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• Microalga Superfood
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• No Two Worms Are Alike
• Physicists Solve Puzzle About Ancient Galaxy
• Improving Winter River Safety
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• Retention Ponds Reduce Tire Pollution
• Decoding the Language of Cells
• Janus Particles Transcend Limitations
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Monday, april 15, 2024.

• School Suspensions and Exclusions Put Vulnerable Children at Risk

Friday, April 12, 2024

• Cell's 'garbage Disposal' May Have Another Role: Helping Neurons Near Skin Sense the Environment
• Study Reveals Potential to Reverse Lung Fibrosis Using the Body's Own Healing Technique
• Where Have All the Right Whales Gone?
• Inherited Predisposition for Higher Muscle Strength May Protect Against Common Morbidities
• A Novel Machine Learning Model for the Characterization of Material Surfaces
• How Seaweed Became Multicellular
• Microbial Food as a Strategy Food Production of the Future
• Brightest Gamma-Ray Burst of All Time Came from the Collapse of a Massive Star
• Iconic Savanna Mammals Face Genetic Problems Due to Fences and Roads
• Innovative Antiviral Defense With New CRISPR Tool
• PFAS Exposure from High Seafood Diets May Be Underestimated
• Oceanographers Uncover the Vital Role of Mixing Down of Oxygen in Sustaining Deep Sea Health
• Exoplanets True to Size
• Choosing Sugary Drinks Over Fruit Juice for Toddlers Linked to Risk of Adult Obesity
• Melanomas Resist Drugs by 'breaking' Genes
• Africa's Iconic Flamingos Threatened by Rising Lake Levels
• Scientists Uncover a Missing Link Between Poor Diet and Higher Cancer Risk

Thursday, April 11, 2024

• Cells Putting on a Face
• Two Key Brain Systems Are Central to Psychosis
• Researchers Identify New Genetic Risk Factors for Persistent HPV Infections
• Artificial Intelligence Can Help People Feel Heard
• Scientists Use Wearable Technology to Detect Stress Levels During Sleep
• Beautiful Nebula, Violent History: Clash of Stars Solves Stellar Mystery
• First Step to Untangle DNA: Supercoiled DNA Captures Gyrase Like a Lasso Ropes Cattle
• New Approach for Combating 'resting' Bacteria
• New Study Finds Potential Targets at Chromosome Ends for Degenerative Disease Prevention
• 'Surprising' Hidden Activity of Semiconductor Material Spotted by Researchers
• Novel CT Exam Reduces Need for Invasive Artery Treatment
• Why Some People With Rheumatoid Arthritis Have Pain Without Inflammation
• Trapped in the Middle: Billiards With Memory
• With Inspiration from 'Tetris,' Researchers Develop a Better Radiation Detector
• Rock Permeability, Microquakes Link May Be a Boon for Geothermal Energy
• Study Helps Explain Why Childhood Maltreatment Continues to Impact on Mental and Physical Health Into Adulthood
• A New Spin on Organic Shampoo Makes It Sudsier, Longer Lasting
• Nanoscale Movies Shed Light on One Barrier to a Clean Energy Future
• Tropical Coral-Infecting Parasites Discovered in Cold Marine Ecosystems
• Colorless, Odorless Gas Likely Linked to Alarming Rise in Non-Smoking Lung Cancer
• New AI Method Captures Uncertainty in Medical Images
• Star Trek's Holodeck Recreated Using ChatGPT and Video Game Assets
• Discovery Brings All-Solid-State Sodium Batteries Closer to Practical Use
• Breakthrough Promises Secure Quantum Computing at Home
• Biofortified Rice to Combat Deficiencies
• Scientists Uncover Key Resistance Mechanism to Wnt Inhibitors in Pancreatic and Colorectal Cancers
• Economist: Tens of Billions of Dollars in Forest Products Are Being Overlooked
• New Ways to Fine Tune Electrochemistry
• Twinkle Twinkle Baby Star, 'sneezes' Tell Us How You Are
• Oxidant Pollutant Ozone Removes Mating Barriers Between Fly Species
• Nothing Is Everything: How Hidden Emptiness Can Define the Usefulness of Filtration Materials
• Cloud Engineering Could Be More Effective 'painkiller' For Global Warming Than Previously Thought
• AI Model Can Accurately Assess PTSD in Postpartum Women
• Hybrid Intelligence Can Reconcile Biodiversity and Agriculture
• Landmark Study Involving Babies in Ireland Supports Use of Cystic Fibrosis Drug in Infants from Four Weeks of Age
• Parkinson's Disease: New Theory on the Disease's Origins and Spread
• Food Security in Developed Countries Shows Resilience to Climate Change
• Synthetic Platelets Stanch Bleeding, Promote Healing in Animal Models
• Study Lays the Basis for New Knowledge on Gastrointestinal Diseases
• Mapped: 33 New Big Game Migrations Across American West
• Chemicals Stored in Home Garages Linked to ALS Risk
• In the Drive to Deprescribe, Heartburn Drug Study Teaches Key Lessons
• Proud Seafarers Have Strong Doubts About the Safety of Autonomous Ships
• Genetic Underpinnings of Environmental Stress Identified in Model Plant
• People Who Use Willpower Alone to Achieve Goals, Resist Temptation, Deemed More Trustworthy
• This Outdated Diabetes Drug Still Has Something to Offer
• Geobiology: New Placozoan Habitat Discovered
• Safety of a Potential New Treatment to Manage Complications from Sickle Cell Disease
• Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy Increase Risk of Cardiovascular Death After Giving Birth
• Economic Burden of Childhood Verbal Abuse by Adults Estimated at $300 Billion Globally
• Method to Extract Useful Proteins from Beer-Brewing Leftovers

