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Giant Shield Volcano Found on Mars by Planetary Scientists

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The newly discovered volcano, tentatively designated Noctis Mons, is located in the eastern part of Mars, just south of the equator. noctis labyrinthwest of Valles Marineris, the planet's vast canyon system.

Noctis Mons. Image credit: NASA / USGS / Lee other.

Mount Noctis reaches an altitude of 9,022 m (29,600 ft) and is 450 km (280 miles) wide.

Its enormous size and complex modification history indicate that it has been active for a very long time.

To its southeast are thin recent volcanic deposits, beneath which glaciers may still exist.

The combined potential of this giant volcanic and glacial ice discovery is an exciting prospect for studying Mars' geological evolution over time, searching for life, and exploring it in the future using robots and humans. important because it marks a new location.

“While investigating the geology of the area where glacier debris was discovered last year, we found ourselves inside a huge, deeply eroded volcano,” said the SETI Institute and Mars Planetary Scientists. Dr. Pascal Lee said. Laboratory based at NASA Ames Research Center.

Taken together, several clues reveal the volcanic nature of this eastern portion of the Noctis Labyrinth, a jumble of layered mesas and canyons.

The central summit area is characterized by several raised mesas forming an arc, reaching the highest regional heights and descending away from the summit area.

The outer, gentle slopes extend 225 km (140 miles) away in various directions.

The remains of a caldera, a collapsed volcanic crater that once contained a lava lake, can be seen near the center of the structure.

Lava flows, pyroclastic flow deposits (consisting of volcanic particulate material such as ash, cinders, pumice, and tephra), and hydrated mineral deposits occur in several areas around the structure.

“This region of Mars is known to contain a wide variety of hydrated minerals spanning Mars' long history,” says Saurabh Shubham, a graduate student at the University of Maryland.

“These minerals have long been suspected of being in a volcanic environment. So finding a volcano here may not be all that surprising.”

“In a way, this big volcano is the clincher that has been long awaited.”

Topographic map of Noctis Mons. Image credit: Lee other.

In addition to the volcano, the authors found 5,000 km2 (1930 square miles) of volcanic deposits surrounding the volcano, including numerous low, round, elongated, blister-like hills.

This blistered landform is formed by an area of ​​rootless cone, i.e., when a thin blanket of hot volcanic material comes to rest on a water- or ice-rich surface, caused by explosive steam ejection or steam expansion. It is interpreted as a generated hill.

Mount Noctis has a long and complex history of modification, likely through a combination of destruction, thermal erosion, and glacial erosion.

“In fact, it's the combination of factors that makes the Noctis volcanic site so exciting,” Dr. Lee said.

“This volcano is an ancient, long-lived volcano, and it's so deeply eroded that it's hard to hike, drive through, or fly to examine different parts of the volcano's interior, take samples, and date it. “We can study the evolution of Mars over time.”

“It also has a long history of heat interacting with water and ice, making it a prime location for astrobiology and the search for signs of life.”

“Finally, glaciers are likely still preserved near the surface in Mars' relatively warm equatorial regions, making this site a very attractive location for robotic and human exploration.”

The researchers announced that their discoveries Today is 55th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference Located in The Woodlands, Texas, USA.

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Pascal Lee other. Massive eroded volcanic complex and buried glacial ice in the eastern Noctis Labyrinth: evidence of recent volcanic activity and glaciation near the Martian equator. LPSC 2024Abstract #2745

Source: www.sci.news

Giant Sequoia Trees are Thriving at an Exceptional Rate in the UK

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Giant Sequoia, Wakehurst, West Sussex, UK

Visual Air/RBG Cue

Giant sequoia trees are thriving in the UK, growing at a similar rate to the tree’s homeland of California.

Giant sequoias that can reach up to 90 meters in height (Sequoiadendron giganteum), also known as the Giant Sequoia, is one of the tallest trees in the world. This coniferous species is endemic to California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains, but only 80,000 individuals remain there, largely due to frequent and destructive wildfires.

Approximately 500,000 giant sequoias have been planted in Britain since the 19th century. “Giant sequoias are widely cultivated in the UK” matthias disney At University College London. “They’re incredibly majestic and obviously very attractive to people.”

