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But How Does the Worm Get in Your Brain?
  + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Dana G. Smith | Dani Blum | ) www.nytimes.com   time to read: +1 min
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s disclosure that a doctor apparently found a dead worm in his brain has sparked questions about what brain parasites are, the damage they can cause and how, exactly, they get there. Brain parasites encompass far more than worms. There are “legions” of organisms that can affect the brain, said Scott Gardner, a professor of biological sciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln who specializes in parasites. In addition to worms, common brain parasites include single-celled organisms such as Toxoplasma gondii and some amoeba. The damage varies depending on the type of parasite and where it ends up in the brain.
Persons: Robert F, Kennedy Jr, Scott Gardner, , Daniel Pastula Organizations: University of Nebraska, Lincoln, University of Colorado Medicine
Sandra TorresTorres has a rare disorder called Laron syndrome that is caused by a genetic mutation. “This is how powerful this mutation seems to be.”What is Laron syndrome? Laron syndrome is a recessive gene, so only those who receive a copy from each parent will be affected. The condition leads to extreme obesity, a trigger for diabetes, heart disease, cancer and other diseases. While technically overweight at 100 pounds (45.4 kilograms), she was in good health, with no signs of diabetes or heart disease.
Persons: Paola Castro Torres, ” Torres, Torres, , ” Nathaly Paola Castro Torres, Sandra Torres Torres, , Valter Longo, Longo, Laron, Jaime Guevara, Aguirre, Guevara, ” Longo, ” Guevara, Andrew Freeman, Freeman, ” Hope, it’s Organizations: CNN, gerontology, University of Southern, of Endocrinology, Laron, Jewish Health Locations: Los Angeles, Quito, Ecuador, University of Southern California, Israel, Yemen, East, United States, Croatia, Ireland, Denver
Strange animal behaviors have been observed at the Fort Worth Zoo during totality, according to researchers stationed in Texas. One of the most bizarre animal observations reported during the 2017 total solar eclipse was of giraffes at other facilities gathering in a herd and beginning to gallop. The giraffes did not gallop this year at the Fort Worth Zoo, but they did huddle together and attempt to enter their nighttime enclosures. The most “dramatic reaction” at Fort Worth Zoo came from the primates. “Right at totality, all of the (gorillas) got up from all quarters of the exhibit and walked directly to where they're supposed to be let in (at night),” Hartstone-Rose told CNN.
Persons: Dr, Adam Hartstone, Rose, ” Hartstone Organizations: Fort Worth, Fort Worth Zoo, North Carolina State University, CNN Locations: Texas, Raleigh, Fort
CNN —Ancient DNA recovered from the remains of a sixth century Chinese emperor who ruled during the country’s dark ages has shed some light on what the leader may have looked like. Emperor Wu ruled China as part of the Northern Zhou dynasty from 560 to 580 and is credited with unifying the northern part of ancient China during a particularly chaotic period. “Our analysis shows Emperor Wu had typical East or Northeast Asian facial characteristics.”The authors said they hoped ancient DNA might shed light on Wu’s cause of death. The genetic analysis showed that Emperor Wu intermarried with ethnically Han Chinese, China’s dominant ethnic group today. “It’s interesting to see the genetic study, but none of the findings of this genetic study are surprising at all,” Miller said.
Persons: Emperor Wu, Wu, , Shaoqing Wen, Tobias Houlton, University of Dundee , Houlton, Jeong Hoongwon, Jeong, ” Jeong, Franks, Bryan Miller, Miller, wasn’t, ” Miller, Organizations: CNN, Fudan University, University of Dundee, Seoul National University’s School of Biological Sciences, Han, Central, University of Michigan Locations: China, Mongolia, Shanghai, Seoul, North
CNN —An undertaker turned academic, Alexandra Morton-Hayward became interested in brains — specifically how they decompose — during her former job. To understand why, the anthropologist has compiled a unique archive of information about 4,405 brains unearthed by archaeologists. No other soft tissue survived amongst the bones, which were dredged from a heavily waterlogged grave. Morton-Hayward works in a lab in Oxford, England, where she has helped build a collection of 570 ancient brains. Interestingly, many of the oldest brains are preserved in this unknown way, Morton-Hayward said.
