mystery

In 1901, Russian explorers found the corpse of a frozen mammoth. What happened to his meat is a mystery

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Although we are trying to bring them backthousands of years ago mammoths disappeared from the face of the Earth. However, for centuries, humans fed on its flesh, created tools with their bones and were protagonists in the stories that were drawn on the walls. Now, although they disappeared about 4,000 years ago, there are stories that claim that less than 100 years ago, there were those who ate mammoth meat. Its flavor? Like a sirloin of the time. Of course, there is quite a bit of ‘sauce’ that masks this culinary story. The Berezovka mammoth. Otto Ferdinandovich Harz was a Russian-German naturalist who, at the beginning of the 20th century, participated in the famous Siberian excavation of 1901 in which the Berezovka mammoth. It is about one of the best preserved specimensif not the best, because he died when he was between 45 and 50 years old in the Permafrost, more than 44,000 years ago. That’s how they found it. The most superficial part, the skull, had been gnawed by wolves, but look at the state of the buried paw The peculiarity. This exposure to extreme temperatures allowed researchers to find a piece in enviable conditions. The wolves had eaten some of the meat, but the carcass was complete and even herbs in its mouth and 12 kilos of food in its stomach were recovered. The conditions allowed us to determine that the skin was a reddish brown color, with curly hair about 50 centimeters long, a 35 centimeter tail, a penis in good condition and a layer of fat nine centimeters thick, key to withstanding low temperatures. The size? 2.8 meters high by just over four meters long. Reconstruction of the mammoth at the time of its death “Appetizing“Unearthing the animal was not quick. The researchers set up a tent at the excavation point and got to work. Here we entered turbulent terrain because legends begin. Nobody was there on those cold Siberian nights to see what was being cooked, but there are those who point out that there was mammoth meat in that casserole. Due to the good conservation of the meat, the rumor was that the members of the expedition ate part of the mammoth to last the nights. But there’s a twist: it turns out that although it didn’t look bad, when it thawed, the smell could be nauseating. Even seasoned, it was too much for the human nose and, although jokingly they dared to try it (after a story which points to alcohol consumption as a trigger), it seems that in the end they gave it to the dogs at the camp. The Explorers Club. Another story goes in the opposite direction: after arriving at St. Petersburg Zoological Museumwhere you can see both the remains and a faithful representation of the mammoth at the time of its death, Otto began to sort through the remains and realized that the meat was of no use. Therefore, he organized a dinner for colleagues. The requirement? That these also carried something from prehistory. Evidence that they ate mammoth meat from 44,000 years ago? None, but the story is good. Same as that of New York Explorers Club. It turns out that, according to legends, the explorers of 1901 were not the only recent humans to have tasted mammoth meat. Founded in 1904, the Explorers Club of New York is a society dedicated to the exploration of land, sea, air and space (more recently, of course). It was created to support exploration exploits and has notable and honored members such as Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Jane Goodall, Richard Garriott either James Cameronamong many others. Part of a room at the ‘Explorers CLub’. Humble. Myth. Anyone who makes a documented and outstanding contribution to scientific knowledge through field expeditions can be a member. Aside from that adventurous spirit, what its members share are annual banquets in which the menu is… exotic. has been eaten polar bear or seal babies (to comment on this), but also crocodile tail, caramelized yak and a large number of insects fried, in quesadillas, baked, or in dessert form. What if they didn’t eat dodo? It’s because there wasn’t, wow. Dinner at the club What they are said to have eaten was mammoth: woolly mammoth discovered in Alaska. Supposedly, it was Roosevelt and Armstrong who, at the 1951 dinner, tasted this ancient meat. They were going to eat meat megatheriumwhich was a kind of enormous sloth, but it seems that a misinterpretation by a magazine that covered the dinner led them to think that “megaterium” was another term for “mammoth”, so it went down in history as, that day, they ate mammoth at the prestigious event. The turn. It turns out, and here comes the twist, that a member of the club was not going to be able to attend and asked that they give him his portion in a jar so he could keep it. He put “megatherium meat” and took it to the Bruce Museum in Greenwich. He left it there, but fate wanted it to end up at the Peabody Museum of Natural History and, in 2014, some researchers performed DNA tests to see what the hell it was. It didn’t matter if it was a mammoth: the fact that in 1951 they had had megatherium for dinner would still be just as impressive. Well, neither a mammoth… nor a giant sloth: the analysis showed that it was turtle meat. And not a Pleistocene turtle, but a green sea turtle that, yes, is protected and in danger of extinction, but not extinct. The mammoth meatball. Legend pointed to this similarity between the modern sirloin and mammoth meat, but in the absence of documents, it seems that any consumption of mammoth in the last 4,000 years is difficult to believe. What is known is that, in 1979, a paleontologist who discovered a bison from 50,000 years ago He couldn’t resist the temptation of making a good stew with its meat. It wouldn’t smell … Read more

Zaragoza trees are dawning full of bites. The mystery is not who does it but how to solve it

