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Categories: Biology: Evolutionary, Space: Astrophysics
Published Strong evidence for intermediate-mass black hole in Omega Centauri
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Most known black holes are either extremely massive, like the supermassive black holes that lie at the cores of large galaxies, or relatively lightweight, with a mass of under 100 times that of the Sun. Intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) are scarce, however, and are considered rare 'missing links' in black hole evolution.
Published Tackling the challenge of coca plant ID: Wild vs cultivated for cocaine
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new paper reveals that it's not as straightforward as it might seem. Despite decades of data collection by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which has been valuable to monitor changes in areas occupied by illegal coca plantations in South America, there is no reliable scientific method to distinguish between different types of coca plants.
Published Found with Webb: A potentially habitable icy world
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A international team of astronomers has made an exciting discovery about the temperate exoplanet LHS 1140 b: it could be a promising 'super-Earth' covered in ice or water.
Published Brain size riddle solved as humans exceed evolution trend
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The largest animals do not have proportionally bigger brains -- with humans bucking this trend -- a new study has revealed.
Published Fresh wind blows from historical supernova
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A mysterious remnant from a rare type of supernova recorded in 1181 has been explained for the first time. Two white dwarf stars collided, creating a temporary 'guest star,' now labeled supernova (SN) 1181, which was recorded in historical documents in Japan and elsewhere in Asia. However, after the star dimmed, its location and structure remained a mystery until a team pinpointed its location in 2021. Now, through computer modeling and observational analysis, researchers have recreated the structure of the remnant white dwarf, a rare occurrence, explaining its double shock formation. They also discovered that high-speed stellar winds may have started blowing from its surface within just the past 20-30 years. This finding improves our understanding of the diversity of supernova explosions, and highlights the benefits of interdisciplinary research, combining history with modern astronomy to enable new discoveries about our galaxy.
Published Not so selfish after all: Viruses use freeloading genes as weapons
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Certain pieces of DNA have been labeled as 'selfish genetic elements' due to notions that they don't contribute to a host organism's survival. Instead, researchers have now discovered that these elements have been weaponized and play a crucial role by cutting off a competitor's ability to reproduce.
Published Do genes-in-pieces code for proteins that fold in pieces?
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study offers new insights into the evolution of foldable proteins.
Published Machine learning could aid efforts to answer long-standing astrophysical questions
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Physicists have developed a computer program incorporating machine learning that could help identify blobs of plasma in outer space known as plasmoids. In a novel twist, the program has been trained using simulated data.
Published Near chromosome-level genome of the Mojave poppy bee
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have developed a near chromosome-level genome for the Mojave poppy bee, a specialist pollinator of conservation concern.
Published A new pulsar buried in a mountain of data
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Astronomers have discovered the first millisecond pulsar in the stellar cluster Glimpse-CO1.
Published AI-powered study explores under-studied female evolution
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Pioneering AI-powered research on butterflies has probed the under-studied evolution of females and adds to a debate between Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace.
Published Sixty-million-year-old grape seeds reveal how the death of the dinosaurs may have paved the way for grapes to spread
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists discovered the oldest fossil grapes in the Western Hemisphere, which help show how after the death of the dinosaurs, grapes spread across the world.
Published Tiny bright objects discovered at dawn of universe baffle scientists
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A recent discovery by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) confirmed that luminous, very red objects previously detected in the early universe upend conventional thinking about the origins and evolution of galaxies and their supermassive black holes.
Published Too many missing satellite galaxies found
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Bringing us one step closer to solving the 'missing satellites problem,' researchers have discovered two new satellite galaxies.
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 New mathematical model sheds light on the absence of breastfeeding in male mammals
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Mathematicians ave put forward a hypothesis which suggests that the reason male mammals don't breastfeed might be driven by the rich community of microbes that lives in breast milk and which plays an important part in establishing the gut microbiome of the infant.
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 Researchers find genetic stability in a long-term Panamanian hybrid zone of manakin birds
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source We often think of species as separate and distinct, but sometimes they can interbreed and create hybrids. When this happens consistently in a specific area, it forms what's known as a hybrid zone. These zones can be highly dynamic or remarkably stable, and studying them can reveal key insights into how species boundaries evolve -- or sometimes blur. Researchers now describe a hybrid zone between two manakin species in Panama that has overall remained relatively stable over the past 30 years.