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The research, conducted by Professor Yossi Yovel from the School of Zoology and Professor Lilach Hadany from the School of Plant Sciences and Food Security at TAU's George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, demonstrates that female moths actively avoid plants emitting distress signals when selecting locations to deposit their eggs. The study was published as a pre-print on December 27, 2024, in the journal eLife.

These ultrasonic communications occur at frequencies beyond human hearing capabilities but remain clearly audible to moths and other insects. The research team, led by students Dr. Raya Seltzer and Guy Zer Eshel in collaboration with scientists from the Plant Protection Institute at the Volcani Institute, discovered that when plants broadcast distress sounds, female moths consistently choose healthier plants that remain silent.

The investigation builds upon previous research published by the same team approximately two years ago, which initially revealed that plants under stress emit sounds at ultrasonic frequencies detectable by many animals. That initial discovery sparked worldwide interest and opened extensive research opportunities into acoustic communication between plants and animals.

"After proving in the previous study that plants produce sounds, we hypothesized that animals capable of hearing these high-frequency sounds may respond to them and make decisions accordingly," Professor Yovel explained. "Specifically, we know that many insects, which have diverse interactions with the plant world, can perceive plant sounds. We wanted to investigate whether such insects actually detect and respond to these sounds."

The researchers focused their attention on female moths due to their reproductive behavior patterns. "We chose to focus on female moths, which typically lay their eggs on plants so that the larvae can feed on them once hatched," Professor Hadany stated. "We assumed the females seek an optimal site to lay their eggs, a healthy plant that can properly nourish the larvae."

The scientific team questioned whether moths would heed warning signals from stressed plants. "When the plant signals that it is dehydrated and under stress, would the moths heed the warning and avoid laying eggs on it? To explore this question, we conducted several experiments," Professor Hadany added.

The first experiment aimed to separate the auditory component from other plant characteristics such as color and scent. Researchers presented female moths with two boxes – one containing a speaker playing recordings of tomato plants in dehydration states, while the other remained silent. The moths demonstrated a clear preference for the "noisy" box, which they likely interpreted as a living plant, even if the plant was experiencing stress.

The research team concluded that moths indeed perceive and respond to the playback of plant-emitted sounds. When researchers neutralized the moths' hearing organs, this preference disappeared, and they chose both boxes equally, providing clear evidence that the preference was specifically based on listening to sounds, not on other stimuli.

The second experiment presented female moths with two healthy tomato plants – one equipped with a speaker playing sounds of a drying plant, and one that remained silent. Again, they showed clear preference, but this time for the silent plant, from which no distress sounds were heard, and probably serving as a better site for laying eggs.

A final experiment presented moths with two boxes again – one silent and the other containing male moths, which also emit ultrasonic sounds at frequencies similar to plant sounds. This time, the females showed no preference and laid their eggs equally in both boxes. The researchers concluded that when deciding where to lay their eggs, the females specifically respond to plant-emitted sounds and not to the sounds made by males.

"In this study, we revealed the first evidence for acoustic interaction between a plant and an insect," the researchers conclude. "We are convinced, however, that this is just the beginning. Acoustic interaction between plants and animals doubtlessly has many more forms and a wide range of roles. This is a vast, unexplored field, an entire world waiting to be discovered."

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Scientists have successfully developed an antivenom with "unprecedented" capabilities from the blood of Tim Friede, an American who intentionally injected himself with snake venom for nearly two decades. According to a report in the BBC, antibodies found in Friede's blood proved effective against lethal doses from a wide variety of snake species, as demonstrated in animal experiments.

Unlike current treatments that must specifically match the snake species that bit the victim, the new research represents a significant step toward developing a universal antivenom against all snakebites, which claim up to 140,000 lives annually and leave three times as many with amputated limbs or permanent disability.

In total, Friede endured more than 200 bites and over 700 injections of venom he prepared himself from some of the world's deadliest snakes, including various species of mambas, cobras, taipans, and kraits. Friede, who previously worked as a truck mechanic, began his self-experiments out of personal interest in snakes and documented the process on YouTube.

