Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: Dinosaurs Paleontology: General
Published

Climate change played key role in dinosaur success story      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Climate change, rather than competition, played a key role in the ascendancy of dinosaurs through the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic periods.

Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Astronomers find that two exoplanets may be mostly water      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Astronomers have found evidence that two exoplanets orbiting a red dwarf star are 'water worlds,' planets where water makes up a large fraction of the volume.

Space: Cosmology Space: Structures and Features
Published

Machine learning reveals how black holes grow      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Black holes are surrounded by an invisible layer that swallows every bit of evidence about their past. Researchers are now using machine learning and supercomputers to reconstruct the growth histories of black holes.

Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

ESPRESSO and CARMENES discover two potentially habitable exo-Earths around a star near the sun      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have discovered the presence of two planets with Earth-like masses in orbit around the star GJ 1002, a red dwarf not far from our solar system. Both planets are in the habitability zone of the star.

Space: Cosmology Space: Structures and Features
Published

Discovering rare red spiral galaxy population from early universe with the James Webb Space Telescope      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Morphology of galaxies contain important information about the process of galaxy formation and evolution. With its state-of-the-art resolution, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has now captured several red spiral galaxies in its first image at an unprecedented resolution. Researchers have now analyzed these galaxies, revealing that these are among the furthest known spiral galaxies till date. The analysis further detected a passive red spiral galaxy in the early universe, a surprising discovery.

Space: Exploration Space: Structures and Features
Published

Antihelium nuclei as messengers from the depths of the galaxy      (via sciencedaily.com) 

How are galaxies born, and what holds them together? Astronomers assume that dark matter plays an essential role. However, as yet it has not been possible to prove directly that dark matter exists. A research team has now measured the survival rate of antihelium nuclei from the depths of the galaxy -- a necessary prerequisite for the indirect search for Dark Matter.

Space: Cosmology Space: Structures and Features
Published

Without more data, a black hole's origins can be 'spun' in any direction      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A study finds that, for now, the catalog of known black hole binaries does not reveal anything fundamental about how black holes form. More data will be needed to determine whether the invisible giants arose from a quiet galactic disk or a more dynamic cluster of stars.

Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Paleontology: Dinosaurs Paleontology: General
Published

Dinosaur teeth reveal what they didn't eat      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scratches on dinosaur teeth could reveal what they really ate. Dental microwear texture analysis (DMTA) has now been used to infer the feeding habits of large theropods, including Allosaurus and T. rex. By taking 3D images of individual teeth and analyzing the pattern of marks scratched into them, researchers could reason which dinosaurs may have frequently crunched on hard bone and which may have regularly eaten softer foods and prey. This technique opens up a new avenue of research for paleontology, helping us to better understand not only dinosaurs themselves but also the environment and communities in which they lived.

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

NASA missions probe game-changing cosmic explosion      (via sciencedaily.com) 

On Dec. 11, 2021, astronomers detected a blast of high-energy light from the outskirts of a galaxy around 1 billion light-years away. The event has rattled scientists' understanding of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), the most powerful events in the universe.

Ecology: Endangered Species Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Paleontology: Dinosaurs Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds Paleontology: General
Published

Dinosaurs were on the up before asteroid downfall      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Dinosaurs dominated the world right up until a deadly asteroid hit the earth, leading to their mass extinction, some 66 million years ago, a landmark study reveals. Fresh insights into dinosaurs' ecosystems -- the habitats and food types that supported their lives -- suggests that their environments were robust and thriving, right up until that fateful day, at the end of the Cretaceous period.

Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Space: Cosmology Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Meteorites plus gamma rays could have given Earth the building blocks for life      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Even as detailed images of distant galaxies from the James Webb Space Telescope show us more of the greater universe, scientists still disagree about how life began here on Earth. One hypothesis is that meteorites delivered amino acids -- life's building blocks -- to our planet. Now, researchers have experimentally shown that amino acids could have formed in these early meteorites from reactions driven by gamma rays produced inside the space rocks.

Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Paleontology: Dinosaurs
Published

Ankylosaurs battled each other as much as they fought off T. rex      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists have found new evidence for how armored dinosaurs used their iconic tail clubs. The exceptional fossil of the ankylosaur Zuul crurivastator has spikes along its flanks that were broken and re-healed while the dinosaur was alive -- injuries that the scientists think were caused from a strike by another Zuul's massive tail club. This suggests ankylosaurs had complex behavior, possibly battling for social and territorial dominance or even engaging in a 'rutting' season for mates.

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

Peekaboo! Tiny, hidden galaxy provides a peek into the past      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Peeking out from behind the glare of a bright foreground star, astronomers have uncovered the most extraordinary example yet of a nearby galaxy with characteristics that are more like galaxies in the distant, early universe. Only 1,200 light-years across, the tiny galaxy HIPASS J1131-31 has been nicknamed "Peekaboo" because of its emergence in the past 50-100 years from behind the fast-moving star that was obscuring astronomers' ability to detect it.

Space: Cosmology Space: Exploration Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Researchers say space atomic clocks could help uncover the nature of dark matter      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Studying an atomic clock on-board a spacecraft inside the orbit of Mercury and very near to the Sun could be the trick to uncovering the nature of dark matter.

Space: Cosmology Space: Structures and Features
Published

Characterizing the earliest galaxies in the universe -- only 200 million years after the Big Bang      (via sciencedaily.com) 

An international team of astrophysicists has managed to statistically characterize the first galaxies in the Universe, which formed only 200 million years after the Big Bang.

Space: Cosmology Space: Structures and Features
Published

New analysis approach could help boost sensitivity of large telescopes      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers detail an analysis method that could improve telescopes at the Simons Observatory by evaluating their performance before installation. This is the first time the optical performance of a telescope has been confirmed prior to its deployment.

Space: Structures and Features
Published

Rare sighting of luminous jet spewed by supermassive black hole      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Astronomers discover a bright optical flare caused by a dying star's encounter with a supermassive black hole.

Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Paleontology: Dinosaurs Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds Paleontology: Fossils
Published

Fossil overturns more than a century of knowledge about the origin of modern birds      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Fossilized fragments of a skeleton, hidden within a rock the size of a grapefruit, have helped upend one of the longest-standing assumptions about the origins of modern birds.

Space: Structures and Features
Published

Mysteriously bright flash is a black hole jet pointing straight toward Earth, astronomers say      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Astronomers have determined the source of an incredibly bright X-ray, optical and radio signal appearing from halfway across the Universe.

Paleontology: Dinosaurs Paleontology: Fossils
Published

Oldest Pterodactylus fossil found in Germany      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The oldest Pterodactylus specimen was found near Painten, Germany. The fossil is about one million years older than other Pterodactylus specimens. The specimen is a complete, well-preserved skeleton of a small-sized individual. With a 5-cm-long skull, it represents a rare 'sub-adult' individual.