Monthly Archives: May 2024

New bovid fossil found by paleontologists at Cradle of Humankind site

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chrome dry A Pliocene-Pleistocene ruin in South Africa, the cradle of humanity. It has produced a diverse and rich animal community as well as important human specimens, including: Paranthropus robustus and early homo. Paleontologists have unearthed bovid fossils from 2.9 to 1.8 million years old at Kromdraai, revealing the existence of an unknown species that once roamed this ancient grassland with our ancestors.

Hanon other. It vividly depicts a landscape dominated by vast grasslands and suggests the complex interactions of life that flourished in this region during the Pliocene and Pleistocene periods. Image credit: Wits University.

Dr Raphael Hannon, a researcher at the University of the Witwatersrand, said: “When we think of paleontology, images of dinosaurs often come to mind, but the study of modern animals such as the bovidae is also important.''

“Bovids are diverse and successful in Africa, providing insight into both ancient and modern ecosystems.”

“Their evolutionary history is intertwined with ours. They have been an important part of landscapes and human societies since the Miocene epoch, about 23 million years ago.”

Bovidae is a member of the family Bovidaemodern water buffalo, antelope, and gazelle.

Their diversity and abundance at the Kromdraai site provides a glimpse into the diet and behavior of both large carnivores and our ancient relatives.

As prey, these animals shaped the predation patterns of the region's megafauna and, in turn, influenced the survival strategies of hominids. Paranthropus robustus and early homo seed.

Discovery of extinct species such as gazelles Gazella giant gazella and the existence of an as-yet-unnamed buffalo closely related to it Sincerus acoelotus It represents a grassland-dominated environment.

This finding is supported by comparisons with other Plio-Pleistocene sites across South Africa, suggesting that different hominid species are associated with different habitats.

meanwhile Australopithecus Early on, it seemed to prefer forests and closed, moist environments. homo The species is found in areas adapted to open, dry conditions.

Diverse bovids related to paranthropusHowever, it has been suggested that these hominids have a wide range of environmental adaptability.

“One of the biggest challenges was the small buffalo skull (Sinceras sp.),” Dr. Hannon said.

“The skull was discovered as dozens of small broken bone fragments, but we spent many hours and were able to put most of the pieces back together, allowing us to determine what animal it belonged to. I did it.”

“Even after reinstalling all the parts, it was very fragile and difficult to manipulate and locate.”

“The fossil record of African buffalo is poor, especially in South Africa, so finding relevant information to help identify the skull was difficult.”

The significance of these discoveries extends beyond the mere identification of ancient animals.

The bovid community of Kromdraai is a mix of older Pliocene and younger Pleistocene taxa, providing a window into the changing landscape of ancient Africa.

These changes recorded in bovid bones and teeth reflect the dynamic nature of Earth's ecosystems and the adaptability of life in the face of changing climate and habitat.

Furthermore, studies of these fossils provide a chronological marker for this site, with biochronology showing that Kromdraai Unit P accumulated between 2.9 and 1.8 million years ago.

This range is critical to understanding the timeline of human evolution in this region and provides potential insights into the emergence of humans. Paranthropus robustus and other important species of southern Africa.

“The Kromdraai ruins continue to be evidence of the richness of our Earth's past, inviting scientists and enthusiasts alike to ponder the complex relationship between Earth's history and our origins. “We invite you,” the authors said.

Regarding this research, paper in diary Quaternary Science Review.

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Raphael Hannon other. 2024. New fossil bovidae (Mammalia: Artiodactyla) discovered from Cromdraai Unit P, South Africa and their implications for biochronology and human paleoecology. Quaternary Science Review 331: 108621; doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108621

Source: www.sci.news

The Hubble Space Telescope zooms in on the heart of NGC 4753

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NGC 4753 is characterized by a bright white core and distinct dust lanes around the core.

This Hubble image shows part of the lenticular galaxy NGC 4753, about 60 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / L. Kelsey.

NGC4753 It is located approximately 60 million light years away in the constellation Virgo.

Also known as LEDA 43671, UGC 8009, or IRAS 12498-0055, this lenticular galaxy was discovered by German-born British astronomer William Herschel on February 22, 1784.

NGC 4753 is a member of galaxy group NGC 4753 in the Virgo II cloud, a collection of at least 100 galaxy clusters and individual galaxies extending from the southern edge of the Virgo Supercluster.

“NGC 4753 is thought to be the result of a galaxy merger with a nearby dwarf galaxy about 1.3 billion years ago,” Hubble astronomers said in a statement.

“The unique dust lanes around the galactic cores are thought to be formed by this merging event.”

“Most of the galaxy's mass is now thought to reside within a slightly flattened spherical halo of dark matter.”

