Author: Kate Horowitz

A long, long time ago when George Lucas first envisioned his epic space opera, he probably wasn’t thinking about the effect his films would have on scientific history. Yet decades later, we’re welcoming another Star Wars species into the world. Scientists in China have named a rare gibbon after Star Wars’s star-crossed Skywalker family. The team described their findings in the American Journal of Primatology.

Hoolock gibbons (genus Hoolock) are fluffy, tailless apes that spend their days swinging and drifting through forest canopies in Myanmar, Bangladesh, India, and China. They’re petite for apes, averaging around 13 pounds for females and 15 for males. Every hoolock gibbon in the world belongs to one of two species—either western or eastern—or so primatologists thought.

 
But the gibbons in China’s Gaoligongshan nature reserve didn’t seem to belong to either. Researchers tracking the elusive apes noticed that the gibbons’ faces lacked hoolocks’ characteristic white eyebrows, and that their calls sounded strange. They snapped photos of the gibbons’ faces, then left the forest and dove into the specimen collections of museums and zoos in China, the UK, and the U.S. They compared bones and tissue samples from eastern and western gibbons with those collected from the nature reserve and found that, sure enough, they were dealing with a completely separate group.

They named the new species H. tianxing—the latter word a pinyin phrase that translates to “heaven’s movement” and references three different things: the gibbons’ graceful transit across the treetops (see one jump below); a passage from the I Ching (“As heaven’s movement is ever vigorous, so must the scholarly gentleman ceaselessly strive for self-improvement”); and, of course, the Skywalker clan.

 
Actor and Luke Skywalker portrayer Mark Hamill took to Twitter to share his delight with the new species name.

So proud of this! First the Pez dispenser, then the Underoos & U.S. postage stamp… now this! #GorillaMyDreams #SimianSkywalker #JungleJedi https://t.co/JKCe5kZFmJ

— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) January 11, 2017

The researchers are “thrilled to have made this discovery,” co-author Samuel Turvey of the Zoological Society of London said in a statement. “However, it’s also edged with sadness—as we’re also calling for the IUCN to immediately confer Endangered status on the Skywalker hoolock gibbon, which faces the same grave and imminent risk to its survival as many other small ape species in southern China and Southeast Asia due to habitat loss and hunting. Increased awareness of the remarkable ecosystem of the Gaoligong mountains and improved conservation is essential, to ensure we have time to get fully acquainted with this exciting new species before it’s too late.”

Attention, coffee control freaks: you’re going to want to see this. The folks at Fellow have invented a smart and elegant electric kettle to give you total power over every element of your pour-over.

The Stagg EKG is the latest iteration of the Fellow team’s award-winning kettles. Fans of the original stovetop Stagg praised its design, but pour-over coffee is a science, and they wanted more precision in their instruments.

Enter the all-electric Stagg EKG. The EKG marries the shape and efficiency of its predecessor with fine-tuned heat controls to allow aficionados to set the temperature of their medium—that is, hot water—at the optimal level for their chosen blend, roast, or tea leaves. A small LCD screen displays both the set temperature of the water and its current temperature.

Those of you who want even more control might be interested in the EKG+, a smart version of the kettle that can be operated from a mobile phone and interact with other kitchen appliances.

All three of the Stagg kettles were introduced via Kickstarter. The EKG campaign set a goal of $100,000. At the time of this writing, backers have pledged nearly three times that much.

For more on the kettle’s design and talents, check out the (delightfully goofy) product video below from Fellow founder Jake Miller.

It’s time to stop picking on the appendix. A new article published in the journal Comptes Rendus Palevol supports the theory that the much-maligned organ may serve as a “safe house” for beneficial bacteria.

Your appendix is a little tube connected to the cecum (a pouch at the end of your large intestine) on the right side of your abdomen. Most of us know two things about the appendix: that infection there is dangerous, and that the organ itself is useless. The first statement is definitely true. A burst appendix is nobody’s idea of a good time. But useless? Perhaps not.

