Category: Our World

Radioactive Hybrid Pigs

A little over a decade after the horrifying 2011 Tsunami which led to the meltdown of a reactor at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, Japanese scientists have found a hybrid wild boar species in the radioactively dangerous zone of Fukushima.

This discovery suggests that the flora and the fauna of the region has thrived ever since the eviction of humans, allowing them to reclaim their space and adapt to life in a new environment. The hybrid pigs are a proof of the thriving fauna.

Scientists believe that the livestock that people were forced to abandoned at their homes during the 2011 evacuation have started breeding with the local wild boar to create these new hybrids.

A study by PhD students at the Fukushima University revealed that a large population of the wild boar in Fukushima had a European domesticated pig DNA variation. These wild boar-pig hybrids were first discovered in 2015, and since then their frequency has remained stable.

The study which was carried out by Donovan Anderson, a PhD student at the Fukushima University with other colleagues, included them studying samples of 243 different types of boars, pigs & hybrids. Of the sample studied, 16% were hybrid suggesting that the local population of wild boar bred with the abandoned domesticated pigs. The study also revealed that over 75% of the hybrid boar population was discovered within the initial 20km radius of the radioactive-eviction zone.

Donovan Andersen, the co-author of the study also suggests that that the hybrid boars are less likely to remain hybrids in the longer term since they had only 8% of pig’s DNA, further indicating that the domesticated pigs had poor adaptive capabilities and survival characteristics in the wild

“We do not expect these adaption changes in boar, likely caused from the absence of people, to maintain in populations especially as [human] disturbance returns,” Anderson said.

What Happened in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster?

On March 11, 2011, an earthquake measuring 9.0 Magnitude struck with its epicenter near Japan’s largest island Honshu. Less than 1 hour after the earthquake, Tsunami waves as high as 15 meters hit the Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant, flooding the basements, and shutting down the diesel generators. The reactors 4, 5 and 6 were already shut down for scheduled maintenance when the earthquake hit, however, reactors 1, 2 and 3 were operating at the time.

When the flooding water disabled the diesel generators for all except the 6th unit. First level emergency was announced, and the state machinery was immediately put to work in order to avoid the meltdown of reactors and devise alternate cooling mechanisms. However, reactors 1, 2 and 3 went through meltdowns followed by hydrogen explosions, making the region extremely hazardous and inhabitable, forcing over 160,000 people out of their homes. 

As human life now readies to return to Fukushima, authorities continue to hunt down wild boars in the area that may still be radioactive and pose a threat to the human population.

Scientists puzzled by a blinking star

The universe is full of beautiful stars, and each one of them is distinctive. The reality is every star in the galaxy follows a similar route to producing the colorful twinkling.

According to a recent article, scientists have discovered a mysterious star located towards the center of our galaxy more than 25,000 light-years away, that appears to be only the second one of its kind. The star seems to be particularly dramatic and it is known as “exceptionally rare” because it kept on blinking on and off.

Observations by the scientists:

An international team of researchers observed the star, labeled VVV-WIT-08, and predict it is 100 times the size of the Sun. While numerous stars modify their brightness level because they are eclipsed by another star in the solar system, it’s strange for a star to have a period of several months of darkness and then light up again.

Furthermore, scientists observed that it is not the first blinking star. Multiple blinking stars were spotted with the VVV-WIT-08, but the researchers don’t have enough details on these.

University of Hertfordshire scientist Philip Lucas finds it hard to recognize the existence of giant “blinking stars”. Another study in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society reports that the “blinking star” is surrounded by an orbital companion, which might be another planet or a star. This companion surrounds the giant star, causing it to disappear and reappear in the sky when it passes across it. Researchers can only speculate on the origin of the elongated and large object between the earth and the distant star.

Scientists have been searching for explanations for the puzzling activities of the twinkling star. An analytical theory by an astronomer states that since the blinking star is located in the dense region of the galaxy, it’s possible that an anonymous dark object could have drifted in front of the giant star unintentionally, but demographically that’s unlikely to happen. However, another possibility says that the planet orbiting the star is surrounded by a huge dust cloud and that occasionally blocks the view almost entirely.

Presently, there appear to be multiple potential stars of this kind, and there are certainly more to be discovered but now the challenge is to find the potential hidden planet.  

The Lungs of the Earth At a Tipping Point?

For decades now, environmentalists have raised concerns over the precarious outcome of global warming, caused mainly by the emission of greenhouse gases, deforestation and increased industrialization as well as commercialized farming of crops and cattle.