He told the BBC that he "completely messed up" in the early stages when two cobra bites in succession left him in a coma. "I didn't want to die. I didn't want to lose a finger. I didn't want to miss work," he said.

Friede's motivation to continue the experiments, despite the danger, was his desire to develop better treatments for snakebite victims worldwide. "It just became a lifestyle and I just kept pushing and pushing and pushing as hard as I could push – for the people who are 8,000 miles away from me who die from snakebite," he explained to the BBC.

Currently, antivenom is produced by injecting small doses of snake venom into animals like horses. Their immune system fights the venom by producing antibodies, which are collected for use as medicine. The problem is that venom and antivenom must closely match each other, as the toxins in a venomous bite vary from one species to another. For example, antivenom created from snakes in India is less effective against the same snake species in Sri Lanka.

A research team led by Dr. Jacob Glanville, CEO of the biotechnology company Centivax, began searching for a type of immune defense called "broadly neutralizing antibodies." Instead of targeting the unique part of the toxin, these antibodies target parts common to entire groups of toxins.

When he heard about Friede, Dr. Glanville contacted him. "I immediately thought 'if anyone in the world has developed these broadly neutralizing antibodies, it would be him,'" he told the BBC. "In the first conversation, I said to him, 'This might sound strange, but I would really like to get a sample of your blood.'"

The research focused on snakes of the elapid family, such as coral snakes, mambas, cobras, taipans, and kraits. These snakes primarily use toxins that attack the nervous system (neurotoxins), which paralyze the victim and can be fatal when they paralyze the breathing muscles.

The researchers selected 19 snake species identified by the World Health Organization as the most deadly, and scanned Friede's blood. Their research, published in the scientific journal Cell, identified two antibodies effective against two types of nerve toxins. Combined with an additional drug, they created an antivenom mixture that in mouse experiments protected against lethal doses from 13 of the 19 snake species, with partial protection against the remaining six species.

"This is protection of unprecedented breadth, likely covering a wide range of snakes for which there is currently no available antivenom," Dr. Glanville said. The team continues to improve the antivenom and examine whether adding a fourth component could lead to complete protection.

It's important to note that the current research focused only on elapid snakes. The second group of venomous snakes – vipers – primarily use toxins that attack the blood, rather than the nervous system toxins, so the antivenom developed in this current research is not effective against them. The researchers' great hope is to develop either a single antivenom effective against all types of venom, or alternatively, two separate injections – one for elapids and one for vipers.

Professor Peter Kwong from Columbia University, who participated in the research, assessed future progress. "I believe that in the next ten or fifteen years we will have something effective against all types of toxins," he said. He added that "Tim's antibodies are truly exceptional – he essentially taught his immune system to achieve the broadest recognition of toxins."

Professor Nick Casewell, head of the Center for Snakebite Research at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, who was not part of the research, defined the achievement as "definitely innovative," providing "strong evidence" for a promising direction. However, he emphasized that there is "still much work to do" and that the antivenom still needs to undergo extensive testing before it can be approved for human use.

For Friede himself, the progress in research "makes me feel good. I'm doing something good for humanity, and that was very important to me. I'm proud of it. It's pretty cool," he told the BBC.

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Scientists at the University of California, Berkele,y have announced the discovery of a new color named "olo," described as "a blue-green with unprecedented saturation" that no one has seen before. The findings were published in the scientific journal Science Advances. Co-author Ran Ng described the research as "extraordinary," according to BBC News.

The color can only be viewed using a special device. Scientists used lasers to precisely stimulate specific cone cells in the retina, allowing participants to perceive a previously unseen color. Only five people have managed to see the unique color "olo" so far, which they describe as something between blue and green but say this doesn't fully express the richness of the experience. "It was amazing, it has amazing saturation," Ng, who participated in the experiment, said. He also described the color as "having higher saturation than any color that can be seen in the real world."

In the experiment, researchers used a special device called "Oz," composed of mirrors, lasers, and optical instruments, to stimulate individual cells in the human retina using laser pulses. By doing so, they managed to activate only the M cells, responsible for perceiving green, and created a color shade with unprecedented saturation levels in the brain. Participants reported seeing a blue-green hue with unique saturation properties, a visual experience that natural light cannot produce.

