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A robot set a record by assembling a Rubik’s cube in 305 ms, and ended up in the Guinness Book of World Records. This is almost ten times less than the record set by a human.
The honor of creating such a fast model belongs to Japanese engineers. They equipped their brainchild with several motors that work in conjunction with each other and are able to move the puzzle sectors literally lightning fast.
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Once upon a time, modern humans were just one of a species of intelligent hominids roaming the planet. Today we are alone, and the vanished Neanderthals, our “evolutionary cousins,” remain largely mysterious to science. But at least five surprising facts about them have been discovered.
1. Neanderthals and modern humans have significant overlap in DNA, so many modern humans have 1 to 4% Neanderthal genetics (mostly Europeans and Asians).
2. Neanderthals were far from being as slow and phlegmatic as they are usually portrayed in primitive pictures in textbooks. They were skillful hunters, skillful tool makers and highly intelligent.
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A fossilized fragment of the skin of Psittacosaurus, a partially feathered dinosaur, has brought scientists a new discovery: these creatures had skin covered with both feathers and scales. Such “zoning” of the skin cover changed the ideas about the evolutionary transition from scaly to pinnate skin.
The fossil was found back in 1922, but only modern technology has made it possible to properly see the structure of the creature’s skin. The dinosaur lived 135-120 million years ago, when the transition from lizards to birds took place. Previously, experts believed that Psittacosaurus had plumage only on the tail, but it turned out that the skin cover on the entire body varied. It was soft on plumed areas and scaly on bald areas. Thus, reptilian skin was more functional in the early stages of plumage evolution.
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Researchers from the PRC safely thawed brain tissue that had been cryopreserved and did not damage it.
Cryogenic freezing of the body represents a potential method of achieving immortality. However, brain tissue reacts negatively to subzero temperatures. Since brain cells are 80 percent water, ice crystals may form during cryopreservation, damaging the cells.
Chinese experts have figured out how to harmlessly freeze brain tissue. For 21 days they have been growing brain cells in petri dishes. Then the organoids were soaked in different mixtures and subjected to freezing in liquid nitrogen. The samples were then thawed for 14 days. During this period, experts monitored which of them were least damaged.
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Giant viruses have been found in Yellowstone springs. Perhaps analyzing them will shed light on how life began on the early Earth.
The formation of these geothermal springs was thought to have occurred about 15 millennia ago. However, as it turned out, it actually happened 1.5 billion years ago.
Specialists examined deoxyribonucleic acid from Lemonade Creek, a hot acidic spring in Yellowstone, where the temperature is 43 °C. According to the results, it contained a sequence of archaea, algae and microbes that included 3,700 viruses. 2/3 of them belonged to the giant ones.
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