Wednesday, April 10, 2024

• Scientists Create Octopus Survival Guide to Minimize Impacts of Fishing
• Pacific Cities Much Older Than Previously Thought
• The Hidden Role of the Milky Way in Ancient Egyptian Mythology
• New 3D-Printing Method Makes Printing Objects More Affordable and Eco-Friendly
• Newly Found Genetic Variant Defends Against Alzheimer's Disease
• New Way to Generate Human Cartilage
• New Origin of Deep Brain Waves Discovered
• Ants in Colorado Are on the Move Due to Climate Change
• More Than Half a Million Global Stroke Deaths May Be Tied to Climate Change
• Mixed Diets Balance Nutrition and Carbon Footprint
• AI Powered 'digital Twin' Models the Infant Microbiome
• Size of Salty Snack Influences Eating Behavior That Determines Amount Consumed
• Using CO2 and Biomass, Researchers Find Path to More Environmentally Friendly Recyclable Plastics
• New Drug Prevents Flu-Related Inflammation and Lung Damage
• A Faster, Better Way to Prevent an AI Chatbot from Giving Toxic Responses
• Researchers Identify Protein That Controls CAR T Cell Longevity
• The Genesis of Our Cellular Skeleton, Image by Image
• Researchers Discover How We Perceive Bitter Taste
• Quantum Breakthrough When Light Makes Materials Magnetic
• New Report 'braids' Indigenous and Western Knowledge for Forest Adaptation Strategies Against Climate Change
• Mechanism of Action of the Hepatitis B and D Virus Cell Entry Inhibitor Bulevirtide Deciphered
• New Insight Into Combating Drug-Resistant Prostate Cancer
• 3D Mouth of an Ancient Jawless Fish Suggests They Were Filter-Feeders, Not Scavengers or Hunters
• A Promising Target for New RNA Therapeutics Now Accessible
• Novel UV Broadband Spectrometer Revolutionizes Air Pollutant Analysis
• Obese and Overweight Children at Risk of Iron Deficiency
• AI Makes Retinal Imaging 100 Times Faster, Compared to Manual Method
• Impact of Aldehydes on DNA Damage and Aging
• New Method of Measuring Qubits Promises Ease of Scalability in a Microscopic Package
• Study Shedding New Light on Earth's Global Carbon Cycle Could Help Assess Liveability of Other Planets
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Obesity drugs aren’t always forever. What happens when you quit?

Many researchers think that Wegovy and Ozempic should be taken for life, but myriad factors can force people off them.

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Could JWST solve cosmology’s big mystery? Physicists debate Universe-expansion data

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Long online discussions are consistently the most toxic

An ambitious investigation has analysed discourse on eight social-media platforms, covering a vast array of topics and spanning several decades. It reveals that online conversations increase in toxicity as they get longer — and that this behaviour persists despite shifts in platforms’ business models, technological advances and societal norms.

Wildlife boost in African forests certified for sustainable logging

Is there a conservation benefit if tropical forests that are affected by logging gain certification from the Forest Stewardship Council? An analysis of the biodiversity outcomes in such tropical forests provides answers.

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Scalable, high-quality 2D telluride nanosheets for energy and catalysis applications

An innovative solid-state lithiation strategy allows the exfoliation of layered transition-metal tellurides into nanosheets in an unprecedentedly short time, without sacrificing their quality. The observation of physical phenomena typically seen in highly crystalline TMT nanosheets opens the way to their use in applications such as batteries and micro-supercapacitors.

Nanoscale scythe cuts molecular tethers using mechanical forces

Nanoscale systems that release small molecules have potential therapeutic and industrial uses, but can result in low numbers of molecules reaching their target. A release system triggered by mechanical force offers a fresh approach.

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Controlling single polyatomic molecules in an optical array for quantum applications

Applications from quantum computing to searches for physics beyond the standard model could benefit from precision control of polyatomic molecules. A method of confining and manipulating single polyatomic molecules held in tightly focused ‘optical tweezer’ laser arrays at ultracold temperatures could boost progress on all those fronts.

