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Categories: Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology, Space: The Solar System
Published Dinosaurs were on the up before asteroid downfall
(via sciencedaily.com) Dinosaurs dominated the world right up until a deadly asteroid hit the earth, leading to their mass extinction, some 66 million years ago, a landmark study reveals. Fresh insights into dinosaurs' ecosystems -- the habitats and food types that supported their lives -- suggests that their environments were robust and thriving, right up until that fateful day, at the end of the Cretaceous period.
Published Meteorites plus gamma rays could have given Earth the building blocks for life
(via sciencedaily.com) Even as detailed images of distant galaxies from the James Webb Space Telescope show us more of the greater universe, scientists still disagree about how life began here on Earth. One hypothesis is that meteorites delivered amino acids -- life's building blocks -- to our planet. Now, researchers have experimentally shown that amino acids could have formed in these early meteorites from reactions driven by gamma rays produced inside the space rocks.
Published Ancient amphibians had their bones cooked
(via sciencedaily.com) Scientists have solved a decades-long mystery as to why ancient tetrapods -- amphibian-like creatures that lived over 300 million years ago -- preserved in one of Ireland's most important fossil sites seemingly had their bones cooked after they died.
Published Ankylosaurs battled each other as much as they fought off T. rex
(via sciencedaily.com) Scientists have found new evidence for how armored dinosaurs used their iconic tail clubs. The exceptional fossil of the ankylosaur Zuul crurivastator has spikes along its flanks that were broken and re-healed while the dinosaur was alive -- injuries that the scientists think were caused from a strike by another Zuul's massive tail club. This suggests ankylosaurs had complex behavior, possibly battling for social and territorial dominance or even engaging in a 'rutting' season for mates.
Published Megadrought: How the current Southwestern North American megadrought is affecting Earth's upper atmosphere
(via sciencedaily.com) New research, based on two decades' worth of data, shows that in the ten years after its onset in 2000, the Southwestern North American (SWNA) megadrought caused a 30% change in gravity wave activity in Earth's upper atmosphere.
Published Tiny underwater sand dunes may shed light on larger terrestrial and Martian formations
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have been studying the dynamics of how crescent-shaped sand dunes are formed. Known as barchans, these formations are commonly found in various sizes and circumstances, on Earth and on Mars. Using a computational fluid dynamics approach, the team carried out simulations by applying the equations of motion to each grain in a pile being deformed by a fluid flow, showing the ranges of values for the proper computation of barchan dunes down to the grain scale.
Published Giant mantle plume reveals Mars is more active than previously thought
(via sciencedaily.com) Orbital observations unveil the presence of an enormous mantle plume pushing the surface of Mars upward and driving intense volcanic and seismic activity. The discovery reveals that Mars, like Earth and Venus, possesses an active interior, which challenges current views on the evolution of the red planet.
Published Researchers say space atomic clocks could help uncover the nature of dark matter
(via sciencedaily.com) Studying an atomic clock on-board a spacecraft inside the orbit of Mercury and very near to the Sun could be the trick to uncovering the nature of dark matter.
Published Fossil discovery in storeroom cupboard shifts origin of modern lizard back 35 million years
(via sciencedaily.com) A specimen retrieved from a cupboard of the Natural History Museum in London has shown that modern lizards originated in the Late Triassic and not the Middle Jurassic as previously thought.
Published Lost medieval chapel sheds light on royal burials at Westminster Abbey, finds new study featuring 15th-century reconstruction
(via sciencedaily.com) New evidence, helping to form a 15th-century reconstruction of part of Westminster Abbey, demonstrates how a section of the building was once the focus for the royal family's devotion to the cult of a disemboweled saint and likely contained gruesome images of his martyrdom.
Published Small asteroids are probably young
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The impact experiment conducted on the asteroid Ryugu by the Japanese Hayabusa2 mission which took place two years ago resulted in an unexpectedly large crater. With the use of simulations, a team has recently succeeded in gaining new insights from the experiment regarding the formation and development of asteroids.
Published Fossil overturns more than a century of knowledge about the origin of modern birds
(via sciencedaily.com) Fossilized fragments of a skeleton, hidden within a rock the size of a grapefruit, have helped upend one of the longest-standing assumptions about the origins of modern birds.
Published Mammoth problem with extinction timeline
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Paleontologists say environmental DNA is not always helpful in identifying when animals like mammoths went extinct because genetic material found in sediment could have come from animals that died thousands of years earlier.
Published New quantum computing feat is a modern twist on a 150-year-old thought experiment
(via sciencedaily.com) New research demonstrates a 20x improvement in resetting a quantum bit to its '0' state, using a modern version of the 'Maxwell's demon'.
Published DNA sequence enhances understanding origins of jaws
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers have discovered and characterized a DNA sequence found in jawed vertebrates, such as sharks and humans, but absent in jawless vertebrates, such as lampreys. This DNA is important for the shaping of the joint surfaces during embryo development.
Published Ancient superpredator got big by front-loading its growth in its youth
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Whatcheeria, a six-foot-long salamander-like creature that lived 340 million years ago, was the T. rex of its time: the biggest, baddest predator in its habitat. A new study reveals how they grew to their 'giant' size: instead of growing slow and steady throughout their lives like many modern reptiles and amphibians, they did most of their growing when they were young.
Published 525-million-year-old fossil defies textbook explanation for brain evolution
(via sciencedaily.com) According to a new study, fossils of a tiny sea creature with a delicately preserved nervous system solve a century-old debate over how the brain evolved in arthropods, the most species-rich group in the animal kingdom. Combining detailed anatomical studies of the fossilized nervous system with analyses of gene expression patterns in living descendants, they conclude that a shared blueprint of brain organization has been maintained from the Cambrian until today.
Published Ancient Roman coins reveal long-lost emperor
(via sciencedaily.com) A gold coin long dismissed as a forgery appears to be authentic and depicts a long-lost Roman emperor named Sponsian, according to a new study.
Published 1,700-year-old spider monkey remains discovered in Teotihuacán, Mexico
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The complete skeletal remains of a spider monkey -- seen as an exotic curiosity in pre-Hispanic Mexico -- grants researchers new evidence regarding social-political ties between two ancient powerhouses: Teotihuacán and Maya Indigenous rulers. The remains of other animals were also discovered, as well as thousands of Maya-style mural fragments and over 14,000 ceramic sherds from a grand feast. These pieces are more than 1,700 years old.
Published NASA's Webb catches fiery hourglass as new star forms
(via sciencedaily.com) NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has revealed the once-hidden features of the protostar within the dark cloud L1527, providing insight into the beginnings of a new star. These blazing clouds within the Taurus star-forming region are only visible in infrared light, making it an ideal target for Webb's Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam).