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A team of paleontologists, geoscientists and evolutionary specialists affiliated with multiple institutions in China has found that a fossilized egg unearthed in 2021 is the smallest dinosaur egg ever found. The group describes where the eggs were found, the techniques used to study them, and what the researchers learned about them.

Prior to this new find, the smallest dinosaur egg ever found was 45.5 mm by 40.4 mm by 34.4 mm.

All animals possess some capacity for repairing and replacing the lining of their intestines, a process called intestinal regeneration. In mammals, including humans, this constant but relatively minor turnover of cells helps the intestine keep up with the daily requirements of eating. It is accomplished by stem cells that originate in intestinal crypts—microscopic depressions in the intestinal wall.

In stark contrast, snakes that feed infrequently—such as boas and pythons who can go weeks without a meal—do not possess intestinal crypts, yet they undergo some of the most extreme examples of intestinal regeneration found in the animal kingdom. When these snakes fast for long periods, their intestines become atrophied, shrunken and almost entirely non-functional.

However, when they feed, their intestines undergo massive regenerative growth, more than doubling in mass in 48 hours and rebuilding much of the intestinal cells and structures required to digest and absorb food. This shift is also accompanied by huge changes in the snakes' physiology and metabolism.

During the late middle Pleistocene, between 300 and 400 thousand years ago, at least three ancient elephant relatives died near a river in the Kashmir Valley of South Asia. Not long after, they were covered in sediment and preserved along with 87 stone tools made by the ancestors of modern humans.

The remains of these elephants were first discovered in 2000 near the town of Pampore, but the identity of the fossils, cause of death and evidence of human intervention remained unknown until now.

A team of researchers including Advait Jukar, a curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Florida Museum of Natural History, published two new papers on fossils from the Pampore site. In one, researchers describe their discovery of elephant bone flakes which suggests that early humans struck the bones to extract marrow, an energy-dense fatty tissue. The findings are the earliest evidence of animal butchery in India. The research is published in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews.

Source:

Human exploitation of a straight-tusked elephant (Palaeoloxodon) in Middle Pleistocene deposits at Pampore, Kashmir, India

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379124003950?via%3Dihub

How Earth's Early Life Thrived amid Catastrophic Asteroid Impacts

Sixty-six million years ago a 10-kilometer-wide space rock fell out of the sky over what is now the Yucatán Peninsula in the Gulf of Mexico. When it hit Earth, it blew a Maryland-sized hole in the crust, igniting global firestorms and killing off some 75 percent of species. For the dinosaurs it drove to extinction, the event was effectively the end of the world. But from the ashes survivors arose—our mammalian ancestors—beginning a vibrant new era in Earth’s history. Today this catastrophic impact is considered a cosmic act of creative destruction, one without which we humans would not exist.

Yet the event’s infamous impactor was nothing compared with the asteroid that struck Earth 3.26 billion years ago, amid what scientists call the Archean eon of our planet’s 4.5-billion-year history. The Archean space rock in that impact, dubbed “S2,” was 50 to 200 times larger—big enough to blast at least 10,000 cubic kilometers of vaporized rock into the skies that then recondensed into molten droplets and rained back to Earth. Unsurprisingly, those circumstances would have been “really disastrous for early life,”

The mass loss of the wood block was positively associated with the degree of connection and was significantly smaller in the Cross than in the Circle arrangement. These findings suggest that fungal mycelium can “recognize” the difference in the spatial arrangement of wood blocks as part of their wood decay activity.

Like its predecessor, BriteStorm can scoop up hostile radar emissions and emulate returns to create large numbers of false and confusing ‘ghost’ tracks and can also execute more traditional jamming, with even more adaptive capabilities on the horizon.

Scientists have discovered that exposed ice on Mars could create conditions suitable for photosynthesis, suggesting the possibility that microbial life could thrive there despite the planet’s harsh environment and intense ultraviolet radiation.

The new findings reveal the potential for the existence of life on the Red Planet near its sub-latitudes, revealing that photosynthetic organisms may be uniquely suited for survival in certain icy exposed regions on the planet.

Given the numerous proposed forms of dark matter, scientists are investigating multiple approaches for their detection.

This study centers on understanding how ultralight dark matter behaves in relation to extreme mass ratio inspirals (EMRIs). These systems consist of a supermassive black hole (SMBH) in conjunction with a smaller astronomical body, which may be a star or another black hole.