One scientific paper published in early 2016 found that removing an appendix-like structure in mice made them more susceptible to infection and inflammation. Other researchers have argued that the little tube acts as a reservoir for beneficial gut bacteria, keeping them safe even when infection damages the rest of the gut’s bacterial ecosystem. When the dust settles, the good guys in the appendix can start afresh, repopulating the gut with protective microbes.

Heather F. Smith researches the evolution of our bodies at Midwestern University Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine. For her latest study, she and her colleagues compared the developmental history of the appendix in 533 mammal species.

The researchers found that, far from originating once in a single common ancestor, the appendix evolved independently more than 30 different times—a fact that suggests that it must do something.

The data also showed that species that have an appendix also have a higher concentration of lymphoid tissue, which supports immunity and the growth of beneficial bacteria, in the cecum. Taken all together, these findings support the theory that your appendix is there to help keep you safe and crawling with the right kind of microbes.

So it’s useful, yes. But do we need it? Not entirely. “In general,” Smith told TIME, “people who have had an appendectomy tend to be relatively healthy and not have any major detrimental effects.”

There may be some minor effects, though. People who’ve undergone appendectomies are slightly more prone to infection. “It may also take them slightly longer to recover from illness,” Smith said, “especially those in which the beneficial gut bacteria has been flushed out of the body.”

Violent storms in Northern California have deposited 33.6 billion gallons of water into Lake Tahoe, where the water level has risen by an entire foot since January 1.

The appearance of a 12-inch-high sheet of water would be dramatic in any body of water, but Lake Tahoe is massive, with a surface area of 191 square miles. And over the past six years, it’s been very, very dry.

The downpour has filled lakes and reservoirs across the region. In the last two weeks alone, storms have dumped a combined 1.3 million acre-feet of water into the 154 largest reservoirs in the state. State hydrologists say those reservoirs are currently filled to about 97 percent of their capacity. That’s an impressive change from the same date last year, when the ongoing drought left them at or below 50 percent of normal levels.

In some ways the storms were right on time, as experts had begun to worry about regional water supplies. But all extreme weather events—even welcome ones—have their downside. Flooding from surging rivers has forced thousands of residents to evacuate their homes.

Jana Frazier is a tour guide for the Department of Water Resources at Lake Oroville. She says that lake has risen more than 90 feet since December, swelling above the boat ramp and edging into the parking area.

“It’s really weird,” she told the Los Angeles Times. “We’ve been in low water for so long, it seems strange to drive across the dam and see it almost full.”

Officials say it’s still too soon to declare an official end to the drought, but more storms are expected over the coming week.

Scientists at Stanford University have built a super-cheap, super-fast centrifuge out of everyday items. Their inspiration? A simple spinning toy. The team described their invention in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering.

Biophysicist Manu Prakash is on a quest to make scientific and medical equipment cheaper and more accessible for everyone. He’s developed parasite-detecting skin patches and computers that run on drops of water. Last year, he made a splash with the introduction of the Foldoscope—an inexpensive, DIY paper microscope that users can assemble themselves. His goal is to distribute 1 million to schools worldwide by the end of 2017. 

For his next trick, Prakash turned his attention to the centrifuge, a machine that spins rapidly to separate blood samples into their component parts. Centrifuging is a basic and crucial element of conducting blood tests like the one for malaria, yet many clinics around the world either cannot afford a machine or don’t have access to the electricity required to power it. “I realized that if we wanted to solve a critical problem like malaria diagnosis,” Prakash said in a statement, “we needed to design a human-powered centrifuge that costs less than a cup of coffee.”

He brought the problem back to his lab and began brainstorming with postdoctoral research fellow Saad Bhamla. They realized that the centrifuge’s primary job is simply to spin—the same job shared by thousands of years of children’s toys. They brought in armloads of old toys and pieces and set to work playing with them.

One evening, Prakash was spinning a simple whirligig device that he’d made from a button and some string. He decided to set up a high-speed camera to see how fast the thing could go. When he checked the tape, he was amazed. The crude setup was powerful enough to get the button spinning 10,000 to 15,000 times per minute.

