Posted on Jul 30, 2022 in Planet Earth, Science
This weekend’s stories range from Ocean Discoveries Are Revising Long-Held Truths About Life to the Town with the Cleanest air in the World, and much more.
Ocean Discoveries Are Revising Long-Held Truths about Life–New findings show that the ocean is much more intertwined with our lives than we ever imagined, reports Timothy Shank is a biologist, director of the Molecular Ecology and Evolution Lab at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and co-leader of the Deep-Ocean Genomes Project for Scientific American.
‘Zoe’ Becomes the World’s First Named Heat Wave –Blistering temperatures pushing past 110 degrees Fahrenheit were ranked as a Category 3—the most severe tier—in Seville, Spain’s new heat wave system, reports Scientific American.
The town with the cleanest air in the world, reports BBC Future. “In Svalbard, there’s a village where the atmosphere is ultra-clean, Wi-Fi is banned, and all buildings go unlocked in case you need to hide from polar bears.”
Pollination first evolved in the world’s ancient oceans–Like Bees of the Seas, These Crustaceans Pollinate Seaweed. “It’s the first known case of an animal helping algae reproduce, and could suggest that pollination first evolved in the world’s ancient oceans, reports Annie Roth for The New York Times Science. “It was long thought that animals only pollinated plants on land. However, in 2016 scientists discovered that zooplankton pollinate Thalassia testudinum, a sea grass species found in the Caribbean”
Rare Earth hypothesis: Why we might really be alone in the universe–The originators of the theory, Peter Ward and Donald Brownlee, explain to Astronomy why they think the development of complex life on other worlds is likely extraordinarily rare.
Earth Has An Unexplainable, 27.5-Million-Year Cycle of Mass Extinctions –Turns out, our planet has a slow and steady heartbeat of floods and extinctions, and we don’t know why, reports Interesting Engineering.
DeepMind’s protein-folding AI cracks biology’s biggest problem –Artificial intelligence firm DeepMind has transformed biology by predicting the structure of nearly all proteins known to science in just 18 months, a breakthrough that will speed drug development and revolutionize basic science, reports New Scientist.
Indonesia’s giant capital city is sinking. Can the government’s plan save it? Indonesia has grand plans for Jakarta—a new capital on Borneo, a giant bird-shaped sea wall to protect Jakarta itself—but they don’t solve the underlying problem, reports National Geographic.
The super-clocks that define what time it is–“They’re called hydrogen masers, and they are extremely important atomic clocks. Along with around 400 others, placed all around the globe, they help the world define what time it is, right now, down to the nanosecond. Without these clocks – and the people, technology and procedures around them – the modern world would slowly drift into chaos.”
There Are Holes on the Ocean Floor. Scientists Don’t Know Why. –Similar openings on the sea floor were first spotted 18 years ago along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Their origins remain unknown. Scientists are asking the public for their thoughts, reports Christine Chung for The New York Times.
Hidden Chaos Found to Lurk in Ecosystems –-New research finds that chaos plays a bigger role in population dynamics than decades of ecological data seemed to suggest, reports Joanna Thompson for Quanta. “Physical scientists seem to find the phenomenon of chaos everywhere: in the orbits of planets, in weather systems, in a river’s swirling eddies. For nearly three decades, ecologists considered chaos in the living world to be surprisingly rare by comparison.”
AI Just Independently Discovered Alternate Physics–A new AI program developed by researchers at Columbia University has seemingly discovered its own alternative physics, reports Science Alert. “After being shown videos of physical phenomena on Earth, the AI didn’t rediscover the current variables we use; instead, it actually came up with new variables to explain what it saw.”
Scientists May Have Found a Key Shift Between The Brains of Humans And Neanderthals, reports Science Alert. “The study’s results imply that this step in the development of our neocortex (the wrinkled outer layer responsible for higher order thinking) plays a role in protecting us from disease, a feature Neanderthals appear to be missing.”
Two skyscraper-size asteroids are barreling toward Earth this weekend, reports Brandon Specktor for Space.com. Both rocks will pass well beyond the moon’s orbit.
An AI-driven physicist may have uncovered a new form of physics--A clever new AI-driven algorithm has been developed that defines its own variables when observing physical processes, reports Christopher McFadden for Interesting Engineering.
How humans’ ability to digest milk evolved from famine and disease –Landmark study is the first major effort to quantify how lactose tolerance developed, reports Nature.
A tectonic plate collision is messing with China’s new railway in the Haba Snow Mountain region –Engineers are fighting against time and nature to complete a railway in China’s Haba Snow Mountain region, reports Interesting Engineering.
Eerie Photo Proves the Existence of Milky Seas—A First –A night photograph taken from a sailboat near the island of Java validates a satellite image of a giant, glowing “milky sea,” reports Scientific American.
This map shows which US lakes contain brain-eating amoebas –Texas reported the most cases of the N. fowleri infection, reports Interesting Engineering.
Curated by The Daily Galaxy Editorial Staff
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