Wandering Adventure Party

I’'m a molecular biologist, so this is tangentially related to my field. I think there’s even odds life originated on mars then hopped to earth. NASA has been laying the ground work for a sample return mission for a while now to prove this one way or the other, but apparently the evidence has been mounting for decades. It’ll be pretty easy to tell once they get some uncontaminated mars rocks. While a lot of life works the way it does because it has to or because it’s optimal for evolution, there’s no accounting for chirality in amino acids (though amino acids in general are arguably inevitable) and nucleic acids are also probably unique to our form of life – at least I haven’t heard or thought of a reason nucleic acids specifically (not some other folding semi-dimer molecule) would be inevitable. There’s also certain amino acid side chains that seem unlikely to be shared; though, unshared side chains would mean little. It’d actually be a bit sad if life originated on mars as people would suddenly be a lot more interested in searching the stars for life, but the chances of finding it would dramatically drop as a single panspermia event would strongly suggest that complex life requires much more time to evolve than most planets have as a habitable lifespan. I suppose an optimist could argue that humanity is early and/or lucky.

a dry landscape that was once a river system billions of years ago

identical materials with identical affinities can also exchange charges, seemingly without rhyme or reason. Particles in volcanic ash plumes somehow build up enough charge to trigger lightning; dust in grain silos can spark and explode. In a study published today in Nature, researchers say they have finally found the culprit: trace amounts of surface contamination by carbon-bearing molecules from the air.

The LHCb experiment at #CERN has discovered a new particle made from two charm quarks and a down #quark.This double-charmed particle is like a #proton but with quadruple the mass.https://home.cern/news/news/physics/lhcb-collaboration-discovers-new-proton-particle#physics #particlephysics #science #LHC

BREAKING: Asteroid hits the Yucatan Peninsula. Dinosaurs are fucked.

… Over the past 40 years, across the rich world, R&D has increasingly been funded by private companies, rather than the state or public bodies such as universities. Booming spending by companies such as Amazon has masked flat or, in the US, falling public support, which the current US administration wants to cut by a further 35%. Until very recently, policymakers and politicians on both sides of the Atlantic have largely shrugged their shoulders at this private shift. They often assumed that it doesn’t matter much who funded R&D, so long as more money flows into the system, and many have welcomed the surge in corporate spending. The EU, Germany and the Netherlands, for example, all have overall R&D spending targets which are agnostic on who stumps up the cash. But a new generation of economists say they now have the first empirical evidence that this reliance on privately funded R&D may have been a historic mistake. This debate is still just beginning. But if they are correct, the failure to invest in public research helps explain why productivity gains due to technological innovation in the rich world have slowed to a crawl, leading to anaemic growth that aids the rise of radical, anti-establishment parties in Europe and the US. “There is this growing consensus [. . .] that the decline in publicly funded R&D has contributed to the deceleration in productivity growth,” said Andrew Fieldhouse, an assistant finance professor at Texas A&M University. He’s one of the economists whose work challenges the shift to private R&D, and it has recently caught the eye of some governments. “I think a lot of policymakers are concerned,” he said. … Rising business R&D is still a good thing for the economy, economists stress. No one is criticising companies for spending more; quite the opposite. But the problem, some economists say, is that this boom in corporate spending has masked stagnant or falling levels of public support for research. “If you look at the United States’ R&D share of GDP, if anything, it’s trending up a little bit, and there’s no immediate cause for concern,” said Fieldhouse. “But if you lift up the hood, there’s a big compositional shift going on down there.” If the funding source of R&D matters, “that compositional shift may be quite problematic.” … Why are public returns higher? If Fieldhouse and Dyèvre [two researchers] are right, why might public R&D spending be more economically beneficial than private? Their findings, at first glance, sound counter-intuitive. Corporate R&D divisions, after all, have to create saleable products to survive. University-based scientists don’t. “This is the trillion-dollar question,” says Fieldhouse. One leading explanation is simple, and will be instantly familiar to most scientists. Public funding is much more likely to back openly published basic research: often curiosity-driven science that tries to understand the universe, rather than develop a specific technology. This creates more beneficial spill-overs in the rest of the economy, because anyone can pick up and use this understanding. The germ theory of disease, which revolutionised medicine from the 19th century, is inherently impossible to commercialise, for example. … Free rider problem? One objection to spending more on basic science is precisely because it’s open and unpatentable, other countries will benefit just as much as the funding state, creating a free-rider problem. But the economists who spoke to Science|Business aren’t too worried. They point out that geography and face-to-face connections are still crucial in turning fundamental science into real-world inventions. In Boston, the London-Oxford-Cambridge triangle in the UK, or Munich, say, the tacit knowledge of leading university researchers is an essential part of high-tech cities. Basic research creates a “pool of common knowledge” all private firms and broader society can use, as Filipetti puts it. But if basic science gets cut, “this amount of common knowledge shrinks over time.” … The US Congressional Budget Office recently published a new paper estimating returns to public R&D similar to those identified by Fieldhouse. Although the Trump administration wants to cut public R&D, these kinds of behind-the-scenes accounting shifts may well outlast him. “I think the consensus among policymakers has changed rapidly over the past few years, in particular in the US,” said Dyèvre. “With the exception of the current administration, a lot of policy folks are convinced more public funding for R&D is needed.” … UK spending plans for the rest of the decade show the country increasing R&D incentives for new companies, while money for “curiosity-driven” research will flatline. As for implications for the EU, Dyèvre and Fieldhouse’s work is based on US data, so some caution is needed. And boosting public research is far from a silver bullet, . The bloc also needs to crack other intractable problems, such as integrating its single market. That said, “most countries in Europe would benefit from higher spending in public R&D dedicated to fundamental science,” Dyèvre said. But as Europe frets about its immediate economic woes, the focus instead is on corporate innovation. For example, as part of a new economic strategy, Czechia is prioritising applied invention, not basic science. And in the EU’s next research and innovation programme, which starts in 2028, the European Innovation Council, which largely gives out grants to entrepreneurial academic teams and start-ups, will be the biggest winner, with an inflation-adjusted budget boost of around 139%. The fundamental research-focused ERC will see a more modest increase of around 54%. … Web Archive link

