​New York is sinking under the weight of skyscrapers ● Medicines are being tested in the USA, which are administered in case of nuclear disasters ● Where did butterflies first appear?

New York is sinking under the weight of skyscrapers

New York is sinking an average of 1-2 millimeters annually, a group of researchers from the University of Rhode Island reported in a recent article published in the journal Earth’s Future. American researchers calculated the total mass of more than a million buildings in New York (about 764,000,000 tons), and then divided the entire territory of the city into 100 square meters.

In this way, they calculated the average value of the weight pressing on each zone, as well as the speed at which each of them descends. The authors of the study emphasize that they did not take into account the cumulative weight of bridges, railways, roads and other structures, which means that the data they provide gives us minimum values.

The pressure exerted on the earth is already causing deformations, following the same pattern seen in tectonic plates in case of melting glaciers, and this can only lead to problems for the 8 million inhabitants of the metropolis.

New York is not alone. Similar calculations have shown that Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, is sinking at a rate much higher than that of New York. More precisely, some parts of the city are sinking by 11 centimeters per year. If nothing changes, at least a quarter of Jakarta will be under water by 2050. In addition, a large part of Jakarta’s population (more than 30 million inhabitants) will have to be relocated in the near future.

Returning to New York, a city that is about 2 meters below sea level, the researchers note the same problems that face not only Jakarta, but also 99% of large urban centers located on the shores of oceans. Namely, that the rate of their sinking even exceeds the estimated rate of ocean level rise. In short, it risks going underwater much faster than climate projections have shown.

Medicines are being tested in the US to be administered in the event of a nuclear disaster

The US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has announced the start of human trials of the drug HOPO-14-1, which must be administered to the population in case of nuclear disasters. According to a report by the National Institutes of Health, the drug should at least partially eliminate the effects of radiation and heavy metal contamination.

HOPO-14-1 is available in pill form to reduce internal radioactive contamination, which the report’s authors say could occur in the event of a nuclear accident or atomic bomb explosion.

American researchers claim that in the tests carried out so far, the drug has proven effective in case of contamination with uranium or lead. But the first human clinical trial is due to begin soon. 42 volunteers will be tested and the results will be made public next year.

At the moment, the only means of treatment for the effects of radiation are iodine tablets (effective for removing radioactive iodine from the body) and Berlin azure, the latter effective for cesium and thallium poisoning.

Even if everything goes well at the stage of clinical trials and the drug is released to the market, the researchers note that it will be effective, but only under conditions of exposure to relatively small doses of radiation.

Where did butterflies first appear?

About 100 million years ago, an important evolutionary step occurred in the appearance of butterflies on the lunar scene. In particular, a group of butterflies began to fly during the day instead of at night. This may seem like a small step, but when we consider that this change took place some 90 million years after the first butterflies appeared, it does not seem like such a small step.

The fact that the origin of butterflies can be traced back to about 100 million years ago was already a known fact. Analysis of the genome of more than 2,000 species of butterflies from all over the planet already confirmed this aspect back in 2019. The mystery that remains to be solved is related to where the mentioned evolutionary step took place.

Based on the distribution of extant and extinct species, several researchers at the Florida Museum of Natural History say in a study published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution that they have pinpointed the butterfly’s place of origin.

It would be somewhere in western North America. From here the first butterflies migrated to South America and Asia, later to Africa and India (then an isolated island) and finally to Australia and even Antarctica. Europe would have been one of the last continents the butterflies reached, more than 45 million years after they reached western Asia. As proof, even today the diversity of butterfly species is the lowest in Europe.

What’s even more important in this whole equation is that, according to the cited researchers, butterflies evolved in parallel with flowers. In fact, it was the evolutionary response of insects to the appearance of plants with flowers and, apparently, nectar. Later, their co-evolution, the practical symbiosis of two living groups, led to the enormous diversification they underwent over time.

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