Photo: Csabai-29

Since it first entered Jupiter's orbit in 2016, NASA's JunoCam has given the world an unparalleled look at the planet. This visible-light camera/telescope sits in the Juno space probe and sends data back to Earth each time it completes a flyby of the gas giant. Thanks to citizen scientists who process the raw data that NASA uploads, we can see a crisp, clear view of Jupiter in all its glory.

While the JunoCam was only supposed to be operational for 20 months, as this was the original length of the Juno mission, it's still providing us a view of the planet and will continue to do so as long as the probe remains operational.

The photos it provides, particularly of Jupiter's cloud formations and swirling storm systems, are particularly impressive. It's important to remember that the colors we see here are all added in post-production. The JunoCam itself has three color filters—red, blue, and green. As it faces the planet, it snaps images to produce photo strips that are then stitched together to create a complete image.

The people who take the time to process this data enhance the final image so the colors appear as they would to the human eye, even if the raw data looks different.

Of course, taking photos of Jupiter isn't the only thing on Juno's mind. In fact, the imagery is a secondary goal to help with public outreach. In reality, the main aim of the mission is to learn more about Jupiter's composition and how it was formed.

Still, given the stunning visual results, we can't help but be grateful that NASA thought to incorporate a camera to give us a detailed view of the giant planet. Scroll down to see some of our favorite JunoCam photos and see NASA's JunoCam website to discover the newest featured images created by citizen scientists.

Here are some spectacular images of Jupiter taken by NASA's JunoCam.

Photo: Enhanced image by Betsy Asher Hall and Gervasio Robles based on images provided courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS

Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS, processing by Prateek Sarpal, © CC NC SA

Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Gerald Eichstad/Sean Doran © CC NC SA

Photo: Enhanced image by Kevin M. Gill (CC-BY) based on images provided courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS

Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS, Processing by Brian Swift CC BY

Photo: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / Björn Jónsson © CC NC SA

Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Gerald Eichstadt/Sean Doran © CC NC SA

Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Gerald Eichstadt/Sean Doran © CC NC SA

Photo: NASA / SwRI / MSSS / Tanya Oleksuik © CC NC SA

Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS, processing by David Marriott

Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS, processing by Gerald Eichstädt/Seán Doran, © BY NC ND

Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Georgios_NK

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READ: Jupiter’s Most Stunning Images Captured by NASA’s JunoCam in Sharp Detail

Photo: scukrov/Depositphotos

Much of the continental United States is under a heat advisory at the moment due to rising summer temperatures. In response to this, the U.S. Government recently released guidelines on what temperatures people should keep their thermostats at during the summer, recommending 78°F when you're home, 85°F when you're away, and 82°F when you're sleeping. However, these suggestions have sparked quite a bit of controversy online.

Many people feel that the proposed settings are way too high. In response, everyone has taken to the internet to lament the recommended temperatures and what it would mean to exist under such (literally) heated circumstances. “0% chance the people who came up with these recommendations actually use them in their homes,” said one person on X (formerly Twitter).

Most individuals agree that the high figures would make homes way too hot, especially for sleeping. One user has questioned, “Who amongst us can sleep in 82 degrees? This I need to understand.” Another person had even stronger words for the suggested temperatures, saying, “The entire town is going without power if I have to sleep at 82 degrees.”

You can read more of these scandalized but entertaining responses below.

The U.S. Government recently published recommendations on thermostat temperatures in people's homes for the summer. However, many people feel that the suggested temperatures are too hot, and have chimed in online.

Just know I’ll let the entire power grid go down and ruin all of our lives before my thermostat is set at 78°. pic.twitter.com/FFymWCzZ9U

— Drew Garrison (@DrewGarrison) June 19, 2024

0% chance the people who came up with these recommendations actually use them in their homes.

— David Dean (@DavidFrankDean) June 20, 2024

Some questioned the sleeping temperature recommendations of 82°F.

— Raising the temperature while you're sleeping goes against everything I know about getting a good night's sleep. pic.twitter.com/WX4XSSJ6RH

— Eric H (@TesseractUnfold) June 20, 2024

82f when sleeping???? Yes, because I prefer to sleep in my own puddle of sweat.