The researchers shared an image of a turquoise square to give an idea of the color but emphasized that the shade can only be truly experienced through laser manipulation of the retina. The study included five participants – four men and one woman – with three of them serving as co-authors of the research paper. The participants precisely adjusted a controlled color wheel until it matched "olo," confirming their perception of the new color.

"Let's say all your life you've only seen pink, pastel pink. And then one day you go to the office and someone is wearing a shirt, and it's the most powerful hot-pink you've ever seen, and they say it's a new color and we call it red," Ng said.

Some experts expressed skepticism about the discovery. "The research is a technological achievement in selective stimulation of cone cells, the discovery of a new color is open to debate," Professor John Barbour, a vision scientist from City University, London, said. Other experts argue that the newly perceived color is "a matter of interpretation."

"We won't see 'olo' on smartphone or television screens anytime soon. It's far beyond the technology of virtual reality glasses," Ng said. Ng acknowledged that although "olo" is "definitely very technically difficult" to see, the team is investigating the findings to determine their potential significance for people with color blindness, who struggle to distinguish between certain colors. "This is basic science," he said.

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The familiar scene plays out in kitchens everywhere: You're about to enjoy a slice of bread lavishly spread with Nutella when it slips from your grasp and lands on the kitchen floor. A quick glance confirms no witnesses to your mishap, and your mind immediately jumps to the "5-second rule." Conventional wisdom suggests that if you retrieve the slice within five seconds of its "landing," you're in the clear – but is this really true? Have you just garnished your snack with an unwanted helping of bacteria, or is it actually safe? The answer lies at the intersection of scientific research, historical lore, and perhaps a dash of wishful thinking.

On science, beliefs, and one cruel ruler

Despite its name, the "5-second rule" isn't a scientific principle but rather a cultural phenomenon that's evolved into a half-serious justification for salvaging dropped food. The rule's origins are shrouded in legend, with some attributing it to Genghis Khan, who purportedly established a "royal 5-second rule" declaring that fallen food remained worthy of consumption as a show of respect for royal bounty. While historians debate this tale's authenticity, it illustrates humanity's long-standing relationship with fallen food.

Scientific scrutiny

 In 2003, the rule faced its first major scientific challenge when Jillian Clarke, then a high school student at Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences, conducted groundbreaking research. Clarke contaminated floor tiles with E coli bacteria and tested gummy bears and cookies, discovering that bacterial transfer occurred in less than five seconds.

The scientific community took notice, and in 2007, food scientist Paul Dawson and his team at Clemson University published a study in the Journal of Applied Microbiology. Their research revealed that when bologna was dropped on Salmonella-contaminated tiles, more than 99% of bacteria transferred within five seconds, effectively dismantling the popular rule.

Further research emerged in 2014 when Professor Anthony Hilton's team at Aston University examined bacterial transfer across different surfaces and foods. They tested the transfer of E coli and Staphylococcus aureus from different types of surfaces such as carpet, laminated flooring, and tiles to foods like toast, pasta, biscuits, and sticky candies over periods of three to 30 seconds. While their results suggested that contact time influenced contamination levels, they couldn't fully validate the 5-second window.

The most comprehensive study came in 2016 from Rutgers University, where Professor Donald Schaffner and Robyn C. Miranda published their findings in Applied and Environmental Microbiology. Testing multiple food types on various surfaces, they conclusively demonstrated that bacterial transfer begins instantaneously – in less than a second. Medical professionals have noted that this contamination risk extends beyond floors to commonly touched surfaces like refrigerator handles and wallets.

Understanding risk factors

The study revealed crucial differences in contamination rates: moist foods like watermelon attract bacteria more readily than dry items such as bread or candy. Surface type also matters – carpeting transfers fewer bacteria than ceramic tiles or stainless steel due to its absorption properties. Surprisingly, a seemingly clean kitchen floor might harbor more bacteria than a bathroom floor, particularly in homes where outdoor shoes are worn inside. Hospital floors present a particular paradox – despite being in ostensibly sterile environments, certain areas can become breeding grounds for dangerous bacterial colonies.

