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Categories: Environmental: Biodiversity, Offbeat: Space
Published Stellar winds of three sun-like stars detected for the first time
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An international research team has for the first time directly detected stellar winds from three Sun-like stars by recording the X-ray emission from their astrospheres, and placed constraints on the mass loss rate of the stars via their stellar winds.
Published Beautiful nebula, violent history: Clash of stars solves stellar mystery
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source When astronomers looked at a stellar pair at the heart of a stunning cloud of gas and dust, they were in for a surprise. Star pairs are typically very similar, like twins, but in HD 148937, one star appears younger and, unlike the other, is magnetic. New data suggest there were originally three stars in the system, until two of them clashed and merged. This violent event created the surrounding cloud and forever altered the system's fate.
Published Tropical coral-infecting parasites discovered in cold marine ecosystems
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Parasites thought only to infect tropical coral reefs have been discovered in a large variety of creatures in cold marine ecosystems along the Northeast Pacific, according to new research.
Published Twinkle twinkle baby star, 'sneezes' tell us how you are
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have found that baby stars discharge plumes of gas, dust, and magnetic flux from their protostellar disk. The protostellar disk that surrounds developing stars are constantly penetrated by magnetic flux, and if too much magnetic flux remained, the resulting object would generate a magnetic field stronger than any observed protostar. These newly discovered discharges of magnetic flux, or 'sneezes' as the researchers describes them, may be a vital step in proper star formation.
Published Hybrid intelligence can reconcile biodiversity and agriculture
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source So far, biodiversity and agricultural productivity could not be reconciled because the socio-ecological system of agriculture is highly complex, and the interactions between humans and the environment are difficult to capture using conventional methods. A research team now shows a promising way to achieve both goals at the same time. They focus on further developing artificial intelligence in combination with collective human judgement: hybrid intelligence.
Published The hidden role of the Milky Way in ancient Egyptian mythology
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Astrophysicists shed light on the relationship between the Milky Way and the Egyptian sky-goddess Nut. The paper draws on ancient Egyptian texts and simulations to argue that the Milky Way might have shone a spotlight, as it were, on Nut's role as the sky. It proposes that in winter, the Milky Way highlighted Nut's outstretched arms, while in summer, it traced her backbone across the heavens.
Published Ants in Colorado are on the move due to climate change
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Ant species living in Boulder's foothills have shifted their habitat over the last six decades, potentially affecting local ecosystems, suggests a new study.
Published Deforestation harms biodiversity of the Amazon's perfume-loving orchid bees
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A survey of orchid bees in the Brazilian Amazon, carried out in the 1990s, is shedding new light the impact of deforestation on the scent-collecting pollinators, which some view as bellwethers of biodiversity in the neotropics.
Published 'Teacher Toads' can save native animals from toxic cane toads
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists from Macquarie University have come up with an innovative way to stop cane toads killing native wildlife by training goannas to avoid eating the deadly amphibians.
Published Humans can increase biodiversity, archaeological study shows
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Through the ages, the presence of humans has increased the heterogeneity and complexity of ecosystems and has often had a positive effect on their biodiversity.
Published Boreal forest and tundra regions worst hit over next 500 years of climate change, study shows
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Modelling climate change over a 500 year period shows that much of the boreal forest, the Earth's northernmost forests and most significant provider of carbon storage and clean water, could be seriously impacted, along with tundra regions, treeless shrublands north of the boreal forest that play a significant role in regulating the Earth's climate.
Published Inexplicable flying fox found in Hydra galaxy cluster
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source High sensitivity radio observations have discovered a cloud of magnetized plasma in the Hydra galaxy cluster. The odd location and shape of this plasma defy all conventional explanations. Dubbed the Flying Fox based on its silhouette, this plasma will remain a mystery until additional observations can provide more insight.
Published How the moon turned itself inside out
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Linking analyses of the moon's gravity field with models of its earliest evolution, scientists tell a story of the moon turning itself inside out after it solidified from a primordial magma ocean. The process left behind a vestige of dense, titanium-rich material beneath its Earth-facing side that makes its presence known by gravity anomalies.
Published Telescope detects unprecedented behavior from nearby magnetar
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Captured by cutting-edge radio telescope technology, a chance reactivation of a magnetar -- the Universe's most powerful magnets -- has revealed an unexpectedly complex environment.
Published Astronomy: How do brown dwarfs form?
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New observations provide insights into whether the birth of the giant planets takes a similar course to that of stars.
Published Four in five bird species cannot tolerate intense human pressures
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source In a recent study, researchers found that 78% of the world's bird species do not thrive in the most modified human-dominated environments. These species are also most likely to have declining populations.
Published CHEOPS detects a 'rainbow' on an exoplanet
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The CHEOPS space telescope is providing new information on the mysterious exoplanet WASP-76b. This ultra-hot giant is characterized by an asymmetry between the amount of light observed on its eastern terminator -- the fictitious line that separates its night side from its day side -- and that observed on its western terminator. This peculiarity is thought to be due to a 'glory', a luminous phenomenon similar to a rainbow, which occurs if the light from the star -- the 'sun' around which the exoplanet orbits -- is reflected by clouds made up of a perfectly uniform substance. If this hypothesis is confirmed, this would be the first detection of this phenomenon outside our solar system.
Published Stellar collisions produce strange, zombie-like survivors
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Densely packed, fast-moving stars at the Milky Way's center can collide with each other. New research uses simulations to explore the outcomes of these collisions. Some collisions are more like 'violent high fives' while others are full-on mergers.
Published The life aquatic: A game changer for frog vision, but little difference between night and day
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Frogs display a remarkable diversity of species as a whole, but does the same hold true for their visual abilities? A new study sought to answer this question by collaborating with researchers in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Cameroon, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, French Guiana, Gabon, Seychelles, Sweden, United Kingdom and the United States, to get a sample of a diverse array of frogs to study the visual pigments found in their eyes. The researchers found this diversity is largely 'reflected' in the pigments, especially for aquatic frogs versus those living on the ground or in trees. They found little difference with the small groups of frogs that have adapted to daytime conditions as opposed to their nocturnal cousins.
Published Adult fish struggle to bounce back in marine protected areas
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Many marine protected areas are falling short of their most basic purpose: to rebuild struggling fish populations. In a new study, scientists looked at the age breakdown of reef fish in marine protected areas for the first time. They discovered in almost all of them, adult fish populations -- vital to spawning the next generation -- have either flatlined or declined.