The secret to saving elephants might be to breed a hybrid between them and mammoths

Elephants are among those species that are facing the threat of extinction, but Harvard researchers think they might have found a solution. They have thought about developing an artificial womb where they can combine elephant genes with genetic material from the long-lost woolly mammoth. By growing a hybrid between the two species, they might save elephants from the fate of the prehistoric giant.

Breeding a hybrid between elephants and mammoths

Researchers are on a constant quest to save threatened species from extinction, and they count on the power of genetics. The Harvard team, led by the well-known George Church, could collect 44 genes from woolly mammoths and bring them back to life. Now, they are planning to use these genes to try and help elephants.

Their plan is to combine the mammoth genes with elephant genetic material and create hybrids between these two species. The resulting creatures should cope with lower temperatures a lot better. Currently, one of the biggest threats for elephants is severe cold, so the results of the research might really be relevant.

The method should enhance elephants with genes that make them more resistant

Church said his main purpose wasn’t to revive the mammoth. Reviving extinct genes cannot bring a species back from the dead, but it might enhance other creatures that still populate this planet. To save elephants, they bred the hybrids in the lab, as adding mammoth genes in living elephant females could threaten them even more.

This calls for even more procedures to make everything work. Researchers are currently working on some special vascularized linen that can feed the embryos and help them grow without a surrogate. To do it, they need stem cells. They are also working on a paper where they are exploring the method to develop this linen, but it’s still a lot of work.

Before breeding the hybrid between mammoths and elephants, they will be experimenting with smaller creatures. Mixing genes from less threatened animals can help them get used to the process, but also improve the techniques that will lead to success.

Image source: Wikimedia Commons

The author of the postcard claimed to be Jack the Ripper

British experts have recently stumbled upon a lost postcard from the 19^th century that might have been written by Jack the Ripper. Back then, the police used it to find clues and catch the renowned serial killer. Unfortunately, they never managed to find him. Now, the postcard in question will be available for purchase on April 30^th at Grand Auctions.

The postcard was sent to the police before the last murder

This postcard arrived on October 29^th, 1888, at a police station from East London, Ealing. Its arrival coincided with a critical moment for the city. Back then, London was hit by several frightening crimes caused by an unknown killer who called himself Jack the Ripper. Between August and November 1888, he killed at least five women in Whitechapel, a London quarter.

The postcard arrived only a few days before Jack the Ripper made his last victim. The woman, called Mary Jane Kelly, died on November 9^th, 1888, in an incredibly brutal way. On the back of the postcard, there was a text that mentioned the presence of a kidney.

This was supposed to be a reference to a previous letter sent by the so-called Jack the Ripper, one of the “Letters from Hell”. This letter also arrived in October 1888 at the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee. Together with the letter, the killer also sent one half of a human kidney.

Experts confirmed it really was from the 19^th century

After regaining the postcard, the experts checked it to see if it really dates back to the Jack the Ripper period. They found it really came from the 19^th century, but finding the real author is truly an impossible task. The Letter from Hell has been long lost, so we will never know if the real Jack the Ripper really wrote this postcard.

So many years after the killings, Jack the Ripper continues to bring shivers down our spine. What makes his mystery even more appealing is the fact that he has never been found. Now, researchers and historians keep looking for clues and discover smaller details that make this mystery a little less obscure.

Image source: Flickr

The pitch black planet was hardly noticeable even with an advanced telescope

By using the advanced Kepler Space Telescope, a group of NASA scientists managed to spot a really interesting cosmic body. The object in question is a pitch black planet that can absorb about 99 percent of the light it receives from nearby stars. This planet got the name WASP-104b, and entered the Hot Jupiter category.

The pitch black planet absorbs almost all the light it gets

About 470 light-years away, scientists observed something odd. Even if they studied the constellation, they overlooked the pitch black planet that camouflaged itself perfectly. Instead of reflecting the light it received from its parent star, it reflected almost all of it. As a result, there was almost nothing to be seen.

The planet is situated in the Leo constellation, and researchers added it on the Hot Jupiter list. This means it is a gas giant of relatively the same size as Jupiter. However, it sits only 2.6 million miles away from its parent star, which makes it scorching hot. At such a distance, it only takes a few days to perform an orbit around the star.

The planet is a Hot Jupiter that sits really close to its star

However, WASP-104b is a lot more remarkable for being a pitch black planet. This massive blackness prevented the researchers from spotting it in the first place, as it reflects almost no light. Moreover, there is a layer of haze that surrounds it, making things even more impossible.

This is quite odd, since most planets reflect at least a bit of light. However, the fact that it’s a Hot Jupiter partially explains the phenomenon. These planets are usually a lot darker than others, but a pitch black planet that absorbs almost all light is truly remarkable.

Researchers blame the small distance between WASP-104b and its star, as this is the most logical explanation. Also, its atmosphere rich in alkaline elements might also contribute to the blackness. Researchers also published a study that went online on the arXiv platform.

