Scientists

According to scientists, global warming will most likely lead to an Ice Age

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We usually imagine the climate change like an endless ascending line: more heat, melted glaciers and more acidic oceans. However, science has just put on the table a hypothesis that is not very intuitive: under certain extreme conditions, global warming does not end in hell, but in a real freezer. And the plankton, which seems harmless, has a lot to say in this regard. The identified. A team of researchers from the University of California, Riverside (UCR) and the University of Bremen has identified an instability in the carbon cyclea “glitch” in Earth’s climate operating system, suggesting that an ocean that is too warm and depleted of oxygen can trigger massive global cooling. The geological thermostat. To understand this finding, we must first look at how the Earth regulates its temperature in the long term. The classic mechanism is silicate weathering. Which basically means that when there is a lot of CO₂ in the atmosphere along with heat, it rains more and this rain dissolves the silicate rocks, dragging the carbon and the nutrients it stores to the sea, such as phosphorus. That’s where plankton uses that carbon to build their shells and, when they die, they sink, trapping CO₂ on the seabed. And although it may seem like good news that they store this gas that is seen as a great enemy on the seabed, the fact of reducing its concentration It means that the temperature drops. A paradigm shift. Until now, scientists saw this as a stable “thermostat”: if it is hot, the system works to cool the environment, and if it is cold it works less intensely. But now something radical arises: the thermostat has a catastrophic failure mode. According to their simulation models, when the system is coupled to the cycle of marine nutrients and biological productivity, the regulation can be unstable. And this is where the ideas of a future ice age begin. The plankton trap. For researchers, if we continue with extreme warming on our planet, erosion will increase to bring nutrients to the ocean. Something that will undoubtedly be appreciated by the phytoplankton and the algae that will accumulate it and when it dies, it will create an area in the water where there is not a hint of oxygen. In an ocean without oxygen, phosphorus once again dominates sea water which will create a vicious cycle where the algae They will consume large amounts of oxygen. The result is that the ocean floor begins to ‘suck’ CO₂ from the atmosphere at breakneck speedwhich is much faster than volcanoes or human activities can replenish it. The result is clear: a thermal collapse that can lead to a severe glaciation similar to what the Earth has experienced in the past. We had other fears. Right now on the table we had the suspicion that the collapse of the AMOCthe ocean currents that move water between various locations, will lead us to this situation. And they have a very important function: moving warm water from the tropics towards the north through the surface and cold, dense water towards the south through the depths. Something that a priori regulates global temperature. Global warming. A priori, anyone might think that continuing to emit greenhouse gases into the atmosphere is the solution to this. But the authors issue a warning: geological times are not human times. We are talking about a mechanism that operates on scales of hundreds of thousands of years, and that is why it will not cool the planet either in this century or the next. In fact, researchers suggest that if this mechanism were activated today, it would be an excessive correction that will occur long after we have suffered the consequences of global warming. The fragility of the system. The carbon cycle is not a simple scale that stays in balance, but is quite dynamic and complex. This is somewhat difficult, since it can easily become unbalanced. The idea that the planet can “overreact” to heat by causing extreme cold reminds us that the Earth has regulatory mechanisms that are indifferent to the survival of human civilization. Images | Javier Miranda Alberto Restifo In Xataka | The Earth is entering climate collapse with its first point of no return. Our only salvation is technology

There are scientists deliberately causing earthquakes in the Alps and they have a good reason for it

