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Categories: Paleontology: General, Space: Cosmology

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Space: Cosmology Space: Structures and Features
Published

Hubble finds that ghost light among galaxies stretches far back in time      (via sciencedaily.com) 

In giant clusters of hundreds or thousands of galaxies, innumerable stars wander among the galaxies like lost souls, emitting a ghostly haze of light. These stars are not gravitationally tied to any one galaxy in a cluster. The nagging question for astronomers has been: how did the stars get so scattered throughout the cluster in the first place? Several competing theories include the possibility that the stars were stripped out of a cluster's galaxies, or they were tossed around after mergers of galaxies, or they were present early in a cluster's formative years many billions of years ago.

Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Geoscience: Geology Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: General
Published

Bering Land Bridge formed surprisingly late during last ice age      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study that reconstructs the history of sea level at the Bering Strait shows that the Bering Land Bridge connecting Asia to North America did not emerge until around 35,700 years ago, less than 10,000 years before the height of the last ice age (known as the Last Glacial Maximum). The findings indicate that the growth of the ice sheets -- and the resulting drop in sea level -- occurred surprisingly quickly and much later in the glacial cycle than previous studies had suggested.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Paleontology: General
Published

Archaeologists uncover oldest known projectile points in the Americas      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Archaeologists have uncovered projectile points in Idaho that are thousands of years older than any previously found in the Americas, helping to fill in the history of how early humans crafted and used stone weapons.

Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Paleontology: Dinosaurs Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

The other paleo diet: Rare discovery of dinosaur remains preserved with its last meal      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Microraptor was an opportunistic predator, feeding on fish, birds, lizards -- and now small mammals. The discovery of a rare fossil reveals the creature was a generalist carnivore in the ancient ecosystem of dinosaurs.

Paleontology: Dinosaurs Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

What the inner ear of Europasaurus reveals about its life      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Europasaurus is a long-necked, herbivorous dinosaur that lived in the Late Jurassic, about 154 million years ago, on a small island in modern-day Germany. Recently, scientists examined fossil braincase material of Europasaurus with the aid of micro-computed tomography (micro-CT). The digital reconstruction of the inner ear of Europasaurus gave the researchers new insights not only into its hearing ability, but also into its reproductive and social behavior.

Ecology: Endangered Species Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Early forests did not significantly change the atmospheric CO2      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have discovered that the atmosphere contained far less CO2 than previously thought when forests emerged on our planet, the new study has important implications for understanding how land plants affect the climate.

Space: Cosmology Space: Structures and Features
Published

Measuring gamma-ray bursts' hidden energy unearths clues to the evolution of the universe      (via sciencedaily.com) 

When stars die out, they emit gamma-ray bursts. Although scientist can calculate the explosion energy from dying stars, it is difficult to do when the conversion efficiency is low or unknown. Using light polarization, a research group has found a workaround for this, enabling astronomers to calculate the hidden energy of gamma-ray bursts.

Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Fossil CSI: Giant extinct marine reptile graveyard was likely ancient birthing grounds      (via sciencedaily.com) 

An international research team examines a rich fossil bed in the renowned Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park in Nevada's Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, where many 50-foot-long ichthyosaurs (Shonisaurus popularis) lay petrified in stone. The study offers a plausible explanation as to how at least 37 of these marine reptiles came to meet their ends in the same locality -- a question that has vexed paleontologists for more than half a century. The research presents evidence that these ichthyosaurs died at the site in large numbers because they were migrating to this area to give birth for many generations across hundreds of thousands of years.

Space: Cosmology Space: Exploration Space: Structures and Features
Published

Webb Space Telescope reveals previously shrouded newborn stars      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Astronomers took a 'deep dive' into one of the first images from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope and were rewarded with a surprising discovery: telltale signs of two dozen previously unseen young stars about 7,500 light years from Earth.

Paleontology: Dinosaurs Paleontology: General
Published

Scientists discover what was on the menu of the first dinosaurs      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The earliest dinosaurs included carnivorous, omnivorous and herbivorous species, according to a team of palaeobiologists.

Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Linking fossil climate proxies to living bacteria helps climate predictions      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Fossilized microbial skins can give us a glimpse of how the climate was in the deep geological past. By discovering the 'missing link' between such fossil skins and the skins of living bacteria, researchers have greatly improved the accuracy of climate reconstructions and predictions.

Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: Dinosaurs Paleontology: General
Published

Climate change played key role in dinosaur success story      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Climate change, rather than competition, played a key role in the ascendancy of dinosaurs through the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic periods.

Space: Cosmology
Published

Light from outside our galaxy brighter than expected      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists analyzed new measurements showing that the light emitted by stars outside our galaxy is two to three times brighter than the light from known populations of galaxies, challenging assumptions about the number and environment of stars are in the universe.

Space: Cosmology Space: The Solar System
Published

Exquisite views of distant galaxies      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

For decades, the Hubble Space Telescope provided us with the most spectacular images of galaxies. This all changed when the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) launched and successfully completed commissioning. For astronomers, the universe is now revealed in a new way never imagined by the telescope's Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) instrument.

Space: Cosmology Space: Structures and Features
Published

Machine learning reveals how black holes grow      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Black holes are surrounded by an invisible layer that swallows every bit of evidence about their past. Researchers are now using machine learning and supercomputers to reconstruct the growth histories of black holes.

Anthropology: Cultures Biology: Microbiology Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds Paleontology: General
Published

Increasing forest cover in the Eifel region 11,000 years ago resulted in the local loss of megafauna      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Sediment cores obtained from Eifel maar sites provide insight into the presence of large Ice Age mammals in Central Europe over the past 60,000 years: Overkill hypothesis not confirmed. Herds of megafauna, such as mammoth and bison, have roamed the prehistoric plains in what is today's Central Europe for several tens of thousands of years. As woodland expanded at the end of the last Ice Age, the numbers of these animals declined and by roughly 11,000 years ago, they had completely vanished from this region. Thus, the growth of forests was the main factor that determined the extinction of such megafauna in Central Europe.

Geoscience: Geology Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: General
Published

Changes in Earth's orbit may have triggered ancient warming event      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Changes in Earth's orbit that favored hotter conditions may have helped trigger a rapid global warming event 56 million years ago. Researchers found the shape of Earth's orbit, or eccentricity, and the wobble in its rotation, or precession, favored hotter conditions at the onset of the PETM and that these orbital configurations together may have played a role in triggering the event.

Space: Cosmology Space: Structures and Features
Published

Discovering rare red spiral galaxy population from early universe with the James Webb Space Telescope      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Morphology of galaxies contain important information about the process of galaxy formation and evolution. With its state-of-the-art resolution, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has now captured several red spiral galaxies in its first image at an unprecedented resolution. Researchers have now analyzed these galaxies, revealing that these are among the furthest known spiral galaxies till date. The analysis further detected a passive red spiral galaxy in the early universe, a surprising discovery.

Geoscience: Geology Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Fossil site reveals giant arthropods dominated the seas 470 million years ago      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Discoveries at a major new fossil site in Morocco suggest giant arthropods -- relatives of modern creatures including shrimps, insects and spiders -- dominated the seas 470 million years ago.