Recent comments in /f/science

Just-a-Mandrew t1_jd8bhbg wrote

Reply to comment by SnthesisInc in ‘Terminator zones’ on distant planets could harbor life, UC Irvine astronomers say by SnthesisInc

I think aliens do exist but they’re certainly not concerned with us. If interstellar travel is possible, it would have to be done beyond the confines of matter. Not to get too metaphysical but since we’re talking about aliens, I think they’d travel in ways we cannot comprehend and most definitely not in some kind of human-perspective space car.

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Reply to ‘Terminator zones’ on distant planets could harbor life, UC Irvine astronomers say by SnthesisInc

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marketrent OP t1_jd86mmk wrote

Reply to Newly established mosquito in Florida identified as the little-known Culex lactator — other Culex species are known to transmit the West Nile and St. Louis Encephalitis viruses by marketrent

Excerpt from the linked content^1,2 by Greg Allen:

>The mosquito — known by its scientific name of Culex lactator — is typically found in Central and South America. Researchers with the University of Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory first discovered it in a rural area near Miami in 2018.

>It's since spread to other counties in Southwest Florida.

>It's not known how the new mosquito was introduced into Florida. Scientists say climate change appears to be a factor that's making the state and other parts of the U.S. welcoming to non-native mosquitoes that can carry diseases.

>Mosquito biologist Lawrence Reeves is the lead author of a report on the newly-discovered species, published Wednesday in the Journal of Medical Entomology.

>He says, "There are about 90 mosquito species living in Florida, and that list is growing as new mosquito species are introduced to the state from elsewhere in the world."

>Reeves says little is known about Culex lactator, but it bears further study. It's a member of a group of mosquitoes known to carry the West Nile and St. Louis Encephalitis viruses.

>The U.S. faces public health challenges related to diseases like West Nile, dengue, and chikungunya, all of which are spread by non-native mosquitoes that have become established here.

>Reeves says, "We need to be vigilant for introductions of new mosquito species because each introduction comes with the possibility that the introduced species will facilitate the transmission of a mosquito-transmitted disease."

^1 A new tropical mosquito has come to Florida, 22 Mar. 2023, https://www.npr.org/2023/03/22/1164937874/uh-oh-a-new-tropical-mosquito-has-come-to-florida-the-buzz-its-creating-isnt-goo

^2 Lawrence E Reeves, Kristin E Sloyer, Kara Tyler-Julian, Rebecca Heinig, Atom Rosales, Candelaria Domingo, Nathan D Burkett-Cadena. Culex (Phenacomyia) lactator (Diptera: Culicidae) in southern Florida, USA: a new subgenus and species country record. Journal of Medical Entomology, 2023; tjad023. https://doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjad023

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AutoModerator t1_jd85nba wrote

Reply to Newly established mosquito in Florida identified as the little-known Culex lactator — other Culex species are known to transmit the West Nile and St. Louis Encephalitis viruses by marketrent

Welcome to r/science! This is a heavily moderated subreddit in order to keep the discussion on science. However, we recognize that many people want to discuss how they feel the research relates to their own personal lives, so to give people a space to do that, personal anecdotes are allowed as responses to this comment. Any anecdotal comments elsewhere in the discussion will be removed and our normal comment rules apply to all other comments.

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Dapaaads t1_jd83lwa wrote

Reply to comment by Transposer in Air pollutants have been confirmed to increase the risk of Alzheimer's dementia. Air pollutants enter the lungs through the respiratory tract and cause inflammation, which causes various diseases throughout the body, especially the inflammation of nerves when it reaches the brain. by Wagamaga

No, they aren’t stress induced, relaxing isn’t going to stop chemicals from doing what they do

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More-Grocery-1858 t1_jd7y8yd wrote

Reply to comment by RedYachtClub in A crucial building block of life exists on the asteroid Ryugu. Uracil, a component of RNA, was found in a sample collected by Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft. by Science_News

DNA is one of two common "coding languages" for life on Earth. The other is RNA.

The mere fact that we know of two functioning "coding languages" increases the odds of one of them being found elsewhere.

There may, however, be other possible languages that use the same or similar building blocks in different ways. Scientists on Earth have done some limited research in this area and it looks plausible. This also increases the odds.

Finally, finding these building blocks on objects outside the Earth's atmosphere increases those odds as well.

I can't cite specific numbers, but the chance of discovering alien life looks more promising the more we discover about the universe.

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