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Light-wave-controlled Haldane model in monolayer hexagonal boron nitride

We introduce strong tailored light-wave-driven time-reversal symmetry breaking in monolayer hexagonal boron nitride, realizing a sub-laser-cycle controllable analogue of the topological model of Haldane and inducing non-resonant valley polarization.

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Force-controlled release of small molecules with a rotaxane actuator

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Home / 2024 / April / Scientists discover first nitrogen-fixing organelle

Scientists discover first nitrogen-fixing organelle

April 11, 2024

By Erin Malsbury

Modern biology textbooks assert that only bacteria can take nitrogen from the atmosphere and convert it into a form that is usable for life. Plants that fix nitrogen, such as legumes, do so by harboring symbiotic bacteria in root nodules. But a recent discovery upends that rule. 

In two recent papers, an international team of scientists describe the first known nitrogen-fixing organelle within a eukaryotic cell. The organelle is the fourth example in history of primary endosymbiosis — the process by which a prokaryotic cell is engulfed by a eukaryotic cell and evolves beyond symbiosis into an organelle.

“It’s very rare that organelles arise from these types of things,” said Tyler Coale, a postdoctoral scholar at UC Santa Cruz and first author on one of two recent papers. “The first time we think it happened, it gave rise to all complex life. Everything more complicated than a bacterial cell owes its existence to that event,” he said, referring to the origins of the mitochondria. “A billion years ago or so, it happened again with the chloroplast, and that gave us plants,” Coale said. 

The third known instance involves a microbe similar to a chloroplast. The newest discovery is the first example of a nitrogen-fixing organelle, which the researchers are calling a nitroplast.

A decades-long mystery

The discovery of the organelle involved a bit of luck and decades of work. In 1998, Jonathan Zehr, a UC Santa Cruz distinguished professor of marine sciences, found a short DNA sequence of what appeared to be from an unknown nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium in Pacific Ocean seawater. Zehr and colleagues spent years studying the mystery organism, which they called UCYN-A. 

At the same time, Kyoko Hagino, a paleontologist at Kochi University in Japan, was painstakingly trying to culture a marine alga. It turned out to be the host organism for UCYN-A. It took her over 300 sampling expeditions and more than a decade, but Hagino eventually successfully grew the alga in culture, allowing other researchers to begin studying UCYN-A and its marine alga host together in the lab.

For years, the scientists considered UCYN-A an endosymbiont that was closely associated with an alga. But the two recent papers suggest that UCYN-A has co-evolved with its host past symbiosis and now fits criteria for an organelle.

Organelle origins

In a paper published in Cell in March, Zehr and colleagues from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Institut de Ciències del Mar in Barcelona and the University of Rhode Island show that the size ratio between UCYN-A and their algal hosts is similar across different species of the marine haptophyte algae Braarudosphaera bigelowii .

The researchers use a model to demonstrate that the growth of the host cell and UCYN-A are controlled by the exchange of nutrients. Their metabolisms are linked. This synchronization in growth rates led the researchers to call UCYN-A “organelle-like.” 

“That's exactly what happens with organelles,” said Zehr. “If you look at the mitochondria and the chloroplast, it’s the same thing: they scale with the cell.”

But the scientists did not confidently call UCYN-A an organelle until confirming other lines of evidence. In the cover article of the journal Science , published today, Zehr, Coale, Kendra Turk-Kubo and Wing Kwan Esther Mak from UC Santa Cruz, and collaborators from the University of California, San Francisco, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, National Taiwan Ocean University, and Kochi University in Japan show that UCYN-A imports proteins from its host cells.

“That’s one of the hallmarks of something moving from an endosymbiont to an organelle,” said Zehr. “They start throwing away pieces of DNA, and their genomes get smaller and smaller, and they start depending on the mother cell for those gene products — or the protein itself — to be transported into the cell.”

Tyler Coale worked on the proteomics for the study. He compared the proteins found within isolated UCYN-A with those found in the entire algal host cell. He found that the host cell makes proteins and labels them with a specific amino acid sequence, which tells the cell to send them to the nitroplast. The nitroplast then imports the proteins and uses them. Coale identified the function of some of the proteins, and they fill gaps in certain pathways within UCYN-A.

“It’s kind of like this magical jigsaw puzzle that actually fits together and works,” said Zehr.

In the same paper, researchers from UCSF show that UCYN-A replicates in synchrony with the alga cell and is inherited like other organelles. 

Changing perspectives

These independent lines of evidence leave little doubt that UCYN-A has surpassed the role of a symbiont. And while mitochondria and chloroplasts evolved billions of years ago, the nitroplast appears to have evolved about 100 million years ago, providing scientists with a new, more recent perspective on organellogenesis.

