When an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima in the last days of World War Two, much of the city's life was eviscerated. Around 140,000 people were killed and over 60,000 buildings were destroyed or damaged in a moment. Amid the rubble and ruins, however, glimmers of life held on. Against the odds, several trees managed to survive in the heart of Hiroshima, persisting like silent witnesses to the horrors of nuclear weapons. In a grassy park along the Honkawa River in Naka-ku district, you can find a weeping willow (Salix babylonica) that was planted long before the Second World War. It’s located just 370 meters (1,213 away) from the focal point of the bomb, the unusual T-shaped Aioi Bridge which was chosen as a target because of its distinctive appearance from the skies. Although the willow’s trunk was broken in the bomb blast of Little Boy, it still survives today and even hosts new shoots that have since grown from the base.We know much of this information thanks to the Green Legacy Hiroshima, a group of citizens, scientists, and politicians that celebrate the numerous trees that survived the atomic bombing of the city. By documenting their presence, they hope to make a statement against war and nuclear weapons, as well as the persisting beauty of nature. A decades-old eucalyptus tree at the site of Hiroshima Castle, 740 meters (2,427 feet) from the atomic bomb’s hypocenter. The tree survived, the castle did not.Image credit: Fg2 via Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain)“I realized that trees are incredibly important, as they can be used to bring things together and raise a variety of issues, including the history and the natural environment, rejection of war, and hopes for the abolition of nuclear weapons," said Dr Nassrine Azimi, senior advisor at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research who co-founded the Green Legacy Hiroshima with Tomoko Watanabe, according to Hiroshima for Global Peace."Trees watch over the way we live — they remember everything that has happened up to the present, and share it all with us in the form of a message,” explained Dr Azimi.The surviving trees are known as hibakujumoku, stemming from the Japanese words hibaku, meaning "A-bombed, nuked," and jumoku, meaning "trees and shrubs."The organization keeps a live list of 62 hibakujumoku located in Hiroshima. Along with plenty of weeping willows, it includes a host of other species such as giant Camphor trees, fruit-bearing Japanese Persimmon trees, Eucalyptus, and the iconic Yoshino Cherry.A similar initiative has blossomed in Nagasaki, the other Japanese city that the US struck with an atomic bomb in August 1945. Known as the Nagasaki Kusunoki Project, the group says there are at least 50 hibakujumoku within a 4-kilometer (2.4-mile) radius of the bomb’s hypocenter.Many of the survivors feature traumatic scars from the bomb blast, the resulting flames, or the radioactive fallout that riddled the city. Nevertheless, they’re still standing as proud as ever.  Trees are relatively resilient to radiation. Hardy tree species such as poplar can endure up to 50 Gy with little trouble, whereas humans can die from doses in the single digits. Sensitive species might perish or experience problems with tree growth, but certain types of trees have a remarkable ability to withstand fallout.Another part of the Green Legacy Hiroshima‘s mission involves sending seeds and saplings of hibakujumoku to other parts of the world, including the US and the UK. They estimated that descendants of the A-bombed trees are currently growing in at least 40 countries across the planet, spreading a message of hope and peace.