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In the heart of the Swiss Alps, more than a kilometer underground, a team of scientists is doing something that sounds almost insane: cause real earthquakes. And it is not that they want to destroy a country, but just the opposite: they want to understand earthquakes better to look for ‘warnings’ before they occur. Right now There is a lot of mystery around earthquakessince it is not well known how they are produced, and this means that we do not have clear information about when they will occur in a specific area. And it is something fundamental for us, since having a ‘witness’ to warn us that an earthquake is coming will allow us to notify the population so that they can protect themselves and avoid significant human and material losses. The idea. The FEAR project (Fault Activation an Earthquiake Rupture), led by researchers at ETH Zürich, are looking for answer the big question: how to detect the signs that announce an earthquake before it happens? For this, in the Bedretto’s underground laboratorygeologists have drilled a tunnel through an active fault. Through the controlled injection of water—and, soon, hot water—they are triggering microearthquakes of magnitudes less than 1. Their goal is to observe, with a densely distributed network of sensors, how ruptures occur and what physical conditions trigger them. But… Why the Alps? In this case, the natural conditions offered by the Alps are ideal to carry out these experiments. The enormous pressure of the mountains on the faults generates tensions that, with the slightest change, can release seismic energy. In this way it is known that in these conditions an earthquake is going to occur at some point and what they do is anticipate it and control it with many measuring equipment. Ground disturbed on purpose. The microearthquakes induced by the Swiss team have a curious parallel with another practice known for less scientific reasons: seismicity induced by the fracking industry. In regions such as Oklahoma and Texas, the discharge of wastewater into deep wells has also generated thousands of small earthquakes, providing scientists with valuable models of how water alters the friction between plates. But the FEAR project differs in detail with respect to what the industry can do for its work: absolute control of the environment. While industrial operations cause unwanted earthquakes, they cannot be controlled. But in the Alps we specifically seek to know what happens in the seconds before a rupture. Throughout 2024 and 2025, their tests will escalate until they cause earthquakes of magnitude 1, a level weak enough not to be perceptible on the surface, but enough to modify the stress state of a fault. If they manage to correlate specific patterns with the energy released, they could establish predictive models applicable to active seismic zones that would be an advance in the understanding of how the Earth releases its internal energy. They are not alone. In different countries there are many similar projects that try to understand earthquakes. For example, in Japan the Nankai Trough Seismogenic Zone Experiment (NanTroSEIZE) center pierces the seabed off the coast to reach the fault where future large earthquakes are expected to occur. Something fundamental when talking about a very affected area by earthquakes. In Iceland the DEEP EGS (Enhancing Geothermal Systems) program has also registered many microseisms due to the injection of geothermal fluidsoffering direct data on how faults become unstable. A great challenge. The challenge remains enormous: no model has managed to predict an earthquake with temporal and spatial precision. But experiments like the one at the Bedretto Underground Lab offer something that didn’t exist before: a way to study the actual physics of seismic fracture initiation. Images | Çağlar Oskay Marco Meyer In Xataka | China built the Three Gorges Dam with three objectives. Got a fourth: changing the Earth’s rotation

Spanish scientists have created a material that swallows 99.5% of light. And it is great news for renewables

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At first glance they look like invisible needles, thin to the extreme and tiny like a thousandth of a human hair. A group of Spanish researchers has created ultra-black nanoneedles that absorb up to 99.5% of the solar radiation they receive, a record figure that not only sets an optical record, but will increase the efficiency of solar thermal plants. Made in Euskadi. The discovery comes from the Thermophysical Properties of Materials group at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). There, the researchers have designed a surface composed of copper cobaltate nanoneedles—a mixed oxide of copper and cobalt—with exceptional optical properties. Its ultra-black tone and its resistance to humidity and high temperatures make it ideal for solar tower receivers. According to tests, the material achieves an absorption of 99.5% of sunlight, surpassing black silicon (95%) and carbon nanotubes (99%). “We are looking for ultra-black materials for more efficient solar towers,” noted researcher Íñigo González de Arrieta. A change for solar energy. In concentrating solar thermal power plants (CSP), hundreds of mirrors reflect and concentrate sunlight towards a central tower. There, heat is used to melt salts that retain thermal energy and allow electricity to be generated even when the sun has already set.The key is to take advantage of each photon: if the receiver material reflects part of the light, that energy is lost. And this is where the new nanoneedles come into play. Until now, the most used material was black silicon, with an absorption level of 95%. The new nanoneedles, on the other hand, could raise that figure significantly and, with it, make solar thermal energy, one of the most promising clean sources in countries like Spain, more competitive and profitable. Beyond the blackest black. Carbon nanotubes seemed unbeatable: dark as a vacuum, capable of trapping almost all light. But they had an invisible enemy: the heat and humidity deteriorated them quickly. The copper cobaltate nanoneedles, developed by the Basque team, endure what their predecessors could not. They withstand temperatures above 700 degrees without losing effectiveness and, in addition, they are more stable. In solar towers, that difference can translate into more energy and less maintenance. A real impact. Dr. Renkun Chen, from the University of California, San Diego, is collaborating with the Basque team and the United States Department of Energy to study the feasibility of applying nanoneedles to industrial solar plants. “We observed that these nanoneedles performed better than the carbon nanotubes used until now, and that their performance increased when coated with zinc oxide,” Chen explained.. However, González de Arrieta himself clarifies that there is still some way to go: the next pilot-scale tests will determine if the process is economically viable and if the material can be produced industrially without losing its optical properties. Darker, brighter. Ultrablack nanoneedles are an example of how nanotechnology applied to energy can have a direct impact on global sustainability. The UPV/EHU team plans to continue developing new compounds with better thermal and optical conductivity, designed to withstand the challenges of future solar towers. Promoting this renewable energy offers many advantages: it is totally clean and can also be used when the sun does not shine,” recalled González de Arrieta. And if everything goes as expected, the future of solar energy could be, paradoxically, darker than ever. Image | Flickr Xataka | In the midst of a trade war, there is a battle that China has already won: that the world depends on its new energy

A giant wave is sweeping across the Milky Way. Scientists currently don’t know why.

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Our galaxy, Milky Wayis far from a quiet place. It spins, it wobbles and, as a new study just revealed, it also undulates. New ESA data have discovered a colossal wave, baptized as “the great wave” that propagates through the galactic disk in a very similar way to the waves that we have in a pond when we throw a stone. The study. This phenomenon, which has been identified by the team led by Eloisa Poggio of the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica in Italy, is a “corrugation “large-scale vertical” that is superimposed on the already known deformation that our galaxy constantly suffers. In essence, we are facing a wave that causes entire stripes of stars to move “up” and “down.” Great proportions. It is nothing like the waves that we see on our beaches, of course, since we are talking about something on a galactic level. In this case, astronomers know since the 50’s that the disk of the Milky Way it’s not flatbut rather it is deformed (or “warped”) at its edges. Now this study adds an additional structure that no one knew was there. Thanks to Gaia’s incredibly precise measurements, which map the 3D position and 3D motion of stars, the team was able to analyze two populations of young stars: giant stars and classical Cepheids. These maps revealed a gigantic wave that is now coming to light. The figures. In order to understand the magnitude of this phenomenon, we can take into account the following parameters of this phenomenon: Height: the movement of the stars is about 150-200 parsecs, which is up to 650 light years above and below the galactic plane. Length: The structure spans at least 10,000 light years and possibly up to 20,000. Location: affects a vast section of the outer disk, in regions located tens of thousands of light years from the galactic center. The test. The most fascinating thing about the discovery is not just the shape of the wave, but the evidence that it is moving. “What makes this even more compelling is our ability, thanks to Gaia, to also measure the motions of stars within the galactic disk,” explains Poggio. To understand it, the team used a perfect analogue: the wave of a stadium. If we were to freeze the wave that is made in the stands of a stadium, we would see some people standing (the crest), others who have just sat down (the back part) and others who are about to get up (the front part). Something similar happens in the galaxy. The astronomers discovered that the stars with the highest vertical position (the crest) were not the same as the stars with the highest vertical velocity. The maximum speed point was displaced, with a 90º approach phase difference. This phase difference is irrefutable proof that it is a propagating wave. And not only that: the stars inside the corrugation also show a systematic radial motion of 10-15 km/s outward. The conclusion is clear: it is a wave that travels from the interior of the galaxy to its furthest reaches. There is a mystery. Researchers have measured the wave, but don’t know what caused it. The main hypothesis is that the Milky Way suffered an encounter or collision with a smaller dwarf galaxy, but it is not 100% certain. Previous simulations have shown that interaction with a satellite galaxy, such as Sagittarius, can excite exactly these types of vertical waves and corrugations in the galactic disk. This “big wave” is much larger and located much further away than the famous Radcliffe wavea filament of gas about 9,000 light years long located near our Sun. Although both are undulations, scientists believe that they are two different characteristics, although they do not rule out that they may be related in some way. Since the young stars studied (giants and Cepheids) were born from galactic gas, the team suspects that the wave not only carries the stars, but also the gas itself from the disk. The stars would have simply inherited the motion of the gas from which they formed, preserving a “memory” of the wave. Now the investigation must continue. Astronomers are looking forward to Gaia’s fourth data release, which will provide even more precise measurements and help create detailed maps to perhaps finally reveal the origin of our galaxy’s undulating heart. Images | Dns Dgn In Xataka | When stars formed has always been one of the greatest mysteries of the universe. And we are closer to solving it

a paradox that baffles scientists

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It is one of the cruelest paradoxes of modern neurology: women are diagnosed with the Alzheimer’s disease almost twice as many times as men. And the question in this case was obligatory: why? The first theories They pointed to brain agingpointing out that women’s brains deteriorate faster. But now, everything has changed radically. A published study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) Not only does it disprove this hypothesis, but it reveals just the opposite: the brains of healthy men seem to age and shrink faster. But even so, the expected effect is not what we see in the prevalence of the disease. Until now, studies on sex differences in brain aging have produced conflicting results. While some suggested a greater loss of gray matter in men, others pointed to a more pronounced deterioration. The method. To clarify this picture, an international team of scientists has carried out one of the largest analyzes to date. To do this, they analyzed 12,638 longitudinal brain MRIs of 4,726 cognitively healthy participants (2,181 men and 2,545 women). The participants, in this case, aged between 17 and 95, underwent at least two brain scans at an average interval of 3.3 years. This allowed the researchers to observe not a still photo, but actual structural changes in the brain over time, controlling for factors such as head size. Further deterioration. The results, after adjustments, were surprisingly clear: Men experienced greater volume and thickness reduction in more brain regions than women. Men showed a more pronounced decrease in cortical thickness in regions such as the cuneus, lingual gyrus, and parahippocampal. They also showed a greater reduction in surface area in the fusiform and postcentral cortex. For example, the postcentral cortex, responsible for processing sensations such as touch and pain, decreased at an annual rate of 0.20% in men compared to 0.12% in women. Furthermore, in older adults it was seen that men also showed greater contraction in key subcortical structures such as the caudate, putamen and nucleus accumbens. In contrast, women only showed greater surface area reduction in the superior temporal sulcus and greater ventricular expansion in old age. The conclusion. The study’s main conclusion is as compelling as it is puzzling: sex differences in age-related brain decline are “unlikely” to explain why women have a higher prevalence of Alzheimer’s diagnoses. Amy Brodtmann, a researcher at Monash University, agrees, adding that if these changes were responsible for Alzheimer’s, we would expect to see greater deterioration in women in areas crucial for memory, such as the hippocampus, something the study did not find in its main analyses. This forces the scientific community to look for other explanations. The results suggest that the higher prevalence of Alzheimer’s in women is likely due to factors other than brain atrophy due to age. There are nuances. The authors of the study themselves recognize that the disease is a complex phenomenon. One of the limitations of the study is that the sample of participants had higher educational levels than the general population, a known protective factor against Alzheimer’s, which may not be fully representative. Furthermore, the study introduces a fascinating nuance. When the researchers adjusted the data not for chronological age, but for remaining life expectancy, several of the differences disappeared. In this scenario, women even showed a greater decline in hippocampal volume. This could indicate that terminal, near-death brain changes play an important role, but more research is needed to confirm this. Images | Natasha Connell In Xataka | You don’t need more hours in the day. All you need is to understand how the brain works to work better with less.

Trying to understand why human beings like alcohol so much, these scientists have just found a fundamental clue: drunken monkeys