— Khryn Tzu (@Khryn_Tzu) June 20, 2024

Others pointed out that these suggestions may work in certain parts of the U.S. but definitely not hotter states.

78! Whoever said 78 does NOT live in a humid region.

— Hiker Ron (@88state99) June 20, 2024

Well, it might be ok … if you live in Alaska. I live in freaking Florida. I'll be melting at 85º …

— Leozera (@oleoizzo) June 20, 2024

You definitely don’t live in Arizona then. At 78, my bill in the summer is over $600.

— Libertarian Mama (@LibertarianMama) June 20, 2024

Some people posited theories about a “big heat” conspiracy.

Big Heat wrote this https://t.co/JIBbmy4wtB

— Jeff kemp (@Jkemp23) June 20, 2024

Others were simply flabbergasted, and opted to express their shock through all caps.

78 DO THEY WANT ME TO DIE https://t.co/gQjlt4Bmes

— (@agustdtwo) June 20, 2024

I’LL BE DEAD BEFORE I SLEEP WHEN ITS 82 WHAT

— RKwiftheplay (@RKwiftheplay) June 21, 2024

h/t: [BuzzFeed]

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Photo: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/S. Wiessinger

Scientists believe we're nearing the reoccurrence of the nova T Coronae Borealis (T CrB), nicknamed the Blaze Star. It's expected before 2026, and based on recent activity, it's likely to brighten the night sky this summer. The explosion happens roughly every 80 years. So unless you're a toddler or a vampire, this is probably your only chance to witness it.

A nova is an event that happens between two stellar bodies that make up a binary star. All binary star systems include a white dwarf, the extremely dense remnants of stars that have already exhausted their fuel. They are so dense they contain the mass of our Sun within the volume of the Earth. In T CrB's case, its white dwarf is in orbit with a red giant, which is a low-density massive star nearing the end of its life before becoming a white dwarf itself.

These two stars circle each other every 228 days with the dense white dwarf pulling off matter from its red giant. As the white dwarf gains more mass, its temperature and pressure steadily increase until the ignition point for hydrogen is met. Then an explosion akin to a thermonuclear bomb going off occurs. The explosion doesn't destroy either of the stars, but it blasts the accretion disc of material the white dwarf had siphoned from the red giant back home to restart the cycle.

Novae typically originate in binary systems containing sun-like stars, as shown in this artist's rendering. A nova in a system like this likely produces gamma rays (magenta) through collisions among multiple shock waves in the rapidly expanding shell of debris. (Photo: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/S. Wiessinger)

Scientists aren't sure why the T CrB nova seems to take place every 80 years. It might have something to do with how comparatively large the white dwarf is. They do know, however, that similar to the last two occurrences, T CrB has been growing in brightness since 2015 for seven years. Then for the past year it was dimming in magnitude. This is thought to be a sign that the nova will happen this summer. T CrB is usually too dim for it to be seen in the night sky, but it will be visible to the human eye for a few days to a week when the nova happens.

Along with the February 1946 nova, T CrB was definitely witnessed in 1866. Nineteenth century astronomers were even able to predict that it would return in 80 years from their observations. Impressively, astronomer Bradley Schaeffer has also managed to find two more likely instances of the T CrB in historical archives. In 1787, an English reverend and astronomer, Francis Wollaston, observed nova-like behavior in the same part of the sky that T CrB is.

Even further back, 570 years before Wollaston, a German abbot named Burchard saw a star become much brighter. Schaeffer has ruled out other possible explanations for this bright star suddenly appearing. It was in the wrong region of the sky to have been a visible planet and there was no mention of a tail suggesting it wasn't a comet.

“A wonderful sign was seen,” Burchard wrote. He also noted that the object near the constellation Corona Borealis “shone with great light” for “many days.” Monks were familiar with comets and at the time considered them bad omens. However Burchard seemed to think this event was a positive sign. This is why Schaeffer is convinced this was an instance of T CrB going nova. And if it was a supernova, its remnants would still be detectable.

