livescience--2020-09-28--Coronavirus outbreak: Live updates

Coronavirus outbreak: Live updates

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90-year-old woman in the UK receives first dose of Pfizer vaccine, FDA review confirms vaccine is safe and effective A 90-year-old woman (who will turn 91 next week) became the first in the world to be given Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine outside of clinical trials, according to the BBC. Margaret Keenan, who is originally from Northern Ireland, was given the vaccine at the University Hospital in Coventry, England. She received the first of 800,000 doses expected to be administered in the U.K. in the coming weeks, according to the BBC. "I feel so privileged to be the first person vaccinated against Covid-19," Keenan said, according to the BBC."It's the best early birthday present I could wish for because it means I can finally look forward to spending time with my family and friends in the new year after being on my own for most of the year." "My advice to anyone offered the vaccine is to take it. If I can have it at 90, then you can have it too," she added. Up to four million doses of Pfizer's vaccine is expected to be given to people in the U.K. by the end of the month. Meanwhile, a 53-page Food and Drug Administration (FDA) review published Tuesday (Dec. 8) confirmed that Pfizer's vaccine is safe and effective, according to The Washington Post.
Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine starts to work just 10 days after 1st dose Pfizer's new COVID-19 vaccine starts to protect people from the novel coronavirus just 10 days after the first dose, according to new documents from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The documents were released on Tuesday (Dec. 8), two days before a meeting of the FDA's vaccine advisory panel, which will vote on whether to recommend authorization of the vaccine in the U.S, Live Science reported . The FDA analyzed data from Pfizer's phase 3 clinical trial, which included some 44,000 people in the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Germany and Turkey, about half of whom received the vaccine while the other half received a placebo. Both groups received two shots, 21 days apart. About 10 days after the first dose, there was a noticeable drop-off in new COVID-19 cases in the vaccine group compared with the placebo group, indicating that even one dose provides some protection, the report said. However, scientists don't know how long the protection from a single dose will last, so it will still be important for people to receive two shots, according to The New York Times . Overall, the vaccine was 52% effective after the first dose and 95% effective after the second dose, the report said.
People with significant allergies should avoid Pfizer vaccine, UK warns The U.K.'s Regulatory Agency is advising people with a history of "significant" allergic reactions to avoid Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine, after two National Health Service members developed severe allergic reactions to it on Tuesday (Dec. 8), Live Science reported. "As is common with new vaccines the MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) have advised on a precautionary basis that people with a significant history of allergic reactions do not receive this vaccination after two people with a history of significant allergic reactions responded adversely yesterday," Stephen Powis, the national medical director for England's National Health Service said in a statement on Wednesday (Dec. 9). Both workers have a history of severe allergies and carry adrenaline auto injectors (such as EpiPens) around with them, according to The Guardian. Shortly after receiving the vaccine, both NHS workers developed anaphylaxis-like symptoms, or severe allergic reactions, but have recovered after receiving treatment. The MHRA will investigate further and Pfizer and BioNTech will support their investigation, according to Reuters. "Allergic reaction occurs with quite a number of vaccines, and perhaps even more frequently with drugs. So it is not unexpected," Stephen Evans, a professor of pharmacoepidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said in remarks to journalists published by Britain's Science Media Center. “What would be wise, as the MHRA have already advised, would be for anyone who has known severe allergic reaction such that they need to carry an EpiPen, to delay having a vaccination until the reason for the allergic reaction has been clarified," he said. For the general population this does not mean that they would need to be anxious about receiving the vaccination, he added. "One has to remember that even things like marmite [a quintessential British food spread] can cause unexpected severe allergic reactions.”
Canada approves Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine Canada has authorized Pfizer's new COVID-19 vaccine, with the first doses expected to be administered there as early as next week. Health Canada, the country's health regulatory agency, said in a statement on Wednesday (Dec. 9) that it had determined that the vaccine "meets the Department's stringent safety, efficacy and quality requirements for use in Canada," according to CTV News . "We expect vaccines to arrive maybe as early as Monday [Dec. 14]. It takes time to prepare the vaccine," said Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin, the top military general leading the vaccine rollout for the Public Health Agency of Canada, according to CTV News. The first doses could be administered by the middle of next week, he said. Canada is the third country in the world to authorize the Pfizer vaccine, following the United Kingdom and Bahrain. The country should receive up to 249,000 doses of the vaccine by the end of December, and has purchased 20 million doses total, with the option to purchase more, CTV News reported.
Daily COVID-19 death toll in the U.S. reaches record-high, surpassed 9/11 On Wednesday (Dec. 9), the U.S. recorded 3,124 new COVID-19 deaths, the highest daily death toll to date, according to CNN . In comparison, 2,977 people were killed in the 9/11 attacks. The U.S. has now recorded 280,488 deaths related to the virus, according to The COVID Tracking Project . A forecast from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicts that the total death toll can increase to between 332,000 and 362,000 by January 2, according to CNN. There are currently 106,671 people hospitalized with the virus in the U.S.; 20,903 of them are currently in the ICU and 7,621 are currently on a ventilator, according to the COVID Tracking Project. On Thursday (Dec. 10), the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee is set to meet to discuss an emergency use authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine.
FDA panel recommends authorization of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine A panel of experts for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recommended that the agency authorize Pfizer's new COVID-19 vaccine in the United States. On Thursday (Dec. 10), the panel voted 17 to 4 to recommend that the vaccine receive emergency use authorization (EUA) for people ages 16 and older, according to The New York Times . The FDA typically follows the advice of its panels, and so today's vote is an important step towards the vaccine's authorization. It is anticipated that the agency will officially authorize the vaccine on Saturday (Dec. 12), the Times reported. Several countries have already authorized Pfizer's vaccine, including Canada, the United Kingdom and Bahrain.
Vaccine approval could come this weekend, as U.S. continues to record high daily death tolls On Thursday (Dec. 10), the U.S. recorded another 2,902 COVID-19 deaths, a day after the country set a record of 3,253 deaths, according to Reuters . “Probably for the next 60 to 90 days, we’re going to have more deaths per day than we had on 9/11 or we had at Pearl Harbor,” Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told the Council on Foreign Relations on Thursday, according to Reuters. "The reality is the vaccine approval this week is not going to really impact that, I think, to any degree for the next 60 days." On Thursday, the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee discussed, voted and recommended that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should grant an emergency use authorization for Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine. The Pfizer vaccine has already been approved in the U.K. and in Canada, and FDA approval for use in the U.S. could come this weekend.
Australia abandons local COVID-19 vaccine after it caused false-positive HIV tests An Australian COVID-19 vaccine that had shown promising results in early trials is being abandoned after researchers found that the shot caused false-positive results on HIV tests. On Friday (Dec. 11), Australian officials said they had canceled an order for some 51 million doses of the vaccine, which was being developed by The University of Queensland and CSL Ltd., a local biotech company, according to The New York Times . In an early trial with 216 participants, the vaccine appeared to be safe and to produce a robust immune response against COVID-19, according to a statement from CSL . But some volunteers falsely tested positive for HIV, which officials feared would undermine trust in the vaccine, the Times reported. The vaccine contained small fragments of an HIV protein, which helped stabilize the vaccine. Some of the participants developed antibodies against these fragments, and these antibodies triggered false positive results on some HIV tests. It's important to note that there is no way for the vaccine to cause an HIV infection, because it contains harmless fragments of the virus.
ICU nurse in New York becomes first person in the US to receive a coronavirus vaccine outside of clinical trials New York, the worst-hit state at the start of the pandemic, just became the first to administer a coronavirus vaccine outside of clinical trials, kicking off a long, massive effort to vaccinate the American people, Live Science reported. Around 9 a.m. E.T. on Monday (Dec. 14), the very first dose of Pfizer and BioNTech's coronavirus vaccine was given to Sandra Lindsay, an intensive care nurse in Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens, New York, according to The New York Times. This comes as the U.S. continues to battle a massive wave of the virus that has more than 109,000 people currently hospitalized, according to The COVID Tracking Project. Since the start of the pandemic, New York has recorded more than 780,000 cases of COVID-19 and more than 35,100 deaths, according to The Times. "This vaccine is exciting because I believe this is the weapon that will end the war," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said during a live broadcast of the first vaccination. "It's the beginning of the last chapter of the book, but now we just have to do it."
FDA analysis confirms Moderna's vaccine is safe and effective, emergency authorization is likely to come Friday A new briefing document from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released on Tuesday (Dec. 15) confirmed that Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective, according to NPR . Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine is 94% effective and has "a favorable safety profile," according to the document. A panel of experts is set to meet on Thursday (Dec. 17) to discuss the effectiveness and safety of the vaccine and vote on whether or not the FDA should grant emergency approval to the vaccine. Last week, the same panel voted that the FDA should grant emergency approval to Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine; the authorization came a day late and the first doses were given on Monday (Dec. 15). The FDA will likely approve Moderna's vaccine for emergency use on Friday (Dec. 18), according to The New York Times .
FDA authorizes first over-the-counter COVID-19 test The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized the first over-the-counter COVID-19 test, which can be done at home and does not need a prescription. The test, made by the Australia-based company Ellume, provides results in as little as 20 minutes, according to a statement from the FDA . It is a "lateral flow antigen test," meaning it works in a similar way to a home pregnancy test, by running a "liquid sample along a surface with reactive molecules," the FDA said. The test works in conjunction with a smartphone app. Users take a nasal swab and place their sample in an analyzer, which communicates to the smartphone app via Bluetooth. The results are delivered through the app, and also reported to public health authorities (based on a user's zip code) through a secure cloud connection, the company said . Ellume is ramping up production of its test, and expects to produce three million tests in January 2021, and 20 million within the first half of 2021.
A wild mink tested positive for the coronavirus, it may be the first wild animal to have a confirmed case A wild mink in Utah may be the first "free-ranging, native wild animal" confirmed to be infected with SARS-CoV-2, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Live Science reported. The mink was found near a mink farm and likely picked up the infection from the farmed mink. There's no evidence that the virus spread to other minks or wild animals; but if the virus does begin circulating in wild animals, it could pick up mutations that COVID-19 vaccines may not protect well against if it spreads back to humans, according to the report. "If it does [establish a reservoir], then we've got a long-term issue here, where this virus has the potential to be with us for millennia," Sarah Olson, associate director of the health program at the Wildlife Conservation Society, told Vox. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has screened other animal species for the virus near mink farms in Utah, Michigan and Wisconsin, but all of them have tested negative so far, according to a statement.
An FDA advisory panel will meet today to vote on whether to recommend Moderna's coronavirus vaccine for emergency approval On Thursday (Dec. 17), a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committee will meet to determine whether to recommend that Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine for emergency approval, according to The New York Times . This panel, composed of independent experts, will vote on whether to recommend the vaccine after hearing from the company, FDA scientists and the public, according to The Times. Last week, the same panel of experts met to discuss Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine and voted to recommend emergency authorization; the authorization came the next day. There have now been more than 16.9 million cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. and more than 307,000 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins dashboard . There are currently 113,090 people hospitalized across the country with more than 21,900 of them in the ICU and 7,778 on a ventilator, according to The COVID Tracking Project .
California becomes new epicenter of COVID-19 in U.S. California, once praised for its early pandemic response, is now the new U.S. hotspot for COVID-19 infections. The state has reported an alarming surge in cases, breaking previous records for daily cases. On Thursday (Dec. 17), the state reported some 50,000 COVID-19 infections in 24 hours, and nearly 100,000 in 48 hours, according to The Washington Post . That's more than the daily cases reported in many countries, including India, Germany and Britain, the Post reported. The state also set a record for daily deaths on Thursday, with 379 fatalities reported, up from the previous high of 293. Capacity in intensive care units has also dropped dramatically, with hospitals in Southern California reporting zero percent capacity on Thursday. "I want to be very clear: Our hospitals are under siege, and our model shows no end in sight," said Christina Ghaly, director of Los Angeles County's Department of Health Services, the Post reported.
FDA expected to authorize Moderna's vaccine on Friday The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to authorize Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine on Friday (Dec. 18). Once authorized, it will be the second coronavirus vaccine to get the green light from the agency in just a week, with Pfizer's vaccine gaining authorization on Dec. 11. Moderna is expected to begin shipping 5.9 million doses of its vaccine on Sunday (Dec. 20), with the first deliveries arriving Monday (Dec. 21), according to The New York Times . Unlike the Pfizer vaccine, Moderna's vaccine does not require storage in extremely cold temperatures, and states are hoping to distribute the vaccine to rural hospitals and community health centers, the Times reported.
COVID-19 cases continue to surge across the U.S. There have now been more than 17 million cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. and more than 300,000 deaths, according to The COVID Tracking Project . There are currently 114,237 people hospitalized across the country and 21,900 people in the ICU. California is facing a massive surge in cases; the state reported 41,012 new COVID-19 cases and 300 new deaths on Thursday (Dec. 17), according to the state's COVID-19 dashboard . By comparison, at the start of November, California was reporting a seven-day average of 4,183 cases, compared to an average of 38,774 on Thursday, according to CNN . "We're experiencing an explosive and very deadly surge," Dr. Barbara Ferrer, Los Angeles County Public Health Director said, according to CNN. Intensive care unit beds are rapidly filling up across the state; there are only 1,234 ICU beds left available in California, according to the dashboard. Current closures across California are impacting around 98% of the state's population, according to CNN.
London and southeast England are under an emergency lockdown Following concerns of a new version of the coronavirus that might be more transmissible, London and most of southeast England are now under an emergency lockdown, according to The New York Times . Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the lockdown on Saturday (Dec. 19) citing concerns that the mutated virus — which was detected a couple of weeks ago in southeast England — may be as much as 70% more transmissible than previous versions, according to the Times. The new version of the coronavirus is detected in more than 60% of new infections in London and have also been detected in several other countries, according to the Times. But it's not yet clear if this coronavirus version is any more infectious than the last and thorough analyses will need to be conducted before conclusions are made, scientists cautioned. In South Africa, a similar version of the virus has been found in up to 90% of new cases detected since mid-November, according to The Times . It's common for viruses to mutate, and this particular coronavirus has mutated many times since the start of the pandemic. But experts told The Times that it would take years for the virus to mutate enough such that it would make the current vaccines developed to fight COVID-19 ineffective.
Biden gets Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine President-elect Joe Biden received a dose of Pfizer's new COVID-19 vaccine on Monday (Dec. 21), according to The New York Times . He received the shot on camera at the Christiana Hospital in Newark, Delaware. "I'm doing this to demonstrate that people should be prepared when it's available to take the vaccine. There's nothing to worry about," Biden said.
Antarctica has its 1st COVID-19 outbreak The first COVID-19 cases have been reported in Antarctica , meaning the disease has now spread to every continent in the world. On Tuesday (Dec. 22), Chilean officials reported an outbreak of 36 COVID-19 cases at the Chilean research base General Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme on the Antarctic Peninsula, according to the BBC . Of these, 26 cases were military personnel and 10 were maintenance workers, the BBC reported. All of these cases have been evacuated from Antarctica to Punta Arenas, Chile, according to The Guardian . Antarctica had been COVID-19 free up until the current outbreak. The continent has no permanent residents, but about 1,000 people, including scientists and other workers, stayed there this past winter, The Guardian reported.
Live updates will continue in 2021!


