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Categories: Ecology: General, Space: The Solar System
Published Do your homework to prep for the 2023 and 2024 eclipses
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source This year and next, Americans will have the extraordinary opportunity to witness two solar eclipses as both will be visible throughout the continental U.S. Both occurrences promise to be remarkable events and teachable moments but preparation is essential. Astronomers provide a practical playbook to help teachers, students, and the general public prepare for the eclipse events.
Published Astronomers spot a star swallowing a planet
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have observed a star swallowing a planet for the first time. Earth will meet a similar fate in 5 billion years.
Published Indo-Pacific corals more resilient to climate change than Atlantic corals
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source In the face of global warming and other environmental changes, corals in the Atlantic Ocean have declined precipitously in recent years, while corals in the Pacific and Indian Oceans are faring better. By describing several species of symbiotic algae that these corals need to grow, an international team has found that these mutualistic relationships from the Indo-Pacific may be more flexible and ultimately resilient to higher ocean temperatures than those in the Atlantic.
Published What would the Earth look like to an alien civilization located light years away?
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source What would the Earth look like to an alien civilization located light years away? A team of researchers has used crowd-sourced data to simulate radio leakage from mobile towers and predict what an alien civilization might detect from various nearby stars, including Barnard's star, six light years away from Earth.
Published A stormy, active sun may have kickstarted life on Earth
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The first building blocks of life on Earth may have formed thanks to eruptions from our Sun, a new study finds. A series of chemical experiments show how solar particles, colliding with gases in Earth's early atmosphere, can form amino acids and carboxylic acids, the basic building blocks of proteins and organic life.
Published Fossil find in California shakes up the natural history of cycad plants
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source According to researchers, a new analysis of an 80-million-year-old permineralized pollen cone found in the Campanian Holz Shale formation located in Silverado Canyon, California, offers a more accurate cycad natural history -- one where the plants diversified during the Cretaceous.
Published Superflare with massive, high-velocity prominence eruption
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A team of Japanese astronomers used simultaneous ground-based and space-based observations to capture a more complete picture of a superflare on a star. The observed flare started with a very massive, high-velocity prominence eruption. These results give us a better idea of how superflares and stellar prominence eruptions occur.
Published Early-nesting ducks at increased risk due to changes in climate, land use
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Each year approximately 10 million waterfowl fly north to their breeding grounds in the Prairie Pothole Region of North America, but the landscape that greets them has changed. Weather patterns and agricultural practices have significantly transformed the pothole-dotted native grasslands that waterfowl have used for thousands of years.
Published New findings indicate gene-edited rice might survive in Martian soil
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New research suggests future Martian botanists may be able to grow gene-edited rice on Mars.
Published How the Amazon rainforest is likely to cope with the effect of future drought
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A major collaboration involving 80 scientists from Europe and South America has identified the regions of the Amazon rainforest where trees are most likely to face the greatest risk from drier conditions brought about by climate change. Based on the analysis, the scientists predict trees in the western and southern Amazon face the greatest risk of dying. They also warn that previous scientific investigations may have underestimated the impact of drought on the rainforest because those studies focused on the central-eastern part of the forest, which is the least vulnerable to drought.
Published A healthy but depleted herd: Predators decrease prey disease levels but also population size
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Nature documentaries will tell you that lions, cheetahs, wolves and other top predators target the weakest or slowest animals and that this culling benefits prey herds, whether it's antelope in Africa or elk in Wyoming. This idea has been widely accepted by biologists for many years and was formalized in 2003 as the healthy herds hypothesis. It proposes that predators can help prey populations by picking off the sick and injured and leaving healthy, strong animals to reproduce.
Published Mixing theory, observation to envision warmer world
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A more realistic look at what a hot summer can bring to a nearby pond, and new respect for the blinding speed global warming is bringing.
Published Mysterious underwater acoustic world of British ponds revealed in new study
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The previously hidden and diverse underwater acoustic world in British ponds has been uncovered by a team of researchers.
Published Asteroid's comet-like tail Is not made of dust, solar observatories reveal
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source We have known for a while that asteroid 3200 Phaethon acts like a comet. It brightens and forms a tail when it's near the Sun, and it is the source of the annual Geminid meteor shower, even though comets are responsible for most meteor showers. Scientists had blamed Phaethon's comet-like behavior on dust escaping from the asteroid as it's scorched by the Sun. However, a new study using two NASA solar observatories reveals that Phaethon's tail is not dusty at all but is actually made of sodium gas.
Published How to land on a planet safely
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers develop a model to describe the interaction between a rocket plume and the surface of a planetary body in near-vacuum conditions. The computational framework takes in information about the rocket, its engines, and the surface composition and topography, as well as the atmospheric conditions and gravitational forces at the landing site, and the results can be used to evaluate the safety and feasibility of a proposed landing site and to optimize the design of spacecraft and rocket engines for planetary landings.
Published Scientists detect seismic waves traveling through Martian core
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New NASA InSight research reveals that Mars has a liquid core rich in sulfur and oxygen, leading to new clues about how terrestrial planets form, evolve and potentially sustain life.
Published Pioneering research sheds new light on the origins and composition of planet Mars
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study has uncovered intriguing insights into the liquid core at the centre of Mars, furthering understanding of the planet's formation and evolution.
Published Making better measurements of the composition of galaxies
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A study using data from telescopes on Earth and in the sky resolves a problem plaguing astronomers working in the infrared and could help make better observations of the composition of the universe with the James Webb Space Telescope and other instruments.
Published Newly sequenced hornet genomes could help explain invasion success
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The genomes of two hornet species, the European hornet and the Asian hornet (or yellow-legged hornet) have been sequenced.
Published Nature's chefs: Scientists propose food-making as means of understanding species interactions
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An interdisciplinary group of researchers is proposing a new way to think of some interactions between species, classifying a variety of plants, animals and fungi as 'nature's chefs.' Specifically, nature's chefs are organisms that provide food -- or the illusion of food -- to other organisms. The concept offers a new perspective on species interactions, which can inform how people think about food across the tree of life as well as disparate research disciplines.