On February mornings, look for the celestial ducks returning to open water on the river of the Milky Way as the stars Shaula and Lesath make their appearance. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/two-stars-in-scorpius-are-a-harbinger-of-spring…
Tag: hibernation
Hibernating lemurs may be the key to cryogenic sleep for human space travel
Science fiction is shifting into reality. With humanity’s plans to return to the moon this decade and further ambitions to travel to Mars in the next, we need to figure out how to keep astronauts healthy for these years-long missions. One solution long championed by science fiction is suspended animation, or putting humans in a hibernation-like sleep for the duration of…
The Case for Life on Venus
CNET describes Venus as “a toxic, overheated, crushing hellscape where nothing can survive.” But they reported Friday that one astronomy team’s hypothesis published last month “could prompt a reevaluation of how and where we look for life in the universe.” Carl Sagan speculated about life in the clouds of Venus back in 1967, and just a few years ago, researchers suggested…
Hummingbirds can drop their body temperature below 4°C when they rest
Hummingbirds are one of a few species that can enter a hibernation-like state to preserve energy, but now researchers have seen them reaching extremely low body temperatures Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2254001-hummingbirds-can-drop-their-body-temperature-below-4c-when-they-rest/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Seussian beast survived the Triassic by taking lots of naps
Analysis of this Triassic vertebrate’s ever-growing tusks revealed that it may have spent part of the year hibernating. Source: https://www.livescience.com/evidence-ancient-hibernation-antarctic.html
Scientists Trigger Hibernation In Mice, Could Astronauts Be Next?
“Scientists in Japan successfully triggered a hibernation-like state in mice by activating a specific group of brain cells,” reports UPI, which points out that entering a hibernation-like state “could help astronauts conserve food and water, as well as avoid the ill-effects of microgravity, on long journeys through space.”
The research, published this week in the journal Nature, suggests even animals that don’t…
Brain switch lets us control a kind of suspended animation in mice
Stimulating or inhibiting specific neurons in mice can put them in a hibernation-like state called torpor. The same trick works in rats that don’t experience torpor naturally, suggesting it may also be possible in people Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2245639-brain-switch-lets-us-control-a-kind-of-suspended-animation-in-mice/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Bees stab plants to make them flower
When pollen is scarce, bumblebees pierce the leaves of plants in order to force them to produce flowers more quickly, according to new research. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/bumblebees-stab-plants-to-make-them-flower…
8 European spacecraft put in hibernation amid virus lockdown
The European Space Agency said Tuesday that it is putting eight of its spacecraft into hibernation as it scales down operations during the coronavirus outbreak. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-03-european-spacecraft-hibernation-virus-lockdown.html…
Study supports contested 35-year-old predictions, shows that observable novae are just ‘tip of the iceberg’
Almost 35 years ago, scientists made the then-radical proposal that colossal hydrogen bombs called novae go through a very long-term life cycle after erupting, fading to obscurity for hundreds of thousands of years and then building back up to become full-fledged novae once more. A new study is the first to fully model the work and incorporate all of the feedback…