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Computational Fluid Dynamics. Those words are enough to strike fear into the heart of many an undergraduate engineer. Modeling how liquids move through a system is mathematically challenging, but in many cases, absolutely vital to understanding how those systems work. Computational Fluid Dynamics (more commonly called CFD) is our best effort at understanding those complex systems. A new paper from researchers at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) applies those mathematical models to an area critical for the upcoming era of space exploration - propellant production from in-situ resources.

In Project Chimera, a game lab combines a VR computer game with educational problems in order to convey scientific content in a motivating way.

In Project Chimera, a game lab combines a VR computer game with educational problems in order to convey scientific content in a motivating way.

Location data is considered particularly sensitive -- its misuse can have serious consequences. Researchers have now developed a method that allows individuals to cryptographically prove their location -- without revealing it. The foundation of this method is the so-called zero-knowledge proof with standardized floating-point numbers.

Researchers have discovered the mechanism for supercurrent rectification, in which current flows primarily in one direction in a superconductor. By using a specific iron-based superconductor, they were able to observe this phenomenon over a broad range of magnetic and temperature fields. This understanding paves the way for the design and construction of superconducting diodes and other ultra-low energy electronics.

Researchers have discovered the mechanism for supercurrent rectification, in which current flows primarily in one direction in a superconductor. By using a specific iron-based superconductor, they were able to observe this phenomenon over a broad range of magnetic and temperature fields. This understanding paves the way for the design and construction of superconducting diodes and other ultra-low energy electronics.

Agents, chatbots and other tools based on artificial intelligence (AI) are increasingly used in everyday life by many. So-called large language model (LLM)-based agents, such as ChatGPT and Llama, have become impressively fluent in the responses they form, but quite often provide convincing yet incorrect information. Researchers draw parallels between this issue and a human language disorder known as aphasia, where sufferers may speak fluently but make meaningless or hard-to-understand statements. This similarity could point toward better forms of diagnosis for aphasia, and even provide insight to AI engineers seeking to improve LLM-based agents.

Charge transfer, or the movement of electrons, can occur either within a molecule or between two molecules. Combining the two types of charge transfer is challenging. Now, scientists have developed a hybrid charge transfer crystal using a novel pyrazinacene molecule. This crystal is capable of reacting with naphthalene to produce a reversible color shift, from greenish-blue to red-violet. Such color-changing crystals can have various potential applications in materials science.

A research team has unveiled a breakthrough in improving the performance of zinc-air batteries (ZABs), which are an important energy storage technology. This breakthrough involves a new catalyst that significantly boosts the efficiency of the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), a crucial process in ZABs. The development could lead to more efficient, long-lasting batteries for practical applications.

Found in knee replacements and bone plates, aircraft components, and catalytic converters, the exceptionally strong metals known as multiple principal element alloys (MPEA) are about to get even stronger through to artificial intelligence. Scientists have designed a new MPEA with superior mechanical properties using a data-driven framework that leverages the supercomputing power of explainable artificial intelligence (AI).

Found in knee replacements and bone plates, aircraft components, and catalytic converters, the exceptionally strong metals known as multiple principal element alloys (MPEA) are about to get even stronger through to artificial intelligence. Scientists have designed a new MPEA with superior mechanical properties using a data-driven framework that leverages the supercomputing power of explainable artificial intelligence (AI).

Researchers have found a way to observe clotting activity in blood as it happens -- without needing invasive procedures. Using a new type of microscope and artificial intelligence (AI), their study shows how platelet clumping can be tracked in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), opening the door to safer, more personalized treatment.

A breakthrough study has revealed why emerging electric aircraft engine technology sounds so annoying -- and how to fix it.

Using new observations with the ALMA telescope array in Chile, researchers have compiled the most precise map of three regions in the Milky Way's Central Molecular Zone to date, providing valuable information on how stars form in that region.

New research shows that cyberbullying should be classified as an adverse childhood experience due to its strong link to trauma. Even subtle forms -- like exclusion from group chats -- can trigger PTSD-level distress. Nearly 90% of teens experienced some form of cyberbullying, accounting for 32% of the variation in trauma symptoms. Indirect harassment was most common, with more than half reporting hurtful comments, rumors or deliberate exclusion. What mattered most was the overall amount of cyberbullying: the more often a student was targeted, the more trauma symptoms they showed.

