This is the first video showing a couple of live anglerfish

A couple captured a breathtaking video of a two anglerfish who were right in the middle of their mating process. This is remarkable, as it turns out this is the first time when people see these creatures out in the wild while they were still alive. The couple who recorded the video did it for the Rebikoff-Niggeler Foundation, and it’s available on YouTube for everybody to watch.

Anglerfish were never caught on tape alive

Anglerfish are some frightening creatures that live at great depths in the sea. They sport some huge fangs, big heads, and some big glowing filaments that come like extensions for their fins. So far, people managed to see anglerfish only caught in fishing nets, when they were already dead.

Therefore, a footage of an alive anglerfish couple caught right in the middle of the mating process is something you rarely get to see. Those who recorded the video were Kirsten and Joachim Jakobsen, who are known to record wildlife scenes. The couple was near the Azores Islands in Portugal, when they stumbled upon the two fish accidentally.

These fish have a really interesting mating process

The video shows the female keeping her filaments uptight, while the male stays clasped to her underbelly. This type of mating is called sexual parasitism, during which the male and the female make some sort of exchange. The male gives her term for the moment of spawning, while she feeds him and gives him immune protection.

The couple were in their submarine, at a depth of 2,600 ft. Then, they suddenly stumbled upon the anglerfish couple, and they spent about half an hour following them as they were swimming attached to each other.

To make sure they identified the anglerfish correctly, they looked for expert advice. They sent the video to a professor from the University of Washington, Seattle, Ted Pietsch. The professor confirmed their identity. Everybody was amazed by the first footage of this fish species alive, as well as by the interesting mating ritual of the frightening fish.

Image source: Wikimedia Commons

NASA’s Kepler Telescope is about to run out of fuel within the next few months.

Ever since its launch in 2009, the Kepler Telescope has traveled 94 million miles and survived just about anything that could go wrong, from mechanical failures to being bombarded by cosmic rays. For nine years, the Kepler Telescope has searched for Earth-like exoplanets orbiting around distant stars, an endeavor that has proven quite fruitful up until now. However, its luck may have run out as NASA just announced that the spacecraft’s fuel reserves are going to be depleted within the next few months.

The Kepler Telescope’s primary function right now is to reposition itself and take photographs of distant pockets of space. This will soon end once fuel runs out.

Back in 2013, Kepler’s first mission ended when a second reaction wheel broke which made the telescope unable to focus on the original field of view. The spacecraft was then given a second chance by using the pressure of sunlight to maintain its pointing, something akin to somebody swimming against the current. Thus Kepler commenced its second mission called “K2”.

However, the K2 mission requires the telescope to reposition itself every three months, an action referred to as a “campaign”. NASA estimated that Kepler could survive about ten campaigns before it finally ran out of fuel. Surprisingly, the spacecraft managed to power through to its 17^th campaign.

According to NASA, there no direct way of telling how much fuel remains in Kepler’s tanks, however, the fuel tank’s pressure is dropping and the thrusters are not responding properly, both clear signs of low fuel.

The telescope has managed to capture 2,342 confirmed exoplanets. While NASA couldn’t be happier with the Kepler, they are already developing a replacement. The new would-be Kepler spacecraft is called the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, which will be launched into space in April. This new and improved telescope will be outfitted with four wide-field cameras to scan over 200 thousand nearby or bright stars for signs of exoplanets in their orbits.

Image Source: Nasa.gov

Neil deGrasse Tyson blamed two factors for the rise of the Flat Earth movement.

Renowned astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson, blamed the US educational system and free speech for the growing popularity of the Flat Earth conspiracy.

In a new video posted on his StarTalk YouTube channel, deGrasse Tyson warned people about the growing number of conspiracy theorists whose influence can shape other’s views. In 2016, for example, the astrophysicist had a Twitter battle with rapper B.o.B. who has been trying to convince people that the Earth is flat.

“For me, the fact that there’s a rise of flat-Earthers is evidence of two things. One, we live in a country that protects free speech. And, two, we live in a country with a failed educational system,” deGrasse Tyson said.

The notion of a flat Earth has been described as the ultimate conspiracy theory. According to the Flat Society, an estimated 200 people per year have become avid believers since 2009.

In November alone, hundreds of people attended the first Flat Earth International Conference in North Carolina, USA.

Those who believe in the Flat Earth theory also claim that NASA, along with the world’s government, is hiding the truth.