To understand how trees grow on this side of the pond, Disney and his colleagues analyzed 97 trees taken from groves in Scotland and southeastern England.

The team used a laser scanner to map each tree in 3D to precisely determine its height and width and estimate its weight.

The tallest tree was in Scotland and was just under 55 meters tall. Disney says this is not surprising as the earliest record of giant sequoias being planted in the UK is in Scotland.

The trees also appear to be growing as fast as California trees, absorbing an average of 85 kilograms of carbon from the atmosphere each year.

“It’s very fast,” Disney says. “Instead of oak trees having to wait 150 years to reach maturity, giant sequoias can grow in less than 50 years.”

He says the healthy growth rate may be due to Britain’s relatively stable climate. “We’re not threatened by a lack of rainfall or an increase in fires like California is.”

Giant sequoias grow quickly and absorb carbon, but Disney warns against planting them en masse to combat greenhouse gas emissions.

“Of course trees can help absorb a little bit of carbon dioxide, but that process takes time and requires a lot of wood,” he says. “It is better to protect what already exists and rapidly reduce fossil fuel consumption now.”

Disney and his colleagues want to study how the invasive redwoods are affecting local trees and other wildlife. “At the moment, all the sequoias here are planted, so we’re also very interested in seeing if they can propagate here.”

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Researchers solve the enigma of the brown giant panda

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The brown and white giant panda is a mutant with a unique coat color found only in the world. Qinling Mountains Chinese.

Kizai is the only brown panda living in captivity. Image credit: Ailie HM / CC BY-SA 4.0 Certificate.

“Variation in fur color has considerable adaptive and cultural value in mammals,” said study lead author Dengfeng Guan, Ph.D., from the Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and colleagues.

“This property is directly determined by the ratio of eumelanin to pheomelanin and the density and distribution of melanosomes within the hair.”

“These factors are under complex control by hundreds of genes that influence different aspects of melanogenesis, including melanocyte proliferation and migration, melanin synthesis, and melanosome biogenesis and translocation.”

Giant panda (Airuropoda melanoruca) is one of the most charismatic flagship breeds, distinguished by its striking black and white coat.

However, the discovery brown panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca qinlingensis) This photograph, taken in the Qinling Mountains of China's Shaanxi province, challenges the conventional wisdom that color photographs of pandas are never possible.

Recognized as a subspecies of the giant panda, this brown panda is extremely rare and is definitely designated as a national treasure.

Since the first brown panda was discovered in 1985, 11 records have been reported by official news or private communications, seven of which have been confirmed by photographs or physical objects. Three cases were from Buping County, two from Yang County, one from Taibai County, and one from Taibai County. Zhou Zhi.

All brown pandas are found only in the Qinling Mountains, indicating that they are endemic to this region.

“The first recorded brown panda, a female named Dan Dan, was rescued from Foping Nature Reserve to Xi'an Zoo in 1985,” the biologists explained.

“She then mated with the black panda Wang Wang and gave birth to a male black panda named Qing Qing in captivity.”

“Dan Dan passed away in 2000 and Chin Chin also died in 2006, leaving no descendants.”

“In 2009, Qi Zhai, a male brown panda cub, was rescued from Fo Ping Nature Reserve and is currently the only brown panda living in captivity.”

Dr. Guan and co-authors established two family trios related to the brown panda Qi Zai and sequenced their genomes.

They analyzed ecological and genetic data obtained from a long-term study of wild giant pandas in Fo Ping Nature Reserve.

Additionally, we investigated the cellular mechanisms underlying brown fur color based on microscopy and transmission electron microscopy analyses.

They are candidate mutations, viz. base 2 The gene is thought to be the most likely genetic basis for brown pandas.

They verified this deletion through sequencing an additional cohort of 192 black pandas and CRISPR-Cas9 knockout mice.

Their findings will not only provide insight into the genetic basis of coat color variation in brown pandas and wild animals, but will also guide the scientific breeding of rare brown pandas.

“The extremely small number of brown pandas and the nature of the frameshift deletion mutation suggest that this mutation may be a neutral or weakly deleterious mutation,” the authors said.

