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518-Million-Year-Old Fossil Redefines Starfish Evolution

518-Million-Year-Old Fossil Redefines Starfish Evolution

Researchers have discovered four 518-million-year-old fossils in southern China, named Yujingia glutenotunica, which are challenging long-held theories about the evolution of starfish and their relatives. These fingernail-sized fossils, found in the Maotianshan Shales in Yunnan province, preserve soft tissue and feature feathery feeding arms. This discovery suggests that the common ancestor of Ambulacraria—the group including starfish, sea urchins, and acorn worms—was a tentacle-feeding animal anchored to the seabed, rather than a burrowing, worm-like creature that filtered food through its throat, as previously hypothesized. The complexity of Yujingia's feeding structures, including alternating pinnules and a ciliated groove, is unusual for a Cambrian animal and resembles modern sea lilies. The team, led by Kaiyue He of Northwest University in Xi’an, along with colleagues from the China University of Geosciences in Beijing and two German museums, analyzed 505 anatomical features across 100 species to plac...

Ancient Australian Rocks Suggest Early Earth Water Recycling and Volcanic Activity

Ancient Australian Rocks Suggest Early Earth Water Recycling and Volcanic Activity

Ancient rocks from Western Australia, specifically the Whundo Group in the Pilbara Craton, provide evidence that Earth was recycling surface water into its mantle and generating volcanoes approximately 3.1 billion years ago. This process, termed 'dripduction,' predates modern plate tectonics. Researchers, led by Adelaide University geochemist Eric Vandenburg, studied a ten-kilometer-thick slice of volcanic rock, identifying rare, water-rich, magnesium-heavy lavas known as boninites. These boninites, typically found where one tectonic plate grinds beneath another, are the oldest extensive examples known. Chemical analysis indicates that the mantle source for these boninites contained between 0.8 and 1.5 percent water by weight, a concentration similar to that found beneath present-day arc volcanoes. This suggests that surface water was reaching melting depths and contributing to volcanism much earlier than previously thought, through a mechanism where waterlogged crust sagged and sank into the mantle as a l...

Ice Age Mastodon Tooth Discovered in San Francisco Bay Area Creek

Ice Age Mastodon Tooth Discovered in San Francisco Bay Area Creek

A fossilized tooth from a Pacific mastodon, an extinct elephant-like animal that inhabited North America during the Ice Age, has been discovered in a creek in San Mateo County, south of San Francisco. Geomorphologist Brigid Lynch found the 23cm long tooth partly submerged in water during a habitat restoration project. Initially, the team was unsure of the find, but a reverse image search identified it as a Pacific mastodon molar fossil. The tooth is in remarkably good condition, with both its crown and root intact. Chrissy Garcia, curator at Stanford University's Geoscience Specimen Collection, noted that while the presence of mastodons and mammoths in the Bay Area during the Pleistocene Epoch was known, the manner of this discovery was surprising. The tooth has been donated to Stanford University, where researchers plan to determine its age and create a 3D copy for public education.

518-Million-Year-Old Fossil Challenges Starfish Ancestor Feeding Model

518-Million-Year-Old Fossil Challenges Starfish Ancestor Feeding Model

Scientists have uncovered a 518-million-year-old fossil, named Yujingia glutenotunica, from the early Cambrian Chengjiang biota in southwestern China. This discovery is reshaping understanding of the early evolution of ambulacrarians, a group that includes starfish, sea urchins, and acorn worms. The Yujingia fossil, which preserves delicate body parts, gut, and appendages, suggests that the shared ancestor of these animals likely fed with specialized tentacles, rather than through a pharyngeal filter-feeding system as previously hypothesized. The fossils, ranging from 8 to 22 millimeters long, show an elongated, bottle-shaped body with a crown of feather-like appendages adapted for capturing suspended organic particles. A second set of appendages is believed to have aided temporary attachment to the seafloor, indicating a semi-sessile lifestyle. This finding challenges the long-standing 'worm-like' model for the common ancestor of ambulacrarians, which posited a tentacle-less animal feeding by filtering pa...

Kīlauea Volcano Eruption Paused, Monitoring Continues

Kīlauea Volcano Eruption Paused, Monitoring Continues

The Halemaʻumaʻu eruption at Kīlauea Volcano in Hawaii is currently paused, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). The volcano remains at a 'WATCH' alert level with an 'ORANGE' aviation color code. All eruptive vents and lava flows are confined to the Halemaʻumaʻu crater within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Volcanic gas emissions, including sulfur dioxide, continue to pose localized air quality risks. The USGS is closely monitoring the situation and will issue updates as needed.

