Scientists Have 3D-Scanned Thousands of Creatures Creating Incredibly Intricate Images Anyone Can Access for Free

3D scanned creatures by oVert – Released by Florida Museum of Natural History / SWNS

An incredible new project has scanned thousands of creatures to advance scientific research and provide colorful images to the world. Natural history museums have entered a new stage of scientific discovery and accessibility with the completion of openVertebrate (oVert), a five-year collaborative project among 18 institutions to create 3D reconstructions of vertebrate specimens and make them freely available online. Now, researchers have published a summary of the project in the journal BioScience reviewing the specimens they’ve scanned to date, offering a glimpse of how the data might be  used to ask newquestions and spur the development of innovative technology. “When people first collected these specimens, they had no idea what the future would hold for them,” said Edward Stanley, co-principal investigator of the oVert project and associate scientist at the Florida Museum of Natural History. Such museums got their start in the 16th century as cabinets of curiosity, in which a few wealthy individuals amassed rare and exotic specimens, which they kept mostly to themselves. Since then, museums have become a resource for the public to learn about biodiversity. But, the majority of museum collections remain behind closed doors—accessible only to scientists who must either travel to see them or ask that a small number of specimens be mailed on loan—and oVert wants to change that. “Now we have scientists, teachers, students and artists around the world using these data remotely,” said David Blackburn, lead principal investigator of the oVert project and curator of herpetology at the Florida Museum. Beginning in 2017, the oVert team members took CT scans of more than 13,000 specimens, with vertebrate species across the tree of life, including over half the genera of all amphibians, reptiles, fishes, and mammals.

A collage of scanned fish from oVert – Released by Florida Museum of Natural History / SWNS

CT scanners use high-energy X-rays to peer past an organism’s exterior and view the dense bone structure beneath. Some specimens were also stained with a contrast-enhancing solution for visualizing soft tissues, like skin, muscle, and other organs. The models give an intimate look at internal portions of a specimen that could previously only be observed through destructive dissection and tissue sampling. “You want to protect specimens, but you also want to have people use them,” Blackburn said. “oVert is a way of reducing the wear and tear on samples while also increasing access, and it’s the next logical step in the

Hedgehog CT scan from oVert – Florida Museum of Natural History / SWNS

mission of museum collections.” Skeletons too large to fit into a CT scanner, like a humpback whale, were painstakingly taken apart so that 3D models of each individual bone could be scanned and reassembled. “These are not things you put in boxes and loan,” Blackburn pointed out. A set of iconic Galapagos tortoises at the California Academy of Sciences were each photographed in a 360-degree rotation. Photographing their undersides was problematic, as their curved shells made it impossible to keep them upright. After a few trial-and-error runs, they settled on placing the specimens on top of inflatable swimming tubes. Scientists have already used data from the project to gain astonishing insights into the natural world. Watch the incredible video below, and learn more at the bottom…In 2023, Edward Stanley was conducting routine CT scans of spiny mice and was surprised to find their tails were covered with an internal coat of bony plates, called osteoderms. Before this discovery, armadillos were considered to be the only living mammals with these structures. “All kinds of things jump out at you when you’re when you’re scanning,” Stanley said. “I study osteoderms, and through kismet or fate, I happened to be the one scanning those particular specimens on that particular day and noticed something strange about their tails on the X-ray. “That happens all the time. We’ve found all sorts of strange, unexpected things.”oVert scans were used to determine what killed a rim rock crown snake, considered to be the rarest snake species in North America. Another study showed that a group of frogs called pumpkin toadlets had become so small that the fluid-filled canals in their ears that confer balance no longer functioned properly, causing them to crash-land when jumping. One study of 500 oVert specimens revealed that frogs have lost and regained teeth more than 20 times throughout their evolutionary history. Other researchers concluded that Spinosaurus, a massive dinosaur that was larger than Tyrannosaurus rex and thought to be aquatic, would have actually been a poor swimmer, and thus likely stayed on land. And the list goes on, full of insights and ideas that would have been impossible or impractical before the project’s outset. “Now that we’ve been working on this for so long, we have a broad scaffold that allows us to take a broader view of

