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Lots of things changed during the global COVID-19 pandemic – and while the effect of restrictions was felt keenly by the world's human population‚ the animal kingdom was also affected‚ with some surprising outcomes.On a small island along the Thai Gulf in Koh Ped (KPE)‚ eastern Thailand‚ a group of common long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis fascicularis) were observed doing something that had never been seen in that group before: using stone tools to crack open rock oysters (Saccostrea forskali).The macaques have been watched frequently for more than 10 years‚ but were first observed using stone tools during the COVID-19 pandemic in July 2022. The researchers think these events are linked. The KPE island is a tourist hotspot‚ and the monkeys were frequently fed by the tourists during their visits to the islands. However‚ during the pandemic‚ no tourists were allowed onto the island – and thus the monkeys had to find new ways to make up for the loss of food from humans. These observations mark the sixth wild nonhuman primate to use stone tools to forage foods. Only one other species of macaque– the Burmese longtailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis aurea) – is part of that list.In March 2023‚ the team observed the macaques throwing stones‚ which is a known precursor to using the stones to access food and they named the technique “pound-hammering-like”. The team observed 17 adults and sub-adults using the stone tools and found that 15 of the 17 monkeys using the tools were males. They also observed that the macaques were mostly solitary when performing this behavior. Given that travel restrictions have now eased and tourists are once again returning to KPE‚ the team thinks that the tool use could even disappear as more food becomes available for the macaques once more. The paper is published in the American Journal of Primatology.

Death is a natural and necessary part of life. As Chris Packham explained in Earth‚ even extinction has its upsides as it clears the way for new life. However‚ having a bunch of corpses lying around is a nightmare for disease spread‚ but fortunately life… uh… found a way‚ to take care of all the gooey stuff.Lecturer in Forensics at the University of Kent Dr Devin Finaughty calls this the decomposition ecosystem. It’s a sophisticated series of processes that takes a body and breaks it down until all that’s left is a skeleton‚ a process known as skeletonization. Before we reach the neat‚ and crucially‚ non-contagious skeleton‚ there are all kinds of tissues that have to be taken care of. In an interview with IFLScience for CURIOUS Live‚ a virtual event connected to our e-magazine CURIOUS‚ Finaughty walked us through those processes. But a curious point he also raised is that death itself is not a single moment. What happens when you die?Dr Devin Finaughty: Decomposition starts really soon after death‚ and one thing I just want to clarify is that death is not like a single moment. It is a cascade of reactions and processes that happens over time. What will typically happen is that the individual will lose consciousness and then they will proceed towards suppression of breathing and heart rate‚ at which point that will stop. Or they might lose consciousness as a result of those two processes stopping. Either way‚ that is what we term clinical death. So‚ that's the death that you can be brought back from‚ you can be revived multiple times if necessary. The problem is‚ once your heart stops pumping‚ once oxygen has stopped circulating‚ your cells only have so much oxygen available to produce their energy source‚ which is known as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Once the cell runs out of oxygen to produce ATP‚ it can go into anaerobic respiration and produce ATP that way. The problem with that is that it's a very energy-inefficient process‚ and it generates lactic acid as a by-product. So‚ there's a limited period of time‚ and anyone who's gotten a major cramp whilst doing exercise knows all about this. Once the cell runs out of ATP‚ its cellular transport mechanism has stopped working‚ which means that it can no longer exchange with its extracellular environment. That means that the internal conditions in the cell start to deteriorate‚ it becomes more acidic‚ that acidity starts to dissolve the lysosome within the cell‚ and once the lysosome wall breaks open‚ all of the enzymes and lysosomes that are inside it come out‚ and they start damaging the cell.  Eventually‚ the cell will just rupture and this is a process known as necrosis and it's distinct from apoptosis‚ which is programmed cell death. That’s because apoptosis is technically reversible‚ whereas necrosis (or autolysis‚ as we would term it)‚ is a non-reversible process. The problem then is that the cell spills out all of these toxins and lysosomes and things into the extracellular environment and that starts damaging the adjacent cells‚ which are also experiencing the same kind of internal stress. So‚ you get this cascade of cellular death. It happens first in the tissues that have the highest oxygen‚ and the highest water content. So‚ your brain‚ stomach‚ your lungs‚ that kind of thing. Your brain would be the first one to really stop working because it takes 20 percent of the glucose that our bodies require. It’s very‚ very energy-demanding.That takes about four minutes‚ so from the time that your heart stops beating‚ you've got about four minutes until the brain cells start to die and that process is also irreversible. Once a sufficient quantity of brain cells have died‚ that is when you will experience brain death. Even bacteria‚ flies‚ and maggots can’t get rid of keratin. For that‚ you need carpet beetles.Image credit: Levente Nuber / Shutterstock.comOther parts of your body will persist and they can persist for quite a long time‚ surprisingly‚ but once you lose the neural control‚ the whole system that is working against equilibrium fails. And that‚ from a chemical perspective‚ is what death really is. It is a failure of our biological systems that prevents a return to chemical equilibrium‚ and everything that then proceeds from that point onwards is typified to an extent by return to equilibrium with the exception where you've got all these biotic agents acting on the body. That’s because once all of that stops working‚ your immune system stops working‚ and because your immune system stops working‚ the bacteria that are intrinsic to our guts‚ which outnumber our cells 20-to-one‚ they are no longer constrained. So‚ they have a massive food bonanza and will start to consume everything. They'll go through the lining of your gastrointestinal system and into your bloodstream and start to spread out throughout the body. They will start to metabolise substrates in your body‚ starting off with the sugars that are on the surface of our cells and that are being leached out of the cells.Then they'll proceed towards more complex carbohydrates and fats. That is truly the start of decomposition and their metabolism produces a range of by-products called volatile organic compounds‚ which is what we smell as death. Anyone who has smelled a dead body‚ not necessarily a human body‚ but anything dead that starts to go off‚ [that smell is] volatile organic compounds‚ and there about 400 to 500 of them that we've identified from humans so far‚ and that's what brings insects in. Want to find out what happens next? Check out the full interview on YouTube.