The organelle also provides insight into ocean ecosystems. All organisms need nitrogen in a biologically usable form, and UCYN-A is globally important for its ability to fix nitrogen from the atmosphere. Researchers have found it everywhere from the tropics to the Arctic Ocean, and it fixes a significant amount of nitrogen.

“It’s not just another player,” said Zehr.

The discovery also has the potential to change agriculture. The ability to synthesize ammonia fertilizers from atmospheric nitrogen allowed agriculture — and the world population — to take off in the early 20 th century. Known as the Haber-Bosch process, it makes possible about 50% of the world’s food production. It also creates enormous amounts of carbon dioxide: about 1.4% of global emissions come from the process. For decades, researchers have tried to figure out a way to incorporate natural nitrogen fixation into agriculture.

“This system is a new perspective on nitrogen fixation, and it might provide clues into how such an organelle could be engineered into crop plants,” said Coale. 

But plenty of questions about UCYN-A and its algal host remain unanswered. The researchers plan to delve deeper into how UCYN-A and the alga operate and study different strains. 

Kendra Turk-Kubo, an assistant professor at UC Santa Cruz, will continue the research in her new lab. Zehr expects scientists will find other organisms with evolutionary stories similar to UCYN-A, but as the first of its kind, this discovery is one for the textbooks.

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Last modified: April 11, 2024 128.114.113.87

When and where the solar eclipse will be crossing the U.S.

A total solar eclipse will grace the skies over North America on Monday, one of the most hotly anticipated sky-watching events in recent years.

Weather permitting , millions of people in Mexico, 15 U.S. states and eastern Canada will have the chance to see the moon slip between Earth and sun, temporarily blocking the sun’s light .

The total solar eclipse will be visible along a “path of totality” that measures more than 100 miles wide and extends across the continent. Along that path, the moon will fully obscure the sun, causing afternoon skies to darken for a few minutes.

Follow live updates on the solar eclipse

In all other parts of the continental U.S., a partial solar eclipse will be visible, with the moon appearing to take a bite out of the sun. Exactly how big a bite depends on the location.

The first spot in North America that will experience totality on Monday is on Mexico’s Pacific coast at around 11:07 a.m. PT, according to NASA .

After moving northeast across Mexico, the eclipse’s path travels through Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Slivers of Michigan and Tennessee will also be able to witness totality if conditions are clear.

In Canada, the eclipse will be visible in parts of southern Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton, at the eastern end of Nova Scotia.

The timing of the eclipse and the duration of totality varies by location. Most places will experience around 2 minutes of darkness, but the longest periods of totality are typically in the center of the eclipse’s path.

This year, the longest stretch of totality will last 4 minutes and 28 seconds in an area northwest of Torreón, Mexico.

Below is a list of timings for some U.S. cities along the path of totality, according to NASA .

• Dallas: Partial eclipse begins at 12:23 p.m. CT and totality at 1:40 p.m. CT.
• Idabel, Oklahoma: Partial eclipse begins at 12:28 p.m. CT and totality at 1:45 p.m. CT.
• Little Rock, Arkansas: Partial eclipse begins at 12:33 p.m. CT and totality at 1:51 p.m. CT.
• Poplar Bluff, Missouri: Partial eclipse begins at 12:39 p.m. CT and totality at 1:56 p.m. CT.
• Paducah, Kentucky: Partial eclipse begins at 12:42 p.m. CT and totality at 2:00 p.m. CT.
• Carbondale, Illinois: Partial eclipse begins at 12:42 p.m. CT and totality at 1:59 p.m. CT.
• Evansville, Indiana: Partial eclipse begins at 12:45 p.m. CT and totality at 2:02 p.m. CT.
• Cleveland: Partial eclipse begins at 1:59 p.m. ET and totality at 3:13 p.m.
• Erie, Pennsylvania: Partial eclipse begins at 2:02 p.m. ET and totality at 3:16 p.m. ET.
• Buffalo, New York: Partial eclipse begins at 2:04 p.m. ET and totality at 3:18 p.m.
• Burlington, Vermont: Partial eclipse begins at 2:14 p.m. ET and totality at 3:26 p.m. ET.
• Lancaster, New Hampshire: Partial eclipse begins at 2:16 p.m. ET and totality at 3:27 p.m.
• Caribou, Maine: Partial eclipse begins at 2:22 p.m. ET and totality at 3:32 p.m. ET.

Other resources can also help you figure out when the various phases of the eclipse will be visible where you live, including NationalEclipse.com and TimeandDate.com .

If you plan to watch the celestial event, remember that it’s never safe to look directly at the sun, including through binoculars, telescopes or camera lenses. Special eclipse glasses are required to safely view solar eclipses and prevent permanent eye damage.

Denise Chow is a reporter for NBC News Science focused on general science and climate change.

