High H 2 production in sediment-hosted hydrothermal fluids at an ultraslow spreading mid-ocean ridge

Hydrothermal systems at ultraslow-spreading mid-ocean ridges remain poorly characterized, particularly where sedimentary and ultramafic influences intersect. Here we present geochemical analyses of vent fluids collected in 2024 from the Jøtul hydrothermal field on the northern Knipovich Ridge. Major element concentrations, dissolved gases, and thermodynamic modeling are used to investigate fluid-rock interactions. The fluids exhibit exceptionally high CH4 concentrations, that exceed those at the Guaymas Basin, and display characteristics typical of sediment-hosted hydrothermal systems, indicating thermal decomposition of organic matter in clastic sediments. In contrast, high H2 (>15 mM) and low H2S concentrations are more typical of ultramafic-hosted fluids, while geological evidence indicates that the vent field lies atop a detachment fault. Thermodynamic modeling suggests that these high H2/H2S ratios may result solely from degradation of organic matter followed by abiotic CH4 oxidation at ~400 °C, rather than from reactions with ultramafic rocks. These results expand the known diversity of sediment-hosted vent fluid compositions and highlight fluid-sediment interaction as an underestimated source of carbon and hydrogen

Children's embodiment of non-human virtual hand forms

Adults are known to identify their own body through a combination of multisensory cues and top-down expectations regarding its form, while children may possess a more flexible body representation. Here we use virtual reality to test how children and adults use form cues to feel ownership over a virtual hand with novel, varying degrees of corporeality and how a sense of ownership of the hand and movement fluency with it may be trained. In Experiment 1, children (N = 40, 6–8 years) and adults (N = 45) experienced four virtual hand forms (Hand, hand with a missing Thumb, crab-like Claw, Cross). Participants had to catch slowly moving virtual feathers while the virtual hand form moved in and out of synchrony with their own hand movements. In Experiment 2, we gave each child (N = 10, 6–9 years) and adult (N = 11) repeated experience with the Claw. Across studies we found that sensations of ownership over the virtual hand were facilitated by human-like forms, movement synchrony, and short-term training. For children only, we also found that human-like forms maintained a strong facilitatory influence even when movement was asynchronous. Further, for children only, training improved movement fluency and increased the sense that the virtual form was a ‘tool' rather than a hand. We suggest that children's top-down expectations regarding their body do not always interact with their multisensory inputs; their experiences are sharpened with training more than adults; and repeated short virtual experiences do not blur children's perceived distinction between the real and virtual self

Herding and informed trading: Evidence from Chinese equity markets

We empirically investigate the relationship between informed trading and market herding in China for the 2003–2022 period and find a negative contemporaneous relationship, which grows stronger for specific market/economic conditions. Herding comprises of a very strong noise-driven herding and a fundamentals-driven anti-herding; informed trading dampens the former, while boosting the latter. Our results hold when controlling for the 2012 anti-insider trading laws and days of price-limit hits. Evidence on the dynamic relationship between informed trading and herding demonstrates that informed trading Granger-causes herding. Overall, informed traders motivate stronger herding over time, dampening it contemporaneously, thus suggesting that they prey on the very herding they attract

Multi-state detection and spatial addressing in a microscope for ultracold molecules

Precise measurement of the particle number, spatial distribution and internal state is fundamental to all proposed experiments with ultracold molecules both in bulk gases and optical lattices. Here, we demonstrate in-situ detection of individual molecules in a bulk sample of 87Rb133Cs molecules. Extending techniques from atomic quantum gas microscopy, we pin the molecules in a deep two-dimensional optical lattice and, following dissociation, collect fluorescence from the constituent atoms using a high-numerical-aperture objective. This enables detection of individual molecules up to the resolution of the sub-micron lattice spacing. Our approach provides direct access to the density distribution of small samples of molecules, allowing us to obtain precise measurements of density-dependent collisional losses. Further, by mapping two internal states of the molecule to different atomic species, we demonstrate simultaneous detection of the position and rotational state of individual molecules. Finally, we implement local addressing of the sample using a focused beam to induce a spatially-dependent light shift on the rotational transitions of the molecules

Automated multi-category tunnel damage detection and report generation from ultra-high-resolution panoramic laser images

