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Orbiting the Mediterranean, from Europe into Africa. So much human history to see in the lights! Source: @astro_Pettit @EverythingScience

Scientists Identify First-Ever Single Gene That Can Directly Cause Mental Illness For many years, scientists believed that conditions such as schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, or depression developed through a combination of numerous influences, including heredity. A new international study led by the Institute of Human Genetics at the University of Leipzig Medical Center now shows for the first time that a change in a single gene can directly cause a mental disorder. The findings were recently published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that in 2021, nearly one in seven people worldwide was living with some form of mental illness, with anxiety disorders and depression appearing most often. These disorders usually stem from a complex mix of causes in which genetics play a major role. Having a close relative with a mental illness is considered one of the strongest known risk factors. Earlier research generally proposed that mental disorders develop only when many genetic factors interact. GRIN2A identified as a single-gene driver “Our current findings indicate that GRIN2A is the first known gene that, on its own, can cause a mental illness. This distinguishes it from the polygenic causes of such disorders that have been assumed to date,” says Professor Johannes Lemke, lead author of the study and Director of the Institute of Human Genetics at the University of Leipzig Medical Center. Source:SciTechDaily @EverythingScience

Award-winning micro-photos depict stunning details of nature Source:SN Explores @EverythingScience

30 seconds of baby Emperor penguins Source: @NatGeo @EverythingScience

Ambitious plan to store CO₂ beneath the North Sea set to start operations Appearing first as a dot on the horizon, the remote Nini oil field on Europe's rugged North Sea slowly comes into view from a helicopter. Used to extract fossil fuels, the field is now getting a second lease on life as a means of permanently storing planet-warming carbon dioxide beneath the seabed. In a process that almost reverses oil extraction, chemical giant INEOS plans to inject liquefied CO2 deep down into depleted oil reservoirs, 1,800 meters (5,900 feet) beneath the seabed. The Associated Press made a rare visit to the Siri platform, close to the unmanned Nini field, the final stage in INEOS' carbon capture and storage efforts, named Greensand Future. When the project begins commercial operations next year, Greensand is expected to become the European Union's first fully-operational offshore CO2 storage site. Environmentalists say carbon capture and storage, also known as CCS, has a role to play in dealing with climate change but should not be used as an excuse by industries to avoid cutting emissions. Source:Phys.org @EverythingScience

EverythingScience pinned «After nearly 100 years, scientists may have detected dark matter In the early 1930s, Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky observed galaxies in space moving faster than their mass should allow, prompting him to infer the presence of some invisible scaffolding—dark…»

Eruption of long-dormant Ethiopian volcano subsides Source:Phys.org @EverythingScience

⭐️ This is Goal 5: Inspire Europe. Decisions made during #CM25 will advance our Strategy 2040, which focuses on five goals to show how important space is for European citizens. We aim to inspire future generations by making space accessible for everyone through education, cooperation, and missions that unite and innovate. Find out more esa.int/About_Us/Minis… Source: @esa @EverythingScience

In 1954, Soviet Scientist Vladimir Demikhov Performed "The Most Controversial Experimental Operation Of The 20th Century" If you've never looked at a dog and wondered if there's "room for a second head on there", congratulations on not being Soviet scientist Vladimir Demikhov, a pioneer of organ transplantation who might be better remembered for his groundbreaking work in heart and lung transplants were it not for the "two-headed dog" experiments. Source:IFLScience @EverythingScience

A 100-Year-Old Problem Solved? Scientists Discover How To Freeze Organs Without Cracking Them Cryopreservation, the process of preserving biological tissues by cooling them to subzero temperatures, might sound like something out of science fiction. However, scientists have been developing this technology for nearly a century. For most of that time, progress was limited—until 2023, when researchers at the University of Minnesota successfully transplanted a cryopreserved kidney into another rat. This achievement demonstrated the potential for using cryopreserved organs in future human transplants. Preventing cracking in frozen organs Cryopreserving larger organs poses a significant obstacle because the tissues are prone to cracking during rapid cooling. Avoiding these fractures is critical for maintaining organ integrity in human preservation and transplantation. A research team from the J. Mike Walker ’66 Department of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University, led by Dr. Matthew Powell-Palm, has published a paper detailing a new cryopreservation technique that may prevent cracking in organs. To preserve organs outside the body for longer periods, scientists use a process called vitrification. This method freezes tissue in a specialized solution, keeping it in a glass-like state that prevents damage from ice crystal formation. By modifying the composition of the vitrification solution, researchers can analyze how different properties influence the likelihood of cracking in an organ. “In this study, we investigated different glass transition temperatures, which we believe play a dominant role in cracking,” said Powell-Palm, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering. “We learned that higher glass transition temperatures reduce the likelihood of cracking.” Designing better biocompatible cryosolutions Equipped with the knowledge that higher transition temperatures are less likely to cause cracks than lower temperatures, researchers can focus on creating aqueous vitrification solutions with higher glass transition temperatures to help avoid cracking. “Cracking is only one part of the problem,” Powell-Palm said. “The solutions need to be biocompatible with the tissue as well.” Source:SciTechDaily @EverythingScience