Persons: Alexandra Morton, Hayward, , , Martin Wirenfeldt Nielsen, wasn’t, He’s, ” Wirenfeldt Nielsen, Alexandra L, Morton, It’s, “ I’m Organizations: CNN, University of Oxford, Morton, South Denmark University Hospital, University of Southern, Stone Age, Royal Society B Biological Sciences, Hayward Locations: Morton, Bristol, England, Russia, Oxford, Stone, Stone Age Sweden, Sint, Ypres, Belgium, Polish
64 federal job categories pay upwards of $200,000, with some reaching $400,000. AdvertisementMany people enter federal roles for job security, not for the money. Data from the US Office of Personnel Management indicates 64 federal job categories have positions that pay over $200,000 — and some pay as much as much as $400,000. AdvertisementThere are currently 55 open positions in this category, with the highest role listed with a starting salary of $180,564. According to OPM, there are currently 319 federal employees in this job category who make over $200,000.
Persons: , usajobs.gov Organizations: Service, Management, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Department of, IT Management, NASA, FDA, Fish and Wildlife Service, Forest Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service, General Engineering, Marshall Space Flight, HR Management, National Science Foundation
We’re hoping that we even get kids watching their dogs in their backyard and seeing if their dogs behave interestingly during the eclipse,” Hartstone-Rose said. The next total solar eclipse that will be visible across the contiguous United States won’t appear until August 2044. The space agency is expecting far larger numbers for the 2024 total solar eclipse — nearly 2,500 people have already signed up, she added. “(During a total solar eclipse) you have so many different ways the light is scattering, so there’s these beautiful colors of orange and purple and green. “It’s kind of a great human sensory experience to be in the middle of a total solar eclipse.”
Persons: , Adam Hartstone, Rose, Hartstone, , that’s, Kelsey Perrett, United States won’t, Bryan Pijanowski, , Pijanowski, William M, Wheeler, John Griffioen, Griffioen, Perrett, ” Perrett, ” Pijanowski Organizations: CNN, American, North Carolina State University, Nashville Zoo, Solar, Fort Worth Zoo, NASA, Center, Purdue University, Buffalo Zoo, Zoo, Toledo Zoo, Indianapolis Zoo Locations: Columbia , South Carolina, United States, Raleigh, , Grassmere, Mexico, Canada, Texas, North America, West Lafayette , Indiana, Fort, New York, Arkansas, Ohio
Read previewThis as-told-to essay is based on an interview with the founder and chef of Chishuru, Joké Bakare, about pursuing her dream to open a restaurant. A year later, some friends spotted a competition run by Brixton Village in south London — they were offering the winner a three-month pop-up restaurant. In some ways, the Brixton restaurant was straightforward — it was a small site with just 18 covers inside and 14 outside. Harriet LangfordThe restaurant's success continued and in April 2022, Time Out named Chishuru as London's best restaurant. It's the food that my grandmother might have cooked, but with a London restaurant spin.
Persons: , Joké, Covid, Jay Rayner, Matt Paice, Bakare, Harriet Langford, they'd, I've, We've, Cook, Chishuru Harriet Langford, It's Organizations: Service, Ahmadu Bello University, Business, Brixton, The Observer, Michelin, uda Locations: Kaduna, Nigeria, London —, Brixton, London, Matt, Chishuru
The stem cells will also make it easier for conservation scientists to study the Asian elephant’s unique biology. An Asian elephant stem cell line stained in different colors to highlight different elements. Courtesy ColossalEngineering a woolly mammoth hybridThe elephant stem cells also hold the key to the mammoth’s rebirth. The research team at Colossal has already analyzed the genomes of 53 woolly mammoths from ancient DNA recovered from fossils. The number of modifications needed to make an Asian elephant resistant to the cold would be broadly similar, he said.
Persons: George Church, Ben Lamm, Eriona, Eriona Hysolli, John Davidson “, , Hysolli, Oliver Ryder, Ryder, ” Ryder, Christopher P, Michel “, Ben’s, Lamm, , That’s, We’ve, tramping, Colossal Organizations: CNN, Harvard University, Church, Dallas, Biosciences, Colossal, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Colossal Biosciences, Christopher Locations: Dallas, , Siberia
Read previewThe startup that wants to bring the woolly mammoth back from the dead said it is inching closer to its goal after a breakthrough in creating reprogrammed elephant stem cells. These include bringing back the woolly mammoth and the dodo. But elephant stem cells remained remarkably resistant to the process, per the statement. AdvertisementAfter tweaking the chemical composition of the mixture, Colossal Scientists say they've finally cracked it. Understanding how to turn tweak these elephant stem cells into cells from the extinct species will be another hurdle to tackle going forward.