“Dark matter is a type of matter that cannot currently be directly observed, but it is thought to make up about 85% of all matter in the universe,” the researchers said.

“It is called 'dark' because it does not appear to interact with electromagnetic fields and therefore does not appear to emit, reflect, or refract light.”

“This object is also of scientific interest for testing various theories about the formation of lenticular galaxies, given its low-density environment and complex structure.”

“Additionally, this galaxy has experienced two known Type Ia supernovae.”

“These types of supernovae are very important because they are caused by the explosion of a white dwarf star with a companion star and always peak at the same brightness, or 5 billion times brighter than the Sun.”

“Knowing the true brightness of these events and comparing it to their apparent brightness gives astronomers a unique opportunity to measure distances in the universe.”

This new image of NGC 4753 consists of observations from Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) found in the ultraviolet and optical parts of the spectrum.

Two filters were used to sample different wavelengths. Color is obtained by assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter.

Source: www.sci.news

Titan’s underground ocean revealed by Cassini observations

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Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, harbors an ocean of low-density water or ammonia inside, according to an analysis of archival data from NASA’s Cassini mission.

A representation of Cassini’s orbit used to calculate Titan’s gravity. The colored part of the orbit shows the distance from Cassini to Titan, with the minimum distance shown in red. A cross-section of Titan shows the moon’s different layers and blue oceans. In the background you can see Saturn with its rings and ring shadows. Image credit: Britt Griswold, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

“Liquid water is one of the prerequisites for life,” said Dr. Sander Goossens of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and colleagues.

“Water is rarely liquid on the surfaces of planets, but many moons of the solar system, such as Titan, have underground oceans.”

“These probably formed a long time ago, which begs the question why they haven’t already frozen in a cold environment far from the sun.”

“Our study supports the explanation that ammonia extended the life of Titan’s liquid oceans. Additionally, it also provides insight into Titan’s deeper layers.”

NASA’s Cassini mission explored Saturn and its icy moons for more than a decade.

Among its many instruments, Cassini carried a radio science subsystem that enabled radiation tracking of Earth-based spacecraft by the Deep Space Network.

These data were used to determine the gravitational field and internal structure of some of Saturn’s moons and Saturn itself. Cassini data was also used to determine Titan’s tidal response.

“The Cassini space probe flew around Saturn from 2005 to 2017,” the researchers said.

“Probes have been sent close to the moon many times to accurately measure Titan’s gravity.”

“Cassini needed to skim past Titan at exactly the right time to properly map the changes in gravity.”

“This is because Titan’s deformation is due to Saturn’s tidal forces, and the tidal forces depend on the distance between Titan and Saturn.”

“Measurements taken when Titan was close to Saturn and when it was far away maximized the difference in Titan’s deformation, and therefore its impact on gravity.”

Scientists calculated Cassini’s speed from precise radar measurements and calculated changes in gravity and the resulting deformation of Titan.

They carefully examined the tidal effects on Titan at each location on the spacecraft’s orbit and concluded that the deformation was smaller than previously calculated.

According to numerical simulations of the moon’s deformation for different internal structures, the most likely scenario is that the ocean has a density similar to water and contains small amounts of ammonia.

“The subsurface ocean may help transport organic matter from the moon’s rocky core to the surface,” the authors said.

“It was thought that Titan’s thick layer of ice between its ocean and its core made this difficult.”

“Our analysis suggests that the ice layer may be thinner than previously thought, and that material exchange between the rock and the ocean is more likely.”

“The organic molecules this produces are considered important ingredients for the emergence of life.”

of study It was published in the magazine natural astronomy.

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S. Goossens other. A low-density ocean inside Titan estimated from Cassini data. Nat Astron, published online March 21, 2024. doi: 10.1038/s41550-024-02253-4

Source: www.sci.news

Scientists discover a previously unknown species of fake scorpion trapped in 50-million-year-old amber

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Paleontologists have reported fossils of a new genus and species of pseudoscorpion from the Eocene Cambay amber of western India.

Geogaranya variensis. Image credit: Agnihotri other, doi: 10.26879/1276.

pseudo scorpion It is the earliest order of arthropods to colonize Earth’s land during the early Devonian period.

This diverse order accounts for more than 3% of all known arachnid species.

“Pseudoscorpions are an ancient lineage of terrestrial arachnids that are morphologically similar to real scorpions, but lack the tail and stinger,” said Dr. Priya Agnihotri of DST’s Birbal Sahni Institute of Paleosciences and colleagues.

“Certain families have unique venom devices in the serrated digits of their palps, which evolved independently of the venom devices of scorpions and spiders.”

“Recent research also supports the inclusion of pseudoscorpions as a sister group to scorpions.”

“Due to their delicate bodies and small size, these fossils are mainly found in amber deposits around the world rather than in sediments,” they added.