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The Ribera del Ebro as it passes through Zaragoza is filling with nibbled trees. Tens. Dozens of tens. It has been confirmed by the City Council itself, which has counted around 70 damaged specimens in different parts of the urban section of the river. Actually the phenomenon has little mysterious and there are less doubts about who is responsible. What is not so clear is how to avoid it. In Spring Environment he already launched a plan to protect his poplars and poplars, which has not avoided that he has to withdraw one. The key is in a particularly voracious rodent. What happened? That Zaragoza has encountered dozens and dozens of nibbled trees. Literally. The technicians of the Aragonese City Council have identified neither more nor less than with 70 trees with marks of dentelladas in several sections of the Ebro riverbank as it passes through the city. One of them, a black poplar (Populus nigra) Located in the parking lot, it is so deteriorated that the Consistory has come to the conclusion that he has no choice but to withdraw it. Is it so serious? Not all trees are equal to damaged, but in the specific case of the Park of the Eyes, municipal technicians have concluded that there is a “collapse risk”. “Being in an area of ​​playful use is a considerable risk for citizens,” Apostille The City Council. And as an image always says more than a thousand words has shared a photo in which it can be seen how the trunk is stripped of bark and shows a crescent -shaped gap on the side. Around it, the floor is full of splinters. Who is responsible? The Zaragozano Consistory has few doubts about it: The beavers. Moreover, its presence in the area and the damage they cause to trees are no novelty for technicians, who have been trying to protect the trees from the most punished parks for these large rodents. In March, the Ministry of Environment, hand in hand with the conservation unit of the natural environment, launched an initiative to ‘shield’ some specimens of the Ebro banks: it placed meshes so that the beavers had more difficult to reach the cortex. The works began on the left bank of the river, in the Blacón de San Lázaro, one of the affected areas. “For a few years the presence of beavers has been detected on the banks of the Ebro River, who would be demolishing trees to use them in the construction of their burrows and dams, or as food. In recent months the damages have been located in the trees of both margins of the Ebro riverbank and its tributaries” The City Council recountswhich has counted more than 70 affected specimens, especially in the section between the Ebro azud, the Yacht Club and the San Lázaro balcony. Traces have also been seen on the banks of the Huerva and Gállego. Castores in Aragon? Exact. And this is not the first time they jump to the headlines. A year ago the farmers of the Jalón River environment already They showed their suspicion Due to the impact of these rodents on their fruit trees, an issue that even came to Congress and led the Ministry for the ecological transition to confirm that there are indications that point to the presence of beavers in the region since 2019 corroborates in statements to eldiario.es. But … where do they come from? The story From the European beaver it is quite long. And complex. It is known that Fiber castor It was well distributed by Europe and that at the end of the 19th century it was almost on the edge of extinction, with just 1,200 copiesdue to human harassment. As we altered their habitat or pursued them to get their skins, meats or even the glands (for the perfume industry), they losing ground. It is also known that they lived in the Iberian Peninsula, although there are different opinions about their history and the date of their collapse here. It is usually located towards the 18th, 18th or 19th century, although There are those who believe that there are hardly solid evidence that confirms the presence of rodents in Spain in recent centuries. About what there is more consensus is how they resurfaced in the peninsula: it is usually pointed to a unauthorized loose of 18 copies in the Ebro and Aragon rivers more than two decades ago. With the passage of time the species has been extending and experts have detected it in the Tormes River, more than 300 km from the populations that had already been identified in the Ebro, or in the Guadalquivir basin. What do we do with them? In The statement In which he informs of the nibbleed trees, the City of Zaragoza slides a key fact. Almost a paradox. While the species reintroduced without permission in the rivers of Spain, it is armored by Europe. “He Fiber Castor o European Castor is, according to the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, a native species of Spain that was extinguished for anthropic reasons and whose current presence is a consequence of an illegal reintroduction. Despite this, community regulations force their protection. “ The theme is complex because the liberation without permission from Castores, a practice known as ‘Beaver Bombing’ and that usually carry out activists convinced of the benefits of the species for the environment, does not fit the guidelines that usually follow species reintroductions. “As established by IUCN it is necessary to carry out a series of studies that are almost common sense”, emphasize in Climate Francisco José García, expert in Mammals of the SECEM. Why is it important? More graph was still the biologist Jacinto Román in 2023, in An interview with The country: “It is not that they are good or bad, but to know how a species that had been extinguished, studies are needed that, for now, do not exist. They cannot be made are visceral decisions.” … Read more