livescience--2020-09-28--SpaceX delays next Starlink satellite fleet launch due to bad weather

SpaceX postponed the launch of a new fleet of Starlink internet satellites today ( Sept. 28 ) due to bad weather at the mission 's Florida launch site .
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was scheduled to launch 60 Starlink satellites from Pad 39A of NASA 's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 10:22 a.m. EDT ( 1422 GMT ) , but thick clouds over the launch site prevented the flight .
`` Unfortunately , it looks like due to weather violations , we 're going to to have to scrub today , '' Alex Seigel , a senior material @ @ @ @ @ @ @ commentary .
`` But again , the most important thing is reducing as much risk on the mission as possible , and with that comes waiting for a window of good weather . ''
The launch delay sets up a traffic jam of sorts in Cape Canaveral , where two more rockets are scheduled to lift off on Tuesday ( Sept. 29 ) .
Up first is a United Launch Alliance ( ULA ) Delta IV Heavy rocket , which is set to launch the classified NROL-44 satellite for the U.S. National Reconnaissance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ GMT ) on Tuesday .
That mission will lift off from Space Launch Complex 37 at the nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station .
SpaceX is next with the launch of a GPS III navigation satellite for the U.S. military .
That mission will launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 9:55 p.m. EDT ( 0155 Sept. 30 GMT ) .
You can watch those launch live here and on the Space.com homepage , courtesy of ULA and SpaceX .
SpaceX 's Starlink mission will likely have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ GPS satellite launches before its next launch try .
`` We currently do n't have a backup launch scheduled yet , '' Seigel said during SpaceX 's launch webcast .
Monday 's launch attempt was SpaceX 's second try to launch the Starlink mission , the company 's 13th internet satellite flight , this month .
An attempt on Sept. 17 was scrubbed by bad weather not at the launch site , but at SpaceX 's offshore drone ship landing platform where the Falcon 9 's first stage will land .
The Falcon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its third flight for SpaceX as part of the company 's reusability program to reduce spaceflight costs .
The booster launched SpaceX 's first astronaut flight for NASA in May , as well as a communications satellite for the South Korean military .
SpaceX has launched more than 700 Starlink satellites into orbit to date as part of a megaconstellation project designed to offer global high-speed broadband internet coverage .
The initial constellation is expected to include about 4,000 satellites , SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has said .
Email Tariq Malik at tmalik @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Follow us @ Spacedotcom , Facebook and Instagram .

SpaceX postponed the launch of a new fleet of Starlink internet satellites today (Sept. 28) due to bad weather at the mission's Florida launch site.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was scheduled to launch 60 Starlink satellites from Pad 39A of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 10:22 a.m. EDT (1422 GMT), but thick clouds over the launch site prevented the flight.
"Unfortunately, it looks like due to weather violations, we're going to to have to scrub today," Alex Seigel, a senior material planner with SpaceX, said in live commentary. "But again, the most important thing is reducing as much risk on the mission as possible, and with that comes waiting for a window of good weather."
Related: SpaceX's Starlink satellite megaconstellation launches in photos
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 60 Starlink internet satellites stands atop Pad 39A of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida during a Sept. 28, 2020 launch attempt. (Image credit: SpaceX)
The launch delay sets up a traffic jam of sorts in Cape Canaveral, where two more rockets are scheduled to lift off on Tuesday (Sept. 29).
Up first is a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV Heavy rocket, which is set to launch the classified NROL-44 satellite for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office at 12:02 a.m. EDT (0402 GMT) on Tuesday. That mission will lift off from Space Launch Complex 37 at the nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
SpaceX is next with the launch of a GPS III navigation satellite for the U.S. military. That mission will launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 9:55 p.m. EDT (0155 Sept. 30 GMT).
You can watch those launch live here and on the Space.com homepage, courtesy of ULA and SpaceX.
SpaceX's Starlink mission will likely have to wait until after the NROL-44 and GPS satellite launches before its next launch try.
"We currently don't have a backup launch scheduled yet," Seigel said during SpaceX's launch webcast.
Monday's launch attempt was SpaceX's second try to launch the Starlink mission, the company's 13th internet satellite flight, this month. An attempt on Sept. 17 was scrubbed by bad weather not at the launch site, but at SpaceX's offshore drone ship landing platform where the Falcon 9's first stage will land.
The Falcon 9 rocket on this mission is making its third flight for SpaceX as part of the company's reusability program to reduce spaceflight costs. The booster launched SpaceX's first astronaut flight for NASA in May, as well as a communications satellite for the South Korean military.
SpaceX has launched more than 700 Starlink satellites into orbit to date as part of a megaconstellation project designed to offer global high-speed broadband internet coverage. The initial constellation is expected to include about 4,000 satellites, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has said.
Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him @tariqjmalik. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Instagram.