This image of the classic nova GK Persei contains X-rays from Chandra (blue), optical data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope (yellow), and radio data from the National Science Foundation’s Very Large Array (pink). The X-ray data show hot gas and the radio data show emission from electrons that have been accelerated to high energies by the nova shock wave. The optical data reveal clumps of material that were ejected in the explosion. The nature of the point-like source on the lower left is unknown. (Photo: NASA)

Schaeffer hopes to find more historical observations to give us a greater understanding of novas. Either way, this instance will stand apart from previous generations as we now have far more advanced technology to observe it. As project scientist for NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, Stephanie Hays explains, “Typically, nova events are so faint and far away that it’s hard to clearly identify where the erupting energy is concentrated. This one will be really close, with a lot of eyes on it, studying the various wavelengths and hopefully giving us data to start unlocking the structure and specific processes involved. We can’t wait to get the full picture of what’s going on.”

The last time the Blaze Star graced the night sky, NASA was still over a decade from being founded and the world was recovering from the end of the Second World War. This nova will be an event that connects us across generations through history. Despite the massive societal shifts that have happened in between sightings, the nova continues to highlight how unfathomable the scale of the universe is to us humans on tiny Earth. It will also be an opportunity to advance the science of what we can comprehend.

Based on past observed behavior, the recurrent nova T Corona Borealis will make an appearance this summer before it restarts its 80-year cycle.

Dead Star Warps Light of Red Giant-This artist concept depicts an ultra-dense dead star, called a white dwarf, passing in front of a red giant. This is a binary system similar to the one about to have a nova, T Corona Borealis. (Photo:NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Last occurring during the Truman presidency, this will be the first time space telescopes exist to capture images of the explosive event.

A stunning amount of energy is unleashed when a star goes nova. (Photo: NASA/Goddard)

With more knowledge about novas, we'll get closer to understanding the life cycles of stars.

The white dwarf remains intact even though the explosion releases as much energy as our sun emits in 100,000 years.(Photo: NASA/Goddard)

Look up after sunset during summer months to find Hercules! Scan between Vega and Arcturus, near the distinct pattern of Corona Borealis. Once you find its stars, use binoculars or a telescope to hunt down the globular clusters M13 (and a smaller globular cluster M92). If you enjoy your views of these globular clusters, you’re in luck – look for another great globular, M3, in the nearby constellation of Boötes. (Photo: NASA/ Stellarium)

h/t: [IFLScience]

All images via NASA.

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Excerpt from “Tabulae primi mobilis” by Giovanni Bianchini. (Photo: Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Florence via Historia Mathematica)

For centuries, the earliest known use of the decimal point appeared in 1593, when the German mathematician Christopher Clavius wrote it in an astronomy book. Since then, it has radically changed the course of mathematics. However, it was recently discovered that the first documented use of the decimal point was not in 1593 but over 100 years before in Renaissance Italy.

When the Venetian merchant Giovanni Bianchini wrote Tabulae primi mobilis in the 1440s, he used the decimal point to calculate the coordinates of the planets. By doing this, Bianchini invented the system of decimals, which would, in turn, make scientific calculations far more accurate. Years later, Clavius would borrow Bianchini's decimal point, leading to confusion about the true origins of the mathematical symbol.

In a recent NPR episode, Glen Van Brummelen, a historian of mathematics, recounted how he discovered Bianchini's invention. In the episode, Brummelen said, “I was working on the manuscript of this astronomer, Giovanni Bianchini. I saw the dots inside of a table—in a numerical table.”

“And when he explained his calculations, it became clear that what he was doing was exactly the same thing as we do with the decimal point. And I'm afraid I got rather excited at that point. I grabbed my computer, ran up and down the dorm hallway looking for colleagues who still hadn't gone to bed, saying, this person's working with the decimal point in the 1440s. I think they probably thought I was crazy.”

You can listen to the rest of the episode here.

A mathematical historian recently discovered that the decimal point is about 150 years older than we thought. It was first used in a text by Venetian merchant Giovanni Bianchini in the 1440s.