The final verdict 

The science speaks clearly: the 5-second rule is more myth than fact. High-risk individuals – including those with compromised immune systems, young children, and the elderly – should never consume fallen food. However, some foods present lower risks: washable or peelable items like fruits and vegetables can be safely salvaged if properly cleaned. And for foods destined for cooking, the heating process can eliminate many bacterial threats.

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A revolutionary blood test capable of detecting some of the most common and lethal cancers before symptoms develop is set to receive government funding in the United Kingdom, according to reporting by The Mirror. Health Secretary Wes Streeting, himself a cancer survivor, believes this "universal" blood screening could transform cancer treatment within the National Health Service (NHS) in the next five years.

The test, developed by scientists at Southampton University, utilizes clinical information from 20,000 cancer patients and is reported to be 99% accurate in detecting cancer at any stage, even before symptoms manifest. Early trials indicate it can identify 50 different types of cancer before producing a false positive result.

Professor Paul Skipp of Southampton University told The Mirror: "A test like this could save many lives, catching cancers much earlier. We hope to have an NHS test in five to seven years." Streeting, who lost a kidney during his cancer treatment, emphasized the importance of early detection: "Having survived, it is my mission as Health Secretary that it is caught earlier and more are saved."

The miONCO test, which costs £120 ($157), screens for lung, breast, prostate, pancreatic, colorectal, ovarian, liver, brain, esophageal, bladder, bone and soft tissue sarcoma, and gastric cancers. It requires only a few drops of blood and could potentially eliminate months-long waits for tests and scans.

The UK government plans to invest £2.5 million ($3.3 million) through the National Institute for Health and Care Research to refine the test, making it faster and more cost-effective. Researchers have established a startup company, Xgenera, to facilitate the test's rollout, citing its "potential to save millions of lives" globally.

The next development phase will involve perfecting the artificial intelligence used to analyze test samples and biomarkers by inputting 8,000 blood samples from individuals of diverse ethnic backgrounds.

Currently, the NHS only offers screening tests for breast, bowel, cervical, and lung cancers, which often involve invasive procedures or scans and have high false-positive rates. Prof Skipp noted: "The UK spends £800 million ($1 billion) a year screening for these four cancers, and an additional £91 million ($119 million) is spent on false positive follow-ups."

The government's investment in this technology aligns with its broader strategy to leverage Britain's scientific expertise to improve cancer care within the NHS. Streeting and Science Secretary Peter Kyle are backing efforts to combine cutting-edge research with the NHS's potential to benefit patients nationwide.

Streeting added: "The investment we are launching on Sunday will help partner our universities, health service, and pharmaceutical giants to produce new cutting-edge treatments – catching cancer earlier at the same time as boosting the UK's economic growth."

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For the first time, scientists have created baby mice from two males. This raises the distant possibility of using the same technique for people – although experts caution that very few mouse embryos developed into live mouse pups and no one knows whether it would work for humans.

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Still, "It's a very clever strategy," said Diana Laird, a stem cell and reproductive expert at the University of California, San Francisco, who was not involved in the research. "It's an important step in both stem cell and reproductive biology."

Scientists described their work in a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

First, they took skin cells from the tails of male mice and transformed them into "induced pluripotent stem cells," which can develop into many different types of cells or tissues. Then, through a process that involved growing them and treating them with a drug, they converted male mouse stem cells into female cells and produced functional egg cells. Finally, they fertilized those eggs and implanted the embryos into female mice. About 1% of the embryos – 7 out of 630 – grew into live mouse pups.

The pups appeared to grow normally and were able to become parents themselves in the usual way, research leader Katsuhiko Hayashi of Kyushu University and Osaka University in Japan told fellow scientists at the Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing last week.

In a commentary published alongside the Nature study, Laird and her colleague, Jonathan Bayerl, said the work "opens up new avenues in reproductive biology and fertility research" for animals and people. Down the road, for example, it might be possible to reproduce endangered mammals from a single male.

"And it might even provide a template for enabling more people," such as male same-sex couples, "to have biological children, while circumventing the ethical and legal issues of donor eggs," they wrote.