The hypothesis that the mystery can solve

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In the confines of the solar system, more than 1.4 billion kilometers away, Orbit Titanthe Saturn’s biggest moon. A satellite with a dense and orange atmosphere with temperatures that are around -180 ºC, but despite this, it stands out for having clouds, rain, rivers, lakes and seas. Now we have on the table the first theories of how life would be forming there. A first solid theory. For years, Scientists have wondered if in this exotic environment life could arise. Now, A new study Published in the International Journal of Astrobiology proposes a detailed and plausible mechanism on how the first precursor structures of life or Protocamples in its icy methane lakes. The first ingredient of life. For life to begin, you need a border. Something that separates a chemical ‘inside’ from a chaotic ‘outside’. In the case of humans, that border is the cell membrane, A lipid bilayer that delimits the formation of vesicles. Something that according to scientific consensus is a key step and price to the appearance of life. The big question is whether something similar could happen in a place without liquid water like Titan. The answer, according to the authors of the study, is a resounding yes. A key molecule. To affirm something so categorically the most important thing are some Amphiphilic molecules. They are compounds with a polar head and a non -polar tail, like the lipids of our membranes. In this way, this structure allows self -assembly forming the membranes that give rise to vesicles. In Titan’s atmosphere, solar radiation and energy particles constantly bombard nitrogen and methane, creating a complex organic molecules soup. Among them are organic nitriles that have precisely this amphipatic nature and could act as the bricks of these original membranes in a non -polar environment such as liquid methane. A simple mechanism. The study not only posture that these membranes can exist, but also proposes a surprisingly simple and elegant mechanism for their formation, driven by the Titan climate itself. This process begins when the amphipatic compounds created in the atmosphere fall and accumulate on the surface of the methane lakes, forming a thin one -layer film, as if it were oil on the water. When methane rain drops hit the surface of the lake, it causes splashes. They throw aerosols or small secondary drops of the lake itself that fall into the lake itself. Upon contact, its wrapping of a layer merges with the movie of a layer of the side that was already present and what we were looking for is formed: the double layer membrane. In this way, a perfectly formed gallbladder is created that is dispersed in liquid methane, already these hypothetical titan vesicles have been called ‘D endosomas‘. Of unstable bubbles to primitive evolution. Initially, these vesicles would be only ‘kinetically stable’, that is, temporary. But this is where the process becomes even more fascinating, since the study posture that once these vesicles would begin to interact with other organic molecules dissolved in the lake. Those vesicles that by chance capture and integrate other amphiphils in their membrane that make them more stable, will survive more time. This would lead to a kind of natural selection at the molecular level: the most stable vesicles of vesicles would last and accumulate, while the least stable would get rid of. This competition and selection process could lead to a primitive form of evolution, where vesicles develop a “compositional memory” based on molecules that make them more robust. It is a gigantic step that could lead to increasingly complex and functional structures, authentic protocamples. How we will find them. All this is a brilliant hypothesis, but you have to check if it is true. The answer is in future space missions. One of the hopes is put In NASA’s great dragonfly missiona drone of the size of a car that will fly through the atmosphere of Titan from the mid -2030s to analyze different places of its surface. With advanced technology. The authors propose an ideal instrument to conduct this research: a laser device. Ideally, it would be Raman spectroscopy, A technique that analyzes the chemical composition of the molecules. Using metal nanoparticles to amplify the signal in a massive way, it could identify the exact nature of the amphipatics that form vesicles, even in very low concentrations. I should also have Combined light dispersion. A technique that allows you to point a laser to the liquid and measure how the light is dispersed, detect the presence of suspended particles, determine its size and, observing how they settle over time, differentiate the vesicles of dust or ice particles. History in astrobiology. If a mission like Dragonfly found these vesicles, it would be one of the most important discoveries in the history of astrobiology. I would not confirm the existence of life, but would demonstrate that the first steps towards complexity and order, the previous conditions for life (abiogenesis), can occur in the universe in radically different conditions to those of the earth. Images | Alessandro Ferrari In Xataka | In 1995, NASA began to drug spiders with amphetamines, marijuana and the most devastating: caffeine

During centuries Galicia was a thriving land of olive groves with unique varieties in the world. What changed it is still a mystery

