Good morning. It was a big week for college hoops and day-drinking along the banks of green rivers, but, as always, science was busy too. In fact, there were some major accomplishments and unveilings that took the world by storm and had futurists going crazy:

SpaceX successfully launched Starship, the world’s largest and most powerful rocket, in their third test flight on Thursday morning. [Watch the full launch video]

Figure, an AI robotics company, released this video of their Figure 01 robot that caused waves online for its smooth movements and eerily life-like style of speech.

Cognition AI, an AI startup, unveiled Devin — an AI software engineer that has some coders worrying for their jobs.

Meanwhile, some more cool stuff that happened in the world of research and discovery this week:

BIOLOGY

Discovering the molecular culprit behind your shakes and shivers

Ever wondered how we sense cold? Most of our senses are pretty well understood — tongue for taste, ears for hearing, nose for smelling. But what about temperature? Recently, a team of researchers made a discovery that may answer that exact question.

What did they find?

The scientists were looking for a thermosensor that can detect cold temperatures and decided to focus on a protein called GluK2, a small protein typically found on neurons in the brain and throughout the peripheral nervous system (neurons outside the brain and spinal cord). In an experiment, they took mice that lacked GluK2 and exposed them to different temperatures.

And then what?

They found that the mice responded normally to hot, warm and even cool temperatures, but showed no response to extreme cold at all. That means that the GluK2 protein is a vital player in detecting and reacting to cold temperatures — a discovery that the team hopes opens new paths to better understand the cold sensation in humans.

Read more: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-024-01585-8

GEOLOGY

Swifties are making *literal* waves around the world

Yep, you read that headline right. Researchers out of Caltech have published an actual study in Seismological Research Letters documenting their findings in researching the seismic signals produced by a 2023 summer Taylor Swift concert at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.

So it’s a SwiftQuake?

Well, kind of. The scientists set up motion sensors around SoFi Stadium and analyzed the data collected along with data from nearby regional seismic network stations. Interestingly, they found that each Taylor Swift song had a distinctive tremor signal — with “Shake It Off” coming in at the largest local magnitude of 0.851. But it’s not necessarily the music itself that’s creating the seismic activity, the researchers say. The data suggests that it’s actually the dancing and jumping motions of the audience at SoFi Stadium that generated the concert’s distinct geological tremors.

Read more: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07043-6

FORENSICS

New DNA-sequencing tech could change the game in criminal investigations

DNA testing isn’t quite as simple as CSI: Miami makes it look. It can be extremely challenging and requires expensive equipment, special facilities and extensive training. Luckily, for those investigators, and not so much for the next-generation of bank robbers, a simpler and less expensive approach is on the way.

What is it?

Researchers have developed a new ‘touch DNA’ test that uses a more accessible and affordable sequence method called qPCR — which can amplify DNA from forensic samples so it can be studied and matched to a potential suspect. It also allows forensic scientists to determine the amount of DNA present in a sample, which can help investigators trace the potential transfer of genetic material (skin cells, sweat, etc.) at a crime scene. With a more inexpensive technique available, forensic science may grow to be more efficient and accurate.

Read more: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.3c03464

BIOLOGY

What keeps making us fall asleep and wake up again?

Cell signaling is happening all throughout our body, all the time. And to make maintain our sleep-wake rhythm, we have what’s called the orexin signaling pathway. Orexin is a neurotransmitter that’s responsible for keeping us awake, and it’s produced by nerve cells in the brain. If you have a problem somewhere along this pathway, you get narcolepsy — a condition that results in excessive sleepiness during the day, sudden loss of muscle control (cataplexy) and uncontrolled sleep attacks, which can be difficult to wake up from.

Ok, but what’s new?

Well, until recently, we assumed that all vertebrates shared the same mechanisms to control sleep behavior. So much so that for the past 20 years, researchers have been using fish as a model organism to study sleep. Well, it turns out we were wrong. One fish called the clown loach (which you may recognize as a popular freshwater aquarium pet) lacks the orexin pathway completely, but sleeps completely normally. So now researchers are considering — there must be other molecular ways to regulate sleep! Perhaps this fish species evolved an entirely different sleep control mechanism…

Read more: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-52718-9

TOP HEADLINES

Science in the News

• New research suggests that dark matter doesn’t exist, challenging our current understanding of the universe.

• Chemists are exploring new ways to optimize kombucha brewing.

• The first gene therapy tests in a whole human liver have been performed.

• Researchers have developed a new high-speed microscale 3D printing technique.

• A new study suggests that adding folic acid to table salt can prevent severe birth defects.

• Scientists have developed a wearable device that translates muscle movements in the neck into audible speech.

• The brain naturally protects itself after injury, a new study finds.

• New ultra-thin semiconductor fibers can be woven into fabrics, turning them into smart wearable electronics.

IN THE MICROSCOPE

What’s osmosis?

Osmosis is the movement of water molecules from an area of low solute concentration to an area of higher solute concentration. In simpler terms, it's like water "diffusing" through a barrier to balance out the concentration of substances on either side.

Here's how it works: Imagine you have a container separated into two sections by a membrane. One side has pure water, and the other side has water with some dissolved particles (like salt) in it. Because there are more particles on one side, water molecules naturally move through the membrane to equalize the concentration on both sides. This continues until the concentrations are balanced or until the pressure from the water column on the side with more water molecules (less solute concentration) prevents further movement.

Osmosis is crucial in biology. For instance, it's how plants absorb water and nutrients from the soil through their roots. It's also involved in maintaining the balance of fluids in our bodies and the cells within them. Feeling thirsty? Drink some water and get that osmosis going!

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