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There’s a lot we don’t know about life in the oceans of our planet. Rare species inhabit deep waters and new areas are discovered all the time‚ but sometimes‚ the only clues for understanding what lies beneath the waves are when they wash up on our shores. In the Dipaculao‚ Aurora region of the Philippines‚ a super rare megamouth shark (Megachasma pelagios) has washed up dead‚ with one dead young shark found next to her and a further six pups inside. This is‚ unfortunately‚ the first-ever record of a pregnant individual of this species. Megamouth sharks were only discovered in 1976; they are filter feeders like whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) and basking sharks (Cetorhinus maximus) and can weigh up to 1215 kilograms (2‚700 pounds). Only around 120 individuals have been seen or captured since their discovery and researchers know precious little about their ecology and life history.                 IFLScience is not responsible for content shared from external sites.The mother megamouth was found on November 14‚ measuring an impressive 5.6 meters in length (18.4 feet)‚ whilst the seven total pups measured between 165 and 183.5 centimeters long (65 and 72.2 inches). It is not yet clear what caused the stranding and death of the sharks‚ but AA Yaptinchay at Marine Wildlife Watch of the Philippines‚ who oversaw the necropsies‚ told New Scientist that sharks “usually expel their pups or eggs when they are captured or stranded” due to stress. Yaptinchay also reported that the mother showed no signs of injuries caused by boats or fishing equipment.As unfortunate as the death of the mother megamouth shark and her pups is‚ it is hoped that the necropsies will yield more information about the physiology and lifestyle of this elusive fish species. Earlier this year‚ scientists were amazed to observe two megamouth sharks‚ filmed from a fishing boat‚ likely engaging in a courtship event. 

Music plays an important role in our lives‚ but have you ever wondered what your musical tastes say about you? Well‚ new research has suggested a potential link between the music we listen to and our moral compass.Music is one of the most fundamental forms of expression. As Victor Hugo‚ the French politician and writer‚ once said “Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent”. Regardless of whether we have any musical talent of our own‚ the nature of our musical tastes says a lot about us. Previous research has shown that music can influence our emotions‚ cognitive performance‚ creativity‚ and mental flexibility. Assessing our favorite songs and artists may even provide insights into our levels of empathy and our personality needs and can help us express our values. But despite our understanding of these connections‚ less attention has been paid to the relationship between our musical tastes and moral values. This was the inspiration for researchers from Queen Mary University‚ London‚ and the ISI Foundation in Turin‚ Italy‚ who set out to investigate the complex interplay between music and morality."Our study provides compelling evidence that music preferences can serve as a window into an individual's moral values‚" Dr Charalampos Saitis‚ one of the senior authors of the study and Lecturer in Digital Music Processing at Queen Mary University of London’s School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science‚ said in a statement.  The study examined existing data from 1‚480 participants‚ collected via the LikeYouth surveying tool‚ who completed psychometric questionnaires concerning their moral values‚ and then looked at artists that participants had liked on Facebook. As the authors write‚ "We presumed that if a user liked the Page of a specific artist on Facebook‚ then that artist’s most famous songs reflect the user’s music preferences‚" which may affect the accuracy of their findings. The team then extracted and analyzed acoustic and lyrical features from the top five songs of each participant’s preferred artists. The team then used machine learning algorithms to analyze the extracted features and to predict participants’ moral values. "For this work‚ we operationalise moral values via the Moral Foundations Theory (MFT)‚" they write‚ "which describes the psychological ground of morality in terms of five innate foundations‚ formed by a two-faced scope between so-called virtues and vices. These foundations are Care/ Harm‚ Fairness/Cheating‚ Loyalty/Betrayal‚ Authority/Subversion‚ and Purity/Degradation."The MFT has been widely used by psychologists to measure morality since its invention in 2004. It has become pretty influential‚ though it is not without its detractors who see it as missing key moral domains‚ such as altruism‚ and having some empirical problems. They used text processing techniques‚ including lexicon-based methods and Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT)-based embeddings‚ to analyze narrative‚ moral values‚ sentiment‚ and emotional loading in the lyrics. In addition‚ low- and high-level audio features provided via Spotify’s API were used to assess encoded information in musical choices‚ which helped enhance moral inferences.The results showed that both lyrical and audio features were better than basic demographic information for predicting a person’s moral compass. Interestingly‚ elements like pitch and timbre served as crucial predictors for values of Care and Fairness‚ whereas sentiments and emotions expressed in lyrics were more effective in predicting Loyalty‚ Authority‚ and Purity. "Our findings reveal that music is not merely a source of entertainment or aesthetic pleasure; it is also a powerful medium that reflects and shapes our moral sensibilities‚" Vjosa Preniqi‚ lead author of the study and a PhD student in Queen Mary explained. "By understanding this connection‚ we can open up new avenues for music-based interventions that promote positive moral development." These findings have implications that extend beyond academic curiosity. They could impact how we engage with and use music in different aspects of life. “Our breakthrough can pave the way for applications ranging from personalized music experiences to innovative music therapy and communication campaigns‚” commented Dr Kyriaki Kalimeri‚ senior co-author of the study and researcher at ISI Foundation."Our research has uncovered an important link between music and morality‚ paving the way for a deeper understanding of the psychological dimensions of our musical experiences‚" concluded Vjosa Preniqi. "We are excited to continue exploring this rich and uncharted territory." The study is published in the journal PLOS One. 