“Remarkably, the two brown pandas (Qi Zai and Dan Dan) are showing normal growth and reproduction; base 2 The knockout mice were viable, fertile, and had no obvious physical abnormalities, indicating that this mutation had no apparent negative impact on the physical fitness of these mice. ”

“However, other physiological effects of this mutation on brown pandas remain unclear. base 2 It is known to be involved in the Alzheimer's disease pathway. ”

“Given the small population size of Qinling giant pandas, weak deleterious mutations may be corrected by genetic drift effects.”

“Further studies on brown pandas and knockout mouse models will therefore provide valuable insight into the functional consequences of this mutation.”

“For a rare coat color mutant of the giant panda that has great scientific and ornamental value, our findings will provide guidance for the scientific breeding of brown pandas.”

of study Published online this week Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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Dengfeng Guan other. 2024. Color photography: homozygous 25 bp deletion base 2 Giant pandas can have brown and white coats. PNAS 121 (11): e2317430121; doi: 10.1073/pnas.2317430121

Source: www.sci.news

Fossils of Giant Crabs Discovered in New Zealand

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Paleontologists have described a new species of crab genus false calcinus A large fossil specimen discovered in Taranaki, North Island, New Zealand.

Pseudocarcinus karlaubenheimeri. Scale bar – 5 cm. Image credit: Barry WM van Bakel & Àlex Ossó, doi: 10.1080/00288306.2024.2314472.

false calcinus It is a monotypic genus of the Crabidae family. Menippiidae.

Among them is a very large species called. Tasmanian giant crab (Pseudocalcinus gigas).

Also known as the giant southern crab, it lives on rocky and muddy bottoms off the coast of southern Australia.

“Alive 'Southern Giant Crab'” Pseudocalcinus gigas “It ranks among the largest crabs that have ever lived,” said Utrecht University paleontologist Barry van Bekel and colleague Alex Osso.

“This bird is now endemic to the cool-temperate South Australian continental margin, although there is one record of a female being caught off the coast of New Zealand's South Island.”

“Scientists recognized and described the unique set of morphological characters of this monotypic genus and constructed a corresponding new family and superfamily.”

“Unfortunately, the geological history of this remarkable group of crabs is largely unknown.”

named Pseudocarcinus karlaubenheimeria new member of this genus lived in New Zealand about 8.8 million years ago (Miocene epoch).

Six specimens of this species were collected from Waitoetoe Beach. Urenui formation The Taranaki Basin is home to a series of volcanoes. Mojakatino Volcano Center It erupted offshore, leading to the formation of a specific paleoenvironment.

“this is, false calcinus It lived in what is now New Zealand,” the researchers said.

According to the team: false calcinus Males have one normal-sized claw and one extra-large claw.

“In modern oceans, crabs have larger absolute claw sizes in temperate regions than in tropical regions, but in temperate oceans their claws are smaller relative to their body size.”

“The Miocene of New Zealand was home to two species of giant crabs with the largest known crushing claws. Thumidocarcinus giganteus and Pseudocarcinus karlaubenheimeri”

“Clearly, food sources, metabolic conditions and calcium carbonate availability were favorable to these species.”

“Thumidocalcinus Extinct by the end of the Miocene. false calcinus It is currently only known from Australian waters. ”

team's paper Published in New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics.

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Barry W. M. van Bekel and Alex Osso. A new “Southern Giant Crab'' discovered in a Miocene continental slope paleoenvironment in Taranaki, North Island, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics, published online on February 27, 2024. doi: 10.1080/00288306.2024.2314472

Source: www.sci.news

The Megalodon differed from a giant great white shark

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The real megalodon may have been longer and slimmer than this illustration.

Kathmandu/Shutterstock

A new analysis of fossil evidence reveals that the megalodon, an ancient shark often depicted as a super-sized great white, was actually a very different beast. A team of shark scientists concluded that this fearsome predator was longer, thinner and hunted in a different way.

He is well known for his depiction of “. meg movie franchise, Otodus megalodon It became extinct about 3.5 million years ago. It was one of the largest marine predators of all time, but no complete skeleton has ever been found, so we don’t know exactly how big it was.

2022 survey by jack cooper Doctors from Swansea University, UK, et al. IRSNB P 9893, It is housed at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences in Brussels. They found it to be a stocky, powerful shark, similar to the great white shark, built to attack at breakneck speeds to attack its prey.carcharodon carcharius) current –?? but at 15.9 meters long, it is about three times longer.

charles underwood Researchers from Birkbeck, University of London, said the study made “tenuous assumptions” about megalodon’s size, mainly based on the fact that it has teeth similar to great white sharks, although it is much larger. ing. He is part of a group of 26 shark experts aiming to set the record straight with new research.

