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Scientists Intrigued by Bridge of Dark Matter Inside Huge Galaxy Cluster

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The mysterious dark matter

The Perseus cluster is a vast swirl of thousands of galaxies, all bound together by gravity. Famed for its unbelievable size — containing the mass of some 600 trillion suns — it also has a reputation for being one of the few "relaxed" galaxy clusters out there: it shows no signs of having undergone a powerful but disruptive merger with another galaxy, which is how these clusters typically grow. In a word, Perseus looks settled down and pretty stable.

But that may not be the case, according to an international team of astronomers. As detailed in a new study published in the journal Nature Astronomy, the astronomers have found a "bridge" of dark matter that leads to the center of the cluster, which they believe is the remnant of a massive object slamming into the galactic swirl billions of years ago. If this is evidence of a major merger, it'd mean that Perseus isn't so "relaxed" after all.

"This is the missing piece we've been looking for," said study coauthor James Jee, a physicist at University of California, Davis, in a statement about the work. "All the odd shapes and swirling gas observed in the Perseus cluster now make sense within the context of a major merger."

Dark matter is the invisible substance believed to account for around 80 percent of all mass in the universe. While we can't interact with dark matter, its gravity appears to be responsible for governing the shapes of the cosmos's largest structures, pulling "normal" matter together around "clumps" of itself to form the galaxies that we see.

To make the discovery, the astronomers sifted through data collected by the Subaru Telescope in Japan to look for signs of what's known as gravitational lensing. This occurs when the gravity of a massive object bends the light of more distant sources like a lens, magnifying our view of what lies behind it. 

By measuring how the light is being distorted, astronomers can infer traits about the object that's causing the lensing. This technique is known as weak gravitational lensing, and can only be used when there's a large number of galaxies that the distortion's incredibly subtle effects can be observed on. It's one of the primary ways that astronomers map the distribution of dark matter throughout the cosmos.

Using this technique, the astronomers found a dark matter clump located inside the Perseus cluster around 1.4 million light years away from its center, weighing a colossal 200 trillion solar masses (the entire Milky Way, for reference, weighs about 1.5 trillion solar masses). But the clump clearly was a highly disruptive intruder, because it left behind an enormous dark matter "bridge" linking it to the center of the cluster. According to the astronomers, it's as good as a sign of a collision between the clump and the cluster as it gets. And from simulations they performed, this epic merger occurred some five billion years ago — the echoes of which still affect Perseus' structure to this day.

"It took courage to challenge the prevailing consensus, but the simulation results from our collaborators and recent observations from the Euclid and XRISM space telescopes strongly support our findings," lead author HyeongHan Kim, an astronomer at Yonsei University in South Korea, said in the statement.

More on dark matter: Scientists Say Dark Matter May Be Giving Off a Signal

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Scientists Revive Organism Found Buried at Bottom of Ocean

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The dormant algae cells remained buried at the bottom of the Baltic Sea for thousands of years, and made a full recovery once revived.

A team of researchers in Germany have revived algae cells found buried at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, where they'd lain dormant for more than 7,000 years.

For millennia, the cells, imprisoned under layers of sediment, were deprived of oxygen or light. But once revived, they showed full functional recovery, the researchers report in a study published in The ISME Journal, firing back up their oxygen production and multiplying again like it was no big deal. 

According to the team, this is the oldest known organism retrieved from aquatic sediments to be revived from dormancy, providing a stunning example of what's possible in the burgeoning field of "resurrection ecology."

"It is remarkable that the resurrected algae have not only survived 'just so,' but apparently have not lost any of their 'fitness,' i.e. their biological performance ability," study lead author Sarah Bolius of the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research said in a statement about the work. "They grow, divide and photosynthesize like their modern descendants."

When entering a dormant state, organisms can weather poor environmental conditions by storing energy and lowering their metabolism. Mammals like hedgehogs, for example, accomplish this by hibernating, relying on their body fat to outlast the winter.

But in the Baltic Sea, the conditions are just right to allow some algae to survive far longer than what a typical dormant state would allow. Upon becoming dormant, the phytoplankton cells sink to the bottom of the ocean, where they're gradually buried under accumulating layers of sediment.

These latest specimens were extracted from nearly 800 feet underwater, in an area known the Eastern Gotland Deep. Here, the waters are considered anoxic, meaning they have virtually no oxygen, especially at the lowest depths. Without this element, decomposition can't set in. And with the seafloor acting as a shield, there's no sunlight to damage the dormant algae cells, either. 

In all, algae from nine separate samples were able to be restored after the researchers placed them back in favorable conditions. The eldest was dated to 6,871 years old, plus or minus 140 years, an estimate the researchers could confidently make thanks to the "clear stratification" of the sediment, according to Bolius.

"Such deposits are like a time capsule containing valuable information about past ecosystems and the inhabiting biological communities, their population development and genetic changes," Bolius said.

And that's what's really promising. Bolius believes that by reviving the dormant organisms, they'll also learn more about the environment during the period they originally lived in, such as the water's salinity, oxygen, and temperature conditions.