Excerpt from “Tabulae primi mobilis” by Giovanni Bianchini. (Photo: Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Florence via Historia Mathematica)

h/t: [Open Culture]

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Dr. Tyler Lyson and the fossil finders Liam Fisher, Kaiden Madsen, and Jessin Fisher sit on top of the helicopter net ahead of the Black Hawk helicopter extraction. (Photo: Rick Wicker)

When Sam Fisher took his two young sons and their 11-year-old cousin on a hike in the Badlands of North Dakota, he was probably expecting a day of sightseeing and light exercise. What he could not have forseen, however, was the group stumbling upon the remains of a juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex that had lived millions of years ago. Their find, which occurred in 2022, was deemed an “incredible discovery” by the Denver Museum of Nature & Science and will soon be on display at the museum.

The group of amateur paleontologists, including Fisher's sons Jessin, 12, and Liam, 9, were surely excited by their discovery, but also handled the fossil with all the reverence it deserved. Fisher sent a photo of the find to his old high school classmate, Dr. Tyler Lyson, a paleontologist and curator of vertebrate paleontology with the Denver Museum of Nature & Science and asked for advice. The following summer, Dr. Lyson arrived on the site with the family as well as a skilled team to excavate the fossil. Together, they were able to unearth the remains of a teenage Tyrannosaurus Rex, with all parties pitching in and contributing to the dig.

It is rare to find intact Tyrannosaurus rex fossils, and even more rare to find the remains of a juvenile, so Dr. Lyson was thrilled when he realized what they had unearthed. The fossil, which has since been dubbed “Teen Rex,” is estimated to have been between 12 and 14 years old at the time of death. Even though it was still growing, the dinosaur already weighed 3,500 pounds and was 25 feet long, though these impressive measurements still put it at about half the size of a fully developed T. rex.

“By going outside and embracing their passions and the thrill of discovery, these boys have made an incredible dinosaur discovery that advances science and deepens our understanding of the natural world,” says Dr. Lyson. “I'm excited for Museum guests to dig into the “Teen Rex Discovery” experience, which I think will inspire the imagination and wonder, not only our community, but around the world!” 

The fossil will be on display as part of the temporary Discovering Teen Rex exhibition, which opens at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science on June 12, 2024. In addition to the exhibition, the museum will also be screening a new 40-minute documentary T. REX, that captures the remarkable story.

A group of teens discovered a rare juvenile T. rex fossil while on a hike in the Badlands of North Dakota.

The trio of fossil finders, Kaiden Madsen, Liam Fisher, and Jessin Fisher, pose in front of their latest find. Their father, Sam Fisher, texted this photo to his high school classmate Dr. Tyler Lyson, setting the stage for this remarkable story of discovery. (Photo: Sam Fisher)

Their dad reached out to his former high school classmate, Dr. Tyler Lyson, who is now a paleontologist and asked for advice.

Photo: Natalie Toth

Photo: Dr. Kirk Johnson

The following summer, Dr. Lyson brought a group to join the family and excavate the fossil.

Photo: Dr. Tyler R. Lyson

Photo: Dr. Tyler R. Lyson

Over the course of 11 days, they extracted about 30% of the dinosaur's skeleton.

Illustration of what bones were found (highlighted in blue) during the excavation of Teen Rex. Museum scientists are hopeful more of the skeleton is preserved. (Photo: Scott Harman)

The fossils were wrapped in a large plaster jacket and transported back to the museum.

Dr. Tyler Lyson, lead scientist, supervises the readjustment of the large 6000 lbs field jacket on the trailer. (Photo: Rick Wicker)

Paleontologists believe the juvenile was between 12 and 14 years old when it died.

Reconstruction of the ancient 67 million year old landscape of North Dakota with a juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex (Teen Rex). (Photo: Andrey Atuchin (artist) and Denver Museum of Nature & Science)

Now the public can watch as scientists continue their study of “Teen Rex” in a special exhibit at the Denber Museum of Nature & Science.