“Forty-nine pseudoscorpion species have been recorded from Eocene Baltic amber and Rovno amber.”

Newly discovered pseudoscorpion species belongs to the small scorpion family Goridae.

named Geogaranya variensis showing strong similarities with extant genera. Geogalypus From Sri Lanka, India, and New Guinea.

“The Geogarypidae family is one of a group of bark-dwelling and leaf litter-dwelling species similar to the Geogarypidae family. Gallipidae It has a distinctive subtriangular carapace and eyes located near the leading edge,” the paleontologist said.

“This family includes more than 70 species with habitats suitable for tropical and subtropical regions, some of which have been reported from temperate biomes.”

“Geogarypidae are more common in Baltic and Rovno amber, and there are some records from Cretaceous Burmese amber.”

“Unlike the sparse record of fossils, their modern-day counterparts have been recorded in all major biogeographic regions, including Europe, Central Asia, North America, and North Africa.”

Amber from Cambay from 50 million years ago. Geogaranya variensis It was discovered in the open-pit Valia lignite mine, part of the Cambay Shale Formation, in the Cambay Basin of Gujarat, India.

“The Cambay Shale Formation overlies the Deccan Trap, and below it is the Paleocene to lower Eocene Vagadkol Formation,” the researchers said.

According to the team: Geogaranya variensis It is one of the smallest known adult pseudoscorpion fossils in amber from the Cambay Basin.

This discovery further strengthens the biodiversity of bark-dwelling arthropods identified in Eocene amber from western India.

“The discovery of the smallest known adult pseudoscorpion in Cambay Basin amber aligns it with fossil taxa recorded in Baltic Sea amber and Bitterfeld amber that survived the early Eocene. “This provides insight into similar bark-dwelling arthropod taxa,” the scientists concluded.

“Scanning electron microscopy studies revealed diagnostic features in the fossils, such as abnormally enlarged palps. This strengthened Foresy’s idea that species from non-arboreal habitats could be mistakenly This suggests that it may have been carried in amber and had a connection to a flying host.”

discovery of Geogaranya variensis is reported in paper in diary Old Trogia Electronica.

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priya agnihotri other. 2024. A new genus and species of fossil pseudoscorpion (Arachnida: Pseudoscorpiones) discovered in Eocene amber from western India. Old Trogia Electronica 27 (2):a26; doi: 10.26879/1276

Source: www.sci.news

NASA reveals stunning visualization of a supermassive black hole’s event horizon

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Thanks to a new visualization created on a NASA supercomputer, we can now dive into the event horizon, the point of no return for a black hole.

“People often ask about this, but simulating these hard-to-imagine processes is the key to bringing the mathematics of relativity to reality,” said Dr. Jeremy Schnitman, an astrophysicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. “It helps us connect this with real-world consequences in the universe.”

“So I simulated two different scenarios: one in which the camera, standing in for the daring astronaut, misses the event horizon and the slingshot recedes; This is a scenario in which your fate will be determined.

To create the visualization, Dr. Schnitman worked with scientist Brian Powell at Goddard Space Flight Center and used the Discover supercomputer at the NASA Climate Simulation Center.

It took about five days to generate about 10 terabytes of data and run on just 0.3% of Discover’s 129,000 processors. It would take a typical laptop more than a decade to do the same thing.

The destination is a supermassive black hole with a mass 4.3 million times that of the Sun, comparable to the monster at the center of the Milky Way.

“If I had a choice, I would want to fall into a supermassive black hole,” Dr. Schnitman said.

“Stellar-mass black holes, containing up to about 30 solar masses, have much smaller event horizons and stronger tidal forces, and can tear apart approaching objects before they reach the horizon.”

This occurs because the gravitational force at the edge of the object near the black hole is much stronger than at the opposite edge. Falling objects stretch like noodles, a process astrophysicists call spaghettification.

The simulated black hole’s event horizon spans about 16 million miles (25 million km), or about 17% of the distance from Earth to the sun.

A flat, swirling cloud of hot, glowing gas called an accretion disk surrounds it and serves as a visual reference as it falls.

The same goes for glowing structures called photon rings, which are formed near black holes by light that has circled the hole one or more times.

A starry sky background seen from Earth completes the scene.

As the camera approaches the black hole, approaching the speed of light itself, the glow from the accretion disk and background stars is amplified, similar to the pitch of the sound of an approaching race car increasing.

If you look in the direction of travel, the light will appear brighter and whiter.

The film begins with a camera located some 640 million km (400 million miles) away, and a black hole quickly fills the field of view.

In the process, the black hole’s disk, photon ring, and night sky become increasingly distorted, even forming multiple images as light traverses an increasingly distorted space-time.