Persons: , Ben Lamm, Lamm, George Church, we've, Evan Appleton, Vincent Lynch, Lynch, Hysoli Organizations: Service, Colossal Biosciences, Business, Harvard, University at Buffalo, Science Locations: New York
Bioptimus, a new French AI startup for life sciences, has raised $35 million in seed funding. Founded in 2023, Bioptimus is the brainchild of Jean-Philippe Vert, a former research scientist at Google and recently chief R&D officer at French health AI startup Owkin. The company was formed to capitalize on the enormous potential of AI in biological sciences, Vert told Business Insider. "There is something very special now about AI," Vert said. Owkin, Vert's former employer, is an investor and partner to the startup, as is tech entrepreneur and investor Xavier Niel.
Persons: Bioptimus, Jean, Philippe Vert, Rolophe Jenatton, Xavier Niel Organizations: Google, Business, Sofinnova Partners, Cathay Innovation, Harvest, Fundraising Locations: Owkin
Relying on his ace piloting skills, Armstrong manually navigated to a safe landing site, with only 30 seconds of fuel left. NASAAfter launching early Thursday morning, the Odysseus lunar lander, or “Odie,” is on a historic journey to the moon. The mission, developed by NASA and Houston-based Intuitive Machines, will aim to land near the lunar south pole on February 22. Ocean secretsResearchers created a 3D model of the submerged stone wall as it appears on the seafloor in Germany’s Bay of Mecklenburg. They find wonder in planets beyond our solar system and discoveries from the ancient world.
Persons: CNN —, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Armstrong, it’s, Odie, , Jeff Koons, Artemis III, Charles Darwin, Dr, John van Wyhe, Darwin, . Hoy, J . Auer, LAKD, , Gaurav, Gaurav Ramnarayanan, Uma Ramakrishnan, Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt Organizations: CNN, NASA, Darwin, National University of Singapore, University of Rostock, Wildlife, National, for Biological Sciences, Space Station, CNN Space, Science Locations: United States, Houston, Germany’s Bay, Mecklenburg, Bay, Baltic, SS Arlington, Superior, Denmark, Lincoln , Nebraska, British Columbia
But golden tigers — also known as golden tabby tigers or strawberry tigers — are not a subspecies: they’re the result of a genetic mutation that changes the color of their fur. Ramnarayanan spotted the golden tiger, which came within 100 meters of the group, while guiding a safari in the wildlife reserve. The big cat is one of four "golden" tigers in Kaziranga, according to the park's official social media. If Kaziranga’s tiger population becomes more isolated, issues like inbreeding will threaten the population, said Sharma in his post on X. For photographer Ramnarayanan, Kaziranga’s golden tiger was his first sighting of these unusually colored big cats.
Persons: Gaurav Ramnarayanan, Ramnarayanan, “ I’ve, , Uma Ramakrishnan, There’s, , that’s, Gaurav, Mayuresh Hendre, Rabindra Sharma, Sharma, Kota Ullas Organizations: CNN, UNESCO, Heritage, National Center for Biological Sciences, Centre for Wildlife Studies Locations: India’s, Assam, Kaziranga, Mumbai, , India
CNN —Researchers have found a new way in which great apes are similar to humans: they tease each other. Researchers found that all four species of great apes demonstrated “intentionally provocative behavior, frequently accompanied by characteristics of play,” according to the press release. The study details 18 different teasing behaviors, many of which were used to provoke a response or attract another ape’s attention. The authors also differentiate playful teasing, which is one-sided, from play, where both apes reciprocate. While primatologists had observed similar behaviors in the past, the study is the first to systematically study playful teasing, Laumer said.
Persons: Isabelle Laumer, Laumer, ’ ”, primatologists, Organizations: CNN —, BOS Foundation BPI, Max Planck, Animal, CNN, Royal Society, Biological Sciences Locations: Leipzig, Germany, San Diego
Six decades later, plans are ramping up for space tourism, missions to the moon and Mars, and mining on the moon. AdvertisementThe Lunar Resources Registry, a private business that locates valuable resources on the moon and helps investors conduct the required exploration and extraction operations, notes: "The space race is evolving into space industrialization." The case for a lunar Anthropocene is interesting. A lunar AnthropoceneAnd now the Anthropocene, this age of human impact, is also arriving on the moon. An increasing number of moon missions and extracting resources from the moon could destroy lunar environments.
Persons: Christophe Bonneuil, Jean, Baptiste Fressoz, Christine Daigle, Jennifer Ellen Good Organizations: Sputnik, U.S, Resources, NASA, Marshall Space, Brock University Locations: Soviet Union, Alamogordo, N.M
CNN —Mary Cleave, the NASA astronaut who in 1989 became the first woman to fly on a space shuttle mission after the Challenger disaster, has died at the age of 76, the space agency announced on Wednesday. “For me, space flight was great, but it was gravy on top of getting to fly in great airplanes,” she told NASA. Getting to orbitOn her first mission, flying on NASA’s Space Shuttle Atlantis in 1985, Cleave became the 10th woman to travel into space. Over the course of her two shuttle missions, Cleave spent more than 10 days in orbit. Cleave said she made the difficult decision to move on from the corps and NASA’s astronaut hub in Houston, taking a role at Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland in 1991.
