August 6, 2024: A new rapid-test for disease, how congestion pricing helps the baby boomer generation, and slime molds are showing astronomers how the universe formed. —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor | | | Astrophysicists built an algorithm based on the movement of slime molds to model how the structure of the universe affects galaxy formation. Yes, you read that right, slime mold. The organisms are experts at expanding into new territories, pushing their membranes outward in a synchronized wave in every direction. When they find a food source, nearby membranes relax, and the molds push more material into that region. The scientists hypothesized that this natural behavior might serve as a good mapping model for the movement of galaxies in the early universe.
What they found: Using their slime mold movement algorithm to model the universe's formation, the researchers found that as the universe aged, it pulled cosmic material (dust, stars and even dark matter) into filaments, which in turn affected how stars formed in galaxies that ended up too close to each other.
What the experts say: It's been difficult to measure how the cosmic web, with its filaments, tendrils and empty voids, affects galaxy formation, says New York City College of Technology astrophysicist Ari Maller. "The use of the slime-mold algorithm seems to have accomplished that goal." | | | Scientists have developed a new disease rapid-test that uses the gene editing tool CRISPR. Researchers created "nanocircles" of DNA with a short, single-stranded sequence that attaches to both ends of a sequence from a target pathogen. Once CRISPR cuts out the pathogen sequence, the nanocircles uncurl and are easily detectable. It's a million times more sensitive than traditional tests. Traditional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests make millions of copies of a pathogen's signal and can take hours to process. The new test runs in 15 minutes.
What the experts say: "We believe we've created a technology that has a realistic chance to supersede PCR," says Ewa M. Goldys, a biomedical engineer at the University of New South Wales in Sydney and the study's lead author. | | | • Scientists have identified more than 30 different pathogens (including dengue, mpox and influenza A virus) that they fear could cause the next big pandemic in humans. | 4 min read | | | • Climate change was expected to open Arctic sea lanes for easier shipping. But because local ice is melting, global warming enables thicker ice to flow into shipping lanes, making the North American Arctic routes more hazardous. | 3 min read | | | Large cargo ship filled with containers navigating through ice. Jean Landry/Getty Images | | | • When New York Governor Kathy Hochul indefinitely paused the congestion pricing program in New York City in June, she subsequently canned a list of mass transit infrastructure improvements that would have been funded by the expected $15 billion in revenue generated from congestion pricing. The plans included elevators and ramps at 346 subway stations, new wheelchair securements on buses, and haptic technologies for deaf people and people who are hard of hearing, writes Sarah M. Kaufman, executive director of the Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management. The aging baby boomer generation living in NYC will absolutely depend on such improvements to mass transit in the coming decade, she says. "To avert a mobility crisis down the line, now is the time to get the U.S.'s senior-focused policies back on track." | 6 min read | | | I learned in a freshman year college astronomy course that matter in the cosmos is strung together in roughly the shape of honeycomb. That the cosmic web could take on the same shape as a tiny insect's home resoundingly blew my mind. Our universe seems to love harmony. | —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor | | Subscribe to this and all of our newsletters . | | | | Scientific American
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