The gravitational waves emitted by these systems as the smaller stellar object spirals into the SMBH could point to the behavior of ultralight dark matter in and around these systems.

The beetle superfamily Elateroidea comprises the most biodiverse bioluminescent insects among terrestrial light-producing animals. Recent exceptional fossils from the Mesozoic era and phylogenomic studies have provided valuable insights into the origin and evolution of bioluminescence in elateroids. 

The fossil possesses deeply impressed oval pits on the apices of antennomeres 3–11, representing specialized sensory organs likely involved in olfaction. 

The light organ near the abdominal apex of Flammarionella resembles that found in extant light-producing lucioline fireflies. The growing fossil record of lampyrids provides direct evidence that the stunning light displays of fireflies were already established by the late Mesozoic.

The search for exoplanets has grown immensely in recent decades thanks to next-generation observatories and instruments. The current census is 5,766 confirmed exoplanets in 4,310 systems, with thousands more awaiting confirmation. With so many planets available for study, exoplanet studies and astrobiology are transitioning from the discovery process to characterization. Essentially, this means that astronomers are reaching the point where they can directly image exoplanets and determine the chemical composition of their atmospheres.

As always, the ultimate goal is to find terrestrial (rocky) exoplanets that are “habitable,” meaning they could support life. However, our notions of habitability have been primarily focused on comparisons to modern-day Earth (i.e., “Earth-like“), which has come to be challenged in recent years. In a recent study, a team of astrobiologists considered how Earth has changed over time, giving rise to different biosignatures. Their findings could inform future exoplanet searches using next-generation telescopes like the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO), destined for space by the 2040s.

A species of tropical butterfly with unusually expanded brain structures displays a fascinating mosaic pattern of neural expansion linked to a cognitive innovation.

The study, published in Current Biology, investigates the neural foundations of behavioral innovation in Heliconius butterflies, the only genus known to feed on both nectar and pollen. As part of this behavior, they demonstrate a remarkable ability to learn and remember spatial information about their food sources—skills previously connected to the expansion of a brain structure called the mushroom bodies, responsible for learning and memory.

Highlights

• Heliconiini butterflies have conserved wiring logic in spheroid mushroom body lobes

• Kenyon cell populations expanded to differing degrees in Heliconius butterflies

• Increased numbers of feedback neurons and conservation in dopaminergic neurons

• Mosaic evolution to facilitate cognitive processes associated with pollen feeding

An ancient slab of seafloor that was around when Earth’s earliest known dinosaurs emerged, has been discovered beneath the Pacific Ocean, where it has seemingly hovered in a sort of mid-dive for more than 120 million years.

In addition to illuminating geological processes deep inside Earth, the cold, descending slab of dense rock, located some 410 to 660 kilometers below the planet’s surface, could explain a mysterious gap between two sections of a giant blob in the mantle layer.

Paranormal researcher Brian J. Cano has been investigating ghosts for 22 years now, visiting locations all across the globe.

Brian started out as a skeptic but now he says he’s a skeptical believer, which means he thinks there’s something out there but is skeptical on how it’s reported. Saying not everything that happens during the night is paranormal activity.

One of those stories talks about Brian’s demonic experience with the circle of fire at the Grand Midway Hotel. Brian says, “When I say off the chart, I mean literally you go down the list: Chris was getting touched, I was hearing things audibly, Lisa Ann was communing directly with spirits… it was the most poignant encounter I ever had.”

On Earth, solar radiation can transmit down to multiple metres within ice, depending on its optical properties.

Organisms within ice can harness energy from photosynthetically active radiation while being protected from damaging ultraviolet radiation. On Mars, the lack of an effective ozone shield allows ~30% more damaging ultraviolet radiation to reach the surface in comparison with Earth.

However, our radiative transfer modelling shows that despite the intense surface ultraviolet radiation, there are radiatively habitable zones within exposed mid-latitude ice on Mars, at depths ranging from a few centimetres for ice with 0.01–0.1% dust, and up to a few metres within cleaner ice.

Numerical models predict that dense dusty snow in the martian mid-latitudes can melt below the surface at present.

Thus, if small amounts of liquid water are available at these depths, mid-latitude ice exposures could represent the most easily accessible locations to search for extant life on Mars.

