The RECC’E - DAY 68 | 03.09.22 | GENETICS

Day 68 / 365

48YEARS ago today Japanese soldier Hiroo Onoda - a guerrilla operating in the Philippines - finally surrendered, 29 years after World War II ended. He had continued to hide, fight and kill in the jungles of the Philippines as he did not believe the war was over.

RECC’E OF THE DAY

474CIVILIANS are now reported to have been killed since 22nd Feb including 38 children according to the UN; with a further 861 injured. Numerous checks on external sources are still pending and Ukrainian officials have confirmed this total is “definitely incomplete”.

2mPEOPLE have now fled Ukraine with 1.2m of those having crossed the border in Poland. Only 453 have entered Belarus across the same period since the invasion began.

12kRUSSIAN troops have now been killed according to Ukrainian sources since 24th Feb. The CIA places the official figure between 2000 and 4000 with Russia still only having declared 498 officially.  

5000PEOPLE managed to flee the Northeastrn Ukrainian city of Sumy on Tuesday, including 1700 foreign students. A corridor in Mariupol failed after Russian troops fired on a convoy carrying aid. 5 more corridors are due to be opened at 10am Moscow time on Wednesday. 

9MONTHS to prepare for the U.S as President Biden confirms Russian oil, gas and coal will be banned from the U.S market by the end of 2022; 8% of its current supply. The UK has supported the decision and agreed to phase out Russian oil imports within the same timeframe; 4% of its supply.

-10DEGREES C temperatures will be hitting Ukraine over the next few days, with the east expected to be the hardest hit region. With a wind chill at night refugee’s and troops exposed to the elements could face what feels like -20 degree C extremes.

3-4DAYS is now an upper estimate for a predicted all out assault on the capital of Kyiv with experts warning it could come much sooner.

1100CRIMINAL proceedings have now been opened against Russian military by the national police of Ukraine. Most of these are for violating the laws and customs of war and sabotage.

850(ALL) MCDONALD’S branches in Russia will now be closed in response to the ongoing invasion; It will continue to pay its 62k employees. Starbucks and Coca-Cola have also halted operations in the region.

PollHOW LONG do you think the ongoing crisis in Ukraine will last? Cast your vote and check out the results of our twitter poll by simply clicking the word ‘Poll’ to the left.

NEED-TO-KNOW

25%OF GLOBAL biodiversity exists within one 5.5m sq km region, the Amazon rainforest - home to about 1 in 10 of all known species. Now a new study reveals that over 75% of the ecosystem has been losing resilience since the early 2000s and is at a tipping point that could trigger ‘dieback’ meaning once dense areas could soon resemble a savanna. 

824mCUMULATIVE IQ points have been lost since the 1940s across the U.S alone as a result of leaded gasoline. This sum has been lost from 170m living Americans - about half the population of the United States. Leaded gas for cars wasn’t banned in the U.S. until 1996; Japan banned it in 1980 and the last country to act was Algeria in 2021.

2TYPES of cells in our brains have now been identified as active participants in the formation of boundaries between discrete memory events. This transformative work has now allowed researchers to uncover exactly how the human brain separates, stores and retrieve memories. The findings could have huge implications for memory disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease.  

SHOULD-KNOW

210mYEARS ago the first mammals appeared on land and scientists had long thought the ability to bound and gallop - signified by ‘asymmetric gaits’ - started with them. Now new research has shown animals evolved the ability to gallop 472m years ago; 262m years prior to this, many of them in earths waters. 

4MOLECULES known as the ‘Yamanaka transcription factors’ have successfully been injected into mice across a 7-10 month period causing a reverse in ageing through cellular rejuvenation. Scientists found the mice were partially reset to more youthful states; the safe technique is being hailed as a breakthrough for research into possibly one day prolonging human life.

444LIGHT YEARS from earth scientists in the Netherlands believe they have found a planet forming which contains a large organic molecule - known as dimethyl ether, a key building block of evolution - shown to be a common precursor for the creation of life. It is the largest complex organic molecule discovered within planet forming matter to date.

GOOD-TO-KNOW

2YEARS before any meat will actually reach the market, cows have become the 3rd animal in the U.S - after salmon and pigs - to be approved for sale after being genetically altered. Slicker coats, improved fat growth and the ability to withstand higher temperatures all factor into the approved genetic design.

25TIMES the speed of sound - this is the proposed speed new startup ‘Inversion Space’ wants to redeliver goods back to earth in special capsules after storing them indefinitely in orbit. The idea being organs, hospital equipment or literally anything in between could be delivered anywhere on the planet at blistering speeds.

3DPRINTED ‘high rise’ nano-houses have now been shown to help bacteria convert sunlight into electricity. Researchers were able to extract waste electrons from fast growing bacteria - left over from photosynthesis -  which could then be used to power small electricals.

SIGN-OFF STAT

57SECONDS is the time it takes to complete the shortest commercial flight in the world. The journey between the two Scottish islands of Westray and Papa Westray is a distance of just 1.7 miles.

  

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