After nearly 100 years, scientists may have detected dark matter In the early 1930s, Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky observed galaxies in space moving faster than their mass should allow, prompting him to infer the presence of some invisible scaffolding—dark matter—holding the galaxies together. Nearly 100 years later, NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope may have provided direct evidence of dark matter, allowing the invisible matter to be "seen" for the very first time. The elusive nature of dark matter Dark matter has remained largely a mystery since it was proposed so many years ago. Up to this point, scientists have only been able to indirectly observe dark matter through its effects on observable matter, such as its ability to generate enough gravitational force to hold galaxies together. The reason dark matter can't be observed directly is that the particles that make up dark matter don't interact with electromagnetic force—meaning dark matter doesn't absorb, reflect or emit light. Breakthrough observations from Fermi telescope Using the latest data from the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, Professor Tomonori Totani from the Department of Astronomy at the University of Tokyo believes he has finally detected the specific gamma rays predicted by the annihilation of theoretical dark matter particles. Totani's study is published in the journal Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics. "We detected gamma rays with a photon energy of 20 gigaelectronvolts (or 20 billion electronvolts, an extremely large amount of energy) extending in a halolike structure toward the center of the Milky Way galaxy. The gamma-ray emission component closely matches the shape expected from the dark matter halo," said Totani. The observed energy spectrum, or range of gamma-ray emission intensities, matches the emission predicted from the annihilation of hypothetical WIMPs, with a mass approximately 500 times that of a proton. The frequency of WIMP annihilation estimated from the measured gamma-ray intensity also falls within the range of theoretical predictions. Importantly, these gamma-ray measurements are not easily explained by other, more common astronomical phenomena or gamma-ray emissions. Therefore, Totani considers these data a strong indication of gamma-ray emission from dark matter, which has been sought for many years. "If this is correct, to the extent of my knowledge, it would mark the first time humanity has 'seen' dark matter. And it turns out that dark matter is a new particle not included in the current standard model of particle physics. This signifies a major development in astronomy and physics," said Totani. Next steps and scientific verification While Totani is confident that his gamma-ray measurements are detecting dark matter particles, his results must be verified through independent analysis by other researchers. Even with this confirmation, scientists will want additional proof that the halolike radiation is indeed the result of dark matter annihilation rather than originating from some other astronomical phenomena. Additional proof of WIMP collisions in other locations that harbor a high concentration of dark matter would bolster these initial results. Detecting the same energy gamma-ray emissions from dwarf galaxies within the Milky Way halo, for example, would support Totani's analysis. "This may be achieved once more data are accumulated, and if so, it would provide even stronger evidence that the gamma rays originate from dark matter," said Totani. Source:Phys.org @EverythingScience

Examining why some species developed consciousness while others remained non-conscious Although scientific research about consciousness has enjoyed a boom in the past two decades, one central question remains unanswered: What is the function of consciousness? Why did it evolve at all? The answers to these questions are crucial to understanding why some species (such as our own) became conscious while others (such as oak trees) did not. Furthermore, observing the brains of birds shows that evolution can achieve similar functional solutions to realize consciousness despite different structures. The working groups led by Professors Albert Newen and Onur Güntürkün at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, report their findings in a current special issue of the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences from November 13, 2025. Purposes of pleasure and pain? Our conscious experience makes up our lives, often through positive pleasure: I feel the warm sun on my skin, I hear the singing of birds, I enjoy the moment. Yet we also often experience pain: I feel my knee hurt from falling on the stairs, I suffer from always being pessimistic. Why have we, as living creatures, even developed a perception that can involve positive experiences as well as pain and even unbearable suffering? Albert Newen and Carlos Montemayor categorize three types of consciousness, each with different functions: basic arousal, general alertness, and a reflexive (self-)consciousness. "Evolutionarily, basic arousal developed first, with the base function of putting the body in a state of ALARM in life-threatening situations so that the organism can stay alive," explains Newen. "Pain is an extremely efficient means for perceiving damage to the body and to indicate the associated threat to its continued life. This often triggers a survival response, such as fleeing or freezing." A second step in evolution is the development of general alertness. This allows us to focus on one item in a simultaneous flow of different information. When we see smoke while someone is speaking to us, we can only focus on the smoke and search for its source. "This makes it possible to learn about new correlations: first the simple, causal correlation that smoke comes from fire and shows where a fire is located. But targeted alertness also lets us identify complex, scientific correlations," says Carlos Montemayor. Humans and some animals then develop a reflexive (self-)consciousness. In its complex form, it means that we are able to reflect on ourselves as well as our past and future. We can form an image of ourselves and incorporate it into our actions and plans. "Reflexive consciousness, in its simple forms, developed parallel to the two basic forms of consciousness," explains Newen. "In such cases, conscious experience focuses not on perceiving the environment, but rather on the conscious registration of aspects of oneself." This includes the state of one's own body, as well as one's perception, sensations, thoughts, and actions. To use one simple example, recognizing oneself in the mirror is a form of reflexive consciousness. Children develop this skill at 18 months, and some animals have been shown to do this as well, such as chimpanzees, dolphins, and magpies. Reflexive conscious experiences—as its core function—makes it possible for us to better integrate into society and coordinate with others. Source:Phys.org @EverythingScience