Notable casualties were in the eastern part of the United States, including milk snakes, vipers and garter snakes. In Europe, the disease can be found in at least three species so far.

“This really is the worst-case scenario,” states Frank Burbrink, lead author of the paper and a curator at the American Museum of Natural History’s Department of Herpetology. “first responders shouldn’t just be looking for certain types of snakes that have the disease, but at the whole community.”

According to Burbrink, all snakes are likely to become infected or are already infected. The disease manifests itself in the form of small bumps and cracks on the snake’s skin which slowly become lesions. While some snakes have been able to shed the skin and get rid of the infected areas, the lesions spread too quickly and cover the entire snake within days.

Researchers noted that snakes who attempt to get rid of their infected skin tend to sit longer in the sun. Most of the time, this type of behavior would make the snake susceptible to predator attacks and even forget to eat.

While snakes have become a mainstay in human culture, they are also a key component of a balanced ecosystem. Without snakes, we would see an increase in the number of rats and other rodents that were easy prey for the slippery reptiles.

The study’s authors urge authorities to step in and prevent the disease from spreading by isolating and developing treatments for the infected snakes.

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British researchers have found a gene mutation that suppresses pain in a family from Italy.

Researchers focused on six members of an Italian family who couldn’t feel pain regardless if they burned themselves or suffered bone fractures. While the phenomenon may suggest a lack of nerve development, that isn’t the case, according to Dr. James Cox, lead study author with the University College of London.

“They have normal intraepidermal nerve fiber density, which means their nerves are all there, they’re just no working how they should be,” said the doctor.

The study authors explained that an estimated 10 percent of people experience moderate to severe chronic pain, which causes them to seek relief in opioid medication. The Marsilis might shed some light on potential new drugs that can offer pain relief, according to Cox.

As part of the study, the family members underwent a series of trials which included being poked at sensitive points, having their hands submerged in ice water and touching surfaces that ranged from 14 to 122 degrees Fahrenheit.

The final part of the experiment had researchers sequence the family’s genomes which revealed a new mutation in the ZFHX2 gene. This gene alters how nociceptors, which are the part of the nerve cells that sense pain and convert sensory inputs into stimuli in the brain, interpret DNA code into making proteins.

Previous studies involved breeding mice without the ZFHX2 gene in order for them to be resilient against pain. However, those researchers noticed the mice were more hyperactive and even displayed signs of mouse depression. The study was published in the journal, Brain.

For this experiment, the team of researchers bred mice with the ZFHX2 gene mutation. The mice with the altered DNA appeared to be resistant to heat and cold, which would suggest that the mutation was the reason why the Marsili family lacked the ability to feel pain.

Anna Maria Aloisi, the co-author of the study and professor at the University of Siena in Italy, echoes Dr. Cox, by saying the mutation’s discovery has paved the way for new advancements in pain relief medication.

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Geologists from the University of London have discovered fragments of a 60 million-year-old meteorite on the Isle of Skye. While exploring volcanic rocks on the Scottish island, they stumbled upon several rocks that had otherworldly origins.

The fragments discovered contained minerals such as vanadium-rich and niobium-rich osbornite, which Earth is not known to have. These meteoric minerals were found under layers of lava, which dated back to over 60 million years ago, according to the geologists. Previous rocks of this type have been collected by Nasa’s 2006 Stardust mission as space dust in the wake of the Wild 2 comet.

The minerals were from a previously unknown meteorite impact, one which will shed light on the ancient Paleogene volcanic activity which occurred across the North Atlantic all those millions of years ago. When looking closer, the geologists found that the osbornite was unmelted, which points to it being an original piece of the meteorite.

The geologists later discovered a second site, a mere seven kilometers away, that contained the same minerals. More, so the site was a two-meter-thick layer of ejecta, which is material ejected from a crater.

“We have found evidence of the impact at two sites and at another potential two sites on the Isle of Skye, at the moment.” Said Dr. Simon Drake, from Birkbeck, University of London, who made the find along with his colleague, Dr. Andrew Beard.

According to Drake, the volcanological evolution of the Isle of Skye has been previously considered to have occurred due to a volcanic plume that came up under the crust that the island was on. Now, however, they suggest that a meteorite might have been partially responsible for the volcanic event. The team of geologists published their findings in the journal, Geology.

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It turns out that humanity’s roots are older than what’s been previously established. South African researchers have revealed an Australopithecus skeleton believed by them to be the older than 1.5 million years. It is also the oldest fossil of a human ancestor found in southern Africa, dating back 3.67 million years.

The University of Witwatersrand unveiled the complete skeleton on Wednesday. Its discovery sheds new light on mankind’s evolution, especially on our early appearance and movement.

The fossil was first discovered by Professor Ron Clarke from the Evolutionary Studies Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg in South Africa. Professor Phillip Tobias named the fossil ‘Little Foot’ due to the skeleton’s four small foot bones. ‘Little Foot’ is believed to be a close ancestor of mankind and displays a combination of ape and human characteristics. While it was previously thought that the mammal walked on its hands and feet, in-depth studies revealed the skeleton resembled humans to a greater degree.