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If you think of Galicia, in their landscapes, probably the first thing that comes to mind is your sinuous coastline, your beaches and cliffsserpentant channels such as the Sil River as it passes through the Ribeira Sacra, castrosleafy Atlantic forests, grasslands with cattle … The list is extensive (and diverse), but probably the olive groves are not included, a stamp that usually associates more to the peninsular south. It was not always the case. There are indications that Galicia had an interesting relationship with the cultivation of the olive trees that can go back to the times of Gallaecia. When that link declined and what were the causes of the sunset and that the olive tree does not prosper are issues that still generate debate among experts. Olivos in Galicia? Yes. And its relationship comes from afar, it is rich and has inspired researchers who have identified in Galician lands A wide catalog of unique native olive varieties in the world. The indications are suggestive, although I recognized years ago The historian Lourenzo Fernández during a days held in Pontevedra and focused precisely on the olive trees, shadows are still in that bond. “There is no specific historical, nor bibliographic research that will address the presence of Olivos in Galicia,” explained. Looking at the Roman Gallaecia. The link between Galicia and the olive tree can be traced at least Roman Gallaecia. In the middle of the last century, during an excavation in an area of ​​Vigo that is called precisely Oliveira, archaeologists discovered a Roman deposit which included bricks, bases, a mortar, mills, amphorae … and an oil press, among other vestiges. “It is thought that it could be a villa or factoring by the oleic press found, the only example appeared in Galicia. The possible relationship between the obtaining of oil and the olive tree in Vigo was also pointed out, in ancient times, with the activity that would give name to the place,” Explain The Quiñones de León Museum, where the remains rest, although those responsible recognize that the scarcity of remains of oil and amphorae lamps in the environment can be interpreted as a “lack of consumption.” Leaving its mark. Vigo’s is not the only proof of the interesting historical link between Olivo and Galicia. There are ethnographic studies that show that in the region there are dozens and tens of place names related to olive trees, olive groves, oil and similar references. Years ago at least 70 were counted. The CSIC has also identified about twenty varieties of native olive trees, unique in the world, and there is a record of specimens standing from the 18th century, the oldest in the community that are still alive, according to a analysis done years ago. A “very present” crop in Galicia. The presence of olive trees in Galicia put it in value since The industry itself to the organisms public. “The olive culture was very present in Galicia since the time of the Romans. The primitive settlers ate olives, although they did not know the methods of extraction of the oil. The Romans are those that introduce the knowledge of these methods that are transmitted by the territory. Galicia became one of the conquered territories of which the most oil went out to Rome in the second and second centuries.” They detail From Ribeira Sacra tourism. In the community it is not strange either find References of traditional oil mills in which the fruit was used. “In Galicia there were olive plantations, in some cases, of large dimensions, that if we follow some sources they would have been possible thanks to the introduction of this crop in our land by the Romans,” historian Felipe Aira explained in January An article of The voice of Galicia that he remembers how the Jews and Judeoconvers used the ‘liquid gold’ in their kitchens and at least part of the olive trees were preserved in the properties of the church, even after their decline in Galicia, for their value for the elaboration of the liturgical oils. And the great unknown arises. All The chronicles that tell the link between the Olivos and Galicia end up reaching the same question: what explains that their cultivation ends up losing weight? Why Galicia It ceased to be an olive grove? Or even simpler … Why didn’t they remain expanding until they occupy a relevant weight in the Galician fields? As Lourenzo remembered in 2018, shadows are still and a long way to explore “about the presence of Olivos in Galicia. His story is splashed with legends and inaccuracies, he said recently A chronicle Fiftymil, but is usually pointed to a complex sum of political, economic, demographic reasons and the reality of agricultural farms. Click on the image to go to Tweet. Of the Catholic Monarchs to Count Duke of Olivares. When the history of olive tree is explained in Galicia there are two names that are usually repeated: the first, the Catholic Monarchs; The second, Count Duke of Olivares. An extended theory ensures that the former, Fernando II of Aragon and Isabel I of Castilla, adopted a series of decisions about taxes and reorganization that punished the Galician plantations and favored that olive trees be started in the region. But … why? There are those who say that the purpose was to favor the repopulation and crops of the newly reconquered lands of the Peninsular South. Others argue that in their decision, more political factors would have weighed and that when the Galician olive trees sought to penalize the territory and their aristocracy. The “Doma and castration from Galicia, “said the intellectual of the twentieth century, Alfonso Daniel Rodríguez Castelao about the policies of the Catholic Monarchs. The context is key and was marked by the defeat of Juana la Beltraneja, and therefore of the nobility that supported her in her cause, and the Irmandiños rebellion that developed in Galicia. The shadow of olive groves. The theory is even more extended that if there … Read more

half a century later, the mystery is complicated

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Almost half a century after the Big Ear Radio Coats captured an enigmatic signal of 72 seconds from space, the mystery, far from resolving, has become more complex. An exhaustive analysis of the original 1977 data, which were believed, has revealed that the legendary signal “wow!” It was considerably stronger than was thought, and moved towards us at a much higher speed than it had been calculated. A little context. On August 15, 1977, American astronom characters sequence “6equj5”an extraordinarily intense narrow band radio signal. His surprise was such that he surrounded the code with a circle and wrote “Wow!” On the margin. Thus was born one of the greatest enigmas of modern astronomy and the most famous candidate to be an extraterrestrial transmission. Now, a Preliminary study posted at Arxiv.org Rewrite almost everything we knew about her. Rescuing a treasure of 75,000 pages. New research has been an almost archaeological job. For decades it was thought that the detailed data surrounded by the ‘Wow!’ They had been lost forever, especially after Ohio’s Big Ear Observatory was dismantled in 1998 to build a golf course. Fortunately, a group of volunteers rescued most of the telescope records. Now, researchers of the Project “Arecibo Wow!”led by Abel Méndez of the planetary habitability laboratory of the University of Puerto Rico, have digitized and analyzed more than 75,000 pages of the original forms with optical recognition technology of characters (OCR) and human supervision. This monumental effort has allowed, for the first time, to apply advanced computational methods to the original signal, revealing details that had been overlooked for almost 50 years. The “Wow!” Signal signal Next to the scribble of astronomer Jerry Ehman Strong, more precise, faster. The new analysis correctly corrects and refines the signal parameters, shedding new light on its possible nature. The previous estimates placed the intensity of the signal (their flow density) between 54 and 212 janskys. Corrected calculations raise that figure to a minimum of 250 janskys, confirming that It was even more powerful than was thought. Few sources of known astrophysical radio emit with that intensity, which makes it a truly exceptional event. The frequency has also been corrected at 1,420,726 MHz, which suggests that the object was moving to us at 74 km/s, a speed that does not fit with the normal rotation of the objects of our galaxy. On the other hand, the study reduces the search area in two thirds, refining the coordinates to two possible locations slightly displaced from the previous estimates, which could explain why decades of monitoring searches did not serve to detect it again. Neither humans, nor comets. With these new data, researchers have been able to discard many of the proposed explanations over the years. The study rules out almost completely human origin. There were no known satellites in that position and the moon was on the opposite side of the earth, so it was not a reflection of terrestrial transmissions. The television stations of the time could not generate a harmonic in that frequency. The form of the signal, which fits perfectly with the expected pattern of a punctual source through the telescope beam, is another argument against a local interference. The theory that the mysterious signal “wow!” It was caused by the passage of a kitewhich at the time seemed to solve the enigma, has also been weakened with the new analysis. The extreme power and the characteristics of the reviewed signal do not fit well with the hydrogen cloud that surrounds a kite. So what was? They were probably aliens either. Researchers point to a natural astrophysical event, but extremely rare. As I pointed out an earlier study that we cover in Xatakathe signal could come from a neutral hydrogen cloud. These clouds are common, but normally do not emit such intense and narrow band signals. The new proposal is that the signal ‘wow!’ It was the result of a phenomenon known as Astronomical Mass Flare or an overradication outbreak from one of these clouds. Something similar to a natural microwave laser, a transitory and powerful event that would explain both the intensity of the signal and the fact that it has never been repeated again. Images | Big Ear Observatory In Xataka | Every time we tried to contact extraterrestrial life