The next step was rigging the center disk to hold and process samples. After a few weeks of experimentation, Prakash had his prototype: a paper disk loaded with thin tubes of blood.

Not content to let it rest there, he and Bhamla recruited a team of mathematicians and asked them to optimize the new paper machine. “We realized that this is a toy that no one had thought about,” he told The Atlantic. “The physics of how it works weren’t understood, and its fundamental limits were completely unknown. So we spent six months thinking about the math, all with the goal of asking how fast it could really go.”

The answer: a staggering 125,000 revolutions per minute—which the team believes is the fastest rotational speed ever recorded for a human-powered object. (“We have submitted an application to Guinness World Records,” they note in the paper.) This “paperfuge,” as they call it, can separate liquid blood from plasma in just two minutes. In 15 minutes, it can extract malaria parasites from a drop of blood.

This exceptional speed is just part of the paperfuge’s appeal. The rest comes in its dirt-cheap construction. The final prototype is made out of waterproof paper, Velcro, drinking straws, and fishing line. It weighs less than 2 grams and can be produced for about 20 cents. And this, Prakash says, is the key: “Frugal science is about democratizing scientific tools to get them out to people around the world.”

January 2017 has been a very good month for the American space program. First there was the premiere of the movie Hidden Figures, which celebrates the incredible minds and achievements of NASA legends Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson. Now, on the heels of the film’s release, NASA has announced that Jeanette J. Epps will soon become the first African-American crewmember of the International Space Station (ISS).

Epps has been working toward this moment for a very long time, from her doctorate in physics and aerospace engineering to a seven-year stint as a technical intelligence officer with the CIA [PDF]. She joined NASA in 2009 as part of the agency’s 20th class of astronauts, and has been working on the ground to support existing ISS missions ever since.

Epps is scheduled to depart in May 2018, two months after her colleague Andrew Feustel, as part of a six-month expedition. “Each space station crew brings something different to the table, and Drew and Jeanette both have a lot to offer,” NASA Astronaut Office chief Chris Cassidy said in a statement.

To date, 14 African American astronauts have made the trip into space. Several of those have visited the ISS as part of technical and resupply missions, but none have stayed aboard.

Black women have been a vital part of NASA missions since the very beginning. The brilliant mathematicians and engineers known as the West Area Computers [PDF] were instrumental in early space voyages, while astronauts like Mae Jemison, Joan Higginbotham, and Stephanie Wilson [PDF] have helped expand our knowledge of this spectacular universe.

In a video celebrating the release of Hidden Figures, Epps offers brief but solid advice to young women considering careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).

For more updates, follow Jeanette on Twitter @Astro_Jeanette.

[h/t Smithsonian]

It looks so tranquil up there. So still. But we know space is neither tranquil nor still. Our own Moon is no exception. New research suggests the Moon was the product of some very, very violent moshing: Around 4.5 billion years ago, a rowdy gang of stellar objects smashed into our young planet, creating the debris that would one day become the Moon. The astronomers published their report in the journal Nature Geoscience.

We’ve known for a while now that the Moon is made at least partially out of pieces from a banged-up Earth. But we’re still trying to sort out the details of the collision itself. At first, scientists thought Earth had been hit by one big object, like another planet. Then they thought there must have been a bunch of objects all striking around the same time. As we learned more, the single-impactor theory returned to prominence and stayed there for decades.

One 2016 study named the object—the planet Theia—and even the angle of impact. The researchers theorized that the extremely similar molecular makeup of Earth and the Moon could only have resulted from a head-on collision.

Other astronomers disagree. The authors of the new paper ran hundreds of simulations, and they argue it’s far more likely that Earth was walloped by a score of different objects called planetesimals. Each of the repeated impacts smashed up a huge amount of the young planet’s matter. That debris then drifted into orbit around Earth, where it settled into disks, which then resolved into little (gargantuan) chunks called moonlets. Over time, the baby moonlets merged into one single, spinning rock.

