Crazy Science News: Teeth Outside Mouth?! Monkey Kidnappings & Arctic Ice Fix!

Rewriting of Paleontology Textbooks: The Surprising Case of Anatolepis

• The Initial Belief: Welcome to this week's PanSci News. In the world of paleontology, textbooks are about to be rewritten yet again, and this time, the change is significant. The protagonist is the Cambrian fossil Anatolepis. Scientists originally believed it to be the earliest dentin, a key component of vertebrate teeth.

• The New Discovery: However, a study published in Nature on May 21st has shattered this belief. Yara Haridy, a scientist from the University of Chicago, used synchrotron radiation scanning and found that the so-called dentinal tubules of Anatolepis actually have arrowhead-shaped ends and a tube - within - a - tube morphology. These characteristics, upon comparison, are more like the sensory organs of arthropods. In other words, what we've been regarding as the ancestor of vertebrate teeth is more likely to be the hair of trilobites.

• Impact on the Timeline: Since Anatolepis was the only Cambrian evidence of the earliest dentin, its "switch" to the arthropod camp has pushed back the debut of vertebrate dentin by a staggering 40 million years, to the Middle Ordovician period.

The Nature of Early Vertebrate Teeth

• The Teeth of Eriptychius: Researchers then looked at the teeth of the Ordovician true vertebrate Eriptychius. These teeth, which are small teeth on the skin, have wide dentinal tubules, no hard enamel-like covering, and an open pulp cavity. They seem more like a kind of sensor rather than a tool for eating.

• Connection with Modern Fish: Interestingly, modern cartilaginous fish like sharks and bony fish like异型鱼 have many small teeth on their skin called odontodes, which also have nerves running through them. Scientists believe this indicates that this sensory function may have been present in their ancestors. So, the conclusion is that our teeth initially functioned as detectors rather than for eating, and they may have grown into the mouth from the outside of the skin.

A New Invention: Invisible Glasses for Working with Eyes Closed

• The Technology Behind: When you're extremely sleepy but still have work to do, here's some good news. Scientists from the University of Science and Technology of China have invented a kind of contact lens that allows you to continue working with your eyes closed. They incorporated a black - technology called upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) into ordinary soft contact lenses. These nanoparticles can absorb near-infrared light with wavelengths between about 800 and 1600 nanometers, which is invisible to the naked eye, and convert it into visible light. For example, 980 - nanometer infrared light may appear as blue light, 808 - nanometer as green, and 1532 - nanometer as red.

• Advantages and Limitations: Closing your eyes actually enhances the effect because the eyelids can more effectively block the interference of visible light, allowing the near-infrared light signal to penetrate more clearly. This technology could potentially help color-blind people see things they usually can't. The estimated cost of this new contact lens is only $200, much cheaper than some high-end alternatives. However, there are also drawbacks. Some UCNPs are coated with certain polymers like polyethyleneimine (PEI), which may be toxic to cells. Additionally, the nanoparticles are very close to the retina, and the converted light is prone to scattering, resulting in reduced image resolution.

The Bizarre Behavior of Monkeys: Kidnapping Baby Monkeys

• The Incidents: In just 15 months, there have been 11 consecutive kidnapping cases, and the suspects are five young monkeys! A recent study by the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior found that on an uninhabited island in Panama, juvenile male white-faced capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus imitator) were kidnapping the babies of their neighbor howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata coibensis).

• The Motive and Consequences: These capuchin monkeys didn't eat the baby howler monkeys or gain any obvious benefits. They just carried them around. But they didn't take care of the newborn, unweaned howler monkeys at all, ignoring their hungry cries for help. When the howler monkey families were looking for their babies, the capuchin monkeys showed no concern. At least four of the 11 kidnapped howler monkeys died, and the others likely had a tragic end. After 15 months of observation, scientists hypothesized that the capuchin monkeys were just bored. This behavior, if it continues or spreads, could lead to the extinction of the endangered howler monkeys on the island.