Underwood said Cooper’s team didn’t realize how incomplete the partial skeleton was. The vertebrae lack the typical size of a shark, tapering toward both the tail and the head, indicating that much of the vertebrae are missing, he said.

The researchers of the new study say that the strength of the spinal column suggests a slender body shape than the great white shark, which would make megalodon sharks very unwieldy.

“It almost certainly doesn’t feed like modern great white sharks,” Underwood said. “You wouldn’t just hover over the ocean floor, wait for the whale to move over it, and then hit the whale from below and basically tear it apart. It’s better than an ambush predator. , you’re going to need more straight-line tracking, longer tracking, because you don’t have top speed. You don’t have acceleration.”

Based on other partial fossils, the largest known specimen of Megalodon was estimated to be 20 meters long. Mr. Underwood believes that it was actually 20% longer than him, and that he was 24 meters long.

But Professor Cooper dismissed the new study as too simplistic, favoring a reconstruction of a shorter, stockier megalodon. “The bottom line is, no matter which theory you support about its body shape, it was a very large shark,” he says. “Of course, a complete skeleton would go a long way in helping us learn more. But I also don’t think we should think that this settles all debates about this very charismatic animal.”

However, the chances of finding a complete, well-preserved specimen may be low. eva stewart A professor at Britain’s Southampton University, who was not involved in the study, said he had recovered many megalodon teeth while searching for a new living species, but had seen no sign of a more complete specimen.

“I think the rest of the skeleton is just not well preserved,” she says. “For megalodon, there’s actually no fossil evidence at all.”

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Giant cyclone found in the atmosphere of WASP-121b by Hubble

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Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have detected a giant cyclone and other dynamic weather activity swirling around WASP-121b, an ultra-hot Jovian exoplanet about 881 light-years away in the constellation Papis. Detected.

This artist's illustration shows WASP-121b, an alien world where magnesium and iron gases are being lost from the atmosphere. Image credit: NASA/ESA/J. Olmsted, STScI.

WASP-121b is a gas giant exoplanet that is 1.87 times larger and 1.18 times heavier than Jupiter.

First discovered in 2016, the alien star takes just 1.3 days to orbit its parent star, F6 star WASP-121.

WASP-121b is so close to the star that if it got any closer, the star's gravity would begin to tear it apart.

Astronomers estimate that the planet's temperature is around 2,500 degrees Celsius (4,600 degrees Fahrenheit), hot enough to boil some metals.

In the new study, Caltech astronomer Jack Skinner and colleagues analyzed observations of WASP-12 b taken by Hubble in 2016, 2018, and 2019.

Researchers discovered that the planet has a dynamic atmosphere that changes over time.

Using advanced modeling techniques, they demonstrated that these dramatic temporal variations can be explained by weather patterns in the exoplanet's atmosphere.

They found that WASP-121b's atmosphere showed marked differences between observations.

Most dramatically, large temperature differences between the star-facing and dark sides of exoplanets can repeatedly generate and destroy large weather fronts, storms, and massive cyclones. .

The authors also note that there is an apparent misalignment between the hottest region of an exoplanet and the point on the planet closest to its star, as well as variability in the chemical composition of the exoplanet's atmosphere (spectroscopically measurement) was also detected.

They reached these conclusions by using computational models that help explain observed changes in the exoplanet's atmosphere.

“The incredible detail of exoplanet atmosphere simulations allows us to accurately model the climate of superhot planets like WASP-121b,” Dr. Skinner said.

“Now we have made significant progress by combining observational constraints and atmospheric simulations to understand the time-varying weather of these planets.”

“This is a very interesting result as we continue to observe the weather patterns of exoplanets,” said Dr. Quentin Cheniato, an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute.

“Studying exoplanet climates is critical to understanding the complexity of exoplanet atmospheres on other worlds, especially in the search for exoplanets with habitable conditions.”

“The assembled dataset represents a significant amount of observation time for a single planet and is currently the only consistent set of such repeated observations.”