Fish CT scan from oVert – Florida Museum of Natural History / SWNS

evolutionary questions,” Stanley said. Artists and teachers are benefitting too Funded in part by the National Science Foundation, the value of the oVert project extends beyond science. Artists have used the 3D models to create realistic animal replicas, photographs of oVert specimens have been displayed as museum exhibits, and specimens have been incorporated into virtual reality headsets that give users the chance to interact with and manipulate them. A high school teacher in Cincinnati says it’s been a game-changer for her studies on evolution. “I teach juniors and seniors, and I absolutely love them, but they can be a tough audience,” said Jennifer Broo. “They know when things are fake, which makes them less engaged. Using the oVert models, my class has gotten so much better because I have had the opportunities to work with and expose my students to real data.”Visit Sketchfab to view a sample of 3D interactive models. At MorphoSource you can access the full openVertebrate repository.Scientists Have 3D-Scanned Thousands of Creatures Creating Incredibly Intricate Images Anyone Can Access for Free

Read More........→March 18, 2024

Scientists studied twins’ diets. Those who ate vegan saw fast results.

A member of staff works inside ‘Rudy’s Vegan Butcher’ shop, amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, in London, Britain, October 30, 2020. Picture taken October 30, 2020. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls

Aleksandra Shai Chai needed a moment to process the idea that she would be stuck eating a vegan diet for eight weeks.

Shai Chai, who typically eats meat, was participating in a study to examine the effects of different diets on twins’ health. When Stanford University researchers randomly distributed slips of papers to the twins last year to indicate which diet they would follow, Shai Chai hoped hers would say “omnivore.”

Instead, it said “vegan.” Her twin sister, Mariya Foster, would eat a diet of meat and vegetables.

Shai Chai replaced her favorite foods – bacon, sushi and steak – with tofu, beans and vegetables. She didn’t love the diet, but when Shai Chai recently learned the study’s results, she felt thankful that she had briefly changed her eating habits.

After examining 22 pairs of identical twins, researchers found that vegan eaters had lower cholesterol, insulin and body weight than participants who followed a meat diet, according to the results published last week in the JAMA Network Open journal.

Vegan eaters’ low-density lipoprotein – bad cholesterol – dropped on average by 15.2 milligrams over eight weeks; omnivore dieters’ fell by 2.4. Vegan eaters on average shed 4.2 more pounds than omnivores, and their insulin – which regulates blood sugar – dropped by roughly 20 percent more.

“That made it all worth it, for sure,” Shai Chai, 43, told The Washington Post. “I was like, ‘All right, at least I have a little bit of payback; a little benefit for the trouble.”

Christopher Gardner, a Stanford University professor of medicine, said participants’ genetics have sometimes muddied researchers’ understanding of how different diets affect people’s health. He wanted to find a clear answer on the effects of eating or avoiding meat and animal products on cardiovascular health, and he thought the best subjects would be people with nearly identical genes and upbringings.

Near the start of 2022, Gardner found participants through Stanford’s twin research registry. Shai Chai and Foster had signed up a few years earlier, thinking the studies would be a fun way to contribute to scientific discoveries. They were exactly the type of twins Gardner was looking for.

Foster was born about five minutes before Shai Chai in December of 1979 in Kyiv before they immigrated to San Francisco in 1995. They like the same food (fish and chicken), the same music (pop and techno) and sometimes unknowingly buy the same clothes. The sisters, who are 5-foot-5 and live a few blocks from each other, said they often finish each other’s sentences and know what the other is thinking.

In May of 2022, participants in the study received 21 weekly prepackaged meals from Trifecta, a meal-delivery service, featuring food from their assigned diets. The vegan meals consisted of oatmeal, tofu, broccoli, spinach, beans, lentils and brown rice. The omnivore meals were still healthy, but featured eggs, chicken, turkey bacon, vegetables and jasmine rice. Participants logged their meals on Cronometer, an app that tracks diet and health data.

Shai Chai said the vegan meals were tastier than she had expected, though she disliked some dishes. Foster sacrificed her favorite snacks – M&Ms and granola bars – for healthy meats and fruits. After seeing examples of meals following their diets, participants purchased their own groceries during the second half of the eight-week study.

Dietitians called participants a few times to discuss how they were faring. Participants also gave blood and stool samples and underwent physical and cognitive tests to assess how the diets affected their balance and memories.

Shai Chai said that after four weeks of a vegan diet, she had more energy and slept better. Still, she missed her favorite foods. Once, she went out to a sushi restaurant with friends but forced herself to eat vegan sushi.

While some participants continued to follow a vegan diet after the study concluded in July 2022, Shai Chai said she immediately started eating sushi again – which she said tasted better than ever. Foster said she has become more mindful of eating healthy and has developed meal ideas from Trifecta.

