In the next selection of interesting science news of the week: Where do dreams come from? This question has probably preoccupied mankind ever since we began to dream. According to Alessandro Foli of the University of Rome Tre, as stated in his latest work (the results of which were published in the Royal Society Open Science publication), the research conducted consistently confirms the so-called theory of the continuum of sleep, which means that the majority of dreams serve as a continuation of events in everyday life.
One of the most reliable methods of dream systematization is the Hall-Van de Castle system, which, among other things, tracks the appearance of characters in these dreams, their interactions, and the consequences of such interactions. The problem with this approach, however, is that identifying all of these elements requires manually sifting through each recorded dream. Scientists have long dreamed of creating an algorithm that would automate this process. And here Foli suggested to his colleagues that they solve this problem by using the huge public database DreamBank (or the Dream Repository, if you prefer), which contains records of 24,000 dreams. Scientists have developed a program that simplifies the Hall-Van de Castle system by extracting key words related to characters, their interactions, and emerging emotions from lengthy dream records.
We explain quickly, simply, and clearly what happened, why it matters, and what happens next. The number of offers should remain: episodes. End of story. Podcast advertising. “These three elements,” says Folie, “are considered the most important in interpreting dreams, because they determine the main story of the dream: who appeared in the dream, what they did, and what emotions were aroused during that time.
Comparing the results of their automated process with the results of the manual processing of recorded dreams by experts, the Italians found, to their great satisfaction, that they coincided by three quarters. This is certainly not ideal, but it is a reason to improve the new method, which may ultimately lead to a breakthrough in the study of the nature of sleep. The Rome researchers also found that dream records support the continuum theory because they contain various “statistical markers” that reflect what dreamers most likely experienced in real life. Of course, Folly admits that it is too early to talk about understanding the meaning of dreams, but we can already give a quantitative assessment of important aspects of sleep, and who knows, maybe in the future we will be able to create technologies that bridge the gap between real life and dreams.
Many types of bacteria, especially those that have developed flagella (or flagellum, or simply tails) that give them some freedom of movement, prefer to live in a collective and join together in swarms (the analogy with insects is quite apt here, as a swarm of bacteria is metabolically active, grows rapidly, and behaves almost like a single organism). In this collective approach, as scientists suspected, there are many advantages, including the ability to resist antibiotics, which is beyond the capabilities of a single microbe.
Earlier, scientists had noticed that when a colony of bacteria is attacked by antibiotics, a quarter of the colony usually dies, but the dead comrades somehow save the living ones: they start actively avoiding contact with the antibiotic. However, the mechanism of this behavior has remained a mystery. In a new study of E. coli bacteria, scientists have found that when attacked by antibiotics, bacteria in a colony emit a pre-death cry that warns the collective of danger. This cry cannot be heard because it is a so-called necrosignaling – a chemical signal. However, its essence is understood by the entire colony: our members are dying, and immediate action is required to save ourselves.
As soon as the signal is heard, the colony takes immediate action to minimize casualties. As one of the study’s co-authors, Professor Rasika Harsha, a molecular biologist at the University of Texas at Austin, explains in the journal Nature Communications, dying bacteria not only selflessly send a warning signal to their own, but also activate micropumps in the membranes of living cells that begin to expel antibiotics that are dangerous to bacteria. And the sequence of genes it contains not only protects the living form of bacteria from antibiotics, but also creates future protection against drugs that have killed their comrades. In other words, this discovery implies that a dense colony of bacteria, under the influence of small doses of antibiotics, is capable of developing future antibiotic resistance, which may force us to completely rethink our strategy for fighting infectious diseases.
We are already used to the fact that miniature robots need even more miniature batteries, and it could be assumed that further developments will follow this path. However… scientists have remembered the good old spirit, or more precisely, its non-consumable variant – methanol. Because liquid fuel is more efficient than electricity, especially in miniature motors, it allows the creation of robots that do not need constant recharging and can maintain autonomy for longer periods of time.
The engineers who designed the RoBeetle developed artificial muscles that contract like real muscles. The system consists of nickel-titanium alloy wires with a platinum coating that accelerates the combustion of methanol vapors. The heat generated in the process causes the wires in the robot’s legs to contract, and when they cool, they expand, giving the RoBeetle movement. As the developers point out in Science Robotics, the robotic bug weighs just 88 milligrams and is capable of carrying a load 2.6 times its own mass. Of course, this is a far cry from ants, but it is impressive for a man-made device. The robot also carries 95 milligrams of fuel, enough for 2 hours of work. It can also climb steep inclines and walk on various surfaces, including glass and polyurethane. Scientists just need to find a way to refuel them so they can operate autonomously for longer, and learn to program them to carry out the commands of operators, and then they could find a variety of applications – from pinpoint artificial pollination to assisting surgeons in complex operations.
The unexpected era of coronavirus has brought many changes in our lives, making us much more attentive to the issue of personal hygiene. One of the products of primary (and initially even extreme) necessity became hand sanitizers, or sanitizers. For a while it was even scarce, but then, sensing the demand, everyone started producing it and packaging it in whatever was available.
And it was here that the authorities were truly alarmed, fearing that people could accidentally or unknowingly poison themselves with a disinfectant that was not intended for human consumption and was packaged in food and beverage containers. In fact, typical hand sanitizers contain 60% to 70% alcohol and can cause alcohol poisoning, especially in children. And when it was discovered that some sanitizers were being made with flavors ranging from chocolate to raspberry, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rushed to warn people not to buy antiseptics in beer cans, water or juice bottles, vodka bottles (yes, there were such things), and (especially) baby food tubes.
“I’m increasingly concerned that sanitizers packaged in food containers resemble food,” said FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn. “These products can deceive consumers, who may unknowingly ingest a potentially deadly substance.” Recently, the FDA received information about a shopper who thought he had purchased a bottle of mineral water that actually contained disinfectant. Management was also alerted to a case where a hand sanitizer was packaged in a baby food tube with cartoon characters on it.
The FDA is raising questions about the quality of the disinfectants themselves, hundreds of which have flooded the market amid the coronavirus epidemic. Experts have already discovered dozens of antiseptics that contain methanol, a highly dangerous substance that smells and tastes almost indistinguishable from ethyl alcohol, but when ingested causes dizziness, nausea and, in high doses, convulsions, blindness and death.
The bottom line? The FDA strongly recommends using known sanitizers on the market in familiar packaging and closely evaluating new products.