A new, incision-free technique developed at UVA Health to treat debilitating brain lesions called cerebral cavernous malformations, or cavernomas, has shown great promise in early testing, halting the growth of the lesions almost entirely.

Researchers have discovered that Cepheid variable stars in our neighboring galaxy, the Small Magellanic Cloud, are moving in opposing directions along two distinct axes. They found that stars closer to Earth move towards the northeast, while more distant stars move southwest. This newly discovered movement pattern exists alongside a northwest-southeast opposing movement that the scientists previously observed in massive stars.

Slicing an onion releases tear-inducing chemicals into the air, but the sharpness of the knife and the speed of the cut can affect how these droplets are expelled

Today we have some lovely insect photos by regular Mark Sturtevant. Mark’s ID’s and captions are indented, and you can enlarge his photos by clicking on them.

Here are more pictures of insects taken two summers ago from area parks near where I live in eastern Michigan.

First up is a slightly embarrassing accomplishment, which is a decent picture of one of our Sulphur butterflies. Sulphurs are an exceedingly common group with several local species, but for some reason they are extremely wary around me. Anyway, this one was unwary, and I think it is the Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme):

Next up is our largest butterfly, the Eastern Giant Swallowtail (Heraclides cresphontes). They are often challenging since they tend to keep their “engines running” (meaning their wings are almost always in motion) when rapidly foraging from flower to flower, but this one paused very briefly:

One of my favorite insects is shown next. This is Anotia uhleri, or what I call the “Flat Derbid”, although this Derbid planthopper has no common name. They can be found in forests sitting on the undersides of leaves. The orange thingies sticking out of the head are stumpy antennae:

Here is a Leaf-footed Bug nymph (Acanthocephala terminalis):

I was finding quite a few of these Lacewing egg clusters along a forest trail. Lacewings lay eggs on the ends of long stalks for protection. Having the eggs tied together in a bundle suggests that these are one of our larger Green Lacewing species, Leucochrysa insularis. This species tends to stay in forests, sitting under leaves by day, and like the Derbid above they lay their wings flat.

An occasional visitor to the porchlight at home are Mosquitos of Unusual Size, and one is shown in the next picture. I was eventually able to identify this giant mosquito as the Gallnipper, Psorophora ciliata. This one is a female. Although she will require a blood meal to reproduce, and they are described as being rather aggressive in pursuit of humans, a relatively good thing about them is that the larvae are predatory on other mosquito larvae. I have pictures coming up later that compares one of these beasts to a regular mosquito, but for now the attached picture can give some idea:

The next three pictures show a surprise, but the story starts out unremarkably. The beetles foraging on flower pollen are Brown Blister Beetles, Zonitis vittigera. Blister Beetles are a large family, and are so-named because they are chemically protected by exuding an irritating fluid if annoyed. It is relevant to point out that they have interesting biology in that they grow up as parasites on other insects, usually on bees. The mobile first instar larvae are called triungulin larvae, and they start their journey by clambering up onto flowers and wait for a bee to visit. Once the flower is visited by their intended target, they hitch a ride to the nest where they move in and eat the bee provisions and even bee larvae:

I almost did not bother processing the 2nd picture because it had motion-blur, though the composition was nice. But do you see the tiny things on the thorax of the beetle? The 3rd picture provides a blow-up. Those little things are Blister Beetle triungulin larvae! Possibly not this species, though. So, what is going on? I have sent these pictures on to a Blister Beetle Facebook group and to iNaturalist to ask for opinions. There is no answer yet, but possibly the larvae attach to any insect visitor. Although non-bee visitors would be temporary dead-ends, one can imagine that this would at least disperse them to other flowers:

Finally, here are pictures of our most common Sand Wasp, which is the Four-banded Stink Bug Wasp (Bicyrtes quadrifasciatus). Females of these highly energetic wasps will provision a burrow with paralyzed stink bugs, and these are used to raise the next generation of wasps. In the first picture you can see the spray of sand being flung out as she excavates her burrow:

We now have full genome sequences for six species of apes, helping us to pin down our last common ancestor – and potentially changing how we think of the earliest hominins