livescience--2020-09-28--Black holes so big we don't know how they form could be hiding in the universe

Black holes can get big … really big .
But just how big ?
It 's possible they could top out at over a trillion times more massive than the sun .
That 's 10 times bigger than the largest known black hole so far .
But could these monsters truly exist in our universe ?
A team of researchers has come up with a plan to go hunting for them .
And if they exist , they could help us solve the mysteries of how the first stars appeared in the cosmos .
The demographics of the dark If @ @ @ @ @ @ @ holes in the universe , unfortunately you only have two basic sizes : kind of small and gigantic .
You know that frustrating feeling you get when the online store is out of your size of that amazing shirt ?
Welcome to the life of the black hole hunter .
Small black holes , or stellar-mass black holes , are more massive than our sun , but not by that much .
Because black holes are born from the deaths of massive stars in the final stages of a titanic supernova explosion , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ big in order to go full supernova , the smallest black holes are around five times more massive than our sun .
Through mergers with other black holes and by slowly feeding on any stray bits of gas that wander too close to their ever-hungry mouths , these black holes can get bigger .
We 've seen evidence for black holes all the way up to nearly100 times the mass of the sun .
Stellar mass black holes are incredibly common in the universe — there are probably millions of them floating around @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pretty harmless , unless you get too close .
The same is true for any other random galaxy in the universe : lots and lots of little black holes , left over from all those big , beautiful stars .
Related : 11 fascinating facts about our Milky Way galaxy But the centers of galaxies host something even crazier : supermassive black holes .
We have a supermassive black hole in the center of the Milky Way , and we call it Sagittarius A* .
It has a mass about 4 million times @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said , super massive .
These beasts are easily a thousand times more massive than their stellar-mass cousins .
It seems that just about every galaxy hosts a giant black hole in its heart , with the absolute largest black holes on record tipping the scales at nearly 100 billion solar masses .
Astronomers have long been hunting for outliers : black holes smaller than five solar masses or in between stellar and supermassive black hole size .
But a new paper , published Aug. 18 to the ( so not yet peer-reviewed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of question : What if we took the biggest black holes and turned them up to 11 ?
How to make something stupendously big This entirely new class of black holes , would dwarf the supermassives .
These `` stupendously large black holes '' would start at a trillion solar masses ( 10 times bigger than the current largest known black hole ) and could possibly be even bigger .
Understandably , these monsters among monsters would be rare .
It 's hard for our universe to make large things , because you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ together and get it to settle down and stay put , which matter does n't really like to do .
Still , it 's theoretically possible for these beasts to exist .
And if we find them , it would help explain how many types of black holes form .
Related : The 12 strangest objects in the universe The first black hole 's appeared when the universe was very young , less than a billion years old .
Over the eons , they merged and fed and grew to become supermassive black @ @ @ @ @ @ @ black holes .
But there 's a limit to how quickly they can grow .
To grow by mergers , they actually have to encounter and swallow other black holes .
So if there are n't a lot of other black holes around , mergers are n't going to happen very frequently , and that wo n't be a viable avenue to greatness .
On the other hand , black holes can also grow by feeding on material .
But as material falls toward the event horizon ( considered the point of no @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it compresses and heats up .
That releases radiation , which pours out of the central regions near a black hole and prevents new gas from falling into the black hole .
The complex physics of then sets an upper limit to how quickly black holes can feed .
The largest known black holes are a challenge to current astrophysical knowledge .
It 's hard to concoct the scenario of enough mergers and enough gas feeding to grow a tiny baby black hole in the early universe into the monsters lurking in galactic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ black hole would force us to consider new avenues for how black holes are born .
Perhaps the first , and largest , black holes did n't come from the deaths of massive stars .
Maybe they formed directly from the collapse of gas clouds , or from exotic processes in the early universe .
Or something even stranger .
That 's why the discovery of a stupendously large black hole would be so exciting : Theorists would rub their hands with glee , ready to devise an explanation for them .
Searching @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do you actually find a super-duper giant black hole ?
The new research paper gives some insights of how to go hunting .
For one , because of their stupendous bulk , the stupendously large black holes ( SLABs ) can actually affect the gravitational evolution of their home galaxies .
Even supermassive black holes , as big as they are , are typically less than 1 % of the mass of their host galaxies .
But because SLABs are bigger , they can start to exert a gravitational influence .
For example @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the core , galaxy shapes could be distorted , or that gravity could change the way galaxy mergers happen .
So SLABs could explain any funking-looking things in pictures of galaxies .
And if SLABs have origins in the exotic physics of the extremely early universe , then as they populate the cosmos and continue to grow to stupendously large sizes , they 'll leave an imprint in their surroundings .
For example , they can attract so much matter that they affect the cosmic microwave background , the leftover light from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it was only 380,000 years old .
Related : From Big Bang to present : Snapshots of our universe through time SLABs might accumulate so much matter , and be so good at gobbling up anything in their vicinity , that even the mysterious dark matter might collect around them in a sort of halo .
If dark matter ( whatever that is ) interacts with itself , it might emit a very particular kind of radiation .
So these super gigantic black holes might be surrounded by a halo of high-energy light @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , we do n't know if SLABs exist , and all of the above methods have only placed constraints on how big they could possibly be .
Depending on your choice of model of how SLABs came to be , our current best guess is that the biggest possible black hole is around 10^19 solar masses , or 10 billion billion times more massive than the sun .
Anything bigger than that would violate what we 've already measured in the cosmos .
But that still leaves a wide-open gap of potential SLABiness @ @ @ @

Black holes can get big … really big. But just how big? It's possible they could top out at over a trillion times more massive than the sun. That's 10 times bigger than the largest known black hole so far.
But could these monsters truly exist in our universe? A team of researchers has come up with a plan to go hunting for them. And if they exist, they could help us solve the mysteries of how the first stars appeared in the cosmos.
Related: The biggest black hole findings
The demographics of the dark
If you want to go shopping for black holes in the universe, unfortunately you only have two basic sizes: kind of small and gigantic. You know that frustrating feeling you get when the online store is out of your size of that amazing shirt? Welcome to the life of the black hole hunter.
Small black holes, or stellar-mass black holes, are more massive than our sun, but not by that much. Because black holes are born from the deaths of massive stars in the final stages of a titanic supernova explosion, and massive stars have to be so big in order to go full supernova, the smallest black holes are around five times more massive than our sun.
Through mergers with other black holes and by slowly feeding on any stray bits of gas that wander too close to their ever-hungry mouths, these black holes can get bigger. We've seen evidence for black holes all the way up to nearly100 times the mass of the sun.
Stellar mass black holes are incredibly common in the universe — there are probably millions of them floating around the Milky Way galaxy right now. Pretty harmless, unless you get too close. The same is true for any other random galaxy in the universe: lots and lots of little black holes, left over from all those big, beautiful stars.
Related: 11 fascinating facts about our Milky Way galaxy
But the centers of galaxies host something even crazier: supermassive black holes. We have a supermassive black hole in the center of the Milky Way, and we call it Sagittarius A*. It has a mass about 4 million times that of the sun. Like I said, super massive. These beasts are easily a thousand times more massive than their stellar-mass cousins.
It seems that just about every galaxy hosts a giant black hole in its heart, with the absolute largest black holes on record tipping the scales at nearly 100 billion solar masses.
Astronomers have long been hunting for outliers: black holes smaller than five solar masses or in between stellar and supermassive black hole size. But a new paper, published Aug. 18 to the preprint database arXiv (so not yet peer-reviewed), poses a completely different kind of question: What if we took the biggest black holes and turned them up to 11?
How to make something stupendously big
This entirely new class of black holes, would dwarf the supermassives. These "stupendously large black holes" would start at a trillion solar masses (10 times bigger than the current largest known black hole) and could possibly be even bigger.
Understandably, these monsters among monsters would be rare. It's hard for our universe to make large things, because you need to glue a bunch of material together and get it to settle down and stay put, which matter doesn't really like to do.
Still, it's theoretically possible for these beasts to exist. And if we find them, it would help explain how many types of black holes form.
Related: The 12 strangest objects in the universe
The first black hole's appeared when the universe was very young, less than a billion years old. Over the eons, they merged and fed and grew to become supermassive black holes, and possibly the stupendously large black holes. But there's a limit to how quickly they can grow. To grow by mergers, they actually have to encounter and swallow other black holes. So if there aren't a lot of other black holes around, mergers aren't going to happen very frequently, and that won't be a viable avenue to greatness.
On the other hand, black holes can also grow by feeding on material. But as material falls toward the event horizon (considered the point of no return) of a black hole, it compresses and heats up. That releases radiation, which pours out of the central regions near a black hole and prevents new gas from falling into the black hole. The complex physics of falling into a black hole then sets an upper limit to how quickly black holes can feed.
The largest known black holes are a challenge to current astrophysical knowledge. It's hard to concoct the scenario of enough mergers and enough gas feeding to grow a tiny baby black hole in the early universe into the monsters lurking in galactic cores.
To find a stupendously large black hole would force us to consider new avenues for how black holes are born. Perhaps the first, and largest, black holes didn't come from the deaths of massive stars. Maybe they formed directly from the collapse of gas clouds, or from exotic processes in the early universe. Or something even stranger.
That's why the discovery of a stupendously large black hole would be so exciting: Theorists would rub their hands with glee, ready to devise an explanation for them.
Searching for monsters in the night
But how do you actually find a super-duper giant black hole? The new research paper gives some insights of how to go hunting.
For one, because of their stupendous bulk, the stupendously large black holes (SLABs) can actually affect the gravitational evolution of their home galaxies. Even supermassive black holes, as big as they are, are typically less than 1% of the mass of their host galaxies. But because SLABs are bigger, they can start to exert a gravitational influence.
For example, with that much gravity crunched up in the core, galaxy shapes could be distorted, or that gravity could change the way galaxy mergers happen. So SLABs could explain any funking-looking things in pictures of galaxies.
And if SLABs have origins in the exotic physics of the extremely early universe, then as they populate the cosmos and continue to grow to stupendously large sizes, they'll leave an imprint in their surroundings. For example, they can attract so much matter that they affect the cosmic microwave background, the leftover light from when our universe first became transparent when it was only 380,000 years old.
Related: From Big Bang to present: Snapshots of our universe through time
SLABs might accumulate so much matter, and be so good at gobbling up anything in their vicinity, that even the mysterious dark matter might collect around them in a sort of halo. If dark matter (whatever that is) interacts with itself, it might emit a very particular kind of radiation. So these super gigantic black holes might be surrounded by a halo of high-energy light generated by dark matter. So far, we don't know if SLABs exist, and all of the above methods have only placed constraints on how big they could possibly be. Depending on your choice of model of how SLABs came to be, our current best guess is that the biggest possible black hole is around 10^19 solar masses, or 10 billion billion times more massive than the sun. Anything bigger than that would violate what we've already measured in the cosmos. But that still leaves a wide-open gap of potential SLABiness in our universe.
Originally published on Live Science.