In the realm of ageing tunnel infrastructure, accurately assessing structural damage remains a pressing challenge due to the inherent subjectivity and time demands of manual inspections. Although reality capture technology allows for digital representation of as-is condition of assets, converting these rich data sources into actionable risk assessments demands still requires innovative solutions. In this paper, we introduce a comprehensive, web-based automated framework that uses ultra-high-resolution (UHR) panoramic tunnel images to automatically generate detailed damage records and risk assessment reports. A significant challenge in this domain is the observation that damage regions often lack sharply defined boundaries; instead, they exhibit gradual, blurred transitions, which is not well-suited to conventional segmentation evaluation. To address this, we formally define the challenge of inconsistency of damage annotation in complex real-world scenarios and propose a novel evaluation metric: Intersection over Union with buffer zone (IoUb). This metric relaxes the rigid boundary precision requirements of traditional evaluation methods, focusing more on capturing the overall damage. We evaluated several instance segmentation algorithms and recommend adopting a lower confidence threshold, as it reduces missed detections without significantly increasing false positives. We introduce post-processing methods that aggregate the predictions from multiple inferences to meet the demands of processing UHR panoramic images, resulting in a 3% improvement in Macro IoU and IoUb, along with a 90% damage recall. Experimental results on Italian road tunnels demonstrate that our framework enhances automated damage detection. We then categorize damage severity using a statistically grounded methodology, enable natural language queries of statistical damage results, and handle visualization and report export, all within a single end-to-end web-based platform. The proposed framework significantly enhances the efficiency of professionals in planning and monitoring ageing tunnel assets. Our code is available at https://github.com/zxy239/Auto-damage-report-generatio

Bethe ridge electron Compton spectroscopy

Compton spectroscopy measures J(pz), the number density of occupied electronic states with momentum component pz. In a transmission electron microscope (TEM) Compton spectroscopy is performed by acquiring a momentum resolved, dark-field electron energy loss spectrum (EELS). Here it is shown that the Bethe ridge in a single energy filtered diffraction pattern can provide identical J(pz) information. The energy filtered TEM (EFTEM) approach is more dose efficient, since all (projected) momenta pz are recorded in parallel. For weakly diffracting specimens, the J(pz) profiles extracted using EFTEM are in reasonable agreement with dark-field EELS. Bragg diffraction and thermal diffuse scattering are known to introduce artefacts in Compton spectroscopy, and this is true for the EFTEM method as well. The artefacts can however be mitigated by analysing suitably thin specimens

Berry Batesian mimicry enables bird dispersal of asexual bulbils in a yam

Many plants that abandon sex rely on clonal propagules, but their short dispersal distances can trap offspring near parent plants and enemies. We show that the yam Dioscorea melanophyma—which has lost sexual reproduction—evolved black, glossy bulbils that mimic co-occurring black berries and entice frugivorous birds to ingest and disperse them. Birds from 22 species fed on bulbils, with visits peaking in October–February when true fruits are scarce. Bulbil reflectance overlapped sympatric berries and was indistinguishable in a UV-sensitive avian vision model for many species, consistent with Batesian visual mimicry. Feeding trials with the dominant visitor (Pycnonotus xanthorrhous) showed short gut retention and negligible destruction, so bulbils are excreted largely intact and viable and monitoring revealed that bulbils achieved dispersal distances similar to rewarding endozoochorous plants. Thus, sensory deception that exploits fruit–frugivore signal–reward rules can restore ecologically meaningful movement after the loss of sex in asexual lineages

Information on public opinion has lasting effects on second-order climate beliefs, but minimal and ephemeral effects on first-order beliefs

Across western democracies, pro-climate beliefs are widespread. Yet, vocal minorities contest scientific consensus about global warming. Perhaps as a consequence, the extent to which the public accepts global warming and climate action is often underestimated. Correcting this perceptual deficit has been proposed as a promising way to strengthen climate action, since knowledge of broad public consensus could motivate environmentally friendly behaviours, increase support for policy interventions, or shift perceptions of political feasibility. In a preregistered two-wave survey experiment in Germany, we provide a novel test of this strategy in a national context with already high pro-climate support, using real and comprehensive public opinion data. We find that exposure to this information can produce a lasting, significant increase in second-order beliefs (perceptions of public opinion) two weeks after treatment, especially among those who initially underestimated public support. However, the effects on first-order outcomes—policy feasibility perceptions, attitudes, and behavioural intentions—are small, short-lived, and largely non-significant. By demonstrating the boundary conditions of second-order interventions, our study suggests that their promise may be more limited than often assumed. These findings may highlight the potential need for more targeted, repeated, and context-sensitive approaches if second-order information is to meaningfully shift climate beliefs and behaviours