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More than two decades ago, Robert Dudley wondered how it was possible that we liked alcohol. In 2014, the evolutionary biologist of the University of California in Berkeley published “El Mono drunk”, a book where he explored The evolutionary roots of that transcultural hobby to alcohol. According to Dudley, it is the fans of primates to fermented fruits (rich in sugars and with a very light alcoholic content) what is behind all this. The problem, as with all the hypotheses of evolutionary biology, was to demonstrate it. Now we have found some tests. Because Science Advance magazine He has just published a study which shows that wild chimpanzees consume the alcoholic equivalent to one or two human cups. That is, exposure to this substance is regular and “probably” was also in our past as a kind, as Dudley said. How have you discovered it? The team analyzed the fruits consumed by the wild chimpanzees in Uganda and in Ivory Coast. Thus, they discovered that these 21 species had a concentration of 0.3% alcohol on average. To the extent that these animals consume about 4.5 kilos of fruit, the amount of ethanol consumed daily is more than the 14 grams that has a standard glass in the US. Of course, “by adjusting for body weight, which in chimpanzees is around 40 kilos in front of about 70 in humans, the exposure equals almost two glasses,” Explain in SINKSEY MARO, main author of the study. It is true, however, that as consumed throughout the day, researchers have not found signs of drunkenness in chimpanzees. So drink alcohol is something natural? This is a usual confusion when we put on the table lAs evolutionary explanationsbut evidently it is not prices. To start because there is nothing ‘natural’ per se. The Natural-artificial ‘distinction It is something that has very little scientific, philosophical or social basis. We have reached a point where everything is artificial. But, on the other hand, the world has changed a lot. Although the hypothesis can explain the origin of the taste for alcohol in all human societies, constant exposure to alcohol of great concentration such as the one we suffer today has nothing to do with that of our ancestors. Therefore, our taste for alcohol may have a certain evolutionary base; The abuse of ethanol and the health problems it causes are something else. Something much more dangerous. Image | Adam Wyles In Xataka | The greatest fear of the alcohol industry is summarized in just five words: being abstemious is fashionable

Scientists have folded salty ice and discovered that it behaves like an electric generator

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When we think of ice and salt, it is normal to imagine a road in the middle of winter: the accumulated snow on the asphalt, the trucks spreading salt in a hurry and the neighbors trying not to slip on the icy sidewalks. It is a typical scene in the north or in the mountain areas, where winter turns the landscape into postcard, but also a daily challenge for those who have to move between cut roads or pedestrian crossings turned into traps. What we usually see how a simple help against ice on roads, can actually hide an energy potential. A team from the University of Xi’an Jiaotong, in collaboration with ICN2 and Stony Brook University, has managed to try it in the laboratory. A discovery with “taste” to salt. A pinch of salt for a material to deform, produce electricity. This phenomenon has a name and is called flexoelectricity. It had already been observed in moving glaciers or in ice plates under pressure, but never with results as powerful as those achieved in this study. According to the studythe team frozen water with different concentrations of common salt (NaCl) and created ice blocks in several ways: cones, beams and plates. Then they applied flexion tests – check the ice on two supports and exert pressure from above – and measured the electricity generated. The result was surprising: salty ice generated up to 1,000 times more electric charge than pure ice. The key ingredient. But how can salt enhance something as inert as ice? The answer is in the salted water microchannels that are trapped between the crystals. As the ICN2 press release detailssalt prevents ice from freezing. When folding, water and salt ions move from compressed areas to the stretched, generating an electric charge flow, what scientists call a “Current streaming”(Drag current). In practical terms, the effect is so strong that experimental devices reached values ​​comparable to the best piezoelectric materials used today in the industry, According to research. Depend on ice. At first glance, this technology could have applications in extreme environments, such as scientific stations in polar regions, where installing conventional energy infrastructures is very difficult. The finding contrasts with reality. Since 2000, glaciers have lost 273,000 million tons of water annually, According to ESA. That is equivalent to the consumption of the entire world population for three decades. The setback is already translates into a loss of 5% of the global ice volume, with visible consequences: increased sea level and less availability of fresh water in rivers such as Ebro. Thus, to talk about ice as an energy resource raises an uncomfortable paradox: depending on something that melts increasingly faster. That’s not all. Beyond the environmental dilemmas, the study itself recognizes that there is still much to solve. As they point out in Techxploresalty ice devices suffer mechanical fatigue: after many flexion cycles, their ability to generate energy can fall to 80%. In addition, much of energy is lost in the form of heat, which makes efficiency still lower than that of commercial piezoelectric devices. The look is wide. Even so, the finding opens a fascinating door. “Its advantages – abundance, sustainability and low cost – make it a promising candidate for clean technologies,” Underline the ICN2. And researchers believe that the model is not limited to ice: it could be applied to other porous solids containing fluids inside. The paradox, however, persists: while science explores how to take advantage of the hidden energy on ice, climate change melts at an alarming pace. Perhaps this discovery not only serves to think about new technologies, but also to remember the value of a resource that is disappearing. Image | Photo by POT ON Unspash and Freepik Xataka | A Microsoft Data Center in Mexico collided with the reality of the electricity network. Your solution: use gas generators