livescience--2020-09-28--'Tired' brain cells may distort your sense of time

Time in the does n't follow the steady ticking of the world 's most precise clocks .
Instead , it seems to fly by at one moment and practically stand still at others .
This distorted sense of time may be caused , in part , by brain cells getting tired , according to a new study .
When the brain has been exposed to the same exact time interval too many times , neurons or brain cells get overstimulated and fire less often , the study finds .
However , our perception of time is complicated , and many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ moves slowly sometimes and quickly at others .
We have only very recently begun to understand how our brains perceive time .
It was only in 2015 , that researchers found the first evidence of neurons whose activity fluctuates with our perception of time .
But it was n't clear if these neurons , found in a small brain region called the supramarginal gyrus ( SMG ) , were keeping accurate time for the brain , or creating a subjective experience of time .
In the new study , the researchers used a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ volunteers to figure it out .
They hooked participants up to a functional ( fMRI ) machine that measures brain activity by detecting changes in blood flow .
The volunteers then went through an `` adaptation '' period , in which they were shown a grey circle on a black background for either 250 milliseconds or 750 milliseconds , 30 times in a row .
After this , the participants were shown another circle for a set period of time as a `` test stimulus . ''
They were then told to listen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of time and asked if the test stimulus was longer or shorter than the white noise .
( They used white noise as a reference because an auditory stimulus is n't affected by the visual adaptation but the visual test stimulus is . )
The researchers found that if the test stimulus was similar in length to the adaptation stimulus in duration , activity in the supramarginal gyrus decreased .
In other words , neurons in that region fired less than when they were first exposed to the grey circle .
The idea @ @ @ @ @ @ @ d ] out neurons , '' that are sensitive to that time duration , said lead author Masamichi Hayashi , a cognitive neuroscientist at the Center for Information and Neural Networks at the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology in Japan .
But `` other neurons that are sensitive to other durations [ were ] still active . ''
This difference in activity level distorted the participants ' perception of time , he told Live Science in an email .
If exposed to a stimulus longer than the duration the brain was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and if exposed to a shorter stimulus , the participant underestimated time .
This can distort our sense of time in the real world .
For example , an audience at a piano concert may adapt to a musical tempo .
`` Your audience may feel your musical tempo subjectively slower than it actually is after being exposed to a music with a faster tempo , even if you are playing the music at the correct tempo , '' Hayashi said .
But `` we can not say at this point that neuron @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our study only showed a correlation between neuron fatigue … and distortion of subjective time , '' he said .
`` Our next step is to examine the causal relationship . ''
It 's also possible that there are multiple mechanisms at work in the brain to create our single perception of time , he said .
For example , our perception of time may be intimately related to our expectations , may be due to chemicals in the brain or even the speed at which brain cells activate one another and form @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
`` Addressing this question would be an important direction for future research , '' Hayashi said .
The findings were published Sept. 14 in the journal .

Time in the brain doesn't follow the steady ticking of the world's most precise clocks. Instead, it seems to fly by at one moment and practically stand still at others. This distorted sense of time may be caused, in part, by brain cells getting tired, according to a new study.
When the brain has been exposed to the same exact time interval too many times, neurons or brain cells get overstimulated and fire less often, the study finds. However, our perception of time is complicated, and many other factors may also explain why time moves slowly sometimes and quickly at others.
We have only very recently begun to understand how our brains perceive time. It was only in 2015, that researchers found the first evidence of neurons whose activity fluctuates with our perception of time. But it wasn't clear if these neurons, found in a small brain region called the supramarginal gyrus (SMG), were keeping accurate time for the brain, or creating a subjective experience of time.
Related: Inside the brain: a photo journey through time
In the new study, the researchers used a "time illusion" on 18 healthy volunteers to figure it out. They hooked participants up to a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) machine that measures brain activity by detecting changes in blood flow.
The volunteers then went through an "adaptation" period, in which they were shown a grey circle on a black background for either 250 milliseconds or 750 milliseconds, 30 times in a row.
After this, the participants were shown another circle for a set period of time as a "test stimulus." They were then told to listen to white noise for a certain amount of time and asked if the test stimulus was longer or shorter than the white noise. (They used white noise as a reference because an auditory stimulus isn't affected by the visual adaptation but the visual test stimulus is.)
The researchers found that if the test stimulus was similar in length to the adaptation stimulus in duration, activity in the supramarginal gyrus decreased. In other words, neurons in that region fired less than when they were first exposed to the grey circle.
The idea is that this repetition "tire[d] out neurons," that are sensitive to that time duration, said lead author Masamichi Hayashi, a cognitive neuroscientist at the Center for Information and Neural Networks at the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology in Japan. But "other neurons that are sensitive to other durations [were] still active."
This difference in activity level distorted the participants' perception of time, he told Live Science in an email. If exposed to a stimulus longer than the duration the brain was adapted to, the participant overestimated time and if exposed to a shorter stimulus, the participant underestimated time.
This can distort our sense of time in the real world. For example, an audience at a piano concert may adapt to a musical tempo. "Your audience may feel your musical tempo subjectively slower than it actually is after being exposed to a music with a faster tempo, even if you are playing the music at the correct tempo," Hayashi said.
But "we cannot say at this point that neuron fatigue 'caused' skewed time perception because our study only showed a correlation between neuron fatigue … and distortion of subjective time," he said. "Our next step is to examine the causal relationship."
It's also possible that there are multiple mechanisms at work in the brain to create our single perception of time, he said. For example, our perception of time may be intimately related to our expectations, may be due to chemicals in the brain or even the speed at which brain cells activate one another and form a network when performing an activity, according to a previous Live Science report . "Addressing this question would be an important direction for future research," Hayashi said.
The findings were published Sept. 14 in the journal JNeurosci .


livescience--2020-09-28--'Brain-eating' amoeba in Texas city's water supply kills 6-year-old

A has been found in the water supply of a Texas city where a 6-year-old boy recently died from an infection with the organism , according to news reports .
The boy , Josiah McIntyre , who lived in Lake Jackson , a city near Houston , Texas , died on Sept. 8 of a rare infection with the amoeba , known as Naegleria fowleri , according to .
Naegleria fowleri is naturally found in warm freshwater , such as lakes and rivers , and people usually become infected after swimming or diving in bodies of contaminated freshwater , according @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rare , happen when contaminated water goes up the nose — you can not become infected from swallowing contaminated water , the CDC says .
Josiah 's family said he may have been exposed to Naegleria fowleri from either their home 's water hose , or a city `` splash pad , '' where water sprays up from the ground , according to .
Officials tested 11 samples from Lake Jackson 's water supply , and found that three were `` preliminary positive , '' including samples from a city fire hydrant , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's home water hose faucet , the Times reported .
On Sunday ( Sept. 27 ) , Texas Gov .
Greg Abbott for Brazoria County , where Lake Jackson is located , due to the presence of Naegleria fowleri in the water supply .
The organism poses `` an imminent threat to public health and safety , including loss of life , '' Abbott said .
In Brazoria County , officials released a `` do not use '' water advisory for Lake Jackson , which was later changed to a `` boil notice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ boil water for drinking and cooking , while the city works to flush and disinfect the water system .
Until the flushing and disinfection process is complete , the advised residents to avoid activities that could cause water to go up the nose , such sniffing water up your nose while bathing or in the shower , submerging your head in bathing water or playing with hoses and sprinklers .
Infections with Naegleria fowleri are almost always fatal ; however , infections are very rare , with the typical number of U.S. infections @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , according to the CDC .
In addition to Josiah 's case , at least two other fatal cases of Naegleria fowleri have been reported this year , including a 13-year-old boy , who became infected after swimming in a lake in North Florida , .
Naegleria fowleri is a heat-loving organism , and in the U.S. , most infections occur in southern states , particularly during the summer months after it has been hot for prolonged periods , which raises the temperature of freshwater , according to the CDC .
Infections may @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rise due to climate change , .
Although extremely rare , infections from contaminated drinking water systems have occured in the past , including the case of a 4-year-old boy in Louisiana who died in 2013 after he likely become infected from using a lawn Slip ' N Slide , according to a 2015 report of the case published in the journal .

