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

New species of mosasaur named for Norse sea serpent      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have discovered a new species of mosasaur, large, carnivorous aquatic lizards that lived during the late Cretaceous. With 'transitional' traits that place it between two well-known mosasaurs, the new species is named after a sea serpent in Norse mythology, Jormungandr, and the small North Dakota city Walhalla near to where the fossil was found.

Archaeology: General Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology
Published

Cold War spy satellite imagery reveals Ancient Roman forts      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study analyzing declassified Cold War satellite imagery reveals 396 previously undocumented Roman forts and reports that these forts were constructed from east to west, spanning from what is now western Syria to northwestern Iraq. The analysis refutes Father Antoine Poidebard's claim that the forts were located along a north-south axis.

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

Uranus aurora discovery offers clues to habitable icy worlds      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astronomers confirm the existence of an infrared (IR) aurora on Uranus. This could help astronomers identify exoplanets that might support life, a large number of which are icy worlds.

Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geology Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Venus had Earth-like plate tectonics billions of years ago, study suggests      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Venus, may have once had tectonic plate movements similar to those believed to have occurred on early Earth, a new study found. The finding sets up tantalizing scenarios regarding the possibility of early life on Venus, its evolutionary past and the history of the solar system.

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

Deep learning speeds up galactic calculations      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Supernovae, exploding stars, play a critical role in the formation and evolution of galaxies. However, key aspects of them are notoriously difficult to simulate accurately in reasonably short amounts of time. For the first time, a team of researchers apply deep learning to the problem of supernova simulation. Their approach can speed up the simulation of supernovae, and therefore of galaxy formation and evolution as well. These simulations include the evolution of the chemistry which led to life.

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

Massive space explosion observed creating elements needed for life      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have observed the creation of rare chemical elements in the second-brightest gamma-ray burst ever seen -- casting new light on how heavy elements are made.

Space: Astronomy Space: Cosmology Space: Structures and Features
Published

First detection of heavy element from star merger      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A team of scientists has used multiple space and ground-based telescopes to observe an exceptionally bright gamma-ray burst, GRB 230307A, and identify the neutron star merger that generated an explosion that created the burst. Webb also helped scientists detect the chemical element tellurium in the explosion's aftermath.

Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Extinction Ecology: General Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Climate
Published

Raining cats and dogs: Global precipitation patterns a driver for animal diversity      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A team has identified several factors to help answer a fundamental ecological question: why is there a ridiculous abundance of species some places on earth and a scarcity in others? What factors, exactly, drive animal diversity? They discovered that what an animal eats (and how that interacts with climate) shapes Earth's diversity.

Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Ecology: Animals Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Fossils
Published

Origin of ancient mummified baboons found in Egypt      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Primatologists are using genetic analysis to determine the geographic origin of ancient mummified baboons found in Egypt. The team finds evidence that the two legendary trading regions of Punt and Adulis may have been the same place separated by a thousand years of history.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: General Biology: Microbiology Ecology: Nature Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Fungal evolution discovered: Mycena can now invade living hosts      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Biologists have long known mushrooms of the genus Mycena, commonly known as bonnet mushrooms, as fungi that live off of dead trees and plants. New research demonstrates that bonnets can also find their ways into young, healthy trees and plants, where they try to cooperate. In doing so, they have made an evolutionary leap which challenges our understanding of the ecological roles of fungi.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Biology: Zoology Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Mummified mice discovered atop sky-high Andean volcanoes      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have uncovered 13 mummified cadavers of mice from the summits of Andean volcanoes that stretch nearly 4 miles above sea level. Analyses of the mummies, combined with the capture of live specimens, suggest that the mice scaled the Mars-like peaks on their own -- and are somehow managing to live on them.

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

Ancient sea monster remains reveal oldest mega-predatory pliosaur      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The fossils of a 170-million-year-old ancient marine reptile from the Age of Dinosaurs have been identified as the oldest-known mega-predatory pliosaur -- a group of ocean-dwelling reptiles closely related to the famous long-necked plesiosaurs. The findings are rare and add new knowledge to the evolution of plesiosaurs.

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

Black holes could come in 'perfect pairs' in an ever expanding Universe      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have shown it's theoretically possible for black holes to exist in perfectly balanced pairs -- held in equilibrium by a cosmological force -- mimicking a single black hole.

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

The encounter between Neanderthals and Sapiens as told by their genomes      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

About 40,000 years ago, Neanderthals, who had lived for hundreds of thousands of years in the western part of the Eurasian continent, gave way to Homo sapiens, who had arrived from Africa. This replacement was not sudden, and the two species coexisted for a few millennia, resulting in the integration of Neanderthal DNA into the genome of Sapiens. Researchers have analyzed the distribution of the portion of DNA inherited from Neanderthals in the genomes of humans (Homo sapiens) over the last 40,000 years. These statistical analyses revealed subtle variations in time and geographical space.

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

Grasping the three-dimensional morphology of kilonovae      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An advanced new three-dimensional (3D) computer simulation of the light emitted following a merger of two neutron stars has produced a similar sequence of spectroscopic features to an observed kilonova. '

Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Ecology: Nature Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Extinct ape gets a facelift, 12 million years later      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study has reconstructed the well-preserved but damaged skull of a great ape species that lived about 12 million years ago. The species, Pierolapithecus catalaunicus, may be crucial to understanding great ape and human evolution.

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

NASA's Webb captures an ethereal view of NGC 346      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

One of the greatest strengths of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is its ability to give astronomers detailed views of areas where new stars are being born. The latest example, showcased here in a new image from Webb's Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), is NGC 346 -- the brightest and largest star-forming region in the Small Magellanic Cloud.

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

Researchers capture first-ever afterglow of huge planetary collision in outer space      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A chance social media post by an eagle-eyed amateur astronomer sparked the discovery of an explosive collision between two giant planets, which crashed into each other in a distant space system 1,800 light years away from planet Earth.