EverythingScience

We Finally Know Where Pet Cats Come From – And It’s Not Where We Thought Domestic cats the world over can trace their ancestry back to North African wildcats that lived around 2,000 years ago. It was from these feral felines that the very first domestic cats were produced, yet their cuteness and companionship were so coveted by humans that within a few decades they had spread to all corners of the Roman Empire. Previously, it was thought that cats had been domesticated during Neolithic times in the Levant. Support for this theory came from the discovery of a 7,500-year-old burial in Cyprus containing a human and a cat, while mitochondrial DNA from 6,000-year-old felines in Türkiye indicated that early domestic cats may have spread from Anatolia to Europe alongside early agriculturalists. Source:IFLScience @EverythingScience

Study highlights rise of 'authoritarian peacemaking' and its implications for Ukraine As Donald Trump's White House places huge pressure on Ukraine to sign a peace deal, a team of experts has published a new study examining what they describe as a worldwide shift toward "authoritarian peacemaking"—a model of conflict resolution shaped not by international institutions or liberal democracies, but by authoritarian and semi-authoritarian states whose interests lie in control, influence and geopolitical advantage rather than long-term solutions. The study, set to be published in journal Washington Quarterly, traces how traditional peacemaking—rooted in international law, rights and negotiated compromise—has been eroded over the last two decades. According to the authors, the Iraq War, the post-9/11 security paradigm and growing global competition have weakened the norms that once governed international conflict resolution. This has opened space for powerful states to broker deals that prioritize strategic gain over accountability or the wishes of the affected population, as seen in the Ukraine peace plan drawn up by the U.S. and Russia. The research draws on the concept of "Revisionist Conflict Management," a framework relying on transactional bargaining, economic incentives and top-down deals that freeze conflicts rather than resolving their causes. The authors argue that these patterns are increasingly visible in conflicts across the Middle East and Africa—and now in Europe too. The findings have particular resonance for the current efforts to end the war in Ukraine. The proposals floated by the U.S. give greater weight to Russian territorial "realities on the ground," and involve conversations where Ukraine's role is more limited than expected for a state whose sovereignty is at stake. This reflects concerns highlighted in the research—that peace deals in the current climate risk being shaped by external actors, not those living with the consequences. The study compares this dynamic to earlier conflicts where authoritarian or centralized governments acted as mediators while pursuing their own agendas. In the authors' view, this risks creating "victor's peace" arrangements that halt fighting but entrench dominant states' interests, leaving questions of justice, accountability and democratic legitimacy unresolved. The researchers note that public opinion in Ukraine remains strongly opposed to ceding territory, and that Ukrainian society continues to insist on a settlement that restores borders and addresses wartime abuses. The tension between these expectations and geopolitical pressure, they argue, is emblematic of the broader global transition their study describes. "By examining the Ukraine case through this lens, our research offers a wider warning about the international system—as global power becomes more fragmented and traditional norms weaken, the nature of mediation itself is changing. The Ukraine conflict could become a defining example of what peace looks like in a world where authoritarian logic increasingly shapes diplomatic outcomes," said Oliver Richmond, professor in international relations, Peace & Conflict Studies at The University of Manchester. Source:Phys.org @EverythingScience

Imagine designing robots that can maintain themselves on the Moon or Mars. At GITAI, we're making it a reality. This video showcases our rover autonomously changing a tire. Current open positions 🌙➡️grnh.se/g9o3tnbr8us Source: @GITAI_HQ @EverythingScience

If You Had A Pole Stretching From England To France And Yanked It, Would The Other End Move Instantly? Over on Reddit, people are once again asking some interesting physics questions with equally intriguing answers. Today is the turn of Redditor gothreepwood101, who asks "if I had a metal pole long enough to reach from the English coast to the French coast. And a person holding it at each end. If one person pulls it would the other end move instantly?" That's a fun question, and it might seem pretty simple. It's made of metal, right, so if you push or pull on one end the other end must move instantaneously? An instant yank for the French person on the other end? But it's not as simple as you might imagine. If you answered "yes", then congratulations; you have broken a fundamental rule of the universe, affecting another part of the universe (in this case, the French) faster than the speed of light. The speed of light, 299,792,458 meters (983,571,056 feet) per second, is the speed limit of the universe. No matter, electromagnetic wave, or "guy with a theory" can travel faster than it. Source:IFLScience @EverythingScience

The colors of our atmosphere seen from space! Multiple vibrant layers of green atomic oxygen, orange hydroxyl radicals, and red airglow excited from solar activity. Source: @astro_Pettit @EverythingScience