A "brain-eating" amoeba has been found in the water supply of a Texas city where a 6-year-old boy recently died from an infection with the organism, according to news reports.
The boy, Josiah McIntyre, who lived in Lake Jackson, a city near Houston, Texas, died on Sept. 8 of a rare infection with the amoeba, known as Naegleria fowleri, according to NBC News . Naegleria fowleri is naturally found in warm freshwater, such as lakes and rivers, and people usually become infected after swimming or diving in bodies of contaminated freshwater, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) . Infections, which are rare, happen when contaminated water goes up the nose — you cannot become infected from swallowing contaminated water, the CDC says.
Josiah's family said he may have been exposed to Naegleria fowleri from either their home's water hose, or a city "splash pad," where water sprays up from the ground, according to The New York Times . Officials tested 11 samples from Lake Jackson's water supply, and found that three were "preliminary positive," including samples from a city fire hydrant, the splash pad storage tank and Josiah's home water hose faucet, the Times reported.
Related: 5 key facts about brain-eating amoebas
On Sunday (Sept. 27), Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for Brazoria County, where Lake Jackson is located, due to the presence of Naegleria fowleri in the water supply. The organism poses "an imminent threat to public health and safety, including loss of life," Abbott said.
In Brazoria County, officials released a "do not use" water advisory for Lake Jackson, which was later changed to a "boil notice," meaning residents are advised to boil water for drinking and cooking, while the city works to flush and disinfect the water system. Until the flushing and disinfection process is complete, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality advised residents to avoid activities that could cause water to go up the nose, such sniffing water up your nose while bathing or in the shower, submerging your head in bathing water or playing with hoses and sprinklers.
Purging the city's water system will take 60 days, Modesto Mundo, city manager of Lake Jackson, said on Monday (Sept. 28), according to the Associated Press . This process includes removing the old water, disinfecting the system and returning fresh water, the AP reported.
Infections with Naegleria fowleri are almost always fatal; however, infections are very rare, with the typical number of U.S. infections ranging from zero to eight per year, according to the CDC . In addition to Josiah's case, at least two other fatal cases of Naegleria fowleri have been reported this year, including a 13-year-old boy, who became infected after swimming in a lake in North Florida, Live Science previously reported .
Naegleria fowleri is a heat-loving organism, and in the U.S., most infections occur in southern states, particularly during the summer months after it has been hot for prolonged periods, which raises the temperature of freshwater, according to the CDC. Infections may be becoming more common as water temperatures rise due to climate change, Live Science previously reported .
Although extremely rare, infections from contaminated drinking water systems have occured in the past, including the case of a 4-year-old boy in Louisiana who died in 2013 after he likely become infected from using a lawn Slip 'N Slide, according to a 2015 report of the case published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases .
Editor's note: This article was updated on Tuesday, Sept. 29 to include more information on the water system's disinfection process and how long it will take.
Originally published on Live Science.


livescience--2020-09-28--AI 'resurrects' 54 Roman emperors, in stunningly lifelike images

Ancient Roman emperors ' faces have been brought to life in digital reconstructions ; the unnervingly realistic image project includes the Emperors Caligula , and , among others .
The features of these long-dead rulers have been preserved in hundreds of sculptures , but even the most detailed carvings ca n't convey what these men truly looked like when they were alive .
To explore that , Canadian cinematographer and virtual reality designer Daniel Voshart used machine learning — computer algorithms that learn through experience — in a neural network , a computing system processes information through hierarchies of nodes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ neurons in a .
In the neural net , called , algorithms analyzed about 800 busts to model more realistic facial shapes , features , hair and , and to add vivid color .
Voshart then fine-tuned Artbreeder 's models using Photoshop , adding details gleaned from coins , artworks and written descriptions of the emperors from historical texts , to make the portraits really come to life .
Related : Photos : The reconstruction of a teen who lived 9,000 years ago '' There is a rule of thumb in computer programming @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and it applies to Artbreeder , '' Voshart told Live Science in an email .
`` A well-lit , well-sculpted bust with little damage and standard face features is going to be quite easy to get a result . ''
In contrast , a dataset including damaged sculptures or ones photographed under poor lighting can produce proverbial `` garbage '' images that are n't very realistic .
The busts that Voshart preferred to use as the primary sources were carved when their emperor subject was still alive , or were the most skillfully @ @ @ @ @ @ @ color , Voshart would either provide Artbreeder with a colorized reference image , or let it `` guess '' how to distribute hues so that the surface of the model resembled realistic human skin .
`` I can change skin tone and change somewhat with manual controls , '' he said .
Tracking down all the art and reference text for the emperors took approximately two months , and assembling each portrait required about 15 to 16 hours on average , Voshart told Live Science .
For the emperor Caligula , who ruled @ @ @ @ @ @ @ adjusted the Artbreeder model using descriptions that included `` head misshapen , eyes and temples sunken , '' and `` eyes staring and with a glare savage enough to torture , '' from a paper titled `` Personal Appearance in the Biography of the Roman Emperors , '' published in 1928 in the journal .
, emperor from A.D. 54 to 68 , had a more rounded jaw , skin that was `` freckled and repulsive , '' and a face that was `` agreeable rather than attractive , '' according to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reason so many Roman emperors were assassinated When Voshart began the Roman Emperor Project as a distraction during the COVID-19 quarantine , his knowledge of the ancient emperors was `` close to zero , '' he said .
Nevertheless , what started as a diverting art experiment intrigued Voshart enough to eventually include 54 emperors , spanning a period in the Roman Empire that is sometimes called the Principate , from 27 B.C .
to A.D. 285 , he wrote .
Knowing little about his subjects was actually a plus , allowing him @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bias , Voshart said .
`` In a forensic reconstruction , for example , you only want relevant information about hair , skin , known scars , '' and other physical features , Voshart explained .
`` Knowing aspects of personality can unduly influence an artist , '' leading them to craft a portrait that reflects a skewed perception of the subject , he said .
You can see more of Voshart 's reconstructions on his , and a poster of the 54 faces in the Roman Emperor Project is available at his @

A description of Caligula said the emperor had "a glare savage enough to torture."
Ancient Roman emperors' faces have been brought to life in digital reconstructions; the unnervingly realistic image project includes the Emperors Caligula, Nero and Hadrian , among others.
The features of these long-dead rulers have been preserved in hundreds of sculptures, but even the most detailed carvings can't convey what these men truly looked like when they were alive. To explore that, Canadian cinematographer and virtual reality designer Daniel Voshart used machine learning — computer algorithms that learn through experience — in a neural network, a computing system processes information through hierarchies of nodes that communicate in a manner similar to neurons in a brain .
In the neural net, called Artbreeder , algorithms analyzed about 800 busts to model more realistic facial shapes, features, hair and skin , and to add vivid color. Voshart then fine-tuned Artbreeder's models using Photoshop, adding details gleaned from coins, artworks and written descriptions of the emperors from historical texts, to make the portraits really come to life.
Related: Photos: The reconstruction of a teen who lived 9,000 years ago
"There is a rule of thumb in computer programming called 'garbage in garbage out,' and it applies to Artbreeder," Voshart told Live Science in an email. "A well-lit, well-sculpted bust with little damage and standard face features is going to be quite easy to get a result." In contrast, a dataset including damaged sculptures or ones photographed under poor lighting can produce proverbial "garbage" images that aren't very realistic.
The busts that Voshart preferred to use as the primary sources were carved when their emperor subject was still alive, or were the most skillfully made, he said in a blog post .
For skin color, Voshart would either provide Artbreeder with a colorized reference image, or let it "guess" how to distribute hues so that the surface of the model resembled realistic human skin.
"I can change skin tone and change ethnicity somewhat with manual controls," he said.
Voshart fed Artbreeder a colorized model of the Roman emperor Philip the Arab, who ruled from A.D. 244 249, to help the neural net create a realistic skin color for the emperor's portrait. (Image credit: Courtesy of Daniel Voshart)
Tracking down all the art and reference text for the emperors took approximately two months, and assembling each portrait required about 15 to 16 hours on average, Voshart told Live Science.
For the emperor Caligula, who ruled from A.D. 37 to 41, Voshart adjusted the Artbreeder model using descriptions that included "head misshapen, eyes and temples sunken," and "eyes staring and with a glare savage enough to torture," from a paper titled "Personal Appearance in the Biography of the Roman Emperors," published in 1928 in the journal Studies in Philology .
Nero , emperor from A.D. 54 to 68, had a more rounded jaw, skin that was "freckled and repulsive," and a face that was "agreeable rather than attractive," according to the 1928 paper.
Nero became emperor at the age of 17 after the death of his adopted father, the Emperor Claudius, in A.D. 54. (Image credit: Courtesy of Daniel Voshart)
Related: The weird reason so many Roman emperors were assassinated
When Voshart began the Roman Emperor Project as a distraction during the COVID-19 quarantine, his knowledge of the ancient emperors was "close to zero," he said. Nevertheless, what started as a diverting art experiment intrigued Voshart enough to eventually include 54 emperors, spanning a period in the Roman Empire that is sometimes called the Principate, from 27 B.C. to A.D. 285, he wrote on his website .
Knowing little about his subjects was actually a plus, allowing him to shape their faces without preconceptions or bias, Voshart said.
"In a forensic reconstruction, for example, you only want relevant information about hair, skin, known scars," and other physical features, Voshart explained. "Knowing aspects of personality can unduly influence an artist," leading them to craft a portrait that reflects a skewed perception of the subject, he said.
You can see more of Voshart's reconstructions on his website , and a poster of the 54 faces in the Roman Emperor Project is available at his Etsy store .
Originally published on Live Science.


