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Categories: Anthropology: Early Humans, Offbeat: Space

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

Star formation in distant galaxies by the James Webb Space Telescope      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope's first images of galaxy clusters, researchers have, for the very first time, been able to examine very compact structures of star clusters inside galaxies, so-called clumps.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Prehistoric human migration in Southeast Asia driven by sea-level rise      (via sciencedaily.com) 

An interdisciplinary team of scientistshas found that rapid sea-level rise drove early settlers in Southeast Asia to migrate during the prehistoric period, increasing the genetic diversity of the region today.

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

Hubble directly measures mass of a lone white dwarf      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Astronomers have directly measured the mass of a single, isolated white dwarf -- the surviving core of a burned-out, Sun-like star. Researchers found that the white dwarf is 56 percent the mass of our Sun. This agrees with earlier theoretical predictions of the white dwarf's mass and corroborates current theories of how white dwarfs evolve as the end product of a typical star's evolution. The unique observation yields insights into theories of the structure and composition of white dwarfs.

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

Astronomers uncover a one-in-ten-billion binary star system: Kilonova progenitor system      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Astronomers using data from the SMARTS 1.5-meter Telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), have made the first confirmed detection of a star system that will one day form a kilonova -- the ultra-powerful, gold-producing explosion created by merging neutron stars. These systems are so phenomenally rare that only about 10 such systems are thought to exist in the entire Milky Way.

Offbeat: Space Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: Structures and Features
Published

The bubbling universe: A previously unknown phase transition in the early universe      (via sciencedaily.com) 

What happened shortly after the universe was born in the Big Bang and began to expand? Bubbles occurred and a previously unknown phase transition happened, according to particle physicists.

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

Researchers complete first real-world study of Martian helicopter dust dynamics      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have completed the first real-world study of Martian dust dynamics based on Ingenuity's historic first flights on the Red Planet, paving the way for future extraterrestrial rotorcraft missions. The work could support NASA's Mars Sample Return Program, which will retrieve samples collected by Perseverance, or the Dragonfly mission that will set course for Titan, Saturn's largest moon, in 2027.

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

Evidence that Saturn's moon Mimas is a stealth ocean world      (via sciencedaily.com) 

When a scientist discovered surprising evidence that Saturn's smallest, innermost moon could generate the right amount of heat to support a liquid internal ocean, colleagues began studying Mimas' surface to understand how its interior may have evolved. Numerical simulations of the moon's Herschel impact basin, the most striking feature on its heavily cratered surface, determined that the basin's structure and the lack of tectonics on Mimas are compatible with a thinning ice shell and geologically young ocean.

Computer Science: General Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: Space Space: Exploration Space: The Solar System
Published

Will machine learning help us find extraterrestrial life?      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have applied a deep learning technique to a previously studied dataset of nearby stars and uncovered eight previously unidentified signals of interest.

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

Volcano-like rupture could have caused magnetar slowdown      (via sciencedaily.com) 

In October 2020, a highly magnetic neutron star called SGR 1935+2154 abruptly began spinning more slowly. Astrophysicist now show the magnetar's rotational slowdown could have been caused by a volcano-like rupture near its magnetic pole.

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

Starry tail tells the tale of dwarf galaxy evolution      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A giant diffuse tail of stars has been discovered emanating from a large, faint dwarf galaxy. The presence of a tail indicates that the galaxy has experienced recent interaction with another galaxy. This is an important clue for understanding how so called 'ultra-diffuse' galaxies are formed.

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

Solar System formed from 'poorly mixed cake batter,' isotope research shows      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Earth's potassium arrived by meteoritic delivery service finds new research led by Earth and planetary scientists. Their work shows that some primitive meteorites contain a different mix of potassium isotopes than those found in other, more-chemically processed meteorites. These results can help elucidate the processes that shaped our Solar System and determined the composition of its planets.

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

NASA's Fermi detects first gamma-ray eclipses from 'spider' star systems      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists have discovered the first gamma-ray eclipses from a special type of binary star system using data from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. These so-called spider systems each contain a pulsar -- the superdense, rapidly rotating remains of a star that exploded in a supernova -- that slowly erodes its companion.

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

Webb spies Chariklo ring system with high-precision technique      (via sciencedaily.com) 

In an observational feat of high precision, scientists used a new technique with NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to capture the shadows of starlight cast by the thin rings of Chariklo. Chariklo is an icy, small body, but the largest of the known Centaur population, located more than 2 billion miles away beyond the orbit of Saturn.

Energy: Technology Offbeat: Space
Published

Plasma thrusters used on satellites could be much more powerful      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

It was believed that Hall thrusters, an efficient kind of electric propulsion widely used in orbit, need to be large to produce a lot of thrust. Now, a new study suggests that smaller Hall thrusters can generate much more thrust -- potentially making them candidates for interplanetary missions.

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

How a 3 cm glass sphere could help scientists understand space weather      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Space weather can interfere with spaceflight and the operation of satellites, but the phenomenon is very difficult to study on Earth because of the difference in gravity. Researchers effectively reproduced the type of gravity that exists on or near stars and other planets inside of a glass sphere measuring 3 centimeters in diameter, or about 1.2 inches. The achievement could help scientists overcome the limiting role of gravity in experiments that are intended to model conditions in stars and other planets.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Biology: Evolutionary Paleontology: Fossils
Published

Plague trackers: Researchers cover thousands of years in a quest to understand the elusive origins of the Black Death      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Seeking to better understand more about the origins and movement of bubonic plague, in ancient and contemporary times, researchers have completed a painstaking granular examination of hundreds of modern and ancient genome sequences, creating the largest analysis of its kind.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Paleontology: Fossils
Published

Ethical ancient DNA research must involve descendant communities, say researchers      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The analysis of ancient DNA allows scientists to trace human evolution and make important discoveries about modern populations. The data revealed by ancient DNA sampling can be valuable, but the human remains that carry this ancient DNA are often those of the ancestors of modern Indigenous groups, and some communities have expressed concerns about the ethics of sampling by outside parties. A group of scientists make the case for involvement of descendant communities in all aspects of the research process.

Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Biology: Evolutionary Paleontology: Fossils
Published

Smallpox has plagued humans since ancient Egyptian times, new evidence confirms      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Smallpox was once one of humanity's most devastating diseases, but its origin is shrouded in mystery. For years, scientific estimates of when the smallpox virus first emerged have been at odds with historical records. Now, a new study reveals that the virus dates back 2,000 years further than scientists have previously shown, verifying historical sources and confirming for the first time that the disease has plagued human societies since ancient times.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Paleontology: Fossils
Published

Study reveals average age at conception for men versus women over past 250,000 years      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Using a new method based upon comparing DNA mutation rates between parents and offspring, evolutionary biologists have revealed the average age of mothers versus fathers over the past 250,000 years, including the discovery that the age gap is shrinking, with women's average age at conception increasing from 23.2 years to 26.4 years, on average, in the past 5,000 years.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Paleontology: General
Published

Archaeologists uncover oldest known projectile points in the Americas      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Archaeologists have uncovered projectile points in Idaho that are thousands of years older than any previously found in the Americas, helping to fill in the history of how early humans crafted and used stone weapons.