Science Wrap: A Last of Us case in Kolkata, scientists find snailfish, and first woman to Moon

It has been a few weeks since the acclaimed first season of The Last Of Us ended. A faithful adaptation of the video game of the same name, the series interestingly touched upon the prospects of a fungus kicking off a “zombie apocalypse” instead of a virus as usual zombie lore dictates. Now, scientists are calling a particular fungus infection from Kolkata as a “Last of Us” case.

Other scientific highlights from this week’s news include America planning to send Christina Koch to the moon making her the first woman to walk on Earth’s natural satellite. Scientists exploring the depths of trenches off Japan have also discovered an unknown species of snailfish. Talking about animals, researchers have also come across two new and unique personality traits in tigers. 

1- Plant fungus infects Kolkata man. Last of Us turning real?

A “killer plant fungus” infected a 61-year-old man from Kolkata making this incident the world's first case of infection by this rare pathogen. So, what exactly is this fungus in question? 

A study published in Medical Mycology Reports ascertains this fungus as Chondrostereum purpureum, a leading cause of silver leaf disease among plants (particularly rose flowers). The disease dries up the leaves and flowers and makes them “silvery” to a fatal level. 

So, how does a plant-infecting fungus attack a human? Microbiologist Dr. Soma Dutta, who co-authored the report told India Today that the infected was an elderly plant mycologist who frequently worked with plant fungus like mushrooms. 

The Kolkata native’s symptoms included hoarseness of voice, cough, recurrent pharyngitis, fatigue, difficulty with swallowing and anorexia for the last 3 months when he arrived at the OPD.

The doctors have currently prescribed anti-fungal treatment to help him out and they advised him to “resist prolonged exposure”. Given the pathogen was a rare fungus, the 61-year-old’s diagnosis is still a rare case that requires further research. 

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2- Snailfish, the deepest-ever fish, found near Japan

On a scientific expedition into the depths of the northern Pacific Ocean, a baby snailfish has become the deepest fish ever filmed, cruising at a depth of 8,336 metres (nearly 27,000 feet) just over the seafloor.

Researchers from the University of Western Australia and the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology revealed video of the snailfish taken by marine robots in deep trenches off the coast of Japan last September.

Along with physically catching two further species at 8,022 metres and setting a new record for the deepest catch, the scientists also filmed the deepest snailfish.

Before this expedition, Scientists have never been able to gather fish from any depth below 8,000 metres, and the deepest snailfish they had ever seen was discovered in 2008 at 7,703 metres.

3- Christina Koch to be first woman on Moon

NASA recently announced a 10-day mission to the Moon with astronaut Christina Koch as one of the crew members. If successful, this mission will make her the first woman to go to the Moon and explore its surface. 

The declaration will put humanity one step closer to reclaiming the Moon after the Apollo flights by officially launching the 10-day Artemis-II mission's preparations. Koch will serve as mission specialist )along with Jeremy Hanson) while Reid Wiseman will be commander. 

The last time humans went to the Moon was with the NASA mission led by Apollo 17 commander Eugene Cernan in 1972.

4- Every tiger is unique psychologically, thanks to these two personality traits

Just like humans have five clinically-identified dimensions of personality (Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Openness, and Stress Tolerance), a study published in the journal Royal Society Open Science establishes that all tigers are not the same. It turns out the big cats have unique personality traits among themselves. 

These two traits are majesty and steadiness. The traits were identified as part of the first psychometric test developed for tigers as researchers analysed the Siberian or Amur tiger, Pantheris tigris altaica.

The study by Dr Rosalind Arden reads, “Our research shows that tigers can be understood through two key personality features and how they rate for each. All tigers are not the same and, while we cannot know how the character or temperament of one tiger strikes another, we can assess how the personality of a tiger strikes human observers – and that’s what we measured.”

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