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Categories: Ecology: Extinction, Space: Exploration
Published New Zealand's flightless birds are retreating to moa refuges
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have found New Zealand's endangered flightless birds are seeking refuge in the locations where six species of moa last lived before going extinct.
Published Ancient marine animal had inventive past despite being represented by few species
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Brachiopods were evolving in new directions but this did not turn into evolutionary success in terms of the numbers of species, researchers have found.
Published Space-trekking muscle tests drugs for microgravity-induced muscle impairment
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A gentle rumble ran under a researcher's feet as a rocket carrying her research -- live, human muscle cells grown on scaffolds fixed on tiny chips -- lifted off, climbed, and disappeared into the sky to the International Space Station National Laboratory. These chips would help her better understand muscle impairment, often seen in astronauts and older adults, and test drugs to counter the condition.
Published Dark matter flies ahead of normal matter in mega galaxy cluster collision
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Astronomers have untangled a messy collision between two massive clusters of galaxies in which the clusters' vast clouds of dark matter have decoupled from the so-called normal matter.
Published Komodo dragons have iron-coated teeth to rip apart their prey
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have discovered that the serrated edges of Komodo dragons' teeth are tipped with iron. The study gives new insight into how Komodo dragons keep their teeth razor-sharp and may provide clues to how dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex killed and ate their prey.
Published Scientists assess how large dinosaurs could really get
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A study looks at the maximum possible sizes of dinosaurs, using the carnivore, Tyrannosaurus rex, as an example. Using computer modelling, experts produced estimates that T. Rex might have been 70% heavier than what the fossil evidence suggests.
Published Images of nearest 'super-Jupiter' open a new window to exoplanet research
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers imaged a new exoplanet that orbits a star in the nearby triple system Epsilon Indi. The planet is a cold super-Jupiter exhibiting a temperature of around 0 degrees Celsius and a wide orbit comparable to that of Neptune around the Sun. This measurement was only possible thanks to JWST's unprecedented imaging capabilities in the thermal infrared. It exemplifies the potential of finding many more such planets similar to Jupiter in mass, temperature, and orbit. Studying them will improve our knowledge of how gas giants form and evolve in time.
Published A window of opportunity for climate change and biodiversity
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source World leaders must take advantage of a pivotal window of opportunity for forging a much-needed joined-up approach to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss, say scientists. Without this, work on tackling either crisis could inadvertently harm progress on the other.
Published Expiring medications could pose challenge on long space missions
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study shows that over half of the medicines stocked in space -- staples such as pain relievers, antibiotics, allergy medicines, and sleep aids -- would expire before astronauts could return to Earth.
Published Researchers explore the effects of stellar magnetism on potential habitability of exoplanets
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A study extends the definition of a habitable zone for planets to include their star's magnetic field.
Published Tropical plant species are as threatened by climate change as widely feared, study confirms
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Biologists who set out to better understand the effects of climate change on plant species in tropical mountain regions found that even small variations in temperature and moisture can have massive impacts, threatening not only plants that live there, but also the ecosystems they support. A study based on labor-intensive fieldwork and analysis in tropical mountain regions shows that a warmer and drier climate will lead to massive losses of plant species.
Published Life signs could survive near surfaces of Enceladus and Europa
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Europa and Enceladus, icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn respectively, have evidence of oceans beneath their crusts. A NASA experiment suggests -- if these oceans support life -- signatures of that life in the form of organic molecules (like amino acids and nucleic acids) could survive just under the surface ice despite the harsh, ionizing radiation on these worlds. If robotic landers were to go to these moons to look for life signs, they would not have to dig very deep to find amino acids that have survived being altered or destroyed by radiation.
Published New dawn for space storm alerts could help shield Earth's tech
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Space storms could soon be forecasted with greater accuracy than ever before thanks to a big leap forward in our understanding of exactly when a violent solar eruption may hit Earth. Scientists say it is now possible to predict the precise speed a coronal mass ejection (CME) is travelling at and when it will smash into our planet -- even before it has fully erupted from the Sun.
Published Exoplanet-hunting telescope to begin search for another Earth in 2026
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Europe's next big space mission -- a telescope that will hunt for Earth-like rocky planets outside of our solar system -- is on course to launch at the end of 2026. PLATO, or PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars, is being built to find nearby potentially habitable worlds around Sun-like stars that we can examine in detail.
Published Another intermediate-mass black hole discovered at the center of our galaxy
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source So far, only about ten intermediate-mass black holes have been discovered in the entire universe. The newly identified black hole causes surrounding stars in a cluster to move in an unexpectedly orderly way.
Published Evidence for butchery of giant armadillo-like mammals in Argentina 21,000 years ago
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Cut marks on fossils could be evidence of humans exploiting large mammals in Argentina more than 20,000 years ago, according to a new study.
Published Research tracks 66 million years of mammalian diversity
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New research has examined the fossil record going back 66 million years and tracked changes to mammalian ecosystems and species diversity on the North American continent.
Published Logged forests can still have ecological value -- if not pushed too far
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have analysed data from 127 studies to reveal 'thresholds' for when logged rainforests lose the ability to sustain themselves. The results could widen the scope of which forests are considered 'worth' conserving, but also show how much logging degrades forests beyond the point of no return.
Published The magnet trick: New invention makes vibrations disappear
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Damping vibrations is crucial for precision experiments, for example in astronomy. A new invention uses a special kind of magnets to achieve this -- electropermanent magnets. They consist of a permanent magnet and a coil. In contrast to electromagnets, they do not have to be permanently supplied with energy. In contrast to permanent magnets, their strength can be tuned: Whenever necessary, a strong electric pulse is sent through the coil, adapting the properties of the magnet.
Published How astronomers are using pulsars to observe evidence of dark matter
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Tantalizing evidence of potential dark matter objects has been detected with the help of the Universe's 'timekeepers'. These pulsars -- neutron stars which rotate and emit lighthouse-like beams of radio waves that rapidly sweep through space -- were used to identify mysterious hidden masses. Pulsars earned their nickname because they send out electromagnetic radiation at very regular intervals, ranging from milliseconds to seconds, making them extremely accurate timekeepers.