Posted on Aug 8, 2022 in Planet Earth, Science News
Today’s stories range from Ancient source of oxygen for life discovered hidden deep in the Earth’s crust to A biochemist’s view of life’s origin reframes cancer and aging, and much more.
Ancient source of oxygen for life hidden deep in the Earth’s crust, reports Newcastle University. “Scientists at Newcastle University have uncovered a source of oxygen that may have influenced the evolution of life before the advent of photosynthesis.”
A Biochemist’s View of Life’s Origin Reframes Cancer and Aging, reports Quanta. –“The biochemist Nick Lane, a professor of evolutionary biochemistry at University College London, thinks life first evolved in hydrothermal vents where precursors of metabolism appeared before genetic information. What if life arose in a geological environment where electrochemical gradients across tiny barriers occurred naturally, supporting a primitive form of metabolism while cells as we know them evolved?” His ideas could lead us to think differently about aging and cancer. See the Nick Lane video below.
Salt Might Be the Key to Extraterrestrial Life, reports SciTech Daily. ” Purdue University researchers led by Stephanie Olson, assistant professor of earth, atmospheric, and planetary sciences, have discovered that the presence of salt in seawater can also have a significant impact on the habitability of Earth and other planets.”
Newly Discovered Super-Earth ‘Ross 508b’, Located Just 37 Light-Years Away, May Possess Potential to Support Life, reports Weather.com. “Tthis ‘super-Earth’ is a rocky world with a mass around four times that of our Earth. And a year on Ross 508b lasts for just 11 Earth-days! This, of course, means that its orbit is not very large — which is understandable because red dwarfs are a lot smaller than the Sun that centers our solar system
A.I. Is Not Sentient. Why Do People Say It Is? “Robots can’t think or feel, despite what the researchers who build them want to believe,” reports Cade Metz for New York Times Technology.
The Human Brain Did Not Shrink 3,000 Years Ago –In new paper, UNLV-led anthropology team balks at a widely held belief that modern humans experienced an evolutionary decrease in brain size.
This Robot Dog Has an AI Brain and Taught Itself to Walk in Just an Hour, reports Singularity Hub.
When the Surgeon Was an Uneducated Barber–-A medical student confronts the history of surgery, reports Michael Denham for Nautilus.
NASA on UFOs –In the three decades since the discovery of the first exoplanets, science has gradually been overtaking science fiction. As noted recently at Scientific American, thinking about UFOs is no longer presumptive evidence of membership in the lunatic fringe, reports Mind Matters.
Earth broke the record for the shortest day since atomic clocks were invented, reports Megan Marples for CNN. “The atomic clock is a standardized unit of measurement that has been used since the 1950s to tell time and measure the Earth’s rotation, said Dennis McCarthy, retired director of time at the US Naval Observatory.”
An Interstellar Object May Have Struck Earth. Scientists Plan to Search The Ocean, reports Science Alert. “Back in 2014, an object crashed into the ocean just off the coast of Papua New Guinea. Data collected at the time indicated that the meteorite just might be an interstellar object, and if that’s true, then it’s only the third such object known (after ‘Oumuamua and Borisov), and the first known to exist on Earth.”
How the Ocean Sustains Complex Life –Detailed data about a host of physical and chemical forces are shaping a new view of the sea, reports Scientific American.
Scientists Invent a Paper Battery—Just Add Water, reports Scientific American. A new disposable battery is made of paper and other sustainable materials and is activated with a few drops of water
What Science Says About the Exercise Habits That Slow Aging–Want to slow aging? Make your body and brain 10 years younger with these exercise tips, reports Eat This Not That.
Is Earth getting closer to the sun, or farther away? asks Charles Q. Choi for LiveScience. And will this change in distance affect our planet’s climate?
The Guardian view on accelerating global heating: follow the science. “The scientists behind a new database of more than 400 extreme weather attribution studies have performed an essential service. This piece of work, drawing together every study of this type, ought to galvanize a greater sense of urgency around policymaking and campaigning. It spells out the alarming unpredictability as well as the extent of global heating’s consequences.
‘What a Horrible Place This Would Have Been’ –Archaeologists found the remains of 14 soldiers who died in a pivotal Revolutionary War battle — a fresh reminder of the violence of war, reports New York Times Science. “On Oct. 22, 1777, the army repelled a major assault by Hessian forces. Little-known today, the Battle of Red Bank was brief and ferocious, marking one of the worst defeats the Hessians suffered in the war.”
A brief history of Esperanto, the 135-year-old language hated by Hitler and Stalin–Can a shared language promote peace? Some people think so, reports Big Think.
How Darkness Can Illuminate the Insect Apocalypse –Insects may have been evolving to avoid light. So maybe we need to look harder for them, reports Nautilus.
The unexpected evolutionary benefits of celibacy--While becoming a monk is an evolutionary dead end for the individual, celibacy reaps benefits for the group as a whole, reports Big Think. “A new study in Tibet finds that men with monk brothers have more children and more wealth. The authors propose that sending some children into the abbey reduces sibling competition for resources and improves outcomes for the group.”
The Mysterious Dance of the Cricket Embryos--A team of biologists and mathematicians studied hours of video to learn how insects take shape in the egg. The secret is geometry, reports New York Times Science.
Curated by The Daily Galaxy Editorial Staff
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