The collaborative power of the animal world is pretty impressive at the best of times – from teams of orcas working together to bumblebees sharing knowledge and the strength in numbers that comes from a large flock. Inspired by this idea of animal swarms, researchers have developed robot snails that not only traverse the ground but can work together to tackle even trickier terrain.Inspired by white jade land snails the team have developed a swarm of snail-like robots with the ability to climb over just about anything. The robots have two modes: free mode allows the snail robots to use lightweight rubber tracks to cover the ground, while strong mode employs a vacuum-style sucker that allows the robot snails to adhere to one another, helping them cross more challenging obstacles in their way. Typically, robots are tested in indoor environments and have limited applications to crossing the more difficult areas of ground in the outside world. Additionally, existing swarm robots generally connect at only one point, giving limited capabilities. Land snails have a unique ability to traverse difficult terrain and climb vertical surfaces with their single foot. And since they also occasionally combine for breeding, the team were inspired to develop a robot that could adhere to multiple points of the iron shell of another robot while also retaining the capabilities such as climbing over difficult ground as an individual.   The team created a connector for the snail robot swarm inspired by the mucus adhesion and suction force of real snails. The robots have magnetic adhesion to connect to the shells of other robots and a vacuum sucker for a more secure attachment – this is known as dual-mode attachment. In “free mode” the suction cup is not used, allowing the robot to move as an individual on their tracks, however in “strong mode” the suction cup is used to hold two robots together. The inspiration behind the robot design.Image Credit: Zhao et al., Nature Communications, 2024 (CC BY 4.0)The snail robot has magnets embedded with the tracks for locomotion, the magnets allow the robot to adhere to another robot's shell, this can happen multiple times with multiple robots, allowing them to collaborate as a swarm to cross ditches and build bridges out of themselves.The team suggested that the robots could be used in search and rescue situations, or for environmental monitoring. The paper is published in Nature Communications.

In 1974, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched its program to make vaccines accessible to children across the globe. Now, 50 years later, a new study suggests that vaccination has had a significant impact on public health, helping to avoid millions of deaths.Though WHO’s Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) began with the goal of vaccinating all children against seven diseases – including the now-eradicated smallpox – the list has since expanded to target 14 pathogens.The new study examined the impact of the vaccines for these pathogens on both regional and global public health since the EPI commenced in June 1974 up until its 50-year anniversary in 2024.This was achieved using mathematical and statistical modeling to provide estimates of three key measures: the numbers of deaths averted, the number of life-years gained, and the number of years of full health gained.The results of the combined 22 models suggest that 50 years’ worth of global vaccination efforts has had a substantial impact: 154 million lives were estimated to have been saved since 1974 as a result of immunization, with death swapped for an average of 66 years of full health per person.Where the program appears to have made its biggest impact in terms of age is on society’s youngest. Modeling found that 101 million of the 154 millions deaths estimated to have been averted were of people younger than a year old. It also suggested that vaccination was responsible for 40 percent of the decline in global infant mortality, making it the biggest contributor to that reduction.Whilst all of the vaccines included were found to have made their mark, the measles vaccine had the most significant impact – even if measles has had something of a resurgence in the last few years.“[M]easles vaccination accounted for 60 per cent of the total benefit of vaccination over the 50-year period, which was also the greatest driver of lives saved,” said Dr Andrew Shattock, who led the study, in a statement.The authors conclude the results are a testament to what can be achieved through collaboration, and call for efforts to persist."Vaccines are among the most powerful inventions in history, making once-feared diseases preventable,” added WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in another statement. “Thanks to vaccines, smallpox has been eradicated, polio is on the brink, and with the more recent development of vaccines against diseases like malaria and cervical cancer, we are pushing back the frontiers of disease.” “With continued research, investment and collaboration, we can save millions more lives today and in the next 50 years.”The study is published in The Lancet.

Scientists have long theorized that life can only exist in universes with three dimensions. However, new research challenges this view, suggesting that life is theoretically possible in a two-dimensional world. The study was published in the journal Physical Review Review. Traditionally, it was believed that universes with more than three dimensions would be unstable and unpredictable, devoid of life and observers. The three-body problem is unpredictable in the 3D world, but even the two-body problem (predicting the orbit of two bodies) becomes too chaotic in higher dimensions and stable orbits are not possible. “This means that such a world cannot contain any time-stable objects, and therefore probably cannot contain stable observers. In a space with more than three dimensions there cannot be traditional atoms and, perhaps, stable structures,” the researchers write in the paper. There are suggestions that life could not have arisen in a two-dimensional (plus time) Universe due to insufficient complexity. The main argument against life in two-dimensional universes is that they lack gravity, making it impossible to create the conditions necessary for life. However, physicist James Scargill of the University of California, Davis, has shown that scalar gravitational fields can exist in two dimensions. In addition, Scargill has examined biological networks and created planar graphs that are thought to demonstrate properties important for the formation of complex brains. This suggests that complex life forms could exist in a two-dimensional world. Gravity and stable orbits are not the only requirements for the origin of life, since life itself in a two-dimensional world may not look the same as we imagine it. For example, an animal of this world may not have a digestive tract. Scargill’s theory is based on the idea of ​​a “brane world” (membrane), where a hypothetical massless graviton is not localized, allowing two-dimensional life to take advantage of four-dimensional gravity. Although the results of the study are hypothetical, they raise questions about where and how life might exist in the Universe. The post Life can exist in a two-dimensional universe, study says appeared first on Anomalien.com.

