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The number of ants on the ground was announced

How many stars are there in our galaxy? How many grains of sand are there in the Sahara desert? How many ants live on earth? All these are questions that seem impossible to answer. However, through intensive and extensive data analysis, science is getting surprisingly close to finding solutions to these questions.

When it comes to ants, a group led by Sabine Nooten and Patrick Schultheiss, biologists from the city of Würzburg, conducted this investigation.

Since 2022, Schultis has been conducting research in the Chair of Behavioral Biology and Social Biology at the Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (JMU).

A 20 with 15 zeros

How many ants are there on the ground? “Based on our estimates, the world’s ant population is 10 x 20 to the power of 15, or 20 quadrillion ants,” explains lead author Sabine Naughton, who recently moved from Hong Kong to Würzburg. It means 20 with 15 zeros. This number is hard to understand, but it becomes clearer when you calculate the biomass of animals. This amount is equal to 12 megatons of carbon. Patrick Schultheis explains: This amount is more than the total biomass of wild birds and mammals and is about 20% equal to the biomass of humans.

In order to calculate the number of ants, the researchers reviewed a wide range of available studies on insects, eventually evaluating about 500 relevant articles and merging them into a database.

The distribution is very different

Ants were known to live in almost all habitats except the polar regions. This study was the first to experimentally investigate the distribution of ants. It turned out that tropical regions have the highest density of ants. In these areas, in addition to weather conditions, local ecosystems also play an important role. Forests and dry areas harbor the most specimens, while ants are much rarer in areas heavily impacted by humans.

Future studies should focus on which environmental effects specifically affect ant distribution. Especially the effect of climate change should be investigated.

An important role in the ecosystem

Why the number and distribution of these insects is so important can be explained with an example. In each hectare of land, ants move up to 13 tons of soil annually. This work has a great effect in maintaining the cycle of soil nutrients and also has a decisive role in the distribution of plant seeds.

But sometimes the effect of insects is negative. Invasive species, for example fire ants, can have a negative impact on local biodiversity and cause significant damage.

The death of the famous Russian cosmonaut with the record for the longest stay in space

Valery Polyakov, the Soviet-era cosmonaut who once held the record for the longest stay in space, has died at the age of 80.

After returning from his 438-day journey from the Mir space station, Polyakov said: We can fly to Mars.

Polyakov’s death was reported on Monday (September 19/28) by the Russian space agency Roscosmos.

Roscosmos officials wrote about this: Roscosmos regretfully announces the death of Hero of the Soviet Union, Hero of Russia, pilot-cosmonaut of the USSR, holder of the world record for the longest stay in space, Valery Polyakov. We offer our heartfelt condolences to the relatives and friends of Valery Vladimirovich Polyakov.

He was born on April 27, 1942. Polyakov, who was selected in 1972 with the third group of Russian doctors for astronaut training, traveled to the Mir space station on two long-duration missions. In total, he has been away from Earth for 678 days, 16 hours and 32 minutes. Today, he ranks eighth in the world in terms of total time spent in space.

The Mir space station was a Soviet and later Russian orbital station. Mir was the first human research station in space where humans lived for a long time. The construction of this orbital station began in 1986 and after gradual completion over a period of 10 years, it became the largest man-made space structure and kept this record until 2001. Mir station was a place to conduct scientific studies in various fields, among which biology, physics, astronomy and meteorology can be mentioned. The technologies that were developed with the help of the Mir station made it possible for humans to live permanently in space.

Polyakov’s first mission began with the Soyuz TM-6 spacecraft on August 29, 1988. In this journey, Vladimir Lyakhov as commander and astronaut Abdul Ahad Momand accompanied him as the first Afghan. Liakhov and Momand returned to earth after 9 days.

Polyakov spent the remaining 241 days of his stay with Alexander Volkov and Sergei Krikalev and returned to earth with Volkov on April 27, 1989.

Polyakov’s second and last trip to space was made to investigate the ability of the human body to travel to Mars. On January 8, 1994, Polyakov went into space with the crew of Soyuz TM-18 and began his unprecedented 438-day stay in space.

He returned to earth on March 22, 1995. “We can fly to Mars,” Polyakov told his crew as they landed on Earth.

During the second trip, Polyakov’s medical and psychological condition was closely monitored. He then underwent two tests over a six-month period after returning to Earth. The researchers found that his stay of 437 days, 17 hours and 58 minutes in space did not cause any permanent physical problems, nor did he have any long-term cognitive problems. Although he had a slight drop in mood during the first and last months of his stay.

Roscosmos has announced in a statement: His research has helped to prove that the human body is ready not only for Earth orbit but also for deep space.

Polyakov retired in 1995 and was appointed as the deputy of the Ministry of Public Health in Moscow. Polyakov also participated in the recruitment and selection of new cosmonauts as a member of the Russian High Medical Commission.

The strongest titanium alloy was developed for the aerospace industry

Using advanced 3D printing technology, Monash University scientists have created the strongest titanium alloy ever produced, a leap forward in the aerospace, defense, energy and space industries.

In a world-first study of its kind, engineers at Australia’s Monash University have shown how advanced 3D printing can now produce a very strong commercial-grade titanium alloy. This is a real leap forward for the aerospace, defense, energy, space and biomedical industries.

The researchers, led by Professor Aijun Huang and Dr Yuman Zhou, both from Monash University, manipulated a new microstructure through a 3D printing method, resulting in unprecedented mechanical performance.

One of the main advantages of this study is that it was performed on commercially available alloys and can be used immediately. This is a very positive and significant advantage.

“Titanium alloys require complex casting and thermochemical processing to achieve high strength for some critical applications,” Dr. Huang said in a statement. We have discovered that additive manufacturing can use a unique manufacturing process to create extremely strong and thermally stable parts in commercial titanium alloys that can ultimately be directly implemented.

After applying a simple post-heat treatment to a commercial titanium alloy, Professor Huang achieved elongation and sufficient tensile strength of over 1,600 MPa, the highest strength of any 3D printed metal to date. This problem paves the way for the fabrication of structural materials with unique microstructures and excellent properties for a wide range of applications.

Over the past 10 years, 3D printing has led to a new era in metal fabrication due to the freedom in design. That is, it enables the ability to make almost any geometric shape. Currently, titanium alloys are the leading 3D printed metal used to produce parts in the aerospace industry.

Unfortunately, most titanium alloys on the market that are created by 3D printing do not have structural applications. This is especially true for tensile strength at room temperature and high temperatures in harsh service environments.

The main properties of titanium alloy are attributed to the unusual formation of dense, stable and internally twinned nano-precipitates, which are rarely seen in traditionally processed titanium alloys, and the technique used here to solve this problem is additive manufacturing (AM).

Additive manufacturing (AM) is a powerful technology that provides design freedom in this type of 3D creation of titanium alloys. Titanium is generally much stronger than aluminum alloys and lighter than steel, making it more energy efficient.

However, the number of applications and the number of titanium products produced by the AM method are currently still limited in the industry compared to conventional titanium components. This is because the AM products produced today are not structurally strong enough.

Research carried out at Monash University has now developed a more fundamental understanding of the density, segregation of elements and unique solidification structures. Then he opened a window to the properties of nano sediments with higher density and tensile strength.

Now the use of this new alloy can begin immediately, something that is rare for a study or research project. This technique can be used in many industries including the production of car parts and structures.

This study was published in the journal Nature Materials.