In real time, the camera takes about three hours to fall to the event horizon, performing nearly two full 30-minute orbits along the way. But for those observing from afar, it will never get there.

As the space-time distortion increases as you approach the horizon, the camera’s image slows down and appears to stop in front of you. This is why astronomers originally called black holes “frozen stars.”

At the event horizon, even space-time itself flows inward at the speed of light, the speed limit of the universe.

Once inside, both the camera and the spacetime it moves through hurtle towards the center of the black hole. A one-dimensional point called a singularity, where the laws of physics as we know them no longer work.

NASA’s visualization shows a camera tracking a supermassive black hole, similar in mass to that at the center of our galaxy, as it approaches, briefly orbits, and crosses the event horizon (point of no return). Masu. Image credit: J. Schnittman & B. Powell, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

“Once the camera crosses the horizon, there are only 12.8 seconds left before spaghettification destruction,” Dr. Schnitman said.

From there, the singularity is only 128,000 km (79,500 miles) away. The last leg of this voyage is over in the blink of an eye.

In another scenario, the camera orbits close to the event horizon, but never crosses it and flees to safety.

If an astronaut were to fly this six-hour round trip, and her co-worker on the mother ship was far away from the black hole, she would return 36 minutes younger than her co-worker.

That’s because time slows down when you move near a strong source of gravity or at speeds close to the speed of light.

“This situation could become even more extreme,” Dr. Schnitman says.

“If a black hole were rotating rapidly, like the one shown in the 2014 movie, interstellar, she would return many years younger than the sailors. ”

Source: www.sci.news

Study reveals sperm whale communication is more intricate than previously believed

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Sperm whale (physeter macrocephalus) They are highly social mammals that use clicks to communicate. New research shows that, just like in human language, they can combine and coordinate different clicks and rhythms to create complex calls.

Sperm whale (physeter macrocephalus). Image credit: Gabriel Barathieu / CC BY-SA 2.0 Certificate.

Communication is important for social animals to make group decisions and coordinate collaborative tasks such as foraging and raising children.

Sperm whales are social mammals that communicate with each other by clicking repeatedly.

Little else is known about sperm whales' communication systems, although some of their clicks have previously been shown to communicate their identity.

“Cetaceans are an important group for studying evolution and the development of sophisticated communication systems,” said Pratyusha Sharma, a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and colleagues.

“Among cetaceans, long-term observational studies of sperm whales describe both a culturally defined, multilayered matrilineal society and a socially transmitted communication system.”

“Sperm whales are known for their complex social and foraging behaviors, as well as their collective decision-making.”

“They communicate using codas, stereotypical sequences of three to 40 broadband clicks. Codas are exchanged when whales interact with each other and during long, deep dives foraging. .”

For the study, the authors Dominican Sperm Whale Projectthe largest repository of sperm whale data.

They analyzed the records of about 60 different whales from the eastern Caribbean sperm whale clan and used them to define a “sperm whale phonetic alphabet” of click combinations from this clan's records.

They discovered that whales' communication systems are more complex and have greater information-transfer capabilities than previously thought.

We found that the combination and structure of the generated click sequences depended on the context of the individual's conversation.

Scientists also identified a “combinatorial structure” in whale language. Whales can combine and coordinate different clicks and rhythms to create complex vocalizations, similar to human language.

“Although the function and meaning of the click combinations are still unknown, the sperm whale language could potentially express a large number of meanings,” the researchers said.

Their paper It was published in the magazine nature communications.

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P. Sharma other. 2024. Contextual and combinatorial structure in sperm whale calls. Nat Commune 15, 3617; doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-47221-8

Source: www.sci.news

Scientists witness uncommon nuclear decay of potassium isotope

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Physicists are Potassium Decay (KDK) Collaboration. They directly observed for the first time a very rare but important decay pathway from potassium-40 to argon-40. Their results have the potential to improve current understanding of physical processes and increase the accuracy of geological dating.

Decay scheme of potassium 40. Image credit: Stukel other., doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.052503.

Potassium-40 is a ubiquitous natural isotope whose radioactivity has been used to estimate geological ages over billions of years, to theories of nuclear structure, and to the search for subatomic rare events such as dark matter and neutrinoless double beta decay. influence.

The decay of this long-lived isotope must be precisely known for its use as a global clock and to explain its presence in low-background experiments.

Although potassium-40 has several known decay modes, the electron-capture decay predicted directly into the ground state of argon-40 has never been observed before.

“Some of the nuclei of certain elements radioactively decay into the nuclei of other elements. These decays can be helpful or annoying, depending on the situation,” the KDK physicists said. I am.

“This is especially true for potassium-40, an isotope that normally decays to calcium-40, but about 10% of the time it decays to argon-40.”