Why Being in the "Right Place" Isn't Enough for Life A planet’s habitability is determined by a confluence of many factors. So far, our explorations of potentially habitable worlds beyond our solar system have focused exclusively on their position in the “Goldilocks Zone” of their solar system, where their temperature determines whether or not liquid water can exist on their surface, and, more recently, what their atmospheres are composed of. That’s in part due to the technical limitations of the instruments available to us - even the powerful James Webb Space Telescope is capable only of seeing atmospheres of very large planets nearby. But in the coming decades, we’ll get new tools, like the Habitable Worlds Observatory, that are more specifically tailored to search for those potentially habitable worlds. So what should we use them to look for? A new paper available in pre-print on arXiv by Benjamin Farcy of the University of Maryland and his colleagues, argues that we should look to how a planet formed to understand its chances of harboring life. To be clear, HWO won’t be able to see into the past - at least not anymore than would be allowed by how far the light from these worlds has to travel to get to us. However, it can glean insights into how the planet was formed based on current measurable values. Dr. Farcy and his co-authors describe four different aspects of a planet that are determined early in its formation that have a major impact on its ability to harbor complex life down the road. The first major theme is the bulk composition - mainly of the four major elements that make up 93% of terrestrial planets. These are magnesium, iron, silicon, and oxygen. Ultimately, the ratio of these elements determine whether or not the planet has plate tectonics, which are necessary to maintain a relatively stable environment over millions of years. Conveniently, it’s also possible to determine the ratios of these elements in a planet by looking at the ratios in the planet’s host star - they should be equivalent since they were both formed out of the same available matter. Source:Universe Today @EverythingScience

Some creatures, like the hornbill and the mongoose, form unexpectedly close bonds. Find out why this happens and see the peculiar pair in action in this week’s Surprising Science 🐾🪽 Source: @NHM_London @EverythingScience

750 Million at Risk: New Study Warns Extreme Water Scarcity Is Closer Than We Think A new study in Nature Communications from researchers at the IBS Center for Climate Physics (ICCP) at Pusan National University in the Republic of Korea finds that global warming is speeding up the likelihood of multi-year droughts. These prolonged dry periods can push regions toward severe water shortages, putting pressure on drinking water supplies, agriculture, and communities around the world within the next few decades. To investigate this risk, the team used state-of-the-art climate model simulations to estimate when local water demand will surpass the available supply from rainfall, rivers, and reservoirs. This tipping point is known as the Day Zero Drought (DZD). Recent close calls in Cape Town (South Africa) in 2018 and Chennai (India) in 2019 have already demonstrated how vulnerable cities are to running out of water. Identifying when and where these thresholds will occur is essential for planning effective water management for both urban and rural regions. According to the study, DZD events are projected to rise rapidly in the coming years, happening far earlier than once expected. Climate model projections reveal accelerating Day Zero Drought events The team relied on climate simulations based on the SSP3-7.0 and SSP2-4.5 greenhouse gas scenarios. By examining prolonged rainfall shortages, declines in river flow, and growing water use, the researchers identified clear DZD hotspots across the Mediterranean, southern Africa, and sections of North America. The analysis shows that cities in these regions are especially at risk. Source:SciTechDaily @EverythingScience

Plastic pollution is worsened by warming climate and must be stemmed, researchers warn Climate change conditions turn plastics into more mobile, persistent, and hazardous pollutants. This is done by speeding up plastic breakdown into microplastics—microscopic fragments of plastic—spreading them considerable distances, and increasing exposure and impact within the environment. This is set to worsen as both plastic manufacturing and climate effects increase. Global annual plastic production rose 200-fold between 1950 and 2023. A new review published in Frontiers in Science is calling for urgent action to avoid irreversible ecological damage by stemming the tide of microplastics entering the environment. The authors, from Imperial College London, urge eliminating non-essential single-use plastics (which account for 35% of production), limiting virgin plastic production, and creating international standards for making plastics reusable and recyclable. "Plastic pollution and the climate are co-crises that intensify each other. They also have origins—and solutions—in common," said lead author Prof Frank Kelly, from Imperial's School of Public Health. "We urgently need a coordinated international approach to stop end-of-life plastics from building up in the environment." Source:Phys.org @EverythingScience

Super-Rare 'Hybrid' Blood Type Discovered in Just 3 People An investigation into why blood doesn't always behave as doctors expect has revealed a super-rare mutation in an extremely uncommon variation of blood. Testing more than 544,000 blood samples in a hospital in Thailand revealed three people carrying a never-before-seen version of the B(A) phenotype – a genetic quirk estimated to occur in about 0.00055 percent of people, or roughly one in 180,000. This discovery, says a team led by hematologist Janejira Kittivorapart of Mahidol University in Thailand, suggests that there may be more rare blood variants out there, too subtle for standard testing to detect. Human blood is categorized into eight main groups based on the sugars and proteins – or lack thereof – stuck all over your red blood cells. A, B, and AB types are based on the shape of antigens, sugar molecules that can trigger an immune response. O-type blood has no A or B antigens. Meanwhile, rhesus factors are proteins that determine blood compatibility, and are what give your blood its + or - designation. Source:ScienceAlert @EverythingScience

How Do Cells Know Their Location And Their Role In The Body? Source:IFLScience @EverythingScience

Brain's GPS hasn't changed in millions of years: Specialized neurons may be vital to evolutionary survival Source:Phys.org @EverythingScience