This isn’t the first time that the astrophysicist blamed the educational system for the flat-Earthers. In 2016, he said that the educational system had become too focused on forcing students to memorize information instead of improving their analytical abilities.

Neil deGrasse Tyson went on to explain that most things are spherical as planets form spheres due to gravity pulling their mass inwards.

The physicist’s claims that the school system is churning out more conspiracy theorists echoes the beliefs of several psychologists who think that improving analytical skills could be an effective tool against conspiracy theories. Viren Swami, a social psychologist from Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, said that critical and analytical thinkers tend to disregard conspiracy theories more often.

Image Source: Pixabay

Neil deGrasse Tyson recently appeared in a new video in which he slams the flat-Earth theory.

The famous astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson, has slammed and discredited the flat-Earth theory once again. He blamed its rise on the faulty educational system and even on the freedom of speech. On March 9, the YouTube channel StarTalk posted a video in which Tyson explains his point of view to the co-host, Chuck Nice.

The astrophysicist explains that the Earth is indeed round by talking about some clear evidence, starting from the ancient Greeks up until recent space observations.  

In case some people still don’t know what the flat-Earth theory is, this challenges the withheld belief that our planet is round. Flat-Earthers have an empirical approach and do not base their beliefs on scientific studies.

They think that because the ground and the bottom of the clouds are flat, then the entire planet is flat. This is why Tyson tried once again to explain that this theory is false and cannot exist.

He opened the video by talking about the most obvious evidence that exists: videos taken from space showing the Earth as being round. 

Neil deGrasse Tyson Slams the Flat-Earth Theory Once Again 

He also explained that in the universe and all of the objects are spherical because this is how energy and the laws of physics behave. Another proof is visible during lunar eclipses.

If the planet were flat, then its shadow should also appear the same way. However, it doesn’t, proving once again that the Earth is a sphere. Tyson also talked about an ancient experiment which Eratosthenes conducted back in 250 B.C.  

Neil deGrasse Tyson explains in the video that the flat-earthers only prove that the current education system has failed. Especially so when it comes to teaching critical analysis.

This might be why so many people grow up believing a lot of wrong things. Such people need to learn to take evidence into account and stop believing theories merely because they are different.  

Image source: Flickr 

The Arctic permafrost may unleash large amounts of carbon within decades, a NASA study found

The permafrost located in the coldest parts of the northern Arctic is no longer safe from global warming and can unleash large carbon in quantities so large, that it could become a permanent atmospheric source in a few decades, according to a NASA study.

Researchers calculating the potential thawing rate of the permafrost and estimated that by the year 2300, the total carbon emissions from this region will be 10 times as much as all human-produced fossil fuel emission in 2016.

The peak transition of the thawing process is thought to occur in the next 40 to 60 years. According to the study, several southern permafrost regions in the Arctic will not become a carbon source until the end of the 22^nd century, despite thawing. Researchers claim that the thawing is due to the altering of Arctic processes which offset the thawing effects in these regions.

According to Nicholas Parazoo, of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the study’s lead scientist, the permafrost located at the highest latitudes in Alaska and Siberia were long thought to be sheltered from climate change. The scientists, thus, were very much surprised when they realized how climate change could alter those regions in the next “couple hundred years”.

Permafrost is frozen soil that has continuously remained so for two or more years under topsoil. It contains carbon-rich organic material, such as leaves that froze without decaying, NASA said on Tuesday.

Rising temperatures would melt the Arctic permafrost effectively decomposing the frozen organic material and releasing carbon to the atmosphere in the form of greenhouse gases.

As for the study, researchers used data on soil temperatures in Alaska and Siberia and a numerical model to calculate the changes in carbon emissions as plants grow and permafrost thaws in response to climate change. According to Parazoo, the Arctic was divided into two regions of equal size, a colder northern region and a warmer southern belt encircling the northern region.

By using the model simulations, researchers found that northern permafrost lost about five times more carbon per century that the frozen soil in the southern region.

The study was published in the journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Image Source: WikipediaCommons

Microorganisms found in the hyperarid Atacama Desert suggest that Mars may have similar life.

South America’s Atacama Desert spans one thousand kilometers of stony terrain, salt lakes, and felsic lava. The region has been labeled the “Driest Desert in The World” and for good reason as the Atacama Desert can go up to four years without any rainfall in the central sector. However, life can still flourish here as researchers observed unique bacteria that can rebound after lying dormant for decades. If these microorganisms can prosper in an environment as harsh as the Atacama Desert, then the possibility of life on Mars is very real, researchers claim.