A tropical insect has been found to change color from vivid hot pink to green within a fortnight, which scientists believe may mimic the young leaves of rainforest plants. The findings, published this week in the journal Ecology, focuses on Arota festae, a leaf-masquerading katydid also known as a “bush cricket,” native to Panama, Colombia and Suriname. When researchers spotted an adult female beneath a light at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute’s field station on Barro Colorado Island, Panama, she was an unmistakable hot pink. Eleven days later, she was completely green. Scientists from the University of St Andrews, University of Reading, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, and University of Amsterdam, propose that the pink coloration evolved to mimic “delayed greening,” a phenomenon in which newly emerged tropical leaves flush vivid shades of pink or red before maturing to green. On Barro Colorado Island, around one-third of plant species show this trait all year, providing a reliable supply of pink leaves for a camouflaged insect to blend into. Lead author Dr. Benito Wainwright, of the University of St Andrews, said, "Finding this individual was a genuine surprise. Because it was so rare, we kept it in natural conditions and found it changing color from hot pink to green. “Rather than a bizarre genetic quirk, this may actually be a finely tuned survival strategy that tracks the life cycle of the rainforest leaves this insect is trying to resemble.” [image: image_proxy?url=https%3A%2F%2Fhexbear.net%2Fapi%2Fv3%2Fimage_proxy%3Furl%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fscx2.b-cdn.net%252Fgfx%252Fnews%252Fhires%252F2026%252Fbright-pink-insect-sta.jpg] The team reared the individual in captivity for 30 days, photographing her daily. The hot pink faded to pastel after four days, and by day eleven, she was indistinguishable from the common green morph. She survived to mate before dying naturally the following month. Pink katydids have been documented in scientific literature since 1878 but were generally considered a rare, disadvantageous mutation. This appears to be the first recorded case of a katydid completing a full color shift within a single life stage. Dr. Matt Greenwell, of the University of Reading, a co-author of the study, said, "Tropical forests are extraordinarily complex environments, and this discovery hints at just how precisely some animals have evolved to exploit them. “You would think that a bright pink insect in a mostly green forest would stand out to predators like a worker in a high-vis jacket. The idea that an insect might gradually shift color to keep pace with the leaves it mimics shows how dynamic the rainforest can be, and is a remarkable example of camouflage in action.”