Denver Museum of Nature & Science preparator Salvador Bastien uses an angle grinder to cut open the field jacket containing a juvenile T. rex. (Photo: Rick Wicker)

Denver Museum of Nature & Science: Website | Instagram
h/t: [Yahoo]

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READ: Three Young Boys Discover Rare Tyrannosaurus Rex Fossil While on a Hike

An artist's concept of Gliese 12 b with a thin atmosphere and it's red dwarf in the distance. (Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (Caltech-IPAC))

The search for extraterrestrial life has long motivated astronomers. The universe is vast and many realms still remain unknown. Thankfully, the evolving technology of astronomers at NASA and other research centers has shed light on increasingly far reaches of the skies. Observations from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) have recently revealed yet another exoplanet—a planet beyond our Solar System.

This exoplanet, known as Gliese 12 b, is fascinating because it is the most promising exoplanet discovered in terms of potential habitability. More information is needed, but the exciting find announced in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society is already turning astronomical heads.

Gliese 12 b is about 40 light-years from Earth. It orbits a star named Gliese 12, a red dwarf much cooler than our own Sun. The exoplanet makes a complete orbit in a swift 12.8 days unlike our Earth's year-long journey. However, Gliese 12 b is quite close in size to Earth, about the size of Venus which is slightly smaller than our own planet.

Gliese 12 b being much closer to its own duller sun means it gets 1.6 times the radiation than Earth does. Estimates place the surface temperature at about 107 degrees Fahrenheit at the exoplanet's surface. While significantly hotter than Earth, this estimate could be affected by the exoplanet's atmosphere—if it has one. Within the habitable zone of distance from its star, further investigation may reveal a planet that can sustain liquid water, and maybe life.

Scientists hope to use the James Webb Space Telescope to peer closer at the exoplanet and search for signs of an atmosphere. According to a statement, “Getting an answer is vital because it would reveal if Gliese 12 b can maintain temperatures suitable for liquid water—and possibly life—to exist on its surface, while also unlocking answers about how and why Earth and Venus evolved so differently.” Venus' atmosphere amps up its heat to unbearable temperatures, while our atmosphere maintains the conditions for water and life.

Larissa Palethorpe, an author of the study, commented, “It is thought that Earth's and Venus' first atmospheres were stripped away and then replenished by volcanic outgassing and bombardments from residual material in the solar system. The Earth is habitable, but Venus is not due to its complete loss of water. Because Gliese 12 b is between Earth and Venus in temperature, its atmosphere could teach us a lot about the habitability pathways planets take as they develop.”

The newly discovered exoplanet, Gliese 12 b, offers the best chance at discovering a habitable planet like Earth.

Earth with different possible Gliese 12b atmospheres which change the size. (Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (Caltech-IPAC))

h/t: [Science Alert]

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Photo: alexnako/Depositphotos

Summer is here, and the Moon is about to put on a spectacular show to celebrate. Just one day after the summer solstice, June's full moon—known as the Strawberry Moon—will be at its fullest. It will also appear exceptionally large because, according to Farmer's Almanac, it is the lowest full moon in years.

This is because the Moon mirrors the Sun's position in the sky. Since the summer solstice is the moment when the Sun is at its highest point in the Northern Hemisphere, the Moon is, therefore, quite low. The Moon appears quite large when it is very low on the horizon. This effect is called a Moon Illusion.

As for the sweet nickname, June's full moon is called Strawberry Moon as it coincides with North America's strawberry harvest season. This name was used by Native American tribes, who named the moons as a way to keep track of the year and the activities that happened during the specific period. While different tribes had their own naming preferences, the names used by the Algonquin tribes are most familiar to us. This is because the Farmer's Almanac began publishing these names in the 1930s.

Other Native American names for June's full moon include Blooming Moon (Anishinaabe), Green Corn Moon (Cherokee), Birth Moon (Tlingit), and Egg Laying Moon (Cree).

Interestingly, an old European name for the June full moon is Mead or Honey Moon. Mead is a drink made by fermenting honey with water, with some also adding spices, fruit, grains, or hops. Though evidence is not clear cut, there is some belief that the word “honeymoon” may stem from the tradition of marrying in June.