But they raised several cautions. The most notable one? The technique is extremely inefficient. They said it's unclear why only a tiny fraction of the embryos placed into surrogate mice survived; the reasons could be technical or biological. They also stressed that it's still too early to know if the protocol would work in human stem cells at all.

Laird also said scientists need to be mindful of the mutations and errors that may be introduced in a culture dish before using stem cells to make eggs.

The research is the latest to test new ways to create mouse embryos in the lab. Last summer, scientists in California and Israel created "synthetic" mouse embryos from stem cells without a dad's sperm or a mom's egg or womb. Those embryos mirrored natural mouse embryos up to 8 ½ days after fertilization, containing the same structures, including one like a beating heart. Scientists said the feat could eventually lay the foundation for creating synthetic human embryos for research in the future.

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Atomic scientists set the "Doomsday Clock" closer to midnight than ever before on Tuesday, saying threats of nuclear war, disease, and climate volatility have been exacerbated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, putting humanity at greater risk of annihilation.

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The "Doomsday Clock," created by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists to illustrate how close humanity has come to the end of the world, moved its "time" in 2023 to 90 seconds to midnight, 10 seconds closer than it has been for the past three years.

Midnight on this clock marks the theoretical point of annihilation. The new time reflects a world in which Russia's invasion of Ukraine has revived fears of nuclear war and also heightened the risk that biological weapons could be deployed.

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Students from Tel Aviv University won first place in the International Mathematics Competition for University Students (IMC).

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The event took place in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria, between August 1-7 with the participation of nearly 600 students from all over the world, according to the website of the French Association of Tel Aviv University.

The TAU delegation included eight students from the School of Mathematics: Shvo Regavim, Noam TaShma, Lior Hadassi, Shahar Friedman, Lior Shain, Dror Frid, Tommy Winetraub and Uri Kreitner. The team members were accompanied by their coaches, Dr. Dan Carmon and Dor Mezer from the university's School of Mathematical Sciences.

"We are very proud of our students who won first place in the International Student Mathematics Competition. The investment, commitment and pursuit of excellence of the team members and their coach, Dr. Dan Carmon, are worthy of great admiration," said Prof. Yaron Ostrover, director of the school, and Prof. Yehuda Shalom, team coordinator, in a congratulatory statement.

"The School of Mathematics of Tel Aviv University considers the training of the future generation to lead Israel's science and technology research and industry as an absolute priority", the pair continued.

"This impressive achievement once again expresses the global academic power of Israel in general and of Tel Aviv University in particular in mathematics. Congratulations also to our colleagues from other Israeli universities for their good results," they added.

"We competed against the best math students in the world and it's a great honor for us to have won first place," said Carmon, math team coach and engineer at StarkWare.

"I congratulate all the Israeli participants for their excellent performance. The competition required a set of skills from the students: high mathematical knowledge, high level of resistance to pressure and creativity. I am sure that the tools they acquired during the competition will also be useful in the future. I would also like to thank my colleagues at StarkWare who have helped us a lot in financing the costs of the expedition," he concluded.

This article was first published by i24NEWS.

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The leader of the US-based anti-vaxxer group Vaccine Police is touting the ultimate do-it-yourself cure for COVID-19 and claiming that anyone who contracts the virus can cure themselves by drinking their own urine.

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According to a report on the Daily Beast, Christopher Key is an advocate of what he calls "urine therapy." Key has posted a video to his Telegram account in which he says that urine is an appropriate treatment for COVID, claiming: "The antidote that we have seen now, and we have tons and tons of research, is urine therapy. OK, and I know to a lot of you this sounds crazy, but guys, God's given us everything we need."

It should be noted that the accepted use of the term "antidote" is in reference to a medicine that counteracts a specific poison, not a virus.

Key has called vaccines a "crime against humanity" and a "biological weapon" and called for pharmacists who administer vaccines to be executed.

The body produces urine as a way of ridding itself of nitrogen-rich byproducts of the metabolic process, such as urea, uric acid, and creatinine. There is also no scientific evidence to date that indicates that ingesting urine can cure or prevent any illness.

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