livescience--2020-09-29--4 supersalty lakes may be hiding under the ice cap at Mars' south pole

Remnants of water once found on the surface of Mars may be hidden in a handful of small lakes below the Red Planet 's south pole , and more could exist , according to new research .
For decades , researchers have suspected that water lurks below the polar icecaps of Mars , just as it does here on Earth .
In 2018 , scientists detected evidence for such a reservoir on the Red Planet — signs of a lake about 12 miles ( 19 kilometers ) across and hidden below about a mile ( 1.5 km ) of ice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ At the time , the researchers said that studying this underground pool of water could yield insights on the past and present chances for .
However , scientists had many more questions than answers about the origin , composition and longevity of this lake and its water .
Related : The search for life on Mars ( a photo timeline ) In the new study , to learn more about this hidden water , researchers used the MARSIS radar sounder instrument on board the European Space Agency 's spacecraft to scan a 155-by-185 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the suspected underground lake .
The scientists analyzed this radar data with techniques previously used to detect lakes under glaciers in Antarctica .
The scientists confirmed the liquid nature of the previously observed lake , narrowing down its dimensions to about 12 by 18 miles ( 20 by 30 km ) in size .
They can not say how deep this lake extends , as the radio waves from MARSIS can not penetrate salty water , study co-author Elena Pettinelli , a geophysicist at Roma Tre University in Rome , told Space.com .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ three other lakes on the order of 6 by 6 miles ( 10 by 10 km ) in size .
Strips of dry rock separate these smaller patches of water from the main lake , the scientists said .
The researchers suggested these lakes are .
High brine content would keep their water liquid despite the extremely cold conditions at the base of the glaciers at Mars ' south pole , the scientists noted .
Although Martian polar ice may be melting a little due to warm noontime temperatures , the scientists do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ processes formed these lakes .
Instead , the scientists think this saltwater may be the remnants of a larger body of water now lost from the surface , and may be millions or even billions of years old , Pettinelli said .
Scientists have considered the possibility that might have melted polar ice to form the underground lakes , but that explanation was plausible when there was only one such body of water .
Forming several lakes this way might require a huge geothermal anomaly .
`` I do n't think it is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , '' Pettinelli said .
Instead , these lakes may have formed due to a warmer global climate in the Martian past , Pettinelli said .
`` This is a complex system of water , not just a single pond , '' she said .
`` It suggests that the conditions that created these lakes might have been more spread across the region , that there might be other systems like this around . ''
All in all , if these lakes `` are remnants of water that was once on the surface @ @ @ @ @ @ @ good habitat to harbor life , extinct or living , '' Pettinelli said .
But the ideal mission to study such potential life would need to drill 0.9 miles ( 1.5 km ) into the ice , which is n't possible with available technology , she said .
`` Still , maybe one day a mission to the Martian poles may sample the surface there to see if we can find interesting information , '' Pettinelli said .
In the future , the scientists would like to look for similar networks of lakes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ maybe at the as well , Pettinelli said .
The scientists detailed online today ( Sept. 28 ) in the journal Nature Astronomy .
Follow Charles Q. Choi on Twitter @ cqchoi .
Follow us on Twitter @ livescience and on Facebook .

An artist's depiction of Mars covered in water, as it may have been about 4 billion years ago.
Remnants of water once found on the surface of Mars may be hidden in a handful of small lakes below the Red Planet's south pole, and more could exist, according to new research.
For decades, researchers have suspected that water lurks below the polar icecaps of Mars, just as it does here on Earth. In 2018, scientists detected evidence for such a reservoir on the Red Planet — signs of a lake about 12 miles (19 kilometers) across and hidden below about a mile (1.5 km) of ice at the south pole of Mars.
At the time, the researchers said that studying this underground pool of water could yield insights on the past and present chances for life on Mars . However, scientists had many more questions than answers about the origin, composition and longevity of this lake and its water.
Related: The search for life on Mars (a photo timeline)
In the new study, to learn more about this hidden water, researchers used the MARSIS radar sounder instrument on board the European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft to scan a 155-by-185 mile (250-by-300 km) area surrounding the suspected underground lake. The scientists analyzed this radar data with techniques previously used to detect lakes under glaciers in Antarctica.
The scientists confirmed the liquid nature of the previously observed lake, narrowing down its dimensions to about 12 by 18 miles (20 by 30 km) in size. They cannot say how deep this lake extends, as the radio waves from MARSIS cannot penetrate salty water, study co-author Elena Pettinelli, a geophysicist at Roma Tre University in Rome, told Space.com.
Moreover, Pettinelli and her colleagues identified three other lakes on the order of 6 by 6 miles (10 by 10 km) in size. Strips of dry rock separate these smaller patches of water from the main lake, the scientists said.
The researchers suggested these lakes are extraordinarily salty . High brine content would keep their water liquid despite the extremely cold conditions at the base of the glaciers at Mars' south pole, the scientists noted.
Potential underground lakes below the south pole of Mars are shown in blue. (Image credit: Elena Pettinelli et al, Nature.)
Although Martian polar ice may be melting a little due to warm noontime temperatures, the scientists do not think it likely that such ongoing processes formed these lakes. Instead, the scientists think this saltwater may be the remnants of a larger body of water now lost from the surface, and may be millions or even billions of years old, Pettinelli said.
Scientists have considered the possibility that geothermal activity might have melted polar ice to form the underground lakes, but that explanation was plausible when there was only one such body of water. Forming several lakes this way might require a huge geothermal anomaly. "I don't think it is physically possible, given what we know," Pettinelli said.
Instead, these lakes may have formed due to a warmer global climate in the Martian past, Pettinelli said. "This is a complex system of water, not just a single pond," she said. "It suggests that the conditions that created these lakes might have been more spread across the region, that there might be other systems like this around."
All in all, if these lakes "are remnants of water that was once on the surface, it certainly may have been a good habitat to harbor life, extinct or living," Pettinelli said. But the ideal mission to study such potential life would need to drill 0.9 miles (1.5 km) into the ice, which isn't possible with available technology, she said. "Still, maybe one day a mission to the Martian poles may sample the surface there to see if we can find interesting information," Pettinelli said.
In the future, the scientists would like to look for similar networks of lakes elsewhere at the south pole, and maybe at the north pole as well, Pettinelli said.
The scientists detailed their findings online today (Sept. 28) in the journal Nature Astronomy.
Follow Charles Q. Choi on Twitter @cqchoi. Follow us on Twitter @livescience and on Facebook.


livescience--2020-09-29--Source of mysterious 'fairy circles' found

These regular barren patches that pop up in grasslands in Australia and Namibia have long created controversy , with some researchers arguing that they might be the result of .
But now , the most detailed monitoring effort ever shows that fairy circles are engineered by the grasses themselves .
The research , published Sept. 21 in the , reveals how harsh , dry conditions in Australia , punctuated by occasional heavy rainstorms , create a hostile crust of clay that makes up the barren part of the fairy circles .
But water runs off this crust , creating a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can make a home .
It 's a self-fulfilling cycle : Where there are no plants , weathering from rain and sun makes the soil ever more inhospitable , while areas where grass has managed to grow become a safe haven , where the vegetation cover lowers the soil temperature by up to 77 degrees Fahrenheit ( 25 degrees Celsius ) , traps water and allows new seedlings to take root .
Related : In images : Fairy circles of the Namib desert '' This is the positive feedback , where plants do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ecosystem engineering to benefit as much as possible from the limited water in this harsh environment , '' study lead author Stephan Getzin , an ecologist at the University of Göttingen and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research in Germany , wrote in an email to Live Science .
Getzin and his colleagues had previously theorized that fairy circles are an example of what 's called a Turing mechanism .
This is a type of pattern formation first identified by English mathematician Alan Turing , in which spotted or striped patterns arise naturally @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But to clinch this explanation for the bizarre speckled pattern in arid grasslands , the researchers needed hard evidence .
They hauled 175 pounds ( 80 kilograms ) of drone equipment and environmental monitors 745 miles ( 1,200 kilometers ) to Newman , Australia , a remote outpost in Western Australia .
They used the drones to get a bird's-eye view of the arrangement of the fairy circles outside of town , where the air temperature can reach 118 F ( 48 C ) in the summer .
They also monitored the fairy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up a weather station and soil-monitoring equipment about an inch beneath both barren and vegetated parts of the landscape .
The desert outside of Newman is dominated by a single group of grasses in the genus Trioda .
This is key to the formation of the fairy-circle patterns , Getzin said , because if there were more grass species around , they would take advantage of different ecological niches and likely cover the barren spots .
The monitoring showed that brief , intense rainfall pounds the coarse sand on the surface into fine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like a plug between the grains of sand , sealing off the surface .
It only takes a couple of hard rains to create this crust , Getzin said .
After that , the rainwater runs off rather than penetrating the ground .
However , Getzin said , this runoff also creates the potential for plants to survive in gaps between the barren zones .
The remarkably regular , honeycomb-style pattern of 13-foot-diameter ( 4 meter ) fairy circles forms because the plants are availing themselves of as much of this gap space @ @ @ @ @ @ @ between end up as far from each other as they can be .
The regular , circular structure benefits the plants , too , because each gap 's runoff is taken in by the maximum number of plants .
The soil monitoring also showed that the soil under the vegetation is much , much cooler than that in the barren patches .
Getzin and his team once measured the top centimeter of the barren crust at 167 F ( 75 C ) , well into egg-frying territory .
The new study , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ found that vegetation lowered the soil temperature dramatically in the midafternoon , when temperatures were highest .
The cooler soil temperature makes it possible for seeds to germinate and seedlings to grow , Getzin said .
The field monitoring happened to coincide with a wildfire that cleared the desert of grasses , but the same patterns re-emerged when the grasses started again from zero , the researchers found .
`` We could show for the first time with many and very detailed field investigations that Turing 's theory and all the assumptions in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , '' Getzin wrote in his email .
Getzin and his team are now doing a similar project in Namibia , where the fairy circles look similar but grow in sandy , rather than clay-rich soil .
The different soils mean that the mechanisms for the formation of the circles must be different , Getzin said , but they are still almost certainly forced by the limits on water in the arid environment .
`` How else can , in Namibia , perfectly circular grass rings form if it is not the competition @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .

