Posted on Dec 5, 2022 in Astrobiology, Astrophysics, Biology, Climate Change, Evolution, Extraterrestrial Life, Future, James Webb Space Telescope, Planet Earth, Science, Science News, Technology, Universe
Today’s stories include Work begins in Western Australia on World’s Most Powerful Radio Telescopes to The Cause of Alzheimer’s Could Be Coming From Inside Your Mouth, and much more.
‘Are we alone in the universe?’: work begins in Western Australia on world’s most powerful radio telescopes, reports The Guardian. More than 100,000 antennas will be built on Wajarri country, enabling astronomers to peek billions of years back to the ‘cosmic dawn’
Over 1 Million New Stars Will Be Targeted For Alien Life Search--This search will expand the number of targets to search for alien life by a factor of 1,000, reports iFl Science. “The Breakthrough Listen initiative has announced a new collaboration with the MeerKAT observatory in South Africa to target over 1 million nearby stars in the search for technosignatures, the potential evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence.”
The Transcendent Human Brain. Humans are evolutionarily drawn to beauty. How do such complex experiences emerge from a collection of atoms and molecules? Reports Alan Lightman for The Atlantic. “Recently, I found myself in the office of the neuroscientist Robert Desimone, the director of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT, discussing what it takes to know that two people are going to fall in love.”
‘Holdout Humans’: A Glimpse Into Our Future if We Survive Another Million Years, reports Anders Sandberg for The Conversation. “Modern humans, Homo sapiens, have been around for roughly 300,000 years. So what will happen if we make it to a million years?”
‘Great scientific step forward’: Construction of world’s largest radio observatory is finally under way: Two giant telescopes — one in Australia, the other in South Africa — will comprise the supersensitive Square Kilometer Array, reports Nature. “The most exciting science will be phenomena that ‘we didn’t even know existed’ when the telescopes were designed, predicts SKA-Low telescope director Sarah Pearce, based in Perth. The first four arrays will be collecting data by 2024, with all the arrays completed by 2028.”
NASA’s Plan to Make JWST Data Immediately Available Will Hurt Astronomy–By releasing astronomers’ data before they’ve had a chance to analyze the information, NASA will make research less fair and equitable, reports Scientific American.
Chinese astronauts return to Earth after 6 months helping build a new space station, reports NPR. “Three Chinese astronauts landed in a northern desert on Sunday after six months working to complete construction of the Tiangong station, a symbol of the country’s ambitious space program, state TV reported.”
2-billion-year-old enzyme reconstructed: Detective work by molecular biologists and bioinformatics researchers, reports Diana Smikalla, Leipzig University for Phys.org–“Researchers at Leipzig University have solved a puzzle in the evolution of bacterial enzymes. By reconstructing a candidate for a special RNA polymerase as it existed about 2 billion years ago, they were able to explain a hitherto puzzling property of corresponding modern enzymes.”
Earth’s Oxygen Came From an Unexpectedly Deep And Hot Source, study Suggests, reports Science Alert. “Twenty-one percent of the atmosphere consists of this life-giving element. But in the deep past – as far back as the Neoarchean era 2.8 to 2.5 billion years ago – this oxygen was almost absent.”
Earth’s magnetic field supports biblical stories of destruction of ancient cities, reports Big Think. “By utilizing the ancient orientation of the Earth’s magnetic field, scientists have been able to piece together the history of military conquests in ancient Judea.”
New Estimate Finds More Magma Under Yellowstone Supervolcano–The extra magma doesn’t mean it’s more likely to erupt, scientists say. In fact, the better measurement helps them to understand its future, reports New York Times Science.
Can Plants See? In the Wake of a Controversial Study, the Answer’s Still Unclear, reports The Scientist. “In a paper published online last year in Plant Signaling and Behavior, citizen scientist Jacob White and University of Bonn graduate student Felipe Yamashita claim to have found evidence for a different hypothesis: that the vines can “see” other plants’ leaves, at least well enough to copy their looks.”
The Cause of Alzheimer’s Could Be Coming From Inside Your Mouth, reports Peter Dockrill for Science Alert. “In recent years, a growing number of scientific studies have backed an alarming hypothesis: Alzheimer’s disease isn’t just a disease, it’s an infection.
A Penguin-Like Shape May Have Helped This Dinosaur Dive–The duck-size animal’s body was streamlined for pursuing prey underwater, researchers say. Other paleontologists say more work is needed to confirm the finding, reports New York Times Science.
Fur Seals Made a Tremendous Comeback. That Might Be a Problem. The once-endangered species is now wreaking havoc on coastal vegetation, putting Antarctica at risk, reports Sean Mowbray for The Atlantic.
The hidden ocean pollution killing marine mammals, reports BBC Future. “Noise and chemical pollution in our oceans are affecting marine mammals’ ability to navigate, communicate and detect danger.”
On December 7 the Moon Will Photobomb Mars--Much of North America can witness a delightful astronomical event on the evening of December 7 as the moon blocks out Mars, reports Phil Plait for Scientific American.
Indigenous Tribes in U.S. Will Get $75 Million for Climate Relocation–Grants to Indigenous tribes in the U.S. totaling $75 million are the first from a new voluntary relocation program aimed at climate risks, reports Thomas Frank, E&E News.
Cruise passenger dies in ‘rogue wave incident’ on Antarctica trip--The large wave hit a Viking cruise ship on its way back to southern Argentina, reports The Washington Post.
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