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Categories: Paleontology: Fossils, Space: Exploration

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Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Weigh a quasar's galaxy with precision      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have managed to weigh -- more precisely than any other technique -- a galaxy hosting a quasar, thanks to the fact that it acts as a gravitational lens. Detection of strong gravitational lensing quasars is expected to multiply with the launch of Euclid this summer.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Mysterious dashes revealed in Milky Way's center      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In the early 1980s, astronomers discovered gigantic, one-dimensional filaments dangling vertically near Sagittarius A*, our galaxy's central supermassive black hole. Now, astronomers have discovered a new population of filaments -- but these threads are much shorter and lie horizontally or radially, spreading out like spokes on a wheel from the black hole.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Astrophysicists confirm the faintest galaxy ever seen in the early universe      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

After the Big Bang, the universe expanded and cooled sufficiently for hydrogen atoms to form. In the absence of light from the first stars and galaxies, the universe entered a period known as the cosmic dark ages. The first stars and galaxies appeared several hundred million years later and began burning away the hydrogen fog left over from the Big Bang, rendering the universe transparent, like it is today. Researchers have now confirmed the existence of a distant, faint galaxy typical of those whose light burned through the hydrogen atoms; the finding should help them understand how the cosmic dark ages ended.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

NIRISS instrument on Webb maps an ultra-hot Jupiter's atmosphere      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

There's an intriguing exoplanet out there -- 400 light-years out there -- that is so tantalizing that astronomers have been studying it since its discovery in 2009. One orbit for WASP-18 b around its star that is slightly larger than our Sun takes just 23 hours. There is nothing like it in our Solar System. A new study about this exoplanet, an ultra-hot gas giant 10 times more massive than Jupiter.

Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Nature Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Fossils
Published

Geneticists discover hidden 'whole genome duplication' that may explain why some species survived mass extinctions      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Geneticists have unearthed a major event in the ancient history of sturgeons and paddlefish that has significant implications for the way we understand evolution. They have pinpointed a previously hidden 'whole genome duplication' (WGD) in the common ancestor of these species, which seemingly opened the door to genetic variations that may have conferred an advantage around the time of a major mass extinction some 200 million years ago.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Marine Ecology: Extinction Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

The clams that fell behind, and what they can tell us about evolution and extinction      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study examined how bivalves -- the group that includes clams, mussels, scallops, and oysters -- evolved among many others in the period of rapid evolution known as the Cambrian Explosion. The team found that though many other lineages burst into action and quickly evolved a wide variety of forms and functions, the bivalves lagged behind. The study has implications for how we understand evolution and the impact of extinctions.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General
Published

Quest for alien signals in the heart of the Milky Way takes off      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A graduate student is spearheading an extraordinary scientific endeavor -- a groundbreaking mission to uncover periodic signals emanating from the core of the Milky Way called the Breakthrough Listen Investigation for Periodic Spectral Signals (BLIPSS). Such repetitive patterns could be the key to unlocking the mysteries of extraterrestrial intelligence in our galaxy.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

Towering plume of water escaping from Saturn moon      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have observed a towering plume of water vapor more than 6,000 miles long -- roughly the distance from the U.S. to Japan -- spewing from the surface of Saturn's moon, Enceladus.

Space: Astronomy Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Astronomers discover last three planets Kepler telescope observed before going dark      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

With the help of citizen scientists, astronomers discovered what may be the last three planets that the Kepler Space Telescope saw before it was retired.

Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Microbiology Paleontology: Fossils
Published

4,000-year-old plague DNA found -- the oldest cases to date in Britain      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have identified three 4,000-year-old British cases of Yersinia pestis, the bacteria causing the plague -- the oldest evidence of the plague in Britain to date.

Biology: Biochemistry Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Dinosaurs Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

107-million-year-old pterosaur bones: Oldest in Australia      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A team of researchers have confirmed that 107-million-year-old pterosaur bones discovered more than 30 years ago are the oldest of their kind ever found in Australia, providing a rare glimpse into the life of these powerful, flying reptiles that lived among the dinosaurs.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

One-third of galaxy's most common planets could be in habitable zone      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A third of the exoplanets orbiting common M dwarf stars have gentle enough orbits to potentially be in the habitable zone capable of hosting liquid water.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

X-ray emissions from black hole jets vary unexpectedly, challenging leading model of particle acceleration      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Black hole jets are known to emit x-rays, but how they accelerate particles to this high-energy state is still a mystery. Surprising new findings appear to rule out a leading theory, opening the door to reimagining how particle acceleration works. One model of how jets generate x-rays expects the jets' x-ray emissions to remain stable over long time scales. However, the new paper found that the x-ray emissions of a statistically significant number of jets varied over just a few years.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Astronomers discover a key planetary system to understand the formation mechanism of the mysterious 'super-Earths'      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A study presents the detection of a system of two planets slightly larger than Earth orbiting a cold star in a synchronized dance. Named TOI-2096, the system is located 150 light-years from Earth. This system, located 150 light-years from Earth, is one of the best candidates for a detailed study of their atmosphere with the JWST space telescope.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Helium nuclei research advances our understanding of cosmic ray origin and propagation      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The latest observations from Low Earth Orbit with the International Space Station provide further evidence of spectral hardening and softening of cosmic ray particles.

Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

A deep underground lab could hold key to habitability on Mars      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Tunnels deep underground in North Yorkshire are providing a unique opportunity to study how humans might be able to live and operate on the Moon or on Mars.

Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

NASA's Hubble hunts for intermediate-sized black hole close to home      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astronomers have come up with what they say is some of their best evidence yet for the presence of a rare class of 'intermediate-sized' black hole that may be lurking in the heart of the closest globular star cluster to Earth, located 6,000 light-years away.

Chemistry: General Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Severe Weather Geoscience: Volcanoes Space: Exploration Space: General
Published

Eruption of Tonga underwater volcano found to disrupt satellite signals halfway around the world      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers found that the Hunga-Tonga eruption was associated with the formation of an equatorial plasma bubble in the ionosphere, a phenomenon associated with disruption of satellite-based communications. Their findings also suggest that a long-held atmospheric model should be revised.

Biology: Biochemistry Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Nature Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Fossils of a saber-toothed top predator reveal a scramble for dominance leading up to 'the Great Dying'      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A tiger-sized saber-toothed creature called Inostrancevia has previously only been found in Russia. But scientists have discovered its fossils in South Africa, suggesting that it migrated 7,000 miles across the supercontinent Pangaea during the world's worst mass extinction 252 million years ago. Heading to South Africa allowed it to fill a gap in a faraway ecosystem that had lost its top predators.

Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

An X-ray look at the heart of powerful quasars      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have observed the X-ray emission of the most luminous quasar seen in the last 9 billion years of cosmic history, known as SMSS J114447.77-430859.3, or J1144 for short. The new perspective sheds light on the inner workings of quasars and how they interact with their environment.