List of All Articles with Tag 'i'

What do you reckon the chattiest vegetable is? The answer may be mushrooms, as according to a new study from scientists in Japan, rain may prompt some fungi to communicate using underground electrical signals. In a study published in Fungal Ecology , researchers monitored small, tan mushrooms known as bicoloured deceivers in the mixed forest at the Kawatabi Field Science Center of Tohoku University in Japandorm. They looked at the 'shrooms electrical potential, measured in megavolts (mV), for about two days in late September and early October 2021. The study site was initially sunny and dry, and the second was during rain - at which point the mushrooms showed some electrical potential and signal transport between each other. Microbial ecologist Yu Fukasawa of Tohoku University said: "Our results confirm the need for further studies on fungal electrical potentials under a true ecological context." Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Previously, scientists had found that these mushrooms make subterranean "sheaths" around the exterior of a tree's roots. These sheaths are made of hyphae and when they link underground they form interconnected systems known as mycorrhizal networks that allow forests communicate via chemical signals down tree roots and mycorrhizal fungi. And a 2022 study found patterns of nerve-like electrical activity in some fungi that seem comparable to the structure of human speech. The study identified up to 50 different "words," or groups of spikes in electrical activity, generated by fungal networks. Earlier research has also found that plants can send secret electrical signals underground, possibly even without help from mycorrhizal fungi. Who knew mushrooms had so much to say? Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

By Ruma Paul DHAKA (Reuters) -Storm surges whipped up by a powerful cyclone moving inland from the Bay of Bengal

A frog-themed digital token that’s only been around for a month may be signaling pain ahead for Bitcoin

When Bob Lee, a well-known tech executive who co-founded the payment programme Cash App, was stabbed to death in April, many within San Francisco’s close-knit tech community lept to conclusions, with figures like Elon Musk declaring the death another sign of the city’s persistent, if often misunderstood, struggles with random street crime. What actually happened, according to prosecutors and friends of Lee, couldn’t be further from this original narrative. Lee was part of an underground party scene in San Francisco known among participants as “The Lifestyle,” where recreational drugs and casual sex were common, participants and those who knew Lee told The Wall Street Journal. One of the people Lee overlapped with within San Francisco nightlife was Khazar Momeni, sister of Nima Momeni, the man arrested in April for Lee’s murder. He plans to plead not guilty. Lee and Ms Momeni, who is married, were reportedly in a casual relationship. “There are many rumors circulating around this case, many of them untrue,” lawyers for Ms Momeni told the Journal. “Ms. Momeni loves and supports her brother. What happened here is a tragedy, and Ms. Momeni is deeply saddened at the suffering of the Lee family as they deal with their terrible loss.” In the hours before Lee was killed, Mr Momeni confronted Lee about his sister, prosecutors allege, asking if she had done anything inappropriate, which he denied. Later, according to officials, Khazar Momeni sent Lee a text message acknowledging the confrontation: “Just wanted to make sure your doing ok Cause know nima came wayyyyyy down hard on you.” Hours after the alleged confrontation, Lee was seen getting into a white BMW with Mr Momeni, and prosecutors allege he drove the tech executive to a secluded area and stabbed him to death with a kitchen knife. The Independent has contacted Mr Momeni’s lawyer for comment. Lee had been using cocaine and ketamine before his death, an autopsy found. Mr Momeni, an IT executive, will be arraigned later his month. Read More Autopsy: Stab wounds to heart, lungs killed Cash App founder Man accused of stabbing Cash App founder gets new court date A tech CEO has been murdered and Elon Musk blames San Francisco’s ‘horrific’ rise in crime. Is he right?

A rare planet has been discovered hundreds of light years away, and it could prove key to our understanding of planetary formations out there in the universe. There have been more than 5,300 exoplanets discovered, but few match the description of the newly recorded TOI-733b. Found 245 light-years away, TOI-733b is almost twice the size of Earth and orbits a sun slightly smaller than our Sun. While there are many exoplanets, there are a surprisingly small number which sit between one and a half and two times the radius of the Earth, and it's the size that makes it so interesting to scientists. Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter The research was conducted by a team of astronomers led by Iskra Georgieva of Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden. It was accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics. The team focused on TOI-733b after data on the planet was collected by NASA's telescope TESS. The density of the planet suggests two things – it’s either totally covered in water, or it’s lost its atmosphere altogether. Clues point to the idea of TOI-733b’s atmosphere slowly depleting. That’s due to the proximity of the planet to its star, which it orbits in the space of just 4.9 days. If the atmosphere is being burned away, it means it could soon be transformed into a rock planet. The other possibility points to the planet having lost its hydrogen and helium, while retaining an atmosphere packed with water vapour. "Answering the question of whether TOI-733b has a secondary atmosphere or is an ocean planet boils down to differentiating between a Neptune-like planet that lost its ∼10 per cent of H/He to leave behind a steam atmosphere of heavier volatiles, and one that formed and remained relatively the same throughout its evolution," the research reads. "While being beyond the scope of this paper, finding an answer to this question will have broad implications on our understanding of exoplanets." The team went on to write: "By all accounts TOI-733 b looks to be an interesting planet and holds the potential of being a small but key piece to solving big puzzles in exoplanet science. "With ever increasing in-depth theoretical analyses and the promise of high-precision follow up by present and upcoming facilities, we seem to be well on the way to finding answers to major questions relating to planet formation and evolution." Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

BENGALURU (Reuters) -Apple Inc supplier Foxconn will invest $500 million to set up manufacturing plants in the southern Indian state

Google is adding two new features to its image search to reduce the spread of misinformation, especially now

China's Communist Party had "supreme access" to all data held by TikTok's parent company Bytedance, including on servers in the United States, a former employer who is bringing a wrongful termination lawsuit has alleged.

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 15, 2023--

By Diane Bartz and Jeffrey Dastin WASHINGTON U.S. lawmakers are grappling with what guardrails to put around burgeoning

Denmark’s Topsoe A/S is preparing to spend $300 million on a US hydrogen electrolyzer factory in the latest

A senior investment banker at Credit Suisse AG says his team is actively seeking new deals in a