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Scientists calculate the risk of someone being killed by space junk

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The chances of someone being killed by space junk falling from the sky might seem very slim. After all, no one has died from such accidents yet, although there have been cases of injuries and property damage. But given that we are launching more and more satellites, rockets and probes into space, do we need to start taking more serious risks? Frame Stock Footage/Shutterstock A new study, published in Nature Astronomy, has predicted the possible causality of the falling rocket parts over the next ten years. ADVERTISEMENT CONTINUE READING BELOW Every minute of every day, debris rains down on us from space – a danger we are almost completely unaware of. Microscopic particles from asteroids and comets scatter downward through the atmosphere to settle on Earth’s surface – adding up to about 40,000 tons of dust each year. While this is not a problem for us, such debris can damage spacecraft – as recently reported by the James Webb space telescope. Occasionally, larger samples arrive as m

The 'Math' gene used by fish to calculate could help us treat human neurodevelopmental diseases

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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Fish help researchers trace the origins of how the brain calculates math, reports a review in Frontiers in Neuroanatomy . An international team has reviewed more than 200 publications, which together show that fish perceive quantity using parts of their brains similar to those used by mammals and birds. Research is still underway to find the specific brain circuits that enable number processing, but these findings could eventually help treat human ailments that impair math skills. “Fish is on par with other animals in terms of a sense of quantity,” said the correspondent author Prof. Giorgio Vallortigara from the University of Trento in Italy. “There are species, particularly the zebrafish, which are ideal models for studying the molecular and genetic basis of a sense of quantity. This could have important implications for neurodevelopmental diseases that affect number cognition, such as developmental dyscalc