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Categories: Biology: Evolutionary, Space: The Solar System
Published The solar system may have passed through dense interstellar clouds 2 million years ago, altering Earth's climate
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Astrophysicists calculate the likelihood that Earth was exposed to cold, harsh interstellar clouds, a phenomenon not previously considered in geologic climate models.
Published Novel Genetic Clock discovers oldest known marine plant
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An international research team has discovered the oldest known marine plant using a novel genetic clock. This 1400-year-old seagrass clone from the Baltic Sea dates back to the Migration Period. The research project is a significant step towards better understanding and protecting marine ecosystems.
Published In a significant first, researchers detect water frost on solar system's tallest volcanoes
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An international team of planetary scientists has detected patches of water frost sitting atop the Tharsis volcanoes on Mars, which are not only the tallest volcanic mountains on the Red Planet but in the entire solar system.
Published Small, cool and sulfurous exoplanet may help write recipe for planetary formation
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Astronomers observing exoplanet GJ 3470 b saw evidence of water, carbon dioxide, methane and sulfur dioxide. Astronomers hope the discovery of this exoplanet's sulfurous atmosphere will advance our understanding of how planets forms.
Published In new experiment, scientists record Earth's radio waves from the moon
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Odysseus, a tenacious lander built by the company Intuitive Machines, almost didn't make it to the moon. But an experiment aboard the spacecraft managed to capture an image of Earth as it might look to observers on a planet far from our own.
Published Lake under Mars ice cap unlikely
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have provided a simple and comprehensive -- if less dramatic -- explanation for bright radar reflections initially interpreted as liquid water beneath the ice cap on Mars' south pole.
Published Earth and space share the same turbulence
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have discovered that the turbulence found in the thermosphere -- known as the gateway to space -- and turbulence in the troposphere, here closer to sea level, follow the same physical laws despite having drastically different atmospheric compositions and dynamics.
Published Exotic black holes could be a byproduct of dark matter
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source In the first quintillionth of a second, the universe may have sprouted microscopic black holes with enormous amounts of nuclear charge, MIT physicists propose. The gravitational pull from these tiny, invisible objects could potentially explain all the dark matter that we can't see today.
Published Planet-forming disks around very low-mass stars are different
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Using the James Webb Space Telescope, a team of astronomers studied the properties of a planet-forming disk around a young and very low-mass star. The results reveal the richest hydrocarbon composition seen to date in a protoplanetary disk, including the first extrasolar detection of ethane and a relatively low abundance of oxygen-bearing species. By including previous similar detections, this finding confirms a trend of disks around very low-mass stars to be chemically distinct from those around more massive stars like the Sun, influencing the atmospheres of planets forming there.
Published Marsupials key to discovering the origin of heater organs in mammals
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Around 100 million years ago, a remarkable evolutionary shift allowed placental mammals to diversify and conquer many cold regions of our planet. New research shows that the typical mammalian heater organ, brown fat, evolved exclusively in modern placental mammals. The research team demonstrated that marsupials, our distant relatives, possess a not fully evolved form of brown fat. They discovered that the pivotal heat-producing protein called UCP1 became active after the divergence of placental and marsupial mammals. This finding is crucial for understanding the role of brown fat in mammalian evolution, endothermy, and metabolism.
Published Olivine unlocks the secrets of the Moon's interior
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New partitioning coefficients of first-transition row elements, Ga and Ge between olivine and silicate melt have been reported. New high-temperature experiments have investigated the effects of oxygen fugacity and iron content on these partition coefficients. This newly compiled dataset offers insights into interpreting trace elements found in olivine phenocrysts within lunar basalts, shedding light on the deep interior composition of the Moon.
Published Scientists detect slowest-spinning radio emitting neutron star ever recorded
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have detected what they believe to be a neutron star spinning at an unprecedentedly slow rate -- slower than any of the more than 3,000 radio emitting neutron stars measured to date.
Published Early summer fishing can have an evolutionary impact, resulting in smaller salmon
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new genetic study found that heavy fishing in the early part of the fishing season may result in younger and smaller Atlantic salmon. This information can help to conserve large fish essential for the diversity and viability of salmon populations.
Published 'Missing' early sea sponges discovered
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Geobiologists reported a 550 million-year-old sea sponge that had been missing from the fossil record. The discovery sheds new light on a conundrum that has stumped zoologists and paleontologists for years.
Published 'Weird' new planet retained atmosphere despite nearby star's relentless radiation
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A rare exoplanet that should have been stripped down to bare rock by its nearby host star's intense radiation somehow grew a puffy atmosphere instead -- the latest in a string of discoveries forcing scientists to rethink theories about how planets age and die in extreme environments. Nicknamed 'Phoenix' for its ability to survive its red giant star's radiant energy discovered planet illustrates the vast diversity of solar systems and the complexity of planetary evolution -- especially at the end of stars' lives.
Published Small, but smart: How symbiotic bacteria adapt to big environmental changes
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Lucinid clams, inconspicuous inhabitants of the seafloor and one of the most diverse group of animals in the ocean, rely on symbiotic bacteria for their survival. Researchers now reveal the evolutionary journey of these tiny tenants. Faced with a drastically changing environment following the closure of the Isthmus of Panama, they acquired new metabolic skills to enable their own survival. Understanding the adaptive strategies of bacteria provides insight into their potential responses to challenging environmental changes, such as those caused by human activities.
Published Researchers call for strengthening sustainability regulations in laws governing space exploration
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers call for strengthening existing planetary protection policies beyond the space surrounding Earth to include requirements for preserving the Lunar and Martian environments.
Published Food drove the evolution of giraffes' long neck
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A study explores body proportions of Masai giraffes, lending insight into why giraffes have such long necks and how this trait might have evolved.
Published How sharks survived a major spike in Earth's temperature
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The sharks we know today as the open ocean's top predators evolved from stubby bottom dwellers during a dramatic episode of global warming millions of years ago.
Published An unlikely hero in evolution: Worms
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source One of Earth's most consequential bursts of biodiversity -- a 30-million-year period of explosive evolutionary changes spawning innumerable new species -- may have the most modest of creatures to thank for the vital stage in life's history: worms.