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Categories: Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology, 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.
Published Meteorite analysis shows Earth's building blocks contained water
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Analysis of iron meteorites from the earliest years of the solar system indicate that the planetary 'seeds' that ultimately formed Earth contained water.
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.
Published How did the bushpig cross the strait? A great puzzle in African mammal biogeography solved by genomics
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Africa has a huge diversity of large mammals, but their evolutionary relationships and movement across the continent over time often remain a mystery. A new scientific study sheds light on longstanding questions about the interplay between evolution and geography in one of these mammals, namely the iconic African bushpig, and helps settle a major question regarding prehistoric human activities shaping biodiversity patterns in Africa.
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.
Published Evolution is not as random as previously thought
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A groundbreaking study has found that evolution is not as unpredictable as previously thought, which could allow scientists to explore which genes could be useful to tackle real-world issues such as antibiotic resistance, disease and climate change. The study challenges the long-standing belief about the unpredictability of evolution, and has found that the evolutionary trajectory of a genome may be influenced by its evolutionary history, rather than determined by numerous factors and historical accidents.
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.
Published The snail or the egg?
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Animals reproduce in one of two distinct ways: egg-laying or live birth. By studying an evolutionarily recent transition from egg-laying to live-bearing in a marine snail, collaborative research has shed new light on the genetic changes that allow organisms to make the switch.
Published Researchers rely on Earth's magnetic field to verify an event mentioned in the Old Testament
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study scientifically corroborates an event described in the Second Book of Kings -- the conquest of the Philistine city of Gath by Hazael King of Aram. The method is based on measuring the magnetic field recorded in burnt bricks. The researchers say that the findings are important for determining the intensity of the fire and the scope of destruction in Gath, and also for understanding construction practices in the region.
Published 'Giant' predator worms more than half a billion years old discovered in North Greenland
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Fossils of a new group of animal predators have been located in the Early Cambrian Sirius Passet fossil locality in North Greenland. These large worms may be some of the earliest carnivorous animals to have colonized the water column more than 518 million years ago, revealing a past dynasty of predators that scientists didn't know existed.
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.
Published 'Juvenile T. rex' fossils are a distinct species of small tyrannosaur
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new analysis of fossils believed to be juveniles of T. rex now shows they were adults of a small tyrannosaur, with narrower jaws, longer legs, and bigger arms than T. rex. The species, Nanotyrannus lancensis, was first named decades ago but later reinterpreted as a young T. rex. The new study shows Nanotyrannus was a smaller, longer-armed relative of T. rex, with a narrower snout.
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.
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.
Published Hubble sights a galaxy with 'forbidden' light
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A whirling image features a bright spiral galaxy known as MCG-01-24-014, which is located about 275 million light-years from Earth. In addition to being a well-defined spiral galaxy, MCG-01-24-014 has an extremely energetic core known as an active galactic nucleus (AGN) and is categorized as a Type-2 Seyfert galaxy. Seyfert galaxies, along with quasars, host one of the most common subclasses of AGN. While the precise categorization of AGNs is nuanced, Seyfert galaxies tend to be relatively nearby and their central AGN does not outshine its host, while quasars are very distant AGNs with incredible luminosities that outshine their host galaxies.
Published Researchers study a million galaxies to find out how the universe began
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have analyzed more than one million galaxies to explore primordial fluctuations that seeded the formation of the structure of the entire universe.
Published Astronomers detect seismic ripples in ancient galactic disk
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new snapshot of an ancient, far-off galaxy could help scientists understand how it formed and the origins of our own Milky Way. At more than 12 billion years old, BRI 1335-0417 is the oldest and furthest known spiral galaxy in our universe. The researchers were able to not only capture the motion of the gas around BRI 1335-0417, but also reveal a seismic wave forming -- a first in this type of early galaxy.
Published New 1.5-billion-pixel image shows Running Chicken Nebula in unprecedented detail
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source While many holiday traditions involve feasts of turkey, soba noodles, latkes or Pan de Pascua, this year, the European Southern Observatory is bringing you a holiday chicken. The so-called Running Chicken Nebula, home to young stars in the making, is revealed in spectacular detail in this 1.5-billion-pixel image captured by the VLT Survey Telescope.
Published Supernova encore: Second lensed supernova in a distant galaxy
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source In November 2023, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope observed a massive cluster of galaxies named MACS J0138.0-2155. Through an effect called gravitational lensing, first predicted by Albert Einstein, a distant galaxy named MRG-M0138 appears warped by the powerful gravity of the intervening galaxy cluster. In addition to warping and magnifying the distant galaxy, the gravitational lensing effect caused by MACS J0138 produces five different images of MRG-M0138.
Published Pancake stack of films on a balloon most accurate gamma-ray telescope
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A pancake stack of radioactivity-sensitive films carried through the sky by a balloon was able to take the world's most accurate picture of a neutron star's gamma ray beam. To achieve this, researchers combined the oldest method of capturing radioactive radiation with the newest data capturing techniques and a clever time-recording device.