Climate change to cause more turbulence in flights
The air turbulence experienced in flights is expected to worsen in the coming decades due to climate change, as disruptions in the stability of the atmosphere increase, new research has found.
Using 26 global climate models, scientists have studied how rising temperatures altered jet streams, which are fast-flowing air currents at around 35,000 feet, where most planes cruise. The jet streams determine many plane routes and also cause turbulence. Published by the Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences on 19 August, the study has predicted a rise in wind shear by 16–27 percent and a fall in atmospheric stability by 10–20 percent between 2015 and 2100.
Together, these shifts will create prime conditions for clear-air turbulence—the sudden, invisible jolts that can violently shake an aircraft without warning. The paper said that pilots may face more frequent and severe turbulence, while co-author Professor Paul Williams warned that airlines will need new technology to detect it. With turbulence already costing the US carriers up to $500 million a year, the paper has set alarm bells ringing. The skies could soon become even rougher.
Longer the thumb, sharper the brain in primates
Scientists have discovered that opposable thumbs reveal much more about brains than was previously known. A new study of 94 primate species, including both fossils and living animals, by the University of Reading has shown that species with relatively longer thumbs tend to have relatively larger brains.
Published in the peer-reviewed Communications Biology journal on 26 August, the research is the first direct evidence that nimble hands and bigger brains evolved together across the primate family—from lemurs all the way to humans. Even when scientists removed human data, the link between thumb length and brain size held firm.
Lead author Dr Joanna Baker from the University of Reading said in a press release that as our ancestors got better at gripping and manipulating objects, their brains had to expand to keep up. The study has found no correlation between longer thumbs and the movement centres in the brain. However, there is a correlation between longer thumbs and the neocortex—the region responsible for thinking, planning, and consciousness. This reflects a much deeper relationship between hand dexterity and advanced cognitive abilities of the brain.
Astronomers capture an infant planet on camera
A team of astronomers led by the University of Galway has captured a rare glimpse of an infant planet orbiting a young star, similar to our Sun. Named WISPIT 2b, the planet is about five million years old—a blink of an eye in cosmic time. Initial observations have found that it is likely a gas giant, comparable in size to Jupiter.
Chile’s European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope made the discovery, published on 26 August in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. Researchers initially spotted a striking multi-ringed dust disk around the star, before detecting the young planet glowing in near-infrared light. Being so young, the planet is still glowing and very hot, and most of the light it emits remains in the infrared spectrum.
It’s only the second confirmed planet ever detected at such an early stage of formation, and the first within a multi-ringed disk. The paper says WISPIT 2b offers scientists a rare opportunity to study the birth and evolution of planets.
Spiders use fireflies as glowing ‘bait’ in their webs
Ecologists in Taiwan have discovered a rare predatory trick—a nocturnal spider that uses trapped fireflies as bait, their glow luring more prey. The sheet web spider, Psechrus clavis, catches fireflies and leaves them alive in its web, where they continue to glow for up to an hour. This bioluminescence attracts fresh prey.
To try this in an experimental format, the researchers placed LED lights to mimic fireflies in webs and found that they drew three times more insects than normal webs. In fact, looking at how many fireflies got caught due to the bioluminescence, the number rose tenfold compared to normal webs. The majority of the glowing victims were male, likely mistaking the light for potential mates, according to the scientists.
Published in the Journal of Animal Ecology on 28 August, the study reveals how spiders exploit their prey’s own mating signals to boost hunting success—without expending any energy on bioluminescence themselves. This work, according to the paper, has highlighted “a previously undocumented interaction” in the complex evolutionary game of predator and prey.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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