STATES CHRONICLE – We have all seen eggs of different shapes and sizes, but have you ever wondered why they don’t look the same? A team of scientists has managed to discover the secret of these various shapes, and a bird’s ability to fly might be to blame.

In a new study published in the journal Science, researchers analyzed various shapes of eggs, as well as the birds which lay them. They discovered that the differences in flight ability among birds start early in a specimen, and determine the shape of its egg.

Two measurements when looking at egg shape

More precisely, a bird which is able to fly lays eggs of a rather elliptical or asymmetrical shape, while the eggs of those birds which don’t leave the ground are more spherical. Researchers found this very interesting, since eggs have the same function, regardless of shape. Even so, it seems that they evolve differently.

To establish this diversity among eggs, researchers characterized each object of their study in terms of two measurements. The first was ellipticity. An egg starts with a sphere shape and, then, it gradually becomes more elongated and elliptical. The second measurement was asymmetry, when one end of the egg might be pointier than the other.

What makes eggs have different shapes?

After analyzing eggs coming from 1,400 species of birds, they obtained around 50,000 different shapes. They were surprised to discover much variety among them. The shape found in most eggs was placed somewhere in the middle, meaning that it was neither perfectly spherical nor perfectly elliptical, and quite asymmetrical. In other words, the middle ground was quite similar to a chicken egg.

The membrane inside the egg is the one that gives it its shape. Also, the thickness and elasticity of this membrane is determined by the bird’s body mass or length of the wings, so flight ability directly influences the texture of the membrane, therefore the shape of the egg.

Flying birds are more aerodynamic, so their body is slenderer, which leads to an elliptical and asymmetrical egg. Also, such a shape allows for the egg to contain enough egg white and yolk and, at the same time, be suitable for flight.
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

STATES CHRONICLE – The long-awaited eclipse on August 21^st is still two months away, but people have been preparing for it for a few months now. The U.S. Postal service wants to celebrate the event in a unique way. Today, precisely one day before the summer solstice, the institution will release a special eclipse-themed stamp.

The first stamp using thermochromic ink

The stamp, called Total Eclipse of the Sun Forever, was designed by Antonio Alcalá, and uses thermochromic ink. This means that the image is sensitive to body heat, and changes if you touch it with your finger. Alcalá used a photograph of the total eclipse from March 29^th, 2006, captured by Fred Espenak in Jalu, Libya. Espenak is an expert in eclipses and a former NASA astrophysicist at the Goddard Space Flight Center.

This is the first time in the history of the U.S. Postal Service when they use thermochromic ink for the design of a stamp. At first, it will display the black circle of an eclipse. Then, after touching the circle, the body heat will produce a reaction which changes the circle to a moon image. As the moon cools, it will gradually return to the eclipse image.

The stamp will also display the map of the eclipse path

On the back of the stamp, people will find a map depicting the path the eclipse follows and the states where it will be visible. Fourteen states will be able to see it in its ‘totality’. These are South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. At the same time with the summer solstice celebration, the stamp will receive an issuing ceremony held at the Art Museum of University of Wyoming.

Everybody is so excited about this event, since it is the total solar eclipse visible on the territory of the United States since 1979. Espenak’s website, MrEclipse.com, claims that the next total eclipse we will be able to witness will take place on April 8^th, 2024.
Image Source: Max Pixel

STATES CHRONICLE – A team of researchers from Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and from UC Berkeley came to the conclusion that our sun had a twin star. This applies to many similar stars in the universe. They think that, when these cosmic bodies are created, they also have a twin companion which is later destroyed.

Astronomers say stars are born with companions

Astronomers came up with several theories regarding the origin of these companions. One hypothesis claims that stars are born with a twin star, while another one says that one of the bodies is captured by the gravity of the other.

Also, they are wondering if it is possible for binary star systems to be split and to form individual systems afterwards. This is relevant not only to find out the origin of our own solar system, but can offer a perspective on the formation of galaxies.

With the help of computer-generated models, astronomers created simulations of gasses condensing into stars. This gave rise to the theory that each star is formed with a twin. However, evidence in favor of this was provided only after the release of the Perseus study.

The sun had a twin star, Nemesis

Astronomers presumed the sun had a twin star called Nemesis which, presumably, was responsible with the extinction of dinosaurs. Evidence was lacking, until this study came up and led researchers to believe that Nemesis was, indeed, real, but it drifted far away into the Milky Way and disappeared.