Some scientists believe that we are alone in the Universe, but others continue to insist that this is not so. It is believed that a NASA research probe will be able to find extraterrestrial life in the form of microbes on the moons of Jupiter as early as 2030. However, an alternative scenario envisions the reception of signals from intelligent beings residing beyond our solar system within the imminent future, reports the Daily Mail. Astronomers have been sending messages to potential intelligent aliens since the 1970s. They contain information about the Earth, its inhabitants, as well as where our planet is located. The SETI Institute is an American organization dedicated to the search for intelligent extraterrestrial life since the 1980s. The organization’s former chief astronomer, Seth Szostak, insists that humans will receive a message from aliens by 2036. His forecast is based on continuous improvements in telescopes and computer equipment. The astronomer claims that recent research has shown that there may be billions of Earth-like planets in the universe. Therefore, it is unlikely that humans are alone in the Universe, since many of these planets may also harbor intelligent life. Scientists from the University of California believe that the signals that were transmitted in 2002 to the Pioneer 10 spacecraft may have already been picked up by intelligent aliens. And the answer can be expected as early as 2029. Astronomers believe that the signal reached a star located 27 light years away from us and if there are planets around it inhabited by intelligent life, then the aliens have already sent a response. As for other messages sent from Earth to space, a response to them can be expected already in the middle of the next decade. Scientists believe that potential aliens may use the same transit method as humans to search for other planets. That is, when a planet passes against the background of its star, the light of the latter becomes dimmer. Thus, aliens could see the Earth passing against the background of the Sun. It is estimated that aliens living in 1,715 nearby systems could discover Earth in the last 5,000 years, and those living in 319 systems could do so in the next 5,000 years. The post Scientists believe they will soon receive an answer from aliens appeared first on Anomalien.com.

In a groundbreaking study that could revolutionize our understanding of cellular biology, researchers have uncovered evidence of a hidden communication system within cells, distinct from the well-known pathways involving DNA. This revelation opens up a new realm of biological intrigue, offering a fresh perspective on how cells interact and coordinate their functions. The study, recently published in a leading scientific journal iScience, indicates that cells possess an intricate network for transmitting information, which operates independently of the genetic code. This discovery suggests that there is much more to learn about the inner workings of cells, the basic building blocks of life. “Our research reveals the capability of cells to harness transmembrane ion gradients as a means of communication, allowing them to sense and respond to changes in their surroundings rapidly,” Dr. Dipesh Niraula, Ph.D., an applied research scientist in the Department of Machine Learning and study co-author, explained. “This intricate network enables cells to make swift and informed decisions, critical for their survival and function.” The implications of this research are vast. It could lead to significant advancements in medical science, particularly in the treatment of diseases where cellular communication goes awry. Understanding this novel communication system could also pave the way for the development of innovative therapies that target these previously unknown aspects of cell biology. The research team’s findings are based on meticulous experiments and data analysis, which have revealed the existence of this cellular communication system. While the exact mechanisms remain to be fully elucidated, the study provides compelling evidence that will undoubtedly spur further research in the field. “This study challenges the implicit assumption in biology that the genome is the sole source of information and that the nucleus acts as a kind of central processor,” study co-author and research scientist at the Moffitt Cancer Biology & Evolution Program, Dr. Robert Gatenby, said in a statement. As scientists delve deeper into this discovery, we can expect a surge of new knowledge that will enhance our grasp of life at the molecular level. The post Cells possess a mysterious hidden communication system, new study suggests appeared first on Anomalien.com.

