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Categories: Paleontology: Dinosaurs, Space: The Solar System
Published Juno spacecraft measures oxygen production on Jupiter's moon, Europa
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source NASA's Juno spacecraft has directly measured charged oxygen and hydrogen molecules from the atmosphere of one of Jupiter's largest moons, Europa. These observations provide key constraints on the potential oxygenation of its subsurface ocean.
Published Fossil named 'Attenborough's strange bird' was the first in its kind without teeth
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new fossil, named 'Attenborough's strange bird' after naturalist and documentarian Sir David Attenborough, is the first of its kind to evolve a toothless beak. It's from a branch of the bird family tree that went extinct in the mass extinction 66 million years ago, and this strange bird is another puzzle piece that helps explain why some birds -- and their fellow dinosaurs -- went extinct, and others survived to today.
Published JWST captures the end of planet formation
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The James Webb Space Telescope is helping scientists uncover how planets form by advancing understanding of their birthplaces and the circumstellar disks surrounding young stars. Scientists have imaged winds from an old planet-forming disk (still very young relative to the Sun) which is actively dispersing its gas content. Knowing when the gas disperses is important as it constrains the time left for nascent planets to consume the gas from their surroundings.
Published Study determines the original orientations of rocks drilled on Mars
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Geologists determined the original orientation of many of the Mars bedrock samples collected by the Perseverance rover. The findings can give scientists clues to the conditions in which the rocks originally formed.
Published Ultraviolet radiation from massive stars shapes planetary systems
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Up to a certain point, very luminous stars can have a positive effect on the formation of planets, but from that point on the radiation they emit can cause the material in protoplanetary discs to disperse.
Published Ice shell thickness reveals water temperature on ocean worlds
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Astrobiologists have devised a novel way to determine ocean temperatures of distant worlds based on the thickness of their ice shells, effectively conducting oceanography from space.
Published Could fiber optic cable help scientists probe the deep layers of the moon?
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An increasing number of seismologists are using fiber optic cables to detect seismic waves on Earth -- but how would this technology fare on the Moon, and what would it tell us about the deep layers of our nearest neighbor in space?
Published Biomolecules from formaldehyde on ancient Mars
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Organic materials discovered on Mars may have originated from atmospheric formaldehyde, according to new research, marking a step forward in our understanding of the possibility of past life on the Red Planet.
Published Metal scar found on cannibal star
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source When a star like our Sun reaches the end of its life, it can ingest the surrounding planets and asteroids that were born with it. Now, researchers have found a unique signature of this process for the first time -- a scar imprinted on the surface of a white dwarf star.
Published Webb finds evidence for neutron star at heart of young supernova remnant
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has found the best evidence yet for emission from a neutron star at the site of a recently observed supernova. The supernova, known as SN 1987A, was a core-collapse supernova, meaning the compacted remains at its core formed either a neutron star or a black hole. Evidence for such a compact object has long been sought, and while indirect evidence for the presence of a neutron star has previously been found, this is the first time that the effects of high-energy emission from the probable young neutron star have been detected.
Published Brightest and fastest-growing: Astronomers identify record-breaking quasar
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Astronomers have characterized a bright quasar, finding it to be not only the brightest of its kind, but also the most luminous object ever observed. Quasars are the bright cores of distant galaxies and they are powered by supermassive black holes. The black hole in this record-breaking quasar is growing in mass by the equivalent of one Sun per day, making it the fastest-growing black hole to date.
Published Three years later, search for life on Mars continues
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists suspect Mars once had long-lived rivers, lakes and streams. Today, water on Mars is found in ice at the poles and trapped below the Martian surface. Researchers now reveal that Mars also may have had hydrothermal systems based on the hydrated magnesium sulfate the rover identified in the volcanic rocks.
Published New realistic computer model will help robots collect Moon dust
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new computer model mimics Moon dust so well that it could lead to smoother and safer Lunar robot teleoperations.
Published Little groundwater recharge in ancient Mars aquifer, according to new models
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Mars was once a wet world. The geological record of the Red Planet shows evidence for water flowing on the surface -- from river deltas to valleys carved by massive flash floods. But a new study shows that no matter how much rainfall fell on the surface of ancient Mars, very little of it seeped into an aquifer in the planet's southern highlands.
Published Under pressure -- space exploration in our time
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new paradigm is taking shape in the space industry as the countries and entities accessing space continue to grow and diversify. This dynamic landscape creates both competition and potential for scientific collaboration, as well as the challenges and opportunities of progress.
Published Evidence of geothermal activity within icy dwarf planets
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A team found evidence for hydrothermal or metamorphic activity within the icy dwarf planets Eris and Makemake, located in the Kuiper Belt. Methane detected on their surfaces has the tell-tale signs of warm or even hot geochemistry in their rocky cores, which is markedly different than the signature of methane from a comet.
Published Diverse ancient volcanoes on Mars discovered by planetary scientist may hold clues to pre-plate tectonic activity on Earth
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A geologist has revealed intriguing insights into the volcanic activity on Mars. He proposes that Mars has significantly more diverse volcanism than previously realized, driven by an early form of crust recycling called vertical tectonics. The findings shed light on the ancient crust of Mars and its potential implications for understanding early crustal recycling on both Mars and Earth.
Published A lighthouse in the Gobi desert
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study explores the weight great fossil sites have on our understanding of evolutionary relationships between fossil groups and quantified the power these sites have on our understanding of evolutionary history. Surprisingly, the authors discovered that the wind-swept sand deposits of the Late Cretaceous Gobi Desert's extraordinarily diverse and well-preserved fossil lizard record shapes our understanding of their evolutionary history more than any other site on the planet.
Published The hidden rule for flight feathers -- and how it could reveal which dinosaurs could fly
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists examined hundreds of birds in museum collections and discovered a suite of feather characteristics that all flying birds have in common. These 'rules' provide clues as to how the dinosaur ancestors of modern birds first evolved the ability to fly, and which dinosaurs were capable of flight.
Published Mimas' surprise: Tiny moon of Saturn holds young ocean beneath icy shell
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Saturn's moon Mimas harbors a global ocean beneath its icy shell, discovered through analysis of its orbit by Cassini spacecraft data. This ocean formed just 5-15 million years ago, making Mimas a prime candidate for studying early ocean formation and potential for life. This discovery suggests life-essential conditions might exist on seemingly inactive moons, expanding our search for life beyond Earth.