For the researchers, scientists performed a radio survey in the Perseus constellation and analyzed a molecular cloud around some young stars. This is strong evidence in support of the twin star hypothesis. However, these companions are situated quite far away from their twins. Therefore, Nemesis would have been situated somewhere much further away from the sun than Neptune.
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

STATES CHRONICLE – Researchers from Durham University performed an extensive analysis of invasive species in the world, and identified the top three places where they have established their populations. These hotspots of alien species are the Hawaiian Islands, the North Island in New Zealand, and the Lesser Sunda Islands in Indonesia.

What are invasive species?

Invasive species, also known as alien species, are native to a certain place but, due to human activities, their populations are spread and become established in other regions. They are called invasive since they ‘invade’ these places and don’t populate them naturally.

For the study, published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, researchers analyzed the populations of eight groups of animals on 423 inland regions and 186 islands. Apart from discovering where invasive species are prevalent, they wanted to highlight the importance of taking measures against introducing more alien animals in vulnerable ecosystems.

Islands and coastal regions have the most alien species

Invasive species are present more on islands and near the coasts of mainland regions. The Hawaiian Islands, for instance, represent the top hotspot for such species, and contain alien animals from all the eight groups studied. Among these populations, there are guppy fish, who now spread all over the globe, and feral pigs.

New Zealand is on the second place, where plants represent most of the invasive populations on the islands. In fact, almost half of the plants in New Zealand are alien species. Also, plenty of predatory mammals are invasive, and they threaten native bird species, who did not evolve with a protective mechanism against these species. These mammals include possums, cats, and rats.

From the US, Florida is a place where many alien species have gathered. Burmese pythons which populate the Everglades are one of the main ‘invaders’. They came to Florida originally as pets, but they were released either accidentally or intentionally, and now ended up populating a big part of Florida.

Controlling invasive species and preventing them from spreading to other regions non-native to them is vital, since they threaten the ecosystems they occupy. Native species cannot adapt to alien predators, so they are in danger, thus affecting the balance of the environment.
Image Source: Pixabay

A team of researchers believes to have found possibly the most complete bird as of yet after discovering a hatchling preserved in amber. This baby bird was dated as being over 99 million years old and to have lived in the Cretaceous period.

The fossilized specimen was acquired back in 2014 in Myanmar by Guang Chen. The director of China’s Hupoge Amber Museum in Tengchong City had heard that this piece contained a “lizard claw” inclusion. Still, a closer look at the piece of amber revealed so much more.

The Hatchling Preserved in the Same Piece of Amber Which Caused Its Death

Chen and his study team co-leader, Lida Xing, analyzed the mysterious claw and determined it to be an enantiornithine foot. Further imaging and studies of the amber piece revealed the incredible state of the baby bird within it.

This was almost entirely preserved, as researchers were able to detect a part of its skull, neck, a hind leg, and part of a wing. These were all hidden by layers of amber, clay-filled bubbles, and carbonized plant remains.

The team was not expecting such a complete exemplary. They believed to have stumbled upon some feathers and maybe a pair of feet. Still, the hatchling had many more surprises for them.

“The surprise continued when we started examining the distribution of feathers and and realized that there were translucent sheets of skin that connected many of the body regions appearing in the CT scan data,” stated Ryan McKellar.

He is one of the study researchers and part of the Royal Saskatchewan Museum, Regina, Canada.

The baby bird is nicknamed “Belone” or the Burnamese name for an amber-colored skylark. Belone belongs to the Enantiornithes family. An avian group known as “opposite birds”, these lived along dinosaurs. Just as them, they went extinct some 65 million years ago.

This hatchling was perfectly preserved in the amber that unconsciously marked its death. Scientists believe that Belone most likely fell into a pool of sap, out of which it was unable to get out and found its end.

Research results offering more details about this baby bird are available in the journal Gondwana Research. Belone is also on display at the Shanghai Museum of Natural History throughout the summer.

Image Source: Wikimedia

STATES CHRONICLE – This week, the biggest X-ray laser in the world has produced the first X-ray laser light. This ended all preparations for the official opening of the European X-ray free electron laser (XFEL) which is bound to take place at the beginning of September.

The shortest wavelength

This X-ray laser is located in Hamburg, Germany. This laser has a wavelength shorter than any other visible one existent, and it measures 0.8 nanometers. At first, the laser produced one pulse per second but, after some time, it will reach 27,000 pulses. This exceeds the capacity of any other X-ray laser existent, namely 120 pulses.

Robert Feidenhans is the director of the European XFEL. He declared that this was a great achievement both for their facility, and for technology in general.

“The facility, to which many countries around the world contributed know-how and components, has passed its first big test with flying colors.”

Producing the most powerful laser light

This facility measures 2.1 miles, is situated in the underground. Most of its surface is occupied by the accelerator tunnel. Here, the electrons are accelerated to create the pulses of laser light. Then, they reach a speed closer to the speed of light when they enter a photon tunnel, where X-ray is generated.