Persons: Mary Cleave, , , Bob Cabana, “ Mary, ” Cleave —, , Cleave, ” Cleave, Judith Resnick, Sally Ride, Sally, Cleave “ Organizations: CNN, NASA, Challenger, Science, Colorado State University, Utah State University, Atlantis, CapCom, Ride, Goddard Space Flight, Maryland Locations: Neck , New York, Utah, Houston, Maryland, Washington , DC
Paleontologists recently described the previously unknown mosasaur from fossils found near the North Dakota town of Walhalla. The town’s name comes from Valhalla, the feasting hall of Norse mythology where dead heroes gather, so the scientists dubbed the mosasaur Jormungandr walhallaensis. When the scientists examined the skull, they quickly realized they had something unusual on their hands. This combination of traits convinced the researchers that what they were looking at was a new genus and species. Here is a line drawing of the skull of the Jormungandr walhallaensis.
Persons: Amelia Zietlow, Richard Gilder, Jormungandr, Zietlow, “ He’s, ” Zietlow, Henry Sharpe, Takuya Konishi, Jormungandr walhallaensis, , it’s, Konishi, walhallaensis, ” Konishi, Clint Boyd, , ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, American Museum of, American Museum, Natural, Richard Gilder Graduate, North, North Dakota Geological Survey, American, of, University of Cincinnati, Scientific Locations: North Dakota, Walhalla, Valhalla, New York City, Clidastes, United States
It is unlikely that dengue will become a serious problem in the United States, “as long as people keeping living like they’re living now,” said Thomas W. Scott, a dengue epidemiologist and professor emeritus at University of California, Davis. Outside Puerto Rico and other territories where the disease is endemic, there are about 550 dengue cases each year in the United States, but they are imported by travelers who were infected abroad and passed the disease along to their close contacts. The case in Pasadena is a rare locally acquired case of dengue in the United States. But scientists say dengue will continue to spread to places that haven’t experienced it before. “But I think the general expectation that this is going to be a growing problem in the United States is reasonable.”
Persons: , Thomas W, Scott, Alex Perkins, Dr, Perkins Organizations: University of California, University of Notre Dame Locations: United States, Davis, Puerto Rico, Pasadena
Archaeologist Ralph Solecki discovered the flower burial, as it came to be known, while exploring Shanidar Cave in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq. However, elements of the flower burial theory didn’t seem to add up. “That was, for us, an indication that maybe there was something going on with the flower burial,” Hunt said. Shanidar Cave in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq is seen in May. Its presence is due to the activity of bees and not flower burial, suggests a study led by Chris Hunt, professor emeritus at Liverpool John Moores University in the UK.
Persons: Ralph Solecki, Solecki, , Chris Hunt, Hunt, ” Hunt, Christopher Owen Hunt, they’re, Christopher Owen Hunt Hunt, , Paul Pettitt, Pettitt, Hunt “, Fred Smith, it’s, Grandma, Joe, ’ ” Hunt, Shanidar Organizations: CNN, Liverpool John Moores University, Archaeological Science, Durham University, Illinois State University Locations: Kurdistan, Iraq, United Kingdom, Shanidar
Roundworms infect hundreds of millions of people globally, according to the Cleveland Clinic, but the researchers in Australia said this was the first report of the Ophidascaris worm species infecting a human. The woman may have been infected by the worm the same way small animals typically are: by accidentally consuming worm eggs. Carpet pythons were at a lake area near where the woman lived, the article said. She had no direct contact with the snakes but often gathered warrigal greens, which are similar to spinach, from around the lake to cook. The article said that she could have inadvertently consumed worm eggs by eating the greens or because her hands or her kitchen were contaminated by them.
Persons: Scott Gardner, ” Dr, Gardner, we’re immunocompromised, Organizations: Cleveland Clinic, Manter, Parasitology, University of Nebraska Locations: Australia, Lincoln
The find is also the oldest fully aquatic whale found in Africa, according to a new study. Tutcetus rayanensis is a member of the extinct family of early whales known as basilosauridae — the first widespread group to become fully aquatic. The discovery of the whale fossil led to the establishment of a new genus within the basilosauridae family. The area is one of the world’s “most productive fossil whale sites,” according to the study. Tutcetus rayanensis is the second whale species, following Phiomicetus anubis, to be discovered, described, and named by Egyptian paleontologists,” Antar said via email.
