It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Thursday, May 01, 2025
Lava flow jigsaw puzzle reveals the secrets of shifting continents
Analysing lava flows that solidified and then broke apart over a massive crack in the Earth’s crust in Turkey has brought new insights into how continents move over time, improving our understanding of earthquake risks.
New research by Curtin University has revealed the Tuz Gölü Fault Zone - a more than 200-kilometre-long geological structure visible from space - is slowly pulling apart, providing a rare glimpse into the forces that shape Earth’s crust when tectonic plates collide.
Lead Australian author Professor Axel Schmitt, from Curtin’s John de Laeter Centre and School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, said the study solved a long-standing mystery about the fault’s movement, in a breakthrough not just for assessing seismic hazards but also for improving global models of continental deformation.
“While Turkey is well known for its earthquake-prone strike-slip faults, this study confirms for the first time that the Tuz Gölü Fault is an extensional fault, meaning the land on either side is moving away from each other, rather than sliding sideways as was previously thought,” Professor Schmitt said.
“Several lava flows from Hasandağ volcano flowed over the fault and cooled, and then were broken apart by earthquakes. We were able to reconstruct their original shape and determine their age. This allowed us to track how rocks that were once connected have shifted apart over time.
“Our findings unambiguously reveal the fault is pulling apart at a rate of about one millimetre per year, rather than shifting sideways. Understanding these movements is crucial not just for assessing volcanic and earthquake threats but also for improving global models of continental deformation.”
The research team used cutting-edge techniques, including remote sensing data, the John de Laeter Centre’s ion microprobe and helium dating at the Western Australia ThermoChronology Hub (WATCH) Facility to precisely date the lava flows and track their displacement over thousands of years.
Curtin co-author Associate Professor Martin Danišík, from the John de Laeter Centre, said tiny zircon crystals in the lava flows worked as geological clocks, capturing helium produced by the radioactive decay of tiny amounts of naturally occurring uranium and thorium.
“By measuring uranium, thorium and helium in zircon, we can accurately determine when the lava flows erupted, spilled across the fault and subsequently cooled,” Associate Professor Danišík said.
“The fault sits at a key location where the Eurasian, Arabian and African plates are all interacting,” Ms Harvey said.
“Studying its movements helps us understand how strain is distributed when continents collide - insights that can be applied elsewhere along the Alpine-Himalayan mountain belt and to other continental deformation zones around the world.
“This research highlights the importance of revisiting long-held geological assumptions and using modern techniques to precisely measure how continents respond to the immense pressures of tectonic collisions.”
The study was co-authored by researchers from Konya Technical University (Turkey), Heidelberg University (Germany) and University of Toronto (Canada).
The full study, titled ‘Pure dip-slip along the Tuz Gölü Fault Zone accommodates east-west extension
Pure dip-slip along the Tuz Gölü Fault Zone accommodates east-west extension of Central Anatolia’
Article Publication Date
30-Apr-2025
The Mystery of the "Air-dried Chaplain" solved: the Life and "Afterlife" of an unusual Human Mummy from 18 th century Austria
Centuries-old Austrian mummy found to be exceptionally well preserved thanks to unusual embalming method
Researchers found a centuries-old mummy from Austria exceptionally well preserved – likely the result of a never-before reported embalming method using wood chips, twigs, fabric, and zinc chloride
For centuries, many cultures around the world embalmed their dead, often for religious reasons. Accordingly, embalming methods differ, but not all of them are studied equally well.
In a first report of a previously undocumented embalming method, an international team of researchers has analyzed a mummy from a small Austrian village. Detailed analyses provided insights into little-known mummification techniques and allowed them to identify the body.
“The unusually well-preserved mummy in the church crypt of St Thomas am Blasenstein is the corps of a local parish vicar, Franz Xaver Sidler von Rosenegg, who died in 1746,” said Dr Andreas Nerlich, a pathologist at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität and first author of the Frontiers in Medicine article. “Our investigation uncovered that the excellent preservation status came from an unusual type of embalming, achieved by stuffing the abdomen through the rectal canal with wood chips, twigs and fabric, and the addition of zinc chloride for internal drying.”
A different type of embalming
The team conducted extensive analyses, including CT scanning, focal autopsy, and radiocarbon dating. The mummy’s upper body was fully intact, whereas lower extremities and head showed considerable post-mortem decay.
During their investigation, the researchers found a variety of foreign material packed in the abdominal and pelvic cavity. Upon opening the body, the team identified wood chips from fir and spruce, fragments of branches, as well as different fabrics, including linen, hemp, and flax. All these materials were easily available at that time and in that region.
The researchers believe it is this mixture of materials that kept the mummy in such good condition. “Clearly, the wood chips, twigs, and dry fabric absorbed much of the fluid inside the abdominal cavity,” said Nerlich. Next to these absorbents, a toxicological analysis showed traces of zinc chloride, which has a strong drying effect.
