Moose populations have been dwindling for years across the country due to many contributing factors, but new research at Washington State University has found the impact of Eleaophora schneideri, also known as the arterial worm, has likely been underestimated.

Researchers examined recently deceased Shiras moose in Idaho between March 2020 and July 2022. While the parasitic roundworm E. schneideri was not detected in any of the animals found in north Idaho, it was present in 10 of the 20 adult moose studied in the southeastern portion of the state. Nine of the infected not only had adult worms in their major arteries but their brains were littered with microfilariae, the microscopic early life stage of the worm.

"The microfilaria are just scattered throughout their brains, and even though the damage from each is miniscule, they're basically shot-gunning the whole brain," said Kyle Taylor, a pathologist at WSU's Washington Animal Disease Diagnostics Laboratory. "We hypothesize the cumulative effects of large numbers of microfilariae in the brain may be associated with increased morbidity or chance of mortality, with mortality more likely in cases with larger numbers of worms."

A woman in her 40s was meticulously arranged in a gully and her left hand curled beneath her head when she was laid to rest in a cave in Iraqi Kurdist

An interesting read. "A group of prominent biologists and philosophers announced a new consensus: There’s “a realistic possibility” that insects, octopuses, crustaceans, fish and other overlooked animals experience consciousness." https://www.quantamagazine.org/insects-and-other-animals-have-consciousness-experts-declare-20240419/

Super cool science but I absolutely hate the name

Cross-posted from: https://feddit.de/post/10630129

He Jiankui's experiments sent shockwaves through the medical and scientific world. He was widely condemned for having gone ahead with the risky, ethically contentious and medically unjustified procedure with inadequate consent from the families involved.

The court found that He had forged documents from an ethics review panel that were used to recruit couples for his research.

He said he had used a gene-editing procedure known as Crispr-Cas9 to rewrite the DNA in the sisters’ embryos – modifications he claimed would make the children immune to HIV.

Over the next four years, the oVert team will CT scan 20,000 fluid-preserved specimens from U.S. museum collections, producing high-resolution anatomical data for more than 80 percent of vertebrate genera.

These digital images and 3D mesh files will be open for exploration, download and 3D printing on MorphoSource, an open-access online database. These new media will provide unprecedented global access to valuable specimens in museum collections and enhance the research value of existing data-rich specimens in iDigBio.

oVert is a multi-institutional project funded by the National Science Foundation.

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JALuBzGvV3g

Some images from the site:

A colorized CT scan of a Burmese horned toad, Brachytarsophrys carinensis, showing the skeleton and mineralized skin. Florida Museum of Natural History image by Ed Stanley

Digitizing specimens through CT scanning makes it easier for museums to share their rare and important specimens. This is the holotype of the rough-footed mud turtle, Kinosternon hirtepes, from the Florida Museum herpetology collection. Florida Museum of Natural History image by Ed Stanley