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QS World University Rankings rates MIT No. 1 in 11 subjects for 2024

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QS World University Rankings has placed MIT in the No. 1 spot in 11 subject areas for 2024, the organization announced today.

The Institute received a No. 1 ranking in the following QS subject areas: Chemical Engineering; Civil and Structural Engineering; Computer Science and Information Systems; Data Science and Artificial Intelligence; Electrical and Electronic Engineering; Linguistics; Materials Science; Mechanical, Aeronautical, and Manufacturing Engineering; Mathematics; Physics and Astronomy; and Statistics and Operational Research.

MIT also placed second in five subject areas: Accounting and Finance; Architecture/Built Environment; Biological Sciences; Chemistry; and Economics and Econometrics.

For 2024, universities were evaluated in 55 specific subjects and five broader subject areas. MIT was ranked No. 1 in the broader subject area of Engineering and Technology and No. 2 in Natural Sciences.

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MIT has been ranked as the No. 1 university in the world by QS World University Rankings for 12 straight years.

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Science News

What  science news  saw during the solar eclipse.

Science News staffers traveled across the United States to laud at the extraordinary astronomical event

By Brandon Standley

April 9, 2024 at 3:51 pm

Science News staffers watch the eclipse from DuPont Circle in Washington, D.C., on Monday, April 8, 2024.

Courtesy of Emily Conover

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On Monday, North America experienced the last major eclipse that will cross over the continent for the next 20 years . The astonishing event brought totality to over 30 million people, and hundreds of millions more were witness to partial eclipses.

Science News staffers were among them.

In places ranging from Washington, D.C., to Painesville, Ohio, to Wills Point, Texas, and beyond, Science News staff gazed up at the diminution of the sun above them and took in the sights with their fellow sky watchers — including groups of scientists studying the eclipse’s effect on Earth .

Take a look at how Science News staff, family, friends, and the people around them took in the eclipse across the United States.

More Stories from Science News on Science & Society

​​During the awe of totality, scientists studied our planet’s reactions

Your last-minute guide to the 2024 total solar eclipse

Protein whisperer Oluwatoyin Asojo fights neglected diseases

How a 19th century astronomer can help you watch the total solar eclipse

Timbre can affect what harmony is music to our ears

Not all cultures value happiness over other aspects of well-being

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Neolithic women in Europe were tied up and buried alive in ritual sacrifices, study suggests

The research found evidence of the "incaprettamento" method of murder at 14 Neolithic sites in Europe.

The murder of sacrificial victims by "incaprettamento" — tying their neck to their legs bent behind their back, so that they effectively strangled themselves — seems to have been a tradition across much of Neolithic Europe, with a new study identifying more than a dozen such murders over more than 2,000 years.

The study comes after a reassessment of an ancient tomb that was discovered more than 20 years ago at Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux near Avignon, in southern France. The tomb mimics a silo, or pit where grain was stored, and it held the remains of three women who were buried there about 5,500 years ago.

The new study, published Wednesday (April 10) in the journal Science Advances , reinterprets the positions of two of the skeletons and suggests the individuals were deliberately killed — first by tying them up in the manner called "incaprettamento" and then by burying them while they were still alive, perhaps for an agricultural ritual.

Study senior author Eric Crubézy , a biological anthropologist at Paul Sabatier University in Toulouse, France, told Live Science that there was a lot of agricultural symbolism to the tomb. He noted that a wooden structure built over it was aligned with the sun at the solstices and that several broken stones for grinding grain were found nearby. "You have the alignment, you have the silo, you have the broken stones — so it seems that it was a rite related to agriculture."

Related: Skull of Neolithic 'bog body' from Denmark was smashed by 8 heavy blows in violent murder

To investigate the idea of human sacrifice at Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux, Crubézy, who worked on the initial discovery of the tomb, and colleagues examined earlier archaeological studies of tomb sites throughout Europe. The team included forensic pathologist Bertrand Ludes , of Paris Cité University and the study's lead author.

They found evidence of 20 probable cases of sacrificial murders using incaprettamento at 14 Neolithic (New Stone Age) sites dating to between 5400 and 3500 B.C. They also found papers describing Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) rock art in the Addaura Cave in Sicily, made between 14000 and 11000 B.C., that seems to depict two human figures bound in the incaprettamento manner.

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Crubézy said it appears incaprettamento originated as a sacrificial custom in the Mesolithic period, before agriculture, and later came to be used for human sacrifices associated with agriculture in the Neolithic period.

As a method of human sacrifice, incaprettamento seems to have been widespread across much of Neolithic Europe, with evidence of the practice at sites ranging from the Czech Republic to Spain. The earliest is a tomb near Brno-Bohunice in the Czech Republic that is dated to about 5400 B.C., and the latest is the tomb at Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux, suggesting that the practice persisted for more than 2,000 years, Crubézy said.