This way of embalming is different to better-known methods where the body is opened to prepare it. Here, however, the embalming materials were inserted via the rectum. “This type of preservation may have been much more widespread but unrecognized in cases where ongoing postmortal decay processes may have damaged the body wall so that the manipulations would not have been realized as they were,” Nerlich pointed out.
Inside the mummy, the researchers also found a small glass sphere with holes on both ends – perhaps an application to fabric of monastic origin. Since only a single bead was found, it might have been lost during the preparation of the body.
Tracing a life
The mummy was long rumored to belong to Sidler, but the origin of these rumors is unknown. It was, however, only the current investigation that provided certainty as to its identity. “The identification of the mummy comes from our interdisciplinary analysis, especially with the radiocarbon dating, his body activity pattern, and the stable isotope pattern,” Nerlich said.
These analyses showed that the mummy died most likely aged between 35 and 45 years old and most probably between 1734 and 1780. These dates match Sidler’s life. In addition, they suggested Sidler ate a high-quality diet based on central European grains, animal products, and possibly inland fish. Towards the end of his life, he may have experienced food shortages, likely due to the War of Austrian Succession. The lack of major sign of stress on the skeleton fits the life of a priest without hard physical activity. There also was evidence of a long-term smoking habit, and lung tuberculosis towards the end of his life.
“We have some written evidence that cadavers were ‘prepared’ for transport or elongated laying-out of the dead – although no report provides any precise description,” Nerlich concluded. “Possibly, the vicar was planned for transportation to his home abbey, which might have failed for unknown reasons.”
External appearance of the mummy from the ventral (A) and dorsal side (B) showing a completely intact body wall. Credit: Andreas Nerlich.
Left: Removal of parts of the foreign material from the dorsal abdominal wall revealed a mixture of fragmented white fabric, small wood chips, and plant material along with some brownish amorphous tissue residues. Right: The round foreign sphere detected in the left pelvis had a small hole with a raised lip. Credit: Andreas Nerlich
Further findings of special fabric tissue from the material detected in the mummy's abdominal cave: Left: A piece of cotton with an elaborate floral pattern. Right: Fragment of a silk fabric such as used for the mummy’s cross. Credit: Andreas Nerlich.
Analysis of the packing material obtained during the partial autopsy of the abdomen revelaed A: Typical wood chip. B: Twigs of various plants. C: Small fragment of a simple fabric made of hemp or flax. Image: Andreas Nerlich.
Children and young adults with depression, schizophrenia, ADHD, asthma and epilepsy can get great relief from medications to control their symptoms, helping them stay in school or work and prepare for their futures.
But they should keep taking those medications regularly to get the best results; interruptions can cause flare-ups of these chronic health conditions.
Now, a new study suggests that such interruptions happened more often in states that had the biggest drops in Medicaid enrollment during the recent “unwinding” process.
That process, which brought to an end the special Medicaid eligibility rules made at the start of the pandemic, began in April 2023. However, states varied widely in how many people they disenrolled, because of differences in administrative processes and efforts to verify income-based eligibility.
The team, led by CHEAR director Kao-Ping Chua, M.D., Ph.D., analyzed national prescription data for people age 0 to 25 using five classes of chronic disease medications before Medicaid unwinding began. These medications are used to treat behavioral health conditions, breathing conditions, and seizure disorders.
They find that young adults ages 19 to 25 were more likely to stop filling prescriptions for these chronic disease medications if they lived in states that had the biggest drops in adult Medicaid enrollment, compared with those living in states with the smallest drops.
Children in the states with the largest drops in child enrollment in Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Plan (CHIP) also experienced greater disruptions in therapy for certain classes of chronic disease medications, although the disruptions occurred less consistently than for young adults. CHIP is open to children under age 19 whose family incomes are too high to qualify for Medicaid, but too low to afford private coverage.
Significance for current Medicaid funding process
The new findings have significance not just for understanding the impacts of Medicaid unwinding, but also for the potential impacts of the cuts in Medicaid funding now being discussed in health policy budget debates.
“Our findings suggest that the rapid disenrollment of young people from Medicaid during the unwinding process resulted in the disruption of chronic disease therapy,” said Chua, a pediatrician and health care researcher at the U-M Medical School and School of Public Health. “As policymakers debate whether to enact drastic cuts to Medicaid funding, they should consider the possibility that doing so could similarly disrupt chronic disease therapy for children and young adults, placing them at higher risk for disease exacerbations and absenteeism from school and work.”
Effects based on state unwinding impacts
Chua and colleagues used data from a national prescription drug database from IQVIA, which captures 92% of prescriptions filled in U.S. pharmacies, including those paid with cash. They also relied on data from the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families to calculate the percentage change in child enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP from just before the start of unwinding to the end of 2023.
