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Categories: Ecology: Extinction, Offbeat: Space
Published New class of Mars quakes reveals daily meteorite strikes
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An international team of researchers combine orbital imagery with seismological data from NASA's Mars InSight lander to derive a new impact rate for meteorite strikes on Mars. Seismology also offers a new tool for determining the density of Mars' craters and the age of different regions of a planet.
Published Projected loss of brown macroalgae and seagrasses with global environmental change
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers predict that climate change will drive a substantial redistribution of brown seaweeds and seagrasses at the global scale. The projected changes are alarming due to the fundamental role seaweeds and seagrasses in coastal ecosystems and provide evidence of the pervasive impacts of climate change on marine life.
Published The density difference of sub-Neptunes finally deciphered
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The majority of stars in our galaxy are home to planets. The most abundant are the sub-Neptunes, planets between the size of Earth and Neptune. Calculating their density poses a problem for scientists: depending on the method used to measure their mass, two populations are highlighted, the dense and the less dense. Is this due to an observational bias or the physical existence of two distinct populations of sub-Neptunes? Recent work argues for the latter.
Published Ammonites' fate sealed by meteor strike that wiped out dinosaurs
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Ammonites were not in decline before their extinction, scientists have found.
Published Last surviving woolly mammoths were inbred but not doomed to extinction
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The last population of woolly mammoths was isolated on Wrangel Island off the coast of Siberia 10,000 years ago, when sea levels rose and cut the mountainous island off from the mainland. A new genomic analysis reveals that the isolated mammoths, who lived on the island for the subsequent 6,000 years, originated from at most 8 individuals but grew to 200--300 individuals within 20 generations. The researchers report that the Wrangel Island mammoths' genomes showed signs of inbreeding and low genetic diversity but not to the extent that it can explain their ultimate (and mysterious) extinction.
Published To protect corals from summer heatwaves, we should help their microbial symbionts evolve heat tolerance in the lab
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Most coral reef restoration efforts involve restocking reefs with nursery-grown corals. However, if these corals are of the same stock as their wild counterparts, they will be equally vulnerable to the heat stress that caused the bleaching event in the first place. Researchers discuss the potential of improving corals' chances by inducing the evolution of heat tolerance in their symbionts -- the mutualistic microbes that provide corals with nutrients in exchange for shelter and that are expelled during coral bleaching.
Published Precision instrument bolsters efforts to find elusive dark energy
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Dark energy -- a mysterious force pushing the universe apart at an ever-increasing rate -- was discovered 26 years ago, and ever since, scientists have been searching for a new and exotic particle causing the expansion. Physicists combined an optical lattice with an atom interferometer to hold atoms in place for up to 70 seconds -- a record for an atom interferometer -- allowing them to more precisely test for deviations from the accepted theory of gravity that could be caused by dark energy particles such as chameleons or symmetrons. Though they detected no anomalies, they're improving the experiment to perform more sensitive tests of gravity, including whether gravity is quantized.
Published Future risk of coral bleaching set to intensify globally
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have projected future marine heatwaves will cause coral reefs to be at severe risk of bleaching for longer periods than previously seen.
Published Ocean's loss of oxygen caused massive Jurassic extinction: Could it happen again?
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have found a chemical clue in Italian limestone that explains a mass extinction of marine life in the Early Jurassic period, 183 million years ago. Volcanic activity pumped out CO2, warming oceans and lowering their oxygen levels. The findings may foretell the impact climate change and oxygen depletion might have on today's oceans.
Published Shocked quartz reveals evidence of historical cosmic airburst
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers continue to expand the case for the Younger Dryas Impact hypothesis. The idea proposes that a fragmented comet smashed into the Earth's atmosphere 12,800 years ago, causing a widespread climatic shift that, among other things, led to the abrupt reversal of the Earth's warming trend and into an anomalous near-glacial period called the Younger Dryas.
Published Pillars of creation star in new visualization from NASA's Hubble and Webb telescopes
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Made famous in 1995 by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, the Pillars of Creation in the heart of the Eagle Nebula have captured imaginations worldwide with their arresting, ethereal beauty. Now, NASA has released a new 3D visualization of these towering celestial structures using data from NASA's Hubble and James Webb space telescopes. This is the most comprehensive and detailed multiwavelength movie yet of these star-birthing clouds.
Published Surprising phosphate finding in NASA's OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Early analysis of the asteroid Bennu sample returned by NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission has revealed dust rich in carbon, nitrogen, and organic compounds, all of which are essential components for life as we know it. Dominated by clay minerals, particularly serpentine, the sample mirrors the type of rock found at mid-ocean ridges on Earth. The magnesium-sodium phosphate found in the sample hints that the asteroid could have splintered off from an ancient, small, primitive ocean world.
Published Frog 'saunas' a lifeline for endangered frog populations
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New biologist-designed shelters will help endangered frogs survive the devastating impacts of a deadly fungal disease by regulating their body temperature to fight off infections.
Published Telltale greenhouse gases could signal alien activity
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source If aliens modified a planet in their solar system to make it warmer, we'd be able to tell. A new study identifies the artificial greenhouse gases that would be giveaways of a terraformed planet.
Published First of its kind detection made in striking new Webb image
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source For the first time, a phenomenon astronomers have long hoped to directly image has been captured by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope's Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam). In this stunning image of the Serpens Nebula, the discovery lies in the northern area of this young, nearby star-forming region.
Published Geologists expect Chang'e-6 lunar surface samples to contain volcanic rock and impact ejecta
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source On June 25, China's Chang'e-6 (CE-6) lunar probe is set to return to Earth, carrying the first surface samples collected from the farside of the Moon. In anticipation of this historic event, scientists are publishing their predictions for the unique materials that may be found in the CE-6 samples.
Published A hidden treasure in the Milky Way -- Astronomers uncover ultrabright x-ray source
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Astronomers uncovered that a well-known X-ray binary, whose exact nature has been a mystery to scientists until now, is actually a hidden ultraluminous X-ray source.
Published Star clusters observed within a galaxy in the early Universe
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The history of how stars and galaxies came to be and evolved into the present day remains among the most challenging astrophysical questions to solve yet, but new research brings us closer to understanding it. New insights about young galaxies during the Epoch of Reionization have been revealed. Observations with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) of the galaxy Cosmic Gems arc (SPT0615-JD) have confirmed that the light of the galaxy was emitted 460 million years after the big bang. What makes this galaxy unique is that it is magnified through an effect called gravitational lensing, which has not been observed in other galaxies formed during that age.
Published Boosting biodiversity without hurting local economies
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Protected areas, like nature reserves, can conserve biodiversity without harming local economic growth, countering a common belief that conservation restricts development. A new study outlines what is needed for conservation to benefit both nature and people.
Published Iron meteorites hint that our infant solar system was more doughnut than dartboard
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Iron meteorites are remnants of the metallic cores of the earliest asteroids in our solar system. Iron meteorites contain refractory metals, such as iridium and platinum, that formed near the sun but were transported to the outer solar system. New research shows that for this to have happened, the protoplanetary disk of our solar system had to have been doughnut-shaped because the refractory metals could not have crossed the large gaps in a target-shaped disk of concentric rings. The paper suggests that the refractory metals moved outward as the protoplanetary disk rapidly expanded, and were trapped in the outer solar system by Jupiter.