The depths of Antarctica had always been a mystery, so far: 3,000 “mega -structures”

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An international team of scientists, with the researcher at the University of Barcelona David Amblàs at the head, He has revealed A much more complex and detailed map of the Antarctic Sea Fund. Using the most complete database to date, they have identified 3,291 individual cannons organized in 332 systems, some of which sink up to 4,000 meters deep and that act as supermarine superautistapistas that regulate the global climate, and at the same time, represent the Achilles heel of the gigantic glaciers of the icy continent. The map that has changed everything. Until now, our vision of the seabed surrounding Antarctica was blurred. The maps were based In low resolution data that barely suggested the largest structures. But everything has changed thanks to the new ‘International Bathymetric Chart of the Southern Ocean (IBCSO) V.2‘, a cartography that has combined thousands of ship polls with satellite data. Taking advantage of this “Google Maps” of the Antarctic Sea bed, scientists applied semi -automatic hydrological techniques, similar to those used to analyze river basins on the mainland. In this way, they managed to trace with amazing precision the entire network of “rivers” and “submarines” submarine that cross the continental margins of the continent. Two types of very different geographies. The finding with this system reveals two types of underwater geography. On the one hand, you have the ‘Eastern Antarctica‘Where very branched and -shaped cannon systems are found, which determines that its origin is very old. On the other hand, there is the ‘Western Antarctica‘Where shorter cannons predominate with abrupt slopes and V sections, which allows to see a more recent geological origin. For Amblàs, This difference so marked in geomorphology “It supports the hypothesis that the eastern ice layer is older and formed before the western one.” This is something that until now had only been able to intuit. Visual representation of the applied methodology for the extraction of the streams in the seabed. Water highways that decide our future. These cannons are not just a geographical accident. They are leading actors of climate change. On the one hand, they act as channels for the water of the continental platform, which when cooled and gain salinity, becomes very dense. . This water is precipitated by the cannons to the depths of the ocean, in a process that forms the Background Antarctic Water (AABW). This mass of cold and dense water is the engine of global oceanic circulation, a gigantic “conveyor belt” that distributes heat throughout the planet and kidnaps huge amounts of carbon dioxide in the deep ocean. The geometry of these cannons, therefore, is essential for climate regulation. The Achilles heel of the glaciers. On the other hand, these same cannons are an entrance door for the enemy. Allow him to Circumpolar deep water (CDW), a relatively warm mass of water (about 2 ° C above the freezing point) and saline, sneaks from the open ocean to the base of the ice platforms. This warm water flow is the main responsible for the basal melting of the glaciers, eroding them from below and accelerating their slide to the sea. The discovery of such a dense cannon network, especially in Eastern Antarctica (considered so far stable), suggests that The vulnerability of the continent The oceanic warming could be greater than what the models foresee. Regions such as the Amundsen Sea, home of the final judgment glacier, are full of these cannons that serve the warm water in tray. The great challenge: that our climatic models understand it. In addition, this discovery shows an important career: the climatic models that we currently use to project future scenarios are not able to simulate precisely. The topography is so rugged that the predictions on the dynamics of the oceans and the weather lose reliability, especially in areas as vulnerable as the Amundsen Sea. Therefore, the two authors of this study underline the urgency of continuing to invest in the high resolution mapping of these unexplored areas. The second researcher, Riccardo Arosio, concludes that “new cannons will surely be revealed” and each of them is essential to be able to make more precise climatic models that determine the future of the planet. Antarctica is a well of surprises. There are many investigations that focus on the planet’s location, and the conclusions are very interesting. We already know that in the past Where there is now ice was a real forestor that under its surface Something is sending a sign that science fails to clarify. And this has done that Tourism has arrived at this placesomething that is not sitting too well. Images | Cassie Matias In Xataka | Thousands of marine ecosystems depend on only one thing: the pis and the whale droppings