“The information we extracted from those observations was used to infer WASP-121b's atmospheric chemistry, temperature, and clouds at different times.”

“This yielded exquisite images of the planet as it changes over time.”

of the team paper will be published in Astrophysical Journal Appendix Series.

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Quentin Changeato other. 2024. Will the atmosphere of superhot Jupiter WASP-121b change? APJS, in press. arXiv: 2401.01465

Source: www.sci.news

New Discovery: Giant Pliosaur Skull Illuminates Ancient Sea Reptiles

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A giant Jurassic pliosaur skull pulled from a cliff in Dorset, England, is providing scientists with a wealth of new information about these sea reptiles. “This is very likely a new species,” says Judith Sassoon from the University of Bristol, UK.

This fossil is the subject of a new documentary, attenborough and the giant sea monster, which will premiere on BBC One on January 1st and air on PBS in the US in February. The skull is extremely well preserved, and CT scans show that the sensory holes in the nose (pictured above) were connected to blood vessels and nerves, allowing Pliosaurus to sense changes in pressure and move through murky water. It is revealed that it can hunt prey (photo below, CGI image from the documentary).

There is hope that the remaining fossils are still intact on the cliff. “There may be evidence in that skeleton of how it died,” said Steve Etches, who led the team that extracted and prepared the skull. Below, a still from the documentary shows Mr Etches having a nose exam with David Attenborough (left).

Sir David Attenborough and Steve Etches investigate Pliosaurus' fossilized nose

bbc studio

Surface scans of the specimen helped scientists estimate the strength of its bite. Emily Rayfield, a paleontologist at the University of Bristol, suggests that its bite would have been twice as powerful as that of a saltwater crocodile, one of the most powerful bites known. Evidence of trihedral teeth with two sharp cutting edges and striped grooves is shown below.

These grooves are thought to have stopped the vacuum that formed when the teeth plunged into prey, allowing Pliosaurus to bite repeatedly and quickly, further cementing its status as one of the most feared predators of its time. Masu. The skull is on display at the Etches Collection in Dorset, England.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

A ‘Giant’ Predator Roamed the Waters of Greenland 518 Million Years Ago

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It has fins on the sides of its body, a unique head with long antennae, a huge jaw structure in its mouth, and can grow to over 30 cm (11.8 inches) in length. Timole Bestia Copley It was one of the largest animals in the ocean during the early Cambrian period.

reconstruction of Timole Bestia Copley Among the pelagic ecosystems preserved in Sirius Passet. Other species shown in the foreground are key salt kia, silicalis, Kerygmacella, Paulo end point, Kleptosurand Isoxis; There are also two radioactive substances in the background. Tamisiocharis And Unplected Belid. Image credit: Robert Nicholls/BobNichollsArt.

Timole Bestia Copley They lived in the early Cambrian oceans over 518 million years ago.

The fossilized remains of this animal were discovered in Fossil locality of Sirius Passet in northern Greenland.

“We previously knew that the main predators of the Cambrian were primitive arthropods, including the bizarre-looking anomalocariids,” said Dr Jacob Binther, a palaeontologist at the University of Bristol.

“but, Timole Bestia Copley is a distant but close relative of a living caterpillar; or Chetognath. These are much smaller marine predators today, feeding on small zooplankton. ”

“Our study shows that these ancient marine ecosystems were fairly complex and had food chains that tolerated multiple layers of predators.”

“Timole Bestia They were the giants of their time and would have been near the top of the food chain. As such, they are as important as major carnivores in the modern ocean, such as Cambrian sharks and seals. ”

Inside a fossilized digestive system Timole Bestia CopleyDr. Vinther et al. Isoxis.

“We can see that these arthropods were a food source for many other animals,” says palaeontologist Dr Morten Lunde Nielsen of the Korean Polar Research Institute, the University of Bristol and the British Geological Survey.

“They were very common in Sirius Passet and had long protective spines pointing both forward and backward.”

“But it is clear that they could not completely avoid that fate. Timole Bestia I munched on them in large quantities. ”

holotype of Timole Bestia Copley.Image credit: Park other., doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adi6678.

“Arrowworms are one of the oldest animal fossils from the Cambrian period. Arthropods appear in the fossil record about 521 to 529 million years ago, but arrowworms appear in the fossil record at least 500 million years ago. It can be traced back to 38 million years ago,” Dr. Vinter said.

