Science

Owning cryptocurrency may be associated with certain personality and demographic characteristics as well as a reliance on alternative or fringe social media sources, according to a study published July 3, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Shane Littrell from the University of Toronto, Canada, along with colleagues from the University of Miami, U.S..

Anonymous trading and unregulated markets hallmark cryptocurrency’s unique subculture. While some consider the digital currency to be financially unreliable, hundreds of millions of global investors think otherwise.

This study identified various political, psychological, and social characteristics differentiating crypto investors from those who abstain. Existing studies (which generally include smaller sample sizes) profile crypto owners as psychologically non-normative and politically non-mainstream.

To test this, Littrell and colleagues polled 2,001 American adults in 2022, about 30% of whom responded “Yes” to owning or having owned crypto. Participants reported demographic information and other responses revealing their political, psychological, and social traits.

The researchers conducted several bivariate (two-variable) correlational analyses, which measured how strongly crypto ownership is associated with other variables individually, as well as a multivariate (multi-variable) regression analysis, which attempts to identify the variables that are most important for predicting cryptocurrency ownership.

The correlational analyses showed that crypto ownership is associated with belief in conspiracy theories, support of political extremism, identification with non-left-right political orientations (e.g., Christian nationalism), and the “Dark Tetrad” of personality traits (narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and sadism).

The more holistic analysis revealed which self-reported qualities are most likely to predict crypto ownership, the most strongly associated factor being a reliance on fringe social media sources for news. Other strongly associated characteristics included maleness, argumentativeness, higher income, and feelings of victimhood.

Across all survey data, crypto owners reported diverse political orientations and identities with a mix of left and right leanings.

The researchers acknowledge that the correlations they identified are limited by their sample of participants and the fact that they self-reported their characteristics, and cannot be interpreted as causal. Because of the strong correlation between social media and crypto ownership, they encourage future research into the influence of specific media or rhetoric on crypto ownership.

The authors add, “Though our results certainly do not apply to every crypto user out there, on average, we found that crypto investment and ownership tends to appeal to people who are more argumentative, anti-authoritarian, and prefer to get their news from non-mainstream social media sites.

“There is still much work to be done in this area, but we hope our study helps lay the groundwork for future research aimed at understanding the psychological, political, and behavioral factors associated with this growing financial movement.”

A new report from the Monash Center for Youth Policy and Education Practice (CYPEP), has found that young people are missing out on being young.

Data collected for the 2022 Australian Youth Barometer was analyzed by members of CYPEP’s Youth Reference Group to provide deeper insights into what it means to be young, and why young people are missing out.

Cost of living pressures and balancing work and study has meant that 45 percent of Australians aged 18–24 often feel like they are missing out on being young.

Challenges identified by young people revolve around four key areas: finances, work, education, and long-term planning. These challenges are closely interconnected and linked to feelings of missing out on being young.

Key findings of the report included:

• 69% of young people who often worried about having enough to eat often felt that they were missing out on being young;
• 60% who often experienced financial difficulties often felt that they were missing out on being young;
• 51% who were unemployed often felt that they were missing out on being young;
• 50% who were unlikely to stay in their current accommodation often felt that they were missing out on being young; and
• 55% who felt that it was unlikely they would have children in the future felt that they were missing out on being young.

Youth Reference Group co-author, Andrew Leap, said, “This report has captured the constantly changing and challenging dynamics young people must endure to survive, thrive and experience ‘being young.’ It exemplifies their resilience and optimism despite the lack of institutional support. But most importantly, it guides decision-makers to move forward and support future generations to prosper from the perspective of young people.”

Insufficient support was also associated with feelings of missing out:

• 56% reported that there is not enough or barely enough government support for mental health, and often felt that they were missing out on being young;
• 55% reported that there is not enough or barely enough government support for education, and often felt that they were missing out on being young; and
• 51% reported there is not enough or barely enough government support for employment, and often felt that they were missing out on being young.

Co-author and Director of the Monash Center for Youth Policy and Education Practice, Professor Lucas Walsh said the report highlights how young people must be at the center of this discussion about how they can be better supported.

“Young people, locked up during the pandemic, navigating a hostile employment environment and upended studies, have told us they have missed out on being young. They’ve been denied key life-experiences during a critical period of development in their lives,” said Professor Walsh.

“This report explores what missing out on being young means by asking young people themselves and what we need to better support the pandemic generation.”

Young people today face unprecedented challenges and this report captures their struggles and the necessity for targeted interventions to help them thrive.

