Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Biology: Biochemistry Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Woolly mammoth movements tied to earliest Alaska hunting camps      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have linked the travels of a 14,000-year-old woolly mammoth with the oldest known human settlements in Alaska, providing clues about the relationship between the iconic species and some of the earliest people to travel across the Bering Land Bridge. Isotopic data, along with DNA from other mammoths at the site and archaeological evidence, indicates that early Alaskans likely structured their settlements to overlap with areas where mammoths congregated. Those findings, highlighted in the new issue of the journal Science Advances, provide evidence that mammoths and early hunter-gatherers shared habitat in the region. The long-term predictable presence of woolly mammoths would have attracted humans to the area.

Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Astronomers produce most sensitive radio image ever of ancient star cluster      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astronomers have created the most sensitive radio image ever of a globular cluster, an ancient ball of tightly-packed stars.

Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Earth-sized planet discovered in 'our solar backyard'      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astronomers have discovered a planet closer and younger than any other Earth-sized world yet identified. It's a remarkably hot world whose proximity to our own planet and to a star like our sun mark it as a unique opportunity to study how planets evolve.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

NASA scientists discover a novel galactic 'fossil'      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center have discovered X-ray activity that sheds light on the evolution of galaxies.

Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Close encounters of the supermassive black hole kind      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astrophysicists have confirmed the accuracy of an analytical model that can unlock key information about supermassive black holes and the stars they engulf.

Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Our surprising magnetic galaxy      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A team of astronomers has created the first-ever map of magnetic field structures within a spiral arm of our Milky Way galaxy. Previous studies on galactic magnetic fields only gave a very general picture, but the new study reveals that magnetic fields in the spiral arms of our galaxy break away from this general picture significantly and are tilted away from the galactic average by a high degree. The findings suggest magnetic fields strongly impact star-forming regions which means they played a part in the creation of our own solar system.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Surprise gamma-ray feature beyond our galaxy      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astronomers analyzing 13 years of data from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope have found an unexpected and as yet unexplained feature outside of our galaxy.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
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NASA's Webb finds signs of possible aurorae on isolated brown dwarf      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astronomers have found a brown dwarf (an object more massive than Jupiter but smaller than a star) with infrared emission from methane, likely due to energy in its upper atmosphere. This is an unexpected discovery because the brown dwarf, W1935, is cold and lacks a host star; therefore, there is no obvious source for the upper atmosphere energy. The team speculates that the methane emission may be due to processes generating aurorae.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Unlocking the secrets of a 'Hot Saturn' and its spotted star      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A team of astronomers has unraveled the enigmatic atmosphere of the exoplanet HAT-P-18 b, shedding light on its intriguing blend of gases, clouds, and even the effects of its star's activity.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

'Blob-like' home of farthest-known fast radio burst is collection of seven galaxies      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In summer 2022, astronomers detected the most powerful and most distant fast radio burst (FRB) ever observed. Now, astronomers have pinpointed the extraordinary object's birthplace -- and it's rather curious, indeed. Using images from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, the researchers traced the FRB back to not one galaxy but a group of at least seven galaxies.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Final supernova results from Dark Energy Survey offer unique insights into the expansion of the universe      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In the culmination of a decade's worth of effort, scientists analyzed an unprecedented sample of more than 1,500 supernovae classified using machine learning. They placed the strongest constraints on the expansion of the universe ever obtained with the DES supernova survey. While consistent with the current standard cosmological model, the results do not rule out a more complex theory that the density of dark energy in the universe could have varied over time.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Three iron rings in a planet-forming disk      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astronomers have detected a three-ringed structure in the nursery of planets in the inner planet-forming disk of a young star. This configuration suggests two Jupiter-mass planets are forming in the gaps between the rings. The detailed analysis is consistent with abundant solid iron grains complementing the dust composition. As a result, the disk likely harbors metals and minerals akin to those in the Solar System's terrestrial planets. It offers a glimpse into conditions resembling the early Solar System over four billion years ago during the formation of rocky planets such as Mercury, Venus, and Earth.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Space oddity: Uncovering the origin of the universe's rare radio circles      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astronomers believe they may have found the origin of the universe's giant odd radio circles: they are shells formed by outflowing galactic winds, possibly from massive exploding stars known as supernovae.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: General Archaeology: General
Published

Cult mentality: Monumental discovery in Italy      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have discovered an ancient Roman temple that adds significant insights into the social change from pagan gods to Christianity within the Roman Empire.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: General Biology: Evolutionary Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species
Published

Early primates likely lived in pairs      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Primate social organization is more flexible than previously assumed. According to a new study, the first primates probably lived in pairs, while only around 15 percent of individuals were solitary.

Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Magnetic fields in the cosmos: Dark matter could help us discover their origin      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

We don't know how magnetic fields in the cosmos formed. Now a new theoretical research tells how the invisible part of our universe could help us find out, suggesting a primordial genesis, even within a second of the Big Bang.

Space: Astronomy Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

A carbon-lite atmosphere could be a sign of water and life on other terrestrial planets      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Best chance of finding liquid water, and even life on other planets, is to look for the absence of carbon dioxide in their atmospheres.

Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Further evidence for quark-matter cores in massive neutron stars      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New theoretical analysis places the likelihood of massive neutron stars hiding cores of deconfined quark matter between 80 and 90 percent. The result was reached through massive supercomputer runs utilizing Bayesian statistical inference.