Gruesome murders

The bindings used to tie the two individuals at Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux have long since decayed, but a few features of their skeletons — such as the unusual positions of their legs — suggest how they died, Crubézy said.

The third woman in the tomb seems to have been older and likely died from natural causes, the researchers found. She was also interred normally for the time, on her side in the center of the tomb. This suggests that she had been ceremonially buried after her natural death and that the two younger women had been sacrificed to be buried with her, he said.

— 15 people were brutally murdered 5,000 years ago, but the bodies were buried with care

— 2 waves of mass murder struck prehistoric Denmark, genetic study reveals

— Why were dozens of people butchered 6,200 years ago and buried in a Neolithic death pit?

The two sacrificial victims seem to have been pinned down with heavy fragments of stones used for grinding grain, indicating that, despite their bindings, they were still alive when they were buried, he said.

Today, the gruesome incaprettamento murder method is associated with the Italian Mafia , who have sometimes used it as a form of warning or reprimand.

Crubézy said it wasn't known why incaprettamento was used for Stone Age human sacrifices, but it might have been because a person bound in this way could be seen as strangling themselves, rather than being killed by someone else.

Tom Metcalfe is a freelance journalist and regular Live Science contributor who is based in London in the United Kingdom. Tom writes mainly about science, space, archaeology, the Earth and the oceans. He has also written for the BBC, NBC News, National Geographic, Scientific American, Air & Space, and many others.

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• DAR "Crubézy said it wasn't known why incaprettamento was used for Stone Age human sacrifices, but it might have been because a person bound in this way could be seen as strangling themselves, rather than being killed by someone else." This would make no sense because a person obviously could not bind THEMSELVES in this manner! Reply
• Lemmy Caution The article rather confusingly presents us with two widely separate years in which the burial of the two sacrificial victims is thought to have taken place. First we are told these burials are estimated to have occurred around the year 5,400 BCE. Further along in the narrative, on the other hand, we are informed these sacrificial burials took place approximately 5,500 years ago. The obvious problem with this divergent chronology is that there is a substantial difference, which is to say all of 1900 years, between 5,500 years ago and the earlier noted figure of 5,400 BCE, which amounts to fully 7400 years ago. Reply
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Mystery object that crashed into Florida home last month was 'discarded space junk', NASA says

The debris was a metal support used to mount batteries on a cargo pallet that was jettisoned from the International Space Station in 2021 and survived entry into Earth's atmosphere.

Tuesday 16 April 2024 10:47, UK

A mystery object that fell from the sky before crashing into a home in Florida last month was a piece of space junk, NASA has said.

The space agency said on Monday the cylindrical chunk of metal, which weighed 0.7kg (1.6lbs) and was 10cm (four inches) tall and around 4cm (1.5 inches) wide had been discarded from the International Space Centre in 2021.

It landed on the roof, smashing through the building and onto the floor of Alejandro Otero's home in the city of Naples on Florida's southwest coast on 8 March and was taken to the Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral for analysis.

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

NASA said it was a metal support used to mount old batteries on a cargo pallet for disposal.

The pallet was jettisoned from the space station three years ago, and the load was expected to eventually fully burn up on entry into the Earth's atmosphere, but one piece survived.

Mr Otero told television station WINK at the time that the object, which made a "tremendous sound", had ripped through his ceiling and torn up the flooring, narrowly missing his son.

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He said he came home early from a holiday when his son told him what had happened.

Mr Otero said: "I was shaking. I was completely in disbelief. What are the chances of something landing on my house with such force to cause so much damage.

"I'm super grateful that nobody got hurt."

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A gunman stole his twin from him. This is what he's learned about grieving a sibling

Rhitu Chatterjee

At left, Zion Kelly holds a photo of his late twin brother Zaire Kelly. At right, Zion keeps this framed photo of he and his brother on the desk in his bedroom. Dee Dwyer for NPR hide caption

At left, Zion Kelly holds a photo of his late twin brother Zaire Kelly. At right, Zion keeps this framed photo of he and his brother on the desk in his bedroom.

The Science of Siblings is a new series exploring the ways our siblings can influence us, from our money and our mental health all the way down to our very molecules. We'll be sharing these stories over the next several weeks.

Zion Kelly still thinks of himself as a twin. By the time he and his fraternal twin, Zaire, were in their mid-teens, people often mistook Zaire as the older of the two brothers.

"He was taller than me, and his presence was just louder than mine," says the quiet, contemplative Zion, who is 23 now. "He was very social. He was extroverted. He had a lot of friends."

Despite their different personalities, Zion and Zaire were inseparable. They shared the same room, went to the same school, had the same group of friends and excelled at the same sports. "We played football," says Zion. "We ran track and we played basketball."

Special Series

The science of siblings.

And when not doing an activity together, they were always talking. "We talked a lot during the weekdays, the weekends. We were really close."