There are quite a few examples of materials on Earth more expensive than gold. From glittering diamonds to shiny rhodium‚ the world’s precious natural resources can fetch high prices. But what about iridium?What is iridium?Iridium is a chemical element that has the atomic number 77 and is classed as a transition metal. Iridium is solid at room temperature. The name Iridium is said to come from the Greek word Iris meaning rainbow which represents the strongly colored compounds rather than the metal itself according to the Royal Society of Chemistry.  Like gold‚ iridium is pretty unreactive and has a very high density and melting point. In fact‚ iridium is the most corrosion-resistant element within the Periodic Table. Iridium sits in the middle of the transition metals - number 77.Image Credit: Sandbh via Wikimedia Commons CC BY 4.0Who discovered iridium?English chemist Smithson Tennant is the person most credited with discovering the element – however many people‚ including French chemists H.V. Collet-Descotils‚ A.F. Fourcroy‚ and N.L. Vauquelin are likely to have come across iridium roughly around 1803 in platinum ores‚ reports LiveScience. The metal was found by dissolving platinum in aqua regia‚ a mixture of very strong acids. What is iridium used for?Given the high density of this metal‚ the rare pure form of iridium is rarely used – indeed‚ the rare form might not even exist in nature. Most iridium-containing ores only contain a small percentage of iridium and can be found in South Africa‚ Alaska‚ Brazil‚ Myanmar‚ and Russia. Instead‚ the material is combined with platinum to create alloys that are typically 5-10 percent iridium. These alloys are then used for jewelry‚ the points of pens‚ surgical metals‚ and electrical contacts according to Britannica. How expensive is iridium?At the time of writing‚ Iridium is $4‚500 an ounce‚ whereas gold is roughly $2‚082 an ounce. Time to check those ballpoint pens! All “explainer” articles are confirmed by fact checkers to be correct at time of publishing. Text‚ images‚ and links may be edited‚ removed‚ or added to at a later date to keep information current.  

If you're not excited about 2024 yet‚ this video is certain to fill you with optimism and inspiration for the coming year. NASA has shared a video outlining the space exploration missions they have in store for 2024 – and oh man‚ it’s going to be an action-packed year. There will be the launch of bold new missions to explore the Moon‚ such as VIPER‚ a rover that will search the lunar surface for ice‚ water‚ and other potential resources. There’s also the ongoing Artemis Missions‚ which will pave the way towards humans returning to the Moon after 2024. Further afield‚ NASA is planning to launch the Europa Clipper mission‚ a valiant effort to explore Jupiter’s Moon Europa‚ a possible habitat for extraterrestrial life. Back home on Earth‚ don’t forget there will also be a Total Eclipse across North America.        These are just a small snippet of the missions NASA has set for 2024‚ not to mention those carried out by the European Space Agency‚ JAXA‚ China National Space Administration‚ and others. Check out the full reel of planned missions in the video player above.Here's to 2024‚ onward and upward. 

There’s something truly magical about the unexpected friendships that blossom between humans and animals. Take this enchanting story‚ for instance‚ where a man’s life is forever transformed by a tiny egg he rescues after a tosrm‚ which eventually becomes a magnificent swan. This touching tale shows the deep connections that can form across species. Imagine... The post Kind man rescues an abandoned egg and becomes ‘swan dad’ for life appeared first on Animal Channel.

We often think of our loyal friends as those who stand by us through thick and thin. But did you know‚ animals too have each other’s backs in times of need? Their instincts guide them‚ knowing exactly when to step in or step back. It’s a common belief that dogs and cats are natural enemies.... The post Dog sees cat best buddy getting in fight and his hilarious ‘rescue’ melts hearts appeared first on Animal Channel.