RIKEN scientists looking for clues to the origins of life on Earth have discovered a new microbe that may shed light on how organisms first developed on Earth, the search for life elsewhere in the universe and how to improve microbial factories.

Their research, conducted in the rugged, deep-water-fed springs of northern California, uncovered a microorganism that converts carbon dioxide into other chemicals. This process not only generates energy, but employs a previously unknown metabolic pathway, suggesting novel methods of carbon fixation that may mimic the earliest forms of energy metabolism on our planet.

It is well known that dogs are capable of following human verbal instructions. However, very little is known about the equivalent ability in cats. In this study, we used a switched stimuli task to examine whether cats rapidly form picture-word association, which is a fundamental ability for word learning.

These results demonstrate that cats can rapidly form picture-word association.

Former UAP Task Force insider tells Ross Coulthart: We are not alone

Over the next few months, my colleagues and I started to explore what we could grow in the material. We found that tomatoes, peas and carrots all took to the soil and grew well. But could these plants realistically survive on Mars?

The planet does have water, but most of it is frozen at its poles or buried deep underground. So for plants to live, water would need to be pumped up to the surface. Mars has almost no atmosphere and no magnetic field, so plants would have to be housed in colonies, with greenhouse-like structures to protect them. In these, an internal ecosystem with a controlled atmosphere could help the plants to retrieve oxygen through hydrolysis.

Most stars shine in ultraviolet and infrared colours that are blocked by the Earth’s atmosphere, as well as the colours our eyes evolved to see.

Extra colours are useful. For example, we can weigh stars on the other side of our galaxy because massive stars are bright in infrared, while smaller ones are faint – and they stay that way throughout their lifetimes. However, we know where stars are being born because only young stars emit ultraviolet light.

In addition, independent measurements of the same thing are vital for rigorous science. Infrared telescopes, for example, can work together and have already made surprising discoveries. But it’s not great for diversity that the Webb, Euclid and Roman space telescopes all see infrared colours.

Alien Signal - Not if but When

Update from Simon Holland

A deceased man’s genitals have turned out to be a medical wonder. In a recent case report, doctors in the UK describe discovering that the man had three penises—an incredibly rare condition. Amazingly, the man may have never known about his unique anatomy, as the discovery was only made after his body was donated to science, and his external genitalia appeared perfectly normal.

Many of the ancient artefacts exposed by melting ice patches around the world relate to large-animal hunting. In summer, reindeer (caribou), bison, mountain sheep and other large animals would congregate on ice patches to avoid heat and biting insects, and autumn melt would support late-season grass growth, making the patches into high-elevation oases. Hunters followed the herds, as shown by lost and discarded hunting tools, along with everyday items, such as shoes, clothing and baskets, that accumulated and were preserved in the ice patches.

A well-preserved thylacine head was a gruesome sight – but it also contained RNA molecules crucial to reconstructing the extinct animal’s genome

Breakthroughs sometimes turn up in unexpected places. The researchers working on the international push to bring back the thylacine say they found theirs in a long-ignored bucket in the back of a cupboard at a Melbourne museum.

It contained an astonishingly well-preserved head of the extinct marsupial, also known as the Tasmanian tiger.

Work on the Great Wall began more than 2,500 years ago, its origins dating back to China’s Spring and Autumn Period of around 770 BCE to 476 BCE. Various sections were added in subsequent eras as competing dynasties and factions sought to exert their control.

Work eventually stopped in the 17th century.

Though not a single, unbroken structure, the wall spans over 21,000 kilometers, winding through 15 provinces, 97 prefectures and 404 counties.

Highlights

• One of the oldest dinosauromorphs is described.

• It is the earliest “silesaurid” with a sacrum composed of three vertebrae.

• The oldest episode of sympatry among “silesaurids” in South America is reported.

Conclusions

Gondwanax paraisensis was a bird-line archosaur that shared affinities with typical “silesaurids”. It comes from the oldest dinosauromorph-bearing beds of South America (i.e., Ladinian-Carnian boundary), comprising one of the oldest “silesaurids” worldwide (Fig. 7). The material preserves elements that are scarce among “silesaurids”, such as the sacrum. This structure is particularly interesting for Gondwanax paraisensis, which is composed of three vertebrae.