A study published recently in the research journal Nature suggests the outcome which most scientists feared – the Amazon Rain Forest is heading to become a part of the global warming problem, not the solution, with its increased Carbon Dioxide emissions adding to the deadly greenhouse gas.

A team of Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research captured 590 air samples using small planes over a nine year period from 2010 to 2018.

The study suggests that the Amazon Rain Forest as a whole is emitting three times more Carbon Dioxide than it’s absorbing. The case is worst for the eastern section of the Rain Forest where there has been excessive deforestation and it is now emitting 10 times more CO2.

“We find that total carbon dioxide emissions are greater in the eastern of the rain forest than in the west, mostly as a result of spatial differences in carbon-monoxide-derived fire emissions. Southeastern Amazonia, in particular, acts as a net carbon source to the atmosphere,” the international team of researchers write in the paper.

Scientists Deeply Concerned About the Collapse of the Rain Forest:

The Amazon is home to the largest tropical rain forest on the planet. The climate within it is warming which will have a knock-on effect around the world.

The study has further raised concerns among environmentalists, encouraging them to raise awareness among global communities before the lungs of the world completely collapse.

John Schmoll, a professor of biology at Queen’s University is utterly disturbed by the findings of the study and says that with climate change, we are sleepwalking to disaster. “We keep getting wakeup calls but we are not waking up”, he remarks.

“We even have to cut out greenhouse gases even more which is a daunting task, because we already have enough trouble meeting any target that we have set for ourselves right now”, he adds.

Kerry Bowman, a researcher for the University of Toronto says that the Amazon is absolutely under siege on many fronts.

“There are a number of complex issues leading to the region moving from a site that captures Carbon Dioxide, to one that produces the greenhouse gas, including burning the rain forest to make room for crops and livestock,” says Bowman.

In addition to the general abuse of the Rain Forest by communities, there is a lack of environmental protection from some of the countries within the Amazon basin as well.

The Amazon was one once the largest CO2 Capture sites on the planet. Experts suggests that if changes aren’t made soon, it could become one of the biggest emitters in the near future, and one of the key causes of global warming.

Did Einstein make errors?

According to BBC reports, astronomers can map the existence of dark matter by observing the light traveling to Earth from distant galaxies, making the evaluation of the universe more effortless than the previously defined theories.

The research looked at almost a quarter of the southern hemisphere’s sky in the hope of understanding the concepts of Einstein’s theory of general relativity and the cosmos.

The map researcher Niall Jeffery implies that there’s something weird in Einstein theories and says that “if this inequality is true, then Einstein was wrong, unlocking a door to new opportunities and research about the universe”.

The concept of dark matter:

Dark matter makes up 80% of the universe, and its gravitational force is enough to mesh the galaxies together in a mechanism known as the cosmic web.

We are aware that dark matter twists the light emerging from the faraway stars. Where the effect is greater, a higher concentration of dark matter exists. Scientists believe that it is still a great mystery because we can’t see it and barely understand its concepts. However, it shows its existence because of the influence it has on space.

The latest map was created by International researchers at the Dark Energy Survey Collaboration, by utilizing the data of almost 100 million galaxies.

The resulting map has evaluated that galaxies make a huge framework, and areas of dark matter are crafted with superclusters of galaxies. However, they have also spotted the location of diverse cosmic voids where the conventional laws of physics might not apply.

Prediction about the universe:

Jeffery excitedly told BBC about the structures of dark matters as he believes that for the first time gravity might behave distinctively internally. By recognizing their shapes and locations, the map provides an interesting point for further study.

Shortly after the Big Bang, astronomers made predictions using Einstein’s theories about how dark matter had extended over 13.8 million years of the universe. However, these predictions are not consistent with the latest observations made by The Dark Energy Survey.

“We might have revealed some mandatory facts of the universe, but even after years of persevering, we didn’t succeed. But my instincts say that all the measurements were correct and we must shore up to make it succeed”, said Prof. Carlos Frenk to the British broadcaster. 

Carlos Frenk doesn’t want to omit Einstein’s theory. Additionally, he has anticipated some tweaks in the astrophysics of galaxies.

Florida’s Genetically Engineered Mosquitoes Released

British biotech firm Oxitec has successfully begun its experiment of releasing genetically hacked mosquitoes in open air to reduce the population of disease spreading mosquitoes in the Florida Keys region. According to Oxitec, these genetically engineered mosquitoes can become an alternative to pesticides, reducing and ultimately eliminating the species of disease carrying mosquitoes. But releasing an artificially engineered mosquito species in the air? Naturally, this controversial action came with lots of backlash and protests. Will it even work?