Gardner, who’s a vegetarian, hopes nutritionists use the study’s results to persuade clients to eat more vegan products. He said that vegan food contributes to the three most crucial ways to improve cardiovascular health: by increasing fiber and decreasing saturated fat and body weight.

He added that eating a vegan diet offers health benefits that could prolong someone’s life – a discovery that Foster said has prompted sibling teasing.“I was already five minutes older,” Foster said, “and now I’m [figuratively] even older because she got the vegan diet.” Scientists studied twins’ diets. Those who ate vegan saw fast results.

Read More........→March 01, 2024

Scientists studied twins’ diets. Those who ate vegan saw fast results.

A member of staff works inside ‘Rudy’s Vegan Butcher’ shop, amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, in London, Britain, October 30, 2020. Picture taken October 30, 2020. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls

Aleksandra Shai Chai needed a moment to process the idea that she would be stuck eating a vegan diet for eight weeks.

Shai Chai, who typically eats meat, was participating in a study to examine the effects of different diets on twins’ health. When Stanford University researchers randomly distributed slips of papers to the twins last year to indicate which diet they would follow, Shai Chai hoped hers would say “omnivore.”

Instead, it said “vegan.” Her twin sister, Mariya Foster, would eat a diet of meat and vegetables.

Shai Chai replaced her favorite foods – bacon, sushi and steak – with tofu, beans and vegetables. She didn’t love the diet, but when Shai Chai recently learned the study’s results, she felt thankful that she had briefly changed her eating habits.

After examining 22 pairs of identical twins, researchers found that vegan eaters had lower cholesterol, insulin and body weight than participants who followed a meat diet, according to the results published last week in the JAMA Network Open journal.

Vegan eaters’ low-density lipoprotein – bad cholesterol – dropped on average by 15.2 milligrams over eight weeks; omnivore dieters’ fell by 2.4. Vegan eaters on average shed 4.2 more pounds than omnivores, and their insulin – which regulates blood sugar – dropped by roughly 20 percent more.

“That made it all worth it, for sure,” Shai Chai, 43, told The Washington Post. “I was like, ‘All right, at least I have a little bit of payback; a little benefit for the trouble.”

Christopher Gardner, a Stanford University professor of medicine, said participants’ genetics have sometimes muddied researchers’ understanding of how different diets affect people’s health. He wanted to find a clear answer on the effects of eating or avoiding meat and animal products on cardiovascular health, and he thought the best subjects would be people with nearly identical genes and upbringings.

Near the start of 2022, Gardner found participants through Stanford’s twin research registry. Shai Chai and Foster had signed up a few years earlier, thinking the studies would be a fun way to contribute to scientific discoveries. They were exactly the type of twins Gardner was looking for.

Foster was born about five minutes before Shai Chai in December of 1979 in Kyiv before they immigrated to San Francisco in 1995. They like the same food (fish and chicken), the same music (pop and techno) and sometimes unknowingly buy the same clothes. The sisters, who are 5-foot-5 and live a few blocks from each other, said they often finish each other’s sentences and know what the other is thinking.

In May of 2022, participants in the study received 21 weekly prepackaged meals from Trifecta, a meal-delivery service, featuring food from their assigned diets. The vegan meals consisted of oatmeal, tofu, broccoli, spinach, beans, lentils and brown rice. The omnivore meals were still healthy, but featured eggs, chicken, turkey bacon, vegetables and jasmine rice. Participants logged their meals on Cronometer, an app that tracks diet and health data.

Shai Chai said the vegan meals were tastier than she had expected, though she disliked some dishes. Foster sacrificed her favorite snacks – M&Ms and granola bars – for healthy meats and fruits. After seeing examples of meals following their diets, participants purchased their own groceries during the second half of the eight-week study.

Dietitians called participants a few times to discuss how they were faring. Participants also gave blood and stool samples and underwent physical and cognitive tests to assess how the diets affected their balance and memories.

Shai Chai said that after four weeks of a vegan diet, she had more energy and slept better. Still, she missed her favorite foods. Once, she went out to a sushi restaurant with friends but forced herself to eat vegan sushi.

While some participants continued to follow a vegan diet after the study concluded in July 2022, Shai Chai said she immediately started eating sushi again – which she said tasted better than ever. Foster said she has become more mindful of eating healthy and has developed meal ideas from Trifecta.

Gardner, who’s a vegetarian, hopes nutritionists use the study’s results to persuade clients to eat more vegan products. He said that vegan food contributes to the three most crucial ways to improve cardiovascular health: by increasing fiber and decreasing saturated fat and body weight.