"The fact that we were actually able to successfully reactivate such old algae from dormancy is an important first step in the further development of the 'Resurrection Ecology' tool in the Baltic Sea," Bolius added. "This means that it is now possible to conduct 'time-jump experiments' into various stages of Baltic Sea development in the lab."

More on ocean life: It Turns Out Sharks Make Noises, and Here's What They Sound Like

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Strange Signal Coming From Dead Galaxy, Scientists Say

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Astronomers say they've detected a mysterious type of signal known as a fast radio burst coming from an ancient, dead galaxy.

Radio Star

Astronomers say they've detected a mysterious type of signal known as a fast radio burst coming from an ancient, dead galaxy billions of light years away. Figuratively speaking, it makes for one hell of a sign of life. 

The findings, documented in two studies published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, upends the long held belief that FRBs — extremely powerful pulses of energy — originate exclusively from star-forming regions of space, as dead galaxies no longer support the birth of new stars. 

Adding to the seeming improbability of the FRB's origin, the researchers believe that the signal's source came from the furthermost outskirts of the galaxy, about 130,000 light years from its center, with only moribund stars at the end of their stellar evolution for company.

"This is both surprising and exciting, as FRBs are expected to originate inside galaxies, often in star-forming regions," said Vishwangi Shah, lead author of one of the studies and an astronomer at McGill University, said in a statement about the work.  "The location of this FRB so far outside its host galaxy raises questions as to how such energetic events can occur in regions where no new stars are forming."

Quick and the Dead

Though they're often only milliseconds in duration, FRBs are so powerful at their source that a single pulse emits more energy than our Sun does in an entire year. 

What could cause such staggering outbursts? Astronomers have speculated that they originate from magnetars, a type of collapsed, extremely dense stellar object called a neutron star that maintains an unfathomably potent magnetic field, perhaps trillions of times stronger than Earth's.

But that theory is now being challenged by this latest FRB, designed FRB 20240209A, because there are no young stars in the 11.3 billion year old galaxy that could form magnetars. Only extremely massive stars, which have short lifespans as a consequence of their size and thus would need to have been recently formed, possess enough mass to collapse into neutron stars in the first place. 

Outcasts Together

FRB 20240209A isn't the first to be found in such a remote location. In 2022, astronomers detected another signal originating from the outskirts of its galaxy, Messier 81, where no active star formation was taking place.

"That event single-handedly halted the conventional train of thought and made us explore other progenitor scenarios for FRBs," said Wen-fai Fong, a coauthor of both studies and an astrophysicist at Northwestern University, in the statement. "Since then, no FRB had been seen like it, leading us to believe it was a one-off discovery — until now."

Crucially, the M81 FRB was found in a dense conglomeration of stars called a globular cluster. Given their similar circumstances, it led the astronomers to believe that FRB 20240209A could be residing in a globular cluster, too. To confirm this hunch, they hope to use the James Webb Telescope to image the region of space around the FRB's origins.

More on space: Scientists Intrigued by Planet With Long Tail

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Paralyzed Man Can Now Fly Drone Using Brain Implant

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A groundbreaking brain implant has allowed a paralyzed man to control a virtual drone and fly it through an obstacle course.

A groundbreaking brain implant has allowed a paralyzed man to control a virtual drone and fly it through an obstacle course.

The feat, as detailed in a study published in the journal Nature Medicine, was achieved by mapping virtual inputs to signals sent by a region of the brain that controls the fingers, the left precentral gyrus, which is where the brain computer interface (BCI) was implanted.

All the paralyzed patient had to do to exert control is simply think about moving the digits of his hand — bringing a whole new meaning, we must report, to the expression of "not lifting a finger."

"This is a greater degree of functionality than anything previously based on finger movements," said study lead author Matthew Willsey, an assistant professor of neurosurgery and biomedical engineering at the University of Michigan, in a statement about the work.

Key to the BCI's success, the researchers argue, was the fact that it was a brain implant, and not a noninvasive alternative like a brain cap. The researchers believe that placing electrodes as close as possible to neurons is essential to achieve highly functional motor control.

In this case, a total of 192 electrodes were surgically placed in the patient's brain, connecting to a computer. 

From there, a type of AI called a feed-forward neural network interprets the signals, assigning them to different finger movements. The AI system learned to distinguish the signals during a training stage in which the patient tried to perform motions with their fingers — in their mind, to clarify — in sync with a moving virtual hand.

In total, the system provides four degrees of freedom: forwards and backwards, left and right, up and down, and horizontal rotation. Plenty to fly a drone or take control of any virtual environment.

The researchers hope that their technique will open up vast recreational opportunities for people with paralysis and other severe disabilities — like being able to play multiplayer video games, a feat already achieved by a Neuralink patient.

"People tend to focus on restoration of the sorts of functions that are basic necessities — eating, dressing, mobility — and those are all important," co-author Jamie Henderson, a Stanford professor of neurosurgery, said in the statement. "But oftentimes, other equally important aspects of life get short shrift, like recreation or connection with peers. People want to play games and interact with their friends."

Willsey's patient, a 69-year-old man who became quadriplegic after sustaining a devastating spine injury, has a passion for flying. With any luck, he may be able to play a full blown flight simulator — or maybe even control a real drone — in the near future.

