Dinosaurs may have been in decline long before the fateful asteroid hit Earth

New Delhi: While scientists widely believe that a large asteroid that struck Earth nearly 66 million years ago contributed to the global dinosaur extinction, new research from China now shows that the prehistoric predators may have been in retreat long before the incident .

Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, along with their collaborators, examined over 1,000 fossilized dinosaur eggs and egg shells from the Shanyang Basin in central China.

These fossils come from rock sequences approximately 150 meters thick. Researchers obtained detailed age estimates of the rock strata by analyzing and applying computer models to over 5,500 geological samples.

This allowed scientists to construct a timeline of almost two million years at the end of the Cretaceous, representing the period just before the extinction. This timeline allows direct comparisons with data from around the world.

The data showed that dinosaurs were probably already in decline around the world before the fateful asteroid impact led to their extinction.

Researchers suggest their decline may be due to known global climate variability and massive volcanic eruptions like those in the Deccan Traps of present-day India. Continue reading

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New research shows that Saturn’s moon may contain all the essential components of life

Scientists at the Southwest Research Institute in the US have uncovered new evidence of a key building block of life in the subsurface ocean of Saturn’s moon Enceladus – suggesting the planet may have the potential to host life.

Their research indicates that Enceladus’ ocean should be relatively rich in dissolved phosphorus, an essential component of life.

The research is based on the mission of NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. The spacecraft was deliberately crashed onto Saturn’s surface in 2017 to keep the moons untouched, having previously spotted Enceladus’ liquid waters beneath the surface and having flown through clouds of ice grains, water vapor erupting from cracks in the icy surface of the planet moon into space.

The Southwest Research Institute team has been studying Enceladus for years. They found that these plumes contain almost all of life’s basic needs and that while phosphorus is not directly present in the plume, there is evidence of its availability in the ocean beneath its icy crust.

Phosphorus in the form of phosphates is essential for all life on earth. It is essential for the formation of DNA and RNA, energy-carrying molecules, cell membranes, bones and teeth in humans and animals, and even the microbiome of marine plankton.

Team members performed thermodynamic and kinetic models simulating the geochemistry of phosphorus based on Cassini’s insights into the ocean-seafloor system on Enceladus. They developed a detailed geochemical model of how seafloor minerals dissolve in Enceladus’ ocean and predicted that phosphate minerals would be unusually soluble there. Continue reading

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Scientists are developing plastics that break down in seawater

Scientists at the University of California (UC) San Diego have developed a new biodegradable plastic that can be broken down in seawater – paving the way for new packaging that could potentially solve Earth’s plastic waste problem.

Previously, the team had developed polyurethane foams that are biodegradable in land-based composts.

Upon entering the ocean, plastic debris disrupts marine ecosystems, migrating to key locations and forming eddies such as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which covers an area of ​​more than 1.6 million square kilometers. These plastics never degrade. Instead, they break down into smaller particles and eventually become microplastics that linger in the environment for centuries.

The UC San Diego team conducted a series of tests on their biodegradable polyurethane materials.

They found that a range of marine organisms colonize the polyurethane foam samples and break down the material into its parent chemicals, which are consumed as nutrients by these microorganisms in the marine environment.

Data from the study suggests that the microorganisms living in these samples, a mix of bacteria and fungi, live throughout the natural marine environment, suggesting the foams will function similarly around the world. Continue reading

Polygon-shaped storms on Jupiter have puzzled scientists

An international team of scientists has created a model that may partially explain why cyclones orbiting Jupiter’s poles have retained their polygonal shape for years

In 2017, NASA’s Juno spacecraft discovered cyclones at Jupiter’s north and south poles. Images returned by the probe show that these hurricanes have persisted to this day and have not even changed shape.

The images are confusing because hurricanes take shape on Earth, move around for a while, and then dissipate.

A group of scientists led by Andrew P. Ingersoll of the California Institute of Technology have published their findings in the journal Nature Astronomy. It describes how shallow-water models have been used to explain, at least in part, why the hurricanes have lasted so long.

Photos from the planet’s north pole show that there are eight cyclones surrounding the central cyclone just above the pole. All eight are in close proximity and all are almost equidistant from the central cyclone — and arranged in an octagonal pattern.

A similar arrangement exists at the South Pole, where five cyclones are arranged in a pentagon.

The researchers now suggest that there is an “anticyclonic ring” of winds moving in the opposite direction of the cyclones, holding them in place. Continue reading

Three new snake species discovered in the Andes

A team of researchers from the Khamai Foundation in Ecuador has discovered three new snakes living underground beneath cemeteries and churches in remote towns in the Ecuadorian Andes.

Following the trail of locals who told them about snakes in the cemeteries, they were able to spot a group of burrowing snakes belonging to the genus Atractus. These ground snakes are the most species-rich snake genus in the world.

However, since they tend to remain hidden underground, most people never see them. Most of them inhabit remote cloud forests and live underground or in deep crevices. However, in this particular case, two of the new ground snakes were found living between crypts and one was found near a church.

All of this seems to indicate that in the Andes, at least, new species of snakes could be lurking just around the corner. Continue reading

(Edited by Theres Sudeep)

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