Even if root canals can save our smiles‚ there’s no denying that having a dentist drill down into your tooth is not necessarily the most pleasant experience. But a solution may well be on the horizon – researchers are developing tissue-regenerating tech that could help avoid the dreaded drill.Root canals can be used to treat pulpitis‚ an infection in the pulp‚ the soft tissue in the center of the tooth containing nerves‚ blood vessels‚ and specialized cells. Infections can kill off the pulp‚ which can cause a whole host of other problems. Treatment with root canals digs out the infected pulp‚ but a team of scientists from the Forsyth Institute sought to instead regenerate it‚ using a class of molecules called resolvins.“Root canal therapy (RCT) is effective‚ but it does have some problems since you are removing significant portions of dentin‚ and the tooth dries out leading to a greater risk of fracture down the road‚” said Thomas Van Dyke‚ who led the study‚ in a statement. “Our goal is to come up with a method for regenerating the pulp‚ instead of filling the root canal with inert material.”Their candidate for that method was Resolvin E1 (RvE1)‚ which is naturally produced by the body to control excess inflammation. In a series of experiments‚ RvE1 was applied to mouse dental pulp at different levels of infection and damage‚ ranging from reversible to severely infected and necrotic.When applied directly to infected but living pulp‚ the researchers found that RvE1 was very effective at promoting its regeneration. However‚ regeneration wasn’t achieved when RvE1 was applied to severely infected and necrotic pulp – although it did effectively slow down the rate of infection and reduce inflammation.The results might provide some hope for those who dread the idea of a root canal‚ but it will likely be a while before it reaches a dentist near you. Given that the study was carried out using pulp from mice‚ further research using human tissue will be necessary to determine if RvE1 is just as effective – and safe – to be used as treatment in humans.The researchers are hopeful‚ however‚ that their technology could have a wide-ranging therapeutic impact. As Van Dyke explained: “Because application of RvE1 to dental pulp promotes formation of the type of stem cells that can differentiate into dentin (tooth)‚ bone‚ cartilage or fat‚ this technology has huge potential for the field of regenerative medicine beyond the tissues in the teeth. It could be used to grow bones in other parts of the body‚ for instance.”For now though‚ a root canal and gratitude for the existence of anesthetic it is.The study is published in the Journal of Dental Research. 

