When Lexie moved into a home near her parents, she had no idea that their dog would become such a frequent visitor. However, she and her kids aren’t complaining! Meet Stan, the adorable pooch who shows up on his human sister’s doorstep pretty much every day. Apparently, her kids call the dog “Uncle Stan.” Isn’t that cute? Lexie shared the sweetest video of her parents’ dog on TikTok. She included clip after clip of her opening the door to find Stan waiting patiently on the front stoop. Like any good uncle, this pooch loves spending time with his niece and nephew. It helps that they always have plenty of treats on hand! @lexieandunclestan We are so lucky to have this Uncle in our lives and to be able to share him with you! #unclestan #minischnauzer #dogsoftiktok ♬ I Wanna See You Smile – Guitalele Guys “A little rain or snow doesn’t stop him from making these visits,” Lexie wrote in her video. “We always make sure he gets a ride home after his visit.” Uncle Stan comes by pretty much every chance he gets! This TikToker loves getting to see her parents’ dog every day, but even she’ll admit that the pooch’s timing isn’t always optimal. One night, Lexie found Uncle Stan on her front stoop in the middle of some very rainy weather! However, she explained in her caption that he hadn’t stopped by in a few days, so he was probably missing his niece and nephew. We’re sure he can be forgiven for that, even if his sister did have to dry him off before letting him into the house! @lexieandunclestan This little stinker came for a late night visit in the pouring rain he typically doesn’t come at night but we hadn’t seen him in about 3 days (he’s had lots of visitors at his house over the weekend) so I think he missed us. Saw an opportunity and ran with it! Literally I love him so much ♬ A Day in My Life – Soft boy In another video about the sweet dog, Lexie shared that her parents’ house can feel a little empty now that the kids have grown up. That’s part of the reason that Uncle Stan stops by so often, in all types of weather! “He grew up in a house filled with kids and now that everyone is grown up he gets super lonely,” she said. @lexieandunclestan PS Truly yours, your biggest fan, this is STAN #dogs #dogsoftiktok #stan ♬ eminem – stan lofi (slowed + reverb)（剪辑版） – HaMidM We’re so glad that Lexie lives near her parents so that she can spend more time with this adorable dog! You can find the source of this story’s featured image here. The post “When You Move Down The Street From Your Parents’ House And Their Dog Comes To See You Every Day” appeared first on InspireMore.

A strangely light-toned boulder on Mars is completely unlike any other rock we’ve seen on the Red Planet up to now. Spotted by NASA’s Perseverance rover at a site called Mount Washburn - which sits within the wider study location of Jezero Crater - the unusual object may provide some intriguing clues into the ancient geological processes that helped to shape the Martian surface.“The diversity of textures and compositions at Mount Washburn was an exciting discovery for the team, as these rocks represent a grab bag of geologic gifts brought down from the crater rim and potentially beyond,” said Brad Garczynski, co-lead of the current science campaign, in a statement. “But among all these different rocks, there was one that really caught our attention.” Measuring 45 centimeters (18 inches) in width by 35 centimeters (14 inches) in height, the unexpectedly bright rock pops out against the darker boulders that surround it, and has been nicknamed “Atoko Point” in reference to a similar feature of the Grand Canyon. “In terms of the size, shape, and arrangement of its mineral grains and crystals — and potentially its chemical composition — Atoko Point is in a league of its own,” reads the statement from NASA.Using its SuperCam and Mastcam-Z instruments, Perseverance was able to determine that the rock is made up of the minerals pyroxene and feldspar, although how it ended up on Mount Washmore, surrounded by rocks of an entirely different composition, is unclear.One theory is that it originates in a subterranean body of magma that became exposed at some point, although the rock may also have been transported to its current location by a river that flowed across the Martian surface in the ancient past. “Either way, the team believes that while Atoko is the first of its kind they’ve seen, it won’t be the last,” continues the statement.After briefly stopping to admire and analyze the unique rock, Perseverance continued its journey towards its next stop, known as Bright Angel, where it will, erm, persevere in its quest to find signs of ancient life on Mars.

For the first time, researchers have fully sequenced the sex chromosomes of non-human primates, revealing how the male-specific Y chromosome is evolving at an incredible speed while the X chromosome remains largely static. Comparing these findings to the human genome, the study authors discovered that our own species is very much part of this evolutionary dance, with a rapidly-changing genetic code along the male sex chromosome.All humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes, one of which comprises the sex chromosomes. For females, this entails two X chromosomes, while males have one X and one Y.The researchers behind the new study generated complete end-to-end reference genomes for the X and Y chromosomes of five great apes - including chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, Bornean orangutans and Sumatran orangutans - as well as one lesser ape, the siamang gibbon.Throwing humans into the mix, the researchers were able to compare the readouts for seven different primates. In doing so, they found that Y chromosomes tend to differ massively between species, while X chromosomes are largely alike.For instance, over 90 percent of ape X chromosome sequences match up with the human X chromosome, indicating a relatively small degree of change across millions of years of evolution. In contrast, only 14 to 27 percent of ape Y chromosomes align with the human version, suggesting an enormous amount of rapid change.“The extent of the differences between the Y chromosomes of these species was very surprising,” said study author Kateryna Makova in a statement.  “Some of these species diverged from the human lineage only seven million years ago, which is not a lot of time in terms of evolution. This shows that the Y chromosomes are evolving very fast.”Such extensive variation is likely due to the fact that the Y chromosome doesn’t exchange much genetic information with other chromosomes, which means it tends to pick up a lot of deletions and other types of mutations. As a consequence, the Y chromosome has been getting progressively shorter over time.“We found the ape Y to be shrinking, accumulating many mutations and repeats, and losing genes,” said Makova. “Because of this degradation, the Y chromosome has been suggested to be on its way towards extinction in mammals,” write the study authors in their paper.However, the team found that while the Y chromosome may be getting smaller, it’s unlikely to vanish completely as some of its genes are “evolving under purifying selection.” In other words, certain genes are protected by safety mechanisms that keep important sequences intact.One of these survival strategies involves the use of palindromes, which entail gene sequences that repeat in a mirror image of each other, creating two identical copies that butt ends. As a result, any damage that occurs to one copy can be fixed by exchanging information with the adjacent stretch of matching DNA.“Having these genes in palindromes is like keeping a backup copy,” says study author Adam Phillippy. According to the researchers, the genes protected by palindromes tend to vary greatly from species to species, although many are involved in spermatogenesis.Given that the Y chromosome is essential for the continued existence of males, these purifying selection mechanisms provide a vital safety net for the future of humankind. And despite previous suspicions that the XY combo may soon be a thing of the past, Makova insists that “the Y chromosome is unlikely to disappear any time soon.”The study has been published in the journal Nature.