“This decay pathway involves a process called electron capture, which provides information about the nuclear structure.”

“Potassium-40 has a very long half-life, so it can even determine the age of geological objects on billion-year time scales.”

“Due to its long half-life, it is difficult to find another way for potassium-40 to break down.”

In a new study, researchers measured a rare decay branch of potassium-40 at Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Holyfield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility.

“Quantifying the decay rate of potassium-40 and its decay branches is difficult because it requires measuring the parent nucleus and a sufficient number of rare progeny nuclei,” the researchers said.

“We studied a subset of potassium-40 that decays to argon-40 by electron capture, which accounts for about 10% of all potassium-40 decays.”

“Although most potassium-40 electron-capture decays emit characteristic gamma rays that form the background of most experiments, a small subset of these decays occur without gamma ray emission.”

“This happens when potassium-40 captures an electron that goes directly to the ground state of argon-40.”

“We have directly measured this decay for the first time. This result indicates that other decay rates may also need to be reevaluated.”

“The rare decay branch we identified and measured provides unique experimental evidence for so-called forbidden beta decay, with implications for predictions of nuclear structure and for potassium-based geological and solar system age estimates. It removes years of uncertainty.”

“This discovery also improves our assessment of the background that exists in experiments that explore new physics beyond the Standard Model.”

The results are published in two papers (paper #1 and paper #2) in the diary physical review letter and diary Physical Review C.

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M. Stukel other. (KDK collaboration). 2024. 40,000 rare collapses with implications for fundamental physics and geochronology. Physics.pastor rhett 131 (5): 052503; doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.052503

L. Harias other. (KDK collaboration). 2024. Evidence of ground state electron capture at 40K. Physics. Rev.C 108 (1): 014327; doi: 10.1103/PhysRevC.108.014327

Source: www.sci.news

Newly Found Ancient Rock Art Ruins Unearthed in Sudan’s Eastern Desert

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Archaeologists from Macquarie University and the Polish Academy of Sciences' Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures have discovered 16 new rock art sites in Sudan's eastern desert, or 'Atobai'. Almost all of his newly discovered 4,000-year-old artwork depicts the presence of cows.

Rock art from the area around Gebel Nahoganet in the eastern desert of Sudan. Image credit: Cooper other., doi: 10.1177/03075133231211.

“Finding a cow carved into a desert rock face was puzzling, as cows require large amounts of water and acres of pasture, and cannot survive in today's arid conditions in the Sahara Desert.” said Macquarie University researcher Dr Julian Cooper.

“The presence of cows in ancient rock art is one of the most important pieces of evidence for a former 'Green Sahara.'”

Rock art found in eastern Sudan also depicts the desert as a grassy savanna filled with ponds, rivers, swamps, and waterholes and home to a variety of African savannah animals, including giraffes and elephants.

The idea of ​​a “Green Sahara'' has been proven through previous archeological and climate fieldwork and research, and experts are calling this the “African Wet Period''. This is a period of increased summer monsoon precipitation that began about 15,000 years ago and ended about 5,000 years ago.

Depictions of humans alongside cows may indicate the act of milking, suggesting that the area was once occupied by cattle pastoralists until the 2nd or 3rd millennium BC.

After this point, reduced rainfall made cattle grazing impossible.

Currently, the region receives very little annual precipitation.

At the end of the “African Wet Period”, around 3000 BC, lakes and rivers began to dry up, dry pastures became covered with sand, and most of humanity left the Sahara Desert to seek refuge near the Nile River.

“The Atbai desert around Wadi Halfa, where new rock art was discovered, was almost completely depopulated. For those who remained, cattle were abandoned for sheep and goats,” the archaeologists said.

“This would have profoundly affected every aspect of human life, from diets and limited milk supplies to the movement patterns of nomadic families and the identity and livelihoods of those who depended on cattle.”

team's paper Published in Egyptian Archeology Journal.

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julian cooper other. 2023. Rock art research in the eastern desert of Sudan: Results of the 2018-2019 Atobai research project. Egyptian Archeology Journal 109 (1-2); doi: 10.1177/03075133231211

Source: www.sci.news

Detecting Iron in the Accretion Disk Around the Supermassive Black Hole of NGC 4151: XRISM Observations

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NGC 4151 is a spiral galaxy located approximately 62 million light-years away in the northern constellation Hanabi.

This artist's concept shows possible locations for iron revealed in NGC 4151's XRISM X-ray spectrum. Image credit: Conceptual Image Lab, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

The X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM), a joint effort between JAXA and NASA, with extensive participation from ESA, launched from Japan's Tanegashima Space Center on September 6, 2023.

After beginning science operations in February 2024, the spacecraft focused on the supermassive black hole at the center of NGC 4151.