The Earth isn't perfectly round IT'S FLAT. Ok not really‚ but it isn't as perfectly round as you'd expect from lessons in primary school or glancing briefly at a globe‚ either.First of all‚ why are planets round(ish)? This one is relatively simple: our old friend (and dastardly nemesis) gravity is the culprit. Planets are formed by bits of matter bumping into each other over time‚ forming bigger clumps. As the mass increases‚ so does the new planet's gravitational pull‚ drawing in even more matter.Congratulations‚ you now have a planet-sized clump. Gravity then sets to work smoothing it into the roundish objects we know and like to stand on/gawp at."An object’s gravitational pull will always point towards the centre of its mass. The bigger something is‚ the more massive it is‚ and the larger its gravitational pull‚" Jonti Horner‚ professor of astrophysics at the University of Southern Queensland‚ explained in a piece for The Conversation. "But the thing is‚ gravity is actually surprisingly weak. An object must be really big before it can exert a strong enough gravitational pull to overcome the strength of the material from which it’s made. Smaller solid objects (metres or kilometres in diameter) therefore have gravitational pulls that are too weak to pull them into a spherical shape."  This is why smaller objects and planets have less of a uniform shape‚ for instance Comet 67P which looks a little like a rubber duck.Ok‚ so why isn't Earth a perfect sphere?Gravity is too weak to pull the Earth into a perfect sphere‚ but it also isn't the only force affecting a planet's shape. In 1671‚ astronomer Jean Richter traveled from Paris‚ France‚ to Cayenne‚ French Guiana in South America. With him‚ he took a pendulum clock. While the clock had been accurate in Paris‚ he noticed that in Cayenne it ran slowly‚ losing a full two and a half minutes every day. No biggie‚ the pendulum was shortened to make the clock accurate. However‚ when he returned to Paris he found that the clock was running too quickly‚ by two and a half minutes each day.Though it may feel the same when you jump up and down in Brazil or Canada‚ the rate at which you fall is not uniform. What mathematician Christiaan Huygens realized after hearing of Richter's clock was that it was experimental evidence that the Earth was rotating. The clock's change of pace was not due to some weird error‚ but because of the shape of the Earth itself.Later‚ Newton showed using data from a similar pendulum clock and Jupiter's equatorial bulge‚ that the Earth bulged at the equator due to the centrifugal force (think about how you are pushed to the outside edge of a roundabout as it spins) of its rotation‚ and estimated by how much. Near the equator‚ gravity acts upon you less than it does near the poles‚ as you are further away from the bulk of the Earth's mass‚ explaining why the pendulum ran differently.The faster the centrifugal force‚ the more likely you are to see these bulges. Dwarf planet Haumea‚ a planet roughly the size of Pluto‚ is shaped much like an egg due to how fast it is rotating. Earth‚ while not completely egg-like‚ bulges at the equator about 43 kilometers (27 miles).

Glaring artificial lights caused the death of nearly 1‚000 birds after they accidentally slammed into a brightly lit building in Chicago. These types of accidents are becoming increasingly common and it’s leaving scientists to wonder whether we need to seriously reconsider our relationship with artificial lighting.Some 960 migratory birds were recovered from the land around McCormick Place Lakeside Center‚ a large convention center made of glass panels in Chicago‚ on October 5‚ according to Chicago’s Field Museum. Dozens of species were affected‚ but the majority appear to have been palm and yellow-rumped warblers.Most birds migrate at night and artificial lighting can dazzle their nighttime navigation‚ leading to collisions with reflective surfaces or glass buildings. Indeed‚ this is not the first time the lights of McCormick Place’s glass-clad building have been blamed on a mass die-off of migratory birds. “Every day during spring and fall migration seasons‚ our scientists and volunteers have gotten up at sunrise in search of birds that have flown into the center’s windows‚” Field Museum posted on X (formerly Twitter).“Collections data have proved many migratory birds are shrinking due to climate change. They’ve also helped scientists make the case for turning off city lights to help migrating birds: Illuminated windows can disorient birds‚ resulting in more collisions‚” they added.     IFLScience is not responsible for content shared from external sites.McCormick Place has acknowledged the problem‚ posting on Instagram that they’re currently “consulting with experts to identify the best options for both immediate and long-term solutions.”Aptly‚ a new study was published this week that looked at how light pollution is posing a growing threat to migrating birds. Using weather radar data‚ scientists found that artificial light is a main indicator of where birds will land on their lengthy journeys. With city lights acting like glowing beacons‚ migratory birds are being lured to urban areas‚ which are risky places filled with threats like people‚ cats‚ scarcer food‚ and plenty of shiny buildings to collide with. Light pollution is continuing to increase sharply with the ongoing urbanization of the planet and our ever-expanding development‚ creating a noticeable impact on human and ecological health."We don't often think about light as a pollutant‚ but it checks all the boxes of what pollution is‚” Kyle Horton‚ study author and an assistant professor at Colorado State University’s Department of Fish‚ Wildlife and Conservation Biology‚ said in a statement. “If we turned off all lights tonight‚ there would be no birds colliding because of lights tonight. The impact is immediate and positive for birds‚" said Horton. The new study is published in the journal Nature Communications.