“Both arrowworms and more primitive arrowworms, Timole Bestia, was a swimming predator. Therefore, we can infer that they were likely predators that dominated the oceans before arthropods took off. ”

“They probably had a dynasty for about 10 to 15 million years before being replaced by other more successful groups.”

“Timole Bestia “This is a hugely important discovery for understanding where these jawed predators came from,” said Dr Luke Parry from the University of Oxford.

“Today, the caterpillar has formidable setae on the outside of its head to catch prey, but Timole Bestia There is a jaw in the head. ”

“This is the bearded bug that we can see under a microscope today, and it is an organism that shared an ancestor with the bearded bug more than 500 million years ago.”

“Timole Bestia And other fossils like it provide a link between closely related organisms that look very different today. ”

“Our discovery confirms how the beetles evolved,” said Dr. Taeyoon Park, a paleontologist at the Korea Polar Research Institute.

“The abdomen of living arrowworms has a unique nerve center called the ventral ganglion. It is completely unique to these animals.”

“I found this saved. Timole Bestia and another fossil called Amiskwia”

“People are, Amiskwia As part of the evolutionary stem lineage, it was closely related to the caterpillar. ”

“The preservation of these unique ventral ganglia gives us even more confidence in this hypothesis.”

team's work It was published in the magazine scientific progress.

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Taeyoon S. Park other. 2024. Chaetognus in the giant stem group. scientific progress 10(1); doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adi6678

Source: www.sci.news

The Giant of San Abbas Served as a Gathering Base for the West Saxon Army, According to Archaeologists

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A giant naked figure called Sarn Giant It was carved into the Dorset hillside not in prehistory or early modern times, as many think, but in the early Middle Ages, particularly in the 9th or 10th century, when there was much interest in the classical hero Hercules. It is said that it was at the beginning.to new paper in diary Speculum. He was probably created to mark the meeting place for West Saxon military meetings on the lands of the chieftains of the western provinces. By the mid-11th century, he was repurposed by monasteries founded or re-founded at his feet. St. Eadwolda convenient way to erase Hercules and declare the monastery's rights to the saint's relics.

Sarn Abbas Giant, Sarn Abbas, Dorset, England. Image credit: Ray Gaffney.

The Sarne Giant is a gigantic statue of a naked man carved into chalk rock on a hillside above the village of Sarne Abbas in Dorset, England.

He is approximately 55 meters (180 feet) tall, wielding a club in his right hand and extending his left arm.

The feet are turned to the right as if walking. His bald head is teardrop shaped with his eyes, eyebrows, nose, and mouth.

His naked torso shows an erect penis, nipples, ribs, belt, and belly button. The latter appears to have been incorporated into his phallus in 1908, and is now more prominent than originally.

When the Cerne Giant was first carved has been debated for centuries.

Dr Helen Gittos, a researcher at the University of Oxford, said: “It turns out that the Sarne Giant is just the most prominent of a whole group of early medieval features in the landscape.”

“While Hercules was well known in the Middle Ages as a flawed hero who was both admired and criticized, interest in Hercules in particular increased in the 9th century.”

“By at least the 10th century, Cern was in the hands of the elders of the western provinces, the leading lords of the kings of the south-west.”

“The Tern Giant's topographical location, on a spur projecting from a ridge, makes it a unique type of Anglo-Saxon meeting place in that it has spectacular views and is close to major highways.”

“Nearby Viking attacks, access to abundant fresh water, and local land supplies made this an ideal location to muster a West Saxon army against the backdrop of Hercules.”

In the 11th century, the monks worshiping at the monastery at the foot of Giant Hill reimagined the Giant of Sarne as a statue of their saint Eadwald, implicit in the lessons they read on that feast day. I mentioned this person.

This is one of the many ways the Cologne giants have been reinterpreted over the centuries, from Hercules to the Hermit.

“The identity of the Cern giant was already open to reinterpretation,” said Dr. Tom Morkom, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oslo.

“The monks of Cern would not have depicted their patron saint as a naked saint if they had carved their patron saint from scratch, but they gladly adopted him as a statue of Eadwald for their own purposes. .”