“XRISM's Resolve instrument captured a detailed spectrum of the region around the black hole,” said researcher Brian Williams, Ph.D., of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

“The peaks and valleys are like chemical fingerprints that tell us what elements are present and can reveal clues about the fate of matter that approaches a black hole.”

NGC 4151's supermassive black hole holds more than 20 million times the mass of the Sun.

This galaxy is also active, meaning its center is unusually bright and changeable.

Gas and dust swirling toward the black hole forms an accretion disk around it, heated by gravity and frictional forces, creating fluctuations.

Some of the material at the edge of the black hole forms twin jets of particles that shoot out from either side of the disk at nearly the speed of light.

A bulging donut-shaped cloud of material called a torus surrounds the accretion disk.

XRISM's Resolve instrument captured data from the center of NGC 4151. The resulting spectrum reveals the presence of iron with a peak around 6.5 keV and a dip around 7 keV, thousands of times more energetic than the light visible to our eyes. Image credits: JAXA / NASA / XRISM Resolve / CXC / CfA / Wang et al. / Isaac Newton Telescope Group, La Palma Island / Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope / NSF / NRAO / VLA.

“In fact, NGC 4151 is one of the closest known active galaxies,” Dr. Williams and his colleagues said.

“Other missions, such as NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, are conducting research to learn more about the interactions between black holes and their surroundings, allowing scientists to study galaxies. Find out how the supermassive black hole at the center of time grows throughout the universe.

“This galaxy is unusually bright in X-rays, making it an ideal early target for XRISM.”

“The NGC 4151 spectrum in Resolve shows a sharp peak at energies just below 6.5 keV, an iron emission line.”

Astronomers believe that much of the power in active galaxies comes from X-rays emanating from hot, blazing regions near black holes.

When the X-rays reflect off the cold gas inside the disk, the iron there fluoresces, producing a specific X-ray peak.

This allowed for a more accurate depiction of both the disk and the eruptive region much closer to the black hole.

“The spectrum also shows some dips around 7 keV,” the astronomers said.

“The iron present in the torus caused these dips as well, but due to absorption rather than emission of X-rays, because the material there is much cooler than in the disk.”

“All of this radiation is about 2,500 times more energetic than the light we can see with our eyes.”

“Iron is just one of the elements that XRISM can detect. The telescope can also detect sulfur, calcium, argon, and more, depending on the source.”

“Each one tells us something different about the cosmic phenomena that litter the X-ray sky.”

Source: www.sci.news

The Leading Platform for Seasoned Traders – Featuring Blockchain News, Insights, TV, and Job Listings

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RevoluteThe London-based digital banking giant, which boasts over 40 million customers worldwide, has officially launched its long-awaited Revolut X crypto exchange platform, marking a major step forward into the competitive landscape of cryptocurrency trading.

In response to this monumental development, Alex Saleh, Head of Partnerships at Blockchain Protection Company, said: coin cover, heralds Revolut’s foray into the cryptocurrency trading space as a transformative moment for the UK cryptocurrency ecosystem. Saleh emphasizes that the launch of Revolut played a pivotal role in overcoming previous regulatory uncertainties that stifled innovation in the sector.

“The launch of a new crypto exchange by Revolut is a major step forward for crypto in the UK and marks a significant shift away from the regulatory uncertainty that has hindered innovation in this space.” Mr. Saleh is adamant.

Additionally, Saleh praised Revolut’s strong commitment to compliance and security, saying it is a cornerstone of the company’s strategy. By prioritizing a ‘compliance first’ approach, Revolut sets a precedent for responsible crypto trading practices in line with institutional norms, thereby fostering trust and confidence within the market.

“Revolut’s focus on a ‘compliance first’ strategy is very positive,” Saleh said. “With robust compliance and security measures, this should serve as an example of a mature approach to crypto trading in line with institutional norms and help build trust in the market.”

Saleh also highlights the importance of Revolut X’s advanced trading platform, which provides users with a 1:1 financial support guarantee. This is an important feature that addresses persistent concerns arising from past incidents such as the FTX fallout.

“Now Revolut’s millions of users can try their hand at using an advanced trading platform that backs their funds 1:1, something that still plagues traders in the wake of FTX.” Saleh observes.

In light of Mr. Saleh’s remarks, Revolut’s debut of Revolut This is also proof of our unwavering efforts.

Source: www.the-blockchain.com

Scientists investigate possible anomaly in the force of gravity in the universe

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in paper Published in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle PhysicsScientists have considered theoretical and observational cases of “cosmic glitches” in the universe's gravity.

Wen other. Specifically, we develop a model that modifies general relativity on a cosmological scale by introducing a "glitch" in the gravitational constant between the cosmological (superhorizon) and Newtonian (subhorizon) regions. Research. Image credit: M. Weiss / Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

For the past 100 years, physicists have relied on Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity to explain how gravity acts throughout the universe.