“Our model suggests that the ancient Earth once hosted a series of moons, each one formed from a different collision with the proto-Earth,” co-author Hagai Perets said in a statement. “It’s likely that such moonlets were later ejected, or collided with the Earth or with each other to form bigger moons.”

Perets says the moonlets could easily have crossed orbits with one another, smashed together, and been rolled up into larger bodies. “A long series of such moon-moon collisions could gradually build-up a bigger moon—the Moon we see today.”

Surgeons in search of one patient’s appendix found a little more than they bargained for. The teenager’s ovaries bore two large cysts, one of which contained a miniature skull and a “well-formed” brain. The surgeons described their findings in the journal Neuropathology.

The 16-year-old girl had been diagnosed with acute appendicitis and was brought in for emergency surgery. But after cutting into her abdomen, the doctors found more problems: two cystic tumors, one roughly the size of a golf ball and the other as big as a baseball. They took note of the cysts’ location and size, then completed the girl’s appendectomy and stitched her back up. Remarkably, she recovered just fine and reported no symptoms. 

Three months later, they opened her up again, this time to remove the tumors. Inside the large cyst were more gruesome surprises: clumps of hair, a thin, skull-like plate of bone, and a surprisingly organized brain-like object.

The thought of a tumor full of hair or bone is hardly unheard of, although it is fairly unsettling. These teratomas (from the Greek téras, or monster) are what happens when reproductive cells go rogue. Under healthy circumstances, they’ll deploy and become an embryo, differentiating into various body parts, such as bones, organs, teeth, and hair. But sometimes they just start growing, all on their own, making monstrous spare parts nobody needs or wants. Teratomas are typically found on or near a person’s reproductive organs, and they’re usually harmless (aside from the nightmares).

The most common teratoma contents are hair, teeth, and tissue that would, in a real embryo, one day become part of the central nervous system. 

What makes this case different is the sophistication of the brain tissue inside the teratoma. The teeny organ was pretty far along, and had even separated into parts similar to those found in a fully developed brain. 

The surgeons patched the patient up again and sent her on her way. Three years later, they attempted to check up to see how she was doing, but she didn’t respond. We can’t really blame her. 

It doesn’t take deep pockets to treat yourself. Indulge in one of the following simple pleasures for an immediate mood boost.

1. SHAKE UP YOUR ROUTINE.

Even little changes can be very refreshing. Try taking a different route to work, meeting a friend at a new coffee shop, or listening to music you’ve never heard before. Cook something unusual for dinner. Give your senses something fun and unexpected to explore. 

2. START A “WARM FUZZIES” FILE.

The next time somebody says something encouraging or flattering about you, write it down. Did they say it in an email? Label the email “warm fuzzies” or something similar. Over time, you’ll amass a precious collection of personalized little boosts that you can pull up when you’re feeling down. 

3. TAKE A GOOD, LONG LOOK AT THE STARS.

There’s nothing like the night sky for a good dose of perspective. On a very clear night, you might be able to see hundreds or thousands of stars, each of them light years away. What you can’t see are the rest of the 400 billion stars in our galaxy, or the septillion (that’s 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000) stars in the universe. We are, as they say, a speck on a speck on a speck. (Tip: If you can’t see the cosmos from your house, a stroll through NASA’s Hubble Telescope image gallery ought to do it.)

4. ASSESS YOUR INTERNET DIET.

Your time and attention are limited resources. How are you spending them? Take a look at your social media accounts and the websites and apps you use. How do they make you feel? Are you following people or taking in content that brings you down? If so, are you getting anything out of it? If your feeds are full of pointless negativity, it may be time for a purge.

5. GET YOUR GIGGLE ON.

What makes you laugh the hardest? Maybe it’s your favorite cartoon or a comedy special. Maybe it’s your sister, or your next-door neighbor’s dog, or cooking shows hosted by a foul-mouthed toddler. Whatever it is, seek it out. It only takes a few minutes of laughter to get the dopamine and endorphins flowing. 