“This is the most remarkable fossil discoveries made in the history of human origins research and it is a privilege to unveil a finding of this importance today,” states Clarke.

Researchers have said that it took 20 years to excavate, clean, reconstruct and analyze the fossil. ‘Little Foot’ was found in the Sterkfontein caves, which are 25 miles northwest of Johannesburg. Lime miners first spotted the small foot bones in blasted rock. Along with the foot bones, Clarke later found lower leg bone fragments which prompted him to send his assistants, Stephen Motsumi, and Nkwane Molege into the caves to retrieve any broken bone surfaces that might fit with what they discovered.

For 20 years since the bones’ discovery, Clarke and his team have been working hard to excavate and prepare the full skeleton. A series of full scientific studies are expected to be conducted on the ‘Little Foot’ fossil. This is the first time when a complete skeleton of a human ancestor from a South African cave has been excavated and kept in perfect condition.

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We still don’t know much about Earth’s evolution, especially how so many metals came to be on the blue rock. Researchers at the Southwest Research Institute, and the University of Maryland partnered up with the space agency, NASA, to answer this very question. It has to do with the moon.

According to the scientists, a large moon-sized planetary bodied smashed into Earth and then penetrated all the way to its core right after the moon’s formation approximately 3.8 billion years ago. When it occurred, large quantities of metals that chemically bond to metal were planted in the Earth’s mantle. These metals include gold, platinum, and iridium.

The team of researchers created high-resolution impact simulations to show how large celestial bodies could affect the Earth if they were to reach its core. They also focused on how these massive rocks would react if they’d ricochet off Earth’s surface, changing the physical make-up of the planet.

In the beginning, there were several celestial bodies in the Solar System called planetesimals.  Their size did not allow them to become planets so instead, they ended up floating in space. Planetesimals are said to have been the size of the Moon, but not big enough to be labeled as planets. According to NASA, some of these collisions were crucial to the formation of the mantle and crust of planets.

The Earth was hit by numerous planetesimals in the beginning, some of which were the size of the moon. These collisions make up for 0.5 percent of matter to the Earth’s total mass, and a lot of these fragments were carried all the way into the Earth’s core, according to the report.

“We modeled the massive collision and how metals and silicates were integrated into Earth during this ‘ late accretion state,’ which lasted for hundreds of millions of years,” states Simone Marchi, a scientist at Southwest Research Institute in Colorado and head author of the paper.

The late accretion describes the period where Earth experienced numerous collision with planetesimals.

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Scientists at NASA just made a breakthrough that could further fuel our quest for alien life. The agency published a study claiming that several icy planets, including Pluto, can sustain liquid water beneath their surfaces.

The standing theory suggests that the gravitational pull of the moons of these planets can generate enough heat to sustain liquid oceans beneath their cold surfaces. These types of worlds can be found beyond Neptune, with Pluto and its moons being a prime candidate for having liquid water. Otherwise known as Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs), these bodies are too frigid to hold liquid water on their surfaces.

“These objects need to be considered as potential reservoirs of water and life.” Said Prabal Saxena of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and lead author of the study. “If our study is correct, we now may have more places in our solar system that possess some of the critical elements for extraterrestrial life,”

Scientists have noticed several glimmers of light being reflected from some TNO’s which in turn led them to discover signatures of crystalline water ice and ammonia hydrates. According to Saxena, such occurrences are not exclusive to our solar system which means that there are other similar environments in other corners of the universe.

Radioactivity within the planet’s cores was, at first, responsible for most of the heat inside the TNOs. However, this heat was not sustainable, as radioactive elements would decay into stable ones. According to the scientists at NASA, this was still not enough to explain the oceans hidden beneath the planet’s icy surfaces.

The team of researchers used tidal heating equations to figure out how much heat it could be contributing to a number of TNOs, such as Pluto and the other biggest TNO, Eris. The paper was published on November 24 in the journal, Icarus.

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Scientists have been looking over satellite data and they concluded that Earth is littered with artificial light. The spread of LED lights has increased global light pollution, which in turn can affect both human and animal health.

Published in the journal, Science Advances, the results show outdoor lighting to have grown at a rate of 3 percent to 6 percent annually in the second half of the twentieth century. In essence, the line between night and day has blurred.

“…we are convinced that artificial light is an environmental pollutant with ecological and evolutionary implications for many organisms,” states Franz Holker of the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries and one of the study’s authors.

Holker added that light pollution can reshape entire social-ecological systems ranging from bacteria to mammals. Holker noted that 30 percent of vertebrates and more than 60 percent of invertebrates are nocturnal.

Researchers noted that that the increase of lighting can disrupt our body clocks and raise the risks of cancer, diabetes, and depression. Global light pollution affects animals as well, either by disorientating migrating birds and sea turtles or by attracting insects.  The study revealed that animal migration patterns are affected the most.

Lead author of the study and physicist at the German Research Center for Geosciences, Chris Kyba, notes that LED lights aren’t the only contributing factor to this new wave of pollution but rather it’s humanity’s tendency to install more and more electrical systems.