General relativity, proven accurate by countless experiments and observations, suggests that gravity affects not just the third physical dimension, but also a fourth dimension: time. Masu.

“This gravity model has been essential to everything from theorizing the Big Bang to photographing black holes,” said Robin Wen, a researcher at the California Institute of Technology.

“But when we try to understand gravity at the cosmic scale, beyond galaxy clusters, we run into clear contradictions with the predictions of general relativity.”

“It's as if gravity itself is no longer fully consistent with Einstein's theory.”

“We call this contradiction a 'cosmic glitch.' When dealing with distances of billions of light years, gravity weakens by about 1%.”

For more than 20 years, researchers have been trying to create a mathematical model to explain the apparent contradictions in general relativity.

“Almost a century ago, astronomers discovered that the universe was expanding,” said Professor Nyaesh Afsholdi of the University of Waterloo.

“The further away a galaxy is, the faster it is moving, so much so that it appears to be moving at a speed close to the maximum speed of light allowed by Einstein's theory.”

“Our findings suggest that at precisely that scale, Einstein's theory may also be inadequate.”

The research team's “cosmic glitch” model modifies and extends Einstein's formula in a way that resolves some discrepancies in cosmological measurements without affecting existing successful uses of general relativity. This is what I did.

“Think of this as a footnote to Einstein's theory,” Wen says.

“Once we reach the cosmic scale, terms and conditions apply.”

“This new model may be the first clue to the cosmic puzzles we are beginning to solve across time and space,” Professor Afshodi said.

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Robin Y. Wen other. 2024. Anomalies in the gravity of the universe. JCAP 03:045; doi: 10.1088/1475-7516/2024/03/045

Source: www.sci.news

New research indicates that saber-toothed cats retained their baby teeth to support their iconic sabers.

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new analysis of distinctive canine teeth saber-toothed tiger (Smilodon Fatalis) The deciduous teeth that precede each saber (the deciduous teeth that all mammals grow and lose by adulthood) remain in place for years to stabilize the growing permanent saber teeth, and perhaps adolescents break them off. This suggests that it was possible to learn how to hunt without having to hunt.

The canines of saber-toothed predators are among the most specialized tooth structures known. Hypotheses regarding the function of enlarged dogs range from exhibition and conspecific interactions, processing of soft foods to active prey acquisition. Recent studies on the ontogenetic timing of cranial traits have shown that adult dogs may take many years to fully erupt, but long-term implications for inferences of functional morphology in dogs. The impact of the eruption is missing from current discussions and remains unquantified. In his new study, Tseng evaluates hypotheses regarding bending strength and stiffness, respectively, in adult dogs during rash. Smilodon Fatalis. Image credit: Massimo Molinello.

This new study provides the first evidence that saber teeth alone were increasingly vulnerable to lateral breakage during eruption, but would have been more stable if they had primary or deciduous teeth next to them. .

The evidence consists of computer modeling of the strength and lateral bending stiffness of the saber tooth, as well as actual testing and failure of a plastic model of the saber tooth.

“This new study is confirmation through physical and simulation tests of an idea that several collaborators and I published several years ago. It is possible that the timing of the saber ejection is adjusted and the double fang phase “It's possible,” he said. Study author Dr. Jack Tseng is a paleontologist at the University of California, Berkeley.

“Imagine a timeline where the milk canine comes out, and once it finishes erupting, the permanent canine comes out, overtakes the milk canine, and eventually pushes out the milk canine.”

“What would happen if this baby tooth was in the mouth right next to this permanent tooth for 30 months?”

“Long after the saber's permanent teeth erupted, the baby dog's unusual presence protected it, while the adult tiger learned how to hunt without damaging the saber.”

“Eventually, the baby teeth will fall out and the adult will have learned how to use the saber, but they will lose the support of the saber.”

Paleontologists still don't know what saber-tooth preferences are Smilodon He hunted his prey without breaking his unwieldy saber.

Dr Tseng said: “The double fang stage is probably worth revisiting now that we have shown there is insurance potential and broader protection.”

“This allows our teenage equivalents to experiment, take risks, and essentially learn how to become fully grown, perfect predators.”

“If you look at sabertooth use and increased hunting through a mechanical lens, I think it's not a solution, but it's a refinement.”

The same canine stabilization system may have evolved in other saber-toothed animals, researchers say.

Although no examples of double tusks in other species have been found in the fossil record, some skulls have been found to have adult teeth elsewhere in the jaw and deciduous teeth where the saber grows. has been done.