Scientists from Washington State University in the US focused on the driest corner of South America’s arid desert, an environment that is similar to the Martian surface.

According to the study detailing the findings, a specialized bacteria living in the Atacama Desert is able to remain dormant for decades without any water and reactivate and reproduce once it rains.

“Our research tell us that if life can persist in Earth’s driest environment, there is a good chance it could be hanging in there on Mars in a similar fashion,” said Dirk Schulze- Makuch, from WSU, who led the study.

Researchers went for the first time to the Atacama in 2015 to study how the organisms survive in the soil. They detected unusual biological activity in the Atacama soil after an extremely rare shower.

Researchers scooped soil samples from various depths using sterilized spoons and conducted genomic analyses to pinpoint which microbial communities were reproducing in the samples. They found several indigenous microorganisms that had adapted to live the arid environment. The next visits to the Atacama occurred in 2016 and 2017 when researchers noticed that the same microorganisms in the soil were gradually reverting to a dormant state as the moisture went away.

Even though Earth’s Atacama desert is the closest thing to an authentic Martian environment, the Red Planet’s surface is much drier and colder. However, it is believed that Mars had small oceans and lakes where lifeforms could have thrived billions of years ago.

The study was published in the journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Image Source: Pixabay

People who are easily disgusted by body odors may support authoritarian leaders, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that sense of smell can influence one’s political attitudes. A team at Stockholm University in Sweden claim that people who are disgusted by body odors like sweat or urine, tend to support a despotic leader. This particular link, they theorize, might come from a deep-seated instinct to avoid infectious diseases.

“There was a solid connection between how strongly someone was disgusted by smells and their desire to have a dictator-like leader,” said study author, Jonas Olofsson.

Researchers had a theory that there would be a correlation between feelings of disgust and how a person would want society to be organized. On this basis, Olofsson and his team believed that people with a strong instinct to distance themselves from unpleasant odors would also prefer a society where groups are kept separate.

To reach this conclusion, Olofsson and his team conducted an online survey which was sent to various countries including the United States. American respondents were asked a series of questions that ranged from smell to which candidate they supported in the 2016 presidential election.

The researchers revealed that those who were disgusted by odors such as urine and sweat were likelier to vote for Donald Trump. According to Olofsson, people who were easily disgusted by these kinds of smells tended to steer towards authoritarian political leaders. Olofsson thought that this link was interesting, considering how Trump describes various groups of people as disgusting, including women, or how immigrants spread disease.

“It fits with our hypothesis that his supporters would be more easily disgusted themselves,” said Olofsson.

While the results would suggest that authoritarian political views are innate and not subject to change, Olofsson believes that political preferences can be changed by creating contact between groups.

The study was published in the Royal Society Open Science, journal.

Image Source: Flickr

Land plants may have appeared on Earth 100 million years earlier than previously established.

Earth wasn’t always this green, or at least it’s land wasn’t. Scientists believe that our planet’s first four billion years was devoid of life, with the exception of microbes. It was when the first land plants blossomed that continents became greener, produced habitats and allowed animal life to flourish. Scientists have been trying to figure out an approximate date for the birth of land plants for decades. Now, a new study, suggests that plant life began to thrive on Earth over 100 million before the 420 million years that scientists previously estimated.

According to the research paper, published in the journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the ancestor of land plants existed in the middle of the Cambrian Period, and age similar to that of the first known terrestrial animals.

Researchers made the find by using the so-called “molecular clock” method, in which they analyzed genetic changes over time and linked them to their predecessors.  The process essentially overlapped genetic differences found in plant fossils with living species to find a common ancestor’s age. By doing so, researchers were able to establish an evolutionary timeline that could fill in the blanks in their fossil records. The results revealed that previous assumptions as to when plant life first took root on our planet were wrong.

Co-author of the study, Dr. Jennifer Morris,  said that the spread of plants and their adaptation to life on land eventually led to a dramatic decrease in “greenhouse gas” carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere as well as global cooling. She claims that initial efforts to model these atmospheric changes have accepted the plant fossil record “at face value”.

“…our research shows that these fossil ages underestimate the origins of land plants, and so these models need to be revised,” said Dr. Morris said.

Image Source: Pexels