science

It's a rare occurrence for scientists to witness sharks mating in the wild. It's even rarer to catch three leopard sharks—two males and one female—engaging in what amounts to a threesome in the wild on camera, particularly since they are considered an endangered species. But that's just what one enterprising marine biology team achieved, describing the mating sequence in careful, clinical detail in a paper published in the Journal of Ethology.

It's not like scientists don't know anything about leopard shark mating behavior; rather, most of that knowledge comes from studying the sharks in captivity. Whether the behavior is identical in the wild is an open question because there hadn't been any documented observations of leopard shark mating practices in the wild—until now.

New research reveals that the DNA switches controlling human finger development originated from genes that regulated fish cloacas 380 million years ago[^1].

"Rather than building a new regulatory system for the digits, nature has repurposed an existing mechanism, initially active in the cloaca," explains developmental geneticist Denis Duboule from the University of Geneva[^1].

The research team discovered this by comparing fish and mouse genomes, focusing on Hoxd genes. When they tagged DNA switches with fluorescent markers, these lit up in mouse digits but in fish cloacas. Deleting these genetic elements using CRISPR-Cas9 disrupted finger development in mice and cloaca formation in fish[^1].

"The common feature between the cloaca and the digits is that they represent terminal parts," notes geneticist Aurélie Hintermann. "Sometimes they are the end of tubes in the digestive system, sometimes the end of feet and hands"[^1].

[^1]: ScienceAlert - Fish Buttholes May Be The Reason We Now Have Fingers, Study Finds

Scientists at Kyoto University and Hiroshima University have achieved a breakthrough in quantum physics by successfully identifying the elusive W state of quantum entanglement, solving a 25-year-old challenge in the field[^1].

The team developed a method to measure entangled W states using photonic quantum circuits, demonstrating it successfully with three photons. This achievement is significant because W states, along with GHZ states, are fundamental building blocks for quantum networks[^1][^3].

"More than 25 years after the initial proposal concerning the entangled measurement for GHZ states, we have finally obtained the entangled measurement for the W state as well," said Shigeki Takeuchi, the study's corresponding author[^1].

The breakthrough enables single-shot identification of quantum states, eliminating the need for numerous measurements that grow exponentially with added photons. This advancement opens paths for:

• Quantum teleportation of information between distant locations
• New quantum communication protocols
• More efficient quantum computing methods
• Transfer of multi-photon quantum entangled states[^1][^8]

The research team used highly stable optical quantum circuits that could operate for extended periods without active control. They validated their method by successfully distinguishing different types of three-photon W states[^8].

[^1]: ScienceDaily - New quantum breakthrough could transform teleportation and computing

[^3]: RSInc - New Quantum breakthrough could transform Teleportation and Computing

[^8]: SciTechDaily - Scientists Capture W State, Unlocking Quantum Teleportation

For those who are not aware: "The Ig Nobel Prizes honor achievements so surprising that they make people LAUGH, then THINK. The prizes are intended to celebrate the unusual, honor the imaginative — and spur people’s interest in science, medicine, and technology."

The ceremony itself: https://improbable.com/the-35th-first-annual-ig-nobel-prize-ceremony/

[Posted this earlier but somehow the URL went missing.]

"Here we show that climate change made 213 historical heatwaves reported over 2000–2023 more likely and more intense, to which each of the 180 carbon majors (fossil fuel and cement producers) substantially contributed… Overall, one-quarter of these events were virtually impossible without climate change. The emissions of the carbon majors contribute to half the increase in heatwave intensity since 1850–1900.

cross-posted from: https://infosec.pub/post/34906055

A study in Current Biology reports that some “gifted word learner” dogs can learn category words that refer to how toys are used (such as tugging versus fetching) and extend those labels to new objects that serve the same function. In tests, these dogs chose the correct toy by function even when it looked different, a pattern reminiscent of how human infants group objects by purpose during early language learning.

Study: https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(25)01079-6

Other articles:

• https://nautil.us/some-dogs-can-learn-new-linguistic-tricks-1238106/
• https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/dogs-with-large-vocabularies-can-understand-category-words-not-just-names/

The home appliance industry would like you to believe that gas-burning stoves are not a risk to your health -- and several companies that make the devices are scrambling to erase their prior acknowledgements that they are.

More about 'Flexoelectricity' here:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41567-025-02995-6

One more surprise in the 'ice' category ... which is now up to 19 forms. (Know of any other solids which float on their liquid form?)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phases_of_ice#Known_phases

"The details of the chemical nature of liquid water are not well understood; some theories suggest that its unusual behavior is due to the existence of two liquid states." - WP

Evidence that climate change harms public health is “beyond scientific dispute,” the independent National Academy of Sciences said Wednesday in response to the Trump administration’s efforts to revoke a landmark U.S. government finding to that effect that underpins key environmental regulations.

The NAS, a non-governmental nonprofit set up to advise the government on science, said human activity is releasing greenhouse gases that are warming the planet, increasing extreme temperatures and changing the oceans, all dangerous developments for the health and welfare of the United States public. Evidence to that effect has only grown stronger since 2009, the group said.

In July, the Trump administration proposed revoking what’s known as the 2009 “endangerment” finding, the concept that climate change is a threat. Overturning it could pave the way for cutting a range of rules that limit pollution from cars, power plants and other sources.

cross-posted from: https://programming.dev/post/37667789

PDF.

This study examines the influence of graphic icons in building and maintaining social connections in computer-mediated communication interactions. Through an online survey, participants (N = 395) were randomly assigned to reflect on conversations with either a close contact (strong tie) or an acquaintance (weak tie) and reported their use of graphic icons. We found that the use of graphic icons can be viewed as part of routine relational maintenance practices. More frequent use of memes, GIFs, and emojis was associated with greater self-disclosure breadth and depth, stronger intimacy, and better relationship maintenance. Social anxiety and tie strength moderated these relationships. The effects were stronger for less socially anxious individuals and in weak tie relationships, suggesting that graphic icons may serve different social functions depending on individual characteristics and relational contexts. These findings provide evidence that memes, GIFs, and emojis can serve as useful tools to improve social connection and relationship management in digital communication.

"Having fewer total turbines means a wind farm could space them farther apart, avoiding airflow interference. The turbines would be nearly twice as tall, so they'll reach a higher, gustier part of the atmosphere. And big turbines don't need to spin as quickly, so they would make economic sense in places with average wind speeds around 5 meters per second... "