The mystery of the price of gasoline

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We are in the middle of August and the asphalt burns, not just by the sun. The massive holiday displacements reach their peak and thousands of drivers look sideways at the fuel marker before embarking. In a summer marked by energy volatility, the cost of filling the deposit is again the protagonist, with ups and downs that depend on both the global and the gas station that is chosen. A fall that barely feels. According to the latest data from the European Union Petroleum Bulletinthe average price in Spain is 1,483 euros per liter for 95 and 1,424 euros for diesel. Testimonial declines are: 0.2 less for gasoline and 0.8 cents for diesel compared to the previous week. In the supplier, the difference is practically imperceptible. Compared to a year ago, savings is more visible – a 7.3% less in gasoline and 2.8% in diesel – but filling today an average 55 -liter deposit continues to hover the 81 euros in gasoline and 78 in diesel. And, as a Facua study recalls cited by the countrythat invoice depends so much or more on the gas station than on the international market: reposting diesel in Murcia can cost up to 79 more cents per liter between the most expensive and cheapest station. Factors that press up. At the international level, the price of Brent crude – reference in Europe – is around $ 67.27 per barrel. OPEC+ has announced which will increase the offer in 547,000 barrels per day as of September, but this type of movements takes to reflect in the suppliers. Within Spain, electricity remains an inflationary engine. The INE has confirmed That the IPC rose to 2.7%, its highest level since February, due to a price increase of 17.3% and, to a lesser extent, of fuels. Transportation, which includes fuels, plane tickets and combined passenger transport, also rose 0.2%. Facua has warned in a report for the country That price disparity is not a matter of quality, but of competition, location and commercial margins. The risk of calm will last little. The Savings Banks Foundation (Funcas) provides that inflation reaches 3% in September, As detailed in the voice of Galicia. If it is fulfilled, that pressure could be transferred back to gasoline and diesel, especially in a context where electricity and food continue to take care after the end of the VAT reduction. The Ministry of Economy insists that the Spanish economy maintains “a strong dynamism” and that employment and salary increases cushion the impact, but for the average driver the sensation is another: pay the same – or more – for each kilometer. Beyond refueling. In this context, choosing well where to refuel can be a remarkable savings. Tools like The Facua search engine They allow to locate the most economical stations in each area. Even so, reposting in Spain is still somewhat cheaper than in much of Europe. The difference is around 14 cents per liter in gasoline and about 13 cents in diesel in front of the EU average, and reaches 20 cents if compared to the euro zone. Glimpseing the rebound. The slight price drop in August does not change the general photo: the fuel is still expensive and the forces that push it up there are still there. The relief, if it can be called that, could be just an intermediate before the score rises again. In August, as important as choosing fate is to decide where and when to fill the tank. Image | Pxhere Xataka | That almost all cars in a country were electric seemed like a chimera. Until a poor and remote country got it

The “Death whistles” Aztecs were always a mystery. Until we discovered why they give us so many chills