Arvoreznha, Brazil — Meet the admirable red-belly toad — a tiny amphibian found nowhere else on Earth but a small forest patch in southern Brazil. Don’t let its size fool you. In 2014, it made history by halting the construction of a hydroelectric dam that would have wiped out its only home. With just over 1,000 individuals left in the wild, the species is listed as critically endangered. In addition to climate change, the little toad suffers from the advance of agriculture and the threat of wildlife trafficking. But this tiny hero doesn’t shy away from a challenge. In 2024, catastrophic floods swept through southern Brazil, submerging entire landscapes — including the fragile habitat this little survivor depends on. Did it make it through? Or was this finally too much? Michelle Abadie, a researcher who has been studying the species for more than 15 years, went to the field to find out. Mongabay joined her on this mission to discover why even the smallest creatures can have an outsized impact. Curious to see what happens next? Press play. This tiny toad stopped a giant dam. Then historic floods hit. The video is about 6’30” long. The post also contains a transcript which I haven’t copied here.

Fascinating

Every animal carries a microscopic community of bacteria, fungi, and other microbes that play a critical role in health. These gut microbes help regulate the immune system, support digestion, and even influence how animals respond to stress. In birds, stress triggers the hormone corticosterone, which helps individuals cope with challenges. But when stress is prolonged or repeated, it can disrupt the balance of microbes in the gut, potentially affecting health in ways that aren’t immediately visible. Exploring stress and wild songbirds While scientists have studied these stress–microbiome links extensively in mammals and domestic birds, little is known about how they operate in wild songbirds. To fill this gap, Florida Atlantic University researchers and their collaborators studied free-living Northern cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis), a common territorial songbird, to examine how everyday challenges affect gut microbial communities. The team characterized the birds’ microbiomes before and after an 11-day period during which the birds experienced one of three conditions: repeated simulated territorial interactions with other males; a brief holding period following routine capture; or no treatment at all. Alongside the microbiome, researchers recorded levels of corticosterone, body condition, and beak coloration—a carotenoid-dependent trait that signals diet, health, and fitness. The results, published in Scientific Reports, reveal that even relatively mild challenges can leave a clear mark on the gut microbiome. Birds exposed to social or environmental stressors showed changes in the composition of their gut bacteria, while the total number of microbial types remained stable. [image: image_proxy?url=https%3A%2F%2Fhexbear.net%2Fapi%2Fv3%2Fimage_proxy%3Furl%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fscx2.b-cdn.net%252Fgfx%252Fnews%252Fhires%252F2026%252Fmicrobial-clues-uncove-1.jpg] Notably, birds briefly held after capture exhibited larger and more consistent shifts in microbial communities than those exposed only to simulated social interactions, highlighting how short departures from normal routines can have measurable biological effects. Findings show that even subtle, everyday challenges can have profound effects on an animal’s internal ecosystem. By revealing the hidden links between stress, microbial communities, and indicators of health, the study offers a new perspective on how wild animals navigate the demands of their environment—and how their tiny microbial passengers reflect those experiences. “These microbial changes were not just abstract numbers. They were closely linked to visible signs of health,” said Rindy Anderson, Ph.D., senior author and an associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences within FAU’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. “Birds whose gut microbes shifted the most also showed changes in beak color, stress hormone levels, and body condition. Stress doesn’t affect all birds in the same way. Instead, the microbiome may serve as a sensitive indicator of how individual animals are responding to their environment.” The study also uncovered links between specific types of bacteria and measures of health. For instance, males whose beaks became more orange—a signal often tied to condition and diet—also tended to have the largest shifts in their gut microbiome. Birds exposed to brief captivity showed changes in bacterial groups associated with stress and potential pathogens, whereas increases in beneficial bacteria were associated with better physiological condition. Stress hormone patterns mirrored these microbial shifts: in challenged birds, changes in corticosterone levels were strongly correlated with changes in gut microbes, while untreated birds showed little connection. “This study shows that the microbiome can act like a biological record of what an animal has experienced,” said Morgan C. Slevin, Ph.D., first author and alumnus of the Integrative Biology Ph.D. Program in the FAU Department of Biological Sciences. "By working with birds in their natural environment, we can see how different challenges—whether social interactions, environmental changes, or brief disruptions—translate into real physiological changes that matter for health and fitness. “These microbial shifts give us a window into the hidden ways wild animals respond to the world around them, helping us understand their resilience and overall well-being in ways we couldn’t see from behavior alone.” [image: image_proxy?url=https%3A%2F%2Fhexbear.net%2Fapi%2Fv3%2Fimage_proxy%3Furl%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fscx2.b-cdn.net%252Fgfx%252Fnews%252F2026%252Fmicrobial-clues-uncove-2.jpg] Why these findings matter for conservation By combining microbiome analysis with physiological measures and visual indicators of condition, the study offers one of the first integrated looks at how stress, health, and microbial communities interact in a free-living songbird. The findings underscore the importance of studying animals in their natural habitats, where behaviors and environmental conditions can shape biology in ways that captivity studies may miss. “The gut microbiome could serve as a sensitive measure of how wild animals respond to environmental changes, urbanization, or other stressors, with potential applications for conservation, wildlife rehabilitation, and understanding population health,” said Anderson. Study co-authors are Jennifer L. Houtz, Ph.D., an assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Allegheny College; and Maren N. Vitousek, Ph.D., an associate professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University.