“We’ll light something that we didn’t light before, like a bicycle path through a park or a section of a highway…that in the past wasn’t lit,” he told reporters on a conference call.

LED lights have become the go-to means of increasing visibility during the night. They are cost effective and need far less electricity than other lighting systems.

Light pollution became prevalent in developing countries such as Asia and South America, however, countries that were already brightly lit, such as the United State, appeared stable. Even so, scientists believe light levels are rising everywhere in the world.

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A new study has found that Amish people living in a rural part of Indiana have a rare genetic mutation that protects them from Type 2 diabetes. This also appears to significantly extend their lifespans.

The research was published on Wednesday in the journal Science Advances. The mutation affects a protein called plasminogen activator inhibitor -1 (PAI-1). PA-1 is commonly associated with blood clotting. The protein was discovered in 1991 in a secluded Amish community in Berne, Indiana. Researchers found that 5 percent of the community carry the mutation which produces a very low level of PAI-1.

Dr. Douglas Vaughan, who is a cardiologist at Northwestern medical school, said that mice who were genetically engineered to produce high levels of PA-1 aged very quickly. They also went bold and died of heart attacks.

Two years ago, Vaughan reached out to the community and asked if he could study them. Once the Amish people agreed, Vaughan along with a team of 40 researchers went to their town and conducted extensive tests. The researchers set up a testing station at the Amish people’s recreation center where 177 members of the community were subjected to extensive trials.

The researchers sifted through the community’s birth and death records and looked over their genealogical histories. Vaughan noticed how the Amish people were still stuck in an „18th-century lifestyle” and shied away from modern medicine.

Vaughan and his team discovered that the Amish who have the mutation live, on average, to the age of 85, a decade longer than those who don’t have it. The rate of Type 2 diabetes was seven percent in those without the mutation while the others had a rate of zero percent. Both Amish parties led the same lifestyle and had similar diets.

„Diabetes is something that develops more as we age. This is a terrific indicator that the mutation actually protected them from a metabolic consequence of aging.”

The researcher stated that the results aren’t yet set in stone mainly because the Amish are generally healthier than most people and the mutation is very rare. However, a conclusive discovery is PA-1’s influence on biological aging.

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If you were on the fence about whether Earth is in danger of being destroyed then maybe 15,365 scientists will sway you. November 13 saw the journal BioScience publish a paper in four languages called “World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity: A Second Notice”. The original letter was signed by the Union of Concerned Scientists which included numerous Nobel Laureates. Their purpose was to solve environmental issues by way of scientific means.

The first warning was issued in 1992 when 1,700 scientists from around the world claimed that humans have brought Earth’s ecosystem to the point of no return.

This letter brought evidence by listing a number of environmental impacts. They included air and water pollution, species going extinct at an alarming rate, global climate change, and fossil fuels burning to name a few. This was twenty-five years ago and now the new letter states that we “and the natural world are on a collision course”.

“Since 1992, with the exception of stabilizing the stratospheric ozone layer, humanity has failed to make sufficient progress in generally solving these foreseen environmental challenges, “the notice said.

Besides stabilizing the stratospheric ozone layer, scientists have stated that humanity has worsened the remaining environmental issues.  Climate change was also a crucial topic in the letter as scientists pointed out how heating can accelerate species loss. They state that current environmental parameters will kill off several existing species by the end of the century. Details were provided of how people can slow down Earth’s decline such as increasing our children’s outdoor education and also encouraging plant-based diets.

As it is, the letter ends on an optimistic note. The group of scientists calls for humans to work together and to always strive to improve society and, by association, the world.

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One of the oldest galaxies to date has been discovered by a team of scientists courtesy of the Large Millimeter Telescope LMT). The galaxy is thought to have formed 12.8 billion years ago within and billion years after the Big Bang.

The discovery was made by an international team of researchers from the University of Massachusets Amherst and Mexico’s National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics, and Electronics. Designated G0 83808, the galaxy is so far away that in only showed as a blur on the Herschel space telescope. Only after scientists pointed the Large Millimeter Telescope could they focus on the find. The Telescope is located on the summit of Volcan Sierra Negra in the Galapagos and is the largest steerable dish in the world.

Distant objects are difficult to make out even with today’s state of the art Hubble telescope due to gigantic dust clouds. Telescopes like Hubble are effective when using visible and infrared wavelengths that unfortunately can’t see through the dust. The LMT, on the other hand, uses millimeter-length wavelengths capable of peering through.

This sets G09 83808 as the second oldest galaxy discovered so far with the findings being published in the journal Nature Astronomy. It holds great potential in finding out more about the Big Bang which scientists predict to have happened 13.7 billion years ago.

Astrophysicist at the University of Massachusets Amherst, Min Yu, considers G09 83808 to be one of the first galaxies ever to form after the Big Bang.

„Seeing an object within the first billion years is remarkable because the universe…was too hot and too uniform to form anything for the first 400 million years” he states.

The good news is the LMT telescope is getting upgraded and will be capable of looking even further into the universe as old galaxies tend to drift further to the edges of the universe.

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