What is the role of evolution in taxonomy?

ℹ️ Evolution is a progressive change that proceeds through genetic variation, natural selection, and genetic drift.
Through evolution, living things evolve to thrive and adapt to the ever-changing environment. A certain group of organisms can evolve so markedly that they diverge into different groups within the group, forming new species.

ℹ️ The process of the formation of new species is called speciation.

📌Modern taxonomy describes evolutionary links.

📌A taxonomic group must always refer to a set of organisms that descended from the same ancestor, at some point in evolutionary history. Species within the same genus all share a common ancestor. The same goes for each genus within one family and so on.

📌According to modern taxonomists, taxonomy is nowadays so intertwined with evolutionary theory, that it can be difficult to delineate when a researcher's "doing taxonomy" and when they're "doing evolutionary biology".

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Why hibernating bears do not get blood clots?

🐻 Despite spending several months hibernating in frigid temperatures, brown bears (Ursus arctos) remain remarkably healthy. Bears rarely suffer from maladies such as blood clots, which can occur in humans experiencing only temporary bouts of immobility and can be deadly.

✍️According to a last study, a heat shock protein 47 (HSP47) helps the hibernating bears avoid dangerous clotting.

ℹ️HSP47 recruits an enzyme called thrombin that helps platelets stick together and form clots.

🐻In active bears, HSP47 helps patch up cuts and stop bleeding. But hibernating bears, which are safely snug in their dens, produce 55 times fewer HSP47 than active bears.

🤔Generally, HSP47 proteins may be a mechanism used across mammals to prevent clotting during prolonged periods of rest.

❗️Considered one of the most important in 2023, this finding can inspire fine-tuned treatments for preventing clotting in patients experiencing temporary immobility.

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What is the mission that reached the dark side of the moon?

🇮🇳🚀Launched in July 2023 ⬆️, India's Chandrayaan-3 moon lander was the first mission to reach the lunar south pole – an unexplored region where reservoirs of frozen water are believed to exist.

✅ Although the spacecraft went dormant after two weeks of the landing, it did what it was supposed to do -- successfully detected lunar surface sulfur and demonstrated the moon's soil as an effective insulator.

❗️ According to scientific community, the success of Chandrayaan-3 is one of the biggest science stories of 2023.

🚀💰🫰The mission showed the world that not only is India a major player in space, but that a moon lander can be launched successfully for $75m, which is much cheaper than most other countries’ budgets for a moon mission.

🌌 Scientists believe that this accomplishment, marked by diversity, cost-effectiveness, and eco-friendly technology, hints at a transformative era in space exploration on the horizon.

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What animals can have “virgin births”?

📍 The vast majority of animals need to breed to reproduce. However, a small subset of animals can have offspring without mating.

📍 The process, called parthenogenesis (comes from two Greek roots that literally translate to “virgin creation”), allows creatures to have so-called “virgin births.”

📍 In animals, the embryo develops from an unfertilized egg.

📍 Parthenogenesis occurs in many types of invertebrates including scorpions, nematodes, mites, water fleas, wasps, some bees, and other insects.

📍 Parthenogenesis has been observed in more than 80 vertebrate species, about half of which are fish or lizards. It’s rare that complex vertebrates such as sharks, snakes, and large lizards rely only on asexual reproduction.

❗️ In 2023, pathogenesis was for the first time recorded in a New World/American crocodile ⬆️ at a park in Costa Rica. According to researchers, this is one of the most astonishing discoveries of 2023.

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What is the most promising place for extraterrestrial life in our solar system?

🪐🌑Just two decades ago, scientists expected that the sixth largest of Saturn’s moons, Enceladus, to be a frozen ice ball.

🌑🌊However, in 2005, robotic spacecraft Cassini sent to study Saturn and its rings and moons detected plumes of water vapor and icy particles erupting from geysers on the surface, revealing the existence of a global ocean between the moon's icy shell and its rocky core ⬆️.

❗️In 2023, researchers announced that that they had found phosphorous in the ocean on Enceladus.

ℹ️Of the six elements required for life (carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur were already found on Enceladus), phosphorus was the only one building block that astronomers had not yet detected in material from Enceladus.

‼️According to scientists, this one of the most important space discoveries of 2023 makes Enceladus the most promising place for extraterrestrial life in our solar system.

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What are 2023 remarkable climate highlights?

🔴 2023 is confirmed as the warmest calendar year in global temperature data records going back to 1850.

🌐 2023 had a global average temperature of 14.98°C, 0.17°C higher than the previous highest annual value in 2016.

🔴 2023 was 0.60°C warmer than the 1991-2020 average and 1.48°C warmer than the 1850-1900 pre-industrial level.

🔴 Almost each month in 2023 was warmer than the corresponding month in any previous year.

🌐🌊 Global average sea surface temperatures (SSTs) reached record levels for the time of year from April through December.

🇦🇶 Antarctic sea ice reached all-time minima in February 2023 and record low extents for the corresponding time of the year in 8 months.

🔥 A large number of extreme events (heatwaves, floods, droughts and wildfires) were recorded across the globe. Estimated global wildfire carbon emissions in 2023 increased by 30% with respect to 2022 driven largely by wildfires in Northern America.

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What are notable global heat and cold records for 2023?