Either way, be on the lookout for this sweet moon on Friday, June 21, which will be at its fullest at 9:08 p.m. EDT. Just be prepared that while it will be large, it won't be red. The nickname has nothing to do with the actual color of the moon.

h/t: [Live Science]

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Photo: Shanemyersphoto.com/Depositphotos

Though many high school students may not be enthusiastic about science projects, one determined student decided to take it upon himself to spend nearly three years on one. Meet Maddux Alexander Springer, a Hawaiian teen who noticed a lack of study on a species of sea turtles afflicted by a mysterious disease and decided to research it himself.

Springer, now 18, first saw the green sea turtles covering the sea floor while on his free dives in Kāneʻohe Bay, on the eastern side of Oahu, during the pandemic. They were covered in cauliflower-like tumors because of fibropapillomatosis or FP, a disease that affects up to 97% of sea turtles world-wide. Usually it remains latent, but once the illness becomes activated, tumors grow first on the outside and then sometimes the inside of turtles. While the tumors themselves are not dangerous, they can block breathing and eating, leading to tragic results.

After not finding enough answers about the illness taking its toll on Hawaii's turtles, Springer set out to do his own research. He wanted to figure out what was activating the FP in Hawaii's turtles himself. He applied for permits to biopsy the turtles' tumors, but was denied his request. Undeterred, he set up a network of underwater motion-sensing cameras to survey the turtle population.  Not only did the cameras help him find out that FP was indeed extremely prevalent, but it also helped him discover that the turtles were eating a lot of an invasive species of algae, graciliaria salicornia. Normally, eating algae is one of the turtles' key jobs in their ecosystem, as too much algae will suffocate corals reefs, which are already stressed by rising temperatures. However there turns out to be a difference between the invasive algae and native species. Graciliaria salicornia absorbs sewage 11 times more than the turtles' historical meals.

This Hawaiian green turtle is severely afflicted with fibropapillomatosis. The mouth tumors are unique to Hawaiian greens. (Photo:Peter Bennett & Ursula Keuper-Bennett via Wikimedia Commons, CC by 3.0.)

In case you weren't aware, Hawaii, arguably one of the most beautiful places on Earth, is essentially stewing in its own poop. There are over 83,000 cesspools in Hawaii. Partly because of geography and partly because of a post-WWII population boom, many Hawaiians rely on a hole beneath their houses to store wastewater. This wastewater leaches into the ground, and because Hawaii's volcanic soil is very porous, it quickly flows into the ocean. Fifty-two million gallons of untreated sewage are released into the ground each day in Hawaii.

Along with increasing skin and gastrointestinal infections among beach-goers, wastewater includes a high amount of nitrogen. In humans, this has been shown to increase rates of cancer, but we're not the only ones getting hurt. Springer wondered if the invasive algae was soaking up nitrogen from waste and converting it to arginine, an amino acid that was already shown to correlate to FP. The inquisitive teen started collecting and processing algae samples to be measured by a lab's mass spectrometer. The spectrometer confirmed Springer's suspicions about arginine levels in the turtles' main source of grub.

While his study hasn't been peer reviewed, he won first prize in the animal sciences division of the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair. Additionally, he received the Peggy Scripps Award for Science Communication, giving him $10,000 towards his education. Springer plans to study marine biology at Orgeon State University in the fall. He's hoping that his project will help bring attention to the urgent crisis in Hawaii. He states, “I just really want to raise awareness that this is an issue, and that the only way that this can be solved is by government intervention.”

The state has committed to replacing all cesspools by 2050. But that's not soon enough to avoid dire consequences for the turtles and the entire ecosystem, including humans. In May, the legislature passed a bill imposing fees on property owners who have cesspools to help fund cesspool alternatives. However, that will only put a dent in the costs expected to convert cesspools to modern wastewater management systems. Hopefully, as they turn of voting age, Springer's peers will follow his lead and be effective advocates for clean water.

18-year-old Maddux Alex Springer won the Peggy Scripps Science Communication Award for his work on sickly sea turtles living off of Oahu.

Photo: Shanemyersphoto.com/Depositphotos

Answering a question that had stumped scientists, the high schooler demonstrated the serious consequences of water pollution.