Boston Dynamics unveiled the next generation of its humanoid Atlas robot on Wednesday. The announcement came just a day after the company retired the hydraulic Atlas robot. The new Atlas is fully electric and comes with several upgrades over the predecessor, including a superhuman range of motion. In a video, the slender and more athletic robot was shown moving in ways that defy human anatomy. The robotics giant claims it will be able to lift and manoeuvre a wide variety of objects.

In a video posted on YouTube, Boston Dynamics introduced the electric Atlas robot designed for real-world applications. Based on the demo, the new robot now has an entirely different design. It no longer possesses a heavy torso plate or carries a wider upper body. The new Atlas has a slender, metallic torso, longer and straighter limbs, no externally connected cables, and a ring light circling its head.

The demo begins with Atlas lying on the ground. As it boots up, the humanoid robot twists and folds its legs backwards over its body and then stands up as it twists its waist by 180 degrees as if a creature from a sci-fi horror movie. In the next few moments, it rotates its head a couple of times showcasing its head that appears to be a large camera lens and walks away taking straighter and concise strides.

In less than a minute, the video demonstrated that the new Atlas robot is not only more agile and flexible, it might also potentially move heavier objects given its larger limbs. Explaining its vision, Boston Dynamics said in a press release, “We designed the electric version of Atlas to be stronger, more dexterous, and more agile. Atlas may resemble a human form factor, but we are equipping the robot to move in the most efficient way possible to complete a task, rather than being constrained by a human range of motion.”

Currently, the electric Atlas is in testing and it will stay that way for the next few years. In this period, the company plans to explore multiple new gripper variations to enable the robot to perform a diverse set of tasks. The testing phase will include a limited number of customers, with Hyundai being the first in the line.

Fluffy ice that could help create the molecular building blocks for life has been spotted in space for the first time, nearly 30 years since researchers first observed it in the lab.

Normally, ice has a solid crystal lattice structure, with all of its H2O molecules strongly held together via their hydrogen and oxygen atoms. But when ice isn’t fully compacted, such as in powdery snow, some of these molecules can have…

Versatile molecular frameworks called discrete supramolecular structures act like microscopic building blocks customizable for a wide variety of applications. The structures can serve in drug delivery, provide unique environments for catalytic reactions or plug into a molecular machine.

In their paper published June 25 in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, researchers from Yokohama National University presented a new methodology to advance self-assembly of dual-functional supramolecular materials.

Self-assembly involves the spontaneous generation of a well-defined, discrete supramolecular architecture from a given set of components under thermodynamic equilibration. Typically, a binary combination of precursors, each bearing complementary functional groups, is assembled into a stable product. Multicomponent systems, which include at least two precursors having identical functional groups, remain relatively unexplored.

Scientists are investigating methods to shepherd different precursors with the same functional groups into a unified supramolecular structure through “social self-sorting.” In social self-sorting, the transitions between complex self-sorted systems mimic the regulatory function found in nature, which are capable of selective but adaptive recognition behavior.

To achieve this goal, researchers have been developing strategic approaches to prevent random incorporation and “narcissistic self-sorting,” where each type of precursor assembles into independent structures.

One approach is through a technique called chiral self-sorting, which relies on the complementarity of chirality (right or left-handedness). When a racemic precursor (mixture of two chiral molecules called enantiomers) is used, both enantiomers are frequently incorporated into a single structure.

Right-handed and left-handed molecules tend to align alternately when they crystallize, and it is possible to arrange “quasi-racemates” that have slight structural differences between the right-handed and left-handed forms.

“Previous research has focused mainly on achieving the alignment of these molecules, and applying this phenomenon to the development of functional materials has been a challenge,” said corresponding author Suguru Ito, associate professor of engineering at Yokohama National University.

In their study, Ito’s team explored arranging “quasi-racemates” with slight structural differences between right-handed and left-handed forms to create crystalline materials with pores of varying sizes.

The social self-sorting of two pairs of quasi-racemates was achieved by forming a ring-shaped molecule with four connecting molecules. This stable ring is obtained through a reversible reaction between the aldehyde groups of the quasi-racemates and the amine groups of the connecting molecules. As a result, the ring-shaped molecules can crystallize into porous molecular crystals featuring two types of tube-like pores.

“This represents a milestone achievement in applying the arrangement techniques of right-handed and left-handed molecules to the creation of functional materials,” Ito said.

Designing porous materials with dual-pore systems presents a complex task, yet such materials are highly valuable due to their advanced functionalities. Because each pore can be functionalized distinctly, dual-pore materials enable simultaneous multiple functions or specific designs for complex applications.