But September 20, 2017, was one of the rare days when the brothers had gone their separate ways after school.

Zion went straight home, and Zaire went to the competitive, academic mentoring program both teens attended. Later that night, when Zaire was walking home, a stranger approached him. "He attempted to rob Zaire," says Zion, "and, in his attempt, shot him."

When Zion reached the hospital where Zaire was taken, he could already see on the faces of his family that something was terribly wrong. Zaire had been pronounced dead. Zion was heartbroken. "I immediately broke down," Zion says. The Kelly brothers were 16.

Zion has spent the past seven years trying to find his way through grief and cope with the huge void left behind by Zaire's death.

A dearth of research

Most people who grieve the death of a sibling, do so well into adulthood. But every year, an estimated 60,000 children in the United States are bereaved by the death of a sibling. (And in the past few years, firearms have become the top cause for children's death.)

And yet, researchers know very little about the short and long-term impacts of such a loss. "The vast majority of studies that have focused on bereaved youth have tended to focus on the death of a parent," says psychologist Julie Kaplow , at the Trauma and Grief Center at the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute, in Houston, Texas.

• In the womb, a brother's hormones can shape a sister's future

Kaplow and her colleagues, who work regularly with kids who have lost a sibling, say the death of a sibling is traumatic for the siblings left behind.

And while most such bereaved kids "will go on to lead healthy, happy, functional lives," says Kaplow, a significant minority are at risk of becoming stuck in their grief.

"They may have trouble functioning in their daily life," she says. "Their grief can also be accompanied by significant depression, or if the death is under traumatic circumstances, it can be accompanied by post-traumatic stress."

Finding purpose through grief

In the weeks and months after Zaire's death, Zion struggled to accept reality. "I was in denial," he says. "I couldn't really believe it."

What helped him cope, he says, was the love and support of his parents, his other siblings, extended family and friends. "I think because I'm a twin, a lot of people reached out to me."

Eventually, Zion came to accept his brother's death, and his loved ones helped him see that together they could keep his memory alive. "We just try to keep his name alive, keep his legacy alive by always having his pictures up, always talking about him."

Zion Kelly keeps a screensaver on his phone of he and his brother as young kids. Dee Dwyer for NPR hide caption

Zion Kelly keeps a screensaver on his phone of he and his brother as young kids.

Even now, the screensaver on his phone is a photo of him and Zaire when they were nearly 6 years old, both wearing yellow team jerseys and grinning at the camera.

Within a few months after Zaire's death, Zion also started speaking publicly about his loss to raise awareness about gun violence.

"I started to become more vocal," says Zion, "just telling my story and drawing attention to gun violence in Washington D.C."

Then, on Feb 14, 2018, 14 high school students and three adults died in a school shooting in Parkland, Florida. As teenagers across the country organized to protest gun violence in the wake of the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School shootings, Zion teamed up with them.

The introverted, soft-spoken teenager addressed the hundreds of thousands of people who gathered in the nation's capital that spring for the March for Our Lives rally to call for action against gun violence. Later, he traveled around the country and even to Italy to share his personal story of losing his twin brother to gun violence.

Zion Kelly's high school yearbook documented his efforts to bring attention to gun violence during the March for Our Lives rally. Dee Dwyer for NPR hide caption

"That's when I felt like he was really living through me, because the whole world, eventually, got to know his name, got to know my story," says Zion. He also felt that he was making his brother proud through his public speaking and activism. It gave him a passion and a purpose to focus on.

That can be a healthy way of coping, says Kaplow, and it's something she and her colleagues have seen in many grieving siblings.

"Living the legacy of the sibling who died, or wanting to do things that would make them proud," says Kaplow. "Or doing something to transform the circumstances [of their sibling's death] to something meaningful that can help other people not have to suffer in the same way."

National Siblings Day is a celebration born of love — and grief

Zion was doing all three of those things with his activism. Kaplow notes it can also be stressful, especially when the surviving sibling feels an unspoken pressure to fill in the void left behind by their sibling. "That can create a lot of distress – a lot of identity distress."

That identity struggle has been part of Zion's grief. "I was really struggling to find my identity of being a twin, but not really being a twin anymore," he says.

All his efforts to be more extroverted like Zaire had left him feeling exhausted. "I just felt drained trying to find myself," he says, "trying to find who I am, instead of thinking of the two of us."

"Disenfranchised grief" for a sibling

Many children and teens grieving the death of a sibling don't have the kind of emotional support Zion did after his brother's death. Even his older sister, who was in college at the time in Philadelphia felt lonely and struggled to cope with her grief once she returned to campus after Zaire's funeral, he says.

A family portrait honors the life of the late Zaire Kelly. Dee Dwyer for NPR hide caption

That is a common experience among grieving siblings, says Kaplow. Usually when a child dies, everyone around the family focuses on supporting the parents.