Persons: Pharaoh Tutankhamen, rayanensis, , Mohammed S, Antar, ” Antar, paleobiologist Nicholas Pyenson, wasn’t, Abdullah Gohar, Mohamed Sameh, Hesham, Whales, Erik R, Seiffert, Carlos Mauricio Peredo, Hesham Sallam Organizations: CNN, Communications, Vertebrate Paleontology, Smithsonian National Museum of, Egypt's, University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine, Miami University in, American University Locations: Egypt, Africa, Washington , DC, Mansoura, Wadi, Miami University in Oxford , Ohio, Cairo
Invasive hammerhead flatworms have distinctive curved heads, striped bodies ranging in color from light yellow to dark brown, and they can secrete tetrodotoxin — a neurotoxin found in puffer fish and blue-ringed octopuses. Five species of invasive hammerhead worms — four in the genus Bipalium and one in Diversibipalium — are established in North America, said Bruce Snyder, an associate professor of biology at Georgia College and State University. Today, most hammerhead worms (also known as broadhead planarians) are concentrated in the Southeast, where they favor warm, damp habitats. Bazzano Photography/Alamy Stock PhotoTo date, more than 3,000 sightings in southeastern states of just one invasive hammerhead species — Bipalium kewense — have been shared to the citizen scientist database iNaturalist. Hammerhead tetrodotoxin, which disrupts neurons’ signaling to muscles, can sicken pets if they eat the worms, according to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
Persons: CNN —, they’ve, Peter Ducey, ” Ducey, , Bruce Snyder, they’re, ” Snyder, , Hammerhead tetrodotoxin, Ducey, adventitium, Libbie Hyman, Hyman, Snyder, it’s, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, State University of New, Georgia College, State University, US Department of, Species Information, , Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation, Forestry, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, , hammerheads, Pennsylvania State University’s College of Agricultural Sciences, Scientific Locations: Washington , DC, Yorkers, New York, State University of New York, Cortland, , North America, Southeast Asia, California, Oregon, Maine, New Jersey, Long, Westchester County, New York City, Europe, Asia, Pennsylvania
An unusually high number of people were bitten by sharks in early July near New York. Prior to last year, New York had a very low number of shark bites, according to the Florida Museum International Shark Attack File. While the localized spike is unusual, the total number of unprovoked shark bites worldwide has averaged about 74 per year. Why sharks bite humansThere are roughly 520 species of sharks, according to the University of Florida. "Shark bites are a function of the number of sharks, but also the number of humans in the water," he said.
Persons: WYFF, they'd, Catherine Macdonald, Yannis Papastamatiou, we're, Macdonald, Papastamatiou, There's Organizations: Service, Hilton, NPR, Florida, University of Miami, University of Florida, Florida International University, Florida Museum Locations: New York, Wall, Silicon, Island , South Carolina, Long, New, Australia, California
However, when the scientists compared their horsehair worm genomes with genomic information from other animals, something was missing, Cunha told CNN. Two live tangled freshwater horsehair worms, scientifically called Gordionus violaceus, were found in Germany. Mysteries remain about the worms’ movementsAs useful as cilia are, horsehair worms seem to be doing just fine without them, the scientists reported. To date, scientists have identified several hundred species of freshwater horsehair worms and five species of marine horsehair worms. Marine horsehair worms spend their entire lives in water, but freshwater species are only aquatic as adults.
Persons: , australiensis, munidae, Tauana Cunha, Cunha, , , “ It’s, Gonzalo Giribet, nematomorphs, Keiichi Kakui, Kakui, ” Kakui, Martin Sørensen, Ophiocordyceps, Bruno de Medeiros, California’s Organizations: CNN, Chicago’s Field, Harvard University, Hokkaido University, HBO, Field, Monument Locations: Germany, Japan, nematomorphs, California’s Muir
July 7 (Reuters) - Warm and cuddly are adjectives that seldom spring to mind when one thinks of rattlesnakes. The findings challenge the notion that reptiles are solitary hunters that display little in the way of complex social behavior. Ethology, the study of animal behavior, has long recognized that birds and mammals, including humans, find comfort from being physically close to their own kind. To measure stress levels in the snakes, Martin used a heart-rate monitor designed for humans. "It lets us know as humans that, hey, we're not that different from these snakes," Martin said.
Persons: Chelsea Martin, William Hayes, Hayes, " Hayes, Martin, Rich McKay, Frank McGurty, Will Dunham Organizations: Loma Linda University, rattlers, Loma, wrangle rattlers, Thomson Locations: San Bernardino , California, Southern California, Atlanta
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