“Giant has long been loved and cherished, and that rediscovery continues today.”

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Thomas Morcombe and Helen Gittos. 2024. Giant of Cologne in the early Middle Ages. Speculum 99 (1): 1-38; doi: 10.1086/727992

Source: www.sci.news

Giant sea scorpions, the largest insects, were all predators.

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All pterosaur eurypterids (sea scorpions), giant aquatic arthropods with large claws, were considered apex predators, but some scientists believe that certain species are not predatory because their claws are weak. suggested. New research reveals that their claws were stronger and were only used to capture prey. Other appendages chewed it up. Fossils found in the pterosaur eurypterids show that some species specialized in lightly armored crustaceans and fishes, but most species specialized in heavily armored fishes.

Size of sea scorpions (Euripterids) over time.pterosaur eurypterid Jachelopterus (Background), the largest arthropod of all time, and a eurypterid of the Hibertopteridae family. Siltoctenus (Foreground) The size of a human (an average British male) compared to the silhouette of its eurypterid relatives. Image credit: Simon Powell.

Sea scorpions (family Eurypteridae) are ancient aquatic creepy crawlers (arthropods) that lived long before the dinosaurs, from 467 million to 253 million years ago.

These include the “pterygoids” (428 to 391 million years ago), which had large, fearsome claws. Grows up to 2.5 meters longthe biggest bug that ever existed.

An extinct millipede called Arthropleura was It is claimed that it is even largerHowever, if the length of 12 to 14 preserved body segments is 76 cm, the body length of an animal with 32 segments is (76/12 x 32), which is just over 2 m (excluding the head).

All pterosaurs, eurypterids, were thought to have been ferocious apex predators. tyrannosaurus About their time.

Later, some scientists believed that pterygoid claws acutiramus It could only catch and slice weak, soft-bodied prey, and its eyesight wasn't sharp enough Becoming a predator.It has been demoted from the top echelon of predators and even a label is attached “Pussycat”.

According to new research, nails acutiramus It was much more robust. Suggestions that they would snap were based on incorrect assumptions.

The apparent lack of an “elbow joint” doesn't hurt either. This was at the base of the nail. Also, the claws were used only for catching prey. If it had more powerful mouthparts in the groin, it would kill or chew it up.

It doesn't matter that their eyesight is poor either. Their prey is large, and some non-predatory insects (such as bees and butterflies) have eye indicators similar to arthropods that were considered predators.

Computer modeling and experiments with robotic swimming eurypterids also show that pterosaurs were slower swimmers than expected. They were so large that relatively small swim paddles could not provide sufficient propulsion, so a flat tail (telson) served both as a rudder and as propulsion.

Analysis of the types of fossils found with pterygomorphs also suggests that: acutiramus It specializes in lightly armored crustaceans (called foliaceans) and pterophytes. Eretopterus Therodont fish and pterigotus and Jachelopterus About the more heavily armored placoderm fish.

Evidence of predation (claw marks) and fossilized feces (coprolites) confirm that some eurypterids ate armored fish, trilobites, and even other eurypterids.

Previous studies have generally dismissed suggestions that Eurypteridae influenced the evolution of early vertebrates (fish) in a predator-prey arms race, but this new study This suggests that pterosaurs and other eurypterids probably had some influence on the evolution of early vertebrates.

The evolutionary relationships of pterygoids have also changed. Their shape, vision, fossil associations, ecology, and stratigraphic record all indicate that: acutiramus It was more basic Jachelopterus and pterigotus.

This is the largest arthropod in history (Jachelopterus lenaniae) It is now estimated to be about 2.6 meters long, 10 centimeters longer than previous estimates. The biggest bug is now a little bigger.

this paper will appear in Earth Science Bulletin.

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S. J. Brady. 2023. Paleoecology of the pterygoid eurypterids: Pladicnia and paleontological assemblages. Earth Science Bulletin 98(4); doi: 10.3140/bull.geosci.1891

Source: www.sci.news

Unraveling the Enigmatic Giant Examoon: Exploring the Cosmic Mysteries of Pandora’s Box

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This artist’s impression shows a gas giant exoplanet orbiting a Sun-like star, represented by Kepler-1625b. Credit: NASA

The discovery of giant exomoons around the planets Kepler-1625b and Kepler-1708b raises questions. Since the planets orbit, it is not uncommon for these exoplanets to have moons around them. This makes them even more difficult to detect. So far, only two of the more than 5,300 known exoplanets have been discovered to have moons. New data analysis shows that scientific statements are rarely black and white, that behind every result there is more or less uncertainty, and that the path to a statement often resembles a thriller. Masu.