He added that eating a vegan diet offers health benefits that could prolong someone’s life – a discovery that Foster said has prompted sibling teasing.“I was already five minutes older,” Foster said, “and now I’m [figuratively] even older because she got the vegan diet. ”Scientists studied twins’ diets. Those who ate vegan saw fast results.

Read More........→December 13, 2023

Fieldwork can be challenging for female scientists. Here are 5 ways to make it better

Merla, Shutterstock

Sarah Hamylton, University of Wollongong; Ana Vila Concejo, University of Sydney; Hannah Power, University of Newcastle, and Shari L Gallop, University of Waikato

Women coastal scientists face multiple barriers to getting into the field for research. These include negative perceptions of their physical capabilities, not being included in trips, caring responsibilities at home and a lack of field facilities for women. Even if women clear these barriers, the experience can be challenging.

This is a problem because fieldwork is crucial for gathering data, inspiring emerging scientists, developing skills, expanding networks and participating in collaborative research.

Our recent study revisited an international survey of 314 coastal scientists that revealed broad perceptions and experiences of gender inequality in coastal sciences. We offer five ways to improve the fieldwork experience for women.

Our collective experience of more than 70 years as active coastal scientists suggests women face ongoing problems when they go to the field. Against a global backdrop of the #MeToo movement, the Picture a Scientist documentary and media coverage about incidents of sexual harassment in the field, conversations between fieldworkers and research managers about behaviour and policy change are needed.

Disrupting the narrative: Women fieldworkers operating equipment, carrying gear and fixing engines. Women in Coastal Geosciences and Engineering network

Our research: what we did and what we found

In 2016, we surveyed both male and female scientists about their experiences of gender equality in coastal sciences during an international symposium in Sydney and afterwards online.

From 314 responses, 113 respondents (36%) provided examples of gender inequality they had either directly experienced or observed while working in coastal sciences. About half of these were related to fieldwork.

Our recent paper in the journal Coastal Futures revisits the survey results to further unpack fieldwork issues that continue to surface among the younger generation of female coastal scientists whom we supervise in our jobs. Many of those younger women don’t know how to address these issues.

The paper includes direct quotes from 18 survey respondents describing their experiences. One woman, a mid-career university researcher, said:

As I fill in this survey, the corridor of the building I work in is lined with empty offices. My colleagues are out on boats doing fieldwork. I have a passion for coastal science. That’s why I’m working in a university. But I have a disproportionately large share of administrative, pastoral and governance duties that keep me from engaging in my passion. I’m about to go to a committee meeting of women, doing women’s work (reviewing teaching offerings). Inequality is alive and well in my workplace!

Collectively, the responses highlight barriers to fieldwork participation and challenges in the field, such as sexual harassment and abuse.

A pressing issue, on and off campus

Universities have recently been criticised for failing to respond to sexual violence on campus. But women employed by universities working off campus – at field sites – can be even more vulnerable.

The social boundaries that characterise day-to-day working life in the office and the laboratory are reconfigured on boats or in field camps. Personal space is reduced. Fieldworkers can be required to sleep in close proximity to one another, potentially putting women in vulnerable situations.

As this female early-career university researcher wrote:

Sometimes women are ‘advised’ to avoid fieldwork for security reasons. Or [we] are considered weak, or we are threatened by rape for being with a lot of men.

Women working on boats commonly face inadequate facilities at sea for toileting, menstruation and managing lactation. Some women said they were “not allowed to join research vessels” or “prevented from [joining] research in the field because of gender”.

Reminded of our personal experiences

Just reading the survey responses was difficult for us. Tales of exclusion and discrimination were particularly confronting because they resonated with our own personal experiences. As one of us, Sarah Hamylton, recalls:

I remember spending a hot day in my early 20s on a small boat taking measurements over a reef. I was the only female. When one of the four guys asked about needing the toilet, he was told to stand and relieve himself off the stern. I had to hold on, so I was desperate when we returned to the main ship in the afternoon.

But that wasn’t the only challenge Hamylton encountered on that trip:

We got back into port and the night before we departed to go home, I was woken by the drunken second officer banging on my cabin door asking for sex. The following year women were banned from attending this annual expedition because someone else had complained about sexual assault.

Gender stereotypes and discrimination

Coastal fieldwork demands diverse physical skills such as boating, four-wheel driving, towing trailers, working with hand and power tools, moving heavy equipment, SCUBA diving and being comfortable swimming in the surf, in currents or underwater.

