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We Just Got More Evidence That Long COVID Is a Brain Injury

The exact nature of long COVID is still coming to light, but we just got some of the best evidence yet that this debilitating condition stems from a brain injury.

Using high-resolution scanners, researchers at the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford have shown microscopic, structural abnormalities in the brainstems of those recovering from COVID-19.

Signs of brain inflammation were present up to 18 months after first contracting the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

"We show that the brainstem is a site of vulnerability to long-term effects of COVID-19, with persistent changes evident in the months after hospitalization," the authors of the study conclude.

https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awae215

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European Federation of Journalists to stop posting content on X

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has announced that it will stop publishing content on Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, from January 20th, 2025, when Donald Trump will officially become the 47th president of the United States.

The organisation stated that it can “no longer ethically participate in a social network that its owner has transformed into a machine of disinformation and propaganda”.

It joins The Guardian and other European media outlets including Dagens Nyheter, La Vanguardia, Ouest-France and Sud-Ouest in coming off the platform, due to the impact of Musk on the organisation.

The EFJ is the largest organisation of journalists in Europe, representing over 295,000 journalists in 44 countries has announced that it will stop posting content on X.

The company’s general secretary Ricardo Gutiérrez stated:

“After the US elections, EFJ pointed out the threat to democracy and freedom of expression posed by the cooperation between the president of the most powerful country in the world, Donald J. Trump, and the richest man in the world, Elon Musk, who is also the owner of social network X and has been appointed to lead a “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) when Donald J. Trump takes office as president on January 20, 2025.

“We cannot continue to participate in the social network feed of a man who proclaims the death of the media and therefore of journalists”, said the president of EFJ, Maja Sever.

“The social media site X has become the preferred vector for conspiracy theories, racism, far-right ideas and misogynistic rhetoric. X is a platform that no longer serves the public interest at all, but the special ideological and financial interests of its owner and his political allies”, he writes further.

“The editorial evolution of X, since its acquisition by Elon Musk, is simply contrary to our humanist values, our commitment to press freedom and media pluralism, and our fight against all forms of hatred and discrimination. The decision to suspend our @EFJEUROPE account seemed clear to us and we invite all our members and all organizations defending freedom of expression to migrate to other platforms.”

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Amateur Astronomers Detect Voyager 1 Using Vintage 1950s Telescope After Glitch

And yet a team of amateur astronomers in the Netherlands was able to receive Voyager’s signals on a 1950s telescope designed to detect weak, low-frequency emissions from deep space: NASA uses the [Earth-based] Deep Space Network (DSN) to communicate with its spacecraft, but the global array of giant radio antennas is optimized for higher frequency signals. Though NASA’s DSN antennas are capable of detecting S-band missives from Voyager — it can also communicate in X-band — the spacecraft’s signal can appear to drop due to how far Voyager is from Earth. The Dwingeloo telescope, on the other hand, is designed for observing at lower frequencies than the 8.4 gigahertz telemetry transmitted by Voyager 1, according to the C.A. Muller Radio Astronomy Station… [W]hen Voyager 1 switched to a lower frequency, its messages fell within Dwingeloo’s frequency band. Thus, the astronomers took advantage of the spacecraft’s communication glitch to listen in on its faint signals to NASA.

The astronomers used orbital predictions of Voyager 1’s position in space to correct for the Doppler shift in frequency caused by the motion of Earth, as well as the motion of the spacecraft through space. The weak signal was found live, and further analysis later confirmed that it corresponded to the position of Voyager 1. Thankfully, the mission team at NASA turned Voyager 1’s X-band transmitter back on in November, and is currently carrying out a few remaining tasks to get the spacecraft back to its regular state. Fortunately, radio telescopes like Dwingeloo can help fill in the gaps while NASA’s communications array has trouble reaching its spacecraft.

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New Math Suggests 'Impossible' Third Type of Particle Could Exist

Quantum mechanics has long classified particles into just two distinct types: fermions and bosons.

Now physicists from Rice University in the US have found a third type might be possible after all, at least mathematically speaking. Known as a paraparticles, their behavior could imply the existence of elementary particles nobody has ever considered.

"We determined that new types of particles we never knew of before are possible," says Kaden Hazzard, who with co-author Zhiyuan Wang formulated a theory to demonstrate how objects that weren't fermions or bosons could exist in physical reality without breaking any known laws.

Fermions encompass fundamental particles that 'build' atoms, such as electrons and quarks. In more precise terms, they have a property that prevents them from occupying identical quantum states, effectively ensuring no two matching fermions can fill the same space.

"This behavior is responsible for the whole structure of the periodic table," says Hazzard. "It's also why you don't just go through your chair when you sit down."

Bosons are defined by a different measure to this property that allows them to pass right through one another like ghosts in a corridor.

Typically acting as force carriers like photons and gluons, bosons mediate interactions in ways that push and pull fermions into everything from protons to porcupines to potatoes to planets.

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Six-planet system discovered that moves in perfect mathematical harmony

Researchers have identified a fascinating six-planet system that offers a different take on planetary configurations. The newly reported configuration features six planets around a single star. Their orbits line up in a synchronized manner, which astronomers call resonance.

When planets move in resonance, their orbital periods stay in a fixed ratio for millions or even billions of years. This pattern can be so exact that it reminds some observers of musical tempos.

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A NASA astronaut may have just taken the best photo from space—ever - "During his third stay in orbit, Pettit is absolutely killing it."

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An international team of astronomers has announced a significant discovery in the field of exoplanet research: the detection of a new exoplanet designated TOI-6038 A b. This planet orbits a bright late F-type star located approximately 578 light-years away from Earth.

TOI-6038 A b is remarkable in several respects. Its dimensions are astonishing; the exoplanet is about six times larger than Earth and nearly 80 times more massive, which raises interesting questions about its composition, formation, and atmospheric properties. The discovery is detailed in a paper published on January 4, 2025, on the arXiv preprint server.

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Comet ATLAS Before Sunrise

Comet ATLAS is really bright now, but also really close to the Sun. Outside the glow of the Sun, Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) would be one of the more remarkable comet sights of recent years, reflecting about as much sunlight to Earth as Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS did in October, and now rivaling even planet Venus. But the giant snowball is now so close to the Sun that it can only be seen through the light of the early morning dawn or the early evening dusk. Today, Comet ATLAS is at perihelion -- its closest ever to the Sun.

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Other countries have confirmed
Apollo moon landings.
Here's a photo of the Apollo 11
landing site, including Eagle descent,
stage and its shadow, from India's
Chandrayaan spacecraft orbiting the
moon @science@lemmy.world @science@beehaw.org @space@lemmy.world @space@newsmast.community #space #science #nasa #astronomy