A sapphire Schrödinger’s cat shows that quantum effects can scale up

A sliver of a sapphire crystal close to half the mass of an eyelash has been put in a ‘cat state’: a state of quantum superposition in which its atoms move in two directions at once. This is reminiscent of Schrödinger’s cat, a thought experiment that illustrates quantum superposition by means of a feline that appears to be simultaneously dead and alive until it is observed. The sapphire cat is more than 100 trillion times the mass of the molecules previously put in cat states.

Blogger Comments:

To be clear, the quantum superposition of Schrödinger's Cat is of potential states, alive or dead, one which is instantiated when it is observed.

This research, in contrast, is concerned with actual observed states, not potential unobserved states.

Black-hole image reveals details of turmoil around the abyss

The first image of a black hole blew us away in 2019, showing a ‘ring of fire’ of radio-wavelength emissions swirling around an abyss called M87*. Now, a machine-learning algorithm maximises the resolution of the image to show a substantially thinner ring. And fresh data reveal that a stupendously bright jet of superheated matter, which was observed long before the black hole was imaged, actually emerges from the ring. Astronomers know that jets are ejected from the region surrounding black holes, but it’s still not fully understood how that happens.

James Webb Space Telescope spots planet-making ingredients

The building blocks of planetary formation have been detected in a surprising galaxy, where scientists once thought planets might not emerge. The discovery, made by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), suggests that planet formation could be more common throughout the Universe than previously thought.

Ancient-human genome count surpasses 10,000

More than 10,000 ancient-human genomes have now been sequenced. In 2010, the first ancient-DNA sequence was published, of a man who lived 4,000 years ago. Since 2018, thanks to technological advances, there has been an explosion in the number of ancient genomes sequenced. The vast majority come from people who lived in Europe, Russia and the Middle East.

Comb jellies’ unique fused neurons

Ctenophores, or comb jellies, have surprised scientists with their unusual nervous system: some of their neurons are fused directly to each other. In other animals, neurons are separate cells that communicate through synapses. The discovery suggests that comb jellies’ nervous systems evolved independently of that of all other animals.

Penfold's ‘homunculus’ redrawn to include complex movements

The iconic ‘homunculus’ diagram, which shows how the brain controls individual body parts, has been overhauled to include complex movements. Since the 1930s, the diagram has been used to show a brain region called the primary motor cortex and how it dedicates much more space to some body parts, such as the hands and mouth, than others. Now, hours of magnetic resonance imaging have revealed three interconnected areas that aren’t specific to any one body part. Instead, they connect to parts of the brain that are responsible for critical thinking, maintaining the body’s physiology and planning actions.

Bacterial DNA a key component of vertebrate vision

An ancient gene that our ancestors snatched from bacteria some 500 million years ago became a key component in all vertebrates’ vision. The gene encodes a protein that shuttles light-reactive molecules between cells and is found in all vertebrates — but not in invertebrates. It most closely resembles a class of bacterial genes that encode protein-recycling proteins. Bacteria are known to swap genes, and vertebrates can also incorporate microbial DNA.

Astronomers Spy a Giant Runaway Black Hole’s Starry Wake

Some 40 million years ago, a supermassive black hole escaped the clutches of its host galaxy, leaving a sparkling trail of young stars as it sped away into space. The rogue black hole was first picked up by the Hubble Space Telescope as a faint linear trail. Further observations made with the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii revealed that the streak was a stream of blue stars stretching across a staggering 200,000 light years. The object weighs 20 million Suns and is travelling at more than 1,500 kilometres a second.

Crazy ants’ strange genomes are a biological first

Male yellow crazy ants (Anoplolepis gracilipes) are all chimæras: they are composed of two warring cell lineages with two entirely different sets of genomes. Usually, an organism’s cells all carry the same genes. In yellow crazy ants, some cells carry only maternal and others only paternal genetic material. Chimærism can happen by accident in other animals, but the ants are the first known animal for which this property is an essential aspect of life — although it’s not clear why.

Light waves squeezed through ‘slits in time’

A celebrated experiment in 1801 showed that light passing through two thin slits interferes with itself, forming a characteristic striped pattern on the wall behind. Now, physicists have shown that a similar effect can arise with two slits in time rather than space: a single mirror that rapidly turns on and off causes interference in a laser pulse, making it change colour. The result adds a new twist to the classic double-slit experiment first performed by physicist Thomas Young.

Ancient DNA illuminates Swahili culture’s origins

Genomes point to the diverse origins of Swahili culture, with people carrying a mix of local African, Middle Eastern and South Asian ancestry. Researchers analysed the genomes of 54 individuals buried in Kenya and Tanzania between 1250 and 1800 and found that they were descended from people who began mixing around 1000. Nearly all the East African ancestry seemed to come from women, whereas most of the Asian ancestry was contributed by men from Persia. The results support the oral traditions of Swahili people and dispel the colonial idea that Swahili civilisation is “essentially an Arab civilisation”.

T. rex had lips

Analysis of the teeth and skull of this king of the dinosaurs showed that, unlike its more recent relatives, the crocodiles, Tyrannosaurus rex probably had lips covering its formidable teeth. Most lizards have lips to keep their tooth enamel moist and their delicate dentition protected, and palæontologists have wondered for years whether T. rex was lippy like a lizard or lipless like a croc.

Stressed plants ‘cry’ — and some animals can probably hear them

Thirsty or stressed plants produce ultrasonic clicks that, when processed to make them audible to humans, sound like popping popcorn. Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants that needed water, or that had recently had their stems cut, produced up to roughly 35 clicks per hour. Well-hydrated and uncut plants made only about one sound per hour. The noises possibly come from air bubbles forming or breaking in the plants’ xylem, the tubes that transport water and nutrients from the roots to the stems and leaves. The sounds could be used to monitor plants in farming and horticulture.

Molecular syringe ferries proteins into human cells

Researchers have repurposed a bacterium’s molecular ‘syringe’ to deliver proteins, such as the genome-editing Cas9 or a cancer-killing toxin, into human cells or the brains of mice. The bacterium Photorhabdus asymbiotica’s injection system usually works only on insect cells. The team modified the structure of the system so that it would recognize other species’ cells and accept payloads including the Cas9 protein, which is five times larger than the syringe’s usual cargo. The method could be a way to administer protein-based drugs and address one of gene editing’s major bottlenecks: delivering the CRISPR–Cas9 system to where it’s needed.