Experimental evidence confirmed that these dual pores exhibit different adsorption properties.

This study emphasizes the utility of quasi-racemates in constructing socially self-sorted supramolecular structures with two distinct functionalities. Furthermore, the methodology sets the stage for the generation of a novel class of dual-pore molecular crystals.

“To the best of our knowledge, this is the first dual-pore molecular crystal formed by socially self-sorted macrocycles,” Ito said.

Future investigations will aim to develop various multi-functional crystalline materials by applying the technique of arranging quasi-racemates.

“My ultimate goal is to establish a method for precisely arranging organic molecules and to develop functional crystalline materials that are beneficial to society,” Ito said.

Other study contributors include Momoka Kimoto, Shoichi Sugiyama, Keigo Kumano and Satoshi Inagaki from Yokohama National University.

An asteroid will whiz harmlessly past Earth this weekend. With the right equipment and timing, you just might spot it.

Called 2024 MK, the space rock will make its closest approach to Earth Saturday morning, passing by at about three-quarters the distance from Earth to the moon. It was first spotted two weeks ago by a South African observatory and is about 393 feet to 853 feet (120 meters to 260 meters) wide.

Smaller objects shoot past Earth all the time, according to asteroid expert Davide Farnocchia with NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies. Asteroids the size of this latest one fly by about every 25 years or so.

“We’re going to see a few of those during our lifetimes, but it’s not something that happens every other day,” he said.

A 7,579-foot (2,310-meter) asteroid flew safely past Earth Thursday, but it was farther away and was only visible to professional telescopes.

For Saturday, skywatchers will need to grab a small telescope since the asteroid isn’t bright enough to be seen with the naked eye. And it’ll be moving quickly across the southern sky, making it difficult to spot.

“The asteroid will be plowing through that field of stars,” said Nick Moskovitz, an astronomer at Lowell Observatory.

Viewers in the Southern Hemisphere will have the best chance of seeing it since the asteroid will appear higher overhead. Those in the U.S. may want to wait until Saturday night, when the asteroid may appear less bright but will be easier to spot without interference from the sun’s blinding light.

If you miss out, mark your calendar for April 13, 2029, when an asteroid called Apophis will fly by Earth and will be visible to the naked eye from parts of Europe, Africa and Asia.

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Utilization of biomass as the basic feedstock for the production and chemicals and energy storage has been demonstrated to be an important alternative to achieve sustainable society, which has attracted increasing interests in both academic and industrial communities for decades.

5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), one of the most important bio-based platform compounds, could serve as a bridge feedstock between biomass resources and chemicals. It is possible to synthesize a series of high-value added chemicals from HMF through hydrogenation, oxidative dehydrogenation, esterification, hydrolysis, etc., due to the presence of both aldehyde and hydroxymethyl groups.

Among them, the selective hydrogenolysis of HMF to 2,5-dimethylfuran (DMF) as a potential liquid biofuel candidate has attracted extensive attention.

As a biomass fuel, DMF can be used in internal combustion engines with higher compression ratios to improve fuel utilization efficiency as a result of its higher RON (Research octane number, 119) compared to those of commercial gasoline (90–100) and ethanol (110).

In addition, DMF could be the important reactant for the direct synthesis of bio-based p-xylene (PX) by Diels-Alder reaction with ethylene. Compared to the conventional petroleum-based PX production process, such bio-based process shows high selectivity and avoids the complex separation procedure.

A research team led by Prof. Weimin Yang from East China University of Science and Technology and Sinopec Shanghai Research Institute of Petrochemical Technology Co., Ltd. report that the Ni-C₃N₄ catalyst supported on H₂ activated carbon (HC) with ultra-low Ni loading for the selective hydrogenolysis of HMF to DMF.

The research is published in the Chinese Journal of Catalysis.

The Ni-C₃N₄/HC catalyst achieves DMF yield of 94.2% with high sustainability (longer than 120 h life time in fixed-bed reactor), and exhibits remarkably high productivity (12.8 mmol_DMF⋅mmolNi^-1 ⋅h^-1) across the temperatures of 100–200°C, outperforming the recently reported state-of-the-art Ni, Co and Cu-based catalysts, and is also comparable to noble metal catalysts (Ru, Pd and Pt).

The combination of characterizations and theoretical calculations revealed that Ni₃N is the active component for the hydrogenolysis, and the C₃N₄ shells stabilize the Ni particles and prevent the agglomeration during the reaction.

This work could advance the design of single non-noble metal catalysts for hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis reactions.