An unusual star has been discovered in our galaxy that flickers as if someone is playing with its switch. This strange behavior has puzzled scientists and raised an intriguing possibility: could it be a sign of extraterrestrial life? On April 29, at a lecture at Gresham College in London, Oxford University astrophysics professor Chris Lintott spoke about the Boyajian star in the constellation Cygnus, also known as Tabby’s star. In recent years, space probes and observatories have closely studied its unpredictable dimming and brightness. “This star’s behavior is extraordinary,” Lintott said. “Its brightness decreases sharply and then increases in rapid, erratic leaps. It does not follow any pattern and is the only one of its kind in our galaxy.” When Boyajian’s unusual behavior was first discovered in 2012, the Kepler space observatory studied the star in great detail. These measurements showed that a huge amount of material periodically blocks the light of the star and tightly surrounds it. Theories about the strange star included asteroid clusters, dust rings and disintegrating comets. However, what has received the most attention is a suggestion by Penn State University scientists that the eclipsing mass may be a massive alien megastructure, also called a Dyson sphere. A Dyson sphere is a hypothetical megastructure proposed by physicist Freeman Dyson in 1960. It is an artificial shell surrounding the star that collects most or all of its energy. The concept of a Dyson sphere is based on the assumption that a sufficiently advanced civilization could build a huge structure that would absorb the energy of a star and use it for its needs. The shell can be constructed from a variety of materials, such as metals, carbon nanotubes, or even living organisms. “These distant civilizations could be powered by massive rotating structures that astronomers have called Dyson spheres, or swarms,” ​​Lintott said. They found that different wavelengths of light were blocked to different degrees, Lintott said. This indicates that starlight is passing through the dust cloud. Boyajian’s obscuring mass is most likely a dust cloud resulting from the planet’s collision and subsequent destruction. However, Lintott also noted that the analysis of the strange object is important because it draws attention to techniques that will become more important in the coming years as efforts to identify extraterrestrial civilizations intensify. The post Unusual star in our galaxy twinkles, hinting at the presence of ET life appeared first on Anomalien.com.

The experiment, the results of which were published in the journal Communications Psychology, showed the amazing effect of self-hypnosis. When a patient was told before a fictitious medical procedure that it was painful, he often began to experience real discomfort. The placebo effect has long been known, when a person’s condition actually improves while taking ineffective drugs or undergoing “empty” procedures. There is also the opposite phenomenon: the nocebo effect, when a patient has negative expectations that a treatment will cause harm, and this belief leads to negative outcome. New research has provided further insight into this effect, reports theguardian.com. In another experiment, participants were told that the procedure they were about to undergo could increase pain. The researchers set up a group “therapy” in which one patient had a device with a heated plate applied to the skin. Another subject observed this procedure. The scientists increased the temperature of the plate, which made the procedure painful. Then the procedure was performed on other participants; at first they were observers, then demonstrators. The plate heating was increased only for the first patient. But others also reported pain during the procedure, although their plates were at normal temperature. This means that pain was “transmitted along the chain” from one demonstrator to others, although in fact only the first of them found the procedure painful. This is clearly the effect of self-hypnosis when observing real or even fictitious, “phantom” pain of another subject. Moreover, scientists came to this conclusion not only on the basis of observations or subjective self-assessments of the experiment participants. The response was also assessed using instruments: by the activity of the sweat glands at the tips of the fingers, and by the degree of tension in the facial muscles. The equipment data confirmed that the participants actually felt pain during the fictitious procedure. That is, the nocebo effect manifests itself not only in the field of psychology, but also gives a completely physiological reaction. The post Pain originates in the mind: pain of self-hypnosis can be contagious appeared first on Anomalien.com.