Three striking new species of rock-dwelling monitor lizards have been formally described from the savannas of northeastern Queensland, revealing a previously unrecognized evolutionary lineage. The discovery, led by researchers from The Australian National University (ANU), identified the rainbow rock monitor (Varanus iridis), the orange-headed rock monitor (Varanus umbra) and the yellow-headed rock monitor (Varanus phosphoros). Together, the three species represent the first rock-adapted monitors formally recorded from the eastern Australian savannas. “Australia has a few rock monitors, but they’re all known from much further west,” co-lead author Dr. Stephen Zozaya from ANU said. “These are the first rock monitors known from the eastern Australian savannas.” The team initially believed the lizards represented a single, variable species. “We were blown away when the first genetic results came back. These three species are more distinct from one another than many monitor species that have been recognized for decades,” Dr. Zozaya said. Detailed genetic and morphological analyses confirmed the three populations are distinct species that have been evolving independently for millions of years. The findings reshape our understanding of diversity within one of the world’s most iconic lizard groups—the same lineage that includes the Komodo dragon. “All three species names refer to light in some way, to highlight the beautiful and distinct coloration of each of the new species. We feel very lucky to have had the chance to describe them,” Dr. Zozaya said. The lizards, newly described in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, are closely tied to rocky outcrops scattered across the savanna landscape. Much remains unknown about their ecology, population sizes and exact distributions. “These goannas are hard to find and hard to observe. More survey work—including records from nature enthusiasts—will be important for working out just how widespread these species really are,” Dr. Zozaya said. The discovery also underscores how much biodiversity remains undocumented in northern Australia. “These three species suggest there may still be a lot left to discover in northern Australia, even when it comes to large reptiles,” Dr. Zozaya said. Because monitor lizards attract significant attention from wildlife observers and reptile keepers, the species may face risk from habitat disturbance and illegal collection. “Monitor lizards attract a lot of attention, from keen naturalists to reptile keepers. Unfortunately, some people searching for these animals are careless and damage cap-rock habitat—we’ve seen it firsthand,” co-lead author and ANU Ph.D. researcher Wesley Read said. "Even slight rock displacement can make a shelter unusable. There’s also a poaching risk, and we’ve already seen photos on social media showing some of these lizards in captivity. “Most populations are in remote, rugged country, but I do worry about the most accessible areas. Time will tell.” The project brought together researchers, postgraduate students and experienced field naturalists. “We all fed off each other’s excitement to get it done, and that made it really special,” Read said. The findings mark the first time rock-adapted monitors have been formally documented from the eastern Australian savannas, challenging long-held assumptions about where these specialized lizards occur and highlighting how much of Australia’s reptile diversity remains to be uncovered.

Please let’s just get rid of for profit in general, like what has profit even done for us?

Thank you!

