Keep track of the latest developments
Master the week's major science and technology news.
Written by Huang hualufei and Huang Yuxiang
Editor in chief: Hui Jiaming
●●
1. The Antarctic ozone hole has recovered to the smallest level in history, but is this the credit of human beings?
Photo source: pixabay this week NOAA and NASA announced good news: the ozone hole in Antarctica has shrunk to its smallest annual peak on record, the Washington Post reported. However, they point out that this is not human credit. In recent decades, human beings have made efforts to repair the ozone hole, such as limiting the production of CFCs. But the researchers point out that the decrease in the ozone hole is mainly due to climate warming. The ozone layer is located in the stratosphere, and the rise of temperature causes a series of complex atmospheric changes. In this process, the ozone in other areas of the southern hemisphere is replenished to the south pole, which makes the ozone hole in the South Pole narrow. It is pointed out that if the rate of human emission of ozone depleting chemicals is maintained, by 2070, the ozone hole will be reduced to the level of 1980. Article link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2019/10/21/ozone-hole-is-smallest-record-since-its-discovery-there-catch/2. How old is the screen? New research finds that blue light may damage brain cells and accelerate aging
Photo source: pexels according to the report of Science Daily, researchers from Oregon State University published a research result that: blue light may damage brain cells and accelerate the aging process. The researchers divided the flies into two groups. The experimental group, which was exposed to the blue light produced by the light-emitting diode for 12 hours every day, had damaged the retinal cells and brain cells, and also had a significantly shorter life span. Even though some of the flies in the experimental group did not produce eyes due to mutation, they were also affected by blue light. In our daily life, the different colors of electronic screen display can not be separated from blue light modulation. In the future, the researchers say, technological progress can reduce the adverse effects of blue light on the human body.
Article link: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/10/191017101253.htm 3. Light touch and slow twist: new "artificial skin" can sense more user operations
This week, the University of Bristol unveiled a new "artificial skin" they have developed for people to interact with electronic devices. This kind of "artificial skin" is a kind of multilayer silica gel film which imitates the design of human skin, including surface texture layer, electrode layer and inner layer similar to human subcutaneous tissue. In the past, most of the artificial skin was designed to make robots feel more like people. This new artificial skin is like a more advanced game handle, which aims to make the machine better sense the user's operation, such as grasping, caressing, scratching, twisting, etc. The researchers believe that the electronic device interface based on this new artificial skin can be widely used in smartphones, wearable devices or computers to provide users with a richer experience.
Photo and article source: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2019/october/skin-on-interface.html 4. There are dialects in the monkey world
Photo source: many animals in pixabay communicate with their companions by calling, and the characteristics of the calling are related to the region, similar to the dialect or accent of human language. Scientists have long found that marmosets in South America have many dialects. There are differences in calls among marmosets living in groups. But the question is: are these differences due to genetic, environmental, or social factors? To explore this problem, researchers at the University of Zurich in Switzerland artificially moved marmosets from one place to another. The two marmosets have their own dialect. After a period of time, the new immigrants' voices changed, and they began to use the same sounds as the aborigines to communicate with each other. This result means that the existence of dialect is not caused by gene, and the change of monkey language is a social and acquired learning process. The researchers analyzed that the language changes of the new monkey immigrants may be due to their need to express interest in the local monkey group and seek spouse.
Article link: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article? Id = 10.1371/journal.pone.0222486 5. Why can mosquito repellents repel mosquitoes?
Photo source: pixabay
In today's world, DEET is recognized as the most effective mosquito repellent, which can interfere with the mosquito's smell and prevent the human body from being targeted by mosquitoes. Although its mosquito control effect was discovered as early as 1944, its mechanism is still a mystery. In this regard, the team led by Johns Hopkins University made a preliminary answer by using genetic methods. They developed a genetically modified Anopheles coluzzii and tested its olfactory neurons for responses to different kinds of repellents. The researchers were surprised to find that the mosquito repellent amine itself can not directly activate the olfactory neurons of mosquitoes. It may be that the mosquito repellent amine coated on the body surface can reduce the probability of being found by mosquitoes by combining with some odor molecules emitted by the human body. Of course, whether this conclusion can be extended to other strains of mosquitoes remains to be further verified. Article link: afify, A., Betz, J. F., riabinina, O., lahond è re, C., & amp; Potter, C. J. (2019). And enjoy it
This week, the University of Richmond team announced that they had successfully taught rats to drive! After boarding the "special mouse car" with aluminum base plate, the rat's body will be connected to the circuit of the "mouse car". The contact between the front paw and the copper wire at different positions in front of the car can control the forward, backward and turning effect of the "mouse car". Trained rats are able to drive the "rat cart" toward the place where food is placed. What's more interesting is that by measuring the anxiety level of rats before and after driving, people found that "driving" can make rats more relaxed. The researchers believe that rats are similar to humans, and learning new skills can also make them have a corresponding "sense of achievement" and get a better attitude.
Article and image links: 1. Crawford, L. e., knouse, L. e., Kent, M., Vavra, D., Harding, O., leserve, D., & Lambert, K. g. (2019). Enriched environment exposure accelerators Rodden driving skills. Behavioourbrain research, 1123099.2. Https://www.newsscience.com/article/2220721-students-have-train-rates-to-drive-tiny-cars-to-drive-drive-tiny-cars-to-drive-cars-to-drive-to-drive-cars-to-drive-to-drive-cars-to-to-drive-to-drive-drive-drive-tiny-cars-to-to-to-drive-to-drive-drive-cars-to-to-drive-drive-cars-to-to-drive-to-drive-drive-drive collect food / 3. Short video of rat driving: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2220721-scientists-have-trained-rates-to-drive-tiny-cars-to-collect-food /? Jwsource = CL plate making editor
Wonderful past
1. Space farm is not a dream. The soil of Mars and moon can grow vegetables.
2. China's coal control order has achieved remarkable results, reducing nearly 150000 deaths every year
3. You heard me right. Scientists can use mobile phones to control the brain.
4. India's "moon ship 2" soft landing or failed one week Technology
Click to read the original text and see more wonderful articles on the intellectual website.