In a recent surge for transparency, Representative Eric Burlison has voiced concerns over what he describes as “dark programs” – government initiatives that operate with a lack of public disclosure and clarity regarding their funding and purpose. This call to action highlights a persistent struggle within the halls of power, where the balance between national security and the public’s right to know is a delicate one. Representative Burlison’s stance is not without precedent. History is replete with instances where the veil of secrecy has been lifted, revealing programs that have ranged from the controversial to the mundane. The representative’s advocacy for openness is a reflection of a broader societal demand for accountability and an informed citizenry. The debate is complex and multifaceted. On one hand, there is an undeniable need for certain operations to remain confidential for national security reasons. On the other, the democratic process thrives on transparency and the ability of the public to hold its leaders accountable. Finding the middle ground is a task that requires wisdom, foresight, and a commitment to the principles of governance. “When [Rep. Tim] Burchett asked about some of the data, they said that they had not received data from the Navy. That’s pretty alarming,” Rep. Eric Burlison exclusively tells Ask a Pol. “But it’s been over a year they’ve, you know, AARO is not getting all the information that they want. I mean, they said that in general, they are — most or all the other agencies are cooperative, but at the end of the day, they’re not getting some of it.” As the conversation unfolds, it becomes clear that this is more than a matter of classified documents or undisclosed budgets. It is a question of trust – trust in the institutions designed to protect us, and trust in those we elect to make decisions on our behalf. It is a dialogue that goes to the heart of what it means to be an informed participant in the democratic process. Representative Burlison’s call for input on investigative steps is a step towards bridging the gap between the government and the governed. “Probably the vast majority of this, of the photos and videos, the vast majority are fake. Or are photos of things that are not necessarily UAP,” said Burlison. “And so that being said, I think that AARO is not done. They still have some stuff to do. And I don’t think that our job should be done either. And at the end of the day, we still have dark programs that are spending money that we don’t have an answer for.” The post Rep. Burlison questions spending secrecy in UAP government program appeared first on Anomalien.com.

The authors of a new study published in the journal Classical and Quantum Gravity provide a theoretical basis for warp drives, suggesting that the technology for extremely fast space travel may not remain forever inaccessible to humanity, reports Space. Science fiction fans are probably familiar with warp drives. These hypothetical engines control the fabric of spacetime, compressing it in front of the spacecraft and expanding it behind. This creates a kind of warp bubble that allows the spacecraft to travel either at the speed of light or even faster. 30 years ago, physicist Miguel Alcubierre published a groundbreaking paper in which he described how a true warp drive could work. But this propulsion system required negative energy, that is, an exotic substance that may or may not exist. It also suggested the use of dark energy, that is, a mysterious force that apparently causes the accelerated expansion of the Universe. The authors of the new study suggest that a true warp drive does not need exotic negative energy at all. According to scientists, this research changes the understanding of warp drives, because they were able to create the first of its kind model of such a device, and it proves that warp drives are not completely relegated to science fiction. According to the scientists, their model “uses a complex mixture of traditional and new gravitational techniques to create a warp bubble that can move objects at high speeds without exceeding the limits of known physics.” Although the explanations of the new model are very complex for ordinary science lovers. For example, the scientists write in the study that “the solution involves combining a stable shell of matter with a displacement vector distribution that closely matches well-known warp drive solutions such as the Alcubierre metric.” This is the name of the warp drive proposed by Alcubierre. According to scientists, warp engines are exotic solutions to Einstein’s theory of relativity that offer a faster way to travel through space. The authors write that their “research shows that classical warp drive spacetime can be brought to satisfy energy conditions by adding a shell of ordinary matter with positive mass consistent with relativity.” Scientists have shown in their model that their warp drive cannot reach speeds exceeding the speed of light, although it can approach this speed (300 thousand km/s). Even if other scientists confirm that the mathematics presented in the new study is correct, humans are still a long way from being able to create a true warp drive. The study’s authors acknowledge this and believe that their results could be the first step towards fast interstellar flights. Scientists believe that in the future it will be possible to create a real warp drive that would not violate the rules of classical physics, but would allow movement at sub-light speeds through space. The post Flight in space at the speed of light: warp drive can be created appeared first on Anomalien.com.