New Delhi: Everyone has heard of the ‘biological clock’ argument, and how women are advised to have children sooner in their lives. However, is the biological clock actually true in the scientific sense? Do older women have more issues with their reproductive cells?
Well, researchers at Penn State University in the US did a study to assess the health of egg cells in women as they aged. They wanted to assess whether the eggs aged or changed as a woman grew older, especially by analysing the mitochondrial DNA in the egg cells.
The peer-reviewed study was published in the journal Science Advances earlier this year.
They found that while the cells in the rest of the body aged faster, egg cells were protected from mutations and did not age as fast. The study indicates that women’s bodies are designed to ensure their reproductive cells are protected and preserved across a woman’s lifespan. The biological clock argument, then, might not be entirely rooted in biology.
Also Read: Why do women live longer than men? German anthropologists have an answer
Asteroid impact, but no crater
Scientists have discovered that an asteroid struck the Earth 11 million years ago. Except, they can’t find the crater. So how do they know there was an asteroid in the first place?
Well, scientists from Curtin University in Australia did it by identifying a type of natural glass or tektite, found only in parts of South Australia. These natural glass fragments were formed when the asteroid struck Earth with immense force, melted away the Earth’s surface rock and hurled parts of the rock into the air. When these pieces of melted rock flew in the air, they cooled rapidly, turned into glass and then hit the Earth again.
Tektites are thus clues about the Earth’s geological history, such as asteroids and meteorites that can help scientists trace back dates and timelines. By analysing these tektites, which date back 11 million years, researchers were able to tell that the Earth was indeed hit by an asteroid then, even though there’s no sign of its crater yet.
They described their findings in a paper in the Earth and Planetary Sciences journal to be published on 15 November.
Genes vs lead toxicity
Lead toxicity and poisoning have been proven to be a threat to humans because they can lead to learning difficulties, brain damage, and even neural issues. A study by UC San Diego found that even Neanderthals from two million years ago were found with lead traces in their skulls. The findings were published in Science Advances journal on 15 October.
So how did humans overcome lead toxicity? The answer is in one gene known as the NOVA1 gene, which differs between modern humans and Neanderthals.
Laboratory experiments by the UC San Diego researchers showed that while lead negatively affected both gene variants, in the older NOVA1 gene, lead also resulted in disruption in the FOXP2 gene, which is essential for language. So this modern NOVA1 mutation is what protected humans from losing access to complex language, social cohesion, and advanced communication as compared to Neanderthals.
However, high levels of lead poisoning can impact human health even now.
Move over lithium, sodium batteries are in
The world might be ready for its latest technological shift: sodium batteries, developed by the University of Chicago which are almost as effective as lithium-ion ones, while being cheaper and more sustainable.
Researchers at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering have developed all-solid-state batteries, which means more powerful energy storage for electric vehicles, electronics, and renewable grids. Lithium, which is mainly used for these batteries, is scarce, expensive, and environmentally damaging to mine, not to mention the geopolitical wrangles intertwined with its procurement.
So the UChicago scientists used sodium instead. It is abundant, low-cost, and less harmful to extract, and the new variant that the researchers made has more energy density and can almost match a lithium battery in its electrochemical performance. Their findings were published in a study in the journal Joule on 10 October. There’s still a long way to go both in science and market readiness, but this still marks a major breakthrough.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)