This tunnel is also equipped with magnets, which cause the oscillation of the electron pulses. They oscillate in a zig-zag pattern and, after each short pattern, the X-ray with short wavelength gets released.

As mentioned above, the X-ray laser light produced is quite unique. It is much more intense than any other similar light, and around a billion times brighter than traditional sources of light. Also, given the fact that the wavelength is so short, it can magnify microscopic objects up to atomic resolution.

This is the first X-ray laser light ever produced, and it represents the most powerful accelerator in the world. Therefore, researchers will now be able to obtain clearer images of molecules and observe how chemical reactions bond.
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

STATES CHRONICLE – A government council from California raises awareness regarding global warming which might trigger California sea levels to rise. The level of ocean water off the coast may increase even more than previously estimated. Scientists predicted that by the end of this century, the sea level in this area might rise by ten feet. If this were to happen, airports in San Francisco and Oakland would be destroyed.

Researchers estimated that California sea levels would increase up to 10 feet by the end of the century

Moreover, the sea water will flood roadways, damaging low-lying bridges, farmland, beaches, railroad tracks and some towns near the coast. The report published by a California Ocean Protection Council advisory team indicated warns people about the fact that sea level rise would cause 42,000 homes to be under water.

This council has updated their report on April 26, revealing a higher increase in sea levels. This worst-case scenario prediction occurred after the declaration of the Louisiana governor who warned authorities and residents about the emergency regarding the vanishing coastline of the state. The Governor John Bel Edwards pointed out that Louisiana might lose approximately 2,250 square miles of shoreline due to rising sea levels in the next 50 years.

This sea level rise would damage the infrastructure, flooding beaches and damaging residents’ homes

Miami is also threatened by a terrible rise in sea levels. A new study released in Nature Climate Change last week noted that 2.5 million Miami citizens could lose their homes by 2100. Based on the data provided by the Ocean Protection Council report, in California, the worst thing that could happen is that waters could rise about 30 times faster in the future decades compared to the last century.

If there won’t be a significant change in decreasing the emissions of fossil fuel, a higher rise of sea levels will most likely wipe out about 67% of the beaches in Southern California by 2100. If, however, some significant changes are made, and the reduction of fossil fuel emissions will be significant, then the sea levels in San Francisco Bay would increase by 2.4 feet.

The report of the council warns people that even such a small increase could still damage infrastructure, property and the economy in the area. The team decided to update their report after they unveiled that ice layers in Greenland and Antarctica are melting at a faster pace than they have previously thought. An increase in California sea levels would devastate the area off the coast, causing a lot of financial damage.

Image courtesy of: wikipedia

STATES CHRONICLE – There are many dog breeds which display significant differences, ranging from the Great Dane which weighs 80 kilos to the small poodle of just 1 kilogram. A new study which developed a detailed genetic analysis indicated how these dog breeds reached to develop while showing which ones are related. The new analysis also unveiled why some breeds are predisposed to certain illnesses.

Researchers established that there are 350 dog breeds

Elinor Karlsson, a computational biologist at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester, argued that by using genetics, scientists can indicate what processes happened there while these dog breeds were still evolving. Somewhere between 15,000 to 30,000 when people started domesticating animals, they chose dogs to be their best friends.

They used dogs for cuddling, for their meat and fur, for war or for simply becoming good companions. Nowadays, we count 350 dog breeds, each having its own characteristics and traits. Many of these breeds appeared during the last 200 years. Previous studies have detailed the genetics of some of these breeds. Nevertheless, there was no study showing exactly how some dog breeds came into being today.

They grouped together all the breeds, separating them into 23 clades

Karlsson argues that the period between domestication and present day seems to be a mystery. Heidi Parker and Elaine Ostrander, who are geneticists at the National Human Genome Research Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, together with their colleagues spent about 20 years going to dog shows to build a study. They received help from many other researchers around the world to gather DNA samples.

They confessed that in some cases they used information which was already collected. Their main interest was to reveal how all the dog breeds in the world were developed. Up to this point, researchers collected approximately 1346 samples from dogs representing 161 breeds. They compared the difference on the genome of each dog and built a family tree.

Robert Wayne, an evolutionary biologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, stated that the purpose of this investigation is incredible, making a tour in a search for how all these breeds evolved. Scientists grouped together all the breeds in 23 clades. The new study was published in Cell Reports on April 25. These clades brought together many similar traits.

For instance, Boston terriers, bulldogs and boxers are part of one clade, while collies, corgis ad sheepdogs are part of another group. Researchers stated that this is just the first step of the research and they need to continue their study.

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