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The “Death whistles” Aztecs have surprising peculiarity: their intimidated appearance, but much more does its sound. Although the artisans manufactured them in the shape of a skull and figures that are today interpreted as references to Mictlantecuhtlithe Aztec King of the underworld, it is his loudness that has been intrigued by archaeologists for years. Not surprisingly if one takes into account that when we take one of these instruments to the lips and blow, something occurs similar to a human cry. It’s hard to listen to it without feeling uncomfortable. A group of researchers wanted to go further and investigate why we feel what we feel when we listen to the whistles of Aztec death. The answer can be key to understanding a piece that is still involved in mystery. Death whistles? Exact. His name imposes, but not as much as his appearance and sound. The “Death whistles” Aztecs are instruments made with clay between three and five centimeters and skull form, a peculiarity that experts interpret as a reference to Mictlantecuhtli, the lord of the underworld. They also include Figures of the Snake of Fire and Owls. Experts believe that the original pieces were manufactured Between 1250 and 1521. Wars or rituals? The first references about them date from End of the 19th centuryalthough probably the most famous specimen was found between 1987 and 1989 in the Ehécatl-Quetzacóatl templein Mexico City. There the archaeologists located the skeleton of a human sacrifice with a whistle, which has given wings to the different theories that try to explain what they were used for. There are those who think that the Aztecs used them in wars to scare their enemies and who believe that their use was basically ritual and symbolic. According to them, the sound would accompany the dead on their trip to Mictlánthe Aztec underworld. To that last theory contributes that death whistles have been found in places where ritual burials and human sacrifices were made. Another interesting clue is that the piece located next to the skeleton recovered in Ehecatl-Quetzcalcóatla circular sanctuary dedicated to the god of the wind, Ehecatl. Today several copies are preserved in facilities of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) or the Berlin Ethnological Museum. And how do they sound? Here are A few examples So you can check it. Depending on how they are used, whistles produce a siseo or a much deeper, intimidating sound, similar to a human cry. Recently a group of researchers from the University of Zurich (UZH) set out to go nevertheless and answer two big questions: why do they sound like they sound? And why listening to them produces such an overwhelming feeling? Their conclusions were reflected in An article Posted in November in Communications Psychologya magazine of the prestigious Nature Group. How have they done it? With a combination of techniques. The team obtained recordings from several whistles, including two recovered in Tlatelolcohe performed computerized tomographs To create 3D objects and resorted to replicas of whistles made of artisans with clay simulating the characteristics of the originals. Then they registered the sounds and reproduced them to a group of volunteers. To document their reactions well, scientists submitted them to a neuroimaging study. The objective: find out how their brains reacted. What did they find out? To start they discovered that the whistles have “A unique internal construction”with two opposite cameras that generate turbulence in the air and produce that kind of shout that, if archaeologists are right, accompanied the ritual victims in their descent to the underworld. “The whistles have a very unique construction, and we do not know any comparable instrument of other pre -Columbian cultures or other historical and contemporary contexts,” Explain Sacha Frühholz, the professor of cognitive and affective neuroscience who directed the study. The Aztecs are also known for making instruments that imitated the sound of the wind or the songs of the birds. What did they feel when listening to it? That is the most interesting part of the research. The volunteers described the sounds as “extremely chilling and terrifying”, According to verifies The UZH. “The brain regions belonging to the affective neuronal system responded strongly to the sound, which once again confirms its intimidating nature. The team also observed brain activity in regions that associate the sounds with symbolic meaning.” In summary, the volunteers called him “very negative” and “frightening.” “Given the aversive/terrifying and associative/symbolic sound nature, as well as the locations of the excavations known in places of ritual burial with human sacrifices, its use in ritual contexts seems very likely, especially in rites and sacrificial ceremonies related to the dead,” They conclude The experts, who recognize in any case a handicap of their experiment: the test was done with listeners of modern Europe who did not know that they were going to listen to the sounds produced by the old Aztec instrument. Did they find out anything else? Yes, something interesting. The volunteers perceived the sounds of whistle as hybrids, between the natural and the artificial. “They were classified at the psychoacoustic level as a hybrid mixture of voice sounds and screams, but also caused by technical mechanisms,” says research, which slides that this double quality could influence the reaction of the listeners: sound evoked shouts of a human nature, but also tones generated with artificial objects. Images | Sascha Frühholz, UZH and Wikipedia In Xataka | We have found a historical treasure in Mexico. The board game with favorite beans of the Maya and Aztecs

China has resolved the mystery of why there are people who ruin seeing streams: the “榜一大哥”

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A 37 -year -old man has mortgaged his house, sold his shares and indebted to spending 16 million yuan (2.2 million euros) donating money to a streamer called Lili (name modified by the original source, Tencent Newsto preserve its anonymity). His wife has put a lawsuit to try to recover family heritage. Why is it important. Chen Ping’s, told by SCMP, It is not an isolated case. In the Chinese courts there are 302 civil lawsuits related to “Streamers“And” Donations of streaming“. A residual figure considering the 1.4 billion inhabitants of China, but striking as an emerging trend. Of the 67 most relevant sentences, most plaintiffs are women of compulsive donors trying to recover family assets. The Virtual Donations Market in China was already by 140,000 million yuan (about 17,000 million euros = in 2019 and it is projected to reach 417,000 million in 2025 (about 49,000 million euros). The context. The “榜一大哥” (‘Big Brother‘) They do not seek sex or a traditional romantic relationship. They seek to be important in a community where money determines status. The platforms have gamified intimacy: each donation increases your “level of closeness” with the streamerthat will treat you as someone special, remember your name and give you private access by chat, generating that false feeling of intimacy. In detail. Chen Ping, the protagonist of the case, began donating small quantities that climbed a lot in a short time. The platforms offered “Blind boxes“Where paying real money you manage to send random gifts to Streamers to open them live. On your part. Like a casino, but where the prize is not money but virtual social status, let’s say. The streamer Lili had private groups from WhatsApp only for his greatest donors. Chen became administrator of his room streaming. His wife discovered intimate conversations where he wrote “I wait for you in bed” and she sent him videos in underwear. Yes, but. Chen He insists that he was only looking for “friendship” and “be treated as someone important.” In real life he was a manager in his father’s company, but he felt too controlled. In the sTreaming It could be he who started and ends relationships. The figures: In 612 days, Chen spent 13.5 million yuan in his main account and 2.5 million in another high school (1.6 million and 300,000 euros respectively). Only Lili directly donated 1.87 million yuan (220,000 euros) in more than 5,000 transactions. The rest vanished in blind and miniguegos boxes. On the other side. His wife, Ou Qing, lost three judgments trying to recover the money. Chinese courts have no clear jurisprudence: Some consider “consumption” donations (unrecoverable, therefore). Others consider them “gifts” (recoverable if there is adultery). In the end, Chen and Lili never met physically, so legally there was no “inappropriate relationship.” Deepen. This phenomenon is not exclusively Chinese. The Streamers They have discovered that selling artificial intimacy is more profitable than selling content. Muraunth already reinvented line 906 pulling from chatbot. And three years ago we talked about addicts to donate on Twitch. For that false feeling of intimacy, a special talent is not even necessary, just maintaining the illusion that the donor is special. It is the gamification of male loneliness. In Xataka | China has won the data war without stealing any. We have given them to them Outstanding image | Xataka