Stratocumulus Clouds Identified as Low-Altitude, Puffy Layers with Diverse Formations

Stratocumulus Clouds Identified as Low-Altitude, Puffy Layers with Diverse Formations

Stratocumulus clouds are characterized as low-altitude patches, sheets, or layers composed of broad, rounded masses, rolls, or cells that frequently merge. These clouds typically produce minimal precipitation, usually limited to drizzle or light rain or snow. Their defining characteristic is their limited vertical growth, which distinguishes them from cumulus towers. The name 'stratocumulus' itself reflects their nature, combining 'strato' (layer) and 'cumulo' (heap) from Latin, indicating they are a layer of puffy clouds often found conjoined. They share similarities with altocumulus clouds but are situated much closer to the ground. Stratocumulus clouds exhibit a wide variety of shapes and sizes, possessing more associated species, varieties, and features than any of the ten main cloud types, making them a dynamic subject for sky observation. These clouds can appear as rising turret formations (castellanus), wooly locks (floccus), smooth lens shapes (lenticularis), sky-blanketing layers (stratiformis), o...

Slow Lava Eruption Continues at Great Sitkin Volcano

Slow Lava Eruption Continues at Great Sitkin Volcano

The Great Sitkin Volcano in Alaska continues to experience a slow eruption of lava within its summit crater, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). The eruption, which began in July 2021, has filled most of the summit crater and extended into nearby valleys. No significant earthquake activity has been detected recently, and satellite and webcam images have been obscured by clouds. The volcano remains at a 'WATCH' alert level with an 'ORANGE' aviation color code.

This truth emerges as political situations change fast: Maps show us our world, but not neutrally

This truth emerges as political situations change fast: Maps show us our world, but not neutrally

Maps can anchor us in a place or help us get somewhere else

New Research Suggests Arthropods, Not Worms, Built Ancient Hexagonal Tunnel Fossils

New Research Suggests Arthropods, Not Worms, Built Ancient Hexagonal Tunnel Fossils

For over 170 years, paleontologists have been puzzled by 'paleodictyon,' mysterious hexagonal tunnel fossils found in marine rocks dating back more than 500 million years to the early Cambrian period. These widespread fossils, occurring globally and at various sea depths, have never revealed their builders, though modern instances of paleodictyon continue to be observed in the deep sea. The tunnels, ranging from a few millimeters to less than 1 millimeter in diameter, form a horizontal network of hexagonal meshes with vertical outlets. While various theories have proposed worms, single-celled organisms, sponges, or crustaceans as the architects, a new study published in Earth Science Reviews suggests that arthropods, likely small crustaceans, are the most probable creators. This challenges the long-standing hypothesis that worm-like creatures were responsible for these intricate structures. The research team examined fossil specimens from Italy, Portugal, and Poland, spanning from the Cambrian to more rece...

12.5 Trillion Tons of Ice Melted Since 1979

12.5 Trillion Tons of Ice Melted Since 1979

A new study published in the journal Scientific Data reveals that Earth has lost approximately 12.5 trillion tons of ice from Greenland and Antarctica since 1979. This amount of ice melt is equivalent to covering the entire continental United States with a 5-foot layer of ice. The research highlights that the majority of the melting is caused by warmer ocean waters eroding the ice sheets from below and the sides, rather than by rising air temperatures. The study, conducted by an international team of polar scientists, utilized data from 45 independent surveys and 27 satellites, including those from NASA and the European Space Agency. The findings indicate that ice sheet melting has accelerated significantly since the 2010s, contributing to a global sea level rise of about one inch over the past 47 years.

NASA Funds Early Stage Innovations in Space Technology Research Grants for U.S. Universities

NASA Funds Early Stage Innovations in Space Technology Research Grants for U.S. Universities

NASA's Early Stage Innovations (ESI) program is actively funding groundbreaking, high-risk, high-reward space technologies through partnerships with U.S. universities. This initiative, part of NASA's Space Technology Research Grants (STRG), focuses on advancing technologies at low Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) to lay the groundwork for future space missions. The program supports research and technology development for up to three years, with awards reaching up to $750,000. The ESI26 solicitation, for instance, focused on eight specific topics, including advanced computational fluid dynamics, autonomous maintenance and manufacturing for the Moon and Mars, and electrospray thrusters. Recent projects funded include the development of spherical flying robots, or "Aerobots," for exploring Titan's caves, and a lunar levitation track system called FLOAT for revolutionizing lunar transportation. The application process involves a mandatory preliminary proposal followed by an invited full proposal, ensuring th...

NASA's Curiosity Rover Investigates Martian Wind-Blown Sediments in Gale Crater

NASA's Curiosity Rover Investigates Martian Wind-Blown Sediments in Gale Crater

NASA's Curiosity rover is actively studying wind-blown sediments within Mars' Gale Crater to gain a deeper understanding of the planet's surface evolution. According to a mission update from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the rover team recently executed a demanding sequence of observations (sols 5002 to 5009) specifically targeting sedimentary structures shaped by Martian winds. This investigation aims to reveal the intricate interactions between dust, sand, and geological processes within the Gale Crater environment. Operating for over a decade on Mars, Curiosity continues to explore scientifically valuable regions, utilizing its instruments to analyze rocks and sediments directly from the Martian surface. This direct analysis provides insights that cannot be obtained through orbital observations alone, contributing to NASA's ongoing effort to reconstruct Mars' geological history and its transformation from a water-rich planet to its current arid state.