Rare Wild Cat No Longer Endangered

After two decades of dedicated conservation efforts, the Iberian lynx, once one of the world’s most endangered cats, is no longer considered endangered. The population has surged from fewer than 100 individuals in the early 2000s to over 1,000 today—a remarkable 20-fold increase.

This success is attributed to habitat restoration, prey management, captive breeding, anti-poaching measures, and public awareness campaigns. The lynx’s status has improved to “Least Concern” on the IUCN Red List, highlighting the effectiveness of these efforts and underscoring a major triumph in wildlife conservation.

Continued vigilance is essential to maintain this progress and ensure the species’ long-term survival.

Electricity from Noise?

Have you ever experienced a stadium so loud that the concrete shakes? Gyeongyun Lily Min, a high school senior from Lake Charles, Louisiana, was inspired by Pixar’s Monsters, Inc. to explore how this noise could be converted into electricity.

The film features monsters who power their world by harnessing children’s screams. Gyeongyun was intrigued by the idea of converting sound into usable energy and wondered if the noise in sports arenas could be used to generate electricity.

Her approach uses the piezoelectric effect, where certain materials generate electricity under pressure. This principle has been used in applications like electricity-generating roads and cochlear implants. In 2021, Jeremiah Thoronka was recognized for creating a piezoelectric machine that generates electricity from vehicles passing over roads, powering 150 homes without relying on weather or external power sources.

Gyeongyun’s idea was to harness soundwaves rather than direct kinetic force. She built a 22 by 12-inch model of an NBA arena and tested various placements of her harvester modules using sounds at 70 and 100 decibels. Although the results were limited due to the quality of the equipment—producing electricity in milliwatts rather than watts—she believes that with better equipment and on a larger scale, it could significantly reduce energy consumption in sports arenas.

Gyeongyun suggests that this technology could also be applied in urban environments. “In cities with heavy traffic, constant noise could be used to generate electricity for city infrastructure,” she told Smithsonian Magazine. “Manufacturing plants with continuous machinery noise could also use piezoelectric devices to capture sound vibrations and improve sustainability.”

Cutting-Edge Drones Clean Up Everest’s Trash

Nepal and China’s largest drone manufacturer, Da Jiang Innovations, have signed an agreement to supply heavy lift drones to help clear trash from Mount Everest. These drones will be operated by Sherpas, who have long been responsible for removing waste from the mountain. The drones will allow them to access dangerous areas without risking their lives.

The Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC) and the Khumbu Pasang Lhamu rural municipality have agreed to use these drones commercially after a successful test in April. The SPCC works to remove trash and bodies from Everest’s slopes, requiring climbers to carry down a certain amount of garbage or forfeit a $4,000 deposit.

The Khumbu Icefall, a particularly dangerous part of the climb, has claimed the lives of nearly 50 Sherpas between 1953 and 2023. The use of drones aims to reduce fatalities in this area. While there are concerns about job loss, the priority is safety. Sherpas will be trained to operate the drones, which cannot function at higher altitudes.

The drones have a load capacity of 30 kg at Camp I, but this decreases to 18 kg at Camp II, 6,400 meters above sea level. The SPCC is committed to removing trash and bodies, especially as warmer temperatures uncover old waste, threatening to pollute the water sources in the region.

Horse Milk Ice Cream

A team of food scientists at West Pomeranian University of Technology in Poland has discovered that horse milk can be a viable alternative to cow’s milk in ice cream production. Their study, published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE, involved creating four different ice cream varieties using horse milk and various bacteria.

Traditionally, ice cream is made by combining cow’s milk with cow’s cream and other ingredients, resulting in a beloved treat enjoyed worldwide. In this study, the researchers explored the possibility of substituting cow’s milk with horse milk while still using cow’s cream, and found it to be a feasible option.

Many cultures have used horse milk for centuries, with some believing in its potential health benefits, though these remain scientifically unproven. Previous research has indicated that horse milk is more similar in composition to human milk than cow’s milk, making it a safer alternative for people with cow’s milk allergies. Additionally, horse milk contains beneficial enzymes and proteins not found in cow’s milk, prompting scientists to explore its use in various food products.

In their research, the team produced four types of ice cream using horse milk. The first batch included yogurt bacteria; the second combined yogurt bacteria with inulin, a probiotic. The third batch featured a strain of bacteria called Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus, while the fourth incorporated a different strain, Lactiplantibacillus.

Testing of the ice cream samples revealed that all four varieties were similar in terms of overrun, melting characteristics, and protein levels. The samples were also found to be creamy, visually appealing, and had a good taste and texture, according to feedback from 60 volunteers who participated in the tasting. However, the batch with yogurt bacteria and inulin was noted to have a slightly acidic flavor.

I have found that most people in the US aren’t used to drinking any milks other than cow milk. So for most of us, it might seem like a very strange idea. However, I have noticed that products like goat milk yogurt seem to be a lot more common now in places that did not previously have it. Maybe this is something people could get used to.

520-million Year Old Fossil Solves Mystery

A 520-million-year-old worm fossil has solved the mystery of how modern insects, spiders, and crabs evolved.

The fossil, named Youti yuanshi, dates back to the Cambrian period and offers a glimpse into one of the earliest ancestors of many species today. Its exceptional preservation, including the larva and its internal organs, makes it particularly noteworthy. Led by Durham University in the UK, the research team identified the fossil as one of the first arthropod ancestors belonging to the group euarthropoda, which includes modern insects, spiders, centipedes, and crustaceans. Their findings, published in the journal Nature, suggest that early arthropod relatives were more advanced than previously thought.

Dr. Martin Smith, Durham’s lead researcher, emphasized the rarity of such a discovery: “Finding a fossilized arthropod larva is almost impossible due to their tiny, fragile nature. When I saw the intricate structures preserved under its skin, I was astonished. How could these features avoid decay for half a billion years?” Using advanced scanning techniques at Diamond Light Source, the UK research team produced 3D images revealing miniature brain regions, digestive glands, a primitive circulatory system, and even traces of nerves in the larva’s legs and eyes. Dr. Katherine Dobson of the University of Strathclyde noted the near-perfect preservation achieved by natural fossilization.

This ancient larva offers crucial insights into the evolutionary steps from simple worm-like creatures to complex arthropods with specialized limbs, eyes, and brains. The fossil reveals an ancestral proto-cerebrum brain region, which would later develop into the segmented and specialized arthropod head with various appendages.

The complex head structure allowed arthropods to adopt diverse lifestyles and dominate the Cambrian oceans. The remarkable specimen was originally discovered in China and is housed at Yunnan University.