and a ranking with their respective scientists

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A synthetic fertilizer that has allowed to feed two billion people. A vaccine against COVID-19 developed in record time. Surgical techniques that converted mortal operations into routine. Behind each of these advances there are names and surnames of scientists whose innovations have saved millions of lives throughout history. The ranking that quantifies the impact. The web Science Heroes He has created a curious classification that estimates how many lives have saved the main medical and scientific discoveries in modern history. From Synthetic fertilizers Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch (more than two billion lives) to surgery for blue baby syndrome developed by Helen Taussig, Vivien Thomas and Alfred Blalock. The site allows to explore the biography of each scientist and understand how their work transformed medicine and society. Image: Our World in Data Why do these figures matter. Although estimates are approximate and subject to uncertainty, these data make visible the impact that scientific research has on our lives. As explained from Our World in Data“It is inspiring to remember that creative, entrepreneurial and tenacious people can contribute greatly to our lives.” The main protagonists of the list. In the upper part of the ranking there are inventions that have saved hundreds of millions of lives: synthetic fertilizers that allowed the green revolution, the Blood transfusionsthe Diabetes insulin wave penicillin. Also highlight more recent innovations such as the COVID-19 vaccine developed by the Sarah Gilbert team, which according to estimates saved 6.3 million lives only in its first year. Beyond the numbers. Science Heroes works as a kind of mini wikipedia focused exclusively on scientists whose research has had a massive impact on public health. By clicking on each name, users can access the biography of each scientist where they explain, in addition to what they discovered, how they did it and in what context. As They recognize From Our World in Data, “none of these scientists worked in isolation,” but their innovations were achieved thanks to collaborative efforts and the previous work of other researchers, hence it is difficult to quantify their success. The difficulty of measuring saved lives. Quantifying the real impact of a scientific discovery is not simple. As the source itself warns, all these estimates must be taken “cautiously” due to the complexity of isolating the effect of specific innovation. However, these exercises help to understand the magnitude of scientific and medical progress. The most common is to tell the deaths, but it is also important to recognize the lives that have been saved, although calculating it ends up being more complex. Cover image | OUSA CHEA In Xataka | What science says about one of the existential debates of being an adult: whether drinking milk makes sense or not

This is how scientists are working to find all who remain

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While the axolotl becomes a global icon, a star in laboratories around the world, an exotic pet and Even a character in Minecrafthis only natural home on the planet is about to disappear. The last time an exhaustive census was made, in 2014, scientists They could only find 36 copies in the Xochimilco channelssouth of Mexico City. A decade later, the search has begun again and is a counterreloj race to save this amphibian. The question is if any. In 1998, Xochimilco’s waters They housed 6,000 of these creatures per square kilometer. By 2008 this figure had collapsed to 100. Now, the question asked by the Ecological Restoration Laboratory of the UNAM is If one is still alive in this environment. A search between networks and DNA. Each sunrise, while a magic fog rises from the canals, Basilio Rodríguez, a former fisherman in the area, throws his stroke into the water. He does not look for fish to eat, as their ancestors did, but to the axolot, an animal that he himself remembers as a delicacy: “smooth, soft, juicy, very rich.” But today, the networks go up again and again with the same disappointing capture: tents and tilapias, two invasive species that are, in part, guilty of this story. But traditional fishing is not the only strategy they are following. Great hope is deposited In an innovative technique such as environmental DNA analysis. To carry it out, scientists collect water samples to look for the genetic traces that the axolotes leaves in its path. And it is one of the opportunities they have in their front by not having found any axolotes. An amphibian with regenerative capacity. Ajolote is an extraordinary animal. He is famous for his neotany, that is, the ability to remain in a larval state throughout his life. This eternal youth, linked to their stem cells, gives it a superpower that fascinates science: Regeneration. If you lose a leg, a piece of brain or heart, you are able to regenerate it completely in a matter of hours. A fragile species that goes to the abyss. There are different factors that influence the disappearance of this species. The first of these are the invading species that have invaded their ecosystem. The tents have devoured axolote eggs, while the tilapias are eaten to the young and compete for the food. No less important is the destruction of your home, since Xochimilco’s water has been drastically deteriorated by urbanization, pesticides of agriculture and pollution. Noise and tourism is also something that can be lethal for these amphibians. Being night animals that love silence, the presence of humans in their natural habitat making floating parties makes their ‘happy’ place become an impossible place for them. Famous in the world and absent at home. While its wild population disappears, the axolotes is living an explosion of global popularity. Its regenerative capacity is key in research on aging and cancer. His adorable appearance has made him In a merchandising product: T -shirts, keychains and stuffed animals. But experts warn. Having thousands of Ajolotes in captivity, many of them albinos and modified for research, will not save the species. The key is to restore its habitat, a titanic task that would cost about 30 million euros, according to researcher Luis Zambrano. The rescue plan is already preparing. Given the impossibility of cleaning everything Xochimilco at once, the UNAM team has launched an ingenious plan B: Create Ajolot shelters. The idea is to collaborate with the Chinamperos, the local farmers who cultivate in the artificial islands. The project consists of restoring the chinampas and surrounding them with moats and filters that prevent the passage of tilapia. In these small aquatic coffers, you could introduce seats raised in captivity with a genetic as pure and similar as possible to wild ancestors. They already look for money to carry it out. To finance this new project, the UNAM launched the campaign “Adopt an Axolotl”. In this way, for about 30 euros, anyone could adopt virtually one of the 140 copies that live in the center, give it name and help finance the creation of these shelters. Something that gave them an income of four million pesos. There are many animals in dangers of extinction. In addition to the ajolotes, in Spain this is a problem that is also present, as in the case of the Canary Islands, which is considered as the community with more species in this situation. Those responsible They can be other animalsbut Also humansas in Brazil. Images | Mattias Banguese In Xataka | During World War II, Australia sent an ornitorrinco to Churchill. Died on the trip and 82 years later we know why