Across the animal kingdom, sound is more than communication—it’s a signal of survival and success. From birds and primates to insects, fish, and amphibians, animals broadcast acoustic “advertisements” to defend territory, attract mates, and reveal their physical condition. Because these calls can reflect traits such as body size, strength, or health, they play a powerful role in sexual selection and help shape how species compete and reproduce. Parasites can influence these mating signals. Infections drain energy and trigger immune responses that weaken the body, altering traits tied to mating success, such as stamina and the quality of acoustic calls, sometimes disrupting how sounds are produced or perceived. Adding to the complexity, some parasites infect hosts through predator-prey interactions. This means individuals that are larger or more effective at foraging—qualities often preferred by potential mates—may actually face a higher risk of infection. However, studies in amphibians have produced mixed results. To explore this paradox, Florida Atlantic University researchers studied green treefrogs (Dryophytes cinereus) and oral frog tongueworm parasites (Halipegus occidualis) that live in the mouth and throat of frogs, to test whether food-web–transmitted parasites influence mating calls and female mate choice in a natural population. During the breeding season, male green treefrogs gather in loud choruses around ponds, inflating their vocal sacs to produce repeated “honking” calls from nearby vegetation. Females use these calls to choose mates, typically favoring lower-frequency, faster, and sometimes longer calls—traits that often signal a larger or healthier male. Pulse patterns in the calls also help females recognize their own species. Researchers recorded the calls of male green treefrogs in the wild and counted the number of tongueworm parasites in each frog’s mouth. They then analyzed the recordings using audio software to measure features of the calls, such as frequency, length, and pulse structure. They aggregated calls into three infection categories: uninfected, moderately infected (five to eight adult worms), and heavily infected (more than nine adult worms). To see how females responded, the team conducted two-choice playback experiments, broadcasting pairs of male calls and observing which one they approached. Results of the study, published in the journal Current Zoology, suggest that choosy female green treefrogs may face a croak conundrum: the call traits they prefer—such as lower frequencies—are typically produced by larger males, which may also be more likely to carry parasites. [image: image_proxy?url=https%3A%2F%2Fhexbear.net%2Fapi%2Fv3%2Fimage_proxy%3Furl%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fscx2.b-cdn.net%252Fgfx%252Fnews%252Fhires%252F2026%252Fthe-croak-conundrum-pa-1.jpg] Tongueworm infections do influence the calls males use to attract mates, but not in the simple way scientists expected. Rather than just weakening signals, the parasites altered several call traits, creating a complex pattern that can change how females evaluate potential partners. “Parasites don’t always tell a simple story about health or weakness,” said Sarah R. Goodnight, Ph.D., first author, a Ph.D. graduate of FAU Harbor Branch, and a postdoctoral fellow at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. “In this system, the frogs most successful at finding food may also be the ones most likely to pick up parasites. That means females are evaluating signals that can simultaneously advertise both strength and risk.” The findings challenge the long-standing Hamilton–Zuk hypothesis, which predicts that parasites reduce the quality of sexual signals and that females should prefer less-infected males. Instead, the pattern was more complex. Larger male frogs—typically favored by females—also carried more tongueworm parasites, likely because males that eat more prey accumulate infections over time. Parasites subtly reshaped male calls: heavily infected frogs produced lower-frequency calls, a trait females usually prefer, but their calls were shorter, which can signal lower stamina. Playback experiments revealed a similar pattern. Females avoided the most heavily infected males but often preferred males with moderate infections over uninfected ones, suggesting they weigh multiple signals at once—balancing traits linked to size and attractiveness against the risk of parasite infection. Call duration appeared to play a particularly important role in this decision-making. Longer calls generally come from males with fewer parasites and greater energetic reserves, signaling vigor and lower infection risk. However, the relationship wasn’t entirely straightforward: some moderately infected males produced longer calls than uninfected males, possibly because successful foragers accumulated both energy reserves and parasites. “Mate choice is rarely based on a single trait,” said Michael W. McCoy, Ph.D., co-author, associate director, FAU School of Environmental, Coastal, and Ocean Sustainability, and professor of quantitative ecology, Department of Biological Sciences, FAU Charles E. Schmidt College of Science and FAU Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute. “Our results show that parasites can reshape the information animals use when choosing partners by subtly changing multiple aspects of a male’s call. Females may be responding to several signals at once, some linked to desirable traits like size and others hinting at infection. Understanding that complexity is critical for explaining how sexual selection actually works in natural populations.” The study reveals that parasites influence mate selection by altering multiple traits in male calls, creating a complex signal environment. Rather than just diminishing attractiveness, infections introduce nuanced cues that females must interpret, revealing how parasites subtly guide mating decisions and shape sexual selection in wild populations. The study co-author is Ellen F. Titus with The Nature Conservancy.

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I’ve added the link, I agree I think they will have to relax the locality assumption of classical physics. The article does point out that it’s doesn’t really explain the reality underlying quantum effects. It’s at least some progress beyond many worlds or the Copenhagen interpretation which leaves it a black box.

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The call of Gracixalus weii is essentially a biological signal. Just as a morse code translator turns raw pulses into a clear message, the frog’s vocal sac translates survival needs into a melodic sequence.

Maybe websites should connect bot detectors to those; “Fart, to prove you’re a human”