Great white sharks are displaying unprecedented behaviours, and experts can’t explain why. One of the ocean’s greatest apex predators has been entering the twilight zone way beneath the surface of the ocean, and far beneath the areas they normally feed in. The twilight zone, also referred to as the mesopelagic zone, is the area 200 to 1,000 metres down below the surface which is at least partly permeated by sunlight. The midnight zone, meanwhile, is found 1,000 to 3,000 metres down and is impenetrable to sunlight. Now, a new study published in the journal PNAS offered insight into the behaviours of 344 tagged predatory fish including great white sharks. Scientists would usually expect the creatures studied to dive to the deep scattering layer (DSL), which is full of small fish and other ocean life forms and therefore attracts more predators than other levels. However, there was also evidence that suggested predators dove down far deeper than the DSL, and scientists don’t know why. According to the research, great white sharks dive down to as deep as 1,128 metres. Camrin Braun is assistant scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and study lead. Braun told Live Science: "How, when, where they access the deep ocean certainly varies, but the clear anecdotal answer is that the deep ocean seems like an important habitat regardless of the predator species. It's clear there are good reasons for these animals to dive deep, otherwise why would they all do it? "There's good evidence for some species/situations in which diving deep is clearly for foraging," Braun added. "So that supported our expectation. However, we also find several cases where we can pretty definitively say the use of the deep ocean is not for feeding – or if it is it represents a totally different kind of predator-prey interaction or mysterious prey resource." The study could suggest that the twilight zone could be far more important to great white sharks and other predatory fish than previously thought. "If it turns out that there is indeed more biomass in the twilight zone than in all current marine capture fisheries combined then it's possible to imagine a kind of mesopelagic 'gold rush' to catch and use this biomass," Braun said. "There are many 'ifs' in this chain and many issues in making mesopelagic fishing feasible but it seems that biomass may be important for predators. Therefore, we really need to better quantify those links between predators and mesopelagic biomass before we can sustainably harvest/use those resources.” Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 10, 2023--

Elon Musk’s brain chip company Neuralink said on Thursday that it now has regulatory approval in the US to test its implants in human subjects. Neuralink has been building chips to be implanted into the skull for a brain-computer interface, claiming their development has the potential to help restore vision in the blind, and even help paralysed people walk again. While Mr Musk has said on several occasions since 2019 that the company is ready to go for experiments in humans to treat paralysis and blindness, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had however rejected proposals by the company to begin human clinical trials. For instance, in early 2022, when Neuralink applied for human testing, the FDA rejected the proposal saying there were “dozens of issues the company must address”. These issues flagged by the FDA included the use of lithium batteries in Neuralink’s device and the likelihood of the implant’s wires interfering with the brain. The federal agency also expressed concerns about whether the firm’s implants can be removed without causing brain damage. Neuralink has also come under the scanner of at least one US government probe after animal rights watchdogs accused the firm of “inadequate care” of its research monkeys. Reuters previously reported that the brain chip company killed about 1,500 animals, including over 280 sheep, pigs and monkeys since 2018. The US Department of Agriculture also began investigating Neuralink’s potential violations of the Animal Welfare Act. Responding to the animal abuse complaints, the company said in a blogpost that it was “absolutely committed to working with animals in the most humane and ethical way possible”. “The use of every animal was extensively planned and considered to balance scientific discovery with the ethical use of animals,” it said. In a tweet in November last year, Mr Musk said he was confident that Neuralink’s device was “ready for humans”, adding that the timing for beginning human trials was a “function of working through the FDA approval process”. “We want to be extremely careful and certain that it will work well before putting a device into a human but we’ve submitted I think most of our paperwork to the FDA and probably in about six months we should be able to upload Neuralink in a human,” the Tesla and SpaceX chief said. On Thursday, the company said it has finally received approval from the federal agency to begin trials in humans. “We are excited to share that we have received the FDA’s approval to launch our first-in-human clinical study!” the brain chip company said. The FDA approval “represents an important first step that will one day allow our technology to help many people”, Neuralink said, adding that it would soon announce more information on the recruitment of people for clinical trials. FDA hasn’t immediately responded to The Independent‘s queries on the Neuralink approval claim. Read More What is superintelligence? How AI could replace humans as the dominant lifeform on Earth Elon Musk’s Neuralink probed over shipment of ‘contaminated’ devices from ‘infected’ monkey brains When sci-fi becomes reality: could brain-machine interfaces be right around the corner?

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 14, 2023--

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MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 12, 2023--

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