New research finds that sac-winged bat pups — a species of bat found in Central and South America — like to “babble” in ways that are remarkably similar to human babies.
— Read on www.npr.org/2021/08/19/1029343443/bats-love-to-babble-just-like-humans
Human brain organoids assemble functionally integrated bilateral optic vesicles – ScienceDirect
During embryogenesis, optic vesicles develop from the diencephalon via a multistep process of organogenesis. Using induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived human brain organoids, we attempted to simplify the complexities and demonstrate formation of forebrain-associated bilateral optic vesicles, cellular diversity, and functionality. Around day 30, brain organoids attempt to assemble optic vesicles, which develop progressively as visible structures within 60 days. These optic vesicle-containing brain organoids (OVB-organoids) constitute a developing optic vesicle’s cellular components, including primitive corneal epithelial and lens-like cells, retinal pigment epithelia, retinal progenitor cells, axon-like projections, and electrically active neuronal networks. OVB-organoids also display synapsin-1, CTIP-positive myelinated cortical neurons, and microglia. Interestingly, various light intensities could trigger photosensitive activity of OVB-organoids, and light sensitivities could be reset after transient photobleaching. Thus, brain organoids have the intrinsic ability to self-organize forebrain-associated primitive sensory structures in a topographically restricted manner and can allow interorgan interaction studies within a single organoid.
— Read on www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1934590921002952
Taliban Mark Afghanistan’s Independence Day As Challenges To Their Rule Rise : NPR
The Taliban celebrated Afghanistan’s Independence Day by declaring they beat the U.S. but face running a country short on cash where the possibility of an armed opposition is beginning to emerge.
— Read on www.npr.org/2021/08/19/1029189745/taliban-mark-afghanistans-independence-day-as-challenges-to-their-rule-rise
EPA Is Banning Pesticide Chlorpyrifos On Food Crops : NPR
Agency officials issued a final ruling on Wednesday saying chlorpyrifos can no longer be used on the food that makes its way onto American dinner plates. The move overturns a Trump-era decision.
— Read on www.npr.org/2021/08/18/1029144997/epa-will-ban-a-farming-pesticide-linked-to-health-problems-in-children
Rise of oxygen on early Earth linked to planet’s rotation rate | NSF – National Science Foundation
The rise of oxygen levels early in Earth’s history paved the way for the spectacular diversity of animal life. But for decades, scientists have struggled to explain the factors that controlled this gradual and stepwise process, which unfolded over nearly 2 billion years.
Now an international research team is proposing that increasing day length on the early Earth — the spinning of the young planet gradually slowed over time, making the days longer — may have boosted the amount of oxygen released by photosynthetic cyanobacteria, thereby shaping the timing of Earth’s oxygenation.
Their conclusion was inspired by a study of present-day microbial communities growing under extreme conditions at the bottom of a submerged Lake Huron sinkhole, 80 feet below the water’s surface. The water in the Middle Island Sinkhole is rich in sulfur and low in oxygen, and the brightly colored bacteria that thrive there are considered good analogs for the single-celled organisms that formed mat-like colonies billions of years ago, carpeting both land and seafloor surfaces.
The researchers show that longer day length increases the amount of oxygen released by photosynthetic microbial mats. That finding, in turn, points to a previously unconsidered link between Earth’s oxygenation history and its rotation rate. While the Earth now spins on its axis once every 24 hours, day length was possibly as brief as six hours during the planet’s infancy.
— Read on www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp
Argo Blockchain Becomes First Climate Positive Cryptocurrency Mining Company and Releases Climate Strategy
LONDON, August 17, 2021–Argo Blockchain plc (LSE:ARB; OTCQX:ARBKF), (“Argo” or the “Company”), a global leader in sustainable blockchain infrastructure and cryptocurrency mining, today announced it has become the first publicly traded cryptocurrency mining company to report it has become Climate Positive for Scope 1, 2, and 3 Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions associated with all of its respective crypto-related operations. Climate Positive means that the company is addressing its own GHG emissions
— Read on finance.yahoo.com/news/argo-blockchain-becomes-first-climate-130000123.html
The Rebellion of Cuban Doctors Quiets Government Attacks | Havana Times
The Rebellion of Cuban Doctors Quiets Government Attacks | Havana Times
— Read on www.google.ca/amp/s/havanatimes.org/features/the-rebellion-of-cuban-doctors-quiets-government-attacks/amp/
Cuba struggles to get oxygen to the sick, vaccines to the healthy | Reuters
Cuba has turned to the military to provide oxygen amid a surge of the coronavirus even as doctors rush to administer locally developed vaccines to the population.
— Read on www.reuters.com/world/americas/cuba-struggles-get-oxygen-sick-vaccines-healthy-2021-08-17/
Overwhelmed by Coronavirus, Cuba’s Health System Is Reeling
Overwhelmed by Coronavirus, Cuba’s Health System Is Reeling
— Read on www.google.ca/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2021/08/17/world/americas/cuba-coronavirus-healthcare-collapse.amp.html
#CubaMuere #SOSCuba
Following Protests, Cuba Lays Out Laws on Social Media Use | Technology News | US News
The decrees published in the Official Gazette follow the largest protests Cuba has seen in years, which broke out last month and apparently were fed in part by messages on social media applications.
A decree signed by Communications Minister Mayra Arevich was meant to “prevent, detect and respond opportunely to possible enemy, criminal and harmful activities that could occur in cyberspace.”
It forbids spreading content that attacks “the constitutional, social and economic” rules of the state or that incite demonstrations or other acts “that alter public order.” It also targets messages that justify violence or that affect people’s privacy or dignity.
— Read on www.usnews.com/news/technology/articles/2021-08-17/following-protests-cuba-lays-out-laws-on-social-media-use