More on brain implants: First Neuralink Patient Using It to Learn New Languages

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Startup Mocked for Charging $5,000 to "Edit" Book Manuscripts Using AI

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Startup company Spines wants to publish 8,000 books in 2025 by using AI. Before that can happen, Spines should stop embarrassing itself.

Let Him Book

A startup called Spines apparently wants to use AI to edit and publish 8,000 books in 2025 — though no word on whether they'll be any good.

There are several issues with the premise. First, AI is a notoriously untalented wordsmith. It will undoubtedly struggle with the myriad tasks Spines assigns to it, including "proofreads, cover designs, formats, publishes, and... distributing your book in just a couple of weeks," according to the venture's website. 

Oh, and then there's the issue of Spines embarrassing itself publicly. 

"A great example of how no one can find actual uses for LLMs that aren't scams for grifts," short story writer Lincoln Michel wrote of the flap on X-formerly-Twitter. "Quite literally the LAST thing publishing needs is... AI regurgitations."

Author Rowan Coleman agreed.

"The people behind Spines AI publishing are spineLESS," Coleman posted on the same site. "They don’t care about books, don’t care about art, don’t care about the instinctive human talent it takes to write, edit and produce a book. They want the magic, without the work."

Feral Page

Spines CEO and cofounder Yehuda Niv told The Bookseller, a UK book business magazine, that Spines had already published seven "bestsellers." But when Spines was pressed to provide sales numbers, a company representative claimed the "data is private and belongs to the author." Hm, suspicious. 

Niv also promised The Bookseller that Spines "isn't self-publishing, is not a traditional publisher and is not a vanity publisher." That's despite the fact that Spines' website, which sells publishing plans from between $1,500 to $4,400, advertises to customers who are clearly looking to team up with an inexpensive vanity publisher.

"I sent my book to 17 different publishers and got rejected every time, and vanity publishers quoted me between $11,000 to $17,000," said on Spines' website the author of Spines' "Biological Transcendence and the Tao: An Exposé on the Potential to Alleviate Disease and Ageing and the Considerations of Age-Old Wisdom," which doesn't currently have a single Amazon review. "With Spines, I got my book published in less than 30 days!" 

Hm, interesting. That testimonial makes Spines sound an awful lot like a vanity publisher.

AI startups love to reinvent the wheel and claim it's never been done before. Like an ed tech startup founder who used AI to cover for her run-of-the-mill embezzlement, or a Finnish AI company which put a high tech twist on the common practice of exploiting incarcerated workers. 

Will it work for books? We'll be watching.

More on AI: Character.AI Is Hosting Pro-Anorexia Chatbots That Encourage Young People to Engage in Disordered Eating

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Former CEO Blames Working From Home for Google’s AI Struggles, Regrets It Immediately

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Billionaire ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt is walking back his questionable claim that remote work is to blame for Google's AI failures.

Eyes Will Roll

Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt is walking back his questionable claim that remote work is to blame for Google slipping behind OpenAI in Silicon Valley's ongoing AI race.

On Tuesday, Stanford University published a YouTube video of a recent talk that Schmidt gave at the university's School of Engineering. During that talk, when asked why Google was falling behind other AI firms, Schmidt declared that Google's AI failures stem from its decision to let its staffers enjoy remote work and, with it, a bit of "work-life balance."

"Google decided that work-life balance and going home early and working from home was more important than winning," the ex-Googler told the classroom. "And the reason startups work is because people work like hell."

The comment understandably sparked criticism. After all, work-life balance is important, and Google isn't a startup.

And it didn't take long for Schmidt to eat his words.

"I misspoke about Google and their work hours," Schmidt told The Wall Street Journal in an emailed statement. "I regret my error."

In a Stanford talk posted today, Eric Schmidt says the reason why Google is losing to @OpenAI and other startups is because Google only has people coming in 1 day per week ? pic.twitter.com/XPxr3kdNaC

— Alex Kehr (@alexkehr) August 13, 2024

Ctrl Alt Delete

In the year 2024, Google is one of the most influential tech giants on the planet, and a federal judge in Washington DC ruled just last week that Google has monopoly power over the online search market. Its pockets are insanely deep, meaning that it can compete in the industry talent war and devote a ridiculous amount of resources to its AI efforts.

What it didn't do, though, was publicly release a chatbot before OpenAI did. OpenAI, which arguably isn't exactly a startup anymore either, was the first to wrench open that Pandora's box — and Google has been playing catch-up ever since.

So in other words, not sleeping on the floors of Google's lavish facilities isn't exactly the problem here.

In a Wednesday statement on X-formerly-Twitter, the Alphabet Workers Union declared in response to Schmidt's comments that "flexible work arrangements don't slow down our work."

"Understaffing, shifting priorities, constant layoffs, stagnant wages and lack of follow-through from management on projects," the statement continued, "these factors slow Google workers down every day."

Later on Wednesday, as reported by The Verge, Stanford removed the video of Schmidt's talk from YouTube upon the billionaire's request.

More on Google AI: Google's Demo of Its Latest AI Tech Was an Absolute Train Wreck

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