Image source: Wikimedia Commons

The photo either display a staged moon landing or an alien site, conspiracists say

There are many conspiracies that regard the moon landing as fake, and find all kinds of possible clues that hint to it. Now, they found an archived photo from NASA that supposedly was the missing link to prove humans didn’t actually set foot on the moon.

The photo should show the moon landing was fake

The photo that spiced all this conspiracy shows one astronaut collecting samples. The astronaut in question was John W. Young, who was the commander himself of the Apollo 16 mission. This photo was followed by a description that indicated the rover vehicle was around. Apparently, it should be present somewhere among the big boulders in the background.

However, there are many people who claim those boulders were something else. They say these were not actually rocks, but some other spaceships, people, as well as many other objects. This brings out two hypotheses regarding the moon landing.

Possible theories regarding the moon landing photo

The first one claims the moon landing was nothing but a staging. NASA filmed images in a studio and created a design that should have resembled the lunar landscape. Therefore, those boulders were actually part of the studio, and NASA forgot to cut them out of the shot.

One second claim doesn’t say the moon landing was fake. Instead, they think the astronauts actually found aliens and, trying to find this valuable evidence, NASA edited all footage that proved their existence. However, this photo might be one instance of unedited material they forgot about. Therefore, the boulders must be alien ships and buildings.

However, there are many people who do not support conspiracy theorists. They believe in all the evidence that the moon landing was real, and condemn these absurd claims. Most people believe the boulders in the photo are rocks, but conspiracy theorists still have many supporters.

Image source: Pixabay

Selective breeding affected the DNA of modern horses

Modern horses have an incredibly diverse maternal DNA but, in terms of paternal DNA, the situation is pretty basic. This poor variability seems to be the direct result of selective breeding practices that were common about 3,000 years ago. During the Iron Age, the practice was necessary since the male-female rates among horses were unequal.

Modern horses have a poor paternal DNA diversity

When humans first started domesticating horses, they had to deal with a great imbalance between the number of males and the number of females. This called for a series of selective breeding techniques, as they needed to overcome this shortage. The practices had a big impact on modern horses as follows.

Nowadays, researchers have noticed a great diversity in the mitochondrial DNA horses inherit on their maternal lineage. However, in terms of paternal DNA, this diversity is relatively low. This is quite interesting, since the diversity of the Y chromosome appeared bigger in the past.

Therefore, they started questioning this situation, and decided to find out what happened. For this, they studied 16 Y chromosomes coming from 96 types of stallion DNA that come from different periods. The oldest ones date back 5,000 years ago, when people had first started domesticating horses.

Selective breeding influenced the future horse populations

This poor paternal diversity appeared for the first time 3,500 years ago. This was close to the beginning of the Iron Age, when the first people started using selective breeding among horses. Therefore, by choosing to ignore certain stallions during breeding, they restricted the DNA the future generations of horses inherited.

Selective breeding actually produced new horse populations that had more stallions. This convinced the Romans to change their techniques again. Instead of focusing on females, they selected a few males as the main agents of breeding. This produced a few strong lineages of stallions, while others remained poorer.

The study was published in the journal Science Advances.

Image source: Pixabay

Black holes produce gravitational waves whenever they collide

Black holes must be interfering quite a lot with each other by colliding at huge speeds. However, our equipment is not able to detect whatever sound that follows the impact. Fortunately, researchers found a new technique that detects the signals released by colliding black holes. This technique picks them up from the static noise that LIGO-Virgo is constantly recording.

Colliding black holes produce gravitational ripples

Of course, there is no actual sound coming from space that human ears can capture. However, scientists discovered how to convert the signal of two colliding black holes into sound. The discovery took place in 2015 and, since then, they managed to convert six gravitational wave signals that resulted from impacts.

However, such collisions actually occur more often, and picking up every signal is quite difficult. Two colliding black holes release such gravitational wave signals that disturb the space-time fabric. Through this disturbance, they produce ripples that we’ve been able to detect only 100 years after Einstein developed his theory of relativity.

Researchers found out how to spot distant colliding black holes

Therefore, the system of detection isn’t so refined to detect all colliding black holes and their ripples. LIGO-Virgo is the collaboration that picks up these ‘sounds’. However, those faraway collisions cannot produce sounds. On the scale of the detectors, they appear as hums that was hard to detect.

After countless efforts, they finally found a way to tell these hums apart from all the other background static noise the detectors pick up. The method consists of an algorithm that measures all the background data and finds unusual signals they later turn to noises.

Researchers also made sure this system is flawless. They simulated two colliding black holes, and also added some extra background noises and glitches. The detector successfully told apart the sound of the impact from the other disturbances. They also developed a study on the matter that is soon to be published, but can be found online.

