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Categories: Ecology: Invasive Species, Offbeat: Space
Published Saving moths may be just as important as saving the bees
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Night-time pollinators such as moths may visit just as many plants as bees, and should also be the focus of conservation and protection efforts, a new study suggests.
Published Air quality stations have collected vast stores of DNA by accident, a potentially 'game-changing' discovery for tracking global biodiversity
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The accelerating loss of biodiversity and increasing rate of species extinction is a major threat to ecosystems around the globe. And yet, quantifying those losses at a large scale hasn't been possible, in large part due to a lack of the required infrastructure. But a new study shows that a major source for such information already exists in the form of environmental DNA (eDNA), which has been inadvertently collected in filters by thousands of ambient air quality monitoring stations in countries around the world for decades.
Published Webb Space Telescope detects universe's most distant complex organic molecules
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have detected complex organic molecules in a galaxy more than 12 billion light-years away from Earth -- the most distant galaxy in which these molecules are now known to exist. Thanks to the capabilities of the recently launched James Webb Space Telescope and careful analyses from the research team, a new study lends critical insight into the complex chemical interactions that occur in the first galaxies in the early universe.
Published The other side of the story: How evolution impacts the environment
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers show that an evolutionary change in the length of lizards' legs can have a significant impact on vegetation growth and spider populations on small islands in the Bahamas. This is one of the first times, the researchers say, that such dramatic evolution-to-environment effects have been documented in a natural setting.
Published Dying stars' cocoons could be new source of gravitational waves
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Although astrophysicists theoretically should be able to detect gravitational waves from a single, non-binary source, they have yet to uncover these elusive signals. Now researchers suggest looking at a new, unexpected and entirely unexplored place: The turbulent, energetic cocoons of debris that surround dying massive stars.
Published Early universe crackled with bursts of star formation, Webb shows
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Among the most fundamental questions in astronomy is: How did the first stars and galaxies form? NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is already providing new insights into this question. One of the largest programs in Webb's first year of science is the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey, or JADES, which will devote about 32 days of telescope time to uncover and characterize faint, distant galaxies. While the data is still coming in, JADES already has discovered hundreds of galaxies that existed when the universe was less than 600 million years old. The team also has identified galaxies sparkling with a multitude of young, hot stars.
Published Eventually everything will evaporate, not only black holes
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New theoretical research has shown that Stephen Hawking was likely right about black holes, although not completely. Due to Hawking radiation, black holes will eventually evaporate, but the event horizon is not as crucial as had been believed. Gravity and the curvature of spacetime cause this radiation too. This means that all large objects in the universe, like the remnants of stars, will eventually evaporate.
Published Mysterious dashes revealed in Milky Way's center
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source In the early 1980s, astronomers discovered gigantic, one-dimensional filaments dangling vertically near Sagittarius A*, our galaxy's central supermassive black hole. Now, astronomers have discovered a new population of filaments -- but these threads are much shorter and lie horizontally or radially, spreading out like spokes on a wheel from the black hole.
Published Forest birds with short, round wings more sensitive to habitat fragmentation
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Tropical forest birds, which tend to have wings that are short and round relative to their body length and shape, are more sensitive to habitat fragmentation than the long-, slender-winged species common in temperate forests.
Published Astrophysicists confirm the faintest galaxy ever seen in the early universe
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source After the Big Bang, the universe expanded and cooled sufficiently for hydrogen atoms to form. In the absence of light from the first stars and galaxies, the universe entered a period known as the cosmic dark ages. The first stars and galaxies appeared several hundred million years later and began burning away the hydrogen fog left over from the Big Bang, rendering the universe transparent, like it is today. Researchers have now confirmed the existence of a distant, faint galaxy typical of those whose light burned through the hydrogen atoms; the finding should help them understand how the cosmic dark ages ended.
Published NIRISS instrument on Webb maps an ultra-hot Jupiter's atmosphere
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source There's an intriguing exoplanet out there -- 400 light-years out there -- that is so tantalizing that astronomers have been studying it since its discovery in 2009. One orbit for WASP-18 b around its star that is slightly larger than our Sun takes just 23 hours. There is nothing like it in our Solar System. A new study about this exoplanet, an ultra-hot gas giant 10 times more massive than Jupiter.
Published Quest for alien signals in the heart of the Milky Way takes off
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A graduate student is spearheading an extraordinary scientific endeavor -- a groundbreaking mission to uncover periodic signals emanating from the core of the Milky Way called the Breakthrough Listen Investigation for Periodic Spectral Signals (BLIPSS). Such repetitive patterns could be the key to unlocking the mysteries of extraterrestrial intelligence in our galaxy.
Published Towering plume of water escaping from Saturn moon
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have observed a towering plume of water vapor more than 6,000 miles long -- roughly the distance from the U.S. to Japan -- spewing from the surface of Saturn's moon, Enceladus.
Published One-third of galaxy's most common planets could be in habitable zone
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A third of the exoplanets orbiting common M dwarf stars have gentle enough orbits to potentially be in the habitable zone capable of hosting liquid water.
Published X-ray emissions from black hole jets vary unexpectedly, challenging leading model of particle acceleration
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Black hole jets are known to emit x-rays, but how they accelerate particles to this high-energy state is still a mystery. Surprising new findings appear to rule out a leading theory, opening the door to reimagining how particle acceleration works. One model of how jets generate x-rays expects the jets' x-ray emissions to remain stable over long time scales. However, the new paper found that the x-ray emissions of a statistically significant number of jets varied over just a few years.
Published Astronomers discover a key planetary system to understand the formation mechanism of the mysterious 'super-Earths'
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A study presents the detection of a system of two planets slightly larger than Earth orbiting a cold star in a synchronized dance. Named TOI-2096, the system is located 150 light-years from Earth. This system, located 150 light-years from Earth, is one of the best candidates for a detailed study of their atmosphere with the JWST space telescope.
Published Helium nuclei research advances our understanding of cosmic ray origin and propagation
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The latest observations from Low Earth Orbit with the International Space Station provide further evidence of spectral hardening and softening of cosmic ray particles.
Published Prescribed burns encourage foul-smelling invaders
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Though prescribed burns reduce wildfire threats and even improve habitat for some animals, new research shows these fires also spread stinknet, an aptly named weed currently invading superblooms across the Southwestern U.S.
Published How a drought affects trees depends on what's been holding them back
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Droughts can be good for trees. Certain trees, that is. Contrary to expectation, sometimes a record-breaking drought can increase tree growth. Why and where this happens is the subject of a new article.
Published Identifying the bee's knees of bumble bee diets
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study has identified the bee's knees of bumble bee dietary options in Ohio and the Upper Midwest. By viewing almost 23,000 bumble bee-flower interactions over two years, researchers found that these bees don't always settle for the most abundant flowers in their foraging area -- suggesting they have more discerning dietary preferences than one might expect.