Fairy circles might finally make sense.
These regular barren patches that pop up in grasslands in Australia and Namibia have long created controversy, with some researchers arguing that they might be the result of underground termite activity . But now, the most detailed monitoring effort ever shows that fairy circles are engineered by the grasses themselves .
The research, published Sept. 21 in the Journal of Ecology , reveals how harsh, dry conditions in Australia, punctuated by occasional heavy rainstorms, create a hostile crust of clay that makes up the barren part of the fairy circles. But water runs off this crust, creating a relative oasis at its edges where grasses can make a home. It's a self-fulfilling cycle: Where there are no plants, weathering from rain and sun makes the soil ever more inhospitable, while areas where grass has managed to grow become a safe haven, where the vegetation cover lowers the soil temperature by up to 77 degrees Fahrenheit (25 degrees Celsius), traps water and allows new seedlings to take root.
Related: In images: Fairy circles of the Namib desert
"This is the positive feedback, where plants do 'self-organized patch formation:' They do ecosystem engineering to benefit as much as possible from the limited water in this harsh environment," study lead author Stephan Getzin, an ecologist at the University of Göttingen and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research in Germany, wrote in an email to Live Science.
A drone image of the weather station and a fairy circle from above. All cables of temperature and soil-moisture sensors have been buried under ground. (Image credit: S Getzin, University of Göttingen)
Self-organizing patterns
Getzin and his colleagues had previously theorized that fairy circles are an example of what's called a Turing mechanism. This is a type of pattern formation first identified by English mathematician Alan Turing, in which spotted or striped patterns arise naturally from the interaction of two substances.
But to clinch this explanation for the bizarre speckled pattern in arid grasslands, the researchers needed hard evidence. They hauled 175 pounds (80 kilograms) of drone equipment and environmental monitors 745 miles (1,200 kilometers) to Newman, Australia, a remote outpost in Western Australia. They used the drones to get a bird's-eye view of the arrangement of the fairy circles outside of town, where the air temperature can reach 118 F (48 C) in the summer.
They also monitored the fairy circles on a detailed scale, setting up a weather station and soil-monitoring equipment about an inch beneath both barren and vegetated parts of the landscape. The desert outside of Newman is dominated by a single group of grasses in the genus Trioda. This is key to the formation of the fairy-circle patterns, Getzin said, because if there were more grass species around, they would take advantage of different ecological niches and likely cover the barren spots.
The monitoring showed that brief, intense rainfall pounds the coarse sand on the surface into fine silt and clay. The clay acts like a plug between the grains of sand, sealing off the surface. It only takes a couple of hard rains to create this crust, Getzin said. After that, the rainwater runs off rather than penetrating the ground.
Drone image of the Australian fairy circles, taken at a flying altitude of 130 feet (40 meters). (Image credit: S Getzin, University of Göttingen)
Circles of life
However, Getzin said, this runoff also creates the potential for plants to survive in gaps between the barren zones. The remarkably regular, honeycomb-style pattern of 13-foot-diameter (4 meter) fairy circles forms because the plants are availing themselves of as much of this gap space as possible; the barren circles in between end up as far from each other as they can be. The regular, circular structure benefits the plants, too, because each gap's runoff is taken in by the maximum number of plants.
The soil monitoring also showed that the soil under the vegetation is much, much cooler than that in the barren patches. Getzin and his team once measured the top centimeter of the barren crust at 167 F (75 C), well into egg-frying territory. The new study, which measured soil temperatures 2 centimeters down, found that vegetation lowered the soil temperature dramatically in the midafternoon, when temperatures were highest. The cooler soil temperature makes it possible for seeds to germinate and seedlings to grow, Getzin said.
The field monitoring happened to coincide with a wildfire that cleared the desert of grasses, but the same patterns re-emerged when the grasses started again from zero, the researchers found.
"We could show for the first time with many and very detailed field investigations that Turing's theory and all the assumptions in the model/theory are indeed met in nature," Getzin wrote in his email.
Getzin and his team are now doing a similar project in Namibia, where the fairy circles look similar but grow in sandy, rather than clay-rich soil. The different soils mean that the mechanisms for the formation of the circles must be different, Getzin said, but they are still almost certainly forced by the limits on water in the arid environment.
"How else can, in Namibia, perfectly circular grass rings form if it is not the competition of the grasses?" Getzin said.
Originally published on Live Science.


livescience--2020-09-29--Stone Age dog may have been buried with its master

Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a Stone Age that was buried alongside a human in a settlement in what is now southern Sweden .
That honorary position suggests the dog was n't wild ; rather , it likely lived amongst people about 8,400 years ago .
`` This is one of the oldest grave finds of dogs in the country , '' osteologist Ola Magnell with The Archaeologists with National Historical Museums , in Lund , Sweden from Blekinge Museum .
`` The dog is well preserved and the fact that it is buried in the middle of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Oftentimes , people from this time period were buried with valuable or sentimental objects , so perhaps the dog fit into one of those categories , the archaeologists said .
Related : Back to the Stone Age : 17 key milestones in Paleolithic life Excavators found the burial in Ljungaviken , a neighborhood in the municipality of Sölvesborg , at an archaeological site that researchers have been studying for the past 10 years .
Already , crews have found the remains of about 60 houses there , as well as pieces of flint @ @ @ @ @ @ @ project manager of the excavation , , the Swedish national public television broadcaster .
This settlement was abandoned soon after this person and dog were laid to rest .
About 8,400 years ago , rising sea levels flooded the area .
Those waters dumped layers of mud and sand over the site , burying it — but also protecting it — over time .
have been digging through this muck to reach the settlement beneath it , meaning that this burial and the other traces of Stone Age life are seeing the light @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more than eight millennia .
The team has n't fully excavated the dog yet , but plans to soon .
`` We hope to be able to lift the whole dog up in preparations , i.e .
with soil and everything , and continue the investigations at [ Blekinge Museum ] , '' Persson said in the statement ( translated from Swedish with Google Translate ) .
He added that `` a find like this makes you feel even closer to the people who lived here .
A buried dog somehow shows how @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the same feelings of grief and loss . ''
( Of note , it 's unclear whether the dog died a natural death , or whether it was killed to be buried with its human .
An analysis of its remains may reveal this mystery . )
Dogs were likely domesticated multiple times in different cultures , but have been living with humans since at least 33,000 years ago , according to a canine skull found in Siberia , a 2013 study published in the journal found .
An analysis of the Siberian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ similar to modern dogs than it was to wolves , coyotes and prehistoric canid species , .
The new discovery is hardly the first archaeological evidence that ancient humans cared for their `` good boys . ''
A 14,000-year-old burial in western Germany may be the oldest known grave to contain both dogs and people , a 2018 study in the found .
The canid remains suggest the pup was young and sick when it died , but its people apparently still developed an emotional bond with it , the researchers of that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ domesticated dog in Scotland 's northern Orkney islands was buried in an elaborate grave about 4,500 years ago .
That dog was about the size of a large collie and resembled , in some aspects , a European gray wolf .
It was recently recreated as a .
Once the newfound Stone Age dog is excavated and archaeologists wrap up their work at Ljungaviken , construction crews are slated to build residential housing at the site .