Image source: Wikimedia Commons

Early hominins like Neanderthals and Homo erectus had thick ridges on their skulls

Throughout their evolution, humans hadn’t always had the thin eyebrows they have today. Some early hominin species had prominent ridges on the skull in the area of their brows. This made the scientists wonder why our ancestors had thick eyebrows, and why we evolved a thinner version. A recent research revealed the thick ridges played an important social role.

Why did ancient hominins have thick ridges on their skulls?

Humans look pretty different from their ancestors, such as Homo erectus or Neanderthals. One big difference consisted in the shape of their skulls, and the thin versus thick ridges above the eyes. The easiest explanation offered a physiological perspective on this difference.

Scientists suggested these thick ridges connected the eye sockets of the early hominins with the inside of their skulls. Also, the ridges must have had a protective purpose. The thick layer of bones should keep the skull safe from powerful bites, or allow the hominins to take punches in the face without serious brain damage.

However, researchers wondered if this was the only explanation. To find out, they digitally produced a skull model belonging to an extinct hominin species. This species was called Homo heidelbergensis. Then, they used the same computer program to modify the eyebrow ridges.

These ridges might have played a social role

For each ridge they tested, they looked what it would happen if the skull received bites of different strengths. They came up with an interesting result. The thick ridge didn’t offer much protection against bites, and it didn’t help much with connecting the eye sockets and the brain cage. This is how the researchers came up with the social hypothesis.

Primates also have thick ridges near their brows, which help them send dominance messages. Therefore, early hominins might have been in a similar situation. As humans started evolving, they also evolved more sophisticated mechanisms of communication. As the frontal ridges got thinner, humans could start moving their eyebrows up and down, and send more subtle messages.

However, the study has its limitations. The skull the researchers used for the model lacked a mandible. This means the results could have been different if they used a full skull. However, the findings are still valuable and relevant. The study has been published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.

Image source: Wikimedia Commons

This weekend, watch the last blue moon until 2020

If you want to see the blue moon, you should hurry up and witness it this weekend during Easter. This astronomical event, also called the Sap moon, will be the last of its kind until 2020, during the Halloween night. Therefore, if you miss the chance during this weekend, you’ll have to wait for two and a half years to do it.

What is a blue moon?

A blue moon is actually the second full moon of a month. On average, full moons occur once every 29 days, so at least one such event occurs every month. Given the average period of 29 days between the events, it can happen that two full moons occur during the same month. However, this only takes place once every three years.

Therefore, the term of blue moon doesn’t come from its color. They look just like a regular moon, so their color remains that recognizable bright grey. However, on some really special occasions, the moon might really turn blue. After volcanic eruptions, the ash particles in the atmosphere allow blue light to pass through the clouds and change the color of the moon.

Two blue moons and two definitions

There are actually two types of blue moons, and they have two different definitions. There is the seasonal one, which represents the third full moon of an astronomical season. These are the same as our seasons, only they start at a different date. The astronomical spring and autumn start with the equinox, while the astronomical summer and winter start with the solstice.

The monthly one represents the second full moon of a month. In 2018, March was such a month, as well as January, when we could witness a blue moon during a lunar eclipse. If you want to watch this month’s astronomical event, you can do it on March 31^st, during early morning.

Image source: Pexels

The artificial meteor showers are not particularly safe

A Japanese company is planning to offer rich people the chance to have an exquisite display of lights on the night sky just for them. No, we’re not talking about fireworks, as the company decided to aim even higher. It will produce artificial meteor showers that will be possible to produce whenever the customer is asking.

The artificial meteor showers are available for those who can afford them

The Japanese company who came up with this exquisite idea is called Astro Live Experiences (ALE). Also, the person behind these artificial meteor showers is an astronomer from the University of Tokyo, Lena Okajima. Here’s how such a breathtaking event is possible.

A satellite will fly at a distance of about 355 km away from Earth, close to whatever city the customer wants the artificial meteor showers to happen. Then, it will sprinkle between 15 and 20 pebbles made from a metallic material. Once they reach the atmosphere, they will light up and produce the colorful display that will resemble shooting stars.

At first, the company came up with this unique idea as a solution for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 and their opening ceremony. Then, they easily started taking the artificial meteor showers into the private sector. Now, everybody can have their own shooting stars, or at least anybody who can pay.

The idea is a bit risky from the point of view of safety

As expected, artificial meteor showers are quite expensive. Therefore, those who can afford such a luxury include big companies, entire cities, or maybe amusement parks. Having such a display on the night sky for a wedding or a private party might be a little too much even for those with high incomes.

No matter how beautiful this idea sounds, experts are not really sure artificial meteor showers are completely safe. All the metallic objects falling from the satellite should catch fire when and if they enter the atmosphere. However, if they don’t, the risks are quite high. Space debris is a real issue nowadays, so any leftovers will only contribute to it more. Also, if these pebbles are deviated, they might threaten other satellites nearby.

Image source: National Park Service