6. GO FOR A STROLL.

The simple act of getting outside can do wonders for your outlook. Even a short jaunt offers a host of benefits: fresh air, a change of environment, an opportunity to move your body, exposure to nature (even if that’s just grass and fenced-in trees, it counts!), and the opportunity to see and interact with other people and animals.  

7. ZOOM IN ON THE GOOD THINGS.

Everybody’s got their something. Maybe you collect sneakers, or are a wizard with nail art. Maybe it’s cute algae, or crafting, or museums, or basketball. Start taking pictures of your favorite things at least once a day. You could share the photos on social media or keep them to yourself; the point is to take a closer look at the things that make you happy.

8. SNUGGLE SOMEBODY.

Cuddles are like some kind of wonder drug. Cozying up to someone you love (or a stuffed animal, or even a well-compensated stranger) can lower your blood pressure, reduce your stress levels, flood your body with happy-making hormones, and even boost your immune system. Having a bad day? There is no shame in asking someone you trust for a solid hug.

9. TAKE A 3-MINUTE BREAK.

By now you’ve almost definitely heard about the myriad benefits of mindfulness meditation. But you probably haven’t heard that even tiny doses can help refresh your system. Not sure where to start? Try apps and websites like Calm.com, which guide users through tiny meditation breaks and offer soothing sounds and images like thunderstorms and waves on the beach.

10. GET YOUR HANDS DIRTY.

Most of us spend many of our waking hours sitting at the computer, using our hands only for typing and clicking and our eyes for reading and watching. When’s the last time you baked a cake, or assembled a piece of furniture, or patched a bike tire? It doesn’t have to be complicated or hard. If you’re out of ideas or energy, just picking up a coloring book and pencils or petting a dog can send some good feelings from your fingers to your brain. 

11. CREATE A BAD-DAY BOX.

Sometimes when you’re feeling down it can be hard to figure out what would make you feel better. You can skip that step entirely by starting a bad-day box today. This is just a box (or tin or bucket) in which you put little things that bring you comfort or joy. That could be stickers or nail polish or miniature chocolate bars; it could be a mix CD you made for yourself, a friend’s phone number, or some really silly jokes. It could be a book of poetry or a slapstick comedy on DVD. Whatever does it for you, throw it in the box, and when the bad day comes, you’ll be ready.

All images courtesy of iStock.

The poet E.E. Cummings wrote, “—listen: there’s a hell / of a good universe next door; let’s go.” And go we shall: NASA’s Discovery Program announced this week that two robotic spacecraft named Psyche and Lucy will be setting out for nearby asteroids within the next decade.

For all our exploration over the last half-century, we still have much to learn about our own solar system. The Discovery Program aims to help fill in those gaps.

“Lucy will visit a target-rich environment of Jupiter’s mysterious Trojan asteroids, while Psyche will study a unique metal asteroid that’s never been visited before,” NASA’s Thomas Zurbuchen said in a statement. “This is what Discovery Program missions are all about—boldly going to places we’ve never been to enable groundbreaking science.”

Lucy is scheduled to launch in 2021 and should arrive at her first stop, an asteroid in Jupiter’s main belt, four years later. The craft will then study six of the ancient Trojan asteroids, which may have formed a mere 10 million years after the Sun.

Harold Levison of the Southwest Research Institute is chief investigator on the Lucy mission. “Because the Trojans are remnants of the primordial material that formed the outer planets,” he explained in a statement, “they hold vital clues to deciphering the history of the solar system. Lucy, like the human fossil for which it is named, will revolutionize the understanding of our origins.”

The Psyche mission, directed by scientists at Arizona State University, will lift off in 2023. It will reach the metal asteroid, called 16 Psyche, between Mars and Jupiter by 2030, then orbit and observe it for another 20 months. The asteroid is made almost entirely out of nickel-iron metal similar to those at the core of rocky planets like Earth.

NASA / ASU SESE mission to the Psyche asteroid from ASU Now on Vimeo.

“The knowledge this mission will create has the potential to affect our thinking about planetary science for generations to come,” said ASU president Michael Crow.