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Categories: Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology, Space: The Solar System
Published Uranus aurora discovery offers clues to habitable icy worlds
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Astronomers confirm the existence of an infrared (IR) aurora on Uranus. This could help astronomers identify exoplanets that might support life, a large number of which are icy worlds.
Published Venus had Earth-like plate tectonics billions of years ago, study suggests
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Venus, may have once had tectonic plate movements similar to those believed to have occurred on early Earth, a new study found. The finding sets up tantalizing scenarios regarding the possibility of early life on Venus, its evolutionary past and the history of the solar system.
Published Scientists discover molten layer covering Martian core
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source NASA's InSight mission to Mars helped scientists map out Mars' internal structure, including the size and composition of its core, and provided general hints about its tumultuous formation. But findings from a new paper could lead to reanalysis of that data. An international team of researchers discovered the presence of a molten silicate layer overlying Mars' metallic core -- providing new insights into how Mars formed, evolved and became the barren planet it is today.
Published Bizarre new fossils shed light on ancient plankton
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Recently discovered microfossils date back half a billion years. Resembling modern-day algae, they provide insight into early life in our oceans.
Published Raining cats and dogs: Global precipitation patterns a driver for animal diversity
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A team has identified several factors to help answer a fundamental ecological question: why is there a ridiculous abundance of species some places on earth and a scarcity in others? What factors, exactly, drive animal diversity? They discovered that what an animal eats (and how that interacts with climate) shapes Earth's diversity.
Published Solar farms in space are possible
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source It's viable to produce low-cost, lightweight solar panels that can generate energy in space, according to new research.
Published Astrophysicists scan the Galaxy for signs of life
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Astrophysicists are scanning the Universe for 'technosignatures' emanating from distant planets that would provide support for the existence of intelligent, alien life. Researchers plan to monitor millions of star systems.
Published Origin of ancient mummified baboons found in Egypt
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Primatologists are using genetic analysis to determine the geographic origin of ancient mummified baboons found in Egypt. The team finds evidence that the two legendary trading regions of Punt and Adulis may have been the same place separated by a thousand years of history.
Published Curiosity rover finds new evidence of ancient Mars rivers, a key signal for life
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New analysis of data from the Curiosity rover reveals that much of the craters on Mars today could have once been habitable rivers.
Published Researchers capture first images of a radio 'ring of fire' solar eclipse
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have recorded images of a solar eclipse with the 'ring of fire' effect in radio waves.
Published Researchers probe how a piece of the moon became a near-Earth asteroid
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Two years after the striking discovery that a near-Earth asteroid could be a chunk of the moon, another UArizona research group has found that a rare pathway could have enabled this to happen.
Published Fungal evolution discovered: Mycena can now invade living hosts
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Biologists have long known mushrooms of the genus Mycena, commonly known as bonnet mushrooms, as fungi that live off of dead trees and plants. New research demonstrates that bonnets can also find their ways into young, healthy trees and plants, where they try to cooperate. In doing so, they have made an evolutionary leap which challenges our understanding of the ecological roles of fungi.
Published The Moon is 40 million years older than previously thought
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source By analyzing tiny lunar crystals gathered by Apollo 17 astronauts in 1972, researchers recalculated the age of the Earth's Moon. Although previous assessments estimated the Moon as 4.425 billion years old, the new study discovered it is actually 4.46 billion years old -- 40 million years older than previously thought.
Published Mummified mice discovered atop sky-high Andean volcanoes
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have uncovered 13 mummified cadavers of mice from the summits of Andean volcanoes that stretch nearly 4 miles above sea level. Analyses of the mummies, combined with the capture of live specimens, suggest that the mice scaled the Mars-like peaks on their own -- and are somehow managing to live on them.
Published Ancient sea monster remains reveal oldest mega-predatory pliosaur
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The fossils of a 170-million-year-old ancient marine reptile from the Age of Dinosaurs have been identified as the oldest-known mega-predatory pliosaur -- a group of ocean-dwelling reptiles closely related to the famous long-necked plesiosaurs. The findings are rare and add new knowledge to the evolution of plesiosaurs.
Published NASA's Webb discovers new feature in Jupiter's atmosphere
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has discovered a new, never-before-seen feature in Jupiter's atmosphere. The high-speed jet stream, which spans more than 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers) wide, sits over Jupiter's equator above the main cloud decks. The discovery of this jet is giving insights into how the layers of Jupiter's famously turbulent atmosphere interact with each other, and how Webb is uniquely capable of tracking those features.
Published The encounter between Neanderthals and Sapiens as told by their genomes
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source About 40,000 years ago, Neanderthals, who had lived for hundreds of thousands of years in the western part of the Eurasian continent, gave way to Homo sapiens, who had arrived from Africa. This replacement was not sudden, and the two species coexisted for a few millennia, resulting in the integration of Neanderthal DNA into the genome of Sapiens. Researchers have analyzed the distribution of the portion of DNA inherited from Neanderthals in the genomes of humans (Homo sapiens) over the last 40,000 years. These statistical analyses revealed subtle variations in time and geographical space.
Published Source of largest ever Mars quake revealed
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have announced the results of an unprecedented collaboration to search for the source of the largest ever seismic event recorded on Mars. The study rules out a meteorite impact, suggesting instead that the quake was the result of enormous tectonic forces within Mars' crust.
Published Signatures of the Space Age: Spacecraft metals left in the wake of humanity's path to the stars
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Using tools hitched to the nose cone of their research planes and sampling more than 11 miles above the planet's surface, researchers have discovered significant amounts of metals in aerosols in the atmosphere, likely from increasingly frequent launches and returns of spacecraft and satellites. That mass of metal is changing atmospheric chemistry in ways that may impact Earth's atmosphere and ozone layer.
Published Extinct ape gets a facelift, 12 million years later
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study has reconstructed the well-preserved but damaged skull of a great ape species that lived about 12 million years ago. The species, Pierolapithecus catalaunicus, may be crucial to understanding great ape and human evolution.