Majestic Ka'a'awa mountain and lovely Kāneʻohe Bay (Photo:Eric Tessmer/Wikimedia Commons by CC 2.0)

h/t: [Reddit]

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Photo: STYLEPICS/Depositphotos

As it gets warmer outside, many people will want to go outdoors and experience all of their favorite summertime activities. Whether these include going to the beach or pool, eating your favorite icy treat, or simply enjoying the good weather, all of these pastimes involve being in the sun. Needless to say, you should always apply sunscreen before going outside in the heat in order to protect yourself from a variety of skin conditions, but there may be one key spot where you are forgetting to apply it.

Dermatologist Dr. Michael Park warns in a TikTok video that people often forget to apply sunscreen to their ears, leaving this part of this body susceptible to being burnt. Park explains that many people aren't particularly concerned about the possibility of skin cancer, or melonoma, as the most common variety isn't normally fatal. However, he warns that this demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of the treatment process of this cancer.

“Although the most common type of skin cancer, basal cell carcinoma, will likely not kill you, you literally have to cut it out,” Park explains. “Not just it, but the skin surrounding it to make sure that it doesn't come back. Now I don't know anyone who wants to get a large piece of skin cut out of them, but personally I think there are certain areas that would be way worse than others, and one of those places… is the ears.”

The key takeaway is to be sure to apply your sunscreen on the outer portion of your ears this summer. While out in the heat, experts suggest reapplying sunscreen once every two hours, especially if you are swimming or playing sports.

You can watch Park's full video below.

Dermatologist Dr. Michael Park warns about the one body part that people forget to apply sunscreen to—the ears.

@michael.park.md #skincare ♬ original sound – Michael Park, MD

h/t: [digg]

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Photo: Google Research & Lichtman Lab (Harvard University)/Rendering by D. Berger (Harvard University)/CC4.0

The human brain is one of the most significant objects in the world, and also one of the most complex. Yet that three pounds of tissue that mediates every moment of our lives, every decision, every reflex, every emotion, is essentially still a mystery to scientists. A recent joint effort by Harvard and Google research teams has extracted an incredible amount of data from just 3 mm of brain tissue. With machine-learning modeling, the team created the world's highest-resolution brain tissue map. This brain map lets researchers see 57,000 cells and 150 million synapses, which are connections between the neurons.

While the brain tissue was only the size of half a rice grain, the raw data produced by the study is equivalent to 2,800 laptops worth of storage capacity or 14,000 full length movies. “It’s a little bit humbling,” Viren Jain, a co-author of the study and neuroscientist at Google, told Nature News. “How are we ever going to really come to terms with all this complexity?”

The researchers have openly published the 1.4 petabytes of raw data so that anyone can use and review the data themselves to untangle some of the complexities of the brain.

The brain tissue comes from a 45-year-old woman who had undergone surgery to address her epilepsy. This was a rare instance of live brain tissue for the researchers to preserve in resin, as brain biopsies are rare and usually only of tumors. Additionally, cadavers, which are often used in medical research, are not helpful because brains decompose quickly.

Once the scientists had preserved the tissue, they had to cut it into 5,000 slices that were 30 nanometers thick. Those slices were then examined through an electron microscope made specifically for this study. This took over a year, but then artificial intelligence took over to reconstruct the images correctly, making sure each neuron had the correct synapses connected to it.

Rendering based on electron-microscope data, showing the positions of neurons in a fragment of the brain cortex. Neurons are colored according to size. (Photo: Google Research & Lichtman Lab (Harvard University)/Rendering by D. Berger (Harvard University)/CC4.0)

The 3D reconstruction, complete with all tissue elements such as glial cells, blood vasculature, and the myelin sheath that wraps around the neuron, has already produced surprising results. Jeff Lichtman, the molecular and cell biologist who heads the Harvard lab that worked on the project shares, “there were just so many things in it that were incompatible with what you would read in a textbook.”

One of the most intriguing findings is the multiple neurons connected to many synapses, including, in one case, 50.96% of neurons only connect to one synapse with 99% having fewer than three synapse connections. Scientists are not sure what these extra-connected neurons mean for sure, but the current theory is that this might be what a well-learned response that takes little thought looks like.  For instance, moving your foot to brake is so engrained in experienced drivers' minds that they aren't consciously thinking about it.