"There is less of a focus on the siblings who are left behind, and we know that their grief can be just as powerful and potent as the caregivers' grief."

And so these children end up experiencing what she describes as "disenfranchised grief."

"Somehow their grief doesn't feel as important or relevant as the grief of their parents," says Kaplow. "And [that] is a big problem."

That was Meghan Britton's experience after she lost her only brother, Andrew, when he was seven years old. She was 12 at the time.

Meghan Britton holds her childhood journal and her brother's teddy bear at her home in Fort Wayne, Ind. The journal was given to her by her mother's friend after the death of her brother. Kaiti Sullivan for NPR hide caption

In the weeks and months after Andrew's death, her parents struggled to cope. "They were just trying to survive the experience," says Meghan. And "everyone that came to visit, they focused on my parents."

No one knew what to say to her. If they did, it was with advice to be "strong" for her parents, or to ask her how they were doing.

"It was really lonely," she says. "And now that I didn't have any siblings anymore, there wasn't anyone that I could really talk to about it."

She struggled to process her loss and struggled to resume her normal life, especially school.

"I had a hard time going back to school because it just felt so jarring," she says. "Last week my brother passed away, and then this week, I'm supposed to go back to school. That was weird. That was hard."

Meghan and her brother Andrew in Michigan. The Britton family hide caption

Meghan and her brother Andrew in Michigan.

What made things harder, she says, is that neither her parents, nor anyone at school talked about Andrew after his death. She remembers thinking, "Did they not think about him anymore?"

What did help her in those early months and years, she says, is a present from her mother's best friend on the day of Andrew's funeral.

"She was a really frugal person, and so she wouldn't spend money unless it was critical," says Meghan. "And she pulled me out of the funeral home and took me to a Hallmark store."

At the store, she bought Meghan a journal and a pen. "She said, 'I want you to write down how you're feeling, because you need to get this out. You need to capture these things,'" Meghan recalls. "That's something that still, to this day, has served me well."

Eventually, Meghan also sought therapy, which helped her understand and accept her own emotions around her brother's death. And she began other healthy ways to cope with her grief – mainly by bringing up memories of Andrew – the sweet, funny and even annoying moments she shared with him.

For example, his habit of running into her, his head pointed at her belly, aiming to knock her over, and his love of science and Albert Einstein. "He dressed up as [Einstein] one year for Halloween," Meghan says.

Kids who are grieving need the help and support of their caregivers and other adults to cope, says Kaplow. "What we want to do is provide kids with enough of the coping skills needed to deal with that grief over time," she says.

Living with grief

Today, Zion lives in Washington, D.C., and works at College Bound, the same competitive academic mentoring program that he and Zaire attended when they were in high school. He shares a two-bedroom apartment with a friend.

But Zaire's absence still looms large in his life. And so he has filled his room with Zaire's photos – his way of keeping memories of his brother alive. Their high school yearbook – with photos of himself and Zaire in it – sits on top of a dresser along with the family photos.

In his bedroom, Zion Kelly keeps his brother's memory alive by displaying photos of them in happier times. Dee Dwyer for NPR hide caption

In his bedroom, Zion Kelly keeps his brother's memory alive by displaying photos of them in happier times.

He also tries to "be intentional" about how he lives his daily life. "[I] wake up every day and just try to live every day like it's your last day because you never really know when it's going to be your last day."

And when things feel really hard, he can still rely on his family for unconditional love and support. "If I have a lot going on, I can always go back home," he says. "I feel rejuvenated around my family, spending time with them."

Meghan, now in her mid-40s, is a mother of two girls – 9 and 12 years old. She's had three decades of learning to cope with her brother's absence and has come to accept the loss. Still, she says, she's been surprised by all the times waves of grief took her by surprise over the years. When her daughters were born, for instance, she was overcome with grief, realizing they would never know their uncle.

Meghan, with her brother Andrew, says that she is still surprised by all the times waves of grief took her by surprise over the years. The Britton family hide caption

More recently, when her grandparents were terminally ill and her mother and her four siblings came together to care for their parents and support each other in their grief after they died.

"I was just like, 'Son of a gun, I'm going to have to do this alone someday, and that is going to suck,'" she says. "Because, that's not how it was supposed to work."

The long tail of grief with such losses is normal, says Kaplow.

"As a society, we need to move away from this idea that we want the grief to go away, because it does not go away," she says. "This is a natural response of the love we have for the person who died, and we don't want it to go away."

Kids who are grieving the death of a sibling need help in learning that, she adds. They need help knowing that they may be dealing with reminders of their loss for the rest of their lives.

More from the Science of Siblings series:

• The order your siblings were born in may play a role in identity and sexuality
• Blended families are common. Here are tips to help stepsiblings get along
• Science of Siblings
• children grief
• child psychology