☀️🇺🇸Hottest temperature in the Northern Hemisphere: 53.9°C (129.0°F) at Saratoga Spring, USA, July 16

❄️🇷🇺Coldest temperature in the Northern Hemisphere: -62.7°C (-80.9°F) at Tongulah, Russia, January 18

☀️🇦🇺Hottest temperature in the Southern Hemisphere: 49.5°C (121.1°F) at Roebourne, Australia, December 31

❄️🇦🇶Coldest temperature in the Southern Hemisphere: -83.2°C (-117.8°F) at Concordia, Antarctica, July 25

🔺🇸🇳Highest 2023 average temperature in the Northern Hemisphere: 32.2°C (90.0°F) at Matam, Senegal

🔻🇮🇩Highest 2023 average temperature in the Southern Hemisphere: 29.7°C (85.5°F) at Surabya AP, Indonesia

🥵A total of 175 monthly national/territorial heat records beaten or tied in 2023

🥶A total of nine monthly national/territorial cold records beaten in 2023

ℹ️Earth’s all-time record for hottest yearly average temperature was 32.9°C (91.2°F) at Makkah, Saudi Arabia, in 2010 and 2016.

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What drug made 2023 a revolutionary year for weight loss?

✔️ Wegovy, initially prescribed for diabetes, emerged as a revolutionary weight-loss drug. Never before has there been an approved weight loss medicine that is so effective and yet also considered reasonably safe.

✔️ Wegovy is the newest glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA). Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is an incretin, a metabolic hormone secreted from the L-cells of the small intestine and colon and specialized cells in the brainstem within a few minutes of eating.

✔️ In a two-year trial, Wegovy participants shed 15% body weight, dwarfing the control group's 3%. Trials also hinted at its potential benefits like reducing heart attack and stroke risks and aiding addiction treatment.

✔️ However, Wegovy's side effects, like nausea and a potential risk of thyroid cancers, caution against unbridled optimism.

ℹ️ Global obesity affects 650 million adults, surpassing undernourished populations at 735 million.

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What is the smallest common denominator of life?

📍 Cells are the smallest common denominator of life.

📌 Some cells are organisms unto themselves; others are part of multicellular organisms.

📌 All cells are made from the same major classes of organic molecules: nucleic acids, proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids.

📌 Cells can be placed in 2️⃣ major categories as a result of ancient evolutionary events:

1️⃣ Prokaryotes, such as bacteria and archaea, with their cytoplasmic genomes, are single cells.

2️⃣ Eukaryotes, with their nuclear-encased genomes and other subunits. Some eukaryotes, like amoebae, are free-living, single-celled entities. Other eukaryotic cells are part of multicellular organisms. For instance, all plants and animals are made of eukaryotic cells — sometimes even trillions of them.

📌 Though they are small, cells have evolved into a vast variety of shapes and sizes. Together they form tissues that themselves form organs, and eventually entire organisms.

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What are intracellular molecules’ functions?

Intracellular organic molecules include:

🧬2️⃣ Nucleic acids contain and help express a cell's genetic code.
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) contains all of the information required to build and maintain the cell.
Ribonucleic acid (RNA) has several roles associated with expression of the information stored in DNA.

⚪️ Proteins are made from chains of smaller molecules called amino acids, and serve catalytic and structural functions. E.g., proteins called enzymes convert cellular molecules into other forms that might help a cell meet its energy needs, build support structures, or pump out wastes.

🔴 Carbohydrates provide energy and can be of 2️⃣ types:
✔️simple carbohydrates are used for the cell's immediate energy demands
✔️complex carbohydrates serve as intracellular energy stores and also play a crucial role in cell recognition.

🟡 Lipids are components of cell membranes, involved in energy storage and relaying signals.

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What is found inside a prokaryotic cell?

A prokaryotic cell ⬆️ is usually small and relatively simple in structure.

Its components are ⬇️:

Capsule: layer of carbohydrates that surrounds the cell wall of some bacteria and helps them attach to surfaces

Cell wall: consists of peptidoglycans that give the cell structure and protection

Cell/plasma membrane, which encloses the cytoplasm and separates the cell from the environment

Cytoplasm: region enclosed by the cell membrane, where genetic material and processes occur

Nucleoid: region that contains DNA

Plasmids: independently reproducing DNA

Ribosome: performs protein synthesis

Flagella: thin, tail-like structures that aid movement

Pili/sex pilus: short, rod-shaped structures involves in attachment to surfaces and DNA transfer

Fimbriae: thin, hair-like structures used for attachment

Vesicles: sacs released by the membrane that perform a variety of functions

Vacuoles: storage sacs found in some bacterial cells

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What are key eukaryote features?

Plant and animal cells ⬆️ are examples of eukaryotic cells.

They have a true nucleus and membrane-bound compartments with specific functions – organelles.

Here are key eukaryote features ⬇️

Nucleus: contains DNA and oversees all cell processes

Nucleolus: site of ribosome biogenesis

Plasma membrane: encloses the cell

Cytoplasm: region between the nuclear and the plasma membranes

Cell wall: supports and protects plant, algae, and fungi cells

Centrosomes and Centrioles: play a role in cell division

Mitochondria: provide chemical energy

Chloroplasts: traps energy for photosynthesis in plant cells

Lysosomes: digests excess or worn-out organelles, food particles, and engulfed viruses or bacteria

Ribosomes: perform protein synthesis

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER): synthesizes proteins (rough ER) and lipids (smooth ER)

Golgi apparatus: sorts, packages, and processes proteins

Vesicles and vacuoles: membrane-bound storage and transportation sacs

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