Several other facts that surprised scientists include the fact that pyramidal neurons, which have dendrites—the branches that carry information away from a neuron—are symmetrical. Also, they found axons—branches that carry information from a synapse to the cell body—that formed whorls, going in circles around themselves, which had never been seen before. It's easy to see how, with more eyes thoroughly reviewing the data, many more paths for neuron research will open up.

Brain maps have been created before, starting in 1986 when 302 neurons were mapped in a roundworm. More complex maps from other species have slowly been created, but it will take years and technological advances for a fully mapped human brain at this resolution. Until then, the team has mapped the hippocampus of a mouse, which has a fairly similar brain to humans in terms of structure and neuron composition. If successful, a mapped mouse brain may give some insight into how humans learn and even free will.

Harvard and Google researchers published the most in-depth map of brain tissue to ever be created.

Distribution of cells, blood vessels and myelin in the sample. White lines in all panels indicate approximate layer boundaries estimated from cell clustering. A: All 49,080 manually labeled cell bodies of neurons and glia which were found in the sample, colored by cell body volume. B: All neurons classified as spiny cells (putatively excitatory), extracted from the C3-agglomerated. (Photo: Google Research & Lichtman Lab (Harvard University)/Rendering by D. Berger (Harvard University)/CC4.0)

The sample's density was 16,000 neurons per cubic millimeter—almost a third lower than previous estimates.

Image acquisition for the human brain sample. A fresh surgical cerebral cortex sample was rapidly preserved, then stained, embedded in resin, and sectioned. More than 5000 sequential ~30 nm sections were collected on tape using an ATUM (upper left panel). Yellow box shows the site where the brain sample is cut with the diamond knife and thin sections are collected onto the tape. The tape was then cut into strips and imaged in a multibeam scanning electron microscope (mSEM). This large machine (see middle panel with person on chair as reference) uses 61 beams that image a hexagonal area of about ~10,000 μm 2 simultaneously (see upper right). For each thin section, all the resulting tiles are then stitched together. One such stitched section is shown (bottom). This section is about 4 mm 2 in area and was imaged with 4 x 4 nm 2 pixels. Given the necessity of some overlap between the stitched tiles, this single section required collection of more than 300 GB of data.(Photo:GOOGLE RESEARCH & LICHTMAN LAB, HARVARD UNIVERSITY / D. BERGER (RENDERING)/CC4.0)

The sample was taken from the left anterior lobe, which is thought to deal with our knowledge of words, objects, people, and facts.

A: Fine-scale alignment with optical flow. Left: An XZ cross-section of the initial coarsely aligned subvolume exhibits drift and single-section jitter. Two adjacent XY sections z and z-1 are extracted. Center: z and z-1 are overlaid to illustrate their misalignment (z is pseudo-colored green for contrast). Image patch-based cross-correlation is used to compute an XY flow field between the sections. Red and blue intensity indicate the magnitude of the horizontal and vertical flow components respectively. The flow field is then used to warp one of the sections, improving the alignment apparent in the overlay. Right: XZ view of the same subvolume with flow realignment applied throughout. Scale bar: 2 μm. B: Sequential segmentation of a subvolume with an FFN. XY cross-sections illustrate the 3D segmentation process. Each yellow crosshair indicates the seed location for the next segment. Scale bar: 1 μm. C: FFN agglomeration.(Photo: Google Research & Lichtman Lab (Harvard University)/Rendering by D. Berger (Harvard University)/CC4.0)

The raw data has been published online so that anyone can use and review the data themselves to untangle some of the complexities of the brain.

A single neuron (white) shown with 5,600 of the axons (blue) that connect to it. The synapses that make these connections are shown in green. (Photo: Google Research & Lichtman Lab (Harvard University)/Rendering by D. Berger (Harvard University)/CC4.0)

h/t: [Smithsonian Magazine]

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READ: Google and Harvard Team Up to Make the Most Detailed Map of Human Brain Ever