Introduction to Exomoon research

In observations of the planets Kepler-1625b and Kepler-1708b with the Kepler and Hubble Space Telescopes, researchers discovered the first traces of such moons. New research calls these previous claims into question. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research and Sonnenberg Observatory in Germany report in the same journal. natural astronomy

The “planet-only” interpretation of the observations is more definitive.

For their analysis, the researchers used Pandora, a newly developed computer algorithm that facilitates and accelerates the search for the Exum Moon. They also investigated what types of exomoons could in principle be discovered with modern space-based astronomical observations. Their answers are quite shocking.

Examoon: A rare entity in observation

In our solar system, with the exception of Mercury and Mercury, the fact that a planet orbits one or more moons is more the rule than the exception. Venus, all other planets have such companions.

For gas giants Saturn Researchers have discovered 140 natural satellites to date. Therefore, scientists believe that planets in distant star systems are also likely to have moons. But so far, there is only evidence for two such examooons: Kepler-1625b and Kepler-1708b. This low yield is not surprising. After all, distant satellites are naturally much smaller than their home world, and therefore much more difficult to find. And combing through observations of thousands of exoplanets for evidence of satellites is extremely time-consuming.

Pandora: Exomoon search algorithm

To make searching easier and faster, the authors of the new study utilize a search algorithm called Pandora that they developed and optimized for exomoon searches. They announced the method last year And the algorithm is available to all researchers as open source code. When applied to observational data from Kepler-1625b and Kepler-1708b, the results were surprising.

“We wanted to confirm the discovery of exomoons around Kepler-1625b and Kepler-1708b,” said MPS scientist Dr. Rene Heller, lead author of the new study. “However, unfortunately, our analysis shows that this is not the case,” he added.


Source: scitechdaily.com

Tamara, a BNPL platform and shopping giant in Saudi Arabia, achieves $1 billion valuation following $340 million Series C funding round

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Tamara, the buy-now-pay-later platform for consumers in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council region, has recently completed a C round of funding that raised $340 million. This recent funding brings the company’s valuation to $1 billion, making it the first fintech unicorn startup in the region. SNB Capital and Sanabil Investments led the Series C round, alongside other backers such as Shorooq Partners, Pinnacle Capital, and Impulse. This round includes primary capital and some secondary equity transactions, marking one of the largest investments in fintech in the region. Tamara has raised a total of $500 million in equity funding, including secondaries, and over $400 million in debt funding.

Established in 2020, Tamara has quickly gained traction and currently boasts over 10 million users in Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Kuwait. The platform allows consumers to shop, pay in installments, and make bank transfers, and it has partnered with 30,000 merchants, including popular names like SHEIN, IKEA, Jarir, Noon, eXtra, and Farfetch.

The rise in popularity of buy-now-pay-later services in Saudi Arabia has seen significant growth, driven by the booming e-commerce market. According to a report from last year, the number of registered customers for BNPL services increased from 76,000 in 2020 to 3 million in 2021 and 10 million in 2022. With Saudi Arabia’s huge potential for digital payments, the market is expected to grow significantly in the next few years.

CEO Alsukhan emphasized the importance of building a customer-centric payment solution and the platform’s commitment to Shariah compliance. Tamara prides itself on offering a friendly and transparent service, focusing on avoiding unnecessary fees and helping customers make timely payments by offering risk management tools and options based on their financial capabilities.

Tamara’s long-term vision includes expanding its revenue sources and introducing new products and services beyond buy-now-pay-later. The platform plans to strengthen its integration into the shopping journey, introduce a buyer protection program, and enhance its card functionality for in-store transactions.

The recent funding not only represents a significant milestone for Tamara but also signals the region’s growing potential in the fintech industry. As the first homegrown unicorn in the Gulf, the company’s success reflects the supportive ecosystem, financial backing from local and international investors, and a strategic focus on customer satisfaction and compliance.

Source: techcrunch.com