People often underestimate tiny beings. But microscopic algal cells not only evolved to thrive in one of the most extreme habitats on Earth – glaciers – but are also shaping them.With a team of scientists from the UK and Canada, we traced the evolution of purple algae back hundreds of millions of years and our findings challenge a key idea about how evolution works. Though small, these algae are having a dramatic effect on the glaciers they live on.Glaciers are among the planet’s fastest changing ecosystems. During the summer melt season as liquid water forms on glaciers, blooms of purple algae darken the surface of the ice, accelerating the rate of melt. This fascinating adaptation to glaciers requires microscopic algae to control their growth and photosynthesis. This must be balanced with tolerance of extreme ice melt, temperature and light exposure.Our study, published in New Phytologist, reveals how and when their adaptations to live in these extreme environments first evolved. We sequenced and analysed genome data of the glacier algae Ancylonema nordenskiöldii. Our results show that the purple colour of glacier algae, which acts like a sunscreen, was generated by new genes involved in pigment production.This pigment, purpurogallin, protects algal cells from damage of ultraviolet (UV) and visible light. It is also linked with tolerance of low temperatures and desiccation, characteristic features of glacial environments. Our genetic analysis suggests that the evolution of this purple pigment was probably vital for several adaptations in glacier algae.We also identified new genes that helped increase the algae’s tolerance to UV and visible light, important adaptations for living in a bright, exposed environment. Interestingly these were linked to increased light perception as well as improved mechanisms of repair to sun damage. This work reveals how algae are adapted to live on glaciers in the present day.Next, we wanted to understand when this adaptation evolved in Earth’s deep history.The evolution of glacier algaeEarth has experienced many fluctuations of colder and warmer climates. Across thousands and sometimes millions of years, global climates have changed slowly between glacial (cold) to interglacial (warm) periods.One of the most dramatic cold periods was the Cryogenian, dating back to 720-635 million years ago, when Earth was almost entirely covered in snow and ice. So widespread were these glaciations, they are sometimes referred to by scientists as “Snowball Earth”.Scientists think that these conditions would have been similar to the glaciers and ice sheets we see on Earth today. So we wondered could this period be the force driving the evolution of glacier algae?After analysing genetic data and fossilised algae, we estimated that glacier algae evolved around 520-455 million years ago. This suggests that the evolution of glacier algae was not linked to the Snowball Earth environments of the Cryogenian.As the origin of glacier algae is later than the Cryogenian, a more recent glacial period must have been the driver of glacial adaptations in algae. Scientists think there has continuously been glacial environments on Earth up to 60 million years ago.We did, however, identify that the common ancestor of glacier algae and land plants evolved around the Cryogenian.In February 2024, our previous analysis demonstrated that this ancient algae was multicellular. The group containing glacier algae lost the ability to create complex multicellular forms, possibly in response to the extreme environmental pressures of the Cryogenian.Rather than becoming more complex, we have demonstrated that these algae became simple and persevered to the present day. This is an example of evolution by reducing complexity. It also contradicts the well-established “march of progress” hypothesis, the idea that organisms evolve into increasingly complex versions of their ancestors.Our work showed that this loss of multicellularity was accompanied by a huge loss of genetic diversity. These lost genes were mainly linked to multicellular development. This is a signature of the evolution of their simple morphology from a more complex ancestor.Over the last 700 million years, these algae have survived by being tiny, insulated from cold and protected from the Sun. These adaptations prepared them for life on glaciers in the present day.So specialised is this adaptation, that only a handful of algae have evolved to live on glaciers. This is in contrast to the hundreds of algal species living on snow. Despite this, glacier algae have dramatic effects across vast ice fields when liquid water forms on glacier surfaces. In 2016, on the Greenland ice sheet, algal growth led to an additional 4,400–6,000 million tonnes of runoff.Understanding these algae helps us appreciate their role in shaping fragile ecosystems.Our study gives insight into the evolutionary journey of glacier algae from the deep past to the present. As we face a changing climate, understanding these microscopic organisms is key to predicting the future of Earth’s icy environments.Alexander Bowles, Postdoctoral research associate, University of BristolThis article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Remarks from NRI’s Regional Seminars.

Tales from Shakespeare will spark or rekindle a love for the Bard.

On the canceled actor’s new feature film and struggle to secure an acting comeback.

On a drink that beats the Aperol spritz any day of the week.

Don’t believe the evidence right in front of you, they say. Sound familiar?

It’s time to clear up some misconceptions about the position that the Southern Baptist Convention has taken against in vitro fertilization.