Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Cave excavation pushes back the clock on early human migration to Laos      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Fifteen years of archaeological work in the Tam Pa Ling cave in northeastern Laos has yielded a reliable chronology of early human occupation of the site. The team's excavations through the layers of sediments and bones that gradually washed into the cave and were left untouched for tens of thousands of years reveals that humans lived in the area for at least 70,000 years -- and likely even longer.

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

Detection of an echo emitted by our Galaxy's black hole 200 years ago      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An international team of scientists has discovered that Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way, emerged from a long period of dormancy some 200 years ago. The team, led by Frédéric Marin, a CNRS researcher at the Astronomical Strasbourg Observatory (CNRS/University of Strasbourg), has revealed the past awakening of this gigantic object, which is four million times more massive than the Sun. Their work is published in Nature on 21 June.

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

Exoplanet may reveal secrets about the edge of habitability      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

How close can a rocky planet be to a star, and still sustain water and life? A recently discovered exoplanet may be key to solving that mystery.

Paleontology: General
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Modern horses have lost their additional toes, scientists confirm      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The distant ancestors of modern horses had hooved toes instead of a single hoof, which vanished over time, according to researchers.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Marine Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Sea Life Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

These long-necked reptiles were decapitated by their predators, fossil evidence confirms      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In the age of dinosaurs, many marine reptiles had extremely long necks compared to reptiles today. While it was clearly a successful evolutionary strategy, paleontologists have long suspected that their long-necked bodies made them vulnerable to predators. Now, after almost 200 years of continued research, direct fossil evidence confirms this scenario for the first time in the most graphic way imaginable.

Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Nature Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Fossil study sheds light on famous spirals found in nature      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A 3D model of a 407-million-year-old plant fossil has overturned thinking on the evolution of leaves. The research has also led to fresh insights about spectacular patterns found in plants.

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

Discovery of white dwarf pulsar sheds light on star evolution      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The discovery of a rare type of white dwarf star system provides new understanding into stellar evolution.

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

Scientists report 'benchmarks' for extreme space weather      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Extreme space weather threatens vital satellites orbiting the Earth, including the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) which pass through the heart of the outer radiation belt. New research has now determined a series of benchmarks for the likely severity of extreme space weather events in GPS orbit.

Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Paleontology: General
Published

First hominin muscle reconstruction shows 3.2 million-year-old 'Lucy' could stand as erect as we can      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Digital modelling of legendary fossil's soft tissue suggests Australopithecus afarensis had powerful leg and pelvic muscles suited to tree dwelling, but knee muscles that allowed fully erect walking.

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

Astronomers discover new link between dark matter and clumpiness of the universe      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers reveal a theoretical breakthrough that may explain both the nature of invisible dark matter and the large-scale structure of the universe known as the cosmic web. The result establishes a new link between these two longstanding problems in astronomy, opening new possibilities for understanding the cosmos. The research suggests that the 'clumpiness problem,' which centres on the unexpectedly even distribution of matter on large scales throughout the cosmos, may be a sign that dark matter is composed of hypothetical, ultra-light particles called axions. The implications of proving the existence of hard-to-detect axions extend beyond understanding dark matter and could address fundamental questions about the nature of the universe itself.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geology Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Earth was created much faster than we thought: This makes the chance of finding other habitable planets in the Universe more likely      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Over the past decades, researchers thought Earth was created over a period of more than 100 million years. However, a new study from suggests that the creation of Earth was much more rapid, and that water and other essential ingredients for life were delivered to Earth very early on.

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

A scorching-hot exoplanet scrutinized by astronomers      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Through the Gemini-North Telescope in Hawai'i, the chemical composition of WASP-76 b is revealed in unprecedented detail, giving new insights also into the composition of giant planets.

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

Sun's coldest region stores secret to heating million-degree corona      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have unveiled the discovery of intense wave energy from a relatively cool, dark and strongly magnetized plasma region on the Sun, capable of traversing the solar atmosphere and maintaining temperatures of a million degrees Kelvin inside the corona. Researchers say the finding is the latest key to unraveling a host of related mysteries pertaining to Earth's nearest star.

Anthropology: General Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Developmental Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Marine Biology: Microbiology Biology: Zoology Ecology: Sea Life Geoscience: Earth Science Paleontology: General
Published

Scientists investigate the evolution of animal developmental mechanisms, show how some of Earth's earliest animals evolved      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Lacking bones, brains, and even a complete gut, the body plans of simple animals like sea anemones appear to have little in common with humans and their vertebrate kin. Nevertheless, new research shows that appearances can be deceiving, and that a common genetic toolkit can be deployed in different ways to drive embryological development to produce very different adult body plans. It is well established that sea anemones, corals, and their jellyfish relatives shared a common ancestor with humans that plied the Earth's ancient oceans over 600 million years ago. A new study from the Gibson Lab, published in Current Biology on June 13, 2023, illuminates the genetic basis for body plan development in the starlet sea anemone, Nematostella vectensis. This new knowledge paints a vivid picture of how some of the earliest animals on earth progressed from egg to embryo to adult.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Dinosaurs Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

First side-necked turtle ever discovered in UK      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The first side-necked turtle ever to be found in the UK has been discovered by an amateur fossil collector and palaeontologists.

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

Pass the salt: This space rock holds clues as to how Earth got its water      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The discovery of tiny salt grains in a sample from an asteroid provides strong evidence that liquid water may be more common in the solar system than previously thought.

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

DESI early data release holds nearly two million objects      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The first batch of data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument is now available for researchers to explore. Taken during the experiment's 'survey validation' phase, the data include distant galaxies and quasars as well as stars in our own Milky Way.

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

Flaring star could be down to young planet's disc inferno      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New simulations offer new explanation for star's 85-year flare. In this scenario, a young giant planet is burning up very close to its star, suggesting solar systems may have hosted many of such planets that have since 'evaporated'.