Originally developed as a test of consciousness in different species‚ the mirror test has since become an indicator that a creature recognizes its reflection as itself. Now‚ researchers have potentially welcomed a new member to the self-recognition club: mice.Placing a dollop of black or white ink on the foreheads of black-furred mice‚ a team of researchers then placed individual mice in a box with a mirror and started recording them. Observations revealed that mice with white spots on their heads spent more time grooming their heads whilst in front of the mirror. On the surface‚ this would suggest that the mice were able to detect the change in their appearance‚ and thus are capable of self-recognition‚ joining the likes of humans‚ chimpanzees‚ and fish.However‚ the researchers caution that this doesn’t necessarily mean that mice are “self-aware”. They also found that the mice could only detect the spots under certain conditions: being accustomed to mirrors‚ having spent time socializing with other mice that looked like them‚ and if the blob of ink on their heads was relatively large.  “The mice required significant external sensory cues to pass the mirror test – we have to put a lot of ink on their heads‚ and then the tactile stimulus coming from the ink somehow enables the animal to detect the ink on their heads via a mirror reflection‚” said first author Jun Yokose in a statement. “Chimps and humans don't need any of that extra sensory stimulus.”The team also sought to identify the neural basis for the behavior resembling self-recognition. They identified a subset of neurons in the hippocampus‚ which they found were activated when the mice appeared to recognize themselves in the mirror. To confirm the neurons played a role in this behavior‚ the team made them non-functional‚ after which the mice stopped displaying it.The researchers further suggest that socialization may be key to the mice developing self-recognizing behaviors‚ with socially isolated mice displaying no increase in grooming behaviors during the mirror and ink test. There were also clues in the analysis of neurons. “A subset of these self-responding neurons was also reactivated when we exposed the mice to other individuals of the same strain‚” said senior author Takashi Kitamura. “This is consistent with previous human literature that showed that some hippocampal cells fire not only when the person is looking at themselves‚ but also when they look at familiar people like a parent.”The next step for the team is to figure out if mice can still recognize changes to their appearance in the absence of tactile stimulation; cold‚ wet ink on their heads may well have alerted them to the fact. One suggestion is to use filters similar to those seen on social media – a study with images of mice with little bunny ears or cartoonishly large eyes would be worthwhile indeed. It’s also hoped they can identify other brain regions that could be involved in self-recognition.“Now that we have this mouse model‚ we can manipulate or monitor neural activity to comprehensively investigate the neural circuit mechanisms behind how self-recognition-like behavior is induced in mice‚” said Yokose.The study is published in the journal Neuron.

In August‚ India became the fourth nation to touch down on the Moon‚ and the first to land near (but definitely not on) the lunar south pole. The mission was an overwhelming success‚ with the lander and rover conducting experiments to measure the temperature at the landing site and analyze the composition of the lunar soil‚ before shutting down in the lunar night.Now‚ in a surprise move (even to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)‚ given that they weren't expecting to have the fuel for such a maneuver)‚ the propulsion module that took the lander to the Moon has returned to Earth orbit. The propulsion module's primary objective was to deliver the Vikram Lander to the Moon – but it also had another payload. After separation‚ the Spectro-polarimetry of HAbitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) payload was deployed and operated for a planned lifespan of about three months. As the end of the mission neared‚ they realized they had fuel spare for a bonus end to the mission."The precise orbit injection by LVM3 and optimal earth / lunar burn maneuvers‚ resulted in the availability of over 100 kg [220 pounds] of fuel in the PM [Propulsion Module] after over one month of operations in the lunar orbit‚" ISRO said in a statement. "It was decided to use the available fuel in the PM to derive additional information for future lunar missions and demonstrate the mission operation strategies for a sample return mission."After a few maneuvers‚ the module made four last Moon fly-bys before leaving its orbit and heading out on a trajectory taking it into Earth's orbit. Here‚ it is orbiting us around every 13 days‚ with no threat to any other orbiting satellites‚ ISRO says.    IFLScience is not responsible for content shared from external sites.SHAPE will now be repurposed for Earth observations whenever it is close enough to observe us. In a tantalizing hint of science to come‚ ISRO added that SHAPE carried out a "special operation" on October 28‚ 2023‚ during a Solar Eclipse. Solar eclipses are especially useful for space scientists‚ particularly for studying the Sun itself – but for now‚ we'll have to wait and see what they were up to.