The sleep apnea makes sleep in hell. Scientists believe they have a solution: blow shells

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Sleep but not rest, is what happens to millions of people around the world suffering from sleep apnea. This disorder occurs when, during sleep, our breathing is interrupted, something that can significantly affect the quality of our dream and, with it, to our rest. Blow shells. Now a new study has investigated “treatment”: blow shells. In a small randomized and controlled essay, a team of experts observed that the technique of blowing snails, based on an Indian traditional practice, It offered good results when reducing the symptoms of the obstructive sleep apnea. Shankha. The technique known as Shankh’s blow has its origin in a religious practice of Hinduism. The term Shankha refers to A type of marine snailown family mollusks Turbinidaelike those of the species Turbinella pyrum. A modern use. The group responsible for the study now proposes a new use for this technique, to relieve the symptoms of the obstructive sleep apnea, at least among people with moderate levels of the disorder. As the equipment defends, the technique is a simple and low -cost intervention that can relieve the need to resort to pharmacological or mechanical treatments. A modern use. The group responsible for the study now proposes a new use for this technique, to relieve the symptoms of the obstructive sleep apnea, at least among people with moderate levels of the disorder. As the equipment defends, the technique is a simple and low -cost intervention that can relieve the need to resort to pharmacological or mechanical treatments. Today, the main treatment against this ailment is Continuous positive pressure machineCPAP for its acronym in English. As their name suggest these devices keep the respiratory tract “blowing” air towards a mask that patients are placed at bedtime. Although it is an effective technique, the treatment is cumbersome and uncomfortable for those who must follow it. From the experience to science. The study, Explain in a press release Krishna K. Sharma, who led the team, emerged from the perception of the positive effects that the technique could have on this aspect of respiratory health. So he decided to test the technique. In the study 30 people participated between 19 and 65 years with moderate apneas. 16 of the participants learned the practice of the snap of Caracolas, while the remaining were assigned by way of control a deep breathing practice. Everyone had to practice for at least 15 minutes a day before being evaluated after six months. The results of the evaluation showed that the experimental group, explains the team, showed 34% diurnal drowsiness lower than the control group. They also reported less apnea and were detected higher levels of blood oxygen when sleeping. The Study details They were published in the magazine Erj Open Research of the European Respiratory Society. In Xataka | Apple Apnea detector is a new step in converting clocks into diagnostic tools. It is not clear if they will get it Image | Krishna K Sharma / Erj Open Research

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