The states with the biggest drops in child Medicaid enrollment (17% or more) were Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin and West Virginia, and the states with the smallest drops (4% and less) were California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Maine, North Carolina, Nevada, New York, Rhode Island and Tennessee. Oregon was excluded because its unwinding started later.
Children and teens who used asthma inhalers and lived in one of the states with the largest drops in Medicaid enrollment were more likely to decrease use of their medication. In almost all cases, children and teens living in those states were also more likely to start using private insurance or cash to pay for prescriptions for the five chronic disease medication classes.
Among young adults, the researchers saw even larger effects.
The young adult analysis excluded three states (South Dakota, North Carolina and Georgia) that expanded Medicaid for adults during the unwinding period. The team used data on total adult Medicaid enrollment before unwinding and at the end of 2023.
The states with the biggest drops in adult Medicaid enrollment (19% or more) were Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wyoming. The states with the smallest drops (8% or less) were California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, Virginia, and Wisconsin
Young adults with prescriptions for any of the five chronic disease medication classes were more likely to stop filling these prescriptions if they lived in states with the highest versus lowest drops in adult Medicaid enrollment. Similar to children, they were also more likely to start using cash or private insurance to pay for prescriptions if they lived in states with high drops in enrollment.
Nearly 72 million Americans are currently enrolled in Medicaid after the end of the unwinding, and an additional 7.2 million children are enrolled in CHIP which also relies on Medicaid funding.
Ten states have not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, but those that have done so offer coverage to all individuals up to 138% of the federal poverty level, or about $21,000 for an individual and $36,000 for a family of three.
In addition to Chua, the paper’s authors are U-M pediatrics research postdoctoral fellow Joanne Constantin, Ph.D., Genevieve M. Kenney, Ph.D., of the Urban Institute, Rena M. Conti, Ph.D., of Boston University and Kosali Simon, Ph.D. of Indiana University, Bloomington. Chua is a member of the U-M Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation.
The study was funded by CHEAR and by the National Institute of Health (R01DA056438, R01DA057284)
Changes in Chronic Medication Dispensing to Children and Young Adults During Medicaid Unwinding. Pediatrics, DOI:10.1542/peds.2024-070380
Credit: Photo by Colleen Reichmuth; NOAA/NMFS 23554
Santa Cruz, Calif.—Animal research on biomusicality, which looks at whether different species are capable of behaving in ways that show they recognize aspects of music, including rhythm and beat, remains a tantalizing field at the intersection of biology and psychology. Now, the highly trained California sea lion at UC Santa Cruz who achieved global fame for her ability to bob her head to a beat is finally back: starring in a new study that shows her rhythm is just as precise—if not better—than humans.
Ronan first shimmied onto the world stage in 2013, when researchers at the university’s Long Marine Laboratory reported that, not only could she bob her head to a beat, but adjust her nods to tempos and music she hadn’t heard before. In this new study, to be published on May 1 in the Nature journal Scientific Reports, Ronan’s research team showed that her synchronization was as good or better than humans—and that her consistency in performing the beat-keeping task was better than that of humans.
To best match Ronan’s way of responding to a beat, a head bob, researchers asked 10 UC Santa Cruz undergraduates to move their preferred arm in a fluid, up-and-down motion to the beat of a percussive metronome. Three tempos were played—at 112, 120, and 128 beats per minute—with Ronan not previously exposed to 112 and 128 bpms.
At 120 bpm, Ronan’s most practiced tempo, she on average hits within 15 milliseconds of the beat, according to the new study’s lead author, Peter Cook, a longtime researcher with UC Santa Cruz’s Institute of Marine Sciences. Ronan’s variability in timing beat-to-beat is also around 15 milliseconds. By contrast, the blink of a human eye takes about 150 milliseconds.
“She is incredibly precise, with variability of only about a tenth of an eyeblink from cycle to cycle,” said Cook, also a comparative neuroscientist at the New College of Florida. “Sometimes, she might hit the beat five milliseconds early, sometimes she might hit it 10 milliseconds late. But she's basically hitting the rhythmic bullseye over and over and over again.”
The researchers emphasize that Ronan is in complete control of her participation. She is not deprived of food nor punished for choosing not to engage, and her training structure reflects this autonomy: She begins each session by climbing onto a designated ramp station, where she relaxes while waiting for the experiment to begin. Once ready, she positions herself and signals her readiness to start. If she chooses to disengage at any point, she is free to return to her pool without any negative consequences.
Recapping Ronan’s career
Ronan was born in the wild in 2008, but stranded repeatedly due to malnutrition. After three such strandings, and being spotted walking down Highway 1 in 2009, regulatory agencies finally deemed her to be non-releasable. So UC Santa Cruz adopted her in 2010 and she became a permanent member of the Pinniped Lab.