Mathematicians have been trying to solve the mystery of Da Vinci’s ‘vitruvio’. The answer was in sight

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The history of art is full of universal icons, but few, very few, reach the popularity level of the ‘Vitruvio man’ drawn around 1490 by Leonardo da Vinci. And it is logical. Artistic and scientific issues apart, the work has become a reference Pop. The original is preserved in the Accademia di Belle Arti Venice, but the same face, the same body, has stamped over the last decades in books, t -shirts, sweatshirts, backpacks and posters. That without counting every time we have seen it reproduced on the big screen. The most curious thing is that despite that exhibition, the ‘man of vitruvio’ is still surrounded by mysteries. Or so it was until now, at least. A London dentist believes having solved the complex mathematical puzzle that Leonardo hidden in the work. A name: Marcus Vitruvius. Leonardo da Vinci’s is (by far) the most famous, but the Tuscan genius was not the only one in representing the man of vitruvio. We keep more or less similar samples from other artists, such as Francesco Di Giorgio Martini either Giacomo Andrea de Ferrara. And it’s normal. After all, these are exercises based on the canon of the human body of Marcus Vitruvius (Exactly, hence his name), a Roman architect and engineer. It was he who many centuries before Leonardo theorized about human physiognomy in Of archiecture. “In the body, the central point is the navel. If a man placed himself on his back, with extended hands and feet and a compass focused on the nave The architect theorized Roman in the first century before our era, convinced that a man’s proportions can adjust to a square. But … how to do it? That is the theory. Different thing is practice. Throughout the different artists have launched themselves to represent human physiognomy partially inspired by the canon of proportions proposed by vitrubio. Not everyone with equal fortune. By 1490 Leonardo Da Vinci, who then was around 40, got down to work in one of his notebooks and prepared a drawing that during the last five centuries has fascinated scholars and profane. The work shows a man in several overlapping positions, standing, with extended legs and more or less open arms. All perfectly registered in a square and in a circle in an exercise that would probably have fascinated the Roman architect. We have recorded the result in memory and a quick search arrives on Google to find good quality reproductions, but there is a pending mystery: how the hell did Leonardo did? The great ask unknown. Yes, the result is obvious. And yes, the drawing is there for those who want to copy it in detail. But … what recipe Did Vinci continue to plan and execute it? What calculations did you use? Was it based on any pattern? And if so, what system did you employ? “The search for the Da Vinci geometric method has generated numerous theories, each of which tries to explain the measured relationship between the circle and the square in the original drawing,” Explain Rory Mac Sweeney, the British dentist who believes he has found the key. “For more than 500 years, the Da Vinci geometric system for the precise relationship between the circle and the square in his drawing of the ‘Vitruvio man’ has remained in the mystery,” Mac Sweeney abounds, which has just published An article reviewed by parts in Journal of Maythematics and Arts. What if the key is the golden proportion? His theory is just that, a theory, but it is interesting because it offers an alternative to the most popular explanation, which argues that to draw his drawing Da Vinci was inspired by the Aurea proportionan idea that reinforces the collaboration of the Tuscan with his compatriot Luca Paciolithe author of Of divine proportion. The problem, Remember Mac Sweeneyis that this explanation has not just been perfect. “It produces a significant error, which seems unlikely given Leonardo’s geometric precision.” Good riddle, bad explanation. Other authors have provided alternative explanations to the mystery of Vitruvio, such as Leonardo was based on octagons or a heptagon, but Mac Sweeney believes all these theories present “a fundamental problem”: they approach more or less the measures used by the artist in his diagram, but in the opinion of the British researcher it is difficult to connect them with the themes that really obsessed Da Vinci. “They are still purely abstract mathematical exercises, without connection with Leonardo da Vinci’s documented interest in human anatomy, natural functional and main relationships. As geometric riddles, they work. As explanations of Leonardo’s methodology and intentions, they do not offer a convincing justification of their specific decisions,” Reflect. Hidden “with the naked eye”. The most curious thing is that Mac Sweeney believes that the solution “has been hidden with the naked eye” in the handwritten annotations left by Leonardo himself next to the drawing. Specifically, it refers to a comment in which the artist points out that, with the body in a certain posture, the space between the legs forms an equilateral triangle. For a long time it was believed that this phrase was a simple poetic ornament, pure rhetoric or a practical guide for composition, but the British expert believes that it is the key to mystery. And what is special? That the triangle adjusts to a natural pattern, one that Mac Sweeney knows well for his dentist profession: Bonwill’s trianglean imaginary equilateral triangle of the human anatomy that marks the fundamental geometric relationship for the proper functioning of the jaw. “Connects the mandibular condyles with the midpoint of the lower central incisors and corresponds precisely to Leonardo’s explicit reference to an ‘equilateral triangle’ in its construction of the ‘vitruvio man’”, Clarify. “The construction of Leonardo demonstrates the same tetrahedral principles present in craniofacial architecture,” insists The British dentist before citing studies and calculations that reinforce its hypothesis. “The equilateral triangle, which Leonardo made explicit reference between the legs of the figure, when replicating six times around the navel, creates the … Read more

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