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Categories: Mathematics: Puzzles, Offbeat: General
Published Fossil named 'Attenborough's strange bird' was the first in its kind without teeth
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new fossil, named 'Attenborough's strange bird' after naturalist and documentarian Sir David Attenborough, is the first of its kind to evolve a toothless beak. It's from a branch of the bird family tree that went extinct in the mass extinction 66 million years ago, and this strange bird is another puzzle piece that helps explain why some birds -- and their fellow dinosaurs -- went extinct, and others survived to today.
Published Modeling the origins of life: New evidence for an 'RNA World'
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists provide fresh insights on the origins of life, presenting compelling evidence supporting the 'RNA World' hypothesis. The study unveils an RNA enzyme that can make accurate copies of other functional RNA strands, while also allowing new variants of the molecule to emerge over time. These remarkable capabilities suggest the earliest forms of evolution may have occurred on a molecular scale in RNA, and also bring scientists one step closer to re-creating autonomous RNA-based life in the laboratory.
Published Webb unlocks secrets of one of the most distant galaxies ever seen
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Looking deeply into space and time, astronomers have studied the exceptionally luminous galaxy GN-z11, which existed when our 13.8 billion-year-old universe was only about 430 million years old.
Published The crow's best friend: Humans
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study has found that when humans are suddenly absent from the urban environment, the activity of the crows and ringneck parakeets that 'live' in the area reduces significantly. Conversely, the graceful prinias, who are generally considered shy, increased their activity.
Published New dressing robot can 'mimic' the actions of care-workers
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have developed a new robot that can 'mimic' the two-handed movements of care-workers as they dress an individual.
Published Study determines the original orientations of rocks drilled on Mars
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Geologists determined the original orientation of many of the Mars bedrock samples collected by the Perseverance rover. The findings can give scientists clues to the conditions in which the rocks originally formed.
Published Beyond the ink: Painting with physics
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Falling from the tip of a brush suspended in mid-air, an ink droplet touches a painted surface and blossoms into a masterpiece of ever-changing beauty. It weaves a tapestry of intricate, evolving patterns. Some of them resemble branching snowflakes, thunderbolts or neurons, whispering the unique expression of the artist's vision.
Published Orcas demonstrating they no longer need to hunt in packs to take down the great white shark
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An orca (killer whale) has been observed, for the first-ever time, individually consuming a great white shark -- and within just two minutes.
Published AI outperforms humans in standardized tests of creative potential
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source In a recent study, 151 human participants were pitted against ChatGPT-4 in three tests designed to measure divergent thinking, which is considered to be an indicator of creative thought.
Published New insights on how galaxies are formed
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Astronomers can use supercomputers to simulate the formation of galaxies from the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago to the present day. But there are a number of sources of error. An international research team has spent a hundred million computer hours over eight years trying to correct these.
Published Dung beetles show their love by sharing the load
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Dung beetles share the load when it comes to showing their affection for each-other, when transporting a 'brood ball'.
Published Study identifies multi-organ response to seven days without food
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New findings reveal that the body undergoes significant, systematic changes across multiple organs during prolonged periods of fasting. The results demonstrate evidence of health benefits beyond weight loss, but also show that any potentially health-altering changes appear to occur only after three days without food.
Published Ultraviolet radiation from massive stars shapes planetary systems
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Up to a certain point, very luminous stars can have a positive effect on the formation of planets, but from that point on the radiation they emit can cause the material in protoplanetary discs to disperse.
Published Ice shell thickness reveals water temperature on ocean worlds
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Astrobiologists have devised a novel way to determine ocean temperatures of distant worlds based on the thickness of their ice shells, effectively conducting oceanography from space.
Published Scientists ID burned bodies using technique used for extracting DNA from woolly mammoths, Neanderthals
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A technique originally devised to extract DNA from woolly mammoths and other ancient archaeological specimens can be used to potentially identify badly burned human remains, according to research.
Published Astronomers measure heaviest black hole pair ever found
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Using archival data from the Gemini North telescope, a team of astronomers has measured the heaviest pair of supermassive black holes ever found. The merging of two supermassive black holes is a phenomenon that has long been predicted, though never observed. This massive pair gives clues as to why such an event seems so unlikely in the Universe.
Published Building bionic jellyfish for ocean exploration
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers show how biohybrid robots based on jellyfish could be used to gather climate science data from deep in the Earth's oceans.
Published Could fiber optic cable help scientists probe the deep layers of the moon?
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An increasing number of seismologists are using fiber optic cables to detect seismic waves on Earth -- but how would this technology fare on the Moon, and what would it tell us about the deep layers of our nearest neighbor in space?
Published Astronomers reveal a new link between water and planet formation
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have found water vapor in the disc around a young star exactly where planets may be forming. Water is a key ingredient for life on Earth, and is also thought to play a significant role in planet formation. Yet, until now, we had never been able to map how water is distributed in a stable, cool disc -- the type of disc that offers the most favorable conditions for planets to form around stars.
Published Slimming down a colossal fossil whale
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A 30 million year-old fossil whale may not be the heaviest animal of all time after all, according to a new analysis by paleontologists. The new analysis puts Perucetus colossus back in the same weight range as modern whales and smaller than the largest blue whales ever recorded.