Galaxies' Strange Interaction: One Affecting the Other's Star - Making

• The Galaxy Merger: Russian and French astronomers have discovered that about 11 billion light-years away from us, two galaxies, each with a large amount of molecular gas capable of forming stars, are approaching at a high speed of about 550 kilometers per second, ready to merge.

• The Impact of the Quasar: However, the supermassive black hole in the center of one of the galaxies, a quasar, is firing at full power. The matter rotating at high speed around the black hole rubs against each other, reaching millions of degrees in temperature. The radiation is redirected along the magnetic field lines outside the event horizon and violently ejected from the two poles, hitting the merging galaxy next to it. The research team deduced that any molecular gas exposed to the quasar radiation will be destroyed or blown away, leaving only small, dense remnants. In other words, while the quasar provides energy for growth, it has actually locally shut down the partner galaxy's star-making factory, having a significant negative feedback effect on the interstellar gas. This discovery is important as it confirms that large-scale galaxy mergers can indeed trigger quasar activities, and quasar radiation can actually affect the surrounding environment.

The Impact of Night Market Pollution on Children's Lung Function

• The Research Findings: A study published in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology by National Sun Yat-sen University and Kaohsiung Medical University in Taiwan shows that the charcoal fires and cooking fumes in night markets not only affect you while you're visiting but can also quietly drift into nearby homes and affect children's lung function. They measured the indoor air quality of 58 families near a night market in Taiwan and the lung function of children. The results showed that during the night market's operating hours, the concentration of suspended particles such as PM1, PM2.5, and PM10 in these families' indoor air increased significantly. Children living within about 600 meters of the night market had significantly lower lung function values than those living farther away.

• Recommendations: The study also found that the concentrations of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and volatile organic compounds were higher in homes close to the night market, indicating that the pollutants emitted by night market cooking had entered the indoor environment. Scientists recommend that nearby residents reduce window ventilation during the night market's operating hours or use air purifiers. However, the root cause should be addressed. Although night market culture is precious and the food is delicious, lung function is also important. It's time to find solutions for the nearby residents, especially children.

Earth Engineering to Save the Arctic Ice

• The Problem of Arctic Ice Melting: With the progress of global carbon reduction still slow and the Arctic ice shrinking rapidly, some scientists are considering direct measures to help the Arctic refreeze. The Arctic ice cap acts like a giant mirror, reflecting up to 90% of solar radiation back into space and helping to cool the Earth. But in the past 40 years, this mirror has shrunk by about 40%, leading to a vicious circle: the less ice there is, the more heat is absorbed, the faster the warming, and the faster the ice melts, accelerating sea-level rise.

• Proposed Solutions: The Cambridge Centre for Climate Repair (CCCR) in the UK and a non-profit organization called Real Ice are researching some earth engineering methods. One method is to use hydrogen-powered pumps in winter to draw seawater from below the sea ice and spray it onto the surface. When this seawater comes into contact with the extremely cold Arctic air, it will freeze and thicken the original sea ice. Another method is Marine Cloud Brightening (MCB), which involves spraying extremely fine sea salt mist into low-level marine clouds. These salt particles become cloud condensation nuclei, causing the clouds to form more and smaller water droplets, making the clouds whiter and brighter and reflecting more sunlight back into space, indirectly cooling the Arctic.

• Controversies and Concerns: However, these methods are highly controversial. Spraying seawater and creating salt mist may have other impacts on the marine ecosystem. The noise from the water pumps may scare away whales, and changing the seawater salinity may affect the growth of algae. There are also questions about the opinions of the Arctic residents, the huge cost of the project, how long the effect will last, and who should be in charge of such a global project. Moreover, some countries may actually be happy to see the Arctic ice melt completely. And if we rely on this kind of earth engineering, people may think there is a "cure" and be less motivated to reduce carbon emissions. If these projects suddenly stop for some reason, the Earth may experience rapid rebound warming, which could have more serious consequences than slow warming.

That's all for this week's PanSci News. Starting from next week, we will accept background picture submissions. Please check the information column for details. I'm Guowei, and we'll see you next week.