Oxitec’s Aim: Curbing The Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes

The Florida Keys is a strip of islands off the Southern tip of Florida. The Aedes aegypti mosquito species make up about 4% of all the mosquito species of Florida, and this is the species that is responsible for diseases like Zika and Dengue. What is interesting about these insects is that only the female mosquitoes bite; according to Oxitec, they plan to reduce the population of female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes by releasing male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes with an additional OX5034 gene. When these mosquitoes mate with wild female mosquitoes, this artificial gene will pass on to their offspring.

The special characteristic of this gene is that female mosquitoes cannot survive. Hence, only male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes will survive, dramatically reducing the population of biting and disease transmitting female mosquitoes. While this experiment, if it works, may be a great chemical free way to solve the mosquito related diseases problem in Florida, many experts, activists, and locals are sceptical of it.

Controversies Regarding Oxitec’s Experiment

For starters, people have been highly doubtful of the success of Oxitec’s experiment because of the lack of information and proof regarding the method. In fact, Oxitec has been fighting controversies for the past decade, and has only now proceeded to finally release the mosquitoes. The main issue is that Oxitec has no proof that the experiment will even work! Instead of experimenting in controlled lab conditions, they are releasing the genetically hacked mosquitoes in Florida Keys directly. If their idea doesn’t work, that is if the female mosquitoes born from the gene hacked mosquitoes survive, Florida’s mosquito problem will not be solved and instead a new problem will be created; a new species of mosquitoes flying wild in Florida.

But that’s not all; the locals of Florida Keys have also complained that Oxitec has been invading their privacy during the experiments, which, according to them, are not even for the betterment of the community but for Oxitec to test if their methods work. Some citizens have stated that Oxitec employees tricked and bullied them into participating in the experiment, which they did not even agree with after finding out what it actually was.

Activists and experts also disagree with Oxitec sabotaging nature, especially because there have been no caged trials-the company never proved that the trials are even safe! Oxitec has denied any allegations against its project, and is still confident that the experiment will work. Only time can tell whether Oxitec is right or not.

Interstellar ‘Hum’

In 1977, NASA launched the Voyager 1 space probe to study space beyond the heliopause, which is the boundary that signifies the separation of the Solar System from interstellar space. Now, Voyager 1 is the most distant human made object ever in space! Ever since it crossed the Solar System to the interstellar medium, it has been providing researchers at the Deep Space Network with interesting data about space that has never been seen before. Interestingly, it recently detected a continuous ‘hum’ in the interstellar medium.

A Constant Hum of Interstellar Gas

According to research led by Cornell University, the Voyager 1 spacecraft has a Plasma Wave System that detects solar flares produced by the sun caused by a sudden release of energy from the sun’s magnetic field. However, it is interesting that apart from these outbursts, which according to the George Feldstein Professor of Astronomy, James Cordes, are like bursts of lightning in gentle rain, the detector also picked up a very faint but constant ‘hum’ like frequency of plasma waves. While the solar outbursts occur ‘loudly’ for a specific period of time, usually about 10 minutes, these interstellar hums are monotonous and continuous.

Because of the narrow frequency bandwidth, the sound was like a low background hum; but it signifies a shift in gases when the heliopause is crossed, according to Stella Koch Ocker, a Cornell doctoral student in astronomy.

The Heliosphere and The Interstellar Medium

Scientists had previously thought that this activity of interstellar gases, although still very low level, was lesser than what the Voyager 1 made evident. This opened up vast opportunities for researchers to study the plasma distribution in interstellar space, and hence its density. What intrigued astronomers the most is that the density of space is actually higher outside the Solar System than inside it!

This information could help scientists look into how the interstellar medium interacts with the heliosphere, which is a ‘bubble’ formed by the solar winds produced by the sun. Furthermore, scientists are also excited to find out how the shape of the heliosphere is affected not just by the solar winds, but also by the interstellar environment; this will now be possible to learn because of the hum of interstellar gases successfully detected by Voyager 1.

According to Cornell research scientist Shami Chatterjee, this space probe detects the density of space continuously, which becomes an advantage for scientists studying the density of interstellar space because without this data, they would have to wait for the occurrence of a sun related event to measure interstellar plasma. Now, they can obtain this data regardless of when the sun produces solar outbursts, because of Voyager 1, which is still regularly sending data back to Earth at the rate of 160 bits per second, even at a 14 billion mile distance.