But our survey revealed roles on field trips – and therefore opportunities to learn and gain crucial field skills – are typically handed to men rather than women. Several respondents observed female students and staff being left out of field work for “not being strong enough” and “too weak to pick stuff up”.

Body exposure can also be an issue for women in the field. Close-fitting wetsuits and swimsuits can increase the likelihood of womens’ bodies being objectified by colleagues. Undertaking coastal fieldwork while menstruating can also be a concern.

Another of us, Ana Vila-Concejo, notes:

Some scientific presentations show women in bikinis as a ‘beach modelling’ joke. Beyond self-consciousness, I have felt vulnerable wearing swimmers and exerting myself during fieldwork. Women students and volunteers have declined to participate in field experiments for this reason, particularly while menstruating.

The issue of body exposure also sheds light on the interconnections between race, religion, class and sexuality, which can create overlapping and intersectional disadvantages for women. Vila-Concejo adds:

I am old enough now that I don’t care anymore. I can afford a wetsuit, but many students and volunteers don’t have one. For some women, it isn’t socially or culturally acceptable to wear swimmers, or even to do fieldwork.

Five suggestions for improvement

To improve the fieldwork experience for women in coastal sciences, our research found the following behavioural and policy changes are needed:

1. publicise field role models and trailblazers to reshape public views of coastal scientists, increasing the visibility of female fieldworkers

2. improve opportunities and capacity for women to undertake fieldwork to diversify field teams by identifying and addressing the intersecting disadvantages experienced by women

3. establish field codes of conduct that outline acceptable standards of behaviour on field trips, what constitutes misconduct, sexual harassment and assault, how to make an anonymous complaint and disciplinary measures

4. acknowledge the challenges women face in the field and provide support where possible in fieldwork briefings and address practical challenges for women in remote locations, including toileting and menstruation

5. foster an enjoyable and supportive fieldwork culture that emphasises mutual respect, safety, inclusivity, and collegiality on every trip.

These five simple steps will improve the experience of fieldwork for all concerned and ultimately benefit the advancement of science.

Sarah Hamylton, Associate professor, University of Wollongong; Ana Vila Concejo, Associate professor, University of Sydney; Hannah Power, Associate Professor in Coastal and Marine Science, University of Newcastle, and Shari L Gallop, Service Leader - Coastal, University of Waikato

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Read More........→November 06, 2023

Indian American scientist hoping to be first woman to jump from stratosphere

Swati Varshey has a PhD in materials science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has made over 1,200 jumps with a speciality in vertical freefall, according to Space.com. Swati Varshney. PHOTO: @risingunited.org An Indian-American scientist is hoping to become the first woman to skydive from the stratosphere at an altitude of 42.5 km above the Earth, and shatter four records in the process. Swati Varshey has been selected as one of the three candidates selected by the Hera Project of Rising United that seeks to empower women in science and technology, the organization has announced. - If she makes it to the skydive in 2025, Hera Project expects her to break four current records: The free fall record by 1.1 kilometer from the highest altitude; endure the longest free fall time; break the sound barrier unaided by 264 kph; and the highest crewed balloon flight by over 1 kilometer. “At Rising United, we’re embarking on a historic journey, shattering records and ceilings to advance women’s equality and inspire young women’s interest in STEAM education”, the organization said. Swati Varshey has a PhD in materials science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has made over 1,200 jumps with a specialty in vertical freefall, according to Space.com. Billed as the “First Female Mission to the Edge of Space”, the project seeks to have minority women smash the records, and the other two contenders are of Latino descent, Eliana Rodriquez and Diana Valerín Jiménez. The project will include educational programs for schools to increase interest in science and technology among girls, especially from minority groups. Varshney told Space.com that for her skydiving “is a lot more similar to my scientific training than I ever thought it would have been in the first place. It was just another avenue for me to pursue this goal of lifelong learning”. Varshney, who has spent a decade skydiving, told the media outlet, “My academic progression and my career trajectory has been really intertwined with skydiving as it went along. So I started skydiving”. She tried tandem jumping and found it such a “blast”, that she took it up as a hobby. “ I really just wanted something that was totally different, and as a release to — this is a really cliché way to say it — cut away right from what I was doing in my day-to-day life”, she told Space.com. “It became this never-ending journey of another pursuit of knowledge that went alongside my academic career”, she added. The stratosphere is from about 6 kilometers to 50 kilometers above the earth where it gives way to the mesosphere. Indian American scientist hoping to be first woman to jump from stratosphere:

Read More........→September 15, 2023