The remains of the Stone Age dog. Notice its teeth in the middle of the photo.
Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a Stone Age dog that was buried alongside a human in a settlement in what is now southern Sweden. That honorary position suggests the dog wasn't wild; rather, it likely lived amongst people about 8,400 years ago.
"This is one of the oldest grave finds of dogs in the country," osteologist Ola Magnell with The Archaeologists with National Historical Museums, in Lund, Sweden said in a statement from Blekinge Museum. "The dog is well preserved and the fact that it is buried in the middle of the Stone Age settlement is unique."
Oftentimes, people from this time period were buried with valuable or sentimental objects, so perhaps the dog fit into one of those categories, the archaeologists said.
Related: Back to the Stone Age: 17 key milestones in Paleolithic life
Excavators found the burial in Ljungaviken, a neighborhood in the municipality of Sölvesborg, at an archaeological site that researchers have been studying for the past 10 years. Already, crews have found the remains of about 60 houses there, as well as pieces of flint and fireplaces, Carl Persson, the project manager of the excavation, told SVT Nyheter , the Swedish national public television broadcaster.
This settlement was abandoned soon after this person and dog were laid to rest. About 8,400 years ago, rising sea levels flooded the area. Those waters dumped layers of mud and sand over the site, burying it — but also protecting it — over time.
Archaeologists have been digging through this muck to reach the settlement beneath it, meaning that this burial and the other traces of Stone Age life are seeing the light of day for the first time in more than eight millennia. The team hasn't fully excavated the dog yet, but plans to soon.
Archaeologists dug under soil deposited by flood waters to reach the Stone Age settlement in southern Sweden. (Image credit: Carl Persson/Blekinge Museum)
"We hope to be able to lift the whole dog up in preparations, i.e. with soil and everything, and continue the investigations at [Blekinge Museum]," Persson said in the statement (translated from Swedish with Google Translate). He added that "a find like this makes you feel even closer to the people who lived here. A buried dog somehow shows how similar we are over the millennia — the same feelings of grief and loss." (Of note, it's unclear whether the dog died a natural death, or whether it was killed to be buried with its human. An analysis of its remains may reveal this mystery.)
Dogs were likely domesticated multiple times in different cultures, but have been living with humans since at least 33,000 years ago, according to a canine skull found in Siberia, a 2013 study published in the journal PLOS One found. An analysis of the Siberian skull showed that its DNA was more similar to modern dogs than it was to wolves, coyotes and prehistoric canid species, Live Science previously reported .
The new discovery is hardly the first archaeological evidence that ancient humans cared for their "good boys." A 14,000-year-old burial in western Germany may be the oldest known grave to contain both dogs and people, a 2018 study in the Journal of Archaeological Science found. The canid remains suggest the pup was young and sick when it died, but its people apparently still developed an emotional bond with it, the researchers of that study wrote, according to a previous Live Science article .
Related: My, what big teeth: Wolves gallery
Meanwhile, a domesticated dog in Scotland's northern Orkney islands was buried in an elaborate grave about 4,500 years ago. That dog was about the size of a large collie and resembled, in some aspects, a European gray wolf. It was recently recreated as a 3D bust with fur and lifelike eyes .
Once the newfound Stone Age dog is excavated and archaeologists wrap up their work at Ljungaviken, construction crews are slated to build residential housing at the site.
Originally published on Live Science.


livescience--2020-09-29--Coronavirus outbreak: Live updates

Coronavirus outbreak: Live updates


livescience--2020-09-29--Snakes disembowel toads and feast on the living animal's organs one by one

Pity the that encounter Asian kukri snakes in Thailand .
These snakes use enlarged , knifelike teeth in their upper jaws to slash and disembowel toad prey , plunging their heads into the abdominal cavities and feasting on the organs one at a time while the toads are still alive , leaving the rest of the corpse untouched .
While you 're recovering from the horror of that sentence , `` perhaps you 'd be pleased to know that kukri snakes are , thankfully , harmless to humans , '' amateur herpetologist and naturalist Henrik Bringsøe , lead author in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , .
This grisly dining habit was previously unknown in ; while some rip chunks from their prey , most snakes gulp down their meals whole .
Scientists had never before seen a snake Bury its head inside an animal 's body to slurp up organs — sometimes taking hours to do so , Bringsøe and his colleagues reported .
Related : Beastly feasts : Amazing photos of animals and their prey The victims of this horrific organ-slurping were poisonous toads called Duttaphrynus melanostictus , also known as Asian common toads or Asian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thick-skinned , measuring about 2 to 3 inches ( 57 to 85 millimeters ) in length , according to ( ADW ) , a wildlife database maintained by the University of Michigan 's Museum of Zoology .
During the deadly battle , the toads fought `` vigorously '' for their lives , with some defensively secreting a toxic white substance , according to the study .
The snakes ' grisly evisceration strategy could be a way to avoid the toad 's poisonous secretions while still enjoying a tasty meal , the researchers wrote @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are so named because their slashing teeth resemble the kukri , a forward-curving machete from Nepal .
While kukri snakes are n't a threat to people , their teeth can cause painful lacerations that bleed heavily , because the snakes secrete an anticoagulant from specialized oral glands , according to the study .
`` This secretion , produced by two glands , called Duvernoy 's glands and located behind the eyes of the snakes , are likely beneficial while the snakes spend hours extracting toad organs , '' Bringsøe explained .
The researchers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ snakes ( Oligodon fasciolatus ) , which can measure up to 45 inches ( 115 centimeters ) long , consuming Asian common toads .
In the first incident , which took place in 2016 , the toad was already dead when the witnesses discovered the scene , `` but the soil around the two animals was bloody , indicating there had been a fight which eventually killed the toad , '' the scientists wrote .
The snake sawed through the toad 's body by swinging its head from side to side ; it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wound `` and subsequently it pulled out organs like liver , heart , lung and part of the gastrointestinal tract . ''
In a second event , an epic battle between a kukri snake and a toad on April 22 , 2020 lasted nearly three hours ; the snake attacked , withdrew , and attacked again , deterred only temporarily by the toad 's poison defense .
After finally subduing the toad , the snake extracted and swallowed organs while the toad was still breathing , according to the study .
On June @ @ @ @ @ @ @ took a different approach and did n't disembowel the toad at all , instead devouring it whole .
But in a fourth observation this year on June 19 , the snake eviscerated its toad prey , slicing into the abdomen to reach its organ meal .
Young toads potentially produce less poison than adults do , which may have enabled the snake in the June 5 observation to safely gulp it down in one piece ; another possibility is that kukri snakes are immune to the toad species ' toxins , but they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ simply too big for them to swallow , the researchers reported .
However , there 's not yet enough data to answer these questions , Bringsøe said in the statement .
`` We will continue to observe and report on these fascinating snakes in the hope that we will uncover further interesting aspects of their biology , '' he said .
The findings were published online Sept. 11 in the journal .

A small-banded kukri snake with its head inserted through the right side of the abdomen of an Asian black-spotted toad, in order to extract and eat the organs. Tissue of a collapsed lung (above, left), and possibly fat tissue, is covered by clear liquid that foams as it mixes with air bubbles from the lung. The upper part of the front leg is likewise covered by foaming blood, mixed with air bubbles from the collapsed lung.
Pity the toads that encounter Asian kukri snakes in Thailand. These snakes use enlarged, knifelike teeth in their upper jaws to slash and disembowel toad prey, plunging their heads into the abdominal cavities and feasting on the organs one at a time while the toads are still alive, leaving the rest of the corpse untouched.
While you're recovering from the horror of that sentence, "perhaps you'd be pleased to know that kukri snakes are, thankfully, harmless to humans," amateur herpetologist and naturalist Henrik Bringsøe, lead author in a new study describing the gruesome technique, said in a statement .
This grisly dining habit was previously unknown in snakes ; while some rip chunks from their prey, most snakes gulp down their meals whole. Scientists had never before seen a snake Bury its head inside an animal's body to slurp up organs — sometimes taking hours to do so, Bringsøe and his colleagues reported.
Related: Beastly feasts: Amazing photos of animals and their prey
The victims of this horrific organ-slurping were poisonous toads called Duttaphrynus melanostictus, also known as Asian common toads or Asian black-spotted toads; they are stout and thick-skinned, measuring about 2 to 3 inches (57 to 85 millimeters) in length, according to Animal Diversity Web (ADW), a wildlife database maintained by the University of Michigan's Museum of Zoology. During the deadly battle, the toads fought "vigorously" for their lives, with some defensively secreting a toxic white substance, according to the study. The snakes' grisly evisceration strategy could be a way to avoid the toad's poisonous secretions while still enjoying a tasty meal, the researchers wrote.
Kukri snakes in the Oligodon genus are so named because their slashing teeth resemble the kukri, a forward-curving machete from Nepal. While kukri snakes aren't a threat to people, their teeth can cause painful lacerations that bleed heavily, because the snakes secrete an anticoagulant from specialized oral glands, according to the study.
"This secretion, produced by two glands, called Duvernoy's glands and located behind the eyes of the snakes, are likely beneficial while the snakes spend hours extracting toad organs," Bringsøe explained.
Macabre mealtime
The researchers described three observations in Thailand of kukri snakes (Oligodon fasciolatus), which can measure up to 45 inches (115 centimeters) long, consuming Asian common toads. In the first incident, which took place in 2016, the toad was already dead when the witnesses discovered the scene, "but the soil around the two animals was bloody, indicating there had been a fight which eventually killed the toad," the scientists wrote. The snake sawed through the toad's body by swinging its head from side to side; it then slowly inserted its head into the wound "and subsequently it pulled out organs like liver, heart, lung and part of the gastrointestinal tract."
In a second event, an epic battle between a kukri snake and a toad on April 22, 2020 lasted nearly three hours; the snake attacked, withdrew, and attacked again, deterred only temporarily by the toad's poison defense. After finally subduing the toad, the snake extracted and swallowed organs while the toad was still breathing, according to the study.
On June 5, 2020, a kukri snake took a different approach and didn't disembowel the toad at all, instead devouring it whole. But in a fourth observation this year on June 19, the snake eviscerated its toad prey, slicing into the abdomen to reach its organ meal.
A toad's liver lobes are visible after a small-banded kukri snake sliced through the left side of the toad's abdomen, underneath its left front leg. The photo was taken in Loei, Thailand in August 2016. (Image credit: Winai Suthanthangjai)
Young toads potentially produce less poison than adults do, which may have enabled the snake in the June 5 observation to safely gulp it down in one piece; another possibility is that kukri snakes are immune to the toad species' toxins, but they disembowel adults anyway because the toads are simply too big for them to swallow, the researchers reported.
However, there's not yet enough data to answer these questions, Bringsøe said in the statement.
"We will continue to observe and report on these fascinating snakes in the hope that we will uncover further interesting aspects of their biology," he said.
The findings were published online Sept. 11 in the journal Herpetozoa .
Originally published on Live Science.