“What we are seeing is that milk canines are preserved in specimens with adult dentition. This means that the adult teeth, the sabers, are erupting or are beginning to erupt. “This suggests that milk canines were retained over a long period of time,” Dr. Tseng said.

of study Published in anatomical record.

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Z. Jack Tseng.Changes in bending performance during long-term eruption of saber gingival canine teeth: a case study. Smilodon Fatalis. anatomical record, published online on April 8, 2024. doi: 10.1002/ar.25447

Source: www.sci.news

Galactic anomalies suggesting dark matter presence are more puzzling than anticipated

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A dark matter halo (yellow) forms around the galaxy

Ralph Koehler/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

When you think of the Milky Way, “delicate” may not be the first word that comes to mind.But when Mariangela Lisanti She started tinkering with the Our Galaxy recipe, but found it surprisingly fragile.

Lisanti, a particle physicist at Princeton University, wonders what would happen if dark matter, a mysterious substance thought to make up more than 80 percent of all matter in the universe, was more exotic than researchers usually assume. I was simulating something. She replaced a small portion of standard dark matter with something more complex. “We thought we could just add 5% and everything would be fine,” she says. “And we destroyed the galaxy.”

There are good reasons for such interference. Since the 1980s, astronomical signs have shown that dark matter is a single type of slow-moving particle that does not interact with itself. Particle physicists have spent a great deal of effort searching for that particle. But decades later, it remains a no-show. Perhaps because dark matter is not what we tend to imagine.

Recently, a series of galactic anomalies have sparked a scramble to find alternatives. This “complex” dark matter can be as simple as subatomic particles bouncing off each other, or as complex as dark particles forming dark atoms, stars, and even galaxies. There are a number of mind-boggling possibilities.

But now observations of anomalies in our galaxy promise to finally help narrow down the options. and…

Source: www.newscientist.com

Research shows that foxes are less likely to sustain injuries while diving in the snow due to their elongated nose

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Certain fox species dive into the snow to catch prey. This is a hunting mechanism called rat hunting. Red fox (Vulpes Vulpes Vulpes) and arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) It can dive into the snow at a speed of 2-4m/s. Scientists at Cornell University have found in a new study that a highly curved, elongated snout generates less impact force when it penetrates the snow, reducing the chance of injury in a crash. This skull shape allows the fox to reach deep into the snow, giving it an advantage in catching small rodents at greater depths. As a result, the authors predict that red and arctic foxes living in snow-covered areas will have higher hunting success when hunting mice in the snow.

Yuku other. They studied a hunting technique employed by red foxes and arctic foxes known as mousing. In this hunting technique, they dive headfirst into the snow to capture their prey. Image credit: Yellowstone National Park.

The red fox and the arctic fox dive into the snow to catch their prey. This behavior is known as mouse trapping.

These foxes can locate animals under several feet of snow due to their excellent sensitivity to rustling sounds that peak at frequencies between 2 and 10 kHz.

The fox senses the location of its prey and quickly dives into the snow at 2 to 4 meters per second, catching it completely by surprise.

Previous studies investigated this mouse behavior in terms of diving mechanisms and success rates.

Red foxes tended to jump in a northeast direction, and hunting success was much higher when foxes jumped in this direction compared to all other directions, suggesting that foxes take advantage of the Earth's magnetic field. It was suggested that they were hunting.

However, the mechanical aspects of snow diving, which are also important for hunting success, are not well understood.

“The fox's sharp snout does not compact the snow significantly and penetrates it with little resistance,” said Professor Seong-Hwan Jeong, a researcher in Cornell University's Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering.

In the study, Professor Jung and his colleagues scanned the skulls of foxes and arctic foxes, as well as lynx and puma skulls.

They 3D printed skulls and attached sensors to each to measure impact forces.

The skulls were then dropped into both snow and water, and the researchers fed the data into a computer model to compare the effects of both.

Researchers found that the fox's sharp nose penetrates the snow with little resistance, minimizing potential tissue damage when diving headfirst.

Professor Chong said, “Despite the high-speed impact, snow behaves like water if it is not compressed very much.''

“However, the flattened feline's snout compacted the snow upon impact, creating significant and potentially damaging drag.”

When targeting mice in the snow, the fox's long snout allows it to reach its prey faster, since the mouse is very sensitive to surrounding movements and can quickly escape.

Other behavioral studies have shown that foxes listen for the rustling of mice and other animals beneath the snow by shaking their heads before plunging, thereby gauging the depth of the sound source.

“Although this is a very dangerous process, there have been no reports of foxes being injured,” Professor Chong said.

Regarding this research, paper inside Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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Jisoo Yuk other. 2024. Effects of skull morphology on fox snowdiving. PNAS 121 (19): e2321179121; doi: 10.1073/pnas.2321179121

Source: www.sci.news