The lab, led by UC Santa Cruz research scientist and adjunct professor Colleen Reichmuth, uses cooperative training methods to study behavior and physiology in marine mammals. Resident research animals, including Ronan, participate in a wide range of projects that help teams explore their amphibious subjects’ inner worlds. Examples include studies on learning and memory, sensory biology, and diving physiology.
In other words, Ronan isn’t just working on her rhythm everyday in the lab. The team estimates that, over the past 12 years, she has participated in about 2,000 rhythm exercises—each lasting just 10 to 15 seconds. And sometimes, years went by between these sessions while she focused on other areas of research.
“She definitely wasn’t overtrained,” Cook said. “Realistically, if you added up the amount of rhythmic exposure Ronan has had since she’s been with us, it is probably dwarfed by what a typical 1 year old kid has heard.”
Ronan’s original rhythm study was inspired by work by Ani Patel, at Tufts University, along with colleagues who studied intermittent beat keeping in Snowball, a pet cockatoo who spontaneously “danced” to the Backstreet Boys. Because humans and cockatoos are both vocal mimics, the parrot work led to a theory that brain changes to support vocal learning were required for moving in time to music.
Sea lions haven’t shown the ability to learn new vocalizations, so Ronan’s 2013 study made a huge splash because it challenged the vocal-learning theory of rhythm. But in the study’s wake, some prominent theorists in biomusicality claimed that her performance was not as precise and reliable as human performance.
They suggested that Ronan might not be doing exactly what humans were, and that, therefore, she could not rely on the same biological mechanisms for perceiving and moving in time to rhythm. That prompted Cook and Reichmuth to test Ronan again to see if she had improved, and to compare her performance to people performing a similar task with the same sounds.
What they found, as reported in today’s new study, is that Ronan was more precise and consistent at every tempo they tested. And in a head-to-head battle of the beats with the UC Santa Cruz students, she more than held her own. The study’s authors then used the students’ performance to model the theoretical performance of 10,000 humans conducting the same rhythmic behavior.
Based on that model, Ronan was in the 99th percentile for beat-keeping reliability.
Now, at 170 pounds and age 16, the team says Ronan is “grown up and in her prime” for a female sea lion in managed care. Being with her day in and day out, over more than a decade, the researchers have become extremely attuned to Ronan. They know she is intelligent, but also exuberant. And just like us, her performance gets better with practice.
“One of the most important outcomes of the study is the fact that maturation and experience matter,” Reichmuth said. “ It's not just a test of rhythmic performance. It reflects her cognitive behavior and her ability to remember and refine it over time.”
Another thing: Ronan also wants to perform well. Everytime she mounts her test platform, it’s because she wants to, Reichmuth explained. If Ronan’s not feeling it, there’s no test that day. “She's motivated. To her, it's a game she knows how to win,” Reichmuth said, “and she likes the fish that come with it.”
Ronan’s ripple effect
Ronan’s research progression has had far-reaching impacts in the scientific community, contributing to a growing body of work in comparative cognition. Her journey from an eager and curious orphaned sea lion to a key figure in rhythm-perception studies has exceeded all expectations. Her abilities challenge existing paradigms about which species can perceive and produce rhythm, opening new doors for research on the cognitive capacities of animals.
The team’s 2013 paper inspired follow-up studies across various species, including primates, elephants, birds, and yes, humans. As UC Santa Cruz researchers continue to analyze and share findings, they remain committed to fostering a broader understanding of rhythm perception across species—and Ronan’s recent work will further that goal.
Not a fluke
Ronan’s story is not just about one sea lion. A question Cook says he often hears is why can’t dogs dance. Our canine companions are frequently exposed to music, and yet, they don’t seem to respond with rhythmic movements like Ronan. Cook responds by asking his own question: How many people try to train their dog to dance in an explicit rhythm-based way?
The answer: not many. “If you're going to say dogs can't dance, you have to empirically assess that—really give the dog many opportunities to receive very precise feedback on rhythmic movement and see how they do,” Cook said. “I would be very surprised if you couldn't get a border collie to do something like what Ronan does if you spend enough time on it.”
But this isn’t about teaching animals a cool party trick for fun. What Cook and researchers like him around the globe seek to better understand are the evolution of cognition, the universality of pattern recognition, and the intricate ways in which brains—both human and non-human—process the world around them.
“Ronan’s new study highlights the importance of experience, maturity, and really fine-grained training in a controlled laboratory setting to assess these questions,” Cook concludes.
Other co-authors of the paper include researchers Carson Hood and Andrew Rouse, who are also jointly affiliated with UC Santa Cruz’s Institute of Marine Sciences and the New College of Florida.
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