Six Science Posts - #74

Higher spectrum contact lenses, Wright brothers' patent and more

Author

Harshal Chhaya
May 26, 2025

Six posts that celebrate engineering and all things STEM.

I scroll so you don’t have to.

Thanks for all the great feedback about the special issue on Dr. Jayant Narlikar. The issue is on the web at https://sixstemtweets.beehiiv.com/p/six-science-posts-dr-jayant-narlikar-deae

As always, hit ‘forward’ to share with others, ‘reply’ to let me know what you think.

#1 🤯 

#2 🤯 

😎 

The paper is titled “Near-infrared spatiotemporal color vision in humans enabled by upconversion contact lenses” and is available at https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(25)00454-4

#3 🤯 

There are cathedrals everywhere for those with the eyes to see them. This photo has 2.

#4 🤯 

#5 🤯 

Niko goes on to write: “For a study in Science, researchers discovered that two types of pathogenic fungi that infect plants, called Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Botrytis cinerea, have two different nuclei. And instead of storing a full set of chromosomes in each nuclei, they instead “distribute their chromosomes such that each of their nuclei contains only a subset of the haploid chromosomes.” The authors confirmed this by throwing a kitchen sink of methods at these cells; chromosome counting, DNA measurements using flow cytometry, single-nucleus PCR, and more.

Nobody knows why the fungi do this, but the scientists claim (in their discussion) that it could enable them "to respond and adapt more effectively to local environmental stresses within their extensive mycelial networks. Nuclear shuffling may facilitate the rapid generation of new genotypes, enhancing adaptability to changing environments.” There is also evidence that the chromosomes within each nucleus may briefly collide during cell division, before going back into their separate nuclei. This is a great paper. It is simple, to the point, and challenges the status quo. It has serious potential to become a “classic” of the genre.”

Full paper is titled “Distribution of haploid chromosomes into separate nuclei in two pathogenic fungi” and is at https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abn7811

#6 🤯 

More proof that we are living in a simulation.

About

This newsletter is my way of sharing interesting science-related news with my curious friends. I enjoy finding science and math connections in our world.

Please share this newsletter with others. Let’s encourage curiosity.

- Harshal (@hschhaya on X/Twitter)

This is issue #74. Here’s some fun facts about 74:

  • 74 is a palindromic number in bases 6 (2026) and 36 (2236).

  • The playing time of a standard CD is 74 minutes

  • 74 is the atomic number of Tungsten, symbol W. Tungsten is unique amongst the elements in that it has been the subject of patent proceedings. In 1928, a US court rejected General Electric's attempt to patent it, overturning U.S. patent 1,082,933 granted in 1913 to William D. Coolidge.

    • Tungsten’s symbol - W - is from the mineral wolframite which was named after “wolf-rahm” 'wolf's foam' describing the mineral. the name is a reference to the large amounts of tin consumed by the mineral during its extraction, as though the mineral devoured it like a wolf.

That’s it for this issue.

Hit ‘reply’ to tell me what you think.

And hit ‘forward’ to share with your friends and family.

Let’s all celebrate science and engineering and curiosity.

Best wishes,

Harshal